#45

Loki had cackled at the wizard's naïve conviction that the library of the Masters of the Mystic Arts held all the secrets of the universe earlier but, in a way, he now realized, it did. Well, it did for those who knew where to look and thankfully, Loki always found out where exactly he had to look in order to discover loopholes, forbidden spells, secret pathways and other mysteries that Odin, and sometimes even Frigga, had wished to hide from him.

Loki reached for the magic of the Masters of the Mystic Arts as he stepped into the Royal Court, halfway expecting the other man to have returned to the Sanctum, but the trace of Wong's signature led Loki to a bench on which the other man sat in deep thought. His face was turned towards the setting sun as if he were trying to soak up the rest of its warmth.

Loki sauntered over to him with that pointedly languid walk that Odin had absolutely despised when he had been a boy, earning a few wary glances of the guards patrolling the area. "Good evening," Loki said and then sat down beside the other man without invitation. The wizard shifted nervously and Loki followed his gaze towards the setting sun that was slowly dipping the forested hills that rose behind the city into a blood orange. "This place truly is beautiful."

"What do you want?" Wong asked, his tone leaving no doubt that he would not speak to Loki unless utmost necessity demanded it.

Fine, thought Loki, flashing him an innocent smile. "Can I not just talk to you? Is that not what you do in this realm? Exchange pleasantries before you, you know, bring your concerns forth?"

"You don't have to keep talking like that, you know that, right?" Wong bit his lip. "But thank you, for everything you did."

"You are welcome," Loki said. "Even though I do not think your soul has ever been in any real danger. I don't suppose my brother cares for you very much."

"I don't care much for him either," Wong replied briskly. "Or you."

Loki grabbed his chest and heaved a theatrical sigh. "Your words are like a knife to my heart."

"Tell me what you want," the wizard demanded.

Loki turned serious. "I need access to the library of Kamar Taj, for I believe it contains a book that rightfully belongs to us. To Asgard." He waited for the wizard's reaction, carefully studying his face. The other man seemed to be considering the proposal, his brow in a frown. "What makes you think there is something in that library that belongs to you?" Wong asked after a short pause.

"You do know who schooled Agamotto in magic, don't you?" Loki asked in return.

Wong gritted his teeth with annoyance. "He was a powerful being born from the tear of an Elder Goddess and he was born as an immensely powerful sorcerer, quite possibly the most powerful to ever live. He did not need anyone to school him in magic."

"I was afraid you were going to say something like that," Loki sighed. "But then again, you mortals actually believed that I was the one to give birth to Odin's horse." When he had first discovered this dreadful piece of Midgardian lore, he had been mortally offended, taking it as another proof how monstrous everyone apparently thought him to be, but now he merely cackled at the idea.

Wong blew out an exasperated breath. "What is your point?"

"History has a way of twisting the truth of what has transpired, is my point. Have you ever wondered why you call it history? Much to think about, isn't there?" Loki grinned when he heard Wong draw another breath laden with his rising aggravation. "Anyway, what seems to have happened was this: The Allfather descended to Midgard in the guise of a one-eyed wanderer—inspiring the image you mortals have of a wizard—and entrusted young Agamotto with the Time Stone. Then, he sent his mightiest sorceress to teach him in magic so that Earth would be able to protect against itself against mystical threats without Asgard's assistance."

"You're lying," Wong snapped. "Why would I believe even for one minute that our magic comes from Asgard?"

"If you take me to your library, I will show you proof that I am not lying," Loki said with a casual shrug, springing the trap. In truth, he did not know whether he was actually lying—and how could he truly know after telling Hela that she had better rethink everything she believed to be true about the universe since much of her knowledge had come from Odin's teachings—but it did not matter.

What mattered was that Wong, albeit reluctant to rise to the bait, was intrigued and not very skilled at concealing it. "I don't like you," he said and Loki marveled at how little it actually bothered him what this mortal thought of him, "but I will bring you to Kamar Taj if you tell me how you accomplished the spell that killed and resurrected you."

Proposing an exchange, are we? Loki thought. Very well. "What makes you think I could teach you that spell?" He flashed him an arrogant smile that would have sent his father's temper through the roof.

Wong shook his head. "Is your ego really so fragile that you constantly need to ridicule others to feel better about yourself?"

Loki swallowed. So much for not being bothered by this man's opinion of him. "Not anymore," he brought himself to say. Then, he gave a nod. "We have an agreement."

Wong sealed it with a brisk nod before he opened a portal that sprung from his fingers in sparks of orange. Loki followed him, changing back into his Jotun form as he did, just in case there was anyone on the lookout for beings that have posed a threat to their order in the past.

