Chapter 29 - Delinquent

Only now did I realize that Thor hadn't arrived alone. In his company there were two further Asgards who caused quite a dangerous impression. They looked at me approvingly, though, so there was nothing to worry about. Hopefully.

'May I ask whom you brought along?' I wondered, curious as usual.

'They're my personal guards, Vashur and Satja.' Thor said casually. 'I want them to be witness to your… interrogation.'

I gave Thor a bewildered glance, not really knowing if he was kidding. That look seemed to make him feel obliged to explain himself further. 'You've told me you want Dellingur to confess. In case he really confesses, the presence of at least four witnesses is necessary, otherwise the confession can't be used in his trial. It will help the judge to come to a verdict better than any circumstantial evidence.'

'So you really believe I'm able to get the truth out of him?' I asked, still in bewilderment.

'I put great confidence in you.' Thor confirmed, his expression much too approving.

I just bit my lip and shrugged, while I followed Vesh, Thor and his guards down the corridor that led back to the control room. We didn't stop there, though, but entered a small elevator. It was the first time ever that I had to duck my head in an Asgard place, because the elevator was really low. Thor looked at me apologetically, while I exhaled deeply to calm myself and get rid of upcoming claustrophobia. I've always hated small rooms.

Luckily, we didn't have to spend too much time in the elevator, because it went downward at alarming speed. When the doors opened and I was finally able to leave, I found myself in one more narrow corridor that looked exactly like the one that had led to Loki's cell.

'How far underground are we?' I asked, stretching my back, happy to be able to stand upright again.

'Twelve stories.' Vesh informed me. 'It's the lowest level of the prison complex. We keep our high security prisoners here.'

'Is Dellingur declared that dangerous?' I wondered, mildly shocked.

'Not really.' Vesh told me, making a strange gesture that looked like the Asgard version of a shrug. 'But Supreme Commander Thor demanded the subject should be kept as securely as possible and without any benefits.'

'I don't think I have to explain myself.' Thor threw in. 'The subject has tortured my son. Therefore, he has forfeited any right that he might claim.'

At the tone of his voice, I realized that Thor wasn't only angry, he was literally outraged, especially since he had heard my detailed description of Hermiod's nightmare. Now I could understand easily why he wanted to witness my conversation with Dellingur. He wanted to hear the truth just as much as I did

But the closer to Dellingur we got the more I dreaded the moment of meeting him again. Sure, I wanted to get some answers and find out why the hell he had caused so much damage on my Hermiod, but I was anything but sure now whether I was actually able to deal with what I was probably going to hear.

Suddenly I felt Thor's hand on my forearm. I looked down to him and met his reassuring gaze. 'Don't worry.' He said softly. 'I won't allow him to handle you with disrespect. My guards have permission to do whatever necessary to get the truth out of him.'

'No, Thor.' I disagreed with what he implied. 'There will be no violence used to make him confess. I'd like to deal with him my way.'

Thor tilted his head, understanding in his eyes. 'I trust you.' He confirmed.

In the meantime, we had arrived at one of those heavy doors that looked exactly like the one in front of Loki's cell. Vesh opened it by placing his hand on a sensor panel at the wall. The door opened with a creek that made me realize this room hadn't been used for a long while.

I was the last to enter the room. It didn't look all that much differently from Loki's cell. On the right wall next to the door there was a bench for visitors, but it was broader to allow more people to sit on it. Right opposite to it there was the already familiar blue-ish shimmering force field that parted the visitors from the prisoner.

Dellingur was sitting on a chair of a material that was reflecting the light in a quite odd way. Both his ankles and wrists were secured by tight clasps, directly connected to the chair that made it impossible for him to move an inch. I highly doubted that the clasps were necessary. Maybe the prison workers just wanted to make an impression on Thor.

Dellingur himself didn't look good. He looked frailer than before, his cheeks hollow, his eyes sunken and surrounded by dark rings. The deprivation of food and water had taken their tolls. Again, I found it quite scandalous how the Asgard kept their prisoners.

'Is it really necessary to keep him like that?' I asked uncomfortably, definitely not approving of what I saw.

'Of course.' Vesh acknowledged. 'He planned to commit murder. We hadn't kept him on the chair until earlier this morning, though, but since Supreme Commander Thor had provided the Central Court with new evidence, we deemed it necessary to secure him further.'

