Hela looked around in a daze, but quickly snapped out of her dizziness. She grips you, and with a green glow she teleports from the hallway to another part of Hell.

"Where are we?" you ask out of breath, your feet sinking into hot sand.

"We're in level two, I need to get you to level one, purgatory. You need to leave Dove, go back home and go back to Loki"

You look at Hela stunned "you're letting me leave?"

"Dove, as much as I want you to stay with me, I can't let you live in his Hell. You don't deserve that"

Hela smoothes your cheek, brushing away the sand that's settled within your brows.

Your chest suddenly felt tight, a deep regret tugging on your heart. You felt sorrow for Hela, seeing the kindness in her eyes shine through as she stares at you sadly.

You realise the kindness has always been there, you were just too wrapped up in yourself to notice.

Hela knew you want to say more, and she'd love nothing more than to sit and have a conversation full of emotion and truth. But she knew you had very little time before your life essence depletes, and before Hades catches up to you. She grips your hand and sprints across the sandy mounds.

As you trudge through the sand, you realise level two was a less fiery hell. Instead of hot lava, volcanic flames and blazing pit's, Hela made this place a hot desert. It was for souls needing a lesser punishment than those in level three.

You gaze at the dead people who wander aimlessly around, their mouths parched, their lips cracked. In this level their punishment was thirst and extreme heat from the sun rather than fiery flames and demon torture.

"Keep up Dove, I can't teleport anymore. My green magic isn't as strong as it used to be compared to when I was in Asgard. Odin made sure to strip most of my Aesir magic"

"You have Aesir magic? Like Queen Frigga and Loki?"

"Yes, Frigga trained me in a lot of magic, I imagine she would've taught her son Loki. Our powers are quite similar."

"I'm sorry Hela, I caused this" you say sadly

Hela stopped, turning to face you. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so selfish. I just.....I heard you, I listened to you and felt a connection. The people in your life taking you for granted, not seeing your worth. Don't let anyone control you, or try to change you, you're perfect as you are Little Dove. I would've treated you better, as a Queen should be treated, making you happy everyday Dove. Me and you, rulers of a better hell, a more just and fair hell. But you can't stay here now. I won't let you suffer in Hades torment"

You hear cackling not far behind, Hades laugh becoming louder as he gets closer.

You direct your gaze at something swirling behind Hela, Hela turns to see and immediately grips your hand knowing exactly what it was.

Hades conjured a large sand storm, it grew bigger and bigger ready to engulf anything in it's way.

"There's no point running from it Dove, I've never escaped his tornado's, just stay still and hold onto me"

You see the sadness on Hela's features as you face each-other. Your heart breaks knowing she endured so much torment at the hands of Hades, and you selfishly set him free.

She could easily side with Hades, be his dark Queen and force you to submit to them both. But she still protects you, wanting only good for you.

You were ashamed.

The twister of sand suddenly moves at lightening speed around you and Hela. Hela used what magic she had to counteract the twister, keeping both you and her weighed down and grounded. Stopping the strong gusts of spiralling wind from scooping you up.

"Hold tight onto me Dove!" She yells

Sand surrounds you both, you cough and splutter as you inhale gritty particles.

"Close your eyes Dove, protect your eyes!." Hela shouts over the blaring noise.

She knew the only way for you to escape was to give herself to Hades. Without her guidance you'd need to make your own way out of this level and get to purgatory, your eyes could not be impaired.

You listen to Hela, quickly closing your eyes tight. You cover your face with your hands, enabling you to breathe without inhaling sand.

You suddenly feel Hela let go of you. You blindly wave your arms outwards trying to feel for her body but only feel the thick swirls of sand sting against your skin. You yell, pleading for Hela to take your hand.

All of a sudden a shrill scream echos out in the distance. You knew Hela was hurt from the sound of her pained wail. You curse Hades, swearing to take revenge on the bastard should he hurt her more.

"I've got her Dove, come join us and I may go easy on her. Or die and remain in your sandy hell hearing Hela scream in agony for all eternity. There's no point attempting to find level one, you haven't got long left, your heart is nearly on its last beat, make your choice"

"Look for the white door Dove! Follow the breeze, don't close your eyes, keep them open or you'll miss it...find the door and live!"

