This is a prequel to my fanfiction "Anna in Storybrooke." One thing that they never mentioned in the story arc, what I wanted to know is: what made Gerda change. I could understand her realizing what she did was wrong after so many years, but the fact that just before she wrote the note she was trying to take Elsa's powers says something else. So here is what I think we should have seen in a flash back.
The Enchanted forest, Rumplestiltskin's castle, 30+ years ago. Two strangers ride up to the gates on horses. One is a woman with red hair, the other is a man with a mustache. The woman had been there once before, so she knew what they were doing.
"Are you sure we're doing the right thing?"]
"We need to help Elsa, this man didn't help me before, but he will now"
The two people entered the castle door, went up the stairs finally coming to the door. Opening it they found a room filled with probably magical artifacts: a hat, a sword, a suit of armor and many other wonders. In the middle there was a table and a large chair. Sitting in it was a strange man drinking tea, he had a grossly yellow scaly complexion and was wearing brown tanned jacket.
"Ahh" the strange man said in a high pitched voice "princess Gerda of Arendelle"
"It's QUEEN now, Rumplestiltskin"
"Yes, I saw your little shenanigan in my crystal ball after I gave you the urn, I must say, even for a guy like me that was cruel."
"What is he talking about? What urn?" the man asked
"Nothing! I did what I needed to do. But now we have another problem. Our eldest daughter Elsa, has ice powers."
"Would you like another urn?"
"NO!"
"What urn?"
"We want you to give us a way to take away her powers. And I don't mean gloves, I mean really take away her powers."
"We'll, you two must be really scared of her"
"No, it's not that it's...We love our daughter very much"
"It's just that this...power she has is dangerous. And it hasn't made her own life any better as a result"
"She nearly killed her sister and now she is too scared to go anywhere near her, she's completely isolated"
"We know it sounds drastic but it is the only sure way to make sure Elsa doesn't hurt anyone"
"We actually think it may be good for our daughter to be..normal"
"Normal? We'll I think there might be something that I can do." Rumplestiltskin conjured up a diamond pendant "this is a special pendent, used in a magical realm called Oz, witches wear these pendants to increase their power."
"How does that help us!?"
"It does so by absorbing the magic inside it to amplify it. Once it is removed, your daughters powers will be taken with it"
"We'll take it"
"Not so fast. I require a trade"
"What do you want, our belts this time?"
"Hows about..one magic enhancing item for another"
Rumplestiltskin moved towards the end of the room, removed a sheet from his mirror and waved his hand over it. Looking into it, the king and queen saw a scorched forest with a single tree still burning, just over it was a dark castle.
"This land was once a great forest, where many villagers lived, everyone was happy, until one day it was attacked by a fearsome dragon that was so terrible that they named her..Maleficent. The dragon burnt the entire town to dust in a single minute save this one tree that's still on fire. She was so terrifying that the king offered 300 pounds of gold to any man or his sons hand in marriage to any woman who managed to defeat the dragon. So a young peasant woman named Blair Rose studied magic, learned how to craft a transfiguration potion and fed it to the dragon. Transforming Maleficent from a fearsome reptile, to a beautiful woman"
"Good for her, what do you want from us"
"After Maleficent was defeated, she decided to have her revenge. She spent years hoarding dark magic, gaining immortality, vast power, even the ability to turn back into dragon form. And placed a curse on Blair Rose to sleep for a hundred years."
"You want the curse?"
"Part of the reason she accumulated so much power was because she has a staff carved from enchanted wood. Bring it to me"
"Wait are you sure..."
Before they could argue any more, Rumplestiltskin sent them away in a puff of smoke. They were inside the castle itself. The home of the most terrifying being in the enchanted forest, second only to Rumplestiltskin.
"We'll, I think it's too late to turn back now"
"So what was that man talking about? What urn?"
"Doesn't matter, what matters is that we help Elsa"
"Have you been through something like this before."
"I made business with Rumplestiltskin once, it didn't work out for me"
"And..."
"Nothing"
"Gerda, I know that look, and if we are going to face off a dragon then you should tell me why we are really doing all of this"
"Yes tell him.." an unfamiliar voice called to them, it sounded feminine but had a deeper tone, turning around they saw an angry woman in a black robe staring at them. She had a head piece that resembled horns and a staff with a dragon statue on it.
"And then you can tell me why you are in my home!"
"You must be Maleficent. My name is King Kai and this is Queen Gerda, we hail from Arrendel. We have come here for the utmost importance"
"I don't care you're trespassing and do you know what I do to trespassers?"
"Wait wait!"
Maleficent raised her staff and placed it back on the ground, a cloud of black smoke formed around her. It grew bigger and bigger, inside the royal couple could see what looked like wings and horns. The smoke cleared, and there stood Maleficent, now a gigantic dragon
"Oh my!"
