CHAPTER 1
The souls walked past her like a flock of sheep. Devoid of all feelings, wishes, dreams and hopes they slowly came trotting through the entrance of Helheim. Some were angry about their fate, others in disbelief, but most did not seem to care anymore. Once every so often a soul would try to escape. Some tried to weasel their way out of their sentence. Other claimed that, because they "didn't sign up for this", they should be allowed to walk free. All without success, for Hela Lokisdottír reigned without compassion.
She reigned without any feeling, really. Hela had simply stopped caring after those centuries she'd spend here. There was no joy in Helheim, since the rays of the sun never found their way down here. It was perpetually cold and foggy, which made her want to curl up in a ball and sleep, forever. But as one of Lady Death's servants she was supposed to carry out her task. "No happiness for Hela", she though miserably.
Hela looked at the group of souls entering the realm. Over the centuries she had learned to distinguish them. There were rapists and killers, but there were also old men, young children and women. All souls who did not die a heroic death, and as such were refused entrance to Valhalla, came here. At least, those who were assigned to her. Hades and Anubis took care of the Greek and Egyptian souls respectively, and there were many others who reaped the souls in service of Lady Death.
So right after surveying the poor souls allotted to her Hela went about sorting them to the different levels of Helheim. The upper levels, with green meadows, warm fireplaces and vast forests were for the children, the old men and women telling their tales and souls who died without much ado. The lower levels however were for the criminals, where the air was so thick you could hardly see your hands when you stretched them out in front of you and where every breath felt like inhaling eternal darkness was a path only cut out for the lucky few. In tonight's bunch there were a few who had done bad deeds in their life, but hardly more than stealing a TV (Yes, she knew what a TV was. She'd picked up a thing or two from the dead). So she 'sentenced' the whole bunch of them to the meadows. She didn't really bother about them.
Standing beside the throne, her two servants shifted nervously. Ganglati, her guard, standing on the left, and Ganglöt, her maidservant, standing on the right. The fighter and nourisher, keeper and safeguard, brother and sister, bound to serve her for all eternity. They exchanged a look behind her back.
With a barely audible whisper Ganglati spoke up. "Mistress, would it not have been bett…" But Hela cut him off. "The decision has been made". Ganglati bowed his head and remained silent.
Another group arrived, but this one was different. First of all the entire group was dressed in battle-gear. Hela had often wondered what the mortals were thinking by putting on these light-weight pieces of armour, but hey, they would wind up with her anyhow. Heading the group was a man of medium height wearing a black suit, an earpiece (that's what they called it, right?) and had a massive wound in the middle of his chest. He walked straight up to her, without waiting for the other souls, and with a half-smile stated his intentions.
"Hello. I must have been send here by mistake. Please show me to the nearest exit."
Hela sighed. She had at least a few of those every week. Occasionally they were genuine warriors who somehow had missed the shiny bright portals of Valhalla, but often they were souls in denial, just like this one.
"If you came here it means that you are dead, Mr…?"
"Coulson," the man replied. "Phil Coulson".
"Allright, Mr. Coulson," Hela continued. She pointed to the souls behind him. "See them? They are dead. So are you. Now tell me about your life so that I can allocate you…"
"You don't understand," Phil Coulson cut her off. Hela started getting angry now. The souls around him felt the change in atmosphere and shifted around nervously, but Phil Coulson didn't seem to notice.
"My people need me up there," he continued, still carrying the same half-smile, "and so I need to get back" he said matter-of-factly.
Hela couldn't suppress a smile. Somehow she respected the bravery of this mortal. He wasn't afraid, he didn't plead for his life or shout in the loudest of voices how sorry he was or how little he deserved this. He just spoke to her as if he already knew that it was going to happen, which made her curious about what he expected to get back to.
"Back to what?" she asked. "My job" he answered. Hela had met workaholics before, but usually they were more desperate.
"And what is it that you do, Phil Coulson?" to which his smile broadened slightly. "That's classified."
Hela chuckled. "At the end, everything is revealed, Phil Coulson. This is your end, now reveal why you came here." She added more authority to her voice, making the souls more restless. But Phil Coulson simply shook his head.
"Until it's been determined that this is not a threat and you are a cooperative entity, I am not at liberty to share this information."
Hela rose from her seat. The temperature in the hall, which had already been well below zero, dropped several more degrees. The air became thicker and darker, causing the already scared souls to moan and huddle together. She rose to her full size, about ten feet, and took a step forward.
"I can assure you, Phil Coulson," she spoke in a dark low voice, "that whether I am a threat to you depends entirely upon your cooperation. I am not one to be trifled with".
Ganglati and Ganglöt cowered beside her throne, the other souls shrank even further and some of tried to run back towards the entrance, but Phil Coulson simply stood there. Fortunately, his smile had gone.
