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Chasing Her Ashes The Fallen Arbiter
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00:00En Midgard, he usado mi poder a force Sigrid into marriage,
00:03tearing him away from his beloved.
00:05After death, he ascended, as the arbiter of Helheim,
00:07imprisoning and torturing me.
00:09For a hundred years, he made sure every soul in Helheim
00:12knew I was his wife.
00:14Then, upon finding his dead childhood companion,
00:16he drove dozens of hell-forged spikes into my body.
00:19He declared,
00:20My heart was vile,
00:21my hands stained with the lives of the innocent,
00:24and he flooded my soul with darkness.
00:26Then, before every watching eye,
00:28he gave me two choices.
00:30Remain and become his companion's servant as penance,
00:33or enter the Hall of Anguish as a corrupted soul,
00:36to suffer endlessly and be reborn into servitude across every life,
00:39never to know a good death.
00:40He knew I feared pain, feared suffering,
00:43but even if I had to endure every torment,
00:45even if my next life would know no peace,
00:47I could not bear to remain at his side one moment longer.
00:50After a hundred years imprisoned beside Sigrid,
00:52I was finally released from that lightless dungeon.
00:55When the iron chains fell from my pierced collarbones,
00:57I thought I would feel lighter.
00:59Instead, all I felt was the dense, crushing wave of pain across my shoulders.
01:02Seeing me hesitate, a death guard shoved me hard from behind.
01:06My lord summoned you to wander on the city.
01:09Move!
01:11Don't make me late with my dream.
01:13His expression was stone cold.
01:15He had no fear that I would disobey,
01:16because Sigrid had placed a curse on me.
01:18From the moment I entered Helheim,
01:20I was every soul's dog,
01:21summoned, dismissed, forbidden to resist.
01:24Now, I lowered my eyes, swallowed the pain,
01:27and walked out of the Arbiter's Hall.
01:29The moment I entered the city,
01:30a force seized me and wrenched me down.
01:34I crashed hard to the ground.
01:36The wounds on my shoulders tore open,
01:38another bloom of blood and rot.
01:40Zorin, standing at Sigrid's side,
01:42let a flash of pleasure cross her eyes.
01:44Then she twisted her face into fear and reddened her eyes.
01:48Sigrid, what did I ever do to make Rowan hate me so much
01:51that she would sever my limbs and have me tortured to death?
01:55The moment she spoke, Sigrid's gaze turned to ice.
01:57Don't be afraid.
01:59I'll make her pay.
02:00He never merely said things.
02:01The moment the words left his lips,
02:03he drove dozens of hellforged spikes into my forelimbs.
02:06The agony hit like a collapsing sky.
02:08I couldn't hold back my scream.
02:09Every wound Sorin bore,
02:12I will return to you a hundredfold.
02:15Rowan's heart is rotten.
02:17She has taken lives without mercy.
02:19Her crimes are unforgivable.
02:21Under Sorin's cues, the crowd began to point and condemn.
02:24A woman like her deserves to be cast
02:26into the deepest abyss of Niphim,
02:29never to be reborn.
02:31Hearing their words,
02:32Sigrid poured more darkness into my soul,
02:34his voice cold as iron.
02:35I give you two choices.
02:37Either remain and serve Sorda in penance,
02:40or enter the Hall of Anguish as a corrupted soul,
02:42be reborn into slavery across every life,
02:45and never know a good death.
02:47The pain was so absolute,
02:48I couldn't form a single word.
02:50Of course.
02:51You're too selfish, too cowardly.
02:53Why would you ever choose the cycle of Yggdorick?
02:57He turned and took Sorn's hand.
02:59Let's go.
03:00We have a wedding to plan.
03:02He knew I feared pain,
03:04feared suffering.
03:04He didn't believe I would choose rebirth,
03:06and so he went off cheerfully to plan his wedding.
03:08What he didn't know
03:09was that the moment I was released from the dungeon,
03:12I had already gone to the Hall of Anguish
03:13to register for the cycle of Yggdrasil.
