potion, not poison
"You took your sweet time"
"Shut up, Hela, i'm here now"
"I'm sorry"
"I know"
- - -
"Here, I think Stark hasn't given you yours yet" Cora tells the god of mischief, handing, yet again, another one of Stark's the modified phones, she felt like a dealer, "it's a phone, the thing they use here to keep in touch even if they are very far from the other, this one was improved to function outside of Midgard as well" explained the woman when seeing the confused frown in the prince's face as he examined the device
"Okay... And why are you giving this to me? So fond of me, you know you'll feel the need to 'keep in touch' with me while you're oh so very far away from me?" teased the god, getting an equally teasing eye roll from the woman
"Obviously, dear" she played along to his manners, "but it's mainly for if you sense that the stupid mortals, plus your brother, are about to embark on a suicide mission or start a war, you call me and I put a stop to it" cleared out Cora "Thor has one too, so I better not get a text saying you stabbed him" added the woman in fake scolding
Loki gasped and slammed his hand on his chest "I'd never do such a thing"
"you've litrally stabbed him like a thousand times, Loki" she said laughing at the mock offended face he was wearing, moving past him and towards the elevator
"well, i'd never do it again" rushed the god, obviously not meaning a single word he had said
"Sure, also, if you get Peter to teach you how the phone works, and if Len and I aren't too busy slaying dragons, we could face time or just do a phone call" offered Cora with an almost hopeful tone
The Spiderman who was just passing by in his suit and with his eyes glued to his phone, typing away with a dumb smile, spared them a glance when he heard his name spoken, "uh, sure, Mr. Loki, we can go over the basics after lunch" he said cheerily, then waved as the elevator door's closed on them
"You slay dragons?"
"Maybe, maybe not..." she sang, "most possibly not, i'm just trying to throw you off so you still have a hard time figuring me out, i'm aware it's become sort of a hobby for you" she answered shrugging, "plus, who knows, maybe all the mystery is what keeps you hanging around me" the woman added nonchanatly, though it made Loki's heart beat in pain at the prospect of Cora thinking the only reason he considered her a friend of sorts was because he had a weird fascination over her secrets, or secrets in general. He stayed silent as the elevator kept nearing them to their floor; the ring and the metallic doors opening were his wake up call.
"Well, I'd be honoured to meet Lenora, probably would be a good opportunity to embarrass you" said the god, nodding to himself for his brilliant idea, walking side by side Cora as they arrived to her quarters
"Yeah, now that you mention it, we will most definitely be too occupied slaying dragons" she joked, pushing Loki out of her room
"Good travels, m'lady" he said chuckling once he was standing just on the other side of the door, taking Cora's left hand and kissing it lightly
"Thanks, m'lord" she said in an overly posh voice, "now leave, greaseball" she teased, trying her best to keep hidden the crimson blush creeping its way to her cheeks
- - -
Texts
Cora & Lenora
Need you to go to Svartalfheim for yk what, i'm also having dinner with you, so wait up for me, mac and cheese?
But you eat so late, i'm a grandma, I need dinner before 8pm. Yes to the mac and cheese
Right, and what the hel do you do between 8pm until you go to sleep at 3am? Stop whining, you're having dinner with the saint of a mother that is moi
Firstly, none of your business, secondly, try not to show up at 11pm, saint
Why? I think that's a decent time to have dinner at, don't you?
Well, we don't share the same blood, why would we share routine preferences?
