Consequences

24

Hela sent word to Asgard a year later and gave the royal family a week's notice of her arrival. Brynja wrote a quick letter in return asking if he was living or dead but did not hear anything in reply. Thor did not know if he was planning a welcoming party or a funeral and so planned neither. On the day of Hela's arrival, they gathered in the throne room after supper and waited, anxious, to see if Hela brought with her a living body or a dead one.

Nari and Vali occupied themselves with a game of chess, trying to hide their nervousness by concentrating on the game. Miranda and Idris watched, both still learning the game their mother had brought back from Midgard, one of many board games that Nari and Vali had quickly taken to while Miranda and Idris had excelled in sorcery, often forgetting that there was a world outside of magic.

Sunny sat with Katja, Hiram, and Amundr and tried to make small conversation while they waited. Sif tried to keep her husband from pacing and had little success, Thor sitting only for a minute before getting to his feet and immediately moving to another part of the room, pacing for a few moments, settling briefly, and repeating the process. Frigga, Freyja, and Odin sat with Brynja, who stared at the ring Loki had given her when he proposed, absentmindedly turning it on her finger.

They heard a trumpet sound and watched an oddly shaped carriage sail by the windows. It landed gracefully on the balcony on the far end of the throne room and slipped silently into the room, its occupants still hidden from view. The carriage turned sideways and the door slid open, Hela stepping out followed by three figures in long grey robes, their faces hidden from view, their hands even hidden by their sleeves.

Hela gestured for them to follow her as she stepped forward, "My friends. Father came to my halls a year ago and I gave him a choice. He could choose death and the release it brings, all his pain dissipating as those memories strong in love lasted the longest and wrapped his soul in their healing power. He could also choose to return to the land of the living, everything he had experienced still with him, still able to haunt him- including every moment from the centuries of torture he endured. It took him a very short time to decide, but it took us more time to bring him to where he needed to be to move on in the direction he chose."

Brynja had risen when Hela had first approached, Amundr coming close behind her; when Hela stopped speaking, he took her hand, "Are you all right, Mother?"

"I will be once I know one way or another."

Hela gestured for one of the figures behind her to step forward, turning to face him as she did, "Are you ready?"

The figure reached up and drew back his hood, Brynja recognising him by the ring he wore before his hood was down. Loki revealed himself cautiously, his face gaunt, but no longer skeletal.

Brynja let go of her son's hands and approached him, but stopped short a few feet in front of him, "Is this real? Are you really here?"

Loki nodded and looked around at the rest of the family, "And you?"

"Yes," Amundr answered, "We're all here."

Loki's eyes locked with those of his son, identical to his, "Amundr? How you've grown, my child...."

Brynja took a few steps closer and reached out to touch his face, her hand pausing, not sure if she was permitted, "It's been five hundred years, darling."

He closed the distance between them and took her hand, resting it against his cheek, "And I have held you in my heart every day, my love."

She tipped her face up to his, barely whispering, "May I?" He did not answer, but kissed her instead.

The rest of the family had risen and moved closer, hoping each to greet Loki in turn, but they watched, smiling, as Loki kissed Brynja, relaxing into her arms after, his head on her shoulder as he held her close.