Making It Personal

Nina sat at the kitchen table, absentmindedly drinking wine out of a glass goblet. The boy she sat across from stared at her nervously, anxiously swirling the wine in his own goblet. When Nina had arrived at the Van Eck mansion, she was shocked to discover just how young the boy actually was. Kaz was 17, so his use of the term “boy” should have told her something, but she was still shocked to see the 16 year old with a naive look about him open the door. 

“Guten Abend. Can I help you?” He had asked her, standing up straight, trying to look confident. His German had the perfect accent; he must have been born and raised. She had smirked down at him, speeding up his heart slightly, increasing her intimidation. 

“That depends. Are you the Van Eck boy?” His face reddened slightly before responding.

“That depends. Does Mr. Van Eck know you?” He had raised an eyebrow in yet another attempt to appear intimidating. Nina could have laughed out loud. Instead she gave a small smile, leaned in, and whispered his ear,

 “Hail Hydra.”

He shivered, and she suspected it wasn’t just from the feel of her breath in his ear. He opened the door immediately, gesturing for her to come in. And now here they were.

They had sat at the table for about five minutes. Just sitting there. She was waiting for Kaz, he didn’t seem to know what was going on. Finally the boy seemed to gather his courage and cleared his throat. She paused in bringing her goblet to her lips, and looked at him.

 “Um, as I already told you, my father is gone on official Hydra business for the month, and I have no way to contact him to inform him of your arrival.” He seemed desperate to be rid of her. She wondered why. Usually boys of his age and rank wanted women who looked like herself to hang around for a few hours. She put her goblet down without breaking eye contact.

“Well, I’m not here for him, Young Van Eck. I’m here for you.” As his green eyes widened in surprise, she kept going. “Kaz Brekker had invited a team for some kind of mission to meet here, and they should be arriving any day now. For some reason he has insisted on meeting here, so you might as well get used to having some company with you in this perfectly large house.”

For a human on Earth, the house was large, and fancifully decorated. Asgard beat it on every level, but she had yet to see an establishment that was anywhere near to equal to Asgard here on Earth. 

“What?” The poor boy spluttered, standing up. “I will not have some team of outlaws and assassins gather in my home, and certainly not one led by Dirtyhands!”

Nina just calmly formed the symbols under the table, slowly lowering his heart rate to calm him down. As he sat down, Nina sighed at his naiveness. 

“You don’t have much choice, now do you, Van Eck? Brekker is coming whether you want him to or not, so calm down and mentally prepare yourself for it.”

Watching him start to recompose himself, Nina admitted to herself that he was good looking. He had curly auburn hair that partly hung in front of his light green eyes, with freckles that faded against his pale skin. It was more of an adorable attractiveness than a handsome one, but it was still there. 

“Dirtyhands works for SHIELD. Am I under arrest or something?”

“No, no, no, no,” Nina said comfortingly, still manipulating his pulse. “While Kaz Brekker is aware of your status with Hydra, he doesn’t care enough to take action against it right now.” Nina was probably lying through her teeth, but that was fine with her.

He was watching Nina with a sharp look of distrust, which was adorable, but most likely not favorable. Kaz probably wanted this boy open to suggestion when he arrived, which was probably why he had had Nina arrive before anyone else. Ugh, fine.

She gave the boy her most calming smile as she reached for his hand. He started to draw his hands away, but she grabbed one of them before he could completely draw away.  She kept up her smile while slowly stroking his wrist with her pointer finger. Manipulating his pulse, she saw the distrust in his eyes slowly fade, and watched content fill them instead.

“My name is Nina Zenick. I am around 17, and I want to trust you.” She was speaking slowly, using the voice she used to convince others to trust her. “What’s your name?”

She already knew, but convincing him that he was giving her information established a connection between them, especially when his mind was opened to suggestion like this. He gave a shy smile, and shut his eyes.

“Wylan Van Eck. I am 16, and I, I don’t know if I trust you.” His green eyes shot open, and he stood up quickly, yanking his hand away from Nina.

