Keep in mind, I started writing this before Thor 2 and I don't intend to include any of those events into this fic. Which means my take on the other realms is somewhat different.

Also, I'm so sorry this took so long. And I know I promised you certain things in this one, but I was having writers block and I wanted to get to a good stopping point because it was so long anyways.

EXCUSE MY MISTAKES, this all was written in the early morning hours over the course of a long time.

This chap is dedicated to my friend, who is the Pot to my Kettle.

Chapter 6: "Call me a traitor, I'm just collecting your victims, and they're getting stronger, I hear them calling." ~ Monster, Paramore

Hel stared at the blue-skinned figure, running the name over in her mind. Her brow furrowed and she said, "You're Jack Frost?"

The grin disappeared in a blink. Almost childishly, he stomped his foot with clenched fists and snapped, "Dammit, it's Jokul Frosti!"

Now with raised eyebrows, Hela held her hands defensively. "Sorry?"

Jokul glowered at something beyond her. "I hate that name."

"Yeaahhhh..." She trailed off, backing up a little now to hopefully make a run for it. "I feel ya. No one ever has wanted to call me by my actual name either, so..."

She was just taking her third step backward when Jokul split into a grin, and okay, yeah it looked pretty creepy. "At least they don't make bastardized versions of you in stop motion television."

Hel smirks a little at that. "True. Though I doubt that any rendition of me would exactly be a positive portrayal."

The frost - Spirit? She isn't really sure - walks closer even as she makes her slow escape. "Oh, so all the rumors aren't true, then? You don't capture souls and lead them to Niflheim? Or ride a three-legged horse about, reaping death and plague in your wake? And you won't have a hand in bringing about Ragnarok?"

Any amusement is gone now. She tries her best not to look irritated, but honestly, it's really annoying when everyone seems to know all about her and she doesn't know them. "Okay, I've never gone and 'captured' some soul and dragged it to Niflheim. Anyone who comes is dead on their own account. As for the horse, I don't have a clue what you're talking about. I've never even ridden a horse, three-legged or otherwise. And about the Ragnarok thing... Well. Everyone thinks I'm going to help snuff the universe and life as we know it, so I guess let them think that until otherwise." She pauses, then says, "You know you don't have to believe everything you hear, right?"

Jokul laughs brightly, rocking back on his heels. "Of course I know! If I was foolish enough to believe everything I heard, well, I'd be a very confused individual."

Hel just eyes him oddly. That hadn't been her point but whatever. It was time for her to leave. It was fully dark now, with only the glow of the moons lighting the forest. If she was gone too long, Thor was going to show up and it probably wouldn't be pretty.

Clearing her throat, Hela clasps her hands behind her back (still with her trusty rock) and begins to pace backward faster. "Yeah... Well, I have to go, there's probably a search party looking for me that probably thinks I snuck off to start Ragnarok and they most likely aren't going to be happy-"

"Did you?"

She stops. "What?"

At this point Jokul crouches down to start dragging long, light blue fingers through the snow. "Did you sneak off to start Ragnarok? Word travels fast, and I know Loki is back on Asgard, in the dungeon. Maybe his new grand scheme is Ragnarok. Maybe you're helping him. You're his daughter, aren't you? What would you do to help your father?"

He watches her, face blank but eyes scrutinizing.

Hel stares back, a little horrified. Was that what people saw when they looked at her? A girl out to achieve her father's love no matter the means? The rapid fire way he said it all made her feel like she was being interrogated. Made her feel cornered.

In a quiet tone that held all her indignation and anger in the words, she said, "Loki may be my father, I may be his daughter, but I won't help him in destroying his life further. I haven't come to make more mistakes for him, only to fix what I can and hope everyone walks away."

Jokul toys with the snow in his hands, tone flat. "What if Loki doesn't want to walk away? What if he doesn't want his mistakes fixed? What then, Queen Hel?" He stands with the snow cradled in his hands, walking closer. For some reason (and she childishly tells herself it's not pride) she doesn't back up. "Would you do the right thing?"

Hela knows what he means, even as she stares up at him (he towers over her by a few good inches). She knows that he's asking if she would toss away any chance at a relationship with her father to possibly stop him from doing something comparable to the attack on Manhattan or Asgard.

And honestly, would she?

Something twists in her chest, making her grimace. The bracelet Loki gave her weighed heavily on her wrist, burning cold.

Would she?

Hel lets out a breath through her nose, closing her eyes. In a whisper, she says, "Yes. I think I would."

She's not quite sure why she feels so disgusted with herself. This feeling is comparable to all the times she realized people were staring at her legs with unhidden shock and repulse, asking What's wrong with her legs?

She hates herself for saying yes, but for the first time she doesn't understand why. Yes was the right answer. 'Yes' is what she would say, do, and yet... She hates that she actually means it.

"Well then," Jokul's suddenly chipper voice breaks her thoughts and she opens her eyes to his grinning face. His blue eyes sparkle with something akin to mania. "That's a good enough answer for me. And you hesitated. That's great."

She frowns. "It's a good thing I hesitated?"

"Yeah, it means you had some inner turmoil over the answer and actually thought and felt for the right answer."

She stares at him. The fact that he was right made him even creepier.

"And since I liked your answer," he continues, "I think I'll take this conversation elsewhere."

With that, he takes a deep breath and blows the powder-like snow in her face. The sudden attack stings her eyes and send her stumbling back in surprise, but even as she falls backward, scrubbing at her eyes, she can feel a sense of calm and heaviness falling over her. As Hel's back hits the ground, she struggles to keep her head raised. Her hands rubbing her eyes weigh a hundred pounds, so she lets them fall to rest on her chest.

