Loki and the Gilded Throne
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After the Avengers left the bar around 3:03am, in which he and Romanoff managed to edge out Thor and Clint in 8-ball, they all went to bed. Well except Stark who went to his workshop to tinker with what, not even the Nines knew.
Sesshomaru and Loki faced the glittering New York skyline on the roof in the cool April breeze. Loki leaning casually against the side of the tower while Sesshomaru stood sword-straight against the night.
Loki twisted his face, the mortal's alcohol faintly buzzing in his system. Loki was nobody's fool, yet, he allowed his fantasies about Clint distract him. Up until Stark retrieved Sesshomaru, and to his relief, allayed his concerns, he hadn't realized that something was seriously bothering the usually unflappable Demon.
He didn't even realize until he fled that Sesshomaru had basically avoided him! Him! The nerve! The audacity to let anything like a scry come between them to that degree. Sure, Loki adored teasing the demon and making him jealous, especially with Stark, but this was something completely different.
This wasn't some asinine game. Sesshomaru managed to do something no other seer was supposed to, scry his own death. And who knows what else! And whatever he saw he didn't trust him to ask about it. He knew the Demon was private but this was going a bit extreme. Sho should trust him with things like this.
He wanted to address it, but there other many unfinished conversations between them as well. Loki would ease him into it.
Loki explained the circumstances behind the mind control of Clint, that it was either kill or turn him; he was too valuable. The knowledge he had of SHIELD and the other members of the Avengers was too great, not to even mention his skills in the field.
He did tell Sesshomaru he managed to convince The Other that he only needed one of the Avengers, and he purposely tried to turn Stark, who he knew couldn't be turned, when Clint awoke. Loki knew it was due to the arc reactor that the scepter didn't work, it somehow countered the magic.
Also he was being somewhat monitored the whole time by the Other through the scepter. The scepter had a way of sensing people. The extent of that ability not even Loki knew even though the scepter spoke to him, in a way guided him. Almost a twisted, warped version of what he crafted Tenseiga's hilt to do. He was thankful he had crafted Tenseiga's hilt, because it trained him to place the protection spell on Clint with the scepter.
He didn't bother telling Sesshomaru about the scepter since it most assuredly no longer existed, it didn't require explanation. He also didn't wish to hear Sesshomaru drone and lecture on about the danger using a weapon that did not belong to you. Inu no Taisho, the short-sighted daft Demon Lord had drilled into Sesshomaru that using any weapon, other than a sword of your own making, or of your own body, was a cowards' way out of fighting.
The coincidence that Bakusaiga managed to come directly from Sho's body tickled him, his father certainly never accomplished such a feat.
Sesshomaru, in turn, reported for the fifty-three unaccounted years of his past. He spoke of how he came to find Jaken, ruler of a slaughtered water demon tribe, and he already knew of Rin. It didn't surprise Loki when he learned she had kept him company while he recovered from an injury his brother gave him fighting over Tessaiga.
It had confused him that Sesshomaru's father left his bastard child the sword that Sesshomaru trained tirelessly to wield so easily and so deftly. It equally shocked him that his father had his mother seal Sounga away in a location only she knew about, and she obviously she refused to tell Sho its location.
Sesshomaru's mother, the Demoness who watched on high as her son almost died protecting the falling Western Lands, was entrusted with the devastating sword of hell. What. In. The. Nines?! The folly that his father didn't trust Sho with any weapon other than Tenseiga was astounding.
Sesshomaru admitted to detesting Tenseiga, and wanting Tessaiga, the sword which could actually cut the living. Sho, corrected his opinion of the sword, especially after learning that Loki had helped craft it.
Loki's magic buzzed in pride.
Sesshomaru stated he abandoned his half-hearted quest of Tessaiga when he learned from the Magnolia Demon, Bokuseno, who he had met once, that his brother would literally go insane with bloodlust without its presence. He and his brother eventually reconciled somewhat, banning together to defeat Naraku, and a few other foes along the way.
Loki knew too well what it was like to covet what your brother had, material or otherwise. To have it consume you, turn you inside out into a raw, acidic mess.
Loki learned of this abomination Naraku, a half-Demon who used poisonous miasmas and puppetry to wreak havoc on his lands. He described their tireless fights, and the Shikon jewel which his half-brother and his friends, who Rin drew once, shattered and then collected. He reported initially he had no interest in fighting Naraku until two events occurred. One being that Naraku desired to absorb his power to defeat his half-brother.
Loki cackled in laughter.
The arrogance and sheer lunacy to hope to absorb or control Sesshomaru's power! Though apparently he had managed to elude Sesshomaru for a few years, it didn't seem like this half-demon was of a sound mind.
It was the second event that caused Sesshomaru to change his mind, which definitely caught Loki's attention.
This halfwit Naraku also created incarnations and used them like puppets. One of those puppets was a Wind Demoness named Kagura whose company he grew to enjoy.
Though Sesshomaru's facial features remained impassive, and his voice apathetic, Loki could tell by how his ears were flat against his head, and a slight twitch of his claws that this Kagura meant something to his closed-off friend.
He stated calmly that all she ever wanted was her freedom, and he refused to help her. He admitted it was an error at the time he wished he could go back and correct. Sesshomaru recounted how she chuckled, how she fought.
And how she was killed by Naraku in a field of flowers Rin liked.
And how he still listened for her in the wind.
It made sense now to Loki, how Sesshomaru reacted to hearing that he had brainwashed Clint. To Sesshomaru what he did to Clint must be exactly the same as what Naraku had done to Kagura. Only he didn't kill Clint in a field of flowers. Impossible. Repulsive. Obscene. Never. He'd sooner throw himself onto the Other's sickles than ever harm Clint and Loki was sure that Sesshomaru knew that now.
Loki then glossed over the events of Thor's coronation, him slipping the Jotuns into Asgard for the Casket of Ancient Winters, Thor's foolhardy attack on the Jotuns' military and Thor's exile. He described his own ascent to the throne, and sending Destroyer after Thor. He summarized his scheme to lure Laufrey to Asgard. He then, of course had to illustrate all of this with his magic.
