Chapter 42
Harry glanced across the table at Loki-Two. "Hello. You're"—he glanced at his wrist—"twelve seconds late."
"One," Loki-Two said, "you're not wearing a watch. And two, you have said that every single time we have met over the last month and a half."
"And you've told me that I've told you that you're late every single week for the past month and a half."
"And then you've told me that you keep on doing it because it makes you feel like a businessman."
"And then we proceed to continue with the conversation," Harry said. "Well, we hopefully do. Perhaps we should scrap the formula—or perhaps not. My predictability is unpredictable."
Loki-Two nodded. "Your unpredictability is becoming predictable. It may be time for a change. But that is not what I have come to speak to you about," he said. "I want to return to Asgard."
"You do, do you? And I suppose you need me to hold your hand and walk you through the portal?"
"No, believe it or not." Loki-Two smiled. "I do, however, believe that you might want to help me in my endeavour to take the throne."
For a moment, Harry was silent. "What's in it for me?"
"Well, you'll get a rather like-minded person on the throne."
Harry stared at him.
"It will also be rather good revenge on Odin. We can throw him off the Bifrost, if you like."
'We're doing it,' Loki said. 'Well, maybe not the throwing him off the Bifrost bit. We don't want to risk creating a situation similar to us, except with Odin in their head.'
'Maybe that's why Dumbledore is so wise and annoying.'
'No, Odin is obviously Director Fury, one-eyed and a control freak who completely fails when it comes to finding or defeating us.'
Harry grinned. "Let's do it." He stood from his seat.
"Now?"
"Well, we've got to be unpredictable."
"Luckily, I've been planning this."
Harry frowned. "That's no fun."
"Either is failure."
"I wouldn't know; I've never experienced it."
A while later, Harry and Loki-Two stood in a cave upon the side of an Icelandic mountain. A few feet away from them, flush against the wall and giving off a slight glow, was the portal to Asgard. Both of them had come prepared for the occasion, dressed in illusionary clothes which were best suited for the Asgardian peasantry.
Loki-Two eyed Harry. "No sceptre?"
"Nope. It didn't work when I tested it on you, so there's not really much point. I'm pretty sure that the Mind Stone should be more powerful than that, though, and the people under its control shouldn't be put out of its control by being knocked out."
"It's almost as in Thanos didn't trust me, and purposefully limited its power."
"That can't be. Everyone trusts us."
"Yes," Loki-Two said. "Now let's go and violate that trust by betraying and dethroning Odin."
As one, they stepped through the portal and out into another cave. Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out two broomsticks, waving his wand over them to bring them to full size.
Loki-Two sneered disdainfully at them.
"Don't be such a prude—it's okay to ride a big, long stick of wood, especially since this is the most expensive one that thievery can buy," Harry said. "We've got to fly a few hundred miles to get to the palace, and I don't know how the wards will react to teleportation."
"Fine."
A few minutes later, they were out of the cave and in flight, cloaked in partial invisibility spells to hide them from the gaze of anyone below. Whilst Harry had originally discovered himself to be naturally skilled at broom-riding, and had only grown in skill, Loki-Two did not have the same affinity.
Thusly, their journey was made quite a bit longer than it needed to be, with Loki-Two managing to go plunging downwards—with his broom or without it—whenever they came across a particularly strong gust of wind.
Eventually, though, they neared the city and began to descend, Loki-Two quite a bit faster than Harry. They managed to land without destroying any buildings or killing any civilians, and began to walk towards the palace, their faces disguised. The city guard was probably still looking for Loki—or any citizens resembling Loki—after all.
Walking through the city proved to be quite the task for Harry. Maintaining illusions was generally easy for him, even if he didn't anchor them to an object. It wasn't quite as easy when you had to put up with two Lokis, one of them who could still talk to you even if you blocked your ears, ranting about how terrible Asgard was.
"If you guys think it's so terrible, why do you want to rule it?" Harry asked. "Never mind. I remember—we just like ruling over people, but humans are too easy to rule over, so you have to rule over the godlike beings."
"Well, I wouldn't call Asgardians godlike—except me, of course."
'We're not godlike; we are gods.'
The palace soon loomed overhead, and the number of guards in the street grew.
Harry glanced at a few guards as they walked past. "I hope there are no dangerous criminals around."
A while of walking later, they were slipping into a side door, leaving a guard's body hidden inside a wall behind them and bringing another with them, this one under the effects of an overpowered Imperius Curse; it would not work for too long, but it would be good enough,
As they had planned, Loki-Two resumed his true form, and Harry took the guise of one of the guards they had taken out. He handcuffed Loki-Two with a pair of fake manacles, and guided him forward, occasionally prodding him with a spear. The actual guard took the lead.
Like that, they marched him to the throne, drawing the stares of many others who seemed too intimidated to do anything. The guards outside of the throne room were apparently not so easily swayed. They crossed their spears to block the group as they attempted to enter the room.
"Out of the way," Harry mentally commanded his Imperiused guard to say. "We're bringing Loki to Odin. He surrendered himself outside the castle."
