𝐄𝐓𝐎𝐈𝐋𝐄 ━ loki laufeyson¹·¹

1│A WOMAN OF STARDUST AND LIGHT. . .

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❛ ᴇᴛᴏɪʟᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐎𝐍𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴀ ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ ᴏғ
sᴛᴀʀᴅᴜsᴛ & ʟɪɢʜᴛ ꒱


❝ BUT THIS [ FLOWER ] ONLY
REQUIRES THE COLOR OF
THE SUNSET AT THE TIME
YOUR LOVER DIES ❞

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A L F H E I M

The world was very small to Eleanora, a woman who had not so much as left the confines of her realm, let alone the acre plot of her mother's cottage. However, she knew how big it could be, if only one were set foot a step farther than they had ever gone before. Elin spent many an evening sharing stories of her past, telling her tales of Asgard's king and queen, her secret romance with an Aesir soldier and the hours spent in the healing bay under Eir's tutelage.

Beyond that, her mother spoke of Yggdrasil and the nine realms, each more terrifying and enchanting than the last. Although Elin herself had never been to more than two realms— Asgard and Alfheim— she spoke of the others as if she'd been there herself, to which she admitted that some were Magnus' (the soldier she had been in love with) tales. It did not matter to Eleanora whose tales they were; she soaked them all up like a sponge, wishing each story lasted longer than it did.

When she was old enough, her mother taught her how to hold a charcoal pencil and the letters of the Alfheim alphabet. Then, even more stories were available for her to read and treasure. But they were still exactly that— stories. Eleanora longed to travel beyond her family's plot, to see the world— worlds— as the books described them. For this early part of her life, she only had her imagination to picture them but she knew that seeing the real thing would be beyond her wildest expectations.

Her mother, however, had deemed it unsafe for her to travel. Being a Star was dangerous enough; other beings could sense the source of power if they got too near and would use it for themselves. It was even more of a risk when the reason for her mother's flight from Asgard— King Odin, the Allfather himself— wanted her to use as his own weapon. So, after explaining these perils to Eleanora, Elin had kept her confined to their cottage with the rare trip to Alfhiem's biggest town, Stormhold.

Stormhold was not an ordinary village like one would find on Midgard or even Asgard. The entirety of the city appeared to float on verdant hills, as if the buildings and people weighed nothing at all— or, rather, they were what was holding the village aloft. It did not, actually, float. It was situated on a river; indeed, the water flowed directly through the town, cleaving it right in half. The mist from the rapid waters made Stormhold look as if it were sitting on clouds.

There are tall mountains— so tall that the tops disappeared into the sky above— that surrounded the village to protect it from possible invaders. Everything was a vibrant shade of green, even the buildings; they were decorated with ivy crawling up the side and other exotic plants, the likes of which only grew in Alfheim. Most of the buildings were made of glass; Light Elves had an affinity for sunlight and prefer to be near it at all times, leading to open-air rooms and extensive gardens.

The shapes of the buildings were otherworldly, even in the mystical sense. Lofty spires made up most of the shops, so straight and narrow that they jutted up into the sky like spikes. The smaller structures had the opposite effect: they were squat and round, with signs that read things like Invisible Ink Supplies (if you can't see it, it's working!) and Oracles for Hire (prophecies for cheap— know your fate on a dime!)

It was a days' ride to the village of Stormhold if the weather was good, but the end of the journey more than made up for the length. Eleanora would always ease Celestia into a gallop when the spires of the city came into view, her excitement too unbridled to contain. Her mother would call after her, scolding her for running off, but Elin's words would be lost to the wind by the time they reached her daughter's ears.