The demo for Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory was released yesterday, and I played it this morning. It's fun and challenging. I had difficulty working with multiple buttons (particularly the three-hitter notes), so I switched to the single-button style after playing the first two songs. And at the same time, I finished my first playthrough of Final Fantasy Type-0 yesterday. It was fun, though the story became a tad confusing at the end due to the shift from the more simplistic war story to the grander lore dump in the final level, and it was kind of annoying how some bosses were designed so that you could not beat them the first time around (particularly in a game that grades you for how many casualties you suffer in each mission).

Anyway, on with the chapter. Please let me know what you think in a review/comment.

Chapter 130

Olaf the Snowman

Kristoff snapped the reins, and Sven carried the sleigh along a narrow cliff at a rapid pace. "Hang on! We like to go fast," Kristoff teased, trying to scare Anna. Kairi shot him a glare, not amused by the fact that he was driving so fast on the edge of a cliff with three of the passengers tied onto the back of the sleigh. They soon turned further away from the cliff and into the woods.

However, Anna was not bothered. "I like fast," she declared with excitement. She leaned back and put her feet up on the front.

Kristoff saw what she was doing and immediately pushed her feet back down. "Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa! Get your feet down," he protested. "This is fresh lacquer. Seriously, were you raised in a barn?" He spat on the spot where her boots had been propped, then rubbed at it with his glove, not noticing that some of his saliva bounced off and hit Anna in the face.

Grossed out, Anna rubbed at her face to get the spit out. "No. I was raised in a castle," she replied.

"So, tell me, what made the queen go all ice-crazy?" Kristoff asked.

Anna sighed. "Oh, well, it was all my fault," she said regretfully. "I got engaged but then she freaked out because I'd only just met him, you know, that day. And she said she wouldn't bless the marriage—"

Kristoff did a double take. "Wait," he interrupted. "You got engaged to someone you just met that day?" Sora raised an eyebrow curiously as well.

"Yeah," Anna replied, not seeming to think that it was a big deal at all. "Anyway, I got mad and so she got mad and then she tried to walk away, and I grabbed her glove—"

"Hang on!" Kristoff interrupted again, utterly incredulous. "You mean to tell me that you got engaged to someone you just met that day?"

"Yes. Pay attention. But the thing is she wore the gloves all the time, so I just thought, maybe she has a thing about dirt," Anna continued.

"I'm kinda with him on this one," Sora interjected. Kairi nodded in assent.

"Didn't your parents ever warn you about strangers?" Kristoff asked.

Anna looked Kristoff up and down, then scooted a bit further away. "Yes they did… But Hans is not a stranger," she insisted.

"Oh yeah? What's his last name?" Kristoff challenged.

Anna scoffed. "'Of-the-Southern-Isles'," she answered confidently. Sora, Kairi and Goofy could not help but giggle.

"What's his favorite food?"

"Sandwiches."

"Best friend's name?"

"Probably John." Sora and Kairi rolled their eyes at that, knowing that she was utterly grasping at straws there.

"Eye color?"

"Dreamy," Anna added dreamily.

"Foot size?"

"Foot size doesn't matter!" Anna argued. Sora looked down sheepishly. Kairi and Goofy giggled.

"Have you even had a meal with him yet? What if you hate the way he eats?" Kristoff asked. "What if you hate the way he picks his nose?"

"Picks his nose?" Anna parroted, disgusted.

"And eats it," Kristoff added smugly.

"Excuse me, sir. He is a prince."

"All men do it," Kristoff insisted. Kairi gave Sora a playfully-accusing glare. Sora waved his hands up defensively, all while Goofy laughed.

"Ew. Look, it doesn't matter! It's true love!" Anna insisted.

"Doesn't sound like true love," Kristoff argued.

"This is just my opinion," Kairi interjected, "but I think you should get to know someone a little better before you think about even dating him."

"Yeah. You can make a friend in a minute, but it can take a long time and a lot of experience before you know that someone is the person you want to spend your life with," Sora added. Kairi smiled at him, and he smiled back.

"See? They get it," Kristoff said.

"What, are you some kind of love expert?" Anna snarked.

"Uh, no," Kristoff said sheepishly. "But I have friends who are."

"You have friends who are love experts? I'm not buying it."

Sven suddenly stopped upon hearing a noise. His ears perked up in alarm.

"Stop talking," Kristoff advised.

"No, no, no. I'd like to meet these—"

Kristoff covered Anna's mouth with his hand, cutting her off. "I mean it." Anna pulled his hand away and opened her mouth to protest, but Sora quickly shushed her, recognizing that something was wrong. Anna quieted down, catching on to their concern. Kristoff took the lantern and looked around, although he could not see very far through the dark woods. Sora, Goofy and Kairi looked around as well. Glancing behind them, Goofy squinted as something caught his eye. Kristoff swept the lantern around, and its light reflected off of several pairs of eyes. Goofy rapped his knuckles against the seat to get Kristoff's attention and pointed toward the eyes. Some low growls revealed that the eyes belonged to a pack of hungry wolves.

Kristoff's eyes went wide. "Sven, go!" he called out to his reindeer. Recognizing the danger, Sven broke into a run without hesitation. The sudden movement shook the sleigh.

"What are they?" Anna asked once she regained her bearings.

"Wolves," Kristoff answered.

"Wolves?!" Anna gasped. The party could see that white-furred wolves were chasing after them. Sora, Kairi and Goofy summoned their weapons. "What do we do?"

