THANK YOU TO ALL MY AMAZING READERS!

Beta: Zerubel

Welcome to the new chapter! I know it was supposed to be posted this past weekend, but I got sick on Wednesday and have spent so much time in bed that my sense of time became skewed. If not for my Beta, Zerubel poking me and asking if we should have updated yet, I may not have realized my mistake!

Speaking of my Beta, her advice and opinions were of tantamount importance in this chapter. She helped me out a great deal with the situations with the Alfar, so give her a round of applause!

Haven't got anything else to say until the end, so go ahead!

Enjoy.

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Life felt as though it slowed down in Asgard when compared to Earth. Everything felt just a little more leisurely and time seemed to pace itself more. Harry supposed that was because of the Asgardians themselves. They lived so long they were almost never in a rush to do things. Even in his training with Sif this was true. Harry knew he was making progress with working with the spear (and the other weapons she'd taken to showing him how to use), but that progress felt too slow. Sif, on the other hand, insisted he was learning very quickly. In the end, it wasn't as though there was any way to progress more quickly than he was without training longer, and not only was Harry wary of giving up so much of his free time, but Sif was unwilling to push him harder than she already did.

"You leave these training grounds each morning covered in cuts and bruises. Would you prefer to be left unable to move at all?" He winced from his spot on the ground, currently, as she said, covered in cuts and bruises and very very sore.

"Good point. I just... I guess I'm used to when I learn magic." She shifted a little in discomfort and his mouth clamped shut. A few days back in the wizarding world and he'd practically forgotten the Asgardians' view of magic. She came and sat next to him though in the dirt.

"What do you mean?" He hesitated.

"Well... I may not be the best with the book stuff and the explanations behind things, but when it comes to practical magic I've always been pretty good. I learn new spells a little quicker than most wizards."

It was true. It had taken him a lot of time to admit it. At Hogwarts, he had long been in this frame of mind that he couldn't possibly be any better with magic than anyone else, and he'd used his grades and struggles with subjects like potions or transfiguration as evidence of that belief. He still wasn't particularly skilled at either of those. Oh, he could transfigure things just fine, but the more advanced spells tended to yield results that were slightly flawed or missing small details. With his chairs, for instance, he either got something very plain and white in color that was comfortable, or something slightly more ornate that was a little too hard or lumpy. It was usually the latter, because he tended to imagine chairs like the armchairs at Hogwarts or Malfoy Manor. Potions, he'd improved in over the years, but his cuts were never as exact as they should be, and his work never precise enough for him to even attempt the more delicate potions.

His charms, defensive and offensive spells, and especially his work with runes, on the other hand, were all impressive. He learned spells and configurations quickly, and put them into practice easily. It was why most of what he'd chosen to learn over the last few years was connected to those subjects. Harry knew how to play to his strengths; and while it was true some more practice and hard work could likely yield better results with transfiguration and potion making, he prefered to place more effort in the subjects he had legitimate skill in.

"I mean-" He paused, trying to explain better. "It just, it's never taken me as long to learn a new spell as it has the spear." She nodded.

"My own magical knowledge is very limited, but it took me a great deal of time to learn the few spells I know, and I was frustrated, so I understand." He perked up.

"You know spells?"

"Only simple ones." She told him. "Spells to keep my weapons and face clean during battle, to throw my own spear farther, and to strengthen my armour." Her voice lowered, and she eyed the few warriors training on the other side of the yard. "I also know a few healing spells, though I rarely have cause to use them."

"That's amazing." He praised. "I only know one healing spell and I'm not very good at using it. I'm not any good with healing spells at all, really." She hummed, and then glanced at the others training again. Harry understood that her small repertoire of spells was something of a shame for her, because she was a warrior of Asgard, and meant to rely entirely, or at least mostly, on her physical abilities; or so their culture dictated. Harry didn't agree with any of it in the least, but it wasn't his culture, and he tried his best to respect it.

"You should speak with Eir. Most serious wounds are dealt with by the soul-forge these days, but she... She leans more towards old-fashioned ways of healing. She knows many spells. Not everyone is suited to healing, but perhaps she could teach you enough to improve your use of the subject?" She looked a little uncomfortable talking about it all.

"I- You think she would? That would be great." He smiled brightly at her. "Thank you. I'll make sure to ask." She nodded, and that was the end of their talk about magic.

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"Ouch! Motherfu- Dammit." Harry hissed, and Moo chuckled from where he was reading on Harry's bed, still being secretive about the books he'd borrowed (Harry had even caught him taking notes yesterday).

"I've heard you curse at least a dozen times in the last hour. What exactly are you doing?" Harry sighed.

"I'm trying to make wings." Moo blinked at him.

"Wings? What the hell for?"