He told him conclusion where he killed Laufrey, and used his assassination attempt as motive to destroy Jotunheim's forces with the Bifrost. He even described his rather pitiful fight with Thor on the Bifrost when he wielded Gungnir, Odin's lack of approval and his slip into the abyss.
Loki had at first wondered if he should struggle more with the concept of trying to extinguish one of the more brutal tribes in Jotunheim. Obviously he was a Jotun, a Frost Giant, a strange quirk of fate to try to massacre your race, but Sho had done far more brutal things to other Demon tribes. All for their own father's approval. What was the Midgardian phrase? 'daddy issues?'
Sesshomaru furrowed his brow at the mention of Odin, and simply said that he must be blind in both eyes. Loki smirked it wasn't quite the case. Sesshomaru's voice remained icy when he said he would have no problem making it so.
Loki fired back that Sesshomaru was being dramatic. Sesshomaru just quirked an eyebrow, the obvious equivalent of 'you're one to talk'.
Sho then went on to elaborate that Odin was a blind fool for thinking Thor was so ready to have the throne. Sesshomaru also cracked his knuckles and said Odin should have trusted Loki's judgment that a preemptive strike on Jotenheim was best. Sesshomaru concluded that in war, you could not hesitate or show your belly. Loki gleamed in his approval, but still hesitated.
"As I recall, the Distant Realm king, Odin, had subjugated this race long ago. You simply finished his work as he raised you to learn to do and he rejected you for it. Yet he was lenient when Thor attempted the same but failed. Odin knows not what is best for the Distant Realm, nor for his two sons. He is indeed blind." Sesshomaru hissed out and Loki was speechless.
He had never thought of it like that.
Lastly, Sho told him of his mother, the Meido Stone, the underworld, Rin, and the Meido Zangetsuha, a technique which opened dimensional rifts to the underworld and send beings straight there. Loki opinion of his mother, however, had darkened and his magic vortexed inside him. What a distasteful woman using little Rin in such a way.
"Your mother, Sho, is devious and manipulative, and I know devious and manipulative. Though I must say that your ability to create dimensional rifts into the underworld is fascinating. I have heard of no one else with that ability. A shame you had to give it to your half-brother." Loki knew no sorcerers his caliber could simply send the living to the underworld without going through Death first. Sesshonaru would have shrugged if he did such things, but all he did was raise his eyebrows.
Loki leaned back and stretched in vindication when Sesshomaru finally gave a small smile and nodded, because it was something they both knew all too well. To achieve something and give the rewards and accolades to your brother.
Sesshomaru wasn't as bitter towards Inuyasha as Loki was to Thor, it was something he knew he had to work on.
'Thor doesn't truly deserve all my scorn, that is on Odin. Ever since my mind was reforged by the Other, I've had a staggeringly hard time properly assigning emotions towards some of my memories. It took years in Asgard prison setting straight what accurately happened in the past with Thor, and which emotions and memories were warped and manipulated.' Loki scrunched his nose.
Loki surmised that he and Sho, subconsciously or not, isolated themselves from their respective societies with regarding how they handled their emotions.
While Sho's rigid and meticulous control of his emotions honed his youki, it cost him friends by making him aloof and often misunderstood. Loki's own volatile emotions enhanced his magic, yet cost him friends as well when he would overreact to something or lash out against a slight.
Loki finally asked Sesshomaru about his scrying, and the only thing he revealed was that he did not merely see the events of the future, but he felt and lived them. That troubled Loki, he would have to ask Frigga about that. Normal seers never did anything but see the Astral Plane.
Loki knew Sesshomaru hid things from him, like details between his fight with his half-brother, his swords' powers, perhaps other abilities, and what exactly he scryed, but decided he wouldn't press.
He had his secrets too. One, being of Jotunheim, and how he purposely let go of the Bifrost, and the torture he underwent. Hypocrisy is ugly.
He also confessed they were having this long drawn out heart to heart in case Odin did something rash. He didn't want them to part on bad terms like they did five hundred and fifty years ago.
Sesshomaru said if Odin did anything of the sort he would find a way to Asgard, and Odin would learn of his true savagery.
Loki reminded him that just because they can't hear or see Heimdall didn't necessarily mean that Heimdall couldn't hear or see them.
Sesshomaru just withdrew a slip of paper and wrote his methods into every vivid, excruciating, and eviscerating detail. He gave it to Loki, though he most certainly would not pass it on to Odin.
Loki laughed so hard sparks shot out his fingers, again. Sesshomaru flashed a fang.
They spoke till just before dawn, the rose red sky glinting off the skyscrapers like blood on a dagger. Loki could feel deep in his bones his voyage to Asgard would not go smoothly.
Dawn is when they gathered to go to Asgard. No amount of threats from Sesshomaru regarding his former father, nor reassurance from Thor could make his pulse slow.
He planned it so that he would purposely 'bump' into Clint as he left the bathroom. And by 'bump' he scanned out with his magic and teleported down to the door he was about to step through. He honestly didn't know what to expect from the encounter but if anything it would throw the assassin off balance and amuse him before he left to deal with rather unsavory business.
"You're an unnerving individual you know that?! Can't you just…oh I don't know walk down hallways like most people?" Clint huffed, hair wet, skin damp from the shower. Oh, Loki wished he could have joined him. Loki sensed the archer was a bit more amused by his antics than he let on.
At least that's what Loki told himself.
"But wouldn't it be so dreadfully dull if I was indeed like most people?" Loki's face lit in an anticipatory smile. Clint sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"If you were like normal people I'd be on vacation in Cadiz, Spain, maybe even with my niece and nephew. Instead I got dragged out to New Mexico, had Tony Stark thrown into me and got stuck here with this mess." Clint squinted his eyes closed and looked away as if in pain. But Loki wasn't quite buying it was genuine.
"If you wished it so, you would be there. It may even assuage Director Fury's concerns that I indeed lurk about Midgard as he so fears if you departed." Loki suggested a purposeful lead that didn't go the way he planned. Clint's eyes flared in anger.
"See, you're wrong, now I have the oh-so simple task of lying to Fury, but still reporting back enough information to him so that we can thwart yet another invasion. Maybe to you that's how things work. You can just shove off and do you, but I actually have a moral code I live by." Clint scathed back and Loki jerked his head back, eyes wide, lungs rattling.
