Before continuing, I should clarify: the timelines are sort of collapsed. The Narnia timeline in particular collapsed into one main trip to Narnia in which Narnia time sped forward a bit so it's been decades in our world but only a few years for them. Exactly who is or isn't in this collapsed timeline and what events did or didn't occur will be clarified within the story.
"The White Witch's forces were last seen milling about Beruna, right near the area where she died," Peter said, pointing at a map.
Loki stared, taking good note of all the locations so that he might use this information against them if he decided to take over this land. He was in fact considering it since this land seemed quite fruitful and he couldn't help being fascinated by the many diverse creatures.
"We believe there may be some way they could bring her back, otherwise why would the prophecy and this rise in activity occur almost the same time?" Lucy said.
"And they've been coming from all over. They used to be here…here…and here…and then scattered about," the Centaur Glenstorm said, pointing to various places. "We've encountered a few as they were trying to make it to Beruna. They all preferred to die than tell us anything, so we've gotten very little information. Other than them threatening us, simply confirming what we already believe of them finding some way to resurrect the White Witch."
"And this White Witch, who is she and how was she first defeated?" Loki asked. They quickly explained their history of how they first arrived, who Aslan was, and how Aslan defeated her at the Battle of Beruna.
"So no body? It's not a resurrection then necessarily. No body, well, no death," Loki said, spreading his hands wide.
"Witches tend to disappear when they die," Susan supplied. "But that also means they have a nasty habit of coming back even if you think you are through with them."
"Resurrected or simply returning from hiding, no witch is powerful enough to match a god," Loki drawled.
"I sincerely hope and believe that is true. Otherwise, we would not have fought so hard to get you here," Peter said in a matter far too serious for one of his age.
"I don't need any more information. Let us head to Beruna. I'll face her straight on," Loki said, confident this would be quite an easy matter. He would take care of this, then see if this land was indeed worth his time. Otherwise, he'd simply enslave those helpful to him and move on to regaining Earth and Asgard.
On their way to Beruna, he was confused by Queen Susan seeking him out. He had taken her for the passive, quiet one, regulated to simply a supporting role to her family. "Dear Loki, you think yourself quite unpredictable, don't you?"
"I am known as the Trickster, as your people seem to prefer calling me," he said simply.
"But then you must be intelligent enough to realize we'd never fall for you pretending to be willing to help out of the goodness of your heart," Susan said, a delicate eyebrow arched.
"Perhaps I am not as evil as they say," Loki deflected.
"And perhaps you only phrased your response that way since a statement saying you do not intend to betray us would be quite untrue," Susan countered. "But we do not fear you. We pity you."
"Pity a god?" Loki scoffed.
"You are a god, but not the God, the great Lion Aslan," Lucy sad serenely, listening into their conversation and finally piping in.
"While that…may be true," Susan said unconvincingly, never much one for giving her faith fully to anyone but herself, "I was referring to something more tangible. You do not know how to control portals as we do. All it takes is that one simple trick from us, and you are gone from here forever. But you needn't be. You can't have the ultimate power you have shown yourself as desiring, but you can have something more precious, rarer and more elusive."
"More precious than power?" Loki scoffed.
"Why have power if you are only more and more miserable from it? Nay, happiness ought be your goal," Susan said. "That, that I promise you can find here if you should seek that instead of power."
"You make an excellent argument," Loki began smoothly.
Susan cut him off easily. "If it is so excellent, why did you already dismiss and ignore it? I know I did not sway you in the slightest, but I hope you keep this in mind."
That caught Loki off-guard. He wasn't used to people calling him out so easily. But then he chuckled, rather interested. "I must be losing my touch if I'm that transparent."
"Everyone who wants power is rather transparent. They always think the advice of others beneath them, especially those they don't know," Susan said primly.
"You frequently encounter powerful gods?" Loki said, amused.
"No, most have been mortals who think they're much more powerful than they actually are," Susan scoffed. "But for anyone, power, or even just the illusion of power, it's blinding."
"I am not blind," Loki scoffed.
"How could one who is blind see their own blindness?" Susan countered.
Loki merely scoffed, unable to answer that. He was actually rather tongue-tied, a first for the silver tongued trickster.
Susan smirked, quite aware of Loki's reaction. She had prepared quite thoroughly for this. Well, they all had really. She and Edmund were considered the best at words. Perhaps Edmund a bit better, but they figured Loki would be more guarded with him. Besides, he and his friend, Prince Caspian of Telmar, were needed elsewhere. And with Susan, they could possibly catch the trickster off-guard. The four of them and their advisors had planned out every single word of this, preparing for anything Loki might say. They had thoroughly researched his background, as best they could for being in a different world. Thankfully, most of Loki's actions were well documented.