"Well," Harry set the bars of metal and bits of leather he'd been trying to inscribe runes on (with many failures) down. "I've been thinking about it since the battle in New York, and then I sort of forgot until Tony asked if I'd help them with Hydra. Just- He can fly, in his suit, and Thor can Fly, and Hulk can't fly but he can jump high enough that he might as well be able to, and I've been thinking about how inconvenient brooms are for that, and-" He took a breath, having been speaking a little too quickly. "I just want to make a way to fly that I could just have on me constantly, and activate and deactivate with magic that would leave my hands free. That way, if there's ever a situation where there's some kind of air-based threat that Tony and Thor can't handle alone-"

"You could back them up." Harry nodded, and Moo studied the contraption he'd been working with. "Why aren't you modifying a cloak or cape then? Wouldn't that be a lot more convenient?" Harry frowned.

"Well, I thought of that, but most cloth doesn't hold magic long-term."

"And you don't think the Asgardians would have something that would?" Harry opened his mouth and then closed it. "They might not, but you should at least check before you make some big bulky metal thing... moron." The animagus grumbled irritably, and threw everything to the ground with a clatter, off to go find Thor.

He could hear Moo chuckling behind him, and he shut the door on him. The twins had slept in, and Tom was curled up by the fire pit, enjoying the warmth. He shifted slightly when Harry entered the room.

"The guards are running about out there." Harry paused, frowning.

"Are they?"

"Something's happened, I think. Will you involve yourself?"

"I might." He was already wearing his armour beneath his clothes, like usual, and he grabbed his sword and the small object he'd taken a little time to construct while he was on Earth, and then left the room, Tom slithering along behind him. He noted immediately that there were more guards in the hallways than usual, many of them walking quickly from one place to another. They weren't running or rushing, so it wasn't an emergency, Harry didn't think; but something was going on. "Excuse me?" The guard he addressed stopped in his tracks and looked warily at him. He'd unintentionally intimidated the guards when he first came to Asgard, and though none of them looked at him fearfully, most of them were still very cautious in his presence (which suited him just fine- if they overestimated him, they'd be less likely to engage him if anything happened).

"Could you please explain what's going on?" The guard hesitated only a short moment.

"Yes, your majesty. There have been conflicts in the many realms Asgard oversees since the destruction of the bifrost. Since it has been prepared, we are finally able to go and resolve those conflicts. Prince Thor is taking a contingent of warriors to Alfheim to manage a problem there, and we are preparing the usual defences to make up for their absence."

"They haven't left yet?"

"No, sir."

"Do you know where they are?"

"The Eastern Armoury, sir."

"Do you have the time to lead me there?" Harry didn't know where that was.

"Yes sir, right this way." Harry didn't care much for the deference that was often shown to him, but it certainly came in handy at times. They didn't speak again until they got there, and Harry thanked the guard for showing him the way. He'd never been to the armoury before, and as he first entered the large, strangely-cavern-like room (all stone walls, which was a strange sight in Odin's golden palace), he took in the sights around him with a bit of awe.

There were more weapons here than he had ever laid eyes on. One huge wall, in its entirety, was dedicated fully to various types of swords. There were dozens of each kind, and many different kinds. Some were longer, some were shorter, some were bladed on both sides others on one, some straight, some curved. He knew they all had names but he didn't know them. Half of another wall was covered in shields of varying sizes and shapes and materials (he thought he even spotted a single ancient-looking wooden one). There were bows and arrows, pikes and spears, daggers, throwing knives, maces, axes and hammers, and many many more. The room also had a couple dozen warriors, less than he'd expected to see; it looked like a relatively small group considering they were expecting some manner of conflict, but then... Well, Asgardians were a powerful lot, so he supposed they wouldn't need quite as many fighters as humans would. They were each moving about, strapping on armour and sharpening and checking weapons, clearly in preparation for a battle. At one corner was Thor, wearing the same attire he'd had on Earth, and surrounded by Sif and the Warriors three. They were discussing something in low tones, and fell silent when Harry made his way over.

"Harry." Thor smiled at him as jovial as ever, and Harry nodded back, shifting a bit as Tom slithered up to wrap around his waist in an effort not to get stepped on by anyone.

"You look like you're preparing for war." His tone was joking, but the animagus' expression was not. The thunderer laughed.

"Nothing so serious my friend. Just a small matter, and one that may not require bloodshed at all." The wizard hummed.

"Could you use one more blade?" He looked surprised for a moment, and then nodded.

"I would be honored if you accompanied us." Sif shifted where she stood, frowning.

"Do you think that wise?" Harry looked at her. "Your training has come along well, but you are still inexperienced and unskilled in battle." She hadn't meant it as a cutting remark, but Harry felt it that way, his stomach dropping.

"I'm much more formidable with my magic at hand." They all looked a little uneasy at that, except for Thor, who just looked thoughtful. "Maybe it's dishonorable for an Asgardian to use, but as you'll remember, I'm not an Asgardian." He usually didn't shove his magic in people's faces like this, but her comment had stung a bit (especially given his feelings for her), and it was the subtlest way he had of lashing out.

"Aye. I recall seeing you battle against the Chitauri. It was an impressive sight." Thor's praise was enough to make the other four look a little surprised, and then considering. Hogun looked at him assessingly. He'd seen some of Harry and Sif's spars, but Thor was the only one of the group to have seen him use magic.