03:15Even if I had to endure every torment,
03:17even if my next life would know no peace,
03:19I could not bear to remain at his side one moment longer.
03:24By now, every soul in Helheim knew the story.
03:27In Midgard, I had used my power to force Sigrid into marrying me.
03:30I had murdered his aging mother.
03:31I had ordered Sorn's limbs severed and left her to be tortured.
03:35He had hated me with everything he had.
03:37In Midgard, he endured it all in silence,
03:39and in the tenth year of our marriage,
03:41he slaughtered the entire Rowan clan,
03:43dozens of lives,
03:44and then killed me.
03:46After my death, I learned the truth.
03:47He was the Arbiter of Helheim,
03:49the High Valkyrie.
03:51Because of his hatred for me,
03:52he kept me imprisoned at his side for a century
03:53and subjected me to every torment he could devise.
03:56But what he didn't know
03:57was that he had hated the wrong woman.
04:00I had never killed his mother.
04:01I had never touched Sorn.
04:06For the first ten years of my imprisonment,
04:08I never stopped trying to explain.
04:10It wasn't me.
04:11But Sigrid would grab me by the throat,
04:13eyes blazing red,
04:14and scream,
04:14I only believe what I saw with my own eyes.
04:16Time wore me down.
04:18I went numb.
04:19I stopped explaining.
04:20Now he told every soul,
04:21it was I who had taken him by force
04:23and compelled him into marriage.
04:24He had forgotten.
04:26The year we first met,
04:27he was huddled among beggars,
04:28and he took the bowl of porridge I extended to him,
04:31and he looked up at me.
04:32That young man had gazed at me
04:34with something pure and shy in his eyes.
04:36My lady,
04:36do you need a guard?
04:38I'll work for a meal.
04:40It was a time of war and chaos.
04:42My heart had gone soft.
04:43I brought him home.
04:44I had people care for his ailing mother
04:46and younger brother.
04:47Years passed.
04:48He stood in front of me,
04:49unyielding when danger came.
04:50Then came the day the royal house
04:52called for concerts.
04:53He grabbed my hand with reddened eyes and pleaded,
04:55Don't go.
04:57I'll work until I'm worthy of you.
04:59Can't you just consider me?
05:01I had no desire to marry some prince,
05:04and he had moved me just a little.
05:05So I said yes.
05:06He said he loved me.
05:07He said he would give himself fully
05:09and would not waver for a lifetime.
05:11After we wed,
05:11he gave me everything.
05:12He was tireless,
05:13devoted,
05:14always striving.
05:15Ten years passed.
05:16We were bound without doubt or shadow.
05:18Then came the moment he raised a bow
05:19and put an arrow through my chest,
05:21and I finally understood
05:22he had never loved me at all.
05:27Now he looked at my wretched figure
05:29with not a single flicker of emotion in his eyes.
05:32In seven days,
05:33Sorda and I will be wed.
05:35Right now,
05:35I need to take her to be fitted for wedding robes.
05:37Crawl back on your own
05:38and prepare to begin your penance.
05:40With that,
05:40he left with Sorin.
05:42The onlookers needed no invitation.
05:44The sneering words came fast.
05:45She entered Helhem
05:46and immediately called herself his wife.
05:48I almost believed they were devoted to each other.
05:51Turns out he only kept her around
05:53to let his beloved vent her anger.
05:54They laughed.
05:55They sneered.
05:56I did not raise my head.
05:57I used every last fragment of strength
05:59to drag myself forward.
06:00Blood trailed in thin streaks across the road.
06:03I ignored the pain consuming my body
06:04and crawled,
06:05truly crawled,
06:06back to the Arbiter's Hall.
06:10When I finally looked up,
06:11I did not know how much time had passed.
06:13Sigrid and Sorin returned
06:14to find me at the gates,
06:16drenched in blood.
