A/N: Finally, the last chapter. I'm not too pleased with it, to be completely honest, but I couldn't write it any other way. Still, I'm glad I was able to finish yet another long fic, and I'm satisfied with the way the story turned out as a whole. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you for reading!

– CHAPTER 9 –

Broken Families

The sun was rising in Asgard when the warriors arrived with their captures. It looked like all the inhabitants of Asgard were gathered in front of Valhalla. Odin was there, as well, sitting on a high throne that he had supposedly conjured from the earth so that he could wait patiently outside. His face was impassive, while most of the others gods looked either very frightened or very angry.

Now that they were completely surrounded by so many other gods, including the almighty Odin, and the three giants had grown weary of struggling, the warriors felt it was quite safe to let go of them. Having done so, they stepped aside so that everyone could behold the trio.

Unknown to the gods, the children were even more scared and confused than them. They still didn't understand what was going on, but they knew it couldn't be anything remotely good. Now that Thor had left their side, Jormungand was able to mask his apprehensiveness and coiled up next to his sister, who was also trying, but failing, to hide her fear. Fenrir only glared around him before settling his gaze on Odin and emitting a low growl.

Odin stood up and gestured at the giants.

"My children, these are the monsters that invaded Asgard a few months ago, as you well remember," he stated, his voice clearly audible to all present. "Since that fateful day, none of us has had a peaceful night of sleep, knowing that these beasts lurked about and could strike again at any time. We feared they would attack us in our sleep, or slaughter our young ones when we were not there to watch them. Well, my children, you can rest at ease from now on, for these despicable monsters will be brought to justice at last!"

The gods cheered, and the children could hear some voices demanding to see giant blood spilled. Then, amidst the shouts of rejoicing, one single voice protested. A blonde woman in a white dress pushed her way through the crowd and fell on her knees before Odin.

"Lord Odin, I beg of you, don't do this!" she cried, grabbing his long robe in desperation. Tears were streaming down her face. "They're not monsters! They're only children! They're Loki's—" She was silenced when Odin rested his slender fingers over her lips.

"My dear Sigyn. As always, you endeavour to see good in every living being. Unfortunately, these monsters don't have any good in them. They are dangerous, bloodthirsty beasts, like all giants. They do not deserve your pity." He straightened back up, removing his hand from her lips. Sigyn's mouth moved, but only soft sobs came out. She shook her head and her hands touched the ground, her arms shaking as if it took her great effort to support her own weight. Odin walked around her and stepped forwards to block the sight of her from the others' eyes. "But I respect Sigyn's pleas. We must make sure these monsters won't be a threat to us, but that doesn't mean we have to kill them."

He cast a cold, disdainful look at Jormungand. Then, wordlessly, he stretched out both hands in the serpent's direction. A light blue aura enveloped the youngest giant and he gasped when he was lifted from the ground by an invisible force. When Jormungand was a few feet up, Odin pulled his hands back and them thrust them forwards again, faster than before. Jormungand was launched back in the air, back in the direction of Jotunheim, until he disappeared into the blue of the sky.

"Jormungand!" Hel shouted, still staring at the point where she had last seen him. What in the nine worlds had Odin done to her brother?!

"You bastard!" Fenrir snarled and began to charge at Odin, but the warrior gods stopped him halfway. It was very difficult to hold back such a big, strong giant, but the gods were also very strong, and with their combined strength they were able to subdue Fenrir.

Odin stared at him. Whereas he had only given Jormungand a mildly disdainful look, as though the serpent were beneath his notice, Odin's eyes held very strong feelings as they focused on Fenrir, and even his countenance had gained some emotion. Fury, hatred... and something else that was quite difficult to name.

Something close to fear.

"I want this one close to me, where I can keep an eye on him," he said. "Take him away."

"Where to, Lord Odin?" asked Tyr.

"Anywhere," Odin snapped. "Just make sure he can't escape. I'll deal with him later."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Now, last but definitely not least," Odin purred as he met Hel's gaze. He gestured at her to approach him, which she did reluctantly, still trying to hold back her tears.

