Arendelle (Part 3)
Yona and Hans slowly climbed down the mountain, but they were glad to reach the base and were on their way to Arendelle. Halfway down, the snow began to worsen and turn into a blizzard, making visibility harder to see and dropping the temperature significantly. Jiminy stayed hidden in Yona's fur, both to keep Hans from noticing him and to keep himself warm. Elsa's magic has now made this eternal winter far worse for this world. Aqua's rage with her ice magic paled in comparison to the true ice queen's.
The town seemed abandoned as every person in Arendelle was sheltered in the castle. The guards watching the castle gate spotted Hans with Elsa unconscious on Yona's back, alerting more soldiers as the large wooden doors opened up for them.
"Prince Hans, you found the witch!" one of the guards proclaimed as they approached the two.
Yona wanted to argue with the guards, but Jiminy tugged Yona's ear. "Best to pretend you're a real yak in this world," he advised. "If the kingdom thinks Elsa's an evil sorceress, they might harm you if they believe you're enchanted if you talk."
Yona whimpered, but she didn't want to cause anymore trouble than there already was. "Where did this yak come from?"
"She's...a companion I met halfway up the mountain," Hans lied. "She guided me to where Elsa was hiding and helped carry her down for me. If neither of the dignitaries' soldiers were cowards, it would have been much easier to apprehend her when there are monsters roaming this land."
"Monsters? What monsters?" the first guard questioned. "Crafted by our witch of a queen?"
"No; something far worse," Hans said. The guards didn't know what it could have been, but they trusted Hans' judgement. They took Elsa from Yona's back, but when they tried to usher her outside, Hans stopped the guards. "The yak is my companion, I said. I will not let her stay out here in this blizzard."
"But the yak is a wild animal," another guard mentioned.
Yona fumed and snorted angrily, but Hans came to her aid once more. "Her name is Yona, and she even bumped into Anna," he said, surprising the guards. "She's smart for a yak, and even communicated by writing in the snow to tell me who she met while wandering the mountains."
"...Very well, Prince Hans," the first guard said, allowing Yona inside.
As a couple of the guards closed the gates behind them, the others carried Elsa through the castle. Yona began to worry, but Hans reassured her with a pat on the back, escorting her through the castle to find a fireplace to warm themselves up near.
"Where guards take Elsa?" Yona questioned, making sure no one was around to hear her talk.
"For now, the dungeons," Hans said. "Just as a safety precaution. When she wakes up, we'll try to convince her to reverse her spell on the land."
Despite forcing Elsa to be held like a prisoner, if it was the only way she could still stay alive and not be executed by her own people, Yona trusted in Hans' word. Hopefully Anna reached Arendelle soon if she hadn't come back yet. After seeing Elsa's magic accidentally piercing her heart, she had a horrible feeling something bad was going to happen to the princess.
Back at the bottom of the mountain, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Pinkie, and Fluttershy were buried under a few inches of snow. Sora pulled himself out, gasping and shivering as he stood up. He looked back at the mountain peak, falling even further down than last time.
"Ugh. Back at the bottom again," Sora grumbled as he rubbed his arms in an attempt to get warmer. Donald, Goofy, Pinkie, and Fluttershy pulled themselves free, Pinkie shuddering as she shook off a pile of snow clinging to her head. "Everyone alright?"
"If by alright, you mean, 'Gotta climb back up to the top through another winding path around the mountain,' then NO!" Pinkie shrieked.
"That snowman really meant business," Goofy said. "Elsa's magic sure is powerful."
"Wait. Where's Yona?" Fluttershy asked. They all looked around, finding no sign of the yak or any huge lumps of snow that were yak-sized. "Oh no! Is she back at the top with that big snowman!?"
"Ohhh, Aqua's really gonna talk our ears off for this," Donald groaned.
"Let's just hope she's still up there from what the others can see." Sora brought his hand up to his ear, stepping over to the cliff edge from where they landed overlooking Arendelle not too far in the distance. "Aqua, you in the throne room?"
"I am, and from the look of things, one of you got split up on the mountain." Sora flinched, stammering slightly in response. "...Yona's by herself, isn't she?"
"H-Hey, it's not like we're not trying to split up on purpose to give you a heart attack!" Sora explained.
"And you didn't bother to update me last night when you touched down on the world!" Aqua scolded.
"Ooooh...Right. Uhh, kinda forgot," Sora giggled sheepishly.
Aqua let out an annoyed sigh through their communicator, but it sounded like she dropped it. "Well, the good news is Yona's actually safe down the mountain. She's in the castle near the fjord right now."
"Huh? She's in Arendelle?" Sora questioned. He looked back up at the mountain, then back down at the kingdom. "How long were we buried for?"
"As long as she's somewhere safe and not breaking the world order, it'll be fine. Was there a Princess of Heart in that world, or was it a bust?" Aqua asked.
"I think so, but...we bumped into Larxene," Sora said. "She thinks she found the Princess, but she's biding her time to see if her hunch is right."
"Of course the Organization would be there," Aqua grumbled.
"But...something weird happened when we got split up earlier last night." Sora could tell Aqua was cringing, about ready to blow a fuse hearing that they got split up from one of her apprentices again. "Larxene tried to trap us, but Yona escaped before she got trapped with us. They fought and Larxene won, but Yona told us that they had no need for her. Or...our other apprentices."
"...They what? They...DON'T want...?" Aqua was completely baffled, unable to process this strange news. "...I don't understand...Are they just after the Princesses? Or...have they already found the thirteen they need? There are thirteen of them already..."
While Aqua muttered to herself and recounted who was currently in the New Organization, Sora shivered as the temperature began to severely drop to the negatives. A snowstorm began to pick up, and it was getting harder to see the woods and the region. Elsa's magic was getting worse, and they didn't know how to help control it.
"Aqua, I'll call you back. Winter's coming early this year," he said.
"Huh? It's the middle of July," Aqua said, but Sora cut off his connection before she rambled on more.
"Brrrrrr! It's freezing!" Pinkie shivered.
"I don't think Elsa can control her powers anymore," Fluttershy said. "The weather's getting worse and worse."
"We gotta help her," Sora said. "Come on."
Hurrying down the path, they ran into the forest and made their way to Arendelle. They stuck together to avoid getting lost in the snowstorm. Thankfully, no Heartless got in their path, either none were around or they were smart enough to get themselves caught in the middle of a magical snowstorm. Cutting through the trees, they ducked as they heard several trees getting obliterated to pieces nearby. Glancing in the direction of the harsh cracking of wood, the group were startled seeing Marshmallow stomping toward them.
"It's Marshmallow!" Pinkie shrieked. "He's back for round two!"
"We are not calling him that!" Donald quacked.
They prepared for the worst against the unstoppable snowman, but as Marshmallow stomped toward them, it walked around them, ignoring them. Confused, they watched him continue onward, heading straight toward Arendelle.
"Uhh...What's going on?" Sora questioned.
"He doesn't seem to want to pick a fight with us," Goofy said.
"I think we should wonder why he's down at the bottom of the mountain and not protecting Elsa," Fluttershy said.
"Unless...someone managed to climb up here while we were buried in the snow for a while and took her prisoner," Pinkie pondered aloud.
If Marshmallow was down here and making his way to Arendelle, Pinkie's guess might not be too far off from how wild her imagination can go. "Elsa's in trouble," they all simultaneously agreed.
"Well, let's hope Mr. Big and Snowy's willing to make a truce," Sora said.
"Eh, I still think Marshmallow's a better name," Pinkie said.
They hurried after Marshmallow, running ahead of him to try to get his attention. He let out a growl, approaching them menacingly.
"Whoa, hey! Easy, big fellah!" Sora said, waving his hands out to get Marshmallow to stop. Luckily, he did, looming over them with a leer. "Hey, we don't want to cause any trouble. We were only defending ourselves while you were protecting Elsa. We're trying to help her, too. We're her friends."
"...FRIEND...?" Marshmallow said.
"Right. Friends," Sora repeated, off to a good start with the tough snowman guard.
"...ELSA...TROUBLE," Marshmallow said, looking up at the kingdom through the blizzard.
"Was it Larxene?" Fluttershy asked. "She's a human in a black coat, with yellow hair."
Marshmallow tilted his head, not recognizing someone with that description. "Hey, cut it out, Sven!" Up ahead, they heard Kristoff not too far from where they were. "Put me down!"
"Kristoff?" Sora uttered. He ran toward the sound of Kristoff's voice, finding him being forcefully carried by Sven's antlers, trying to take him down to Arendelle. Kristoff managed to tumble out, staring defiantly at his reindeer companion while the reindeer did the same. "Kristoff! You're alright!"
Kristoff and Sven both turned their heads in Sora's direction. "Did you take care of that snowman?" Kristoff asked.
"Uhh, well...He's not exactly violent," Sora sheepishly said. "I think when Anna threw that snowball at him, he only reacted aggressively to defend himself and Elsa." Glancing around the snowy field, there wasn't any sign of Anna. "Speaking of, where's Anna?"
Kristoff hesitated, looking a little disheartened. "...She's back home," he said.