"I'll get ready then." Harry nodded, the matter decided. He moved as though to walk away, and then paused. "Are you needed here?" He asked the Asgardian Prince.

"They could do without me for a time."

"Would you walk with me back to my quarters then? You can explain the situation along the way." He sounded ruder than he'd meant to, but the Thunderer only nodded and stood from the bench he sat on. He motioned for Harry to lead the way, and he did; turning away from the others without a second glance, and just catching Sif's uncertain expression and Hogun and Fandral sharing a meaningful glance. They left the room, and he felt his shoulders sag a bit once he knew the goddess he liked couldn't see him.

"Something troubles you?" Thor asked, and Harry waved a hand, dismissing his concern.

"Nothing important right now. So what's going on? One of the guards mentioned Alfheim?" It was meant to be a statement, but the second bit ended on a questioning note because Harry knew next to nothing about the place. He knew the name of it, and that it was one of the nine realms, but that was essentially it. The other male nodded, immediately dropping the previous topic, and explained.

"Alfheim is the home of the light elves, and though it is usually a peaceful realm, it is ruled by two clans. In the last few centuries, these clans have made their differences in opinions known. A few years ago the leaders of each clan came to blows, and they decided to split their lands. Before the bifrost was destroyed, Asgard had helped them speak and come to agreements. A treaty was being written."

"But with the bridge destroyed there was no one there to act as mediator." Thor nodded.

"Yes. They have come to blows again. It is a small conflict, altogether, but the Allfather fears it may lead to civil war. He has tasked us with going there and seeing if peace cannot be achieved with words. If it cannot, then we are to make a demonstration of Asgard's might." Harry frowned.

"But what would that accomplish?" Causing violence? For no apparent reason?

"Asgard often trades with Alfheim for various things." The man told him. "Their lands have impressive gardens, but few livestock or mines. We give them meats and metal in exchange for silks and and certain fruits. They depend on us greatly, but we can do without the things we gain from them in exchange. They have suffered much this last year without our trades."

"That's probably only contributed to the problems." But that didn't explain the 'demonstration of Asgard's might'. Thor dipped his head.

"That is what father believes as well. We will be bringing many goods with us when we travel there, to help them and help ease their stresses before the peace talks. With luck, that will be enough, and it will serve in turn to remind them that Asgard needs them far less than they need us. However, if needed, a show of military force, of aggression on our parts, could serve to cow them and give them something to unite against."

"You're talking about making Asgard into a common enemy for them to face? Wouldn't that just cause problems for you?"

"For a time, yes, but not so many that it would be concerning. Nor would it lead to war. Eventually, they would realize what we had done, but by that point, they will have been forced to stand together long enough-"

"That they might realize they can manage through their differences." Harry finished for him, and he nodded. The animagus hummed. 'Would that work?' He asked Tom along their connection.

'Possibly... It's a very backwards way of going about it, but if there's no immediate way to solve the conflict, and this 'Alfheim' is not in a position to go against Asgard's wishes, then forcing them into peace would work as a short-term solution. In the long-term however, their issues would need to be resolved more thoroughly. Perhaps that's the plan then. Make them cooperate now and then slowly work them through the steps to genuine peace until it can be achieved.'

'Maybe.' Harry really didn't like politics.

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Amend that, he loathed politics.

They'd been here for four hours, and all the clan leaders had done since they sat down together was bicker and argue like irritable kids while Thor fruitlessly tried to get them to calm down, and then became frustrated enough himself that he had sat down next to Harry with his arms crossed and was just watching like it was one of Aunt Petunia's soap operas.

Alfheim was beautiful, in a more earthy than surreal way like Asgard. The land was beautiful and the people were beautiful, and Harry thought it was amazing. The whole place was like one enormous garden. Turf made of tiny plants that were curlier than Hermione's hair, flowers everywhere, many farm fields filled with vegetables, and orchards bursting with fruit. The land was flatter than Asgard, more plains-like than mountainous, and the trees were a bit shorter. It was also hotter and more humid than Asgard, but Harry managed well enough with his cooling charms, and whether it was natural or some magic of their own (though that was doubtful), the Asgardians looked entirely unbothered.

The Álfar were, in general, caramel-skinned and white-haired. Many of them were very good-looking, and Harry realized quickly, with the looks the warriors gave them, that Asgardians in general seemed to have a bit of a fetish (Moo had taught him that word, and what it meant) for them. Despite that, the Álfar themselves didn't seem to care all that much what they looked like. None of the women wore make-up or had their hair up in anything more complex than utilitarian buns or ties (most had their hair cut short, for that matter), and there were many whose hair looked windswept and unbrushed. He caught more than one person who still had dirt on their hands or swiped across their foreheads from working in the crop fields or gardens.

