There's a Mother Full of Memory

(A/N: Bit of a potential trigger warning for this chapter.)

Hans had boarded Jurgen's ship, travelling with his sibling back across the sea to Arendelle. It looked peaceful from here, as they drew near to her shores. Like nothing evil had ever befallen it… Hans swallowed at the memory of Kai dying in his arms. He let out a shaking breath, bowing his head low and squeezing his eyes shut.

Xe, as expected, had parted their company with his crew about part way through their voyage to go to his hideout, wherever it was. Either he would release the prisoners, or take the men he knew hadn't touched them and leave the offending men to their fates. As they pulled into the harbor and docked, they found the village filled with troops from the Southern Isles, all masquerading as citizens returned to their homes. The actual citizens who lived in these places may not be too thrilled about it when they learned strangers had stayed in their houses, but they had little cause for complaint given what it was those strangers were going to do for them. In their company were the princes and King of the Southern Isles, the latter of which had undoubtedly left his eldest son in charge in his absence. Get the boy prepared for his eventual kingship. There also they found the Knights of the Round Table, or most of them, gathered in conference with the princes and king, going over defense strategies and other plans. Three of those knights were men Hans and Jurgen had yet to meet.

"Caleb," Hans said, approaching the table with Jurgen and the knights. They all looked over. Kay walked ahead of the others, crossing swiftly over to the rest of the newly arrived knights and embracing each one fondly. Each one returned the gesture in kind with shaking breaths.

Caleb glanced at the reunion, then turned to Hans. "This new selection is a surprising array, I admit," he said to Hans and Jurgen.

"Who are they?" Jurgen questioned, eyeing the ones they hadn't met yet up.

Caleb looked over at them again. "They are King Galehaut of Sorelais, Sir Tristan de Lyons, Prince Meleagant of Hellus and Gore, and Sir Bleoberis de Gannes or Ganis," he answered.

Jurgen let out a low whistle. "Those are some pretty big names," he remarked. "Tristan more than the other three, but still. Kind of weirdly chosen, though. What purpose are the likes of Meleagant and Bleoberis supposed to serve? Didn't Meleagant make himself an enemy of the Round Table at some point?"

"Far as we understand it, it's complicated," Calcas replied, arms crossed and lips pursed a bit distrustfully. "That's about all they've said when quizzed on the matter."

"Kay mentioned something about Meleagant being chosen for Dr. Jekyll's sake, but he didn't explain why," Hans said.

"Guess we'll find out. Hopefully we don't find out in a bad way," Calcas replied, looking back to Hans.

"Here, here," Jurgen dryly agreed.

The knights turned attention to them once more, after finishing their brief reunion, and Lot stepped forward, eyes narrowed at Hans. "My daughter?" he asked, stopping just short of the young king.

"You know what happened to your daughter," Hans replied. At least he was pretty sure the guy had been informed somehow. A dark look stormed in the king's eyes. Alexander's gaze was fixed on the plans they'd all been going over, a deadly determination reflected in his eyes. His fingers dug into the table like a vice. It seemed the once-Emperor didn't dare turn his wrathful eyes in any other direction. "Where's Mordred?" Hans asked.

"Back home under the guardianship of Mabon," Lot answered. He returned to the plans, scanning them once more. "They took my daughter as spoils of the battle," he darkly noted.

"Yes," Hans said.

"They are depraved men?" Lot said.

"Yes," Hans replied.

"Then there is no hope they haven't touched her…" Lot murmured. Alexander drew a hissing, deep breath and let it out in a stream of air that shuddered with his silent wrath. Silence for a moment. No one spoke. It hadn't been a question. They let Lot digest the matter for himself a while. "They will pay in blood," the king finally determined. Alexander practically snarled at the statement, and Hans completely got why. If such a thing ever happened to Elsa? Blood would bathe the cave red, and he'd be the cause of it.

"No one here will stop you," Hans said. Lot nodded then stood up straight, marching away. Alexander grabbed one of the plans and followed, checking his blade briefly. "Swords won't work against guns!" Hans called after them.

"Don't bank on it," Lot answered. Nonetheless, the two of them grabbed a couple of the weapons from a weapon display, so Hans and Jurgen assumed they had been taught how to wield them at least basically.

"You two shouldn't go alone," Bedivere called after them.

"Oh yes we should!" Alexander testily and sharply answered. Bedivere rolled his eyes hopelessly.

"Are you actually concerned they won't be able to handle it?" Iscawin asked.

"Guns aren't weapons any of us are familiar with or have any experience fighting," Bedivere said. "I'm more concerned than I would otherwise be, but not enough to bother arguing with them."

"What's happened in our absence?" Hans asked, joining them at the table.

