Chapter 55: Breaking the Ice

Atop high mountain peaks, snow blew across the horizon year-round. Untouched white extended for miles in every direction, broken only by rocky slopes or shimmering ice-covered trees. Not a sound could be heard, and the world itself was completely still save for the falling snow; were it not for that, one could be forgiven for thinking they had walked into a static painting. This high up, the world was untarnished.

ssshhhhhOOM!

With a brilliant golden flash of light, a keyhole shape manifested over a relatively flat stretch of snow-covered earth. Two pairs of feet crunched into the snow as Riku and Mickey emerged from the Gate. The swirling vortex vanished behind them, leaving the two Keybearers alone in the snow-capped wilderness. They had travelled since dropping Lea off at Castle Oblivion, stopping at two other worlds before coming to this one but with no luck. Riku was starting to wonder if finding a way into the Realm of Darkness wasn't a wild goose chase.

Of course, at the moment he had more immediate concerns on his mind.

"W-W-Where are we?" Riku demanded through chattering teeth. His hands immediately shot up to his bare arms, rubbing the exposed skin in a desperate attempt to warm himself up. When that didn't work, he cupped his hands together and breathed warm air onto them before going back to rubbing. "It's f-freezing!"

He glanced down to Mickey, who didn't seem to be faring much better. "I'm n-not sure." The King's breath came out as a fine mist with every word. He held his hand out palm-up and conjured a small fireball, but the winter winds blew it away in an instant. Chuckling awkwardly, Mickey looked up at Riku with a small smile. "I'm n-not so great at Fire magic."

Riku sighed and shook his head. "T-Then we'll have to f-find a place to w-warm up."

"Couldn't y-you use your Dark F-Firaga?"

"T-Too strong. I d-don't want to r-risk it." Riku scanned the horizon for something, anything, that the two of them could use as a shelter, but nothing jumped out at him. It was just endless white, with the occasional dark grey where the rocks jutted out of the snow. And the snowfall was getting thicker by the moment.

"Riku?"

"C-Come on, I d-don't want to f-freeze to death." Still rubbing his arms, Riku began moving through the snow as best as he could. He was an island boy, and even with as many different worlds and places as he had been in these last two or so years, snow was something still very new to him. The bottoms of his jeans grew soaked with freezing water with every awkward step. His sneakers sunk into the white depths, on more than one occasion tripping him up when it appeared to be shallower than it really was.

Mickey wasn't having the best time, either. His smaller frame meant that he had much more trouble navigating the snow drifts than Riku did; where Riku would occasionally find himself waist-deep in the stuff, Mickey would be covered up to his ears. After one particularly deep snow drift covered the little king entirely, Riku took to holding Mickey on his back. The solution was a two-fold one: not only would Mickey no longer sink, but with such close quarters the two of them would share body warmth.

But as they continued on, Riku was beginning to feel tired. His thoughts seemed to grow more and more hazy with every sluggish step. His steps were growing heavy, and he had stopped rubbing his numb arms for warmth a long time ago. Darkness was creeping in on the edges of his vision, sleep ready and willing to take him. Calling him into its warmth.

Maybe… Just a moment of rest…

It wouldn't hurt to stop for just a minute, wouldn't it? They hadn't really slept much in their search for the Realm of Darkness. They could afford… He was…so sleepy…

"Riku!"

Riku groaned at the voice interrupting his rest. His heavy eyelids slowly opened, his senses coming back to him slowly. He was so cold. And…wet? Pushing himself up, Riku looked down to find himself coated in snow, lying in the stuff. Wait, this isn't… This wasn't where he was just a moment ago. He had been walking. And why did the snowfall just suddenly stop?

A face awash with relief jumped into Riku's vision, causing him to jerk back in surprise. "Mickey?"

The King was, like Riku, covered in snow. But unlike him, Mickey seemed more concerned about his companion than himself. As Riku pushed himself back up onto his feet, Mickey looked up at Riku with worry as well as the relief that he had noted a moment ago.

"What happened? One s-second I was walking along, the n-next…" Riku glanced down at the imprint his body had left behind in the snow.

"You passed out." Riku gasped at Mickey's matter-of-fact statement, but it made sense. He looked to the imprint once more, examined it. His footsteps led right to it, and a little further away was a smaller imprint where Mickey must have landed when he tumbled from Riku's back. "But don't worry, y-you were only out for a m-moment." The King breathed into his hands before continued. "It's g-gotta be from exposure to this w-weather."

