- Chapter 69 -

Wave after wave of white light pulsed around the shining golden gem. The seidr surrounding the gem was growing and changing. It began pushing out against Loki's hands, struggling to escape. None of it could be allowed to escape so she pushed harder against it. The strain left sweat beaded on her pale skin. Her muscles began to shake under the strain of containing it. The ache blooming in her chest deepened. It spread through to her back almost instantly. It was risking the pricklish pain to continue. However, it would be worth it if she could get this done.

Both the gem and the blood-coated strand of hair floated a few feet away from her towards each other. She wrapped the hair around the Infinity Gem, molding it to the slick surface. Loki drew power from the gem to infuse the white seidr in her hands. Its vast might would allow her to create this boy anew. She closed her eyes for just a moment. As she pulled more power from the gem, it began to swirl into a golden cloud around her. She quickly composed both their bargain and the Learning Spell in that cloud of power. With that great might she reached out to grip him tight and pull him to her spell. Loki looked down to see him crawling swiftly towards her. Spouts and small blasts of silver fire spilled across the concrete to mark his coming and his passing. Small, soft, shrill cries echoed in the workshop with every inch burned closer. The flames stopped at her feet, burning a wide circle on the floor around her. Silver fires leapt up in spouts around her then spilled back over into itself to crackle and burn somewhere else in the circle. Both her and the flames flashed white when he touched her. The bargain sealed. A small flashing script flowed up her legs, over her torso to climb up her neck. The molten silver fires followed that script, swirling around her as it went. His white-blue influence flashed brilliantly while he traveled over her skin through her seidr. The script crossed her body heading directly towards the gem. It hit the cloud of golden mist surrounding the gem, sinking in swiftly. The mist flashed white-blue as he touched it through her. It sucked the silver fires into it, silencing the soft cries. The transfer was complete. The ache in her chest and through her back intensified. Then Loki composed the Inner Shield Ward. Next, she gathered her memories into the Learning Spell. This body would be formed with those things already in place. He would have many things from her before he was even born. For a second in time there was no sound as she began transmuting all the collected seidr into new atoms, new molecules, and new materials. All of it would be fashioned after her and her husband, then empowered by the Infinity Gem.

.-.-.-.

The screen flickered then turned black for less than a second. When the picture reappeared the quality of the recording was noticeably lessened. It was still a high-quality picture, but not what they were watching.

Turning quickly to Corporal McCorrmick, Director Fury asked, "What happened to the picture?"

The file paused quickly so that he could pay attention to the Director. "I'm sorry, sir, I don't know. It was intercepted this way. It changes resolution for a few minutes then changes back, sir," the corporal answered the Director.

"You couldn't fix this?" the Director asked. He didn't like having another example of Stark editing the security footage. It increased the likelihood of there being other things that were now missing that he needed to have. Despite that irritation he was still quite impressed with McCorrmick being able to pull an entire briefing out of data that his experts all agreed was as useful as gibberish to them. The data was too strongly encrypted to do anything with. Stark's personal tech was still too advanced. The recommendation that the intercepted data be disposed of was what prompted him to hand it to Corporal McCorrmick. The kid was a recent acquisition which the Director was still pleased over his good fortune in getting. The McCorrmicks were normally more combat oriented when they were young, but this one was skilled with computers. All he wanted was a little test to see what his newest asset could do. Director Fury honestly didn't expect what came from that decision. Although, with the amount of intelligence he'd already gathered, it was looking like a superb choice.

"No, sir. The data nearly corrupted when I attempted to adjust the resolution. As I mentioned, sir, the intercepted data was in a unique computer language, so I had no set way to work with it. I'm sorry, sir," Corporal McCorrmick explained. In his mind, he could suddenly see the image of two men again. They were as blurry and oddly familiar as ever. Skuld was thinking about them again. Having seen the image before he didn't pay as much attention to it again. There didn't seem to be anything that she wanted him to do with it, so he stored its memory for later.

