3/10/22: Started

6/10/22: Completed


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Chapter Summery: Anna practices a new talent that can open many doors for her, as well as those around her.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Frozen, Tangled or any other Disney characters or locations that appear or are mentioned in this work of fiction, Disney does.


- Arendelle -

- Outside the town walls, 1:21 P.M. -

"Thanks again for joining me." commented Anna, dressed in her unique glass dress as she and Cassandra, who wore a light green sleeveless tunic, revealing her bare arms and her green-tinted, icy leggings underneath, walked towards the shore just outside the towns left wall, facing the castle.

"And again, you're welcome." replied Cassandra with a smile. "I was going to head out anyway; nice to have some company."

"And we're not interrupted by my Father this time."

"Heh, that too." replied Cassandra, before the two stopped at the sandy shore. "So this is where you do all your magic training, huh?"

"Yep." answered Anna. "It's away from town, the big walls there, the fjords in front of us, a good distance away from the trees. It's perfect for my needs."

"So what are you training this time?" asked Cassandra, which prompted Anna to look at her with a toothy smile.

"Well, I told you about yesterday's eventful trip we had, but what I didn't mention was before that, Silvia's friend, Edith, taught Elsa and me how to make a portal, like they can."

"Really?" gasped Cassandra. "You two can make portals now!?"

"Heh, well, not exactly." replied Anna with a nervous chuckle. "Elsa wasn't interested in learning, but Edith instructed me how to create a portal. I followed the instructions, and I nearly succeeded before my portal collapsed in an explosion and ended up knocking Elsa out."

"Ouch." commented Cassandra with a grimace.

"Yeah... hehe..." replied Anna. "I was so worried that I put Elsa in danger that I didn't want to try again, but I want to now." she added, before Cassandra chuckled and commented.

"Oh, so I'm OK to be put in the line of fire?"

"Heh, well, you're tougher physically than Elsa." replied Anna. "If I fail spectacularly again, you'll be fine."

"Hehe, sure." replied Cassandra with a smile.

"Anyway..." stated Anna, with her hands on her hips and a smile. "I know what I did wrong yesterday; I let my excitement and impatience get the better of me, and I lost focus. Now, knowing that I have the potential to actually make a portal, I'll be able to better reign in my excitement and remain focused, complete the process, and have a functioning portal in front of me. I'll be able to go anywhere I've ever been or will go in the future with the snap of my fingers!" explained Anna delightfully, before giddily hopping up and down. "Ohhhh, I can't wait!"

"Hehe, well, I'm certainly interested in seeing this myself." commented Cassandra. "Anything else I should know as a spectator?"

"The surrounding area will get really hot." answered Anna before lowering her gaze in thought. "But, Elsa also covered us in dome though, so I dunno if the heat was enough to light the trees on fire."

"Well, I can do that." commented Cassandra as she extended her right hand behind them, her magic shooting from her hands, and unlike Elsa, who materialized a dome to enclose them in, Cassandra created a three-walled perimeter in the shape of a 'U', that rose a couple of meters in the air. Directly above and in front of them were open spaces. "Good?" asked Cassandra.

"Yeah, great." answered Anna, before she looked over the protective wall for a moment and smiled. "Yanno, there's something I've noticed when you're using magic."

"Really?" asked Cassandra curiously.

"Yeah. It's something Elsa doesn't do- well, rarely ever does. Aside from you making weapons, when you create something, you start from the ground up."

"Ahh... heh, right." replied Cassandra with a chuckle. "That's a habit from when I had the Moonstone. I'd create the black rocks from within the ground. It was my first and only experience with magic, so that's what I fell back to when I was granted the magic I currently have. The sparring match I had with your sister made me realize I didn't need to restrict myself to that, but what's familiar is hard to change, yanno?"

"Yeah, I get it. If it works, no sense changing it." stated Anna, which prompted an agreeing chuckle from Cassandra before stepping back a few feet.

"Well, you can start doing your thing."

"Alright..." commented Anna as she turned to face the water with an excited grin and rubbed her hands together. "I already know I can do this." she added, before closing her eyes and taking a couple of breaths. "... Keep my excitement in check and stay focused. The hard part is making the portal. Once it's finished and stable, THEN I can be excited. Ok, let's do this!"

After a deep inhale and slow exhale, Anna opened her eyes and extended her right hand out, before Cassandra spoke up.

"Oh, question, where are you making a portal to?"

"Oh right." replied Anna. "Hmm, my first attempt was making a portal to the castle's dungeon, but since I'm making a more serious attempt, if I fall, I might damage the dungeon. Hmm, I wonder, could I make the exit portal the same area we're in? That would solve the issue."

"You'll just have to try." stated Cassandra.

"Alright..." replied Anna as she extended her hand out again and created a head-sized ball of fire that she directed out ahead of her a few yards where the water laps the shore. "Ok..." sighed Anna. "Concentrate my effort on a point, burn a hole into the air, and focus on the exit point being beside where the start point is." After telling herself what needed to be done, Anna closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. "I can do this. I nearly did it yesterday, just gotta stay focused."

Following another slow breath in and out, Anna opened her eyes and set to the task in front of her. The large ball of fire quickly shrunk as she fed more of her magic into it, and the amber-colored flickering flames shifted in color as the orb became hotter and hotter.

The orb continued to shrink as the temperature increased. The flickering of wayward flames faded for a more contained orb shape as it shifted to white. The radiant heat coming from it now prompted Cassandra to whistle and comment...

"Well, I can certainly feel the heat."

"It's gonna get even hotter before it stops." commented Anna, having little issue maintaining the current state of the fireball.

"Oh, really?" asked Cassandra. "Well, given what you've told me about your previous practice sessions of magic, I'll come out of this for now."

Curious, Anna looked back to see Cassandra remove her tunic, revealing the green, ice bodysuit she wore the first time they had met, minus the sleeves. Cassandra walked back to the ice wall behind them, placed the article of clothing down, and covered it in ice before she turned around with a smile, sat and continued to watch.

Anna also smiled at Cassandra's precaution and returned her focus to the orb. With a slight groan of effort, feeding more energy into the white, glowing ball of fire, it shrinks a little more, now no bigger than the palm of her hand, as the white fire shifted to a hissing blue orb that now produced a heated wind that fluttered Anna's glass dress.

Cassandra, looking on, was silent not to break Anna's focus, but her eyes widened at the impressive show before her.

'Alright...' thought Anna. 'This is where I need to stay focused.' she added. Anna lifted her left hand towards the fireball, before she gritted her teeth with a groan and turned the palms of her hands towards each other. At the same time, the hissing orb slowly began to shrink as the heat and wind began to grow in intensity. The blue hissing ball began to darken, just as it did on her last attempt and just like her previous attempt; the intense, heated wind also faded as the blue orb shifted towards the shrinking black point. "Nngh, O-Ok..." groaned Anna. "This is slightly easier than last time. Just a little, nngh, more..."

Her hands nearly clasped together, a strained smile came to Anna's face as the last shade of blue left the orb, and she was left with an intense black point hovering in the air with a hazy aura around it. With one half of the process done, following a brief, strained breath of maintaining the black point, Anna turned her hands around and groaned as she began to pull her hands away, fighting against the resistant force that attempted to stop her.

Slowly, Anna's hands began to make distance between each other. To Anna's delight, she saw the black orb begin to grow, doubly so as she saw a spark in the area about two yards to the right of the ball, and Anna nearly lost her focus again as her heart raced in excitement.

'No, no! Stay focused!' she thought to herself. 'You're not done yet! Finish, THEN get excited!'

Catching herself and refocusing on the critical task at hand, Anna continued to pull open the portal, and the black orb began to shift into a small ring, which was soon mirrored by the spark that grew into a ring.

Cassandra, meanwhile, looked on with awe, her mouth agape.

"She's actually doing it.' thought Cassandra, wide-eyed.

Anna, groaning in the effort, continued to pull, causing the now mirrored rings to grow and their centers to not reveal the water behind them but the white of Cassandra's ice enclosure as their black rims shifted to a dark blueish color with sparks jumping from them. Once the mirrored rings reached head-sized, Anna found pulling them open easier. Whatever force that was fighting her seemed to relent.

A smile came to Anna's face as she widened the portal with less straining effort needed. As eager as she was to celebrate, Anna only let herself smile and reminded herself to finish first before celebrating. Excited moments passed as the portal grew in size, and the fiery rim of the twin portals took on a blue hue as numerous sparks jumped from their edges. Once there was no further blackness in the fire and the blue color was consistant, Anna felt the last of the resistance fade and allowed her to expand the twin portals to person-sized freely.

While the bottom of the portals burned the ground from proximity, Anna was finally able to relax with a sigh and a big smile as she lowered her left hand. Slowly followed by her right, she watched the twin portals for a moment; the effort was still needed to maintain them, but...

