Chapter 2 – Judged
Despite her father's best attempts to hide her from prying eyes, the girl and her brothers soon found themselves in front of the throne of Odin. Flanking the king of the gods were his wife Frigga and other members of the Aesir – Thor, the thunder god; Tyr, the war god (who oddly enough had felt genuinely sorry for her); Baldur, the god of spring; and lastly Frey and Freyja, the god and goddess of beauty and all good things. Standing in the vast courtyard were the rest of the gods and goddesses of Asgard along with their retainers.
Loki pouted and skulked about directly behind his children, angry that Odin would kidnap and judge them and, by doing so, shame their father. In his dirty heart of hearts, Loki was sorry he begat them and even sorrier that such ugly things could be considered his.
Jormungand – still in his fearsome snake-shape and menacing the nearby Aesir with sharp fangs and red split tongue – had been told by Allfather Odin that if he chose to be a snake, he would be destined to live all his days as one. Odin had Thor toss the serpent into the sea, where he would grow and grow until he could place his tail in his mouth and hold Midgard – the land of humans - together.
Fenrir, similarly wolf-clad, became docile in the presence of the Aesir in an attempt to convince them that he meant no harm and was incapable of causing them trouble. Hela had seen the sly twinkle in his eyes and knew otherwise, but kept her counsel. Allfather Odin declared that if he remained obedient, Fenrir could stay in Asgard.
When it became Hela's turn, all eyes turned to her father. She had made her way over to him and now hid in the folds of his green cloak. The girl herself was swathed head-to-foot in a long gown with long sleeves, with a hooded cloak pulled over her head and half her face. Her father had obtained this outfit for her himself, telling his daughter that this would be for the best. It was shortly after she had received this gift of clothing that Hela had realized that her father was deeply ashamed of her.
Odin spoke. "Hela, daughter of Loki, they tell me that you are a most unusual monster. Let us take a look at you."
Hela clung more tightly to Loki. "Help me, Father!" she whispered. She wrapped her arms around his waist. His fingers held more tightly to the shoulder of her wasted side.
"Step forward, girl," Odin said.
"Allfather," Loki said, stepping forward. Hela, still clinging to him, stumbled a bit but her father steadied her. "Hela is ill. She does not like to be stared at – I'm sure she would be glad to answer your questions from here."
"Perhaps that would be best," Frigga suggested.
"No, Loki. Have her approach."
Loki grimaced, then peeled his daughter from him and made sure her cloak and cane were in place. "I am sorry, my child," he answered her, "but you must face the lord of the gods without me." He turned Hela in the direction of the throne and gave her shoulders a little push.
Clack.
Clack.
Clack.
Stung by her father's failure to protect her from the eyes of the Aesir, Hela made her way to the throne, head down and tears of panic and shame rolling down her face.
The father of the gods leaned forward in curiosity. "Please let us see you, child. We will not harm you. Or will the sight of you harm us?"
At this, the girl raised her head and swiped at her face with the hood of her cloak. She was afraid but she was not a coward and the remark had offended her. Closing her eyes and clenching her jaw, she tossed the hood back from her head and shoulders.
Predictably, there was a gasp of horror from the crowd. There were the expected murmurs that she was hideous, that she was the living embodiment of her father's many sins, and that she was a walking corpse who should be covered with graveyard dirt instead of offending the eyes of the gently-bred people who now stared at her.
Hela's skeletal left hand shook as it clutched the double-ravens head of her cane. "I am not a monster, Allfather Odin," she whispered. "I can't help the way I look." The girl glanced to her right, catching a look at beautiful Freyja's sneering face. "Please, I want to go home to my mother."
"I'm afraid that is not possible," the king of the gods replied. "The Norns themselves have declared that all three of you will grow up to menace the gods of Asgard; however, you may reside here with your father until I have decided your fate."
With that, he waved his broad hand and life as it was now began for the strange daughter of Loki the Trickster.
"Ug-ly."
"Ug-ly."
"Ug-ly," chanted the group of children as Hela Half-Rotted, covered in her long gown and cloak, made her way down one of Asgard's golden streets.
She ignored them as she usually did. It is an unfortunate universal rule that children can be the cruelest beings in the Nine Worlds, and the offspring of the Norse gods were no exception. Most Asgard youngsters tormented Hela; absolutely no one touched her. A rumor had already spread that if you touched her you would become half-dead like her – or maybe dead completely.
She was allowed to see her brother Fenrir only from a distance as Odin feared collusion between the pair. Her father had no time for her. Hela's young life was already blotched with grief over the loss of her brother Jormungand and mother; her loneliness and isolation made it well-nigh intolerable.
