The evening draws close. The sun begins its slow descent in the blue sky, melting the snow from Elsa's breakdown. Most of the snow is now completely gone, but some still hangs on branches, or in piles on the ground.
The big, maybe-maybe-not happy family makes it way for the home of the trolls. Sven pulls the sled, the front bench occupied by the sisters (seated in birth order), and the back occupied by Kristoff and Olaf, both concentrated on a game of chess to pass the time, because chess is a must when escaping from the castle, right? They're traveling at 35 MPH or so, thanks to some very limited superspeed from Kristoff.
"What's the plan?" Elsa asks her sisters, hoping they have more answers than she does.
"We can't attack them physically," Sarah says. "We gotta use magic. I've pretty much just got a bunch of healing potions, but I can mix some of them to make deadly bombs or something. Anna, what can YOU do?"
"Fly a little," Anna says, "and turn stuff into other stuff. Something with energy."
"Energy?" Sarah repeats. "Wouldn't that make YOU the fifth spirit?"
"Pabbie did say that it was me," Anna shrugs.
"Hold up," Elsa says. "I'm not the fifth spirit?"
"You never were," Sarah tells Elsa. "Energy's the fifth element; not ice."
"But then…" Elsa begins, "where does that put ME?"
"My question exactly," Anna says. "And I know the answer. When I saw Mother and Pabbie a few minutes ago, Pabbie said that Mother's firstborn would have an uncontrollable power: the power of the Snow Queen. She'd rule Ahtohallan and the Jotun inside it or something."
"So Ahtohallan's my real home," Elsa says. "Not the Forest. Not Arendelle."
"Getting off track here," Sarah changes the subject. "Plan of attack. We'll have to use our magic. Elsa, your snow; Anna, your energy; me, my potions. If we tried to beat them physically, we'd lose badly. Use magic. Anna, you and I will go ahead and distract them, wear them down. Elsa, you'll come in and put ice in their heads. Make them unconscious and cold. That'll buy us a few hours to figure out what to do with them next. Remember, most importantly, we take out Pabbie first."
"If we win," Anna says, "what'll you do, Sarah? You could stay in the Enchanted Forest with me and Kristoff. Well, not in our own home, but in another hut."
"I've gotta get more herbs to make more potions," Sarah replies. "Northern Germany. I'm heading there. That's where the Volva lived. That's where the herbs are."
"And after that?" Anna asks.
"I don't know," Sarah says after a moment. "I could be a doctor. Go around and help people with my potions. Or I could fight evil. I'm the only one with enough will to act on it."
"Or we could get to know you," Anna suggests. "You're our sister, after all. Even if we forgot it."
"We didn't have a choice," Elsa mutters.
"Maybe," Sarah says. "We'll see. After this, my future's wide open."
/
In Arendelle, Dag, Hans, and Mattias are having a meeting in the dining room/Anna-falsely-declared-dead room, seeing as how Mattias was easily found and willing to have a chat with the new king.
"Alright, you got me here," Mattias says. "What do you want?"
"We want Elsa," Hans explains. "As I'm sure you've heard, she froze and killed Geirrod."
"I've heard."
"The ice was black," Hans goes on. "She cast another winter over Arendelle, but that's almost done now. That's only part of it. Elsa's taxes after her first blizzard put strain and death on the lower classes."
"I was unaware of such failure," Mattias admits.
"Of course you weren't," Hans chuckles. "You were trapped in the Forest. Her crime needs to be punished. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to lead a manhunt to bring Elsa to justice. Should you or any member of your force be caught or killed, the throne will disavow any knowledge of your actions."
"I serve the throne of Arendelle," Mattias says, "as long as a just ruler is upon it. You are just. Elsa, clearly, was not. Anna… eh, she didn't know what she was doing. I'll find your runaway."
"Good," Hans says, standing up and shaking Mattias' hand. "I'm counting on you. I'd do it myself, but I've got more papers and official legal work to go through."
"I know where to start," Dag says. "I know just who to find. We'll use him as bait, if he doesn't cough up any information. We can't lose."
/
Twenty-three trolls are armed with spears and swords, made of carved rock. Ten are unarmed, one of whom is Pabbie, who stands on a high rock to address his kin.
"We are dwindled in number," Pabbie addresses. "Some of us wished to run away, as cowards do. The rest of us here are strong. Here is your plan: attack Arendelle, those of you with weapons. That will draw the sisters' attention to the kingdom. The rest of us will come from behind and kill them. Soon, our wait comes to an end. A world without magical beings. The, uh, spirits don't count. We can't take them on. And, uh, us, obviously.
