In her earliest memory of her magic, Elsa is four years old. It was the hottest June anyone could remember; at least, that was what all the servants were saying. When weather wasn't the hot topic, it was baby Anna and how cute she was at her first birthday. Was a first birthday really such a big deal?

At the end of the month, her father had to leave Arendelle to go to a kingdom named Corona. This was in spite of the fact that he promised he would take Elsa with him the next time he went sailing. Neither Mother nor Father would tell her why she could not make the journey with him. That only made her feel worse. Before Anna was born, Elsa had been the center of her parents' world. Now not only did she have to share them with a screaming baby, but another kingdom had called her father away.

She watched from her bedroom window that day as the king's ship departed from its port. It hadn't been on purpose. She didn't even know how she did it. But as her anger stewed, the window inexplicably frosted over. She'd jumped back when she noticed, watching until the frost grew so thick that it obscured her view outside. Frost in late June?

From that day on, Elsa noticed a pattern. When she was upset, frightened or happy, mysterious things happened. Snow fell from the ceilings. Ice snaked across the floors. Flurries exploded when she sneezed. That was in fact how her parents discovered it a couple years later—when she'd caught a cold.

The king and queen had many lengthy discussions in her room those weeks she spent in bed. She pretended to sleep so that she could overhear them.

"Should we call in a doctor? A priest? Where did the sorcery come from? I always knew something was strange about her… I mean, that hair—"

"Are you kidding? Agnarr, the moment word gets out, Elsa will be in danger," the queen whispered. She was not as quiet as she thought she was, for Elsa heard everything.

"How do we know she's not dangerous?" the king said.

"She's our child!"

"Yes, but we have Anna to think of too now," Agnarr reminded her.

At that, Elsa felt her heart breaking. Her father would choose the baby over his firstborn?

"We've seen nothing of her magic to suggest she's a threat to any of us," Iduna argued.

Elsa tried so hard to control it, but the king and queen both noticed when the temperature in the room dropped several degrees. The discussion came to an abrupt end. She kept her eyes shut as someone leaned over her in bed. Her blankets grew heavy with particles of ice as they moved in closer, her knuckles white as her fingers tightened.

Queen Iduna left a kiss upon her forehead. Elsa knew it was her even with her eyes closed by the absence of her father's tickling mustache.

There was no kiss from her father before her parents left her room.


Days passed. Elsa, while nearly fully recovered, was still confined to her room as her parents debated what to do about her power. They pretended her isolation was because of lingering germs, but she could see the truth in their wary faces every time they came to check on her.

She took to staring in the mirror when they left. The king kept servants from entering her room and her parents only came to see her once in the morning and one in the evening. She became lonely in her own company. Sometimes she would talk to her reflection as if it were a companion.

One day, it talked back.

Elsa jumped back from the mirror and gaped as her reflection smiled and waved to her.

"I didn't mean to interrupt you," her reflection said. It bowed in apology. "Please go on."

Elsa had been telling a fairytale about a princess stuck in a tower. Most of her time spent talking to her mirror ended up in tales her mother or father had shared with her. She loved stories, especially ones that involved princesses who somehow broke free of enchantments or prisons.

"Wh-who are you?" she asked with a gulp.

Her mirror self quirked an eyebrow. "I'm your devoted listener!"

Young Elsa tilted her head thoughtfully. She'd been in the habit of telling her reflection stories for about a week now. She wondered…

"Could you tell me a story instead…?"

Her mirror image hesitated, but eventually nodded. "I'd be delighted to! I haven't had anyone to share stories with in so long…"

Time went on. Elsa's parents eventually put an end to her confinement. After all, they couldn't pretend the crown princess was sick forever. In return, they made her promise not to tell a soul about her magic. That was fine with her. The princess ended up spending most of her time up in her room anyway. The mirror there became her dear friend. It told her such stories about distant heroes and heroines. Her favorite tales were about the sailor who raced the draug and, of course, the tale of Prince Lindworm!

One morning, her mirror image seemed a little solemn.

"Whatever is the matter?" Elsa asked her friend.

