I enjoyed the third season but I was quite upset that Alfur, the most precious little guy in the universe, didn't get much to do. But his duties must go on! His next report to the elves is gonna be filled with the most insane secondhand information ever. Adeline and Alvin are gonna have to defend our boy from people thinking he's making stuff up again.

MAJOR SPOILERS for the second half of season 3!

Greetings!

As you may recall from my previous report, Hilda's father Anders, an individual whom I had no indication was even remotely alive prior to meeting, mysteriously disappeared from the old castle ruins. Miss Johanna simply believed he left without warning as he had done in the past, but Hilda was convinced something happened to him, and this belief was strengthened when we received mysterious frequencies on the radio.

I will admit I was skeptical that there was any sense to these frequencies, that Hilda was perhaps "grasping at straws" (as I've heard the humans say), but the more I listened the more I thought there actually was significance to the transmissions. Hilda and I spent several days cooped up in her room trying to make sense of them. The frequency bursts were definitely spaced out like letters in a repeating phrase, so I thought it could be a variation of Knudsen Lagerkvist's famous cipher. And while what we received definitely followed the same basic principle, forming the actual message was a lot trickier than I anticipated. Hilda and I resorted to assigning each unique frequency in the phrase a specific letter, and slowly trial-and-error our way to the answer. I thought we might never figure out this enigma, but eventually we arrived at "such is the life of an adventurer."

This is essentially Hilda's catchphrase, and it seems she learned it from Anders. As such, she became fully convinced her father was being held captive somewhere and had to send a coded message to call for help. Neither Frida nor David seemed to think Hilda's theory was sound. But I suppose it didn't matter at the moment because Tontu, our resident Nisse, stole the radio and disappeared into Nowhere Space.

This led to a rather lengthy ordeal where Frida, bless her precious soul, attempted to get all the Nisse into a town hall meeting to settle their differences. I won't get too bogged down in details, since compared to what happened afterward, the Nisse meeting was rather minute, I'll just say that there's some sort of lending library in Nowhere Space for the Nisse to use.

The important thing is: Hilda got her radio back! And we picked up a broadcast from Victoria Van Gale, the enigmatic weather woman whom I have reported on previously. We were all shocked to hear her again, but even more shocking was the fact that she used the coded phrase! It seemed she used it to punctuate her broadcast, and thus we were receiving her messages the whole time.

I regret to write that Hilda became quite upset. She thought that Johanna was right, that Anders was just a loser who left his family behind for the sake of an adventure, and considering Anders vocally dislikes paperwork I was inclined to agree.

But things always stay unexpected! On the next transmission, Anders' voice came through the radio, seeing if he could communicate with Hilda. But he didn't get to say much before the broadcast cut off, with him and Van Gale seemingly in danger. So Hilda's theory was sort of right after all! Using a number of elf radios (thank you to everyone who helped me with this task), we managed to triangulate the broadcast to Tofoten! And based on what Van Gale said, Hilda could only presume he was taken to the fairy mound by two cloaked individuals she supposedly saw when she was inside.

Tontu got Hilda, Frida, and David to the train station in record time, and I certainly felt conflicting loyalties when Johanna entered the room shortly after. I did not wish to lie to her, but Hilda told us not to tell her where she and her friends went! Perhaps I wouldn't have caved if she'd been in a better mood, but her anger effortlessly broke my resolve. She immediately dialed Aunt Astrid on the phone to see if she could intercept the children before they reached the mound, but she never picked up. I later learned that Astrid was preoccupied by that Pooka creature asking for a suit. At the very least, Pooka was reportedly apologetic after the fact.

Not getting any response from Astrid, Johanna decided to go to Tofoten. But Tontu and I were not allowed to come. She said we would stay home and "think about what we've done," as if we were her children. And despite being an adult elf, being treated like a close family member gave me a comforting feeling of warmth inside.

And now I must note that everything from this point onward is information I did not directly witness, so I will be utilizing some direct quotations from the primary sources.

Hilda and friends arrived at the Tofoten mound and arranged a system using walkie-talkies (small portable radios) and ropes to ensure A) Hilda wouldn't get stuck on the other side and B) Frida and David would stay on the human side.

"To be honest, the rope was just to make sure I wouldn't accidentally wind up in Fairy Country," David recalled when relaying the tale.

"You should really give yourself credit, David," Frida replied. "You being tied with rope proved to be incredibly useful."