Riku took a deep breath. If he had fallen like that after only a few minutes of walking, how were the two of them ever going to find a way into the Realm of Darkness? They'd be going for a heck of a lot longer than that short trip had been.

"Do you w-wanna leave?" Mickey asked.

But Riku shook his head. "N-No. Let's k-keep going…" He rubbed his arms once again and looked out onto the horizon. Without the falling snow things in the distance were clearer, and something caught his eye. Under a jutting, rough formation formed of black rock was a shimmering light: a frozen river. "C-Come on." Rivers, frozen or not, had to lead somewhere.

Mickey followed Riku's gaze and then nodded. "G-Good idea! We c-can follow it d-down the mountain!"

"Right, y-you got it."

The snow was considerably more shallow on the banks of the frozen river. As the pair descended down the slopes of the mountain, the flowing ice at their side all the while, it began to warm up. That was not to say it became tolerably warm, but it wasn't so dramatically cold anymore. The snow was thinning out, with dead, brown grass peeking out from beneath it here and there.

Mickey came to a stop where the frozen river began to melt and knelt down, dipping a hand in the ice-cold running water and scooping some up to drink.

"Shouldn't you be worried about, uh, hypothermia or something?" Riku asked his friend. He was hardly an expert on cold-born injuries, but he did know it wasn't the smartest idea to go around getting wet while in these conditions.

"Don't worry about it." Mickey cast another Fire spell, the orb of flame that hovered over his palm instantly drying up any lingering water on his glove. As before the flame was blown out by the cold mountain winds, but it did its job nonetheless. As Mickey began to stand up, he stopped halfway and whipped his head around, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"What is it?"

"Shh!" Mickey held a hand up toward Riku, silencing any further questions before they began. "Someone else is up here."

"A native?"

Mickey didn't immediately answer Riku's question, however. He finished climbing up to his feet and darted off, coming to a stop at a small hill dotted with grass and snow. Ducking behind the elevated earth, Mickey motioned to Riku and then to something beyond the hill. "Not unless they have giant swords. Look."

Riku wrinkled his noise and brought a hand up to cover his nostrils. The area had a lingering scent of darkness, the telltale signature of a corridor that had opened up. It had to be him, the person Mickey had found. He stood in the distance and Riku could not make him out clearly, but there was no mistaking from the way he moved that it was a man. A man with a massive sword, at was moving down the mountain, past the snowline and into the greener regions.

"Who is that?"

"Who knows? I don't wanna judge, but he sure doesn't look friendly." Mickey turned to him. "What do you wanna do, Riku?"

"We keep an eye on him. Come on."

x-x-x

Spring came rather late to the kingdom this year, which after the incident last summer had spread worried murmurings across the land. But they were simply rumors; soon enough the snow melted and the ice thawed, giving way to the peaceful green that decorated the fjords and mountains during the warmer seasons.

Though that wasn't to say it was completely warm. Even as the sun shined brightly in the sky, even as the forests and grass were a deep green, a chill breeze blew its way among the high cliffs and peaks of the kingdom. The blowing winds howled as they passed through openings in the earth and stone.

Atop the cliffs overlooking one of those howling fjords, among the short green grass, a well-worn dirt path was often used by hunters and hikers. If one followed it, the old road traveled down the side of the cliff, weaving this way and that until it arrived at the outskirts of the capital city. But at the other end, high up among the cold winds and far from civilization, stood a silent figure.

He was perfectly still except for the billowing purple cape, his body cut off completely from the elements by his heavy silver armor. A massive, segmented broadsword rested on his shoulder, held up by only one hand as his other rested on his hip. His helmet kept his face from view, hiding his expression as he tilted his head up toward the sky.

The sky…

It was a deep, rich blue, exactly as he had always imagined it to be. Fluffy white clouds floated above him, slowly cruising on the breeze. One that passed overhead resembled a fish; another, a dog. Slowly the hand resting on his hip rose up, the gauntlet-covered fingers brushing against the metal face of his helmet. He almost removed the mask, but thought better of it. There would be time for this later.

With some struggling, he pulled himself away from the sky. His gaze shifted down, down the cliffs of the fjord to where it reached the cold northern waters of the ocean. Where the fjord widened there was a section of water that moved further inland and made for a perfect harbor. No doubt, over the centuries people had congregated at this natural wonder, using its ease of access to the water as a center for trade and travel. Over time the gathering people had built villages, which grew into towns, and further into cities. A castle had been constructed as the location grew in importance, taking in further and further away townships under its rule.

