Thor was on his way to Helheim. He had just heard from the Allfather that there was a living woman there. His mother had given him a bracelet that would allow him to be in Helheim without dying.
He blinked a couple of times when he entered Helheim. The place was dark compared to the light of the Bifrost. He gripped Mjolnir tighter and took a step forward. Nothing happened. He slowly gained confidence but did not let his guard down as he entered the realm of Hel.
Thor had been following a light and just before he turned the corner he heard her.
"Well, well, well" an icy voice said – it could only be Hel: "A prince in my domain. A gift perhaps, in order to stay in my good graces? Or perhaps he was sent to gift me with that hammer of his?"
Thor swirled his hammer around. "I have only come to do the Allfather's will!"
"And what is his will?" Hel asked, her one green eye glaring at him, the empty socket next to it also in his direction.
"He demands to know who it is that lives in Helheim!"
"That would be me" Hel said: "It is named after me, as you may have noticed."
"Do not kid with me, there was a woman here! Where is she?" he thundered.
"Mistress, this is Prince Thor of Asgard. Thor, this is my Mistress." Hel said and swept her hand outwards.
Thor turned to see a woman seated on a chair, he must've walked straight past her. "Why are you here?!"
"To visit Hel" she answered, her tone light.
"The Allfather forbid visits to Helheim for all realms!" Thor said.
She smiled: "I am afraid your Allfather has no rule over me, Prince Thor."
"The Allfather rules all!" Thor snapped, he could not believe anyone would disrespect the Allfather so.
"He doesn't rule death, I do" she said.
Thor frowned, who could possibly rule death? It was impossible! Everyone's death was written in Fate, they could not be changed!
The woman smirked at him: "I'm Lady Amaryllis Potter, and I hail from Midgard. I have three relics that make me the Mistress of Death. Maybe you should have care of to whom you speak."
"How did you achieve the ownership of these relics?" Thor asked, sitting down on a stone near Hel's throne.
So Lady Amaryllis told him what had happened to her over the years at Hogwarts.
"I am impressed, you are worthy of the name warrior. Forgive me, magic is not the kind of weapon often used in Asgard. My brother is excellent at the use of magic, but it is considered a woman's work. I have never heard of it used to have entire battles."
Lady Amaryllis grinned: "Perhaps we should see who is the stronger of the two of us."
"Not on Helheim" Hel butted in: "Go to Asgard or Midgard if you must fight! I want my realm to remain unscathed."
"We'd flatten Midgard" Lady Amaryllis said: "Unless it's somewhere no one lives… Siberia?" she seemed unsure.
"The training ground on Asgard should be good" Thor answered: "The Allfather will be able to meet you then too."
"An excellent idea!" Lady Amaryllis said, standing up.
Hel shot her a look then slowly smirked: "Do give the Allfather my greetings, Mistress."
Lady Amaryllis grinned and nodded before following Thor back outside. He would call the Bifrost and they would be in Asgard in moments. He would be able to soundly beat her there, no matter her might as a warrior, he was sure of it.
Lady Amaryllis was looking around as they entered Asgard. She seemed impressed and Thor smirked, he knew she would be, for how could she not be of the realm internal?
"You have returned" Odin said from his throne. "But not alone. Is this the woman from Helheim?"
"Yes, Father, this is Lady Amaryllis Potter, of Midgard."
Odin's brow rose: "And how did this lady from Midgard come to be on Helheim?"
Thor went silent, he did not know how she had come to be on Helheim, she had only said she was coming to meet with Hel. She had not said how she had come to be there.
"I used the veil" Lady Amaryllis said, looking at her nails, getting some dirt from underneath them.
"What veil?" Odin demanded.
"The veil between worlds, of course" Lady Amaryllis answered, looking up at him: "Surely you know there's one on Midgard? Or shall I just call it Earth?"
"How did Midgard get such a relic?" Odin asked.
"It's always been there" Lady Amaryllis pulled up her shoulders and dropped them – what a weird thing to do – and answered: "We have used to get rid of prisoners before we found out they would end up in Alfheim. The Light Elves were not happy with us. So the leaders hid the veil and studied it, in order to find out how it works. Sadly, someone turned the location to Svartalfheim, so the generations after that thought it was a veil of death… well, you did die once you were send there, there's nothing to eat! But I decided to try and go to Helheim, you know, meet Hel, see what's going on with her these days."
"Hel's been banished from all the nine realms!" Odin thundered: "No one is allowed to speak to her or see her!"
Lady Amaryllis sighed: "She was banished to Helheim, and I met her there. She was never out of exile. I just… made it more tolerable, I guess."
"How did you survive a visit to Helheim?!" Odin demanded: "What powers do you possess?"
"Oh, just a bit of magic" she answered: "Just enough to make sure that the spirits on Helheim leave me alone and don't drag me into their world."
Thor noticed the Allfather was moments away from losing his calm, so he spoke up: "Father, she said she would battle me. Perhaps than we can find out what powers she possesses."
Frigga opened her mouth to speak, but Odin raised his hand to stop her, before he nodded at Thor, gesturing towards the training grounds. Thor lead the way and so he did not see Lady Amaryllis' eyes lingering upon Loki in curiosity.
Thor shook out his shoulders and legs, giving the people something to watch while they waited for the match to begin. Lady Amaryllis was moving along the edge of the training ground, one arm outstretched. She seemed to be stroking something only she could see. Finally she took her place opposite him. She tangled her fingers together and stood demurely before him. He would not go easy on her because she was a woman.
