"It's too quiet," Anna whispered. There was not a peep from any of the other upstairs rooms as she and Merida tiptoed to the grand staircase. The Scotsgirl glanced back in agreement but said nothing. Anna followed her cue of silence. Still, it was odd. It was only a few hours ago that the mansion was abound with screams, stampeding steps and ghoulish laughter. Had the demon eaten everyone else already? Did the demon cook them first? Anna grimaced, imagining a cartoon creature at a stove adding salt to a boiling pot of…

"Anna."

She snapped out of the gruesome thought. They had reached the bottom step. The front entrance stood across the foyer. They would find the pillar beyond that door.

Anna eyed the mansion entrance with reservation.

"Ye ready?" Merida asked.

The angel felt like shaking her head. Instead, she answered, "We have to be ready for anything." There was a good chance that the demon would try to stop them if it was somehow able to sense what they were up to.

"Aye," Merida agreed.

"Any idea how we clear the names off?"

Merida frowned and gave a theatrical waggle of her fingers. "Not exactly. I reckoned I'd just wave my hand, concentrate really hard and that might do it!"

Anna gulped. But if that was how Merida had gotten them this far, it would have to do. She gave the witch a nod of confidence and moved to walk side by side to the door. Her pulse sped up when Merida waved one hand to pull the door open with her magic. They peered outside to find the stoop was empty, as were the driveway and the yard beyond. Merida stepped out first when Anna hesitated.

"There…" Anna pointed at the front right pillar under the portico. The pair had barely taken two steps when someone rushed up from the driveway.

"Anna!" Elsa called.

"Elsa!"

The pillar forgotten, Anna leaped down the steps to grab Elsa into a fierce hug. The older sister yelped and then chuckled as she patted Anna's back and looked up at the witch still standing at the top of the entrance stairs. The angel pulled away to speak, though she kept her hands on Elsa's shoulders as if she were afraid to let go.

"How did you get away from Punz?"

Elsa's eyes glinted violet as she looked down at the ground. Her already pale face lost more of its color as a grim cloud seemed to hang over her. Anna gulped.

"Elsa, you didn't…"

"I don't want to talk about it," she said softly.

Anna nodded softly. Tonight was about survival.

"Well, we're here now," the angel said, giving her sister's arm a reassuring squeeze before she turned back toward Merida. "We three can set things right!" She was mid-step when she noticed the peculiar way Merida was looking down on them. She'd just opened her mouth to speak when she felt a quick, searing pain tear down her back. Yelping in pain, Anna stumbled forward and fell upon the steps. She gasped and struggled to turn around.

"Get back, demon!"

Anna's eyes blurred with tears but she recognized Merida's voice. Wind rose up on either side of her, uprooting the landscaping. She could barely register what was happening when she heard Elsa yell from behind her. Though it cost her to do so, Anna managed to twist her head around in time to see her older sister flung back in the air toward the driveway. A shower of soil, potted plants and bushes went flying with her. Anna scratched her fingers against the stone steps as she struggled to pull herself up. Still, her bloody fingertips were nothing compared to the gash on her back.

All at once, Merida was beside her, gently pulling her up to the stoop. To safety, Anna understood.

"But Elsa…" she murmured in confusion, wincing. Her back was cold with the steady trickle of blood.

"Aye, it was right in front of us all along, Anna," Merida explained, slowly rising to her feet. "Your sister was the demon."

"That… makes no sense," Anna whispered, hissing at the diagonal sting which burned along her back. Merida looked down at her, her eyes bright with pity. She shook her head and waved one hand over the angel. With that, the pain was still present but the wound began to close. She was able to get up on her feet and look out upon the driveway, where Elsa had recovered. Her eyes burned a menacing amethyst as she stalked toward them. The smile on her face was… wrong, Anna thought. It was contorted somehow. It did not belong to her sister.

"So, you figured me out?" not-Elsa called out to them.

"Elsa, stop this!" Anna pleaded, hoping her sister was still in there somewhere.

The demoness stared at her for a moment, that bizarre smile still in place. Finally, she shook her head. "You wanted to come to the party, sis!"

The angel shuddered. Was it Elsa or not?

"Don't listen to it. It's attached itself to your sister. It's nothing more than a parasite. We'll be rid of it in a moment—"

"Ah, ah, ah~" Elsa interrupted, somehow overhearing Merida's hushed voice. "You'll be no such thing. Now, come back down, Anna. I wasn't finished with you."

Anna exchanged a horrified look with Merida. The witch's gaze flickered quickly to the pillar, and Anna understood. Merida would clear the pillar while she dealt with Elsa.

