"Elsa, we can't close the gates." Anna's eyes were wide with shock. They'd made so much progress, but now it was all being undone because of them. She clenched her fists. She'd never been so angry. What gave them the right? Elsa sighed.

"What choice do we have, Anna?" Elsa looked down despondently. "I can't let anything happen to you. No matter what." Anna opened her mouth to object, but Elsa cut her off. "Even if you're fine with risking your own life, what about the people? Arendelle cannot survive with constant blizzards. What if these visits don't stop?" Elsa smiled wryly. "These last three weeks were like a dream. I should have known I would have to wake up eventually."

"So you're going to give up just because you think this was too good to be true?" Anna scowled and waved her arm angrily. "Don't you think our happiness is worth fighting for?"

"Not if it means risking your life and the lives of our people. I'm sorry, Anna, but compared to that, our happiness is a small price to pay. Believe me, I know." Elsa's lips were tight and her jaw set.

Anna had seen Elsa display a great many conflicting emotions over the past two days, but now her face was unwavering. She deflated, her anger dissipating. She didn't like it, but she had to admit that she didn't have any better ideas. There was no way out. Unless…

"Wait, Elsa, didn't you want to ask the trolls about what they are? Maybe they can figure out what to do." Anna said quickly, hope lighting her eyes. Maybe there was still a way out of this horrible situation. Elsa reluctantly nodded, trying not to get her own hopes up.

"Alright. It can't hurt to try it." Anna grinned and Elsa gave her a weak smile in return. She had to make at least a token effort if she wanted Anna to accept the truth. Elsa began walking out of the throne room, and gestured to Anna to follow her. "You go get a sled prepared; I need to talk to Alistair first." Anna stood straight and saluted.

"Yes, your highness." Elsa smiled. Anna could make her feel better in almost any situation. But that was all the more reason she couldn't let anything happen to her.

Elsa returned to her office, where Kai was waiting faithfully. She nodded to him in gratitude and sat down at her desk before addressing him.

"Kai, please summon Alistair and tell him to call the guards who were on patrol an hour ago to my office." Elsa commanded.

"As you wish, your highness." Kai bowed. "I am glad you are safe." Elsa smiled at him appreciatively and he left promptly to retrieve Alistair.

Elsa looked through her paperwork to pass the time. If there was one bright side to this situation, it was that there was very little administrative work for her to do today. Most of the blizzard-response measures she'd taken yesterday had included orders to be carried out in the event that the blizzard returned, so all that was left was to make sure those orders were being carried out. All work not related to the current situation would probably be put off until after it had been dealt with. Elsa heard a knock on her doorframe and she looked up to welcome Alistair inside.

"Your highness, you have my deepest apologies." Alistair kneeled and bowed his head, his forehead wrinkled with guilt. "It was a gross oversight on my part to not have the guards ready for a second attack. I should have realized that it could happen, but I mistakenly believed that it was unlikely."

"You may rise, Alistair. It was not your fault. No one could have known that they would attack again, and there was not much time to prepare a response. I did not call you here to reprimand you. I wanted you to hear a report from two of the guards I assigned to watch out for the blizzard earlier today."

Alistair rose just as the two guards from earlier arrived, saluted, and the first one entered the office when Elsa waved him in. She instructed the second one to stay outside, out of hearing distance. She did not want them to tarnish each other's reports with details that they believed that they remembered themselves but had actually heard from the other's report.

"Please report on the blizzard." Elsa leaned forward and paid close attention as he spoke.

"It was around noon, your highness, just like last time. Dark clouds came sweeping in over the city and it snowed very hard. I couldn't see much after that, on account of the darkness and the snow." The guard was putting on a brave front, but his voice trembled slightly. Whether it was because he feared those things or was simply nervous reporting to the queen, Elsa did not know. She forced her expression to remain neutral as she asked the most important question.

"Do you remember where the blizzard came from?" The guard seemed to concentrate, his face set.

"I'm not completely sure, your highness, but I believe it came from the sea."

Elsa clenched the bottom of her desk. It was as she had feared.