She could barely recognise Odin. He hadn't changed physically, of course, but he was no longer the kind, silly, fatherly man who had treated her so well in his own palace and gifted her with a book that had become her most precious possession in all the nine worlds. Now he was a cruel madman who had kidnapped her and unjustly punished her brothers. It was unbelievable! Had his generous attitude been just an act all along? Or was this an impostor?

"Hel, my dear," he said in the same gentle voice he had used when he had talked to her months ago. Back then it had comforted her; now it sickened her. He spoke very softly, so that only she could hear him. "From the moment you told me you were Loki's daughter, I knew you were very special. Not only because you are his child, but this..." He touched the rotten side of her face delicately. "This is fate. You are clearly destined to be a goddess."

Hel's eyes widened. Of all things she had thought Odin might say, this definitely wasn't one of them.

"A goddess? Like you and Father?" she asked, wary.

"Why not? You are very powerful. And being Loki's daughter, you are technically a half-goddess already." He raised his other hand to touch the healthy side of her face. His gaze was intense, but his smile and voice were serene, almost loving. "I shall make you a queen. You shall have a huge realm, just for you, with your name, and many vast mansions and servants."

"Really?" she asked, a little wary and a lot hopeful.

"Yes. I shall also bestow upon you authority over the nine worlds. Your duty will be to administer board and lodging to those sent to you."

Hel blinked. That sounded too good and easy to be true. "I see. W-will I get many visitors?"

"Oh, yes. Very many," he said, with an enigmatic smile. "Women, children, and men who die of old age. There are many of them."

"What?" she said in alarm, certain she had misunderstood. "'Die of old age?'"

"You will make the perfect goddess of death," said Odin, touching the top of her head. "I'll see you in Hel."

Before his words registered, Hel vanished in a flash of light.

oOo

The crowd had dissipated, gone to throw a party to celebrate the imprisonment of the so-called giant monsters. Now only Odin and Sigyn were left, the latter still paralysed and speechless from the former's spell. Odin stood in front of her and waved his hand in her direction.

"How could you?" she sobbed. "They were just children! They never did anything wrong! When they entered Asgard months ago, they didn't mean any harm! It was all a misunderstanding." She shakily pulled herself to her feet. "My Lord, Loki will be devastated when he hears about this..."

Odin smiled. "If I know my brother Loki, he will be a little sad at first, maybe even feel a little guilty, but he won't dwell on it. He will hardly be 'devastated' by it. If he really cared about his children, he'd have spent more time with them, don't you think? Er, no offence to you and your children, of course."

She looked up sharply. "How did you know Loki didn't spend much time with them?"

"You should know by now, dear Sigyn," he said, with a wry smile. "I know everything that goes on in the nine worlds."

"If you knew about them, why did you do this now? Why did you do it at all? If you know everything, you must know they never meant us any harm! There was no reason to punish them!"

"Sigyn, Sigyn, think about what I just told you," he said, crossing his arms. "I know everything. You don't. I have my reasons – excellent reasons, I assure you – to have done this to Loki's giant children. Do not worry; I will not do the same to your children. You must believe me when I say I always do everything with the best intentions in mind. Besides, I would never hear the end of it if I didn't get rid of the monsters. My children have been nagging at me for months about it."

He turned his back to her.

"Please go home and try not to concern yourself over giants that had no relation to you. It's not worth it."

"Where are you going? I'm not done talk—"

"Go home, Sigyn! That's an order!" he snapped, raising his voice just a little, though it was enough to shock Sigyn. She had never seen him so angry.

Reluctant and with a heavy heart, Sigyn bowed to Odin and left, silently mourning the fate of those three children.

Now her sons would never be able to play with them, either...

oOo

Odin stalked into the hall where some of his children were still struggling to keep Fenrir under control. Apparently, Fenrir was somewhat resistant to the paralysis spell that someone had tried to cast on him while Odin had been taking care of Hel and Sigyn.

The Allfather glared at the giant wolf, painfully aware of the danger it was not only to himself, but to all the worlds as they knew them. If he had deciphered the Norns' prophecy correctly, this giant was to be his killer in Ragnarok. Odin dared not try to kill it. Doing so might trigger the events that would lead to Ragnarok. He needed to keep this giant alive, but safe for the gods.

