13389/Discordants: The Shades of Hel

Discordants: The Shades of Hel
Date of Scene:	18 November 2022
Location:	Niflheim - Asgard
Synopsis:	In the tumult of the worlds at war, there is a hint of closure.
Cast of Characters:	Jimmy Hudson, Thea Queen

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Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    The journey into Helheim had been less eventful than the prior time. Though it was still a journey between realms and one that involved crossing over the barrier between the living and the dead. It had been a sojourn that saw the heroes seeking answers and they were able to find what they could there in the mists and the shadows.
    Yet there were others on the trip who had their own wishes, though they did not run against those of the other travelers. Simply perhaps a moment aside to find their own answers, their own insight into the goings on of what has passed. Which led the woman known as Thea Queen further into the mists, away from her friends to the edge of a river with a rocky out-cropping.
    A river where the souls of the lost could answer a call and be brought forth to share a few moments with some who knew them, or knew of them. It was there that Thea Queen found herself, and the silence in that dark setting served only to beckon.

Thea Queen has posed:
    The first time into Helheim there had been the thrill of the voyage, that part fear part excitement of going somewhere new even if it was the land of the dead which for Thea had helped her get through what this place really meant. Death. Loss of Hope. Mortality. The second time around? There had been no such 'crutch' to help her through. Sure, seeing Nifles (Or Gamr, the dog of Hel if we want to be pedantic about it) had been a brief moment of quiet happiness.
    Yet soon enough Thea's thoughts had drifted. Away from the trip itself and towards the loss they had felt during the attack. Thor was certainly missed yet the young man she had helped the northern court convince would be an idea to foster at Asgard was now dead. Was it her fault?
    Steps bring her to the edge of that river and she looks down at those waters. Quiet. Asking for her. She speaks up a single word.
    "Frikke."

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    For a time the silence seems only to grow as those mists part, swirling then drifting away. As if the voicing of a name banished the magic surrounding her and leaving her so very alone in the depths of a world beyond her understanding.
    Then there was a voice, quiet and curious and young.
    "I bid you greetings?" The child's voice trails up at the end. Unsure.
    Then the mist coalesces into small pin points of the dark, floating together into the form of a silhouette, a shape of a figure smaller than Thea and floating in front of her, over the river and beyond the step of the rocky outcropping.
    Just out of reach.

Thea Queen has posed:
    There is that temptation to reach out. To take the child's hand. Thea almost does it, knee moving forward from the knelt position she has on the ground but stops just before she touches the water. She knows she can't do it. To take a step into those waters is to join the dead. So she lowers her hand.
    "Frikke." She repeats the name again. A faint smile to her lips. "It's me, Thea. Do you recall me?" a beat, "We met when the Thunderer visited your realm."
    She brings the hood back from her head.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "Yes, Lady Thea." Some enthusiasm to the words.
    A slight hint of warmth.
    The shade moves his hand to the side, wisps of shadow drifting outward as his mask-like features turn into a smile. No irises can be seen in the hazy eyes, and when he opens his mouth to speak one sees through him and to the river beyond.
    "I remember you. And your kindness." He hovers ethereally, and as he speaks he gains more solidity, more focus, as the memories ground him to those times.
    "I remember the duel. And the journey. I look forward to being in Asgard."

Thea Queen has posed:
    That the boy remembers brings a smile of warmth out of Thea as well, even if the dip of her head is a sad one, exhaling quietly. Blue eyes take in the boy, or what's left of him. The contours. The shade. At least he looks happy. "I remember your happiness too. I was-"
    Eyes go a touch wider at those last words, what he speaks up. How he still believes to be alive somehow. "It was a duel for the ages, wasn't it?" she tells the boy, the sadness in her eyes a contrast to the faint smile growing on her lips at the memory of it.
    "Hoping to become a great warrior like Durin?" She asks, sitting back on the ground now.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "No," He answers, then gives his reason, "Durin is so sad sometimes." The shade of the child sits down as well, though he is floating over the waters, the two beings facing each other with the dark all around.
    "He doesn't show it. But I have seen him cry. He misses his family." He touches his hands to the shadowy shape of his boot, lightly toying with the ethereal strap that holds it to his leg.
    Then he perks, "I thought I wanted to be like Thor, but Lady Sif." His voice lifts a little as he recalls that duel most likely.
    Then his head turns and he says quietly, "Oh that is terrible of me isn't it... Durin was there with me as long as I knew. And someone glamorous appears and I abandon him..."
    His shadowy features tighten. "I abandoned them."

