Chapter Text
“Hello, Elsa, and welcome to the Good Place.”
“The...I’m sorry, what?”
They were sitting in an office, a large wooden desk between them. Elsa couldn’t remember where she was or how she’d gotten there, but somehow that didn’t bother her as much as it should have.
“It’s alright that you’re confused. Everyone is, at first.” The man offered a kind smile. “My name is Michael. And you, Elsa--I’m sorry, Queen Elsa--are dead.”
“Oh.”
It was a ridiculous claim. Elsa was sitting there, clearly conscious and whole and breathing. And yet she knew it was true. She could feel it as surely as she could feel the ice that still sat just beneath her surface.
(So the curse had followed her beyond death. Well, there was some comfort to be found in the familiar, at least.)
“How did I die?” It seemed the logical question, given that she couldn’t remember much past her coronation. There were some disjointed flashes of the celebration, and a vague notion that she and Anna had argued about... something ...and then blank.
Perhaps the strain of keeping herself perfectly poised in front of all those people had caused a fatal stroke.
Michael’s smile faltered for just a moment before fixing back into place. “It might be best to save that for later.”
Elsa knew that tone. She’d heard it often enough from her parents, growing up. It was the tone they had used to tell her when Grandfather passed away. The tone that meant “this will upset you, and we’re afraid of what that could mean.”
Only, she was dead now. And Michael was either dead, or (more likely) some kind of immortal being. What danger could her ice possibly pose, here?
“Tell me,” she commanded. He had called her ‘Queen’. If she retained the title, then she should retain the authority.
“All right,” he said. “Without going too far into the more upsetting details, you lost control of your magic.”
Elsa stiffened.
“Was...anyone else hurt?” She didn’t want to know. Didn’t want to hear how much destruction she had caused, before the end. But she had to.
“Several people were injured. Three of them are now...well, here. In this Neighborhood.”
Three dead.
Ice crept up her spine and slid through her veins, but she forced it back. People were dead, but so was she, and so far death didn’t seem too terrible.
“Did I know them?”
“There was Kristoff Bjorgman, a mountain climber. Prince Hans of the Southern Isles. And...Princess Anna.”
Elsa’s breath caught.
Storm winds howled in her ears and ice surged at her fingertips.
She had killed Anna.
The vague memories of their fight gave way to imagined scenarios of Elsa losing her grip on her emotions. She’d let herself become upset--let herself feel , just once--and had destroyed the only thing in the world that mattered.
Her parents had been right to close her off, but they hadn’t taken it far enough. She should’ve been locked away in a dungeon, or sent to live alone on a mountain. They should have left her with the trolls all those years ago, and just gone home with the one good daughter.
“Snap out of it!”
Elsa started. The rushing in here ears died as suddenly as it had started, and she found herself aware of her surroundings again. A layer of snow covered everything and jagged ice grew in patches from her chair and the desk.
“It’s okay,” Michael said. The comforting smile was back. “Anna is here, in the Good Place. Technically some of her behavior qualifies her for the Bad Place, but we were worried that you wouldn’t be able to control your powers if you were concerned about her. So she’s here, assigned to the same Neighborhood as you. You’ll be able to see her every day and know that she’s perfectly fine.”
Elsa opened her mouth to tell him that he was wrong, that being near Anna was the last thing that should ever be allowed. But then the rest of his words sunk in, and instead she asked, “What do you mean, ‘the Bad Place’?”
Anna was dead. And there was an afterlife. And she’d made it into heaven.
That was a lot to take in.
Like, a lot .
But she did her best to sit still and listen to Michael’s explanation of how the afterlife worked, despite the desire to run out and meet the neighbors as soon as possible.
Neighbors . She was going to have neighbors now. An entire community of people talk to and play games with. They could throw parties and have movie nights in the park and go out for weekly brunch.
