“Where… where am I?”

I remember going to sleep… before waking up… in wherever this was? Darkness surrounded me on all sides, so thick that I couldn’t even see my own body. It felt like I was standing on polished obsidian… if lacking the slipperiness one would expect. I seemed to be able to breathe, yet there was no taste or even wind… Just a chill in the air.

*Incoherent mumbling*

“Wha- Who’s there?”

From the darkness I could hear distant whispers… slowly getting louder, and seemingly echoing from every direction, as every time I turned to listen to one, another would start from the opposite side.

I felt like I should be freaking out more, yet I was strangely calm… if more than a little disturbed. The little training I’d had, had taught me that panic would kill me faster than an enemy could, and so I strained my ears while warily preparing for battle.

This had to be another test from Mother… or perhaps another facet of my godhood that I wasn’t aware of. The whispers picked up… getting closer, and by proxy louder.

-Kill them…-

-They’ll betray you eventually…-

-They fear you…-

-You are a monster…-

-They hate you…-

-Aren’t you cold?... Ausar?-

The final words made me shiver… both from their messaging… and from that cold which had grown so much worse.

Feeling fear toward whatever this was, I tried my best to move away from the voices… yet they followed me wherever I went, as did the cold, all while the voices taunted and berated me… or worse… tempted me.

-Come closer…-

I was already scared… yet the whisper that seemed to be right near my ear scared me even more… as the darkness lit up only slightly, to reveal a campfire in the distance- looking for all the world to be an escape from the cold, dark nightmare I was stuck in.

…It worried me. Every instinct I had was telling me to run as far and as fast as I could in the opposite direction… yet my shivering body disobeyed my mind, as with every step closer the cold seemingly faded… even if I felt not a lick of warmth.

I couldn’t control my shuffling feet, as the fire looked so inviting, so… peaceful. I felt an odd sense of comfort as I drew to within ten steps of it… like every problem I had was slipping away… what was I worried about again?

I’d never taken my eyes off the fire… yet I never noticed until now that it was a lime green color? How pretty…

-Ausar…-

Huh? I looked away from the fire for a moment…

Who… who called me?

-LOOK-

My vision was dragged back to the flame. I can respond in a minute… as soon as I’m not so cold anymore…

-AUSAR!-

My fog that obscured my mind was briefly lifted… as the fire I was looking at… that’s…

THAT’S NOT A FIRE!

They were eyes, green and glowing- shedding just enough light for me to make out parts of its face… the rotten skin pulled taut over its large skull, flesh showing from parts near the mouth where it had ripped… and a hood which blended the rest into the surrounding darkness.

Then its rotten, lipless mouth opened. “You are alone, child.”

And suddenly the darkness began to recede, as undead began pulling themselves from the glassy black ground beneath me, each one being someone I knew or recognized- Mother, Grandmother, Fenris, Odin, the Valkyries, citizens of Asgard, the Avengers, X-men and even monsters, tyrants and madmen like Thanos, Killian and Kingpin…

-Why did you do this to us?...-

-We didn’t deserve this…-

-How could you?...-

-We trusted you…-

-We believed in you…-

-Was it worth it?...-

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-I hate you…-

-Shouldn’t have been born…-

-Monster…-

The undead version of each of them clung to me, yelling, crying or whispering their grievances to me… all as their blood stained my hands… and the hilt I never even realized I was carrying- its blade buried into the skull of an already dead Fenris.

I was paralyzed and forced to witness each of their deaths… of every instance where they would betray me, or vice versa. I kept telling myself this was simply a nightmare… an illusion constructed to mess with me… yet I couldn’t deny the hurt that each vision caused.

Being forced to watch those you love most look upon you with scorn, derision, or worst of all… heartbroken betrayal from actions I had no control over. In each I would emerge victorious, having gleefully killed them all, or worse… manipulated them all to do it for me.

The visions where they would fight me with everything they had… those I could handle. But the ones where they didn’t? The ones where I exploited their trust to harm them when they were at their most vulnerable… I felt like a bit of my heart was torn apart with every moment.

