- Chapter 36 -
"The Norns sent Loki back. They're angry with us," Frigga said quietly. That seemed to fit with Skuld saying they were guilty of something. It was never certain with Skuld. She was such a vindictive creature, childish and petty.
As Loki told Stark that he would defend his family Thor listened. Warmth and love spread through him for one he believed lost. Little Brother, I've wronged you terribly, and yet Frey says you stood in my defense. I don't understand. As hard as he tried, Thor couldn't see how the Chitauri and Loki's attack on him while he was mortal fit together. After everything I've done and let happen, did you just strike when you had the chance? Can I even be angry with you since Mjolnir safeguarded my life? Did you turn from me then, for just a moment? Thor sighed at his own foolishness. How could I have ever believed that you were lost to me? I gave up on you, yet you kept trying again and again. I'm so sorry Little Brother. Would you forgive me? What could I do to make amends? How can we make this right?
"We don't know who the master of the Chitauri is yet. Whomever it is, they were worrisome enough to draw Loki from the temple grounds of the Norns," Odin spoke first to his wife, then turned back to Frey. "Who is it Frey? Who has drawn my son from the Norns?"
"This isn't the secret that Skuld has drawn us together to see. This is only part of it. There is much more and much worse," Frey motioned to the Truthkeeper as he spoke. "The Truthkeeper will enlighten everyone here." He liked what Loki said, however. It confirmed that it was done for family. He had misunderstood and that was alright.
Having to turn back around without an answer caused Odin to frown mightily at Frey before turning. He didn't like the resigned look on his brother-by-law's face. Loki was trained by the Norns. Is Loki a Norn? No, if he was he wouldn't have left the temple grounds. The Norns don't take men to train. The Norns are all woman. But Loki is a man. He is a man.
Again, his mother's voice whispered to him, Children born of the ice, both powerful and genderless. They are cursed beings, wretched and beautiful. Should any one of them survive the weight of their own power, there would be a pair of Jotunns. A pair, within a single frail body.
"But mother," Odin said, remembering his youthful confusion, "How could they not be a man, or a woman? How can they be two people? I don't understand." He remembered fondly how she would stroke her hand through his hair. She would lean down and kiss his forehead."Because they were both, and neither. They are tiny pieces of flowing ice and are left to return to the ice after they're born. Now go to sleep, my sweet boy." His mother would tuck the covers around his little shoulders and blow out the lamp by his bed. As a small child, Odin loved to hear the stories his mother, the Lady Bestla, told him every night. They were the stories of her people. The free peoples of Jotunheim. The giants of the ice.
Braettpar. The thought oozed out of his memories, dark and dreadful. Frey has said, but no. Loki was shunned for being small. Laufey was proud, too proud to admit to siring a runt. The illness is so rare it's almost nothing but a child's tale. If he'd been wrong, if Loki was one of the braettpar and not a runt, then Frey would be right; what he'd done to Loki would be inexcusable, unforgivable. All the boy's long years of illness seemed more sensible to Odin. A braettpar. No, it cannot be that. No Jotunn braettpar survives past infancy. The illness is too rare, just a wild tale, there's no cure. All the tales say that any infant born with it is ...abandoned …in a temple. Something approaching horrified panic ripped through Odin. Frigga felt the inward change through his outwardly unchanged demeanor. She arched an eyebrow in question. He just shook his head. This moment wasn't the time or the place to discuss something so personal. Odin prayed that he wasn't wrong. For the first time, he ardently hoped that Laufey abandoned Loki for being too small. He shoved the panic down, forced himself to feel nothing. You are King and a King has no heart, he reminded himself. You are King and a King can have no heart.
