New memories

Chapter 28

I am laying on the ground. It doesn't hurt anymore. I hear a soft female voice, "Halla. It is okay, my darling. You can wake up now.". I open my eyes and it is pure darkness around me. I stand up. I try to find the person that was talking to me. I look at my stomach, the wound is gone. Is this it? The afterlife? I wasn't strong enough to go to Valhalla. Only the fiercest warriors get to spend the afterlife in Valhalla, the paradise for the warriors. I guess I wasn't strong enough, or good enough. I start to cry. My child will grow up without her mother. I hope that Bucky survives so that she won't have to live her life like I did, alone.

"Don't worry my child, this isn't the end. Or it doesn't have to be.", I hear a man speaking to me. I look around and then I see them. I see my mother and father walking towards me. I see her crying and smiling at the same time. I run to her and give her a big hug. She squeezes me and hold me in a long hug. "My little angel! You have grown into a beautiful young woman. I have been able to see you and your little family. And Nanna. She will grow to be as pure hearted as her mother. I am so sorry that I couldn't be there for you when you were young. But I promise that I have tried to be as close as possible.", my mother tells me. I look at her crying. "I am sorry that I wasn't stronger. I am sorry that I couldn't save them all. I am sorry that I wasn't good enough for Valhalla.", I say and fall down.

Odin picks me up. "My child, you have done more than enough. You have saved our home and people once from your sister. You will be able to do it again. And you will have your chance to see Valhalla, I don't have any doubts about that. Have you already forgotten? My father always said, 'Warriors are not always the fastest or strongest men. Warriors are those who choose to stand between their enemy and all that they love and hold sacred.' There is strength in you. Not just in your muscles or your magic. Your greatest strength is in your heart.", he says to me.

"I don't understand. I died. I won't be able to defeat Hela.", I tell them. My mother and father look at me and I can see that they are disappearing little by little. "Trust in yourself. Trust in your friends. Trust in love. And trust that even in the darkest place there is always a way home.", my mother says to me right before she disappears.

I fall onto my knees. I am again alone. Like all those years when I was growing up. I had no one. I had to do everything alone, until Steve saved me. I never had friends, until I met Natasha and Wanda. I never had family, but then I found Thor and Loki. I was alone by myself. I never even knew what love was, until Bucky came into my life. With him I found a purpose. With him, I found a direction for my life. He has thought me what it is like to love someone unconditionally. Bucky has given me so much love. And he has given me a family, with our little girl. Nanna. She is the light in my darkness. She is the reason for me to keep going on. Bucky and Nanna are my reasons to fight!

I feel warmth emitting on my chest. "Of course, Elentári. It will show the way home and to my loved ones. Isn't that what the Elf King told me?", I ask. I pull out the necklace that the Elf King gave me. I hold it in my hand. It is glowing with a bright white light. I look at it and I hear Bucky's voice in my head. "I love you and without you, my life would be empty.", it's saying. "I will always stand by your side, no matter what we are facing.", the voice continues. This is what he told me when he was proposing and the latter one is from his vows on our wedding day. I feel the warmth inside of me. I think that the darkness is departing my body. I close my eyes and in my mind I can see my friends, my brothers, Bucky, and Nanna. I open my eyes and the fire is burning strongly once again.

At the same time that I am wondering in the darkness, back at the courtyard, everyone is crying. Hela is laughing and shouting, "I will be the queen! You will all die!". Steve and Nat are holding Bucky. He is crying, he is looking at my motionless body. Everyone around them is now mourning my death. The Asgardian soldiers lowered them self on one knee as mark of respect. My friends and family are all looking at me and crying. The phoenixes are crying, the dragons are blasting the shield with their fire. They are all exhausted. Lisha unleashes her fire right towards Hela.

Right then, the shield breaks, they finally broke it down. Hela startles. Bucky immediately runs to me. He drops to his knees. He picks my upper body into his arms. He is holding my body and crying. The phoenixes are all flying above me. Funí flies on Bucky's shoulder and drops tears on my face. Suddenly, my body starts to glow with the brightest and purest white light that anyone has ever seen. Bucky is still holding me tightly. He looks at me, gives me a kiss and then whispers to me, "It's you and me, forever and ever.". I open my eyes.

Bucky closes me into a hug and when he let's go. I am still glowing and because of that no one else but Bucky knows that I am alive. He kisses me again and I kiss him back. "For our infinity.", I say to him, and he smiles at me. Nat and Steve are looking at me, while the glow around me dims slowly. Bucky lifts me up and lowers me to my feet. I am now standing strong in front of my sister.

She startles and almost falls down. She is looking at her blade. "That is not possible. No one is able to survive the blade forged in Hel. No one is strong enough to survive from the darkness.", Hela is yelling. I lift my hand and send out an orb that is emitting the same pure light that was just a moment ago surrounding me. The orb flies fast to Hela's blade and when it hits it, the blade starts to glow. Hela drops the blade, and everyone can now see how it has changed from its former black color to silver. The darkness is gone.

"You are forgetting something, my dear sister.", I say to her sarcastically. She is now fixated on me. "And what that might be?", she asks me. All this time I have been staring at the ground. I am holding Elentári in my hand. "I have a reason to live. I have a reason to keep fighting. I have my family and friends. I have strength in my heart. I have love on my side.", I answer. I lift my head up and look right at her. My eyes have changes into fiery red. The fire inside of me burst into full flame. I am now surrounded in white fire.

The different colored orbs are appearing around me. They are floating in the air in the white fire. They are moving so fast that people around me can only see the different colors flickering around me. "Honey, you might want to step back.", I tell Bucky. But he is moving closer to me. "I told you doll. It's you and me, forever and ever.", he says while stepping into the white fire. Steve, Sam, and Nat yells at him, "Bucky, don't!". He is standing on my side, holding my hand, unharmed.

I look at Hela. "You see? It is not about strength of your body, weapons, or magic. It is about the strength of you heart, the strength of your love and your loved ones. That is something that you will never understand.", I tell her, and I kiss Bucky' hand. I look at him and smile. "Together?", he asks, and I respond, "Always.".

Lisha flies to us and lands behind us. Funí is right behind her, he lands on Bucky's shoulder and shrieks at Hela. I make the orbs surround Hela. They are now circling her. Here and there some of the orbs send some energy towards Hela and she twitches every time. I concentrate my powers into a one spot in front of me. Lisha is unleashing her fire to the same spot and the other dragons follow her lead. The phoenixes above us are sending their powers to that spot also.

"You were right before, Hela. This ends here!", I tell her. She is trying to use her magic to shield herself, but the orbs are not letting it happen. The energy build-up in front of me is getting stronger by the second. I look at Hela and I see the fear on her face. I know that I have to do this, but it is still breaking my heart a little bit. She is my sister. Why couldn't we be a family? Why couldn't she see the good in the world and have peace in her life?

I use the powers and blast them straight towards her. They hit her and without saying anything, I then use the white fire from around me to attack Hela. The white fire surrounds her and makes sure that the powers that I used will not attack anyone else. The white fire is now there for our protection. We can all hear her screaming. In few moments the silence lands on the courtyard. The fire diminishes and all that is left is Hela's motionless body. The soldiers hurry to make sure that she is gone. One of them checks her. He looks then at Thor and shakes his head. Hela is gone.