The boat drifted slowly down the dark tunnel.
Anna blinked her eyes open. She sat up and rubbed her head.
"Ouch." She whispered. She looked around and managed to see the fire Spirit. He looked up at her and liked his eye.
Anna giggled and looked forward.
There was a slight light up ahead. The boat drifted towards it, revealing a cave exit. The boat went through the hole and Anna found herself mesmerized.
It was a humongous cavern. Anna could just make out the walls it was so big. Anna looked up and from the ceiling she could see thousands of hanging crystals each of them giving off a faint glow, but because there were so many of them it gently lit up the cavern.
The fire Spirit jumped up on the front of the boat looking excited. Anna looked forward and saw a giant wall made out of ice. As they got closer Anna could see a beach made of snow and a doorway carved into the wall.
The boat wobbled and there was a crunching sound as the boat crashed into the snow. The fire Spirit leapt from the boat and ran forward. He looked back at Anna expectantly.
Anna looked at the doorway hesitantly. She then clenched her jaw and nodded her head. Carefully she left the boat and mad her way to the Spirit.
Anna raised her hand and knocked on the door. There was no answer. She grabbed the handle and turned it. The door was unlocked and swung open easily.
"Hello?" Anna called out hesitantly. The inside was magnificent. It was like a place and felt so regale. But it was also course and daunting. It felt like nature itself carved it out, showing both its beauty and danger. And Anna felt like she was disturbing a place that had not been touched in decades.
Anna jumped when the fire Spirit dashed around her and ran into the palace. Not knowing what else to do Anna followed him.
The little lizard seemed to know exactly where to go. He led her down many corridors and took many turns. Finally, he stopped at a small double door. Anna pushed it open, and he dashed inside.
The doors revealed a gorgeous bedroom. A round bed at the far-left center wall with a snowflake backboard, and a shear glimmering sheet draped above it. At the foot of the bed in the middle of the room was a fire pit, and the Spirit instantly jumped into it and lit up the room, warming it.
The rest of the room was just as amazing. A vanity mirror. A humongous wardrobe attached into the wall. There was even a section with lounge chairs and a table. And then the room was decorated with many other things, such as ice flowers in pots.
Anna wondered into the room and touched the bed. She was surprised when she felt it. The bed was made with a real mattress and covers. She looked around the room and realized that most of the stuff was made with things that she could find in her own palace. Ice was only ever used as stands or support.
Anna sat on the bed and let the fire warm her. She only then realized how much she was shivering. Anna thought it made since. She had gotten soaked and then fell asleep on an ice raft, and now she was in an ice palace. Her cloths felt stiff and still a little damp.
Anna glanced over to the wardrobe. There might be some real dresses in there, but Anna could not help remembering how Elsa once replaced all of her gowns with ice. And she felt bad about the idea of stealing.
Anna looked at the Spirit, seeing if maybe he would know what to do. She had a guess she was in a room created by Ahtohalla, but she didn't know where she was, was this an underground palace that she had made or was it… Anna did not even know if Ahtohalla was a generous hostess.
The fire Spirit simply looked up at her and licked his eye. Anna gave a big sigh, she then got up and walked over to the wardrobe.
"I guess I will just have to save myself from another frozen heart. What kind of dresses would an ice woman wear, Oh my gosh!" Anna screamed as she opened up the wardrobe. The doors led into an entire other world filled with dresses.
There were so many dresses and they seemed to come from all over the world and from different times. Anna looked around and saw a dress that looked like what her great grandmother wore on her coronation day.
Anna laughed and found herself happily looking through the dresses. It had been a long time since she had played dress up. Anna did her best to find something that was simple and warm. Most of the outfits were extravagant.
Anna finally found a dress that looked like something she would wear for an everyday outing, except for the fact it was sparkling. The shirt was white, with loose fitting sleeves that went off the shoulder slightly. A dark navy-blue corset wrapped around her ribs and then the skirt flowed from it in the same color. The whole dress slightly shimmered but the sequences gathered more onto the bottom of the skirt. The dress came with boats to match with white stockings.
Anna put it all on, happy that it fit perfectly, and twirled around. She felt like she was wearing the night sky.
Anna glanced around and saw a rack with capes on it. She grabbed a simple pink cape that draped around her and had a hood.
Anna walked out and the Spirit jumped up and down in excitement.
"Thank you." Anna said blushing. She was not really considered the pretty one, especially when she stood next to Elsa, and her taste in clothing was a little on the mundane side. But she did like to dress up and was often envious of Elsa's beautiful ice dresses.
Anna smiled sadly. She then sat on the bed and sighed. She didn't know what to do. Elsa was gone, Kristoff was hurt, Arendelle and Northuldra were at odds, and they don't know why, and to top it off, she was lost.
