Freedom | Older!Atreus x Reader

Surviving Fimbulwinter [I]

I sat on the couch, pouting and pressing a chunk of ice against the side of my thigh. One of the dwarves— Sindri, I learned— paced back and forth in front of me.

"You better hope that doesn't get infected! None of us have any knowledge of healing, though we could make you a prosthetic should your leg rot off—" Sindri rambled.

"Ew, can we not?" I cringed at the thought, "It's already bad enough I literally got stabbed, I don't want to imagine any worse right now."

"Well, you shouldn't be sneakin' up on people!" The blue dwarf— Brok— huffed from his workbench.

"I said I was sorry! I forgot I was invisible."

"A likely excuse."

I threw a glare towards Brok, who definitely was choosing to clean off his knife in front of me on purpose. Sindri, on the other hand, had chosen to make his way back to the large cauldron beside the fireplace. He grabbed the ladle and stirred before stoking the fire.

"In any case, Kratos and Atreus should be back soon. They went out to collect supplies before they leave tomorrow, so once they're back we can all have a nice talk."

"Yeah, about how the Hel you appeared out of nowhere, and how you think it's acceptable to scare the Tatzelwurms out of us."

A few hours had passed, and I was still icing my leg. Getting stabbed really hurt. I'd just started a new book, Rare Fighting Spells, when the front door seemed to throw itself open. I jumped, watching as an incredibly muscular man walk through the door. Behind him was a boy, possibly close to my age. This must be the two Sindri was talking about.

They both eyed me, taking their things to Brok to mess with.

Sindri clapped his hands together, "Wonderful, everyone's here! It's time for dinner!"

———

To say dinner was awkward would be the understatement of the year.

We all ate silently— everyone sneaking glances at me while I tried to think of how to introduce myself. Eventually, I coughed and sat up straight, putting down my spoon. Everyone else followed.

"I suppose I need to speak."

Brok huffed and I side-eyed him.

I said my name, introducing myself. "I just escaped from Alfheim. I don't know how I successfully got here, but Brok and Sindri found me. And then stabbed me—"

"You scared me!"

"—I did. But thank you guys for saving me." I tried to smile at them, but it was more of a grimace. "Any questions?"

"Lass, why were you in Alfheim in the first place? Don't you know there's a war going on?" The decapitated head asked with an accent way stronger than what I was expecting.

"I- uh, lived there?" I felt weird talking to it, "My father is a Dark Elf. My mother is mortal, but she died when I was born. Before the war, my father hid me underground, away from the other Elves. They hated me because I didn't look like them. Eventually, when the Elves began using the Light of Alfheim and all of the Dark Elves went underground, I was trapped even further and locked in my room.

Today, I decided I wanted to get out, so I learned a spell to make myself invisible and escaped. The Mystic Gateway was broken, and I tried for a while to fix it, but it wasn't working. That's when it started to fix itself, and Brok and Sindri opened it up from the other side. I snuck inside, and went to talk to them, but I forgot I was invisible, and— yeah. You get the rest."

The head hummed. I was sure if he could nod, he would. "I see. I'd heard a rumor once from Alfheim about a mixed breed, but you know those Elves. Squashed the rumor quick. They don't like anyone getting involved in their business."