'Hela, why did you court Thanos?'

'I said, bored.'

'Why Thanos?'

Hela didn't answer, but instead indicated the bookshelf next to the window.

Thor yanked on the heavy furniture, making some of the books tumble to the ground, bellowing dust. It swung open to reveal a thin corridor that only a slender person like Loki or Hela or Elixir (or in other words, anyone whose not Thor's size) might've passed through with ease.

'Wait,' Hela raised a hand and stopped her uncle from charging forwards. 'I need to check for traps.'

Hela let a slither of magic leave her hand and travel down the dark tunnel, but nothing jumped out.

'All clear. I go in first.'

Hela didn't have any problems getting through once she changed her usual gown into a simple black shirt and trousers magically, but Thor was much more of a nuisance. Even if he went down sideways, parts of his armor would get caught in the wall and make an irritating scratching noise.

'You need to go on a diet.' Hela grumbled as she waited in the room at the end of the pathway and watched her uncle struggle with some glee.

Thor finally squeezed through.

'Is this-' He gawked at the sight.

It was a spacious room, decorated green and white. A tree grew from the middle of the room up around the ceiling, its branches intertwining, its leaves lit up the room with a soft green glow. A large mirror covered one wall while bookshelves lined the opposite side. Directly in front is a simply wooden desk and chair, with a bottle of ink and quill, and a piece of parchment, worn through time.

At a closer look, the parchment was actually a letter. An unfinished letter.

'Dear mother,' Hela read aloud. 'My most apologies. But I wish for explanations. I feel like I do not belong here. The others had golden hair and strongly built bodies, making me the exact opposite. My friends also pointed out I looked nothing similar to you. I am different. I like the cold and dark better. I prefer green than red. I despise the warlike features of the others, while they jeer at me for practicing magic and read, like a girl. I remember when I was small you told me it was just because they are jealous, but it seemed to me now magic is only a trick to the mind, and nothing practical. Is there something wrong with me you couldn't tell me? Is it because I am just born different, or…'

'Or what?' Thor tired to look over Hela's shoulder to get a closer look.

'That's it. Its not finished.'

'Let me have a look-'

'Uncle!'

Thor had grabbed the parchment with too much force, crumbling it to fine dust.

'Oh, sorry.'

Hela face palmed and fixed the letter back together.

'There must be something here Loki used as a portal that teleported him to places. Don't touch anything though, uncle. We do not need any more accidents.'

But Thor was already inspecting miniature animal figures on a shelf, poking at a gold unicorn.

Hela sighed and started feeling the walls for any more secret passages, but she went a full circle and found nothing.

'Put that down uncle!' She cried out when she saw Thor pick up a delicate looking round-bottom flask.

'But it's empty!'

'Put, it, down!' She hissed each word slowly.

Thor dropped it back on the table a little bit too quickly, making it roll across the surface and knock another bottle onto the floor with a crack.

'Uncle!' Hela rushed over and pushed Thor away from the table, in case the bottle contained something explosive or toxic. A sweet scent wafted past her, smelling of roses, cinnamon, ink, and honey all at once. Nothing exploded.

'What is that?'

Hela crouched down next to the dark liquid spilt on the floor. It didn't look like anything she ever saw before. Maybe a rare potion. She magically fixed the bottle.

A brown label on the side of the bottle read: Mirror.

Of course.

She's being so stupid.

'Uncle, step back.'

Thor scrambled a good few meters away.

Hela raised her hand. The liquid rose slowly off the ground. She gathered it up into a ball in the air.

'What are you doing?' Thor asked.

'Watch.'

Hela swung her arms and the ball smashed into the mirror. But instead of dripping down, the blackness spread across like ink in water.

'Show me Jotunheim.' Hela ordered.

Nothing changed.

'Show, me, Jotunheim.' She repeated.

The mirror finally seemed to understand and the darkness faded. Icy wind gusted through, brushing a lock of Hela's hair into her eyes. Frost danced across the walls and floor. The light from the tree dimmed and turned blue.

'How-' Thor gasped.

'Mirror magic.' Hela stepped closer and reached her hand out carefully, but it passed through like reaching out of a normal window. The freezing air on the other side immediately made her hand numb. 'An extremely rare practice.'

Beyond the golden frame was the dark cold world of the Ice Giants.

OOO

The Bifrost was soaked in blood and littered with armor and flesh, making Elixir feel sick.

