Chapter Three: The Trolls.
August 2nd, 1839.
Not a day had passed since Elsa's confession was published before Anna had requested that she, Elsa, Kristoff and Olaf take a trip to the Valley of the Trolls. The princess felt that the only way to get all the answers she needed was to ask Grand Pabbie to restore her memories. Elsa was reluctant to let her do this, but Anna would not take "No" for an answer.
As Kristoff's reindeer Sven pulled their carriage through the town square that morning, it was clear that everyone in Arendelle had received and read a copy of Elsa's essay. Elsa looked upon her subjects as the carriage passed them, fully expecting them to react with hostility, fear, disapproval... Remarkably, almost none of the people looked up at her in these ways. In fact, most of them looked up at her with a smile, a tip of the hat, or some other kind gesture. It was almost overwhelming for her, to know that the people were willing to give her another chance.
Anna nudged her sister's arm. "You see, Elsa? Everything's fine. The people still love you. Or at the very least, they're loyal to the Crown."
"Yeah, most of them, anyway," said Kristoff.
"What does that mean?"
Kristoff's response was to point to a spot up ahead. On the edge of town, there was a group of individuals dressed in orange standing near the gate, well under the watchful eye of the nearby guards. Some of them were reading copies of Elsa's confession with a look of disgust. Others looked directly at their queen in disapproval, as if they were daring her to make the wrong move.
Now, this is the reaction I was expecting from most of them, she thought. Just stay calm, Elsa. Focus on the horizon for now.
As the carriage exited through the city gates, Anna turned to her sister. "I think I remember those people. Aren't they with that populist movement that gave our parents some trouble a few years ago?"
"Yeah, the… Farmer's Front, right?"
Olaf scratched his head. "What's the Farmer's Front?"
"They're a group of activists who want to reform Arendelle's government and give more power to the people. The farmers, the craftsmen…" Elsa gestured in Kristoff's direction. "… the ice harvesters."
Kristoff nodded. "I've met some of those people. They claim to want what's best for the working class… but to a man, they're just troublemakers."
"What would happen if they got what they wanted?" said Olaf.
"Well, Anna and I would most definitely be out of a job. We'd probably be sent into exile if we were lucky. But more importantly, it would be a very confusing and dangerous time for everyone else in Arendelle. The Farmer's Front has no plan for a new form of government, and some of their members even have criminal reputations. There's no telling if the guards can keep Arendelle safe from these radicals."
"Well, so far, they've just been stamping and shouting a bit, right?" said Anna. "Just a few unpleasant words here and there about the Crown's policies?"
"Regardless," said Elsa, "given the damage my magic caused to Arendelle, especially to the crops, they'll be watching me pretty closely as I coordinate the relief effort, so I can't afford to make any mistakes."
"Just… don't let them push you around," said Kristoff. "Remember, most of the kingdom is still on your side. Including me."
"And me."
"And me."
"And me!" Kristoff repeated in a weird voice.
Elsa chuckled. "Thank you, Sven."
"You're welcome."
Later that afternoon, the carriage arrived at the Valley of the Trolls. Sven grew apprehensive as he brought them closer to the trolls' meeting spot.
"Whoa, boy. Easy there. It's okay." Kristoff helped Elsa and Anna disembark from the carriage, while Olaf hopped out behind them. "I apologize for Sven's behavior. The trolls' magic tends to make him nervous. It's okay, Sven, I'll be right back. I promise. Hey… Who's my special boy? You are! Yes, you are!"
"Kristoff!"
"Right, I'm coming."
Kristoff led the group to a small stone arrangement in the middle of the valley. The trolls emerged from their natural camouflage amidst the rocks. One of them rolled up to Kristoff and pulled him into a hug.
"Kristoff! You're back! I missed you so much!"
"I missed you too, mom. You remember Anna and Olaf, of course. And this is Anna's sister, Elsa. Elsa, this is my mother, Bulda."
Elsa knelt down and shook Bulda's hand. "It's very lovely to meet you, ma'am."
"Oh, so polite! So, how long will you be staying with us?"
"Unfortunately, mom, this isn't really a social call. Is Grand Pabbie around?"
"Yes, he is, dear. If you'll follow me, please?"
Bulda lead the group to a small cave on the edge of the village. Inside the cave, they found the weathered Grand Pabbie sitting on the ground, painstakingly trying to reassemble hundreds of fragments of a shattered mirror.
Kristoff's eyes went wide in shock and he ran over to him. "Grand Pabbie, what are you doing?!"
"Oh! Kristoff! You startled me. I didn't realize you were coming home today."
Kristoff picked up one of the mirror fragments and held it up. "These had better not be what I think they are."
"I can explain…"
"Do you even remember what happened the last time you used this mirror?"
