"Sister, don't you think... it's too peaceful?" After a sparring session, Hela wiped off her sweat and asked suddenly.
Mavuika retracted her sun-blaze thousand suns and looked at her sister: "Is peace not good? The people need to recuperate, the Nine Realms need to consolidate order, and we... also need time to settle."
"Settle?" Hela sneered: "I only feel the rust. Sister, look outside!"
She pointed to the commotion of the celebration outside the window: "What are they celebrating? Celebrating the end of conquest? Celebrating that they can now sleep soundly on their laurels? Asgard's glory should not be a stagnant monument; it should be a Burning beacon, it should illuminate places further away!"
Mavuika was silent for a moment, then said softly: "Hela, war is not the goal. We fight so that such peaceful celebrations can continue."
"But what if peace itself becomes a shackle?" Hela countered, dark green eyes Burning with restless flames.
"What if the descendants of Asgard can only find passion in the epics of their ancestors, and can only waste their time in repetitive celebrations? Sister, the Universe is so vast, the Nine Realms are just one corner of it. There are countless Worlds waiting for us to explore, to conquer, and to spread the glory of Asgard into the deeper darkness!"
The sisters looked at each other, and this time, neither spoke again.
A rift in their philosophies quietly grew in the cradle of peace.
After the celebration ended, Asgard entered a period of orderly development.
Mavuika devoted more energy to internal affairs, assisting Odin in perfecting the Nine Realms Code, mediating trade disputes among the realms, and promoting the exchange of knowledge and technology.
The days were calm and fulfilling. At least for Mavuika, they were.
But for Hela, these past six months felt like years.
Every day she woke up to face the same repetitive administrative reports. The parts she was responsible for became fewer and fewer because her way of handling them was always too "efficient" and left no room for maneuver.
The opponents on the training ground became weaker and weaker, making it hard for her to even break a sweat. Sparring with her sister also gradually became a routine, both tacitly controlling their strength for fear of breaking this fragile balance.
She felt her bones itching, every cell screaming with the desire for battle, the desire for conquest, the thrill of trampling strong enemies underfoot and incorporating new Worlds into their territory.
Asgard's peace was like a thick layer of grease, wrapping around her and suffocating her.
Finally, on another unremarkable morning, Hela could no longer hold back.
She strode towards Odin's council chamber, her silver-black Horsetail swaying behind her, her dark green armor clanking.
The guards outside were about to salute and announce her, but she pushed them aside.
"Father! We have rested long enough, haven't we? When will the next conquest begin?"
Her voice arrived before she did.
Hela's voice, filled with irrepressible excitement and urgency, echoed in the spacious council chamber.
Inside the hall, Odin was discussing details regarding Jotunheim with Mavuika.
Hearing Hela's words, Odin looked up, calmly observing his impetuous second daughter, and then, slowly and firmly, shook his head.
The smile on Hela's face froze instantly.
She stood at the doorway, gripping the doorframe, her knuckles turning white from the force.
"Father..." Her voice dropped, carrying clear confusion and suppressed anger: "What does this mean?"
Odin did not answer immediately.
He put down the star map scroll in his hand, leaned back against the throne, and his gaze slowly swept between his eldest daughter and his second daughter.
Mavuika stood quietly to the side, holding a crystal tablet for recording, with no surprise on her face, only a knowing calm.
She seemed to have anticipated this day would come.
Hela, on the other hand, was like a leopard with every muscle tensed, her every look and every breath filled with aggression, waiting for her father's explanation.
Odin remained silent for a long time.
In the council chamber, there was only the crackling of firewood Burning in the fireplace, and the faint sound of Thor and Loki playing in the garden in the distance.
Finally, Odin spoke, his voice low and slow, as if every word carried the weight of a thousand years.
"Hela, you have come at the right time. There are some things... it is time to tell you both."
Hela frowned, about to press for an answer, but was stopped by a look from Mavuika.
Mavuika shook her head slightly, signaling her to calm down and listen to their father.
Odin gave his eldest daughter an approving look.
Although his second daughter, Hela, was equally excellent, this temperament... was still too impatient.
"First," Odin paused, as if weighing his words: "Asgard... is not prepared to continue external conquests."
"What?!" Hela nearly jumped up, her face instantly turning livid.
She stepped forward, her voice rising sharply: "Father! The Nine Realms have been unified, the Asgardian army's morale is high, my Death Guard is sharpening their blades, and my sister's power is enough to awe the stars. Now is the best time to expand our territory and push the glory of Asgard to the Universe! How can you..."
"Hela." Mavuika interrupted softly, but her tone carried an unquestionable force: "Listen to Father finish."
Hela's chest heaved violently, and dark green Death Divine Power uncontrollably spilled from her body, forming a small patch of corrosive shadow at her feet.
She stared fixedly at Odin, finally gritted her teeth, and stepped back half a step, but the flames in her eyes did not extinguish in the slightest.
Odin did not mind his daughter's outburst.
He seemed to be lost in some distant memory, his gaze becoming deep, as if piercing through time and space to see scenes from long ago and far away.
"Although the Nine Realms have been unified," he said slowly, his voice tinged with a hint of vicissitudes: "it does not mean... it is completely stable."
He looked at his two daughters, especially Hela: "Do you think that by conquering the Frost Giant and Fire Giants, and defeating the Dark Elves, Asgard can truly rest easy and can wantonly cast its gaze toward the further starry sky?"
Hela did not answer, but her expression had already given the answer: Isn't it?
Odin smiled bitterly, a smile that held a heaviness Hela had never seen before, one that was almost bitter.
"Then, let me tell you something, something... that happened a long time ago, so long ago that you were not even born yet."
He stood up, walked to the huge star window, turned his back to the sisters, and looked at the eternal clear sky of Asgard outside.
"Back then, I was just like you, Hela, young, confident, and... even more arrogant." Odin's voice was very light, as if talking to himself.
"I firmly believed that Asgard was the center of the Universe, firmly believed that the glory of Asgard would surely shine upon all realms. I led the Asgardian fleet, conquered all enemies who dared to challenge us, and expanded the territory of the Nine Realms to its limits. I felt omnipotent, felt that the entire World was trembling under my will."