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