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Luckily, Hel missed those little signs of aggression Freya was displaying as she pieced the puzzle together. The ghoul had been caught up in her thoughts in this whole ordeal again. She was stupid, she decided. She had been so sure that she wouldn’t have involved feelings into this until that stupid boil’s slip of words. Damn it.

Or maybe she was just kidding herself if she thought she could keep this up without feeling anything deeper.

That was very possible.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by her sister’s voice again, and her brows furrowed and her lips pulled down. Freya emphasized him…like she knew or something…oh, damn it! She had wanted to pipe up too, that she wasn’t afraid…of deep down…she was. Oh…this was all so stupid, and she wouldn’t stop telling herself that. “We will see…” Hel muttered, and that was as far as she went on that subject.

Hel pondered over Freya’s question for a few moments. “…Yanno…I heard someone say this once…and it stuck with me. When there is a meeting, a parting is sure to follow…but how long that parting lasts is up to you.” She rolled her shoulders a bit. “…You do not always need to wait for him…ya? Maybe you can take that step forward first one day to talk to him.”

Hel startled a bit as Freya seemed dismayed. “…Uh…no!” She then reached out to swat her sister’s head. “I was thinking more along the lines of that saying in regards to friends…I mean…Herryk is your friend now, right? Besides, mama and papa come from a different time…” She stuck her tongue out at Freya, and then tilted her head as she listened.

Freya’s words made her wonder. She understood the desire of wanting to be alone…wanting no one to come and bother you…and that’s where she was a hypocrite. If she thought someone needed to be bothered, even if they wanted to be alone…she’d go bother them! Hel ended up laughing.

“…Ah…were you not telling me moments before that was Brynhildr ghouls do not let fear keep us away from what we want for long? Hmm? So if you truly do want to talk to him…then you should…but in the same breath…I understand wanting to spend some time alone too. I want that often…so…give it some time?”

Hel nodded her head, because that sounded like a reasonable course of action, and she didn’t truly know what else to say on the matter. While she was on good terms with Herryk, she wasn’t about to go out of her way for him, either. Hel’s brow quirked though at the wry look her sister gave her, and as she spoke, Hel huffed up, starting to become indignant at what her sister was saying but then paused and thought about it.

Hel thinking was a very dangerous thing.

The ghoul’s brows furrowed, and her gaze idly shifted back to the opposite wall. Were all these new worries, concerns, and…feelings…happening because they were being muddled? The briefly thought of pausing physical activitives came to mind to see if she’d feel any differently, but just as quickly as the thought came she pushed it away. No. Giving up those things just…wasn’t an option. She liked it way too much, and would not stop herself from indulging. Besides…even when they weren’t doing that…before…she really did like him. He understood her, and accepted her for who she was…so…maybe it wasn’t being muddled?

…

Hel groaned and ruffled her hair in frustration. She then dropped her head onto her open hands, resting her elbows on her knees. “Thank you, Freya.” Her tone was dripping with sarcasm. “I am right back to the first square.”

Hel pulled her head up, and graced her sister with one of the best glares she could muster. “That statement is debatable.” She drawled, and narrowed her eyes at the ghoul, contemplative.

Was Freya the best sister ever?

It was an odd introspective and recollection moment for Hel. She thought back to some of her earliest memories, and of course the stories she had heard from her parents and sisters from before the earlier memories. Apparently when she came out of the pumpkin, everyone was afraid to touch her, afraid of the difference of her split skin. No matter the slight variations on the story, depending on what sister was asked and what mood she was in…there was one thing they all had in common. Freya was the first, the boldest, and the fearless. She bravely reached out and touched her and held her first.

Aww…good sister.

Hel’s lips quirked a bit at the picture she painted in her head at the moment. A room full of supposedly fearless warriors, and they were scared of a small two toned babe…all except Freya.

The valkyrie then thought back to one of her earlier memories.

She was starting to walk, could utter a few words, and Freya and some of the sisters and neighborhood boils were playing…house. How did the boils get forced into house? Oh well…the sisters probably beat them up until they agreed to it. Well of course the little scareling always wanted to do what the big scarelings were doing…so Hel wanted to play house too.

Freya made her the baby, and she had to wear a pretty bonnet.

Bad sister.

Hel distinctly remembered not caring what the big scarelings ever did again after that.

The ghoul then recalled when she had really started flying for the first time. Of course it never went smoothly. Hel ended up leaping from a too ambitious height, and ended up crashing to the ground, spraining a limb. Of course it also happened during the weekend of their planned monthly trip to one of the bigger nearby cities…but Mother had deemed she needed to stay home since it would only agitate her injury. All the older sisters had been really excited to go, because a new shipment of jewelry came in since their last visit. Not that Hel cared about jewelry…but she did like going for the dumplings.

Guess who stayed behind though? Freya. Freya stayed behind and kept her company, and they even made their own dumplings from scratch. Hel had felt touched, she remembered that feeling clearly. She had also made Freya an edible dumpling necklace since she didn’t get the real jewelry she had wanted…and she had smiled.

Good sister.

Hel then thought to a time when they had both gotten older, in their teens…and when the ghoul could recall Freya really getting into boils. Hel remembered trudging up the wooden stairs, calling out at the top of her lungs, asking for Freya to come and do some weapon sparring with her. She had reached Freya’s room at the end, and of course didn’t bother knocking. She swung the door open, asking what Freya had to be up to, since she was so quiet.

Of course Freya couldn’t speak. She had her mouth full. The boil looked terribly surprised and flustered as well.

Hel was scarred for life.

Bad sister.

Oddly enough, that didn’t stop Hel from barging in without knocking either.

Onto more recent accounts…because while reminiscing was good and all…it was good to take current events into consideration as well.

The valkyrie thought to one of the few times she had hit a really rough spot when she had been with Mot. Freya was there to console her and to try and lift her up. Pure and unconditional love for who she was and what she did. Acceptance. Hel’s expression softened as she thought about that.

Good sister.

Hel had gone silent as she went through this little stroll down memory lane in search an answer to the question. Her dark red eyes were unfocused as she stared at the wall. Ha…it was kind of silly. Hel didn’t really need to debate it. The answer was obvious. Even if they had their ups and down, and even if there were times where Hel wanted to rip Freya’s head off or rip her a new hole, the point was, she was there for her when she needed…and even not necessarily wanted. She was her sister, and no amount of mishaps or time would diminish that bond.

Because they were sisters, and they were stubborn after all.

Hel laughed, and then reached out to pinch her sister’s side.

“Ya. Still debatable.” She teased with a wicked grin. “It is just a good thing you are so cute, ya? I mean, even I have to love you because of that.”

This was the look on Hel's face as she realized that Freya had ditched, replaced herself with a pillow mock up, and then ran out the door: