The Hybrid

My Name?

"Excuse me?" the man looked me over, "Why would you want to know my name?" Oh, you know damn fucking well why I want to know your name. I still need to keep my emotions under control.
"It's a simple question. I can't make a new friend unless I know your name?" Why does this man seem so familiar?
"Something about this doesn't seem very friendly," he stood his ground. Stubborn bastard "You do have a knife in your belt,"
"Look," I took my dagger out of my belt and put it on the ground where he could see it, "See? Pure intentions. Now, what's your name?" The man stared down at my knife, not entirely sure what to make of me.
"I know that knife..." The man tilted his head as he lowered his battleaxe. He was partially covered by the shadow of the building. Something was off about him. The dead smell around him was strange. I knew the smell. Being from Jotunheim I knew the smell of death after a harsh winter. This man was death itself.
"It was my mother's" I frowned. I tried to look like I was relaxed but inside, I was a heap. This man smelt like the man Hela described but I felt like I had a connection to this man.
"You look like... no. Can't be..." the man muttered. I rolled my eyes.
"What's your name?" I asked again, I was getting a little impatience. The man tilted his head at me.
"Volstagg," he stated. My jaw dropped open.
"Say what?" I stuttered. unsure what I was supposed to do. This man was supposed to be dead and yet, he was here. Right in front of me.
"My name is Volstagg Calland," He stood tall as he walked out of the shadow and that's when it hit me. In front of me was a man that wasn't just walking death, He was dead. His skin had rotted and had fallen off in some areas. There was some bone jutting out of his manky skin. How is he alive?
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Volstagg. What brings you to Asgard?"
"I'm sorry," Volstagg looked me over, "But do I know you? You seem familiar."
"Maybe you do, Maybe you don't. I don't know," I flashed my eyes. That took him by surprise. He stepped back a few paces.
"You're a Frost Giant?" Volstagg gripped his battle axe.
"Not entirely," I explained as I put my toe under my dagger, ready to flick it up at a moment's notice "Half of me is."
"That makes you a Hybrid, doesn't it?" Volstagg started piecing things together.
"Finally, someone who didn't call me a halfling," I appreciated that. There was nothing that made my blood fucking boil more than being called a halfling, "But you are indeed correct, I am a Hybrid."
"You know," Volstagg admitted as he leaned against the wall "I always pitied your kind." I may have snarled at that.
"My kind?" I clenched my fists.
"Your Frost Giant side," Volstagg coughed, a chunk of black goo coming out of him. I was horrified on the inside "Do you follow the path of your Frost Giant half or do you follow the path of your Asgardian half? No matter which side you pick, you will always be seen as a monster on both sides," This isn't Volstagg speaking. This is Hela. It then hit me. Hela is The Goddess of Death. She resurrected my father "Tell me, little Hybrid. Which side have you chosen?"
"Would you like to find out?" I was ready to beat the shit out of this guy. The man was already dead.
"Do you have a problem with me?" He might be dead but I couldn't help but feel anger towards him.
"Only for the last twenty years" I threw myself at him, hoping to land a good punch. However, he managed to catch my fist and use my weight against me, landing me flat on my back on the street.
"Who are you?" Volstagg asked, holding his stance, "I had the decency to share with you my name, yet you can't extend to me the same courtesy" Oh, I'm about to tell you. I spat the blood out of my mouth and pulled myself together.
"My name is Aurora Layladottior." I kicked Volstagg in his shins.
"Layla? As in Layla Bloomdottior? My best friend Layla?" Volstagg's mouth hung open. I nodded "And you're a Hybrid?" Volstagg gasped, "Who is your father?"
"What is it to you?" I scrambled to my feet "Why do you care who my father is?" Volstagg punched me in the jaw. I shook off the pain.
"Because whoever he is, he should've taken you out when he had the chance," Volstagg grabbed me by my hair. I snarled.
"Are you going to kill me like you killed my piece of shit father?" I snapped. Volstagg frowned. He gripped my neck.