Her mouth dropped open slightly. Wylan had managed to resist her Heartrendering without knowing what she was doing. No one had been able to do that except for one person. Wylan continued to rub his wrist, but he told her,

“I’ll let the team stay here, and I’ll listen to Brekker. He’d probably have you kill me if I didn’t. But don’t use your magic on me anymore, please. I have enough shit happening without an Asgardian affecting my heart.”

She froze as he left the room. How had he known? Even those who knew she was a heartrender didn’t know her true nature. Nina had clearly underestimated Wylan. And maybe Kaz had too.

 Seeing hers and Wylan’s nearly full glasses of wine, she quickly downed them both. Shivering, she walked out the back door into the garden backyard. Putting her hands out, she took in the sun’s warmth. It felt good. After a few moments, Nina sat in a wicker chair placed nearby.

Closing her eyes, she finally allowed herself to think about him. The reason she was here at the Van Eck establishment. The one Wylan had reminded her of when he resisted her renders. The reason she was banished. The Frostgiant, the one called the “drüskelle.”

Matthias Helvar.

Years ago, she had no idea just how many now at this point, she had been in the Second Army of Asgard, directly under the Valkyrie. Being part of the Valkyrie was an honor given to the best women fighters of Asgard by Odin himself, and was led by his daughter Hela (before Hela had killed most of them and been banished, of course.) But the Second Army in the Little Palace was for training any Grisha, male, female, or otherwise, who had the gift for Small Science. Odin’s wife Frigga helped train them, and treated them all as her children.

Nina had loved Frigga Mother, her gentle way of teaching, her unwavering devotion to her laws, and her confidence in the Second Army. Zoya and Genya were the ones who actually led the Second Army into battle, and they treated everyone like their brothers and sisters.

The Valkyrie fought in almost every battle, and were well known in the other worlds, but after the Hela Revolution, they were wiped out in the massacre, including some of the Second Army led by Zoya and Genya. Nina would never forget holding one of her Healer sisters-in-arms, a fellow Corporalki, as she bled out from one of Hela’s volkra. Somehow the magic of the volkra’s claws prevented the Healers from fixing the damage done, and so Nina’s friend Claryet had died the ironic death of a Healer bleeding out.

After the Valkyrie were destroyed and Hela was banished to the Fold with her volkra, Odin became wary of the Second Army. He allowed them to continue to train, but they rarely went out to battle. What was once an honor became just another lowly station. In fact, it seemed that only one world even knew of them enough to care; Jotenheim.

Jotenheim cursed their existence, claiming that they with their gifts of Summoning, Creating, and Controlling were unnatural. They didn’t deserve to exist. Biggest load of shit ever. The Frostgiants were so intent on bringing the Second Army’s downfall they even created a group trained specifically to bring in Grisha like herself called the “drüskelles”. That was where Matthias Helvar had been trained. 

Nina had been summoned to the Grand Palace by Frigga Mother and Odin Lord themselves, and so she had been on her way from the Little Palace the day it all happened. Nina never found out what she had been summoned for.

Wearing her red kefta with the black designs that showed her status as a Heartrender, most Asgardians gave her a small nod of acknowledgement before turning away in fear. Even among their own kind, some of whom learned their own sort of magic such as the Princling Loki,  the Grisha who practiced Small Science were feared. It hurt Nina to see, but such as it was after the Hela Revolution. They would earn back their trust.

Coming to a corner in the corridor, she became aware of three hearts; three hearts far too large and staticky to be Asgardian. Which usually meant one thing. Eyes flashing, Nina put her hands up, ready to fight if necessary. Just as she turned the corner, however, she heard the sound of a net being released from a gun. She quickly dropped the way she was trained to, but not fast enough, and the net covered her, pinning her arms to her sides, making her magic useless. Looking up, Nina saw her captors, and felt her own heart speed up. 

