The Strange Arrangement.
Chapter 1
Arendelle, a majestic modern day postcard city which most of its inhabitants felt privileged to live in. Tucked away in the endless maze of city streets, you could find some of the best restaurants, theater, fashion, shopping, that any world class city could offer. But it wasn't always like this.
Up until just recently, it was another city that was a cesspool of filth, crime, drugs, gang violence, and plenty of organized crime to round things off. A place that the few normal people left had already written off and moved out to rural areas, trying to avoid the parade of filth and trash that gave the city its non tourist friendly personality.
With everything going on in the news its not surprising that most people thought that the world was falling apart, some going as far as saying that it was ending. Some overly religious people would tell you to hold tight, Jesus was going to be returning to pull us out of revelations and into a new era of peace and prosperity. However those people were wrong, very wrong, and now the whole world knows exactly where Arendelle is.
As it turned out, whoever is in charge decided that the world was so messed up with all the fighting, fear, hatred, sickness, crime, and filth, that it decided to send a god to our world to rule over the people until the people have proven to be able to hold things together and have another go at not messing up.
Every 2 to 4 years the god or goddess would be relived, and another would take its place. For some reason, someone choose Arendelle as the place where they would rule from.
Not much was known about the divine beings that were sent here. However it is known that they resided in a large castle like building at the waters edge here in the city of Arendelle. Its also not really known what they do aside from existing inside the castle. It is said that they can will almost anything into existence, control the elements of the planet, and are endowed with a long list of insane supernatural abilities.
The first appointed Deity was the proverbial hammer man, sent to get things under control. Large out of control governments were the first to be taken out, with large plague like sickness that targeted corrupt individuals and quickly ended their tenure. Terrorist organizations had their bases flooded, with rain, wind, and lightening, they were essentially taken off the map. Degenerates, and lowlifes in some cases were just struck by lightening and removed from society.
The world quickly realized that the stories, rumors, and prophecies were all true. Man had lost its ability to govern themselves and now a god himself has taken control and cleaning up the mess.
Hundreds of thousands of devoted followers would attend events planned outside the castle. The mass influx of people into Arendelle was good for business, but also horrible for traffic and getting around. Regardless the people had come from around the world, some for different reasons. Some to express thanks to the deity for saving us from what we had become and to possibly see if just maybe, someone could catch a glimpse, and others due to fear of not showing up and offering support.
A few months ago however, millions of people attended a very special event. The previous God had announced by way of a special appointed member of the castle, that the current god has fulfilled his duty, and mission as the appointed Deity, and that the world was once again looking promising and that it has been decided that Humans would be given one last chance at not messing it all up.
The crowd gathered outside in the giant courtyard, and highway overpass that could look down at part of the castle gasped. This god wasn't due to be replaced for another couple years.
Panic was starting to set in. People were shouting things like "Were not ready." Or "things will go back to how they were, and what then?"
But before things got out of control, the announcer calmed everyone and said that it was decided that to prevent humanity from once again falling on its face, a young goddess who is still in training will be appointed to the throne. She will be watching to ensure that the evil and devilry, never returns.
This seemed to appease the crowd as most of them realized that humans would not just be thrown into the fire and governing themselves, it was comforting to know, that a goddess would be watching and making sure things stayed on the rails. However a very large portion of the population wondered if there even was a god inside the castle. They would say that governments have the technology to make it look like someone was getting struck by lighting, or to manipulate the weather to cause floods. To these people, unless they saw the divine being with their own eyes, it more then likely didn't exist, and other then a very few castle staff members, nobody has.
Deep in the insides of the castle, the god and the very small and trusted members of the castle staff waited for the arrival of the young goddess. It would be any moment now and the preceding holy figure would finally get out of this dump of a world and return to the heavens above, where he always felt he should have been. When he wasn't willing natural disasters on the riffraff of earth, he could be heard booming through the halls about how this was just a waste of his time. That as an experienced god, he was overqualified to be here on earth micromanaging us humans. Although none of the castle staff would dare say anything.
Suddenly in a blinding bright blue flash accompanied with a blast of cold air, a young woman dressed in a black and blue dress, with a long platinum blond braid over her shoulder suddenly appeared with steam or smoke coming off her body and rolling up around her shoulders as if she just passed through the atmosphere at high speed.
"Finally!" the more experienced holy figure spoke. "I don't appreciate waiting, and I can't stand to be here another second, do you understand?"
"Yes" the young goddess replied, "but id be lying if I said I cared." She continued with a blank look on her face.