06:16Sorin let out a sharp cry
06:17and rushed over,
06:18pulling me upright.
06:19Rowan,
06:21why are you covered in blood like this?
06:23She asked,
06:24though she already knew.
06:25The delight behind her eyes
06:26was unmistakable.
06:27My stomach turned.
06:28I tried to pull my hand free.
06:29Sorin crumpled straight to the ground.
06:31Sigrid's eyes went wide with fury.
06:33Sorin!
06:34He caught her immediately.
06:35When he saw she had fainted,
06:37his expression darkened.
06:38Without pause,
06:39he blasted me away.
06:39I was hurled a dozen meters in...
06:41The pain in my body doubled.
06:43I clenched my fist against it.
06:44Out of the corner of my eye,
06:46I watched Sigrid
06:47carry Sorin on his back
06:48and leave swiftly,
06:49pausing only to give a cold order.
06:51Throw Rowan into the chasm of Niggdug.
06:53Let her learn her place.
06:55I won't have her forgetting what she is.
06:57He didn't hesitate for a single breath
06:59before concluding it was I
07:00who had harmed Sorin.
07:01He never once asked,
07:02what could I,
07:03a hollowed out soul,
07:04have even done?
07:05I said nothing.
07:06I did not call after him.
07:07I simply let the death guards drag me away.
07:09Because I already knew,
07:10Sigrid would never believe me.
07:12The pain was overwhelming.
07:13I couldn't stop my eyes from closing.
07:17I drifted in and out of consciousness
07:19as they hauled me off the street.
07:20They were not gentle.
07:21They dragged me through thorns,
07:23leaving me torn and raw.
07:24A figure made of blood.
07:25The guards felt nothing.
07:27They simply pitched me over the edge
07:28and into the chasm of Nidhugger.
07:30The chasm is the one place
07:31every soul dreads most.
07:33The void serpents down there
07:34will keep you drowning in your own suffering,
07:36alive enough to wish you weren't.
07:38Every soul in this realm
07:40can see how much Sorin
07:41and means to our lord.
07:43You still went and provoked her.
07:46You deserve exactly this.
07:48They believed I deserved it.
07:49They walked away,
07:50not knowing I had done nothing.
07:52But I understood.
07:53Even if they knew,
07:54they would not help me.
07:56Without Hala present,
07:57Helheim answered to Sigrid.
07:58There was nothing more to say.
08:00Nothing that would matter.
08:01The wind screamed past my ears.
08:02Then came the impact.
08:04I hit the floor of the chasm
08:05and the force tore more blood from me,
08:07painting my pale-faced crimson.
08:08The void serpents caught the scent
08:10and struck without waiting.
08:11Fang sank into my arm.
08:12As the venom spread,
08:13I closed my eyes.
08:16Long buried memories were pulled free
08:18and without meaning to,
08:19I smiled.
08:20Yet a single tear slipped into my hair.
08:22At the start of the story,
08:23my eyes had been full of happiness.
08:25Then a snowstorm passed
08:26and my eyes were dyed in blood.
08:27My beautiful husband came with an army
08:29and slaughtered my entire clan.
08:31When he looked at me,
08:32his eyes held nothing but hatred.
08:33That night,
08:34surrounded by the bodies
08:35of everyone I had loved,
08:37I screamed until I had nothing left.
08:38But my parents,
08:39who had cherished me,
08:41my sister,
08:42not one of them
08:42would ever answer me again.
08:44Sigrid stood with a bow in his hands,
08:46soaked in the blood of the Rowan clan,
08:47his eyes cold with savage satisfaction.
08:50I watched, numb,
08:51as he stepped forward
08:52and drove his blade through my chest
08:53without flinching.
08:54Before I fell,
08:55I asked him,
08:56Why?
08:57He stepped closer.
08:58With quiet tenderness,
09:00he wiped the blood
09:01from the corner of my lips,
09:02then smiled,
09:03and the smile was winter.
09:05I only ever saw Saul
09:06as a younger sister.
