Chapter 260: Chapter 257
Ophelia was next to Hela, both sitting on one side of a table as they waited for Thor and Frigga to arrive.
There was a somewhat uncomfortable silence between the two since they weren't exactly friends, though they didn't dislike each other either.
"What do you think of your brother?" Ophelia asked, looking at Hela, trying to find a topic of conversation.
Hela turned to look at Ophelia before answering.
"Very weak, it seems he didn't even receive training," Hela said, turning her gaze forward again.
"He certainly doesn't have the attitude of someone who received serious training," Ophelia said, nodding as she rested her face on her hand, looking at Hela.
"How were you trained?" Hela asked, looking at Ophelia.
"I was trained in HYDRA from childhood. I wasn't the strongest, but I was the most ruthless and determined, so I survived and rose through the ranks," Ophelia said casually.
"And you?" Ophelia asked, looking at Hela.
"It started when I was eight years old, nothing unusual, combat training against soldiers until I was half dead."
"Over time, I grew stronger and killed them, which concluded that training. Since then, it's been one war after another," Hela said indifferently.
"Well done," Ophelia said, nodding.
Hela raised her eyebrows slightly at Ophelia's unusual response.
"Tell me, how did you meet Damian?" Hela asked with a bit of curiosity.
"He sought me out. I used to be a dictator, ruling Madripoor with an iron fist," Ophelia said, chuckling at the memory.
"And Damian was looking for a country to take over. He found this one, it suited his tastes, so he captured me before forcing me to work for him."
"Over time, we became more friends than boss and subordinate. In the end, through a dramatic turn of events, Ivy was born," Ophelia said, smiling.
"Ivy, huh?" Hela said, nodding as the image of the smiling green-haired girl came to mind.
"What's it like being a mother?" Hela suddenly asked, looking at Ophelia.
"Hm, it's hard to say, but I can say it's worth it," Ophelia said, giving a beautiful smile, one that Hela didn't expect from a woman like Ophelia.
"Hm," Hela said, not knowing what else to say.
At that moment, a Spartan opened the door before Thor and Frigga entered the room.
Ophelia maintained a serene expression, having become a very experienced negotiator after being in charge of Madripoor for so long.
Very different from Hela, who just gave a nearly mocking smile upon seeing them.
"Hello, good morning, my name is Ophelia and I will be in charge of the negotiations," Ophelia said, greeting them both.
"Good morning," Frigga said, nodding.
Thor also nodded stiffly before sitting next to his mother, occasionally glancing at his sister.
Their first meeting wasn't exactly as he had hoped, but there was really no other way, she was about to kill their father.
He would have liked for them to have a good relationship, but his hopes were dashed after their last encounter.
In his opinion, his sister definitely hated Odin and wouldn't stop until she saw him dead or in a worse situation, and after hearing what their father had done to her, Thor couldn't find reasons to think she was wrong in wanting to do so.
Maybe, he would be the same if he had gone through what she had.
"Alright, let's start, we have several conditions for the release of Odin," Ophelia said, arranging some documents while maintaining a smile.
Thor and Frigga's eyes immediately became a bit more animated upon hearing this, as it meant Odin would be released.
"Here is the agreement," Ophelia said.
"The first clause will be the total surrender of Asgard to Madripoor, though we will allow it to self-manage under Hela's occasional supervision," Ophelia said, giving a slight glance at the woman in question.
Thor and Frigga immediately frowned at this, but there was nothing they could say, they lost the war and were now almost begging for Odin's release.
"For the second clause," Ophelia began again while looking at the document in her hand.
"Asgard will hand over 90% of its blacksmiths and enchanters to Madripoor, and weapon creation will be prohibited, though we won't take away the ones you already have," Ophelia said, causing Thor and Frigga to almost stand up.
This condition was really harsh for Asgard.
"Anyway, so many soldiers died that you won't need them for a long time," Hela commented cruelly from the side.
Frigga immediately gave her an angry look.
"Alright, calm down, I'll move on to the third clause," Ophelia said, seeing things seemed to be heating up.
