Chapter 124 - End of Year

King's Chamber, Royal Castle, Genosha.

Three Weeks After the End of the War of Realms.

"I've told you to stop meddling with my things, Angela!"

"I can't help it, you have so many interesting things in your room."

I must say, my excitement about gaining a sister diminishes considerably in moments like this. After the end of the War of Realms, I immediately returned to the realm of the Light Elves, concerned that the Queen of Angels might have given my sister some trouble. But my concerns were unnecessary; I found her holding the decapitated head of the Queen without a scratch, despite the victory, I could see the weight on Angela's face, it seems her vengeance wasn't as gratifying as she thought.

After that, the reunion with the family was quite tense. I brought Angela to Asgard, where my mother wouldn't let her out of her embrace for more than half an hour. Odin, as always, remained calm and cold, but he couldn't take his eyes off his daughter.

Only Thor was looking at me, not with happiness, but with shame, only later did I understand why; Odin was observing my battle with Thor. He was probably embarrassed that I had used his powers better than he thought possible.

To him, it may have seemed easy, but for me, it was like managing the power of two nuclear bombs in my body, always maintaining balance to avoid an explosion. Only in the end, I managed to merge the two deities. I must say I was truly at the peak of my strength. My final attack not only ended Malekith but also several uninhabited planets and moons.

After my mother had calmed down and released Angela, I told her that I planned to bring her to my realm. It was a bit difficult, but I finally managed to convince her. Before that, just to confirm that there was no longer any danger, Odin and I went to Heimdall to confirm information.

The Queen of Angels was dead, and her realm was sealed once again by Odin. A foolish move in my opinion. He exerted himself too much doing that; I think he doesn't have much time until he is forced once again into Odin's sleep.

In Nidavellir, everything was over too. All the fire demons were annihilated by the army of Asgard, and now they were dealing with their wounded and holding funerals for their dead. I highly doubt Surtur will take well to the death of his daughter; the moment he has the chance, I will surely have problems.

In Alfheim, the remnants of Malekith's army were still being hunted down. Unable to escape using the Black Bifrost, they can only hide in the forests to have a chance of survival, but I doubt they will have that chance with Sif hunting them personally. Of all the realms, Alfheim suffered the most financially; they lost their capital. But they also had the fewest deaths. Buildings can be rebuilt, lives cannot.

Then we have Svartalfheim. Genosha's army occupied the old camp of the dark elves; many of them fought to the end, but the general managed to capture several of them. We were afraid that in the future, the elves would once again try to seek battle in the name of vengeance, but this concern was relieved when Freyja learned that the true queen of Svartalfheim was in captivity.

She carried out a rescue mission, saving Alflyse. A few days later, Svartalfheim had a new queen. One who was not bloodthirsty or power-hungry like the old king. So, with the kingdom stabilized, Freyja and her men returned to Genosha.

We achieved victory. But the price was high; this was the war in which we had the most losses, both in lives and resources, resources that I was gathering for the impending Ragnarok.

If the events of the War of Realms were very different from the movies, there is a high certainty that Ragnarok will be much more terrible and dangerous. My other preparations are already complete; all I can do now is wait.

The biggest surprise in recent days was Loki. After the end of the war, I was quite busy, so I didn't have time to worry about him and fulfill my promise to imprison him if he escaped. I even went to Odin thinking he had enchanted Loki as in the movies, but Odin was not as weak as in the movies.

When I ordered a thorough search of the Nine Realms, he simply appeared at the royal castle, surrendering himself. He was immediately placed back in his old cell. When we asked why he had returned, he said that his brother was a man of his word, and he did not want to live being pursued by all the Nine Realms.

"So, what's this?" Angela asked, lifting an old pair of boots that I used to fly with.

"Propulsion boots. You should keep them; flying opens up many possibilities in a fight."

"No thanks, these things are terrible; I prefer riding your horse."

"What are you doing in my room anyway? I thought you were going to visit Wakanda."

"I am. I'm just waiting for the transport time."

In her spare days, she wandered all over Genosha; now she has developed curiosity about Wakanda. After that, she will surely travel through the world, and inevitably, into the universe. I'm a bit sad about it, but she deserves to find her own destiny.

"You really are a hoarder," she says, wandering through my old things.

"They help me remember the past."

