Author's Note: Well it has certainly taken me long enough. On to chapter 81! Loki LOVER- I am glad you are hooked. Hopefully I didn't lose you in the terribly long hiatus I took. Khaleesi Cosima Quinn- Hopefully you continue to like where this is going. Mimilover10- I am glad you stuck with it despite Loki's stupidity of cheating. I cannot promise a happy ending, but I can promise that at the very least it will be a hopeful ending. I don't wish to mess with movie cannon too much, so I fear "and they both lived happily ever after" won't be the final lines of the final chapter, but I don't wish to write a total tragedy either. fireelfmaiden1- I am back again, and I hope to have the next chapter out in a much more timely manner this time! mybonded- Glad you loved the last chapter, hopefully you will like this one too!
Sigyn was pulled out of the dark void of unconsciousness by a loud ringing in her ears. She turned her head so that her cheek rested against the cold stone slab beneath her and opened her eyes. It was a moment before her eyes could adjust to her surroundings, but she immediately recognized that she was no longer in the clearing with the men who had abducted her. She pushed herself up to a sitting position so she could get a better look at the room she now found herself in. It was a rather small chamber with no windows, and instead of a door there was a large archway that led in and out of the room. It was dimly lit by several torches, but there was no mistaking that the entire chamber, including the table-like object she was currently sitting on, was made of the same black smooth stone. It was so polished that Sigyn thought she might see her own reflection off of it. Certain that she had seen everything there was to see in this bare room, Sigyn slipped her feet off of the table and tried to stand. Her legs felt wobbly however, and she almost collapsed to the ground.
"You should not over-exert yourself Princess. Your body has not fully recovered from your encounter in the sacrificial clearing." Hel stated as she materialized from the darkness that lay beyond the archway.
Sigyn gripped on tighter to the stone table as the strange woman approached. She was helpless to do anything but stand there as her long-time stalker drew closer and closer.
"Where am I?" Sigyn demanded calmly.
"Do you not wish to know who I am first?"
"I already know who you are." Sigyn determined.
"Then you already know where you are." Hel answered, a smile playing at the corner of her mouth.
"Nifleheim?" Sigyn whispered unbelievingly.
Hel nodded.
"Then I… I'm…"
"You are not dead." Hel assured.
"Then how did I come to be here?"
"I brought you of course."
Sigyn took in a shuddering breath.
"Why?"
"Because there was nowhere else I could take you."
"Nowhere else you could take me!? You could have taken me back to my husband!"
"Loki? So you assume he is alive. Did you consider that perhaps I couldn't take you to him because he had been killed?"
Sigyn's heart skipped a beat. She hadn't taken it into consideration that Loki may have been killed, but something in the way Hel proposed the idea seemed to suggest that he hadn't been.
"I did not take that idea into consideration, but something tells me that I needn't worry about Loki's fate."
Hel's smirk became more pronounced.
"Your instincts serve you well, but what purpose could returning you to your husband's side have served? The Council would only have tried to seek your life again if I had done so."
"The Council... you mean to tell me those men worked for the War Council?"
"Of course, who else would want you dead?"
Odin…
"It is just that Loki knew who those men were, and he said they didn't work for the War Council."
"Indeed, the Council did a fine job of making it appear that way."
"They certainly went through a lot of effort to frame someone for my kidnap and murder then..."
"More than you know Lady Sigyn. The cloaks were a necessity to be sure, but they went as far as to stage a sacrificial killing to implicate all of it as an act of revenge against Loki."
It would explain why her captors had given her some sort of potion to numb her to the pain of a dagger splitting through her chest. The War Council wouldn't have needed to cause her pain; they just would have needed to get her out of the way. Giving her the potion would certainly have been an oddly merciful thing for her captors to do if they had been from some group that seemingly wanted revenge on Loki, but it could still be explained. If they viewed their quarrel as being solely with Loki then perhaps they hadn't seen any point in causing her physical pain. Loki wouldn't have been there to witness it after all. Then again she had seen Odin's Raven's flying above the clearing hadn't she? Perhaps they weren't his after all? None of this was making much sense…
"It all seems rather unnecessary. Why kill me and not kill Loki?"
"Because they still need Loki. Yes, he is a threat to them, but with the right encouragement he is also a valuable tool to the War Council and Odin."
