The gnomes stared blankly at the hole in the ceiling of the headmistress's office. Outside they could hear the faraway scream of staff and students being dived at by the once-again-airborne Acceptance Bin.
Name: Hel Selie (the ghoul formerly known as Brynhildr) Nicknames: Oreo, Kidget, Stupid, Problem Child Gender: Female Age: 18
Height: 5'4"
Faction/Race: Reaper / Valkyrie
Natural Ability:
Y1 = Lament: Valkyries are said to be able to sing with a voice so sad it stops their opponents in their tracks. Y2 = Raven Messenger: Valkyries can conjure up a raven spirit to carry written messages. Y3 = Raven Guide: Valkyries can conjure up a raven spirit to act as a navigator and guide, though as a trickster, it's not always a straight and clear path.
FEAR:
T3 = Battle Cry - A Giant Raven WOOSH T2 = Swift Strikes - A flock of ravens WOOSH T2 = The Chill - Healing woo T1 = The Bite - Caw
Skills:
HAND OF POWER When one is slapped with the HAND OF POWER, a magnificent beard appears! The beard will not fade with time. However, it can be shaved off, and will not grow back after.
OOCly this is an item that Hel can make any number of via rp/orp/solos, and distribute them as she wishes!
Personality:
-The Oreo Curse- Up until her third year at Amityville, Hel had been ‘cursed’, which caused one half of her to be fair haired and skinned, while the other half was dark haired and skinned. This was done to her by another Valkyrie with whom Hel’s Mother had crossed. Hel felt that this caused a rift between herself and her family, growing up with eight older sisters who were all blonde and pale, in addition to how the others living around them treated her. With the ‘curse’ fully taking over her appearance now, it spurred Hel to take the step to cut ties with her family and everything from that life, and to try and step into a new one.
-Stubborn- Hel is a grade A pain in the a** when she has her mind set on something, no matter what it may be. She easily gets wrapped up in matters she sticks her nose into, and often becomes blind to the consequences of her actions and how they will affect others. Her stubbornness also ties in to her being selfish, as more often than not she’s stubborn because of something she wants. She often thinks she’s in the right as well, and others just aren’t reasonable because they don’t see things her way.
Lately, Hel has been consciously trying to curb her stubborn and selfish nature, and think about how her actions and words affect others.
-Rash and Impulsive- In addition to being stubborn, Hel also usually acts on her impulses, and rather quickly at that. She hates to wait, and would rather get something done now than later. Safe to say, she’s a rather impatient soul, usually. A motto to sum her up is ‘jump first, ask questions later’.
-Violent- Violence doesn't solve anything, it solves everything (talking sometimes too, but only sometimes).
-Ambitious- Being the youngest of nine ghouls, Hel is very pro-active about doing her own things and securing her own things. She has big plans, big goals, and will often jump into anything that even remotely sounds interesting just to do it. This also extends to others that need a helping hand, as long as it’s for a reason she thinks is okay.
-Odd Sense of Commitment and Dedication- Making it to a good friend status with Hel is like going through a meat grinder. If the pieces come out relatively okay, odds are she’ll be a very dedicated friend to you. If someone also helps her out somehow, she’ll take that to heart and make it a point to try and repay that person. She also believes in being a person of your word. If you say you’re going to do something and you seriously mean it, then it’s a binding action until death. A lot of times she means well, but she just goes about it in awful and stupid ways.
-Heart On Her Sleeve- Hel’s a very expressive person, and if she’s happy, mad, sad, or feeling anything really, it’s easy to read on her face and her body language. Because of this, she’s a terrible liar, and she can’t cover up anything to save her life. Because it’s rather apparent how she’s feeling, this also translates into how she talks to others. Hel is blunt and pretty straight forward with what she thinks and feels about others, and if you irk her, odds are she’ll tell you straight to your face. She’s also very emotional, and feels things strongly. All or nothing.
-Attitude Adjustment- Hel’s been in stuck in a rut for a while now due to personal events in her life. Because of this rut, she’s grown into the awful habits of nagging, pestering, and clinging to those she’s closest to out of worry and anxiety. She’s realizing though, that she’s finally coming to the top of this tall and troublesome hill, and she’s ready to get over it and work on changing herself emotionally and mentally. She wants to go back to being relatively worry free, more easy going, less clingy, less petty, and just not as negatively bogged down in general. She wants to be better than the person she previously was.
Goals:
Not necessarily in this order, but some sooner than others
-Attitude adjustment -Become a Trick or Treater -Get her cottage built -Get married
Why are they enrolled in Amityville Academy? To get away from her family and break out of the rut that had been her life up until Amityville. Hel felt like she didn’t fit and belong back home, and that she was spinning her wheels but getting no where. Amityville served as a jumping off point for a new future.
Hel's dorm room is pretty bare now, actually. She took down and got rid of almost all of her belongings, and a lot of the furniture that was once occupying her room is gone.
All that's left really is a bed, a desk, a dresser, and some stools.
This is Halloween: Lizbot, Zoobey and Marushii Hel: Lucyal Everything Else: Their Respective creators.
Thank you!
