I knelt before Hel on the altar of the small chapel in her palace.  Hel drew a sword blade from its scabbard and placed it gently on my shoulder.

 

“Do you pledge to serve the Goddess of the Dead, to do as she bids you, until death itself claims you?”

 

I nodded my head.  “I do.”

 

Hel moved the sword to my other shoulder.  “Then I dub you a Knight of Hel. Rise, Crystal Wilcox, and be my champion in death.”

 

As it turns out, Hel was only half joking when she proposed marriage to me.  What she meant is that, so long as my soul is pledged to her, Loki can make no claim to it.  In fact, if he even tried to complete the marriage ceremony, Loki would then be in violation of some ancient pact and would be bound to death.

 

I stood on the dais, and turned to the cheering crowd.  Well, the cheering Cat. The other half of the “crowd,” Astveig, was begrudgingly clapping.  Also clapping was a pair of skeletal, robotic hands that were part of a prototype Cat was working on for Hel’s new body.  You’d be surprised how much scrap metal she can salvage from old pieces of armor and weapons lying around the palace.

 

“So, uh… now what?”

 

“Now we get lunch,” said Hel.

 

“That’s it?”  I was finding it hard to believe this whole song and dance had been so short.

 

Hel nodded.  “That’s it. The binding is complete, and you are now officially pledged to my service.  I’m not actually expecting anything from you so long as your friend comes through on her end of the bargain, and from what I’ve seen, she seems well on her way.”

 

Cat leapt to her feet.  “So, what’s for lunch?”

 

“I ordered a pizza,” Hel answered.

 

“You have pizza here?” I asked.

 

“What do you think we feed the Ninja Turtles?”

 

I don’t even know if Hel was joking about that.

 

****

 

After lunch, Cat, Astveig and I readied our things to return home.  Now that we’d made it to Hel’s palace, we could establish a direct portal so long as she didn’t block us out.  We said our goodbyes, and promised to keep in touch with Hel in regards to our fight with Loki and Cat’s progress on her robot body.  Then we gathered in the main hall, and Astveig summoned the portal home.

 

It was immediately apparent something was wrong.  Through the portal, we could see Billie, resting on the couch, his face covered in nasty bruises and scrapes.

 

“What happened?” Astveig asked to the air.  Sound doesn’t transmit through a portal, so we knew it was a rhetorical question.

 

“Go,” said Hel.  “It’s clear your friends need you.”

 

We stepped through the portal, and the scene only became more dire.  Billie lay unconscious, and Arey was seated with her back against Fenrir’s belly.  Fenrir was licking her wounds.

 

I knelt before Arey, checking her injuries.  “What the hell happened?”

 

“It’s good that you’re back,” Arey said.  Her voice was even and smooth, betraying no sign of the pain she must be in.  “Someone has been causing trouble while you were gone. Your friend, Rick, asked for your assistance, but got us instead.  Turns out they were much more powerful than we were prepared for. And they left a message for you.”

 

Astveig got to work examining Billie’s injuries and using what healing magic she could provide.  Cat was assisting her, and getting a quick lesson in healing magic on top of it.

 

“Who is doing this?  What message?” My voice trembled with fear for my friends.

 

“Billie identified her as an Avatar of Nidhoggr, the dragon that gnaws at the roots of the world tree,” said Fenrir’s familiar mental growl.

 

“N-nidgor?”  I couldn’t even seem to parse the name.

 

“Nidhoggr,” came Billie’s tired voice.  I turned to see he was now sitting up. “Or I suppose an anglicized version of the name might be ‘Nidhogg.’”

 

“Maybe we should start at the beginning,” said Cat.  “Tell us everything that happened.”

 

****

 

“So, to sum up,” I began, “some woman who’s hopped up on the blood of an ancient being older than the universe has been breaking shit and hurting people just to get my attention?”

 

Billie nodded.  “Yep, that about sums it up.”

 

“Jesus,” I exclaimed.  “Why couldn’t I have been this popular in high school?”

 

Astveig let out a very fake cough to bring us back on topic.  “I think what’s more important is that we focus on figuring out what to do about this situation.”

 

My father entered from the living room at that point, apparently having been in my room down the hall.  “Oh, hello, everyone. Everything okay?”

 

Astveig slapped her palm to her face at the perfectly timed interruption.  

 

“Yeah, Dad,” I assured him.  “Just, you know, ‘god-stuff.’”

 

“Oh, I see,” he said.  “Well, don’t mind me. I just came to get some coffee.”

 

As soon as Dad had gotten his coffee and left, I turned to Fenrir.  “How has he been? Is he holding together?”

 

Fenrir gave me a solemn look.  “He has been hiding in your room a lot.  I don’t think he knows what to do with himself.  His Sims have the best houses I’ve ever seen, though.”

 

I sighed.  “I need to get him some friends his own age.  Mom was the only friend he thought he had.”

 

Astveig let loose a frustrated growl.  “Can we PLEASE get back on the topic of this Avatar of Nidhoggr that seems intent on hunting you down?”

 

I rolled my eyes dramatically.  “I GUESS.”

 

Cat chuckled in spite of her very weak attempt to take this situation seriously.  “Honestly, there’s not a whole lot we can do at the moment, is there? Whoever this person is, they didn’t exactly leave us a phone number or address or anything.”

