Everyone is still on a high as the night's hours progress. Kristoff is hurried to a bed, where Anna, Olaf, and Sven, who still exists, are in the room with him.
In the dining room, an impromptu meeting is organized to debate what to do next as the midnight moon provides a creepy illumination, making all seem like ghosts. More white light comes from the raging blizzard outside, the wind howling over the wavy waters of the fjord. Sigurd is at the head of the table, and notable other craftsmen are at the other seats. Otherwise, the room is packed with other members of the working class.
"My friends," Sigurd says, "First of all, congratulations on a successful revolution. Zero deaths on any side."
The crowd is enthralled.
"I got shot with an arrow!" A man announces. The arrow is still in his shoulder, but he seems okay. Nearby revolters pat him on the back.
"Now," Sigurd proceeds, "we have a couple important decisions to make. First, regarding Elsa. We've seen this before, when she ran into the mountains. We have access to all the wealth and weapons Arendelle has to offer."
"Maybe, Sigurd," one man speaks up, "but we can't go out in this blizzard."
"I agree wholeheartedly," Sigurd agrees. "But Elsa must pay for the death of our king. For the death of our way of life. For the death of our families."
Sigurd pauses a moment as sadness and anguish sweeps over the room.
"She will not be tortured by us," Sigurd continues. "As tortured as we are, we would never wish it on her. We are better than that. Nevertheless, she must pay."
Scattered clapping sounds off the agreement of the people.
"We will pursue her," Sigurd goes on, "once the blizzard dies down. It did once."
"Why wait?" Somebody asks.
"Because I need your best fighters and best weapons," a woman's voice says from the threshold between the room and the hallway outside. All eyes turn to see the speaker.
She appears to be a little younger than Anna and about Anna's height. Her hair is a dark reddish-brown color.
"Who are you?" Sigurd asks the newcomer.
"Call me Sarah," the stranger names herself. "I know who the new king should be."
"What's your suggestion?" Sigurd asks, leaning back in his seat. "We're always open to new ideas."
"What about the guy who deserves it?" Sarah asks.
"And who IS this guy?" Sigurd asks.
"Someone whose own brothers treated him horribly, even though he's a prince," Sarah responds. "The one I'm thinking about needs to be broken out of jail, though, in the Southern Isles. He deserves it. He's really misunderstood."
"Who are you talking about?" Sigurd asks, confused.
"Connect the dots, man," Sarah replies, annoyed. "Jail? Southern Isles? A prince? Hans? Prince Hans? Tried to kill both royals here?"
The crowd gasps almost as one as a startled murmur shakes the crowd. The murmur almost turns into a riot, with the people almost pushing Sarah out of the room. Sarah stands her ground.
"Hear me out," Sarah pleads calmly as if she isn't crowded on all sides by hostiles.
The clamor of the crowd drowns out Sarah's plea, as even a few people grab knives from inner coat pockets.
"Calm down!" Sigurd yells.
The crowd obeys, falling back and giving Sarah some space.
"How do you figure Hans deserves to be broken out of jail?" Sigurd asks Sarah harshly. "He's a murderer and a monster."
"Did he actually kill anybody?" Sarah responds.
"Well— uh— no…" Sigurd stammers.
"Look, people," Sarah goes on, walking through the crowd which reluctantly parts for her, "Hans was misunderstood. You don't know what his real intentions were. If he had, shall we say, done away with your queen and princess, would winter have stopped? No. There would've been no crops anywhere, and everyone would've starved. Hans had to turn on Anna and Elsa so Anna could sacrifice herself and be unfrozen, showing Elsa that love will thaw. Hence, Arendelle was saved by Hans. And if you were there to see it— which I wasn't, but I've heard accounts of it— he was swinging the sword way too slowly for Anna NOT to stop him. He took a fall for this country. He deserves to lead it."
By now, Sarah is standing face-to-face with Sigurd. Her face wears a look of subtle defiance and pride at being right. Sigurd is clearly angry, but remains calm.
"Hans would never do that," Sigurd argues.
"You don't know him," Sarah says.
"And you do?" Sigurd raises an eyebrow.
"All due respect, sir," Sarah says, "better than you do. He's an interesting man."