Frowning as she descended the steps this time, Anna held her hands up and tried to concentrate. It was a challenge with Elsa leering at her.

"Teamwork, huh? All right, sis. I'll deal with you first. The witch can wait. Angel blood is tastier, anyway!" Elsa stuck her tongue out and chuckled as she drew one hand back before flinging a wave of dark lightning toward Anna. The angel yelped and lunged out of the way. When she looked back to where she just stood, she saw the ground was charred and broken. With a gulp, she scrambled back up to her feet and focused back on calling the light she had used against vampire Hans.

Elsa wasn't holding back, so neither would she.

Merida took advantage of the clash between sisters and focused her own power on the pillar with all the guest names scratched all over it. The witch was determined not to slip up in the time Anna had bought for her. It was uncertain what other threats from the party remained that might interfere. She stared unblinking, imagining herself lifting a great cloth toward the pillar and swiping up and down every surface. To her amazement, the scratches filled in right away, the names fading as neatly as if she'd just wiped a dry-erase board. She fancied she looked pretty foolish smiling at her own private victory, but she didn't care.

Well, she didn't until she turned to find Anna still in a fray against the demoness, that is.

"Nothing… nothing's happening?" she asked herself. She'd had to stop herself from shouting out to Anna, not wanting to endanger the angel by distraction. Then, the witch turned her wild eyes back to the pillar, double checking that she had gotten all the names.

Everything should have been better now. She glanced back and forth between the pillar and the blasts of light and shadow striking each other on the driveway below.

Why was she still a witch? Why were the sisters still clashing?

She dashed down the steps after Anna dodged another demonic attack. The angel started when she felt the witch come up beside her.

"The pillar?"

"Cleared it," Merida answered dryly.

"So, it didn't work then…"

Laughter rang from the opposite side of the pavement. Elsa leaned over, erupting in uneven howls of amusement, gasping in exaggerated breaths over their defeat.

"Of course it didn't work, ducklings! You're no match for me." The shadows under the demoness's eyes seemed to grow, her smile drawn up enough that it should have been painful. Her brows were knit together, her eyes wide and flashing violet in a strange, predatory gaze.

Anna inched closer to Merida, terrified of the stranger that had taken over her sister's body. But what were they to do now?

"Thanks for playing, though! It's been fun."

That same crackling darkness surrounded the demon as she took a step toward them, the shadows thickening with her next step forward.

"Well, that's new," Merida observed. Anna whimpered and struggled to put up a shield of light about herself and the witch. The glowing dome flickered, however. When Merida looked to Anna, she only just noticed the weariness in the angel's face. Divine or not, she was tired.

"Oy, hang in there. We just need more time to figure out where the actual door is."

Anna tilted her head, her eyes widening with some kind of realization upon Merida's words.

"Time… Merida… Merida, the clock!" she hissed, obviously trying to keep her voice down as Elsa continued to approach. The demon was taking her time, taunting them as she powered up her dark energy.

"The clock…?"

Anna nodded and stretched her hands up to refortify the shield she had put up. "Everyone changed when the clock struck midnight. What if the pillar was only a means to the ritual, and the clock IS the door?"

The barrier protecting them suddenly groaned. The girls looked up to see Elsa crouched over it, her fist enveloped in black lightning as she pushed at the light shield, slowly bending it inward. With one quick glance at each other, the angel and the witch threw themselves away from each other as Elsa finally broke though their shield and lunged toward them, her shadow-covered fist driving simmering hole into the ground on which they'd stood.

Anna flitted in the air in a panic, quickly rushing down to scoop Merida up off the grass. Elsa was already working up to come at them again with another attack.

"What are we supposed to do about her?" Merida asked, livid.

"You get to the clock. I'll handle Elsa."

The witch hesitated, but Anna didn't give her a chance to argue. She sprinted out onto the driveway, leaving Merida behind to the mansion entrance. The demoness looked from one woman to the other, clearly torn on how to divide her attention. So, Anna decided to leave her no choice. The angel reached out and scratched four bright red lines down her forearm. She was of course banking on the demon's remark about angel blood earlier. Even Hans had seemed obsessed with angel blood.

Fortunately for Anna, the demon did have a taste for angel's blood.

Unfortunately for Anna, it had even less control over its hunger than vampire Hans.

In a single blink, the demoness had lunged across the driveway and pinned the angel down, gnashing and snarling while Anna screeched and kept her at arm's-length. Then, the demon grabbed Anna by the neck and squeezed the air out of her. She had regained enough to control to slowly tighten her grip at Anna's throat, watching the angel struggle and then pinken as her air was cut off.