"Is that why you are here in Asgard? Because I killed your father, you plan on killing me in his name for some sort of vengeance?" Volstagg dragged me up to his eye level. I smirked as I could feel my strength starting to come back "Who was your father? Perhaps I will remember his name," Somehow, I managed to get the upper hand on Volstagg and used it to pin him to the ground.
"My father's name was Volstagg Calland. Nearly twenty years ago, he and his forces attacked a village in Jotunheim and burned it to the ground. But that is not what pisses me off. He took an innocent woman and violated her for his own gain. And that's how I was born," I growled. There it was. I got that feeling again. That primal anger that Thor brought out in me in the clearing. Volstagg's grip on my neck loosened on my neck.
"Say that name again," He whispered.
"Volstagg Calland!" I ran towards him. I tackled Volstagg to the ground. Volstagg laid flat on his back, struggling for air. Good. I had him where I wanted him. I put my boot on his chest, making sure his ass stayed down. I could feel the fire burning in my eyes. I stamped several times on his chest, rubbing my heel into his sternum "You are my father!"
"You can't be..." Volstagg choke. he grabbed my ankle to stop me "You're my daughter?"
"Yes. And I have questions... Firstly... Did you rape my mother?" I screamed. I brought my heel down again. So hard that I think I broke a bone. Volstagg screamed again. You would think that for a dead man, he would feel no pain "Secondly... did you even care about her?"
"I never wanted to hurt her," Volstagg panted "That summer that we spent together... I will never forget it," For a second, I thought I saw the Volstagg from the paintings. the one that everyone told me about. I saw the man that was my father. And then in a split second, I was on the floor.
"Offt!" I yelled as I slammed into the ground. My father towering over me, his feet raised above my head. Behind him, I saw some guards, all armed.
"You... think you can... beat me...? I have an... army. Who do you have?" Volstagg coughed and yelled with every stamp. Thankfully, I got cat-like reflexes and dodged every foot.
"She has me!" Loki appeared behind Volstagg, landing a sweet right hook in his mouldy jaw. I thought he was in the building. I look around and see that Loki is not alone. He's brought along all the prisoners and men of Asgard from the dungeons. Armed with weapons "And you will not lay one hand on her,"
"Loki, get back inside," I ordered. Gods, I love this man but he will be the death of me "This wasn't in the plan."
"Neither was leaving you out here to die," Loki stood his ground. As he helped me to my feet, He placed a hand on my shoulder "Are you alright?"
"I think so. I've been hit harder by a Booskan," I did a quick assessment of the bumps and bruises. I was alright. No lasting damage.
"Loki..." Volstagg got back on his feet. Loki pushed me behind him.
"Hello, Volstagg," Loki nodded. Something was different. This was a different Loki than the one I met in Hela's dungeons. This one had a fire in his belly that wasn't there before, "Long time, no see."
"You're a fucking traitor, Loki," Volstagg snarled.
"I made a mistake," Loki defended, Pulling his own dagger sliding out from his sleeve, "One that I will never make again."
"No," Volstagg shook his head, "Hela made a mistake keeping you alive. You and that thing behind you," Loki was ready to tear Volstagg to shreds. However, I held him back. He looked at me strangely.
"Aurora, what are you doing?" Loki whispered in my ear.
"This isn't Volstagg," I settled him, keeping my own tone calm, "That's Hela speaking. She resurrected him. Look at him. I wanted to fight him because I have a twenty-year grudge. I let my anger get the better of me but you knew the man. Does that look like the Volstagg you knew?" Loki looked over at his former friend.
"I suppose you have a point" Loki pouted "Hela brought back a shell of the man I once knew."
"Then let me be the one that ends him," I pleaded with Loki. He looked at me with confusion but then smiled.
"All yours, Darling," Loki stepped back, letting me step forward. I spun my dagger in my hand.
"Really?" Volstagg scoffed, "Loki, I am surprised at you. Are you really going to let a bastard brat like her fight your battles for you? How far you have fallen?" A bright ball of ice formed in my hand and threw the ball at Volstagg.
"No one talks to him like that," I got a few good ice burns on Volstagg, knocking him to the ground.
"I'd take her seriously if I were you," Loki crossed his arms, smiling at me proudly "Those you didn't have come to regret it,"
"What?" Volstagg struggled to get to his feet.