09:07Even if she was in love with me,
09:09why did you have to destroy her utterly?
09:11My mother treated you
09:12with nothing but kindness.
09:13You didn't spare her either.
09:15Rowan,
09:15how can you be this cruel?
09:17Desolation rose
09:17from somewhere deep in my chest.
09:19He was my husband,
09:20and without a single question,
09:22he had butchered my entire family
09:23and laid every crime at my feet.
09:25I had barely crossed paths with Sorin
09:26more than a handful of times.
09:28I had loved him
09:29with everything I had.
09:30Why would I ever have harmed his family?
09:32But it didn't matter.
09:33Nothing had ever been real between us.
09:35There was no tenderness to speak of.
09:37Not once.
09:38Not ever.
09:40Self-loathing sank into the marrow of me.
09:42I could not stop the anguished sounds
09:44that tore from my throat,
09:46nor the tears that fell without ceasing.
09:48The void serpents fed greedily on my suffering,
09:50curling the corners of their mouths
09:51in satisfaction.
09:52My family appeared before me,
09:54and their accusations came one after another.
09:57Rowan,
09:57how can you still love
09:59the one who destroyed us?
10:00He killed your family.
10:02Why haven't you made him pay?
10:03Rowan.
10:04If you hadn't let jealousy
10:06drive you to hurt Sorin
10:08and Sigran's mother,
10:09we would never have died.
10:11The whispers and the contempt
10:12circled me without end.
10:14I shook my head violently.
10:15The disappointment in their eyes
10:17broke something inside me.
10:18I didn't do it.
10:19My voice came out as a ragged rasp.
10:21My eyes were so swollen
10:22and I could barely see.
10:23The suffering pouring from me
10:25drew more and more void serpents close.
10:26They sank their fangs in again,
10:28extracting the anguish,
10:29harvesting it.
10:30There was no escape.
10:31I could only relive it,
10:32drown in it,
10:33again and again,
10:34until I lost consciousness entirely.
10:37When I opened my eyes again,
10:39I was no longer in the chasm of Nidhuger.
10:41The familiar surroundings told me at once
10:43this was Sigrid's estate.
10:45Rowan, I'm so sorry.
10:47I never expected Sigrid to misunderstand
10:49and throw you into the chasm.
10:51I only fainted yesterday
10:52because I can't stand the sight of blood.
10:54Startled myself, really.
10:56I'm terribly embarrassed about it.
10:58Rowan is so kind-hearted.
11:00You'll forgive me, won't you?
11:02After all,
11:04I've decided not to hold a grudge
11:06about what you did to me in Nidhuger.
11:07Her eyes were filled with triumph.
11:09She was telling me plainly,
11:10even the smallest incident
11:11would be enough to make Sigrid
11:12turn his fury on me.
11:13I didn't speak,
11:14but Sigrid's face had already hardened.
11:16Sorin came to apologize in good faith.
11:18And this is how you respond?
11:20She's chosen not to pursue
11:21what you did to her in Midland,
11:23and you can't even offer
11:24a single word of apology.
11:26Today,
11:27you will apologize to Sorin.
11:29If you don't,
11:30I have no problem keeping you
11:32in the chasm of Nindo indefinitely,
11:34suffering every single day.
11:35Rowan,
11:36just bend a little.
11:37After this,
11:38we can be friends again.
11:39Her contempt was clear as glass.
11:41It pricked at something in me.
11:44I'm sorry.
11:45I had no desire to apologize,
11:47but I knew with certainty
11:48Sigrid would make me pay
11:49on Sorin's behalf regardless.
11:51Good.
11:52At least you know when to yield.
11:54I couldn't afford to lose my chance
11:56at the cycle of Yggdrasil.
11:58That apology bought me
11:59a brief, fragile peace.
12:00A few days later,
12:01the moment I was well enough
12:02to leave my chamber,
12:03I moved to go.
12:04But Sorin stepped into my path.