Thor, indeed, hadn't spared any more time than necessary after I had showed him Hermiod's nightmare. His methods showed me very clearly how bad of an idea it was to mess with our family. When it came to Hermiod's well-being, Thor obviously knew no mercy.

I shrugged, not really knowing what to say or do, and sat down on the visitor's bench. Thor sat beside me while the guards remained standing, Vashur next to Thor, Satja next to me. It was hard to ignore the severity of the situation.

Thor pointed Vesh to deactivate the force field who followed the order right away. Dellingur scrutinized us with sunken eyes. He didn't pay much attention to the guards, but looked at Thor for quite a while, until he finally put his eyes on me. I felt like being read inside and out, but I didn't waver.

'How do I deserve the exceptional honour to meet you again, Aegeti Talvi?' Dellingur spat in a thin voice. Apart from how they had treated him, he still hadn't lost his mocking way of speaking.

'I'd recommend you to handle Aegeti Hermiodkona Thordotir with some more respect.' Thor said nonchalantly, obviously enjoying Dellingur's shocked reaction.

'You don't…' Dellingur voiced, slowly coming to terms with the new facts. I just showed him my hand device and bracelet for a moment to make him see we weren't kidding.

'Seems you've messed with the wrong people.' I growled, locking my eyes with his, folding my arms.

Dellingur wasn't able to withstand my glare of doom more than just a few seconds. Then he turned his head and sighed, seemingly not willing to comment on my words.

'You know why I'm here, don't you?' I urged after a while.

'Seems Hermiod has told you a few things.' He spat with as much disrespect in his voice as possible. In the wink of an eye I saw Satja react, but with a glance I told him to stand down. Although I didn't even know him, he obeyed, either because he had been instructed by Thor or because of respect towards my name.

Dellingur smirked when he saw that little exchange. 'Feels good to be a member of Odin's clan, hm?' He asked, his words dripping sarcasm. 'Yesterday you've been just another human, today you already enjoy the sweet taste of power.'

'I recommend you to keep your sarcasm to yourself for the time being.' I snapped. 'We're not here to discuss the benefits of being part of whatever family.'

'Of course, we are.' Dellingur objected. 'It's all about families and privileges, isn't it? Being the son of Thor gives you the right to occupy whatever position you want, regardless of your qualification and experience. Being the lawful daughter of Thor ensures that you're entitled to interrogate me, regardless of your qualification. Othala is all about Odinfjölskyldan making the rules and bending the law as they please.'

'You know that's a lie.' I spat. 'The only one bending the law is you. It's been you who took the law in his own hands when you decided to take your revenge on a person who's never wronged you.'

'Never wronged me?' Dellingur sneered. 'Hermiod's audacity to take over my post on the Beliskner is only the last drop in an ocean of disrespect towards me. I'm a member of a small family from a faraway planet. I haven't been blessed with a long life on Othala. I've worked centuries to achieve my goal to work on our fleet's flagship. I've always looked up to the great Supreme Commander. He's been my idol since I had first heard of his successes in countless battles. But then suddenly this… son of his appeared that I had never heard of before! Nobody's ever heard of him before! I asked questions but been denied the answers. Wherever your precious husband has come from, he never had the right to take from me what was rightfully mine!'

'You're talking like an offended child that's been deprived of its favourite toys.' I scoffed. 'You know that Hermiod's brilliant. He's been one of the most brilliant students at Valaskjalf University, and he's a member of the Board of Technology for a reason. Tell me any person more qualified than him to work on the Beliskner. Thor is entitled to employ only the best, and, as sad as it may be, you are not the best.'

Thor gave me an almost admiring side glance, but I ignored him. I was just getting in tune with my anger. Dellingur, indeed, sounded like an offended child, and I've never been able to tolerate undignified behaviour like this.

'I assume Thor never showed you my results.' Dellingur said, suddenly looking overly tired. 'They were just as good as Hermiod's. You can't tell me he didn't prefer him over me because he's part of his glorious family.'

'I do not need to show anyone either your or Hermiod's results.' Thor said venomously. 'Hermiod's qualification speaks for itself. He doesn't have to prove anything.'

'You're just confirming my opinion that you don't care about qualifications.' Dellingur scoffed. 'Only about family ties!'

'However.' I interfered to keep them from getting into a serious argument. 'Even if it were so – and it's not on me to judge - you still don't have the right to cause such violence to a person. Nothing in the world gives you the right to be so cruel.'

