Response to reviews:
TakedaEmo120: Haha, TQ! As for your second opinion, the first part of this chapter on Fury is specially written for you. And the cure for Loki would be in the next story. This particular one is about to end soon.
Justme(Guest): I would love to say that too, except that if the universe collapses Loki still dies. And about that ruined pizza experience…let's see what I can do to fix it when Loki's healed. Thanks for your review!
Lokiisawesome: Well, what are Norns? I have explained in the best I could in this chapter, through Loki.
Salty Ice Crystals
Inquiries and Misgivings
Chapter Five: Plans
Fury smashed his fourth television.
"ANTHONY STARK!"
Agent Phil Coulson sighed.
He didn't even want to know how Tony Stark managed to annoy Fury with a KFC advertisement.
"Turn back time itself. Defiling the laws the universe is made of. Limiting the change to one person only. God, my brain may just burst." Tony paced the living room restlessly. "This is practically an open challenge to Science!"
"Well, if your brain bursts it might just be a good thing for Midgard." Loki grinned, lounging on a couch and ransacking Tony's bar, playing around with the drinks, mixing them together. Tony eagerly awaited the moment where the chemicals finally react and burn Loki. The guy wasn't helping and was more than happy to add to the churning mess that was Tony's mind.
Clint and Natasha had excused themselves to report their newest findings to SHIELD, and Thor had gone back to Asgard to seek permission from his father. Bruce was back down in the lab, playing around with the new information and samples of the strange blue liquid, and Steve had excused himself to draw the New York City. That left Tony in the living room with Loki, since his mind was still having trouble accepting this step beyond the boundaries of Science.
Aliens? Sure, Science already held that possibility. The rainbow bridge? Science had its theories, and had its own name for it, the Einstein-Rosen bridge. Magic? It equals Science, but only in a more complicated way, nothing more. Summoning lightning? A bit of stretch, but with the right tools and conducts, it could be done. But tampering with Time itself? No way.
"With Science, there are countless and limitless possibilities open to us. It is only how much it would affect the universe that the laws were built. Oh, and to spare your mortal minds the pains of trying to comprehend how it is done." Loki took pity on Tony and explained a little, though he still couldn't resist the chance to poke insults at the intelligence of humans.
Tony huffed. "Spare me the insults, Daddy Issues."
"What's with that new nickname?" The dark haired prince raised an eyebrow, acting casual even though the nickname hit a little too close to home for him.
"Well, you're practically the living embodiment of it. You should be the God of Daddy Issues as well too." Tony grinned, riling Loki up.
"You insufferable mortal-" Loki growled.
Tony raised his hands in surrender. "OK, OK, I get it, no need for threats. Touchy subject. Daddy Issues officially banned. Jarvis, make a note, okay?"
"Done, sir. Shall I add it to the list of things you shouldn't say to keep your alive?"
Tony blinked. "Wait, when did I create such a list?"
"You did it when the alcohol levels in your body were higher than average, sir."
"To put it simply, you were drunk." Loki stated, grinning. He would have high fived Jarvis if he could.
Tony shot the mischief maker a dirty look before reaching over to grab the drink Loki had mixed together. It promptly shot flames into his face, leaving him with singed eyebrows and a blackened face.
Loki snorted, grinning.
Tony groaned and got a mirror.
"My perfect eyebrows!"
Loki smirked.
"Father, please tell me you do not require more proof than this." Thor muttered anxiously, pacing the throne room while Odin skimmed the reports written in Bruce's careful hand, the wording precise and the terms simple.
Odin finished reading and folded the papers in half. "I have suspected, but this is absolute proof. You have my leave. Inform your mother of this quest before you return. She has worried enough."
"She may worry more if I tell, Father." Thor jested, grinning.
Odin gave Thor a knowing smile. "With you two together, it is impossible not to worry."
The corners of Thor's mouth quirked upward. "As you wish, Father."
Thor met Frigga just outside the throne room. Apparently she had heard most of it.
"You will be careful, won't you?" She asked anxiously, looking over her son. Her precious son, all so grown up and strong. He even had a lady to court now.
"I will, Mother, it is just that trouble usually finds us first." Thor gave a short bark of laughter. "Do we have your blessings?"
