Legacy of Asgard

Deception

Ch. 11

Frank felt his hand slowly losing its grip on Jack's shirt as he tried to get the final words out, trying to tell his best friend exactly how much he meant to him. But Frank lost his battle with drowsiness as everything around him began to fade until his vision went completely dark.

As soon as it had come, the darkness vanished and Frank suddenly found himself in the middle of a large room with blood colored walls - a crimson that ironically made the son of Mars flinch - and it was decorated in a dark and gloomy, almost disconcerting way. He noticed the room was decorated with depictions of death before Frank's eyes widened as he assumed he was somehow in the throne room of Lord Pluto himself.

"Close but not quite, son of Rome." A feminine voice said from behind Frank, making him nearly jump out of his skin. The chubby cheeked demigod slowly turned around to find a beautiful woman seated on a throne of bones with an excessively large hound at her side as her hand stroked its head slowly. Frank was not intimidated by that nice, big, friendly dog. Nope. Not. At. All. Gulp.

His gaze turned to the woman, and as he stared at the woman seated on her throne more closely (he squinted so hard - making sure his eyes weren't failing him - that he probably broke the world with all that squinting), until Frank's eyes widened. Her body seemed to come into focus and it was terrifying in its true form. Half woman and half skeleton, her body didn't look capable of housing a living being with her entire left side was nothing more than bones and it literally made Frank want to crawl into a hole and hide for dear life rather than be in her eerie presence.

"W…W…Who are you?" He asked timidly, shuffling on his feet.

The woman smiled wryly, "I am Hel, Goddess of Niflheim, or the Underworld as you would call it, and Queen of my realm and all my subjects."

Frank looked perplexed and still petrified but the goddess continued to explain before he could ask.

"I am a Norse goddess, the daughter of Loki and Angrboda."

Frank's eyes were the size of dinner plates. His knowledge of Norse mythology was not what you would call extensive. Not knowing what else to do, he quickly dropped into a bow and kept his head down. He was nervous enough being in the presence of a goddess and her mere appearance made him shiver and want nothing more than to look anywhere other than her demonic looking form. So he kept his head down, respectful and also a way to break himself from having to apperceive her true form.

"I am not here to harm you Frank Zhang," Hel said in kind tone that still had a slight edge to it and that tone made him pale even further. "I come to warn you of a great threat that walks amongst you, waiting for his chance to destroy Rome and all that reside within it."

At those words Frank slowly looked up and waited for the goddess to continue.

Hel's expression was full of commiseration, "Your friend Jack is not who he claims to be son of Rome. He is a dangerous being who is a threat to you and all those you hold dear."

Frank's eyes narrowed a bit despite his previous fear of the being in front of him.

"Jack? How is he a threat? He has been nothing but an asset to New Rome and the legion! He is my friend, he would never betray Rome."

Hel's expression turned into one of feigned sympathy, "I am sorry for having to tell you the truth but he is not who you think he is. He is not a Roman but actually Norse, one hell bent of destroying all you hold dear."

Frank just looked at the goddess, refusing to believe her words. Hel noticed his look and shook her head.

"His real name is Perseus and he is a son of the Norse god, Thor."