Thea Queen has posed:
    "We all have our scars. It doesn't mean he wasn't happy for you and where you are going." Thea says in an assuring manner back to the boy. No need to remember him of his mortality. Or that he's dead. She can lie, least she can do for the boy. She had already killed him in a way.
    She brings her knees up to her chest and wraps her arms around her legs, chin atop her knees in a sort of childish position, "Ah, want to follow on Lady Sif's footsteps is it?" a grin, "You know, I think she'd like that." and so would Thea, if the boy had reached his destination.
    "You didn't abandon them, but you can always write them a letter. Or maybe tell me what you'd like to tell Durin. I can tell him when I go visit." she suggests. "I am sure they would like to hear from you."

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "Aye," He says quietly, "That's true." About what she says of Durin. He looks across the way at her, lifting his hand slightly as if not sure if she is really there or not, then lowers his hand.
    "She is a good fencer, and graceful. Inspiring. I am too clumsy, but I can take inspiration." He smiles to himself, his head lowering a little. "I hope she would like that."
    Then his gaze returns to her. His smile broadens, wisps of shadow drifting outward as his body movies and his features change. "I would like to tell them... To tell them..."
    Then his shoulders hunch and he looks behind him, then says quieter. "But it is not allowed."

Thea Queen has posed:
    "Or the bow.." Thea suggests back to Frikke with a touch of a grin gracing her lips. "It's a graceful weapon too. I would had enjoyed teaching you.." she rubs the back of her hand over her eyes and lets out a sigh, inclining her head understandingly when Frikke mentions not being allowed to speak of such things.
    "It's ok." She assures the young boy, "I am mostly here to say goodbye." her tone having gone quieter too.
    "I don't think we will be seeing each other again. I just wanted to see you again and .., tell you things will be okay.." lips press together.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "The bow is not so bad," His smile widens. Then he seems to take a deep breath, "Perhaps some day."
    The wisps of his features drift and the particles come undone for a brief moment, as if a wind touched him and caused those motes to swirl away into the ether. But then they slowly reform.
    She tells him she is there to say goodbye and his features seem to slowly drift forward, the smoke of his form swirling very faintly. Then she offers her words, and her assurance.
    The smile returns to him and he says softly, "It is nice to see you again. You should come back. To NorthFort, we can play. We didn't have a chance to play."

Thea Queen has posed:
    "Not so bad...?" There's a playful hmph made in response to that 'not so bad', Thea then shaking her head amusedly at the boy. She watches those wisps come and go, as if he was being pulled by some unknown force to continue his path. The one leading him through the river to his destiny.
    "When life brings me there again perhaps we can. Or you could always visit Midgard." she leans forward to whisper, "It's not as bad as everyone says it is.." a wink back to the boy.
    "But yes, we really didn't get much of a chance to do much, did we?" She pauses, biting on her lower lip. "Goodbye, young Frikke..."

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "I would like to..." He says softly, his voice taking on a soft reverberation. "That would be a fine thing." He says softly, pronouncing those last two words with some weight as if they had a special significance to them.
    Then he straightens, "It was still an honor to meet you, Queen Thea." His smile turning playful...
    Then his form fades, drifting along with the current, leaving just one word behind. "Goodbye."

Thea Queen has posed:
    That last word lingers for a time, echoing even as silence again abates over the shores of the river. Deadly silent. As it should be. Thea's gaze follows the path the child took, off until it's shadow disappeared. Would a word had changed the outcome? A different path taken? If, if, if.
    It was a road that led to madness. Questioning what we had done. What we COULD had done. It had led her to dark paths in her life, to the worst moments. But she had also learned that there was much she could not control. Or even anything at all. In the end we could only make peace with ourselves. With others. Sending them on their way. Honor them by remembering who they were, what they could had been.
    Thea gets back up to her feet, cleaning the tears that were flowing down her blue eyes with the back of her sleeve.
    And then keep on living. It was the least she could do.
    "Goodbye."