The next day after a leisurely breakfast we returned to Asgard. Fandral was rushed to the medical ward as his condition had deteriorated overnight. Annabeth disappeared to the library with Loki to research Hel and come up with some sort of plan. The rest of us went to the Throne room to speak with the All-Father.
When we arrived, Thor filled him in on what had happened, excluding the part about Loki and I.
"And then Loki sent him to sleep," Thor concluded.
"So Hel is to blame for all of this?" Odin asked.
"We believe so, yes, All-Father," Percy said.
His brow creased as he thought it over.
"What is it you plan to do?" he asked at last.
"Lady Rachel came up with an idea," Thor said. "She said that we should go to Helhiem, catch Hel off guard as no one has ever marched into her kingdom. Lady Annabeth and Loki are currently in the library finalising that plan."
"I cannot support that plan," Odin said gravely. "I am the one who put Hel in Helhiem after all. If she knew I was sponsoring an assault on her helm, what would that make her think of me?" Thor was about to argue with his father, he carried on speaking. "However, there is nothing stopping you from going of your own accord," Odin said, his eye glinting mischievously. "It's not like you would take any notice of what I had to say anyway. But be careful – I cannot go loosing my son."
Thor smiled brilliantly up at his father.
"Thank you, father," he said. "We will leave as soon as we are able."
Odin nodded and dismissed us. Bowing, we backed out of the room.
After the meeting, the Asgardians went to train, the other demigods went to rest and I went to the library to catch Annabeth and Loki in the planning stages, hoping to be of some help.
I found them by a large oak table in the far side of the library. They were hunched over books and papers, pointing and talking furiously.
"Hey," I said, going over to them.
Annabeth jumped at my voice while Loki walked to my side of the table and kissed me chastely.
"What did my father say?" he asked me.
"He gave us the go ahead, even though he can't support us officially."
Loki nodded, going back round to the map.
"What we've got so far is a way in and a way out," Loki said. "We go in via the Bifrost, here," he said, pointing to the position across a chasm from the great hall. "We go in talk to her, probably fight her, find a way to subdue her, and go out via the Bifrost."
"We have Nico as a back up plan if the Heimdall can't open the Bifrost," Annabeth said.
"So what are we going to talk to her about?" I asked them.
"We're going to confront her on what she's been doing," Annabeth said. "Loki assures me he can tell if someone's lying, so we'll keep pressing her until she cracks."
"That's when we anticipate she'll attack us," Loki picked up. "I'm currently working on a way to subdue her enough for her to be dealt with."
"Can't you do what you did to Fandral?" I asked him.
He shook his head. "No, that was a basic sleeping spell. Something like that she would over power in a matter of minutes. I need something stronger."
"Why not use something to bind her powers?" I asked. "Is that a feasible idea?"
Loki thought it over. "That is actually a very good idea. It would be a permanent spell – binding spells are nothing but – but she has people with simple magic to keep control of her realm. I'll be right back," he said, dashing off down a row of shelves.
"So is that what you've got so far?" I asked.
Annabeth nodded. "Pretty much," she said. "We can't plan too much because Hel is so unpredictable. However, after experimenting Celestial Bronze works on the Asgardian gods, so it should work on Hel. Basically, we hope she doesn't put up much of a fight and will go down easily."
"Then really start praying, because she fights, trust me," I said, shuddering at the memory of that warehouse in Poland.
While we waited for Loki, Annabeth showed me the map of Hel. To say no one goes down to Hel, it was a very detailed map. There was the Hall in the centre, sort of like Hades' palace. All around it was a chasm that apparently stretched down into Chaos at the bottom of Ydrisil. To the front of the hall was an empty wasteland that the dead would walk through to face judgement. The afterlife itself lied behind the hall, splitting into two main parts. The dead who went to Hel were the worst souls, so none of it was particularly pretty: one part was for the bad guys, the other was for the true evil villains.
Loki returned with an open leather bound book in his hands.