But instead of answering, the reflection said, "Would you like to hear a new story, Elsa?"

Would she ever!

"But… oh, I grow tired of being stuck on this side of the mirror. You understand."

Indeed, Elsa understood. After almost two months of being kept in her room by her parents, Elsa understood too well.

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked, eager to help her sad friend.

"I… I think so, actually."

Elsa's eyes brightened. "What?"

"You should be able to use your magic, Elsa," the reflection explained.

The princess slumped her shoulders. "Oh… I don't think so, mirror… my magic is only ice and snow."

"No! No, silly, it's much more than that."

Elsa blinked in surprise. "It is?"

Her mirror self nodded emphatically. "You just have to believe in yourself. Come here." It beckoned her closer. Why she suddenly felt nervous after months of talking to the mirror, Elsa couldn't say. Maybe it was just the fact that it expected the best from her instead of the worst, like her parents.

She stepped up, gazing deeply into twin jewel-blue eyes as the mirror her invited her closer, closer, closer. Elsa rested her forehead against the mirror's, a curious shock flitting through her when her skin touched the glass surface. The mirror glowed faintly and hummed as her reflection murmured words in a foreign language Elsa did not recognize. The glass pulsed as the humming grew louder. Suddenly, it didn't feel like cool glass upon her forehead anymore. Instead, she felt the warmth of someone else.

"Elsa?"

Her doorknob rattled. The moment was broken, the mirror no longer glowing as she looked back at her own startled expression.

"M-mother?" Elsa called, looking back toward her door. She'd locked it. She didn't like how her parents sometimes just let themselves in anymore.

"Please, open the door."

Elsa swallowed as she heard the irritation in the queen's voice. She quickly walked over and undid the lock. As she opened her door, she was a little relieved to see her mother's expression was neutral.

"Y-yes?" she asked, unnerved by the queen's silence as Iduna studied her.

"The painter is here for the family portrait. Please get changed and come down to the Great Hall."

"Yes, Your Majesty…"

Did her mother wince at the usage of the title? What did she want to hear? "Mama"?

The queen gazed at Elsa as if she wanted to reach down for her. But after a heartbeat, she nodded and turned to leave. Elsa felt a little numb as she closed the door. She moved to walk to her wardrobe and almost tripped in shock when she found a redhaired man standing in the room behind her.

"Who-who-who are you?!" she asked, backing up in fright. How long had he been there?!

"Elsa, it's me."

"Who?!" She blinked, terrified. But there was something familiar about his mannerisms as he knelt down before her. Yes, even the smile… "The mirror? But… didn't you look like me?"

He shook his head. "Only because I was trapped in the mirror."

"Why were you trapped in the mirror?"

The man looked away, pensive. "A tale for another time, perhaps. But I do believe I owe you a new story… right?"

She blinked. That's right. She'd forgotten his offer in exchange for helping him get out of the mirror. Curiosity gnawed at her. Who was he? How had he ended up in her bedroom mirror?

"That's right," she answered.

Years later, she would reflect on how she'd been far too trusting.


There was once a kingdom by the sea. This was in the days when only royal families carried magic down through a very specific, sacred ritual. A handmaiden gave birth to the king's bastard daughter and took the baby into hiding so that she wouldn't be killed by the king or queen.

The mother took her baby deep into the forest, far from the kingdom by the sea, and raised her alone in a cottage surrounded by a maze of high rosebushes she planted herself to protect her daughter. The handmaiden taught her daughter how to garden, among other useful skills. They were happy for many years, but nothing lasts forever. On the daughter's eighteenth birthday, her mother passed away from pneumonia. In her grief, the young woman would sing as she weeded and watered the garden beds.

A hunter passed near the rose maze one spring day, drawn near by the woman's magical singing.

"What a fair voice!" he cried out. "May I see its lovely owner?"

"You assume I'm lovely!" the woman shouted over the rose bushes. Unbeknownst to her, the hunter had entered the rose maze and was trying to solve it.

"I know it!" he shouted back. His voice sounded closer, and she realized he had entered the maze. Her mother warned her all those years not to speak to strangers, or she would be in danger. So, the woman went silent.