"Why can't thing just go my way for once." Anna said in exasperation.
The little fire lizard looked up at her sadly. Anna tilted her head and gave him a soft smile. She glanced upward towards the vanity mirror and saw something on the desk. Anna got up and walked over to it. It was a book, a diary from the looks of it.
She opened it up, but the writing was a language she did not know. There were some Northuldran words in there that she knew though.
Anna turned the page and almost dropped the book as she covered her mouth.
The page had the absolute most horrible drawing Anna had ever seen. It was as if a child had drawn it. But Anna could not really judge. The drawing made her think of her own.
It was the four Spirits. Or at least that is what Anna thought it was. There was something that looked like a lizard. Then there were some leaves, a pile of rocks, and the worst drawn horse in history.
Next to the horse there was the word Nokk. And next to the lizard, Bruni.
"Bruni?" Anna tested the word on her tong. She felt the room get warmer. She turned around to see the fire Spirit looking up at her in shock.
"Your name is Bruni?" Anna asked and the Spirit jumped up and down in excitement. Anna smiled. "It is nice to meet you Bruni!"
Suddenly, green, blue, purple, and pink colors flowed through all the ice and then disappeared. Anna could feel the shift. It was like something ancient had awoken.
Anna turned and she walked to the doors. There were two torches and Anna pulled one down. She looked over and the fire Spirit jumped from the pit and walked over to her. Anna lowered the torch and he lit it up. She held it up high and left the room.
As soon as Anna walked out, she heard a crunching noise behind her. Spinning around she saw that the door was gone.
Fear went through Anna. She glanced around and realized she had no idea where she was. The palace was shifting. Realizing that she would be trapped unless she did something, Anna clenched her jaw and walked forward.
It was all disorienting. Corridors appeared and disappeared. Staircases would suddenly show up, and then a doorway would open.
As Anna wondered through the passages she started to feel as if she was being led somewhere.
"Do you think Ahtohalla gave me her powers?"
Anna froze. That was Elsa's voice. Anna quickly ran forward, nearly slipping as she ran.
Why was Elsa here? Who was she talking to?
"I don't think you just inherited her powers. I think you are Ahtohalla."
Anna came to a screeching halt as she saw two ice statues of Elsa and Yelena.
"What?" Anna said in confusion. She walked forward and waved her hand in front of Elsa's face, but Elsa just ignored her.
Anna quickly realized that this was just a memory. She was watching what Elsa had discussed with Yelena after they had met the Northuldran, and Anna was helping Ryder with Kristoff.
Anna watched the scene, and she saw how excited Elsa looked.
Another statue of Elsa passed by. She was talking with Olaf.
"Isn't this place amazing?" Elsa said as the images of trees appeared around them.
"It looks like any other forest, but it could do with more leaves." Olaf said, picking up a dried-up leaf from the ground.
"But can't you just feel all the magic around you!?" Elsa said as she raised her arms as she just took it all in.
"I never really belonged anywhere." The voice of Kristoff said, causing Anna to spin around and see him. He was talking with Ryder. "I was raised by trolls, and I love them, but being here, and talking with you about reindeer, and all this nature. I really like it."
"If you could, would you stay here?" Both Yelena and Ryder asked.
Anna stood there in shock, she looked at Elsa and Kristoff's faces. They looked tempted by the offer, but then they hesitated, and Anna knew why.
They were thinking about her.
Anna felt angry, sad, and desperate. She didn't want them to go. Their life in Arendelle was perfect. They were all happy, weren't they? But she knew she was wrong. Kristoff had been struggling with his life in high society, no matter how much she tried to help him. And Elsa. Anna knew her sister felt like an outcast, it was something she could actually relate to with her sister. Being given a chance to live amongst magic and to use her powers freely. Anyone would want that in Elsa's shoes.
Anna looked down. She wanted to cry. She didn't want them to leave. But she did not want them to stay if they were unhappy.
Anna lifted her head, a small smile on her lips but tears briming in her eyes.
"If you want to stay, you can. Both of you. Just promise you will come visit, and I will do the same." Anna's lip wobbled as she took a deep breath. "I will always love you."
A wind blew over her and the torch went out.
Anna was ingulfed in darkness. She spun around in a panic. She heard the palace shift once more. Turning, Anna saw a small light coming from a hole in the floor.
Anna walked over to it and saw a staircase leading down. Anna took a deep breath, and then she descended.
It was a long staircase. She felt like she was going miles down below ground. Finally, she reached the bottom.
Ahead, the light grew stronger. Anna could see it was coming from a pedestal of ice. She approached it cautiously. On the protruding ice, something laid as it let of a faint glow. It was the symbol of the Spirits. The rune stones of fire, water, air, and earth were all there, and they were connected by a pure white center.
