Albus looked between the two items with guilty eyes. You have done so many terrible things, Tom, but these horcruxes prove you have walked far past the line. Sighing, Albus glanced at his cursed hand, knowing it would not be too long before it consumed him – Severus was usually correct in his assumptions, so to know he had a year was both a curse and a blessing. I must recruit young Prince Vali.

But then something caught his attention – how all the candles in his office suddenly flared, how a tall blonde woman suddenly appeared in front of his bookcase.

Wand slipping into his hand, Albus stood. "Who are you?"

The woman glanced at him, a flash of surprise gracing her face before it disappeared, and she hummed, walking over to him, eyes travelling from him to the two horcruxes on his desk. She picked the locket up, eyeing the ring distastefully before looking to Fawkes.

"If you would be so kind, I would request that you bring my youngest brother at present, here." To Albus' amazement, Fawkes squawked before disappearing in a flash of flame. The tension in the room was high, as the two stood there in silence, before Fawkes returned…

Carrying the one and only, Vali Sigynson.

He immediately raised his wand, wariness, almost soldier-like, exuding from him. But when he caught sight of the woman, he relaxed almost immediately.

"Hela, what am I doing here?"

'Hela' pointed to the Gaunt ring. "Take the stone from the band and keep it in your pocket-" and then she switched to another language, one Albus did not recognise. Vali's face betrayed his surprise, before the wariness returned. But he nodded, turning to his desk and taking the ring from it, using brute force and a small amount of magic to separate the band from the stone.

Albus looked between it and Hela, the reality of the situation all at once dawning on him.

"Death," Albus murmured, realising he was correct to believe the stone was a Deathly Hallow. He looked to Vali, now the owner of not only one, but two. "Milady, do you trust your brother with these gifts?"

He adjusted his grip on the Elder Wand, holding it from the middle, rather than its handle. Hela eyed him.

"You are a wise man, Headmaster – my mother thinks you are a buffoon, sometimes, but you are wise and knowledgeable, too. Yes, I trust my brother with my Hallows, for I know he will not use them in a way I find distasteful. You have your own wand still?"

"I do," Albus gave another tired sigh, about to give the wand over – only for it to be pulled from his grip. Almost immediately, he could feel the lack of loyalty from it, and gave a small smile. "Of course." He sat back down in his chair, opening a drawer and taking his old ash and dragon heart-string wand, smile becoming fond at feeling the ancient warmth from within it. "May I query you on something, milady, before I begin a conversation with you both?"

"Go for it," the blonde smiled encouragingly. Albus' eyes sparkled.

"Would you like a sherbet lemon?"


"The Wizarding World is going to shit," Blaise threw the newspaper into the fireplace, pacing, running his hands over his head frantically, for once in their friendship, unable to stay calm.

"Calm down, Zabini, we know," Tracey muttered tiredly, pressing her head into Daphne's stomach in a failed attempt to block out the world. Daphne started to play with a strand of her hair, and Vali beside her watched, wondering what was going on with them – they'd been acting really weird over the past couple of days, and looking back only served to make Vali realise it had been going on for a few years now. "Val, do you happen to have an awesome plan to put the Wizarding World back on track?"

Vali shrugged, looking to Blaise, "My sister has some plans that we're putting into practice, but we've hit a few snags."

"Do you need help?" Blaise stopped pacing, pinning Vali with a wide-eyed stare.

"Voldemort entrusted something to Lucius Malfoy. A similar something was found in his blood family's abandoned home, after he killed the remaining occupants, and another, before it was moved to another location without Voldemort's knowledge, a cave he visited often when he was young and lost two of his childhood bullies in. We suspect there were another three somethings – where would they be?"

Blaise's face immediately blanked, eyes going back to normal as he had something to focus on. "He entrusted something to Malfoy Senior, so I suggest looking at another of his followers – inner circle followers, most likely. Locations suggest he places these 'somethings' in places where he holds significant memories. Lucius Malfoy has a secret basement full of dark artefacts that very few officially know about. It's very safe. He would have kept the thing he was entrusted to in there. No doubt the other places had protections – wards, curses." He zeroed in on Vali. "A checklist of at least two out of three things. Protection, a location of sentimentality, and loyalty."

