Elsa almost killed her immediately.

A slight cracking sound was Anna's only warning; a massive pillar of ice materialized beneath her feet. The former Knight dived to the left, coming up in a roll as the pillar rocketed towards the ceiling...missing Anna's feet by inches.

Before she could even comprehend how close she had come to being crushed like an insect by the woman she loved, a massive blast of icy air emanated from Elsa's palms. The gust impacted Anna's entire body, hurling her towards the room's windowed wall with terrifying speed. Her sword slipped from her hands.

SLAM! Even with her superhuman durability, Anna's entire back exploded in pain. Elsa's hands continued to funnel a blast of freezing air in her direction, pinning Anna to the wall with overpowering force. Elsa's palms were still raised...undoubtedly a second away from unleashing a volley of deadly icicle spikes.

No! Using every last ounce of her incredible strength, the former Knight lifted her arm from the wall and brought her hand to the belt of knives hanging around her waist. Elsa's triumphant smirk shifted into a surprised frown as Anna's knife hurtled towards her legs, overpowering the frozen air speeding against it.

As Anna had known, the attack never had a chance to land. With a quick raise of Elsa's hand, a wall of ice sprouted between the two women; the knife lodged harmlessly into the white surface. A crackling sound spilled into the air, but the barricade held despite the force behind the throw.

But the movement had forced Elsa to drop her frozen wind. Dropping to the floor, the now freed Anna had just enough time to pick up her sword before the wall vanished in an icy mist.

Only her unequalled reflexes allowed Anna to survive the oncoming barrage of spikes. Her sword split through the air, shattering the icicles that her body was not fast enough to avoid. Knowing she had to take the initiative- and fully prepared to knock Elsa unconscious if necessary- Anna leapt forward...

Only to come face to face with three monstrous snow golems that had just materialized in front of Elsa. They were all eight feet fall, nearly reaching the ceiling of the room, and their fingers and teeth were all composed of pointed shards of glistening ice.

Anna jumped as high as she could, avoiding the first strikes of the golems. She spun in midair, slicing her sword through the closest monster's neck. The head fell to the floor, and the body it left behind calmly winked out of existence. The other two bore down on her, neither showing the slightest sign of fear, and even as Anna landed a new golem had already come into existence behind them.

It's no use. Anna could handle any one of Elsa's Creations, and the Queen could only create five of them at once. Unfortunately, as soon as one was 'killed', the monarch could replace it in an instant, with no energy required in the process. It wouldn't matter if Anna cut through them for hours...another would always be waiting in the wings.

And that was assuming that the greatest threat in the room, Elsa's unmatched powers, didn't kill her in the meantime.

Crack! Crack! Anna's sword hissed through the air, slicing through two more deadly spikes launched in her direction. Even in that moment of terror, the former Knight couldn't help but appreciate the irony. The sword she held in her hands was perhaps the only weapon on earth that could give her a fighting chance against the Queen; it was sharp enough to cut her icy projectiles to pieces, and since it was made of ice itself, Elsa couldn't try to shatter it.

Still, with the Creations defending her, Anna would never manage to strike at the monarch in this enclosed space. She darted forward, cutting at the legs of one of the golems while simultaneously hurling another knife in Elsa direction.

Distracted by the falling monster and forced to conjure up another barrier, Elsa was too late to stop Anna from diving through the window.

Her magically enhanced skin was tough enough to avoid being injured by the glass. She fell, her arms frantically scrambling for a hold on the brick wall.

Got it! Her fingers grabbed onto a large brink, allowing Anna to swing her body in towards the wall. Below her, the courtyard that dominated the center of the Castle sat waiting, completely empty of guards at this time of night. Few worried about an attack on the Castle from within.

She scrambled down half the wall, straining her strength and climbing abilities to their utmost, before letting go and falling down the last ten meters. Oof! Save for a dull ache that swept through her knees upon impact, Anna was uninjured. She glanced upward-

Elsa was already following her, descending comfortably as twin blasts of freezing air from her palms slowed her fall. Calmly, the Queen rotated her wrist.

And then, several massive snowballs appeared in midair…all of them zeroing in on Anna's position!

Unlike the ice spikes she had previously avoided, these would be impossible to block. Avoiding them was her only option. She rolled to the right, but even all her speed wasn't enough. A large, hard ball of snow smashed into her arm as she rolled.