Kristoff reached into the back and grabbed a torch, then lit it with the lantern. "I got this. Just don't fall off, and don't get eaten."

"But I want to help!" Anna reached back to find something to use, but Kristoff pulled her back. In the meantime, a wolf caught up to them, but Sora swatted it away. Kairi blasted another one with a Blizzard spell.

"No," Kristoff asserted.

"Why not?" Anna asked, frustrated.

"Because I don't trust your judgment," he said bluntly.

"Excuse me?"

A wolf lunged at them from the side, but Kristoff kicked it away. "Who marries a man she just met?!"

Anna grabbed Kristoff's lute and held it over her shoulder, preparing to swing it like a baseball bat. "It's true love!"

As she swung it, Kristoff screamed and leaned back out of the way, but she hit a wolf that had leapt over the others in the back, sending it tumbling out into the snow. Kairi aimed a Blizzard spell, freezing the ground in front of another wolf and causing it to slide and trip over its fallen brother. After processing the incident, Kristoff stared at Anna in amazement. "Whoa." While he was distracted, however, a wolf bit onto his sleeve and pulled him off, losing its grip as he fell off and they tumbled.

"Christopher!" Anna called as she caught the torch that her escort dropped.

Kristoff grabbed onto a trailing rope and used it to stay connected to the sleigh. "It's Kristoff!" he corrected, annoyed. Two wolves bit him, causing him to yelp in pain. Sven looked back with concern, then picked up his pace. Sora would have acted in his defense, but he was preoccupied with another wolf that had lunged at Goofy and which the knight pushed over to him with a shield, while Kairi used her magic to pick off predators out in the distance on either side.

Thinking quickly, Anna lowered the torch to the sleeping bag directly behind the seat and set it aflame. Hoisting it over her head, she shouted "Duck!" and threw it. Sora, Kairi and Goofy obliged, while Kristoff lowered his head as much as he could, unable to do much as he was being dragged at a rapid speed. The burning bag barely passed over him and hit the wolves, causing them to fall back.

Freed from the canines' assault, Kristoff pulled himself up the rope to the sleigh. "You almost set me on fire!" he complained.

"But I didn't," Anna remarked. Sora and Goofy helped him climb back into the sleigh.

As Kristoff climbed back into the seat, the whole party, Sven included, saw that they were about to come up to a ravine, with the opposite cliff being at a slightly higher elevation. It would certainly be the end of the chase, but they had bigger concerns than wolves now.

Anna and Kristoff looked back at the others, worried about them. "Don't worry about us," Sora assured them. "We need to figure out how to get you across."

Anna nodded and turned to face forward. "Get ready to jump, Sven!" she told the reindeer.

"You don't tell him what to do!" Kristoff protested. He grabbed the bag of tools and carrots and shoved it into her arms, then scooped her up and threw her onto Sven's back. "I do! Jump, Sven!" He cut the reins with his knife, disconnecting Sven from the sleigh. As he approached the ledge, Sven leapt with all his strength, while the sleigh flew off of the cliff. Sven landed safely on the opposite cliff and scrambled further up. Sora and Kairi wrapped their arms around each other's backs. As the sleigh flew halfway across and was beginning to fall, Sora, Kairi, Goofy, and Kristoff jumped off. Sora, Kairi, and Goofy landed safely, though Goofy nearly lost his footing, but Kristoff barely managed to catch onto the snowy edge of the cliff. The wolves stopped at their cliff's edge and glared, snarling at their escaped prey.

Kristoff stared down into the ravine and watched the sleigh hit the bottom, then burst into flames. "But I just paid it off," he lamented. He felt himself slip through the snow, and he realized that he was going to fall. He scrambled to pull himself up, but he was having no luck.

Seeing his predicament, Anna pulled the pickaxe out of the bag, quickly tied Sven's cut rein to it, and threw it. The pointed end embedded itself in the snow in front of Kristoff. "Grab on!" she shouted down to him. Kristoff grabbed onto the rope, and Anna, Sora, Kairi, Goofy, and Sven pulled, dragging him up to safety. When he was on stable ground, Kristoff rolled over and laid in the snow, spent from the ordeal. The others ran over to check on him. Anna and Goofy looked down and saw the fate of the sleigh. "Whoa. I'll replace your sled and everything in it," Anna promised. Kristoff only groaned in response. "And I understand if you don't want to help me anymore." She walked off, resolving to climb the mountain and find her sister on her own. Sora, Kairi and Goofy walked with her, though it became clear that none of them knew which way they were supposed to go.

While Anna stumbled around, unable to pick a direction, and the others tried to find some clue to where Elsa had gone with no success, Kristoff discussed with Sven (while speaking for him in a low cartoon-like voice) whether or not to help Anna, before finally deciding that it was better to keep her (and the others who were clearly just as lost as her) from dying (and thus never being able to replace his sled). "Hold up! We're coming!" he announced.

"You are?" Anna perked up. She then cooled down and tried to project an aloof aura. "I mean, sure. I'll let you tag along." Kristoff smiled in amusement.

They trudged on for the next few hours, only stopping for more than a few minutes to hunt and gather food for breakfast. Whenever Heartless attacked, Sora, Kairi and Goofy fought them off and protected Anna, Kristoff and Sven, though Sven helped out by ramming into a Winterhorn with his own antlers, while Kristoff destroyed two Icy Cubes with his pickaxe when they got too close. After one such encounter, they started to pick up the pace when Anna glanced over the cliff, which looked out over the fjord. Her eyes set on Arendelle in the distance, and she gasped. "Arendelle…" she breathed. The castle and village were completely blanketed in white snow.

