Disclaimer: Turning Red and it's characters are the property of (c) Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation Studios.
Elements are borrowed from God of War (2018) and Ragnarök, owned by (c) Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment
C/W: Suggestive body movements.
(ᛊ)
Alfheim (Old Norse: Álfheimr / ᚨᛚᚠᚺᛖᛁᛗ):
(HOME of the LIGHT ELVES)
Alfheim was certainly just as naturally beautiful.
As beguiling and true in flora as would a Japanese forest of cherry blossoms. Combine that with a tropical Polynesian island environment that was both wet and moist as well as clean and fresh. Trees that were rich in color and the grass and flowers that glistened brightly with a keen sense of benevolent stance. The further they went, passing by a few stone archways, statues of prominent light elf figures of leadership stature and natural earthly inaugurations etched with murals depicting many of Alfheim's greatest histories within the area around them.
But so far, there were no light elves to be found.
However, the argument earlier was still running through everyone's minds at the moment.
"The nerve of that boy!" Ming fumed. "How does he think he is, anyway? Running his mouth at me, cursing at me and calling me names?!"
"You were the one that started it." Ping told her with a fierce tone. "Need I remind you that we were the ones busting you out of that berserker compound?"
"And not to mention, wrestling with a younger boy like some street fighter!" Wu snapped. "Have I not raised you better than that, young lady?! Roughhousing without restraint or coherence. That is really unbecoming of a Lee."
"Well, he-!"
"Doesn't matter! That's no excuse! We're not a bunch of barflies picking physical fights like wild animals!" Her mother persevered.
"Let it go, mother. Let it go." Chen rolled her eyes. "It's not important right now."
"Ow." Ming winced, sucking in air through her teeth, rubbing the still-stinging spot on her buttcheek where Stig bit her and he truly bit really hard enough for it to hurt incredibly bad.
"Damn, that kid bites really hard." She said.
"Well, serves you right." Elsa deadpanned.
"What kind of parent are you to let your child behave like that, anyway?!" screamed Wu.
At this, however, Elsa merely shook her head with an unreadable face. Her adopted son has always been a rough one for sure, even when it comes to the care of his family and friends. The more mature and more unflinchingly straightforward of her two boys.
"Stig's always been a 'take-shit-from-no-one' kind of guy." Elsa replied. "He's never allowed anything bad to happen to the people he cares about, no matter the cost."
"Very noble of him, but is the swearing really necessary?" asked Helen.
"No, but that's just how he is. He's a smart boy, regardless. But sometimes, he gets a little heated at times." Elsa shrugged. "And by the way, he's adopted."
"What?" The rest of the group chorused with surprise, sans Ming and Mei, since they remember the Norns addressing Stig with a different surname that wasn't 'Bengtsson'.
"Care to elaborate?" Wu crossed her arms, cocking an eyebrow.
"It was a long time ago." Elsa began, not without a grim atmosphere. "Me, my husband and Kris were visiting Denmark for the holidays. We were driving down a lone road through the mountains to see a friend of ours when they stumbled across a car wreck off the side of the road in a ditch."
The color from everyone's face vanished and their faces turned to horror at the direction this story was heading. Elsa sighed, but remembered it fondly.
"There were two casualties. Two adults dead in the overturned vehicle, but there was a 4-year old boy sitting near the wreck. That's how we found Stig."
This gave a lot for Ming to think about. So Stig was an orphan and the sole survivor of a car crash that claimed the life of his parents. His real parents. That kind of trauma can truly shape someone permanently. But now she had a new theory in her head. What if this was what Stig had seen during the Norns' test? What if he was shown the car wreckage where his parents had died?
"How…did the crash happen?" Lily was afraid to ask.
"I don't know." Elsa sighed. "Nobody knows when it happened or what could've caused it. Stig won't tell me. He won't even tell me what his late parents were like."
"No child should ever go through that." Shan replied sympathetically.
"But Stig is a tough one, for sure. He's mature enough to make his own choices and smart enough to look after himself." concluded Elsa.
"And don't worry. Mímir knows how to navigate, so they're in good hands over in Svartalfheim." Thrùd mentioned comfortingly.
"You know, I've been giving this whole journey some deep thought." Wu stated with her authoritative ambience returning.
"I take it you have notes?" Elsa rolled her eyes in boredom.
"I'm just saying you're going through a whole lot here just to help your son."
"I know and I don't care." said the Norwegian mother snarkily. "You're not obligated to help me, you know. The only reason you're even here is because you didn't want to be left home alone on Christmas."
"Elsa….!" Wu ran up to her and turned her to face the older woman. "Look, you're already taking a huge risk to try and enter the realm of the dead just to save your son. What I suggest is that maybe you should just leave this all be and maybe the boy will find his own way out…..eventually."
Everyone eyed the old woman with disbelief to think that she would rather leave the boy's soul in Helheim and just hope for a miracle. Like nobody can see the irony in that.
"Uh huh. So that's your strategy." Elsa, herself, was quite offended. "Just completely ignore the problem and hope it sorts itself out?"
"We're not ignoring it! We're just….well, playing it safe." The older matriarch exclaimed.
"You're full of shit." Elsa glared at her while walking away.
"E-Excuse me?!" Wu did a spit take.
"Wow, gotta really hand it to her." Lily smirked. "I really like her spirit."
"Elsa!"
"No!"
"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Wu tried to sound sincere for once. "I realize I come across as controlling and domineering most of the time, but you need to understand my reasons here. Everything I do is for my family's sake and yours."
"You mean like who you turned me away and told me that Ming didn't want me as a friend anymore?" asked Elsa snidely.
"That was for both your own goods! It was for your protection!" The elderly woman argued in defense.
"I don't need protection! I'm not some helpless and defenseless porcelain doll!" Elsa snarled back. "And I'd appreciate it very much if you didn't demean me and make me think I was the fucking problem!"
'Now why does that sound so familiar?' spoke the unasked question in the heads of both Ming and Mei respectively. Come to think of it, this sounded no different than the conflict between Ming and Kris; the former treating the latter like he was everything going wrong between the mother and daughter when the boy was doing nothing wrong at all. Hell, with this in mind, Ming would think that she's become just like her mother in several respects. Has she really become thatoverprotective of her daughter to have made the same mistakes her own mother has made?
"That…that's an oversimplification." Wu delicately stammered.
"Yeah, keep on telling yourself that." Elsa groaned, turning away from her once again.
Silence followed after that.
A tense silence that proceeded voluntarily as the rest of the walk through the forest of Alfheim. Even Thrùd didn't have the heart to break the ice. However, a new dread seized her poor heart when she thought back to when they spoke about her drinking problem. And the illusion she was shown back on Midgard when they were passing into the Norns' territory, brought back a memory that continuously echoed in her brain against her will.
"I hurt Kris once, okay?" Came her feeble voice.
Then the shell-shocked reception came forth.
"I-I'm sorry, what?"
"Come again?"
"What do you mean?"
"Elsa, what are you saying?"
"Is….this about Kris?" Mei cocked an eyebrow suspiciously.
She took a deep breath through her nostrils to mentally prepare herself for what she was about to drop on them in a heartbeat.
