Asgard, 2017
"Apparently, the Power Stone is in the possession of the Collector as well."
Loki flinched as he heard the uncontrolled laughter outside. Well, the play sure entertains them, he thought. He had arranged it solely for playing around with his name, but he didn't expect the people to actually regard Loki, the Destroyer of Jotunheim, as a hero. Again, influence and power were all he needed to change the perceptions of the people. How ironic that he had been opposed for the same reason.
Loki returned his attention to the person before him—or at least, projected by the communication device he was holding. Although the voice recording was limited to a short distance, Ase seemed to know that the play was at hand. "You didn't do anything stupid again, did you?"
"Just a bit of fun. You know governance can be quite stagnant," Loki admitted. "And have you talked to him?"
Ase sighed and rubbed her shoulders. "I tried, but like his stupid brother, he couldn't understand any of our goodwill intentions. I'll leave the diplomacy to you. Now we're only left with the Soul Stone, and god knows where it is. I've been scouring the places and never have I heard any anomaly or rumours about that stone. Dead end."
Loki could sense her distress, and fatigue. After her departure three years ago, Ase had not returned home. Her efforts constantly led her to hostile places, where good men were almost non-existent. Her messages would be rare during those times, and Loki would see her struggle against otherworldly thugs by the ragged appearance she always wore in her first holographic call afterwards. She encountered Heimdall four months later, and that gave Loki a welcomed assurance that she would at least have another person watching her.
Meanwhile, Loki's life had not been so easy either. Problems arose throughout the Nine Realms, including the threat of Surtur awakening his power and triggering Ragnarok. Fortunately, Thor was a free-labour and he had sent him a week ago to deal with the fire demon. Of course, Loki was careful not to confront Thor directly, for he feared that Thor would see through his deception immediately. Sure, Thor was stupid, but stupid people would eventually learn if they experienced the same trickery over and over.
"I need to go now. We've arrived in a different planet," Ase told him. Loki heard Heimdall shouting at her. Her arms shot up in alarm as the ship was shaken by an unseen force. "Asteroid field. Don't worry. I'll see you later!"
The holograph zapped into silence. Loki closed his eyes, hoping that she could just find the bloody stone and return back to Asgard. His thoughts were cut off when he heard a loud thump outside. Curious, Loki stepped out of his hiding place, only to find Thor glaring at him.
"Oh shit," Loki muttered to himself. Why now of all times? "Thor! Greetings, my boy!" Loki said nervously.
Thor strolled casually to the front of the stage, scrutinising the performance at hand. "Interesting play. What is it called?"
Loki smiled awkwardly as he pretended to drink from his cup. "The Tragedy of Loki of Asgard. The people wanted to commemorate him."
"Indeed they do," Thor commented brusquely. "I like the statue. A lot better looking than he was when he was alive though. A little less weaselly, less greasy, maybe."
Should have gotten rid of it a long time ago, Loki thought out loud. It took him by surprise that Thor was actually holding Surtur's crown like a trophy, a proof that he had completed his mission. Thor handed it to one of the guards and ordered the skull to be stored in the fault, all the while acting as if nothing had happened.
"I've been having this reoccurring dream lately. Every night, I see Asgard fall into ruins," Thor said.
"That's just a silly dream," Loki defended. "Now that you have defeated Surtur, Ragnarok will never occur."
"You know well that prophecies do happen," Thor retorted, a strange glint in his eyes which made Loki shiver. "And you know very well that your governance has slackened, quite a bit. And you know well that the Nine Realms are becoming restless, all except for Jotunheim, apparently. They said that your rule is weak, and rebellions are stirring. Why only Jotunheim, I wonder? And here you are watching theatre."
Loki began to lose his composure. "Look, son. This theatre… It's just a silly play to rejuvenate myself from all those… board meetings, security council meetings."
Thor scoffed and approached Loki with echoing steps. "Odin never neglects his duties even though he is exhausted. You really want to make me do it?"
Loki stuttered. "Do what?"
Thor sighed and threw his hammer far away. He then grasped Loki's neck and kept him in a deadlock. The crowd gasped in disbelief, and Loki cowered as he saw the hammer flying back towards him. "You've gone mad! You'll be executed for this!" Loki reminded him to no avail.
"Then I'll se you on the other side, brother," Thor suggested. Loki relented and cancelled his illusion, inviting another gasp from the audience. Thor's hammer stopped mere inches from his face before Loki writhed away from his grasp. From the crowd emerged Skurge, who tried to announce Thor's arrival, all the while being too late in his effort.
"You had one job," Loki hissed in disdain.
"Did Ase know?" Thor asked.
"Of course she knows," Loki replied sharply. "She always knows."
