Astrid Elsa Oaken. chapter 1

Thank you to ptahaegyptus2 for your support and Beta.

Note: Due to a more intense discussion of magic, there will be more behind the scenes, thoughts from Elsa and others in this, and future chapters.

"Oaken Trading? The company that Fractal?" Richard says in surprise.

Elsa nods. "Yes. In later years, I had my new company buy my old company."

She smiles and looks at the camera. "The history of Oaken Trading as given in the history books is incomplete, so. But first, that break we mentioned earlier? Liam?"

Liam nods, "Yes. I've got too many people yelling in my ear. I've got to put out some fires."

Elsa says, "And, it seems, so do I. 15 minutes, then? I will leave this room for your use."

Liam replies, "Thank you."

A tap of her finger on her throne.

The Ice Throne raises up as a pillar slides up and through a hole that appears in the roof of the room. The icy chandelier moves aside to give her room.

Herman and Joan leave the room through the door.

Liam and Richard are alone in the room.

"We are sooo..."

Richard turns off the camera.

15 minutes later.

Elsa's throne is back in the room, with her seated on it. Herman is to her left, like he was in the beginning.

"Ready, Liam?" She asks.

He nods and pats his laptop. "Ready."

"I will resume the story of Oaken Trading, then, I will answer questions." Elsa says in a forceful tone.

Liam grimaces.

Elsa starts her tale of this life, "Odd Oaken was a friend of Anna's. A large and eccentric person, mind you, but honest and helpful to Anna during 1837 and later." An ice sculpture of Oaken appears: he is smiling, like he always did.

"One of his sons, Viggo, was more adventurous and after traveling the world as a sailor on several of the Ice ships that visited Arendelle, came to Queen Elsa in 1865 for a loan. He wanted to expand his father's Wandering Oaken's Trading Post into an import/export business with a shipping line."

Elsa shrugs as she says, "He was, by all accounts, a good man and a good ship captain. I gave him the loan and he was successful."

A smile, "By 1914 he was old, but still vigorous, with an adult son to help, who was planning to take over in time, and a promising grandson. Oaken Trading had 5 modern ships and was making good money hauling iron from northern Norway to Germany."

A sigh, "Then the war. Britain did not like iron being shipped to Germany. Everyone scattered mines in the North Sea and along the coast. By late 1918 things had changed. Mines sunk two of his ships. He lost his son on one of them."

She shakes her head, "The only good news: His grandson, on leave from the army in 1917, married a farmer's daughter, Astrid. But, he told his grandfather that after the war, he was going to sell Oaken's ships and use that money to start an automobile factory."

"Which, in late 1918, is where I came in. Viggo wanted my advice. His health was beginning to fail. Years of smoking were catching up with him. What should he do? I came up with a plan for him. But it had to wait until the end of the war."

She sighs, again, "While on the way to the mess in Russia, I stopped and explained everything to Viggo. He approved."

She gestures to herself. "I met Astrid Oaken and everyone remarked how close we looked." A magical illusion of Astrid Oaken appears, she looks like Elsa, just a different hair color.

A pause. "By this time, I was, like during the later years as Queen Elsa, wearing makeup to appear older, so the differences in our appearances were greater than they appear, now."

A smile and a laugh, "It seems that story I told about my father having an affair was correct: she was related to me. The only noticeable difference was hair color, hers was reddish-blond, not my platinum."

Elsa shakes her head. "That caused problems, at first, with this identity." She pats her braid. "My hair...rejects dyes. Oh, It will stick for a few hours, but, sooner or later the dye just slides off and my hair returns to its natural color. But talking about Astrid dyeing her hair platinum, to look like the famous Queen Elsa in her family history, was enough for this identity."

A sad sigh, "Then things took a turn for the worse. I went to Russia and was out of action when the army released Viggo during that time. He found out that the meeting with me would be delayed. He and Astrid, then, took a delayed honeymoon to fill the time until I could show up and finalize the deal."

She shakes her head, "He died of the Spanish Flu. Astrid did as well. But they were in Arendelle when they died and I heard about it in time to hold the paperwork. All I had to do was change the middle name. In the new paperwork, Astrid, instead, just went into a coma and had complications."

"I managed to get to Viggo before he died and he approved of my plan to assume Astrid's life. He died a week later." She looks at Liam. "After that it was just a matter of waiting until when I would decide to stop Elsa Anna Bjorgman's life."

"Since she was from a local farm family, who knew of me as Queen Elsa, explaining things to them was an easy talk. Since she had not been around Viggo employees much, explaining it to them was simple. Except for the problems with hair color, the switch to this identity was much easier than when I became Elsa Bjorgman."

She looks at Liam, who is about to burst wanting to ask questions. A small shake of her head.

"Still, Astrid was in a world of trouble. She was a young woman, with no experience. Now, in charge of a failing business. Which due to war causalities and Viggo's bad health last few years, now had a very poor set of employees on which to rebuild from."

"A challenge, like I said. And one that I should go into detail about." A smile at Liam, whose face is now a shade of purple.

"But, I will decline. The history books have that part of my life in reasonably good detail." She smiles, "Go ahead, Liam. Ask."

He let's out a huge sigh. Then grins. "I should get used to your little jokes."

Elsa grins. "Humor is good. The more of it there is, the better."

Liam clears his throat, "I have been ordered to ask about Hitler."

Elsa shakes her head, no. "When I get to 1936, I will mention him. I will mention him in 1939, as well. How much I mention him during the war years will depend on how I will be feeling at time. Until then, I will decline to answer those questions."

Liam nods, "That's what I told them, but..."

Elsa nods, understanding his situation.

"I have been ordered to ask you about your future plans."

"And, in the future, I will answer those questions."

A snort, "Nice deflection."

A smile. "Continue."