"No superspeed for the trip down. If any spots us using such speed, they might become curious and combative. A perfect, dual-edged ambush. Let's move."
The armed trolls walk as a unit out of the Valley, ready to execute the plans.
"Pabbie," one of the remaining trolls asks, "why are you only telling us about the plan now? All you said was to fashion weapons out of stone. You didn't say why."
"Our existence is at stake," Pabbie says. "I couldn't risk telling anyone and giving them time to think about it. They could have very well chosen to leave."
"We're by your side," the troll says. "You don't have to worry about us."
"How long till they're in Arendelle?" Another troll asks.
"They'll use the secret burrows," Pabbie says. "They'll be in Arendelle by sundown. While the sun doesn't shine on Arendelle, the sun will shine on us once again. We'll take back our fjord, and no mortal human will stand in our way."
/
"So. Saraaaah," Anna says, "if you weren't growing up in the castle with Elsa and me, where were you? I mean, I know you were in the Southern Isles, but like, what did you do?"
"My childhood was fairly straightforward," Sarah elaborates. "It was pretty much just me and Hans, since his brothers were always off doing their own thing or 'teasing' Hans, and his parents were never around. All royal stuff, official stuff."
"'His' parents, 'his' brothers, not yours?" Elsa asks.
"I'm an Arendellian," Sarah says. "I always have been. Always will be. Hans and I would just play games when we were little. Make-believe and all that stuff. Puppets. World-building. Being little kids, it was pretty fun. He's six years older than me, but we were always equals.
"Around when I was seven and he was thirteen, we started going off on 'adventures;' mostly just trailbreaking and trekking through the wild. On one of the islands, one of the ones farther from here, there's what's almost a mountain and a jungle. We'd build shelters and be survivalists. We'd hunt and shoot birds and snakes with our own weapons, and we made traps for squirrels and other small animals. We'd even leave for weeks at a time and go way, way north. We saw grizzlies and polar bears and lots of reindeer.
"Then, when Hans was like nineteen and I was thirteenish, he went to the books, studying to become a good ruler, since his brothers were so incapable. They were just a bunch of roughhousing idiots. I was on my own. I came across a volva, who took me to Germany to learn about being a volva. Of course, no one noticed I was gone. I learned about potions and feeling feelings, since I didn't have the experience to learn about other stuff."
"What other stuff?" Anna asks.
"Talking to spirits," Sarah says. "Not the dead, don't worry; whatever dies, dies, and it's up to God as to what happens next. I'm talking about ghosts and phantoms.
"I was the youngest volva, by far. The next-youngest had to be at least thirty years old. Anyway, they all went power-hungry and killed each other off to try to be the last one. I fled and went back to the Southern Isles. I stole some books and herbs, though, and I kept secretly learning about being a volva. Only Hans knew. We were best friends.
"I came with him back to Arendelle when you, Elsa, were going to be crowned queen. I never went back after that, and I just kept a low profile and kept to myself for the next three-plus years, getting my own food from the woods in the mountains, since I had the know-how from Hans. That's that."
"How come you remember where you came from, but no one else does?" Anna asks.
"I don't know," Sarah sighs. "I just don't know. That's one of our many questions for Pabbie when we find him and apprehend him."
/
Speaking of apprehending, Dag has pointed out Erik to Mattias. Mattias meets up with Erik, who is unsuspecting and unknowing that Mattias and Dag are working together. Mattias and Erik are on a walk, just strolling the streets of Arendelle.
"So, Erik," Mattias says, "I understand that you're something like Elsa's boyfriend?"
"I was," Erik says, lying to protect Elsa, "but we just grew apart. I haven't seen her in a while."
"Where do you think she'd be?" Mattias asks. "I haven't seen her, either."
"No clue," Erik says. "She could be anywhere."
"Think you could help me narrow it down at all?" Mattias inquires.
"Sorry, sir, can't help with that," Erik denies. "I'm no help."
"You're more help than I already have," Mattias says.
"Look," Erik says, "what do you even want with Elsa, anyway? To kill her? I'm not blind, I've seen the posters."
"We just want to talk to her," Mattias says.
"The last time someone wanted to talk to her after she used ice," Erik responds, "the whole of Arendelle was plunged into eternal winter and Anna died."
"Fair enough," Mattias concedes the point. "I want to show you something in the castle."
"What is it?"
"You'll see," Mattias says.
"Sorry, but I've got stuff to do," Erik says.
"What stuff?" Mattias asks.
"Just stuff," Erik shrugs.