Lucyal Crew
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Lucyal Crew
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 3:33 pm
Some Solos Throughout the Years
Year 1: Solo 1 - Letter to Freya
So…remember when Hel thought she was going to sit down and write a letter to her favorite sister? Well…she got side tracked.
After hanging out with Mot for a rather crazy and awesome day, she did sit down at her desk…but ended up doodling instead. Some more time had passed since then! She interacted with more students, started quite a few classes, signed up for Fitness club…and in hindsight, it was probably a good thing she got distracted. Hel now had plenty to write home about, and she was sure Freya would appreciate the effort she was about to put into this letter.
The young valkyrie hummed merrily to herself as she sat at her desk, tucking her legs underneath as she pulled out some parchment (received from the trip where she met Mitsu) and a plethora of pens. On the desk next to her sat a bag of beef jerky and a strip hung from her mouth as she stared down at the parchment thoughtfully. Hel tapped her pen on the desk surface for a moment to the rhythm of her humming before she started.
Hel wrote:
My dearest Freya,
I apologize that it’s been longer than when I said you could expect to receive a letter, but hopefully the length of this will make up for it! I hope that you are doing well! How are the sisters? Is the dinner table still just as lively? Is father still just as quiet? Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, I’ll get to the meat of this letter (this is humorous, my dear sister, as I am currently chewing on some jerky.)
The reaper chuckled lightly, rather amused with the pun and her level of cleverness as she finished off the piece of jerky and popped into one into her mouth.
I’ll start from when I left home after receiving my letter of enrollment. The train ride to Amityville Academy as pleasant as always. You know how much I enjoy riding the train! Speeding across the land faster than our wings can carry us; it’s an amazing feeling. I arrived at in town with no problem, and took my belongings to the dormitory office to check in! Here at the academy the dorms are separated by species, so I’m housed in a building filled with other reapers! Sister, the dorm is amazing! It’s shaped just like those old cathedrals that we would always admire when we take the wagon and go on a day trip to the nearest city for shopping! The reaper dorm is also located on the lowest ground, with the demon dorm being on the highest, but I don’t mind at all! The demon dorm here also has an iron gate surrounding it, and I’m not sure why.
Anyways, my room is located a few floors up! I’m not sure why I chose this floor exactly, but it just appealed to me when I stepped onto it. I’m glad I did though! My neighbors are two reapers that I met at the festival; it’s nice to be near familiar faces! So, my room is all set up! My loom is in the corner of the room, just like where it would be if I was at home. It’s good to have my back against the wall, that way no one can sneak up on me! I’ve been working on a few things here and there, but with school going on my pace is slower than usual.
Here Hel paused, idly munching on the jerky strip as she looked back over what she had written thus far. The ghoul leaned back in her seat, stretching before hovering back over the parchment once more.
Did you also know that a lot of dorm rooms have a small kitchen? It’s a delightful surprise! Using the one in mine, I’ve made a batch of our family stew, and while it’s good, it’s not the same as when you make it. I’ve also been sharing it with my neighbor and friend, Mot! Mot is a grim reaper who wields a gun and chain, and dresses like a cowboil all the time. He also wears a cowboil hat all the time too! All the time. At first I thought it was silly that he was so attached to that hat, but after talking to him more I learned that it holds a strong significance regarding his relationship with his parents. I don’t think it’s quite as silly anymore, especially when I got to wear it! He wears it covering his eyes, which is rather odd, considering he can still see even with it on.
This boil is on the skinny side as well, sister, and I’ve taken it upon myself to train him, as he is lacking in the art of hand to hand combat. I’ve also been trying to teach him how to flip an opponent, and that hasn’t been going as well as I’ve thought, since he doesn’t like handling ghouls that way. Once though, once, he managed to flip me! I was deliriously delighted! It’s rewarding to see the work you put into something pay off! In addition to that, we’ve spent time some time together, and he is rather humorous to be around! We laugh a lot, and it reminds me of the shenanigans back at home at times, with you and the sisters and the neighbor boils. This reaper insists on being the first to open doors for me, and also insists on being the one to pay for things, which has led to quite a few competitions!
Mot’s room is located right across from mine, and right next to Mot, is a psychopomp named Mac. He is a swell boil as well, who also wears a hat, though he’s not quite attached to his like Mot. I took him out to lunch not long after I arrived, and tried sushi for the first time! It was delicious, but I made a fool of myself as I don’t know how to handle chop sticks exactly. Mac’s weapon is an oddly shaped birch staff, and I wasn’t impressed when I first heard about it but after the seeing the shape of it, I decided that it wasn’t bad. He’s more of a support than a front line unit, anyways. Mot and I pranked him one day! We tripped him with some string, and in retaliation he duct taped both of our doors shut, inside and out, and jammed something into the key holes. I must admit, I was very impressed with his level of skill and determination (We were able to get back into our rooms though, it involved scissors and a few good kicks)!
