122 Chapter 122 The Beginning of the End
Chapter 122 The Beginning of the End
The Dark Dimension was one of the few major dimensions that Harry had never visited. Mostly, because he didn't need it. There was nothing that could be done with the dark energy of the Dark Dimension that he needed that could not be done with other forms of energy.
Harry stood on the rooftop of one of Hong Kong's buildings and watched as the Dark Dimension started devouring the space. He shook his head, still wondering if he was doing the right thing by following her dying wish.
Harry Potter visited the Sanctum Sanctorum a week ago to have tea with the Ancient One and do a couple of things he'd been holding off on.
It was rather surreal. He had made the tea, and for the first time, ever, she admitted it was better than her own. Was she telling the truth? He'd never know. He tried, just because he had to, one last time to convince her not to die.
But her decision had already been made. She asked him to look into her mind and see it. Perhaps for the first time in hundreds of years, the Ancient One released all her mental defenses.
Harry did as he was asked, and looked. Her existence could be summed up in a single word. Tired.
There was nothing else to say. Who was he to deny a well-deserved rest to an old woman who had taken care of him when he needed it?
Her last request was for Harry not to interfere with the matters to come until Dr. Strange had resolved them himself.
And so he did. Neither Mordo nor anyone else really remembered that Harry Potter was a powerful Sorcerer, because he was never at the Sanctum. His absence in the trials to come went unnoticed.
The London Sanctum was attacked and destroyed. Master Sol Rama, the first Sorcerer Harry ever met, had died. The New York Sanctum was attacked, twice. The first time, the Ancient One held off the attack, but with her death, it was undefended, and it fell on the second attack.
The Hong Kong Sanctum was last. As with the previous two, Harry gave himself a front-row seat. His attention was continuously on Dr. Strange. He didn't know if the man would actually succeed, but if he failed or looked like he was going to die, Harry would step in.
The Hong Kong Sanctum was destroyed, and the mystic protections guarding the Dark Dimension against devouring the Earth fell.
Strange arrived at that point, apparently too late to do anything. He wore the Eye of Agamotto and did what was probably the only thing he could think of.
*Ping*
[Temporal Reversal successfully resisted.]
Harry sighed as time started reversing. Due to the high concentration of Time energy in his body, external temporal effects were usually resisted without him having to do anything.
The streets and lives that had been destroyed were returning to normal in reverse.
Harry felt a presence in the air. It was familiar. One he had not felt in a very long time, not since the Tutorial.
She was here. Death.
Harry understood why. The Time Stone was being used to bring the dead back to life. If Lady Death wished it so, she could deny the return of the souls of the departed. But she did not.
Harry watched as beings such as Master Wong were revived through the reversed flow of time. Harry wondered why she was allowing this, but only for a moment.
Those lives would return to her one day in the future. That was a fact. But if the Dark Dimension swallowed the Earth, the dark energy would saturate all living beings, preventing them from dying.
She had something invested in the outcome, so a few concessions were a small matter to her.
Harry was tempted to say something or ask a question, but he awkwardly noticed that he couldn't think of anything to say. He wondered if she had anything to say to him.
*Ping*
[New Quest: Stop the Asgardian Goddess of Death
-Discover her Plot
-Defeat her Champion
-Defeat Hela
-Retrieve the Soul Stone]
Well, that answered that question.
Harry considered a few things and understood what was to come. Since he couldn't stop this mess from bringing a disaster, he might as well use it for himself.
Harry saw Dr. Strange fly into the Dark Dimension using his newly acquired Cloak of Levitation, and Harry tossed a few gems containing concentrated Power Cosmic into the edges of the Dark Dimension without being seen by anyone.
Harry used magic to extend his senses, and since his magic was still invisible, the Lord of the Dark Dimension, Dormammu, did not even notice the peeper.
There, Harry watched Dr. Strange do something that was both incredibly brave, and incredibly foolish. At the same time, it was somewhat expected as it was probably the only thing Dr. Strange could do.
Harry sighed. This would take a while.
As expected, Dr. Strange started looping time. Harry was not affected by the resets for each time loop. Some took seconds. Some hours. A few took longer, much longer. The Earth was frozen in time, and everyone capable of movement was only doing so by moving in the instant between seconds.