"I have been ordered to ask you about that quote upcoming storm unquote you mentioned."

The ice turns yellow, momentarily, then it returns to normal.

She grimaces, "I would like to answer that question, but I cannot do so. In the future, in a few weeks to a few years something, a war or perhaps a natural disaster, will occur and it will kill millions. Nothing else could break through my defenses and leave me screaming from the nightly nightmares that have occurred during the last few years." She finishes in a very blunt tone.

Liam pales, "Millions?"

"Many millions." Elsa states, "I feel worse than I felt before WWII. I am more powerful, more knowledgeable than I was then. I am also more sensitive. So I should, logically, feel worse even if there are fewer deaths, as I would feel each death more strongly than I felt them in 1939. But... applying logic to magic is wrong. So, I do not trust that reasoning."

Liam nods, accepting that explanation. "I have been ordered to ask if this morning's show was a total effort on your part."

She shakes her head no, "Given time, Joan could have done all that, except for the creation of the whale."

Herman laughs. "Time? You know how long it would take?"

Elsa smiles, "Of course." A point to the camera, "They don't, though. And I think a little confusion here would be a good thing. If they are going to ask stupid questions, we should, give them some very confusing answers."

"OOKK," Herman nods. "A little confusion." He rubs his jaw, "Everything but the ship, iceberg, and tower would take about as long as you did. Maybe less time. You were gentle with people. Joan isn't as gentle.."

A pause as he considers, "Creating that iceberg... That I think I will not answer. The Tower...depends. Creating basic shelter for everyone, about as fast as you. Creating a Tower, in all its detail? That is days of work. Even then, there are parts of this Tower that only Eric could duplicate."

Liam licks his lips, "Just to make sure, this morning was not a challenge?"

Elsa shakes her head no. "Not really. The only thing that might have been challenging was using near absolute zero temperatures against guns without hurting the people who were holding them. And that is just detail and safety work, creating two opposing energy fields within inches of each other, not a power challenge. The small icy tornadoes that were holding people are things I could create long, long ago."

Liam is about to ask another question, when Elsa holds up her hand. "Liam, I think this will be faster. Hand me the laptop and I will see if there is anything I will answer. Any new question, that is. I have a feeling that most of your questions are about things that I have already answered."

Liam, glumly, nods. "Yes. I told them that. But, they demanded."

Elsa nods. "I understand. Please." She holds out her hand.

Liam holds out the laptop.

Herman moves, takes the laptop and gives it to Elsa.

She looks, "No. No. Already answered. Ditto. No. What?" A pause, "Frigga?"

Frigga's head appears next to her. "Yes, Queen Elsa."

"Can you edit this mess?" She holds up the laptop. "Send them the video clips of the answers they have already seen. Block the stupidity. And find out which gutter that idiot, who asked that question about Anna and I, slimed out of."

Frigga acknowledges her mother, "Of course, Queen Elsa. I have been monitoring Mr. Black's feed. Do anything to the slime? I already have his id."

Elsa shakes her head. "No, sticks and stones, just watch him. It will be interesting to see how much slime he attracts."

She looks at the laptop and pages through it. "Good. Much better. There is nothing here that can not wait." She hands the laptop to Herman. Then she pauses, still holding the laptop.

She looks at Liam, "I am sorry. I should have asked permission, first. Do you want me to reverse Frigga's actions?"

Liam and Richard laugh. "No. Just, I suppose the video will explain things."

"It should." Elsa replies. "I just find myself getting more and more casual about fixing things, especially trivial things. I really should have asked before I did anything to your laptop." She hands the laptop to Herman, who returns it to Liam.

"Now, to resume." She smiles, "And I will not go into detail about how Oaken Trading turned around and expanded."

"Whew." Liam wipes his brow, jokingly.

A quick smile.

She sighs, "Before I begin, I should give... an overview of the time I spent as Astrid Elsa Oaken. Unlike with my life as Queen Elsa or as Elsa Bjorgman, this life had no personal lifetime goal. Oh, I suppose from the outside, the improvements and growth of Oaken was a lifetime career, but, except for the occasional emergency, building Oaken wasn't difficult. Time consuming, yes. Detail oriented, yes. Difficult, no. Just business, nothing personal."

"In 1930, when I finally was able to travel to Antarctica, I began my love affair with her." She smiles and gestures to the open doorway. "Since then I have visited regularly. My desire to protect her began the moment I first laid eyes on her. But, it was not until late in this life that my goal to protect her became my priority."

"So, during this lifetime, I drifted from place to place, from goal to goal. Until late in this life, when my environmental goals became more and more focused."

Liam nods. "Sounds, confusing."

She grimaces, "Yes, at times. Oh, at first, like when I left Arendelle, it was simple. I was running from the ruins of Europe. I did have a goal in mind though, not just running like I did at the end of my life as Queen Elsa. But first."

She says in a firm tone, "During the reorganization of Oaken Trading, I did repair the three ships. One of them, I had basically rebuilt. Not for safety reasons, but I was planning to Captain that ship personally and wanted some, I suppose you could call them secret chambers, for my children and other potential things."

"That ship, I renamed Anna." An ice sculpture of a, now, very small and antiquated freighter, appears. In 1899 when it came off the builders ramp, it was a main-line freighter.

"Basically, up to WWII, I spent more time on her than I did anywhere else. She was a 7,000 ton, single screw steamer. Slow, of course, just 12 knots out of the repair yards, as time passed even that speed dropped. But, a good solid ship." There is pride in her voice, she was on that ship for years.

A thoughtful look and then a happy grin, "Before my parents died in a shipwreck, daydreaming about being a ship Captain was a favorite of mine. The stories I read about… Sailing around the Horn. Other stories. " A sigh, "It was… interesting to see how reality was different from my childhood fantasies."