Frigga pressed a kiss to his forehead. "When have I ever refused? Send my love to Loki for me, won't you?"
"Thank you, Mother. I will." Thor kissed her cheek in return. "I bid you farewell. Loki awaits on Midgard with my Avenger friends."
Once Thor had disappeared down the passageway out of sight, Frigga found herself praying again. Oh, please, please let her beloved sons return safe and sound.
"Unusual signs of aerial activity have been detected, Director." Agent Maria Hill reported to Fury, who had calmed down and ordered a new television, apologizing profusely to Agent Phil Coulson who had to order a new TV with secure lines again. "It is directly above the Bifrost site."
"Monitor it." Fury didn't even look up from his paperwork. "If it's Thor, leave him be unless he does something out of character. If it's something else, notify me."
"Of course, Director." Agent Hill left the office.
"Brother, Father has given us his permission and Mother gives us her blessings and sends you her love." Thor boomed upon entering Stark Tower via the landing pad Tony had built.
"Sir, Mr. Stark and Mr. Silvertongue are currently on the 2nd floor and are unable to hear you. Shall I convey the message to them for you?" Jarvis's smooth voice said.
Thor contemplated for a moment. "No, Lord Jarvis. I would prefer to send my Mother's love to Loki myself. My thanks for the offer."
"I would prefer it if you left off the Lord, Mr. Odinson. I am just a very intelligent system and referred to constantly as Mr. Stark's butler, or an A.I. Mr. Silvertongue knows of your presence and demands that you-"
Jarvis's voice fizzled away, instead replaced by Loki's bored tone.
"Stark's systems are really easy to hack, as you call it. Thor, get down here. I don't care if the Allfather doesn't give us permission."
Thor looked around, unsure whether he should reply or not.
"Thor? Hello? Are you there?"
Thor doubted whether Loki could hear him if he just spoke into the air like Tony usually did, and he spotted one of the gadgets the others use to contact someone. He picked that up and spoke into the mouthpiece. "Loki, I'm coming now. Father did give us permission."
By then, Tony, watching the security feed Loki had pulled up, was laughing so hard that he almost couldn't breathe. He snatched the microphone over from Loki and spoke into it. "Dude, get down here. I think we have to give you a crash course on how Jarvis works."
"No crash course can work, Stark." Loki rolled his eyes, rewriting Jarvis's program behind his back.
"Hey!" Tony noticed and remembered that he should be mad at Loki for hacking into his baby. He grabbed his own phone and reactivated the firewalls and with horror noticed that the program was being rewritten. "LOKI! Those should be impossible to get through!"
"Define impossible." Loki smirked, fingers now a blur on Natasha's phone. He still haven't given it back to her.
And so when Thor finally figured out how to work the elevator and found which one of the numerous rooms they were in, he entered to the two of them having their heads bent over their respective devices, fingers a blur as they worked on Odin knows what.
Thor cleared his throat, trying to catch their attention.
Loki looked up, although his eyes still darted to the screen where his fingers were still working. "Yes? So what did the Allfather say?"
"You can call him Father, you know." Thor mumbled. "Anyway, he gave us his permission and Mother gives us her blessings and sends you her love."
Loki smiled at that. "Next time you get to see Mother, tell her that I love her too."
Tony wrinkled his nose. "Ew! Stop that before it gets cheesy!"
The sorcerer grabbed the opportunity to completely rewrite the program and added a few firewalls and antivirus programs of his own making. He grinned in triumph at Thor just as Jarvis spoke again, "Mr. Stark, do you wanna go for a drink? You know, I'm pretty sure that I can't get drunk…or am I already?"
Cue a giggle. Tony's mouth dropped open in horror and shock and he dived in a mad scramble for his phone. "Fix Jarvis now!"
Loki just smirked and rose to his feet gracefully, even if he did almost fall over once he was upright.
"You know, Mr. Stark, that girl you met yesterday had a really big *!#$%&!..."
Jarvis was rambling now and Thor chuckled, covering Loki's ears. "You should not know those things, Brother. Not yet."
"Oh please! He was the one that wrote it in!"