"Father!" shouted Thor, who was still helping Tyr and the others with Fenrir. "Why did you made the serpent disappear? It was mine to kill! I told you a million times I've been trying to kill it for years!"

"He's still alive, Thor," said Odin. "Feel free to hunt him down if you like, as long as you don't harm any innocents in the process or bring him to Asgard."

"Oh, so it's still alive? That's great!"

"Lord Odin, we tried to bind him with the fetter Leyding, but he tore it as if it were made of cloth!" said Heimdall.

"Then get another, stronger fetter!" ordered Odin.

"I'm way ahead of you," announced Freyr, who was just coming in with a huge fetter in his hands. It looked unbreakable. "This is Dromi."

"Perfect. Bind him."

After some struggle, the fetter was placed on Fenrir. The gods backed away to admire their success. However, Fenrir didn't give up after the first few failures to snap the fetter. He kept kicking and straining until it finally snapped, much to the gods' shock.

"Hah! There isn't a fetter in all the nine worlds that can bind the great Fenrir!" the wolf gloated.

The only response from the gods was dismayed silence. Then, Odin suddenly grinned and said, "You know, this is quite entertaining!"

Both the gods and Fenrir stared at him in disbelief.

"Entertaining, Father?!" Thor burst out. "If we can't bind him, he's going to kill us!"

"It's interesting to watch him tear these fetters apart so easily," said Odin. "And I'm sure that Fenrir is having even more fun seeing our shocked faces when he breaks free."

Fenrir snorted and smirked, showing a row of very sharp teeth. "Damn right I am!"

"Since we're all having so much fun," Odin went on, ignoring his sons' odd stares, "let's turn this into a game. Tell you what, Fenrir, we'll bring you another fetter. If you can snap it, we will set you free. My children, take him to the island Lyngvi, then come to see me. Fenrir, wait for us there."

oOo

Jormungand's trip across the skies wasn't as long as anyone might have thought, and it was almost pleasant compared to what came afterwards. The moment his body touched the freezing water of the ocean, it screamed with agony. Jormungand had swum in cold water before, but it had never been anything like this. There had to be some kind of spell involved to make it so much worse.

Lying on the ground undersea, he tried to raise his head, to swim back to the surface, but he felt too weak to move even a little. The pain receded quickly, but now his whole body felt numb. He couldn't even think any more. All he was aware of was the debilitating cold and the urgent need to stay awake.

It was a hopeless fight, however. Even a warm-blooded being would have succumbed to this environment. In a matter of moments, Jormungand's sight faded to black and he knew no more.

oOo

I'll see you in Hel.

Odin's words were still ringing in Hel's ears when everything around her became dark and a mist surrounded her. The smell of death and putrefaction assaulted her nostrils, making her gag. She stumbled off, hoping to get away from the source of the horrible smell, but it followed her everywhere. Eventually, the mist dissipated somewhat, so that she was able to see some of her surroundings.

She then immediately wished the mist was still clouding her sight.

All around her lay corpses rotten to various degrees. Most of them belonged to small children, and the men's cadavers were the ones in worst condition. And they were all looking at her, even though some of them didn't even have eyeballs any more. Hel almost got sick at the sight of them and had to look away. Without really looking where she was going, she ran away, tripping over a few bodies that were lying around. However, as much as she ran, she felt as though she were going nowhere. She didn't give up, though; she only ran faster when she noticed the corpses were following her.

Eventually, she found a huge, decaying hall, where she sought refuge. She was glad that there were no corpses inside it and none of those outside had come in after her. She shivered from the cold and feverishly wondered where she was and, more importantly, how she was going to get out.

Soft steps made her freeze on the spot. A couple had emerged from the shadows and was lazily coming in her direction, their unblinking eyes focused on her. Hel immediately noticed they were different from the others. They looked dead, but their bodies weren't visibly rotting, and their clothes were nice and clean.

They stood before her and bowed.

"Welcome to Hel, Mistress," said the man. "I am your servant Ganglati."

"And I am your serving-maid Ganglot," said the woman. "This is your new home, Eljudnir. If you will follow me this way, I will serve your dinner. It is my speciality: Hunger."