The only exception seemed to be their clothing. It was apparent, immediately, that clothing was important to them. Most of them wore silky, flowing pieces of apparel that were like thin coats. They came in bright colors with intricate designs of vines, flowers, and aimless swirls. Beneath these, as Harry saw one man take his off while he worked, they wore plain browns and whites that were made of a different material; one that looked more hardy and was likely made for surviving their work with plantlife; which was a defining cornerstone of their lives. The fields were massive, and they didn't pass one house that didn't have a garden and/or plants hanging from the windows. The houses themselves were beautiful too, resembling the sort of rustic cottages he might have expected to see in certain historical places back in England.

Another thing Harry took note of was the fact that while the land itself -and some of the plants- felt magical, very few of the people did. While it was the other way around in Asgard, the bulk of the Álfar were muggles.

At first, he hadn't noted any difference between the members of the two clans, at least until they'd gotten to the center of the town: a large stone brick tower half covered in vines that reminded him of one of Hogwarts' spires. It was as though someone had drawn an invisible line through the center of the town that no one would cross. No one stepped into the town center, and there was a long cobbled street leading through the buildings that crossed through the town that no one was walking on at all. The people on either side of the road were dressed fairly similarly (there were a few deviations in their designs) and they each looked determined to pretend the opposite half of the town didn't exist.

The only locals at the town center were the two clan leaders, each accompanied by a small retinue (guards, advisors, and one old man who seemed to be the grandfather of one of them, and who had fallen asleep right away and was snoring from two seats away). They'd each been given a couple caravan's worth of supplies (and had sent them off to their respective people), much to their gratitude, and then the Asgardian contingent split in two, with Harry, Sif, and the Warriors three accompanying the leaders inside the tower for the 'negotiations' while the remaining Asgardians remained outside.

And now here they were.

He huffed. As near as he could tell from their yelling and the nasty comments they and their various entourages tossed at each other, the main problem had to do with the water supply, and there was also something in there about thieving. He sighed.

"I'm tempted to throw an axe at one of them." He heard Sif mutter from somewhere behind him.

"Thor?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you mind if I...?" Thor waved a hand.

"If you think you can help, my friend, then you are welcome to do so." He said tiredly, and Harry nodded, stood and held up his hands.

"Silencio Maxima." The room was quiet, and all the clan members went wide-eyed for a moment before turning their gazes on him. "You know what you people remind me of? My godsons. They get along most of the time but when they bicker it's obnoxious. What's the point of diplomacy if you're all standing here screaming at each other like bratty little kids?" He heard Fandral cough, and when he glanced in his direction he saw the man holding back laughter, and Volstaag next to him was looking at Harry with surprise. He was sure silencing a bunch of people and then chastising them was a serious social faux pas (Moo had rubbed off on him too much maybe), but he had a headache and wanted to settle this and go back to Asgard to lay in his comfy fur-covered bed. "You-" He pointed at the first of the Clan leaders, a bony woman with red eyes and her hair in a braid (the only person with her hair that way that he had seen, in fact). "I'm going to un-silence you, and I want you to calmly explain, from your perspective, what the problem is." He flicked his fingers, dismissing the spell, and she sneered at him.

"Who in Hel's name do you think you are?" His eyes narrowed at her. He understood her anger, he would be pissed too, but he wasn't in the mood to deal with it. He supposed if ever there was a time to use his status, this was it.

"I am King Harry Black of Niflheim, I stand here in Hel's name." She paled, face falling to shock, and there was an intake of breath behind him. He turned slightly, and noted the equal levels of shock on Sif and the warrior's various faces. He frowned. Hadn't they known? He looked back at the clan-head. Her name was Alva, if he remembered correctly. "Now, Lady Alva, if you would be so kind-"

"O-Of course." She composed herself quickly enough, and spoke more calmly than he'd heard her since they'd gotten there. "It's the water mostly." To his credit, the other clan-head, a tall man with very short hair and vibrantly blue eyes, nodded in agreement. Harry couldn't recall his name. "The rain doesn't come as often now as it has in the past, and a few centuries ago the lake became cut off from the mountains. We use so much of it for our crops that the water levels have gone down every year. It's only a matter of time before they deplete entirely." Harry nodded, frowning. "My clan and I suggested that the clans split their focus. We would take over the fields and Laur," Ah, that was his name. "and his clan would take over the tailoring. We would ration the food more heavily, but it might be enough to give the lake the chance to replenish itself from the rain with time, or at least enough to hold off the inevitable."

"I see. And there are no other water sources nearby?" She shook her head.

"There's the ocean, but we can't drink that, and the salt would kill the crops. The only other lake we can reach is too far North, in the mountains. The way there is treacherous, we would never be able to reach it and bring back as much as we need without depleting too many of our other resources in the process." He suppressed the urge to smile, an idea flickering to life in his mind.

"Alright. Can I trust you to hold your tongue while Lord Laur speaks?" She hesitantly nodded, and he released the spell on the man. "Now, what it is about Lady Alva's suggested course of action that you so oppose?"