Today, it was a sprawling medieval metropolis, something right out of a storybook. Large trading ships came in and out of the fjord, moving to and from the docks that jutted out over the gentle seas. The castle was large and stood right on the coast itself. He watched with some intrigue as the citizens moved freely through its gates, from nobles to the lowliest farmer ready to sell his wares. An open-door policy was perhaps not the smartest idea, but it showed a certain confidence on the leadership's part. Either they did not think they needed protection, or they were confident that they could defend themselves.

With the powers of darkness no longer at their disposal, not to mention with Pete's failure, he had decided to conquer a new world with brute strength alone. Based on what small recon he had done, they were a peaceful people blissfully unaware of the wider universe, only facing inter-world conflict once before. There was only one native capable of any sort of magic at all, and she was not used to using it for combat. Until recently, in fact, she had even feared it.

But even if that wasn't the case, even if this world was the most militant, powerful one out there among the stars, he would have gone through with it. Not just out of loyalty and to repay his freedom, but also for his pride. Diablo, before he had gone off to investigate some far-off bayou, had done nothing but berate him and doubt his power. That simply would not do.

After today, I will prove myself. That flying rat will question me no further.

Garland adjusted his massive sword and began his descent down the cliffs of the fjord. He was moving down to the open castle—to Arendelle.

x-x-x

It was still morning, however late into the morning it may have been. With the sun yet to warm the earth, a chill breeze blew through the open doors, accompanied by the still somewhat dim sunlight. Still, the light bounced off of the polished walls and floors. It made the suits of armor lining the walls sparkle while the breeze flowed around the halls and made the hanging chandeliers jingle and moved through with smiles on their faces, chatting excitedly to each other as they went about their daily duties. They gasped and jumped aside as a certain red-haired princess barged past them in a hurry, but their chuckles followed behind her.

Anna still wasn't used to the bright halls. It had not even been a full year since the…incident…with her sister last summer, where strangers had arrived to help just as a terrible darkness overtook Prince Hans of the Southern Isles. Even after Elsa's birthday and coronation party, they had kept the castle open to the entire kingdom. Now sun and fresh air filled every nook and cranny, and while she loved it—she really did—it was still strange and new to her.

knock-knock-knocknocknock

But that was a worry for another time. Giggling like a little girl, Anna stood outside Elsa's room and knocked once again, just as she had so many times over the years. This time, however, she knew that her older sister wouldn't be ignoring her and staying holed up in there. Anna knocked once more, bouncing up and down on her heels with a silly grin on her face.

The grin faltered, however, when there was no response. That wasn't like Elsa—not the new Elsa, anyway. It had been months since she hadn't answered Anna's knocks. With a nervousness building in her gut, Anna knocked once again. She waited, listening to the tick-tock of a nearby clock for nearly a minute, without even the slightest response from the other side of that door.

She couldn't be asleep, could she? "Elsa…?" Anna raised her hand up to knock once more, but lowered it before doing so. It would have been pointless after all this, Elsa clearly wasn't in the mood to answer her. Her hands gripped the fabric of her dress and she rested her forehead against the door. "Did I…do something wrong…?"

The temperature around Anna suddenly plummeted. What? Stepping back from the door, she rubbed her shoulders to stay warm in the bizarre, sudden cold. Her worried gaze shifted outside, but it was still the same as it had been before. So what was causing this sudden chill? It was like a winter wind, she almost expected it to start snowing, and—

Giggling came from down the hall, and Anna gasped. She relaxed, lowering her hands from her shoulders and looking to the source with a small smile. Oh, of course.

"Anna, whatcha doing in here?" Around the corner came the little talking snowman, Olaf, and with him a miniature storm cloud—the source of the temperature drop. Elsa's 'personal flurry', as Olaf called it, kept him from melting by making the air freezing cold in its immediate vicinity.

Anna sighed and turned back to the door. "I'm trying to get Elsa's attention, but she's not answering me."

Olaf tilted his head and blinked twice. He reached up and tugged on the doorknob, turning it and pulling the door open. Anna frowned; she could have done that, but she didn't want to break Elsa's privacy. Though, Olaf's next words threw that concern out of her mind.

"But Elsa's not in there, silly!"