One of the guards glanced backwards to somewhere Harry couldn't see. For a few moments, he spoke with someone else in hushed tones, and then signalled for the guards to stand down. They parted to allow Harry and the others through.
Harry locked his illusions in place, ensuring that Odin would not see through them. He moved through the doorway and to the side slightly, hanging back and readying himself in case someone decided to attack Loki-Two; that was the only reason he needed to be in the throne room at the moment.
Kidnapping or assassinating Odin and Thor right now would be silly—Loki-Two needed to be forgiven for his crimes first. And so Harry sat back and watched as Loki-Two gave his sob story to Odin, lamenting about how he had been so cruelly enslaved by Thanos, and had only now managed to free himself from his grasp.
When Odin decreed that Loki was to be taken to the dungeons and inspected, Harry relaxed. He hadn't expected Loki-Two to be executed on the spot, per se, but with what he had heard of Odin, there was a slight risk of that happening.
Now, Harry simply had to ensure that the Asgardian healers detected the massive imprint he had made sure to leave on Loki-Two's mind a few hours ago, just in case they missed what Thanos had done. And if they didn't, he would have to use a few spells on them, too.
As Loki was marched from the room, Harry followed the formation of guards, bringing his Imperiused comrade with him.
A few minutes later, Loki-Two was safely imprisoned, two Asgardians standing over him and working their mind magic. Harry and three other guards stared on at them.
Harry was beginning to find guard work boring and he had been doing it for less than half an hour. How did people do this for their whole lives? Harry had already planned how he would kill everyone around him a dozen times over.
"I'm surprised that Loki got off so lightly."
Harry glanced at the other guard. "He was being mind-controlled."
"Yes, but how do we know that? It could just be more of his sorcery. A sentence of only a few weeks is far too short—he should be kept under observation for longer than that, even if he's innocent. If he goes and does this again, I'm blaming that mother of his—she lets her emotions influence her far too easily."
Harry nodded. "Aye, but you must admit that he is very handsome."
"What?"
"Anyway, my shift is over. Goodbye."
Loki-Two had now been imprisoned for just over a week and rigorous observation from the healers, as well as a wee bit of help and manipulation from Harry, had led to him being cleared of all of his crimes—including the attempted destruction of Jotunheim, which Harry had also managed to blame on Thanos' mind control.
He was still being held, though, out of Asgardian spite, and would remain in custody for a week.
That gave Harry a week to make sure that Thor and Odin went missing, if he didn't want Loki-Two to be looked upon suspiciously. Thor had already been dealt with; without his hammer, he was no more than a regular, if reckless, Asgardian. It hadn't been hard to kidnap him whilst he was sleeping, take his place, and proclaim that he was going on a hunting trip.
Harry wandered through the hallways of the palace, Loki's directions guiding him to Odin's rooms.
'So,' he said, 'are we actually going to kill him?'
'I'm not sure.'
'Please hurry up with your decision making. We're going to arrive in less than two minutes.'
'Fine. Don't kill him so we can decide if we're going to kill him later. Use lethal force if it necessary for our survival.'
Harry nodded and began to dispel his illusions. He stepped into an alcove and pulled on his necklace. He felt as it layered different, more powerful illusions over him, which not only changed his face, elongated his hair and made it blond, but made his build bulkier.
His clothes shimmered, changing colour but retaining their rough form.
A mirror materialised in front of Harry and he flashed himself a charming grin, making sure that everything was in place.
A few minutes later, he was arriving at the doors of Odin's chambers. He casually walked past the guards, who parted to allow him through, with mutters of "my prince."
Harry nodded at them and strode into Odin's chambers. The first room was grand, with wide, warder windows and an ornate fountain in the middle. Beyond that were two doors, one leading into Odin's study, and the other into his bedroom.
Without pause, Harry walked onwards, and knocked on the study's door.
"Come in," came Odin's reply, a few moments later.
Harry felt the enchantments on the door disengage, and pushed it open.
Odin stood as he entered the room.
"Father," Harry said. "I need to talk to you."
With a sigh, Odin moved over to a table with a few bottles of alcohol on. "Not pertaining Loki, again? I've told you, Thor, that—"
"No, no. As fantastic of a topic Loki is, I've come here to discuss something else."
Odin's back was turned. He didn't even see Harry move before his wand was embedded a few inches in his back, firing off a dozen spells. Limply, he collapsed to the floor, smashing his face into the table as he did so.
Harry scratched his head. "Man, I have a weird definition of 'discuss.'"
He took the liquor from the table and began to pour it over Odin.
'What are you doing?'
Harry paused. 'We're not setting him on fire, then?'
'I told you that we're not killing him yet.'
'Well, we wouldn't kill him—the fire would.'
'Harry…'
'Fine, I'll get on with the framing.'
"Thor!" Harry bellowed, his voice replicating Odin's. "What are—"
He swung his wand around, bringing a table smashing against a wall and flinging fake blood around the room. After causing a bit more destruction, and ensuring that the guards were rushing towards him, Harry slung Odin over his shoulder and leapt through the window, escaping into the night.
