So, um, it occurs to me that I need to clarify some things in light of recent events... I started this fic in the winter of 2014. The story itself takes place between September and October of 2013. The parks, Hollywood Studios in particular, were different places than they are now. So, before you go trying to complain about inaccuracies, just keep that in mind. :P Speaking of which, RIP Studio Backlot Tour, Magic of Disney Animation, etc. etc... Ah, screw this negativity. On with the drama!

Anna was surprised how long a walk it was to wherever this woman was taking her. For the second time that week, she stepped foot in a seemingly desolate area of the parks, far away from any guests or even workers. There were buildings, but they didn't look like anything special. In fact, they weren't decorated in the slightest. What was this place doing here? She couldn't imagine it was any use.

Luckily, though, that meant that their destination stood out like a sore thumb. A little tent of purple velvet stood right there in the middle of nowhere. The stranger leisurely walked inside, and Anna followed, gently pushing one of the certains over her head and out of the way.

The shady atmosphere made her shudder. But surrounding her were shelves and shelves of objects and containers that she could only guess the purpose of. Potions? Herbs? Chemicals? There was nothing she could identify for sure. There was a small table at the center of the room, a crystal ball sitting on the edge. A fortune teller, huh? The thought of it excited her so. What were this woman's plans for her? They had to be amazing!

The other person there didn't show any reaction to Anna's feelings; just continued to wear that strange smile of hers. "Have a seat," she invited her guest – and Anna happily took the chair across from her.

The crystal ball was moved to the table's center, as Anna's hand was gripped again. This time it was led to atop the smooth, pearly glass. "What are we doing now?" she couldn't resist asking. She wanted to know every little detail.

"To do this properly, I have to get to know you a little better," she explained, with no apparent emotion. Yet something about her words was hypnotic, almost enchanting… "Open your heart to me, princess. Show me what you feel in the deepest corners of your soul."

The princess' shoulders relaxed, her eyes closed…only for a few seconds. After that, the glass ball shone a shimmering gold, so bright she couldn't look at it directly at first. But soon, pictures formed. Pictures she could recognize. Memories, of the happiest moments she had with her sister…and the not happy ones. Every knock on the closed door, every word spoken through the keyhole. Every wrong thing to say that only rubbed salt in the wound, every little slip-up that only heightened the tension. It was quite a mood whiplash, she had to admit. But something kept her relaxed even watching all this, calm enough to keep the images coming. And then, after what seemed like hours, it was over.

"Whew! That was really something," Anna laughed, just relieved that she didn't have to watch anymore. Now her hand was falling asleep, and she quickly shook it out before placing it in her lap with the other. "What's next?"

The diviner rested her chin on her open palm in thought. At least, that's what she assumed, but her eyes didn't match the rest of her expression. "What do I have that might suit you…?" And then, a snap. And she was out of her seat. "I have just the thing."

Teal eyes watched as her dainty fingers carefully picked an item from the shelf behind her. A curved flask sealed with a cork, holding a viscous liquid. It was green – not the bright, sunny kind of green Anna liked. A horrible, putrid green, like pea soup or vomit. She cringed at just the first glance of it.

The bottle was placed on the table with a thunk. "This, your highness, is what you need to unlock your potential." There was a twinkle in the fortune teller's eye, and she never broke eye contact. "A power to match hers. A gift that will make you true equals."

Anna's eyes widened with enticement. But…it looked so gross. This had to be a joke."A-Are you sure that's the one?" She cracked a smile, half expecting the both of them to burst out laughing in a second.

But there was no change. "Yes, I'm sure."

Oh boy. Ohhh boy. Well, it was only for a second. All she had to do was get this down, and it would all be worth it, right? "Well…here goes nothing." The cork popped out of its nozzle with a bit of hand work. Immediately a green mist escaped and dissipated itself into the air above. Oh god! It smelled awful! Like rotting fish and sea scum. She nearly puked right there on the spot.

"Well?" the woman piped up when she took a long pause.

