Bursting into the room, Anna can see nothing out of place. The guards are there, looking at her nervously because of how she entered. Crossing quickly to the bed, she looks down into the queen's face and sees Elsa smiling at her.
"You're back. Hi," says Elsa weakly.
Anna squeals in relief before jumping on the bed to hug her sister.
"Ahh! Annaaaaa, OWWW!" cries out Elsa, pain evident in her expression. Just as fast as Anna scrambled on to the bed, she now scrambles off not touching the queen any more than necessary.
"Too hard! Sorry! I'm Sorry! Did I hurt you? OBVIOUSLY! Are you going to be OK? Please don't be mad with me! Tell me you're going to be OK!" wails Anna, starting to cry.
"I'm fine. I'll live. The stars will fade when the pain settles down, relax. What happened? I remember getting shot and then everything went dark."
"Well, it's complicated." After a confused look from Elsa, Anna dives into an explanation, talking very fast. "First you froze ice over your wounds to stop the bleeding, before you passed out. Shortly after, things we presume you have been dreaming about have been occurring in various areas of the castle. We are assuming what we see mirrors the dreams in your head. You've been delirious for some time, projecting all over the castle. Fortunately, we only found these projections inside the castle grounds. Only one injury has occurred because of these projections, but now that you're awake, you can stop projecting, right?"
"What? Slow down! I-No! I couldn't do that, could I? I wasn't awake to direct my powers, and they need some kind of direction to work… don't they?"
"Elsa, whatever has been going on with your powers has been happening all over the castle. We think it was caused by a poisoned crossbow bolt. Because of the unpredictability of what we saw, we evacuated everybody we could from the castle. We've had snowmen fighting each other with kitchen knives, a morbid village scene that kept repeating in the gardens, and two ice statues debating the best course of action in the halls. One ice statue even tried to kill the real you."
Elsa just lies on Anna's bed, her face going so pale that a ghost almost had more color. "Anna, why am I in your room and not mine?"
"Elsa, we have to clean up some blood in your room. You were moved here until that could be done. We haven't had the staff in the castle to get the cleaning done."
"It wasn't my blood, was it?"
"Why would you say that?"
"Just answer me! It wasn't my blood, was it? You said there was one injury because of my delirium. That was it, wasn't it?"
"No, it wasn't your blood."
"I remember, barely, the physician was arguing with somebody, suddenly my throat feeling like it was being ripped out, and then silence. Where is the physician now? He's not here, is he?"
"No, he's not here."
"Anna, how bad did I hurt him?"
"Elsa, don't worry about him. What is important right now is-"
"Just answer me, how bad?"
Anna just stands silent for a minute, staring off to the side, wondering how much she should tell Elsa. Looking back to Elsa's face, Anna could see tears forming in the queen's eyes. "Elsa – he never left your room. It's his blood we need to have cleaned up. One of your ice golems killed him before she was going to kill you. I wasn't in time to save the physician, but I did prevent your death."
Elsa couldn't hold back any further as she began to sob. Tears flowed freely down her face. Anna was wracking her brain to find anything positive about the situation. Looking around, her eyes locked on Hazel and she smiled.
"Elsa, some good did come from this. I've seen many things, allowing me to understand you much better. I've seen the pain you've had sending me away all these years, and why. I feel I've come to know you much better as a person, and my pride for having you as a sister has only increased. Also, you must have realized on some level what was happening while you were unconscious. You graced me with the best protection you could, under the circumstances. After stopping a scene where I was bullying you, one of your creations stood by me after they should have faded away. To avoid confusion, she has taken the name of 'Hazel'. She has been totally loyal and trustworthy. I consider her a true friend. She protected me from the same golem that hurt the physician, while I changed your bandages. I would never consider her a golem like the other statues, and she has been a real guardian angel." Anna pauses a moment, turning her head. She is unable to meet Elsa's eyes as she continues.
"I've also learned a lot about myself because of your ice scenes. I have seen how my impulsive behavior caused our first accident when the gates were closed."
"Anna, you were only five years old-"
"Let me finish. It happened again many times after, until it caused another accident at your coronation. I guess I really did do something to drive you away, and I'm sorry. It's also shown me about what it means to try and think ahead more, as I try to do what you would want with Arendelle. I don't think ahead like you do, and it has been so hard trying to live up to the high standards you reach so easily."
"Anna-"
"Please, this is hard enough for me to say. Just let me finish." Anna looks back to Elsa before speaking again. "The point is that I love you, and I really need you. You anchor me and keep me from going too far. You inspire me to greater things, or to see reason when I'm making bad decisions. I-I'm actually scared of the trouble I'd get into without you here. I just have one small request."
