Hela's Change

When Bloom wakes up, she gets the idea for a moment that everything that happened was just a dream and she's on Domino - then she cracks her eyes open and sees the painted ceiling of her room on Asgard, it wasn't a dream then.

She can guess Loki's sitting next to her, with Thor leaning against the wall a few feet behind. When she turns to look, she was half right - it's Loki sitting in a chair next to her bed, but the person leaning on the wall is Hela. "Weird…you two look the same. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were related by blood."

Loki helps her sit up, quietly asking "Bloom, exactly what possessed you to let Hela live?"

Bloom says "You know what, Loki. Don't pretend you don't."

Hela walks over, saying "Thor took the throne, nobody's very happy that I'm alive - but…"

Bloom says "Asgardians love a good war story, bet they won't be able to live without yours after a few weeks."

"What happened to you anyway? You've been out for a while."

Bloom grins and says "That's the price of my magic. I use too much, I have to sleep and eat it off. Kind of annoying, but hey, I can live with it. How's everything?"

Loki says "The palace is rebuilt, Hela relinquished her claim to the throne, I said Thor wouldn't get me on it if he still had Mjolnir and tried to trap me on the chair, so Thor had no choice but to take it. We both knew what your response would have been, so there was no need to try and offer it to you."

"Thanks, guess I finally got you two to understand that reasoning."

Loki adds "Oh, and everyone knows about our little scheme of trying to find Odin now. Thor and I had to admit he'd been gone for over a year, seeing as he vanished from Asgard when we went to Earth to find him."

Hela asks "You two really impersonated our father for over a year when he went missing?"

Bloom says "Yeah, none of us actually wanted the throne by then. I never wanted it from the beginning, Thor grew to not want it, Loki didn't want it in the beginning, wanted it for a bit, then ended up not wanting it - and now you don't want it." SHe shrugs and finishes "Someone had to take the throne, I guess."

Hela shrugs, and says "The people never would've accepted me anyway, not after everything that's happened."

Bloom says "I bet the Einherjar would like their captain back, or maybe they'd just like someone to be able to take me on in the training ring."

Hela laughs, and says "I think I can fill that role at least."

Loki asks "So…now that your back…"

"I won't go on another killing spree, brother. I'm done with that, conquering. I'll kill anyone who tries to invade our home, but don't expect me to join any wars."

Bloom lets out a chuckle, and says "Not on Thor's to-do list - not anymore, at any rate."

Hela says "He asked me if I wanted to train the Einherjar, or at least be a sparring partner for you. I said if the way you fought before was any indication I'd be happy to spar with you - we may learn a few moves from one another."

Loki says "You may be the one person Bloom could go all-out on, most Asgardians are too…what was the word you used? Breakable?"

Bloom laughs and says "I'd snap them in half if I got too into the fight, unfortunately. But, as Odin's firstborn, Hela has increased strength and stamina - and being immortal helps as well."

Loki blinks, then asks "Immortal?"

Hela laughs and says "You know a thing or two, sister."

"I figured it out when I punched you in the fight and didn't hear the sound of every bone in your body breaking - and when you caught one of my punches easily."

"And did the whole part-dragon thing about you do anything else I should know about?"

"Well…" Bloom takes her sunglasses off, then stares at Hela for a full minute before putting them back on.

"Oh. Not the maddest thing I've seen before."

Bloom adds "One of the sanest things about my life as well. Just wait, soon enough the next adventure will come popping up. Either from Earth or Magix, or maybe here on Asgard again. At any rate, I think I'll go get something to eat."

Hela hesitates for an instant, then asks "Wait, one more question. Who's Ember?"

"What?"

"During our duel, you said you'd rather be riding Ember around - who is Ember?"

"Oh, of course. One sec." Bloom closes her eyes for an instant, then a hole in the air opens up with a fireball and Ember comes flying through. She lands directly on Bloom's chest and proceeds to lick her face profusely, Bloom starts laughing, and Hela can only watch in amazement for an instant before snapping out of her shock.

"You said you could ride her. Can I assume this is what you call a dragon?"

"Yeah, one species. There are all kinds of dragons, from slim and fast to big and strong. Embers one of the fast dragons. And she's this small now, but she can grow to her full size in an instant. I taught her that." Ember looks up at Hela curiously, and Bloom lets out a series of growls to her.

Hela's amazement only grows at that, and Loki whispers "You get used to it after a while."