I cannot think on this now, not with the threat of an Inquiry looming. Loki with the Norns, that must have my attention. Loki is probably not a Norn, but he still has the training. Loki wouldn't have left the Norns for anything less than the worst threat. Odin liked to think he knew enough about Loki's love of learning to be confident in that. Who was it that drew you from them? He didn't like the prospects. Whomever it was would have to be an immensely powerful person. He was confident that he knew everyone in the Nine Realms that could be a threat of that level. Is it someone bringing the Chitauri into the Nine Realms, or is someone outside sending them in? The list of those powerful enough in the Nine Realms was short and included Frey. Not that he thought Frey to be an active threat. While he'd threatened war, it was only in defense of Loki. Odin was honest enough to see that. One of the few things that he trusted about his brother-by-law was that Frey would honor the promise made with the gilded sword pin. It was a very specific support for Frigga and their children instead of a more whole and unconditional support, but it was there. It was the promise of family, and the enduring support of it. That gilded sword pin, though tiny enough to fit in the palm of his hand, was one of the most important gifts he'd been given after his wedding. It was difficult to admit, but he was still honest with himself. By caring for Loki as he had, Frey kept that promise more fully than he'd thought his brother-by-law would. He was also honest enough to acknowledge his own growing gratitude for Frey's constant care of Loki. As much as he dislikes me he still took care of my child. He took care of my Loki when I didn't. Despite disliking me so much he honored the promise he made. Odin sighed in irritation. Perhaps it was time to acknowledge that Frey had valid reasons to dislike him. Perhaps there are things Asgard can do for Vanaheim. When I return to Asgard, I'll see about getting these things done.
.-.-.-.
"That's where I was and how I knew. Does that satisfy you?" Loki asked. It wouldn't. She had to give him the last link in the chain as he saw it. There was no getting out of this. Maybe she could get around it. She hoped she could. The plain truth was too terrible to ever tell him.
"Ok, that's the beginning. I'd like the middle next. I'd like to know where you went in the months before you were with him. And how did he just happen to find you? I want the truth," Tony had a growing suspicion that those months were connected to Loki's sickness, to the dark days. Tony rarely ever thought of them as more than the 'dark days'. Those were the worst years of his entire life, even including his childhood. He wasn't keen on remembering them. He hated himself enough without constantly adding reminders as to why. He had enough reminders. His aversion to even thinking about that time period was probably what caused him to miss this. Pain and fear twined together in his mind when he thought that Loki had used his aversion to thinking about what he'd done during that time against him. Combined with her lack of seidr whispers, it made it very difficult to see if she was misleading him or not. He couldn't protect her, he couldn't protect their children, if he didn't know the truth. He needed the full and complete truth. Tony was very aware suddenly of the fear that sat like a lump in the pit of his stomach. What has she kept from me? Why does she keep doing this?!
Loki almost shivered, nearly missed the timing but was able to slightly tense up as their bargain activated again. The seidr in her blood produced another powerful urge to tell him what he wanted to know. The deep scar on her chest began to itch slightly at the edges. "It wasn't a maelstrom that I fell into," Loki was again uncertain where to begin. "Do you remember when I told you how Yggdrasil was created?"
"The Celestials created it," Tony still remembered that history lesson. It was scary as hell. It wasn't something he knew what to do with yet.
"Yes, and do you remember what I told you about the Bifrost? How it transfers matter?" Loki asked. There were a few different lesson's she'd given him over the years. He was more than capable of learning. In fact, he was more than capable of using what he learned. Her King of Machines was both glorious and terrifying.
"Hell yeah! The data you showed me was awesome! It's going to take me awhile to work through it all." The data on creating a stable wormhole and phased matter transfer was astounding. Once Tony and Rhodey were done converting it into the means for the people of Earth to understand, he was certain that they could advance several fields of science by a few thousand years.
.-.-.-.
What more do you know, my dear? Frey arched an eyebrow at that. That was more information on the Celestials that Loki and Anthony had which he didn't. The exact relationship of the Celestials to the Nine Realms had always been unknown. They came before and left relics of awesome power in their wake. Their relics couldn't even be moved from their resting spots. How do you know these things, my dear? It was surprising that Loki had this knowledge. No one else in the Nine Realms did. That was going to have to change. Beyond satisfying his own curiosity, as the Lord of an Elder Realm he was obligated to discover what Loki knew and how she came by this information.