The effect would leave if Harry exited the Earth, but he was doing something productive, so he had no reason to leave.
Besides Harry, the only ones moving on the time-stopped Earth were Kaecilius, his new friends, Master Wong, and Master Mordo.
They were affected by the resets. Every time a reset occurred, their placement would return to where it was. There were times during the longer loops when Kaecilius killed them both, but it was always reversed at the beginning of each new loop.
Harry did what he could and tried to be productive.
He paid attention to Dr. Strange. If the Ancient One's successor gave up, Harry would step in. Harry was not more powerful than Dormammu, but he had more options for bargaining than Strange did. Dr. Strange could only trap Dormammu. Harry had no problem erasing the Dark Dimension if that was what it took. Dormammu's species was something of a corrupted God of Magic. It was literally easier to wreck the Dark Dimension and cause him worlds of problems than it was to kill him.
On some loops, he'd chat with Kaecilius, Wong, and Mordo.
Kaecilius had gone completely crazy. The logic behind why everything he did was a stupid idea was completely locked off to him, so there was no saving him or talking him out of it.
Mordo had lost all faith in the Ancient One. In his mind, her use of the Dark Dimension to prolong her life was what caused Kaecilius to seek it as well.
Wong was Wong. He was nothing if not consistent. Harry felt he should chat with him more often. He had a good sense of humor, once you found it.
During most loops, Harry refrained from interacting with them. He just found a corner to meditate in next to the edge of the Dark Dimension, next to the gems filled with Power Cosmic.
Absorbing energy from the Dark Dimension would form a link between the person and the Dark Dimension. As its Lord, Dormammu could use that link to corrupt and control the user. The Ancient One was always at risk of being controlled like this, and the fact that there had been such a risk was the main reason Master Mordo could not justify what the Ancient One had done.
Harry still had no intention of using its energy, but that didn't mean he had no use for it.
Power Cosmic could absorb other forms of energy and convert them into more Power Cosmic. So Harry could toss one of his Power Cosmic Conversion Gems into an energy-saturated area and convert the energy to be used for Battle Meditation or stored for later.
This invention was originally to be used on hazardous forms of energy like the radioactive fallout from a nuke, but this situation wasn't bad either.
The results of Harry's Battle Meditation were not being erased with each reset, and he made sure to grind his Paths as well as he leveled.
The damage Dormammu did to his own dimension when he killed Strange over and over was reset. The draining of energy Harry siphoned off was not.
Normally, Harry would never do something like this. It was far too easy for a Dimension Lord to notice that his realm's essence was literally being drained from under him. So what gives Harry the balls to do so now? Because Dormammu was very distracted. The tiny drops in energy between each Reset simply could not be noticed when his attention was elsewhere. It was like a single grain being taken from a grain silo every time he blinked. It didn't look the slightest bit different after the blink, but after millions and millions of blinks, the silo was certainly not at the level it had once been.
If Dormammu really refused to bargain forever, he might end up homeless by the time Harry was done with him.
Sadly, such an outcome was not to be. Harry noticed that this time, Dr. Strange was not killed. Dormammu had finally agreed to bargain. Harry ended his Battle Meditation session and retrieved his Power Cosmic gems.
The bargain was struck, and Dr. Strange returned from the dark abyss back to the streets of Earth to the dumbfounded stares of Kaecilius and his friends.
Dr. Strange was not the same man upon returning. When he left, he was a gifted apprentice who had barely a year of training and a lot of luck. Now, he was a veteran who had practiced his magic again and again and again against the strongest foe.
Kaecilius recognized that Strange was different immediately. He looked the same but was unrecognizable. Kaecilius could not understand this and knew something was wrong. He asked, "What have you done?"
Strange confidently answered, "I made a bargain."
A sizzling sound could be heard from the flesh of Kaecilius and his friends. The saturation of the Dark Energy within them had been kept at bay by Dormammu's will, but no longer.
Kaecilius was both angry and confused. He was clearly in pain, and did not understand why. "What is this? What is happening?"
Strange tilted his head and nonchalantly answered, "Well, it's everything you've ever wanted. Eternal life as part of the One." He stepped forward and continued, his words dripping with schadenfreude. "You're not gonna like it."