I’ve met quite a few other friends as well! I’m running into quite a few grim reapers, too. Another one, named Shun, escorted me to the grocery store, and then we sparred later! I’ve also made non-reaper friends. I have a few friends who are monsters, such as a ghoul named Levi and a horse boil named Petro! They both are fine warriors, and I look forward to being able to spar with them. Another is a lycan named Mitsu, who happens to be rather shy and timid, but has good intentions. Also, I’ve met quite a few demons! One is a black widow named Lizzy, who I took flying. We leapt off of the demon dorm’s roof, it was exciting! Another one is named Charlie, who showed me the wonders of the food item called pizza, and another is a demon named Xiu who can dive into dreams. I was completely impressed!
Here Hel paused again, this time chewing on the end of her pen as she looked over the few pages of parchment she managed to cover with ink. This was ridiculous! She was writing a lot! Oh well, time to keep the train moving! The reaper idly noted that she had forgotten a few names here and there of other students she had met, but they could also be included in another letter. Her thoughts were shifting from one to another rather quickly, so it was best to keep moving along.
I’ve enrolled in quite a few classes here too! One is called Human Studies with a professor I admire named Savage (also the one I told you about during that impromptu class I had during the festival). We learned about portals underneath beds that can be used to shift from our world to the human world, and in class we had to catch dust bunnies! I caught mine rather quickly; I’ll have you know, and even kicked a desk over in the process! I’m also in another class called Mad Science, but we haven’t done much yet other than collect some goggles and take our seats. I also signed up for the Fitness Club recommended to me by a dragon student named Jericho! I’m excited to start attending meetings and improve my skills as a warrior. I’m also going to vote for the student elections when they arrive. I’m cheering for Miss Riley to become president, and I even wear her shirt around campus still (you know, the purple one you had to cut slits in for my wings).
I suppose I should start wrapping this letter up now, Freya, or else it won’t fit in the envelope! All and all, I’ve having the best time here so far. I’ll admit that I was scared when I left home. I wondered if I had made the wrong decision deciding to pursue the Academy, and often I wondered if you would be right about it here, as you usually are, but I’m glad I’m here! I can’t sum up how happy I am adequately with a few words, but please know that I am doing well here, and be happy for me. I miss you dearly, and though we are parted for now, I’m sure the next break will be here before you know it, and we will see each other then.
Take care of yourself, and run the neighbor boils up the tree once more for me! I promise to write again soon.
Love, Hel
The reaper tossed her pen on her desk as if it might burst into flames and flopped backwards out of her chair onto the floor. Dear Jack, she hadn’t written that much in one setting in a long time! Hel stretched all across the floor before picking herself up and collecting the pages, folding them and then placed them into an envelope. She addressed the letter to home, and waltzed out the door to drop it off at the post office.
Year 1: Solo 2 - Fox Fire Naming
Hel thought about a lot of things.
Owning her own mini-pet, surprisingly, was not one of them!
The reaper was sprawled out on the floor of her room, nose to nose and staring rather intently at the Runic Fox Fire she had rightfully earned upon (finally) completing that blasted Terror Warrior challenge. It took a Jack ton of tries, but true to her stubbornness warrior spirit and resolve, she had conquered and bested that damn course! Now, the proof of her achievement was sprawled out right across from her as well, warm, fluffy, soft, small, and its little black coal eyes staring right into the depths of Hel’s soul.
It was a bit creepy. Cute and endearing, but creepy.
Her nose wrinkled lightly as the Fox Fire’s brushed more against her own, the feel of its wet and cool nose making her lips twitch. She had quite a few options to choose from, but she had wanted this Runic Fox Fire out of all of them, why? Well, it could have to do with the fact that her cowboil neighbor had a rather endearing Fox Fire. One she did like holding and feeding when they had spent some time with her in her room one day. Did she have Fox Fire envy? Pffft, of course not (secretly, though, quite possibly)! Two, its coloration and attitude very much reminded of her of the culture she grew up in. Runic. It was very Nordic to her, very familiar, so she already had a bias for it. The Fox Fire’s deep blue coat with the light blues and silvers and white of the markings on its fur was…for a lack of better words. Beautiful. Three…those reasons listed above pretty much summed it up!
Now came a very, very important task. Naming. Hel took naming very seriously. To grant an object or a being a name meant to…give life and meaning to that object or being. You didn’t want to fool around when naming something, as more than likely it would bear this name for the rest of its existence, and it had something to live up to in a way as well. Thinking back to all of her sisters, they all lived up to their names someway somehow, names that were carefully thought up about by her parents (or so she hoped). It was also like the word etched onto the blade of her spear. A name. Something of importance. It gave her weapon more meaning. Hmmm…
Maybe she was looking into this too deeply? It was just a Fox Fire, after all.
Well, mini-pet or not, it was still her friend, her companion, and it…er…he, should be treated with such respect! How did she know it was a he? She didn’t…she just had a feeling it was a he (she hoped she wouldn’t be proven wrong further down the road, but who knows). Anyways, this little companion needed a name. What to name him…Heimdall sounded like a good first contender…this Fox Fire looked like a Heimdall…ooh but then there was Nott! Er wait…that was a ghoul name and it just happened to be way too similar to her neighbor’s name. That was just confusion waiting to happen. It almost would have been perfect though, as Nott was a deity of the night sky, and that’s what the Fox Fire also reminded her of! MooMoo? Oh wait, that was really silly, now.
