A/N: Sorry it's just a bit late, it was a lot longer than normal so I wasn't able to quite finish on time. I'm only off by a few hours, though! :) So it's later, but longer ;)
Hope you enjoy!
For those curious and in case it wasn't clear, here's some info on their present ages:
Asgardians/Jotnar live for about 5,000 years according to the MCU. They reach their majority (adulthood) at around 500 in this fanfiction, and don't really age beyond that until they are over 4,000.
Current Ages:
Loki: 631
Thor: 983
Byleistr: 1,006
Helblindi: 1,307
Chapter Twenty-Eight
-981 Years Ago-
Helblindi slunk away from the adults to go sit in the garden where it was more peaceful. He used to enjoy visiting Asgard, besides the heat, but it was winter at the moment so the heat was bearable. What wasn't bearable was listening to one more argument that the adults thought that he couldn't hear. His father and the Asgardian All-Father, Odin, seemed to disagree about everything these days.
Helblindi went to investigate some bright purple flowers that were growing in the shade, fascinated at the vibrant colors. He liked flowers—Jotunheim didn't have anything like them, and his dam had been especially fond of them. After his dam's death, he liked to pick some to take back to Jotunheim, because he knew it would have made him smile.
As the young Jotun pulled at a few particularly richly colored blooms, he heard footsteps on the garden path. He froze, feeling a bit guilty for pulling up the flowers, and looked around to see the Asgardian Queen walking down the path. She had always seemed a bit sad to him, but at the moment she was smiling down at the screaming bundle of cloth she was holding.
Frigga smile widened as she saw him, and he peered cautiously at the bundle in her arms. It was a baby. "Why is he so noisy?" Helblindi asked after a moment, confused. Jotun babes were quiet and docile, only making soft, sad cooing sounds when they were hungry or dirty or tired. This baby was screaming at the top of its lungs, like it was in pain or serious danger. Helblindi bit his lip as he peeled the blanket away a little bit, afraid he was about to see that the tiny baby was injured. Frigga didn't look especially worried. He wondered if she was a good dam. Shouldn't she be concerned?
The small, wailing terror appeared unharmed. It was peach-colored with a tiny tuft of golden hair, and it wiggled and flailed its fists about, strong for its age. Helblindi smiled, just a little bit. It was actually kind of funny, really. It was like he was a tiny warrior, trying to intimidate his enemy by his loud, crazy noises. Helblindi almost laughed, but he didn't want Queen Frigga to think he was being rude and laughing at her child. "What's his name?" he asked.
"Thor," Frigga replied, her eyes warm as she watched her child. "He's been a bit fussy for the past few days. It's normal for Asgardian babies to cry a lot, even when nothing is wrong. Would you like to hold him?"
Helblindi backed up a step. Even though he was only 326 years old and still a child himself—although just starting to verge on puberty—he was still much, much larger than the tiny baby. "I shouldn't," Helblindi replied hesitantly. He held Byleistr whenever he could, of course, but his baby brother seemed so much less… breakable. "I might hurt him."
Frigga laughed, her eyes warm. "You won't hurt him. He's much stronger than he looks. Here," She gently passed the baby to him, showing him how to cradle the head. Helblindi held him carefully, as though handling a dainty ice figurine.
Thor's wailing stopped almost immediately. Helblindi blinked, looking up to Frigga with a shy smile on his face. "I think he likes me!"
Frigga's smile widened. "I think he does! I'm sure you two will be great friends."
Helblindi carefully sat down between the purple flowers, still holding tiny baby Thor. His little eyes moved a little bit behind their eyelids, before they slowly slid open.
Helblindi stared in awe as eyes the same color as the clear Asgardian sky above them gazed upwards, still slightly unfocused. There was no doubt that Asgardian babies were ugly little things, the Jotun prince thought, with their little pink, wrinkly bodies and lack of markings. But this one's eyes alone made him beautiful. He rocked the child a bit, and grinned as Thor reached up towards him.
