ONE STEP FOR LAUFEY
A man, no, a woman, giant or giantess, I don't-Jotun! He's—she's Jotun! And-is he (she?) Laufey-King? What-IS THIS MY FATHER OR MY MOTHER WHERE IS THE LOGIC
ONE STEP FOR FARBAUTI
A woman? A man? This is as confusing as the last person (Laufey, who was apparently a woman, what) and why is he(she) changing forms (shapeshifter?) and- Jotun! He(she) is Jotun!
Is he(she) my
Mother(Father)?
ONE STEP FOR THE WAR IN MIDGARD
Snow, snow, snow, two armies at a standstill, Jotun and Aesir, Odin standing as gloriously as ever, spear in hand, Laufey holding the Casket, a blizzard whipping both parties as mortals watched with fearful eyes
ONE STEP FOR THE ABANDONED BOY
War raging, a figure runs in (JOTUN), gasps and sets a small bundle down on the ice. The Jotun's armed (Laufey? He's a man), covered in blood and wounds. He whispers something, runs out, battle outside.
ONE STEP FOR THE KING THAT FOUND HIM
An icy temple, a child left to freeze, a king with an eye missing straggles by, hears the boy mewling. (ME, ME, THAT'S ME) He picks him up, blue turns to white, red to green, laughter
Odin looks so happy, cradles the boy
Smiles
(WHAT AM I SEEING)
ONE STEP FOR THE BOY WHO GREW UP AN OUTSIDER
Who's talking? Why am I counting? Who are you?
A boy, large tome tucked under his arm, walking past a group of children wrestling in the dirt. Taunts follow, he turns his nose up and turns a corner. He smirks to himself, fingers weaving a spell once out of sight.
A cry rings out, "LOKI, YOU LITTLE RAT, GET BACK HERE!"
(…I remember that. I turned them into pigs. Serve them right, playing like hogs in mud. Thor was furious with me…how is this relevant to anything?)
ONE STEP FOR THE JOY
"LOKI, I AM GOING TO CATCH YOU!"
"NAY, FOR I AM LOKI NO LONGER! I AM SIGUNDR, THE GREATEST MAGE IN ALL THE NINE!"
"…I'll still defeat you."
"With that? A wooden sword? You jest, Prince."
"I don't need a sword."
"What do you-h-hey…Thor, th-that's aha—ahaha, that's che-cheating! No—THOR—ahaha—AHAHAHA-STOP IT-THOR! TICKLING IS CHEATING! A—ahahahHHAHAHAHAHA-"
ONE STEP FOR CHILDHOOD
Two boys, one golden, one dark, the elder holding his younger brother, asleep as the leaves fall off a tree
ONE STEP FOR BROTHERHOOD
"I don't care if you can't spar, Loki."
"I can, I know I can. I'll get better, Thor. I'll work hard, I'll be just like you."
"No, Loki. I don't want you to be me. I like you, brother."
"You may like me, Thor, but the rest of Asgard disagrees."
"'Tis not an issue. Any one that insults you shall have to do so in the face of my sword."
"I'll hold you to that."
ONE STEP FOR CHILDREN WHO SOUGHT ADVENTURE
(What is going on? I don't understand. I'm seeing things-memories, from a life half-forgotten-)
Two boys, brushing manhood by their fingertips, running screaming from a large beast, flames chasing them as they scrambled for escape.
"LOPTR," the elder shrieked. "YOU IDIOT!"
"IT WASN'T ME, IT WAS TYR!"
"TYR DOESN'T KNOW ANY SEIDR!"
"I'M NOT THE ONLY MAGIC-WEILDER HERE, ODIN!"
(Wait, that isn't Thor. Looks like Thor, but not. What…? But that's me, I'm sure. Child-me with child-Odin? What manner of illusion is this?)
(It's-changing?)
"THOR, we almost got away with it!"
"I'm sorry-hah-brother, b-but…hah…not all of us are as lightfooted as you!"
