Revamped!
Chapter 127: What Happened on Asgard Part Fifteen
Months Ago - Hel
Gasping for air, Apollo, Freya, and Sigyn sprint at top speed, ignoring the dead branches that snatch and scratch their exposed skin. Their strength and adrenaline help them to plow through. As the girls continue to run, Apollo stops. He turns around and sees the oncoming fleet that continues growing by the second.
"Apollo!"
He doesn't move. He licks his lips, tasting dust and sand as the grip around his axe tightens. He holds his weapon back and spins it as fast as possible. It generates a rumbling thunder and sparking lightning that builds much more powerful than his weapon. It extends onto his body as if his flesh was the true power source. Apollo raises his axe and lightning strikes, blinding everyone including himself. When Apollo slams it into the ground, everything in front of him blows up into unspeakable destruction that stretches for miles. Everything in its path decimates.
"That's what'll kill me…" Sigyn mutters, feeling so nauseous that she has to lean against a dead tree trunk.
Freya goes to check her but stops when Hela appears right before them. Hela twirls her arms, letting her power surround her with every step she takes.
"Oh, how I've missed a fight against flesh…" Hela mutters excitedly. "And the fact that it's you makes it all the more irresistible."
Sigyn tastes something sour in her mouth, unsure if it came from Hela's words or Apollo's bold demonstration of power. Maybe both.
Freya screams boldly as she charges towards Hela. She slices her sword upwards but Hela blocks it with her forearm. With her torso free, Freya kicks Hela forwards. Hela stumbles back and Freya uses this to her advantage. Freya runs forwards and spins her sword above her head. When she stabs it downwards, Hela hovers back. Freya glances up and sees Hela flick her wrists, two necroswords appearing in her hands. Freya's eyes widen as she holds her hands up above her head, blocking them with crossed forearms.
She feels Hela's strength on her loosen. Freya peeks for a second and sees Apollo's axe flying towards them. Freya drops to the ground as Hela straightens. She holds out her palm and holds the axe in place mid-air. Hela makes direct eye contact with Apollo, tilting her head a little as if she's studying him. She curls her fingers and his axe shakes.
Suddenly, Sigyn shoots forwards a blast of her magic, knocking Hela over. When Hela is on the ground, Sigyn creates a spherical dome around her, trapping her. Hela slams against the barrier with her dark fists. Sigyn grunts, fighting against her to hold it in place, but Hela smashes it to shards. She's back on her feet and Apollo flies in her direction. Hela pushes both of her hands forwards, sending Apollo back. Freya slides underneath to kick Hela over.
Hela summons her necroswords again and engages in a sword fight with Freya. Before Apollo could interfere, Sigyn holds his arm, stopping him.
"Hela's barely touching us," Sigyn tells him.
Apollo thinks this though and, although Hela has fought them, they weren't threatening. If anyone is receiving the most hits, it's Freya. Apollo's body tenses as he realizes why that is.
" … because Hela can't kill us," Apollo mutters.
Freya's sword flies out of her hand and when she goes to reach for it, one of Hela's necroswords slices a bare spot on her forearm. Freya gasps, holding in the pain as she turns to face Hela.
Before Hela could do anything more, Sigyn knows she has to do what she came here for. She has to do what she came here for. This is a distraction. Sigyn balls magic in her fists and slams them into the ground. Her magic extends, circling her but only keeping her and Apollo inside. The winds grow and her magic swirls around them, Sigyn builds up her walls and they're trapped in a cyclone of her power.
"Hela won't help us! I'm trying to do what's right!" Sigyn yells at him. "You would understand if you thought about this for once!"
Her eyes glow an illuminating shade of green, as if they make up her magic. Apollo feels the need to hold himself back, gripping his axe. He isn't sure what's going on but he didn't see this coming.
"I have, Sigyn!" Apollo yells back. "We have an escape! Hela said so herself!"
"There's nothing!" Her hair flies around her, picking up her spell as it grows. "You don't run from the people who need you. You fight for them. You fight beside them no matter the cost or the risk. I assume that you're an expert on sacrifices if your definition of the word consists of saving yourself while the rest of the world gets eaten alive!"