The Dark Energy fully took hold of their bodies and minds. They screamed as their flesh was mutilated and broken down by the energies within. They would not die, but that didn't mean they would live well.
Their bodies were drawn back into the Dark Dimension, likely called back by Dormammu as a part of the bargain Dr. Strange had struck. All three started grabbing their heads and flailing around in agony. The screaming stopped, but their heads remained in their hand's grasp. At this point, their minds were already broken, the only thing that existed within was pain.
As the damned trio flew into the distance, never to be seen again, Strange recited a piece of useless advice for them. "Yeah, you know, you really should have stolen the whole book because the warnings, come after the spells."
Wong started laughing. The advice was so appropriate, so completely useless to them now, that he had apparently found it funny.
Strange reactivated the time-reversal spell to return Hong Kong to its previous state and restore the Sanctum Sanctorum to its undamaged form while removing the Dark Dimension's presence from the Earth.
Mordo asked, "Does it seem smaller to you?"
Wong shrugged. He didn't care as long as it was gone.
Once everything was neat and clean, time started back up again.
Harry sent multiple messages using his phone. The day wasn't over, not by a long shot.
Strange gave a grateful look around, and Wong nodded, "We did it."
Mordo looked disgusted. "Yes. Yes, we did it. By also violating, the natural law."
Strange replied, "Look around you, it's over," while gesturing around them to the fact that everything was fine.
Harry got up from his seat and said, "You are adorable."
The fact that his response was in English when they were in Hong Kong caught their attention.
Wong and Mordo spotted him and remarked at the same time, "Harry Potter?"
Mordo then frowned and asked, "Where were you?"
Harry answered, "It was her last request for Strange to handle this matter without my intervention."
Harry then looked at Strange and said, "It only took you," then he looked at a nonexistent watch before continuing, "about five billion, two-hundred fifty-eight million minutes."
Dr. Strange asked, "Wait, you were unaffected by the loops?"
Harry nodded and said, "And watching the whole time. All ten thousand years' worth."
Dr. Strange could hear the judgmental tone in his voice. He said, "Look, I'm sorry you had to go through that. It wasn't exactly a picnic for me either, but I didn't have any other choice."
Harry nodded, "Yes, if anything, it can be considered my fault for allowing the Ancient One's final wish to come to fruition. In hindsight, I can understand it. She needed a successor who was better than she was. With her own use of the Eye of Agamotto, she had thousands of years of dedication and experience. How could there really be someone who could ever replace her? Well, I guess we know now."
Mordo looked further disgusted, "You are saying she planned this entire thing?"
Harry shrugged, "Not all of it. She may not have even known what her plan would lead to, she just knew that in the end, Dr. Strange would be a better Sorcerer Supreme than she was."
Harry then turned to Dr. Strange and added, "That being said, there is a price to pay for using the Eye as you did."
Strange asked, "What price?"
Harry shrugged, "The power source within the Eye, that green rock. The Eye was created to safely use it and hide it. Using it as you do basically broadcasts that rock's presence to the Universe. That thing is worth a hundred million Galaxies. And now everyone knows where it is."
Strange frowned, "Then we'll protect it."
Harry rolled his eyes, and the unbreakable cord holding the Eye of Agamotto snapped, and the Eye flew into Harry's possession. He turned around and made a fake while putting the real one into his inventory.
It looked like he was walking away, so Strange ran up to him and grabbed his shoulder, and tried to grab the Eye back.
Harry moved his hand away every time Strange tried grabbing it. Again and again. It was like an adult keeping a piece of candy away from a child. Strange's continued repetition of, "Hey, give me that!" over and over didn't help the image.
When Strange realized he was not going to be getting the Eye back from Harry, he asked, "So, what? Are you going to be the Sorcerer Supreme now?"
Harry answered this by taking out another medallion from what seemed to be his sleeve. He then tossed it to Strange. It looked similar to the Eye of Agamotto, but thinner.
The moment he grasped it, Strange grunted and closed his eyes while shouting, "Fuck!"
Harry smiled, that wasn't a good headache he'd be having, but it would be worth it.