For her part, Anna didn't panic. What was the point? But not being able to breathe, well, that was awful. She didn't want to go that way. But her arm ached, and the creature strangling her was not Elsa. She knew the moment she looked into the demon's eyes that Elsa was either gone or trapped too deep within the evil shell that had taken over her.

Had Elsa been possessed the whole time or did it happen at some point during their misadventures?

Anna's vision started to flicker and blur.

No matter. It didn't matter. She'd done what she could; the rest was up to Merida.

Merida forced herself to keep her eyes forward as she stumbled into the mansion. She'd seen Anna cut herself to draw Elsa's attention. She didn't want to see anymore. But if Anna was wrong about the clock…

The witch repelled that thought immediately. Anna could not be wrong. They couldn't afford it again. She knew as she dashed through the ghostly halls that she and the angel must be the last ones left. If they fell, the door would be left open, the demon left free to spread beyond the estate. Merida thought of her mom and her brothers, and she picked up speed, tripping into the ballroom as her foot knocked into a fallen painting. She went tumbling onto the carpeted floor, but she rolled through the motion and managed not to knock into anything else before she stopped on her side.

She stood shakily and took a deep breath before she looked all around her. The ballroom was… well, it was empty. There were several overturned chairs and a broken table. Many of the curtains had been ripped loose, some of the wallpaper torn to shreds. But she was the only living soul in the room. Hell, even the bodies she'd seen strewn throughout the mansion earlier had disappeared.

"The clock…" she murmured, turning to look about the room. She found the standing grandfather clock set against a wall between two large windows. "What the…?" The hands had stopped moving at the strike of midnight. Aside from that, nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Perplexed, Merida took a few cautious steps forward. There was no door, unless one counted the glass protecting the clock face and pendulums.

She bit her lip. One could close a door. But what was she supposed to do about a broken clock?

"Nae… it couldn't be that easy." She glowered at the clock. But… it was true the trouble had started when the clock struck midnight, and now it was stuck at the hour. It felt like hours had passed, but as she thought about it, she could not be sure how much time it actually was.

"All right. This better work…" She mumbled and straightened her hat before she glared at the antique and focused her powers on reviving it. She felt strange directing her energy into it, as if something was resisting her interference. But with one final push, the secondhand wriggled back to life and slowly began to circle around the clockface. The witch grew especially hopeful as it neared the Roman numeral 'X'. Ten… nine… eight…

Merida blinked and held her breath.

…five… four… three…

"Please work," she whispered.

Two… one.

The moment the minute hand moved, a vibrant gleam filled the room. Merida cried out and shielded her eyes as the light soon took up the entire ballroom and kept expanding, shortly followed by a ringing and roaring which hurt her ears.

Just when her head was beginning to feel like it would split from the noise, everything abruptly went silent and dim. Merida blinked, her eyes adjusting to the lighting in the room. There were a few groans and gasps from the floor around her. As she looked around, she spotted several people slowly stirring from what looked to be accidental naps.

"What the hell did they put in that punch?" a gentleman dressed like a pirate asked as he brought one fake hook-hand up to his head and scratched his bushy dark hair.

"Right? I had the weiiirdest dream!" someone else said. The woman looked up at Merida, who was smiling like an absolute fool. "Are you okay, miss?"

The witch nodded, chuckling like a madwoman.

"Never better!" she said.

The death-grip loosened from Anna's neck, and a scream jolted her awake. Her eyelids snapped open. She found Elsa staring at her, horrified. "Are you all right?! What was I…?! Anna, I'm so sorry! I don't know what I was—"

Anna put one hand up, using her other to rub at her sore neck. She opened her mouth, though she was surprised she still had a voice. "I hear they spiked the punch," she joked weakly.

Elsa giggled, but Anna could see the water in her eyes. Lights were coming back on in the windows of the mansion. She looked past her sister, grateful that Merida had been successful.

The door to the mansion opened, and Anna half-expected Merida to walk out. Instead, it was a livelier version of Kristoff. Anna hesitated when he stepped out, waiting for his gaze to halt in recognition when he spotted her with Elsa. "Oh, there you are!" he waved.

Anna flashed him a nervous grin. While she was happy to see him back to normal, she didn't think she'd be able to rid herself of the memory of him biting that old woman. Not for a long while, anyway.

"What's with you?" he asked as he approached the two sisters, noting the uncomfortable vibe from Anna. "You look like you've seen a ghost. Augh…" He suddenly grabbed at his stomach.

Elsa put a hand on Kristoff's shoulder, her brow furrowed. "Are you okay?"

