Previously, when I said that this chapter would be action-packed, turned out, the story was actually a bit longer than anticipated so I'll split it into two different chapter. This one... this one is peaceful, let's just leave it at that. Without further a due, here it is, Chapter 4...~
"Have you heard 'bout what happened in Arendelle...?"
"What about Arendelle...?" asked a rather charming brown-haired man with a straight face.
"The queen went all ice crazy and froze the land... some even say that she cursed it... forever."
"..." the young man said nothing.
His conversation partner then started to gaze him in a curious manner, only to widen his eyes when he came to the sudden realization that...
"You knew... didn't you? Not just the freeze, but also... of her power..."
"..." the young man still said nothing.
"Ok... now I'm curious mate, how did you know...?"
"Trolls, my friend... they are a very good source of information." Said the young man whilst handing him a rope. "Here... hold this."
"Just remember the plan; get in, get the stone, and get out. We got no time for lolly gagin'."
"Andrew, I've done this before... I'm sure I can take care of myself." He shrugged in complaint of his colleague.
"These blocks ain't no joke, mate... I've heard things about them."
"Whatever you heard, I heard it better... now go lower the damn boat, please."
As he watch his colleague slip away in the cover of darkness towards a certain hostile formation of lights in the distance, he can only sighed and wished him luck...
"May the wind blow in your favor... Seffy, my ol' friend."
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Goes the sound of the door being knocked.
"Umm... just a minute..." he said whilst putting back his journal back to his satchel. He take a quick glance around making sure that he's belongings were in check. When the coast is clear, he then proceed with...
"Right... come in."
The door opened up. Seffiroth was surprised to see the queen knocking on the door of his room.
"May I come in..." intrude Queen Elsa politely. "Yea... Sure, I mean... this was yours to begin with." He quickly responded.
"How do you like the room so far...?" asked Elsa for his opinion.
"A little too... big, for my taste at least. But it's wonderful, thank you." He thanks the queen whilst lowering his head.
"It's the least I can do after what you've done earlier, saving my little sister."
Seffiroth pulls his head up again. In an instance, they're looking at each other, both with nothing to say. The situation had turn rather awkward fast and the young man sought to break the tension in the room.
"I'm sorry, do you need something...?"
The queen snaps, "Huh? Ah... I just wanted to tell you that we're having dinner in a minute and I'd like you to join us... if... you... don't... mind..." she says as she slowly tilted left, trying to see the table behind her subject of interaction. "Were you doing something...?" asked the queen, being curious.
"Err... what?" asked back the young man. He then turned around to his back, only to realize he had missed the equipment he previously used. A set of ink, a feather and a piece of cloth was present on that table.
"Ahh... I'm just...was... I was writing my journal. It's a habit of mine."
"I see..." was the queen's response.
"So this man has a journal..." she thought. This trait seems to intrigue the queen even more to the man in front of him. Not so surprising, since she only met a few, if not, never meet any man who has journal writing as a habit. It's as if he was specifically unique yet full of mystery. She then wanders, what secret could possibly be written inside that journal of his.
She's not wrong, that journal does hide some secret, Seffiroth's secret. That journal is just one of a few things in his satchel he considered sacred.
"I'd love to..." said the man with a smile.
"Eh?" retorted the queen, confused, as she was just returning from her deep thought earlier.
"For your question earlier... I'd love to join your majesty for dinner." Cleared the young man with a smile.
"Very well..."she said with a slightly embarrassed tone. "I guess, I'll go tell the other to not start without you..."
The queen then left the room. As she was leaving, Seffiroth stared suspiciously. He sees the awkward expression of the queen when he had mention that he writes journal earlier. It's all thanks to his ability to read people's faces, of course.
He paused for a minute, then looked up towards the ceiling whilst rubbing his chin. In his mind, he thought... "Nothing wrong with a man writing a journal, right?"
In the end, he shrugged it off and sought prepare to himself for dinner with her majesty and her family.
In front of lies a door, leading to the main dining hall of the castle. There he was, staring at the door, thinking, whilst having a rather strange feeling of Deja vu.
He made himself presentable to the queen and the princess, which in his term, involve the same outfit he previously worn. He brought his sword, Seffiroth would be the last person to leave his sword out for anything. He also brought his satchel with him, after the earlier incident, he won't leave anything to chances.
He took a deep breath, "right..." he sighed.
