"Kendra wait!" Elsa's protests go unheard as I remove myself from her arms and climb to my feet. She jumps up after me, barely grabbing my wrist before I end up walking away and out of her reach. "Kendra please listen to me, I know you want to save Anna, but you just aren't ready!"

I merely stare at her cold hand gripping my wrist, and reply nonchalantly and bluntly. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be." I give a slight shrug to accentuate my words, surprising Elsa with them.

"...What happened while you were in that...that...trance-like state of unconsciousness?"

"Nothing really, I just remembered last night is all. And that nightmare I had. It just made me realize how much time we're wasting." I pull my hand from her now loose grip and start walking for the door, Elsa barely able to keep up with my fast pace.

"Kendra! Just—...wait! Stop!" I've already left the room, so she sighs sharply in mild irritation, before briefly turning back to Kai and Gerda, throwing her hand out towards them for emphasis. "Wait here." She leaves the two alone in the room as she pursues me, leaving the manservant and service matron very confused.

I pay no mind as Elsa's footsteps pound behind me in rapid succession, running to catch up to me. "Kendra, wait! Would you just—slow down would ya?!" She grabs my arm and forces me to stop, turning me around to face her.

"Elsa, please, I have to do this."

"Look, I want to save Anna just as badly as you do. But you just aren't skilled enough with your powers yet, and it's not worth risking your life right now! Not until you get better at using them."

"But we don't have time for that! Elsa, I have enough control to be able to do what needs to be done. We have to save Anna! I can sense her, I can pinpoint her location! I can track her down Elsa! We can save her!"

"Kendra, please, if you would just—"

"No! I can't take this sitting-around-and-doing-nothing anymore. I'm going to go save her, with or without you. So you can either come with me and help, or stay here and wait for me to return. I'd really prefer having you there with me to help...but I'll do it alone if I have to."

Elsa's eyes widen slightly in utter shock, taken completely aback by my unexpected words, and for a minute she's unsure of how to even respond. She takes a moment to close her eyes, and calms herself with a soft sigh, gripping my upper arms as she looks into my eyes. "Kendra, listen... I just...I don't want you getting hurt... And I know Anna's fine. Believe me, if I wasn't, I would've spent every waking moment storming their forces and trying to save her myself. I wouldn't be standing here trying to convince you otherwise if I wasn't. I understand how badly you want to save her...believe me, I do... I just...I can't lose you too..."

Elsa's words hit me hard, right in my feels. My heart wrenches and sinks a little, as does my bout of reckless confidence. I hang my head in shame, sighing sadly. "Sorry Elsa..."

Elsa wraps her arms around me in a warm hug, holding me close and comfortingly. "I know the Aesir a whole lot better than you think... I've been dealing with them for quite a bit before they even thought of forcing me into exile in your world. They aren't your typical villains here. Harming Anna won't bring them any closer to their goal...but keeping her prisoner will... After all, what better way to deliver a blow to me, than to enslave my own sister, and use her against me...?"

The warmth I felt from Elsa now turns cold, as her emotions channel into her powers, reacting and causing her to become cold to the touch in response. Her words make perfect sense, collaborating too well with things she's spoken to me before about our enemy, and it makes my heart break even more for her. I tighten my own grip around her, hugging her tighter and burying my face into her neck and hair. "I'm sorry for worrying you Elsa... I know you're worried enough about your real sister, Anna...and I don't need to be complicating things even more by acting so rashly...especially since I'm the chosen one, and you know so much more of what's going on than I apparently do... I just hate knowing Anna's captured, and who knows what they're doing to her...and it just makes me feel so bad... I want so badly to do something, right now...!" I inhale deeply of her natural scent, a slight mixture of winter and vanilla, calming myself as I let out a slow, soft sigh through my nose. "But you're right...I can't just yet...and I have to accept that..."

Elsa responds to my lower volume with a soft squeeze of her own. "You're my sister too...don't ever forget that...and I have faith in you... You'll be ready...don't you worry about that... We'll get you trained...and we'll get you ready...sooner than you think...I promise." Her soft words mingle with her slowly returning warmth, causing me to smile as her powers show me physically that she's returning to normal.

"By the way Elsa..."

"Hmm?"

I can't help but softly chuckle. "Why are we talking so quietly?"

She snickers briefly after a moment. "You know, I have no idea."

We share in a moment of soft giggles, our bodies lightly shaking together as we keep our arms wrapped around each other, enjoying each other's comforting touch and warmth too much to want to break the hug just yet. So we stand there, just holding each other, and silently strengthening the other's resolve with our mere presence, and fueling our own hopes for the best outcome in this mess.