"She is?" Sora questioned. "But why aren't you back in town with her?"
"I'm...not much of a people person," Kristoff mumbled. "Besides, she's with her 'true love', Hans, now."
Sora grunted and shook his head. "I still don't think this Hans guy is the one for Anna when they only met for one day," he said.
"Well, he's the only one who can save her." Sora balked, giving Kristoff a double take, desperate to know more. "When Elsa's magic struck her heart, only an act of true love can thaw her slowly freezing heart. If it's too late, Anna will be frozen forever."
"She'll freeze!?" Sora exclaimed. "Yona told us Elsa accidentally hit her heart...Elsa's going to lose the only family she has left. And I think Marshmallow senses Elsa is in Arendelle right now."
"Marshmallow?" Loud footsteps thumped across the ground, and through the snow, Kristoff yelled in shock seeing the giant snowman approaching them. Donald, Goofy, Fluttershy, and Pinkie were walking with him, but seeing Marshmallow being "docile" still unnerved Kristoff. "...Please do not tell me that Marshmallow is...the giant snowman's name..."
"He seems to go by it, but now he's on our side!" Pinkie said.
Marshmallow continued onward, focused on protecting his creator. "ELSA!!!"
Down toward town, they could see the snowstorm getting worse around the castle. "Uh oh. She's going to lose control again," Fluttershy said.
"We need to hurry!" As the others hurried after Marshmallow, Sora stopped and looked back at Kristoff. "Come on! You gotta help us, too!"
Sven nodded and nudged his friend forward, making Kristoff grunt, hesitating. "What can I do?"
"Maybe you could have thawed Anna's heart," Sora suggested. "You two seem like you hit it off better as a couple."
"N-No! I was just around to make sure she didn't get lost!" Kristoff argued. Sven let out a sigh and rolled his eyes, doubting his human companion with a snort. "Oh, zip it, Sven! Even if you think that, it'd be impossible. She's royalty. I...cut ice and haul them to town. She needs a prince to marry."
"I don't buy that for a second," Sora said. His response confused Kristoff until Sora held up his hand and showed him his wedding ring. "I'm actually married to a princess, and I grew up without having any bit of royalty or fame that made me stand out among where I grew up. What made it better was that I grew up not knowing she was a princess at all, and despite learning the truth, what title she held didn't matter when love is involved." Kristoff was a bit shocked to know Sora was a married man. "If you still care about Anna, and you're still concerned about her, perhaps you two were destined to be together. And YOU were meant to be her true love over Hans."
Sven nodded his head in agreement, leaving Kristoff stunned. Sora grinned, letting his words sink in as he turned and ran after his friends before he got left behind. Sora caught up with the others, the wind beginning to pick up and threaten to push them back up the mountain from how harsh the storm was blowing them.
"It's getting worse and worse!" Pinkie shrieked. "And more colder! I'm gonna freeze my tail off!"
"We can't give up, guys!" Sora called out. Despite taking cover behind some rocks when a harsh gale threatened to sweep them off their feet, they got some help as Marshmallow stomped forward, providing them cover as the wind barely affected him. "Thanks, Marshmallow!"
"Wait, if Sven and Kristoff were alone...what happened to Olaf?" Goofy asked curiously.
Yona sat by the fire in the castle's library with Hans. Even with the heat from the flames, the cold was getting worse and worse as time passed. Hans had just come back from the dungeon to talk with Elsa and beg her to reverse her power, but with no luck as she claimed she couldn't. She wouldn't be able to control her powers with the amount of anxiety within her. The two sat in silence, both of them gravely concerned for Anna. Suddenly, the door to the small library opened, one of the maids helping Anna inside.
"Prince Hans, Princess Anna has returned!" she exclaimed.
Relieved to see her safe, the two were shocked to see the state Anna was in. She was shivering, and what startled them the most was her hair. That one platinum-blonde streak had grown to nearly consuming her natural hair color. Yona gasped, covering her muzzle in horror as she saw the aftereffects of Elsa's magic hitting her heart. Hans helped catch Anna as she tried to walk over to him and almost fell, being helped to the sofa so she can warm up by the fire.
"Anna, what happened to you?" Hans asked with deep concern. "You're as cold as ice."
"Hans, you have to kiss me," Anna begged, desperate.
Hans gave Anna a quizzical look, the maid who helped her seeming a little embarrassed before leaving to give them some privacy. Anna was too weak as she attempted to pull herself up to kiss Hans.
"What happened?" Hans asked again.
"...Elsa hurt Anna with her magic by accident," Yona admitted. "Elsa's magic hit Anna's heart."
"What!? But you said your sister would never hurt you!" Hans exclaimed to Anna in shock.
"I was wrong," Anna mumbled. Even sitting close to the fire, Anna's body refused to warm up. "She froze my heart and only an act of true love can save me."
Yona gasped as she grinned. "True love's kiss! Make sense!" Yona said. "Stories with prince and princess kissing always cures curse on princess! Hans kiss Anna and save her, then we save Elsa!"
"I would say that's a little too far-fetched, but miracles do happen," Jiminy mumbled.
Hans stared at Anna, kneeling down in front of her. Yona's mouth opened as she watched the prince gently hold Anna's chin in his gentle hand, the couple leaning closer as Anna closed her eyes, puckering her lips to wait for the kiss that would save her life. Their lips inched closer, but Hans suddenly stopped, opened his eyes, and smirked at the princess.
"Oh, Anna. If only there was someone out there who loved you." Hans' sudden one-eighty caused Yona's excited grin to quickly droop into an aghast frown. Anna was just as confused as he stood up, both princess and yak watching him walk toward the window and close the curtain. "As thirteenth in line in my own kingdom, I didn't stand a chance. I knew I had to marry into the throne somewhere."
"W-What are you talking about?" Anna questioned.
Hans began to put out the candles in the room, dimming the room, then walked over to a pitcher of water sitting on the table. "As heir, Elsa was preferable, of course. But no one was getting with her." He looked over his shoulder at Anna, relishing her shocked and betrayed expression. "But you were so desperate for love that you were willing to marry me, just like that."
"B-But...Yona see Hans and Anna sing and dance at party the other night!" Yona exclaimed. "Hans and Anna happy, and Hans ask Anna to marry him! She say yes!"
"You really think love can just happen in an instant?" Hans questioned. "Without knowing anything about me, nor what my true intentions are with 'getting to know' Anna? What I said about my older siblings may be true, but how much we had in common? You'd have to be desperate for attention." He then walked over to the fireplace, pitcher in hand. "If you were so easy to trust me like Anna did, Yona...You're just as gullible as she is."
He was about to pour the pitcher out over the fireplace and douse out the flames, but Yona tried to stop him. As she tried to push him, his free hand suddenly billowed a dark aura. He grabbed Yona's horn, sending the darkness shooting through her like electricity. Yona yelled as she was stunned, then was met with a hard kick to the face by the traitorous prince. Yona smacked into the wall, collapsing to the ground.
"Y-Yona!" Anna called out, then looked at Hans, watching him put out the fireplace. She didn't know what to do, let alone attempt to stop him with her growing weaker and slowly freezing over and Hans apparently having some form of magic that was worse than Elsa's. "H-Hans, why!?"
"After we married, I'd have to stage a little accident for Elsa," Hans explained, the dark aura around his hand disappearing as he tossed the pitcher at the stunned yak across the room. "But then she doomed herself, and you were dumb enough to go after her. All that needs to be done now is kill Elsa and bring back summer."
Yona grunted, trying to get up. "Hans...no match...for Elsa..."
"With the state she's in, I doubt she'll even think about harming anyone else with her power," Hans said with sadistic confidence. "And when I take her heart, I will be the hero who will save Arendelle from destruction."
Anna grunted, falling off the sofa as she tried to go after him, but failed. "You...won't...g-get away with this," she promised.
Hans chuckled, making his way to the door, glancing back at the two girls who foolishly trusted in him. "I already have."
He shut the door behind him, locking it, unaware of Yona's ability with the Keyblade to unlock any lock. Anna shuddered as her body temperature dropped, the rest of her strawberry-blonde hair overtaken by the cursed platinum-blonde, her time slowly running out. Yona couldn't believe how stupid she felt; like Sora putting his faith in Cozy Glow, she trusted too much in Hans without knowing who he really was on the inside. She really believed Anna and Hans were the perfect couple. And now Anna was going to die, both of them trusting the wrong man to save her, and Elsa was going to die by Hans and the power of darkness he secretly wielded.
Yona winced, struggling to stand up after Hans' surprise attack. She wasn't going to let him get away with this; he was basically a Heartless and deserved to be stopped. Hearing Anna shivering, she summoned her Keyblade, put some more wood in the fireplace, then lit it up with a Fire spell to try to keep the princess from freezing. Yona even gave Anna her her poncho, bundling her up with it.
"Yona stop Hans from hurting Elsa," she promised. "Try to stay warm."