Clint's selflessness had always rendered him feeling in the twisted pit where his heart should be, unworthy of him. Clint had heart, something Loki considered himself lacking.
It still stung like Sho's toxin to hear Clint confirm it.
He knew he didn't necessarily have much in way of a moral code, but to hear Clint throw it back to him caved his chest in.
'Perhaps I once had a heart. After the Demons vanished my heart began to slowly harden. I started to grow callous and selfish. My ambition, my competitiveness, and the resentment that most Aesir viewed me as weak and unworthy made me cold yet volatile. A strange thing, really. Mortals believe that emotions come from the heart. When really, I think the more I lost heart, the stronger my emotions actually became.' Loki retreated from his prey, face fallen. He swayed his hips back to give him space, magic cramping in his gut.
Loki's mouth opened but no sound came out. He didn't have a retort prepared. He didn't expect his playful encounter to turn on him this way. He smiled at Clint, but it didn't reach his eyes or his cheeks. He turned a full 180 degrees from Clint. It was foolhardy to seek him out before he saw Odin again. He deserved to be rebuked this harshly for seeking comfort in someone from whom he clearly didn't deserve any.
'Some silvertongue I have. It's not like an honorable mortal like him would reciprocate the feelings of such a twisted God like myself. Oh well. Now on to business. There must be a way to have Odin listen to me before commanding the whole Royal Guard to execute me. Or worse…Mayhap there is a way I can get to Gungnir…' Loki took a sure, strong step away from Clint, and another, distancing and distracting himself. His magic tilted and spun off its axis.
"Loki wait. Stop." Clint called out, voice a hair high. Loki stopped as requested, drumming his fingers on his outer thigh. He waited, for what again he wasn't sure. He was never sure what Clint would do.
"I didn't mean…look, are you sure this is a good idea for you to go back to Asgard? Doesn't Odin think Fancy Pants boosted you out? If he thinks he can't hold you in a normal cell, what will be do?" Clint fumbled and Loki's eyebrows furrowed and his jaw went lax. Surely he was just worried about the mission. He turned back towards Clint, regaining composure.
"You needn't worry about the mission dear Clint. Thor has a good rapport with Heimdall, once we get to Asg—" Clint cut off Loki off.
"This isn't about the mission. You don't deserve to be punished anymore, You don—" Loki smiled sadly. Clint was such an idealist and simply didn't understand that the world wasn't fair and that he wasn't the judge nor jury for what he did and didn't deserve.
Loki put a finger out to silence Clint, wanting to press it to his lips, but hesitated and just hovered in front of his mouth, feeling the breath on it. Loki put together a convincing lie.
"Hush Clint. Don't fret about matters of which you have no control. If it will allay your fears, Odin will most likely simply try to banish me, or send the Warriors Three and Sif after me, which won't be effective, especially with your good friend Miss Romanoff with us." Loki chanced a dazzling smile, smoothing his jet black hair back. He didn't need to tell Clint that Odin, with the power of Gungnir and the Odinforce could silence his magic, and much, much more. It could easily vanquish him.
Not even Thor could stop him if that was what he desired to do.
'It was the true reason why I insisted on Sho staying on Midgard, even with Sesshomaru's immense youki, Odin would have the advantage if Sesshomaru challenged him. Which he would most definitely do if Odin so much decided to level one glare my way.' Loki thought the lie convinced Clint, but it hadn't quite done the trick.
"Don't humor me. I'm not a kid." Clint grabbed his outstretched hand and the touch scorched Loki's nerve endings. Even if his blue Jotun skin had been visible, his skin would have been warm from his touch. "What am I even...just don't throw a temper tantrum…and tone down your flashy, over-the-top theatric, arrogant, dramatic self so Fancy Pants and I don't have to actually go bail you out." Clint released his hand, and Loki's magic calmed that Clint managed to find his sense of humor once more. Yes. This was much better. Loki straightened his posture and his lips curved up and rounded his cheeks.
Clint simply mesmerized him. His broad, sculpted shoulders he wanted to grasp, his neck he wanted to murmur curses into, his calloused hands he wanted to shove down the front of his own pants. Loki was hooked. When he arrived on Midgard Clint's clear-sightedness, his loyalty, his honor instantly shone through the blue magicked haze his mind had become. Clint was prepared to attack an enemy had little knowledge of to defend Fury and the Tesseract.
"I won't throw a tantrum, I'll even be on my best behavior, if only just for you." Loki dipped his voice saucily in an easy lie, and almost, almost winked. His eyes locked onto the light brown eyes that belonged to the object of his torment. It sparked the brightest blip of happiness in him to be the one to fluster Clint so, to see his wind-worn, but still smooth cheeks flush red.
He chose then to teleport to where everyone was gathering in a puff of green smoke, of course before Clint could formulate any sort of response.
Rin attached herself around his waist in a death-grip of a hug. In one hand was the deer femur turned-weapon. He ruffled her hair which was currently up in a sloppy side-tail. With his magic he neatened her hair for her, straightening the hairstyle out.
He spotted Clint when he made his way up and for a heart clenching moment their eyes caught. Loki gave Clint a hollow and fake reassuring nod and grin. If…no…when. When, he returned he would most certainly reap the rewards of his billiards victory. Clint just scoffed good naturedly and crossed his arms and Loki felt his grin grow more genuine.
"Uncle Loki, I've been practicing!" Rin smiled, twirling the deer femur and Loki took a deep breath. If Rin couldn't melt their hearts, who could?
"I'm surprised you aren't giving Loki and Thor some thinly veiled threat that if anything happens to Rin you'll like rip off their heads and eat their hearts or something." Stark admitted to Sesshomaru and he turned back to the inventor, who had dark circles under his eyes.
"...I would make their father eat their hearts. It is a threat I have enforced before." Sesshomaru corrected with no hint of emotion. Stark and Banner paled. Romanoff nodded in approval to Clint's disappointment. Loki chuckled, despite the threat.
"It was that smarmy cousin of yours, Akira right? The one with the ridiculous hair?" Loki asked, provoking Sesshomaru to elaborate. Loki vaguely remembered one of Sesshomaru's haughty cousins who had outrageous teal hair he always kept in the most ostentatious of hairstyles.