"Are you ready?" Odin asked, seated at the throne on one side of the training grounds, Frigga seated beside him and Loki next to her.
Lady Amaryllis nodded once, before moving her arms in what Thor assumed would be a starting position for her magic attack. He would knock it aside with his hammer.
"Then begin!" Odin commanded.
Lady Amaryllis promptly disappeared.
The man on the side of the field started yelling about magic tricks and the unfairness of them. Thor kept an eye on the footprints in the sand opposite him. They hadn't moved, so he let Mjolnir fly towards them. Mjolnir did not hit anything. How had she moved without stepping somewhere? She had been there; Loki's clones did not leave marks.
A magic spell came from his left and he blocked it with Mjolnir just in time. The hammer left his hand, but there was nothing there to hit.
A spell came from his front this time and he blocked it again with Mjolnir. How was he to hit something he could not see? The spells were easy to block or dodge, but he could not hit her!
Thor looked in the corner of his eye towards his family. Were they disappointed in him?
Odin looked calm, but Thor could see a vein popping at his forehead. Frigga sat demurely next to him, but he could not read what her thoughts might be. Loki wasn't looking at him, but straight at a spot to his left and above. Did he see her?
He let go of Mjolnir and this time he heard a gasp, but she did not show. Nor did Mjolnir hit anything. He grabbed Mjolnir from the sky and decided he had had enough of just throwing it. He commanded the lightning, it was time to use it.
He swirled Mjolnir around a couple of times and then thrust it into the sky, the lightning hit everywhere, apart from a small bubble to his right.
"Looks like you found me" Lady Amaryllis said, showing herself.
"Do you not wish to fight?" Thor mocked: "Why do you not attack with anything better?"
"It's always good to know the capabilities of your enemies" the Lady answered: "Just so you can use it against them!" She swirled her hand in a pattern, but Mjolnir went flying towards her before she could cast her spell. Her other hand went up and so did some kind of shimmering shield, which stopped Mjolnir in its tracks. She finished the movement and Thor was surprised to see sand falling from the sky. He held up one arm to block the sand from hitting him and the other reached for Mjolnir, who returned to his hand. She was once more gone when he looked up. He swirled Mjolnir in order to find her when he felt something poke in his back and she hissed: "You are blinded by arrogance, Prince Thor" before every muscle stiffened and he fell forward into the sand.
There was silence. Lady Amaryllis stepped back from Thor and waved her hand, using magic to roll him over. She held out a hand to help him up, but he rolled away from her and up on his feet. He grumbled and glared at her.
Loki was stood beside them before Thor had noticed him move. "Perhaps the Lady would like to spar me?" Loki asked.
Lady Amaryllis looked wary, then smiled and laughed: "Oh, I'm not even going to try and beat you, Prince Loki. I know a lost fight when I see one."
"You seemed to have few scruples about fighting my brother. Ask any man here, I am not as good as he is." Loki said, surprised.
"But he's not able to do much magic, if any. A fight against a fellow magic user like you? I'm not sure I could win. On top of that, I promised Hel I wouldn't fight you. She does not want to know who is the stronger of us. And frankly, I am afraid to find out too."
"Only a woman has to use tricks to fight" a voice came from the people watching.
Lady Amaryllis laughed: "Perhaps the Lady Sif will help you change that notion. I hear she is an impressively strong woman with a lot of strength."
"Loki will lose just as soon as Thor" one of the Warrior Three said, as he did not want to refute her statement.
Lady Amaryllis laughed again, this time mockingly: "He kept his eyes on me the entire time I was invisible. Thor only found me because his brother was watching me. None of you saw me. I'm not sure what kind of civilisation this is, where you refuse someone their power because it's not physical combat!"
"You have shown your strength, Lady Potter, but you still have not shown us who you are, exactly" Odin thundered.
"Tone it down, big guy, no need to shout" the Lady said, wiggling her ears and frowning: "I am the Mistress of Death, if you must know."
"And how does one master Death?" Odin asked, sounding sceptical.
"By finding three relics, and becoming one with them."
"I cannot allow someone with such power roam freely over the nine realms." Odin frowned before he gestured towards her: "Capture her."
"Ah, no, don't think so" the Lady said and disappeared with a small pop.
"Loki! Where did she go?" Odin asked.
Loki was touching the air where she had been, searching the magic: "Apparently… to Thor's chambers?"
What happened after that was a race over Asgard, trying to catch the Lady, who seemed to be teleporting all over the place, but they could not catch her. This kept happening until Loki said she was gone – he could no longer feel her magic.
"Where did she go?" Odin asked.
"I do not know, father, I suspect back to Midgard. Shall we chase after her?" Loki asked.
Odin shook his head: "There are others like her on Midgard. I'm sure they'll take care of her."
That was the first time Thor met Lady Amaryllis Potter. It was only years later, when he met two other Midgardian women that he could understand what she had tried to do. Sadly her mission to get Loki better accepted had failed.
So, here's part three of Amy Potter in the USA - Even though no one is in the USA in this story... Anyway, if any of you know anything you might like to see in this AU, I would like to hear about it! Feed my muse with things needed! Also, any idea how Steve and Bucky would ask Amy to marry them? Or maybe the other way around? Just give me some idea!
X Lady Blue Shadow