"You must understand," He began, voice irritable, and then he paused, took a breath, and did his best to keep his anger from his voice. "the growing of food, of plants, the support of nature, it is an important part of our culture, more than anything else. To take that away from us is beyond disrespectful, it's tantamount to cutting us off from a part of our very being. Besides that, if Alva's clan was entirely in charge of the agriculture, then when the crops were harvested and the food rationed, her clan would always get fed first. We would be left with their scraps, and my people would surely starve." Alva looked as though she wanted to interject, but she held her tongue. Harry dipped his head. That was definitely a concern.

"I heard something about stealing earlier?" The Álfar man's eyes darkened.

"Yes. Each of our clans holds ownership of a sacred artifact; a matching set of ancient stones, carved in the shape of eggs. As a gesture of good faith, each clan keeps possession of the other's property during the summertime. Twice each year, we come together to celebrate our ancestry, and the eggs are brought together and traded, and then given back again with the harvest. My clan has upheld this duty properly." He was gritting his teeth now. "But this past year Alva's clan lost ours." The way he said the word implied what he thought of the explanation, and Alva herself finally couldn't keep quiet.

"It was stolen. We did our best to find the culprit but nothing came of it." She was glaring at him. "There was nothing we could do, and ever since, they have refused to return our egg!"

"And why should we?! You have never returned ours! It's likely hidden away somewhere in your greed! Why should you gain both of them when-"

"We would never! I assure you it was no one from my clan-"

"You DARE imply-"

"ENOUGH." They both froze and looked at him. "I will silence you again if I must." He rubbed a hand down his face and sighed. "Going back to the water problem, as that's the more pressing issue at the moment, how close is the ocean to here?" They both shifted on their feet, looking uncertain.

"Not far." Laur finally answered. "The lake is only a few minutes walk to the east, and the ocean is only a little farther out."

"They're close to each other?"

"Yes. There's just a barrier of tall stones that separate the two. We sometimes have trouble there when there are storms on the seas."

"Good. Show me." They traded glances with each other, but looked too frightened to question him.

"Alright."

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The walk there was awkward and silent, and even Thor and the others looked confused at what he was doing, but none of them questioned him, and the Thunderer himself looked thoughtful. Tom was quiet too, but the animagus was sure he had a better idea of what was going on. Harry hadn't bothered to unsilence anyone but the clan leaders just yet, and they were all following meekly at the back of the group (except for the old man who had been left to sleep back at the tower). Harry, for his part, did his best to ignore the discomfort, and was taking in the scenery instead. The lake was large and pristine, but Harry could see that the banks were much wider than they probably should have been; evidence to the water line receding. Still, the lake was beautiful, and surrounded by trees.

They reached the stones Laur had spoken of quickly enough, and Harry climbed up a bit to inspect them. There were some short ones, but mostly they were tall and spire-like, and farther north he could see they grew even bigger, forming a sheer cliff line and mountains. They protected the lake on one side, and the ocean splashed against them on the other. He hummed, looking around. This would be a good spot for what he had in mind, but he would need also need a stone he could separate from the rest. He looked around, climbing farther up some of them while the rest of the group watched confusedly from below, trading glances with each other that made it clear they feared for his sanity.

Eventually he found one that was large, but looked a bit loose. It also wasn't in a spot where it was essential to separating the waters. A good strong severing charm, and then Harry was levitating it to lay on the ground near the group. Then he climbed down, and went about casting more severing charms, and sanding spells, to shape it down to a relatively perfect circle in terms of shape, since it was already flat enough to serve his purposes. Thor sat down near him, brows scrunched, as he worked.

Once the shape was good enough, he pulled the supplies he needed from one of his bracers. He hadn't thought he would need any of his rune supplies, so he hadn't really brought them, but he'd taken to keeping at least one brush and a large container of ink on him just in case. This was something simple enough that he wouldn't need any references for it (he trusted his memory enough). The ink container was only about half full, and to the surprise of the others present, he cut open his hand to fill the rest with blood.

"Ah, yo- your majesty?"

"Hmm?" He glanced up at Alva while his blood drained into the container, careful to keep an eye on it.

"Wha- what exactly are you doing?" She sounded very concerned, and she wasn't the only one who looked that way. Muhammad had definitely rubbed off on him, he decided, because he found it more amusing than anything else.

"I'm going to make a water purifier." He muttered an episkey as the container reached a suitable level, and then mixed it with his brush. She looked surprised. "I know my way around runes," He explained. "So I'm turning this into a rune-stone. It will purify salt water into water that can be used for drinking, and for your crops." He began placing the first lines, starting with a guiding circle. "It'll be able to work on a large scale, so I'll put it in the lake. Then, I can alter some of the rocks there-" He gestured to the outcropping without looking at it, focussing instead on his work. "into a dam of sorts. The ocean is at a slightly higher level than the lake, so I can set it up where the water levels even out, and where water will be able to go from the ocean in, but not from the lake out. Then this stone will purify the water." He glanced up to see that she and Laur were looking at him with wide eyes. "I'll need to test the stone first, but it should be fine. This would solve your water problems, right?"

"I- Yes. Yes it would!" The Álfar man exclaimed. "You can really do this?"

