Hello my awesome readers!
Just to clear a couple things up real quick. Hela's pendant of Everlasting Reflections, only records special memories, and it only works (al all) if someone's wearing it. Otherwise it's useless. And did Bruce seriously somehow magically crash land in Asgard instead of Sakaar...? For the sake of this weird story, Yep. He just did...it simply had to be done. And Valkyrie? We're gonna say she lived the rest of her life happy and drunk. She married Korg, and they had 13 rocky-road kids. So there.
Enjoy :)
Updated: September 4th, 2019
The Asgardian servants weren't exactly sure how to react to their future king, his traitorous younger brother, and the Warriors Three, storming through the Royal Halls like a bunch of madmen.
So they tried their best to ignore them and mind their own business. It wasn't easy.
"I can't believe you Loki, I cannot believe you".
"Well what did you expect of me? To prepare him a feast? Invite him to the theatre? He's a savage monst"-
Thor stopped dead in his tracks and turned to give his brother a hard glare.
"You could've contacted me, I know him. He's my friend. Oh but wait, you couldn't contact me because that would force you to reveal your true identity. It all makes sense now".
Loki was trying his best not to lash out at his brother himself, heaven forbid Asgard dealing with two uncontrollable princes and a dead king.
But he was done with Thor and his consistent pestering.
"Oh dear, apparently I've been caught red-handed. But you must stop with the cruelty brother, I didn't have enough time to realize that your thick skull grew a few seeds of intelligence these past couple years".
Thankfully for everyone in the surrounding area, Heimdall waltzed in before any permanent damage could be done.
"Alright boys, that's enough bickering. What would your mother say"? The Gatekeeper asked, in his rich usual voice.
"Heimdall, I believe I'll need your help. The Hulk isn't exactly an easy one to...handle," Thor requested uneasily.
"Nonsense, I just heard you snap that he was your friend. Surely you can figure it out? The prison is right up ahead," Heimdall directed, smirking in triumph when Thor groaned in defeat.
"Very well, oh and Loki? Stay here".
Loki shot up in surprise.
"I do what I want Thor, you can't-"
"Oh well I just did. This is your doing, which I have to fix, so shut up. Now my friends and I are going down there, we're bringing Banner back. And once all that is done, then we will talk".
"How exciting, more bonding time with you," Loki murmurs under his breath.
Thor pretended he didn't hear, the Warriors Three were quick to follow him when he sped to the dungeons.
Loki glanced awkwardly in Heimdall's direction. Believing he was safe, the trickster began to sneak away.
Until he felt a strong hand on his shoulder.
"No my boy, I want to talk to you. Privately and right now. The library's a good place, you used to love hiding away from the world there as a child".
Loki shut his eyes in annoyance, the Norns love him don't they? Couldn't even have a moment to himself.
"Good Heimdall, the library sounds...nice. But unfortunately the Goddess of Death is planning to end this realm, and I was hoping to start preparing for her arrival-"
"Don't even start with the excuses Loki, you're 1,445, Not 445. Come on, I know you need this," Heimdall says firmly, and grabbed Loki's arm. Dragging him away ruthlessly despite the harsh protests.
"Talk to me Fandral, how exactly did the Hulk get here"?
"Oh well he-I-erm...I didn't, he just showed up...there was a loud crash outside the palace"!
Volstagg groaned, the waves of stupidity were coming in rapidly from that question.
"Thor, your friend...it was strange. He simply appeared out of the blue, trapped inside a space ship of some sort. His rage was frightening, not even Odin...Loki, knew what to do with him. So your brother cast a spell on him, causing him to fall into a deep slumber. Then he ordered us to bring him down here. And he's been here ever since, just asleep".
"But why would he wake up just now"? Thor asked, still processing the information.
"Maybe because it was Loki's magic that was keeping him unconscious. And even though you two were gone for just a few hours, perhaps that was enough for him to awaken once more..."? Fandral suggested.
"Alright enough, we're here," Hogun spoke up roughly.
Even if Hogun hadn't informed them, they would've shut up anyways. Because as soon as Fandral was done rambling, shouts of panic immediately filled their ears.
Thor cursed and he and his friends turned one final corner, and saw it all. Several guards trying their best to contain the Hulk.
But Hulk wasn't having it. So their attempts were pretty pathetic. One soldier was thrown across the cell, his screams were probably exaggerated but it still wasn't a pretty sight.