You hear Hela shout out clues to finding Purgatory before her mouth was muffled by Hades.

The sand storm suddenly disappears, you open your eyes and see only sand around you. Hela was gone, taken by Hades, awaiting torture.

You collapsed, feeling the heat of the sun on your neck. You felt hopeless, and weak as your heart slowed down, nearing it's final beats.

You look at your hands against the golden sand, your skin was fully grey, resembling more like the dead than the living.

You felt sleepy, your eyes battling to stay awake. You knew this was your mortal body shutting down, you were succumbing.

Suddenly Hela's voice rang in your ear's, she was repeating the same words over and over "do not close your eyes, keep them open, or you'll miss it" 

You forced your eyes open, her voice inside your head spurring you on to live. You stood from your knees, walking aimlessly in the sand. Staring out into the distance, trying to find any glimpse of a white door.

"Follow the breeze" 

More words repeat in your mind just as a delicate wind blew past your ear. You spin around changing direction, following the way the sand blows.

You come to a mass of dead souls disconnectedly roaming, you twist and turn, stumbling in between their bodies fighting to keep your eye on the breeze.

The souls make no noise, the only sound was of their feet dragging lazily across the sand, too parched to moan, too dehydrated to weep. The hoard now too thick to get through, they push you back taking you the wrong way.

You stumble down laying face first in the sand, the  souls trampled you, unintentionally keeping you from getting up. You feel your body weaker, your eyes slowly closing as your will to live diminishes.

You're suddenly overcome with emotion, you sob, weeping for Loki, crying for Hela, feeling utterly remorseful of what you've done. Hating yourself for being so easily fooled and so misguided.

"I deserve this Hell, it's my fault" you mutter underneath your breath, convinced this is what you deserve.

Pain radiates around your body as more dead tread over you, forcing your head down suffocating you into the sand. You stop fighting, allowing your body to be buried under the hundreds of feet that step on you.

Your dying mind suddenly burst into images, replaying all the wonderful memories of your life. You smile internally, learning it's true. Your life truly does flash before your eyes as you die.

Your last memory was the face of Loki, holding you in his arms and crying as you lay dying from Munnin's wounds.

"Loki......I love you" even in your thoughts your voice was barely a whisper.

Loki's image slowly faded away as you feel the irregular beats of your struggling heart nearing it's end.

All of a sudden an ice cold blast burst through the hoard's of dead. Swooping them into the air and away from your body.

You lift your buried head out of the sand taking a big breath.

Gasping, you open your eyes and look towards the cold. You see a white door, the cool breeze coming from within.

You're unable to stand up, your body now too weak. You slowly crawl towards the door, breathing in sand each time your body collapses down.

You slump down, your body half inside the door and half in the desert sand, in between two levels.

You rest your head on your arms, just needing to sleep. Desperately wanting to close your eyes and rest.

You suddenly hear Loki, you hear his voice in level one purgatory loud and clear.

You peek your eyes open, lifting your head to view inside. Loki's voice giving you willpower.

You see many people standing in a white room. All waiting in their own purgatory.

You push yourself through the door entirely, scraping your body across the floor with your fingernails. You roll on your back, gasping for your last breaths.

You look up in amazement seeing a large screen appear. You watch as moving pictures come into view on the screen.

You realise you see yourself, the moments after you blacked out from Munnin's wounds.

You lay dying within Munnin's cell. Loki cradles you, yelling your name, begging you to come back to him.

You watch intently as a whole scene unfolds, seeing Thor grip Munnins throat angry, then ceasing his hold.

Feeling sick as you see Munnin crawl over to your body, touching your chest. Loki squeezing his neck before listening to Odin's command's to stop.

You hear Loki cursing his father, a darkness consuming his face, his grief changing him into a vengeful god.

You feel the link between your life and the living diminish as the images start to blur. The screen fading, getting smaller and smaller.

You wish you didn't hear Loki's last words as angry yells, you want to hear him say I love you one more time. But his rage billows out of him, yelling angrily at Odin while holding you.

"Do it now! Bring her back! Allow her to die and I will watch you suffer ten fold. My outrage will feast, never ceasing until all the realms feel my fury and no of my pain. My indignant wrath will shower upon you all making you obsolete, every single realm will come to an end, MY UNHOLY END!"