"Just…just give me a second!" She took a long, deep breath. Come on, Anna. You got this. You can get through this. Before she had a chance to change her mind, she plugged her nose with one hand, grasped the neck of the flask tight with the other, and took a nice, long chug. It was by far the most horrible thing she had ever tasted in her life, and it took a lot of effort to keep her gag reflex from kicking in. It felt like ten minutes before she emptied it to the last drop, though in reality it had only been a few seconds. At last she set the thing down, frantically attempted to catch her breath. And then it was done.

"YES! I did it!" Anna threw her hands into the air. "I drank your stupid potion! All of it!" And that was the last unpleasant thing she had to do? Hopefully? Please?

The woman's smile grew wider. "Fantastic," she nodded in approval, drawing out the word in a strange sort of way. "It should take a while to fully kick in. Maybe fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen minutes. Right." Was magic supposed to feel like this? It was nothing like she expected. She just felt kinda sick… Maybe it would get better later. Wait, hadn't she forgotten something? "Oh! I guess I should pay you now." How much would something like this cost? She'd just have to guess, she supposed, reaching into her purse for a generous handful of coins.

"Oh, no, no, no! Don't worry about that!" She pushed the princess' offering away. "That…will come later."

Later? What did she mean by later? Guess she'd have to make sure she saved her money. "Um, sure, okay." So it was done. Soon everything would be easier. She would blow Elsa away with how well she could do. "Thank you so much, ma'am! I-I'm so happy, I could… I gotta go tell Elsa!" And she sprinted out without even a goodbye, skipping about like she was dancing in mid-air.

And as the princess made her exit, a sinister smirk spread on the woman's face. Oh, she was well acquainted with the most gullible of people. But who'd have thought this would be so easy? No extra persuasion needed at all! Well, if Step 1 of this plan went by so quickly, Step 2 would be effortless.

Pale fingers carefully inserted quarters into the designated slot. One, two… It wasn't as if the concept of coin-automated machines of was totally foreign to Elsa. She'd gotten word of these technologies from cities and kingdoms more advanced in industry that her own. London, Paris, Munich. But she had no idea what to make of this particular kind. A movie that you could control. And Ralph somehow came from one of these? She could hardly wrap her head around it…

But that was exactly why Ralph insisted on stopping to show her this contraption. So she had to get the hang of this sooner or later, if she wanted to get to Anna any time soon. Where in the world did she wander off to?

Before she could give it much more thought, the screen flashed and the scene suddenly changed. "It's starting!" was all she could say. What was she supposed to do?

Ralph knew this intro only lasted a few seconds. Time to rush out instructions. "Okay, that's the joystick. You make him move with that. Button here hits the hammer. You got that?"

"I-I think so…"

"Good! Now go go gogogo!"

Okay, this was going just fine. Fix the broken parts, right? Simple. Wait, this was faster that she thought. Whoa, whoa! Slow down!

She felt a strong hand grip over hers. "No, no. That's not how you do it," Ralph grumbled. "You gotta go this way."

"I can handle it," she insisted. But as hard as she tried to push him away, even the one hand weighed a ton. "Ralph, please let go."

"Just let me…" If she could just pull off this maneuver right, she'd be good to go. "I'm just trying to help out here."

"I don't need your help!" If force wasn't working, maybe cold would. She let out a bit of ice into his palm. Still, it wasn't enough for him to notice the difference. This went on for maybe a minute, one of them pulling the joystick in direction and the other in the opposite, little Felix darting across the screen like a Mexican jumping bean.

And then…the joystick snapped off. They both stopped what they were doing, stunned as Elsa held the stick in her hand. "Oh dear…" A big, flashy GAME OVER lit up in their faces, as if mocking them.

"Um…" Ralph took the joystick from her and clumsily tried to place it back where it belonged. No dice. He could only give an awkward chuckle. "Look, you go on and find your sister. I'll take care of this."

"What? A-Are you sure about that?" After all, she couldn't just pin the blame on him this time around. They'd both done that. Been careless enough to do that.

He scratched his head. "Yeah, I'll get Felix over here later if nothin' else works."

