He Shouldn't have teased his sister
By Jasmine Monica
Chapter 13
Serren and Pattenia prepare for battle to become free
Note from the Author. This chapter deals with a lot of old Norse Mythology. And I am using the mythology of the old Norse Gods of as was written of them in the stories. Not the Avengers MCU. Loki is not Thor’s brother. He is Odin’s brother. Hela is not Thor’s older sister. She is Loki’s daughter.
Serren stood in his bedroom, looking up at his husband who towered over him by nearly two feet. Hela had done a good job feminizing Serren. His husband had just issued him another test and said, “I was told that someday, you would be able to wield this. I know that you will be able to do so when the time is right. Events are coming to a head and Veronica and her girls are under Freyja's protection. But we will need you as well. So don't be afraid, we know you can do this and you will finally be able to defeat Hela.”
Serren looked down at Mjolnir, waiting for him to try to pick it up. Serren abandoned his fear and convinced himself that Mjolnir would allow him to wield it now. He reached down and wrapped his fingers around the handle. As he felt Mjolnir's power fill him, Serren lifted the hammer up and held it out before him. Its intense power filled him and the weapon felt like an extension of his will. Serren swung the hammer around, feeling its power. He threw the hammer across the room, watching as it flew out and returned to his hand. Serren was finally able to wield Mjolnir.
He smiled at his husband Thor and Thor smiled in return and kissed Serren deeply. Thor said with a wolfish smile, “Let's go kick Hela’s ass and get some revenge for what she did to us. I know that despite everything, you have not suffered from her cruelty. Turning you into a girl was a blessing that you enjoyed, and marrying me was a dream come true that you came to love. But it was a curse on me, by linking me to you in Hel. She launched a war on Asgard and I was unable to defend my family. Being your husband meant I was stuck with you here and part of her family, so I could not take part in that war. She killed my father and brothers. Now her father, Loki, is sitting on the throne of my father. Let's get our revenge.”
Serren was shocked when the Valkyrie and the goddess Freyja appeared beside Thor, ready to attack Hela. Serren held Mjolnir in his hand ready to march out and confront the Goddess of Death. But Serren wasn't quite ready yet. He stood there, holding Mjolnir in his hand. He lifted the powerful Hammer up and looked at the ancient weapon of war. It was forged in the core of a giant star. They took the metal from the heart of the star and forged it into one of the universe's most powerful weapons. And it could only be wielded by whom it considered worthy of it. His husband said he had seen that he would be deemed worthy of it someday. Serren highly doubted it, but his husband kept testing him century after century while being stuck in Hel for the atrocities he had committed in his life. And now, Mjolnir had deemed him worthy, and he held the weapon in his hand.
How was this even possible? He looked at the weapon doubtfully and then gave his husband a look of disbelief and asked, “How could I possibly be considered worthy of wielding this? Me, the monster I had become, being condemned here by the goddess of Death for what I had done? How can I be worthy? After exterminating every man woman and child on the Iles of Guenefer. Destroying every building and sowing the fields with salt so they would never support life again? Killing every witch and member of the Hekatin, including their entire families. Declaring that the firstborn girl of every noble family had to die. And now this weapon considers me worthy? How in the name of your father Odin am I worthy? Me, who raped countless women, tortured women, disembowel my own sister, and beheaded her. Am I worthy?“ Serren asked.
His husband smiled, “Yes, and despite all of that? 800 years later, it knows you know you were very wrong and want to help stop it now. You want to make it better and free those women now. That makes you very worthy. And Mjolnir wants to help you overthrow the regime and free those women. You are now worthy, and now is the time.”
“How can I possibly unmake any of that right now? It's already done, and I killed millions,” Serren questioned.
“By stopping it now," Thor replied patiently. "Freeing the women that are being imprisoned and condemned to death now. You can overthrow that cruel regime and free them. That would go a long way, and we have ideas on how you can stop it from ever happening. Especially with Mjolnir. You are now worthy, and you are not the man that did all of this.”
Serren giggled, “I am not that man now. I am not a man at all.”
He felt the power of Mjolnir flowing through him, and he learned of its various powers. It could control lightning and thunder, but it had many other abilities he could use. There were a few things he still wanted to do before he broke the curse. Serren caused Mjolnir to vanish in his hand and said to his husband, “I will confront and defeat Hela, but first, there's a few people I want to see before I free us. I want to see Actonia and then visit my sister Pattenia.”
