Hel (HOAM Spin-Off)

Brothers

This is during AtD.

The years went by with their fair share of calamities. Wars were waged, kingdoms fell. The universe fell apart and all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put it together again. It took a child to save it, a child the royal family of every land mourned in place of the family he had so long lost. Now, years after balance was restored, civil war was brewing in Jotunheim. Luk was alerted to the possibility of an attack and was preparing to leave.

"My King! A-A portal has opened. And three men have come through. T-they look like you, sire."

Luk raised a brow in confusion. "Look like me? Amet, please calm down. What do you mean?"

Three voices spoke from the doorway.

"Luk!"

"Brother!"

"Snowflake!"

Luk nearly jumped into the air in fright. Hel looked at him curiously and turned to face the newcomers. She jolted as she realized Amet was right. They looked like Luk but with brown and blond hair. They grinned and approached, pulling Luk from his throne and into a group hug. They talked all at once, never giving him a moment to think.

"Enough!" He finally shouted. They stepped back. He glared at them. "What do you want?"

"Want?" Said the eldest. "We came to make amends."

"Father's dead, isn't he?"

"No, unfortunately. Neither is Mother. We wanted to find you and right our wrongs."

"You think he knows what you've done. And you want me to protect you from him." Luk's usually pale face reddened and he clenched his hands into fists. "You banish me to this forsaken rock, leave me to die, turn a deaf ear when I tore at my bonds and pleaded that you have mercy. And now here you are expecting me to forgive you? Get out! Get out of my realm! Stay out of this side of the universe!"

The second oldest sighed. "It's not that simple, Snowflake. It was Mother, apparently, who held the key to the inheritance. She gave it to you before we banished you. If you were dead and had not married beforehand, the key would return to her. That's how they knew you were still alive. Or at least, that you'd married. She won't tell us what the key is, she just told us to find you. So hand it over, Snowflake."

Hel resisted the urge to touch the necklace Luk had given her. His mother had given it to him the day he was banished here. That must be it.

"She didn't give me anything."

The eldest was watching Hel curiously. "And even if you had died, it wouldn't matter. You've married."

"Stay away from her, Alek. Megath, you too."

They were both blond. Alek had blue eyes though, warm blue eyes as clear as the sky. And Megath's were black, almost as though he had no iris and only pupil. The last one, which Hel determined to be Zagres, had brown hair. He had black eyes as well, though one was blind from a jagged scar that ran through it.

He smiled at Hel and pointed to his eye. "We're quite the pair, aren't we?"

She went to stand beside Luk and a little behind him. He took her hand.

"There's no key." Luk muttered.

The men sighed and Alek walked up the dais to sit in the throne. "Shut it down, boys."

Megath and Zagres disappeared, leaving only the feel of a biting winter wind behind them. Luk spun on his heel and glared at Alek. "What are you doing?!"

"Taking over, of course. No one can get in and no one can get out. Either you bring us the key or we'll search every inch of your puny kingdom. And when we find it, we'll take it back to Mother. I'll become King of this realm. And I'll take your pretty wife as mine. Poor thing, no kids? I should have known Luk would be no good with women. Don't worry, I won't let you down." He winked at her and laughed as she spat in his direction. "Oh she's got some fire! Good! I was afraid you'd marry a girl as cold as a corpse. She looks the part at least."

Hel's cheek flushed and she clenched her hands into fists. Taking a deep breath, she let it out and forced herself to stay calm. Alek grinned at her, knowing he had hit a sore spot. He'd have his fun with her later. What mattered now was the key.

Luk watched as his brothers took over everything, took it all away yet again. He was helpless, as always. And now he would lose everyone... Even Hel.

..............................

"My Lord, can we not simply throw them out? The soldiers are ready and waiting for their orders."

Luk sat on the steps of his throne, his head in his hands. He looked up tiredly and found that it was Amet who had spoken.

Call the soldiers in... It was an option. But his brothers would fight and they would fight well. He didn't want anyone to get hurt if it could be avoided. If he could, he would keep the key from them for as long as possible. Only if it became necessary would he give it up - and his realm with it. But he would have to find a way to get Hel off the realm and out of Alek's reach first.

His brothers had been searching the realm for three days. They didn't know what the key looked like so they were searching blindly. Hel had had the foresight to disguise it as a gold locket. They were avoiding searching her for now. She unnerved them far too much. Alek wanted to break Luk in every other way before he touched Hel. It had bought Luk some time to devise a plan. Though right now, he didn't see a way out of it.

He realized Amet was still waiting for an answer. "No, let them be for now."

Hel was standing in the doorway and watching him. "You're scared." He turned to her, unable to bring himself to answer in the affirmative. She frowned and came to stand in front of him. "You're afraid of what they'll do if you fight back. Why? Luk, you're a king! You can easily defeat them!"

"I can't." He shook his head and looked away. It wasn't their presence that bothered him so. It wasn't the fact that they were going through his life and picking through it bit by bit. What had him so dejected was the knowledge that he would lose Hel no matter what he did. He was afraid of his brothers. He had grown into a man but his childish fear of them had not disappeared with age.

They had always been stronger and more confident. They had always known better and had always hated him. Despite his knowledge and skill, he had been no match for them as a child. Now, he couldn't bring himself to face his fears again. Nightmare after nightmare had plagued him for years until eventually he realized they would never come to finish him off.

He had been wrong. His nightmares were coming true and they were all the more worse with the knowledge that he had more to lose than just his life. He couldn't bring himself to face them.

He could fight and lose. And they would take everything, including Hel. He could leave them be and they would take it all bit by bit. Or he could wait them out. They might leave. But he would still lose Hel. Why would she stay after she realized how much of a coward he was? How could she expect him to protect her, to care for her if he couldn't even fight his own brothers? She would hate him. And he would lose her no matter what. And then what would he have? What would be the point in continuing if he lost her?

"Luk? Why can't we fight?"

He shook his head and stood, turning his back to her. "It wouldn't change anything. There's no point."

She tried to get him to look at her but he pulled his arm away. She sighed and left quietly.