Anna picked it up and the light faded. One of the runes started to glow. Anna tilted her head and she turned it. As it moved, the light would move to the next rune. It was like it was a compass. Anna looked up to where the light was pointing, and she moved forward.
Soon something started to come into view.
"Catch me!" A little girl, no more than five yelled as she leapt from a huge pillar of snow.
"Wait Anna! Slow down!" Anna turned and saw her sister from when she was eight. Realizing that this was a memory from her childhood, Anna snapped her head back to her younger self and watched as she leapt from the biggest pile of snow.
"Wee!"
"Anna!"
Anna saw it. Elsa slipping and then in her desperation to save her sister, she hit her in the head with her powers. The younger Anna fell into a pile of snow and rolled down unconscious.
"Anna!" The young Elsa ran forward and grabbed her little sister. "I'm sorry Anna. You are going to be okay." Then she watched in horror as a section, or her sister's hair began to turn white.
The image faded and another rune lit up, leading Anna away.
"Your powers will only grow. There is beauty in it, but also great danger!"
Anna watched her sisters face as she was given this warning, and how she cowered away when the images showed her being attacked.
"Why are you showing me this?" Anna asked, looking up. The image faded and Anna was led away once more. This time it was a scene she recognized.
It was when she had come up the north mountain to bring Elsa home. The two of them were in Elsa's ice palace and Anna was trying to convince her to come back. It played out just as Anna remembered, but this time, when a look of fear crossed her sister's eyes and she started to run away, Anna now knew where it had come from.
"She could only think about how she had hurt me, and how others would fear her." Anna whispered in understanding. "She was trapped in that one moment all her life."
The image was consumed by the darkness. Anna looked down and saw the symbol pointing behind her. She turned around.
"But they have given us no reason to distrust them?" A man Anna did not know said. Next to him stood Anna's grandfather.
"The Northuldran follow magic, so we can never trust them." Her grandfather said, but there was a strange look in his eyes, a sadness, but then his face hardened. "Magic makes people feel too powerful, to entitled. It makes them feel like they can defy the will of a king."
Anna stepped back in shock. But she kept looking at his eyes. There was pain in them, but he desperately tried to hide it with resolve.
Anna remembered what she had just been taught. Being trapped in a single moment that forced you to make wrong decisions.
Why did her grandfather hate magic? Why did he believe it corrupted people?
Anna looked down at the rune pendent in her hand.
"Show me."
"Please! I am begging you!" Anna spun around and saw the back of her grandfather.
"No." A Northuldran man said calmly. He was very old, and he hunched over a tree branch that worked as a cane to support himself
"If Ahtohalla would just come to Arendelle for a little bit, then…" King Runeard begged.
"Ahtohalla and all of the Spirits belong only to the forest. To ask them to leave is like asking them to risk their very lives."
"It will only be for a little bit, please. My wife is dying! I promise to protect Ahtohalla!" Runeard was becoming more desperate, but the Northuldran remained calm.
"I have spoken." Was all the Northuldran said.
"Well, what about what Ahtohalla says?!" King Runeard countered. "It is she I am asking for help from, I want to hear it from her lips that she won't come!"
"Because there is no need to ask her." The man said causing Anna's grandfather to step back in shock. "Magic comes from nature, everything it does has a reason and purpose. You say your wife is dying because of magic? Then perhaps she has done something to deserve such a death."
Anna stared at the Northuldran. Anna had seen this in Yelena too, but it was more pronounced in this man. He truly believed that magic was nothing but good. It was like he was brainwashed into thinking that.
"Magic isn't good or bad." Anna said to him. "It is only what people make it to be." Anna took a deep breath and repeated Gran Pabbie's words. "There is beauty in it, but also great danger." Anna glared at the man. "My sister is a good person not because she has magic, but because she decides to be kind."
"I have spoken." The man said once more. He then turned away and slowly walked back into the forest.
Anna saw the betrayal in her grandfather's eyes. He rushed away and Anna knew it was to find another way to save his wife. But Anna's grandmother had died when her father was only six.
Loud cheering of happiness surrounded Anna. She looked and she saw the day that Arendelle had come to celebrate the completion of the dam with Northuldra.
Everyone looked so happy. Anna spotted her grandfather slipping away and quickly followed him. He wandered through the forest until he came to a lake. There, Ahtohalla sat on a rock and looked across the water.
Anna watched as her grandfather slowly crept towards Ahtohalla, his hand on his sword, ready to strike.
"I hated everything." Ahtohalla said suddenly. Both Anna and her grandfather froze. "It was all pointless, all those moments of pain and loneliness that I can see in this world. I was drowning." Ahtohalla stood up but she did not turn around. "I thought that if I could instead focus on the good things, then it would make me feel better." Ahtohalla lifted her hand and a small image of children running around appeared above her palm. "But that can be a curse too, unless you can remember the emotions of that moment."