"Listen here, Erik," Mattias says, putting an arm around Erik and holding him very closely against him and changing his volume to talk quietly, "you feel a bump at my hip there? That's a pistol. You're coming with me to the castle. Understand?"
"Completely," Erik says lowly as Mattias lets him go. The two continue their walk to the castle, Mattias victorious and Erik scared and anxious.
/
Surprisingly, there's a lull in the conversation between the sisters. They're not really thinking, more just feeling whatever it is they're feeling. It's not awkward, but it's close as it can be to "awkward" without getting awkward.
Sarah's probably the least emotionally-high of the three. Mostly, she's determined, set in her path. Sure, she's just been reunited with her sisters, but that's beside the point.
There are some trolls to defeat with magic. She's gotta mix her potions. Only a few left. After this, should they win, she has to go back to Germany to get more herbs and other things to make more potions. However, before that happens, she's gotta find out from Pabbie why she alone still has memory of her origins, while no one else does.
To be honest, Anna's not really feeling positive about anything besides her power. She can turn things into things, which could mean making swords or other weapons very quickly out of stone or tree branches or dead trunks. Pabbie was right; she IS powerful. But what else can she do? She remembers that Kristoff mentioned changing things between the states of matter. Plus, he said that she could defeat Elsa in less than a second. Does that have anything to do with light? Can she manipulate light? And, on flying, can she fly as high and easily as a bird someday? Then there's the whole fifth spirit thing. Where does that put her in relation to the other spirits? Can she use them, or does she have to work with them? That's where Elsa comes in.
However, Anna's not going to talk to Elsa about this sort of thing. Her opinion is that it's done. She's only with Elsa right because she HAS to be, to fight. What Elsa did is irreparable. Anna can't look over it. Elsa literally tolerated the suffering of thousands and the deaths of others, while she and Elsa lived it up in the castle, spending money on dresses and food and anything fancy, when the money very easily could have gone to buying food for the lower classes. The more she thinks about it, the more she hates Elsa for it. She thought she had her sister back, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Elsa is just trying to figure out what to do next in her life. She's a wanted criminal, basically. Anna hates her. She's offered to try to make it up, but Anna's just been shutting her out. She could go with Sarah, if Sarah would let her. She could learn to become a volva. At least that way, there's some level of certainty for the future, even though nothing in the future is certain. Or maybe she goes to Ahtohallan. Rule it and the jotun. But what are the jotun? Or rather, who? What is there to rule, or do, or eat, or live by? Can she even get back, if she's not the fifth spirit? All of a sudden, her power doesn't feel special anymore, seeing that it's more of a role that can be played by anyone than herself. But if it's been given to her, it can be taken away, right? Is there someone out there who could possibly expel her power from her? Sarah? Possibly, but there's no way to tell. Her power is part of her; she can't give it up. Maybe if she did, though, people wouldn't fear her. But then there's the matter of why people hate her: taxes. Taxes ruin everything. Getting rid of her power wouldn't change what she legally did as queen, or what happened after.
"Sarah," Elsa says, breaking the silence, "can I go with you to Germany?"
"Huh?" Sarah reacts, mentally recovering from the end of the quiet, as anyone does in these situations.
"Can I go with you to Germany, and you could teach me how to be a volva?" Elsa asks Sarah.
"I mean, I don't see why not," Sarah says.
"Thank you. Also," Elsa continues, "do you know what the jotun is? Or are?"
"You don't?" Sarah responds.
"Yeah, I don't know that one either," Anna chimes in.
"The jotun are shapeshifters," Sarah explains. "They look like us, like 'normal' people, but they can change their appearance and physicality to those of other animals or creatures. They live in Ahtohallan because that's where no one will attack them. In older generations, they'd been given a bad reputation, but they wouldn't know that there are some people that don't know about them now."
"What's the point of ruling over them?" Elsa asks.
"Who knows?" Sarah responds, slumping in the seat. "Could mean anything."
Elsa turns her attention. "Anna," she addresses, eliciting an annoyed sigh, "there's got to be someway that I can—"
"Make it up to me?" Anna interrupts and finishes. "Nope. No way. Frankly, I find what you did unforgivable."
"And what exactly happened?" Sarah asks. "Like, what EXACTLY happened? Maybe I can help."
"Oh boy, here we go," Olaf says, turning his attention from chess to the conversation.
"Check," Kristoff says, moving a piece and turning Olaf's focus back to the game.
