𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 || 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘚𝘦𝘵 𝘜𝘴 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦

EVERYTHING IN THE WAY LEILA SNAPS AWAKE IS UNCEREMONIOUS. Her breaths were rapid and her eyes shot wide as she sat in what she quickly found to be a bed. She gently brushed her fingertips across her cheek, eyebrows knitting together.

"Mom?"

Snapping her gaze to the voice, she found Azreal sitting in the room's corner. His hands held the chair arms in a suffocating vice, his eyes wide with concern.

"W-Where's your sister?" She questioned, noting that the bedroom had a close resemblance to the Quinjet cabin.

"Hela got her. She grabbed her before we got out of the Bifrost." His quiet response made Leila snap her gaze to her son. "I tried to tell you, but you were unresponsive. I thought you were dead..."

"Hey. Hey, I'm here. I'm right here, all right?" She reassured, unsure if it was for him or herself. "I'm never leaving you two, all right?"

Azreal nearly wanted to scoff at his mother's words. Like, as if the last 24 hours hadn't already been dreadful enough by her request. But now, Faye was taken and his mother seemed too preoccupied with her thoughts to process everything.

"A woman picked us up, as well as Thor. But it'd been a while since she went in with him," he explained. "I think she might be a human trafficker or something. She said she would get a ton of credits for Thor."

Leila hummed, standing to her feet. Although getting back to Faye was a prime objective, the past was beginning to raise questions that Leila desperately needed answers to.

Hela, who is claimed to be her mother, was back. Perhaps Leila thought it to be more dramatic in that when she eventually met her mother, the image of the woman's smile would be prominent in the obscurity of her memories. Or any of the memories of the woman raising her until the fall of Alexion. But once again, she didn't remember the woman. Yet, Leila wouldn't lie when she saw the woman's eyes she felt something. Something was gnawing at the back of her mind with unexplainable tears burning behind her eyes.

There was something there that Leila couldn't tap into. No amount of brute force could break whatever held her from those memories.

Or perhaps the woman wasn't her mother like Odin claimed. Besides the disturbing fact that if Hela was indeed her mother, that meant she had sex with her uncle. And that was something Leila preferred to not indulge her time or energy mulling over. But if there were no memories of the woman, then she couldn't be her mother, right?

In part, Leila wasn't even sure she wanted the answer to such a question. The extra variables to the possible confirmation were too much to allow headway. It'd be best for her to stay blissfully ignorant of it all until she'd eventually have to face it.

"Why did you keep this a secret from us?" Azreal murmured, leaning against his knees. "I mean, I understand Faye. She's arrogant, and abrasive, and would likely boast about it. But if you are willing to trust me with your wishes, then why not tell me?"

Leila pursed her lips, glancing down at the table where many items of her belongings lay. She grabbed her belt, wrapped it around her hips, and began to tie it. Choosing to ignore the obvious conversation and hope he'd let it go. But Azreal had always been a straight shooter. Unlike Faye, who feared how others might get angry with her for speaking or find her intolerable, Azreal had a stone-coldness like Leila.

Azreal took notice of her silence and huffed in annoyance. "I've been patient, mom. I have lived long enough to know that we "mortals" are not as normal as you wanted us to believe. Faye and I have always known."

Shame. That was the closest feeling that statement generated. Leila never planned on keeping everything from her kids. Only long enough for her to understand what her next step would be and if Thor would be included.

But perhaps her mind focusing on too many things had allowed some to slip through her vigilance. "You and your sister are gods. A direct lineage of Asgardian and Alexion blood. Two powers of the Nine Realms that fought countless times until Alexion fell to the Dark Elves," Leila explained with a distant look in her eyes. "I... thought that saving you the truth could give you the gift of a life I always wanted–I needed."

"But didn't you think that was selfish of you?"

"I did and will continue to do what I think is right," Leila replied firmly. "My entire job is to keep you and Faye safe. No matter what I have to do. I came to Midgard to live with your mother and to build a life fitting for you and Faye. So, I kept the truth from you to keep you safe. But you can also understand why I never wanted you two to meet your father."

"Doing a fantastic job so far..."

Leila slowly twisted to face the boy, who didn't seem regretful of his statement. He neither shed a fraction of fear from his mother's eyes glowing faintly in the sun's beams.

"Watch your tone." The warning was emphasized in each decibel. A line formed in the sand that Azreal was still unsure if he should cross. But in all honesty, he'd crossed it the moment he spoke.

And it was too late to tame the fire in his heart.

Standing up from his spot, he challenged his mother. "Faye and I have grown up thinking we were abnormal. Growing at inhuman rates, speed and strength, and far more than I can even list off," the boy stressed. "We've followed your lead at every turn, no matter what, and never questioned your decisions-"

"Because all that has mattered is about yours and Faye's safety."

Azrael stared deep into his mother's eyes, pain reflecting in his own. His lips flashed a smile of incredulous and fiery discontent. And it faded soon after. "Do you think that's what I care about? Do you think I give a shit about my well-being?" He questioned, tears threatening to spill from the crack in his voice. "You are my mother. Who is keeping you safe?"

