The Ties That Bind Us

19

continues in Isabella's pov

Once the time comes, I check on Hela once more before leaving the room. I walk the halls until arriving at Frigga and Odin's shared chambers. I knock three times, taking a step back to wait. Shortly after, Frigga opens the door and smiles wearily. She lets me in and leaves, shutting the door softly behind me.

"I see you've returned" he states plainly, "indeed" I reply as I take a seat. "And you're here to question my judgement on Hela's pending execution" he presumes, "no, actually" I answer and he raises an eyebrow. "I'm here for the truth" he furrows his eyebrows and leans back in his chair.

"The truth of who I am. I'm certain you have that information and I want it" I state firmly. He smirks and shifts I'm his seat getting more comfortable. "And what makes you think I'll give you that freely?" he chuckles. "Well... I have something you want" I smirk, "what could you possibly have that I want?" he asks intrigued.

"In exchange for answering any question I may have, I can guarantee the safety of you and your people. I think it a quite hefty and, frankly ironic, offer on my part" I propose and he muddles with the idea for a moment. "How would you secure the safety of my people?" he asks, "By preventing Ragnarok of course" I state matter-of-factly.

"You prevent Ragnarok? You have nowhere near the strength to do so" he sneers, "oh, Odin. You know my strength... you and I are both aware of the power I possess. It would be simple for me prevent such an event with the right tools. However, I have the central element to cease it before it starts" I point out.

"You know where Hela is..." he assumes, I merely nod in agreement. "Fine. Make this quick" he agrees. "First... shake on it" I smirk, standing up and reaching my hand out to him. He shakes my hand and I brush it off on my pants before sitting back down. "Now, these questions won't be easy" I warn him, "just ask" he groans.

"Hela and I are connected somehow, yes?" I ask and he nods. "I'll need verbal answers, Odin" I demand, "yes" he answers. "How?" I ask, "you just are" he replies. "I said the truth, Odin. There's no way you're getting out of rightfully answering these questions" I remind him and he grumbles to himself.

"I bound your fates when you were a child" he answers. "So our life forces and linked?" I ask, "correct" he sighs. "So instead of drawing her power from Asgard..." I trail, "she draws her power from you" he finishes. "Elaborate" I order and he sits up straighter, checking the time. "You're not going anywhere until I'm finished" I state.

"She's stronger when she's with you. Not to mention the love between you two, which I don't understand. I never intended for you to fall in love, but now that you have, it makes you both stronger. I figured that once she was separated from you, she would be weaker. Yet, when you left for Midgard, something flared in her" he tells.

"She went off the rails and I had to banish her. I was certain that having her so far away from any connection of you would weaken her. I was right. Though she continued to fight and I don't see an end to that. The only way to stop her would be to pacify her or kill her" he states as if it's not outrageous to kill his own daughter.

"Wait... you combined our life forces" I mutter to myself. "If she dies... I die" I conclude, loud enough for him to hear. He stands up without a word and heads towards the door. In a daze I pin him against the wall, discarding his spear across the room. He stands there with a straight face, staring into my eyes.

"You can not kill her" I tell him, "I thought you might say that. Which is exactly why I already put out the order" he smirks. "I knew Frigga would come to you, but I knew you wouldn't do it either. You'd want to talk to me first. Therefore, I didn't tell her and I waited for you to arrive. Now... there's nothing you can do about it" he smirks.

I act appalled, dropping him to the ground and walking out the room. I smirk to myself as I head toward Hela's room. On the way there, I think about some of the things he said. It explains why she was so weak after coming back, because I had used so much force before. Especially because I'm not trained, it took more of a toll on me.

However, I don't understand why I healed faster than her. I arrive at the door just in time as I see her sitting up. I made a deal, if he answers my questions, I prevent the destruction of Asgard. Though that was before he revealed the full scope of what he did. In reality I agreed to prevent Ragnarok, not the fall of Asgard by other forces.

"Come on, honey. It's time to go" I state, grabbing my backpack. "Where are we going?" she asks hesitantly, "my home" I reply with a soft smile. I pull her up, she's almost back to full health now so it's much easier. I teleport us both to the Bifrost, seeing Heimdall there. I much prefer him over Skurge so I wave happily at him.

He waves back and stands up to move towards the sword. "And where are we heading today?" he asks with a smile, his hand resting upon it. "New Orleans on Midagard" I answer, "New Orleans on Midgard..." he repeats to himself. Hela also mutters it under her breath in a confused tone.

It opens up and I take a deep breath turning to Hela. "You ready?" I ask with a smile, "no" she replies truthfully. "There's the enthusiasm I love" I chuckle, taking her hand and pulling her forward. Just before we're sucked in she turns to me. "I don't have a plan" she admits, "I do" I assure her as she drops in.