Chapter 332: Of Deathly Graves

16th May 2013, Sayre Manor

(Jasmine Sayre POV)

Still, if he took the Celestials away from me, I would need to find something to replace them. Honestly, I only expected Arishem to involve himself, not the entirety of the council. As for his replacement, I had an idea who would fit this role. He wouldn't even come close to Arishem's power and skill, but he would be better than nothing.

I would still need to track down this specific replacement and to do that, I would need something connected to him, to track him properly. Genetic material would be better. My solution wasn't really pretty, but I stopped caring about things like propriety a long time ago.

I called out to my new student, "Hela, we're going on a small mission."

The Goddess of Death ran up the stairs looking excited, "Really? What are we doing?"

"Nothing strenuous, don't get your hopes up too much. Tell me, my dear, what is your opinion on grave robbing?"

Hela's excited smile turned into a gleeful one, "Who's the unlucky man?"

"It's not a man, actually, it's a woman. Her name is Meredith Quill. I need to use her remains to track down her son, Peter Quill."

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(Hela Odinsdottir POV)

Hela Odinsdottir looked at her warden in confusion and slight fear. Oh, she had no illusions of the fact that she was anything more than the Morrigan's prisoner. The former Crown Princess of Asgard didn't know why she wasn't rotting in her prison cell on Asgard, but she was glad to at least experience this illusion of freedom as much as she could.

Oh, for all of Hela's brashness in combat, she was still raised as a princess. She knew that the Morrigan didn't just free her from the goodness of her heart. She wanted something from Hela, and it was driving her insane to figure out what it was. Oh, she knew about the woman's decision of fighting one of the Endless of all things, but Hela knew deep in her heart that she simply didn't have the raw power to fight something like that. She wouldn't contribute much against an enemy that's even stronger than the Morrigan, considering how easily she defeated her every time they fought.

And the Morrigan knew that for a fact. She knew the extent of Hela's power. Whatever her warden had planned for her, it didn't involve fighting Entropy directly, of that, she was sure.

Still, digging up a grave would be a fun experience. She thought that she had misheard the Morrigan at first, but at least it was outside the mansion, which was starting to stifle the Goddess of Death slightly. Don't get her wrong, it was far better than any cell on Asgard, but Hela had lived in Helheim for thousands of years, a desolate empty place, and she wanted to see as much as possible from the universe until her father inevitably woke up and banishes her back.

So, yeah, Hela was very excited at the prospect of leaving the mansion, even if her warden would be with her. Speaking of the Morrigan, she waved her arms and created a portal and walked through it. The daughter of Odin followed swiftly.

As soon as she stepped away, the portal closed behind her. It was almost midnight, and the only thing that illuminated the sky was the moon. Hela looked around and saw that they were in a farm somewhere. Hela was curious as to where they were. This wasn't exactly the place she expected to go grave digging, and so, simply followed after the Morrigan.

The witch walked with purpose, her footsteps echoing in the stillness. The only other sounds are the occasional hoot of an owl in the distance. The moon shines brightly, casting its eerie glow over the surroundings, illuminating the tall trees and sprawling fields that surround her. Hela's eyes are fixed on the distant silhouette of a small town. As they made their way to the town, Hela couldn't help but ask, "Where are we?"

"Missouri. It's a few states away from New York. Now, we're in a little town, where something incredible happened, not that anyone knows about it."

"What was that?" Hela couldn't help but ask.

The woman smiled, "A Celestial came to this planet and impregnated a woman. In this little town, in the middle of nowhere, the first true Celestial hybrid was naturally born. The Celestials themselves have been experimenting for billions of years trying to save their species, and yet one that they called broken and refused to associate themselves with ended up accidentally achieving their goal."

The Goddess of Death was flabbergasted by what she had just learnt. Celestials were legendary beings that brought as much destruction as they do creation. They liked to dub themselves as the keepers of balance, as the creators of life in the universe, and yet there are records of them destroying entire planetary systems on a whim. What was mostly known was the fact that they were not born, they either appeared or were designed by another one, and came to life in a ritual that involves the sacrifice of an entire world to be born. Hela didn't know the specifics, but the idea that one of them was able to reproduce with a human mortal was groundbreaking.

"And does the child have access to the Celestials' famed cosmic abilities?"

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"Yes, surprisingly enough. As far as I know, the Celestial had been able to have children all over the universe, but they didn't inherit any of his powers. I believe that humanity's flexible genetics are the only reason that it worked."

Well, that's the first time she heard about it, "Flexible genetics?"

"This world did not originally belong to humanity. It was the home of multiple gods and demons that ruled unopposed and enslaved humanity. They experimented on them, had children, and created hybrids just to see what happened. Humanity didn't just naturally evolve, it was prodded and manipulated, and over thousands of years, humanity instinctively learnt to adapt to esoteric energies. Curiously enough, it was a half god sorcerer called Agamotto that banished the gods away in what was probably the most impressive feat of magic in history. But humans were still modified, still different. It's why there are so many mages and mutants in this world compared to practically any other. A Celestial human hybrid could grow to adapt to the energies of Celestials and learn to harness their powers."