Maleficent roared, breathing fire at the couple. They ran but Maleficent trailed behind them. They went up the stairs of the large castle and made their way to a hall of doorways. Then the queen pulled out a small bag from her side pouch.
"What is that?"
"I knew something like this might happen, magic is dangerous, so I went to the rock trolls and they gave me some sleeping dust"
The angry dragon raised her neck, the queen was eye level with the beast, she grabbed a handful of dust and threw it at Maleficent. The dragon then returned to human form and collapsed on the ground.
"Quick, now let's get the staff"
"Great now we can give this to Rumplestiltskin for the pendant."
"But how will we get Elsa to put it on"
"She feels the same way about her powers as we do, she will comply"
"Does she, or have we just convinced her so"
"Why are you suddenly questioning this, you've always listened to me about Elsa's powers"
"Well considering we just went up against a real monster I am starting to question my judgement. But maybe I won't if you just tell me what is really going on"
"Alright, you deserve to know. I have been keeping secrets from you, about my past may family. The truth is that I am not the rightful heir to the throne, I have-had a older sister, two actually."
"You have two sisters!? But they were never mentioned by your father or on the family tree"
"Yes, we'll i'm getting to that. My Eldest sister, Ingrid, like Elsa had ice powers. And she was the same way Elsa is now, alone, scared had little control of her powers, and one day she completely lost it and killed our sister Helga."
"What happened after that?"
"When I saw what happened, I believed that Ingrid couldn't control herself, that she was a danger to everyone else around her and that she would hurt me too. And I did two things that I have thought about everyday since. I trapped her in a magical urn then hid her away in the north valley. Then I went to the rock trolls and had them erase memory of Ingrid and Helga"
"How could you do that?"
"I reacted out of fear, I have often wondered whether I made the right choice, but I can't risk freeing her now. She would be so mad and life has gone forward without her, if she were freed, I don't know what would happen."
"And the memories"
"Two lost princesses would have been a lot for my parents and the rest of Arendelle to handle. I carry this crystal around as a reminder why we have to help Elsa, we cannot risk the same thing happening to her"
"What's so special about this crystal?"
"It contains the memories of my sisters that I stole from the people of Arendelle and the Duke of Weselton"
"Weselton?"
"Yes, he was in Arendelle at the time to be engaged to my sister Helga"
"I am interested in learning about them may I see the crystal?"
"Sure"
The queen handed her husband the crystal, he touched it and he saw all the memories of the three sisters. He saw the three of them running in the fields as children, the day Ingrid's powers emerged and she saved Gerda and Helga from a horrible man. He saw his wife and deceased sister in law cheer an adult Ingrid up when she was upset, and then the last meeting that Ingrid ever had with the Duke. One that surprised him greatly.
"What is it?"
"My dear, you should see the Duke's memories"
"Why?"
"Just trust me"
Queen Gerda did as she was asked and touched the crystal herself. And she saw what happened the day Helga had died.
Ingrid was sitting in the gardens, alone with the urn in her hands, then the Duke approached her. Then she saw the Duke, the man engaged to her sister try to kiss Ingrid even after she was saying No No and blasted him back with magic. The Duke freaked out, when Helga arrived the Duke lied and said Ingrid tried to kiss her first and then tried to murder him, but Helga saw through his lies and dumped him. In response the Duke became angry and threatened to expose Ingrid and lock her away forever. She looked at Ingrid's face going from sad to angry as the Duke continued to insult her, call her a monster and threaten to lock her away. Then Ingrid got mad, went to blast the Duke, probably just enough to trap him in ice, but he cowardly used Helga as a human shield and ran away as Helga crumbled to ice cubes. The last thing that Gerda dared watch was Ingrid crying over her sisters frozen corse.
"I can't believe it. All these years I have been mad at her, afraid of her, and It wasn't even her fault. Oh no what have I done?"
"You didn't know"
"Ingrid told me it was an accident, that she was trying to stop the Duke but I didn't listen. I called her a monster and I trapped her away! She has been trapped in urn for over a decade now and It is all my fault."
"Honey, I know this is going to sound crazy to you, but I don't think we should go through with the plan"
"No, your right. That accident happened because I didn't accept my sister for who she was, if we do the same thing to Elsa.. that is going to make history repeat itself, not magic, not ice, US."
"So what do we do?"
"First we get out of here before Maleficent wakes up. Then we tell Elsa and Anna everything, actually fix their relationship."
"And then?"
"Then I make things right with Ingrid"
"She has been trapped for a long time, what if she is angry?"
"She would be right to be, but I have to release her, to tell her I am sorry."
Later, Maleficent wakes up in her castle, the two strangers are gone but her staff remains.
"Nobody escapes me!"
Maleficent makes her way up the stairs, to the top of her tower and waves her staff in the air. Clouds form and it begins to rain, and then, lightning. The cloud begins to move south and Maleficent speaks to it.
"Find them, find the king and queen. THEN KILL THEM!"
