Looking at the bent figure of the Vampire Lord, Thor had a serene expression on his face. The initial excitement from gaining the help of Ananse was gone. All that remained in its place was a calm that was as silent as it was tranquil. Just like he thought, they truly requested for the return of their people. He expected this request the moment he read Ananse's letter in its entirety. The spider god had stated in her letter that the gods of Asgard should do anything in their power to grant the request of the vampires. This was part of her buyout clause. Only by fulfilling all her requests would she continue to help them. And all her requests were centred on the vampires. Thor had begun to speculate about the difficulty of their request when he saw that Ananse had stated that they should do 'everything in their power'. This didn't only mean that the wise god was aware of the desire of the group that stood before him, she also knew it was no trivial task. That was why she had implored that they help them no matter the cost. But it wasn't for nothing. Her help was one thing, but she also stated that they would get something else for helping the vampires.
"Did my friend tell you anything else?" Thor kept referring to Ananse as 'his friend'. He wasn't willing to reveal her real name. Even revealing her gender was a slip-up on their part. Since Ananse had met and spoken to the vampires with a concealed identity, it was obvious that she didn't want them to know who she was. From their words, she had stayed with them for some time, yet they never once learned anything about her identity. They didn't even know her sex until today. And Thor wasn't going to show her disrespect by disdaining her wishes.
"She did." Alucard stated. "She said we will have to pledge ourselves to you in return. But that is a small price to pay." Alucard spoke in a carefree manner, almost as if pledging oneself to another was but a trivial ordeal. But when one truly considered the state of affairs here, it really wasn't a big deal to give one's freedom for the resurrection of their race.
"I see" Thor nodded. "But I don't think she was clear." He continued. Dracula and the others were surprised by his subsequent words.
"What do you mean?" Dracula answered. Since Thor had asked that he be treated as an equal, Dracula had dispensed the previous formalities he had taken initially when addressing the origin battle god.
"Your allegiance wouldn't be to us Asgardians. It will be to another." Thor slowly explained.
"What-" Lilith had barely began her statement when Dracula raised his hand before her, signalling that she should be silent. He knew what she wanted to say. Alucard did as well. Even Vlad knew the question that weighed on the mind of the seductive vampire. But they had chosen to remain silent because they believed that Thor would explain his words more clearly. Lilith kept her mouth shut after seeing her master's signal. She remained silent, just like the others, and waited for the thunder god to continue with his speech. They did get their answer, but it was Forseti who went on to elaborate the words of his uncle.
"In her letter, our friend asked us to do all sort of things for you. From her words, she seemed to know about your request, didn't she?"
Vlad nodded his head and answered, "She did, Lord Forseti." Although Thor had asked that they dispense all formalities when they addressed the two gods, Vlad wasn't going to do that. Vampires were a race built on hierarchy. They had stringent rules on treatments offered to purebloods and to the 'unclean'. Although Vlad was a pureblood, Dracula was his Lord. And Alucard was his young lord. As such, he always referred to the two with respect. Lilith had a different and more nonchalant way of addressing her masters, but she also respected them. Her mode of communication with her master was due to the fact that she was ranked higher than Vlad, and was even older than Alucard. Hence, she could address them in a slightly different way. A more casual and unrestrained relationship was shared between them. But Vlad didn't have this sought of privilege, nor did he crave for it. He was satisfied and more than happy to idolize his master and his young master. And this was why he couldn't refer to Thor or Forseti in an informal manner. To him, it was only his masters who were qualified to speak to the gods on equal footing. This wasn't because he blindly believed that they were as strong as the two Asgardian gods. The previous showing had taught him that it was foolish to believe that was the truth. It was because the thunder god himself had given the permission to address him and the god of justice by name that Vlad regarded the gods and his masters as equals. But since he wasn't equal to his masters, referring to either of the two gods without a title- what he deemed was disrespect to the gods and his masters- was unacceptable. But since he wanted to respect the wishes of the thunder god, he didn't refer to Forseti by his title, but called him 'Lord' as well, effectively placing the god of justice on the same pedestal as his masters.
"It is because she did that she understood the difficulty of such a task. Her friendship is valued highly by my race, it truly is. But even then we would be hard pressed to give you what you want. This is because this doesn't rest on our shoulders only, but on the shoulders of someone else. Someone whose power is just as terrifying as my uncle's, and commands respect from all sides."
Dracula wrinkled his brow in worry. He knew their request was a difficult one. In fact, before meeting 'her', he had no such desire. To him, his people were dead and gone. It was 'she' who had assured them that resurrecting the dead was a possible feat- it was difficult, but probable. But she had also mentioned that although it wasn't impossible, the sheer difficulty of the task would make it impossible for the request to be given without giving anything in return. But even then, it seemed that he had underestimated the true difficulty of the task. Even more surprising was that they didn't actually need the help of Thor himself. From Forseti's words, the thunder god could only petition the help of their mysterious helper and nothing more. This was why he was worried. This person may be unwilling to help them after all.
"The dead of the first heaven are her domain. She must give her consent before any soul can be taken away from her realm." Thor stated. "But your request may very well be granted if you promise to pledge yourselves to someone." Forseti quickly added.
Thor was referring to Hela, the daughter of Loki- his brother. In other words, his niece. She was the goddess of death. And although she was born after him, she was highly talented, and was just as powerful as he was. Not only was she an extremely thorny individual to deal with due to her outstanding power, she also had an army of undead on her side. Her army was no trifling force. They were one to be reckoned with. In fact, even the Allfather took her army seriously. Luckily for Asgard, she was also Asgardian and never sought war, only peace. Unlike her brothers, she preferred a quiet and solitary life. But this didn't mean that one could just tell her what to do. Hela was always ready to help Asgard. She would do anything for them. In fact, it was because she granted some of the power of her divinity to Tyr that the god of war had been able to so easily take care of the vampire race, killing those who were deemed unkillable. But that was where her loyalty lay. She was more than ready to give herself up for Asgard, but to make any sacrifice for an outsider was outside the question.
Dracula's worried expression was eased by Forseti's words. He asked immediately, "To whom must we pledge ourselves?"
"You will know in due time. Right now you aren't qualified to know his name- or what he will become." Thor waved his hand lightly as he spoke.
His words sounded insulting. After all, he was speaking to four ascenders. Yet the ascenders in question didn't mind his tone. Their anxiety concerning whether or not their request would be answered overwhelmed any pride they had. Even Vlad, who normally wouldn't let such words against his masters' slide was silent. Among the four, it was probably the Impaler who felt the most pressure. In all his years he had been wracked with guilt concerning the wiping out of his race. He blamed the Asgardians for a while, then his anger towards them gradually changed to anger towards himself. After being rebuked by Lilith, for who knows how many times in the past millennia, he had unconsciously began to blame himself and not them. Among all who stood here, the weight of his race's extinction weighed most heavily on him. Now there was a chance to bring them back. His pride was great, but his need for redemption- his search for atonement- was even greater.