Her eyes don't sting anymore, so she half opens them just in time to see Jokul kneel next to her. She wants to say something, anything, as he sticks an arm under her neck and the other under her knees. More accurately, she wants to punch his lights out because she's pretty sure he just did magic on her and now he's lifting her bridal style, which is totally not okay.

Her eyes lose their battle and finally close in sleep as she feels him jump upwards.

Hel opens her eyes to the cold halls of Elivdnir, already filled with dead souls waiting to be sorted to their afterlife.

She stares at the mass of souls, and wonders how she's even supposed to do this now with all she knows. Sitting on a throne that has never changed throughout her entire life, wearing the same clothes she always is wearing when she wakes up here, with the same two loyal servants at her sides-

This should still feel normal. It should be routine.

And yet it isn't. Nothing feels the same. She feels like a stranger sitting in a too-big throne, like she's pretending to be someone else.

In a way she is. There is no way she can go back to being the Hel that thought the same dream every night was something to be overlooked, the same Hel that sent souls to their fate without feeling the weight behind the action. Pretending to be that Hel is something she can't do now, not with what she knows.

Hela sighs and leans against the arm of the throne, head braced on hand.

And that's when she feels it.

Her fingers touch smooth, cool metal. Frowning, she traces the metal in a thin line design across her forehead. She has a feeling of what it is, but even so she pulls it off her head.

In her hands is a shining silver circlet, the front twisted in a thin, subtle design. The veins of twisting silver have almost thorn-sharp ends, giving it a wicked appearance. In the middle of the design, what would be the middle of her forehead, is a small sapphire, smaller than a dime.

She frowns at the circlet. Last she checked, she had had an actual tiara-crown thing. Why the change?

With one last glance at the waiting souls, Hel stands and walks down the steps to her maidservant, Ganglot. Ganglot's cool grey eyes watch her blankly as she steps up to her, holding out the circlet. "Why did it change?"

The maidservant doesn't move from her position of her hands behind her back, doesn't even change expression, just says, "Because who and what you are are changing. As you are in between changes, you are no longer queen."

That makes Hel frown, but she's not overly disappointed. She'd only recently found out the status was real. "So... I'm changing. So I got demoted. That's it?"

At that, Ganglot's unwavering expression flickers and she looks over Hel's shoulder to presumably shoot a look at her partner, Ganglati. Coming back to Hela, she says, "No, it is not quite...everything."

Hel waits for an elaboration. It never comes.

"Okay, what do you mean?"

Her maidservant pauses, but after a brief hesitation she tips her head to the side, indicating the door leading to the other parts of Elivdnir. "There is something you should see, my lady."

Hel sticks the circlet back in her hair, smoothing it back in place. "Well by all means, lead on."

"Despite how it takes sleep for you to get here, my lady, I can assure you that your time in this realm is no dream."

They had left the main hall, the souls vanishing as Hel left the room. Ganglot lead the way, seemingly knowing where she was going, while Ganglati trailed behind with his looming silence. The black and white halls were quite literally silent as the grave, and it unnerved her because of Ganglot's serious mood.

Turning another corner, Ganglot continued speaking. "If your time in this realm was a dream, well, you'd have no need for Ganglati and myself, would you? But as it is not, you most certainly do need our services."

Hel interrupted with, "So I'm not really sleeping?"

There was a hint of a smile in Ganglot's voice. "Oh, you are most definitely sleeping. Your body, wherever in the other eight realms, is getting its rest. But think of your time here as... a projection. What form you take now is your self-conscious projection."

"Then why would anything here hurt me?"

The maidservant turned to face her, grim now. "It would be the equivalent of a mental attack on your psyche."

"Oh," Hela said in a small voice, "that's why."

They came to a stop outside a wooden door that looked like every other door they had passed, except for the fact that it had five different locks and runes carved into it. Ganglot didn't touch the door, instead giving it a wary look. "I'm afraid you will have to open it, my lady. It will only open for you."

To put it frankly, Hel didn't have a damn clue how to open the door, but with no better idea she just put her hand on the knob and turned.

All the locks snapped open on their own accord and the runes flashed a bright blue light before fading. The door swung open easily.

"That's so cool," she muttered.

Ganglot cleared her throat and gestured for her to go inside. They did, and as they did she resumed her speech. "As I was saying, Ganglati and I are capable of looking after you here, in the realm of the dead. But-"

As she talked she moved further into the room. It appeared to be some sort of library, with thick and thin dusty tomes, even scrolls. Some had odd languages on them, others didn't have any at all. At the far end there was a pedestal. On it rested a thick book open to the middle.

"-out of this realm, we cannot watch over you." Ganglot came to stand by the book, looking down at it. "We cannot help you."

With that, her maidservant looked up, and for the first time ever, she looked worried.

She pulled Hel closer, pointing to a spot on the page. It took Hel a moment to focus on that, because the text on the page was odd, almost shifting, as if it wasn't sure if it wanted to stay or not. That, and it was in Norse.

That little problem resolved itself within a few moments of staring at it. The gibberish became translatable, and Hel realized with a jolt that the lines of columns were names. Then her eyes landed on where Ganglot had pointed.

In between all the rows of names, there was a blank. A blank where a name should be.

Hel's brow furrowed in confusion. Okay, there was a name missing. It was probably pretty important, but she didn't exactly know what it meant still-

She was drawn out of her thoughts by a hand gripping her arm. Startled, she looked up to meet Ganglot's worried grey eyes. When the maidservant spoke, it was with an urgency that she had never her from her before.

"Hela, you are defenseless without us. Yes, you have power, but you have never learned to control it, and there are many who would take advantage of that. Please, be careful."

