Valhalla. Veeh was dressed in fully white. She was a Valkyrie. Instead of killing her, Odin decided to banish her to Midgard - being reborn as a mortal. A hybrid. Stripped of her powers. Over and over again. Until eternity, if not one day someone would be coming to take the curse to free her soul. But why did Odin do that? Why was he so crucial to torture her soul?
Veeh wasn‘t a Valkyrie from the beginning. She was the Goddess of Blossoming, not able yet to wield her powers. One day Odin suggested to make her a member of the Valkyries. She actually didn’t have difficulties with fighting. She was a great warrior. But one day, after Odin banished his daughter Hela who tried to escape and killed every Valkyrie, it was Veeh helping her to flee and seducing her to bond with Odin‘s enemy - Laufey, the king of Jotunheim.
When Odin found out about Veeh being the one to let Hela flee, he decided to punish her with caging her soul into a mortal body, being banished on Midgard.
It took him long enough to get Hela. He had to be prepared and smart enough to choose the right moment to attack her. He succeeded when his daughter invaded Midgard in Norway. She wanted to rule over that realm, fooling the jotun king Laufey to make him help her by using the casket of ancient winters. It was bad luck for Hela. Her father catched her, locked her away and banished her to Helheim - again. But not even that. He took away her most precious love - her baby son: Loki. The man who had fallen in love with Veeh when he met her caged soul on Midgard.
Summary: Thor and Loki are on their way to seek the help of a woman the latest prophecy told them to look for. Asgard has to settle on earth cause Ragnarok is about to destroy their old home planet. If this isn’t already enough, the prophecy predicts another threat - way worse than everything they experienced before.
This chapter has no violence, mental pressure or sexual content.
First Impressions
Thor and Loki entered the room. It was all grey in grey. Musty walls, a gritty carpeting and wide glass facades. Thor could feel the heat almost burning the furniture as he took a seat on one of the tables. He started smiling and folded his arms. Muscles everywhere. That’s all Veeh could see when she raised her head to see what was going on. “Who are you, if I may ask, Mister!?”, she began and tried to hold her breath. How should she have reacted otherwise? Try to be cool. They’re probably on the wrong floor. They definitely don’t belong here, she thought. “I am Thor, the son of Odin! And this man next to me is Loki, the...” - “Brother of him. Just his brother”, he interrupted. Loki seemed to be annoyed as always by Thor’s proudly introduction. The God of Thunder just nodded. “We are here”, he went on, “to seek some help from you.”
“Me”, Veeh responded a little confused. “What do you want from me? If you’re looking for that wrestling federation, you’re supposed to ask in the fourth floor, if I remember that correctly.”
“Wrestling federation?” Thor turned to Loki to see if he knew what Veeh was talking about. His brother already had enough. “Do we look like wrestlers?”, he asked mockingly and slightly rolled his eyes, “we’re wearing some casual clothes to not get cut off by your humans’ incompetence to recognize us as such -”
“Casual?”, Veeh asked with a soft voice - “a black suit is nothing casual in here. I don’t know where you come from.. but the only ones who’re wearing styled long hair are actually - wrestlers. At least in this location. You’re still sure you’re even in the right building?”
This was the first time Loki got in eyecontact with her. His short silence was a sign he was impressed. Thor saw that and couldn’t hide a grin. He rose to speak again. “We are looking for Ms. ... Mrs. ... Esdèranza - just like ‘hope’ - how fitting”. The God of Thunder had never been the best when it came to talking to women. At least he tried and that was enough for his pride.
“That’s.. my name. Ms. Esdèranza... But the word you’re reffering to is actually ‘esperanza’. However. I am.. a bit confused.”
“Sure”, Thor agreed, “we understand. It’s a bit complicated but easier than you might assume. You know”, he began, “we have a mutual friend. Febb.”
“Febb? Yes, he’s... a colleague of mine. But he never told me about you. From where do you know him?”
“Well, we once met him at a meeting between ‘business partners’”, Thor gestured wildly and used his deeper voice.
“Business partners?”. Veeh didn’t know how to believe him. It sounded a bit out of character for Febb to visit several businesses meetings without telling her. Not because he owed her an explanation but they always shared their thoughts and happenings in life.
During Thor’s desperate try to find a connection to Veeh, Loki already examined the room. “Pathetic”, he whispered with a disgusted gaze.
Veeh wanted to get it straight. “So you know Febb. Alright. And for what do you need me or my help now? I can’t really follow your intention...”
Loki groaned but Thor wanted to calm those things down. “You know, we belong to a kind of companyyy... just like you and Febb do. And there are a few... things that we need from those guys who you get along quite well with - at least as Febb told us...”
“That doesn’t sound clearly either. Tell me what you think I could do?”
“Just talk to them and distract them during one of your... how do you call it: dinner parties”, Loki exerted himself to appear not too offhand - “that’s all you got to do. We’ll incure the rest.”
Veeh didn’t like what Loki said. “Why should I agree to do that?!”, she asked Thor reproachfully.
“They’re criminals and we all are in danger!”. Thor didn’t know hot to answer more properly. “Great, Thor”, Loki shaked his head but his brother didn’t touch upon it and continued: “Please, come with us now. You see, there’s no one left in this building. You’re working way too long now and... well, you need to see the sun again, right?”
Veeh tried not to roll her eyes and looked out of one of the glass facades. Her face reflected the last of the sunrays. Loki seemed to get she was still doubting. “Look”, he said at a glance, “I suggest you to talk to Febb and obtain his confirmation about Thor and me - and then.. you come to us.” He pulled a black card out of his pocket. “Here’s our address”. It was one of the well known hotels of this city.