Her wrath simmers, showing through the harsh ripples of her magic that Apollo shields himself from. There are times when insanity could be very beneficial but when mixed with anger? That's dangerous. Anger has a beginning and an end. Sigyn was never angry because she has been full of rage. Her emotions burned inside of her like a fire that was there ever since she got banned from Midgard. Not only was she a flame but he'd driven her to the brink of insanity, demonstrating the power that she has over him and his mind.
Sigyn holds her hands forwards, having her hands in line with her face. In her sight, she sees Apollo. Sigyn grits her teeth, crying hot tears as her hands glow brighter. She grunts as she feels her power take Apollo's mind, her cousin hunching over and grabbing his skull to try to keep it for himself. She feels her fingers prodding around his brain, picking out memories of Ragnarök, The Midgard Serpent, Hela, herself - the past seven years.
Sigyn holds her glowing hands out, taking his mind into her power.
"The next time you see me, Apollo, you will kill me," Sigyn told him before his mind is wiped clean at the force of her magic. "You must fear me and you'll hate me with a passion. Finally, you will kill me. That won't stop me from going through with this because it'll protect you and everyone else. You'll understand one day, I hope."
She fires her magic at him and he could feel all his thoughts and memories escaping him.
"Ragnarök must happen…" Sigyn hisses at him as her magic disappears and the two of them are no longer in Hel.
-o-
Months Ago - Midgard
Apollo finds himself face up in a clump of sand. As he awakens, he slowly opens his eyes. The sun is starting to set and he can smell a strong scent of dust and dryness. He stands up and checks his body to make sure that nothing's wrong. He feels no pain, and his arms and legs are working fine. His clothes aren't rumpled or messed up. They're a soft sweatshirt and jeans that he doesn't remember putting this on.
He doesn't remember any of this.
All that he can recall at the moment is his name, his parents, and that he came from Asgard.
Apollo hears footsteps and turns around. He sees a pale woman with golden-blonde hair and bright green eyes. Her corset is dark green and black, covered in dust and blood, but her skin and hair are clean. She slowly walks up to him with a blank expression on her face as if she was holding back what she truly felt.
Apollo has no idea who she is but she seems like she doesn't bring good news.
"Our only hope now is to disappear from Asgard…" She mutters to him.
Apollo breathes heavily. " … save me."
She pauses. Her voice cracks a little. "I - I will." She inhales a little as the wind picks up and blows a strand of her hair in her face. "See you at Ragnarök."
She vanishes in a whirl of her magic, leaving Apollo in the sand. He can't yell for her back because something inside of him stopped him from doing so. His head feels heavy and dim, and he takes a deep breath before closing his eyes. His mind begins to fade and in seconds, he sinks into darkness.
-o-
Months Ago - Hel
The moment Sigyn reappears back on Hel, she doesn't have time to breathe before she feels a cold metal blade across her neck. Sigyn slowly turns around and sees an angered Freya with her sword. A trickle of blood runs down Freya's left temple. Sigyn remembers seeing her crawl across the ground, leaving a trail of blood across the rocks. Now, she's alive even if she can't realize that. Freya doesn't look scared or thankful - she's bitter and enraged with frustrated tears in her eyes.
"So help me, Sigyn, bring him back or I'll kill you," Freya threatens.
Sigyn scoffs. "You don't have the power to do so."
Freya pulls her sword back a little. "I can't believe Jane let us come here. I should've caught on when Hela mentioned Thor would never ask her for help."
When Sigyn doesn't respond, Freya knows why. Sigyn was the one who was supposed to tell Jane that they were coming here and she didn't do that. Freya holsters her sword, keeping sharp eye contact with her. This was her plan all along: get Apollo to Hel and send him away.
"I can't believe you lied to me…" Freya mutters betrayed.