"Long ago, I was drunk." This wasn't going to be easy to tell, but she pressed on regardless. "Dead drunk. Kris kept asking me where his father was after he died and he was, I think, 5 or 6 at the time. Eventually, I got fed up with his questions that I just, well, snapped at him."
"What?" asked Helen, Chen, Shan, Ping and Lily, all blinking owlishly.
"Well, actually, I screamed at him more like and then I….I…..shoved him down the stairs….and broke his arm." Elsa winced with a pained tone, eyes stinging with fresh upcoming tears.
"You did WHAT?!" They all screamed with horror.
"Why the hell would you do that?!" Ming was more appalled and horrified than the rest of them as a whole.
"I don't know anymore, okay?! I was downing the bottle hard and I took it out on him when he had no idea what was going on!" Elsa yelled, guilt now evident in her voice. "I rushed him to the hospital after that and the CPS threatened to have Kris and Stig taken away and placed into foster care if I didn't straighten myself out."
Elsa collapsed on the ground, clutching her tear-stained face.
"I've tried so hard to make up for that incident. Trying to be the mother he and Stig needed. Trying to give my boys a better life. But I guess I didn't try hard enough and now he's in a fucking coma!"
She whimpered as she cried, "I need to do this. I need my child back. He and Stig are all I have left of him."
No more words were exchanged.
It was too painful to speak after the enormous emotional bomb she just dropped on their heads.
Ming and Mei were looking ready to cry themselves. Remembering back to when Elsa had a drinking problem, they were afraid it was affecting her home life negatively and it turned out to slightly be correct on a small scale. While unhealthily mourning her husband's death, Elsa had injured her son in a fit of drunken rage and it's haunted her since. And she's been trying to care for both of her sons like their father would've wanted.
And now Kris was in a coma because of Ming and Elsa is afraid of losing him just like she lost her husband. Ming allowed a tear to run down her cheek.
"Did you apologize to him at least? After the incident?" asked Helen with hope that the issue was resolved.
Elsa said nothing, but her expression spoke volumes.
"Of course you didn't." Helen facepalmed. "So you just played it off as you 'just being a little upset' and then acted like it never happened?"
"Helen, lay off!" Ping barked at her.
"It was 10 years ago!" Elsa shouted, red in the face and cheeks stained with her tears.
"Well…" When Thrùd stepped into the conversation, she started to look remorseful herself. "Since we're getting our personal demons off our chests, maybe it would be fair if I contributed some of my own."
"What do you mean?" asked Mei. "What have you ever done?"
"Well, let me start with this." Thrùd exhaled. "Valkyries. They're amazing, right? I've always wanted to be one of them. However, my mother didn't think I had what it took and neither did my grandfather. And I really want to prove that I was valkyrie material. I stood by my father and grandfather's side during Odin's conquest across the Nine Realms. I helped out with everything, all the pain and suffering of all the other Realms and the near-extinction of the Jötnar, I wanted grandfather's approval. I needed it, even if it meant taking part in conquering the Nine Realms with him. I wanted to be a valkyrie so bad. But needless to say,...it wasn't worth it."
"So you thought your dream was more important than the suffering you helped cause?" baffled Elsa. "All that time you sought Odin's favor just to be a valkyrie?"
"I was a different person then. Even if I did become a valkyrie, it wouldn't undo the death and havoc I had wrought alongside grandfather." Thrùd said morosely. "But…that's not all."
"...okay?" said Elsa.
"When I fell in love with the mortal viking, I wanted children with him because I was fated to sire half-breed children with a mortal to ensure the continuation of the Æsir's future after Ragnarök. But he wasn't ready to become a father, you see. No matter what, he refused to give me a child. But I was desperate. One night, I snuck into his home after he had gone to bed, tied him to the bedpost and…I…..uh, forced myself onto him."
At this, everyone looked at her with disgust.
"Excuse me?" scoffed Wu.
"I….impregnated myself against his will and forced our two children on him." Thrùd let out a strangled noise. "...he did warm up to the children over time, but it didn't change anything. I did want to have children of my own, but I just wish I didn't have to…you know…."
"Great." Elsa said with an emotionless stare. "So I'm related to a god, a viking, and a rapist."
"Ouch, but yeah. I earned that one." Thrùd took it with shame.
"Well, now I feel less bad for you when you said you got thrown off a cliff." Shan frowned at the Asgardian warrior girl.
"I mean, breaking your child's arm is one thing…." Wu gave a look towards Elsa, then a harder one to Thrùd. "...but rape? Not to mention allowing so much horror and destruction to be wrought on a bunch of innocent people. That's another."
"Look, I'm not perfect. Okay? I can admit that. Nobody can ever be perfect." Thrùd explained anxiously. "And there's no making up for the things I've done. The only thing I can do now is…is to be true to myself."
Suddenly, a being jumped down from above, landing right behind Thrùd. It had pale skin, wore bright robe-like garments adored with golden armor plating, a golden face mask and had tiny horns on its head.
A light elf foot soldier.
"Stop right there." He ordered them, aiming a spear at them.
"Oh, not again." Elsa groaned in irritation. Here they all were being held at a submissive position with a bunch of natives pointing deadly weapons at them in a threatening manner.
More foot soldiers appeared from out of their hiding spots and surrounded the group in a circle with more spears, ready to strike when provoked. Everyone stood together and obeyed their unspoken commands to remain still and not make any sudden, funny movements. The Lees found it easier to control their pandas at this rate once they appeared with their weapons since this wasn't the first time it's happened to them, so you could say they were mentally prepared for this turn-of-events.
"Leave them!" commanded an older, graceful feminine voice loudly and all the foot soldiers obeyed with fast compliance, withdrawing their weapons and clearing a way for the source of the voice to march through.
Approaching the group in a gentle, but stern fashion was a female light elf undoubtedly a royal leader of the race, judging by her attire; white-pale bluish elegant regal robes decorated with gold trimmings, arms and legs adorned with golden armor plating like the other foot soldiers, a golden face mask of her own, but one that designed with a crown-like headdress. And she stared at the mortals and Asgardian in their home realm with a staggeringly intense look of judgemental diligence.
"What brings you here, Midgardians?" asked Alva, the Light Elf queen.
"Uh, we're sorry to intrude, your royal highness." Thrùd spoke up right away on behalf of the whole group. "We're just here because we need something."
"Is that all?" Alva remarked, curiously patient. "Is this about the Bengtsson boy in Helheim? Yes, I've heard tell about that."
"Yes, I'm his mother." Elsa chimed in. "And I'm here to get him back out."
"Hmm, you've got guts, Midgardian, for entering the realm of the dead." Alva pointed out in her unwavering poised manner. "But I need more concrete proof that you're truly willing to proceed with this journey. Any mortal man is doomed to eternal rest upon entry into the afterlife. And I need to know you're not here to steal from us!"
Instinctively, Ming was about to step forward to plead their case, but Mei stopped her.
"Mei-Mei, what-"
"Let me handle this, mom." She told her strongly.
Her mother was hesitant and she was still worried for her. But this time, she needed to trust her own daughter and let her do things for a chance instead of doing everything for her just because she doesn't believe Mei is capable of handling it herself. So she just stepped back and gave her daughter a reluctant nod.
