A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Despite having stopped crying, Alice kept her head buried in Emma's chest for a little while longer. At the same time, Emma was caressing the girl's back while whispering soothing words in her ear.

Finally, she pulled herself back while mumbling, "Sorry," and trying to wipe away some of the snot and tears staining her face. Unfortunately, she only managed to spread them out. Emma giggled slightly at the sight and waved her hand slightly, inadvertently showing off her skills with aetherium by cleaning Alice's face with a wave of light.

"No need to apologize, Alice," Emma soothed with a warm, almost motherly tone. "Everyone needs a shoulder to cry on now and then. I was happy to be yours today."

"Thank you…" Alice smiled slightly, despite her hoarse voice and broken tone.

Then, she turned and looked at Erik with a complicated gaze. Erik calmly looked back at her.

They stared at each other for a moment, until Erik spoke up: "I guess Björn talked about the specifics of his death, huh."

Alice nodded slightly, as her expression showed a clear struggle over how she was supposed to feel about this. "You and that other woman… were also directly responsible for his death," she mumbled, as hate fought against the care and trust she had built with Erik and his group.

"Do you really believe that?" Erik asked, as his expression remained calm. Emma decided to stay out of this, as she instead stood up to pour Erik some more tea.

They stared at each other again, before Alice said softly, "Dad didn't… he knew this was the only way for… for someone to go save me." Tears started flowing again. "Even if you had agreed to save me without his sacrifice, you wouldn't have been able to escape that asshole Frostfang."

She began to sob a little again as she continued, "Plus, he was happy to be able to go out fighting, rather than simply being executed by Frostfang. I suppose I got that part from him…" she trailed off with a small smile, despite the tears.

At this point, Emma had once again taken the girl into her arms.

Meanwhile, Erik calmly nodded. "I'm actually a little relieved to hear how Björn felt about the whole thing," he mentioned thoughtfully. "I liked Björn, and I can't even blame him for causing all that trouble. I would have done the same in his shoes, after all."

Alice smiled slightly, "He liked you too…"

Suddenly, Erik frowned, "So now I know how he felt, but how do you feel about the whole thing? Do you blame me? Or Elora?"

"I…" Alice began but trailed off as she looked away. "I'm not sure yet… sorry."

"That's okay," Erik nodded, before continuing, "Do you mind telling me about his message to you?"

Alice slowly shook her head. "It was… the memories from his life, from the moment I was born. I saw… I saw my mother. I knew so little about her before… You know, I didn't even know I was half-human until those damn people at the Institute told me…" she mentioned, as some fury towards the Council passed through her eyes.

She quickly calmed down again, as her lips turned up into a small but happy smile, "I saw how happy they were together, and how they loved me…"

Yet, just as quickly as it appeared, the smile went away and as if there was some endless reservoir of water in Alice's body, the tears began flowing again when she continued, "I saw her death at the hands of those hunters, and heard her last words… Protect my little Alice."

She went quiet for a little while, as her emotions raged through anger, a desire for revenge, and a feeling of extreme loss.

Finally, the blues won out again as she looked down. "After that, it went relatively quickly. I understand now that he left me with Ivar and Marta so that I could be raised as a full-blooded wereverine, and not have to worry about being persecuted for my heritage."

She glanced at Erik, "I also saw your mother… I think I like her. She was hard and tough as nails, but… kind in her own way. Dad noticed the grief behind her eyes, however. She'll be overjoyed to see you, I think…"

Erik smiled softly at her and Björn's description of his mother. 'That's definitely Mom. I'm looking forward to seeing her,' he mused inwardly, causing Elora to send some comforting feelings his way.

Meanwhile, Alice continued. "Anyway, I saw him meet with Ivar and Marta a few times in secret, and I saw him watching over me from a distance, whenever he had some free time… Very few of his thoughts were spent on anything but me," she sobbed softly, "While I barely knew him at all, and even… even blamed him for ridiculous things."

"You can't blame yourself for that," Erik shook his head. "You were just a kid. In fact, you are just a kid. I'm sure you realize after seeing his memories, that Björn wouldn't want you to do that."

Meanwhile, in Erik's soul, the gears in Elora's mind were turning. Staying true to herself, she didn't really care about what she considered to be just another sob story, and only focused on the factual information in Alice's words.

So she mumbled thoughtfully, "I guess that's how the Council found out about Alice… They trailed Björn in an effort to find anything they could use to turn him against the Enclave, and they succeeded. Discovering that Alice was half-human was likely just some accident that came after."

This was something that had been bugging Elora for a while now. Since even his closest comrades didn't know about Alice, how could the Council have known? But now it made sense to her. A weight was lifted off Elora's mind, as she always hated not knowing something.

Meanwhile, Alice answered Erik with a slight nod, "I do, but… it's easier said than done."

Silence descended on the three of them once again, while Emma continued to comfort Alice, and Erik looked at her solemnly. 'It's just another of the many sob stories that exist in the universe,' he couldn't help but think to himself. 'And yet, I find myself caring about it…'

'I guess Elora was right,' he chuckled to himself. 'I'm not only a bleeding heart, but I'm also awakening fatherly instincts for the girl. If I have a daughter of my own, I want her to be like Alice. Resilient and ferocious, but not afraid to cry when the situation calls for it.'

Yet, he fully recognized that really the only reason he cared about Alice's story was because she was technically still a ten-year-old child. Had she been an adult, he probably wouldn't have cared so much.

While he was thinking, Alice spoke up again. "And that was basically it. After that came… came Victor," she mumbled with hatred in her voice, "and the rest you know."

Erik nodded slowly. "So now that you have your father's message, and you know everything… what do you want to do?"