The Dark Prince and the Goddess of Death
[Jotunheim]
The first time she met him was in Jotunheim. She could still remember the moment her father sauntered back to the campsite with a little babe in tow.
She was more so surprised to learn that the Aesir-looking baby was a Frost Giant. It was a surprise that was shared by most, if not all, of the council members.
“He’s tiny,” Hela mused quietly as she hovered over the little beast. “Yet so innocent,” she purred as she pressed her index finger to his sleeping form. “And he doesn’t freeze!”
“Indeed,” Odin hummed with a smile as he looked at his eldest daughter. “Would you like to hold him? I have matters to attend to.”
“Hold him?” she squirmed in an unlike warrior voice. “I am the Goddess of Death… children do nothing for me,” she ghastly responded with her arms up in the air.
“Sure,” Odin chuckled as he handed the child to Hela.
“Hey!” screeched Hela as she held onto the little boy. Almost immediately, she had to adjust the way she was holding the little boy. “Great… just damning great. Goddess of Death… babysitting. Just brilliant,” she cooed as the little boy began to stir. “Oh no, go back to sleep,” she murmured as she began to step from side to side.
She watched diligently as the little boy opened his eyes. She expected him to scream considering she was still wearing her helmet. After all, horns are scary. Yet, instead, he was more curious than she would have thought. Smiling, and laughing as he tried to grab them.
It was then that Hela realised that she was smiling.
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[Asgard]
She believed that she would never see her little brother again. She believed, that today was the last time she would ever see him as she stood near the observatory tower where Heimdall and the mighty Einherjar were waiting.
She was to be banished today; her ways were deemed to be too much.
She didn’t mind. She had no regrets about her destructive ways. As she turned to face her family, she could see their pleading eyes begging for forgiveness, but she wouldn’t give it.
And then she saw the little monster that she came to accept as a little brother.
She was quite fascinated as he came running through the various arms that attempted to pluck him.
“Hela,” he screamed as he jumped into the air.
Immediately, the cuffs that were welded onto her hands were undone as she caught him. “Loki,” she purred with delight.
“You’re leaving,” Loki scowled in an unhealthy manner. “I’m not happy,” he asserted.
“Ahhh, it’s for a little while,” she lied.
“You’re lying,” he scowled as he buried his face into her neck.
“Haha,” she laughed as she placed him on the ground. “When you’re old enough… you can come find me,” she muttered with a gleaming smile. Yet, in the back of her head, she knew that Loki would forget her. After all, he was less than ten years old.
“I will,” Loki said with a beaming smile. “I want to travel the world after all… I want to be the greatest seidr master!”
“Haha,” she said as she knelt with her hand ruffling Loki’s growing hair.
“And look,” Loki started as he took a step back. “I’m wearing green and black… like you,” he said with a giggle.
“Yes,” Hela murmured as she pulled him into a hug. “You look amazing,” she continued as she caressed his back gently. “Like a real seidr master of the nine.”
“Hehe,” Loki answered.
“Hela,” Odin interjected as he ignored Loki’s scowl. “It’s time,” he continued as he stepped forward. With a quick glance, Odin watched Loki scurrying across the bridge back to Frigga’s embrace.
“Father,” Hela squirmed as she stepped forward to hug Odin. “Protect him… you know as well as I do the moment you die I’ll be free. If I find or hear otherwise… rest assured I will see to it that everything you have built is destroyed, and then I will spend the rest of my dying years trying to find a way to break into Valhalla so that I can kill you,” she whispered so no one else could hear.
Odin’s eye widened before he grimly nodded.
“Good,” she murmured as she turned away to face the Bifrost.
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[Dying Vale]
The third time she saw him she was surprised.
It was only a glimpse on the planar of death, but she was furious that she had even seen him. She had hoped that she would never see him again. To forget a life of what could have been.
“Loki,” she screamed as she came running across the desert. She knew that she should have been more guarded. She knew that he would not remember her.
Yet, he did. He smiled in that trickster way that was slightly goofy and serious. “Hello, Hela.”
“You remember,” she ushered with surprise. “You remember… I didn’t think I would see you… let alone here,” she had screamed as she pulled him into a bone-crunching hug. She expected a hug in return but was surprised he did not reciprocate.
“Haha,” Loki had answered as he barfed a pool of blood. “Do not fret… my time here is temporary.”
“What has happened? What has become of you?” she asked as she pushed him back slightly. “You look aged, starved and tortured.”
“Why did you not tell me I was Jotun?” he asked as his gaze shifted across to the desert sand as he ignored Hela’s concerns. “You were there after all… All those years ago, you stood with him… side by side as he ventured into Jotunheim… you were there when he plucked me along with the Casket of Ancient Winters.”
“Loki,” Hela started as she raised her hand to pluck Loki’s hair to the side so that she could marvel at his immense green eyes, but it was not to be, Immediately, a sense of regret and guilt tremored through her body as she watched Loki shuffling away from her grasps.
“It matters not,” Loki answered as he turned away. “I always wondered what my purpose was… what agenda I was born for… not once, but twice I’ve been told that I was born to die… and in the end, I did choose to die… but it seems, that I don’t have that luxury.”
“Loki,” Hela said sternly as she stepped forward. “You’re not making any sense. Tell me, what has happened?”
“I came by to pass my greetings… that is all,” he murmured as he continued to ignore her gaze. “For what it’s worth… you are… were, a good older sister.” Immediately, his body began to glow in a flourish of blue. “And so it begins,” he whispered as his eyes began to slowly shift from a cascade of green to a deepened azure of blue.
“Loki,” she continued as panic battled her mind. “What’s happening?”
“Retribution… you will be free sooner than you think,” he answered as his darkened gaze turned to face her. Upon seeing her confused state, he continued, “I seek the destruction of the nine… the destruction of the people… the destruction of all.”
“You can’t,” she screamed. What happened to the little sweet boy I knew? She wondered.
His azure eyes darkened, as he let a mechanical laugh flicker into existence. “He found out that his birthright was to die. He found out that he could rely upon no one. He found out that the only person he could truly trust was himself.”
“Loki,” Hela appeased as she grabbed him. “Please,” she pleaded. “Tell me what has happened. I can help.”
“How fitting… you who sought to bring the universe under one thumb… and then there’s me who now seeks the destruction of everything that Odin considers as his,” he cackled as he began to shimmer and fade into nothingness.