You're insufferable
Thanks, I got it from you
How? we don't share the same blood, hypocrite
- - -
"Your Majesty, king Surtur assigned me to usher you to Hela Odinsdottir, he also mentioned you'd ask some questions" spoke one of the guards, he was a fire giant, but in order to accompany the woman properly, he shrinked, now no longer a three meters giant, but a tall 6'7'' pile of fire
"Yes, thank you, my main question would be: what did you do in respect to the whole death thing?" asked the queen as they started walking through the endless halls
"We were told that she needed to be near death regularly, whether it was her that caused it or just witnessing. Muspelheim gets attacked regularly, by beings that believe they have a chance against us, arrogant boys seeking gruesome battle, so instead of killing them in the moment, we capture the intruders and give them to the goddess, one per week, sometimes she kills them, sometimes she asks us to kill them, there are occasions where she just waits for them to die from hunger or exhaustion" he says, visibly shivering in the last part, clearly triggered by sickening memories. "Still, she looks very sick, but we can't give her more than a man every several days. Even if we do get attacked very often, it's usually by small groups, so we need to ration the lives, like scarce resources. I know, it sounds cruel, but it is what it is" the guard finished the explanation as they stopped in front of a locked door, earning a thankful nod from the woman
"She's in there, your Majesty, I assume you'll wish to go in by yourself" he was answered with a silent nod from the woman, lost in her thoughts "she was given a soldier this morning, you're lucky, my Queen, she should still be in a moderated mood"
With that, the fire guard opened the door and stepped back to let the woman walk through, closing it behind her. She made her way down the darker hallway, taking note of how the whole place reeked of, fairly enough, death, the dimly lit torches the only source of light, she walked, passing different stacks of bones and many bodies in severe states of decomposition, she just muttered a quiet Valhallan pray as she did, and finally made it to the darkest spot of the cave, metal bars in frot of her telling her she was where she was supposed to be
Stepping from the shadows, she got the attention of the jailbird, who's eyes went wide in a whirlwind of surprise, recognition, pain, happiness and more
"You took your sweet time" spoke the prisoner in her thick accent, lightly joking, voice hoarse from not being used
"Shut up, Hela, i'm here now" scolded the woman, just as softly
Silence
"I'm sorry"
"I know"
"Why are you here?" questioned the goddess, walking around her chains to be closer to Cora
"It's been an interesting couple of years" she answered
"I meant, why?" she corrected herself with a sigh, "why, after all the pain I've caused you and your family, why would you possibly be here? It's stupid, makes no sense, and... Are you here to kill me? If you are, just do it swiftly, please" rambled the dark haired woman, apparently coming to the realization that killing her would be the only reason Cora would be there for
"Stop that, we have a pact" she said firmly, successfully shutting up her friend "no matter what... we shook hands on it" she added gingerly, momentarily feeling like the little kid she was when the pact had taken place
"I'm a monster, Cory, an evil, unrelenting killing monster" muttered the goddess under her breath
"You are my friend, the one I studied magic with, the one I helped convince the king and queen to let you keep Fenrir, the one who always saved the seat next to her for me at supper, so please, don't call my friend a monster, because i won't have it" defended Cora, still softly but more sternly, her voice cracking at the end, the other woman nodded ever so slightly, but kept quiet
"Look, it took me a while to understand, but, the reason you need death or feel sick when you're deprived of it, is because you feed from it, instead of food, you get nourishment from the energy a body radiates when life is taken from it, basically, your hunger for death is just that: hunger, that's why only one soldier per week still has you weak and pale, because you can't function properly being fed only once in many daysm no one can, only reason you haven't fucking died is that you're still a goddess" she said, stopping for a breath, her friend lost in her words, trying to take them all in, "what happened all those centuries ago, was your appetite changing, maybe puberty, who knows? But you couldn't control it, so you just gave in to it, which is understandable, after all the research I did, if there's anything i'm sure of, is that, that must have been extremely difficult for you" she said with a grimace, Hela lightly nodding with a dry chuckle
"So, the answer to 'what the hell is wrong with Hela?' is answered, the next step is figuring out how to fix it" she clapped her hands, definitely too immersed in her role as story teller, "well, that was the hardest part, you see, I had to go through thousands of different spell books to find something that could help, yet everything had a plot hole, nothing was perfect enough to ensure there would be absolutely no secondary effects, but who am i if not the most genius of all the geniuses in this universe, so, what if, instead of trying to get rid of the hunger, we transform it into something else? Something more malleable? What would that be? A good old regular hunger, where you need to eat nutritious food in order to get energy, not, you know, dying creatures" she finished, an anxious smile on her face, gauging her friends reaction
"So, what do you think?" questioned the queen after the goddess gave no response
"You're right" she laughed, "you are a genius, I mean, I still have like a hundred questions, but I trust you'll have an answer for them" beamed Hela, wiping a single tear from her eye
"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't sure it would work 100%, in fact, after we're finished here, i'm going back to Valhalla to get the last thing I need for the potion, it's a weird flower, rapunzel shit, it only blooms every four hundred years and it's just time for its harvest, I had Lenora get it from Svartalfheim, then i'll be catching up on some meetings around the realms"
"Wait a minute, why aren't you back in Asgard? What is a rapunzel and who is Lenora? Also, meetings? Oh my god, you're queen, aren't you?" exclaimed excitedly the asgardian princess
"We have so much to talk about" sighed Cora
And so she began telling her everything that had happened since she was banished, from enchanting everyone to hate Odin for the death of the Valkyries and making them believe the goddess was protecting Asgard across the realms, to meeting her brothers on Midgard
"It's so unfair, I can't believe you know my siblings and I don't, do they even know of my existence?" questioned sadly the goddess, her raven hair falling almost melancholically in front of her eyes
"They only know that there's an older child, but they were raised being told that one of them would be king, spoiler alert, the adopted one was never going to, another of your father's schemes" said Cora with a huff of annoyance "sometimes, I see Thor and wonder, how isn't he the adopted one? I swear, he's like a golden retriever and you two are snakes, or cats, anyways, really, you and Loki are so similar, it's crazy" the two laughed at that, the younger woman drifting momentarily to the god of mischief, completely involuntarily
"Huh, similar you say? Then you are hopelessly in love with him as well?" teased Hela, erupting in laughter when the other choked on air
"Will you ever let that go? I was like 300, a literal overgrown baby" she whined, completely ignoring the question
"I'm gonna be nice and not press about it, just 'cause you're like, about to get me out of this wretched hole" spoke the goddess before adding "talking about that, when do you think it will be done?"