Seffiroth then proceed with opening the door, only to find himself staring at the massive, well lit room. The interior sparkles, which was amazing considering it was only lit by candles. There was a large wooden table positioned right on the center of the room. The table was surrounded by dozens of beautifully-crafted wooden chair, although only a few was really occupied.
Inside sat the two sisters, Princess Anna and Queen Elsa of Arendelle, along with the princess's lover, Kristoff, and the cheerful snowman, Olaf. Anna and Elsa were talking to each other, doing what sisters always do, that is until it was interrupted by our protagonist.
Seeing her guest arrived, Elsa greeted him in a polite manner...
"Good evening..."
The young man, still admires the beauty of the dining hall, spat out a few words in response...
"Good... evening..." he said awkwardly. "May I ask...? Are we expecting some high king from another kingdom...?" he asked.
"No... It's just us." Was Elsa's response.
"I guess they dine here regardless of situation..." he thought to himself, thinking that it was strange to use this big of a dining hall for just four people. Well, four people and a snowman.
Like anything else, he eventually get over the matter and sat down next to Kristoff, which was next to Princess Anna, which was next to Queen Elsa who sat on edge of the long dining table. Olaf? He's comfortably sitting... on the table.
Seffiroth tries his best to act formal and natural, which was a pretty good effort from the young man. He really made himself seems experienced, even though this was all new to him, or was it?
Experienced or not, he was tense as he looks straight ahead and not anywhere else. Next to him was Kristoff, leaning towards Seffiroth and whispers...
"First time...?"
Noticed he was being asked, Seffiroth glanced over to his left. He then proceed with saying "what...?" hoping to catch Kristoff's meaning.
"It's OK... I was having trouble getting used to this on my first time. You'll get it eventually."
Seffiroth realizes what Kristoff refers to was the full formal dinner with the queen they're currently having. Seffiroth wanted to say that he clearly misunderstood everything except the nervous part, but he then discarded that idea. He thought it would be better if he just went along with him.
So... he simply smile and thank him for his generous but not so useful advice.
Not long after, the foods arrive. Supper, main course, and dessert, each within minutes of each other.
Their supper was soup, cream soup, with a pinch of black pepper as a topping. Next, their main course was a piece of steak served with vegetables. Last, their dessert was a cake, a rather large chocolate cake with... carrots? This was the cake Anna and Kristoff made, or at least tried to make. When they ran out of idea and couldn't make the two ingredients work, they just simply hand it over to the royal chefs. Surprisingly, those chefs do made it work... somehow.
"This is delicious..." squealed Anna as she chew it inside her mouth.
"This... is actually pretty good..." commented Kristoff, as he is more surprise to see that the chefs were able to pull this off rather than the actual taste of the cake.
Elsa and Olaf are also in awe with the cake. Wait a minute ... how does a snowman eat a cake? I guess that's just something you reader will never have to know.
Anyway, moving on to the story.
A slice of cake after, or two in the case of Princess Anna, all of them had finish dinner. Seffiroth never, in his recent memory, felt this stuffed before. Everyone seems to feel the same way, stuffed, full, not being able to move. And since everyone is so reluctant to move out of their comfy chair, Anna decided to play the truth game.
A little truth game wouldn't hurt. Especially if there's only one man answering all the question. Yep, you guessed it, it was our poor protagonist.
"So... Seffiroth, was it?" starts Anna.
"Yes?" responds the young man as he raised his head.
"Where are you from...?" she asked.
The young man paused, as he is choosing his words with care. Well, not really. He really choose his word so that his answer won't lead to another question. He still goes by his rules of "the less people knew about the better it is for me and for them.", although he is being a bit opened even by his standard recently.
So, he simply retort back with...
"Nowhere milady... I'm travelling back and forth, going to places, I usually don't stay in one place for very long."
Princess Anna then nodded after she received her answer, although not really what she expected of the sketchy figure.
After Princess Anna, it was Kristoff's turn...
"Where did you learn how to fight like that...?" he asked with curiosity showing in his eyes.
"Like what?" asked Seffiroth, trying to make Kristoff explained a little more specific about his question.
"Like this..." he started punching the air, "and this..." as he punches the air some more, "and that..." as he punch the air towards Seffiroth direction until suddenly...
BUK! Followed by an immediate... "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow..."
