"Hilda has been up there for a long time," Atreus said as Kratos grunted in agreement.

"Are we going to leave without her?" Atreus asked.

"No, her powers may react to what we seek. The sooner we fix whatever is causing her powers to hurt her, the better. Her body will not be able to take much more of this," Kratos asked as Sindri appeared out of nowhere and looked upset.

"Please find whatever is causing whatever the heck this is. A hand grabbed you out of a pool of blood?" Sindri asked.

"Yeah, it was just for a few seconds, but it was angry and wanted out. Also, when I went to check on Hilda to give her the news, I heard her talking to someone. Something told her to die, and when I made food for Hilda, I felt something touch me. I'm not sure what Hilda did to me or us, but her powers may be the only thing keeping that thing from hurting us or worse," Atreus informed.

"That's wonderful to think about," Sindri said as Brok returned with arrows.

"Stop losing them!" Brok said as Hilda came down the stairs, ready to go.

"Ready to go?" Hilda asked.

"Yeah, are you ready?" Atreus asked.

"Well, I wouldn't be asking you now, would I?" Hilda asked, "Race you to the gate?"

"I'll beat you," he said.

"No way will you ever beat me," she smiled.

"Oh yeah? Well, I can distract you with my good looks," he smiled as he made a face.

Hilda started laughing as he began to flexing.

"I know I'm just the best-looking sixteen-year-old guy around. Your fault you fell for a guy with good looks rather than brains," Atreus said as he quickly took off to the gate.

"You ass hole!" She yelled as she started to go after him.

"I'm sorry. Did I miss something?" Mimir asked, seeing how strange those two were acting.

"They are together, a couple," Kratos informed as he saw Atreus try to go to the gate, but Hilda quickly got him.

"I bloody knew it! I guess I could have asked nicely instead of accidentally insulting her," Mimir said as Kratos picked up Mimir so they could leave.

Kratos was not pleased about Hilda being all his son all the time, but when they first met, she did try to kill him, so that was a slight improvement.

"You are so beautiful," Atreus smiled as he started to kiss her again.

"Your dad is going to see us and scold us! Now stop it," she chuckled.

"I don't care, though!" He said as she got off of him.

"You should care; come on, we got a job to do," she said, making him sigh.

"Fine," he sighed as she helped him off the ground.

Kratos went over to them, and Atreus started making faces at her. She chuckled as he looked like he was trying to seduce her badly, which was working on her.

"Atreus, that is enough," Kratos said as Atreus sighed a bit.

He opened the gate, and they all threw it to Alfheim.

They got onto the dogs, and Atreus sighed, thinking about how he left, how he hurt Hilda, and felt like he could do everything by himself. He was very wrong, and he felt guilty.

"Mimir, you can yell at me for leaving if you want," Atreus informed as the dogs were ready to sled across the somewhat calm landscape.

"What will that accomplish?" He asked

"It might make you feel better," Atreus informed as he sighed.

"No, you didn't trust me enough to discuss your problems. That is a wound you can't easily mend," he informed as Atreus sighed

"I'm sorry," Atreus said.

"Don't be the fault is mine," Mimir informed.

"It's not always your fault. Our minds play tricks on us, making us think we know better, but we don't. We are still kids even though we are trying to act older than we are. For instance, my powers, I am scared of them even though I don't act like them. I don't want to hurt Atreus or anyone. Odin, however, if I have to, I will. If it kills me, okay, if it turns me into a monster, so be it then because I know I'm using my powers to protect my family. What little I have left anyway," she said.

"You won't have to fight Odin alone if it comes down to it, Hilda. We have your back," Atreus said.

"You have seen firsthand what my powers did to me, Atreus. He knows now, Thor told me he was scared of me, which means he knows something that we don't, or my mother was a lot stronger than she looked, but because of that potion, it did something to her and maybe to me," she said as they stopped at a gate that was blocking their path too a second sand storm.

"Whatever it is, we can fix it together," Atreus said as he looked at her with a small smile.

"It may not be that simple, you know," she said.