They gasped for breath, golden apples clutched in hand, backs pressed against the wall of the cave they sought refuge in. "You are an oaf," Loki spat. "Idunn will have our heads."
Thor grinned. "But, brother! We got them!"
"What use is eternal life if Father is just going to murder us when we get back? I am never agreeing to anything you say again."
"But Loki…"
(This is right. I remember this. But, what-)
ONE STEP FOR MAGIC
Green, green, green, the colour of magic that belonged in him, interspersed with that joyous gold that reminded him of idle days stealing apples from murderously possessive aunts.
Green and whispers in the wind and the taste of the sky and stars that filled the universe and secret paths that no one saw and the beauty of weaving spell after spell in the light of the cosmos.
(I can't breathe-)
(I need to keep walking.)
(Eighty-nine steps to go.)
ONE STEP FOR MANY NAMES
(I don't understand.)
"Who are you?"
(I am Loki.)
"I am Loptr"
(When did I-?)
"I am Skywalker."
"I am Logi."
"I am the endbringer."
"I am Lokasenna."
"Hey, my name's Luke. What's yours?"
(What?)
"I am Loki Odinsson, brother to Thor!"
"I am Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."
"I am Loki Laufeyson, and you, Odin, are a bloody oathbreaking arse."
(What? These voices, they are all mine, but-)
"I'm…I'm no one. No one important."
"HERMES! YOU BLOODY WELL KNOW WHO I AM, I'M ERIS'S FRIEND! NOW GET DOWN HERE AND GIVE ME MY HELMET BACK!"
ONE STEP FOR CYCLING
AGAIN
AND AGAIN
AND AGAIN
"What is this?"
"Ragnarok, Odin. Vengance."
"Luke, what're you doing?!"
"I'm sorry, Tony. But the world needs to end, and I need to do it."
"Logi, what treachery is this?"
"Fire, my friend, and it is I that will light it."
"Father, what would you have us do?"
"We will burn the worlds, little ones. Not because we hate it, but because we must."
"Who are you? Why are you doing this?"
"Silly mortal. This is the end," the Loki speaking paused. "Again. Also, I am Loki, and this is my glorious purpose."
He understands now.
He is Loki, but he is also a million other people. But he is Loki, the same Loki who wrought mischief at every turn and laughed and danced in flames.
He is Loki, and it is he that must end the world.
Again.
And he has children (I love you more than you can fathom) who are forever waiting for the chance to burn the worlds. And he is brother to Thor, brother to Odin as well (you promised never to hurt me, once. Then you tied me to a rock by my son's entrails. And then you lied to me my whole life. The oath may have been in another life, but you deserve this.)
Step after step, he takes, feet soundless against the golden path that did not exist, the stars laughing above him.
He takes in every illusion wrought after every step, amazed by the mastery of it all.
He remembers.
He remembers.
ONE STEP FOR CHANGE
ONE STEP FOR THE SAME MISTAKES
ONE STEP FOR LIFE
He has been here before, the steps coming like clockwork. He has been here countless times, the path worn and familiar.
ONE STEP FOR DEATH
ONE STEP FOR LOSSES
ONE STEP FOR INNOCENCE LOST
ONE STEP FOR ENVY
(I killed Baldr? Baldr was Odin's son?)
(Do you blame me? All that fuss over that brat, when they killed my babies? I don't regret that.)
ONE STEP FOR AN OATH BROKEN
(And they retaliate to my vengeance with more vengeance. Child-killer.)
ONE STEP FOR LOVE
(Oooh I had lovers?)
(Ah…Sygin…was…my wife? What? She hates me. To the point of nearly killing me with her demonic glares.)
(What? Who is that? A Frost Giant?...she's beautiful. Good god, I was a child! A giggling adolescent! WHO DOESN'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO HUNT I AM SO ASHAMED OF MY PAST SELF)
(IS THAT A HORSE)
(IS THAT THIAZI)
(Oh my god, that's Eris, the Olympian, I can't look, I'm laughing, I can't breathe)
(WHY IS SIF THERE)
(IS THAT STARK)
(I can't look. No, I draw the line here.)
