The Old Jackson Twins Book 2

Chapter Eight

"Okay, listen. I know that technically I'm the most dangerous person in the world, but I'm harmless!"

Reyna was tempted to slam her head against the table. Of course I chose the one without any common sense. Steve shot her a look like "Is she serious?" and she shrugged.

Aria gave her the pleading puppy-eyes that she'd spent years trying to build an immunity to, but to no avail. Fine, fine. "Yes, she's powerful," Reyna said, drawing the queen's attention to herself. "But it's more about what she does with that power. She wouldn't hurt anyone unless she didn't have a choice."

"I love the certainty in your voice," said the queen, "but I fear that the... feelings you harbor for each other might cloud your vision."

"Yes, I love her," Reyna answered, "but that doesn't change the fact that she wouldn't hurt anyone." She managed to keep herself from blushing.

The queen hummed. "As much as I'd love to debate about this all day, I've got another question for you."

"Sure," Aria said, looking relieved that the conversation had moved away from her. Reyna found her hand under the table and squeezed it.

"You say this... Gaea, she opened the Doors of Death?"

"Yes, and let many mortals return from the dead."

"How about semimortals?"

"I-I don't know," Aria admitted.

The queen glanced at one of her guards. "Fetch me the readings from where Asgard once was."

He bowed his head. "Right away."

"What's going on?" Reyna asked.

The queen sighed. "Do you know why Asgardians now reside on Earth?"

"Asgard was destroyed, right?" Aria answered slowly. Her metal hand made a series of clicking noises as she brushed her hair away from her face.

"By whom?"

"I don't know," Reyna admitted. "We've spent the last six months in the dark about, like everything."

"Loki released the fire spirit Surtur, and brought on Ragnarok," the queen answered. "Thor ordered him to do so as their sister, Hela, was attempting to conquer Asgard. Hela was killed by Surtur as the rest of Asgard fled to Earth, but the readings from that section of space have been abnormal for over a year now."

"So you think Gaea resurrected Hela?" Reyna clarified.

"Yes."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Why do we have to deal with this?" Aria groaned. "We're Greek and Roman, not Norse."

Reyna kissed the top of her head, then continued cutting the leaves off of a bowl of strawberries with her battle knife. "Because we're vigilantes, you're on SHIELD's watch list, and we happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"I don't want to fight an alien who calls herself the goddess of death," she whined.

"We might not have to," Reyna said. She slapped Aria's hand away from the bowl. "They might have just wanted answers about why Hela is back."

"Okay, but what are the odds?" When Reyna glanced at her, Aria stole a strawberry and popped it in her mouth before she could grab it back.

Reyna didn't answer.

That night, Reyna burrowed into their pile of blankets and started on a book while Aria sat at her drawing table and doodled for a bit.

"Aria?"

"Mm?"

"What are you thinking about?"

She leaned back in her chair. "Estelle."

"What about her?"

"I want her to be safe, Rey. I'd give the world for her safety. And if this crazy goddess-alien-lady is really back, she's not safe. Nobody is."