Revamped!
[Guys, this is another arc I changed thousands of times and I'm so excited about it because guess who's coming back?! (The last part of this chapter is my absolute favourite.)
Also, I have read this chapter over and over again so many times and it's is just phenomenal]. [2020: Okay, add this chapter to my list of favourites. I should start writing them down.].
Chapter 93: A Living Hel Part One
Xavier's Apartment - Manhattan - 4:11 AM
His eyes burst open at the sound of creaking floors in his apartment. Xavier sits up and the sound comes again. He doesn't need to hear it a third time because he knows that something is out there. He takes out the gun that he keeps in his nightstand table and stealthily runs out.
Xavier holds his gun up as he slowly walks around his place. It seems quiet and tranquil, almost as if he dreamt of the slight noises. Xavier lowers his gun a bit, still aware of his surroundings. He inhales and the noise comes again from behind him. Xavier turns around with his gun back up, but nothing is -
a hand clamps on his mouth; the long and slender fingers seal themselves over his mouth. The strength in that one hand alone overpowers Xavier. His gun falls to the ground but he has no energy to fight back. A black mist fills the room, mystifying and making Xavier relax. The magic of it hypnotizes him, making him go limp and eventually unconscious in unknown arms.
The mysterious figure smirks to herself as she leans in closer to Xavier's ear.
"Relax, mortal, you will see her soon…"
-o-
Asgard
His father paces back and forth in the throne room, rubbing his beard in frustration. His mother stands worriedly beside him, her face pale and blotchy as her eyes are rimmed red. She has been crying. Thor ressembles looks the same but he hides his emotions. In front them stands Freya. Her eyes follow Thor's steps, seeming passive to whatever their current situation may be.
"Where are my children?" Thor asks.
It takes Freya a moment to realize that Thor was talking to her. She clears her throat and refocuses.
"I wish I knew the answer," Freya replies honestly.
"You were the last one to see them, Freya. They know better than to run and you knew better than to let them. There was no escaping this. I couldn't find anything and Heimdall can't find them."
"Thor, Jane, I was the last one with them. Sigyn sent Apollo away and then she sent me back here. I don't know what they were planning. They knew that running away would make no difference but that's why they did it. That's why they're not here. Isn't that why you left as well?"
Thor squares at her, unable to answer. Freya stares at him with furrowed brows and a sturdy stance, holding herself to the same level.
"Freya…" Jane mutters weakly.
"Aren't we all running from it?" Freya questions rhetorically. "At least we're fortunate not to have our damn names written!"
Freya turns around and leaves. Thor and Jane call for her but she doesn't turn around. She tries to hold herself together but ends up bringing a hand to her mouth to muffle her cries and catch her tears. She can't help but feel emotional towards this because she could've done something to prevent all this.
"Come home, Apollo," she mutters. "Find Sigyn and please come home…"
Apollo suddenly wakes up, feeling his cheeks and pillow damp with tears he didn't know he cried. That dream had his parents and they were looking for him. They seem worried and he doesn't know why. Even Freya was the same. This was his second dream with her and she was crying in both of them.
Why is she crying? What happened on Asgard that led up to this moment? Why was he running? Why does he have to find Sigyn? Why is she so important? Why couldn't his parents find him if he was right here?
Apollo gets out of bed, needing some air so he walks out onto the balcony. The cold night air brushes past him but it does nothing for him. If only that dream could be erased from his mind instead of the memories that he's missing and craving.
"Hey," James says, stepping out. Ever since Apollo arrived, he's been bunking at James's penthouse since it was big and wasn't constantly under construction like Emily's place.
"Did I wake you or Angela?" Apollo asks.
"Nope. You stepping outside set off the security alarm," James admits. "I turned it off but I don't think you care." Apollo nods which James saw coming. "So, whatcha doing out here?"
Apollo takes a breath. "I have to go back to Asgard."
James isn't sure how to take that news. He can't possibly blame Apollo for wanting to go back. If he showed up somewhere else with one of the few memories being the place where he came from, he would go back.
"What's stopping you?" James questions.
Apollo shrugs. "I'm not so sure."
-o-
Xavier's Apartment - Manhattan - 8:16 AM
Angela knocks constantly on Xavier's door. He hasn't been answering his phone all morning which has been worrying her. Usually, if Angela spams him with phone calls and he didn't pick up, he would at least text her to shut up. They've done that since they got cell phones. This time, he didn't do that and it scared her.
After knocking for five minutes, Angela picks the lock and lets herself in. She closes the door behind him and calls Xavier's name several times as she walks further inside. For a moment, she thinks that maybe Xavier isn't here, that is until she sees him unconscious on the floor of his kitchen.