"Souls... are wondrous things. Complex and strange. And... it is possible for anything to have a soul." She says in a soft tone, as she remembers her ship.

Richard and Liam share a glance. Both agree not to disturb her thoughts.

A lull, then she continues, "Given the secret holds, when I left Europe in December 1921, I was able to bring Olaf with me. I offered a place for Marshmallow, but he decided to stay at Arendelle."

She looks at Herman. "Since I did not see a reason to take them, I left Herman and the others in Arendelle with Eric."

She looks at Liam. "Since they did not have a lot of power, Eric had to stay behind to help them."

Herman nods. "Our heat protection spells were still weak and we needed Eric to replenish our ice."

"I did take Ragnhild, Asa and Frigga with me. Before WWI, I probably would have taken Njord, or when I stopped in the US, Richard, but with the new world-wide radio communication, plus telegraph, they stayed home. Christina stayed home continuing her and Frigga's scientific experiments."

She looks at Liam, "I am not going to detail all of our stops as we circled the world several times. Just the ones that were most interesting. Nor I am going to go into all the problems that I, as a young female ship Captain had, especially in those first years. The official history of Oaken Trading covers those incidents...in reasonable, if incomplete, detail."

Another wipe of his forehead from Liam.

"The first stop outside Europe was Greenland. Finally." Elsa states, "I had previous plans to visit there, but had to cancel each time."

The snowflakes that on her throne begin to dance, more and more wildly.

She smiles greatly. "The joy on the faces of my children when we reached the top of the ice sheet...is still one of my favorite memories. Gods, that snowball fight! Me and Olaf vs Ragnhild, Asa and Frigga. Wonderful!" A very happy tone and happier look is on her face.

The ice clears, sharpens…

Liam and Richard can feel the joy.

Her smile grows, threatening to split her face. "Bermuda. Olaf, finally, visiting a tropical beach!"

Herman laughs. "He tells that story whenever you give him half a chance!"

"What am I missing?" Liam asks, "I could understand about Greenland, but Bermuda?"

Elsa and Herman look at each other, then Elsa says, "I really should let Olaf answer that, Liam. I will simply say that since Olaf was born, he has had a strong desire to visit a tropical beach."

A pause. "And, yes, I realize that Bermuda is subtropical not a fully tropical beach, but to us," She points to herself and Herman, "and Olaf, it counted."

Liam nods. "I do have another question?"

"Go ahead, I was just about to pause for them," Elsa answers.

"I can understand Ragnhild and Asa, but why Frigga? She is your technological person, right? Traveling all the time would not help her."

Elsa nods. "Ah. That gets into what I was about to mention."

Liam nods, understanding.

"When I left Europe this time, as I said, I had a plan. And that plan was not build Oaken Trading." She says in a serious tone. "My mental condition, my Soul, if you will, needed help. Pabbie's spell to wall off the echoes of the future was slowly losing it's effectiveness. I had to find a new spell. Something."

Liam nods, "I can see that, but Frigga?"

"She is also my helper on the magic side as well. I was going to need her help."

His eyes widen and he nods. "I had forgotten that detail."

Elsa nods. "Yes." She grimaces, "You must understand, when I was Queen Elsa, I had time, not a lot, but time, to experiment and explore mine and others magics. During my lifetime as Elsa Bjorgman, though, I spent very little time using, much less exploring, my powers."

"And fixing my soul would require me to learn more about my powers." Elsa says, earnestly, "During these long and slow journeys on Anna, I had time to explore things."

A bark of laughter. "Frigga, finally, had me to experiment on! Gods... The things she had me do. Just to see if I could or could not do it."

"It was during these years as I circled the world hunting for the magic to help me that I became... something more than an instinctive magic user, who knew just a handful of minor spells." She grins, "Frigga had collected a great deal of magical information which we could finally go through, organize, and learn."

A pause, "In later years, Frigga and I used this data to help us to develop various theories about how magic works and how to mix different magic systems together. Still… Trying to apply the scientific method strictly to magic was… incorrect. Magic and Logic do not mix well."

Liam and Richard go pale. "That must have been some journey." Liam says in a low voice.

Elsa nods, "It was." She sighs, "Unfortunately, none of the information we had could solve my problem. Oh, there was hints in some of the negative, black magic information. But I refused to look at them."

She pauses, thinking, and then nods. "This was when we stumbled on one of the secrets of my powers."

"Yes," Liam perks up, excited.

She smiles, mysteriously, "I am only mentioning this, because it will, and I repeat will, cause confusion in the people watching this interview."

Liam and Richard both nod.

"Magic is imagination, which is why it doesn't mix well with Logic and resists systematization. If you can imagine something and you have the skills and power, you can do it. That is about as basic a law of magic that there is." She says in a serious tone.

She tightens her lips, "The following explanation will be without any scientific gloss. I have to talk about pure magic theory and science does not apply."

She says in a steady tone, "With me, if I can somehow find a way to imagine a Frozen or freezing symbolism, casting any spell becomes a lot easier."

Liam states, "I do not understand."

Elsa thinks for a moment, "There are some mathematical explanations that spring to mind instantly. My first thought would be to use a slide rule." A flick of her hand and an icy slide-rule appears. A grin, "but, I think that would confuse people even more.'

Liam and Richard chuckle.

"Still, perhaps the most common example would be with computer languages. Some problems are easier to solve in one language and then translated into another. However."

A grin appears, as she says, "I learned it about it this way. Frigga noticed how easily I was remembering things. I always had a remarkable memory, I just considered that natural and did not think about it. But, Frigga decided to find out more."

"After a lot of... detail work, she finally could make me understand it. I had done this from childhood, but did not know it. I quote freeze unquote information in my memories. I can then quote unfreeze unquote the information and use it. Giving me in practice a photographic memory."

"That's fucking twisted!" Richard exclaims.