“Serren,” his husband Thor warned, but Serren refused to listen and marched down the hallway of the dark tower they had been imprisoned in for the past eight hundred years. Serren could not be stopped now that he wielded Mjolnir. He marched down the hallway and turned to Actonia's room and entered without warning.
Actonia looked up from her bed with fear in her eyes, seeing Serren burst into her room. This was never a good thing. Serren usually came in to torment, abuse, or cause her more suffering in some way. Even as a woman, Serren made her suffer countless times. He even managed to rape her, wearing some sort of thing that allowed him to penetrate her as a woman. Then he got the worse idea and got Hela's help to do it. Serren brought in corpses. Reanimated, living corpses that Hela gave life to. The living corpses came in and Serren watched them rape her countless times century after century. That gave Serren great joy to watch. And she saw in his eyes, that his anger at her had not diminished.
“Welcome to my room, Serren. I don't see those living corpses anymore. I guess they aren't here for me, so what are you going to do, beat me, torment me in some way? What do you want to do?”
“I want to beat you Actonia, I enjoyed your intense suffering so much after what you did to me. I still have not forgiven you,” Serren snarled. “It is all your doing. You destroyed my life and led me to suffer unimaginable agony. I lost everything because of you.”
“Yes, you did,” Actonia replied. “But we were trying to free people’s lives from suffering and meaninglessness, and you refused to understand. You just responded with selfish rage and then tortured and raped me and continued to inflict suffering on me in the afterlife. You ripped out my intestines and beheaded me. It's clear you were stronger than me then and I was helpless. That was made clear that day you entered my chambers and confronted me to force me to give you the spell to restore your manhood. I felt your power then as you lashed out at me. I couldn't handle you then and you kept growing stronger and stronger. Even here, you are stronger than any other witch and I sense an immense power in you now. You can do anything you want and I can't stop you. So get it over with and do what you want.”
Suddenly, Mjolnir became visible in his hand as Serren approached Actonia.
“Now I understand this power I feel from you, that makes sense. I don’t know how you were deemed worthy to wield such power. But it has always been your way.”
Serren smiled a wolfish, sadistic smile and said, “I won't beat you now. I have figured the perfect suffering for you. I am about to defeat Hela and free us. I will free the women of the Shattered Isles and overthrow that regime I built 800 years ago. And it's possible we will be reborn for a second chance. Only this time, you will find you are useless, and no one will care what you have to say. You will find yourself sidelined and ignored as my sister and I do what must be done. I won't torment her, I will love and cherish my sister as she does what she must, and I will stand by her side, as my king and sovereign, and love her as a little sister. You will find there is no use for you anywhere.”
Actonia burst out laughing at that. “Serren, you are forgetting one vital thing. To be reborn, which is possible with the right gods by your side. Which, I have no doubt you have them. But still, you will be reborn as a baby with no knowledge of any of this. And you will again be raised and compelled to believe and belong to the religion of Maxis. You will belittle your sister, you will torment her and she will grow up helpless watching you get everything she wanted, while she is ignored. She will grow up to resent and hate you. You won't know any of this and it will just happen again as it happened before.”
“No, it won't, not this time,” Serren snapped with a smirk. “I will have help to guide me the right way this time. It won't happen as it happened before. A woman is coming who will help me learn how to respect and cherish women. Father and Mother will try to raise me in the religion of Maxis. They will fail this time. Your tricks and turning my sister to torment and abuse me will go nowhere. She will love me and listen to me. You will be sidelined and ignored.” Serren laughed a sadistic condescending laugh as he left the room and shut the door.
Serren made his way to Pattenia's quarters and entered to see his sister standing there defeated. She looked up at her brother with defeated, sorrowful eyes full of centuries of pain. “You come to gloat again, dear brother.”
He just smiled a knowing smile at her that just made her more angry.
“We all suffered here while you enjoyed your time. And it was you who murdered us,” Pattenia roared with rage. “We were only following the prophecy to free the women of the Isles. You responded with rage and reimposed that cruel system over us all. Then you raped the witches. You broke many of them on the breaking wheel. Or you had them hung, drawn and quartered. You cut me open and ripped out my intestines as I was screaming. Then you beheaded me. And you enjoyed it all. You killed everyone on Guenefer and passed a law to order the killing of every firstborn girl of every noble family. You personally killed your infant daughter, and you try to claim any moral high ground over me for just turning you into a girl and trying to free the women?”
