"…There's going to be a battle here tomorrow. You'll fight in it, maybe even die in it. But you won't see it. …You don't see a battle, you hear it. Black powder blasting by the ton on all sides. Black smoke blinding you, and choking you, and making you vomit…"

-Richard Sharpe, Sharpe's Eagle

August 4th, 1840

A cold fog held over Arendal as the sun rose to the east, revealing a deceptively tranquil countryside. The sentries on watch kept their guard up, despite the appearance (and reality) that the Sons of Muspell had retreated to their shelters the dusk before, and would not likely resume their raiding until noon. But the vigilance of the defenders of Arendal was rewarded in due time, as shortly after the sun had fully shown itself, the wood line came alive with men in white uniforms.

Well before dawn, the crusader army had awoken and moved across the bridge that was repaired the day before, and were now before Arendal itself. But rather than moving forward with spades and picks to set up a defensive line as planned, they instead came with ladders and fixed bayonets. And while a cold blooded tactician would point at that there was only a few battalions in this wave, or perhaps fifteen-hundred men, to the wide-eyed soldiers on watch, it was like all of the ghosts of hell were coming at them at once. But they did their duty and raised the alarm, and braced with their rapidly arriving comrades to repel the coming assault.

The Siege of Arendal had begun in earnest.

…

The sound of massed rifle and cannon fire shook Anna awake, at this point the sound of combat being a sadly familiar commotion to the young Royal. Feeling her heart begin to race, she clambered out of her bed, before moving to her wardrobe. Ripping it open, she hesitated for a moment in choosing a dress. Before she could make her mind, the door swung open, revealing several Guardsmen.

Showing no bashfulness over, Anna's relative state of undress (she was in a nightgown), one began to speak in a rushed and forceful manner. "Your Highness, we apologize for the interruption, but you must come with us now."

"The battle is far away, at the city gates. So what is the emergency?"

"Your Sister, Her Majesty, is missing. As such, you are the acting Monarch and we need to get you to safety. Please get dressed."

Anna stood stunned and worried for a moment, before shaking the despairing thought from her head. Wherever Elsa was, she now had to lead through this moment of crisis. Looking through her closet for appropriate attire, it didn't take long for something to catch her eye. A black hussar's uniform tailored to her build lay unused, commissioned by her father in the event that she was to conduct an inspection. She smiled, as a plan began to take shape in her mind.

…

Main Gate, Arendal

Siegfried Krupp strode through the battered and opened gate, his company in tow. As he paused to catch his visible breath and take in the situation, the sweat on his skin cooled in the unnatural weather, chilling him. But it was his assessment of the situation that gave him the ever so slight chill down his spine.

While it was clear that there had been a battle for the gates, there was fewer bodies than he expected on the part of the loyalists. In addition, as this only to be a probing attack, it was a merely a mixed battalion of rebel Landwehr securing the now open gate. As such, he had a bad feeling about this situation. One that led him to pause and stew in the situation. Before long, a familiar voice snapped him out of it.

"Siegfried? What's going on?"

Siegfried shook his head, before turning to look at his youngest brother, Erwin. Only fifteen, he was the only one to find himself in a line company. As such, Siegfried was able to get transferred to command the Company, as to be able to look after him. And right now, while in combat, he couldn't appear weak in front of him, or the other young enlisted men. Plus, if they did have the defenders on the run, hesitation could court disaster. He had to press the attack.

"Nothing, Erwin. And really, you need to call me sir until this is all over."

Erwin smirked slightly, reassured by the elder brother's words. "Of course, uh, sir!"

Siegfried smiled for a second, before switching to a loud command voice. "Company! To the Front!"

The entire company echoed, before he gestured forward. Untrained though they were, the company pushed forward in response, heading off into the unknown.

…

Edda Eriksen sat behind a quickly made barricade, clutching a rifled musket, awash with equal parts fear and excitement, along with a number of other recently inducted recruits. Though to them, they only saw the youthful 'Edward' Eriksen, in 'his' far too loose uniform. Just another teenage boy too young to shave pressed into service.

The choice had been too easy, when it occurred to the young girl that the induction officers were so desperate for men that they didn't even conduct medical examinations. This is it, she had thought. This would be her only chance to be like her brothers and to become a soldier. Thusly, shortly after the mobilization had begun, she simply slipped out, sold her hair to a wig maker, and conjured up a false background. Then, she reported to the conscription center.

