Winter's body trembled awake from the unconscious state he had been in. His cold sweat made him colder still, the damp room adding to his shivers in the night. Every hour of wake had been spent remembering who he was: a foreigner of earth in captivity, residing in one of Earth's most classified facilities. There was no concept of time without a glance at the sun, never being allowed out of the darkened, cement room he resided in, purposely made to feel lifeless. Winter had no idea how long he had been there.

His stomach wanted to lurch after the nightmare that disturbed his sleep. It was similar to so many he had had prior to this one. Death, fear, anguish… repeated each time. His Vanir blood blessed him with the gift of visions since youth, but now it had become a curse. He could see the murder of Hope. All of those that were killed were named "Hope". But these people were innocent, foreigners just like him, taken captive to be used, forced to say that their name was Hope and then murdered by dark magic. It was happening one by one, in America, then Africa, then the Middle East… It was spreading. A nasty way to tell the world, "Hope is dying".

"Why… do you kill them?" Winter's dry voice tried to ask. It came out barely a whimper. He knew that his captor was still in the room. This force, this user of dark magic that peeled apart his mind in the worst torture imaginable. "Why have you come to earth to do this?"

The figure's face could barely be seen from the shadows across the room. He sat, hands folded, and the darkness hid his smile. "Those that I send out are the sacrifice," He said. "And I know you can see what I've done. I haven't forgotten your own Vanir power."

"You… didn't answer me." Winter pressed. "Y-You've convinced the humans to surrender control into your hands, you've… controlled their weak minds with your witchcraft. How can this gain what I kn-know you want?"

This time, the figure stood. "I know that a vast majority of the Fractals lie here on earth. The humans' influence, their preexisting desire to observe those beyond their world… it played right into my hand."

Winter was drained from the torture he had endured from this creature just before his slumber, but it was the same, time and time again. Winter ached to know the reason behind the horrors, behind the desire to corrupt a system that appeared to work with what the humans would call "extraterrestrial", but the answer came back to tease every time. He didn't want Winter to know.

What Winter did know was that this creature was a man he had been friends with in what seemed like a past life. This friend grew in the art of dark magic and hungered for the Fractals, to which Winter opposed. The inbetween details had grown blurry to Winter, his mind melting with each act of torture on his psyche from the man he used to call his friend. Now, he was imprisoned in a facility that was used for some of Earth's most classified experiments. It had since become for his experiments, and the humans mindlessly surrendered control of it to his power.

Then there was the south wing, beyond where he was kept. Winter was never told of it, but the visions gave him glimpses of the captivity taking place there. Children of different races, being raised and bred, forced to abide by rules and become something… different. It was all too confusing, Winter couldn't make sense of it. There was no clear vision or purpose.

"You're… you're a demon," he spat. Winter maddened at the lack of knowledge. "All I can see is pure wickedness in your a-actions."

The man knelt before Winter, close enough to where Winter could see the yellow in his eyes. "The humans are afraid of what they don't know. Naturally, they would be afraid if there were… more of us… less of them." He let the silence linger, the yellow seeming to deepen. "Don't ask me my motive again, I'll never clarify. But my creation is beautiful and I wish you could understand… friend."

"Don't…" Winter didn't have the strength to speak further, but the friend he had in him before had long died. He could only pray for solitude, for a savior to come in his stead.

He just wanted Emmeline to be okay…

...

To be within the castle walls in the kingdom of the Light Elves returned the memories from the last time they had been on Alfheim. Collectively, Thor, Loki, and Jennica approached the throne room, seeing that little within had changed from their last visit. Two guards escorted the silent trio, announcing their arrival when the large, wooden doors gave way.

Jennica remembered the time she had first been escorted to this room, and the man that sat upon the throne revealed himself to be their enemy. Back then, she didn't have knowledge that she was a Light Elf, that her people were in captivity, or that she was even the rightful princess. She was just a curious girl wanting to find her story. Now, her light felt a little darker than it was before.

Kvasir was not sitting on his throne, but rather stood with Sol beside him in the heart of the room. It was as if they already knew who would be arriving. Thor, Loki, and even Jennica, together took a respectful bow as the guards closed the doors behind them.

