Epic of Caterpillar
chapter-1435

The Crown of Eternal Winter, a special and powerful Item, a crown crafted using the soul of the Spirit of Ice, the first one of the original spirit fathers that lived in Genesis before the Ragnarök. It possess so much power that a lot of Skadi's imposing strength comes from this Crown, which is soul bound to her. The coronation ceremony she had planned was made so her descendant, a daughter of hers, the strongest, most intelligent, and most responsible of them all would wield it.

Using this powerful crown, they would be able to "inherit" a part of Skadi's powers. It was a powerful item capable of truly make a new Queen of Niflheim… And Tundra set up a scheme to get it. Taking away her competition, her sister Lazuli, using the help of the God of Seals, a mysterious figure answering to a different being who Tundra is too dumb to wonder who it could be.

And while Skadi rested until tomorrow morning, in her sleep, she heard voices… the voices of her daughter, Lazuli. At first, she thought she was hallucinating, there was no way her dead daughter would suddenly talk to her through dreams. She had dreamed many times with her, so it was normal for her to find her once more in her dreams.

But quickly after hearing her voice and waking up while still hearing it… she quickly realized this was not a hallucination nor a dream. This belief was further cemented when she felt the divine connection being automatically made with Lazuli.

Despite having grown very different to how she remember her soul to be… without a doubt, that was her daughter's soul. Her body might had been lost and reconstructed many times until now… but the soul certainly kept its same… feeling.

"Mother…"

"No… It can't be! Lazuli… Lazuli! Is that you? Is that really you, Lazuli?!"

Skadi was freaking out, as Lazuli heard her mother's words. Unlike what she thought she would receive as an answer, such as insults or something she stupidly imagined, Skadi was happy and completely going insane out of disbelief. She loved her daughter above all things and now that she realized she was still alive, she couldn't help but ask several times if this was real.

"Yes… Mother! I've missed you so much! Mother! It is really me, it is me, Lazuli!"

"W-What… my daughter… Lazuli! W-What happened to you? Where are you now? Tundra… she told me you disappeared… We all searched for you… we thought you died!"

"I… I died, yeah. It was all… Tundra's fault."

"…What?"

"Listen, mother… I will tell you the truth of what happened that day… before I disappeared."

Skadi attentively heard Lazuli's story, without a doubt, she believed everything Lazuli said, her soul was only showing signs of honesty above all things. Skadi suddenly felt indebted with Kireina, and also… she felt incredibly furious against Tundra! But also sorrowful, realizing she might had failed at raising Tundra into someone honest and good to heart, and instead, she raised a monster capable of even doing such a horrendous thing to her own sister.

"A-A Dungeon boss… By everything in this world… Ohh… You must… have suffered a lot." Cried Skadi, as tears began to flow through her eyes. "I can't… how could Tundra do such a terrible thing?"

"Mother… Tundra always envied me… You never noticed and each time I told you she was bad you never believed me!" Sighed Lazuli. "Since we were children that she bullied me and treated me badly… as we grew older, it simply evolved into even more mistreatment… I loved her too, and I didn't wanted to hurt her back, so I bear with it… but ultimately, I ended… falling into her schemes."

"Lazuli…" Cried Skadi. "I am sorry… Maybe… I shouldn't had treated you two so unfairly. I guess… she grew envious because I spoiled you too much, but such hate… to think it would evolve to the point she considered killing you… and even did something even worse than that! I… I can't forgive her."

"I cannot forgive her either… but death… I guess it is not really the right thing to do." Said Lazuli. "I think she's after the treasures, especially your crown!" Said Lazuli.

"I'll go stop her right now!" Said Skadi.

"Wait! Don't… don't do it yet." Said Lazuli.

"Why?!" Asked Skadi.

"She has powerful backers… I have researched… the God of Seals/Sealing that has helped her in all of this… This man… he serves Hel herself." Said Lazuli.

"H-Hel?!" Asked Skadi.

"Yes… my foolish sister fell into Hel's schemes, and using the powers of this God, she sealed me away and put me out of the picture, but Hel's intentions are not to just make her happy, she wants the treasures… she wants the crown! Even as a supreme goddess now, she still desires such a powerful item. Her supreme divine energy could even enhance this item to even more insane levels of power… If you do things rashly, not only you might have to fight this guy, but also Undead Gods, who are very powerful!" Said Skadi.

"You have to plan it, mother… Wait until tomorrow, when he's present in there, capture him and also capture Tundra… And if possible prepare for retaliation…" Sighed Lazuli.

"This… I get it." Sighed Skadi. "I am not as weak as to lose to some dead gods from the past… Njord is here, I'll ask for his help as well, your father might be melancholic over the death of his sister that happened so long ago still, but he's going to fight for you, he loves you after all!" Said Skadi. Lazuli felt moved by her mother's reassuring words.

"I also want to help… We'll be using Teleportation Stones to get there with Blaze and a few other friends. We'll stop Hel's forces from the outside too!" Said Lazuli.

"Lazuli… Very well then, if that's the case… Then I'll also join your cause against this bitch." Said Skadi. "After all, I owe Kireina so much that… the least I can do is help her out too!"

Kireina would had never truly guessed that her goodwill would had paid off in the end in such a way, that she would get a powerful ally and a whole pantheon of mighty gods to help her, even when she wasn't present in this war anymore… But as the world was changing constantly, Skadi would soon meet someone special that required… a vessel as well.

"This aura… I can feel it… She's… compatible with me."