The group all opened their eyes one by one, trying their best to see in the almost pitch black silence. The sled was now being pulled at a steady yet fast pace through the darkness, with the only light source coming from the glow of the neon green stream beneath them. The light of the water barely illuminated the long tunnel ahead, which was covered on either side in tall rock formations that each briefly glowed a bright blue as they sensed Elsa passing by.

They could hear several voices echoing across the caverns like a heavenly chorus as the sled glided gracefully over the emerald water. Elsa and Anna both recognised the tune and lyrics of the choir's hymn, and they felt silent tears forming in their eyes as the sled continued on, gliding out of the tunnel of rock as the glowing stream led to a much wider, open river.

Verðug dróttning stór
Hjarta af gulli skína

Kronum þik med vánum, ást ok trú

Fagra, grýttur land, heimr Árnadalr
Fylgið dróttningu ljóssins

As the emerald colour changed to a bright sky blue Anna slowly reached her hand down onto the water, though the small amount she had cupped into her hand slowly lost it's glow and turned colourless as she returned to her seat. They all looked around in awe as dozens of other shapes suddenly emerged from the water, taking the forms of glowing blue horses, wolves and reindeer that stampeded alongside the sled as the chorus continued their ethereal chanting.

The running shapes rescinded back into the water as the sled passed under the waterfall at the end of this cavern, causing the stream to turn from blue to a beaming shade of red. The group kept themselves low on the sled as they saw millions of small, pink fireballs flying over their heads, having to squint to realise that they were all flying salamanders like Bruni. Olaf reached out to touch one of the small lizards as it whizzed past, before they noticed the river was now changing from red to purple and that the salamanders were actually being blown into the air by the wind spirits.

The sled suddenly stopped at the very end of the stream, right in front of a tall flight of stairs that seemed to be made completely out of ice, leading up to a tall, pure white doorway. Elsa seemed particularly hypnotised by this structure, being the first to get out of the sled and walk towards the steps as the echoing voices sang another familiar tune.

Na na na heyana
Hahiyaha naha
Naheya heya na yanuwa
Anhahe yunuwana

The others all frantically followed Elsa up the steps, remaining a few steps behind as she strode towards the doorway with her feet turning each step bright blue. Her memory was beginning to flood with her old dreams about the Northern Lights. The staircase of ice, the white doorway and a hidden paradise. It was all coming back to her now, and she couldn't fight the temptation to go up there and see it for herself.

I'm standing in the open
I'm climbing through the clouds
No one here will see me
No one will hurt me now

The spirits began to swirl around the Snow Queen as she ascended up the stairs, surrounding her in a fog that initially concealed her from the rest of the group. She hardly noticed this as she kept her eyes focused on the doorway, picking up speed as her excitement filled her heart.

Goodbye, gravity
Goodbye, enemies

I'm going up to a place where the world is small
Where I can fly above it all

The others all went wide-eyed in awe as the spirits rescinded from Elsa, revealing the Snow Queen's new appearance. The bruise under her eye had vanished as her platinum blonde hair hung more loose and open than any of them had ever seen her wearing it before. And her off-the-shoulder dress was mostly a blueish-white, covered in rainbow-coloured sequins shaped like the snowflake of the five spirits, with a long, flowing cape attached to the back of her bodice.

From here I'm weightless
No stars are famous
And the world is small

"Elsa, wait up!" Anna called after her sister to no reply as she increased her speed to follow her. Kristoff was about to do the same, only for Olaf to freeze in his tracks as he saw something to his right, and Kristoff and Anna both stopped to see it as well. It seemed to be a vast ocean of spirits floating upwards in the direction Elsa was going, almost resembling the multicoloured ghosts that Anna used to dream about.

The Queen was initially in awe of this, before she looked up to see her sister getting closer to the doorway. "Elsa!"

