CHAPTER FIVE

The Girl In The Tower

The sky-hook attached to the railing with an arm-jarring crash, and Elsa sped down the rail. She hoped it would take her to Monument Island - it seemed as though everything was trying to prevent her from reaching her sister.

Soon enough, the landing area of Monument Island came into view, some twenty feet below her.

Oh, no. This is going to hurt.

She detached the sky-hook and fell hard onto the pavement, her knees jarring painfully.

"Ow," she groaned, not moving a muscle. Her legs hurt, her arm was still in pain, and she wanted nothing more than another vigor.

"Come on," she said to herself, trying to psych herself up. "You can do this, Elsa. It's for Anna. Everything's for Anna."

Blood for the Queen. The thought came into her brain without warning and seemingly without cause, and Elsa stiffened in confused shock.

When no further alien thoughts crossed her mind, she straightened, scowling at her aching knees as she did so. "For Anna," she said, aloud, and forced herself to walk.

A gate barred her way, and she tried to move it; of course it was locked, and the bars were far too close together for her to slip through. She looked wildly for a way past, and when her gaze fell upon a hook dangling some six feet above the gate, at least eighteen feet from the ground, she took a moment to curse whoever had designed the artifact on her arm.

Then she jumped.

The sky-hook must have been magnetized, as her jump was allowed her to reach the hook; it then latched on, and for a moment of terror Elsa imagined the tool slipping from her hand. Before she could think too much about what could go wrong, she swung the sky-hook to detach it, and landed in a crouch. Her knees complained, but didn't give out on her, and she straightened.

She really, really hoped that was the last time she had to use the wretched device.

In front of her rose Monument Island, a gigantic angel that watched over Columbia. And, somewhere within the tower, Anna was waiting for her.

She ignored the warning signs next to the door, and entered. In contrast to the majesty of the exterior, the inside was confined, almost claustrophobic, with large tubes running throughout the corridors, connected to giant machines. In the center of the room was a replica of the angel, surrounded by large signs warning occupants to stay away from "the specimen."

There was also a bloodstain on the floor.

"Anna?"

Her heart was in her throat. She found herself hoping the blood was from someone else, anyone else…

She pushed open the door, shutting out negative thoughts, forcing herself to believe the blood did not belong to her sister.

She, however, was not able to ignore the disturbing images she saw as she trekked through the tower's interior. One of the first things she saw was a height chart, which started using the familiar silhouette of a five year old girl. Ages 11 and 18 were also recorded and drawn. As she continued to look at this chart, partially wondering why they were studying Anna, she realized that Anna was now eighteen. And she wondered what thirteen years of being in this place had done to her.

Elsa continued on her way through another room, noting the disturbingly invasive photographs of Anna being developed. She noticed the video recordings of Anna, viewed from above, observing her doing random tasks. It made her sick to think these people were watching her this entire time, recording her, studying her like she was some kind of scientific experiment, calling her "specimen" like she wasn't even human.

There was no way Anna could have known they were doing this to her, because to Elsa's horror, there were one-way mirrors scattered throughout the halls, peering in on different rooms. These filthy pigs were scrutinizing her every action, including spying on her in her own bedroom. She needed to get Anna out of there that minute, but finding her in order to do that was going to be diffi-

A sign that said "Specimen Location" was blinking at the dressing room option. That would be exactly where she needed to go.

Following the signs to the dressing room, Elsa held her breath before taking her first step around the corner. This would be the first time she saw her sister in over a decade. She wouldn't be that bubbly, carefree child she knew once upon a time. She was a prisoner, subjected to who-knew-what, and Elsa had no idea of what to expect.

She gritted her teeth and turned to view the window; part of her half-expected her to be indecent, but there she was: dancing around seemingly without a care in the world. She looked normal… happy, much to Elsa's relief. She did not know what assumptions she made, but an ordinary girl with posters on her wall and clothes untidily thrown about her floor was not at the front of her expectations. Anna had become a beautiful young lady, smiling and gazing at herself in her mirror, playing with the twin braids that she'd apparently kept since childhood, and poking at the baby fat on her cheeks with her index fingers, pulling faces.

As Anna made fish-faces at the mirror, and unintentionally at Elsa, the older sister had to fight back laughter. Anna might have been eighteen, but her behavior wasn't too far off from the five-year-old girl who had so eagerly begged her to do the magic.

Her happy smile dropped from her face, and she shook her head. She had a lot to atone for, but that would have to wait until Anna had been rescued.