"Thank you." Elsa said politely, maintaining her poise. "Please call in the next guard."

The next guard's report was the same. There was no doubt now; on some level, those things must be her parents. Elsa dismissed the second guard, too, and she and Alistair were left alone in the office. Alistair looked surprisingly cheerful.

"Your majesty, this is excellent news!" He beamed. "Just give the order and I can prepare ships and crew to search the sea near the city. With any luck, we can find them in their resting place and drive them out!" He sobered when Elsa simply shook her head.

"No, I doubt you would find anything if you looked now. In any case, it would be too risky, considering their ability to create storms. I wanted you to be here for this report to respect your authority and so that you would have a better understanding of the situation and my next order." Elsa's brow was furrowed. "I'm sure you've heard the rumors about what they look like. When they spoke to Anna and me, they said things that only the old King and Queen could have known. And these reports confirm it, considering that they died at sea."

Alistair frowned. He might not have put all the pieces together, but he did not look very surprised, which was a relief to Elsa. He was not slow, at any rate.

"Your highness, if some dark magic is at play here, then you and Princess Anna need to be guarded at all times." He rubbed his chin worriedly. "Also, mightn't it be necessary to inform the public of the exact nature of the threat?" Elsa shook her head again.

"No, that will not be necessary." Elsa was so very, very tired. It was at times like these that she wished she had been born an ordinary girl instead of having to make difficult decisions in the place of people twice her age. "They said they were being held in this world by my actions. I have agreed to their demands, so they should leave. Princess Anna and I will be getting advice from an expert in magic, but in all likelihood there won't be another solution. Unless I tell you otherwise, I want you to close the gates tomorrow. Also, there is one more thing I would have you do, just in case…"

Alistair's eyes widened in surprise as Elsa gave her orders, but he said nothing.

"As you command, your highness."

Anna paced in the entrance hall of the palace. She had instructed a coachman to get a sled ready, but now she had nothing to do but wait for Elsa, and she couldn't help but worry while she waited. The gates potentially closing, her inability to reach Elsa, their parents coming back. Nothing had gone well in the last two days. She shuddered when she remembered how her parents had nearly dragged her off earlier that day. She was trying not to think about it, but she wasn't looking forward to trying to sleep that night. And on top of everything else, Kristoff still hadn't returned from his ice-gathering trip. Her brooding was interrupted by a loud, friendly voice.

"Anna! I'm so glad to see you!" Olaf said, smiling as he walked up to her and hugged her leg. Anna gave him a strained smile and patted him on the head.

"It's nice to see you too, Olaf."

Anna was glad to see he'd made it through the blizzard alright. Then again, he was probably safer than any human in a blizzard. Anna wasn't even sure if he could die now that Elsa was keeping him from melting.

"Everyone's been in a big hurry lately, huh? Are blizzards not normal in summer?" Olaf asked. Knowing him, he probably was genuinely uncertain.

"No, they're definitely not." Anna said, her smile dropping.

Olaf looked up at her inquisitively. Sometimes he was too perceptive.

"Are you alright, Anna?" Anna was silent for a moment as she thought about what to say.

For the last two days, Anna had been mostly focused on how Elsa was feeling, and for good reason. Elsa was the one who had been taking the recent events the hardest, and she was the one who had to put on a mask and rule the kingdom anyway. Anna hadn't had time to process how she herself felt.

"I'm scared." She admitted, not making eye contact with Olaf. "I don't know what's going on or what's going to happen to us. Most of all, more than the gates closing, I'm scared that Elsa and I are getting further and further apart. Everything was going so well before, but now she's almost as shut off from me as she used to be. We're still talking, but she's so focused on protecting me that she won't listen to me." Olaf squeezed her leg tighter.

"Anna, I don't know a lot about this complicated stuff." Olaf admitted, looking up at her. "But I know that Elsa loves you. She might not agree with you, but if you keep trying, I know she will listen. You just need to let her know how you feel." Anna smiled at him.

"Thank you, Olaf. I'm going to do just that."