Goodbye, gravity
Goodbye, enemies

I'm going up to a place where the world is small
Where I can fly above it all

As Elsa reached the top of the steps she could see the symbols of the four spirits standing in twos on either side, with the doorway in the middle obviously being for the Fifth Spirit herself. This was it. She knew it was. And she felt a rush of emotions as the door came closer, reaching a hand forward to accept the destiny it was offering to her.

From here I'm weightless
No stars are famous
And the world is small

"Elsa!"

She paused with her hand inches away from opening the door as she heard her sister's voice behind her, turning around to see the others standing a few steps behind. They both had an inkling of what would have happened if she'd opened it, and none were entirely sure how they felt about that.

"Anna, I..."

"Elsa... please..." Anna kept her hand reached out, practically begging her sister to take it. "We need you. I need you."

Elsa could feel herself being torn apart by this conflict. She looked back at forth between Anna and the doorway, with either side mentally pulling her towards them. Freedom or family? It was becoming harder for her to make this choice by the moment, before she sighed as she turned away completely from the doorway, running back down the stairs to wrap her younger sister in a hug.

"I'm sorry, Anna..." her tone was regretful and reluctant at the same time, still conveying how conflicted she felt about what to do. "I'm so sorry I nearly did that... we... we shouldn't have come here..."

"Yeah..." Anna looked up at the doorway herself for a moment, sighing as she took her sister's hands and they pulled out of the hug. "We'll be okay, Elsa... come on. Let's get outta here..."

"A trip?! Wow! I can't... wait... where are we going?"

"Not all of us, dear. Your mother and I just have some important business to attend to." Agnarr could see the disappointed look forming on his daughter's face, raising an eyebrow with a playful smirk as he put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Anna, you won't be missing out on much. I'm dreading it myself, you know, cause it'll be so boring that I... I'll barely be able to keep myself a... aw... awake..."

Anna stifled a laugh as her father drooped his eyes closed and pretended to snore, jolting himself up again as he and his wife both chuckled. Iduna took Anna's hand as she said "yes, so... we thought it'd be best if you and Elsa just stayed here."

"Hmm... okay... um... so how long will you be gone for?" Anna's voice cracked a bit as she said this, before her mother smiled back. "Oh... just two weeks. It'll be fine, darling. We'll be back before you know it."

Exchanging a knowing glance with the King, the Queen kissed her daughter on the cheek as she left the room. Anna continued to nervously wring her hands together as her father started gathering what seemed to be maps and other things from the drawers.

"So... two whole weeks, huh? Just me and Elsa..." she rubbed her arm as Agnarr turned to look at her. "I mean... I'm okay with it, I just... I don't know how she'll feel about that..."

"She'll probably enjoy it." he said in a warm tone, though there seemed to be a hint of regret in his voice. "Anna... recently, I've... your mother and I both decided that Elsa shutting you out might not have been... the best course of action to take, and... I think maybe the two of you should start spending time together again."

"Wow..." Anna's wide eyes indicated that she wasn't expecting her father to say that, though there was still a worrying tone in her voice as she looked to the floor. "Papa, I... Elsa, she... what if she shut me for a reason? What if I did something that made her do it, what if... what if she doesn't like me anymore, or...?"

"Oh Anna..." the King had a gentle tone in his voice as he brushed the hair out of her face, while Anna wiped her eye to keep herself from crying. "I know these past few years have been difficult for you both."

"Even... even Elsa?"

"Especially Elsa. But you both need to know that this isn't your fault." He took a moment to think silently, before taking hold of both her shoulders as he proudly said "when your mother and I come back, we'll... we'll fix everything. Bring the pair of you together again. For good, this time. It'll be just like it was, maybe even better."

Anna gasped excitedly as her eyes widened and her face stretched into a smile. "Really...?"

"I promise." Agnarr kissed his younger daughter on the forehead as he pulled her into a hug. "Your sister loves you, Anna. And nothing on Earth could ever change that."

Everyone sighed as the Nøkk pulled the sled alongside the just under the ice palace, all them remaining silent for a few moments before Olaf and Kristoff climbed out of the back segment. Elsa pinched the bridge of her nose before she looked to her sister next to her, gently taking her hand as they exchanged a smile.

