Previously:
Yui was almost back at her cottage when she felt a sharp pain coming from her heart and she could feel the ice starting to spread. 'No… Not now…' She thought as she felt the urge to groan but tried as hard as she could not to let a single sound escape her mouth. 'I have to get home, now!'
She walked as fast as she could and finally made it inside her cottage. She immediately went inside the bedroom and placed herself in front of the mirror. It still hurt like hell and what only made matters worse was that every time she moved, it felt like the ice was tearing on her skin. She groaned as she removed the sweater. Once it was off she gasped at what she saw, the snowflake-shaped patch of ice over her heart was twice as big as it was before and from its edges grew curvy lines of ice. The lines made it look like an octopus was trying to crawl out of her. One of the lines was heading for her left shoulder, it hadn't reached yet but if it grew this fast then it was only a matter of time… Another line would definitely spread sideways and go just below her armpit, the third line would head towards her throat and the fourth line would travel down between her breasts and then reach her stomach.
"I won't be able to hide it for long…" She whispered to herself with fear in her eyes, her mouth slightly open and tears that threatened to fall. She was so scared right now and realised she had much less time to heal herself than she first thought. She could cover herself all the way to her throat but if the line that was heading that way went any higher she wouldn't be able to hide it. She would have to leave as soon as she wakes up tomorrow, she couldn't waste any more time.
Now:
It was still pretty dark outside when Yui woke up, thinking it was better to leave before everyone else left their homes to start the day she hurried to put on a black and warm sweater and a pair of grey jeans. Lucky for her, the ice hadn't spread during the night but she still hadn't been able to sleep peacefully. The fear of the ice moving over her body kept her from being able to relax and she woke up several times before she finally decided to get up. Helga had told her the elves could be found deep in the forest so that's where she was going. She opened the door to her cottage and peeked outside, not wanting anyone to see her leave so early. When she couldn't spot a single soul she stepped outside and closed the door behind her, then she followed the road that led away from the village. There were many different forests in Asgard but she figured she needed to find a really big one if she wanted to find an elf, so she kept walking for at least an hour until she finally spotted one in the distance.
Even if she was only wearing a thick sweater she figured it wouldn't matter what she was wearing since the cold she was feeling didn't come from outside, it came from inside. "I can only hope they're able to help me…"
By the time she was standing just outside the big forest the sky was getting a bit brighter and she was able to see clearer. The forest sure looked spooky. A layer of thin snow covered the ground inside and she could barely see the tree trunks through the thick mist. But she couldn't turn back now and as she felt the motivation building up inside her she dared to take her first steps inside the pale-looking forest.
She walked straight forward, never taking a turn, in fear of not being able to find her way back. For several minutes she walked with her arms around her body, not knowing if she did it because she was cold or because it was comforting. As time passed she began to doubt she could find anyone in this forest, it looked so uninhabited, not a single sign of life anywhere. 'Perhaps I should go back?' She thought but her legs kept walking and she soon found herself surrounded by more and even bigger trees than the ones she passed before.
The forest never seemed to end. At least 40 minutes passed before the mist finally disappeared, like it was never there to begin with but when Yui turned around she saw the thick mist was still there behind her. It was as if something prevented it from going any further inside the forest. Yui knew she shouldn't think too much about the strange things happening in Asgard, she was very well aware of that the world of the gods was very different from the world she was used to. Ignoring the mist behind her she continued deeper into the forest and it didn't take long before the thin layer of snow underneath her feet suddenly disappeared as well and was replaced by soft, green grass. The deeper she went, the greener the forest became. Before she knew it, the forest had transformed completely, she could hear different animals making noises, green leaves covered the trees and flowers covered the ground around her. It was like she had walked into a forest in the middle of summer, no sign of winter anywhere anymore. 'Maybe I am at the right place after all.'
Now she just had to find what she was looking for.
More time passed as Yui went deeper and deeper into the unknown. The thick branches covered in leaves protected her from the sun and the little light that was allowed to enter felt very nice for the human's eyes since she was able to see clearly, without getting blinded. In some places, the grass had made its way up on the tree trunks like a blanket. They melted together so nicely it was hard to tell what was the ground and what was the trees.
The forest was so enchanted and beautiful Yui almost forgot what she was there for. Two voices in the distance made her snap out of her thoughts, though. She couldn't hear what they were talking about but she could tell the voices belonged to a female and a male and they were close by. 'Perhaps…!' She thought as she hurried towards where the voices came from.
When she reached a glade she let her right hand rest on a tree trunk as she scanned the open ground for the ones she had heard talking, she spotted them right in the middle. The glade wasn't big but at least the green grass was completely exposed to the sun here and the two figures just a little further away from her seemed to enjoy the warm light the sun provided them as they talked. "I told you this was a nice spot." She heard the female say as she sat down on a big rock to enjoy the nice weather. "We aren't here to relax, remember… We have work to do. " The male sighed
Both of them had long, black hair and pointed ears, almost like Loki's but theirs were definitely longer and more pointed. The male was wearing an armor made of silver and the female was dressed in a white dress, a little similar to the one Yui usually wore. She took a good look at them and came to the conclusion that these two were definitely elves.
