[Avatar] 2 – ‘Imaginary Freind’

[A/N: After deep diving into Norse Mythology, I realized that it was filled with contradictions, assumptions, and countless gods that could be other gods or goddesses, such as Freya. So, I will be  simplifying it to make it less of a headache for me]

"My name is Freya; what is your name, child?" Freya introduced herself, only to freeze as the young girl suddenly dissolved into small balls of golden light. Barely even a few moments passed before she was completely gone, leaving behind nothing. That wasn't surprising to her; it was the fact that she felt nothing, no magic, no divinity, nothing. It was as if she didn't exist in her realm in the first place, almost like she was an illusion. Which was impossible, as she was a master of the Arcane due to her long life and previous marriage with Odin, or Od, of Asgard. 

Then, some of the orbs of energy left by the child that was slowly dissipating touched her, and she froze. She never thought she would feel pure Primordial Energy again, something she only felt once before long ago, a time when the Earth was still mostly untamed and untouched by mankind and the Gods.

Then, the Primordial Energy soaked into her body, causing her to collapse. When she reawoke, she clenched her hands and blinked in surprise. She was no longer fading.

...

When the young girl awoke, she was bursting with energy as she ran around the room, waking up the other kids. As it was around 6 AM in the morning, the orphanage caretakers were just entering the room to wake all of the children up, so it was a surprise to see one of the children already awake and running around.

Seeing the caretakers and her particular favorite, the orphanage's headmistress, Elaina ran past all the other caretakers before tackling the headmistress's leg. She looked up at her with a smile on her face.

For a brief moment, the headmistress looked at the young girl with disgust and contempt before she masked her face with a gentle smile. "What's wrong, Elaina? Why are you up so early?" 

"Miss Vicky, I had this amazing dream! Youseetherewasthiswomanwho-" The little girl began speaking so fast that the Headmistress had to stop her, "Calm down, Elaina, go slow."

Pouting and puffing out her cheeks, she continued, "I met a nice woman! She did this thing to my knee and made the booboo go away and gave me the most wonderful food! It was the best thing I have ever tasted!"

"What?!" The Headmistress asked with concern, not for the child, but for who the child could have met. "Yeah! She was beautiful, and she had this long braided brown hair, fur clothes, and this awesome axe!"

"Wait, was this a dream, you speak?" She asked, confused.

Thinking, the young girl replied, "I think so, but it felt so real!"

"You insolent brat!" The Headmistress shouted in anger, about to slap the child only to be stopped by a different caretaker, "Wait, Headmistress! You know we can't damage the products!"

The children looked at their caretakers in confusion while the Headmistress stared at Elaina in anger before scoffing.

"Fine,  just keep her out of my sight," The headmistress told one of the other caretakers before walking out of the room.

"Come along Elaina," One of the Caretakers spoke, grabbing Elaina's hand.

The caretakers led all of the children down to the small kitchen, where they served the kids some kind of slop that should only be served in prisons: gruel. Its smell and appearance were so bad that even beggars would deny eating it.

  While the others began eating, Elaina was the only one who didn't. She was still feeling full and great after eating the food the woman had made. The caretakers didn't notice this, as Elaina decided to give her bowl to someone else since she was not hungry.

The whole day went as usual. The kids played, the caretakers watched over them, taught them basic math and English, and served them dinner—more slop.

Still feeling strangely full, Elaina once again did not eat, and by 8 PM, the children were put to bed.

Once again, when Elaina fell asleep, she drifted off to sleep, dreaming.

She once again found herself in the beautiful field of flowers and began running through them, this time not tripping on anything.

Seeing the cottage in the distance, she ran towards it, giggling, skipping, and playing with everything she encountered. She easily lost focus and focused on something else.

Beautiful butterflies with exotic patterns, beautiful bees harvesting pollen from the flowers, and, in the distance, even animals skipping across the fields and edge of the forests could be seen.