"You'll understand my side of things, once I explain," Anna says, talking to Sarah but looking at Elsa. "Elsa's blizzard was forgivable ENOUGH. But then she taxed everyone really, really badly to buy food from other countries since the blizzard destroyed the crops, but then the people didn't have enough money to buy the imported food. Next thing you know, there's famine and suffering and death, but I didn't know, since Elsa kept me totally in the dark about it."
"I was just trying to protect you," Elsa whispers not loudly enough for anyone to hear.
"Could I have asked? Yes," Anna concedes, looking ahead. "Could I have focused more on being a proper princess? Definitely. But I was young and stupid and naive. I still am, to some degree, but I'm better. I've gotten better. But Elsa didn't tell me, when I was in a position that I could've done something. People died. Dozens. I can't forgive that. I just can't. I'm only here with Elsa right now so we could fight this fight, and that's IT. After this, me and Kristoff are going back to the Forest where I'm gonna learn to harness my power before it becomes uncontrollable."
"I can help you with that," Elsa offers.
"You can't," Anna and Sarah say at the same time, though for different reasons.
"You can't," Sarah repeats, talking to Elsa, "because your power is different from Anna's. There are sort of different rules for both of you. It's hardly universal, if at all."
"You can't," Anna explains for herself, "'cause after this, we're not gonna see each other again. Unforgivable."
"Anna, you've gotta give me a chance," Elsa disputes.
"You had three years of chances, and you blew 'em," Anna says.
"You didn't ASK to know," Elsa argues.
"I was eighteen!" Anna contends. "I didn't know anything! I STILL don't know anything! I'm the stupidest person ever."
"You're not stupid," Elsa says.
"Like I'll take YOUR word for it," Anna rolls her eyes.
"Hold up, Anna," Kristoff says, hugging her from behind. "You're not stupid. The stupid person is whoever made you feel that way. Besides, I'm pretty smart, right? Do you really think I'd marry someone if they weren't better than me?"
"No," Anna mumbles, leaning her head on Kristoff's arm closer to Sarah.
Elsa sighs sadly. "How much longer do you guys think it'll take?" She asks no one in particular.
"Shouldn't be too bad," Sarah says. "A couple hours or so, at this speed."
"So much for 'as far north as we can go'," Elsa mutters.
**I'll say,** Anna thinks to herself.
/
Erik is being interrogated in the dining room. His mind is currently on not giving Elsa away, but Dag and Mattias think he can be persuaded to give up some information.
"So, Erik," Dag says, walking slowly around the table, "I've got connections in what you might call 'lower Arendelle.' Okay?"
"Okay…" Erik is confused.
"Ergo," Dag goes on, "I've got connections. My sources claim that you disappeared when Elsa did."
"I never left Arendelle," Erik says, not technically lying because of the range of Arendelle's borders.
"Uh huh, sure," Dag says sarcastically.
"I didn't!" Erik claims.
"Okay, look, Erik," Mattias says, "we're just trying to find Elsa. That's all."
"You want to kill her," Erik states.
"Where did you last see her?" Mattias asks.
"The castle," Erik fibs, "but that's where pretty much everyone last saw her."
"So, you were dating for only a month, right?" Mattias asks.
"That's right," Erik confirms.
"When did you two break up?" Dag questions.
"A couple weeks ago," Erik answers.
"Where is Elsa now?" Mattias asks.
"I already told you, I don't. Know," Erik says, annoyed. "This is stupid. Just let me go."
"Did she love you?" Dag asks.
"I like to think so," Erik responds. "I mean, we DID date, so she had to have SOME feelings for me."
"Who broke up with who?" Dag asks, seemingly staring into Erik's soul.
"Uh, she broke up with me," Erik lies. "It just wasn't working. I agreed."
"Okay," Dag says suspiciously.
"Does she still have feelings for you?" Mattias inquires. "Or does she not love you anymore?"
"I mean, maybe," Erik shrugs.
"If you were in trouble," Mattias says, "would she come rescue you?"
"I don't know," Erik says. "I mean, if YOU were on the run for your life, would you come back to rescue the girl that broke up with you a couple weeks ago?"
"Maybe if I wasn't going to let anyone else get killed," Dag says. Turning to Mattias, he says, "he doesn't know anything. He's lying on some level, but I can't figure out what."
"I'm not lying," Erik lies.
"That's exactly what a liar would say," Dag accuses.
"I think we got what we need," Mattias says. Suddenly, he draws his sword and holds it closely to Erik's neck. "Where was the last place Elsa was?" He asks Erik fiercely.
"The mountains!" Erik answers, scared for his life. "Just on the other side of the fjord, opposite the castle. Look, I don't know where she went, I don't know where she is, but that's where I last saw her, now just PLEASE put down your sword."
