Soren knew he did not possess the power to prolong Odin's life.
In the brief moment their consciousnesses brushed against each other, he saw the truth reflected in Odin's faint smile toward the sky… an exhaustion that stretched across millennia, and a serenity only those unafraid of death could possess.
For Odin, the end was not a fight… it was the homecoming.
"I'll send you to him," Soren said quietly. "This is a matter of your family… not mine."
With a wave of his hand, a shimmering portal spiraled open.
Thor, too focused on thoughts of his father to properly articulate his gratitude, simply nodded a heartfelt "Thank you" before stepping through with a reluctant, tense Loki in tow.
They emerged upon a windswept plain overlooking the Norwegian coast.
Thor's heart clenched as he spotted the solitary figure standing near a cliff.
Odin, frail and lost in thought, gazed across the endless ocean. A sudden, inexplicable sorrow washed through Thor… like an instinctual knowledge that someone precious was slipping away.
"You're here." Odin said without turning around.
His voice was almost weightless. "Look at this place. So peaceful… it reminds me of a word we too often forget. Home."
"Father," Thor whispered, voice thick. "We… we've come to take you home."
"Home?" Odin repeated softly. "Aye. And mine calls to me now. My father, and his father before him, I hear their voices. Do you not?"
He finally turned, lines of age carved deep into his features. "My sons… come. Sit. My time grows short."
The words struck both Thor and Loki. Asgardians lived long lives, but not forever… yet neither of them had imagined this moment would come so soon.
With heavy hearts, they obeyed, settling beside him upon a flat stone overlooking the sea's shifting temperament.
Odin's breathing was shallow. Each inhale seemed to require more strength than the last.
"Father," Thor said hoarsely after a long silence, "We know we've disappointed you. But we'll do better… we'll fix everything."
Odin shook his head gently. "No, Thor. It is I who have failed you."
"Ragnarök is upon us."
Thor frowned. "But I stopped Surtur. I stopped Ragnarök."
"No." Odin's eyes drifting toward memories centuries old. "You still do not understand. Surtur… was only one piece."
His expression filled with regret, with centuries of burdens no one else had carried. "All my life I fought to stop her. But time has caught up to me, i no longer can."
Loki and Thor exchanged bewildered looks. "Who?" they asked together.
Odin closed his eyes briefly before speaking. "Hela."
"Goddess of Death. My firstborn and your sister."
Shock froze both Thor and Loki in place. A sister they had never been told about.
"Her ambition outgrew my control," Odin continued.
"I could not stop her descent into darkness. So I imprisoned her, but my death will free her… and she will return."
He looked at them then… truly looked, his eyes filled with love, shame, pride, and sorrow all at once.
"Her power is tied to Asgard. In the Realm Eternal, she will draw strength without limit."
Thor straightened, gripping his father's hand. "Then we will face her together, Father. No matter who she is."
Odin smiled weakly, proud, but unbearably sad.
"We can't," Odin said cutting across Thor's desperate promise.
"I am already walking another path. From here on… you must face what comes alone, my sons."
His outline shimmered faintly, an ethereal glow blooming beneath his skin. The last of the All-Father's divine power.
"I love you," Odin whispered, almost to the wind itself. "Remember this place… your homeland."
Thor and Loki had come expecting answers, perhaps even hope… but not the end. They watched helplessly as Odin's form broke apart into drifting motes of golden light.
Their father… stern, proud, and quietly kind… dissolved into the air like a sunset fading into twilight.
"No!" Thor was reaching out as if he could catch the fragments. The glowing motes slipped through his fingers like warm dust, scattering into the Norwegian breeze and vanishing into the sky.
For a long moment, neither he nor Loki moved. The silence was sacred.
The world trembled.
Behind them, the sky dimmed, colors draining toward a single point as a crack tore open in space~ From it spilled a deep, lifeless green.
Not the vibrant emerald of the Time Stone Soren wielded, but a colder shade, pitiless, the color of a grave long forgotten.
The sheer pressure of it jolted Thor and Loki from their grief.
Both spun toward the disturbance, the aura rolling out was not evil… merely absolute. The quiet certainty of death itself.
A figure stepped out.
A woman dressed in black armor that clung to her like shadows made solid. Her dark hair spilled freely over her shoulders, and her eyes held no warmth.
"So," She said coldly, "Odin is dead."
She needed no introduction.
The goddess of death.
Their sister.
Hela.