The Weight of Immortality - CH - 80

The battle was over, and New York had been restored.

To the people walking its streets, it was as if the alien invasion had never happened—the buildings stood tall, the roads were repaired, and life had returned to normal. Families embraced, businesses reopened, and the city moved forward, refusing to dwell on the horrors it had faced.

But not everything could be fixed.

The dead remained dead.

Despite the miraculous restoration of the city, those who had lost their lives in the attack were not returned. For many, the joy of survival was overshadowed by sorrow, as they mourned loved ones who would never come back. Funerals were planned, vigils were held, and though the city was physically whole, the hearts of its people carried wounds that magic could not heal.

Harry, watching from the sidelines, knew he could do nothing about it. Life and death were not things to be played with. The temptation to bring the fallen back was there, whispering at the edge of his mind, but he ignored it. That was a path of ruin, one he had no desire to walk.

Still, the weight of his involvement in the battle lingered over him.

He had spent years living in the shadows, avoiding attention, staying out of conflicts. But now? The whole world had seen what he could do.

And they wouldn’t forget.

With Loki captured, the Avengers gathered to discuss what came next.

Thor stood tall, gripping Mjolnir as he prepared to take his brother back to Asgard. “Loki’s mind is poisoned by the influence of the Mind Stone. He is not himself,” he stated firmly. “He must return home, where we can cure him.”

Hela, standing beside Harry, frowned. “Harry can do it here. There’s no need to take him to Asgard.”

Thor shook his head. “It is not just the spell upon his mind—it is his actions that must be judged. He will answer for his crimes before our father, Odin.”

Hela’s expression darkened at the mention of Odin, but she held her tongue.

Harry, who had been silent through most of the discussion, finally spoke. “Thor isn’t wrong.” He glanced at Loki, who sat restrained, his eyes still clouded with the lingering effects of the Mind Stone. “I can break him free, but he has a lot to answer for. He should go back to Asgard.”

Hela sighed but nodded. She trusted Harry’s judgment.

Thor clapped Harry on the shoulder, smiling. “Then you shall come with me! Both of you!”

Harry tensed slightly at that. “That’s not necessary.”

Thor laughed heartily. “It is! You have fought like a warrior of the Nine Realms! You deserve recognition! And besides,” he added with a knowing smirk, “if you remain on Earth, they will not leave you in peace.”

Harry grimaced, knowing Thor was right.

His involvement in the battle had placed him under a global spotlight. Everywhere he went, people whispered his name. Governments, organizations, and the media would all want answers.

He had never wanted that kind of attention.

So, with a heavy sigh, Harry agreed.

“If we’re going to Asgard, let’s go now,” he said.

Within moments, Thor summoned Heimdall, and the skies above cracked open with a swirling pillar of golden energy.

The Bifrost descended from the heavens, enveloping Thor, Loki, Hela, and Harry in its cosmic light.

As they disappeared from Earth, the last thing Harry saw was the city of New York, now whole again, standing beneath the golden glow of the setting sun.

Then, in an instant—

They were gone.


As the Bifrost light faded, Harry and Hela stepped onto the golden bridge of Asgard, the shimmering city stretching before them in all its celestial beauty.

Neither of them cared about the welcome they would receive.

Hela knew her reputation in Asgard—the forgotten princess, the unwanted heir, the banished warrior of death. She expected scorn, fear, maybe even outright hostility. But she didn’t care. She had not come here for the approval of the Aesir.

And yet—to everyone’s shock, including hers—

Queen Frigga and Odin welcomed her back with open arms.

The golden gates of the palace opened before them, and instead of guards with drawn weapons, it was Frigga who stepped forward first.

“Hela,” Frigga’s voice was warm, and without hesitation, she embraced her daughter.

Hela stood frozen. This… wasn’t what she had expected.

She had spent centuries resenting Odin, believing her family had cast her aside, that she had been abandoned and erased. But here, now, Frigga held her like a mother should, like no time had passed at all.

After a long moment, Hela returned the embrace—hesitantly, then fully, closing her eyes as she allowed herself to feel the warmth she had long thought lost.