Yona made her way to the door and took aim at the keyhole to unlock it. Before she could fire a beam of light into it, her ears twitched when she heard the door jiggle and the lock click from the other side. Stepping back, thinking it was Hans coming back to harm Anna some more, she braced herself as the door opened, but slipping inside and quickly shutting it, to her surprise, was Olaf. He used his carrot nose as a makeshift lockpick, planting it back on his face before letting out a sigh of relief.
"Boy this castle is really big," Olaf said.
"Olaf?" Anna uttered.
Olaf let out a gasp as he saw the state the princess was in and ran over to her, ignoring the fireplace slowly melting him as he got close to it. "Oh my goodness! It's gotten worse!" he said, then turned his attention to the fire behind him. "Oooh. So this is heat."
"Olaf, you melt!" Yona exclaimed, startling the snowman when she stomped over and dragged him away from the fireplace. "Snow melt from fire!"
"Did Hans kiss Anna?" Olaf asked, ignoring the yak's slowly building rage from Hans' betrayal.
"No. Hans lie to Anna," Yona growled. "Hans only want kingdom, not Anna. He use darkness, and now he gonna kill Elsa AND Anna!"
"Oh no," Olaf mumbled. "Well, we have to find another act of true love."
"I-I don't even know what love is anymore," Anna uttered in despair, pulling Yona's poncho closer to her body, still struggling to stay warm.
"I do," Olaf confidently stated. "Love is putting someone else's needs before your own, like how Kristoff brought you back here to be with Hans and left you forever."
"That not love," Yona grumbled. "Why love somebody if they leave?"
"Because Kristoff thought it was for the best for Anna to stay unfrozen," Olaf explained. "I can't believe you never even realized how much he likes you, Anna."
"...Kristoff...loves me?" Anna questioned.
Suddenly, what sounded like an explosion shuddered the entire castle, startling the trio. The window to the room shot open from the winds outside. Yona quickly ran in front of Anna to block the cold wind from striking her while Olaf rushed over to close it up. He managed to shut one of them, but paused when he saw something in the distance. Snapping off an icicle, he used it as a makeshift telescope, looking out at the frozen fjord and gasped.
"Hey! I can see Kristoff and Sven coming across the fjord!" Olaf cheered. "Oh, and I also see Sora, Donald, Goofy, and my baby big brother Marshmallow!"
"Marshmallow ok?" Yona asked.
Hearing Anna grunt, Yona and Olaf turned around to find her trying to get on her feet, crawling toward the door. "Anna, no! You need to stay warm!" Olaf exclaimed.
"I...need...to get to Kristoff," she said, refusing to stay down. "Yona, help me up."
Yona was about to protest, but her ears flicked up when she heard the walls start to crumble in the room from the ice pressure building from the open window. "Get out!" Yona exclaimed, rushing to Olaf, tossing him to the door, then hurried to pick Anna up and dive through the doorway. She got them out just as the room collapsed, but they weren't safe as ice began to creep up along the halls, spikes of ice slowly growing and trapping them. Looking around for an exit, Yona spotted another window at the end of the hall. Glancing outside, she could see the base of land near the fjord, and out in the middle of the storm, she thought she saw a speck of darkness through the furious snowstorm. "Hans."
Taking several steps back, she lowered Anna to the floor, letting out a furious snort. Anna backed away as Yona stomped her hoof, readying herself to charge forward. She sprinted down the hall, using all her strength as the offensive aura around her formed a cone around her. With a yell, she rammed through the window and wall, crashing through. Her anger quickly ebbed when she realized how far of a drop it was from where they stood to the fjord, letting out a yelp as she fell, sliding down the edge of the castle as it had already began to freeze over. She slid several yards across the ice, slowly come to a halt in the middle of the blizzard.
Squinting through the harsh blizzard, Yona searched around for the aura of darkness through the low visibility. When she thought she spotted Hans, she stepped toward the direction she saw it in, only to be met by another harsh kick to the face. Yelling and getting upset for constantly getting her face booted out of nowhere, she leered at Larxene, who intercepted her with a smirk.
"Quite the weather for an epic finale," she commented. "And you still can't help yourself, can you?"
"Out Yona way!" Yona growled. "Yona not bother with Organization right now!"
"Oh? I'm not that important to you?" Larxene questioned, feigning a shocked expression. "Didn't you swear you'd try to stop me? Except we'll ignore the fact you lost the other night and were shown your place."
"LEAVE YONA ALONE!" Yona screamed, throwing her Keyblade at the Nobody.
Larxene leaned her body to the side, avoiding the spiraling blade by mere inches, barely phased as it whizzed past her. "Hmph. Touchy," Larxene muttered. She grinned, knowing full well who Yona thought was more important to stopping right now, even through the intense blizzard blowing around them. "You still think you're able to protect Elsa? Is that why you're so mad?"
"Yona not listen to you anymore!" Yona summoned her Keyblade back in her mouth, stomping her hoof and cracking the thick ice built over the fjord.
"Why bother protecting such a Princess who used her power to slowly kill her own sister?" Larxene questioned.
"It was accident!" Yona said.
"Accident. On purpose. Does it really matter when she's completely lost control at this point?" Larxene questioned some more with a snarky grin. "Look around you, little yak. She's destroying this world with a permanent winter, against her will or not. The darkness has come to take her either way. And if her death causes winter to end so that fake prince can take over this world instead, I say let him try."
"NO! Hans not harm Elsa or Anna!" Yona exclaimed. "Yona stop him! Now move or Yona make move!"
Larxene began to laugh, infuriating Yona more. "After you trusted him without knowing his intentions, it's no wonder you're so gullible. You didn't even see the carnage inside that palace...Although, it was hard to when Heartless appeared to stall you long enough until you arrived." Yona's eyes widened, gawking at the lightning fast Nobody in shock. "That's right. It wasn't really planned out, but I didn't even need to show myself to coerce that guy to using the power of darkness. I watched the whole thing.
"The brave prince reached the ice palace, threatening to harm the ice queen if she didn't take back the horrible winter she created. Her heart had evil intentions, and he called upon the power of darkness to attack her. Her giant snowman couldn't stand a chance against him and plummeted down to the bottom of the mountain. He then tried to attack Elsa, but she put up a fight, exhausting him and knocking her unconscious. I had to hold back my laughter when he practically lied to you about what happened, and like the thick-headed moron you were, you believed him, and thought he was supposed to be Elsa's little sister's true love." Larxene gagged at the idea of romance. "Not a fan, but even I know love doesn't work like that. This isn't a fairy tale story to entertain stupid little kids; this is for real."
Yona grit her teeth, growling angrily as she felt stupid for actually trusting Hans all this time now. And being insulted for lacking intelligence brought back Neighsay's racist remarks toward non-pony residents to her mind.
"Yona not stupid," Yona said.
"More stubborn and highly gullible to believe a random stranger," Larxene corrected. "But I suppose if you didn't know anything about the Organization, you would have easily trusted me in a heartbeat."
"YONA NOT STUPID!" Yona charged at Larxene, finally fed up talking with the Nobody.
She was still far slower than Larxene, avoiding the yak, then zipped around with her daggers, getting up close and stabbing Yona's body through her fur. Each hit shocked and stunned Yona, followed by a triple kick from Larxene's splitting clones shoving Yona deeper into the blizzard, making her slide across the ice.
"If you want to take your anger out on someone for your own lack of brains, do it on someone you can actually hit," Larxene's voice echoed through the freezing wind before she disappearing through a portal of darkness.
As Yona came to a halt, she grunted and stood up, shaking off the electric jolts that struck her. She was all turned around in the blizzard, finding no sign of Larxene, no sign of Hans and his darkness, not even Sora and her other mentors. Larxene and Hans' mocking began to get to her and angered her. She might be a little clueless to how certain things worked outside of Yakyakistan, but that didn't make her dumb. Except, after she and her friends once trusted Cozy Glow, who lied to everyone, especially to Sora, she once again trusted someone she didn't truly know, and Hans' lies were going to end up freezing this world. Or worse.
Just as she was about to scream in frustration, the blizzard suddenly stopped. The snow froze in midair, the wind ceasing as the world became clearer. Confused by the odd snowstorm freezing itself over, as she looked around, she saw her mentors and Marshmallow in the middle of the fjord, along with several ships capsized by the harsh ice storm and frozen in the water.
"Anna!" Closer to the castle, Yona turned to see Kristoff far from where her mentors were as he raced toward Anna.
The yak gasped when she saw the state Anna was in. Her body looked like it was going to freeze over at any moment, struggling to stand with her arms clutching Yona's poncho around herself tightly in an attempt to stay warm. And not too far from Anna, she spotted Hans holding his sword, looming over Elsa as the queen had fallen to her knees, her back turned and her shoulders shuddering in sorrow. Yona ran, unsure who to save first: Anna or Elsa. Anna looked at Kristoff, then noticed Hans approaching her distressed sister, choosing to go after Elsa to protect her. Kristoff slowed to a stop as he watched Anna try to sacrifice herself, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Fluttershy, and Pinkie sprinting across the ice with Marshmallow stomping along to try to help.
"Nooo!" Anna yelled, standing in front of Elsa as Hans swung his sword down on them.
