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They also dropped the bomb that not only would her father be there, but Angrboda and her entire Percussion of Giants would be in attendance.It was the first time in years Hel had thought about her mother, the first time she’d truly examined the Giantess’s actions and more importantly, her words.

Angrboda was more calculating and more scheming than any other.She always had a plan.She was a master manipulator, the Distress Bringer in every sense of the word, and sadly, the bitch had used all her skills to mentally and emotionally torture her daughter.

It didn’t matter how old she was, how Powerful she was, how much Magic she possessed, and how many times the people she truly loved told her that she was absolutely, positively none of the colorful, disgusting adjectives her mother used to describe her.It still hurt.The scars were deep.And the voice of the little girl she’d been all those years ago, the one who Garmr had saved from the sticks and stones thrown by nearly everyone, refused to be quiet.Unable to stop the deluge of memories, Hel focused on one in particular, the one from the day before her party.

The day not even Garmr could erase or stop.

Angrboda had shown up at Hel’s door with a smile on her grotesque face and hate in her heart.At first, the Giantess had gushed and beamed, even kissed both of the goddess’s cheeks.She’d acted motherly, something she had never done not even on the day Hel was born.

She presented the goddess with a birthday cake from Sif, Thor’s wife’s bakery.It was her favorite, a Bløtkake, a light vanilla sponge soaked in fruit, drenched in cream and topped with lingonberries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and red currants.She’d insisted they eat the sweet treat right away and even made egg coffee with cinnamon, cardamom, and allspice, another of Hel’s favorites.

Their brunch, as Hel thought of it when the memory forced its way to the forefront, lasted for several, excruciating hours during which Angrboda told the goddess how smart and beautiful she was.It was quite literally the first time she’d uttered those words and solidified the fact that she was after something.

So, Hel bided her time, smiled politely, and showed the appropriate, albeit fake, appreciation.And of course, unfortunately, that kept her mother talking.

She went on and on, retelling stories she’d heard from others about Hel’s childhood, her life, and her accomplishments but made it sound as though she’d been there and as if the goddess didn’t remember that she most definitely had not.It took everything in Hel not to laugh at the grand production, the manipulative attempt to make the goddess believe her mother had loved her and taken and interest in her.

Hours later, the pretense of motherly love, support, and adoration reached heretofore unseen levels, and all the while, Hel was forced to bite her tongue and fight her gag reflex to keep from throwing up on the Giantess’s ugly swollen feet.She envisioned screaming at the top of her lungs, punching her mother in the face, and launching Magical fireballs at Angrboda with wild abandon.

Thankfully, although their connection was new, Carys was there to help the goddess not lose her temper and stay sane.

Regrettably and before she could get Angrboda out of her home, the Giantess reached the end of her manipulative, and quite frankly, disgusting attempts at subterfuge.In the blink of an eye, her brows furrowed, she rolled back her shoulders, and with her puffy blood red lips pulled into a harsh, thin line, she went in for the kill.

Sighing wistfully, Angrboda leaned across the table, and cooed in the most horrifically high-pitched but still gruff and gravely tone that made chills skate up and down Hel’s spine, “Have you found your Mate, daughter dear?Do you know who he is?Are you ready to go to him?”

Hel saw the crooked wheels of her mother’s demented, deluded, and deranged mind turning.Angrboda thought she had prepared for every scenario.She was sure she could wear her daughter down, take her to the brink, then break her like a twig.

Preparing herself for the worst, knowing it might even be more horrific, Hel smiled, but didn’t answer even one of her mother’s questions.The more Angrboda asked, and the goddess ignored, the angrier the Giantess became until she switched mental gears without missing a beat.

Moving closer still, her hot, fetid breath and scorching spittle showered Hel’s face as she asked very pointed, crude and lewd questions concerning any man who might be Hel’s Mate.From there she went straight to the goddess’s double visage, then quickly devolved into vile slurs and cruel jokes about the dead side of Hel’s body–of which Angrboda blamed Loki without rhyme nor reason.

Finally, when the Giantess realized Hel was simply not going to rise to the bait, she came right out and asked, “Can you even have sex?I mean, half of that down there is dead too, right?What man in his right mind would slide into you?”Laughing wildly, she taunted, “After all, his dick, if he has one, might shrivel up and fall off from just one thrust.”

Thankfully, Garmr had sensed Hel’s mental distress and had knocked on the door.Even better, Angrboda had quietly slipped out the backdoor.

“And people wonder why I’m a hermit.Why I just can’t go to Hopper.Why I need to work through my issues in my own time.I just… Shit!”She spat with such force that the Ravens opened their beaks and roughly cawed in response.

Running her fingers through her hair, she huffed with even more exasperation than before.“It would be easier to list the things I don’t have to work through, wouldn’t it?Yep, sure would.I suck.Desi and Faye are only trying to help, and I’m an ungrateful friend.What a heaping, steaming crock of shit I’ve made out of everything.Why do I always makeeverythingso difficult?”

“You don’t,”Carys soothed.“You have perfectly good reasons for everything you’ve done.Stop being so hard on yourself.”

“Yeah, cause that’s your job, right?”

“Wait… What?Well, I never.I was only trying to…”

“Yes, you have, and you still do all the time.”

“Fine.As I was saying, I was only trying to help, to be supportive, and I know you’re just projecting because it makes the bitter pill of what’s happened and continues to happen a little easier to swallow.You need someone to blame and I’m here.So, I’ll just sit quietly and listen while you mentally give yourself forty lashes and relive the most horrific times of your life.I might even pop some popcorn and try one of those stupid diet sodas you love so much.This is sure to be an Emmy award winning performance.”

“See?Now was that so hard?”

“You have no idea.”And with that the Dragoness Queen slammed her mental blocks shut with such fury that the Magic echoed through Hel’s mind.

“Great,” the goddess grumbled.“Wonder how long she’ll be giving me the silent treatment?I’m so good I even piss off the one with whom I share my soul.I am a wiener, Baby.”Chuckling out loud, she added, “That is one of my top ten human sayings.I just love when they do the whole play on words thing.”

Damn!She was seriously batting a thousand and laughing at herself while she did it.Not to mention putting the rotten cherry on the shit sundae her day was turning out to be, Hel was even more disappointed with herself.

She’d bailed on Desi’s Party.Hidden out in her Realm.And now she was thinking about running away from home, so she didn’t have to talk to one of her closest friends, just so she didn’t have to admit what she’d done.