Anna and Elsa sat in silence at the back of the sled as the driver directed the reindeer toward the Valley of the Living Rock. Elsa created snow ahead of them as they went. They could have taken horses, but Elsa wasn't very good at riding and a carriage couldn't be used on this trail. There was a tension between the sisters since their argument, and Anna desperately wanted to breach it. Anything, any topic of conversation other than their argument would suffice. Finally, she mustered the courage to speak.

"Elsa, do you mind if I ask something?" Anna turned to face her sister, but couldn't quite make eye contact.

"Of course you can." Elsa felt a pang of guilt. She wanted so badly to both protect Anna and be there for her, but life seemed determined to demand that she choose one, and that left her with no choice at all, really.

"Do you think Kristoff is alright? I mean, he said he would be back tomorrow so he isn't late yet or anything but with everything going on…" Anna trailed off. Elsa put a hand on her shoulder and tried to smile encouragingly.

"I'm sure he's fine. He knows his way around the mountains. He might get delayed a bit, but he'll back. You'll see."

Anna smiled back appreciatively at her sister. Things might be difficult between them, but now she knew they would get better. Maybe the trolls would even be able to give them an easy solution to this mess.

When they got to the valley, Elsa instructed the driver to stay behind while she and Anna trudged through the snow towards the trolls' home. Finally, they came across a group of rocks.

"This is the place, right?" Elsa turned to ask her sister. "It's been many years since I was last here."

"Yes, look!" Anna pointed.

Elsa heard a rumbling sound and when she turned back she saw trolls standing where the rocks had been. They crowded around and all started talking at once. Elsa was slightly uncomfortable, but Anna didn't seem surprised, so she relaxed.

"Oh hey, it's Anna and the Queen."

"Her hair isn't white anymore!"

"Out of the way, everyone. I have to see my future daughter-in-law." Bulda said as she pushed her way through the crowd. Elsa raised an eyebrow at Anna, who laughed nervously. Finally, Bulda reached the front of the crowd and looked up at Anna. "Anna, dear, how is Kristoff? Have you two gotten married yet?"

"Um, no. He's gathering ice. He's supposed to be back tomorrow, but we haven't heard back from him." Anna said nervously, looking down at Bulda.

"Don't worry about that, dear. If there's any man who can survive for weeks in the wilderness, it's Kristoff. You should be focusing more on your relationship status." Bulda seemed to be about to start a long speech, or perhaps even a song, when she was cut off by Grand Pabbie, who had noticed the commotion and made his way to the front of the group.

"Greetings, your majesty." Grand Pabbie bowed, and Elsa curtsied in return.

"You're the one who healed Anna when she was a child, yes? You have my gratitude. I'm afraid we need your help again." Elsa winced internally. She didn't like bothering the trolls every time they had a problem related to magic, but there was no other option.

"These blizzards that have struck the city, they aren't natural, are they?" Grand Pabbie rubbed his chin as he talked. "And if you're here that must mean that even you can't control them. Tell me everything you know."

Elsa explained everything she knew about the blizzards, only generalizing some of the more sensitive details of their conversations with their parents. Grand Pabbie listened carefully, nodding from time to time, his face grave. He paused, seeming to consider what to say. Elsa and Anna waited with bated breath.

"I'm sorry, your majesty, but I do not know what this could be." Grand Pabbie's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "My specialties are in elemental magic and love magic. I know some things about spirits, but I'm not an expert and what you've told me doesn't match anything I know about. This is the wrong location for windigos, which would be the closest match. Perhaps they're ghosts or undead corpses raised by their attachment to this world. Perhaps some other malignant spirit is possessing their bodies. But I cannot say for sure." He shook his head.

Elsa sighed in disappointment, a hope she hadn't even realized she'd nurtured crushed, and Anna looked down. The rest of the trolls looked similarly downcast.

"Thank you for your assistance." Elsa nodded in gratitude. Anna mumbled her thanks as well. At the very least, hopefully this would make it easier for Anna to accept the hard truth.

