Glory be Thy Name
As they stepped into the lobby of elevators, Rowan stood in the center of the floor, looking down, her ghostly apparition simmering out of her body as her power conjured forms in the floor, along with the fresh cut on her healing palm, droplets of blood falling to the floor. She was creating a design in the center; the outer circle was of a snake swallowing its own tail. That was Jormungand, but also a symbol that life and death is just a cycle of Life; that death is not the end. In the center of that circle, was a woman with half a peacefully sleeping face and half a beautiful skull, both nicely blended together, with poppies, a death omen, and a howling wolf at her neck, covering the lower half of the circle.
"Milady, it's beautiful." Bjarni said as she walked around it. As the souls would enter the lobby of elevators, they would see this design and unknowingly look at the children of Loki, the Lady of Helheim being in the very middle of the design.
At that moment, the elevators closed their doors and began functioning, going down to the seventh floor and coming back up. It seems Rowan's drops of blood had done more than create a beautiful design in the center of the lobby.
"Wonderful, Milady." Agmundr said in awe at the power she had put into the place, how modern it had become compared to the original Helheim.
"Seven levels, Milady?" Raganhar asked and she glanced at them with a smile as the walls of the lobby began a soft tan as the floor was a slightly darker shade of tan. There was a chandelier that appeared over head of them, shining bright and causing the metal of the elevators to shine.
"I think seven seems like a good amount. I need to work out the details, but for now, we're working the first level which needs a name." Rowan said and pushed one of the buttons of the elevator, opening the doors. She walked in and the interior was a warm golden color with bright lights and soft instrumental music.
Gadreel and her Draugar followed her in, watching as she pressed the bottom for the first floor beside the one that said M for Main, being the lobby. The doors closed and it softly lowered to the first floor. There was a gentle bell and the doors opened, revealing a pitch black floor. They remained in the elevator and Rowan knew they were waiting for her order.
"Gadreel, what was Heaven like before the little boxes? Do you remember?" She asked, glancing over at him.
"They had one location that was their home or their favorite place. It was big enough to resemble the actual place, but if they tried to leave it, they'd be in another location within a second, perhaps to a friend's piece of Heaven, as they had called it." Gadreel replied and she nodded her head, listening. Apparently, that was what she wanted to do, but she also wanted an open concept.
Rowan stepped out of the elevator, squeezing her hand into a fist, letting drops of blood fall to the black floor. Then, as she stepped further into the darkness, it was as if her presence chased away the black abyss. A corridor appeared under what was like a fog of black, revealing archways and other corridors crossing over. It would be like a labyrinth of hallways, revealing passages to beautiful places. There were no doors to keep the souls in; they were free to visit family and friends.
By the archways, stone plaques appeared as if the names of the souls would be etched into it. Gadreel and the Draugar stepped out, following Rowan. Across from them, the same length of the lobby on the main floor, were the other elevators. All eight were in the center was a stone wall to the right and sandy stoned corridors and archways all to the left, stretching on for miles. They couldn't even see where it ended.
Above their heads, the darkness vanished with more of Rowan's blood, being replaced by a bright blue glow spreading, resembling the sky with a bright light of the glowing sun, and there were even some beautiful white fluffy clouds. It looked like the sky stretched on for miles. She even fashioned it to turn dark, revealing stars and the Moon at exactly the phase of the real one above Earth.
It no longer seemed like they were in the realm of the dead, underground.
Then, each sandy colored stone archway began to glow in those corridors, creating spaces for the souls.
"And what is in those archways?" Bjarni asked. They didn't look very spaced out, as Rowan probably had wanted, but their Lady of the dead didn't seem worried.
"Have a look." She calmly said, stepping into the nearest archway with her Draugar and Gadreel. As they walked in, everything else seemed like it had never been there. This space stretched on for miles, a beautiful park, with picnic tables, fire pits, and a playground for children, with forestry and mountains all around. There was a beautiful sky, orange and pink with a setting sun behind soft clouds. There was a light breeze and an eagle flying overhead. In the distance, they could see a doe and her fawn eating at the edge of the forest on the other side of the park.
"I never would have imagined that there were other archways around this place." Bjarni said, finding the place beautiful despite the fact she was a demon.
"It's beautiful." Gadreel said and Rowan turned to them, smiling at them.
"And behind you, you can see the corridor." Rowan said and, as she had said, they walked out and were back in the corridor with the elevators in front of them. They turned and the archway was glowing bright. "It can be the same place for another favorite memory. Either way, the souls will find their home here." She said, looking around with pride. "I'll just need some help to make sure that the souls don't have a hard time navigating this maze." Rowan concluded with a slight frown on her face.