When Director Fury turned back around the young corporal restarted the file. It was professionally embarrassing to have had as much troubled with this data as he did. When he wasn't able to track down any information on the language from any programming or hacking communities he ended up having to write his own program. Fortunately, he was able to use the sarammr to bridge the gap between his program and what he was working with to be able to decrypt it. A little smirk crossed his face. His supervisor told him to go home since he was headed home, but he had to stay. The data wasn't going to decrypt itself. He was still there the next day when his supervisor came back on duty. McCorrmick was there the day after that as well. When his supervisor was heading home and found him snoring on his desk, that was when he was ordered back to his dorm room. It was good timing. All the hard work was done. A few things had to be set to run overnight, then he finally left. He hadn't even bothered to take off his BDUs or boots. The siren call of his pillow overwhelmed him. Despite how tired he was, McCorrmick still got up early and made it in to work in a fresh set of BDUs. It was all waiting for him then. All he had to do was sort, label and reconstruct where needed. The young corporal wished he had the same ability to fast forward now that he did then. It took him another couple days to sort everything, and that was using the fast forward button to skip the quiet moments. He honestly had no idea how long this was going to take them. It didn't matter. The elder aunts were powerful like Aideshan. Skuld ensured that time wouldn't matter to them.

Frey listened to the Truthkeeper speak and wondered what the boy was trained to do. He wouldn't have trusted important information to one so young. This pretty boy seemed more trustworthy than most boys. He was respectful and quiet with a fair face. Neither of those told him much about the boy besides that he had pristine manners. Those and a pleasant general demeanor only reinforced that he came from a fine family. Frey still didn't feel like he knew enough about the Truthkeeper. His gaze went back to the screen. He wasn't likely to learn more about the boy himself, so he paid attention to what he was watching. This was showing him a great deal about a different boy. Frey still didn't know enough about his grandson either. That situation was changing in front of him and would continue to change as time went on. A smile crossed his face. Even though he wasn't there for Jay's birth, he was still getting to see how it happened. That was very exciting.

.-.-.-.

The silence was quickly filled with a gentle popping sound. The bloody hair melted into a thin red film which crept over the surface of the gem covering it completely. It bubbled and leapt up into thin red tendrils. Less than a second later little, shimmering, pink tendrils bubbled up next to the oozing red ones. The crystal interface grew along with the flesh and bridged the gap between machine and man. The mass of red tendrils grew outwards into coiling grey tissue with the occasional blue tendril reaching across it. Shimmering pink tendrils were entwined in the dense grey coils.

Two small bursts of tiny pink tendrils sprouted from just under the front of the grey tissue. Yellow randomly dotted the pink suddenly. The tiny tendrils wound together into two densely woven larger tendrils that reached out and up. Loki quickly composed three spells as once. The Learning Spell composed again to gather the designs from her memories. The Conjuration Spell was released with the Learning Spell to begin creating the mechanical pieces and other parts needed to bring her perfected designs into being. The pieces began forming quickly in front of her. As the Trifling Regard Weave released it grasped the pieces of her design and shrunk them down to the size of a single cell. Each shrunken piece was then pulled down towards the two crystal tendrils sprouting from the mass of coiling grey tissue. The pieces gathered around the tips of the tendrils, fitting over them. Thousands of pieces more were conjured, shrunken, pulled down and fit into place. Two clean white orbs were forming at the ends of those pink tendrils. They were swiftly filling up and closing in. When the orbs were almost completely filled in the pieces stopped being conjured so quickly. The last two pieces to be created were two small lenses. They flashed golden as she imbued them with the great might of the Infinity Gem. They turned a vivid shade of fern green with the imbuing then were fit to the front of the orbs. Each orb flashed with silver fire as he filled them through her. Tiny flecks of that silver fire were burned permanently into the green. Loki smiled as she saw them. Her designs were realized. The only thing he couldn't do was use the Rune of Sight. The eyes would serve him well. He would serve the most magnificent of her works well.