"Yes, he attempted to take this Sesshomaru's life. When his father, my uncle, sought revenge I skinned him, made a cloak from his pelt and sent it to his mate as a gift. She didn't appreciate it. She came to assassinate me and I then made a cloak of her and hung them both in the banquet hall." Sesshomaru added and this time Clint took a step back. Loki knew exactly the two pelts he was speaking of, he once sat beneath one of them at his banquet hall long ago.
"...If you ever gift me any 'leather' clothing, I'd rather not know who it came from." Romanoff quipped, smirking. Clint whistled. Stark just stood speechless, for once. Banner chuckled darkly besides Stark, elbowing him.
'Yes mortals, and you thought I was cruel….' Loki rocked back on his heels smiling with all his teeth.
"Aye. A ruthless tactic indeed Son of Taisho! Twas very effective!" Thor beamed with pride that was usually saved for a little brother. Loki scoffed, he didn't think Thor would approve of such methods.
Loki knew Thor had never really thought of Sesshomaru as family as Loki had. Their relationship erred on the side of strained, mostly due to their fathers' constant comparing of the two. Thor's sunny personality always clashed with Sesshomaru's subdued one as well.
"Alright, let's head out. I want to be back before Fury knows I'm not planet-side. We have a forty-eight-hour window before I have to report back in." Romanoff reminded, shifting her small pack.
They had decided Romanoff should go because Fury would need someone he could trust to see the information first hand, and apparently Fury never trusted Clint the same after the mind control. Loki had winced when he heard that.
Romanoff also stated she being a woman will have an additional psychological advantage over Odin. Loki wasn't so sure, but he knew he needed all the help he could get.
"Yes, agreed. Now all stand here, this will tingle." Loki directed them all to stand right behind him at his eight, six and four o'clock and began to glide his arms through the air in a grand circular flourish, green and black smoke permeating the area in streamers of vapor. He caught Clint's light brown eyes one last time before closing his own.
'Here goes something.' Loki thought grimly to himself as he brought the magic into a wide ring around them.
"See you soon Lord Sesshomaru! Jaken!" Rin waved right before the smoke sucked back into them and with a clap they were gone.
Loki hadn't transported this many people with this spell in centuries, so he made sure he visualized everything with intense detail as they slipped into the starry expanse of Yggdrasil. And as quickly as they entered they exited.
Loki stumbled, light headed in exhaustion, exerting that much magic certainly took its toll. But it was worth it.
He teleported them right on the Bifrost. Terrific. The Bifrost, instead of gleaming in radiant color, looked sun-faded and dim.
"Whoaaaaaaa It's so pretty! This is your home Uncle Loki?! Can Lord Sesshomaru, Jaken, Ah-Un and I live here too?" Rin hopped around a bit and Romanoff tried her best not to look too impressed.
"Asgard is a place for the Aesir, and my home no longer. You can visit. Sho has, though I cannot say he particularly enjoys it here." Loki murmured, guard on high alert. Thor strode out first, cape like a flag in the breeze. He looked every bit a Prince of Asgard in that singular moment.
A prince of a land he once wanted to rule, but no longer belonged in.
"Let's go friends!" Thor smiled and whether or not Rin sensed his unease, reached up and held his hand as they walked towards the resplendence that was Asgard. Loki squeezed her hand reassuringly.
"Loki, they must have spotted us by now, is the lack of a welcome wagon normal?" Romanoff asked cautiously. Loki knew she was armed but he didn't want to know with what or where it was located.
"Unsure. the last time I came here, I wasn't welcome." Loki wryly answered. Just then Sif and the Warriors Three appeared in the distance and ran to their location on the Bifrost. Loki stiffened, he would rather not have yet another fight on the blasted Bifrost.
"Hello Hogun, Fandral, Volstagg, Sif! So great to see you all again. I brought news, Loki and friends from Midgard!" Thor waved. Romanoff next to him steadied herself on high alert and slipped quickly in front of Loki, behind Thor.
Curiously, Rin also did the same, she had an unfamiliar serious look on her face. It took Loki a second to realize she was mimicking Romanoff. Loki reeled back, reminding himself that Rin was no ordinary mortal girl, and that she most likely needed a strong female authority figure to emulate.
The warriors ran up to Thor, their faces were friendly, but their hand were on their weapons.
"We have orders to apprehend Loki, God of Lies! You must step aside mortal." Hogun announced, gesturing to Romanoff. She didn't move an inch and had a 'make me' look stamped on her face.
"Thor, thank you for retrieving him!" Fandral wasted no time. Romanoff peeled off and stepped in front of them.
"Hello, we have not been properly introduced. I am Agent Romanoff, SHIELD shadow operative and fellow Avenger with Golden Boy over there. We didn't bring Loki back to put him in his cell. Loki brought us here to discuss a time sensitive matter with Odin." Romanoff introduced herself with a cool professionalism.
"I'm sorry Miss Romanoff you must be unaware that Loki is a fugitive! A malicious Demon conjured him from his cell!" Volstagg pointed a large finger at Loki who just rolled his deep green eyes.
'No Volstagg, Romanoff, one of the most intelligent mortals in all of Midgard, who fought with Thor against me on Midgard, didn't know I was a fugitive.' Clint's sarcasm had rubbed off on Loki.
By the nines Thor's friends use some critical thinking training.
"He is cunning and silver-tongued. You can't believe his words." Fandral said and Sif grabbed her twin blade and Rin immediately ran forward beside Romanoff, bone high. Sif tilted her square face down to the girl in utter astonishment at the apparent challenge.
'By the nines, Sesshomaru how do you handle her?' Loki thought in terror.
"Uncle Loki is a good person! And my Lord is no thief. He didn't kidnap Uncle Loki, he escaped himself! You don't scare Rin! You are all a bunch of bullies and I won't let you hurt him." Rin slammed her bone down on Fandral's foot and immediately barrel rolled way preparing another stance. Loki's jaw relaxed in surprise, Thor's friends could take notes from Rin's skills in perception.
Fandral winced and shook out his foot. Thor bellowed in good hearted laughter which positively annoyed the four warriors.
"Who is this barbarian girl?!" Sif reared back as if Rin was some sort of creature.
