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[b][center][color=7b36b0]Hel[/color][/center][/b]
[/h1][/sup][/color][indent][sub][COLOR=7b36b0][I]Acropolis Party[/I][/COLOR][/sub][/indent][indent][sup][right][COLOR=7b36b0][b]Goddess Of Helheim[/b][/color][/right][/sup][/indent][hr][color=BFAFB2]The base was thumping, even though Hel could barely hear the music. But that base, she could feel it in her stomach and it made her blood course faster. She stood against a wall away from what appeared to have been dubbed the main dancefloor. For the first time, she realized dancing had evolved. From something you did together, to something you did alone or with two. Seeing those kids dance, smile, sweat, and sing along the songs made the corner of her own lips rise a little bit. Sometimes she wished she could dance like that. Hathor had taught her some moves but now she felt almost ashamed of her manners back at the Jade Jaguar. Even though it was just her and the Egyptian goddess.

[b]“A drink?”[/b] One guy almost yelled in an effort to rise above the volume. Which pulled Hel from her own thoughts. He looked nice enough. A bit older than most, but still pretty young. With a nice smile and the same golden hair as Baldr. He was holding out a red cup. Probably filled with beer.

[color=7b36b0]”No thanks.”[/color] Hel quickly refused him with a handwave.

The youth was insistent though. He came standing next to her, with his back against the wall. Looking at the dance floor. [b]“So why are [i]you[/i] here?”[/b] He asked over the loud music.

Hel assumed he was referring to how she was dressed. Assuming she was just someone’s older sister who was supposed to be somewhere else tonight but somehow got trapped here. Well, she cast a quick glance at Hebe and Coco to make sure they were safe, before she said: [color=7b36b0]”To do my duty.”[/color] With those words she pulled away from the wall and walked towards the stairwell. To where she heard that soft whisper calling her. She had tarried for too long and indulged in her own curiosities too much already.

The roof wasn’t entirely abandoned. A few chairs were scattered around. Some people were just talking without having to raise their voice. Other circles seemed to have been abandoned. A rather cold breeze was blowing over the roof. Or so Hel assumed, as quite a few people looked like they were shivering a bit up here.

Hel ignored most and walked towards someone who was sitting on the ledge on the ledge of the building. Wrapped in a blanket. Her legs dangling off the side of a building. Looking out into the city as well. Or so it looked. Hel knew what being forlorn looked like. Like mist, she floated over the roof until she reached the girl. [color=7b36b0]”You mind if I join you?”[/color]

The girl for her part only looked up. Underneath the blanket, the blonde looked like a party girl. Quite akin to Hebe, Hel thought. Only with blonde hair and perhaps a more revealing outfit. [b]“Sure.”[/b] She said with a small voice before she looked out into the city again. She had a red cup between her legs and was fidgeting with tarot cards in her hands.

Hel did so and joined the blonde in looking out over the city. She couldn’t see it, but the graveyard was in that direction. Hidden by houses and tall buildings. For quite a while they were both quiet. Just looking, listening to the thumping bass below them or the police sirens echoing from a distance. From here, the streets were bathed in the golden street light. People moved like ants. The party was certainly garnering quite a crowd. Yet the blonde remained upstairs. Alone with Hel.

[color=7b36b0]“You waiting for someone?”[/color] The goddess finally asked.

[b]“No. Not really.”[/b] The girl answered. Never taking her eyes off that far off point she wasn’t really looking at. [b]“I’m sorry. You probably came up to have a smoke or something. I’m alright. Really. I just…like it here. You don’t have to stay here to make me feel better.”[/b]

[color=7b36b0]”You tried to talk to your sister today, didn’t you?”[/color] Hel said, never looking away from Seattle’s skyline. It would be easier for the girl.

The blonde next to her just let out a chuckle. [b]“I mean… yeah. She texted me about this party. It’s stupid really. She thought it would cheer me up.”[/b] She took a sip from the red cup. It didn’t smell like beer or mead. Hel could see that much.

