It was 21 years after Elsa thawed Arendelle. Lightning flashed across the darkening sky as Gerda, a 16 year old girl with blonde yellow hair, walked close to the edge of the water. Just moments ago, the sun had shone so brightly it almost looked like it would never be blocked out. But now the clouds had covered the sun entirely, so one could be forgiven for thinking it was nighttime. Gerda swam to where she needed to go. Ahtohallan. The closest place the 4 Spirits ever had to a home. But when it came to the 5th Spirit, Elsa, it was a somewhat different matter. She steps back 10 paces, and then ran to the surface of the water. Ice formed beneath her bare feet, which allowed her to run on the surface of the water. A great wave formed and struck her. The coldness of the water should have strung her with the pain of a thousand blades, but she was relatively immune to the cold. There was still some distance between her and Ahtohallan, but she manage to overcome this and swim the rest of the way to Ahtohallan.
Finally, she arrived on the icy shore of Ahtohallan. After spending almost an hour searching, she found what she was sure was the entrance. She had seen pictures of that entrance in a journal left behind by her Aunt Elsa. She entered and walked down the ice stairs of the round passageway of Ahtohallan. She expected the passageway to be darker, but it emitted a light that enabled her to see clearly. As she walked further into Ahtohallan, the light began to get dimmer until she struggled to see. "Elsa!" she cried. "Elsa, are you there?" She received no answer. She then sang a melody to calm her nerves. It was a melody that was familiar to her mother Anna and her grandmother Iduna. It was pretty much a wordless tune. One that Iduna sang when she was a young teenager who needed help saving a boy who was injured. "Ahh-Ahh-AHH…" she sang. Suddenly, the interior of Ahtohallan was lit up by what appeared to be a burning figure of purple light that was resting on the ice floor. It seemed to be attracted by her song. The burning ball danced around, leaving a trail of partially melted ice in its wake. It seemed to be leading her somewhere. She followed it to a large round space that was filled with moving statues that were made of snow. These sculptures were reflections of the past, and they included figures not only from Arendelle's past but also other figures who were in close proximity to Ahtohallan. The light from the burning figure had started to fade, which enabled Gerda to perceive its form much more clearly. It was the Fire Spirit, even though it took the form of a blue salamander.
Gerda took a moment to observe the ice sculptures; for she knew she was not yet capable of making sculptures like these. Some of these were sculptures of people she recognized. Like the sculpture of her father, Kristoff, and Anna. They appeared to be somewhere arguing about something. Where they were, she knew not for the magic of Ahtohallan would not, or could not, reveal everything to her. She guessed they were in their bedroom. "How could you let her go there? To Ahto- to that icy cold Spirit Fortress!" Kristoff's sculpture seemed to say to Anna's sculpture. "Don't you see how dangerous it is?" "It'll be Elsa's birthday soon," Anna's sculpture seemed to say. "I'm not entirely sure what happened to her, but I'm entirely sure I can't wait any longer to find out."
"Find it out, but leave Gerda out of this. Don't you think she has more important things to do? She's going to be Queen one day." Anna seemed to have no answer she could say to this. Instead, she seemed to want to change the subject.
"I know in my heart the Spirits gave her these ice powers for a reason."
"What if it's a terrible reason? What if the Spirits want her to rot away in Ahto- in that Spirit Fortress as well?"
"The Spirits would never do that," Anna said defensively. Kristoff rolled his eyes and scoffed.
"It's because the Spirits wanted to reward me for destroying the dam. Gerda will go, if she wants, into Ahtohallan. And she will carry a gift with her."
Just like that, the scene slowly faded away. The fire spirit caught Gerda's attention by making a squeaking sound, so she followed it. It stopped by an ice sculpture. Unlike the rest of the ice sculptures surrounding it, including the ice sculpture that stood in front of it, this ice sculpture stood still and even appeared to be far from finished. It even seemed to be missing an arm. Looking down, she could see that there were many small shards of ice at its feet. Even though she could tell it was a man, the features of the ice sculpture were so plain and indistinct, she had no idea who or what the sculpture was supposed to be of. Was it a commoner or a prince? The ice sculpture that stood in front of it appeared to be that of a woman. A woman that seemed familiar to Gerda. "I just wasn't looking where I was going, but I'm great actually," the sculpture seemed to say. Gerda heard the sound of footsteps. Like sound of ice upon ice, as if the footsteps were made by someone who was half frozen. It came from a woman wearing a white dress made out of ice. She had light blue skin and dark blue hair. "Elsa?!" asked Gerda. The figure paid her no heed, as if the figure didn't even notice her. The figure bent down and picked up one of the icy shards and attempted to fit it somewhere on the unfinished statue, as if she was trying to complete a puzzle. "Elsa, is that you?" Gerda once again asked. But the figure still paid her no heed, for it was busy trying to complete whatever puzzle it was working on. But none of the pieces the figure picked up seemed to fit the way they were supposed to.