When Frigga asked him to watch the child for a moment while she went to check on her husband, Helblindi happily agreed.
-Present Day-
Byleistr ran after Helblindi as he stormed out of the room, heading towards the doors that led outside. "Helblindi, no!" he grabbed his arm, but Helblindi—who was large and muscled, even for a Jotun—shook him off easily. "Helblindi, we can't go out there, we don't want to cause any trouble—"
"Trouble?" Helblindi half-growled, eyes like fire, "You think we are the ones causing trouble? That Asgardian bastard shows up unannounced and uninvited on Jotunheim and attacks one of our Lords, how exactly are we the problem?" his voice seemed to get louder and angrier with every syllable.
"You didn't seem so worried about Aggar a moment ago," Byleistr said under his breath as he kept pace with his brother. They were outside now, bursting out of the doors and startling the guards as they quickly moved down the steps. "We don't even know what Loki's plan is," Byleistr tried again, "And we only have a general idea of where they are. By the time we get there, we might be standing over Aggar's dead body, and how would that look?" He knew it was hypocritical that he was worried about Loki's plan now, after all of the times he had begged Helblindi to thwart it. But now that something was actually happening, he knew that they couldn't interfere.
But Helblindi would hear none of it, and Byleistr couldn't leave him. The moment they were out in the snow of the courtyard, they could hear very faint sounds of metal clashing in the distance. The guards on duty were watching that direction with concern, but they were unable to leave their posts without leaving the fortress completely defenseless.
Helblindi began running in that direction, grabbing a greatsword from one of the guards on duty as he passed. Byleistr took two long daggers from another, hoping that he wouldn't need them.
Thor grinned wildly as he ducked beneath another lunge with the spear, feeling the displaced air whistle above his head. The lead Jotun was skilled, but Thor was confident that he could handle him. He just had to watch the other two while he did so.
The two guards with the lead Jotun were clearly inexperienced, although not without some talent. They were hesitant to strike, worried about getting in the leader's way, but they were still worth some consideration. He couldn't afford to ignore them.
They circled Thor like wolves despite his attempts to make sure they didn't get behind him, and he cursed a bit as the one in back of him quickly sliced at his calf and just barely landed a hit, leaving a long stinging line of red behind. Thor didn't even really feel it; he was too hyped up on adrenaline and bloodlust. Faintly, he wondered where Luke had gotten to. If he was quick, he could make short work of these three before Luke even got back. It was too bad that the lead Jotun seemed to be intelligent enough to realize that Thor was more skilled than he.
Tired of pussyfooting around, Thor snarled and darted forward beneath the range of the spear. That was the problem with that type of weapon—it was meant for distance, and now Thor was far too close for it to be anything but clumsy. The Jotun tried to parry the swipe from Thor's shining sword, but he only managed to knock it a bit to the right. The metal came away bloody, leaving a deep slash in Aggar's thigh.
Another of the soldiers had attempted to disarm Thor as he pulled out of his swing, but Thor spun around in a smooth motion and slashed again, catching the man full across his chest. His attacker made a surprised, strangled sound and staggered backwards, not dead but certainly out of the fight for the moment. The lead Jotun bellowed angrily and chanced a swipe with the spear, using it as one might a staff to try to knock his opponent off balance. He dodged, but it still worked slightly because Thor was not accustomed to fighting in the snow and his boot slipped out from under him.
Thor curled into a tight roll as he fell, trying to move out of range from the blow that was to follow. Once again, he was only partially successful, since the Jotun's reach was much longer than many of the foes he was used to. He caught the glancing blow on his shoulder, nearly knocking him from his feet again. The younger Jotun was circling around now. His weapons were designed for closer range, though he seemed hesitant to get too close to the Asgardian after he saw what happened to his friend.
In the brief moment that they all studied each other and readied for their next attack, they were distracted by movement at the edge of the clearing.
