Mattias overwhelmed Marie. The young woman let out a startled grunt as she fell to the ground. The dark-skinned man sheathed his mock sword. "Dead." Marie rose to her feet and faced him. Mattias ran towards her once more. She eyed him and jumped to the side as he approached but the man side-stepped, and her gut was met with his fist. "Dead. Again."

Marie brushed herself off. "That's the tenth time in a row. What am I doing wrong?"

"You're thinking too much. You have to feel a battle." Mattias waved to another soldier who passed them in the castle courtyard. The trees rustled lazily in the summer breeze and the sun was shining eagerly down on them. "You must not have had combat lessons in your world."

Marie shook her head in response before walking to a nearby stone bench to retrieve some water. "No. I took some martial arts, but very briefly. And I did some mock sparring as a kid."

She jumped when her eyes landed on Olaf, who was sitting on the bench and wiggling his snow feet. He giggled. "The children love to mock spar with me. Sometimes they even want to use my stones as weapons, but Anna won't let them."

Mattias paused before grabbing his own water from Olaf's wooden hand. "And for good reason."

Marie splashed some water on her face. "I hope the rock trolls have some answers about all this. I'm already confused enough as it is."

"I'm sure the council meeting didn't help, either," the General said. Marie nodded. Last night, members of the Arendellian council met along with Anna, Elsa, Kristoff and Mattias. Marie and Elsa had shared their stories about the rift and their battle in the town square. She picked up a wooden sword and twirled it in her right hand. Not much was resolved. Elsa was put in charge of ridding the kingdom from the darkness' threat and Anna was to oversee preparations. Marie felt helpless. She did not have any magic to fight it, so how could she help? Her hand raised slightly, and she glanced down at it. When it had overtaken her, she could still feel everything. The darkness was desperate and angry, but it was not evil. It seemed frightened and threatened, but Elsa had quelled it. All of this was discussed in the meeting.

"Can I try something?" Marie asked the officer. He grabbed his own wooden sword and stretched his shoulders as he nodded. She swung the light wooden blade before her while transferring it to her left hand. "Let me spare with you."

Mattias chuckled before readying his weapon. "Don't complain if you get hurt. Her Majesty ordered you to learn how to fight."

A small smile spread across Marie's face. "Yes, Sir." Feel, don't think. She exhaled and emptied her mind. A pulse of energy shot throughout her body, and she charged forward with a single leap. Her blade tapped against Mattias's before she switched hands and battered his counterguard three times. Her foot landed on the dirt below her and she leapt to the side while the wooden blade switched to a backwards swing, the tip aiming for Mattias's hand on the hilt. He retaliated with a strong swing underneath Marie, who caught his blade with her own before twirling the wood pieces together and forcing them up. His blade flew into the air before clanking on the ground. Marie stood with her back to Mattias. When she heard him stir, her left arm shot out behind her, the blade coming within an inch of his throat.

"Wh-whoa!" The man fell to the ground, his arms raised.

Marie looked behind her and let out a scream. Her entire arm was engulfed in what appeared to be small currents of dark waves. Her wooden blade was engulfed in it, but the very center was glowing with a strong light. She dropped her blade and bolted behind Olaf. "Wh-what is that thing?!"

The wooden sword fell to the ground. She looked at her arm. It was back to normal. Olaf turned his entire head to stare. "You know, they always say "watch out for the strange ones" for a reason."

"W-was that really from me?" Marie's hands were shaking as she stared at them in horror. "D-did I do that?"

"It didn't feel threatening!" Mattias assured, raising his arms to alleviate her. "You were in control of it."

Marie did not listen. She bolted out of the courtyard. A passing maidservant let out a startled holler when the young woman ran into her in the stone hallway. She ran through the corridor, her hands washed over with darkness like water.

"Marie! Wait!" a voice called behind her. But she ignored it. Townspeople jumped out of the way as Marie sprinted passed them. My feet are moving faster than they've ever gone! she thought to herself. She was a quick runner as a child, but as the world blurred around her, she realized that her body was moving through the town more quickly than she had ever run in her life. The land slanted upward at the edge of town. She braced herself for the incline, wishing internally that she could leap to the top. Suddenly her body leaped, and she screamed. The forest flew by underneath her. The air whipped her face as she flung through it and the air pressure decreased around her body. Her long arms waved maniacally in the air as the scream continued to escape her mouth. The forest disappeared beneath her, and Marie gasped in horror as the earth plunged and the fjord was looming below. Her body floated momentarily before falling towards the water.