Meanwhile, Kai and Gerda are still waiting back in the training room, glancing uneasily at each other, nervous over what occurred just minutes prior to this moment. They're unsure of what to do now, and of what's going to happen, despite their queen's constant optimism about this entire situation. Though the castle has been left alone by the Aesir, only due to their cockiness and having most of the guard already captured, they still can't help but feel just so...so...exposed. Trapped like sitting ducks.

That's not the only thing. They're also worried about the mental stability of this strange girl Elsa brought back with her from the other dimension. Though it is true that she is the chosen one, destined to fell the evil forces that are the Aesir, should she succeed, they still fearfully contemplate if Elsa can get her ready in time. They know they shouldn't be speaking such words, even thinking such treasonous thoughts, but the worry formed from these dark times can't be kept away so easily. Still though...there is still some hope in this seemingly bleak situation.

Their attentions are captured by a growing sound outside the door, coming from down the hallway. It soon sounds like chatter, two feminine voices they immediately recognize, and they smile at the obvious uplift in their tones.

As Elsa and I enter the room, they bow deeply to us, feeling quite relieved as they grin earnestly at the much improved atmosphere surrounding our very presence in the room

How could we have doubted them, for even a second? Gerda muses to herself, lifting her head with a single chuckle, her warm eyes aimed right at me. "Your highness, I'm glad to see you're alright. You've had us all quite worried about you."

I blush slightly in shame as I bow my head slightly, a sheepish smile still on my face. "Seems I'm good at doing that lately..."

"Oh come now highness, it's perfectly natural to react to your own instincts, and let your emotions carry you away, with such a passion for those you care about!"

Kai tries and fails to hold back a chuckle at Gerda's sudden enthusiasm. "I do believe you're getting carried away again," he teases as he places a hand on the service matron's shoulder next to him.

"Well, how can I not? These are troubling times and things are far from normal right now," Gerda defends, unaware of me and Elsa snickering at the two of them and their light banter. I gotta admit, it's nice seeing the two of them less restrained with the proper formalities you'd expect from castle staff, and that's because Gerda does have a point, about things being far from normal right now.

Elsa finally intervenes before the two servants can become too carried away with themselves, clearing her throat beside me, her smile toned down but not hidden on her face. Kai and Gerda blush slightly as they return their attentions to us, small smiles playing their features as well. "We are all acting as we normally wouldn't," Elsa begins, "and that is perfectly fine by me. Until the Aesir have been completely dealt with and things returned to normal, then I see no need for things to be quite so..." she turns to me, just slightly, tilting her head up somewhat and smirking down at me out of the corner of her eyes, before finishing her sentence, "...uptight."

I snicker, unable to restrain myself from picking at her choice of words. "You've been around me too long; that sounds like something I would say."

Elsa wraps an arm around my shoulders as she responds, "I wouldn't say that's a bad thing, would you?"

"Heehee, nnope!"

"Good," she smirks again. "So how about we try a different approach with learning your powers?"

"Sounds good to me, I'm game for anything at this point, if it means getting prepared sooner so we can stop this threat and save everyone."

"Alright then. Hmm..." She turns her gaze to study what's left of the destroyed targets on the far wall, even taking note of the hole in the wall caused by my last concussive blast of energy. I stay where I am as she starts taking some seemingly random, yet purposeful, strides forward, deep in contemplative thought. She stops, turns back towards me, but with her gaze still down towards the ground, holding her chin slightly in her forefinger. She turns back to look at the chest of items near her two head servants, then tilts her head up to view the damaged ceiling. She paces in place for a few moments, before stopping in place, and I swear I could almost see the light bulb go off above her head. "Ah-hah! I've got it!"

I can't help but snicker, having held it in long enough. "I'd hope so, after all that deep thinking you just did."

She raises a brow in a smirk, practically saying without a word, I'm gonna choose to ignore that remark, and not freeze your tongue in place.

I squeak as I pull my out-stuck tongue back into my mouth, giggling as I apologize. "Sorry sorry, couldn't resist. Anyways, go ahead, I'm listening."

She chuckles once in reply, shaking her head lightly as if to ask what she's gonna do with me. "Alright, well as I was saying, I think I've figured out that..."

I hear no more of her words, even as she continues speaking, focusing instead on something else. Elsa finally stops midsentence with a confused pause, then a soft sigh, as she notices my attention is no longer on her. "Kendra. Kendra!"

I snap out of it, lifting my gaze back to hers. "Huh?"

"I thought you were listening to what I was saying. Why aren't you paying attention?"

