1883/What is this... 10th Realm

What is this... 10th Realm
Date of Scene:	28 May 2020
Location:	Avengers Mansion - Medical
Synopsis:	Sera and Thor discuss her past.
Cast of Characters:	Sera, Thor

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Sera has posed:
The knee length skirt and white shirt she's been loaned work well for her. Sera spent a while after recovering, eating, drinking, sleeping.. just staring in to am mirror exploring her reflection. It'd been a long while since she was 'alive'. Being dead in Hel wasn't terribly different to life, but it plays on your mind: the notion that there is meant to be a distinction between life and death.

Sera was not privy to the curse that Freyja had put on the Angels, that in death they would be bound to Hel in servitude; not until she got there anyway. Once more owned but this time she knew to fight back. Her vitae had recovered quickly, though the strain she put on her magical ability aiding Angela and Leah in their battle still ached within her, so much so she's not sure she wants to try singing the hymns yet.

Now, Sera sits in the chair looking at the various equipment, computers, holographics. She thinks she might be underground, she was a bit out of it when Thor brought her here. When Thor finally does arrive she is grateful for someone to talk to again, even if he is Asgardian. By now he might have been in contact with his home realm and ordered to destroy her.. but she is getting the impression that perhaps the propaganda about Asgard was not entirely true. Heck, Midgard turned out not to be a myth after all!

Thor has posed:
    It wasn't until the morning after she had some time to recover, some moments of peace for quiet reflection and repose. Wasn't until the sun had crept up and she had been given what was assumed a clean bill of health, though a lack of data on the angelic might have made that difficult. But there was no fear of the moment, nor hesitation save to perhaps check on the monitors to see if the angel Sera was asleep.
    When it was shown that she was awake, the doors to the medical bay opened and through it stepped the Mighty Thor.
    Or. At least it seemed like the same guy.
    For the armor was gone, the weapon, the billowing cape. No longer was he there in what could be considered Asgardian garb, but instead when he darkened her doorway again he stood there in the pageantry that would often be seen upon those from Midgard, such as she's seen of them. For he had those blue fabric jeans, a pair of brown leather work boots, and a grey loose shirt? Or jacket of some kind with a hood that rests upon his back.
    When he enters there's a short rap of knuckles on the wall as he enters and then his voice lifts, and indeed it is that man she saw before. "Greetings, Sera. How fare you?"

Sera has posed:
Sera has sat up. The staff gave her extra pillows for this. "The wiggle lines machine says I am healthy, they tell me." She motions to the nearest monitor showing the vitals, some of which seem stable but outside of human norms. Her eyes travel over the Asgardian dressed in Midgard garb and she chuckles. "You look very different Thor of Asgard," she tucks her legs up to sit even more comfortably, but also to open up space on the bed. "This is the softest bed I have ever slept on," she says with a pat on the mattress. "Is it common in Midgard for things to be so.. comfortable?," she continues with a pat of the pillows.

"Please, join me. I know you must have many questions. I have many questions too. My people consider Asgard to be one of their mortal enemies after all. You aren't doing a good job of vanquishing me; if it is your intention to lull me with a false sense of security you're doing an excellent job at it."

Thor has posed:
    Crossing the room, the Thunderer's smile is there though it is a worrisome thing for he looks her over and at the monitors that display her health, as if he could really parse what they are trying to tell. But he knows when some readings are bad, if not exactly able to tell someone why they would be considered bad. And her readings seem good. Indeed.
    He smiles as she draws herself up to offer him room, but he'll grasp a chair from against the wall and drag it across the way to set it beside her bed. Then he settles into it, now being below her, perhaps a less... menacing place to be considering his height.
    "Midgard is a land of differences that together create a lovely melange that people can enjoy and experience for ages on end. It is a place of comfort, aye, but not for all. Though in time that may change." That said he rests his arm on the bed and meets her gaze.
    "You are correct, Sera. I would have questions, though only if you feel up to answering them. My first, however, is that I know naught of your people. Let alone that we are in a state of war? As well as that yours are known as the tenth realm?"
    A shake of his head is given. "This confuses me. So please, tell what you will."