What supposed to be a harmless and friendly punch turned painful as it hits Seffiroth injured left arm. Seffiroth, groaning in pain, faceplanted himself on the surface of the table. Not so surprising, as he just have his wound patched less than half an hour ago.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..." said Kristoff, repeatedly apologizing to the suffering young man.
"Kristoff, how could you...?" scolded Anna. Queen Elsa, feeling sorry for the young man, also having a go at scolding Kristoff, although in a much friendlier tone. She then proceed with asking her guest...
"Are you alright?" in a rather worried tone.
"This will be time to man up, Seffy!" he said to himself. He took a deep breathe, and raises his head. He then smiled and proceed with saying...
"I'm good... totally fine."
"Are you sure...?" asked Elsa, trying to confirm Seffiroth's answer.
"Yep... I really am fine."
The young man then glance to his neighboring seat, smiled, sarcastically, then proceed with saying...
"I get your question, and I'll explain... I received military training when I was about your age, Princess Anna, or maybe even younger."
Everyone paused, including Olaf.
"So... you're a soldier?" Asked Queen Elsa, now even more interested in learning about the young man.
"No, not at all..." he answers firmly. "I'd like to think myself as a specialist, an opportunist worker..."
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch your meaning." Said the queen.
There was a pause, before the young man chuckled and said... "Me neither, my job is really hard to explain... and let's just leave it at that. Oh! You know what, I have the perfect word to describe my job."
"What is it...?" the queen and princess asked in unison.
"I'm a distributor..." he said full of confidence.
As innocence as the mind of the two sister goes, their thought never wander pass the point of their naive boundary. So they let it slide, and Anna already prepared the next question for him...
"So, anyone special in in your heart...?"
"Anna!" scolds Elsa in complaint. "What...? I'm just saying..." defended Anna.
Seffiroth chuckle, and let out a small laugh. "That's really private, you know..." he stated whilst chuckling.
"Well, you don't have to answer if you don't want to." Response Anna disappointed.
Seffiroth smiled, before proceed with saying a loud and clear...
"No."
"I think I might have opened up a bit too much there..." he thought. Then again, he never opened up this much before for a very long time, so he consider this as a fresh experience, and he always welcome fresh new experience into his life.
The queen smiled, and thought that her sister and her boyfriend have bothered the young man long enough. So, she sent them off to sleep. It was pretty late, their conversation dragged on longer than expected. Queen Elsa was tired, so as Kristoff, not so with Anna and Olaf. Olaf being a snowman was expected, but Anna, well, Anna... I'd like to think that it was the effect of whatever it is the chef put in that cake to make it good.
Seffiroth, in the other hand, felt relieved, a feeling he hasn't felt for a very long time.
Queen Elsa have the courtesy to accompany him to his room, as the Queen's chamber lies on the same path as the young man's bedroom.
"I apologized for my sister's behavior earlier, she can sometimes crossed the line..."
"That's fine, I'm actually feeling quite good thanks to her." The young man said whilst stretching his arm.
"So, this is the life of royalty...?" asked the young man.
"Well, half of it... another half involved paperwork." Said Elsa jokingly.
He smiled. "In that case, not much different from mine, then?" Said Seffiroth, also joking.
Elsa giggled at the young man's joke. Seffiroth in the other hand, felt happy and slightly surprised to find that a girl actually laughed at his joke.
After the laugh, silence came, a rather awkward silence. The two people, try their best to avoid eye contact, as an eye contact would probably make it more awkward than it already is.
Arriving in his room, Seffiroth made an excuse to part way with the queen. He said...
"Since, my ship leaves early in the morning I should probably get some shut eye..."
"I'll see to it that Kai delay the departure of the ship should you wake up late..."
"That won't be necessary, your highness..." he said whilst showing his respect.
Elsa smiled, she then whishes him a good night...
"Good night, Mr. Seffiroth..."
The man responded with... "Good night to you as well, your majesty." Whilst bowing.
Queen Elsa proceed further on in the candle-lit hallway, whilst Seffiroth closes the door to his room.
He sighed. It has been a tiring day, he should really get some rest.
To his surprise, the queen was much more fun than he had expected her to be. He always thought that a queen would be proud and stiff, not having any sense of humor at all. Not so in the case of Queen Elsa, she is respectable and proud, yet still having the flexibility, grace, and more importantly, a sense of humor. Maybe it's typical for a woman her age, regardless of her queen status.