"Aagh!" Anna let out a deafening scream. She came back up to her feet, wobbling and clutching her arm. It had only been a glancing blow, but the crack she felt in her limb implied that the bone was dangerously close to being broken. Even as she struggled to block out the pain, Elsa was reaching the ground.

The Queen landed gently, but a vicious circle of ice immediately radiated from her position. Anna jumped just in time, leaping over the jagged ring as it exploded outwards. Still in the air, she raised her sword with her good arm and brought it down towards Elsa's hand.

CLANG! An icy soldier that materialized out of nowhere blocked her blow. One handed as her attack had been, its sword had not been shattered by her strike.

Acting purely on instinct, Anna whirled around and caught two swords with a sweep of her blade. Four additional Creations had appeared behind her. She deflected three more cuts, dodged a swift blow from the soldier now at her back, then swung her sword in a wide arc.

Elsa's Creations were powerful, but they could never hope to match Anna's speed. The four soldiers were decapitated instantly by her latest attack; their bodies faded away almost immediately. Spinning around yet again, Anna lashed out with her right foot, kicking out at the remaining icy soldier. His body flew through the air, hurtling towards the monarch's slim frame.

A slanted wall of ice sprouted up from the ground, deflecting the Creation's flight off to the side. Then another spike of ice was flying at Anna's chest! She raised her sword to block it...too slow. Instead of smashing against the edge of her blade, the projectile shattered against the pommel of her weapon.

Glistening shards of ice exploded in all directions. Then...pain! Anna let out another cry of agony as dozens of the tiny splinters embedded themselves within her hands. Blood immediately began flowing from the stinging wounds, threatening to tarnish her glistening blade.

WHAM! A compressed blast of air hit her chest, sending her flying twenty feet through the deserted courtyard. She landed hard in the snow; another spasm of pain from her limb confirmed that her left arm was now broken.

Icy chains were sprouting up all around her! Hurling her body to the side, Anna struck out with her good arm even as she rolled, cutting through the restraints before they could strike her limbs. She rose to her feet, on guard for the next attack yet panting heavily. Her breath came out of her body in bursts of white fog.

Elsa was walking towards her, looking at Anna as if she was a particularly interesting specimen of insect.

"You all but died while facing Rohan; I sent him running in less than a minute. You fell to forty of David's soldiers; I defeated hundreds without suffering a scratch. My powers can crush kingdoms with a thought…scatter armies with a gesture. What is your power, Anna? A bit of enhancement to a mortal's unimpressive physique...that is all. Even now, you only live because I still allow it," she noted.

Gritting her teeth, desperate to ignore the pain, Anna did her best to respond. "You're asking me to surrender? I will! Just please...let me go. Let me go and you'll never have to deal with me again!" she begged, tears now staining her cheeks.

The Queen shook her head. "I will not let you go, and I am not asking for your surrender. Why would I do such a thing? What have I to fear from a scared little girl with a broken arm and a shattered heart?"

"This!" Anna's left hand went for her belt, grasping for a knife and hurling it at the Queen's legs. Elsa's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but an ice wall came up just the same, easily blocking the throw. Her wounded arm throbbing from the effort, Anna turned to run-

Only to be facing the legs of a massive ice golem...a fifteen foot tall Creation. Its fist struck down at her face, missing by inches as Anna ducked to the left. She leapt into the air on her uninjured legs, hopped onto its chest, and then jumped another five feet higher. Her sword sliced through its neck as easily as the others. Anna fell to the ground; the Creation disappeared before her legs hit the snow.

The wind made her turn around.

Elsa was standing twenty feet above the courtyard. A massive cyclone of air was rotating beneath her feet, crackling with blue energy. Her feet just touched the top of the storm...as if the Queen was standing at the peak of a miniature hurricane.

Then the entire courtyard was covered by a raging blizzard. Too weak to move in time, Anna could only raise her hands to protect her face as wind and snow battered her body. She couldn't even see Elsa any longer; her view of the sky had been replaced by the snowstorm that now consumed the center of the Arendelian Royal Palace.

The air itself pressed against her, trying to bring the former Knight to her ground. The snow was growing bigger. Pellets the size of oranges began to pelt her from all directions. SMACK! Anna let out a cry of pain as one slipped past her arms and slammed into her cheek.

Driven to her knees, the former Knight had little time to react as the ground beneath her feet was instantly transformed into a rink of slippery ice. Anna's limbs flailed wildly, desperately trying to maintain her balance.