"Groups of evil sprites slipping in to scout things out. Most of them don't make it out alive, unless we let them. They come sporadically, but their frequency had started to increase a bit before it suddenly stopped altogether. That tells us that the next wave that comes might be the whole one, or at least a good chunk of them," Caleb answered. "We're prepped and ready to fend it off, but an offensive isn't in the cards. I'm leaving that call to Elsa."

"Good," Jurgen said. "She'll handle it, don't worry about that. In the meantime, there's… there's a matter we need to talk about. Pertaining to Mor'du and to Hans and the mirror." Their siblings looked over at them quickly. Hans and Jurgen's body language told them it wasn't something to be held off.

"Very well," Caleb relented, standing up straight. "We'll talk in the palace." Hans and Jurgen nodded in agreement and the thirteen siblings of the Southern Isles left the defense of the kingdom to their men and the knights.

"What's their performance like?" Jurgen asked, genuinely interested.

"They run circles around us," Kelin-Sel answered with a wry smirk. "It's weird, not being the best."

"I don't like it. Or them," Runo bitterly grumbled. "They suck."

"Not sure any of us like it," Rudi dryly stated. If you weren't the best, it meant you lost. Loosing wasn't something the Southern Isles did with any amount of grace.

Frozen

Elsa stared at the Ice Maiden solemnly, sitting straight and looking stern and as composed as she could pretend to be. Anna looked stunned, lips parted in disbelief as she tried to process what her sister had revealed in conference with the woman. A conference only she, Elsa, and said Ice Maiden were privy to. "Is it true?" Elsa finally asked, when the Ice Maiden hadn't answered he question for a long time. "Is it?" Elsa repeated. Silence, the maiden staring stonily at them. "Was our mother… your sister?" she asked in a whispered breath, some of her composure slipping.

Silence. "Yes," the Maiden finally answered in a dark tone. "Oh yes… My little half-sister." Now it was Anna and Elsa's turn to be silent, Anna letting out a shaking breath.

"And Gale. The North Wind. He is Ullr, the god of winter, and he's the 'air' whose daughter you were… And mother…" Elsa finally said.

"Yes," the Maiden answered.

"So you knew what we were to you?" Elsa finally asked. "The whole time?"

"Yes," the Ice Maiden answered quietly. She met their eyes. "But it doesn't matter anymore. It hasn't for a long time… I was never extremely close with your mother, so many years separated us. I never had much chance to be her sister or companion, and there were… things that happened further that put a strain on the relationship besides, but that isn't important anymore. What's important is our acting to save your nation. The sooner we do so, the better. My father… your grandfather… is already ahead of us…"

"No. No, this isn't something you can just brush off!" Anna said. "You can't-you can't just brush this off." Her voice broke a bit. She hated that it had.

The Ice Maiden was silent, glaring at the ground in frustration. "That's why Gale loved our mother so much…" Elsa quietly said.

"It broke him, when she was taken from us… It broke me too, though I tried to deny it. We were never close, but she was still my sister… I still loved her all the same…" the Ice Maiden hollowly said. "Then she was gone, not necessarily dead, just gone, and it didn't matter anymore. She never spoke about me, or about our father. If she did, it was only in generic, broad sense. There was no point in making myself known to the two of you. Appearing out of thin air wielding the same powers as Elsa, or similar ones, without any explanation except 'I'm the sister your mother never told you about'? I don't think so."

"You realize how creepy it makes it that you went after my then fiancé?" Elsa wryly asked, a dry, humorless smirk parting her lips as she tried to insert some sort of humor into this whole scenario.

"Your husband was a stud," the Ice Maiden replied, smirking herself at the darkly humorous nature of the matter. "A catch of a lifetime. I might have even enjoyed him. At least more than I enjoyed others I was tasked to seduce."

"Getting weird and annoying now," Elsa said, frowning at the woman unimpressed. Anna let out a little laugh, though, so she guessed that bought Greta some leniency.

Silence again. "So what now?" Anna finally asked.

"Me and Elsa save Arendelle from certain destruction," she replied. "You and Kristoff and… and Thord… move the Northuldra back home. When word arrives from those who will be the final line of defense, the ones fighting off whatever remnant escapes Elsa and me, then it will be safe for us to return. Doubtless Elsa and I will be back before that letter arrives and be waiting for it with you. We won't be gone overly long. It won't take much, for how stupid a move Carabis has made."

"Not that… This," Anna said, circling her hand to encompass all three of them.

Silence. "We navigate it as we must," the Ice Maiden finally replied. "For now, I take unkindly to Carabis intruding on my domain and menacing yours."

"Then let's go," Elsa said, standing up. "The sooner we drive back or destroy the bulk of Carabis' forces, the better." Greta and Anna rose as well, and the three together left the tent, determination in their eyes, only to freeze and stare in disbelief at the sight before them. Thord, charismatic as ever, giving winning grins to all the Northuldra swarming him and waving bits of currency or items in his face. The three women frowned, unimpressed.