Thus, Hilda and her trusted deerfox companion Twig ventured past the mound and into the shadowy unknown. They found a small boat which took them o a strange island in the distance. And that's where they found Anders.

"He looked a bit washed-up but not too bad," Hilda described.

"I've certainly been in worse situations." Anders replied with a chuckle.

Upon seeing Hilda, Anders assumed she too was taken by the mysterious silhouetted figures, and was quite distressed to learn she willingly entered the mound to rescue him, without permission from Johanna! Victoria Van Gale was there as well, and it seemed she rigged an ancient fairy communication device to transmit her radio broadcasts. And considering Van Gale's propensity for studying new things, she wasn't bothered at all at being trapped in "Van Galea" as she dubbed it. In fact, she stayed behind with her handmade Nisse when it was time for Hilda, Anders, and Twig to sail back.

Now, making it back to Tofoten was no easy task, for the mysterious entity controlling Fairy Country and its surrounding lands does not wish for anyone to leave without its permission. Harsh winds ensured Hilda and co. could not cross the threshold. But she still had her walkie-talkie, and thus Frida and David came to the rescue! Huzzah!

Frida had the idea to magically open a portal linking the two sides. There wasn't a preexisting spell for this but Frida, ever resourceful, invented her own!

At the same time David, in his own words, "stopped being always scared, for real this time" and jumped through the portal with the rope securely around his waist. He grabbed onto Hilda, Twig, and Anders, and Frida pulled them all back to the human world! But all was not well, because Johanna was still inside.

Gasp!

You see, Johanna made it to Tofoten in record time and went into the mound to fetch Hilda herself. Frida and David tried to stop her but Johanna overpowered them easily. At least now they understand why Tontu and I could not overcome her earlier that day.

Frida could only keep the portal open for so long, and against the wishes of her friends and father, Hilda jumped back into the mound right as it closed. She appeared on a different desolate beach, and after walking up hundreds of steps, she finally entered Fairy Country.

"It was beautiful," she remarked. "There were colorful mushrooms and bright green crystals and giant flowers, houses on floating islands with waterfalls, petals you can glide with, and weird curly stuff. Some of that stuff was decaying since apparently the island is in decline. I walked around for a while before I saw anyone."

But eventually she encountered a crying girl a few years younger than herself who was also looking for her parents, who apparently sneaked off into Fairy Country without even saying goodbye. Naturally, Hilda empathized with the girl's plight and decided they should search the land together.

"She seemed oddly familiar, but I couldn't quite figure out why," Hilda noted. "And she was oddly familiar with Fairy Country and she didn't seem to know why either!"

They found a group of fairies happily dancing together in a clearing, and Hilda joined them for a while while the girl just watched. Afterwards, the two of them slept for the night on one of those giant flowers, and when they woke up in the morning they saw a blonde woman whom the mysterious girl recognized as her mother! But the woman fled just as suddenly as she came, leading the two girls to chase after her aboard a woff.

Now's the time I should mention that Frida was hit with a magic blast that came through the portal, so David and Anders took her over to Astrid's house to recuperate. Astrid, it seemed, had enough of kids messing around in the fairy mound so she went in there to get her nieces back. She grabbed onto Hilda while they were chasing the mysterious girl's mother and held her tight.

"I know now why she wanted me to turn back, but I didn't then," said Hilda. "So I bit her to make her let go."

(Johanna would like me to put on the record that she does not ordinarily condone biting, but feels this particular instance was understandable.)

Anyway, Hilda and the other girl ventured through a waterfall and came across a replica of Hilda's old family cabin. I know many of us elves used to have a particular hatred for that house, but truly it was a lovely abode and it's sad the giants crushed it. But if that didn't happen, I wouldn't have this job in Trolberg! So I suppose I'm not too upset.

So the girl's parents (who incidentally were the aforementioned cloaked individuals) lived inside the house: her mother, the blonde human woman, and her father, a fairy with blue hair just like Hilda's. It turned out that girl was Johanna! And thus, she and Hilda are part fairy!

Gasp! But much louder this time!

"I wondered why things always felt different for Hilda and I," Johanna said. "Never would've guessed this was the reason."

I know all you elves had an official running bet going on as to the origin of Hilda's blue hair, and it seems Bartell is the winner! The leader of the Lost Clan once told me: "I witnessed a fairy with that exact hair color come through these parts many years ago. I've no doubts that young Hilda has fairy blood coursing through her veins."

(So sorry, Adeline! I was really rooting for you to win!)

