During Odin's reign, before the exile of Thor to Midgard, Hela, the goddess of death, took her revenge on the house of Odin for her appointment as ruler of Hel. Any soul that gained access to Valhalla was out of her reach, leaving her feeling slighted as her realm was overrun with the evil and depraved. Feeling she deserved more and that the inhabitants of the nine realms were cheating her by cheating death, she felt it was time to take the souls that escaped her. When news came to Niffleheim of Loki's expected heir with his wife Sigyn, Hela knew this would be the perfect time to act. When all of Asgard was celebrating the announcement of a royal birth. She struck Asgard in the middle of the night, first imprisoning Heimdall, and cutting down any of the Warriors that stood in her way.
Determined to gain the souls she felt were wrongly being kept from her, the subsequent war came to be known as The Purging.
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"Loki, you must get yourself out of here."
"I am not leaving you. Not now." Loki held Sigyn close to him. The Purging had lasted eight months already. Several of Asgard's greatest heroes had fallen to Hela including Volstagg, Skadi, and the Enchantress. "I will not allow you to die for me. Your place is by my side. Now come." He turns to leave, taking her hand, but she slips out of his grasp,
"If you don't leave now, this will never end." She insists, no longer able to keep her composure and a tear slips down her cheek,
"Sigyn--" the door rattles with a jarring impact.
"I will stay with her." Balder rests one hand on Sigyn's shoulder, the other on his sword hilt,
"Brother, come now!" Thor grabs Loki by the arm, pulling him into the passage where Sif and Fandral are waiting,
"No! Sigyn! Come with me!" Loki yells, fighting his brother all the while. The hidden door closes behind them.
"Min kärlek." My love. Was she being selfish? If anything went wrong she surely wouldn't survive. What would Loki do if he lost the both of them? She rests a hand on her belly, so round with child. It wouldn't be long now. She could feel that their child was ready.
Loki, Thor, Fandral, and Sif were all safe in the passageway, making their way out of the city, when the door finally gives way and Hela barges in, brandishing her sword, flanked by three of her foot soldiers. She quickly scans the room finding only Sigyn with Balder at her side.
"You think yourself clever, don't you, my queen?" Hela stalks slowly toward Sigyn, "They will not get far. I will finish what has begun."
"When will you be satisfied? Must more innocence be stolen?"
"Innocence? These Asgardians you call heroes have stolen what is mine. I am here to take it. Starting with my father. His poison has spread farther than even you may know." Hela's gaze rests on Sigyn's belly, triumph and disgust warring in her expression.
"I am here with a proposition." Sigyn begins. Balder looks at her, surprised.
"Following the birth of my child. You may have my life. My soul, for Loki's. He will not be taken to Hel should he fall. Instead take me. Only me. And end this needless war."
Hela smiles, a cruel expression, chilling Sigyn's blood. Balder's hand tightens on his hilt.
"I will end nothing. Not until I get what I deserve."
"Oh, I guarantee that." A flash shines through the room and Sigyn and Balder disappear.
A moment of confusion and uncertainty passes over Hela's face before she chuckles.
"Truly the wife of a trickster."
A sudden pain shoots across Sigyn's belly. She cries out, her illusion faltering.
The baby.
"No, no, no, not now. It can't be now." Sigyn mutters, of all the times for this baby to come, now was surely the worst.
"My lady." Balder reaches for Sigyn, stepping between her and Hela, sword at ready.
Hela smiles at him sweetly. "Go." She says, and her men are in motion. Though there are half a dozen foot soldiers, Balder makes quick work of them; swords clash, fists fly, bones splinter and blood spurts as he cuts down the last. Hela looks at Balder unamused, "I suppose it's up to me, then." Sigyn cries out again as another contraction overtakes her.
Hela launches at Balder. She fights like no warrior he has ever seen, with such speed and ferocity, he can hardly keep up. Sigyn tries to conjure another illusion, anything to distract her long enough for Balder to get the upper hand.
He twists away from her, but she is close behind. She lunges and he parries; he slashes and she sidesteps. Sigyn strains, casting an illusion around Balder, but it fizzles with another sudden contraction. Sigyn hisses in a pained breath, distracting Balder for a split-second; Hela sees her opportunity and fakes a slash, misdirecting him, dodging his return blow once more. She kicks in his knee and kneels, angling her blade. Losing his balance, he falls with a cry onto Hela's waiting blade.
"No! Balder! No!" Sigyn cries. Grasping her stomach and falling to her knees. Hela retrieves her sword, stalks over to Sigyn, and wrenches her up by the hair.
"Hela..." She doesn't turn toward Loki's voice. "Hela, no!" She looks Sigyn in the eye and smiles as her sword sinks slowly, smoothly, into Sigyn's stomach.
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(To be continued)
YOU ARE READING
The Purging of Asgard
Fanfiction(This is a work of Fan fiction, meant to be read from the readers perspective, so I have omitted the main heroine's name.) You are a simple, quiet, comic store owner with a penchant for nick-naming your regular customers. So far your life has been a...
