A/N: The latest review said that I should update soon since the Frozen arc is done on the show. I couldn't agree more. But we all have those weeks (or in my case a whole 2 months) of extra shifts and barely any time to write. I've been writing as much as I could in the last few days since I've had them off, and now I have this chapter ready. I hope to get the next one up soon. Unrelated pro tip: never, ever take a casually scheduled job if you want a part time job. They are completely different things.

Chapter 7: The Apprentice

tAnna and I walked slowly up the steps. Rumplestiltskin's estate was massive compared to most, even larger than our own castle.

"Any advice for me? You've seen this man before." Said Anna.

I scoffed. "This freak is the furthest thing from a man you will ever meet. All the same, mind your Ps and Qs, speak clearly to him, and whatever you do, don't say the word 'anything'."

"Anything?" Said Anna.

"You'll understand what I mean later."

Anna reached for the door, but noticed it was open. She shrugged, and we walked in.

I damned myself for not thinking of someone else we could go to for advice. The Serpent seemed to be the only person in the land that people approached when it came to these kinds of problems.

"Rumplestilskin?" Called Anna. "Are you here? The door was open!"

We then heard that squeaky voice echo. "End of the hall! First door on your right!"

We walked down the hall, myself watching carefully for any traps. This guy was worse than any Templar I had ever killed, except he wasn't one.

"Come on in, dearie! You and your...escort!" He said.

Anna and I walked into the room. A massive table sat at the center with a chair facing away from us at the head.

"My name is Joan, and this is Connor. We were hoping you could help us-"

Anna gaped at the sight of Rumplestiltskin. His face like that of a toad's, with yellow eyes and rotting teeth. He looked just as freakish as when I last faced him.

"Is there something wrong with your skin?" She said.

I winced. "Why do you talk?!" I snapped. "What did I tell you as we were walking right in?!"

Anna nodded, a little shook off by my tone. "Sorry! It's not that there's anything wrong with-"

Rumplestiltskin stood up. "Your name isn't Joan, as isn't his Connor. After all, I never forget those who tried to kill me." He glared at me as he said this.

I wasn't just someone who tried to kill the Snake once. I was also the only one that I knew of that wanted to see his head hit the floor more than anyone else. But I didn't know the pirate yet. I wasn't just afraid of Rumplestiltskin. I was bloodthirsty.

"Names are my stock and trade, dearie. And yours is Anna, of Arendelle." He pronounced the name of the kingdom with a big emphasis on the A.

"And your 'traveling companion' is Master Assassin Asgeir Swortssen." He stared at me with such an evil grin, as if he knew something I didn't.

"No need to keep secrets from me. I know more about you than you think." He said, looking Anna up and down as he circled us.

"Then you know why we're here." I said, staring him down with my glare. Where was the Piece? It wasn't in his hands like last time.

"Yes, yes." Replied Rumplestiltskin. "You want to know why your parents ventured into this strange land."

Anna nodded. "My sister thinks it was because of her, but I know she's wrong. Can you help us?"

The imp grinned. "As it happens," He said. "your parents paid me a visit in their journey. It would seem when one needs answers, I'm the face to go!"

I damned Agdar's foolishness. Make a deal with the devil? You could ask him for a dollar and he'd still screw you over for that. Rumplestiltskin always said he only broke one deal in his life, but the truth was he broke more deals than I broke arms. He made his deals so carefully worded, that he'd always get the better end of the stick.

Anna frowned. "What answers did they seek?" She asked.

"Well I can't just tell you, dearie." Replied Rumplestiltskin.

I scoffed. "The hell you can't. You just want something from us in return."

Rumplestiltskin glanced at me with piercing yellow eyes. "I'd keep quiet, Assassin. Otherwise I'll take your 'silver tongue'." He sneered.

He turned to Anna, paying no attention to the look of shock on her face. I guess she didn't expect such hostility from either of us.

"You see, aside from names," he continued. "I also have a speciality for making deals."

Oh hell... Don't do it, Anna. Don't say it.

"A deal?" Anna nodded. "Sure. I'll make a deal. I'll do whatever it takes to help my sister!"

"Anna, no!" I cried.

Rumplestiltskin shot a look at me. "I said quiet!"

He flicked his finger at me, and suddenly I felt it. He didn't take my tongue, but I couldn't speak. And I figured it would be for a while. But I wouldn't have taken back what I said that lead to my silence. I hated Rumplestilskin more than most could dream of. There was just something about him that ground my gears. Maybe it was his taunting from last time with my heart.

