The Hel Experience

-3 years left until Ragnarok- Midgard-

"I'll see you tomorrow in Jotunheim. I trust you with the circus."

Balder didn't reply to what I said. His apparition faded very slightly, meaning he was scared. But of what? "I still don't think it's a good idea."

"Look, we've all be through a lot." All because of Odin. I didn't add that. "I don't want Loki to get so upset that he's going to do any more stupid things, okay? I'll be back tomorrow morning by five, if not earlier. I'll just give him time to apologize, perhaps we'll talk a bit, and then I'll find my way to the realm of the frost giants via Midgard."

"Explaining your plans doesn't make me feel any better about it," he said, as he put his hands in the pockets of the clothing he'd died in. No matter how much I really wanted to hug him and assure him everything was going to be okay, falling through his other-dimensional body wouldn't make matters any better. In fact, that would just remind me of how far away we really were.

"I don't know what else to say," I admitted.

He sighed in response. "Okay... Well, just go, then. But at least take Jormungard directly into Jotunheim. Midgard is a dangerous realm. If you're going to walk through it towards the Bifrost, at least give yourself a rest on your way back."

Finally, a smile. I held out my hand for his, but when he reached out, his hands just fell through my material ones.

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

"I... Uh... I'll see you tomorrow."

I smiled back at him. There was something sad in his eyes. Perhaps he just wasn't looking forward to being in charge of moving the circus between realms overnight, but I had made sure there would be no problems to come by using the Endalok to ensure everyone would listen perfectly. "Watch out for robbers."

He almost laughed. "And then what? We can only throw stones and other lifeless things at them. There's no luck in beating them up if our hands won't touch.

"Well, you could attack them if any of you is willing to use your body as a weapon."

"That hurts. Physically and mentally. I'm not up for that."

I shrugged.

Later that evening, the stars had started to glow gold instead of bright silver. The translucent colors of a rainbow became visible in the far distance, but I still had a while to go. By then, my backpack would feel heavy on my back, weighing me down and slowing me. Perhaps I could dump something?

I came to a halt and dropped the pack on the gold, sand ground. The entire area had a weird shine to it, especially due to it's contrast on the night sky. Sadly, the glow didn't help me at all while searching through my pack for something to throw out of it.

"Can I help you?"

No accent. That meant Asgardian. But why in Midgard? What was an Asgardian doing in such a cheap, piece-of-crap realm like Midgard? I froze- they weren't allowed to see my face. "No thanks."

"Are you sure? It's late and you look like you cou-"

"I'm sure, thank you." My voice trembled. Dear gods, I could be so pathetic.

The person's feet shuffled over the ground, but it didn't sound like she was going anywhere. Probably just going through her choices. Contemplating what to do next. Hopefully she had no idea who I was. I didn't feel like having to kill anyone.

"Where are you going? I could direct you to the closest station. Jormungard comes through every half hour. Quickest train in all of the nine realms," she said. Was she trying to convince me? Why did she even care?