Hel laughed to herself, rousing them out of their intense game of staring as the Fox Fire began to wag his tail. The ghoul hummed thoughtfully, dual colored hands reaching out to rest on his soft, silky back as her fingers threaded through his fur. “Tis a serious matter, friend.” She murmured to the small creature with a small, her smile widening as the mini-pet gave her a cheerful yip and wagged his tail harder. Oooh, it was just like a little duster! Cute.
The Valkyrie and fox fire fell back into another intense round of staring into the depths of each other’s souls as Hel mulled over some more names.
Ah ha!
Hel was grinning now as she snapped the Fox Fire up and rolled onto her back, tucking her wings close against her skin as she held the mini-pet above her, watching his little legs paddle like he was swimming in air. “I got it!” She announced. “Vili.” The Fox Fire stopped air paddling to stare down at her, his tail starting to wag once more. “…It means ‘will’ in my native culture…and it took a lot of it to get through that course!” The ghoul laughed, obviously rather pleased with herself as the name seemed to just come naturally now when applied to the little creature. “Vili~” She cooed, and grinned widely as the fox fire let off a series of happy, and hopefully approving yips.
Hopefully he wasn’t protesting. Not like he had a choice in the matter, anyways.
Year 1: Solo 3 - Post Meta Musings
There were two things Hel had been sorely lacking in this field trip, two things which she absolutely needed to function. Tact and composure Food and sleep.
After seeing her team mates back off to their respective rooms, making sure they were at least okay for now, she went and collected her poof from Mac without so much as an explanation as to what had happened. She was so tired now that the adrenaline was wearing thin, so tired and so hungry, but she was more tired than hungry so…food would wait. All that battling, the running, the block pushing…not to mention the trolling they received from the House too…and then…the battle with their Professor. All that happened though, and all that implied, was something Hel was content to brush off for now as she opened the door to her room, Vili wiggling happily under her arm.
The reaper closed the door behind her…and locked it.
She placed the FoxFire onto the floor, and in a zombie like set of motions just started to peel off her layers. First went the boots (that were still wet), the stockings, the apron…and the arm band. All were discarded without a second thought to the floor or to her work table’s surface, and from there, Hel lurched towards her bed. She pulled back the quilt and stared down at her mattress and pillow. The last thing she remembered before all went black was how fast the pillow was rising to meet her face.
She thought…maybe a day passed. A day full of nothing but sweet, sweet black nothingness. It was blissful. She didn’t think about a thing while she was in that nothingness…though when she did finally start coming around into the arms of consciousness, it was because of a little wet, warm tongue lapping at her exposed finger tips. Hel let out a soft groan. Maybe she could sleep more…but then everything seemed to come back to her, dropping on her mind like a ton of bricks. Field trip, the arrival, face punching, rooms, feelings, trolling, horsemen, weakness, sorrow, recovery, battle, false reapers, warmth…Red. Their professor. Her entire body was still sore and aching as well…proof that…something had indeed happened. This wasn’t made up.
Hel rolled into a sitting position, slumped over a bit as she stared at her dual toned feet absentmindedly. So much had happened…how did one start to cope with it? She gave Vili some pettings, before deciding on a course of action. How did one start coping? Well, they did that they could do. Hel slid off of her bed and stretched, ignoring the aches and pains as she then reached up and started to undo the braids her hair was in…oh her hair was going to look terrible, she was sure. That done, the reaper collected a fresh set of clothes, and made her way to the shower. It was a good first course of action and as relaxing as the shower usually was, it wasn’t this time around. The ghoul kept flipping the water temperate between hot and cold, for one minute she’d feel like she was burning up, and switch it to cool, relishing in the relief though it was brief, before feeling the chill seem to set into her bones, and she’d switch the water to scalding. Regardless, she stayed in the shower for a good long while before coming out, drying off her hair and slipping into the new dry clean clothes.
As she pulled the towel off of her head, she caught sight of a two toned ghoul still looking rather worn down in the mirror. She looked uncertain, maybe a bit saddened, and maybe even a bit bewildered…it was a bit disorienting to know that that was her. What did others see in her? She suddenly wondered. It may not have been an appropriate time to be concerned about herself right now…but she was alone…and now she could focus on how she felt, right? Amidst all that happened…there were things that had affected everyone, and then there were things that had affected her on a personal level…and now she was debating. Was it right to think about herself right now? What would thinking about others right now accomplish? Could she solve her problems if she focused on herself right now?
Hel’s stomach grumbled. Right. Her other necessity. Food.
She glanced at the ghoul in the mirror again before trudging off to the kitchen. Breakfast…err…lunch? A meal, regardless…she made herself some porridge and sat at her desk, eating it with Vili, who would just stick his head in the bowl and lap at the warm, milky oats. Now…she would think about what had happened again.