"Thord, no! We talked about this!" Anna protested.

He winced, glancing over, then grinned and shrugged sheepishly before turning attention back to the swarming villagers. Elsa sighed, face-palming and shaking her head. The Ice Maiden watched the scene dully. Thord had wasted little time in bragging about how he'd resisted the call of Ahtohallan to everyone who would listen, and Elsa knew the sly devil had made himself a lucrative little side business of going down and getting the answers to questions or memories various villagers desired to have and were willing to pay for. She and Anna had both called him out, but once a cad always a cad, he'd claimed. Right along with 'once a thief always a thief', to both of their agitation. The man abused his talent, Elsa bitterly thought. It was going to backfire one day.

"Of all the people to be able to resist the call of the river, why him?" she asked the Ice Maiden and Anna in exasperation, gesturing to the man hopelessly. She half suspected it was only a matter of time before he started charging her and Anna a fee too.

"Why indeed?" the Ice Maiden somewhat coldly and dully answered. They looked curiously at her but decided not to ask about why she seemed so… disenchanted with the man. Shrugging it off, they headed down. The Ice Maiden stayed put.

Thord caught them coming and broke away from the crowds with a self-satisfied smile, ego more than a little stroked at their admiring, wonder-filled gazes. "This is great," he said with a snicker.

"Thord's so popular!" Olaf said, pointing at Thord. He'd been following him constantly as of late. "And he knows so much stuff. He's answering all sorts of my questions! Like how he dealt with the fading visage of innocence as he aged, and like how the baby came out of Elsa's stomach! And how it got there in the first place." Both sisters looked vaguely appalled, grimacing in a measure of disgust and embarrassment. "Yeah… It was something. Can't say I understand it, or get the appeal, but yeah…" The sisters gave their cousin accusing looks.

"What? He wouldn't let it go! I had to shut him up somehow," Thord defended. "Boy did that ever shut him up. Anyway, I'm thinking of heading into Ahtohallan again."

"For what? It's not worth the risk, Thord. Oh who am I kidding? Is it even a risk anymore for you at this point?" Elsa asked with a sigh.

"Practice makes perfect," he answered, sounding all too up-beat. "Listen, I've gone down there like a hundred times, cuz. I'm fine," he added, smirking wickedly. She gave an exasperated sigh, rolling her eyes. "What? I'll be back in an hour, maybe two."

"You know, if you told us the secret to resisting the call, we could go with you and make sure you stayed okay," Anna said.

"Yeah, no," he answered. He pointed at Elsa. "New mommy. Not worth the risk." He looked at Elsa this time. "Baby's crying, by the way."

"I hear him," Elsa said, heading off. "Do whatever you want, Thord. Just make sure you come back. The sooner the better. I need to make for the Kaskadar Mountains as soon as possible and would appreciate the opportunity to say goodbye before I leave."

"You think it's dangerous?" Thord asked worriedly, frowning a bit.

"No, it won't even necessarily be much of a challenge, but just in case. Besides, I… I don't know if I'll come back from them… Maybe to say goodbye or to help settle the Northuldra back into their village, but the sooner I return home to Arendelle and Hans, the better I'll feel."

"Your home is here," Yelana, nearby, remarked.

"My home, for now, is in Arendelle with my family," she answered. "One day I'll make my home here again… But until then, I belong in my kingdom."

"Very well… Good luck, Queen Elsa," Yelana said.

Elsa nodded to the woman and hurried to fetch her infant. Thord watched after her with a worried frown, then sighed and turned to Anna. "Want to come?" he asked, noticing her mildly perturbed look that she wasn't being involved in Elsa and the Ice Maiden's little venture.

"Really?" she asked, perking up a bit.

"Stay by me and you'll be fine," Thord assured.

"Okay!" Anna eagerly replied, grinning. She hurried to catch up to him, leaving Kristoff flustered and nervous. "Uh…" Kristoff began.

"They'll be alright," Gerda reassured, holding Baby Gerda close and rocking her gently, a smile on her lips. Kristoff relaxed a bit, though still seemed uneasy with this turn of events. Elsa, meanwhile, was undoubtedly preparing to leave with the Ice Maiden, probably fretting over whether to bring her baby along or leave him behind. Either choice might end in disaster. It was a question of which option was less likely to be disastrous, so odds were she'd choose to leave him with them, now that Carabis had vacated the forest and Xe as well.

Frozen

Anna and Thord moved into the depths. "It's so cold," Anna remarked, rubbing her arms and looking uneasily around. But it was so beautiful too. The creepy vibe she'd been starting to get from it had dissipated with Hans' leaving, which was a little upsetting because it drove home just how despised his presence had been here, or rather the mirror's, but at least now things seemed to be calming down with the place.

"Yeah, I know," Thord replied. "I'm probably coming down with something. Honeymaren promised stew when I got back though, so hopefully that will help fend it off."