"Then why kill me? The threat of harming me would surely have been enough to pressure Loki back into the services of the War Council."
"That may be true, but the War Council didn't like that Loki cared more about you than his work for them. As long as you were alive Loki would always place you before his missions. In your death however, the War Council believes they will be able to give him motivation to rejoin them. They have the ability to give him support in killing those he believes to be responsible for your death. Fortunately for Odin he also needed you dead, because he was in no position to upset the members of the War Council by blocking their decided upon course of action."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that Odin wanted you dead, possibly more than the War Council."
"Yes, I thought as much, though I still don't see why Odin fears telling Loki of his true birth. What I don't understand is why Odin was in no position to stand up to the War Council. He is their leader is he not?"
"The AllFather is the War Council's leader only by title. Asgard is not as peaceful as its leaders would have you believe. The balance of power is shifting from Odin to his ambitious nobles, which could spell danger for Asgard's soon to be new king."
Loki had never stated it as bluntly as Hel just had, but he had given Sigyn some indication that there were dangerous workings going on in the Realm.
"Which is why the War Council is so desperate to reign Loki back in before Thor takes the throne." Sigyn concluded.
"They need him, but what they don't realize is that Loki could easily become the very threat that they wish to eliminate."
"How so? He would never do anything to harm his brother!"
"Perhaps not intentionally, but even the best laid plans can go awry. Just ask the men who abducted you…"
"There is a lot I would like to ask them."
"I am sure there is, unfortunately that will be impossible since they are dead."
Sigyn guessed she shouldn't be too surprised.
"You killed them."
"No, My Lady, you killed them."
Sigyn's knees went weak again, so she grabbed on even tighter to the edge of the table.
"You're lying. I couldn't have killed them…"
"Of course you could have. You wanted them all to die didn't you?"
"I… In that moment I did, but that doesn't matter! You can't kill someone by merely willing them to die."
"Oh, but you can." Hel replied as she took a step closer to Sigyn. "You have that power and more…"
"I am not certain how you could have watched me for so long and come to that conclusion. Loki is the one with inexplicable powers, not me."
"You are only partially correct I fear, for you see, your powers are very explicable."
Sigyn could sense her patience slipping away.
"Enough about these so called powers, they don't exist. Now return me to Asgard, or I will find a way there myself!" She commanded.
"I will not be returning you to Asgard, nor will you be leaving."
Sigyn's temper finally flared, and she pushed off of the table.
"You cannot keep me here!"
"I think you will find that I can."
Sigyn took a shaky step away from the table and walked carefully past Hel. The strange woman didn't even try to stop her as she made her way to the archway. Sigyn tried to quicken her steps, but the swift rush of energy that had accompanied her anger ran out. She went to her knees and tried to keep a bout of dizziness at bay. She could sense Hel approaching from behind, and she shuddered as the woman placed her normal hand on her shoulder.
"I warned you not to over-exert yourself. Awakening the gem took more out of you than I had expected."
"Awakening the gem… what gem? What are you talking about?" Sigyn managed to ask as she struggled to her feet while holding on to the archway for balance.
"The gem you wear now, the one you found on your honeymoon…"
"I didn't find it. Loki gave it to me."
"In another life he did, but not this one. This time I left it for you to find."
Sigyn's eyelids suddenly felt rather heavy, but she fought off her exhaustion.
"Special powers, awakening gems, other lives… you are insane."
"One would think I would be after spending well over half of my life serving Death, but no, I have managed to retain my sanity even after all of these years. You are just unwilling to fully accept what your heart already knows to be true."
"And what would you know about my heart?" Sigyn inquired hoping to distract herself from the fog overtaking her mind.
"I know it is fiercely loyal and kind… kinder than most."
"Flattery will get you nowhere with me Hel. I still expect you to take me back to Asgard."
"I cannot do that. I need you, so you will remain here."
"Need me? What possible use c-could you have for me?"
Sigyn's entire body was beginning to feel heavier by the moment, and she could feel her grip on the archway loosening.
"The power of your gem and your loyalty to Loki, Sigyn. I have great use for those things. In time I will explain that use to you, but for now you should rest."