"SHIT!" she yelled. The wind roared in her ears as gravity hungrily pulled her down towards the deep water.

"Gale! Now!" A gust of warm wind whirled around Marie soon after the voice called out. It seemingly caught her mid-air, slowing her down as much as possible before her body was pulled towards the water once more. The sun's rays reflecting off a white surface caught Marie's eye, and she looked down to see a woman riding a transparent horse on the surface of the water. The water spirit leaped upward towards a block of ice that Elsa conjured. Its hooves crashed into the frozen water and Elsa jumped towards Marie. With a grunt, the former queen caught Marie in mid-air. Marie's eyes grew wide when she realized that they were both thundering down towards the water. They crashed into the fjord from a height of at least fifty feet, their bodies growing limp from the impact. Marie's eyes fluttered for a few seconds before they took in the image of The Nokk rushing towards them with its powerful body. Elsa reached out an arm and the horse caught it, pulling them towards the surface.

Marie and Elsa gasped loudly as The Nokk broke the surface and dragged them to the shore. The women coughed and pulled themselves onto the nearby sand. The water spirit neighed and nodded its head in worry. Elsa set a hand on its forehead with a smile. It departed into the water, but the surface did not ripple. Marie flipped over on her bottom and shook her head. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't know there was a drop off there." She looked over at Elsa, who sat next to her. "Are you okay?"

Marie felt her chest tighten when Elsa hid a smile. Her shoulders shook, but she could not hold herself back from the onslaught of laughter that escaped her. Elsa tipped her head back and let herself laugh. "You should have seen yourself! Flying through the air like that!" Her arm moved through the air in imitation. She wiped a tear from her eye. "I shouldn't laugh, but-!" More laughter ensued.

Marie tried to frown but could not help but giggle as Elsa continued to laugh next to her. "S-shut up! It scared the shit out of me!" Elsa held her stomach before rocking on her back, the air filled with her laughter. Marie shook her head but joined.

Elsa calmed down and pushed herself up. "I'm sorry." She pushed her loose platinum blonde hair out of her face and rested her hand on her head, looking out into the fjord in thought. "To be honest, it was nice to see someone else with magic."

Marie leaned forward to rest on her knees. "But I don't want dark powers! I could have hurt Mattias, or someone else."

"I don't think so," Elsa replied softly. Her bright blue eyes washed over Marie like the water before them. "I was watching your training, and the darkness only turned up when you were fighting, when you had control."

"You saw me fighting?" Marie cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "I'm not the best at it…"

Elsa squeezed Marie's hand lightly. "You always got back up. That's the real strength."

Marie squeezed a handful of sand as she lifted into Elsa's grip. "You think so?"

"Magic is emotion. As long as you know what you're feeling, you have control." A gust of wind belted into them and caused Marie's hair to blow into her mouth. The woman gagged loudly. Elsa withdrew her hand but let out a chuckle, much to her dismay. "Here, hold still," she scolded. Marie immediately grew still as Elsa's fingers tucked her wind-tossed locks behind her ear. She had a strong jawline, but it was beautifully matched by the rest of her face. Elsa stared for a moment, her eyes running all over Marie's face. Her cheekbones were prominent, her eyebrows long and arched. Her lips were pink and parted to which the royal found her fingers gliding towards.

Both women froze at the sound of whimpering behind them. They turned to see the furred face of a wolf cub staring at them through the brush. Its small body was coated in blood, and as it took a step forward, it became visible that its hind leg was caught in an iron trap. They shot to their feet. "Oh, no!" Marie slowly approached. "You poor baby."

"Marie, wait." Elsa's hand grasped her shoulder firmly. A low rumble echoed behind the cub. The brush parted as a beast pushed through. Marie felt her body become covered with ice as Elsa covered them both in armor. The beast was a wolf, but it was engulfed in darkness. Its growl was enhanced with its size, towering over its cub by several feet. The women had to look up to see the black face of the mother. Its teeth were borne and its eyes glowed a blood red. Darkness hissed around the wolf as it took a step over its cub. The young wolf let out a cry of fright at the sight of its mother, who snarled at them in response before leaping. Elsa's arms flew upward as an ice wall barricaded the shore between them. "Looks like our first battle is here." She surrounded them with ice and turned towards Marie, the ice helmet she wore running along her jaw and cheekbones.