You couldn't help but smile hearing Loki's dramatic way with words.

"Goodbye my love" you whisper as your heart takes it's last beat. The screen closes shut, only just witnessing Odin lean over your dead body before it switched off.

You suddenly hear a buzz in your ears, it got louder and louder vibrating your ear drums. A sudden pulse of electricity shoots through your body, your veins lighting up with a golden hue. You scream in pain feeling as though all your insides were ripping apart.

You arch your back, your mouth gaping open as you shriek out in agonising pain. The intensity of the currants that rattle through you made you violently shake against the floor.

It flowed up your legs, through your arms, and entered your chest. Feeling as though an icy hand gripped your heart and pumped it manually.

Your bloodcurdling scream resonated around the white room, feeling your heart squeeze back alive.

The pain extended to your neck, travelling inside your head igniting the branched structure of every vessel, and nerve within the soft tissue of your brain.

You grip your head, fearing it'll crack open from the intense pressure forcing it's way inside. The affliction truly crippling.

Suddenly a white light billows out of your entire body, filling your chest with a beating heart that thumped stronger than ever before.

White magic flowed involuntarily from your fingers scorching the ground below you as you hover in the air.

You look down seeing the people in purgatory watching you, moving their eyes from their own life screens to watch you in awe.

You slowly lower yourself until your feet touched the ground, feeling powerful, strong, and energised.

The people stuck in purgatory flock towards you, begging you to release them back to their living life.

"Please Goddess, release our souls back to our body. We beg you!"

You turn and stare at their desperate faces, feeling sorry for all of them.

"I wish I could help you, I'm so sorry. If I could I'd send you all back home to be happy with your families" you say aloud, the words spoken from your heart.

All of a sudden a white beam of magic flowed from you and shined across every soul stuck in purgatory. To your amazement, everyone it touched disappeared.

You look up, and watch their life screens. Every single soul woke up, reunited with their family.

You stare in disbelief, unsure what was happening, or how it happened but you felt empowered, smiling at your new found abilities.

As all the screens switch off, your own switched back on. You see yourself twitching in Loki's arms as he calls to you. Odin continuing to push forth half of his Odin's force inside you.

"Why isn't it working? save her! Save her now!!" Loki yells

"I couldn't guarantee it would work Loki, I'm sorry" Odin says, strangely his voice sounding sincere.

A doorway suddenly opened, you felt inclined to walk through. You knew if you did, you'd wake up alive in Loki's arms. But something was making you stay.

You turn to look at the other door, still open revealing the sandy hell of level two.

You clench your jaws remembering Hades, remembering your sworn vengeance should he hurt Hela again.

You ball your fists, feeling an intense anger fuelling you.

"I'm sorry my Love, you'll have to wait just a bit longer" you say, watching as your screen fades.

You sprint with power through the exit of purgatory and back into the sandy hills, where crowds of dead still drift about.

As you walk through the mass of dead they no longer bump into you, or trample you. As if by magic, or by your will the hoards part, making way for you to strut effortlessly through the sandy dunes.

You walk through level two of hell, gliding over the hot sand with ease without breaking a sweat. You trek for a short while, before finding another door and opening it.

An extreme smell of damp rot wafted up your nose, black water pooled out of the door soaking your feet.

The sound of water alerted the dead, they no longer slowly roamed, they flocked to the sound, sensing the cool relief of water.

You quickly jump through the doorway, the door slamming shut behind you. You gaze around seeing only darkness, a never ending blackness. Yet a light source shines from somewhere, partially lighting the empty void.

You move ahead, your dress sloshing in the gloomy shallow river. You look down feeling something brush against your feet.

Your reflection startles you, seeing it was you that shines the way. Your image in the water glows, your whole body lit up in a white aura.

You looked different, no longer were you grey and ashy, you looked full of life. Your features radiant akin to a beautiful goddess, a stark difference to your earlier dead complexion.

You look ahead, suddenly seeing a glowing ball of light. You narrow your eyes focussing on the hovering ball that gets closer and closer. 

Your eyes widened when you saw it wasn't a hovering ball of light, but a man holding a fluorescent lantern sailing in a small boat made of bones.