Hel seemed to look past the archway into whatever room or hall lay beyond, and Sigyn felt a pair of strong hands lift her off of her feet. She wanted to strike out against the man who had picked her up, but she was unable to. Instead, her body went limp and her world faded back to black.
Sigyn could feel her hair being softly brushed away from her face followed by a hand being placed on her cheek. A soft thumb began to stroke her cheek, and the familiar scent of her husband greeted her as her eyes slowly began to shake off her slumber.
"Loki?" She whispered, slightly unbelievingly.
This wouldn't be the first time she had awoken from a dream believing her husband to be there only to find their bedroom empty.
"Yes, My Love?"
"You've returned."
"I always do, don't I?"
Sigyn's eyes flickered away from his in uncertainty. Yes, he had always returned in his own time, but what if one day he never did. It was a reality she lived in constant fear of.
"Do you doubt me, My Love? Do you fear that one day I will leave you never to return?" Loki asked, a small smile gracing his countenance.
"Yes." She answered honestly.
"Sigyn, oh My Sigyn, do you truly believe I would go to such extraordinary lengths to gain your hand only to toss you off to the side? I did not face banishment to merely acquire a play thing." He assured her as he let his hand run from her cheek down to her clavicle bone. "You are my wife, the one woman I love. I will always return to you."
Sigyn wanted to believe him, she truly did, but she knew Loki's nature all too well to accept his words at face value.
"I know you would have your words act as a balm, but your reputation precedes you, My Lord. I fear I cannot trust anything you say."
"If you did I would think you a fool." Loki admitted. "So if my words are not to be trusted, trust my actions. What I do is far more reliable."
He slipped Sigyn's nightdress off of one shoulder and kissed the area tenderly. Sigyn wanted nothing more than to melt under his touch, but she knew that she should still be rather cross with him. Instead of giving in to his advances, she sat silently in their bed wishing him to give her some time to brood over his latest disappearing act. Her silent wishing seemed to work, because Loki drew back looking ever so slightly defeated.
"Before I get carried away, I do have something for you." He tried.
Loki rose from the side of the bed and went over to the chair he had tossed his cloak on. He picked up what appeared to be a small package, and returned to the bedside.
"I found this during my little journey, and I thought you might like it." He explained as he handed it to her.
Sigyn took it reluctantly. She stared down at it undecidedly for a moment. Should she give him the satisfaction of accepting his peace offering? It couldn't hurt to at least open it she determined. She carefully tore open the brown paper to reveal a beautiful green pendent on a golden chain. Her breath hitched in her throat, and her eyes widened at the stunning gift.
"It is beautiful." Sigyn uttered under her breath.
Loki took the necklace from its wrappings, and slipped it on over Sigyn's head. She fingered it lightly. She was still cross with him, so she didn't really want to accept the necklace, but she could also sense that this was the only way Loki knew how to try and reconcile with her. She couldn't stay mad at him forever she supposed… though he didn't need to know that just yet.
"Thank you, it was a very thoughtful gift." Sigyn thanked a tad grudgingly. "Now if you will excuse me, I should go check on Váli. He is likely to wake soon, and he will be hungry when he does."
"Let me go to him." Loki requested.
Sigyn looked at him incredulously.
"No, I will see to him. He probably won't recognize you, which will upset him." Sigyn excused before rising from the bed.
Loki rose as well, and blocked Sigyn from being able to reach the door.
"I will not upset him." He tried to assure her.
Sigyn looked into her husband's piercing green eyes, and could see nothing but hopefulness in them.
"You may come with me, but I will not allow you to go to him by yourself." She relented.
Sigyn could see a look of slight disappointment in Loki's eyes, but he followed her without complaint to their son's chamber. Váli was just beginning to rouse as they quietly slipped into the room. Sigyn gently took Váli from his crib, and he began to fuss. She shushed him gently and went to sit down in the only chair in the room. She tried to ignore Loki's intense gaze as she threw a small blanket over her shoulder to cover the child as she fed him. The room was quiet except for the sound of Váli's suckling. Sigyn would sneak a glance at Loki every so often, and she could see that some unknown train of thought preoccupied his mind. Sigyn rose from the chair once she had finished feeding Váli and approached Loki.
"Would you care to hold him?" She asked.