The Asgardians stayed a good few arm lengths (dragon arm lengths) away. They stared up at him with awe and fear. Then the crowd suddenly parted and kneeled. The king cut through, his staff knocking against the ground.

He stopped directly beneath him. His one eye glaring with what seemed to be disgust, making Elixir take a timid step back.

Odin swung his staff. Golden chains of light shot towards Elixir, binding him. Elixir growled and lashed his tail out. The chains started to burn into him. Pain and numbness attacking him all at once, forcing him to change. He was temporarily blinded, and when he reopened his eyes, the All Father loomed over him.

'You.' The All Father breathed, as if that summed up everything about Elixir.

Elixir hissed as the chain continued to tighten around him, cutting into his skin.

'Foul creature, you dare to trespass Asgard when you are told not to!' Odin's voice boomed across the bridge. Some of the soldiers covered their ears.

He tried to retort, but his voice came out strangled.

'What.'

The chain around his neck loosened just a bit, but it's enough.

'To Hel monster…' Elixir growled.

OOO

A plan was made. Even though they were still unsure what the machine is actually for, it's up to no good. Wanda would distract the Chitari and take them further away while the agents disable the machine.

Distraction was a total understatement of what Scarlet Witch can do, or more like an insult. She could totally do these two herself.

But orders are orders.

Slithers of red slipped out of her hands and headed for the Chitari. And then she saw alien things.

Cosmos, ships, rocks floating, Chitari staff, Thanos, Jotunheim, blood, Midgard -

Of course! She could figure out what they were planning.

Lava, explosion, death, ash, death, dark, death, cold, death, victory-

The already overdue super volcano thingy. For once, Wanda's glad she actually remembered something from Bruce and Tony's blablings.

The lava pool under Yellow Stone, enough to make the entire United States go up in flames and throw tons of ashes into the air, blocking out sunlight from the whole planet. If the drill is long enough, t would only be a matter of time before the drill is too much for the pressure of the pool-

'What's taking so long?' The agent nudged her and whispered.

Wanda slapped him to shut him up and closed her eyes.

Hmm, the forest on the other side seemed more interesting, doesn't it?

The Chitari soldiers lowered their guns as one and together disappeared through the trees on the opposite.

'Go, go!' Coulson cued the agents. They slipped down the crater and started working on disabling the drill.

Wanda stayed behind in the trees, still distracting the Chitari.

Oh, look, butterfly. Wait, bear. No, squirrel. Nuts. Leaves. Air. Oxygen-

'This is no use!' One of the agents cried out. 'The metal is unbreakable!'

'There must be someway of disabling.' Coulson encouraged.

There were more zaps of lasers and screwdrivers. Hardly a scratch was made.

'Guys, back off.' Wanda muttered as she rolled her eyes. In the end, she would still have to do everything.

All the agents immediately retreated.

The ground suddenly rumbled, like a muffled roar.

Wanda had to temporarily release her grip on the Chitari's minds and tore the machine open with a wave of red to reveal some mechanism. She then grabbed what seemed to be the heart of the machine and tore it out. The whirling and rumbling stopped.

The agents cheered, but the victory was too temporary.

Flashes of light rained down on them, flinging dirt into the air. Some of the agents flew through the air, dead before they touched the ground. Wanda screamed and pushed the Chitari back into the trees with a wave.

'Go!' She shouted at the dumb folded agents, who quickly scrambled out of the crater and past her to the Quinjet.

Wanda made a shield to block the energy blasts and she too retreated through the forest. Something black came flying towards her, and exploded into light.

'Flash grenade!' Someone yelled.

Wanda tried to shield her eyes from the blinding light, only to fall onto her back.

'Wanda!' Coulson shouted.

She got back on her feet and, not bothering to make a shield anymore, fled for the Quinjet.

But the Chitari will destroy it if they reach close enough-

Wanda sent some energy towards the staring buffalo herd nearby.

Mow down the aliens! They are taking over your land!

The herd snorted with anger and, as one, charged towards them, pounding on the ground. Wanda quickly hit the ground and curled up into a ball, praying not to get stomped as hooves pounded and kicked around her.

When the herd past, Wanda looked up to see the squadron of Chitari flattened into the ground, with limbs sticking out.

'Ew.' She muttered.

'Wanda!' Coulson shouted again and he rushed towards her. 'Are you alright?'