"Your majesty?" Mei stepped forth.
Alva turned her attention onto her and Mei fought down the tingles she received from that judgmental stare alone.
"If I may, I'd rather prove we're serious….in a different way."
"Very well." The Light Elf queen permitted, taking a step back.
In her mind, Mei knew this was gonna make her look silly, but she didn't have the time to care. Kris needed her right now. Desperate times call for desperate measures. And the measures she was about to take were questionable on paper, but it was all about relying on her own skills and everything she knows in order to keep moving forward. So playing one of her favorite 4*Town songs, 'Nobody Like U' in her head, she took a deep breath to focus and concentrate.
And then, she allowed her body to move in that dance move that she enjoyed watching her beloved band do when they performed on stage on television. All the members of the group eyed her curiously, both confused and dumbfounded as did the foot soldiers.
Alva, however, was quite passive.
And then Mei began to sing the lyrics with a harmonious singing voice.
"~ Yeah, ooh!
Yeah!
I've never met nobody like you
Had friends, and I've had buddies, it's true
But they don't turn my tummy the way you do
I've never met nobody like you
Oh, yeah
Yeah!
You're never not on my mind, oh my, oh my
I'm never not by your side, your side, your side
I'm never gon' let you cry, oh, cry, don't cry
I'll never not be your ride or die, alright…~"
Needless to say, this was the most unexpected.
Seeing Mei move her body in such an odd, somewhat titillating manner while singing a song from her favorite boy band. All the adults failed to grasp the gravity of Mei's display here as did the light elves. However, the foot soldiers, despite failing to understand the song from the modern world, they actually started bobbing their heads to the lyrics, much to everyone's surprise.
All the aunties in the group looked at each other, giving each other flummoxed and pondering the situation, then shrugged, deciding there was no harm in playing along. It did seem to be working at least and Mei's song did actually sound pretty catchy to them even though it didn't add up to their own respective taste in music. Then each of them started to follow Mei's lead. All four of them moved their hips in a synchronized, rhythmic style, now beginning, but slowly, getting into the beat.
Ming remembered that dance move. The same one that Mei did to taunt her back at the SkyDome, following her twerking her butt in her face. But this was Mei's thing, not hers and she just needed to respect that. So giving a shrug of acceptance, Ming, too, started swirling her own hips, joining in on the dance number her daughter was doing whilst the others, mainly Wu, looked on in disbelief at what was happening before their eyes.
All of her family members dancing in such an outlandish way it was almost criminal. All of them dancing around like they were at a bachelorette party.
Wu growled to herself in annoyance and facepalmed. This was just too embarrassing for her to take.
"~ Let's call it what is is, it's a masterpiece
Got a whole lotta love for them city streets
Tonight, is the place to be
Got a big boom box and a new CD
Come on, everybody, let's tear it up
If you want mad skills, you can share with us
(Come on) I want everybody to stop and stare
And you know why, it's me
Woo!
Uh, it's too good
Yeah
Let's go!
You're never not on my mind, oh my, oh my
I'm never not by your side, your side, your side
I'm never gon' let you cry, oh cry, don't cry
I'll never not be your ride, or die, alright
Li-li-li-li-li-li-like you
Li-li-li-li-li-li-like you
Li-li-li-li-li-li-like you
Like you, like you
Li-li-li-li-li-li-like you
Li-li-li-li-li-li-like you
Li-li-li-li-li-li-like you
Like you, like you
I've never met nobody like you
Had friends and I've had buddies, it's true
But they don't turn my tummy the way you do
I've never met nobody like you
You're never not on my mind, oh my, oh my
I'm never not by your side, your side, your side
I'm never gon' let you cry, oh cry, don't cry
I'll never not be your ride or die, alright! ~"
And Mei finishes the dance number off with a twirl, a cartwheel that she does so successfully after months of practice and a slide on the knees right in front of the Light Elf queen, panting and holding her pose while waiting for a reaction. Anything.
Everyone looked straight towards Alva, who had remained still and silent the whole time, observing the dance number with some level of intrigue. Ming, for her part, felt weird about doing that same crass dance she's witnessed Mei and that boy band of hers do before and while she won't say it out loud, she felt…a bit liberated. Although there was a thin line between her fascinations and Mei's, Ming increasingly started to feel a sense of empowerment from that dance.
As for the Light Elf queen, she finally gave them her critique.
"Quite an entertaining performance. Peculiar and quite frivolous, but entertaining nonetheless." Alva spoke to them all with admiration. "And you've all caught me in a good mood today, so I will help you. Come with me if you will."
Alva and her subjects took their leave and gestured for the group to follow behind them while the others were unbelievably taken aback, especially Mei, who was quite afraid that it wasn't going to work. You can even tell Ming had no words for how well her daughter handled that.
"Huh, that was easy." Mei shrugged.
Down the pristine clear and magnificently azure river they all went, rowing on boats together. They were divided into three separate boats rowing along the river together as Stig, Roar and Rudolf rowed with Svir and Thrum while Jin rode with Týr, Mímir and Tom and Adam rode with Charlie and (reluctantly) Ratatoskr. The river water looked so clean and so grime-free that it was practically good enough to bath in or drink from. From their boat, Mímir shared stories from his original home.
"Oh, ah remember an abundance of known creatures from mah auld lands." He explained vividly.
"So you're from another country, you say?" Jin gently asked.
"Ah'm of Celtic origin, lad." stated the head of Mímir. "And the creatures ah've known there are like none ye've ever seen. But ah'm you recognize them from certain tales still told as of today."
"Wait, you mean like goblins, fairies, ogres, trolls, that sort of thing? They exist, too?" Tom asked with a growing burst of curiosity since he's studied fantastical creatures during his profession as a folklorist.
"Aye, an' fairies who are quite mischievous in nature, griffins, gnomes, dragons an' even unicorns."
"Unicorns, too?!" Tom shrieked. "Um, sorry. Say, in that case, I've been told that my girlfriend's daughter has, like, this obsession with unicorns. Is there any chance-"
"Ah wouldn't recommend it, brother." Mímir interrupted, knowing what he was going to ask. "Unicorns will not make great pets. As beautiful n' majestic as unicorns come and go, they are also highly territorial an' they're known t' panic very quickly. See, those horns o' theirs are not just for healin' purposes, mind ye. The tips o' them are so incredibly sharp, they can pierce through yer body like swords."
Both Tom and Jin gave shared looks of both horror and shock at the alarming true facts behind the pretty and adorable mythical creature that has been beloved by little children, mostly girls. To think that something so mildly radiant and graceful in appearance would actually be a dangerous wild and feral animal would bring anyone's world crashing down on their heads.
"In fact, I encountered a unicorn mahself once when ah was younger." Mímir continued. "Ah was so entranced by its natural beauty that when I got too close, it charged straight at me and plunged its horn right through mah left leg and gave me a huge scar that ah would show you now if ah still my body."
"Bummer…" Tom bemoaned.
"You lied to me!" Rudolf pulled out the unicorn figurine and yelled at it, throwing it back into his backpack in anger.
