Epic of Caterpillar
chapter-1979

"Hel?!" Loki cried in happiness. "You're awake! Fenrir! Jormungandr! Your sister's awake!" Loki seemed overly excited, calling her two other sons to come here.

And they did, rushing into the hall into their humanoid forms, much smaller and easier to enter buildings with them. Hel was taken aback by the ruckus, falling into the floor as all her family rushed in.

"HEL!" Fenrir cried, hugging her.

"Are you alright?! Does something hurts?! Is your soul fine?!" Jormungandr asked worriedly.

"A-Ah… Why are you here? What's going on?! Y-You traitors, are you pretending to care about me now?!" Hel angrily said. "G-Get off me! Ugh!"

She tried to push them away, but her siblings wouldn't let her, they hugged her and caressed her long white hair, trying to give her the warmth her body lacked.

"We were so worried…" Fenrir started crying.

"Hel…" Jormungandr was also crying like a baby.

"Y-You…!" Hel muttered, gritting her teeth.

However, their warmth, hugs, and their tears were working. Hel felt weaker, as if she couldn't fight against their brotherly love. She gave up, letting them hug her, after she sighed.

"You were being controlled, are you really going to keep calling us traitors?" Sighed Fenrir.

"The Necrotic Death Lord himself said you were nothing but a vessel." Jormungandr said.

"…I know." Hel sighed. "I know all of that! I've known the truth for much longer than you actually think! And yet… I just decided to let him have me, I decided to let him possess me. I just wanted… to be strong. I didn't care what methods would have been. But I guess… I just lost, and even he lost."

"…" Loki remained in silence while looking at Hel from a distance, she couldn't dare to get closer to her, knowing most of Hel's problems were her fault.

"So you knew…" Fenrir sighed. "Everything could had ended terribly, yet there was a different ending, you're alive, we are all fine. Hel…!"

"We should just get along, please." Jormungandr sighed. "There's… no point in fighting anymore. We just want the best for you, you know?"

"I-I… I know…" Hel suddenly started crying, surprising her siblings and her mother. "I just… Don't know what to do anymore… Sniff… I don't know how to even apologize…"

"H-Hel…" Fenrir cried.

"You don't have to cry like that, come on." Jormungandr sighed.

Despite having done so many terrible things as the Goddess of Death, a wicked and mad woman, to her siblings, Hel was still the little sister they loved and always wanted to protect.

Seeing her cry like this, without even knowing what to say or do broke their hearts. They knew that she deserved some punishment for her wrongdoings but couldn't bring themselves to punish her.

Perhaps just seeing her sincerely crying in regret was enough for the two of them… In fact, for Loki too.

"To be honest, you can keep treating me like shit if you want! I-I don't mind as long as it makes you happy, sis!" Fenrir said, trying to cheer her up.

"Hey, are you some sort of masochist?" Wondered Jormungandr while raising an eyebrow.

"Pfff…" Hel suddenly laughed. "W-What are you even talking about? What kind of person would ever want to be treated like shit… You dummy."

"A-Ahahaha, I just… Don't want to see you cry, little sister." Fenrir sighed, giving Hel a kiss in her forehead. "We love you…"

"And no matter what, we'll stay together as family, right? Just like you once said." Jormungandr nodded, hugging her.

"E-Even after all the stuff I did… I can't believe you two. I would be so mad in your place…" Hel sighed. "I feel like… I don't deserve you…"

"Maybe, yeah, you don't deserve brothers like us at all!" Fenrir laughed.

"But it is our decision to forgive you, we'll always do, that's what siblings are for. No matter what, we are still siblings." Jormungandr smiled.

"Thank you… I-I am still trying to sort things out myself, I've lost… pretty much everything, even my powers feel much weaker than before. I think I am not even a Supreme Goddess anymore." Hel looked at her own pale hands, trembling. "Whatever punishment I'll receive, I'll have to take it, even if it's death…"

"Well, that you're still alive means Kireina doesn't really want you dead." Said Fenrir. "She said that you should find what you want to do once you wake up."

"As long as you don't try to harm anybody, she'll let you be." Jormungandr said. "So please, let's just try to get along, okay? I know you have grudges but… everyone has grudges too, against you. And they choose to forgive you to an extent because you were being controlled by that monster, you weren't being yourself."

"…" Hel sighed, falling silent. "Even then, there was still a part of me there, as that monster controlled me…"

"If you really feel guilty for what you did, Hel… Then you should try to amend for your sins." Loki spoke for the first time after getting excited over her being awake.

"Oh, I bet you're an expert on that, seeing how you've been so regretful for a while." Hel said, furrowing her eyebrows and glaring at her mother with tremendous hate. "Don't think that I've forgiven you…"

"I-I know…" Loki sighed. "S-Sorry, I shouldn't had said anything. I'll be leaving now, so you can be alone. Sorry again…"

Loki felt taken aback by Hel's hateful glare, her guilt consuming her. She felt like wanting to disappear, quickly trying to run away.

"Stay." Said Hel.

"Huh?" Loki glanced back at her daughter.

"How do you expect to amend for what you've done if you run away like you always did?" Hel said angrily. "You're staying here, where I can see you."

"H-Hel…" Her mother suddenly felt like crying but resisted her tears. "Yes… I'll… stay here with you. As much as you want now."

"Hahaha, you're what Kireina called a Tsundere I think!" Fenrir laughed.

"Don't worry mother, she's actually happy you've changed." Jormungandr smiled.

"S-Shut up you two!" Hel felt embarrassed, growing red like a tomato.

"Fufu, my daughter is really the cutest." Loki giggled. "I can't believe I was so stupid to leave behind such a treasure…" She thought.