A/N Ok I have a few things to say before the chapter. One is that I'm adding….technically a "new character", it's called "Inner!Anna/or Alter Ego!Anna". So basically, I felt Anna needed more conflict, so not only does she berate herself with her "thinking dialogue" (the italics), but she also has Inner!Anna who acts as a moral compass/conscience/inner strength/alter ego/ect. Alter Ego is basically Anna herself inside her own mind of how she sort of wants to act, but plays out her own actions and dialogue. There are times where Anna and Alter Ego will interact with each other. Alter Ego's actions/dialogue/narrative will be in bold. An example of something like Inner!Anna that exist in other media is Inner!Sakura from Naruto, or for a more exact example is the Cartoon!Lizzie from Lizzie McGuire. I pretty sure I just confused a lot of you, and sorry about that. XD It'll make sense, hopefully, when you read.
Ok, and the second thing is, "Is Elsa going to have ice powers?" I wasn't expecting this question so soon…..and I wasn't going to say anything about it till like….5 chapters in? But I guess now is better than never. Elsa is not going to have ice powers, but I am going to use the cold as a literary device. Whenever something negative happens to Elsa, it gets cold or snowy or whatever. And I'm just gonna say Anna's going to catch onto the change in temperature.
"Shit, shit, shit, SHIT! I'M LATE!" That was the noise that most residents of Anna's apartment complex woke up to, "Uncle-I mean-Professor Hades is going to be soooooo pissed off at me! Ok breakfast, toasting, coffee-Oh no I haven't brushed my hair ye-ok the coffee is broiling-making-whatever!" Anna continued to run about the apartment, narrating on how her lateness would affect her grade and what tasks she was trying to accomplish all at the same time.
Snowy, on the other hand, calmly watched the other girl as she fumbled about. She made meek attempts to get the redhead's attention to see if she could help, but Anna seemed to have forgotten the blonde was there.
"I. Am. So. FUUUUUUUU-," was the last thing anyone heard of Anna as she did a final spurt to the door, coffee and toast in on hand, keys and book bag in the other.
It took a few moments for Snowy to collect herself, she wasn't used to such an…. exuberant and lively person such as Anna. Despite the foreignness, she found it refreshing. With a yawn, Snowy got up and went to the kitchen, and saw it was a complete mess. Come to think of it. As Snowy looked around the apartment, she saw that the whole place was a complete disaster. It's like a guy's apartment. She sighed and shook her head, and decided to clean. It doesn't' seem like she'll be back soon, and I think I really should do something to help, considering she helped me. And so she got to work, taking note of the contents near the toaster and coffee maker that Anna liked Nutella and Grape Jam on her toast, and…. Is this chocolate syrup? Snowy's eye widened at the bottle of Hershey's chocolate syrup next to the coffee maker, and the residue of said bottle in the, now empty, coffee container.
"She really loves chocolate huh? Not that I can blame her," she chuckled, and with that went back to work.
While Snowy was cleaning at a peaceful pace, Anna was speeding down the highway. Oh thank the heavens the snow and ice are gone this morning. Lilo must have fed Pudge, and he must be in a great mood! Anna sighed in relief, thinking of the little Hawaiian girl she met one time, and her theory of a fish that controlled the weather. "Yeah, but too bad he doesn't control time travel, cause we need to go back, like, 15 min if we want to make the class on time." Don't you think I know that? Grrrah freaking red light again?! Anna banged her hand against the steering wheel in frustration. And don't you ever take a break?! I'm not in the mood for you!
Inside the mind of Anna, a chair appeared beside her alternate self, or Altanna, as she called her. Altanna sat horizontally on the chair, threw an arm over her forehead and said in a mockingly, dramatic voice, "Oh, but I can never take a break from you Anna! I am your dreams, hopes, wishes, and fears! I'm always with you~! I'm the thing that keeps your sad little ass in check, and I make sure you don't fly too close to the sun, my dear."
"Will you just SHUT UP!" Anna yelled, not caring to keep her internal argument, well, internal anymore. The light turned green and she gunned it, hoping in her mind the sudden jerk would knock Altanna's ass off her chair. Sadly, it didn't work, as for some reason her mind wanted to continue the self-loathing assault.
