Hel listened to her priestess’ chant with mild interest. It wasn’t unusual for her to hear her priestess’ chants but she took more interest in this particular chant because of who it was for. Akira Eames. Hel hadn’t cursed her. It was true Akira’s soul had been within her grasp but she hadn’t wanted to take it then. While she may not have cursed Akira, she could certainly remove it. Since it was the curse of one of her kind, only she or another god or goddess could remove it. She sighed. It was going to be a long night.

In a flash of light, Hel descended to the room her priestess had call her to. Upon arriving and before she allowed anyone to see her, she took stock of the room and the situation. The room itself was rather small, which would mean things were likely to get cramped.

A young woman lay on the single bed in the center of the room. Her mouth opened in what could only be described as an agonized silent scream. She was held down but certainly not still by two young men. Hel could see why her priestess had called her. Lash scars, over four hundred of them, ran red with blood and oozed a thick, black substance. That substance was the reason the priestess had summoned her. She looked to the three young men in the room. The two that were holding her were clearly brothers, one of whom was hurling rather archaic insults at a third across the room. The third young man was terrified, obviously, as he stood rooted to the spot. He was begging and pleading her priestess to stop the ritual, while one of the brothers kept telling him Annika was saving her. Hel sighed. This was going to be difficult.

“Why did you come?” Frigga’s voice was an unwelcome intrusion to her thoughts.

“Why did you?” Hel returned icily.

“You know the laws, Hel,” Frigga relpied.

“I know them as well as you do, Frigga,” Hel snapped. “But look at what one of us has done to her! Just that has gone against the laws of our people. We must make it right. Besides, I was summoned by my priestess to help. Not coming would have been a violation of our laws as well.”

“She’s right, Frigga,” Freyja’s voice broke the tension that had descended between them. “Go to your priestess, Hel.”

“I cannot, not yet,” Hel replied turning back to the scene before them. “Something about those marks doesn’t sit right with me. I cannot go into this not knowing something so important.”

“They were made by a lash, what more could you need?” Frigga snapped impatiently.

“True they were made by a lash but the last was made around eight years ago,” Hel answered.

“So they are scars?” Freyja asked.

Hel nodded absently.

“If they are scars, why then do they bleed?” Frigga asked.

“You can thank my husband for that,” Sigyn answered appearing from the shadows.

“What in Helheim did he do to the poor girl?” Hel asked bewildered.

“He cursed her,” Sigyn sighed. “I told him doing so would backfire on him but he wouldn’t listen.”

“That’s why the power of the curse feels so familiar!” Hel exclaimed.

She began to pace, as her mind began working on the puzzle of the curse Loki had put on the girl.

“You’re not going to save her if you try to work out what curse he put on her or why he did it.”

“If I don’t know what curse he put on her then how do you expect me to remove it?”

“You cannot.”

“That does not help Sigyn!”

“There is only one who can remove it. If you want the girl to live, call on her.”

“Call on who, Sigyn?”

“I think you know of whom I speak, Hel. Call her or the girl will die and soon.”

Hel groaned inwardly. Eir was the one goddess who drove her up one wall and down the next. She knew exactly what buttons to push and when. If there weren’t laws forbidding the killing of their kind, Hel would have killed Eir a thousand years ago. Sadly, the law existed to keep Hel herself in check. Hel sighed. If Sigyn said only Eir could remove the curse, she had no choice but to call on the goddess of healing.

“Sigyn said you had need of me,” Eir interrupted her thoughts.

“When did you get here?” Hel demanded.

“I have been here this whole time,” Eir replied.

Hel rolled her eyes but held her tongue.

“What can you tell us about Loki’s curse?” she asked instead.

“From what I can see, it is extremely powerful but like him is very tricky.”

“What do you mean tricky?”

“Her body was made to accept it through those lashes.”

“What does that mean for removing it?” Freyja asked.

“It means removing it could very well kill her,” Annika’s voice was barely above a whisper.

The goddesses all turned to Hel’s priestess, who stood by the girl’s bed with her back to them. None of them were sure she’d spoken until she spoke again.

“If you can remove this curse without killing her, do so. If you can only remove the parts that have not burrowed deep within the lash marks, do so. Akira is strong. She will survive.”

The young man at the head of the bed looked up. In his whiskey coloured eyes, Hel could see a number of emotions. Each one warred with the last, causing his eyes to swirl and darken.

“Please, if you can help her I beg you to do so,” he said so quietly they almost didn’t catch it. “Her family has lost enough.”

“What do you mean her family has lost enough?” Eir asked.

“She just lost her mother and two youngest siblings,” he replied. “Her father is trapped within his body after a stroke eight years ago. DAMN him! DAMN him to the deepest depths for this. He had no right.”

They were all startled by the vehemanence in his voice.

“You care for her,” Eir noted absently.

“Of course I care! She is one of my subjects. I’d care for all of them this way if I could. But many years ago, she taught me a lesson I’ll never forget. It’s because of that lesson that I’m here. It’s why I argued against my father’s council who wanted to send her home.”

“Your care for her stems from more than the lesson she taught you at four,” Eir said. “Look deep within. Examine every interaction you’ve had with her. Then tell me your care for her is from the lesson she taught you and I’ll believe you.”