That Anthony was trying to understand the mechanics of the Bifrost wasn't surprising to Frey. He was constantly trying to take apart things in Frey's palace. A small smile touched his lips as he remembered finding Anthony sitting amid the dissembled pieces of an unused Soul Forge a few weeks ago. Taking the Soul Forges apart was normally forbidden as they were considered sacred machines, but Loki was being tended to in that room. Unfortunately, Anthony had nothing else to do while the healers worked. He was chattering to Loki as he was elbow deep into the opened side panel. The Heal Mistresses and Heal Meisters were aware of his temper and hadn't wanted to say anything as he began disassembling their Soul Forge. They told him that Anthony had a small tool made of many other tools on him that he used to begin taking everything apart. More often than not, Anthony reeked of machines. Frey didn't mind. It made Loki happy.
Loki seemed to have information on the Celestials that was far more extensive than anyone else ever had. Odin frowned lightly at the screen. This was information Asgard needed, and he needed to procure for Asgard. It was his obligation as the Lord of an Elder Realm. How Loki came by this was almost as important as what Loki had come by. What he truly didn't like was that Stark seemed to have at least some of this knowledge. He disapproved of Loki educating Stark in this manner. No mortal was meant to have this kind of knowledge. He doubted that Stark would even be able to understand something so complex. The knowledge itself certainly didn't belong in the hands of someone like Stark. Odin still hoped again that he was wrong about what kind of beast Stark might be. He still hoped he was wrong, even though he didn't believe he was. Odin's ability to bring his son home depended on him being wrong in this matter.
They have something that transfers matter? Like a teleporter? Director Fury continued to dislike most of what he was hearing. However, if Stark knew about the Bifrost then that was something he very much wanted to hear about. What he wanted was any data Stark had on it. Being able to hand that over to his research and development staff would be best. The Director liked to keep his people happy. It was what was best for them and him.
.-.-.-.
A smile touched Loki's lips at that. It was never her secrets that she enjoyed sharing with him. Knowledge was what she enjoyed sharing with Tony. Not only was he intelligent enough to use what she gave him, but he was honestly excited by the knowledge itself. That excitement always made her happy. "I know, but do you remember how the Bifrost connects to Asgard?"
"By extension, as an engine?" he asked.
"By an extension, yes," Loki said.
"Ok, so what does that have to do with the not-a-maelstrom?" Tony asked. A brief wondering if he could cut the Bifrost off and drag it home crossed his mind before he refocused.
"It relates because there's a secondary system on the underside of the Bifrost, closer to Asgard proper. It was a safety measure, for when the Bifrost was still being used to create the other realms. The Celestials knew that there would be accidents, so they put a secondary system in place. If the Bifrost is ever interrupted, then the secondary system activates. It catches the matter placed in the primary system. Once caught, the secondary system opens a special portal. It takes the matter and sends it through that portal. The matter is reassembled on the other side; intact, unharmed, and properly stored," Loki had switched back into her teaching voice. She hadn't learned these things until she dropped into the portal. Landing on the other side of that portal turned out to be a double-edged sword that cut many people.
"If it was a portal then where did you go Loki? You still haven't told me where you went?" Tony pressed.
Looking down, Loki hesitated then. "It was just a place. Tony, you don't want this," Loki looked up at him with eyes bright. "Please, just forget about it. You don't want to know this." And I can't tell you everything. Hope is treacherous!
For a long moment Tony looked at Loki. She didn't want to tell him. That meant that she was keeping something important from him. There was more. He nodded, "I may regret asking," he leaned in closer, "but if you're intent on me not knowing, then something tells me that I need to know." He took her hand and raised it to his lips. Tony placed a kiss on her knuckles. He tried to be as honest as he could, "It scares me Loki, when you keep things from me. It. Scares. Me. I can't protect you if I don't know the truth. I can't protect our kids. I won't live like that. I won't live in fear that there's something out that's going to rip you away from me." Tony kissed her hand again, "I might not want to know, but I need to know. Please, Loki. Please, tell me where you went, what you did, and how you got from there into his hands. Please, babe. I want the truth. Please?" His seidr pulsed again. Safe with me, it whispered to her.
"The portal sent me to the tenth realm. A haven for the engineers," Loki said quietly as the urge to speak grew stronger. "It is the last of the Celestial's ship."