"Which the Mistress will eat with a special knife called Famine," complemented Ganglati.

"And then I will prepare the Sick Bed for the Mistress to sleep in."

For the second time in her life and in less than a day, Hel screamed. She ran away from the two dead servants, but that only led her back to the front door, before which the rotting corpses were still intent on following her. With no way to escape, Hel collapsed on the floor, sobbing.

"Please get me out of here, Father!"

oOo

Fenrir had to admit he was thoroughly confused, which was a most unpleasant feeling to him. The gods wanted to make this a game, whatever that meant. They had brought him to a small island for some reason he could not quite fathom. Then they just... stood there and stared at him.

Very suspicious.

After a long while, Odin returned, holding another fetter in his hands. Unlike the previous ones, this one was very thin and looked like it couldn't restrain a newborn kitten. Upon closer inspection, when Odin approached him, Fenrir noticed that the fetter was made of some sort of silky material. His confusion increased tenfold. Just what were these guys playing at?

"This is Gleipnir. It looks a little fragile, doesn't it?" said Odin, pulling it as if attempting to tear it himself. "It's stronger than it looks, though. Stronger than the other fetters we tried on you earlier." He passed Gleipnir to Thor, who also pulled it, failed to tear it, and in turn passed it to Tyr. "I do think you could break it, however, if you put some effort into it."

"I don't think he could," snorted Thor. "He's not that strong!"

Fenrir growled. "What in the freezing Niflheim are you talking about?" he snapped. "I'm the strongest in all of the nine worlds! Of course I can break that fetter, fragile or not!"

"Then prove it!" some of the gods jeered.

"Indeed, wolf Fenrir, do prove your strength," said Odin smoothly. "If you do, you will be respected by all, even by us gods. Not only that, but if you can break this fetter, I'll let you and your siblings go."

Fenrir frowned. He might not be as clever as Jormungand or Hel, but even he could tell there was something fishy about this.

"This is some kind of trick, isn't it? That fetter has some kind of spell or something that will make me unable to break it!" he accused.

Odin blinked in apparently genuine surprise. "Not at all! Why, do you think we gods would actually lower ourselves to such cheap tricks?" He said it with such a straight face that Fenrir found himself faltering. Then, he shook his head. No, he wasn't entirely convinced yet. Odin would have to do better than that.

"If you're honest about it, then I want one of you to put your hand in my mouth. If it turns out this was a trick and I can't break free, then I'll bite your damn hand off!"

The gods were very taken aback by this condition and could only glance at each other nervously. No one wanted to put themselves at risk. Fenrir smirked at them in bitter triumph. So it really was a trick...

"Fine. I'll do it," said one voice, catching Fenrir by surprise. The voice wasn't reluctant at all, as one would have expected, but very casual, as if talking about the weather. Tyr stepped forwards and put his right hand into Fenrir's jaws. His gaze met the wolf's, serene, almost bored. "Why do you look so surprised?" Tyr asked him. "There's no trick, so why should I be afraid of losing my hand?"

Fenrir hesitated and, unable to speak clearly, nodded at Odin, who nodded back and ordered his sons to place the fetter.

Fenrir gave it a light tug, still half-expecting it to tear like a worn cloth. It didn't. He then kicked, but the fetter caught tightly. He pulled harder and harder, eventually putting all of his strength into it. The more he struggled, the stronger the band grew. When the gods began to laugh at him, Fenrir finally accepted he had been deceived and snapped his jaws shut, tasting blood when he bit Tyr's hand off.

Still half-convulsing with laughter, some of the gods took a cord hanging from Gleipnir, inserted the cord through a large stone slab, and fastened it deep into the ground. Then, they took a great rock and thrust it even further into the ground as an anchoring peg.

"Bastards!" Fenrir roared after spitting out Tyr's severed hand and opened his jaws widely to try to bite them. One of the warriors took his sword and thrust it into Fenrir's mouth, the hilt on his lower gums and the point on his upper gums. Fenrir tasted blood again, this time his own, and howled in pain and anger.