"Her name is Rin, and if you think of touching one hair on her head, I'll break you down so you can fit in my carry-on luggage." Romanoff bit cooly, and Rin gave her a thumbs up. Loki smirked as Sif took a half step back, as if judging how a mere mortal could achieve such a feat.
Loki had no doubt Romanoff could find a way.
"When I grow up I want to be as strong as you!" Rin smiled cheekily and Romanoff leaned back with her mouth in a small 'o'. Clearly Romanoff hadn't anticipated having such an effect on Rin. She better monitor her actions well.
"Fine job Lady Rin! Friends, listen to Lady Romanoff and Lady Rin, they speak no falsehoods. My brother has come to inform Asgard of a great threat. Come with haste, we must seek audience with Allfather." Thor's voice carried authority and suddenly Hogun turned on him, readying his mace. Thor's eyes widened in shock his trusted friend would draw his weapon on him. Loki could easily tell Thor was torn and hurt and it secretly irked Loki.
"...Thor you defend this felon and fugitive?" Hogun's voice high with disbelief. Volstagg backed up the smaller Vanir, shifting his weight like a wrestler would surveying a strong opponent.
"I represent my brother, and he is no felon! I intend to clear Loki's name with Allfather. Furthermore, I did not apprehend him. With the Bifrost drained of power only my brother has the prowess to navigate Yggdrasil to bring us here!" Thor explained, voice dark and looming. Loki could see his brother truly needed smarter friends. Yes, Hogun, please explain how Thor could teleport all of us here.
Yet, Loki thinned his lips. Thor speaking such impossibilities as clearing his name would only spur a more defensive reaction from his dimwitted friends. It wasn't worth attempting, the impending invasion is what truly mattered.
"And since Loki also brought us here, wouldn't it be logical to deduct that he also escaped prison on his own volition? Not that some Demon on Earth managed to spirit him away from prison here in Asgard? I understand you have orders, but they've been rendered obsolete." Romanoff crossed her arms and Rin next to her nodded, her little ponytail bobbing.
Pause.
"I will not let you cloud my mind! He murdered many mortals and lured in the Jotuns! I am not about to let you make another mistake regarding Loki!" Volstagg bellowed and charged, axe high towards the tightly clustered group and Loki went to intercept him. Whatever anger Volstagg had to take out on him he could easily suffer through. Thor hesitated for the slightest of moments.
Romanoff did not.
From her back pocket she removed a small canister, held one hand over Rin's eyes and pressed down the button.
Volstagg flailed back in a strangled cry from the spray, dropping his axe and groaning.
SHEILD's military grade mace. Simple but effective.
"Ahhh! I'm blind! The mortal woman has blinded me! Thor what friends are these?!" Volstagg yelled out, doubled over and Sif went on the offensive, twin blade singing through the air only to be blocked by Thor.
Thor didn't hesitate this time, but the fact he hesitated the first time spoke volumes to him. The mortal woman, whose best friend he mind-controlled, acted to defend him before his supposed brother.
"I will not permit you to hurt my brother any longer!" Thor lost his cool and threw Sif's arm back roughly. Rebuked, Sif's eyes burned and she turned to Fandral who had yet to assume an offensive stance with his rapier.
Romanoff removed her hand from Rin's eyes and reached to a compartment in her bag almost completely unnoticed, eyes steady on Fandral in front of her and Hogun to her left.
"...alright Thor let's be off." Fandral conceded, usually the smartest one of the four if that meant anything. Loki thanked the Nines Thor finally got through to one of them.
"You cannot be serious Fandral! We have orders to apprehend him and when the Bifrost mends to collect that Demon!" Sif nearly pulled hair out of her head. Loki blinked, his father ordered the Warriors Three and Sif to apprehend Sesshomaru?
Did they seriously wish for their deaths so ardently? Surely Odin must recall how strong Sesshomaru is, the four of them would be no match for Sho, even on their best day.
"The sky is blue, the sea is too, don't mess with my Lord, or he'll beat you!" Rin sing-songed and raised her bone again, only this time Loki stopped her from attacking. They really did have to be on their way, and he liked his head where it was, and not on Odin's plate.
"Little one, your Demon Lord would not fare well against the us Warriors Three and Lady Sif!" Fandral bragged, his hand on Volstagg's shoulder who was slowly recovering. Loki coughed and sputtered and Romanoff bit her lip, sizing up each of the three with extreme skepticism.
"No good friend, he would surely slay you all." Thor stated serious as a thunder clap. All three turned to Thor eyes wide. Thor had never expressed doubt at their fighting abilities before. "He is the same Demon from the tournaments long ago! You must remember Son of Taisho, Lord Sesshomaru." Thor explained and Loki stifled a laugh from the pale look on Sif's face. Volstagg's jaw dropped and Fandral swallowed. Hogun clenched his fists.
"The silver haired, elven looking one with the moon upon his brow and the green toxic claws? The same sadistic Demon who decapitated a Vanir in a friendly Melee Tournament?! Of course, it would make sense Loki would somehow bring 'him' back." Hogun grit his teeth. Loki's eyes widened, he had not known that. Hogun, being a Vanir, would hold that against Sho.
"You leave out the part of the tale that the Vanir smuggled throwing daggers into the ring, a clear violation of rules. Let's not dally, come now brother and friends of Asgard and Midgard!" Thor defended and gleefully motioned forward and Volstagg, Hogun and Sif reluctantly, and warily, followed. Loki felt a bit of warmth light his chest that Thor approved of Sesshomaru's sense of honor.
"So Glow Stick what's your play? I doubt it's the Hulk this time." Romanoff whispered, Rin led them pumping her bone in the air as if leading a parade.
"I have erred on the side of improvisation and creativity." Loki replied calmly, no sense lying to Romanoff.
"You don't have any idea do you?" Romanoff's expression dropped.
"Right now, I'm trying to ensure Odin doesn't eat Thor's and my hearts." Loki pointed to Rin "Worry not dear Spider, they don't call me silver-tongue for nothing." Loki reassured, but he could tell she was left wanting.
They walked the rest of the way in a strained, eerie silence. Asgard appeared deserted, not even a bird sang. Perhaps everyone waited in hiding to witness his complete demise. It didn't matter really.