"You know, I've always wanted a unicorn myself." Svir responded. "Them horses with the tusks on their head."
"Oh, yeah. I bet they'd made a pleasant bed-mate." Thrum remarked derisively.
"Better than you." Svir shot back at him. "You snore like a dying cow."
"I do not!" His brother argued back, poking him with the handle of his oar.
"Yes, you do! Every night I hear…" Svir made a loud snoring noise that sounded more similar between croaking or a death rattle. "It's like….it's like, I dunno, there's a hive of wild wasps living inside our bedroom."
"Well, maybe you should try wearing cotton in your ears." Thrum snarked.
"Maybe I should launch you outta this fucking boat right now!"
"Boy, what a real class act you guys are." Stig rolled his eyes at the pair's half-witted antics.
"So, regardin' our trip into Niðavellir,..." Mímir began, not wanting anymore guff out of the two dark elves. "May ah suggest we see the brothers, Eitri and Brokk."
"Will they help us?" asked Adam.
"Oh, ah believe they will, brother." The God of Wisdom spoke with conviction. "Oot of all their dwarven kin, they are the most masterful craftsmen in all the Nine Realms in par with their less neighborly rivals, the Sons of Ivaldi. In fact, they're the ones who built Thor's hammer, Mjölnir."
"What? Seriously?" asked Jin, taken aback. "So the thunder god's hammer was built by dwarves?"
"Yeah, there's no way a weapon that powerful can be built by tiny little people." said Charlie.
"Actually, it was. I've read stories about that during my time as a folklorist." Tom clarified.
"Aye, brother." Mímir mentioned with a fun gleam in his eyes. "See, Loki, the sly ol' gumby, pulled a prank on Sif by shearin' off all the lass's hair and Thor, t' no surprise, did not handle it very well."
"Bit over the top reaction there." murmured Stig.
"So Loki sought out the dwarves to replace Sif's hair by pittin' Eitri and Brokk against the Sons of Ivaldi in a competition t' see who will make th' finest treasures for the gods. The end result? Sif got her new golden hair, Thor got his hammer and Freyr, Freya's brother, received a golden boar and a ship that could fold int' a small cloth and Odin obtained his spear Gungnir and a ring that duplicates itself every ninth night."
"Oh. Wow." Rudolf said all still and dazed. "What does that mean?"
"Yeah, what purpose does that last one serve, anyway?" asked Roar, scratching his head. "A golden ring that multiplies itself."
"More rings, more gold, ah suppose." suggested Mímir. "By the way, what about ye, brother?"
"Who? Me?" Jin realized the head was gesturing to him with his eyes.
"Aye. Know of a storm god from yer culture, laddie?"
"I'm not really into mythology, so I….don't know." Jin shrugged.
"I do." Tom, the folklorist, spoke right away. "You're Chinese, right? So in Chinese myth, there's the one called Leigong who commands the thunder with a drum and mallet. According to Taoism, he is ordered by heaven to punish mortals guilty of secret crimes and have used their knowledge of Taoism for evil. While he commands thunder, his wife, Dianmu, commands the lightning who is said to use flashing mirrors to send lightning bolts from the sky."
"Fascinating." Jin gasped.
"Hmm, oh, yes. Ah believe ah've heard slivers of those tales before." Mímir said honestly, though he isn't too familiar with the Chinese pantheon.
"In Japan, where my family's from, we have Raijin of the Shinto religion. He has drums, too. Den-den daiko drums with tomoe symbols on them, to be exact. They say he stands on a cloud in the sky while beating on the drums with hammers to create the sound of thunder."
"Now that one ah know of. Ah heard he's a fierce sort, but not at all whence ye git to know 'im."
"What is it with storm gods and hammers?" Stig sighed with a soft murmur.
Jin then decided to change the subject since there was something that's been boggling his noggin for a long while, something that he needed to make sure of that regarded Mei and Kris. He remembered her speaking about the boy in such a flattering manner and he knew for a fact that the girl had butterflies in her stomach thinking about him, but did Kris feel the same way about her?
It was his job and responsibility as a parent to know whether or not his own daughter was jumping into a one-sided relationship and setting herself up for disappointment. But from what she said about him, the boy didn't sound very much like a bad influence. There was something about him that really made Mei feel more like herself and this image her mother projects onto her. The love she had for Kris, it had to be powerful enough for all of them to be journeying through fantastical realms of mythical gods and creatures of legend in an ancient world where the boy's family heritage originated from in order to rescue him from the afterlife.
"Hey, Stig, right?" Jin asked the boy in question.
"Yeah?" asked the goth sharply.
"I've been wondering…."
"Yeah?"
"Is Kris, well,...in love with my daughter?" Jin asked with a slight stammer.
Stig briefly looked at the man in the eye for a blink-and-you'll-miss-it second, but then he sighed, looking downcasted. Somehow, somewhere in his mind, he had an inkling this glaring question would come up eventually.
"Yes." He answered. "Yes, he is. He's been in love with her for a long time. Sometimes, he'll ride the bus to school each morning with her."
"I knew it." The father of Mei chirped.
"But every afternoon, he thinks I never noticed, but he comes home in a sad sack. He tries to find subtle ways to vent out his frustrations and keep them at a minimum. The frustrations he gets from putting up with Mei's mom at the temple every day."
"Uh…oh." Jin was speechless, admittedly not a tad bit surprised. "Well, I can't really blame him. My wife hasn't been easy to deal with or get along with for that matter, especially if Mei is involved. She's been so hellbent on protecting her daughter no matter the cost, even if it meant forcing her into this mold of perfection. And she's been known to jump to conclusions on several occasions."
"Like Devon?" asked Roar with a deadpan.
"Well, yes." Jin sucked in air. "In fairness, Mei drew flirty pictures of a kid she barely knew and Ming took it as a sign and not a very good one. But Ming still feels bad about her actions that night."
"Say, what did happen then?" asked Mímir, suddenly curious.
"Well, Ming drove Mei down to the Daisy Mart and basically tore into the cashier boy, accusing him of rape or molestation. But Mei tells me that she only saw the boy once and she only thought she looked cute."
"Not sure o' what most o' that means, but ah feel bad for the lad in that respect." The severed head of the God of Wisdom noted.
No one realized this at all, but as they were rowing down the river, a group of figures were secretly eyeing them from afar.
Another couple of minutes of rowing down the pleasant blueness of the river, the undergrowth and the trees around them became increasingly scarce within their peripheral vision. Clouds were starting to form in the sky and block out the sun. They were now passing through a field of geysers and there came forth a smell. A very odd and raunchy smell. One that smelled of eggy, methane that would come from rotting corpses.
Sulfur.
However, Tom figured the smell to be from a different source as he whacked Jin with his oar with annoyance.
"Hey! It's not me!" He defended.
"Yeah, you smell that? It means we're getting close." Svir told them as he rowed a little faster to make time, unbothered by the smell.
"Man, that stinks." Roar complained.
They kept rowing and rowing until they were coming close to a large wooden, thick-layered gate in the river straight up ahead that was for sure the entrance to the city of the dwarves with small lookout towers on either end. After getting close enough, the two dark elves halted their boat to create a wide berth between themselves and the large gateway and those in the other boats did the same and all three boats floated on the water surface.
