CHAPTER 1

Surprise! In honour of the premier of Endgame, I give you: The last installment with my favourite little hellspawn ^^

I'm really seeing forward to the movie (and dreading it at the same time). And I hope this little piece will sweeten your wait for it just a bit.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters except my own.

CHAPTER 1 Goddess of Death

Something tugged on her energy. Hel cracked one emerald eye open, growling quietly. "Whoever this is clearly has no sense of healthy sleep cycles." The young goddess swung her legs over the edge of her cot. Two years had passed since she brought the green man up and away from earth, since she escorted the great Peggy Carter into the afterlife. The thought of Peggy had Hel's lips curl into a bitter expression.

"She could have stayed longer. Should have." Hel ran a hand through her mused mane. "I didn't expect her to stay away from Valhalla forever, but so soon? At least she can return anytime, because I brought her into the afterlife."

Another groan and Hel fell back into the soft blankets.

Another tug. More insistent.

The goddess of death threw her power out into her realm. "What?!" Hel didn't care if it scared her subjects. It was too early for Death to be up and about.

What finally got her attention was the fact that the call for her did in fact not come from her realm at all. It came directly from above. It almost felt as if a mocking smile graced its owner's lips. Hel narrowed her eyes.

"Odin."

Great. The All-father is calling me. From Midgard. Means he found out about my little trick. Wonderful.

In a flourish, Hel changed her attire into a fitting armour and gown combination in her favourite colours green and black. Already on her way to the throne room did Hel stretch out and inquire about her grandfather's desire to talk to her. "All-father, it has been quite some time." Hel hid her smirk behind a frown.

"It took me some time to break your spell. Frigga would have been proud of you."

"Not my spell. My father's. I had nothing to do with your banishment." It wasn't a lie but not the truth either. True, Hel had woven the spell and brought Odin down to Midgard so her father could claim the Asgardian throne, but it had all been his idea. So technically…

Odin took an audible breath. "When I found you with your father. I could have done a great many things to you. Banished or killed you on the spot, taken you away, sheltered from everything and everyone for your own well-being," he began. "And yet, I didn't. I allowed Loki to raise a daughter in the shadows of the castle. Under one condition."

"That I take the realm of the dead and ward it as well as reign it with a loving hand." Hel rolled her eyes, rounded the last corner to her throne room. She knew this speech. It didn't make it any better that Odin sounded suspiciously ceremonial – more so than usual. She could practically see him looming over her in his polished armour. Golden splendour and his loyal ravens in the background. A true king. The king her father posed as.

Odin seemed to nod in approval of her addition to his thoughts. "Very good, child."

"I'm not a child."

"I have come to you to deliver a very important message. It is of utmost importance that you take care of it immediately, Hel. Do not delay."

Hel bit back another groan. I knew there was a reason why I didn't like my grandfather all that much."Spit it out, old man. Some people have work to do." She sat down on her throne with a swish of fabric. "We can't all be living the sweet life." She brushed strands of hair back out of her face, focusing her eyes on the astral projection of Odin All-Father now standing in front of her. He seemed to loom over her despite being bent with age and standing a few steps down from her seat.

Odin fixed her with a withering look. "Remember your place," he told her. "There is a reason no one knows about the Valkyrior anymore."

No one except a chosen few. Me, Heimdal – and Dad. Even, if he found it out more by chance than anything else. Eh, don't know if he ever told Odin that. Probably not.Hel quickly schooled her features into a mask of serious calm. "Ah yes," she said. "The little house problem." No way would she allow Odin to find out about her and her father's mischief. Besides, whom was Loki going to tell? Neither friend nor foe would believe a word the god of mischief told them. Especially not of long forgotten female warriors. Warriors turned scrappers.

"They contained your creature very nicely last time," Hel said with a polite smile that hid razor sharp edges. "So, what about them? Aside from being long forgotten?" She knew very well, what Odin intended to imply by bringing up the Valkyries. He was threatening her. Threatening to make her disappear just like them, for her to become a legend people spoke about around campfires in the cold of night.

