Note: The surname I chose for Sven means "porridge" in Swedish according to the site I used. Once I saw that and remembered how I introduced him in the first installment of this AU, my plans to at least try to give him something further down the alphabetical list of possible Swedish surnames went out the window. Also, the ending was written before the reveal of the whole body-sharing thing.

Keeping on moving

Yet another thing not completely going as he had expected in this other reality he had created. This world's Lalli didn't understand Icelandic, but that didn't change the fact that he did. The only positive aspect he could see right now in the argument he could hear from the hallway was that it had apparently started due to Reynir noticing a few things that would have certainly caused problems later if he and Tuuri weren't in the middle of addressing them.
-You said you were going shopping this morning.
The black-haired man with glasses, whom Lalli had assumed to be Torbjörn and Siv's house employee due to having so far seen him discreetly do various chores, had just addressed him in simple, yet correct Finnish.
-I'm waiting for Emil.
In reality, his Swedish was good enough for him to navigate Mora on his own, but Tuuri, Reynir and Helena were all here. Each of them knew both of the true nature of their reality and of his existence. They would catch on if he went out shopping on his own and got back without getting in any kind of trouble. He couldn't ask Tuuri because it was for her birthday present, which meant he had to wait for Emil to come back from taking his daughter to school. The bespectacled black-haired man put his broom and apron away in the broom closet, went into the study, came out with a folder and a couple of typed manuscripts in his arms, and gave them to Lalli:
-I need to take these to the shopping district. I was going to do it in the afternoon. I can come with you and do it now. Hold them and I'll put my coat and boots on.
The other reason he had wanted to go with Emil had been to find out how he was doing in this world. Aside from arranging for when to go shopping over breakfast, all he'd seen of Emil's life in this reality was a family hug between him, Helena and Janine at Tuuri's twenty-sixth birthday party. This world's Lalli had been back in control of his own body by the time they had been properly introduced to each other.
-I told Emil I'd wait for him.
-He can always come look for us if these two are still arguing by the time he and Helena come back. Given the circumstances, they may actually be happy to have a little time for themselves.
He unfortunately couldn't ask what, exactly, had happened without blowing his cover. All he knew was that this version of Mora was just out of the quarantine induced by the Year 96 beast intrusion; he guessed the finer details had diverged from those he had lived through himself, considering that half of the house's occupants had a different living situation in this reality. Lalli remembered the age and identity of the only person to catch the Rash because of the intrusion, and realized that Emil needing to take Janine to school in the first place meant she had to be at least… five. Oh dear. At least, this world's Janine was immune. Maybe it was a good idea to go shopping with this black-haired man after all.

The shopping went fairly quickly, so they dropped by the place the bespectacled black-haired man wanted to go. It was a small shop converted into something closer to an office with a handful of desks. Sven went to the one closest to the entrance and spoke to the woman sitting at the desk in Swedish:
-Hello. I'm here to apply for that study of magic grant.
-Considering the position of most people here towards magic, you'll understand we need proof that you actually intend to use the money to study magic in addition to the standard application.
The bespectacled black-haired man dropped his papers on the desk:
-I was on a mission with some mages right before the town got its beast problem. I had time to write the report in both Icelandic and Swedish during the quarantine. I'll understand if you can't read it immediately, but I'd like to know when I can come back with the knowledge the decision has been made.
The woman picked up one of the manuscripts and looked at the first page skeptically:
-Were you really on a mission with Helena Västerström and Reynir Árnason?
The bespectacled black-haired man sighed:
-Please check author names before you read manuscripts. If you don't believe it's actually me, here's my identification card.
He took his identification card out of his coat pocket and put it on the woman's desk:
-I haven't been as fond of public attention as the others have been, but I can promise that I am one of the few people in this country who will actually use this grant for its intended purpose.
The woman looked at the manuscript's cover with a raised eyebrow, then grew wide-eyed upon seeing the identification card.
-I'm very sorry mister Breiner, but…
-I completely understand the worries you have, this is why I went through the trouble of writing those reports. Do you need anything else?
-Things are all right as far as I'm concerned, but I'd like to be able to answer the others if they ask the question. What about the third mage? This "Lalli Hotakainen"?
Lalli replied with a cross "That's me" in Swedish before he could start wondering whether he should have been able to understand any part of the question that wasn't his own name. That seemed to be enough to convince the woman.
-We should reach a decision by next week. You may even be able to leave for your chosen destination on the first boat to go out once the weather is better.
-Good, see you then.
They both left the office. At least, Lalli knew the man's last name now. It actually sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. Strictly speaking, he should have returned to his own world and body now that the shopping was done. But he now wanted to know that man's full name to be able to track him down in his own world. If he stayed until they returned to the house, someone would possibly greet him using his first name. As they walked, Lalli figured out who the man probably was. He'd figured out that the scout on this reality's first Silent World expedition had been the woman he knew under the name of Helena Solberg in his own world, but hadn't figured out who the skald-mechanic could have been. Before Lalli quite noticed it, they had both started heading back to the house without consulting each other. The other man didn't try starting a conversation on the way back, and he didn't try to do so either. It was short, but extremely pleasant. The black-haired man stopped on his tracks soon after they entered the house's garden. On the front porch, Kitty and Misse were having a playful fight. Sigrun opened one of the front windows:
-Sven, I hope you're not still afraid of cats after two expeditions in the Silent World.
-Yes, I am. Can't you get them out of the way?
-Nope, we have a betting pool going on the winner.
This felt like the right time to return control to the Lalli who actually lived in this reality.