Loki’s insistence seemed to be the first and only way to convince Veeh. At least he gave her enough space to overthink everything.
As he and Thor left the building, Loki pat his brother on his shoulder. “You’ll see she’ll change her mind and come to us. Just be patient.”
Burning Tears - Chapter two - Preparing the Mission
Summary: Thor and Loki try to convince Veeh to help them on an important mission. Therefore Loki manipulates her colleague and best friend Febb.
No sensitive content in this chapter!
Preparing the Mission
Thor and Loki had never met Febb. Not at a “business meeting” as Thor told Veeh, nor anywhere else. But surely Veeh was about to contact her friend to ask him about the asgardian gods.
“Hi, mate”, Loki entered the coffee bar where Febb was sitting and focused on his laptop screen. The god of mischief was smart enough to stay incognito when visiting places on Midgard. Especially with bigger crowds. He wore a dark blue hoodie with some random black jeans. Although he’s always been a little amused by the portrayal of him in the movies, he sometimes found that version a bit too ham-handed considering his questionable aims. “Uhm, hi, mate? Do we know each other?”, Febb responded friendly. He wasn’t shy at all and assumed he just forgot about knowing Loki.
“Oh, we do...” Loki slightly moved his hand to manipulate Febb’s mind. “Who needs a stone for that!?”, he joked when suddenly Thor pad him on his back. The god of thunder wasn’t alone. Veeh was also with him. “Brother, I see you and our friend... are having a good time!” “A good time? To cut the demos isn’t the fun part of our job...”, Veeh added. “However, I see you’re getting along pretty well, yes? Febb?” Her friend beamingly affirmed. She turned to Loki and eyed his outfit: “More casual”, she smiled and looked to Thor who couldn’t hide his amusement.
But as soon as he sat down he began to explain: “Listen. We’re actually not here to have a nice time. Tomorrow is a secret meeting between those guys who’re leading an illegal drug business” “We’re not here to stop them from that”, Loki interposed and raised a hand for Thor to continue. “”Well, we need to get under the ground of the building of one of their headquarters to destroy a raw fluid called ‘Velrania’. That’s extremely important as it might trigger a fatal virus to our people” Veeh didn’t seem that much confused or surprised about what Thor just told her, but she wasn’t quite sure what to think about it. “So... your people? Guys who the heck are you even? What is it with you, Thor!? Thor like, the one from the comics? You know my 8-year old recently went to school dressed up in a cape and a hammer made out of aluminium foil to look like him - although she has black hair, she didn’t really care. She just loves him” Thor presented a warm-hearted smile. “That’s amazing. I need to meet her one day.”
“We need to go”, Loki didn’t seem to have any interest in chatting about the meaning of them as the real gods or even the poor copied comic versions of them. He knew they had to prepare Veeh and time wasn’t really on their side.
A few hours later they finally reached the building Thor has been talking about. “So.. a lift?”, Thor winked at Loki who didn’t reply. As much as Thor got intrigued by Earth’s famous movies about him, he tried to stabilize their connection to Veeh. Trust was the most importing thing they could strive for. “How much do you know about the movies? Your daughter has seen them all, I guess?” “I don’t really know that much. Just a blonde muscular guy swinging his big hammer...” - Silence. Loki pressed his lips together and tried to hide a grin. No, he wasn’t really hiding it, but he loved seeing Veeh embarrassed.
“I mean, you actually look a lot like that guy, if I’m honest..”, she restarted. Thor nodded. “What about it being a fact? A fact that those kind of gods and Asgard really exist? Not exactly like you might know them from comics and mythologies.. but they’re actually pretty close. You know, not everyone on Midgard is just another human... how else do your people know that much about us?” To Thor’s surprise Veeh actually remained very calm. “So, you’re telling me you are - a god? A literal god?”. Her voice was filled with doubt. “Then what are you?”, she turned to Loki, “How am I supposed to believe you?” “I am a god” - ‘you dull creature’. Veeh could hear those words in her mind and remembered that she once heard it in one of the movies her daughter watched while she was trying to make the household.
“Proof it to me.” Veeh kept eye contact to Loki who didn’t need to be asked twice. After they reached the roof top of the 220 meter high building that was reconstructed to a restaurant, they were able to enjoy a nice view over the town of - NEW YORK! Veeh finally lost control.
“Ok”. She went around in circles and examined the horizon. “Now how is that possible? Reverse it”. She pointed her finger at Loki and waited for his reaction. “That’s not really impressing. You’re probably just a kind of David Copperfield”, she claimed. Loki took a deep breath and leaned back to relax. He didn’t answer but raised a hand to change the decoration on the tables. The flower vases smashed to the ground while some new fancy decoration embellished the furniture. Self-satisfied he folded his arms and watched Veeh, who still kept her hands high to hold balance. Slowly she looked back to him. “I guess she believes you”, Thor laughed and hugged Veeh to soothe her.
She sat down on one of the chairs and went through her long hair. “I believe you. Both”, she almost whispered. “What do I have to do to please you?”. Her voice was soft and deep, but not reproachfully at all.
Thor sat down next to her, explaining how they want her to engage the leaders of the drug dealers into a conversation about a possible merger with her record company for money laundering. “Alone?” “Yes, alone. During that, me and Febb are going to destroy Velrania. But”, Thor went on, “Loki will keep an eye on the situation. So if anything goes wrong, he’ll step in.”
Veeh placed a hand on her stomach. “Sounds risky. But I’ll do it” She pressed her lips together and looked over to Loki to get his assurance, though he just kept his arms crossed without moving or blinking.