And now I will share a candid part of the discussion I found quite amusing:

— Hilda: "I'm a fairy! I'm really a fairy, it's so amazing!"

— Frida: "Only ¼ fairy."

— Hilda: "That's ¼ more than you!"

— Frida: "Well I'm 100% more witch than you!

— Hilda: "Hey, I did a single witch spell! That's got to be half a percent at least.

— David: "Either way it explains a lot about you, actually."

— Hilda: "It certainly explains what that Spider-Frog meant."

Anyway, there is more dramatic information to report! The parents' names are Phinium and Lydia, and they met when Phinium and his sister Astrid (she's also an elf!) ventured into the lands surrounding Trolberg. The three of them became the best of friends and hung out as often as they could, though once they became adults Astrid became concerned that Phinium was spending too much time away from Fairy Country. Apparently the being who controls Fairy Country, whom I'm told is called Älva, became a lot more conservative over time and they might not have been willing to let him return. But he did not wish to return because he and Lydia had… well… copulated and were expecting a child. They wished to live together in human territory, and so they happily moved into the windmill in Tofoten shortly after Johanna was born.

But all was not well for baby Johanna. She became ill with an incurable sickness no one could explain… until Frida learned about it!

"Scientifically, interspecies hybrids often suffer from some sort of health issue due to clashing genetic information."

Thank you for the science lesson, Frida.

But Phinium and Lydia are not Frida, so they did the only thing they could: ask Älva for help. The fairy entity was quite displeased at this request, but agreed to heal Johanna if (and only if) her parents sent her to Fairy Country after ten years. The family spent those ten years as happy as could be, getting into all sorts of adventures (being nearly eaten by that Spider-Frog Hilda had mentioned was one of them). However, when the time came, Johanna's parents weren't willing to give her up to Älva. So they offered themselves instead, leaving Johanna in Astrid's care.

Johanna was devastated, and Astrid was sure she would venture into Fairy Country herself to get them back. So she very reluctantly performed a spell that suppressed Johanna's memories of her parents and her heritage to ensure she didn't get lost trying to rescue them. But while she didn't remember the actual reason why, a deep seated fear of the fairy mound wedged itself in the subconscious of her mind, leading us to our present-day events.

Unfortunately, Hilda, Johanna, and Astrid were forbidden from leaving as now that the family was reunited, Älva wouldn't let anyone go again. The agreement from all those years ago was rendered null and void just like an elf contract! I don't know whether to be upset or impressed! But regardless, that's why Astrid tried to stop Hilda earlier. Hilda asked if Phinium and Lydia could send them back the same way they brought Anders there earlier, but the mechanism was designed to steal people from outside Fairy Country, so it only works one-way. Hilda insisted she'd find a way to leave, but Astrid suggested they stay the night and think about a plan after they ate breakfast.

Meanwhile on our side, Anders tried with all his might to dig Hilda out of the mound, but it collapsed and she was nowhere to be seen. He was quite devastated, which led to another humorous exchange:

— Johanna: "Oh, so it feels bad when a loved one leaves you behind without a trace. Who would've guessed?"

— Anders: "Uh… well.. I…"

— Johanna: "Imagine living your whole life thinking you'd never see them again, just because they went on an adventure."

— Anders: "When you put it like that—"

— Hilda: "He still owes me a camping trip!"

— Johanna: "Not until he gets a real job."

— Anders: (quietly gulps)

Interestingly, I suspect Johanna once saw Anders as an adventurous kindred spirit, only becoming more serious once Hilda came into the world. I may have to research this further.

Anyway, while Anders kept up his fruitless digging, Twig loudly howled into the night. David didn't like the noise and told the deerfox to shut up.

"I was so mean to him. How could he ever forgive me?" David lamented. But Twig just trotted over and curled in his lap quite adorably.

"He loves you!" Hilda exclaimed.

But Twig wasn't so loving that night. He hid in the Loam's bed, and David and Frida spent hours looking for him the next day. And it might have taken them all day if Hilda didn't send them a clue. You see, earlier that day Hilda grew dissatisfied with Fairy Country and how Johanna was content to just spend the rest of her life wandering around with her parents. (Perhaps the biggest irony is how Hilda and Johanna's regular dynamic instantly reversed once Johanna was reunited with them.) And this feeling was amplified when she was at the watchtower and saw how worried everyone was on the other side. At least she unintentionally told Frida and David where to find Twig.