His boat came to a halt before you, he looked at you holding out his hand.

You don't move, unsure of his motive. You decide to trust your gut instincts from now on, you waited, studying him. Yet his demeanour didn't alert you of any malice, he showed no emotion, his body almost robotic.

You feel another graze against your ankle, causing you to look down breaking your stare from the ferryman.

To your horror you see a listless soul float past you, no physical body, but an apparition showing their pained torment.

A long drawn out wail bubbled up from the water, and like a contagious yawn all other souls that were trapped in the flow of the river bellowed out their own distinctive scream upon hearing it.

You instinctively cover your ears, the loud pained roars deafening you.

Suddenly it went eerily quiet, a sense of foreboding overwhelmed you. This was the time to trust your instincts, you knew something was about to happen.

"Pay the toll, or pay the price"

Your gaze immediately went to the ferryman, who hasn't moved from his spot, still holding out his hand.

The quiet was short lived. You suddenly heard a loud sloshing in the distance.

You see the calm flow of water near your feet ripple. You look ahead, seeing the river bubbling up, then splashing violently as something beneath the water travels closer and closer towards you.

"Pay the toll, or pay the price" the ferryman repeats, suddenly showing some emotion on his face.

"I don't understand? Pay with what? I have nothing to offer!" You say nervous, looking back at the river, the ominous presence under the water now half way to you.

Out of fear you instinctively sprint towards the boat, but an invisible force bounces you back into the water.

You were submerged under the black river, suddenly feeling all the souls flow through you, and each time you felt a dull ache in your brain, your mind becoming foggy.

You break through the surface of the water, gasping for a breath. You realise you stayed under the water far too long, but were unaware that you were running out of air.

You looked at the boatman pleadingly, he looked at you nervously, breaking his robotic stance to gesture at your wrist.

"The bracelet, does it have meaning?" He asked with urgency, looking back nervously to the ferocious splutters of the water that's now reached the end of his boat.

"Yes! It means everything to me!" you yell, scared

"Quickly give it to me!" he instructs with haste

You fight to unclasp the infinity bracelet that Loki gave you, feeling so frightened that your fingers lost the ability to work.

Suddenly you see his boat lift from the surface of the water as something big brushed against the bottom of his boat, heading straight for you. The ferryman stumbled backwards, dropping his lantern.

The whole watery void went completely dark, only your aura lit up the immediate area around you.

You felt your heart beating hard within your chest, the water now completely calm, the silence deafening.

"Don't move"

You hear a whisper come from the boat. You just make out the face of the ferryman leaning on the edge, his body completely still, not wanting to make any movement fearing it will come for you.

You steady your laboured breathing, trying to calm your hammering heart. You slowly move to your clasp, trying once again to unfasten your bracelet.

You breath out a sigh of relief when you see it come undone, holding the bracelet firmly within your clutch.

You smile in triumph at the ferryman, you were finally able to pay his toll and gain entry on the boat. But your grin fades away at seeing his sorrowful expression, his eyes genuinely displaying sadness for you.

"It's too late, I'm sorry" he says with great regret

"It's time to pay the price!" a deep voice hisses out from behind you.

You're panic stricken, watching the ferryman's gaze move upwards at something big behind you.

A snicker resonates around the dark abyss, causing the souls to whine out, afraid of his sound.

You slowly turn around, frightened at what you're about to see, but at the same time curious to no what scares even the ferryman of hell.

You gasp wide eyed as you look up. Towering over you was a giant snake, it's body endless, seeing no end to his tail. Your cover your mouth holding in a shriek as you see trapped souls in between it's scales, clawing to get out.

His lidless eyes stare down at you, and the corner of his mouth turns up, smirking.

"The price for not paying the toll is your life, 100 years of servitude before your soul is allowed to cross the river to be judged"

"No! you will not take my soul, I am here for a reason! to kill Hades"

Neith the giant snake of the underworld laughed menacingly. "Kill Hades you say, why would I allow you to do such a thing, when he's only just released me from my watery cell, the prison that bitch Hela imprisoned me in"

Your heart sank, you realise Hades has been undoing all of Hela's better changes. Setting free all the evil beings.

"Tell me, are you a fair and just creature? Do you treat the souls that pass here fairly?"

