#6

The Bifrost released him near the gates of the kingdom of the dead that sat in the East of Niflheim, the frozen underworld that was located on the lowest level of the universe where all dishonored non-Asgardian residents of the Nine Realms traveled after their death. The land was cheerless, covered with icy rime and clouded by a chilly mist. Thor gazed around, shivering against the cold fingers of the wind. Crooked ugly obelisks of stone and ice rose up to either side of him. Behind him, he faintly heard water splashing against a shore. Apart from that, the air was eerily silent. It truly was a nornforsaken place and the thought of his little brother having been imprisoned in this wasteland for over a month now made Thor furious. He'd expected Loki to travel to Valhalla after he had died an honorable death by battling first Hela and then Thanos but, apparently, Loki's spirit now dwelled in the realm of the dishonored dead. It was not entirely undeserved, Thor had to admit, particularly since he was not born of Asgard, but it still infuriated him. He stood fuming for another moment, and then walked into the direction away from the water.

"Loki?" He felt stupid shouting at the icy rock formations but he would not turn back until he had tried. "Loki!" His booming cry echoed through the air but quickly faded away as the frozen underworld swallowed up all sounds except for its own water's rippling. "Loki! If you can hear me, give me a sign. I am here now! Loki!" He walked deeper into the mist, shouting his brother's name every time he paused to survey his surroundings. "Loki!"

Thor treaded forward until, at last, he reached a giant fortress made of stone with two massive black doors that had a small head with eight separate jagged antler pieces printed upon it in dark green. He had reached the gates of Hel. The hairs on his arms and neck began to tingle. He tightened his grip around his axe, every muscle in his body tensing with anticipation.

"Hela!" Thor shouted as he rattled at the single brass ring mounted to the doors. He wasn't entirely sure if Hela would be the one answering to him after he had killed her by having Loki unleash Surtur upon Asgard but as she had been queen of the dead, he figured she might be. And if she wasn't, he would fight whoever ruled over the dead now to get his brother back. The echo of his hammering was quickly swallowed up by the eerie silence.

Thor wielded Stormbreaker and assaulted the doors but they stood firm. "Loki!" Thor shouted and assaulted the doors over and over again, dealing blow after blow while shouting his siblings' names by turns. "I will not leave without Loki, do you hear me? I will not leave this place without my brother!" The cold was beginning to sting his eyeballs. His fingers were growing numb. He summoned a flash of lightning that rocked through his body and warmed him against the icy wind. "Do you hear me? I will not leave!"

He summoned another lightning blast and hurled it against the doors but it ricocheted off them without leaving as much as a scratch. Your powers are of no use in the realm of the dead, Thor thought grimly but he was not yet ready to relinquish hope. He spun Stormbreaker the way he used to spin Mjölnir and it pulled him off the ground onto the roof of the fortress. He summoned lighting and thunder and thrust the sizzling axe into the stone. The weapon left only a tiny crack but a tiny crack was more than he had achieved down by the doors, so he continued the exercise and deepened the crack with blow after blow until it finally burst open and granted him access into the kingdom of Hel.

Thor slipped through the roof and landed in a tremendous hallway lined with pillars of stone that led towards a faintly glimmering green light. The echo of his boots bounced against the walls and thudded across the carven stone. He hurried toward the light and reached the throne room he had seen depicted in his father's books countless times. As everything else, the throne was made of cold naked stone and it sat in the middle of a large hall. Left and right of it, the wicked dead were imprisoned in light green glass coffins, snickering sharply. But the throne itself was empty.

"Loki?" Thor shouted. "Where are you, brother? I've come to take you home!" He swirled around but he did not recognize Loki among the deceased. "What is happening?" Thor whispered under his breath. "Where is he? Where is Hela? Hela!"

Suddenly, he sensed a surge of energy in the air. Another few seconds ticked by before a black portal opened next to the throne. Hela lunged out and leaped toward him, surrounded by an almost tangible aura of narcissism. The portal behind her closed immediately and began to shrink up as she sprawled out her fingers mid-jump, drawing its energy toward them. It disappeared into her palm and she closed her fist around it as she landed in front of him, glowering. "How did you get in here?"

