Unanticipated weather buried the city with crystals of ice on the winter solstice. This also happened to be the birthday of Elsa, daughter of Agnarr and Iduna and princess to the kingdom of Arendelle. The kingdom was filled with laughter that day, and for good reason, for the King and Queen had wanted a child for many years now. With her blond, almost white hair and sparkling blue eyes she was an absolute vision and she was dearly beloved by her parents and kingdom. Life was great, right until exact 3 and half years later. That day, on the summer solstice, life became even better. Anna, Elsa's sister was born and once more, the kingdom rejoiced. Where Elsa's hair was white, Anna had beautiful, auburn hair and although they were quite different, Anna and Elsa became as close as possible and life truly could not be more perfect.

It was the 6th of January when Elsa was woken up. "Elsa, wake up! Look, it has snowed tonight! Do you want to play?" Sleepy, she opened her eyes and saw Anna, packed in warm clothes, jumping up and down while yelling. Snowed? Snowed! She instantly was up, threw her blanket away and looked out of the window. And yes, she could see the palace yard with a big blanket of white snow. She jumped out of bed, and found a pile of warm clothes next to her bed. Of course, her servant girl must have put them there. Without further ado, she quickly put on the clothes and was almost pulled of her feet when Anna grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room, into the hallway. Together, they ran as fast as they could. Once in the yard, her five-year-old sister dropped in the snow, pumping her arms and legs up and down, making snow angels. Almost immediately she rose, grabbed a handful of snow and threw it toward Elsa. Elsa was all this time just standing, enjoying the winter air. With closed eyes, she never saw the snowball coming. With a groan, she staggered back. After wiping the snow of her face, she kneeled, grabbed some snow herself and threw it in Anna's direction. It missed only a few inches. In the snowball fight that followed, both girls took a few hits. Elsa didn't care. For some reason, the cold never bothered her much, and for a while, nothing but laughter sounded from the open field.

About half an hour later, the two girls walked back in the palace, completely soaked and with smiles on their faces. After they changed their wet clothes, they went to have some breakfast.

"I'm sorry we are late, Dad." Anna and Elsa had just walked in the dinner room and found their parents waiting for them. "Anna said it snowed so we went out to play." Her mom and dad looked at each other and started laughing. "Don't worry, darling. Just eat quickly so you can get out there again." Elsa smiled and dug in her breakfast. Within twenty minutes they stood in the snow again, in dry clothes and ready to do whatever they wanted. Anna looked at her sister. "Elsa, do you wanna build a snowman?"

Elsa frowned. She just couldn't find the right one. She has been looking for over fifteen minutes and couldn't find a nice arm for their snowman. She watched Anna, who was also looking, ten metres away. Elsa smiled wickedly. If only she had a snowball now. She could just throw it perfectly to…

Then she felt it. A feeling, but more. A force from inside her, like ice in her veins. Like electricity, crackling to every nerve in her body. A seemingly bottomless well of pure power. It made its way to her hands, her fingertips. Elsa held her breath. In her hands, these blue lights appeared. And with it, a bit of that power. That power grew and grew until it became clearer. A snowball, the one she wanted, now lay in her hands. She stared at it, not believing what just happened. Then, she screamed.

"This. Is. Amazing." Anna was pacing before Elsa, who was sitting on a bare stump, half in shock. "It's just like all the fairy tales Mom tells us!" Elsa only heard half of it. Magic. That it what this had to be. Magic. "But, I thought all magic died out hundreds of years ago." "Well, maybe but now it's back and we can play in the snow all the time! Do it again!" Elsa sighted. This was the 3e time Anna asked her. She closed her eyes and went deep inside herself. There it was, that well. She took a handful and thought of a snowball. The magic reacted immediately and a snowball formed in her hand. She opened her eyes, looked at the snowball and gave it to Anna. This would explain why she never felt much of the cold. "We have to tell Mom and Dad. This is important." What they would do if they found out… she rather not think about it. "I know we have to tell them,' Anna exclaimed,' but can we play just a little bit longer? This is so much fun!" Elsa smiled about her sister's enthusiasm. Maybe this was not such a bad thing.

