Last time...
"Hera…How long have the others been asleep?" Neville inquired, looking at everyone else. "Is this you? To, you know, give us a bit of privacy for this conversation?"
She looked confused, before looking to their friends. No, Neville realized, this had not been Hera's doing. It had been Hermione first, resting against Luna, who followed soon after into sleep. Then Ron had begun lightly snoring as he leaned against the window. Hera herself was beginning to look particularly sleepy, but neither got a chance to comment on it before the door to the compartment opened, and Draco stepped in.
"Hera…" Draco tried, his voice coming out strangely thick with sleep. "I think…I think something's wrong."
He barely managed to sit down next to her before passing out.
"Is this What's-his-name somehow?" Neville demanded, anger and worry warring within him. Hera shook her head no. "Then what is it? What's happening? How can I help?"
"You can't." Hera explained, even as her eyes closed and she settled back into the seat. "We're being called."
"Called?" Neville tried, shaking her. "By who? Hera? Hera!"
But there was no answer, as Hera had slipped into the same sleep the others had, and now he didn't know what to do.
Chapter 98
Hera could still hear Neville's frantic calls to her in her ears even as she looked around her new surroundings, though his voice faded as she got her bearings. Hermione looked pissed, her arms crossed as she glowered at the door like it had personally offended her. Luna was humming some tune Hera didn't know but felt she should recognize. Draco was pacing nervously, muttering to himself. Ron was talking with a group of people Hera hadn't spoken to in ages, and she was honestly surprised to see them here now.
"Where are we?" Hera asked as she looked around, all eyes drawn to her.
"Lady Hera!" Thor called out joyously, youthful happiness ever present. "Tis most disconcerting. My friends and I performed the shield-brethren ritual, and somehow we ended up here."
"Then where's Loki?" Hera inquired, though she already knew the answer.
"'Tis Loki's fault we are here." Sif scowled, right before Hera had her up in the air by her ankle with a wandless nonverbal 'Levi-corpus'.
"I thought you'd outgrown such childish behaviour, Sif, accusing someone of things without proof. By the laws of Ásgarðr, you could be executed for such accusations against a prince of the realm without legitimate proof, you know. Be thankful you can hide under Thor's petticoats as you are." Hera sneered. On closer inspection, she added. "You look different. Did you do something with your hair?"
The glare alone would have been enough to kill her, were such a thing possible, but the slew of insults had been quite impressive before Hera silenced her as well.
"I see. That's why you're accusing him. Do you still believe he's lying? Don't bother answering. Of course, you do, because it allows you not to have to face the truth of the matter." Hera snorted, before releasing the spells she had on the woman, and letting her hit the ground.
"What are you talking about, Hera?" Ron wondered, having casually strolled over to them. "What does she think Loki is lying about?"
"Oh, Loki removed an enchantment from her hair, revealing her golden locks to be black instead. She doesn't believe that's what he did. She thinks he dyed it with magic, and while that would be an amusing prank, it's not what happened." Hera replied, still glaring at Sif, who had managed to right herself. "Loki had no reason to lie, but he had every reason to reveal one. You see, Sif's a bastard; and I mean that in the strictest sense, not the behavioural one. Her mother stepped out on her father while he was away, and even she doesn't know who the actual father is, but there are ways to hide such things; ways to ensure that a child looks like the man you married. Sif doesn't want to face that, because she thinks that will take away the 'Lady' title she's earned among her friends; as if her supposed noble birth is why it was given to her. Loki's likely known about it for ages, but had no reason to reveal it, until he did. It hadn't mattered to him before, because it had no bearing on who she was as a person. What was it, Sif? What was the reason you gave him that made him decide to reveal the lie to you?"
Sif refused to look at her.
"That's okay, I already know." Hera revealed, revelling in the panicked expression that crossed the young woman's face. She didn't need to look to see that Thor and the others were interested in hearing why Loki had decided to reveal a truth so harshly. "He's always admired you, you see; your passion, your perseverance against all odds. He made his wish to court you known, didn't he?"
"Loki wishes to court Lady Sif?" Thor wondered in surprise.
"Wished, Thor." Hera corrected. "I said wished. He no longer desires such a thing, not after what she did."