SLAM! A final blast of compressed air knocked the wind out of her lungs and sent her hurtling into the air. Utterly disoriented, Anna barely registered her body hitting the hard ice that had consumed the courtyard's snow-covered grass. Her momentum sent her careening across the slippery surface, even as compressed bullets of snow continued to assail her body.

The last sound she heard was an ugly crack as her head hit the Castle Wall.

\

Elsa descended to the ground calmly, allowing the snowstorm and accompanying ice to wink of out existence.

Anna was lying prone beside the Castle's wall, completely motionless. Still, even from this distance, the Goddess knew that the girl wasn't dead. It would take more than a hard fall to kill one who bore the magic of a divine consort, even if those powers were not at full strength.

She approached wearily, but the former Knight did not move a muscle. Raising her palms, Elsa allowed several sets of icy chains to ensnare the girl. Dozens of magical links bound her arms, legs, and chest to the ground; Elsa was not one to take chances.

Now assured, she moved to inspect the defeated woman. Anna still breathed, but the snow around her head was being blotted with blood. It looked as if her skull had been cracked...

A spasm of pain in her head distracted the Goddess. Gritting her teeth, Elsa growled in irritation. She was not a woman accustomed to pain, even though she had often taken pleasure in inflicting agony upon others.

I must have used too much power. Are my powers, in their current state, weaker than I believed? Such a thing had never happened to the Goddess before, no matter how much power she had drawn upon.

Her return to full strength could not come soon enough.

"Still," she mused, "It was enough to stop you." Elsa stepped forward, placing an icy heel on Anna's cheek. "Tonight, you faced but a shadow of a shadow. If the most powerful magic this world has to offer could not manage to scratch me; how do you think the mortal nations will fare when I am a thousand times stronger?"

Anna had put up a spirited fight, but her efforts had been doomed from the start. Her abilities would have made her a more than worthy member of Elsa's lieutenants...if they had been passed down through blood rather than stolen from the Goddess herself. And no woman as soft, simple, and weak as Anna would ever deserve a place in her court.

Perhaps she should just kill the girl now. ...But no, that would invite too much suspicion from the world at large. Chained by the strongest metals at Arendelle's disposal and watched by her loyal minions, Anna would never have a hope of escape from her prison cell. There she would remain for the duration of her life, denied the sweet release of the Realm Beyond.

\

Several Months Earlier…

Anna fought to quell the massive swarm butterflies flittering around her stomach. It was a feeling she had become accustomed to. A combination of elation and nervousness whenever she was due to enter the Queen's presence.

The former thief had long since realized that the monarch would never hurt her, no matter how many breaches of etiquette she accidentally committed. Still, Anna had somehow won favor with this amazing woman, and she was terrified that a misstep on her part could ruin everything.

For the first time in her life someone seemed to think Anna was worth something. Someone who was a Queen. Someone who had magic.

Someone Anna had a massive crush on.

"Enter," a voice called from within the study. Swallowing, Anna took a deep breath before walking past the guard on duty and entering what was now become a familiar room. She allowed herself a quick glance at the woman sitting behind the desk before bowing deeply.

"Your Majesty," she greeted respectfully. "Any news from Princess Rapunzel?"

Elsa smiled, a telltale indicator that Anna had once again violated royal decorum in one way or another…and that the Queen didn't care. "Not yet. I'm sure their ship will arrive any day now. In the meantime, however, I received an interesting report from the head jailer this morning."

Anna paled. Shit. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I didn't know it was forbidden. He seemed to think I was trying to sneak in or something but I promise I wasn't-

The monarch's hand rose calmly, cutting off the rambling before it could truly begin.

"Calm down, Anna," Elsa replied gently as she stood from her chair. "You're the last person in the Castle I'd suspect of treachery. I'm not angry, just curious as to why you felt compelled to take an unsanctioned tour of the Castle Dungeons."

Blushing furiously, the former thief looked down at her feet. "I-I don't know. I like to explore, I guess, and I've already seen the rest of the Castle in the last month. It seemed like it would be interesting- I didn't see that much of it when I was locked up down there- and I had no idea that the dungeons were off limits. Of course, I probably should have-"

"Probably," Elsa agreed with a slight smirk. "If you want, I'll tell the guards to give you access. Are you sure, though? I can't imagine it was pleasant the last time you were there; why would you want to visit those memories?"