"Is this your wife?"

She asks, looking at a black and white photo where Amora and I were together. As far as I remember, it was around 1840 in France. One of our oldest photos.

"I guess you could say she's my ex-wife."

"Oops. Time's up, I gotta go," Angela said, leaving, sensing the tension after the question.

Amora is a great sorceress; her help in dealing with enemy witches may have gone unnoticed by everyone except me and my father. I was connected to the Destroyer and got this information. I was glad to know she was well, and a little sad not to have much information about what she's doing.

I know she was still in America. It's not like she's hiding.

"Well, this damn year is finally ending," I say, looking out the window.

"I know it's stupid to ask, but wouldn't it hurt for the next one to be a little calmer?"

A foolish request. As far as I remember, next year Hydra will finally act. I really don't want to personally get involved in that story.

But if Steve can't disable those damn ships on his own, I'll turn them into dust. The next significant event is the meeting of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Unfortunately, I can't get my hands on the Power Stone. Thanos is too close, and if he realizes I have two other stones, he'll surely attack Earth with everything he's got. If this event coincides with what's going to happen on Earth, the chances of losing the fight are very high. It's better to let the Titan think he's in control of everything.

Another important thing I managed to confirm was that Pietro and Wanda Maximoff were taken to a Hydra facility. According to the story, they would be victims of experiments using Loki's scepter. Where they would gain their powers, it is more accurate to say that the scepter activated their X-gene.

What they didn't know was that all the destruction and chaos in their hometown was caused by Hydra to cover up their experiments. All I have to do is get some evidence and finally bring them to our side. Evidence is not easy to come by, but the WarDogs are already working on it.

Lost in my thoughts, I continue to look down at my city, thinking about the chaos awaiting me next year.

POV: Third Person.

Unnamed Bar. Unknown City.

The Nameless Bar was a strange place. It was recently built, and even though it never got any customers, they opened every day, in fact, they didn't even make an effort to get any customers. The place was truly rundown, with old chairs and tables that looked like they were taken from a century ago.

The only ones who really frequented this bar almost every day were the bartender and a magnificent blonde woman who sat at one of the tables.

She just sat there drinking and reading her old books. Occasionally, some lost person would enter the bar, and when they looked at the woman, they were immediately enchanted, unfortunately, none of them who had the courage to talk to her succeeded in winning her over.

And those who tried to force something simply disappeared from the face of the Earth. But today the bar gained a special guest.

A second woman. She was wearing a black leather outfit that was clinging to her body, her hair was shoulder-length, golden like the sun.

What caught attention the most about her were two daggers strapped to her thighs.

She slowly walked through the small room and headed towards the table where the woman was reading. She pulled the chair in front of her and sat down.

The reader then closed her book and placed it on top of a large pile beside her, each book looking old, and all written in languages long dead and forgotten by the world.

"What do you want here, Natasha Romanoff?" she asked, emotionless in her voice.

"I came to ask for help," Natasha replied.

"You caught me on a bad day; that little group over there also came to ask me for something."

She pointed to the other side of the bar. On the other side of the bar, there were four men wearing motorcycle jackets, all facing the wall, banging their heads against the wall slowly.

"I'm sure my request is different from theirs."

Natasha said, not surprised by the sight.

"A request is a request," replied the other.

"My request is for help. S.H.I.E.L.D has been compromised," Black Widow said.

"Genosha has known about this since its inception."

The other spoke, freezing the face of the master spy.

"Why not ask for help from your other friends?" Amora continued, ignoring Natasha's shock.

"They're all isolated, and Baldur, we have no way of contacting Baldur without the satellite. Only I and the Captain are ready to fight."

"So, since he didn't come to your rescue, you came to ask me for help."

"Yes, since we know where to find a Goddess, why not try asking her for help."

Amora looked at Natasha. She doesn't care about S.H.I.E.L.D or Hydra. In fact, this matter is also of no importance to the one she loves. If not for the corrupted S.H.I.E.L.D, it would have ceased to exist even before its creation.

"Let's go!" Amora said, getting up and heading towards the exit.

Natasha thought the negotiation was headed for failure. She was surprised at how easily the Queen in front of her agreed to help so quickly.

"If you're wondering why I agreed, the reason is simple," Amora said, already at the door of the bar.

"I'm bored."

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