I guess this is a filler chapter, lol. There was a lot of exposition and character stuff I needed to get out of the way. Um, I hope you enjoy it anyway. XD
Tensions remained high the day after the…incident. Sure, all Elsa ended up needing was some rest and a few bandages, but after a fight like that, how could anyone settle down easily? Elsa certainly couldn't, anyway. So much for Disney World being a paradise. Not when there were villains lurking around every corner.
It had been Dr. Facilier this time, and she knew he was one of the weaker ones. But he had said there was a group of them planning everything, so lord knew it wasn't the end of it. She could only imagine who would come after her next… Hopefully someone without any magic at all? No, if they had sent Facilier the first time, they wouldn't take that step down. She had no idea which one of them was most powerful. And with the side knowledge that there were still baddies she hadn't heard of yet…
"Elsa?" Anna interrupted.
"Huh?!" How long had she been lost in her own train of thought? Seemed like it happened all the time now. Though when you had lived by yourself for so long, it was something you got really good at. "Sorry, Anna. What was that again?"
"I was asking what you wanted for breakfast."
Breakfast did sound great right about now. Wait, in bed? "You really don't have to bring it up for me. I-I can get it myself…" she stuttered, managing to get out of bed though her knees still stung with any movement she made.
"Are you sure?" Her sister leaned in.
"Yes, Anna! I'm fine, really," she smiled. What she failed to notice was that each of her footsteps was leaving a big, snowy print on the carpet.
Anna raised an eyebrow. Part of her wanted to laugh, but if it meant she was in pain… "Really, really sure?" she said with more concern this time.
"Of course. It's just a few scrapes…" It was only then that she noticed her footprints. "Oh…oh, dear. That's what this is about, then?"
She nodded. "Elsa, don't make yourself get up if it's still hurting…" she ordered, one step away from shoving her back into bed.
"It doesn't hurt that much!" she said, dodging her sister's push. "It's just a natural reaction to pain, any pain. I can't help it…"
She sighed. "You're telling the truth, right?" She hated when she tried to hide things from her. It had gotten a lot better, but every now and then there'd be a situation like this.
Elsa felt bad now; how could she make her sister worry so much? But she smiled and tried to reassure her anyway. "Trust me, if it was anything serious, there'd be a lot more snow around."
Anna paused, deciding whether or not to believe her…but she did seem truthful this time around. "Okay! Then let's go get something to eat!" she said cheerfully, taking Elsa's hand.
But before they could take a single step, there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it!" Anna shouted, letting Elsa loose and running to the door without a second thought. She flung the door open, and…it was someone she didn't recognize. And wearing glasses. "Um, hi," she said with an awkward wave.
"Hello," the man in glasses greeted back. "I didn't wake you girls up, did I?"
"Oh, no! Not at all!" she smiled. Getting up early was so much easier when she was here – maybe so much too look forward to. "So what's going on?"
He flipped through a notebook, looking a little uneasy. "Well, if you have time, there's someone who'd like to meet with you…"
"Really? Who?"
"A fellow by the name of Mr. Mouse," he said with a laughing smile.
Now that wasn't something she'd expected to hear. "Mr. Mouse? Wha…" Then she remembered. The mouse that had been in the show yesterday! Or…she assumed it was a mouse. It was really weird looking, but there wasn't really anything else it could be. "Oh yes, of course! Where does he want us to meet?"
"In the lounge," he replied. "As soon as possible. He says it's urgent."
"Oh, okay…" Was it about yesterday? She didn't know things were that serious already…. "Then we should only be a few minutes. Promise!"
"Great! We'll see you there," and without another word, he closed the door. Anna blinked; once she opened it again, he was already gone. Wow, that really is urgent. Better get a move on, then.
She called out to her sister. "Elsa! We have to go to a meeting!"
"I heard, I heard," she replied, just putting the finishing touches on her hair. "Are you ready, Anna?"
"Yep! Been ready for a while now!" she grinned.
"Then let's head down." And they both hurried down the hallway.
Finding the lounge proved harder than expected. There was a different restaurant around every corner, it seemed, but none of them were the right place – even though the food looked delicious. Anna was so hungry, she had to restrain herself from just grabbing a plate of waffles and running off with it. They better have breakfast prepared at the meeting, she thought in frustration.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a signpost directed them to the location. The room was kept quite a bit darker than other parts of the hotel, which only emphasized how small it was. A curved bar counter took up the majority, with a few tables and velvety seats scattered around it. Not surprisingly, there was nobody hanging around here at this hour…except for the mouse.