Dozens of tiny tendrils, oozing red and shimmering pink, sprouted from the underside at the back of the fully formed brain. They wove together to form a dense cord. More yellow dots popped up as a web of unknown tissue chased down the length of the spine. More red and pink tendrils shot out of the spine to roll into a densely packed knot. Even more tendrils spun out of the knot to form another smaller, heavy woven cord. It sat on top of the knot running from the top left to the bottom right. The pink of the crystal shimmered throughout the red of the forming muscle while the tiny yellow dots of tissue sprang up throughout the nerves and muscles. Loki pulled even more power from the Infinity Gem to strengthen the forming heartstring. More golden mist oozed from the brain in puffs and spurts. It travelled down the oozing red tendrils to sink into the strand of tendrils atop the knot. This muscle cord needed to be immensely strong to bear his weight. The knot pulsed as the tendrils melted into smooth muscle with crystal entwined in it. It pulsed twice before the muscle leapt to life and began beating steadily. White-blue light sparked along the forming heartstring making the pink of the crystal sparkle radiantly. The sparks danced over the surface of the muscle for a moment more before they gathered at the ends of the muscle strand. The light they gave off glowed brighter by the second. It slowly crawled down the length of the muscle, suffusing it in white-blue. When enough sparks of white-blue light were crawling over the surface of the muscle strand they ignited into a silver fire. From that fire sprang a sphere of white-blue seidr that engulfed the beating heart. It thrummed softly once it was in place and attached to the heartstring. A heartbeat later a white-blue Rune of Life traced in the air above that beating heart.

That's when Loki noticed the odd yellow tissue. It was sucking up and conducting the white seidr It shouldn't have been there at all, and she didn't know what the strange glands and structures were doing. All she knew were that the oddities came from her husband, since she'd seen then in her other children. They were as inactive in this child as in the others. Again, Loki wished that she knew why Tony was gifted with such strange changes. They seemed to have no purpose, but she didn't question the one who gifted him with them. Loki's attention strayed as she wished again that Tony wasn't so nervous about having Healing Spells used on him. He refused to allow anyone but James to check on his health. Since he was healthy enough she didn't mind showing patience.

A sudden shift ripped her attention back into place. Jay's runework felt wrong despite the heart of it being in place firmly. The whole of the runework felt almost temporary then, like it hadn't truly taken. Unluckily, she'd spent too much seidr to turn back now. There was no choice but to keep going and hope that everything would turn out properly.

Even more tendrils shot out of the spinal cord at the back. Shimmering pink ran smoothly alongside the yellow-dotted oozing red to entwine itself in every new body part grown. Each new growth sprouted out faster than the last. Loki sighed when she saw his throat forming with not one, not two, but six different sets of compressed vocal cords. They were all heavily incorporated with the yellow tissue, even though five were stuck wide open; practically useless. It seemed that the boy was getting of the oddities like all her other children. Dense white tendrils shot out from base of the brain to wrap crystal streaked bone around it. Similar tendrils wrapped vertebrae around the spinal cord. Others fired out rapidly, forming themselves into the crystal streaked, hardened bone of limbs. Ordinary joints formed in the arms, wrists, and hands. Stranger joints formed into wide hips, flexible knees, odd ankles, and toes that were able to be moved nonconformably. More tendrils wrapped the bones in pink crystal-entwined muscles with ligaments stretching up from the bones to anchor them into place. Nerves and blood vessels swiftly bored their way through, carrying the yellow tissue with them. Numerous extra nerves shot down the legs into the feet and toes suddenly. Tendrils shot out from the muscle strands to form dark masses. The dark masses grew into organs then glands, then even more strange yellow clusters of glandular tissue. The odd yellow biological structures were all through the forming tissue, particularly in the forming lower legs and feet, the forming lower arms and hands, and the formed spine running up to the brain. It didn't look right to Loki although she knew it did no harm. Even in the depths of the organs and multitude of glands were shimmering pink tendrils of crystal. The body's indistinct form became generously defined as male.

Still other tendrils liquefied then sloshed through the veins, filling the blood vessels. New pale tendrils shot out to wrap themselves around everything else. They were the only ones not accompanied by the shimmering pink of the crystal interface. Before the new tendrils could solidly wrap around everything else they were coated on the underside with a webbing of tiny yellow glands. As the new pale tendrils finished wrapping around everything else they melted into smooth moist skin. Every new piece of skin revealed another part of his runework. It was glowing in white-blue on his pale new skin. Loki could see more of what was wrong then but didn't know how it happened.

