Chapter 11: Hel and Back Again
•£• Loki •£•
Loki looked around. The black walls seemed to extend forever, creating a sense of eternity. No gates or doors could be seen. Hel was not one of his favorite places to be. He personally felt being around dead people wouldn't be the best thing to do, and judging from the guardian of Hel, he was fairly sure it explained their eccentric behavior.
"Where are we?" Ian finally got up the courage to ask.
Loki lifted one eyebrow, staring at the young man who had grabbed onto him at the absolute last second as he was leaving Earth with Erik Selvig.
"I mean, like, is this where we were going?" Ian, uncomfortable with the extended silence from Loki, spoke up once more, clearly nervous.
"You came along, why?" Loki finally spoke.
"I, uh… I," Ian stammered.
"Give the boy a break, Loki. He's confused. Darcy left with you, then you show back up again, with no Darcy." Erik snapped at the King of Asgard.
"Yes, this was my intended destination," Loki finally answered Ian's question. "I am trying to save my brother."
Erik asked, "Where is Sif?"
Loki laughed. "I sent her back to Asgard." He knew the Lady Sif was angry with him right now, but he felt she was better off in Asgard than down here. He felt fairly sure Thanos would eat her alive if he saw her, and she had none of the abilities Katirya had.
"So, what do we do now?" Ian asked. "Just sit around and wait?"
"I am not a frequent visitor here…"
"Loki, what a pleasant surprise," A woman's voice purred from behind them. Loki was definitely not liking Hel at the moment.
He whirled to stare at the voluptuous woman standing there. She was tall, as tall as he was, with long fiery-red hair. She was barely dressed in a black velvet gown that hugged her curvaceous body, revealing much of it. Way too much if Ian's gaze was anything to go by.
"Hello, Hela. You are looking well." He finally spoke.
"As are you," Hela's gaze raked Loki's body, almost as if she wanted to devour him.
Loki laughed, "You certainly have not changed."
Hela pouted, "I hear congratulations are in order for your recent nuptials." She moved closer to him, placing her arms around his shoulders and pressing into his body to whisper softly in his ear, "and an heir. My, you work fast. You are always welcome to visit me, if you should become bored with your new bride."
Loki carefully extricated himself from Hela's embrace, pushing her away to arm's distance. "I shall try to remember that, but somehow I do not imagine myself becoming bored with Kiri."
Hela laughed huskily, "Yes, she is a bit of a firebrand, isn't she?"
"You know her?" Loki asked.
"I know of her. Beythran hasn't stopped talking about her since she arrived," Hela rolled her eyes.
Loki immediately thought of Frigga.
"No, she's not here." Hela spoke before he could even ask.
"Not here? Then Valhalla?" Loki asked hopefully.
"I do not have a clue, since I am not allowed out of here," Hela made a face, clearly unhappy with the situation. "So, why are you here?" She turned her attention on Erik and Ian. "And why are they here? They are not ready yet."
Loki threw back his head and laughed. "You make them sound like something you are cooking." His face sobered as he considered his true purpose for coming here. "But I was told to bring Erik here. Ian simply happened to come along for the ride. I am supposed to meet Thanos. Is he here?"
"No, he isn't." Hela pouted again. "He's not been around for quite some time. Why did he tell you to come here?"
"He has Thor," Loki let out a sigh. "I was hoping that he brought him here. As to why he wanted Erik…" he shrugged, "I do not have a clue. He also wanted me to bring Kiri, but I sent her off to Cartherion."
"How sweet of you, so thoughtful to keep your dear wife out of harm's way," Hela spoke sarcastically. "Although I am fairly sure she could stop Thanos without mussing a single strand of her gorgeous hair."
"Probably," Loki admitted, "but I feel better knowing she is nowhere near him. Now, about Thanos…"
"Well, he hasn't been here in quite some time," Hela replied sullenly, "and none of his minions have been around, either. You are the first live people I've seen in some time."
"Damn!" Loki felt like punching something, then noticed Hela was advancing on Ian. "Hela, leave him alone."
"As you wish," Hela shrugged her shoulders, turning her smoldering look on Erik. She changed directions crossing over to him; putting her hands on his shoulders she began to caress him. "How about leaving this one with me? He's almost ready. I could use a little fun."
Erik tried to step away from her, but was not able to. His feet seemed to be stuck.
"Hela let him go. You cannot have either one. At least not now. You said yourself that they weren't ready." Loki put his hand on Hela's shoulder, forcing her to turn around to face him. "Now, I need to find my brother. Thanos sent me here. You are certain he is not here?"
"I already told you, Thanos has not been here…"
"I do apologize for being late," Althanas' voice came from behind Loki.
Loki spun around to face him. "Where is my brother?"
"Patience. All in good time," Althanas looked around, noticing Erik and Ian. "But first, where is my daughter?"
"Kyrath took off with you." Loki reminded him.
"Not her, that girl is foolish. She is the reason I am late. I am talking about Katirya; you were instructed to bring her with, not that one," Althanas pointed to Ian. "Why is he here?"
"Why does everyone keep asking that?" Ian finally spoke up. "I came because I need to find Darcy."
"Darcy, Darcy…. Darcy?" Hela repeated the name, and then shrugged. "Sorry, she is not here either. But we have Althanas now. Will he suffice?"
Loki ignored her, "Katirya is not your daughter, and you know that. Now, where is my brother?"
"Since you failed to do as you were told, we shall have to punish you. I will take this one for now," Althanas pointed to Ian, "along with Selvig. At least you got that part right. Now go back, collect Katirya, and meet us in Niflheim. You have one hour to do so, otherwise they will be permanent residents of Niflheim."