[color=7b36b0]”Not your older sister.”[/color] Hel noted, looking sideways now at the girl. [color=7b36b0]”Your younger one. Elise.”[/color]

Quite instantly a frown formed over the girl’s eyes. She even shot up. [b]“W-Wha… how do you know!? Are you stalking me?”[/b] She sounded incensed. Even violated. The goddess knew her eyes would be burning on her. Though she didn’t turn around to look the girl back in the eyes. [b]“Fuck you.”[/b] With those words, she started to stomp away.

[color=7b36b0]”She said she’s sorry about Derrek.”[/color] Hel said, still looking over the city. She was used to anger. To hate. To sadness. People felt a thousand and one things when they died. Rarely was it good. There was nothing she could do but take the punches and shrug them off later. For now though, she just wanted to help Elise and her sister. [color=7b36b0]”She said she’s sorry that she kissed him and she still love you very, very much.”[/color]

[b]“How did you-“[/b]

[color=7b36b0]”Know about the kiss? Elise told me.”[/color]

[b]“You can talk to the dead?”[/b] the blonde said, scoffing as she stood with her arms folded towards Hel. But the goddess could hear that faint glimmer of doubt. The girl wrapped in her blanket believed in something. Now she just had to end up believing in Hel.

[color=7b36b0]”I can. And I bet you’ll want me to prove it. I will if you want me to.”[/color] Hel turned to look at the mortal. Her icy eyes looking straight through her. [color=7b36b0]”But I’ll warn you. Calling on the dead is not a light matter. If you want to call upon someone, do it with respect.”[/color]

The girl seemed to be weighing her options. She looked back, at the door. There was a party going downstairs and here she was. Talking to a crazy woman dressed like she was going to some high-class ball. Yet Hel could see the hope in her eyes. She bit her lip and stepped back towards the edge of the roof where Hel was still sitting. [b]“Alright…could you-“[/b] There was doubt in her eyes, and no small amount of fear but also yearning and hope.

Hel took her hands as she got up to stand in front of the girl. [color=7b36b0]“It’s okay.”[/color] She said with a soft voice. [color=7b36b0]“Who do you want to talk to?”[/color]

[b]“My sister… Elise.”[/b]

Hel just nodded faintly, then closed her eyes. It wasn’t so hard to find the recently deceased girl. She was so young. So beautiful. [color=7b36b0]‘Your sister wants to talk to you.’[/color] Hel let echo in her thoughts.

[b]‘You found her!?’[/b] The goddess could feel the excitement in the ghost girl’s voice. [b]‘This is amazing! Thank you! Thank you so much! My sister…could you ask her if she’s still going after Jackson?’[/b]

[color=7b36b0]”Are you still going after Jackson?”[/color] Hel asked out loud, suppressing a light chuckle. 

She couldn’t see it, but the blonde whose hands she held was blushing fiercely all of a sudden. [b]“What! No! Is she asking that!?”[/b] And so the banter between the dead and living continued, with Hel as a conduit. Somewhere during the improved séance, she opened her eyes again and saw true belief in the blonde called Amber’s eyes. The sisters talked about many heartfelt things. Love. Studies. The future. Even though they couldn’t hear each other, they shared laugh after laugh.

But after about fifteen minutes, Hel gently squeezed Amber’s hands. [color=7b36b0]”It’s time to say goodbye.”[/color] Hel said. [color=7b36b0]”I can’t hold Elise for much longer.”[/color]

Amber nodded and said her goodbyes and then Hel released her hands. The blonde broke into a sob as she whipped away a tear. From each eye. Smushing her mascara. [color=7b36b0]“I’m sorry.”[/color] She said, even though she was still smiling. [color=7b36b0]“I just…she died so suddenly. I never got a chance to say goodbye and…I miss her so much.”[/color] The sobbing didn’t stop. It only increased.

