Rifiuto: Non Miriena
A/N: Written: 2019 - Licia
She didn't have time to consider it, instead, she pulled away from her husband, crawling into the water, even though they tried to stop her, possessed by something, seeing something no one else could see. As the water got deeper, darker, she reached out-
The Nokk appeared, though Elsa hadn't called for him, and scooped her up onto his back, even as Hans stumbled to chase after the water spirit; as Honeymaren and Vanja hurried to hold him back. "Elsa! Where is she going? Bring her back!" But Nokk didn't go far- he simply trotted a bit further into the water and then dove down, Elsa still on his back. "Elsa!"
Once beneath the water, the coolness of her and the Nokk's shared element calmed the raging pain within her body. She looked around, holding her breath, seeing nothing, but feeling the Nokk around her. It would not let her drown; it knew the ordeal she had gone through hours earlier, when she birthed two small humans from her body, the pain she had suffered in her husband's arms as her children entered the world. She could feel the steadiness of the Earth Giants, the warmth of Gale dancing around her and the giddiness of Bruni scampering up her shoulder.
But that wasn't possible.
She was underwater, and the other spirits, they were not meant for water-
And then she felt it, as the wound in her heart began to heal, as her very body began to heal from the trauma it had endured during childbirth. She looked up, eyes widening as she found herself staring back at her, not but a foot or so away.
Is it really true, Brother? Has she returned?
"She has."
Finally, after so many millennia, she's returned to us.
... How though? How did she break the curse of the river?
The voices, distinct and different and yet somehow familiar, floated around her, tugging at her, raking through her hair like a comb, trailing over her body like the softest of silk, poking at her features and tugging gently at her limbs. They studied her, these disembodied voices, recognizing her and yet having never met her before.
What are these marks upon her belly? Why are they there?
... awful skinny, for having had two babes by her mate, isn't she?
It is the process, isn't it? She is a human, and therefore, she has gone through the process all female humans go through when they bear offspring.
"We were all there, Aage, remember? We protected her, kept her and her mate safe while she-"
Oh, that's right! The two little ones that burst forth from her! Not the pretties things were they? Kind of ugly-
Elsa felt her hackles begin to raise. How dare... whoever this was... insult her children, and right in front of her, too!
... the babies, Ena, yes.
Babies? Oh! Her two little ones! That is what they're called?
Small human beings that are born of human mothers, created by a man and a woman through sexual means, are called babies. We were there protecting her while she struggled to give birth-
I think I get it, Aage. It was an awful struggle wasn't it, Brandr? I was afraid she would not be able to survive, especially after she realized there was a second one still inside her!
... it was quite scary. And must you use that name, Ena? She knows me as Bruni, that is the name she has given me, I quite like it, and that is what I'll use.
"Must you two argue now? We don't have a lot of time. Her mate was frantic when I took her away; he will be frantic until she returns."
Elsa looked around; so Bruni was here, though he wasn't. But who was Ena and the others? But before she could ask, her doppelganger waved her hand.
Hush, all of you! There is no time to argue! She can only stay below water for so long, but we need to make sure the pain has gone before we return her.
Fifth Spirit.
You suffered quite an ordeal today when you birthed your children, and the threading did not make it any easier. Fifth Spirit gently trailed a finger from her forehead to the tip of her nose, similar to what Iduna would do to get her to sleep. But the pain will be gone now, you will be back to normal.
Elsa furrowed a brow. Normal?
A small smile tugged at her doppelganger's lips. One of the perks of being the physical manifestation of the Fifth Spirit. She elaborated no further, simply continued to trail her finger from Elsa's forehead to the tip of her nose. Elsa pulled away, but Fifth Spirit wrapped her arm around her waist, holding her close. I will not put you to sleep, if that's what you fear. I am simply hurrying along your healing. Again, one of the perks of being my physical manifestation.
Elsa wriggled against Fifth Spirit, feeling the throbbing between her legs begin to lessen as her uterus began to return to its former size, before she'd gotten pregnant. The muscles in her tummy, stretched beyond normal due to her pregnancy, tightened; the tingling from deep within her core grew, and she could feel her magic just below the surface. And then, Fifth Spirit removed her finger, took her face in her hands, and leaned close. It's okay. I've got you. I won't let you drown.
