Sigyn's Revenge

Chapter 2 - Helheim

Leaving behind the cave, leaving behind the sea, leaving Midgard, Sigyn and the two humans walked along Helvegr, across the bridge Gjallarbrú over the roaring river of Gjöll, past the giantess Móðguðr, until finally, they arrived in the vast hall of Hel, ruler of Helheim and the dead that live there.

There is no sun here to light up the place, but unlike the cave by the cliffs, it is not damp at least. It is quite nice, actually. Peaceful, in a way. Candles are lined up on every perch in the walls, their wax running down the sides and giving the walls a soft, white look, of almost being alive. In huge piles scattered along the back wall lies jewelry of all kinds. Amber, clay, bone, bronze; arm bands, belt buckles, necklaces, cloak clasps; large and rich, small and plain, from great warriors, from small children. The flickering light of the candle makes the color of the amber dance in red golden shades across the wax white walls, and the bronze glints happily in small flashes that cannot help but draw the eye. It is a magical sight to behold, for sure, but the people here ignore it completely, as if they have grown accustomed to the softly flickering lights.

The people are as varied as the jewelry in the piles, old and young, rich and poor, all of them now sit side by side at the long table laden with all types of food, from the honey glazed, whole roasted wild boar, to simple eggs - and, of course, though Heidrun is grassing peacefully on the roof of Valhalla, mead a plenty, for it is no use being dead if you cannot enjoy it.

At the center of the table sits a woman with half a face. By that I mean half of her face is an actual face, with an eye and an ear and everything else belonging to half a face, but the other half is dead and rotted and no longer resembles what any sane person would describe as a face. This is Hel, goddess of death and ruler of Helheim, daughter of Loki and Angrboda.

Next to her sits her exact opposite: a young man with a head full of lively curls, a charming, full smile, and most noticeable, of course, and intact face. This is Baldur, god of light, son of Odin and Frigg. A thousand years ago he had a nightmare that he was going to die. Long story short, his mother went to all the realms and begged a promise from every living thing that they would never hurt Baldur, and every living thing agreed - or, almost every living thing. For some reason, whether it was forgetfulness of disregard, the Mistletoe, a harmless little plant, was never asked, and therefore never gave its promise. The gods made a new game to amuse themselves, in which they threw or short objects at Baldur, each object changing its path before it could hit Baldur, and therefore no harm ever befell him. That is, until the day where an old woman came and asked the blind Hodr, Baldur's brother, why he was not participating in the fun. She handed him a bow and arrow and helped him aim it. When the arrow, made of mistletoe, pierced Baldur's heart and killed him, the gods concluded that the old woman had been none other than Loki in disguise. For this crime Loki was imprisoned in the cave by the sea.

This is the scene that Sigyn, Max and Ian now walk into (Loki, being a snake, and being tied around Sigyn's arm, doesn't walk anywhere, of course.)

For someone still alive to walk into Helheim is quite a feat. Last man who did it was Hermod, when he came to plead with Hel to let Baldur go back to the land of the living. This Hel agreed to, if all living things would cry a tear for Baldur. As is evident from Baldur's continued presence here, this did not happen. One Jotun woman, by the name of Tokk, refused to shed a single tear. This woman, of course, is widely believed to, once again, be none other than Loki himself in disguise. Of course, Loki being the master of disguise, the gods had no proof that it was really him behind it, but that hadn't stopped them from capturing him and chaining him up in the cave.

"I seek an audience with the queen of Helheim," Sigyn says loudly, though she could have whispered and still be heard, so quite is the hall at the sight of the newcomers. One could hope that the politeness of the request would leave Hel more likely to grant it, perhaps that is even what Sigyn hoped, but there is still the matter of Sigyn being an Asgardian and married to Loki - something which was denied Angrboda.