Rifiuto: Non Miriena
A/N: The story that Hans tells Elsa in the last chapter is Hans Christian Anderson's The Tinderbox (1835).
Written: 2019 - Licia
He sighed. Why? It was a question he'd had himself when his mother had first told him the story of the tinderbox. Even now, he still didn't understand it. He doubted he ever would. But then again, why did you do the things you did in Arendelle that day?
"Hans?" He met her gaze. "The story?"
"Right." He sighed again, thinking. "... she told the prince's adviser that she was forced to, that the river, upon realizing the threat he posed, demanded she drown him; instead, she drew a stake of ice through his heart, so that he would not be tied to the river and could therefore be taken home."
"But... why would she do that?"
"Because she knew that if he was tied to the river, they could never truly be together, for the river would do all it could to keep them apart, even in the afterlife. See, the river was selfish, and it wanted her and her alone. By stabbing him instead, she kept him for herself and spared his spirit the wrath of the river. He was returned to his kingdom and buried, the box with the diadem was tucked away, forgotten for years, the legend fading away."
"I don't understand, what happened to them? Did they ever reunite? In the afterlife?"
A small smile tugged at his lips; she was a child, entranced by a story, the same way he'd been when he first heard it. But this was where the story got complicated, or, it had always seemed complicated to him. "It is said the prince's spirit wanders the forest in search of her, but because she is tied to the river, he can never find her, for the river constantly changes its direction to confuse him in his search. That the wind mocks him, mimicking the cries of his love as they come off the water; that the earth shifts to change his path and stall his course, and that fire refuses to provide light for him to see at night as he tries to follow the river."
She shook her head; something didn't add up correctly. "But... but if she can command the spirits, why doesn't she command them to do her bidding and help them return to each other? Surely they can-"
"Because the river constantly blocks her path. Supposedly, it amplified her commands until they raged out of control. When the storms rage, it's her commands going out of control in an effort to keep her from finding him." He met her gaze. "They do say, however, that at some point, the guardian of the river disappeared; that her screams echoed through the forests and kingdoms as she vanished, in one final attempt to reach him, and that she hadn't been seen since."
"She vanished? Where?"
He shrugged. "No one knows. But it's said that when she returns- if she returns- she will return stronger than before, be able to bend the elements to her command, and strong enough to withstand the control of the river. That if she returns, she will be a true goddess on earth, able to play with the mortals that live upon it, and eager to find her lost love."
"Will she find him?"
"If she returns? Perhaps. According to the legend, he wanders the forests in search of her, separated by the river that holds her hostage."
"But if he knows she's in the river, then why not go to her?"
"Because the river she inhabits is not a normal river. It is not the river that cuts through the land; it is ancient, as old as the gods, and isolated. And it knows everything, for it possesses memory. It wants to keep them apart. Its goal is to keep them separated, so that she can forever serve the river, for she's its guardian. Were they to reunite, they would ascend to Heaven, and the river cannot have that. It needs to be protected, so it keeps her prisoner."
"And the diadem? What is so special about it if it's just a piece of jewelry?"
He bit his lip. "It's not just a piece of jewelry, Elsa. The diadem made for the princess was said to be crafted from the very ice of the ancient river itself. Were it to be placed upon her head, her true purpose would be revealed."
"Which is?"
"Legend says," Hans stopped, glancing from the box to her face and back. "legend says that she would be able to command the elements,"
"So... basically what she ended up doing anyway."
"Right." He scoffed gently. "With one exception." Elsa furrowed a brow again, and Hans couldn't help but chuckle at her face. "See, the princess's destiny was to die in childbirth." Elsa winced. "She was to be brought to the river of memory in the midst of her labor and die not long after the babe was born, so that the line would be secured. And with her death in the river, it would gain its guardian."
"But the witch drowned her before they could marry and have a child." She filled in, and he nodded.
"The balance was thrown off; the river retaliated. If the line could not be secured through the natural birth of a child and death of its mother, then the river would take what it could get,"
"By ripping them apart and forcing her to turn on him."
"The river never wanted the prince, it always wanted the princess. She was destined to be its guardian, its protector, because she had been gifted powers over spring. He was merely a liability. The child they were supposed to have would not only have the thrones of two kingdoms, but would be able to take over as the river's guardian once he or she reached eighteen."
"So the child would let the mother go-"
"- And the river would always have a guardian." He nodded. "Because the princess herself was a spirit; she had been born a spirit to the People of the Spring, a gift to the king and queen for an act of bravery years earlier, given human flesh and bone, and raised to rule without any idea of her true origins until it was time. She was never human, not truly."
Elsa tossed her braid over her shoulder. "She fell in love with the prince, and the diadem-"
"-would reveal that she was not human at all. That she was given powers over spring because she was a reward, but she never belonged on earth with other humans. She was a goddess, an element, said to be the strongest element out there."
"The strongest element?"
A nod. "She would be the element that would hold the others all together, and keep them in balance, able to command the spirits and the seasons, born of human flesh and bone but immortal, gifted with magic as a thank you for a selfless act, returned to where she belonged with her full powers in place."
"What did they call it? This... rumored element?"
He bit his lip. "The great religious leaders called it Aether, some called it Soul, others just the Fifth Element. The ancients called it the Fifth Spirit, because it could command the other four."
He watched as Elsa jolted, as though startled awake. She seemed to tense up, but before he could say anything else, he thought better of it, continuing with the story. "Legend says that the box holding the diadem could only be opened by the Fifth Spirit, that it rightfully belonged to her."
"And..." She swallowed. "And the prince? What does the legend say about him?"
"Nothing." He shrugged.
"What do you mean nothing, Hans! There has to be more!"
Their eyes met. "He's doomed to wander the forest for eternity, always searching for a way to get to her."
"But... but it's a curse, isn't it?" He nodded. "So there has to be some way to break the curse. To... to free her from the river."
A moment passed, before he spoke up again. "According to the legend, the only way for the princess to break the curse was-"
"By what? True love's kiss?"
He snorted softly. "No, actually. By accepting the diadem and thereby accepting her role as the Fifth Spirit, she would break the curse the river cast on her when she drowned and no longer be its guardian; she would be free, able to go where she wished."
The wheels in Elsa's head began to turn, and he could see her working the conclusion out on her own. "So... in order for her to break the curse- which doesn't sound like a curse but is- she has to accept the diadem and therefore, accept her role. By... by accepting her role, she..." She stopped, biting her lip. Hans briefly felt a slight surge of jealousy; of how lucky her teeth were, to worry that soft lower lip of hers-
"Sorry? Say it again?"
She blushed. "That's why the diadem is so important; it's the key to her true self. By accepting her role as the spirit, she is no longer tied to the river. She sets herself free."