'I just wanted to retrieve information.' Dellingur objected, glaring at me full of disgust. 'I wanted the answer to my most urgent question.'

'And what question might that be?' I asked impatiently.

'I wanted to find out where Hermiod came from.' Dellingur replied, glowering at me. 'There are no records about him until about 1,400 years ago. People just don't appear out of nowhere, so there must be a secret well-covered by Odin himself.'

I nodded gravely, suddenly understanding the means Dellingur had taken. I had been wondering about a certain detail of Hermiod's nightmare that I hadn't been able to explain up until now, but suddenly it dawned on me. 'That's why you tried to connect with his brain implant, right?' I fired. 'You wanted to hack it in order to retrieve information.'

'He did what?' Now Satja wasn't able to remain calm any longer. Thor nodded pensively, obviously just having come to the exact same conclusion. For a moment I could see the horror on his face, but it was gone in an instant, replaced by a wall of bricks.

'I've seen Hermiod's memories of Dellingur's deeds.' I explained. 'Or, more precisely, I've witnessed one of his nightmares first. I was woken up by a heavy mental impact that I wasn't able to understand until now.'

'A mental impact?' Satja insisted. I wondered why this complete stranger was so interested in the whole business all of a sudden, but as Thor seemed to trust him, I decided to trust him as well.

'Indeed.' I therefore confirmed. 'I've realized now that it was a brute force attack. Besides the fact that there's no worse brutality imaginable, I just wonder whether it's even possible to hack those brain implants.'

'It's impossible.' Now Thor interrupted. 'Not even the latest Asgard supercomputer would be able to hack the encryption codes of our implants.'

'Seems Dellingur thought it was worth to try.' I commented dryly.

Now all eyes were on Dellingur againb who was eyeing us with a very intense glare of doom.

'Can you confirm these assumptions?' Thor wanted to know from him.

'I won't say anything.' Dellingur growled stubbornly. 'All I can say is that I have a right to know the background of Hermiod. I know that there were illegal actions involved when he came into existence. You can't tell me otherwise.'

'I don't think Hermiod's any of your business.' I fired angrily. 'Don't try to divert our attention by changing subjects!'

'There, there.' Dellingur sneered. 'Your reaction tells me clearly that you're concealing a secret. Of course, I understand that you're not willing to talk about your most favourite Asgard. It would have been all too interesting to get access to his implant, but Thor is right about Asgard supercomputers and encryption codes. But tell me, human, isn't curiosity and the temptation of exploring the unknown very… thrilling?'

'I'd always approve of curiosity.' I said casually. 'But I prefer to keep it within legal boundaries. There's never an excuse for all sorts of physical attacks towards anyone.'

'However.' He growled when he realized he wouldn't be able to provoke an uncontrolled reaction from me. 'All of this is not of importance anymore, isn't it? You've delivered your final verdict already anyways, Thor, haven't you?'

'It's the Court's task to deliver a verdict.' Thor said icily.

'Oh, right.' Dellingur snarled sarcastically. 'Of course, Odin doesn't have a say in matters of the Central Court. Our democracy works so well.'

'You're talking nonsense.' Thor replied. 'You just don't want to accept that we have evidence for the crimes you've committed. Trying to hack a brain implant is just as much a major crime as trying to commit murder. There's no necessity for anyone to try and influence the judges – and you know they wouldn't accept it anyways – there's evidence enough already. It's not too hard to imagine what the verdict will look like eventually. You can't deny the truth in my words.'

Dellingur remained silent, completely disarmed by Thor's so unimpressed words. I had no clue how crimes like these were sentenced by Asgard law, but Dellingur's reaction showed very clearly that he wasn't looking into a pleasant future.

'Uhm, is there any chance that someone tells me what's going on?' I therefore asked, not clouding my confusion.

'You don't know?' Dellingur spat. 'They've made you a member of the Asgard society and you don't have any idea how crimes are sentenced? What a shame!'

Now I was all the more confused by the obvious fact that I was missing an important piece of the puzzle. Maybe I should finally ask for the manual on 'How to be an Asgard' to spare myself any further embarrassing moments like this.

'Indeed, I don't know.' I admitted, ignoring my unpleasant thoughts.

'Major crimes are often sentenced with deletion from the Asgard storages on Valhalla.' He said gravely. I gasped in shock when the truth hit me and made me turn to Thor immediately.