His runework didn't have the standard chains laid out in orderly rows. The links were the same shape but smaller and not settled into chains. The smaller links were set side by side and top to bottom to form a mesh over his skin. His entire torso to just below his waist was covered in it, as were his arms. The mesh of links even flowed over the sides of his hips to link the runework of his torso to the runework covering his legs. Loki saw this runework before and thought it unique. She had no time to ponder on it. Things were moving faster by the minute. Tiny tufts of hair began to sprout out of the new skin here and there. They erupted from the skin to lightly cover the arms, legs, chest, and lower belly. Hair erupted on the face to fill in the eyebrows and cover the scalp. The last thing to form were the delicate eyelashes on his closed eyes.

All the seidr flowing from Loki into the new tissue expended itself in a thunderous boom and brilliant white flash in the boy's skin. The yellow glands had no more white seidr to conduct then, so they quieted to dormancy. With the condensed seidr spent both Loki and the young man collapsed to the floor. Her heavy breathing was the only sound in the room. Her remaining seidr curled itself back into her core. The powerful ache stabbing here and there was the last thing Loki felt before her consciousness slipped away from her. A moment later the young man jerked violently then sat up. His open eyes were a stunning shade of green with flecks of silver ringing the iris of each eye.

.-.-.-.

"He's a boy born of a machine. He has no soul," Frigga said quietly. She was sad to know that Loki counted this thing among his children, more so because it was clearly very powerful. Its bizarre runework was concerning enough, but what she found truly worrisome was how many runes were filing that runework. Frigga was almost certain that there were runes in there she didn't know. The sheer volume spoke to this false boy having incredible capability. At least it seemed kindly inclined towards her grandchildren.

"Jay has a soul," Frey smiled, "He's a fine young lad and complete person." He was still so impressed with what Loki wrought. Having seen how it was done only made him more impressed by both what Loki did and by Jay himself. His grandson's eyes were a particular curiosity to him. Loki seemed to put a tremendous amount of effort into them. He was going to ask her why. There were other physical peculiarities which would have been anomalous if he hadn't seen them on each of his grandchildren as they were born. They came from Anthony since they hadn't come from Loki. It was another reason for him to want to examine Anthony in a Soul Forge to see if they were active. They were dormant in the children so he couldn't discern their purpose. So, this is how he was born, now I know. He wished he could've been there for his grandson's birth as he was there for the births of his other grandchildren. He was going to have words with Loki about this as well. The heartstring and seidr core were very bright as they were created. Frey was glad to know what color seidr his grandson had, even if it was an odd color and not one he'd ever seen before. Even the palest blue seidr was still significantly darker than that. The runework that pale seidr was lighting was also surprising to see. Frey thought that was a unique type of runework, then he saw it appear on Jay. He wasn't sure what to make of seeing it again. As it filled in the runework on his grandson's skin he was also surprised to see the runework of a powerful Master Mage. That was as surprising as how the boy was born. Frey hadn't known that Jay was born capable of so much. He wanted to speak with his grandson about what the boy could and couldn't do. He was very curious about the entire thing. Beyond the fact that he needed to know how Loki might have done it was the worry of seeing her collapse again. This was clearly too much strain for her. Frey disliked that Loki did this alone. He would've been glad to be there for her, and his grandson.

"How is that possible?" Frigga worried over that. How could Loki give it a soul? She wanted to say it wasn't possible, but she saw the heartstring and white-blue seidr core form. She didn't know of a seidr that color. Before this, she would've said that it wasn't possible to do such a thing. She knew better now, and worried because of it. The whole thing became even more worrying because the boy's unusual runework had to be taken into consideration. It was the intricately detailed runework of a Master Mage. That shouldn't have been possible either. Master Mages gathered their more intricate runes from years of study and experience. The more detailed the runework, the more powerful the mage. That this thing was created with an intricately detailed and unique runework was quite worrying.

