My Little Hela

Nightmares In The Shadow

It was in the pit of night when it happened. Nearly everyone was sleeping, even Loki was resting in his bed chambers.

Then he was awakened by a blood-chilling scream! It was the scream of a young girl who was scared and frightened and unable to stop! It rang loudly in Loki's ears as he immediately threw is covers off himself to reveal a shirtless, muscled upper body (sorry, had to do it) and carefully retrieved a small blade before he rushed out to the corridor. His bare feet smacked against the cold floor as he exited his room but he was only met by silence.

"Loki?" came a quiet voice from behind him. He spun around, the dagger ready for blood, only to find a maidservant. She was short with blond hair tied up into a bun and a red sleeping gown that flowed gracefully down passed her ankles. She had a look of pure terror in her eyes as she stared into his.

"Oh, it is only you, Mars." He said as he lowered the blade.

For those who do not know; Mars is simply a pet name for Loki's good friend, Dagmar. They have known each other since they were young children and she is one of the very few beings Loki could ever trust. He trusted her with his identity, his secrets and even with the care of Odin in his prison.

"You heard that frightened scream as well, I assume?" she whispered in her light voice. "Yes." Loki replied as they both started carefully down the hall. Then they heard it again, this time it was louder and more frightened than before! Loki started in a sprint and did not even look back to see of Mars was following, he simply ran forward to the chilling screams.

He turned down the hall and saw his little Hela, hunched over on the ground. Another scream escaped her hoarse throat. Without hesitation, Loki ran to her and tried to calm her.

"Hela? Hela, princess... what is the matter?" but she would not listen. She turned and wreathed, her screams and cries were unfading. "Sir," Mars had appeared next to them. "Lord Laufeyson, I do believe she still sleeps. It appears she is having a nightmare." Mars tried to explain. If it was a nightmare then why was she not waking up? Hela had turned a pale ivory color as the streams of tears kept flowing down her face.

"Stop it! Make them stop it! It hurts!" she repeated over and over again as she continued to cry. Loki looked around; with the screams she was releasing, Hela was sure to wake someone so he carefully raised her and carried her to his chambers. The cries did not stop as he set her on his bed.

Mars summoned two guards and ordered them to stand outside the doors and to allow none to pass through. Then she shut the doors and raced to Loki's side. It was a long and hard ten minutes of kicking, screaming and crying before one word escaped her lips that could be the key to quieting her; Mom.

"Retrieve the human!" Loki told Mars but she was already running out the door and passed a few handmaidens who stood by the door, waiting for something to happen. Soon, Mars was at Hela's Bed Chambers and she was shaking Chelsie awake.

"Lady Chelsie, you are needed! Come with me at once!" she hissed as the young woman jumped up and ran after the maidservant.

It was not long before the simple human was at Hela's side, holding her close as she sang a soft melody to her.

"Well, I know the feeling
Of finding yourself stuck out on the ledge
And there ain't no healing
From cutting yourself with the jagged edge"

Loki listened as Amanda sang with the voice of an angel that had begun to sooth Hela.

"I'm telling you that, it's never that bad
Take it from someone who's been where you're at
Laid out on the floor
And you're not sure you can take this anymore"

Hela's screams had subsided and her cries silenced.

"If you can hear me now
I'm reaching out
To let you know that you're not alone
And if you can't tell, I'm scared as hell
'Cause I can't get you on the telephone"

Hela was quiet and slept soundly now, her face calm and peaceful.

"Please let me take you
Out of the darkness and into the light
'Cause I have faith in you
That you're gonna make it through another night
Stop thinking about the easy way out
There's no need to go and blow the candle out
Because you're not done
You're far too young
And the best is yet to come"

Loki sat down next to them and smiled, Amanda was truly important to Hela. He knew that if he wanted to keep his daughter, he would also have to keep Chelsie...

"Well, everybody's hit the bottom
Everybody's been forgotten
When everybody's tired of being alone
Yeah, everybody's been abandoned
And left a little empty handed
So if you're out there barely hanging on..."

...and after what he had just witnessed, this is something Loki was completely willing to do.