"Sorry, it's just...I can't explain what it is, but I just...I feel something with my powers. I sense something...strange. And..." my eyes suddenly widen in horror, "big."

Elsa wastes no time closing the gap between us by half. "Like wha—"

Elsa's words are immediately cut off by a sound, almost like a cross being a thud, a crashing thunk, and a slam of some sort. Then...there's a roar so loud and strange...and yet so oddly familiar...Elsa and I can only glance around with shocked confusion, before having the same realization at the same time. We share a knowing glance, eyes locked together, before we both take off from the room, leaving Kai and Gerda both frightened at the strange sounds, and even more confused than they were from the earlier fiasco.

Elsa and I practically fly down the halls, though I'm a lot more careful of the stairs, due to a previous injury I sustained many years ago falling down some stairs, causing me to be overly cautious and a little worried about repeating said injury. Fortunately Elsa waits for me at the bottom, and no sooner do I land, I pose a short question as we take off again. "You think it could be?"

"There's no doubt in my mind," she replies. Neither of us say anymore, quickly reaching the large front doors in no time. We both take a door and pull them open, just enough so we can both slip through and outside.

We dash through the courtyard, spying a small handful of guards fleeing inside the closing gate. "Wait!" Elsa calls, halting her guards. They turn to look back outside, fearful of whatever is out there, before nodding to their queen. They leave the gates open, and stand aside as Elsa and I dash through them, and sure enough, we come face to face with what we suspected, and knew, was making all those noises.

"Marshmallow! What are you doing here?" I call with glee up at the large, magical snow giant.

The large being has ice spikes protruding from his body, obviously from defending himself from the hostility of the guards. But as soon as he sees Elsa, they retract and disappear, as a smile forms on his face. "Master!"

"Wow," Elsa starts, eyes fixed with shock and wonder at her creation. "You're here in Arendelle! But why? What brought you down here from the mountains?"

"Long journey," he grunts in his deep voice.

Elsa takes note of his leg, the one that had been slashed by Hans's sword, and reconnected enough to use, but with a limp. Elsa smiles sympathetically as she understands why it was a long journey. "Here, let me fix that for you." She waves her hand towards his leg, a swirl of ice and snow and magic swirling around the patch, before his leg becomes whole again.

Marshmallow tests his leg, face showing clear delight and awe. "Leg fixed! Thank you!"

Elsa shares a laugh with me at the large snowman's childish delight, surprised but glad to see him all the same. "So I guess you were somehow sensing Marshmallow, huh."

I chuckle at Elsa's words, "I guess so. Don't ask me how though, unless it has to do with him being a result of your own magical powers. That's the only thing I can think of."

Elsa gives a light chuckle, before returning her attention to her former bodyguard. "So Marshmallow, why are you here?"

The snow giant frowns, a mix of anger, and...is that fear on his face? "There was danger, so I came to protect."

His words confuse us slightly. Was there danger there at the ice castle, so he came here to protect Arendelle, where Elsa is?

We get our answer as a sudden, odd sound, like a soft explosion, is heard far beyond the city limits. An arcing rainbow of light suddenly blasts into Marshmallow from behind. It looks like the Aurora Borealis, but with a darker, more menacing tone to it. It obviously can't be the lights in the middle of the day, despite the strange resemblance to them.

Marshmallow roars in anger at the attack seemingly unscathed. I suddenly feel something, and my eyes widen in horror. Elsa, having already been taking by surprise from the attack and on guard, grips my shoulders fearfully as she takes note of my face. "Kendra! What it is?!"

I take an unsteady breath in, horror plastered all over my face. "Elsa, remember when I said I sensed something big?"

"Yeah?"

I swallow down a thick lump in my throat. "W-well, apparently it wasn't Marshmallow after all."

The temperature around us immediately drops, but only a few degrees. "What?! Th-then, what was it?"

As if on cue, another blast of those lights light up the sky, exploding overhead in a strange fireworks display. Something, or someone, is obviously announcing their arrival. Elsa and I stare out towards the direction it came from, towards one of the nearby mountains. It's hard to make out for sure, but there's a long, thin line stretching horizontally, and it's heading straight for us.

I squint to try and make it out, and get slammed with another sensation, one that's pure darkness and evil itself. It's then that all the color drains from my face, as I immediately know who is visiting us. Elsa tries to gently shake me, to snap me out of it, and despite her hands being ice cold, and my quick, shallow breathing, I keep my large eyes transfixed on the sight before me.

There can be no doubt about it. It's them.

The Aesir...has come to visit Arendelle.

For the first time ever...I am completely and utterly terrified for my life.