"Thank you," Dag says as Mattias keeps his sword where it is. "Now, Erik, you will do exactly as we say, or there will be consequences."
"Okay, okay," Erik agrees. "What do you want?"
"Justice," Dag answers, looking out the window on the Arendellian populace.
"... I mean, that much is clear," Erik says, "but what exactly?"
"Justice," Dag repeats.
/
A few hours pass. The sun has almost set over the sparkling fjord. The streets of Arendelle have been cleared of non-fighters. Men carry concealed weapons and act as if everything is normal. Erik walks around aimlessly, tracked closely by Dag.
In the distance, a horn blows. Men grab their weapons and stop their charade, ready to fight. Someone comes dashing into the village from near the castle to talk to Mattias, who is in the midst of the play.
"General!" The reporter says, out of breath.
"Sir?" Mattias responds. "Is Elsa here?"
"No, General," the reporter denies. "It's the trolls. I count twenty-three. Each has either a sword or a spear made of stone, or both."
"Huh," Mattias reacts. "Strange. What do they want?"
"I didn't ask," the reporter says. "I came to you immediately. They look like they want war."
Mattias gestures for a couple of men with swords to go with him. They run to the castle, a million questions flying about Mattias' mind. What do they want? Can they be stopped? Will they use magic against them?
They reach the bridge, their footsteps unceasing in their effort, loudly pounding against the bricks underfoot. Into the courtyard they run, where the twenty-three trolls are pouring out of the castle at the other end of the yard.
"Stop!" Mattias commands the trolls.
The trolls ignore the call, war-running and war-crying with their weapons poised to fight.
"Stop! Let us negotiate!" Mattias yells, being hard to hear over the clamor of the trolls. He turns to the men with him, saying, "Gentlemen, today we're at war."
The trolls come up on Mattias and his men, who fight off the weapons easily, but can't land a hit against that many opponents.
"There should be gunmen on the roof, right?" Mattias asks one of his fighters as they continue clashing their swords against those of the trolls.
"Yes!" The man replies. "There should be! I don't know where they are."
Far off, in the mountains, Pabbie is rubbing his hands together, his hands emitting a soft green glow. On the roof of the castle, men are fast asleep next to their guns.
Meanwhile, the trolls suddenly stop fighting Mattias and his men and charge out of the castle, running slightly faster than the Arendellians. As Mattias and his men chase them from behind and a convoy of Arendellian fighters approach from the other side of the bridge, the trolls throw their weapons over the defenders in front of them and become boulders, rolling past the convoy ahead and grabbing their own stone weapons on the other side, knocking over all in their way. Next, they all disperse in seemingly every direction but backwards, each troll going off on his own. Mattias and his men split, as the Arendellian wait for Elsa has turned into a troll hunt.
During all this, Dag had pulled Erik off the streets, wanting to use him as bait for Elsa and not wanting him hurt in the fight.
/
The ousted royal family hears a faint din on the fjord below as they approach familiar territory.
"Sounds like fighting," Sarah says, getting out of the sled. "We've got two options, but we gotta choose fast. Either we get to Pabbie, or we try and save Arendelle from whatever's attacking it."
"Arendelle," Elsa chooses, not wanting anyone to die.
"Anyone in disagreement?" Sarah asks.
No response.
"Good. Let's go," Sarah says.
"The incline down is too steep to bring the wagon down safely," Kristoff says as everyone gets out of the wagon. "We'll have to go on foot. I can use superspeed."
"I'll fly," Anna says, her arms crossed proudly as she levitates a couple inches off the ground without closing her eyes.
"Still can't get over that," Kristoff says, gazing at Anna like she's the only thing in the world besides him. "But how can you move in the air?"
"Run on air, I guess," Anna says. "Less friction with the ground means less resistance. I can go a little faster than normal."
"Ice slide for the rest of us," Elsa says. "I'll skate in front and make it as I go. The rest of you, skate behind me and don't fall off."
Sven gives Kristoff a worried look.
"Don't worry, buddy," Kristoff says to Sven. "You can just run down. We'll race."
"Onyourmarkgetsetgo!" Anna proclaims, running a little off the ground down the incline.
Kristoff and Sven chase after Anna and quickly surpass her, while the others skate down the ice slide made by Elsa. Within minutes, Sven and Kristoff reach Arendelle. Men are running throughout the streets, trying to find the trolls. Surprisingly, none have been found so far.
"Sir Kristoff!" One man greets upon seeing the former consort. "The trolls have shown aggression. We're trying to hunt them down."
