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Description

A beautiful sound echoed through the night. Elsa blinked away the memories of a dream, and wondered whether the voice were part of it.

Moonlight made her room visible but monochrome. All the finery of Arendelle was just fluttering distraction as she cast her sleepy eyes around. She found nothing, not even dust. The only sound was the gentle snoring from Anna, beside her but half the length of the bed away.

But despite the lack of evidence, Elsa was certain that something had indeed made that sound.

Because she could still hear it clearly, despite the rest of her dream fading away.

Anna's snores were joined by the tingling sound of frostflakes forming in Elsa's palm. She could fight any intruder. She could leap out of the bed and repel any threat to her home and family. Even in the dead of night, even if she had to pursue the foe into the autumn breeze. The cold never bothered her, anyway.

The clock ticked five dozen more times.

No foe emerged.

Anna continued to sleep beside her.

She was safe. There were no more enemies, nothing to worry about.

Elsa took deep breaths. Don't feel... Conceal...

Her breath came out icy.

The siren song echoed again through the room, fainter than a whisper, more ethereal than Anna's breath.

I can hear you, but I won't

She refused to listen, but Elsa still understood something in the vanishing melody - it contained an invitation.

A trap, more likely than not. Nothing in Elsa's brief experience with the outside world suggested it was friendly. And even if it weren't a trap, it was a call to adventure. Adventure had never gone well for Elsa in the past.

No, better to stay safe in bed with her sister. There was no benefit in risking Arendelle's security with another folly.

Some look for trouble, while others don't

She stuffed her head into the pillow, letting her ears become smothered, unassailable to the siren song.

But inside her fortress, the storm raged on. Sleep refused to come.

Don't feel.

She could dull her feelings, but her worries continued to swirl in her head.

She could latch on to one and let it lead her on a long trail of thought until she eventually got lost in sleep. But that would mean leaving her mental fortress, and leaving her mind vulnerable to that whispered song seeping in.

So instead, Elsa cast about her mind for other things to consider.

There's a thousand reasons I should go about my day

Anna, Olaf. Hell, even Kristoff. Her family, the people she knew she would always be able to rely on.

The coming harvest, Arendelle's necessary recovery from the weeks of early Winter three years past.

Her own safety. As Queen, Elsa's place was in the castle. As herself, she knew the wilds beyond the walls were a perilous place to which she did not particularly wish to return.

They were linked, in fact. She had... ambivalent feelings about it, but the fact was that other nations now knew her as the Witch Queen of Arendelle. It was important for her to remain in the centre of the nation, so she could serve as an effective deterrent against reavers or even retaliatory invasions from Hans's people.

None of those thoughts made the song go away. It continued to echo.

Elsa hardened herself against it. She was, as always, sure that she was making the right choice.

And ignore your whispers, that I wish would go away

But Elsa wasn't actually, completely sure.

What if it was just a hallucination, an echo of a dream? It was late at night, and so easy for a branch against a window to be mistaken for a thief's footsteps. Or indeed, for the whistle of the wind to be mistaken for an enchanting melody.

It was vanishingly unlikely. The siren song was so persistent, and identical every time.

But the idea that it was all an illusion seemed more likely than a second witch in Arendelle.

You're not a voice, you're just a ringing in my ear

The only reasonable conclusion was that there was no voice. No true siren song.

No reason to pull herself out of bed.

No reason to be drawn away from Anna and her sanctuary.

And if I heard you, which I don't, I'm spoken for, I fear

And yet she was wandering the halls. Still perfectly warm in only her nightgown.

All around her were paintings of her ancestors, of the rolling fields of her nation. Even a few featuring herself and Anna as children. They had commissioned one with the sisters as adults, alongside Olaf, Kristoff, and the damned reindeer, but Elsa did not see it.

There was nothing else to do this late at night, unable to sleep, unable to focus on any one thing. She could just float among these symbols of her material attachments.

Everyone I've ever loved is here within these walls

Why was she thinking that...?

Because of the voice!

She needed to remain focused, not just on her reasons for resisting, but on her resistance itself. She needed to block out the voice. She needed to remain the Queen on her throne, surrounded by her loved ones.

I'm sorry, secret siren, but I'm blocking out your calls

But the calls were, without doubt, coming.

There was, without doubt, another witch out there.

Well, perhaps a magical being rather than a human. But in any case, it was calling out to her.

She wanted to answer it, to venture out of her castle and truly unleash her power.

But she didn't want that. She wanted to stay with Anna and be finally at peace.

The call wasn't worth the risk.