"Elsa, are you really going to close the gates?" Anna asked on their way back to Arendelle, not really expecting Elsa to change her mind.

"You know it's what's necessary." Elsa didn't meet her sister's gaze.

"I know." Anna turned away.

That tension was back, and Anna didn't have the energy left to confront it right now.

"You know, you don't have to stay." Elsa looked down, her voice quiet.

She'd thought this for all thirteen years they'd been shut in. She hadn't had the courage to say it then until her coronation day, but she had to say it now.

"I know how much you love your freedom. I wouldn't blame you."

Anna's eyebrows narrowed.

"I'm not going anywhere, Elsa."

"But-"

"I'm not going anywhere." Anna's voice started cracking. She took a deep breath and continued. "Don't say that ever again."

Neither of them said anything after that.

When they returned to the palace, even Elsa went to bed early, but neither of them slept well. In Elsa's dreams, Anna died over and over again, and in Anna's, Elsa never spoke to her again.

The next morning, Elsa watched as the guards heaved, slamming the gates closed and sliding the enormous, iron bar that served as a lock into position with a scraping sound. The town crier would be sent out later to announce that a curse on the royal family was causing the blizzards and necessitated the sealing of the castle, which was as much of the truth as Elsa was willing to divulge. Elsa sighed and walked back toward the throne room. She hoped that her argument with Anna hadn't been in vain, but if it had then she wouldn't want those things searching the castle for her. Once she arrived at her destination, Elsa sat upon the throne and gripped the armrests, seeking what little comfort they could provide her. The chair next to the throne was still there from yesterday, and its emptiness gnawed at Elsa. Still, at least it meant that Anna wouldn't be in danger. If they came back this time, no one else would get hurt.

Anna woke up late in the morning, as usual, and struggled for several minutes to untangle her hair. Still, there was at least half an hour until noon, so she did not expect to have any trouble getting to the throne room on time. When she was finally ready, she opened the door to her bedroom and was surprised to see Alistair and at least a dozen guards waiting outside her room. All or most of the royal guards with morning shifts must have been there. Anna had a bad feeling about this.

"Um, good morning, Alistair." Anna didn't wait for his response, trying to seem casual as she swiftly took a few steps down the hall towards the throne room until one of the guards stepped in her way. "What are you doing? I need to get to the throne room."

Anna gave the guard the most intimidating glare she could muster, be he didn't budge. She turned toward Alistair and crossed her arms.

"What is the meaning of this?" She said. Alistair frowned and bowed his head apologetically.

"I'm sorry, princess, but I have orders from the Queen herself not to let you go to the throne room for at least another three hours. You may stay here if you wish or you can have us escort you out of the palace, but you are not to go to the throne room."

Anna clenched her fists. She was so upset with Elsa that she could scream. She was about to speak out when the light in the hallway dimmed dramatically. Anna gasped and ran back into her room to look out the window. All that greeted her was snow.

Again dark storm clouds blocked out the sun, and again heavy snowfall blinded all who were unfortunate enough to be outside. The royal carriage creaked as it passed through the roads, heading inexorably towards the palace. As it passed by, the onlookers were struck by a chill that reached far deeper than the snow. The figures inside cast twisted shadows as they spoke with the voices of the damned. How many more times would this happen, the onlookers wondered. Would the kingdom ever be freed from this curse? There was no relief in sight as the gates of the castle were blasted open by a powerful gust of wind as though a giant's fist had slammed into it, scattering wooden debris everywhere, the iron bar clanging and rattling eerily on the ground. The carriage once more passed through the gates unimpeded and the dead King and Queen descended from it and entered the palace. All the torches and lamps inside flickered and died.

Elsa stood and clenched her fists, drawing upon all of her courage as the doors of the throne room blew open and they stepped inside, barely visible as they crept toward her through the shadows. It was almost all Elsa could do not to shiver.

"Why are you here?" Elsa spread her arms and tried to yell, but it came out as more like a plea. "I've closed the gates. I've shut out Anna out. What more can you take from me?!"

Her mother merely shook her head as she stepped closer.