The teen can't help but stare at her, because honestly, she's a little freaked out. Normally, Hel might have tried to defend her own honor and pride by falsely saying that no, she is not in fact defenseless, but she didn't. Ganglot and Ganglati never used her name alone like that (well, Ganglati never talked period, but that's beside the point). To see her other servant's reaction, she looks to Ganglati. The broad man is watching the entire thing with a stern gaze and his hand gripping his sword hilt.

They really mean it. They're really scared.

Looking back at Ganglot, Hel nods in a way she hopes is reassuring. "Yeah, I... Yeah. I'll be careful."

It doesn't look like it does anything to reassure her maidservant, but she nods anyway. "Would you be against both of us training you in defense? Maybe even offense?"

Hel thinks about the times she's seen the pair in action, and says, "Nope. That'd be pretty cool actually."

Ganglot smiles a little. "Good. Maybe I can even teach you some minor magic."

Now that would be really cool. But Hel doesn't get to say this, because her maidservant turns back to the book and slams it shut, closing her eyes. Then after a moment she opens them again and opens the book at the same time. It opens to quite literally the same page, but the text is different. There's a heading now at the top of the pages. Squinting at it closer, the text translates itself, and the columns on the pages are once again names, but this time there are some names that are highlighted in bright blue ink while the others remain black. Hel frowns at that, and looks to the heading of the pages.

Souls of the Ninth Level

She frowns even more at that. "Does that mean the-"

"Ninth level of Helheim, yes."

Something distasteful curls in her stomach at that. This list consists of all the people doomed to the worst level of Helheim.

"So all the ones in blue. What about them?"

"Those have not been claimed yet." Ganglot's voice is suspiciously quiet and flat. Hel looks up at her to see her staring back apprehensively. "There is something you must see, my lady."

Without a word she places a finger by one of the blue names. Hela leans a little closer to read it, feeling a headache coming on as it's translated again.

And her breathe freezes in her throat.

Loki Odinson

Hel wakes up with a gasp. The air is crisp and cool, but surprisingly she's not cold.

Well. Most of her, anyway. Her face is freezing.

She sucks in the clean air, the events in Elivdnir still clear as a bell. Loki's name on the list of ninth level souls flashed before her eyes and she feels panic seize in her chest. Her father was sentenced to the worst level of Hel. He was literally going to hell.

In the middle of her panic attack, a bright, chipper voice breaks in like a train collision and says, "Oh, good, you're awake."

It's so startling that Hel twitches violently, almost a spasm, and finally, finally takes in her surroundings. She's on her back, seemingly cocooned in what seems to be furs. The bright night sky above is lit with the moons and stars. She struggles to sit up, but she does, the furs falling off. They're in a clearing of trees and there's a small fire going not far from where she is. On the other side of the fire is Jokul Frosti, grinning at her. "Hello, Queen."

In that moment Hela remembers exactly what he did, and how much she wants to kill him for it. A sort of dignified anger sweeps over her and she spits, "You-"

"Saved your royal ass from hypothermia," he said, ever chipper as he nodded to the furs. It's then that she also notices that there seems to be perfect ring of snow scooped away from her. "So save the anger. Which, by the way, did you notice your still human?"

She's still considerably angry considering the fact that this asshole just kidnapped her, so she wouldn't have needed any saving from hypothermia if she'd been left by herself, thank you very much, and now she's probably even further from- Wait, still human?

"What do you mean, 'still human'?"

Jokul snorts, poking at the fire with a long stick. It doesn't appear to bother him, despite his winter origins. "Well, pretty much everyone knows what happened to you and your brothers when the Norns said you'd snuff the world. For you, Odin threw half your soul in Midgard and the other half in Helheim, or something like that, so you were essentially not Asgardian or frost giant or whatever the hell you are anymore. You were human, reincarnated several times over." He looks up at her then. "How was that, by the way?"

She glares at him.

He shrugs and goes back to poking at the fire. "Anyways, one would think when you come in touch with real magic and your origins again, you'd be... Well. Not human anymore, I guess. But you're still as mortal as any Midgardian I've ever met. If you didn't have such a strong magic signature and I couldn't smell your frost giant blood, I'd think you were almost ordinary."

Hel tries to wrap her head around all that he said and understand it. "So I'm technically still human. How can you even tell that? And I don't know what magic I'd be carrying around with me, seeing as I don't have any magic." She paused, and then added, "And you can smell my blood? Do you even know how gross that is?"

The winter sprite sighs as if he regrets bringing up the subject because he didn't predict in foresight how utterly uninformed Hel was. Holding up a blue hand he ticks off on his fingers. "One, I can tell you're human because everyone just registers or looks differents. Dark elves look significantly different from dwarves, so appearance is a teller, but with beings like Asgardians and Midgardians, Asgardians carry a magic signature that identifies them. Even warriors like Thor who fight with brawn carry one because magic is just ingrained in the Asgardians. Get it?"

That actually made sense. She nodded.

"Secondly, you do have magic. It's that little charm on your wrist."

At that, she looks to the bracelet, fingering the charms and rubbing them back and forth between each finger in old habit. "This? But it was given to me. It doesn't do anything but-"

Then she stops, because she's about to reveal something ugly about herself willingly and why would she do that? Why would anyone do that? And even as she says it doesn't do anything, the images of the Avenger Tower lobby with the windows busted out flashes through her mind.

Jokul doesn't say anything for a moment, perhaps to let her finish, but then goes on to say, "It doesn't matter if it was given to you or not. It was crafted by magic. Weird magic."

He goes a little unfocused for a moment, but comes back as he ticks off a third finger. "Third, being able to tell lineage by blood is not that bad. At least I wasn't trying to smell your blood to see if you were good eating or something like that."