The door to the room slid open suddenly with a heavy thunk. Revealing their supposed hero or enemy who looked between Azreal and Leila. A deep sigh of relief fluttered from her lips, a smile ghosting over his face. "Good. You're awake. Wasn't sure if the fall had killed you or not." She turned and began to walk. An open invitation to follow and free themselves from the closed-off bedroom of what seemed to be a ship.

Still, Azreal didn't remove his eyes from his mother, and neither did she from his. But as the moment carried on with silence the wish for a reply dwindled. Causing Azreal to scoff and begin to step away.

Just as he stepped into the doorway's threshold, Leila caught his arm. The vice grip from any other wouldn't have phased Azreal. But this was his mother. Her grip was the slow tightening of a c-clamp. When he believed it to be over, it only grew and continued to cut off the bloodstream in the limb.

And her eyes were as sharp as the blade she'd given to Faye to skin their game. It cut through the surface of his facade and dug deeper. Searching for an answer to a question he was unsure of.

"What do you know?" She asked softly—a far cry from her cold expression.

Azreal tore his arm from her grasp. He bit down on the inside of his cheek as he shook his head. "It doesn't matter. But I need you to trust me," he pleaded. "You kept secrets, but we trusted you."

"This is not the same thing."

"How? Explain to me how this is any different." The opening left Leila frustrated and at a loss for words. Instead, she clenched her jaw and stared at the boy, who seemed more than satisfied that his point was proven. "This isn't some stupid little secret, mom. This is our lives. Our family."

Leila held her tongue as the boy nibbled on his bottom lip. "So, just trust me, please." She still didn't answer and continued to watch him closely. Which caused Azreal to sigh, shaking his head and turning. "We should just worry about Thor for the time being. We'll save Faye when we figure out how to get to Asgard."

No further expansion on the conversation was allowed as Azreal marched further into the ship, supposedly following the woman from only a few moments ago. The young mother stared at the space her son had once filled for a few moments. Her lips formed a thin line as she restrained the deafening urge to release her frustration. Instead, she forced herself to move and follow where she saw Azreal go.

The ship's insides were what she expected from her mirrored experience on the Quinjet. But the components and systems of the ship were an advancement from what was back on Earth or Asgard.

Hissing from the inner workings filled the air, faintly being blocked out by Leila's heavy footsteps. The living, breathing ship hummed as the engines roared to life.

Stepping into the main cockpit, she spotted Azreal sitting in one of the chairs staring out the front window. An awe-struck look in his eyes as he took in the views of whatever planet they were located and lost on. The mystery woman sat to his right, glancing over at the boy with a faint smile as she continued to pilot the ship.

A deep saturating burn bubbles like a pot of water slowly reaching its boiling point.

"Mom!" Azreal exclaimed, now standing to his feet and staring at his mother in alarm from the abrasive action.

"Who are you?" Leila yanked on the chains. The once-cold metal chains began to burn. Their appearance slowly brightened in their usual silver shade–faintly changing to orange. And the woman seemed to understand the threat looming.

She swallowed thickly, shifting in her seat to try and look up at Leila. But every time doing so, and like a dog on a leash, Leila yanked her firmly back into the chair. The obvious lack of control of the ship was lost beyond Leila's demands, even with it slowly beginning to dip down in altitude and starting to dive.

"If you'd just let me explain without these chains- Fuck!" She groaned as the heat of the chains grew in volume. A silent urge of persuasion for her to oblige. "I can't think with this- FUCK! My name is Brunhilde. I was a Valkyrie before Hela killed my sisters!"

An empty chortle tumbled from between Leila's lips that curled dangerously. "You think I would believe that? You must be stupider than I thought."

As her hands twisted the chains, tightening the hold around Brunhilde's throat, the scavenger lifted her arm with a cry. "My arm! Look!"

Leila looked at the limb and frowned at the tattoo. She remembers seeing the symbol when she read the countless books in the library in Asgard. The stories and feats those sisters achieved in Odin's name were prolific and not common knowledge from her years of growth. Yet, they were lost with time and evolution. Forgotten and mere myths to most.

Brunhilde groaned at the heat that continued to radiate and burn her flesh. When the chains disappeared, she gasped and fell forward in her seat, grasping the handles of the ship and yanking up–levelling out the ship.

Azreal relaxed back in his seat. But Leila stood behind with no readable expression. Still, her eyes stayed fixated on the pilot who let out rapid breaths, shoulders bouncing with a quiet and breathy laugh filling the air.

"You know, for someone who saved your life from those cannibals on the surface, I kinda guessed I would have a bit more respect."

"You haven't earned my respect. Neither have you proven your identity," Leila spat with a glare. "So, I will grant you the benefit of the doubt."

