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