Seeing her horrified expression, he laughs, rocking back on his heels. "Oh, little Queen. You're in a new world now, one where there are more things willing to eat you than have a civil conversation. I suggest you get used to it quickly if you want to survive."

The calling of her old title queen snapped Hel out of her daze and the events from Elivdnir came back to the front of her mind. "I'm not a queen anymore," she says faintly, because her mind is on more important things.

Like, oh, how her father is going to the worst level of Hel when he dies.

In the background she can hear Jokul question her about what she means by that and there's movement, probably him moving closer, but she is sinking lower and lower into a loop of panic and frustration.

Loki was going to face the worst of the worst horrors in the ninth level of Hel when he died. Who knew when that was going to be, but considering his gung-ho mission to break out, find the rest of his banished kids, and get revenge for the many 'wrong doings' committed against him by Midgard and Asgard by tearing down the fabrics of civilization, maybe death was sooner rather than later. And if that was the case, then that meant one night Hela would wake up in Elivdnir to stare out at the crowd of dead souls waiting for souls and see her father.

She would have to look him in the face and point to the ninth door.

She would literally condemn him.

Hel suddenly had tunnel vision. God, would Loki hate her when that happened? Would he try to fight back? Would he scream obscenities at her as Ganglot and Ganglati forced him through the ninth door-

"HEY!"

Something burning cold was on her face, and it stung like hell.

Hela sucked in a breath she didn't know she needed, falling backwards away from the frostbite hands of Jokul Frosti. She barely registered the worried look on his pale blue face, instead focusing on the cold because dear God she needed to get a grip.

She sucked in big gulps of precious night air. Apparently she'd been holding her breath. While she tries to regain her composure, Jokul looks unsure of what to do with himself but nonetheless tries to straighten some of the furs on her blocking the worst bite of the cold. He actually looks a little ashamed, and she would be torn between laughing or just sitting in stunned silence if she wasn't busy trying not to fall back into another panic attack.

"Sorry about that," he says, not looking up. "I thought I broke you. You weren't responding and had kinda," his lips quirk up,"frozen." He sobers again. "Anyway, you weren't breathing, and I'm pretty sure Thor would definitely kill me and Loki would find a way from his cell if you died on my watch."

Hel is staring at him now from her position of laying back on the ground, her breathing starting to even out. She has her hands clasped together over her chest, almost like she's praying. It's the position she's assumed in the past when a panic attack had happened before, but for much different reasons.

The static in her head is beginning to fade away, and as it does she realizes she probably overreacted a bit. But it still doesn't mean it was any less reason to worry. She would just have to figure it out later.

For now, she pushes it aside before she freaks out again, instead focusing on what he says. Drawing her arms under the furs around her tighter, she says to him roughly, "You sound like you know them."

Jokul shrugs, dropping down unceremoniously beside her with his legs crossed. "I don't know Thor well, just reputation pretty much, but I know Loki." Something distasteful twists his mouth into a grimace and his brow furrows. "Well, knew him, anyway."

She starts to ask exactly what that means, because you can't un-know someone, but at that moment she really, for the first time since he had moved closer to her, really notices his features in the firelight.

He looks to be her age now. Maybe a year older, but still.

What. The. Hell.

She opens her mouth to say as such, when all of sudden Jokul sits up with an almost feral look of alertness. His blue eyes are bright with adrenaline and his body is drawn tight as a bow as all his muscles are suddenly unnaturally still.

Then suddenly he stands in a flash, too quick to see, and-

Four figures suddenly burst into the clearing with yells of battle. Hel is not ashamed to admit that she screams. A grey, silver, and red blur falls from the sky, dropping straight down three feet from where she is. She can feel the resounding shockwave through the ground as Thor hits the ground. Of course, she can't tell it's Thor until he looks up with what has to be one of the most lethal looks she has ever seen.

In response to all of this, Jokul laughs. He bows low to Thor, mockingly. "Thunderer." And with that, the boy (yes, he is in fact a boy almost her age now, Hel is quite sure) points a hand at Thor's feet. She watches with wide eyes as ice grows from the snow to encase the thunder god's feet. Thor realizes it too late, of course, but wisely doesn't touch the ice as it grows to his knees.

Hel's afraid Jokul would've fully encased him in ice if she had not unfrozen herself from her petrified state to punch him in the shin. He's startled into stopping and looking down at her. "Stop!" she snaps, wondering why she of all people has to remind others not to kill people.

The sprite opens his mouth to reply (and if his expression is anything to go by, it was going to be snarky), but he never gets the chance because an arrow whizzes past his head, brushing his hair.

Without needing further incentive, Jokul jumps into the air and flys away.

She might be a little more in awe if he hadn't turned around as another arrow missed his ascent and flipped the bird, with a chipper taunt of, "Missed me, Asgardians!"

And the fact that three warrior guys and one woman were approaching her in full battle mode, looking like they'd put an arrow through her.

After convincing them that there's no need to point a cross bow at her head or a sword at her throat, Thor informally introduces Hel to the Warriors Three and Sif. After all, it's a little hard to introduce someone formally when you're almost halfway frozen up the legs and trying to get out of it.

Which was proving to be pretty damn difficult.

Thor had wanted to try Mjolnir first, but when Hel mentioned the possibility of it shattering his legs along with the ice, he grudgingly put the hammer down. Now he was grumbling unintelligible things at her while they both worked at beating at it, Hel with a sizable rock and Thor with his bare fists, while his friends/backup/co-search party stood off to the side to give them a small privacy as requested. She didn't get a very good impression from them just because of the looks they were giving her, the same as pretty much everybody around here.