"I did it..." commented Anna lowly, as if she couldn't believe it herself and not wanting to jinx it, but as she stood, so did the portals. "I did it!" repeated Anna a little louder before Cassandra walked up beside Anna to her right, also looking on in awe, before she was a bit surprised when Anna hugged her excitedly. "I did it!" declared Anna. "It's stable! I just created a WORKING, STABLE portal!"

"You sure did." commented Cassandra with a smile, followed by Anna releasing her and hopping up and down excitedly.

"Ohhhh, this is awesome! I did it! I really did it! The edges clearly need some work with all the sparks, but I'm sure that'll go away with time and me getting better, but I really did it!"

Anna then began to walk towards the portal in front of her. However, she was surprised when Cassandra placed her left arm in front of her.

"Hold on there Princess." stated Cassandra with a smile. "I know you're excited to try it out, but let's slow down and test some things first."

"Oh, right. Heh..." replied Anna.

"Hehe... It LOOKS stable." stated Cassandra. "... but that could be all it is." she added, "First, how do you feel?"

"Good." answered Anna. "Energy-wise, it feels like I'm lifting and holding something heavy, but I'm fine for now. Definitely a lot easier to maintain the portal compared to creating it. With the addition of maintaining my dress and the portal, I dunno if I could multi-task a third thing."

"Alright, so you're on a time limit." stated Cassandra before she lifted her right hand and created a sword. "First, instead of you, let's see if an object will pass through the portal unharmed." she added, before she walked up to the portal in front of them, and Cassandra slowly extended her ice sword into it.

Both saw the sword emerge from the portal's twin to its right, and Anna gave a grinning 'Ohhh.' Cassandra further tested the safety of the portal by waving the sword a little.

"I can swing it just fine." commented Cassandra before pulling the sword back and looking it over. "And it looks fine, no cracks or wear." she added, before looking back to a grinning Anna. "Did you feel anything unusual when I stuck the sword in?

"Nope, just fine."

Cassandra hummed as she looked back to the portal before she tossed her sword through it and came out of the portal's twin, stabbing into the ground to their right.

"Still nothing?" asked Cassandra.

"Yep, still fine." answered Anna. "Looks like things passing through the portal have no increased strain on me."

"Good." replied Cassandra before she walked over to retrieve the sword, and Anna giggled as she saw Cassandra through the portal as she had walked into the view of the other.

"Hey, I can see you."

Cassandra looked up at the portal she was facing and saw Anna giving a wave of her hand. Cassandra chuckled and returned the greeting.

"There's one other thing I wanna test." stated Cassandra, looking at the rim of the portal. "The edges are a bit concerning with all the sparks."

"Yeah..." commented Anna, with her hands on her hips. "But this is my first attempt. I'm sure the edges will smoothen out in time."

Cassandra didn't reply, but lifted her sword through the portal again, not pointing at Anna. However, to the side, her right, Anna's left, towards the edge of the portal and to both of their surprise, the sword was cut in two as it contacted the boarder, the protruding end falling to the ground in front of Anna.

"Whoa..." commented Anna. "Heh, ok... no touching the sides."

"Yeah..." added Cassandra, looking at the severed end of the sword in her hand. "... I didn't feel any resistance to my sword being cut... any future portals you make, you should make them extra big."

"Right, noted. Would like to keep my arms and legs."

"So..." stated Cassandra, as the two halves of the sword dispersed into snow, and she looked at the two portals. "One last thing to do, I guess." she added, looking to Anna, who grinned at her.

"Oh, don't wanna take the first walk through?" teased Anna.

"Well, this is your big moment." replied Cassandra with a smile as she took a few steps back from the portal. "Far be it from me to take this from you."

Anna smirked at her friend before she turned her attention to the portal in front of her, seeing Cassandra on the other side as Anna herself stepped up within feet of the portal and took a deep breath.

Anna first lifted her left hand towards the portal and quickly thrust her hand in and out. Her hand looked and felt fine, and Anna repeated inserting her hand into the portal. Slower, but not snatching her hand away. and waving her hand a bit, before looking over and seeing her hand emerge from the other portal, a delighted chuckle left Anna before she pulled her hand back again.

"Ok..." sighed Anna, taking another breath as she felt her heart race.

Anna lifted her left foot and cautiously, reached over the bottom edge of the portal and lowered her foot to solid ground on the other side. Anna quickly followed with the rest of her body, taking a few steps to clear the portal in the event she trips. Quickly looking over herself, seeing she was still in one piece, a big smile came to her face, and she turned around to face the portal she had just left. Now in a different location than she was a moment ago, she had taken a step forward and ended up to the right of where she previously stood.

"It works!" commented Anna happily. "I feel fine, and I'm in one piece; I'm in a different spot than I was..." she added, before turning around to face Cassandra with a beaming smile and hopping excitedly. "It WORKS! IT REALLY WORKS!"

"Congratulations." praised Cassandra with a smile.

"Ohhh, this is so awesome!" declared Anna as she turned around to the portals again. "Anywhere I've been, or will go in the future, I can just, GO THERE! No planning or boat rides, I can just GO!" she added delightfully, excitedly jumping up and down again.

Moments into her excitement, though, Anna stopped and calmed a bit.

"Ok, one final test."

"There's more?" asked Cassandra.

"Yeah." answered Anna, turning to face Cassandra with a smile. "Next is to repeat this." she added, looking back to the portals. "This success could be me getting lucky; real success is being able to do this a second time."

"Makes sense." commented Cassandra.

"Now..." commented Anna, lifting her right hand towards the portal in front of her. "Can I close the portals without them blowing up?"

"We should step back a bit." stated Cassandra as she took a few steps back, followed by Anna, standing to her right. "... And just to be safe..." added Cassandra before she created a waist-high ice wall in front of them. "We can duck behind this if you feel control slipping."

"Thanks." replied Anna, before she began to will the portals closed, like she would if she were to disperse her fire.

To Anna's mild surprise, the portals behaved like normal fire under her control; they began to shrink. The initial portal now to her left shrank faster than the one in front of her, which once head-sized, the portal to the left shrank to nothing with a single spark.

"So far, so good." commented Anna. "Closing the portal seems to be a lot easier than making it. Just gotta be on the lookout if closing this one will create that black point." she added, before lifting her left hand to join her right for added control.

"Well, the fire's still blue." commented Cassandra. "There was black in it around this same size when you first created it."

"True." replied Anna.

With the remaining portal shrinking, Anna noticed that the fire remained blue, right down to when it shrank to a hissing ball of fire, which Anna easily dispersed as usual.

"Well..." commented Anna with a smile. "That was less stressful than I was expecting."

"Yeah." replied Cassandra, smiling before she noticed Anna lean over onto the waist-high ice wall in front of her, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing..." panting Anna, "I just feel... a bit winded. I guess creating and maintaining the portal took more effort than I thought and having a break just hit me with a tired feeling." she added, before lowering herself to sit on the ground with a smile. "But I'm fine, though, just gotta rest a bit. If I knew this affected me like my healing does, I would've brought a snack with me."

"So you're fine?" asked Cassandra, kneeling beside Anna. "No need to go get someone?"

"Heh, no, no. I just need to rest a moment."

"Well that's good." replied Cassandra, before she banished the walls she created and sat down beside Anna.

"It's still hard to believe!" stated Anna delightfully as she relaxed back on the ground, looking up to the sky. "I can make portals! I just have to go somewhere; make that first effort, then I visit anytime I want!"

"Yeah..." replied Cassandra with a smile. "That is incredible."

"Elsa's silly for not wanting to learn this." commented Anna, which only prompted a small chuckle from Cassandra before Anna gasped and quickly sat up and looked at Cassandra. "Oh, hey! I just thought of something amazing!"

"W-What?" asked Cassandra, a little surprised by Anna's sudden outburst.

"You have the same magic as Elsa; how about YOU try making a portal while I rest!?"

"W-What!?" gasped Cassandra.

"Yeah! You've had you're magic longer than I have, so you'd probably have an easier time. Oh, PLUS, you could make a portal to Corona, and we can both visit Rapunzel, and since I'll be in Corona, I can remember a particular location and go there whenever!"

"Eh, I dunno..." replied Casandra as she averted her gaze. "I'm a bit reluctant to return there."

"Come on. I'm sure Rapunzel would love to see you again!"

"Heh, I don't doubt that." replied Cassandra with a chuckle.

"So come on! At least try!"

Cassandra sighs with a smile as she shakes her head.

"Ok, fine, I'll try." she replied, "I do need to train my magic for non-combat uses after all and being able to travel to all the places I've been would be nice."

"Awesome!" declared Anna. "Plus, you've had your magic longer than I have, so you'll probably have an easier time than I do."

"Heh, so you'd be ok if I succeeded on my first attempt?" asked Cassandra.

"Of course, I would!" declared Anna happily. "I wouldn't get jealous over that. I'd be happy for you. Plus, you might even be able to share some tips I could use."