'I thought there's nothing such as death sentence in your legal system?' I asked reproachfully. 'I consider depriving a person of his future nothing less than death sentence.'

Thor opened his mouth as though he wanted to object, but Dellingur was faster. 'Othala is not the paradise that they showed you, Aegeti Hermiodkona Thordotir.' I hated the way he spoke my name with too much loathing. 'But it doesn't matter anyway, does it?'

'What do you mean?' I inquired, trying to catch my breath.

'The Asgard won't have a future anyway, hence it doesn't matter what verdict will finally be delivered.' He snarled, even the last tad of friendliness fallen from his features. 'I know you're trying to deceive them with whatever promise you made. Do you really think I haven't understood long ago what your true motives are?'

'What the hell are you talking about?' I asked, completely oblivious of what Dellingur wanted to imply.

Dellingur laughed coldly, his eyes just small slits when he eyed me with disgust. 'From the very beginning, your only interest was to gain Thor's trust in order to convince him of your oh-so-good intentions, while all you ever wanted was this little git. I have no idea why you want Hermiod so badly, but I'm sure whatever it is, you can't be trusted, human.'

His implications made me angry, to say the least. I jumped up from my seat, because I simply couldn't stay calm anymore. I could have dealt with insults, but being reproached of not being trustworthy and of having dishonest goals was just too much. I was really glad that neither Thor nor the guards held me back when I approached Dellingur.

'You little piece of crap.' I growled at him, looming over him threateningly, my face just inches away from his. It felt good to sense the fear that was literally emanating from the small figure in front of me. 'You know nothing! In all your jealousy and pathetic need for revenge, you've completely lost sight of the big picture. My intentions have always been clear and honest. It's not me who's the criminal in here.'

'The Asgard don't need the help of a stupid human!' He fired, ducking his head when I moved even closer.

'It is not on you to decide what the Asgard need.' I spat. 'A person who tries to kill another, who uses uncontrolled violence to hack into someone's brain, doesn't have the tiniest tad of right to tell anyone what they need and have to do.'

'But you have that right?' He snarled. 'You who knows nothing about the Asgard? You who came here following a pathetic emotion that the Asgard have eradicated among themselves long ago? You who thinks that marrying one of us makes you part of us?'

I put my hand under Dellingur's chin, leaning down on him as closely as I could, because I sensed that I scared the hell out of him, even more so as none of the others even reacted on how I dealt with the culprit. I made him look at me, the grip of my hand firm enough to hurt him if he dared to move.

'The Asgard will have a future.' I whispered in his ear. 'They'll live for many more millennia and become greater than they already are. It fills me with joy to know that you won't be part of this future. I know, I don't have a say in this, but I'd love to be the one who deletes your files from the Valhalla databases.'

Dellingur desperately tried to back away from me, but as his chair was fixed to the floor and the clasps didn't give him the slightest chance of movement, he had to remain in my firm grip and didn't have the tiniest chance against me. I sensed the fear in him, but decided not to dwell on it.

'However.' I just said when he didn't answer, then straightened up and walked back to the bench where I sat down next to Thor again.

'Do you really think threatening me will bring you any further?' Dellingur now snarled.

'Oh, I don't need to threaten you.' I replied comfortably. 'But I have a question for you, actually.'

'What question might that be?' Dellingur wanted to know, obviously not really sure whether he wanted to hear the question.

'Do you regret?' I challenged him. 'At least a little bit?'

Dellingur looked genuinely surprised by the question, obviously not having expected it. He blinked a few times, then lowered his head.

'I do.' He said softly. 'I know you're going to think I'm a liar about this, but I really do. I don't hate Hermiod. I only hate the fact that I've been left out on so many things. Maybe you as a human are not aware of this, but Asgards actually do have dreams and specific ideas of their future. I've been a good engineer for millennia, and my dream has always been to serve under Supreme Commander Thor. I've served on many ships over all those years. When I was presented with the opportunity to claim my desired position on the Beliskner, I've been turned down. I assumed it to be impossible, because it actually was my turn, but the Supreme Commander wanted his son to claim the position. He had no right to. I know it wasn't Hermiod's fault in the first place.'

While talking, Dellingur's glare in Thor's direction had become more hostile by the second. There was no way not to notice that the criminal's true intentions hadn't been to hurt Hermiod in the first place, but his father, who hadn't cared for protocol, unfortunately. Maybe I would have been irked as well in his situation, but it still didn't give him any right to take his revenge on Hermiod.