There, it didn't take long to get assigned to a Landwehr Battalion, and after a few days of training, found herself here, about to find herself in combat. And it was only now that her optimism was beginning to fade.

"Here they come!" shouted an unknown man, followed by a few seconds of her comrades adjusting themselves and getting ready to shoot. And as warned, she saw dozens of white coated men come streaming down the cobblestone street, spread out and disorganized.

As planned, her officer readied a command. "Make ready!"

Edda and her company echoed the command, drawing back the rifled musket's hammer back from a half-cocked position, priming the weapon for fire.

"Pre-sent!" As before, she echoed the command, leveling the heavy rifle at the enemy troops. By this point the crusaders had realized what they had stumbled into, with two major responses. The first, exercised by a majority, was to paused like deer in a lantern light, too stunned to save themselves. The second, carried out by a few veterans was to dive behind street clutter or press themselves against buildings, in an attempt to avoid the coming meat grinder. The unit as a whole didn't have the discipline or training to do the 'right' choice, which would be to plow through the line, bayonets fixed. As such, the white coats were about to suffer.

"FIRE!"

A thunderstorm of shots crackled out, nearly deafening Edda and tearing everything before them to shreds. The men who paused in the street almost all were torn to pieces as large caliber bullets tore through them like paper. Even though she was nearly blinded by the sickening smoke of black powder, Edda would never forget the sight of the broken and torn men with white and now red coats collapse to the ground. But the fight was far from over. As she began to reload behind cover, the surviving crusaders returned fire, and she began to hear the screams of wounded men around her. In addition, even more crusader troops arrived, negating any advantage that the 'ambush' had. Despite her eyes becoming irritated and her focus on her given task, a chill ran down her spine as she realized that both the miasma and the terror around her was only going to get worse, long before it got better.

…

With the sounds of modern, 19th century warfare in the background, a Cavalry troop made up of Royal Guardsmen made its way down from the castle, all gathered to escort the Crown Princess to safety. They were a small formation, even by cavalry standards, but with a mere visual study one could tell that these were the elite. Clad in highly decorated short green tunics with caps and bearing the saber and lance of a hussar, it was a rare day that these men would not turn a head or two.

At its head, Lieutenant Gumrak shook his head once again, when he looked over at the Crown Princess once more. Dressed as a cavalry officer, with her hair done up as to hide it, the newly minted 'Guard Captain' knew that something was amiss. He knew the Crown Princess too well. She was planning something.

It was bad enough that last night he was informed that he was now the highest ranking officer in the Royal Guard and Captain Edvard's successor last night by the Queen herself. But then less than twelve hours later, the Queen was no longer where she was supposed to be when the city was attacked. Now while a more thorough search was being conducted, no chances were being taken. The Heir to the throne was to be evacuated to safety, which of course was Anna. But Anna had different plans.

A disguise to draw less attention, her Highness had claimed. But the Russian born officer knew better. He just wanted to know what Princess Anna's plan was. He didn't have to wait long.

A dispatch officer came galloping up from the rear of the Guard's Cavalry Troop, arriving at the front with Lieutenant Gumrak and Princess Anna. Sweating heavily even in the cold air, the young officer wasted no time. "Sir, your Highness, I come from Colonel Marcks. Rebel forces are inside the city, and are advancing up towards the palace, heading down the main market road. We are holding them in check, but Colonel Marcks recommends caution and distance from the battle."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Dismissed." Gumrak said cordially over his accent. The young officer saluted, before wheeling his horse about and departing. No sooner had the horseman made it down the entire column and turned away, did Gumrak turn back to his charge. Princess Anna sat on her horse, bearing a determined face but a mischievous glint in her eye. Gumrak already knew things were about to go downhill.

"Your Highness…"

"It is your duty to protect me, wherever I go, correct?"

"Yes, but-"

"Well, protect me!"

Before Gumrak could protest, the Crown Princess spurred her horse forward, galloping down towards the battle raging down below. Cursing in every word he knew in Russian, Norwegian and German, Gumrak turned to the stunned Cavalry troop. "To the Crown Princess!"