NIÐAVELLIR
The Home of the Dwarves
"Alright, let us do the talking." Svir told the humans.
"Yeah, we do stuff. We know things." added Thrum, though his brother elbowed him in the face.
"Hello!" Svir hollered at the top of his lungs, trying to call out for whomever was guarding the gateway into Niðavellir. Minutes and minutes later, a dwarf came into view donned in armor.
"Hello? Yes?...Well, shit." The dwarf guard groaned at seeing them at the dwarven home's doorstep. The two idiots that have been forced to harvest crops for them.
"How you doing?" Thrum called out. "What's happening, my man?"
"A little early to be delivering the goods, don't you think, dark elves?" sassed the dwarf guard.
"Oh, about that, you see, we wanted to give these mortals a grand tour." Svir explained.
Stig facepalmed.
"Is that so?" The miniature guard didn't look convinced.
"You bet! These guys want to have a gander at the city of the dwarves. Mind asking the man in charge if we could come in just for a spell?" asked Svir with a big smile.
"Well, I'll ask him, but we both know what he'll say to that." said the dwarf without humor.
"Come on. We're pals with the guy. He'll understand."
"That you're trying to sneak inside? The nerve!"
"Well, can we at least come inside anyway? Just to allow the Midgardians to see the city for themselves?" asked Svir, growing increasingly desperate.
"Of course not!" The small guard rebutted in refusal. "If it's dark elves they're with, no entry for them!"
All the mortals present in their little group groaned in irritation and despair. They've come this far and the dwarves won't let them in.
"Huh. So much for that." Stig jabbed at the two rambunctious dark elves.
"If you don't let us in, we'll have no choice but to storm your city and take you all under siege!" threatened Svir, which started to worry everyone.
"Yeah, we'll have you hanged, drawn and quartered, every single one of you!" Thrum joined in too eagerly. "No? How about a beheading, then? A blood eagle, anyone?"
"What are you…?!" Týr exclaimed with annoyance.
"You don't scare us, you arka, eldhúsfífl dungas! You shit-faced sod-mouthed vesingrs think you can waltz over here like you own us?! Hell no! We may be small to you, but you weasels are just as intimidating to us as a cricket passing gas in Niflheim!"
'Man, I love this place' Stig chuckled mentally.
"Quite the performance." Ratatoskr commented with a dull shrug.
"Now listen here, little man-!" Svir was about to fly off the handle at the shorty guard giving him smack, but was interrupted by another taunting declaim from the other end.
"I don't want to hear from you no more, you backless, brainless, imbecilic, raggabrash hog-snoggler! I spit on your grave, you egregious, elephantine-faced scobberlotcher! Your mother was a fine pair of spread legs for your father's delight!"
Not a word.
Not a peep.
Not a sound.
Nothing.
Silence.
…a very awkward kind.
"Is there someone there we can speak with?" Jin tried to reason.
"No! Now you lot skedaddle on out of here before we inform the All-Father of this immediately!" ordered the dwarf guard, not wanting to listen to them anymore.
"You wouldn't dare!" Thrum gasped with horror.
"Oh, see if I don't!" The guard dared with braggadocio. "And don't you two come back until the next waxing moon when you've got the stuff, you hear? Or else I'm damn-as-hell certain that it'll be an extra three years added to your sentence!"
"Let's just go." Týr tried to get the two harebrained elves to just leave it, but they wouldn't listen. In fact, Svir suddenly jumped to his feet on the boat, causing it to wobble around as he moved so suddenly, forcing the teens on the boat to keep it from capsizing.
"Alright, shorty, that's it! I've tried to be nice, but yo-!"
WHACK!
"Ow! Really, rocks!? You're gonna throw rocks now?!" Svir screamed as a hard stone struck him right in the face, knocking him back from the sheer impact for such a small person.
More rocks were thrown and damn, did they hurt.
Another dwarf guard came in to join in on the action, tossing more rocks or anything else hard they could find at the annoying dark elves to show them away and so everyone else got the message before the two lunkheads did. Each boat grabbed their oars with bullet speed and rapidly made their boats to a 360 turn and they steered away from the gateway while the dwarves laughed their asses off as they retreated.
And they rowed and they rowed and they rowed until they were just far enough away from the gate and those pesky dwarves. They all stopped to catch their breaths and take a moment to consider any other options. That was basically their one chance to get in and they wouldn't even let them in. After all, they finally arrived at the city of the dwarves where they were supposed to go, but circumstances have yet to slow their progress.
Complications, complications.
"Well, that's just fucking perfect." Adam growled. "Now what?"
"I told you they'd be difficult to reason with." Týr said matter-of-factly. "And they don't trust strangers right away."
"Boy, this is really a pickle." Tom scratched his head with disappointment.
"Wait." Rudolf gasped when the lightbulb lit up. "I have an idea!"
"Not now, Dolf." Stig rolled his eyes.
"No, really." The Inuit boy insisted. "Who here likes movies?"
"Are you fucking serious?" asked the goth boy with disbelief. How could he be talking about movies right now?"
"I do." Charlie raised his hand.
"What's a movie?" asked Svir.
THE TEMPLE OF LIGHT
It was into the foundation known as the Temple of Light where everyone was taken to. The exterior design of the structure was, by all means, phenomenally built at best and had such an otherworldly look about it that made the Midgardian visitors wonder just how truly big and epic their world really was on a massive scale. So many fantastic worlds such as this one. Once inside, everyone noticed many other light elves from within the temple and they bowed in respect to Alva as they walked by as they would when in the presence of royalty.
Inside of the temple was a magical megastructure that fired a large beam of bright and hypnotically-luminescent light straight up into the sky known as the Light of Alfheim. A powerful light that not only gleamed, but also - if you're quiet enough - you can almost hear faint voices. The voices of those that came before and those that have lived their lives until their time came. Like an echo of the past reverberating off the walls of the present that remains with you for all time until your time on this Earth has been spent. However, Alva has already strictly instructed them to keep their distance from the light as anyone who gets too close to the light gets drawn in and trapped within an endless, inescapable purgatory that can claim your soul if you remain there for too long. Of course, the humans were stunned to hear that the light elves had their own variation of an afterlife of deceased spirits from within their own realm of Alfheim. Perhaps it suffices to say that Valhalla and Helheim aren't the only places where you'd go after you die. However, the Light of Alfheim is most likely for those within the Nine Realms and specifically Midgardians.
Once inside and everyone was settled, the humans were left to their devices with Thrùd by their side while the light elves did their work elsewhere in constructing what they needed for their journey into Helheim. Suddenly, Alva decided that the humans must need some substance after enduring such a long quest.
"Here, try this. You must be famished." Alva handed Ming a brightly-colored fruit that was round, but in a shape that was indeterminate, so the Asian-Canadian woman eyeballed the thing with hesitance.
"What is it?" She asked.
"It's grown in Vanaheim. Good for protein and fiber." The Light Elf queen explained.
Ming still found it risky to try a new type of fruit she isn't familiar with, but admittedly, she was getting a little peckish for a while since she hadn't eaten in a while since she and the others had arrived in the Nine Realms. So she accepted it and took a bite out of it. It tasted pretty decent. Obviously, it was a kind of citrus fruit like grapefruit.
