Loki lets Thor get up and the giant golden god lumbers back to his room in shame; his stomach still empty. It matters not. The inside of Thor's mind is a torrent of hatred and prejudice doing battle with knowledge and understanding. Jotunns are so ugly. Their hideous blue skin is the same shade of a dead man's corpse and their blood red eyes are the thing of nightmares. Their sharp teeth are like that of a shark and their long black finger nails are like eagle talons. They are twice the size of a typical Aesir and are as cold as the mountain top. They are hideous people. They are people. They are people who hunger for food, for mercy, and for understanding. They are people that feel love, and jealousy, joy, and sorrow. They are a people hated simply because of what they look like.
Thor spends his last night and day in his room thinking long and hard about every Jotunn encounter has had ever had. All the skirmishes in small villages near the mountains where he was called to exterminate a Jotunn infestation. He'd been so wrong. The Jotunn people needn't even search for refuge off their own world if they were simply given back the means to feed themselves. Thor thinks on the Casket of Ancient Winters. Only Odin can grant its return to Jotunnheim. No one, not even Thor can enter the weapons vault to remove it without the king's permission.
"I wonder if Thor is having a change of heart." Bruce says in passing.
"He'd better be or he's out of the club." Tony says. Everyone agrees. They let Thor hang around and play the part of the hero when he is guilty of passively committing evil against so many.
"I wonder if Thor will give you the Casket back." Natasha says to Loki.
"It's not Thor's to give. Odin has to release it to my people." Loki says. Loki has asked his own father King Laufey many times about where the Casket is held and even plotted ways of stealing it back. One time they even managed to smuggle several Jotunn warriors directly into the weapons vault of Asgard. They were never heard from again.
"Maybe our spoiled prince can talk some sense into his daddy." Clint says.
"Unlikely." Steve says. He knows the mindset of such men. The Nazi thought the way Odin and Thor think. A change of heart such as this has to be done in a very deep and personal way, like what Thor is going through. It still remains to be seen if Thor will change for the better. "If everything we've heard about Thor's father both from Thor and from myth is true, the Odin is fully aware of how Loki's people are suffering and just doesn't care. He could have stopped this at any time but he didn't and now that the entire Jotunn race is almost extinct he will not back off now, not now that his goal is in sight." Steve says, thinking of Auschwitz.
"I don't think my people can be saved now. They are too far gone. By now the only ones left that might still be alive only live because they have dined on the flesh of their own kin. No amount of food will ever bring that dignity back." Loki says.
"We still have to try Loki. We still have to hold out hope. Even if this generation is completely and permanently damaged they can still breed the next generation, a new generation that can start over and build from scratch." Steve says.
"Steve knows what he is talking about Loki. His generation endured some pretty horrific things." Bruce says.
"I have my doubts." Loki says.
XxXxXxXxXxXx
On the morning of the eighth day Thor does not come out of his room. The challenge is over and he is well within his right to eat now, so when he fails to make an appearance at breakfast everyone becomes alarmed.
"Thor. Thor buddy wake up. Come eat." Tony says shaking the big man's arm. Thor just lays there and does not move. The guilt is overwhelming. He deserves his pain. Tony, Bruce, and Steve all manhandle Thor and make him get up. Thor doesn't speak but goes where they take him. They plop him down in a chair at the breakfast table and shove a plate of food in front of him. The hunger in Thor's gut roars like a lion and he grabs a glob of scrambled eggs with his bare hand and shoves it in his mouth. Though the food tastes utterly divine it is as bitterness and guilt upon his tongue. The nausea he feels is a mixture of unsettled stomach and self-disgust. Thor only manages to get down a slice of toast and some juice before he pushes his plate away.
"Give your stomach some time. Once it gets a chance to start working again the food won't feel like a lead weight." Bruce says.
"It is not the food that makes me feel ill." Thor says quietly. He looks up at Loki then with eyes that display all the guilt and (dare Loki hope?) remorse. Thor sobs then, letting his tears fall into his juice cup.
"Forgive me." He says weakly, sobbing like a small child. Loki moves forward then.
"I don't need your tears Thunderer. I need your help. I need the Casket of Ancient Winters back to save my people and my world. I need you to give it to me." Loki says gripping Thor's jaw up to meet his gaze.
"My father will not give it to me. He is of the mindset I had not yesterday. He wants your people to perish. Once all the Jotunns are gone he can use the Casket to restore your world and mold it to his liking. He wants to colonize it with my kind." Thor says. Loki spits on the ground in disgust.
"I knew it! Hypocrite! He is guilty of the same crime for which we were punished!" Loki hisses.
"Thor, if you don't do something to stop this, your standing as a good man will disappear. You will not be a hero, not to us, and not to history." Steve says.
"I cannot remove the Casket without his permission and I cannot defy my king." Thor says.
"What if you are king?" Clint asks. "How far away is daddy from retirement anyway?"
"I will not kill my own father." Thor says.
"Then you have to at least talk to him. Try to make him see reason!" Tony says feeling exasperated.
An explosion of rainbow light announces an arrival from Asgard and everyone turns to see the tall still figure of Heimdall standing outside.
"Holy shit, who is that?" Tony asks.
"Heimdall, our ever watchful gatekeeper. He sees and hears all." Thor says. Everyone turns and looks at him.
"By all, do you mean he heard what we all just said?" Natasha asks.
"Yes." Thor says. Holy shit, Heimdall is a super spy. The golden god opens the glass door and enters the apartment. He strides up to the group calmly, his hand folded in front of him in a non-aggressive pose.
"Hi there." Bruce says.
"It is unwise to plot against Asgard's king." Heimdall says turning his all-seeing eyes to Clint.
"Great gatekeeper, please tell me, of my people how many still live?" Loki asks.
"I have watched your world deteriorate with great sadness dear prince. The great cities of Jotunnheim are now silent with only pockets of survivors that fight one another. There is no hope for them." Heimdall says. Loki horrified expression pulls at the hearts of everyone.
"However, there is a small village in the north far removed and small in population. They live near the sea and their location is hard to reach by normal means. They blew up the mountain pass leading to their settlement, cutting them off from the rest of Jotunnheim. They have survived on the meager offerings of the dying ocean and number 547 people. They hunger but do not starve, but they will if mercy is not eventually given to them. There are smarter ways of saving your people Prince Loki." Heimdall says.
"What do you suggest Heimdall?" Thor asks.
"It is as your friend said. Your father is getting older and though he is not ready to retire yet given time your coronation will come and you will be able to give over the Casket when you are crowned. The small population left still living need only to survive until that day comes. Aid can be rendered in secret." Heimdall says.
"In my room back home on my desk there is a little red box. In that box lies my personal key to the treasury. Take it and use my own private funds to purchase food and smuggle it to the village." Thor orders. Heimdall smiles. Long has he wished for Thor to open his eyes.
"As you wish my prince." Heimdall says and turns to leave.
"And Heimdall, thank you for your discretion." Thor says.
"I would not want the Allfather to turn against Midgard over a minor misunderstanding. What you do here on Midgard and whom you do it with is your business." Heimdall says. "So long as you do not plot directly against the Allfather I needn't report what I see and hear down here."