I've had my adventure, I don't need something new

A shiver ran down her spine, a memory of what happened last time she risked fully letting go. It was better now, she could use her powers without fear as long as she kept herself under control.

She realised the source of the voice must have its own loved ones, their own things to care for. Anyone would be able to understand what was at stake for Elsa.

She simply couldn't let her legs take her where she longed to go. She couldn't go out on the adventure she was being called to.

I'm afraid of what I'm risking if I follow you

She looked out through the windows, into the infinite darkness of the night. Somewhere out there, the siren sang.

Into the unknown

Stars shone in the sky, drawing her attention - their brightness unmatched by anything else she could see. So brilliant. So dazzling.

Into the unknown

The melody surrounded her. Unfiltered by walls and windows, it rang loud in her ears. It was as sweet as an almond cake and as beautiful as the most perfect tapestry.

Elsa was surrounded by the beauty of nature and entranced by the beautiful music. Behind her was a building as large as it was claustrophobic.

Before her was the enticing unknown.

Into the unknown

The song was a summoning, an invitation.

There had to be a reason. Elsa needed to understand it. It owed her an answer, for bringing her out here.

What do you want? 'Cause you've been keeping me awake

She needed to know what it wanted.

She needed to follow it.

No, Elsa was Queen of Arendelle. She needed to assess the threat. Even a beautiful stranger could be malevolent. Hans had taught her family that.

Her family... Yes... Anna, her people. They were still important. Elsa needed to be vigilant, she had too much to care for. She couldn't let herself be tricked.

Are you here to distract me so I make a big mistake?

The words passed through her lips and she knew they were false.

The voice was not just beautiful. It was strange, obscure.

But also familiar.

She knew she couldn't trust the voice. But she knew this siren wasn't a threat. It didn't wish her harm.

Or are you someone out there who's a little bit like me?

There was another witch out there.

They might not be trustworthy. Following them might still be a risk.

But Elsa couldn't help but empathise with it.

She had Anna... but maybe this siren didn't have an Anna.

Who knows deep down I'm not where I'm meant to be?

That wasn't true.

Elsa could empathise with the siren. She could understand the feeling of isolation. But it wasn't her feeling.

Behind her was Castle Arendelle. Her family. Her throne. Everything she loved.

Elsa was where she was always meant to be.

The song didn't stop. It was so loud out there. So powerful.

Elsa swelled with power to meet it. Constructs of ice as beautiful as the melody in her ears sprung into being around her.

It wasn't completely untrue. Arendelle was Elsa's home, but maybe... maybe it couldn't contain her.

Every day's a little harder, as I feel my power grow

And she had an invitation. From someone who understood. She would be a fool not to follow the song.

Don't you know there's part of me that longs to go...

That part of her, always present, grew and grew as the melody swelled to a crescendo.

Spikes of ice thrust into the empty air around her.

Her empathy for the voice fed her power. Cold swirled and formed a spiral of frost, reflecting the starlight in fractal patterns all around.

Into the unknown

Her voice raised to join the melody in a duet.

Into the unknown

She needed to follow the voice.

She needed to let her power grow.

She needed... to let go.

Into the unknown

Follow it.

Learn from it.

Join it.

Are you out there? Do you know me?

She needed their companionship. She needed their approval.

Can you feel me? Can you show me?

Her resistance had fallen away. She needed to understand, to take in all of the voice, to let herself be completely enchanted.

Elsa was under the siren's spell, and she had never been happier.

This was real power. This was the only way she could ever live.

And the voice started to fade.

And Elsa felt cold for the first time in forever.

Where are you going? Don't leave me alone!

The platform of ice formed beneath her without conscious effort. Her pure, primal need pushed her onward and upwards.

She was desperate.

She would find the siren. Join with them.

Maybe in service, maybe in friendship.

Certainly in something new and beautiful.

Something heretofore unknown.

How do I follow you?

The night was dark, the stars shined, her ice spiraled.

Elsa was enchanted, and following her new guide, her new totalising path.

Into the unknown.

----

Tfw you fail to block out the secret siren's calls.

Okay, full disclosure: I have never, and will never have, watched Frozen 2. Every single one of you who took like 2 hours of your life (or even, heaven forbid, money) to watch a Disney (not Pixar! Disney!) sequel has been tricked by The Mouse.

But, damn, I recognise a banger when I hear one. And I don't think anyone has put quite this much effort into hypno-ifying it.

So, here we go. Do not tell me what that secret siren actually is. I do not care. Unless I'm actually right and Elsa is acutally getting hypno'd in the movie. But I feel like I'd have been told by now if that was the case.

The story was a bit of a fixer upper, but nothing a little bit of Dormiria couldn't fix up.