"Okay" he spoke and Hela shrank back to her usual size. She sat back on her throne, Ganglati and Ganglöt stopped shivering and a handful of her ghostly attendants drove the other souls back in line. Several were still shaking and crying, but they would stop soon enough.
Phil Coulson looked at her for a second. "Am I correct in assuming that this is one of the realms of the dead?" Hela nodded. "Judging from the decoration" he glimpsed around her hall a few times, "and the attire of your companions" he nudged to Ganglöt and Ganglati, "I would say that this is Helheim, correct?". Hela gave him one of her rare smiles. Most mortals were unaware of this fact, some even calling it 'Hell', but maybe he, what was it called again? Oh yes, maybe he happened to have Wikipedia'd it before he died. If the others had been as polite Hela might have actually enjoyed her job.
"Then, as its ruler, you must be Hela Lokisdottír". Hela gruntled. She didn't hate her name, but she hated being associated with that poor excuse of a jötunn that was the God of Mischief. Several memories which she had hidden away for years suddenly sprang up, but Hela ignored them for the moment.
"Correct" she answered and Phil Coulson nodded. "Before I was… came here… I was trying to stop your father, Loki Laufeyson, from stirring up trouble. As you see," he pointed to the gaping hole in his chest, "I was unsuccessful. Now I need to get back to Earth to stop him from wreaking havoc."
Hela contemplated his words for a moment. She hadn't heard from her father since she had been "assigned" to Helheim. This wasn't much of a surprise, since Helheim was the last place any living person would want to go. Still, it was interesting to hear of his plans. Again the memories came up, this time accompanied with a sense of sadness, but she managed to shake it off.
"What has he done?" she asked and Phil Coulson explained. "He appeared with an army of Chitauri to take over New York. He stabbed me in the chest whilst I tried to stop him".
Hela was surprised when she heard Phil Coulson mention the Chitauri. Over the past century she had encountered them several times, though always in association with massive destruction and a name that was so frightening most souls didn't dare speak it: Thanos. But what did this Mad Titan have to do with the conquering of Midgard?
Her murmuring was however cut short by Phil Coulson, who went on to explain how he, together with his team, had managed to capture her father. Loki, however, managed to escape, killing Phil Coulson in the process.
"You will, no doubt, understand that it is vital that I return to Midgard to stop Loki".
Hela took a moment to consider his words. By sending him back, she would break all the rules there were and risk being reprimanded, perhaps even terminated, by her mistress, Lady Death. On the other hand, the involvement of the Chitauri meant that this was not simply the whim of a deluded Prince of Asgard, but more likely the machinations of a master strategic. Should the fight ever come to her, which seemed likely, it would be good to have a powerful ally on her side. Hela only hoped Phil Coulson's team was as powerful as he claimed them to be.
"Phil Coulson," she addressed him.
"Ma'am."
"I considered your plea, and I will allow you to travel back to Midgard". Even though he smiled only slightly, Hela could see a glint of satisfaction.
"However, there is one condition. Seeing that, technically speaking, saved your life you… How do you mortals call it? Oh yes, you owe me." Phil Coulson's expression didn't change.
"I take it that you are a high-placed man in your organization?"
Phil Coulson nodded.
"Then you will assure me, that on pain of immediate return to Helheim, you will aid me when I set foot on Midgard."
Phil Coulson seemed to consider this. Then he nodded. "Okay, so be it".
Hela grinned widely.
"I understand that the custom in Midgard is to shake one another's hand when a deal is struck, but you'll have to forgive me for not doing so." Phil Coulson looked at her intriguingly, but Hela decided it would be better to keep him in the dark just a bit longer. Anyway he'd find out soon enough should trouble come find her.
"Now, off with you. We will meet soon". Phil Coulson, even though he didn't seem to look forward to that prospect, nodded to her, said "Ma'am" and followed one of the ghouls out of the door, past a bunch of ghosts looking at him in awe. Hela sighed. She should have waited until she was done. Now these fools would surely request the same treatment.
Meanwhile, Ganglöt and Ganglati eyed each other. Hela knew that they disapproved of her actions and were too afraid to speak out against her, but the staring and fidgeting was getting on her nerves.
Hela sighed. The bunch of souls had quieted down and looked at her hopefully, but Hela gestured to one of the ghouls to take them away. They were a harmless bunch, hardly worth paying attention to, and Hela needed to think. She stood up, left the hall and retreated to her chambers.
Author's Note: Hey all, thanks for reading this story! This is my first fanfic and I hope you like it! The story I created is based mostly on mythology and the Marvel movies, because I haven't read the comics. I've tried to include details from both, but in the end it became more of a medley than an actual ode to either the movies or mythology.
As you can tell, this story starts in the first Avenger's movie, right after Coulson gets stabbed by Loki in the chest. This point in the story just seemed like a good place to start with my fanfic. From this point on it's basically my take on the movies.
Hope you enjoy! Feel free to send me some feedback on what you think of the story.