"And? You helped us while you were dying! You kept me from doing stupid things and let me talk to you when needed. Plus, even when I made the mistake of freeing Garm. You did warn me, but I just didn't listen when I should have. You helped us even if you didn't know it," Atreus smiled.

"That doesn't mean my powers can be fixed, though," she informed.

"We will find a way," Kratos informed.

"Speaking of finding ways earlier, you were watching Odin or something important. What was it?" Mimir asked.

"I don't think you want to know," Hilda said as Atreus opened the door with Kratos' help.

"It might help us find out what I'd wrong with your powers," Mimir informed.

"I can tell you that it won't, actually," she informed as she looked at Atreus, and he caught her staring.

"Will you stop it already? It's so embarrassing when you look at me like a piece of meat," he said.

"Well, you got...." she stopped quickly, realizing that Kratos and Mimir would find out they slept together.

His son was good-looking, and she wished they had a second round, but that would probably not happen for a while. They also had more significant problems than her getting sexually frustrated at the worst possible time, like right now.

"I got what?" Atreus asked as she smiled.

"A great personality," she smiled as he looked at her oddly.

She looked at him, and Kratos was getting somewhat confused as they talked with their eyes rather than words. Their faces said it all, but Kratos wasn't getting it.

"We must get going," Kratos informed.

"Right, yeah. Sorry," Atreus said as he cleared his throat and walked through the gate.

"Dang it," she said softly as she was enjoying teasing Atreus and getting him all worked up.

"Man, I'm getting sand in places where the sun doesn't shine," Hilda said as they rode on the sled threw the sandstorm.

"What does that even mean, Hilda?" Atreus asked.

"Do you want to know, or are you just being a perverted teenager?" She asked.

"Oh, um, never mind," Atreus said as they were trying to find a way to a cave, but it was no use.

"It's too windy. I can't see anything in front of me," Atreus informed as Hilda leaned over the side and touched the sand.

A gold path started to appear, making them follow it to the cave they needed to go to.

"How did you do that?" Atreus asked as Hilda looked over at him.

"Do what?" She asked.

"You just made that path... oh no, Hilda, it's happening again," Atreus informed.

"I used my powers without knowing it again, didn't I?" She asked.

"Yeah, you did," Atreus informed.

"Okay, no powers if I can help it then," Hilda said as they entered the cave.

"I don't know how you two are fine. You must have sand everywhere," Hilda said as she shook her head to get some of the sand out.

"I don't think you will like my answer," Atreus smiled.

"You know you are a cheeky, smart ass! But I do love it, though, " she smiled as they climbed down the massive drop.

"I'm glad we are doing this. I wasn't sure before, but now, it just feels wrong for Alfheim," Atreus informed.

"Hearing the sounds of the sands again is a rare privilege, even if it's just one Hafgufa," Mimir informed.

"When we free this second one, it will be a duet," Atreus smiled as they hit bottom.

"Cool! Look at this place. It doesn't look like a dark elf cave, so I'm guessing it is a settlement of some sort," Hilda informed.

"I think you are right, built before the light or dark elves," Mimir informed.

"Hear that? We are getting closer," Hilda said, hearing a muffled sound that seemed to go threw the whole cave.

"This place is huge. When we are done here, we should come back and look closer," Atreus informed.

"With the end of the world or just this stuff?" She asked.

"The whole end of the world thing. Mimir, the last time we were here, this hive stuff was everywhere. It looked unnatural, like it was choking the life out of everything, even the light itself," Atreus informed him.

"Because you aren't from around here to the dark elves. It is more natural than that giant white column in the middle of the well. Look at some of these surfaces. Some of these are older than the light elves or even the Hafgufa, for that matter," Mimir informed.

"You do have a point," Atreus said.

"I like to believe I always have a point," Mimir smiled.

"Your ego isn't inflated at all," Hilda smiled as they continued to explore the vast area they discovered in hopes of finding the answers they were looking for.

This place felt so familiar that it was kind of scary, and she couldn't figure out why it felt like that, but it had to be due to the light. She touched it, which was probably not a good thing, especially for her powers which seemed to be growing at an alarming rate.