That's when the woman, holding an empty basket, came out of the cottage, smiling, before noticing the young girl playing and chasing after the butterflies. She dropped the basket and gawked at the child.

That's when the child noticed the woman and started running at her. For a brief moment, the woman's hand glowed an ominous purple before fizzling out as the child hugged the woman's leg and looked up at her.

"Hello, imaginary friend!" the young girl greeted the older woman, who responded, "What? Imaginary?"

"That's what the caretakers call you. Is that wrong? I'm sorry," the child apologized.

"I am not imaginary, child. I am a Goddess, a being brought to life through faith and belief," The woman explained to the child, who only looked at the woman with confusion.

Sighing, the woman said, "Yes, I am your imaginary friend. You may call me Freya, child. What is your name?" Freya asked.

"My name is Elina, Miss Freya!" The child excitedly greeted herself.

"It's nice to meet you, Elaina. Should I expect to continue seeing you in the future?" The girl looked confused, so Freya continued with another question: "How do you find yourself here, Elaina?"

"Oh! I go to sleep!" The girl helpfully answered.

"So...you are sleeping?" Freya asked, her mind racing and confused, but the girl continued to look at her, confused and unable to understand.

"Come, child, let's get you inside."

...

Three more times, Elaina found herself back in the fields where Freya called home. During these visits, Freya played with the child, and each time she came to find herself there, Freya made her some food and played with the over-excited girl.

Then, a month passed, and the girl reappeared in Freya's home each night in her dreams. 

Then, a year...

Then two...three...

Quickly, the child soon rose to ten years old.

On the night of her tenth birthday, young Elaina found herself once more in Freya's home.

...

For a moment, Elaina experienced emptiness. The next moment, she felt the earth beneath her feet, and opening her eyes, she saw Freya's home, a small field covered in flowers surrounded by a dark forest covered in a constant thick fog. 

Happily skipping through the field to Freya's cottage, she knocked three times and, within moments, was met with the face of a smiling Freya.

"Happy birthday, Elaina!" Freya greeted me, making Elaina smile before she lunged forward and hugged the woman.

"I missed you too," Freya chuckled before beckoning the child inside, where a pot of stew awaited.

"You are ten now, yes?" Freya asked, sitting the child down while she prepared her a bowl.

"Yes, ma'am!" Elaina answered with excitement.

"Then it is time," Freya spoke cryptically.

"Time? Time for what? Oh, are you throwing me a birthday party?! I heard those can be fun!" Elaina naively asked and assumed, making Freyja laugh a bit.

"It can be, and while I did make something special for you for your name day, I also decided that I'd like to become your Patron," Freya explained, placing the bowl of soup before Elaina before returning to her kitchen and bringing out a plate of cookies.

"Ooo," Elaina answered, seemingly not hearing Freya's declaration.

Exasperated, Freya could only smile as the mortal child before she eagerly dug into their meal.

"How would you like to meet one of my friends?" Freya asked, watching as the child rose their head from their bowl with their mouth now covered in the remains of food.

"That's right. Wait here," Freya said before opening a window and walking to the kitchen. With a sharp whistle, she closed the window.

"He should be here any moment; his name is Hildisvíni; he hasn't had any friends other than me in a...long time," Freya said, as what sounded like thunder came rushing towards the cottage before drastically slowing down.

That's when the cottage door seemed to open by itself and revealed...a hoglet? 

"His size might fool you, but-" Before Freya could react, young Elaina charged forward and tackled the hoglet, giving it a deep hug while she screamed in excitement.

Freya could only blink with surprise as the hoglet squealed in surprise and panic as it fruitlessly tried to escape from the young girl's grasp.

Smiling, Freya let the young girl play with Hildisvíni until her time ran out, and she watched as the young girl's form fell apart, leaving behind a confused miniaturized Hildisvíni.

"It's alright, my friend; she will return tomorrow."

Freya hoped her blessing would help the girl and keep her safe in the mortal world.