Well, he sounded like he had the situation under control, if what he'd told her about this Felix man was correct. So with a nod of thanks, Elsa took her leave. Time to start searching in earnest. If I were Anna, where would I be? Near food, was her first guess. But there was no sign of her at the closest kiosk. Then one of the larger restaurants was her next best bet. And she remembered seeing one just around the corner here.

Except she never got the chance to go inside. Because just as she approached the entrance, Anna rushed to her from the side and collided with her, hard. She was lucky to stop her fall by reaching out against the wall. Her sister, on the other hand, tumbled butt first onto the pavement. "Anna!" She immediately helped her off the ground. Only then did she notice something was…off. "Are you all right? You look pale…"

Pale, huh? She guessed that made sense, considering this queasy feeling that had yet to wear off. But wait, Elsa was also pale! So that meant she had to be on the right track! Right? "I'm fine. Never been better!" She grabbed the queen's shoulders in her excitement. "Elsa, I have the most amazing news!"

"All right, all right! Slow down," she laughed. Even if her sister looked sick, she still had just as much energy as usual. That was a very good sign. "What do you want to tell me so badly?"

She was buzzing with anticipation. Where could she even start? "Well, so while you were gone, I met this lady… A-A fortune teller, I think."

Elsa raised an eyebrow. Sure sounded like something she would get interested in. "Uh-huh…"

"And like, she does all the magic stuff, and makes potions, too. And she finds me, and she's like, 'I can totally help you, y'know.' And I'm like, 'Haha, no you can't. You're just another lady here.' And she's like, 'Nuh-uh, I'm SPECIAL.' So she takes me to her tent, and she does all this werid stuff, and then she gives me a potion. It was terrible. But anyway, she says 'this'll unlock your potential' or something like that, I can't even remember. But omigosh, I can't believe I'm gonna have powers soon! Isn't that great, Elsa?"

She'd asked her to slow down and she just sped up even more. There was no way she could keep up. But that last bit caught her attention. Something something powers? "Wait, what?!" This time it was Elsa who was grabbing Anna. "Anna, you can't be serious!"

"But I am serious…" Her smile faltered. "Aren't you happy? I thought you'd be happy."

"You just went and did this out of nowhere! You could've at least told me beforehand!" There were plenty of issues they'd have to tackle, if it turned out this did result in Anna spontaneously developing magic. But she doubted that was even the case. This place she described sounded extremely shady. "Who even was this person?"

"Oh, that's easy! She was…" Oh wait, she never asked, did she? Her eyes became downcast as she sheepishly held her hands behind her back. "Um, I kinda didn't get a name…"

Great. Just great. She brought a palm to her face. "So you went to a total stranger and let her give you this weird drink, honestly believing it would give you powers?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much how it went." It dawned on her, with one look at Elsa's 'you-gotta-be-kidding-me' face, that maybe she should've thought that through a little better. "Okay, so maybe that wasn't the best idea I've ever had." She still wanted to believe this would all work out. She'd gotten her hopes up so much, if it were to fail… Well, she wouldn't even consider the possibility. "Please, Elsa, I just wanted to help…"

The anger started to fade, as soon as worry set it. That concoction could've been literally anything. How was she to know someone didn't feed her sister arsenic? And so she clutched Anna's arm tight, swiping the guide map from her purse. "Come on. We need to get you to a doctor." She unfolded the paper, searching frantically for the nearest first aid center. Ugh, that far away? Fine, they'd just have to hurry.

Anna must've apologized a hundred times on the way, but all Elsa could focus on was getting to their destination. She could already tell the younger sister was having a harder time keeping up, her pace more sluggish. There wasn't much time. And finally, they reached the entrance. She pushed Anna to the front desk before the receptionist had time to say anything. "You must help my sister. She's in terrible condition."

The person nodded, and in minutes, Anna was in their patient bed. God, she looked so much worse already. She'd moved on from pale to a sickly green. Clearly woozy. Couldn't even walk straight. So Elsa tried to hold back her fear of the outcome, and replace it with sheer determination. This was going to turn out okay. It had to be. She wouldn't accept any other option.