"Huh?" Anna peered into the room to find that, indeed, Olaf was right. The lights were off and the curtains drawn, fluttering slightly from the breeze through the opened windows. It looked like Anna's sister hadn't been there since she woke up. Weird…

"Oh!" Anna turned back to Olaf as he gasped to himself. Belatedly realizing what he had just done, Olaf jumped back a step and slapped his wooden hands over his mouth.

Anna rested her hands on her hips and looked down at the little snowman with a huff. "Olaf, if Elsa isn't in her room then where is she?"

"S-She's, uh…" Olaf suddenly found the window very fascinating, turning his entire head away from Anna to stare out it. He nervously tapped his fingers together and hummed an awkward tune. After a moment, Olaf turned his head ever so slightly—but Anna was still there. Humming louder, he quickly turned right back to the window.

"Olaf!"

Olaf groaned and tilted his head back, the three twig 'hairs' on top brushing against the floor. "Ohhh, I can't say, Anna! I promised!"

Anna raised an eyebrow. "You promised Elsa…not to tell me where she is?" But why would Elsa do that? She had been nothing but open and friendly since last summer! I thought this kind of thing was over for us.

"Yeah, her and Kristoff. I promised her!"

Kristoff too? Now Anna was even more curious. This just got stranger and stranger. Well, if Olaf wasn't going to tell her where those two were on his own, then she'd trick him into it. She…was clever enough to do that, right? Y-Yeah! Totally!

"Okay then," Anna said slyly, turning her back to Olaf. "If you promised Elsa, that's fine."

"Good, glad we agree."

"But can you tell me where Kristoff is?"

"Oh, he's in the courtya—erk!" Olaf realized his mistake, but too late. His hands once again flew to his mouth, but Anna had already heard what she needed. She crouched down and patted Olaf on the head with a smile.

"Didn't promise him anything, now did you?" Standing back up, Anna began to sprint down the hall with Olaf hurrying after her.

"Anna, that's not fair!"

"I can't hear you!"

x-x-x

The courtyard of Arendelle's castle was, in contrast to the rest of the castle, closed off for the day. All doors and windows leading into the square-shaped plaza had been shut, though as they locked from the other side Elsa and Kristoff were trusting the castle staff not to come in. Normally empty, today the courtyard had several tables and chairs set up in the late morning sun, as well as banners and balloons hanging from the pillars that ringed the area. A hungry reindeer sat in the corner, chewing on a bundle of carrots.

"What about this?"

At Elsa's question, Kristoff turned from his work tying up some of those balloons. Arendelle's queen was in the center of the courtyard, standing in front of a table of food with her chin cupped in one hand. She tilted her head and waved the other hand, a flurry of snow and ice blowing past the two of them and forming into an ice sculpture of Kristoff and Anna sitting in a sleigh.

"Kind of on the nose, isn't it?" Kristoff asked as he hopped down from the chair he had been standing on.

"Hmm…" With another wave of her hand and another winter wind, the ice statue transformed into Anna, Kristoff, Elsa, and four others with strange weapons standing on a frozen plane. At the sight, Kristoff smiled fondly. No one had seen or heard from Sora, Xion, Donald, or Goofy since that time. Hopefully they found the people they were searching for. But…

"You think they'll be coming?"

Elsa sighed and shook her head. "It's not like we have any way to reach them. Unless they just show up out of the blue like last time… But I see your point." She broke into a cheeky grin and waved her hand one last time, the sculpture transforming again, this time into an image of Olaf riding Sven as he bucked up like a horse.

Kristoff chuckled. "I think I liked the first one."

"What happened to 'too on the nose'?" Elsa shot back with her grin still on her face.

"Sometimes that works—"

"ANNAAAAA!"

"I still can't hear you!"

Elsa and Kristoff turned to each other with wide eyes, an unsaid worry between them. Anna! Of course they both knew trusting Olaf to keep her away wasn't the smartest idea, but they had planned on him at least lasting a little longer. How were they going to explain this?!

"Kristoff, Anna can't see that!"

"O-Oh, yeah!" Quickly, before Anna arrived, Kristoff reached into his pocket and pulled out a small blue box. Opening it for just a moment, he nodded at Elsa to confirm that the contents were still inside and then whipped his head back and forth in a hurry. "Need a good place…somewhere to hide it from Anna."