Anna glanced at me, but said nothing, clearly too frightened to say anything out of line.

The snake conjured a small bottle into his hand. "At the foot of the dark mountains," he said, creepily. "Lives a very old man. Prickly sort, probably eats children for breakfast."

I narrowed my eyes further at him, if that was possible. Ate children for breakfast? Well, isn't the pot calling the kettle black?

"I need you to put this in his tea." He held up the bottle.

Anna glanced at the bottle uneasily. "What will it do to him?" She said.

Rumplestiltskin shook his head. "Sorry, dearie. That's not part of our agreement. Oh! Speaking of which!"

He flicked his hand, conjuring the massive paper with the damned line at the bottom: the dotted one.

"Sign here, and I shall tell you why your parents came to see me."

He held out the quill to Anna. "Do we have a deal?"

Anna looked at the quill, then at me. I shook my head. But Anna turned back and signed her name.

"Oh! Might as well, since he's been so quiet!"

Rumplestiltskin flicked his finger at me again, my voice coming back. I coughed, and cursed under my breath. My turn to say those words, although to myself.

"Whatever it takes," I said to myself in my head. "I will protect Anna from his slimy claws. I promised Elsa, and I promised Kristoff."

We were soon on our way. As we headed out towards the old man's house, Anna kept glancing at me. First it was every minute that Anna looked back at me, but then it started happening every ten seconds. Finally, I was fed up enough to say "What?!"

Anna frowned at me. "I've never seen you in such a bad mood, Asgeir. Unless you count that standoff with Ryan after we met. What happened between you and Rumplestiltskin? You warned me to watch I don't say anything out of line, then did it yourself."

I nodded. "It's different for me. I'm already on his shite list when I made that trade with him."

"What trade? I thought he made deals." She said.

I shook my head. "A year ago, not long after I visited for Elsa's birthday, I received orders to kill Rumplestiltskin. He wasn't a Templar, but he wasn't innocent as well. He terrorized so many souls, and they would sleep easy knowing that he would be dead. So I didn't ask question. But when I found him, things were not as easy as it should have been. I impaled him three times with my swords, and stabbed him once more with my hidden blade. Nothing could hurt him. And then he took my heart just as I pried the dagger from his hands."

"Took your heart?" Anna held her hand towards her own chest, like to pull her own out. "Like took it, took it?"

I nodded. "A simple trade. Not a deal: he give me my heart back, I give him the dagger, and we never see each other again. He then explained a few things to me as I held the dagger: the dagger controls him, so whoever holds it can make him do anything they will him to. It's also the only thing that will kill him. But killing him with it would make me the Dark One. I refuse to be chained, or hold the whip, so I made the trade with him. But he had to taunt me before I left."

I pointed to my chest. "If one were to pull out a person's heart, it would become enchanted. You could control that person, or kill them. You know how I feel about being chained. I especially lose my temper at chains I can't escape from, being the best at escape artistry."

"Rumple could've controlled me with my heart, but instead he pointed out the worst possible thing about myself I didn't need to know.

I stopped walking as Anna did so. I took one hand by her shoulder, and placed the other on her heart. "The Sight lets me see many things. I can see hearts without removing them. I've seen yours. It's as red as an apple. You never once let darkness get ahold of you, and that's what makes you special. Elsa has a heart made of ice if you can believe it. I'm also unique in terms of hearts, too."

Anna took my hand. "How so?" She said, comfortingly.

"Darkness." I replied. "If you let the darkness inside your heart, it only grows, and never leaves. For all my childhood I always hated your father for trying to kill me, and it gave me truly spiteful feelings towards the Templars. We offer them a prayer to them that they rest in peace when we kill them, but there was a point in my life where I didn't do so. Alone, hateful, and letting the darkness corrupt me every day, it only consumed my heart more and more."

I resumed walking, and Anna followed suit. "But then I met you and Elsa, and things changed. I hope you understand it when I say that you both put the light back into my heart. I saved your life, and you saved mine in return. It's what keeps me fighting for justice, and not revenge.