Anna smirked a bit mischievously. "She likes you," she sang, poking him gently. He gave her an annoyed frown. "And you like her," Anna sang, poking him again.

"Knock it off. We get along. Big deal," he replied.

"You want to love her and kiss her," Anna sang teasingly, purposely trying to get under his skin now.

"Oh for the love of… I regret bringing you! Stop being such a child, Anna. What are you, seven?" Thord bit in agitated annoyance. Anna laughed at how easily she was riling him up. "Just shut up!" He stopped, looking around. "This is where we start to look," he said.

"You know, if you keep taking advantage of it like this, it's going to stop helping you," she remarked more seriously.

He frowned at her then seemed to consider her words. Hmm. Maybe he should cut back a bit after all… "Fine. I'll lay off for a bit. It's just it's been so weirdly cooperative with me. Probably letting that get to my head, though," he said. He began to walk along the icy walls, looking into them or peering at potential reflections. He paused, frowning.

"What is it?" Anna asked.

"I… don't know. For the first time I'm not certain," he said. "That's… not a good thing. I've been getting by, by focusing on a goal. A memory or answer I want specifically. Coming down without one? That was the mistake Elsa and Hans made. It's not one I'm keen to repeat."

"Should we go back?" Anna asked.

"Yeah. Maybe. Sorry about that. I'll bring you down when I have a more specific goal in mind, but for now better safe than sorry," he said.

"Wait! I know a memory we can search for," Anna said.

"Really?" he asked.

"You!" she said. "You and your link to us. Where you stand in the family tree, how you're tied to us… You can be the memory we're looking for!"

Thord shifted. "I'm… not sure I'm all that keen to know," he answered.

"No matter how distant you might be, you're still our cousin," Anna said, resting a hand on his arm with a reassuring smile.

"I… Okay," he finally relented with a sigh. He started down again with Anna trotting along at his side, obviously pleased with herself for her solution. He wasn't sure how thrilled he was about it, but… he was a little curious."

Frozen

They walked down deep into the river. He stopped them at the precipice of the river's sound, peering down into the blackness. It morbidly fascinated him, he'd admit, but not nearly enough to convince him to answer the call and dive deeper. He turned instead, walking towards the icy walls. Anna looked around and gasped when she saw a memory forming nearby, heart immediately clenching in longing and a sadness. "Mom? Dad?" she said, approaching said memory carefully.

"Darling, I've been thinking," Queen Iduna said, holding her husband's hands. Anna gasped, covering her mouth. Hearing her mother's voice again... She felt tears pricking at her eyes. "It might be time to tell Anna about Elsa. I can't bear keeping her shut out anymore. She's maturing now. She can be responsible."

"It's not Anna I'm worried about," her father gently argued. "What if we let them get close again and the feelings are too much for Elsa? Joy brings her powers out as strongly as fear."

"But if anyone can find a way to help her, it's Anna," Iduna replied, pulling away though still holding one of his hands.

"You may be right about that," he said with a smile. "There's not much that girl can't do."

"Her love could hold up the world," Iduna tenderly said, eyes filled with love as she seemed to stare right at her youngest daughter. Tears slipped down Anna's cheeks.

"Lucky for the world," Agnarr gently said, drawing his wife back to him. "Okay. We'll tell her when we return." Iduna let out a soft sigh, leaning against his chest lovingly.

Anna reached out longingly to the figures, a lump forming in her throat, and stepped towards it.

"Anna!" a voice called firmly and sharply. She gasped, turning. Thord was watching her carefully. She looked back and her parents' visages faded away into flakes, blowing into the sound. She let out a breath, bowing her head. She heard Thord approaching. He took her hand gently. "Come on," he urged in a murmur. She nodded and let him lead her away from the edge of the sound, back towards the icy walls. Reaching them, he placed a hand on them. "You know what I'm searching for," he said to it like it could understand his words. "Show me."

Frozen

Almost immediately the river bean to creak and groan. Chips of ice started to fly around, swirling up into images playing out a memory in front of them like it was an act. A house in a tiny village high in the mountains. Thord frowned a bit. "That's my home," he said. "Well, my parents' home." A woman was screaming inside. Labor pains, he and Anna guessed. Eventually the screaming stopped. Silence a long moment before a grieved cry ripped from the lips of the woman inside. Thord winced. "One of mother's stillbirths," he murmured by way of explanation to Anna. "Either the one before or after me, I'd guess." Silence fell, only muffled sobbing heard from inside the house. A figure walked passed them, suddenly, covered in a cloak that hid her face. Thord and Anna started. In the figure's arms was a newborn baby.

"Who's that?" Anna asked.

Thord was tense, watching the scene. "I… I don't know," he answered in disbelief. He hurried to catch up to the figure and tried to peer into her face, but he couldn't make it out. He looked at the baby curiously and gasped, freezing.

