We were led through many hallways which were extremely grand, with golden molding, many jade ornamentations, and cream walls that shimmered a bit, giving the entire place an ethereal look. We approached a huge set of oak doors and two guards opened them as we came close. This led into a throne room that was nearly all green, there were emerald and gold chandeliers, deep green rugs and walls, all will gold accents.

The focal point of the room was definitely the throne, it was massive, with a tall back and sloping sides, it looked like a waterfall made of green, and I had to stop for a second to decide if it was a throne or some illusion.

A side door opened and out stepped a woman, who I could only assume to be Hel; after the elaborateness of everything, I expected her to be much more done up, but she was wearing a simple green-black dress with a cape, and her hair was long and straight, half red, half white. What really made me notice her though, was her face; I had heard stories about Hel and her connection with death, but I never expected it to be this extreme. Half of her face was that of a young woman, with beautiful features and gleaming eyes; and the other half was that of a corpse, mostly bone and tendons, with her eye shining from the darkness of its socket.

She walked to her throne and sat with all the authority that her position held, "Lady Janis, it is good to finally meet you in person." She said and my jaw nearly dropped, just like her face, her voice was spilt into two, you could hear an almost lyrical tone and a raspy screech that came out at the same time.

"Queen Hel, it is good to see you as well, I have many questions."

She nodded, "I'm sure you do, but first, please sit; I can see this being a lengthy conversation, and I would prefer not to make you all stand throughout it." She waved her hand and the doors we came through opened, showing a number of chairs that floated over to us and landed with a series of gentle thuds.

"Now that that is sorted, I will jump straight to business; Janis, you have been asked to come here because the world of the dead is slowly falling apart. I'm sure you know that, but what you may not know is that there is more to you being picked as the one too save it than just the fact that you are the last good banshee. For centuries, this realm has acted as a buffer between the world of the living, and the world of the Gods. Forget the Goddesses, they are simply a warm-up act compared to those found in Asgard. (Okay, it may be cheesy to bring in this, but I've been using a lot of Nordic Mythology, so why not add their Gods?)

"One God, in particular, holds a hatred for his brethren and would like to break through this realm to control the realm of the living. That is the cause of collapse around here. My Father, Loki, is strong in the use of magic, and he is more than willing to use it to cause a massacre of untold proportions if he is not stopped; this is where you come in, Janis."

"Your family is the only one able to wield both Holy Knight magic, and the magic granted to you as banshees. This is not by accident, your ancestors knew the threat that Loki presented, and they took action against that; going so far as to infuse their banshee blood with that of an Asgardian. Since you are the only living member of your family, you are the only one that can stop Loki, and it appears that you will have to do it sooner rather than later."

"Janis, this is not a task that you will be able to do alone, which is why I allowed you to bring your friends. The Eight Deadly Sins were created to defend against threats such as the Ten Commandments of the demon race, but now they are also our only defense against Loki."

"You will require the aid of your other comrade, Merlin, she is a powerful warlock, and because of that, she will be especially helpful against Loki's powers of deception. I will also be granting you several gifts while you are here which will aid in your fight, though I do see something that you will face before Loki comes which will determine whether or not you stand any chance against greater foes."

My eyes were wide with all the information that she had just dumped on me, there was a realm of Gods and I shared blood with one of these people? The world truly was falling apart, and I had no idea how to deal with this development.

My thoughts were interrupted by a small side door opening and two familiar faces came through, "Mom? Dad?" I whispered, but they ignored me, walking straight to Queen Hel, and offering her the items they held.

"Just on time, thank you both. Leave us for now, though you may come back once we're done." Hel said quietly and my parents left. "Sir Meliodas, come." She commanded. Meliodas stood and approached her, eyeing me curiously, mentally asking me what in the world was going on. I shrugged my shoulders, wishing I could answer him.

"I understand that you sold your sacred treasure many years ago, is that correct?"

"It is." He said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I present to you, the Demon Sword, Lostvayne, I would suggest not misplacing it again." She regally held out a short sword with decorative half-moons and circles cut out of it. We all gasped in unison, this new turn of events taking us all by surprise.

"Thank you very much, Your Majesty." Meliodas grasped his sword almost reverently and bowed his head.

"Ban, the Undead, come forward." She called out as Meliodas walked back to his seat, "I am sad that I will never experience having you in my realm, I can see that being rather amusing." She said and Ban chuckled.

"Sorry to disappoint, but if I could have died, I image that I would have a long time ago."

"That is understandable, and although I do have someone who would like to talk to you a little later, for now, I will simply present you with this, the Holy Staff, Courechouse." She held out Ban's sacred treasure, and his response was similar to that of Meliodas'. He walked back to his seat silently and appeared to be deep in thought.