It turns out that while humans cannot freely teleport to and from Fairy Country, magical creatures can! So after an apology from David and with a power boost from Frida, Twig howled once again, calling upon his deerfox brethren to pave a path between the worlds. And I must say I'm so upset that yet again, I didn't get to see any adult deerfoxes! :( Is that really too much to ask for!?

Hmm… if there's a way for me to clear my throat in writing, then I'm doing it now.

Ahem.

Älva is so resistant to change that they made Fairy Country a land of childlike nostalgia, to the point that it alters people's perceptions. Case in point: Phinium and Lydia appeared exactly as youthful as they did when they had to leave Johanna, simply because that's how she remembered them being. Plus, I'm told the state of the land is tied to Älva's wellbeing so clearly the decay is a result of this.

Hilda was insistent that she and Johanna couldn't stay in Fairy Country, because they were just holding on to a fantasy. And as much as Johanna didn't want to give up life with her parents, she decided she could not live in stagnant nostalgia forever. She had to let go and do what's best for Hilda.

And luck would have it that the deerfoxes arrived at that very moment! Excellent! Phinium and Lydia flew Johanna and Hilda over the mushrooms toward the gateway as far as they could, but eventually they were held back combating mushrooms taken over by Älva's malevolent influence. But Hilda and Johanna didn't have to walk the rest of the way, because they can fly in Fairy Country! Huzzah! Huzzahs all around!

(I get the distinct impression that Hilda will be jumping off of high surfaces just to see if she can fly again. I hope Johanna has good health insurance. And that Frida knows some healing spells.)

The deerfoxes retreated once Hilda and Johanna were safely by the gateway, and with one last look toward Phinium and Lydia, they returned to Tofoten. And I'm told that Twig's parents affectionately nuzzled him before they too left for their own realm. Seriously! Why couldn't I see that!?

But all was not well, for Johanna fell to the ground, pale with a cold sweat. It seems that when the agreement with Älva was rendered null and void, Johanna's sickness returned!

Did you remember to gasp this time? I hope you did.

"She was just laying there on the ground unresponsive. I thought she was dead and I had killed her by wanting to leave!"

Hilda naturally became rather emotional when retelling this, but her friends and family (myself included) gave her lots of hugs! The girl has been through more harrowing experiences than someone even thrice her age should have, but she always bounces back. Her indomitable spirit knows no bounds!

Meanwhile, right as it appeared Johanna had perished, she was suddenly fine with no ill effects, like those previous devastating couple of minutes never happened. But the moment of celebration was brief because the group realized Astrid was absent. She had stayed behind to confront Älva while Hilda and Johanna escaped, and everyone concluded she sacrificed her own life to heal Johanna, perhaps as penance for casting that memory spell decades ago.

"But then we walked back to the windmill and she was right there." Frida notes.

"Two death fake-outs within ten minutes is pretty ridiculous if you ask me." David replied, and I can't help but agree. I know if I was present so much paperwork would've been prematurely drafted.

"So how did Johanna get healed?" I hear you ask. Well, Astrid really was ready to give up her own life in exchange for Johanna's, but at that exact moment Miss Van Gale managed to reconfigure the fairies' people-stealing device into a teleporter between Fairy Country and "Van Galea". She saw the situation and was more than willing to stay in Fairy Country forever in exchange for Hilda and Johanna's safe return to Earth. Älva agreed to Van Gale's request, and promptly lost all interest in Astrid, permanently banishing her. I highly doubt Älva realized the magnitude of what they accepted — spending an eternity with Van Gale shan't be an enjoyable experience.

However, the important thing is that everything worked out well for us in the end. Hilda found her parents, Johanna regained her lost memories, David overcame his immense fears, Frida furthered her abilities as a witch, and Anders probably will get a real job now. (Shocking, I know! I dearly dread how he'll treat the necessary paperwork.)

And, although they cannot physically join us, Phinium and Lydia are still watching over their family from the watchtower. In fact, I believe I saw their shadows as I compiled the information for this report!

I know things won't always be peaceful, but such is the life of an adventurer.

Alfur Aldric

Official Elf Correspondent in Trolberg

I hope you enjoyed this Hilda one-shot. I loved watching it again and I'm so sad this magical adventure has come to a close.

I tried to write this as formally as possible while also showcasing Alfur's personality. He would definitely use text emoticons in writing because they look like him. :)

Also, I borrowed the name Älva from Swedish, where it can actually be used to mean fairy and elf. In fact, the Icelandic equivalent is actually Álfur! :O