Elsa of Antarctica
It is the year 2050, what has Elsa been up to? In 1850 Pabbie confirmed what Elsa suspected, her powers have stopped her aging. "How long will I live?" "How old is the ice in the oldest glacier?"
Note: I am trying to lock Frozen into the real world. In this story the events of Frozen occur during July 18-23 in the year 1837. (I am aware that is a little before the 1840's date given by Disney, but there is a real world event that I want to include, so I'm adjusting the time line to make it fit.)
Note: thank you to Peace Sign Freak for the revision.
Chapter 1:
Antarctica approx. -71.6, 170.4 February 20, 2050
Elsa, she looks like she is still in her early twenties, with only her waist long platinum-blond hair, it is interwoven with ice and snow hairs. The depths in her crystal blue eyes give away that she is older than she appears, walks into the room. She is wearing one of her blue ice dresses. It has layers of light blue ice, slit to the waist, an ice belt keeping it decent, with a low neck line. The dress' snowflake designs, however, are always changing, growing and shrinking, in an ever duplicating show.
Her three inch heels stick to the ice allowing her to walk normally. Hanging around her neck is an ice chain with a golden locket with the word "family" (in Norwegian) written in platinum on it. In her right ear is a modern blue tooth-type device. A tablet computer is in her right hand. The room is in one of her ice towers. It is in the shape of a hexagon and is 30 feet across.
From the domed 30 feet high ceiling dangles a three foot wide snowflake, it like her dress is always changing, patterns of ice. The room glows softly in its slowly shifting light. The walls also have snowflake patterns on them as she enters the room they start moving like the patterns on her dress. The room had several folding cloth chairs and was complete with the proper equipment and lightning necessary for a TV interview. Wires leave the room for the outdoors. The white Antarctica snow-pack is seen outside, through the door. (There is a small scrum of people wrapped in winter clothing, holding mikes, trying to get in her way, but they are stopped by others.)
She nods to the two men in the room, as she says, "Are you gentlemen ready for the interview?"
They look at each, look around at the electronic clutter, and extra overcoats, on the icy floor and one of them, the tech, says, "In a few minutes, there is some static on the line, I'd like to clear up." He pauses then asks, "how come this room temperature is about 68 degrees Fahrenheit and the floor is still frozen solid?"
The other man thinks as he looks around the room, 'before she entered the room, it was beautiful, but... lifeless... now... how can ice become alive?'
She smiles, "I told the air to stay at a comfortable temperature and the ice not to melt."
They blink and stare at her.
Her smile widens, "There are more of complex explanations, but they all equate to the conclusion that the environmental conditions around me obey me."
The older of two men, who is Caucasian, with a short black beard, a little under six feet, and looks to be in his early forties, wearing cold weather gear that is half-open says,"Um. I hate to start a conversation like this but… your, ah, people? Told us to use this room for an interview?"
"Icemen, will do." She waves behind her and one of her icemen enters the room. He looks, at first glance, like a normal six foot tall man. His skin is snow, though, and his hair is just a wave of snow. The eyes, though, look human and are blue. He is wearing a partial set of combat tactical gear, no shoes or boots, though. The ice sword at his side and the ice shield on his back, looks weird when combined with the modern equipment and pistol. "My aide."
The iceman smiles, showing icy teeth, and says, "Call me Herman, if you please." He holds out his hand for the man to shake.
"I'm Liam, Liam Black, reporter for New Zealand News." He says as he tentatively shakes Herman's hand.
The younger Caucasian man, in mid-twenties, with brown hair, about six feet two inches, also clad in partially wearing heavy clothing introduces himself. "I'm Richard Harper. I'm the guy that makes him look good." He says as he points to Liam.
He and Herman shake hands, his hand turning white as he enters into a strength contest. Herman smiles and squeezes back. After about thirty seconds they release their grip, Richard starts to flex his hand, trying to force blood back into it. Herman does nothing special.
The two men look at Elsa, obviously wanting a name. "Call me Elsa."
"Queen Elsa," Herman quickly says, with an emphasis on the word "queen".
As Liam opens his mouth to speak, Elsa interrupts him. "I know that you've got a lot of questions. The events of this morning showed you magical, wondrous and dangerous things." She smiles, "Things that have no scientific explanations. I have successfully concealed my powers and nature for years. You do not know about me, or my daughters and sons." She waves a hand at Herman.
Liam nods.
She continues, "This interview will begin to answer some of those questions." She flips her tablet at the folding cloth chair in the middle of room. By the time it reaches the chair, an ice throne is in its place. The tablet is placed in the right arm of the throne, like a monitor. The throne is on a foot high pedestal. Snowflake patterns grow and prance and frolic on the throne. The top couple of feet of the six foot back of throne have a design carved into it.