Leaning down behind the woman, her hands grasping the back of Brunhilde's chair. The metal moaned under the vice grip of Leila's hands. Her warm breath fanning the pilot's cheek as she whispered, "But if you hurt my son I will make sure your body is scattered across all the realms where Odin's ravens will feast on your corpse as one final act of loyalty."

Hopelessly, Leila knew that being foreign to such a world would be abrasive to kill the only person with knowledge of where she was. And even if she wrestled with her intrusive survival instincts, her son's safety came first.

But until she figured out how to get back to Faye, she would have trust in her son's immaculate intuition.

FAYE'S HEAD POUNDED LIKE A DRUM. The warm and stinging pain across her cheek the creation of Azrael's shoe hitting her in the jaw. Behind her eyes blurred from the shades of colours she'd seen before everything went dark.

Keeping her eyes closed, her palms gently sat flat against what felt like a bed. A blanket was gently placed over her and a scent of vanilla blossomed in the air. The warmth of the sun could be felt on her legs where the blanket warmed up.

It was heaven.

Prying the idea of relaxing out of her head, Faye braved herself for whatever might happen and opened her eyes. What she found was a living quarters. A lavish room that felt like it came straight out of Medieval times based on the architecture. Stone walls with fabrics hung up on the walls. A table sat near a balcony that was wide open with the sound of chirping birds heard beyond. But in no way did it explain where she was.

She remembers everything before Azreal accidentally knocked her out. The howling winds, shapes and colours blurring past her vision, and her mother's eyes.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Faye built the courage to finally leave the bed. Immediately hissing at the cold stone floor that graced her feet. Only realizing how much she missed her bed back at the cabin.

As she stepped out of the room Faye took notice of the lack of sound. Only her feet padding down the spiralling steps could be heard. It was almost peaceful.

Which heightened her senses to hear the faint clicking of heels. Enough so that Faye quickly ducked into a corner at the bottom of the steps. Her shoulders rose and her arms crossed over her chest, hoping to just sink into a tiny space and hide from whoever or whatever was walking in her direction.

"My sweet... My sweet dear... I've found you." The ramblings of Hela, the woman Faye could've forgotten after the ludicrous revelations today. But the raven black hair and dark cloud in her eyes were unmistakable. Haunting and powerful.

Hela walked down the length of the great hall. The sunlight poured through the stained glass above. The particles of dust are apparent by the lack of servants in the palace keeping up their schedule. But all that could be heard were the murmurs of the woman and her heels clicking across the ground. Slow and calculated steps.

"I remember the day when you came to me. A gift from something higher than my despicable father," Hela spat, eyes softening almost instantly, hands stretched outwards. "The Norns brought you back to where you belong. By my side."

Faye scowled, scoffing, "Biblical, much?"

The clicking of metal caused the girl to freeze as she slowly turned her head to find a man aiming an assault rifle at her. It was an odd sight that Faye made apparent. "Are you cosplaying as two things at once?"

The man huffed, motioning with his rifles, ordering, "Shut ya, trap!" Reluctantly, Faye clamped her lips shut and walked out of her hidie hole. Forced to walk toward the last person Faye wanted to interact with at the moment.

"My Queen!" Hela spun on her heel, turning to find Executioner and Faye. The man's guns levelled to the back of the young teenager's head. But it didn't bother the girl too much as her eyes continued to take in the scale of the palace hall. "Your prisoner has finally awoken."

"I can see that, Executioner."

That made Faye let out a boisterous laugh, snorting. "Your name is "Executioner"? Holy hell! That is the funniest..." Her smile fell when the man switched the safety off his guns. Clearing her throat, Faye crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged. "...My bad. I got a weird sense of humour."

Through the growing hate that filled Executioner, Hela smiled at the abrasive attitude of the girl. "Faye, I am glad that you are finally awake. I've been eagerly waiting to show you so much."

Faye frowned in suspicion, left brow arching with a short exhale slipping past her lips. "Oh?"

"Yes!" The woman's ecstaticness seemed to be more frightening than anything else Faye had ever known encountering. Her smile seemed to hold more than the simple joys of reuniting with family. "There are so many things I wish to tell you. I want to show you who your mother was to me."

Faye had her experience with enough people to know that everyone had an ulterior motive for everything they said. Even her mother. And that might just be something humans are conditioned to do. But neither she nor her brother were human.

"Sounds weird, doesn't it?" Faye questioned with a scowl. "To be obsessed with someone that doesn't even know you."

Hela stared at the girl with the same expression, like Faye's statement had been ignored. Instead, the woman began to walk toward the girl. That same cocky smile cut across her lips as she said, "You are the daughter of one of the most dangerous goddesses in all the Nine Realms. The byproduct of two civilizations that have fought for millineas. Responsible for senseless bloodshed that has been felt since I was banished."

Finally, she stood before the young girl who craned her head to meet her supposed Grandmother's eyes. "So, you say it to be "weird", correct?" Hela smiled, eyes faintly squinting. "In time, you will understand my story and know why you must help me bring your mother back to me."