Loki nodded and Sigyn held Váli out to him. It was not difficult for her to sense Loki's apprehension as she placed Váli into his arms. Both his and Vali's green eyes seemed locked in a shared sense of confusion. Sigyn brushed a finger against Váli's cheek in a reassuring manner.
"Say hello to your father, I'm sure you don't remember him." She cooed.
Váli continued to stare up curiously, but Loki looked to Sigyn.
"Is he frightened of me?" Loki asked.
"No, he is just trying to formulate his opinion about you." She assured.
Loki looked back down at his son, and nervously tried to brush his little hand. Váli managed to grab on to Loki's finger and began to smile up at him. Sigyn kept her eyes fixed on their son resting in Loki's arms, but she could feel her husband transfer his gaze to her. His sheer excitement that his son had smiled at him seemed to radiate off of his naturally cold body, and it caused Sigyn to smile. Why couldn't things be like this all the time? What she would give for their little family to be like any other family…
Loki looked back down at Váli holding on to his finger. Váli's hand was turning a faint shade of blue, and Loki's hand was beginning to take on a darker shade of blue. Sigyn watched calmly as her husband's true form showed itself. It wasn't something she saw often, but seeing his Frost Giant heritage shine through had stopped surprising her long ago. She softly bopped Váli on the nose and he tried to grab her finger with his free hand.
"When will we tell him?" Loki asked, giving Sigyn a serious look.
Sigyn glanced from their son back to her husband.
"I suppose we could tell him now, though I doubt he would remember it." Sigyn teased.
"Sigyn, please. He will eventually have to be told what he is."
"Yes, eventually he will. There is no need to worry about it now however. When the time is right we will tell him."
"And how will we know when the time is right?" Loki asked, placing Váli back in her arms.
Sigyn returned Váli to his crib and watched as he closed his eyes.
"I'll just know." She answered softly.
"You will know?"
"Don't pretend that you will be the one here to tell him." Sigyn stated, looking over her shoulder at Loki.
Loki looked as if he would like to deny her accusation, but he was unable to do so. Instead, he came to stand next to her and turned her to face him fully. He didn't speak at first he simply studied her face. Sigyn could see that there was something important weighing on Loki's mind, but she couldn't be certain if it had anything to do with one day having to tell their son that he was part Frost Giant or not.
"I entrust so many important things to you, Sigyn." He finally remarked in a gentle tone. "More than you even know. The raising of our son, the management of the estate…"
Loki paused and placed his hand thoughtfully on the pendant he had given her. Sigyn thought he might add to his list, but he seemed to alter his train of thought.
"It isn't fair to you, but surely you must understand why I am forced to do so."
"No, Loki, I don't understand. We should be doing these things together, but you choose to run off and leave me to fend for myself."
"Fend for yourself? I provide for you Sigyn, even when I am not physically here, and my absence gives you far more protection than my presence ever could."
"Protection from what!? Why must you always mix yourself up in the affairs of a Realm that has banished you… that has banished us?"
"It's my nature Sigyn. I cannot help myself."
"And what happens when you finally go too far? What then Loki?"
"I will never go too far, I'm too careful for that."
"I wish I shared your confidence." Sigyn remarked, while pulling away from Loki.
Despite Loki's self-assuredness, Sigyn knew that one day her husband would cross the line, and she only hoped that she and their son wouldn't be forced to pay the price for his misdeeds. In her heart though, she knew that it was a hollow hope.
The heaviness of her soul stayed with Sigyn when she awoke. It was a haunting feeling that she couldn't seem to shake as she tried to grapple with her current predicament. She was no longer in the room where she had seen Hel, but a bedroom. The furnishings were all made of what appeared to be gold, but the rest of the room was made of the same smooth black stone as the other room she had originally awoken in. She managed to sit up with far less difficulty than she had before, so she carefully slid off of the bed. The unspeakable weakness she had felt earlier was gone, leaving only a slight shakiness behind it. She walked over to the large double doors that acted as the only entrance or exit to the room and pulled on the cold stone handles. Nothing. The doors didn't even budge. She tried pulling again only to achieve the same result. There was no lock on the inside, so it seemed most likely that the doors were either sealed magically or simply too heavy for her to open. There were no windows in the room, so for the time being Sigyn had to accept the fact that she was trapped. She walked about the rather large room and studied her fairly bare surroundings before sitting in one of the chairs. The furnishings were grand, to be sure, but cold. It was hardly a welcoming place to find yourself in, but Sigyn wasn't surprised. It was Nifleheim after all. Unable to do anything but wait for Hel's inevitable visit, Sigyn sat silently fiddling with her necklace.
