A/N: Now that's the kind of review action I like to see! Thank you guys; I feel so much better now! Keep it up! :-D And now, I present to you, chapter 17! If you think you've seen the end of plot twists, think again! You ain't seen nothin' yet!

Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen. What can I say? I'm just a regular girl!

Julie kept her promise to Elsa the next morning and showed up to breakfast. Everyone was so glad to see her, and Johan felt he could not thank Elsa enough for talking some sense into her. Julie was still a little bit quieter than before everything happened, but just being able to see a smile on her face again made everyone happy.

As they finished up their meals, their blissful conversation was cut short as a servant approached their table.

"Prince Johan, Princess Leah, there is as Agent William Olsen here to see you," he said.

"Wonderful," Leah said. "Have someone escort him to the sitting room and we'll meet him there."

The servant nodded and exited as Johan and Leah stood up from their seats.

"Sorry, guys. We have to go solve a mystery," Johan said. "Anyone want to tag along?"

"I will," Elsa said, standing up. She turned her gaze to Julie. "Do you maybe want to come?" she asked hesitantly.

"Oh, um, I don't think so," Julie replied nervously. "I don't think I'm strong enough for that yet."

"Fair enough," Elsa laughed.

"That's okay! We'll find something to do!" Anna said, throwing her arm around Julie's shoulder.

Elsa smiled before following Johan and Leah out of the room. It didn't take long for them to get to the sitting room, where Agent Olsen was already waiting for them.

"Agent Olsen, it's wonderful to see you again," Leah said, shaking the man's hand.

"Good morning, Princess Leah," he replied. He turned to Johan and shook his hand. "Hello, Prince Johan." He turned to Elsa. "And whom else do I have the pleasure of addressing?"

Elsa smiled. "Queen Elsa of Arendelle."

"Oh," the man said, a bit surprised. He quickly bowed. "How do you do, Your Majesty?"

"Very well, thank you," Elsa replied.

"I trust your travels were safe?" Leah said as she sat down on the couch.

"They were indeed, Your Highness," the detective replied. "And I have come up with some interesting new knowledge of our clever friends, the Jacobsens."

"Well, that's wonderful," Johan said as he and Elsa sat next to Leah. The agent sat across from them and pulled out his notebook.

"Now then, let's get down to business" he said as he found the page in his notebook he was looking for. "First of all, I found that our suspicions were correct. Gustav Jacobsen did in fact go to Norup to seek help from his brother, and he bought a large house directly next door to them. Aksel introduced him to a woman he knew who Gustav soon married. Rumor has it they had ten children together."

"In addition to the five they already had to take care of!?" Leah exclaimed.

"It would seem so," the detective replied. "His brother also had ten children of his own."

"How could they handle all those children? I couldn't even imagine!" Elsa exclaimed.

"I know," Leah agreed. "I mean, two or three? Sure! But fifte-"

"Girls! Girls! Come on! Focus!" Johan exclaimed.

"Sorry," Elsa said. "Go on."

"Well, about five years ago, Gustav's brother, wife, and sister-in-law were all killed in a carriage accident," Agent Olsen continued. "Gustav took custody of his brother's children, and then a few months ago, he and all of the children disappeared."

"Oh, history!" Johan muttered to himself. "Always repeating yourself!"

"Do we have any leads as to where they went?" Leah asked.

"No," the detective replied. "The agent in Norup who investigated the disappearance had found no leads when he searched the house. And the house has since been sold to other people."

"Alright, well do you know of anyone who might be working with him?" Johan asked. "Any accomplices?"

"Besides possibly his son, Noah? No."

"Wait a minute," Leah interrupted. "I don't understand. How can this guy pull off this heist and lead this conspiracy when he's in custody of twenty-five children under the age of twenty?"

"Maybe he gets some of his accomplices to take care of the children while he's working?" Elsa suggested.

"No," Johan said, as it suddenly dawned on him. "I think the children are the accomplices!"

"That's possible," Agent Olsen chimed in. "That could possibly be why he had so many children. He wouldn't have to bribe them or pay them to help him. He just had to raise them to think it was their responsibility."

