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"You're hurting my heart! How could you…? You're my dear daughter, my life! My greatest treasure! How could you…! Papa does everything for you!" Loki insisted, his voice cracking with desperation.
"I-I know, but…!" Hel kept crying. "It's wrong… you don't have to do this for me. I don't want you to kill everyone!"
"…?" Loki looked genuinely puzzled. "What? But why not? Why would it matter?"
"Hel…!" Fenrir barked. "You've gone soft because of that mortal, haven't you?!"
"None of those people matter anyway! And you know it!" Jormungandr added. "We fought together, but in the end… they're not our family! They'll mock us, call us monsters, fear us for how we look…! They're not our kin."
"…!" Hel glanced back at Maria, but Maria remained calm.
She was smiling gently.
Somehow, that quiet smile steadied Hel's trembling heart.