Once Strange processed the information that had just been stuffed into his head, he looked carefully at the medallion in his grasp and said, "Holy shit. I would have kicked Dormammu's ass if I had this thing."
Harry nodded. It was true.
When Harry went to the Zombie universe, he found a Doctor Strange Zombie who came to that world and started the outbreak, and he also found a Doctor Strange Zombie who was an inhabitant of that world and was trying to resist the urges of being a zombie was giving him.
Harry killed all the Zombies and from each of those Dr. Stranges, he looted an Eye of Agamotto, but it was very different from the one he just put into his inventory.
Both were identical, and this Eye of Agamotto was created to allow access to and amplify Vishanti Magic, pure white magic. It could not be used to perform evil deeds. It allows one to see through all disguises and illusions, peer into the past, locate mystical presences and energies, and emit a light that heavily weakens beings with dark origins.
It had a hundred other lesser features, such as amplifying psionic capabilities like telepathy and telekinesis, but those were its main properties.
And that was before Harry got his hands on them.
After his last tea visit with the Ancient One, Harry borrowed the Eye of Agamotto and used it with the remaining four Infinity Stones in his possession to grant a significant boost to all aspects of the Eye and give it a few more powers. This Eye of Agamotto was vastly superior to the one containing the Time Stone. The only thing he did not enhance was the Eye's ability to purify and protect souls due to his lack of the Soul Stone. But that was fine, as having the ability to purify any soul would make the job of being the Sorcerer Supreme too easy.
The reason Dr. Strange got a headache when he caught it was that Harry planted a spell on the new Eye which gave Dr. Strange all the knowledge he needed to use it. He even included a complete list of all White Magic Vishanti Spells taken directly from the Book of Vishanti. With all that information, the Eye, and ten thousand years of dedicated magical use, Dr. Strange was now a force to be reckoned with once he got in a bit of practice.
With the new Eye in his possession, Dr. Strange said, "Thank you, but I still can't let you take that Eye."
Harry wanted to laugh. A bit of power, and he was becoming overconfident, huh?
Harry replied, "Tell you what. I'll give you two chances. If you can guess approximately when the consequences of your actions will visit the Earth, I'll give it back to you. Failing that, I'll give it back to you if you can handle those consequences on your own. In other words, when shit hits the fan, no one will help you until you ask, but once you ask, you are giving up your right to ask for the Eye."
Dr. Strange had no idea how interstellar travel worked, and the only alien invasion he'd heard of was the Battle of New York. But he figured it would take time to gather troops and such, so he answered, "More than a month, less than two months."
Harry shook his head, "I've said it before, and I'll say it again. You are adorable."
Harry then pointed up. The bright lights of Hong Kong diluted the sky, washing away the stars and anything other than the moon. But once one looked up, they would now see hundred of lights, all over the city.
Dr. Strange asked, "Is that?"
Harry replied, "The consequences of your actions. Mine too, since I didn't stop you. It's about three hundred ships, each carrying fifty-thousand troops."
Thanos only used roundabout methods to fool others into thinking he could not show up whenever he wanted to. Harry still remembered when the entire fleet attacking Asgard was teleported away by Thanos's Chair. He could invade at any time but didn't know precisely where the Mind Stone was so he had no reason to show up. The clear presence of the Time Stone was not going to be ignored.
Dr. Strange sighed and asked, "Please help."
Harry smiled, "Already on it. Mordo, please open a portal to the London Hero Association Headquarters. Wong, please open a portal to the New York Hero Association Headquarters."
Both knew where each location was as the Ancient One asked that every Master sign-up for membership in the Hero Association. Harry tossed everyone an earpiece before heading to a highly elevated roof.
Harry had already sent messages to every Hero in both regions to get over to their headquarters and head into the portal. The backup was on its way.
Once the ships had reached a low enough altitude, they launched thousands of pods, deploying alien troopers to the city below.
Although tens of thousands if not more would die tonight, Harry was at least somewhat happy that this was happening in Hong Kong instead of London, Los Angeles, or New York. Now another city could enjoy this kind of attention.
Harry began searching for Thanos. Since the fleet teleported here, Thanos should be around as well. He had honestly expected the purple titan to show up seconds after time returned to normal, but it had taken minutes for the fleet to appear and descend instead.