Thor was either oblivious or didn't care. He was just focused on the ice encasing his legs. She could her him muttering oaths in Jokul Frosti's name. With a deep frown set in his face, the thunderer sighed and brought his fist down on the ice. It might have groaned a bit underneath the pressure. "Hela, running away," he lifted his fist again, "was not the wisest thing to do," he brought the fist down again hard, and this time hairline fracture cracks ran through it, "considering your current standing with the people of Asgard."

Hel sits back on the fur she'd spread out when they began their mission. "Well, you know, it's not like I asked everyone to be suspicious of me and what I do when I don't even know half of what's going on, Thor. 'Hey, people-I-don't-know, I look sketchy and there's an apparent prophecy about me helping in killing the entire universe, so feel free to judge!'"

Her uncle didn't respond, didn't even look at her. His face was set in determined, grim expression, and his mouth was pulled into a thin line. "Hela, did you know that I was not present for when you and your brothers were taken from your father?"

No, of course she didn't, Hel didn't have a honest-to-goodness clue about anything else around here, so why would she know that? But she just sat still, letting her confusion show on her face.

He goes on with a sigh as he stands to his full height and glares at the ice. "When the decision was made to...send you away, I was on a hunting party in Vanaheim." He pauses. "There are times when I wonder if I was asked to join the party at that particular time so that I would be away when you were taken." He looks down at her, looking older than appearances could ever tell.

"I hope you do not think that your father ever handed you over willingly. He did all he could to protect you, but even the magic of a great sorcerer such as Loki could not hold up to Odin's magic." Thor's brow furrow and his sky blue eyes darken for a moment before his expression lightens. "And I want to make it clear to you that had I been there that day, I would have done everything within my power to stop it from happening as well."

She stares up at the thunderer, and feels small. Very small. She doesn't understand why he's telling her this, isn't even sure how he's so sure of himself and what he would have done. She has known this man for a few days at most, and he seems to care about her like he's known her her entire life. It doesn't make sense, because in Hel's experience people don't just do that without an ulterior motive. She doesn't know what to say. So instead she just pull her knees to her and smooths out the dress (a little worse for wear at this point) the best she can. Focusing her eyes on the fabric, she asks, "Why are you telling me this?"

Then he smiles. "Because, the moment Loki told me I was going to be an uncle, I was in love with the idea of being able to teach you - all of you - what I could to help you in life. I wanted to pass everything I had learned, all my battles, all my travels across Yggdrasil, onto you and your brothers, to teach you to learn from my mistakes. ...Such as allowing a frost spirit to freeze your feet." He gestures to the ice cast (and is it just her, or is it smaller than before?) and Hela smiles a little.

Thor the crouches down to her level as best as he can, rocking to keep his balance, but pays no mind to the obstacle. "And I am also telling you this, niece, because I want you to know that you do not have to run away anymore. As long as I am breathing, I will do everything in my power to protect and help you. I shall stand with you no matter what is said about you or what enemies you are facing. You shall always have my support. So please, do not ever think you have to run away because you are alone, because as long as I live you will not be."

Hel stares at him. She feels like there's cotton stuffed in her throat. She's just...in shock. In a low voice, she says, "That's... That's a tall order to fill, Thor."

He nods. "It was meant with the deepest of sincerity."

Her fingers play with the charms on the bracelet. "Only one other guy has ever made that same promise to me - well, it was kind of an unspoken but implied promise, but still - and he's managed to keep it so far."

"Ahh, you must mean Robert!" Thor says with a grin.

She smiles back. Bobby. "Yeah. He's a good friend."

The thunderer's smile gets even bigger and blue eyes sparkle with...mirth? "Indeed, he is a very good friend."

Hel feels like she's missing something here.

Rolling with it, she just says, "Yeah, that's kinda what I just said..."

Her uncle chuckles a little. "He is also a good Midgardian for his age, with good intentions, I believe."

Hela decides not to mention that Bobby cheats at poker. Instead she just sits and revels in the ache of homesickness that comes with thinking about her best friend. His smiling face crosses her mind and her smile fades. If Bobby was on Asgard, she thought to herself, then this would all be a thousand times more easier.

Thor must see the look because he says, "Do not worry, Hela. It will not be long before you are back on Midgard with your friend."

The statement threw up a red flag in her mind. "Why do you say that?"

"Tomorrow Loki's trial before the Aesir begins. I...do not imagine that it will last long. They will be swift in their judgement, and after then, you will be returned to Midgard."

Hel felt as if the rug had been pulled out from beneath her feet. "So soon?"

All she got was a grim look in return.

She dropped her rock beside her. "That's- Thor! That's not fair!"

The thunderer's light blue eyes turned steely at her words. "Hela, Loki has caused much destruction and chaos throughout the nine realms. He may be your father and he may be my brother, but he still has to be punished for his crimes."

Hearing Thor say it himself added even more weight to the situation. Swallowing, she asked quietly, "Will they kill him?"

In the time it took her uncle to answer, the blue glowing words of Loki's name flashed through her mind and she almost missed his answer.

"Normally, yes. But as Loki is technically still a prince of Asgard - even if not by blood - he will not be put to death. More than likely he will have to serve a sentence in some form of service to Asgard for a very long term. ...If not for forever."

Hel closed her eyes, wondering for the umpteenth time what she thought she was doing, or trying to accomplish for that matter. She sighed deeply before saying, "I know he has to be 'punished' or whatever. I know what he's done. I want him to learn his lesson, Thor, I want justice- But I also want him to have a chance to step up and be my father." She opened her eyes to find the god watching her with a blank expression. "He can't do that if he's stuck in a cell for the rest of his life."

"And just what are you willing to do," Thor asked quietly, "to make that happen?"