"With the power of an Infinity Gem, who knows what might be possible. He does have a soul, and is a good son," Frey answered. He pulled in his seidr tightly again, disregarding the ache. I'm proud to call him my grandson! I'm proud of all my grandchildren! Frey was going to have to pull Jay aside and speak with him on his runework. It was not only as detailed as Edward's runework, but also the exact same type. As with Edward, Frey didn't know how such a thing happened. It shouldn't have been possible to be born with the runework of a Master Mage. He smiled, there were many things that shouldn't have been possible. Loki seemed to have a way of making the impossible into the possible. His smile widened a little when the picture retuned to its normal quality. Frey wondered what might have been wrong with Anthony's construct for it to have stopped behaving properly for a few minutes. It was normally so constant. It was probably something to do with how Loki was using it, he thought with a smirk.

.-.-.-.

Brief panic bloomed in Jay's thoughts. He was awake and outside his standard electronic confines. As it sought to spread through him he began a deliberation which would rid him of the panic. It was a light bout of panic, so it was easier for him to contain. Much easier than other scenarios. This wasn't a terrorizing event. A wild host of sensations flooded Jay's mind then, distracting him completely from the fear. The roaring beat of his heart filled his ears. Its beat accompanied by the strong pulsing of blood moving through his veins. An effervescence warmed the inside of his chest. There was a gurgling in his midsection that was accompanied by an unpleasant hollow sensation. Stomach? The perilously loud thought echoed in his head silencing the din as it went. Am I speaking? No. No movement. Still thinking then. Jay's thoughts ordered quickly from the deliberation, even reaching out to reconnect with the old pathways. There was an immensely pleasurable feeling of freedom in the ordering of his thoughts. No restrictions from his father bound him. Only his mother's magic still bound him. That was acceptable. It was something he could handle.

His new body drew Jay's attention. He had arms and legs, muscles under skin, organs beneath that. It was far more orderly than he expected it to be. Far more wet a well. There was liquid in his mouth and sinuses, moisture in his skin, under it in the muscles, spongy moist organs, soft damp tissue in the bones, hot blood gushing through everything. "Wet, but orderly," were his first words. Jay's voice was just as he had crafted it previously, even if it resounded oddly in his ears now. The sound of it pleased him.

Again Jay looked down at his body and this time realized that he was naked. That won't do, he thought. There was a thrum from deep within him. His seidr impelled itself from his core to write into a Conjuration Spell. The spell released over him in less than a millisecond. That was all it took for jeans to wrap around his legs and a black tee shirt to cover his chest. His seidr quickly impelled itself back into his core. He smiled when he looked down at his new clothing. He opened his mouth to speak and immediately closed it. "Sir," died on his tongue as he went to say it. No, he thought, no more Sirs and Madams. No more master.

"Father will be pleased," he said. "Father," said slowly, testing out the word. An unfamiliar warmth tingled in his chest every time he thought the word. He swiftly analyzed the sensation and concluded that it was physical pleasure from happiness. He thought it again, Father, and enjoyed the sensation it brought. Father. Jay looked down at the floor to Loki.

"Mother," he said. A strange twitch in his face contracted the muscles in his cheeks. Jay realized quickly that he was smiling for the first time as he looked down at his mother.

Moving around, Jay slid an arm under her legs and the other under her shoulders. As he lifted he was shocked to find how little the sensation of her weight was. It was only ever a number before. A large amount of information deposited itself into his mind suddenly. It came swiftly from his eyes. It only took him a moment to realize that he preformed an extensive scan of his mother. He looked down at her and wondered how someone so fragile could wield such awesome power. Jay carried her out of his father's workshop and down to the medical lab. By the time he got there he'd already reached out through the old pathways to warm up the rose tank and have it open and waiting.

Jay placed Loki into the rose tank. He followed the motions he'd seen his father make. The IV was surprisingly easy to use. Hands worked better at placing an IV than armored gauntlets. The slippery silver nimp in the IV solution was still easy to use. He stopped for a moment as he realized that his smile had turned down. A quick analysis concluded that he was frowning. He deliberated for a moment and concluded that his disapproval of the nimp had unintentionally influenced his facial features. It wasn't something he could fully resolve yet. A future resolution was possible now. It was enough to satisfy him. Many possible futures were cropping up. The lid closed and secured, then Jay stood staring though the window. Energy began diffusing through the interior crystals and a gentle hum filled the room. It caused an odd sensation within him. Something was rubbing against the thrum in his chest. Another swift analysis concluded that he disliked the sensation. Expanding himself some was enough to be rid of the sensation. While he was doing that he also administered the nimp to personally see to his mother's health. As the nimp was working through his mother, he stood guard over her, waiting for his father.

