Summary[]
Full Text[]
Part 1[]
Hel: A shadow suddenly fell over the entire camp, a colossal black form taking shape behind the fortress. It rose far over the top of the structure, taking the form of a woman cloaked in shadow. Her glowing yellow eyes bore down on Haddock, extending an arm to point down at him. “Demon of my domain,” the voice said, echoing across the land. "Allow the mortal king to exchange words with me, please…"
The Warden: "Who are you to order me around?" The Warden glared upwards at the ethereal figure, clenching Haddock’s fists tightly. It was an extremely brash, idiotic thing to say, but she wasn’t thinking quite straight at the moment. A bit of an emotion she had only rarely felt began to creep into her heart…fear.
Hel: The deity standing over the highest tower of the fortress spread her arms, the air around them became heavy and the form’s eyes narrowed.
The deity’s arms dropped and she rolled her eyes, giving up the ‘greater than thou’ persona. “I’m Hel you lil bitch, now will you kindly give that dolts mind back for a moment? I have his pet and I would rather not have to disassemble you just to get a word in with him.”
The Warden: Haddock looked quite taken aback. The Warden considered unleashing her temper for a split second. But only for a split second. "What do you need him for?” he asked warily.
Hel: Hel stared at her for a moment, and then clicked her fingers. The Warden felt herself get ripped into a thousand peaces and then reassembled back into Haddock within the next second. The deity quirked her eyebrows. “Does that answer your question?”
The Warden: It was only a heartbeat of mind-shattering, soul-wrenching pain, but that was enough. Buckling at the knees, Haddock gasped and held his head between his hands, the Warden still scrambling over the feeling of having her essence blown to fragments. "I think you did some damage," he hissed, glaring up at the massive shadow. "Fine. You win. But only for a little while, agreed?"
Hel: "You have a contract on your hand, I will speak with the King until I am finished, and then I will honor the deal that has already been made…" Hel tilted her head."Hmm, interesting, that contract is damaged…as if crudely peeled away and slapped onto something else. No telling how well that will turn out…but oh well. Now…let him speak."
Gareth Ragnar Haddock the Second: A change overtook Haddock’s guise. His countenance metamorphosed from the determined grit of an immortal spirit to the broken, traumatized, blank-eyed stare of a defeated mortal. He fell to his knees as control over the body was exchanged from the Warden to the man. For a second it appeared as though Haddock had suddenly died and collapsed upon the spot, for the expression in his green eyes was so lifeless he could have been a corpse.
But he breathed.
His body, anyway.
Wordless, mouth unmoving, irises twitched timidly upward toward the god, and then shot back down as soon as they glimpsed the enormous overlying shadow. The shell cringed and tightened his body to steel himself for what he believed was another Warden-sent punishment.
Hel: "King Haddock," the deity began. "I have an…uh…" she frowned, leaning down further to get a better look at him.
"What the me?" Hel grumbled to herself. "He looks no better than Stonegit. This is not the proud King I was hoping to challenge."
She straightened. “Forget it. How do you like that? Hel herself graces the mortals with her presence and it turns out to be a colossal waste of time.” Hel shook her head. “Two stupid, prideful, slapped into each other by an equally stupid boy.” She thought for a moment. “But perhaps that can benefit us both…yes…indeed.”
Gareth Ragnar Haddock the Second: "If you want me, I will do as you wish," he mumbled, still upon his knees, still averting his eyes from Hel. But she heard him nonetheless.
Hel: "Oh ok," Hel said, reaching down a flicking Haddock’s forehead, knocking him out. She reached into him casually, plucking out the Warden and looking her in the eyes. Her voice lowered to a whisper so that only the Warden heard.
"A challenge for you, trusted holder of the bodyguard’s deepest feelings. The boy shall stay in his pitiful vegetable state until the King is well enough to stand again. Whether you feed him and care for him is up to you, after all I’ll be waiting to harvest him the moment he passes away." Hel thought for a moment. "And then the King, I will challenge…" she chuckled. "If this dented brat lives to see it that is." she pushed the Warden back into Haddock, straightening.