"Mistakes were made, but I know what went wrong! I can avoid repeating it this time—!"
"No," said Kristoff as he gathered up the pieces. "Absolutely not. I will not allow this mirror to endanger us again. You made a promise to the village!"
"Kristoff," said Anna, "what are you talking about? It's just a mirror."
"Trust me, Anna, this mirror is dangerous. We destroyed it for a reason—How did you even find all the pieces again?"
"I have spent years searching for those pieces of the mirror, and I did not come this far to stop now!"
"Well, you can forget it, old man. I am taking all of this crap and dumping it in the sea. Now, I believe your guests wanted a word with you about something. Good day!"
As Kristoff carried the mirror fragments back to his carriage, Grand Pabbie shook his head in disappointment.
"Whippersnapper… He doesn't want to accept that we might need that mirror again. I hope he has not doomed us all with his naïveté."
"I don't understand," said Olaf. "What was so dangerous about that mirror?"
"Let's not dwell on that," said Elsa. "You saw how frightened Kristoff was. He'll explain everything if and when he feels comfortable. But right now…" she turned to face Grand Pabbie. "… we need to talk about how you helped us when we were children."
"What do you mean?" said Grand Pabbie cautiously.
"She knows. Anna knows. I finally told her the truth. I told her about the accident. And now she wants you to undo your magic and restore her memory of our childhood."
Grand Pabbie had a look of reluctance on his face. And Elsa certainly couldn't blame him. Considering how close Anna had come to dying that night, he was undoubtedly worried about the risk to her well-being.
Elsa reminded herself that Anna had asked for this personally, even insisted on it. With that in mind, she gathered her resolve. "Grand Pabbie, believe me, the last thing I want to do is endanger my little sister, but we have to do this. After all the sacrifices she's made to save me and our kingdom, she deserves to know what happened."
"But we don't know if she can handle it."
"My sister has proven to be stronger than anyone ever realized. She can handle it. It's time she learned the truth."
Grand Pabbie turned to look solemnly at the princess. "Are you absolutely sure this is what you want?"
Anna knelt down and looked Grand Pabbie firmly in the eye. "Show me."
He sighed in defeat and placed his hand upon her forehead. Anna's eyes went blank as the lost memories, along with a myriad of familiar sensations and emotions, came flooding back to her. The experience was so overwhelming that she collapsed on the ground.
"Anna!" Elsa rushed to her sister's side and held her in her arms. There was a sudden chill in the air as she frantically tried to wake her. "No… please, no… not again… What have I done?" She wrapped her arms tightly around Anna and sobbed uncontrollably.
"… Elsa… Elsa…"
"sniffle… Anna? Anna, are you okay?"
"You're—gasp You're crushing my lungs!"
"Oh, sorry," said Elsa as she loosened her grip.
Olaf rushed to Anna's side. "How do you feel, Anna? Do you… do you remember what happened?"
Anna sat up and rubbed her forehead. "I… think so…" She glanced from Olaf to Elsa. "We both see the talking snowman, right?"
Elsa and Olaf were both paralyzed by her words. Had the spell backfired?
Suddenly, Anna's face lit up with a goofy smile. "… Nah, I'm just messing with you guys."
"Oh, you—You scared me nigh to death!"
"Sorry, Elsa," said Anna as they got to their feet. "In all seriousness, I think it worked. I guess we have some more catching up to do."
"… If I could go back to that night…"
"Don't. Don't dwell on that, Elsa, please. It was a long time ago. The important thing is, we still have each other." Anna pulled her sister into a loving embrace.
"Thank you, Anna. And thank you, Grand Pabbie. I think we'll be heading home now."
"Before you return to Arendelle," said Grand Pabbie, "there is something I must say. You have made a brave decision to embrace your magic. Unfortunately, there will be countless difficult decisions to make in the future, many unforeseen challenges. You must be willing to meet them if you wish to follow this path."
Elsa nodded with conviction. "I understand."
"But know this, Snow Queen: You are not alone."
Later that night, Kristoff drove Olaf and the Stark sisters back home, this time with the bag of broken mirror shards close to his person. He made frequent glances to his right, toward the open sea, as if he were trying to find the right spot to dump the mirror fragments. While Anna and Olaf watched the stars go by, Elsa could only think about Kristoff's reaction to what Grand Pabbie was doing earlier.
"Kristoff… may I ask you a question?"
"You just did. But continue."
"You and Grand Pabbie had a heated argument earlier about those mirror fragments…"
Kristoff sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Elsa, you have to understand, the last time the mirror was completely intact, it almost destroyed the Troll community."
"How is that even possible?" said Olaf.
"This is no ordinary mirror. Apparently, it was a source of esoteric knowledge. Everything Grand Pabbie knows about healing magic, he learned from looking into that mirror."