However, the tough little daughter of Loki doggedly made her slow and cautious way down the street. Tyr had built her a shoe with a thick sole so that she no longer needed her cane with the twin ravens head. Hela had given the cane to Allfather Odin, telling him that the birds were called Hugin and Munin, Thought and Memory. She still limped but it was not so bad. She was grateful for Tyr's kind gesture, though it troubled her that her own father had failed to do this for her.
The older gods generally gave her a wide berth. Freyja and Iduna and Nanna and some of the other beautiful residents of Asgard gossiped about her incessantly. Initially, Hela didn't understand their level of interest because she was only a child, but later figured out that the dislike these women bore for her father had blossomed into dislike of her as well. The adults had their little rumors as well; one of which that Hela was destined to be the death goddess and would be the ruination of them all.
Hela suspected that they also hated her because everything in Asgard was beautiful – except for her.
Well, let them talk, Hela thought. If I can just make it to the Hall of Valhalla I'll be happy enough.
Valhalla was the home of those warriors who had perished nobly in battle, and there was always plenty to eat and drink there. This was important as Loki often forgot to feed his daughter. The Valkyries – strapping and vigorous women who conveyed the dead to their final location – tolerated Hela's presence as the specter of death did not frighten them. Often, one of them would take the time to bring the thin child a cup of milk and a sweet. They also told her that there was another place where those who hadn't died in battle were taken, but did not elaborate on who their counterparts were in the land of Niflheim. Like most who lived in the land of the living, Hela knew little about the land of death and didn't care to familiarize herself with that cold and shadowy realm.
She barely felt the clod of dirt that flew from her right. Looking up in sudden anger, she saw Gunnar, a thick-middled and stupid boy displaying his yellow teeth in laughter.
"Got you, Death!" he sang. "Why don't you wave your skeleton hand and kill me?"
"Why doesn't the ground just swallow you up so you can rot in peace?" shouted Otkel, the son of one of Asgard's minor gods. He was instantly punched in the shoulder by Ullr, the thirteen-year-old son of Sif, goddess of the harvest, and stepson of Thor.
"If you don't like looking at her, then don't," he said in his authoritative tone. Ullr was a boy's boy; one who excelled at outdoor activities and any act of physical prowess young males considered manly and sporting.
"I can handle myself, thank you," Hela replied. She fancied Ullr but dared not show it.
"Don't talk to us, you stinking pile of bones," Gunnar retorted. He followed up his statement with an impression of the girl limping up the road. "You're not fit for the likes of us."
"As indeed she is not," a loud male voice said, causing them to jump. Gunnar felt someone grasp the neck of his shirt and haul him up until his toes barely brushed the ground.
"It's Loki," Otkel hissed.
Gunnar closed his eyes as the man shook him. "In Jotunheim my daughter was around people who spoke to one another with respect and kindness," the trickster god hissed, again shaking him like a rat. "Let me catch you bothering her again and I'll bother you right into the fire pits of Muspellheim. Away with you!" Loki dropped the boy and swatted him across the back of his head. "Leave now, or I will end the lot of you!"
The children scattered.
Hela looked up at her father and blinked. "Really, I could have handled it myself," she said, embarrassed by her father's intervention. "Mother taught me some rather effective spells."
Loki shook his head. "We can't have you turning Asgardians into frost giants," he said sternly. "Besides, Odin has blocked your and your brother's craftwork while you are here."
Hela Half-Rotted burned with shame. "I don't need you here, Father. I can take care of myself, please."
"Very well, miss," the trickster god sighed. "I am leaving. I will no longer embarrass you with my presence. It wouldn't have hurt you to thank me, I'll have you know. I will see you at home later." He turned and strode away, green cloak snapping in the breeze.
Hela raised her head and looked at two children who had made their way back. Ullr and Hnossa, Baldur's daughter, stood on the side of the road with solemn expressions on their beautiful faces.
"Come with us to the forest," Hnossa said. "There are new fish eggs in the pond and we want to look at them to see what happens."
Uneasy and distrustful, Hela said nothing. She dropped her head and made sure her hood covered the left side of her face. To the best of her knowledge, no child in Asgard had ever seen it and she wanted to keep it that way.
"It won't do you any harm to take a walk, now, would it?" Ullr stated. "We will help you get through the muddy parts."
Hela gave a single nod and both children approached her, each taking one of her arms gently in their own, mindful of her fragility. "There's a nest of ravens in the forest as well," Ullr told her.
"I love ravens," Hela whispered.
"Perhaps a raven will carry her to the sea and drop her in it on her ugly head," Gunnar growled to Otkel as the boys hid behind a nearby tree.