Could what Hel had said about the pendant be true?
Did it possess some sort of strange power?
It seemed like a fantastical idea, but she was currently sitting in the Realm of the dead, which only a day ago would have seemed like a fantastical idea to her as well. Hel claimed that she was the one responsible for leaving her the pendant, not Loki. As much as Sigyn didn't want to admit it, that could very well have been true. Loki had been doing something by that pillar, but she had always just assumed he had been hiding the necklace there for her to find. Now that she thought back to it though, something about Loki's reaction to her finding the pendant didn't sit right. He had seemed confused by the whole thing. Surely he would have been smugger with himself over her reaction than he had been if he had left the pendant there for her as a surprise. If Loki had been speaking with Hel there moments earlier however, it would explain why he had acted so strange.
Still, even if Hel were telling the truth about leaving the necklace there for her, that didn't mean that her other claims were true. There was no proof whatsoever that the green gem around her neck possessed any magical powers. Surely if there was anything mystical about this piece of jewelry she or Loki would have discovered it years ago. Even as she came to that conclusion, Loki's face right before they were attacked at the estate flashed into her mind.
"Are you satisfied that there isn't anyone here Sigyn?"
"No, something isn't right, I can feel it."
"You're just tired is all…"
Loki had stopped talking then and had instead fixated his gaze on her necklace.
"Is something the matter, Loki?"
"No, no. Everything is fine. I thought… my eyes are playing tricks on me. I suppose I could use a little more sleep as well."
Sigyn had known that smile however. Something had startled Loki, and he had tried to cover it up. There had been nothing out of the ordinary when she looked down at the necklace then, and there didn't seem to be anything particularly remarkable about it as she looked at it now.
"You still doubt what I have told you." Hel commented, causing Sigyn to look up.
She hadn't heard the strange woman enter the room, but she was glad that Hel hadn't kept her waiting for long.
"Did you honestly think I would just accept your word for it without the slightest trace of trepidation? Unfortunately what little I know to be true, while not enough to substantiate your claims, isn't enough for me to completely disregard what you have told me as total rubbish either."
"No, you are married to Loki. I doubt you take anyone at their word, especially his daughter."
"His daughter? You actually believe you are Loki's daughter? You truly are insane. Need I remind you that you are older than Loki?"
"I did not say he fathered me during this cycle."
"During this cycle, what is that even supposed to mean?"
"The Nine Realms are in a constant cycle of creation, destruction, and rebirth, Sigyn. You know this. You've read the Prose Edda."
"They are just stories." Sigyn protested.
"You haven't always believed that." Hel reminded.
Sigyn rose in frustration.
"I was young and desperate for answers!"
"But you were right. Those stories were not just tales filled with coincidences to the world you knew. The nightmares that filled both you and Loki's sleeping minds were not nightmares at all, but memories of a past life. If you doubt me then how do you explain the sealed room at the estate, your journal, Loki's note, and the chains in the cave?"
"They are nothing more than your machinations. You clearly possess powers that I cannot explain, and you've already admitted that you wish to use me for some unknown purpose. These things were merely created by you so you could feed me this fantastical story in an attempt to manipulate me into helping you."
"You flatter me with the amount of power and planning you seem to believe I possess, but you know that such an elaborate scheme would have been highly impractical. It is true I have need of you, but we both know that I could have simply taken you ages ago and threatened those you loved if I had wished to coerce you."
"You are keeping me here against my will, I believe that falls under the definition of cohesion." Sigyn noted, her patience growing thin.
"If I return you to Asgard you will die, which does neither of us any good. I assure you that what I propose instead will be mutually beneficial."
"And if I reject your proposal, what then?"
"Seeing as you won't even listen to my proposition, I do not know."
Sigyn balled her fists in frustration, but sat back down.
"Fine, then tell me your so called proposal. Once I refuse to accept it you can return me to Asgard."
