Anna felt the strength leaving her legs.
She collapsed after her legs buckled, but she didn't feel the impact.
Iduna could only grimace as Anna tried to recover from her shock. Grand Pabbie's betrayal ran deeper than she knew. He removed her memories of Elsa's powers more than once over the years.
Not only that but he implanted horrific suggestions in her mind.
So that she would eventually give up on Elsa and inadvertently help keep her sister isolated. Grand Pabbie also manipulated Elsa, her memories and INCREASED her fear of her powers, all in a pathetic bid to keep her under control and confined to her quarters.
But that wasn't the worst part.
This happened with their parents' complete cooperation.
No, she amended, this was worse.
It happened with their complete participation.
Anna could only stare at the walls where those revolting images were displayed. She didn't even know what was real anymore. How many times were her memories removed? What was real? What was fake? Was everything she remembered real or the fabric of an imagination deliberately created by Grand Pabbie.
What about Elsa?
She was already in fear of her powers.
But Grand Pabbie, in his zeal to pursue his so-called Greater Good, increased her powers to keep her in her room, as she mentioned before.
Their parents didn't stop this.
They had encouraged it.
If this were real life, Anna would have already emptied the contents of her stomach. All she felt at that moment was a burgeoning anger as she slowly turned to glare at her mother. Her entire life was a lie.
One great, big, ginormous, heartbreaking lie.
"How...could...you?" Anna finally seethed, shattering the uncomfortable silence.
"Anna, please understand." Iduna said. "Elsa still needed to control her powers. We were afraid of you suffering another accident. So, with the complete cooperation of Grand Pabbie, we all agreed to keep you apart. We believed this was the only way to help Elsa learn control over her abilities."
"Bullshit." Anna spat.
"Anna." Iduna looked ready to reprimand her over her language.
"Don't." Anna scoffed, raising a hand in warning. She inwardly laughed over the ridiculousness of her mother trying to take her to task for her choice of words, especially in the wake of what they just witnessed. "I'm twenty-one years old, not five. Besides Mother, I already had this out with Grand Pabbie. He told me he never had to remove my memories. All of his actions were motivated by his fear of Elsa's powers."
"I know." Iduna admitted. "We can witness events in the afterlife."
"We?" Anna echoed, her eyes narrowing. "Father saw this as well?"
"Yes." Iduna said.
"How could you do this to us?" Anna demanded, rising to her feet.
"Anna, we did what we thought was best." Iduna said.
"So you knew that Grand Pabbie implanted that aversion ward against Elsa in my mind?" Anna asked in disbelief. "You also knew that he increased her fears of her powers?"
"Yes." Iduna said. "But we took him to task for what he did."
As if determined to contradict her, Ahtohallan displayed what really happened.
"Grand Pabbie, what did you do?" Agnarr demanded. He knelt by his eldest daughter's unconscious form and gathered her protectively into his arms. There was a growing hint of fear and anxiety on her youthful features.
"I increased her fear of her powers." Grand Pabbie admitted.
"You did what?" Iduna jumped to her feet.
"You told her that fear would be her greatest enemy." Agnarr protested.
"Your Majesties, it was for the best." Grand Pabbie said.
"What do you mean by that?" Iduna frowned.
"I don't understand." Agnarr adjusted his grip on his daughter.
"I know that I told Elsa fear would be her biggest enemy." Grand Pabbie said. "But it is also the world's salvation. There is always a huge danger whenever someone is cursed or born with powers. Like I told Elsa, her powers would only grow. Keeping her confined in her chambers is for the best. Until she learns to control her abilities, she is a danger to the rest of the world."
Agnarr and Iduna continued to protest.
Eventually, Grand Pabbie wore them down with his arguments.
They were so preoccupied with Elsa and what Grand Pabbie did to her, they completely forgot what was done to Anna, who was lying alone and insensate on the ground.
Ignored and uncomforted.
Forgotten.