Speaking of her rescue attempts, Elsa looked up to see that Anna had run off to another room, and Elsa snapped out of her reverie. She hadn't even realized she'd walked toward the window, close enough to touch the glass. She nearly panicked when she registered that Anna had disappeared from her sight again, and quickly ran down the hall in the same direction her sister had gone. The sign ahead said she was in the dining room, so that's where she'd head. She would eventually have to figure out how to get to Anna herself, but for now, she had to keep her within her sight.

She found her again, spotting Anna looking around her room mischievously, like she was about to do something that she knew she wasn't supposed to be doing. Elsa felt herself smiling. Another part of her hadn't changed.

Anna faced a painting of the Eiffel Tower, one that Elsa assumed she painted herself, and brought her hands to her front side where they were out of Elsa's view. She tried getting a better look. What was she doing to her painting? Was she tearing it apart?

When it looked like she was about to rip the canvas in half, a ring of light spread in front of Anna, causing the older woman to draw in a sharp breath. In the center of the light, it appeared as though Anna had busted a giant hole in her wall and it would lead her to what looked to be France, which wasn't anywhere near the floating city.

Portal magic or whatever magic this was, it was powerful, and Elsa knew nothing of what dangers came of it, much less how Anna learned to do it. Elsa may have used magic herself, but she knew enough to know how hazardous it could be.

Anna's face, blue and still, floated in front of Elsa's eyes. She knew all too well the risks of powerful magic.

Anna closed the portal or whatever that was and moved on to another room. Elsa followed down the hall. Fortunately she spotted her in the library, which surprised her. Anna was the one who made Elsa read stories to her. Perhaps she learned to enjoy reading.

Unfortunately, the hall led her to the outside of the tower. She wasn't afraid of heights, but considering that a small chain was the only thing keeping her from being blown off the ledge to her death, she could understand why someone might have a phobia of them.

"You're so close to her now. This is nothing." Elsa kept reminding herself as she trusted the metal stairs to hold her weight. She walked through the next door, located in the side of the angel's head, and patted down her hair, which was messed up more than it usually was. Despite herself, she felt a little self-conscious, and swept her hair back until it felt right again.

The trust she put into the construction of this tower was apparently misplaced. As soon as her guard was down, the floor dropped out from under Elsa's feet, and she fell into the room below. Her arms managed to grab onto the ledge to break her fall.

She looked up and Anna was, of all places, right in front of her, eyes wide and curious, lips curling into a smile.

"Hi." Elsa said through a groan.

"Hi!" Anna replied.

Elsa meant to return the smile, until her weight pulled on her hand muscles in a painful manner, causing her to lose her grip and fall to the floor.

"Oh my gosh, are you alright!" Anna called from the top of the staircase. In one quick motion, she jumped onto one of the stair rails and slid down, leaping off before she fell herself, and ran to the older woman's side. "I'm sorry, I should've helped you up instead of let you fall." She pulled her to her feet and dusted her off. She got a hint of Anna's scent. She smelled sweet… and clean. And Elsa wondered if she'd ever remember what that felt like.

She got a better look of her up close. Her cheeks were rosy and vibrant, her blush was dusted over her countless, adorable freckles. Her hair wasn't a solid strawberry blonde. On her right side was a streak of white, possibly a fashion statement she picked up somewhere.

The younger woman's eyes glistened like she was near tears. Elsa's eyes widened. After everything that happened, after all of these years, Anna recognized her?

"What's your name?"

Elsa grimaced. Of course. It hurt, knowing that she didn't remember her. Then again, she probably wouldn't be so happy to see her if she had. But once she got her out of there, she would be able to form new memories with her.

"Elsa."

The moment was interrupted by a whistling tune, coming from above.

"It's coming…" Anna whimpered. She started forcibly escorting Elsa out of the library, fear stricken in her eyes. "You have to…" She bit her lip. "You have to go. Now. Right now." She was trying to be firm, trying to be brave, but it was obvious to Elsa that she didn't want her to leave.

"But why? What's going on?"

"You just don't want to be here-" Anna then called up the hole in the ceiling Elsa had made. "Hold on! Wait, please!"

"No, I'm going to get you out of here."

"What are you going to do? Build a magic staircase up to the ceiling?" Anna asked. Sarcasm or not, Elsa genuinely considered it.

It was an option. But it wasn't a good one. She would not use her ice powers in front of her sister, not again. She then remembered the key that the Bjorgman twins gave her, and reached into her pocket.

"I have a key." she presented it to Anna.

"Oohhhh!" the younger woman marveled, picking it up. She held it up to her face, then spun it so that the handle flashed two images in quick succession: a bird, then a cage, then a bird again. Anna lost control of the rotation and accidentally dropped the key, flushing as she picked it back up. Deciding against any further examination, she ran over to the thick, heavy door that should have been a library exit and used the key on the lock. It worked, and the door opened, letting Anna and Elsa squeeze through it. The whistling coming from the walls was turning into angry screeching.

