Duality : Book 1 of Codex Elysium

chapter 32 (edited)

Chapter 32

After the defeat on the Elysium coast, Hel had retreated deep into the ruined city. Just like everything else in Elysium, the hospital was in ruins. Hel had taken over one of the surgeries, it was in a very bad state of repair. None of the equipment worked and all the surgical tools were rusted and blunt. The headless body of Janus lay on the operating table, his arms and body crudely stitched back together. Many plastic tubes were stuck into the severed neck, the other ends were imbedded in a group of Passus that were chained to the table. Hel had created a very crude circuit and was using the hearts of the Passus to keep the blood flowing through the corpse.

Hel had sent out many groups of Passus to try and reclaim the head but their withered, and ruined bodies were unable to swim and none of them came back. Hel had tried attaching other heads to the body but they all just rotted. A heap of skulls in the corner bore testament to this. As the days passed, Hel's frustration grew, the body was rotting despite the fresh blood being pumped through it. The neck wound had become infected and was festering. Hel cried, cursed and swore endlessly. All her magical knowledge, all her charms and spells were useless. She dropped to her knees before the rotting corpse and sobbed hysterically. Janus was dead, her father was dead. As she cried, Hel thought back on her reunion with Loki and the path that ended up leading them into this mess.

2100 years ago: Helheim

Hella sat on her throne of skulls, she was all alone in Eljundir. The lights were dimmed right down. In the gloom Hella stared moodily at all the empty feasting tables. It had been many centuries since she had last hosted a feast to welcome the dead. When they arrived now, they were no longer welcomed but immediately assigned to their level in Helheim. Hella was bored and restless, nothing exciting ever happened. The last interesting event she could remember had been nearly eight centuries ago, when Balder and Hermod had arrived. Balder still resided in level one of Helheim. He never came to the hall or sought out Hella's company. He lived a quiet life with his wife, they spent their days tending to the autumn gardens.

After learning of Loki's imprisonment, Hella had spent years trying to locate the tomb and free her father, but it was too well hidden. Only the Aesir gods knew the location and there was no way they were going to tell her. Hella's gloomy thoughts were interrupted as the doors to Eljundir slammed open. Two rotten corpses dressed in grey guard uniforms barged in. They bowed deeply to their queen and then stood either side of the door.  Hella scowled at them, her temper rising. How dare they barge in uninvited! I will have their heads for this!  Two more guards marched in, dragging a limp figure between them. The group formed up and began moving towards the dais.  Hella jumped to her feet and yelled,

"how dare you barge in here like this. I should throw you all in the lake of fire for this!"

The first two guards dropped to their knees and began to grovel. "Yes of course your majesty, you would be right to do so, but this is a matter of great importance."

"It had better be!" Hella screamed. "Your afterlives depend on it!"

The first two guards bowed so deeply that they banged their skulls on the stone floor. They began gesturing towards the limp figure behind them. Hella narrowed her living eye and stared at the captive. The man was tall and so skinny. He was a living skeleton. He wore tattered grey rags, and his filthy, matted black hair covered his face. Hella couldn't help but feel that there was something very familiar about him.

"He tried to enter Helheim," explained the first guard.

"We told him that no living being could pass through the gates."

Could this dirty bag of bones really be called living? Hella wondered.

"He tried to climb the walls and fought us hard. In the end he resorted to claiming he was of royal blood and related to you."