Her companions went over to see what had gotten her attention and gasped as well. "It's completely frozen!" Kristoff remarked.

"Gawrsh, it must be pretty cold down there," Goofy said.

"I hope King Mickey, Rapunzel, and Eugene are alright," Kairi added.

"But it'll be fine," Anna assured them. "Elsa will thaw it."

"Will she?" Kristoff asked, worried about what would happen if they failed.

"Yeah," Anna replied, although she did not sound very certain.

"Hey, you'll work it out with your sister," Sora assured her, not a doubt in his heart. "And they'll be fine down there."

Anna nodded. "You're right. Now come on. This way up the North Mountain?" She pointed along the path that they had been following.

Kristoff chuckled. "More like this way." He angled her arm upward, guiding everyone to look at a summit that rose high into the sky. Anna visibly deflated when she saw how far they had left to go.

Noticing her dismay, as well as Kairi's, Sora decided to encourage everyone. "Well, no time like the present," he said enthusiastically, patting Anna on the shoulder as he began marching.

Kairi and Goofy giggled. "Let's get a move on," Goofy hollered. Anna and Kristoff laughed softly as well. Soon, everyone was moving again.

They reached a grove of frozen willows, where icy beads dangled from the branches like Christmas decorations on strings. Straight ahead, there was a clearing with a spring, where both pool and waterfalls were frozen solid. Everyone marveled at the beauty of the scene. Kairi brushed her hand against a string of beads, causing it to make a tinkling sound. Excited, Sven shook a bunch of them with his antlers, causing them to rattle like wind chimes. He continued to play with them until they broke off and became wrapped around his antlers.

"I never knew winter could be so beautiful," Anna mused as they walked through the willows.

"Me neither," Sora agreed. Kristoff shot him a look of confusion. "I'm from an island," he explained. "And not an arctic iceberg kind of island; a tropical island. I've actually only seen snow a handful of times."

"Yeah, it really is beautiful, isn't it?" a soft voice piped in. Everyone looked around to discern where it was coming from. "But it's so white. You know, how about a little color? Must we bleach the joy out of it all? I'm thinking like maybe some crimson, chartreuse…" As they looked around, they did not notice a snowman walk up behind them. It came up to roughly half of Sora and Anna's height. Its torso was comprised of two packs of snow, the top one smaller than the other, which sat on two packs of snow that moved as if they were feet. It had three stone buttons on the front of its body parts, a pair of straight sticks with small extensions at the end that resembled four-fingered hands. It had a large, oddly-shaped snowball for a head, with a large mouth that contained a piece of snow that formed a large single upper-jaw tooth. Near the top of its head were a pair of cartoonish eyes that somehow did not look out of place on his form, with some dirt above them forming eyebrows. Three twigs stuck out of the top of its head, giving the appearance of hairs. "How 'bout yellow? No. Not yellow. Yellow and snow? Brrrr… No go!" The snowman chuckled as it walked until it was in the middle of the group, at which point everyone finally noticed him. Anna gasped, and everyone took a step back. "Am I right?" the snowman asked, unaware of the onlookers' shocked reaction.

Anna screamed and kicked the snowman, sending its head flying up into Kristoff's arms. "Hi!" the snowman greeted cheerfully.

"You're creepy," Kristoff remarked before tossing the head away. Kairi caught it, then let out a yelp and immediately threw it away.

"Is this some kind of Heartless?" Sora asked as he caught and discarded the head.

"I don't want it!" Anna tossed it to the next person.

"Wha-hoh!" Goofy tossed the head without thinking.

"Please don't drop me," the snowman requested.

As the game of hot potato with the snowman's head went on, the body wandered around, trying to find its head. Finally, Anna caught the head and noticed the body walking toward her. "Ew! The body!" she blurted before she threw the head at the body.

The snowman fell backward from the force. As it pushed itself back to its feet, the party could see that its head had reunited with the rest of its body, but it was upside-down. It smiled, glad to be back in one piece, then frowned as it squinted at the group in front of it in confusion. "Wait, what am I looking at?" it asked, as everything in front of it appeared to be upside-down. "Why are you hanging off the earth like a bat?"

Anna, feeling bad for putting the snowman in such a state, knelt in front of it and reached for its head. "Okay. Wait one second," she told it as she took its head and flipped it around, righting its position.

"Oh! Thank you," the snowman said, looking itself over.

"You're welcome," Anna replied.

"Now I'm perfect!" the snowman added.

Anna giggled. "Well, almost," she said, studying the snowman's features. She turned to reach into Kristoff's bag.

"You know, he doesn't seem like any kind of Heartless," Goofy mused.

"You're right," Sora agreed. "He's a walking, talking snowman. This is so weird, but cool." Kairi giggled.

Anna pulled a carrot out of the bag and shoved it into the snowman's face. Using far more force than she intended, the carrot pushed straight through its head, with the fat end sticking out of the back.

"Oh! Too hard! I'm sorry!" Anna apologized. Sora, Kairi, and Kristoff winced.

"Woo! Head rush!" the snowman remarked.

"I-I was just… Are you okay?" Anna asked.