The design is the Seal of Elsa, Queen of Arendelle-a circular Nordic shield with a white background. The words "Here I Stand"; "Here I'll Stay" (in Norwegian) written across of the center of the shield. Above the words is an outline of a jagged mountain in black, with blue snowflakes around it: along the top edge of the shield written in Norse Runes is "Kingdom of Isolation" Below the words across the middle, is a red heart with three icicles dangling below, snowflake patterns in pink around it; along the bottom edge of the shield is written in Latin: "Love Will Thaw."
Both reporters had their mouths open. "How?" "What?" They had seen her powers earlier, but only at a distance.
"And, no doubt, create far more questions." she says as she walks to the throne. As she sits down, she says, "I know you desired to do this interview in a more traditional manor, Liam. But, there is a great deal of information, that the people of the world must know that I would like to present to them my way." she waves for him to sit in his cloth chair. Liam does so, while Richard curls up around his computer, working on the connection problems. Herman glides to Elsa's left side.
"Yes. I've got dozens of questions that I would like to ask you." Liam states, pointing to his laptop.
"No doubt." she sighs, "What I would like to do is give a couple of statements, and then begin a short autobiography. I will pause, occasionally, for questions about what I've just said, answer them, and then go on." She nods to his pad, "I believe that will give the information you desire and the world needs in a better, more understandable way, than you just asking random questions."
"Hmm. I'd need to check with Auckland. But unless they have a problem, and I don't really see that they would, that's sounds better than my idea." He says.
"The signal is getting worse, Liam. You may not be able to hear New Zealand."
"Sigh," Elsa says as she touches her blue tooth. "Frigga?"
Both men look at her.
"As we expected." pause. "Go ahead, as planned." She looks at them. "The problems on the line were due to other people hacking you. Frigga has fixed that. Once you've spoken to New Zealand, we'll begin."
As Richard double checks his computer, Liam asks,"Frigga?"
"The head of my IT section."
Liam pauses, hoping for more info. Elsa smiles as she does not add anything to that simple statement.
"Planned." Liam begins, then he says, "Elsa," a growl from Herman, "Queen Elsa, the, how long have you been planning this?"
"In detail: 2015. Generally... 1845."
As Liam's jaws drop, Richard breaks in, "New Zealand says, go for it, boss." He looks down, "Also, we are already live... someone is putting this on the net, on multiple sites, live, no edits or delays."
"Frigga's doing. Too many people were wanting to stop, edit or delay this broadcast, sooo..." She looks at Richard, "I know that you'll be wanting some close-ups, but try to give me some full body shots." She holds her hands apart and snow and ice flash into being. "I'll be using my powers, on occasion, to give a visual emphasis to what I'm talking about." He nods.
Liam asks, "Are we ready then?"
Richard nods. "Ready."
"Good." Elsa stands up, places her hands behind her back and begins, "I will make two statements, then, I will give a short autobiography. That is so the people of world will understand why I am doing this.
"First: Everything I will say during this interview will be truthful. But…this is only a rough overview with minimal detail, so I would expect people to misunderstand some of it." She grimaces, "especially when I try to explain magic. So, use this information carefully." She smiles, her lips curling in a crooked manner.
She takes a deep breath and begins, "Second: Two years ago, the nations of the world decided to end Antarctica's protection against people trying to rape her. This week, one of the environmental disasters, that were predicted, happened. Today, I removed from Antarctica the crew responsible for that oil spill. My daughters and sons are now repairing the area. Consider today a small demonstration of a fraction of my power."
Liam and Richard look at each other. Liam thinks, 'Creating this 200 foot tall tower, encasing a 50,000 ton freighter in an iceberg and creating a two hundred plus yard long whale made out of ice with the power to push it away, at speed, is only a fraction...:'
"Since the world is refusing to protect Antarctica, I will." A pause proceeded by a deep breath."I, Elsa, claim Antarctica. I claim it by the right of the oldest law in human history. The right of power." A pause and the lights in the room turn yellow and swirl of snow appears behind her. "People that rape Antarctica's resources, destroy her delicate environment and mar her icy beauty will be expelled. I will use whatever force necessary to do so. People that can safely manage her resources, shield her fragile environment, and can love her merciless beauty I will help." She pauses and narrows her eyes, "Additional minor exhibitions of power are planned. Tomorrow, after the world has a chance to absorb what information, I am about to reveal, I will contact various interested parties and explain in more detail about what I plan for Antarctica." The lights return to normal.
She smiles, "there are some good things, for all mankind, that I am planning, including a way to generate power out of nothing. While my magic is not understandable by science, it can be used to help science to do what others consider impossible."
