~~~Third Person~~~
~~~The Eight Realms, Asgard~~~
"What the fuck did you just do!" Thor lashed out at Loki the moment he managed to close the Bifröst, grabbing him by the neck and lifting him several inches off the ground, "I did... I did what I had to do... What you had to do." Loki said forcibly.
"Bah!" Thor sighed, releasing Loki and causing the god of lies to fall to the ground as he coughed and clutched his neck, "that's not the way of Asgard, and not YOUR way for you to do it either!"
Thor was hysterical, all these last few months had made him think things through, his actions, his purpose in life, his role in Asgard's future, and he believed... No, he knew Xandar was far more difficult to deal with than what was shown in their last encounter, if they could stop his father Odin's momentum with a few hastily gathered troops, not only that, but they also managed to repel his presidency, forcing them to escape Midgard.
So, warning them of a war, and letting them prepare was a death sentence, who knows how many troops they could muster. "Heimdall, tell me what happened, did the Bifröst do any damage? Are they preparing their army?" Thor asked Heimdall with a serious and weary countenance.
"No," Heimdall said softly, which caused Thor to become confused and his mood to explode, "What do you mean!" He shouted, spitting saliva and his veins showing under his skin about to explode, all while Hela watched with a smile on her mouth, captivated by the spectacle.
"The Bifröst failed to do damage", that sentence was more than enough for Hela's small smile to fade, and a frown materialized on her face, she more than anyone, knew the power of the Bifröst, built with the energy of an Infinity Gem, and charged with enough energy to destroy planets with a single step, knowing that something had managed to stop its advance was the same as saying that something had managed to stop the power given by an Infinity Gem.
"What do you mean the Bifröst was stopped?" Hela spoke for the first time since she arrived in Asgard after thousands of years, Heimdall looked at her intently, with a clear struggle within his being, but which in the end, revealed itself as a small bow as a sign of respect, "My princess, it is good to have you back," Heimdall said politely, though the tight grip on his sword said otherwise.
"The Bifröst was stopped by what looks like a dome, whatever that is, it's made of cosmic energies, it resembles the energy the Celestials use, only more volatile, less concentrated and wilder, I don't know how the mortals of Midgard managed to make use of such energy, because now... I can't even see what's going on there."
Hela started to think the situation facing Asgard was more complicated than first assumed, so much so, that her interests had to be put on hold until the dangers of Asgard were resolved. "You did the right thing, if I were you I would have taken my army to slaughter them myself, but I applaud your initiative, you take after Odin in that, he in my time would have done the same," Hela said to Loki, approaching him and helping him up.
"Excuse me, are you serious?" Thor was dumbfounded to hear that, "he just started a war, and you just applaud him?" Hela looked at Thor intently, like a lion behind tempered glass. "You don't get it, do you?"
Hela laughed, so much so that her laughter echoed throughout the Observatory, "no, you don't get it, Odin was not like that as you see him now, he was a conqueror, a killer, a destroyer, all while I carried his initiative to the Nine Realms, Loki looks like him, instead, you look like the Odin of now, weak, lackluster, no strength. That is why Asgard is like this, that is why Asgard struggles to survive, when it is Asgard who must choose who lives and who dies!"
Hela took a few seconds to calm herself, then smiled, "Asgard was great in my time, and I am completely terrified by what I see, but." She raised her hand and pointed towards the palace, "there lies the way out for all that Asgard is suffering, and now I ask you, little brother, are you with Asgard, or against it?"
Thor looked down, thinking about what Hela, his sister, had said. Had told him, he knew that war was not the way, but as his father had once said, "A king does not want war, but he is prepared for it," he said aloud, which made Hela smile even more.
"You have chosen, and you have done well, now let us go to the palace, I have to prepare my army, being the spear of Asgard is no easy task," Hela said, then materializing a dagger in her right hand and cutting forward, causing a dark and fickle portal to show itself in front of everyone.
"Shall we?" she asked, entering the portal, being followed by Loki and Thor, as they exited the portal, they found themselves in the palace, more specifically in the throne room, "as far as I can see, no one remembers me," Hela mentioned as she looked around, "but that doesn't mortify me, what mortifies me is that they don't know our history."
Hela looked up and looked at the painting on the vaulted ceiling of the throne room, "this is all lies, cups and garden parties, peace treaties? And Odin, the most hypocritical of them all, proud of what he has, ashamed of how he got it!"
Thor and Loki scowled and took a few steps back as Hela materialized swords and hurled them at the painted canvas, causing the marble to shatter and fall, revealing the truth behind the lie. "We were unstoppable, I was her weapon for the conquest that forged Asgard's empire, one by one they fell, everywhere we went, the Nine Realms knelt before Asgard's power, but then, simply because my ambition surpassed hers, she banished me, caged me, made them forget me."
"Before that the warriors of Asgard were feared, they carried the will of the gods into the Nine Realms, but now, any Mortal enjoys having the audacity to confront them, for no more, today... My brothers, the resurgence of Asgard begins."
With a slash of her sword, another portal materialized, and Hela stepped through without waiting for Thor or Loki.
"Odin's treasures, we must not be here," Loki said the moment she stepped through the portal and saw the other side, revealing itself to be the vault of Odin's treasures, a place forbidden to all, formerly guarded by the Destroyer, before he was destroyed in Midgard.
"Oh, little brother, the old man is asleep, and as the Midgardians say, when the cat sleeps, the nice party," Hela said with a chuckle, though it only made the two princes nervous. "What a bad audience," Hela said as she saw that her brothers didn't understand what she wanted to tell them.
"Almost all of this is fake," Hela said, as she walked through the vault being followed by Thor and Loki, "this one especially is, the dwarves of Nidavellir created a replica, it was a treasure to withstand the power of the Infinity Gems so they could fight the Celestials, while the plans for the weapon are in Nidavellir, this is nothing more than a piece of tin," Hela mentioned, then knocking what resembled the Infinity Gauntlet to the ground.
"Well, some are weak, like that little box of cold you carry," she referred to the Chest of Ancient Winters, which Loki had used to subdue Heimdall and some guards long ago in the Observatory, 'but this here, is beauty made matter,' Hela's eyes sparkled at the sight of a flame dancing on a container, "the Eternal Flame, a piece of what once belonged to the Phoenix, a flame without equal, infinite, and full of overwhelming power."
With a casual wave of her hand, she took a piece of flame, which attached itself to her hand, "this will be the door to the revival of Asgard, do you want to see it, little brothers?" Without waiting for an answer, she walked to a hallway, and seeing that Loki and Thor were watching her, she materialized a hammer, and with force, began to break the floor. Until a hole formed large enough for someone to pass through.
"Let me show you the true power of Asgard," without further ado, she launched herself into the dark abyss, where her army awaited her, and with it, the beginning of the war between worlds.