-AUSAR!-

And then… as if getting thrown into a pool of ice water, I was suddenly flung back into waking reality. I woke up gasping and screaming in the arms of Hela- visions of everyone I cared about dying at my own hands still haunting my mind.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I clung to my mother like a lifeline for the next… however long it took me to calm down. Yet I dared not close my eyes again- too afraid of once more being stuck in that world of blood and betrayal.

Hela didn’t try to soothe or comfort me… simply acted as a guardian that made me feel safe during this time. And ironically that was exactly what I needed most, to feel like there was someone who had my back… that I wasn’t so damn alone like I had been in that distorted hellscape. Fenris and Grandmother stayed nearby as this happened, acting like an extra layer of comfort.

By the time I was even aware enough to notice the tattoo-like markings over my shoulders and chest, the darkness of night had long since ceded to the light of day, as the room we were in was illuminated and I was able to see the state everything was in… of the destruction surrounding us.

Walls had collapsed into broken heaps, the ground was covered in cracks and broken fragments of mortar… and there was a thin layer of blood coating an alarming amount of it.

…Whose blood is that?! I looked over at the others, Hela looked a bit scuffed up, but not injured, Fenris looked pristine, if with raised hackles… and Grandmother… had a nosebleed.

I pulled myself from Helas arms, and frantically ran towards Grandmother… noticing as I moved that my body felt numb and weak, like the strength I’d felt since birth was just gone. She heard me coming, and kneeled to catch me as I got near.

Looking up from her embrace, I took more notice of her face- both the bags under her eyes, and the blood under her nose which had obviously dried quite some time ago. “Did I… Did I do this?”

I dreaded hearing the answer… but I had to know. If those nightmares hadn’t been just a bad dream… if they weren’t as fleeting as I’d hoped. Everything pointed to it being far more real than I’d ever want…

Luckily for me, Grandmother was quick to remove such fears, as she smiled down at me while cockily replying “You? Not even close. Your mother on the other hand…” She turned a slightly exasperated look on Hela “...Was making a hell of a racket… or perhaps a racket in Hel.”

She then looked back at me, slightly serious this time “Ausar… you’re smart enough to know that something happened tonight, and I don’t think you want to hear a lie. So… Can you keep a secret?”

The feelings of dread returned, nonetheless I nodded.

“Good… well, you already know a bit about godhoods… but not everything. We were going to wait until you were a bit older, but…” She let out an amused sigh “Hah...Like many things involving you, it turns out you’ll be advancing sooner than anticipated.”

“...You already know that Hela is a goddess of war and death. And being her son you possess very similar godheads yourself… quite an achievement to have touched upon both at your age… not to mention having more than one already being impressive as is.”

I remember Hela mentioning my godhood being similar to hers not long after I’d been born… but I never really stopped to think about it too much at the time… or afterward until now. Death… was that the source of those nightmarish visions?

Grandmother continued “Godhoods affect their wielder on the physical, mental and spiritual level-” She waved her hand to produce a glowing orange figure in a forge “-gods of craft will always be creative-” The figure changed to a pink version looking in a mirror” “-gods of beauty will always be vain… and-” It now changed to a red figure smiling amidst a battlefield “-gods of war will always be bloodthirsty.”

Then since I had a godhood of death, did that mean?!...

Noticing how I’d connected certain dots together, she hugged me tighter while still talking “Well… occasionally gods can become consumed by their power… by their godhood… or perhaps even have a second personality embodying it. I know you’re smart enough to see where this is going.”

Hela piped up from behind me, as she came closer and held my face in her hands “It wasn’t you Ausar… and you aren’t the only one to deal with something like this either. The first time I awakened my own powers, I ended up camping near a butchery… the smell of blood, and the feeling of death gave me comfort.”