"You okay?"

"Uh-huh..." Anna nodded silently and almost reluctantly, with what she had seen in the aurora an hour before still clearly being on her mind as she looked at Elsa's new outfit. She cleared her throat as she itched the back of her head, looking up at the palace in front of them. "Well, um... we should probably see how the others are doing in there..."

"Hmm... yeah."

"Oh man! Ow, hey! No! No more hugging! AAAAGH!"

The four heard Loaf's voice as Kristoff opened the doors to the ice palace, seeing Mattias sitting in the centre of the room under the hulking Marshmallow while the hundreds of miniature snowmen were making some kind of pile. Olaf ran into the castle as Loaf fought his way out of the Snowgie mountain, gasping for breath as he spotted his oldest sibling.

"You... you didn't say there were more of us!" he clumsily tried to straighten his scarf before he realised that a couple more Snowgies were still hanging on the end of it, before looking up at Elsa as she and Anna came in. "There's no more than these guys, right?!"

"We can't control when Elsa gets colds..." Olaf laughed as the Snow Queen shrugged with a grin, walking away from the rest of the group as she went up the stairs. Anna noticed this, taking a moment before she followed her sister as the others all sat with Mattias and Marshmallow.

"Elsa? Hey, Elsa!"

Anna reached the top floor where she could see her sister standing outside on the balcony, walking over to join her as they looked at the kingdom below. There were three ships from Weselton docked just outside, which Anna had begrudgingly accepted as an olive branch between their kingdoms. Neither sister had been happy about this arrangement, but other than that, there seemed to be nothing else to concern about. Berit clearly hadn't attacked and the kingdom was still in one piece, and that was all they needed to worry about.

Anna could tell that Elsa was still feeling conflicted, with her head being tilted slightly in the direction that the aurora's snowflake had been. It almost made Anna feel guilty about stopping her back then, though she remained calm and straight-faced as she stood in the doorway. "Elsa?"

"Uh-huh? Yes...?" Elsa turned back to face her sister, brushing her now completely loose hair out of her face as she did. "What's wrong, Anna?"

"Nothing, I just... I know you liked it up there." Anna casually pointed her thumb in the direction Elsa had been looking. "Up in the Northern Lights..."

"Hmm... yeah. It was beautiful. Like a dream. Like our dreams..." Elsa looked in that direction again, seeing that the aurora had now completely vanished in the midday sky. "I guess dreams aren't meant to last though, right?"

Anna found herself pinching the bridge of her nose as she thought about what to say next, letting Elsa look at her almost questioningly before she spoke. "I guess not, but... um... well... you know, Elsa... I was thinking about back then, and uh... well... everyone deserves the chance to fly, sis... you know what I mean...?"

"Anna... what are you trying to say?" Elsa asked as she looked to her with some anticipation, before both went wide-eyed as she heard a familiar voice coming from downstairs. "HEY GUYS! I'M BACK!"

The sisters rushed down the stairs to where the others were embracing and laughing with the familiar little snow-girl, with Anna's face lighting up with pure jubilation and relief as she clumsily rushed over with arms outstretched. "BEATRIX!"

"ANNA!" Beatrix jumped out of Kristoff's arms and right into the arms of the Queen, nearly knocking them both to the floor as they hugged tightly. Elsa smiled at this, before her ears pricked up at the sound of a familiar rumbling coming from outside the balcony, slowly sneaking back up the stairs to investigate.

"Oh sweetheart, I... I'm so sorry we left you behind! I was being so stupid, but... oh, but I'm just so glad you're okay!" Anna was nearly squeezing the life out of Beatrix as she held her close, though Beatrix merely welcomed the affection as she continued to return the embrace.

"I'm fine, Anna, really..." she smiled warmly as she straightened her glasses. "I don't wanna brag or anything, but it was easy enough to escape. See, I was trying to tell the crazy lady with sparkle fingers all of Olaf's trivia, but she just got really annoyed and let me go..."