…

Even among the smoke and dust Eva Holstadt breathed steadily as she calmly reloaded a Kramerladder rifle while poorly aimed shots cracked harmlessly into stone wall she was using for cover, making no difference. Finished before long, she exhaled gently, smoothly pivoted around the wall, and flowed smoothly onto a target. Not having the time to scan for and find a high value target, she simply settled for a rebel soldier who was far too exposed and squeezed the trigger. And as quickly as she had exposed herself, she was once again beyond cover, and back to reloading.

"And here I thought that an enemy army was going to be a true challenge, eh Stahl?"

It was Hjartsen, one of the men she had become acquainted with back in the days she was still known as 'Heinrich Stahl'. And like many of the other men she had served with, he had preferred to not address the elephant in the room and fell back on what they knew and where comfortable with. Which namely was that Heinrich Stahl was a man, period. And to be fair, it was still easy to pretend that. After all, Eva had had no time to grow her hair out again, nor was she ever 'blessed' with a womanly figure. This combined with a robust build after years of intense drill and exercise and her choice to wear loose men's clothes, she was fully aware that one could mistake her for a young, slim man. And to be honest, she had always liked being treated as one.

In any case, she had decided her comrade's quip was worthy of a response, though as before, she was a woman of very few words. "Yep."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we got Landwehr downstairs to keep them from storming this building, and I know that there's some fucking traitor Fjelljeger out there, but still. I had always thought it'd be more than bandits or animals, you know?"

"Right." He wasn't too far off, either. She had found these troops woefully inadequate opponents, as both bandits and animals had a good deal of predatory cunning: they didn't fight unless they had the best possible chance of winning. These poor fools were simply cannon fodder. Still, getting shot at was still worse to what she was doing before. She had been waiting for a summons from the Queen since she had delivered Kristoff days prior, she had been enjoying some quality rest and relaxation, that is, until the invading army attacked. Having still not received any word, she decided to engage in independent hunting. As such she had found herself assigned to a Fjelljeger squad and set loose on the city. Thusly, here she was.

But as she had finished reloading yet again and was preparing to wheel out and snipe another poor bastard, she began to hear a thundering of hooves coming from friendly lines. Curious, and wanting a more complete tactical picture, she peeked around the edge of the window.

Down the street was a troop of cavalry racing down the street, all clad in Royal Guard uniforms save one, the leader. Wearing an all-black uniform with the Totenkopf on their cap and having a head of reddish brown hair, even she had a second where she had thought the impossible. Within a second, she had settled on the reasonable explanation that the rider was none other than Crown Princess Anna engaging in a typical bout of daring-do. But she also had extensive face to face time with the young woman and was familiar with her personality. Her comrades did not have that familiarity.

It was Gustavsen, the oldest man in the squad and veteran of Napoleon's wars, that dared entertain aloud the impossible. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that was King Agnarr back from the dead. But that's impossible, right?"

…

Edda skulked behind the barricade, any optimism regarding combat having long since gone. The smoke had become incredibly thick and hazy, to the point that she could barely see the enemy before her. Luckily, up to this point the enemy had not managed to muster the organization to simply mount a bayonet charge, but the massed potshots had taken their toll on the defenders. It wouldn't be long before they would have to retreat. But the odd began to occur.

A loose stream of white coats began to run past, screaming loudly and incoherently given the confusion and gunfire. And behind them came a thundering of hooves. Before long, a mass of cavalry crashed through the street, plowing through the men who were too slow to get out of the way. They were clad in the garb of the royal guard, save for one. Edda couldn't see too well in the smoke, but if she wasn't dreaming, the figure leading this charge was none other than the late King Agnarr, in the guise of his younger self.

Wheeling his horse about, the ghostly figure shouted out to the defenders, which luckily could easily be identified thanks to their colors. "Soldiers of Arendal!" Cried the voice with a high pitched but unmistakably noble voice. "Drive these bastards back to hell! Follow me!"

The defenders of the barricade gave an affirmative shout, before Edda's commander drew his sword, and turned to his troops. "You heard him: to the King!"

…

Siegfried and his men, now joined by the rest of his battalion, pushed through the street towards the sounds of combat. Siegfried knew he was close now, as with every step the cracks of musket fire grew louder, and the smoke grew thicker. And there were of course the first bodies on the street, ripped asunder by gun fire. Among the dead were the pitiful wounded, stumbling and crawling away from the hell that they were just in. With these sights, Siegfried knew his men's courage was already being tested.

