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Asgard[August 2015]
–Jack Sullivan–
He was back on Asgard. It had not taken more than a day from his arrival on Earth for Hela and Thor to declare themselves ready to take part in the duel, ritualised to become a way for Asgard itself to recognise its ruler, a trial by combat sort of thing.
Looking at the giant space cleared out for the duel, one would think that it was overkill but it was anything but. On one hand, they had the Goddess of Death, someone who had slaughtered an unimaginable number of people and on the other hand, they had Thor. Both capable of large wholescale destruction and they couldn't do the whole duel back in the Royal City so now they were in a mountainous region cleared out for this specific duel.
Even then, there was not a large audience for this, even though the entire city knew that a duel was happening right now, for some reason. Thor had chosen not to inform the civilian population of Asgard that a fight for the throne was happening right now, probably because he was sure of his victory.
Thor and Hela both stood on two different ends of the forest, both probably a dot to each other, if they didn't have the Asgardian standard Enhanced vision. THey were both visible to him but even then barely. The area of the stage was huge and he was primarily here because he was hastily called back by Thor himself.
Yeah, now Thor could do the whole Astral projection himself now. Thor was really showing up to be the best bet in this whole duel, not that they bet anything except the fate of the Nine Realms as well as Asgard as a civilization.
He was called back because Thor needed someone to contain the fighting in a single zone so that Asgard as a whole does not suffer from their fights. He agreed, mainly because he was confident in his barriers containing at least the aftermath of their attacks but also because he had the Power Stone, which he could use to break up the fight or atleast kill Hela with ease.
He didn't know if she would just resurrect herself, given her connection to Asgard but even then, coming back from having been atomised by the Power Stone should take a long time, hopefully long enough for them to evacuate the entire Asgardian population and then destroy the damned planet, after pilfering everything of value, of course.
In the audience, there was Loki, Eir, a still recovering Heimdall, and yours truly. That's it. Loki had somehow been forgiven by Thor or maybe Thor had just let everything go and didn't truly trust Loki anymore.
Eir was here because she was the senior most member in the Asgardian Royal Palace, after Odin and Friga both died. Heimdall because he insisted(and begged Eir to allow him).
"Alright, they are about to begin," he warned everyone who shuffled closer to him as a giant green screen manifested in front of him. There was a magical fire that was floating in the center, slowly floating down to the ground. The second it touched the ground, the fire would shoot up in the air, signalling the start of the duel.
He didn't know how the duel was going to go but he was ready to just torch everything in front of him, knowing that Thor could teleport, and Hela could not, if things looked like Thor was going to lose, which was unlikely but he couldn't take any chances.
He tensed as the fire shot up in the air, making both of them create sonic booms as they shot toward each other. The weather had taken a turn for the worse, as was the case when Thor let his powers loose. He expanded the screen to cover all of them from the rain. The rain reduced visibility but it would be very hard to miss the giant green spike that grew from the ground and the bright white light that seemed to be whizzing around the spears that were now continuously coming out of the ground.
He squinted his eyes, to get a better look but his eyes were failing him, forcing him to rely on his magical senses but even they were failing. His senses, honed by the Masters of the Mystic Arts in KamarTaj, were top notch but there was a technique to the process.
He couldn't just turn his sensitivity all the way up, that would be a surefire way of getting a terrible migraine. So, he adjusted them accordingly, with the sensitivity being highest when it was near his body.
Right now, as he tried to expand his senses, they just returned a giant wall of magic in front of him, filled with death, decay and lightning as well, things that he already knew.
He could feel the impact on the barrier as the shockwaves from their clashes devastated the areas but as long as he could feel the shockwaves not reaching the population centres, he was free to keep the barriers limited only to himself.
"Impressive," Eir commented casually, though he could detect the faint sense of awe in her voice. She probably hadn't expected anyone, now that Odin was dead, from matching Hela and even beating her in combat.
"He's winning, by Odin's beard!" Heimdall exclaimed as he stepped forward, almost stepping up from his wheelchair but a sharp sideways glance from Eir had him back in the wheelchair, with his back upright. His eyes were glowing yellow, as they did whenever he used the sight.
Oh yeah, he still had the sight since it was a gift that could only be taken away by Odin or the Skyfather of the Pantheon, which was not yet decided by the collective consciousness of the Pantheon yet.
By strength, Thor was already the Skyfather, probably even above Zeus and the other gods but the recognition from the Pantheon was necessary and Thor will have it after this duel, once the only other candidate for that position was neutralised.
His eyes widened as a light bulb went over his head. Maybe that is why Thor insisted on this duel happening on Asgard. IN this way, Thor will be the King of Asgard, and the Skyfather as well, forcing Zeus to recognise a fellow peer and help them, if not out of fear then at least obligation.
Damn. Thor really thought ahead, didn't he?
"So, how are their injuries?" Eir's hands twitched as she asked Heimdall who answered immediately.
"Negligible. Prince Thor has sustained only minor cuts which healed immediately while Hela has suffered from…everything really but her healing factor and connection to Asgard, plus her domain, means that she recovers from everything incredibly quickly." Heimdall answered as his gaze continued to be locked on the duel in front of them.
When the fight began, the area in front of him, to his senses, was filled with magical energy that was half filled with Hela's energy and the rest of it filled with the much more potent energy of Thor. Now it was mostly Thor while Hela tried to exert more and more of her energy, to no avail.
It was clear to all that could see that Thor was winning and Hela was loosing. But, despite Thor hammering Hela with very powerful attacks, her magical energy dwindling more and more, Hela still seemed to fight back, with what little she had left.
Well, she was not called the Goddess of Death for nothing then.