"But unfortunately, the darkness in my heart is still there. Once you let it in, it's there for good. When the Imp took my heart, I saw what it had done to my heart. I'm on the edge. Right on the line between killing for personal satisfaction, or for what's right. There were some Templars I killed because I wanted to kill them, not because I needed to. When I saw my heart, I saw how the conflict has reached it. Always beating. One beat, it's red as red can be. Another beat, and it resembles a piece of coal. Then another beat, and it's back to red. It'll always be that way, and I'm the only one with such a heart. Always trying to figure out what choice I make, and if it's the right one. That's the true conflict I face. But so far I've shown such resistance to the darkness that I can resist so much more."

Anna smiled. "Then we really are special. All three of us. Siblings of Arendelle, each with a heart as different as the three of us."

I smirked. Leave it to her to see the bright side of things. "I guess so. Rumplestiltskin took my heart a long time ago, and when he had it in his hands, he taunted me, saying I should stop jumping from one side of the coin to another, and let the darkness in. But I could never forsake my vows. I'm not like the Templars. I'm not like Shay."

"Who is this Shay?" asked Anna.

I glanced at Anna, and shook my head. "Another time, Anna. His story was the worst."

The small house that Rumplestiltskin told us about was coming up. It didn't look like something a nutcase that ate children would live in. In fact, it looked well kept and kind of cozy.

"Anna, I'd be careful." I said as she took the bottle out. "Whatever the Serpent gave you, it can't do anything good to the old man."

Anna nodded. "But what kind of man is this one?"

I sighed. "I have no idea. I don't have magic, so I can't truly know what's going on. Best I can tell is that Rumplestiltskin wants to liberate my head from my neck with his Piece."

Anna and I walked up to the front porch, and she knocked on the door.

The man who Rumplestiltskin spoke of opened the door. He seemed a little strange looking with his cherry red robe, and his long scraggly grey hair, but he looked at us with such kind eyes. I didn't need to focus my sight on him to know he wished us no harm, just as I had suspected. I lowered my hood.

"Can I help you?" He asked, kindly.

Anna nodded. "Yes. Maybe. I-I" She stuttered. "Can we come in?"

The man glanced at me for a second. Did he recognize my hood, or what it meant? Did he know who Anna was? I had no idea. The man only glowed blue as I focused on him.

He smiled. "I just put a kettle on the fire. Join me for tea, and biscuits."

Anna smiled, although I felt her unease as we stepped inside. The hovel was a nice place, and well kept for it's status. The thick smell of pastries wafted from the fire.

Anna noticed the biscuits as well. "Biscuits! You mean you don't eat children?"

I elbowed her slightly as the man chuckled. "Is that what they say about me these days?" He said, walking over to a corner. He picked up a broom and started sweeping. I had seen someone like this before in the stories. Wasn't it a movie in the Land Without Magic?

"Yes." Said Anna, foot in her mouth yet again. One day she might say the wrong thing, and I dreaded not being there to stop her. "No!" She corrected herself. "Well…" She glanced at the man. "Sorry…" She murmured.

"Pardon my sister, kind sir." I said. "We've traveled a long way."

He nodded. "It's quite all right." He said to me. "So what brings you both so deep into the woods, to the home of an alleged devourer of children?"

I noticed Anna was eyeing the kettle with concern. If she was to carry out the deed, the time was coming. Would I help her with such a task? It could mean betraying the Creed and the tenets. Although, kind people with ulterior motives weren't unheard of, here. I had to be on guard, and that could mean helping Anna. But she had to make her move.

"We're on a quest, kind sir." I said. "Helping our sister. But it seems we've lost the way."

"Well, you're welcome to stay as long as you wish." He said, not looking up from his sweeping. This all looked familiar, and it was right on the tip of my tongue. But why was I thinking about a hat? "I assure you, the biscuits are delicious," He looked up, grinning. "And they are made with flour."

Anna and I both smiled at that. At least this man had a sense of humor. As he went back to his work, Anna went over to the kettle. I had to do what I could to make sure the man didn't see her slip the poison in."

"So, kind sir. May I ask your name?"

He smiled. "Most don't know me by my name, and those who know me well enough only call me an Apprentice. However, you may call me Mick."

You have got to be bloody kidding me.

"Now, if I'm not mistaken, that sounds like an Nottingham accent, sir." He said to me. "Are you from there?"

"Not entirely." I replied. "I was raised there, but we both come from Arendelle. My sisters were raised there separately from myself. Oh, where are my manners? I am Asgeir, Master Mick."

