"My name is Hela," the woman said, her voice carrying an almost musical quality despite the predatory edge. "You don't know me yet, but we have quite a good relationship in the future."
What the fuck is 'good relationship'? Elric's mind screamed. What the hell did my future self DO?
He struggled against the paralysis holding him, but his body remained completely immobile. The defensive enchantments he'd layered on himself were still active—he could feel them humming with power—but they were completely ineffective against whatever force held him.
"Don't worry, darling," Hela continued, circling him slowly. The green light from the Time Stone cast eerie shadows across her face. "We can soon be together. Just a little bit longer."
Elric's survival instincts kicked into overdrive.
"Okay, dear," he said, injecting as much false warmth into his voice as possible. "It seems you have some trouble with my future self. Why don't we just talk this out? Just let me go, big sister. I can even give you information about my future self—help you trouble him instead of me. We can work together!"
Even as he spoke, he was attempting everything in his arsenal. Teleportation spells fizzled out before they could activate. His shrinking, which should have reduced him to microscopic size, simply... didn't work.
Nothing worked.
The runes covering every surface of the chamber pulsed in perfect synchronization, forming a web of power so intricate and comprehensive that he couldn't find a single weakness. Each symbol seemed specifically designed to counter his abilities—his teleportation, his dimensional manipulation, his reality-bending magic. She had prepared for a long time, and worse, she knew everything about him. Every spell, every technique, every trick he might try to escape.
"Don't be angry, darling," Hela said, her smile widening. She raised her hand, and the runes began to glow even brighter. "It will be over in a flash."
The Time Stone's light intensified, bathing the entire chamber in emerald radiance.
"It would be even better if you don't met that white-haired witch," Hela mused, almost to herself. "But it can't be helped, I guess. What's meant to be will be."
An intense wave of magic erupted from her hand, flowing into the runic array. The symbols blazed with power, and at the center of it all, the Time Stone responded. Its green light became blinding, and reality itself seemed to warp and twist around it.
A portal formed—not a spatial tear, but something far more profound. A tunnel through time itself, swirling with chronological energy that made Elric's eyes water to look at directly.
He felt himself being pulled toward it, his body moving despite his desperate attempts to resist. The paralysis spell combined with the temporal vortex created an irresistible force.
"You bitch!" he snarled.
Hela's laugh was genuine and warm, which somehow made it more disturbing. "Love you too, honey. See you soon!"
Those were the last words Elric heard before the portal swallowed him whole. Green light consumed everything, and then—
Darkness.
......
Location: Unknown Planet
Time: Approximately 3000 Years Before Present
The first thing Elric became aware of was pain.
It felt like someone had taken his head and used it as a drum, beating out a rhythm that echoed through his skull with every pulse of his heartbeat. His body felt like it had been torn apart and hastily reassembled—everything ached, from his bones to his skin to his very soul.
Slowly, consciousness returned. He was lying on something hard and rough. The air tasted strange—dry, with an acrid tang that burned his throat.
Where...?
He forced his eyes open, squinting against harsh light. A red-orange sky stretched above him, cloudless and oppressive. He tried to sit up and immediately regretted it as nausea washed over him, but he pushed through, driven by the need to understand his situation.
The first thing he did—even before fully orienting himself—was check his magical capabilities.
He reached for his power and felt a flood of relief. The binding runes were gone. His magic flowed freely again, unimpeded and strong. Whatever temporal displacement Hela had subjected him to, at least she hadn't permanently sealed his abilities.
He sat there for nearly half an hour, just breathing and letting his body recover. The splitting headache gradually subsided to a dull throb. The sensation of his body tearing itself apart faded to mere exhaustion. When he could finally think clearly again, he pulled out a chocolate bar from his dimensional storage, and ate it slowly, letting the sugar restore his mood.
Only then did he look around properly.
Barren land stretched in every direction as far as he could see. The ground was cracked and dry, colored in shades of rust and ochre. In the distance, he could see patches of glowing orange-red—lava flows, still active and bubbling. The sky held no sun that he could see, yet light came from somewhere, diffuse and reddish.
No plants. No water. No signs of life whatsoever.
"This is definitely not Earth," he muttered. "At least... I hope it's not Earth."
But even as he said it, a terrible possibility occurred to him. What if it was Earth—just millions of years in the past, before life had properly taken hold? Or worse, millions of years in the future, after some catastrophe had rendered it lifeless?
If this was Earth in either direction, he was in serious trouble.
"If this is Earth millions of years ago or Earth in the far future after it was destroyed," he said aloud, as if hearing the words would help him think through the problem, "then who knows where the Time Stone would be? I'd have to search the entire universe to find it."
He stood up, testing his legs. They held, though they trembled slightly.
There's an even more terrible possibility.
"What if the Time Stone that sent me here originally came from this time period? What if Hela traveled to this era specifically to retrieve it, and then used it to send me here, creating a stable time loop?"
The implications made his blood run cold. If that was the case, he couldn't just find the Time Stone and use it to return—because it wouldn't exist in this time period yet. Or rather, it would only exist in Hela's possession, having been brought back from the future.
"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!"
He kicked a rock, which sailed off into the distance and landed with a distant clatter.
Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to calm down. Panic wouldn't help. He needed to think systematically, assess his situation, and formulate a plan.
"Okay. First priority: figure out where—and when—I am."
He looked up at the barren landscape around him. From ground level, he couldn't see much beyond the immediate vicinity. He needed a better vantage point.
I should go into orbit. Get a planetary view. That will tell me a lot.
But even as he prepared to fly upward, he checked his energy levels and frowned. The teleportation to Asgard had drained him to thirty percent. He was sitting at about fifty percent capacity—not dangerously low, but not comfortable either.
And he had no idea what kind of threats might exist in this time period. Better to be prepared.
"Asgard," he growled, his anger returning in full force. "Fucking Asgard. After I get back—if I get back—I'm throwing a black hole at that entire realm. If I don't, I'll change my name."
The mental image of Asgard's golden spires being torn apart by gravitational forces brought him a moment of petty satisfaction.
But first, he needed shelter, rest, and time to recover his energy. Standing exposed on a barren wasteland wasn't conducive to any of those things.
He planted his feet firmly on the ground, raised his hands, and began channeling magic. This would take a significant amount of power, but it was worth it.
"Create Fortress!"
This was a tenth-tier spell, one of the most advanced spatial-construction magics in his arsenal. It didn't just create a simple structure—it conjured a fully functional fortress complete with everything needed for survival and research.
The spell circle blazed to life around him, intricate and massive. Runes spiraled outward in complex patterns, and reality began to warp. The ground trembled as magical energy poured into the spell, reshaping matter and space according to his will.
Stone and metal erupted from the barren earth. Walls rose, thick and sturdy, their surfaces inscribed with protective enchantments. Towers grew from the corners, topped with observation platforms. A main keep took shape in the center, its interior already furnished with everything he'd need—a bed, a laboratory, a library space for research, storage rooms, and even a kitchen area.
The entire structure was thirty meters on each side, a miniature castle that would serve as both shelter and base of operations. Defensive wards woven into its very foundation protected against physical attacks, magical intrusions, and environmental hazards. The walls would repel temperatures up to several thousand degrees.
When the spell completed, Elric stood before his fortress, breathing slightly harder from the exertion but satisfied with the result.
"Good enough," he said.
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