"Why would they do that?" Kristoff asks.
"No clue," the man replies, running away.
"Sven, we have to save my family," Kristoff tells Sven. "Find them and get them out of here safely. I'm gonna do the same."
/
Elsa, Sarah, and Olaf arrive in Arendelle's farther reaches on a flat on the side of the mountain, near where "Some Things Never Change" begins. The streets, sure enough, are packed with men running in every direction. Elsa moves into the shadows of a nearby building, not wanting to be spotted.
"What's the plan?" Olaf asks.
"Hey! You!" Sarah calls to a passerby. "What's going on?"
"It's a troll hunt!" The man exclaims, screaming wildly as he runs off with a raised knife.
"Oookay, then," Olaf says. "Man, now I wish I studied troll war tactics in war school."
"They're here?" Sarah asks in confusion.
"Pabbie must be here, too!" Olaf guesses.
"Not necessarily," Sarah responds. "He could be anywhere."
"I'll look for him in the mountains," Elsa offers, wanting to get out of Arendelle.
"I'll go with you," Sarah offers. "See all these people running around? Safety in numbers. Plus, uhhhh, you're still wanted." Sarah points at a poster for Elsa's dead-or-alive capture.
Elsa sighs. "Yeah, let's go."
As Elsa and Sarah run for the mountains, Anna catches up.
"Listen, Anna," Elsa says, "Arendelle's looking for trolls. Apparently they attacked. We're going to look for Pabbie. You hunt for trolls. Find them."
"Has anyone seen Kristoff?" Anna asks.
"No…" Elsa says as the sisters look into Arendelle for a few seconds.
"You have to go as soon as you can," Sarah exhorts. "If the trolls are attacking, we don't have much time.
"As long as there's the three of us, listen— you two, put aside your animosity and find Pabbie. I'll stay here and heal people, because I can. The trolls are dangerous."
"Let's do it," Anna says after a moment, nodding at Elsa.
"Let's go," Elsa says as she and Anna trudge up the mountain as quickly as they can.
Sarah goes to run into Arendelle, but is stopped.
"What do you want ME to do?" Olaf asks.
"I don't know," Sarah responds. "I guess, come with me. Yeah. That way, I'll look out for anyone who's hurt and you can look out for trolls."
"When do we go?"
"Now."
Sarah and Olaf run into Arendelle as Sarah checks her satchel to confirm her supply of potions. She only has a dozen left, exactly twelve, all different shades of purple or blue or green. When certain types of potions are combined, they can cause some serious trouble, even upon the volva or upon anyone she wishes to negatively affect. Right now, though, a negative effect is what Sarah is hoping and trying to avoid.
/
Faintly, in the distance behind her, Elsa hears a call.
"Elsa!"
"Hold up, Anna," Elsa says. "Someone called me."
"I didn't hear anyone," Anna responds, stopping her run up the mountain.
"Elsa!" The voice calls again.
"Is that…" Anna begins, not sure whether or not to believe it.
"Yeah, that's him," Elsa confirms, running back down the mountain.
"Elsa, wait," Anna says. "Shouldn't we find Pabbie? Your boyfriend can wait."
"If it's gonna be as hectic as it is down there," Elsa replies, "I've gotta find him. If he's calling for me, there must be a reason. Either come with me or go without me. If it was Kristoff, would you go back?"
"Yes, 'cause he's my HUSBAND," Anna says. "I've known him for three years! You've known THIS guy for ONE MONTH! Besides, I know Kristoff can handle himself. I trust him."
"I don't know Erik enough to know if I can trust him," Elsa admits.
"See my point?" Anna asks proudly.
"See mine? That's why I'm going back," Elsa says.
Anna groans angrily, running over the options in her mind and deciding to go back after Elsa, choosing numbers over speed. She doesn't like it and she thinks that Elsa is being irrational, but if this plan is going to work, they need each other.
/
The sun has set, but the moon is still absent. A beautiful, scary darkness has fallen over Arendelle. Men walk in the streets, tense but not running, all discouraged by the fact that no trolls were found.
Sarah offers some potion to a man with a large gash on his arm, moving on to find other severely-injured people. Olaf is right behind her, seriously and dutifully keeping an eye out for trolls.
"No trolls yet," Olaf says, sort of jumping around like he's a spy.
"This could be a trap," Sarah thinks out loud. "Stay close to me, snowman. Maybe they faked this whole thing and lied about the trolls to lure Elsa into Arendelle."
"Maybe they did," Olaf says suspiciously, continuing with his charade.
"Give me a second," Sarah says, leaning against a building and closing her eyes to focus.
