Hela and Falcon left the dining room and walked towards the south wing throne room and it was completely the opposite of the north. Even anyone who was not a citizen of Niflheim would know the difference and would be drawn away from the south wing. While the rest of the castle was silver and blue, portraits and paintings hanging in the halls, a welcoming feeling of happiness and safety, the south was the opposite. The large black iron gates separated the north and the south in the only corridor entrance to the south. Very few had access to the south wing and those that did worked as torturers in Mareritt; they were the souls of people who were twisted in life, took great pleasure in hurting others, and thrived off of others' pain. They had served their sentences in Mareritt and because they had no change in behaviour and it seemed like they never would, they were given the choice to make others suffer for their crimes or have their souls destroyed. Of course, almost all of them wanted to make others suffer and took great joy to the point that, like people in Lykke, they had an unquestionable loyalty to Hela. Unlike those in Lykke, who were loyal due to the Queen's kindness and protection, those in Mareritt were loyal because they had people to hurt who would never die. Their true desires and fantasises of what they could do in life to those they despised could be fulfilled on the souls of the dammed in Mareritt.

The black gates emitted an unwelcoming feeling, turning anyone away but you had to push through that feeling, push through your very instincts to go through. At this point, it became second nature for Falcon and Hela. Once walking through the black gates, gone was the silver and blue walls, the walls now weren't as smooth as the north; it was a dark brown stone that seemed stained over time, from what many could only guess, but they knew some of the stains would be blood. Metal chains dangled over the ceiling as it held together the torches, the fire they gave being the only light. Carvings into the walls showed many different creatures, some of legend, some that many knew to be true as they had seen them. The carvings told the story of the nine realms and how it was created and the stories of the Kings of Niflheim. Hela knew that if she looked throughout the south, her story would be in the making, it would be carving itself into the very walls she called her home. The south wing was the oldest part of the castle, when it came to rebuilding the castle when she became Queen, she left the south wing the way it was, a representation of how far they had come with her reign in such as short amount of time to her. The south wing was cold and sent shivers down your spine but as you got further in, you began to feel warm and it became clear why that was.

As they approached the throne room, the large doors made of wood and metal, the same corridor held some of the few windows that were left in the south wing. If anyone was to look outside, they would see the red sky, the rubble mountains, the fire that covered a large majority of the land but most of all, they would see the small stone buildings covered in bars and chains, they would see the hands reaching through the bars for help. Fortunately, Hela had spelled the boarders of Mareritt and Lykke so that no sound could pass. She didn't want people hearing the sounds of screams and people pleading. Those closest to the castle were in Mareritt for the shortest amount of time, many of them only there for a few weeks. The further away the souls were from the castle, the longer they were to remain there and the torture only got worse.

The throne room was specifically designed when the damned wanted to see her, or needed special treatments that only she and a select few others could provide. It was dark and gloomy, the only light coming from candles around the room and fire from the windows behind the metal throne that was only there for show. Weapons of torture hanged around the room but Hela rarely used them as she was a torture device just from her touch.

They walked into the south throne room to see that two fire demons from the realm Muspelheim, stood watching Herpo even though he was tied to a chair by dark chains, unbreakable and couldn't move anywhere, even if he wanted. They both walked into Herpo's line of sight and he tried to act cocky by smirking and said, "Queen Hela and Death himself, I do not believe I have had the pleasure".

Falcon unlinked his arm from Hela's and turned his eyes black as he began to float, his suit transforming into a black cloak, his skin disappearing and turning into nothing but bone. It was his true form as Death and he liked the way people shivered when they saw him like that, it made the fear alluring and wanting more.

"Yes, you're right," Hela said as she began to walk in a circle around his chair. "We truly haven't had the pleasure of meeting. I am Queen Hela and...well I'm sure you've figured out who my partner is. After all, everyone who dies sees this side of him before they come here. Now, we would like to know some information".

She clapped Herpo on the shoulder and he stiffened, which she took great joy in, and he said, "I have a sentence of eternity here, what makes you think I will tell you anything?"

Hela laughed and it made Herpo nervous as the fire demons seemed to take a few steps back before turning and leaving the room, and for a split second, Herpo thought he saw fear in their eyes. But that was impossible, the torturers of Mareritt never showed emotion around their victims and if they did, it was more of joy for the act of torture. As the throne room doors closed, Herpo was now left alone with the Queen herself and Death. Hela stopped laughing and answered, "because unlike my predecessor, I have a special talent of getting information out of people. Now, I'm going to give you the chance to tell me all about the little spell you invented to make Horcruxes and how to defeat them before I get it out of you through other methods".

Herpo spat on the floor near her and that was his answer. She walked towards a table that held her torture devices but only picked up a silver blade before walking back towards him. He laughed and said, "your people have tortured me for thousands of years. Used blades constantly, there's nothing you can do to me what they haven't".

It was her turn to giggle as she stepped closer to him and he lost his smile. She knew what his tactic was, the same tactic many of the damned used: pretend that they can't be tortured in any way possible anymore, pretend and maybe they wouldn't be hurt anymore and just put into isolation for eternity. Many of them preferred isolation than the torture they'd receive. She held the handle of the blade then twirled the end of the blade on her fingertip as she said, "a quick slice from this blade and a thousand cuts will be all over your body. You feel like you're dying".