"Yeah, ha ha... Yeah, I bet she d... wait, what?!" Anna's eyes went wide as her face straightened. "She let you go? Intentionally?"

"Uh-huh. Sure did." Beatrix nodded naively, as Anna and Kristoff both began to piece together what this could have meant. Kristoff got down to Beatrix's level, looking her in the eyes as he said "Beatrix... how did you get back here?"

"Oh yeah. Lynnedslag dropped me off. You know, the crazy lady's lightning dog th..." Beatrix was cut off when they all heard the thundering ZZZAAP! of a lightning bolt and a familiar cry coming from the top floor, with Anna looking to the foot of the staircase where her sister no longer was.

"Oh no... no-no-no-no-no! ELSA!"

The roof of the palace had been completely blasted apart by Berit's attack, with the second floor being littered with millions of shards and fractals as the Storm Queen strode over to the wall she'd blasted Elsa into, with Elsa herself lying front-down on the floor groaning as she tried to pull herself back up.

"Wow... you look different, Elsa... new dress?" Berit snarked as she bent down to the Snow Queen's level, pinching her left sleeve to admire the fabric. "It's a good different... UGH!"

She stumbled back in a brief moment of shock as Elsa suddenly sent her elbow into her face, preparing a blast of ice before Berit suddenly shocked her with another, even more powerful bolt. Elsa shut her eyes and cried out in agony as she was electrocuted, which got Anna's attention as she reached the top of the stairs and came into the room.

"Hey... leave my sister alone!" Anna tried to run to attack the Storm Queen, getting all of five steps forward before she was suddenly pinned against the wall by the snarling face of Lynnedslag. Berit chuckled as she got to her feet, picking up Elsa's nearly unconscious body as her purple clouds lowered down to their level.

She looked back to Anna with a grin as she threw Elsa's body onto the cloud, stepping onto it herself as she snapped her fingers to summon Lynnedslag away from the Queen. Anna wheezed out as she fell to the floor, watching as the hound returned to the cloud and Berit clenched her fist to summon more bolts down from the sky.

"You tried your best, Ann-a!" she shouted in a mocking tone as the cloud rose into the sky. "But you were never going to keep her from me! And now the game draws to a close... with me fulfilling my destiny, and rebuilding the world! Starting with Arendelle!"

"No... no, Elsa!" Anna ran to the very edge of the balcony as the others all watched from below, trying to reach her sister before it just missed her grasp. She hopelessly stared down as Berit's cloud travelled to Arendelle with Elsa on it, straining out her lungs as she belted out as loud as she could.

"ELSA!"

Anna took a moment for everything she'd just been through to set in, eventually collapsing onto her knees as her face started gushing out tears. The awful feeling that had been pestering her for the past few days was now weighing her down completely, all while her mind tore into itself with intense self-deprecation.

Kristoff and the others had all reached the midpoint of the stairs and had seen Elsa being taken away, with Olaf holding his two newest siblings close as Mattias crossed his arms and leaned back against the railings.

"She's got Elsa... and now she's going to destroy Arendelle..." he said in a sullen tone. "What do we do now?"

Kristoff looked up to where his wife was on the balcony, nodding to the others as they all headed back downstairs and he continued heading up.

Anna hadn't noticed him coming up, keeping her eyes fixated on the kingdom as she remained deep in though. The fact that this wouldn't have happened if Elsa had stayed in the aurora was the main thought on her mind, as well as all the other problems that she could find some way to blame on herself. Hope was gone, as far as she knew, and the voice in her mind was drowned out by her grief.

I see dark again, it's coming back
And it's cold, and it's empty, and it's numb

The end I knew was coming, it's on it's way
Hello darkness, I'm ready to succumb

She sighed as she thought back to all she'd done and said in the past few days, especially to Elsa and Olaf, becoming increasingly more bitter and resentful of herself as she faced the ground and closed her eyes, letting more tears come down her cheeks as she stayed silent for a moment.