"Assuming what you say is true," Sigurd reasons, "then Hans would've proposed to a girl he just met that day. How could he be smart enough to know what would happen if he turned?"
"I'm not ruling out mind control," Sarah responds, eliciting murmurs from the crowd.
"Does he have any qualifications?" Sigurd questions.
"He's a prince, so, probably," Sarah guesses. "Besides, how much worse can it get here?"
"It's not right for a woman to speak in the public sphere," Sigurd accuses, not wanting to agree to Sarah's proposition but finding himself agreeing.
"I know," Sarah replies, "but if I didn't, who would? I have… no one here to speak for me."
A whisper of both positive and negative feelings towards Sarah arises in the crowd.
"If my people agree with you," Sigurd offers, "we will help break Hans out."
For a moment, there is silence. Slowly, someone claps, and others join in. In a few seconds, there is loud vocal support for Sarah's proposition.
"Hans deserves it!" Someone yells.
"He is a true Arendellian!" Another shouts.
"A great man!" A third chimes in.
Sarah offers Sigurd her hand to shake. Somewhat reluctantly, Sigurd shakes her hand.
"I've done nothing but admire Hans," Sarah says with a trembling voice. "He's like a brother. He loved me like his brothers did not. He's a good man. This means everything to me."
"We'll go once the blizzard dies down," Sigurd replies.
The cheering is heard muffled in the distance in the bedroom where Anna, Olaf, and Sven are with Kristoff, who is awake now. They didn't hear Sarah talk, and they didn't hear Sigurd agree with her, but they heard the cheering.
"Any idea what's going on?" Olaf asks.
"No clue," Anna sighs. "Can't be good for us if they're cheering. But they're getting what they deserve, after all this time and all this sadness."
"Lemme see," Kristoff says, trying to get out of bed.
Anna stops him. "Save it," she says. "You need to rest." Yawning, she adds, "me too." She climbs into the bed next to Kristoff, snuggling close up to him and falling asleep within seconds.
Outside in the blizzard, Elsa has found shelter at the base of a small, rocky dropoff sort of like a small cliff in the mountains, where no snow has reached and where there is no wind. The moon reflected in her tear-stained face, she sits scrunched-up against the rocky wall, thinking about everything and nothing. How she ruined everything. How she froze Geirrod. But she had to. He was trying to take something from Agnarr. If he was trying to take the throne out of benevolence, maybe it would've been different. But it's not.
**Now,** Elsa thinks to herself, **he's paid for his revenge. He's paid for trying to shoot Anna.**
Over the wind, Elsa hears footsteps crunching in the snow. "Who's there?" She asks, her voice carried by the wind. After a moment, she sees Erik through the wind.
"Elsa! There you are!" Erik exclaims, running ahead in twelve-inch snow as fast as he can to the natural shield from the wind. "I thought you'd go wherever there was a windbreak," Erik says, "so I tried to find one. Luckily, I came across you. Your footprints stayed around long enough for me to try to find you."
"Erik, where were you this whole time?" Elsa asks.
"Away from all the action," Erik says. "But I was watching from the higher levels of the castle. I came after you when I saw you run away."
"Coward," Elsa says, turning away.
"Maybe I AM a coward," Erik concedes, looking down at his hands.
"You are," Elsa says meanly. "Not 'maybe.' You are."
Erik sighs. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I really am. How can I make it up to you?"
Elsa looks up a little, realizing that, in this situation, she's in Anna's place and Erik is in hers.
"It was just like this," Elsa says, "but with me and Anna. She found out that I'd done some… not great things in the first few months of my being queen. I tried to make it up to her. She shut me out."
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. Just… be here with me. While I try to figure out what I have to do next. I froze Geirrod's heart, so I imagine that Sigurd wants revenge. He mighta already wanted revenge. I don't wanna go back."
"Wait, hold up," Erik says. "You froze his heart? An act of true love can reverse that, right?"
"Maybe?" Elsa replies. "I froze him in SECONDS. The ice was black. MY ice was black."
"I'm not an expert in elemental magic and I don't claim to be," Erik says, "but maybe we'd better visit the trolls. See if they can't help us. Or that magic lady in the Enchanted Forest. What was her name again?"