And just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, her sister started vomiting. A dark, thick bile, seaweed green, with the most horrid stench she'd ever experienced. As the redhead laid back down, she kept her gaze strictly on Elsa, tears in her eyes. "'M sorry…" she whispered in a hoarse voice.

"I-I understand, Anna. I know you…we're both under a lot of pressure." Anna was not going to blame herself again, not when she was the one who agreed to this trip in the first place. They'd both fallen for this load of garbage. Paradise. Paradise for the devil, maybe. Once she came across those three hacks again, she'd love to give them what for. But all she could do now was wait…

No doctor here seemed to be having any luck figuring out what was wrong with her. Poison, of course, was the most likely suspect. What kind of poison, was anybody's guess. Possibly supernatural in origin. And her condition only grew worse. Was there nothing they could do? Was she going to lose her sister again?

Suddenly the queen got an eerie feeling. Adding to her distress, it was like someone was lurking over her, watching her every move. Whoever this presence belonged to…she knew it had to be whoever was responsible for this. She just felt it in her gut. And if she wanted any chance of fixing things, then Elsa would have to face her directly. So she stepped out. Just gave a comforting smile as Anna reached out for her, throat burning too much to talk. "I'll be back in a minute, Anna…"

Outside, the sky had become overcast, the air humid. How fitting. Her eyes darted back and forth, trying to figure out where the menace might be. And had to keep herself from making a frosty mess of the pavement, when the culprit snuck up right behind her. Tall, round, and wide – very wide. Thick tentacles squirming across the ground. The imposing figure was not difficult to identify. Ursula. Of course. About the only person more cunning than Facilier; she could talk anyone into downing poison under the right circumstances. The queen said nothing, only stood her ground and kept her gaze hard.

"Poor, poor Anna…" the sea witch chuckled, a sinister smile spread on her face. "All she ever wanted to be with her beloved sister. Stand with her, no matter the consequences." Her words stung, but Elsa wouldn't show it. Don't listen to her. You know she just wants you to leave yourself vulnerable. Even as a purple hand lifted her chin, she didn't so much as blink. "It's such a shame it had to turn out this way."

Her brow furrowed. Her sister was not going to die if she could help it. "What did you do to her?"

"Hm. Well, I think you've already figured that out. The real question is, how to cure it?" Out of nowhere, she produced a bottle. The concoction inside was purple and just slightly smoky – a stark contrast to the murky green Anna had been vomiting up for the past few minutes. "Luckily, I happen to have an antidote on hand."

"How do I know you're not lying?" She had to stay cautious…though the idea did get her attention. It could've been her only chance.

In response, she popped the cork out and let her get a whiff of the potion's scent. "Does that smell like poison to you?"

Hm. It did smell like medicine. Maybe a hint of floral fragrance as well. No, she supposed it wasn't likely this could kill anybody. "Fine, I believe you. So what's the catch?"

She shook her head. "Now, now, your majesty. I wouldn't ask you for too much in return." Their eyes were uncomfortable close to each other. Elsa may have shuddered a bit. "You know what the situation is, don't you? You must understand, our leader sees you as competition. She doesn't like to see anyone who might have more power than her. And so the only options in her mind are to get rid of you, or…make sure you're under her control."

That came out of nowhere. "What?" What did that even mean? Something like brainwashing? Demonic possession? She could only imagine what sort of tricks these people had up their sleeves.

Ursula's eyes narrowed. "You will swear your allegiance to evil, or your sister will die."

And there it was. Let her sister die, or agree to kill hundreds, maybe thousands of people. The old conflicting loyalties trick. As queen, she had to be prepared for anything corrupt politicians might throw at her, but she had simply hoped she'd never have to face this one. On one hand, Anna was easily the most important person in the world to her. On the other, she couldn't go against her nature. Not when she was in charge of a kingdom, and already had hundreds relying on her. So refusing was the more selfless decision, but…could she even trust herself to be in stable condition without Anna around?