Her armor was a magnificent light blue that curved around her body in a way that made Marie stare. An ultra-thin layer of ice flowed out behind her in the form of a cape, snowflakes decorating its clear surface. Ice that mimicked the shape of iron scales made up the body while the palms of her hands were uncovered but glowing with her magic. Marie looked down and saw that her own body was enveloped in the same armor. It was light, flexible and cool. "Yeah." She looked down at her raised hand and formed a fist. "Any tips?"

Elsa flinched at the wolf pounced onto the ice barrier and scarred the outside with deep, dark claw marks. "What did Mattias tell you to do right before you used your power?"

Marie took a breath in. She emptied her mind. A tingling sensation jolted throughout her body, and she looked down at her right hand. A weightless dark sword with a core of light had formed in her hand. "Cool," she breathed in awe. A wave of darkness ran over her tall body and hovered over the ice armor. Marie's brown hair flowed behind her as she swung the sword to her side, her eyes focused. The darkness flowed over the ice armor in a shield-like manner. Marie looked at her left hand. "Here," she said, reaching towards Elsa. Her forefinger was glowing with darkness. Elsa felt a chill run through her as Marie set her enchanted finger on the mage's forearm. Immediately, the darkness shot around Elsa's ice armor, adding an extra layer on top of her armor.

Elsa looked at herself. "That's amazing," she gasped. Her gaze fell over Marie's light blue and black colored armor. The royal gave her a confident smile. "Ready?"

Marie lowered into a fighting stance. "Yeah." Elsa inhaled deeply and shoved her arms forward. The ice barrier dissembled and pushed the wolf back. Its giant dark body was flung into the nearby forest. The sound of trees snapping roared through the air at a deafening volume. "Get the cub!" Marie shouted. With a single strike, Elsa shot a beam of ice at the iron chain holding the trap to the ground and broke. She leaped and dodge rolled towards the injured animal and scooped it in her arms. Elsa threw an arm into the air and conjured an ice ramp that led directly back to the spot where she had just stood. With a small jump, she moved smoothly onto the ramp and glided back to Marie, casting the other woman a confident smirk as she landed. "So cool!" Marie squeaked. Her eyes snapped back to the possessed wolf as it rose to its feet in the woods with a loud snarl. The darkness pulsed within her. Feel. Don't think. Marie's body emitted a wave of darkness that shot into the air. "My turn." She shot forward and met the wolf halfway on the sandy shore. Her blade collided with its teeth with a thunderous clash. Marie gritted her teeth as she pushed the blade against the wall of fangs. An overwhelming feeling of panic rushed over her, but it was not her own.

Must…protect…

Both Elsa and Marie let out a gasp.

The wolf lifted a paw and struck out towards Marie. The young woman let out a cry of pain as she was thrown sideways from the impact. Her body crashed onto the sand and rolled violently to a stop. "Marie!" Elsa yelled. She shot her free hand out at the mother wolf. Ice rushed out of her hand and flew towards the animal. A loud whine filled the air as Elsa pressed its body into the ground, her blue eyes glared in anger.

Marie coughed. "Wait!" She rose and limped over to her friend. "She just wants to protect her cub!" Elsa faltered slightly as Marie set a hand on her raised arm. "I'm alright. See?" Marie grabbed her weightless sword with both hands. "Hold it in place for me, then throw me right at her."

"What?" Elsa froze the wolf to the ground and began to cover its legs with ice. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Marie's voice was unwavering. Elsa smiled slightly before grabbing onto Marie's left hand. An ice ramp formed around them as Elsa swung Marie's body around. Marie's feet landed on the ramp and as she gained speed, Elsa grunted and released her as they swung back around in a complete circle. Marie's body shot through the air straight towards the possessed wolf, her dark blade aimed right for the animal. A roar filled the air as the ethereal blade passed right through its body, stripping it of the darkness. Marie's blade hurled a dark mass out of the wolf and onto the sand. "NOW!" she screamed.

Elsa formed an ice bowl and set the cub down before blasting her way to Marie using her ice. Marie raised her blade into the air and Elsa grabbed the hilt. In an instant, the two lunged forward and swung the now dark ice blade down on the dark mass. It pulsated demonically before erupting and dissipating into the air, leaving no trace of its existence.

The two women held onto the sword together and panted, their bodies slouched. The darkness from Elsa and Marie's armor began to disappear and the blade slowly faded from view. Elsa's hand slipped into Marie's after the hilt left their hands empty. Whimpering sounded behind them, and they turned their breathless faces towards the cub and its mother. The mother was pushing herself off the sand, her tail wagging as the cub tumbled out of the ice bowl and ran towards her. Its hind leg was covered in ice as it hobbled towards its mother. She forced herself to her feet and licked her cub fervently. Marie squeezed Elsa's hand when she caught sight of the cub's wound covered in an ice cast. The wolves turned and looked at the women. No trace of darkness was left in the mother as she and her cub made their way to the forest together.

