19 Curiosity

Watching Sigrún send the Dark God, D'Chel retreating, Heimdall looked back to the young Prince who had fallen to his knees. Despite his great physical strength, the use of his powers, even when aided by Odin had exhausted the boy to point that standing had become almost impossible, it was taking everything he had just to stay awake. Even so, Thor had done remarkably well there was no denying that.

It would not be a stretch to say that his actions had given Asgard the necessary opportunity to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

But now he had nothing left to give.

"Hogun, Volstagg get the Prince to safety." Heimdall ordered, cutting down a number of Tokkots clones before a large surge of viscous substance rose up intent on swallowing them all. Both Heimdall and Volstagg jumped away, Hogun grabbing Thor as he dived to one side. "Go now!" Heimdall shouted, watching as the viscous liquid took shape into a monstrous, grotesque form.

From what he remembered of his fathers stories who had fought in the war against the Dark Gods, this being was known as Slototh. A dangerous figure who could seemingly manipulate his density at will.

Raising his blade into the air, gripping it tightly in both hands, numerous Asgardians forming up behind Heimdall. Each with their weapons gripped tightly as Slototh rushed towards them, his body separating into numerous tendrils that attempted to curve around the soldiers and directly towards the retreating figures of Hogun, Volstagg and the Prince. The former two doing their utmost best to keep any worshippers out of their paths.

However the tendrils were intercepted, the Asgardians jumping in the way, their shields blocking Slototh from getting past.

The Dark God would not be getting past them.

He would not reach the Prince.

-X- Line Break -X-

"How is he?" Sif asked, looking to Frigga who was stroking the hair of the sleeping Thor. The battle had ended days ago, and Asgard had emerged victorious. The Dark Gods had retreated, most of their worshippers dead or captured and the same for the Dark Gods themselves. Only a few had managed to escape.

However, they had suffered also.

Thousands had been killed in the battle, thousands more were being treated for their various injuries. In most cases, those that died could be revived by Odin who would use the Odinforce to bring their souls back from the Halls of Valhalla. However, as weakened as he was, Odin could do no such thing.

"He will be fine. He is simply exhausted from using his powers." Rising up, Frigga turned to Sif fully. "Watch over him, Sif."

As Frigga went to leave the room, she looked back with a frown. While exhausted, Thor should have awoken sometime ago, yet he hadn't. There was someone behind it, someone that she knew to be extremely powerful, but there power was deeply suppressed. Even so, Frigga could tell that whoever was behind it, was more powerful than even Odin when using the Odinforce.

There were very few beings that could do such a thing.

Turning away, Frigga exited the room and made her way down the golden corridors of Asgard. Numerous Valkyries forming up behind her, vigilantly guarding the Queen. Despite the battle having ended, Asgard still remained vigilante.

They were still officially at war with the Dark Gods and King Rugga with his army of Frost and Storm Giants, the latter having fled the battle the moment Thor unleashed his powers. Not to mention they had numerous enemies just waiting for a chance to defeat Asgard themselves. As a result, there was no time for celebrations or mourning, everyone remaining on guard, just preparing to defend themselves should their enemies decide to capitalise on their moment of weakness.

Heading down the stairs, she found the All-Father, her husband, King Odin. It was a surprise for sure, Odin was in no fit state to actually fight and should in fact still be in his Odinsleep. Instead he seemed to have come out of it weeks earlier than he should have.

At most, he would have only managed to recover from the most superficial of wounds, but he wouldn't be capable of fighting. Even then, his powers alone would not be fully replenished so he would be barely able to fight those truly dangerous beings.

Luckily he seemed to have organised and entourage of some of the most skilled and powerful warriors, including the Valkyrie Queen, Sigrún. "And where are you going, my love?"

Odin turned to her, his single gaze studying her for a moment, "A parlay has been organised." He said, explaining the current political situation.

After the battle on Asgard, what remained of the Dark Gods and their forces retreated to their home world of Narcisson, drawing upon every available resource and worshipper they could from every corner of their Dark Empire. They were now being pressured by the Kree and Skrull Empires, both testing the waters to see how they would react and weakened as they were, the Dark Gods were struggling. It was only a matter of time until both empires launched their own invasions in full force.