"Just so you know, it's pretty creepy when you keep changing your appearance like that," Wong noted as Loki set foot into the library that was almost as myth-enshrouded among Midgardian magicians as the Asgardian library was throughout the entire cosmos. Had been, Loki silently corrected himself and felt another stab of pain inside his chest. He reached for Frigga's magic, tried to console himself with the warmth of her signature, but despite the words of encouragement that he had spoken to his brother earlier, Loki himself felt nowhere near ready to face a life without his mother in it.

"So, tell me," commanded the wizard.

"Well, it's complicated," Loki started as he began to walk the aisles of the library and, much to Wong's dismay, brushed his fingertips along the covers of the dusty tomes. "You see, the Reality Stone is a part of me. So, there is this ancient force residing inside of me that wants to take possession of me and that wants to keep me alive because it wants my body ever since I came within its reach on Svartalfheim a few years ago."

He saw that the wizard was not following, so he said, "Never mind. In short, what I did was to lock my essence into a box; a magical box inside my mind to keep it safe from everything that would happen. To keep it safe from the deadly blow that Thor was going to deal me. Because, you see, even upon our physical deaths, the magic inside of us does not perish with us. Which is to say that the Reality Stone magic was going to endure. All I had to do was command it to open the box again after a limited amount of time, which, I figured, Valkyrie needed to teleport us back to safety with the Space Stone I have given her. Since the Reality Stone's superior motive is to keep me alive for future wanting-to-possess-itself-of-my-mind kind of activities, it complied with my demand. And, tadaaa, here I am." He stretched out his arms, smiling at how effortlessly he had managed to make it sound as if performing the spell had been the easiest thing in the world when it had almost cost his life. Again. He really needed to stop the attempt to use magic on the brink of death for a while as soon as the universe was safe.

"That is not possible," Wong gasped.

Loki flashed him a smug grin. "Well, am I here, am I not?"

"Where did you learn a spell like that?" Wong asked and Loki took mischievous pleasure in how fascinated the other man was by his achievement. He gave a shrug and said, "When I was imprisoned in the dungeons. You know, for my crimes against your world."

The wizard's lips gaped open. "They let you continue practice sorcery while you were a prisoner? In Asgard?"

"Oh Gods no." Loki giggled. "I was imprisoned in a magic-proof cell that would not allow me to perform any spell, except for basic illusions. If I attempted more than that, it would feel like the worst migraine in the world, like a thousand torches igniting my temples. But my mother, she sent me books," Loki continued as they had reached the door leading to what he supposed was the section of the library reserved for masters only. He waited for Wong to give him permission to enter. "I read about all sorts of spells that I could not practice but only memorize," Loki continued as Wong guided him into the room and he set foot onto the soft carpet, walking past an old wooden table with three chairs on either side of it. "And this one seemed particularly useful. I used it right after Thor let me out of the dungeons and the Dark Elves attempted to kill us and it worked." Loki smiled in gleeful delight at his own brilliance but then remembered the glint of pain in his brother's eyes, his face convulsing with sheer terror when the life streamed out of Loki's body in his strong hands, and his smile died on his lips.

"Anyway, I have read well over five hundred books during my confinement, which is how I learned all about this place. About your order. About your access to the Mirror Dimension and the Dark Dimension. About those books." Loki had stopped in front of a construction of several iron hexagons welded together in an arrangement vaguely resembling the honeycombs of a beehive and holding several books with a glimmering orange crystal in the middle, which were fixed to the construction with black chains. The collection was a truly glorious sight and if he had had the time, he would have taken every single book out, running his fingers along their covers in awe, and studied the wisdom in them with the same hungry curiosity that kept him awake through endless nights when he had studied every tome in Asgard's library as a youth. Maybe one day.

"But most of all, I learned about the one book that is hidden beneath those," Loki finished. "Which is the one that we need."

"There is no book beneath those," said Wong. "I would know," he added, his tone taking on the familiar edge of annoyance when he saw Loki's eyebrows hiking up. "I have been the guardian of this library."

"Do not lie to me," Loki told him as he fixed the other man with his blood-red Jotun stare.

"W-what w-would you need this for?" stammered Wong, both his skepticism and his fear almost palpable. "This book was written by Agamotto himself and not even the Ancient One—"

"Let me stop you right there," Loki interrupted him. "It was not written by Agamotto." He paused for dramatic effect. "It was written by his teacher."

"Your father," Wong grumbled.

"Exactly," said Loki. "Now, show me."

Wong's reluctance was written all over his face when he brought his hands together and the Eldritch magic pulsated to life between his palms in bright, sizzling sparks of orange. He moved his hands in a circular motion until a keyhole-shaped portal opened in front of them, revealing an altar made of stone, upon which rested a single book bound in black leather, a black chain similar to the books protecting what Loki guessed was the Sorcerer Supreme's collection having been tied around it.