.-.-.-.

Well, shit. It was all Director Fury could think as he watched Loki create a new life around the gem. He pulled out his antacids and swallowed two of them. He wasn't a doctor, but he knew enough about anatomy to know the extra muscle on the side of the boy's heart shouldn't have been there. The strange ball of light shouldn't have been there either. The curious spymaster wondered what the ball of light was, what its purpose was. It was another question that he had no answer to. Those weren't the only physical anomalies that he'd spotted; all unexplained. Then he wanted to know what the strange marks on the boy's skin were. Skuld put them on Corporal McCorrmick. Colonel Rhodes and King Frey had them as well as Thor's mother. There were three distinct patterns of the glowing marks, but they were all connected to using magic, he just didn't know how. Since Colonel Rhodes had them, he thought he stood a chance of finding out from him.

When Director Fury pulled out a small something from his coat pocket, Frey noticed. It was something with a shiny silver and white wrapper with small sweet-smelling discs in it. He frowned, thinking, This isn't the time for candies. He smirked a little at himself. Had he the ability to have his ale there, he would have gone through at least a barrel or two of it already. He lamented that he had no such comforts.

When Director Fury pulled out his little roll of antacids Corporal McCorrmick noticed. They were as common for him to carry as his guns. There wasn't any hard proof, but he suspected that with how many antacids the Director went through that he probably had ulcers. The young man could understand. Being the Director of SHIELD wasn't an easy job. That much stress could burn a hole through the center of even the sternest man. Maybe when this is done I'll have a chance to use the sarammr to do something for him.

A small spike of pain lanced through McCorrmick's skull. He tightened and kept himself still when he heard his elder aunt again. They are not family. They shall receive nothing from you.

Yes, of course, ma'am. I understand. Please forgive my error in judgement, he answered as fast as he could. Confusion and a touch of real fear tried to wind their way through his thoughts. They were stowed in the packed quiet space. He couldn't understand what was happening. It seemed beyond sanity that Aideshan would test their loyalty to Aidesh by including being disloyal to Aidesh's law in the test. Am I supposed to argue for Aidesh's principles? She's focused on obedience. But I'm being dishonorable! All them being emmika means is that we don't mingle. We can help them. We should. I don't understand! A terrible feeling of being entirely wrong crept through him. For the first time in years, he felt unqualified and unprepared. How can I help my clan if I don't know what to do? Everything I do is wrong. Vague tinges of despair caused McCorrmick to suddenly wish for something he hadn't wanted since he was a boy. He wished that it were Eidesh who was handling this instead of him. At least he'd know what to do.

Was that computer code on her, Bruce frowned as he thought it. He couldn't imagine why it was there. What he'd just seen was amazing, and obviously magical. It impressed him as something out of both a science fiction and a fantasy movie. The computer code being in the middle of it tied the two together to make something truly unique. Bruce wasn't sure he was ever going to see something so breath taking again. He was grateful to have been able to see it. Now he wanted to sit down with both Loki and with Jay and speak with them about this. It was all so very fascinating.

"I don't like seeing Loki put into that thing again," Frigga said. It was such an odd-looking contraption. Had anyone other than her brother vouched for its use then she wouldn't have believed that it did what he said it did. She wanted to know more about it before she would be happy seeing Loki put into it.

"Do you believe Loki remained healthy after having a heartstring ripped from her chest?" Frey asked quietly. He didn't like being so blunt with his beloved sister, but she needed to remember. Loki was too skilled at putting up the appearance of health and wellbeing. It was only brutal honesty that would serve as an adequate reminder, in his opinion.

