“I won’t deny that I came here for a purpose,” said Scott. “That doesn’t mean that I’m not also apologizing for not visiting.”

Hel puckered her lips slightly, as though she had tasted something bitter. “That’s a lot of nots.”

Scott scratched his cheek a little then inclined his head. “True…”

She took a deep breath then slowly blew it out again in an almost languid sigh. “What do you want then… Is it just access to the tree?”

“The quickest route to Asgard would be nice,” agreed Scott. “Though, a guide along the way would be better. Hades needs to head home to Persephone…”

Hel nodded to him. “I suppose I could send one of the ancient warriors with you.”

Scott noticed her aloof expression. He did not need archaic memories to recognize that she was unhappy. So, he did the one thing he could think of to help the situation along. “Would you like to be my guide?”

“Yeah, sure,” she said quietly. However, her eyes suddenly widened not long after that and she looked down at him with a wild expression. “Wait. What?”

“You did act as though you wished I had come by more often. Now’s the chance to go on a little sibling road trip,” said Scott.

“This…” Hel shook her head. “There’s so much that I have to do here…”

Scott gazed up at her casually. “You just don’t want to leave your room.”

She looked away and said, “Psht... I could leave any time that I want. I’m out here talking to you, right?”

“My memories are fragmented and spotty at best, but I do recall that you liked to stay holed up in your room like a little trapdoor spider,” said Scott.

“There’s nothing wrong with a girl having secrets,” she said in a somewhat snooty manner.

Scott saw her turn up her nose at him, so he stood up and quickly reached toward her. The ancient dead stared in slack jawed horror as this strange man grabbed the cheeks of their goddess and began to pull on them a little.

“Ah!” she called out excitedly. Hel flailed her arms a bit and even tried to push him away, but he had her by her weak spot.

“Who raised you to be this stubborn?” he asked her while he squished her cheeks in like a fish.

“I raised myself!” she said through her fishy lips. Her eyebrows seemed angry, but she did not attempt to break from her destiny.

“Stop trolling the Internet, or whatever it is that you do in there all day, and hang out with me,” said Scott.

“I don’t troll on the net all day!” she said in a huffy tone of voice, though her lips were still squished like a fish. “I have Netflix, you know!”

“You too?” he asked incredulously. “What, do you know the same guy as Persephone?”

“Yes,” she said readily.

“Wow. That guy gets around. I’m almost curious about who it is…” said Scott.

“It’s just Dan,” she said with a shrug. “Everybody knows Dan.”

“Dan?” asked Hades. He nodded his head slowly. It was obvious that he too knew of this elusive Dan.

Scott started to say that he had no idea who they were talking about, but let it go. He didn’t need Netflix that badly.

“What do you say? Want to be my guide?” he asked Hel once more.

“On one condition,” she said.

“Oh?” asked Scott. “What condition might that be.”

“Stop squishing my cheeks, you jerk!” she cried out.

Scott smiled at her then released those perfect cheeks of hers. They remained quite red for a time, though not due to any sort of physical injury. At worst, her pride was hurt.

“We can’t leave today, however,” said Hel. “I’ll need a couple of days to get things organized for my absence.”

“Meaning, you want to finish watching whatever you were streaming before we showed up,” said Scott.

“Be that as it may, or may not be,” she said in a strangely cutesy manner, “It will still take time.”

The conversation devolved into general chit-chat after that. Scott revealed parts of his current life, including Liz and what had happened to her.

Hel seemed quite unsettled that the youngest children, the ones who currently called themselves gods, had allowed such a thing. Free will could go horribly wrong, and often did.

Dinner was served later in the day and would serve as a parting meal with Hades. He was quite ready to return to his Persephone.

Hades and Hel ate readily, while Scott took on the dichotomy of the food. It was all black and white just like the rest of the room. Fruits that were normally yellow or red, were half black and half white. There was a black and white roast pig. Black and white pies. It was quite an effort to make it all happen, and Hel reveled in the attention Scott paid to the set up.

Truly, he wished that he could remember more of her. There were flashes, most fleeting, of the past with her. Yet, it was not enough. Hel was an interesting character. She made significant attempts to show a well-manicured and elegant demeanor, but she showed frequent signs that she was basically a shut-in who spends all her time streaming content on the Internet. Initially, she reminded him of Liz but the more she talked, the more she reminded him of Shara.

“So, Demeter has been busy babysitting?” asked Hel.

“Yes. She is watching over the little ones,” said Hades.

He did not continue to explain his answer and Hel only sighed in defeat. Getting gossip out of him was a difficult prospect even now.

Scott and Hades parted ways that night, he would not stay over until the morning. Not that the time of day mattered much in this place. Hel could change it as easily as she changed her throne room not too long ago.