"Hela?"
"I am here."
Ina looked slightly unsure and that made Hela a little curious.
Hela didn't care, she would do anything to make Ina feel comfortable and there was no doubt in her heart that she would succeed.
"Tell me what your face looks like."
Ina was very curious about Hela, there was a huge expectation about everything that involved her.
Her eyes weren't good and she for some reasons didn't use her third eye, she grew up learning to be contained, calm and her life went on like that, but now she yearned for more and more.
Hela smiled and nodded, it was a small request compared to all she could offer Ina.
She sat down next to Ina and placed both of her fiancée's hands over her face again.
Hela didn't do much and allowed Ina to venture to touch her face.
Her hands were soft and delicate.
And somehow they were also shy.
"What color is your hair?"
"Blondes. I have light blonde hair, my eyebrows are a similar color."
Ina nodded, it seemed to suit Hela.
She carefully lowered the touch and was now fingering Hela's face, carefully touching over her eyes, nose and mouth.
Her lips were soft, they looked so much softer than peaches.
Her heart suddenly sped up.
Hela had a small face and her skin was smooth, but it was noticeable that there were scars.
Ina felt complicated to realize that something could have touched that beautiful face of hers with the sole intention of hurting her.
She sighed trying to calm her feelings, it was impossible not to wonder if Hela was watching her as closely as she was at that moment.
But she didn't dare ask.
"What color are your eyes?"
Hela thought briefly, she didn't remember what her eyes looked like and it never even seemed interesting to her.
But she vaguely remembered the time Loki had said she had the same eyes as her mother.
She smiled briefly at that memory. "My eyes are blue."
Ina smiled and placed her face in her hands. "How beautiful... You are so beautiful..."
All Hela could notice was Ina's beautiful smile and it seemed to mesmerize her, she desperately wished that Ina could smile more.
A few hours passed and Hela carefully got out of the bed she now shared with Ina.
Ina was sleeping peacefully and soundly, there was no sign that she would wake up anytime soon and it made Hela more comfortable leaving her alone for a while.
Hela walked to the front door of the house and opened it.
She stared at the black horizon and sighed, it wouldn't be long before they could wake up amidst the sunrise.
In the place where they were, the days would be the same and they would not feel time pass, life on earth would be truly unique.
She whistled facing what should be the sky and it didn't take long for a light in greenish tones to appear.
Two birds, Hugin and Munin appeared.
Hugin and Munin were ravens given by Hela to Odin and they, at a simple call, would appear ready to send any message to their owner.
Although they belonged to Odin, but there was a certain loyalty towards Hela, after all she took care of the small birds when they were small birds abandoned on the edge of a cliff near Fólkvangr.
Fólkvangr is the palace of Freia, a place full of Valkyries and curiously where Hela found the two small birds about to die, but which she cared for and sheltered until they could be healthy enough to live their own destiny.
The two crows quickly approached Hela and without delay they landed near the entrance of the house.
"Are you healthy?"
She asked the birds who subtly nodded.
She smiled when she realized they were fine, but that wasn't the purpose of her call.
"Let me talk to Odin, I have something important to discuss with him."
One of the birds turned its head a little puzzled, but quickly accepted the request.
The two crows were intrinsically linked to Odin, one being his thoughts and the other his mind, whenever necessary they would quickly allow their owner to be present.
The crows briefly glared at each other and within seconds they had fully connected with Odin.
Odin who was at that moment in Asgard did not wait for Hela's call.
It felt complicated.
"Got something to tell me Hela?"
Hela nodded and leaned briefly against the small railings that encircled the house. "My punishment is a thousand years…"
"I know."
She knew that Odin could see her through the eyes of the two ravens, she kept her face straight.
She was filled with worries, Odin would only vaguely facilitate her work.
There was still a lot to be done.
She sighed lightly. "Not hers."
Odin who was sitting on his throne, couldn't help but feel irritated.
Hela always seemed to somehow annoy him.
"What do you mean?"
Sensing Odin's impatient temper, she also felt her temper complicate.
She smiled a little irritably without any care if Odin would see it as disrespect or not. "I know you are suffering, your illness is worse, right?!"
Odin took a deep breath, inflating his lungs.
"I know what the cure is and I gladly give it to you."
He knew there was no hiding certain things and her health wasn't a secret to Hela and Loki.
It wasn't easy to hide something from Loki, he in many ways discovered whatever the secrets of the gods were.
Hela would know that everyone would die, regardless of when or how, everyone would die, but specifically Odin was dying without any sign that his death would be prevented by his immortality.
Perhaps it would take millennia for him to finally die, but a god's life was not counted in the same way as normal ones.
Odin was in pain, he was in pain and his body was not as strong as it once was and all he could do was pretend to still be the same as he was in the past.
His illness no one could say what it was or why, maybe just a joke of fate plaguing the main god among them.
But she had a little suspicion...
Odin was perhaps dying for the faith that he was dying more and more.
Humans changed their beliefs under certain situations and curiously the world seemed in a strong disbelief before the gods that were once a source of protection.
Odin no longer had warriors crossing the gates of Asgard at all times, death in the midst of honor was not a reality.
It was only a matter of time before Hela was more powerful than he was.
People would not escape death, but they changed their conceptions about honor and war all the time.
Death was fair, war was not.
Odin might never fade, but he would languish in his own pain. "What are your conditions?"
"I want your permission to get Ina eternal life, just don't interfere."
Odin laughed in derision, how could someone who was imprisoned want to have the power to negotiate anything with him?! "I can't let you do whatever comes to your mind..."
Ina smiled, she didn't have the bad temper of Hades or Ares, it was really curious that Odin would talk to her that way. "I won't cause a war, at least not for you or Thor... After the 1000 years Ina and I must live in the human world and I won't have much time looking for a solution."
Odin, who saw himself without any kind of option, nodded.
Did Hela really want to offer so much for a mere outsider?! So be it. "Fine, but after that you must return to the realm of the dead, with or without her."
Hela nodded and edged closer to the two crows.
She knelt down and gently stroked the tops of their heads and spoke without too much delay. "The cure for your disease is the healthy part of my heart, join mine to yours and there will be no trace of disease in the future."
Hela was the connection between the living and the dead, especially her heart that could connect those two realities.
By offering her heart she was trading places with Odin, who would wither away to the point where she would lose all life in her body.
She didn't know what the future held for her, but if she was in her realm she knew it wouldn't cause any trouble.
Ina became a priority, no longer mattered to Odin or even her appearance.
She would take good care of Ina.
Odin who couldn't feel reassured watching such attitudes from Hela questioned her. "Don't you think you're sacrificing yourself too much for a mere mortal?"
Hela smiled, that was her problem. "I don't want your opinion, just make sure I get what I ask for and you get what you want."
She got up quickly and turned her back on the two crows.
Gradually Hugin and Munin regained their consciousness and all the two birds could do was watch the woman enter the house.
Finally, when they saw the door close, they took off and returned through the same gap of light they entered.
An agreement had been made and the thousand years began there.