Nothing was immediately apparent, however. This place was too open, too obvious; at least the areas that he could reach before Anna arrived. The best place within range was… Kristoff sighed and lifted the top of a double-decker cake, shoving the case into the bottom layer and then covering it back up.

Elsa giggled beside him. "That's…almost romantic."

Before Kristoff could come up with some snarky retort, the doors to the courtyard swung open with Anna laughing as she ran from Olaf. The red-haired princess let out one last exhausted laugh as she came to a stop in front of Elsa and Kristoff, while Olaf meanwhile continued running in a straight line until he collided with Sven in the corner and fell apart.

Kristoff pinched the bridge of his nose and let out an agitated sigh. "Olaf…" The snowman, his lower body running around to catch his tumbling head, stopped and turned to Kristoff. "We told you not to tell Anna where we were."

"Anna tricked me!" Olaf shot back while he pulled his head back on.

Anna, still catching her breath, laughed. "Right, you only told him to keep where Elsa was a secret." She took a deep breath and stood up straight, then slowly spun around to take in the decorations as she spoke. "So, what's going on out here? Looks like a party."

Elsa glanced nervously at Kristoff. "Um…"

Kristoff looked aside and coughed into his fist. "It's, uh, it's…Sven's birthday! See the ice sculpture?" Sven stopped chewing his carrots and looked up at Kristoff in bewilderment, while a huge grin grew on Olaf's face.

"Happy birthday, Sven!" Olaf shouted loudly before wrapping his twig arms around the confused reindeer's neck.

"Uh huh." Anna accentuated her disbelief with a roll of her eyes. "So tell me, if this is for Sven, why's there human cake on the table?" She paused for a moment to investigate said cake. "It actually looks like it's about to fall over. You didn't put it together too well."

"Huh? Oh, oh yeah! Silly me." Kristoff spun around and grabbed the cake, pressing down on the top half when it began to waver and getting frosting all over his open palm for his troubles. "I'll just, uh, I'll go take it to the chefs and—"

A sudden booming CRASH! echoed throughout the courtyard, accompanied a fraction of a second later by the castle shaking as if from an impact. Decorations and food fell from their proper places, Olaf's body fell apart, and a horrified Sven leaped to his feet and began running around in circles. Kristoff lost his footing and toppled forward, the cake falling out of his hands. But the ruined dessert and box were left forgotten as Anna helped him up to his feet, all attention occupied by the source of the brief commotion.

Up above, atop the castle walls, a man's shined armor reflected the sunlight down at the three of them. Kristoff and the girls had to block their eyes from the brilliant light, but before he did so Kristoff did not miss the pile of rubble that the intruder was standing near. There had been a guard tower there, but now nothing was left of it. The intruder swung his massive, segmented sword above his head and then slammed it down onto the roof where he stood, making the castle shake once more.

"I presume I am speaking to the ruler of this kingdom." His booming voice radiated power, and his mouth didn't move an inch as he spoke. No, wait, that wasn't his face, it was a helmet shaped like one!

Elsa stepped forward, a winter wind moving with her. "You are."

"So, you are at the top of the totem pole! Then in order to conquer this world…"The armored man leaped high into the air, silhouetted against the sun, before he came crashing down onto the ground. He stood straight and heaved his massive sword up with both hands, pointing it at Elsa. "I, Garland, will knock you all down!"

A million thoughts were running through Kristoff's head at the strange words, but there was no time to voice them, let alone receive answers. The instant this Garland person was done speaking he took off with a speed that should have been impossible given his heavy armor, running straight for Elsa. Arendelle's queen raised her arms in front of her, calling up a wall of ice from the earth that cut him off, if only for a moment.

"Kristoff, take Anna and go!"

"What?!" Anna shouted. "But Elsa, you—" Kristoff grabbed her by the shoulder and tugged her back, cutting Anna off. But the princess pulled away from him and took another stepped forward. "Elsa, you can't fight even with your powers! You aren't like Xion and Sora!"

"I at least have a better chance than you. Kristoff!"

"I'm on it." Kristoff grabbed Anna by the wrist and, despite her struggling, pulled her back toward the exit once more…or so he thought.

"A futile effort!" The ice barrier shattered, and a large metal spear flew past them before lodging itself into the far wall. Among the crumbling ice shards, Garland held the hilt and lower half of his segmented broadsword, while the upper half had disconnected and become the spear that had nearly skewered Kristoff and Anna. He pulled back on a chain connecting the two pieces of his blade, breaking the makeshift spear free of the wall—and taking part of the wall with it.

