"Tea? Coffee?"
"What?"
"Your morning drink"
"Something strong"
"Oh, okay"
Debbie got her strong coffee. Hela took a sip and spat out. Unfortunately, for Debbie, the spit liquid landed on her face.
"What the hell was that for?", Debbie was furious.
"I don't like it. Get me something else"
Control Debbie. She's not a human
Debbie went and washed her face. She didn't really want to have a fight with this sword lady.
"Okay. Here's the tea. I did it for myself but... whatever"
Tea also faced the same fate as coffee.
This time, it didn't just land on Debbie's face but also her favourite white t-shirt she was wearing.
"Nothing's good here. How do you people live?"
"What's your problem? Don't you have basic sense? Are you not aware of table manners? Oh, wait you live in hell", Debbie started yelling (not so loudly) and cleaned her face, removed her t-shirt. Now standing only in her sports bra and track pant, she looked angrily at Hela. Hela didn't give a damn.
"I rule it. And I have my palace, I lived luxurious life"
"Right now, you're here spitting out the beverages as if you're some kind of jerk"
"Give me something better"
"Idiot?"
"How dare you..."
"Wait wait... You said you wanted better. I felt idiot is better than jerk"
"I meant give me something better to drink"
"Oh... ", Debbie gave her a sheepish smile. Inside she was actually laughing. She wasn't dumb to not understand what Hela was asking. She just wanted to get back to her.
Debbie quickly went to her room and wore a t-shirt. Then returned back. Hela was still in kitchen, looking at the refrigerator. It was a fascinating machine for her. Door opens to cold and closes and again it is hot everywhere.
"It's a fridge. It keeps food fresh"
"It is magic"
"Well, human magic"
"Definitely has some physics behind it. I know humans cannot do magic"
"Yup. Physics. And if you want to know the physics thingy behind the refrigerator, ask Lou. She is a nerd. She knows these stuffs"
"Nerd?"
"Yeah. She is brainy"
"My daughter", Hela said proudly and Debbie rolled her eyes, smiling.
Debbie then started giving her options of different beverages as if she was a waiter reading out the menu for some foreigners. Hela ignored all those options and started surveying herself. She opened Lou's special cabinet, found the expensive whiskey she kept for special occasions. She opened it and tasted.
"Not bad"
"It's Starward. You took Lou's favourite bottle"
"My girl goes by my taste"
Hela drank entire bottle in one shot. Debbie tried to take the bottle away but Hela stopped her with just a finger on Debbie's forehead.
Alcohol didn't effect her at all. Hela began drinking Vodka, two three four bottles down. Debbie was staring at her, mouth open, shocked.
"Now I know why Lou won't get affected by alcohol"
"Like mother, like daughter"
"Are you done?"
"Not really but go on"
Hela started opening fifth bottle. Debbie was sure Lou would be so mad at her. All special stash which was only meant for them and no one else, are now being emptied by this non human.
"Uhm, what skills do you have?"
"You, a Midgard creature asking about my skill?"
"Mid guard? I don't have any guard around my mid region"
"Midgard... Means Earth. Your planet"
"Can't you speak English?"
"I'm speaking your language. It's sad you're not smart enough"
"Well, I don't always encounter some alien freak. I'm only smart enough to understand humans. Not some fucking...uhm... What are you, again?
"Goddess of death"
" Yeah.. That... So, before we plan I wanna know why exactly you left Lou. Without that, I cannot design a perfect plan"
"I don't have to tell you that"
"Stop being a fucking asshole and just tell me"
"Did you just call me by inferior body part?"
"What? Oh... Well"
"Take it back", Hela held Debbie's wrist so tightly that Debbie felt her hands going numb, blood stopped flowing.
"I take it back. I take it back. God... You're strong... I mean like.... I don't know... you are very strong."
"I know"
"Back to the question. Tell me why you left her and please, I'm here to help you. The only person with whom Lou opens up is me. So, I can help you. I've seen her suffering. If you left her because you thought her as a burden, then..."
"SHE WAS NEVER A BURDEN. I LOVE HER. I WANTED HER TO BE SAFE"
"Shh... I'm sorry", Debbie said in a low but concerned voice. "And please, lower your voice. I'm happy that she wasn't your burden and that you loved her and love her now too. But she thinks otherwise. You wanted her to be safe. From? Aren't you a goddess? You couldn't keep her safe?"
"It's a long story. I'm not interested in sharing that. Just you know... I love my daughter"
"Is Lou safe now?"
