Klaus, Nicholas, Afton, and Astrid, four of Sirius' twelve siblings decided they would leave on a quest to find the beast of Sirius and also lachlan and the place they meant to reach was the heart of slidr- the void.
The fomoire queen Ériu insisted she come as well, to protect them in case the panther or other murderous creatures were out there.
They were hesitant to work with a descent of Jörmungander, and a member of a fallen pantheon, but but they did plan to travel to Sldir, so they decided that it would make sense to bring along a beast.
She towered over them as they began their journey down the path that Sirius and Saoirse's remains had once traveled in the possession of Ériu only days ago.
"Be careful we are heading back into the realm of the darkest members of her race." Afton said towards Ériu. She referred to those she had wished many times not to be related to, but eventually had gotten the resolve to surpass.
"Many fomoire and of the pantheon of jormungandur are mindless beasts most of the time, but I promise to you that not all are. In fact most aren't." Ériu defended herself and her fairies.
"All I've heard about is the lockness monster and of sirens and selkies." Afton said. "All of them kill sailors."
The giantess didn't know her new travel companions but they were a lot different than her previous ones so she didn't respond.
"Those beasts don't know who they are messing with." Nicholas said swinging his sword to show his form and accuracy. He sliced a tree and it fell in one wack and he smiled as he stepped over it, leaving it where it was. "I never get to just kill stuff anymore now that I'm always busy working."
"This isn't a vacation." Afton said annoyed.
Klaus stepped over the fallen tree and said nothing as his hands remained in his pockets. He seemed to be deep in thought.
The one who had never spoken up yet was Astrid. She was quiet and seemed younger than the rest of the death angels. She had an intensity about her though and Ériu felt like she could be the most unpredictable one of the 4 of them.
"So, Klaus, do you like goats?" Ériu asked after a while of silence. Everyone turned to look at her like she had said something stupid. "Umm… I mean Klaus, you have goat horns on your helmet." She said referring to his long golden horns that sprouted from his head.
"Goats are a symbol of death." He said. "I'm the death angel that judges the bad children who die. When I was younger, before Odin had created Valkyrie, me and Nicholas used to go around the world once a year to punish the children who were bad and Nicholas would give gifts to the good ones.
That way it deterred them from growing up bad. Some of them, I even made them spend the night in Sldir with me. They would wake up so scared the next morning, checking to see if they were dead, It was really a lot of fun!
He let out a deadly growl that sounded like a wendigo and a night walker had a baby.
The humans celebrated holidays and ran through the streets dressed in costumes to look like me, drinking beer and all of that. Now they just celebrate sweetie pie over there, and they forgot about me.
"I loved getting to go but that is when I was called Krampus. I have left that life behind for now."
"Humans are a bit boring now, they don't care about dying a noble death anymore."
Nicholas coughed. "Well, at least you don't have as many bad kids to deal with. Positive energy and reinforcement is a much better way to do things. You can be noble if you fulfill your purpose in life, you don't have to slaughter stuff."
"How many good kids made it to Hel this year huh?" Klaus said tauntingly.
"They were sick." I sent them back to be reborn." Nicholas said annoyed. Those dumb Valkyrie could do it themselves, but they just leave the poor frightened things to me. Anyways, I take it upon myself to bring wonder to their lives."
"Yeah yeah." Klaus said.
Ériu was a bit confused. "Why would the Valkyrie send good kids to Hel?"
"Because," Afton said, "if you don't die a noble death then the humans are sent to Hel and she decides if they will be reborn."
"Afton, what do you do?" Ériu asked.
"Not that it matters to a beast like you, but I judge the elderly. Especially ones that are abandoned by loved ones. They die very lonely. People these days don't understand that family is important until they're old and lonely. However, it is my job to see if they would like to try again."
"So you can all send souls back if you want then?" The fomoire asked astonished. She never really knew the purpose of the death angels, but she figured that Hel did all of the judging. The goddess had a very stern reputation, so Ériu assumed she wouldn't delegate.
"We all have our own authority." Afton responded.
"What about the goddess?"
Klaus answered this time, "she is the one who ultimately decides if she needs to. She watches over all of our decisions and she will step in if someone is about to overstep their authority, or choose wrong."
"She gets the final word then?"
"When she steps in, even she cannot really determine who is worthy. She lets the soul decide. Whatever is their greatest flaw that is holding them back from being judged, she offers them the opportunity to correct it. If they pass then they get what they are seeking. If not, then they remain in hell."
Ériu realized something that Hel was a good peaceful place. It wasn't like the place of fire and brimstone like the generalization hell. With one L it was named after the goddess herself and only good spirits went there, but it wasn't heaven either. It was like a waiting area. Also referred to as helheim, it was actually a cold place as cold as death.
Slidir was the place that was hot and murderers ran amuck there. Thus Nefilheim had many areas for the dead and they didn't just mingle together.
"What does Astrid do?" Ériu asked after a while.
"She doesnt speak. She is the goddess of silence. Demigoddess anyways." Nicholas said. "She will make sure a death is quick. She comes before they are to be judged. She is the forest when you are about to die and the animals go quiet. And then your Fylgia cuts your string and bam! Dead."
Ériu shivered and Astrid smiled.