Written to: Do You Want to Build a Snowman? - Frozen OST (Disney). Crosspost from AO3.
Refer back to Chapter 74 - Murr-ma.
For KitCat Italica.
Venters: What the wind or tide drives in from the ocean upon a wave.
Much to Helblindi's consternation, Heimdall was no longer opening the Bifrost to him, or to Darcy, or in fact to any people besides Loki that might in any way be related to Jotunheimr. Ever since the frost chickens had infested Asgard, Heimdall had been watching the Bifrost like a hawk and would allow access to practically no one, like some Asgardian TSA service or something of the sort, as Darcy had so eloquently put it.
Granted, the frost chicks were wreaking minor havoc on Asgard, setting fires in the woods, terrifying small children, and the like.
Helblindi is even more disgruntled when he says goodbye to Darcy, steps through the portal between Jotunheimr and Midgard, and finds that the frost portal has shifted several miles. Instead of stepping back into the kitchens in the ice palace, he finds himself underwater. Holding his breath and squinting around in the dark water, Helblindi swims upwards, coming out in a quiet cove that Jotunheimr had used frequently for trading in the past. The dark hulls of boats and ships rose up around him, great big swells bobbing silently up and down in the frosty quiet.
Helblindi swims to the shore, making a mental note about the portal's movement for the next time. He shakes out his wet hair, takes off his soaked shoes (completely ruined, now), begins to make the uphill trek towards the castle. Amongst the fine grains of sand and pebbles underneath his bare feet, he feels a cool, smooth object.
He bends down, picks up the oval locket, dangling from a fine silver chain with a broken clasp swinging wildly from the end of the strand. Holding his breath against all hope, Helblindi pops open the silver circle.
The pictures inside are slightly waterlogged; his features have been all but erased. Fortunately, Darcy's smile is still clear, her eyes and confident expression only slightly smudged. Hellbindi smiles and tucks it into his pocket carefully. As he begins to walk towards the castle again, the distance no longer seems quite so far.