"It's complicated. When one threat is gone, you'll have a new one"
"Uhm okay. I'll not speak about it until you are ready. But just tell me honestly... Lou's safe or not?"
"She's safe..."
Debbie had a satisfying sigh.
"You love my daughter a lot"
"Well she's my everything. Even after all wrong things I did to her, she accepted me back. And now I am sure I can't live..."
*Choking session*
"What did you do to my daughter? If you have hurt her then no power in this world will save you from me", Hela's real form was back with her horned helmet and green suit.
Debbie couldn't breath but didn't speak anything this time. Didn't even protest. The tightening of Hela's palm however increased.
"SPEAK"
Debbie just pointed her index finger at Hela's hand that was wrapped around her neck tightly. Hela loosened her grip.
"You know what... I'm done with you. Don't you have slightest manners how to behave with other person?"
"I am the Queen. You speak manners to me?"
"Well, choking others every 5 seconds isn't queen-like"
"You irritate me. Now tell me, what did you do to Lou?", Still angry, Hela released Debbie.
"I left her partnership for something more... And... Well I learnt my lesson pretty badly..."
Hela raised her eyebrows.
"I wasn't satisfied with our income, so left Lou and went to some guy, fell in love with him. But he trapped me... I went to jail"
"Served you right"
"That was rude"
"But not inappropriate"
"Well yeah I guess. Lou didn't hold any grudge, she took me back. Infact we grew closer than before. She has become my everything. Even death cannot part us"
"I don't wish to part you two"
"Ugh? You? Oh, good pun... I mean... Whatever it is. And please, wear human attires. That horrible reindeer horns freak me out"
Hela changed to the previous clothes and smiled. A real sweet smile.
Just like Lou, Debbie thought.
"Back to skills. Tell me some of your skills"
"Are you..."
"Don't be angry... I'm just asking, not underestimating. Just to know your skills. I mean what can you do? I'm not judging you or anything. See my friends and me, we all... Uhm... let me say the truth. We all are cons. I mean, we have our cover up jobs, but our luxury is because of con jobs. We are skilled in different ways"
"You're a con", Hela raised her eyebrow, smirking.
"Your daughter is also a con"
Hela growled but smiled. "Fine by me. I ain't any saint"
I've killed so many and took away their wealth under my father's command
"That I believe", Debbie smiled teasingly and Hela rolled her eyes with the equal smile.
"I am surprised though"
"About?"
"How come an idiot like you can be a con?", Hela smirked.
"Fuck you. I am too smart. You have no idea"
Hela rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You are so smart, you thought about pregnant brain"
"C'mon, that's not my fault. How will I know about God's physiology?"
Hela laughed. "And you say you are smart"
"Arrgh, you irritate just like Lou"
"It's not irritating. It is teaching and educating you"
"Fuck you. Forget it. Speak about your skills?"
"Like what?"
"Uhm well you see, in our team, Amita is a jeweller. She replicates the real ones with fake. Constance is a master pickpocketer. Nineball is a hacker. Uh... Hacking means you know... Technology stuff... You won't get it... Forget it. Tammy is the best fence. Daphne and Rose... They mainly are our glam faces."
"And why're you saying about these people?"
Hela's lack of interest visible.
"Because they are Lou's friends. And Lou considers them as her family. And I want you to not scare them"
"Fine. What Lou and you do?"
"I plan. I plan heists, robberies and refine it till it is foolproof. Safe. And Lou executes it"
"Executioner", Hela said in a bitter voice.
"Geez no... Lou's our Executor. And she's good at it. She executes my plans. She is the one who risks. I now see where that attitude comes from. She likes to ride high on her adrenaline rush"
"My daughter"
Debbie nodded her head with a smile.
"If you have any skills, then I can introduce you to my team as a new member. Then we can proceed with our plans. Else, it is difficult for you to enter this loft without being scrutinised. Also, Lou might not let you be around"
Before Debbie finished her sentence, hundreds of blades flew towards her, and was retrieved merely before it hit her. Debbie froze with fear.
"Is that enough for skills?"
Debbie took few seconds to return back to normal.
"Jesus... I could've died! What the hell were you thinking? No knife games."
"I can fight off an army"
"I don't plan to be in bad books of US army. Also, Lou's always protect us. Tell something which makes others think you are necessary to our team. And no, your superpowers won't count. Tell something that is subtle and acceptable in this world"
"I can protect you all, alongside Lou. I'm a trained combat. I don't think Lou is using her full potential. So, you need me"
"Can you do gymnastics? I mean can you climb tall buildings or hang from slender structures... Hmm do summersaults, acrobatics..."