12:08Going out to enjoy yourself,
12:09Roway?
12:11Then bring me back a lantern.
12:13I'm too occupied
12:14with the wedding to bother.
12:17I had no desire to humor her,
12:19but even less desire
12:20to endure her wheedling.
12:21I agreed.
12:22The moment I stepped out
12:23of the estate,
12:24I went straight
12:24to the Hall of Anguish.
12:26The warden led me inside,
12:27but no sooner had I faced
12:29the first trial of love
12:30and hatred
12:30than I nearly came apart
12:31at the seams,
12:33my soul unraveling.
12:37The warden brought me back out,
12:40shaking his head with a sigh.
12:42You cannot yet withstand
12:44the torments of love,
12:45hate, and obsession.
12:48I'll hold your place.
12:50Come back when you've recovered.
12:53There was nothing to be done.
12:55I could only return
12:56to the Arbiter's Hall.
12:57Secret's curse left me no choice.
12:58When Sorin saw me,
12:59she immediately took the lantern
13:00from my hands with a smile.
13:02I wanted to leave.
13:03Someone grabbed my wrist.
13:07I turned.
13:08You went to the Hall of Anguish?
13:10I lowered my eyes slightly.
13:12I merely passed by.
13:13He looked at my ashen face,
13:15pressed the unease back down.
13:17What?
13:18You saw the trials
13:20and were frightened
13:20into looking like that?
13:22He exhaled with quiet relief,
13:24a scornful thought
13:24crossing his mind.
13:25I was so small
13:27and so cowardly.
13:28Why would I ever enter
13:29the cycle of Yggdrasil
13:30just to leave him?
13:31I said nothing more.
13:32I turned to go,
13:33then heard Sorin
13:34let out a sharp cry
13:35and collapse,
13:36vomiting blood.
13:37The lantern had been unwrapped.
13:39The warmth of Midgard
13:40still clung to it.
13:41Any soul who had passed
13:43into Helheim
13:43would be burned
13:44by such living light.
13:46Do you hate Sura so much
13:48you'd see her soul torn apart?
13:50I pressed my lips together
13:51and said nothing.
13:52Since you love the light
13:53of the living world so much,
13:55let me give you
13:56your fill of it.
14:00At noon the following day,
14:02I was taken to Midgard.
14:03The blazing sun fell on me
14:05like a judgment.
14:06The pain was beyond bearing.
14:07In the shadows,
14:08a death guard shuddered.
14:10You can offend anyone
14:12in this realm.
14:13Just join Sorin.
14:15My lord is merciless.
14:17For one moment,
14:18I felt myself beginning
14:19to dissolve.
14:20Then Sigrid reappeared
14:21and wrenched me back
14:22into Helheim.
14:23I was forced to my knees
14:24before Sorin.
14:24Sigrid's voice was flat
14:25as still water.
14:27Apologize.
14:28He stood firm.
14:29I said nothing.
14:31Sorin glanced between us
14:32and waved Sigrid off.
14:34Let me have a word alone
14:35with Rowan.
14:37Of course.
14:40The moment he left,
14:41Sorin rose from her sickbed
14:42as though nothing
14:43had happened at all
14:44and produced a memory stone.
14:46Look at these people.
14:48Do you recognize them?
14:50I looked up instinctively.
14:52My parents.
14:53My family.
14:53All of them.
14:55Surrounded by something
14:56that looked like
14:56the inside of a furnace.
14:59Because of you,
15:00Sigrid and I
15:01were torn apart.
15:04And your family.
15:06They deserved
15:07what they got.
15:09Sigrid kept them around
15:10all this time
15:11so I could find anger.
15:13They're screaming.
15:15Isn't it lovely?
15:16Don't you want to hear it?
15:17Her smile was radiant.
15:19Her eyes were full of cruelty.
15:20My vision flooded red.
15:21I couldn't stop myself.
15:22My hands closed
15:23around her throat.
15:25You deserve to die.
