"I looked in on your visit to Midgard," said Odin about halfway through breakfast while glancing over a sheaf of parchment for the upcoming Council meeting. "That is certainly not how I would have chosen to reintroduce Asgard to the mortals."
"You're the one who instructed Heimdall to allow Brunnhilde to leave Asgard if she wished, dear," said Frigga. "You cannot complain if the results were indiscreet."
"I do not complain," Odin protested. "I am merely noting that their methods were unconventional. But effective nonetheless."
"Thank you, Father," said Thor, who was tossing scraps from his plate just high enough that the ravens and the wolves had about an equal chance of catching them.
"The people did quite like our thundersnow," said Loki.
"Yes, a clever way of combining your natural gifts," said Odin. "I'm sure you will find many applications for it."
"I hope so," said Thor, grinning.
"The Council will expect a report from you. Some of the members aren't happy, but others have already been pestering me about pursuing trade opportunities."
"What sort of trade opportunities?" Munin had just swooped in and snatched a piece of bacon right as Freki's jaws were about to close on it, eliciting an offended growl from her and a jeering croak from Hugin.
"A few of the other realms are likely to want to approach Midgard for trade once Asgard begins, and Volund of the guild of seidrsmiths would like to make the first offer on vibranium, before the Dvergar can get to it."
"The House of Freyr will be returning within a day or two," Frigga informed Loki while Thor and Odin continued their trade discussion.
"Excellent," said Loki, sitting up a little straighter. It wasn't just that he wanted to tell Fjolnir about the thundersnow; he couldn't wait to dive into the books Gerd said she would bring him.
Frigga's lip curled in a knowing smirk. "How will you be dividing your time between studying frjosleikr and mortal magic? It is quite the dilemma for you. I do not recommend forgoing sleep, no matter how sorely you are tempted."
Loki gave her a flat look. "Mortals being somewhat temporary, I expect I might need to give them the greater focus, at least until they're convinced of my earnestness. How is it that Asgard didn't know of these sorcerers?"
She chewed a bite of pastry thoughtfully. "We did have some notion that there were a few who could wield magic on Midgard. The common assumption has always been that it came from diluted Alfar or Vanir blood or that they'd gotten hold of a few enchanted artifacts. You're quite sure it isn't seidr?"
"No, it felt like something entirely different. I have a theory about it."
"Oh?"
"Stark gave me the idea, actually. Mortals lack inherent magic, but what if they've worked out the mechanics of it?"
"How curious," said Frigga. "I suppose those aren't something we've needed to understand in order to make use of our seidr, but they likely have no choice."
"Precisely."
"Well, I will be eager to learn what you discover from them."
"Though on the other hand," said Loki, "the alliance with Midgard is not at all contingent upon my ability to perform mortal magic, while I doubt I will seem very credible to the Jotnar if I look like a fumbling child when manipulating ice."
"You mean to present yourself to them as Jotun, then?" Her tone was guarded but hinted at support for the idea.
Loki grimaced. "Not initially, I think. I doubt that would go well. Whatever I do, it must be soon, before Laufey learns of me by other means."
"He has not, thus far," said Odin, and all attention turned to him. "Lines of communication to Jotunheim are limited. Word has reached Vanaheim and possibly Nidavellir, but no other realm has so fraught a history with Jotunheim as ours, so it will matter to them only insofar as they believe it may be useful politically. I anticipate nothing but support from Alfheim, given their long tradition of offering sanctuary to refugee skamrbarn, but if they know, they have shown no sign."
"This is perhaps the ideal moment for the realms to be distracted by the prospect of closer dealings with Midgard," said Frigga. "And by revealing yourself to Midgard as you did, you blunted the value of your heritage as a weapon." She gestured to one of the waiting servants, who swooped in to clear away her plate and goblet. "However, before either of you go courting more alliances across Yggdrasil, boys, I believe there are a few closer to home that need your attention."
Thor and Loki exchanged glances laden with reluctance and trepidation.
"Yes, and we should meet later to discuss our strategy against the Dokkalfar," said Odin.
"They aren't the only ones we should discuss, Father," said Loki. "I have an idea I think you will like."
"Very well," said Odin. "Find me after the Council adjourns."
"I will," said Loki, ignoring the curious look from Frigga and the suspicious one from Thor.
X
Sif was, once again, at the training grounds. She made the briefest pause in her practice forms when she caught sight of Loki, causing him to freeze in place. It was a sensation akin to being spotted by a full-grown bilgesnipe, and he didn't relax immediately when she kept going.
"You weren't on Midgard long," she observed.
"No," Loki agreed. "Brunnhilde joined us halfway through."
