...

She kept her eyes peeled, watching over the wary audience of guards before her atop the dais as she stood next to Odin's empty throne. Her hands, visibly shaking as her magic strained to hold the monster in the middle.

Umar formerly of the Faltine, the Unrelenting, and Dormammu's only kin was a formidable foe, and she had no doubt that if her control wavered the slightest, the imprisoned demoness would immediately lash out at her people.

If not for the magical seals set into the middle of the court, implanted by Odin's own grandfather before him, a feat even Odin himself had been surprised to see and learn of, the banished Faltine's attack likely wouldn't have been stopped in time.

She had appeared at the break of dawn, when the guards numbered the least, and while her sons slept and her husband had been away on Kingly business.

Frigga had been the only one of her family in court, and despite her prowess in the magical arts, she feared a sudden battle wouldn't have ended very well.

It was only thanks to her husband's grandfather's foresight to create such protection that she'd lived to tell the tale.

Yet, despite the barrier that separated and prevented Umar from attacking, it took a great deal of magical energy to hold it in place, to prevent it from shattering.

Umar herself looked barely inconvenienced, the female looking abomination lifting her nose at the rest of them and giving them all a passive expression. No doubt likely thinking that soon enough, her magical power would fail, or succumb, giving her her freedom.

And while a small part of her had been worried at the thought- the intervening time she'd been allowed to rest and reciprocate said energy, before once again focusing it all to repair and hold the barrier was after all shortening, drastically- according to her son, Loki, there was a solution that would allow her to regain her freedom, whilst keeping the woman's imprisonment permanent.

When he'd brought it up, his eyes glinting at the barrier itself, a small part of her had wondered if he'd been responsible for it himself. Though she knew it wasn't something one could so easily stumble on.

If anything Umar's own response to the barrier had certainly indicated it to be the handiwork of her husband's grandfather, given the uncouth curse she'd thrown at his name. Or perhaps it was just her hatred of the man?

Letting out a single sigh, Frigga's eyesight immediately panned towards the sudden entrance of her husband's entourage, her gaze immediately falling on the two strangers with them.

A single eyebrow rose at the sight of the human male, and the earnest woman latched around his arms. Both of them holding various shows of astonishment at everything they saw. Though the moment their eyes landed on the creature in the middle, it shifted-

The woman took on a mask of care and wariness while the male-

She blinked, her head tilting the slightest at the look that took over, hints of bemusement yet clear excitement filtering through.

She couldn't help but wonder if this was the solution her son had promised her?

"My King, I see you've returned earlier than expected, and with company." She remarked, idly taking care as she stepped down the dais.

Her husband opened his mouth to retort, Frigga for the first time noticing the utterly tired expression on his face- A sight that, for a moment near enough drove her to amusement. Her mind idly wondering what her sons had gotten up to-

Yet, the one that responded, wasn't him.

The human male promptly let off a whistle as his gaze turned from the imprisoned demon, towards her.

"Man, they didn't do your beauty justice." The stranger deadpanned, immediately walking in front of her twitching husband.

She wasn't entirely sure how to respond to the compliment, though judging by the expression on the woman warily walking with him, she had a feeling she didn't need to-

"I am literally standing right here." The female whispered, with an annoyed sigh.

Her husband coughed, grabbing the man's attention, though the human didn't even deign to turn his head around, instead immediately walking towards the magical barrier, a hum to his mouth.

To think a mortal would dare treat her husband with such indifference!

She wasn't sure whether to be worried for his safety, offended for her husband like her golden-haired son or... well. Amused, like her Frost Giant one.

Shockingly enough, however, Odin chose not to respond-

Her breath for a moment hitched as her eyes momentarily widened as she took in the caged demon.

For the first time since her arrival, for a single moment genuine worry coursed through its eyes, her body visibly shaking as the demoness tentatively took a step backward. Though not before immediately replacing her expression with a more passive one.

"I take it this is Umar then?" The human questioned, amused as he put a finger on his chin, the female mortal having let go of his arm in exchange for keeping her distance from the barrier. One the male seemed to either not notice, or care about-

"Yes, that is Umar, The Unrelenting, and sister of-"

The human waved a hand.

"Just getting clarification, don't need to hear her titles."

Another vein throbbed at her husband's face at the disrespect.

Frigga carefully made to walk towards the cage, as the sudden drain on her energy seemed to escalate with distance.

For whatever reason, the male's presence seemed to have set the demoness inside into a panic, though it refused to show it.