"Jesus, what is wrong with me. I'm talking to myself, I'm going insane and I know it. I've been cooped up in that apartment by myself for too long. Maybe with Snowy there I can finally talk to someone," Anna chuckled, "Yeah right, she barely talks, looks like I'm going to stick with just talking to myself still…OH SHIT SNOWY!" Anna barely braked in time for the next red light she hit, today was not her day.
"Great job dipstick! I am so happy that someone with such high caliber of conscientiousness is piloting this sad excuse for a body!" Altanna couldn't help but face palm in embarrassment.
W-why didn't you say anything! Anna thought, trying to contain her conversation back in her mind, so that it didn't interfere with her driving. Oh no, now she doesn't know when I'll be back! She'll be so lonely!
"Are you shitting me?! Lonely?! That's your freaking number one worry about her?! You left a stranger in our home! She could steal our shit! But nooooo, you're worried about her feelings!" she couldn't help but feel more and more agitated as she talked to the actual Anna.
Again, why didn't you say anything!
"Cause you were all like "Oh my hair", "oh my toast", "oh me-oh my", and I couldn't get a freaking word in edgewise," the alter ego rebutted in a mocking tone.
Not this morning! Last night! Why didn't you stop me from inviting her into the house in the first place!
"Because, your dumbass inner monologues and freak-outs were loud enough to drown out my own dumbass suggestions."
And that was it. Anna slammed her face into the steering wheel. It was too much of a blow to take; basically the personification of her ego just called itself a dumbass. As if she didn't have horrible self-esteem problems as it was. Sighing, Anna looked up to the car's dash and realized she was going to be 10 minutes late, and the light still hadn't changed. I don't have time for this! Light change now! And as if Anna had light changing powers, it turned green, and she sped off at a speed that could probably land her at night in jail.
By the time Anna got to class, she was, as she predicted, 10 minutes late. If that wasn't bad enough, Professor Hades asked to see her after class, which was something she was trying to avoid.
"Ok ok ok ok you little hooligans, class dismissed," Prof. Hades said when the clock told him it was time to end his lecture. While most of the other students left in a flash, except for the few stragglers who wanted to see if what Hades's had to say to Anna was anything to gossip about, Anna begrudgingly went to see her Uncle, "Ah, Miss Anna, how's my freckled little niece?"
Anna could only sigh in response. Unlike her Uncle Triton, who hated being called Uncle while they were at school, Uncle Hades seemed to embrace it to an embarrassing degree. And what Anna meant by embarrassing, she meant his chance to embarrass her in front of everyone. I don't know which is worst, accidentally calling Uncle Triton "Uncle" and then being scolded, or Uncle Hades using it as a way to ridicule me.
"Not good, not good," Hades's continued in his usual, fast talking voice, "Well, you do know it's only the end of the second week of the second semester riiiiiiiight?" Anna nodded, "Ok then. Could you please explain WHY YOU'VE BEEN LATE TO MY CLASS ALL FIVE TIMES THEN?!" After realizing his sudden outburst Hades ran his hand through his hair, it was his way of calming himself down.
Anna could feel her cheeks reddening by the second, her only excuse was "traffic", which should have been understandable to her Uncle since he knows she lives far from the campus and in an area where the traffic is always heavy. So he should have been more understanding, right? No, no one could ever be more wrong. If anything, he hated Anna, not as much as he hated her brother, though. Herc was always a thorn in Hades's side since the day he walked through his classroom doors-no- since the day he was born. If Herc could, he'd always skip class, and almost always acted "mightier than thou" around their Uncle. So to Hades, Anna being the younger sister of Herc, was enough for her to be hated as well.
"Goddammit…." Altanna fumed.
"Buuuuuut, at least you've made it to class, and you've answered every question I've thrown at you so far. Not they are all riiiiight, buuut…. close enough. Just don't let being Jerc's-I mean, Herc's, little sister get to your head ok? And try to make it on time if you can, I don't like little late birdies disturbing my class by walking through the FREAKI-ahem- by walking through the door," he had to catch himself from yelling again, "Now, off with you my little freckled tomato." With that, Hades waved his hand at Anna in a "shooing" motion before walking out the door himself.