Thor would be the first to admit that most Jotuns looked similar to him. Perhaps it was because he spent as little time dealing with them as possible, but if someone had asked him what any given individual Jotnar looked like, he would have shrugged and said large and blue.
But Helblindi… oh, Helblindi he knew.
-929 Years Ago-
"Bindee!" Thor's delighted cry echoed down the steps as the party from Jotunheim approached the Asgardian palace. The golden-haired toddler ducked out of his handler's reach and tried to clamber down the steep stairs, but one of the guards caught him and drew him back. The tiny child sulked and struggled and didn't seem to notice the tension in the air as the adults all eyed each other.
Helblindi couldn't hold back a smile despite the situation. With every passing day it seemed that relations between Jotunheim and Asgard worsened—specifically, Odin's relationship with his sire. There had once been a time when Laufey spoke often and fondly of his Asgardian friend, but slowly his talk of Odin had dwindled into nothingness.
Where once there had been friendship was only resentment. Helblindi tried not to watch as his sire and his sire's new mate approached the King and Queen of Asgard. Instead, he focused on the one bright spot in all of this—the little Asgardian prince.
Thor and Byleistr were close in age, but Thor hadn't taken to Helblindi's little brother the way he had to Helblindi. Byleistr was quiet and introverted, preferring to sit back and watch people interact with large, curious eyes. Thor thought Helblindi was much more exciting. Last time, he had even shown Thor the proper way to stand while fighting, and he had given the tiny child a light wooden practice sword. The toddler had done everything wrong of course, (he was still unsteady on his feet in general), but that wasn't the point. He had gotten to chase the older prince around wildly, screaming and brandishing the tiny wooden stick. Thor wished that the other prince could visit more often than a handful of times a year. When he grew up, he had told his mother as solemnly as a toddler could, he was going to be just like his big boo friend. He was still having some difficulty pronouncing his l's.
As the Royalty met on the stairs and formal greetings were exchanged, Helblindi grinned and ducked down to scoop the tiny prince into a hug, glancing just slightly at the frowning guards as he did so. Their knuckles were white on their still sheathed weapons.
"Bindee!" Thor cried again, giggling as the Jotun tossed him lightly up into the air. "Again! Again!"
At a dark glance from one of the Asgardian courtiers and a slight shake of the head from his sire, Helblindi reluctantly put the tiny child down. Thor pouted.
Seeing her son's distress, Frigga excused herself from the proceedings and approached them, a warm smile on her face. "Why don't we all go to the gardens?" she proposed, encompassing Helblindi's small blue shadow—Byleistr—in her invitation. Byleistr smiled and held out his arms. He had loved the Asgardian queen right away.
So it was that they left the others to talk of more serious things as Helblindi, carrying Thor, and Frigga, carrying Byleistr, walked in the direction of the gardens.
"I don't wanna go see the fowers," Thor complained quietly. Helblindi privately thought that the gardens were probably where they took the toddler when they needed him to be out of the way. "Wanna go to the, the growns."
Frigga laughed a bit helplessly at the confused look Helblindi gave her. "Oh, that'll be your fault," she teased him, "Ever since your last visit he's been asking to go down to the practice grounds to watch the soldiers fight.
Thor flashed his tiny, perfect teeth. "Gonna be the best war-er, just l-like you!"
Helblindi smiled apologetically at the queen, but inside he was beaming. He absolutely adored his little brother, but Byleistr was very different from him and had never taken as much of an interest in the things that he enjoyed. Thor was going to be different. He was going to teach Thor everything.
-Present Day-
Helblindi saw red as the Asgardian prince took advantage of Aggar's distraction—the other Jotun lord had unsurprisingly looked displeased to see them. Had he thought they would take Thor's side in this?—and slashed at the Jotun's midriff. Aggar gasped and staggered back, clutching at his gut. It appeared that Thor had done some damage.
