The pain in her side felt like fire spreading through her veins. Rossweisse hung from the shackles, her wrists raw from struggling against t
The pain in her side felt like fire spreading through her veins.
Rossweisse hung from the shackles, her wrists raw from struggling against the enchanted bonds. Every breath sent fresh agony through her ribs where the fallen angel had cracked them with his light spear. Blood dripped steadily from the cut on her forehead, painting dark stains on the stone floor below.
She'd been so stupid.
The memory played over and over in her mind like a nightmare she couldn't wake up from. The moment everything went wrong.
The transformation happened so suddenly Rossweisse barely had time to react.
One moment she was walking beside Leon and Father Dante up the mountain path. The next, reality twisted around her like a kaleidoscope, and she found herself standing in a dimly lit cave surrounded by armed figures.
Teleportation magic.
She'd woken up chained to the wall with Father Moretti standing in front of her, that sick smile she remembered from Rome plastered across his face.
"The famous Rossweisse," he'd said in heavily accented English. "Former Valkyrie. Odin's beloved bodyguard. Playing secretary to a spoiled rich boy."
She'd spat blood at his feet. "Where is Leon?"
"Your precious employer?" Moretti's smile had widened. "Don't worry. Lord Kokabiel is taking very good care of him."
The torture had started immediately after that.
Moretti hadn't been interested in information. This was purely for pleasure. For revenge against Leon by proxy. Every cut, every burn, every broken rib was a message meant for the boy who'd humiliated Kokabiel.
The worst part wasn't the pain. Rossweisse had endured worse during her years of service to Asgard. Vikings didn't exactly negotiate gently when they wanted information about their enemies' plans.
No, the worst part was the helplessness.
The shackles weren't just restraints. They were specifically designed to suppress divine power. Every time she'd tried to channel her strength, the runes had sent feedback through her nervous system that left her gasping and weak.
She couldn't break free. Couldn't fight back. Couldn't do anything but hang there and take whatever they wanted to dish out.
The Senzu beans Leon had given her were somewhere in her equipment bag, confiscated along with everything else when they'd captured her. She could see the bag sitting on a table across the room, close enough to taunt her but impossibly far when her arms were chained above her head.
"He's not coming for you," Moretti had whispered during his visit. "Boys like that, they only care about themselves. The moment things got difficult, he probably ran back to his safe little corporate tower."
But Rossweisse knew better.
Leon would come. Not because he cared about her specifically - she wasn't naive enough to think their relationship meant that much to him. But because he was the kind of person who protected what was his. And whether she liked it or not, she fell into that category.
The sound of footsteps on the stairs interrupted her thoughts. Heavy boots descending into the basement. Rossweisse looked up, expecting to see Moretti returning for another session.
Instead, Loki himself appeared , She'd recognized the trickster god the moment he'd walked into the basement. The silver hair, the pale skin, those eyes that held malice. The man who'd once tried to bring about Ragnarök was standing in front of her like a bad dream made flesh.
But something was wrong. His usually perfect hair was disheveled. Scratches covered his pale face, and his clothes were singed in several places.
"Well," he said, his voice carrying forced lightness. "That was... unexpected."
Rossweisse tried to lift her head again when she heard him speak, but her vision blurred from the effort. The torture had left her weak, barely conscious. She could taste blood in her mouth and every breath sent spikes of pain through her broken ribs.
"What..." she managed to whisper, the word coming out cracked and barely audible.
Loki didn't answer immediately. He walked across the room to a table covered with various unpleasant-looking implements, his movements sharp and agitated. Whatever had happened up there, it hadn't gone according to his plan.
He picked up the Eitr-coated dagger, examining its edge in the flickering candlelight.
"The mortal exceeded my expectations," he said finally, more to himself than to her.
She wanted to feel proud but her thoughts were too scattered. The blood loss and repeated beatings had left her barely hanging onto consciousness.