Loki's palms started to sweat and he fidgeted with his armor. He struggled with smothered pangs of ancient nostalgia, cold dread, and gut-churning unease. Loki knew, deep down, this could not be his home ever again. Well, if it ever truly was his home in the first place. Too much had transpired, too many secrets, mistakes, and lies. Some he responsible for, some Thor, some Odin.
Not to mention the humiliating, body breaking, mind numbing torture, but who was really counting?
'Am I truly just some war trophy? Was I even abandoned? Did Odin ever consider me family? Was I only just a pawn in a game to ensure Thor reached the gilded throne with a younger brother to advise him? Did Odin even have desires for my own destiny?' Loki's questions strung themselves in a tangle.
Is it ironic that the God of Lies is a Lie himself?
He should have noticed sooner that he never quite belonged in Asgard, that he wasn't a true Aesir. That he was the monster that all Aesir feared, something always rejected. Something that of course, didn't belong to their society, much less their idea of something to be looked up to as a Prince.
Not only was he a Jotun, a Frost Giant parading about in an Aesir glamour, but his very mind also now existed as an incomplete and flawed mess. There was something very wrong with him, with all that he was. He wasn't just a mistake, he was a mistake that someone shattered and put back together all wrong.
'Doomed from the start, then tossed aside only to be broken down. The abomination I am now, a broken blade like me shouldn't exist.' Loki gulped, eyes pricking with a hint of water and magic. He just had to hold it together for the next few months, to keep himself, the biggest lie of all, a secret.
They reached the marbled throne room sooner than he anticipated. Nothing to note occurred on the walk, it was as if the entirety of Asgard had avoided him. As he expected, nothing prepared him for seeing Odin again, on high with Gungnir shining and imposing. Loki fought the rattling of his lungs.
The guards, dressed in Asgard's finest armor held him down, not unlike they did when Sesshomaru's Demon Blood took over and slew the other five Aesir. Though Sesshomaru didn't live to save him this time.
The kick to the ribs was expected, even anticipated over what was to come. This blunt pain was nothing new. A butt of a spear to the temple blackened the vision in his left eye and his mouth flooded with a familiar metallic tang. He laughed and spat the blood across the marble floor and onto the guard's boots.
"Good morning, or is it evening? One can't be too sure." Loki flashed a red toothed grin and received another kick to the stomach causing another round of cackling from the God of Lies.
"You know what it will take this time, to prevent us from reporting back to Odin that you've been disagreeable. You don't want that do you?" The guard sneered and Loki found his voice again, still chuckling.
No. he most certainly didn't want that, but of course not for the reasons anyone in Asgard thought.
"No, let's be on with it." He got to his knees and licked his lips automatically, tasting more iron. He knew exactly what the guards wanted, again.
He pursed his lips, a cacophony of emotions sounded in him, rage, shame, dread, fear, anxiety, spite, despair, hope, desperation. Loki suddenly shrank and his hands quivered. He could never stand tall enough in front Odin. His one eye watched him like a frog would a fly.
The only thing stopping him from freezing all together was a teary-eyed, exhausted Frigga descend with haste down the grand flight of stairs.
"Father, Mother! It is good to see you both and good to be home! Brother has brought me here, as well as our friends from Midgard." Loki didn't dare even breathe incorrectly. His green eyes darted from Odin to his mother who unabashedly maneuvered her way through the Warriors Three to him.
"My son!" And Loki froze stiff when she threw her arms around him. He barely had the sense to put his arms robotically around her. Lightly returning the embrace, he stood shell shocked. He didn't foresee this particular reaction from her. His stomach flipped. The last he saw of her almost two years ago, she dimly shook her head, heavy with disappointment. Even after Odin took his familial lineage from him. His name. His identity. She called him son.
She actually called him son. She addressed him before Thor!
Frigga leaned back, pouring over Loki only the way a mother could, even running her thin fingers through his dark hair.
"…Mother." he dared say in front of Odin. "It's true, I have returned, with friends." He breathed, proud his voice sounded more sure than did, much like when he pretended to be Sesshomaru. 'Hold yourself together Loki, there is much at stake here.'
"I can see. Hello I'm Queen Frigga, you must be Rin correct?!" Frigga leaned over some to Rin who was standing beside her with her bone ready. Rin relaxed, however, when she saw her warm smile.
"Yes! My name Rin! May I draw you for my Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin asked getting her bag. Loki cut a gaze to his mother, how did she know of Rin? From the Bifrost? Had she heard them?
"Yes of course sweetie. Ah, and you must be Natasha Romanoff. Pleased to meet you." Frigga extended a regal hand and Romanoff accepted it without hesitation.
"Likewise, it's a pleasure." Romanoff responded softly. Loki quirked his eyebrows in confusion at his mother. 'Romanoff never used her first name introducing herself to Fandral.' Loki's eyebrows furrowed, had Frigga truly watched him on Midgard and said nothing to Odin?
"I've been watching you, come." Frigga whispered in Loki's ear and she led him up, past the hotly suspicious and unimpressed Warriors Three and Sif, to Thor who poised himself with palpable assurance that Loki undertook to mirror.
Odin gripped Gungnir and ever so slowly waved the grand spear to point its splendid point at Loki.
"Loki, you have much to explain. I have vowed to my dear Frigga that I would hear you out." Loki didn't even wince when Odin didn't call him son. Odin looked unimpressed and a more than a hair contemptuous.
"Odin, I have endeavored and solicited your ear on this matter for many a Midgard's moon. I now stand before you, not as your son, your fugitive, nor as your God of Mischief but as an emissary." Loki found his pace. He could do this. He straightened, he had a job to do. He had people to protect, in particular a most alluring archer.
"The Mad Titan Thanos' armada is encroaching Midgard for its complete desolation. Of this I am most keenly certain. It is for this, and only this, I implored you to summon the Demon Lord Sesshomaru to this time, not for any blade of lore." Loki continued and Odin shifted, the barest hint of skepticism and perhaps amusement danced in his eye. Loki saw this.
"I would not have risked his life for a reunion; no matter how assiduously I searched for him. I required him so he could prove to Thor and the Avengers of Midgard that I speak with deepest veracity when I say that the Mad Titan, Thanos, seeks to extinguish them and Asgard for the Tesseract and the Infinity Gauntlet." Loki finished, he was glad he wore his armor to his homecoming for it made him feel impervious to Odin's stony stare.