"Yelena. The trolls are closer," Elsa says. "Pabbie seemed to know a lot about my powers when he healed Anna when we were little. He might know something I don't. Good idea. I'll go visit the trolls."
"I tend to think I have pretty good ideas," Erik says sort of sarcastically, putting his hands on his hips. Elsa giggles at this.
"I'll go find some shelter close to here," Erik says. "I'll go with you to visit the trolls tomorrow. Later today? What time is it now?"
"No. Idea," Elsa replies. "Be safe. I love you."
"Love you, too," Erik says, kissing Elsa on the cheek then heading back into the blizzard to look for his own shelter.
Again, Elsa is left by the lonely rocky wall of the lonely dropoff. She makes herself a pile of compact snow to use as a pillow and lies down to sleep, but can't. She tries not to think about earlier, but the fight with Anna and the black ice keep creeping into her thoughts. First things first, she's gotta make things right with Anna. But was up with the black ice? What does it mean? What does it do? How did she conjure it? Elsa's eyes are sleepy, but not willing to rest. She stays awake for a few minutes, her mind becoming completely numb and blank with nothingness. Gradually, however, she too gives in to the relief from life and wakefulness dubbed sleep. As she falls asleep, the blizzard comes to a slow stop over the course of a few minutes, leaving a snow-covered Arendelle and an icy fjord in its path under a shining moon and twinkling stars.
Early in the morning, operating on just a few hours' sleep, Elsa meets up with Erik and they head for the Valley of the Living Rock, hoping to find some answers from Pabbie about the nature of the dark ice's fast freezing process.
"Any idea how to get there?" Erik asks.
"We'll find it," Elsa says confidently. "Can't be too hard."
"So that's a no," Erik chuckles. "Is there a map or anything we can use?"
"Yeah, but it's inside the palace," Elsa answers. "I'm not risking going back there. They have to know what I did by now. No one could have done what I did."
"Well, then, backwoods trekking it is," Sigurd says, ripping a branch off a tree to use as a walking stick.
A few hours later, around noon, six ships are being loaded with food for the journey and weapons for the jailbreak. The sun shines brightly overhead, beating down on Arendelle's inhabitants. Kristoff and Anna are watching the busy scene from the balcony of the castle. The sun's light is reflected all over rooftops and streets and is almost blinding, so Kristoff and Anna hold their hands to their eyes as shades.
"What are they doing?" Anna wonders aloud. "It's like they're going to war. I wish they would've told us what's going on."
"Well, we were both almost in sleep comas," Kristoff replies jokingly. "We were out of it. Good thing, too. I feel like we needed that. I could stay awake for a week now."
"So maybe it's good they didn't let us know," Anna reasons.
They both go back to the quiet, watching the people work at loading the ships on the docks below. The door behind them opens, and Sarah comes onto the balcony.
Anna gives Sarah a quick look. "Southern Isles," Anna says. "Who are you?"
"I'm Sarah," the named answers.
"What do you want?" Anna asks.
"I'm here to thank you," Sarah says.
"'Thank you?'" Anna repeats.
"You're welcome," Sarah jokes.
"Wait, what?"
"What?"
"Someone start over," Kristoff says.
"I'm here to thank you, Anna," Sarah says, "because without you, we would've still been under toxic leadership. No offense."
"None taken," Anna sighs. "I was a horrible fit."
"No arguing there," Sarah says, leaning against the castle wall. "You really were a horrible fit. You didn't know what you were doing. It made no sense for you to be on the throne."
"If you're not gonna start being decent soon, I'm gonna want you to leave," Anna interrupts.
"Sorry," Sarah apologizes. "Anyway, because you… weren't great— it gave us a reason to take you, the person influenced by Elsa, off the throne. Honestly, though, it was easier to live under your rule than Elsa's."
Sarah heads back inside, leaving Anna and Kristoff alone on the balcony.
"I don't wanna live here," Anna says after a moment. "Not anymore."
"No one has a problem with us," Kristoff points out.
"True," Anna agrees, "but everywhere I look, there's people whose lives I've influenced badly, or whose lives were terrible and I didn't do anything about it when I could have."