"Mhmm." Harry stopped paying much attention to them after that, and instead focussed on his work. When he was done, the stone was a mess of lines and markings set in a three-pronged pattern surrounded by a circle, with two more in the middle. He reviewed his work for a minute, eyes tracing the lines and runes carefully for any mistakes, and then he smiled, and with a glowing green hand, sent the magic into it that would activate it. The lines shone red a moment, then green, then the light faded, and they had carved themselves an inch deep into the rock. The stone itself turned white, and then became slightly transparent, almost like sea glass, but not the right color. Harry cast an unbreakable charm on it for the sake of longevity, and then climbed up one of the other rocks to levitate up some sea water so he could test it, though that was more for their sake than his. He jumped down, and then let the water touch the stone. The runes glowed slightly in response, and Harry transfigured a cup from one of the small stones at his feet, and guided the water into it. He took a sip, grinned, and held it out in the direction of the clan leaders. "It works. The water tastes a little crisp, but it's good." Alva grasped the cup first, and drank some after sniffing it. She paused and her eyes watered. She handed it silently to Laur, so he could see himself.

"This-" She took a deep breath. "Thank you. Thank you so much." Harry rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's fine." Then he frowned. "There's going to be some maintenance you'll have to deal with." He warned. "The stone will be fine for at least the next several centuries, and I can write out the information you'll need to check up on it and repair it if that ever becomes needed. The dam will be a little more finicky. You'll need to check it every year or so and clean it, and get someone to repair any cracks that might show up. It's going to be facing ocean waves, so it will weather faster, but it shouldn't be too hard to manage, and if you can't do it yourselves, I know Asgard has Aesir who know repairing spells, so you can ask them to send someone out to take care of it." He smiled. "I don't know if I can help you with your thief problem at all, but this should take care of a lot of the trouble you're dealing with." They were both smiling, but they'd listened closely to his words.

"Thank you." Laur said. "We owe you a debt for this, King Black." Harry waved him off.

"Eh, don't worry about it. Stuff like this isn't that hard for me. You don't owe me anything." But the man shook his head.

"We owe you everything." He said, and would hear no arguments on the matter.

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The dam took Harry a couple hours to construct. It was made from a combination of the same severing and sanding spells he'd used on the stone, some transfiguration, and some runes both to keep the water going where it needed to, and also to make the transfigurations permanent. Then he put the other stone in at the base of it, under the water, and opened up the waterways. It worked perfectly, and while the Álfar people's gratitude made him a little uncomfortable, Harry was happy to have helped someone. They were invited to stay the night there, and, while there was still some trouble regarding the eggs, Laur and Alva had both agreed to a peace treaty, so Thor would help them draw one up in the morning. The Álfar prepared a feast for them, and afterwards, Harry was shown to his room.

It was a nice enough place, smaller than his quarters in Asgard but very homey. There was a potted plant in the corner with vines growing up the wall, and the bed was small but very very soft (Tom had already claimed a spot near the end, using the band he wore to make himself even smaller than usual). He was tired, and he carefully dressed in the simple sleeping clothes that had been given to him when he pointed out that he hadn't brought any extra clothes with him. He sighed, and went about preparing for bed when there was a knock on the door. He looked up, and held back a groan. He'd been thanked so many times in the last few hours he'd almost started to regret getting involved. He'd also refused several dozen gifts (and been forced to accept a few). He came to answer the door.

"Look, I know you all are thankful and I really appreciate everything but-" He finally got the door open and stopped short. "Oh! Sorry, I thought, um." He reddened a bit, embarrassed, and Sif grinned at him.

"It's alright."

"I, um- Is everything alright?" Her lips twitched.

"Everything's fine. I just had something I wanted to say." Harry glanced down the short hallway. No one else was there, and he could hear well enough to know that Thor and the others were still downstairs, and not near the stairwell near the end of the hall. He knew, politely speaking, that he should offer to let her come inside, but something about that made him very anxious. He shifted, making a guess as to what this was about.

"I know magic isn't what you lot use to solve problems, but I-" She shook her head.

"Actually... Given the events of today, I think maybe... Magic might be something we should consider more often." He blinked, genuinely surprised.

"You- what?" She smiled gently.

"When you offered to come with us, and to- the idea of you putting your magic to use for us made be uncertain- made all of us uncertain. I suppose we've grown to think of Loki and his tricks when we think of magic." Harry frowned a little. "But what you did today... That was no trick. You've done a great favor for these people, and I just wanted you to know that." Then she leaned forwards-

It was chaste, and quick, not nearly as intimate as his encounter with Blaise had been, but her kiss made his heart speed up and his face glow red and cause snitches to bounce around inside his stomach. His mouth fell open in surprise as she pulled away, his eyes comically wide. She grinned, clearly finding amusement in his expression.

