Revamped!

Chapter 128: What Happened in Asgard Part Sixteen

Weeks Ago - Asgard

Thor paces back and forth in the throne room, rubbing his beard in frustration. Jane stands worriedly beside him, her face pale and blotchy as her eyes are rimmed red. She's been crying. Thor looks the same but he hides his emotions better since someone had to be the strong one. In front of them is Freya. Her eyes follow Thor's steps, seeming passive to whatever their current situation may be. In his hands is The Serpent Crown that he recently got from Midgard.

Freya told Thor that The Serpent Crown was missing when she got back from Hel. Then, Thor ordered Heimdall to be on the lookout for it. Heimdall finally found it a few weeks after, when Apollo and Sigyn's Midgardian friends had it in their possession. Thor went to claim it from them.

"This damned crown…" Thor grumbles miserably, staring daggers into the artifact.

"Do they have Apollo or Sigyn with them?" Jane asks desperately.

Thor shakes his head, not looking at his wife. "They asked me how Apollo and Britney were. I couldn't lie to them so I told them they haven't been in Asgard for a while."

Jane looks at the ground and tears fall. Thor feels the same. It was bad enough that Ragnarök would take their kids away and now they have to deal with their disappearance earlier than expected. Freya can't help but feel guilty for letting this happen.

"Where are my children?" Thor asks.

It takes Freya a moment to realize that Thor was talking to her. She clears her throat and refocuses. Even if he meant that rhetorically, it was aimed at her.

"I wish I knew the answer," Freya replies honestly.

"You were the last one to see them, Freya. They know better than to run and you knew better than to let them. There was no escaping this. I couldn't find anything and Heimdall can't find them."

"Thor, Jane, I was the last one with them. Sigyn sent Apollo away and she sent me back here. I don't know what they were planning if they even had a plan. They knew that running away would make no difference but that's why they did it. That's why they're not here. Isn't that why you left as well?"

Thor squares at her, unable to answer. Freya stares at him with furrowed brows and a sturdy stance, holding herself to the same level.

"Freya…" Jane mutters weakly.

"Aren't we all running from it?" Freya questions rhetorically. "At least we're fortunate not to have our damn names written!"

Freya turns around and leaves. Thor and Jane call her but she doesn't turn around. She tries to hold herself together but ends up bringing a hand to her mouth to muffle her cries and catch her tears. She can't help but feel emotional towards this. She could've prevented all this.

"Come home, Apollo," she mutters to herself angrily thinking he'd hear her. "Find Sigyn and please come home…"

-o-

Weeks Ago - Hel

Sigyn lies on a fallen tree trunk, staring up at the dark sky. Hel had no concept of day or night. Time would pass and Sigyn had no clue or interest on keeping track because she saw no point. She had nothing to do here because she didn't know what to do. There's nothing but darkness and the idea of it all is crazy. Then again, everything about her is crazy. Maybe the only thing she can do is lose her mind…

Sigyn hears footsteps approaching her and she doesn't have to look to know it's Hela.

"You have nothing to do in here," Sigyn tells her.

Hela stands right above Sigyn, staring down at her. Her dark hair isn't in its crown. "This is the gathering of the dishonourable dead. Only I like it here so I'm not surprised that you're bored." She tilts her head but keeps her gaze on her. "You're pathetic."

Sigyn exhales. "I know."

"Did you know that your mortal friends - if I can even call them that - found The Serpent Crown and Thor went to claim it?"

Sigyn tenses a little. She sits up and puts her feet on the ground. "Now they know that something's wrong…"

"Because something is wrong."

"Apollo was supposed to find the crown."

"Hard to do when he doesn't know anything."

"I need them to find Apollo."

Before Hela could respond, Sigyn's already on her feet. She summons her magic and conjures up magical holograms of her friends. When she sees their faces, she almost drops what she's doing. Seeing their faces for the first time in seven years makes her freeze, even if it isn't really them. She can't face these holograms without thinking about what she did.

But she regains focus. She extends her fingers out and gets a grasp on her minds.

"You have to save him…" She mutters before it becomes too much and she wipes them away.

Hela looms in the place where they were and Sigyn freaks out and runs away. She finds herself being haunted by her words and her friends. She repeats that phrase although she did that to save him which put him in more danger.

Apollo wanted to save himself from Ragnarök. He wanted to save her from Ragnarök. Sigyn wanted to save Asgard and Midgard from Ragnarök. She wanted to save him from dying.

She can't handle these paradoxes.

But this is her plan … right? That's why she took away Apollo's memories and left him on Midgard, right? So she can figure out a way to start Ragnarök and have it go the way it was written, right?

