Disclaimer: Frozen and all recognizable characters are owned by Disney. (Though I'm pretty sure you all knew that, already. ^_^ )

Summary: Rather than talking to paintings, after Elsa shut her out, Anna took to playing with her invisible friend, Mara. Only, as she grew up, Mara didn't go away.

Author's Note: We finish up "things hitting the fan" week with Frozen. What could happen if we're not following the movie's plot? Well, you'll see...

Elsa stared at the visitor - Carlos Araya, as he called himself - and asked, "I'm sorry, you're a member of what, precisely?" She'd never heard of anything called 'the Order of Saint George'.

Bishop Peder, however, clearly had. "I was not aware that the Order had any operatives in this country."

Elsa's eyebrows rose. 'Operative'? She wasn't sure what one of those should look like, but... She didn't think this was it.

"We don't. That's why I need your help." Then, in response to Elsa's earlier question, added, "The Order of Saint George has existed since the end of the Dark Ages. Simply put, we stand between humanity and the forces of darkness. We hunt down the monsters, creatures, and demons that pray upon the innocent. That's what brought me to your kingdom, Your Majesty."

Calm, Elsa told herself urgently. She had to stay calm. If he'd meant her, he wouldn't be standing there, explaining, would he? "How so?" Could... Could he be talking about Mara? How would this Order of his even have known about her?

"Unfortunately, there are always those who are seduced by the powers of darkness. The reasons for succumbing are legion, but the result is always the same." Oh, God, he was talking about- "In this case, Prince Hans, of the Southern Isles."

...wait, what?

"What?" she asked aloud.

"In some ways, it wasn't a surprise. With twelve older brothers, and any 'suitable' marriage prospect taken, there was really no way for him to legitimately gain the level of power and influence he and his brothers were raised to think they had to achieve. We make a point of keeping watch on such individuals, and attempt to prevent any such contracts from being made. Unfortunately, we were too late in Hans' case."

"What is it that you need from me?" Bishop Peder asked.

"And what does any of this have to do with Anna?" Elsa added anxiously. Yes, her sister had a wraith living in her head, but... That didn't count, did it? Mara didn't seem to want anything from Anna beyond friendship... Or if she did, Anna had never said anything about it. What could...?

Wait.

Hans. Anna had been dancing with Hans. Anna had disappeared with Hans! What did the bastard - with thirteen sons, she was sure the title was accurate, if impolite, regarding a number of the brothers - want with her baby sister?!

"As I've said, I'm operating alone here," Carlos told the Bishop. "And the situation is far worse than my superiors had believed." He went on to describe the encounter he'd overheard between one of the maids and the minor demon - she could still hardly believe where this conversation was going - and Elsa's stomach knotted further. The idea that some creature was moving about her palace, twisting the minds of her people to suit its whims... Part of her was disbelieving. Part of her was terrified.

And part of her was furious.

"But they weren't planning on doing anything to Anna?" she interrupted at one point, seeking clarification.

"I do not believe so, no. From what it said, the idea was to let Hans seduce her himself."

For once, Mara's overprotectiveness was a source of comfort. "He won't get far."

"The only other oddity in the conversation was the mention of someone named Mara."

For a moment, she was sure she hadn't heard that right. "E-excuse me?"

"I don't understand why it found that significant, either, Your Majesty," he admitted. "There's a Mara in traditional Buddhist belief. He's supposedly a demon that personifies evil, and the fall from a spiritual state. The word mara also means "bitter" in Hebrew. Neither of which seemed terribly... relevant"

"Mara's a girl," she agreed. "Or she was, according to Anna. She was only five, at the time." Imaginary friends were common for children that age, so hopefully that would be enough to let the subject drop, before-

"Mara is also mentioned in local folklore," Bishop Peder said, much to her dismay. "A wraith that causes nightmares."

"The demon seemed to take mention of her as proof that you were the one they were seeking," Carlos told her, watching her closely. Too closely. She could feel the ice in her veins, itching to be released. "Something to do with the rumors of magical powers, perhaps...?"

