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Hel and Other Great Places to Take Your Rainbow Bridge.

Chapter 9: Finding the Culprit

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Through spending about a quarter of his childhood in the library, Loki knew of ‘the book of souls’. However, information on said book was sparse and often untrustworthy. As far as Loki knew, the book held information on all living souls, knowing who they are and when they are to die. When the soul ultimately dies, all information about the soul is forgotten if the possessor did not already know the soul's owner. It is a particularly great asset to have, as the possessor not only holds power over those he knows about but also has the ability to evade their own death. Loki was very interested in owning this book not only for the leverage but also to sate his curiosity. He wanted to explore the book and wanted to know how it worked. It was in his nature.

As Hel continued to show Loki around the vast lands of Helheim, Loki felt his power stir inside of him. It desired to break the illusion Hel made around him. It felt unsafe.
“Tell me the truth Hel. Do you know why the demons cast you out? What did you do?” Loki asked. Hel seemed surprised and offended by his question.
“I did nothing that was not well in my rights! As I stated before, I was a benevolent ruler. The demons I ruled were created to follow me in my orders. I could not imagine them having the initiative to do such a thing.” Hel said.
“So you think perhaps someone was behind mutiny? That someone led the demons to their decision?” Loki inquired. Hel somehow managed to look thoughtful and angry simultaneously.
“I don’t know who would have the power to do such a thing. However, I know in my heart you are right. The demons could not have done this on their own. They were created to be led. They can’t exist individually” Hel stated. Loki felt uncomfortable with that statement. Did Loki truly make this world for her? Did he really have the power to create life like this, even in the far future? If so, how could he make creatures with no free will? The concept made him uncomfortable. He had always believed worlds were made to be ruled, especially the weaker races who cannot lead themselves, but this seemed too far.
“I will not vow anything at the moment. We will look into this together. I will help you find who has cheated you, as you have helped me greatly improve my abilities. Give me time and I will give you your answer.” Loki said. Hel smiled.
“I accept,” She said.

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Thor heard a knock at his bedroom door, pulling him away from his intense thoughts.
“My liege? I have a message from the king and queen” said a small female voice.
“Enter,” Thor said.
“Upon hearing of your condition, they have decided to travel back home on this night. The queen insisted.” She said. Thor was relieved to hear it. Not only did he want to see his mother again, but he needed to get Loki in trouble. Thor hated to do so, but if Odin went looking for his brother, he would ensure his safety, at least temporarily.
“Thank you. You may leave,” Thor responded.

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Hel and Loki sat in the Asgardian observatory, currently unused. They needed not the tools from the location, only the privacy. Helheim, as it is now, is currently unreachable through the Bifrost and even if it was, they couldn't alert anyone as to where they were. They needed to travel through magic. Neither Loki nor Hel had attempted such a distance before. Hel was concentrated on the location they needed to go, channelling the reminisce of her energy from her former kingdom as Loki tried to use his newer magic to amplify his teleportation abilities. There has been a lot of trial and error so far, but nonetheless, Loki and Hel found that they enjoyed the presence of one another and working together to discover something new. It took a total of four earth hours and eleven earth minutes to find the proper combination. Loki imagined they had broken some sort of record with their quick spell work.
“Are you ready father?” Hel said. Loki didn't know if he liked to be called that. He nodded and they combined their energy and teleported to Helheim.

The first and most obvious place to look for the culprit was on the throne, but as Loki and Hel made their way (disguised to all but each other) to it, they found only demons fighting amongst themselves to sit on it. A high-pitched shriek came as one demon bit the arm of another and a white, puss-like substance bled out of it. Loki cringed in disgust at the sight.
“Alright then, we are going to have to do this the hard way” Hel sighed. Her arms began to glow red as she pulled energy around her. Though Hel got what she needed, the action effectively broke their cover, exposing them to eighteen startled demons. Hel and Loki had no time to teleport back, so they ran.
“We won’t be able to outrun them for long, you’ll have to use your power” Hel yelled to Loki.
Loki tried to focus the energy inside him, but he had never actually used his power in battle before. It was all so new. The focus slowed him down a bit and a demon caught him by the shoulder and threw him on the ground. Large cuts formed on his shoulder where the demon had grabbed him. Loki pulled out a knife and stabbed the demon in the throat. As soon as the one demon was down, several others took its place. Loki cut and sliced but there was no way he could move fast enough to fight them all without getting overwhelmed. A demon raked its claws on Loki’s calf. It startled the power inside of him. The hand of the demon began to burn and the demon cried in pain.
“Father! You must focus your power! It's the only way!” Hel cried. Loki had no time. He was surrounded and Hel could see that. Frustrated by the lack of power her father used she hit a demon behind him with a fireball to give her father an opening. That was all he needed. Loki focused his power and an uncontrolled blast emitted from his body, frying the skin off all of the demons and leaving only dead, deformed skeletons behind.
“More will come soon. I collected energy from around the throne. If the culprit is a magic user, which they would be, we would likely find a trace of it in the collected energy. I know a woman in Anaheim that can help us. Can you teleport us there?” Hel said.
“Of course,” Loki responded. Loki held his daughter's hand, took a few seconds to concentrate then in a flash, they were gone.

“My connection, she would not have met me in this timeline. She would have heard of you, however. When we find her, you have to get her to trust us.” Hel said when they arrived. Loki nodded, hiding his bewilderment by the fast-paced change of events. He followed Hel as she led the way.