#sonofthefrosthearted

“Oh no,” Flash frowned as his imagination started to go ahead and provide him with the visual of a boy getting hit by a car.

Siren smirked as she leaned forward, sweeping the chips to her side of the table in a flashy, pointless gesture.

“I’m gettin’ full value outta ya buddy,” She drawled, grinning just a little wider so the points of her teeth were visible.  “Goods’ll be picked up in about fifteen hours, an’ so help me, if ya try to cheat me, there won’t be a meteor in this galaxy ya ass would be safe in.”

The blue man slumped, an impressive move given the size of his shoulders, and Siren laughed, plucking the datastick from her tablemate’s unresistant hand.  “Not that ya could!  Doubt ya got credits left for fuel!”  

In her moment of gloating, she missed her victim turn to mutter something to his bodyguard, who angrily stomped away.  Not that she had paid much attention to his presence anyway; when she was here, sizing up others was Lash and Spackle’s job.  The more she held herself as a rich, cocky brat, the less people expected of her, and the more she could get away with.  And she got away with a lot.  For example, her taunting about being cheated was so heavily hypocritical her tongue should be making clanging noises against her teeth, as Chamile was currently hanging on the ceiling, invisible, and quietly relaying the other’s hand to her over an earpiece radio.   Over at the dice table, Chirp had his antenna tucked under a hat as he quietly tilted dice for Zentara, who was flirting just enough that no one was paying any attention to the scrawny kid beside her.

But rules were things for other people.

//Awww thank you <33

✮ Have you managed to stay away from drama?

Her throat tightened, and she dropped her gaze to the sleeping form swaddled in her arms.  Lorelei, who had been restless the whole trip here, finally settled down once the rings had picked up motion.  How inopportune, given how soon they would be off again. 

Ethereal thought she might have been tired, had she been able to feel anything at all besides a numb ache in her chest, the result of a battle between grief and terror where both sides had just given up and burned all remaining feelings.  

Hariman was still talking, unconcerned with her lack of attention.  “He will see so many outcomes, but there’s only one that was ever going to happen.  Funny how they always seem to think they have a choice.  That the strings could be broken.  What has happened was always going to happen, what they see was always going to be seen and acted on...  That’s what makes these things happen, after all.  We knew, and we wrote it out.  Like moths, these mortal sorcerers and wizards try to alter the fabric of fate, but all the holes they chew just sew themselves back together. Except the hole your mother made.”  He added as an afterthought, reaching down and gently bopping Lorelei on the nose.  She stirred for a moment, then settled back down.  

Frowning, Ethereal rocked her daughter, trying to ignore the points of light dancing in his eyes, tiny stars spinning in their galaxies, whole universes carried and watched by the man who would bring her tea and ran her households while she was away.  Even harder, she tried to ignore the ones that were winking out...

The dread was seeping back in.  Distantly, she could hear the dwarf telling Thor that whatever idiotic thing he was thinking of doing could kill him, and she wondered if Thor even cared.  If it would matter if he fell here or later...  Would it matter if she did?  Here or there, she would never see her daughter grow, and her daughter would never know her parents, never have a family...  An uncle on a suicide mission, an older brother too stubborn to stay alive in the coming mess, who took after their shared father who was also too stubborn to keep his hand hidden.  Whatever Sigyn would have been to her, it was subverted by the fact that woman would have to die before anyone could lay hand on her son. 

Hariman was watching her.

“...What can I ask of you?”  She found her voice, small in her throat.  To ask what she had to was to acknowledge too many things going wrong.  Too much pain, too much fear, too many awful truths.

“What can you?”  It wasn’t the first time he seemed to read her mind, and that half smile that was so familiar was languidly in place.  As if this was about what flowers should go in the front garden, not...

“How many can you save?”  Choked and mangled as it was, she needed to ask.

His smile deepened.  “A handful.”  Hariman held out one hand, palm up, fingers bent lightly inward.  “But not you, ma’am.  You’re too far from the fate I built.  I cannot truly touch you.”

A terrifying implication, but one to be dealt with if there was a later.

“My babies.”  No hesitation.  She had been a mother for so long, she knew nothing else anymore.

Wordlessly, his thumb and pointer curled down to his palm.  As they touched, Lorelei seemed to flash, light that wasn’t light flickering across her body.  From across the room, Tyr yelped.

“Sigyn.”  They would need a mother.

Another finger, and the women giving Tyr a pat down jumped, and give a started look around.

“Thor...”  She swallowed as another finger went down.  Hariman had just his pinkie out, curled, the daintiness of the gesture almost obscene with it’s contrast with what it represented.

Who else?  Who else did she even care about that much anymore?  Her heart had distanced itself in the past few days, retreating into the heavy isolation she had held for centuries, a shield against the loss that her life provided around every turn.  

Well, it was simple really.  She only really had one friend outside of the immediate family she had gathered around herself.