"Then why didn't she tell me?" Thor continued.
"Because she is smart and you are a fool," Loki argued.
"I doubt about that," Thor countered. "Where's Odin?"
"He's in an elderly's home," Loki answered bluntly. Thor scrunched up his face and paced furiously towards him.
"Did you kill him? Where's he?" Thor demanded. "You had what you wanted. You had the independence you asked for!"
"I swear he's in an elderly's home!" Loki shouted. "Actually, was it care home?"
Thor's eyes widen like a beast and Loki pursed his lips. If Ase were there, she would have laughed so hard that Volstagg's laughted would not compare to hers. Oh, how eventful his day was.
He really wished she was home.
oOo
The woman in question was dozing off in her seat, groaning every now and then as the ship navigated its way through the bland space. Heimdall did not speak nor moved as the pilot, which deeply disturbed her considering her life had always been a series of unfortunate events and catastrophes. Heimdall was too bland a man, almost like a robot in science fiction. He was a loyal man, and that had caused him to be as boring as a table.
Then she noticed he was observing something.
"What are you looking at?" she inquired, still slouching on her chair.
"I didn't know that Loki was Odin," Heimdall whispered. Ase jolted on her seat and sat straight.
"Oh," Ase chirped. Heimdall raised his brows.
"So you knew."
"Of course I knew." Ase scratched her head. "What is he doing?"
"He and Thor are heading to Midgard, it seems. They're in front of an old folk's home."
"Well, there goes his period of governance," Ase sighed, though it was not unexpected. Sooner or later Thor would find out about his deception, and it would always result the same. Ase dragged her attention to the book placed on the control panel, the oldest of Rhea's journals. Reading through those volumes were inexplicable pain, especially in the midst of evading numerous galactic terrorists and smugglers who wished to target her head after she had pissed off several mobs in different planets. Three years. She took three bloody years to read a mere ten books. That was a great disgrace for her, whose entire life was dedicated on reading dusty books and web articles.
She reached for it and slowly flipped through the pages. All seemed to be similar to other journals—depictions of past wars Asgard had been involved in, her strange discoveries as a seemingly young sorceress thousands of years ago, and life in Asgard. However, a name frequented this journal which was not found in the others.
"Heimdall, who's Hela?" Rhea asked.
"If that journal dates back from Rhea's younger days, then I cannot give you an answer," Heimdall explained. "I was born after she has become the Head Sorceress. The history of Asgard before that was widely unknown."
"As if it is purposefully being hidden," Ase murmured. Ase scanned through text intently, and something clicked in her mind. She reread her mother's handwriting over and over, doubting the truth in her entries. But Rhea rarely lied in her journals, and this was no exception either. There was a reason why Rhea hid her journals inside that chest, protected by the unbreakable magic circle, for the entirety of her existence. It was not merely because of her inventions.
After painstaking research and study, Odin and I managed to devise a plan to lock away Hela once and for all. He used his life force and threw Hela into the Hel, where my seal kept the doors closed for as long as Odin lived. And so, Hela, firstborn of Odin, the Goddess of Death, remained silent for the rest of the years.
Odin acknowledged my efforts and granted me the title of the Head Sorceress, and I have maintained my watch over Hela ever since.
"Heimdall," Ase said as he nudged him, without lifting her eyes from the book. "Since when has Thor had an elder sister?" Heimdall did not answer. Ase dragged her eyes from the book to Heimdall. Instantly she knew something was wrong. Behind the universe reflected on his eyes was darkness and abyss. And the shadow cast upon his visage was as clear as the day.
A shiver ran down Ase's spine, the kind which triggered dread and fear in her. "What happened?" she inquired.
"Odin has passed from the realms of the living," Heimdall whispered solemnly as he closed his eyes. "Bless my heart."
Ase covered her mouth in an attempt to hide her shock. Whilst Odin was old enough to die, she had not expected him to pass in these times of need. The universe seemed to stop revolving for a split moment, as if mourning for his passing. Ase too, albeit harbouring a certain degree of hatred towards him, grieved for his disappearance from the world.
"Thor and Loki were with him, I believe," Heimdall continued, finally courageous enough to open his eyes. "How I wished not only to watch, but to listen as we—"
Heimdall leaned forward and squinted his eyes. Something told her that a twist of events had occurred, a terrible twist. "Someone emerged from the air, or a portal, before Thor and Loki," Heimdall reported, his voice filled with anxiety.
Ase's nerves tensed up. "Where did they come from?"
"She looks like an Aesir," Heimdall added, his eyes twitching here and there, as if scanning across the universe. "I sensed a strong pulse coming from Hel."