"This is going to be harder than I previously thought my friends," Volstagg says fearfully.
After several minutes of trying to escape, Loki gave up. He was surprised Heimdall didn't lead him to the armory first, to restrain him with handcuffs, or even a... muzzle. Would've been a suitable punishment for his crimes.
But no, they simply walked right into the majestic room. The place Loki had cherished since his mother had taught him to read. The familiar scent of old leather books embraced him. He remembered how he used to keep a secret stash of almond chocolates by his favorite sitting area.
"I'm sorry Loki".
Well that was unexpected.
"I should've been there for you, you've been through so much. Especially these past few years. Which makes all this harder, considering I watched you grow up. I remember you playing in the rivers as an innocent child. I saw how others treated you, and the All-Father and I never intervening. When Thor was banished to Midgard, I should've supported you. Helped you, shown you more respect. Hardly anyone ever gave you true respect...," Heimdall trailed off, staring off into who knows where with his vision.
"Heimdall, I'm afraid it may have been a mistake making you a fugitive to the throne. Your mind has drifted and your ranting is far too scrambled to comprehend, but is this what you brought me in here for? To apologize? Why now"?
In truth, Loki only asked to shove down the memories from his youth. Memories of the older children beating him and mocking him, when he was so bloody small and naïve. Always being punished for every little thing he did, living in Thor's golden shadow.
"No my boy, not just to apologize. Although I do hope you'll forgive me when you're ready, but I wanted to ask. How are you handling your father's death"?
"Oh so that's it? Well, I'm actually handling it quite well, thank you for your concern Gatekeeper. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to escort myself to my quarters". Any openness that Loki displayed before had vanished, his face hardened, and people thought him a deceiver.
He was almost free, his hand holding the beautifully crafted wooden door handles, but then-
"He did love you Loki".
Loki calmed himself before turning around to face the other God. He was ready for a challenge.
"I will admit, he did have a horrible way of showing it," Heimdall chuckled gently.
"You don't say? If I recall correctly Heimdall, the only reason Odin took me in was so I could be his bargaining chip. He used me. He never...look. If he did care, then why did he raise Thor and me to believe the Jotuns were monsters, knowing full well that I am one. The irony is, he told both of us we were born to be kings. But he left out the part that we were born to be kings of different realms. Why is it that every time I wanted him, needed him, he conveniently never had time for me? For Thor? Always. But with me, he always had more important things to attend to. Whether it was council meetings, visiting the other realms to ensure peace. Falling into the Odinsleep. And now dying. He died telling me my mother would be proud of me, and that he loved me. But of course, before I could engage in a real conversation with him, he dies. I couldn't even give him a hug if I wanted to, and he couldn't even tell me in his own words that he was sorry. Maybe he was, maybe his pride got in the way before he could say it. Ha, well we have that in common don't we? In the end, why should I care about his fate? Why should it affect me"?
The Gatekeeper kept his eyes locked on Loki, be it difficult, he had to get his point across.
"I am not trying to to tell you you should feel a specific way Loki. It's fine if you don't accept him as your father. Odin has made grave mistakes, perhaps he never should've raised children. Everyone paints this beautiful image of him being the perfect ruler and God. You and I both know that's an idiotic assumption. But you were much more than an old relic to him, he gradually began to care for you. And love you, you need to know that. Does this fact excuse everything that happened between the two of you? No. You deserved better growing up Loki. There's no question there. But please, forgive him and let go. For your own sake, you'll be surprised at how much peace you'll have if you do".
Loki's brilliant jade eyes widened, caught off guard once again.
"So, will you please consider taking my advice? Or not"?
"If I say yes, will you leave me be"? Loki asks, his posture aggravated, but his eyes soft.
"Yes".
"Very well, I shall...most definitely consider it".
"Good, now do me one final favor, go outside and wait in your mother's old stone garden".
Was he serious?
"May I ask why"?
"If you have patience, you'll find out why faster. Trust me, sit by the grand waterfall and wait," Heimdall instructed.
Loki felt slightly amused at his confidence, but nodded obediently and walked through the doorway. His interest had been caught, besides, where was the fun in not playing along with this game?
"Oh and Loki"?
"What now"?
"Welcome home".