At the same time, the Olympians had taken this opportunity to settle an old score with the Dark Gods. After the previous war, when Odin was but a young King intent on conquering the Nine Realms. Asgard and the Dark Gods had gone to war, resulting in Asgard's victory. Soon after, Majeston had been killed and Zelia took the throne. In an attempt to prove herself and make a mark upon the galaxy, she had led an attack against the Olympians.

This war had only been short, nothing more than a few skirmishes, but it had been a bloody conflict.

Officially, the two Pantheons had been at war with one another for centuries. But the last skirmish between the two factions had been more than two centuries ago. Since then there had been a tentative peace between the two and it seemed now, due to the Dark Gods weakened state, the Olympians had made their move.

The war between the two Pantheons kicking into full swing once more.

"And you're going, in your state?" Frigga questioned, taking a once over of Odin. While his armour was pristine and he looked every inch, a powerful, warrior King. However, she had known her husband too well and could easily make out the fact he was putting too much pressure on Gungnir.

"Perrikos is wiser than Zelia, he understands that the last thing he needs is a continued war with Asgard." Despite his words, Frigga still didn't look convinced and Odin let a small smile show on his face. "Do not worry, I have something planned in order to protect myself."

Leading her outside, they looked down over the courtyard where nearly a hundred Asgardians were clad in full armour, each preparing the weapons. But down in the centre, was the enchanted armour, coined, the Destroyer. An ancient weapon designed by Odin to store vast amounts of divine energy. A powerful weapon with its sole purpose being for battle and destruction.

And stepping inside it, was Volstagg.

"I see." Was all Frigga could say, her face giving away nothing. There was nothing to say, the Destroyer Armour had been designed to combat the Celestials, no matter what the Dark Gods had at their disposal, there was very few things that would be capable of defeating the ancient weapon.

Let alone with Sigrún, the Valkyries and the hundred Asgardian warriors there as well. Odin would be well and truly safe.

"Please take care of yourself." Despite that, she still worried.

-X- Line Break -X-

Thor looked around at the hall upon which he was in. It was dark, filled with black stone that seemed to suck the light of everything in the room, but there was a pale glow that seemed to allow everything to be seen clearly. But his eyes were drawn to one place in particular, a wall upon which was adorned numerous skeletons belonging to the deceased.

There were numerous walls decorated as such in this palace, all belonging to a multitude of races and species.

"You admire it?" Turning around, Thor looked upon the figure of the beautiful woman who was sat behind him. She was older than him by a few years, looking like someone in their late teens. Her figure was well developed with pale skin, pitch black hair, eyes and white tattoo-like marks beneath her eyes and lips. To many, she would be an alluring figure, her clothing leaving just enough to the imagination.

But to young Thor, she was simply a pretty woman and her appearance elected no feelings of lust or desire like the form intended.

"What is it?" Thor asked, turning back to the wall as the woman sat down beside him.

"You have spent the last few days recovering here in my palace, and this is the first time you ask about it?" The woman asked a light smile upon her face that lacked any sort of humour as she watched Thor put the book that he had been reading down on the floor.

It was curious to her.

She was the embodiment of Death, an entity, a true immortal that all other 'Immortal' beings feared. Their lives were finite despite their claims and when they died, they would be hers. Everything in the universe would be and she had seen a great deal. Entire universes had been wiped out and she had reaped an immeasurable number of souls, too many for her to count them all. But with each universe's destruction, once again, the creator of the universe, the One-Above-All would create a new one.

Her job was never done.

At one point in time, Death and the act itself was all she cared for. She actively searched it out, manipulating events so that entire planets would die so that she could reap their souls. But after the first two incarnations, she took a different route. No longer actively seeking to reap souls, but to simply wait things out. There were times in which she would directly influence beings to kill thousands, yet only because the act was necessary. It was because Death found herself, not enjoying, but there was something about just waiting that...pleased her.

She had seen many things through her long existence, things that angered her, things that made her amused. But none that made her as curious as Thor.

The Asgradian's were a source of great irritation for her.

Not due to their pseudo-immortality with the aid of the Golden Apples of Idunn, but because of Those Who Sit Above In Shadows. Those beings believed themselves above her, but they feared her, most immortals like them did. In their attempts to extend their life had found a way to steal the energy produced from Ragnarok.

