A War of White Shadows (Kingdom Hearts)

Threshold II

Larxene waves her hand like a conductor, pulling nobodies from the driven snow like puppets. Their mouths gape, voidlike, at Sora before turning their gazes to the ice castle beyond. Larxene takes off straight for the ice bridge that spans the gorge between them. The nobodies keep pace. They all move together so suddenly that Sora is almost left behind.

"Wait!"

He flash-steps ahead and clamps his hands on the rails on either side of the ice bridge.

"What?" Larxene snaps.

"What, um, what's your plan?"

"The plan is to storm the castle and kidnap the two princesses inside." Larxene plants a hand on her hip. "Maybe you're slow on the draw, here, but we're bad guys. We storm fairy tale castles. That's how it works."

"Uh..." The gears in Sora's head crank and grind. "Shouldn't we be stealthy instead? You know, like, reconnaissance?"

"And why would we do that, when I have a willing army of shadow monsters at my beck and call?"

"Come on, are you afraid I'll nab them both before you get the chance?"

Larxene smirks. "Okay, fine. You're on. But make no mistake—give me one good reason to think you're running away, and I'll break your legs and tell the old man exactly why I did it. Got it?" She gives him no time to answer before shadows curve up from the ground underneath her and she disappears.

Sora cracks his knuckles. Like Riku always said, you're only in trouble if you get caught. All he needs to do is find one of the new princesses and get out of there. Without even one of the pure hearts, Xehanort's plan won't come to fruition. And, with any luck, he'll spend all his time chasing Sora instead of going after Kairi.

Sora crests the bridge and steals up the sheer walls of the castle like a cat burglar. Guessing Larxene will start her search near the bottom of the castle, he bypasses the front doors and claims a spire near one of the highest balconies. It's not the most comfortable perch—the ice is supernaturally cold even through his gloves, and he's a little bit wary of losing his grip on the slippery roof and cracking his head open four stories down—but he imagines he is a gargoyle and hunkers down in the icy winds. Soon, he hears voices coming from inside. The balcony doors swing open, and the voices echo out, carrying on an animated conversation.

"You kind of set off an eternal winter... everywhere."

"Everywhere?"

"It's okay, you can just unfreeze it!"

"No I can't— I— I don't know how!"

They disappear back inside, doors yawning open. Sora repositions himself closer to the balcony—nearly slipping more than once—and presses his palms to the translucent walls. In the shadows, he is hidden, but he can see two people inside. One is the red-haired girl from before. Even from this distance, he can feel that her heart is a pure heart. The person she's speaking to, though—it's harder to make her out through the ice. The signal coming from her heart is muddled, unclear.

There is a commotion. They seem to be... fighting? And Larxene will show up any minute. Just as Sora is about to make his presence known, the girl with red braids collapses, and a third person—a tall man in a buckskin coat—enters the room. He calls her name—"Anna!" and bustles her away. Sora watches them take their leave of the castle. Larxene does not follow them. Sora breathes a sigh of relief. But it's not enough—even if Larxene doesn't find them, another agent of the Organization will. Making up his mind to keep this girl out of their hands and away from their evil plans, Sora tails them through the snow and trees all the way down the mountain. Larxene is still nowhere to be seen, but he knows he doesn't have long.

The girl is taken into another castle at the heart of the little town. This must be Arendelle. Sora follows what he senses of her heart and hides himself outside a nearby window. In the short time between leaving the last castle and entering this one, she seems to have become very sick. Her heart's pulse is there—but it's weaker. It weakens further by the second.

Sora waits until she is alone. Then, he lets himself in through the window, black cloak flowing silently over the windowsill. The girl is curled up on a small loveseat, half-conscious, her skin and hair conspicuously pale. She shivers though the room is warmed by a cheery fireplace. Sora lays his hand on her shoulder and feels dread crawl all the way up her arm. She is not well. He tries to summon a Curaga spell to heal her, but nothing happens. He's lost his spells as well as his keyblade. Very briefly, it occurs to him that Larxene almost certainly has an elixir or potion on her person. But he pushes it out of his mind.

"Anna?" he whispers, remembering the name the man from before had used.

"Hans?" her gaze is unfocused.

"I'm here to help you, okay? Can I carry you?"

His eyes dart from the window to the door as he awaits her answer. After a long moment, she nods, her eyes sliding closed.

"Need... I need..." She can't quite form the words, and ends in a weak cough. Sora lifts her up as gingerly as he can. His body heat seems to quell her somewhat.

"Don't fall asleep," he warns her, moving towards the door to the hallway. It doesn't matter who sees them now. Anna will be long gone before news reaches anyone who could do anything about it.

"We're going to get you safe. Somewhere far away from here. Somewhere warm. You'll like the beach."

He nudges the door open with his boot, then starts down the hall. But as soon as he turns a corner, he sees something that makes him stop short.

"Well, well, well." Between him and the way outside stands the man in the shiny black helmet. "Look who's decided to run off with our princess."