Chapter 1
“Thor Odinson, do you swear to guard the Nine Realms?”
“I swear.”
“Do you swear to cast aside all selfish ambition and pledge yourself only to the good of all the Realms?”
“I swear!”
“Then on this day, I, Odin Allfather, proclaim you--” Odin hesitated, the unmistakable muffled sounds of conflict echoing just beyond the closed doors of the Throne Room.
“No,” Odin whispered, his voice teeming with shock and horror.
Thor rose from his kneeling position and climbed the steps of the dais to stand beside his king. “Father?”
“Evacuate the Palace. Take the civilians to the sanctuary in the mountains and have the Bifrost closed immediately!” Odin commanded the Einherjar, who moved to carry out their King's Command without question.
As the sounds of commotion grew closer, Loki moved to stand protectively in front of the All-Mother as Sif and the Warriors Three reached for their weapons, ready to fight.
“Father, what-” Before Thor could finish his question, the All-Father turned frantically to face his family, his single eye wide with fear and something else that Loki couldn't quite place.
Odin grabbed his eldest son by the arm and attempted to shove him towards him and their mother. “Boys, take your mother and leave. Use the passageway hidden in the vault.”
“No, I'm not going anywhere until you tell us what's going on!” Thor shouted indignantly, shrugging off his father.
Loki, who knew all too well that his brother was not one to ever back down from a fight even if his life was at risk, attempted to talk sense into his older brother. “Thor now is not the time. Think of mother.”
“My sons please-” Before The All-Father could get out another word of his plea the door flew open. Loki startled, and Thor turned around quickly as light poured in, causing a horned figure's silhouette to stretch across the Hall. There was a moment of stunned silence before the figure began to make its way for word toward the throne. The temperature seemed to drop with every step the figure took further into the room. As the figure got about halfway down the aisle, their horns seemed to disappear, and they began to speak.
“Well, well, well, it seems you're not the only one who's gotten softer in your old age, your majesty. The Einherjar seem to just let anyone walk in.” an unfamiliar but undeniably feminine voice rang out, and Loki was almost certain that he could hear a bitterness beneath her mocking tone. She was now close enough for Loki to make out. The woman’s raven hair appeared unkempt, her greyish blue eyes were cold and determined, and her steps sure.
Truly her appearance was strikingly similar to his, and it seemed he wasn't the only one who noticed as Lady Sif caught his gaze, the unspoken question was clear: Do you know her? Loki shook his head in denial before turning his attention back to the intruder. The similarities were honestly quite unsettling, but now was obviously not the time to dwell on such things.
“Found a few of those down in the vault. Seems like they were looking for this.” the woman seemingly effortlessly tossed the severed head of a Frost giant towards them before raising her other hand to reveal one of Odin's most heavily guarded Treasures: The Casket of Ancient Winters. And for what felt like hours, but honestly couldn't have been more than a few seconds, Loki couldn't take his eyes off of it. He'd been drawn to the casket ever since he was a boy but was forbidden from ever getting too close to it. Being this close to the Casket now, even with several feet between himself and it, made him want to steal the treasure for himself and disappear before anyone could take it from him.
“Oh, well.” the intruder said as she loosened her grip on the artifact, letting the Casket fall carelessly to the floor as if it was nothing. The sound effectively startled everyone out of their communal shock. Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three all prepared themselves for combat, while Loki moved to rush forward and retrieve the Casket, but before he could take a step Frigga caught his arm, her eyes pleading with him not to.
Thor began to swing Mjolnir, ready to fling himself forward with a shout of: “How dare you!”
“Thor, stop,” Odin commanded, before turning his attention to the stranger. “How did you get out? Your prison was made to be inescapable.”
The black-haired woman scoffed. “The door you let your little pet Valkyries through, of course.”
“The Valkyries have been dead for centuries!” Shouted Sif, brimming with righteous indignation that someone would speak so disrespectfully of her idols.