Time and time again, the Asgardians had been destroyed; instead of reaping them, they were stolen from her by Those Who Sit Above In Shadows. Again and again, the Asgardian's were reborn and the cycle would repeat itself.

As much as she would like to aid them, not only did she understand what Ragnarok meant to the Asgardians, it was the final battle, the glorious death. But one constantly subverted and besmirched. It also irritated her when her job was made far more difficult than it needed to be. But she was bound by the ancient laws and they were enforced by the Living Tribunal, a being more powerful than even she.

Her actions in the first universe had resulted in she and her fellow Entities, being bound by rules put in place by the One-Above-All. There was nothing she could to overtly stop this, instead wait for the eventuality to come.

Those Who Sit Above In Shadows would die in the future, even if it was centuries or many millennia from now. But it would happen and then she would be capable of exacting her revenge.

Death had always sat by and watched the universe go by, amusing herself in life's endless struggle. Whereas in the past, she only cared about death, she now found a person's endless struggles and challenges to be something she enjoyed. She eagerly watched and waited, seeing how they would strive to survive from one day to the next. But she did not enjoy it when a person interfered with the natural order of the universe.

If one wished to be immortal, that was fine.

It was never true immortality, everything would perish, including her one day. What she did not abide by, was when others began to affect the natural order and Those Who Sit Above In Shadows were doing that very thing time and time again. Asgard's time should have long since passed, yet they were constantly reborn, an endless cycle of suffering that she could do nothing to stop except watch.

However, Death had seen many universes come and go, beings just like Those Who Sit Above In Shadows were just the latest in the long line of fools. When the first cycle had come to an end when Ragnarök came and destroyed Asgard, Those Who Sit Above In Shadows were born, stopping her before she could gather the souls of the Asgardians. All except one, Thor, she managed to grab a portion of his soul at the last moment, split apart from the rest that was devoured by the fools and cast it out into the cosmos.

Cycles came and went, more and more of his soul taken by her as Those Who Sit Above In Shadows struggled more fiercely with each cycle. Death was patient, the pieces had been set, her task was complete, and now it was just time to sit back and watch.

How events play out?

How they would all culminate together?

None of that mattered.

But she could not deny, that her curiosity had been peaked by the tenacity Thor Odinson had shown. Some of his fragments were wholly disappointing, nothing more than poor copies of what had come before them. However, some amongst them had already begun to make their marks upon the world, shifting the future down an entirely different course that made it impossible for her to predict which path would emerge true.

She wondered, would this Thor, the last fragment be the one to succeed?

Or would it be one of his predecessors?

These questions and more had plagued her mind as watched Thor from a distance and already differences were appearing. Thor was as he had always been, determined, full of desire and life, joyous and optimistic with a love for battle that many amongst his race possessed. Yet, the influence of Odin had made him more pragmatic, wiser and willing to learn new aspects that previous incarnations had not. She would not expect anything less from the God of Wisdom, he knew what was at stake and much like her, he was relying upon Thor to succeed where he had failed in the past.

It was why, when the moment presented itself, she reached out to him. Drawing his mind to her realm, the Realm of Death, she wished to see what influence a more direct approach from her could have upon this version of Thor. He was the last one, there would be no more following this and in no previous incarnation had she met them until the moment of their deaths.

And here he had resided for the last few days.

"It's a wall that holds the lives of the dead. Those that have served their punishment and now reside here till the end of time." Death explained when Thor looked at her inquisitively, almost begging her to tell him. "Many are simple mortals, but among them are even Gods."

"Really?" Thor exclaimed in shock.

"Really." Death nodded her head. "Did you really believe that Gods are truly immortal?"

"Well, I guess."

Death smiled. "There are very few truly immortal beings. Many of the Gods in the world, are in fact long lived. Like the Asgardian's who eat the Golden Apples to extend their life. But eventually, they die like everyone else. It is the cycle of life."

Thor said nothing, instead looking back to the wall.

"Does that mean I will join that wall someday?"

"Yes." Death answered truthfully. "One day, much like everyone else in the universe, you will be apart of this wall. But until then, you are a most welcome guest."