"Perhaps you should come with us more often on these errands. We could use a little more magic." She pushed his chest slightly, and he stepped back like he had no strength. Once he was back on his side of the doorway, she grabbed the handle. "Goodnight Harry." The door closed, and he listened to her footsteps as she walked away, presumably to back downstairs. His breathing had sped up, and his knees felt a little weak. He swallowed, shook his head, and rubbed a hand over his chest with the illogical worry that it was beating so hard it was going to pop out of his chest. A hissing laugh made him jump, and, startled, he eyed Tom where the snake lay.

"I've no way to... Reward you, as she did." Even though his scaly face couldn't make the expression, Harry could hear the smirk in his voice, and blushed harder. "But I agree. You did very well. You'll make an excellent politician." Harry frowned.

"That wasn't politics. I mean- the stuff before with them trying to figure out the treaty and all that- that was politics. All I did was help these people." Tom nodded.

"You solved a conflict between two groups without ever resorting to violence, and you did it in such a way that you were able to find the most effective solution to the problem. That is politics, Harry. The god kind, at least." His mouth fell open a little.

"Oh." The former Dark Lord laughed at him.

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"-carve the first of these markings on their offspring in the first few days following birth. With their advanced healing magics, the infants feel little to no pain throughout the process. Later markings are added at important milestones, though never in as great an amount as the first few. Weddings, the birth of children, and a Jotun's first kill in battle are all commemorated in this way. The markings are symbolic, and often express an individual Jotun's parentage, the star systems under which they were born, the primary occupation of their clan, and, in some cases, the aspirations their parents may have placed in them." Harry had, very quickly, noted a flaw in his plan to help find information for Loki on his Jotun markings- namely the fact that the books were, of course, all written in Old Norse. He'd overlooked that when he made the promise. So once he was back from Alfheim, rather than fumble his way through hours upon hours of translating texts until he found what he was looking for, he had instead brought a stack full of books and scrolls (which Embla assured him had information on Jotuns) directly to Loki so the god could skim through them and then read the relevant parts aloud.

"Is there anything in there about translating the markings?" He asked once Loki stopped talking. He was levitating the book in front of the glass for him, and the Trickster occasionally flicked through the pages himself without so much as a twitch of his fingers.

"No there isn't." He said, looking frustrated. The pages flicked faster until it hit the end, and Harry let the book fall and be replaced by the next tome. This was the third time he'd been to visit Loki since returning to Asgard, and each time, since they had each revealed their true forms to each other, Loki had put illusions up so they could be themselves. As such, Harry's tail flicked visibly back and forth behind him, occasionally scraping the floor, and Loki's dark skin made the white flooring nearest him glow blue with the reflection of the light, and whenever his emotions ran high, he would have to vanish away the ice that would begin to form around him. Harry had been forced to cast a warming charm on the window to keep it from frosting over. "It's likely we won't find anything. Asgardians don't care enough for Jotuns to bother learning anything about their culture, especially not since the last attempt at peace failed."

"When was that?"

"Many centuries ago, when I was was the equivalent of a mortal teenager on the cusp of adulthood."

"What happened?" Loki looked up at him finally, and for a moment looked uncomfortable. "If you don't want to tell me, you don't ha-"

"Odin arranged a marriage, between myself and a young Jotun woman, the heiress of one of Jotunheim's more notable clans, named Angbroða." He paused and took a deep breath. "We had two children together."

"Was that Hel's mother?" Loki nodded. "I hadn't realized you had any other children besides her..."

"I have six children. Four sons, and two daughters." He chuckled at the look of surprise on Harry's face. "But back to Angbroða," Harry nodded. They would talk about Loki's kids later. "You have to understand, when I was young, younger than when I married her, I was very foolish in my magical research. When I came across something I wanted to learn, I would learn it, and I often didn't look deeply enough into possible consequences. When I first came across the ability to shapeshift..." He wrapped his arms around himself, and abruptly, the light came and he had become 'she' again. She looked very striking as a jotun. "There was a ritual that was involved, and I underwent it without thought. I believed that any possible side-effects would be more than worth the ability to physically alter my form. I had been using illusions to do something similar for years by that point, but to be able to create actual physical change-" She bit her lip.

"I wanted it." She told him. "I wanted that ability. So I did it, and it made my-" She waved a hand. "you'd call it my 'genetic code'. My blood. It became unstable. It didn't affect me at all, but my children- Because my blood was unstable, when I passed it to them, it cause them to be born strangely, often in unusual forms, but with the ability to shapeshift if taught how to do so. We had Hel first. She was... We could tell immediately, that something was wrong with her. She was too thin, and her eyes were strange. She had so much trouble breathing, and she was sickly. We knew that she would die, so I, with Angbroða's permission, went to Death, to King Calder, of Niflheim, and I asked him to take her as his apprentice. Her soul was soon to be his anyways, and I thought... This way, I would perhaps have a manner by which to visit her. He agreed, and many years later passed his crown to her." She sighed.