'I think I am getting sick.'

'So do I.' Coulson wrinkled his nose at the carnage. 'Let's go collect the others.'

OOO

Well, Elixir expected things to go a lot worse than being thrown into a bright, spacious cell.

Though, the hairy caveman opposite was really putting him off as it repeatedly forgot about the glass and smashed again and again, the rhythmic thumping echoing through the hall, making the other prisoners also desperately trying to stay sane.

Elixir sighed and rubbed the places where bruises had formed because of the chain, now thankfully gone. He expected to be executed on the spot.

Why keep him alive?

Footsteps came by. Three men and a woman stopped in front of his cell. For a long moment, they stared at each other.

'Of what realm are you from?' The woman asked sharply.

'Nowhere.'

'Then why would the King keep you here?'

'Now now Sif.' Said the blond one. 'Asking questions like this is not going to make any more sense.'

'You be quiet Fandral. I am the one doing the interrogation.'

'Fandral is right.' said the one with black hair and a passive expression. 'We should start by introducing ourselves.'

'I am hungry.' muttered the one with a large beard as he swung his axe around.

None of his other friends paid him attention.

'Fine then.' The woman huffed. 'I am Sif of Asgard, and these are the warrior three, Fandral,' She pointed at the blond one. 'Volstagg,' She pointed at the hungry one. 'And Hogun.' She pointed at the last one. 'We are friends of Thor.'

'So you know Loki then?' Elixir asked.

Sif stiffened, as if unable to come up with something to say, but Fandral saved her.

'So how did you know him?'

'Met him a few months ago.'

The group looked puzzled.

'He's dead.' Hogun said in a deapan voice.

So these people don't know then. Elixir thought. Should I tell them?

'Maybe you met another person called Loki.' Fandral said cheerily. 'What's he like?'

The others seemed to catch on with something and nodded encouragingly.

'Well,' Elixir started, unaware what was actually happening. 'He uses magic, and potions and stuff. He likes the colour green. He liked using spears and knives…'

Some of their expressions started to falter. Only Fandral continued to smile and nod.

'Where's he from?' He asked.

'I met him in Jotunheim.'

Sif's face turned into a scowl.

'Impossible! Loki was killed in the land of the Dark Elves.'

'Well, believe it or not, he survived.' Elixir said indignantly. 'And now he's back in Jotunheim.'

'Isn't that place taken over by Thanos?' Hogun raised an eyebrow.

'That's why Hela and Thor came to see if there's any other way to go to Jotunheim other than the Bifrost. They are rescuing-'

'Thor is here?' Volstagg cried out.

'Well, if the hole in the wall is true than maybe they are now in Jotunheim-'

'Come on, we need to find Thor.' Sif beckoned to the trio.

'But wait Sif,' Fandral grabbed her arm. 'If Thor didn't want any of us to know, there must be a reason.'

'Whose this Hela?' Hogun asked.

'Why? You don't know Lady Hela?'

'No.' the group all shook their head.

'Goddess of the Death.'

A few of their mouths dropped.

'What does a Goddess of Death have to do with Loki?' Sif snapped.

'You guys really don't keep up, do you?' Elixir crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

'Don't you mock us!' Volstagg shouted.

'She's Loki's daughter.'

Volstagg dropped his axe in shock. A poor stone tile cracked in half.

'What?'

'Right, anymore stupid questions?' Elixir muttered. 'I would rather savour my last hours in peace.'

'Last?'

'What do you expect some thing like me to be treated? Welcomed? Celebrated? They will have my head severed if it keeps me dead.'

'Guards!' Fandral suddenly cried out, making his companions stare at him with most horror and confusion. 'Release this prisoner! It is under the order of the King!'

'It is?' Volstagg blinked.

'No, but it always works.' Fandral whispered.

The cavemen behind them crashed into the glass one last time, spun around in a dizzy circle and fell flat on its face.

OOO

Sif knew this child is playing with them. Loki couldn't be alive. Thor said Loki died in his arms.

But what if he lied?

Why would he lie?

OOO

Thor sneezed.

'Are you alright uncle?'

'I am fine. But-' He eyed Hela's thin shirt and trousers suspiciously. 'Aren't you cold?'

'No,' Hela answered cryptically, turned and continued to trudge through the snow in the direction of the palace. 'Sometimes the realm of the Dead is colder.'