Helena hugged Reynir as the boy's spirit vanished. He had been given the medicine a week ago. If the Swedes hadn't been able to get rid of the secondary effect entirely, but they had managed to slow it down. They had managed to turn two to three days into a week. They were hoping for that week to eventually become a month, that month to become a year, that year to become a decade, that decade to become a lifetime. Lalli had seen what was happening to the boy's spirit, that had just left its body, somehow both vanishing and quickly becoming unable to leave on its own, simultaneously, at a staggering speed. His other self, this world's Helena, and the Reynir from both worlds had encountered what was left after ninety years of the phenomenon. The event made Lalli realize something: the chance of getting infected while non-immune compared to death by troll were the only concerns for non-mage parents. If one or both parents were mages, the chance of the child getting infected was also a chance of having to be the one guiding them. He suddenly realized something. If the other world's Tuuri had died during its first Silent World expedition… before he could finish that thought, he heard a voice similar to his own in the back of his head, accompanied by the feeling of a memory coming back.
-I… have to stay. I need time some time to make sure… that… she didn't get lost.
Next came deep sadness and a jumble of sounds, sounding vaguely like three different people speaking. Eventually, one comprehensible enough sentence came out of the jumble, clearly Swedish, clearly Emil's:
-I'll stay with him.
Then nothing, aside from a lingering feeling of deep sadness. What had that been? It definitely wasn't something from his own past. This didn't keep the sadness from feeling real and requiring him to slip out of Helena and Reynir's sight before they noticed and tried to cheer them up.

-Everything seems fine. Cecilia, we'll see each other next month. Onni, I'd like to speak with you.
Onni knew what was coming. It was yearly check-up time, which meant the doctor was about to give him the usual speech about how Lalli ate barely enough to make up for the energy he burned between meals and how little it left over for using his magic. As usual, he'd get Lalli to eat better for a span of time ranging between two weeks and a month, then he'd gradually slip back into his old habits. Cecilia left the room, and Onni took her place on the stool:
-Get over with it, already.
-Actually, what I have to tell you is different from the usual. Lalli has gained a little weight, and the right kind. However, he refused to tell me what, exactly, he had changed in his habits, so I was hoping you'd give me an answer.
Onni told him how the Swede who had moved in a month ago to find more about how Finnish magic worked apparently had the same taste in food as Lalli and was willing to make enough for both of them for breakfast and dinner.
-Ah, I remember him. He was almost as hard to examine as Lalli. Couldn't make a sudden move without risking an elbow in the ribs.

Sven looked at the steaming bowl Lalli was handing him with a raised eyebrow:
-You… cooked?
-I watched you enough times. You need to eat if you want to keep working on that tractor.
Sven gave up, cleaned his hands as much as he could, took the bowl and came to sit next to Lalli on the nearby bench. Replacing that tractor would cost a small fortune if nobody managed to repair it. Because of this, everyone with even basic knowledge of mechanics had been asked to give it a look. A week in, all the other mechanics had either given up or were more than happy to let Sven take his time with it if it meant their own turn coming a little later. The problem was a well-known one, but the known possible causes had been ruled out by those who had taken a look before him. He ate the thick soup prepared by Lalli, which was more edible than he expected. He was hungry enough to finish the bowl. As he laid his eyes on Lalli, his mind shifted to the fact that mages could somehow tell whether people were immune just from looking at them, and to the thought he'd had while double-checking for the causes others had ruled out.
-Lalli, did you ever notice something… different in the immunity of two people?
-Why are you asking this? The other day, you said that it works the way it does because it always has the same cause.
-For most of the world, it's always the same cause, I'm sure. I'm thinking some of you Finns could maybe have a different cause, that works the same way. It would explain some weird distributions of immunity some families here have. If I'm right, some of you can take part in Dagrenning, while others can't. But there is no easy way to tell the difference, because tests only check if people are immune or not. I was thinking that magic could help.
Lalli took a few moments before answering:
-So… if it's different, some would be immune like Emil, Helena and Janine, while others would be immune in a different way… somehow?
-Yes.
Lalli concentrated a few moments, his eyes closed, before opening them:
-I think I see what you mean.
Sven remembered to curb his enthusiasm until he made sure of a few things:
-Which of the two would you be, in that case?
-The same as Emil.
Lalli suddenly seemed to come to some kind of realization, and stared at him for a few moments, before going back to his meal. Sven's own mind started to think of various ways to make sure, and in the midst of them, realized this could mean that Lalli could not only give his seed for Tuuri's child if she and Reynir got their plans straightened out, but could actually have a way to prove to whoever asked that it was going to work. He still couldn't quite put a finger on what could have warranted Lalli staring at him, however.