That was the million dollar question. What would she do? She sighed again, saying tiredly, "I don't know. I'll... I won't try to prove he's innocent, like I could even try, but I'll do something else. I'll be his lawyer, plead for a lesser sentence, lie my way through it, whatever. I just need him to get a lesser sentence."

"I think that is a high goal to achieve, niece. And not a very good plan."

"Yeah, well, it's the only one I've got," she retorted bitterly. She watched as Thor went back to chipping at the ice, which was most definitely shrinking on it's own. It only covered his feet by now.

Thinking back on the research she'd done on Norse mythology, she didn't remember much about Jokul Frosti, but she did remember the different personas he seemed to have. Killer blizzards to playful frost sprite had been the wide range of different stories she read on the internet and at the librar-

A thought hit her. "Thor. Does Asgard have a library?"

Hel didn't get much sleep that night. She had a deadline, after all.

Thor must have known what she was going to do so he escorted her to the library quickly and left just as swift, promising to make sure her reading was uninterrupted. Which either meant he was standing guard or he was off distracting the people that would kick her out.

From what Thor told her, the trial would begin about mid-morning. That gave her... Less than twelve hours. (Well that's what Thor had equivalated the time left to, anyways. She was tempted to thank him for dumbing things down for her but she figured it wouldn't be appreciated.)

Less than twelve hours to find the code and law section of the library, then scan who-knows-how-many books full of what was bound to be overly technical and complicated words to see if there was some sort of law, loophole, or lapse in the system that allowed for a smaller sentence.

No big deal, she told herself, not quite sure if she believed it. She'd done entire research essays in less time.

Then she saw the size of the library, and quite firmly believed that she had been lying to herself by saying, 'No big deal'.

It was so quiet in the library at this time of night. It was...as silent as the grave.

Hel giggled to herself a little, the page in front of her blurring into a mixture of Asgardian lettering and English alphabet. Then she sobered as another thought hit her.

It was as quiet as the halls of Elivdnir.

A deep weariness settled over her, her eyes half-closing in reverence of the realm and the rest it held. All she had to do was sleep and she'd be in a completely different world.

Her eyelids fluttered, finally resting closed as the weight of exhaustion glued them shut. She could feel herself slip away, feel her will go with it. Her breathing evened out as her mind shut down.

Weaving in her sleep, with her subconscious still trying to hold her upright, Hel finally slipped forward, the book in her lap falling to the floor with a thump and her face planting itself in the stack of books resting on the desk in front of her.

Which, in return, knocked over said stack of books and caused a few of them to spill over the side of the desk.

The books hit the floor with a resounding smack, which was enough to make Hela shoot up in her seat into the world of the awake with wide eyes and a clouded mind.

Her brain tried to kickstart once, twice, then on the third time remembered where she was and why, and unhelpfully reminded her that it wasn't even that late into the night.

Hel took a deep breath and scrubbed her hands all over her face, willing herself to wake up. She, contrary to popular belief, was not someone who stayed up at all hours of the night plotting something (which is ironic that she is now). She liked her sleep, so why in the world would she waste that precious time of the night to exhaust herself even more? The latest she had ever stayed up was 4:30-something, when she and Bobby had tag-teamed an essay over Skype.

So, yeah, this was getting to be pretty damn hard.

"Dammit," she muttered aloud, looking at her pile of unread books and then the pathetic few books that had been read, all of which pertained to Asgardian laws or court in some way. The progress she was making was slow, especially since she had a splitting headache from her brain translating so much to English and the exhaustion. ...And maybe just a little bit of a hangover from the Asgardian alcohol, which seemed to be ten times more potent than real alcohol. (Not that she would know, of course...)

Her gaze slid to the fallen books wearily. Some were still shut, even after the fall, while the others were open and page down. Well, except for the one that had managed to land open page up.

With a sigh she leaned forward and plucked some of them off the floor, setting them on the desk. As she reached for the only open up book, she unconsciously scanned the page as Asgardian turned to English.

And she nearly dropped it again.

Just to be sure, she read and reread it a few times, half-mouthing to herself just to make sure she understood the words. And then, when she was done, she looked up from the book and stared unseeing at the shelves of the library.

She found it. She really found it.

A sense of joy and peace made her mind buzz, dampened by a sense of anxiety. Hel began to think about what this could mean, about the outcomes. As she did, she leaned back in her chair and hugged the book to her chest.

Even with all the excitement shooting through her system like sparks in the dark, she eventually let her eyes close and her mind fall away.

She wakes up warm and comfortable in her bed, golden light streaming in through the open windows.

Hel takes a deep breath, still shaking away the last dregs of sleep. She pulls her arms out of the covers and stretches them above her head and winces. Her muscles cramp from sitting for so long in that chair last night-

Her eyes go wide.

She sits up, trying to remember how she got in her bed and finds she can't remember. Which means she also doesn't remember where the book that held their Hail Mary in it is now.

Trying not to freak out, she throws back the covers and makes to get off the bed-

-Only to find that she is no longer in her dress.

Her face reddens as she clenches the fabric of the under slip she'd picked out the day before. What the hell. Someone had undressed her-

She shakes her head, willing herself to let it go. It...wasn't important at the moment, she grudgingly admitted to herself. The book was more important, and also quite missing.

Her feet touch the warm stone floor as she stands, already moving in the direction of the wardrobe. In the back of her mind she can feel dread growing at the thought of even attempting to put the clothes on-

And that's when the door opens.

Hel doesn't think she's ever moved so fast in her life as when she dove for the privacy of the bed comforter.

It's a good thing, too, because Thor is the one that walks in, carrying a tray laden with food and a smile on his face. "Niece, I have brought you something to eat, as you slept through breakfast this morning." He sees Hel hiding under the covers, a big lump with black hair stick out, and frowns. "Are you ill?"