After they were done playing, Elsa went straight to a room where she was alone. She sat whit her back against the wall and stared at her hands. Magic. There was a reason why there was no more magic, she knew. Magic was dangerous. Those who knew to control it were usually corrupted by it, making some of the worst criminals Arendelle had ever seen. Those who could not control it… they usually ended up hurting everyone around them, and went into exile. Elsa took a few deep, calming breaths. "You can do this," she whispered to herself. "You can control this and remain normal. All you have to do is bring it easy to Mom and Dad. You've got this"

During dinner Elsa said as little as she could, trying not to focus attention on herself. Anna, on the other hand, was basically jumping up and down in her seat, looking not so subtle to Elsa and waiting for it to happen. Elsa shook her head ever so lightly to Anna, trying to tell her 'not now'. She looked disappointed, but kept her mouth shut. After dinner, Elsa thought by herself. After dinner I will tell them.

Elsa stood in front of the door. Behind it were her mom, dad and Anna waiting for her because she said she had some big announcement to make. She took a deep breath, straightened her back and walked reluctantly in the room. It was a cosy room. Two comfortable chairs and a couch. A warm fire crackled in the fireplace, warming the chamber. All eyes were on her. "So honey," Agnarr, her dad, said. "What is this important thing that you wanted to tell us about? I have to say, I am very curious." "Yes," her mom, Iduna, added. "Don't worry, dear. You know you can tell us everything, right?" "Well," Elsa started. "I… ehm…"

"Elsa has magic!" Anna blurted, interrupting Elsa. Her parents stared at Anna, then at Elsa. "Is this true, honey?" her father asked. Elsa looked at the floor. "Yes, yes it is," she whispered. She closed her eyes, created a snowball and threw it up, where it exploded in a thousand snowflakes. Now her parents straight up gaped at her, eyes wide open. Iduna recovered first. "Well, honey. That is… unexpected. her mom said, smiling forced while looking very worried at her father. "Yes," he said. "When did this happen, darling?" Before Elsa could answer, Anna shouted, "Just this afternoon! Isn't it fantastic? It's so beautiful." The king and queen exchanged a look and started whispering. Now Elsa really got worried. She just hoped they wouldn't lock her up in her room for years, not being allowed to see anyone. They turned towards her. "Elsa, listen to us. You need to know that magic is very dangerous and you should use it not to often, especially with anyone else beside us four. But as long as you can keep it under control, we don't see any threats." Elsa sighted in relieve. They were not going to lock her up! "We are very glad that you came to us. And you must always remember that we love you." Her parents looked at Anna. "Both of you." Elsa couldn't keep it any more. She ran toward her parents and gave them a hug. Anna joined not a second later. At that moment, Elsa realized, that as long as they stayed together she would be totally OK.

A year and a half later

Elsa hesitated. She knew that was she was doing was wrong, but if this was would she thought it would be, she had to hear it. She snuck in the next hallway. Only five doors away now. She walked as quietly as she could toward the doors of her father's office. Once there, she listened at the keyhole. Elsa had overheard two guards talking, saying that the king and queen more and more frequently talked about the crown princess' condition. They had thought she had some sort of disease, but Elsa was ten now. She had a right to now what this was about.

"Agnarr, stop pacing. You're making me nervous." A woman's voice. Her mother. "You should be nervous. I mean, at first it was OK, but now this is getting out of hand. Her 'accidents' happen more and more often now. My councilmen tripping on ice and breaking their bones, guards catching colds whenever she is near. And I have not even started about all the times she is scared, mad, worried or stressed. We need to find a cure." A cure. Her father thought she had to be cured. Was he right? No way, right? But… all the things he said, about the councilmen, the guards, when her emotions got the better of her. She was hurting them. Not on purpose maybe, but she was. "What if they play and she loses control, Iduna. Then what? She could kill Anna." Elsa swallowed. Kill her sister? Never! But than again, she did not have that much control over her powers. If she was not careful, she just might. And it scared her. Her powers scared her. A sight from behind the door. "You're right. She needs a cure. But where would we find one?" They were right. She was dangerous and she needed a cure. Until then, she just had to stay away from people as much as she could.