Hel didn’t want to hug the girl. For obvious reasons. Instead, she just offered a comforting smile to the girl. Both of them returned to sit on the edge of the building. Amber kept talking about her sister. About the things they did. Their fights and how they always hugged it out after. The less Hel said, the more the girl spoke but the goddess took it all in. Letting Amber just talk and vent. Though eventually, the conversation began to stall again. Both of them were again looking out into the city. Though this time Amber looked significantly less somber.

[b]“Do you have siblings?”[/b] Amber then suddenly asked.

It caught Hel off guard. [color=7b36b0]“I… do.”[/color] Visions of Fenrir shot through her head, from the few photos she had seen. They still hung over her bed. Those old, already fading polaroid’s. Next to more recent pictures of her father. 

Amber must’ve sensed something was off. [b]“You don’t see them often?”[/b]

Hel just stayed quiet for a while. Her stomach turned inside out as her heart ached. How did Jorm look these days? What was he doing? Did he read her letter? Would he send one in return? What kind of sister didn’t even know what her brother looked like? She missed them. So much. [color=7b36b0]”No…”[/color] She finally said softly. Trying to swallow the tears that were pooling under her eyes. [color=7b36b0]”Not as often as I would wish.”[/color] She finally admitted. But then gently wiped the tears out of her eyes. [color=7b36b0]“It’s…complicated.”[/color] If she ever got close to her family, Ragnarök could be unleashed. Complicated felt like an understatement.

[b]“I didn’t see my sister a whole lot either,” [/b]Amber admitted. [b]“We used to play together every day. But as we grew older she and I grew apart. Then the fighting started. And then we both went away to college. If I had known she would die so soon, I would Facetimed every day with her.”[/b] The girl pulled her knees up to her chin, but a small smile was conjured on her lips. [b]“I’m happy I got to talk to her one more time.”[/b]

The two of them remained on the edge roof, together, for a bit longer. Hel fully expected Amber to leave sooner rather than later. She was still dressed for the party and the goddess couldn’t imagine her wanting to stay up on the roof for much longer. Such was the way with people. They moved on. Hel, for her part, was happy to have fulfilled her duty for the night and just look into Seattle night. If Hebe or Comus wanted to go home they could text her. Or they’d find her up here. Which was doubtful, but still.

Sunken in her own thoughts, Hel didn’t even realize Amber was suddenly standing up beside Hel with an outstretched hand and a big smile on her face. [b]“Let’s go to the party.”[/b]

The goddess shook her head. [color=7b36b0]”It’s quite alright. You go down and have fun.”[/color] She would stay upstairs where she belonged. Away from the laughter and the smiles and happiness. She was always told to stay away from such things.

There was, for a split second, an intense battle going on between their two stares. Gauging just how stubborn the other person was. [b]“Well…okay.”[/b] Amber said eventually, sounding quite defeated. [b]“Just… find me when you’re coming downstairs! I’ll make you an amazing cocktail!”[/b] And then she had her arms around Hel. The goddess barely knew what happened before Amber was bending down and pressing herself against her. As a reaction, she reached with her arms around but was in time to stop her. She couldn’t embrace Amber. No matter how badly she wanted to. Slowly she pulled her arms away again and Amber released her.

The blonde vanished down the stairs. Hel realized she was genuinely all alone on the roof and then her mind carried her thoughts away upon raven wings towards the abyss. Towards Jorm. And Fen. And her father. How she missed them. How she just wanted to be with them. And hug them! Hug everyone! Her lip trembled as she felt her sorrow pool under her eyes again. Now, alone, she couldn’t fight it anymore as the first tear fell. A sob shook her body as she tried to suppress that dreadful, all-consuming feeling. But she missed them. She wanted to see them. [color=7b36b0]”I’m sorry.”[/color] She whimpered softly. [color=7b36b0]“I’m so sorry. I can’t. I really can’t.”[/color] She spoke the words as if they could hear them. [/color]