The human promptly started circling the barrier, almost akin to a predator as a grin slowly etched itself onto his face, his gaze locked onto the floor specifically.

"Have to say, this isn't half-bad. Shoddy as hell, but not half-bad at all."

Before her husband could throw a fit regarding the words, Frigga narrowed her eyes and set to correcting the stranger herself. Her gaze missing the way the demon's eyes seemed to follow the mortal.

"Careful how you speak, those seals were placed down by the king's own grandfather."

The stranger turned his gaze towards her, bemusement coloring his eyes, and for a moment he looked about to speak up before he shrugged.

"Hm... Odin's grandfather you say..." The mortal remarked before he shook his head. "Well, then I suppose he was certainly on track to doing well in the art. As expected of one of his status."

"Can you fix it?" Odin suddenly remarked, having closed the distance between himself and the barrier, his eyes sharp as they locked onto the sneering demon inside.

The human tilted his head at that, turning his gaze towards her husband.

"Fix it?" The human questioned, crossing his arms. "What's there to fix? It's not even working."

Silence, wariness, and fear circulated her heart at the words as she held in a breath.

The same emotions that, for a moment seemed to go through her husband's face.

The human male tapped the energy surrounding the demon, boredly. "This is a cell, for all intents and purposes right?" The mortal chose to clarify. "Meant to hold someone for an indefinite period of time? I am not sure what you expect it to do to a being that doesn't know the meaning of time."

"That is not why you were asked here, mortal. Do you have the knowledge to make it self-sustainable, or not?" Odin remarked, a breath of relief escaping him for a moment-

"...I do... But assuming it was going to work... It wouldn't solve your problem." The mortal remarked, pointing a finger at the king of Asgard himself.

"Right now, my problem seems to be you..." Odin sighed, momentarily closing his eyes before reopening them. "Though still, Loki spoke highly of your talents, what does your instinct tell you?"

The mortal seemed to blink for a moment, bemusement coloring his eyes as he favored her son with a quick look.

"Did he now? Huh." He shrugged. "As for my instinct... Well, for one thing, this barrier is incomplete, so why Umar's pretending it's doing anything is a question all on its own-"

"The barrier works, I have tested it myself-"

The mortal rolled his eyes, earning another twitch of anger out of her king.

"It works on Asgardian energy, yes. But it's not made for demonic one."

Her son, only pushing her earlier suspicion up, seemed to hitch a breath at the words, a worried expression taking over his face.

"The second thing," The human idly turned his gaze towards- Frigga's own eyes momentarily widened at the wary expression Umar seemed to be taking. "Well, generally speaking, prisoners usually don't just stand and stare passively at you when you first imprison them. And I really doubt she's been here for that long. They tend to thrash-" Umar's expression twitched, her hands visibly shaking the slightest. "-and whine. And demons like her... Well, they tend to explode. So really, the only question left is... Why she hasn't?"

Odin seemed to take the warnings well as she watched his hand tighten around his spear, while Frigga focused more and more of her energy towards the cage, her gaze for a moment landing on her two sons, watching as they quickly started walking towards them-

The human turned towards her, a single hand raised up at her.

"Stop- Stop whatever you're doing-" His panicked words for a moment froze her, her gaze however was stuck towards the now angry demon.

She watched as the mortal promptly closed the distance between the two of them, her eyes widening as he took hold of her right hand, raising it up before he made to lower its sleeve, and promptly found his face on the ground, courtesy of her husband.

Odin had jumped at his back, crashing his hand to the back of the man's head as he pushed him to the floor, earning a grunt out of him.

"You dare! Lay your hands-"

"Odin-" Frigga hadn't intended to respond at all, for her husband was right, the mortal had thrown one too many insults already. Yet, the barest hint of a smile had poked out of the demon's face at her husbands' action, prompted her to.

"-from this universe or not, that is a crime-"

Pure fear coursed through the female mortal's face as she promptly made to reach out towards her king, only for a wary Thor to stop her, earning a curse from her, amongst other things, in response.

"Her arm, look at her goddamn arm-"

She lowered the sleeve on her right hand herself.

"-you imbecile!"

And promptly froze, as her husband's aura seemed to multiply, his god-born magic practically filling up the entire court of soldiers.

Yet, it wasn't the stranger's words, for she'd finally realized what had been wrong.

The demoness had been trying to convince her not to see the effects themselves, always somehow turning her attention elsewhere- For right in the middle of her limb, stood Umar's growing mark.