Neith's grin widened, baring his fangs. "The more souls I collect, the bigger I become. As soon as this sympathetic ferryman is replaced with Charon, the former dishonest boatman, we'll go back to our deal. Taking a certain amount of souls for myself regardless if they pay the toll or not" he laughs

"I see, so you're part of Hades corrupt system....Well then, I suppose I better kill you too"

Neith snarls, bringing his serpent face right next to your body. You feel the sharp sting of his tongue as he hissed.

You grit your teeth, and glare at him. "Touch me with your tongue again, and I'll yank it from your slimy head!" you say fiercely.

The serpent suddenly coils his body around you and the ferryman's boat. You're forced to walk backwards hitting the side of the boat as his body circles tighter, closing in around you.

Suddenly Neith the serpent hisses in pain, releasing his coiled body away from the boat.

You look at the Ferryman who looks just as surprised as you. The boatman suddenly realises, Neith can't damage the boat, can't retrieve the souls once they pay the toll and step inside.

Your hand is suddenly gripped by the Ferryman, stealing the infinity bracelet from inside your palm.

"I accept your offering, the toll is paid!" He repeats quickly, leaning over and grabbing your waist, pulling you inside the boat.

You stumble back against him, hearing Neith scream out in protest. His body trying hard to bash against the boat, yet the barrier of protection doesn't allow it to be damaged.

"Damn you Ferryman! You'll pay, just as soon as Hades releases you from your service, you will be mine to torment" he hissed angry

You stand up, leaning over just to stare and gloat, smirking at him.

"Oh poor snakey, did you miss the chance to claim a soul" you mock frown, teasing him knowing you're safe in the confides of the boat.

Your waist is gripped, and pulled back "best not to tease Neith, he'll only make it worse for you once Hades gives you to him"

"Hades will die by my hands, I will not be coming back here" you say confidently

A small smile escaped the man, you look at his features now he's up close to you. You're surprised to see he's rather young, more like a boy who's only just transitioned into adulthood.

"Are you new to your job?" you ask questioningly, feeling he could've taken your payment a lot earlier and saved you from being tormented by the snake.

"Is it that obvious?" he says shyly, as he uses a long boat paddle to start the movement of the boat.

You laugh, finding it funny to see his face so animated when just a short while ago he was a blank robot.

"What's your name? you should talk and smile more often, the good souls crossing the river need reassurance, some kindness wouldn't hurt"

"My name is Dagr, and I agree with you, but that's not in the job description. Im ordered not to display any emotion, or judgment. I must not interact with the souls, or feel pity or sorrow. I must only take the toll charge, then transport them across the river of the underworld to await their fate in whatever level of hell the boat takes them too. Admittedly, ...I'm failing miserably"

You try to conceal a laugh, "I see, then who is Charon? Neith mentioned he was the previous ferryman?" you ask curious

"Charon was locked away by Hela, as was Neith. Some people die without having any form of payment and if they don't have payment they were forced to serve 100 years with Neith until they could cross over to be judged. Hela thought that was cruel, she believed the river to be an unnecessary torment so she shut it down. Instead they went straight to purgatory to await judgment"

"Also, the more you stay submerged in the water the more your mind forgets your most precious memories, never drink it!" He says adamantly.

You remember your head hurting, and your mind becoming foggy as you went under the water. You now realise why, it was trying to consume your memories.

"Don't worry, you wasn't under long enough to cause much damage" he assures you, seeing your worried expression.

"So who put you in this position?" you ask, knowing it wasn't Hela because the river was abandoned.

"Hades, he took me from my role as soul shifter to here. Just until Charon is found. I believe he's yet to be released, Hades still unsure where in hell Hela imprisoned him"

"Soul shifter?"

He chuckles "yes, I was created simply to aid in the running of hell. A soul shifter basically shifts the souls into the levels they need to go to. And since Hela created a heaven of memories, I got to occasionally explore and run heaven. Making sure all souls live happily. I much preferred it there, here all I see is gloom and sadness. The job Hela gave me allowed me to experience a bit of everyone's heaven. I adored my role."

You smile at Dagr, glad to learn he preferred Hela's rule.