"It seems we have company." The female elf said and stood up from the rock. She was looking directly at the surprised human woman. 'Oh no, I hope they don't think I was spying on them.' Yui thought and started to feel nervous. Unsure of what to do she just stood where she stood, trying to figure out what to say to them.
"Come here, there's no need to hide." The female told her.
Yui obeyed and slowly walked into the glade but stopped a few yards away from them, not sure if she could trust them. The male elf stared at her. "You're a human." He stated.
Yui's eyes met his light blue ones. "I am."
"How did you get here? A human can't simply walk into our world."
"Please, my name i Yui and I live with the Norse gods. I came here hoping you could help me."
"The gods you say… And what could we possibly help you with? The gods are more than capable of tending to your needs."
"They have helped me with many things… but they can't help me with this…"
The female took a few steps towards her. "What is this I'm sensing?" She continued forward until she stood right in front at her, looking down at her. "It's coming from here." She stated and pointed at Yui's heart.
'So, she can tell…' Yui thought. The fabric of the black sweater was pretty elastic, so she could pull it down with ease to show her.
The female elf reached out to touch it and inspected it carefully. "You poor thing…"
"A curse." The male whispered from behind her.
The female removed her eyes from the ice on Yui's chest and looked into her eyes. "Why can't the gods help you with this?"
Yui looked down at the ground. "The one who put this on me is called Sisyphus."
"Sisyphus? That ice demon who was once human?"
"Yes. You see, I was going to return a human child to my old world when he found me, put this curse on me and took away the child. If any of the gods find out, the little boy will be killed. Sisyphus gave me a chance to heal myself and save the boy but to do that I would have to seek help from the ones who have no connections to the gods."
"So you came to us, hoping we could remove it." The male stated. The female ignored him and spoke to Yui before she could answer him. "My dear, this will kill you soon."
"I know. I have nothing to offer you but if you are able to do something, please, I'll do anything. I have to save the child before I drag him down with me. If I die, so will he. Sisyphus will not let him go." Tears threatened to fall as she begged the two elves for help.
A gentle hand was placed on top of her head to calm her. "Yui, I'm afraid we won't be able to do anything for you. There are many things we can heal but this, this curse of yours, we simply do not possess that kind of power it takes to destroy it. I'm sorry, I truly am."
Yui didn't answer at first, instead she let the words sink in. Realising she had to leave and look for help somewhere else she bowed at the beautiful elves in front of her. "Thank you for having a look at me, I appreciate it."
The male elf started smirking. "If you survive, please come again and ask for help. We can do almost anything for you, at a price of course."
The female turned her head and threw him an angry look.
"Thank you, I must leave now." Yui thanked them and moved to walk back the same way she came from. "You… Can I ask you not to tell any gods about this?"
"We do not get involved with gods, you don't have to worry." Said the female elf. "Take care, you brave human."
'What am I going to do now? I had really hoped the elves would be able to help. I think I read something about a Greek goddess who has healing powers, maybe I should try and find her. I just have to check so that she doesn't have any close connection with the other gods.'
The snow was back beneath her feet and she could spot the thick mist in the distance. The air became colder too as she moved further away from the "summer" part of the forest and yet, she felt just as cold as before. Even if it was warmer before it didn't really matter, her body just continued to drop in temperature.
She was getting tired, the curse was taking its toll on her and it felt like she didn't have the same strength she had before. "I should use the necklace and teleport myself back home." She whispered to herself and reached for the chain around her neck, only to find out she had forgotten to put it on before she left that morning. 'Oh…'
Realising she would have to walk after all she decided to sit down on a rock for a moment to rest. "Of all the things to forget…" She sighed and pulled down the sweater a little to have a look at it, even when it wasn't spreading it hurt.
"You seem tired, young lady." A voice spoke.
Startled, Yui looked around several times but couldn't see anyone. "Who-"
"Down here." The voice said again.
She looked down and saw a small animal standing beside the rock she was sitting on. 'An otter?' She thought in surprise.
"Hello there." The otter greeted.
"You- you can talk?"
"Of course. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Otr."
"Otr?" 'What an unusual name.' She thought.
"That's right, I was just passing by when I saw you sitting here all alone."
"Oh, yes, I guess I'm just a little tired. I need to get back home as soon as possible."
"You're in a hurry?"
"I'm afraid so."
"Why?"
"I have to find a way to remove this." Yui explained and pulled the sweater down to show the talking otter.
"Ah, that. I saw you looking at it when I came over here." The otter explained. "Mind if I take a closer look?"
"If you want…" There was no harm in showing him the ice but she didn't think he would be able to do anything for her since he was just an otter.
Otr jumped up on her lap and studied the ice on her chest closely. In his eyes, the curvy lines of ice looked quite beautiful. "Hmm, if you don't want it, then perhaps I can have it?"
Yui threw him a strange look. "Have it?"
The otter jumped down from her lap. "If you come with me, I will take you to a place where you can have it removed."
Her eyes widened. "There is a way?"
"Yes, just come with me."