"Why would you not consider it?" Thor inquired, confused but not objectionable to the idea of his friend and brother entering into a courtship. "My brother would not have imposed his will upon your own, or refused to understand that you love the life of a warrior. He himself has his own interests, after all, and would have treated you well."
"We are not compatible!" Sif insisted with a huff.
"She's not wrong there. Sif refuses to realize that if women can be warriors, then men can be mages, and that neither are weaker for their choice. Loki has no wish to stay in Ásgarðr, other than the occasional visit with family, wanting instead to travel the realms. The two lifestyles are not conductive for a solid relationship." Hera acknowledged with a shrug, looking to Thor before her attention returned to Sif. "However, he would have accepted your refusal with grace had you been polite about it. You chose instead to publicly humiliate him, and so he did the same to you. Everyone will believe your lie over his truth, and even though it means that you will come out the better for it, it burns just a little to know that though he is known as the god of lies, it is you that holds one as truth. Ironic, all things considering."
"Wait, if that's Sif, then…" Ron trailed off, looking to Thor, narrowing his eyes at him. "You must be the berk that almost cost me my best friend!"
"That is no way to talk to the Crown Prince of Ásgarðr!" Came the chorus of objections on Thor's behalf. Sif made to attack him, but was cut off from her attempt by the blade of Hera's halberd being suddenly at her neck.
"I like you, Sif. You've a fire in you few possess, and I admire that you're willing to forge your own path, though I think you need to realize that also applies to others as well." Hera stated conversationally, before her voice turned to steel as she continued. "However, if you take one more step towards my shield brother, I will remove your head from your body, and use the curve of your skull as a drinking bowl. Are we clear?"
"Maybe we should take a step back before threats of violence become reality, shall we?" Draco suggested diplomatically, stepping between them and gently moving the blade of the halberd away. "We still need to figure out where we are and how we got here."
"We were called." Hera answered, allowing the halberd to be moved. It vanished not a second later, back to wherever it went when it wasn't needed. "I felt it. Someone was calling for us."
"No, not calling for us. They were calling for you, Hera." Luna corrected, joining the conversation. "Whoever it was was trying to call for you."
"How do you know this to be true?" Hogun wondered, regarding Luna thoughtfully. "We arrived first."
"You all have strong ties to Hera's last life, and so you were called first. Her last life is safe from this, because they aren't the one being called; Hera is. We are her shield-brethren, and act as a defence against such things, so we were called next." Luna explained easily. "No one else has arrived since Hera has been here. There was no need for them to call anyone else. They have who they were after. The only questions now are why they called at all, and what to do about it."
"Has anyone tried to call Heimdall?" Hera inquired.
"Many times, but there has been no answer." Fandral relayed, to which Hera paled. "What is it, Lady Hera?"
"Few places can shield us from the eyes of Heimdall, and even fewer beings can summon a person against their will to those places; the Mad Titan being one of them." Hera revealed quietly. Most of Thor's company looked sceptical, though she was comforted by her friends' sudden alertness. "He is no mere story, and he is far more terrible than any such story could ever portray. I would know."
"Do not worry, Lady Hera, we will protect you!" Thor declared, but Hera scowled.
"You will die, if it is indeed the Mad Titan. Your assurance in the might of Ásgarðr will not save you here, Thor Oðinson, and I do not share in it. There is always someone greater, stronger, or more terrible than you. You would do well to remember that." Hera proclaimed, troubling the prince. She looked to her friends. "I do not believe that is who has done this, but you need to be wary. Anyone with that sort of power, who is willing to abscond with people against their will, does not have any sort of good intention."
"We've been practising." Hermione assured her, now making her way over to them. "Isn't that right, you horse's arse?"
"Forgive me, my lady, I meant only to persuade you into a bit of fun. You looked so lovely, and yet so tense. Such worry should not cloud such a beautiful face!" Fandral insisted, rubbing at a place above his eye as if in remembrance of the pain inflicted.
"You're right." Hera declared, causing Hermione to look at her with rage and Fandral to perk up, right before she added. "He is a horse's arse."
Fandral squawked in objection, while Hermione snorted in amusement.
"I did warn you that ladies would start taking offence to you treating them as objects, Fandral." Hera reminded him, and Fandral began sulking. "Besides, she has laid claim to a fine warrior of her own, and she is far too intelligent to settle for whatever fleeting fancy you tried to tempt her with."