Anna bit her lip, knowing that the Queen still felt guilty for the time that she had spent down there. "It wasn't that bad, really. I mean; they didn't beat me or anything like that."

"Your cell was freezing, they barely fed you, and your bed was a brick wall," Elsa noted with a frown.

The former thief shrugged. "It's not as if cold, hunger, and having no bed to sleep on are anything new to me, Your Majesty," she replied without thinking.

Elsa nodded sadly, allowing her eyes to drop to the floor.

"I'm sorry!" Anna added immediately. "I shouldn't have said that. You've been so great to me; I have no right to rub my shitty past in your face." Stupid, stupid, stupid…

"It's fine," Elsa replied, diplomatically steering clear of the uncomfortable subject. "Now, you should be off," she smiled again. "We're on for checkers in a few hours, as I hope you recall, and if you're late to an appointment with your Queen because you're roaming through the dungeons…"

"You'll send me back to the dungeons?" Anna couldn't help but add with a smirk of her own.

The monarch offered her a small shrug. "I was going to say that I would force you to play chess instead, but you never know."

\

Present Day…

The first thing she noticed was the massive migraine that was tearing through her skull.

For a few breaths, Anna believed that the last few hours had all been a bad dream. She was lying in her bed with Elsa, waking up on the day when the two of them would announce their marriage to the world. Oh, how she had looked forward to this day…

Then Anna's eyes took in the cold stone walls surrounding her, and the multiple sets of heavy manacles that clasped her arms and legs, and the truth came rushing back to her.

Elsa had never cared for her. She had shattered Anna's heart as easily as she had broken her prized necklace. Everything…her entire life for the past year...it had all been a lie.

She was alone for the moment, and that gave the former Knight time to think. Part of her still couldn't accept that this was real. Elsa was…Elsa! The woman who had gladly taken her in, fed her, clothed her, and protected her. She had journeyed halfway across the world to rescue Anna from a demented King and a vile tormenter. Their love had felt a hundred times as strong as any attachment Anna had ever felt.

Ignoring the pain that lurked throughout her body as best she could, Anna did her utmost to think of an alternative explanation. Elsa could not have betrayed her. It simply wasn't possible. No woman could ever be such a good actor, Queen or not.

But then, what? Grand Pabbie had been very clear; any curse could be broken through true love's kiss. Anna's attempt to do so had not produced the slightest change in the Queen. If Elsa was acting of her own free will, then…what motivation could she have for brutally attacking the woman she'd claimed to love?

She sat in her cell, weighed down by chains too heavy even for her to break, for hours. Anna's mind grasped at every straw it could find, desperate to find even the hint of a reason for Elsa's actions. And…she couldn't. Shattering Anna's necklace and saying hateful words was one thing. But their duel had been another. Although the Queen apparently had intended keeping her alive, there had been several moments during that battle where Anna could easily have been killed if something went wrong.

The Elsa that Anna knew would never have risked her life in such a manner. Never. That left only one possible explanation.

Anna was a stupid, desperate peasant girl who had been played for a complete fool. The woman she'd loved and all but died for…she was nothing but an illusion created for the Queen's selfish ends.

At that final realization, Anna could almost physically feel her heart splitting in two. Accepting Elsa's true nature hurt far worse than anything Jocasta could ever have dreamt of. A final, pained sob swept through Anna's throat.

Sniveling, she raised her hands to wipe the tears off her cheeks.

…Only she couldn't. The chains were far too heavy.

"What the hell?" she hissed. Anna had tested these manacles in the last few hours. They were too strong to break, but not so heavy that she couldn't lift her arms off the floor.

Anna strained with all her might, but her manacles now refused to move an inch. Her arms simply didn't have the strength. And when she tested her legs, the same was true for them as well.

Not an inch.

How? How had Elsa done this? Neither of them had ever fully understood Anna's abilities, and even if Elsa did indeed control them, why wouldn't she have done this earlier? But, regardless of how it had happened, the conclusion was immutable.

My powers are gone.

\

Click. Click. Click.

Anna's head shot up like a cannon. Standing above her was a large form. Even in the darkness of the cell, she could see that her assailant was masked.

Then a weight dropped from her right arm, and suddenly it could move again. Her 'guest' now moved to her left arm, key in hand, and began to unchain the manacles one by one.

He must be bringing me to Elsa.