A flare of power and ice and snow swirl around her as she sits down.
"Queen Elsa?" Liam begins. She shakes her head, "I will not explain or expand about what I just said, Liam, sorry." He nods.
She holds her hands about a foot apart and an ice sculpture of a little baby forms and floats between her hands. "My name is Elsa Asa Ragnhild Yngling-Fairhair. My parents were the king and queen of Arendelle. At the time of my birth, Arendelle was a small city-state, formally independent of Sweden as Norway was controlled by it at the time of my birth, much like Monaco is from France today. My father could trace his lineage back to Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway." She smiles, "before that his ancestry becomes vague and heavily influence by myths. One of them states that the Norse god Odin is one of his fore-fathers. My mother traced her lineage back to Torf-Einarr, the younger brother of Rollo, the founder/leader of the Norman Vikings of France. Mystically, that line traces back to the god Villi, younger brother of Odin. Why I mention those myths?" A smile appears on her lips, "because they were important to my parents and the depths of their lineage helps explain why Arendelle stayed as independent as it did"
The ice sculpture fades away.
She looks at Liam, "I would expect that most people would believe that I was born on a cold winter day."
He nods. She grins, as he is obeying her hints nicely. "You would be wrong. I was born on July 18 in the year 1816." Her smile grows. "On the other hand, the year 1816 is also known as the year without a summer."
Liam pales.
"No. I did not cause it. Mount Tambora caused that volcanic summer. But... In Arendelle that day, a winter-like blizzard occurred. So during the coldest summer on scientific record, on the coldest day of the month of July, I was born." She shrugs, "did my power cause that intensity of the local weather... highly probable, on the order of 99%. My powers are part of my soul and my emotions and birth is traumatic."
She sighs, "Since I've mentioned my powers, I suppose that this is a good a place as any to talk about them."
Liam quickly adds, "Yes, please. I've gotten a lot of requests for any info about them." He points, again, to his laptop.
She nods then she pursed her lips. "I've thought about this explanation for years and tried out various versions" She waves to Herman, he nods. "But..." sigh, "sadly I can describe what happens when I use my powers, but trying to explain how my powers work is difficult." She pauses obviously thinking.
"Why?"
She glances at Liam, "The words... There are no words in English, nor in any other language, (and you don't want to know how many languages that I can speak), that wok. Gaagudju of Australia comes close, but... Anything is..." She grimaces. "…is like trying to explain the color blue to a blind man. The blind man does not have any reliable reference to understand the words I'm trying to use. So... with that proviso, I'll try to explain the unexplainable."
"OK... I think."
"First, an overview about magic. Magic is, by definition, not scientific, so any logical explanation will fail," she shrugs, "I will attempt to put some sort of scientific gloss over magic and myth, but anything is at best a vague approximation."
A touch of her locket and then she begins, "There is no scientific explanation for the origin," she emphasizes the word 'origin', "of my powers. Ever since I turned 21, I've attempted to locate one, but nothing. There is, however, a mythic explanation. Unfortunately, even that story exists in this world only in fragments. I've managed to reconstruct the myth, via magical means, but," she smiles. "You've just going to have to believe me."
A far off look appears in her eyes, as she remembers, "there is a poem/story that was written in the late 14th century about the adventures of a prince named Hrolf the walker. Summarizing," a slight smile, "and modernizing the story, it goes something like this: Sometime around the year 1316, (and yes, I noticed the 500 year difference between my birth date. There is an explanation, but it is very personal, so I will not explain.)
"A frost giant from Jotunheim, claiming to be a son of the god Loki, appeared in southern Norway and began to conquer the area. A prince of Norway named Hrolf and a human sorceress, after many trails, defeated him with a magical fire." An ice sculpture of a giant and a man fighting him with a torch appear. The torch is thrust into the giant's groin and he melts. "And, Hrolf rescued the captured princess of Denmark named Asa... but... She was pregnant by the giant. The sorceress did not want her killed, or her child destroyed, so she created a magic potion. That potion suppressed the magic of the frost giant child. She taught Asa how to make the potion and told her that the first born child she and her children ever have must drink the potion before they drink their mothers' milk for the first time."
She sighs, "It worked, and my family continued drinking the potion for generations. Until my grandmother. She, after the birth of my mother, decided that the potion was barbarian witchcraft, so she did not teach my mother about it. So, my first meal was my mothers' milk."
"There is no proof?"
She shakes her head, "provable? No...the closest fact is this: the year of 1316 was an even worse year without a summer than 1816."
He grimaces as he asks "Jotenheim?"
"I will explain about Jotenheim later, maybe in a totally different interview. It is complex."
Liam looks down at his laptop. "Ahh, Queen Elsa. I'm..."