Hel tilted her head ever so slightly. How cute. The old man really thinks, I'd allow him to catch me to cast the spell? The age must be getting to his head more than I thought. Maybe being on Midgard this whole time didn't do him any good after all.

"Hela is rising once more," Odin went on as if Hel hadn't said anything. "And this time the Valkyrior refuses to obey my command to battle. They lost too many last time." His good eye twitched slightly, filled with some emotion, Hel couldn't decipher fast enough before it disappeared. "My power is fading. I requested a Midgardian magician to send me to Norway and await my end there. But Hela is thrashing in her cage. She will not be retained much longer. And it is your duty to shackle her once again."

"Or what?"

"Or she wreaks havoc upon Asgard and all the realms with her plan of conquest. Only my essence is holding her back. You, Hel, have to kill her before I go on to Valhalla. That's our only chance."

An insufferable grin spread on Death's lips. Her eyes took on a dark gleam. "Lo and behold." She lowered her chin, grin widening. "The great All-father is asking me for help. The same man that tortured my father and robbed him of his rightful place as an heir to the throne, who treated him like a common criminal." The grin turned into a simper as Hel leaned back on her throne. "And why exactly would I help an old man like you? The threat of oblivion is not rooted in reality. You don't have the power for that anymore, Odin All-father. So why should I bother?"

Odin frowned at her. Apparently, he had not thought Hel might take after her father and disobey the king of Asgard. It might have been funny, if Hel hadn't felt the simmering hate in her belly against her grandfather boil up. How dare he have the audacity! Trying to lead me to slaughter like common cattle. He knows as well as I do that his madwoman of a daughter is not to be tampered with. Wait…

"Come to think of it." Hel tapped a finger against her chin in feigned thoughtfulness. "What would prevent me from just freeing my dear aunt? I never had a say in her imprisonment. I merely took over the realm since her banishment. And Hela does seem like an impressive person from the old tales you so graciously left me, All-father." She relished the shock in Odin's face. His mouth slightly opening, then closing again. His eye opened wide.

Hel's laughter echoed from the walls of the throne room. "Oh, this is rich!" She fixed her grandfather with a sharp look. "Didn't think, I'd find the old records, huh? Well don't worry, I found them just fine and made sure no one else can stumble upon them by accident anymore."

"You do not know, whom you are up against," he told her gravely. "Hela is not to be tampered with, girl." He should know better. After all the time he should know better than to insult an heir of mischief. Especially by calling her names.

Hel's smile flickered out, replaced with a solid scowl. "Don't you dare tell me what I can and can't do, old man. You know nothing of my powers." Deliberately slow, she straightened her back and drew her shoulders back. Magic crackled in the air like green lightning. An obvious show of power that might make mortals cower, amuse her father and at least caused the All-father to raise an eyebrow.

Somewhere in the distance a loud thud rang out.

"She is getting stronger." Sweat gathered in the crinkles of Odin's face. The All-father was visibly shaking with his efforts to maintain the ban on the cell Hela was confined to. "I cannot hold her back for much longer. Quick, Hel. Do not let foolish pride blind you."

And with that the All-father blinked out of existence, leaving Hel to growl at thin air. "Damn astral projection." She let her head fall into her right hand. "Always so quick to make an exit. He doesn't dare face his precious firstborn anymore, because he is weak!" Hel leaned back on her throne. Her fingers thrummed against the armrest. I knew there was a reason why I disliked this family – aside from the constant lies about greatness and all-over secrecy.She pinched the bridge of her nose. But solving problems by hiding or banishing them is really not – yeah, it just isn't.

Somewhere in the distance a loud thud rang out. Odin's words echoed in her head and Hel groaned. Scratching followed the louder and louder bangs coming from Hela's prison. Hel clenched her jaw.

"Great. He is really going to make me fight her." Her clothes merged into flexible but protective armour; nothing like the flimsy one she had worn to impress Odin. "And to think Hela's the only one able to actually kill me at the moment. As a fellow goddess of death and such."

Another bang.

"This is a bad idea. A really, really bad idea."