Stand As Heroes » Quicksilver

chapter twenty

20 x helheim, land of the dead

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I hadn't felt immersive, harsh cold since I'd developed my powers. Standing in Helheim, I felt like I might start shivering.

I hated it.

The sky was a deep black that felt like looking into an endless void. The landscape was black and green. Undead were swarming past Thor and I, out of the tear, without much acknowledgement.

Probably because I was glowing.

Which I didn't realize until the area around Thor and I got brighter, and nothing else in my line of sight did. I looked down at my hands, confused. I wasn't trying to use my light power ...

"Lady Megan," Thor said.

I turned quickly to him. "Yeah?"

He nodded at a ridge in the near distance. I could see three silhouettes standing there, more complete figures than the undead that surrounded us. Otherwise I couldn't discern features. "Our destination."

I swallowed and nodded stiffly.

"Your light is of benefit to us," Thor said slowly as he considered me, "though you appear bewildered."

I nodded again, absentmindedly now. I started walking toward where Thor had indicated and assumed he would follow.

He did.

But it got weirder.

The ridge he had indicated either wasn't as far away as it had looked, or this dimension's means of time and space was vastly different from what my Midgardian brain was used to. It seemed as though I had taken five steps, and now we were before the ridge, a bottomless gulf between us and the three figures.

"Queen Hela," Thor said with a curt nod.

I tried to follow his line of sight at the greeting. I decided he was looking at the woman who had a black crown that kept her long, midnight hair off of her face. She had on a black and green body suit, with black robes that fluttered around her. Her eyes were an eerie shade of green, and when we made eye contact I felt nauseous again.

"Thor," the woman, Queen Hela, returned. "You do not belong here."

Thor was unbothered. "Nor do your current companions. Unless I am mistaken, neither the Enchantress nor the Executioner are deceased as of yet."

All right, well, that identified the other two. Kind of. The Enchantress was blonde, curvy, and objectively beautiful. Her eyes were green, too, but like sparkling emeralds, a mischievous gleam ever present. Her red lips were curved into a little smirk, her huge curls held back by some sort of a green headpiece that looked similar to Wanda's, in my eyes.

The Executioner was huge. And that's coming from someone who regularly spends time around superhumans and Asgardians. He was easily a head taller than Thor, and broad, with huge arms and a ginormous axe that was leaned over one shoulder. He had a goatee and what looked like two black, angular tattoos over his bald head. He stood nearest to the Enchantress, just behind her shoulder.

"Thor," I whispered, "are they Asgardians?"

His voice was low so only I could hear, "Yes. Or at least, they used to be."

I nodded and straightened back up, but shifted a little closer to Thor. I was used to feeling smaller than everybody around me, but right now, I felt tiny. And I was not a fan.

"You are not mistaken," Queen Hela answered Thor. "The Enchantress is here as an ally to me. Twas her idea for me to finally seek my freedom."

"Was it, now?" Thor said demurely. "An interesting allegiance." He shifted on his feet, changed his grip on Mjolnir. "I was unaware you were dissatisfied with your position in the realms, Hela."