Alessia pulled Britt back inside, demanding she explain what the hell she was talking about.
"My powers are connected to the elements. They have been since my ancestor, Queen Elsa became the Fifth Spirit. She gained that connection when she answered Ahtohallen's call."
"What's Ahtohallen?" Alessia blinked multiple times in confusion, having never heard of such a place.
"A frozen river somewhere in the northern Norwegian Sea. No one in my family since Queen Elsa has been there, and its importance has been lost over time. My grandfather used to tell me stories about the legend behind it. It holds the answers to the past that have been forgotten by history. If you answer her call, she will reveal her secrets." Alessia raised a skeptical brow, crossing her arms.
"What's with the doubtful face? As if anything is wilder than someone with actual powers over ice and snow?" Maja pointed out.
"The ocean being alive." Alessia fired back.
"I don't know, it seems plausible to me." Britt argued, "Stranger things have happened. Keep an open mind."
"Honestly, I could've hallucinated the whole thing," Maja laughed, mostly to herself, bewildered.
"Girl, how do you hallucinate a whole ocean wave touching your hand?"
"I- I don't fucking know!" Maja attempted, "I'm trying to rationalize this! It makes no sense!"
"Maybe stop trying to be a scientist for a moment and let something a little fantastical be more real." Britt offered with a smile, "Truth is stranger than fiction." Maja sighed again, going to the fridge to get a snack, contemplating what to do next.
Her phone buzzed with a text, and opening it, seeing it was her mother, Katrina.
Mama: Wanted to check on you, vennen min!
Maja: Hai, mama. I'm doing okay.
Mama: Are you sure?
Maja: … I think I'd like to come visit this weekend. Feeling homesick.
Mama: Of course! We'd love to have you home! Shall I make your favorite?
Maja: Ja takk! 💙
Mama: 😘
"I'm gonna go home for the weekend," Maja spoke up, finishing her conversation with her mother.
"Really? Aw… okay…" Alessia sighed, "Just the weekend?"
"Yeah, I want some time with my family. Plus, I think my mom knows I'm feeling down." Britt chuckled.
"Mothers always know." Maja's phone buzzed again, this time, a text from her brother, Johann.
Jojo: Mama says your coming home?
Maja: *You're. And yes, just for the weekend. Please learn your grammar.
Jojo: Fuck off.
Maja: You better not have been in my room.
Jojo: And why would I be in your room? Still smells like your air freshener.
Maja: Good, I know you hate it.
For Johann being only three years younger than Maja, he still acted like a child. But, she kind of missed his antics, so she knew she missed him either way.
She checked her calendar and decided she would head home Friday morning, given her family still lived in Oslo, not far from the university, so it wouldn't be that long of a drive. She only needed to pack a few things, knowing some of her other belongings were still in her old room.
The next morning, she threw some clothes, her toothbrush, her laptop, and a few essential electronics. As she packed, it occurred to her that since she'd be in Oslo for the weekend, she'd stop by the university to visit some of her friends, one of whom was interning in the tech department.
Henry Gjestvang, a tech major specializing in Astro Tech. He and Maja had been good friends since taking their freshman course in Astronomy together, and they had collaborated on papers before. And one of their current projects was a device that could log the night sky in real-time, and using data input, could show the night sky in that location thousands of years into the past and future. It had been a passion project for a couple of years, and Maja was eager to see the progress being made.
But for now, family came first.