"Get clear!" Kristoff shoved Anna aside and dived out of the way as stone and brick crashed down onto the area they had been standing mere moments before. Before his ears had even stopped ringing from that crash, another loud clash of metal shook Kristoff to his core. He looked up to see Garland, his sword recombined, swinging at Elsa again and again. She stepped back with each swing, narrowly avoiding being cleaved in two each time, and conjured walls of ice that did little to halt Garland's advance.

Elsa ducked low under the next swing and swept her arms out, casting a spell that froze Garland's feet to the ground. She spun around and hurried to Kristoff and Anna, but it amounted to nothing. Garland's sword detached and reshaped itself, forming into a hammer that he brought down to crush the ice to dust. Thousands of tiny, shimmering blue specks flew into the air as Garland's sword transformed again, arcing into a shape resembling a massive steel boomerang. With a battle cry Garland let his weapon fly, the transforming blade whirling through the air and knocking pillar after pillar down. Elsa gasped and came to a stop just before a pile of stone collapsed on top of her.

When the weapon returned to his hand, Garland let out a low chuckle. "You are hesitating. Come, embrace combat's grim pleasure!"

"You're not welcome here!" Elsa shot back. She thrust her hand out and five lances of ice formed above her head before launching forward at full speed. Garland laughed again and swung his sword out, shattering the ice—but it was a distraction. Elsa conjured a swirling ball of ice and snow, sending it forward in a vortex of freezing winds. As Garland brought his sword down on the orb, it expanded outward and he was enveloped in sub-zero water, freezing his entire body.

But Elsa had no time to catch her breath. With a mighty roar, Garland shattered his bonds once more. He held his sword out and spun around, conjuring up a mighty wind of his own. A tornado went flying with one final swing of his weapon, one Elsa was not prepared to handle. No winter wind could compete with that… Dropping to her knees, Elsa spread her fingers out on the ground and froze everything beneath their feet. The ice expanded and rose around the tornado, creating a tower that closed it in until the winds died out.

"Elsa!" Elsa whipped her head around at Anna's cry. The tornado had been a distraction, and Elsa had fallen for it. Garland stood on a pile of rubble with his sword split down the middle, allowing him to wield a blade in each hand. The twin swords spun in his grip as he approached the helpless Anna and Kristoff.

"Anna!" Elsa sent more lances of ice flying at Garland, but he spun around and shattered them in midair in an instant, then swiftly returned to his prey. Garland tossed a sword at the archway above Anna and Kristoff, the metal piercing the stone and causing it to shatter. As the two prepared to run, Garland was already there cornering them. Kristoff held Anna tight and grit his teeth, preparing for the end.

A brilliant light shone brightly in the sky for a split second and then shot down like a bolt.

"Stopza!"

There was a blinding flash, everything went white, and the light shrunk into a single point before expanding out around the entirety of the castle. Kristoff blinked frantically as his eyes adjusted to the light, his mind not registering what had occurred or what exactly he was seeing.

"Are we…dead…?" Kristoff glanced down to see Anna, her head buried in his chest and her hands tightly clutching his shirt. Kristoff stood up, gently helping her to her feet as he did so, and looked around. There was a subtle blue glow to the entire area, and some sort of magic surged in the sky and along the walls. Most astonishingly, the sundered stone that had very nearly crushed them to death hung in the air as if caught in some invisible net. And they weren't alone; Garland himself was trapped in mid-leap, his swords recombined above his head, frozen as he brought it down upon them.

"I…I'm not sure."

"Anna!" Elsa wasn't frozen. She ran to Anna and the two embraced.

"Elsa, did you do this?!"

"Do you see any ice?"

"Then who…"

"I'm glad we're not too late." The three of them turned at the new voice, coming from a stranger resembling a large mouse. Beside him was a boy with white hair, and in their hands…

"Hey, are those Keyblades?" Kristoff asked.

Anna gasped. "And white hair. You're Riku, the guy Sora was looking for! Did they ever find you?"

The two of them looked at each other before turning back to Kristoff, Anna, and Elsa. The boy nodded. "…Yeah, they did. You're right, I am Riku. I wasn't aware they had been here. Were you, Mickey?" The mouse shook his head.

"What are you doing here?" Elsa asked.

"Looking for something, don't you worry about it." Riku stepped forward and examined Garland, tapping his armor a couple times and eyeing his sword warily. "We followed this guy down from the mountains. He smelled like darkness." He narrowed his eyes. "Who is he?"

