New Asguard
The day was going by as usual for the god of mischief. He woke up, got dressed, then planted a whole box worth of tacks around Valkyrie's bed and went to make breakfast while waiting for the reaction, which was totally worth it in his opinion because my GOD what a reaction.
"LOKI I SWEAR TO THE ALLFATHER THAT WHEN I CATCH YOU, YOU'LL WISH THANOS HAD SNAPPED YOUR NECK!"
That was all he needed to crack a rib in laughter and when a sword flew past his head he could only laugh even harder. Due to the only current residents in the palace aside from the guards, maids, mages, etc because of Thor constantly heading to space to assist other planets Loki has been rather bored. Thor only tends to return home to check up on things from time to time so the leading role fell to valkyrie because Loki strangely didn't want anything to do with it.
"HAHAHA! Oh come on now Val let me have my fun. It's been so very boring with Thor away. What else am I supposed to entertain myself with?"
"NOT BOTHER ME DAMN IT! *sigh* Why don't you do your job as the gatekeeper or my assistant like you're supposed to, or even just do literally anything else"
Loki's current job was the gatekeeper of New Asguard much like Heimdall's job once was but without the Bifrost and without the sword. Instead of the sword, Loki's choice of weapon was Gungnir the spear that once belonged to his father. He was never seen without it, at least not when he was outside. He had become quite the master at using it even being able to defeat Valkyrie and Thor at the same time with it although just barely and he's never done it since.
"Well, I can't do too much after you took away my game consoles." Said consoles were a gift from Thor that he quickly got addicted to.
"Are you fucking 8 years old or something."
"Possibly." He said with a smug smirk.
"*Sigh* Maybe if you did what you were supposed to-"
"By the way that is one nice bunny onesie you have."
Valkyrie stopped and looked down at herself before going bright red and grabbing Loki by the collar of his shirt.
"You listen here you little shit if you tell anyone this I swear to-" BOOOOOM
The entire earth shook from the impact of an unknown source. Loki and Valkyrie thought there was an attack until they saw the bright rainbow glow from outside the window in the middle of the town square.
"Looks like brother's home."
"Thank the gods. Now you can bother him and I can get some work done."
"Well let us go and welcome him home shall we?" He cast an illusion on himself and Valkyrie to make themselves look presentable and grabbed Gungnir before they headed to the palace door to set out and greet Thor in the plaza.
Now outside they walked and talked for a bit before they reached the edge of the plaza. Now at this moment, there was basically nowhere to walk to where Thor was most likely located which wasn't too unusual but something seemed…off.
"Loki? Do the people seem a little… I don't know… strange right now?" The Asgardian leader asked.
He looked around for a bit and noticed that yes the people were acting a bit different than usual when Thor arrived. They usually were loud and excited and right now they seemed much more… somber or upset and some were even crying. He was about to answer until they heard another loud boom and both looked up to see something flying just about northwest out of the city.
Loki started "Was that Stormbreaker?" Before slowly but surely starting to put the faces to the situation and taking off running towards Thor's landing zone. He pushed and shoved and shouted for people to move with Valkyrie taking up the rear.
As they neared the center of the crowd Loki shot forward into the Bifrost rune and saw what he was afraid to see. Thor, Lying there on the floor covered in blood which was also pooling beneath him. He was breathing heavily and was just staring at the sky away from Loki to where he threw his weapon. Loki couldn't move or speak and had his breath removed from the sight in front of him.
"Is that you brother? I figured you would see something wrong with the people as you walked here. You always were the astute one." Thor said still looking away.
"How did you know I was here?" Loki asked when he kneeled down by his brother.
The god of thunder could only chuckle. "Brother*cough*there isn't a single thing I don't know right now."
He turned to look at his mischievous brother, or he would have if he had any eyes. Loki was speechless at what he was seeing in front of him. There was only one of two things that could have done this to thor. One, He lost them both in battle with his foe, and option two was he did this to himself to achieve the unthinkable. He just needed to see one final thing to check his suspicions.
"Thor, please show me your neck."
"Nothing gets past you does it, brother?" he smirked while saying this and lifting his head to show his neck and showing the deep rope mark that wrapped around it.
Now first, Loki was shocked that his brother did what he did by taking the path his father did for knowledge and power which he assumed he did to win against the galaxy-destroying man. Second, He was wondering just how powerful Thor now was with his new gift that came from his sacrifices. And finally, why was he here bleeding to death on the floor instead of just regenerating? Theoretically, he should now be stronger than Odin ever was with enhanced abilities that their father had, regeneration being one of them.
"I can answer *cough* *cough* all of those questions for you brother. By the way, you must have done quite the research into the Odinforce to have even the slight knowledge that you have on it. Ha ha-" Even a small chuckle put him into a coughing fit.
During this interaction, Valkyrie just stood back and watched. She had been in a situation like this once before and she knew that this was no place for a third party. She had also called for the Healers to come a get the blond god but she felt that they would be too late. Thor finally got out of his little fit and continued for his brother.
"First off yes, I did travel to Hildstaf and make the sacrifice for knowledge. I needed to remove both eyes unlike our father because I was told that only one was an empty sacrifice. I had to take the path not yet taken. After all, only after you've lost everything… Can you do anything… I have walked the same path as Odin. I have destroyed myself and been reborn. I know the unknowable. I see the unseen. I know why and how you've done your evil deeds. And it matters not. What happens next is all that matters."