The stranger lifted her hand as if to preemptively ward off thanks and praise she expected to come from the shieldmaiden's direction. “You're welcome,”
“I'm sorry,” Loki interjected skeptically, trying to take the stranger's attention off of Sif. Loki could tell that her patience was beginning to wane and one wrong move could start a fight that he wasn't sure they could win. “You killed the Valkyries?”
She smirked widely. “Oh, don't sound so surprised, snowflake. Did you really think that a group of obsequious little bootlickers could best the goddess of Death?”
“Snowflake?”
She looked at him for a long moment as if she was trying to peer into his very soul through his eyes to find something. The silence was nearly deafening. Realization began to light up in her eyes and she let out a harsh laugh. Whatever she was looking for, she found.
“You don't know, none of you know.” The stranger stated gleefully raking her eyes over the others in the room before turning her attention back to the All-Father. “Well it would seem that I'm not the only dirty little secret you kept in the name of convenience, am I? Has it been so long that no one remembers the smell of their blood?”
“Cease your goading at once!” Odin shouted.
“Father, what is she talking about?”
“Nothing of substance, brother,” Thor answered in his father's place before turning his attention back to the strange woman. “I grow weary of your games, tell us who you really are!”
“Watch your tongue, boy. You're speaking to Hela: goddesses of Death, firstborn of Odin, and heir to the throne of Asgard!”
The All-Mother stared at the strange woman as if trying to decipher why her name and title felt so familiar but not the woman herself. “Goddess of Death?”
Hela locked her eyes with the All-Mother, and Loki could have sworn that in their steely depths he saw some semblance of hurt. “You truly don't remember me, do you?”
“I am no boy, witch, and I will not allow you to speak such falsehoods!” The golden-haired prince interjected again, trying to draw Hela’s attention.
“I'm sorry, who are you again?”
“I am Thor Odinson: Odin's true firstborn, god of Thunder, and Asgard’s future king!”
“You speak lies with such certainty.” Hela's voice was suddenly low and disapproving. “Do you know nothing of your history, child?”
“Hela,”
“How,” Hela demanded of the All-Father, rage burning in her eyes. “How did you manage to make them forget me?”
There was a frozen moment of silence, with no one able to speak or dare make a move. While everyone else's eyes were locked on Hela, Odin slightly shifted his grip on Gungnir tightened. The movement was subtle enough not to be noticed by the rest but was caught by Hela and Loki.
“So, that's it.” The goddess of Death raked her fingers through her dark tresses; it morphed into a crownlike helmet with pitch-black appendages forming from, what Loki assumes is her hair, resembling the antlers of a stag. “Well, in that case,”
In the blink of an eye and with a flick of her wrist Hela conjured a jagged necrosword into her hand, surging forward and slashing at the All-Father's thigh. Before he could drop, Hela materialized behind him, wrapping her free hand around the hand her father was using to hold Gungnir while digging her sword into his throat with the other.
“Now, you will all know the truth!” Hela cried, startling the others in the room.
As soon as he registered the position Hela had his father in Thor attempted to leap into action with a mighty roar only to find himself quickly pinned into place as several of Hela’s necroswords materialized digging into his neck, spine, and abdomen.
“Thor!” Frigga cried, attempting to rush towards her son only to find herself in the same position.
“Mother!”
“Loki, don't!”
In rapid succession Sif, the Warriors Three, and Loki all found themselves pinned in place just as Thor and The All-Mother were.
“Hela, you don't have to-”
“It seems that you've left me no choice, old man. Now, show them!”
“Wait, Hela, I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement.” Loki offered holding out his hands in an attempt to defuse the situation.
“Loki,” Thor hissed, cursing his brother's silver tongue.
“Oh, it is far too late for that, snowflake. Besides, you're definitely going to want to see this.” Hela cooed in a sickeningly sweet voice.
“Father, wha-”
“Enough, do it! Or I start slitting throats.”
Odin turned his gaze to his youngest son as an orb of light began radiating outward from Gungnir and gave a broken whisper of: “I am sorry, my son.”
In the blink of an eye, the orb of light pulsated outward engulfing the entire room in blinding white light.