The Snow Queen enters the library. Inside, she uses the elevator to reach the clock tower. Using her magic, she places the mirror on the wall. Outside the clock tower, the Banshee jumps onto the roof of the clock tower, being the Snow Queen's lookout. At the sheriff's station, Emma leaned against the desk, explaining to Elsa what Belle had discovered—a spell that might actually work against the Snow Queen. "It's not about killing her or anything," Emma quickly added when she noticed Elsa's worried expression. "It's just... maybe a way to neutralize her powers, stop her without, you know, going full villain." She placed a slightly worn candle on the desk, its surface covered in faint runes and scratches.

"Will it prevent her from controlling the Ban... my sister?" Elsa wonders, looking at the candle, "We'll see," Emma responds

Elsa picked up the instructions that Belle had written on paper. "So," she began, reading aloud, "you hold the candle with both hands, focus your magic to light it, and then, when you blow it out…" Her voice trailed off as if imagining the power it might unleash.

Emma nodded. "Yeah, something like that. Let's just hope I don't burn the place down trying."

Emma held the candle with both hands, squinting in concentration. She took a deep breath, her fingers twitching slightly as she tried to summon her magic. For a moment, the wick flickered, but it went out just as quickly. "Ugh, seriously?" Emma muttered, frustrated.

Elsa stepped closer, her concern evident. "It's okay, Emma. Magic can be tricky. Maybe we should try again?"

Emma sighed, brushing a loose strand of hair out of her face. "I would, but I'm supposed to meet Mary Margaret—she's expecting me to babysit tonight. Neal probably already has her tied up in baby toys by now."

Elsa smiled softly, nodding. "Go. You should be with your family. We'll figure this out together when you get back. I'll still be here." Emma managed a small grin, grateful for Elsa's understanding. "Thanks, Elsa. Don't let that candle go anywhere." With that, she grabbed her jacket and headed for the door, leaving Elsa standing thoughtfully with the mysterious candle in her hands.

Emma swung by a "Mommy & Me" class to check in on Mary Margaret and ended up spotting Ashley and Aurora there too. She was totally thrown off when she saw her mom chatting with the group about what it's like being a first-time mom. Things got even weirder when Mary Margaret freaked out after seeing Emma accidentally heat up Neal's bottle with her magic. Mary Margaret backed away, refusing to let Emma hold her baby brother, which definitely stung.

Before Emma could even process it, her phone buzzed—it was David. He told her something strange was going on at the clock tower and mentioned a frozen trail leading upstairs. Emma immediately knew what that meant. "The Snow Queen," she said, her voice tense. "She still up there?" David confirmed that the trail went up but didn't come down, but revealed he didn't want to check as the Banshee was on the roof watching him. Realizing she had to handle this ASAP, Emma told herself she'd have to put off babysitting Neal. There was no time to waste, so she grabbed her stuff and headed out to face the Snow Queen.

When they arrive near the clock tower, Hook and Regina were with Emma and Elsa, Regina asks him if he went up to see if the Snow Queen is there, "I couldn't, she has a cold and dangerous lookout watching me and us as we speak. At the same time, the Banshee jumps off the roof, landing on the road behind the group (1). It roars at them and lunges at them but were blasted by Emma using her magic, but it didn't stop. It stood, ready to attack, growling as it let out a puff of icy smoke. Its eyes were filled with a predatory and feral look as it glowed ice blue. Elsa stepped up, trying to approach the Banshee.

"Anna... I know you're in there. Let me help you, please. You know deep down, what you're doing is wrong, don't let her control you. Anna, please... I'm here."

The Banshee lets out a loud shriek before is pounces on Elsa, who uses her magic to block the Banshee as long as she could, but no matter how many blasts it took, it was still standing. Then, the Bashee lunged at her, and Elsa unleashed a long massive blast of magic that struck the Banshee square in the chest, sending it hurtling backward. The Banshee crashed onto a car, destroying it in the process, its glowing blue eyes dimming as it fell unconscious. Elsa stood her ground, panting slightly, her hands still crackling with icy magic as she waited for any attack from the blue creature.

Elsa stood quiet and Emma came to her, reassuring that she did what she had to do and they are not done yet, so they went up the elevator where the Snow Queen was. "Emma, now!" Elsa urged. Emma quickly uses the candle, casting a candle spell that forms cuffs around Ingrid's wrists, successfully trapping the Snow Queen. "You did it," Elsa said and she asked Emma if she was alright. I'm okay. I'll handle her." They went down the clock tower, where the defeated body of the Banshee was lying on top of a car. Emma told Elsa that she would handle the Snow Queen with Hook.

"I will take her to the station. Go… get your sister." Elsa tells her that she'll join her as she will help David. Elsa and David headed to the destroyed car where the Banshee was. David examined her, but did not know how to as he has not handled or come across this type of magic before. Elsa suggests bringing her to Grand Pabbie in the center and he'll figure out how to reverse what Ingrid did. David agrees and carried him to his car where he drove to the clinic. Elsa then went to the yellow bug and joined Emma as they headed to the station."

At the station, Elsa and Emma were now in the interrogation room with Ingrid, and Elsa demanded how to undo what she did to Anna and Ingrid wonders why she cared, considering what she did to her, how she trapped her in the urn, "She's my sister and I will do everything to undo what you did to her,"

Ingrid giggled, "Or perhaps she likes it this way, wants it to be the way it is," Elsa scoffs by what Ingrid had said, arguing that Anna wouldn't want any of this.

