Jotunheim was as quiet as a summer day before a raging storm. This time, Loki was bringing the storm.
He has already travelled this journey once. That time, he was also making his lonely way through the snow, devising what to say to stop them from killing him. Yet back then, his ultimate goal was so very different.
Back then he failed.
You lack conviction.
Did he?
Loki has thought about the agent's words often. Did he really fail so miserably because he never meant to do those things?
Deep in his mind he knew that it might very well be the case.
One thing was certain now.
At this moment, he did not lack conviction.
"You dare to set foot in our land, Asgardian? After what you have done?" And here they were, talking from behind the omnipresent ice so that Loki could not see them to intimidate him.
Ironic, how on Asgard he would be insulted for being a Jotun and here on Jotunheim he was being called Asgardian as an insult.
"And what do you imagine that I have done?" Loki asked in his most innocent voice.
That was when they all appeared. At once, the huge icy rocks seemed to move away to let in the Frost Giants. There was uncountable number of them and they were all crawling in to encircle Loki as the rocks were giving in with a frightening sound of huge blocks of stones being cracked open. Soon, Loki was surrounded by unfriendly-looking Frost Giants.
And Loki could not help himself but wonder how in the Nine Realms could he be born so small. Every time he met a Frost Giant, their actual size fascinated him. They were indeed giants; so tall that he couldn't help himself but feel familiarly insignificant in their presence. It also helped him understand why Laufey put him away. Such a small baby he must have been; no wonder his biological father was ashamed of him.
Yet their size wasn't the only thing that kept his attention. Their ungodly, monster appearance of rough, greyish skin with the touch of cold blue and the lack of a dignified attire repelled Loki as much as the carvings on their faces. Their lifeless, icy lips were of such nature that Loki didn't doubt they couldn't kiss. And those who couldn't kiss also couldn't love.
Loki was disgusted by them and so he didn't even let himself dwell on the most hideous feature of theirs; the radiant red eyes.
The God of Mischief briefly wondered if anyone could ever find the Frost Giants pleasant. Staring at them now, he found that highly unlikely.
And yet he knew that such hatred towards their kind is only a mere projection of the hatred he felt towards himself. If he wants his plan to succeed, he must leave it behind. And his plan must be successful. The survival of the universe depended on it. Loki didn't particularly care about the universe; what has the universe ever given him but pain and suffering? But even he had to admit that there were little pieces in the vast spaces that made it all worth saving. His brother's name was dancing on the front of his mind and Loki wondered how he could have ever persuaded himself so well that Thor was not his brother. Apart from the very few ones whose demise would admittedly cause him pain, there was also to be a lot of wasted effort in saving the Asgardians if they are to be eliminated by Thanos
"You have already come to us once, Asgardian. You promised us the Casket. You promised that Jotunheim would be returned to all its glory. Instead, you betrayed us and killed our king. That is treason of the highest degree." It was one of the tallest Jotuns who made this little speech. Loki eyed him with curiosity.
"With whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?" Loki judged that he will probably be their leader.
"I am Helblindi. The King of Jotunheim." The Jotun answered proudly.
"And how did you come to become the King of Jotunheim after Laufey's passing? What birth right do you have for the throne?" Loki questioned.
"You dare to speak about Laufey, our king whom you slew?" Helblindi made one step towards Loki, a step that made the ground rumble. He really was the tallest of the Jotuns, Loki acknowledged with distaste.
"Why do you presume it was me who slew Laufey?" Loki asked with fake interest.
"You dare to mock us? We know it was you who under false promise lured Laufey into Asgard where you cowardly murdered him and then you almost destroyed all of Jotunheim, our children included. For which, you will be justly punished. You will be placed into a cave and over you a serpent will be hanged whose venom…"
"As lovely as it is to listen to the creativity you clearly put into devising punishments for your criminals, I must interrupt and disappoint you, big Helblindi. It was not me who killed Laufey. It was Volstagg, a valiant warrior of Asgard who intercepted my plan and with the help of his comrades managed to kill Laufey a moment before I had the chance to save him. Then, he went to Bifrost and tried to eliminate the rest of the good Jotunheim. He believed it to be the just course of action for Asgard has never had anything but contempt for the Jotuns. In the last moment I managed to rush into the observatory and prevent him from fulfilling his hideous task which he believed to be just." Loki finished.
Volstagg was now dead and so this little lie couldn't hurt him anymore. Also, he deserved it for putting a sword to his neck and threatening him while he was following Thor in bloody manacles and so he was forced to listen to Volstagg's idly threats. He shrugged them off with sarcasm then, but they hurt, it always did. Volstagg was supposed to be his friend and yet so quickly he condemned him with the rest of Asgard.
To Loki's amusement, Helblindi seemed pensive. The God of Mischief should have known that the Frost Giants would be easily manipulated.
"How do I know you speak the truth?" Helblindi asked finally.
"Why would I be here had I lied? Do you think I want to be locked in some cave with a serpent?" Loki asked as if it was the most obvious thing of all.
"Why are you here?" Helblindi questioned.
And here comes the hard part.