Her control nearly slipped.

"I can assure you that you and your Order have nothing to fear from Queen Elsa," Bishop Peder interjected. "Any gifts she may have would have been bestowed on her from the Father, and she is not the type to misuse them."

Carlos looked at him for a long moment, Peder calmly meeting his eyes. Slowly, he nodded. "Given what I had overheard, I had presumed Her Majesty was not a threat. Still, confirmation is always helpful."

"That's it? Just... You're fine with it? Just like that?" Elsa knew she shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, but she couldn't help it. So many years of paranoia about not letting anyone know about her magic wouldn't let her simply accept it and move on.

"I know when I am being lied to, Your Majesty," Carlos told her evenly. "And while this is the first time I've had the honor of meeting him, I have heard of the Bishop. His word can be trusted."

That, at least, was something she could agree with. "So... What are you going to do about Hans?" she asked, trying to get the conversation back on track... and away from Anna's questionable friend. "And anyone the demon may have affected?"

"If I can kill the demon, they'll be released from its hold. Unfortunately, it knows that, too, so isn't likely to come out where I can get a shot at it unless forced. I have a few blessed amulets that might be of use in combating any dark influences someone might be under, but only a few, and I don't know if they're too unspecific or not to be of help." He turned to the Bishop. "If there were anything you could do that might counter the demonic influence, Sir, it would be most appreciated."

"I will do what I can, certainly."

"Before you do anything, I think it would be best to end the festivities and close the gates," Elsa decided. "If nothing else, it would keep this... demon... from getting its claws into anyone else. I can post a discreet watch on the vessel from the Southern Isles, to let me know if anyone comes or goes."

Carlos nodded. "That sounds like a plan. After that, I think it would be best to start our efforts with your sister."

She twitched. "Why?" she asked, a bit sharper than she needed to. "You said Hans intended to seduce her himself."

"He does, but if the demon concludes that she's the best chance they have of getting to you, they may not care about his pride or ego."

"You don't know my sister."

"With influence of this type, Your Majesty, it doesn't matter how stubborn someone is. It physically affects the brain."

"Yes, but Anna-"

He waited, but she didn't finish her sentence. She didn't dare. The only thing she could say would involve Mara, and while knowing if a wraith could shield Anna from being controlled was important... She didn't know enough about this person, yet, to trust him with that kind of knowledge. Unless things became far more desperate...

"Let's just wait and see. She may well not even have come across Hans' "friend". Before anything else, I need to go announce the party's over."

He seemed wary, but agreed. Oddly, that made her feel slightly better about him. After all, he didn't know her, either, so instant trust on his part would have seemed suspicious to her. She could worry about him later, though.

Before anything else, she needed to know Anna was okay.

"Where is she?" Anna grumbled as she slipped back out of the ballroom. She'd first thoroughly searched there, where Elsa was supposed to be. A subtle inquiry told her that Elsa had evidently gone off to her office-

Study.

-whatever. Her study, then. She'd gone to her study for a private meeting with the Bishop. That sounded promising to Anna, since she was sure the demon wouldn't have even tried going after Bishop Peder. Mara wasn't so convinced of that, but agreed that gaining influence over him wouldn't have affected the government of Arendelle in any way, which seemed to be the goal with the others. Upon checking her study, she'd found that if Elsa had been there, she wasn't anymore. A passing maid told her that she'd seen the Queen heading toward the ballroom. Anna had thanked her politely and turned back the way she'd come. It was fairly late, she supposed. Elsa was probably letting everyone know the party was over, and closing the gates. She'd probably been aching to do so for hours.

For once, Anna agreed with the sentiment completely.

Granted, the Captain of the Guard being (however subtly) mind controlled meant that Hans could probably come and go at will, he'd have to at least leave for the night along with everyone else. He'd be back in the morning, expecting to take her out on the town, but that would give her plenty of time to talk to Elsa and figure out what to do.

Or it would, if she could actually find her sister, who had vanished almost immediately after making her announcement. Supposedly, she was heading back to her study.