"The something is something he treasures, too, or a prize." Vali muttered, thinking of the 'Gaunt' ring, and Slytherin's locket – and his diary. They had three – or rather four – already dealt with, out of seven.

"What kinds of things?" Daphne questioned, only to get a glare from her friend that had her flinching. "You've been practicing…"

"Yeah," Vali blinked, stopping, "Sorry. Hela wants me to have my death glare down." He glanced at the silent Tracey. "What's going on between you two, by the way?"

Daphne raised an eyebrow, "Really, Vali? I knew you could be selectively obtuse, but really…" Vali looked between the three of his friends, confused as Blaise smirked, Tracey grinning into Daphne's lap as the blonde shook her head.

"Vali, our friends here are gay as fuck for each other," Blaise said bluntly. Vali's eyes widened extraordinarily large, looking to his female companions.

"You're what?"

Tracey hummed, before sitting up and – with Vali watching on, gobsmacked – straddled Daphne's legs, hands slipping into her hair as their lips connected. Vali watched with horrified fascination, wondering what…point there was to it.

"It's nice to watch," Blaise said, sitting down finally in an armchair. Vali watched as Daphne's hands locked around Tracey's waist, pulling her closer as one of Tracey's moved to Daphne's cheek. "Like it?"

"Not really," Vali muttered, voice high. "Not at all."

Tracey pulled away from Daphne, who let out a whimper – a freaking whimper – as Tracey turned her head to look at Vali, eyes hooded and dark.

"You got a problem, princey-o?"

"Not with you, or Daphne, or you and Daphne," Vali said, shaking his head, "Just- why? You're putting your mouths together and it's disgusting and weird and just why would you do it?"

Daphne and Tracey exchanged a look, before Tracey replied, "Because…it's nice? The contact, it's…intimate. It makes us feel closer."

Vali made a face, "It sounds…wet."

"You've never been kissed, have you Val?" Tracey glanced at Daphne, and then they seemed to have some sort of non-verbal conversation that included various head movements towards Vali, eyebrow raising, smirks, and finally a nod from Daphne. Tracey hummed, before getting off of Daphne, looking up to the ceiling of the Room of Requirement – they'd finally got the name of the place off a house-elf from the kitchens, though they preferred Come-and-Go room. "If Vali gets uncomfortable, make sheets appear around us."

Vali's brows knitted together, "What?" Tracey came over to him-

And then she was on his lap.

"Okay, Trace, what are you doing?" From beside them, Lucky woofed, causing Daphne to call the dog over as Vali started to slowly panic. "Tracey-"

"Vali, as one of your best friends, it is my duty to make sure you know at least what a kiss is like, before you make any sort of decision, that may or may not include deciding never to kiss anyone like, ever. Even if you decide never to kiss someone, or have sex with anyone, etcetera, etcetera, you should at least try it. So, yeah, I'm going to kiss you – is that okay?"

Vali swallowed, looking at her, wide-eyed, before looking to Daphne. "And this is okay with you?" Daphne shrugged, not replying. He looked back to Tracey, swallowing again. "What do I do?"

"Nothing. Hopefully you'll get the hang of it if I go slow. Okay? Okay – here we go…" she leant down, pressing her lips against his lightly. Vali stayed silent, tense. Tracey kissed him again, and again, slowly, and Vali felt a kind of…warmth. Just calm down, this is Tracey, Tracey is my friend, she's helping me, it doesn't mean anything…Surprisingly, it helped, and Vali figured his friendship metre with Tracey had just risen to a new sort of level, that he didn't somehow think he'd get with anyone else. Slowly reciprocating, he wondered what it did to Daphne, seeing as even he thought this was sort of nice-

He jolted back, "What was that?" It had been wet, and completely unfamiliar, and probing and it made him feel more than just uncomfortable.