Elsa followed Anna down the stairs, trying to catch up to her now-sprinting sister. The entire building began to shake, and screws were being popped out of place from the force of impact. Doors were being crushed. Beams supporting the structure were being knocked out of place. The tower was being destroyed by...something, Elsa wasn't sure what.

The two girls were doing their best to avoid piles of wood from falling on top of them. Anna was yelling for Elsa to hurry. It was all she could do to be heard over the roars from both the collapsing building and whatever was chasing them.

She was knocked off her feet when three large claws broke through the metal wall, carving a wound into the angel statue. She couldn't get a look at what those claws were attached to, ducking her head under her arms from the falling debris. When she looked up again and attempted to stand, her ankle gave way from under her, and she fell again.

"Anna!" she yelled. She had to make absolutely sure Anna escaped safely. She couldn't do that if she was dead.

The redhead ran back to her, scooping her up with ease and running towards the elevator. The girl's strength came as quite a surprise to Elsa. "How did you know my name?"

"N-Not now!" Her voice bobbed along with Anna's running.

By the time they made it to the elevator, Anna saw exactly what Elsa was looking at earlier. The one-sided mirrors, only Anna now saw her room from the perspective of her captors. She looked horrified, ashamed, and confused. She really did not know she was being spied on.

"What… what is all of this?" she asked, not really expecting Elsa to know. She let Elsa out of her arms, and Elsa held onto the wall for support. "They were watching me all this time? Why? Why did they put me in here?" She looked to Elsa, frightened at what the answer may be, whether Elsa could provide one or not. "What am I!" she demanded.

"You're my-"

Three claws burst through the elevator door, almost knocking Anna off her feet. Tiles broke from the wall, when the monster tried reaching for them, but the claws were just too wide to fit. A bright red light shown on Elsa, coming from what appeared to be a large eye in the side of a big metal bird's head. It screeched aggressively like before, but up close the sound was painfully loud, blasting out Elsa's ears.

One large, leather-covered, human-like hand reached through the door towards the two cornered women, and the elevator car came crashing down from above, colliding into the creature's head and sending it down what was left of the elevator shaft, causing sparks to fly from the loose cables, breaking support beams and other large pieces of the building to go with it.

A large beam fell and conveniently made a bridge for them to cross over to the stairs.

Anna kneeled in front of Elsa, with her back to her. "Get on!" She yelled.

Elsa obeyed, and gestured with her hand holding the Sky Hook, while the other was wrapped around Anna's shoulders, "Go that way! Up the stairs!" She paused when Anna neared the edge to get onto the beam. "And please don't drop me."

"I'll try!"

Anna ran up with Elsa on her back. They had to keep moving or else the tower was going to collapse on top of them. They were just lucky the stairs were still standing. That monster was destroying everything, and Elsa wasn't sure if it was trying to get her, or Anna, or what it's intentions were, but it was aiming to kill one or both of them.

They ran out of the exit, ending up outside again, and made their way up the tower. A large black wing flashed through some of the clouds whisking by them, causing Anna to stop in her tracks. It escaped somehow and was outside.

The top of the tower shook violently one way, knocking the girls over. Their ground shifted another way, and was suddenly no longer beneath them.

The world was spinning and clouds zipped by them. Elsa couldn't tell which way was up until she saw a screaming Anna reaching out to her.

"Elsa!"

She grabbed her wrist and held onto her tightly.

Below them, the sight of a skyrail appeared from the fog. And the Sky Hook hadn't slipped from her arm. She had one chance to latch the hook onto the rail.

Tightening her grip on Anna's wrist, Elsa stretched out her other arm, hoping for both of their sake that the magnets were strong enough to catch them.

It attached and Elsa hung on to that hook like she never had before, and she and Anna both kept a firm grip on each other. Elsa's arms and shoulders and hands were screaming at her to let go. It felt like her hand was slipping, that her shoulder had been dislocated, and that Anna had broken her forearm in two all at once. And all of this pain was gritted and bared when she noticed the bird monster colliding into scattered blimps just to get after them. If her hands weren't occupied, she'd freeze that thing solid so it would sink to the bottom of the ocean.

The skyrail had them coast down at a rapid pace, relieving some of the stress on Elsa's arms. She looked up and saw the giant dark shadow burst from the clouds, crashing into the rail, just barely missing them - but the rail shattered from the collision ahead of them.

The hook detached from the end of the broken rail. Screaming, the two sisters plummeted into the water.