Elsa nods. "You should have seen me, when she told me that. But it works. If I can somehow use Frozen or freeze or something like that when I use a pure magical spell, it just flows out of me effortlessly and with my full power behind it."

A pause, "If I can not use that symbolism, the spell becomes harder to work and with a much more limited power level. An example: there would be those mind healing spells I mentioned earlier. Using them, is generally, much harder than creating ice."

"Generally?" Liam asks.

"There are some mind healing spells that preserve the mind. To 'freeze' the mind as it was. Those spells are easy. But other spells are harder."

Liam says in a tone of wonder. "Jesus. Anything?"

"As long as I can find the right Frozen symbolism, anything is possible." She says, calmly and with great confidence.

She smiles at a thought and her mouth opens and closes like she is saying something, but nothing comes out. Well… Not quite. A snowflake grows in front of her mouth. When she finishes 'talking' she plucks the snowflake from in front of her mouth.

"Here Liam, crush this." She flips him the snowflake.

Liam looks confused but catches the snowflake and crushes it.

From the crushed ice, Elsa's voice is heard, "Like that old joke about sound freezing during a hard winter."

Elsa and Herman share a laugh.

Richard and Liam also give a snark of laughter.

Elsa looks at Liam, "Shall I confuse you some more?"

He laughs, "No. Although, I'm sure that other people will feel differently."

She nods. "Then, to continue, when I left Europe, I did have a place I wanted to go. Japan. I needed to visit my daughter Mizuki. And I hoped that her friends from Japanese mythology might have some magic that would help me."

"It took longer than I expected to get there." She shrugs, "That detail work with Oaken Trading kept interfering. The problems of a young female ship Captain, basically. Especially making that long voyage across the Pacific. Finding a reason to make that journey, just took time."

Author's note: I used to write Inu-yasha fanfiction. So, the following characters are from that anime/manga.

"Still in January 1923, I arrived in Japan." A deep sigh. A smile, "Finally. I was able to have time for Mizuki."

Her smiles grows, "I met her special friend, only to find out that they were waiting on me, so they could ask my permission to marry."

An ice sculpture of Mizuki and Genji appear. They are dressed in very traditional Japanese clothing. Genji looks like a red-haired human, but he has a bushy tail. Mizuki looks like a Japanese woman wearing heavy white makeup.

She shakes her head. "Genji was a Kitsune. A Japanese mythical creature similar to a fox, a shape-shifter. They are generally mischievous, but there are exceptions. I liked him and approved of the marriage. It was a happy time visiting them."

She sighs, "Genji's father Shippo is an old and wise person. But, his spells are illusion-based. While useful, especially when I combined them with similar spells from Pabbie, they were not what I needed."

"He did have connections, however. And spells similar to what I wanted were known, but there were... translation problems." She grimaces, "that's not really correct, but it will do for now. They did, however, point me in the right direction. What I needed was somewhere in the Himalayas. Off I went."

She sighs, but before she can speak, Liam interrupts. "I'm sorry, but I do have a question."

She nods, "ask."

"There are other magical beings, like yourself?"

She answers, "Yes. But out of respect for them and their situations, any answer I give will be full of ifs, ands, and buts."

"So, no details?"

She nods, yes. "No matter what happens, after this there will be a new and intense hunt for magic, and magic users. I will not give away any of their secrets."

Liam nods, understanding.

Queen Elsa sighs, "I had met some… some magical friends and acquaintances earlier in my life. However, it was at this time that I began to see how much magic there was in this world. My experience was with the magic in Europe and it had many years ago been driven underground."

"I made more friends, and sadly a few enemies, during this journey. They introduced me to others and to the informal rules that were in place. Just making such a public show of powers is against those rules. For that reason, and others, I am very careful in what I say, Liam." She nods at him

He nods back, understanding her viewpoint.

Another sigh, "They all have adapted to this modern world in their own ways. Some blending in like I did. Some vanishing into magical places. Some just...existing in their own way."

She pauses, "My understanding is that some have removed themselves even further from mankind in preparation for this day. Some are waiting to see what happens. If I succeed, I believe some will reveal themselves, peacefully."

She says in a dark tone, "Some, unfortunately, will use my presence to expose themselves in an attempt to use people, not help people."

"Preparation? They knew beforehand?" He asks, quickly.

She nods, "Some I warned before hand. Some have the ability to foresee the future."

"Could they be that storm you feel?" He asks, cautiously.

She shakes her head, no. "Oh, they might influence parts of the storm. The storm feels new, though, something I have not met before, or at best, met so briefly that I do not remember it."

"So, they are not dangerous." He states.

She laughs, "They, or least some of them, are very dangerous! And they will complicate things. Immensely. I just do not believe that they will be decisive."

"Do you have any idea how they will complicate things?" He asks slowly.

Elsa pauses, considering. "There are possible things that they can do. But... until they occur, I would prefer not to answer that question. I do not want to box them into a response. And, I do not want to play 20 questions here, Liam. Let's drop this line of questioning, please."

"OK." Liam nods. "Thank you. Please continue."

Elsa thinks, 'There are three, that I know of, that are more powerful than I am. Lif is the eldest and most powerful. But she has told me that she will be neutral. The Yellow Dragon of China. He, though, is asleep, and there is no way to know when he will awaken.'

A mental shake. 'And, as I call him, Merlin. Who knows what his birth name is? I have traced his influence back to the rise of Assyria, who knows how old he is? I have lost track of him. Still... his historic pattern of behavior is to...fix chaos. He probably is grooming a new hero and is ready to help that hero to improve things. With luck, we can work together. But hopefully his plans will not hurt mine. A war between us...would be bad.'

Elsa continues, her voice full of joy, "The Himalayas. Beautiful. Grand. Fascinating. And...mysterious. I haunted them for 6 months, never finding the answer I was looking for."