Sif threw her head back in a groan. "Norns, did you come here to torture me? I can't believe what an idiot I was. How much does she despise me?"
"She doesn't despise you. I suspect you may have knocked loose something painful she was holding too tightly to, if only by accident. She was happier yesterday than I've seen her yet."
Sif narrowed her eyes. "You asked her to spar with me, didn't you?"
"I rather thought it would go better than it did."
Her mouth twisted. "Well. It was an excellent bout, at least at first."
He risked a triumphant smirk, and when she didn't lunge at him with her sword, he kept it. "She said you remind her of herself." Sif's eyes lit up, and Loki's smirk softened into a smile, if a slightly painful one. "I'm sorry I suspected you of treachery, Sif."
She set her sword down against the weapons rack. "It seems it's only a matter of timelines that I don't deserve it."
Loki considered that. It wasn't a pleasant thought, but she didn't appear to like it much either. He stuck out his hand. "How fortunate we are to be in this one, then." She grabbed his forearm and jerked him into a tight hug instead, muttering something that sounded like a rather foul insult into his shoulder. "Enough of that," he complained when the hug kept going. "Take up your sword again so we can fight."
X
It wasn't difficult to track Fandral down. Thor didn't even need to get Heimdall's help. Everyone at The King's Spear already knew that he was at another mead hall, The Shattered Flagon, out near the edge of the city. He'd become a subject of much mockery, as he had done little but drink and mope about by himself since the mortal maiden had spurned him at the banquet, and even his dearest companions wanted none of his company. Thor counted it fortunate that the gossip included nothing about Loki or that Fandral had narrowly avoided execution.
Just as they'd said, Fandral was nursing a large tankard at the bar of The Shattered Flagon, and no other patron was coming within yards of him. Thor took the stool to his right. Fandral turned a groggy eye upon him and flinched away when he saw who it was. "How can I be of service, your highness?"
"So formal," said Thor.
Fandral looked utterly miserable. His hair and beard had been left to their own devices, his clothing was rumpled and stained, and there were dark circles under his eyes. "If you're here to flatten me with Mjolnir, I beg you to get on with it."
"Enough," said Thor. "Loki pleaded for your life. I will not be the one to take it." He clenched his fists. "You saw me greet him on Maw's ship. Did you not trust me to know my own brother?"
"I was wrong."
"Then what do you mean to do about it?"
"Whatever I can to earn back your friendship and Loki's."
Much as Thor did not want to forgive him, it was difficult to stay angry with a person so wretched with remorse, particularly when he'd made greater mistakes than Fandral's and had lived with the consequences. "We may soon find a use for you," he said, watching Fandral closely for his reaction. "Someone with your charm would make a fine ambassador to Jotunheim."
Fandral closed his eyes. He drained his tankard in one, then threw it on the floor. "For Asgard."
X
"This Dark Elf stuff is nuts," said Darcy, turning a page of the ancient illuminated history book she'd been immersed in.
"You found a book on the Dokkalfar?" said Vidar. "Why bother? Every child of Asgard knows the tales. Any of us could have told you."
"Yeah, bedtime stories are nice, but they're not gonna cut it as a main source if I want it to count towards my independent study credits." It was super weird how little Asgardians seemed to care about history as a subject to study in depth. Maybe they figured oral tradition was enough thanks to their crazy long lifespans, but it seemed like a pretty big blindspot to Darcy. "I found a couple of Asgardian sources but they were kinda sparse. This one says it's from Alfheim. Same broad strokes in the narrative but a lot more detail. It goes back before Asgard was founded. A bunch of elves left Alfheim and settled on Svartalfheim, the dwarves' homeworld. Which was called Dvergverden back then."
"What, they colonized it?" said Erik, looking up from the complex equations he was working on.
"That's what I thought at first, but the dwarves actually invited them," said Darcy. "They wanted to study the black hole Dvergverden orbits and combine their knowledge."
"Then the Ljosalfar and Dokkalfar are the same race?" said Vidar, frowning.
"Yep," said Darcy. "The different names came from the elves who stayed on Alfheim. They wanted to make it clear to everyone else that the atrocities that happened later didn't have anything to do with them. But for a couple of your long-ass generations, it looked like it was all going to work out fine." She flipped forward a few sections in the book. "Until this one guy, Kraw the Uncontrollable, found a weapon that could reshape reality—"
"The Aether," said Vidar.
"Right. He decided to make Dvergverden into an elves-only kind of place and renamed it Svartalfheim. He slaughtered a bunch of elves who objected, and the dwarves that survived fled to this thing they built around a star—"
"What, like a Dyson sphere?" said Jane. "A working one?!"