"I have asked you already and I will do so one more time: what birth right do you think you have for the throne of Jotunheim?" Loki asked seriously. All the Frost Giants around him were curiously following the conversation.
"Many of our people died fighting Thor and in Volstagg's attempted destruction of Jotunheim. My father died fighting Thor. My father was Byleist, the only brother of Laufey. I am his oldest son. Hence, the throne belongs to me." Helblindi explained.
"What if I were to tell you that Laufey had a child that you have known nothing about? Wouldn't the throne belong to him?" Loki questioned, and it took him all the self-control he had to keep his voice from shaking. All hope to defeat Thanos depended on persuading the Frost Giants around him that he was someone he never wanted to be.
"Then I suppose it would, but Laufey had no children." Helblindi answered.
And Loki swallowed. The next words would not come out easily.
"Laufey could not have children on his own. But were we to ask his wife, she could tell us more." Loki said, and he felt his heart beating rapidly. He didn't know what he expected from all of this, but it was unnerving him nevertheless.
"The Noble Farbauti, the wife of Laufey, died during childbirth. As did the only child of the Royal couple. There is a statue depicting it." And Helblindi beckoned Loki to come closer to him. As if in a dream, Loki obeyed and soon found himself in front of a huge statue made from crystal clear ice. The statue was one of a Frost Giantess holding a little baby. Both the giantess and the baby were smiling at each other. The statue was the size of a Frost Giant and the giant who made it a masterful sculptor; each detail of Farbauti made with precision. She looked like the rest of the Frost Giants yet to Loki's eyes she was not repugnant. She seemed powerful, caring and strong. She died so that he could be born. She died before he was cast aside onto a frozen rock. She didn't know.
Loki forced the forming tears to stay inside his eyes and not spill out. To his astonishment, he realised that what he longed for at this very moment was Thor. He wanted to talk about all this with his brother, he wanted him to understand how he felt. But when Thor came into his mind, Loki remembered that at this very moment, his brother was, in the best-case scenario, fighting Thanos. There was no time to waste, no place for sentiment.
"The child didn't die." Loki found himself saying.
"What do you mean?" Helblindi replied in his dull, slightly confused tone.
"Laufey told you that the child died because he was ashamed of him. The child was born small...in size, not mind. Laufey left him to die on a frozen rock. Yet the child survived and grew up and is now here to claim his rightful position as the King of Jotunheim." Loki announced.
"And who would that be?" Helblindi asked and Loki, as often in his life, had to adjust his speech to match the slower minds of his listeners.
"Me. I am Laufey's son."
The Frost Giants began to laugh.
Loki was ready for it.
He took out the Casket.
"Where have you gotten this?" Helblindi questioned eagerly.
"It is rightfully mine." Loki replied, and the transformation started. He could sense that the Frost Giants around him tensed in surprise. He himself tried not to be disgusted by the form he was now willingly taking.
When it was done, Loki made a quick gesture with his hands and hid the Casket safely into his magic pockets.
"Look at my face and tell me what you see." The shortest Frost Giant amongst them all commanded Helblindi.
Helblindi focused his attention on the carvings on Loki's face and soon the revelation was visible on his and all the Frost Giants' faces.
"You are Laufey's son." He breathed out finally.
"Yes. And I am here to claim my throne." Loki replied simply.
"Your birth right gives you the title of the King but you have never lived here. You even disguised your true appearance under the face of an Asgardian. Jotunheim is better suited by a king who knows his people." Helblindi replied.
And so it was going to be the battle of rhetoric. Loki almost lost his face and smiled. This was too easy.
"It is true that I have never lived on Jotunheim, but I am the true son of Laufey. Despite wearing an Asgardian face, I have saved Jotunheim from its certain destruction by stopping Volstagg's vile attempt on the elimination of this realm." Loki was glad to notice that all the eyes and ears were on him, listening to his lies. "Look at Jotunheim now. You are hiding in the shadows. Like beasts. I am the king you need. The only one who can return Jotunheim to its rightful glory. Follow me and I will lead you into a glorious battle against the Mad Titan who calls himself Thanos. Together, we will defeat him and show all the Nine Realms that Jotuns are the true warriors. When he is defeated, and all the other realms admire us, I will use the Casket to alter this unfriendly environment into a prosperous one. And so I am asking you, brave Jotuns, are you with me?" Loki screamed the last words. The echo was resonating through Jotunheim for quite a while.
"What is your name, Laufey's son?" Helblindi asked finally.
"Loki." The God of Mischief replied.
"Loki of Jotunheim. The son of Laufey. You are my king. Lead us into the glorious battle which will bring the long lost fame to our realm." And with a deafening rumble, Loki watched in astonishment as Helblindi knelt.
The rest of the Frost Giants followed and soon, accompanied by the sound of thousands of earthquakes, all the Frost Giants were kneeling before their new king.
"Follow me." Loki said only and began their short journey towards the passage to Midgard.
There was a battle to be won.
Helblindi, Byleist, and Farbauti are all names from the Norse Mythology belonging to Frost Giants somehow connected to Loki.
As always, please review. I hope you enjoyed Loki being the sly God of Mischief he is ;)