Elsa's ice armor shattered off their tired bodies and fell to the ground. The royal immediately faced Marie and lifted her shirt. "Wh-what are you doing?!" the brunette stuttered loudly. The blonde eyed the place where the wolf had struck Marie's side. It was bruised but there was no real damage.

Elsa sighed in relief. "The armor blocked most of it." She pulled Marie's shirt back down. "Thank goodness."

"THAT. WAS. EPIC!" They turned to see the townspeople racing towards them with Anna in the lead. Her arms were waving crazily above her. The two women let out a grunt as the queen flung herself onto them and embraced them. "We saw the whole thing! That was amazing!" Anna pulled away and grabbed their free hands excitedly. "It was all like PEW! SWOOSH! And that wolf was seriously angry!" She jumped up and down. "But that last move was INCREDIBLE! Like how did you two know what to do?! And when to strike? And where to be? Are you hurt? Are you okay? Oh." Anna paused when she caught sight of Elsa's and Marie's hands still hanging onto each other. The two let go and turned away with red faces.

"Lady Marie!" Meghan ran towards them with Wendy close behind. Marie fell to her knees as the four-year-old ran into her arms. Meghan hugged them before going to Elsa. "Your Majesty! That was awesome!"

"I'm all right, sweetie," Marie cooed, patting the shaking child's back.

"Elsa! You okay?" Kristoff asked as he ran to Anna's side. "Marie, you took quite the nasty hit from that wolf, too. Are you injured?"

"She looked fine!" Olaf's head popped up from behind's Sven's furry neck. They both followed shortly after Kristoff. The snowman plopped to the ground with a giggle. "At least, she looked fine when Elsa lifted up her shirt. I saw all the way from the crowd."

Elsa's face turned beet red. "Olaf!" She clasped her hands in front of her. "I'm sorry. I was just worried…"

"It's okay," Marie said with a chuckle. "At least you didn't lift the whole thing."

Kristoff crossed his arms. "She almost did. Ow!" He held his head as Anna smacked him. His brown eyes grew wide with confusion. "Grand Pabbie?"

The group followed his gaze to see rocks rolling out of the forest. Marie let out an alarmed scream and shielded Wendy as they popped into place before them, feet, arms and faces suddenly forming on them. They were little rock creatures who were alive with moss and reeds for hair. Marie kept shielding Wendy. "You're real, too?!"

One of them approached her. He had necklace with glowing stones them, and his beady eyes stared at her. "You must be the one from the other world," he said.

"What are you doing here?" Kristoff asked, kneeling to greet him.

"Elsa stopped by the other day and said she would be visiting today with the woman from the other world," the rock troll explained. "We grew concerned when they did not show and came when we sensed a dark energy.

Elsa leaned down by Marie's side. "This is Marie. And we just fought off that energy."

Grand Pabbie nodded in a greeting, which moved his whole rock body since he did not have a neck. Marie swallowed a lump in her throat and blinked. "U-um…hello. There are no magical creatures where I'm from, so sorry for earlier…"

"So Elsa said." Grand Pabbie smiled as a sassy rock troll knocked Kristoff off his feet. "Please, tell me everything from the beginning."

Elsa and Marie looked at each other before Elsa began. "We met when we were children." She explained their meeting when they were five. Marie listened as Elsa finished with their recent battle.

Grand Pabbie lifted a stony hand to politely ask, "Did you ever have an encounter with Elsa, Marie?"

The group stared at her. Marie let go of Wendy as she thought. "I thought I was just tired or something. When I saw a movie, er…It's like a moving picture, I think I saw her."

"A picture that moves?" Anna piped up. "It takes over ten minutes for our camera to take one photograph!"

"Although different, our worlds are not so different from each other as one might think." Grand Pabbie looked back at Marie. "You think you saw Elsa?"

Marie looked over at Elsa, who was staring intensely at her with big blue eyes. "I thought it was just someone cosplaying as her, but-…I went to the restroom after the…event was over. Before I closed the stall door, I saw a woman crying on the floor." Marie rubbed her head. "It looked exactly like Elsa, dress, hair and everything. I opened the door to ask what was wrong, but when I did, she was gone. You seemed so…devastated. I just wanted to help."

"How old were you?" Elsa asked softly.