Tracey laughed though, "Tongue. Not your style?" He shook his head violently, feeling sort of…invaded. Tracey ran a hand through his hair, but removed it quickly as it snagged on his hair tie, which held back most of his hair. "That's okay. Maybe you need to find someone you're comfortable with, maybe you just don't like it at all."

"It was okay, but it didn't really do anything for me." He shrugged half-heartedly. Tracey winked, before getting off him and hopping back over to Daphne, settling sideways on her lap, head dropping into her neck.

"Vali?"

"Yeah, Blaise?" The teen looked over to his friend…

Only to find him holding what looked like the diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw.

"He asked the Room for an example of what you were looking for." Blaise looked up, and it was then that Vali realised his eyes were bright red. "Are you looking for my horcruxes, boy?"

Vali cussed in several languages, before standing and shouting loud – "HELA!"


The smile Charlie gave her when she caught her attention was big and wide.

"Hey! Annabeth! What are you doing in here?" Charlie put down the radio, only narrowly avoiding being hit in the face with a glowing red sword as she skirted around the forge, ducking and coming over to where she stood. The girl's took each other's hands, the younger pulling Charlie to the exit, to Charlie's obvious amusement.

"What's the matter? You need something? Are your brothers and sisters giving you a hard time?"

Annabeth shook her head, glancing over to the Arts and Crafts Hut. Charlie followed her gaze and immediately narrowed her eyes.

"Are those Aphrodite harpies giving you a rough time? I can do something about that, if they're being nasty – I've got friends in the Aphrodite Cabin."

But the blonde shook her head again, faster than before, "No, it's fine. I- it's just something that Drew Tanaka said." Charlie scowled.

"Drew's a bitch-"

"Language!" Annabeth hit her on the wrist lightly, causing Charlie to roll her eyes before squeezing Annabeth's hands.

"Drew is a jerk. Don't believe anything she says-"

"She said you were a dyke," Annabeth blurted out, before her eyes went wide. Charlie's expression hardened.

"As I said," she repeated coldly, "Drew's a bitch."

"Is it true?"

Charlie eyed the daughter of Athena, "Yeah, it is. Got a problem with that, pipsqueak?" Annabeth shook her head, inwardly wondering if that was why Drew always looked at Charlie funny, before Charlie brought her in for a hug. "Don't you worry about me – now, don't you have Arts and Crafts?"

"It's Ancient Greek now," Annabeth whispered, causing Charlie to smile and give her a light squeeze, before pushing her away.

"Then you'd better get to Ancient Greek, or Chiron'll have your hide, Chase." Annabeth flushed, then waved, turning around and running off towards the Big House. Charlie watched her leave, soon turning back to the Forge as one of her siblings called.

Tanaka, you don't know what you're getting into, Charlie smirked as she looked at the radio she'd been modifying. Revenge will be sweet.


Dear Vali,

I haven't heard from you for a while. How is Hogwarts? Hela says you have regular contact, and that your quest is most likely going to come to an end by the end of the year, depending on a few variables. Eisa is sending emails to me, with her letters to you which I have printed onto the printer paper within this letter. I've gained my Biology Mastery, and have started work on no less than three others, as well as my PhD. Soon I'll be known as 'Doctor Friggadottr', though I have since been thinking of legally changing my last name.

Your uncle has supported this idea, wishing to actually have an identity on Midguard – I only previously made Thor's identity. Things are complicated, but I will hopefully be able to get it done before technology completely dominates the modern world. Your uncle, of course, does not want to be called 'Friggadottr', when he is quite obviously male.

Hopefully I shall hear from you soon, my precious one.

All the love I can give,

Mother


Loki watched Natasha as she rested against the agent. The Goddess could recognise him easily, and wondered belatedly if introducing Natasha to SHIELD earlier had brought about this change, or it had simply been hidden in the future of her original world. Coulson didn't seem to mind the contact, smiling at it.

Glancing across the room to their cargo, Loki stifled a laugh as their hostage's identity finally revealed itself, the archer groaning and turning on the ground, bloodied face clear for her to see.