“Yes,” Serren responded. “I think you have the high ground over me. But you made me suffer a lot and I was not a bad kid in any way. I was only believing in what I was taught and trained to believe in. Then I found that what I was taught was all wrong. And because of some prophecy, it meant that I was not to have a future. I was made to suffer for it. Everything was taken from me, for no fault of my own. Then I was tormented and abused by you and you scratch your head and wonder why I was so upset?”
“I understand it now but still. We were trying to do what was right.”
“Pattenia, you were very wrong. You were not doing what was right. You were very cruel to me. What you all did was sadistic and monstrous. You became drunk on your power and made yourself into a tyrant. You said it was the will of the Goddess and you are right. But that only condemns the Goddess and means she is cruel.”
Pattenia shook her head. “I was not a tyrant, Serren. I freed the people and brought equality. I didn't kill many people at all. You became the tyrant once you regained the crown.
“Why does the Goddess keep getting wrongly vilified. We all followed her because she was a great and wonderful Goddess. I supported her and wanted to restore her. We did what we had to, in order to be free. What the priests did to us all was so wrong and cruel. We were in the right wanting to restore the Goddess.”
Serren's face turned a dark shade of red, he still hated the Goddess. “She deserved it. It was so easy to turn the people against you because they all saw what you did to me on that day. You turned on your own family, your brother, and betrayed him in the cruelest possible way. They saw you betray your family and demean and destroy your own brother and then talk about loyalty to the lords.
"It was so easy to use what you did to make an example of your nature and make them distrust and turn on you. Your own actions made it so easy to vilify you. And it was the will of the Goddess. That's a stain on her. Her will was to destroy an innocent boy's life, crush and demean and destroy him. It was her will for you to turn and crush your own brother.
"After what I suffered because of her, and so many other men, I say she was very rightly vilified. Also, with the way she and her people treated the men in the first age, she was very rightly vilified then. The men were right to fear her return, especially considering what you did when you were restoring her.
"It was so easy to raise a rebellion against you. What you all did was so wrong and so cruel, it justified the fears of so many men. You didn't like how you were treated under them and Maxis. You vilified Maxis just like the men vilified Progenita. But the men didn't like how you all treated them either. We will start an age without Gods. Progenita will not like us messing with her plans then. But we will be shielded from her power this time. We will prove we don’t need corrupt gods leading us. This will be an age where we forge our own path.”
Serren smiled at her. It was a warm friendly smile that Pattenia rarely saw from him anymore.
Pattenia got serious and said, “There is one thing I really need to know, Serren.” She was looking intently at her little sister. “So please, give me an honest answer. It seems you are willing to be honest, so please tell me. Why did you unleash your anger at the women in general when you regained the crown? You lived as a woman for years by then and you fully understood what I was trying to do. You admitted that the system was wrong, and you turned to support me then. So you know you were wrong when you reimposed the rule of man. And your wrath on the witches was even crueler. You have to know that a vast majority of the women and girls you killed during your witch hunts were totally innocent. They weren't witches at all. But an accusation or a vague suspicion was all that was required and the judgment from the inquisition was made before the trial. So many of them were doomed from the start. If one was found guilty, every girl in the family was killed. Serren, why did you do that?”
“I didn't care about right or wrong at that point. I was raped multiple times. I found the women didn't really care and they preferred me as a woman than as a man. That's why they befriended me and many didn't want me to regain my manhood. So I got angry at you all. They were why I suffered. And one of the things you said to Actonia stuck with me. When she was teaching you magic and how to transform me. When you transformed that huge buck to show it could be done. You didn't want her to transform your horse. You cared more about your horse than your brother. But when she said it would take 12 women to transform me, you asked why. You said I was sealed by Magic and it would take many women to overcome me. But she said there were many women in the Kingdom.”
“That was all private. You weren't there,” Pattenia commented. “How can you possibly have known all of that?”
“I knew everything,” Serren replied. “So when she said that. It solidified it to me that the women hated me and wanted me to suffer. So I returned the favor tenfold." Serren smirked. “I know I was wrong and I know it now. We have to do something for the king's son Bismark. Unlike me, he wants to be a girl.”
“I think you enjoyed being a girl too,” Pattenia said to Serren. “But you didn’t want to be mocked and you didn’t want to lose what you had. We were wrong to do that.”
Then Pattenia looked at Serren seriously. Then she asked what she had been wanting to ask for so long. “Were you happy with what happened? Were you proud of what you did?”