Sera has posed:
Sera gets a broadly confused expression on her face and then shakes her head, "That is." She places her hands on her knees and shakes her head again, "Deserving. To be forgotten by one of our enemies. Oookay. How to explain my home, a place I loath, to someone who has never seen it."

A nibble on her bottom lip and she says, "Perhaps I need to start with my perspective, as it colors my perceptions of home. Heven, the 10th realm of Yggdrasill. Where the Angels live. It is a matriarchy for almost all of our population are female. One in a hundred are born male and those are considered so rare and precious that they are placed in to temples. The men are not born with wings, they are called Anchorites and are kept in the Temples of Anchorite." She points a finger to herself, "I was one of them."

She lets that settle in for a moment, "We were told of a place, Midgard, where the humans lives. They would live their lives and die of old age and be judged, sent to Heven or Hel depending on their deeds. There was no such place for us when we died - we simply stopped existing. And so our goddess decreed that the Anchorites would create a heaven for those angels who had fallen in battle. We would sing the hymns and keep their memories alive, creating a heaven for our fallen." A twitching of her eyes suggests that there is far more to this story than she's shared so far.

Thor has posed:
    This sounds curious to him and Thor... does not often cultivate a poker face, so she now can tell. He tilts his head to the side with brow furrowing a touch, his mouth open as he considers her words. She speaks of what she knows and he holds his tongue for all that time, waiting until she is done and even then holding for moments more.
    Then he straightens and murmurs, "This must have passed some time ago, for our history is shrouded in mystery for the eons before mine father's rein. I know of my grandfather, Borr. But I have not been told of a tenth realm, nor of the branches of Yggdrasil embracing such. Our fallen are carried to the halls of Valhall if they passed in valor."
    He turns his head to the side, arms folded over his chest as he crosses a boot over his knee. "I have not heard of any Valkyr speaking of such, nor my father. But..."
    There's a lift of his eyebrows, "There is much my father has not told me, I am sure."

Sera has posed:
Just as he does not know of the Angels.. 'Thor' is not known to her, certainly not as odinson. He had yet to say it. "Hm. I am a little amused by how far away we have drifted, but.. let me get to how that happened." She smiles at the demeanour of the man, he seems so.. kind. "I don't know what it was like before the war entirely, but I sang many songs of fallen angels, created a heaven for them with our magic. So I can tell you of the society that was deprived to me. Great cities, highly advanced technology, spaceships and space stations, vast network of worlds. Angel society is capitalist, do nothing without being paid. The angels are the greatest warriors of all the realms and we are vast in number. If we had motivation beyond payment we would surely be quite dangerous."

A raised eyebrow she continues, "The story of one angel taught me a lot about society before I was born. We were often hired by Odin of Asgard to hunt down Asgardians who would break his rules, for there were none in Asgard who could best us. I don't know exactly what happened, but Odin decided we were a great threat and the realms formed an alliance against Asgard. Losing this war, Odin instead cut us off from the other nine realms entirely. What happened to the war after that.. I do not know."

She pauses a moment before continuing, "Cut from the power of Yggdrasill the great engines were built to keep our civilisation from collapsing."

She sighs, "Which I suppose comes back to where I lived. The Temples of Anchorite. We were supposed to be the prize jewel of our society? no, we were slaves. We had no rights. We were forbidden from speaking - only prayer and hymns and our thoughts always on the angels who had fallen. It too me a long time to even realise we were doing magic. I slept on a stone floor, I ate tasteless mush, I wore rags. I experimented with the hymns and learnt that I could create things other than a heaven for the angels I now despised. One day an angel entered our temple, her name was Angela. She fought a great beast and began to fall; so.. I helped her. I sang my own song to protect her and she slew the beast. As payment I requested she get me the heck out of there. And so, with magic we altered my gender so that I could step outside of the temple - free."