"We want you to reveal the true history of Asgard where Hela was one of the major participants in the conquest of the nine realms, and to return Fenrir's body, her pet," Ophelia said.
Hela looked at Ophelia with some surprise before smiling slightly, guessing who had requested this.
Thor was a bit confused about the last request since he didn't know what had happened in those times or the history that had been hidden, so he couldn't help but look at his mother.
"You want to destroy Odin's reputation," Frigga said, sighing.
"That's related to the fourth clause. Odin will have to abdicate the throne and not involve himself in any position of power," Ophelia said.
Thor and Frigga listened to all the conditions, and their faces became more and more dejected as the list grew.
Even so, there was nothing they could do. If they refused, they would simply take it by force, and Odin would not be released.
"Do you accept these clauses?" Ophelia asked the mother and son kindly.
"Yes, we accept them," Frigga said without energy.
"Good, then let's sign the agreement," Ophelia said, taking out a document listing all the terms.
Frigga took it and read it thoroughly before signing along with Thor.
One of them would definitely be the one to take the throne and be in charge of Asgard.
"When can we take my father?" Thor asked, looking at Ophelia.
"In a few days, don't worry, it won't take long, and he will be released without any injuries," Ophelia said before Thor and Frigga could say anything.
"That would be all," Ophelia said, gathering the contract and several documents as she stood up.
"Goodbye," Ophelia said as she prepared to leave.
Thor and Frigga also said their goodbyes before both looked at Hela, who remained in her seat.
Ophelia closed the door behind her before casually putting the documents in her dimensional pocket and leaving.
"So? Is there something you want to say? Brother, you've been staring at me for a while," Hela said, leaning back in her seat and resting her elbow on the armrest while holding her chin with her hand.
"I… just… I don't know, honestly, this situation is very confusing for me. If I'm honest, until recently, I didn't even know you existed, and our first encounter wasn't exactly as I would have wanted," Thor said, not knowing what to say or where to look.
Frigga on the side just remained silent, looking at Hela. She didn't dare feel hatred for Hela despite the situation. She loved her husband but knew the current situation was just the consequence of his past actions.
"I would like to hear your story, to know what happened," Thor said, looking at Hela.
"Does it matter at this point?" Hela said, looking at Thor.
"I want to hear it. Father never wanted to tell me anything, he just said you were a maniac and would kill us all," Thor said, under his mother's speechless gaze.
"Well, he wasn't entirely wrong. Under normal circumstances, I would have killed you all," Hela said, looking at Thor.
"Don't get me wrong, Thor. Our father is a terrible parent and did many questionable things that he later wanted to hide, but it's not like I was a saint either," Hela said with a chuckle.
"It got to a point where our opinions clashed, and he was stronger than me, so he banished me."
"Although imprisoning your daughter for 12,000 years is a pretty disproportionate punishment, in my opinion," Hela said, rolling her eyes.
"But you agreed not to kill him, which makes me think you're not that bad," Thor said, looking at her.
"How naive," Hela mocked.
"Anyway, since I was a child, he brutally trained me and deprived me of any form of affection to focus solely on battle."
"I was his best warrior and always at the forefront, eliminating the toughest enemies. Over time, Odin met the woman you have beside you."
"Perhaps under her counsel, he decided to stop the conquest. But I, who only knew battle, wanted to continue. That was the reason for the fight and everything that's happening today," Hela said casually.
"I see," Thor said before looking at his mother.
"That's how things happened," Frigga said, nodding, finding no reason to lie at this point.
"Your father always wanted to hide his past. There's much he didn't tell you and never wanted me to tell you," Frigga sighed.
"My father... always hiding things. First Loki, which caused him to fight with all of us."
"Then I find out I had a sister that my father banished and never spoke of again, as if burying an object."
"What else don't I know?" Thor said, frustrated.
"Well, don't be so dramatic. That comes with being king. You just have to choose what to be first. In my case, Odin chose to be a king rather than a father," Hela said, standing up.
"Just live as you want to live. You don't have to think so much," Hela said casually before leaving the room.