"Are you kidding me? I am wonderful! I've always wanted a nose," the snowman replied. It went cross-eyed as he stared down at the small tip of the carrot that stuck out of the front of its face, cooing as it fiddled with it with its hands. "So cute. It's like a little baby unicorn." Sora, Kairi, and Goofy laughed. Anna reached behind the snowman and pushed the fat end of the carrot back through, giving it a large pointed nose. It took a moment to register what had happened, then examined its new nose. "Oh, I love it even more! All right. Let's start this thing over. Hi, everyone. I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs." Olaf spread its arms out to illustrate the point.

Anna blinked. The snowman's introduction caused something to click in her mind. A memory of her and Elsa playing in the snow as kids flashed before her. They built a snowman, one that looked almost exactly like the one talking to her. "I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs," Elsa had said, affecting her voice to pretend to be the snowman while waving its stick arms. "I love you, Olaf!" Anna had then shouted excitedly, tackling the snowman in a hug.

"Olaf?" She studied the snowman more closely, and she realized that, barring the carrot nose that she had added, he looked exactly like the snowman that she and Elsa had made all those years ago, and she started to piece together exactly where the snowman had come from. "That's right. Olaf!"

"And you are?" Olaf asked, gesturing with his still-stretched-out arms.

Anna blinked, returning to the present. "Oh, um, I'm Anna."

Olaf nodded. He turned to address the rest of the group. "And who might you be?" he asked.

"I'm Sora."

"I'm Kairi."

"And I'm Goofy. It's nice to meet you, Olaf."

"Oh, it is nice to meet you, too," Olaf replied. He turned to Kristoff and Sven, regarding them with curiosity. Kristoff did not pipe in, still weirded out by the fact that a living snowman was in front of them, while Sven seemed fixated on the carrot nose. "And who's the funky looking donkey over there?"

"That's Sven," Anna answered. Kristoff smirked at the reindeer's expense. Sora and Goofy chuckled.

"Uh-huh. And who's the reindeer?" Olaf asked. Everyone adopted confused expressions, identifying the miscommunication and unsure how to properly address it.

"Sven," Anna said. She looked at Kristoff and shrugged.

Olaf looked back and forth between Kristoff and Sven, slightly perplexed by the fact that they supposedly had the same name, before deciding to simply accept the alleged fact. "Oh, they're… Oh, okay. Makes things easier for me." Sven attempted to bite Olaf's nose, but the snowman jumped back just in time. "Ha. Aw, look at him tryin' to kiss my nose. I like you too," he gushed.

"Olaf, did Elsa build you?" Anna asked.

"Yeah. Why?" Olaf replied. Sora, Kairi, and Goofy looked at each other in amazement and disbelief. Elsa could create living beings? What kind of power did she possess?

"Do you know where she is?" Anna continued.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Do you think you could show us the way?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well, it's because we need Elsa to bring back summer," Goofy explained. Sora and Kairi grimaced, believing that a living snowman might not care much for the idea of a turn in the climate to summer warmth.

"Summer?" Olaf parroted. Anna grunted in affirmation. "Oh, I don't know why, but I've always loved the idea of summer—" Sora, Kairi, Anna, and Kristoff looked at each other in confusion "—and sun, and all things hot."

"Uh, really?" Kairi interjected awkwardly. "I'm guessing you don't have much experience with, ahem, heat."

"Nope," the snowman admitted. "But sometimes I like to close my eyes and imagine what it'd be like when summer does come. Imagine doing what snow would do in summer. Oh, my solid water particles tingle with excitement at the thought!"

Anna and Kristoff smiled as they watched him muse, their hearts warmed by his innocence. "I'm gonna tell him," Kristoff said.

Anna slapped him lightly on the arm. "Don't you dare!" she chastised.

Sora looked at Kairi and shrugged, then turned back to Olaf. "Okay… So, will you take us to Elsa?" he asked.

Olaf nodded. "Yup! Well, no time to waste!" He hopped and began to march up the mountain, leading the way. However, he stopped and jumped in surprise when he saw some Winterhorns, Blue Rhapsodies, and a Large Body appear out of thin air. After taking a moment to get over his shock, he began to coo at the dark creatures. "Aw, more friends? Hi. I'm Olaf, and—"

Sora, Kairi and Goofy summoned their weapons and stepped in between Olaf and the monsters. "They're not friends!" Sora corrected.

"They're the Heartless!" Goofy explained.

"Olaf, stay out of danger," Kairi advised.

"We don't want you falling apart on us," Sora concurred.

Olaf regarded the creatures again, which he now realized looked somewhat scary. "Okay, yeah. I don't want to fall apart either." He ran back to hide behind Sven.

Sora, Kairi and Goofy fought the Heartless. While they were engaged, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven huddled together, Kristoff brandishing his pickaxe, ready to protect his friends from any Heartless that snuck past the Keyblade wielders and the knight to attack them. After defeating the monsters, Sora, Kairi and Goofy rejoined the others and made sure everyone was okay.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, come on! Elsa's this way! Let's go bring back summer!" Olaf cheered. He grabbed Anna and Sora's hands and pulled them along as he led the group up the mountain. Kairi and Goofy laughed as they followed along. Sven happily bounded after them.

Kristoff hung back, watching them run off happily while he wondered why no one seemed concerned with what would happen when summer returned. "Someone's gotta tell him," he told himself somberly.