"Now we move to the final phase." Loki approached her, dagger glinting. His voice had taken on a manic edge. "He destroyed Kokabiel and his followers. Killed my children. But he'll still come for you."
The dagger bit into her side, just below the ribs. The sudden sharp pain cut through her exhaustion like lightning. The Eitr burned like acid in her veins, and she couldn't suppress the scream that tore from her throat.
"Perfect," Loki murmured. "Let him hear that. Let him know exactly what his noble instincts have cost."
Rossweisse fought to stay conscious as the Eitr spread. The poison was designed to kill gods, to corrupt divine essence itself. A valkyrie wouldn't last long against it.
But she'd endured worse. This bastard god of lies wouldn't break her that easily.
The sound of combat erupted from somewhere above them. Shouts, crashes, the distinctive crack of someone's neck being snapped.
Loki's smile widened. "Right on schedule."
Then heavy footsteps on the stairs.
The Eitr was spreading faster now, black veins crawling up from the wound toward her heart. Her vision blurred as her divine essence fought a losing battle against the corruption. She could barely keep her eyes open, consciousness slipping away like sand through her fingers.
Voices. Loki saying something, but the words felt distant and muffled. Her head lolled forward as the poison burned through her system, each heartbeat spreading the corruption further.
A wet sound. The dagger being pulled free, maybe? Fresh agony exploded through her side and a scream tore from her throat without her permission.
Then darkness. Shadows swirling. The scrape of footsteps.
Suddenly, hands were examining the shackles above her head. The bonds that had held her for hours shattered like they were made of paper.
She collapsed, but someone caught her before she could hit the stone floor.
"Hey, Alessia." His voice was soft, gentle in a way that made her chest tighten despite the poison spreading through her system. "Stay with me."
She forced her eyes open, meeting his concerned gaze. Even through the haze of pain and approaching death, she could see the fear there. Real fear for her wellbeing.
"Leon?" Her voice came out as barely a whisper. "Is it really you?"
"It's me. I need you to eat this." He placed something small in her mouth. Probably the Senzu beans.
The effect was instantaneous and overwhelming. The Eitr that had been burning through her veins simply... disappeared. The wounds on her body closed without leaving so much as a scar. Even her cracked ribs healed with a sensation like warm sunlight flowing through her bones.
"That's... incredible," she breathed, staring at Leon with new wonder. "They really do work as you said."
But more than the healing was the way he was looking at her. Like her wellbeing was the most important thing in the world. Like he'd been terrified of losing her.
The professional distance she'd maintained, the careful barriers between bodyguard and charge, crumbled completely.
Without thinking, she threw her arms around his neck and buried her face against his shoulder. He was warm and solid and alive, and the relief of that simple contact was overwhelming.
"Thank you," she whispered against his neck.
His arms tightened around her, holding her like something precious. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, his voice heavy with guilt. "I knew they had taken you. I could have come sooner, but I wanted to understand their plan first. I let you suffer…I'm sorry."
The raw self-recrimination in his voice made her chest ache. He was blaming himself for her pain, carrying guilt that wasn't his to bear.
"Leon," she whispered, pulling back just enough to see his face. Those eyes were filled with remorse and something deeper, something that made her heart skip. Before he could say another word, before he could apologize again for choices that had ultimately saved them both, she pressed her lips to his.
The kiss was soft, then deeper as he responded. When they finally broke apart, she rested her forehead against his.
"It doesn't matter," she breathed. "What matters is that you came for me."
"Of course I did." The way he said it, like there had never been any question, made something flutter in her chest. "You're important to me, Alessia."
"Rossweisse…" She smiled. "Please call me Rossweisse."
He smiled at her, easing the heaviness at her heart. "Rossweisse."
Hearing him call her name inexplicable feelings arose from her heart.
"Come on," he said, helping her to her feet. "Let's get out of here."
But as they made their way up the stairs, her hand clasped firmly in his, Rossweisse made a decision.
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