Gadreel stepped up to her, giving her a slight smile.
"I could do that." He said and she smiled at him with a slight hint of worry in her eyes.
"Not alone. It'll be too much to do alone. I'll think of something." She said and his smile grew. She hadn't said that he wasn't capable of doing it alone, nor did she compare this to Eden; she simply didn't want him to carry all of this responsibility on his shoulders, as it didn't seem fair to her.
Rowan turned to her Draugar and glanced down at the stone corridors and glowing archways with the beautiful blue sky above.
"Are there any touches we could add?" she asked and then gasped as if she had an idea before they could even answer her. She extended her hands, this time both palms bleedings onto the floor. Everything began to tremble slightly and then shift. At first, it seemed like everything was literally moving, but then it seemed like only a mirage.
"Milady?" Raganhar asked with confusion.
"Who wants to walk down miles of corridors?" Rowan asked and smiled, waving her hands as a ghostly fog swirled up by her feet; her power was manipulating the space around them. "Whenever a soul passes through here, their designated place will come to them." She added and then smiled at Gadreel. "Less work for you." She concluded and he gave an appreciative smile.
As the shifting settled, the plaques on the archways remained empty. They would most likely have the soul's name etched into it when they would arrive.
Rowan turned to the wall behind them, adjacent to the elevators, and stared at it.
"Milady?" Agmundr asked.
"What should we name this level?" she asked and they exchanged glances, like they had no idea and rather didn't want to admit it.
"Glory." Gadreel replied and when Rowan glanced at him over her shoulder, her smile said it all; she was happy with his response and his confident smile.
"Glory it is." She said and, placing a bloody hand on the wall, the word Glory was slowly being carved into the stone as her blood seeped into the wall. There was charring that slowly simmered and spread, to darken the outlines of the word. Then, faded colors began to appear, darkening as they could see decorating flowers as a backdrop to the word.
The first level of Helheim was now Glory.
"This is where good souls will come to live; those that wore their hearts on their sleeve. Those that thought of others before themselves and were charitable, compassionate." Rowan said and Bjarni gave a slight grin.
"Like Saints?" she asked and Rowan looked at her with a slight grin of her own.
"We'll see once we get souls coming in." she replied, but was actually thinking of asking Crowley's advice on knowing where to draw the line. "What do you think, Gadreel?" she asked and when she turned to him, he seemed pretty happy. "Maybe you and I could go over the criteria." She added and he nodded.
"When you have the time." he said and she gave him a bright smile.
"On second thought, you can head over to your place and get started on that while I start on the second level." Rowan said, tapping his shoulder. He gave her a slight nod, appreciating the responsibility and the chance to prove his worth. More importantly, he appreciated having someone so compassionate, seeing him as a worth asset. She was slightly worried that her fast pace thinking would make it look like she didn't want to work with him, but he seemed to understand her.
"I'll make a meticulous list." Gadreel said and Rowan gave him another tap on the shoulder. As he looked at her, there was a slight hint of concern in his eyes as he could see she was beginning to get overwhelmed with creating the levels of Helheim. If he could help her with the little details, he hoped that would take off some of her stress.
"Thank you, Gadreel." She said and watched as he got back into the elevator, then her Draugar got another elevator ready for her. They stepped in and pressed on the number two button. The same instrumental music played overhead, and when the doors opened, it was a déjà vu; a darkness that seemed like they were looking into a black hole.
"One level down, six more to go." Raganhar said, making Rowan smile. It didn't take long to make the first level, but that was pretty easy, or at least their Lady of the dead made it look easy. The second level should be pretty easy too, or so they hoped. She did have six more to go and two days to get everything ready for all those trapped souls. That meant, not only designing, but figuring the criteria for each level and getting organized. She still had to get computers and iPads.
And then she had to figure a way to get to Metatron so she could then offer the angels a sweet deal, all so she could get those souls in Heaven. She was going to be busy for quite some time and, not that she wanted to heavily rely on Crowley for everything, but she knew he was interested in the Angel tablet. If he was interested, he'd help her out. Not only that, but she also had Gadreel who would probably help her out with Metatron.
Just an ordinary day for the Goddess of Helheim.
The Draugar exchanged glances, beginning to notice that Rowan was stressed. She was using her power and her blood; they knew she'd have to take a break at some point of the project.