"Thord?" Anna asked in concern, hurrying towards him. He looked shocked. Shaken. "Thord?" she asked again, putting a hand on his shoulder and shaking it a bit. He shook his head and looked to her quickly then back at the figure. The woman stopped outside the door, listening at it, then finally bent down and placed the infant in front of it. Thord's lips slowly parted. Anna saw him breaking into a cold sweat. "Thord!" she insisted, shaking a little harder. Thord slammed his mouth shut, watching as the woman hurried away into the night at a run after knocking on the door.

"Anna?" he tightly said. Anna worriedly looked at him. "That… that baby is me," he said, voice barely a squeak. Anna started and gasped, looking quickly over in disbelief. She stepped towards the scene. Thord was still frozen in place. Anna approached carefully and peered down at the infant. It had her cousin's features. The door opened, a man looking like he'd been weeping answering the door. "That's my father," Thord said, coming quickly alongside Anna. The man stared down at the baby on the doorstep like it was a miracle or a gift from the gods. He let out a cry of disbelief, kneeling quickly and scooping it up, cradling it in his arms. He looked back inside of the house and quickly hurried back into it.

The scene changed to the inside, where a woman sat on the bed cradling a dead baby against her chest, teeth clenched in grief. The man entered with the newborn in his arms and sat next to her. She gasped. He explained the situation quietly. The woman's mouth wobbled. "Then the two of us together have been forsaken," she hollowly answered her husband, reaching out and taking the child from his grasp as the doctor removed her dead baby from her arms. "So together we will share in our wretchedness. Perhaps there is yet light to be found in it all…" She pressed the babe to her breast and began to nurse him. She spoke no words further than that. Her husband stayed at her side, holding her close, and stared in grief at his dead child while gently stroking the skin of the living one.

Anna, mouth agape in shock, looked to Thord quickly. He looked completely torn apart as he stared. The scene changed to some time later. The baby, Thord, was still an infant, but at least a few weeks if not months must have passed since he had been taken in.

"We should contact your queen cousin," the husband said, sitting at the table with his wife as she focused on nursing the child. "Surely someone is bound to know who the poor wretch's mother is and why she left him. Iduna could help us with that. I have no intentions of giving him up, darling, but I would at least like to know the reason he was abandoned. The Umbilical cord was still attached, for goodness sakes! He couldn't' have been but a few hours old! If the mother is in dire straights, perhaps we can help her. Perhaps she didn't want to give him up but had to. We could bring her into her house, welcome her into the family, let her spend time with her babe. All three of us will then have our joy in him," he reasoned.

"Or his mother was a heartless whore and abandoned her child because she could not be bothered with him," she answered.

"Or a woman disgraced who could not bear to have him," the man answered.

"If such is the case, the odds she would want to be part of his life are precious little. I will write to Iduna. She will help as best she can. But I hold no stock in us finding the boy's mother. Search if you like, but that woman is long gone. He is ours now, my love. Yours and mine. Either she does not deserve him, or it was too hard or painful for her to keep him. If you find her, by all means welcome her here if she wishes to take up your offer, but don't put your stock in it."

Thord was quiet, looking miserable. He had expected to maybe learn he was as far removed a cousin from them as he could possibly be… He had not expected to learn he wasn't their blood at all… For some reason that grieved him even more than this revelation playing out before him did… He sucked in a sharp, deep breath.

"Thord?" Anna almost timidly said. He shook his head and turned away from the memory, willing back the threatening tears. He should never have let himself get attached… "You were their child," Anna said, approaching him and placing a hand gently on his back, rubbing lightly. "Blood or not, you were their child… You're still our cousin. Even if it's through adoption rather than blood, you're still our cousin." He shook his head in denial and gritted his teeth, frustratedly wiping his hand over his eyes. "Stop. Please," Anna pled, voice breaking as tears burned her own eyes and escaped them. "You're our cousin," she reassured again, wrapping her arms around him from behind. He didn't pull away, so at least that was something. She'd feared that he would. "We should have gone back. We shouldn't have looked. I'm sorry I ever suggested it." Some memories were best left just that, it turned out.

"If she wasn't my mother, who was?" he hollowly asked. "Who was the woman who abandoned me… Why did she abandon me? Anna, I… I've never felt this lost and confused before…"

"I know," Anna said gently. "I know. We should go…"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "If the river held that memory buried within it, that answer, then maybe it holds the memory of the woman who left me behind!" He jerked away, heading towards the icy walls again and reaching for them.

"Thord!" Anna said. He paused but didn't turn. "Dive down deep into her sound, but not too far or you'll be drowned…" she softly sang. He was silent. "Resist her call. Resist it, or you'll be lost to it. Please."