"Barton, I should have known," Loki smiled, happy that 'STRIKE Team Delta' were back together, or, rather, were together now. Hopefully they would make as much a good team this time around as they did in her last universe. Walking away, Loki slipped from Prague to James' home, where he was eating dinner with Eisa. James looked up at her entrance.

"Hey doll," he nodded to her before serving himself another portion of chicken. Loki mentally checked her calendar, Sunday roast. It'd been a while since she'd had one of those.

Eisa turned her head, face lighting up. "Mom!" Loki's eyebrows flew up at the accent, while Eisa flung off her cannula, got up out of her chair and flung herself into Loki's arms. "It's been so long since I've seen you!" She looked up, chin wobbling slightly. Loki's face smoothed out, concern draping her as she pulled Eisa up, disregarding how children her age shouldn't exactly be picked up by their parents. How old is she now? Eight?

"It has been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yeah," Eisa burrowed her head in Loki's shoulder, Loki gripping her tightly as her eyes slid shut. "Everything's so different here. They don't have Double-Deckers, or Twirls."

"Oh no," Loki murmured, "Double-Deckers are your favourite."

"Not any more, actually – I like Red Vines. They're weird and chewy and aren't like the sweets we have at home."

"Really?" Eisa nodded her head, before falling silent, just hugging her. Loki welcomed it, until she saw how Eisa had barely started on her dinner. Walking over, she set her down beside her chair and fixing her cannula back into her nose. "You should eat." Eisa glanced at her plate, before sitting down, starting on it. James waved his fork at the dishes in front of them.

"You want something, Lokes?"

Loki felt a pang in her chest, a tight smile appearing on her face, "No, thank-you for offering though. I was just popping in – I saw our little spider. She's made a new friend."

James slowed, "Natalia…she's okay, then?"

"Yes." Loki nodded, before leaning down to kiss Eisa's cheek. "I will come visit more often. Farewell for now, qiānjīn."

"Bye mommy."

Loki straightened, before disappearing, reappearing in Elizabeth's apartment. "El, are you in?" Poking her head into Bran's room, she saw him playing with some Lego. "Bran? Is you mum in?"

Bran looked up, smiling upon seeing her, "Hey Aunty L – mum's out with a friend of hers right now."

Loki stopped.

"A…friend? As in a friend, or as in a…'friend?'"

Bran's face twisted, "A 'friend'."

"Ah…are they planning on coming back together?"

"Probably not."

Loki nodded concisely, mind running wild. Why hadn't Elizabeth told her she was dating again? "Right. I'm going to make myself some tea – would you like one, Bran?"

"Yes please."

Nodding again, Loki went to the kitchen, filling the kettle with water and flipping it on before grabbing two mugs, teabags and the green milk. Taking out her clunky flip-phone, Loki sent a text to the lab technician at her university, asking them to prepare a list of things for her lab-work later that day. Thankfully, they replied before the kettle finished boiling, with an affirmative. Making up her tea, Loki sipped it slowly, eyes wandering over Elizabeth's kitchen – as usual, it was a little cluttered, the sink full of dishes and letters and papers stuffed into corners and on top of the microwave.

Feeling a tickling in the back of her brain, Loki shut her eyes, holding out her hand with her palm up, letting her magic guide itself across the room, to a loose sheaf of paper on top of the fridge. Snapping her fingers, the papers sorted themselves out, but not before one could slip out of the pile, floating side to side before finally shooting down to the floor, skidding to a stop at Loki's feet. Opening her eyes, Loki bent down slowly, careful of her tea, picking it up – it being a letter of mild importance.

With zero emphasis on the mild.

"SWORD…now why would SHIELD's little hanger-on agency be contacting you, Elizabeth, several years after Brian's death?" She eyed the return address, memorising it, before reading past the Dear Lady Elizabeth Braddock. "'It has come to our attention that you have recently made certain decisions, legal and otherwise, pertaining to your family's return to Braddock Estate'…estate?" Loki quirked an eyebrow.

