Havoc and Retribution

Unforgiven

They arrive to a Vanaheim in flames.

It was only seven months ago that they were here, battling for the Outskirts, trying to help Jaycee save the Vanir people. The city of Clarrappidium is now in flames, entire buildings in the Upper Ring collapsed, people running for their lives in the streets. The dead have overrun the city, scaling the walls of the Rings, invading every home, clairvoyant and non-clairvoyant alike. The air is choked with debris, dust and ash, a sooty combination that has them coughing as soon as they set foot down on Vanir soil.

At first it takes them a moment to get their bearings in this ruination of a city. Then they glimpse the red rock walls that surround Clarrappidium on three sides and the massive archway that is all that remains of the royal residence and it is clear they are in the remains of the palace of Clarrappipdium.

Jaycee would have sat on the throne in this very room if she had lived. Steve can't help that desperate thought from crossing his mind. He doesn't want to believe Jaycee is dead but the scenes in front of him are enough evidence that Hel has completely subdued her.

Out of the clouds of dust, two figures stumble towards them. The Avengers brace themselves, ready for the worst but Bjern moves towards them, an exclamation of relived joy coming from his lips. Syvlk and Dorany materialize out of the smoke and Bjern wraps them both in a hug, crying in relief so profound, it takes his legs out from under him. In the chaos of their transportation to Vanaheim, there wasn't much time to understand how much guilt the Vanir man carried for having left his two closest friends, his pseudo family behind. It is clear that he blamed himself and berated himself for leaving them behind to deal with the goddess of death.

The Avengers gather near to the Vanir resistance leaders. Dorany is the worse off, blood painting her clothes, but no massive, life-threatening injuries. Syvlk is bruised and battered but barely bloody. The two look ragged, as if they have faced an army of titans. "What happened?" Bjern is asking them. "When I left you, Dorany was dueling Hel."

Syvlk is panting heavily, his hair slicked back with sweat and dust. Dorany is as calm as ever, her hair flowing around her. "Clairvoyant reinforcements arrived," Dorany tells them succinctly. "They are keeping her at bay for now. Glad to see Bjern got to you in time to help us. She's powerful. Far more powerful than we can match."

"What is she after?" Steve asks, shifting seamlessly into commander mode.

Dorany looks at him with fathomless eyes, her face immeasurable sad. "Chaos," she says. "She isn't after anything in particular. She comes to devastate Vanaheim and the last remnants her split soul's legacy. There is not goal," she tells Steve. "She just wants to destroy."

Loki looks at Dorany, his face unreadable. "Is there any part of her left?" He asks the prophetess quietly, watching her face for any hint of her answer.

She takes his face in her hands, a movement that startles them all. Loki reaches up to move her hands away but her grip is solid. Her eyes glaze over and she seems to look past him, off into the rivers of time. Her voice has multiple layers when she speaks. "She will need you before the end, god of stories," she intones, prophecy moving from her lips with a physical weight that settles around him. "Fragments still need to be reunited for a full soul."

Before he can ask what she means, the air around them stills. The dust motes and smoke all stop moving, which is unnatural and strange to behold. There is the scraping of boney joints against rock as dead soldiers creep into view. They do not attack, only stalk closer, circling the Avengers and the Vanir, waiting. They move into ragged ranks, still in the gloom of the ashen air, patient, ready for the arrival of their commander, the woman at the centre of this entire conflict of worlds.