"That being said, I think its time I left…"
The Warden: The Warden stared up at the being, gritting her sharp teeth. Hel was playing on her two strongest points: her desire to protect dark-eyes, and her want to keep the King submissive. She stuffed the conflict down and hissed back, "Challenge accepted. We’ll see who wins in the end." She was forcibly pushed back into the King’s limp body and she raised it painfully, disliking the remnants of emotional damage leftover from her temporary lapse in control. "Leave us."
Hel: Hel glanced down at her surroundings. “I really do hate this place. It seems to give everyone a bad case of ‘too big for their britches,’” she smiled. “Good for a laugh though. A puny demon and an even more puny human sassing and bossing Hel around.” she chuckled. “Keep up the good work.”
Then, with a crack that was reminiscent of a thunder clap, the deity sunk into the ground, vanishing.
Part 2[]
Akkey Black: They had reached them on time to see Stonegit fall, violently spewing out water. When he had stopped moving, so did the dragons all around camp.
"What… does that mean, everyone is safe?" she asked in a low voice, half speaking to Pitch and half to herself, "He stopped… he stopped! It stopped!"
She rushed forward, wanting to see Stonegit’s condition, as well as confirm who Haddock really was… when a shadow fell over them. She stopped in her tracks and looked up worriedly. A voice echoed around them, almost deafening them, asking for the King to come out. It really is the Warden… she realized and sighed heavily, but what… is that?
Blunt: The large man spun around, his eyes wide, and then he relaxed. “I would not allow fire nor sword, nor ax, nor spear to harm me for as long as you lived and graced me with your presence gentle chief.” he said. Clearly this had not been the first time he had rehearsed and executed these poetic lines.
Akkey Black: She sighed and closed her eyes, the corner of her mouth twitching ever so slightly. It horrified her that she was getting used to his flirty demeanor… and that it started to amuse her.
With a straight face, she replied sarcastically, “Well, isn’t that comforting. What are you doing there? I though Stonegit is your top priority.” Although who knows what will even happen now…her thoughts wandering back to his current condition.
Blunt: "I am having this brave warrior named…" he paused, leaning down so that his wounded companion could whisper to him. Blunt came back up. "Fiendal…treated for a severed hand. And yes, although I cam here to see Stonegit, I have been a little busy trying to survive his attack."
Blunt rolled his neck, licking his thumb and straightened his eyebrow. “But the real question is…what are you doing h…he…here…” he trailed off, his eyes drifting up as a massive shadow fell over them.
Akkey Black: "I… well…" She followed his gaze and bit her lip, hesitant, "Haddock returned alive and… a lot of things happened. I wasn’t in my right mind and thought Stonegit could… help me… so I looked for him."
She looked away, “Turns out Haddock is possessed by the Warden and Stonegit grew angry, he wouldn’t listen… they fought… and he fell… now that thing… appeared…”
"I might have made things worse… telling him… about the King…"
Blunt: Blunt continued to gawk up at Hel’s form, his shoulders sagging. He blinked, turning his head to Akkey. “Huh?”
Akkey Black: She clicked her tongue, annoyed, “Haddock is alive and possessed by the Warden, Stonegit is unconscious, and that thing appeared out of nowhere. Listen the next time someone talks to you.”
Her body suddenly tensed and she turned away, spitting out blood.
Blunt: "Good gravy!" Blunt exclaimed, seeing the blood. He helped Akkey over to the turned over table. Svied was a little busy taking care of Fiendal's hand, so he took matters upon himself.
He heaved a sighed, glancing down and seeing how she had clutched her stomach. There was no blood or cut in her cloths. “Did you get hit in the stomach? I ought to inspect the injury…” Blunt rubbed his chin, humming. “Take off your shirt,” he said casually.
Akkey Black: "Wh-what?!" she choked out mid-cough, her face slightly pink, "No! I’m fine… it was nothing. No need!"