"Well, after I get that flower from Len, then it's just brewing the thing and voila, you will be back to being the cool grim reaper, and not the killing beast"
"I'm so glad you're comfortable enough to joke about my poor mental and physical state" quipped Hela, Cora dismissed her comment and carried on
"Ooh, I know, I should arrange a super dramatic meeting with papa Odin, I can already imagine it, i'll yell at him for a bit, bring you back, scold him some more, then forgive him, 'cause i'm not a resentful maniac, then demand him to hold a ball in honor of your return" she mused staring at the ceiling dreamily
"You will attend that ball, won't you?" the other woman ordered more than wondered
"No way, your brothers would be there" was Cora's quick response. Hela went on to explain why she should go either way, but she blocked it out when she felt her phone vibrate from her back pocket
How is everything going? How is Lenora?
God of mischief
Must you sign the text like that? I already know you're a god, you say it at least 5 times a day
Cora x
Interesting approach, sadly enough I can't seem to find it in me to care.
Loki
Ha, you changed it, you do care. Also, yeah, everything is good, visiting an old friend, i'm having dinner with Len later
Cora x
I did it just because I thought it looked better, shut up. What friend?
Loki
Nosey much, are we? Just a friend, a very hot and pretty friend ;)
Cora x
Cora stifled a laugh while sending that, knowing well the reaction she would get from the god, it was cruel, just a bit, but he deserved it after the whole Alejo thing during dinner
Enjoy then, have a good rest of the day
Loki
Don't worry, you're just as, if not a bit more, but let's not tell her that
Cora x
Well, of course, still, who is she?
Loki x
You added an x, I can feel the love even from this cave. And i'm not telling
Cora x
What are you doing in a cave???? And shut up
Loki x
As I said, catching up with an old friend, dummy
Cora x
You have very weird friends
Loki x
You've no idea, dear
Cora x
"So, when's the wedding?" Hela's voice ripped her from her dreamy daze, back to the land of... well, fire, though her now fluttered state surely was giving the blazing realm a run for their money
"I don't know what you mean, it was just Lenora checking to see if I wanted mac and cheese, it's something the humans created like 3 centuries ago, really simple, really tasty, sometimes I put dry noodles on top for an extra crunch, you should try it, also when-" rambled the queen incessantly, until the booming laughter of her friend interrupted her
"You expect me to believe that you were ignoring everything I, your best friend who you haven't seen in a thousand years, said, because your daughter was asking you about tonight's menu?" she asked, to which Cora just responded with a nod
"So, if I used what little power I have left, and took that device from you, I wouldn't find that your last conversation was with a certain god of mischief, also known as my brother?" she was still laughing, which eased a bit of Cora's unacknowledged fears
"Okay, yes, I was, but it doesn't mean I said a single lie about the mac and cheese bit, I fucking love it" huffed Cora in childish defense
"Sure, bring me some when you come visit in Asgard" teased the goddess
"Nope, i'll send a guard, also, aren't you going to claim the throne of Helheim?" at the mention, Hela's almost lifeless eyes sparked with an unquestionable glint of joy and passion
"Of course! But, I've kinda missed Asgard. Also, unbelievable! You are like a century younger and already are queen-"
"Yes, 'cause you killed my sister and then my mother decided to kill herself" deadpanned Cora, then laughed at the horrified look she caused on her friends face "I got over it long ago, but guilt tripping you from time to time, is and probably will always be hilarious" said Cora, wiping a single tear, triggered by her fit of giggles
"Yes, I feel so reassured by your amusement over my killing spree on the Valkyries, totally not something I hate myself for" came the response of a grumpy goddess of death
"Well, they are all in Valhalla, happy as ever, and Brunnhilde is still alive, as for SIgrún, I never once blamed you, always Odin, and I promised myself that the moment I could set you free i would also finally forgive him, so... Yeah, i'm only teasing, it's my way of coping, don't take it seriously, you can laugh along, provided that you only laugh at the jokes and not make them, we're good" assured the woman with a cheery smile
After that bit of reassurance, they got back to their conversation, Hela teasing Cora over Loki, showing pictures of Lenora growing over the years, bringing the goddess up to date with a lot of events from the last millenium, etcetera.
It was incredible how the strong bond was still there, after all the years, after all the tragedy, there was something almost poetic in how they were talking for hours on end in a dusty, crumpling cave, divided by bars, yet being able to make it feel like they were just old friends catching up over tea