Hel gave another one of her half smiles and sat down across from Sigyn. Sigyn couldn't help but wonder if the deathly side of Hel's face even had the capability of smiling.
"To understand my proposal you must first understand how I came to be here. That means you will have to suspend your disbelief in my parentage for a few minutes. Are you capable of that?"
"I will let you tell your story without interrupting it with doubtful remarks, I can promise no more."
"Then that will suffice. In the epoch before the one we find ourselves now, I was the only daughter of the three children conceived between Loki and his mistress, Angrboda. The leaders of the other Realms saw us as a threat, but none feared us more than Odin. He set soldiers upon our mother and us on Jotunheim. Loki attempted to come to our aid, but I was the only one he was able to rescue. My mother was killed and my brothers taken away and banished. Loki then took me to the one person he believed might take me in: you. I cannot imagine how he convinced you to do it, but you offered me a place in your home alongside you and Loki's two sons. From that point on you were my mother. You never allowed the Asgardians to look down upon me. If they even mentioned my tarnished reputation as the daughter of Loki's mistress you were quick to step in and defend me. Never had I been treated with such kindness and love by anyone. Odin however, still feared me. He waited patiently for an opportunity to cast me out of Asgard permanently. It wasn't till Loki brought about Baldr's death that Odin was finally able to take me away and banish me here to Hel. In sending me here he was forced to pay a price however. Yes, I have been cursed. I am forced to serve Death, but I am the Queen of this Realm. All those who manage to enter it alive abandon all rights, and entering it is no easy task. Not even Heimdall with all his vision can see into my domain. I can kill with merely a glance while in my kingdom, and as long as I am Nifleheim's ruler none can kill me that are below my station. On the other hand, when I leave this Realm I can do nothing but take in the souls of the dead as Death commands. I cannot harm those living that are not yet marked to die. Where that possible, Odin would have been dead long ago. I digress however; the night Loki was bound to the rocks is the night Odin assured the ending of the age. You gave your life so that Loki could seek revenge on those who had destroyed your family. Loki took the necklace that he had entrusted to you hundreds of years previously, the very same necklace you wear now, and gave it to me. He instructed me to use it to collect the souls of the dead instead of ushering the souls here. In doing so I strengthened its power to unspeakable levels, while Loki set about turning the Realms against one another. Once the stage was set I returned the stone to him so he could unleash the power of the gem on Asgard, bringing it to a fiery end. The other Realms collapsed alongside of it, and Ragnarok was complete. Not all those involved perished however. Those that survived the rebirth of the Realms were responsible for the Prose Edda you were once so fond of studying. I returned here to Hel, bound to my fate as its ruler. I had retrieved the stone from my father's corpse, and held onto it. It went silent after Ragnarok, and I did not awaken it. I no longer gathered the souls of the dead as I was supposed to, but instead let Death's other servants take them or allowed them to wander. I merely waited. Waited for you and Loki to be reborn. It took thousands of years for my patience to be rewarded, but your arrival only signaled more waiting. I knew that I would return the gem to you when the time was right so that you could free me from my cursed life, and now the time has come. You have reawakened the stone."
Hel's story was more than Sigyn could seem to process at the moment, so she asked the first question that came to her mind.
"What do you mean reawakened?"
"The gem around your neck is sentient, Sigyn. While asleep it can do no harm, but you awakened it in the sacrificial clearing. You gave it the one thing it desires: the souls of the living. Now that you have awoken it, it will not stop calling out for the very thing that gives it power. If you fail to quench its need for souls it will begin to slowly take yours. While its demands are brutal, it does offer some reward. Its power will be yours to control as long as you possess it. The power to protect your friends, your family, and Loki."
"And why exactly do they need my protection?"
"Because the end is coming. Loki is always cited as being the cause for Ragnarok, it is his inescapable fate, but I think you are truly the one to blame. He may bring about the ending of the Nine Realms, but you are the reason why. It is when he loses you that he begins to set in motion the events that will destroy everything. He has lost you again, so it will not be long before he sets off down his destructive path."
"By that logic it is a path that could be avoided if you would but return me to him!"
"As I have already pointed out, those that sought to kill you would only do so again. Losing you a second time would not deter Loki from his predetermined fate. Besides, even if your enemies didn't kill you, the gem would. You don't strike me as a woman who would sneak around killing innocent people in order to keep the gem from slowly stealing her own soul. It would be different if gathering the souls was your job however…"
"My job!?"