"Heh, so how do I even go about this?" asked Cassandra. "I can't exactly burn a hole into the air."

"Hmm, you have a point." stated Anna. "You'd probably need to freeze the air. I remember Edith telling me that the process wasn't necessarily difficult, but tricky for first-timers and takes a lot of effort and some multi-tasking."

"Multi-tasking?" asked Cassandra.

"Yeah, you have to have a clear image in your head of where you want to go." answered Anna. "That was my issue the first time. I was so excited that I was doing it, I lost focus on where I wanted the portal to be in the middle of its creation, and it was like a rope was snatched from my hands and boom."

"Alright..." replied Cassandra as she returned to her feet. "Picture and maintain the location I want to go to until the portal is created. You focused your magic on a point and burned the air... hmm, I dunno if that would work for me."

"What do you think would work for you?"

Cassandra lowered her gaze and hummed to herself for a few moments before lifting her gaze and extending her right hand out. With an upward motion of her hand, she created what appeared to be an icy doorway about two yards in front of her, with a gleaming smooth wall of ice where a door would be.

"Ohhh, I see what you're doing." stated Anna as she stood. "Make a sort of frame for the portal, then focus your magic in that particular area." she added as she saw Cassandra's face frown up a little in concentration. "Hmmm, I wonder if I could do that with glass." continued Anna. "But the heat would melt a possible glass frame..."

"Anna..." commented Cassandra. "Not to be rude, but do you mind being quiet for a bit? I-"

"Oh!" gasped Anna. "Right, you need to focus and concentrate, since this is new for you; and me standing right next to you talking and thinking out loud isn't really helping that." she added embarrassingly before taking a couple of steps back and to the side. "I'll just give you some space and be quiet and let you focus. Hoping you succeed, though!" she added, which prompted Cassandra to look at her with a smile.

"Thanks."

'This is awesome!' thought Anna as Cassandra turned her attention back to the frame. 'If Cass can do this, I can relay any tips to Elsa. It's a win-win for all of us!'

Anna delightfully watched as Cassandra extended her right hand towards the icy door, and her hand glowed with her magic as wispy tendrils of her magic emerged from her hand towards the smooth wall in front of her, causing it to slowly glow.

Anna was wide-eyed watching the attempt; Cassandra focused on a larger, contained area rather than a focused point like she did; it was interesting to see a different approach. Moments into the attempt, though, Anna saw Cassandra's face frown up in effort as her hand and the would-be portal glowed more.

However, silently delighted that Cassandra would succeed her first time, just seconds passed before the glowing door flashed and Cassandra gasped as her hand was knocked away with enough force to cause her to be thrown to the ground.

"Hey, you ok!?" gasped Anna rushing up to Cassandra.

"Yeah, yeah..." replied Cassandra, lifting her right hand and shaking it slightly. "There was more resistance than I expected. It caught me by surprise."

"Oh..." replied Anna with a sigh of relief before she looked to the icy door, which looked the same as when Cassandra first made it. "Well, the door is fine; it didn't blow up like my first attempt did."

"Heh, yeah, just a personal backlash." commented Cassandra with a chuckle; before she stood, she continued to shake her right hand a little. "My hand feels a little numb from that, but I'll give it another go; It felt like my attempt was on the right track."

Anna saw Cassandra lift her left towards the door, and she backed away again to give her space to focus on her second attempt.

It didn't take long before Cassandra returned to her previous state of progress, teeth clenched and groaning as both her hand and the door glowed brighter and brighter, almost bright enough for both, Anna and Cassandra to be forced to look away, but a hand in front of their faces provided ample shading over their eyes.

Soon after, Anna saw Cassandra step towards the glowing potential portal, closing the two-yard gap to about half. Cassandra's left arm was now slightly bent at the elbow from the assumed resistance before Anna heard a hard groan from her, before thrusting her hand towards the glowing wall with a yell of effort.

The apparent final push prompted two notable things to occur; First, there was a blinding flash of light that forced both to turn their heads away and close their eyes, and second, a sound that both recognized as glass shattering.

Once the blinding light faded, they blinked open their eyes and turned their attention back to the wall. Both of their mouths were agape; In place of the once gleaming ice wall was an unfamiliar view of what looked like one side of a bridge, overlooking a large body of water in the daytime.

"Whoa..." gasped Anna in awe as she walked up beside an equally impressed Cassandra. "You actually did it. Congratulations!" she added, quickly hugging Cassandra, who gave a small chuckle and smiled herself.

"Y-yeah... I did..." she added, in similar disbelief that Anna had shown.

"... And the frame is still there." stated Anna, releasing Cassandra as she turned her attention to the frame the portal resided in before she quickly looked around on the ground and picked up a small branch and neared it towards the right edge of the frame, which contacted it harmlessly. "Ohh, the edges are safe to touch... what about the inner edge..." she added, before she reached the stick a little into the portal and attempted to touch the inner right side.

The inner edge of the portal was more harmful to the stick as it suddenly froze, and Anna barely removed her hand in time as the ice traveled the length of the stick and exploded in a cloud of snow.

"Oooookay, the inner edge is still dangerous." commented Anna. "But your portal is shaped like a door and reaches all the way to the ground, so no risk of tripping and losing a foot." she added, before looking to Cassandra, who simply smiled at her accomplishment. "Cass?"

"O-Oh, right... heh, I'm just... still in amazement."

"Heh, now we both can make portals!" declared Anna. "So, where does this portal lead?"

"It should be the bridge that connects Corona to the mainland." answered Cassandra. "It's usually not very populated, so I chose there instead of somewhere inside the town; I don't want to cause a panic. Although, I probably should've created it at the entrance of the bridge."

"Ohhh, then let's go!" stated Anna excitedly.

"Wait, wait, shouldn't we notify your sister and father before you head to another kingdom?"

"It's fine." replied Anna with a dismissive wave of the hand. "We're allies. Plus, we can just pop in, look around a bit and pop out. Maybe heading to the castle would be a bit much for a surprise visit, so, unfortunately, meeting Rapunzel would have to wait, but I'd still like to visit the town a bit. You could be my tour guide!" she added. Cassandra still looked hesitant and averted her gaze in thought for a moment.

"Alright." replied Cassandra. "Just a quick visit. Meet some people, maybe visit a shop or two, and we head back."

"Deal!" replied Anna as she reached out her right hand, which Cassandra took and shook.

"Ok..." stated Cassandra, looking at her portal. "Since I made this, I'll take the first step in." she added walking up to the portal, giving it a once over, before walking through it, and Anna saw her briefly look around, then at herself, before turning back to Anna with a smile and reaching out her right hand to her through the portal. "Ok, everything's good. Come to Corona with me."

Anna grinned excitedly and took Cassandra's hand, allowing her to lead her through the portal.

- Corona -

Upon stepping through to the other side, Anna's mouth was agape as she looked to her right and saw the island town of Corona.

"WHOA!" gasped Anna. "It's so big!" declared Anna. "It's definitely bigger than Arendelle's town; It's a whole island! ... And the castles at the top... I'm sure the view is amazing from there!"

"Yeah..." replied Cassandra with a smile. "It's quite a view from the castle." she added, before she glanced down at herself and gasped. "Oh, wait a minute!"

Anna then gasped when she felt Cassandra take her hand and lead her back through the portal.

"What's wrong?" asked Anna as she saw Cassandra head to her discarded clothing and put it on.

"Almost forgot my clothing."

"Oh, right." stated Anna. "You wanna keep your magic a secret."

"Yeah..." replied Cassandra before she and Anna returned through the portal. "Plus, my ice suit looks pretty similar to the one I had when I had the moonstone, so I don't want to cause any misunderstandings." she added nervously. "This will be my first visit back since I destroyed this place. So... yeah... best foot forward. Didn't plan on coming here after-all. I don't have any regular pants with me either."

Anna smiled and resumed marveling at the sights, walking around a bit as Cassandra attempted and successfully closed her portal, dispersing the ice into snow that quickly melted.

"This bridge is so big too, and it's arched." stated Anna. "It's just water as far as I can see! I thought our ocean view was great, but this is beautiful!"

"Hehe, well, do you wanna stay here on the bridge being amazed at the water or do you wanna head into town?" asked Cassandra before she calmly walked by Anna, who chuckled and followed along to her left.

"Did you ever think the next time you return here, you'd be escorting the princess of another kingdom as your guest?" asked Anna with a smile.

"Heh, no, can't say that's ever crossed my mind." answered Cassandra.

The two walked the remaining length of the bridge towards the town, Anna wide-eyed and smiling along the way, even more so when they crossed the threshold into town. Anna was met with what appeared to be a marketplace near the entrance, populated with people along the street.

It didn't take long for a few gazes to turn their attention to them, Cassandra nervously avoiding their eyes while Anna happily greeted people they walked by.

Anna greeted nearly everyone that was within arm's length of her. After only about five minutes of walking through the streets, they were stopped by one of the Corona guards who happened to be walking towards them and made a bee-line towards them upon noticing them, or rather, Cassandra.