Mick smiled as I glanced at Anna. It almost looked like she deliberately spilled the vial into the fire as she stood up.

"Master!" Exclaimed Mick. "I am no master, only an apprentice. But all the same, you are too kind.

Anna turned to us as she stood up, an empty vial in her fist. I knew as she smiled, that she didn't come anywhere close to poisoning that vial. "Do you take sugar?" She asked pleasantly.

A while afterwards, after Mick gave us directions back onto the road, we returned ascending the steps to the snake's manor.

"I'm very proud of you, Anna." I said. "Very few have as strong a soul as you do to resist putting that crap into the man's tea."

"You were right, Asgeir." She admitted. "There has to be a better way to finding answers on what our parents were after."

We found Rumplestiltskin in the same chair we first saw him in, in the very same room. Anna filled him in on the situation, while I kept quiet. Anna did her best to make sure she kept her story straight, but as she said it, something felt off when Rumplestiltskin replied.

"So you poured it in the tea?" He asked.

"Just as you asked." She said.

"And he drank it?"

"Every last drop."

The imp cackled. "Good!" He laughed. "Then he'll live."

"So now can you tell me why my parents came-"

"What the bloody hell did you say, Imp?!" I snapped. I knew this was too good to be true. "He'll live?!"

"He'll live, because he drank the antidote you gave him!"

"Antidote?" Said Anna. "To what?"

His toothy grin showed off every bit of his rotting teeth. "Uh, poison?"

"I thought it was poison!" She said.

"You son of a bitch!" I started to reach for my sword as Rumplestiltskin cackled again. Stabbing him with any of my steel wouldn't kill him, but it sure as hell would make me feel better.

"No!" chuckled Rumplestiltskin. "The poison's what he drank yesterday! What you had was the cure for that!"

Anna looked at him with horror, and then said "I didn't give it to him."

"Why not?" asked the toad. "We had a deal!"

'Cause you're a lying wanker!" I snapped. "You made her think it was poison so you could make an innocent kill another!"

"We have to make more antidote!" Said Anna, wishing that there was any hope for Mick. "We have to go back to the cottage! We have to help him!"

I pulled out my sword. "You do what she says, freak!"

Rumplestiltskin only smiled as he stood up. "I'm afraid it's far too late for that, dearie!" He waved his hand over the crystal ball, which I had only now just noticed, on his table. It showed Mick in his cottage, succumbing to the poison. As he keeled over it turned him into a- yes, you guessed it- mouse. A big-eared mouse.

"You bastard…" I muttered.

"Oh, look who's talking." He giggled at me. He turned on Anna. "You should have listened to me when you had the chance.

Anna could only watch with horror, a large piece of her innocence drifting away.

For once, I forgot about killing Rumplestiltskin, and headed off with Anna towards the cottage to make sure Mick was okay. She started looking frantically around as she opened the door.

"It's gotta be here somewhere…"

"Careful you don't step on it!"

We glanced up at Rumplestiltskin, who was already there. My first instinct was to pull out my flintlock, which I did. Anna was still hoping that there was bargaining with this devil.

"We have to find him! You have to change him back!" She said.

"Oh, but I can't, dearie!" He replied.

"Why?"

He grinned. "Because I don't want to."

BANG! The bullet sparked across the room from my pistol, and Rumplestiltskin keeled back, clutching his chest. For a second, he looked like he was dying from that shot. Then he grinned, holding the bullet in his palm. He dropped it, and continued what he was saying, but not after taking my voice once again.

"He was protecting something that I need." He explained to Anna.

Realization spread across Anna's face like wildfire. "You're the one who poisoned him!"

I tried to say "Bingo!" but all that came out was weezing. Rumplestiltskin giggled. Whether from what he did to Anna, or me, or Mick. I'll never know. He always seemed to be laughing about everything like a medieval Joker.

Anna was confused, as was I a little bit. "Then why did you send me there with an antidote if you wanted to turn him into a mouse?" She said in disbelief.

"Oh, it was never about him!" Said the serpent. "It was always about you!"

"It was all a test?!"

"And one you performed admirably!" He said. "You see, he's but the first line of defense. And what he protects is also guarded by an enchantment. A spell that can only be broken by someone who has been tempted by their inner darkness, and turned away from it. Someone just like you! And in the process, I made one of the Assassin Order's greatest warriors break a tenet of the Creed! Aren't you supposed to protect the innocent?"