On the way to the old slaughterhouse, the sled had been filled with explosives. On the way back, it was filled with his unconscious husband. Emil was grateful for the sled, as he'd had to transport a magically spent Lalli in far more precarious conditions in the past. This time, at least, there was a conscious mage-scout in the group. Emil still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that Helena had been the one to get the vision of the slaughterhouse giant. She hadn't been on the first Silent World expedition, and her only connection to the crew was her friends-with-benefits arrangement with Reynir, that had mostly happened because that first night in 93 had resulted in a child. Rune-embroidered coats, that they were all wearing, were their only protection against trolls and beasts coming close enough to harm them. Emil wished they had a vehicle, but the unauthorized nature of the outing meant that having one would have required stealing one. All four of them had agreed that taking care of that giant before the next cleansing campaign of Mora's surroundings was more important than any negative consequences the mission could have upon their return.

Helena stopped walking, prompting Emil and Reynir to do the same.
-Stay here.
Helena disappeared into the trees of the cleansed forest they were currently crossing to reach Mora, then came back:
-Reynir, bring Lalli to the train station and tell the people there that there are half a dozen non-immune civilians walking around without masks. Emil, I'll show you where they are. You're the only one here they may listen to.
The more academic path Lalli had taken following Tuuri's death meant that Emil was the only actual member of the Swedish military in the group. Helena took him to a vantage point from which he could observe the civilian group, that seemed to be travelling away from Mora and carrying camping supplies. If they continued in their current direction, they would hit the Silent World before the end of the day. How had had they gotten into the cleansed forest? There were scouts on the borders between the farmland and the cleansed forest exactly to prevent that kind of situation, in addition to catching any beasts escaping the patrols inside the forest itself. He quickly realized they had to have prepared to an extent, because the path they seemed to be taking went through several seldom patrolled spots. He took his coat off so his field uniform would be visible, and showed himself to the group:
-Cleanser Lieutenant Västerström from the Swedish army. Can I please know what the six of you are doing here?
The entire group seemed very annoyed upon seeing him. The oldest of the women present spoke:
-We are here because we know that whole Rash disease thing is fabrication to control the whereabouts of more than half the population! We know that this so-called "immunity" is nothing more than a seal of approval for liberty of movement! We are going to find out what you military people are hiding from us by keeping us inside walls!
What? It took a few moments for Emil to process what he had just heard. How could anyone believe the Rash didn't exist?
-You really picked the wrong target, ma'am. This guy actually had a crewmate come down with it once. For your own security, I advise you all to stay within the perimeter I set and cover your noses and mouths with any fabric you have at hand.
Upon a quick glance at the ground, Emil saw that the hikers were now almost surrounded by pieces of his coat and Helena's, cut to keep the runes intact. Helena dropped one last piece of fabric between Emil and the hikers, completing the circle. She turned out to have done so just in time, as a clearly infected wolf turned out to have been attracted by the noise. The hikers had just enough time to see it run in Helena's direction before it got close enough to get within her tattooed backup defense rune's range, catch fire, and burn fast enough to become harmless before it could get any closer to the hikers. The scene seemed to be enough to convince the entire group to cover their face. A man and woman, who seemed to be a couple, spoke at the same time:
-The tunnel!
Emil did his best to stay calm:
-What tunnel?
The couple explained how they had all come out there via digging a tunnel out of town. However, they had been so certain that beasts were a lie until a few moments ago that they hadn't put anything resembling a real door on either side of the tunnel. Now that they knew they were real, they were worried about them getting into town. They also admitted to having lied to the school upon enrolling their son, and to have passed him as immune when he actually wasn't. Emil let himself make a mess of the back of his hair, for the first time in a long time. This was going to be a long day.