"SAVE YOURSELF YOUR MAJESTY"! A soldier begged, right before Hulk grabbed him from under the leg and swung him around some more.
"Ah well, you heard the man Thor. We should save ourselves whilst we can, follow me then," Fandral says eagerly.
"Can you not shut your mouth you simpleton"?! Volstagg snapped.
Fandral spluttered, highly offended at his best friend's rude unnecessary comment.
Thor rolled his eyes and glanced at Hogun. His expression was grim and unreadable. As usual.
"Alright, you three calm the guards and hold them back. I have to take on Banner alone," Thor murmurs exasperated.
"What?! Surely you jest?! He'll rip you apart if you confront him by yourself"! Fandral exclaimed.
"No he won't, Natasha could always get through to him. Surely it can't be that hard".
"I hope you're right, We'll go clear everyone out. Good luck," Hogun says hurriedly, and grasped Volstagg's shoulder. Volstagg groaned inwardly as he was dragged off. Fandral cursed under his breath, and begged the Gods that they were all going to get out alive.
As soon as they ushed all the guards out, Hogun gave Thor a signal to go ahead and not get crushed.
The Thunderer placed his hammer on the ground before entering the cell. As much as he hated doing it, it was necessary so Bruce could see he meant no harm. When he stepped inside, he saw the Hulk kneeling on the ground, panting heavily.
"Hey big guy-"
Hulk looked up and growled savagely.
"The sun's going down, the sun's going down, sun's going down," Thor chanted.
Fandral gulped from the sidelines while Volstagg said a silent prayer.
"Banner, it's me remember? It's Thor. Your good 'ol friend from work? We've fought side by side together, we're the Avengers! Come on, you have to help me out here. I promise I won't hurt you...nobody's going to hurt you, not anymore...," Thor slowly approached and placed his hand on Bruce's.
To everyone's shock, that seemed to do the trick. The mindless beast had a look of recognition cross his face, memories took over the Hulk's mind...and then...
Hulk roared full of rage, trying to fight back desperately.
"Banner come on! I know you're in there! The sun's going down, the sun's going down, it's going down".
Hulk stared right into Thor's eyes, and Thor stared right back determined.
Finally, finally, Hulk gave up and allowed his puny little human to take over. The process of transforming from monster to man looked excruciating, but luckily didn't take long. Soon, it was the one and only, Bruce Banner laying on the ground. Wearing nothing but his traditional baggy jeans.
Thor, Volstagg, Hogun, and Fandral had never felt more relieved in their almost 2,000 years of living.
"I told you, you could figure it out my lord, didn't turn out so difficult did it"?
"Aeeek"! Fandral shrieked and jumped a few feet up in the air at hearing the unexpected voice. Hogun slapped him immediately after.
Thor found himself fighting to keep his own composure calm and collected, Heimdall had scared the devil out of both of them...
"Wha...? Wha-what's going on? Wait Thor"? Bruce questioned sounding terrified.
The God of Thunder quickly knelt by his old teammate. And held nothing but pity for his scrawny friend. Bruce had sweat caked all over him, not to mention his uncontrollable shaking.
"Relax, yeah it's me. It's okay you're safe, you're safe".
"Huh? I-I don't, what? Where are we? What the hell happened...? Oh! My god! Ultron, did we stop him?! Did we win?! And Nat! Nat, is she good"?
"Uhhhh, um, yes we won and Nat's good. She's real good. She's fine, but Bruce, Ultron that...that was two years ago".
"Two years?! Wait you're telling me I've been the Hulk for TWO years"?
"Believe me when I say we did everything we could to help you Bannerson. But your inner beast is hard to tame, which led to one of our sorcerers casting a sleeping spell on you," Heimdall explained.
Bruce's eyes bugged out at seeing a weird tall guy with glowing yellow eyeballs.
Wait was he another God? Oh crap.
"Thor? I think I need a bed or something like now...my brain wasn't designed for all this crazy stress".
"Right! My friends will take you to the Healing Halls at once, you can rest and do whatever you wish".
"We will"? Fandral asked. Which earned him plenty of glares.
"Hold on a sec, 'Healing Halls'? You didn't answer my question, where the heck are we"?
Thor hesitated before answering, "We're in Asgard. My home-world".
...
...
"Yep, just someone get me a bed please".
