Hela looked at the hole before jumping in.
The wind whipped against her face as she fell more than 100 meters before landing heavily.
Hela glanced around before being surprised; hundreds of skeletons wearing armor seemed to be lying on stone tombs.
Approaching, Hela gently touched the armor, easily recognizing it.
They were the armors worn by her guards, soldiers she had personally trained and who always accompanied her into battle.
In the center of the entire place, a giant wolf lay curled up, appearing mummified with some remnants of skin still on it.
"Fenrir," Hela said softly, looking at the gigantic wolf.
He was her only friend, her companion since she was young, who was taken from her and used as a reward for obedience.
Only after she grew up was she able to free him, and he always accompanied her into battles.
Hela never got to say goodbye to him, and he surely fought hard looking for her.
Only a sad sigh was heard in the silent hall before Hela took out a device Damian had given her.
Hela placed the device on the ground, and a holographic screen appeared, displaying all the objects within the large hall.
Hela selected all the skeletons and Fenrir's corpse before confirming.
The device sent an energy beam to each target, making them disappear.
Hela picked up the device again before storing it. Damian had given it to her to bring back Fenrir's body, so it was like a portable dimensional pocket.
With that done, Hela looked up before crouching a bit and propelling herself at full speed upwards.
She landed gently on the upper floor before starting to walk again through the palace towards what she remembered was her room.
Hela quickly arrived at her room, two large golden doors covering the entrance.
When Hela placed her hand on the door to push it, a slight electric current ran through her hand, warning her.
Hela ignored this and pushed the door open, revealing a completely ordinary room within the palace.
Despite looking like this, it was just as Hela remembered. No one would guess this was the room of Odin's firstborn; it looked more like a guest room.
There were no personal items or special colors.
Even so, this was the most familiar thing for Hela.
It seemed no one had entered this room since she left it. Without caring too much about it, she approached the balcony and lazily lay down while looking at the city.
Looking at the city, she suddenly couldn't help but chuckle as she remembered what Damian had done to her father.
She had to admit it was really ruthless.
She would make sure to bother her father, check things in Asgard, and return to Midgard as soon as possible.
She hoped it wouldn't take more than a couple of days.
Idly, she wondered what Damian was doing at that moment.
…
As for him.
Damian spent the rest of the day lounging around at home, not wanting to do anything.
Even so, he hadn't forgotten the invitation he had made to Laura and had told Carol about it, who seemed surprised before giving him a mischievous smile and leaving.
Damian could only chuckle, wondering what interesting thing she would come up with.
While Damian was lounging around peacefully, Natasha suddenly appeared carrying Nate.
"Honey, I'll be out for a while, so take care of the baby," Natasha said, approaching and placing Nate in Damian's arms.
Damian looked at Natasha speechless before looking at Nate, who just looked at him innocently.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Natasha said, looking at Damian as if daring him to complain.
"Of course not, it's just a shame you can't be here too while I spend time with Nate," Damian said, giving her a smile.
Natasha then nodded with a smile, looking at him before leaning towards his face.
"See you later," Natasha said, kissing Damian quickly before leaving.
Damian scanned curiously and saw she left with Carol, Ana, and Ophelia.
"Well, then what shall we do, you and I?" Damian said, looking at Nate, who just smiled at him before kicking his legs.
"So how about we go for a walk?" Damian said, smiling.
Nate gave a little unintelligible shout.
Damian smiled before getting up while holding him, waving his hand to make a gray stroller appear.
He quickly settled Nate in the stroller before changing his own clothes.
In the blink of an eye, Damian had disappeared from the room with the stroller.
Damian didn't want to take a walk around Madripoor since he saw it every day, so he chose his second option, Central Park in New York.
Damian changed his striking silver hair to a more subtle black before starting to take a stroll.
Nate's eyes roamed between the noises and the people passing by.
Almost everything was new to him, and from what Damian could tell, he seemed to be enjoying the walk.
After walking for a while, Damian found a bench on one side of the park, so he sat down, placing the stroller beside him.
The two just sat quietly, looking at the park, although Damian noticed he was attracting a lot of female attention. He was used to it, so he just let it be while occasionally talking to Nate.
Of course, he didn't get more than unintelligible sounds in response.
Suddenly, a black cat jumped onto the bench before cautiously approaching Damian.
Damian looked at it and saw it limped slightly with its front paw.
The cat seemed to somehow know that Damian could help it, so it meowed softly as it approached.
Damian smiled slightly, looking at the cat before extending his hand and gently petting its head.
The cat purred softly before rubbing its head against Damian's hand.
Damian chuckled before healing the cat's paw and giving it a bit of energy.
The cat meowed in surprise before looking at Damian with its big eyes.
"Don't look at me like that, I have a fierce cat at home. If I take you with me, she'll get jealous," Damian said, laughing as he looked at it.
The cat meowed again while rubbing its body against Damian, acting coquettishly before climbing onto Damian's lap and lying down.
Nate seemed to be attracted to the cat and tried to extend his little arm as far as he could to touch it.
Damian laughed softly before moving the stroller closer, allowing Nate to place his hand on the cat's fluffy fur.
Laughter quickly escaped his mouth as he moved his hand over the cat, feeling a new sensation.
Damian made sure to be careful that Nate didn't accidentally hurt the cat, but it didn't seem necessary as Nate was careful.
A few hours had passed since Damian had gone out with Nate, and he decided it was time to return.
Damian gently petted the cat's head, making it wake up and look at him.
