"No, Narvi, no, you cannot leave me again..." Sigyn is rocking back and forth, holding Narvi in her arms. He is not well, still flushing his own skin with the cold to keep from losing awareness. Narvi searches the room for the people he knows, and recognizes many faces. But he cannot place any of their names, not even his mother's.
"Narvi, can you hear me?" Loki has come in, panicked. To Narvi, his voice sounds underwater. The boy is not speaking, though he looks frightened. The worst that Loki prepared for, his own resurrection spell, would do no good here. His son's magic is far too powerful for even Loki to overcome. But Narvi's heart is slowing, his breathing more labored. He is choking every few breaths. A terrible affliction has come over him, and none of the healers have any clue where to begin.
"What can we do? I don't know what to do!" Sigyn is starting to panic. She feels the void in her heart begin to crackle and tear, as it did years before, as it did when she spoke with Narvi about the fall weeks ago. She cannot bear to watch him suffer, unsure if he can recognize her in this state. Sigyn can only stroke his hair, and rock him back and forth.
"It is alright, it will be over soon," Narvi finally says, delirious.
"Quick, someone fetch some water!" Loki yells out, but is met with Narvi's upheld hand in protest.
"No, it's alright, it's how it should be... I did it for...for my family..." Narvi is able to choke out a few more words, and is washed over with an appearance of calm and acceptance, before losing consciousness.
"I...I don't..." Loki doesn't understand his son's words. He feels hopeless and lost.
Rigs is frozen in her place, her hands alternating from the babe in her arms to the spot on her lips where Narvi kissed her.
"I think he stole the death," she whispers to herself.
"Amund, we have to get him to Amund, maybe the elf will know what we can do!" Loki sweeps Narvi out of Sigyn's arms and runs to the Bifrost site, rushing past Thor and the other close friends of Vali and Rigs. They need to focus on the swaddling child; Loki and Sigyn are desperate to find their son his own cure before it is too late.
..
They scream at the Seer to activate the Bifrost to Einheim, and he obliges; on the other end, by the now strongly etched patterns of its landing point, sits Amund. He did not expect to wait for Narvi so long, and got worried; he has been waiting on a stone beside the Bifrost site for over an hour. The elf is now stunned to see Narvi collapsed in Loki's arms, shining an odd color, not waking as he should. This terrifies Amund, forcing him to stand quickly and run to Loki's side while he searches Sigyn's face for an answer.
"Wh..wha..."
"Amund, he was speaking complete nonsense. What would he do here? Where would he go?" Loki is pleading with the elf, praying to Frigga that there is an answer to this riddle.
Amund thinks for a moment in the panic, not knowing where to take his love. Amund only has one idea. He nods and runs down the hill beside them, beckoning Loki to follow with Narvi in arm. Sigyn is out of strength, and sits by the landing site to weep; unable to fathom the strength it would take if her son did not return to her a second time.
Amund finds one of the ponds of water, this one beneath some of the taller trees. Narvi often takes people he is treating to these places, certain that they contained magic from the skies. Loki follows him into the fluid, letting Narvi's body float and saturate, while Amund stands above him, praying in silence.
The trees above begin to weep. They are weeping for Narvi, feeling his pain, and healing what they can. As the water falls, Loki tries to shield his eyes, as when it splashes on the pond below the rain seems to come from both directions. Narvi is still shining blue, but he is untouched by the rain above, somehow able to repel it with a force field that no one can see.
"Narvi, please come back to us, please..." Loki is pleading to no one, unsure of what spell could bring his son out of this daze. Whatever was afflicting Rigs, Narvi brought it upon himself on purpose, wanting more to save her than himself. Loki has never seen such a thing, and didn't even know it was possible. He splashes the water upon Narvi's face, but nothing happens.
"Amund can he drink the water? Is it poison?"
Amund gestures that he doesn't know, losing his composure. He signs something else that they don't understand. He cannot help but choke and yell through the rain.
"Narvi!" Amund spits out, still not able to speak well enough to say his name quietly, but he is capable of yelling it in anguish. Amund is weeping alongside Loki and the trees, not sure what else to do.
Loki takes a handful of the water and tries to open Narvi's lips to take purchase. Only then does he notice that Narvi is not breathing. The water merely spills back to the pond.
"Narvi, don't leave me yet. I love you. Narvi, please..." Loki again cries out, yelling up to the skies. "I'm not ready for this! Mother, give him back to me!"
The words must strike a chord in Narvi's subconscious, as his countenance turns back into the olive skin he's used to. He does not open his eyes, but something has changed. Narvi can see the woman from his vision smiling at him.
"You have done well, young one," she says.
Narvi is standing in a void of black, staring at the woman. He is naked.
"Who are you?"
"I am Frigga, great sorceress of Vanaheim. I am very proud of you, Narvi."
He looks down at himself, exposed, but no longer shaking. He takes deep breaths which fill his body with warmth.
"Vanaheim is long destroyed. Why would you come to me?"
Frigga walks to Narvi, her hands outstretched. "Oh my child," she says, taking his hands in turn. He can feel the heat coming off of her, a sensation he rarely registers. "You hold great magic in your veins, don't you feel it?" Narvi is aware of the beating of his heart, each pump forcing his blood from his chest to his fingertips. In him flows Don River magic, healing all he touches.
"You have proven yourself worthy," she says, her countenance fading.
"Worthy of what? Wait!"
The figure of Frigga backs away into darkness, as she blows across her hands in his direction. It is as if she is reversing his own spell. The trees above stop weeping. Amund and Loki stare at each other; the elf signals that they should get out of the water quickly, before it poisons them.
"Sigyn, come down," Loki yells back up the hill, hopeful, but still frightened. She rushes to meet them, nearly falling more than once. Sigyn finally stands beside Loki, who still clutches Narvi in his arms, soaking wet. She strokes his hair and tries to speak between her tears.
"Narvi, can you hear me?"
He stirs slightly, though not much.
"Come back to us, Narvi. Narvi, come back to us."
Narvi can see a bright light, and then nothing, but hears his mother's voice as clear as daylight.
"My love, please return to me."
He is running, calling out, remembering how he tugged on the clothing of the people who arrived on this strange planet. Narvi recognizes no one. He is alone. He is abandoned.
"My child, I love you."
He finds her, with her arms held open, clutching him to her chest. His mother is here. His father is here. He is not alone. Narvi can see her with his mind's eye, and all that surround them is bathed in white light.