"Oh?" inquires Elsa with tears in her eyes, this time due to Anna's ramblings.
"No more crossbow bolts to teach me responsibility, OK?
"It's a deal," chuckles Elsa through her tears. Worry and doubt can still be seen lining Elsa's eyes. Anna just sits there in silence until Elsa falls back to sleep again. Once Elsa is soundly asleep, Anna allows her own tears to flow again.
"You know, you are a very annoying princess. I'm getting very, VERY tired of your constant interference."
The hair on the back of Anna's neck stands on end as she turns to confront the speaker. Near the door stands another icy Elsa, her braid lying on the wrong side. Anna smiles very slightly as she makes a mental note of the difference. It has been consistent with the adversarial Elsa up to now.
"Elsa is fully unconscious again, or you wouldn't see me. It's no big secret. 'Hazel' could have told you that if you had just asked. I thought you were smarter than that. I guess I was wrong."
"Really, I don't think I believe that. If that were true, Hazel wouldn't have been here when Elsa was awake. Can you explain that?"
"Stupid girl! Hazel has moved beyond being a projection to become a new entity. She smarter than Olaf or Marshmallow, but how much more so remains to be seen. You could say you now have another sister, as they share many of the same memories, right up to the moment Hazel accepted her new name. From that point on, she's been making her own decisions. While she's not nearly as stupid as Olaf, she's also nowhere near as bright as the original Elsa. Probably about as pathetic as you are, in reality."
"Well, rather than continue such a pleasant conversation, why don't we get down to business, and you tell me what you want. Sound fair?"
"Pathetic and cheeky too! I think Kristoff would call it 'feisty', but I think cheeky is more accurate. Discussing your many failings is not why I'm here though. I've arranged an encounter with an old friend. You met him at the ice palace actually. He should be here shortly. To even the odds, I've arranged a surprise for you too. You'll learn even more about your sister, if you can figure out what the surprise is. You won't be able to access it until he arrives though. Think fast or he'll take you out rather quickly. Personally, I'm betting heavily on him. Good bye for now, my sweet. Oh, and good luck," quips the Elsa. Her body starts to break up into snowflakes until there is nothing left. Echoes of her laughter persist much longer after she is gone.
"Bitch," mumbles Anna.
"She is doing this for a reason. It is more than just distracting you. I… think it may be related to me," piped up Hazel hesitantly.
"What do you mean? Relates to you how?"
"She wants to be permanent, like me. The difference is that she wants something else first."
"This darker version of Elsa isn't looking to take over my Elsa's body, is she? This is so confusing. What can I call her other than Elsa to keep this straight in my head? There have been too many Elsas already."
"For the love of the gods, NO! The more you differentiate her from Elsa, the more permanent she becomes. I think you banned her from taking Elsa's body when she lost the debate against herself and YOU decided against her. She's looking for a way to use your love of Elsa to power her permanency and whatever her other goals may be. When you renamed me, and indicated your strong feelings for me, and genuinely meant it, YOU made me permanent forever. Elsa had very little to do with that. To you, I am very grateful. She would just use you until she gets what she wants, and then you'll get the same treatment as the physician."
Suddenly, a loud roar echoes in the distance. Instantly, Anna's face goes pale.
"Oh no, not Marshmallow! I've got to get him somewhere he won't hurt anybody. With his strength, he could easily kill somebody." Anna casts a worried glance out the window, but it instantly freezes over. Turning to the queen, Anna can see she is still unconscious. A slight frown is on Elsa's face, despite her condition. Since looking out the window is not an option, Anna heads for the door. Hazel's shout stops her in her tracks.
"Anna! Look! How? Look at your footprints!"
Looking back, she sees that the path she walked across the room since hearing Marshmallow roar is covered in frost. Each place she had stepped, for six inches centered on her footprint, is actually covered in ice. Pausing, Anna tries to think back. The last time Anna saw this was when Elsa ran across the fjord on her coronation day. Suddenly, Anna's eyes go wide. Quietly, she mumbles "learn more about your sister."
Placing her hand on the door, palm out, Anna concentrates and the door instantly ices up. Waving her hand across the door clears the ice as fast as it had formed. Anna stops and stares at her hand until another roar from Marshmallow brings her back to reality. "I have Elsa's powers, somehow."
"The frost on the window and the floor, that's Elsa's fear response. It's responding to you instead?"
"Of course! Your right! Come on, we have to stop Marshmallow before he hurts anybody."
Anna races from the room, Hazel close on her heels. Outside is a scene of total mayhem. Marshmallow has already broken through the castle gates, and guards with long pikes are trying to repel the giant snowman. Unfortunately for the guards, Marshmallows brute strength is rendering almost all weapons ineffective. Every swing he makes either smashes some guard's weapon, splinters a pike, or sends a guard flying twenty feet through the air. Snowfall in the courtyard is making the footing treacherous for the guards, but is at least cushioning their falls.
