The fanfic trope requested was: 'magic is real'.

Warnings: limited research resulting in possible inaccuracy

As the daughter of a shepherd family you were expected to be rather down to earth.

Neither your father nor your mother understood the calling you constantly felt that was the knowledge that there was more to life than what people could grasp.

You had always known that there was more to nature than just the provision of food and resources, you knew and felt that there was more to it.

When you had told your parents about it they had asked you not to speak of it further, they were good but simple people that didn't want to be shunned by their neighbors for their child's strange interests.

You had decided to go along with their opinion, giving up your interest but never quite stopping to believe in it.

You worked well for your family, as the youngest and most agile you were sent along to guard the sheep every day, and over time you gave up any hope of ever witnessing something out of the ordinary.

Nevertheless you never stopped looking, when you walked in dusk or dawn through the woods and fields you felt the energy nature was exuding, almost as a coat of gentle thunder that lay itself onto your skin.

Even though you had tried to practice magic in your younger years you had never been able to, and so you had given up practicing, but never your belief in the existence of it.

You had heard the people call it seidr, magic with nature that could give the practitioner clairvoyance, healing powers or access to divination.

You had heard a lot about it, but even though the great Odin and Freya were a völva and a seidmann it was frowned upon thoroughly by society.

Your fascination remained nevertheless, but in its hiddenness it only grew stronger.

You were on one of your walks in the morning when you came upon a carved stone.

It was nothing special, usually some of them were signposts, but the runes carved in stone didn't make out sentences.

You knew that the runes could also be spells, and you were absolutely taken by the stone.

Nevertheless you had to continue, and because you didn't see anyone nearby there was no way to see who had carved the runes into the stone.

You lived near Kattegat, not in but very near to it, and not only did you have to watch the sheep but also go to the weekly market for food.

You had met many people you loved to talk on your way to and on the market, the couple that supplied you with cheese, the man that sold you fish, and a few other market goers that you had talked to.

One of those people was a person you had heard a lot about, though it usually was a lot of bad things.

He was Ivar, the name 'the Boneless' given to him because he could not use his legs, and even though many of the people hated him for his cruel behavior he had not once been cruel to you.

He had been rude at first, but when he realized that you were kind to him he had just become a little grumpy, but certainly not unkind.

You had come to love your talks, but since you were very busy with the sheep every other day you could only ever talk to him once a week.

He was mysterious, not just that he was different from everyone else physically, he was mentally stronger, more intelligent, and there was an air around him you couldn't explain.

It was like the feeling of energy on your skin, whenever you were with him you felt more intensely than with anyone else.

This time when you approached him he was watching you more closely, and once you reached him he looked quizzically at you.

"You were serious when you said you were interested in seidr?", he asked you out of the blue, recalling a time where you had told him about your interest, but you answered his question.

"Yes, I am interested", you told him, earning a short nod from him before he looked you up and down.

"I want to show you something", he told you, and though you were surprised you nodded.

"Now", he added, and you frowned at him.

"You know I can't. I have to finish my round of the market, and then I have to get back home", you told him, but he only clicked with his tongue in an annoyed manner.

"Yes, I'm coming", you answered him quickly, and he only nodded as an answer before he turned around, moving quickly on the ground, you following him.

You left Kattegat, and Ivar kept an immense pace for the fact that he was dragging his body over the ground, reaching the forest and walking towards the part of the woods where you had found the carved stone.

Once you reached it he stopped, looking up at you.

"You know this place", he said and you were shocked by the fact that he knew about that.

"I... came here once, but how do you know that?", you asked him softly, and he nodded.

"I carved that stone. And I saw you inspecting it. You're seriously interested in sidr, I can see it when I look at you", he explained while you watched him.

"What do you have to do with seidr?", you asked him, squinting your eyes slightly to see him better.

You saw an almost seductive smile on his face as he raised an eyebrow.

"Let me show you", he answered you, and moved further into the forest.

You reached a small hut and Ivar pushed the door open, motioning for you to get in and going in after you, closing the door again.

It was dark and the air was thick, the smell of burnt leaves still crowding the air, and a lot of objects crowding the room itself.

There were bottles filled with different liquids, bowls filled with substances, mushrooms or different kinds of leaves, all on the ground or in close proximity to it, so he could reach them easily.

"Sit", he said and you sat down on the ground, perplexed by what you were seeing.

Ivar had never looked normal, but you would have never expected this.

"Let me show you", he repeated again as he moved to a bowl, lighting the content on fire, and after a short while blue smoke began to fill the air.

You had to force yourself not to cough as you watched Ivar come closer, your vision blurring as you saw his hand come to your face, gently touching your temple.

You could hear him chanting something, words you couldn't understand because you were too dizzy, until you didn't hear anything anymore, a vision overtaking you.

You were outside, on a summer's day, a place you hadn't been before, but you felt at home.

Standing outside a house that you knew was yours you chopped some fish when you heard your daughter shouting.

You had a daughter, though it was strange to present you future you seemed perfectly fine with it, looking at her and what she was shouting at.

Or rather whom, because Ivar, leaned on crutches, made his way towards you, catching your daughter as she was running towards him, letting a crutch go to hold her to his chest.

"I missed you, daddy", she said loudly, the words echoing through your mind as you tried to make sense of them.

Ivar moved further towards you before he let your daughter go, a low hiss accompanying it, showing that carrying her had hurt him only slightly.

"I missed you too", he chuckled at the girl before he turned to face you, setting a gloved hand on your waist to pull you closer.

"And I missed you", he grinned as he pulled you in for a kiss.

Gasping for air and at the same time trying to cough away the smoke in your lungs you shot up from your sitting position, scrambling away and pushing open the door to reach fresh air.

You were kneeling, trying to take in the fresh air you needed when Ivar moved through the door, watching you calmly as you tried to compose yourself.

"That... that wasn't real", you whispered out, pointing at Ivar accusingly.

"It couldn't have been real", you added, but Ivar only chuckled drily.

"You've seen what I showed you. It's real, it's the most possible future I can see at the moment", he answered you, and you watched him as if he was mad.

"That's... sick. It was... I mean it's crazy! You're crazy! You drugged me!", you almost shouted, staying on your knees because you still didn't trust your legs.

"Yes, you had a vision and I'm the crazy one?", he snickered at you and you glared back at him.

"It wasn't real!", you shot back, but he only chuckled.

"It was real. It is real. Magic is real", he told you sternly, and you took in a deep breath.

It was silent for a few minutes as Ivar watched you come to terms with what you had just witnessed.

"You've always wanted it to be real, so why are you denying it?", he asked you, but you only nodded gently, as if a trance had overcome you.

It took a few more seconds before you looked up at him again, the fear and confusion completely erased from your face, determination and curiosity in its place.

"Show me more", you demanded, earning a menacing smirk from him.

"You have to kiss me. To see more, you have to kiss me", he told you, his intensely blue eyes staring at you as if they were reaching into your soul.

Still on your knees you somehow made your way over to Ivar, and before you knew it your lips were connected to his, your hand on the side of his face to steady yourself.

A few seconds passed in which nothing happened, except for your lips that moved against his in determination.

Pulling away a frown settled on your face, and you glared at Ivar.

"You lied", you whispered as you saw a smirk spread onto his face, growing wider with each passing second.

"Yes, but it was worth it", he grinned, cocking his head slightly to the side as he took in your reaction.