"That's really good, actually." Ming hummed with satisfaction, taking more bites.
"Eat it carefully, Midgardian. That stuff will upset your stomach if you eat it too fast." warned Alva as she departed.
Ming just chuckled nervously, but nonetheless did what she was told.
"What was the song you were singing back there anyway?" asked Thrùd inquisitively.
"It's called 'Nobody Like U' from my favorite band of all time, 4*Town." Mei proudly said with a smile. "One of their biggest hits."
"4*Town?" Thorsdottir then asked with deep thought, scratching her head. "Um, okay then."
"And that's the concert my son went to with his friends?" asked Elsa knowingly.
"Yeah." Mei nodded eagerly, fighting back a frown at the remembrance of the dreaded events that unfolded. "Robaire, Jesse, Tae Young, Aaron Z. and Aaron T."
"Why are they even called 4*Town if there's five of them?" asked Elsa, cocking an eyebrow.
"I said the same exact thing!" Ming cried with an amused, smug grin.
"Let it go already, mom!" Mei yelled at her in annoyance. "I think it has something to do with the fact there are two members with the same name as Aaron. Robaire, Tae Young, Jesse and Aaron. The both of them. Get it?"
"I guess that makes…a little bit of sense." Elsa shrugged, scratching her chin admitting some truth to that. "I mean, I do suppose '4*Town' does have better ring to it than '5*Town'."
"Says you." Wu snarked. "4 is the most unlucky number."
"But unlucky for you, I don't believe in that stuff, because I simply don't care." Mei snarked back at her.
"Mei!" Her grandmother balked for that biting sass, but the girl ignored her.
"And if you ask me, Robaire is definitely the hottest and the cutest among them." Mei sighed dreamily.
"Cuter than Kris?" Lily taunted with a smirk.
"Well, no!" Mei blushed madly. "I mean, I'm still Robaire's biggest fan, but…uh…."
"We get it, Mei-Mei. You're in love with that boy." Chen joined in with a teasing smirk of her own. "It's already completely obvious."
"I know." The formerly-nerdy girl admitted, since there was clearly no point in denying it. "I really am."
"Kris had the hots for you, too, you know?" Elsa even smirked herself. "Which is why he'd often ride the bus to school only because you'd be there."
"Really?" Mei warmly asked, blushing again.
"Has he even confessed yet?!" Helen demanded, wanting the details so bad like a high school teen desperate for how her friend's hot date went the night before.
"No. Neither have I." Mei's warm feeling disappeared as did her blush. "But on the night of Tyler's party before disaster struck and my mom fired him, I think he was going to tell me something. He….he never got the chance."
Ming looked away. And to think she was cruel enough to get between such a cute, budding romance and be the reason it never came to pass. But hopefully after all this, they may finally be able to admit their feelings for each other at last. That is….if Kris is even willing to forgive and forget. Once again, Mei never stood up for Kris whenever Ming bossed him around and treated him like shit up, even when he was let go for the dumbest reason. Kris may not be able to get over that so easily.
"Well, if you could try to charm him." Ping said with mischief in her eyes.
"Um, w-what?" With the sound of those words, Mei's blush returned three shades redder than before.
"Yeah." Lily agreed with a nod. "Move those hips around like you did before, only more enticingly. Perhaps give him a little sneak peak at what you're packing from behind."
As a demonstration whilst she spoke, the plump young woman smiled impishly as she gave her wide hips a good, hypnotic swing in a circle and the other aunties watched in amusement - Wu with disgust and disbelief - as she gently and slowly moved her body like butter into a little slightly-provocative dance as she turned and gave her big, round derrière a good, hypnotic shake in a manner that (to her, that is) would make most men drool over her. The reactions were varied. Ming looked everywhere else while swallowing her spit, Wu averted her eyes while facepalming and Mei had no such words to properly describe her state right now.
Sure, she enjoyed gyrating her body and shaking her admittedly sizable butt every now and then, but seeing an older woman do it, much less her own relative, that would be an image that you would not want stuck on your brain forever.
"Tom loves it when I do this." Lily said as she continued her shamelessly seductive hip-swing and butt shake. "Makes him go crazy. Maybe Kris is into this kind of thing."
"Oh, Lily." Ping pinched the bridge of her nose, but didn't stop an unrepentant chuckle from escaping her lips.
"You know, you do something similar when we-" Shan started to say to his wife, who then instinctively covered his mouth before he could give away anything personal.
"Shan! You know that's between us!" Ping warned him.
"Oh, by the ancestors." Wu let out a long-suffering groan.
"Pfft, booty-shaking is so last year." Helen rolled her own eyes. "What I would do is this."
And by 'this', she means doing a sensual walk, making sure to swing her hips side-to-side, which would bring some attention to her own swaying buttocks. Then stopping to strike a flirtatious pose and flipped her head around to give a half-lidded stare and a sly smirk.
Then came the pickup line.
"Hey, handsome. Like what you see?"
Like Lily's twerking, the mixed reactions to Helen's suggestion came in varied forms. Ming and Mei were both increasingly uncomfortable, Elsa looked like she was giving up on life, Lily rolled her eyes at her and Chen expressed her discomfort with the gagging gesture. It was just something Helen picked up from Jaz on how she would put the move on boys she thought were cute.
"Boo! You stink, Helen!" Lily jabbed at her.
"Oh, like you didn't think of it either, bubble butt!" Helen shot back, a bit immaturely.
"At least I have a butt!"
"Step aside, girls. Allow us." Ping stood up next, gently pushing the two petty arguing women apart before a catfight can ensue as she, alongside Chen, both made their way over to Mei and stood in front of their niece. "I think a better way of attracting a particular boy's attention and affection would be to play it more smoothly."
"Yeah, that's right. Maybe take the time to understand his feelings, think about how he makes you feel and how you make him feel in return. Because some boys love a girl who is willing to be more open."
"Like Charlie?" Ping jeered playfully.
"Oh, yes. Me and Charlie share lots of things in common. We both love Bowie, that's one thing." nodded Chen.
Honestly, Mei couldn't tell which was weirder. Seeing Lily shaking her buttocks or her aunties teaching her….seduction. Either way, this embarrassing feeling they were giving her caused her panda to come forth. At this, the strict and dignified Wu decided that this had gone far enough, marching over to Mei.
"Alright, that's enough, ladies." She snapped at them getting between her panda-ified granddaughter and the other auntie squad with her rough, peremptory tone. "There will be no silly pickup lines or….butt-shaking. Our Mei is still 14-years old, she's not old enough to be wooing some…boy."
"Hey, she can decide for herself." Ping argued lightly.
"You Midgardians are so peculiar." Thrùd commented.
Then Elsa started wondering, wondering about the events that unfolded at the dreaded SkyDome concert months prior. Mei and the others had already given their own word on what had gone down, which she believed was complete and utter nonsense, but now that she's seen and heard everything, it's better now that she received the full scope and she was ready to believe it now.
