Resurrection

Chapter Seven: Run From It

Chapter Seven: Run From It

"Everything is definitely not okay!" Hela shouted.

It was the next day, and the family was eating breakfast in the castle's dining hall. Vincent had come in with more terrible news. Apparently, the team of reapers hadn't found the lost souls, but they did figure out where they were being kept.

"I can't believe he would do that!" Hela banged her hand on the table in anger, causing bowls and silverware to jump.

Sleipnir calmly picked up his spoon from the floor and wiped it off before digging back into his bowl of cereal. He swallowed before asking the question that was burning in everyone's mind. "And what exactly did Thanos do that is worse than killing billions of people?"

Hela slammed her glass of orange juice down so hard that it shattered, spilling the juice onto the wooden table. "That...prick, didn't just wipe out half the universe. He absorbed the souls of his victims into the Soul Stone," Hela explained. She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down.

"It's only a guess, Your Highness. We are not certain if it's true," Vincent added from his spot in the corner.

"Of course it's true!" Hela snapped. "Souls have power, immense power. He will need them if he wants to use the Gauntlet again."

Silence hung over the group. They all knew that souls were the center of a person; that's where magic and "special abilities" came from. Only certain people and beings were born with special souls. Magic was a main example of this. It was a lot easier for someone to learn magic if he or she was born with a soul that contained even a little bit of magic.

"Are they alive?" Sigyn asked.

"Their souls are, their bodies aren't. As long as the souls stay intact, the victims can be revived," Vincent answered.

"We can't exactly revive them without their bodies. You saw what happened. Everyone who fell victim was turned to dust," Jormungandr stated.

"Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return," Sleipnir said quietly into his bowl. He looked up to find everyone staring at him.

"What?" Jormungandr asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sleipnir blinked. "I heard it somewhere..."

"He's not exactly wrong," Loki muttered in defense of his eldest child.

This time, the confused looks were thrown in Loki's direction.

"And what does that mean?" Jormungandr asked.

"Yes, please explain," Hela added and rolled her eyes.

Loki set down the apple he was eating. He cleared his throat before explaining. "Creation itself started from dust. You've heard the saying 'old as dirt,' right?" There were nods in reply. "Well, that means life, your life, started from a speck of dust. There are many depictions of how creation and life started, but almost all of the stories start out with either a bright light or a tiny grain of dirt," Loki continued. He took a bite of his apple as he let everyone process the information.

"Where'd you learn that?" Sigyn asked.

Loki shrugged. "I read about it."

"Why am I not surprised?" Jormungdr said sarcastically.

"Hey, books are hardly wrong. Knowledge is powerful," Loki made a point to look the green-haired boy directly in the eyes. Jormungdr looked away, suddenly very uncomfortable.

Hela cleared her throat in order to get everyone's attention. "That's a very sweet story and I don't mean to be rude, but we have more pressing matters at hand. Like, for starters, how are we going to rescue the souls? We can't just walk up to Thanos and demand him to hand them over."

"Actually, we could...," Fenris spoke up for the first time.

"Huh?" Hela paused.

"Thanos trusts you, right? You can ask him to give you the souls. I doubt he'll say no, since he's into you and what-not," Fenris suggested.

"How do we know that will work?" Sigyn asked.

"We don't," Fenris stated flatly.

Hela sputtered. "So you're willing to risk my life in a plan that might not work? Yeah, I definitely feel the love."

"You can't be killed, Hela," Fenris said.

"We don't know what Thanos is fully capable of with all the Infinity Stones, Fenris." Hela spat out the name like a curse.

"He can only use one stone at a time; you can handle it. Besides, he's in love with you."

Hela bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from shouting an angry response at her brother. She didn't stop glaring at him, though.

"It's a risky move," Sleipnir said. "We're not going to bargain someone's life for something like this."

"It's billions of innocent souls!" Fenris shot back.

"We are not risking our little sister!"

"Thanos won't hurt her!"

"How do we know?" Sleipnir questioned.

"If I wasn't positive he wouldn't hurt her, I wouldn't have suggested anything!"

"Maybe we can ask the Avengers for help," Hela suggested.

Loki dropped the apple he was about to bite into, and held up a finger. "No! No, no, no, NO!"

"Why not?" Hela protested.

"Because they hate me, that's why. They'll probably kill me on sight," Loki snapped.

"You're kind of already dead," Jormungdr stated and crossed his arms over his chest.

"And you don't think I realize that?" Loki choked out, suddenly very upset. Tears burned in his green eyes.

Jormungdr shrugged.

Sigyn held up her hands to stop the argument. "I understand that this is a tough situation, but we can't be clawing at each other's throats. The last thing we need is someone storming off and doing something stupid. We need to work together if we want any chance to succeed," Sigyn said. She placed a hand on Loki's shoulder and squeezed gently. "Telling the Avengers is a good idea. They might be able to help."

"They don't trust me," Loki muttered, downcast.

"They will need to know anyways," Hela said. "Someone's gotta tell them. And, Dad, you're our best bet."