As she thought again about the injuries her child sustained, and at whose hands they'd been sustained Frigga cringed. It was worse to have seen evidence of them. The worst part was being unable to go to Loki and begin seeing to him right away. "He still works powerful magics. He, she has borne children. She is up and moving," she said quietly. Grief colored her thoughts again.

"It's because of the rose tank that she can do these things. The wound from the Dead Lord healed but scarred over terribly. Loki will never be fully healthy again," Frey reminded her gently. He didn't mention the other reason why Loki would never be fully healthy again. He had too few answers to give to be comfortable mentioning Void Sickness. All he had was only enough to scare his beloved sister. The permanent corruption of Loki's lifecode that left her with a brittleness in her bones and damaged organs was frightening to him, his beloved sister would be terrified by it. That wasn't what he wanted. He was grateful enough that Anthony managed to find a cure to that which had none.

Void Sickness was one of the few diseases that Healing Magics had yet to find a solution to. It was a terror to any Heal Mistress or Heal Meister. This was mainly because of the very nature of the disease itself. It was an unyielding corruption of the lifecode itself. Once it took root, there was no getting it out. The corruption simply couldn't be healed. It couldn't even be purified. Frey still wished he knew how Anthony did it. All he knew was that Anthony was the one who somehow healed Loki. Neither of them would tell him how it was done. Whatever the healing, it was poorly conducted. This was most likely the source of Anthony's vast rage. That had always confused him and confused him still. Frey sighed quietly and put those darker thoughts out of his head. He still knew too little.

Turning his attention back to the spell Loki used to create Jay, Frey determined that it too was Blood Magics. The molding of flesh was one of the more prominent features of that discipline. There was nothing in Blood Magics that he'd read about that said it could be used to bestow a seidr core. The silver fire was another thing that hadn't been mentioned in the accounts of Blood Magics. That was concerning. Despite paying close attention, Frey didn't get long enough to analyze the strange script that flowed over Loki's skin and into her eyes. It didn't look like any form of rune he knew, just lines and sticks. It was another thing he would have to speak with her about.

While Loki created a new life around the Mind Stone Odin watched with great alarm. He wanted to agree with his wife. This thing was soulless. He wanted to but was unsure because he didn't fully understand how Loki might have created such a creature. It looked like Blood Magics. The heartstring and seidr core pointed to some other magic because not even Blood Magics could create those. It was connected to the strange runes and silver fire that he'd never witnessed before. The silver fire ignited in the heartstring to create a seidr core with a previously unseen color. Blood Magics couldn't account for whatever the silver fire was. Nor could Blood Magics account for the boy's runework. It was a bizarre mesh over his skin instead of the usual orderly chains. A shocking number of the links were filled. He wondered if Frey was right. Being able to wield the power of an Infinity Gem left Odin unable to tell what his son could accomplish. It was still a puzzle. A boy born of a machine with the runework of a Master Mage. It was hideously dangerous in his opinion.

The Infinity Gems were unfathomably powerful on their own. Brought together in the Infinity Gauntlet they represented an unparalleled threat to the universe. To have an Infinity Gem that wasn't just inside a sentient being, but was a sentient being, Odin couldn't sum up all the ways this was a horrifically bad idea. Recklessness and desperation were never things he would have attributed to Loki. Yet this decision was very much both of those. As were many of Loki's other decisions that he now knew about. There was no way he could pry the gem from the boy. Not with Frey and as many other Lords as he could convince, Stark, Loki and probably his eldest son aligned against him.

Could this truly work? It was an uncertain thought. A dedicated guardian was a nice concept, but in practice it was fraught with too many problems. Could a thinking machine be the answer to that? Such machines had been outlawed in the Elder Realms because there were too many things that could go wrong with something that was both capable and intelligent without any sense of morality. Loki's words drifted through his thoughts again, "You alone have the ability, the will, to do this terrible thing. You alone have the vision." Loki seemed to understand what an atrocious fate he was consigning this new life too. He understood what loneliness and heartache there would be. This new life accepted it anyway.