Something of interest to Rumplestiltskin guarded by someone who's supposed to be a cartoon mouse, and with a lot more protection that I expected. Only one thing came to mind, and it wasn't a Piece of Eden. In the serpent's claws, that would be much more dangerous than a mere Apple.

For some reason, I felt my voice come back. Maybe he wasn't paying attention to me, or maybe he just gave up in trying to silence me. I was appalled.

"You used her! YOU MONSTER! I'LL MAKE YOU BURN FOR THIS!"

I felt the chain conjure out of midair, and it pulled me to the ground. My head bounced off the hard floor, and I heard a ringing as I held my head. But I stayed conscious.

"I knew you couldn't do it, dearie." Said Rumplestiltskin. "I knew you'd see the best in the old man."

Anna smirked. "I never faced my 'inner darkness'."

I suddenly laughed, realizing what she did. "Clever girl!" I cried.

"What?!" Exclaimed the serpent.

"As soon as I met Mick, I knew what I had to do. I could never hurt someone to get what I want. Elsa wouldn't want me to." She looked down at me. "And neither would Asgeir."

I smirked. "Proud of you, sister!"

"So I was never tempted by that…'inner darkness' you speak of. In fact, I don't even think I have one. I'm, unlike you, nice."

My heart sank as I saw the snake grin. "Well then, dearie. I hope you're going to enjoy spending the rest of your life locked up in my tower! As for your brother, I think I'll take him to my vault!"

Then he pulled out that damned paper. "It was part of our deal!" He said.

I grimaced. "Touch one finger on her, I cut your head off!"

"But we have to get back to Elsa!" She exclaimed.

"Then you should have never left home in the first place!" he taunted. "Imagine the guilt she will feel when you don't return home from your journey."

Bollocks. Always one goddamn step ahead of us! Anna realized what this meant for Elsa. She would blame herself for our disappearance, and be left to mourn over what we did. All because she let us leave.

"A journey you took because of her. She will finally become that monster everyone fears she is." He gasped. "I suppose the wedding's off."

I couldn't just lay down and take this. But I had to. The chains remained tight around my arms.

"No!" She cried, sword raised. I could almost see the potential Assassin in her spirit as she looked defiantly at Rumplestiltskin.

"Rip it up!" She exclaimed. "Rip up the contract, now!"

"Well, I can't do that, dearie." He said.

"The hell you can't!" I cried. "Don't do something you'll regret, imp!"

For the third time that day, he took my voice right from my mouth.

"I'm afraid the only way for you to escape your fate, is by killing me! And we know you're just too…nice."

Then I saw it. How he could keep making plans time and time again that seemed to just stack the cards in his favor, I never knew. But what I did know is that Anna forgot that a mortal blade couldn't wound Rumplestiltskin. She thought that she could kill him right here and now, and that would be it. And he taunted her to do it.

"Do it. Go on. Right through me. Do it!"

We all have darkness in our hearts. You're just playing yourself if you deny that. And Anna was looking right down into the endless chasm of darkness. I knew exactly where this was going, and either way, she would lose. If she tried to kill Rumplestitlskin, it would let the darkness in, and it would tarnish her heart. And if she didn't, then Rumplestiltskin would have his way to the hat. Either way, the serpent had pushed my own blood right into a trap with no escape, and it only did one thing to me: it had me put him right at the top of my list. I would find a way to kill him without magic, no matter the cost.

"Do it! DO IT! DO IT!" Commanded Rumplestiltskin.

Anna couldn't, even though she saw her darkness. She fell back, dropping Pick. She sat right beside me as I undid my chains.

"You'll burn for this, Rumplestiltskin!" I growled. "I will make you burn."

"I'd like to see you try, Assassin. Your sister may not have considered dosing the old man,but she just thought about killing me."

Tears started rolling down Anna's cheeks. Her innocence was cracked into pieces. Rumplestitlskin kneeled down to us. Then I saw the Piece. His dagger. He held it under her chin until a tear dripped onto it. He giggled with delight as he stood up, with what he came for.

"The tear of someone who has faced their inner darkness, and turned away."

Anna and I looked up as he grinned. "The love for your sister was all I needed."

Anna bared her teeth. "I should have known! I should have listened to Asgeir! You're a monster! You take the most precious thing in this world! Love! And turn it into a weapon!"