Good, Helblindi thought privately, but he was still furious at the absolute gall of the Asgardian to attack a Jotun lord on his own lands. He flew forwards and intervened before Thor's next strike could fall, stopping the Asgardian prince's sword from severing Aggar's neck. He caught Thor's sword with his and roared, using his superior strength to hurl the smaller man back through the air.
Thor was quick to regain his footing, but not quite quick enough. Helblindi was upon him in an instant, raining down blows that Thor was just barely managing to parry. The other Jotuns were standing back, thankfully, letting him take care of the menace.
Helblindi barely registered that more Jotun soldiers had come to join them, apparently abandoning their posts in favor of seeing what was going on. They had drawn their weapons as well and were forming a perimeter around him, eying the Asgardian prince with angry eyes. There was no way, none at all, that Thor was going to get away this time.
As Helblindi wore him down, he began to smile in triumph. At long last, he would get rid of the hateful prince.
Then a bright flash illuminated the clearing for a moment before everything went dark.
-873 Years Ago-
Thor was crying. No, no, the adults were stupid and they were wrong. Helblindi was his friend, he couldn't be his enemy. It just didn't make sense.
He wiped his tears fiercely from his eyes as he crept under a sack on one of the small ships bound for Jotunheim, cradling the short sword that had been a gift from Helblindi for his 100th birthday. He still wasn't great with it, but he was getting better. The Jotun had assured him that he would be great some day with practice, and his new instructors (given to him by his father despite his mother's protests), said the same. He didn't really need their reassurance, though—he knew he would be great. Just like he knew right now that the adults were wrong.
He had taken advantage of the confusion and flurry of activity that marked the start of the war to creep away from his caretakers and out of the castle. Now, he was going to sneak into Jotunheim on this ship, and then he was going to stop them from hurting his friend.
He held his breath as the Bifrost activated, whisking him away from Asgard for the first time.
As the ship shot out of the other side of the Bifrost, an aching cold stole into Thor's lungs. In his rush, he hadn't thought to dress any differently than normal. He had forgotten that Jotunheim was cold, and hadn't ever quite realized just how cold. Shivering uncontrollably now, he tumbled out of the ship and onto the snow, wondering how he was going to find Helblindi. In the simple layout of his mind, Helblindi was just going to be right on the other side of the Bifrost, waiting for Thor to come and set everything right.
He wasn't. Instead, footsteps thundered around him as the Asgardian soldiers leapt out of their ships, too intent on the enemy to notice the small child huddled in the snow. Thor's eyes moved in the direction they were charging and widened.
Moving towards them in a mass of steel and sinewy blue muscle were the Jotun warriors. They looked wild and crazed, their red eyes burning and their painted horns and markings foreign and intimidating. Thor lay frozen to the spot as his heart hammered wildly, a tiny voice inside of him yelling to move, or he was going to be trampled.
He couldn't move, though, and the Jotuns were upon them.
Later, as Thor lay huddled in a fur coat he had grabbed tearfully from a man who lay next to him with his throat slashed—Thor had realized with horror that he knew the man, had watched him laugh and joke with his friends on the palace practice grounds—he thought he was going to die. He was bruised despite his best attempts to get out of the way of the soldiers, and he was covered in blood and gore.
As Thor sobbed he realized that as usual, the adults had been right. His father had been right.
The Jotuns were monsters.
-Present Day-
Loki watched the battle between his brother and his friend anxiously, not daring to breathe. He had to let it happen, had to let it go on just long enough so that everyone could see how heroically Helblindi was defending Aggar. His heart hammered in his throat, and he flinched every time the smallest hit was landed, convinced that at any moment this was going to go horribly, horribly wrong.
And it would be his fault.
He had planned it from the beginning, of course. He was no fool, and he knew from experience that Byleistr wouldn't just leave well enough alone. So he had worked everything into his plot for Aggar's downfall, a stroke of inspiration along the way making it something more. This wasn't just about Aggar anymore. This was his family's salvation.