Huh? D-did he just….kinda praise me just now? Anna could only stand there in shock, because for the first time in forever, her Uncle Hades had given her some form of praise. Grant it, it wasn't the best form and it was borderline, ok maybe not so borderline, condescending. But it was praise in her mind. Then it dawned on her. Wait, what? "Freckled tomato"? Oh shit! She had finally realized her what her Uncle said, and she could hear the laughter of the stragglers behind her.
"Oh my gawd! She really does look like a freckled tomato!" howled the curly redhead.
"Hey Spazzna? Why so red, whatcha so embarrassed about? Eh, little birdy?" mocked the black curly haired girl.
Why did it have to be Anastasia and Drizella Tremaine that heard that?
"Those freaking bitches! Let me at them Anna!" echoed Altanna.
Anna fought Altanna back the best she could, along with the tears welling up in her eyes, and she bolted out of the room at the speed of light, her face starting to get red for a whole new reason now. Oh, why the hell didn't I wear a hat or hoodie today?! And my winter jacket, why did I leave it in the car, and why did I park the car so far away?! Anna berated herself, wishing she had something to hide her face. All she could do was keep her head ducked down low, but unfortunately that obscured her vision and she ended up running into someone.
"Hey Ann-y! You should really watch where you're going," joked a cheery voice from the person who had received an Anna to the shoulder. Anna looked up to see a long, golden blonde haired girl.
"Rapunzel! What are you doing here?" she said, shocked.
"Why the hell are you shocked, this is where you usually meet before you're next class dipstick!"
Rapunzel's eyes widened, "Hey, Ann-y, are you ok?" Rapunzel reached out to touch Anna's shoulder, but Anna backed away.
"Y-yeah, it's just something in my eye. I-I'll tell you about it at lunch," and with that, Anna ran off again.
Anna spent the rest of her classes, before lunch, in the back of the respected rooms; trying to keep away from other people. She was thankful for her teachers not calling on her, probably because she radiated the aura of an emotional, ticking time bomb.
"God, will you stop crying! What they said wasn't even that bad! They've said worse to you in high school!" Altanna's voice was mixed with wanting to console Anna and also wanting to reprimand her.
Don't you think I know that? And I'm not crying because of what they said, I'm crying cause I'm crying for no reason and it makes me want to cry more. Anna put her head down on her desk, partly in frustration over herself and the other part at the fact that she was still talking to herself.
"Honestly, I would understand if you were crying about that stranger-I mean Snowy. Oh, and by the way, what the hell is with that stupid nickname you gave her?! I mean you-"
Oh my god! Snowy I forgot! Hey-I thought that nickname was cute!
"Did you really forget about her again?! Is this going to be some kind of bad running joke?! And forget about the nickname, you're missing the point!"
I'm sorry today's a bad day ok?! Wait, what point?
Altanna put her hands in her face, "I mean you left a stranger in your house. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. SHE COULD STEAL OUR SHIT! Along with-."
Anna could feel a ball of anxiety form in the pit of her stomach. Oh no…..
"Sigh, finally you underst-," but she was cut off, yet again, by Anna's thoughts.
Oh no, no no no! I-if she steals my PS3, my baby-oh today is just the worst! And I have practice, and they're gonna yell at me for not having "my head in the game" cause I'll be fretting over this-Oh I'm gonna cry-oh but I already am.
Altanna decided to remain silent for the rest of the hour, considering she just made Anna's mood that much worst. She tried to reassure herself that Rapunzel would calm Anna down later.
It was about 1 o'clock when Anna finally had lunch, almost all her classes were in the morning, and back to back, or late at night so that she could have practice in the afternoon. Though, when she didn't have late night classes, like today, her practices were pushed back to late afternoon turning to nighttime. Since today was a late practice, it meant Anna was going to have to sacrifice another nights of sleep to get her homework done. Just another thing to pile onto her stressful day. Lucky for her, she was almost not crying anymore. Almost. If tears were threatening to come out, it was because of all the homework her teachers assigned for her that night. The reason why she wasn't a blubbering mess cause of it was because she was trying focus on said homework, at least until Rapunzel got there.
