Hela sat there for what felt like hours, though it was more or less around thirty minutes. She paced the room, spun around on the floor, and then got dressed in one of the Asgardian dresses in her closet. It was a light cream color with small diamonds around the collar. Beautiful.
Once Hela had dressed, she went over to the balcony and smiled at the beauty that was Asgard. The place was buzzing with people down below and there was laughter filling the streets. Hela smiled at the city as she leaned over the edge.
Everyone was happy here.
The door opened, but Hela hardly noticed until a voice said, "Enjoying the view?"
Hela gasped and smiled brightly, turning quickly to see a smiling Sif staring back at her. She ran to the woman and threw her arms around her happily. "Sif!" she whispered. Sif smiled down at the girl.
The female warrior was dressed in dark red with silver armor over it. Her hair was pulled in a tight braid and she had a sword attached to her side. Hela guessed she had been training.
Sif chuckled softly and took the little girl's shoulders. "It's so nice to see you again, Hela," she whispered, "Have you been well?"
Hela's smile faltered as she remembered all that had happened. She quickly replaced the smile with an even brighter one and nodded. "Yeah, I've been fine."
Sif nodded and flicked a strand of Hela's raven hair from her face. "Well," she said, "It's good to have you back. How about I do something about this hair, and then I want you to meet some people. I think you'll like them."
Hela smiled and nodded, allowing the woman to lead her over to the dresser. She sat down and looked in the mirror, looking over her own ivory face. She sighed through her nose, refusing to let her smile drop again. Sif took a hairbrush and ran it through the black hair. Once she was finished, she pulled it up in a braid and smiled.
"All right, come on."
Sif took Hela's hand and the two walked out of the room. Hela tried her best to keep up with the woman's strides, but her shorter legs made it difficult. She was wondering who it could possibly be that Sif wanted her to meet.
"Sif?" she asked finally, looking up at the woman. Sif let out a hum, letting her know she was listening and glanced down at her with a smile. "Who are you taking me to meet? Why is it so important?" Sif smiled even wider.
"Did you know that you're not an only child, Hela?" she asked. Hela's eyes widened some. The warrior grinned, seeing she had caught the young girl's attention, and went on. "Your father had four more children. You have four brothers, Hel."
Hela thought about this. She had never thought about having siblings. The thought had never even occurred to her. Four brothers? The girl turned quickly to Sif. "Brothers? How old are they? What do they look like? Are they here?"
Sif went into fits of soft laughter and looked at her. "Yes, they're here, Hela. Well, the oldest is Sleipnir. He's quite nice, though when you meet him you will be surprised. The second oldest are the twins, Vali and Nari. They're only a year older than yourself. You're next, Hela, and then Fenrir is the youngest."
Sif thought for a moment. "You'll be surprised when you meet Fenrir as well, but don't let him fool you. He's quite charming."
Sif led her down another hall and into the gardens. Hela smiled as they came to the gardens. It was just as she remembered it, the beautiful flowers and all. There were four figures sitting under a tree not far from them. Two of them were boys, and the other two were animals.
Hela's eyes widened and she looked up at Sif with confusion. The warrior laughed softly. "I warned you. Don't be frightened, it's not that uncommon on Asgard. Let's go say hi, all right?"
She nodded and allowed the young warrior to lead her over to the four. The two boys were clearly twins. They both had tanned skin and beautiful white-blonde hair. Their eyes were dark with green specks in them and they were chasing each other, laughing and swinging wooden swords.
One of the others was a horse. He had a sleek, black coat and dark brown eyes. He wasn't completely fully grown, but he seemed near full height. The strangest thing about this horse, though, was that he had eight legs.
The last was a small wolf pup. Like the horse, his fur was black, but his eyes were green. He was small and lively. He chased the two boys around but tripped over his own small paws, and then ended up growling softly at the horse and nipping at his hooves.
Hela stood still, her eyes widened in curiosity and shock. Sif chuckled and cleared her throat. "Boys?" she called. The two twins stopped and turned to her, their eyes finding Hela in curiosity and then in realization. They grinned. The wolf pup stopped and turned to them, and soon his tail began to wag. The horse looked up and let out a soft neigh.
"Hela," Sif said quietly, "This is Vali." She gestured to the twin on the right. Vali smiled brightly and waved. "There's Nari." She gestured to the other twin who grinned and did the same. "Over there is Sleipnir," she said and gestured to the horse. The animal blinked at Hela and let out another soft noise. "And that's Fenrir." She pointed to the wolf pup. The little wolf let out a yelp and ran over to Hela.
Hela giggled quietly and sat on her knees as the pup ran to her. He put his small paws on her knees and looked up at her eagerly. Hela smiled and reached down, patting the small animal's head. Sif grinned. "I'm going to go find your uncle. Stay here and wait for us to return."