Not seeing the mad titan, Harry started hacking the ships.
These were similar to the Chitauri, but more advanced. Each was armed for space warfare, which meant they had shields and cannons. He didn't know how many nukes those shields could withstand, but it would be more than the countries below could.
Unfortunately, each ship had its own network. Hacking one did not grant him access to all of them. The best he could do was close the troop launching system before the ships sent out all their troops and turn off the guns.
Hundreds of heroes were pouring out of the portals and starting to evacuate the citizens of Hong Kong while killing any alien soldiers they spotted. There was no end to them. The first wave alone filled the city with five thousand aliens, and a new wave was being shot from the ships every minute unless Harry hacked them.
Destroying the ships wasn't an option without flattening the city below, so he had to do things the cumbersome way.
Thankfully, the cause of this mess, Mr. Cumbersome, was using these aliens to practice his magic and evacuate others.
As the battle continued, Harry confirmed the presence of the Black Order among the fighters.
Ebony Maw, a powerful psionicist and Thanos's head torturer, was being beaten back by Phoenix and a few other psychic Heroes.
Cull Obsidian, a mighty warrior with the size and strength of the Hulk, was being fought by the actual Hulk, Dragonheart, Luke Cage, and a dozen other heavy hitters.
Proxima Midnight, a warrior and Huntress second only to Gamora in strength and skill, was being outmatched by Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Red Sonja, Hawkeye, and many others.
And Corvus Glaive, a being who wielded an axe that could cut through vibranium, was being held back by Crimson X, the Nova Force-empowered Captain America, and a few other Heroes.
Harry had details of the Black Order from the worlds they'd attacked, and Link had them as well. Every Hero had an earpiece, and Link was directing who would go where. Most were being directed to gather citizens into safe zones where Dr. Strange would be directed in order to make a portal to get them out of the city.
Even though Glaive's weapon was reported to be strong enough to cleave through vibranium, Rogers was sporting Harry's new shield, and while empowered by Nova Force, it held up against the axe, leading Glaive to get his ass handed to him by the other heavy hitters attacking him.
Link was looking for Thanos, but even with the appearance of each of his generals, the purple titan was nowhere to be found.
Thor located Harry on the rooftop and asked, "Where is he?"
Harry was about half-way through hacking the ships and answered, "He has not been spotted yet, which is definitely weird. He had to be the one who teleported the fleet here."
Thor conspiratorially asked, "Could this be another diversion while he takes care of something else?"
Harry stopped hacking and looked over at Thor. When they realized Thanos would use Earth as a distraction, they both turned pale. It was just that neither expected him to use the same trick a second time.
Harry created a portal into the Asgardian Throne Room, where Thanos had his hand on Odin's chest. The Asgardian King was on the ground in pain. His wife, motionless next to him. Dozens of warriors lay bloodied and beaten around them.
Thor charged forward, but Thanos made no effort to dodge. A bright light could be seen on the Allfather's chest for a brief moment before Thor's Hammer struck Thanos, knocking him away and Thor following.
Harry hurried over to Frigga. She wasn't dead, but nearly there. He used several forms of healing magic and pulled out his most powerful Elixir of Life-level Healing Potions and poured them down her throat. A moment later, a gasp of air could be heard, and her breathing returned, though she was unconscious.
Odin, still on the ground, his chest still glowing, noticed this. He said, "Take her away. Take Thor away. She is coming. Run!"
Thor had just been sent flying back into the chambers. The stone column he slammed into collapsed, causing the roof to crack.
A portal shined in the corner, and a woman with jet black hair walked into the King's Chamber through it as the glowing on Odin's chest faded.
Thanos walked in from the side a moment later. He bowed his head and kneeled before her. "My love," he called to her.
She smiled and approached him. Without raising his head, he presented his hand. A glowing stone was held within.
Harry recognized the Soul Stone and quickly tried to take it using telekinesis.
Thanos's Chair immediately appeared, and a force shield surrounded the pair. The woman looked over at Harry and gave him an amused look before taking the stone from Thanos.
Odin coughed and said, "She has the King's Right, you cannot kill her in Asgard, run."