Anna's body quickly turned to ice as she began to slow, holding out her hand in a vain attempt to block the sharp blade. Time slowed to a crawl as Yona skid to a halt, her face drooping with horror as she helplessly watched Anna turn into a frozen statue. The moment Hans' sword struck Anna's frozen hand, the forged metal broke in half, a shockwave pulsing around Anna and sent the evil prince flying back with a surprised grunt. From the princess's frozen form, a small breath escaped from her mouth; her last breath as it was released into the frozen air.
Sora and his companions stopped and gasped in shock. "Oh no," Fluttershy mumbled as she brought her hooves to her muzzle.
"She's...frozen," Pinkie uttered.
Elsa turned around, her expression filled with remorse as she approached her frozen sister. "Anna! No, no, please! Anna!" she cried, hugging Anna as she broke down in tears.
Olaf ran up to them, realizing Anna was too late as he wilted in sadness. Yona was stock still, staring at the depressing scene. Tears began to well up and fall down her cheeks, quickly freezing to ice as it dripped off her face. She failed to cure Anna. She failed to stop Hans. She failed to beat Larxene. She failed her master. She failed everyone.
Yona grit her teeth, stifling a sob as her sorrow quickly turned to anger. Her ears flicked toward Hans as the man grunted, slowly getting back up as he looked at his broken sword in shock. The moment she set her sights on him, she saw red. Snorting angrily, puffs of steam escaping from her nostrils, she let her rage control her body as she screamed in anguish and charged at the deceiving prince. Her cry alerted her mentors and Hans, the prince glancing at her and gasping in surprise, quickly diving out of the way before either of Yona's horns ran through him.
"Yona!" Sora ran toward her as she skid and turned around, making another run for Hans. Sora tried to grab her, but her powerful aura appeared, knocking him back as he yelled. "Yona, stop!"
She refused to listen, jumping up and slamming her Keyblade down on Hans. He yelped and dove away again, the ice trembling as Yona struck it, causing several sections of the fjord from several hundred yards from her to crack and split apart. The section they were on was still intact, but if she unleashed all her strength, she could drop all of them into the frozen waters.
"Mad yak! That's not good!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Please don't tell us that's a Yakyakistanian thing!" Donald begged.
"Well, if yaks don't like anything they don't think is best, like what we all just saw, Yona's gonna try to smash the thing she hates that caused it!" Pinkie said. "In other words, she's gonna kill that guy who was going to kill Elsa, and also got Anna killed!"
Hans scrambled back to his feet, backing away from Yona as she began swinging her Keyblade wildly at him. "YONA SMASH LYING PRINCE! YONA SMASH! SMASH! SMASH! SMAAAAAAAAASH!"
"Get back, you crazy animal!" Hans shouted. He avoided another wide swing that would have taken his head off, backing away as he summoned the power of darkness. With his hand glowing, he shot a dark beam at Yona, stopping her temporarily, but that only made the yak more angry. She shrieked and stomped her hooves, causing giant stalagmites of ice to shoot up around them. One of them managed to hit him, splitting him from the enraged yak, cutting his outfit. "What kind of magic does that creature have?"
He barely had time to react when Yona slammed her Keyblade into the stalagmite, sending it flying toward him. Hans grunted as he was knocked back, sent tumbling across the ice. Yona breathed heavily, ready to charge Hans again, only to have her neck suddenly wrapped by Fluttershy's Formchanged Keyblade. The pink whip tightened, not too much to choke her, but hold her back as both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie pulled it taut, fighting back against the stronger yak's strength. Sora quickly got in front of Yona and kept her from advancing, Donald and Goofy joining, and even Marshmallow as he gently grasped the yak's middle, nearly stumbling as Yona's strength was beginning to overpower his own.
"Yona, you gotta calm down!" Sora shouted. "You're gonna drop us in the water if you keep breaking the ice!"
"YONA! SMASH!" Yona continued, struggling to break free from everyone holding her back to end Hans' life.
Hans got back to his feet, growling irritably. He held his hand out again to blast them all with darkness, wanting to rid himself of the meddlesome yak who thought she could defeat him. Just as he was about to unleash another wave of darkness, his breath hitched as he felt a pain shoot through his chest. When Yona looked past her mentors, she had relaxed a bit, but was more startled than calm when she looked at Hans. Sticking out through his chest, right through his heart, were a set of dark claws.
Sora looked behind them, confused by what made Yona suddenly stop thrashing about, only to grunt when he saw what happened. The claw retracted, making Hans gasp, clutching his chest as the darkness around his heart began to consume his body. Hans fell to his knees, then collapsed, revealing the humanoid Heartless that corrupted Sludge months ago. It didn't take Hans' heart, but it smirked eerily at them, quickly fading back into the darkness.
"That thing again?" Sora uttered. "What is that Heartless planning?"
The darkness around Hans' body suddenly erupted and rushed toward the group. A pool of darkness appeared beneath them, trapping and sucking them in. Try as they might to struggle to get free, they couldn't escape as they all saw nothing but darkness for a moment. When they could see again, they were in another version of the frozen fjord, but dimly lit and the landscape was cut off by darkness. In front of them was a massive sphere of darkness that billowed with power.
"W-What just happened?" Fluttershy questioned, loosening her whip around Yona's neck.
The sphere flickered as something within it began to form. Slamming into the ice was a giant wolf's paw. The white fur and sharp claws seemed to be made of crystalized ice, but the rest of the limb connecting the paw was made of darkness. Through the veil of shadows, bright yellow eyes glowed and loomed over its prey as the rest of its body was revealed with a mighty howl. The Heartless emblem sat right on the wolf's forehead, icicles surrounding its neck made it look like bristly fur, two plates of similarly crystalized ice sat at its shoulders, and the rest of its body was a flowing miasma of darkness that trailed to a long tail. It snarled, hovering in the air as it leered at the five outer warriors and giant snowman.
"Uhh, Fluttershy, you think you can tame this evil floating wolf monster with its lower half missing?" Pinkie curiously asked with a nervous grin.
"I don't think my Stare would even work on Heartless," Fluttershy said.
"You could try?" Pinkie suggested. The Heartless snarled and leapt toward them with its claws bared. Fluttershy, Pinkie, Sora, Donald, and Goofy jumped out of its way, but Yona and Marshmallow were too slow to avoid it as they both got struck by its sharp claws. Fluttershy cracked her whip at the Heartless' tail, making it bark and turn to leer at its attacker. "Well, you know what they say: when in doubt-" Pinkie summoned her Keyblade, letting it blow up and sputter wildly as it split and circled her. Shooting her forelegs out, she grabbed her Formchanged dual bubble guns, then aimed them toward the Heartless criss-crossed. "-break out the bubbles!"
The Heartless let out a howl, releasing smaller wolf heads from its miasma body, sending its small, swift pack on its foes. Pinkie fired her bubbles, blasting away the flying heads while the others went for their bigger target. It raised one of its paws to smash Sora, Donald, and Goofy beneath it, only for it to get tangled by Fluttershy's whip. It glanced at her and tugged, forcing the pegasus to yank back with all her strength. She knew she wasn't going to win, but she tried a little something with her magic. Giving it a flick while it was still connected with the Heartless beast's paw, a trail of fire lit up from the base to the end. The now burning flame caught around the Heartless, making it roar as the fiery whip was burning its ice-like body. Pinkie copied the same thing, her magic bubbles turning a bright orange and popping with hot cinders scattering in the wolf's face.
It howled, spinning wildly, smacking Sora, Donald, and Goofy back while flinging the whip off of it, dragging Fluttershy as she was flung toward Marshmallow and Yona. Marshmallow caught the pegasus, set her down, then let out a roar of his own as ice spikes shot out of his body in his rage. Charging forward, the giant snowman punched the Heartless in the face, both creatures of ice duking it out with the Heartless out-speeding Marshmallow, but Marshmallow was much tougher than the soft snow his body was made of.
"NO! HURT! FRIENDS!" Marshmallow yelled as he grabbed the Heartless's neck and gave it a few good blows right between its eyes. "NO! HURT! ELSA!"
The Heartless chomped its maw down on Marshmallow's fist, rolling around like an alligator tearing its prey to fling the snowman off it. Marshmallow grunted as he fell over from the swift spiraling motion throwing him off balance. It released Marshmallow, then flew up and dove down to sink its claws into him. Yona snapped out of her stupor, flinging her Keyblade at the Heartless, intercepting it and smacking it in its face. Letting out a startled howl, the powerful impact knocked it back, then turned its sights on the yak with a snarl.
"Heartless not hurt anymore friends," Yona uttered. "Yona destroy Hans and Heartless!"
The Heartless growled, the let out another howl as it soared up into the sky. Through the swirling vortex of light up above in this dreary realm, the ghostly ice wolf curled in on itself, flipping wildly and transforming into a massive sphere of darkness. Everyone looked up as they stared in horror at the sphere growling larger and dropping down toward them. It began raining dark energy and several more of the small pack heads swooped down and toward them.
"Oh, that's not good," Goofy uttered.
"It's gonna crush us!" Donald said.