Ooh, and camping! Was there room in the neighborhood for that? And what about a lake for sailing and fishing and collecting seashells? Were there horses to ride? Were there bumper cars ? Did the afterlife have a day/night cycle so she could stargaze, and would there ever be Northern Lights?
And soulmates! Who knew soulmates were an actual thing? Of course Anna had always dreamed it, but to find out that she and Hans really were meant for each other was incredible. She had a million questions on how that worked, too. Did everyone have a soulmate? What happened if they died at different times? How often did soulmates meet before dying? How was soulmate matching even done? Was it some kind of math thing?
Poor Michael didn’t even have time to answer one handful of questions before she was firing off the next set. Eventually he held up a hand to silence her.
“Janet?” he called.
There was a soft “ding” and suddenly a dark-haired woman in a purple dress was standing next to them. “Hi!” she said cheerily.
“Whoa! Where did you come from?”
“My void. It exists outside of space-time. How can I help you today?”
“Anna, this is Janet,” Michael said. “Janet, this is Anna.”
“I know,” Janet said. “I know everything.”
“Janet is the informational assistant in the Good Place. Well, in this neighborhood, anyway.”
Okay, the afterlife just kept getting cooler.
“So you’re like a robot?”
“Not a robot,” Janet said.
“Oh.”
“Janet has access to all the information in the universe. She’ll answer your questions while I go take care of some business.” He excused himself, leaving them alone in the office.
The next hour or so passed with Janet happily answering all of Anna’s questions, in order, no matter how many she asked before pausing to take a breath. It turned out that there was a park big enough for camping and a lake big enough for boats. The sky had stars at night (“but it’s never actually night or day here, just a simulation. There are no stars.”) and Janet could make the Northern Lights happen. She could also make a bumper cars arena, which Anna immediately begged for.
“Do you make everything here?” she asked.
“I do! I created this entire neighborhood. It’s like my baby, except it didn’t grow inside of me. It’s more of a brain-baby, except I also don’t have a brain as I am not a biological organism.”
“Whoa. You are so cool! ”
“Thank you. I am cool.” Janet had been smiling throughout their entire conversation, but she seemed to beam just a bit brighter at the compliment.
“I’ve never had a robot--I mean, an ‘informational assistant’, as a friend before,” Anna said.
“I’ve never had a friend.”
There was nothing sad in the way she said it--she was as chipper as always--but the thought still broke Anna’s heart. “Never? Not even, I dunno, another Informational Assistant?”
“I was only made fully conscious when Michael needed me to begin constructing this Neighborhood.”
“So...could I be your first friend, then?”
This time her smile definitely got wider.
“I would be delighted.”
Elsa did her best to be inconspicuous during the orientation party, but blending in was difficult when she was the only person wearing a crown. The one good thing was that the more people curiously gathered around the resident royal, the easier it was to keep a barrier between herself and Anna.
Should she have been feeling so much anxiety in Heaven?
“I did always want to visit Arendelle,” said a woman with a British accent. “Never did find the time, though, what with all of my charity work. You know, building hospitals, clothing orphans, that sort of thing. Tahani Al-Jamil, by the way. Perhaps you’ve heard of me?” She held out a hand and Elsa did her best not to flinch away.
“Sorry, I don’t shake hands.”
“Of course you don’t. Ah, the delightful quirks of royalty.” Tahani sounded genuinely pleased over Elsa’s refusal to touch her.
“Al-Jamil...that sounds familiar. You have a sister, don’t you?” Elsa half-remembered being introduced to an Al-Jamil at her coronation. But like everything from that day it was something of a haze.
“...Yes. Well, pity she’s still alive or else she’d be able to join us.” Tahani didn’t sound particularly upset at that. “But speaking of sisters, isn’t that Princess Anna? Oh, that is going to take some getting used to, having a queen and a princess in the Neighborhood.”
Elsa followed where Tahani was looking. There was Anna, animatedly talking to someone. Prince Hans was with her--Elsa just barely recognized him--and so was Michael. His eyes caught Elsa’s, and he said something to Anna before waving Elsa over.