"As for my power its… unbelievable. Memory Manipulation, Enhanced Senses, Teleportation, Age Manipulation, Regeneration, and even the ability to stop time itself. And as for why I refuse to use these abilities. I'm tired. It's as simple as that. I'm tired of seeing my dear friends die either in battle or simply due to age itself as I continue to go on. I wish to be with mother and father, as well as Stark, Rogers, Banner, Romanoff, Jane, and the others. The Avengers are no more and the Young Avengers are the future with the X-Men at their side. I don't see myself as king of Asguard nor do I feel…Worthy of the title or of the many abilities of the Rune king."
He looked to Loki with a tear somehow coming out of his socket. He was crying as he grabbed his brother by his shoulder to bring him closer to him.
"Listen, brother, and listen well. You will secure the true king of Asgard, I have seen it. Within the week Stormbreaker will land in Mustufu of Japan. It will land in a park where none shall lift it unless proven worthy and I know who that will be. A young boy with grand dreams and ambitions yet without the means to make them come true. His life will have been *cough* unsavory and-and-*gasp*"
He was starting to slow down and could barely speak. His words were starting to come out as barely whispers while he gasped for air. Loki got closer to hear him clearer and for what he knew was going to be the last time. He could just tell the last breath was coming soon.
"Small words brother. Save your breath and just give me something small. I'll find things out from there."
"G-green hair, *gasp* shy, rather excitable, and *gasp* bruised." He whispered
"Green hair? You mean like a dye job"
"Ha ha *cough* nope. All natural like the mother. Also, help *gasp* the *gasp* other *gasp* as well. Good friend."
"Help? What do you mean?"
"You'll *gasp* see. Sorry, I don't have *cough* an exact day, I'm just *cough* *gasp* tired. I think…I think I'm gonna go ahead and…you know."
Loki understood. He didn't want to but he did. All he could do was look down and sigh. At least he had something to do now and that was to find the new king. He looked back into his brother's empty sockets with a determined but sad look.
"I'll find him brother don't you worry. It might not be this year or the next but I have a little under 4000 years left in me anyway. I-I-I'll train him, and teach him, and-and…" He then noticed that he wasn't even talking to his brother anymore. He was talking to his corpse. He'd finally succumbed to his wounds. He was dead.
Only a few moments after his death the healers had finally arrived. They had an extremely hard time maneuvering the crowd which had grown immensely during the interaction. And Loki just sat there with his brother in his arms and tears in his eyes while he wept. It had finally happened, He has lost every single member of his family and was truly and utterly alone.
A few days later the funeral was being held for the fallen king. His body was carried in a wooden boat by Loki, Valkyrie, Korg, Shuri from Wakanda, Captain Marvel, Clint Barton, and finally Miles Morales. They were taking it to the oceanside for burning. When they got there they placed the boat in the water and pushed it. Through this, the choir sang a song that Thor had wished to be sung years prior. Loki slightly chuckled at the choice of a song from a game but it was a rather beautiful one.
ÞIð finnið leið/YOU found a way
Fetið sannleikans með/Bring the truth
Æskulög þín/Your childhood songs
Eini harmur minn er/My only regret is
Hríð og uppgerð (uppgjöf?)/Time and simulation (surrender?)
Brotin efndi ég til/I fulfilled the violations
Síðar munt sjá/Later you will see
Und frelsaðu þér/And save yourselves
After the boat was a good distance away the archers readied their bows with flaming arrows and fired. They hit the boat dead on and it was set ablaze. The song then continued.
Síðar munt sjá hana/You will see her later
Frelsa munt þér/Will set you free
Fylg minni leið/Follow my path
Ei til sannleikans beð/No to the truth
Æskuljóð þín/Your childhood poem
Eini harmur minn er/My only regret is
After a while, the boat along with thor's body was gone having been turned to nothing but ash. The funeral was broadcasted worldwide for all to see and then they held another ceremony where Stormbreaker landed. The broadcast was the most viewed media in the world with over half a billion watching it on tv at once. Nothing has ever gotten that viewer rate ever sense and no one believes that anything ever will.
Not that they would really ever have the chance because a few years later there was a nonstop conflict between people that were starting to show up. People with strange new abilities were causing turf wars or just straight out being heinous monsters by attacking the innocent or being terrorists. A group of people called the Meta liberation army led by a man named Destro started getting big and a massive battle between two brothers broke out.
Initially, people thought these were mutants starting to come out of hiding but after tests, these were just an evolutionary trait that gave people abilities which were coined the name "Quirks". Vigilantes were at a new high with some joining hero groups but others simply going solo. After a few years laws were started that would name a person a "Pro Hero" that accepted the terms. Obviously, not everyone did so the pros were sent out to get the vigilantes for "Justice" and all the good those people did were thrown out the window and forgotten.
There was one other law created as well though, The Origins law. This law deemed that if you were to take up the mantel of an original hero like Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and so forth at least with the proper requirements then you were instantly deemed a pro with no need to enter the newly built hero schools And current heroes like the X-Men and Young Avengers were able to continue as normal. Loki was also free to do as he pleased due to being seen as a hero in current years.
Eventually, after about 50 years there were almost no Origins left, however. It was left to a small handful being Blade, Wolverine, Vision, the new Black Panther, and of course Loki and Valkyrie plus a tad more. However, even during all the chaos that happened over the years Loki never stopped looking for the "Green one" although all these quirks coming around that gave people green pigments and hair did make it slightly difficult but he will never give up. Ever.
Song: Ashes (feat. Eivør) - Bear McCreary from God Of War.