"Hey Ann-y, how…are….you," Rapunzel approached Anna, her greeting starting to trail off as she looked at the girl she was approaching. Anna was sitting there hunched over, face two inches from her book while she scribbled down notes in the notebook next to her. Girl knows how to focus, I'll give her that, Rapunzel thought. She thought Anna was so focused that she didn't hear her greeting, so when Rapunzel tried to say "hi" again, it startled her when Anna's head snapped up at here. That's when Rapunzel got a good look at Anna's face and the sight was…. not pretty to say the least. Her eyes were watery and pleading, along with snot kept threatening to drip down her nose. She looked, well, pathetic. But, the way Anna was crying now was different than when Rapunzel ran into her in the hallway. Before, to her, it was heartbreakingly sad to look at Anna, but now, it was kinda funny!
"Ra….help me," Anna whimpered, probably asking for help on her homework.
"Thank god she's here, at least she can calm your sorry ass down!" celebrated Altanna.
That was the last straw for Rapunzel, she couldn't hold it back anymore, and she began to have the biggest laughing fit anyone had ever seen. Anna just sat there, eyes wide, jaw hanging, and color draining from her face.
"Or….not," she said with an empty voice.
"Oh my god Ann-y! Y-yo-you-you look so pathetic!" Rapunzel gasped between breaths.
Just then, an arrow came flying down and pierced Altanna in the chest. It had the word "pathetic" engraved on it. Altanna dropped to her knees and doubled back, clutching at the arrow, "Ra….you bitch….I believed in you."
"R-r-ra! What the hell! You're not supposed to say something like that to someone who's asking you for help!" Anna bemoaned, hating how her cousin could be so sadistic towards her feelings sometimes.
"I'm sorry Ann-y! You just look so sad!" Another arrow, engraved "sad", hit Altanna in the back, "I just think it's so adorable!"
An anvil came crashing down, this time engraved "adorable", Altanna was barely able to catch it, "Are you shitting me, you don't say those insulting words and try to say that it's "adorable". I swear Ra, you sadistic-I'm gonna-" but she wasn't able to complete that sentence, as she was crushed under the weight.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Rapunzel said through giggles when she saw Anna's defeated look. She sat down, taking a seat across the table from her, "You seemed to be in higher spirits, so I thought I'd tease you a little to make you feel better."
"You say "tease", I say it's your sadism showing," Anna mumbled. Don't you mean "to make yourself feel better"?
"Hm, what was that?" Rapunzel had a smile on her face, but her eye's looked threatening.
"N-nothing! Just saying how you're just a thoughtful person and all," Anna said quickly. It's best not to say "sadistic" or "Rapunzel" in the same sentence, or she might hit you in the head with the nearest object.
"That's what I thought you said. Anyways, what was up with this morning?"
"Oh…um, well it all started with Uncle Hades's talk with me after class-," Anna described the events that took place this afternoon, and when she was done Rapunzel looked annoyed. Oh no, even she thinks I'm being stupid, I knew I shouldn't be worrying over these kinds of things!
"Goddamn it, I'm going to have a word with those little-," Rapunzel trailed off, calling Anastasia and Drizella Tremaine names that no child should hear, all the while she was pounding her fist in her palm.
"N-no! No no no no no! It's fine Ra you don't have to do anything, I'm sure it'll just blow over-" Anna tried to calm Rapunzel down, but it wasn't working. I should have kept my big mouth shut, now she's getting worked up for no reason!
"No it's not "fine", Anna! Those bitc-no! You know how they are, they start with calling you names and it all goes to hell from then on! Ugh! And that damn Uncle of yours, he does not help one bit, just cause you're Herc's little sis, doesn't mean he can push you around like that!"
"He doesn't push me around," Anna muttered.
"Lies," came a muffled voice from under the anvil.
"A-And you'll only make it worse if you go and start something!" she tried to reason with Rapunzel, to no avail.
"Yes, he does Anna!" she retorted, not even bothering to call Anna by her nickname, "And what if I start something? Maybe I can stop whatever their going to start?!"