It had gone almost exactly as he had pictured it. Byleistr would poke and pry and watch Thrym carefully, but Thrym wouldn't give into Byleistr's wheedling. After all, Loki's plan was to protect Byleistr, and since that was the one thing that Thrym wanted more than anything in the world, he would defy Byleistr himself to see it happen.
So either out of desperation or out of convenience, Byleistr would turn to Helblindi. Their oldest brother tried to stay out of their plots, but always ended up being dragged along in the end. He would likely notice that Byleistr was up to something and, out of brotherly concern, try to figure out what was going on. Byleistr wouldn't tell him—wouldn't risk him taking Loki and Thrym's side to get rid of Aggar—but he would use him, would drag him along.
The timing of the plan had to be obvious enough to get them to the right place at the right time, so he had Thrym stage a Kaite attack, calling all of Aggar's men up to the North to help him. Thrym followed his plan without question, and Byleistr and Helblindi went the opposite direction.
Then it was just a matter of getting Helblindi to see Thor. Loki wasn't certain why Helblindi despised the Asgardian prince so much—they had never exactly had a conversation about it—but he knew from experience that Helblindi would put aside reason for a chance to fight him.
So Loki had left Byleistr a little tidbit of a spell, detailing how to contact your mate if needed. He couldn't be sure that Byleistr would use it, though, or even use it at the correct time, so he also made sure to take them close enough to Aggar's manor that they could be glimpsed or heard. Even then, it might not work. But if it failed, his brothers would be safe under watchful eyes at the manor and Aggar would still be dead. Since technically Asgard would be at fault—Thor would be unable to produce any sort of invitation to prove he was asked to attend, and Loki would be surprised and confused—it would be up to Jotunheim to decide whether or not this act was one of war. Since Jotunheim could scarcely afford a war, it would be reluctantly swept beneath the rug with perhaps some small reparations.
This plan could have gone terribly wrong. Loki had spent late nights agonizing over all of the ways that this plan might not work. He had made fallbacks, and fallbacks of his fallbacks. He had gone over every what-if scenario until he felt as though he'd go crazy if he'd thought on it anymore. Then he had all of the dominos arranged perfectly and, gently, flicked them over.
And it had worked.
Aggar's remaining men stood in a circle around Thor and Helblindi, watching as his brother rigorously defended their lord. Thor was beginning to falter despite his skill, Helblindi taking the lead under the freezing conditions and familiar terrain.
Now it was time to go.
Gathering up the threads of his considerably powerful magic, Loki sent a potent spell spiraling into the midst of the gathered men. It went off like a crack from a firesparkler, flooding the clearing with light and knocking everyone within a forty foot radius unconscious.
Loki stepped hesitantly out from the trees, nervously feeling for any signs of consciousness. He breathed a sigh of relief when there were none, and swiftly crossed the clearing to kneel beside Thor. The Asgardian was mostly unharmed, and Loki smiled. Then he glanced up and glowered.
He flicked his hand and the dagger hidden up his sleeve fell into his palm with a slight shink sound. He took several steps through the snow before stooping down over Aggar's prone form. He sent a spark of his magic through the Jotun lord, waking him.
Leaning over the fallen man, Loki smiled grimly as he watched Aggar recognize him. "You… what…"
Almost gently, Loki bent down beside him and tenderly whispered in his ear, "This is for my brother, you piece of shit."
Then he thrust the dagger up through Aggar's gut wound, twisting it as the Jotun lord screamed in exquisite pain. Loki lingered and enjoyed his screams, smiling coldly. There was no one around to hear him.
When Aggar finally fell silent, Loki stood in a fluid motion, wiping the blood fastidiously off of his dagger and moving back to where Thor lay in the snow.
The next moment, they were back on Asgard.
When Helblindi woke groggily, it was to find many concerned faces leaning over him. He blinked, hard, trying to remember what was going on. When it came back to him he surged to his feet, lunging for his sword. But it was to no purpose. Thor had gone.
