Wisdom, Not Arrogance

Summary - Taking Loki's advice, Thor questions Odin in Asgard.

In the realm eternal, the sun was never absent and it shone down on the golden palace, as it did every day, and as it always would. Odin walked slowly beside his son Thor, neither really heading in any direction, but both enjoying the company of the other.

"Why ask of Vanaheim, my son?" Odin furrowed his wrinkled brow as he came to a halt.

"'Tis what Loki asked of me," Thor replied, "But I know not why. He would not tell me more save that there were Mountain Trolls involved."

"He told you nought?"

"No. Why? Do you know of what he spoke?"

"...I do," Odin answered truthfully. "And I will tell you, Thor, if I do not, Loki will undoubtedly do so. Your brother... was held captive on Vanaheim by Mountain Trolls."

"What? When was this?!" Thor bellowed, spinning on his heels to face his father.

The older Asgardian looked both guilty and sorrowful but not at all surprised at Thor's questioning. "Very recently. He was without his magic for seven days before he was able to escape."

"You knew of it and you did not aid him?" Thor frowned, "'Tis no wonder Loki is angry!"

"He would have been angry no matter my actions. Had I intervened openly, he would have resented it..."

"So you did aid him?"

"I did...discretely, so much so that even he does not know of it," Odin said heavily, "It was for the best."

"But Loki feels he is abandoned, surely if you had..."

"No, Thor," the King shook his head. "He is fiercely independent. Any rescue attempt, he would have sneered at. It would have implied that he could not fend for himself."

"But that is false!"

"That is not what he would believe."

"...Father...a week in captivity!"

"It took time to weaken his magical restraints from such a distance and in such a way as Loki would not notice."

"I would not have tarried," Thor said with clenched fists. Even though he knew that Loki would have been furious, he would have acted instantly to free his brother. The AllFather claimed that the shadows were no place for an Asgardian but he acted secretly more than anyone.

"What happened to him there?" Thor asked once he believed he had reigned in his temper.

"...Nothing he has not suffered before," Odin answered, sadly.

"And that excuses his treatment?"

"No, and nor did I say so. But Loki has a habit of making enemies, some will be bold enough to take their chance for revenge if the opportunity presents itself."

"He does not only make enemies. He is much loved in Álfheim among the Light Elves; they considered him a prodigy, did they not?"

"They did, it is true. But what of the Dwarves of Níðavellir? And what did he do to warrant the anger of the Mountain Trolls of Vanaheim?"

"I am sure we cannot be loved by all in the Nine, none of us," Thor replied.

"Perhaps not," Odin gave a small smile, "Your mother said to me that you have changed and I see that she was right. You speak with wisdom, not with arrogance."

"My time on Midgard has changed me, father but if fear it has changed Loki also...no, perhaps he changed before that, long before," Thor sighed. "I want things to be as they were when we were young, before Loki began to cast himself out...before we began to cast him out for being no more than who he is."

"What do you mean by that?"

"On Midgard they believe that a person should be valued for who they are and that their skills should be recognised. No skill is greater than any other. Father you wield magic and you are not mocked for it, Loki does the same and he is scorned. Why is this so?"

"Loki's ways were never our ways..."

"Because he is not Aesir?" Thor questioned, feeling ashamed.

"Because Asgard has long since valued brute strength and battle. Loki does not need brute strength to be strong and he understands that battle is not a thing to be glorified even though he himself has been known to revel in its chaos. There is a time and a place for battle and I believe he understands this. He challenges everything the history of our world teaches us. It is the fault of your elders for not instilling different beliefs but it is no easy thing to change. Loki tried and see what happened." *1

"I miss my brother, father. I want him to come home. I want him to be happy but I know not how to make him so."

"No one but he can know how such a feat is to be accomplished."

"You have no hope that he will return?" Thor asked, forlornly.

"I have little hope that I will see the day he does return," Odin corrected him sadly. "I should have told him, told you both the truth, but I sought only to protect him. I did not want him to live with the knowledge that he had been abandoned when he was but a child. He was not a day old, Thor, when he was left to die alone. If I had not done what I had, he would not be alive to hate me now, but at least he is alive."

"I wish you would tell him this."

"He would not believe it," Odin sighed. "He is the patron of lies but when he himself believes a lie, for him it becomes truth. Ever has it been so."

"More than lies, he embodies mischief, father," Thor pressed. "But he is wise and just. Asgard is far greater with Loki than without."

"It is not I you need to convince, Thor, it's your brother," he replied, "And that will be no small task. Once Loki has made up his mind, nothing in the Nine will sway him, you know that."

"Aye," the younger Asgardian sighed heavily.

*1 Odin from Norse mythology would never be saying any of this. He loved war and he definitely loved starting fights. But he's a myth and this is fan fiction about a movie adaptation of a comic book version of him, so whatever.