"H-h-happened before," he stuttered, knowing just what it felt like.

"Not with this blade. See, this one's special, the cuts begin to come slower, triggers the brain senses so you know exactly when each layer of skin is being cut. Layer by layer you'll feel it". She quickly pushed the sleeve up on his left arm and cut. He screamed as more cuts revealed themselves all around his body while Hela just stood back in amusement.

"Please, stop it," he whimpered.

"No," she said blatantly as she placed her hands upon the arms of the chair and leaned down as he stiffened. "I want you to tell me everything about your little Horcrux spell".

"Why? That was a long time ago, it was destroyed, over now".

She hummed and said, "tell me...I think it's about time I introduce you to a new torture method that not many damned receive. You see, I'm the Goddess of Death. I wasn't given that title when I became Queen, I was given it when I was born". She now stood straight with elegance and power. "Being goddess gives me certain powers, one I'm about to use on you".

She reached for his jawline and her fingers barely touched him before he screamed as best he could as the air in his lungs suddenly disappeared. The area of skin she was touching started to deform and wrinkle. She did that for a few moments before she let him go and he gasped in the air that he was denied, never feeling such pain before.

"With my touch, I can make someone old if I want to. Take away their life force until they die".

"I'm already dead," he said in fear.

"Yes," she said sweetly, "which is why this can go on for eternity. Would you like that? Day after day, night after night, you could be feeling that pain and I can't make the transformation into an old man permanent. How much pain do you think you'd be in, when your body turns like that and you're still being tortured by my men? I'll tell you this, no one has ever survived. They've eventually just become a shell...now give me what I want," she demanded but he began to whimper, the strong man that resisted telling Alec all those years was now whimpering before her. "you are dead. Why do you choose to keep such information to yourself?" she asked intrigued.

"I shall be remembered," he said after a moment of hesitation looking down.

Hela looked at the pitiful man and said, "you are not remembered. The spell that you created, only one other has used it and I gather that even he was surprised when he found it. You are forgotten, your people despise you so much that they never spoke of you. Through the ages you became nothing, no one knows your name, so why keep it a secret?"

Herpo did not answer but he did clench his fists. Hela glanced to Falcon as he changed back into his human form and Death walked around Herpo before holding the soul steady. Herpo, confused about why Death needed to do this, asked, "what? What are you-"

He didn't finish asking because the next thing to come out of his mouth was a piercing scream filled with agony and if anyone was to hear it, they would question how it was possible for such a human to scream in such a way. It was the kind of scream that made your blood run cold, that ignited adrenaline, flight or fight, stand or run; to keep a secret but know pain is expected, or give in and not know what was to come. Hela used the knife to cut his chest open while Falcon held him still so that she could cut a straight line without the man thrashing. A thousand more cuts appeared across his body, but it was the cut to his chest that inflicted such pain. Hela had then dropped the knife but shoved her own hand into his chest.

His scream subsided but that was only because his mouth was now filled with blood. Hela's hand began to move around in his chest while her power inflicted pain. Around the wound, he was ageing and Herpo could only imagine what was happening to him on the inside with the Queen's power. Hela began to hum as she said, "stomach...liver...lung..." she then gasped and smiled as Falcon held Herpo's head up so she could look into his eyes. He felt his chest constrict and he couldn't describe the unimaginable pain. Herpo was sure that even if his mouth wasn't filled with blood, he wouldn't have been able to scream. He wanted to pass out, to let the all-consuming darkness come for him but it never did. The Queen just smiled, and he felt his heart breaking, tearing little by little as she said happily, "there's your heart".

Herpo didn't know it was possible for a heart to break. You could have problems with the organ but he never knew, like many, if it was possible for a heart to truly age and break but he now had the answer. It could because it was happening to him at this very moment. He couldn't even plead for forgiveness for not answering her questions because the pain he felt paralysed him.

This pain went on for only minutes but to Herpo it felt like hours and when the Queen finally removed her hand from his chest, he wondered if he still had a heart or if it had turned to ash. Hela smiled as she walked over to the table to gather a cloth to clean her hand with and when she turned back, Falcon had moved Herpo around to face the wizard while Herpo healed. When the wound finally healed, he gasped having the strength to breath and looked between Death and the Queen and said weakly, "Okay...okay I will tell you".

Hela smiled and said, "excellent". She decided to taunt him, knowing this would affect his honour, knowing someone else was using his spell and was darker than him. She threw the cloth on the table and walked closer, standing next to Falcon as she said, " There's another wizard going around using that spell. Don't know how many times he's done it or where he's hidden them, but I know it's been done. You see, this wizard, who's using your spell, who's even darker than you, had much more of an impact on the world than you, is using your spell to overshadow you". She shrugged. "I came here not wanting to harm you, but you refused to help. I just thought you might be willing to help".