Helblindi snarled. The Asgardian must have had a friend with him to help him escape, and he had run like a coward. He paced and spat insults, furious that Thor had once again left unharmed. Byleistr reached for him, grabbing his arm, and Helblindi breathed deeply to calm himself.
When he turned to look at his brother, he found nearly twenty Jotuns looking back at him.
"Aggar is dead," Byleistr said quietly, "His wounds must have killed him."
At least one good thing had come of this, then.
One of the more experienced-looking Jotun soldiers stepped forward, placing a hand over his heart. "You defended him with your life. We all saw it, my prince, and we will make sure that everyone knows" he bowed deeply, "You have our allegiance."
As the crown prince, Helblindi should have had their allegiance regardless. It sounded a foolish thing to say, but it wasn't. The fallout from the conflict with Asgard had left Jotunheim's nobility at odds with each other, many blaming his sire for the recklessness of the war and the loss of the Casket. Therefore, many of the southern tribes had thrown in behind Aggar, secretly plotting for him and his lineage to become their new line of kings at Laufey's first wrong move. It had left Jotunheim shattered, a world at war with itself.
Until now.
-631 years ago-
Helblindi sat amongst his favorite purple flowers in Asgard's gardens, feeling a world away from where he had been the last time he was here. Then, the servants and courtiers passing by had smiled, or at least nodded respectfully when they had seen him. Of course, he had been a child then, and therefore less of a threat, but even Jotun children would not have been smiled at on Asgard anymore.
He watched tiredly as Byleistr foraged through the flowers, looking for his favorites. In one hand, he clutched a bundle of freshly cut blooms, and in the other he cradled their new baby brother. Loki was quiet at the moment, his seemingly incessant sad cooing sounds—his dam had been killed moments after his birth, and the babe still seemed to call out for him—were temporarily quieted. Perhaps, Helblindi thought, it was the smell of the flowers. They smelled like peace.
Byleistr looked up to find Helblindi watching him and smiled sadly. Helblindi frowned. His little brother only recently turned 375, just barely into his growing years, but he seemed much older. He had lost so much so very young, and Helblindi wondered if he would even be able to remember the days before the war. It was unlikely.
But at least they still had each other. That was the only blessing he had left, that his father and brothers still lived.
He sighed and looked back down at the ground, waiting for his sire to finish speaking with the Allfather and come out to meet them.
At long last, he heard footsteps and looked up. His sire and Odin stood a good distance from each other, neither willing to look at the other. Tension, disgust, and anger were written in the lines of their faces. Between them walked Frigga, stately, regal, and sad. And to Odin's left…
Helblindi brightened. The golden haired youth with the bright blue eyes could only be Thor. Thor, who he had laughed and played with. Thor, who he had taught how to hold a sword and encouraged to practice. Thor, who had used to smile at him as though he, too, was Helblindi's little brother.
Thor stepped forward towards him. He was smiling now, but there was something off about it. An edge that didn't used to be there before, a darkening in his sky blue eyes. Helblindi's responding smile weakened, turning concerned. "Thor, what—"
The blonde youth turned to look back at his father, who wasn't paying attention. He was speaking with one of his advisors in a low voice instead of watching his son.
"Father," Thor called out. There was admiration in his voice and gaze, hero worship. Helblindi frowned, wondering when the Asgardian prince had started idolizing his sire. "Father, look!"
Odin shook his head as if to say not now, son, but Frigga suddenly took a step forward, going white. She realized what was about to happen before Helblindi did. Byleistr had emerged from the flowers a few feet away from the Asgardian prince, smiling politely as he shifted tiny Loki's weight onto his hip.
"Father, look, I'm just like you!" And with that, Thor lunged forwards, running Byleistr through with the dagger that had been hidden up his sleeve.
It was the first time that Thor tried to kill one of them. It wouldn't be the last.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I hoped you enjoyed it, please let me know what you think if you have time :)
Love you all!
