Asgard, rivers of blood.
The figure slumped on the steps of the plaza lowered her eyes, the coppery scent of blood thick in the air. Behind her, a bound Frigga watched on. In front of her, the people of Asgard lay prostrate on the ground.
"Why..."
"Why is this happening..."
"Give me a reason, give me an explanation, Mother."
"No, I should call you, Frigga."
Hela's eyes, broken as dust, were a sight Frigga could not bear to meet.
"Tell me..."
"Tell me!!!"
"Why! Why does no one in Asgard remember me?!"
"Tell me why?!!!"
Hela, who had just committed a massacre, roared her questions, pointing at the cowering Asgardians below, unable to accept the truth.
She couldn't accept it. In just over a thousand years, her monumental contributions to Asgard had been completely forgotten. No one among the Asgardian people knew who she was; there was no record of her in their history books. Everything she had done for Asgard, all the territory she had conquered, had come to nothing.
"No... Hela..."
Tears welled up in Frigga's eyes. Odin's command meant she couldn't explain anything to her daughter. Given Hela's temperament, a confrontation with the ancient Celestials would lead to certain defeat. And in this matter, Odin was truly wrong. Terribly wrong.
After awakening from his sleep, an enraged Odin had personally erased every record of his daughter's accomplishments, and it had remained that way until this day.
....
"He personally erased all information about you? Your father was truly ruthless."
Centauri Galaxy, Black Quadrant base, side chamber.
Lothar, the heir to Thanos, was carefully studying the reflection paper that Hela had personally handed to him. His eyebrow twitched in surprise as he heard this part of her story, and he looked up at Hela, who was leaning against the side chamber's doorway.
"I told you, he's no longer my father, Lothar."
"Don't make me remind you a third time."
After returning home, washing her hair, and styling it, Hela looked noticeably younger than when she was first released. Her tone was sharp as she corrected Lothar's use of the name.
"I have no interest in your family drama. I only care about one thing."
"The Soul Stone."
"Now, tell me, where's the map to Vormir?"
Throwing the heartfelt report onto the table, Lothar stood up and walked toward Hela.
"Here." Hela tossed the worn-out map she had gotten from the Collector into Lothar's arms.
"But you can't just take it. Not unless you're willing to throw your father down to get the Soul Stone."
Hela's warning, from having accompanied Odin there once before, left Lothar confused.
"What do you mean?"
"Odin took me there once. To get the Soul Stone, you have to sacrifice the life of the person you love most."
"There is no other way."
Hela said it with absolute certainty, but Lothar was skeptical.
"You don't believe me?"
"What do you think?" Lothar lowered his head and glanced at the map.
The destination was clear.
Why did it have to be the person you love most thrown off the cliff? If it's one life for one stone, what's the difference who you throw? Can't I just say the person I'm throwing is the one I love most?
"Why?"
Lothar gave Hela a look. "Because Father once said, the truth of the matter alw—"
"Stop! I don't want to hear what your father once said, just stop." Hela cut Lothar off with a wave of her hand.
Though for her now, it was a familiar comfort.
Over a millennium of imprisonment, she had heard Lothar's "Father once said" countless times in her mind. It was one of the key reasons she hadn't gone insane in her confinement.
....
Earth, USA, above New York City, S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.
A woman sipped her coffee, standing on the deck. Her eyes, behind dark sunglasses, watched the ruins below that were waiting to be rebuilt. Her blonde hair fluttered in the wind.
"Is the coffee good, Carol?"
Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., stood with his hands behind his back and joined Carol Danvers, looking out at the scene below. The collar of his black leather coat was swept up by the wind, and his shiny bald head gleamed in the sun.
"I almost didn't recognize you, Nick Fury." Carol took off her sunglasses.
"I could recognize you at a glance."
"So you're immune to the ravages of time now, are you?" Nick Fury raised an eyebrow. Compared to him, Carol Danvers' appearance hadn't changed at all.
"I don't know, but it looks that way," Carol, who still hadn't figured out where her powers came from, wasn't entirely certain.
"The entire city of New York is destroyed."
"The buildings, the people..."
"Heavy casualties."
After a long silence, Nick Fury spoke again, getting straight to the point.
"I know. I'm not blind. I saw it," Carol Danvers' tone was heavy.
"Lothar, the son of Thanos, the master of the Chitauri Star."
"Do you know him?"
Nick Fury asked.
"The universe is big," Carol Danvers' non-answer made Nick Fury understand.
"But I do know where Vormir is."
"If that Lothar person is telling the truth, then he's definitely going to Vormir to get the Soul Stone."
Carol Danvers hadn't been in space for nothing all these years. Her knowledge of the Infinity Stones was enough to astonish the King of Spies, Nick Fury.
"Are you saying that if we get the Infinity Stones, we'll have the power to fight Lothar?"
Nick Fury began to think.
"I don't know, but we have to try, don't we?"
Carol Danvers replied with a smile.
....
Vormir, at the edge of the cliff.
The Red Skull, who had been waiting there as the guide for an untold amount of time, was now facing the greatest challenge of his career.
Lothar, the son of Thanos.
Hela, the daughter of Odin.
The heirs of the two greatest evil forces in the universe were now standing in front of him, forcing him to hand over the Soul Stone.
Lothar, who was completely unreasonable, even lifted him to the edge of the cliff, making him break out in a cold sweat.
"Everything I say is true."
"To get the supreme Soul Stone, you must sacrifice the life of the person you love most."
"These are the rules set by the Soul Stone itself."
The Red Skull forced himself to stay calm, trying not to let his tongue tremble.
"I know."
Lothar's indifferent eyes were like knives, chilling the Red Skull to the core.
"You are the person I love most. Got a problem with that?"
Completely ignoring the rules, or rather, completely disbelieving the Red Skull, Lothar kicked him off the cliff. He did it so quickly that the Red Skull didn't even have time to grab a rock to slow his fall. Lothar had sent him on his way.
The Red Skull's death was particularly gruesome...
He died with his eyes wide open.
——————————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my Patreon ——— patreon(.)com/PrimalDemon [remove the parentheses ( )]
There are 50+ advance chapters available for you to read!