(Wait…parents. Thor. Farbauti. Laufey. Odin. Frigga. These are people I loved. I can breathe.)
(Wait, why is Hermes here BEGONE, I NEVER EVEN LIKED YOU, YOU STOLE MY HELMET)
(My children-Hel, that woman in the Void! And Fen…Fenris? Oh, my poor child. And Jormagundr. And Sleipnir…And Vali and Narvi…ODIN I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD WHY ARE YOU HERE, HM?)
ONE STEP FOR FIRE
ONE STEP FOR MISCHIEF
ONE STEP FOR PRIDE
ONE STEP FOR THE SKIES
ONE STEP FOR CURIOSITY
(I was mortal?)
(IS THAT STARK)
(…IS THAT A BIFROST)
(DID WE BUILD A BIFROST)
(NORNS, WHAT)
ONE STEP FOR TRUST
"Hey, Luke?"
"Mm? Wh—what's this?"
"This is the access code to override all the security in the Tower. Even the lab."
"But…even Pepper doesn't…"
"I know. But you're my bro."
"Bruce is your bro."
"He's my science bro. You're literally my soulmate, man."
Loki looked down at the paper, and grasped Stark in a tight embrace. His shoulders shuddered.
"Stop cryin' you sap. Or I'm gonna cry. Iron Man can't cry."
"Shut up. Iron Man may not cry, but Tony Bloody Stark can."
`ONE STEP FOR TEARS
"Luke, what're you doing?"
Stark was in his metal suit, the part that covered his face removed. His eyes were wild, and the sky around them glowed the red of burning embers.
Loki was standing on the top of that tower, a gateway to the Tree open behind him, a woman (HELA, MY LOVELYLOVE) by his side.
"I'm sorry, Tony," he whispered, voice thick with tears. "But the world needs to end."
He looked up, and swallowed. "And I need to do it."
(Well, that hurt)
ONE STEP FOR DEATH
ONE STEP FOR THE KEY
ONE STEP FOR FORGOTTEN PATHS
ONE STEP FOR THE TREE
ONE STEP FOR THE CHILDREN RIPPED
(And that. That hurts, as well.)
He's running now, gasping with exertion as he raced down a path that shimmers a gold far more eternal then even Asgard. The words are whipping whispers against his ears, images blurring into one another.
His blood is singing.
He is fire, and he wants to dance.
The stars tell him a story, as he runs down a path winding through the cracks in the universe.
He laughs, throws up his arms in joyous abandon.
"I'm going to end the world!"
He pauses, but does not cease his running. "Perhaps that was inappropriate?"
ONE STEP FOR THE NORNS
THE WONDER
REMEMBERING
WHISPERING
THE WIND
And then he sees it, far ahead, branches vast and wide and entwined with the skies and larger than any other.
And he is laughing, and his blood is singing, and he could dance with a joy that is so fierce it is vicious. He is fire, and he is racing like the wind, and he is burning.
He looks at the Tree, and thinks that he is home, at long last.
ONE STEP
He is home. He stops running abruptly, breath coming in little giggling gasps, eyes wide. He looks down, and his skin is blue. He laughs harder.
He stops, and his blood sings.
He looks up at the Tree, vast and eternal and immense. He smiles widely, fingers outstretched. (LOOK I'M BLUE)
"I remember," he breathes, voice laced with fire. "I am Loki."
He raises his foot.
FOR
"I am Loki, and I am home. I am Loki, and this is the end," his smile softens, fire dimmed for the moment. The inferno in his eyes clears, and he shouts, "Come, my children that never were! Our time has come!"
THE
He waits, mid-step, for the answer.
"Let us fly."
END
"About time as well-I hope the next one isn't as tiring. Come along, children. Let us show the Realms their end."