"Is that right?" The god smirked, just happy to be getting out of the place. "If you ever want to become a properly qualified goddess, you will have to avoid being so lackadaisical and lofty." He said, visibly upset and fuming.
After waiting a few moments for a reply that never came, he huffed and motioned towards the wall that Platinum deity just appeared in front of. "Well, I'm off and good riddance. The staff here can show you around. Good luck." He said before a blast of energy whisked him away as if he was never there.
The Goddess looked around the room at the staff who looked fearful and shocked at the exchange. No doubt also on edge now having to deal with a new goddess. The smoke that rose from her now starting to fade away as if her body was returning to room temperature. 'So these are humans.' She thought to herself, slightly smirking as she felt the energy of the people in the room, consumed by fear.
One of the senior staff members stepped forward and knelt into a deep bow. "Your worship, my name is Kai, and I am the manager here at the castle, appointed by your predecessor himself. I hope that you will trust me in carrying on that responsibility during your time here." The head manager nervously spoke as he did his best to make a good first impression.
The goddess didn't move at first but finally brought her head up to look at the man. He was paralyzed by her beauty. Here Eyes were the deepest shade of blue he had ever seen in his long life. Her hair, face, body, far exceeded any mortal woman he had ever laid eyes on.
"Trust?" The goddess said, emotionless. "Let me be very clear. Trust is something that must be earned with me. Now for the moment I'm content with letting you all… Do what you do, but once I'm settled in, I will be making changes here."
She was cold and meant business, that much was clear.
"Of course, I… We hope to perform in a manner that will not make us part of those changes." Kai spoke. "Would you be kind enough to let us know how you would like us to address you"
"My name is Elsa, but nobody is allowed to call me by my name. You can address me using what ever respectful term you choose. I would like to be left alone for now and get used to being here. I will call for you when I need something."
Kai, and the rest of the staff quickly stood up and exited the room. None of them knew exactly what to expect but whereas they were all expecting a younger, possibly happier and a little easier going goddess, it was apparent that Elsa was anything but. In fact she could turn out to be even harder to deal with then the last god, if that was even possible.
Kai, and the other senior staff filed quickly out of the chamber where the meeting took place and quickly went about their duties. All of them clearly shaken about what the future would bring and mean for their employment at the castle. Once they were far enough away, a few of them commented about the new goddess, the smoke, and the teleporting that they witnessed. As scared as they were, which is only natural, everyone agreed that it was some of the coolest things they ever saw being witness to such a power.
Back in the goddess's chamber, Elsa made her way over to the window that overlooked the city. "So this is Arendelle." She said to herself as she watched the people outside going about their day, watching the cars and trucks driving on the roads. 'What are those.' She thought. It was all new to her, she came from a place that was far less noisy and had far less action. Her first reaction was to look down on the place, but part of her was curious to what was going on out there. Silently letting out a breath she was holding, she made her way to a chair and sat down to sulk, 'why did they have to pick me.'
Across town in one of the poorer areas a young man stepped outside of a temporary help agency to meet his red headed sister waiting outside.
"Sorry Anna. They don't seem to have any work for us again." He said.
Disappointment and worry immediately fell on her face. Her and her older brother Kristoff have been struggling to find work in the city and it was up to them to pay the bills. Their parents were both alive, but far from well. A few years back when Kristoff had just turned 20, a nearby chocolate factory had a major accident. The ammonia used for the refrigeration process escaped the system and on that faithful day, the Bjorgman's found themselves downstream. As the wind carried the toxic chemical right to them, it burned their eyes, throats, and nose. Somehow by miracle they survived but at a cost. Both parents were blind and had extreme difficulty breathing. Only thanks to oxygen tanks, and a long list of medication, were they able to have any quality of life.
But all that came at a cost and Kristoff and his sister Anna had to drop out of school to find work anywhere they could to pay the bills and get the medication for their parents.
"We looked everywhere Kristoff, somebody out there must need us to do something for them." Anna said with desperation.
Clearly frustrated with the situation Kristoff motioned Anna to stop talking with his hand, "Please Anna, I can't deal with you telling me the obvious right now."
"Well sorry, I'm just trying to help." Anna said, Cleary getting upset.
"Look. Ok, I get it. You're trying to help. But this isn't working Anna. We're a sinking ship, were going to lose the damm house if we don't do something soon. I just need to think." Kristoff said as he stood there feeling like the walls were caving in on him. It wasn't fair that Kristoff got thrown into the position of fending for a family of four at such a young age. But he took pride in always pulling through for his family in the last minute.