Thord let out a breath, closing his eyes and pulling his hand away. Anna let out a breath of relief and went to him, leaning into his side and hugging his arm as she stared into the icy walls with him. All at once, though, a face began to appear. The both frowned, straightening up and squinting. A woman's face, they realized. Their eyes widened. The upper part was hidden in her cloak of… ice?

Suddenly the face turned to them and a dark, murderous scowl crossed its features. They gasped, falling quickly back. All at once a scream of rage seemed to echo in the cavern and the entire wall shattered outward, projectiles of ice tearing into their skin and the force of the explosion throwing them violently back. Anna and Thord both screamed. Anna hit the ground hard and slid to the edge of the sound. She felt herself going over and screamed again as she began to fall.

"Anna, no!" Thord cried out. She felt his hand seize her arm, jerking her back and throwing her away from the edge, but the momentum of the action… The inertia carried Thord over the ledge instead!

"Thord!" she screamed, reaching out for him as she flew back. She struck the ground, sliding into the icy walls, and gasped. "Thord!" she shrieked again, racing to the edge and falling at it, looking desperately over and into the blackness. She could't see him. She couldn't see! "Thord!" she screamed again, standing up and pulling at her hair in stress. "Thord, oh no, oh no. Thord, hang on! Don't go anywhere! I'm going to get help! I'm going to get you out! Just wait, please! Please… Just be okay!" She turned on her heel and started to run. "Elsa! Elsa, help!" she cried out frantically as she raced as fast as she could back the way she'd come. She knew that if she tried to go after him down there herself, she would die. Elsa wouldn't. Not if she could stay focused. Thord's only chance, at the end of the day, was Elsa and the Ice Maiden.

Frozen

When Anna arrived on the surface again, Elsa was forming the last bits of a grand ice sleigh she doubtless intended to ride with the Ice Maiden to reach the mountains. Baby Kay was cradled in the Duke of Weselton's arms, as the man looked on in concern. Kristoff stood near with Gerda, Olaf, Sven, and baby Gerda. "Elsa!" Anna cried, hurrying to reach her sister. They all turned quickly, startled by the urgency in her voice.

"Anna? "I'm leaving within the next five minutes. Where's Thord?" Elsa asked. She caught her breath, noticing something else that left her cold.

"You're bleeding," Kristoff noted immediately, paling when he saw the cuts all over his wife's face and body.

"Elsa, something happened down there, and I don't know what, but we were looking for memories, trying to figure out how Thord was related to us, and something went wrong! It went so, so wrong Elsa. The walls, they just-just shattered! The ice flew out in shards like-like shrapnel from an explosion, and there was this scream, and it threw us back and I went over the edge of the sound and was falling in, but Thord caught me and pulled me back up, but the inertia threw him over the edge and he fell, Elsa! He fell into the sound! We have to save him, we have to! He'll die down there, please!"

"Oh my gods," Elsa said in terror. She immediately raced towards the depths. "We have to hurry! He won't have much time. Greta, come on!" The Ice Maiden was still. Elsa paused only once. "Greta, hurry!" she insisted. The Ice Maiden didn't move. "Fine! Be that way! Come on Anna." Quickly she hurried down again, Anna with her. Kristoff followed them closely, leaving baby Gerda with Big Gerda. Olaf seized Sven's reigns and they also pursued the sisters into the depths. The Ice Maiden remained still, hands clasped tightly together and lips pursed before she scoffed and vanished, leaving the rest of the occupants of Ahtohallan to puzzle over what had just happened here.

Frozen

Thord lay in the sound unconscious. As he began to regain that consciousness, he winced and let out a soft groan. His eyes fluttered open, teeth clenching in pain, and slowly he looked up and around. He let out a sharp gasp. It was so dark… And so unsettlingly quiet… How long had he been down here? It couldn't have been for long. Anna probably would have gone for help, and it was icy down here, but he wasn't frozen, so at most he had to have been out maybe only a couple minutes. He sat slowly up and suddenly became aware of the cold. He shuddered and shivered, huddling against the walls and curling in on himself to try and preserve body heat. His teeth chattered relentlessly against the bitter cold. Whatever liquid was on his body was freezing over. A dripping nose? Frozen. Sweat? Frozen. Him? Soon to be frozen, if he didn't get out of here.

He lifted his head, looking for a source of light or heat or something! A source of hope, basically. There was nothing. It felt like his eyes were freezing shut every time he blinked… So this was how he was gonna die, huh? Most ironic death ever, he wryly noted. Killed by the one thing he'd so expertly avoided and never would have been killed by if not for some freak accident.