"No it won't!" Sora said. "Keep those wolf heads distracted! I'll try to-!" Marshmallow roared and stomped ahead, smacking any of the wolf heads out of his way as he reached the center of the incoming dark meteor. "Ok. Marshmallow can help."
Sora hurried after the snowman while the others gave the two covering fire. Fluttershy and Donald launched Fire spell after Fire spell with Pinkie blasting the heads with her deadly bubbles and Goofy throwing and ricocheting his shield at nearby clusters. Yona leered at the incoming sphere, biting the hilt of her Keyblade tightly, then ran toward the center with Marshmallow and Sora. Ignoring the others telling her to get back, Yona was still adamant on getting back at Hans' Heartless for the pain she caused Anna and Elsa and insulting her intelligence.
As the sphere grew closer, Marshmallow lifted his arms up and caught it, letting out a groan as he used all his strength to keep it from reaching the ground. Sora leapt up, hovering in place as his Keyblade began to glow and spin rapidly in his outstretched hand, pouring light into the dark sphere while helping push it back. He let out a grunt, pouring more of his power into his Keyblade, using both hands to hover his Keyblade into the sphere. Light was beginning to seep through and crack the sphere, but both Sora and Marshmallow's combined efforts weren't enough.
Standing in the middle of the sphere, between Marshmallow and Sora's hovering form, Yona glared at the sphere, where the Heartless sat in the core of the deadly meteor of dark energy. She dug her Keyblade into the ice, grunting heavily in exertion as she poured her magic into the realm's "ground". With it firmly planted, Yona reared back with a yell, causing Sora to look down and watch the yak slam her forehooves down on the thick guard, hammering her Keyblade down into the ice like a nail. Suddenly, large, sharp spires of ice shot up, piercing through any of the floating wolf heads still floating about and striking the sphere. The cracks of light widened, causing the darkness to warp and begin imploding on itself. Grabbing the hilt of her Keyblade again, Yona swiftly pulled it out with a scream, causing the several ice pillars to explode, the sharp points within causing a chain reaction that blinded the entire realm with light.
The sphere dispersed as the Heartless fell from the sky, stunned as its expression seemed baffled. Sora landed, gazing at Yona, who was far from done as she still looked skyward, fresh tears of anger rolling down her cheeks. She then ran toward where the Heartless was going to land, barely giving it any chance to recover as she rammed into its body. Sending it tumbling across the ice, Yona refused to let up and chased it down, her aura spiraling around her once more. It managed to get back and swipe at the yak, but she swung her Keyblade, not only deflecting the paw, but also snapping it off as it shattered like ice with her might. Yona tackled it again, tapping her blade into the ground to shoot up ice pillars in their path, forcing them to slam into them and break on impact to inflict more pain on the Heartless.
As it rolled onto its back, Yona jumped on its neck and began slamming her Keyblade down on its face over and over, doing what yaks love to do most: smash. Each blow was met with a furious grunt from Yona, her thick blade cracking the wolf's icy features, even snapping off a tooth or two. Even with its other paw and its tail attempting to swat her off of it, the powerful aura billowing around Yona made her untouchable as its remaining limbs were easily smacked away. With one powerful stomp to its lower jaw, Yona jumped higher than the others have seen a yak leap before, falling down with the aura growing thicker around her body. Through the brown aura of energy, Yona aimed her Keyblade down, heading straight for the downed wolf Heartless's chest.
"YONA SMAAAAAAASH!!!!!!!"
The instant her aura made contact with the Heartless and her blade struck where its heart would be, the entire world shook violently like she was a meteor crash landing and threatening to blow the world up from the impact. As the shaking slowly ceased, the Heartless laid limp, its body partially indented to the icy ground. Thinking she killed it, Yona pulled her Keyblade out of the Heartless, waiting to see the heart fly out as its body dispersed into nothingness, but it was far from defeated. It suddenly violently writhed, flinging Yona off of it, tossing her back to her mentors and Marshmallow. With a desperate roar, the Heartless got back up and flipped again, creating another sphere of darkness. Though much smaller, it began to glow a bright purple, making Sora grunt in shock.
"It's going to blow us up with it!" he said.
"Y-Yona not let it!" Yona said. The others tried to reign her back, but Marshmallow stood in front of them, sacrificing himself to protect them. "M-Marshmallow?"
"Protect...friend," Marshmallow said as the sphere erupted, unleashing a powerful gale that pushed the snowman back.
Marshmallow grunted, fighting back against the explosive force, but it was too powerful. He took the brunt of the blast and got flung back, the others getting blown back as well. As the realm began to fade into darkness, Yona helplessly watched Marshmallow getting farther away from them, losing another new friend as he disappeared in the void.
Yona snapped her eyes open, finding herself and her mentors back in Arendelle on the frozen fjord. It felt like they had just passed out, but what they fought felt real. Sadly, as Yona looked around, Marshmallow was nowhere to be seen. Up ahead where they woke up, Elsa still wept over Anna's frozen form, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf showing their sympathy for Elsa and her loss. The reminder of her failure only made Yona feel worse. Hans was gone, his Heartless destroyed itself, but defeating them wouldn't bring Anna back.
"...Yona fail," she mumbled, her adrenaline and rage finally subsided as she sobbed, shedding more tears.
Sora knelt beside Yona and gently rubbed the yak's head. "It's not your fault, Yona," he assured gently. "We tried, but time wasn't on our side before we realized what little we had when we found out what would happen."
"No. Yona trust Hans," Yona said. "Hans lie to Anna...To Yona...Like Cozy Glow lie to us...Yona believe Hans could save Anna...Yona wrong...And now Anna..."
Yona whimpered and broke down, burying her muzzle into Sora's chest. Sora hugged the yak, knowing full well how badly being betrayed hurt him. Though they barely knew Hans, to think he was a prince who Anna had trusted and fallen for out of desperation to gain any attention since she and Elsa's relationship was hanging by a thread made it painful when they thought he would be the prince to break a deadly spell or curse. Some people could hide their true intentions so well, just like Cozy Glow had when she used him.
While everyone silently mourned for Elsa's loss, Sora looked up, his eyes growing wide when he saw something happen to Anna. A light shimmered from her heart, which slowly spread from her chest and all over her body. The ice that froze her over began to thaw, surprising Olaf, Kristoff, and Sven as Anna was surprisingly cured from Elsa's accidental curse. Even her hair was completely back to its natural hair color, not a sliver of platinum in any strand. When Anna began to move, her motions caught Elsa's attention as she looked up and gasped.
"Anna!" she cried out.
Hearing Elsa calling her sister's name in joyous relief, the others looked up and were just as surprised as the denizens of Arendelle. Yona's jaw dropped, elated, but more confused seeing Anna was alive again, both sisters hugging each other tightly.
"B-But...how Anna free?" Yona uttered. "Anna not kiss prince."
"'An act of true love will thaw a frozen heart,'" Sora repeated, slowly understanding how Elsa's curse was broken. "It didn't have to be romantic love at all; there's also love between friends and family, and Anna must have cared about Elsa that much to risk sacrificing herself to protect her. Even when they were kept apart, she still loved her sister, no matter who she is or what powers she has."
"So, Anna cured herself? Even though it was a bit delayed?" Pinkie questioned.
"It seems that way," Fluttershy said. "I'm just so glad to see they're back together again."
Even though Yona was happy to see Elsa and Anna reunited and Anna was no longer cursed, she still felt disheartened by her misguided trust in Hans. Before either of them could rush over to celebrate the miraculous union, a void of darkness appeared around them. Sora grunted and quickly stood up, stepping in front of Yona as the darkness swirled around them, then released a shockwave outside of it. The darkness had frozen solid, along with all of Arendelle as Kristoff, Sven, Olaf, Anna, and Elsa were frozen in time. Larxene appeared before them via a dark portal, eyeing the two royals with interest.
"So, love has filled both of their hearts," Larxene commented. "Two of them in one world. Didn't expect that."
"Two?" Yona uttered, confused.
"Yes, you brainless bovine," Larxene scoffed, turning around to see the anger boiling in Yona's face, but Sora kept her from staring at the Nobody. "It's clearly obvious. One may have power over ice, but the other has such an unwavering devotion and optimistic vision in the worst case scenario, that was enough to free her from her own sister's little ice curse."
"Back off, Larxene," Sora warned. "You've caused a lot of trouble already."
"Please. I haven't once gotten involved in any meddling like the rest of you," Larxene said. "But, even with all this new information to tell the Organization, Xehanort's still going through with our little war against your seven lights. I assume one of them will be you, Sora, since...Well, you know why."
"What is your plan, anyway!?" Sora exclaimed. "Judging by how many of you are already in the new Organization, you HAVE your thirteen seeds of darkness! If you're not after Yona, you're not attempting to kidnap Elsa or Anna, and Marluxia didn't bother taking Rapunzel, and you're not after me, why are you even taunting us!?"
Larxene snickered with that sadistic smirk of hers. "We have more than enough to take you heroes of light down a peg or three. And I'm not including Vexen or that dweeb Demyx. Those two are nothing but benchwarmers that were brought back to aid the rest of the real chosen members of the group."