In frustration, Gerda smashed the statue with her powers. This got that figure's attention. The figure turned slowly. An angry frown slowly formed on its face. "What… have… you… done!" the figure said softly but solemnly. The area began to shake and large ice spikes popped out from the floor. A large piece of ice sprang out from the floor and pressed Gerda against the wall. "What are you doing here?" she yelled. "And how could you survive here?" "I know it's you, Elsa," Gerda shouted back. "But you're not yourself." "Who's Elsa?" Elsa asked. "Someone my mum, Anna, believed in when no one else would," answered Gerda, reaching out towards something that was tied to her waist with a thin rope. "Anna wanted to give her this because it was her birthday." It was a doll in the form of a snowman. A snowman that was very familiar to Elsa. "Olaf!" Elsa gasped, while tears that almost appeared solid began dripping down her face. "You do remember something!" Gerda said with a wide grin. "I'm Gerda." The ice then began sinking back into the floor, freeing Gerda. "I'm sorry I reacted the way I did," cried Elsa, sobbing so loudly that her words could barely be understood. "This place can play tricks on your mind if you stay here long enough." "Then leave," demanded Gerda, walking towards Elsa and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Leave this place. I want you to come home. I know all too well that Anna wants you home." "Don't you see… I can't," Elsa blurted out. "This is my home now."
"No…"
"I'm bound to this place by the power of the Spirits."
"I don't understand. This isn't how being the 5th Spirit is supposed to go."
"This isn't," sighed Elsa, pointing at the unfinished sculpture. "I was overconfident. I destroyed one of the memory sculptures of Ahtohallan while the sculpture was still moving. When the Spirits found out about it, they could not stand it. They desperately wanted the memory to be pieced back together. So here I am. It might take me a hundred years for me to figure out how to fit the pieces perfectly together."
"What if you weren't the 5th Spirit anymore? In the beginning there were only 4 Spirits. It can be like that again. I've heard about the Eternal Dagger. A dagger that holds powers like that of the 5th Spirit. Right now the Spirits can't do things like create ice or create living snowmen on their own. Not directly. That's why they want you here. What if they could have the magic of the dagger? Then they might no longer need you."
"Gerda, you'll never find the dagger. You have to stop acting like… like her."
"Like Anna?" Gerda said, her voice sounding hoarse and raspy. She began to cough. Elsa wrapped her arms against Gerda and gave her a kiss on the forehead as if to keep her warm. "There's no place for you here," Elsa warned. "See, this place is too old, even for you. You need to go." "Then take this," said Gerda, untying the rope around her waist and picking up the Olaf doll. "No," rebuked Elsa, pushing the doll away. "Anna has to let me go. This is my destiny. Return to your mother and tell her how much I miss her."
Gerda frowned upon listening to what Elsa had to say. Still, she nodded and attached the Olaf doll around her waist. Then she left Ahtohallan and made her way towards the sea. Once again, she ran on the water, this time in an attempt to get to the mainland. She was unaware that there was a 4 legged figure trotting along behind her. It was the water spirit, which had taken on the form of a horse. Gerda turned and saw the horse leap on top of her and push her deep into the water. Gerda couldn't breathe underwater and she was starting to suffocate. Even her attempts to freeze the spirit did nothing. While she was still able to think, she untied the rope around her waist in an attempt to rope it around the spirit. The Olaf doll slipped off the rope and floated to the surface. Wrapping the rope around the spirit's neck, she tried to tame the beast and climb onto its back. But the beast simply threw her off as though she was as light as a ragdoll.
Anna and Kristoff were watching everything unfold from the shore, and noticed that a large wave had washed Gerda onto the shore, beaten down and unconscious. Anna wasted no time pressing her mouth against Gerda's in an attempt to resuscitate her. One minute later, Gerda coughed and regained consciousness. "You're alright!" exclaimed Anna, holding Gerda tightly. "You call that alright!?" thundered Kristoff. "She almost died! Get her into the carriage." Anna nodded and helped Gerda up. "Did you see Elsa?" Anna asked her. Gerda nodded, still feeling the salt water in her throat. "Did she have anything she wanted to say to me?" Anna continued. "She wants you to let her go," Gerda whispered. "No, never," Anna gasped. "But those are wise words," said Kristoff, who could hear them even though they were whispering. "Gerda, wait in the carriage for us," suggested Anna. "We'll talk more about this later." Gerda entered the carriage and found that her sister Inger was there as well. Inger was 14 years old, wore a monocle, and had brown hair. "So… what did you find in there?" questioned Inger. "Elsa," responded Gerda. "She was there all this time."
"For years without end?"
"Yes."
Inger shook her head in a dismissive manner. "No one could survive that long in such in environment," she scoffed. "It must have been a hallucination. These things happen."
From outside the carriage, Anna and Kristoff continued to argue. "What's it going to take for you to understand that this is one of those things you can't change?" complained Kristoff. She turned her face away from him and saw the Olaf doll she made wash onto the shore. "Everything," she said, picking the doll up.