"I feel like I should point out that we've been held here against our will by persons unknown." Hermione reminded them, blushing just a touch. "We might want to work on that."
At that, the door that Hermione had been staring at before opened.
"Should we see what they want?" Volstagg inquired cautiously. Hera sometimes forgot that he was the eldest of them, as he is the only one other than Hogun to approach any situation with caution first.
"Indeed we should! And remind them that it is a crime to abscond with such fine warriors as ourselves!" Thor declared, and made for the door.
Hera has a split second Loki echo like worry, because Thor never really did learn self preservation, but managed to stop herself from forcing Thor to see reason. Thor had never appreciated it when Loki was the voice of reason, and never listened to him regardless. Perhaps a practical lesson was in order. Her worry now was for her friends, her shield-brethren, all of whom now looked to her. None of them made for the door, even as Thor and his friends left.
"Ron, you are a master of chess, and a brilliant tactician in your own right. Draco, your father will hear about this. Hermione, I believe there isn't a fact in this universe that you don't know or can't find out with careful research. Luna-" Hera began, hoping she could bolster their confidence.
"We can do this, Hera." Luna interrupted, knowingly.
"I don't know who has us, or what they want. I don't want to risk you." Hera insisted. "This could be dangerous."
"Then it will be dangerous." Luna shrugged. "We're ready."
"Do you have the necklaces that were sent?" Hera inquired. Suddenly her friends all looked guilty.
"We put them on, but well…" Ron began. "Mine vanished. I didn't want to say anything."
"Mine did too." Draco confirmed. The others all nodded.
"You're still wearing them." Hera informed them, much to their disbelief. "Touch the hollow of your throat. It'll activate your armour."
They all did as Hera asked, as she did the same, and all were ensconced in armour like her own; all of it , including her own, now Goblin made.
"Yours is a bit more…active in the word meaning than the protective armour sent to everyone else." Hera admitted sheepishly, rubbing at the back of her neck in nervous habit. "I figured you'd need it, being my shield-brethren and all. In the case that your hands are bound, you need only think of it to activate the armour, and in the event that you are truly incapacitated, it will come to your defence on its own."
Ready as they were going to be, they all start heading out the door as well.
"Hera, why did you think that phrase would be what bolstered me?" Draco asked quietly, from her left.
"It wasn't the phrase that was supposed to do it, but the image it conjured." Hera corrected. He looked both confused and intrigued. "Draco, we will live through this; whatever this even is. I refuse to believe anything else. Now, imagine the proud look on your father's face when we tell him what happened during this unexpected adventure to who knows where."
Draco's expression slowly began to change into a softened version of his arrogant smirk as he likely thought about exactly that.
"That." Hera informed him, wearing her own smirk. "That is why I said that to you."
…
"I still don't see why I have to be here." Hades grumbled. "I'm not interested in whatever revenge you've concocted to avenge your cock, Zeus. You know I think you deserved what happened to you, and it's not like the damned thing hasn't grown back already."
"Shut up, Hades, just…shut up." Zeus scowled, lightning dancing across his skin in tiny arcs.
Hades sighed, and glanced around them, seeing the group of young warriors that had already been subdued for all their bravado, and ventured. "So, I take it you've found Hera's muse?"
Zeus visibly relaxed, though not much, his eyes focused on the entrance to the arena. "I did. Strange that it took so long. I kept finding connections, but not the original person. They're finally down there though, which is all I really care about."
Zeus kept talking, Hades knew, but he couldn't hear him. For at that moment, a being completely unknown and yet entirely familiar to him walked into the arena, four others at her side. He knew this person, though he hadn't yet met her. Being outside of time was rather confusing that way. In his mind's eye, he saw a tiny blue skinned child with horns like his own in a time that had not yet come to pass for him.
"Zeus, I would advise you not to go after this girl." Hades whispered to him, his eyes on the young ones in the arena even though he knew Zeus was glaring daggers at him in this moment.
"And why, pray tell, not?" Zeus demanded, seething.
"She's like me, Zeus." Hades continued. "Whatever it is you think you know, you don't. That girl is fated, Zeus. You know what that means."
"Do you really think you can forbid me?" Zeus demanded, enraged, turning to him now.