Around him the ice shards began to tremble and stir. They began to dance around and swirl in an unseen wind, and take on forms again. He watched in silence as the form of Carabis appeared first. Then of a mirror. Then of a man he hadn't seen before trapped inside of that mirror… Then of a cloaked woman he recognized immediately… His lips slowly parted. He felt the saliva in his mouth freezing but didn't even think to care. The woman who had abandoned him. His mother… A feeling of dread stirred in the pit of his stomach. She was on her knees before the evil sprite, face buried in her hands as she wept. Doubtless for the man locked in the mirror who looked out at her so desperately and fought for all he was worth to break free, screaming curses at Carabis in an faerie or jotun tongue Thord couldn't understand. He got the gist of the curses, though. They weren't pleasant ones.

"Please, please, don't do this! My love, my darling, don't do this!" the figure in the mirror screamed to the woman, raw and powerful and near hoarse like he'd been begging a long time.

"She will do whatever I please her to," Carabis darkly said, reaching out and wrapping a strand of the woman's hair around his evil finger. "You know your objective. You know what you must do… Go in to him. Don't worry. It won't be so bad… And if he seizes you, you will not struggle… All the easier to take possession of the shard again."

Thord let out a breath as the scene switched to the woman on the streets, wandering through the snow looking like a lost beggar.

"My lady, are you lost?" a man's voice asked, sounding amused. She gasped, looking over and up at a man perched high on a horse. Some nobleman or other, Thord noted. From where, goodness knew?

"I… I have lost my love… I have come here to find him," she answered. "They told me he was attached to this battalion. That they had been in a battle where many were lost. I… I just want to find him…"

"Your love, hmm?" the man mused. "Husband?"

"He will be," she answered. "He promised that when he returned, we would be married."

"How sweet of him," the man said with the tone of a deceiver. The woman wasn't convinced by it. "Come. I will help you find him," the man offered, reaching out his hand for hers.

She stared at it knowing it was a bad idea, but she reached out anyway and took hold of it because it was her duty. It was her flipping duty! Thord whispered a curse, standing up as the man drew the woman towards him and lifted her onto his horse. "Don't go," he said, like she could somehow hear. "Don't go with him!" he called out, stepping towards her and reaching out.

The scene changed, appearing deeper into the sound. He started towards it but stopped.

Dive down deep into her sound, but not too far or you'll be drowned…

He was drowning anyway though, he miserably noted to himself. He shifted and let out a sigh. No need to hurry the inevitable. He fell back against the wall, staring numbly at the scene for as long as he might have it. To his surprise, though, when it realized he wasn't following, the memory drew near once more.

"Come, my dear. My study is warm," the man cooed to the woman.

"I don't want to," she answered, not meeting the man's eyes. She knew what he was. She knew what he was and what he would do to her, but she didn't just run away because she knew she had no choice.

"I can't help you out here," he said. "Come." She was still, but finally followed. "That's better," the man cooed falsely. He closed the door behind them and locked it. She stood still, staring blankly ahead. "Now…" the man began. He started pacing around her, looking her up and down leisurely. He met her eyes again, a cruel smile pulling at his lips. "Has he had you yet, I wonder?" he asked.

"We aren't yet married," she answered.

"Still pure," the man said, sounding intrigued. He continued to pace. "What would you give? To find your betrothed again?" he asked in a growl. She was silent and still. He stopped behind her, sliding his arms around her front and toying with the fabric of her skirt. "What will you do?"

"Let go," she whispered.

"No," he darkly answered. Then she started to struggle. Then she tried to break away, turning on him and clawing frantically at his face. Then the battle was on and Thord watched in horror.

"No!" he cried out. "No, no, don't touch her! Leave her alone!" Before he knew it, he was racing towards the memory and tackling the man who had finally gotten the woman—she was his mother. She was his mother—onto the ground and pinned. The image of the man shattered and Thord gasped, staring at the fistfuls of ice he now held, panting. His heart was pounding rapidly and loudly in his chest. The memory was shattered, but it didn't change what he knew had happened back then. He closed his eyes tightly, teeth clenched. He only opened them again when the memory changed once more and he heard the sound of the woman who was his mother sobbing wretchedly, brokenly. He didn't want to look. He didn't want to see.

"Good girl," he heard the man growl, and he wanted to scream and deafen himself. He did the screaming part, an enraged shout more like it, as he pounded the ground with a fist, but he refrained from the deafening. He heard the memory of a door shutting, and heard her cry out in grief and humiliation. He sobbed and turned quickly. He saw her scrambling to her knees, gathering up her cloak and holding it over herself, head hung low and long hair draped down over a face he couldn't see as she wept for shame.

The woman staggered out of the office, humiliated and in agony. She collapsed against a wall and grimaced, gripping it tightly. She staggered her way through and out into the receiving room of the office where the man stood speaking to officers he commanded, a self-satisfied smirk on his lips. She panted for breath as all eyes went to her. "Now you are mine," she spat out. A knife of ice formed in her hand... Thord gasped with eyes widening, and all at once she was across the room almost too swiftly to comprehend, the knife plunging into the man's heart as she let out an infuriated scream. She stabbed again and again as the other men watched on in horrified shock, until his body was mangled for her savagery! Then she reached inside him and pulled from his insides a large, wickedly gleaming shard…

Thord couldn't help but wonder how much of what that man had done to his mother had been the shard and how much had been the man… It felt much better to believe the man was already a creep, even before the shard worsened him. Whether that was the actual case? He tried to banish that thought.