"Twenty-one," Marie replied. Elsa looked away in pure shock.

"That must have been when you thought I died of a frozen heart," Anna said quietly, setting a hand on her sister's shoulder.

"The two of you broke the rules of reality and met when you were never supposed to know that the other existed. You are the manifestation of inequity, and only inequity can fight this new inequity."

Elsa's shoulders dropped. "But I thought I was meant to be the fifth spirit," she said quietly.

"I didn't really have a purpose, but I thought I was meant to help those who had also been abused," Marie added.

"And you both are. That did not change." Grand Pabbie set his stone hand on the women's shoulders. "That is why you were chosen."

"Wait." Anna leaned down and looked at them. "The figure said Marie has strength of human spirit, and Elsa has the power that connects humans and spirits." Her forefingers that were pointed at Elsa and Marie drew closer to each other. "Based on the two fights we all saw, if Marie can understand the darkness's spirit or will, and Elsa can fight it, then…" Her fingers touched. "That's why it's here. You two are the only ones that can fight it."

"Yeah!" Kristoff added. "During the first fight, the darkness was attacking the town, but Marie took it in and Elsa defeated it before it could wreck the town. Then in the second fight, Elsa saved the cub, the reason for the mother's anger, and Marie separated the darkness from the wolf. Then they both defeated it."

"But why was Elsa covered in ice and Marie in darkness?" Olaf asked while Wendy played with his nose. "And then Marie's sword turned to dark ice when they both held it."

Grand Pabbie held his hands out to silence the chipper crowd. "Elsa's magic can destroy this manifestation while Marie's can sense its source."

"What about the light?" Elsa asked. "Will we have to fight the light?"

Grand Pabbie paused to think. "That remains to be seen." He turned to Marie. "You felt the darkness right before it overtook the wolf, correct?"

"I thought it was because I was fighting," Marie stated.

"Luckily Elsa was also present while it manifested. Because there is no magic in your world, Elsa will have to teach you how to use this power. Only then can the two of you effectively fight this imbalance."

"I'll do it," Elsa said confidently. Marie felt her chest flutter with reassurance, but uncertainty filled her once more.

"…Will I ever go back to my world?" Marie asked, barely audible. "Am I even alive there? Whatever brought me here made a deal with us that the other could live if we died, but I didn't die. What does that mean?"

Grand Pabbie breathed in heavily. "I'm afraid that can only be answered if the two of you succeed. If you do not, the world as we know it will fall."

"Thank you, Grand Pabbie." Elsa rose. "We should get everyone back to the town."

"Right." Anna nodded, but before the group could depart, Grand Pabbie spoke.

"Anna, a word if you may." The queen walked a few feet away with the rock troll. Elsa watched as his voice grew quiet. Her sister listened, and as a breeze ran over the beach, Anna visibly conveyed shock on her face before turning to look at Elsa and Marie. The two women stood next to each other.

"I wonder what they're talking about?" Marie asked.

Elsa took in a breath. "I'm not sure." Anna's mouth moved, but Elsa could not make out the words. "But I don't think we're supposed to know."

"Lady Marie?" Elsa turned around to see Meghan standing behind them, her red hair igniting in the evening sun. Her hands were clasped behind her back. "These were blown away yesterday. I thought you might like them back."

Marie cast a glance at Elsa before saying, "Oh yeah! Thanks!" Elsa raised an eyebrow and smiled as Marie and Meghan turned their backs to her. "Um…how should I hide them?"

"Put them under your shirt!" Meghan whispered loudly, lifting the foreigner's clothing.

"I'll turn around," Elsa called. Was one of them for her? Why would she give me a flower? Her hands clasped together. Not that I would mind. Their encounter from the night before suddenly ran across her mind. Ice began to form within her hands in response and Elsa shook her head vehemently.

"Thanks for stopping by!" Anna's voice called out. Elsa saw her sister wave to the rock trolls, and as everyone said their goodbyes, Anna draped an arm over Marie's shoulder. "Didn't you say that you were going to bake us something?"

Marie's hand hovered over her chest to shield the hidden flowers. "Yeah. Still wanna help?"

"You know it!" They walked towards the castle. Elsa followed as Kristoff joined her side.

"It's unlike any other feeling, isn't it?"

Elsa looked at him with wide blue eyes. "What is?"

Kristoff only smiled and shook his head. "You can't play coy forever." He ran ahead to join his fiancée.

She slowed and looked down at her hand, the same one that had held Marie's. "Yes, I can," she breathed.