"I can offer you this Realm and its duties. If you were Queen of Nifleheim you would be able to gain the power necessary to support your husband when the time came for the final battle of Ragnarok, while still not having to resort to murder to keep yourself alive."
"If I believed what you are saying, then I would have to also believe that this offer was a trap. You said yourself that you were bound to Nifleheim, so you cannot possibly offer it to me."
"I am bound to it while I am alive. I cannot die by any means except at the hand of someone who ranks above me in the celestial order."
"So, correct me if I am wrong, you would be asking me to kill you?"
"I am."
"I am not certain how this celestial order you speak of works, but I am certain that a Princess ranks below a Queen in any order."
"But you are not just a Princess, you wield one of the Infinity Stones. That gives you more power than I have. You could kill me… you could free me."
"I will do no such thing. Even if I did believe what you have told me, I would be incapable of willfully killing you."
Hel closed her eyes meditatively for a moment before speaking.
"You would let me live a cursed existence even though it is my express wish to die?"
"Why do you even wish that? You are the ruler of an entire Realm. You live in peace…"
"I live alone. I am bound to spend eternity here should no one kill me and take my place. What kind of life is that? ... It isn't one."
"Yet you would push that life on to me."
"No, it would be different for you. You have things to live for outside of this Realm, I no longer do. Those that once mattered to me no longer remember me, even you. I have been abandoned and forgotten. Death would be a mercy to me."
Sigyn couldn't bring herself to look at Hel. The woman was clearly mad, but a small part of Sigyn couldn't help but feel sorry for the strange being sitting across from her. Pity or not however, Sigyn needed to return to Asgard. She wasn't entirely sure how long she had been in Nifleheim for so far, but she was certain it was long enough to have put her husband into a tizzy.
"I have heard your proposal" she stated gently, "so I think it is time you returned me to Asgard."
"I never agreed to any such arrangement." Hel stated, while rising from her chair obviously disappointed.
"You cannot seriously plan on keeping me here against my will!" Sigyn answered in shock.
"I have no choice. I am doing this for your own protection." Hel returned as she headed for the double doors.
"Hel, this is madness. Keeping me here will not persuade me to change my mind."
"I would not be so sure about that…"
"Hella please!"
Hel stopped and looked over her shoulder.
"What did you just call me?"
It took Sigyn a moment to realize what she had just said.
"Hella…"
The mental image of a small child who looked half alive and half dead shyly coming out of a wardrobe flashed through Sigyn's mind, and she grabbed her head as a bout of dizziness overtook her.
"And you still insist that these visions are nothing more than that. Visions."
Sigyn couldn't respond. All she could think about was that little child Hel. She was frightened and embarrassed as she tried to hide her face. It broke Sigyn's heart despite the fact that she tried to convince herself that it wasn't real. It couldn't be real.
"You are more than welcome to go wherever you like while you are here. If you need anything let my servant Ganglati know, though do not expect that he will see to your needs quickly. It is nothing personal, but he is not the quickest of beings."
It was clear that Hel had no intention of returning her to Asgard, and if what Hel had said earlier about Heimdall was true, then no one knew where she was. Sigyn had only one hope if she could not escape Nifleheim on her own.