By the time he fell silent, drained of his energy, the gods were long gone and he was left completely alone in the cold dark.

oOo

In synchrony with Fenrir's pained howls, Hrygda screamed. Beads of sweat rolled down her face and her breathing was coming in quick, harsh gasps, her eyes shut tight and teeth gritting against the pain. One of her sisters brought a cold, wet cloth to her face, cooling it a little and gently wiping the sweat off.

"Where's Fenrir?" Hrygda asked breathlessly. "It's almost time! I want him to be here! I want him to see our children! Where – is – he?!" she demanded to know, her voice increasing in volume and pitch with every word. Her throat hurt so much by now that she was choking on her own saliva, but that didn't bother her. She had much more important things to worry about at the moment.

"Please hold on a little longer, Sister," whispered the giantess tending to her.

A moment later, another giantess came into the chamber, her face almost paler than Hrygda's.

Hrygda gave her a hopeful look. "Well? Did you fetch Fenrir?"

"I'm sorry, Mistress, but we couldn't find Fenrir anywhere," said the other giantess, with a shake of her head. "He wasn't in his house, and..." She paused to gulp convulsively, her eyes bright and wide with alarm. "Actually, there was no one home at all. And I heard... rumours... all over Ironwood... Rumours that Fenrir and his siblings were taken prisoners by the gods themselves and exiled for life."

Hrygda almost couldn't understand what she was hearing through all the pain and the sheer absurdity of it all. Fenrir... taken prisoner... gods... exiled...

When realisation downed on her, she felt as though her heart had just been pierced by an icy dagger, and this pain was so overwhelming that she almost forgot her physical pain. Her breathing got more and more erratic, her eyes stinging.

Fenrir... Fenrir was gone?! Exiled for life by the gods themselves. This meant she was never going to see him again. Never.

To think they hadn't even had the chance to say farewell... They hadn't even spoken to each other in so long, all because of a silly fight. How unbearably unfortunate and unfair that they would be set apart on such bad terms. If only Hrygda had known! This wasn't how things were supposed to be! This was supposed to be the happiest day of her life!

She sobbed bitterly, cursing the fates, the gods, Fenrir, and herself.

Then, two whining voices cut through her own cries.

"Mistress, please don't cry," said the midwife. "You should greet your sons with a smile on your lips. Must your sad face and tears be the first thing they see in their lives?"

Hrygda didn't feel like smiling at all, until she caught sight of two baby wolves in the midwife's arms. Before she knew it, the smile was there on her lips, just as it should be. Weakly, her arms shaking, she held out her hands to take her newborn children. Tears welled up in her eyes again, but this time, there was much happiness mixed in with the lingering grief.

"Skoll," she said and kissed one of them in the forehead lightly. She repeated the gesture on the other and whispered, "Hati." The chamber suddenly looked much dimmer and felt very cold. "I'll make sure you both grow to be as strong as your father. Maybe... then... you'll be... able to... avenge..." she trailed off and finally passed out from the pain that afflicted both body and mind.

oOo

A lone, winged figure crossed the sky at such a speed that one might have mistaken it for a shooting star.

If Loki weren't so preoccupied, he would have been quite proud of the effect.

Having returned from his long trip around the worlds, Loki had met with a rather unusual and alarming reception from his ever-so-faithful wife Sigyn. She had not hurried to embrace and kiss him, like she always did. She had not even smiled. Her eyes, which held a perpetual melancholy, had been bright with unshed tears.

Despite her depressed mood, she had been more than willing to fill him in on the latest events.

Just remembering it made Loki curse out loud again and again. Good grief, he just left for a little while to have some fun, and his giant children pulled such a stunt! It was... infuriatingly stupid! He had thought that they would have more sense than that. They almost deserved what they got for their stupidity. After all the trouble Loki had gone through to keep them a secret from the gods...

Of course, Loki had always known, deep down, that something like this would happen eventually. Admittedly, Odin's choices of punishment surprised and intrigued Loki quite a bit. Oh, it was much better than what he had expected; Loki had believed that the gods would want to hunt the giant children down and kill them when they found out. So, really, the giants should thank Odin for small mercies. At least they were alive and relatively unharmed.