"You have a contact in Asgard," Loki suddenly said, speeding up to stand by the Pevensies.
"Took you long enough to figure that out," Peter snorted.
"Multiple?" Loki guessed.
"Our contact has contacts of his own," Lucy said with a smile that was simply wrong for such a child. Actually, they had multiple contacts. But should Loki escape and cause them problems, better to have him think he cut off their contact after tracking only one down.
"I see. Impressive for a group of...what appears to be children?"
"Yes, we are the age we appear," Susan confirmed.
"That seems unlikely," Loki frowned.
"Unlikely, but true. Circumstances required us to grow up more quickly," Lucy said ambiguously.
When they arrived at Beruna, they set up camp. Loki walked outside, trying to get at least some feel of the land. To his surprise, Queen Susan snuck out to speak with him.
"Over there is where we believe the forces are gathering. And beyond that hill, the Stone Table, where the Witch killed Aslan, the Narnian god, before he resurrected," Susan mused.
"Having the blood of a god spilt, that would mark the land for eternity," Loki realized.
"That's what we were fearing," Susan said. "Is it some sort of focus, maybe?"
"Precisely. So we destroy it," Loki said. "Easy. Gets rid of the problem before it even starts. Next time, why don't you give me something more difficult?"
"The Stone Table is essential to Narnia. Destroying would have...may have other worse consequences. Is that enough of a challenge now?" Susan said testily.
Loki raised an eyebrow, amused. "Fair enough. Now this is getting a bit more fun."
Susan scowled. "You still fully intend to destroy the table, don't you? Then know this. You might survive the consequences breaking it would cost as a god, but you would be left with nothing. Just a barren, lifeless wasteland that you cannot escape from."
Loki knew she was lying, but he appreciated the effort. It was, after all, a useful lie, since if it was true, it would keep him from destroying the Table. What he was not as sure about was the extent of her lie. She had some genuine fear of him destroying it, so there must be some consequences, but likely ones that would affect her and those she loved, but not him. All the same, there was little he might have to gain from destroying the table. Well, none that he knew of. It as another thing to look into.
"Do you have a particular method you would like me to destroy your enemies?" Loki said sardonically.
"Perhaps your caustic wit could cut them to death," Susan said, marching his sardonic tone. "Or, more realistically, the best way to keep them from resurrecting the Witch is to trick them into thinking they are doing just that."
Loki mused over this, knowing she had left this unfinished to test him. "Swap out an ingredient with a fake, they will think the spell simply does not work, so no need to try again."
"That is one thing we considered. Surely the Trickster could come up with an appropriate trick," Susan said with a smile.
"But then you still have the rest of the forces to deal with. Unless I finish them off for you," Loki pointed out.
"Peter is too noble to ask for their troops to be decimated with magic without a fair fight," Susan said, pursing her lips together.
Loki raised his eyebrows at that, his lips curling. "Well, well. I take it you are not too noble to ask for that?"
"I die a bit every time one of my people dies. I care not for monsters," Susan said a bit harshly.
"One of those Satyrs called you the 'Gentle Queen'," Loki said, amused.
"To my own people," Susan countered.
"Ah. Queen Susan the Selectively Gentle," Loki chuckled. "Then I am glad you are not my enemy."
"I suppose I should take it as a compliment that you consider me a threat," Susan said.
"I think that you want me to think that of you. Perhaps the moniker Gentle Queen is a façade you hide behind for others to underestimate you. What I can't pin down is why you would show me your true, darker self," Loki said.
Susan smiled at that. She had not expected to play him so easily. Chances are he might have caught her earlier lie, but that was just a feeble attempt. Even if he had believed her, he was likely confident enough in his own abilities to think he could surpass it. No, she knew she needed something more petty. Simple, normal curiosity. She was hoping he was in fact just as insane as the stories about him made him out to be. Someone mad enough that simple curiosity was reason enough to wipe out a band of monsters.
"Well, keep guessing then," Susan said with a twinkling smile.
"Is it my good looks?" Loki teased.
"If that's the best that you have," Susan said primly, walking away from him.
