Elsa couldn't remember a time when she'd been in so much pain. Pabbie hadn't lied when he'd said removing the dagger shard from her chest would hurt, but remarkably she could weather that type of pain just fine. As a child attempting to harness her powers, there had been many times Elsa had accidently gotten too cold to fast. The memory of accidentally freezing her bath water came to mind. It had taken her and her parents three hours to chip her out, and when she finally slid free from the ice she'd suffered minor burns from the chest down. Another incident had been when word of her parent's death at sea had finally reached the young queen and her sister. Elsa had thrown herself into her room, leaving dinner in frantic rush, and managed to close her door just as the full force of her grief struck. That had been the first time she'd truly felt what it was like to be cold. She'd curled into a ball in the middle of her room, long shards and thick blankets of ice overtaking every inch of space. Elsa had gotten so cold she'd frozen her clothing to her skin, shattering her gloves as she fought to contain her power. That had hurt, but it was all bearable because it was physical pain. What Pabbie had done to her power, that's what had wrenched the torturous screams from her throat.

It had begun during the old troll's song. Elsa knew a little about troll magic from her books and from speaking to Bulda and knew that most of their spells were done during song. So when Pabbie had begun to sing, Elsa felt the effects of his power immediately. It was gentle at first, probing her mind for where access to her power lie. The feeling of having another being touching her subconscious had been a little disconcerting but otherwise non-obtrusive. Pabbie was anything if not discrete, skirting around anything that didn't have to do with locating her power. It wasn't until he'd found the secret pocket in her subconscious that the true discomfort began.

Sensing the queen's power, Pabbie seized ahold of it like a fisherman hooking a catch. The kickback had nearly brought Elsa off the bed, but Anna was there to keep her still. Troll magic struggled against the queen's arctic magic in a brief game of tug-of-war. Pabbie proved to be the stronger opponent and successfully pushed Elsa's magic back, condensing it as he went. Once her magic had relented, the old troll cast his spell like a net, ensnaring all of Elsa's winter power. That's when the monstrous pain hit a high note.

For thirteen years Elsa had struggled to conceal her power, doing her damnedest to let nothing show. It had been a major undertaking keeping all that magic locked within her slowly growing body, but she'd wrestled it into submission as best she could. Still, it lingered under her skin like a demon waiting to be free, so close she could practically smell the winter air and taste ice during every waking moment. It wasn't until the coronation and her accidental freezing of her kingdom that her power had finally freed itself. Thirteen years of pent up magic had burst from her like a disintegrating dam and the storm had buried Arendelle under almost thirty feet of ice and snow. So it was safe to say that Elsa never wanted her powers restrained again for fear of the back build. When Pabbie's spell suddenly blanketed her own power, smothering it under an impenetrable barrier, Elsa's body fought with all its might to remove the block.

Pressure quickly replaced the careful balance the queen had established within herself. Her magic was a wild thing, untamed until recently, and when it felt the smothering effects of Pabbie's magic it writhed and twisted inside Elsa like a snake in a bag. She fought to keep herself in control, to not let fear and panic steal her reason, but with each passing second the pressure was becoming too much for her body to contain. Suddenly she was a child again, holding back her powers like a swimmer holding their breath. All Elsa wanted to do was breathe, to push her head above the surface and suck in as much air as possible, but she knew if she did she'd only hurt Anna again. The fear and panic were so acute in her mind, the memories of what her power had done to the ones she loved to vivid, Elsa struggled with every fiber of her being to put as much distance between her and her sister as humanly possible.

When the knife shard finally slid free of her body, the effect was like a door being ripped off its hinges by a hurricane. A vacuum of pressure and power swallowed Elsa, pulling her consciousness from her body as quickly as Pabbie had pulled the blade free, and she took one last ragged breath before going under. In the darkness of her mind she barely remembered where or who she was, but there was silence all around her, blissful, unending silence. No screaming, no pain, just nothingness on all sides.

The queen could have stayed there for eternity had a distant blue glow not roused her from her floating. It hovered at the edge of a black horizon, visible but impossibly far away. Still, the light reached her, and she instinctively turned towards it out of curiosity. A whisper slid past her ear, to faint to properly hear but it was enough to snag her attention. Elsa felt the snowflakes before she saw them, little speckles of cold hitting her skin and melting a second later. She raised her hand, her skin glowing ethereally in the gray darkness, and watched half a dozen little flakes alight on her palm. Where was this coming from? Elsa looked up at the blackness overhead and was surprised to find that gray clouds had appeared, hovering only feet above her. Where had that come from?