Elsa nods, "I know, they want more details, explainable details, but I'm sorry, you'll just have to trust my judgment."
A pause. Liam nods and his lips twist, "Since that will have to do. Ok."
"Thank you. To continue:" Snow forms between her hands, "There is, actually, a partial mathematical equation that explains some of how a fraction of my powers work. But it is deep, deep quantum physics, such that only a handful of people in the world would understand it. I will simplify it and use... some science fiction terminology to interpret it." A deep breath, "what I do... is I create a quantum zero-point energy field. Unlike how most sci-fi presents it, my field removes energy from an area."
"Energy like heat." She snaps her fingers and the temperature in the room drops to 20 degrees in an instant. An icy halo appears around her.
Both Liam and Richard yell, "Hey! What happened?"
"It took a very traumatic event to teach me that my field can be reversed and can add energy." she snaps her fingers and the temperature returns to 68 degrees.
Richard says, "Give a guy a bit more warning next time, please."
Dimples appear on Elsa's checks, "Sorry, but the surprises are just starting. That equation can explain some of my powers, but it cannot explain everything, like how I can create beings like him." She waves her hand toward Herman.
He bows. "I still think Olaf would be better for this part, mother."
"All he would say is." she says.
They both smile in unison, as they say, "I was created by love, with love, what else do you need to know?"
"Very well," he looks at the camera, "My name is Herman Fairhair." He lifts his arm and the snow covering his icy bones retreat showing the bone. "I am what my mother calls, an iceman. Unlike snowmen, I have a skeleton of icy bone covered by snow and I can blend in, within limits, with mankind." He lowers his hand and the snow returns.
"I consider myself and my family to be alive. Of course, I cannot meet the traditional definition of life." he smiles, "I do not a normal biology, obviously."
Richard and Liam snort. "How do you define it?" Liam asks.
"Human biology is based on molecular energy, chemical bonds with the energy coming from electrons changing orbit as they switch from atom to atom. My biology is, of course, magic but... we believe, based on direct quantum energy." He smiles, "even mother does not fully understand it."
"No. I don't. I can reproduce it. But, and, while I'll not quite in the position of a cave men rubbing two sticks together to create fire, and he does not know what is creating fire, it is close to that." Elsa interrupts.
Herman rolls his eyes, "you know more than that, mother."
"Yes, some, but those explanations are even more complex and more... wrong... than anything else, but it is still basically instinctive on my part."
"But," Herman begins, "Life." A pause "My family defines it more as thought, free will if you would, than then we worry about biology."
"Do you know how she created you?" Liam asks.
He grimaces, "Other than with love?" He shrugs and looks at Elsa, she looks back at him, "As she has said, she takes a small portion of her soul, removes it, crystallizes it and places that seed of a soul into the snow and ice that she has created."
Liam looks at Elsa. She shrugs, "that's the simplest, easiest explanation. The words to say how I do it... Do not exist."
Liam nods, "I think I get it. But... she created you..." He looks at Elsa, "how do I say it. How much control..."
"Control does she have over us?" Herman completes the question. Liam nods. "There are two schools of thought among us. One: that we are simply complex puppets with only the illusion of free will. That is only held by a very small number of us. Most of us though…We have are alive and have free will, so we can disobey her."
"I try not to be a tyrant." Elsa says, she sighs, "Although, through the years, I have enforced my decision to conceal my existence."
"Which means we cannot reveal ours."
"That is now changed, Herman. You and my children can reveal yourselves."
"Within the limits of your plan, mother."
She nods, "still things will improve." She looks at Liam, "protecting Antarctica is the primary cause of my actions." She waves her hand to Herman, "Freeing my children, allowing them to be all they can be, is the second reason."
"In how many years?" Herman asks.
She grimaces, "that depends on the rest of world." She waves her hand and an earth globe appears between her hands, "Assuming everything goes perfectly, a couple of years... more likely, around ten to twenty."
"Queen Elsa," Liam hesitantly asks, "How many children?"
She raises an eyebrow, "For temporary, tactical reasons, I am going to be very hesitant to give a definite answer to that question. But" she waves a hand toward Herman, "I will say that there are over four dozen icemen in existence. There are also snowmen, like you saw outside, and others which I will leave to people's imagination."
"Such as that whale this morning?"
She nods, "Yes. But, we are getting far from my goal for this interview, so..."
Author's notes: I have completed 4 chapters, I will be uploading them every couple of days, to give people a chance to read what I have done. After that, I will see what the reaction is. If "blah"... oh well. If you, the reader, want me to explain (write the full story) on some of the outlines of stories Elsa talks about, I will. If you, the reader, want me to continue telling her life history, I will.