Iduna briefly closed her eyes in sorrow as the images gradually faded. Anna just glared at her mother with bitter resignation. Almost as if she knew their focus would be solely and completely on Elsa, even in the past.
"Typical." Anna spat. "You didn't notice or care what Grand Pabbie was doing to me. But as soon as he turned his attentions towards ELSA, you and Father were all too quick to demand answers as to what he was doing. As if that wasn't bad enough, both of you left me on the ground, alone and forgotten. It's a wonder you remembered to bring me back to the palace!"
Iduna tried to lie and assure her daughter they didn't forget her or leave her behind.
Ahtohallan seemed determined to reveal the truth.
Again.
It was clear that Iduna and Agnarr were exhausted. Both of them stroked Elsa's hair, cooing over her and hoping against hope that she was okay. Iduna wrapped her precious daughter in her shawl to keep her warm.
Even though Elsa never felt the cold, due to her powers.
The king and queen were so preoccupied with Elsa, they forgot all about Anna.
Agnarr refused to release his hold on his eldest daughter as they approached the horses. It was a long night and they just wanted to return to the palace.
To pretend that this awful evening never happened.
Grand Pabbie cleared his throat.
Agnarr looked annoyed and impatient as he turned around to face the ruler of the trolls. Instead of saying a word, Grand Pabbie motioned towards Anna.
Who was still lying cold and forgotten on the ground.
Agnarr and Iduna turned redder than Anna's hair.
Whether it was from embarrassment or anger, it was hard to say.
Iduna approached her daughter and reluctantly picked her up. It wasn't as if she wanted to leave her behind. But like Agnarr, all of her concerns rested on her oldest child.
She mounted her horse and returned to the palace alongside Agnarr.
She refused to dwell on the fact that she almost left her second daughter behind.
The images faded.
Anna continued to glare at her mother. If Iduna was trying to convince her that her parents cared about her, so far, she was doing a lousy job. All Anna kept seeing was evidence that her parents saw her as a burden, something they were (reluctantly) saddled with.
She refused to feel any gratitude for Grand Pabbie.
True, he made sure her parents didn't leave her behind.
But he has done so much damage to Elsa and Anna, it wasn't even funny. Ironically enough, the only memories that Anna could trust were real came from the ancient magicks of Ahtohallan itself.
"Well Mother, if you're trying to convince me that you and Father both love me, you're not doing a very good job." It seemed bitter sarcasm was Anna's choice of poison for the day.
"Anna please, remember what I showed you of the day you were born." Iduna pleaded. "Agnarr fell in love with you from the moment he held you in his arms."
Once again, Ahtohallan seemed determined to reveal the truth.
For a few minutes, Agnarr was calm and happy.
Anna was a beautiful baby, her eyes so blue and mesmerizing. Agnarr briefly allowed himself to feel a sense of paternal love towards his second daughter.
It was like all the suffering he and Iduna endured up to this point was worth it.
Unfortunately, Fate could be a cruel mistress.
"Your Majesty, we're losing her!" One of the midwives cried.
And just like that the paternal bond was broken.
Fearful and angry, Agnarr cried out for Kai and Gerda. When his longtime servants rushed into the room, Agnarr all but shoved Anna into Gerda's arms. He ignored Anna's confused and alarmed cries at being jostled so roughly.
"Take her to the nursery!" Agnarr snapped.
If he lost his precious wife because of that squalling brat, he would never forgive her. Agnarr raced to his wife's side, clutching her limp hand as the doctor tried to save her. This time, he refused to leave Iduna's side despite the attempts of the midwives to send him back to the hallway.
Knowing they had to calm Elsa down, Kai and Gerda raced to the royal nursery.
It was barely prepared in time, but there was no fire, nothing to keep it warm.
Kai motioned for Gerda to place Anna in the cradle. They were in such a hurry, Gerda didn't even bother to cover Anna in any blankets.
Once Anna was in the cradle, Kai raced out of the nursery with Gerda in tow.
They closed the doors after them.
Anna was left alone, crying and confused and forgotten.
Cold.
Left in the dark to rot...