King Runeard slowly started to walk forward once more. He unsheathed his sword and raised it high. Tears streaming down his face.
"I am sorry." Ahtohalla said and the sword came down, piercing her in her side. As soon as she was hit Runeard let go of his sword and backed away in shock. He looked tortured as his eyes filled with regret. Ahtohalla pulled the sword out and it fell to the ground.
"Ahtohalla has been hurt!"
Anna spun around and saw a group of Northuldran charge her grandfather. King Runeard quickly picked up the sword and proceeded to defend himself. Soon everything turned to chaos as the Northuldran suddenly attacked the Arendelle soldiers.
It was ironic. King Runeard had brought his guards to ambush the Northuldran when they were least expecting it. But because of a couple of Northuldran that were happening to pass by, the tables had turned, and it was now Arendelle that was surprised.
Anna realized that she was crying. All of this pain had come not from one side. The Northuldran chief's pride, and her grandfather's anger. Both played a part in destroying the relationship between the two people.
Anna buried her face in her hands. She could no longer watch. It was too much.
Silence surrounded her. Anna lowered her hands and she saw her grandfather. He stood still. His shoulders slumped. And behind him stood the dam.
Anna walked up to him and looked at his eyes. She saw many things. She saw a broken man filled with regret. But after what she had just witnessed. She also saw a monster that had sentenced thousands of lives to death.
But above everything else. She saw her grandfather.
"You don't deserve pity. Not after what you had done." Anna said to him, but tears were brimming in her eyes once more. Why did he have to go this far? It was only because of one old man's pride. There was no reason to kill Ahtohalla, or to attack the Northuldran.
Anna threw her arms around her grandfather's neck and hugged him tightly.
"I will take on your sin." Anna cried. "You can let go now."
She felt it, the moment as the statue of her grandfather flurried away in a swarm of snowflakes. And as he did, the dam crumbled until it too was gone.
Anna fell to the ground and cried.
She didn't know how long she sat there and wept, but when she was done, she was all alone in the darkness. Anna looked up and saw a small beam of light. It started to fill the room until Anna could see a wall, with a path that led upward to the light. She could see the sky up there. It was a way out. Anna stood shakily up and took a step forward, but then she stopped.
Anna lifted her hands up to her braids and pulled her ribbons out. Her hair fell limply down. Anna lowered her arms and let the ribbons fall.
It was her first and last tribute to the memory of her grandfather.
Anna once more looked up to the sky. But this time she was not trembling.
Author's notes:
Thank you for reading!
Anna's whole character ark in Frozen 2 was to tackle her dependency issues. She was supposed to let Elsa go and grow on her own. My problem with it in the movie, besides the fact they made her clingy and annoying, is that she was forced to let go. Elsa was dead, what was Anna supposed to do? She had no choice but to let go. You could say she was thinking of killing herself, but I don't think anyone was worried about that in a Disney film. Then the ending is weird because we don't see Anna and Elsa deciding to move apart. Everything is just all happy.
So, here I wanted Anna to come to the realization on her own. It is even worse because Kristoff is also leaving her.
As for the truth. I hate the fact that the movie just has Anna and Elsa's grandfather as this evil bad person. For a movie that was trying to be forward and mature, they just used one of the oldest and stupidest ideas.
Runeard and the Northuldran don't feel like characters. They feel like story plots. Show sympathy for Runeard without forgiving his actions. Don't just make the Northuldran the victims, show that they are flawed too.
I really wanted to give Runeard a reason for why he hated magic and the Northuldran. This was really hard. Just as I was trying to make Runeard human, I was also working hard to try and not villainize the Northuldran.
Runeard is the bad guy here. There is no arguing this.
The last thing that I tried to do, was establish that Runeard is Anna and Elsa's grandfather.
In the movie, he really could have been anyone. He didn't need to be related to Anna and Elsa, just as long as he was connected to Arendelle and got them to believe that the Northuldran had attacked them.
As soon as Elsa realizes what he had done she instantly looks down on him. She doesn't ask Ahtohallan to show her why he is doing this or his back story. She just interprets his words on her own. One of the many flaws of Ahtohallan is that it only shows what happens on the outside. It doesn't show what the people are actually thinking. For all we know, Runeard just said those words to get the guy to stop arguing.
With Anna she is at least a little more shocked. But her flaw is that she says Arendelle has to pay the price. Arendelle has not been shown to have any idea that their king has done this. And they have never been shown to be weary or even hatful of the Northuldran before the battle. This is Anna's grandfather who messed up. She is the one who has to make things right, and so does Elsa.
I also really disliked that Elsa gets to be rewarded with the actions of her mother, but Anna is the one who has to clean up what their grandfather did.