"Your daughter is a different kind of force. She terrifies even me," Loki smiled at me "I guess that's why I love her,"
"I love you too" I smiled back. Volstagg screamed as he charged me, Arms reaching out in front of him. And in a fit of pure Frost Giant rage, I grabbed his arms, shoved my shoulder into his chest and pulled his arms over my shoulder, breaking both arms. Volstagg screamed as the bone broke the skin. I found it strange that there was no blood, but then it hit me that this man was already dead. Hela had only granted him temporary life. I flung Volstagg over my shoulders and he landed with such force that I think I heard his ribs break. Once again, I put my boot on his chest. I stamped several times on his chest, rubbing my heel into his sternum.
"Volstagg... Father... I grant you this mercy in the name of my mother and the entire Calland family. You have exhausted my patience. But I do hope you understand... that even now... what's about to happen... This is me, being... reasonable,"
"Aurora..." Volstagg whispered. There was something different about his eyes. They looked... alive "I didn't hate your Mother. Nor you. That knife you have... I gave your mother... that knife as a final parting gift for the pair of you. I kept away to keep you safe. Odin would have destroyed you," There was something about this dead man now, he was almost human. I do not and will not ever understand necromancy "Aurora... please... listen to me... We don't... I don't have much... time... to talk"
"What do you mean?" I made an ice dagger appear in the air, pressing it against his neck "Start talking... Why did you leave us?"
"Odin told me... to stay away from you. He couldn't bear the thought... of an Asgardian mating with a Frost Giant so... so he formed the lie that Frost Giants burn our skin... It only gives us goosebumps because of how cold it is," Volstagg gurgled.
"Why are you telling me this now? Do you want me to spare your life?" I had to kill him. He was the Walking Dead. It wasn't right that Hela did this to him. He had to die by my hand. I didn't want to kill him but it was a mercy kill. I have to treat him as if he was my enemy and not my father.
"I want to go... into the next life without regrets," Volstagg smiled as more skin fell off. I didn't realise until now that Volstagg stinks of mould and rust "I just wish that I had gone against Odin's wishes and got to see you grow up,"
"A father wouldn't abandon his child because some fat ass oaf told him to," I start crying. Loki chuckled at me calling Odin a fat ass oaf "Odin didn't know how to raise his kids because if he did... none of us would be in this predicament when everyone wants to kill each other. His kids were raised to be pawns in someone else's game and no one benefited from it," I can't let my emotions get the better of me. I need to control it. Volstagg coughed and spasmed.
"Aurora... you need... ARGH!" Volstagg screamed as he bashed his head against the floor. I yelped as he threw me off him. Loki quickly knelt behind him and grabbed his head.
"Loki... what is going on with him?" I asked as Loki closed his eyes.
"Our Volstagg is struggling to hold back Hela's power. He grows weaker with time so he will be nothing but an empty shell. A mindless zombie," Loki whispered. Volstagg reached out and grabbed my hand with the ice dagger in it.
"Kill me, Aurora. Only you can..." Without hesitation, my dagger was stabbed into where his heart should be. There was no coming back from that. Volstagg gasped and smiled at me "I... am proud... of you..." And just like that... It was over. He was dead. My father was dead. again.

I sat on the floor by my father's officially rotting corpse and I cried. I have wanted to kill this man for so long and now he is dead for the second time. I don't know what to do.
"Aurora?" Loki approached me slowly, "Are you alright?"
"I think I am," I stand up and go pick my mother's knife up "He's dead,"
"I know. How do you feel about that?"
"That may have been my father but it wasn't. He was Hela's puppet. One that I severed the strings to. My old quest is over."
"Now what?" Loki asked as he ordered the guards that remained to take Volstagg's body away and clean him up. We shall give him a burial at a later date.
"Now it is time for a new quest, one that I fear may be dangerous," I sheathed my dagger. I had a smirk on my face. I turned on my heel and walked away.
"Marrying me?"
"Maybe buy me dinner first," I smiled. Loki smiled and nodded "I think we should go cut the head off the puppet master,"