"Tick tock, Elsa." Ursula smirked. "You need to make a choice."

Crud, she was right. They didn't have much time left. If Anna didn't receive the antidote soon… She sighed. "All right. I'll go with you."

The sea witched grinned. "Perfect…"

"But you will hand over the antidote first," she asserted.

"Yes, yes. Of course, my dear." She held out the bottle to her as promised, and the queen laid her hands on it…

And let a torrent of ice loose like a small tidal wave, sending Ursula flying a good three yards back.

Elsa did it. She got her solution, and she bought herself some time. Now all she had left to do was run! Run like her life depended on it, and it very well may have. But Anna's did even more.

She could already hear Ursula recovering from the impact, fuming. "YOU TRAITOR! You can't get away that easily!" All the older sister heard was suction cups popping closer and closer to her, before she returned to the first aid center, slamming the door in the witch's face. God, she hoped she wasn't too late.

"Anna! Anna!" There she was, all green and withered; hadn't moved a muscle since she left. But, she was still breathing. Thank the lord above, she was still breathing. "Anna, drink this!" She forced the purple liquid down her sister's throat, not that she had the strength to protest against it. Immediately her breathing became a little steadier. And Elsa was relieved, though still hyperventilating. "Oh, thank god…oh, thank god…"

Just as everything was looking up, a bang from the doorshook the whole building. Of course she'd tried to break in. Why couldn't she just give up like the first guy? No matter. In a matter of seconds, ice walls surrounded Anna's bed to protect her from anything that might harm her. The queen stood before the entranceway, letting the magic in her hands charge, strengthen. She was ready for this. She could hear Anna croak something out, probably trying to get her to stop, but that was a risk she couldn't take.

But something happened. What, she had no idea. But there was a blast of blue light, shouting, bizarre sounds she couldn't recognize. And then, complete silence. What in the world…? She didn't let her guard down entirely, but she did have to see what was going on on the other side of the wall. So she opened the door just a sliver…

Scorch marks adorned several random spots around the room, like a bomb had hit. Some spots even still smoked. There was no sign of Ursula besides her tentacle prints on the floor. But there in the center of it all was a small figure in a velvet red robe and a blue pointed hat, holding a very familiar pair of ears. "Mickey?!"

The mouse looked over his shoulder toward them, looking a bit uneasy. "Hehe…hey, girls. Some day, huh?"

Seeing Mickey's face was enough for Elsa to remember her previous frustration. The facts that were kept from them, this war they sprung on them at the last minute. "You're one to talk!" she practically growled, but soon took a deep breath and regained some composure. "Somebody has a lot of explaining to do."

Aside from the battle, events lined up enough for Mickey to figure that they had reached that point in the initiation earlier than planned. Oh boy, how was he gonna talk his way out of this? "L-Look, I'm really sorry about this! It wasn't supposed to turn out this way! We were gonna talk about, just, everything got so busy…"

"When? When did you plan to tell us? After we were both on death's door?!" Their argument was interrupted, by a knock. A knock from Anna, who was looking much better and eager to get out of the icy shield made for her. "Oh. Sorry."

The ice walls shrank and faded away, and Anna quickly took her place next to her sister. "Elsa, maybe we should hear him out," she pleaded.

Elsa huffed. God knew Anna was the nicest person in the world, and she wouldn't change that for anything, but she wasn't letting her get pushed around again. "After all this? Really?"

"Well…just look at him!" She threw her arms out, gesturing toward him.

The queen took another look at the mouse…and her shoulders drooped. How had he failed to see the distress on his face, his exhausted posture? No, that couldn't be the look of someone who was lying. She knew well that you couldn't fake that. "Okay, okay. Go on, Mickey."

He breathed a sigh of relief, that he hadn't totally let them down. But there were no words to properly explain everything. What he fought for, what he wanted to bring to people… The man that gave him everything. Then he would just have to show them. "You wanna know what this place is, right? Where we came from, where you came from."

They both nodded. That about summed up everything, however complicated it sounded in their heads.