The bogeymen, the house…the false reapers…the Soul Harvester…the one in the purple cloak…Professor Red. Thinking back on all of that, one point seemed blaringly obvious. She wasn’t strong enough. Was that the simple answer to everything? If she was stronger, could she have done something about it? Hel liked to think she could have…Ugh. Being in this kind of predicament…what should she do now, what happened next? What would happen around school now? Unfortunately, there was another answer to this question Hel wasn’t too fond of. It was a ‘time will tell’ kind of answer. What should she do in the mean time? She wasn’t sure…but maybe she should always do what she had been doing…trying to better herself physically. Yes…that was one comfort she could cling to, a constant.
Maybe if she got stronger…she could crush all those false reapers, she could protect all her friends and her family…maybe if she got stronger, another Professor, one of their own…wouldn’t have to die, permanently. If she got stronger…she’d be a great Valkyrie, a good warrior…one that would make her family proud. That was what she came here go the Academy to be…in a way. Well, if there was another thing she could be sure of as well, was that coming to the Academy was an eye opener…crushing each and every shard of ignorance to her skills and current events…
Now the question still was: what was she going to do about it?
Year 1: Solo 4 - Hat Healing
Hel liked to think that she didn’t mope or feel self pity, but hey, she was a teenager. As much as she liked to think she didn’t do those things, she did, but at least she tried to do it when she was alone. She would also deny, deny, deny if asked. Another thought had occurred to her as she finally filled her stomach, fulfilling two of her most basic needs for now, and that thought was…what kind of being was she?
Some things had become blaringly obvious during this field trip. She had earned the ire of quite a few students during this trip. Practically all her team mates, an Engraver ghoul, and two horsemen. You know, honestly, the horsemen being irked at her didn’t bother her like it should have. The attitude with which they entered her group’s room and then forced Shun and her to their knees still made her blood boil. Power plays pissed her off like one wouldn’t believe, and their egos were ridiculous in her opinion. The reaper snorted as her brows furrowed and she deposited her bowl into the sink. She had a battle challenge she needed to take up with Conquest…soon…that would happen soon…but not right now, and in an odd way…she seemed to have a moment of seeing eye to eye with War…it was kind of nice to have had that particular horseman in her favor.
The reaper moved out of the kitchen and back into the main room, placing her hands on her hips as she stared at her clothes strewn about near the door. Ah…seems now would be a cleaning time. Oh well… she could still think while she did so. Hel moved to her work table, and started to empty the content of her bloody apron. Flowers…oh…yes…she’d need to press those soon. Dark finger tips grazed across the petals in a thoughtful manner before she resumed emptying the pockets. Next came her bag, and Hel paused as she stared down at it.
Mot’s hat.
Gingerly, the valkyrie took the item out and looked it over, her lips pulling into a deep frown. This hat…his cherished hat…it looked like it went to hell and back. This hat that had so much attachment, a gift he had received from his parents…it was practically unusable now. Between getting crushed by a heel, stomped on, netted, burned…she reached up to touch the hat band she had made for him, letting out a gasp as the leather band just disintegrated underneath her touch, sending what was left of the band into pieces on top of her work table. Mot’s student pin and the band’s metal bits made clinking sounds as they landed on top of the wood surface. Hel just stared blankly, her lips parted in a bit of a horrified expression. It was falling apart! What would Mot do without his hat, how would he feel? Well…he did go through a lot of the fieldtrip without it…but now that were back at school?
She didn’t know.
Hel stared down at the cowboil hat, running her thumbs along the fried rims slowly, until the proverbial light bulb went off. She could make him a new one. It…it wouldn’t be the same one…it wouldn’t be from his parents, but she could do it! Mot just…wasn’t Mot without a hat. She’d make him a new one…because it was in her power to do so. A small trill of enthusiasm seemed to burst through the reaper since she had come back from that fieldtrip…but oh…first thing should be first! The flowers.
Hel carefully placed the hat down on the work table and then focused her attention on the flowers Mot had given her when he apologized. First, she pressed them. While letting herself get caught up in the task, she couldn’t help but wonder if…the flowers meant anything. Was she hoping they meant something? Maybe they meant nothing more than that he was sorry…maybe they…meant…no. No, they didn’t mean anything more than he was sorry. She recalled snippets of what had happened in the Couch room between herself, Roch and Mot. Heh…yeah, that was silly. Ugh…! Now she was debating with herself again! Was it appropriate—was it selfish—to be thinking about herself right now? Gah! You know what? She was in her room, by herself (with the exception of Vili), and thus…if she just got it out of the way now…she’d be okay, right? Hopefully.
This brought her back to her earlier thought as she started to place the flattened flowers over a sheet of clear plastic. What kind of being was she? Was she a good friend? Was she liked….could she be loved? Hel shifted a bit uncomfortably as made a small note of a bit of paper ‘First field-trip.’ She tucked it next to the flowers, and then laid another sheet of plastic over it. She upset a lot of her team mates with her words…though at the time she felt justified for her thoughts and actions…and she felt like she was being ganged up on for feeling or saying what she thought. Was she in the wrong? She didn’t think so at first…but when she took a moment to step back and look things over…maybe she had been…in just a few instances. She shouldn’t have lashed out at Lattice for being caught. But Lattice shouldn’t have talked about her feelings like that in front of others! She shouldn’t have dogged Mot about casting glances at Lizzy. They were in the middle of a task, and he wasn’t focused! As for Riyo? Well, honestly, Hel didn’t regret anything she said or did to her. Heh. Nope, not one bit! She had an odd relationship with the cat demoness…she noticed. She could be throwing punches at her one minute and then having a heart to heart with her the next…like sisters.
