Night, such as it was in the underworld, came and went. Scott spent that night watching Netflix until he fell asleep on a surprisingly comfortable weight bench. He awoke the next morning to the annoyed foot-tapping of a certain lady of the house.

“Were you planning to sleep all day?” asked Hel.

Scott yawned and rubbed his eyes. “Sorry…. But the room you gave me to rest in was just so comfortable.”

She eyed him for a moment then snorted. Scott eyed her for a moment and blinked. “You’re not wearing a black and white outfit?”

“That’s for holding audiences in my domain. We’re leaving so I put on something else,” she said in a simple tone. She turned away from him then lifted her chain. “What, you do not approve?”

Hel wore a modern looking outfit, a combination of jeans and a bright pink hoody. Despite her black and white hair, and beyond average beauty, she would look at home on any city street back on Earth. “You look great, actually.”

She raised one hand and lightly brush the hair back over her ear. “Yes. Well, come along then…”

Scott followed her out of the room, and they headed down the hall. She said nothing but continued to lead the way. Eventually, they came to the feasting hall once more. A well-appointed breakfast of black and white food had been laid out for them.

“Eat. We’ll leave in an hour,” said Hel haughtily.

“Thanks,” said Scott. He cut into something that looked like black and white ham and tasted much the same as the normal kind. Fruit. Fruity drinks. Ham and biscuits. Several kinds of side-dishes such as grits and oatmeal were to be had, and There were even little mini-pizza looking things available.

“So. We’ll leave for Asgard soon. It’ll take a few days to get there. Are you prepared?” she asked him casually.

“As prepared as I can be,” said Scott.

“Right. We will be alone together for the duration of this trip,” she continued. “Please refrain from undressing me with your eyes or other similar types of perversity.”

“Sure… I’ll do my best.” Scott did not bother to look at her while he ate. Had he done so; he would have noticed her eyebrow quirk upward slightly.

The duo walked through the halls swiftly, various dead warriors appearing and then disappearing as they passed. Hel was on the move and she had no time for them.

She brought him to a halt just in front of a large set of doors. “Beyond this point is my gateway. Normally I would use other methods to travel, but we need to do this quickly. I can’t be gone for more than a few days.”

“I appreciate you taking the time,” said Scott.

Hel glanced at him then looked away. “Sure. Let’s go.”

She raised her hand and the doors opened. Once through the door Scott saw a simple spherical chamber lined with obsidian. The floor was black and white tiles and at the center of everything floated a crystal ball that shined with a pleasant blue light.

Hel directed him to step close to her then she placed her hand atop the orb. “Asgard.”

A bubble of energy rose around them and then the room seemingly fell away. Soon, they were flying across her domain at an incredible speed. The land and sky began to blur to together and eventually turned into a simple haze.

“We will need to travel this way for quite some time,” said Hel. She turned to look at him. “Is there anything you can think of doing to make that time go faster?”

Scott closed his eyes and searched his thoughts, but he could come up with nothing more than a discussion. “You could tell me about your life?”

“So, I must discuss my secrets?” Hel eyed him critically.

“A secret for a secret?” he asked her. “Though, you already know a good deal about my current life…”

“Fair.” Hel brushed a bit of hair back over her ear then took a breath. “I will allow you tell me your secret. I will then decide if your secret is worth acquiring a secret of my own.”

“Well, to star… Didn’t you say it would be a few days before we could leave? Yet, this morning we were able to go.” Scott offered her a curious quirk of his eyebrow. However, she did not answer him. She merely made a noise of negation.

“Right. Something about me first…” said Scott. He acquired a thoughtful expression and seemingly considered his words for quite some time. He took so long to consider, in fact, that Hel frowned at him and began to tap her foot.

“I told you a little about what happened to Liz,” said Scott.

“Your dream sister? Yes?” Hel looked askance at him.

“My sister. Yes,” agreed Scott. “We got along well as children. Spent most of our time together. Often she would take me to task if I stepped out of line and did not act like someone whom she could be proud to call her brother.”

Hel closed her eyes then nodded. “Must have been nice…”

Scott smiled at her. “It was…”

He waited patiently for her to say something, but of course she said nothing. Eventually, he called her on that fact.

“Fine,” she sighed. “I have not taken mortal form in a dream for a long time, not since I was charged with my post.”

“Why?” asked Scott. “Surely, you can set the time dilation to make it work?”

“I suppose,” admitted Hel softly. “I just never saw the reason to abandon my post.”

“It must be lonely in that castle. The only people around worshipping you,” he replied.

“There was no one there to hold me accountable when I misstepped. No,” she agreed.

The conversation entered another natural lull after those words were spoken. Those words were few and simple but spoke volumes.