"Loki will come for me." She assured. "Loki will come for me…"
Hel didn't stop to acknowledge her statement however, and seemingly melted into the darkness of the hallway beyond the double doors. Sigyn ran into the dimly lit passage after her, but Hel was gone. Not wishing to sit in her room doing nothing, Sigyn began to walk along the corridor. If there were a way out of Nifleheim she would find it. The smooth dark stone that made up every surface of her room continued into the hallway, and her footsteps seemed deafeningly loud as each step she took reverberated off of it. The golden braziers that hung along the walls faintly lit her way along the passage till it opened up into a large room. Sigyn entered it cautiously, and looked around. There was a large golden chandelier that hung above the center of the room casting an eerie glow off of six giant pillars that where covered in golden embossed runes. There was a ring of embossed runes directly underneath the chandelier as well, and Sigyn went to stand in it after having inspected the pillar closest to her. These golden runes were the only things that broke up the black stone that Sigyn was positive made up the entirety of Hel's palace. Directly in front of Sigyn was a pair of stairs that led up to an elevated platform where a throne sat. Hel's seat of power seemed to have been carved from the very stone of the wall, and was lit by two ornately crafted golden braziers. Golden embossed runes created an arch over the throne, and there were golden inlays on the chair itself. Sigyn cautiously went up the steps to study the throne further. It was strangely beautiful in Sigyn's opinion, much like the woman who sat in it. A sudden urge to sit on the throne caused a chill to run up Sigyn's spine, and she quickly descended the steps and left the chamber. She returned to her room and paced about restlessly before determining to follow the passageway in the opposite direction. She found other rooms, but none as impressive as the throne room. She explored till she was too tired to explore anymore, and then made her way back to her bedroom. She curled up on the bed in defeat. There didn't seem to be any obvious way out of Nifleheim. She silently willed Heimdall to return her to Asgard, but if he heard her silent plea he simply ignored it. Sigyn attempted to sleep, but each time she closed her eyes she was haunted by the image of a dejected and frightened little Hel huddled behind a bush in a garden.
"Please don't send me away…I just wanted to pet it… I just wanted to pet it…" Hel sobbed over and over.
"Pet what, Hella?" Sigyn asked gently, coming to sit beside Hel.
"The dog. I wanted to pet the dog, but I killed it."
Sigyn looked around and saw the dog in question. Laying a few yards away from where Hel was hiding was the corpse of a small stray puppy that looked like it had died days ago though it couldn't have died more than a few minutes ago.
"What happened?" Sigyn asked gently.
"I heard him barking in the courtyard from my room, so I came out to play with him. He wanted me to pet him, so I did. I scratched him behind his ear and he liked it. He rolled over on his back, so I scratched his belly. I…I was just so happy that he wasn't scared…. Now he is dead!"
Hel hid her face in her hands, and Sigyn wrapped her arm around her shoulders making sure not to make contact with the deathly parts of Hel's skin.
"It was an accident, only an accident." Sigyn cooed.
"Why does everything I touch die?" Hel asked despondently.
"I don't know, Hella, I don't know. You just have to be a little more careful ok?"
Sigyn sighed and stroked Hel's hair comfortingly till her adoptive daughter's crying seemed to abate.
"I hurt everyone, that's why they all hate me." Hel stated in between sniffles.
"Give me your hand." Sigyn requested.
Hel placed her normal hand in Sigyn's, but Sigyn shook her head.
"Your other hand." She clarified.
Hel looked up at Sigyn in fear.
"But I will hurt you!"
"I will be fine." Sigyn insisted as she grabbed Hel's small dead-like hand.
Hel watched in horror as Sigyn's hand slowly took on a deathly shade of gray.
"Look at me Hella. I do not hate you. I love you very much, and so will your little brother."
"No you won't, not if I accidentally hurt him or you…" Hel answered somberly.
"Just remember that any hurt you can cause, you can heal." Sigyn reminded as she let go of Hel's deathly hand and grabbed onto her normal one.
Both Hel and Sigyn watched together as Sigyn's hand returned to its natural color, and then Sigyn walked her over to the dead puppy. She gave Hel a nod, and the little girl timidly reached out and placed her hand on the corpse. It took a moment, but the dead puppy slowly began to look alive once again. Hel gave a happy squeal as the puppy took its first breath. The puppy looked rather startled, and Sigyn couldn't blame the poor thing. Dying and coming back to life probably wasn't a usual occurrence in its little day-to-day life. Hel began to scratch the puppy behind the ear, and its little tail began to wag happily. Sigyn turned to leave the courtyard, but Hel stopped her.
"Where are you going?" She asked curiously.
"To set out some food and water for your new little friend."
Sigyn smiled as Hel's eyes lit up.
"He can stay?!"
"If he wants to."
Hel smiled excitedly and scooped up the puppy into her good arm before running to catch up with Sigyn.
"So, what will you name him?"
"Loki!"
Sigyn considered making Hel chose a different name, but then decided against it. Puppies were disobedient, always getting into trouble, and required lots of attention. That description fit her husband remarkably well.
"I think that name will fit him nicely." Sigyn answered as she lovingly bopped the puppy on the head.