Three Frostgiants, the Jotenheimans, glowered over her. Jotenheimans in general were dangerous for Asgardians, but these wore the special fur and armor designated for the drüskelles; Grisha hunters. The sight of their red eyes, the feel of their cold blue hands as one threw her over their shoulder, it all made her sick with fear. She screamed for help, but she knew it was useless. They wouldn’t have gone far from their ship.

Sure enough, they ran out the door with her, and she saw their ship. Tall, black, and designed to look as if carved from ice, the ship was what she knew to be her prison. One of them took her to a lower level to chain her to the wall, her hands useless above her, as the others started the ship towards their planet; Jotenheim. Nina knew that there she would be executed.

Her breathing started to accelerate, near hyperventilating as she heard the three drüskelles talk and laugh to one another above her. She would be on that ship for a few weeks, she knew, if they wanted to get to Jotenheim without Heimdal seeing them. A few weeks was all she had to find a way out. As the first week went by, she wasn’t given any food or water, and rarely saw her captors. She was hanging on with all of her strength, just trying to stay conscious. That was when he had first come.

Nina became aware of someone walking down the stairs. She straightened as much as she could, refusing to show her weakness to this drüskelle. She noticed that his steps were changing; getting quieter while coming closer. As he finally came into view, it became clear why.

The 8 foot tall blue giant was shrinking, blue skin fading, eyes lighting until he looked like a common Asgardian. Her mouth dropped. He was still tall, but of a much more normal height, with pale skin, ice blue eyes, and curly blond hair. He was beautiful in this form.

Realizing her mouth was hanging open, she quickly shut it and squared her shoulders as much as she could in her weakened state. He smiled down at her.

“I brought you some food,” he said in accented Asgardian, raising up a slice of wroven bread. The dark bread would have enough nutrients to get her through the next few days with more strength.

“It’s poisoned,” Nina gasped, trying to find some reason for why he would bring her food. He thought she was a witch. He smiled again, taking a small bite of the bread, proving its safety. 

“Alright, so it isn’t poisoned. You want something from me, this isn’t free.” 

“Are you so used to killing and using deceit that you can’t even recognize proper manners?” He asked with sadness in his voice. Nina had to laugh. 

“Manners? You stole me from my home, chained me to the wall, starved me, all the while taking me to your planet to be out on a sham trial to kill me!” Did he really think he was doing her a service? That she ought to thank him?

“I’m not asking for anything in return. You don’t have to tell me anything or complete any task. I’m not asking you to be a traitor. I just want you to eat.” The drüskelle’s eyes seemed hopeful, as if he really did want to help her.

She hesitated, looking at the bread. It looked cooked to perfection, and smelled delicious. Her stomach hurt, and finally she gave in. Nina opened her mouth, and the Fjerdan seemed grateful. He put the corner of the bread into her mouth, and she took a bite. Closing her eyes at the taste, she slowly chewed it.

“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” He whispered.

Nina’s eyes flared open. He was playing her, proving that he was the good guy and she was the villain. Although it hurt her to do so, she spat the bread back into the Jotenheiman’s face. He didn’t even flinch.

“I will not take scraps from a drüskelle,” she growled at him. He gave a small laugh. 

 “You will,” he promised her. Nina’s stomach dropped. He was most likely right. As time went on, she probably would.

He turned away to walk back to the others, growing and turning back into the Frostgiant he was. As he reached the opening in the room, he turned to look back at Nina. She flinched at the sight of his red eyes in place of the ice blue ones.

“Call me by my name, not the drüskelle.” She scoffed.

“And what would that be?” Surely he didn’t expect her to actually care what his name was.

 “Matthias. Matthias Helvar.” She was shocked into silence as he finally left the room. That was an Asgardian name. 

A few days later, the ship crashed into a snowstorm on Jotenheim. Nina could feel the ship falling, and land onto the ground. The impact ripped her shackles off the wall, and she fell to the ground. The ship slid across the ground for a few minutes before finally coming to a stop. Once it did, Nina stumbled to standing, and limped out of the room to check on the drüskelles. She saw two on the floor near an opening in the wall, and couldn’t feel any heartbeats. They were dead. None of them were Helvar. Where was he?