 

Arey nodded.  “That’s true. It’s not as though we can go out and tear apart the city looking for her.  I just hope she doesn’t start killing people next.”

 

“I’ll call Rick, then,” I resolved.  “Ask him to keep us apprised on any further sightings of her.  Until then, we go about the rest of our day as normal, I guess.”

 

****

 

With nothing better to do, I decided to go check on Dad and talk to him about his situation.

 

I found him in my room, sitting at my desk.  He had his laptop open, and he was designing some architectural nightmare that was three storeys tall and had a rocket on top of it.

 

I took a seat on the bed.  “Hey, Dad. How’s it going?”

 

“Pretty good,” he answered without looking at me.  “I’m making a research lab for my Sims.”

 

“I… see that,” I lied.  What he was designing could have just as easily have been a mad scientist’s secret lair.  “What else have you been up to?”

 

“What do you mean?” he asked, as though he hadn’t even considered doing anything else.

 

“Well, for instance, have you seen the sun in a while?”

 

Dad chuckled.  “Crys, I don’t think the sun’s going anywhere.  It’s the same as it’s ever been.”

 

I sighed.  “That’s not what I was… I mean, have you left the house at all since I’ve been gone?”

 

“You weren’t gone that long.”

 

“Dad,” I said with an exasperated sigh, “it’s been a few days.”

 

Dad looked up at that moment and seemed to take in his surroundings for the first time in several days.  “Has it? I guess I kinda lost track of time.”

 

Oh, Dad, you poor fool.  You’re even more lost than I thought.

 

“Have you considered taking up a hobby or something?  Maybe getting involved in the community?”

 

Dad shook his head.  “Oh, you know community stuff was always more your mother’s sort of thing.  I wouldn’t know where to begin.”

 

“Dad, being part of a community doesn’t mean organizing garden parties for  your own vanity. Just go and find something to do with other people, as a participant.  You don’t have to be the center of attention the way Mom always did.”

 

Dad frowned, but nodded.  “Yes, I suppose you’re right.  I always admired the people who clean up the beaches.  Maybe I should go to one of their events?”

 

“That sounds like a great idea,” I said, trying my best to give him an encouraging smile.  “Maybe I’ll even join you.”

 

My phone rang.  I checked it to see that it was Rick.  “I have to take this, Dad. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

 

“Okey doke,” he said with a goofy smile I hadn’t seen him wear since I was a kid.

 

I stepped out into the hall and answered the phone.  “Hey Rick.”

 

Rick’s voice was dead serious as he simply said, “We’ve got her.  Seal Beach.”

 

****

 

Fenrir and I pulled up to a line of police cars lighting up the night in red and blue.  I hopped off of Fenrir’s motorcyclified body, and he shifted back to his wolf form, since there was no one here we were trying to keep him concealed from.

 

Rick waved us over.  “It’s good to see you again.”  He threw a thumb over his shoulder toward a cluster of box-like beach condos.  “This one has been giving us some serious trouble. We still haven’t ID’d her, and we don’t know what her motivations are, but she hasn’t done enough to blow our cover just yet.  I’m hoping you can help us put this to bed quietly.”

 

I looked toward the condos Rick had pointed to, and could just make out a figure clad in a tight-fitting red body suit standing in the dark, illuminated mostly by the flashing lights.

 

“You’ve got the area cleared out, I hope?”  I had to be sure we weren’t in danger of harming bystanders if things got ugly.

 

“Whole block has been evacuated,” Rick confirmed.  “Still, I’d prefer it if we didn’t have any more of your crazy stunts.”

 

I giggled a little.  “I’ll try to avoid any unnecessary property damage.”

 

“Don’t worry,” growled Fenrir.  “I’ll keep her to her word.”

 

Rick gave Fenrir a grateful head pat.

 

With that out of the way, Fenrir and I leapt up to the roof to confront our prey.  Now that I could get a closer look, I saw she had a full head of dirty blonde curls, and her face was covered by a steel mask that reminded me of the Predator movies.

 

I did my best to put on a serious face.  “I’ve heard you’ve been looking for me.”

 

She laughed.  “You could say that.  You know, for someone who likes to play the ‘hero,’ you’re not very prompt.  I was beginning to think I’d have to start killing people before you’d show.”

 

“Well, I’m here now,” I said.  “What do you want?”

 

She laughed again.  Her great cackle echoed into the night.  “What I want is revenge, little girl.”

 

“Revenge?  For what? I don’t even know who you are.”

 

“You took EVERYTHING from me,” she said, anger rolling into her voice, with just a tinge of madness.  “I want my husband back, you bitch!”

 

I looked nervously at Fenrir.  “Your husband? Is this about Loki?  I mean, you can have him.”

 

She let loose another mad cackle.  “Loki? No. I couldn’t care less about her.  She did serve to open my eyes to the truth, which I suppose I should be thankful for.  But no, it’s you who has taken my family from me.”

 

I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could do so, she reached behind her head and unlatched the steel mask, dropping it to the roof with a loud CLANG.  Any words I was going to speak before that moment were stolen as I saw her face.

 

“Mom?”