Seeing it awake, Damian placed it beside him on the bench before getting up.
The cat meowed softly, looking at Damian, making his heart soften and hesitate about whether to take it with him.
In the end, it was Nate's hand still reaching out toward the cat that made him sigh and decide to bring it along.
It would have a better life in Madripoor than here. Stray animals were scarce these days since many had evolved, causing people to eliminate them to prevent threats.
Only the small and weak had survived, but even they were not out of danger. Some people prefer to eliminate potential future threats.
Taking the cat in one arm and holding the stroller with his other hand, Damian made them appear in the palace garden.
"Alright, behave well with the boss of the garden and you'll live well," Damian said, chuckling while petting the cat's head and placing it on the grass.
The cat looked around confusedly while sniffing and starting to explore.
No more than ten seconds had passed when a loud roar echoed through the garden, making the cat's fur stand on end as it ran to hide behind Damian.
Heavy footsteps were heard when a white tiger jumped in front of Damian, its throat growling deeply.
Sassy's eyes immediately fixed on the small cat behind Damian's foot, also growling.
"I brought you a friend. I hope you get along well," Damian said, petting Sassy's head.
Sassy quickly avoided his touch before sniffing his hand and growling at him, annoyed.
"Come on, girl, don't be jealous. If I left it alone, it might have died. You know you're my favorite," Damian said, smiling as he pressed his face against Sassy's and scratched under her chin.
Sassy didn't seem convinced and gave several soft growls that sounded more like complaints.
Damian just laughed softly before taking Nate and sitting on the ground.
The cat was still hiding behind Damian, but seeing that the giant cat didn't seem hostile, it slowly came out timidly.
With hesitant steps, it rubbed its head against Sassy's paw before turning over on its back.
Sassy looked at the small cat in front of her before simply snorting and moving behind Damian, wrapping around him before resting her head on his leg.
Damian smiled before leaning back against Sassy while holding Nate in his arms.
....
A few hours earlier.
When Natasha left Nate with Damian and went out with the others.
The four of them got into a car before Carol started driving down the street.
"Are we really doing this? I mean, shouldn't we be doing the opposite?" Natasha said, looking out the window.
"What's the problem? If Damian invited her to dinner, it must be for a reason," Carol said, driving.
"Can you read his mind now?" Ana said, looking at her.
"Not exactly, but I understand how he acts. If he wasn't even a little interested in Laura, he definitely wouldn't have invited her to dinner," Carol said.
"That doesn't mean we have to do this," Ophelia said, returning to Natasha's question.
"Anyway, we're here," Carol said, parking the car in front of a tall building.
The four women got out of the car, causing a small stir with their presence.
Not wanting to make too much of a scene, they quickly entered the building before taking the elevator.
Ophelia swiped her card before making the elevator go directly to the top floor.
"And that?" Carol said, looking at her card.
"Without this card, you can't go to the top floor," Ophelia said.
"Why?" Carol asked, confused.
"The entire top floor is a private apartment, so not just anyone can go there," Ophelia said.
"So you're sneaking into her house without telling her?" Carol said, looking at her.
"I helped her get this amazing apartment," Ophelia said, looking at Carol.
"That doesn't change the fact that you're entering someone else's house without permission," Carol said, rolling her eyes.
"I'm the queen; everything on this island is mine," Ophelia said, mocking as she passed through the elevator doors that had just opened.
"How silly, clearly I'm the queen," Carol said, laughing as she took Ophelia's arm and both walked forward.
"How lively...and you? Do you agree with all this?" Natasha said, looking at Ana.
"It's not like Carol wants to force them together. She'll probably just let them have dinner together, and if anything happens, it's up to them," Ana said, looking at her.
"That's something I agree with. Laura is a good girl; I like her," Ana said, stepping out of the elevator.
"Sigh, you all are crazy," Natasha said, following Ana. While she wouldn't oppose if Damian started dating Laura or Wanda, she also wouldn't bring them to him of her own accord.
The four quickly reached the living room of the large penthouse to find Laura holding a pair of black panties at eye level, her expression thoughtful.
From the pile of underwear around, it was easy to guess what she was choosing.
"Wow, you have high expectations for tonight," Carol said, unable to help but laugh.
"Whoa! What's going on?" Laura said, startled to suddenly see the four women appear.
Her hands quickly hid the panties behind her while all the scattered underwear on the sofa disappeared.
Laura looked at the four women before giving a quick glance at the window, ready to escape if necessary.
"For the record, Damian invited me to dinner, and I didn't seduce him," Laura said defensively, wondering if they had come to silence her.
"Your choice of underwear doesn't match your speech," Ophelia said, laughing.
"Uh... just in case?" Laura said, panicking.
"Just in case?" Carol said, laughing.
"Relax, we came to help you choose clothes. Carol planned to leave you to dine alone with Damian," Ophelia said, laughing at Laura's nervous expression.
"What?" Laura said, stunned.
"Hm, I thought it would be nice, like a date, to see if you two can get along," Carol said, nodding.
"Do you have some kind of weird fetish?" Laura said, looking at Carol strangely.
"I don't!" Carol said, annoyed. It wasn't the first time someone had told her that.
"Maybe she does. Anyway, let's get you looking nice, maybe half as nice as me," Ophelia said, joking.
''Maybe I won't be half as beautiful, but half as young," Laura said without feeling intimidated.
"As always, you have guts," Ophelia said, giving her a smile.
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