"I'm not talking about her. The Banshee likes to be in control, that is what I made her for... to keep everything in control and keep the little princess locked up inside somewhere in her head, but still able to watch and see what the Banshee is doing, and can't do anything to stop it. Somewhere in there, she's trapped, unable to escape her icy prison we've placed her in while the Banshee does its work without a princess in her way because we both know what happens when we try to combine two minds into one body. Eventually, the longer my Banshee is out and in control, the more your sister fades away. The Banshee won't just be in control. She'll be all that's left. No more princess. Just a cold, icy shell. Forgotten. Forever."

Elsa gets angry and Emma tells her to not let Ingrid get into her head, so she suggests to go to the Center where Pabbie and Kristoff are keeping Anna and try to find a way to undo what Ingrid did. Elsa leaves Emma alone with the Snow Queen in the interrogation room. The Snow Queen, now cuffed and sitting calmly, smiled. "You're the one I wanted to talk to anyway. Now, what would you like to talk about?"

Elsa went to the Center where Pabbie, David, and Kristoff were, and they were next to a door with a one-way window on top, allowed to see the inside. Elsa peaked through the window to see the room which was a big white padded room where the Banshee was in. It stood there, looking around the room, trying to find ways to escape its prison (2). Elsa asked when she was awake, and Kristoff explained that she woke up when Pabbie was trying to get into her head and try to find where their Anna is. "He wanted to wait for you," Kristoff explained.

Elsa went over to Pabbie who was sitting on one of the chairs and asked him what he found.

"I felt two minds inside that one head, one was very powerful and it used all it could to try and force me out of her mind as though it was theirs. But I felt another mind, faint, weak. While I didn't get a good picture of who it was, I knew who it was, and I was trying to find where it was before it forced me out." Elsa and Kristoff asked him if he managed to find where their Anna or where in her mind she was put in. "I was shown a chair or throne made of ice, vines that were made of ice and snow were holding something tight, clinging to the chair as though the chair and the vines are absorbing something in order to be made whole and keep it trapped."

"Is it her?" Elsa wondered, Pabbie tells her that he is not sure, but he needs to go inside her mind to check what it really is and if its Anna, then he will free her, but in order to do that, he needs the Banshee to be asleep and the Banshee inside the mind to be locked up. However, Elsa volunteers to do it, and Pabbie asks if she's sure.

"She's my sister, I know she would do the same if that was me."

Suddenly, David's phone rang, and he answered. Elsa could see shock arrive on his face and he asks what was wrong.

"That was Belle, the mirror the Snow Queen placed was fake," Elsa couldn't believe it, and wondered why would Ingrid placed a fake mirror and David replied, "Because she wanted to get caught. We need to get to Emma." David and Elsa leave the clinic.

David, Mary Margaret, Hook, Elsa, Gold, and Belle show up to stop her, Emma tries to tell everyone to stay away but when Hook touches her, she causes the streetlight to fall on David. Emma runs away after a horrified Mary Margret looks at her with disgust and gets into her car driving away even as Mary Margret calls after her that it's okay.

At the apartment, Mary Margaret was putting Neal to sleep when David, Hook, and Elsa walked into the loft. "Did you find her?" Mary Margaret asked, her voice hopeful.

David shook his head. "We looked everywhere, which means only one thing."

"She doesn't want to be found," Hook added with a sigh. Elsa stepped forward, her expression serious. "I've been through this before. I saw the same look on my loved ones' faces that Emma just saw on yours. I saw fear." Mary Margaret turned to David, her voice shaky with worry. "David, we messed up today. When Emma needed us the most, she looked at us, and all she saw was fear. The Snow Queen has some magic mirror that's supposed to make people turn on each other? Well, she doesn't even need it. Look at us... we're doing it all on our own."

Meanwhile, Emma sat alone in her car, parked deep in the forest, staring out at the town below.

Later that night, the Snow Queen strolled into Gold's shop. Gold sees Ingrid entering the shop, "You know, for someone who's made their fair share of monsters, I've gotta say, you outdid yourself with Ms. Swan. Did you actually leave your Banshee behind? The princess will return."

"For only a short time, my banshee will take over, and I'll place her somewhere much more difficult to find and to wake up in. Now, I want my ribbons back." Gold raises an eyebrow. "Deals are about trading, sweetheart. And right now, I'm not so sure you've got anything worth my time." The Snow Queen didn't flinch. Instead, she leaned forward with a sly grin. "You're still missing one key thing to free yourself from that dagger."

Gold's interest piqued. "Go on," he said, clearly intrigued. She whispered something in his ear, and his expression shifted to one of gleeful determination. "Not only can I make that happen," he said with a wicked grin, "but I'll enjoy every second of it."

And just like that, their deal was set.

Images for the chapter. To view them, copy and paste the link, and remove the parentheses or if you want to see the whole gallery of the story or if you want an easier way, go to the link on my profile.

1. (https):(/(/)(drive).(google).(co)m(/file)/d/1UjkQuAr7qHNTR8bW60250qeXHsL9Yz2A/view?usp=sharing

2. (https):(/(/)(drive).(google).(co)m(/file)/d/1MLZ4nFtA0LaSnKn_e4zZp_0cpqoR6KXZ/view?usp=sharing