"Rigs! Rigs!" Vali is screaming while sitting at her side, having given the baby to Sigyn. He and Narvi are frantically searching for clues to find out what is wrong.
"Shh, Vali, your yelling won't help her. Now help me look!" Narvi is checking her arms, her face, looking for signs of illness. There is nothing but her pale expression and lack of attention. It is as if she has fallen into a quiet trance.
Suddenly, her entire body starts convulsing, but her eyes never open. Narvi is forced to press his body down on hers to keep her from hitting herself in the seizure.
"No...no, no, no...please Rigs, come back..." Vali is openly sobbing, unable to keep his composure. It is noticed by the people outside, who can do little more than watch, as none of them could help her if Narvi can't.
Loki comes in and picks Vali up off the floor.
"No, I am not leaving! You cannot take me away!"
"Vali, she can't hear you. Narvi can't help her with you in here."
"No!" Vali sternly yells at his father, who gestures quickly across his son's mouth, silencing him. He throws Vali over his shoulder and out of the room. All is in Narvi's hands now.
Narvi takes her hands in his now that she has stopped shaking, and speaks quiet incantations. He pulls anything he can find out of his pockets for ammunition against her ailment. It seems clear she is suffering some kind of eclampsia, but more sinister than what he has seen in the past. Whether or not she has bled too much, or simply gone through too much stress, Narvi cannot tell; there are no signs of an easy solution. This environment on New Asgard has left her vulnerable to such a thing; had this been the old Yggdrasill, she would have been impervious to this.
On Einheim, when there are troublesome births, there are usually predictable culprits: the mother waded too long in the water, the baby is coming early, or even poison in the food. Rigs poses quite a mystery. Whatever is wrong with her, it stems from deep inside.
Narvi cannot keep her like this for long, and lays his hands across her abdomen. He concentrates, bringing forth his born nature as a Jotun, freezing her body from the core throughout. It buys him some time to find the answer; her lips turn a silvery blue in the meantime, while Narvi frantically continues to spout incantations.
..
Hours have passed. Rigs is still not improving. Narvi can hear the restless baby outside, who is screaming for her mother. Narvi has not let anyone in, nervous that it might break the concentration he has built within the space.
Narvi closes his eyes, and is suddenly not sitting beside Rigs. He is in the white room, and a woman he barely recognizes. Narvi is faced with a choice.
"Will you be willing? Will you be ready?" She asks him. The woman with red hair breathes in, white mist coming off Narvi's body, and into her.
Narvi opens his eyes, back by the bedside of his brother's wife. He is frightened. Is this what she means? Could it be, this is the end? He starts to tear up, praying to Valhalla that the girl will open her eyes, but Rigs does not stir. Narvi's hands are shaking and he considers calling in his parents to say goodbye. He has no idea what will happen next, but Narvi is ready now. He has no other choice. Narvi looks up at the ceiling and speaks:
"I... I am ready, stranger. Please, let my family forgive me."
After all the spells he's tried, he has yet to attempt what the woman has shown him. He whispers a final incantation into his hands, one he knows only for resurrection and nothing else. There is no guarantee that it will work, but Narvi has faith in himself and in Rigs. Laila, Vali, and the rest of his family depend on him.
Instead of blowing across his shaking hands, as is typical spell practice, Narvi leans in and grants her a kiss. He breathes in her essence. A white mist comes off of Rigs' form and follows the inhalation into Narvi, relieving the girl of the ailment; she finally snaps open her eyes. She gasps for breath, audibly coughing to wake up with such cold. Narvi is finally able to exhale after she almost violently wakes. Rigs turns to the side and sees him, exhausted, turned Jotun blue.
"Narvi? Narvi, are you alright?"
He does not speak, just falls to the side of the birthing bed and onto the floor.
"Help! Someone help!" Rigs yells, weak but capable.
At the sound of her voice, Vali comes rushing in, kneeling at his wife's side, thankful to see her open eyes and full complexion again. He sobs into her hand, and signals for Heimdall to bring in the baby. But he has missed the reason for her call. Sigyn peers into the room and gasps at the sight of her son on the floor.
She runs to his side and tries to lift him into her lap; he is not well enough to speak.