Ember thrums, and Bloom says "You can pet her, she won't bite."

Hela runs her fingers along Ember's scales, and asks "You raised her?"

"Hatched her, raised her, she'll outlive me by a long shot." Ember nuzzles Bloom's neck, making her laugh again. "Ember, you know that tickles!"

"For all your skill with a blade and magic, you don't seem to be very battle-hardened."

"Not towards friends and family, sister. You should see me in a fight though, apparently I get really scary."

Loki chuckles, and says "That's an understatement, Bloom. Thor and I have watched you fight, you get more than scary. You send your enemies running for their lives."

Bloom snorts and says "Or swimming, lately." She stands up, sways a little, then says "Loki, I'm going to get some food. I really need to eat something now, end of story."

When she gets into the feast hall everyone's eating and celebrating the victory and retaking of their home - and they all burst into applause when someone sees Bloom. They're calling her the savior of Asgard, and Bloom lets out a shrill whistle to get people's attention - then yells "People! The Savior of Asgard would like to eat instead of getting paraded around the city! Plenty of time for that after I eat something!"

Everyone bursts out into laughter, and Bloom quietly does the same spell for Hela that she did for Loki years ago - the one that makes it possible for people to trust her. She sits down next to Sif, who says "You saved us once again. And you found Brunhilde, leader of the Valkyries. You really do the impossible on a regular basis."

"Brunhilde? The legendary leader of the Valkyries lost long ago? Where did I find her?"

"According to Thor, it was some place called Sakaar. You and Loki got him out of a tournament with Bruce Banner, who Heimdall already sent back to Earth by the way, and then you went and disarmed the leader of the Valkyries in a matter of moments!"

Bloom blinks, looks at her drink to see if it's alcoholic, then looks at Sif and asks "Valkyrie is really Brunhilde?!"

Thor and Valkyrie, or Brunhilde as she's really called, look over when they hear her voice, and walk over. Thor hugs Bloom, who says "Looks like you finally got your throne, Brother. Even if you didn't want it this time. By the way, you wouldn't happen to know the name of the missing leader of the Valkyries, would you?"

Valkyrie looks ashamed, and holds her hand up while saying "Brunhilde. We heard you. Yes, I know what you're going to say. Please don't, you don't know how much I lost. Everything I had, nearly including my life."

"Why didn't you say? How hard would it have been to say 'Oh, by the way, my name isn't really Valkyrie, it's Brunhilde.' at some point in our little adventure?"

Brunhilde grins at Thor, and says "You were right, your majesty. Fiery and defiant as ever."

Bloom takes a long look at both of them, then says "Okay, I'll leave you two alone then."

Brunhilde asks "What?"

Bloom smirks and says "Don't think I can't see what's going on. A: I grew up with Loki as a brother. B: I've survived a lot of things by seeing what isn't being said. C: I can read people like books, especially when I know them."

The last part is aimed more at Thor then Brunhilde, who blushes and says "Bloom, whatever you think you're reading-"

She starts humming the wedding march, making Thor stop talking and Brunhilde look confused. "What's that?"

"It's a song they play when two people get married. I'll get some armor for the occasion." Bloom winks mischievously, then goes to sit back down by Sif and get a plate of food.

Loki walks over and asks "What just happened?"

Brunhilde says "You taught her too well."

Thor whispers "Let's just say you weren't wrong. And Bloom knows it."

Loki snickers, and asks "I take it Asgard's king will have a queen soon?"

Thor socks him in the shoulder, and says "Shut up, I think you put the idea in her head."

"No! I never mentioned a word about it to Bloom!" They both start laughing, and Bloom grins over at them while eating an apple they're sure she didn't have a moment before.

Then, she raises an eyebrow at Loki and discreetly points to Sif – making Loki blush and shake his head. The silent conversation goes on for a few minutes, until Loki finally gives up and starts talking to Thor – Bloom, instead of looking offended, looks extremely amused by the reaction.

AN: Happy New Year! First chapter of 2018! As for this chapter, Hela seems to be adjusting well. If anyone asks why Bloom didn't need to sing or anything like last time, it's because of her Believix powers. She didn't have them during the Convergence, so she gave herself some inspiration to get the Loki she knew and loved back. Now, she has Believix powers and could simply do the spell to change her heart. With magic, imagination's the limit - because the sky sure isn't! Anyway, enjoy! More updates coming soon, and any suggestions for myths for Selina to pull out of the Legendarium would be really helpful right about now!