They continued on. While in an area where windswept icicles pointed horizontally, forcing them to maneuver around carefully, a group of Heartless appeared, but they managed to use their deadly surroundings to their advantage in fighting the Heartless by impaling them onto the spikes. After trekking further, they came up to a sheer cliff, where Kristoff said there were no other branching paths that would lead them further up. Anna attempted to free climb her way to the summit, but she could barely get herself five feet up. Meanwhile, Sora and Kairi were skeptical that Elsa would be able to scale the cliff any better than Anna. It was then that Olaf and Goofy found a cavern passage that led to a corner of the mountain with an ice staircase, which must have been created by Elsa. Goofy also noticed that there was evidence of a campfire in the area, indicating that there were others nearby, whom Sora and Kairi quickly determined to be Riku, Aqua and Donald. Anna gleefully abandoned her futile efforts and rejoined her friends. As they approached the ice bridge, they looked up to see what lay beyond it, and they found themselves staring in awe at the majestic castle.

"Whoa! Did Elsa do this?" Sora asked.

"It's amazing," Kairi said.

"Now that is ice," Kristoff remarked. "I might cry."

"Go ahead. I won't judge," Anna replied.

She began to cross the ice bridge, followed by Olaf. Sven attempted to climb, but his hooves started to slip on the ice. Kristoff went to his aid and helped him back down onto the snow. Kairi saw three figures standing on the balcony, staring out into the distance, and waved up to them. Following her gaze, Sora pulled his hood and balaclava down so that they could recognize him as he waved as well. Aqua looked down to check out the movement in her lower peripheral and smiled as she recognized her friends. She tapped Riku and Donald on the shoulders and pointed down, alerting them to the new arrivals. She and Riku jumped over the railing and landed in front of their friends, while Donald climbed over and dropped off, landing ungracefully in the snow.

"Whoa!" Kristoff gasped when he noticed the landing. Anna and Olaf turned around in reaction and saw the strangers as well. "Who are these guys?"

"These are our friends: Riku, Aqua, and Donald," Sora said, introducing them. "Guys, this is Anna, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf."

Riku raised an eyebrow as he looked up at Anna. "Anna? You're Elsa's sister, right?"

Anna blinked in surprise. "You know my sister?" she asked.

Riku nodded. "She told us about you, how you were really close as kids," he explained. "She loves you a lot, but she's afraid she might hurt you."

Anna processed his words, then smiled. "Thanks. I'm gonna go talk to her, and let her know there's nothing for her to be afraid of."

Donald found himself transfixed on Olaf, staring at him in disbelief. "Uh… What is that?" he asked.

"Hm?" Sora turned to see what had gotten his attention. "Oh, that's Olaf. He's a walking, talking snowman."

Riku tilted his head quizzically upon hearing that. "A… talking snowman?" Riku parroted, apparently unable to quite believe it himself. Sensing that people were talking about him, Olaf turned and waved.

"Elsa made him and brought him to life, I think," Kairi confirmed.

Donald's jaw dropped. Aqua gasped and stared at Olaf in wonder. "Brought him… to life?" she parroted.

"That is definitely not the kind of magic I'm familiar with," Donald remarked.

In the meantime, Anna climbed the stairs up to the ice castle's front doors. She raised her fist up to rap on the door, hesitated for a moment, then knocked. Each rap echoed through the building, before the doors opened inward all on their own. "Ha. It opened. That's a first," she remarked. As she stepped inside, a thought came to her, and she turned to Kristoff, who was starting to follow after her. "Oh, you might want to wait out here."

"What?" Kristoff blurted.

"The last time I introduced her to a guy, she froze everything."

"But-But it's a palace made of ice!" Kristoff protested. "Ice is my life!"

"Bye, Sven," Olaf said, waving as he started to follow Anna, but she stooped down to grab him by the hand.

"You too, Olaf," she said, feeling bad for keeping him from joining her.

"Me?"

"Just give us a minute." She stood up and turned to face the castle's foyer, but hesitated and turned to her friends for emotional support.

"Good luck," Sora said.

"You've got this!" Kairi assured her.

Anna smiled, appreciating their words, and stepped into the castle, although she was still very nervous.

As the doors closed behind her, Olaf sat down on the stairs next to Kristoff and began counting by the seconds. In the snow, Sora, Kairi, Goofy, Riku, Aqua, and Donald began to engage in conversation.

"I thought you said his name was Kristoff," Riku said, confused by Olaf's misnaming of the ice harvester.

"It's… strange," Sora replied, unsure how to explain the miscommunication when he was not even sure how to explain it to Olaf.

Riku shrugged, deciding to let the matter go. He looked his friends up and down. "Nice clothes," he complimented.

Kairi grinned. "Thanks. I got this at the trading post at the bottom of the mountain," she said. "But those are the clothes Sora was already wearing." She pointed her thumb at Sora.

Riku took a step back. "What?! Your clothes just changed to fit the cold?" He rubbed his bare arms, somewhat uncomfortable from the cold. Sora simply shrugged.

"So, how are things down in Arendelle?" Aqua asked. Sora, Kairi and Goofy took on somber expressions, and Aqua quickly realized that something was wrong. "What?"

"Arendelle is completely frozen," Kairi answered. Riku and Aqua gasped upon hearing this. "It wasn't just the fjord that iced over; the whole area is caught in a snowstorm."

"That's awful," Aqua said sympathetically.

"Oh. That reminds me," Sora said. Before anyone could ask what he meant, he slapped Donald upside the head.

"Ow! What was that for?" the duck asked.

"That 'order' you keep telling me to keep is a load of crock!" Sora all but shouted. "There are people down there visiting from different worlds! People have been traveling between worlds for a long time!"

"What?!" Donald blurted. He had absolutely no idea that was the case.