"Are you okay?" Olaf asks.
"I'm fine," Sarah confirms. "Now that things are quieter, I can stop and think. I'm trying to feel the feelings around me. It's mostly suspicion and fear. But there's a very little… pride. Amusement. The feeling you get when you play a trick on someone."
"What does it mean?" Olaf asks.
"I don't know for sure," Sarah replies, "but I think it means one of two things: either the trolls are playing Arendelle, or Arendelle is playing us. I think it's the trolls, though, since the pride is hardly there. It's like a back-of-the-mind kind of feeling. Keep looking for trolls, snowman."
/
"Elsa!" The voice calls again as Elsa sets foot in the richer part of Arendelle. Anna is right behind her.
"Definitely Erik," Anna comments lowly from behind Elsa, informing her of her presence.
"Erik!" Elsa calls.
"Elsa, I'm in the castle!" Erik shouts from far-off.
Elsa races through the streets, not caring about being seen as she zigzags between confused men. As before, Anna is hot on her heels.
Suddenly, everyone in the streets has switched pursuits, running after Elsa instead of the trolls, hoping to cash in on the prize money, avenge fellow Arendellians, or both.
"Elsa, they're catching up!" Anna warns as she and her sister continue with footstep after footstep as quickly as possible for the castle.
Within a few moments, they arrive at the gates, which are thankfully open. In they go, and Elsa turns around to spread ice all over the bridge, causing people to slip and making a mass traffic jam. She and Anna shut the gates behind them, leaving them in the dark courtyard, barely able to see each other ten feet away.
"You good?" Elsa asks Anna.
"I'm okay," Anna replies.
"Erik!" Elsa calls again.
From the door to the inside of the castle glows a faint light, almost six feet in the air. Elsa can make out Erik's face next to the glow of the light, which appears to be a lantern.
"Elsa, you're here!" Erik declares. "Are you okay?"
Elsa runs ahead to Erik, hugging him on impact. "Are YOU okay?" She responds.
"I'm okay," Erik says, nodding at Anna as a greeting.
"Why were you calling me?" Elsa asks Erik once the hug hath stoppedeth.
Suddenly, Dag comes out from behind the door to the castle, holding a pistol and shooting at Elsa.
"No!" Anna calls, jumping in front of Elsa upon seeing the gun. As the gun's loud bang goes off, Anna falls to the ground, her hands clutched at her stomach. Her eyes are shut tightly and her teeth are clenched in pain.
"Anna!" Elsa yells with all the fear, panic, and dread this world has to muster, getting down beside her sister and propping her up. "Erik, why?!" She screams harshly, her face red with rage as snow swirls around her hands.
All the color is drained from Erik's face. As Dag cocks his pistol and points it at Elsa's head, he quickly grabs the pistol and points it at Dag, who puts his hands up slowly.
"Good move," Dag compliments, seeming a little too cool for the situation. Rapidly, he grabs another pistol from inside his outer coat. His quick movement prompts Erik to shoot at Dag's stomach, hitting him squarely. The impact makes Dag drop his gun as he topples to the ground, grunting and clutching his stomach.
"Is he down now?" Anna asks, opening one eye and sounding totally not-hurt.
"Oh, he's down," Elsa says, glaring at Erik.
"I'm okay," Anna tells Elsa, rolling over onto her back. "Move over, will ya? It's hard to focus."
"Uh…" is all Elsa can say, confused.
Anna raises her clenched hands, which are shaking a little. Opening them, the bullet flies out of her hands, impacting in the courtyard wall.
"Wait, WHAT?" Elsa reacts.
"I slowed the bullet's momentum," Anna explains, looking up at the first stars of the night. "I'm okay. I had to fake being hurt, so he'd think his plan worked."
"So you're okay?" Elsa asks relievedly.
"Never better," Anna says as Elsa helps her up.
"I'm not done with YOU," Elsa says, pointing at Erik.
"Look, I can explain," Erik chuckles, backing away with his hands up and throwing the pistol to the side.
"Then explain," Elsa says, pushing Erik against the wall inside right behind the door and pinning him there with one arm, snow swirling around her other hand, which is raised as if to punch.
"Well, uh, you see," Erik begins, "sometimes a sword is held at a person's neck, and that person fears for his life, and he knows that if he doesn't do what sword-holder wants, he might not live past the conversation or the afternoon or evening."
"You coward," Elsa says, trying to hold back tears. "I loved you. And you gave me up just like that."
"As entertaining as this is," Dag groans, rolling onto his back, "is there a doctor that I can see?"