"Harlequin, King of the Faries, come forward. It is nice to finally meet you, I have heard much of you; you are well respected by many of the dead who make their way to this realm." She smiled gently at him and held out her hand, I squinted and saw a small seed in her palm, "This is a seed from Yggdrasil, the tree which connects all of the realms. It is filled with magical energy and can restore the Fairy forest to its former glory quickly."

I saw tears form in King's eyes as he accepted the small seed and cradled it close to him, "I will protect this with my life, Your Majesty, thank you for both me and my people." He said quietly and then walked to his seat.

"Diane of the giants, come." Diane practically skipped to the throne and knelt before the queen, obviously excited to see what the queen had in store for her. "I will admit, I have harbored a dislike of the giant race for a millennium because of the destruction that I have seen them cause with the flick of their finger; however, you have changed my view on your kind. You have a pure heart; if you can keep it from being infected by your sin, I will be honored to call you an ally."

"I present to you these bracers," She waved her hand behind her to a large pile covered with cloth, "They have been charmed to streamline your earth abilities to work alongside your Gideon. Your attacks will have a greater effect and you will find yourself more able to focus in fights." Diane nearly squealed in happiness as she saw that the bracers matched her outfit and I shook my head, only Diane would be so excited about something as simple as that.

"Gowther, my gift to you is a simple one, that you can choose whether or not to use." She said and he stood up robotically, walking over to the Queen and looking at her curiously, "In this box contains something that you removed many years ago, and it has the ability to grant you your emotions, but if you would prefer not to restore them, that is your choice. I simply am granting you the option." She said this last part quietly, and Gowther nodded, silently walking back to his chair and holding the small basket she gave him close to his chest.

"Princess Elizabeth, you're next." Elizabeth's head jerked up, she obviously hadn't expected to be called up, "What's the matter, child? You are just as much a part of this group as any of the others, now approach!" She jumped up, and nearly tripped over the stairs as she walked up to the throne. "My dear, you have much power hidden deep within you, and at some point, you will need to learn to control it. Here is a crystal that will connect you to a teacher when you discover your true power she will guide you as you strive to maximize your potential." Elizabeth looked extremely confused, but accepted the small crystal and walked back to her seat.

"Now, Janis, come forward. You have much strife ahead of you, especially since you have irritated the goddesses, though I wouldn't worry about those childish creatures too much for right now. My gift to you is something that I have never granted another soul. I would like for you to create a mist bond between us, this will give you someone to go to when you need advice or help, I have a vast knowledge of spells as well, so I can help you learn new magic if that is what you need." I knelt before her and summoned Durendal, gasping as I felt the mist being sucked into the Queen of the dead.

"Beware though, Janis, I am a goddess, and because of that, this bond between us could have unexpected results, be wary when and how you use it." She said gravely, then stood, "I have said all I need to, for now, go back to the world of the living tomorrow and continue on your path to save the kingdom of Liones, you will know when the time is right to fight Loki." With that, she swept out of the room, and we were left alone.

"That wasn't what I expected it to be, though I do see how Jonas could get on her bad side." I said quietly and Ban chuckled.

"I hope you all see what this means, we just got presents from the Queen of Death, Meliodas and I got our sacred treasures back, and everyone else got something they needed, I'd say this calls for a celebration!" Meliodas cheered as Ban proclaimed this and I laughed.

"There's only one problem with that plan." I said and they all turned to me curiously, "This is the land of the dead, there is no food. I have some that I brought, but why in the world would the dead eat? That makes no sense!" Ban nearly fell over in disappointment, and I laughed at their faces.

"Come on, we should be heading back outside, so we can get to my brother's home for the night." I started leaving then saw my parents up ahead, talking quietly to each other. I approached them quietly and said, "Hey guys, I've missed you."

"Janis!" They spun around and cried out their joy of seeing me again while running to me and embracing me as hard as they could. Getting hugged by a soul is an odd experience, it felt like there was a sight pressure up against my skin, yet I could feel the warmth of their arms.

We talked for a few minutes about everything and then my Father looked me in the eye, "Janis, life has been difficult for you already, and I'm afraid it's just going to get harder, you need to prepare yourself for what is to come, because if you aren't ready, you will not survive. I trust in you though, I have been watching you throughout your life, and I have seen the great potential you hold. Make us proud." Mom nodded and then they both walked away after another hug.

"Those were your parents, Lady Janis?" Elizabeth said quietly after they had gone, and all I could do was nod, "They seem like wonderful people, I wish we could have gotten to know them."

I cleared my throat, blinking away any tears that may have accumulated, "They were the best, now let's get going before Jonas decides he' bored and wants to leave us behind." I smiled at my comrades and we walked together out the door, preparing ourselves for what we would be facing as a team.

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A/N Okay, so this was a bit of a different chapter, but I enjoyed writing it! I hope you don't mind that I mixed worlds and threw Asgard into the mix, let me know what you think! I am sort of shipping Janis and Loki, but not really at the same time, I guess we'll see as time goes on.

-klypso01