Even so, even if Hela could not die while she was on Asgard or whether Thor had gone easy on her earlier, the duel ended when Thor, with a particularly potent power brewing in his hands, shot it at Hela.
He was ready when he felt the congregation of energy and had to throw barriers on top of barriers all around Thor and Hela, feeling the barriers breaking one by one until all that remained were the last 71 layers, from the original 100 around the entire dueling zone.
"By the Gods, What potent barriers!" Loki, was actually the one who exclaimed, seeing the aftermath of the attack that dwarfed all of Hela's energy and probably finally killed or incapacitated her. He smirked in reply. He knew that his powers were awesome like that.
He dispelled the barriers once the shockwaves cleared out but even then, once the barriers were lifted, he jerked back as he felt the sheer amount of magic that suffused the area in front of him.
Good Lord was that a lot of magic, and divine magic at that, which was particularly heavier than dimensional energy which was much easier to mold for a mortal soul while also being more versatile, but was very much weaker in terms of the ceiling of power when compared to divine magic.
Probably the reason why any half decent mage in Kamar Taj had either pacts with Elder Gods or channeled their powers using a relic that had echoes of Elder Gods, Demons' powers.
He saw Thor arriving in front of them, holding onto the battered body of Hela, and then carefully depositing it in a Soul Forge that he informed Eir to bring with him. He winced upon seeing her arms and legs gone, with most of her face having been burned away.
"Is she dead?" "Will she survive?" He and Loki asked at the same time, curious about her future, now that she formally gave up her right to Asgard's throne.
"She is alive and she will fully recover. Her connection to Asgard will make sure that she does not stay down for long, that is why I had to use a Rune attack to temporarily sever her connection and then bombard her with my lightning until she gave out,"
"So, what are you going to do with her, now that she is obligated to listen to you? Essentially, she has to listen to you or die," Eir asked Thor and it was clear with what intention she was asking Thor because Eir was probably looking for revenge on Hela for reasons too numerous to count.
But Thor shook his head and then outstretched both his hands in opposing directions. He heard the slight whine and stepped back and watched as Mjolnir and Gungnir both slammed themselves right into Thor's waiting palms, lighting up the scene in front of them.
Thor then pointed Mjolnir at the magical wasteland behind them, while maintaining eye contact with all of them, and then he watched, mouth agape as Mjolnir, for a lack of better term, "ate" up the magic irradiated into the lands as well. He could feel it as well, the sudden lack of weight on his magical senses as Mjolnir began absorbing the magical aftermath of the attack.
With his other hand, Thor slammed Gungnir on the ground, creating a large gong as he then began speaking in his royal tone.
"I, Thor Odinson, accept the position of King. With Asgard as my witness, I hereby absolve Hela of all her previous crimes," Eir snapped towards Thor, her glare promising violence, "provided she serves Asgard faithfully for the rest of her life. So mote it be!"
With that single declaration, Thor was crowned King of Asgard, which was probably felt across the universe, even to the Gods in the Omnipotence city.
Also, it was an interesting take, letting Hela live but he knew that the ritual that Hela had participated in, was very powerful because even the echoes of the ritual had blinded his senses and he had read in the Kamar Taj's forbidden section of the library that Asgard as a whole had a collective consciousness which expended everytime an Asgardian died, a part of their soul adding to the already massive store of power that was their planet.
A ritualized duel, with Asgard itself being the witness meant that Hela was probably a non issue at the moment and even if she did become a problem, Thor was more than capable of smacking her around, as was evident from the fight in front of him.
All that was left was, "So, when are we leaving? To Find Eitri?"
He asked Thor who dismissed Eir, Loki, and Heimdall, not before giving strict orders to all of them to make sure that Hela was fully healed and not harmed in any way. Hela was now an Asgardian asset, stronger than almost anyone in the Nine Realms.
Thor gained a thoughtful look at that, "Now that we have Hela who can guard Asgard and the Nine Realms in my absence, we can head to Omnipotence City anytime we want but before that, I need to make sure that our allies in the Nine Realms know that a new King has been chosen and that Hela has returned, but she is bound to protecting Asgard and its interests by me. It will take time but I will inform you about that. In the meantime, why don't you complete your mortal affairs?" Thor informed him and before he could really question the newly crowned absurdly powerful King about his actions, Thor disappeared in a burst of lightning.
And he was left there, standing alone, in front of a giant crater that was once a magically irradiated wasteland but now held none of that magic.
Just a giant hole.
He sighed and turned around, flying back to the city.
Damn, he really didn't like the delay they were facing going to Omnipotence City. He would have gone by himself but the thing was, he didn't know the path, neither did the Ancient One and according to her, he would face great peril and would find no help if he went there all by himself, as a "mere" mortal.
The Gods would take offense to a mortal daring to lay gaze on the city of the Gods. Eitri was fine because he was an immortal himself and the rest of the Dwarves would be considered as his entourage.
Him going there would help no one. He really needed Thor to be with him but Thor couldn't really leave Asgard in its current state, without any protection, so that was taking time as well.
"Well, no one said it would be easy. At Least we are only gathering more and more allies leading up to the fight, instead of losing more and more powerful people," He muttered to himself as he entered his guest quarters, and resigned himself to another night of partying with the warriors and then some light sparring before he went back to Earth.
He really needed to get out there and make a difference but for now, all the difference he had made in the fight was that he held the Power Stone, had almost mastered using it without burning his stamina and now had secured Hela's help in the upcoming fight since Thanos was going to target each and every planet in the universe.
"Ah, that's the good stuff," The Vikings sure knew how to make the best wine though.
Thanks for the Alcohol, Big G.
Word Count - 2558
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