Thor didn't say a word, just glared back at Dellingur in similar disdain. I didn't even want to know the mental exchange they were engaged in at the moment.

'I'm sorry for causing damage on Hermiod.' Dellingur went on after breaking eye contact with Thor. 'I've simply been thinking that the ends would justify the means.'

'You thought you'd be able to discredit Thor by finding out about the imaginary secret that you thought is being kept about Hermiod?' I wanted to know. 'What would it have been good for, if you found anything compromising? You'd still not have received the honour of serving on the flagship.'

'Actually, I was hoping Thor would be stripped of his status as the Supreme Commander.' Dellingur admitted. 'That would have perfected my revenge.'

Now it was Thor who stood up, obviously agitated, and stepped forward. Never before had I seen him that angry. Actually, I didn't even know a person as composed as Thor was even able to get as angry as that.

'Taking revenge because of questionable motives is not the Asgard way.' Thor said calmly, much calmer than I had expected. 'We're far beyond taking personal revenge.'

'The Asgard way?' Dellingur now fired. 'These days, the Asgard way is to be arrogant and careless about inferiors. The Asgard way is to let humans in on our most delicate matters. The Asgard way is to prefer some families over others…'

'Shut up!' Thor interrupted him, still admirably calm and composed. 'The Asgard way is to handle people with respect. It is not to put personal interests above our people as a whole.'

It was impossible not to realize that Dellingur had hurt a nerve there. Everyone who knew Thor, was fully aware of the fact that Thor's interest was always and foremost to keep his people safe. He put his people above his family and anything else, that's why Dellingur's reproaches were insulting on a very personal level.

As I didn't want the criminal to insult Thor any further, I stood up again and walked over to the two Asgards whose eyes were locked on each other, both of them unwavering.

'Can't we just get back to the actual subject we're here for?' I asked carefully, not wanting to belittle Thor's anger in any way. I simply believed it wouldn't help anyone, if those men engaged into an argument.

Thor exhaled, gave Dellingur a last scornful glare, and went back to his guards. I didn't need to send him a mental request to know exactly what he was thinking. I read it in his eyes.

"It's alright, Thor." I sent him a message nevertheless. "We'll handle that. I will never allow anyone to insult you."

Thor just raised his brow, obviously having received the message, and set down again, transfixing his eyes on Dellingur again, who was fully aware of the silent conversation that went on between Thor and me.

'Seems they've even given you the questionable honour to plant a device in your brain as well.' Dellingur said mockingly. 'Isn't it wonderful to be connected to the great race of the Asgard?'

I began to hate Dellingur's arrogance and sarcasm more and more. I've always been able to handle all sorts of disrespectful behaviour, but that guy was definitely going too far. When I had come here, I had been willing to give him a fair chance to explain himself and to obtain some interesting information, but since I was confronted with insults and mockery alone, I was losing patience by the minute.

'You know, I really wanted to give you a chance.' I therefore told him. 'We all would have given you a chance, but seemingly you don't want any, do you?'

'I didn't know my welfare is subject to the benevolence of our appreciated emissary from planet Earth.' He spat. 'You may be Thor's lawful daughter now, but I'm certain you don't have a right to judge me or even give me chances. You're not an Asgard. All you're good for is to be subject of Loki's very promising research.'

'Well, believe it or not, but this is definitely going to happen.' I threw at him mercilessly. 'Loki's research has been legalized the moment I agreed to give him DNA samples and whatever he needs. There has, actually, never been the need of your involvement. He just would have had to wait a few more days and everything would have been settled.'

Dellingur stared at me unbelieving. 'That's what you've made them believe?'

'There is nothing I'd have to make anyone believe.' I snarled. 'There are great things happening that are far beyond your own imagination. You do understand that I'm not willing to elaborate any further, but as I've told you before – the Asgard will have a future. Though, apparently, you won't.'

'Do you want to tell me he's actually found something?' Dellingur almost shouted in complete shock.

I just smirked, not uttering a further word. From the corner of my eye I saw Thor presenting a quite similar smirk. I've never seen him look so smug before. The good thing about people with a superior intellect is that they're able to catch a hint when necessary. Sometimes bluffing was the greatest of fun.

'It's a pity, isn't it?' I just said casually. 'Such a pity that you won't see any of it.'