"Well, I guess, I am the strongest Avenger after all," Thor offered with a smirk.

"You cannot enter the kingdom of the dead so long as your body still lives," Hela hissed. "You cannot get in here."

"I just did, didn't I?" Thor flashed her a sheepish grin. "So, where is Loki?"

"Big brother coming to the rescue, or what?" She gave a silvery-sweet-but-devilish laugh. "That is precious. Although he is not really your brother, is he? Makes you wonder what else Odin has kept from you, doesn't it?"

Words and thoughts failed Thor for a moment as his mind arrowed back to the moment of Loki telling him that he was not and had never been his brother. Hela snorted another laugh. "Look at the God of Thunder being completely thunderstruck. I love the irony of that. And I'm actually glad you came, darling brother. It wouldn't be entirely fair if Loki received all the punishment for Asgard's destruction alone, would it?"

Thor narrowed his eyes at her. "Asgard wasn't yours to rule. So, where is he?"

Hela just smiled at him. "It was never yours to rule either."

"Where is he?" Thor repeated as he tried to clear his mind off the thoughts that were waiting to assail it and that he could not afford to dwell on lest he wanted to succumb to the same numbing rage that had blinded him against Thanos on the battlefield of Wakanda. "Tell me!"

Hela relented and opened her palm, revealing a gleaming black gem about one inch in size. She let it roll onto her fingers, captured it between her thumb and middle finger and presented it to him. "In here."

Shock rooted Thor to the spot as he recognized the shape and texture of the gem. "That is not possible," he stammered. "It can't be." He marveled briefly when his life had become so intricate that things never stopped complicating.

Hela chuckled. "You said those words to me before, remember?"

"Do you actually know what this is?" Thor asked carefully, clutching at the hope that she did not possess any knowledge about the Infinity Stones and their destructive abilities because if she did, his entire quest had just gotten indefinitely more complicated. Neither of the Avengers was prepared for yet another player with questionable allegiances in the war against Thanos.

"A very powerful piece of jewelry." She gave a shrug.

"Where did you find it?" Thor proceeded, trying for as casual a tone as possible.

Hela narrowed her eyes as she inspected the gem with rising curiosity, looking at it as if she was seeing it for the first time. Then, she swiftly concealed it with her dark magic. "Not your concern, darling brother."

Thor admonished himself for sparking her interest in the stone by implying he knew that its origin might be of any significance. He decided to alter his course and feign simplemindedness. "But how did Loki … How did he end up in there?"

"You very well know how, since you were there," Hela murmured softly, "choking on your own blood because you couldn't scream as you watched him die. That must have been painful."

Thor tried to brush aside the disturbing realization that Hela had been inside Loki's head, gaining access to his memories. "But this is a stone, a tiny stone. How could a stone that small possibly host bodies? You do not really expect me to believe that, do you?"

The condescending glance she shot him evidenced that he was still good at the technique he had mastered long ago when he had discovered that Loki thought himself smarter than him and it had given him immense pleasure to live up to the impression while secretly deriding Loki for believing it.

"You did see what I did only moments ago, did you not?" Hela asked, her intonation rising as if she was speaking to a dense child. "You did see me stepping out of it, so surely you cannot be incapable of wrapping your head around the idea that it hosts a larger realm?"

"And what kind of realm would that be?"

"I am the Goddess of Death! What kind of realm do you think it is?"

Thor did not have to feign ignorance in response to this. Hela had a pact with death that allowed her to claim the souls of any dishonored mortal worshipper of the Asgardian Gods as well as those Asgardians who did not travel to Valhalla and take them to Niflheim and apparently, neither her banishment nor her defeat by Surtur had ended her rule over the dead. The kingdom of Hel was still under her command. The only question was how she had come across an Infinity Stone that appeared to contain its own realm of the dead. How could there be another Infinity Stone at all? And whose souls traveled to it? Those who had died at the hands of the other stones, as Valkyrie had hypothesized earlier? Or had Hela somehow used the power of the stone to create a new Hel in order to collect the souls that she wanted? And if that was the case, why did this include Loki's soul? And if it wasn't the case, then who was in control of this stone and how was it connected to the other stones? Thor felt a throbbing headache approach as the questions continued to pile up in his mind. He would have to address these questions later. For now, the only thing he could do—and needed to do—was to focus on why he had come here. "Truth be told, I do not care. I just need Loki back."