The men tried to seize her for her murder, but they were met by an blizzard of icy shards flying up all around her, cutting them to pieces and forcing them to fall back or die while she, her step sure and long, strode right out of the building without looking back.

Thord, eyes wide, held his breath as he watched the scene in horror. She had caused it. She had caused that blizzard. But-but how? How?! He watched the scene change again. By now he felt only numbness and chill. He couldn't feel his body… He only knew he was still unfrozen because he was vaguely aware, somewhere in his mind, that his hands were rubbing up and down his arms in a vain attempt to fend off the cold.

The woman was weeping now, racing towards… towards Ahtohallan… She didn't stop until she had reached it and fled deep into its depths. She didn't pause before she threw herself into the sound, whether in an attempt to end her life or for some other reason he wasn't sure. "Take it from me. Please, please, take my memory of this day. Take it! Take it, I beg you! Father, please, speak in my behalf and plead for her mercy on me, I beg you, I beg you. Ahtohallan, Lethe, take away my memory! Take it away, take it away, take it away!" she screamed in the depths, falling to her knees.

Another changing scene. The woman awakening on the surface of Ahtohallan. She was confused, wondering why she was here. She had forgotten… For a little while she had forgotten... Until…

She was mortified. She was clinging onto her hair, almost pulling it out as she stared in horror down at her protruding belly looking like she was in denial. She kept shaking her head denying what was so obviously there. "No. No, no, no!" she cried out. "No, this isn't possible! Who?! When?! How?! This cannot be!"

Icy winds whipped around her, and shards and snowy flurries. Thord let out a shaking gasp.

"How? How did this happen?" she darkly, ominously, asked the walls of Ahtohallan. Silence. "How did this happen?!" she screamed at them, slamming her fists against them and causing spiderweb fractures to creep up. "I can't be-I can't be pregnant. I can't be," she said, her voice broken this time as she sank down against them. "I can't be pregnant… Show me." So it did. It did, and her scream of grief and regret tore through his very being as she shoved the heels of her hands into her eyes and turned away, sinking to the ground again. After a long moment, she looked down at her stomach and placed a hand on it, expression set and determined. She channeled an icy cold into her womb. His eyes widened and his lips parted in horrified realization. She was trying to destroy it… She was trying to destroy him… She suddenly sobbed, pulling her hand away and pressing it against her face, hitting it a few times. She couldn't do it, he realized. She couldn't bring herself to do it… She retreated instead into the depths of the river and made a place for herself there. Safe and isolated. Far from Carabis, far from her memories, far from everything. She curled up in a ball and there she wept and wept until she had no tears left to shed anymore…

Frozen

Thord's head hung low, his teeth clenched as he silently sobbed in the cold, the tears freezing against his skin almost immediately. He wished he'd frozen long before he'd had to witness any of it. He looked brokenly up at her. "Mom?" he said to the memory, stepping towards it. "It's okay, mom… I understand why you did it. I'm not mad, I don't blame you, I get it… I understand why you couldn't bring yourself to have anything to do with me. I understand why you had to go," he whispered, reaching out to the figure and gently drawing the back of his hand across her icy cheek, wet with crystal tears. A sharp pain seized his chest and he gasped sharply, covering it. He looked down. He was starting to freeze, he saw. He wasn't going to last much longer. Time was up… His mouth quivered and he looked up into the still unseen face of his mother, who sat curled on her makeshift couch weeping. He let out a breath and fell at her side, wrapping his arms around the memory of a woman he'd never even known existed, let alone met. "I'm sorry," he said brokenly. He shook his head. "I'm so sorry," he repeated, clinging to her and burying his face in her icy body. "You don't have… have to remember anymore… Did you? Or did you let the river take that memory away too? I hope you did, but if not… You don't have to think about me anymore, if you're out there somewhere… I'll be gone soon enough. Just like you wanted in the first place." He breathed deeply in, trying to regain some control over his emotions, then let out a shuddering breath that he sensed would probably be the last one that departed his lips. It would be like going to sleep, he told himself. He'd just go to sleep… "I'm sorry," he whispered one last time.

Suddenly there was a gentle, cold touch on his head. He figured he was probably imagining it at this point, but… but it was like the figure he was holding so closely had come alive… Maybe a hallucination. A last dying, delirious hallucination. He decided he hated those, not that he'd have long to hate them. But the hand, the gentle touch in his hair… Softly it stroked his head, combing light through his tresses in a soothing manner. "Not half as sorry as I…" a soft, tender voice whispered to him before blackness consumed him…