For a while, Dellingur fell into deep silence. I could almost hear how he wracked his brain, maybe to find a way to talk himself out of his misery. I took the time to look at Thor and send him a message. He just tilted his head in understanding.

'What if I confessed?' Dellingur came up with a suggestion after the passing of several minutes. 'Would my confession have any influence on the outcome of the trial?'

I had expected this move of his, so I wasn't surprised. The hint on a future for the Asgard must have unsettled him severely. By now he had expected his fate would be the same as the other Asgards' fate, just to find out now that he, unlike the others, didn't have a future. I was surprised, though, that Thor played along, because bluffing somehow didn't fit the Asgard. I suspected General O'Neill's influence on him once more, which I was thankful for.

"What do you think?" I asked Thor mentally.

"Proceed as you deem necessary." He replied. "I can't guarantee anything, because it's the Court's decision what will happen to him. Though, I believe there could be a chance for him."

"I don't want him to be… eradicated from the Valhalla databases." I explained. "I find that pretty cruel, to be honest."

Thor tilted his head, his mental reaction was vague, though.

I turned back to Dellingur, who surely knew I was having that silent discussion with Thor. He looked expectant as well as a little scared. The severity of his situation seemed to finally dawn on him.

'I don't know.' I addressed him again. 'I don't even care, but if you want to save your own ass, it'd be definitely helpful if you told us exactly what really happened that afternoon.'

Vashur pulled out a strange apparatus from somewhere and placed it on the floor between us and Dellingur. I assumed it to be some recording device to tape Dellingur's confession. It was of the same material and form as the control stones, just twice as big.

Now things were getting serious, indeed, and even though I wanted the culprit to be punished, I didn't want him to be deleted from Valhalla, because in my opinion it came far too close to death sentence, which I couldn't approve of.

'It all began with Loki's request.' Dellingur began to speak pensively. 'He had heard from one of his many sources that a human was about to arrive on Othala, but he didn't know who the human was or what their business on our planet was, only that they'd arrive aboard Thor's ship.'

I swallowed hard and braced myself for whatever I was going to hear from Dellingur. I knew that I needed to hear it, but I was also sure it wasn't healthy for my peace of mind. I remained silent, while Dellingur kept on speaking.

'Loki sent me a call, because he knew that I was serving on the Beliskner as long as Hermiod hadn't been around. He didn't know that Hermiod was on the Beliskner, too. I, of course, knew about Hermiod's presence as well as the human's business and intentions regarding Hermiod.'

'Would you please stop calling Aegeti 'the human' in such a disrespectful way.' Thor interrupted him curtly. Not a question, but an order.

'Very well.' Dellingur acknowledged. 'Loki was only interested in Aegeti, because he was looking for human DNA desperately to continue his research. Therefore, I replied to his request. Knowing that my chance on talking to Hermiod had finally arrived, I volunteered to kidnap Aegeti in an instant. Loki didn't know I'd take Hermiod, too, and for reasons unknown to me at that time, he wasn't pleased when I brought him along. Fortunately, he was so consumed by his conversation with and experiments on Aegeti that he didn't care about what happened to Hermiod. Therefore, I took him with me to another room of Loki's science vessel, one of the labs he normally didn't use.'

I exhaled and bit my lip, thankful that Dellingur was staring at the ground and not at me. I was afraid he'd find my discomfort amusing. Suddenly, Thor put his hand on my forearm reassuringly, showing me that he was there and that he'd keep me from any harm.

In the meantime, Dellingur kept on explaining. 'I knew that my chances of retrieving any information from Hermiod were little, but I had to try anyways. It was my only chance, after all, my once in a lifetime opportunity. At first, I began asking him questions, but he refused to answer, naturally. Of course, I knew that Hermiod had received the best mental training possible, like all members of Odin's family do. They never avoid any effort possible, after all. So I decided to use one of the medical pods to… inflict some pain, but still he withstood and started to ask counter-questions. That was the moment I got angry.'

I bit my lip even harder, gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. I had a hard time not to jump up and punch him like I had done on the Beliskner right after Thor had freed us from Loki's ship.

'What did you do?' Thor asked, obviously just as unsettled as me. We were talking about Hermiod, after all, who was the most important person to both of us.