She could not refuse, and so she did as told, and soon felt Fifth Spirit's own lips meet hers. A moment passed, the briefest of kisses, a captor to a captive, before Fifth Spirit pulled away. Elsa shut her eyes tightly, shaking her head, her entire body began to tingle, as though her magic were straining to be released, before the desire vanished. And then they burst open; Fifth Spirit smiled softly at what she saw, before pulling away. Take her back to the surface, Magni. Her transformation is complete, she will be fine.
Elsa felt the Nokk- Magni, was his true name- slip beneath her, and wrapped her arms around his neck. "As you wish. It is good to have you returned to us, Sister."
Fifth Spirit smiled softly as she and the others began to fade. I have always been here, Magni. I just could not touch the world outside Ahtohallan, until now. But yes, I agree, it's good to have returned.
Elsa broke the surface of the sea, gasping for breath as she clung to the Nokk. "What... did she... do to me..." She choked on air as she gulped it in greedily, not moving as she lay against the horse's back. It tossed it's head gently.
It was not fully complete. Your threading was missing a vital piece. You mate's was fine, but you... because you are the physical manifestation of our Sister, you were missing a piece only she could give you. It was why I took you beneath the sea. She still cannot set foot upon land, but beneath the waves-
Elsa nodded, closing her eyes briefly as she caught her breath. It should have surprised her that she could hear the Nokk's voice inside her head, but it didn't; she had always been connected to the Nokk in a way she wasn't connected to the others. "A... captor's kiss to a captive."
Suddenly, it all made sense.
Had you willingly tied yourself to the river, yes, but what your mate did- attempting the most ancient of rituals-
"The threading." She clarified, and the horse nodded.
- in order to save you, it required something that had been lost to history, the sacrifice of a soul to the river. A willing sacrifice. Because you gave up part of your soul to save the forest, it meant you were willing to do whatever you could to save your mate- even sacrifice his soul to the river to complete the ritual. Which is why it came so easily to you, even though you fought, but he was willing and forced you. Your sacrifice, your debt to Ahtohallan has been paid, and you have given our sister what she desired for so long. And in return, she chose to split the soul she had kept from you that day; keeping part of you with her and returning the rest to the other half left inside you, to be split and joined with your mate's.
Elsa sighed against the Nokk's neck.
You are the living manifestation of Fifth Spirit. She cannot leave the river, but you can; you can be among the people who each have a small piece of her within them. By keeping part of your soul, she can control the river and free the spirits trapped within, and you can walk among the humans for her.
"Work together. One soul in two bodies." The Nokk nodded.
You were not truly Fifth Spirit then; you are Fifth Spirit now, for you possess a part of her inside you, that has melded into your soul, before it threaded with your mate's. The kiss Fifth Spirit gave you was the last piece you needed. A kiss from the Fifth Spirit is a kiss of immortality, but not fully. Hers to you was barely a brush; you will heal faster than a normal human, but you will not be immune to pain. You will not be immune to suffering, or heartache. You will die, as all mortals do, but it will take something truly devastating to bring about your death, because you possess the power to heal yourself of any mortally inflicted wound.
"A great mortal wound or-" She stopped, swallowing. Nokk nodded, understanding what she could not say.
You are not fully immortal, nor partial immortal. You are not a full goddess, nor a demi-goddess. Elsa opened her mouth to ask, when Nokk continued. It is because of your mate. Fifth Spirit, for all her powers, all your powers, still recognizes the emotion and act of love when she sees it. Splitting your mate's soul to complete the ritual was one. She could not give you full immortality, for she knew it would destroy you to eventually lose your mate to death. So she merely gave you a quarter of immortality-
"I am a concept then, a personification of something that a person cannot touch." Elsa clarified, and the Nokk kept silent; Elsa took that to mean she was correct. As they got closer to the beach, she saw Honeymaren comforting Hans, and her heart constricted. He's really there. It worked. The threading worked.
Without a word, she dismounted, sliding off the Nokk. She absentmindedly patted his snout, before making her way towards them. The water was cool beneath her feet, and it took a moment for her to realize that with every step, one of her snowflakes appeared. The clothing she'd put on that morning, before she'd gone into labor, had melted away upon her dip in the sea. She could feel her magic swirling about her, wrapping gently around her as she continued towards him.
"Hans!"
