00166. The down fall.

00166. The down fall.

It was over a hundred years since Hela last set foot in Asgard. She left a young woman trained for battle but untested and unsure of herself. She spent most of the last one hundred years in the middle of war zones, fighting on the front lines and forged herself anew through the constant battles. Now that she returned, Hela was fierce and confident in herself. But most important of all, she was a battle hardened warrior, one her father showered praise on when he visited the front lines over the years.

The only reason she came back to Asgard was because her father summoned her for some reason he didn’t explain. Otherwise she would still be back with her troops, in the thick of battle during their latest campaign.

Hela wasted no time after she came out of the bifrost and immediately headed towards the palace. The sooner she found out what her father wanted, the sooner she could return to her troops and the victory that would soon follow. A victory her father would definitely praise her for.

As she neared the palace she was greeted by a pair of honor guards who stopped her as one of them said, “Princess Hela, please come this way.”

Hela frowned slightly but followed the guards to a side area of the palace where she was greeted by a handful of palace maids. The woman in charge bowed in greeting as she said, “Princess Hela, it's a pleasure to meet you. Me and my team are responsible for getting you ready for the ceremony.”

“What ceremony?” Hela asked, a little confused.

The woman smiled as she said, “I'm not completely sure myself. But I think his majesty plans to award you for your outstanding military service.”

Hela's eyes lit up at the thought of her father giving her praise as she asked, “What do I need to do?”

The process wasn't hard, the maids basically took care of everything for Hela. They first bathed her. While Hela usually cleaned herself with magic, the maids insisted on a proper bath. Next one of them took all of her measurements because they were supposed to make her a new uniform that signified her new status. Hela was allowed to pick the colors and had input on the design, but the maids were the ones who created it with the help of magic. It took a couple hours but once it was finished, Hela was dressed in a form fitting, mostly black suit with some tasteful green highlights.

After she was satisfied with everything, she rested in the room for a few more hours before another set of honor guards escorted her to the throne room. Inside she was greeted by a large group of people who stood off to both sides of the throne room. Odin who was seated on his throne slammed his spear into the ground once he saw Hela enter the room and said, “Today is a day for celebration. My daughter Hela has finally completed her training and is now ready to take up her rightful position by my side.”

Everyone politely clapped before Odin said in a commanding tone, “Hela, come before me.”

Hela was calm as she walked towards the throne, but inside she was overjoyed. Her father was publicly recognizing her and even planned a position for her. She couldn't help wondering what it could be as she obediently kneeled down in front of the stairs leading to the throne. Hela's head was bowed as Odin stood up from the throne and walked down towards her.

When she saw his golden boots in front of her, Odin said, “From henceforth Hela is granted the title of First Commander of the army of Asgard. She will also have the honor of being the Executioner of Asgard.”

People started to clap again as Odin touched each side of Hela's shoulder with his spear before he said, “Arise my daughter and claim your right of office.”

Hela almost shook with joy as she slowly stood up in front of her father. Odin smiled at her as he reached behind himself and pulled out a beautifully made hammer. He tilted the leather wrapped handle to Hela as he said, “This is Mjölnir. I had it crafted by the dwarves out of uru, specifically for you as the symbol of your new status.”

Hela studied the hammer for a few moments and took in the simple yet elegant design before Odin placed a hand on her shoulder as he asked, “Are you ready to take on your first task, my daughter?”

Hela earnestly nodded her head as she said, “Yes, father.”

“I know. That’s why I never summoned you. But it did make me wonder what you were up to. I heard you were sending scouts all over the place. Was there a reason for that?” Odin asked.

Hela excitedly nodded as she said, “Since your conquest of the nine realms finished, I knew you needed to rest. So I started planning the next campaign myself. The scouts were sent out to gather data on the next few most likely targets of conquest.”

Odin frowned as he said, “I want you to call back your scouts at once.”

Hela looked up at Odin as she said, “What? But they are almost done and we have a good overview of the enemy forces already.”

Odin locked eyes with Hela as he said, “Call them back. Asgard is done conquering.”

“But, father.”

Odin slammed his spear onto the ground as he said, “Quiet! You will recall your scouts and there will be no more talk about further conquest. Is that understood?”

Hela lowered her head as she said in a defeated voice, “Yes, father.”

“Good.”

Hela hesitated for a few moments as she wanted to ask something before Odin said, “What are you waiting for, go recall your scouts.”

Hela stood up as she said, “Yes, father.”

vvvvv

Over the next year Hela attempted to be useful to her father, but nothing she seemed to do made him happy. Whenever they met, he would admonish her for actions she took during her duties. But they were the same actions she took when she was first granted her position and she did her absolute best to not change them. Since her father always used to praise her for those same actions he now denounced.

As two years passed, Hela became frustrated with Asgard and her father. No matter what she tried it never seemed to be good enough. He even took away her title as Executioner of Asgard, because he said Asgard no longer needed one. Without that title, the only thing she had left was being First Commander of the army of Asgard. But what good was being the commander of an army that didn’t fight?

The thing that finally pushed Hela over the edge, was when Odin announced that a majority of the army would be disbanded and that she would no longer be the First Commander of the army of Asgard. He said there was no need to have such a large army or a commander for it, when peace would always be a better option than fighting.

Hela was lost when she heard what her father planned to do. To her, it seemed like her father no longer wanted her. He raised her to be a warrior her whole life and now he no longer needed her to be a warrior. Since that was the case, what exactly was Hela supposed to do now? Hela did the only thing she knew how to do, she planned to fight. Before the army was officially disbanded, Hela gathered her most loyal troops and made a plan. A plan to dethrone her father, take over Asgard and then set out on a conquest across the universe.

It was a bold plan to say the least, but her end goal was to give everything back to her father once it was completed. She was positive he would understand once everything was done and would even praise her for her action. The only problem was Hela didn’t think that some of her loyal troops would betray her and ended up leaking her plans to her father.

Odin with his new found ‘wisdom’ decided his best course of action was to set a trap and lock Hela away, instead of trying to reason with her. So he created an emergency task for her to take the valkyries to Hel and fight a fake army hidden there. While Hela was locked in battle with the valkyries, Odin took that time to create the magical spell that currently binded her there.