"So now that y'all are done haunting my nightmares, if you guys don't mind me asking, what exactly happened at the concert months ago?" Elsa asked everyone. "You know, just want to know the full story behind it. Did my son really….transform into Thor?"
"Yes, he did." Mei nodded. "I'm not so sure why Kris was even there at the concert to begin with. Although, I did invite him to come with us to the concert days before."
"Well, as you already knew, it was his birthday that day and your friends showed up at our house to invite Kris and his friends to the concert. They said they wanted Kris to…..I dunno, take your place since you weren't going to go."
That made Mei really forlorn when she remembered the night of Tyler's party after her mother found out about their 4*Town operation and since then, she had no choice but to go along with the ritual for her family's sake. It was no surprise, but definitely sad to think that her friends decided to go to the concert without her and apparently, they must've invited Kris's friends along with them.
"Yeah, that." Mei winced. "That was the same night as the ritual."
"To seal your panda away." Elsa knowingly stated.
"Yes." The girl nodded, turning human again once more.
"But she couldn't do it." said Ping on behalf of her niece. "She chose not to go along with it."
"Even after all the work we had put into to make everything go according to plan and Mei-"
"Mei can choose for herself." Ping snapped at her mother.
"Sealing the panda away is not a choice!" Wu shouted. "I know that, you know that, we all know that!"
"But maybe the red pandas aren't all that bad?" said Lily with a shrug.
"Quiet, Lily!" The old woman barked at her, then looked at Ming with a stern gaze. "And that husband of yours just had to fill your daughter's head with such nonsense!"
"Hey! Leave him out of this!" Ming shouted back at her.
"Anyway….!" Mei shut both of them up. "I still went to the concert, but my friends were upset with me, but they agreed to let it go for the time being for the concert's sake. And then that's when my mom showed up with her giant Pandazilla."
"Mei!" Ming stressfully gripped her head in her hands. "I thought we agreed not to discuss that part!"
"She has a right to know!" Mei continued. "And after she screamed at Kris and broke his guitar, the storm came in out of nowhere."
"It's true!" Helen agreed, violently nodding. "It was crazy! The weather report didn't even predict any thunderstorms!"
"He shot a lightning bolt in Ming's face!" Chen then said, which made Ming cower helplessly; her eye twitching and her lips tightening.
"Then there was this symbol." said Ping, pointing at the spot on her forehead. "Right here. It just suddenly appeared on there."
"But the scariest part?" Lily went next. "It looked like it was being carved into his skin, making streams of…bloodleak down his face and he didn't even wince in pain. You really should've seen it. It was, like, next-level horror movie stuff!"
"Is….that why I found that bleeding scar on his forehead in the hospital that night?" asked Elsa suspiciously, mixed with horror.
Simultaneously and in synchronized fashion, Ming, Ping, Chen, Lily, Helen and Mei all nodded with sympathetic and worried expressions, all equally unable to use their words. Looks like Stig wasn't fibbing after all.
Elsa choked on her spit and said, "I was afraid he did that to himself…or maybe one of you did."
"Wha-!? Elsa, we would NEVER do that to anyone!" That made Lily shriek with horror at the notion of doing something so horrendous to a child, which made her panda out. She then approached Elsa to look her in the eye. "Maybe I did accidentally punch my ex-husband in the face once when I thought he was a burglar, but I'd never hurt anyone on purpose! I'm telling you, that scar appeared on Kris's head by itself!"
"Okay, okay, I get the picture!" Elsa gently pushed her furry face back when she got too close.
"Lily, chill! Do it with me. Chill." Ping came to her panda daughter's side and helped her settle down until she poofed back to normal.
"I'm accusing anyone here of anything." replied Elsa.
"Did, uh…" Mei started to ask nervously. "Did Kris ever show anything strange going on with him before the concert?"
"Well, after the party incident, Kris just…..shut down. He had been completely unresponsive ever since then." Elsa explained, blank-faced and morose. "No matter what I did or what I said to him, Kris just wouldn't speak or react in literally any way possible. Not a single sound of him and wouldn't even look me in the eye most of the time and he would just…sit there quietly, not moving a muscle like a living statue. His psychiatrist says he's been blocking himself off. You know, creating a personal bubble. But after a while, I chalked it up to him being fed up with the world, fed up with just….everything."
Everyone gasped in shock, minus Ming and Mei. At the concert, Kris's friend told her of Kris's persistent vow of silence and Elsa had alluded to it to Ming a while back. Without exception, Ming knew she was part of the reason for him becoming introverted and standoffish, pushing everyone he loves aside and refusing to communicate. She's already hurt that boy so much and so much Kris has been suffering from it and firing him that night, must have been that last straw for him up until his guitar was destroyed.
Because Kris was the real victim.
"Are you sure he never spoke again after that night?" winced Ming, hoping that the issue wasn't too severe. "Have you not overheard him say anything by himself at all?"
"No. I've stopped by his door many times and listened for a sound or a voice, but nothing. Still not a single word." Elsa shook her head, letting a tear fall down her cheek.
SLAP!
Helen angrily whacked Ming at the back of the head. Ming yelped in pain, but accepted it nonetheless.
"As for the whole SkyDome thing, well, I always knew you were the 'act first, think later' type and you've become quick to judge over time." Elsa said towards Ming. "But I never once thought you'd actually destroy something someone cared about."
"Yes, I've made poor, rash decisions before, but the guitar was the worst one I've ever made." Her former friend replied. "And sorry for trying to crush your son. That's just as stupid. I have no excuse for that at all."
"I'll come to get over that sometime in the near future." Elsa only said with a shrug. "But not right now, of course."
"Maybe he's right." Ming shook her head, remembering Stig's harsh words. "I'm only here to free myself of my guilt and just move on from it like it never happened. Maybe I'm only worrying for Kris's life now all because I was nearly beaten to death in retaliation for my cruelty. Maybe I'm only saving his life so I don't have to feel responsible for anything else. That's not honest at all. That's just arrogant."
"Look, Ming-"
"No." Ming cuts Elsa off as the others look at her as she begins shedding tears. "He's right to hate me. I've bullied his brother his whole time working for me and I nearly killed Kris right in front of him without remorse. And just imagine if I actually did. That's something that will never be undone. I deserve to be in prison."
"Oh, Ming, don't be absurd!" Wu was about to deflect when….
"Sorry for the wait."
Alva returned with a couple of her light elf subjects by her side as she turned the mortal visitors' attention toward her as she held in her hand, an orb-shaped magical thingummy constructed out of a golden metal engraved with more Futhark runes decorated especially with tribal patterns, all of which glowed with a purplish-white mystical energy. Up close, the object was of a curious-looking dyson sphere-inspired configuration with a crystal orb encased inside.
Elsa stepped forth, examining the item up close with curiosity. Then she took it from the Light Elf queen and held up more closely.
"With the help of the Light of Alfheim, this will help you navigate properly in the realm of the dead." explained Alva with diplomatic grace. "You just let it know where you need to go and if I'm correct, your son should be inside of the hall of Hel herself."
"What could she be doing to that poor boy?" asked Ping with a mother's worry.
"Hel's isn't truly one who uses violence." Thrùd responded. "Though, I've heard that she can be quite masochistic in a few facets."
