Chapter 6 #2
As they strolled down Helheim's dimly lit cobblestone street, flanked by quaint boutiques and mysterious emporiums, the glow from the shop windows painted an array of shadowy figures on their path. She glanced at each storefront in silence. In the witch’s apothecary, jars floated eerily above herbs suspended mid-air.
The bakery still buzzed with life; a handful of helborn and marked enjoyed vibrantly colored pastries that looked almost magical under the flickering lights, while the helborn behind the counter used her eight spindly arms to whisk and stir and knead and chop all at the same time.
Dark blooms crowded a florist shop, their petals seeming to thrive only in Helheim’s gloom.
A few smaller shops offered treasures from Midgard.
A pet shop sat dark with various trained or domesticated creatures used for service or as pets.
Anything and everything a place needed to try to bring back memories of lives lived before, to pass the time, or to try to gain favor with different beings in Helheim.
The crisp air tinged with a blend of ancient stonework and the underlying scent of death and suffering, while echoes of muffled laughter curled around them like wisps of smoke from further along the night-cloaked avenue.
Despite the simple act of walking together, something comforted him about the warmth radiating from their intertwined hands- the sensation whispering promises untold with every soft pulse against his skin under flickering lamplit skies.
"Have you spent much time down here?" he asked.
She shook her head. "I haven't had time. Watching over Elle and working takes up whatever time I have."
"You really do look out for her, don't you?"
"You've met her. You see how naive she is. She may have been raised in the house of monsters, but that doesn't mean she knows anything about anything."
"So, you've protected her her whole life?"
"It was her mother's dying request. Her mother was a close friend. I would have done anything for her if I could have. But Surtr..." Val trailed off.
The pain in her eyes and words was more than evident over what had happened to Elle's mother and, in turn, to Elle herself.
Loki tried to steer the conversation in a different direction. "So, you haven't been down here to explore, have you been exploring up in Midgard?"
She shrugged. "I've gone out when Elle is in bed. I don't go far, and most everything is closed, but I need to get out and walk sometimes. I hate being cooped up. It makes me..."
"Claustrophobic?"
"What?"
"Claustrophobic. It's where people are afraid of-"
She stopped and pulled her hand away. "I'm not afraid of anything."
Loki inclined his head. "My apologies, not afraid, more… uncomfortable with cramped spaces."
Val chewed her lip for a moment and nodded once.
He wondered what tortures she had been forced to endure in Surtr's kingdom. In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to find Surtr and beat him to a bloody, fiery mess. Not that he could. Even Thor hadn't been able to defeat Surtr alone during Ragnarok.
"Do you come down here often?" she asked.
Loki nodded. "Daily. I have a lot of clients in Midgard, but I also have clients here. And I like it better here."
“What kind of helmarked or helborn might need a lawyer?”
“You’d be surprised. If they want to ask my daughter Hel for a favor, they pay me to step in for negotiations and review the contract.
There are times, sups get in trouble down here, and I’m asked to defend them or find out the truth.
It’s not serious things, but there are a lot of legalities when it comes to making contracts in Helheim, or higher up with Lucifer himself. ”
“Have you met him?”
“Lucifer Morningstar?”
Val nodded.
“A few times.”
“What’s he like?” Val asked.
Loki studied her for a moment, wondering why she was so curious. “Honestly? He’s a lot like me.”
She snorted.
“What’s that for?”
She rolled her eyes. “One of you is enough. I have a hard time believing the universe would make two of you.”
Loki laughed. “Oh, trust me, there is no being anywhere just like me, sweetheart. But he and I do have many similarities.”
“So he’s cocky, self-absorbed, and annoying?”
He stopped walking. Though her tone conveyed the same snarky tone it always did, for some reason, the words struck deeper than usual.
“That’s not all I am, you know.”
Her gaze found his, and she held it for a long moment while chewing the inside of her lip.
"Why do you live up on Midgard when everyone else in your family lives down here?" She changed the subject and continued walking again.
Loki let out a long breath. "Our immortal Norse family, varied and strange as they are, they and I do better when there is distance between us. Plus, Fenrir lives topside, and I like to keep an eye on him. He... struggles."
His thoughts turned to his poor son. He’d failed Fenrir for so long and in so many different ways that he did what he could to try and make up for it… Though he was pretty sure he was still failing.