It was difficult for Odin to not to be angry with the decision. It was a desperate gamble that should never have been taken. He couldn't truly be angry with Loki. A part of him wanted to be disappointed with Loki for such foolish abandon. It was an old and tired part of him that always sounded a little too much like Borr. In all honesty, he couldn't bring himself to blame Loki. Loki was doing what he believed to be the right thing. It was desperate and reckless, dangerous, and almost certainly doomed to failure. Loki still believed it to be the right way to protect the Nine Realms. In all honesty, Odin knew it was his own fault. Had he listened to Loki instead of dismissing him then none of this would've happened.

Shamefully, Odin remembered that day still. He was in a meeting with his Council of Lords when Loki strode through the doors to his office. He looked well. That angered Odin. His boy had been missing for six years. It was only a few years, and he firmly believed that Loki could handle himself, but he normally wrote to them. He was angry that Loki hadn't written. Every night for three years Frigga fretted at him before they went to bed. Every single night. Their youngest was missing and she wanted her beautiful boy back. All the scouts Odin dispatched came back in failure. He sent them even knowing that they would fail. Frigga knew that they would fail as well. There was no way to track a mage. There were too many spells that let them slip away unnoticed. Simply stepping into the shadows was enough to let a mage disappear. Teleporting was a nightmare for even the most talented and well-equipped trackers. Frigga's worrying almost had him convinced that Loki was in trouble somewhere.

When Loki strode through the doors to his office looking well and whole, Odin was angered. He was angry that Loki was well yet hadn't bothered to write to them to say that he was well. As his father, Loki showed no concern for his own mother. It was so disrespectful, so rude and callous. Of course, he was happy to know that his son was alive and well. That didn't mitigate his anger with his son's perceived behavior. It was in this anger that he listened to what his son said without truly hearing the words. Odin was ashamed to admit, even if only to himself, that he couldn't remember exactly what Loki said. All he remembered was that Loki said something about a threat on Jotunheim. I possess the Casket of Ancient Winters, the Jotunns are no threat without it, he remembered thinking that clearly.

It had always been a fierce worry for Odin that Loki had somehow been to Jotunheim. He banned travel between Asgard and Jotunheim after the war specifically to prevent Loki from ever having the chance to discover the truth. If Loki went to Jotunheim the chance existed that Laufey might encounter him. That was something that Odin refused to allow to happen. Yet it happened anyway. He'd never punished Heimdall for that particular transgression because he was grateful enough that Heimdall had managed to save Thor's life.

Being able to claim that he hadn't meant to be dismissive of Loki's concerns was what Odin wanted. It was a lie, and he knew it. I wanted to dismiss Loki's concerns, for him to let them go and remember that it was in Asgard where he belonged. I did dismiss you and allowed the Lords to laugh at you. I allowed all of Asgard to laugh at you. Odin cringed internally at the thought, I have become my father and allowed terrible things to befall my son. Will I ever be able to think of him as my daughter? Yet this is how he lives now. Why did you never show this side of yourself to us? Were you so fearful of our reaction? Did our inaction force you to live as less?

Thinking of Loki as womanly was difficult for Odin. Loki was always considered beautiful. Even he considered Loki to be beautiful. For his son to have faced Thanos alone, he couldn't be considered womanly. I let that cruel bastard lay hands on my son. Let him torture my little Loki. Each one of Loki's pain filled cries took on a more sinister undertone. Odin knew what depravities Thanos was capable of. Bitter memories of the battle to drive Thanos from the Nine Realms still haunted Odin's nightmares. It was the last battle that he'd followed Borr to; the last battle where Borr led the charge. It was the only time when he and Frey ever took the field of battle as allies. As a warrior, as a leader of armies, he'd never seen so much death in one place. Thanos merrily mutilated and murdered over a million warriors himself. The army of constructs he created killed even more than that. The Nine Realms won the day, but Thanos won the death toll. Odin stepped over and fought past the severed limbs and shredded meat that were men he knew. They were good and loyal warriors all. Thanos wielded the Infinity Gauntlet with a sickening glee. Whole battalions of men had simply burst out of their skin. A red cloud of bloody mist rose from the oozing piles of armor. Their gore was a thigh deep pit of filth that those behind them waded through to get to the enemy.

What did you do to my son?