15:29But she laughed
15:30and then her face
15:30crumpled into fear.
15:33Sigrid!
15:34One word.
15:35Sigrid came at once
15:36pulling her free
15:37and the rage that blazed
15:38in his eyes
15:39when he turned on me
15:40was absolute.
15:41Since hatred is all you have
15:43I'll send you to the
15:44Hall of Anguish
15:45and strip it out of you.
15:48I won't have you
15:49thinking about
15:50hurting Sorin ever again.
15:54In an instant
15:55I was thrown before
15:56the gates of the
15:57Hall of Anguish.
15:58Sigrid expected me to beg.
15:59I didn't look back.
16:00I walked straight
16:01through the doors
16:02into the blazing
16:02Hall of Hatred
16:03without hesitating
16:04for a single step.
16:05Sigrid watched.
16:06Something lodged
16:07in his chest
16:08but he turned
16:09and left anyway.
16:11In the days that followed
16:13Sigrid went through
16:13the motions
16:14of preparing the wedding
16:15distracted and hollow
16:16and I
16:17inside the Hall of Anguish
16:18walked through
16:19every trial there was.
16:21On the day of their wedding
16:22I finally stepped
16:23onto the path
16:24of Yggdrasil's cycle.
16:25The old woman
16:26held out the mead
16:26of oblivion
16:27I drained it
16:28in one swallow
16:28and left no trace
16:29of it on my lips.
16:31She watched my
16:31retreating back
16:32and shook her head quietly.
16:34All things are
16:35written in fate.
16:36Before the wedding
16:36ceremony began
16:37Sigrid turned his gaze
16:39toward the Hall of Anguish
16:40as if drawn by something
16:41he couldn't name.
16:42Zoran concealed
16:43the malice in her eyes
16:44and spoke with a bright smile.
16:45Why don't we bring
16:46Rowan back?
16:48I'd like her here
16:49to bless us.
16:51He gave her
16:51the opening she needed.
16:52Sigrid's face shifted.
16:53I'll go.
16:54I won't be long.
16:57He went to retrieve me
16:58but the warden
16:59of the Hall
16:59stopped him cold.
17:01Rowan has already
17:02endured all four trials
17:03as a corrupted soul
17:04and entered the cycle
17:05of Yggdrasil.
17:08Sigrid could not
17:08believe it
17:09but when the warden
17:10summoned the vision
17:11from an hour prior
17:11all the color
17:12drained from his face
17:13because I had truly
17:14stepped into the cycle
17:15and I had not
17:16looked back.
17:17Not once.
17:18A sharp pain
17:19struck him in the chest.
17:20He stood there
17:21stunned.
17:21Something nameless
17:22and bitter
17:23rising through him.
17:24Zoran
17:24tired of waiting
17:25came after him.
17:26She took one look
17:27at his hollowed expression
17:28and reached out
17:29to tug at his sleeve
17:30barely masking her impatience.
17:32Sigrid
17:33the ceremony
17:34is about to begin.
17:35Let's go back.
17:36She had no interest
17:37in where Rowan
17:38had gone.
17:38All she knew
17:39was that if she
17:39didn't hold on
17:40to what was in front
17:41of her right now
17:41she would never
17:42have another chance.
17:43But Sigrid
17:44who had always
17:44been so tender
17:45with her
17:45wrenched her arm
17:46free without a word
17:47and flew toward
17:48the gate of the cycle.
17:49Sigrid!
17:49Soren screamed
17:50after him
17:51but he didn't
17:52turn back.
17:52Her expression darkened.
17:53She almost followed
17:54then stopped herself.
17:56The memories
17:57she carried
17:57from Midgard
17:58were not ones
17:58she wanted to revisit.
17:59She bit her lip
18:00and sent a spirit messenger
18:01to bring him back.
18:02a fola
18:02coming.
18:03Thank you.
18:03Thank you.
18:03Thank you.
18:04Gracias por ver el video.
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