Description

A beautiful sound echoed through the night. Elsa blinked away the memories of a dream, and wondered whether the voice were part of it.

Moonlight made her room visible but monochrome. All the finery of Arendelle was just fluttering distraction as she cast her sleepy eyes around. She found nothing, not even dust. The only sound was the gentle snoring from Anna, beside her but half the length of the bed away.

But despite the lack of evidence, Elsa was certain that something had indeed made that sound.

Because she could still hear it clearly, despite the rest of her dream fading away.

Anna's snores were joined by the tingling sound of frostflakes forming in Elsa's palm. She could fight any intruder. She could leap out of the bed and repel any threat to her home and family. Even in the dead of night, even if she had to pursue the foe into the autumn breeze. The cold never bothered her, anyway.

The clock ticked five dozen more times.

No foe emerged.

Anna continued to sleep beside her.

She was safe. There were no more enemies, nothing to worry about.

Elsa took deep breaths. Don't feel... Conceal...

Her breath came out icy.

The siren song echoed again through the room, fainter than a whisper, more ethereal than Anna's breath.

I can hear you, but I won't

She refused to listen, but Elsa still understood something in the vanishing melody - it contained an invitation.

A trap, more likely than not. Nothing in Elsa's brief experience with the outside world suggested it was friendly. And even if it weren't a trap, it was a call to adventure. Adventure had never gone well for Elsa in the past.

No, better to stay safe in bed with her sister. There was no benefit in risking Arendelle's security with another folly.

Some look for trouble, while others don't

She stuffed her head into the pillow, letting her ears become smothered, unassailable to the siren song.

But inside her fortress, the storm raged on. Sleep refused to come.

Don't feel.

She could dull her feelings, but her worries continued to swirl in her head.

She could latch on to one and let it lead her on a long trail of thought until she eventually got lost in sleep. But that would mean leaving her mental fortress, and leaving her mind vulnerable to that whispered song seeping in.

So instead, Elsa cast about her mind for other things to consider.

There's a thousand reasons I should go about my day

Anna, Olaf. Hell, even Kristoff. Her family, the people she knew she would always be able to rely on.

The coming harvest, Arendelle's necessary recovery from the weeks of early Winter three years past.

Her own safety. As Queen, Elsa's place was in the castle. As herself, she knew the wilds beyond the walls were a perilous place to which she did not particularly wish to return.

They were linked, in fact. She had... ambivalent feelings about it, but the fact was that other nations now knew her as the Witch Queen of Arendelle. It was important for her to remain in the centre of the nation, so she could serve as an effective deterrent against reavers or even retaliatory invasions from Hans's people.

None of those thoughts made the song go away. It continued to echo.

Elsa hardened herself against it. She was, as always, sure that she was making the right choice.

And ignore your whispers, that I wish would go away

But Elsa wasn't actually, completely sure.

What if it was just a hallucination, an echo of a dream? It was late at night, and so easy for a branch against a window to be mistaken for a thief's footsteps. Or indeed, for the whistle of the wind to be mistaken for an enchanting melody.

It was vanishingly unlikely. The siren song was so persistent, and identical every time.

But the idea that it was all an illusion seemed more likely than a second witch in Arendelle.

You're not a voice, you're just a ringing in my ear

The only reasonable conclusion was that there was no voice. No true siren song.

No reason to pull herself out of bed.

No reason to be drawn away from Anna and her sanctuary.

And if I heard you, which I don't, I'm spoken for, I fear

And yet she was wandering the halls. Still perfectly warm in only her nightgown.

All around her were paintings of her ancestors, of the rolling fields of her nation. Even a few featuring herself and Anna as children. They had commissioned one with the sisters as adults, alongside Olaf, Kristoff, and the damned reindeer, but Elsa did not see it.

There was nothing else to do this late at night, unable to sleep, unable to focus on any one thing. She could just float among these symbols of her material attachments.

Everyone I've ever loved is here within these walls

Why was she thinking that...?

Because of the voice!

She needed to remain focused, not just on her reasons for resisting, but on her resistance itself. She needed to block out the voice. She needed to remain the Queen on her throne, surrounded by her loved ones.

I'm sorry, secret siren, but I'm blocking out your calls

But the calls were, without doubt, coming.

There was, without doubt, another witch out there.

Well, perhaps a magical being rather than a human. But in any case, it was calling out to her.

She wanted to answer it, to venture out of her castle and truly unleash her power.

But she didn't want that. She wanted to stay with Anna and be finally at peace.

The call wasn't worth the risk.