Thor gave a commanding gesture and the Warriors Three were by his side in an instant. Thor hoisted Bruce up and sent him a reassuring look before Hogun and Volstagg took over and grabbed Bruce's arms with ease to help him walk. Fandral stood by, hand over his weapon, just in case.
Thor watched them leave, uneasiness settling in again. He still had to find a way to defend his people and stop Hela from causing Ragnarok. Of course, he just had to have two heinous siblings to take care of-
"Loki's waiting for you".
Thor was broken out of his trance, Loki was what?
"I'm sorry"?
"Your brother, he awaits you. He's in the Queen's mystic stone garden, I sent him there, and now I'm sending you there. Both of you need to mourn for your father together properly. Don't argue with me Thor, everything else can wait, I'll watch your Avenger friend. And I don't want either of you leaving that garden until you make amends, Hela won't be here for awhile, so go".
"Heimdall, Hela could arrive at any given moment, we have to prepare now! As for Loki, he can stay wherever he wants for all I care. He faked his own death. Stripped Odin of his power, stranded him on earth to die. Not to mention all the times he's betrayed me, look he cannot be trusted at the moment. Our paths diverged a long time ago, even if there is still good in him, it's not worth wasting time over".
"Really? It's not worth it? Choose your next words wisely Odinson, I know Loki's hurt you with his betrayals. But you've hurt him too. You never once thanked him whenever he took a blow for you in battle, whenever he desired your company you gave it to your friends instead, you openly mocked him for practicing magic instead of fighting with weapons like a true man. So you see? All of us have acted like fools in the past, and I'm tired of this family constantly being torn".
Thor was taken aback, flashbacks of all those events flooding his mind. Heimdall had a point, but still, after everything that transpired with him and his brother, did Loki truly deserve his forgiveness? When Loki received the title of the God of Mischief, he took it to heart. Causing mischief and chaos, especially with starting a cruel alien war on Midgard five years ago. But going back to their youth, did he deserve Loki's forgiveness?
"So, he's in the garden"?
Loki smiled as he examined a crystal he found hidden in the moist dirt. His mother used to love these.
They were beautiful, especially the ones here. The marble bench he was sitting on was rather wet since there was an actual waterfall right in front of him, but he didn't care.
He'd forgotten how nice it was here. The falls were stunning, silvery mist shrouded the area. It was breathtaking really. He sat back and exhaled the serene land's wonderful scents, simple things such as lilies and lavender brought plain happiness.
He relished it.
But all good things must come to an end.
Loki bit back a snarl just thinking about someone interrupting his moment. Realizing the loud footsteps were coming closer, he hastily threw the crystal back in the lake. Just in time too, his obnoxious big brother's head popped up, shoving tree branches out of his way.
"Brother," Thor acknowledged stiffly.
Loki only nodded in his direction before looking back at the lake. Thor rubbed his temples anxiously and took his time sitting down next to his little brother.
"Listen, we should um, we should honor Odin. His passing happened so fast and we should use this time that we have to mourn him the right way".
No response.
"Lok-"
"Can we just get on with it and pray"?
Both brothers made eye-contact for a brief moment, before chanting together in sync.
"Odin, we bid you take your place in the Halls of Valhalla. Where the brave shall live forever. Nor shall we mourn, but rejoice, for those that have died the glorious death".
Thor felt an immense weight lifted off his shoulders, it was done. They had said their final goodbye to their father. Now Odin could fully rest in peace.
"Why didn't you let me mourn her"?
Thor was stunned.
"Brother...what do you-"
"Don't play coy with me Thor, our mother. Why didn't you...why didn't any of you allow me to be present at her funeral? I assume you believed I didn't care, but I loved her too".
"Our minds were clouded Loki, overtaken with grief and burning anger. I held so much hated that day, for the Elves that murdered her, but also for you. I believed you were unworthy, so did father. The attack on Midgard stayed with me, and haunted me. But I realize how foolish that thinking was...I'm so sorry".
"You do know that's something I might never be able to forgive you for".
"I...understand. And I won't hold a grudge against you, I only hope you know what a huge moron I am".
"Hehe, believe me, I know".
"So, about all those times you deliberately stabbed me in the back...".
"Oh Norns, exactly how many times would you have me apologize for those incidents"?
"Apologizing once would be enough for me".
"Mmm, no".
"Bonding time's over, let's head back".