"If you're speaking of Nidavellir, yes," said Vidar. "Their smithing is unparalleled by anyone else in Yggdrasil."
"Yeah I wasn't even going to try to pronounce that," Darcy muttered. She was getting better at some of these tangly Norse-sounding words, but she'd been mentally editing that one to "Nevada" and not bothering. "Anyway, Alfheim, Vanaheim, and Jotunheim saw all this happening and weren't super thrilled about it. It says here that the dwarven genocide was a big part of why Vanaheim decided to build Asgard. They were afraid Kraw wouldn't stop with one world, and they were right. War broke out on a bunch of different planets. Asgard under King Buri was probably the only reason Kraw didn't take over all of Yggdrasil, but he came pretty close.
"Enter Malekith the Accursed, one of Kraw's advisors. (Who picks these names? Seriously.) Malekith didn't like Kraw's battle strategy I guess. He assassinated Kraw and took control of the Aether. That was around when Bor became King of Asgard. He went a lot harder than his dad and managed to beat the Dark Elves all the way back to Svartalfheim. They fought so long that it left the whole planet uninhabitable."
"It sure looked that way when we saw it," said Jane.
"Malekith still had the Aether, though," Darcy went on. "He was going to use this big celestial alignment thing to regain all the lost territory in one swoop, but this is the part I don't really get. It says he changed the Dark Elves so that they would be the only ones who could thrive in the darkness? Changed them how? Did they need better night vision or something?"
"Malekith seeks to wield the Aether to transform the universe into dark matter." The four of them turned to see Thor striding into the lab. Vidar put fist to heart at once. He relaxed when Thor acknowledged him with a nod. "He must have used it on his own people first, so that they would survive it."
"Well, Bor managed to get the Aether away from him and wipe out the rest of Malekith's army," Darcy concluded.
"Or so he thought," said Thor grimly. "How goes your work?"
"We've finished the designs," said Erik. "As to the construction…"
"It will be ready to test before week's end, my prince," said Vidar.
"Thank you," said Thor. He smiled at the humans. "You must be desperate to turn your attention back to your own research. I will never be able to repay you for the Asgardian lives this will save, but I hope you will consider it time well spent."
"Working on Asgard is going to speed up everything we've been doing by lifetimes," said Jane. "A few weeks is more than a fair trade."
X
Loki found Odin exiting the Council chambers a little past midday. "The meeting went well, Father?"
"Well enough." They began walking in the direction of Odin's study. "Commander Tyr is preparing to bring the Einherjar against Malekith's ship when we locate it and we'll be meeting with delegations from Nidavellir, Alfheim, and Vanaheim to discuss Midgard soon. What about you, Loki? No one has given you trouble since your return, I hope?"
"Not as yet. Perhaps they require a little more time to grow their courage."
"Then they will not like what that courage brings them," Odin growled. "What was it you wanted to speak with me about?"
Loki slipped into the nameless tongue, though no one else was in earshot. "Had Thor gone to Jotunheim and started a war, you would have stripped his power and banished him to Midgard."
"Yes…," said Odin.
"His experiences there humbled him, and we have seen the results."
"Of those and the other hardships he faced," said Odin. He waved a hand. "I have already said I will not be doing the same to you—not even if it would help you impress the mortal sorcerers. Your position is still too precarious."
"I know," said Loki quickly. "I do not raise the matter on my own account. Not this time. I only wonder…" He trailed off.
"What?" said Odin.
"I wonder if it might be a better solution than Niflheim."
The second Earth arc was so long that I was worried it'd be hard to get back into my Asgard groove. Nope! This chapter was delightful to write, even when it fought me a little in the history lesson scene. The winner is easily the House of Odin family breakfast. I had a lot of fun writing the overlapping conversations and including their awesome pets. It was the perfect way to begin the next arc. My favorite part is Frigga gently scolding the boys to go fix their friendships.
Loki and Sif are okay now! Yay! That scene came out much more easily than the one with Thor and Fandral, but I like them both.
WandaVision definitely made me keen to give Darcy a little more time to shine, and fortunately I had a pile of info I wanted to dump about the Dokkalfar, so she was just the right girl for the job. I kinda doubt she's going to end up switching majors to astrophysics with all the political stuff at her fingertips here. I've been rewatching all the MCU movies again and made it to Dark World. The way Odin explains the history is super fairy tale-esque and doesn't really work for me, but I tried not to entirely handwave it. I figure the popular version of the story could end up sounding the way Odin tells it because of how massive of an effect the Dark Elves had on the other realms.
What do you guys think of Loki's idea? I've been sitting on that one since practically the beginning of the fic. So excited.