Did she make a mistake? Is it too late?

Sigyn stops running and Hela lands in front of her. She looks up at the Goddess of Death, tired but motivated.

"I'll start Ragnarök," Sigyn tells her.

Hela laughs so hard that she has to sit on a rock to keep herself together. She eases and crosses one leg over the other to look at Sigyn and try to understand her.

"You want to die and spend the afterlife here?" Hela questions. "You just said that you were bored here."

Sigyn shrugs.

"Oh, come on," Hela encourages, "you can't be that ready to die."

"Just tell me how to start Ragnarök," Sigyn commands.

Hela sighs. "I already told you. I don't know how to start it. Apollo's the only one who can ignite it. Besides, Apollo's still scared of it so I doubt that it's coming anytime soon."

"I took away his memory of it. He can't fear what he can't remember."

"He can. And let's say that Ragnarök comes when he doesn't have his memories, under the assumption that he somehow started it. He'll be scared of it at that moment."

"It'll scare him less."

"But he won't know that he has to sacrifice himself to win."

"Why do you care? That will benefit you and, as you said, in the perfect world, we'd be on the same side."

"But you wouldn't thrive."

"Why do you care?"

"I don't."

"Then tell me!" She screams so loud that magic fires out of her hands. She takes a breath to calm down but can't do so. She ends up choking on a sob. "I know you know because after he starts it, you bring your troops to Midgard and your stupid pet comes to the surface. How would you know to show up if you didn't know what to expect as the start of Ragnarök?"

Hela pauses, folding her hands together and resting them on her knee. "Lokisdottir, you were brought here for many reasons. Listen to me."

"Why? To find a way out? Because I still don't know how and you're terrible at helping," Sigyn responds. "There is no way out of this twisted gift of fate. And why are you, Goddess of Death, so adamant on me changing my fate? That part of my identity is long-gone ever since Ragnarök made its way in."

"Because, Asgardian screw-up, you're a pest in my realm. If your soul were to be here, I would be haunted for eternity. And I'm not talking about your stupid fate or destiny. I'm talking about survival."

"As if those could co-exist."

"Well -"

Frustrated by Hela's constant and empty words, Sigyn unleashes her magic on Hela. Before she could strike her, the Goddess of Death grabs Sigyn's wrist. Sigyn's hand spasms in her grip as she tries to overpower her. Hela feels something cold on her fingertips and she looks at Sigyn's wrist only to see a simple silver charm bracelet. Hela loosens her grip as she turns Sigyn's wrist, examining the charm bracelet and muttering the charmed letters as she notices them. The moment she lets go, Sigyn pulls her wrist back, guarding her bracelet with her other hand.

"You can't hurt me anymore," Sigyn says, starting to tremble. "Not that you should try nor should I let you."

"You have an interesting bracelet," Hela tells her. "It doesn't look Asgardian so may I take a guess that it's from Midgard?"

Sigyn ignores her. She looks down at her wrist to check her bracelet and it's no longer there. Her heart stops. She looks up at Hela to see her with the bracelet in the palm of her hand.

"No!" Sigyn exclaims.

Angry tears fly out of her eyes as she lunges forwards but Hela pulls her hand back. She uses her free hand to hold up a defensive wall of her dark magic, blocking Sigyn from approaching her. Sigyn pauses, holding up two fists of her magic. Her eyes are full of rage.

"Please stop getting salt on my land, dear Sigyn," Hela says. "Don't worry about your bracelet. I will return it in perfect condition."

"Give me that bracelet back," Sigyn grits through her teeth.

"You said you'll do anything for your cousin."

"That bracelet has nothing to do with him."

Hela nods with a grin. "I know."

She vanishes, leaving Sigyn rubbing her empty wrist. She's unable to process what happened. That bracelet was from Xavier more than seven years ago and she hasn't taken it off since he gave it to her. She feels lost and confused without it, almost as if she doesn't know who she is or what she's doing anymore.

She tries to hold it in. God knows she did. She's so tired of not being able to have control of her body. Although she's pushed Asgard and Midgard away, she knows that going back would mean seeing everyone again which she won't be able to settle with because of everything that's happened.

Her mind drifts to Xavier. She never thought about seeing him again because, for a long time, it seemed impossible. Before, she would picture bumping into him but then what? Sigyn assumes that she would feel nothing. Nothing at all. No fear, no joy, not even a haunting sickness in the deepest pit of her stomach.

[A lot of you may be confused about where Sigyn stands when it comes to Ragnarök and the point is that she doesn't know what she truly wants].