Hey, How's It Going?

"Hey, How's It Going?" is a BOTGD 2 Act 1 thread written on June 12, 2019.
==Summary==
Hel pulls Milae into a pocket of time and questions him on his new alignment and tells him to be careful with his seidr.
==Full Text==
Hel: Milae felt himself snap out of his very being, and suddenly found himself face to face with a very large, very smug looking whale like god of astronomical proportions. The area around them was dark, as if they were floating in the deepest trench of the ocean. 
“Hey how’s it going?” Hel said. “Got a minute to chat? All of time is frozen if you do. Cause you know…time is kinda my thing. I’m pretty good at working with it.”
@foresight-botgd
Hel: “Son of a–!”
Milae bit off the curse upon feeling the cold wash over his body, the familiarity of his looms vanishing like smoke into a dark abyss. His cloak slowly floated up around him, and he immediately raised his forearms up to almost touch his chest, the scars glowing strongly in the darkness. Beneath his shirt, a dim circle of blue-green light became visible. A being of incredible mass surrounded him; he could feel it as well as see it. His heart dropped to his hooves and he gritted his teeth, looking up at her long, pale face. He took a steadying breath, annoyed that his notes on fire bombs had vanished in front of him, and that he’d lost his train of thought.
“Hel.” His voice was dry. “I was busy.” He moved his arms a bit closer to himself, threatening to leave.
Hel: “And now you don’t have to worry about it.” Hel sighed. “Cause we’re ‘on pause.’ Anywho, between our personal history, your time hopping, and your frequent thoughts about yours truly, I figured you may have something you’d like to get off your chest.”
Milae: Milae made a face, looking around at her monstrous form surrounding him. “I…do not wish to be rude, but I don’t see much reason for us to…” His disgruntled expression turned into a genuine puzzled frown. He unclenched his fists and instead rested a hoof over the center of his chest, where his scars were still pulsing faintly.
“Actually, you seem to know what that is,” he started over, gazing steadily at Hel. “Perhaps you might tell me, instead.”
Hel: “Why we should talk?” Hel clarified. “Well…as curious as I am as to why you switched alliances, it was your choice which is your own. I mainly feel as though we should chat about whatever it is you’re thinking in general. Considering you’re messing around with perhaps the most dangerous thing in the universe.”
Milae: “I’d rather not.” He fell into silence again, keeping his arms close just in case. The teal glow was eerie in the vast darkness. “It is rather odd that you would approach me now, after so long, instead of before, when my soul still belonged to you.” His words held the barest drip of bitterness.
Hel: “You think I wouldn’t have interest in you just because you chose another god?” Hel asked. 
Oddly enough though the question was not antagonizing. Simply genuine. 
Milae: “Oh, I know you have interest in me. I simply believe it’s not the type of interest I really want from Ragnarok’s victor.”
Hel: “Taking issue with me not dying?” Hel mused. “And what type of interest would that be? I want nothing from you.”
Milae: He frowned deeper and folded his arms, instead of having them at the ready to activate his seal. “I trust Akkey and Firkugaan have already found you?”
Hel: “Yes but this isn’t about that.” Hel assured.
Milae: He blinked in surprise, caught off-guard. “Then…I am in the dark as to why you are approaching me. That was the only thing I had need of.”
Hel: Hel regarded him.
“I approach cause I ‘need,’ important word there, to tell you to be careful with your timeline work. Universes are infinite. All your threads are scarcely a pinch compared to whats out there. You ought not mess with it. If you want to fight for a future? Fight as you are, where you are, and let fate run its course.”    
Milae: Milae kept his eyes on her, thinking deeply for a moment.
“That is no longer a choice for me, Lady Hel. My work must not be for nothing. It will not be for nothing. My only purpose is seidr, now.” His heart was pounding in his chest, but he knew things would be alright. At least, he hoped so.
Hel: “Look so far you’re fine, a little time travel never permanently damaged things on a cosmic scale. A lot does…but like I said for now you’re fine.” 
Hel twirled in a slow circle. “Of course you are also determining the best possible outcome based on you and your own perceptions. What would it be like if someone with your convictions and your abilities fought for Central? Food for thought.”
She clapped her hands together. “Now…for what I ‘want’ to talk about…”
Milae: “I never pretended to be trying to save humanity,” he said flatly. “Why have you approached me?”
Hel: “Why did you chance alliances?” Hel asked plainly, yet none confrontational.