Hela laughed in his face. "Odin raised an imbecile and a madman."

"His parenting skills are worthy of discussion, yes, but I am serious." Thor tightened his grip around Stormbreaker. "I need him back."

"And what are you going to do? Challenge me to battle?" She took a step towards him, cutting the space between them. "Don't you remember how that turned out last time?"

"I have grown stronger since then," Thor replied as he wielded his axe. "I managed to break through the barrier of your kingdom, remember?" He hit her with a blast of crackling blue lightning that made her stagger slightly under the impact, surprise flashing across her face. "This is not bad," she acknowledged as she conjured up a giant black sword with a shiny golden blade. She held it in front of her face, the blade perfectly leveled with her nose. "Let's see just how much stronger you have become."

Thor sprang forward and the estranged siblings entered a sustained hand-to-hand or rather axe-to-sword combat, fighting each other as equals as they took swing after swing at one another. The rattling of their weapons was clattering through the halls of Hel as they circled one another like predators in the wild, swiftly and mercilessly. His arms were beginning to feel heavier and heavier after some time, his blood seemingly turning to lead in his veins, and finally Thor realized that he would not defeat her in close combat. He withdrew a few steps, keeping the safe distance of an inch between Stormbreaker and the point of her sword. Hela let out a breath. "Are you giving up?"

Thor smiled, keeping his distance. "What do you think?" He tapped the end of her sword with his axe. Hela lunged out, swinging her sword to deflect Stormbreaker, but she was a little too far away and not fast enough. He dropped under her blade, conjured up a blast of lightning and hurled the crackling axe into her right side. This time, her knees buckled under the impact. Thor sprang forward, rammed his boot into her throat and pinned her to the ground. "This won't get us anywhere," he panted as he towered over her.

"He is dead," Hela insisted breathlessly, her fingers closing around his ankle. He increased the pressure. "What makes you think you can have him back even if I wanted to release him?"

Thor realized that he had not thought this true to the extent that he should have but he would be damned if he let it show. "You are the Goddess of Death, are you not? I am sure you'll find a way to release him." Unless you are not in control of the souls in the stone. Because the Infinity Stones have a conscience and a will of their own.

Her eyes flickered. "Why is he so important to you?"

"Why is he so important to you?" Thor asked back and suddenly, his subconscious shifted the helm on its own account. "I mean, seriously, his wretched soul can't be of much use to you."

The pressure of Thor's boots stifled the laugh that wanted to come. He eased his hold a little. "You have no idea how valuable his soul is to me," Hela whispered.

"That's right, I don't. Why don't you tell me?"

"It is so wonderfully full of agony and I just happen to have an insatiable appetite for agony and pain." Her features lit up with madness. It seemed to fuel her. She squirmed free and sprang to her feet. "He is nurturing me, fueling my dark magic. I will not let him go and you will leave my kingdom now!" Another blade materialized in her palm as she prepared for another round.

And just like that, Thor's subconscious mind revealed a very plausible course of action to him. "What if I could, say, borrow him for some time?"

"Borrow him?" Hela echoed incredulously, lowering her sword.

Thor gave a nod. "As you might have come to know, Loki left behind quite a mess and there are lot of people who have some unfinished business with him. If you give him back to me for a few months, I promise you can have his soul back."

"A few months? That is out of the question."

"Two months," Thor relented, feeling a wave of guilt rise up in him as he continued. "And I promise you that he will return even more damaged because all of these people hate him and I guarantee you it will fuel his agony."

Hela narrowed her eyes, not quite trusting him. "Is that why you came all this way? Why would you want to do that to him?"

Thor willed himself to pull through. "Why wouldn't I? He betrayed me, threatened to kill the people that I love, attempted to murder me countless times; he actually hates me."