So, Anna would try again. If Elsa wasn't there again...

Well, she was going to start getting upset.

Royally upset, even?

"Oh, very funny," she muttered, ignoring the palace staff going about the cleanup process as best she could.

It'll be okay, Mara told her. They don't know that we know, which means we have the advantage of surprise on our side.

"We still need a plan, though." There was no one in this corridor, so she felt safe enough speaking to Mara aloud.

Your sister could probably kill the demon with her magic, if she tried. After that, Hans can just be refused entry and sent home.

The hard part there, of course, would be getting Elsa, who'd lived in fear of hurting anyone with her powers for so long, to deliberately use them offensively. It would probably be easier to kill the thing with a bow and arrow that she had no idea how to use, because Mara had refused to let her learn.

You were six, Anna. The bow was too big for you to even hold.

Details, details...

And if she's still meeting with the Bishop?

Well... That would make things harder, as she didn't know how to explain knowing what she did without being able to say that Mara had told her. And she knew that the Church would just lump Mara in with the other supernatural creatures as 'evil'.

With reason, if they know anything about me at all.

"Knew," Anna corrected. "They might have known things about you, but I know you now." They were linked on a deep, fundamental level, after all. She could tell that, if Mara had been in any way evil before, she wasn't now.

Irritable and violent, sometimes, but not evil.

Thank you, Anna. That... You don't know what your support means to me.

Well, she had an idea. Deep connection, and all.

Heh.

Now, then. She was almost to Elsa's study, so she needed to figure out how to broach the subject of Hans carefully. Her sister could still be a bit... twitchy... when it came to supernatural events, her own trauma coloring her view of them. Or that was how it seemed to Anna, anyway. She didn't want to start a fight, especially when they needed to focus on Hans and his demonic friend. Or friends. Where there was one, there could always be more. According to Mara, even minor demons could have minions.

As it turned out, Elsa was still meeting with the Bishop. However, there was another man there that Anna didn't recognize.

Elsa looked up as she entered, an oddly relieved expression on her face. "Anna! Thank goodness."

Okay, she could do this. She could SO do this. "Elsa," she began slowly.

"We need to talk about Prince Hans," they said together. Both sisters blinked in surprise. "He's consorting with demons," they chorused. More confusion. "How do you know that?"

"Your Majesty," Bishop Peder interrupted. "Princess Anna."

"W- I heard him," Anna said, before Elsa could speak again. She went on to - again - describe the conversation she'd overheard, and listed off the people she'd tried to warn. "Every one kept telling me the exact same thing, word for word," she finished.

"We are doing something," Elsa assured her, though she looked troubled at the list of officials that had been affected. She was standing next to her desk, while Anna was in the middle of the room. Bishop Peder and the as-yet-unidentified man were standing off to the side, and the stranger's presence was making Mara uneasy. Anna felt much the same. "Right now, I'm more worried about you."

"I got out of there before he - it - even knew I was there," Anna said. "Now, I've been patient, but who is that?" She pointed at the unknown man.

"I apologize for my lapse in manners, Your Highness," he said, bowing. He had a nice voice, she'd give him that. "My name is Carlos Araya, with the Order of Saint George."

She felt Mara flinch inside her, and took a step away from him by pure reflex.

"Anna?" Elsa asked, concerned.

This wasn't going to help convince them that she hadn't been mind whammied, she knew. She sent Mara a silent inquiry.

The Order of Saint George are, basically, monster hunters. Protecting humanity from the forces of darkness. Which is fine... unless you happen to be one of those forces. They'll see what I am, and not care about if I've changed or not. Which... I suppose I can understand. Pretty much any other wraith they encountered would need to be killed.

"I don't remember seeing your name on the guest list," Anna said finally.

"At the moment, he's here as my guest," Elsa said before he could reply. "I think you can see why."

"I hope so," she said softly.

"You understand, Princess, that the amount of time you spent alone with Prince Hans is concerning," Carlos said, apologetic but resolute. It was an interesting combination she wasn't sure she could have pulled off. "It's possible that his ally could have influenced you without your knowledge."