"Are you really gonna try and kill Hades?" he asked skeptical

"I have to try, I caused hell to change. I set him free. And now he has Hela" you admit, ashamed

"I no, we all no what you did. But it wasn't your fault, imps are nasty creatures."

You look guilty at Dagr, seeing another life in hell messed up because of your actions.

The boat suddenly starts swaying, rocking violently back and forth. You stumble down, Dagr catching you before you hit the floor.

You both look back, seeing Neith stalking the boat, forcefully pushing his body against the water creating harsh waves to take your boat off course.

"What's he doing?" You yell out above the noise of the waves.

"He's throwing the boat off course, taking you away from where you want to go. From getting to Hades and Hela"

"That sneaky fucker!.....Piss off!" you yell over the side of the boat, towards Neith who laughs menacingly.

Your dress was only just starting to get dry, when another wave crashed down soaking you.

"Hold on, I'm going to try and redirect to shallower waters. He won't be able to splash as much" Dagr says

He was confident shallow water will work, enabling you to get back to level three, the worst part of hell where the dark palace resides.

You see Neith become angry, infuriated he can no longer force the water to redirect your boat. He slithers upwards, his giant head glaring into your smirking face.

"After Hades is bored of abusing your body, I'm going to request you be given to me. I won't bore so easily of you. You're going to feel pain like none before"

His tongue hisses out again, the very tip of it flicking your face.

Your eyes show rage, your face morphing into a vengeful Goddess. "I told you, touch me again and I'll rip your tongue from your head!"

You stand up on the very edge of the boat, not giving any second thought to what you were about to do.

"Noooo!" Dagr yells, running over to you, but it was too late.

You dived into the water, your body disappearing into the blackness.

Neith immediately submerged himself, unbelieving you threw yourself into the danger but ecstatic that you did.

Dagr stopped his boat, looking over the side trying to spot you. But you've yet to break the surface, still under the water somewhere.

"Where are you! Come up for air, please! You'll die!" Dagr yells, full of worry and concern.

He flops down feeling hopeless when he doesn't see you nor Neith. Convinced Neith has already captured you and taken you to his underwater cave, a pocket of air he resides in when asleep.

Suddenly the serpent snake crashes above the water, gasping for a breath. Dagr stands up startled by the sudden noise.

He stares wide eyed as he watches you ride on the neck of Neith, choking him with his own tongue.

While under the water your new found strength allowed you to brutally tear out his long two pronged tongue. You wrap it around his neck, choking him to death.

Neith's eyes rolls back into his head, his body falls down limp and lifeless, gurgling his final breath out loud.

You crash back down through the water, the serpents heavy head trapping you on the river bed. You struggle to free yourself, feeling weaker having just used a lot of your Odins-force strength.

Your mind becomes dazed from the lack of oxygen, clawing at the water as though desperately trying to climb an invisible ladder to reach the surface.

Your lungs burn feeling the murky water rush down your throat as you take a underwater gasping breath.

You convulse, your body shuddering as you drown.

Your eyes stare off into the blackness of the water, your arms floating up lifeless as your heart slows to a stop.

Trapped souls float around you waiting to welcome another soul into their glum resting place.

You feel a grip on your hands, you're pulled hard, your body suddenly free from underneath the serpents giant head.

Dagr pushes you onto his boat, immediately starting resuscitation. He balled his fists, striking at your chest trying to awaken your stopped heart. He alternated between blowing air into your lungs and hard compressions. Calling out for you to breathe.

Your body suddenly jolted upright, spewing the masses of black water from your lungs. You cough and splutter, as Dagr holds you tight.

"You're crazy you no that!" he says, cradling you in his arms, smoothing away the river scum that's caught in your hair.

You laugh, but then sob, suddenly knowing how close you were to residing in hell for all eternity.

"I think I am a bit mad" you admit through tears sitting up and holding Dagr close. Needing to feel some comfort, any comfort.

The boat suddenly hit grounding, causing it to stop abruptly. You both look up, seeing the boat docked at a red door.

"You've arrived at Level three, Goddess" Dagr says with trepidation. Fearing he'll not see you again once you go through that door.

You smile at Dagr, letting go of him and standing up.

You brush off your dress, holding your head high.

"I guess it's time to save Hell"