"Cassandra? Is that you?" he asked with a smile, which visibly relaxed Cassandra at the friendly greeting.

"Heh, yeah." replied Cassandra.

"What brings you back to Corona?" asked the guard. "And you have a guest?" he added, looking to Anna, who reached out her right hand.

"Hi, I'm Anna." stated Anna, happily introducing herself.

"Dave." replied the guard, taking her offered hand and shaking it.

"I was just traveling with my friend here..." stated Cassandra. "We were in the area, and she's never been in the city, so I'm showing her around."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" stated the guard before looking at Anna, "I hope you enjoy your tour of our lovely city."

"Thanks! I will!" replied Anna. "What are the chances I get to meet the Princess?" she added.

"Heh, well, since you're with Cassandra, one of her best friends, I'd guess you'd just need to head to the castle and introduce yourself."

"Oh, well, I wouldn't want to bother anyone by heading to the castle." replied Anna.

"Well, if you're lucky, you might encounter the princess outside the castle." replied the Guard. "She makes frequent trips into town for many different reasons."

"Well, that's nice." stated Anna. "I hope I'm lucky enough to meet her."

"I hope you are too." replied the Guard. "I'm sure she'd be delighted to see Cassandra again."

"Same here." stated Cassandra with a smile.

"Farewell then." stated the Guard before walking by them. The pair briefly watched the guard depart before Cassandra turned to Anna and asked...

"Why didn't you introduce yourself as princess?"

"Well, I wanna see how friendly people here are without knowing I'm a princess." answered Anna. "I'd likely get a straight shot to Rapunzel if I introduced myself as a Princess; besides, we did agree that I'd meet a few people, maybe visit a couple of stores, then head back. If I don't run into Rapunzel during that time, then I don't. I'll have another chance in the future."

"Well, yeah, you make a good point."

"Plus, if I announced who I was, I'd probably get roped into meeting Rapunzel's parent's; not that I wouldn't want to meet them, but this is meant to be a short trip. Certainly wouldn't be short if word spread that a princess of another kingdom made an unannounced visit, so... look around, enjoy the sights, the people, then head back home."

"Alright." replied Cassandra with a smile. "Then let's go further in."


The two then spent the next fifteen or so minutes walking the streets of Corona. Frequently stopped, however, primarily by Corona's Royal Guard patrolling the streets, spotting Cassandra. She explained that she was simply in the area with her traveling buddy, Anna, who was happy to introduce herself to the guards. The encounters themselves remained friendly, to Cassandra's relief.

The pair even visited a store, where Anna embarrassingly realized she had no money on her to buy anything.

"That was so embarrassing!" commented Anna with a hand over her face as they walked out of the store.

"Yeah..." replied Cassandra with a little smile. "Guess it's just window shopping for us." she added before Anna sighed and lowered her hand.

"Even if I had money on me, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't take Arendelle's money. Well, I guess we should be heading back."

"Already?" asked Cassandra.

"Yeah. It took us what, about fifteen minutes to get where we are? It'll be another fifteen heading back to the bridge, and we can still talk to people along the way."

"Alright then."

"A shame we didn't run into Rapunzel though." commented Anna as the two headed back where they came.

However, behind them, Anna heard the doorbell of one of the many shops around. She didn't think anything of it, until she heard the store clerk call out from within...

"Have a wonderful day, Princess."

Followed by a familiar woman's voice...

"Thank you, I certainly will!"

Anna's eyes widened in delight, and she quickly turned around in time to see, just a few yards from them, coming out of the neighboring store they had left, was Princess Rapunzel. Her right side was facing them as she gave her farewell to the store clerk. Rapunzel turned to her left and began walking away, revealing she wore a small bag over her right shoulder that rested on her left hip, oblivious to their presence, which Anna quickly resolved as she called out to her, waving her right hand in the air.

"Hey! Rapunzel!"

The call stopped the Princess, prompting her to look back, and Anna saw the surprise on her face, which quickly lit up in delight.

"Cass!?" declared Rapunzel.

Anna saw the Princess sprint towards them, or rather, Cassandra, as she immediately hugged her, which Cassandra was mildly surprised by before smiling and returning the embrace.

"Ohh Cass, it's so good to see you!" declared Rapunzel before pulling back and looking over her friend. "How have you been!? You look good! Why the sudden return!? Did you find what you were looking for?"

Rapunzel's obvious delight upon reuniting with Cassandra prompted her and Anna to chuckle.

"I've been great, Raps." answered Cassandra with a smile. "It's wonderful to see you too. I'm just here to show a friend around. I'm told you know each other." she added, motioning her right hand towards Anna, who stood to her right, prompting Rapunzel to turn her gaze from Cassandra and gasp upon realizing Cassandra had a guest with her, which she completely ignored; especially considering who it was...

"Anna!?" gasped Rapunzel in wide-eyed shock. "You're here!? I didn't get any word of you or Elsa coming here!"

"Heh, well, we didn't send any word." answered Anna with a chuckle. "This was sorta, spur of the moment." she added, before Rapunzel happily hugged her.

"It's great to see you too, Anna! But how in the world are you here- but wait..." replied Rapunzel, before pulling back and looking between her two friends and pointing to them. "You two know each other!? How did THAT happen!?" she added, which prompted a giggle from Anna.

"Well, a lot has happened since you came for Elsa's Coronation."

"Well, come back to the castle with me." offered Rapunzel, "You can tell me all about it! I can't believe I would've missed this meeting if I didn't need more paint supplies!"

"Thanks." replied Anna. "But we can't stay long. No one actually knows I'm here, so I can't be here for hours. We were about to head back before we heard you leave the shop."

"Oh..." replied Rapunzel, clearly disappointed by the news. "Wait, again, how did you get here in a 'spur of the moment'?"

"Well..." began Anna with a smile. "Do you mind walking with us towards the bridge?"

"Not at all!" declared Rapunzel as the trio departed towards the city entrance. With Rapunzel between the two, Anna to her left and Cassandra to her right.

"So..." started Anna. "Shortly after you left, I discovered I have magic like Elsa."

"Whoa! Really!?" gasped Rapunzel before she noticed Anna's dress. "Your dress doesn't look like Elsa's, though."

"Because it's not." answered Anna. "It's glass."

"Glass?" questioned Rapunzel before she gave Anna's clothing another once over. "That's all glass?"

"Yep." answered Anna. "Unlike Elsa, my powers are fire. I've been training my magic a lot, and I discovered how to make my own clothes with my magic. I just melt sand into glass and shape it into clothing."

"Wow, that's amazing!" declared Rapunzel before looking at Cassandra with a grin an nudging her. "Cass here has some experience with clothing herself with magic."

"Heh, anyway." continued Anna. "I asked Cassandra to join me in training my magic-"

"Huh? Wait." cut in Rapunzel, looking at Anna curiously. "You asked Cass to join you in training your magic?"

"Uh..." started Anna, surprised Rapunzel picked up on that minor detail before Cassandra commented...

"Anna just didn't want to be alone. I wasn't doing anything at the time, so I came to watch her train."

Rapunzel, however, quickly walked ahead and turned around to face them, eyeing them both, before focusing on Cassandra.

"Cass, do you stay in Arendelle now?"

"Y-Yeah." replied Cassandra, chuckling nervously as that seemed to be what caught Rapunzel's interest. "During my travels, I happened to be in the area. Anna spotted me and recognized me from the stories you told her, and we became friends along with her sister."

"Oh, well, that's great!" replied Rapunzel before she turned around and continued walking. However, Rapunzel briefly wore a curious expression on her face before the two matched her pace, and Anna continued...

"So yeah, I was training my magic, and I managed to successfully create a portal."

"A portal?" questioned Rapunzel curiously as she looked at Anna. "That's how you got here?"

"Yeah..." replied Anna, smiling nervously as Rapunzel looked at her before Anna averted her gaze and lied. "I wanted to visit you, so I made a portal to your home."

"But you've never been here." stated Cassandra.

"Well... I wanted to see you." stated Anna, smiling as she met Rapunzel's curious gaze. "And here we are."

"Hmm, ok." replied Rapunzel with a smile. "Far be it from me to question how different types of magic works." she added before looking to Cassandra. "So Cass, what are you doing in Arendelle? How did you end up there?"

"Well, during my travels, I wound up on a boat heading there." answered Cassandra. "And like I said, Anna recognized me, introduced me to her sister, and we became friends. They invited me to stay a while, and I accepted the offer, so for the time being, Arendelle's my home now."

"Wow, that's great." commented Rapunzel. "I'm glad I know you're safe."

Meanwhile, Anna was impressed with the lie Cassandra came up with, she felt terrible for starting their reunion off with lies to hide Cassandra's magic from her, but Anna decided to shift the topic to something she wouldn't need to lie about.

"Hey Rapunzel, I have great news that your parents would love to hear."