She said nothing, gritting her teeth and waiting for him to release her legs. Then, as soon as the last chain had been unlocked, Anna jumped up and punched at his concealed face.

He caught her fist easily, to the surprise of both of them.

"Thought you were stronger than that, " he muttered. The voice was muffled, but it was unmistakably male. "That might make things more difficult." With a shove, he released her arm and threw her lightly into the back wall.

The impact wasn't hard, but it hurt. Suddenly, her body felt as durable as cardboard.

"I redirected the patrols from this area as best as I could, but there will still be at least one man in your way. No killing. Do you understand?" he said forcefully.

His hand reached down into a scabbard at his belt, and when it rose it was holding a familiar weapon.

My sword! There was no mistaking that Crocus guard nor the ice-blade. Then, to her shock, he held it out to her.

"Who…who are you?" Anna gasped as she took the weapon. As soon as it entered her grip, the former Knight nearly let out a cry of surprise as the blade fell towards the floor. It's so heavy…

"I don't intend on throwing away my life for you," he said gruffly. "I owe a debt, nothing more. Wait five minutes, and then leave the cell. I trust you know the way out."

And with Anna staring at him in shock, the man walked out the door.

A/N: Hang in there guys! You might be interested to know that ninjakidshogun on Deviantart is making a manga adaptation of this story, with my full approval, so I encourage everyone to check that out.

If anyone's watched Legend of Korra, I modeled the 'mood' of the Elsa/Anna fight somewhat on Korra and Kuvira's first duel. Just a bit of trivia.

Responses:

FrozenFairyTales: Sorry…

WinterWolfDragon: Thank you!

Pandacornforever: That's the idea!

Vidgamesoon: Here you go!

CoolNickNack: Hmm…

Warriorangel21: Me too.

Shaza: Going as fast as I can!

Gwiley161999: No malicious intent, but I do enjoy suspense. It's always nice to have invested readers!

Nicfoto5: I try to have at least 4000 words per chapter.

3Gs: Thanks!

Katarr: It hurts me too.

Kyokonyaa: That would be nice…

ClaireCooper: It's not over yet!

MilandaAnza: She doesn't know the Goddess is evil; or that the Goddess was ever inside her. Drell didn't even know that the Goddess and Elsa were two different people.

FreelanceBum: Maybe…

Arekanderu: You never know!

Guest 1: Good idea, except that Anna is (or was) immune to poison that would drug her to sleep except for very large quantities.

Syrathia: Those memories are deeply buried.

Frost108: Yup.

ALB1NO-PANDA: Me too!

Matjojo: Thank you!

Coincidenceless: It's not referring to Anna. One thing I am adamant about is that Anna was just an ordinary girl until she met Elsa. No noble lineage or divine ancestry, nothing like that.

Sedryn: Have patience!

DimmensionalLover: Anna might need saving first.

Spnmouse: Plenty more to go!

Moosedrool: Thanks!

JPElles: I agree.

FrozenFanFicFan: Wow! Thank you!

SummerStormWar: More fights to come.

Shtoops: If Anna turned evil, who would save them?

Veoviing: Sorry.

ObsessiveImaginings: Of course she has a large inkling that somethings not right, but there's no other explanation for her to turn to. If it's not a curse, than what? Nothing like this magical possession has ever happened before, either to Anna or anyone in available histories. The trolls have never heard of such a thing. As painful as it was, the only rational explanation for why Elsa would attack her so is that Anna was duped into love once again (which happened to her in the past). It's hard, and she would latch onto an alternative explanation the second she got one, but for now that's the only explanation she has. If someone you loved suddenly attacked and betrayed you, after the shock and rage had passed, wouldn't you eventually think to yourself 'I guess I really was stupid and manipulated'. Anna knows no one could force Elsa to do this; no person or kingdom is that powerful.

Punky32: Plenty more to unfold soon!

Guest 2: Copies? Isn't it free to read?

BreeBear98: I know how that feels. Hang in there!

JydrJydr: What do you think?

M.D.: Yeah…

PascalDragon: It wasn't the final battle.

MindMadness: It hurts me too.

GeneralNavri: How long did it take to read to this point?

BakuBabe: Agreed, but first she'll have to find out…

Sarah82011: Thanks! The foreshadowing is something I've been working on for a while now.

DVINM: She won't abandon Elsa…if she knows that Elsa actually exists.