The lump on the bed stirred, and eventually rolled off of it and onto her feet. The ghoul yawned loudly, reaching up to sluggishly muss the top of her bed head before stretching. It was another morning that arrived, and would be another morning of the same routine. Shuffle off to the bathroom, brush her hair, wash her face, get dressed, eat breakfast, bear the ache in her chest that become a little more dull as the days rolled on, and then go train. Or…it should have been a normal day. It would be anything but one.
Hel reached up to undo the tie that held her messy braid together and pulled it out, discarding it to her nightstand as she threaded her fingers through her hair. Another yawn echoed throughout the room as she dragged her feet to the bathroom. Her eyes were still lidded from sleep, and she closed them briefly as she stepped into the small tiled bathroom and flipped on the lights, coming to stand in front of the sink and mirror.
She opened her eyes blearily and then closed them again, catching a glimpse of her sleepy self in the mirror.
All it took was one glance to ruin what should have been a next to normal morning.
Hel’s eyes snapped open, wide and alarmed, and she was very much awake now, as if she had been doused with a tub full of ice water. Her body froze as her mouth twisted wide in a silent horror, and she could only stare at the sight. No. No, she had to be dreaming. What felt like an eternity, though in reality was just a few seconds, went by, and a pale hand reached up to tentatively touch her face.
“No…” She breathed, her voice soft and tinted with fright.
No, this couldn’t be real.
It couldn’t be.
Hel brought her dark hand up to her mouth and licked her thumb, immediately pressing it to the bridge of her nose and rubbing furiously. Surely she was just dirty. Maybe she needed to wash her sheets? Maybe she had picked up some mud from somewhere and neglected to clean them, and that’s why her skin was—
Not evenly split down the middle anymore.
No matter how hard she tried to rub out the streaks of darker skin branching out across her pale skin, it didn’t go away. It wasn’t dirt. It wasn’t a dream (the pain from rubbing her skin raw told her so). Her skin was shifting.
Hel had no idea why.
She could only continue to stare at her face in pure shock in the mirror, her hands eventually falling to brace herself against the sink.
The reaper knew that she was very different from her sisters. It had been blaringly obvious. A splotch of ink on a clean sheet of pristine parchment paper. That was how she had felt; growing up with eight beautiful, pale skinned and blond haired beauties. It had been a curse, her mother said, laid upon her from a jealous valkyrie sister. Jealous because her mother had stolen a grim reaper from her, the same one that would become her father.
She had been lucky, she supposed, that it had only affected her appearance. Her time here at Amity had taught her that many students didn’t really care about her two tone difference. It wasn’t bad. It had garnered a lot of curiosity and amusement, but never anything negative. Back at home though…it had made her something of an odd ball within their community. Valkyries were proud and vain creatures. All her sisters and her yes, even her mother, cared about appearances. Appearance was a very important part of their reputation, their prowess. It was something to lord over others. Hel had always felt at odds around others back at home. Her sisters were looked at with awe and admiration, and she was looked at like something inferior.
The ghoul had thrown herself into training before coming to Amityville. If she couldn’t be ideal by appearance, she’d make up for it through other means, but being different had already planted the seeds for other desires. Being different, she’d do different things. Like attend the Academy. So here she was. Being here, she didn’t care so much about her skin. No one made a big deal of it…but it was always a thought, always a concern in the back of her mind.
It was definitely a worry now.
Hel had been two toned, split evenly down the middle, for her entire existence thus far. It was her, but now…now she was changing, and she didn’t know why. Why did the curse only affect half of her? Why was it affecting more now? Would it consume her entirely? What happened when she was completely consumed? Would there be more effects than just her appearance this time? She had so many questions, and none that she would receive answers to.
She couldn’t ask the one who cursed her. One, she didn’t even know the valkyrie, much less where to find her…and second, that would require asking her mother, which was something she did not want to do…that would require admitting something was wrong.
She hadn’t even told her mother about her loss of wings yet.
So asking was out of the question. Hel pushed the stacking of horrible incidents to the side for now. Whenever that tower of cards crumbled, it would be horrific, but it would not be anytime soon. The reaper groaned, hanging her head. Freya. Freya would find out too eventually and raise a fuss, no doubt…but as long as she didn’t tell mother…
Ugh…
Hel slowly raised her head, her expression still set in disbelief as she stared at her reflection. She had hoped, still, that this was some terrible dream…but no. Her luck was shot.
So…what now?
Not much she could do, she supposed. It would just be a matter of time before it crept across her skin entirely and as for ill effects…she’d just have to monitor her self closely. Worst case…maybe there’d be someone on the campus she could ask…? Maybe. No. No she wouldn’t…she’d deal with it on her own. It was her problem after all.
So…that was settled…but now what?
Suddenly going throughout her regular routine didn’t matter…Hel didn’t even feel the desire to leave her room today.
She could only continue to stare at the ghoul the mirror that was changing, inside and out.