"What?" Sora uttered as the others glanced at each other in confusion. "What do you mean they're benchwarmers?" Sora silently recalled who had returned and were part of Xehanort's new Organization. There was Xehanort himself, Ansem and Xemnas, his younger counterpart from the past, Dark Riku, Vanitas, Larxene, Marluxia, Luxord, Xigbar, Saïx, and the two supposed "benchwarmers", Vexen and Demyx. "Who else is part of your group?"
"Sorry. That's a secret I'm not going to give away," Larxene teased. "Let's just say it's a big surprise when the war comes around."
Sora summoned his Keyblade and aimed it at her. "Tell me now! Who else did you add to the Organization!? Did you try to bring Sombra back!?"
Larxene frowned, baffled by the incredibly lucky guess Sora made with their original plan, even though Xehanort had informed the group that Vexen's idea to bring the dark unicorn stallion back was no longer necessary. "How in the hell did you even know about that?"
"Sombra was supposed to be dead, but somehow, he came back and possessed a vessel," Sora said. "The only ones capable of doing that were you guys since most of you were killed by me or Riku, yet you're miraculously alive again in a new body. He claimed he had no idea about the Organization when I had to face him again, and Equestria was nearly lost to his darkness."
Larxene was at a loss for words. Bringing a finger to her chin, she leered at Sora for a moment, then slowly backed away.
"...The vessel Vexen made for him was stolen, but like I said, we apparently don't need it," she said. Startled, the others blanched, a portal of darkness appearing behind Larxene as she began to walk backwards into it with a smirk. "Thanks for telling us where that body went to."
"W-Wait! Get back here!" Sora called out, but the portal disappeared, as well as the void they were trapped in. Time began to flow normally again after she fled. "Sombra's vessel was...stolen? By who?"
"Whoever brought the evil Heartless version of him back to life," Pinkie guessed.
"Who would be crazy enough to bring someone like that back besides the Organization?" Donald questioned.
As the others pondered over the Organization and their newfound seeds of darkness along with the origins of Heartless Sombra's body, they were pulled from their thoughts when Elsa realized how she can control her powers; through the love of her sister. No longer afraid or filled with dread, Elsa was able to reverse the effects of her eternal winter with much more confidence in herself than she ever had before. All the snow and ice began to melt away, bringing the summer season back as the temperature grew warmer. Even the snowflakes that surrounded the world in its frozen standstill began to rise and float up, Sven trying to lick at one that kept slipping away from his muzzle while everyone else was in awe with Elsa's newly controlled abilities. With the fjord's ice melting away, they were lifted up by a boat that floated up from underneath them. Elsa gathered all the ice and snow she created in her uncontrollable state into the air, forming it into a massive snowflake, and with a wave of her hands, dispersed the snowflake into the sky, scattering the magic away.
"Wow. That was beautiful," Fluttershy said.
"And it's summer again!" Pinkie cheered. "No more frozen hoovsies!"
"Yay! Summer!" Olaf cheered as well, but his body started to melt into a puddle as he tried to fan himself. "Whew. It's a bit warmer than I thought summer would feel."
"Oh, Olaf. Hang on, little guy." Elsa used her magic to help refreeze Olaf, saving him from turning into a water puddle on the deck.
To keep him from melting, she created a small snow cloud over his head, perpetually sprinkling snowflakes around him to keep him nice and cold. "My own little snow flurry!" Olaf gasped in elation.
Maneuvering the boat together toward the docks, they dropped the anchor and stepped off the boat. All the people of Arendelle were no longer afraid of Elsa and have pardoned her accidental spellcasting when they realized Hans' intentions to take Arendelle as his kingdom after killing off both Elsa and Anna. None of them knew what happened to him, but it was best they didn't know how he met his end. Since there was no sign of anymore Heartless and two of the new Princesses of Heart are safe, it was time for the otherworldly visitors to return to Equestria.
Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Kristoff, and Sven saw the group off at the entrance to the kingdom, most of them a little disappointed to see them leave so soon. "Do you all really have to go back home right now?" Anna asked.
"As long as everything's fine here, we can move on to the next kingdom in need of help," Sora explained. "We travel a lot and don't stick around for too long."
"Yeah, otherwise we'd be Moogling," Pinkie said.
"MEDDLING!" Donald squawked. "Do you purposefully say it wrong to ruffle my feathers!?"
Goofy snickered, knowing he did it on purpose at times to irk his mage companion. "We can come back to visit just to check in on you guys," Sora assured Anna. "As long as we don't have to trek through another magical snowstorm. Or constantly climb up and fall down a mountain."
"We will gladly welcome you back should you return," Elsa promised. "And...even though I pushed you all away, I am glad neither of you had given up on me. Like Anna didn't."
"If you've known Sora as much as we have, he's far more stubborn to leave anyone in trouble for more than a minute," Goofy chuckled as he grasped Sora's shoulders, giving them a small shake.
"Hey, I'm not THAT stubborn," Sora complained.
While Goofy and Donald laughed and teased Sora, Fluttershy flew over to Sven and hugged the reindeer's neck. "Take care, Sven. And try not to eat Olaf's nose," she said.
"'Aww, but it looks so yummy,'" "Sven" said, Kristoff rubbing the reindeer's head with a chuckle. "I'll get you a big bushel of carrots that are juicier than Olaf's nose."
"Egh. That's kinda weird seeing somepony talking for something that doesn't normally talk," Pinkie grimaced.
Sora opened his mouth to remind Pinkie how she spoke for a bunch of inanimate objects during her manic depressed episode when they planned a surprise birthday party for her. However, he closed his mouth, realizing how creeped out he felt and how quickly the insanity went when Pinkie was involved with anything. Anna walked over to Yona, taking off the yak's poncho from around herself and laid it on Yona's back.
"Thanks for helping me get back together with Elsa, Yona," Anna said.
"But...But Anna turn to ice," Yona said. "Yona couldn't save Anna. Yona and Anna both believe Hans, and he try to hurt you and Elsa."
"Yeah...I guess that's an important lesson I learned the hard way," Anna admitted. "I think I felt 'attracted' to him because...I wanted to feel wanted, or get some sort of attention from someone. Since our parents separated us, I've tried to get Elsa to play with me, and now I get why she had to stay away from me."
"Elsa's magic?" Yona asked.
"Right." Anna touched her braided hair, finding it weird not seeing the small strand of platinum blonde in her natural strawberry blonde. "She must have accidentally hurt me when we were little with her magic when we were playing. I probably knew she had magic, but those memories were suppressed that kept me from knowing all this time. It might not have also helped my lack of social skills outside the castle were from our parents forcing us to stay in the castle for many years until Elsa's coronation."
"I guess that explains why you thought Hans was the one for you," Kristoff commented.
Anna rolled her eyes in response. "Now that I got to know him...He wasn't the right guy for me," she said. "I think I know someone best suited as my special someone."
"Anna," Elsa warned, overhearing her younger sibling's comment while giving her a stern gaze.
"Relax, Elsa. I'll get to know him better before jumping that far ahead," Anna reassured her sister, locking her arm around Kristoff's, to the young man's surprise. "Although, I think I know him well enough after being guided up the mountain to search for you to consider maybe building that relationship."
Stammering, Kristoff glanced at Anna, his cheeks turning pink as his eyes shifted to the queen and her sister. He heard Sven excitedly snort, catching him give his buddy a cheeky grin. As judgmental Elsa was with her icy gaze, her eyes softened as she could tell Kristoff had gone out of his way to keep Anna safe on the dangerous trek up the mountain, even though he could have refused.
"Just as long he doesn't do something crazy and propose to you right on the spot without my approval," Elsa warned Anna.
"N-No! Of course not!" Kristoff quickly said while Anna sheepishly grinned. "That's too crazy for me...even if my family had pushed the idea of marrying Anna far too soon as well."
"Say, where is your family anyway?" Pinkie asked curiously. "We've been up and down this mountain several times, but we don't know where you live."
"Uhh...I'm actually adopted," Kristoff said. "There's a warm spring I grew up around on the mountain, and they're...a huge family of magic rock trolls."
Everyone stared at Kristoff silently, trying to process the oddly strange adoptive family he grew up with. "...Magic rock trolls?" Donald questioned.
"Oh, they were really nice!" Olaf said. "They were so cute and rocky!"
"...Eh. I've seen weirder," Pinkie shrugged off.
"We've all seen and heard stranger things from Discord," Fluttershy corrected.
After saying their goodbyes, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Yona headed back toward the mountain to where the Gummi ships were parked. With the snow gone around the base of the mountain, it was much easier to climb up the slopes. Once back at the ship, they set off back home. Yona glanced outside the dome as the ships began to lift off, Elsa's ice palace still sitting at the top of the mountain. Her eyes widened when she thought she saw a familiar giant snowman standing by the ice bridge, and it was moving as it looked up and watched the Gummi ships begin to rise over the mountain range. Marshmallow was thankfully still alive, merely pushed out of the dark realm and transported back to the mountaintop. The snowman gave a grin and waved, saying goodbye to his new friends.