Kristoff grimaced but managed to nod. "Yeah, my stomach's just a little off… I think I'll head home. You guys have a ride?"

Anna thought of Merida and nodded. Kristoff looked relieved and waved before he ambled down the driveway in search of his car.

"What happened to that girl? Merida, was it?" Elsa asked.

"Oh. I think she's still inside…"

Anna gently took her sister by the arm and started to lead the way back into the house. So far it seemed like she was the only one who remembered the events from the evening. As she closed the door behind them, she decided that this was not entirely a bad thing. Neither Kristoff nor Elsa would be able to handle the guilt. She bumped into her sister as she turned in the direction of the ballroom, seeing that Elsa had stopped short in front of someone.

Hans?

Anna looked up in surprise. She'd forgotten about him. He smiled a bit awkwardly and then hurried past the two of them. Anna turned to watch him go, surprised he hadn't said anything.

"Was it just me or did he seem… scared?" she said. When she looked at Elsa again, she was startled by the stern look on her face. Her eyes only softened when she met Anna's gaze.

"Well, he should be. I um… may have had words with him."

Anna tilted her head, confused. "When would you have had the time to… wait, what?"

Elsa dropped her gaze, looking a bit guilty.

"Elsa… what do you mean you had words with him?"

Exasperated, her older sister crossed her arms. "He's… he's a flirt, Anna. I saw him around the office, hitting on other girls when the two of you were going out. I had a talk with him, and—"

"…and he ghosted me because you scared him off?" Anna interrupted, pleased to see Elsa squirm with guilt. But she sighed as she took in the new information.

"I'm sorry," Elsa said. She was back to looking at her feet.

Anna wrapped one arm around her sister and started to guide her back to the ballroom. "I'm not mad," she said.

"You're not?"

Truthfully, she wasn't.

"I mean… I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't meddle in my dating life, going forward," Anna began. She felt Elsa tense up, and she gave her a reassuring hug as they entered the ballroom. Merida spotted them from across the room and began to move toward them. "But… Hans didn't even try to fight for me or clarify things. He was a coward." Still, she couldn't deny to herself the longing she felt by just thinking about said coward. They'd had some good times.

In a gesture most unlike herself, Merida squealed when she reached them. Then, throwing an arm around Anna, she exclaimed, "Oy! We did it!"

"You did it!" Anna corrected her.

"Did what?" Elsa asked, clearly perplexed by how close her sister had grown to the witch in the short time they'd been at the party.

Anna cleared her throat. "Uh… found you. Yeah. I was looking for you earlier. You went off somewhere. Um. Nothing."

Elsa narrowed her eyes for a moment, looking from Merida to Anna with third-degree scrutiny. Then, she shrugged. "Whatever. I'm parched. Do either of you want punch?"

"NO!" both girls yelled in unison, startling Elsa so much that she shrieked.

"Okay, okay! I get it, no punch! You weirdoes!" The demoness shook her head in bewilderment before she excused herself to go get her drink. This left Anna and Merida giggling to themselves, free to appreciate the fruits of their efforts.

"Everything back to the normal then," Merida observed.

"Yeah.. and to think, back to work tomorrow. You said you're in accounting, right?" Anna asked as she recalled bits of their conversation from the start of the evening. Merida nodded, distracted by a band of knights in armor doing the electric slide. She snorted in amusement and followed Anna further away from the dance floor, lest they be dragged into the activity.

"Aye. It's boring, but it pays the bills. For now!" She winked. "I'm thinking of getting into the occult."

This time, Anna snorted. She was sure neither one of them wanted anything to do with the occult after that evening.

"Help!" someone cried, dashing between the two friends. "Help, she's after me!"

Anna stumbled forward as her cousin's boyfriend Eugene knocked past her. He paused and turned, squawking in alarm when he saw whoever pursued him was much closer to catching him than he thought. He quickly adjusted his sparkly crown and then sprinted forward into the mass of dancers on the ballroom floor.

"What the—" Merida was interrupted as a blonde chef paused between her and Anna. She looked at both of them and smiled as she quietly shook a cleaver at them. Merida and Anna both yelped, which made Rapunzel giggle before she tore off toward the dancers in search of her boyfriend.

When the blonde was gone, Merida and Anna relaxed somewhat, chuckling over their own jumpiness.

"I may have some punch after all," Anna decided after a moment.

"Aye, let's! We deserve it!" Merida agreed.

Together, they shuffled off in the direction Elsa had gone, hoping they'd eventually forget about the curse on Venger Estate.

A/N: The end!

Honestly, I know this is not my best work, but it was fun to just run with a prompt.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! It helped me focus on completing this… once I finally had time to. 😊