Loki stared after her with wild eyes, actually confused for once, a feeling unusual to him. He rather disliked the Pevensies. They were far too precocious for their age. This conversation particularly cemented his opinion of Susan being untrustworthy. Trustworthy to those on her side perhaps, but smart enough to know he was not on her side, so far from trustworthy as far as he was concerned. Then if he could not trust her, he could not trust any of this group. The siblings seemed intrinsically connected, likely to be one of a mind. As far as he had seen, the creatures here were just as mind numbingly loyal to the four rulers as the Asgardian fools were to Thor. Every single being here was unpredictable as long as they were tied to those four.
He decided to do the only logical thing for a villain like himself: he sought out the enemy. He hardly thought they were more trustworthy, not at all. They were merely more likely to be predictable and apt to be won over by shows of power. If there was a way to return to Asgard, he could simply take it.
"Who are you?" a Minotaur guard growled.
"I am your salvation," Loki said, opening his arms wide.
Tony Stark, Wanda, and Natasha arrived at a rather modest home.
"Why are we here?" Wanda asked.
"Jarvis reconstructed an image of the boy who visited Odin's court. I ran it against a million various photographs, and finally got an one hundred percent match with this photo," Tony said, pulling a worn out picture of what appeared to a perfectly normal British schoolboy.
"And that is?" Wanda asked.
"Edmund Pevensie. He and his siblings all died in a train crash several decades ago. They had been sent to the countryside to escape the Blitz, but on the train ride back home there was a freak accident," Natasha explained.
"A mutant?" Wanda suggested.
"Perhaps. The other group is tracking down the witnesses to questioned them on that," Natasha said. "But there was some suspicious activity at the countryside manor they stayed at and we found someone who was there."
"Who happens to live in a less populated area," Wanda noted. "That's why you let me come along."
Natasha and Tony exchanged guilty looks before Natasha rapped on the door quickly as a stern looking, older lady peeked out.
"You must be Margaret, yes? We just have a few questions for you," Tony said.
"I don't like visitors," she said. It took some time, but eventually they got their way in.
"Yes, I remember him and his siblings. But they stayed out of our way. Didn't talk much," she said, fidgeting agitatedly. Wanda frowned, focusing on her twitching hands.
"We read something from the Professor's files about a place called Narnia. Did you hear anything about that?" Tony pressed.
"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!" she said, her voice rising high and shrill, her eyebrows jumping up on the name Narnia.
"Is everything alright, miss?" Wanda asked carefully. Something was clearly amiss.
"Of course. Other than the fact that there are three strangers in my kitchen," she snapped, but the quick glance towards the hallway gave Wanda all the information she needed. She made the door swing open quickly with her magic.
There was no one there. But Wanda could have sworn she maybe saw the barest glimpse of someone's cloak. Everyone glanced at the sound of the door slam, Margaret confused, the other two realizing Wanda was up to something.
"That was some breeze, wasn't it?" Natasha commented quickly. "So nothing? Nothing about Narnia?"
"We really, really could use the information," Tony urged, placing his hand on the woman's hand. "We are willing to compensate you generously."
"Tony," Natasha hissed as Tony waved her off, interested enough to use his own money since he knew S.H.I.E.L.D. was unlikely to cover it.
"I...ahhh...there...there was...no, nothing. Absolutely nothing. And I need you to leave right now!" she said.
They protested, but it was quickly evident they were not going to get anything out of her.
As soon as they stepped away, Wanda said, "We should head back and sneak in. There was someone there. Behind the door. They moved when I opened it."
Tony and Natasha exchanged one of those glances Wanda was quickly disliking. "If so, then they could be dangerous. But we also...wouldn't want to ...you know..."
"I could stay out here while you go in," Wanda sighed, knowing they were worried about her accidently causing an incident again.
That was enough for Natasha and Tony to head back to the house, running surveillance. Wanda assumed they found something since they pried open a window and snuck in. Two men opened the front door and strode out. One of them had a deep red cape, the edge of a cape Wanda had seen earlier. His face looked like the boy in the faded picture. She raised her hands, ready for a fight if need be.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
"You!" one of the boys said in surprise. This caught Wanda off-guard as he seemed to recognize her, even though she was quite sure she did not recognize him in the least. But the look on his face, it was as though he had seen a ghost.
"Ed?" the other one asked.
"Caspian, the stone. Now!" Edmund said, throwing frightened glances like darts towards Wanda who was still hopelessly confused.
"If they went back, we need to make sure – "
"No, we need to get out now if she's on their side," Edmund urged, practically reaching into the other's cloak for a red cube that glowed when he held it in his hand.
Wanda tried to use her magic to grab the stone, but it expanded and swallowed up the men before she could
