I looked at Hela's hopeful expression before I smiled back at her. "Well, I admit I've never really been courted before, but I imagine it will be an interesting experience," I said, and Hela smiled widely.
She reached forward and literally swept me off my feet!
"Eeep!"
"We shall go out and share a meal together post haste. I have been trapped in Hel for 1000 years, and the only thing I want is a good meal and the company of a beautiful woman like you, Layla," Hela said as she carried me towards the exit of the room.
"Okay…" I mumbled out. "Being princess-carried was an odd experience. It seemed to work though since Hela was so much taller than I was.
"Wait, are you really just going to leave without explaining anything else!?" Loki shouted out as Hela carried me through the doors. I guess that was her plan… I couldn't even imagine the pain she had to go through from being locked away that long. Honestly… 'What the fuck, Odin!?'
[Seriously, what a dick move. I wonder why he did it?]
Hela continued carrying me in her arms as we walked through Asgard's halls. She was taking in all the art murals and golden statues like they were the most precious things she'd seen in her life. "Where are all the guards?" Hela asked me.
"Um, Loki fired them all…"
Hela looked confused. "And how could he do that?"
"Because he was king…"
"That little frozen nutsack was king!?" She exclaimed in shock. "How in the nine hells did that happen!? You know what… it doesn't even matter. He's not king anymore…" She said darkly as her eyes turned colder.
"So," I decided to change the subject. "This is my first time on Asgard, and you probably haven't seen your people in 1000 years. Neither of us even knows where a restaurant is, huh?" I asked with a laugh.
Hela took a moment to process my words before she too laughed. "I guess not. I'm sure we'll find a nice tavern or something though. Even after all these years. I've no doubt my people still love to eat and drink," she said. We continued down the hallways until we reached the palace's main gates. "Annoying… even the main gates are unguarded. No wonder my bastard father was so easily slain…" Using a bit of magic, Hela forced the gates to open so we could look upon the city properly. We immediately regretted it.
…Asgard was on fire.
"What the fuck…" I said as I slipped out of Hela's arms and gazed at the scene below. The Asgardian people were straight up rioting.
"Down with the false king!"
"Loki is not my king!"
"Fratricide is evil. Down with Loki!"
Hela immediately used her magic to close the palace gates back up. With them closed, the loud rioting noises completely cut off as well. The palace had some soundproof magic surrounding it apparently. A bit of a design flaw, I think, considering we had no idea what was going on outside the walls.
"You know what… why don't we just eat in the kitchens for now?" Hela suggested. I could tell she was mentally tired and didn't even remotely want to deal with putting down a riot right now. I really felt the same. Asgardians were built differently, so I'm sure a bit of rioting wouldn't actually cause any casualties… probably.
[Eh, I'm sure they'll be fine once they tire themselves out. At least the Bifrost wasn't on fire, so you'll be good to go when it's time to leave.]
'I'm sure even if it was, Hela employs dark magic so she could travel to Midgard at any time anyway,' I responded back to the System in my head.
It didn't take long for us to find the kitchen since thankfully there were directions along the walls. Once again, there wasn't a single staff member in sight.
"My younger oaf of an adopted brother even fired all the cooks!?" Hela exclaimed upon seeing the empty kitchen. "What kind of King makes his own meals!?"
"He was only king for like a day…"
Hela turned to me in genuine shock. "He was king for one day and the city is literally on fire, the palace staff are all gone, and Odin is dead…"
I nodded. "Yep. And he tried to kill Thor but failed because I saved him."
Hela smiled at me before she walked over to what I think was a magical fridge. She opened it up and the smells of many delicious meats assaulted my nose. "Well… at least there's that. Thor was quite rambunctious as a child, but I did care for him. He was my blood brother after all." She said with a look of fondness. She then pulled out a giant slab of what I could only describe as manga-meat before she carried it over to an equally massive stove. She plopped it right on there, and pretty soon my mouth was watering from the delicious smell wafting through the kitchen. Hela apparently knew how to cook. That was strange for a princess, but then again, she was also supposed to be an Asgardian general.
While the meat was cooking, Hela walked back towards me. With a wave of her hand, two black chairs were instantly conjured for us to sit in. "So Layla of the Fallen. Tell me about yourself. You have incredible beauty, but I'd like to know more of the woman I'm courting."
I blushed at the reminder before I started telling her of my past few adventures on Midgard.
Instead of disregarding the people of what she would consider a lower realm, Hela listened with rapture and seemed to be genuinely impressed at how far the people of Earth had come technologically and magically. When I mentioned that the Time Stone and Space Stone were currently on Earth, her eyes widened.
"Two Infinity Stones! And somehow no one in the greater universe knows they are there?" She asked and I nodded. "Interesting…" She muttered before sighing. "Unfortunately, neither will be able to restore Asgard. The Time Stone could have done it, but not after 1000 years have passed. The only one that can do that at this point is the Reality Stone. Even then, changing reality on the scale of creating an entire planet would also require the Power Stone," Hela finished with a sigh.
XXX
--------------------------------------------------
Read 10+ chapters in advance over on my Pat.reon.
Pat.reon.com/StarWaves (Remove the first .)