Off stage, it was easier to see just how strange this thing looked. Pitch black fur, but a human-colored face. Gloves on its hands, shoes on its feet, and yet no shirt and only a red pair of shorts on his lower half. With the tail sticking out of them. And the ears…could you even call them mouse ears? They lacked any distinguishing features that would identify them as such.
Elsa managed to get over the oddity of the situation and speak up. "Good morning, Mr. Mouse…"
Mickey looked over. "Oh, hi, girls!" he said, getting up from his seat and offering a handshake. "Glad you're able to stop by. I got really worried for a second."
Elsa and Anna both returned the shake. "No need to worry, sir. Apart from a few mishaps, everything's been fantastic," she reassured him.
He looked more serious now. "I'm glad you brought that up, because that's exactly what I want to talk about." With that, the mouse led them back to table. "Have a seat. And please, just call me Mickey!"
They each took a seat next to each other, not sure what to think of the whole situation. Anna looked over to her sister, hoping she would know at least a little more than her what to do…but alas, she did not. Even though the meeting back in Arendelle hadn't bothered her in the slightest, for some reason this felt different. This one was serious; Elsa had actually been hurt. She knew she couldn't play around like usual, and so she did her best to look as serious as possible. But Elsa laid a hand on top of hers, and she couldn't help but crack a smile.
Mickey sat down across the way, folding his hands on the table. "I hope you've been recovering well. That sure looked like a nasty fight."
That got Elsa's attention. "You saw?" Why didn't you help? was what she wanted to say, but she didn't want to sound accusatory.
"I did," he nodded. "But they wouldn't let me leave in the middle of the show. Not even for that…"
"But it's dangerous! Shouldn't the people know about that?" Anna exclaimed, her frustration getting the better of her. Somehow, even with the quick recovery, she felt like other people weren't doing enough. Or maybe it was only herself who wasn't doing enough.
"I'm sorry! It's not something I can control," he sighed. "You have to understand…they don't want the Guests to know about the magic around here, or the real magic, anyway. Because it's dangerous. They don't want other people gettin' involved."
Anna was about to argue with him, but Elsa stopped her. She could understand the reasoning behind this a little better. The reason behind her own actions for the longest time…
"But how can they not find out?" Anna finally managed to say.
"Well, we have a spell on the whole place to hide everything. No normal Guest notices the difference," he explained. "As long as that's true, the only people who get hurt are the ones who need to know about it. At least, that's how it's worked out through the years…"
That certainly explained why no one else in the audience had batted an eyelash at Elsa's fall. But something still wasn't right. "But the monorail. People were hurt when that happened," Elsa realized.
Mickey's expression turned grim. "I have a feeling they're finding ways to get past our usual spells. The villains, I mean. They've gotten stronger somehow."
Seeing what seemed like such a cheerful guy turn so serious got the girls a little anxious. For a moment, neither of them knew what to say. What could you ask after hearing something like that? Was it any of their business to speak up in the first place? Was there something, anything they could do?
Finally, the mouse spoke up again. "There have been a few invasions like this before, but nothing on this scale." He looked through the window, then back at the pair. Clearly this was serious business. "We're gonna need everyone's help to get through this. And includes the both of you," he asserted, pointing to them.
Both their eyes widened. "Us?" Elsa repeated. She had fought with her powers before, that was true, but it was against people with guns and spears. Magic against magic was something different entirely. "Mickey, I'm sorry, but we just arrived a few days ago. Neither of us know much about this place…"
"Then you have plenty of time to learn," he replied. His expression abruptly returned to a smile. "In fact, I brought a few gifts to help ya get adjusted! Hope it's not too big a surprise…" He took a few wrapped-up packages and set them in front of the girls.
Anna had been speechless from all this new info, but the idea of presents helped her perk up a bit. "Oh, thank you! Which one do we open first?" she smiled.
"Let's try this one," Elsa answered, carefully unwrapping a package about the size of a large book. And, in fact, it was a book: its title, Disney Ultimate Encyclopedia, engraved on the cover in silver lettering. "Oh, this should be useful," she remarked, flipping through the pages. It was loaded with pictures and facts regarding just about every character she could remember seeing so far – and some she hadn't seen as well.
Anna peered over her shoulder to look at the book. It was so thick! "That really is ultimate," she gaped.
Mickey laughed. "It was the most detailed book I could find."
"Then thank you very much," Elsa responded. Now it was time for the second gift, and this one had a much more irregular shape. Once unwrapped, it turned out to be two plush toys – one that resembled each of them.
