Flashback (Hannah- age 11)
"Come on Hannah the movie starts in five minutes!" Her little sister yanked her by the wrist along the red carpeted hallway to the theater doors.
Hannah clutched the ticket in her tiny palm: "Frozen" it read in faded black ink.
"I'm coming! I don't wanna drop my ICEE!" Hannah replied giggling playfully.
They burst through the doors and ran up to their seats in the already darkened theater.
"What is this movie even about again?" Her sister whispered in Hannah's ear while chomping on popcorn.
"I don't know, I think there's a snowman in it or something..."
Promptly, the screen lit up with snowflakes twirling around and a choir of Norwegian singers: "Na Na Na Haya Na..."
Hannah snickered at the strange song, but was immediately thrusted into the movie by the jump scare of an ice saw splicing through the center screen...
She had no idea this movie would end up thrusting itself into her.
The colors, the voices, the people, the story, the values, the sacrifice, the love. It enticed her. Every ounce of her. She wanted to be just like Elsa and Anna.
When the movie ended she just sat stunned. The kind of feeling that changes minds. Hannah wanted nothing more in the world than to jump up, break through that screen, and meet those girls. Go ice skating, and build snowmen, and just be in that place.
And she believed it too, back then. She believed those things could happen by some miracle or magical occurrence if one was pure and good and special. If they wished with all their being, like how the stories and movies she watched told her so.
But years passed regardless. Kids grow up, and time brutally strips belief and innocence away like skin from bone.
And we are left with nothing. We are nothing. The only thing left is a will. A will to live, a will not to live, a will to dream.
So Hannah clung onto it as tight as she could. If time couldn't be captured then at least dreams could.
But others wouldn't understand this. The only happy place was the cause of the darkness in the first place. That's where her insecurity and self hatred were born upon her existence.
That's when dreams become more powerful than reality.
Present Day
"Can we stop a minute, I have to pee." Anna asked sheepishly.
"We're in the middle of the woods Anna, you'll have to go find a bush or something." Kristoff replied steering the sled, holding back a chuckle.
Sven came to a halt and Anna jumped out scurrying a little ways behind some trees.
Abruptly, Benji gasped clutching the side of the sled to keep himself steady.
"Woah! Benji are you alright?" Elsa soothed putting her hand on his back for support.
"The imbalance, it's stronger than I've felt before. I can sense where it's coming from." He looked into the queen's eyes gravely. "They're in trouble."
"WHAT?! Has Your brother found them?!" She grieved.
"I don't know. I hope to God not. I can cast a transportation incantation, but my magic gets weaker the nearer to the imbalance it is." Benji responded, his voice cracking uncharacteristically.
"ANNA! Come back we have to go, It's Hannah and Jess!" Elsa called out in the direction of the dense tree cover.
"HUH? I'm coming, I'm coming!" The princess yelled back running as she struggled to pull up her bloomers.
They all took each other's hands when Anna had arrived back to the sleigh.
Benji lowered his head, his eyes squeezed shut tightly in concentration. The wielder muttered the strange spell and in half a second, the forest was rid of the group, and the trees swayed gently due to the pulse of magic sent through them.
/ / / / / / / / / / / / /
Garth stood, feet firmly planted on the ice, arms raised, with the most passionate facial expression a man could possess.
His power pulsed through his veins so savagely that his eyes glinted a purple tint.
He heaved backwards, ready to strike down, finally.
"STOPPPPPPP!" A voice pierced through the palace court, echoing off every wall.
Hannah's body was shaking something fierce. She turned her head to the left weakly. She opened her eyes for the first time in awhile, and the light blinded her momentarily.
But she didn't have to see who it was.
"Elsa." Hannah called out desperately bursting into tears of joy and sadness.
Jess brightened up, as hope seeped back into her outlook. "You're here! We're saved!" She laughed out loud.
"Not so fast." Garth hissed.
The blade of his sword now rested on the back of Hannah's neck. "One more step and I cut." He griddled his teeth menacingly.
Anna grabbed Elsa's wrist to steady her movements not taking an eye off of Garth.
Elsa still had her hands out and ready to pierce anyone with an ice blast.
"Don't do this brother." Benji spoke out, his voice reserved. "Just because our great great grandfather destroyed the imbalance years ago does not mean we must do the same. There is a better way- a more humane way." He insisted.
"You are weak, Benji. You always were. And stupid. It is too risky to wait until the alignment and you know it." Garth shot back, still angling the sword on Hannah's neck.
Benji got an angry gleam in his eyes. A look of pure hatred growing with every minute. "You know this isn't about our world's safety. This is about you. You want dominance- power over the extraordinary, and mere fame. Those girls hold more importance in their being than you could ever dream of!"
Garth stared at his brother for a second, then produced a horrific cackle.
"Don't tell me you've come to care for them. Taking on the paternal role anywhere you can, ever since your poor Caroline died along with your unborn child. Don't act like all you care about is the good of the universe alone, brother." Garth stated, clearly amused.
Benji for the first time was rendered speechless as talk of his deceased family struck a nerve too deep.
Kristoff put a strong hand on his shoulder, giving him a sympathetic look.
Garth turned back to Hannah, strengthening his grip on the handle.
She was hunched over in an uncomfortable position, so much so that her muscles were shaking from the tension. But all she could focus on was the cold metal blade on her neck.
Despite Garth's urgency to take the poor girl's life, he stopped suddenly.
He cringed as if he could feel something coming. Strong magic currents pulsed through the air, that Benji seemed to sense as well.
The ground began to shake violently as it had once done; while the group was hiding at the ice harvesters' lodge.
It shook the castle through every wall and caused the men to trip over themselves, falling to the floor. Garth too lost his footing and toppled over backwards, his sword clanging sharply against the ice.
A stomach-lurching sensation came upon Hannah, as the entire palace began tipping over backward, crumbling into the ravine below.
The wielders who had been holding Hannah and Jess captive, released them and frantically chanted the transportation spell, as all the other men disappeared one by one as well.
"WAIT WE CANNOT LEAVE! THIS IS EXACTLY WHY WE NEED TO EXTINGUISH THE IMBALANCE YOU FOOLS!" Garth screamed as chaos rampaged through the breaking castle.
"Sir it is not safe here, the power is too strong, our abilities are faltering, we must rethink our plan of attack!" Xavier informed his leader.
Garth scowled, then finally fought against his own judgment, taking the arm violently of Xavier and disappearing in a cloud of fine particles.
"Quickly my hands girls!" Benji reached out to Hannah and Jess.
The pair bolted over to him and the others, taking the hands of their friends, at last.
Hannah and Jess were wracked with sobs of relief and joy, and were taken into a hug by Anna and Elsa as they dissolved from the air.
The spectacular structure of ice finally couldn't hold together anymore, and fell down the ravine, into the dark depths of the canyon.