Actonia had came to Pattenia’s side. She smiled and asked, “I am curious about that too. You had become a follower of Progenita and female empowerment to only turn against us all and have us all killed. Tell us Serenina, are you proud of what you did then?”
Even Freyja and the Valkyries were silent waiting for an answer.
Serren looked up with a serious look on his face and smiled softly. “Yes indeed, I was very pleased with the results. I was very proud of what I did. I was so happy for centuries after it all. I overcame all of the obstacles put in my way. I stopped you after everything you did. I created a legacy that was unbreakable and lasted until now. I even overcame a goddess that was against me. I showed you all that you made a horrible mistake by mistreating and abusing me. I was not to be ignored and I was not to be denied. I got what was taken from me and I punished those that abused me. I secured men’s position in society and it was unbreakable. There were to be no more females with any claim to power. They would forever be living in their brother’s shadow. What happened to me would never happen to any boy ever again. I was very pleased with it all. I proved I was meant to be more than a sacrifice in which to build progress. I was meant for more. Century after Century, I saw kings rise in my place and carry out my legacy. I helped guide them. After about five hundred years or so, I realized how wrong it all was but I was helpless to do anything about it. I made an alliance with death to get my revenge. I sold my soul to death herself for the power to overcome and kill Progenita. I know I was wrong now. And I have the power to correct it all.”
Then Serren smiled and said, ”You were supposed to be King and turn me into a girl. But because of how I was raised, I would not understand. You were supposed to help and guide me to understand why it was all necessary. You didn’t. You mocked me, threw it all in my face and abused me. You failed, Pattenia. You betrayed the prophecy and paid for it. But I am sorry for what I did.”
Pattenia looked down in shame and responded, “I am sorry too.”
Serren kept smiling and said, “We are being given a second chance at it all and we will do it right. It was your destiny to become King over me. We will do it right this time.”
Pattenia looked upset and said, “You have such a glorious legacy Serren. You don’t deserve it. But you are remembered and nearly worshiped for what you did. You are known as the savior of the Shattered Isles and worshiped as their God. They all seek your guidance and sing songs about your achievements. When you were their enslaver and killed millions of them.”
Then Pattenia added, “I am reviled and hated. I am known only for your abuse and your rape. Tales are told of how I caused you to become pregnant with my children, then trying to take the children away from you after you delivered them. That’s what I am remembered for, changing you, and your abuse. I am known for disempowering the men. Your rape, your humiliation. I helped restore the Goddess, I empowered the women and rebuilt many of the temples but I am not known for that. I should be known for more.”
“You are remembered for what you did in the Hekatin and restoring the Goddess.” Serren smiled.
“Yes after you reviled her.” Pattenia commented sarcastically.
Then Serren leaped at his sister and embraced her tightly. “I still love you. I will love you this time. I will help you become the best you can be. I will teach you everything you need to know to become a strong and noble King. I will serve by your side strengthening your rule and defending you. It is your destiny, my King.” Serren knelt at his sister's feet and bowed his head. Then he gripped her hand and looked up into her eyes. “We will change the world together. I will make sure of it this time. You will be the greatest King of the Shattered Isles. And we will destroy our enemies. My sister and My King. You will lead us to greatness.”
Pattenia saw Mjolnir in her brother's hand and the entire Valkyrie Corps behind her brother, all of the women were armed. Her brother's husband stood beside him. Everything had turned out good for her brother, despite being trapped here and cursed. It was her brother's way and he had a way of making the best out of any situation.
Pattenia had realized that, in all of this time, that her brother stood by her side at first and pledged loyalty to her. But he began to resent and hate her as time passed. It wasn't until she started having him punished and humiliated that he began hating her. When she tried to sideline him from everything and push him into the life of a meaningless maiden princess, only being a pretty face and nothing more. That's when he began to fight and she should have known he was born for greatness, she could not take it away without consequences. Future generations consider what happened to be a total catastrophe and they are right. She did become a monstrous tyrant and made her brother into the same thing.
Then Serren looked at his sister Pattenia and said, “Okay, I am going to confront Hela and free us. Then we will see if we can help the people that are now headed toward the Shattered Isles to start a revolution. They are headed into great danger and will need help."
Serren marched at the head of the Valkyries, holding his husband's hand as they marched down the hall with a very determined look in their eyes. Thor was the angriest of them all. Hela had killed his entire family and put Loki on the throne of Asgard.