"No, it isn't," she said without thinking. A frantic whisper from Mara made her add, "I would have noticed being touched by anyone else, believe me. Unless you're saying it could let Hans use its power, somehow...?" She'd wondered about that earlier, but Mara was certain it would have never shared its power like that. This arrangement kept Hans far more reliant upon it.

"No. It wouldn't want to do that, even if it could," he unknowingly agreed. "But whatever it's after here in Arendelle, it's bigger than just helping Hans secure the throne. If that was all it wanted, it would have been far easier to arrange an 'accident' for a monarch somewhat closer to home. Instead, they came all the way here. And evidently not for the first time."

"Huh?"

"He overheard the demon interrogating one of the maids," Elsa said, giving her a warning look. "The name 'Mara' came up."

Um... Uh-oh. "Mara?" she echoed faintly. "Well... That brings back memories."

"That's what troubles me, Your Highness."

Definite uh-oh. "It does?"

"As I understand it, there's a wraith in this part of the world by that name."

"Of course, there are also people named that," Elsa added. Anna appreciated that, but didn't like the conflicted look on her face.

"Very true," Carlos agreed. "Wraiths also cause nightmares... or worse. In any event, I have something for you, Your Highness." He pulled a necklace out of one of his pockets, with an amulet of some kind on it.

She could sense Mara trying to recoil from it, leaving her feeling off-balance. "Pretty sure Papa would have quite a bit to say about me accepting jewelry from strange men," she said, making no move to take it from him.

Elsa chuckled faintly, apparently unable to help it. "Maybe so, but this one will help us make sure Hans' friends - or fiends, as the case may be - didn't get to you."

What was she doing? Elsa knew full well why that wouldn't have been able to happen. "I already told you that they didn't."

"And if there were one of them that could do it without touching you?" Elsa shot back. "How would you know?" She gave her a level stare.

Or, in other words, you can take the amulet, or you can explain why you're so sure, and have them force the amulet on you.

Anna grimaced, but didn't see any alternative. She accepted the necklace from Carlos, feeling a vague tingling in her fingers when she turned over the amulet to look at it. "Who is this?" she asked, looking at the engraved image on one side of it.

Stalling? Maybe. But she was also curious.

"Saint Benedict of Norcia."

Then the letters on the other side would be the Vade retro satana. Anticipating Anna's next question, Mara continued, It translates as "Go back, Satan" or "Step back, Satan". It's a Medieval Catholic formula for exorcism, recorded in a 1415 manuscript found in the Benedictine Metten Abbey in Bavaria and its origin is traditionally associated with the Benedictines. Last I knew, the formula was being used to repel any possible evil thing or happening, as a "spoken sacramental".

"So, I put this on, and... then what? You'll finally believe me? I've never lied to you, Elsa."

"I know. But... You might not have seen what you thought you saw."

"Excuse me?" she asked sharply, eyes narrowing.

"One of them - a spirit or wraith or some such thing - might have made you see something that wasn't really there," Elsa said carefully, more because of concern about Anna's temper than their visitors overhearing. "It's happened before, as I understand it."

Oh, she was not suggesting...

Anna? Calm down.

That sounded familiar.

Not wanting to trigger another random thunder crash - they'd never see Mara as friendly or harmless then - she took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I can't believe you just said that to me," she said softly. Unable to find any reason to keep stalling, she slipped the necklace over her head.

It felt like she'd had a crushing weight dropped onto her shoulders.

She staggered back, clutching onto the nearby chair to keep from collapsing completely. She was having trouble breathing, her heartbeat was thudding in her ears so rapidly it was almost one constant single sound, she felt freezing cold and burning hot by turns, and worst of all...

She couldn't hear Mara.

"What... What..." she gasped out. What was this? What was happening to her?

"Anna!" Elsa was crouching next to her in a flash. (She had no idea when her grip on the chair had failed and she'd fallen to her knees.) "What is that thing doing? Get it off her!"

