Storm of Death

Chapter 21

"Aeria."

Aeria blinked, her magic vanishing into thin air, a cold breath released from her mouth. Her knees felt weak, as if she would collapse any time and her whole body was pounding with pain.

She looked around, finally gaining control over herself. Her eyes widened at the sight of Laufey in front of her, dead, his blood staining the golden floors beneath her, his blood soaking her boots. She screamed, stumbling back in fear, her back against the ruined throne behind her.

"Darling!" Hela rushed to her, wrapping an arm around her waist, lifting her away from the bloody sight "Darling, it's over! It's fine, you're fine, now." she gently placed her wife down, sinking into the floor with her "What is it, my dear?" she asked.

Aeria trembled against the floor, her eyes wide as she stared at her hands. The dark marks had reached her wrists, showing how much corrupted she's gotten. Her stomach twisted, she felt sick.

She slowly looked over Hela's shoulder to confirm whatever she saw and when she saw that the body was still there, she quickly turned away and vomited but the twist in her stomach didn't leave.

"Darling, what..." Hela stared at her wife.

Five minutes ago, Aeria stood powerful in that altar, making the king of Jotunheim kneel before her, killing him mercilessly and now, she's acting as if she doesn't know what she just did.

"Did I kill him?" Aeria asked, wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her dress. Oh, god the tip of her dress was soaked with blood now. She felt sick.

Hela frowned "Do you not remember?"

The witch shook her head.

"What happened?" she asked.

Hela blinked, her wife was a completely different person than she was five minutes ago. This Aeria was vulnerable and fragile, still afraid of Frost Giants, unlike earlier.

"You killed Laufey." the goddess slowly said "You made him pay, do you really not remember, dear?"

Aeria closed her eyes, she tried to remember. The last thing she could remember was hiding behind the throne then seeing Laufey, when he saw her, she tried to run but she saw a pair of boots. She opened her eyes "I remember." she whispered.

She remembers seeing her mother, perhaps it was simply a hallucination. The next thing she remembers was what led Laufey to his death.

Her.

She killed him.

"Darling." Hela called for her once more "It does not matter if you remember or not. It is over." she gently placed her hands on Aeria's cheeks, careful not to startle her "You have made me proud."

Those words warmed the witch's heart, not just her heart but also her cheeks. Aeria nodded, leaning into her wife's touch "It will not happen again." she repeated their phrase earlier.

Hela smiled "It won't. We're sure of it, now."

"The King of Jotunheim is dead."

They both turned to see Odin standing in front of the Frost Giant's corpse, a hand on his bleeding torso, his missing eye wounded. He held his spear in one hand, keeping him from falling.

"Husband!" the queen freed herself from the ice holding her feet, she quickly hurried towards her husband and embraced him "What happened?"

"I must rest." Odin muttered.

"Father! Mother!" Thor arrived with Loki behind him who seemed distraught, he was the first one to notice Hela and Aeria as he chose to approach them instead of his parents "Are you alright?"