The Himalayas appear in an ice sculpture.

She sighs, "Given the time I was spending searching, I sent the Anna back to Europe for repairs. That allowed Olaf to return to Arendelle. Exploring places was fun. Having to hide was not. So he left the voyage then."

Another deep sigh, "Eventually, Frigga showed me other possible answers, and I left, to search elsewhere. I was very disappointed. I knew the answer was here. I just failed to find it." She finishes in despondent tone.

She smiles, though, as she continues, "I did take the time to travel to Europe to attend the first Winter Games." A smile. "Sonja Henie even at age 11. The potential there was great. A very enjoyable interlude. So, with a much better mood, I resumed my search."

"After the Games, I traveled to the Inuits, hoping that their magic, so similar to mine would work." She shakes her head. "Oh, helpful, it was. But not what I needed."

"Due to the details of expanding Oaken Trading, I spent most of the next couple of years going up and down the Pacific coast of the Americas, and via the Canal, the Caribbean. As I traveled, I explored various native American magics, hoping..." She sighs.

She says with a huge smile, "Finally, as I was trying to decipher Olmec magic, I met... A friend. I was given the correct directions in the Himalayas. And an introduction to the hidden valley that I needed to find."

Liam taps his laptop, attracting her attention.

A twitch of her lips, "Go ahead, Liam."

"That friend? One of those magical beings you mentioned earlier?"

Elsa nods, yes.

"Not going to say a thing?"

Elsa smiles, but does not say a thing.

He nods.

A pause.

Elsa resumes, "Arranging a quick trip for the Anna from Mexico to India was difficult, but the growing Oaken Trading company made that possible."

"Once there, to the Himalayas and I found the valley this time." A joyous smile appears. "I knew that I would be spending a great deal of time away from the Anna, so I had my executive officer command the Anna as a normal freighter until I could rejoin her."

"I spent most of 1927 in the Himalayas. Learning. Healing. Growing." She says, in a strong voice.

"You will not tell us details of your time there." Liam remarks, not really expecting an answer.

She nods, yes. "That is very private information."

"But, I will say this." A sigh, "I learned how to Freeze the echoes, giving me peace. Oh, at times the echoes will build up and I have to let them flow over me, like a glacier. But I can control when and how, so I can make sure that the side-effects are controllable and managed."

"That simple?" Liam asks. "Surely you and Frigga tried that?"

Elsa nods. "We did. Unfortunately, the mass of frozen echoes would overwhelm the spell and it would break down. So, it was helpful, but not the solution I was looking for. Only after the Valley was I able to use that spell properly."

She shakes her head. "I am greatly simplifying things. There were also spells to strengthen my soul, which I used when I started to add powers to my Icemen."

She smiles gently, "I did learn that the importance I placed on Love, Mercy, and Peace was correct. That knowledge has greatly helped me over the years."

A pause.

Seeing that she has stopped, Liam's eyebrows furrows as he thinks and then he asks, "Queen Elsa, I notice that you have not mentioned much about your children, other than Frigga, during this time period of, what, seven years?"

She nods. "Yes. I have neglected them in my desire to explain my magical healing." A twinkle in her eyes, as she looks at the camera, "And a wish to speed my story along."

"Herman, could you tell Liam, what you were doing during this time frame?"

Herman nods, steps forward and says, "We spent most of the inter-war years training and learning. The mistakes we made in WWI haunted us and we were going to get better. Oh, British Intelligence knew something of us, when Director Hall retired he kept our secret, but they did use us occasionally."

A laugh. "We even came close to Queen Elsa during her first trip to the Himalayas, we were in the Hindu Kush at the time. The British wanted to help the Afghan King to suppress a revolt in Khost and they needed deniable troops, so we were it."

He shakes his head. "Beautiful mountains. Great during winter. But I have spent far too much time in those mountains over the years, fighting."

"Ragnhild and Asa stayed with me, basically." Elsa says as Herman finishes, "Asa discovered that she loved the weapon-less hand to hand combat techniques of the far east. Karate. Jujitsu. Kung Fu. Other martial arts. Ragnhild helped me. She was more interested in the modern people we met, though her occasional vigilantism kept causing trouble. No major problems, but it was there."

"Anything else?" She asks.

A glance down, a raised eyebrow, pursed lips, "There is a question about your sex life?"

"Ahh." Elsa answers, "How I handled that during this lifetime?"

Liam nods.

She looks at the ceiling, thinking, and then says, "hmmmm. That becomes a more complex subject than it was before. During the time on the Anna, I had time to think. And, finally, truly consider how my very long life would affect me." She smiles, "Love in all its physical glory and spiritual wonder."

"How would I handle love when, sooner or later, any person I loved would die and I would live on? I used legends, myths and advice from some of my long-lived magical friends to learn from." She says in a thoughtful tone.

In a brisk tone she says, "The physical aspects of love, or rather lust as I like to consider it, I could solve like I did earlier with mistresses. They might be life-long or one-night stands, but they would solve the fact that a healthy and happy human body needs physical relationships... But was that right? And did that include spiritual Love?"

A grin, "The arguments that I had with Olaf over this subject are, within my family, legendary. I took the position that I should not love normal people since they would die. He took the position that a large part of Love is sharing, and to deny it was wrong."

A slow shake of her head, "He, like always, was correct. To deny Love is… is a horrible and unhealthy thing. A strong, healthy soul depends on Love. That is the heart of a soul." Her tone is one of being very sure of herself.

"Still… there were problems." She entwines her fingers of both hands. "With a true love… There is an equal." She changes the position of her fingers, so that just the fingertips are touching. "Without an equal… Things become harder."

A look at Liam, "Finding an equal becomes a problem when you are functionally immortal. Peers are rare, and being also long-lived, they normally have solved this problem, in their way, already."

He snorts, "Yeah, I can see that."