"No. I know that I can not forbid you, nor would I. I only ask that you reconsider. From a place of concern, and brotherly like affection, I am warning you." Hades corrected, turning to plead with his friend. "Please, turn back from this path before it is too late. I know you crave vengeance, but nothing but trouble awaits you if you continue down this path. Make peace with your wife, listen to her words of wisdom, find love there or free her from vows you have never honoured, but leave this be. I beg of you."
He could see it in his friend's eyes that there would be no peace. Zeus had never really listened to him, so it was useless to hope for it now. Hades shook his head and turned his attention back to the girl. She intrigued him, and he wished to know how she became one of Death's chosen while being so young. He wanted to know why even now he counted her friend already, not wishing for a confrontation between the two, though knowing he could do nothing to stop it.
It was strange that she seemed more worried for her companions than for herself. She kept them slightly behind her, even as they walked by her side, ever the protector. It did not escape her notice that the others who'd come out before her had been subdued already, but she made no move to free them. She took in the arena, the stands, the seat of power. She took in the people cheering for the fight to come, but her eyes stopped when they landed on him.
Zeus shrugged off his plea, snapping his fingers to signal the warriors of the arena. Hades stood up in alarm as warriors swarmed the field, knowing the magic dampeners had been activated. From the look on her face, the girl knew it as well. Strange that she did not seem overly bothered by it. Granted, it did not halt all magic, but it certainly didn't help it either, and many magic users died in the arenas before working out the limits of the spell in place.
These five young ones did not panic, but instead took to dodging the warriors. It was almost like a dance, and music even began playing in the background…music that he had never heard in the arena, but knew all too well in a certain part of Earth. Being outside of time really was confusing, considering he hadn't actually met them yet either. This was the dance of death, and it was only a matter of time before someone got caught in it. It was the blonde that surprised him, catching a flying dagger before deftly sending it back; pity that it caught the man's throat instead, as she'd been aiming for his shoulder.
…
When they entered the arena, Hera could not help but walk slightly ahead of them. She knew they'd kept up with their training even when she was not around, but this was bigger than that. This was…she didn't know what this was. She had no frame of reference for this, no experience from Loki's memories that covered this. Whatever her friends had done, it would have to be enough.
It bothered her that Thor and Co were here but Loki was not, that they had performed the shield-brethren bond without him. She remembered when Loki discovered what they'd done without him, and though he hid it well, she knew it had hurt him. Oh, he'd been the very image of a proud younger brother, but inside he'd wondered why he hadn't been enough. Thor had most likely been caught up in the moment as he so often was, so his thoughtlessness was not malicious even though it was hurtful, but Sif and the others had gone out of their way not to include Loki; something they bragged about to him whenever Thor was out of earshot.
Her friends walked with her, confident even if they were nervous. They would see each other through, something she took heart in. It allowed her to observe their surroundings without issue. She noted Thor and Co were out of the fight all too soon, and it had been a fight. That was seen easily in the bruises and abrasions.
Why had they been without their weapons? Had they really gone into a secluded area with no weapons to do the shield-brethren ritual? A warrior, even barely trained ones such as they were, knew better than to go anywhere without their weapon. A wixen was their own weapon, magic that they were, and so they were always well armed. Hera knew there were places magic didn't touch, or couldn't because of dampening spells placed to counter such things, and had trained her friends accordingly; all had started carrying an alarming array of small blades and things in inconspicuous places, something she was more than glad for now.
'Potter,' She hears, surprised to realize it is Professor Snape. 'I don't know what you're doing, or what happened, but you need to come back. Umbridge is on the war path, demanding your expulsion for endangering students, and your shield-brethren for colluding with you, though they are the ones she is claiming you're endangering. Lucius is doing what he can to keep Fudge from answering her calls, and is raising hell against anyone that would threaten the bond of shield-brethren as endangerment. The Headmaster is doing everything he can to keep things peaceful, but it will not hold for long. Whatever it is that you're doing, it can't be as important as getting in Umbridge's way before she tries to take over the school. She's demanding the head of everyone who's trying to oppose her, and it won't be long before Lucius can no longer distract Fudge from giving into her to give them time for whatever it is they're doing.'
"I can't." She whispers, hoping it somehow makes it to him, and then she spots someone up in the stands. Her mind is filled with a hazy image of that exact man, horns on his head like hers. "Me'Me?"