"There is nothing on or in this book that anyone could read," Wong said as Loki stretched out his blue hand and retrieved the book from the secret dimension, holding it out in awe as he inspected the lock of the chain. By the look of it, it was black obsidian and when his fingertips brushed its surface, he suspected it to be made of rock from the volcanic fields of Svartalfheim. So, it is true. Everything you read is true. Odin left this here for his successor.

"This book has never been meant for—" Wong continued but then interrupted himself, his eyes bulging in disbelief, when fine silver markings appeared on its cover, morphing into a carving of Yggdrasil.

"It has not been meant for your kind, no," Loki said with a grin half-real, half-feigned. He showed Wong the lock and traced the shape of the object meant to unlock it with his right index finger. "What does this look like to you?"

Recognition washed over the wizard's face but he was too stunned to articulate a single word. Loki tried to open the look but an ancient magic bit into his skin. He clutched the book to his chest. "We need to get this book back to the others."

"No! There is no chance I will let you leave this library with our property," Wong mumbled when he had regained his composure.

"I know you take your oath to protect the wisdom within these walls very seriously but this is not your property," Loki reminded him as he tapped on the cover of the book. "This is property of Asgard, which means that it is ours. Now, open the portal."

"And if I don't?" asked Wong.

"Then I do this," Loki said, shrunk his body to the size of atoms and teleported himself back to Wakanda with a spell he had not used since long before Thor's planned coronation because there had either been no need or he had been too exhausted to even attempt it when he had been in need of it.

Loki's body pieced itself back together in front of the dining room they had been led to earlier and he carefully pushed the door open, feeling only slightly dizzy. The room was abandoned now but the plates with the rest of the food Thor and the others had left uneaten were still on the table. He shapeshifted back into his Asgardian form and helped himself to some plates of meats and fruits, wolfing them down before anyone would disturb him, before he walked back into Shuri's laboratory where everyone stood assembled again in the process of recreating a vibranium gauntlet.

"How do you fare, my, well, not-really-friends?" Loki asked casually, the book in his hands concealed by an invisibility spell.

"The gauntlet's coming along nicely," said Stark and Loki had to admit to himself that indeed it was. The scientists had captured its original structure in a hologram hovering about a desk. To Loki, the nature of the hologram looked similar to the digital representation they had created of the Mind Stone's molecular integrity earlier, the lines of its structure flickering in the air in a glimmering purple. Tiny robotic arms mounted to an extension of the desk were compiling the new gauntlet and, much to Loki's pleasant surprise, it was black with a few parts of charcoal mounted in between instead of gold, which looked far less presumptuous and far more attractive.

"But we still need to transfer the Aether back into the original stone and remove the Soul Stone from the original gauntlet," said Shuri.

"If you're ready to let go of that thing," Stark added with a smile that Loki wanted to wipe off his face because of the feelings it stirred up inside of him. Of course, he was ready but, then again, he was not. "Let us wait until you are finished, shall we?" Loki asked.

Steve Rogers was standing a little further back and Loki noted that Shuri had attached a prosthetic arm to his left shoulder, its dark gray surface reflecting the light of the unforgiving bluish lamps glaring down on them from the ceiling.

"Nice arm," Loki commented.

"Thank you," said Rogers even though he did not look overly pleased and, honestly, who would look overly pleased in such a situation?

"But I think it is missing something," Loki commented and, with a flick of his fingers, the gray on the prosthetic bloomed into bright shades of red, blue and white, morphing into the American flag.

The captain's expression soured. "Please, take that back."

"Why?" Loki asked, his face a long-perfected mask of innocence. "This is your signature feature, is it not?"

Rogers grumbled but, apparently, he was not in the mood for a discussion.

"Weren't you going to look for Wong?" asked Thor with a look of slight irritation on his face.

"I did. We traveled to Kamar Taj together but he refused to give me a ride back, so I gave me my own ride." Loki shrugged and enjoyed it immensely when all of their faces fell.

"You what?" asked Thor.

"How?" asked Valkyrie. "If you had neither had access to the portals nor the Rainbow Bridge nor the Space Stone?"

"I have access to my mind," said Loki, "which is all the access that I need, believe me. I also have access to this book," he added, removing the invisibility spell. "Which, admittedly, is not related to the travel issue but still of importance."

"Seriously," gasped Rocket, "what is it with this guy?"

"You could not even begin to understand," Loki replied. "However, I would appreciate it if you stopped referring to me as a 'guy' or a 'dude'. For some reason, these names do not really sit well with me."

"Ooookay," the raccoon conceded as he held up his paws in surrender even though his expression belied that the request had irritated him.

"What did the two of you do in Kamar Taj?" asked Stark just as an orange portal opened beside them and Wong strutted back into the room, yelling, "Why did you even ask me for permission to enter the library if you can world-walk by yourself?"