Blunt: "Of course it’s needed!" Blunt declared. "You could be critically injured!"
Akkey Black: "I’m fine," she insisted. She tried to step away, but the motion sent another stab of pain in her abdomen and she hunched over, coughing out more blood.
Blunt: Heaving a sigh, Blunt strode forward, picked her up, and set her down on the table. “Then at least roll it up and let me see. You can’t tell me you’re fine when your coughing up blood.”
He bit his lip. “Also, Hel is currently looming over the entire camp. None of us are my guess is.”
Akkey: She squeaked a little when he picked her up. The man was more than a foot taller than her, and the ground suddenly falling away beneath her was a surprise. He set her down gently on the table and firmly ordered her to roll up her shirt. Embarrassing! Why did it have to be this flirt? She thought better of it and gave up. She looked away and slowly untucked her shirt, her face flushing.
Blunt: Despite his reputation, Blunt was very professional and very careful as he examined her nasty bruise. “Didn’t you go to school?” he muttered, giving a frown as he noted that she was probably suffering from internal bleeding. “Hel is the deity of Hel, daughter of Loki, gets a cut of the souls that go into the after life, usually the cowards and the old. Legend has it she is trying to bring back the god of light and will have a important hand in the bringing of Ragnarok.”
Akkey: "I never liked studying," she mumbled, almost pouting. She watched him as he gently prodded her abdomen. His hands were warm, "So wait… that’s her then? What’s she doing here? How? Why?"
Blunt: "Hold on, I’ll ask her," Blunt said abruptly, getting up and walking past her. He turned around almost as quickly. "In other words, how the fuck would I know?!" he shook his head, coming back over to her. He blinked listening as he heard Hel ‘s voice echo over the land. Hearing her demand, he nodded once. "Ok…She wants to talk to Haddock," he said, even though Akkey had heard it just as clearly as he had.
Akkey: "Yes, I heard," she replied testily, "I just thought maybe you’d know something.”
She let her shirt drop, “The pain’s stopped, and I’m not coughing anymore. I’m fine.”
Blunt: "Yeah right!" Blunt snorted. "You have internal bleeding. I can’t help much with that so you need to rest here until Svied can take care of you."
Akkey: "No," she stood and glared up at him, "She’s busy anyway. I’ve fought with worse injuries."
Svied: "Um, excuse me?" Svie∂ eyed Akkey, "Internal bleeding isn’t something to be taken lightly."
Akkey: "Neither is Hel hovering above us," she grumbled, "I don’t want to be stuck in the sidelines, feeling useless again when I can be out there protecting my friends. I’m here, I’m finally in control of my own body. I’m not staying here.”
Blunt: "Good thought," Blunt said. "So lets all go ahead and try to reason with the god of the underworld, or challenge her to a friendly dual maybe."
Svied: "I..I guess," Svie∂ really had nothing to say. She wasn’t afraid of any battle. Or at least she thought she was fearless.
Akkey: "Look…" she crossed her arms and tried to look as threatening as possible (which was no easy considering how gigantic they were compared to her), "Either you fix me up in two minutes or we wait until all of this is over."
Svied: "That I can do," she gently stated. Lightly touching the young chief’s stomach she felt the healing energy go from her fingertips onto the wounded area.
Akkey: Her eyebrows raised when she felt a warmth go through her. Something worked in her… something mystical, magical. And as quickly it began… it stopped.
She blinked and carefully felt her stomach, “Wow… it’s gone.” She coughed, testing it a few times, but no blood came out.
"Thank you," she turned to Svied, visibly surprised.
Svied: "No problem," she smirked back.
Akkey: "Handy little skill you have there," she grinned. She turned to Blunt, "There. I’m healed. I’m going to go back. You?"
Svied: Svie∂ stood there, hesitating. Something within her just couldn’t allow herself to face battle, even as she hid her fear behind a fake smile.
"I guess.."
Blunt: “Wonderful!” Blunt said, putting an arm around either of them. “I’ll join you.”
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