"I wish my mirror did things like that," Anna chuckled.
"This is no laughing matter," said Elsa.
"Your sister's right, Anna. Just like that snow magic of hers, the mirror also had some dangerous potential when it wasn't used carefully." Anna noticeably bristled at the comparison Kristoff had made, but she didn't say anything. "To hear some of the elders describe it, Grand Pabbie was so obsessed with learning all of its secrets, that he ended up neglecting the daily affairs of the valley. He would spend hours on end sitting in his hut, staring into that mirror, and he would eventually start seeing… things."
"What kind of things?"
"Things… things that a troll ain't supposed to see. Staring into that mirror made him paranoid and greedy… He just wasn't the same person after that, and he was almost driven out by the other trolls."
"Oh, my God…" said Anna.
"Thankfully, it was clear that the mirror was the real problem. Grand Pabbie didn't need to be punished or exiled or anything. What he needed was help. And he got it. But first, the mirror had to go."
"And that's when his friends shattered it?" asked Olaf.
"Not quite. No, first, his friends sold it to a traveling merchant to make sure it would be taken as far away as possible. But… the merchant was attacked by a pack of wolves, and the mirror was lost. Then, a couple of years after the trolls adopted me, Grand Pabbie found the mirror again."
Elsa squinted her eyes shut. "Oh, no…"
"Oh, yes. Grand Pabbie and I were gathering medicinal herbs one day when he found the mirror tucked underneath a bush. I will never forget that look in his eyes… The elders had told me stories about his last mishap with the mirror, and in that moment, I could tell from the way he held that mirror, the way he looked into it, that he hadn't learned anything from his mistakes."
"What did you do?"
"Well, he swore me to secrecy before he smuggled the mirror back into his hut. Later that night, when everyone was asleep, I snuck into his chamber and stole the mirror. I won't lie, I was tempted to look into it myself, to see what all the fuss was about… Luckily, Sven was able to help me resist. Just as Grand Pabbie woke up…"
"Of course he did."
"… I hopped on Sven, tucked the mirror away and rode out of the village. I raced all the way to Arendelle, smashing the mirror against every hard surface that I possibly could. Tiny bits of glass were scattered all over the ground. By the time Bulda caught up with me, the mirror was completely destroyed."
"It sounds like you did the right thing, Kristoff."
"Tried to, anyway. But it seems Grand Pabbie's been doing his absolute damnedest to put this thing back together."
Something occurred to Elsa. "… Is the mirror dangerous in its current state? All broken apart like this?"
"Well, we could still cut ourselves pretty badly on the glass, but I'm pretty sure we don't have to worry about its magic. We just need to make sure Grand Pabbie can't find these pieces again."
"By dumping them in the sea?"
"I don't know why I didn't think of this last time. Trolls aren't very good swimmers."
"Well… how about this: You just give me the pieces, and I'll scatter them far enough out at sea that they can't wash up on the shore."
Kristoff hesitated before passing the bag behind him to Elsa. "I'm trusting you to do the right thing, Elsa."
"I promise you, the fragments will be disposed of properly."
"… Okay."
Kristoff pulled the wagon over along the shore and helped Elsa disembark. With the bag of shards in hand, Elsa stepped onto the surface of the water, conjuring up a platform of ice beneath her feet. The platform extended as Elsa continued to walk out toward the sea, keeping the bag out to her side where Kristoff could clearly see it.
Elsa walked about 200 feet away from the shoreline before opening the bag and sprinkling the bits of glass out into the open waters. She had to admit, this felt like a waste of a helpful asset. But then she thought back to Kristoff's warnings.
It's for the best. I know it is.
She returned to the shore, dispelling her ice magic along the way, and Kristoff helped her back into the wagon.
"Thank you for your help, Elsa. The troll community has enough problems as it is."
"I just hope Grand Pabbie can come to his senses before long."
Kristoff chuckled. "I'll do my best to keep him grounded in reality. Now, let's get you home before the Farmer's Front tries to occupy the castle."
I apologize for taking so long to finish this chapter. First, I had trouble making sure it was long enough to hold the reader's attention. Then I moved into a new apartment, so that was pretty distracting (Haha). Then I had to write a good ending to the chapter.
Anyway, I hope y'all haven't completely lost interest in this story. God knows when the next chapter will be out, or when Elsa will meet her significant other, but I still think it'll be worth the wait.
In my mind the Farmer's Front outfits are inspired by the gang uniforms in Assassin's Creed: Rogue. I have plenty of artistic vision, but when I'm using a pencil, I'm better at writing things than drawing them. Also, the magic mirror thing is a reference to the original story of The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen. I'm especially proud of that one.
If you have any suggestions for how to improve the story, standalone episodes, dialogue for the characters, anything at all, feel free to post your ideas in the comment section.