Disclaimer : Al characters Belong to Marvel.
He could hear the flapping from far away.
That crow…It always came back there, just like he did.
He walked alone. The soft snow melted under his feet. The wind blew as mighty as always, causing him to grit his teeth. He paused and looked around while holding his cape tightly against his shoulders. The cold was especially gelid that day, even for Jotunheim.
Thor knew very well that his time was running short, for his body, as immortal as it was, still complained about the extreme weather. He put his clenched hands against his lips and breathed on them, trying to warm them up if just a little.
Needless to say it was in vain. He then opened his hands and gazed at them in silence. He could have sworn they were starting to lose their healthy, golden color.
Perhaps it was just a cruel trick the mischievous cold was playing on his mind, but for a moment, he could see his hands dyed in blue.
He stayed still for a while, allowing time to pass by with no care at all. His eyes became again witnesses of the images caused by the memories he thought were already healed; he couldn't have been more wrong.
'His brother was dressed with little more than rags. His bare back, covered with fleshy scars, shone with the dim light that pierced through the empty windows of the courtroom. The silence that infested the place was as dense as the sins Loki had committed. It was in the center of the room, vulnerable to the eyes of all Asgard, where his brother knelt, his hands and ankles handcuffed with Helios-heated chains. They gleamed with an intense red, burning the contrasting blue skin underneath them. Loki, however, wasn't screaming. Far from finding this comforting, Thor felt disturbed by his brother's stoicism.
"Scream, Loki." he thought, closing his eyes and trying to hold back both his temper and tears."Please, brother. Don't make me think you are dead."
But Loki remained quiet.
And Thor did nothing. He just watched and wished for it to be over soon, as the smell of Loki's drained magic and the melody of silence were pushing him to the edge of madness
His father watched the sentence he had declared upon Loki without adding a word. His mother's lack of words spoke loudly enough for her.
Thor even dared to say that it was her scream which echoed the loudest in the whole room.'
The crow chirped.
The memories faded into the glacial wind. It felt as if Jotunheim itself was devouring them with its icy fangs. Thor shook his head, bracing his mind.
What was the point of all this?
What did he gain by continuing with such a senseless quest?
'I am not your brother, I never was!'
"I wonder." He whispered, with small puffs of warm steam accompanying each of his words. "How could I lose something I never had?"
He blinked with anger, clenching his fists into firm knots.
But silence was all the answer he received from the surrounding desolation. Not even the crow was there to give him a reply anymore.
Lately, he thought as he went back on his steps (back to that place he unwillingly called home), silence was everything life gave to him.
Now he understood why Loki had remained silent that day. Thor was finally starting to understand his brother.
But was there any point in understanding someone who was gone?
Asgard had not changed at all. Once peace was restored, it didn't take a long time before people went back to their normal lives. Not even the death of both the prince and the Queen altered their routines longer than necessary.
Of course, they had only mourned Frigga; as for Loki, he was simply forgotten.
They didn't even hate him anymore. Generations to come would never knew of Loki, once prince of Asgard, once Son of Odin, once traitor of his kin.
Once brother of Thor.
None of that would survive the cruel sands of time.
Thor frowned, as he passed next to numerous servants and soldiers on the hallways. They silently vowed and got out of their future king's way.
'How wise of them' Thor thought grimly, 'otherwise, I would kill them.'
Just like they had killed Loki.
Yes, why not?
He was the Son of Odin, wasn't he? He had the might, so he didn't need the right to do so. Besides, how much difference would the death of a servant or a soldier make?
None, definitely. Their families would just cry them for a while, and then bury them on the cold ground. They would go back to their meaningless routines, like corpses who survive but don't live.
Thor felt disgusted at the mere thought of being the future king of such pathetic creatures.
"Meaningless, all of them." He muttered, hurrying his pace. He longed to be alone in his room.
Alone with the memories of his mother and brother, the only two persons he had truly loved.
When he was almost at his destination, the Warriors Three and Sif appeared out of nowhere. Thor looked down and tried to avoid them, but they were fast and blocked his way.
"Wait, Thor."Sif was the first to speak.
"Leave me."
"We will, if that's what you wish. But first, you will listen to what we have to say." Volstagg declared, folding his big arms in a solemn way.
"There's nothing left for you to say. Now get out of my way, or I'll take you out of it myself." Thor growled, glaring at the warriors with deathly eyes.
"A friend's threat is very seldom real." Hogun said with calmness, without breaking eye contact with Thor. The God of Thunder felt the sudden need of murdering him, and the other three as well.
"That was no threat." Thor sneered, slowly seizing Mjolnir. "It was a promise. And my friends, by now you must know I never break them."
His words caused the effect he had hoped. The warrior's and Sif's confidence trembled. Thor could see fear and surprise in their eyes.
It was all so beautiful.
He never had realized how amusing it was to intimidate his inferiors. A lot more entertaining than trying to protect them from harm, and much less troubling, he had to add.
'Such lowly creatures.'
Indeed.
Thor pushed his way through the warriors Three with his shoulders. None of them tried to stopped him again.
But Sif did.
"This is enough, Thor!" she exclaimed, holding Thor's forearm in a thigh grip."You can't continue like this for eternity. Is this really the kind of heir… the kind of king Asgard deserves?!"
"Perhaps Asgard does not deserve a king at all. Just like I am no longer willing to put up with your insolence, you cursed traitors." Thor replied, his body filling up with divine, blue electricity. He drowned in the immensity of his own power. It was as if he had finally ripped to pieces the cape of dullness that had covered him for so long.
He turned around, facing his enemies. Mjolnir became a deathly weapon in his hands. Thus, like a crow dashing towards its prey, Thor attacked Sif and the warriors.
After all, it would have been a shame to let all that power and energy go to waste.