[ valhalla always seemed to sit within a perpetual storm. thunder clapped, lightning flashed (though it might have been a product of her own magic); the air had always had a charged, damp, and chill quality. a state of constant turbulence.

right now the air around them feels like what it would be before that. something heavy, imminent. perhaps it's the tone in his voice, like something made of mercury; his words drip to the ground and sit there, dull, lame, impenetrable and cracking the ground, sinking her in with them.

or maybe it's the withdrawn shadows in his eyes that enforces it. she knows that expression, a practitioner of disconnection herself.

focus on one goal and see through to it. "nothing else matters."

she'd been in so much pain then that she'd become numb.

lightning, for once, feels like the softer one here.

she remembers his title, his ranking, his body of force. she should have guessed the purpose of it, but she supposes she had other things to think about then.

she reminds herself of her own losses and her own choices. so many she had to harden her heart to accomplish... ]

No, I don't think so. Once someone is dead, you live with their tombstone on your shoulders, but annihilating the criminal—that stops the tragedy from happening again, and should the truth expose their guilt, then—

Whatever it takes to ensure peace, even if it means destroying the hands that raised you.