She stares incredulously at him, but the effect is probably lost because half of her face is covered by the comforter. "Am I- No, Thor, I'm not dressed."

"Ah, I see. Well, in that case I will leave the food here, but you should know that the trial is starting very soon, so eating quickly would be best-"

"Say no more," she interrupts, "I don't think I'll have to eat, anyways. Look, I just need to know- What happened to the book I was holding last night?"

The thunderer's face lit up. "When I tried to move you to your room I attempted to take the book, but you said in your sleep that it was important, so I carried it back here with you."

Hela tries not to think about Thor carrying her back to her room asleep to keep herself from feeling any embarrassment. She was probably drooling the entire way. Blinking away the image, the girl asks, "So where is it, then?"

"I believe the maidservants put it in the wardrobe when they prepared you for bed."

Hel's face is probably cherry red by now. "Oh really. They did that." Without waiting for an answer she says, "Let me get dressed and I'll be out soon. Then we can go to that trial." She pauses before saying, "Thor, I really think I found something."

"What do you mean, I'm not allowed? That's- That's stupid."

Thor shrugged at her helplessly. "Only the higher Aesir and other realm leaders are allowed in trials such as this. Children have no manner in the courtroom. And there is the issue of Loki being your father..."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Well, you're his brother. Sort of."

"But I am also part of the higher-ranking Aesir." He smiled at her wryly. "I'm sorry that you are disappointed, niece, but perhaps I could be your eyes into the court?"

You're going to have to be, she told herself, then sighed. "Okay, well, take this book then," she flipped it open to the space she had saved, "and read this passage. Then see what happens. Okay?"

He took the book from her, making it look tiny in his hands as opposed to how big it looked in Hel's hands, and smiled at her. "I have never been as much as a scholar as Loki, but that sounds like something even I can do."

She smiled at the joke, appreciating the thunderer's calm levelheadedness in the situation. "I didn't doubt you for a second, Thor."

He continued to smile at her in amusement, hand settling on the door handle. "Of course you didn't, niece." And with that he was gone into the courtroom.

Hel blatantly ignored the glares she was getting from the two guards on either side of the double doors and pressed her ear up to the door. She couldn't barely even make out muffled sounds... Scowling, she moved sideways a bit and put her ear to the crack, hoping for better audio.

"...law as old as myself..." A voice said.

A different voice cut it off. "...loophole...case is irrelevant..."

Hela felt something akin to dread dawning on her. From the sounds of it Thor was doing a terrible job defending their case. Gritting her teeth, the teen banged her head on the door in frustration. She hated being so helpless!

She sat there for a few moments, palms flat on the door and forehead resting against it. Then she came to a decision.

Before she could doubt herself, Hel put her hand on the door handle and pushed her way inside.

Everything went dead silent as all eyes turned to Hel.

For a moment, her steps faltered, because damn. Even she could feel the power buzzing in the room that seemed to come from the occupants. There was palpable energy in the air that seemed to rocket the tension sky high. Of all the people in the room, Hel only recognized Odin, Frigga, Thor, and Loki (who was back to being in the supped-up handcuffs and muzzle). There were six other people she had never seen before, all of them seated at a U-shaped table with Odin and Frigga at the head, or base, of the 'U'. Two ravens were perched behind Odin on a rather simple stand, beady eyes watching intelligently. Loki and Thor were standing in the space of the U-table, Thor with the book still open in his hands and Loki standing behind him a few feet, both of who had to turn around fully to see what everyone else was staring at.

...Which would've been her. Right.

So, yeah, Hel's steps faltered to a stuttering stop and for a moment she asked herself, 'What the hell were you thinking?' And then she promptly ignored it and resumed walking because the guards outside the door were already trying to follow her in the room.

The eyes of the people followed her all the way to the table as she hurried. She could particularly feel the weight of Loki's stare, which if she actually looked was more of a glare.

But that didn't matter. At least, it hopefully wouldn't in a few minutes...

Hela met the eyes of the only person in the room who she felt counted, blocking everything else out. Taking a deep breath, she said to Odin in what was her best steady voice, "The law of Asgard says that should a criminal of capital offense make a wager based upon the chance of them righting their wrongs, with a voucher to back them, they should be given the right to attempt so within a time limit. This law applies to Loki."

Odin said nothing. He didn't even twitch.

That familiar feeling Hel got when she was being scrutinized in front of a lot of people was rising up and crushing the air from her lungs, setting off a spark of despair. Hands twisting in her skirt, she continued, even as the guards came up behind her and placed hands on her shoulders and arms.

"I will be the voucher."

That got a reaction out of some of the people, some of them jumping to their feet with protests while the others muttered to themselves. Loki and Thor were staring at her with wide eyes, the former looking almost murderous.

Hel didn't fight the guards as they led her away, hoping that the point got across and that it gave them a different perspective. They were only halfway to the door before a voice called out, "Leave her."

With that one command, not only did the guards back off Hel and take their exit, but the strangers that were in uproar over what she said quieted down instantly. Hesitantly, she turned around, almost a little too hopeful.

Odin was staring back at her solemnly, like this whole process tired him. She wondered briefly if it did. He waved her forward again and she walked back to the U-table, hands clasped in front of her. He stared at her from his seat, face impassive. Then, "Do you realize what being a 'voucher' means?"

Hela's hands twisted in her skirt. "Yes, I do."

"Then you do realize why it would be blatantly unfair to the laws if you yourself were to vouch for Loki."

She nodded. "I get that me being his daughter is something that would make being a voucher unfair, but it wouldn't be if the wager Loki made was altered."

Odin tilted his head slightly. "Explain, then."