"You mean the darkness that Hans used?"

The two of them didn't answer, however. Mickey walked up to Riku's side and motioned toward the courtyard's exit. "Riku, Stopza is going to wear off soon. We need to get everyone here to safety before time starts up again."

Riku nodded. "Right. You guys need to get out of here; out of the whole castle, even."

"Don't bother, they won't get far."

In the blink of an eye, Stopza vanished and the light faded around them. Garland dropped to the ground and, not missing a beat, swung his sword toward Kristoff, Anna, and Elsa. Seconds before impact Riku and Mickey brought their Keyblades up to meet the sword, blocking Garland's attack. Garland grunted and jumped back several yards.

"Who are you?!" Mickey demanded.

"Such a powerful sword arm behind such a short stature… I presume I am speaking to King Mickey, then? And the boy must be Riku." Garland laughed and spread his arms out to his side. "Yes, Maleficent told me all about you Keybearers!"

"Maleficent?!"

Garland tightened his grip on his blade with one hand while the other crossed his chest. He bowed deeply. "I am Garland, the False Stalwart. Maleficent saved me from a century of isolation, so that I may see the open sky and take worlds in her name."

"Why would you ever work with Maleficent? She uses the darkness, and it will consume your heart!"

"I care not!" Riku and Mickey gasped at Garland's simple declaration. "Maleficent has promised that she will lead me to my ultimate goal, my final fantasy. And so long as I reach it, it does not matter what happens to me. In order to obtain it, I will do everything in my power for her!"

"Your final fantasy…?" Riku asked. "Explain! Maybe we can help you find it, and then we can avoid this?"

"Why bother? Where you are going you will not need to know! And besides…" Garland lifted his sword in both hands and charged forward. "Why would I ever want to pass up the glory of battle?!"

Riku and Mickey crossed their Keyblades and called up a barrier of interlocking hexagons, halting Garland's advance—or not. The shield shattered like glass, and as Garland brought his sword down on them Riku and Mickey jumped aside. They jabbed their Keyblades toward him in a pincer attack, but Garland effortlessly leaped above them and flipped in the air, once again demonstrating mobility that should have been impossible with his heavy plate armor. When he landed behind Riku he spun around, catching Riku on his blade and then knocking him into the air with an upward strike.

Riku caught himself on the crumbling remains of the balcony wall's second story, jumping up onto the higher ground. Down below, Garland charged at Mickey, running through an onslaught of light magic as if they weren't there. Mickey jumped up as Garland swung low, then leaped aside as Garland swung up. Mickey was taking advantage of his smaller size, dodging each and every one of Garland's attacks.

The upper segments of Garland's sword broke off, connected by a chain, and he began to swing the makeshift whip around wildly. The unpredictable lashings, in addition to causing more damage to the courtyard of the castle, struck the light-footed Mickey in the side. He cried out in pain and toppled forward, tripped up by the whip. Garland cackled wildly and recombined his sword, only for it to shift once more into the hammer.

The hammer was brought down on Mickey's head, but he was spirited away to safety by Riku at the last second. Holding Mickey by the hand, Riku tossed his smaller companion high into the sky. At the apex of his ascension Mickey raised his Keyblade up and charged it with a powerful light. Orbs of light rained down upon the battlefield with a swing of his weapon, assaulting Garland and forcing him to defend himself while Riku moved to attack.

Riku rolled behind Garland as the knight swung his broadsword at him, dodging the attack and giving him an opening from behind. Jumping up to his feet, Riku slashed Garland across the back. For all the good it did him; his Keyblade merely scratched the surface of Garland's armor. Riku gasped as Garland whirled around and hit him with the flat of his blade, sending him flying into the wall.

Mickey shot down from the heavens, his Keyblade still glowing brightly, and brought the golden key down on Garland's head. Garland staggered under the blow and nearly toppled forward, but turned his fall into an offensive. He split his sword into two and swung at Mickey as well as at Riku, who had recovered enough to attack him again. Before the two were knocked back he spun around, catching them both in a whirlwind attack. A tornado formed from Garland's spin and sent the two Keybearers flying high into the sky.

In midair, Riku and Mickey pressed their backs up against each other and held their Keyblades out. They began to spin, waves of light flying out of their weapons and raining down on the battlefield. Garland cursed and swore, holding his purple cape up over him as if it were an umbrella protecting him from the rain. Unfortunately for him, he was not watching his back.