"That's Elsa's fault, not yours," Kristoff says.
"I know, but still," Anna says. "Do you think the Northuldra would let us live with them in the Forest?"
"Maybe," Kristoff guesses. "It might be good for you, actually, you being the fifth spirit and all."
"Yeah," Anna concurs. "But where does that put Elsa?"
"Uh, not in the Forest?"
"I mean spirited-ly or whatever. If I'm the fifth spirit, what does that make Elsa? Is she still a 'spirit?' Is she a witch? Or an enchantress or sorcerer?"
"Don't make yourself crazy," Kristoff says.
"I know, but I've got no idea how Elsa figures into this whole spirit thing," Anna says.
"We'll figure it out," Kristoff says. "I would've asked Pabbie, but my mind was on you, and when I'm trying to help you, I can't think of anything else."
Kristoff takes Anna's hand in his, as the two watch the bustle below.
"Okay, people!" Sarah calls on the docks below. "How much longer till we're ready?"
"About ten minutes out, I believe," Sigurd says to Sarah on the docks. "Ah, to think of jailbreaking an Arendellian patriot. You are right about him saving Arendelle."
"Thank you," Sarah says. "Over the years, I've had some contact with him, and he's been studying to be king someday. He knows all about the law and ruling. You'll see."
"The people want an Arendellian countryman, and they're gonna get one," Sigurd proclaims.
The boat-loaders cheer in response.
Things are not cheery in the mountains, however. Erik and Elsa are still hiking in the snow, looking for the trolls.
"Elsa, are you absolutely sure we shouldn't try to steal that map?" Erik asks.
"Positive," Elsa replies. "I don't wanna risk anyone seeing me. If they were upset with me before, now that they have the confidence from storming the castle, I don't think they'd be happy to see me."
"Well, we're going nowhere," Erik says, turning back. "I can still see Arendelle from here. We've made almost zero progress, and it's been, what, five-ish hours?"
Elsa sighs. "We have to steal that map," she says nervously. "It's the only way we can figure out my power. I have to know. My power is me. I have to control this, so I don't hurt anybody."
"Do you have it under control NOW?" Erik asks.
"Yeah," Elsa assures, "but if I'm in a bad situation, I don't wanna hurt anyone with dark ice."
"Understandable," Erik says. "You ready to go pull off a heist?"
"I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Elsa says. "Do you know your way through the castle to the library?"
"Nope," Erik says. "It'll have to be you. Unless we can bribe someone. Do you have any money on you?"
"No," Elsa complains. "We'll have to steal it ourselves. Let's start heading back there. There's not really anything else to do."
Down on the docks, the six ships depart across the fjord to the open sea for the Southern Isles. Sarah is on the boat in front, and Sigurd is behind at the docks. He watches the ships pull away and head towards free water.
"Hey, Sigurd," someone asks, coming to Sigurd from behind, "why do we need a king? Why not switch to a constitutional democracy?"
"Eh," Sigurd shrugs without turning. "That's kind of the Americans' thing. Now's not the time for a total government overhaul."
As the questioner walks away, another comes up from behind.
"Hey, Sigurd," the new man asks, "where exactly are those boats going?"
"How would you not have heard by now?" Sigurd responds confusedly, still watching the ships. "Someone should have told you by now. We're making Hans our new king. If you think about it, he's an Arendellian patriot."
"How?" The man asks.
"Because," Sigurd begins, turning around to face the man. "Oh! Hi! Kristoff… I didn't know it was you."
"And what would you have done if it WAS me?" Kristoff asks.
"Uh— wha—" Sigurd trips on his words, looking for some deception to speak.
"What's going on, man?" Kristoff inquires. "If you don't tell me, I've got ways of finding out."
"Well—" Sigurd says before trying to take off and run. Kristoff stops him by grabbing his arm, then putting his hand on Sigurd's forehead. Sigurd tries to break free, but Kristoff is strong.
"It's hard to argue with your assessment," Kristoff says, letting Sigurd go.
"What did you just do?" Sigurd asks. "Mind control?"
"You seriously think mind control is possible?" Kristoff responds.
"Well, maybe," Sigurd says, "but I don't know. I'm not a psychic or anything. Now, DON'T touch me again."