"Stay steady fellows, and we'll carry the day!" He said, half to his men, and half to himself. For even now the veteran was uneasy about this fight. He prayed that reinforcements were being sent to exploit the breach of the main gate, otherwise this fight was doomed. But Surtrsen wasn't that stupid, right?

Any thoughts he had were shaken when men began to come through the mist, bearing white coats but having lost their minds. Screaming and throwing down their weapons, they were doing anything they could to get away from the battle. These weren't cowards and shirkers trying to escape a fight, these were broken and routed troops. Which could only mean that the battle before them was lost.

But they had a chance, if they could find out what they were about to fight. Seizing a fleeing soldier, he at once shook him and questioned harshly you get his attention. "What happened! What are you running from!"

The man began to babble, his eyes wide with panic. "They're demons, led by the ghost of King Agnarr! He's come back from the dead, to seek revenge on us all for turning on his daughters. He'll kill us all!"

"That's insane, man! Calm down, and explain to me, whose coming for us!"

But as if on cue, a thundering of hooves and boots on cobblestone was heard as well as a yelling, all coming from the thick mix of cold fog and hot smoke. Hearing the certain death he had just escaped from coming yet again, the panicked man broke loose of Siegfried's grasp, and began to shout as he ran towards the gate to safety. "He'll kill us all! He'll kill us all! He'll kill us all!"

A little shaken by what he had just seen and heard, Siegfried steeled himself and tried to get his men in order. "Company! Form ranks and charge bayonets, at the-"

Before he could even finish the order, let alone have his men follow it, a screaming, thundering mass of horses and men came through the smoke and fog with bayonetted rifles and lances charged. It was too late.

…

Colonel Marcks stood in the steeple of the Royal Church near the palace, a pair of spotting glasses in his hands as he surveyed the ongoing battle. So far, the battle was going exactly as planned. The enemy had easily fallen for his ruse and funneled through the bottleneck of the main gate, where they were being contained in the city. He was now simply hoping for just an extra battalion or two to enter the gate as the trap was currently being spun, hoping that that they were inside when the jaws slammed shut. Just as he was content that everything was going exactly according to planned, a dispatch rider climbed to the top of the tower, saluting at once.

"What is it?"

"Sir, the Royal Guard's cavalry troop has engaged into battle, and has succeeding in routing the forward enemy units."

"That's odd. Are they not escorting the Crown Princess to safety?"

"That's the thing sir. Reports from our troops are that the troop is being led by the ghost of King Agnarr himself. And discarding that notion, that leaves only one alternative."

"That she's leading the troops herself." The old Colonel sighed, once again baffled by the rashness of youth. In any case, his gut feeling told him that the Princess would make it through. His major concern was that the maelstrom in the form of a young woman would ruin his trap.

"Has the Prince of Bornholm made his attack?"

"Yes Sir, he has, in fact, momentarily you should see him as well as elements of the Royal Hussars and Dragoons make their assault."

The Infantry Colonel raised his field glasses and saw full well the mass of cavalrymen launch a pincer attack on the gates, sealing his trap once and for all. "Shame we didn't get another battalion or two. Still, nice to see those dandies engage in a hard day's work for once. In any case, send the order to all battalion commanders: Advance on all fronts."

"Yes sir." The younger officer began at once to make his way down the stairs. As he did so, Marcks shifted his gaze over to the main market street, where a mass of cavalrymen and infantry had the enemy in a rout.

"I made one mistake this battle, and that was assuming the daughter of Agnarr would run from a fight. I'll have to reign that one in for the next fight." He chuckled softly, before taking a glance at the castle he was mere yards away from. "Now, I just want to see what the cold blooded one can do."

…

Anna's heart raced as her charge finally turned around the corner, 'leading' her troops into the opening just behind the gate into the city, the last foothold of the enemy army in Arendal itself. However, as she did so she was greeted with a desperate, point blank volley from a smattering of Crusader soldiers. In an instant, Anna's horse recoiled from a grazing wound and the Princess found herself slamming into the cold cobblestone, knocking the air from her lungs and stunning her.

With her dazed vision seeing powerful warhorse hooves stamping all about, even Anna's optimism could not alter her read of the situation: she was going to die. Still stunned from the force of her fall, Anna could do little but lie there and wait for the stampede to literally trample her to death along with the blood and snow. And for a few seconds Anna felt a truly horrible sense of helplessness and desperation. A herd of animals driven by instinct did what a Draugr could not: fill her with terror.