"Oh, goody! New residents for Niflheim!" Hela crowed.
"Hela, they will NOT be staying!" Loki shouted. "Althanas!"
But, Althanas was gone, along with Erik and Ian.
~ß~ Katirya ~ß~
"So, where on Earth would they be?" Darcy asked.
Katirya considered the question for several minutes before replying. "I am not sure, but that is the only place I think Thanos would hide Thor. He can't move him far, and he can't move Mjölnir, at least I do not believe he can."
"Good point!" Sif chimed in. "Odin was pretty clear on that."
"But Earth is rather large, I mean, there are so many places you could hide," Darcy pointed out.
"Who was it that came to get Thor?" Katirya asked Darcy. "I know they pretended to be me, but any clue who it might have been? I cannot imagine Thanos came himself, and we can pretty much rule out my sister. I do not believe she has the ability to move people. That leaves it to Althanas or Hadriath."
Darcy considered Katirya's question carefully. "Well, she didn't say anything right away. I remember that. I think she stared at Thor for a long time, at least it seemed like a long time, then said they'd taken Loki. Does that help?"
"Quite a bit," Katirya replied. "I know Hadriath is not a Seer, so this person had to be able to read minds. Unless Thanos really went, it had to be his brother, Althanas."
"What difference would that make?" Sif asked.
"Hadriath has rarely left Cartherion, so his knowledge of Earth would be limited. Althanas, on the other hand, has traveled to Earth often. He would boast of his exploits in a place called Las Vegas. Do you know much about this place?" Katirya asked Darcy.
"Las Vegas? You have got to be kidding me. That is, like, one of the craziest places on Earth. Did he say what he did in Vegas, like why he went there?" Darcy asked.
"Let's just say he wasn't known for being a faithful husband to my mother. He was quite boastful of his conquests, claiming he used his magic to attract these women." Katirya replied with a sigh. "So, is there any place where they might be able to hide Thor?"
"Honey, you could hide a hoard of three-headed aliens in Vegas and no one would notice." Darcy shook her head. "There are so many weird things there…"
"Are you saying Thor is weird?" Sif broke in.
"Uh, no, but he doesn't exactly dress like most people on Earth." Darcy stated the obvious. "In fact, you guys wouldn't look out of place in Vegas in your gear, either. You would all blend right in."
"Well, that is comforting to know," Sif replied. "We can find Thor more easily then."
"Now, I did not say it would be easy. I mean, that place is nuts. They could be anywhere." Darcy answered. "Of course, mew-mew would be harder to hide. You say no one else can use it? Can anyone, like, carry it for him?"
"No, Mjölnir can only be wielded by Thor. None other, unless they are worthy, can lift it." Hogun spoke firmly. "And if Thor does not have it, he will have reverted to a mortal form."
"So he cannot even call it to him." Sif shook her head. "Once they take it away from him, and we are simply assuming they have since we do not know for certain, it will be stuck there. They cannot move it. I wonder if they know that?"
"Trust me, they would have planned for that. Thanos is not stupid. He figured out how to get Thor to go with one of them in the first place. He would most likely wait until he had him where he wanted him, then take the hammer away," Katirya reasoned. "So, wherever they've hidden Thor away, the hammer has to be nearby. I wonder…" Katirya paused, "is there any way to detect Mjölnir? Other than to have Thor call it to him?"
"Well, it can destroy vampires," Fandral offered. "And it has been able to drain off radioactive energy."
"Great, so all we need is either a vampire or some nuclear waste and we can find Thor," Darcy looked at them with amusement. "I mean, like, doesn't everyone carry that around?"
"Vampires? Are there any left on Earth?" Volstagg asked. "I thought they were all destroyed a few hundred years ago."
"It was generally thought they were, but a small remnant population managed to escape. I think they can still be found. Shall we go try to find one?" Hogun asked.
"I think we'll do better with the nuclear waste. A little easier to control and carry around," Katirya pointed out. "Earth relies on nuclear energy in some locations, so we can easily find some."
"Great, we're gonna go pick up a handful of radioactive material, and just, what, walk around Vegas calling out for mew-mew?" Darcy looked at them like they were all crazy.
"Sure, why not?" Sif asked. "You said things are strange there anyway, how odd will that look?"
Darcy shook her head in amazement. "I guess it all depends on how much nuclear waste you plan on bringing, and how you plan to carry it?"
"We shall not require much," Katirya replied. "And I can easily create a containment field for it. Where can we find it?"
"This is where we could really use Jane or Erik, they would know that." Darcy replied. "But if we can get to a computer, I can look it up. There is bound to be something out in that general area somewhere."
"Heimdall?" Sif turned to look at her brother. "Can you locate any of this nuclear waste? Either that, or send us back to Jane's apartment. How far is this Vegas from there?"
"Well, it's several hours by plane." Darcy offered.
"That is not a problem. We have the Stones with us, and I can use them to move us to this Vegas." Katirya replied.
"Then, shall we go? The sooner we find Thor, the better!" Fandral replied.
Author's notes: A few comments on this chapter. Regarding Hel and the guardian, Hela. There are several references to the fact that Hela is Loki's daughter. The Norse mythology contends that she is his daughter from a previous life. The Marvel Comic Universe indicates she is his daughter as well, but in one comic, refutes this fact. I'll leave it to the reader to decide whether she is or not. Either way, I think being guardian of Hel would make one a little bit "off".