"Maybe," Sarah says, standing in the door's threshold. To Elsa, she explains, "I came as soon as I heard the gun go off. Looks like everyone's okay. But I don't understand. I heard two gunshots."
"I slowed a bullet," Anna elucidates. "I'll tell more later, in detail, when all this is done and you're back from Germany and we can be sisters and tell each other all about what's happened over the last… uh, how old are you, exactly?"
"Nineteen," the answer.
"We'll tell each other all about what's happened over the last nineteen years," Anna finishes.
"Not to rush your conversation or anything," Dag moans, "but I'm dying here. Volva? Do you have any potions left?"
"Maybe," Sarah says slyly, crouching down to look Dag in the eye, "but if I give it to you, you're going to leave Arendelle and never come back. If you DO come back, you and I are going to have trouble. Understand?"
"Completely," Dag answers.
Sarah grabs a potion in a small vial from her satchel, popping the cap off with her thumb and handing it to Dag, who drinks it down.
"Elsa?" Sarah says, gesturing at Dag.
Elsa makes ice that freezes Dag's feet and hands to the floor, making him immobile.
"Well, I suppose all's well that ends well," Erik says.
"No, it's not," Sarah objects. "What about Pabbie?"
"I came back for you," Elsa says to Erik while answering Sarah. "I wouldn't let you die. I'm done letting people die."
"Uh, lots more might die if the three of us don't find Pabbie and beat him," Sarah says.
"What about the other trolls?" Elsa wonders.
"Kristoff will deal with 'em," Anna answers assuringly and knowingly. "I know he will. You two, Elsa and Sarah, get you a Kristoff."
"I tried," Elsa sighs, looking Erik in the eyes as if for the last time before letting him go.
"Hey, Elsa," Sarah says, "can you focus on the mission? Or do you need us to go without you?"
"I can focus," Elsa confirms. "Let's go."
"I've got more potions," Sarah says, grabbing three potions and handing one to Elsa and one to Anna. "Drink these. It'll give you stamina. I don't know about you two, but I'm kind of tired from all this. We need to be at our best if we're going to get answers from Pabbie. Remember, beat, defeat, capture, kidnap, all that stuff, just don't kill."
"Hold on one second," Elsa says, a concerning smirk appearing on her face. Quickly, she turns around on her heels, striking Erik in the heart with black ice, knocking him to the ground.
"Elsa!" Anna and Sarah exclaim, each grabbing one of Elsa's wrists to keep her from attacking again.
"You've got no choice but to learn what true love is," Elsa says to Erik.
"Elsa, wha— what?" Erik asks weakly as his fingers ice over.
"Five. Seconds," Elsa notifies harshly.
"I changed my mind," Erik reasons feebly. "I…"
Black ice spreads quickly over Erik's heart over the rest of his body. Just before the ice reaches his mouth, in that split millisecond, Sarah desperately throws a vial at Erik's mouth, the glass shattering on his lips as they freeze over and he turns into a solid ice statue. The potion is nowhere to be seen.
"Please…" Sarah whispers to herself.
Within seconds, all the ice concurrently disappears from Erik, and he appears completely unharmed, except for bleeding lips from the glass. He chokes on the potion for a second, then breathes easier.
"I will waste EVERY ONE of your potions," Elsa says, turning to Sarah, "just to make sure he gets what he DESERVES!" She shoots ice at Erik again, but he's learned from the first time, and he rolls over to his left to avoid the shot as Anna and Sarah restrain Elsa again.
"Elsa, let it go!" Sarah says as she tries to hold Elsa back.
"There's something more important to deal with right now!" Anna grunts.
Sarah quickly puts her hand on Elsa's head, sending Elsa to the floor, asleep.
"Uh…" is all Erik can mutter.
"What did you do?" Anna asks Sarah with a surprising amount of not-concern in her voice.
"I made her sleep," Sarah explains. "I didn't want to, since I can't wake her back up. My empathic abilities can only go so far." She looks at Erik. "You're a coward and a disgrace to Arendelle," she insults. "You're going to leave, just like Dag. You're no better than him."
"Uh, I'm RIGHT here!" Dag exclaims, offended.
"Shut up," Anna says.
"I'll see the Snow Queen again," Erik says smugly, "but maybe not Elsa."
"Make him sleep, will ya?" Anna asks Sarah.
"With pleasure," Sarah says, annoyed at Erik as she touches his head, making him fall asleep.
"Up the mountain?" Anna checks.
"Up the mountain," Sarah nods. "We'll have to leave Elsa here. She can catch up. We'll be faster that way."