'I decided to try and hack his brain implant, because I knew that as soon as I had access to it, I would be able to retrieve every bit of information he concealed from me. Therefore, I connected the medical pod's computer to the main system and ran a program in order to break the encryption of his implant. I should have expected that the computer was too weak to even get close to what I wanted. Of course, I also know that even the most advanced Asgard computer wouldn't be able to break the encryption, but I simply had to try, because as I said before, it was my one and only chance to find out the truth.'

'Didn't you know that messing around with those delicate devices is life-threatening?' Thor interrupted, seemingly agitated. I can't say I was any less agitated.

'To be honest, at that particular moment, I simply didn't care for Hermiod's pain, for his screams whenever the computer failed to get access. It seemed to have hurt terribly, but at that place and time, I just felt… satisfaction.' Dellingur confessed, his voice so small that I could hardly hear him. 'It was such a manic attempt to retrieve information that I'd have done everything necessary in order to succeed. It wasn't of importance to me whether Hermiod lived or died. At that moment, he meant nothing to me. It was more the other way around. I actually thought that, if he didn't survive, I would finally get back my position on the Beliskner and my revenge on Thor.'

He fell silent for a moment while Thor and I exchanged glances. He was no less shocked than me. The mere thought of Hermiod, my Hermiod, dying at the hands of this lunatic, was outrageous and heart-breaking at the same time.

'I admit that Hermiod wouldn't have survived if you hadn't insisted on seeing him.' Dellingur now addressed me directly. 'You've saved his life unknowingly.'

'Yeah, right.' I spat. 'But even when you were back at Loki's lab with him, you didn't stop to mistreat him. I saw you kicking him around, even after you had stunned him. Didn't you notice that his body was weak? Or did you simply not care about the damage you'd do on a helpless person? I can't believe an Asgard being that thoughtless and despicable.'

'Hermiod was the embodiment of all I couldn't achieve.' Dellingur tried to justify his doings. 'I knew that I'd never be able to stand where he stood, simply because I was no son of Odin's family.'

'So your overall motive was jealousy?' I shouted at him. 'You're such a pathetic piece of crap! Hermiod was helpless and ill that day. He needed medical care, but all you did was to torture him, hurt him! Hermiod has done nothing that would ever justify your deeds! Being Thor's son isn't his fault!'

'Indeed.' Thor threw in. 'Wouldn't it have been more logical to address me with your complaints instead of mistreating my son?'

Dellingur stared at the floor, struggling for words that just didn't come. We gave him time to think, because as long as he still wracked his brain, there was a chance for him to feel true remorse. Remorse, not just a feeling of remotely being sorry.

'Are you going to give me an answer anytime soon?' Thor finally lost his patience, surprising me. Normally, Thor wasn't a person who lost patience easily, but this was about Hermiod and nothing would ever be more serious than that.

'I have always admired you, Supreme Commander.' Dellingur began to speak after a while, his voice low. 'I've spent a lifetime dreaming to serve under your command one day. There was no other goal for me to achieve. I simply wanted to find out why someone else took the place I was destined for, why a person who hadn't spent as much time as me working on that goal was preferred. You shouldn't have preferred your son. It's your fault that he got into this situation.'

His impertinence made me angry in an instant. By now I had been sure I'd be able to handle the rest of his confessions. I hadn't felt like running out of the room for minutes now, but now, right now, Dellingur had crossed a line he better hadn't crossed. Therefore, I jumped up again and leaped over to him with unbridled vigour.

I loomed over him again, my face almost touching his. I put all the venom in my glare that I would have loved to just spit at him. He tried to withstand, squeezed his eyes shut, but I invaded his mind nevertheless, once more stunned by the fact how easily I got adapted to Asgard technology.

He gasped in shock when I touched his very core, getting aware of all the suppressed emotions he concealed.

'Let me remind you of one important fact.' I spat venomously. 'You are the criminal. You have lured Hermiod into your trap. You have inflicted the pain on him. You have tried to hack his implant. You have tortured him. You have tried to kill him.'

Dellingur wanted to object, but I silenced him with an impatient gesture. 'If you dare to insult Thor ever again while in my presence, I'll be more than just a little intimidating. I recommend you to get one fact in your head: The only person in this room who's guilty of what happened to Hermiod is you and you alone.' I straightened up and turned around.

'Whatever you say, it doesn't change the fact that Hermiod didn't have the right to take my position!' Dellingur growled.