An ice lance pierced Garland's armor right in a gap where two plates met. He gasped and whirled around, but Kristoff and Anna pulled Elsa back before she was beheaded. Riku and Mickey once again dove down from above and struck Garland from both sides, blocking his swords when he once again split them apart to attack both at once. A blue glow radiated from Riku's body as matching flames manifested in his palm. He thrust the dark fire into Garland's chest blowing him back into a pile of rubble.

"Hehehe… Hahahahaha!" Garland's laughter was not mocking but one of genuine entertainment. He pushed himself to his feet and pierced the tip of his sword into the earth. "Good, very good! I have never before experienced such wondrous combat! If this is what Maleficent's foes are capable of, then I chose the right side! Now… Yes, now you will see my true—"

"Garland!" Green fire erupted out of the ground between the two sides of the battle. An image of a pale green woman in long black robes appeared, her form translucent and not all there. She glared at Garland with disapproval.

Garland gasped and dropped to one knee. "Sorceress…!"

"Maleficent!" Riku and Mickey shouted.

The witch paid them no mind. "Garland, I did you think I would not notice you leaving the castle? I did not assign you to any world! Return at once!"

Garland tilted his head up toward the image of Maleficent, and one could almost hear him grinding his teeth beneath his helmet. "My strength is going to waste just lingering in that empty world! Allow me to do what I must for you, sorceress. Together we will—"

"This is not for debate," Maleficent hissed. "You work for me Garland. If you want this 'fantasy' of yours, you will do as I say! I could always lock you away again."

"…Yes, sorceress." As the image of the witch vanished, Garland climbed to his feet once more and hefted his blade over his shoulder. "It would seem, heroes, that you get off easy. Heh… I hope you enjoy this reprieve, Your Majesty, for soon I shall return to reap what I have sewn!" He gave a mocking bow to Elsa and then vanished, consumed by the shadows that rose up around him.

"'Your Majesty'…?" Riku looked around at his surroundings and grew quiet in thought. Then his eyes widened and he spun around to face Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff. Eyeing the regal (if now dirty and torn) clothing the former two wore, he dropped down to his knees. "Royalty! I-I'm sorry, we just…"

"Gosh, it's been a while since I've been with another royal before." Mickey bowed deeply and then walked over to help the three of them to their feet. "I'm King Mickey Mouse, of Disney Castle! And you are?"

"U-Uh…" Elsa had long since lost her composure, and she looked at Mickey like a deer in the headlights as the events of the last few minutes replayed over and over in her head. "I-I'm…Queen Elsa, of Arendelle."

Riku stood up and looked around. "Oh, so this is the Arendelle that Xion told me about…"

Anna frowned, sighed, and ran a hand through her dusty, messed-up hair. "Can you, uh…tell us what that was about?"

Riku sighed and shook his head. "I wish we knew, sorry. We were looking for something when we came here, and we just found that Garland guy on the way. He wasn't what we were looking for, but we kept an eye on him; when he attacked, we had to intervene."

Kristoff coughed and rubbed his aching head. "I think whenever Keyblades are involved we're kind of destined to be confused…" He looked around at their surroundings, at the ruined decorations, crushed tables, and crumbling walls, and sighed. Kneeling down, he picked up the abandoned box and looked at it sadly. "All that hard work gone to waste."

Anna frowned and leaned toward him. "Hey Kristoff, what's that?"

Kristoff jumped and quickly hid the box behind his back. "N-Nothing! A-Anyway, I guess we'd better get to work on fixing this place up."

Riku and Mickey glanced at each other and nodded. "We'd be glad to help."

"But shouldn't you get back to your search for…whatever it is? I mean, if Sora and Xion's friends are looking for something, it's gotta be important, right? Last time it was this Keyhole thing…"

Mickey shook his head. "It is important, but so is this. Any friend of a friend is our friend too!"

Elsa smiled and nodded. "Then we'd be happy to have you along, thank you."

Kristoff sighed and turned around, opening the box to examine the diamond ring inside. "Then…maybe another day."

It was kind of surreal writing this chapter. Our last visit to Arendelle was before Frozen took off like it did, so coming back t it after it got so big felt really weird. Still, it was something I wanted to do. I really don't like how I handled this world back in the first story, so I decided to give it another go. This time around I quite like how it came out. Hope you did too!