Again, Hela was surprised by the depth of the human race. Their history was richer than she thought. Even when she was younger, tales of Elder Gods and Demons were considered barely more than myths and legends.

While Hela did her best to digest the small lecture that the Morrigan had told her, the two women walked throughout the deserted town. It was too late for anything to be open. There was practically no other living being around. There wasn't a single noise outside of their steps. Finally, a few minutes later, they arrived in front of their destination, the town cemetery.

As Hela entered the graveyard, she felt a strange sense of comfort wash over her. It was as if she had come home, to a place where she belonged. She walked among the headstones, reading the names and dates inscribed on each one. The moon cast a soft glow over the scene, making the shadows seem to dance among the graves. Hela felt at peace among the dead as if they were old friends who welcomed her presence. She strolled down the rows of headstones, feeling a sense of reverence for those who had gone before her.

She followed the Morrigan until she stopped in front of the grave of Meredith Quill. It did mention that she had a son, which is probably the man the Morrigan wanted to find. Her headstone read, 'May her music live on forever'. An odd phrase, perhaps she was some sort of musician?

Not that it mattered now, the woman was dead, and dead men told no tales. Her song has ended, as all songs inevitably do. For some reason, the Morrigan simply stood still, staring at the grave. It took a few minutes for Hela to have to courage to ask, "What are we waiting for?"

"I am waiting for you to dig her grave," the woman simply answered.

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"You're the Goddess of Death, Hela. You need to realize what that means."

Still confused, Hela asked, "Be that as it may, I cannot bring back the dead."

"And I'm not asking you to. But even as far as Asgardians go, you are special. Do you know what Death is, really?"

Robotically Hela answered, "Death is the opposite of life, the end of everything, of everyone."

The Morrigan nodded, "An apt definition, for someone who isn't actually connected to Death in any way, that is. No, while Death is known as the end of life, it is the end of everything. Anything that has a beginning has an end, whether it is an object or a person. So, with that said, how do you think you could dig up the grave?"

Hela still didn't understand, and her companion must have noticed this fact because she continued, "Fine, I can see how that might be confusing. You have spent your entire life using your powers by conjuring destructive blades, probably mimicking Knull's famed Necro Sword. But you're more than that. The ground in front of us has existed at some point, it was 'born', and thus, it can die as well. Observe."

Still confused by what she was talking about, the Morrigan waved her arms and a small black energy appeared from thin air, and slowly morphed into a ball. The ball, then, fell towards the ground, and a chunk of the ground was immediately turned into dust. It wasn't an explosion; the impact didn't make any sound, it just ceased to be. It died, and Hela finally knew what the Morrigan was getting at.

The Morrigan gave her a smile, "You understand now, don't you?"

Hela nodded, "How can I do that?"

"I don't need to teach you, Hela, you already know how to do it. Remember your conjuration, how you mix them with your own magic. Now, instead of conjuring steel, just let your magic express itself, only summon the destruction, the death. Here try it."

Hela looked down and listened to the woman. She reached into herself as if she was summoning a sword, and yet didn't let it be projected, only her magic. And it worked like a charm. It was natural, and small black flames appeared on her arm. Instinctively, Hela pressed her arm to the ground, and in seconds, there was a hole that was meters deep, leaving a small casket completely intact.

How had she never known about this, how had no one ever taught her that? It felt right, it felt like how she was supposed to use her magic. She understood now why it was so inefficient to use it in conjunction with her conjured blades. Well, it wasn't truly inefficient, considering how exhausted she felt after just removing a few meters of dirt, but it was something that could be trained.

With a wave of her hand, the Morrigan opened the casket, and a small bone was summoned. Immediately after, the casket was closed and somehow the hole was filled with dirt as if Hela hadn't destroyed it moments earlier.

The Morrigan used the bone as a conduit for some obscure spell, which involved a lot of floating runes that she didn't understand. The witch kept at it until she somehow transformed the bone into a metal sphere. There was some sort of glowing red arrow pointing outside the sphere, reminding her of a compass.

The immortal witch then smiled, "Well, this was a success. I believe we should depart to see our recruit soon."

"So, did you find out where he is?"

The Morrigan shrugged, "I have no idea. He's not on the planet, that's for sure, and I'm not exactly confident about the names of the planets in the galaxy."

"You mean that he's not on Earth?"

"Yes, but this little artefact could help me track him down anywhere in the universe. I have always been thinking about exploring the universe outside this planet, and I do have a spaceship that I appropriated that I wanted to take for a spin. What do you think, Hela? Are you up for a trip in the universe?"

Hela gave her a blinding smile. Perhaps, this wasn't exactly the informal prison that she imagined it was. She would trust the Morrigan for now, and if she ends up betraying her as well, at least she would have a few interesting adventures on the way back to her cell.

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