Moments later the two were silently walking home when they heard and man trying to operate a staple gun outside his shop. He was putting up a help wanted sign.
"Look Anna, I have no idea what that place does, but this is a little to good to be true. Let's go talk to him." Kristoff said feeling desperate at this point.
"Yeah, no kidding, nobody hangs help wanted signs on buildings anymore." Anna said as she followed Kristoff up to the store front to talk to the man.
"Excuse me sir." Kristoff politely said to get the man's attention. "I just noticed you putting up the help wanted sign, and my sister and I have actually been looking for work all day." Kristoff said, feeling good about his introduction.
With a sly smirk, the man eyed Kristoff and his sister up and down before asking him. "Do you got a clean drivers licence son?"
"Ah, yeah actually. I don't really drive much but I do have my licence." Kristoff said, immediately cursing himself for his admission of not driving much. Stupid, he thought. Why would you say you don't really drive much when they are looking to –
"What about your sister?" The man replied
"No, she doesn't, unfortunately. But ah… She's great at helping." What a dumbass, Kristoff thought to himself. She's great at helping. My god that sounded dumb. No wonder we're broke.
"Calm down Son." The man said. "What's your name?"
"I'm Kristoff Sir, and this here is my sister Anna." Kristoff calmly stated.
The man held his hand out to shake Kristoff's. "The name's Craig, it's a pleasure to meet you guys. You two look a little young, but if you promise to take your job seriously and you work hard to make my company look good, I'm willing to give you a chance to start training. If you get through the training, ill probably put you two together to make the delivery.
"Training, deliveries, are you like a mail delivery service?" Kristoff said, starting to smile but becoming interested in what the company did.
"The company is called ICE and we don't deliver the mail." Craig said chuckling.
"Ice?" Kristoff enquired with a puzzled look on his face, which also matched Anna's.
"International Catering Enterprises. We make and deliver food." Craig said, now smiling a the two. "Food to very high end clients." He finished saying.
Kristoff and Anna beamed at each other and did their best to hold back the obvious excitement. "Like celebrities and such." Anna asked.
"Sort of" Craig said looking a little more serious. "We deliver to a lot of VIPs and important functions. We prepare food for Arendelle Airline, the offices of the government leaders, and the castle.
"The Castle" Kristoff said as the last place definitely caught his attention.
"Yes, the castle, the castle staff prefers with we serve them lunch and dinner everyday as they don't have the man power to cook their own food, and they would struggle to have food prepared as well as we do it." Craig said.
Anna gulped before asking about the most important guest in the castle. "What about the god in the castle."
"Well that's the sort of thing we go over in training, however we don't really get to see the god and I don't believe that our food is for him. But I did hear that we now have a Goddess who just took over."
This sort of thing interested Anna. She would never admit it to anyone, but she caught herself on more then one occasion staring at the castle from afar and wondering what it would be like to meet a real-life god or goddess. Now she and her brother were one step closer to being put in a spot where that chance might be granted to her. "A goddess, that's interesting." Anna said to Craig.
Kristoff started noticing that Craig was looking a little annoyed and wanting to get on with his day. "Thank you, Craig, I think we took up enough of your time." Kristoff said, which seemed to make Craig happy. He liked dealing with people with good situational awareness.
"It my pleasure Kristoff, and Anna. I hope the two of you do well in the training. If your up to it, come by tomorrow at 8am and will start. Just go up to the front desk and Kati will get you set up. Till then, you two have a good rest of your day."
"You as well. Take care." Anna and Kristoff said at the same time.
Craig turned around and disappeared into the building, leaving Kristoff and Anna alone again on the street. The began walking down the road a little before both of them looked at each other ready to burst.
"WOW!", Anna said as she jumped and hugged her brother. "Kristoff can you believe it. We might end up bringing food to the castle."
"I know, Anna, I'm kind of in shock." Kristoff said. "I hope we get through the training; the job actually sounds like it could pay really well. I mean, were going to be delivering food to castle staff right next to a real-life goddess."
"Yeah, that part has me a bit nervous." Anna said.
"I'm sure it will be fine, Anna. Craig said we wont even see her, and the training should prepare us for everything else."
"Yeah, true." Anna said feeling satisfied with Kristoff's reasoning.
"Look, lets get home and tell mom and dad, we should celebrate. "Kristoff said as the relief of finally finding a job that could have potential washed over him.
The two basically ran home to start the celebration. Tomorrow would be the beginning of a new chapter in both their lives, they could feel it. If only they knew…..