The Magician's Apprentice

"Hela" Scary Gal

My chat with Loki was honestly the most exciting (and infuriating) thing that happened since I became Stephen's apprentice. It was only after Thor and Loki left did I kick myself for not asking Loki about the Infinity Stones. Oh, well. He probably would have sneered at my curiosity.

As soon as both godly brothers left, Stephen turned to me. "Evie-"

"I would love to clean that up," I said sincerely, "buuut I have some important studying to do."

"Evie, you can't just ignore this mess," Stephen protested.

"But I can and I will," I said, beginning to step away hopefully. "Just use the Eye to turn things back in time to clean up or something!"

For the tiniest moment, I swear I felt a flicker of temptation from Stephen. But he quickly pushed it away and said, "That would be incredibly dangerous, and you know it."

But I was already walking away, careful not to crash into anything, as I still tended to do that sometimes.

As soon as I reached my room, I sat on my bed in lotus pose instead of lying down. That way, if anyone burst in, they wouldn't mistake my searching as laziness.

I was dying of curiosity of that weird talking raccoon and its tree baby, and I was eager to see if I could make contact with them again.

I closed my eyes (not that it made much of a difference) and casted my mind out like a fishing net in a rushing river. As I could feel my Astral form drifting away, my thoughts strayed to Loki and Thor and what they might be up to. Before I knew it, my eyesight suddenly returned and I was standing on a grassy cliffside by the ocean.

Carefully making my form invisible to others, I spotted Thor and Loki standing on the edge of the cliff; they appeared to be watching what looked like gold dust drift away in the breeze.

I was startled to feel aching grief, not just from Thor, but also from Loki, even though it was more contained and hidden, as if he was denying its existence.

I could hear their voices, although they were too far away for me to understand what they were saying, although I was sensing deep rage from Thor and uneasy wariness from Loki, laced with guilt. Dark stormclouds were drifting in, and thunder began to rumble.

Something's coming, I thought, uncomfortable. There was tension in the air, from Thor's rage and the approaching storm, but there was also something else...

Burning with morbid curiosity, I directed my focus on the potential source of the supernatural energy.

I could feel myself drifting away at impossible speed, until my vision went dark again. For a moment I thought I had woken up, but I could still feel my physical body undisturbed, so this darkness couldn't be my blindness.

"He's finally gone..."

A voice spoke, female and drawling.

Two dark green pinpricks--eyes--opened, as if from a long and restful nap.

"Good riddance. I thought he would never die."

I shivered; the power that this lady was emanating was comparable to Thor's and Loki's.

"You know," the voice said, "you're the first person I've seen since my father sent me to exile...pity you're not physically here...it's been ages since I've had fun..."

I swallowed; I had the feeling that this spooky chick was exiled for a reason. And thank God I wasn't actually here...

"Since I have an audience," the woman drawled, "would you like to see something funny?"

"Um, no thanks," I said in a timid voice.

Unfortunately I could feel myself involuntarily being pulled to a different location, and within heartbeats I was back at the cliffside with Thor and Loki, who were eyeing the newcomer warily.

The woman tilted her head back and gave an inaudible sigh of relishment, almost as if she was taking a deep breath after holding it for too long.

"Who are you?" Thor rumbled, and lightning flashed.

"I'm Hela," the woman said. Her clothing was ripped and had many holes, but clung neatly to her body, emphasizing her curves. Her hair was long and black in a slightly untidy manner, and her eyes were shadowed with darkness (that, or her makeup skills were on fleek). "I am Odin's firstborn and the Goddess of Death."

Makes sense, I thought, resisting a shiver. The aura Hela was emitting was completely overshadowing Thor and Loki's.

I was almost impressed when Loki stepped forward, his icy eyes glittering with malevolence. "Perhaps we can come to an arrangement," he said slyly.

"I think not," Hela said, raising her chin proudly. Glancing at me, she looked back at Thor and Loki, a smirk creeping along her thin lips. "Kneel."

Loki blinked and gave Hela an incredulous stare. "I beg your pardon?"

"Kneel," Hela repeated with more intensity, "to your new queen." With that she conjured a wicked-looking sword and began to step towards the brothers.

Alarmed, I looked at Loki, then at Hela, who both had black hair and pale eyes. I turned and looked at Thor, who was blonde and couldn't look more out of place.

I'm starting to think Thor is the adopted one, I thought.

To my relief, Thor pulled a muscular arm back and threw his hammer at Hela.

My relief instantly changed to shock when Hela caught it by the head of the hammer and tilted her head, smiling serenely.

"It's not...possible," Thor breathed, his arm trembling as he struggled to pull his hammer back.

"Darling," Hela said with cold amusement, "you have no idea what's possible."

Golden cracks began to snake across the hammer's surface, and my gut screamed, GET THE F--- OUT OF THERE!

I instantly decided to follow my gut, and as soon as I began to leave, I sensed a massive burst of power that would probably send mortals flying.

I opened my eyes, and for the first time, I was relieved to return to my blindness. It meant I was home, safe.

I adjusted my braid, making me realize that static electricity made my hair poof up, crackling lightly as I ran my hands through it.

Okay, I thought. That was hella scary...