"That is absolutely sick!" Elsa exclaimed. "To do that to his own children!"

"Well, that could prove why Noah ran away!" Johan said. "He didn't want to be his father's weapon!"

"I hate to ruin your party, Prince Johan, but there is still the possibility that he was sent here by his father to find out more about the castle and eventually help him get in," Agent Olsen pointed out.

Johan slumped on the couch in defeat. "Why does everything have to be so complicated?" he mumbled, shaking his head.

"Well, never mind that," Leah said. "We need to keep in mind that if they're after the royal family, they are eventually going to attack! We need to figure out when that might be!"

"Well what would be the easiest time for them to get into the castle undetected?" the detective asked.

"Probably during a special event," Leah said. "Some type of celebration where everyone's here and a couple of kids would just blend into the crowd-"

"The Midwinter's Ball!" Johan cut in. "It's next week!"

"Next week? That won't give us enough time to figure out their plan of attack!" Elsa said.

"Your right," Johan agreed. "If Leah and I get our father to cancel the ball, it would buy us enough time to figure out more so that we'll be ready to capture them when they do attack!"

"Would father agree to canceling the ball?" Leah asked. "The Annual Midwinter's Ball has never been cancelled since the great snowstorm of 1699."

"He wouldn't want to put lives at stake," Johan said. "He'll agree to it I'm sure. We'll go to the council meeting tomorrow and bring it up."

"Alright," Leah agreed. She looked to the detective. "So, in the meantime, is there anything left to do?"

"Well I've run out of leads, Your Highness. There's no way right now for me to figure out anything."

"Perhaps we should discuss this at a later date, then?" Johan suggested.

"That would probably be best," Agent Olsen replied. "I will keep my eyes open for anything I might see that could help us."

"Thank you, Agent Olsen," Johan said, standing and leading the man to the door. "We will be forever indebted to you for your services. I will find someone to escort you out, and then," he said, turning to the girls, "perhaps I'll bring back some tea for you ladies."

The girls nodded as he led the detective out. They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Leah finally spoke up.

"Can you believe all this?" she said. "This is turning out to be far more complicated than I thought it would be."

"I know," Elsa replied. "This is crazy. An evil family with a curse? What's next?"

"Right?" Leah agreed. They laughed until they heard footsteps run past the door before skidding to a stop and turning around. Kristoff looked in, out of breath.

"Elsa!" he said, panting.

"Kristoff, what's wrong?" Elsa asked as she and Leah stood.

The mountain man gasped as he caught his breath. "I just overheard the guards panicking down stairs!" he said. "Noah's escaped!"

"What!?" Elsa exclaimed. "What do you mean he's escaped!?"

"What do you think I mean!?" Kristoff yelled. "He got out!"

"Why would he do that?" Leah exclaimed. "Is he trying to prove himself guilty of something?"

"How did he get out?" Elsa asked.

"I don't know!" Kristoff replied.

"Was anyone hurt?"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

Just then Johan came walking in with a tray in his hands. "Hello, Kristoff. Elsa, I brought lavender tea. I know that's your favorite." He looked up after placing the tray on the table and noticed the bewildered expressions on their faces. "What?"

"Uh, Johan, we have a bit of a problem," Elsa said.

"Noah's escaped," Kristoff repeated.

Johan looked at the ice man in panic. "What!? What do you mean he's escaped!?"

"What do you think he means!?" Elsa and Leah yelled simultaneously.

"What exactly happened?" he said, turning to Elsa.

"We don't know," Elsa replied.

Just then, Captain Gunnarson came running in. "Your Highnesses!"

"Captain, what happened?" Johan asked.

"Mr. Jacobsen has escaped!"

"I got that part! I meant how!"

"These kids just came in with crossbows and shot at every guard in their way! As soon as they got him out, they all ran off and disappeared!"

"Were there any casualties?" Leah asked.

"There are many guards with injuries, but so far nothing has been fatal," the captain said.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Leah exclaimed, when all of a sudden her husband burst into the room.