The children nodded and were soon left alone. Nari walked over to Hela and sat down, studying her face. He was a tall boy, as was his brother, and lanky. He wore white and brown clothes. "So, you're our sister?" he asked.
She nodded her head. "I'm Hela."
Vali walked over and sat on the other side of her. His eyes were curious and he tilted his head to the side. "How old are you?"
"I'm seven," she replied, "But I'll be eight in a few months."
Fenrir let out a soft, playful growl and nipped at her fingers. Hela looked down and grinned some as she watched the pup wrestle and tug at the end of her dress. She heard Sleipir stand and walk over to them.
Hela reached out a hand to the horse and stroked his head gently. The eight-legged animal bent his head to her, then nuzzled her neck. Hela giggled.
"Well, come on, let's go get something to eat. I'm starving." Nari giggled and stood up, his brother following. Hela watched them curiously.
"Aren't we supposed to stay here?"
Vali grinned at her. "That's more of a suggestion. Come on, I'm hungry, too. And if Fenrir doesn't get food soon, he'll eat your fingers." Hela looked down at the pup and giggled before standing.
"Okay, let's go."
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
Hela wasn't sure how they had snuck Sleipnir into her room, but they had done it. The horse was munching on a bucket of apples while Fenrir struggled with a piece of meat larger than him. Nari was hopping up and down on the bed while eating a piece of bread and Vali was too busy on the balcony to eat.
The girl laughed and ran to the bed to jump with her brother. Her room was becoming a mess, between the two of them jumping on everything, Fenrir attempting to rip everything to shreds, and Sleipnir accidentally bumping into things.
It was complete havoc.
Vali walked in and giggled at the two on the bed. "How do you eat like that?" he asked, grinning some. He had managed to not completely destroy anything yet, choosing to eat his lunch on the balcony. He went over and casually sat across a chair, letting his eyes wander around the room.
Hela had taken note of each of her brothers. Nari was childish and energetic with a habit of taking things apart to see how they work, never to fix them back. Fenrir was an excitable little animal with a large appetite and, like his brother, was destructive. Vali wasn't as energetic or disruptive, but his eyes were full of a mischief Hela knew well. Sleipnir was much calmer than the others, a collected look in those large eyes.
"It isn't that hard," she replied and giggled.
Nari pulled his feet up in mid-jump and landed in a sitting position. "Y'know, we have another brother?" he said, grinning some.
Hela sat down as well and looked at him curiously. "Really? Who? Where is he?"
"Jormungandr," Vali replied. "A serpent. Last I heard, he's on Midgard as well. Of course, we didn't even know about you until recently, so that might have been a lie." His words were slightly bitter and he stared at the ground.
Hela nodded her head slightly and let herself lean back on the bed. She stared at the ceiling. "You didn't know about me, either?" she asked softly.
Nari shook his head. Hela felt something on the bed and then felt something furry crawl onto her stomach. She looked up and smiled at Fenrir lying on her. Giggling, she stroked the little wolf's fur and sighed.
"Hela?" Vali asked, his voice quiet. The girl's eyes opened and she looked to him. His eyebrows were furrowed and he seemed to be thinking hard on something. He took a deep breath. "You met our father, didn't you?" he asked.
Hela stiffened. Everyone in the room was silent. Nari was the next to speak. "Yes, that's right," he said, crawling onto his knees and looking at her with wide eyes. "You've even lived with him, didn't you? What's he like, Hela? What does he look like?"
The realization that her brothers had never met their father, either, slowly came to Hela. She looked amongst her brothers slowly, each of them staring at her expectantly. Each of them longing to hear about their father.
She thought hard about him. Very slowly, Hela began to explain everything to them. She first told them the story of the first time she had met Loki, and then told them of when he took her from S.H.I.E.L.D. She explained his actions, his features, his voice, and his personality. She told them all she could think of.
Each boy stared at her as she spoke. They listened silently, soaking in the knowledge of the father they had never been permitted to know. They were all too young to remember their parents, even Sleipnir couldn't remember.
"Do you know where he is?" Vali asked as soon as she was done. He seemed anxious and he sat at the edge of his seat. Hela frowned and shook her head.
"No idea. Uncle wouldn't tell me where he is."
The anxiousness left him and he slumped against the chair. "I was afraid you'd say that."
Silence filled the room as each child thought about their father. Hela was the only one who could remember him. She was the only one who could have known him. Vali cleared his throat at last.
"You know, Sleipnir isn't the oldest. Jormungandr is. He would probably remember our father. But from what I heard, he was sent to Midgard for a reason much different than yours, Hel. He did something. Something he shouldn't, I don't know the details but-"
"What happened to this place?"
All eyes shot to Thor. He stood in the doorframe, along with Sif. The children's eyes widened and they looked around the room slowly. It was a mess.
And Thor did not look happy.