Beyond the doors the duo encountered a grand court. The extremes of the area were darkened by cloying shadows that twisted and writhed as though alive. Directly before them a multitude of ghostly torch fires hovered in the air lighting a path directly to a throne that was black on one side and white on the other. The ebony and ivory throne did not sit dormant. Atop it sat a woman of immeasurable beauty. Her hair and clothing were also black and white, though they were on the opposite sides when compared to the throne.

“That is far enough,” intoned the woman darkly. The brothers had reached approximately the halfway mark before she bid them hold and move no further.

She leaned back in her throne, her white eyebrow rising. “Now, to what do I owe this unexpected visit?”

Hades looked to Scott and then back to Hel. “Your brother seeks the path to Yggdrasil in search of Odin’s rune lore.”

Hel lightly tilted her head to the side. Her white eyebrow lowered, but then her black one rose upward into a perfectly curious arch. “What does the lord of the dead need with the All Father? Have you no access to those who can plot the course of future events.”

“It is not I who needs to speak with him,” said Hades.

“if not you, then who? Surely not this strange fellow whom you bring before me?” asked Hel.

“Strange fellow?” asked Hades, his voice hardening. “Do you truly not know who it is who has come calling, sister?”

Hel snorted elegantly. She made a great production out of studying the black fingernails of one hand and the white fingernails of the other. “No. Should I?”

Scott decided it was time to speak up. “Perhaps you might turn on a few more lights then…”

She began to snort once more but stopped dead in her tracks. A notable event given her occupation.

“No… That voice,” said Hel. She leaned forward and stared at Scott. “There is something familiar about it, but it seems wrong somehow.”

“A pale imitation of something indefinable?” ventured Hades.

“Yes…” she responded softly. “Who is it that you have brought to me?”

Hades turned to Scott. “Would you like to introduce yourself, or should I?”

“Feel free,” said Scott.

Hades cleared his throat then stepped to the side and gestured toward his brother. “Lady Hel, Mistress of Helheim. Might I introduce our overworked brother, Noct-El.”

Hel blinked owlishly as those words echoed in the room. Her eyes slowly widened, and she suddenly bolted upright. “No!”

“Seems so,” said Scott.

“Ah!” cried Hel.

All pretense of elegance flew from her. She threw herself up from her thrown and ran off into the darkness like her ass was on fire.

“No! No! No. No…No!” she said excitedly.

The cloying darkness disappeared suddenly, and in its place came a gentle and pleasant aromatic mist. She cried out, “Hey! Get a move on! We need to change the set!”

The throne and even the far wall slid sideways in a confusing way, only for that confusion to grow as that entire half of the room continued to move sideways. Several ancient warriors of the frozen north pushed at a side wall in an effort to move what turned out to be a stage set out of the way.

“No. All wrong!” she cried once more, as the throne room behind the throne room set appeared before them. This one was a tidier affair, still with the black and white motif, but much better lit. Black and white marble floors. Black and white tiled walls. Same black and white throne.

Eventually, the hubbub died out and she walked over to her newly revealed throne. She sat down upon it and made every effort to take on a regal and elegant demeanor once more.

“Well, then…” she said solemnly. “You claim to be my brother, and not just any brother but everyone’s eldest brother… What makes you think that I believe you?”

Scott blinked at her. Was she being serious? She certainly tried to act like she was being serious.

The events that he just witnessed caused a strangeness inside his head. Wisps of forgotten lore from his past decided to rise. Though that knowledge was largely suppressed beyond a certain degree, he could sense the tiniest fragment of a memory.

Uncertain if it was actually a memory, or just poorly thought out idea, Scott quietly said, “Shall I squish your cheeks?”

She froze in place. Her white eyebrow was the only thing that moved, and that slowly rose toward her hairline.

Hel coughed daintily into her fist then rose from her seat. She turned on her heels and marched confidently toward a door on the far side of the room. She entered that door. Closed the door behind her. Then cried out, “Ah! He said it!”

Scott looked over to Hades. “She spends a lot of time by herself, doesn’t she?”

“She is surrounded by the dead, but they aren’t exactly quality conversationalists most of the time,” said Hades.

Hel eventually returned, her regal air about her once more. She took her place on her throne and acted as though nothing had happened. “I see… So, you choose to threaten me… A bold move in my own castle…”

She crossed one leg, the one with the white stocking, over the other and leaned back. Hands resting lightly atop her knees, she looked down at Scott. “It seems, this mortal who claims to be my own brother has quite the brash nature.”

“I used to pat you on the head and give you chocolate, I think,” said Scott. “You always ended up getting it all over your mouth and I had to wipe it off.”

Her nose twitched, and her lips quivered slightly, but she did not run away this time. “You deign to imagine that you have given gifts to me? Yet, could not even be bothered to throw a dead chicken over my wall as a sign of respect?”

“I’ll level with you. My memories are screwed up, and a lot of people are counting on me to help them set things right in a world on the brink of ruin. I have to see Odin as he’s the closest help I have. This is important to me, and I am sorry that I upset you,” said Scott.

He offered her a gentle smile. She, however, acted as though it was nothing to her.

Hel tilted her nose up into the air. “What’s in it for me? Why should I help a disreputable lout such as you?”

“If you don’t help me, I’ll muss your hair and tell your little dead warrior soul friends embarrassing stories about your childhood,” replied Scott.

“Those that I can remember, anyway,” he amended as he began to develop a bad taste in his mouth. The bad taste faded away quickly, after he spoke those words, however.

“Y-you wouldn’t dare!” she cried, completely breaking character.

Scott merely smiled at her. Her antics reminded him a little of another sister of his, one who was equally as sweet in her way. Memories of Liz surfaced in his thoughts and his heart sank. In a spiritual and mystical sense all people were his brothers and sisters, but Liz was his direct family in this life. Even all this new information and family he had discovered did not feel so strongly resonant inside of him as those memories of her.

These people, they were Noct-El’s family. Sure, he was Noct-El. However, he was also Scott. It was that latter identity that held strongest within him. The other stuff, it was like a movie he had seen or a book he had read. It was true, but it still felt like it had all happened to someone else and he had inherited it. His life as Scott. His sister Liz. That was the real life.

Strangely, it took seeing this fidgeting goddess of the underworld for him to come fully to an understanding with himself. He was Scott. Everything else was a part of him, but he was at heart, Scott.

He walked toward her. Hel called out for him to stop. He did not.

She grew annoyed and ordered him to heed her commands. He did not.

Several dead warriors came pouring out of the side rooms, but he had already reached Hel. She looked up at him, her cheeks lightly puffed out. Any pretense of being elegant and refined had dissipated. Hel was one of the younger of his winged siblings, but quite competent. He had doted on her. He could remember that much.

Before she could say anything else, he knelt before her then reached up and took her hands in his. Hel’s pale cheeks suddenly reddened.

“H-hey now…” she said in a quivering voice.

“I’m, sorry that I haven’t come to visit in a long time,” he said softly. “I won’t ask you to forgive me, but I’m here now.”

Hel snorted at him then looked away. “Only because you need me for something.”

Scott did not know what to say in that moment. Her words were true. He barely had access to those memories of the ancient past. They came and went, but mostly lay dormant within him. He had not come to see her. He had come to enlist her aid in reaching Odin. He had to go through Helheim to get to the world tree, Yggdrasil.