When her husband pushed himself up to a standing position, his spear raised high-

She promptly grabbed hold of his arms, panic on her face. "Husband, stop-"

Odin, for a moment, seemed to ignore her entirely, until she promptly forced her limb right before his eyes, momentarily breaking him out of his anger.

The barrier, the moment Odin's eyes seemed to take in the mark, promptly shattered, darkness coursing out in every direction, as Umar roared her anger.

The next thing she knew, she found herself flung backward along with Odin's form, her eyes barely taking in the demoness's slowly expanding form and raucous screech.

"Damn you mortal! Asgard would've been MINE!"

Odin immediately got himself to his feet, his body a practically barricade as he blocked the majority of whatever spell the demon was currently using.

When she noticed the new bindings covering him, Frigga immediately rose to her feet, her magic coursing out as she made to undo them, to no avail.

"Ho?" The stranger's voice teetered out, amusement dancing in it, causing her gaze to momentarily turn towards the mortal picking himself up to his feet. "You're focusing on the wrong one-" He remarked, passively, his gaze locked onto the woman he'd entered with, a hint of relief filling it as he noticed her hiding behind her trueborn son.

"You are but a trickster! Only he can stand to face me in combat!"

The mortal snorted, as he dusted himself off before the expanding cloud of darkness, the demoness in the very middle of it in the air, her limbs hidden by the swirls of dark energy that crisscrossed around her. The smoke was evidently poisonous as she watched her royal guard slowly fall to their knees.

Frigga, moments away from cursing at the mortal's triviality, promptly found herself speechless.

She watched, wide-eyed as the mortal promptly picked up Gungnir and aimed it at the rapidly disbelieving demon.

When Umar, in a fit of panic, promptly started showering the mortal in her magic, covering him in a bubble of swirling darkness, Frigga would've sworn she heard the words "Woo! Hello cheat code!" echo out from the impossible human.

"You know, it's really too bad. I really was going to show you the same mercy as the cow." The voice continued as the demoness's magic suddenly found itself exploding outwards in a shockwave. The human, with the spear held by both hands as he directed it towards the demon, had an ecstatic grin on his face.

"But you really just had to push a button and make me look like a dick to Asgard." The male remarked, the grin still on his face as he hunched his stance. "Now watch this trickster make a bitch disappear!"

He spun the spear around half-heartedly as Umar cursed as she lashed out at him physically, her hands replaced by metallic dark claws as she took on a more monstrous look. Her darkness expanding further as hints of otherworldly monsters peeked their own heads through-

Gungnir, in the mortal's hands promptly started glowing an eerie, almost ethereal looking green, as the human's mouth opened to retort before rapidly closing as he instead grit his teeth, his expression twisting. His veins suddenly throbbing, as blood started pooling out of his nose, mouth and ears, a single eye momentarily closing as his knees buckled.

The sound of broken bones and the smell of rotten skin filled the room as she watched, almost horrified, yet transfixed, as the mortals very skin seemed to crack and burn.

As if what he were holding, or channeling wasn't her husband's spear, but an infinity stone itself.

When Umar's demonic claws made to reach the human, Frigga watched as a single green beam of light echoed out, hitting the demoness in the chest, before fading away entirely.

And for a moment, it looked to have no effect, as Umar started laughing-

Only for horror to take over its face as her body, her darkness, and even the monsters halfway through it promptly started turning to dust.

When it all settled, when the air turned breathable again. Frigga's eyes focused onto the mortal as his back suddenly hit the floor, Odin's broken and steaming spear dropped at his side.

"Goddamn, was that spell a bitch to recreate!" Was all he said, his gaze nonchalantly staring at the ceiling, before it turned towards the horrifyingly worried one on the female human's face as she ran to his side, her hands visibly shaking as she put one on his head.

"...Are- Are you okay!?"

The human shrugged, his skin already somehow, slowly, turning healthier.

"I could eat. You? I hear Asgard has some good food, you know if Bobby doesn't throw me in jail or worse."

Frigga just... blinked, and stared, entirely unsure of what to make of any of it, and judging by the expression on her husband's face, he felt the same way.

Even Loki seemed at a loss for words, his wide-eyed expression changing between her and the mortals before them. The slightest hint of the hunger he used to have for what magic she could teach him in his eyes again.

Thankfully, Thor broke the silence as he raised his hammer into a very cheerful cheer.

...

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Edit: Green Energy symbolises the SI's attempt at recreating the Killing Curse.