A/N: I hope your holidays were nice and a happy new year to you all! It took me a while to get this written because I've been moving about a lot (I'm hunting for a room to rent, so my internet connection has been non-existent).

Thank you so much to anyone who favorited/followed and to Alliprince, JigokuShoujosRevenge, Argetaie and Dean for the feedback, I really appreciate it!

P.s: I'm sorry about any mistakes you might find. I haven't read this through as much as I'd like, but I thought it best to just post right away!

Alfheim - Part I

Sif woke up with a foul taste in her mouth and feeling more than just slightly drowsy.

She tried to sit up and open her eyes, but as soon as the light passed through her eyelids, she immediately shut them again, with a hand on her head. Sif fell back to the softness of blankets and pillows that made up her bed, confused with her state.

Why was she feeling this way?

She had heard about headaches such as these, which often occurred after one had had too much alcohol, but Sif had so far successfully avoided the experience. She tried to call back to mind what the last thing she remembered was, but failed. There was a buzz in her mind and she felt as though she was trying to force her way through fog and mud in order to think.

She let herself drift back to a sort of numbness, until the swirling her head seemed to be doing against her will faded. She opened her eyes again tentatively and managed to keep them that way, even though a jab of pain assaulted her skull.

Sif was in her room; that much was clear after a brief examination of her surroundings. However, there was still no reason whatsoever for her body's strange behavior.

It took her some time to notice the folded piece of paper on her nightstand, with her name scrawled across it in neat hastily drawn letters. She grabbed it, recognizing Loki's handwriting.

When she finally managed to read the message, she let out an angry growl her mother would deem most unladylike.

Sif hopped off the bed, adrenaline making it easier to get her mind and body under control. She swiftly dressed herself and went to find the only person she might persuade to help her at such a time: Heimdall.

Loki felt slightly remorseful as he and Thor abandonded the realm of Asgard through a secret portal. He had discovered it while going through one of the ancient library books he usually busied himself with.

"Sif is going to murder you, you know?" Thor was grinning, despite Loki's unusual sulking.

His little brother had just enlightened Thor as to why it had been extremely hard to get a hold on either Loki or his best friend over the past couple of weeks. The eldest of the princes was feeling quite in the mood to tease.

Loki snorted, despite himself. "Like I'd let her have the satisfaction. No, I'd rather be trampled by Dark Elves. That way she would have no reason to come after me."

And would remain safely in Asgard, but he didn't voice his thought. It was far too mushy-feely for someone like him.

"Do you think Father will punish us very badly?" Loki was suddenly having second thoughts.

"I don't-,"

A sick feeling in the pit of his stomach started to pool and Thor's voice was drowned out. Then it felt like his body was being torn apart in different directions and he was spinning (or at least he felt like he was) at such high speed that everything around him blurred into blackness, until he couldn't say where his brother was or find his own voice to ask if Thor was alright.

When he regained awareness of his surroundings, he was sprawled on his back in soft grass, one so green it almost matched his eyes.

Thor, however, was nowhere in sight.

"They didn't leave through you?" Sif demanded, not for the first time.

"As I've told you already, the troops left with king Odin yesterday at dusk. The princes were in Asgard and in my range of sight until about half an hour ago, Lady Sif," Heimdall's voice was clear and calm, but there was a slight change in his features that allowed Sif to see the man was distressed about something.

"So you can't see them now?" she asked anxiously. "But you're supposed to see everything in all the Nine Realms!"

"No, my Lady" he said simply.

"But... why?" Sif was not the kind of girl who usually panicked unless there was a truly good reason. Mad as she was at Loki, this was starting to sound like a good reason to freak out.

"Prince Loki has been experimenting with ways of cloaking himself from my vision using his magic," he opened his mouth as though to continue, but then paused and tensed visibly.

"And...?" goosebumps erupted on her skin.

Heimdall was the calmest, most pacient and stoic man Sif had ever met. If he was worried, things were worse than she had assumed.

"But usually he never manages to hold the enchantment for more than a full minute and he has never managed to perform it on anyone else. I'm afraid they have ventured through a wormhole that connects Asgard to other parts of the Nine Realms, because I saw them last near it. However, the path itself is not anywhere inside my field of vision, because what's inside the wormhole belongs to a different dimension," Heimdall explained, evidently relieved to share his suspicions with someone else.

"We must tell queen Frigga. She ought to know what to do!" Sif shook at the thought of her best friend and her... - what was he now? A boyfriend? - other friend stuck forever in a different dimension.

"I have sent her a missive, but she has not yet read it. In the absense of the king, the queen is presiding a meeting of the High Council with the senior nobles and has requested not to be disturbed. It will still last a few more hours. I told the servant girl it was urgent, but Helga is not a very brave girl and she is too scared to interrupt such an important event," he clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

"Then you must help me get through. I need to find them!" Sif was getting desperate.

"Wait," Heimdall's eyes turned glossy as his attention foccused elsewhere. Sif tried to be patient, but was biting the inside of her cheek hard enough to draw blood by the time the guardian returned her gaze. "They are alive, but you must go to king Odin at once. He is in Almr Palace with king Eldvindur. I will not let you linger for long, mind. My orders are to let no one through until the king or queen so order and I break these only for the sake of their heirs," his tone was of warning.

"But what am I to tell the king?" her voice sounded shrill to her own ears and she tried to keep it together, but her throat was tightening.

"Tell him the Dark Elves have found the princes on the edge of the northen side of the Haggard Peaks. Thor has been captured."

"What of Loki?" Sif was breathless and the blood was singing in her ears, as Heimdall prepared to open the Bifrost.

"I cannot say why, but the Elves have orders not to touch him. He's unconscious," he elucidated.

"One more thing, Lady Sif. Your friend Elsred disguised herself as a soldier and is with the king's army. You must find her. She shall perish if you don't," Sif's eyes widened considerably and dread took a firmer grip on her heart, as she was catapulted into space.

What was Elsred, who was untrained in combat and loved peace above all things, doing in the army?