The journal in Ase's hands suddenly felt heavier. "Hela," she realised. "Firstborn of Odin."
"What?" Ase threw Heimdall Rhea's journal whilst she bit her thumb and retreated into silence. From what she's read, briefly so, from her mother's journal, Hela was the epitome of evil in Asgard. She had killed thousands, millions even, in order to conquer the remaining of the Nine Realms. Of course, this bit of information was locked away from history books—it signified the fall of Asgard's royal family from millennia ago. Heimdall's disbelief matched hers. It was a matter of fortune that she discovered this.
Her mind darted here and there, trying to decide their next course of action. Hela would harm Asgard, especially since its people had grown accustomed to peace and rebelled strongly against the idea of Asgard being the sole ruler of the Nine Realms. "We need to return to Asgard," Heimdall spoke, his hands fiddling with the control panel without Ase's consent.
"We haven't finished our mission yet," Ase reasoned. "The Soul Stone—"
"As much as I want to ensure the safety of the universe, Asgard still comes first," Heimdall argued sharply. "My loyalties are with Asgard. If Asgard is doomed, then this mission has no purpose at all. There will be no one to save anymore."
The objective part of Ase's consciousness argued that Asgard was just a speck of dust in the universe, but her moral conscience forced her to side with him. Additionally, the Space Stone was in Asgard, and everything could go awry if Hela had her hands on that artefact.
"How far is Asgard?" Ase asked, shifting their ship's course back to Asgard. "And what is Hela currently planning?"
The ship thrummed into life before it leapt into hyperspace jump. "I saw her last time entering the Bifrost ray along with Thor and Loki. It shall not bode well. "One hour. That's the fastest we can get, while depleting our fuels."
"Can we use Dark Magic?" Ase suggested, though her mind rebelled at the thought after experiencing the dire consequences of using it first-hand. Heimdall's expression paled.
"With this distance? It will kill you, even if another casts the spell in your stead," Heimdall explained. "We have no other choice but to wait."
oOo
The experience of being kicked off the Bifrost Bridge in the midst of teleportation was definitely surreal and nauseating. What happened before then? Ah, yes. Odin bid his farewell with both of his sons and disappeared into thin air as a sparkly gold dust. Then out of nowhere Hela emerged, not resembling any of her parent, smiling eerily before she destroyed Thor's Mjolnir and joining them in their journey through the Bridge. She had struck him dead on the head, throwing him off-course and launching him to this unknown world.
He landed on a huge, smelly landfill.
"For heaven's sake," Loki cursed under his breath. The universe always had a way of throwing a series of calamities at him at the same time. He groaned amongst the rubble and scraps of deformed machines before rising up like a corpse straight from the grave. He glanced around, fumbling with his pocket in search for his communicator with Ase. Around him were similar garbage mountains, full of unwanted metals and strange-looking devices. There was only a single place with this kind of landscape, which was worse than Midgard.
"Sakaar," he muttered. "Well, what are the odds?" The communicator, the shape of a small disc the size of his hand, was fortunately not damaged, though slightly bent. He began calling Ase whilst contemplating for his next crucial steps. He had no resources to help him transport himself back to Asgard on the forsaken garbage planet, nor the connections to secure a simple ship to escape. Yet.
The hologram flickered as Ase answered the call. From the look of her face and the crease of her browse, she seemingly knew what was going on. "Bloody hell has Odin hid many things," was the first few words she blurted out. "And Rhea as well."
"Hela is in Rhea's book?" Loki incredulously. Rhea nodded and flipped several pages of Rhea's oldest journal in front of him.
"She even lists down Hela's abilities, exploits, and past relationships in her book," Ase explained. There was certainly an abundance of information regarding a single person in Rhea's entries. There were even pictures—bloody illustrations—depicting Hela's battles against other realms… With Odin. He couldn't believe it. It was outrages to the point of silly.
"It seems my nature of hiding things roots from these two," Loki admitted, letting out an exhausted breath. "She doesn't have any good intention, I tell you. Her desire to conquer is worse than mine." Ase seemed hesitant to agree with him. Perhaps to her, conquerors and dictators were all the same—villains ready to be taken down by her fists. "You said she has weaknesses?"
Ase frowned. "No, she doesn't. Rhea personally said, quote, 'I may be the most powerful sorceress in Asgard but not the deadliest. Hela cannot compare with me, even Odin, if we were isolated alone.' They ended up working together to seal away Hela, but with Odin gone I doubt that we're able to lock her away once more." Ase scrunched up her face and leaned back in disgust. "Where the hell are you?"