"Hello?" the hunter called as he encountered a dead-end. There was no reply, and so he tried again. "Hello?" But the woman would not answer. Perhaps she'd gone.

The hunter came the next day, drawn again by the enchanting voice as the woman sang while she gardened.

"What a fair voice!" he cried out. "May I see its gracious owner?"

"You assume I'm gracious!" the woman shouted over her rose bushes. She knew the hunter had entered the rose maze again. This amused her.

"I know it!" he shouted back, having made it a little bit farther through the maze than last time.

But the woman remembered her mother's warning again and again, she went silent.

"Hello?" the hunter cried out as he reached another dead-end. The singer did not reply. "Hello? Hello?" But the woman would not answer. He thought perhaps she left, and so he turned around.

On the next day, the hunter meant to find the maze again. But he encountered a mother bear and her cub on his way. The bear of course attacked him. The hunter lost his weapon in the fray, and he was badly injured and bleeding. The hunter managed to break free and run all the way to the rose maze.

"My lady!" the hunter called out, interrupting her singing as she gardened. "Please, there is a bear not far behind me. Won't you sing to guide me through your maze?"

The woman was torn. She did not want the hunter to be mauled by the bear, but her mother's warning still frightened her.

"Please!"

How could she even trust he was in actual danger? But as soon as she had the thought, the woman heard the angry bear's approaching roar. She did not want the hunter to die, and so she began to sing. The hunter immediately darted into the maze, making his way by following the charming voice he'd heard twice before. The bear did not follow him in.

The serene voice guided the hunter around several corners until he eventually came to an end of the rose bushes. He stood before a cottage with various vegetable garden beds outside. When he lay his eyes upon the singer, he was satisfied to find that he'd been right; she was lovely and gracious. But the hunter only had enough energy to smile when he collapsed, the blood loss finally catching up to him. The woman took him in and tended to his wounds. She even used her magic to help him heal faster. The hunter promised to keep her magic and her cottage secret. By summer, he had fully healed and they had fallen in love.

They lived together happily for many years.


Queen Elsa flipped through the trade and census records in the library for hours, hoping for some clue to the magician's identity. She even tried looking up the members of the Southern Isles royal family, but there was no mention of a Hans Westergaard. She heard a servant enter the room, but she was so engrossed in her research that she did not look up.

"Your Majesty? You've been here for hours… might I bring you something to eat?"

Elsa glanced up at Kai's face wrinkled with worry.

"Kai… do you remember a Prince Hans of the Southern Isles?"

His wrinkles deepened with confusion.

"A Prince Hans? I'm sorry, Your Majesty… the name is not familiar."

Elsa's blood went cold. "But Anna said he helped pass out supplies to the townspeople during the blizzard?"

Her manservant stared blankly.

"You're telling me you don't remember him at all? Not his engagement to Anna?"

Kai let out a barking laugh. "Engaged to… isn't Anna attached to a certain ice harvester?"

"Yes," Elsa answered, growing anxious. "But Prince Hans left her to freeze to death… Kai, you don't recall any of this?"

Kai bowed. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty…a lot happened at your coronation. I'm getting older. Hard to remember some things… I'll leave you to your reading."

The room seemed to spin around her as Kai left the library. She stared harshly at the books on the table, flabbergasted. Who else forgot about Prince Hans? How was this even possible?

Elsa dropped the book in her hand and dashed out into the hall. She stopped as she encountered a pair of maids, ignoring the bewildered look in their eyes as they encountered their frantic queen.

Did they remember Prince Hans? No.

She moved on to the next servant she encountered. She ran from hall to hall, asking everyone she could. But not a soul knew who she was talking about.


Years passed without the hunter ever returning to his hometown. One day, he said he desperately wished for his wife to meet his sick mother before she passed away. The wife reluctantly agreed even though it meant leaving the safety and isolation of their cottage and the forest.

They went to the village on the coast and met with the hunter's mother. She was so happy to see her son had found happiness. Now at last she can pass in peace, she said. The son grew teary and told his mother it wasn't her time yet, that there would be more visits before that day came. She had to live long enough to see her grandchildren, after all.