"Love is a weapon, dearie!" Replied the devil. "Always has been! It's just…" He waved the dagger in his hand, a hidden trapdoor beneath the hay in the floor. "So few people know how to wield it."

Rumplestitlskin walked down into the dungeon, triumphant, while Anna threw her arms around me, soaking my hood in tears. I patted her on the back.

"It's okay, Anna. You didn't know. It's okay."

Anna noticed Pick at her feet, and thrust it into my hands. "Don't let me touch this again!" She sobbed.

I felt a little shook off, but nodded as she buried her face in her knees.

Rumplestiltskin returned shortly, holding something that didn't look like the hat. It was a small circular box with stars on it. I assumed correctly that the hat was inside, because I could hear the voices from it. Not of those who came before, but of something else. We both stood up as he climbed up the stairs.

"I helped you get what you wanted." She said, sniffling. "Now give me what you promised. Tell us about our parents."

Surprisingly, Rumplestitlskin kept his end. "Well, dearie, The King and Queen of Arendelle landed on my doorstep with an itsy bitsy problem: your sister."

Of course. Those damned Templars couldn't let what they couldn't control be in anyone else's hands. What if I got to Elsa first and brainwashed her with my anarchist ways? She would be an untold threat to them.

"They wanted something to take away her powers…forever."

Anna couldn't believe what she heard. "Our parents loved Elsa."

"Sounded more to me like they feared her."

Because of this Snow Queen aunt of ours. Something happened with her. Mother had seen this magic before, and it scared her because of something from her past.

"It's a thin line. It's oh so easy to cross." He said, taunting Anna again. "You must have known. They always wished she had been born a little bit more…normal."

"What the hell is normal, serpent?" I snapped. "It's only something to be ashamed of if that's what you aim to get out of life."

"Did they find what they were looking for?" Asked Anna.

"I'm afraid not." Said Rumplestiltskin. "No one could lay their hands on that kind of magic, until now." He held up the box for us to see.

"So that's what the box does." Said Anna.

"Not the box." He said. "What's inside. A hat crafted thousands of years ago by a sorcerer for one purpose: to steal magical power. And guarded all these years by his apprentice."

Speak of the devil, I started hearing whispers above my head, and as I focused, saw the little guy scurrying over the cross beams of the cottage right above us.

"What are you up to with that thing, imp?" I asked.

"When the hat has collected all of it's ill gotten power, and it's fully charged, I will be unstoppable."

Anna was confused. "But I thought the Dark One was already unstoppable."

He shrugged. "There are limits, however small."

I narrowed my eyes. "No. You can't, serpent. I've seen the power of the Pieces with my own eyes, and this is a whole new level. This is too much power for one individual. Mick dedicated his life to ensure freaks like you don't get their slimy paws on it."

"Too bad he's not here to stop me." He replied.

Anna grinned, already aware of what I heard. "What if he is?" She looked above, along with the toad. Mick jumped down, and bit Rumplestiltskin on the hand. He dropped the Dagger in that instant.

"Grab the Piece, Anna!' I cried, charging Rumplestiltskin. I grabbed him, holding his arms back as Anna held up the Dagger.

"Don't move!" She said. "I know how this works. Asgeir told me."

Then she looked at it in her hands. "Is that why you want the hat? To free yourself from the control of this dagger?!"

Rumplestiltskin didn't respond until I pinned his arm against his back like a playground bully. "Answer her, you craven!"

"To be free of the control and to keep my power!" He answered. "Yes!"

"Yeah, I can't let you walk out of her with that!" She snapped. "So please, give me the box."

I pried the box out of Rumplestiltskin's hands, and tossed it to Anna. "Give me the Dagger, Anna!" I said.

Anna carefully handed the Dagger to me, until I had Rumplestiltskin at the Dagger's point.

"Remember, dearie." He said to me. "You can't keep ahold of that Dagger forever. And you don't want to be at the other end of it when I get it back!"

"I'm not worried about me." I said. "It's her that needs to be sent back in one piece. You and I have some unfinished business! Send Anna and the box back home to Arendelle!"

Rumplestiltskin backed down. "If I must." He murmured.

"Wait!" Said Anna. "And also you can never hurt me! Or my sister or Asgeir! And you have to turn Mick back into a man!"

When he didn't respond, I poked him with the knife again. "Do as she said, serpent!" I snapped.

Rumplestiltskin held up his hand to send Anna back.

"I'll be there soon, Anna." I assured her. "Don't worry."