Anna squealed. "These are just like the ones we had when we were little!" she cried, bouncing the Anna one up and down in her hands.
Elsa laughed at her sister's reaction, taking the other doll in her arms as well. "These are very nice," she agreed with a wide smile. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen that doll. At some point Anna had taken them both into her own room…
"Don't get carried away just yet! There's one more left," Mickey pointed out.
"Oh! Right…" she chuckled, a little embarrassed at her more childish moment. The last package, wrapped in gold foil, had a distinctly round shape – and it was rather heavy. Slowly, she pulled away the paper…
"A snowglobe?" That's what Anna thought it was at first, but upon closer inspection, the objects floating around weren't snowflakes, but little white birds. How cute! "So it's a bird-globe," she decided. "But I've never seen that building before. A church?"
"It's St. Paul's Cathedral," Elsa remembered from her reading. "In London."
"Ohh," Anna nodded. Elsa was so smart!
The mouse turned the snowglobe upside down for her. "Go ahead and wind up the knob," he told them.
Elsa did as he said, turning the notch a few circles around, and as it winded the other way, a beautiful music box-like melody came from inside. "Oh, how beautiful…"
Anna grinned. "Mickey, you give the best gifts ever!"
"Aw, gosh…" he blushed. "It's nothing, really. That's one of my favorites, actually. I hope you both enjoy it."
It wasn't long before the clock struck eleven, and employees started to arrive to set up the bar. This setting wasn't so private anymore. "I guess we should get going," Elsa decided, taking the gifts in her hands.
Mickey smiled. "It was nice meeting you girls," he said, waving. "I hope you have a good rest of your stay at Disney World!"
"Thank you, Mickey! You are so sweet!" Anna replied, giving him a hug. Once you got to know him, he was actually really cute. "Bye!"
"Goodbye!"
The sisters headed back to their room, each hugging onto their dolls, happy to have a moment of relief after a day of chaos.
Not a single footstep could be heard. Not one word was spoken. There wasn't any sign of people being here for ages. Buildings and fenceposts and exotic plant life lay across the land abandoned, slowly but unmistakeably decaying. A lone island sitting on the lagoon…
It had been over twelve years since Discovery Island was closed to the public. In that time, plently of new ideas were created, developed, and brought to fruition in every area of the resort…and yet the island was left untouched. Right in the middle of the beautiful Magic Kingdom resort area remained this large eyesore. Not that anybody would notice. The area was cut off for before one could even get a decent view of it, even for the company's own boats.
Naturally, this proved to be an advantage for certain groups who wanted to carry out their business in secret.
In the murky waters surrounding the islet, Ursula was preparing something extra special. Admittedly, it proved to be a difficult task – working with the components of a freshwater environment wasn't exactly her forte. But she had to make do with what was available. At the very least, she still had her crystal bubble to work with.
This was certainly an interesting pair of girls, wasn't it? So close together, and yet still so vulnerable. Though they walked back to their room with smiles, the sea witch could sense there were anxieties betweent them that weren't being spoken. One was still struggling with the idea of fighting. It was only recently that she'd regained control after such a long time. Facing such a great threat, would she still be able to maintain that? Would her power even be enough? Still, everybody here had done so much for her and her sister, she felt like she owed it to them…
Then there was the younger sister. She also felt some fear, but tried to shrug it off with the determination she also felt. If this was going to be a long-term thing, then there was a good chance someone would come after Elsa again – and she had to be ready to be there for her at a moment's notice. But last time hadn't been good enough. That had startled her, she hadn't had time to act before the other princesses already had it taken care of. Now she'd have to put more effort into putting up a fight! Still, she couldn't exactly fight well. What if she couldn't hold her own? There had to be some way to figure things out.
Ursula grinned cunningly. All those inner doubts gave her the perfect chance to lure them in. Get them to think she could fix everything for them. Now, what sort of enchantment would work best for this? she thought as she stared into her boiling cauldron. It was then that she recalled a spell she had come across some time ago, and she smirked. Yes, that would work perfectly…
There was an awkward silence as the sisters returned to their room. Elsa sighed; why couldn't she bring herself to say anything? It was only Anna. Probably because she'd say the same thing she always said: 'don't worry about it, you'll do great', etc. etc. And that was nice and all, but would it work this time around? When she tried to tell herself the same thing, it didn't.
"Elsa?" Anna looked over.
Had she heard her? "Y-Yes, Anna?"
"Do you know where you could buy something like…oh, I don't know…a bow and arrow?"