A smile glows on her face, "Luckily, my love of my family and my love, my compassion, for people can substitute for personal love. Still one of things that as I did as I wandered the globe that I looked for was potential peers."

A huge sigh, "Eventually, I did find… a solution, but there was and are problems with…" A shake of her head, "Let's simply say that I have a personal quest that I must finish before I can join with my True Love." A brush of her hand against her jaw.

Another sigh, a far off look. "But, before I can leave on that quest, I must grow… Not in power, as such, but in wisdom, to overcome the challenge that I will have to face.. And, since there is a strong possibility of my personal death, I must make sure about my legacy here on Earth." She waves to Herman and the open doorway.

Liam and Richard's look at each other. 'What could kill her?'They are obviously thinking.

A sigh, "But, to answer your question in a more strict manner. As Astrid Oaken, I acted like many sailors have done throughout the ages. In each port, well, in selected ports, I would have special friends, a mistress, a lover. I always told them, upfront, that I was not looking for a normal life-long relationship, just something short-term. Sooner or later, I could find someone who I could love. Depending, of course, on your definition of love."

She purses her lips, "As time passed, I decided that behavior was wrong." She sighs, and a quick smile, "Liam, I have had time to experiment with all sorts of things. In future lives, I tried other ways to solve this problem."

A smile, "Until, of course, I found my true love. Since then, I have waited, planning and in the future, I will act. I will…"

Her eyes grow misty. "I will love."

Silence...

A shake of her body.

"To continue," Elsa begins, "I managed, just, barely to get the Winter Games of 1928. Sonja was beautiful. I even managed a few private skates with her." She smiles.

Her smiles, grows, gloriously. "And finally... I could plan and visit Antarctica."

The ice brightens. The atmosphere...becomes lighter?

Liam grows more interested.

"Lars Christensen, a competitor, but a friend and Hjalmer Riiser-larsen, who taught me to fly during WWI, and I planned an expedition to Antarctica. Several ones, actually. In January 1930, finally, Antarctica!" Her voice is full of excitement.

"I used the Anna as my part of the expedition. And this time, I brought all the family with me. Even Mizuki managed to show up." A huge smile. "For the first time, and, truthfully, one of the few times, we ALL have been together."

The air begins to glow gently, a soft pink light.

Olaf, Marshmallow, Eric and Frigga appear in holograms. Others in smaller screens, also, appear. Queen Elsa's family will be with her during this time of triumph for them.

Herman smiles and nods, confirming Elsa's statement. "Wonderful time." He says, "Some of the best months of all our lives, that first trip to Antarctica."

"The Grandeur. The Majesty. The Magnificence. Ahh. I can not describe the feelings."

Snow and ice begin to spiral around her. Faster and faster. Growing, changing...becoming more and more beautiful.

Indescribable. Love.

Frozen. Timeless...

"That was when Norway claimed close to 20% of Antarctica." She says with a smile.

"Queen Maude Land. Princess Astrid Coast. Princess Ragnhild Coast. Prince Olav Coast. Officially the names came from the then current King Haakon VII of Norway's family. But." She smiles. "I wanted to use Anna or Elsa, but he unwisely did not use those names.. So, I had to use Anna's middle names, one of mine and, of course Olaf's name."

She laughs.

Herman laughs.

Richard and Liam give a couple of laughs, themselves.

"I would have stayed here forever, but, life pulled my family and I back north." She sighs.

A sly smile appears. "But. Before I left Antarctica, I gave birth to more children, here. Carl and Martha to help Frigga and Njord, respectively. This is when Krol was born as I also, finally, filled the holes in my military Icemen. And...for the first time, I began to create more snowmen like Olaf."

She waves her hand at the open door. "Here they could be themselves and not have to hide, like Olaf and Marshmallow."

She pats the Seal above her. "This is also the time that I changed my personal seal to this symbolism. I had thought about it for years, being on Antarctica was the final step in that decision. Up until today only the family has seen it. In a couple of weeks, when I establish my palace at McMurdo, it will become the Seal of Elsa of Antarctica." A smile.

She looks at Liam and says softly, but firmly, "I will be more mysterious with information about my snowmen, Liam. Most of them are here in Antarctica, so they do not interact with people often."

Liam nods, understanding.

"When I left Antarctica that first time." She says, in a very painful tone. "I left Marshmallow and a group of snowmen and snowwomen here. Marshmallow was in command with orders just to explore, really. I did take Leik and Maximus back with me. Olaf and they had become very fast friends and I did not want to separate the three."

Herman shakes his head. "Olaf is a great guy. Very fun. Also...wise in his own way. Leik, who goes by Kilroy now, though, is a practical joker to the extreme. You always have to watch him. Maximus...just is Maximus. A great guy."

Elsa pauses, looking at Liam, in case he wants to ask something.

"Hmm." Liam thinks, "I don't really have questions about Antarctica. But, you've made sure to mention the Winter Games, twice now. Is there something, I'm not getting?"

"Ohh. I am sorry, Liam. My love of Winter sports is shining through. That dates back to the Nordic Games that occurred before the Olympics. And even before that, watching impromptu winter games as Queen of Arendelle. It has always been a pleasure of mine to watch people having fun in the winter." She smiles as she finishes that comment.

An illusion of various winter sports appear. Most of the images are of older times. The costumes and equipment are from the 1930's or earlier.

"Oh."

She continues in a sadder tone, "After the death of Elsa Bjorgman, I greatly reduced the amount of time I spent on my support of the social organizations I followed. And, given my death, my financial support of them obviously dropped as well. My support of Winter sports, first of the Nordic Games and later the Olympics, the Winter Games were and are something that I support."

She waves her hand, "Oh, the support is primarily financial. But, whenever possible I do spend more time. Like with Sonja, I helped her when I could. Other athletes as well." A smile, "primarily Norwegian, of course. But, I would help anyone that I noticed."