As the small army marched down the hallways preparing to do battle with the Goddess of Death, Serren suddenly halted his progress looking at a young boy standing in his way. The boy couldn’t be older than fifteen. And out of all of them, this boy had suffered the worst in his life. He was transformed into a girl by his step-sister, Gawin, who wanted to be queen instead of letting him become the King of their Kingdom. His name was Baldur and he had become a great warrior that had protected his people before his step-sister's betrayal. Gawin cared nothing for Baldur and arranged a marriage with a foreign King that violated and humiliated him on their wedding night.
He did get his revenge when he arranged a coup against Gawin and exiled her. He eventually killed Gawin but he remained Khan's wife and settled for it. Khan was nicer to him, perhaps being afraid of finding a knife in his back. He didn’t suffer in death at all. Hela and Freyja both agreed he suffered more than enough in his life. But he still wanted to live the life he had been denied. He did have chances to kill the Khan but he figured it was not worth the risk.
Serren knew it and looked down at the boy. “I will make sure you get to be the King of your Kingdom. Gawin will remain here paying for what she did to so many men in her Kingdom. But, Baldur, there’s something you must do.”
The boy looked up with hopeful eyes.
“You must free the women of your Kingdom. That’s what Gawin wanted to do. You must become their savior. End those forced marriages where the woman gets no say. You didn’t like having no say in your wedding arrangements, did you Baldur?”
The boy shook his head. “Not at all. Few women really do and the men found out how terrible it was. I will help them all this time.”
“Good,” Serren smiled, “Then prepare to do what must be done. First, we have to confront the Goddess of Death.”
“What about me,” asked Gawin. “Don’t I get another chance?”
“No,” Serren scoffed. Even Freyja agreed. “You are getting what you deserve here. You forced your step-brother into an unwanted cruel marriage to a domineering man and enjoyed his suffering. You were a monster Gawin. You were a sadist and you will stay here.”
“Why does Pattenia get another chance?” Gawin asked.
“Because she had great intentions and was just mislead. But she didn't torment her brother or ruin his life like you did. He was able to find happiness as a woman and marry who he chose. You were just sadistic. Pattenia ended the contracted marriages. She did serve the women while you served yourself, Gawin.”
Thor looked at his wife and nodded with a sad smile and said, “It is now time to take care of Loki's daughter. Let's go,” he said firmly and Mjolnir appeared in Serren's hand.
Serren's expression became very serious and determined as he agreed, “Good, Lets go deal with the Bitch.”
He turned to lead the group out of the room and down the halls. Freyja was beside him, Thor was on the other side, and the entire Valkyrie corps was following them to deal with Hela's power.
Serren turned to his beloved sister and offered his hand, “Join us Pattenia. I know you want to.”
She backed away and shook her head. “I think this is your area, Serren. I can’t deal with this.”
He prodded, “Oh come with us dear sister. You want to fight and that's one of the big reasons you deposed me at first. You wanted the sword and you wanted a life of fighting, war and combat. Join us in this fight.”
His smile was warm, sincere and he refused to leave his sister behind anymore.
But she knew this was beyond her. “Serren, I won't be hurt. You are going to fight a God. Hela the Goddess of death. You are leading gods here. I have nothing to offer in this fight. Fighting Gods is way beyond me. You free us. Mjolnir chose you. For some reason.”
Comments
at long last
a reconciliation between the siblings. there's hope now ...
So many wrongs, much needing righted
Mjolnir has chosen Serren even though she committed many wrongs when alive. And now, if she defeats Hela, which could be difficult since death is part of life, Serren wants to go back and help Veronica end the hate filled society of the Shattered Isles.
But if she goes back will it be as herself or as a baby who won't be of much use for several years. And she would have to become a boy baby if she would have any chance to change anything. Otherwise, she'd just be ignored.
But if Serren returned as himself, with others beside him? He could denounce everything and change things without it getting too messy.
At some point they've all wronged someone while they lived. And Serren continued to even in death. So how can they claim to want a second chance to right wrongs but deny the chance to Gawin? Isn't that being hypocritical? If it's good for the goose shouldn't it be good for the gender as well?
Others have feelings too.
Marching to the Battle
The battle is declared. And it ends here?
The hammer is forged in the core of a large star? Iron? Nickel? A mixture under immense pressure? That would be when the star is about to go supernova.
I thought of diamond and graphite: diamond is the stable phase above a certain pressure, graphite below that phase. But once diamond is formed, it continues under lower pressures for an extremely long time. Maybe the Hammer is like that.
-- Daphne Xu (a page of contents)