He walked towards the window, which was supposed to overlook the town. But, in the dark of night, you can't barely see the town at all. He leaned on the window frame and gaze at the dark sky. He noticed something...
His lucky star is missing.
To a number of people, this doesn't mean anything. However, to the young man the star meant a great deal. Every time he went on his little adventure, he always looked up at the sky in search of the star. If his star shines, then it's a good thing. If it doesn't shine, something bad is going to happen. Being one of the example is the night before the sinking of the Catalina. That night, his star was nowhere to be seen.
Of course, this was highly coincidental. The truth is the star has nothing to do with anything. He knew this, and he also knew that the star has been wrong before. Therefore, he doesn't make decision purely on the star, which would be stupid. It's just there as his own little taboo, although tonight, for some reason, he thinks the star is right as he also felt that something was off.
It's really uncomfortable. He really wanted to shake it off, although he can't really do much. He's in doubt, and when in doubt he always look towards his experience. His experience told him to follow his guts, so he did. Besides, there's another one of his many rules. "Better safe than sorry..."
He rushed towards the door and opened it. Coincidentally, Kai, the royal servant, was on his way to give the queen the tea she ordered, pass by the young man's door.
"Ah... good evening, sir... it's a bit late don't you think...?" he greeted the young man politely.
"Yes, I know... say, could you do something for me?" asked the young man.
"Of course" answers the butler, "what is it that you need...?" he proceed with asking politely.
"Could you give me a hammer and a few nails, please..."
The butler stared and putting a baffled face. His mind wanders, "what on earth is he going to do with hammer and nails in the middle of the night like this?" the butler asked himself. Nevertheless, he did what Seffiroth asked, and as the night went on, the young man went to work.
Well that was fun... I will never thought that my OC would be that close to Elsa (I'm serious, I really don't)...
Anyway, that was it... I hope you enjoy the chapter. Reviews are always welcome, and a shout out for the three people who gave me reviews, you have no idea how encouraging those reviews meant for me. And seriously, let me know where I did wrong by reviewing, as I always wanted to improve my work.
As usual, I apologize for any typo, grammar mistakes, bad choice of words, etc. I did checked this, but I bound to miss a thing or two.
If you like the story so far, please fav and follow it. I can't upload this everyday, unlike some people. I also don't have the exact time to upload it, which was pretty crap on my part.
If you read and follow the story, I will then see you in the next installment... Taraa~
What...?
What do you mean you're not done...?
Narrator : "You cut me off in the middle of the story..."
How am I supposed to... ah nevermind. Go ahead then...
Narrator : "Well I was going to sleep, then I-"
JUST FINISH THE CHAPTER! For Pete's sake...
Narrator : "Well then... ehem..."
Meanwhile, in the midst of night, on the harbor front of Arendelle...
Two men piling firewood next to the flower store right on the edge of the harbor, they proceed with setting it ablaze.
This was of course illegal, and one of the guards on patrol knew so. The guard did what was expected...
"Hey you... You're not allowed to make campfire here..."
"Oh... I'm sorry sir, I'm just trying to keep warm."
"You still can't light it here, it's illegal to do so... you could disturb the queen with your light."
"I really am sorry... I have nowhere else to go, sir."
"We have a shelter not far from here, you can sleep there..."
"Thank you sir..."
"Now, come one... I'll take you there... Are you the only one...?"
BUKKK!
In that swift and clean stroke on the back of the neck, the guard was brought down. The man smiled and jokingly said...
"No..."
The other man went forward with lighting the torch he used to smack the guard. A bright torch was lit. The man with the torch proceed further down the edge of the harbor and sought to wave the torch. To the left, then to the right, to the left, then to the right yet again, repeatedly.
His movement was answered by a single light in the darkness. It was a lantern, and came from the fjord.
"Here they come..." the man said to his colleague.
As the light went ever closer, it grew brighter, and also grew in their number. First there was one, then two, then four, six, ultimately fourteen different dots of light on the darkness gaining ever closer towards the harbor.
The first light reaches the harbor. It was a boat, and a man disembark from it. The man with the torch proceed with saying...
"Sir, we found him... he has taken refuge on the castle, along with the stone."
"Well then..." he said. "It's time to wake him up..."
Well, what do you know...? The star was right after all...
Are you done now...? Good.
Like I said before, see you in the next installment... Taraa~