Anna nodded as she disappeared. I let go of Rumplestiltskin, the Dagger still in my hands. He screamed in anger of losing the hat.

"What do you want more out of me, Assassin?" He snapped.

"One question that you're going to answer: What else did Mother and Agdar seek from you?"

Rumplestiltskin frowned. "I am not questioning what you ask, but I never said that they wanted anything else out of me."

"You didn't need to. You gave it away when you kept glancing at me as you talked to Anna. I'm no fool. I know they wanted something else out of you aside from Elsa, and I know it involved me somehow."

"Yes." Growled Rumplestiltskin. "Yes, they mentioned you to me. I didn't know that their bastard son, and my would-be Assassin from a year ago, the White Reaper were one in the same until you came here with your sister!"

"What else did they want?"

Rumplestiltskin stepped forward, wanting to grab the dagger from me, but I held it up higher, forcing him to back off. I could hear the Ones Who Came Before coursing through the dagger. This was one of their many artifacts, and what I was hearing confirmed it.

"They wanted to forget you. They wanted you, a bastard Assassin, out of their lives as two high ranking Templars."

"Wait!" I cried in disbelief. "Gerda wanted to forget me just as much as Agdar?"

"Indeed." Growled the Snake. "She had been a Templar most of her life. Remembering that she had you, would only hurt her and Agdar's chances to become the Grand Masters of their Order."

"But then why not visit the trolls? They make people forget things all the time."

"Yes. But with troll magic, those inflicted by it don't have their memories erased. Their memories still remain, deep in their subconscious, only twisted with the trolls' magic. Gerda and Agdar wanted a potion that would make them forget you altogether, erasing you from their minds and their subconciouses, and the Templars' minds altogether. Yes they would see you, Asgeir, the White Reaper, butchering the Templars across the realms, but they would only see an Assassin, not their daughters' half-brother."

I stood there, appalled. In that moment, I lost all sympathy. I didn't have two parents that were now dead. I only had one, and his head was taken off by a Templar devil and his wife. She bore me so long ago, and now I understood. When I was born, Agdar didn't take me from her arms so that he could kill me. She gave me to him.

"Did you give it to them?"

"Indeed. A forgetting potion is a walk in the woods for me. I gave them the potion, told them that they could drink it when they left, and sent them on their way. They spent their last moments with not a single thought of you. And if you did cross their mind, it was only because you were an Assassin, not Gerda's first born."

I narrowed my eyes, defeated. "Send me back, you little prick." I snapped. "And if you come looking for any of my family ever again, I'll call the Assassins, and we will tear you apart. See if you survive that."

Rumplestiltskin raised his hand, and I felt the floor swallow me up from below.

I reappeared right in the courtyard garden at the castle. I just remembered then that my satchel with the magic beans were still in Misthaven, aside from the one bean hidden in my boot. I would have to come back for them later.

I figured I would find Anna with her fiancé. Sure enough, I walked right in on them kissing in the stables. Anna looked over at me as I walked in.

"Uh, I can leave if you want?" I said.

Anna laughed. "Asgeir, what took you?"

"Answers. Elsa wasn't the only reason they went on that quest."

"What do you-" Said Anna. Her eyes lit up with misery. "Oh…"

"They were full fledged Templars, Anna. How would it look like to the rest of their Order if it was discovered that Gerda's true living first born was a bastard Assassin?"

"Not good, I assume?" said Kristoff.

"They wanted something stronger than troll magic, and they got that from the imp. This whole quest was a dead end, Anna. I now know that our mother spent her last moments either wishing I was never born, or I didn't even cross her mind."

"Yeah." Said Anna. She turned to Kristoff. "Our mission didn't go as planned."

Kristoff winced. "So they did leave because of Elsa."

"They got on that ship because they were afraid of her." She said. "They wanted to change her. They were looking for a way to take away her powers. With this." She held up the box.

Kristoff sighed. "That is-"

"Horrible? Terrible? The worst news you've ever heard and the world might as well end right now?"

He shook his head. "I was gonna say 'bad'. But yeah, what you said. What are you gonna tell her?"

Anna wasn't sure, so I said it for her. "Nothing. We tell her that we found nothing about what their parents were looking for, and we don't bring up the box."

Anna glanced at it in her hands, and then looked at me. "Do you think-?"