"'The Sentient World Observation and Response Department would advise against the course of action that would involve young Lord Braddock returning to Braddock Manor and eventually taking over his rightful duty as Green Knight, known more commonly as Captain Britain, when the late Lord Brian Braddock Senior and his son, the late Lord Brian Braddock the Younger agreed to allow the Sentient World Observation and Response Department jurisdiction in the United Kingdom's of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of Her other Realms and Territories'…well that's not quite correct." Loki muttered with a slight frown, in reference to Queen Elizabeth II's title.

But this – this letter, it was interesting. Loki hadn't known Elizabeth was a Lady, nor that Brian or Bran were Lord's, let alone protectors of Britain…

Perhaps I should be more careful around the one I call 'friend' after all.


"So…is that all you needed, or am I going to get another letter from Charlie saying one of his 'friends' needs a favour?" Bill raised an eyebrow. Fenrir, who had been carefully shutting the warded suitcase containing the item Hela needed to help Vali on his little vanquishing, shook his head.

"Hopefully, we shall never meet again under these circumstances. These are dark times for your people, that will end soon. If we do see each other before that moment, then I fear for my sister's mental wellbeing." Fenrir straightened, holding out a hand, which Bill shook confusedly. "Has…Charlie, told you the nature of our friendship?" Fenrir asked after a moment.

Bill shook his head, "He didn't say much – just that I should trust you. He also said you had a message for me, from a family member of yours." His brow furrowed, before Fenrir nodded belatedly, letting go of his hand to pat his pocket, summoning the slip of parchment Hela had given him. Handing it over, Fenrir watched as Bill Weasley read the scripture, raising an eyebrow.

"May I know what they said?" Fenrir questioned, prompting Bill to glance up at him with a wry smile on his face.

"Your sister says she has Seer blood – that true?" Fenrir shrugged, knowing in all technicalities, it was true, but that if she was telling this wizard something, it would be through her little connection to the Norns. Bill nodded, looking down at the piece of parchment again, before handing it back to him. Fenrir looked.

Bill Weasley. If this message reaches your hands, then my brother has claimed what was once my forbearers. I will not disclose my name, though if Charlie is right about you, you have already figured out some things of importance, which I would ask you not to discuss with anyone lightly nor in good humour. Seers blood runs through my veins, so trust me – I'll know. But I will run out of room on this scrap of paper soon. Some last advice before I do, would be to write to one Fleur Delacour – she is French, wishing to work somewhere in Britain to improve her English. She is highly qualified, and Gringotts would enjoy her as an employee. Also, she will like your earring. Good luck in your endeavours. –HRH, Queen of the Mist-World

"You're the actual Fenrir. Your sister, the writer – the Mist-World is Niflheim, according the Old Texts, which would make her Queen Hel."

Fenrir folded the piece of paper in half, handing it back over to it's original recipient.

"She was given the name 'Hela', when she was born," Fenrir replied quietly. "But as she wrote to you, please do not talk of these matters lightly, to anyone, not even us."

Bill clenched his jaw, "Charlie. If nothing, tell me what he's gotten himself into with you all."

Fenrir eyed him. He is thinking of his brother. There's nothing wrong in worrying… "As Harry Potter is Vali, Charles Weasley is Narfi – the only difference is that Charlie prefers his new name to his old. As you are his brother, so am I." Bill swallowed audibly, fist clenching around the note, but stayed silent.

Fenrir decided it was time to leave, and turned around, walking towards the nearest patch of shadows, walking through them without nary a whisper more from Bill Weasley.


"So we have a diary, a family heirloom and two Founders objects," Daphne listed out loud as Tracey etched a rune from a book into the ground, as per Hela's direction. Blaise grunted an affirmative, keeping far, far away from their little pile of horcruxes. "The first was hidden with one of the Inner Circle of Death Eaters, the second in an abandoned shack that once belonged to his bloodline, the third in a cave from his childhood, and the fourth in Hogwarts itself."

