WHAT IF... Hela Won The Fight

17.

"What in the Hel did Thor manage to do?"

Hela was standing in the room, panting slightly. Her hair was messily slicked back, it was clear she was in the middle of a battle just a while ago.

"I came back as fast as I could when I heard the news," she said in a much calmer tone as she was walking towards Thor. "Is Jane alright?"

"For now," Thor answered.

Then, Hela's eyes landed on her mother. She opened her mouth to say something, perhaps that she should be resting, but the Queen's strict stare restrained her from doing so.

Hela truly came as fast as she could. A messenger really told her what was happening in the midst of a raging battle, but she ended it almost instantly. Leaving Lady Sif with the duty of overseeing the criminals, she promptly arrived home.

Hela and Jane got surprisingly well along, she even considered her a close friend. Not to mention that if something were to happen to her, Thor would be miserable. Which was most definitely how he was feeling at the moment. And it was her Big Sister's duty to fix that.

"What's your plan, then?"

It took about two hours just to collect everyone possessing magic and explain everything that was needed to them.

All of the mages of The Nine realms were standing at the walls of a circular room. Right in the middle sat Jane, whose hand was being held by Thor. She was doing quite well, considering that she was holding an Infinity stone the whole day, but she was very tired, and it showed.

Her face was ashen, her hair damp with sweat. From time to time, especially after walking for a long time, she fainted from exhaustion. But what was most terrifying were her eyes that were almost all black.

The whole room fell silent when the Queen stood forwards.

"I thank you all for coming here. By doing so, you are saving not only Lady Jane, but the whole Nine Realms and possibly even more," she said.

"Now that everyone is here, we shall perform the ritual. Be warned, it will be  both mentally and physically draining and you won't be able to use your magic for a while, from a week to even a month. But it's for a good cause.

Everyone, hold hands with your neighbours, it will strengthen the bond and the spell will work better.

You all read the instructions, so it shouldn't be a problem for any of you. The main trick is to imagine the Aether leaving Lady Jane's body.

I have nothing else to say other than good luck to all of us. Let us begin."

As the Queen spoke, everyone grabbed each others hands. Hela held Loki's, Loki held Frigga's, Frigga held the hand of one of her young students. It continued until the circle was complete.

A few seconds of silence followed, and every single mage in the room closed their eyes.

They couldn't see what was happening, but those who could – Thor and Jane – saw a thousand of colourful glitter filling the room.

Magic was flowing from every single mage in the room, but mostly from the royal family. Their magic has a gold colour with a greenish colour here and there. Hela's green was dark, almost turquoise, Loki's was rich green, the one that was most common in nature. Frigga's green was a very light, sage colour.

Thor was forced to step aside from Jane and lose the grip of her hand when the magic started circling around her, taking her as high as the room allowed.

It looked – and sounded – as if there was a whole storm in the room. A storm as powerful as all of the mages combined.

Just above the ceiling, she stopped and the thousand colours shot into her body, not leaving a trace of magic on it. Jane was, however, still hovering 30 feet above the colourful stone floor.

Then, out of nothing, the colours slowly started making their way from the young scientist's body, each string of magic dragging a bit of Aether out.

As it promptly started to show, this was the most difficult part for every mage.

It was evident some of them already had weak knees, and it was very unsure if they could manage to finish the spell.

Then, Thor could see something in his brother's eyes change. Thor barely heard him through the whistles and thunders, but understood him very well.

He was not a mage, he never learned anything more than a few basic spells which he barely used, but he still had very powerful  magic circling through his veins.

Battling against the force of the magic flowing in the room, he got himself to Loki and touched his arm.

He could immediately feel the impact of the action. His whole body tensed in a way he could not describe. Not only his muscles were working, but his mind was too. He could feel the presence of every single mage connected in the circle, and it was terrifyingly beautiful.

He dared to look up at Jane, who was still up in the air, with her hands and legs stretched out and her back curved in an unnatural way. But it was obvious that she was relaxed and not in as much pain as before.

Gritting his teeth, he felt his strength slowly but surely leaving him. Just as he could feel the presence of some mages slowly fade away, the process was complete.

Above Jane was floating the blood-red Aether, exposed and without a host. As it definitely realised its state, The Aether started sending strings to Jane's body.

All the mages saw that, and, a moment after, a scream of terror was heard – Jane started falling down in quite dangerous speed. If he were a second slower, Jane would've crashed to the floor, the impact killing her instantly. Fortunately, Thor gently caught her into his arms.

Catching her breath, Jane softly smiled and nodded. She was free, and she was safe.

All of the sounds of magic fully dulled when the Aether was captured into a special container. After so, only deep breathing of the mages who were now all exhausted could be heard. Some of them were leaning on the cold stone walls, some had to sit down and some were even lying on the floor. No one could blame them.

Frigga was one of the mazes who were slightly leant on the wall and looked at her older son.

Thor was beside Jane, who could now be standing, both of them talking to each other in quiet whispers.

Then, she looked at her youngest.

Loki's eyes were closed, his brows furrowed. He was trying his hardest to focus and perform one of the first spells he learnt. She knew exactly which one, he looked the same way as he did as a little boy.

As he opened his eyes, he was only confirmed that he indeed did not succeed – his hand held no golden-ish sparkles. He clenched it into a fist, feeling vulnerable and angry at the same time.

Finally, she looked at Hela. As she did so, she met her cunning blue eyes, which were carefully watching her.

Suddenly, the Queen was not feeling alright, not at all. The floor seemed to be tilting towards her, her ears were ringing. And why couldn't she see clearly?

The last thing she heard was her daughter shouting something, but what it was, she had no idea.

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A/N: Muahahahahahahah I love ending the chapters with unsolved drama and cliff-hangers.