"What?" asked Rapunzel.

"Our parents are alive." answered Anna.

"What!?" gasped Rapunzel. "Really!?"

"Yep." answered Anna with a grin. "Elsa and I had our own adventure about two weeks ago. It was an eventful day of danger, mystery and surprises."

"Ohh, sounds like a story!" replied Rapunzel delightfully.

"Yep." answered Anna. "So, we met a woman from another kingdom who had a loose connection to our parents. She provided us information on a possible location of their ship, which went missing in the Dark Sea."

"Whoa..." gasped Rapunzel in shock. "The Dark Sea? I've heard of that place; the waves are so dangerous and large that even experienced captains avoid it if they can. What could the Queen and King possibly risk their lives and the well-being of their kingdom for to take such a dangerous trip?"

"Well, they were heading to an island to meet a powerful spirit, Ahtohallan. They were seeking answers about Elsa's powers which she had a hard time controlling at the time. Ahtohallan was also the source of our power."

"Whoa..." gasped Rapunzel. "So you two were cursed with magic?"

"Oh no, no, no, nothing like that!" replied Anna with a chuckle. "I'm skipping a lot, but it turned out that our mother was part of the Northuldra, the native people who lived in the Enchanted Forest, where Elsa and I traveled to in search of our parent's remains. A long time ago, our grandfather betrayed the Northuldra, and our mother pleaded with Ahtohallan to help her. Which ended up with her making a deal with Ahtohallan that resulted in Elsa and me having magic, so we could eventually free Ahtohallan, which turned out to be an actual person named Emory."

"Whoa..." repeated Rapunzel. "That's a lot. So, this mysterious magical spirit which would grant people magic turned out to be a person?"

"Heh, yeah, there's many more details between that and the beginning."

"Oh, then give me the details. Start from the beginning. I'm all for a good story."

"Ok, so... Elsa and I, along with the woman who gave us the information about the possible location of our parent's ship joining us; Arrive at the Enchanted Forest, which was completely covered with a huge dome of mist..." began Anna with a smile.

Minutes passed as the trio walked through town. Anna recounted her eventful adventure to Rapunzel, who was engrossed in the story of Anna and Elsa meeting Elemental spirits, the battles they had with them, the meeting of the Northuldra, calming of the tension between them and the Arendelle soldiers that had been trapped in the forest with them. Followed by the sisters' delight in meeting relatives they didn't know they had.

- Twenty minutes later -

Despite frequent pauses for Rapunzel to greet the citizens, they passed by; the trio maintained a steady pace in heading to the city's entrance. At the same time, Anna continued her story, which she had yet to finish upon the trio reaching and walking along the bridge. Still, Rapunzel was attentive regardless at the excitement of the story. Cassandra remained silent with a smile on her face, watching the delight on Rapunzel's, who gave gasps and wows at surprising moments of Anna's story, and saddened 'awws' from the low moments of the tale, in particular, finding their parents wrecked ship with no bodies.

"...and then, Elsa nearly gives me a heart attack when she suddenly passes out in front of everyone." stated Anna.

"Wow..." replied Rapunzel, in awe. "Just... wow. So much happened in just a day for you two! First, Elsa fights a tornado, then both of you fight a fire lizard, then you nearly die fighting a water horse after you learn to freak'in FLY! You don't even need to be turned into a bird!" she added before looking at Cassandra to her right with a smile. "But that was still awesome, right?"

"Yeah, it was." answered Cassandra. "But we had a close call there. I wouldn't want to do that again."

"Hehe, yeah..." replied Rapunzel, before she looked to Anna and excitedly added, "Anyway, you gotta show me you flying!"

"Heh, I will, I will." replied Anna with a smile.

"And then, after ALLLL of that." continued Rapunzel. "You finally arrive at the place your parents were trying to get to, to discover your parent's frozen bodies were held captive by the person they were seeking out. Whom ends up returning them to you, you revive your mother, have an emotional reunion, then return to the Northuldra to reveal the truth; I'd be surprised if Elsa didn't pass out after all of that."

"Heh, yeah... anyway, to finish this long story up, we talk with Emory through our link and learn more about her and her sad past of being trapped for over seven thousand years after pranking a sorcerer and just wanting freedom."

"Whoa, SEVEN THOUSAND years!?" gasped Rapunzel. "That's so sad."

"Yeah. Turned out, Emory made a deal with our mother in an effort to have Elsa in the future come free her, which we both ended up doing yesterday, so Emory's living with the Northuldra, along with our Mother, who'll be staying with her people for a while for personal reasons."

"Well, that's nice." stated Rapunzel.

"Yeah... Emory was really apologetic for her actions, so we forgave her, and now, everything's just great! Our parents are alive again! I couldn't be happier."

"Well, I'm happy for you." replied Rapunzel with a smile. "Heh, fighting and befriending Elemental spirits, meeting friendly demons, discovering family you didn't know about, meeting someone who can look through memories AND into other worlds, traveling through the forest and over the ocean. All in just a day, that's incredible!" she added before looking to Cassandra and continuing... "We had some eventful moments as well, but what would be the most densely packed day of action we've had?"

"Hmm, we've certainly had some eventful moments..." repeated Cassandra. "Even some nice, relaxing ones, like that island with the Lorbs, and some super annoying ones like dealing with that Spire girl, ugh, that was an event in itself, but I dunno about any days full of action like Elsa and Anna had."

"Yeah, we had lots of events over a period of time." stated Rapunzel. "Some more dangerous than others, like our journey through the Great Tree and meeting Hector, or our final fight with Zhan Teri... 0h, or our big, but brief fight in your tower when you held Eugene and Varian hostage, that was intense."

"Heh, right..." replied Cassandra, embarrassingly looking away.

"We even surpassed our original goal." added Anna. "Not only did we find our parents, but I was also able to revive them!"

"Yeah, that's an incredible power." stated Rapunzel, which prompted a nervous chuckle from Anna.

"Hehe, yeah... I did let that slip in the story." replied Anna nervously. "Can you keep that to yourself? More than a few people have suggested that I don't go around announcing it."

"Sure." answered Rapunzel with a grin. "You're not the only one who could revive the dead."

"Thanks."

"My father will be so happy to know you're parents are alive." stated Rapunzel.

"Yeah." replied Anna. "And thanks to my new portals, they can meet a lot sooner and now that I've come here, I can return whenever I want!"

At this remark, Rapunzel raised a curious eye at Anna. The trio began to crest the arch of the bridge before Rapunzel walked ahead of them about a yard before stopping, prompting Anna and Cassandra to as well.

"Yanno..." stated Rapunzel, her back remaining to the two, "I'm delighted I got to see you two again, especially you, Cassandra, but something's been on my mind shortly after we met that Anna just reminded me of."

"What?" asked Anna.

"Why would you two lie to me?" asked Rapunzel sadly, which prompted a wide-eyed look of surprise on Anna's face, and a disappointed grimace on Cassandra's, before Rapunzel turned to face them, Anna in particular, who averted her gaze and commented...

"Lying? I didn't lie to you."

The lie prompted a disappointed sigh from Rapunzel.

"You're a horrible liar Anna." stated Rapunzel. "Cass is better, but it's written all over your face that you were lying when you said you could create a portal here when you've never been here. I thought that didn't sound right, but different magic, different rules, I put it to the back of my mind, but then, just now, what you said implied that you have to visit a place first to make a portal, so which is it?" asked Rapunzel, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm glad you're here, but as Princess, I need to know how you were able to come here unannounced."

Faced with Rapunzel calling out her lie, Anna's shoulders fell in disappointment.

"You're right. I lied. I'm sorry, it's just..." replied Anna, before looking to Cassandra, who also sighed and added...

"Forgive her Raps; this is all my fault. Anna's just trying to honor an agreement between us. Concerning something about me that I didn't want her telling you. I wanted to be the one to do it, but this trip was kinda sudden, and I wasn't quite ready, so I began the lie and unfairly allowed Anna to continue it."

"So what's the truth?" asked Rapunzel.

"The truth is..." stated Cassandra, momentarily averting her gaze. "I was the one to create the portal here."

The reveal prompted a look of confusion on Rapunzel's face, and she only managed a 'huh?' before Cassandra continued with a nervous smile.

"I... have magic, again."

Following the gasp and wide-eyed look of surprise on Rapunzel's face, Cassandra quickly added, lifting her hands...

"But it's not like before! I promise! I just didn't know how to bring it up to you, considering what happened the last time I had magic." stated Cassandra before nervously averting her gaze and running a hand through her hair. "I also didn't want it to seem like I'm flaunting it in front of you... I just wanted a good moment to tell you." she continued before returning her nervous gaze to Rapunzel. "Heh, and my lie being exposed isn't really an ideal way to start."

Throughout Cassandra's statement, Rapunzel simply looked on in surprise. A moment or two after Cassandra finished speaking; Rapunzel blinked her eyes a couple of times before speaking herself.