Odin, standing nearby, watched the reunion in silence before finally speaking.

“You have returned, Hela,” he said. His voice held regret, but also acceptance. “And though many things have changed, you are still my daughter.”

Hela looked at him, her expression unreadable. She had every reason to hate him. And yet, she saw something in his eyes that she never expected—guilt.

She didn’t forgive him. Not yet. But maybe… maybe one day.

Harry, watching the exchange, said nothing. But he knew this was important. A piece of Hela’s past was healing.

And for that, he was glad.

They were given rooms in the royal palace, and Loki was immediately taken to the healing chambers, where Asgard’s greatest healers worked tirelessly to restore his mind.

But for all their skill, they were not as good as Harry.

Harry spent days working on Loki, diving deep into the fractured remains of his mind.

The Mind Stone’s influence ran deep, its tendrils woven through every thought, every memory. Loki was not just controlled—he had been reshaped, manipulated down to his very essence. Undoing that damage was painstaking, delicate work.

But Harry was relentless.

Through sheer will, magic, and mastery of the mind arts, Harry unraveled the enchantments, piece by piece, guiding Loki back to himself.

And then, after so much effort, the final barrier broke.

Loki gasped, his eyes flying open as he sucked in a sharp breath, the blue tint in his irises fading into their natural green.

He looked around wildly, as if waking from a nightmare.

The first thing he saw was Harry, standing beside him, exhausted but steady.

Then his gaze shifted—to Thor, Hela, and Frigga, all watching him with cautious relief.

Loki let out a shaky breath. “I…” His voice was raw, strained. He swallowed, closing his eyes for a moment before reopening them. “I’m… myself again.”

Frigga placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Welcome back, my son.”

Loki turned his head slightly, glancing at Hela with an unreadable expression. “And you,” he muttered, a hint of dry amusement in his voice. “I assume I owe you my thanks?”

Hela smirked. “Not me.” She gestured to Harry. “He’s the one who fixed your head.”

Loki turned his gaze back to Harry, studying him carefully. For a long moment, he said nothing. Then, finally—

“You are terrifyingly powerful,” Loki admitted, his voice quiet.

Harry simply shrugged. “I try.”

Thor laughed heartily, stepping forward to clasp Loki’s shoulder. “Brother! You have returned to us at last!”

Loki let out an amused breath. “Yes, yes, I’m sure you were all very worried.”

Thor smirked. “I was ready to strike you unconscious again if you had started monologuing.”

A chuckle escaped Loki’s lips—a sound that had been missing for too long.

Loki was healed.

Hela was home—whether she had wanted to be or not.

And Harry?

Harry had no idea what came next.

But as he stood beside his wife, his brother-in-law, and a family that was still mending itself, he realized one thing.

For the first time in a long while…

He wasn’t just an observer in the affairs of gods.

He was a part of them.

Loki sat on the edge of his bed, still recovering from the ordeal of mind control, but his mind was clearer than it had been in a long time. Across from him, Harry and Hela stood, their gazes locked onto him, waiting for answers.

And so, Loki told them everything.

Loki’s Story: The Shadow of Thanos

“When I fell from the Bifrost,” Loki began, his voice quieter than usual, “I didn’t die. I was pulled into the abyss… and into his grasp.”

Harry and Hela exchanged a glance. They knew who he meant.

“Thanos.”

Loki’s jaw tightened. His usual arrogance was gone, replaced by something much colder—resentment and fear.

“He is not just a warlord,” Loki continued. “He is a force—a being who believes that balance can only be achieved through the extermination of life. Half of all existence, culled in an instant.”

Hela scoffed, crossing her arms. “And what? He believes this is justified?”

Loki nodded grimly. “He sees it as mercy. He believes that by killing half, he saves the other half from suffering—hunger, war, chaos.” His green eyes darkened. “He is a fanatic, and his power is terrifying.”

Harry, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.

“The Infinity Stones.”

Loki let out a breath. “Yes. He is after them. Each one grants unimaginable power, but together? Together, they will make him unstoppable.”