"Could she be…torturing him right now?" Lily was pale at the very notion and made her worry about the boy just as much as the others did and it made her sick the more she thought about it.
Elsa and Mei were even more horror-struck to think that poor Kris was at the mercy of a twisted and merciless death goddess who could be using the boy as a personal plaything or inflicting great pain and agony on him as much as she saw fit for her sick kicks. Lord knows how they'll be able to save Kris from a scenario like that.
"I don't know." Alva shrugged sadly. "But you'll have to be smart. Hel is no fool and she'll know what you're up to."
The sound of a whoosh was heard in the middle of their conversation. It broke through the silence of the air outside the temple walls and everyone looked all around, wondering what it was all about. The light elves themselves had no reaction as they just pointed their gaze where they heard the sound as it sounded familiar to them, while the humans were jolting their heads this way and that. From outside through the open windows, a figure was seen zipping across the sky like a speeding bullet.
From underneath her mask, Alva smiled, knowing full well who and what it was.
"He's here. Our ruler. Have no fear." She reminded them. "Though, I will need to ask you to break aside."
As she gestured to them all to step back to create a wide space, they all looked at each other in confusion as to why, but then suddenly they got their answer.
For at that moment, the figure flying through the sky burst into the temple after the foot soldiers flung open the doors for it to enter through and rode itself inside. Everyone yelped, startled to see that a gigantic-than-average boar charged inside and even though they were far enough apart for it to stampede past them, they inched even further away so as to not get accidentally hit by the charging animal, running right towards Alva, who didn't move a single muscle until finally it halted in its tracks just a hair in front of her, snorting air from its nostrils. But what struck everyone as most peculiar wasn't just its size alone, but rather its overall appearance in general.
The creature appeared as if it were made of gold, like a giant ancient automatonic design in the shape and form of a boar with bristles sprouting from the top of its head. Righting on its back was a handsome young man looking like he's in his early 20's, brown skin, brown eyes and long dark hair tied back at one end with some beads, wearing green and brown clothes and armor, adorned with a deer antler attached to his waist.
Although Alva and the light elves were pleased to be within his presence, the morals were ignorant to realize that they were all standing before Freyr (Old Norse: Lord, Nordic: ᚠᚱᛅᚢᛦ), also known as Frey and Yngvi, the brother of Freya; the Norse Vanir God of Fertility, Rain, Sunshine, Peace, Sacred Kingship, Prosperity, Virility and the Harvest, the Former King of the Ynglings, the First King of Sweden and the Ruler of Alfheim mounted on his trusty steed, the golden boar Gullinbursti (also known as Slíðrugtanni), forged by the dwarves of Svartalfheim.
"Sorry for showing up on such short notice." The Goddess of Fertility announced as he jumped off of his boar in front of their human guests. "Greetings, ladies and…..gentleman. Glad you could finally make it. Pardon my entrance. Gullinbursti here is a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Ain't that right?"
Freyr patted his precious golden boar on the side and the giant animal snorted and grunted. Wu and Helen edged nearer to the creature to examine its inorganic-looking body structure. It was very much like a living boat-shaped piece of golden treasure, looks like.
"Fascinating." Helen exhaled with child-like wonder.
"Oh, you like him? He's actually made entirely out of gold." Freyr told her. "He was a gift. Crafted from the dwarf blacksmiths of Niðavellir. A real beaut, he is."
"And you are?" asked Ping.
"Freyr, the God of the Harvest." He said a little proudly.
"Hmm." Using her decoding brain, Elsa comes to the conclusion that he must be related to someone they've met already.
"You're Freya's brother, right?" She surmised.
"That's right." He nodded. "Have you met my baby sister yet?"
"We did." Elsa answered. "She helped wake Mímir up."
"Good for her. If you folks don't mind me dropping in like this." Freyr told them all, mindlessly meandering around the room. "I was told there were Midgardians in Alfheim and I just had to check them out. We don't often get Midgardian visitors here in the Nine Realms, especially Alfheim. Here to save the boy, correct?"
"Yes, sir." Mei nodded.
"That poor boy." said Freyr, shaking his head with sympathy. "He must've been truly crushed. I've been told he wasn't in a good state before he entered Helheim and I do hope you get him out soon."
"I hope so, too. I'll never forgive myself if we can't." Ming stated with a saddened look of her own. "See, I'm the cause of his distress. I'm the reason why he was so down in the dumps."
"Why? What did you do?"
"I don't really want to talk about it." Ming sighed, rubbing her arm.
"Okay…." Freyr cleared his throat to continue. "Well, since you folks are actually gonna risk it all to enter the afterlife, perhaps I can convenience you with a little something extra just in case."
"In case what?" asked Shan.
Without answering, the Vanir ruler of Alfheim reached a hand into his pocket and dug around until he pulled out…a piece of cloth.
Everyone's reaction was just as you'd expect.
"Wow…" Mei wasn't too impressed.
Freyr smirked, however, before unceremoniously flinging it outward onto a wide open space in the room as several light elves nearby kept their distance and for good reason, because as soon as the measly and ordinary piece of fabric glowed and in just a few second, it rapidly unfurled, enlarge, morph and change shape until it reached the immense height of a large Viking longship that hovered above the ground and everyone's confusion switched to befuddlement and surprise when they all approached Skíðblaðnir with sudden eager curiosity. Some of them even climbed aboard it, amazed at how it floated in mid-air, despite the extra weight.
"Cool!" Chen cheered like a schoolgirl.
"I know. Amazing, right?" Freyr grinned at the admiration his ship received, patting it on the side. "Skíðblaðnir here was another gift from the dwarves and she comes in good handy, too."
"Skid-what?" asked Wu incredulously.
"This baby should help get you out of Helheim if you need her." Freyr then grabbed at the mast of the magical boat and gave it a good tug as though he were actually pulling on a curtain rather than a ship and suddenly, Skíðblaðnir was pulled back as if it were made of a sheet as the God of Fertility folded the ship up, making it shrunk down back to the shape it previously was as a piece of cloth. Those who were still on the ship - namely, Lily, Ping and Shan - were flopped onto the ground as the magic longship was folded back up.
"Hey!" Lily complained.
"That's a neat trick." Mei took it from him and put it in her own pocket, then she faced Elsa. "I honestly hope the guys are having as much luck as we are right now."
So we've been given some in-depth information about how Stig came into the family and an incident in the past that Elsa's been trying to make up for.
Mei's suggestion to dance to a 4*Town song in order to win the light elves' trust is meant to clarify that Ming needs to start trusting Mei to handle things herself for once. And the part about unicorns actually being dangerous in real life is an example of expectation vs. reality. Just because seems cute and pretty on the outside, doesn't mean it isn't harmless. That whole bit with the argument between the dark elf brothers and the dwarf guard was inspired by the taunting Frenchman from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, so I really had fun writing that part. And so the boys will need a different plan to get into Nidavellir.
And I thought it was hilarious making the aunties try to teach Mei how to flirt with her crush.
Next Chapter: The boys build something to sneak into Nidavellir and nearly incite a war between both the dark elves and the dwarves before they finally reach Eitri and Brokk.
Next Update: May 9, 2023