"Given all the time you've been alive, have you ever competed?" Liam asks.

Elsa shakes her head, no. "It would not be fair. My powers make me pretty much perfect on snow or ice. Although, after an event is over. Sometimes. There would be some private sessions." A very satisfied grin.

"One of my plans, sometime over the next few days, is to make an Ice Rink, here. You will understand when you see me on ice, skating."

The softly glowing light fades away.

"That make sense." Liam then shakes his head, "Nothing else is screaming at me to be asked."

Elsa nods, "After this, though, the worsening world conditions became harder and harder to ignore. Plus, I had completed the two personal goals that I wanted to do. Which left me at loose ends."

A despondent sigh, "This begins a very difficult time in my life." She brushes her hair back, trying to think. "I could see WWII coming. The Great Depression, the events in Japan, Germany and Italy all were pointing to new major war. While not exactly as I predicted in 1919, it was close enough."

A sad shiver through her body, "Unlike with Elsa Bjorgman, though, Astrid Oaken had, basically, no political power. And while, via my secret accounts, I was very wealthy, that wealth was in a massive number of small accounts. So, there was no way to use that wealth to try to stop the coming war."

"That must have been tough on you." Liam remarks. "Guilt?"

Elsa nods. "Yes. Now that I could protect myself from the echoes, I regretted, very much, the fact that I left Europe. Johanna did what she could, before she died. But." A sigh. "I could see no leverage I could use to delay, much less stop, the coming war."

"After, a great deal of discussion with my family, I decided to continue my pattern of looking for various magics in the world. Basically, it was a default position. I could find nothing to stop the war, but my feelings of guilt made retreating to Antarctica not appealing, either."

She perks up, "And I did find useful new magics and theories behind them. When I visited Australia, the Dreamtime concepts of the native Australians when combined with other magics: Egyptian magic, astral and mental bodies, plus my own experiences made the most useful...theory, Frigga and I developed during this time-frame."

She looks at Liam, "But, it is difficult to explain. And, while very useful, not really vital to this interview. So, I will just mention it."

Herman thinks as Elsa continues to speak, 'She just causally broached, and then dismissed, one of her most powerful advantages. Channeling power through a human body, or even an Ice one, places limits on the amount of power that can flow through, without damaging, a body. By using those techniques, she can remove her soul from her body and the amount of force she can use, increases exponentially. Although that does leave her body very vulnerable and there are other dangers.'

"Like, during a trip to Africa, where I was first introduced to various local magics, that, now, are useful. But then I, sadly, ignored them." A pause, "Seeing the circle of life, though, in the Serengeti plain, is the date I use, of when I began my environmental concerns." A sigh.

"I began a habit of returning to Antarctica during this time period as well. Visiting her and Marshmallow in late 1934." Queens Elsa states in a satisfied voice.

"Then," Elsa says in an excited voice, "came the magical surprise that I thought would never happen. Mizuki and Genji had a child in March 1935."

A moving ice sculpture of a baby appears. She is white, very white, but not snow, with a bushy white tail.

"Gods. Playing with little Yukiko." Her eyes fill with tears. "Such devotion between those two. Such Love. She was a beautiful child. Watching her grow." Elsa says in a soft wondering tone.

Liam's and Richard's eyes open wide.

"Frigga and I, immediately dropped everything and flew to Japan. Anna, with our laboratory, arrived as soon as she could." She shakes her head. "I had not really thought about my children reproducing in years. Frigga had tried to do something, but she lacked the raw power needed."

"Even Mizuki and Genji could not succeed without the outside help of powerful magics. The magical Kitsune race naturally are able to interbreed with just about anything. My Icewomen, though, were too much for that power. But, it gave a start for other magics to work from."

Elsa continues to speak, awe in her voice, "It took months, and the help of other powerful people for me to comprehend what had occurred."

Sadness in her voice, "And more years before I could duplicate the magic."

Liam clears his throat, "Will you explain how your children reproduce? Given what you are saying it's not the two individuals merge and then separate into three Icemen like I assumed."

Herman and Elsa giggle. "No. Oh. It can look like that. But, it is harder than that." She says.

She looks at Herman, "Since this deals directly with you, do you wish to explain?"

Herman nods, "It was the opinion of everyone that... That information is private. All I will say is that reproduction for us. IS. Very difficult." He nods to Elsa, "You do not have to worry about a population explosion. There are, even after all these years, only two living children."

"It must be damned difficult." Liam remarks.

Herman nods, as he thinks, 'IT is very damn hard. You have to merge souls, not just bodies. To do that requires a closeness between the partners that only the greatest of Love provides. Then you separate, hoping like hell, that the disjoin does not destroy the newborn soul. The only way to do it, safely, is to have another person to help. And if that person isn't Elsa, it becomes even harder. Especially since the newborn soul must be placed instantly in a new body of magical ice.'

He mentally snorts, 'Not very romantic.'

Herman gives a hard glance at Elsa, 'Most of us are sure that there are easier ways, but Elsa's environmental concerns about introducing new species, make sure that she is being very cautious about giving us the ability to reproduce quickly. Which we understand, but... If things go as planned, though, that restriction will be eased.'

A pause, 'I wonder what life will be like among the stars...'

"Sadly, after about 6 months, my welcome was wearing thin." Elsa sighs, "And since I never intended to stay in Japan, permanently, I left. I had planned to return within a few years."

A deeper, more heartfelt sigh, "War, though, stopped that plan. And nothing I could say would convince them to leave Japan."

She pauses, obviously thinking. A raised eyebrow to Liam.

He shakes his head. He will not ask a question, here. He thinks, 'Any questions would be about magic, and she has made plain, that magic is a subject that she will not answer, unless that answer is what she wishes to talk about.'