"He hates you so much," Hela agreed. "And at the same time he loves you so much, it's destructive and tragic and beautifully poetic."

Even though her words physically sickened him as much as his own, Thor continued. "I've got quite the hold over him, I know. I also know how to use it against him. Let me have him for two months to clean up all the messes and I promise you, I will return him to you even more … deranged."

"One month," Hela decided.

"Alright, one month." This was not nearly as much time as he had hoped for but if it were all she was willing to give him, it would have to suffice. "So how—"

"Upon one condition," she cut him off. "Well, two conditions, really. First of all, if I release him from death now, you will be the one to bring him back to me as soon as the month has passed." She paused for effect. "You will kill him. The last thought passing through his conscious mind will be the realization that he finally antagonized his oh so precious brother enough to spark off a murderous intent in him. He will die knowing he'd been right about being a monster all along."

Thor felt his stomach coil at the mere thought. Hela smiled her sweetly evil smile when she saw the disgust flicker across his face. "You think you can fool me, oh mighty Thor?" She hissed a laugh. "If you fail to kill him in time, if I have to return to retrieve him from the world of the living, I will claim your own soul and it will forever belong to me."

Thor opened his mouth to speak but she was not yet finished. "I will also, randomly, claim the soul of one of your mortal friends—perhaps Steve Rogers or Tony Stark?"

Thor's entire throat went dry. He tried to swallow.

Hela gave another laugh. "Do we have a deal, brother?"

He gave a hesitant nod, even though he could not see how he would carry it off. This isn't gonna end well, Thor thought, the voices of Tony and Valkyrie echoing in his ears. Think about how insane this is. That is one giant fucking 'if'. This is by far the dumbest thing you will ever do. It surely was. It was the dumbest, the most reckless and the most selfish thing he had ever agreed to.

"Wait here," Hela instructed, opened the portal and stepped through it, leaving it open as if—contrary to her command—she wanted him to follow but when he tried to do so, the energy barrier hurled him back, scorching his skin.

Thor cursed and then waited. His heart was swelling up in his chest when it dawned on him just how much pressure he had put upon himself. One month was not nearly enough to treat even the most superficial wounds the past had inflicted upon him and Loki but, at the same time, Thor knew that this would be his last chance to heal them. He had lost everything else, he and Loki both, and this time he had to succeed; otherwise they would both be miserable for all eternities. Simultaneously, he would have to figure out a plan how to get out of his deal with Hela—I can't believe you gambled with the souls of your friends for the one person that you could never fully trust—and how to retrieve the Infinity Stone from her before the month was over and she would reclaim Loki. And if that was done, he would have to convince Loki to help the Avengers in their act of revenge against Thanos. On closer inspection, he realized that all of this would require a lot of time, effort and patience; and unfortunately, he was not in possession of any of those. How could he have believed even for a second that he would be able to defeat Hela and Thanos, and thus save the universe and his brother at the same time?

Yet surrender was not and had never been in his nature. Surrender would never be an option for the God of Thunder. He would try and if he tried hard enough, he would succeed. Yes, he would. He believed this until Hela hurled Loki out of the stone's death dimension a few moments later, throwing him at his feet just as Thanos had done after he had choked the life out of his brother with the power stone.

Author's note:

- Wow, I had a lot of fun writing this; even though I actually hate writing fight scenes because I have never wielded a sword or an axe before and never quite know what people actually do or think when they battle each other (lmao). But I had a lot of fun with Hela and Thor in this chapter, especially during the re-write.
- And to answer Tony's question from the last chapter, yes, Thor is that powerful. He can single-handedly break his way into Hel. He is a God, duh.
- And last but not least, yay to the 7th Infinity Stone. Isn't that gonna make everything more complex, you ask? Probably, but I'm very up for the challenge. I will also give you a little teaser: What Loki remembered in the first two chapters isn't all there is to remember about how he died and what he actually did before he died and why he did it.
- That said, stay tuned, and thanks to everyone who is already following. Your support is much appreciated xx