"Rapunzel and Eugene are even down there with King Mickey," Kairi added, addressing the situation with less vitriol than Sora.

Riku chuckled. "Well, it's a good thing you always ignored that 'order'," he joked. They all started laughing, except for Donald, who was still processing the revelation.

As Anna entered the ice castle's foyer, she looked around in awe, marveling at the architecture. A few steps in, she slipped and nearly lost her footing, but steadied herself. "Else?" she called out. "It's me, Anna."

"Anna?" The princess looked up and saw her sister step out from behind a corner at the top of the stairs. Anna stared in awe, seeing how beautiful Elsa looked in her new dress and hairstyle. She practically glowed in the refracted light.

"Whoa… Elsa, you look… different," Anna said. "It's a good 'different'. And this place, it's amazing."

"Thank you. I never knew what I was capable of," Elsa replied.

Anna began climbing the stairs to approach her sister. "I'm so sorry about what happened. If I'd known—"

"No, it's okay. You don't have to apologize," Elsa said, backing up nervously. "But, you should probably go. Please."

"But I just got here."

"You belong down in Arendelle."

"So do you."

"No, Anna. I belong here. Alone," Elsa said resignedly. "Where I can be who I am… without hurting anybody."

It was then that Anna realized that Elsa had no idea what was happening outside of her bubble. "Actually, about that…" she began to say.

However, before she could address the point, they heard a cheerful voice pipe up "58… 59… 60!"

"Wait, what is that?" Elsa asked.

Having waited exactly one minute while Anna went in to talk to Elsa alone, Olaf happily skipped into the castle. "Hi! I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs," he announced.

Elsa squinted as she peered down at the snowman, making the connection. Even as she processed it, she could not believe what she was seeing. "Olaf?"

Olaf stopped next to Anna. "You made me. You remember that?" he said bashfully.

"And you're alive?" Elsa asked, astonished that something that she had created on a whim was walking about, wondering how it was possible.

Olaf looked down at himself and waved his arms. "Um, I think so…?"

Elsa looked at her hands in awe. Am I really capable of that? she wondered.

"He's just like the one we built as kids," Anna said nostalgically, kneeling down next to Olaf.

Elsa smiled, remembering happier times. "Yeah," she agreed.

"Elsa, we were so close. We can be like that again," Anna suggested.

Elsa's smile faded as a horrible memory flashed in her mind. She used her magic to create snow mounds which Anna hopped across. As her sister went faster, she struggled to keep up with conjuring the mounds. She slipped and accidentally shot an ice blast that hit Anna in the head. Anna fell unconscious and rolled down a pile of snow. Elsa ran to her side, pleading for her to wake up. A lock of her strawberry blonde hair turned a frozen white.

Returning to the present, she shook her head and took a step back crossing her arms across her stomach. "No, we can't." She turned to walk away. "Good-bye, Anna."

"Elsa, wait!" Anna pleaded.

"No, I'm just trying to protect you," Elsa called back.

"You don't have to protect me. I'm not afraid," Anna assured her. She followed Elsa up the stairs. Elsa continued to flee, running up the next flight of stairs.

Anna: Please don't shut me out again. Please don't slam the door. You don't have to keep your distance anymore. 'Cause for the first time in forever, I finally understand. For the first time in forever, we can fix this hand in hand. We can head down this mountain together. You don't have to live in feeeear. 'Cause for the first time in forever, I will be right here.

[They are both on the second floor landing now, and Elsa could not flee any further.]

Elsa: Anna, please, go back home. Your life awaits. Go enjoy the sun and open up the gates.

Anna: Yeah, but—

Elsa: I know! You mean well. But leave me be. [She steps out onto the balcony, and Anna follows her] Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free. Just stay away, and you'll be safe from me.

[She recoils at Anna's proximity and reenters the room. Anna elects to address the urgent problem of which her sister seems to be unaware.]

Anna: Actually, we're not.

Elsa: [turns around, confused and concerned] What do you mean, you're not?

Anna: I get the feeling you don't know…

Elsa: What do I not know?

Anna: Arendelle's in deep, deep, deep… deep… snow…

[Elsa's eyes widen in horror.]

While he waited for Anna, and after Olaf had gone in after her, Kristoff went back down the stairs to rejoin Sora and the others. He smirked and rolled his eyes as he saw that Sven had his tongue stuck to the bridge's icy railing. "So, you really think she can get Elsa to unfreeze Arendelle?" he asked when he reached the group.

"Aw, I'm sure Anna will get through to her," Goofy said. "After all, she's a lot like Sora."

Sora blinked in surprise. "You think so?" he asked.

Kairi nodded. "I saw it, too," she agreed. "She's fearless, quick to make friends with anyone, and she cares a lot about her friends and family." She giggled playfully. "She also jumps into trouble without thinking," she teased.

Sora took on an expression of mock offense. "I do think! While I'm jumping in!" They all laughed.

"Then I guess she's the right person for the job," Riku said. "Elsa kind of reminds me of myself."

"It's a good thing you guys were up here with her," Sora said. "Alone is the last thing she should be."

"I hope she can get her magic figured out so she can unfreeze Arendelle," Donald mused, worried for King Mickey and everyone else down in town.

"I'm sure they'll work it out. Do you hear that? They're singing," Kairi noted.

They chuckled as they listened to the sisters as their voices echoed out of the now-open balcony door. After a moment, however, Goofy looked up and pointed at the balcony in surprise. "Lookie there!" he announced. Everyone turned to see what he was pointing at and gasped at what they saw. Snow was whirling around in strong winds, leaking out of the door for them to see the storm brewing inside.