"Leah!" Isak said. "I heard what happened! Are you alright? Is everyone alright?"

"I'm fine, Isak. We're all fine," Leah responded.

"What are we going to do?" Elsa exclaimed.

"What do you think we're going to do?" Johan replied. "We're gonna find them all, bring them back here, and find out what that no good bastard-"

"Enough!" came a voice from the doorway. They all looked to see King Magnus standing there. "All of you! Calm down! Captain, come with me. The rest of you, I want you all to stay in the castle and be on guard! Understand?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," the room chorused.

After the king and the captain left, everyone found themselves sitting on the sofas in silence. All of them were stunned by this sudden turn of events.

Kristoff chuckled. "Who gets to tell Julie?"

"Not it!" Leah said, raising her hand. They all chuckled at the childlike gesture.

"I'll do it," Johan said. "That's not gonna be fun."

All of a sudden, Anna walked in, still blissfully unaware of everything that had happened.

"Hey, everyone!" she said. "How come you're all in here? Is this some secret get-together I should know about?"

"Anna, do you know where Julie is?" Johan asked, standing up.

"She went I her room to get dressed so we could go into town," Anna said. Then she finally noticed their panicked expressions. "Wait, what happened?"

"Noah's escaped!" Kristoff said.

"What!? What do you mean he's escaped!?"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK HE MEANS!?" the rest of the room yelled.

"How are you going to tell her?" she asked Johan.

"I don't know. I'm making this up as I go," he said, walking past her and out the door. He walked up the stairs and made his way to her bedroom.

When he reached her door he hesitated. Taking a deep breath, he softly knocked on her door.

"Julie?"

No answer.

"Julie, I need to talk to you."

Still nothing.

Johan opened the door to find that the room was empty.

"Julie?" he called, looking around the room. "Are you in here?"

Still no answer.

"Hmm," he said to himself. "I guess she already went to go find Anna."

He began to walk out, but then he noticed a scrap of paper on the bed. He picked it up and read it. As the words sunk in, he could feel his heart stop.

If you ever wish to see the princess alive again, you will see to it that the Midwinter's Ball is not cancelled.

-Jacobsen

.:.^*^.:.

Earlier...

Julie stood in front of her mirror, putting her makeup on. It felt good to be talking with everyone again, and when Anna had suggested that they spend a day on the town, Julie knew that was exactly what she needed.

Suddenly, she heard something outside on her balcony. As she walked over to see what it was, she noticed she could hear someone breathing. Cautiously, she walked over to the open door and slowly pulled back the shades.

She gasped when she saw the boy that was leaning against the railing. He looked just like him. Only, it wasn't him. This boy was a bit younger than him. The face and the hair looked very similar, but the eyes were different. Instead of his soft, comforting hazel eyes, this boy's eyes were a piercing, bright blue.

"Well, well. What have we here?" the boy said, throwing her a wicked smile.

Julie gulped as she backed away from him slowly. He, in turn, moved toward her at a similar rate to keep the distance between them from getting larger.

"Look like your boyfriend, don't I?" he said.

"You know Noah?" Julie said, trying to hide the fear in her voice.

"In fact, I do," he replied, as he followed her into the room. "I actually haven't seen him in a long time. But I'm meeting up with him soon. I can take you to him. You can finally see him again, and you two can run away and be together. Forever."

For a split second, Julie was almost tempted by this offer. But she was smart, and she knew a liar when she saw one.

"I- no! You're lying! Get out of here before I call the guards!"

She turned around and walked quickly toward the door.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the boy said.

"Oh yeah?" Julie said, her voice wavering. "Why not?"

As she placed her hand on the doorknob, she heard a soft click behind her. That click seemed to echo through her ears as time slowed down with her heartbeat.

"Unless you'd like them to find you lying limp on the ground," he replied.

Julie's eyes went wide. Slowly, she turned around to face him, and she gasped at what she saw.

In his hand was a French flintlock pistol.

Dun dun dun!

Read on, write on, dream on. -bandgeek63