Or so he had heard from the other gods. Truth be told, Loki hadn't seen his children. He couldn't go to Hel unless he lost his life in an undignified way, and Odin had expressly forbidden him from seeing Fenrir. He was only allowed to visit Jormungand – visit, not help – but Odin might as well have forbidden him from seeing the serpent as well. Loki didn't much care for large bodies of water, and he had absolutely no intention of braving the sea just to talk to his most estranged son. What would he even say to him?

Another small mercy from Odin was that Angrboda had been spared. As soon as he'd heard about it, Loki had taken off Asgard and flown as quickly as he could to Ironwood. He made it in record time.

He landed with a heavy thud, slightly unbalanced, and leant against a tree to catch his breath. He wasn't really used to such intense physical exertion, and even if he had been, flying from Asgard to Ironwood so fast would still be very taxing.

He staggered a little and hurried into Angrboda's abode, calling out her name. There was no reply. Feeling his heart sink, Loki searched the entire house, thinking that perhaps Angrboda was unconscious or otherwise unable to reply. However, she was nowhere to be found.

He exited the abode and took to the air again, his eyes frantically searching every corner of the forest. Had Odin lied about leaving Angrboda behind, or had she simply left on her own?

For hours and hours he looked for her to no avail. He paused for a moment, his feet touching the ground once more, and gazed up at the full moon. He vaguely wondered if she was also looking at the moon at this exact moment. He hoped she was. No matter the distance between them, the moon would connect them if they both looked at it. Who knew, maybe the moon, through this connection, would guide him to Angrboda, and vice-versa.

He shook his head, smiling ruefully to himself. He must be more tired than he'd thought, to be thinking of such silly ideas.

Nevertheless, he began to walk without really paying attention to where he was going, his eyes on the moon above. It was rather relaxing, he rationalised to himself.

A quiet murmur tore his gaze from the moon and brought it back to the earth. It was very dark, so it took a moment for his eyes to adjust and be able to see what was right ahead of him. Once he made out the figure who was huddled on the ground, leaning against a large tree, Loki felt his heart skip a beat, and then immense relief flooded his senses.

"Found you," he said softly, affectionately. Angrboda raised her head slowly, but her eyes were wide with wonder.

"Loki?" she whispered, looking like she had just seen a ghost. Loki almost frowned in concern, but managed to keep up his warm, reassuring smile.

"Yes, Angrboda, I'm here," he replied and stretched out his arms a little, silently calling her to him. On cue, she stood up right away and staggered towards him. Loki held her firmly, but gently, when she collapsed against him.

"Loki..." She sobbed, the sound coming out muffled against his chest. Loki held her close and caressed her head, slender fingers weaving around long strands of hair.

"Are you all right?" he asked. She pulled back so she could meet his gaze.

"Loki, you have to help our children!"

Loki just looked at her for a moment.

"I'm sorry. I can't," he said, feeling genuine regret for once. "I've already tried to reason with Odin. There's nothing we can do about it."

"But—" Resignation fell over Angrboda's eyes before she could even get another word out and she slumped back against Loki. He began to soothe her again when he felt her entire body shake.

He felt quite distraught himself – an usual occurrence in itself. Although he hadn't been close to his children, he still felt sorry for them. They were so young; they probably didn't even understand why they had been banished. They had done nothing to deserve it, not really. But the most painful thing was to see Sigyn and Angrboda in this state. Both had been badly affected by all this, and Loki was unable to do a thing to help them. He hated feeling so helpless and awkward.

"I'm taking you back to Asgard," he said, desperate to say something that would break Angrboda out of her despair. "I've talked to Sigyn, and she said she's okay with it. I don't care what the other gods say. What do you say, Angrboda? Now we can be together every day, hm?"

Instead of cheering up, Angrboda fisted his shirt, her sharp nails digging into his skin and making him flinch.

"I want my children back..." she said, almost voicelessly. Her face was contorted in a grimace, as though she were in physical pain.

"I'm sorry, Angrboda." He frowned and looked at the moon again, unable to bear the sight of his lover's misery a moment longer. "One day..." he murmured in her ear. "I promise you that, one day, they will be free again. And we will be reunited. One day, Angrboda, we will be a whole family again."

The End