"That can't be good," Aqua said, concerned for Anna and Elsa.

"What?" Elsa gasped upon hearing what was happening in Arendelle.

"You kinda set off an eternal winter… everywhere," Anna explained.

"E-Everywhere?" Elsa was horrified at what she had done. So many lives were in danger because of her, and she did not even have any idea that it was happening. In her fear and despair, snow began falling around her.

"But that's okay. You can just unfreeze it," Anna assured her.

"No I can't! I-I don't know how!" Snow began swirling around her.

Anna: [oblivious to the forming blizzard] Sure, you can! I know you can! 'Cause for the first time in forever…

Elsa: Ohhh… I'm such a fool! I can't be free!

Anna: You don't have to be afraid!

Elsa: No escape from the storm inside of me!

Anna: We can work this out together.

Elsa: I can't control the curse!

Anna: [notices that Elsa is having an emotional breakdown and that a snowstorm was forming around both of them] We'll reverse this storm you made!

Elsa: Anna, please! You'll only make it worse!

Anna: Don't panic!

Elsa: There's so much fear!

Anna: Let the sun shine bright!

Elsa: You're not safe here!

Anna: We can face this thing together! We can change this winter weather! And everything will be—

Elsa: [at the same time, drowning Anna out as the storm intensifies] No! IIIIII CAAAAAAAAAAAAN'T!

The snow was absorbed back into Elsa, and as she released everything in a burst of panic and frustration, ice magic was shot out of her in a radial blast. One bolt hit Anna in the chest, causing her to keel over in pain. Elsa took a few deep breaths to calm down. She turned around to apologize, and saw Anna kneeling on the floor. She gasped, realizing that she had just hurt her sister again.

"Anna!" Kristoff called up. He, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aqua, Donald, Goofy, and Olaf came running in, having entered the castle to check on the sisters after noticing the snowstorm and running up frantically when they felt the final blast reverberate through the air. Coming onto the scene, they rushed to Anna's side. "Are you okay?" Kristoff asked, concerned.

Anna grunted. "I'm okay. I'm fine," she replied. She stood up tall, trying to hide the pain.

Sora fished through his pocket and pulled out a Potion. "Here. Drink this," he said, handing the healing beverage to her, which she took and drank down.

Riku looked between Anna and the scared and visibly ashamed Elsa. "Are you guys alright?" he asked.

By this point, Elsa had lost her composure. Dark shadows began to creep through the icy walls, darkening the room in conjunction with Elsa's growing panic. "You… You have to go," she insisted.

"No! I know we can figure this out, together—" Anna pleaded.

"How?" Elsa shot back. "What power do you have to stop this winter? To stop me?"

Riku shivered, feeling a dark aura emanating from Elsa. The aura was not of the fiery kind that he had felt from many of his enemies, but rather it was cold. Frigid. It was as he had suspected: her fear was tainting her magic. She truly believed herself to be a threat to all around her, particularly to her dear sister.

Kristoff took notice of the shadows creeping through the ice and put an arm around Anna protectively. "Anna, I think we should go," he advised.

"No! I'm not leaving you!" Anna argued.

"Yes, you are." Elsa shot a spell at the ground, causing a cloud of mist to form. Large clumps of snow grew out of the cloud, forming a bulky figure whose limbs were joined by chunks of ice. Rounded icicles formed its fingers, and icy spikes jutted out of its right knee and left foot. Unlike Olaf, its eye sockets were hollow, and it lacked a snow tooth.

The next thing everyone knew, the giant snowman had picked the unwelcome guests up, throwing some onto its back when they did not fit in its hands, and carried them outside, ignoring their protests. "Go away," it demanded, throwing them all off and sending them sliding down the steps. It threw Olaf last, pitching him right into a snowbank. Sora, Riku, Aqua, and Kristoff got up and helped the others to their feet. Sora grabbed onto the ice railing and used a touch of Fire magic to melt it enough for Sven to detach his tongue.

Anna glared at the snow monster indignantly. "It is not nice to throw people!" she growled. She packed a snowball together and prepared to throw it.

Kristoff, determining that it was better to not cause any more trouble, grabbed and restrained her before she could do anything drastic. "Whoa! Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, feisty pants! Okay, relax! Just calm down!" Anna struggled briefly against his grip before she stopped resisting and took a few calming breaths. Riku shot Donald a glare as the duck was preparing his own snowball in retaliation, causing him to drop it.

"All right! I'm okay," Anna said.

"Just let the snowman be," Kristoff continued.

"I'm calm." Anna stood up with a dignified posture and turned as if to walk away, convincing Kristoff to release her, then whirled around and threw the snowball, much to Kristoff's exasperation.

The snow monster watched the snowball sail toward it. When it collided, the monster roared with anger. Spikes grew out of its back and jaws, and its eye sockets flashed with a pale blue glow for a moment. Its icy protrusions sharpened.

"Oh, great. Now you made him mad," Kristoff complained.

"I'll distract him. You guys go," Olaf said. Anna, Kristoff, and Sven ran off. Prioritizing getting them to safety over dealing with the threat, the Keybearers, Donald, and Goofy fled with them. Olaf's lower two thirds ran off as well, leaving the head behind. A moment later, however, after the head dropped to the ground, the rest of his body returned and reunited with it, and he ran off after the others as the snow monster began to give chase.