"You... have magic?"

"Uh, yeah... I just said that." replied Cassandra, nervous at how Rapunzel would respond but saw a smile come to her face.

"T-That's amazing!" declared Rapunzel, stepping towards Cassandra. "What kind of magic is it, and how did you get it!?"

"Well, the same as Elsa's." answered Cassandra.

"Whoa, really!?" gasped Rapunzel. "So you can do everything she can?"

"Possibly?" answered Cassandra nervously, "Supposedly, I'm weaker than her, but I was still able to create a portal here."

"Show me something!" requested Rapunzel delightfully.

"Something like what?" asked Cassandra.

"Just, something." stated Rapunzel. "I wanna see you do something with your magic."

"Well..." replied Cassandra, briefly averting her gaze in thought before a smile came to her face as she met Rapunzel's gaze and placed her right hand out in front of her, before conjuring a green-tinted ice frying pan in her hand.

"Ohhh." cooed Rapunzel.

"Still handy with a pan?" asked Cassandra with a smile as she offered it to Rapunzel, who took it in both hands, shaking it a bit, clearly judging its weight.

"Heh, well, I haven't needed to whack anyone with a frying pan in a while..." Rapunzel took the pan in her left hand and swung it downward a few times. The motion prompted Anna and Cassandra to take a couple of steps back. Rapunzel casually swung the pan to her right, tossing it upwards, spinning twice before she skillfully caught it by the handle and swung it to her left, looking at the two. "...But yes." continued Rapunzel. "I still have my pan-wielding skills." she added confidently as she twirled the pan in her hand before it slipped from her fingers and away from her, arcing through the air briefly before landing on the ground, intact. "Oh uh, heh, the ice made it slippery." stated Rapunzel.

"Heh, better going that way than whacking yourself in the head." commented Anna.

"Heh, yeah, I've done that before." replied Rapunzel with a chuckle before she saw Cassandra reach her right hand towards the fallen pan, and it lifted from the ground and back to her hand before Rapunzel asked...

"So, why does your ice have a green tint to it?"

"Well, I like green." answered Cassandra.

"Oh, so you can choose the color of your ice?" asked Rapunzel. "That's neat." she added before Cassandra dispersed the pan into snow, which Rapunzel smiled at before noticing her hand and gasped, reaching to and grabbing Cassandra's hand in both of hers. "Oh my gosh! I just now noticed your hand! It's healed!"

"Oh, right, Anna healed it." replied Cassandra.

"I'm glad your hand was fixed." stated Rapunzel with a smile before she looked at Anna. "Thanks."

"It was nothing." replied Anna with a smile.

"So, how did you actually get this magic?" asked Rapunzel before she smirked and asked teasingly... "You didn't steal it did you?"

"Heh, no! Don't even joke like that Raps." answered Cassandra, before Rapunzel smiled and released her hand while Cassandra continued. "I was offered the magic from a deal I made with Ahtohallan- I mean Emory."

"Huh? Wait..." replied Rapunzel in confusion. "Ahtohallan/Emory gave you your new powers?"

"Yeah..." answered Cassandra with a heavy sigh. "I never took a boat to Arendelle. The first time I met Anna and Elsa was inside Ahtohallan's castle. I had journeyed there months earlier before they arrived. Ahtohallan offered to lend me some of its power if I agreed to be its guardian and protect it from 'intruders', which ended up being Elsa and Anna that she had already expected would be arriving in the future. Both of us were tricked into fighting each other. But, since Emory didn't expect us to talk through the encounter, we were able to come to a truce and then we got to know each other with Anna mentioning she and Elsa knew you, and you told them stories about our adventure, so they knew who I was. I was there when Anna revived her mother and provided some assistance myself. Afterward, I stayed with them with the Northuldra before returning to Arendelle, where they suggested I could remain." Cassandra explained while Rapunzel looked on in awe.

"Whoa..." commented Rapunzel. "So, instead of stealing power, you accept some random 'thing's' offer for power?"

"Not immediately." replied Cassandra with a chuckle. "Heh, come on, I'm not stupid. Ahtohallan allowed me time to think about it. I wasn't going to leave the island as soon as I got there, and since there were animals to hunt, I wouldn't starve. I thought about it before accepting and made sure I wasn't locking myself into some eternal; slave contract; I defend it against the intruders it predicted would arrive, then I could keep the power and be on my way."

"Wow..." repeated Rapunzel. "Sounds like a good deal."

"Yeah, well, once I found out the truth and the manipulation, I wanted to reject the power, but Emory claimed she couldn't remove it, so I'm stuck with my ice powers now." stated Cassandra, which prompted a smirk from Rapunzel.

"Aww, that's so sad. I feel bad for you."

The tease urged a smirk from Cassandra.

"Yeah, yeah, I've accepted my power now."

"Heh, still..." replied Rapunzel, looking to Anna. "This Ahtohallan/Emory seems like an incredibly powerful person that you've befriended."

"Yeah." replied Anna with a smile. "She's really nice too, though; I'm sure you'd like her."

"I wouldn't mind meeting her." answered Rapunzel. "No rush though." she added before a small gasp left Anna...

"Oh, speaking of future meetings. I can come here now, but it wouldn't be appropriate just to pop up like we did in the future, especially when it comes to our father meeting yours and the Queen, which once I get home and tell him about this trip, I'm sure he'll be eager to visit."

"Oh, you're right." replied Rapunzel. "Using letters, we can plan, but it's only as quick as a boat can sail; with this new option though, while very convenient and fast, has its own issues of lack of communication and planning; well, for meetings between our parents specifically, I wouldn't mind a surprise visit." added Rapunzel with a smile.

"I have a suggestion." commented Cassandra. "Considering everyone here knows me, for better or worse, I could act as a sort of, intermediary."

The suggestion prompted a simultaneous response from Anna and Rapunzel as they looked at their friend curiously.

"You'd do that?"

"Heh, sure." replied Cassandra with a smile. "I'm only offering to be the messenger between two kingdoms. Better than the Princess of Arendelle making unannounced trips to another kingdom, possibly with her parents. And hey, I have an excuse to come visit."

"That's wonderful Cass!" declared Rapunzel. "Thanks." she added before Anna asked...

"Wait, but what about you applying to be a guard, or when you are a guard? Wouldn't that create a lot of work for you?"

"I doubt that would be much of a problem." replied Cassandra with a smile. "Besides, other than you, I have the unique ability to quickly send messages across great distances now. So if someone of the Royal Family asks me to deliver a message, I'm pretty sure that would take priority, and I don't think I'd be requested to send messages back and forth constantly, would I?"

"Hmm, you have a point." commented Anna, before Rapunzel, wide-eyed, stated...

"Wait, Cass, you're gonna be an Arendelle Royal Guard!?"

"I'm applying for the position, yes." answered Cassandra. "After I returned to Arendelle, I didn't intend to stay. Anna insisted I spend some time there. I didn't want to be a free-loader, though, and she suggested I take up a temporary position as one of the guards since I had training. Being a temporary guard didn't sit well with me, though, for such a position, so after a few days of thought, I decided that if I was going to do it, I'd fully commit to it, and that meant making Arendelle my home."

"Wow..." replied Rapunzel with a smile. "Well, I'm happy for you."

"Thanks."

"Well then..." started Anna. "Since our lies have been sorted out, we should be heading back."

"Oh, alright." replied Rapunzel. "Since no one knows you're here, it would be a shame if you were needed and no one knows where you are."

"Right. Plus, we've spent about an hour here, and I got to meet a few people, especially you." stated Anna before Rapunzel hugged her, and Anna hugged her back.

"I enjoyed the surprise visit. I'll tell my mom and dad the good news." replied Rapunzel before pulling back, then hugging Cassandra as well. "It was great to see you too Cass."

"Me too, Raps." stated Cassandra, returning the hug before looking at Anna. "Anna, how about I make the way back, just so you don't melt the part of the bridge."

"Ah, right, heh." replied Anna with a chuckle. "I still have to make my second attempt to confirm the first wasn't a fluke. Better to do that in Arendelle in case I mess up. Take us back to where we left."

"Alright." replied Cassandra before she walked to the left side of the bridge, and Rapunzel, watched in awe as, with a gesture of Cassandra's right hand, created an ice doorway.

Cassandra took a slow breath before she extended her right hand towards the gleaming ice wall; it and her hand soon glowed with her magic as wispy tendrils emerged from her hand to the wall.

"Whoa..." gasped Rapunzel before Anna gently shushed her and whispered...

"Cass needs quiet to concentrate."

"Oh, ok." whispered back Rapunzel.

The brief exchange prompted a small chuckle from Cassandra before she focused, teeth clenched and groaning a little as both her hand and the door glowed brighter and brighter, just like the first time, prompting all three to lift a hand to shield their eyes.

Once again, Cassandra begins to step towards the glowing potential portal. Cassandra thrusts her hand towards the bright wall with a yell of effort. The resulting glass-shattering sound and the blinding flash of light prompted them to briefly avert their gaze, signaling Cassandra's second successful attempt.