She heard Ryder's shout, saw her husband lift his head, and saw the surprise fill his face as he stood with Honeymaren's help. Though she couldn't hear him at first, she knew what his lips had formed. And then he was shouting at her, hurrying towards her through the water. "Elisabeth!"
The Nokk watched as she hurried towards him across the water; he drank in the sight of the man rushing to meet her, and shook his head. He would never fully understand humans, or their desperate search for a mate to spend the remainder of their lives with. He would never understand their strong desire to copulate, let alone breed as Fifth Spirit's physical manifestation had done, going through weeks of unpleasantness, as their bodies distorted, until they were forced to endure near fatal agony to bring their offspring into the world. All that pain, all that suffering, for something that, in the end, was solely dependent on the person who had borne them. He snorted, ugly little things, human offspring, that much was certain. Though she and her mate were both quite good looking, the offspring they had created, who had grown inside her, were not. With another snort, he tossed his head, then turned and dove back into the sea.
She picked up her pace, gathering the skirts of her dress, rushing across the water towards him, snowflakes appearing with each step. Their meeting was akin to a lightning strike; she reached out for him, her arms going tight around his shoulders as his arms wrapped around her waist. He lifted her up, spinning her around carefully as he buried his face in her neck, relishing the feel of her body against his again. When finally he set her down, he met her gaze, his eyes moved quickly over her, checking to make sure it was really her who stood before him and not some ghost come to bid him goodbye. Tears began to trail down his cheeks. "Oh Charlotte-"
But she cut him off, reaching up and wrapping her arms around his neck, her mouth finding his. The moment their mouths met, she could taste the very fabric of their souls, woven together with the stardust that had bound them together millennia ago. She could taste his past, his present, a hint of his future; the lives he had lived before this one, the decisions he had made, every one that had led to this moment. She could taste the salt of his tears, the salt of the sea he had sailed on as a young man in the navy, the desolation of his punishment, the loneliness of his exile, the contentment of having found his place among the tribe-
He broke the kiss, meeting her gaze with tears in his eyes, and then it was that he noticed what Fifth Spirit had left within her- the one, physical sign of her. Elsa's beautiful sapphire eyes were no longer only sapphire- they were now a gorgeous conglomerate of green, blue and white. There were flecks of emerald- a sign of his soul having been stitched with hers, just as there were flecks of sapphire in his from her- and what appeared to be ice crystals. He shook his head, choking out a sob, unable to say a word, for his wife was back in his arms, very much alive and real and it was just too much. After everything they'd endured that day, it was just too much.
He pressed his forehead to hers, sobbing as her small fingers reached up to caress his face. She studied him, her voice catching in her throat as she breathed four simple words. "Christian, I love you."
He took her mouth again, drinking deeply from her, lifting her up slightly, his arm going around her waist and holding her flush against him. When finally he broke the kiss, he swallowed thickly, unable to find the words, for he still could not fully grasp that she was here, alive, when she'd died in his arms mere hours ago, after having given birth to his children, hastened by the knife he'd buried beneath her breast.
His children. Their children.
Without a word, he walked her back to the shore, never taking his eyes off her. Once back, Elsa accepted Honeymaren's tight hug and gentle scolding, though she said nothing, for she appeared to be in shock. "There are two people who very much want to meet you, Elsa. You've waited near nine months to meet them."
She turned to the babes in Vanja and Ryder's arms as the pair made their way towards them. Matthias and Kristoff were not with them; they were standing guard over the elders, who, Elsa and Hans now saw had been caught and tied up, looking a little worse for wear after some sort of scuffle.
Her heart constricted and she turned to Hans, who nodded and kissed her temple. Gently, Vanja held out the bundle, the first babe that had been born of Elsa's womb that day. Slowly, Elsa accepted the baby into her arms. She briefly wondered what had happened after- After you died, after your husband died. She shook her head, realizing it didn't matter at the moment. What mattered was that they were here, alive and safe, and the babies she'd struggled to birth were here, out in the world instead of within her womb. Hans accepted the second baby into his arms, and he glanced at his wife.
Elsa was entranced by them both; she had not had much time with them before dying, and so it was only right that she couldn't take her eyes off them now. She met his gaze, tears trailing down her cheeks. Then, she leaned up, kissing him firmly before pulling away. Honeymaren wrapped an arm around Elsa's waist. "Come on, let's get you both back so you can have a proper introduction to your daughters."