Hel groaned in frustration now. She was combating herself. With the plastic sheets now covering the flowers and the note, she tucked it away between some heavy objects for now, just to finish pressing and sealing it.
Would they want to be on a team with her again? Hel’s shoulders slumped as she stared at Mot’s hat now. She didn’t know. Maybe becoming stronger…not only physically…but mentally and emotionally…
Hel’s fingers gently brushed over Mot’s hat as she rested her head in her other hand. What Lattice had said…it was true. She had been upset that Mot was paying attention to Lizzy, and not just because they were in the middle of a very serious situation. Hel slumped forward, resting her chin on an outstretched arm. Lizzy was on to her too…asking how she felt…she was suppose to go talk to the spider demoness once they returned but…Hel doubted that was going to happen. It didn’t matter. She firmly thought. It didn’t matter how Hel felt. Why? Because you couldn’t force someone to feel differently about another…so…what was the point of trying? This line of thinking was rather uncharacteristic of the usually stubborn and determined Hel but…Hel wasn’t like her sister Freya when it came to boils. She couldn’t and wouldn’t manipulate another when it came to matters about feelings. Feelings…such a sensitive and touchy subject for the young valkyrie. She liked keeping how she really felt until lock and key…and this subject was no exception so…here it would stay. Hel would keep working on making sure she was a good friend…not just to Mot, but to everyone. This would also help her in becoming a stronger warrior, right? One that would be worth being looked up to and respected? Hopefully.
Hel’s head snapped back and she stared at Mot’s hat.
Priorities! Number one, right now, make a new one. She could do it, she knew this was something she could do without fail. Hel leapt off of the stool, and dove under her bed pulling out a few boxes of her leather working materials and tools. The rest of the day and far into the evening would be spent on making Mot a new cowboil hat, one made out of leather! The hours melted away as she worked, cutting out pieces for the hat, fitting them over other pieces, stitching and sewing, and the ghoul was even feeling rather ambitious…she made a new hat band too. This time it was a leather braid inlaid with metal bits. She even polished up the star button from the old had band and refit into the new one. Hel was pulling out all the stops for this…only the best of her leather material, only the most careful of stitch placements, the best polishing…she didn’t even p***k her finger once! She even went beyond…attached a leather string to the hat, so that if he ever wanted to wear it down…it’d still be attached to his person. She slipped some gray-blue beads onto the ends….and then finished it off with his student skull pin (only after she polished the hell out of it as well).
Done.
Hel stared down at her newest creation rather proud. She could only imagine and hope that this would…mean something to Mot. It meant something to her. This hat said to her ‘I made it through a field trip, I returned in one piece’ and it also said ‘I may be knocked down, but I will rise again.’ Wait…did it really say that? Hel rubbed her chin. Yeah…you know…it could. She may be down right now…but she had to go back up. When you were at a low…you could only go up. She had to go up. It may not happen right now, it may not happen tomorrow…but it would happen. Eventually. Slowly but surely…
Her stomach grumbled again. Hel’s lips quirked as she slid off of her stool and back over to the kitchen for some re-heated left over stew and microwave-warmed apple cider. After that…? She crawled back into bed to sleep. Maybe…she’d just wallow for a bit longer, and then after that, she’d start training again, alright? She’d get her wallowing out of the way…and then she’d focus on becoming stronger, and hopefully being a good friend, and a better being. A good warrior…Just a good everything. Add it to the goals list.
Year 2: Solo 2 - The Dress
What in Jack’s name was she doing here?
Hel’s mouth was pulled into a deep, deep frown as she just stared at the store front like it was the most offensive thing known to her being in Halloween. Oh wait. That’s because it was. So what was she doing here again? Much less contemplating going inside it and what’s this? Purchasing something!? Oh, that’s right.
Because there was this nagging whisper in the back of her head that said she should do something really nice for Mot.
Hel scowled.
Buying a dress, really!? Out of all the things Mot seemed to enjoy, why did it have to be dresses!? Err…not for him, of course! But for her.
The valkyrie couldn’t stand wearing them, by choice or by force, it didn’t matter. She just did not like wearing them! She felt so…so…stupid. Another little mocking whisper couldn’t help but say it was like sticking a pig in nice clothing, but that wasn’t her main motivation for avoiding those clothing traps. It was just…so impractical to battle and train in dresses. They got ripped, torn, shredded, dirtied…it’d be such a waste of seeds! Even though she did receive an allowance from her parents, it was no where near enough to cover how fast she’d tear up new clothes, especially something as fragile as a dress. A large majority of her seeds went towards groceries anyways (unlike her sister, where hers went to shoes). Hel could eat! She also happened to be feeding two beings as well!