"Oh, my god!" Angela exclaims.
Angela immediately turns him over and does a quick routine checkup to see his vitals. Then, she pulls out her phone to make an emergency phone call. Minutes later, Daniel walks in and rushes over, as shocked to see the sight as she was.
"What the hell?" Daniel mutters as he kneels beside Xavier and checks his vitals the same way Angela did.
"Why'd you call me and not 911?"
"You're my 911," Angela replies.
"What did you notice?"
"He's breathing but there's no pulse."
"Yeah… I got the same. I just needed to make sure that I'm not going crazy at this phenomenon. This is medically and physically impossible. The circulatory and respiratory systems are connected so if one fails, the other should as well."
Angela looks up at him worried. "What could've happened?"
Daniel shrugs.
-o-
Location Unknown - Time Unknown
The landing is rough.
Xavier grunts as he lands on his stomach. He feels his nearest surroundings with his hands: sand, rocks, dust. All seems normal. He feels the sides of his body, he has no weapons but he's wearing his SHIELD uniform and feels his shield strapped on his back, which isn't the strangest thing at the moment. Xavier climbs onto his feet and spins around to see where he is.
He's in a forest of dead trees with jagged and sharp branches that point in every direction. It looks familiar but doesn't. There are no moon or stars, but the sky is strangely dark. This can't be good. It's darker and eerier so he isn't sure of what could be out there, especially since he doesn't know where he is or how he got here.
Xavier begins to walk slowly and carefully. Every step he takes is cautious, not wanting to alert anything or anyone about his presence. Suddenly, he heard a noise and stops. Something is coming his way.
Xavier starts to run in the other direction. He skids some trees, although some branches snag and tear his uniform. He puts his shield over his face for protection. Xavier turns his head to see if there's anything following him, and he crashes. Xavier rolls on the ground, grunting in pain as his shield lands nearby. He opens his eyes and sees a woman pointing her hand that's shimmering magic stretched towards him.
"No way…" Xavier mutters in complete shock as he stands up. Her hand lowers and lingers by her side.
"Relax, mortal, you will see her soon…"
It's her. And neither one of them can react.
It's Britney. It's Sigyn. Britney Braun. Sigyn Lokisdottir. His Britney Braun.
Their eyes meet and it's like a lightning bolt. An instant, electric connection. Sometimes, Xavier thinks that he spent too much time looking into her eyes that he almost forgot what the rest of her face looked like. As he looks at her, he sees a pale face with sunken cheeks staring back. Her neck, face, arms are all dirty, short dress torn, and hair sticking out in all directions yet still retains the resemblance to melting sunlight in the darkness. Fear-filled emerald eyes stare back at him. That wasn't the way he remembered her eyes at all.
She's right there: dusty hair, eyes wide and stunned, like an apocalyptic vision.
He couldn't stop staring at her although he knows that he's probably in deep danger. This time, it's different. He was looking at her as if he was never going to see her again and he isn't sure why. She looks more vivid now compared to his photos and memories of her.
She's got to be a ghost. She's too beautiful. The purity and realness of this beauty give Xavier a feeling close to sadness - a very natural feeling, though one that only someone truly extraordinary could produce.
The years have truly been kind to her. She has grown into a remarkable beauty even with the impurities covering her.
Xavier leans forwards to hug or kiss her - movements that are just so automatic to him that it's like second nature - and he's still several inches away when he wrenches back unsteadily, everything coming into focus when he sees her blank eyes still staring at him with that same fear from moments ago.
"Britney?" Xavier questions, almost surprised.
Her head perks up at the sound of a name that she hasn't been called in seven years. It almost sounded foreign to her. She opens her mouth to correct him but she can't bring herself to do so at first.
"I'm Sigyn now," she finally replies softly. He nods slowly and she takes a step closer to him. "Are you dead?"
Xavier is taken aback for a moment. Before Sigyn could explain, an amplified sound of a horn fills the air. A woman or goddess of some sorts soars down from above and hovers above them. Her frame and stance are large yet slender and toned. Her entire body is a dark shade of green with a black stick-like pattern all over that extends beyond her head as a stretched-out crown. Her smile is frightening, even sending shivers down Sigyn's spine as she cowers back.
"Welcome to my realm, Xavier Rogers, for I am Hela, the Goddess of Death," she introduces formally, almost kindly with a tinge of sourness. "Try not to get comfortable, mortal, for you are in the realm of the afterlife for the dishonourable. Welcome to Hel."
Xavier looks at Sigyn. "Are you dead?"
Sigyn's face doesn't budge. "Are you?"
[SIGYN. IS. FINALLY. HERE. And it's more than just a small cameo].
[2020: Welcome to Season Three].