I knew what she meant. "I'll need to bring this up with Matthew and the council. I haven't seen anything near this powerful, and neither has anyone else of the Order. We may have to hide it someplace we can only go once."

Anna and I both headed down the hallways towards the castle's lounge. With my birds sending me the messages that Elsa was worried to say the least about us, it was important that we see her as soon as we could. We entered through the open door, Elsa floating a large snowflake in her hand. She was in her official queen dress that day. I had a similar thing, where I had to wear a coat without a hood when I was at the royal council meetings. Elsa jumped for us as we walked in.

"Anna! Asgeir!" She cried. We embraced, feeling that joyful chill again. Even when she was happy, Elsa always had that cold aura surrounding her. "I was worried I would never see you again!"

"I'm afraid you're stuck with us!" Said Anna.

"Really, Elsa?" I said. "Anna had my help on the way. Keeping an eye on her is not as hard as you'd think."

"I'm glad you stepped up, Asgeir." She said. "It's what I would have wanted if Anna did end up leaving."

"I'm sorry we left without telling you." Said Anna.

"And I'm sorry I made it feel like you had to. I know you did it for me to try to make me feel better."
"And to cut down some Templars." I added.

Elsa smiled. "So! What did you learn? Did you discover why our parents went to the Enchanted Forest?"

Anna and I shared an uneasy glance. One that Elsa noticed. "What is it, Anna? What did you find? Asgeir?"

I glanced at Anna, but she played it off just like I wanted her to.

"Nothing." She said, smiling. "I mean, I'm still waiting on some answers from a few people I met, but I wouldn't expect anything anytime soon, because they have to find it out, they have to get on a ship and come here. It could take a while, a long while, and-."

Elsa just smiled. With absolutely no snowflakes or frost gathering around the room.

"Well, I'll be damned…" I smirked.

"Wait! No flurries? No frost on the windows?"

"Looks like Elsa found something, too, Anna."

"I've been learning to control my powers when I get upset." Said Elsa, grinning.

"Really?" said Anna. "How?"

"By training with me."

I dreaded that voice for years to come. As Anna and I turned, we saw a tall blonde all in silvery white. She had a tiara of snowflakes on her head, and seemed to almost glide as she walked towards us.

"Who is that?" Said Anna, out loud. "I mean, who are you? I mean, hi."

It takes a lot of trust from me to really accept someone in. And with all that I heard, this warning from my birds, the last words of the Duke, and what Gerda and Agdar were after, it all didn't spell something good with this woman. I only stood by while Anna and Elsa approached her.

"She's…our aunt." Said Elsa.

"Our what?" said Anna

"Your aunt." Said the woman. "My name is Ingrid. Your mother and I were sisters."

Ingrid was of no blood of mine. Some of us have that relative that we wished never existed, and for so long of my life, I cursed Ingrid's name. She was of no relation to me, just as Gerda was no longer my mother in my eyes at the time.

"You look exactly like her." Said Ingrid to Anna.

I suppose it was meant as a compliment, but that look in her eyes said so much otherwise. She almost said it like some kind of threat to her. Ingrid gave Anna such a piercing stare, I was almost tempted to pull out my flintlock and get her to back off.

"But I don't think I know you." She looked at me.

"This is Asgeir." Said Elsa, putting her hand on my shoulder.

I didn't smile to her. "I'm their half-brother." I said. "Gerda was my mother."

"Well, now. Isn't this just a delight?" She said to me glancing at the lowered hood over my shoulders. "I'd recognize the hood of the Assassins anywhere."

Elsa looked a little surprised. "You know of the Assassins?"

"Arendelle was a kingdom meant for Assassins a long time ago. How long have you been one, Asgeir?"

"My life." I replied, still not smiling. Though Elsa didn't seem to notice my cold shoulder to our aunt. "Daniel Swortssen was my father."

"Daniel." Repeated Ingrid. "Of course." She knew my father. Why didn't that surprise me?

"Pardon me for saying so, Ingrid, but Mother doesn't have a sister." I said. "At least not one that I knew of."

"I'm sure it was too painful for her to talk about." She replied. "You see, many years ago I was trapped in a magical urn by…people who didn't exactly understand me."

Anna didn't see the picture forming in front of her eyes. "Didn't understand you?"

Ingrid replied by opening her palm, another snowflake appearing in it. While she formed it, I focused my Sight. Whatever white reflecting off her figure was gone now, replaced by the deepest shade of blood red.