I turned back to him in a single movement, putting my hand under his chin like I had done earlier that day already and glared into his eyes until he finally turned his head. Only then did I speak, slowly and composedly. 'The position has never been and will never be yours.'

Then I let go of him and went back to the bench, sat down, crossed my arms and glared at Dellingur. I could literally sense the shock this simple sentence had put him in.

'I'm sorry.' He whispered after a while. 'I shouldn't have done this…'

Thor and I looked at each other in surprise, because after all the accusations, we both hadn't expected anything from Dellingur that was at least remotely an apology.

'I do think it is too late for your apology now.' Thor said in a hard voice. 'I cannot accept it.'

Then Thor got up and moved towards the door, but I reached out for him and took his arm in a gentle grip. He stood still immediately, giving me an incredulous glance. I stood up once more, my hand still on Thor's shoulder while I tried to get all the wiser of Dellingur's recent behaviour.

'Are you really sorry?' I asked, carefully. 'You know I can sense a lie, don't you? So I recommend you to be honest.'

'I know that sometimes the ends don't justify the means.' He said slowly. 'I've come to the conclusion that I shouldn't have laid my hands on Hermiod, because it's never worth getting in trouble with Odin's family. I'm sorry that Hermiod had to suffer because of me, because it clearly wasn't his fault. Though, I'm not sorry for my attempt to give my small family a voice.'

'I will have to talk to Elli in person.' Thor now said matter-of-factly. 'I'm certain he won't be pleased by his son's doings.'

I supposed Elli to be the elder of Dellingur's family. I even remembered the name from all my studies of Norse mythology, that's why I knew that, according to the legends, Elli and Thor had been opponents once. Of course, I had no clue how much of this information had an actual meaning in the real Asgard society.

'Don't.' Dellingur whispered. 'Please, don't.'

Thor glared at him one last time. 'I'm done here.' He then said coldly and turned to the door.

I decided to follow him, because all in all there wasn't anything else I could have talked about with Dellingur anymore. I was tired endlessly by what he had confessed. My head hurt just as much as my heart hurt, and all I wanted to do right now, was to go home to Hermiod, hug him madly and just stay in his embrace until I felt at peace again.

Vesh put the force field back in place, then opened the heavy door that led into the corridor. Thor left the room without looking back and I was about to follow him right after.

'Aegeti.' I suddenly heard Dellingur's voice behind me. 'Would you please grant me a moment alone with you?'

I looked at him in surprise, then gave Thor an uncertain glance. He just tilted his head. 'We'll be waiting right outside the door.' He assured me. 'You know how to call me. We can be back in a second.'

I nodded. 'Thank you, Thor.'

Vashur and Satja left the room as well, the latter looking at me sorrowfully. Once again, I wondered why the Asgard guard was so interested in me. I assumed he hadn't seen a human before, but I also sensed something else, a glimpse of sincerity and loyalty. Therefore, I gave him a smile. He tilted his head in approval and left. The heavy door closed behind him.

'What is it?' I asked Dellingur impatiently, rubbing my temples to ease the headache.

'There's something I've found in Hermiod's mind that he wasn't able to conceal. Just one thing.' He said secretively.

I didn't do him the favour of being impatient, just waited in silence for him to continue.

'He sees himself as yours alone.' Dellingur explained. 'If he didn't have such strong feelings for you, such unwavering loyalty, I'd maybe have succeeded in breaking him. You're his strength, his defence.'

'I know that already.' I said nonchalantly.

'He loves you with an intensity I'd never have expected from an Asgard.' Dellingur went on, his voice firm and full of undoubted admiration. 'I recommend you to always be worth this amount of love.'

'I will.' I acknowledged. 'And I will always keep him safe from people like you and any other danger. He deserves all the love in the world, and if you weren't such a terrible person, you'd maybe deserve our friendship. I liked you at first, you know. Working with you on the Daedalus was really inspiring, because your technical knowledge is admirable. But you've ruined everything just because you were impatient and full of loathing. Believe me, I'm the last who'd want your files deleted from the Valhalla databases. I'm always in for second chances, but unfortunately, Thor isn't.'

'I know, Aegeti.' He said quietly. 'I know I can't save myself anymore, but I have one thing that I'd like to ask you for.'

'What is it?' I asked in surprise.

'Save the Asgard.' He mouthed. 'Save my people. They really deserve it.'

'I promise.' I said quietly, then I turned around and left the room deep in thoughts.