"Then follow me." The mouse removed his hat, carrying it under his arm as he walked back out into the streets. The girls followed nervously, until they reached a quiet building at the end of the road. Once they entered, they were greeted by a picture of large of a young man. Anna thought he looked sort of like Papa…if Papa hadn't worn that toupee all the time, she giggled to herself.

Mickey seemed in a more somber mood as they explored the place. "This is the founder of this land, my...er, creator. His name was Walter Elias Disney. And everyone called him Walt." They continued walking, past artifacts of the man's childhood, pictures of the various towns in which he lived, up to when he started his first business, in animation. "Walt had a lot of good ideas. And he loved making people happy. And that's why he decided to start making cartoons."

Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald. Snow White. Bambi. Plenty of other characters they couldn't name. Designs, frames, cels from different productions lined the walls. "It went great for a while! He made shorts, movies, TV shows… Just about anything new thing that came around, he was the first to try it. But, well, after a few decades of that, he started looking for new places to use his ideas. So he created Disneyland."

There was a display of something that looked similar to the Magic Kingdom, only smaller. It was all a lot simpler than what they had seen here, but the sincerity, the laughter was still there. It was a little easier to smile now. Mickey continued. "They called it the happiest place on earth. They couldn't have been more right. But he still knew he could make it even bigger, even better! He started buying land here to make the most incredible land yet."

And suddenly, they stopped. They'd reached the end of the exhibit. Was that all? A tear fell from the mouse's eye, but he quickly wiped it away. "He died before he could see his last dream come true," he explained, trying hard to smile. "But I'm still here, and I gotta keep bringin' smiles and makin' just like he wanted me to. If the villains get what they want…it'll all be gone."

It was clear now, how important this was to him. "He's like family," Anna speculated out loud.

At that remark, the mouse blushed a little. "Haha…yeah, you could say that." Enough of personal matters. It was time to talk about them. "Listen, girls. I know your stay hasn't been so great. Nobody saw this attack coming, but by the time anyone realized, you were already here. It was wrong to throw this all on you so soon. And if you don't want a part in it, I completely understand."

Well, this wasn't right. Admittedly, the fact that he was willing to let them leave settled a lot of Elsa's previous worries. But she couldn't just abandon someone who'd poured his heart out to her. No, she was starting to understand that she was part of this legacy, of something bigger than herself or her sister, or even Arendelle's royal lineage. This put her own kingdom in serious danger, as well as many surrounding kingdoms, the whole world. And as such, it was her responsibility to offer her help.

"No," she smiled. "I had my doubts, but I'll stand by you, Mr. Mickey Mouse. I will fight for this dream of yours."

"We will," Anna insisted as she stepped forward. The queen felt anxious hearing this assertion, but she wouldn't show it right this minute.

Mickey's expression changed drastically. Soon he was smiling bigger than either of them had seen that day. "You really mean it? Aw, shucks…" Aww, he was so cute, Anna giggled. "I can't begin tell you how much I appreciate it. But... Gosh, 7 o'clock already?! I gotta get ready for the show tonight! I'll see ya later." He rushed down the halls, and there was only an awkward silence left behind.

Finally, Anna spoke up. "We got the whole night to play still. What do you think we should do next?"

"Hmm…" Her stomach suddenly gurgled, and she sheepishly tried to quiet in. Not in public! "I think a late dinner sounds fantastic right about now."

Her sister laughed, but it was a joyful laugh, not directed at her little noise. "I'd love that, too."

They made their way out of the building and down the streets, hand in hand. No matter what, Elsa had to be sure that Anna enjoyed the rest of this night, and the days that followed it, without interruption. Now she had a clear idea of what she had to do. Facilier and Ursula had both said it: whoever was in charge of these 'villains' saw the queen of Arendelle as a threat, an obstacle that had to be eliminated. And her younger sister would keep getting caught in the crossfire if things went on the way they did before. Today's incident was something that could never be repeated.

If there was going to be a fight, then so be it. But it would be have to be alone. If these people wanted her, they would have to face her directly; Anna would not be used as a pawn again.