Hearing a faint heartbeat, she stumbled out of the opening to find his lifeless body on the dark ground. She jumped down and sat next to him. Feeling his heartbeat slow down, Nina panicked. Putting her hands up, she sped up the drüskelle’s heart. It was difficult with his strange heart. Soon he gasped and sat up. Seeing Nina, he pushed her away.

“Drüsje!” He shouted, standing up, all 8 feet of him. Witch. 

“You tried to kill me!” He shouted down at her. She stood up quickly.

“If I wanted to kill you, I would have slowed your heart, not sped it up!” She shouted back in Jotenheiman. Helvar stumbled back, disbelief spelled across his face.

“Where did you learn to speak Jotenheiman like a native?”

“Where did you get an Asgardian name?” She shot back. His eyes narrowed in anger. 

“And how did you learn to change between this form and an Asgardian form?” Nina asked him. A cold burst of wind flooded against her, and she shivered, wrapping her arms around herself.

“Speaking of which, could you switch forms? It’s much easier to keep us warm when we have the same form of hearts.”

He looked down at her suspiciously, trying to find the deceit in her suggestion, before giving in and switching. Once she saw his light hair and blue eyes, she put her hands together, keeping their heart rates up, keeping their bodies warm. Feeling his heart speed up, Helvar sighed.

“What is your name, Drüsje?” Nina blinked once before responding.

“Nina. Nina Zenik.” After one moment of hesitation, Matthias put his hand out. Nina slowly shook his hand back, and gave him a shy smile.

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He told her in his accented Asgardian.

The next month was spent just them two together, wandering Jotenheim. The world was gigantic, bigger than Asgard, but their people were small. They only had one big city in the middle of the ice land, and Nina and Matthias were on the wrong side of the planet. After two weeks they found an abandoned bunker with abandoned supplies and ships, where they changed their clothes and bunked down in one of the ships that night.

A few weeks later they shared their first kiss. That same week they shared their first night in the same bed. 

 “Frau Zenik!” Wylan’s voice tugged Nina back to reality. She was standing in a flash, hands out and ready to fight. Her vision cleared, and she saw Wylan standing in the open doorway to the inside, holding his hands up. His face was flushed, and Nina could feel his heart rate speeding up.

“What?” She asked quietly. He swallowed once before telling her,

“Brekker and two others are here. He told me that you were to join us in the main hall.”

Nina lowered her hands. Brekker and two others? Were they hiding Matthias somewhere, or was one of his Crows absent?

“Lead on then.” She used her most commanding voice, and it worked. Wylan nodded before turning and walking back into the house. She followed, trying to control her own heart rate.

Was she really about to see Matthias, after all these years? She started biting her lip, a nervous habit. And then she entered the main room. 

Kaz Brekker sat in the large armchair, cane held in front of him. Inej Ghafa sat on a small chair beside him, legs drawn up as if she was still perching on a windowsill. Nina couldn’t see her hidden weapons, but knew they were there. Inej probably slept wearing her knives. Wylan stood nervously by the fireplace, wringing his hands. Jesper was nowhere to be seen. But none of this was what gave Nina Zenik pause. 

Matthias Helvar was standing in front of her, not a yard away. He was in his Asgardian form, with pale skin, light hair, blue eyes, still nearly a foot taller than her. His hair was longer than last she’d seen, and while his muscles hadn’t shrunken, it was clear that he had lost weight. Probably hunger related. Her heart broke at the thought. But it healed at the sight of Matthias freed, and in front of her. 

“Matthias?” She asked quietly.

He held her gaze with his own, carefully controlling his emotions. She was trying to do so as well, but failing miserably. He gave a slow nod before taking a small step towards her. She hurried to close the distance between them, and soon had her hand on his arm. She waited for him to acknowledge her, say her name, smile, something, but he didn’t.

Instead she felt the cold point of his knife suddenly jab her throat.