"Yes," a frigid, scathing voice cut through and Hel's head whipped around to face one of the people at the table; an unnaturally pale woman with dull hair white as snow that went past her shoulders dressed in dark robes. "Let the abomination explain."

Hel was used to being called things, but abomination was one that had hardly ever been used. The sheer venom and disgust laced in the syllables left her feeling weak.

Then a heavy hand settled on her shoulder and Hel was snapped back to reality by the looming presence of Thor. She couldn't see his face, but she could physically feel the tension in hand on her shoulder, so he was probably glaring.

It made her feel a little bit better about her current situation. And what she was about to say...

Slipping back into lawyer-mode, Hela spoke in a dignified and certain tone. "As per Asgardian law, the defendant on trial may choose to take a binding oath, sealed with dark magic, and vow to right their wrongs within a time limit so long as they have a voucher to speak in their favor. Said voucher cannot help the defendant in filling the oath or it would automatically be void. And if the defendant does not turn over a new leaf by the time limit is up..." She took a deep breath, "the price is their life."

If looks could kill, Loki would've obliterated her at this point.

Before anyone could interrupt her, she continued on. "My point is, well, the wager that the defendant has to take can be altered. In this case, I don't think Loki would care too much if it was his life tied to some dark-magic-death-bond-thing, but if he took the oath and I not only vouched for him but also wore the seal of the oath, meaning it would be my life at stake-"

"Hela," Thor interrupted her, spinning her around to glare at her, "that is not what we agreed to."

She squinted up at him, feeling a little exhilarated from the adrenaline rushing through her. "We only agreed on finding a way to keep him from not getting killed," she said lowly, "and this was the only way I can think of."

As she turned back around, she couldn't help but think aloud, "Besides, it's not like I haven't died before."

There was a snort from somewhere in the room. Hel tried not to look around at the faces in there to see who it was, because she thought they all hated her, so why would they laugh? ...Unless they just didn't like her so much that her death was amusing-

A blur dropped down right in front of her, all brown and blue mixing together. Hel gave a dignified squeak and jerked backwards into Thor, who immediately pushed her behind him. The people at the table including Odin were already rising with weapons themselves, ready for an attack.

Then the intruder stood up, and Hel couldn't help but think, Seriously?

Jokul Frosti stood before them, still looking as untamed and wild as he had in the woods where she had first met him. He had a smirk on his face as he crossed his arm over his waist and bowed mockingly. "Hello, Not-Queen."

She raised an eyebrow at that and muttered, "Jerk."

Thor all but growled at the sprite, taking a step forward. "You-"

"-are here as the representative from Jotunheim," Jokul interrupted. Straightening, his arms disappeared in his cloak of furs and he tilted his head to the side. "They're still a bit touchie about what Loks over there pulled not too long ago. Race extinction is something kind of hard to get over." He finished with a sharp grin as cold as ice that lacked any humor.

Then suddenly his icy demeanor was gone and the smile was back, and he was turning to walk to the side of the room. "But please, don't let my interruption keep you from getting back to her noble proposal."

Hel glared a hole in his back as all attention suddenly turned back to her.

She sighed, but continued with what she had been saying. "Like I said, it would be my life at stake, not Loki's. He'd still be taking the oath and having to complete it and I would still be his voucher. By being his voucher, it ensures that I won't try and help him just because it's my life at stake." She paused. "Even without being his voucher, I still couldn't help him because any help he receives makes the oath void, therefore killing me."

She heard a soft noise at that and turned to see Loki staring at her with pleading eyes, almost saying, Please just stop now.

"And what if your life means nothing to him? What if you are faced with death?"

Her attention was drawn to a bald man dressed in... Was that metal plating? He had red-orange skin that almost seemed to glow a bit in the morning sun of the courtroom and stared at her with eyes that did glow a burning amber. He stared at her questioningly in an open way.

Hel took a few moments to think about his questions. Her first instinct was to say that Loki did care about her life, but she swallowed that urge. She'd seen his determination and wrath in person, and she'd seen his destruction on Earth on TV. She wasn't willing to be so naive and go ahead and say that she was absolutely certain Loki would put her above his revenge.

Which made this entire thing a gamble, when she thought about it.

Instead, she answered the red man's second question. "I've already died on Ear- Midgard so many times. I'd like to think I wouldn't be afraid if it happened again, but considering the two likely options of what would happen after I died, I think I would be."

"And what would those two options be?" He asked point blank.

The room was dead silent as Hel swallowed nervously. Why does it even matter? It wasn't something she liked to talk about, let alone think about. "The first possibility could be that I wouldn't be reincarnated again because of what I know now, about Asgard and myself. I'd be forever stuck in Helheim as I should've been from the start."

She ignored the white-haired woman's 'And should be now' comment.

"The second possibility would be that the cycle would continue and that I would be reincarnated again, no matter what. I..." She faltered a bit, "I wouldn't remember anything. It would start all over again."

There was a heavy silence in the room as she finished. The red man continued to give her a scrutinizing look, but she managed to see the faint nod.

"Hela," Odin's voice rang out like a shock, making her head snap around to him. "We need to discuss this new proposal in privacy. If we accept it, then you and Loki both must be ready to accept the consequences."

She nodded tiredly, allowing Thor to guide her out of the room with a hand on her shoulder. Not a word was spoken by the others as they watched them walk through the doors, which shut behind her heavily.

Again, so sorry. Both for not updating and promising things and not keeping those promises.

Comment! I love comments. Even if it is to tell me to hurry up or shut up.

Excuse the grammatical and spelling errors, I tried my best in the wee hours of the morning.

This chap is dedicated to my friend, who is the Pot to my Kettle.