With the stone in her grasp, the shield turned off and the woman approached the fallen king. In a velvety smooth voice, the woman noted, "I never thought I'd be able to see the moment the light left your eyes. Such a wonderful gift my Champion has given me, what a joyous day. Shall we make it a holiday? What do you think we should call it?"
Harry made a portal below Odin's body. If the Allfather had wished and had enough strength, he could have shattered it. Neither was the case, and he fell through with the portal closing behind him.
The woman Harry guessed was Hela, now looked most displeased.
Harry responded by making another portal and taking himself, the unconscious Frigga, and the beaten down Thor through it as well. Harry snapped his fingers and jumped in behind them.
The woman responded by instantly forming a dozen swords made of Death Energy and launching them at Harry before he could close the portal.
Thankfully, Death Energy was something he was familiar with, even if he didn't use it himself. Harry blocked the swords, causing Hela to show just the faintest bit of surprise as the portal closed.
Harry, Thor, and Frigga were now next to where Odin had fallen, and they were all back in Hong Kong on that same rooftop. Harry still had ships to hack, but he could multitask.
To be safe, Harry made a portal to Loki's location and shouted through it, "Odin's about to die, get over here."
Loki, in a fine, fifty-thousand-dollar pure black business suit with his hair slicked back, walked through the portal and analyzed the fallen bodies.
He went to Frigga first, of course, and gave a cursory glance to his half-brother, who was recovering from whatever Thanos had hit him with.
Harry asked, "Odin, since you don't have a lot of time left, do you mind explaining who that woman is?"
Odin was unable to sit up, so Thor lifted him up so he could speak more easily.
Odin answered, "Her name is Hela, Goddess of Death." He turned to Thor and Loki, "She is your elder sister. My firstborn."
Harry scoffed and stated, "How about you tell them who she really is."
Odin did not look angry. Instead, he asked, "Are you able to? I am unable to do so."
That actually surprised Harry. Odin wrote it down, but couldn't tell others. Must have been related to some Asgardian magic or oaths.
Harry explained, "Should Ragnarok occur, should Asgard be destroyed, should Odin, Thor, and Loki die, certain energies are given off. Those energies are harvested by certain beings. After Ragnarok, certain measures are taken to ensure another Odin is born, another Asgard is created, another Thor is born, and another Loki is born. All so they can die and be destroyed so Ragnarok's energy can be harvested again and again. This is the Ragnarok Cycle. Hela is from the previous cycle, right?"
Thor and Loki were both horrified. Odin seemed quite relieved that the words spoken by Harry were heard and understood by his sons. If he knew this was possible, he would have asked for it long ago. This Odin knew of the Ragnarok cycle, but ancient magics prevented him from speaking of it or telling others. Even if others read the books he wrote, they would not keep the knowledge or be able to pass it on.
Thor being sent to Earth was something no previous Odin had ever done. This was his own attempt to break the Ragnarok Cycle by doing something unexpected.
Odin spoke, "You are correct, and now I find I can speak of it. Incredible. As you say, Hela is Loki's daughter from the previous cycle. She created a domain of Death and hid within it when she should have died. As she was considered dead within, she survived Ragnarok. Sometime later, she found me and told me everything. After it was explained, it could no longer be spoken of by either of us again. I pitied her, pitied my granddaughter, for she had no one left. I adopted her as my firstborn, princess of Asgard. Her domain was used as its heart, and Asgard was created around it. As Asgard grew, so did her power. After the Nine Realms were conquered and I had done my part in this madness, I wished no more. But Hela was not satisfied. Every being she or those under her killed was sent to her domain, where she could summon them and form an unstoppable army. I was unaware at the time, but this Death Domain was created using the Soul Stone, something she had found during her lifetime."
Loki asked, "So this woman, my daughter, had the soul stone this entire time?"
Odin stated, "No. I believed she had hidden it somewhere. If she had it, I would never have been able to trap her within a prison located in my own soul."
Harry remembered what Thanos was doing when they arrived and asked, "What does she have to do with Thanos?"
Odin sighed. "While she was conquering under my name, she met a youth who fell completely in love with her. I was unaware of this at the time, but he had completely sworn himself to her. Perhaps sensing what was to come, she made him her Champion, and though sealed for these thousands of years, the army within her domain only grows as her Champion and those beneath him kill half of every world he comes across."