The party fled down the hill as fast as its slowest members could go. Goofy carried Donald on his shoulders so the duck would not get stuck in the snow. As they were concerned more with escaping what was behind them than minding what was in front of them, they slipped at a steep slope and slid down the hill. A tree appeared in front of them, so they rolled to the nearest side to avoid crashing into it. As a result, Sora, Anna, Kristoff, Kairi, and Goofy fell to the left while Riku, Aqua, Donald (who had fallen off of Goofy's shoulders when they had slipped), and Sven fell to the right, and both groups were pushed farther apart. While the latter group eventually crashed into a snowbank, the former group landed on level ground and picked themselves back up.

As soon as they were back on their feet, the snow monster landed behind them. "Move!" Sora shouted. He and his companions broke into a sprint, running through a maze of conifers. Sora whirled around and cast a Firaga spell at the snow monster, which hopped about in pain after it hit. The spell did no apparent damage to its physical form, but it gave the group room to increase the distance before it recovered and continued its pursuit.

Casting glances around, Goofy saw that some trees were weighed down by snow to the point they were bent over completely. An idea coming to his mind, he split off from the others. "Hey, fellas!" he shouted back. They turned to see that he had grabbed onto the tip of a conifer. Kairi and Kristoff were confused, but Sora and Anna grinned.

"Goofy, you're a genius!" Anna cheered. She and Sora ran to join Goofy, and their confused companions followed suit. The snow monster marched toward them, coming up on the opposite side of the tree from them.

"Ready? Now!" Sora shouted. He, Goofy and Anna tugged on the tree and shook it, shaking the snow off of it, then released it. Without the snow weighing it down, the tree snapped upright, slapping the snow monster in the face and causing it to fall on its backside. They all cheered at the successful hit, but then started running when the monster began to stir. They fled as fast as they could, but abruptly came to a stop when they approached the edge of a cliff.

"It's a hundred foot drop!" Anna said as she looked over the edge.

"It's two hundred," Sora and Kristoff corrected. Kristoff flashed Sora a smirk of respect.

Kristoff pulled the rope out of his bag and tied it around Anna's waist, then dropped to his knees and dug a U-shaped ditch into the snow with his pickaxe.

"What are you doing?" Kairi asked.

"I'm digging a snow anchor," Kristoff explained. He looped the rope into the snow anchor.

"Okay. What if we fall?" Anna asked, unsure if the plan was sound.

"There's twenty feet of fresh powder down there. It'll be like landing on a pillow," Kristoff said. "Hopefully."

They heard a loud roar coming from the trees. Kristoff threw the majority of the rope over the edge and gripped it tightly.

"We'll hold him off," Sora declared. "Don't worry about us." He, Kairi and Goofy summoned their weapons.

"Okay, Anna. On three," Kristoff said.

"Okay. You tell me when," Anna replied, raring to go.

"One…" Kristoff counted. "Two…"

A tree flew through the sky toward them. Sora slashed his Keyblade through the air, sending a razor wind wave that sliced the tree in half. Both halves fell to either side.

"TREE!" Anna shouted. She jumped off of the cliff, pulling Kristoff with her. They fell, but were brought to a stop as the rope came taut.

While this was happening, Olaf waddled out of the woods, taking a moment to reorganize any parts that were in the wrong place. "Hey, Anna! Sven! Sora! Where'd ya guys go? We totally lost him back there!" he called out. He turned around as the snow monster appeared behind him. "Hey. We were just talking about you. All good things, all good things."

The snow monster roared and marched toward the party. Olaf gasped and ran after it. "No!" he screamed. He grabbed onto the giant's leg and tried to weigh it down. The giant marched on as if there was nothing there. "This is not making much of a difference," the smaller snowman remarked. The snow monster lifted its leg to regard him, then kicked outward, throwing him off and over the cliff edge.

"Olaf!" Anna called out as she watched the snowman fall.

"Let's scale down," Kristoff advised. He began to let the rope slip, then caught it every few feet so that they did not drop too fast.

"Hey!" Sora shouted, drawing the snow monster's attention away from its target. Goofy's shield became embedded into its head as it turned to see him, Sora and Kairi off to the right, calling to it and challenging it to a fight. Goofy's shield reappeared in his hands. Irritated, it marched over to them and grew its spikes back for a menacing appearance.

The snow monster marched toward its three adversaries, who were all prepared for a fight. Not being interested in such a match, it looked down and smiled wickedly, then brought its fists down hard to the ground. Sora, Kairi and Goofy stumbled as tremors shook the ground. They heard the earth crack and saw the snow shift. As soon as they were aware of what was going on, the earth beneath them broke apart, and they plunged off the edge.

Anna gasped as she watched her friends fall. "Go faster!" she told Kristoff. Kristoff began to let more rope slip at a time.

They felt a jolt, and they stopped descending. Confused, they looked up and saw the snow monster's hands pulling their rope up. Anna frantically tried to untie the rope around her waist, but to no avail. Kristoff was left to dangle helplessly, and ended up hitting his head against a rock.

They were lifted up above the cliff edge and found themselves face to face with the snow monster, who lifted them up to eye level. "DON'T COME BAAAACK!" it roared, blasting snow on them with its breath.

"We won't!" Anna said fearfully. With that, she pulled Kristoff's knife out of his bag and cut the rope, letting her and Kristoff drop. As they fell, screaming, the snow monster gave a satisfied nod, then turned back to return to its queen's side.

Don't worry, guys. That's only going to happen the one time.