“Tony needs to live.”

The final finger folded over, and gently, Hariman tapped her forehead with his now closed fist.  A shock passed over her body, like falling in a cold pool, and Ethereal gasped, her muscles tightening in surprise as her vision went temporarily dark.  

Or no, no it hadn’t.  She was just falling into the endless space that hid behind Hariman’s eyes.  Ages and a void, the abyss of time, of bended space and reality...  She couldn’t see, because it was beyond her comprehension.  Her many long years of life flashed by in an instant, and the sun which earth circled snuffed itself out as the galaxy collapsed inward into the black hole that was it’s heart...  And elsewhere, new suns, new planets, new beings that were life beyond what they knew, sprang into being...

And Hariman blinked, turning away, and she was once again on the forge, spinning around a star that was in it’s end.  There was commotion behind her, and the power of whatever weapon was crafted behind her was radiating through out the whole place, making it shake.  

“Hmmm...”  Black hair was back in place, eyes were once again dark, and the smile lost its predatory edge.  Hariman was again, just Hariman.  “Not yet, my dear, you’ll have some time.  Remember your mother, Eva.  You are not just the frost, for you hold both sides of conflict in your soul, and if you can reach what she left you, you will give more a chance than I am allowed.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You will.  One day, you will achieve it on your own, but for now...”  He reached behind a nearby pillar, and pulled forth a staff she knew had not been there the moment before.  “A channel for your, ah, new growth.  Also, an early wedding present.”

What.  “...That fucker is still alive isn’t he.”

“As his brother said, he’s been dead before.”  Hariman winked.  “I’ll watch Lorelei, while you help save the universe.  It isn’t even yours, aren’t you such a good person?”

He took her baby from her unresisting hands, and replaced it with the staff.  

“Go on.  We’ll be waiting for you.”

Ethereal looked over at where Thor was visibly preparing to leave, Sygin, Tyr, and the obnoxious raccoon and tree person all standing next to him.  Thor gestured to her, clearly urging her to hurry up.  She tried to take one last look at her daughter, but Hariman was gone.  Home, probably, but to hers or his (where ever that may be), she did not know.

To go with Thor would be to her death, she knew for certain.  But the universe always keeps spinning.  And life after death was always a reoccurring theme, she thought, a wry smile crossing her lips.

She stepped forward, each step lightening the tightness in her chest, the staff radiating warm life through her hands, and by the time she took her place behind Tyr, next to the woman who had quickly become like a sister, she was content.

((Gonna combine both ;D))

Ethereal stared at herself in the mirror before her, almost unsettled by her reflection. She wore white almost every day of her life, but this… Somehow this dress felt more blinding, more real then her.  The idea of the dress wearing her sprung to the front of her mind, and she sat down, the wide skirt swooshing around her in a cascade of grey silk and white fur.

“Sigyn… Sigyn, this is a wedding dress.”  Her voice and hands shook, as she smoothed her hair down.  Her fingers touched the cool metal of the circlet and traced the dangling crystals where they brushed against her neck.  “What are you planning?”

Sigyn grinned at her friend, bouncing Lorelei as the baby gurgled happily.  “Hey, Loki already has one already technical bastard, let’s not let this little one grow up as such too!”

🐥- A memory about their children (past, present, or future)

“Kid, take a good, long look at this ship, and the fuckin’ jackasses running ‘round on it, and ask me that shit again with a straight face.  Don’t have time, or energy, for my own kids, even if I did like ‘em.  I helped raise Peter, and that’s good enough for me.  Right now, I gotta remind people to put their laundry away, have to keep dumbasses from killin’ each other over stupid shit, make sure people don’t eat junk every meal...”  Her eye twitched.  “Literally no time.  Theoric’s old owner was nose deaf, and the idiot needs to be reminded that showers exist.  Though it’s fuckin’ hard to find somewhere to wash ‘round here that doesn’t have somethin’ weird hidin’ in it.  Yes I know there’s a snake in the guest bath.  His name is Inchworm, yes it’s stupid, but I don’t argue with Lash anymore.”

👘- A memory associated with an article of clothing they have

“Why the hell were ya goin’ through my things?”  Her cheeks purpled as she yanked the lacy dress out of the boys hands.  “By gods child, yes it’s see through, because it’s an overdress, you wear a bodysuit or some shit underneath it, jackass.  Stop laughing Peter, I swear to god I will punch you in your fuckin’ face.  Yes, even when I danced, I wore shit under it, it tried to be “classy”, which I could usually pull off as long as I didn’t open my fuckin’ mouth.”  She held it up to her chest and smiled fondly, any embarrassment seemingly gone.  It was white and sheer, covered in elegant lace, with wide armed sleeves.  Reaching mid-thigh, it looked far more risque then most would imagine the captain wearing.  “Fortunately, I wasn’t hired to talk much.” “I’m still amazed you weren’t hired to punch people in the face, with all those scars on ya.”  Spackle had wandered in to find out what the yelling as about.   “You wear enough foundation up there to wall a house, scars or no scars.”  Siren shrugged, balling the dress up.  “And I did snap a few fingers, remember?”  She tossed the dress on the bed, and grabbed Tyr by the ear.  “Now don’t go diggin’ through my shit anymore, ya brat.  There’s much less innocent things, not to mention dangerous stuff, in those drawers.” 