"Whoa!" gasped Rapunzel once she turned her attention to the framed doorway that led to a forest. "That's amazing!" she declared before walking up to the portal and looking behind it, seeing just a wall of ice. "... and it's just ice on the other side!"

"Nice going Cass." praised Anna, patting Cassandra on the shoulder. "Your first time wasn't a fluke. Now it's my turn!"

"Yep." confirmed Cassandra, before Anna looked to Rapunzel, who was still marveling at the portal and commented...

"I'll see you later, Rapunzel."

"Oh, right, later." replied Rapunzel as she turned her attention to Anna and waved her goodbye before Anna walked through the portal with a wave as well. Cassandra repeated the gesture, but as she stepped towards the magical doorway, Rapunzel grabbed her by the shoulder, stopping her. "H-Hey, wait." stated Rapunzel, looking a little nervous.

"What?"

"Since you have a way back, do you mind staying here, just for a little while longer?"

"Oh... well..." replied Cassandra, unsure as she looked to Anna on the other side of the portal, who smiled and commented...

"It's ok, Cass, you can stay and spend more time with Rapunzel. Not like you're my guard or anything, I just invited you to join me. I'll let Elsa and Father know what's going on."

"Well, ok then." replied Cassandra with a smile as she looked to Rapunzel, who smiled back. "I'll stay a bit."

"Awesome!" declared Rapunzel. "You can tell me all about your adventures before you met Elsa and Anna."

"Hehe, sure." replied Cassandra before she looked to Anna, who gave a farewell wave of the hand, which Cassandra repeated. "See ya a little later, Anna."

- Arendelle -

- 2:36 P.M. -

"See ya." repeated Anna, followed by Rapunzel, before the portal closed, leaving an ice wall in front of Anna before it, too, dispersed into snow.

"Well, that was awesome!" declared Anna delightfully before hopping excitedly. "... And it'll be even more awesome when I confirm my ability to make a portal and tell Elsa and Father! And then we'll be able to visit Mother and the Northuldra whenever and they can visit us! Hehehe... ok, calm down; first let's confirm I can do this." she added before taking a few calming breaths. "Ok, next location: the dungeon, then Elsa and Father!"

Anna lifted her right hand in front of her, produced a head-sized ball of fire, and sent it out ahead of her a couple of yards, where the water lapped at the shore.

"Alright..." commented Anna with another sigh, but a smile remained on her face. "Just repeat what I did before, don't get distracted, maintain focus; and it'll work; just gotta put the effort in."

Proceeding with her second attempt to confirm her ability, the ball of fire quickly shrinks as Anna steadily applies more of her magic into it. The amber-colored flickering flames quickly shifted in color as the orb became hotter and hotter.

As expected, the orb continued to shrink as Anna fed it more and more energy. Its temperature increased as the flickering fire faded in favor of a more contained spherical shape taking form as the fire shifted to white and the radiant heat now making its presence felt in a wider area. Still, Anna was confident there was no danger of lighting her surroundings on fire... yet.

"Alright..." commented Anna before lifting her left hand to join her right. "I don't have Elsa and Cassandra here to minimize the risk of setting things on fire for this next part. So, I can't waste time; the quicker I push past this next part and to that black point, the lesser the risk of lighting the trees on fire and causing a panic." she added before taking a couple breaths to prepare for the big push coming. "Ok, Anna, let's do this!"

Instead of gradually applying more magic, a hard groan left Anna as she began to feed a large amount of power into the now rapidly shrinking orb as Anna started to also close her hands together.

The large amount of magic rapidly being applied to the orb successfully quickened the pace of progress; the orb quickly shrinks to a hissing blue sphere, but the resulting heated wind was considerably stronger. As quick as the wind blew past her and rustled the trees, Anna, teeth clenched in the effort, persisted in her increased effort. The breeze soon passed as the orb continued to shrink and darken before finally reaching the target goal of the hazy black orb, which produced little to no heat in comparison.

"Phew, ok..." commented Anna, with a small sigh of relief despite the continued effort to maintain the black orb, before she briefly looked back to see the trees were fine. "Good, nothing on fire. Well, if nothing else, I've learned I can reach this point quickly. OK, let's finish this..."

Anna soon groaned again as she began to spread her hands and was met with the same resistant force that attempted to stop her.

'Well, the second attempt isn't any easier in actually opening the portal.' thought Anna as she continued to fight the resistance, her hands slowly parting wider and wider until she saw her effort succeeding again.

The black orb began to grow, soon shifting into a small ring and like before, a stressed grin came to Anna's face when she didn't see water in the middle of the small ring but something dark. Continuing to pull open the portal, Anna saw the black rim begin to shift to blue as sparks jumped from it.

Soon, the portal grew head-sized, allowing her to clearly see a brick wall on the other side of the portal as she once again felt the invisible force relent. Anna not only smiled but giggled in delight that the most challenging part was past her and proceeded to widen the portal to her satisfaction.

No blackness remained in the sparking rim of the portal as Anna widened it to a little bigger than person-sized, but not touching the ground as she didn't want the exit portal to damage the floor or walls of the dungeon.

"Phew, I did it!" declared Anna happily as she lowered her hands and took a moment to admire her accomplishment; through the portal, she saw the familiar sight of the castle's dungeon as if she was standing in its hallway. "Still need to improve the edges, but it works!"

Anna briefly looked around at her feet, picked up a nearby branch, walked up to the portal, and slowly inserted it into the portal before pulling it back and looking at it.

"Still in one piece..."

Anna dropped the branch, lifted her right hand, and quickly thrust her hand in and out of the portal, looking at her hand and flexing her fingers.

"Doesn't hurt." she added before looking at the portal and taking a few breaths. "Here goes..."

Rather than slowly stepping through, Anna quickly hopped through the portal. Her feet met the hard floor of the dungeon as she took a few extra steps away from the portal for safety. Briefly looking around to confirm she was where she wanted to be, Anna turned around to face the portal with a big smile.

"Heh, it works!" declared Anna, thrusting her fists into the air. "Second time, not a fluke! I make portals now!" she added, excitedly jumping up and down. "Ohhhh, this is so awesome! I'm pretty much restricted to creating the portal outside with plenty of space, and I have to be aware of how flammable my surroundings and the place I want to go are, and any people near me, but that's nothing compared to the convenience of it! I gotta hurry and tell Elsa about this!"

Anna reached out her right hand and willed the portal closed; the process was just as easy as her first attempt, with the portal shrinking to a blue hissing orb, which Anna could easily disperse. However, like her first attempt, Anna also felt a wave of fatigue, leaning forward with her hands on her knees.

"Ohh... right, I didn't eat anything while I was in Corona. Ok, make sure I have a snack with me if I'm making portals." commented Anna, before a small chuckle left her. "Hehe, between my healing and portals now, I hope I don't put on any weight."


After a moment's rest, Anna excitedly left the dungeon in search of Elsa, though she made a detour to the kitchen to get an apple to eat. Finding Elsa didn't take long as Anna encountered her after turning down a hallway and seeing Elsa heading towards her.

"Hey, Elsa!" Declared Anna happily. "I have something super important to tell you!"

"Really, wha- Ah, h-hey!" replied Elsa, before gasping as Anna took her by the hand and pulled her down the hall.

- Elsa's Room -

"What is so important that you dragged me back to my room?" asked Elsa, after staggering forward a little upon the two entering the room and Anna releasing her hand and quickly closing the door.

Anna turned to face Elsa with a big grin before she lifted a single finger up and replied, "One sec..." as she took a couple of bites from her half-eaten apple, chewing and swallowing before excitedly declaring, "I did it!"

"Ok..." replied Elsa with a confused smile from Anna's obvious delight. "You did what, exactly?"

"I can make portals!" declared Anna, giddily jogging in place before taking another bite of the apple.

"W-What!?" gasped Elsa, wide-eyed. "Already!?"

"Yeah!" excitedly answered Anna. "Edith did say it was more tricky than hard, and I did nearly succeed yesterday, and I probably would have the next attempt if I weren't concerned about you. So with no worry of hurting you, I was able to focus and succeeded!"

"T-That's... incredible!" replied Elsa with shocked delight.

"It sure is!" added Anna. "The process still tires me out, like my healing; even more-so actually, so that's why I'm eating this apple, and I'm restricted to being in a wide-open space to create the portal, but I can ACTUALLY make PORTALS now, and they WORK! I came home through my portal to the dungeon!"

"Congratulations!" praised Elsa before hugging Anna. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks!" replied Anna. "I still need to practice and refine my portals. It takes a lot of effort to create them; maintaining the portal is fine, though, but I really feel it when I close it, and then there's the edges of the portal; it's really dangerous and cuts things like it was melted butter."

"Wow." commented Elsa.