"After Hel, we had Fenris... He was born as a wolf. We were horrified, but he was our son, our child regardless of his form, and though we feared for him, we loved him dearly. Angbroða and I did our best to raise him, for as long as we were able. There was no love between she and I, but we loved our children, and we were united in that. Many others... The Asgardians, mostly, were fearful. They called Fenris a monster, called my wife and I the parents of monsters. At the time, I hadn't yet discovered that the forms of my children was my own doing, and many believed that their forms were a result of she being a Jotun, and I an Asgardian, though that wasn't true."

"Then... Things became even worse. There was a seer, a notable one from Alfheim. Audrun." She hissed the name with fury in her voice, and ice crackled along the floor. "I had- courted her, for a time, previous to my marriage, and she had asked me to call off the engagement when it occurred. But I had no more love for her than I had Angbroða, and the marriage was Odin's will. Audrun had long given prophesies to Asgard, and her foresight had often proven itself a boon to our warriors. She was skilled in foreseeing the changes in the tide of battle, and at the time, we were involved in a conflict with the giants of Muspelheim, and so her word was deeply respected."

"Out of jealousy, and bitterness, and her own fear of Fenris, she spun a horrible lie; a false prophecy. She spoke that my son would grow to a monstrous size, and that when Ragnarok came, he would be large enough to swallow Midgard's moon, and would kill and devour Odin himself. The Allfather saw through her lies immediately, and cast her out. He spoke to the people, and told them of her falsehoods, but..."

"Not everyone believed him, did they?"

"No." Her red eyes were hard, filled with hate and pain. Harry had to increase the intensity of his warming charm, and he banished away the ice himself, because Loki didn't seem to notice that it had covered nearly all of the floor. He reached out with his magic, touching hers and soothing it, and her shoulders slumped, the tension flowing quickly out of her. He kept it there, and she continued her story, voice more sad than angry now. "Many thought that she had spoken the truth, and that Odin, out of love for me and his grandson, was just covering it up. They remarked that he must be deceiving himself. Perhaps he said she lied because he wished it was so."

"Angbroða and I had been wary of the whispers, but we thought there was nothing great to fear. We were wrong." She paused a long moment, swallowing, and Harry didn't think she had spoken about this in a long time, if at all, since it happened. He recognized the look on her face though- now that she had started her tale, she was determined to see it finished. "Thor and I had a cousin, the son of Odin's brother long dead, named Egil. None of us had known it, but he had been fond of Audrun, had loved her and wished to claim her as his bride. He'd been bitter at her care for me, and even more so when Odin cast her out. More than that, he believed her false prophesy, and like many, thought that Odin was lying to himself. Out of a misguided, foolish sense of honor, he sought to protect the Allfather from Fenris' supposed future terror."

"He took Fenris whilst my wife and I were at a banquet. We'd left him home, safe and sleeping. He dragged him away to Jotunheim, and hid him there- locked him away somehow. When I discovered what had happened-" She grit her teeth, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. "I hunted him down and demanded he tell me where he'd hidden him, I- I tortured him." She met Harry's gaze, eyes hard and without regret, as though daring him to say she'd been wrong to do so. He didn't. "I ripped him to pieces, but he would only tell me Fenris was in Jotunheim, and in my rage I killed him. Odin was angry, but he understood my wrath and I was not punished. Thor didn't understand. He and Egil had been friends, had fought and bled together, and there were many years where he and I drifted apart. I don't think we ever properly-" She paused, and dropped that tangent.

"Angbroða and I were devastated. We scoured much of Jotunheim but found nothing. King Laufey was furious, and he blamed Asgard. He demanded an end to the treaty, and our marriage, and decreed that no Asgardian ever again be welcome in the ice giant's realm. What was the point in attempting peace, if it would only lead to such horrors? I was forced to stop searching, and Angbroða said she would continue without me, and send word if ever she found our son." Harry knew even without her saying so that Loki's wife had not. "Once every hundred years or so I would hear from her, until two centuries past, when her brother sent a message in her stead that she had fallen ill. She died not long after that, and I've never been able to continue the search as I wish. It's even less likely now, after Thor's attempt to destroy Jotunheim, and my own betrayal of them during my foolish actions following the Allfather's descent into the Odinsleep." They were silent, and in the back of Harry's mind his debt to the Liesmith buzzed.

He said nothing aloud, but he knew now how he would repay it.

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BEHOLD THE PLOT LURKING ON THE HORIZON-

Ahem.

So the only comments I really have are in regards to the Alfar. In canon Mythology they're described as being very pale-skinned and blond-haired, but as you've read, I changed that. When I came up with their appearance, for those familiar with FMA, I imagined them as being more golden-skinned Ishvalans, but with a greater variety in eye colors.

My reasoning is that the Alfar as depicted in mythology as the pinaccle of beauty, but why should that mean white and blond? (although that was the highest standard of beauty at the time)

Moving on, sorry the update was late. The next chapter isn't finished, so I won't make any promises in regards to update schedule for that one, but we'll try for the weekend after next.

See you all next time!

-Mr. Hate

P. S. For some reason none of the links on my profile to the various fanarts that have been made for this fic are showing up at all, and I have no idea how to fix it. Anyone know?