"He seems to follow familiar themes," Hela observed, placing an emerald scarab inside a chalk-drawn triangle surrounded by runes, tucking a dark strand of hair behind her hair. "Family. Blood. Himself. Prestige. Memories. He is a sentimental, arrogant man, who believes himself to be descended from a Founder of Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore believes that another of his horcruxes could be Hufflepuff's cup – I believe he would be correct in that assumption." Hela stood, peering at the large formation that she and Tracey, together, had drawn. "We are nearly finished. Get a move on, Davis."

Tracey glanced up at her, "I'm nearly done. What are we even summoning?"

"We're not summoning anything," Vali replied for her, causing Daphne to frown deeply, stepping closer, eyes flickering over the chalk drawings. "I know how it looks-"

"Vali, this will open a portal," Daphne looked between him and his sister. "Do you even know what it is you're doing?" A growl came from the shadows. She looked over at Fenrir, who until now had been quiet. "Oh, don't just growl at me – I'm involved now, and I want to know what the hell you are trying to do, when it involves opening portals to the Underworld."

"Daph-" Vali tried to appeal to her, but Daphne shot him a glare, looking to Tracey.

"Stop drawing, Trace, until they tell us what the fuck is going on." Loyal to her partner, the brunette stopped, sitting back, being careful not to smudge any of the runes she'd spent the last few weeks working on with the Queen of Niflheim.

Hela looked to Vali, "Control your friends." Vali wilted slightly under her gaze, flinching, before nodding as she stalked over to Fenrir, grabbing his wrist tight enough that they could hear bones cracking, before they disappeared. Daphne looked to Vali.

"She's a bit testy today," he muttered, before taking a deep breath. "We aren't summoning anything. We're actually putting the diadem horcrux in the Underworld."

"Why?" Daphne questioned, "Why can't we just destroy it and have done with it?"

"Because we need access to it. Hela can summon the diadem – she's already put her Mark on it and all the others – but the soul piece it's holding, once it's in the Underworld, it'll be out of her purview, and we need it. We need to…store the horcrux."

"But it needs to be destroyed," Blaise muttered, glaring at it, from where it sat inside the runes. "What if it gets out?"

"It won't. You need to trust me, guys," Vali looked between his friends, the tension thick. "Please, I promise it'll all be fixed in the end."

"Voldemort needs to be stopped, Val," Tracey said quietly, "How long do we have to wait? He's already killed so many people – Amelia Bones, Igor Karkaroff, Emmeline Vance, hell, even Florean Fortescue. He made ice-cream, Vali. And there's whispers that he had a Department of Mysteries worker assassinated. They think it's connected to the break-in during the summer."

Vali paused, "Break-in?" His friends exchanged a look.

"Didn't you hear?" Daphne questioned, "It was all over the news – the Death Eaters broke into the Department of Mysteries and completely trashed the place, covering up for what they stole."

"I was in New York," Vali's thoughts flew to his belongings, travelling to the secret compartment hidden just inside the extension charm for his cauldron, where an hourglass on a golden chain was tucked away, out of sight and out of mind until just then. It's probably one of the last ones, he realised after a beat. Time-turners come from the Department of mysteries… "Blaise? What do you think he took?"

"I don't know, and I don't care to share at present." Blaise muttered, before Hela reappeared – her dark façade gone, blonde sunshine radiating throughout the room as she approached Daphne, taking her shoulders.

"Are you done?"

Daphne didn't reply verbally, only nodding stiffly. Hela smiled brightly, before looking to Tracey, wiggling her fingers. From her hand, the chalk flew up and then down scribbling the last set of runes down on the ground with seemingly no writer, causing Tracey to scramble back as it finished and then subsequently glowed.

"Hela!" Vali exclaimed, "Give us a bit of warning!"

Hela shrugged, waving him off. "Sorry, brother-mine, but Fenrir and I are now on a bit of a schedule."

She approached the glowing rune-circle, crouching down and placing her hands in the outlines specifically made for her, eyes immediately glowing an ominous dark green, her hair running brown from the roots to the tips. Her clothes shimmered, the jeans, shirt and brown leather jacket of before being replaced with a black dress that looked like oil on water, white myrtle flowering at her waist and behind her ear. The humans in the room all gathered together, stepping back out of the way as the floor around the runes cracked and rumbled.

