All it took was a few more days, and as Hel stood in her bathroom, staring at her reflection, she wasn’t sure what to feel.

Well…she was still existing and she wasn’t in pain, so that was a good start! Quite the contrary, actually…aside from feeling uncertain about how she should be feeling about her appearance, she felt…good. Oddly good. But back to her appearance.

It was done. The shift was done.

Hel stared at the dark skinned ghoul in the mirror with equally darker locks and deep burgundy eyes.

This was her now.

Maybe she should feel panicked, that not a lick of pale skin, blonde hair, or blue eye was left, but she had been watching herself change for the past week. It had been gradual, and not at all sudden after waking up when it first started, so she supposed that helped to lessen the shock. She was no longer the two toned ghoul she had been for the past seventeen years. A trait that had helped to distinguish her and push her from her fellow valkyries was gone, and what had taken its place?

A dark skinned wingless valkyrie.

It was a rather drastic change when she thought about it like that, but it was in the past now, wasn’t it? She would never be that ghoul again. She would never be that ghoul again, in both appearance and personality.

In some weird way…that shift reflected how she felt on the inside as well. Changed. Maybe not quite whole…but not lost anymore. Not split.

Hel cupped her left cheek, pressing her fingers into the skin. It was odd. Being entirely one color, and she couldn’t help but chuckle softly. Odd. Being one color. That was odd to her…but normal to other reapers. She then brushed her fingers through the left side of her loose hair, idly searching for any faint trace of blonde anywhere, but spotted none. She then pulled up her night tunic and stared. Yup. One color. She then turned around and looked over her shoulder at her back in the mirror. Her large scars…yup…still there, but all one color. She let the tunic drop and took to leaning back against the sink, crossing her arms.

Huh.

That was that.

As she confirmed before, she wasn’t dissipating or dying, so that was good. What else could she do now? Stop being a recluse…that was one thing…huh. Hel’s brows furrowed. Some curse. It only altered her appearance. She couldn’t help but wonder if the valkyrie who had caused it botched it somehow. Oh well. No point in pondering it further. Some things just didn’t need any extra energy put into them, because they were what they were and nothing was going to change that.

The reaper turned back around, resting her hands on the sink’s edge as she stared at her reflection once more.

She wasn’t the same ghoul anymore, both inside and out.

She was a foul mouthed, bad tempered, hot blooded, stubborn, selfish, arrogant, prideful, crude, and bellicose dark skinned wingless valkyrie, and she was okay with that.

She wouldn’t get along with everyone. Everyone wasn’t going to like her, and she didn’t have to like everyone either, and that was just the way things were. She wasn’t alone. She had a caring, loving and faithful sister, a best friend who thought she was fine just the way she was, and a brother in arms who was there, even if it was mostly silently, but she could be okay on her own too…because she might not always have them around.

Hel promised herself she was going to be okay.

Existence needed to be fun again, like it had been when she arrived to Amityville. She didn’t regret coming here. Not at all. There had been a lot of hardships and pain, and she was wise to the dangers of Hunters and Horsemen now, but that didn’t mean existence couldn’t be fun again. Living was living, and whatever happened was going to happen. She had her own goals and ambitions…and as long as she could work towards those, she’d be happy, no matter whatever came her way now. She had her honor, and she had her own high standards to start living up to again, because that made her happy.

The ghoul lightly smirked at her reflection.

Hel Brynhildr may not be a good ghoul, and she wasn’t going to get along with everyone, but that was life. She would be okay with her small group of family and friends, and on her own. She would be okay on her own, and she could rely on herself again.

The reaper grinned lightly and pushed herself off of the sink. Okay. It was time to get on with her day, finally. She had a lot of things to do. She needed to go to the grocery store, stock up on food again, get back into the training she had neglected for so long…