Elsa considered running away--there had to be places to hide in the Neighborhood--but then she thought about everything Michael had told her about the Bad Place. Anna was only here, in the Good Place, because Michael thought Elsa wanted-- needed --to be near her.
Avoiding Anna now, with him standing right there? The potential consequences were unthinkable.
She took a deep breath, checking that her gloves were in place. Maybe her magic wasn’t a risk here, anyway, and she was worrying about nothing.
“Enjoying the party, Your Majesty?” Michael asked when she approached. Beside him Anna was suddenly very focused on pulling a loose thread from her dress. Prince Hans stood on her other side, an arm around her shoulder.
“It’s lovely,” Elsa said. “Are...you having fun?”
It took a nudge from Hans to get Anna’s focus. “Who, me? Oh, uh, yeah. It’s--it’s nice, having a party. Kinda weird being dead, though.”
“Why don’t I let you three catch up?” Michael said. “I’m sure you have a lot to talk about--it’s not often a Neighborhood has four people who all died in the same accident!”
“You know, it’s weird,” Anna said, “but no matter how much I try I just can’t remember how we died. Man that’s wild to say.”
“He didn’t tell you?”
“He wouldn’t tell either of us,” Hans said. “Something about it being too traumatic.”
They didn’t know what she had done. Maybe Michael was trying to spare her their anger? Or perhaps he expected her to do the right thing and tell them herself.
“Wait, does that mean you know?” Anna asked.
“No,” Elsa said quickly. She could confess her sins later, when she was certain her magic wouldn’t hurt anyone here. “He told me it would be too upsetting, same as with you.”
“Must’ve been some accident,” Anna said.
“The important thing is that we’re still together,” Hans said with a squeeze of Anna’s shoulder.
Anna opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the reappearance of Michael.
“Sorry, sorry, I know I said I was going to give you all some time, but I actually need to borrow Prince Hans for a few minutes. Something’s come up.”
“Nothing bad, I hope?” Hans asked.
“Of course not. Just--well, come with me and I’ll explain.”
Anna gave Hans a quick kiss on the cheek, promising that they could talk later. “It’s not like we don’t have time,” she added with a laugh.
“I wonder what that’s all about,” Anna mused once they had left.
“I’m not sure.” Whatever it was, it made Elsa uncomfortable. She didn’t like not knowing what was going on. It made her feel vulnerable.
They lapsed into an awkward silence. As usual, Anna was the one to break it.
“This is weird.”
“ Very weird.”
“Heaven seems nice. Lots more frozen yogurt that I would’ve expected.”
Elsa could feel the eyes of some of the other people watching them. They were still celebrities, even here. Some things would never change. She rubbed her hands together nervously.
“You know, I don’t think there’s that much dirt in Heaven,” Anna said.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“The gloves. I don’t get why you’re still wearing them.”
Elsa quickly moved her hands behind her back, out of sight. “I don’t expect you to understand.”
Anna’s smile faded, and Elsa felt her stomach drop with the realization of how her response must have seemed.
“That didn’t come out right,” she said. “It’s just...complicated.”
“And you’re still not going to bother explaining, are you?”
Magic was prickling to life under Elsa’s skin. She was letting her emotions get to her. This conversation needed to end.
“That’s what I thought,” Anna said, clearly reading Elsa’s thoughts in her expression.
They were interrupted once again by the return of Michael and Hans.
“Anna, I’m afraid I have to apologize,” Michael said. “When you arrived I told you that Hans was your soulmate. But it turns out there was a calculation error.”
“Wait, what?”
“ Your soulmate is a Tibetan monk named Jianyu. I’ll take you to meet him in just a moment. And as for Hans…” Michael’s gaze drifted to Elsa.
Her stomach dropped.
Oh no. No, no no.
Anna would never forgive her for this.
“His soulmate is Elsa.”