"Well, the description seems fitting. I am in Sakaar," Loki revealed. Ase groaned in disgust, remembering the last time she was in the garbage planet. She had told him that she walked out feeling as dirty as the piles of trash covering the planet.
"Right. Can you get out of there?" Ase asked.
"It will take time," Loki sighed. If Ase had had difficulties negotiating with the people there, even with her considerable diplomacy skills, it wouldn't go as easily as him as well. He had thought of using Dark Magic as a substitute of the lengthy negotiations, but he was not gifted with the ability to withstand all the Bifrost magic by himself.
"You better do that soon," Ase adviced sternly. "I am returning to Asgard, to protect the people. I'll be arriving soon. Hopefully not too late to stop Hela."
Loki almost fell from the pile of garbage after hearing her revelation. "You're going to go toe to toe against Hela? Ase, you'll kill yourself you stupid woman! Hela destroyed Mjolnir as easy as cracking a nut!"
"I heard that," Ase replied calmly. "Right now the people are of utmost importance. I may not be able to defeat her by any means, but my skillset is more suitable in halting her advances. Listen, for now focus on escaping Sakaar and reaching Asgard. I'll still contact you through the communicator, so don't lose it."
And then it was; the chill creeping up his veins. Loki grasped his arm in alarm, and glanced around with his dagger in tow. There was nothing around him. What was that terrible feeling?
Before Loki realised it, Ase had cut off her connection with him. He wanted to scream at her for being so reckless, for abandoning his orders to retrieve the Stones. She of all people should know that the Stones were the top priority. Hela could come later—
Wait. Isn't the Space Stone in Asgard?
Now Loki wanted to scream at his own stupidity.
oOo
Heimdall literally crash-landed them on the waters near the Observatory. Ase coughed as smoke billowed from the fractured engines, shaking her head to snap her attention back. Heimdall wheezed beside her, raising a thumb up to applaud for his miserable piloting skills. They had run out of fuel just several minutes before, forcing them to nose-dive straight into Asgard's atmosphere, but their journey had been cut off by 10 minutes. Ase readied her staff and pulled Heimdall out from his seat. Her grey coat fluttered in the wind as she swallowed the scenery of Asgard once more. Three years had passed like a split second in the search for the Stones. She was not back to where it all had started.
"Any sight of the enemy?" Ase asked.
"She's heading for the palace," Heimdall reported. "She sure takes her time even with her capabilities in magic."
Ase shivered at the thought. Throughout the course of 50 minutes, Ase had gobbled up anything about Hela. Goddess of Death, she was called, the most deadly sorceress of her era who had never used anything other than her abilities to procure an arsenal of blades from thin air and revive the dead. But her ability to detect magic was a surety despite this, and using any carelessly would alert her of their presence.
"The soldiers of Asgard are gathering to fight Hela," Heimdall reported as Ase grabbed his arm and launched themselves up from the waters with her feet propelling the necessary force.
"They are going to kill themselves," Ase predicted. Heimdall was no longer by her side. "Wait, where are you going?"
Heimdall was rushing into the Observatory. Ase could not help but follow him. Ase could not breath when she saw the scene of massacre unfolding in front of her. Bodies littered the floor, dark blades plunging their chests. Familiar faces greeted her and her every inch of courage was drained to the bones.
"Fandrall, Volstagg," Ase muttered, kneeling beside her two deceased comrades. They had not fallen without giving a fight, she knew, but to seemingly die so easily… Hela was far from formidable—she was unbeatable. "Heimdall, we need to hurry. Otherwise more will end like them."
"I know," Heimdall replied, though he still lingered and paced towards his sword. He pulled it from the lock, shutting down the Bifrost Bridge entirely. "We don't want Hela to get out of Asgard. Let's go."
Ase extended her hand and let him grasp it. In an instant their surroundings faded away, phasing into numerous colours indiscernible by the normal eye. The usual aftereffects did not bother her as Ase thought of their new despicable enemy.
Fandrall had been such a sweet man, although his advances could not budge her stern personality into being attracted to him. But he was one of her few memorable friends.
Volstagg was the epitome of a clown brute, the typical dwarf character she liked to read in fantasy books except for his gigantic figure. He always forced beer into her mouth, which distasted her, but she enjoyed his courtesy. He was one of the most exciting friends to be with.
Now they are no more.
Ase gritted her teeth, her anger burning her veins. She had lost many friends in her battles, and like all of them, Hela would certainly pay the price.
A/N: Merry belated Christmas everyone! I've been experiencing a writer's block these days and cannot procure a single word or summon the motivation to write. Hopefully I can break free from this periodical, mind-numbing condition. I will be posting another chapter in the new year's, if my mind cooperates with me :) Have a good holiday everyone and once again, thank you for reading!