It was now 23 years since Elsa had thawed Arendelle out of the winter she had caused. The sound of hammering and the crackling of sparks filled the room. A woman in her 50's with grey hair and tanned skin heated iron over a forge until it melted. Then she placed some iron shards in the mixture so that the shards melted and mixed with the molten iron. She overturned the cauldron filled with molten iron, pouring the iron into a mould. "Gerda, a little help with the quenching please," the woman said to Gerda, who stood by her. Gerda, who was now 18, placed her fingers close to the metal and slowly cooled it. It took the shape of a sword blade. Then Gerda attached the blade to a hilt and began beating the blade with a hammer. The resulting sword looked exquisite. "Your skills are getting more impressive by the day," praised the woman. "Who would have guessed that the sword we made was once broken?" "Thanks, Elaine," Gerda replied nervously. "Could you do me a favor?" "Well, you are a princess," answered Elaine. "Could you not tell any of the guards that I played a major part in the re-forging of the sword?" asked Gerda. "I don't want them to flatter me because I'm Queen Anna's daughter." "Alright," answered Elaine. "It'll be our secret. But it's a secret that's pretty much open already."
Suddenly, as gust of wind blew open the window and knocked a flower vase that was on the windowsill onto the ground. It shattered into many pieces. "I can fix this," Gerda reassured Elaine. "Do you have a brush and a dustpan?" "They're in one of the drawers on my sketching table," answered Elaine. "I've forgotten which drawer." So Gerda opened the drawers one at a time to find the brush and dustpan. Gerda opened the top drawer and found a sword in it. The sword was broken and the blade was broken into many pieces. Only the portion close to the hilt remained intact. The hilt didn't look like any of the hilts she'd worked on. "What's this?" questioned Gerda, picking up the hilt. "It doesn't look like any one of the swords we've made."
"It's something that came from one of my countrymen. Please don't concern yourself with this, princess. Even though I was asked to keep this, it's not like anyone will miss its owner; certainly not the Queen." Gerda found a brush and a dustpan, and then swept away the pieces of the shattered vase, before asking Elaine, "The sword belonged to Hans, didn't it?" Elaine froze. "Yes," she said.
"You spent your earlier years in the Southern Isles. What did you think of him?"
"I suppose he's not as bad as his father, King Jacob, and his eldest brother, Caleb, but he's still pretty bad." Gerda looked on in fascination, which Elaine took note of. "I can tell that I've piqued your interest," she said. Gerda smiled and nodded, taking out a notebook from her bag and showing her the notes that were in the notebook. Notes about Elsa and the winter she wrought over Arendelle. "I just hope I can write a lengthy account of Elsa's life," explained Gerda. "And a bit about the other characters in her life as well. I'll write it under a pen name. But what happened to Hans after he was sent back to the Southern Isles?"
"At first he had to perform various chores as punishment," recalled Elaine. "Later he was sent to work on a ship, doing various tasks like scrubbing the deck. His brother, Lars, the 3rd son of King Jacob, also had a position on the ship. People say Hans and Lars relationship with each other soured after Hans returned from Arendelle. They used to be closer when they were younger. What happened next is a bit unclear. From what I gather from rumors, Hans and Lars sailed after a group of pirates who'd stolen money from the royal treasury. Two other ships followed behind them in an attempt to catch the pirates. One ship was captained by King Jacob. Prince Caleb was on that ship as well. Prince Leon, 2nd born son of King Jacob, was on another ship."
"Two days later, while chasing after the pirates, Hans led a mutiny on the ship he served on. Lars tried to oppose him, shouting, 'Hans, I beg you. Think about what you're doing.' But Hans paid him no heed. Hans took out his sword and stabbed him to death, then declared, 'I wanted you to fight alongside me, but you turned your back on me.' Lars replied, 'You're the one who turned your back on me.' Then Lars closed his eyes and breathed his last. The mutiny was successful, and Hans attempted to sail the ship away from the Southern Isles, for he was a good sailor. At one point, Jacob's ship sailed close to Hans and began firing cannonballs at him, so Hans fired back. Multiple cannonballs from Hans' ship hit the helm of Jacob's ship, causing Jacob to be unable to steer. Jacob's ship then crashed into a crystal sea cave located off the coast of the Island of Shattered Shards. The ship struck the cave, causing the crystals on the roof of the cave to collapse and sink the ship. All the crewmembers on that ship, including Jacob and Caleb, died that day, while Hans got away. Leon tried chasing after Hans in his ship to no avail. After this, Leon became King of the Southern Isles. He's not as bad a king as his father but still bad."