"I know what gymnastics is and yes I can do all those"
"Wow, good then. We usually take help of a guy when little gymnastics are needed. Lou used to do too, once upon a time but then she stopped. She even stopped practicing. But I think, we can replace him with you"
"Replace?"
"I mean, we can have you. Why to depend on some guy when we have a strong woman here"
Debbie was trying her best to butter Hela's pride so that Hela stays here without harming anyone.
"Okay"
"Now, need to plan a back story. Uhm, your accent is similar to Lou but not entirely. Australian or is it British? whatever it is, you do... It sounds royal and sexy too. You're in New York now. Let's say you are from England who then moved to Australia and then here, and living in States for like 10 years and so, you have this accent. You were a gymnast but couldn't follow your dreams because of internal politics. You saved me some days back when I was about to meet with an accident and so I got you here"
"Boring", Hela said, yawning.
"Are you always like this? Listen... Don't you want your daughter to accept you?"
"I don't think my daughter is as dumb as you to believe this story"
"I'm not gonna help you. Bye. You can leave"
"As if I was dying to have your help"
"Fuck off"
"Again, what?"
Debbie showed her middle finger. Hela, not knowing what exactly it meant, thought it as some kind of gesture when someone is going away... Similar to waving or shaking hands while departure. She too mimicked the same gesture, somewhat confused. Debbie couldn't resist laughing. Also, Debbie too felt the story wasn't that appealing. But won't be accepting it in front of Hela.
"Believe it or not, Lou is never gonna accept you if you act this way with me"
"So you done with your "fake anger" phase?", Hela smirked.
"Stop being Lou. I already am having enough of Lou's antics"
"She is me. So, she is being me. Also, I'm happy that my daughter doesn't encourage your antics"
"If only you were human..." Debbie muttered
"You're a planner as you said. And Lou is the executor. I'm sure she goes her own way while executing. I've given her enough intelligence to not follow a weak plan"
"Weak plan? I plan brilliantly. And she loves my plan. But you see... I don't plan on reuniting broken familes often"
"Whatever"
"You know what... Let's just get back to the plan. Let's say you saved my life a month back and I've been observing you since then thinking you might be of some use because of your similarity with Lou; or may be a danger because of same reason. And you were kicked out of your apartment by your landlord and abused by few people. I saw this and decided to take you in"
"Kicked out?", Hela wasn't impressed.
"Don't you want my team to have sympathy on you? You want me to tell them that you killed the landlord? They will hate you. So how's the plan"
"Not bad. I will improvise it anyways"
"Just not bad? I expected more"
"Will my daughter buy this story?"
"That's the major problem. She knows when I'm lying."
"My daughter is genius"
"Nope. My Lou is connected to me emotionally"
Hela raised her eyebrow. Debbie shrugged.
"So, what next?"
"We need to have some wounds and bruises so that you look like you've been abused"
"I'm not sure. I have self healing power"
"Uhm what if you don't think of healing?"
"I'll try"
It worked. She hit herself hard and tried not to heal. There was a bruise. She would do anything to get her daughter. So, she will have bruises.
Debbie suggested to have light cuts on her face, bruises on hands and knees. A prominent wound on her forehead. Hela did what she was told to do.
Debbie punched Hela on her face, Hela, now furious and was about to attack Debbie.
"Stop stop stop. I was helping you... Thought we could speed up our preparation"
"If that's the case, then speak before you do something"
"Deal"
Few more bruises. One shirt sleeve slightly torn, Debbie was satisfied with Hela's look.
"That's it. Now let's refine the backstory. Let's go to my room"
They both walked to Debbie's room.
"How are you so young?"
"You forget things so soon. How do you even con people with this forgetfulness?"
"Just answer, buzzkill"
"I'm a goddess"
"How old are you?"
"Haven't kept count once I was... Hmm let's just say I'm somewhere around 3000-5000"
"What? Geez you're super old"
"That I am. But my daughter... Isn't matured enough. She wouldn't survive in Asgard or other place in universe if she was alone. It's good that I left her here. Here she is safe even without stimulating any power"
"Lou has powers?"
"She's born with powers. I designed her to be me"
"But she's not arrogant, rude and headstrong"
"I toned down some qualities. Can we speak something else? I can't tell all this now. It's too soon"
"How about I call you Helly?"
"What? How dare you..."
"Hela doesn't sound like human name"
"Helly sounds weak and childish"
"But also cute. Come on... Pleaseeee... For my sake", Debbie started blinking her eyelids in adorable way that Hela couldn't help but smile and agree.
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