In the months that followed, Elsa came more often to that door. And every night, she could here her parents getting more and more desperate. They brought in healers, 'magicians'; they even took her to see the trolls in the mountains. But nothing helped. Nothing could take away her powers. So instead, she stayed in her room, away from anyone she could hurt. Occasionally, she would play with Anna, who was now seven, but those moments became rarer and rarer. The very moment she thought about her magic the air went cold around her, the floor would be covered in ice and whatever she touched would become frozen in an instant. One night, Elsa would hear her parents talk about foreign cures, but there was nothing they hadn't tried already. So one night, she would sneak to the door and heard something very interesting. Her mother had found an old book; a book with legends, and one of these legends described a magical flower that could heal almost everything. This legend was from a neighbouring country called 'Corona' and her mother was already packing for the journey ahead. She couldn't go as queen, so she had to be undercover. They had a place on a trading ship, with whom she could sail. The following day, her father said to her and Anna that their mother would be away some time, to go look for something that could help Elsa.

Some time later

It is so quiet, Elsa thought. These days, it is always quiet. It has been a month since her mother left, and they had not heard a single word from her. Yet, Elsa could feel somehow that there was something seriously wrong.

It was almost time for bed when their father came in. Elsa had a good day and had been playing with Anna for some time now. She yawned and stood up, ready to go to bed when her dad came in. He held a letter in his fist and his eyes were red, like he had been crying. He sat down in a chair and told Elsa and Anna to gather around. He rubbed his eyes and sighted. "You know your mother has been away for some time now. I just received word about her and it is not good. An informant of mine heard a sailor brag about a smuggler ship they sank. He looked into it and discovered more. The ship carried weapons for the Separatists of Saporia, an organization bent on destroying Corona. However, the king had known about this ship and sent out a fleet to sink it. They had orders to do 'whatever was necessary' to sink the ship. The ship would be coming from Arendelle." The temperature around them dropped ten degrees when Elsa started to figure out where this story was heading. She could barely withhold a sob. Anna looked like she was completely unaware of everything. "This sailor said that the smugglers tried to take hostages and get away. The captain of the fleet took the decision, however, to sacrifice the passengers on the ship to save his country from a civil war and sank the ship. There were no survivors." He took an unsteady breath. "Your mother was on this ship."

Dead. Her mom was dead. Elsa couldn't quite comprehend it. It just felt so… unreal. Elsa looked around in a haze. Anna was silently sobbing, alone in her thoughts. But her father… Where her father was first complete and utter sadness, he was now silent, staring at something only he could see and in his eyes, in his eyes, Elsa saw the rage and anger in them. Suddenly, he turned toward her. "Elsa, you who's fault this is, right?" She froze. He couldn't mean her. It was not her fault, it was… "It is the fault of the king of Corona, the bastard who gave the order," he continued. A light now shone in his eyes, a fire. "That king could have done anything he wanted, but he chose to sink that ship. He chose to kill her." He's right, Elsa realized. Her mother was dead because of that damned king. A rage, all consuming and devouring, rose within her. The same rage, she now understood, that was in her father. The floor, which was covered in ice, defrosted. The temperature rose again and Elsa could feel that with that rage came focus, and therefor control. Her dad, still looking at her, saw all this happen and something flickered in his eyes. "But together, Elsa," he said," together we can avenge her. We can make the king pay for all the grieve he has caused us. You're magic is powerful and useful, I see that now. And I know that you can hone in it into something that can bring justice to your mother. But in order to do so, you need to be willing to do whatever it takes. You need to be willing to make hard decisions. Do you think you can do that? For her?" Elsa took a few deep breaths and nodded. That rage in her became an inferno, a storm of fire, ready to wipe away anyone who got in the way of her revenge. Hone herself in something that can bring justice. She would hone herself into a weapon unlike the world had ever seen before. "I can do that, for mom. I swear that no matter how long it might take, no matter the cost, I will take revenge on that king. If I have to destroy myself in the process, fine. But I will kill the king and everyone he loves." And the moment she said it, she felt nothing. No regret, no hesitation, nothing. There was nothing in her, but unforgiving ice. She looked into her father eyes, and smiled.

Anna

Dead. Her mom was dead. She started sobbing, uncontrollably. So much, she nearly missed her father talking to Elsa. Nearly. But she almost wished that she had. She heard what he said, and fear struck in her heart when she realized what he wanted Elsa to do. But, Elsa would never do that. Her big sister, with who she could play and have fun, would never do something that horrible. But Elsa nodded and smiled, and Anna knew that the girl who smiled, was not the sister she knew. For the first time in forever, Anna feared what her sister's magic could do.