The Warriors Three and Sif, even Volstagg with his bloodshot, itchy eyes stilled like statues. The name The Mad Titan Thanos made even the mightiest of Aesir's chest clench.
"What proof do you have?" Odin finally spoke, voice deep and demanding.
"The weapon Stark used against them took out their primary fleet, but their secondary fleet stationed nearby remained unharmed. Their contingency plan, if my invasion were to fail, was to make with haste to Midgard. I learnt of their fleet size, maximum possible velocity and position during my time in the second in command's Battleship. While they may have the means of being undetected by even by Heimdall, with my magic embedded in the hull of their battleships, I can give Heimdall a small window of visibility." Loki nearly cracked when having to relive his time with The Other again. The wires, the blue. The glass. The broken blade.
Loki swallowed, his mind bled and struggled to staunch it. He had to stand clear and strong.
"Your magic is in the battleships? Loki tha—" Loki cut Romanoff with a wild, frenzied look. He couldn't handle telling her, or anyone about the Other's experiments just yet.
"Aye, Allfather, every action Loki has undertaken has been to relay this information to us and Midguard. We need only to seek Heimdall-" Thor began, voice sure and stance strong.
"Enough, Thor. I need time to think of this. Loki has much gall to request anything of Heimdall, as do you." Odin waved Thor off and was about to sternly reproach Loki when a small blur scampered between Thor and Loki. A ponytail wobbled back and forth.
Loki paled ivory white.
"Hello! I'm Rin, I drew you a picture! It's of my Lord Sesshomaru, Uncle Loki, Storm God, Jaken and I. We are all eating ice cream, well except Lord Sesshomaru of course. Uncle Loki's favorite is lime sherbet, Storm God's favorite is cookie dough, Jaken and I haven't decided yet. Clint, the archer, also likes green ice cream just like Uncle Loki but I didn't draw him. He is back on Earth waiting for us with my Lord. Do you have a favorite ice cream flavor?" Rin dug through her bag and showed Odin her picture. Odin's eye bugged out wide.
Loki had no idea what was about transpire, however he knew if Odin tried to harm her in any way imaginable his wrath would know no equal.
"Why is she here? What nonsense is this? Who are you, girl?" Odin looked past Rin to glare harshly at Loki. Romanoff was prepared, Loki spotted the collapsible, charged baton in the waistband of her motorcycle leggings.
"She meant no offense, she is just a child. Her name is Rin, she is my protégé and under my, and by proxy SHIELD's and the Avengers' protection. She wished to join me on this trip to travel, sketch, and train. She is Lord Sesshomaru's adopted daughter as well. She merely wishes to show her appreciation for your hospitality. We had thought you'd be receptive of an illustrated account of your sons' time on Earth." Romanoff squared up to Odin, her voice soft like satin, but Odin was not convinced. His grip tightened on Gungnir.
Oh no.
"The daughter of Lord Sesshomaru, that aloof, disrespectful Dog Demon?! The Son of the late Inu no Taisho, wielder of Sounga the most sinister sword in existence?! The very Demon you persuaded me into summoning here, who with his youki released you from your just sentence?! You tell me he adopted a mortal girl and you, Thor and Loki brought her here?" Odin's eyebrow rose and he banged Gungnir on the sparkling floor of the throne room in a shockwave. Rin put her hands over her ears from the deafening clanging noise.
'I hadn't remembered Odin having such an ill opinion of Sho and his father. It must be due to the Other reshaping my mind I suppose. How unfortunate Odin still believes Sho released me, not that I left on my own volition.' Loki's throat itched with green magic.
"Allfather, Son of Taisho did not free Loki from his imprisonment, Loki left under his own power. Son of Taisho merely wished for her to sketch Asgard." Thor defended and Odin's jaw clenched.
"You expect me, Odin, King of Asgard, to believe that the merciless Demon Lord, the one who decapitated a Vanir opponent in a melee tournament with his talons, merely wants her to here to draw a picture?" Odin's voice raised with Gungnir. Frigga moved towards him. Loki's eyes squinted in confusion, what was Odin implying?
"My Lord Sesshomaru isn't merciless! He saves people! He saved Jaken and I! He is a kinder person than you!" Rin balled her small wrists and reached back for her bone. Loki's pupils constricted in horror.
'No!' Loki shot a look to Romanoff who grabbed Rin's shoulders.
"Allfather, he only decapitated that Vanir because he smuggled weapons into the tournament, a clear viola—" Odin cut Thor off with a laser of a gaze and Gungnir began to glow an assortment of rainbowed ribbons of color. All marbled hues of visible light spectrum. Loki's senses jolted and sizzled from the Odinforce magic.
Loki readied himself on the balls of his feet and his arms out to the sides, fingers coiled in green magic.
He wouldn't last long against Odin, but he would last long enough.
"He is probably using her to scout Asgard, along with this mortal woman, her spy of a mentor. Loki is this all truly revenge against me?! You had me summon this Demon here and you two plan on taking over Asgard?!" Odin snapped, Odinforce magic crashing like radiant meteors all around them. Beautiful yet deadly, they left craters in the throne room floor and the Warriors Three, Sif and other guards all took cover from the outburst of magic.
Romanoff dove to the side and wrapped Rin up in her arms to shield Rin from a fatal meteor blow. Loki's instincts took over and he instantly flung out an emerald force field around the two mortals. He successfully deflected the blow and defied his former father in one singular act.
How dare he!
'How dare he think so low of Sesshomaru, of Romanoff, of Thor, an innocent mortal girl?! Was Odin always this paranoid? Has senility finally claimed his mind? No, I know what this is.' Loki seethed, biting his lower lip in percolating rage.
'It is irrationality to the highest degree, Odin's mind can only see me as a danger to Asgard. Nothing else.' Loki's magic churned in him and seeped out his eyes, smoking upwards. He strode out front, all pine-scented magic, brushed bronze, and dark green leather.
"Is your disgust, your distrust of me, so great it leeches into these innocents?!" Loki's green magic spiked, flashing like fireworks against the kaleidoscopic, dazzling Gungnir's meteors.
