A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Still immovable and encased in greenery, Ymir smirked at Erik with amusement. "You're quite the inquisitive one, aren't you? I have to admit, I don't remember the last time I was interrogated like this by a third-ranker."

Erik narrowed his eyes. His tone was a soft, indignant growl. "It's not me that needs something from you, old man…"

"That's just because you don't know the stakes yet," Ymir answered somberly, but before Erik could answer, he shook his head. "But it's alright, little friend. I'll answer whatever questions you have."

Seeing Erik nod but not say anymore, Ymir sighed and started answering. "I did know about the dimension she'd created for much the same reason I knew about your importance: because she sent me a message."
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This naturally caused some surprise for Erik. He raised his eyebrow. "Didn't you say haven't talked to her in however long it was?"

Wryly, Ymir shook his head. "Very astute, little friend, but I wouldn't exactly consider a single message as 'talking to someone'."

Seeing Erik's acceptance of that explanation, Ymir continued. "As I mentioned before, I can only speak to those who are either connected to this world somehow or are currently walking its surface. But, since little Audy wasn't born here and currently hides in a separate dimension, she is neither."

Entering a kind of teacher mode that seemed eerily similar to Elora's version, the giant continued. "Fortunately, little Audy is resourceful. It should be… three years ago now, that she managed to punch a message through the walls of her dimension."

He frowned thoughtfully, the leaves rustling around him. "Her message contained three pieces of information. First, there was everything she knew about you, including when and where you disappeared. Second, she told me to get you back here. And third, she wanted me to direct you towards that dimension she prepared for you."

Erik was already full of questions and realizations, but Ymir's continuous stream of words gave him no time for contemplation.

Ymir raised his eyebrows and sighed wryly. "Unfortunately, I was still in the process of waking up at the time, so I barely understood what she was talking about. It took me another two years from that point before I could fully understand her message, find you, and pull you back here through your connection to this world."

Finally, Ymir fell silent for a moment to let his words sink in.

"I see…" Erik nodded thoughtfully, his eyes downcast. After a moment, he looked back up at Ymir. "Is it possible for this act of sending you a message to cause an unexpected backlash?"

Ymir nodded non-comitally. "I'm not sure what method she used, but that's certainly not unlikely."

"Then, I guess that would explain why Audumla suddenly stopped communicating with Eira," Erik muttered thoughtfully, his hand scratching the stubble on his chin.

At that moment, a flash of something went through Ymir's eyes, but it was gone by the time they looked back at him. Whatever it was, this seemingly gentle giant clearly didn't want him to catch on to it. 'Something about Eira?' Erik thought curiously.

But he decided not to pull on that thread just yet. Instead, he nodded. "Alright, that explains what you knew and how, but then why did you send me to Africa in pursuit of Edda, who wasn't there yet, instead of towards the dimension like Audumla asked?"

Ymir smirked and raised an eyebrow sceptically. "I'm sure you can guess why if you think for a moment…"

Erik was surprised. He frowned and engaged his brain to create the links Elora usually made. Then, almost immediately, it struck him: "Because of Elora…" he muttered.

With a scoff, the giant nodded, a hint of anger seeping into his voice, the world around them shaking because of it. "Of course. I didn't know little Audy's plans, but I damn well knew I couldn't let a fairy interfere with them… At the time, I didn't even know if she was controlling you or not."

Seeing Erik was getting annoyed at his suspicion of Elora again, Ymir decided to move on. "Regardless, since I didn't want to send you there, I instead tried to guide you towards those in control of little Audy's dimension by using your desire for vengeance."

The leaves holding him rustled, as if he tried to shrug. "That little girl who betrayed you may not have been there yet, but I knew they were coming, and sending you straight to the heart of their depraved little empire would have just resulted in your death."

Then he frowned, his eyes seeming to look into the distance. "Finally, I wanted to provide a little context. There was a chance the fairy might have recognized the story, which could have told me something about her…"

"What do you mean, she might have recognized it?" Erik immediately asked, his brows furrowed. Elora had mentioned nothing of the story even being familiar to her.

Ymir looked down at Erik with amusement. "Well, that's where the story I brought you here for might bring some enlightenment. Assuming you have no further questions, little friend?"

Erik snorted and rolled his eyes, before waving his hand. "Fine. Tell me what this is all about then, and why you distrust my wife so much."

Sighing, Ymir's body seemed strangely relaxed, despite the greenery winding around him. "Actually, the fairies used to be allies… their methods weren't entirely savoury, and we really didn't like their enslavement practices, but… our goals were aligned, and that made us allies in a hostile universe."

"So, what changed?" Erik asked, curiously.

"The fairies betrayed our location to our enemies," Ymir frowned, anger seeping into his voice again, making the surroundings tremble. "To this day, I still don't know why. Their leader seemed to hate Yggdrasil no less than we did, seemed no less determined to take it down, and yet…!"

With every word, their surroundings trembled harder as the leaves around Ymir's body suddenly started moving, tightening around his large limbs and torso. Erik was forced to wonder how much this giant was suppressing his anger, and if he even wanted to know the answer…

"Calm down, old man…" Erik frowned, not really keen on finding out what would happen to him if this space… imploded? Or whatever might happen to it.

"Why don't you just start from the beginning?"