Only Fenrir and Hela were still, the horcruxes – both former and present – suddenly disappeared out of existence, dropping into the floor as it turned to dark shadow, a faint red light splashing across Hela's face before she sagged and Fenrir grabbed her, pull her away from the runes before she could smudge or ruin them, and potentially cause the Underworld to eat away at the mortal plane.

Blaise looked between Hela, the empty rune circle, his watch and Vali.

"…well that was a little anticlimactic."

Vali glanced at him, "No kidding, but it looks like my sister won't be going anywhere anytime s-" they watched as Fenrir helped her to her feet, before pulling her into a cradle and disappearing into the shadows "…soon."

Daphne brought her hand up to wind in Tracey's ponytail. "Anticlimactic, indeed."


"That was a dangerous thing you just did, niece," Loki murmured, running his hand over her head as Fenrir flipped through the catalogue Hades had handed him. "Why go through all the trouble?"

"Had to be done like that, or Misses Greengrass and Davis will go down a separate path from Vali," Hela murmured, hand going to the almost invisible imprint on the inside of her wrist. "Urd and Verdandi told me I would face problems if I tried anything, but the problem with Urd and Verdandi is that they always think in one direction – and they don't communicate with Skuld well, unlike their Greek counterparts."

"The Norns are a precocious triad, I shall give you that," Loki murmured, "So you used a Norse method to enter a Greek domain. The Norns of past and present did not know what you would do in advance, and the Morai were unable to prevent you from doing what you wished due to the conflict of interest. Clever." Hela gave a tired, toothy grin, eyes closed as Hades sauntered over, wine in hand.

"You look like Persephone, but without the tan. And not Greek." Hades sipped his wine, before offering to Loki. The God eyed it, before taking it lightly and trying, grimacing a second later. "It's strange to think that she's your daughter."

Loki shrugged, handing the glass back and glancing at Fenrir, who was looking through the…Hephaestus Inventions-Aphrodite Glitz magazine with gusto.

"This is coming from a deity who can change his image at will," Loki replied, running a hand through Hela's hair again, getting a contented sigh out of the Goddess. Hades shrugged back at him.

"But I still always look like myself, or rather, my parents. There are many distinctive traits in our family."

"I am aware," Loki glanced over at the objects Hela had sacrificed so much energy and magic to transport here. They reeked of death in a way that the Underworld did not – maliciously, evilly. And especially did that tiara. "Hela trusts you, why?"

"I'm right here, you know."

"Sleep and shush, niece."

Hades chuckled at their banter, "Hela and I are good friends. Her predecessor has taken over her old post in that other universe, and he was a misery-loving bastard. The past few hundred years have been a relief from his dour countenance – not that I saw him a lot, anyway, but he had a sort of annoying kind of presence when he goes into a room that doesn't fade for decades."

"I know the feeling," Loki murmured, thinking of how he'd felt when his father had entered his quarters for the very first time only a few centuries ago – he still hadn't shaken off the feeling of his privacy being intruded upon. "Fenrir?"

"Yes, uncle?" Fenrir replied distractedly.

"How long do you estimate it will take for your sister to recuperate correctly?"

"A couple of hours, not long."

Hades put his wine down on a nearby table, clapping his hands together, "It seems you have the perfect excuse then to stay for a short while – would you like a tour, perhaps? A visit to Persephone's gardens?"

Loki smiled at the lonely man – "It would be our pleasure, Lord Hades."


A/N: yes, there are two different Charlie's, and yes, one is a girl;

[-and yes, that girl is supposed to be a boy in their original fandom, but what can I say? This is fanfiction, I can do what I like, so long as it benefits the plot, which it will, in due time, and if you've read Rick Riordan, then maybe you've already guessed just exactly who Charlie the Girl is supposed to actually be, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on them, and anything else about the fic for that matter.]