Yui thought for a moment. She didn't know if she could trust this adorable little otter, even the most innocent-looking creatures could be dangerous but she didn't really have time to hesitate. Soon, the ice would begin to spread again and she didn't know how much pain her body would be able to handle before she would collapse. She would just have to trust him. "Alright, let's go." She answered him and stood up from the rock.
"Great! Follow me."
Yui followed him out of the forest and continued in the opposite direction from her home. She got more nervous the further away they went and feared she wouldn't make it back if Otr was wrong, not without having to stop and rest several times at least. The others would get worried, too. They must have noticed she was gone by now but hopefully they would think she went to the human world, that would buy her some time at least.
"How far is it?" She asked after about 40 minutes of walking.
"We'll be there in about an hour or so."
"An hour?"
"See those mountains over there in the distance?"
"...Yes?"
"That's where we're going."
"If you don't mind me asking, Otr-san, who resides in those mountains?"
"The dwarves."
"Dwarves? They live over there?" Yui had heard a thing or two about the dwarves, like that they were extremely skilled smiths and craftspeople. Thor's hammer, for example, was made by them. They are also knowledgeable, wise and magically powerful. One thing that isn't so good is that they turn to stone if they're exposed to the rays of the sun.
"Correct, you have heard of them?" Otr asked.
"A little."
"By the way, I never asked about your name."
"Ah, sorry, I'm Kusanagi Yui." She smiled down at him.
"Kusanagi Yui, that's a beautiful name. Yui-san it is then."
Yui couldn't help but giggle, this otter was just too adorable.
Outside Yui's cottage Balder, Loki, Thor, Sif, Freyr, Freyja, Apollon, Hades, Dionysus, Tsukito and Takeru had gathered.
"Where could she be?" Balder asked, a little worried.
"She's probably in the human world." Sif answered him.
"If she is, why didn't she tell us?" Takeru pointed out.
Freyja crossed her arms. "She doesn't have to tell us about her plans all the time you know."
"Yeah, leave to poor girl alone. She's probably still feeling down about leaving the human child and needs some space." Freyr agreed.
"And here I was hoping I could beat you all at twister again." Dionysus sighed.
"You did not win, remember!" Takeru shouted at him.
"Perhaps we should come back later to see if Fairy is back then." Apollon suggested.
"Good idea." Hades agreed. "We're probably going to stay here until we've found Sisyphus anyway."
"We don't even know if he's still here in Asgard." Loki pointed out.
"He might have returned home, wherever his home is." Freyr added.
"Maybe, but this is where he was spotted so we have to keep looking until we're sure." Apollon stated.
Freyja grabbed her brother's and Apollon's arms and began to drag them away. "Anyway, let's just go, I'm sure Yui-chan will be back soon."
The others followed them but Loki remained in front of Yui's cottage, throwing a somewhat concerned look at it before he followed his friends who were heading for Odin's castle.
Yui and Otr were standing on a small hill, looking up at the mountain in front of them. Hundreds of small stone houses had been cut out from the mountain walls and reached all the way from the bottom to the top, long stairs had also been cut out that went from house to house. "You seem impressed." Otr stated.
"I am, it looks really cool." Yui answered, not taking her eyes off the house-covered mountain.
"Let's go meet the dwarves then!" Otr exclaimed and ran down the hill.
"Ah! Wait for me!"
As they got closer Yui noticed two figures standing just underneath one of the stone houses that had been cut out from the wall. The many other mountains that surrounded them shielded them from the sun but it didn't seem like they wanted to risk turning to stone, so they remained in the shadow the house above them provided.
They were males, both had beards and a little messy hair. As they got closer to them she also realised they were a little shorter than her, despite looking like fully grown men. Their ears were a little pointy, too, but not very much. "Otr-san." She uttered, feeling unsure about the situation she had put herself in. She knew they could be dangerous if she did something that could anger them.
"Do not worry, they're not so bad as they look."
Before Yui could make a comment, one of the dwarves moved out of the shadow. "You have no room to talk, Otr."
Yui stopped walking.
"Haha, sorry, did I insult you Fjalar?" Otr laughed.
The other dwarf stepped out as well. "So, you have finally decided to pay us a visit? It's been months since we last saw you."
"Galar, my friend, how have you been?"
"Better than you it seems…"
Yui looked between the two dwarves, the one named Fjalar had white hair and the other had black and they looked quite similar.
Fjalar crossed his arms. "Why are you here, Otr?"
Otr turned around and looked up at Yui. "Because of her."
The two dwarves, who had been focusing on Otr, looked up from the otter and made eye contact with the human woman in front of them. "Her?" Galar asked.
By now, more dwarves had appeared behind Fjalar and Galar, curious at what was going on. Some were even sticking out their heads through the windows from inside the mountain.
"She needed help, so I took her here." Otr explained.
"What is going on here?" A voice asked and a brown haired dwarf stepped out from the crowd.
"Brother, it's been awhile!" Otr laughed nervously.
'Brother?' Yui thought, clearly confused. How could an otter have a brother who was a dwarf?
The brown haired dwarf ignored the otter and turned to Yui. "You, who are you?"
A/N: There you have it and thanks for the reviews! Next chapter in 3 days! :D