Life's too short
To be such an oblivious fool
So reckless, that I couldn't see

Life's too short to be so desperate to be loved
That I only ever thought of me

I wish I saw things clearly
I guess I'm just not the sort

Now all I know
Is life's... too... short

Kristoff slowly walked over to the cliff edge where his wife was crouched and sobbing, sighing as he put his hands on his hips. "Well... guess thing's really seem terrible now, huh?"

She didn't turn to face him fully as he said this, though she seemed to let out a sigh as he continued. "I mean... the ice palace just got decapitated, Berit's probably gonna kill Elsa, and then she's most likely gonna use her magic to destroy the world and wipe out the human race. So yeah... pretty bleak note to end everything on..."

This just made Anna bury her face in her hands as she cried even more, which prompted a small grin to form on Kristoff's face as he kept pushing. "It'd be really great if someone tried to do something about it. Know what I mean? Someone powerful. Someone important... maybe the Queen, I dunno..."

"I... I can't..." Anna's throat was strained through her tears and her voice was muffled through her hands, though Kristoff didn't let up. "Ugh... forgive me, sweetheart, but I think I had some of Sven's old fluff stuck in my ear, so you're gonna have to say that again. But it almost sounded like you said that you... can't?"

"I can't do this." She lifted her head slightly as she spoke a little louder, though tears still fell down her face. "I can't, Kristoff... I can't stop Berit, I can't protect Arendelle, I can't even protect you guys, I... I can't be Elsa."

"Well then... don't." he got closer to Anna and got down on one knee so he was on her level, letting her turn slowly to look at him. "Be Anna."

She seemed to be confused by this at first, rolling her eyes as she wiped her face with the palm of her hand. "I'm not enough... Arendelle needs more than just... just a spare this time..."

"Hmm... you're right. They need more than a spare. They need the girl who survived a Frozen Heart. The girl who saved the Snow Queen from herself. The girl who looked despair right in the eye... and did the next right thing."

Anna remained silent as she took in what her husband was saying, letting Kristoff gently place a kiss on the side of her forehead before he stood up and went back to the others. The Queen remained silent for another moment or so, before a hint of gold caught her eye as she looked to the sky.

The sun was shining in the distance, cutting through the blueish-grey with a beaming orange that cast itself against the North Mountain behind her. Anna closed her eyes, letting a final tear go down her face as she put her hand to her heart and rose to her feet with a heavy exhale. She couldn't think too far ahead about what was going to happen at the end of the day, as only one thought remained at the front of her mind now.

Then I'll make the choice
To hear that voice
And do

The next... right... thing...

The others all sat inside the remains of the palace still, gathered silently in a melancholy circle as they all pondered about what was going to happen next. Kristoff was holding Beatrix on his knee while Loaf and Olaf both sat at his feet, comfortingly stroking the back of the snow-girl's head as she looked up to him. "Hey, Kristoff...?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"I don't..." Beatrix tried not to cry or hyperventilate, but was finding it increasingly difficult as she took off her misty glasses. "I don't know what it's like to die, but... I don't wanna know what it feels like, not yet, and I know if Elsa... if Elsa was... I'm... I'm scared, Kristoff."

Kristoff sighed as he wrapped his arms around Beatrix, letting the snow-girl bury her sobbing little head in his chest as Olaf, Loaf and the Snowgies all joined in the group hug. Mattias hesitated for a moment, before he scooched himself over to the rest of the group while Marshmallow wrapped his massive arms around them all. They stayed like this for about half a minute, having initially planned to stay like this until the inevitable moment came, but they all shot their heads up in surprise as the door suddenly opened and the Queen strode in.

"Alright, everybody listen up!" Anna called as they all turned to face her, clenching her fists with a determined smile as Bruni suddenly crawled up onto her shoulder. "Arendelle is counting on us, and it's only chance is if we all stand together and fight for it! We're gonna go down there, get Elsa back, and save our home!"