"Elsa, dear, you've only just begun. How can we rest in peace when you only half-heartedly listen to us instead of following the spirit of what we say?"

They each moved to Elsa's sides and turned to face her. Elsa was wary, unsure of which way to turn. Facing one meant exposing her back to the other, and nothing frightened her more than the thought of not being able to see them coming.

"For example," Her father said, and for a moment his eyes gleamed. "You are not wearing your gloves, Elsa. But that's alright. That is easy enough for us to fix."

They began slowly closing in on her. Elsa's eyes widened in horror as she realized what they meant to do.

"Stay back!" Elsa screamed, shooting ice at her father, not really expecting it to work. He merely chuckled as the ice bent around him as he moved closer.

"Really, Elsa. You should know better than that."

He grabbed her left arm in an icy grip, and her mother grabbed the other. Elsa screamed as they pushed her onto the floor and pressed their feet on her back to keep her from moving. Her arms were twisted back, and her face twisted in pain. She screamed again as she felt slimy, leathery gloves slowly being forced onto her hands.

"Alistair, please. Elsa's in danger. Don't you have a duty to protect her?" Anna looked up and held her gaze on Alistair. He shifted uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry, your highness, but I have my orders." Alistair stood firm, though he didn't seem particularly comfortable with the orders he'd been given.

Anna grunted in frustration, scowling. Why did Elsa have to do this? Anna had spent nearly half an hour attempting to convince Alistair to let her pass, and with each moment that passed her worry grew. Those things were back, and she knew Elsa was in danger. At that moment, everyone in the hallway stiffened as they heard a faint scream. It had come from the throne room. Anna's heart leapt into her throat.

"Elsa's being hurt!" Anna pleaded again, her hands trembling. "My sister could die! Please, you have to protect her." Alistair frowned, but finally nodded.

"Alright, but you stay back here."

Anna didn't wait for him to finish his sentence, pushing a stunned guard out of her way as she ran towards the throne room. Alistair growled and ran after her, the other guards scrambling to follow him.

Elsa's parents stiffened and suddenly began to remove the gloves, to Elsa's confusion and relief. A moment later, the doors to the throne room burst open and Anna ran through them with Alistair and the rest of the royal guards.

"Attack! Protect the Queen and the Princess!" Alistair commanded with a roar, pointing towards those things.

The guards in the front rushed towards the King and Queen while those to the rear circled around. Elsa's parents stepped away from her to meet the attacking guards. Elsa turned around and looked up, in too much pain to get off the floor yet. The guards didn't stand a chance, not even landing a single blow. Whatever those things were, they were not human, and they possessed inhuman strength. Elsa watched in disbelief as they lifted the guards they encountered bodily and threw them one by one across the room against the wall, where they crumpled to the floor. It was then that Elsa noticed Anna taking advantage of their parents' distraction to run to her side.

"Anna, don't!" Elsa tried to get up and warn her.

But it was too late. Their parents had already noticed Anna moving and were running toward her. Anna's eyes widened in fear as she realized the danger, but they had already caught up to her. Her father grabbed Anna's arm, and she couldn't wrench herself free. Another second more and her mother would be there too and she would have no chance of escaping at all. Suddenly, Alistair ran forward with a scream. Elsa's parents turned to face him, but not before his sword struck the arm her father was using to hold onto Anna with an audible crunch, forcing him to let go. Anna used the opportunity to scramble away towards Elsa. Alistair raised his sword once more to launch another blow, but before he could, a harsh, blinding wind blew through the room, slamming him against the wall to join the other guards.

By the time it ceased, their parents were gone and the sun had returned. Elsa was finally able to slowly get up, wincing as her back and arms ached in the process. Anna ran up to her and embraced her, sobbing. Elsa patted her on the back, her arms still hurting too much to properly hug her back.

"I'm sorry, Anna. You were right." Elsa's voice trembled with remorse. All her efforts to protect Anna had been for nothing. Anna shook her head, not yet letting go.

"I'm just glad you're safe." Anna hugged her sister harder, wishing that she had the power to keep Elsa that way.