"Clear the courtyard! NOW!" roars Anna.
Upon hearing the princess, marshmallow turns to her and growls "Feisty-pants!"
Stunned hearing that name from the giant snowman, Anna takes a moment to get her thoughts in order. "Oh, let it go already!" she mutters.
Reaching down, Marshmallow gathers up ice chunks, snow, and debris from various shattered weapons to make a snowball three feet across. His big eyes gleam brightly as he throws it at her.
Anna, stunned by the speed of the attack, crosses her arms in front of herself to ward it off. She just has time to think 'Oh yes, block it with my arms instead of diving out of the way. Good job Anna!' Immediately upon crossing her arms, a giant ice shield shaped like a wedge rises in front of her from the ground. The impact of the snowball on the point of the wedge splits it into halves which are redirected to pass on either side of Anna. From the left, she hears wood splinter from the impact. From the right, she hears a gasp, and the sound of breaking glass.
Taking time to look to the right, Anna is shocked to see that the sound of broken glass was actually Hazel's icy body being pulverized by the broken part of the snowball. Everything from the waist down is shattered into various size chunks. One arm has broken off and is lying several feet away from the battered torso.
A murderous glint shines in Anna's eyes as she turns back to the snowman. In a sudden rage, she raises her arms and horizontal icicles form on the wall behind her. Bringing her arms down sharply, she points at her foe. Icicles can be heard breaking away from the wall, and fly through the air. It doesn't take them long to embed themselves in the snowman, making him stagger. As he stands up straight, Anna can hear him chuckling.
"I'm not done yet," mutters Anna. Still pointing her right arm in the direction of the snowman, Anna makes a fist, and then quickly spreads her fingers. Loud detonations and flying snow occur repeatedly over the next several seconds, often punctuated by roaring from the snowman. Eventually, the only thing heard in the courtyard is Anna's heavy breathing.
"HAZEL! Are you OK? I'm so sorry! I'll fix you up right away!" Waving her hand and concentrating on repairing the damage, Anna is dismayed to see nothing happen. A second attempt gets the same result.
Kneeling next to Hazel, tears are once again streaming down Anna's face. "I don't understand. Why can't I help you?"
"Thank you, my friend, for believing in me," Hazel rasps hoarsely. With these final words, Hazel's eyes frost over.
"Well done, Anna! Well done!" says a familiar voice sarcastically.
"Go away," Anna quietly chokes out.
"I didn't think you had it in you. Quite spectacular, really. Tell me, what does it feel like to be a killer?"
"I told you to GO AWAY! Just FUCK OFF!" screams Anna, bordering on hysterical.
Anna can hear the speaker walking toward her. As she stops on the other side of Hazel's lifeless form, Anna looks up to see an icy Elsa, her braid on the wrong side. "You realize she was solid ice, not moldable snow like Olaf or Marshmallow, right? There will be no putting her back together. I didn't really think I was ready to channel Elsa's powers to you yet, but I guess I'm better than I thought. By channeling Elsa's powers through Marshmallow, you lost them when you defeated him. Of course, I prevented him from accessing those powers. That would have been completely unfair. I guess you could say that taking Hazel out was just a bonus."
"You MONSTER! You Bitch!" cried Anna, fresh sobs making her chest heave. "Why?"
"Why? Haven't you figured it out yet? Oh dear, I guess your even slower than I thought. When I become a permanent resident of 'your world', I want to bring a souvenir with me from Elsa. Since Elsa was shot, I've become better at controlling her powers than she is. I want to take that control with me. That way, she can't be the monster everybody expects. Oh, and by the way, I wasn't kidding when I called YOU a killer. First, you killed Hazel protecting yourself from that snowball. Then, you blew up Marshmallow. Third, there is that nice young man who stayed to help you against the big, bad snowman! You didn't see him creeping up behind Marshmallow, did you? Defending you is a very dangerous business. Maybe you should just stop having defenders and less people will have to die."
With Elsa pointing past the remains of the snowman, Anna could now see the crumpled form of an Arendelle guard. His right shoulder and the right side of his face were mangled masses of shredded flesh.
"You threw your icicles so hard at the snowman, some of them passed through him. You knew that right?"
"No," whispers Anna in a shocked voice.
"Pity. Unfortunately for him, one went through his shoulder near his neck and pinned him to the wall. You should have seen the blood fly as YOUR ice spear exploded! It was better than Chinese fireworks! I'm so proud of you Anna! I couldn't have done it better, although hitting him below the belt could have been interesting too. Maybe next time," taunted the icy Elsa mercilessly.