Milae: Milae picked at one of the scars on his arm. “I…didn’t have much of a choice, I suppose.”
The thrust of a spear through his gut. His eyes widened beneath his leather helmet; he gasped and tried to turn, but the gold-plated soldier twisted the weapon forward and down, into the ground, and Milae was forced to his knees, coughing blood, and then he was abandoned among the roaring army around him, and darkness was encroaching, but then…
Light. A pair of white wings, stained red at the tips. A pale-faced gaze. An outstretched hand. A phrase spoken in ancient words lost to time, and Milae’s own mouth repeating them as he reached out with a hoof towards her fingers as the life left his body–
He snapped back to the present. “I was pinned between a valkyrie…and death.”
Hel: “Hmm…” Hel rubbed her chin, and then held out a hand. “Do you want to come back?”
Milae: “Absolutely not.” 
Hel: “Would you tell me why if I asked?”
Milae: “Why do you want to know?” he finally snapped, kicking his legs a little as he floundered in the empty space. “I’m trying to save someone. I have help. If you aren’t going to assist me, you should go away and do whatever it is you occupy yourself with when you are ignoring your ‘children’ and later wondering why they don’t come looking for you.”
Hel: “Do you want those questions answered…?”
Hel’s voice was calm, patient…
Milae: “The only question I want answered is if it is within your power to break another godly contract. It may cost you everything you won in Ragnarok if you cannot.” His voice was dull, grim.
Hel: “A godly contract? I suppose I could. Would I though? At the cost of separating myself and creating more gods in the process all over again? No…”
Milae: The bare environment seemed to fizzle away for Milae as he stared up at Hel, his heart thundering. 
“You…wouldn’t?” His voice was quiet. “Because you might not be the only god on this plane any more? Do I have that right?”
Hel: “Because I’m going to be all of the gods, and the only God, all at once, for this universe and every other as well.” Hel clarified. “So that there will never be another human soul that is misplaced, lost, or left in torment.”
Milae: Milae clenched his fists tightly, and his scars began glowing brighter. 
“Forgive me, almighty goddess, but it seems you missed one already,” he said in a shaky voice, blinking away tears. “Or does she not count?”
Hel: Hel knew something had been on her radar but not quite sending off the ping it was supposed to. She had to admit to herself that a big part of this fight was in the interest of gathering back in those wayward ‘sheep.’
“Ah yes…her. That’s a sticky one I’ll give ya that. But I have her covered, that’s part of the process.”
Milae: A sticky one?
Milae stared down into the darkness below his feet, unable to stop the tears from escaping down his cheeks. He felt bitter, and hopeless, and so, so angry, all emotions he hadn’t felt in such large amounts in several decades. It was flippant. It was irreverent. She was everything, and Hel just…
“Hel, I don’t…I don’t have time for a process.” He pulled the corners of his cloak around himself, shaking. “Frigga wants what I can do. She wants my power. I can’t let her have it. But I can’t lose D-Duri.” He choked over the name; he couldn’t remember the last time it had passed his lips. “Skuld kept me from her for too long. Don’t let Frigga keep me from her, too.”
Hel: There was a deadly silence as a detail fell into place.
The reason why Hel didn’t know why she couldn’t put a finger on her own child.
And it made her blood boil.
“FRIGGA?” she suddenly bellowed. “FRIIIGGA!? Frigga has /another/ soul! Another child of mine!?”
Milae: Milae jumped in fright at the sound, slowly swimming backwards like a startled jellyfish in a strong current. His breathing hitched and he clutched a hoof at the base of his neck, finding it hard to inhale.
“I t-talked to Eir, Duri contracted with her, I…I don’t know why they…why she…” Gods above, I can’t breathe.
Hel: Hel gripped her brow. “Milae…Milae…its fine. I understand. Listen…I’m currently fighting a celestial. I’m gonna let you go and I swear to eventual me, the moment I’m done I will have…a word…with my grandmother…”
A portal opened behind him.
“Sorry for bothering you…go on back to your life…I’ll see you soon.”
Milae: As relieved as he was to see the opening, he lingered a second longer, catching his breath, looking up at Hel’s monstrous form. Now that he was no longer fearing being crushed by her, he felt…gratitude.
“If you can fix this…I would be in your debt, Hel.”
Hel: “You don’t get debt from me.” Hel said, and let a stream of air from her lips send Milae floating into the portal.
“I just pay yours…”
Category:BOTGD
Category:Act I
Category:Events
Category:Yun Milae
Category:Hel (deity)