A sudden shout in the darkness, loud as a cannon blast, made her jump. The voice echoed for what seemed an eternity, bounding and rebounding all around her like distant thunder. Fully at attention, she turned in a slow circle as the snow began to swirl around her, cold fingers lingering on her exposed skin and raising goosebumps. Another half heard whisper whip past her ear, and Elsa turned chasing the phantom. Another cry shattered the icy silence and made her heart skip a beat, recognition setting in. Was that Anna? Abandoning her place in the snow, Elsa took off at a run towards the direction of where she'd heard her sister's voice, but no matter how hard she ran the distance never shortened.

"Anna?" Elsa shouted into the blowing snow. Already it was getting difficult to see where she was running, but the ever constant blue glow in the distance acted as a beacon and she raced towards it.

Run little queen—

Run to us…

Elsa heard it clearly this time, the whispers that had been brushing her ears. It sounded like sleet on cobblestones, raspy and faint, but she'd heard it clear as day.

"Hello?"

So she can hear us—

Can hear me…

"Who are—"

"You're not touching my sister!" Anna's voice boomed in the steadily growing snowstorm, rage laced in every syllable.

"Anna, where are you!?" Elsa pleaded spinning in a tight circle trying to decide which direction to run. This was just like the blizzard on the fjord two years ago, disorientation and desperation pulling at her from all sides, and the young queen was starting to panic.

No running will get you there—

Get you there…

The eerie whispers taunted. Elsa felt a cold hand on her shoulder and spun but there was no one there. Another hand trailed through her platinum blond hair, but when she went to bat it away she felt nothing but frost.

"One step closer," Anna's voice boomed, and it sounded like she was snarling, "and I'll—"

The princess suddenly stopped, a pained cry finishing her sentence. Elsa felt dread wash over her and searched desperately for a way out of this nightmare. Where was Anna? What was happening? Why was the snow sticking her to body like….like…

You cannot save her—

Save her…

She will be lost to you again. Lost because you are powerless—

Powerless…

"Shut up!" Elsa clapped her hands over her ears, but the whispers still made it past her barricade and into her brain.

But we can save her—

Save Anna…

"How?!"

Free us—

Free me…

"I don't understand!" Elsa screamed into the snowstorm, the wind whipping at her face and stinging her skin like hundreds of tiny needles. She turned once more in the direction of the faint blue glow hovering at the edge of an impossibly far horizon and jumped back in surprise when a face emerged out of the swirling flurries. It wasn't a distinguishable face, no familiarity to it, but Elsa could clearly see the faint outline of a head, two eyes, a nose and a mouth form out of the snowflakes and hover in front of her for half a heartbeat before disappearing.

You are in danger, Elsa. We are in danger—

Great danger…

And you are powerless to stop this danger from killing you unless you let us help—

Let me help…

"How? I don't even know what's going on!"

Use your magic—

Our magic…

"But Pabbie capped it. I can't feel it anymore."

Dear child, it circles you even now—

All around you…

Elsa was about to retort when she felt another brush of coldness on her shoulders. This time she didn't shy away, letting the fingers of ice trail along her skin. When she opened her eyes again the face had returned and was hovering feet from her, features flickering as wind blew the flurries about.

"But even if I could get to it, I don't know if I can control it. There's been too much of a back build."

You must protect yourself—

Protect us…

The danger is getting closer—

Free us now…

"But…"

Elsa heard a sound like a boot connecting with a sack of potatoes and heard Anna gasp and whimper in pain. At that moment everything fell away until all she could think about was her sister and what was happening beyond the confines of her mind. Anna needed her right now. The queen shakily raised her hands, hand that were now glowing a faint ice blue, and knew her power given voice was right. She could sense the danger looming ever closer like a shadow over a grave. If she didn't react, didn't unlock her power, she'd die and so would Anna.

"How do I free you," she asked in a fearful whisper.

I will show you—

We will show you…

The face in the snow suddenly lunged for the queen and she felt bone chillingly cold arms wrap around her and pull her close. Elsa gasped at the sudden cold, her body tensing, but it quickly evaporated, seeping into her skin like rainwater through soil. The blue glow that had once been a distant star on the horizon raced towards her like a cannon ball and struck her in the chest just as hard. At first there was just exquisite, mind numbing pain, and Elsa felt something snap inside her mind. Then there was a flash of cold heat in her stomach that swelled until it burned behind her eyes like a second sun. Suddenly emotions fell away, feeling fell away, everything that had once made her human slipped into the darkness as the need for self-preservation took precedence over Elsa's mind. Exhaling, feeling winters frost dart between her teeth, Elsa opened her eyes and slowly rose from her bed.