Hela clenched her fists, her eyes flashing with a dangerous light. “Then we should find him first.”

Loki let out a bitter chuckle. “Do you think it’s so simple? Thanos operates in the shadows. He moves his armies across the stars with precision. He doesn’t invade—he eradicates.”

Harry’s expression remained unreadable. “Then we bring him out of the shadows.”

Harry had never cared about galactic conflicts. He had never concerned himself with the power struggles of the cosmos. But this?

This was different.

This was personal.

Thanos planned to wipe out half of Earth’s population—a random slaughter, done under the delusion of mercy. And Harry?

Harry wasn’t going to let that happen.

“There’s no way I’m letting some mad titan decide the fate of this world,” he said firmly. His voice carried finality, an edge of raw power behind it. “We track him down, and we stop him before he ever gets the chance.”

Loki smirked. “Oh, I do like your confidence. But tell me, how do you plan on finding him?”

Harry turned his gaze to Hela, and she grinned.

“We start with the ones who work for him,” she said, her voice like sharpened steel.

Thanos did not work alone. He had generals, armies, informants, and an entire network of destruction spread across the cosmos.

If they were going to stop him, they needed to find his lieutenants, hunt them down, and tear his empire apart from the inside out.

Harry smirked. “It’s time we made some noise.”

When Harry and Hela informed Odin of their quest to hunt down Thanos, the All-Father did something unexpected.

He offered to help.

Odin, ever the strategist, understood the gravity of the enemy they faced. He knew Thanos was no mere conqueror, but a force of destruction that had already laid waste to countless civilizations. And so, rather than dismissing their quest, he took them to a place few had ever seen—

Odin's Vault.

A hidden realm, separate from Asgard itself. A fortress of artifacts and weapons, filled with relics Odin had gathered over the millennia. Unlike the main vault in Asgard, Odinwold contained his greatest treasures, sealed away from prying eyes.

“This,” Odin said as they stepped inside the vast vault, “is where I have collected weapons and enchantments of power beyond imagining. Take what you need for your journey.”

Hela smirked, but Harry only smiled.

Because while Odin may have thought this place held unimaginable power, to Harry?

It was nothing compared to what he had.

For millions of years, Harry had traveled across the universe, collecting artifacts, weapons, and enchantments far beyond what Odin had ever seen. His collection was not locked away in Asgard, nor in some hidden chamber in the Nine Realms.

No—Harry’s vault was in the Dark Dimension.

A mansion he had built in the endless void, where the normal laws of reality did not apply. A vault that was a hundred times larger and more powerful than Odin’s.

Inside that vault, there were weapons that could collapse stars.

Enchantments so strong that not even a Celestial could break them.

And, most hilariously—he had countless Infinity Stones just lying around, stored away without a care.

Because while Thanos was out there chasing six Infinity Stones, Harry had hundreds—collected from different timelines, parallel realities, and forgotten corners of existence.

To him? Infinity Stones were just… trinkets.

Still, Harry wasn’t here to offend Odin.

So, rather than dismiss the gift, he played along.

He walked through the vault, examining weapons that many would kill to possess. Swords crafted from the dying breaths of cosmic beings, hammers that had shattered entire dimensions, and armor that had survived the wrath of the gods.

But in the end, he chose something simple.

A sword—elegant and sharp, crafted from Uru metal and enchanted with runes of power.

“This will do,” Harry said, gripping the hilt.

Odin nodded in approval, unaware that Harry had just taken something out of politeness, rather than need.

Hela, standing beside him, simply smirked.

She, of course, did not take anything—her Necrosword was already the strongest weapon she could wield.

With their weapons chosen, Odin looked at them both and spoke with finality.

“Thanos is a threat beyond any you have faced. His reach extends across the stars, and his will is unbreakable. But if anyone can stop him before he gathers the stones, it is you two.”

Harry and Hela exchanged a glance.

“We won’t let him get that far,” Harry said, gripping the sword. “By the time we’re done, he won’t have a future left to plan.”

With that, their hunt for Thanos truly began.