Grandmother continued where Hela had left off “But there's more to Godhoods than their effect on the user, as depending on the person, other godhoods, environment or personality, it can manifest itself differently. Not every god of death is the same, nor are they equal.”

She created three glowing figures, one of which I recognized as Hela “Your mother isn’t just death in general, she is WAR and death… which changes things quite significantly. She embodies the idea of a glorious death in battle, or for a love of battle and willingness to face death in its pursuit… of worthy beings… whether they be friend or foe, being recognized and honored.”

The charcoaled warriors that defended the castle were shown being created from a worthy opponent Hela had faced, as, different from her usual aloofness and cocky personality, the vision of her that was portrayed showed a face full of respect and happiness as the foe she’d faced returned into undeath.

Grandmother moved to the next figure- one with a jackal's head and human body wearing clearly egyptian garb “But there are other death gods, like Anpu. He is a different form of death… of a peaceful end and restful slumber. He protects the dead, and allows them to be undisturbed and at peace.”

Anpu was shown at the entrance of a large crypt, occasionally welcoming new residents… or destroying invaders. When a body was to be deposited, he would perform rites and rituals, as well as show respect… sometimes more so than those who carried the deceased.

It switched to the final figure, a humanoid being with green skin and horns like my own, and rot seeming to destroy his surroundings “Then… There are the gods of death who seek only destruction and chaos, as is their nature. This is Nergal- the god of war, disease and death. {AN - This isn’t related to 40k you goblin} Wherever he passes will rot and decay, wherever he looks, people will become ill and land infertile. With a whisper, he can cause wars to erupt, and because he cannot control such impulses, he has been locked away to, ironically, rot.”

She took on a more serious tone “This is the fate I want to avoid for you Ausar, of being locked away or worse. For this reason we’ve sealed your godhood of death… at least until you figure out how to control it, and what aspect of death you want to embody. We will train you, protect you, and give you the chance to control your own fate… but you cannot tell anyone of this.”

I was relieved to hear they had locked that part of me away… hell I wouldn’t have complained if it had been erased.

Hela joined in “So long as you can understand your power, and train to control it, then your potential will be unlimited… but you must first have the chance. Do not reject it or fear it, for it is simply a part of you… a part that must be controlled.”

I wouldn’t attempt it… perhaps for a long while. But I knew they were right… or hoped they were. “...I’ll try”

Hela pulled me into the first proper hug she’d ever given me “That’s all I ask.”

Earlier on, I’d been too shellshocked to really cry… but not anymore. The dam had burst, and I cried in relief… relief that I wouldn’t have to see such horror again. And though I had been scared of closing my eyes, I was finally able to go back to sleep, being watched over by my family.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Omni POV

Zooming out from the family and their close moment, you’d see that the castle they were in was surrounded by thousands upon thousands of charcoaled warriors defending it from every angle. Spears and pikes were pointed outwards, a warning to any that may take this moment to attack… the walls and ground had blazing runes and glowing symbols plastered over every surface… powerful enough to heat up the atmosphere just from the power thrumming through them.

The very realm of Hel seemed ready for war… though it began calming down minutely now that the threat had passed. The warriors, though, remained to protect and watch, and as they stood in the cold, gloomy landscape, not a sound was heard, as their emerald green eyes kept a close watch for any intruders.

A few of these guardians were patrolling the castle grounds, on alert for any threat. One of these patrols… the one closest in fact, had just passed the wall outside of where Ausar and the others were. And, just as they did so, they failed to notice as a shadow slipped free of the surrounding wall, and beneath the feet of one of them. The guardian furthest back seemed to… freeze? For a moment, before resuming movement.

None had seen its eyes shift from dark green to a lime colouration, and none would, as it switched back a moment later. It moved the same as the rest, it didn’t stop patrolling or show any outward signs of what had just occurred… so there was no reason for anyone to suspect it.

And so, none the wiser to the threat in their midst, the small squad of guardians trudged through the ankle deep ash covering the cobbled path, and continued keeping an eye out for intruders, unknowing of the one in their midst.