I've had my adventure, I don't need something new

A shiver ran down her spine, a memory of what happened last time she risked fully letting go. It was better now, she could use her powers without fear as long as she kept herself under control.

She realised the source of the voice must have its own loved ones, their own things to care for. Anyone would be able to understand what was at stake for Elsa.

She simply couldn't let her legs take her where she longed to go. She couldn't go out on the adventure she was being called to.

I'm afraid of what I'm risking if I follow you

She looked out through the windows, into the infinite darkness of the night. Somewhere out there, the siren sang.

Into the unknown

Stars shone in the sky, drawing her attention - their brightness unmatched by anything else she could see. So brilliant. So dazzling.

Into the unknown

The melody surrounded her. Unfiltered by walls and windows, it rang loud in her ears. It was as sweet as an almond cake and as beautiful as the most perfect tapestry.

Elsa was surrounded by the beauty of nature and entranced by the beautiful music. Behind her was a building as large as it was claustrophobic.

Before her was the enticing unknown.

Into the unknown

The song was a summoning, an invitation.

There had to be a reason. Elsa needed to understand it. It owed her an answer, for bringing her out here.

What do you want? 'Cause you've been keeping me awake

She needed to know what it wanted.

She needed to follow it.

No, Elsa was Queen of Arendelle. She needed to assess the threat. Even a beautiful stranger could be malevolent. Hans had taught her family that.

Her family... Yes... Anna, her people. They were still important. Elsa needed to be vigilant, she had too much to care for. She couldn't let herself be tricked.

Are you here to distract me so I make a big mistake?

The words passed through her lips and she knew they were false.

The voice was not just beautiful. It was strange, obscure.

But also familiar.

She knew she couldn't trust the voice. But she knew this siren wasn't a threat. It didn't wish her harm.

Or are you someone out there who's a little bit like me?

There was another witch out there.

They might not be trustworthy. Following them might still be a risk.

But Elsa couldn't help but empathise with it.

She had Anna... but maybe this siren didn't have an Anna.

Who knows deep down I'm not where I'm meant to be?

That wasn't true.

Elsa could empathise with the siren. She could understand the feeling of isolation. But it wasn't her feeling.

Behind her was Castle Arendelle. Her family. Her throne. Everything she loved.

Elsa was where she was always meant to be.

The song didn't stop. It was so loud out there. So powerful.

Elsa swelled with power to meet it. Constructs of ice as beautiful as the melody in her ears sprung into being around her.

It wasn't completely untrue. Arendelle was Elsa's home, but maybe... maybe it couldn't contain her.

Every day's a little harder, as I feel my power grow

And she had an invitation. From someone who understood. She would be a fool not to follow the song.

Don't you know there's part of me that longs to go...

That part of her, always present, grew and grew as the melody swelled to a crescendo.

Spikes of ice thrust into the empty air around her.

Her empathy for the voice fed her power. Cold swirled and formed a spiral of frost, reflecting the starlight in fractal patterns all around.

Into the unknown

Her voice raised to join the melody in a duet.

Into the unknown

She needed to follow the voice.

She needed to let her power grow.

She needed... to let go.

Into the unknown

Follow it.

Learn from it.

Join it.

Are you out there? Do you know me?

She needed their companionship. She needed their approval.

Can you feel me? Can you show me?

Her resistance had fallen away. She needed to understand, to take in all of the voice, to let herself be completely enchanted.

Elsa was under the siren's spell, and she had never been happier.

This was real power. This was the only way she could ever live.

And the voice started to fade.

And Elsa felt cold for the first time in forever.

Where are you going? Don't leave me alone!

The platform of ice formed beneath her without conscious effort. Her pure, primal need pushed her onward and upwards.

She was desperate.

She would find the siren. Join with them.

Maybe in service, maybe in friendship.

Certainly in something new and beautiful.

Something heretofore unknown.

How do I follow you?

The night was dark, the stars shined, her ice spiraled.

Elsa was enchanted, and following her new guide, her new totalising path.

Into the unknown.

----

Tfw you fail to block out the secret siren's calls.

Okay, full disclosure: I have never, and will never have, watched Frozen 2. Every single one of you who took like 2 hours of your life (or even, heaven forbid, money) to watch a Disney (not Pixar! Disney!) sequel has been tricked by The Mouse.

But, damn, I recognise a banger when I hear one. And I don't think anyone has put quite this much effort into hypno-ifying it.

So, here we go. Do not tell me what that secret siren actually is. I do not care. Unless I'm actually right and Elsa is acutally getting hypno'd in the movie. But I feel like I'd have been told by now if that was the case.

The story was a bit of a fixer upper, but nothing a little bit of Dormiria couldn't fix up.