She raised an eyebrow. "A bow and arrow? What would you do with that?"
Anna sat down by her. "Well, Merida has one, and she sure seems to get a lot of use out of it," she remarked.
"That's true…" Elsa admitted. "But she's been using it for years! That's not something you can just learn in a few days."
"Oh, come on. How hard could it be?" she replied with a laugh.
"Hard."
"Well, there's gotta be something I could use…" She rested her chin on her hands in thought. "A frying pan sounds easier. Or…this thing!" she exclaimed, grabbing a lamp from off the bedside table and swinging it around. "This could do some damage!"
"Woah, careful where you swing that thing," Elsa giggled.
"But I need to practice, right?" And she did, until she got tangled up in the wire and feel. "Whoops…"
Elsa burst out laughing, helping her up. But then the worry started to set in. This was bigger than anything they'd faced before. The idea of Anna fighting people like that…
"Everything all right?" Anna asked with a concerned look.
"O-Of course," she smiled. Best to go ahead and be honest with her now. "Anna…I'm not sure about this. This is scary enough for me as it is. I can't imagine what it'd be like for you!"
"But that's why I have to help!" Anna exclaimed, wrapping an arm around her sister. "It won't be as scary if we're together."
"No, that just makes it worse!" A flurry blew into Anna's face, but she shrugged it off easily. Elsa groaned; they hadn't even been in a real fight yet. Now was NOT the time to be getting emotional. Calm down. You still have time to figure this out. "I-I'm so sorry about this," she continued. "This was supposed to be our vacation together. I can't believe all of this could happen…"
Anna pulled her closer. "You don't need to be sorry for anything. You had no way of knowing this was gonna happen."
"I know, but …"
"But nothing," she interrupted, putting a finger to her lips. "This'll work out. It always works out!"
"I…" That had been true in the past, but this was like nothing they'd ever seen before. Of all the places something on this scale could happen, it had to be in a foreign country, to boot. "I still don't know, Anna. I need to give this some thought," she sighed, sitting on the edge of her bed.
Anna's shoulders drooped. "But we already promised Mickey…"
"That's true," she answered. She couldn't just break a promise like that, especially one that seemed so important. But she recalled the exact wording of it. "I promised that we would try it. I can't say if I'll be up for it after the first try."
Anna paused in thought; that made sense. At least they could give it a shot. "But we will try, right?
"Of course," she said, making an effort to smile more. "We can see how it goes the first time around."
"Great!" She sat by her sister, taking her hand. "You're so brave, Elsa, you know that?"
Brave? After all that had happened? Hardly. "You're really the braver one," she muttered. "You're never afraid of anything."
"That's not true!" she whined.
"It sure seems like it most of the time," she smirked.
"But I was scared when that creepy voodoo man was there…" She eyed her sisters elbows and knees, which were still covered up in plaster bandages. "I wasn't strong enough to keep my hold on you. Everything's worked out so well, but right now I'm not doing a very good job, huh?"
"Of what?" she inquired.
"Of being a good sister."
She let out a soft gasp. How could Anna worry about that? SHE was the one who was supposed to worry about things like that! "Anna, you're a perfect sister! Just look at how far we've come!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands out to this nicely sized room. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have ever stepped out of the house, much less crossed the ocean to another country."
Anna cracked a smile. "Your social skills did need work," she chuckled.
"Let me just say…" she continued, looking back on those memories, "that if I was good enough for you then, you are plenty good enough for me now."
There was a pause, and then Elsa found herself in the tightest hug she'd had in a while, even from Anna. "Ooh, you're the bestest sister ever!" the younger girl mumbled out between a barrage of kisses.
"H-Hey! Cut it out!" Elsa teased before she couldn't hold her laughter in anymore.
And just like that, the mood was lifted again. "You know what? We need to do something fun now," Anna asserted. "We're in Disney World! We can't be upset here! It's just feels wrong!"
Elsa nodded. "So what do you think you want to do?"
"Um…" There was so much that she couldn't keep track. And she still felt like there was stuff she was missing out on because she didn't know about it. She mused over the possibilities. "I know! What about that big studio place?"
"Studio?" It took a moment for her to remember, but then the image popped up – one of the parks had been called 'Hollywood Studios.' Maybe some of that kind of fun was just what they needed to relax. "Sure! That sounds like fun."
"Great!" Anna shouted, packing up her purse faster than she ever had before. Elsa smiled; her sister was never in a bad mood for very long, was she? Maybe if they could work with one another's strengths in this way, a battle or two could work out after all…
At least, that's what she hoped for.