However, a few seconds passed and Anna's eyes, welling with tears, saw a small wonder. The hooves of the warhorses that seconds prior were inches away now cleared away with a wide berth. Being made up of some of the finest horsemen of Arendal, it occurred to Anna that it would have been near child's play for the Guard Cavalry to simple clear a spot where she had fallen, avoiding any injured other than to her pride. With feet of space around her and air refilling her chest after it had been knocked out, Anna regained her composure (as well as some humility) and began to rise again, grasping her sword.

Soon after finding her feet, Anna looked about in an attempt to reorient herself. All around her Royal Guard Cavalrymen faced themselves and their horses out, poised and ready for any threat. But that made little sense. Just a minute ago they were in battle. What happened?

"Your Highness." Anna snapped her head towards the voice, revealing it to be Gumrak. Like the rest of the Guardsmen, he was still mounted. Unlike the others, however, he was wheeling his horse inside the protective berth provided by the others to more directly converse with the Crown Princess. "Please, get mounted so we can get you out of here."

Anna looked about, finding no trace of her steed. Besides, there was a commotion towards the gates, and she was more interested in that. "My horse is gone, Gumrak. And what happened to the battle?"

Gumrak's face twisted in puzzlement, before he too began to look about for the horse. Anna's curiosity got the better of her, and taking advantage of the acting Guard-Captain's distraction she pushed through her cordon towards the gate. The two horsemen protested loudly, but with their hands bearing lances, lacked the ability to stop her.

Past the horsemen, Anna was able to see the commotion in front of her. Ahead lay the surviving rebel soldiers, huddled in a disorganized mob numbering in the low hundreds. Among them were Officers, sergeants, and men, all equally confused and lacking control of themselves or others. Surrounding them was several battalions of Loyalist infantry in loose order formations, flexible but still under the grasp of their officers. Some were reloading, some stood ready with their rifles at the ready. But all were eagerly awaiting the order to fire. After all, they were more than happy to pay the rebels back for all the calamity that they had brought. It was going to be a massacre.

Without thinking, Anna pushed her way through the front rank of 'her' soldiers, creating an audible gasp alike from the troops, loyal and rebel alike. By this point, spattered in the mud and blood of war and missing her cap, the ghost of Agnarr had vanished. Or at least the myth version of him did. Trudging forward while grasping a sword, covered with filth, and quite displeased; Anna became a spitting image of Agnarr to those who knew him. But to those who only knew the king as a king, all they saw was a formidable Princess, or rather a Lady of War.

Stopping a few yards in front of the enemy troops, Anna made her move. Shouting with every word coming from her diaphragm, she commanded her foes. "Rebel soldiers! Lay down your weapons at once or be slaughtered like the cattle you are! There is no escape, but to throw yourself at the mercy of your Queen!"

A brief pause happened, as Anna's words washed over them. Before long, they began to talk amongst themselves, almost all coming to one conclusion: to resist was to die. As such, one by one and then in droves, men dropped their muskets and began to file out of the death trap, hands raised in surrender. The Loyalist troops held their tongue, as after all, their Crown Princess commanded it. And besides, tomorrow would bring more traitors to kill.

Gumrak quickly appeared behind her, having dismounted to make his way through the infantry. A little awe-struck that the 18-year-old before him had just ordered revolting soldiers to disarm, he nonetheless was insistent about what was to come next. "Your Highness, we must leave now. You did all you can for today as a general, but tomorrow you may have to be Queen."

Anna sighed, before finally nodding her hand in agreement. As such, she accompanied the Guardsman pack to the circle of horses, where a steed was awaiting her. Before too long, they were riding back to the palace. Soon after departing, Anna turned and asked Gumrak. "Do you think I convinced them all?"

"I'm afraid not, your Highness. In any group, there will be diehards, as well as men who'd rather die in battle than face a noose. So I suspect more than a few will not give up."

Anna stewed on that thought, and just as she prepared to reenter the castle after minutes of silence, she heard the crackle of gunfire.

I did all I could, right?

As she entered the gate, she was greeted by Gerda, who as her only remaining (human) mother figure, was a very welcome sight. Her face bearing an expression of nervous excitement, she made her way to Anna at once. "Your Highness, we found her! We found your sister, the Queen."

Anna's eyes widened, as her heart was filled with joy. "Take me to her at once!"