"Why did Fenrir leave Valhalla?"
"He never went. After all he’d been through with Tyr and Odin and the others, he couldn’t take an eternity with them as well.
So, he lived here with his sister Hel. That wasn't good for him.
I love Hel, but she is a bit of a handful, and Fenrir doesn't have the capacity to deal with all her drama and tantrums."
"Hel always has been one for a fight," said Val. "Valhalla knows I've had to fight against her too many times when she got the hankering for some chaos."
“She is good at stirring up chaos.”
“Like her father?” Val smirked.
“That’s funny. Probably true, unfortunately. But again-”
“You aren’t like that anymore? Yeah, you’ve mentioned a few times how reformed you are now. So tell me, if you can change, why didn’t Hel? I’ve heard how she rules her realm. Some say she is worse than Lucifer himself.”
“She’s not bad. She’s just… who she was born to be.”
He couldn't blame Val for her feelings. Hel may have been Loki's daughter, but there was no denying she was a total troublemaker.
However, being the goddess of death, it wasn't her fault. She hadn’t chosen that path; it had been thrust upon her.
Death was her thing, which meant chaos and war were her things as well, and for the longest time, she took pleasure in her chosen job.
But ever since Lucifer had allowed her to take up residence in the Underworld and given her her own little corner to govern on his behalf, she'd been relatively content.
After all, Lucifer was all about luxury and the good things in life, so Hel had the dominion she'd always dreamed of.
Not that that meant her subjects were content.
But eternity could be much worse than Helheim, that was for sure.
The sounds of music and voices grew louder as Loki led Val toward a brick building with glowing Edison lights on the bright marquee in front flashed the name of Odin’s establishment- Valhalla’s Throne.
The scent of ale and perfume mixed with the scents of Helheim.
The lights cut through the misty fog of the Helheim street.
Valhalla's Throne occupied an entire corner of the block, its facade a deep slate-grey brick, its mortar veins iron-dark.
The marquee above the entrance blazed in amber and gold, the letters casting a smear of color across the mist. Flanking the heavy double doors- black iron banded in hammered gold, engraved with interlocking knotwork- stood a pair of torches burning in shades of deep orange and ochre that threw the surrounding fog into shifting amber curtains.
The bass thrum of music pulsed through the soles of Loki's shoes before they reached the door, and beneath the ale and perfume, he caught it: the metallic bite of old magic, the faint sulfur-and-cedar soaked into the mortar, into the stone, into everything that had been standing long enough to remember what it was.
Val stopped short and looked up at the glowing bulbs.
"What?"
She stared at him. "You have to be kidding, right?"
Loki looked at the building and back at her. "This is where you can get the best steak."
"Odin's place? You want me to eat at Odin's place?" The anger in her voice and eyes was enough to make Loki take pause.
Loki shook his head. "I... don't understand."
She exploded. "He's the reason all my sisters are dead.
He forced us to fight everyone until finally, in Ragnarok, even though he knew what was coming, knew what had been foretold, he sent us anyway.
And every single one of my sisters were slaughtered.
All of them. I was the only one who remained, and the only reason I did was that I was kidnapped and put into a life of slavery. "
His gut plummeted. He was losing her. "Val, I'm sorry. I didn't realize..."
She began to shake, less than a minute from cracking. In an uncharacteristic gesture, he reached out and touched her cheek. Her eyes snapped to his.
“We don't have to go here. I didn't think. I'm sorry. For me, Ragnarok was a lifetime ago, but you have had to live with its consequences ever since. I didn't realize that till now. I apologize.”
She stared at him, the fire in her eyes fading somewhat.
"Let me take you somewhere else. Let’s go back to the bakery. It has the most amazing deserts."
She shook her head. "I don't want to eat anymore."
Loki nodded. He didn't want it to end like this. Things had just begun to open up for them, and he didn't want to lose her to the nightmares of their past.
Loki touched her shoulder. "What do you want to do?"
She paused. "I want to punch something."
Loki smiled. "Really?"
She nodded. "I want to punch something over and over until I have no punches left."
He looked at Valhalla’s Throne. "I can arrange that."
Her eyes narrowed. "I don't want to punch you. At least not at this moment."