"Okay. I'm sorry," Kristoff says, walking away. "I thought I could read your mind or something. Silly me."
"Yes…" Sigurd says. "Silly you." Then, he says under his breath, "foolish boy."
Kristoff hurries towards Anna, who is packing a box with clothes in her and Kristoff's bedroom.
"Anna!" Kristoff says out of breath, coming into the bedroom.
"Kristoff, you good?" Anna checks.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Kristoff says between breaths. He slows his breathing down so he can speak. "They're gonna break Hans out of jail, and he's apparently a patriot, if we think about it, which I haven't."
"Wait, WHAT?" Anna reacts. "Break Hans out of jail? Did I hear you right?"
"Yeah," Kristoff confirms. "You heard me right."
"How is he a patriot, though?" Anna wonders aloud.
"I haven't thought about it," Kristoff admits, "but Sigurd did the thinking for me. I looked at his feelings towards Hans. When I see feelings, I can see the reasons behind the feelings. He feels that, if Hans didn't try to kill Elsa, there would've been no act of true love to save you, and Elsa wouldn't have learned how to thaw her ice."
"True," Anna concedes, "but he still tried to kill me."
"That's where I'm stuck," Kristoff says. "They want him on the throne because of that stuff, but he still tried to kill you. Maybe they're just looking at the 'good' stuff. I sensed something about qualifications in Sigurd's head."
"I guess he has 'qualifications,'" Anna acknowledges. She sighs, falling onto her back on the bed.
Kristoff does the same, lying next to her.
"What do we now?" Anna asks.
"We either live under Hans," Kristoff says, "live in the Forest, live in the trolls, or fight back against Hans. He's a killer, and that won't change. Even if he is a 'patriot.'"
"We can't fight them," Anna says. "We're just a guy and a girl with limited powers. Well, me more limited than you."
"What if we got Elsa?" Kristoff wonders.
"No way," Anna chuckles. "I'm not speaking to or seeing her again, if I can help it. What she did over the last three plus years is unforgivable. I thought she wasn't shutting me out anymore. Nothing could be further from the truth. She shut me out of EVERYTHING that was going on, when I might have been able to help. No, I don't wanna talk about it."
"...Okay then, no Elsa," Kristoff says. "I'll help you finish packing. Enchanted Forest?"
"Yyyep," Anna agrees. "Maybe I can learn more about my powers there."
"Here's hoping," Kristoff smiles. "Just think about it. My wife has powers. I'm the luckiest guy in the world."
"No, you're not," Anna disagrees. "I am. Well, I'm not a guy, I'm a girl, so I'm the luckiest girl in the world. Having you boosts my score."
Kristoff laughs. "Let's finish packing," he says, getting up. "The castle isn't ours anymore. That was a fun three months, though. Everyone doing everything for you."
"I guess 'cause I grew up with it, I just got used to it," Anna says, before sitting up quickly. "Wait a second. Wait just a SECOND."
"What is it?" Kristoff asks anxiously. "You okay?"
"If I'm the fifth spirit," Anna reasons slowly, "then I have a connection with the other spirits, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Can THEY help us fight back against Hans? I've got nothing against a different ruler, but I've got EVERYTHING against Hans."
"Worth a shot," Kristoff agrees.
Meanwhile, Erik and Elsa have made their way to the trees at the base of the mountain, just fifty yards away from the back door.
"You stay here," Elsa tells Erik. "No sense in us both getting caught."
"In that case," Erik says, "I'll just keep an ear out for anyone or anything that might come after you."
Bravely, Elsa dashes across the fjord, stepping on her own ice with each footstep. Once on the other side, she slowly opens the back door, looking around the halls inside. No one is around. She sneaks in, tiptoeing through the halls. Still, no one is around. No attendants. No revolters. It's kind of creepy, since there's usually someone somewhere in the castle.
After a few minutes of eerie quiet, surprisingly being encountered by no one, Elsa makes it to the library. She heads to the shelf of books that are supposed to be kept as secret as possible, hidden in plain sight. After glancing at the spines for a moment, she finds the one full of all kinds of legends about all sorts of supernaturalities. Flipping through it quickly, she finds a map folded between a couple pages about the trolls. She takes the map and puts the book back on itself. "What are you doing?" An inquisitive voice asks from behind.