Ah yes…which brought her back to the reason she was here. Mot. She was doing this for him because that nagging whisper left her unsettled, and would continue to do so until she did something about it. Hel started to tap her foot anxiously as she continued to stare down the store. That’s right. A store that sold dresses…at the Maul none the less, packed with all kinds of beings looking to get some shopping done before Christmastival.
Do something really nice for Mot.
Why did it have to be dresses?
Hel rubbed her face in frustration. Dear Jack she couldn’t believe she was about to do this. She needed to bite the bullet so to speak…lay some pride to the side…oh sweet Sally, he’d better appreciate this. He’d better not laugh. She’d lose it, and not in a ha-ha funny way.
Ugh.
Well, Hel wasn’t one to run away from a challenge…and this was indeed a challenge. Still, it was now or later and well, she’d rather be done now. Finally, after standing in the same spot for a good fifteen minutes, the ghoul marched into the store with a perma-scowl, and was immediately accosted by racks upon racks of ribbons and frills. She shuddered. So. Many. Dresses. Ugh. How was she supposed to go about the process of choosing one? They all screamed trouble. Luckily the reaper wouldn’t be left to flounder about for too long, for not long after she entered, a sales associate happened to descend upon her, literally! The rustling of feathers startled Hel out of her internal dilemma, and right at her elbow stood a widely smiling harpy ghoul whose name tag read ‘Agathe’.
“Greetings, Miss! Is there something I can help you with?”
Hel just stared at the ghoul a bit dumbly. “…Uh…I need to purchase a dress.” She explained rather lamely. This didn’t seem to deter the harpy in the slightest though, who just tilted her head and started chattering off. “Well you’ve come to the right place then! We have dresses for every occasion! Christmastival, Scary Hawkins, Scarentines, Prom…we even have wedding dresses if that’s what you—“
The reaper waved her hands a bit, feeling just a tad overwhelmed at all the type of dresses that were listed, and maybe even a bit more startled at the offer of wedding dresses. “I…uh…just need…a dress.” A plain ol’ dress. Oh, Hel, so helpful, so detailed. She was a ghoul who knew what she wanted. Not. “…Uh…” She paused, glancing around at the racks upon racks of dresses again. She…wouldn’t be able to pick one out on her own, she realized. There were just too many, and too many variables involved. “…Ah…” The valkyrie went on to describe to Agathe that she needed a dress for a nice day, her budget, and then of course, most important, one for her structure and size. The harpy ghoul gave a rather loud and thoughtful hum before snapping her clawed fingers. Hel would then find herself guided by the shoulders over to a dressing room where her measurements were promptly taken, and then would find herself stripped (oh my, that harpy was rather pushy and forward, someone was getting a taste of their own medicine). She was then commanded to stay in the dressing room while a whole flurry of dresses came her way. OH JACK NOOOOOOO.
Maybe it was two hours later…she thought…possibly…she was dragging herself out of that store, plus one large bag containing a box that contained a…dress. After the ninth one, Hel had just thrown her hands up in the air and told Agathe to just pick one and then ring her up for her purchase. Hel was tired. The usually energetic ghoul was dragging her feet as she carted her purchase back to the dorms. This really had been a challenge, but she had overcome it! Like a true valkyrie should.
She…hadn’t even really seen what she bought. She’d been impatient to get out of there...and she wasn’t going to look either, not until it was time and it wasn’t because she was worried, no, she just…didn’t want it to get dirty. It’d be a surprise for the both of them.
He’d better like it or else. Never again. Never. Ever. Again.
Year 3: Solo 2 - Shoebox For My Thoughts
The pin in her hand gleamed harmlessly in the light of a lamp, but this pin was anything but. It meant a lot. This pin had so much meaning attached to it. It was the first and only pin she had been given by a friend, with the promise to always be there for one another. A friend she had been crushing on at the time she was given it, and who ended up becoming more to her.
Now, this pin was just a reminder of someone she loved who didn’t love her anymore in return. Did it still have that promise of always being there for one another? She liked to think it did…but gazing upon this black pin with a sheriff star and skull in the center, it only brought forth negative emotions, and the traitorous thought that the promise was weak and unimportant.
Hel placed the pin into the bottom of an empty black shoe box.
Next to the pin, she placed any and all pictures she had of him. Buzzard’s Breath with Mitsu, her sister’s wedding, their trip to the pier and amusement park. Next came the flowers he had given her at their first field trip in the Haunted House that she had pressed. All notes she had gotten from him as well. On top of those, she placed the wooden ocarina he had made her for Christmastival, and next, she pulled out his handkerchief from its safe spot between her bosom. The ghoul ran her fingers over the material, her eyes softening briefly. She had kept it close to her heart for so long, she felt like something was missing when it wasn’t, but keeping it on her now, it was just another aching reminder. She rubbed her cheek against the material one last time for now, and placed that on top of all the other things in the shoe box.
Hel’s dark hand grabbed the lid, and she placed it on part way, pausing to look over the assortment of items she had put in there. Hopefully one day in the future she could pull all these items out again and have them surround her without feeling like this. Hel closed the lid on the shoebox, pressing on it firmly, and then shoved the box under her bed, banishing it to the farthest corner, where she then moved her other boxes in front of it. Squirming out from underneath her bed, the reaper flopped onto her bottom and leaned against a post, staring idly up at the ceiling.