He lifted his head up and became stiff and she smiled in victory knowing a man's honour, even one as vile as this, was everything. He couldn't stand anyone doing better. He said, "killing someone damages the soul, I used that to create the Horcrux. You have to deliberately kill someone then say a spell which will ultimately draw a piece of the soul out and encase it into an object. If later the original body was killed, you would live in a non-corporeal form, but creating a physical body has been known and there are methods of doing so".

"Destruction?" She questioned.

"The object has to be destroyed beyond repair. You know when it's destroyed because a scream may be heard. Depending on how many this wizard you speak of has created, he may not feel the first one being destroyed but as it gets closer to him being vulnerable, he will notice. But that depends on the length of time that he had been split from his soul. He may not feel a thing. The Horcrux, however, will not be easily destroyed. It has a mind of its own, using that to manipulate those around it, influencing them, and will even try to persuade someone with the intentions of destroying it against that. The original soul, however, is weak, even just after one Horcrux, the soul becomes unstable".

Hela asked cautiously, not wanting to show personal involvement with a Horcrux, "What if the object is a person? How do you get the soul out then?"

Herpo looked at her with a mixture of shock and foolishness as he said, "then the wizard is foolish because the human will eventually die. It wouldn't be much of an immortality if the human dies in 100 years. I assume it is someone from my world?"

She didn't answer his question. "So, it's unlikely someone would choose to do that," Hela said not realising before that maybe her sister wasn't intentional. "Is it possible that a Horcrux can be created by accident?"

Herpo seemed to be thinking for a moment before nodding, "yes. If the wizard has stretched his soul far enough, it could be possible but with a very slim chance".

"How stretched?" Hela asked, fury building up inside of her at the number of Horcruxes they would have to hunt down, which Hela knew already would not be easy.

"He would have to push his soul to the limit. I would say 6 or 7 times would be the limit that a soul can be split for any accidental Horcrux to happen, but he would have had to commit a murder very shortly before".

Hela nodded slowly, believing the words and now knowing for sure that her sister was an accident, but that didn't make her any less angry. She just now knew there were 6 or 7 Horcruxes out there that needed to be destroyed before they even thought of killing Voldemort, as he would just come back but be harder to find in a non-corporal form. She asked, "Is there a way to get it out of a person without killing them?"

Herpo hesitated, knowing the answer wouldn't be the one she wanted, "two souls are occupying the same being so trying to remove one soul would also remove the other. You cannot...the only other way to remove the soul is by the person feeling such guilt, such remorse for what they've done that the soul returns and becomes one. I do not know what effect that would have on the human the soul is in though. Depending on the length of time the two souls have shared an occupant, the Horcrux would be leeching power off of the other soul. It could be damaged".

"So, there's no way to get the soul out, great," she said sarcastically.

"There's...there's something else you should know" he said cautiously, knowing this was something else she didn't want to hear, and he feared she would touch him again. "Due to two souls possessing the same being, the human is connected to the Horcrux and the wizard. The person could have dreams about what the wizard is doing because they are connected. They could see through their eyes, or see other Horcruxes if they tried. But, there is also the issue of possession. If the wizard knows there's a connection between them and the other human, he could twist their mind, make them see things".

"What things?" She demanded, wanting to step closer to hurt the wizard again as it seemed this meeting only caused more problems than solutions. It took Falcon stepping closer and casually touching her fingertips that kept her in place. Hela didn't look at him, however, not wanting to show weakness in front of the wizard.

"Anything. Loved ones in danger, making it seem like he's the only ally they have, turning the human against everyone they know. Infinite possibilities, they have to learn to protect their mind against the wizard".

"Is there anything else you can tell me?"

He shook his head and begged, "that's everything, I promise. Please, don't hurt me again".

She gave him a small smile and said, "I'm a fair and just Queen, you've given me what I want so I won't". She gestured to the doors and as they opened, the fire demons returned. They stepped forward and began to unchain the wizard before holding the chains themselves as he stood and waited for the Queen's command. She said, "take him back to Mareritt. He can have a week without torture".

The demons grabbed him as Herpo said, "thank you, my Queen, thank you," never before had he been given so long without torture.

"I told you, I am fair," she said as he was taken out of the room.

As the doors closed behind the fire demons, Falcon turned to Hela and pulled her into his arms. She held him tightly as he smoothed her hair and kissed her forehead and said, "I am sorry it was not the answer you wanted".

Hela bit her lower lip as tears sprung to her eyes and she said, "I have to protect her. He's threatening everything now. Not just her life but her mind, her soul, the very person she is, is at stake".

"Hey," he said pulling away but kept his arms around her. When he saw a tear fall down her blue tinted cheek, he brushed it away with his thumb and said, "I give you my word, I will scour the universe, use every aspect of my power to find a way to solve this. When have I ever let you down?"

"Never," she smiled and raised a hand to cup his cheek.

"Exactly. You have been my only family for a thousand years, my only love till the day I die and after that," he leaned his forehead on hers, "I will not let a simple wizard cause you pain". She then leaned up to kiss him, a simple kiss but he soon wrapped his arms around her waist while she wrapped hers around his neck. All thoughts of the torture vanished from their minds as they held onto each other tightly, a comfort they knew could never be taken from them.