Elsa literally jumps back, trying not to yell. "Don't tell anyone I'm here, Olaf," Elsa whispers. "Not for anything."
"Why?" Olaf asks. "What are you holding?"
"Nothing important," Elsa says quickly. "Look, I don't know if you know, but I don't think I'm welcome here anymore. If they know I was here, they'd know I was close. By any chance, do you know what they want with me?"
"I don't know," Olaf says. "You should probably leave, though."
"Are you gonna tell anyone I was here?" Elsa checks. "No jokes. Are you?"
"You have my word," Olaf salutes.
"Tell me one thing," Elsa says. "How'd you find me in here?"
"I've been keeping a lookout for you since you left," Olaf answers. "You're my friend."
Elsa smiles at Olaf and runs out of the room, heading for the back door. She's going a lot faster this time, optimistic she won't be seen, given her success with it earlier. As she opens the back door, she vaults out, dashing across the icy water on her own ice.
"I got it!" She exclaims to Erik. "Let's go!"
As Erik and Elsa disappear into the woods, the back door to the castle opens. It's Anna.
"Yeah, you better run," she mutters at seeing Elsa's retreat. "Why were you here?" She adds. Heading back inside, she runs over in her head what Elsa could have been there for.
Pretty much everything Elsa owns, or held onto after leaving for the Forest, is in the Forest. That's the basic definition of someone moving. So she must be after something else. But what? Something important enough to come back for. Something monetarily valuable? It's not like Elsa to take something for money, or risk herself for money. This is Anna's reasoning, and she can't figure out why Elsa would come back. Elsa's optimism on her escape run cost her being seen, but fortunately for her, it was Anna who saw her, not someone who might pursue her.
Anna decides to pursue her. She goes down to the edge of the water. It's too deep to cross on foot and too cold to swim. There's still shards of ice in the water. Getting an idea, she puts both her hands out, closing her eyes twice and really concentrating. A few smaller chunks of ice move a little bit, but nothing else happens. Giving up, Anna sighs, changing her mind about pursuing Elsa with no way to cross the fjord.
A few eventless hours pass as Erik and Elsa find the Valley of the Living Rock.
"Looks like your map worked," Erik says.
"Your idea," Elsa attributes.
"Yes. MY idea," Erik says, straightening himself in self-satisfaction.
Most if not all trolls are still wide awake and seem rather shocked at seeing the pair of arrivals.
Pabbie comes up, suspicious of all that's going on. "Elsa," he addresses, trying to sound cheerful but not coming across as such. "Is everything alright?"
"No," Elsa says urgently. "Look, I don't know if you know, but our uncle— my uncle— was trying to kill Anna. He had his gun pointed at her. I froze him. Like, in seconds. My ice was black."
"Just be more careful next time," Pabbie shrugs.
"So, that's it?" Elsa asks in bewilderment. "No lesson or anything? Nothing I didn't know? I risked being seen when it might still be okay, but I think it's risky! There's gotta be something else!"
"Nope. Sorry," Pabbie says, walking away.
"Hold up there, little troll man," Erik says.
"And who is this?" Pabbie asks annoyedly. "The love interest?"
"Actually, I am," Erik answers. "There's gotta be something here!"
"What do YOU know?" Pabbie argues.
"Nothing about magic or magic ice," Erik admits, "but can't you tell that Elsa's upset? And you won't help her? You've gotta help her."
"I DID," Pabbie reasons, "by telling her to be more careful. That's all there is to it. Now, I think you two wanna go."
"Yeah, let's go," Erik says, heading out of the Valley.
"For the record," Elsa says to Pabbie, leaving, "I think there's something you're not telling me. This ice is different."
"Just be careful!" Pabbie calls after Elsa as she and Erik leave.
Once the two are out of earshot, Bulda asks Pabbie, "Mind control?"
"Yes," Pabbie mutters. "The Arendellians are on to us. We've got two options now. Either we start the plan, or we disregard the plan entirely and head for a new home deeper in the mountains. We'll discuss it in the morning. We have time, but not much of it."