"Don't take it personally, I lied to everyone," Sigyn replies casually. Before Freya could react, Sigyn raises her hands to her head in a surrendering motion. "Listen to me, Freya. Listen now. You have to do what I tell you. When I say something, you can't ask what. You can't ask why. You can't argue. Okay? You have to listen to me."
"After what you just did?"
"After everything we've seen, after everything we dared, can you slightly trust me for a few more seconds to try and do something right? Apollo was bleeding his pain. It was evident he'd never felt this hurt before in his life. I couldn't keep watching his rage, his fists ball tighter, his teeth clench as he continued to yell into the nights. He would've reached the point where he would have killed me to get me to shut up."
Freya hesitates, letting her tears fall down her face because she knows Sigyn speaks the truth. " … what do you want me to do?"
"Go back to Asgard and don't tell Thor and Jane the truth."
"We both know that no matter how long I stand in front of you with my sword, I can't talk you out of your plan so please, don't do anything rasher than what already happened and please come back."
"Thank you…"
Freya gives Sigyn a look as she made a portal for her. Once the portal closes, Sigyn finally exhales. She hears heels clicking against the ground, remembering that Hela's still here. She turns around and sees Hela with her arms crossed in a mocked scolding gesture.
"Oh, Sigyn … you have been a naughty girl…" Hela mutters.
"You're believe that I care," Sigyn responds sharply.
"You got rid of Asgard's champion so maybe you're rebelling against Ragnarök. Maybe you're are on my team after all. But why Midgard of all realms? Why send him where his demise lies? You could have left him here and gone to your favourite realm yourself."
"I threw The Serpent Crown there in hopes that he'll find it but the real reason is the same as why I was abandoned on Midgard: to be with the right people. Little did anyone know at the time that the best person and my demise were the same."
"Why don't you just go back to Midgard?"
"Can't. Apollo banned me."
Hela raises an eyebrow. "What makes you so sure that Apollo will kill you? He has been so committed to protecting you for all these years. He loves you."
"You can't love what you don't remember."
"You're hurting, I can tell because you love him as well. The amount you love a person is directly proportional to the pain you feel when bad things happen to them."
Sigyn spins around and starts walking away. "I'm done talking."
Hela appears in front of Sigyn again. "Face it, Lokisdottir, you have nowhere to go now."
Sigyn phases through her and continues her trek through the forests of Hel.
What's worse than someone she loves dying? She knows something but maybe it's her bias based on experience. It's seeing someone she loves to death looking at her as if she was some stranger. Apollo's everything to her but at that moment, she was nothing to him. It was like he was already dead despite being able to see and interact with him, even if he wasn't the same person he used to be.
That Apollo was gone seven years ago.
-o-
Months Ago - Asgard
Freya stumbles back on Asgard, in the palace hallways. She quickly turns around and tries to return to Hel but Sigyn's portal is already gone. Freya quickly wipes the tears from her face and takes a few moments to compose herself. Once she's calm, she runs to the throne room and bursts in unannounced. She sees Thor and Jane there with some important foreign ministers. They stare at her with surprised curiosity. Instead of trying to make her messy appearance more decent, she bows out of respect and continues walking closer. Thor excuses the ministers who walk out, closing the door behind them because they could sense that this situation needs their attention.
Before Freya could get a word out, Jane immediately starts talking.
"Whose blood is that, Freya?" Jane orders rushed, showing her growing panic. For all she knows: Freya came back covered in blood while Apollo and Sigyn aren't present.
Freya looks down at her body and sees dried blood streaks everywhere. On her body, her armour, her hair. Everywhere. " … I'm not sure."
Some of it was Apollo's from when he stabbed himself and some of it was hers from the battles against Hela and her skeletons. She just got so lost in fighting that, for all she knows, it could've been Sigyn's or even Hela's if she bled. She isn't sure which patch or streak of blood Jane is referring to.
"Freya," Thor starts, "I need you to do something that might be hard for you."
"What?" Freya questions.
"Stop lying to us."
[So that is how Apollo ended up on Asgard with no memory of the past seven years and Sigyn's beginning in Hel. But we aren't done with the Asgard arc yet].