"There will be none of that." Sol was quick to correct as she rushed to lift her daughter by the hands and welcome her into loving arms. The princes straightened immediately.

"We were afraid you wouldn't return." Kvasir spoke, clasping a hand each on the shoulders of Thor and Loki. "But I am afraid you are not here diplomatically."

"That would be a correct assumption." Loki answered, his tone confirming the king's worries.

"Are you in any danger?"

"Jennica very well may be, but it may also pertain to the other realms as well." Thor replied. "It's about the locket."

"The fractals…" Sol breathed, looking down at the charm hanging over Jennica's chest.

"Not here." Kvasir began to usher them. "We mustn't speak of these things here. Come quickly."

He led them out of the throne room to the back of the castle. A couple servants followed, carrying the ancient books Thor and Loki had brought with them.

At the end of a long hallway sat a large room, empty besides the long table surrounded with intricately carved chairs. Here, the king would meet with his council of elders, long before they turned corrupted to dark magic. They would speak of such matters in this room.

The two servants laid the books on the table, bowed, and left swiftly under Kvasir's gaze. Everyone took a seat at the table the moment they were left in secret. Sol sat near Jennica, sensing her darkness and worry.

"I do not like to discuss the magic where even the guards may hear." Kvasir broke the ever growing silence. "But please, tell me why my daughter is in danger."

"The fractals within the locket are growing out of control." Thor spoke, his voice low. "It has since led us to the realization that the Infinity Fractals need to be collected and stored away so as to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands."

"We also have reason to believe that Jennica's fractals are acting out because someone is using dark magic to tamper with the artifact." Loki added.

Kvasir leaned back in his chair, bewilderment striking his face. "No one has been able to tamper with these artifacts for quite some time. Are you certain?"

"If our understanding of the fractals is correct, then there would be no other way."

Kvasir met Sol's worrying eyes, sitting a bit forward again after taking a moment to process what was said.

"Those artifacts haven't been tampered with since Ulric… since…" Kvasir stopped before he could bring himself to finish. A sigh escaped. "Nearly all of them were used for controlling dark magic. Their original purpose was for training the young mages but the elders abused their original design. Alfva's is the last one remaining. We destroyed the rest."

It took Jennica a moment to remember that Alfva was her real name. She pressed her lips together.

"The dark magic isn't just revealing itself through Jennica." Thor said. "I have begun the quest of finding these fractals, and the whereabouts of a few are surrounded by a darkness we could only describe as being dark magic. Loki also said that he believes some to be hidden in the ancient books we have brought with us."

"These books…" Sol began, glancing cautiously at them, "where did you manage to obtain these?"

"I found them." Loki replied. "They were in the archives back on Asgard."

Kvasir frowned. "Your father keeps these things within his own palace?"

"Not intentionally." Thor defended. "And if he were to, it would be to keep them out of the wrong hands. Our father would never abuse such things."

Our father… Loki tried not to grimace.

"Hmm." Kvasir broke eye contact with Thor to look down at the pile of books. "Besides inevitably finding a way to keep my Alfva safe, what else are you requiring of me?"

Thor straightened a little. "If it pleases you, we would like your help in evading this dark magic so we may collect these fractals and seal them away."

Loki continued. "Because of your expertise in knowledge of your artifacts, we had no doubt you could help us rescue Jennica. We were also confident in your ability to not only help us decipher more information from the ancient books, but to help us find who is behind this."

"Even Midgard has been affected. We can't have it spreading."

Kvasir took in the words of the two brothers, furrowed his brow, and stood.

"It seems that our troubles are far from over." Kvasir spoke. "For the good of Alfheim and for the good of the realms, we mustn't waste a moment."

Everyone in the room seemed to breathe a silent sigh of relief. They had more minds and hands to work with.

Kvasir looked over at his daughter. "Alfva, we will start with taking you to the healers."

Sol began helping her to stand the moment he spoke. The princes followed in tow, ready to work with the king.

Jennica, although relieved, still gave a painful smile. "Thank you, father."