Just like that, the story was over. Gerda thought Elaine told it magnificently. That night, at the dinner table, Gerda noticed that Anna placed a seat at the dinner table just for Elsa, even though Elsa was certainly not coming back anytime soon. "So, Gerda, what have you found out about the eternal dagger?" Anna asked. "That it has the power to grant wishes," Gerda answered. "And that it holds all the power of winter. Some say that in the right hands, the dagger could be used to create an army of snowmen, or even freeze the world in an eternal winter." "Do those snowmen have souls?" asked Inger intuitively. She was now 16. "Elsa's snowmen did," answered Gerda.
"But snowmen aren't flesh and blood, so how can they have souls?"
"You've met Olaf, haven't you? You know he's as real as you and me."
"He might just be a puppet that's good at appearing to have a mind of its own. Olaf was created from a dream; a childhood memory. And dreams feel real, even though they're not." A look of sadness formed on Anna's face when she heard Inger talk about Olaf possibly not being real.
"Now you're just being silly," criticized Gerda. "Elsa wouldn't stand for this. Why don't you ask her about whether Olaf is real when she comes back?" "Maybe you're right that she wouldn't take my words well," said Inger, with a slight frown on her face. "But it's not like we can ever expect her to come back, can we?" Gerda was about to say something to Inger in anger when Anna stood up and blew her nose. Anna's eyes were slightly watery. "I've finished eating," she said, seemingly unable to say more. She left the table. Kristoff's eyes blazed with anger at both Inger and Gerda. He turned to Gerda. "Did it ever occur to you that it might be unwise to mention Elsa to your distraught mother?" Kristoff said sternly. "Especially at the dinner table, and especially at this time of year. It brings back sad memories. I hope it doesn't happen again." Gerda gulped. "And you're certainly not helping matters either," said Kristoff, turning towards Inger. There was now an expression of guilt on Inger's face. Then Kristoff tidied up the table and placed the plates on the sink.
Anna entered the study and walked towards a painting that hung on the wall. It was a painting of herself, Elsa, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf, that was roughly 20 years old. The painter based that painting on a photograph a photographer took of them. They were all at the Arendelle Harvest Festival at that time, which was just hours before the stuff relating to the 5th Spirit occurred. At that time, Kristoff was trying to figure out how to propose to Anna, while Anna just thought of having fun with her sister. It would soon be time for the Arendelle Harvest Festival again. A lot had changed in the last 20 years. Sven had died of old age, leading Kristoff to become increasingly bitter as a result. Olaf wanted to see the world, so Anna allowed him to leave Arendelle. A few guards went with him.
As Anna looked at the painting, a few tears dripped down her face. Inger entered the study to geet her mother. She held a small box in her hand. "Mum, I've been thinking about what I said earlier," Inger said. "And I'm starting to think I was out of line." Anna opened her mouth as if to say something, but she was lost for words so she simply smiled. "What's this?" she asked one moment later. "Open it," said Inger. Anna opened the lid of the box, and music started coming out of it. In the box were figurines of Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven. They were all dressed in the exact same clothes they wore at the Harvest Festival 20 years ago. Some figures in the box, like figurines of trees, even moved around. "It's beautiful," smiled Anna. "Thank you." "Well, to be honest it was Gerda's idea to make this for you," admitted Inger. "At first I thought it was a waste of time, but then I had second thoughts. I got help from the clockmaker, while Gerda carved and painted the figurines." Anna placed the music box on the mantel of the fireplace.
That night, Gerda had trouble sleeping. Slowly, she crept out of bed and opened up a drawer that was filled with matches. She got dressed in warm clothes, put on hiking boots, and placed a matchbox in her pocket. She lit a lantern and exited her bedroom before making her way towards the stables. Once she made her way there, she entered it and woke up a reindeer that was resting there. "Bae, wake up please!" she whispered, stroking the reindeer's head. "There's something I need you for, but I can't tell anyone what it is. Not yet." Bae groaned as he slowly rose up. Gerda hopped on his back, then Bae slowly began trotting away to avoid making any noise. When there was some distance between them and the castle, Bae picked up speed and ran like the wind. They exited the city and entered the forest, and then deep into the mountains. They stopped at a seemingly deserted area that had few trees but many rocks. It was also quite warm, for there were steam vents nearby. "You wanted to see me!" Gerda shouted in a loud voice, before getting off Bae. "Here I am!" The rocks began to shake and move. They shifted and changed shape into a more humanoid shape. Their hair was like blades of grass and their clothes were like moss growing on rocks. They were rock trolls. "For a moment I thought you weren't going to make it," one of the trolls said. "We don't have much time and there's a lot we have to talk about." That troll was Bulda; the troll who spent much time looking after Kristoff when Kristoff was still young. Gerda had met Bulda before when she had come here with her father, her mother, and her sister. The last time she was here, Bulda took her aside and whispered to her that she wanted to tell her something important, and that it would be better if she returned here in secret.