The time came to return home and they bid the hunter's mother farewell. On their way into the street, the hunter's wife was nearly run down by her half-brother, a prince on horseback. With quick reflexes, she froze the horse in place with her magic. Everyone on the street witnessed this power, including the shocked prince.

When he recovered from the surprise the prince immediately ordered for the woman to be taken prisoner. The hunter tried to intervene, but the king's men surrounded them.

Fearful that the woman was an invading monarch from another kingdom, the prince struck his half-sister down with his own magic. The hunter rushed to his wife's side. There she died in his arms, but not before she passed her magic on to him through a crimson kiss.


The queen could not think of what to do, and so she went to the trolls. She asked if her sister mentioned anything about Prince Hans when she went to them. Much to her relief, they said yes.

"How is it possible no one at the castle can remember him? Could it be a mass memory wipe?"

The troll elder looked at her reluctantly. But he eventually explained about magic among humans. Ages ago, royal families across the land were graced with magic. Over time, it caused some problems… some monarchs would use their magic to the disadvantage of their people. There was one in particular who invaded other kingdoms. The other kingdoms banded together to overthrow him. Then, they agreed not to pass on magic anymore.

"How is it I ended up with magic, then?" Elsa asked.

"That remains a mystery even to me. In days of old, the royal families had to make a great sacrifice to obtain such power. They stopped passing down the ritual after they saw what power was doing to them. Unless your mother and father somehow…"

"No. They couldn't have known about the ritual. They were as surprised and fearful of my magic as I was."

"Perhaps the cosmos thought you needed to have power, then."

"Still, none of this explains Prince Hans." She explained about the magician.

"Hmm… it sounds like this prince and your magician are one and the same."

"But who is he? What does he want?"

"I don't know, Your Majesty. But there's something interesting I noticed in all that you've told me… it sounds as though any time he's come to you, it's been when your sister was not close to you."

Elsa's eyes widened. It was true. The magician disappeared when Anna was old enough to become her playmate. He didn't come back to her until years later when the sisters' relationship was seemingly irreparable. Then again, he showed up at the coronation as the prince to use Anna against her… but Anna's act of true love overcame his plans. He disappeared again, unbeknownst to her until now.

Now, Anna was away with Kristoff. Would the magician show up again? She would have to be ready for him, find out what he was after and stop him.

She thanked Grand Pabbie and abruptly said her farewells.


The queen felt on edge for the next two weeks. Anna had yet to return. She half-expected the magician—Hans—whoever he was, to pop up around every corner. But she went about her days passing orders, approving plans for the construction of new docks along the fjord and reading over trade documents. She woke up, washed up, got dressed and repeated the days over and over.

One evening, she found herself starting up a journal as she had no one to talk to. She thought it might help her clear her head, for it was beginning to feel like she was going mad. She needed Anna home. Anna wouldn't have forgotten Hans, Elsa was sure.

She wrote out all that Anna had told her about the supposed thirteenth prince—how he had left Anna for dead, how he'd raised his sword against Elsa during the storm…

She froze with her pen hovered over the page. What if Hans got to Anna and Kristoff during their journey? Why hadn't she considered that sooner?! If he tried to hurt the sisters before, what was to stop him now?

Elsa raced out of her room and through the castle until she encountered Kai. She explained in a whirlwind of panic that she had to leave and that he needed to oversee everything while she was gone. He tried to object, but she just spoke over him. Anna could be in danger, she explained.

Then, she realized she didn't even know where exactly Anna and Kristoff went. She only knew the direction: north.

"Kai, did Gerda tell you where they were going?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. They were headed to Lapland."

"Lapland…"

That was a thousand miles away.

"Thank you. Please take care of everything. I'll return as soon as possible."

"Y-Your Majesty, with the princess gone, I'm not sure it's wise for—"

"I'm sorry, Kai. I have to go."


A/N: Screw it, it's easier if I wrap this up in a fourth chapter. :D Thanks for reading!