She didn’t know what to do.
Wallow in self pity, cry, lament, regret, get angry, and be hateful…
Maybe to others, they’d think she was taking this too hard. It was just high school, after all. High school romances didn’t last forever. In fact, no one expected them to, but she didn’t come from a culture like that. She didn’t understand what it meant to just date with the knowledge and expectation that it wouldn’t last. She had poured herself into what they had. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, far from it actually, but she really loved him. She had wanted to make it work. She wanted to try being at his side for their existence to come. He was kind and considerate, smart, thoughtful. He was everything she wasn’t, and she admired that, even if he wasn’t the most brave or committed boil…his other traits more than made up for it. She loved him, and he fell out of love with her.
How was that possible? What had she done wrong? She must not have been good enough. What was she lacking? She had been sure once they broke through that barrier of being intimate, things would be grand...but they hadn’t. If Hel didn’t know him, she would have felt used…but that wasn’t him. No, that wasn’t him at all.
Hel wiped her nose with the back of her hand as her lips twisted. She pushed herself up to her feet, and turned, grabbing a few dresses she had bought and acquired while she was here at Amity. For him. She gathered them up in her arms and disappeared from her room.
The fire gleamed brightly in her eyes, and Hel watched the flames in the reaper common room eagerly consume all that lace and ribbon. She probably should have just dropped them off in a box outside…surely someone would have claimed them as their own, but no. Tossing them into a fire felt more final, more cathartic. The ghoul stood there until they were nothing but ash, and returned to her room, where she flopped on the floor again, and stared at the ceiling.
Being with her had been tiring, he said.
She felt like a nuisance. No matter how hard she tried, it didn’t matter. It didn’t change anything.
Hel’s frown deepened, as she felt the little pads of a small fox fire trying to climb up onto her stomach. She lightly pushed him down. “Not now, Heimdall.” The ghoul muttered, though didn’t discourage him, and he tried again. Hel pushed him back with her fingers again, her brows furrowing. “I said not now.” She stressed, but still, he tried. “Stop.” She hissed, now sweeping her arm to encouraging him to go elsewhere, but he yipped and hopped over her arm, and tried scrambling up tunic. “I said cut it out!” The ghoul snapped now, and whipped her arm at him. The little foxfire yelped loudly and he tucked himself up into a ball as he rolled across the floor. By the time he got onto his feet, his little tail was tucked between his legs and his back hunched, as he skittered under her bed, whimpering.
Hel sat up immediately, and looked at her hand, and then at her bed, a bit horrified as she realized what she had just done. The wingless valkyrie rolled onto her stomach and pulled herself across the floor and under the bed. “Ah, Heimdall…” Her fingers blindly reached out and in between boxes until she felt a small mass of quivering fluff and plucked him up by the scruff. The ghoul wiggled her way back out and sat against her bed again, cradling the foxfire under her chin with both of her hands. “I am sorry.” She murmured, her fingers smoothing over his soft fur and easing his shaking. “I did not mean to…”
She sat there for a while in silence with him, petting him. Eventually he stopped shaking and licked her chin at times before just settling on her chest and underneath her chin.
“…Are you going to stop loving me one day, too?” She asked him quietly. “Are you going to get fed up with me…?” Hel never owned any mini-pets before Amityville…while she heard about the idea of some critters loving unconditionally…how could she be sure that Heimdall would? The foxfire didn’t answer her, as he was sleeping now. Business as usual in his little world. So simple, Hel was almost envious.
Maybe the reason why this was hitting her so hard was because she felt like she was a failure. Like she wasn’t good enough. Sure, he had tried to assure her that she was ‘deserving of more’…but he often did tend to say flattering things…Hel groaned. Ugh, that just made it worse, and her lip wibbled. This wasn’t making her feel better. What would? Would she feel better anytime soon? Ever?
Hel groaned again and shimmied against the bed, coming to a stand. She deposited the sleeping poof onto her pillow and flopped back onto her bed with a deep sigh. Hel’s eyes drifted back to the ceiling again, but something out of the corner of her eyes drew her attention to her bed post, and she blinked, focusing in on the hat that rested on the corner. Oh. That’s right. Mac’s hat.
She stared at it for a long moment before reaching out and taking it off of the post. She ran her fingers over the rim, feeling the stitching underneath as it made her think of the ring she had made for the cowboil on the Isles. She hadn’t seen it since she had given it to him…what did he do with it? Did he even care for it anymore, now? Not like she wanted it back…it’d just be another horrible reminder. Hel signed, running her fingers against the hat once more before she lifted it and placed it over the top half of her face.
Ah. Sweet darkness. It was kind of a comfort under this hat. Nothing to see…
Hel paused as she felt something weigh the hat down, and reached up to feel Heimdall now curled on top of the hat on top of her face. She snorted, very softly, and then immediately sighed. She’d just stay here for now, right here with Heimdall and under this hat…and later she’d go out. She’d just be right now.