"Marshmallow still alive," Yona sighed with relief. "...Yona come back and visit any time?"
"Of course! Sora makes it a habit of returning back to worlds we've visited before," Goofy said. "But I'm gonna guess Aqua is going to wait until all you guys are fully ready to be off on your own. And I'm not sure if you might grasp how a Gummi ship works with hooves."
"Ooh! Does that mean we can get Keyblade armor like Twilight does!?" Pinkie asked. "I want mine to be fully pink, but with some black veins or trim to make me look edgy! And if my glider turns into a giant alligator, I can call it a mobile 'Gummy' ship!"
Pinkie laughed at her little word pun, though it flew right over Yona and Goofy's heads. "...Yona not get it," Yona mumbled.
"I have a pet alligator named Gummy, and we're in a Gummi ship, with an 'I' instead of a 'Y', and it's called a 'Gummy' ship, because it would be shaped like Gummy," Pinkie explained, which only confused the yak more.
"Oh! Now I get it," Goofy chuckled.
Yona wilted, still not understanding the joke. She still didn't know if it was a pony joke or just something random made by whom the yaks entitled Pinkie as an honorary Yakyakistanian, but it only made her feel more self-conscious about her intelligence. Yaks were a stubborn bunch and know very little about other creatures' customs. It only made Larxene's harsh comments toward her feel like they were true and she really didn't know anything. And with her time in Arendelle spent by herself and running into Larxene, she was going to get into trouble with her master for attempting to fight a much more experienced fighter who could have hurt her, or worse if the Organization really had no interest in her or her friends, kidnap her.
Larxene returned to the Organization's hideout, walking out of a portal of darkness and through the halls of the clock tower structure. "Ugh. Finally some warmth," she grumbled, brushing off some remnants of snow on her coat. "I hate ice and snow. As useful as it was using another element, I prefer electricity over anything else." As she wandered around the place, she spotted Luxord in one of the open rooms, minding his own business. "Luxord! Just the Nobody I was looking for."
Luxord raised his brow as he eyed Larxene, frowning at her presence. "And why, pray tell, were you looking for me?" he questioned.
"Clearly not for your magic tricks," Larxene snidely answered. Luxord wasn't amused by her sadistic demeanor, both in the former Organization XIII and in the present day. "Just out of curiosity, are you still playing this silly guessing game with who the new Keyblade wielders are that you were hiding from us?"
"Even though Xehanort has no need for them anymore, if it amuses your fancy, I will still allow the rest of you to take a gamble at the remaining three youths," Luxord said.
"Well, I ran into one. It was a yak." Luxord grunted, holding out his hand, and with a few flicks of his wrist, Yona's card appeared between his fingers and revealed itself. The image of Yona had her wielding her Keyblade in her mouth, her stance firm and heavy while leering forward, prepared to unleash her strength on her next foe. "That's her. She's definitely all strength. Stupid, but tough. It almost makes me miss Lexaus with his brooding frown and silent disposition...At least he had more brains to keep his mouth shut than the fuzzy heifer."
Dismissing Yona's card, Luxord scowled at the rude Nobody. "Perhaps you'd best lead by your own example, Larxene," Luxord warned. "You and Marluxia planned to overthrow the older Organization with Lexaus, Vexen, and Zexion back at Castle Oblivion. Your instigating toward Sora in your ploy to erase his memories and use him against us led to your downfall. Do not judge anyone by their appearance or intelligence, or any lack thereof."
"Tsk. I don't need a lecture from you," Larxene scoffed. "I would have whooped Sora's ass in Castle Oblivion if that place didn't change how we fought. I would have run circles around that runt years ago." Luxord refused to offer a rebuttal, knowing how stubborn the young woman was with her own ego. "Anyway, there's some more news I'm going to inform Master Xehanort on while I was in Arendelle. Not only about the Princess of Heart, but the fact that the little purple pony isn't the only Key bearer of her misfit friends now. Sora gave them all those special Keyblades of Harmony things he used before."
"Is that so?" Luxord questioned. "How lucky for us..."
"And Vexen's gonna get a kick out of what happened to his little pony puppet experiment that went missing a while back," Larxene added. Luxord's brow quirked, somewhat curious, which made her grin at his expression. "That idea of his to bring Sombra back? Someone else thought of it first. AND they snuck in our hideout and stole the body."
"...You cannot be serious," Luxord muttered.
"Sora just told me like a while ago. It's obviously not them, but someone else has some sinister intentions that we weren't aware of until now." Larxene shrugged, telling Luxord enough and proceeded to walk out. Just as she entered the hall again, she bumped into Kaito, who overheard the last bit of her information dump. "Ugh. Rude. Do you not excuse yourself for running into a girl?"
Kaito growled, leering at Larxene as she smirked and continued on her way. He disliked Larxene with a passion, but since her element was lightning, he wouldn't stand a chance with her literal lightning speed and lightning spells.
"Ignore Larxene," Luxord said. "Her bark isn't as worse as her bite."
"I'm partially glad I wasn't part of the Organization and met someone as sadistic as her," Kaito grumbled. He entered the room and plopped himself on the sofa, letting out a heavy sigh as he rubbed his hands into his shaggy hair. Everything he's learned since he was forced to join the Organization would have been extremely helpful to his allies, but since Xigbar has his communicator, he feels like he's betrayed everyone. All he wanted to do was help Sora, driven by the real Kaito's heart to protect his son, but if they found out, Sora would most likely never forgive him if it was all a ploy all this time after many years discovering who he is and what his purpose in life as a Nobody really was. "...Sora should have ended my life the day we officially met that winter..."
"You really wish death upon yourself?" Luxord questioned.
"Better for me to die than to have Sora see me as a traitor after the traumatic scaring I left him with my existence," Kaito said. "If Xigbar didn't put Manami in harm's way, I would love to make him permanently blind and gouge out his other eye with my own hands!"
Luxord could sympathize with Kaito and the dilemma he was in. Though he was also considered a villain among Sora and his friends, he knew whatever Xehanort was planning was far worse than what the former Organization had done. And he has his suspicions with Xigbar recently, from his nonchalant demeanor and how confident he was with the outcome of recent events, even when the odds were out of his favor. His underhanded tactic to use Manami as a hostage to Kaito served much more fruitful than Demyx doing the same, except he didn't plan his attempt all that well and barely put in the effort.
Luxord approached the sofa and sat beside the enraged, helpless man. "Even though we Nobodies are not meant to exist, Roxas seems to have proven Xemnas wrong," he said. "Though I can agree with you about Xigbar; I believe he knows a lot more than he lets on."
Confused, Kaito glanced at the gambler. "...What do you mean?"
"Since I was brought back, I was ordered to find something of great value among the many worlds," Luxord explained. Summoning a sleight of cards in his hand, he grabbed one and flicked it, revealing a black chest as he showed Kaito. "Have you seen this while you were wandering after your alleged escape from the former Organization XIII?"
Kaito took the card and gave it a closer look. "...No. I've been focused on searching for the world where..." Kaito grimaced, choking up slightly as he was reminded of how weak his heart, or what heart he had, let him fall in the Organization's clutches. "...What's so special about it?"
"It is called the Black Box, and it's said to hold secrets of Keyblade wielders from many, many eons ago," Luxord said.
Kaito growled, throwing the card aside. "Great. First Xehanort wants Kingdom Hearts and the X-blade, and now he wants more power from some ancient chest thousands upon thousands of years ago? What more does this old man want!?"
"Xehanort didn't order me to find it," Luxord corrected, pausing Kaito's tirade. "I figured it was Xemnas who was in search of it, but I asked him and he had no knowledge of its existence, nor who told him what I was tasked with doing."
"...Then...who-?" As Kaito thought about who was the one who gave Luxord this very order, his eyes widened, shocked in disbelief and more rage toward whom Luxord was talking about. "...Xigbar?"
"Yes," Luxord nodded. "I confronted him back in Olympus when he went there of his own free will. After knowing how he thinks, I knew that something was off whenever he spoke so nonchalantly about the current events." Luxord summoned a new sleight and manipulated them with many different sleights of hand before Kaito. "I know not his intentions, nor do I wish to uselessly guess why he wants to find this box. Though I am considered a pawn like the rest of us, I follow my orders without question. However, I can't help but read into my opponents' strategies from a distance."
"You think Xigbar's going to plan on backstabbing Xehanort with whatever's in that box?" Kaito questioned.
"...As I said, guessing would be useless," Luxord explained, flicking his sleight back into one card. "But I know he wants to see the Keyblade War through along with Xehanort. He is even aware of others searching for the box as well." He turned the card around, revealing an image of Sora on the other side. "But like with the young wielders the Organization once had interest in hunting, they are not aware I had given our enemies details about the Black Box as well." Smirking, Luxord waved his free hand in front of the card, making it disappear as he showed it was nowhere on him. Kaito was shocked in silence, wondering if Luxord is another potential defector like him, or if he was the gambling man he was and waiting for the right moment to strike. "Fate must have given you another reason to exist. Though you are forced to work with us, that does not mean you can relay something to your true allies."