"NO YOU WON'T!" Anna screamed, loud enough for all of the eyes in the cafeteria to turn to them. Anna felt as if their stares were burning holes in her. She took a deep breath to calm herself down, and when it seemed like everyone went back to their own business, she whispered, "You don't know that. T-this is college, people are supposed to be mature now, right? Just…..let it be for now, promise me, please!" The look in Anna's eyes was pleading, different from the one's Rapunzel found comedic a second ago. It was enough to get her to back off the subject, however, even though it was clear she had more to say.
She replied after a sigh, "Fine, fine. You win. Just contain that lion's roar next time, alright?" Rapunzel joked, winking at Anna. Anna was thankful for Rapunzel for being back to her normal, joking self. Too bad that didn't last, "Ok, so tell me, what else is bugging you? And don't tell me it's gymnastics practice or whatever, I can tell it's something different."
Anna cursed herself inwardly over how easy she is to read, she considered lying, but she knew with Rapunzel, she'd have to tell the truth anyways. After a moment, Anna took a huge breath, closed her eyes and said, "Okok,soIpickedupthisstrangerlastnightandletthemstayovernightandtheyarestillinmyhome andIdidn'tthinkthing'sthroug,asusual,andIthinkshemighthavestolenmyPS3butIdon'tknowcauseIwon'tgethometilllate!"
When Anna opened her eyes back up, she was greeted with Rapunzel's incredulous face, "What?" she said simply, and then, "WHAT?!" she boomed. People were looking at them again. "REALLY ANNA?! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?"
"I-I-I-I don't think I was?" Anna tried to joke, but it was futile again.
"This is not a joking matter Anna! Explain right now! And don't even think about trying to get away, I'm not letting you go until I hear an explanation!"
Great job Anna, you managed to piss off Ra, and now you have to explain how you are a complete dumbass. Sigh, why does today have to be such a bad day?
A/N: Sorry about the length guys. Ok, so this chapter ended up being longer than I thought it would be. XD I wasn't actually going to end it here, but since I'm on page 8 in word….I think it's time. And I left it off at a decent "cliff-hanger" (ok maybe not decent). So the rest of this chapter is going to be in chapter 3. :P
Anyways, now for reviews, a big thank you to Hyakka29, Lyanah, and Nonsense at its Best, for taking their time to review. 8D I'll have you know you're reviews left a big, goofy smile on my face. XD
Now for the fic, I feel like I need to say a few things about it, cause…well….I like to explain myself to people? Ok, so why I have Altanna in there, well….it kinda just came to me right after the first chapter. Being an only child (and picking up the habit from my mom) I tend to talk to myself (mostly in my head, but sometimes outside too when no one is around. XD) and…well….Lizzie McGuire seemed to impact my psyche a little as a kid….and I have a small cartoon ver of myself that I have conversations with…or more like it talks to me and yeah. Though I'm not as bad as Anna, and I'm not sure if other people have a similar thing too or I just need to go to therapy (even I think I should after reading what I just wrote, but that's probably cause I can't really explain it. XD).
As for the comedy in this fic, I'm a fan of brick jokes (just look that up on TV Tropes), running gags, dark humor, cringe humor, and slapstick to name a few. I'm also a fan of clichés (or at least making fun of them), this also includes anime clichés. One of these is "anime tears", sometimes it's used for comedic effect, but I had a hard time writing that so Rapunzel and I just come off as sadistic jerks to you all! :D But, when a character cries, it's not always going to be comedic, sometimes it'll be a mix of angst/sad and comedic, or just angst/sad. Speaking of angst, see guys, see, I starting to make it kinda angsty! Foreshadowing angst right there! :D Or at least I'm trying to, probably not doing it so well. XD
Well I think that's all I have to say, leave a review or PM if you have questions. I'll respond much faster if it's a PM and I won't include it in the review, but if you leave questions in a review, I'll respond to them in the author notes. Please tell me if you see any errors so I can fix them, I think I got them all but who knows? XD And if you have any suggestions, like characterization (how to improve it) or how to improve my sentence/paragraph/story structure, I'm willing to listen. :D