Odin took a few moments to collect his breath before continuing, "Thanos did not use the Soul Stone the last time we fought, but that was merely a ruse that caused me to let my guard down. He may have had it all along or may have just located it recently. Either way, he planned to increase her army further before releasing her. And now she is free. As my adopted firstborn, she has the King's Right. If she is harmed on Asgard, Asgard will take the lives of those within to restore her to full health. She will not allow Asgard's people to go free either. And now that she is free, she can release her Endless Army of the Dead and complete her conquest of the Universe."
Thor added quickly, "She will not get the Tesseract, it is guarded in a vault that they cannot open."
Harry added, "Why does Thanos want the Infinity Stones?"
Odin answered, "With the Infinity Stones, she, or someone beneath her, can wipe out half of all life in the Universe. Doing so will fill her domain with half of all living souls. This would allow her own domain to vie for and take the place of the true domain of Death. Hela wishes to replace Lady Death and become the true Goddess of Death. Even without the stones, her army cannot be killed. She will succeed eventually unless she is stopped, and killing her means killing all the people of Asgard unless they are rescued first and Asgard destroyed."
Harry knew a few things about the Realm of Death and figured her plan might work. If it contained too many souls, it would be destroyed by the laws of the Universe. If it contained around half of all living souls, then it would be large enough to contend for the Realm of Death's place as the primary afterlife, usurping Lady Death's place as the True Goddess of Death.
Odin coughed a few more times, each time weaker than the last. Frigga had already awoken and taken her husband's hand in her own. He smiled at her before turning back to Thor and Loki. "I am sorry to be leaving you with these problems. I had not expected to release her on Asgard. If I had told you, perhaps I could have come here to die, and then you and your fellow heroes could have bested her, far away from Asgard. But it is too late for regrets. You will have to face her, but you will not face her alone. Your friend, someone I have wronged in the past, will help. Harry Potter. I cannot ask for forgiveness from someone I owe so much. But please bear with an old man's shamelessness and allow this one last favor. Please help them. Not just with this, but in the future."
Harry replied, "You don't have to ask. I always have, and I always will."
Odin's eyes were half-closed. He used what was left of his strength to turn to his wife. "So beautiful. I will be waiting for you ahead, but I am a patient man. Take your time, and look after our sons."
Tears fell from Frigga's face as she answered, "I will. I love you so much."
Odin's eyes closed fully as he let out a whisper, "As do I. I love you all."
As his breath stopped, his body faded into golden light. He was being taken to Valhalla.
Harry healed Frigga, but he did not heal Odin's wounds. Why? Because if he healed Odin, then the man would die of old age a few minutes later. This way, at least he died from wounds taken in battle. Frigga knew this. She had the same intention, as she made no move to heal him as well. It was what he wanted.
Harry was just about done disabling the ships. The ground cleanup would take all day, but they had other matters to attend to. Thankfully, his snap before leaving would disable the Bifrost. So, no using the thing to blow up planets.
Now he just had to figure out how to destroy Asgard, save the Asgardians, Kill Thanos, and Hela, and retrieve the Soul Stone. No problem, right?
*Author's Note*
Thankfully, I was able to get the right combination of inspiration to fit the pieces I wanted together in a way that had as few plot holes as I could think of.
Now that I got that out of the way, ranting time. This here is legitimately what I thought the Plot of the MCU should have been once Hela was revealed in Thor: Ragnarok. Pairing up Thanos, the mad titan, with the Universe Conquering Goddess of Death would have been great, and this convoluted setup STILL MAKES MORE SENSE than that nonsense they had MCU Thanos use to justify why he killing half the Universe. I hated that the Goddess of Death was basically killed off-screen by someone who barely had a few minutes of screen time. I don't mind re-writing her, but give her some power! This will be my version of How the MCU's Infinity Wars Should Have Gone, with Thanos and Hela working together. Harry made have the other stones, but Hela with the Soul Stone won't be taken down using tricks and gimmicks. Thankfully, Harry got a little power boost during his time babysitting Dr. Strange.