"This is the Book of Hvit," he said, placing it on the table. "He was one of the first sorcerers, specialising in how magic works. He managed to find out how to stop the flow of magic, essentially binding it. However, binding spells can be reversed: no one has reversed a spell from this book."
"Then how does it work?" Annabeth asked, intrigued.
"Magic flows through the body like blood," Loki explained. "If you stop the flow, you stop the magic. Have you heard of chakra?" We both nodded. "The magic flow is basically like that. It can be stopped by blocking off the gates of magic, like the gates of chakra."
"Can you do that to her?" I asked him.
He nodded. "I can."
"Then we've got a plan," Annabeth said. "When it gets ugly, we distract her and you cut her off. Brilliant."
"Now that is sorted, I believe you two should get some rest," Loki said. "There will be a great battle ahead, I'm sure of it. You will have to be well rested if you are going to stand a chance."
Annabeth nodded. "I might have a quick nap for an hour. I'll see you guys later."
She went off towards the main doors. I was about to follow her when Loki stopped me.
"Come with me," he said, pulling me towards his study. We entered and he stood in front of the bowl of water in there, me on his left.
"This is a scrying bowl," he explained. "Through it I can see whatever I so wish."
He dipped his hand into it and the water rippled. When it stilled, there was an image of Thor there with the Warriors Three and Lady Sif, training together. They were all sweaty and out of breath, but had bright smiles on their faces. The scene reminded me of the training ring at Camp with two cabins brawling, probably the Ares and Apollo cabin. I could just picture Frances kicking Clarisse's butt.
"Is there anything you wish to see?" he asked me softly.
Was there anything? My friends automatically sprung to mind, then Camp did, but something was bothering me.
"Could you show me my father?" I asked him.
"Of course," Loki said, his hand dipping into the pool once again.
When the water stilled, I saw my father sat in our apartment, his arms around his newest wife. His brown hair was greying slightly at the edges, but his eyes still twinkled. I had no idea what he was thinking about, but it was probably my mother. That was really the only time I ever saw his face light up like that. He was a strongly built man, about six feet in height, and had a chiselled face, as if it was cut from marble. All in all he was a handsome man, if a miserable one.
"Dustin?" the wife, I think her name is Abigail, whined, her west coast American accent strong.
He grunted in recognition.
"Are we staying in tonight?" she asked him, her fingers walking up his chest.
"Probably, why?" he asked, not paying attention to his wife's actions.
"I just have an idea as to what we could do, that's all," she said, pulling his face towards hers. I could see the adoration in her eyes – not love, adoration and scheming.
My dad smiled slowly, leaning in to kiss her.
"That's all I need to see," I said softly to Loki. He waved his hand over the vision and it turned to clear water once more.
"If I may, who was that with your father? Your mother?" he asked as we walked through the library.
I shook my head. "His latest wife," I corrected, only just keeping the bitter edge from my voice.
He seemed startled. "Your parents are not together?" he asked.
"No," I said. "They were for a while, but a few weeks after I was born my mother had to go back to her duties as a god on Olympus. She comes back every now and again, and I do love her, but my father was never the same. It's like I'm not even there half the time, especially when I became old enough to be legally left on my own. Now I hardly ever see him. I just wanted to check up on him, that's all."
He put his arm around my shoulders.
"That is a very noble thing to do," he said. "But you should not worry so much over a grown man. I'm sure he knows what he is doing."
"I guess," I mumbled.
He smiled, then transported us to my room. "May I join you while you rest?" he asked.
I nodded. We entered my room. He took of his shirt and shoes and laid down on my bed, right at home. I smiled at him, lying beside him, fully clothed with the exception of my weapons and shoes.
"Rest, my love," Loki cooed in my ear, stoking my hair soothingly. "I will watch you while you sleep."
Snuggling into his chest and curling into him, I fell asleep in his arms and had the most restful sleep I think I'd ever had.