…

As Anna and a few guards quick stepped towards the door leading to Elsa's bedroom, Gerda began to explain. "Your Highness, we found her in the lower floors, passed out from exhaustion. We brought her to her suite at once, and attempted to send messengers." Pausing for a moment, Gerda then switched to an ever so scolding tone, clearly unhappy with the young woman who was practically a daughter to her. "But at that point, you were already in battle and we weren't able to get through to you."

Anna hung her head low, as it was occurring to her that what she did was perhaps a little foolish. But she had put on the uniform in the first place so she could act if she determined the soldiers who were literally risking their lives for her needed her help. And she still thought they did. As Gerda grasped the door handle, she turned about and preemptively stated "And before you ask, you can thank the troll for this."

Before Anna could ask more, Gerda swung the door open, revealing her sister. Sitting up in bed, Elsa turned her head towards Anna, pausing for a moment as if startled. Even more startled was Anna, for a very simple reason.

Elsa was platinum blonde and pale again.

Entering the room, Anna began to speak rapidly. "Elsa, what happened! Did you get you power back, if so how?"

Elsa hesitated for a moment, before speaking in a tired and soft voice, almost distant. "Yes, of course. Grand Pabbie used an ancient troll spell to give me my powers back, Anna. For too long you have been protecting me. Now I can finally protect you again."

"Is Grand Pabbie here?" Anna asked, curious to know more.

"Yes, I am here." The old troll stated as he stood up from a sturdy stool in the corner of the room. "But perhaps you can save your questions for me until we leave your sister in peace. After all, she needs rest."

Anna pouted for a second, wanted to spend time with her sister and to tell her all about what she had seen today. But that would be selfish. "Your right. I'll see you later, Elsa."

And with that, everyone save Elsa left the room, leaving her in peace. What Anna nor Elsa knew was her transformation had just only begun.

…

Hours later, Eva walked through the streets with her Fjelljeger squad, conducting mop-up operations. The thick smoke had finally all but cleared up, leaving only the smells of blood, gore and emptied bowels on the streets of Arendal after the battle. But Eva was far too accustomed to all this by now, as well as she was to the moans and cries of the wounded. In fact, she perhaps was too successful in blocking out the cries of dead, as she nearly missed a voice she knew all too well.

"Eva?"

Eva turned about, praying that the voice she heard did not belong to who she thought it would. Instead, her heart sank when she set her eyes on a face she had not seen for too long.

Siegfried Krupp. He sat on the cobblestone, embracing a dead boy with wiry reddish brown hair, dried tears having left a trail from his dead eyes. Siegfried could onl look up at his former comrade, and shake his head. "It was supposed to be me that died to bring him home. Not this. Never this."

As silent as a mouse, Eva asked. "Who was he?"

Beginning to sob, Siegfried responded. "My… my youngest brother. He was pressed into the fucking crusader army, along with my other brothers. That's why I turned. I'd let myself swing from a rope if they all came home. You understand? I should be dead, not him!"

By this point the others from her squad had arrived, and at once understood the situation. Usually the silent one, Eva was the ironic spokeswomen for them all.

"Take off the uniform, Siegfried. We never saw you. Go now."

Siegfried slowly nodded, before rising. Casting off the officer uniform that could warrant a hanging for treason if caught with, he simply picked up his dead baby brother and walked away aimlessly. Eva shook her head at the sight.

No one, not even a traitor, deserves that.

…

Kristoff waited a little impatiently in the reception area of the Castle, honestly rather irritated by this point. After all, for the last several days he had heard little to nothing concrete regarding the woman he had feelings for, while hearing massive amount of rumors and hearsay. And this was after he was arrested (although briefly) and Sven was knocked out. He wanted answers, and once again, he was told to wait here and we'll get back to you.

Then, after an hour, his patience was finally rewarded when a freshly bather and clothed Anna turned the corner, her smile upon seeing Kristoff a stark contrast to the grim and perhaps annoyed expressions of her Royal Guard detail. At once she began to exclaim.

"Kristoff, it's so nice to see you! I tried to get back to you after you got arrested, but you would not believe the last several days…"

Kristoff, having less than ideal people's skills, just barely avoided making a snide comment as to what possibly could have been so important to tell him nothing. Instead, he got a closer look at Anna as she closed in, where he saw full well the marks of the last several days. Wearing a light dress with rolled up sleeves thanks to the castle's good internal heating, her face, neck and forearms were exposed, showing the scar running ear-to-ear as well as cuts, scars and bruises from both today's battle and her fight with the Draugr.