Anna heartily agreed with that sentiment. She just couldn't get the words out.

"It's not doing anything to her," Carlos said, crouching down next to Elsa and catching her hand when she tried to reach up to snatch the amulet off of Anna. "It can't. For a reaction like this... Even mind control wouldn't explain it. There would have to be a separate entity present. Bishop Peder, what would you require to perform an exorcism?"

"No," Anna choked out before anyone else could come up with a reply to that statement.

"Anna, look at what's happening!" Elsa pleaded. "I know you think she's your friend, but this proves she doesn't have your best interests at heart."

"Elsa..." There was an amazing amount of hurt squeezed into that one word. How could she...? She'd promised-

Well, okay, no. She hadn't ever promised not to say anything about Mara. In fact, she was usually the one trying to get Anna to keep quiet about her. Even so... "It's... a necklace," she forced out with effort, ignoring the pain on Elsa's face. It was her own fault. "It can't tell... someone's heart..."

"It's a Saint Benedict Medal. It probably can tell intent. This may be our only chance to get her out of you. I'd be more comfortable with her if she wasn't hiding inside you the way she is."

"Mara, I take it?" Carlos asked.

Elsa hesitated, then admitted, "Yes." Anna's reaction to the medal had already blown any hope of secrecy out of the water, so there was little point in denying it.

There was more conversation going on, but Anna stopped listening. All she focused on - all she cared about - was stopping the blasted amulet - or medal, or whatever they wanted to call it - from hurting Mara. She tried to pull it off, but even touching it hurt. Okay, then, they'd do it the hard way. As far back as she could remember with any clarity, Mara had always been there. She knew what the connection between them felt like, and she knew it was still there. She didn't think she'd be feeling like she was having a heart attack (she presumed, anyway) if it wasn't. Focusing inward, she reached along it, gradually becoming aware of Mara doing the same.

Elsa, still at her sister's side, became aware something was amiss when wisps of smoke began drifting up from the medal. "Anna?" The smoke became more obvious, and the medal began glowing with a dull heat. "Anna, what's-?

There was a burst of light and sound, sparks and tiny chunks of metal flying from the amulet, and Anna was finally able to take a deep breath, pulse steadying.

As happy as Elsa was about that, her heart sank when she realized what else it meant.

"What- That's impossible!" Carlos objected. "No wraith can do something like that!"

"Not alone, maybe," she realized, looking at her sister. Anna still had her eyes closed, and was probably reassuring herself that Mara was okay... but she did not seem in any way happy.

Slowly, deliberately, Anna pushed herself to her feet, pointedly taking a step away from Elsa. When she opened her eyes, the pain and rage there made Elsa take a step back of her own. "How could you?" she asked angrily. "You know - you know! - that she's my best friend, that she was the only thing that held me together all those years while you shut me out. She's proven over and over that she has my best interests at heart. She insisted we warn you about Hans and his allies, even knowing how bad it would make her look - and believe me, if she were making me see or hear things that weren't real? She'd be casting herself in a better light." She shook her head. "But none of that matters to you, does it? God forbid the freaking Snow Queen be wrong about something!"

Elsa winced, not even caring that Anna had let her own secret slip. Bishop Peder had already known, and Carlos had been aware she had magic, if not any specifics. "Anna, I'm trying to help you!"

"Maybe I don't want your help." The hairs on the back of Elsa's neck began standing up, and there was a faint ozone scent in the air. She remembered all too well what had happened the last time she and Anna had argued, and knew that this time, Mara wouldn't be likely to restrain herself to a mere thunderclap to get their attention.

Her skin prickled, and she knew there was no more time to talk. "Get down!" she yelled, throwing out her hand and covering the far wall and window in a thick sheet of ice.

Ice that promptly exploded as a lightning bolt as thick as a ship's mast slammed into the palace, blowing in her study wall in a hail of ice fragments, glass shards, and stone debris.

When the crack of thunder finally faded away, Elsa looked up, shocked, taking in the devastation. More importantly, though, was the fact that her study door was hanging wide open, and Anna was gone.