At the edge of Asgard stood a man dressed in black, gripping a spear in his hand. Two crows perched on his shoulders, and behind him, a black man donned golden armor, standing watch in silence and gazing into the distance.
While he appeared to be in his prime, a single gray hair betrayed the man's age.
"Did I make a mistake, Heimdall?" he asked.
"You did what was necessary as the King of the Nine Worlds and as the King of the Gods," replied Heimdall.
"You're right. After the conquest of the nine kingdoms, Hela and her army posed a threat to the peace we'd finally achieved. Asgard should be the strongest world with the strongest army, but we cannot allow it to be too powerful. If it is, other worlds may band together, and an annihilation war will ensue."
"So you decided to sacrifice our daughter and our best warriors to ensure your reign's safety," Frigga interjected, suddenly appearing in a gorgeous green dress.
"Frigga, you know we had no choice," Odin replied.
"I know," she said. "You raised her as a weapon, promised me a future where we could live as a simple family. But you broke your promise and locked her away in that dead realm. And when she was about to escape, you asked for my help to bind her with your life force."
"I had to do it. Our daughter would not stop in her bloodshed. Her very divinity decided her fate as the goddess of death and queen of the dead in the realm of Helheim."
"You left me no choice. If I hadn't helped you, you would have killed her. Although you could have won that deadly duel, she would have left many fatal wounds on your body. Eventually, the ice giants would start another war, and the nine realms would never see peace."
"As I said, it was her fate," Odin replied.
Frigga said nothing and vanished into the magical firth. Odin and Heimdall remained silent, staring at the place where Hela had been imprisoned.
"Heimdall, keep watch on the world of the dead. If you notice even the slightest anomaly in the next fifty years, report it to me immediately. Although Hela won't be able to escape without help, I want to ensure that the spell is working correctly."
"As the King commands."
Midgard is set in the 4th century CE.
In a small town, a mortal invented a way to make books by experimenting with paper and creating a book binding that made it more convenient to store large amounts of paper.
In another place, another mortal created a wonderful drama that the king liked so much that he decided to reward the playwright. The playwright's name would forever be remembered in history books.
Other notable events involved mortal wars, scientists, magicians, and sorcerers. One sorcerer, dressed in a high-quality tunic and barefoot, sat in his room and looked at the river of time. He wore an amulet with a green stone that shone brightly, and by controlling it, he could see many possible futures.
"Nothing has changed," he said to himself. "After a couple of decades, I will finally be able to pass on my burden to the younger generation and retire to eternal rest."
There was a knock on the door, and without waiting, the sorcerer said, "Come in."
A younger man in a tunic of worse quality entered. "Master, all the temples have been serviced annually, and no problems have been found. The enchantment works as it should, and no demons or dimensional lords will be able to get into our world."
"Excellent news. What about our youth?"
"There were several new people who wanted to study, and among them, there was one particularly talented. In a couple of years, he will definitely become a master."
"That's good to hear. You may go and attend to your duties."
The man bowed and left, closing the door. Alone, the sorcerer pulled a scroll towards him and began to study the secrets of magic.
Meanwhile, in a wild forest, a group of ten wizards gathered. Their heads were covered with black caps, and they kept a good distance from each other.
"I hope everyone knows the plan," the leader said.
"Yes, we go in carefully, look and copy all the inscriptions, and do not touch any objects without prior confirmation that there are no curses on them. It's not the first time we've done this, so let's start right away," one of the wizards replied.
"This case is special, according to preliminary investigations, it may be a temple of one of the gods of death. Just one mistake, and we could all die. I want you all to be aware of that."
No one replied, but everyone looked tense and wary. The leader nodded contentedly. "Well, I know all the coordinates, so let's go."
The wizards disappeared one by one or in pairs and reappeared in another place, ready to carry out their mission.
Hela opened her eyes and smiled at Helheim.
"It's finally started. Even though I'm not quite ready, for the sake of the experiment, everything should go well. Mortals were able to find one of the abandoned camps of my troops, and that's amazing."
After these words, Hela fell silent and looked sadly at the field of corpses located nearby - a field of corpses of her troops, killed by her hand.
Shaking his head and pushing away unnecessary thoughts, she focused on the feeling of death and any summoning. After a few hours, realizing that nothing was happening, she opened her eyes again and spoke with displeasure.
"Stupid mortals. I left so many traces of my divine energy, and yet you can't use them to summon me? Are you so backward in Midgard that you don't know a simple summoning spell?"
Clicking her tongue in discontent, she still decided to calm down. "It doesn't matter. I still have plenty of time ahead. Perhaps they need to prepare the ritual better, and for that, it takes not only a lot of resources and time but also a special day."
Little did Hela know that all the wizards who had infiltrated her abandoned camp were dead.