"The only way I can now is my communicator, and Xigbar took it from me," Kaito uttered.
Before Luxord could explain further, Demyx poked his head around the doorframe. "Hey, Luxord! There you-!" As the musician began to walk in, he froze when he saw Kaito was in the room with him. "...Uhh...Heh. H-Hey...The dude who was supposed to take my place."
"Kaito," Kaito grunted, giving the nervous Nobody a death glare.
"Right. I'll...try not to forget that," Demyx sheepishly chuckled. "Uhh, anyways, Xemnas was looking for us."
"The hell does that deadpanned puppet want with me?" Kaito questioned.
"N-Not you. Me, Luxord, Larxene, and Marluxia," Demyx corrected. "Y-You're all good to sulk, dude!"
Before Demyx could blink, Kaito leapt from the sofa and stood before the quivering Nobody menacingly. "Don't test my patience with you, you worthless waste of air. Manami told me what you did to her before Sora saved her from you." He grabbed Demyx's collar with one hand, making him squirm and yelp as he was lifted off his feet while staring into the spiteful eyes of the better water-wielding Nobody. "Be thankful my son spared your life that day. If I were there, I won't hesitate to break your neck if you touch my wife ever again."
"...W-Wait, a-aren't you the guy's Nobody?" Demyx asked, both terrified and confused by the claim.
Realizing what he said, Kaito growled and tossed Demyx back. Demyx hit the wall with a grunt, bracing himself to be body checked, but Kaito silently hung his head, the memories of his true self raging war with his existential crisis. Luxord patted his shoulder, snapping him out of his misery as he calmly passed by him.
"Relax yourself," Luxord assured. "Demyx is as harmless as a kitten. Though I suppose a kitten could beat him in a fight if he cannot stand his ground like a man."
"H-Hey! Low blow, dude!" Demyx whined.
"Let us see what Xemnas wants so I can return to my duties." Keeping his distance, Demyx sidled against the wall before scrambling down the hall.
Kaito silently shook his head, glaring at the fleeing musician. Luxord gave Kaito a small wave to Kaito and followed Demyx. Sighing heavily, Kaito leaned against the wall, bringing a hand to his face. While pondering his existence and who he is anymore, he felt something in one of his pockets. Digging into them, he pulled out one of Luxord's cards. The gambler must have slipped one without him knowing as he walked past him. Flipping it around, he was startled to see it hold a perfect replica of the family photo of the real Kaito, Manami, and Sora on the young boy's fifth birthday. He didn't know if Xigbar still kept the photo he forced Sinbad to take to him and he showed the others Sora's connection with him, but if Luxord gifted this to him as a signal to not give up hope, he was willing to trust the gambler more than the rest of the Organization.
Yona waited outside the throne room while Sora relayed what happened in Arendelle to Aqua. Aqua frowned after absorbing everything, her confusion with the Organization's numbers growing to concern when she learned they no longer want her pupils, or even Sora.
"...What is Xehanort planning?" Aqua muttered. "They're focusing on the new Princesses of Heart, the Young Six, Sora...Every time I think we have them right where I expect them to be, they throw a curveball like this."
"Does that mean Xehanort's going to try to start the new Keyblade War now?" Sora asked.
"I have no idea anymore." Aqua tapped her hoof against the table, unable to come up with a solution. "I need to tell Master Yen Sid and Mickey about this...For now, we're going to have to focus on training for all of us. Who know when they'll strike...But if Vexen and Demyx are supposed to be on the sidelines, who else could they have brought back?"
"I know one of them would probably be stronger than Demyx," Sora said, partially relieved not having to deal with Demyx again in the future. Hopefully. "What about Elsa and Anna? Larxene said both of them were the new Princesses of Heart. Aside from Kairi, Rapunzel, and Flurry Heart, that's five out of seven."
"We'll just need to keep an eye out if they plan to capture the princesses again," Aqua said. "At least I can say with full confidence the girls are more than likely useful in combat seeing them mimic their Keyblades' Formchanges, even integrating magic spells with their attacks."
"And Yona?" Sora asked.
Hearing her name, Yona peeked through the doorway, wincing slightly as she waited for Aqua's results. "...I told them all not to worry about training and enjoy their summer vacation, but their dedication is certainly commended. Yona was able to hold her own with her immense strength...but I didn't expect to see her go off in a rage like that when she got upset." Yona's ears drooped, fearing her temper may have cost her as a warrior. "Regardless, Yona isn't like Smolder and her flaring temper. She's a much more gentle soul than that. Terra may help teach her some new earth-based skills after seeing the raw power she unleashed against that Heartless."
"She even broke through a Rock Troll's face shield in one hit, too," Sora added. "You think she can beat Maud in a hoof wrestle?"
"That's...debatable," Aqua pondered. "For now, I'll let Yona get some rest. She did well while on her own." She used her magic to yank Sora around the table and firmly hold him in place before her, giving him a cold leer. "As for you, however, I don't know how many close calls I'm going to hear involving anyone in the Organization splitting you up with either of our apprentices, and seeing them unleash their potential at the worst of times. Half the time, I think you goof up on purpose and WANT to give me a heart attack."
"Hey! Yona found a way out before Larxene's ice labyrinth fully trapped us!" Sora explained. "I didn't think she'd think that fast and slip out!"
"I'm going to leave the chaperoning to Donald or Goofy from now on at this rate. Or maybe the girls since they're more capable of babysitting while also being new to world travel and fighting Heartless." Sora only grinned sheepishly in response. Aqua released him, taking a breath, then looked at the cracked open doorway to the throne room. "Yona, you can go back to the dorms. You're all good."
Flinching, Yona stumbled and fell into the doors, slamming them open as she flopped on her stomach. She stood back up and bowed her head silently, then turned and began to leave the castle, feeling a little embarrassed from her little stumble. As good as it was to hear she did ok by herself when she was split from the group, it was still stressful to know whether or not she did the right thing or not. She did feel a little tired and wanted to take a nap, so she returned to the dorms to rest.
Rounding the corner into the hall where their dorm rooms in the school were, she didn't see Sandbar as the teenage stallion bumped into her, falling over on his back with a startled grunt. "Ugh...Yona! You're back!"
"Yeah...Yona back," Yona said with a small grin.
"So how was the world you went to?" Sandbar curiously asked.
"It...snowy. And mountainy," Yona vaguely said. "Yona beat lots of Heartless and made new friends."
"Cool." As excited as he was to learn more about Yona's adventure, his grin faded when he noticed how distant her gaze seemed. "...You alright, Yona?"
"Yona...Yona tired," Yona said. She wasn't exactly lying after being up all night and having climbed up a mountain twice in one day. "Yona want to sleep. It was long day...and night."
"Ok," Sandbar mumbled. "After you, Gallus, and Smolder, I guess it must be pretty exhausting running all over the place and fighting Heartless. I hope I go on the next one." Yona gave Sandbar a nod. She walked around him as he watched her walk to the girls' dorm. "Whenever you're all good and rested, let's do a little more training. I want to try pushing you back from one side of Ponyville to the other."
"...Ok," Yona said.
She entered the room, seeing Ocellus, Silverstream, and Smolder were thankfully elsewhere in town. Yona wanted to be alone for a while. Climbing into her bed, she sighed, staring blankly at the wall. She didn't want to admit to her friends she trusted in some random person to help save a princess and wound up getting betrayed by that same person. She tried to ignore the remarks Larxene gave her throughout Arendelle and closed her eyes. Larxene was just a bully; she was only trying to push her buttons and upset her.
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Sandbar and Rarity-San Fransokyo
Silverstream, Rainbow Dash and Applejack-The Caribbean
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Boy that was intense. I'm surprised that they didn't figure out that Kaito was forced back into the fold.
I like the idea of Luxord wanting to be Kaitos ally in the new organization and give him hope that just because he was forced in, doesn’t mean he can’t warn Sora & the others in a different way. It goes to show that Luxord is just going along with him having no say, but as a gambler he is treating it as a game to let out intel so the heroes are not lost in the dark and provide a challenge to make said game more interesting.
I feel really bad for Yona she's going to need therpy after this. Its just like what happened with Sora when he put all his fate in Cozy Glow.
The Arendelle adventure was fun. Next up is the one adventure I've been looking forward to most of all, the Caribbean adventure!
I know Silver Stream is going to the caribbean, But I wonder, which members of the main six will be going with with her & Sora?
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Namine X Roxas, or RokuNami as it's referred to on the Shipping wiki, is more of an fanon OTP, due to the fact that they're both Kairi and Sora's Nobodies (Respectively). I know it's fanon, but number 1, we're dealing with fanfiction here and anything goes. And number 2, most importantly, everybody has their preferences in terms of ships and I stand by mine. That said, I'm fine with whatever ship the author has in store. Cause God knows Roxas deserves some love after everything he's been through and all
Awesome! You did a much better job on Arendelle than the actual KH3 did. Excellent job.
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He sure did!
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Yes I have.
Kinda hoping that we could see Anna punch Hans on the nose like in the movie then I remember you doing this by the game