Was it a minute, or the passing of a century?
Lothar couldn't tell.
The concept of time had completely vanished from his mind.
Under Hela's forceful advance, he, who was always a natural in a fight, had no idea how to respond for the first time. He could only awkwardly follow Hela's lead.
When Hela finally let him go, Lothar was like a refugee who had fallen into a vacuum and finally found an oxygen mask, greedily gasping for air. His chest rose and fell beneath his loose black combat suit. The glistening thread left by Hela still lingered at the corner of his mouth, his eyes filled with shock and bewilderment.
This was the first time in his life he had been kissed so aggressively by a woman. Before this, whether it was Hela thousands of years ago or Mera, whom he likely would never see again, their kisses were as light as a dragonfly skimming the water's surface.
Why...
Why does my body feel so hot?
Why does it feel like all my power has been sealed away?
Gasping for air, Lothar looked down. The renewed activity of his inner energy only brought him more confusion. Why couldn't he push Hela away just now? Where had his strength gone?
"I think I already know the answer," Hela said, bending over and smiling at Lothar.
"Why? Why are you suddenly thinking about marriage?" Regaining his composure, Lothar, who had some concept of what marriage was, was completely baffled.
"In fact, strictly speaking, our wedding was set over a thousand years ago, had Odin not interfered." Lothar stared at Hela, and she held his gaze without flinching. "This time, no one will interfere." Hela laid out her plans to Lothar, one by one.
She had decided on a location for the wedding: a fully rebuilt Asgard. The Black Quadrant was too desolate and cold. It lacked life and was unsuitable for a lively wedding. She was sure Lothar wouldn't mind the small details, and she had her own way of convincing Thanos.
The date would be in a month. Asgard's reconstruction was progressing quickly and was almost finished. A month would be enough for Hela to prepare a magnificent wedding.
Hela had planned everything meticulously, from the preparations to the ceremony itself, so it could seamlessly follow the reconstruction.
Having saved Asgard from the fire giant, Surtur, she would even get to enjoy the cheers of the Asgardian people at her wedding.
"Lo—"
"Meow!"
Smiling, Hela was about to continue when she was interrupted by a mournful cat cry. A dried fish with its head bitten off fell from the sky. The Flerken on the beam tried to snatch it out of the air with its paws, but missed.
Its only comfort had fallen to the ground and was covered in dust. The Flerken, slumped on the beam, let out a wail of utter sadness. Its little pink mouth bit its soft tail, acting out for Lothar's attention.
Hela narrowed her eyes, suddenly wanting to eat the Flerken.
"Meow..." Perhaps sensing the brief flash of killing intent from Hela, the orange cat stopped wailing. It blinked its teary eyes and pitifully looked at the dusty dried fish at Lothar's feet.
Then Lothar produced a small sphere of silver energy in his hand.
"Meow!"
The Flerken's eyes lit up. In a flash, it was on top of Lothar's head, where its puffy little paws took the offered treat. It happily wagged its tail, munching away. Its big eyes curved into happy crescents, a far cry from its teary-eyed state just moments before.
"Lady Hela, Lord Thanos wishes to see you."
A suspicious-looking Hela was led away by the palace butler, Woz, leaving a confused Lothar standing alone. "Father wants to see Hela?"
....
"You're marrying Lothar?"
In the great hall of the Black Quadrant's base, Thanos sat on his throne, looking down at Hela, his theoretical future daughter-in-law.
"Yes," Hela admitted crisply. The Black Quadrant was Thanos's base. She wasn't surprised that he already knew what had just happened.
"Why?"
"I have a marriage pact with Lothar. I'm sure you haven't forgotten," Hela said, meeting Thanos's scrutinizing gaze without any fear.
"Odin is dead," Thanos said, his voice unwavering.
"Yes, Odin is dead, but my mother is still alive. Frigga is still alive. You never officially broke the pact, did you?" Hela retorted, fully prepared. The pact was never formally dissolved, and Hela was not wrong to claim that she was simply honoring it.
Thanos didn't speak, simply stared at Hela below his throne. After a long, silent moment, perhaps due to the immense psychological pressure from Thanos, or for another reason, Hela broke the silence. "The Time Stone."
"Lothar told me you've always wanted to gather all six Infinity Stones."
"The Soul Stone has a strict acquisition requirement. I can't help you with that. But I can get you the Time Stone." Hela played her trump card.
"The Time Stone?"
And just as Hela had predicted, when she brought up the Time Stone, the unchanging tone of Thanos's voice finally shifted. The Soul Stone clearly had a mind of its own and its own set of rules, making it difficult to manipulate. But the Time Stone was different. Hela was confident she could get it.
After all, The Ancient One was dead. Hela, who possessed a blessing from Yggdrasil, was certain that the unfathomably powerful Sorcerer Supreme was gone, and her successor was just a human who had only recently begun his training: Stephen Strange.
"I'll be waiting for good news, Hela."
Thanos waved his hand, and Hela bowed and left. After Hela's figure had completely vanished from the entrance, Thanos brought up a holographic model of Lothar. He was surprised that Lothar had absorbed Hela's power but still had not broken through the rules to become a god.
"What exactly went wrong?" Thanos wondered, endlessly reviewing the logs about Lothar in Woz's database.
"Using emotion to trigger cellular changes? The path is not wrong. But why...?"
"Or is the emotion not strong enough?"
As Thanos was contemplating what emotions could push Lothar to a full breakthrough, The Other, in the Black Quadrant's logistics department, finished registering Pietro and Wanda.
Their names and codenames were officially recorded by Ebony Maw himself.
Scarlet Witch - Wanda.
Quicksilver - Pietro.
"Alright, from now on you are officially subordinates of Prince Lothar. I will be responsible for helping you familiarize yourselves with all the rules of the Black Quadrant in the near future."
"Also, Pietro, this is something His Highness Lothar prepared for you."
Finally in charge, The Other was very proud. He handed Pietro a chip. The chip contained the data Woz had compiled from the training of The Flash, Barry Allen, from another universe.
The Other understood what Lothar wanted to do. He wanted to try and train Quicksilver to be just like The Flash.
As for Scarlet Witch's abilities, magic wasn't Lothar's area of expertise.
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