"Hela has changed," Frigga sighed, left alone with her son in the room.
"I only see a woman who had a terrible childhood," Thor said, depressed.
"Let's go back and wait for your father's release," Frigga said, placing her hand on Thor's shoulder.
"Hm," Thor said before they both returned to the hotel where they were staying.
Thor had a lot on his mind and just wanted to rest, so when they arrived, he lay down while his head spun with the whole situation.
His father had always been the source of his admiration. He always thought he was a wise and kind king, but with the latest revelations, he no longer knew what to think.
He couldn't help but ponder Hela's words. In this situation, he had two primary ways to act: as a son or as a future king.
If he thought as a future king, he shouldn't recover his father. The price they were paying was very high just to recover a man who could no longer work for Asgard.
Maybe that's how his father would have thought in the past if he were in this situation.
But Thor really couldn't think that way. He could only think about paying to recover his father.
Thor couldn't help but smile ironically at his complicated situation.
...
In an instant, three days had passed since the great battle on Earth.
Odin was still held deep within the palace of Madripoor, but no one had gone to see him in those three days.
Damian didn't see the need to see him until he could execute his plan. He also thought that physically torturing someone was in bad taste, so he didn't even bother to do it.
After three days, the system had expanded to Vormir, and the solitary Soul Stone was completely surrounded.
Cortana had left almost all her tasks and dedicated herself entirely to capturing it.
According to her, the stone was quite elusive and constantly resisted.
During those three days, Damian had been able to control his transformation much better. His human form had fully returned, and only in moments of great emotion might there be some energy leakage.
At that moment, Damian was in his tower using the computer while casually browsing the internet.
Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps was heard climbing the stairs.
Damian raised his eyebrows slightly before looking toward the entrance.
To his surprise, there was Laura in her Spartan armor, only without her helmet.
"Wow, what brings the busy Spartan commander to my office?" Damian said, giving her an amused smile.
"Work," Laura said with a somewhat stiff expression.
"Why do you have that uncomfortable look? I still remember when you used to play video games at my house wearing just a shirt and underwear," Damian said, rolling his eyes and mocking her.
Laura's face turned a bit red before she cleared her throat and tried to put on a serious expression.
"There's a matter that needs your decision. Nicolas's family has been pestering, asking for his release," Laura said.
"Just throw them out," Damian said, waving his hand in annoyance, not wanting to remember that guy.
"I did, but they came back threatening to cut off all supplies to Madripoor," Laura sighed.
"What kind of supplies are we talking about?" Damian said, frowning.
"Food. The food Madripoor consumes is not equivalent to the size of its population; we match some pretty large countries," Laura said, smiling ironically.
"It must be because you eat a lot," Damian said, looking at her.
"I think your wife definitely tops the list when it comes to food consumption," Laura said, looking at him annoyed.
"Sigh, just tell them to go to hell. Expel them from the country and cancel any deals. Tell the scientist we'll start bringing food from the Green Planet," Damian said casually.
"Alright," Laura said, nodding, not finding Damian's response strange.
Despite knowing, she still had to inform him and wait for his orders.
Laura stood in front of Damian, hesitating about leaving when Damian spoke.
"How have you been, Laura?" Damian said, smiling at her.
"Good, working," Laura said, not knowing how to respond.
"Hm, the scientist told me you're always on night shifts. You seem to be a workaholic," Damian said, looking at her.
"You should take a break; you're over 30 now. I remember when you were still a young girl who joined the Spartans and quickly stood out as one of the strongest," Damian said, sighing as if nostalgic for the past.
"I just turned 30, and besides, I look exactly the same as back then," Laura said, looking at him angrily.
Damian just chuckled at seeing her stop restraining herself.
"You're invited to dinner tomorrow, so make sure to be there without armor," Damian said, looking at her with a smile.
"Have Frank replace you on duty. He's been pretty relaxed lately," Damian said.
"Is that an invitation or an order?" Laura said, symbolically complaining.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Damian said, smiling at her.
"See you tomorrow," Laura said, nodding before leaving Damian's office at a slightly quicker pace than when she arrived.
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