The Rise
Chapter 1:
It was time. After so long, it was time.
For centuries, Hela had been imprisoned and could do nothing but watch as her existence was erased from history, her birthright was usurped by her fool of a half-brother, and the only legacy she had left, her son, was neglected and abused by the man she hated most, the self-proclaimed protector of the Nine Realms.
In recent years, she had felt Odin's strength waining. Soon, the old fool would die, and she would be free.
She did not know how to feel regarding this. On one hand, she wished to be free from her prison. On the other hand, she desired to kill Odin herself, avenging her, her son, and all the wrong that he had done. However, she could not do this, as the only way for her to be freed was for him to die first. Alas, she would have to settle with destroying all he held dear.
Asgard would fall. That much was certain. Yes, warriors were quite possibly the greatest in the Nine Realms, and it would be a shame for them to be destroyed. However, she still wanted nothing more than to watch the realm burn after how they betrayed her and after how they mistreated her son.
Thor was a foolish, arrogant child. Taking him down would hardly be an issue. She may even be merciful. After all, while he had at some points contributed to her son's torment, at other times he had also shown kindness to him and had defended him. For this, she may be quick in illiminating her half-brother.
She may spare Frigga. While at first she had absolutely despised the woman for the simple fact that her son would grow up to call the vanir mother, throughout the centuries she had come to be grateful for her kindness. She had at least acted like a parent to her son, and attempted to help him climb out of the shadow of Thor and Odin. It was thanks to her that her son had become one of the most powerful sorcerers in the Nine Realms.
Hela smirked as she thought of this.
Thanks to Frigga's teaching, her son had the strength to fight by her side. Once Hela was free, she would be able to unite with her son and together, the two of them would be an unstoppable force.
Surely after the centuries of lies and betrayal, he would side with her.
Together, the Goddess of Death and the God of Mischief would unite to exact vengeance upon all who had done them wrong.
However, all of her plans shattered when Loki discovered the truth on his own.
She was filled with an inordinate amount of rage as she watched how Odin handled the matter. Oh, how she wished she could take out that other eye, along with other various body parts.
However, what was most heart-wrenching, was when Loki concocted a scheme which had the intent of trying to please the old fool. He had done so much, tried to end a war which had been started by Thor, had even killed his own biological father... All to gain some form of approval.
Yet, it was all for nought.
Even when the man was hanging over a dark void, begging for acceptance, he was denied.
Though his actions may not have been proper, the intentions still should have earned him some merit.
But no, not from Odin.
Her anger had only grown as she watched Loki being tortured, broken, until his mind was invaded by the infinity stone of mind and he was made to go collect another infinity stone for that accursed titan.
Oh, she knew of Thanos.
Whilst not watching Loki through her mirror, she explored the universe, attempting to entertain herself until the day of her freedom would come. Thanos had been something that court her eye.
The last of his race, and fairly powerful. At first, she thought that he would make a good ally. However, she quickly discovered the titan's madness.
He believed that the way for balance to be achieved was for half of the universe's population to be killed. And so he went from planet to planet, killing half the population at random.
Hela snorted.
Who was he to decide what was needed for balance?
What was worse, he did it in her name.
Apparently, by some miracle, he had heard legend of the powerful Lady of Death, and was infatuated with her. And so he desired to prove his worth by "Bringing balance and peace", to the universe.
Hela was not impressed.
She may have left a trail of blood through the Nine Realms, but her kills had always had a purpose. They had always been for the glory of Asgard.
But Thanos? He only killed for his misconceived fantasies that the universe would be grateful for him slaughtering half of them.
This was senseless killing. This disgusted Hela and irritated her to no end.
She may have thought of illiminating Thanos before, simply because he was an unwanted annoyance. However, after what he did to Loki, she wanted to kill him just as much as she did Odin. Maybe, once she was free, she would fulfill her desires to slaughter both men with her exacution of the titan. Perhaps she would even invite Loki to join her. After all that he had suffered, her son would most definitely want to exact his revenge against the mad titan.
It were these thoughts which led her through Loki's attack on Midgard, and his defeat via Thor and his new friends, a band of Midgardians whom called themselves the Avengers.
However, it was not quite enough to withhold her rage during Loki's farce of a trial.
Honestly, Odin just wanted to throw Loki away and forget he existed. Surely, if he did even the slightest amount of research, he would find that the young man had been under the influence of mind-control. The healers could find the damage done to his mind. Not to mention, his eyes on the midgardian security images were not the same colour as they usually were.
But Odin did not care. His plan to rule Jottenheim through his half Frost-Giant grandson had failed, and now he had no use for the boy and had no sympathy for the situation. He did not even care that it was because of him that Loki was as he was.
But most of all, was what Odin had said to him.
"Your birthright, was to die! As a child, cast out onto a friendzen rock. If I had not taken you in, you would not be here now to hate me."
Oh, how she wanted to rip out his tongue and shove it down his throat. But alas, she was stuck in her prison until the old fool died.
However, she was soon feeling a shift. Something was different in the Nine realms.
Of course.
She thought.
The convergence.
The time when the barriers between the Nine Realms would be at their weakest. Perhaps, if she concentrated enough energy, she could break out of her prison earlier than Odin had planned.
She smirked.
Odin and the rest of Asgard were to busy with the dark elves. The old fool wouldn't notice if she was slowly ripping a whole out of her prison.
As she worked on breaking a whole in her prison, she continued to watch the happenings of Asgard.
She was delighted when the dark Elves attacked the palace of Asgard. Odin would be so busy dealing with the aftermath, he wouldn't notice her escape.
The distraction was further increased by the death of Frigga.
In the end, Hela was ambivalent about her step-mother's death.
On one hand, Odin was distracted by his grief, which gave Hela the perfect opportunity to work on her early escape. However, Hela knew how much this would affect Loki.
She was saddened to see her Son greave, and not even be invited to Frigga's funeral.
Hela tried to help as much as she could by singing him the song she had always whispered to him on the wind.
Hush child,
The shadows will rise from the deep, and,
Carry you down into sleep, child,
The shadows will rise from the deep, and,
Carry you down into sleep...
And still, she worked. Driven by her anger and her thirst for revenge, she used the weakened barriers between the realms to fight her way out of her prison. Even after the convergence was finished, the barriers were still weak enough for her to rip a way out.
She lost track of time as she thought through the enchantments placed upon her prison by Odin. Nothing would stop her. Nothing and no one. Odin, Thanos, and all of Asgard would feel the wrath of the Goddess of Death.
And finally, she broke through.
Finally, she was free.
Finally, she could unite with her son.
And finally, they would have their revenge.