She nods. "I returned to Arendelle in late 1935, stopping my travels on the Anna. I needed to think about things... Continue to research, catalog, organize, and adapt the various magics that I had learned over the last fifteen years."

She sighs, "On the good side, I finally had the chance to really work with the Winter Olympic team, instead of being a fly by supporter. Which meant that when the 1936 Olympics occurred I went as a member of the team. As an unofficial coach to Lala Nilsen as she almost won the alpine combined, and Assistant to the Treasurer, like I normally did."

The Tower changes color to Yellow.

"On the bad side, that meant that I would have to meet and greet officials of the German Government."

"Hitler." Liam states.

Now the ice is Red. Small spikes appear.

She grimaces and nods yes, "Oh. It was only twice. And only once did we exchange words. He wondered if I was related to Elsa Bjorgman. I gave him my standard answer of: Yes, but distantly. That was all. But. I had to shake his hand again." She shudders.

"However much joy I was feeling from the Olympics vanished as the surge of echoes, that almost overwhelmed me. I had to retreat into the Alps and release my powers in reaction." She says in a joyless voice.

A look at Liam, who had questions in his eyes.

"Once he reappeared in the early 1920's, I did have people watching him. And they continued to watch him. So, what happened was not a surprise. What was a surprise was the strength of my reaction."

A nod to Liam. "You must realize that I still had no idea what was happening. The closest thing I could think of, at the time, was that he was a massive magic user, like I am. But, when I took that chance and looked for that, there was nothing. Oh, maybe some minor traces of power, no doubt related to his personal charm, but nothing major."

"His personal charm?" Liam asks quickly.

Elsa nods. "Yes. It does not come across in the surviving video footage, but in person he had a very compelling and engaging personality. At least at this time in his life. And, before you ask, I could not do anything about him. I had no reason to do so."

"But?"

"Yes. I did not like his tactics. But, his public goal of removing the Versailles Treaty was something that I could understand, and predicted that would happen back in 1919. "

She sighs, "What this meeting did do was to make the immediacy of war personal. So when I returned to Arendelle, I ordered Herman and the others to return." She nods to Herman.

The tower's color returns to normal.

"At this time, I began to spend more time in and around the city of Arendelle. From 1875 to 1936, I rarely stayed long in Arendelle. Even during WWI, I spent most of my time in my Palace, rather than in the city, itself. I reconnected with the city. And ordered air-raid shelters to dug and other preparations."

"I was, finally, going to prepare for war."

end chapter 1

A scene about Elsa's children and what they are doing.

Zürich, Switzerland. During the Interview.

An office building. The office of the president of Fractal.

Elsa's son Njord, known as Menno Njordson is watching Elsa's interview. He is tall, handsome, Nordic in appearance with light blond hair and blue eyes.

A phone is in one hand. He puts it down.

"I wonder how long before...people show up." he remarks.

His assistant is a normal human, 30 years old year nice looking, if not beautiful, black-haired from Italy, perhaps. Carina says, "It will be interesting."

She pauses. "Are you sure?"

"It is a bit late, don't you think?" He smiles.

She blushes and nods.

Then he says, "Do not worry, the first people will be polite. My money, or rather Elsa's money, will make sure about that. It will be interesting to see how the Government will act. Given all the support we've given them over the years, and how much more that we represent in the future, they will not want to offend us."

"Other nations? Other groups?"

Njord shrugs. "Other nations are not going to want to offend Switzerland, so, in public they will be polite. Off camera, there will be problems. Security is warned. But... the more they attack us... the more we are seen as the underdog. And other people will rally around us."

"The various corrupt governments breaking laws to crack down on a law-abiding business. We look like the good guys." Carina says.

Njord nods. "Eventually. Things may get rough. But the military actions of others, especially Ragnhild in Karachi, will focus the various military units on them, not us. Spies? Yes. Assassins? Yes. Riot police, perhaps. A full-scale military operation, not likely."

He glances at her. "I expect that you will find yourself irresistible to the opposite sex."

"Ha. Until they find out that I'm lesbian."

"In which case you'll be irresistible to any female you meet."

She grimaces, then she asks, "Just take the money and tell you what I told them, like normal?"

Njord smiles. "If they want to pay you for your fantasies, let them. You know what Queen Elsa wants you to tell them. They will not believe her... But they will believe the same information if they hear it from their spies." He shakes his head at the perversity of spies.

She nods.

Njord smiles. "Aren't you glad that I spotted your math and communication talents when you were in Junior High?"

She snorts, "I know how you guys work now. You did not spot me by accident."

Njord nods. "Frigga's programs swept up information about just about every school child, and screens them for selected skills and attributes. That gives us a list. We then screen that list with magic. Finding...Lucky people. That list gets magically filtered for Loyalty. Those spells are still a work in progress and we do miss people. Anyone on that final list gets a personal visit from someone."

He points to her. "I was in the area when your name popped up on the list."

Carina laughs. "My mother tried to raise me while working in soul-destroying jobs. You... I have a life. I have saved my mother from her life and I have given her the life of luxury in the Bahamas. Thank you. AND... unless I do something stupid, I'll retire a very, very wealthy woman." She smiles. "Not bad for a girl who started working on her back when she was fourteen."

She thinks for a moment, then asks, "I've never asked, but why Luck, then Loyalty?"

"Lucky people are special. They can help or hurt. The people who make the luck list, but fail the loyalty test are potential problems. That list is given to Elizabeth. For further screening."

She shivers. "That sounds... chilling. I've met Elizabeth. Of all of Elsa's children, she scares me the most."

Njord nods. "Yes. Of all of us, she is the most dangerous." He shudders.

A pause, then.

The phone rings.

"The private number of the Prime Minister. It begins." Njord says as he picks up the phone.

Thank you for reading

jeff