"My god Anna, what happened to you?"

Anna shrugged a little, before responding. "Well, first I died, then I fought a flame Draugr, and then I was in today's battle. So it's been a busy week."

"Wait, what?" Kristoff stammered, completed baffled.

"Look, it doesn't manner. I can tell you about it later, but that's not what's important. I survived, and now I just want to be with you, and not worry about tomorrow." As she said this, she moved in closely and wrapped her arms around Kristof's shoulders.

A little perplexed by Anna's forwardness given all that's happened, Kristoff fell back mentally to his sarcasm. "I don't know feisty pants; I am rather pessimistic after all."

Smiling, Anna then silently pressed forward and stole a kiss, uncaring of her Guard escort. Following a few seconds of the tender embrace, Anna pulled back and spoke softly.

"Now, let's go have dinner, and enjoy tonight for tonight."

…

Long after Kristoff and Anna retired to their separate quarters, and all but the night staff and Royal Guard had fallen asleep in the castle, deep in the castle depths something was stirring. Grand Pabbie walked down one of the poorly stone corridors, before long stopping in front of an ancient door that once housed general storage or perhaps even food in case of a siege. Now, it was all but forgotten and unused, except to those who remembered it. Grand Pabbie proceed to open the door without a word, and stepped in and came face to face to an unnatural sight: himself.

Chained to large and thick chains made of ice, Grand Pabbie dangled, defeated and despairing. For he knew what chained him there.

"Come back to gloat, have you? No, that's not right. That wasn't your style. Perhaps you've come to choke me in your unnatural magic then?"

'Grandpabbie' simply stood silently, only coldly staring at the helpless troll shaman, perhaps trying to gleam some insight from his suffering.

"Come on then, show me your true form then! I knew the Snow Queen used dark arts to increase her powers, but I never took her to be a Draugr as well! Don't deny it, I feel your unnatural presence!"

The aberration before him simply cocked its head, before replying. "This is my natural form. At least, this creation's." At once, the imitation of the troll dissolved into a flurry of snow, shifting several feet to the right before reforming first as a snow troll, before texture, clothes and other features returned. Within seconds, the copycat spoke again. "Do you see now?"

"I do. By why demonstrate this to me? And why keep me alive?"

"Simple. Your people taught me much of what I know, so will demonstrate my gifts. As for why I keep you alive… you still haven't completed your purpose, as tomorrow this creation of mine will. Tomorrow 'you' will be concerned about Elsa's condition. And as such, 'you' will bring in a 'spiritual woman' to help. And then, I will guide Elsa to becoming what she's meant to be."

"Guide her to become a monster like you?"

The slightest twitch of anger appeared in the eyes of the copycat troll, before it responded. "I have no need to explain myself, or my actions to you."

Grandpabbie could only shake his head in anger, before his copycat simply extended its hand and blasted him, encasing Grandpabbie complete with ice. Then, with loose ends tied up, the imitation left the room, before encasing the door with frozen masonry. 'Grandpabbie' then turned and walked away into the dark hallway, as the ice works shifted colors and blended in flawlessly.

…

Bit of Notes:

Sorry for the delay, I know some of you have been wondering where I've been given my general absence. Unfortunately, both May and June were both very busy for me as I had my trade school finals and exams in May and then a three-week annual training in June. And while on one of my off days during AT I hammered out close to 5000 words over maybe 8 hours, it was unsurprisingly a bit of a mess, and took some time to edit. Hence an early July release.

As of now I'm waiting to hear back from the Carpenter's union on whether or not I get employed, so I'm not really too busy right now. So hopefully I can get the next chapter out soon.

Got to see Wonder Woman, which was a fairly enjoyable film, despite a few pet peeves I had with it. That movie combined with some Marvel things floating about (AKA Captain America) does give me a few vague ideas from cross-overs, but as of now I want to get this monster of a story done first…

As always, feel free to review or message me regarding questions and such. All I ask is if you have a theory regarding a twist, you at least mark your review with a spoiler tag so you don't ruin it for everyone else. And if you get it right, I may confirm it… vaguely.

See y'all next time,

O7,

Dragunov