"Oh, I don't know," Loki said. "Maybe I was trying to show off my vast range of abilities as a sorcerer. You know, to massage my ego." He flashed the other man a grin. In truth, of course, he needed the Avengers to believe that he was still playing by their rules and if he had entered the library of Kamar Taj by himself and someone had detected his signature, well, that risk had simply been none worth taking.

"I knew you could teleport," Thor grumbled and Loki only now remembered that he had kept this secret from most people in Asgard in order to have the upper hand and had outright denied it to Thor a few times for reasons he no longer remembered.

"So, what's that book?" Nebula asked before they could delve into another brotherly discussion about all the things Loki had kept from Thor throughout the years.

"It has been kept safe on Midgard for eons in case the Realm Eternal is destroyed," Loki replied. "And, judged by what kind of information the secret Asgardian books I read so far usually contain, this is the one in which we are finally going to find the information about Nemesis we have been looking for all this time."

"Realm Eternal," Stark mused. "They didn't really give much thought to that name if they feared it might be destroyed one day, did they?" Loki suppressed a smile at the remark. "And why keep the book there?" Stark continued. "Didn't you say to Hela that Odin did not want anyone to know of this stone's existence? Why leave information about it? That doesn't make any sense."

"Because you do not take knowledge as valuable as this to your grave," Loki explained. "You ensure that the knowledge survives somehow and then go out of your way to hide it as best as you can so that those who come after you have the hardest possible time finding it. This is nothing new to you, is it?" Loki continued when he saw their wary expresions. "Throughout the history of the universe, all sentient beings have been obsessed with weaving legends, telling truths and lies and half-truths and everything in between to cover their tracks, but still they left important crumbs of knowledge behind in treasure maps and other secret messages."

"Why would he want you to find it, though, after everything …" Stark's voice trailed off as if he remembered something that made him change his mind.

"He did not," Loki assured him. "It was my mother who sent me the book containing information to its whereabouts."

"It still doesn't make much sense," the Widow pointed out. "But then again, nothing really makes sense anymore."

"Well, don't you have an expression about how the lord moves in mysterious ways?" Loki asked and then smiled when most of them rolled their eyes in recognition. "It is like that. In any way," he continued and then turned towards Thor. "The book is meant for Odin's successor. The future king of Asgard." He held the book out to his brother. "Which means that it is yours."

Thor shook his head and softly pushed the book away from him. "No, it is yours. The throne should have always been yours."

Loki gulped, tears of gratitude for his brother's trust in his abilities stinging his eyes, and, for a moment, he lost his tongue, the book between them like an accursed relic nobody dared to touch.

"Look at the lock," Wong told Thor, breaking the spell. When the wizard said this, Thor took the book at last and he studied the shape of the object meant to unlock the wisdom inside. "Is that …?"

"Yes," said Loki.

"What?" asked Rocket as everyone else came closer and crowed around them, inspecting the book with both curiosity and alarm.

"It very much looks like you can place the seventh stone in here," said Thor.

Notes:

~ First off, sorry, Akira, that there was no Loki bursting open the doors of the New York Sanctum. My apologies.
~ Second, Nemesis will come but I have this annoying tendency to write everything out in much more detail than originally planned, so you will have to be patient a liiiiiittle longer. Just tell me if I am annoying you, please. I totally understand.
~ Third, the exchange about why we call it history (i.e. his story) is taken from the Gospel of Loki by Joanne M. Harris, in which Loki draws attention to the fact that history has been written by the Old Man (men?) and is, as such, not very trustworthy to begin with.
~ Fourth, the whole locking-things-inside-a-magic-box-inside-your-mind thing is an idea that I have picked up from the Dr. Sleep novel by Stephen King last year. In that novel, Dick Halloran tells Danny to lock the ghosts he encountered in the Overlook away into a box and this idea stayed with me ever since, partly influencing how I developed Loki's appoach to his own memories, emotions etc. I briefly mentioned it before when Loki locked his most treasured memories of him and Thor reconciling in a box, more precisely a treasure chest, before he attempted to retrieve the Mind Stone in chapter 23. Originally, when Loki explained this to Wong, I had him asking "Like with the shining?" and Loki asking back, "What's a shining?" but then I remembered that Wong is not big on pop-cultural references, which is why I cut it.
~ Fifth, Tony has been thinking about how his father, despite always having giving him the feeling of not appreciating him in the slightest, left him the map that enabled him to create a new element so he did not have to die. But I am fairly sure you will all have deduced this by yourselves.
~ Sixth, you might think that this chapter is a kind of a stretch but my story has been revolving around Asgard having its fingers in every pie from the very start, from Thor and Loki being responsible for all the events that happened in the MCU to Odin having possessed all the Infinity Stones at one point and I am keeping this up. This is Asgard and Odin Allfather we're taking about after all, duh.
~ Anyway, the team is about to learn everything. I hope you are excited. See you soon xoxo