Anna, finally accepting what she had done in anger, broke down into a wailing cry. Her attempt at a shocked "no" was completely drowned out by her uncontrollable sobbing.
"You know, you just survived THREE of Elsa's biggest fears: Being unable to protect those you love, using her powers to hurt somebody due to her anger, and accidentally killing somebody using her powers. She did better than you at avoiding directly trying to murder somebody. She sent Hans home, while you utterly DESTROYED Marshmallow in a single attack. The only difference about the accidental killing is that Elsa sees you in the poor guard's place. Poor baby, it's all right! It actually does get easier with every kill you make." Anna lurches up from the ground, animalistic rage in her puffy eyes, only to see the laughing Elsa disappear again.
Anna just stands there bawling, teardrops littering the ground, shoulders heaving with each violent sob, and clenched hands wishing she was holding that bitch by the throat. Suddenly, Kai stands in front of the tortured princess, and takes her into a gentle hug. For a few minutes, Anna cries uncontrollably into Kai's shoulder as she clings to him. "There, there, Miss Anna. It will be all right. We'll stop that evil… thing. I'm not sure how yet, but we WILL find a way." Anna just nods before burying her head in his shoulder again, a new round of uncontrollable weeping draining the princess of all her energy.
Returning to Anna's room, Kai vainly tries everything he can think of to wake the queen. The only other option he can think of is one he refuses to suggest, taking the queen's life before her internal nemesis can cause any more harm. Anna, numb from shock, just sits in a chair weeping. The look on her face is little better than that of a lost child's. Tears have long since ran out, causing Anna's eyes to sting and be very puffy.
"Miss Anna, I can see what that thing is doing, but I cannot see why. From what I know of the queen's early years, she is taking the worst of Elsa's fears and exposing you to them in a very short time. The next one hits before you can recover from the previous experience. Your reaction now is obviously what she wants, but I cannot see to what end."
"She's making it hard for me to think by keeping me off balance. I-I'm not sure why," answers Anna shortly.
"Is it possible there is still a way for you to stop her… somehow?"
"How can I fight this? I'm fighting a part of my sister. I know that if she becomes separate from Elsa with all her powers, the price we will all pay is beyond comprehension. But this is Elsa, and it's a strong part of her. I may have better morals, but I don't have her strength. How many more people HAVE to die before she is happy? There may be less damage if… if we just let her win. I can't fight her anymore. I…give up. She wins, I guess."
"Miss Anna, NO! After all you've done to bring Elsa back to everybody, to her kingdom, to us, and especially to you, you can't stop now! You've been stronger than all of us put together, INCLUDING ELSA. You knew what you had to do when she was overcome by fear at her coronation. You're the only one to recognize it as fear to begin with. You reached out, found her at her ice palace, and tried to get her to return. You went out on that ice to find Kristoff, and protected Elsa instead of saving yourself, knowing you would likely die by doing so. That was just a few short months ago. You've gone through so much to protect Elsa. You've invested a lot of effort in her. Don't abandon her now! She… she needs you still."
"Kai, I'm spent. My energy and strength has been used up. I've even killed people. I've caused nothing but death trying to help her this time. I let the physician die through carelessness, and my actions directly caused Hazel and that guard to die. I failed. I'm not worthy of your praise."
"Then why does this… thing continue to try and wear you down, even if you are beaten. There is something she is scared of, and YOU are the key. You can't give up now. If you do, you're as good as killing your sister too. That thing will kill Elsa to keep herself safe, and likely you too. NOBODY will be safe. You're the only one who had any idea what to do, or any effect on the events from Elsa's mind. Without you, we are all lost."
"I can't, Kai! I'm not strong enough. There's nothing left in me to give," whined Anna.
"Then lean on me for strength. I believe in you, but I cannot fight this fight. We need YOU."
"I don't know if I can, Kai. I don't even know how to fight her anymore."
"Then we'll do it together, somehow. Think Anna. You hold the key to defeating her. What do we know about her?"
"Sh-she's an evil ice creature that is slowly gaining more and more control over Elsa's powers. She doesn't have enough control yet to take the powers completely for herself. When I first saw her, I sided with a compassionate Elsa against her. She is obviously tormenting Elsa as well by drawing out these images. That would make gaining control over Elsa's powers easier, I guess. She's doing the same type of torment to me, to stop my interference and weaken my own will to fight." Anna has to pause at this point to compose herself, obviously being on the verge of crying again.
"She set up that scene where I killed that guard… AND HAZEL! Of Course!" Anna looks to Kai with a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "I may know a way to beat her. It may not work, but it is the only thing I can think of to try."