⚔️- A memory about war

A long pause stretched after the question was asked.  “You pry too much.”  Her voice had gone harsh.  “I lead a rebellion on my home planet to try to keep other kids like me from getting burned alive.  It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t honorable, and I got the fuck out of there once I got paid.”  Siren stormed out of the room, the spine along her back raised and pulsing red. “It’s a bit of a sore point.”  Lash said quietly, watching her leave.  “She felt important, and is actually quite the hero on her homeworld now, but she’ll never go back.  Too many remains of murdered children, and the ghosts of her, ah, spawners, as she calls them, will always haunt her there.  She also knows she was just a tool, just a plot point to add to the fight of one group against another.  They offered to let her stay, give her power, a new name...  She left as soon as credits got transferred.  I wouldn’t bring it up again.” “What Lash dodging around sayin’ is that she killed her parents there.”  Tossing a ball absentmindedly, Spackle stared at the ceiling.  “They were lining up parents who had killed their children, basically those who had kids at one point, and then mysteriously didn’t.  Some could prove they hadn’t killed their kids, and those they couldn’t prove if they did or not got secluded elsewhere, and those who had...  Well, there’s some new mass graves on a nearby planet.  Her parents tried to use her to be kept out of it, said she was proof they hadn’t killed her.  Wouldn’t look at her, wouldn’t acknowledge her presence, didn’t say ‘sorry for dumpin you’...   “She killed them herself, and you could see it fuckin’ hurt to do.  Couldn’t get a word out of her for days, weeks before she smiled again.”  The two lieutenants looked uncomfortable.  “She really doesn’t like it being brought up.  Just know she always wanted a family, and have that thrown at her...  Yeah, don’t talk to her about this, and be grateful you got two parents that care about you, okay?”

🌅- A memory associated with a certain location

“Best memory of this place?”  She said slowly, frowning.  “The ship itself?  Pro’lly walkin’ into it the first time.  Such a surreal experience that was.  She wasn’t new, no way I coulda afforded that, but she was clean, and ready to fuckin’ go...  Just so exciting.  Lash ‘n Spackle at my back, ready to take on the whole damn galaxy...  Didn’t know the fuck I was doin’, but I was doin’ something.” A snort came from behind her.  “You spent almost an hour running through the place screaming like a little kid.”  Lash was smirking.  “Literally just, ‘mine mine mine mine!’ for almost an hour.” “Oh shut up.”

🌠- A time they wished upon a falling star

“Jeez, you’re sappy.  Um, okay, I didn’t really wish on that shit, but uh, when I first left the orphanage, first time on the Ravager ship, there was a meteor shower goin’ on.  Too dangerous to fly in that, so we stayed in orbit until it cleared up.  Freakin’ beautiful man.  I was seventeen, it was my first time off planet where, ya know, I wasn’t freakin’ the fuck out at the idea I was about to get brutally murdered.  The city my orphanage was in was too damn bright to have notice from the ground, but man, I must have spent the whole thing plastered against the windows.  I thought I didn’t need to wish, right?  I was already gettin’ all I had hoped for.  I just wanted off and away from that whole damn mess.  But it was second only to the time we flew through a space storm for gorgeous shit I’ve seen...  Well, while on the Ravager ship at least.”

🐕-A memory of teamwork

“I give my people shit, but they’re good people.  You gotta trust everyone to have your back ‘round here.  One person stops...  The group’s just too small for that.  Everyone’s gotta job, and it gotta get done in order to have everything work, both in ship and on the field.  Yeah, my people are fuckin’ great.  Wouldn’t trade any of ‘em away for anythin’.” “You’re being so sentimental tonight, Boss Lady.”  Jackie grinned, and there were a few chuckles around the circle.   “Oh, y’all can go suck it.  ‘M drunk, I have an excuse.  ‘Sides, y’all know I’d die for any of ya, no need to make somethin’ stupid outta it.” “Same to you, Boss.”  Jet raised his bottle, drunk sincerity making his voice quiver.  Siren beamed. “Anyway, there’s no specific memory ‘bout it.  The whole ship is teamwork.  Every job we’re hired on, e’ry day flyin’...  Ya need everyone.”  She threw her arm around Cinder, who was settled in next to her.  He looked like he was about to argue, but perhaps her words had managed to make an impact, and he merely looked away.  “Everyone is important on here.”  Siren threw back the rest of her drink.  “Every last one of ‘em.”

🐺- A memory about being alone