"Agent Romanoff fought valiantly against me years ago. Of this you know. She would never align herself alongside me unless I spoke the truth of this invasion, and certainly not to gain knowledge to attack Asgard! You also think Thor so dense to not see through such a transparent plot?! Thor is no one's fool!" Loki's green protection magic amplified, lacing the room like vines from his fingers. Loki didn't notice anyone, or anything except Odin, whose reaction was only to move Gungnir slightly.
"Sesshomaru has never enjoyed Asgard and certainly has no desire to rule it. It disappoints me that you think I value Sesshomaru's life so low to risk it for your paltry throne! I desire it no longer!" Loki's body buzzed as if it was filled with hornets and his pulse beat deep and steady like a drum.
"I desire Asgard's halls, fields, rivers or mountains as my home no longer!" Loki's verdant magic vines exploded outwards with barbed thorns, fingered leaves, and tight buds.
"Though I have suffered and strived to protect Asgard, it has ceased to be my homeland when I fell from the Bifrost. I have made my lamentable mistakes, but so have you! and I have paid dearly for mine!" Loki advanced towards Odin, tall, commanding, regal and strong. He embodied everything the Aesir thought they could only see in Thor.
"You made a costly one when you took a certain spoil of war back to Asgard from Jotunheim, with the sole intent to use me as a pawn to unite the two realms! Your second mistake was giving me the carrot that I could equal to Thor, when all I could or would be given was the stick. Your third was when you conspired to mold me into something I could never truly be!" Loki's voice crescendoed high, sounded strained with malice.
His vines now thickened, expanded and ensconced all around everyone in the throne room like a jungle out of Midgard's amazon. The thorns, leaves, and buds now glowed and turned towards Odin and Gungnir as if sentient.
Odin, half curious, pointed the mighty Gungnir at one of the buds and let loose a volley of magic, only for the rainbow hued meteors to be absorbed like a sponge.
"Sesshomaru was right, Asgard is but a trite façade. Your gilded throne has revealed itself as a sallow jester's stool when you turned your back on what you turned me into! When you told me what I truly was and then rejected me for all that I am!" Loki's eyes sparked and he forgot he wasn't supposed to stand a chance against Odin.
His own magic buds on the vines burst open as lustering, trumpeted flowers.
Brimming with emerald orbs and mist, the flowers' pollen surrounded and overpowered the Odinforce magic, condescending it back into Gungnir like a glowing, emerald snare. The thorns shot out like javelins, creating a spiked barricade around him and Odin, containing the rest of the Odinforce magic.
The magic thrummed through Loki's veins like strummed lute strings and as soon once the last vestiges of the Odinforce magic retreated back into the Gungnir the flowers wilted and the barricade vanished. As if the magic knew it was a success itself, and not just its wielder, the vines shrunk, retracting back would back into Loki's fingers and eyes. Loki's breath came out deep and sure.
'That was…different. Astonishing. How was I able to defeat the Odinforce?! It controls all magic! My magic flows from it! I...' Loki then noticed everyone staring at him. Rin smiling giving him a thumbs up, Romanoff calculating, face trained to hide her disbelief. Thor turned to him, jaw slack. Frigga had her hands clasped together in front of her mouth, hiding a prideful smile.
Odin shook, eye wide with it trained on Gungnir as if it betrayed him personally. The air in the room still smelled acutely of pine.
"Most importantly." Loki confidently continued. "Rin is my niece and merely eight Midgardian years old. She only wanted to show you her artwork, and you have disgraced yourself in rejecting her gift." Loki took a deep breath and rolled his neck and shoulders, regaining a more composed posture, running an adrenaline fueled hand through his long hair.
Pause.
"Natasha, if Odin didn't like ice cream he could have just said so." Rin muttered. Romanoff cracked a smile, stepping from in front of her, to beside her. She studied the contemplative, if not surprised Odin. Loki walked briskly to Rin and picked her up with ease.
"Guards, escort Loki and the mortals to his chambers!" Odin bellowed his order, delayed. Frigga watched, as her son, his niece, and his friend, with heads high, stride away into the castle, towards Loki's old room, which remained as it was before everything crashed down around them. Frigga let loose a long deep breath she didn't realize she had been holding and tears streamed down her face in relief.
"This is the man I know; this is my son." Loki barely caught Frigga's murmur and he smiled widely.
"Ok, for once Glow Stick, your flare for dramatics got us out of trouble, rather than into trouble. Nice job." Romanoff admitted, patting Loki on his back like they had known each other for years. Well, they had, but not in a familiar way.
"Oh, the battle has just begun Romanoff. My little display in there has most likely incensed Odin to turn a blind eye, no pun intended, to our cause. Like your Midgardian film, Star Wars, I am Princess Leia, and our dear Thor is Obi wan Kenobi, he is our only hope." Loki managed a wry smile, with his fists clenched.
"Well, you better hope he is Obi Wan and not Luke, Luke and Leia did have a kissing scene in that movie." Romanoff jabbed and Loki closed his eyes, face palming.
"Thor and I have never entertained such—" Loki, appalled and exasperated, was cut off by Romanoff.
"Well, when you were Sesshomaru, it sure sounded like Thor may have at one time entertained such ideas with your best friend. I wonder if Pretty Boy—" Loki put a finger up, cheeks blazing red.
"That, you promised me, you would never bring up again! I refuse to visualize Sho and Thor in that fashion!" Loki felt his green magic eddy again in his fingers, including the one he held up to Romanoff. The two unaware that Rin had intently listened to their conversation.
"You guys are silly. Lord Sesshomaru likes chocolate way more than cookie dough." Rin sing-songed and the two adults looked down at her, shocked by her sagacity.
Because they both knew it was true. Thor was cookie dough ice cream….chocolate was Tony Stark.
"Well, Princess Leia, you don't fall for Luke, spoiler alert. Though I think I know who you do fall for." Romanoff motioned a bow shooting an arrow and Rin giggled. Loki would have paused in his stride if the guards behind him would have allowed it.
Romanoff wasn't implying that. There was no way, she simply referenced that silly cupid myth.
That had to be it.
Well, Loki is back in Asgard, but things are never easy for him. Thanks for reading and let me know what you think! :)
-TL