Thor has posed:
    Tilting his head to the side, Thor's eyebrows raise and he looks curious, but again he seems content to let the words flow and to absorb what she tells him with an open calm regard. There's still a cloud over his features, perhaps due to one turn or another in the story, but he gives little insight save for a general feeling of disquiet.
    "This is curious, were you alive during these events, or are these tales that were passed down from one to another as they years passed?"
    He straightens up in his chair when her tale becomes more personal and beyond that his attention shifts from trying to plumb the depths of this mystery and more to her situation. "And it was then that you in your freedom then came to Midgard?"

Sera has posed:
She shakes her head, "No I was not alive for those events. These are the stories from the angels who had passed, that we must keep alive. It is not like a story that is passed from person to person slowly corrupting. It is our artificial heaven. When the angel dies the hierophants machines would pluck them at their last moment in to our collective for us to build them their heaven. We do not die of old age, only of injury or sickness. Some of the angels who passed away while I was alive lived in those times. Our culture has a very long memory because of this."

Again she shakes her head, "No, Angela and I left Heven. We worked as mercenaries for a good while.. before I died that is. It was a good life, I thought - but that is when I found out something I would not have believed in my wildest dreams. When I died, I was taken to Hel."

She frowns deeply, "I was told that Frejya had cursed us, cursed those Angels who stepped foot in the nine realms that when they die they would be bound to Hel in servitude. I don't know if this is true but all my life I thought there was no afterlife for Angels.. yet there I was. So, I did what one must do in Hel - I fought. Day in and day out. I eventually made a friend, Leah.. and I managed to trick a dark elf in to getting a message to Angela for me. Angela came to Hel and the three of us fought our way out. Angela sent me here, to Midgard. She has unfinished business.. I don't know where she is now. I know one day our paths will cross again.. but for the second time in my life she saved me." She lets out a sigh and then smiles. "And now I've seen Midgard with my own eyes. Until yesterday I thought it was a myth."

Thor has posed:
    Pondering her words, Thor nods slowly and takes a deep breath as he gives them their due in thought. His head turns to the side and then he looks back, "Freyja and Odin were known to you, I am curious to know when this passed. It was before my lifetime, and I was thinking perhaps mine father's. But we shall have to see. There is much to answer for."
    Then Thor uncurls a hand toward her, "You are not bound nor a prisoner, though the people of Midgard and their authorities will wish to have words with you. I shall, when you are ready, take you to the Triskelion and SHIELD, there you can tell them your tale and ask for asylum."
    A breath is taken, "For now, once you are suitably recovered, we shall move you to a more comfortable room of your own, and then to speak with the people of SHIELD."
    Thor tilts his head, "Does this suit you?"

Sera has posed:
Sera takes his hand again and smiles, "For some reason, I trust you Thor of Asgard. If you say this is the way it should be done, then I believe you. Angela thought I could be free here. I don't know if she knew there were Asgard here, or that this planet was ruled by the Asgard nor this SHIELD you speak of. But I can work it out. I don't mean this world any harm, I just want to be free again... In the last several hundred years I have learnt to fight for my freedom. In truth, it feels strange to wake up and not immediately fend off others who wish the small piece of ground I slept on."

Thor has posed:
    "Well," Thor says as he smiles gently, covering her hand with his and giving a comforting squeeze. "I cannot tell you that Midgard is free of all evils, nor is it a place of complete safety. But it sounds to me as if it will be a welcome respite from that which has preyed upon you before. And if such should come seeking you, denying you this safety I have given, then I will stand at your side and we shall have words with those that would gainsay Thor Odinson."
    That said he gives her another squeeze of her hand then turns, "I shall return and matters shall proceed, take heart Lady Sera."

Sera has posed:
Sera flops back on the bed looking up at the ceiling for a moment after he departs. It takes a moment to sink in and she sits upright rapidly, "Odinson!?"