"Yeah, Cass helped out too." replied Anna before she gasped in delight. "Oh! Oh! I talked Cass into trying to make a portal, too, and she succeeded!"

"What!?" gasped Elsa, wide-eyed.

"Yeah! How awesome is that!?"

"But, she's weaker than me." stated Elsa, which prompted Anna to grin at her.

"Ohhhh? THAT'S your first response? Do I sense some jealousy?"

"W-What... no." stuttered out Elsa. "I'm just surprised."

"Really? Is that all?" teased Anna.

"Yes, that's all." answered Elsa crossing her arms over her chest but averting her gaze nervously from Anna's grinning stare. "But..." added Elsa before meeting Anna's gaze again. "How did she do it?"

"Ohhh, NOW you're interested in doing it, huh?"

"No, I'm not. I'm just curious... since we share the same magic."

"Suuuure." replied Anna with a grin. "Heh, ok, well, Cass's portal was better than mine. She made a door-shaped wall with the frame around it and focused her energy there and made the portal within the frame, so the outer edges weren't dangerous; the inner edges still were, though."

"Was it difficult for her to do?"

"Hmm... It didn't look too difficult for her." answered Anna. "Her first try failed because she said the resistance she felt was unexpected, but she succeeded on the second attempt."

"What happened with the failure? Was there an explosion?"

"There wasn't." replied Anna. "She was just knocked back on the ground and said her hand was numb, so she used her other hand."

"Interesting..." commented Elsa with a little smile as she averted her gaze in apparent thought.

"Wanna give it a go now, huh?" asked Anna with a grin.

"Maybe later." replied Elsa with a smile. "I'll ask Cassandra about it before I attempt it. Where is she, by the way?"

"Corona." answered Anna with a big smile.

"W-What?" stuttered Elsa.

"Heh, well, after I successfully made my portal, I talked Cass into making one and having it go to Corona, and I went with her!"

"What!?" gasped Elsa. "You went to Corona without telling anyone!?"

"Yeah, and now that I've been there, I can go there anytime I want! WE can visit Corona and Rapun-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..." cut in Elsa. "You went to Corona, without TELLING anyone!"

"Yeah, but it's fine." replied Anna. "Cass was with me, and we only stayed an hour. It was sudden, I know, but I was so excited!"

"It was reckless!" declared Elsa. "What if something had happened to you!? No one would know! Being excited is no excuse for you leaving Arendelle and telling NO ONE here that you were going to another kingdom an ocean away!"

"Well, I wouldn't call it reckless." commented Anna. "I should've let someone know; I admit that. It's why I didn't stay long." she added before Elsa placed a hand on her forehead and sighed.

"You're not getting it Anna. What if I suddenly disappeared with no notice and you couldn't find me? You'd be worried sick about it."

"Yeah, I would." replied Anna. "And I DO get it; I just admitted that you're right. Ok, maybe it was reckless, but I promise..." she added, taking Elsa's hands in hers. "... if something like this happens again, I'll try to take a step back and think first, ok?"

Elsa replied with a sigh and a look of 'really?'.

"I promise Elsa." repeated Anna. "I admit I can be a little reckless, but I'm not stupid; Heh, not like I went to the Southern Isles without telling anyone. Oh, I know, a little later today, I plan to visit mom and Grandma; wanna come with?" she asked, before a small smile came to Elsa's face.

"Well, I can contact Emory at least if you're in the Enchanted Forest, but I'll have to pass on coming with you."

"Alright then."

Elsa then sighed again, before her smile grew...

"So, you actually went to Corona? How was it?"

"It was great!" declared Anna. "Their whole city is on an island; it's a lot bigger than our town. I walked the streets with Cass, and I met a bunch of people, but I didn't let them know I was a princess, and they were still so nice. We visited a store where I realized, in embarrassment, that I didn't have any money on me." she added, which prompted a chuckle from Elsa. "But as we left the store, we encountered Rapunzel, she was really happy to see Cass and me, and we talked as we headed back to the bridge, which was where Cass made the portal; we were headed back there to return home. I ended up telling Rapunzel about my magic, the portals, and all about our adventure and the return of Mother and Father."

"Heh, so much for catching up as a group." commented Elsa with a smile.

"Heh, yeah... sorry about that, but I didn't tell her about our relationship though."

"Well, at least we have easy and quick travel to Corona." stated Elsa. "But it does make scheduling a bit tricky. We can't just show up unannounced."

"Hehe, a solution has already been worked out." replied Anna proudly.

"Really?"

"Yeah, Cass volunteered to be an intermediary between the Kingdoms since, yanno, she can make portals too now, and she used to live there, so she can freely come and go."

"Oh, well, that's very convenient and nice of her." replied Elsa. "Is that why she decided to stay behind?"

"Not specifically." answered Anna. "Rapunzel stopped her before coming back and asked her to stick around a bit since she could return anytime."

"Ah, I see. Well, as long as Corona's King approves, this will be a very useful connection between our Kingdoms. Father and Rapunzel's dad can meet sooner than later."

"Yeah, and to think that this wouldn't have happened if we never met Edith and teaching us how to make a portal- Oh, if you really think about it, our adventure and everything that came after it wouldn't have happened if we never found out Izzy was a succubus. So I guess we have Sanna to thank for all this. Thanks, Sanna."

"Heh, I guess so." replied Elsa, briefly averting her gaze and chuckling again. "Sanna gives an embarrassed, 'you're welcome'." she added, which prompted a little chuckle from Anna before Elsa added... "So, since you can make portals now, you gonna start training your Earth magic?"

"Yeah... it's really something, though; all the new things we've tried with our magic I wouldn't really consider difficult but tricky; we just have to be aware of it. Like, I never considered that we'd be able to fly or make portals, but it became possible with Edith teaching us how to do it."

"Well, we're only as strong as the knowledge we have." replied Elsa before smirking. "Or in some cases, letting go and firing blindly into the darkness and seeing what you hit. Might even make a whole Ice Palace."

"Hehe, yeah; didn't know you knew how to make a building from scratch, let alone a palace." teased Anna, which prompted a chuckle from Elsa.

"Guess we just need a general idea of what we want to create, and our magic does the rest."

"Hmm..." hummed Anna. "Let's test that. What's something you'd have no idea how to physically make but are familiar with?"

"Heh, that's a very big list of things to choose from." answered Elsa.

"What about a telescope? One of those small tube ones you can extend?" asked Anna, motioning the act.

"Uh... sure, but I dunno how functional it would be." replied Elsa with an unsure look.

"Just try!"

"Alright..." replied Elsa, before she lifted both hands in front of her and created a compact, handheld tube telescope."

"Ohh, well, it looks like it's supposed to." commented Anna before Elsa offered it to her, Anna took it in her right hand and lifted one end to her right eye and used her left hand to adjust the view as she briefly looked around the room. "Hmm, it's a bit blurry, but for your first time, it's pretty good."

"Really?" asked Elsa curiously before reaching out her left hand. "Give it to me."

Anna handed the device back to Elsa, who then lifted it to her eye, and Anna saw a bit of magic surrounding the device as Elsa was fine-tuning it as she used it. After a few moments, Elsa lowered it with a smile and offered it to Anna.

"It should be better now."

Taking it and lifting it to her right eye again, a curious, 'huh...' left Anna.

"What?" asked Elsa.

"Well, it's better than before, but it's still a little blurry."

"Really? It seemed fine to me." replied Elsa before Anna handed the telescope back to Elsa.

"Maybe the ice lens melted and changed that quick?" suggested Elsa, before she lifted it to her eye again for a few moments, "No, it looks fine." added Elsa. "I can see through it just fine."

"Weird." commented Anna, before Elsa gasped with a smile.

"Oh wait, I see what's happening. I adjusted the lens for my eyes."

"Ah, so you just made yourself a fancy monocle?" replied Anna with a smile.

"Heh, I guess so." replied Elsa before the telescope dissolved into snow. "I'd have to practice more for general purpose use. Anyway, since telescope lens are made with glass, you could make your own."

"Yeah, I could. Probably wouldn't be a good idea to make the whole thing out of glass, though, too much light."

"Heh, you could practice your earth magic to make the tube out of wood, then put the glass lens inside." suggested Elsa.

"Yeah... heh, so many potential options. Instead of thinking big by making new land, I can make more practical stuff that's normally made out of wood. First, though, I have to practice my Earth magic, no more distractions." commented Anna, before Elsa chuckled and commented...

"Kinda funny that we started with you talking about making a working portal and traveling to Corona, to us talking about telescopes."

"Heh, yeah. Just gotta tell Father about the good news; you wouldn't happen to know where he's at, would you?"

"Not at the moment." answered Elsa. "Last I saw him was about ten minutes before I encountered you, and he said he was going to visit the garden for a little while; dunno if he's still there."

"Ok then, I'll check there first."

"Also..." commented Elsa. "Make sure you let one of us know you're leaving."

"I will." replied Anna with a smile.

To be continued...