Loki turned and gave him a really innocent look. "Why, Stark, I just programmed Jarvis to act like you when you were drunk. What does it mean, anyway?
"Man of Iron, please shut off your butler." Thor requested. "Loki may have tried to take over a world, and faced unspeakable things with the Chitauri, but he has no need to hear such…profanities. Such things are not meant for his tender ears."
Clint, upon entering the room, heard the conversation and snorted. "How old is he? He must be ahead of us by thousands of years."
"True that may be," Thor answered just as Tony finally broke through Loki's firewalls with a loud whoop and quickly proceeded to restore Jarvis. "But as a side effect of our immortality, our cells tire slower and thus our aging process is slowed. By your standards, my brother should be around seventeen."
Tony dropped his phone. "What?!"
Clint Barton actually dropped his bow and quiver of arrows.
Thor just looked confused, and deeming it safe, removed his hands from Loki's ears.
"Let me get this straight. This super, half crazy, tortured, dying, self hating and boatful of daddy issues, famed Liesmyth, renowned Silvertongue, dethroned King of Asgard and basically tried suicide, this guy, is just seventeen?" Tony asked, not believing his ears.
"Thor, then exactly how old are you?" Clint asked.
"Well, I am twenty-one. Ruling age to be precise." Thor answered.
"…Jarvis, record this." Tony managed. "Director Fury is going to be horrified when he discovers that Loki still has a very long time to terrorize Earth."
"Certainly, Sir. May I also suggest that you start forming your plans, since the Captain, the Doctor and the Agent Romanoff are now heading down here?"
"You already suggested it." Tony muttered, whipping out paper and a pen from behind the sofa.
"You keep papers and pens behind your sofa?" Steve asked as he walked in.
"Yeah, I put them almost everywhere so that if I get a genius idea in the middle of the bath or whatever, I can always write it down." Tony shrugged.
Thor looked horrified. "My deepest apologies, Friend Stark!"
"What?" Tony gulped.
"I…I may have mistaken your paper for the toilet paper as you call it and…"
"Stop. Stop. Stop right there." Tony mimicked fainting. "I think I may have a few great ideas written on that too…oh, never mind. My genius mind will be able to recall it again someday."
Natasha walked in. "Don't worry, I remember them. In fact, they are already in SHIELD's case files. You can get them from Director Fury."
"You spied around my stuff?!" Tony moaned. "The long arm of SHIELD, damn it."
Bruce was the last to enter the room. Looking around, he saw everyone already there. "Oh. Jarvis told me Thor's back, so, I guess, we start planning?"
"OK. First, just to get started, Loki, tell us more about these Norns."
"Well. Norns are female entities that weave fate. They are the equivalent of your Greek myths' Fates. They rule the destiny of all of us, they are very, very powerful, and their magic is beyond even our comprehension. If anyone has the power to turn back time and limit it to only one person, it would be them." Loki explained.
"OK, next, where do you usually find them?" Bruce took the next question as Tony furiously jotted down notes.
"They do their work at the foot of Yggdrasil, where they can see all with just a tilt of their heads." It was Thor who answered this time. "By the well of Urdr, and they have to sprinkle the water over the tree roots every day, or it would wilt and die. To keep the world balanced despite the laws being violated, I believe that we will have to pour more water on the day the spell is cast."
Natasha frowned, leaning forward. "They? Which one do you have to consult?"
"I believe it is Vervandi. She is the embodiment of time itself, and controls the present and the future. We can ask her to reverse that." Loki told them. He really had done his research. "However, something like this will require something in exchange. Blood, a life, or a realm. Something else that holds equal value."
"Easy." Steve said, surprisingly. "Just give her that poison once it is drawn out of your system. I am sure that she would be intrigued by that. The question is how do you get to her?"
Loki jumped at that. "I am skilled at navigating the hidden pathways. Perhaps-"
Thor cut him off with a stern look. "No, Loki. You might just get us lost." Noticing the hurt look on Loki's face, he added, "And it might tax your body and magic too much."
"So, how are you going to get there?" Tony asked. "I have one or two inventions that may help, but they're still in the testing period and I want to be there. Oh wait, you can just take me along. That's it. I won't budge. You're taking me on a tour around the world and it's final."
"Is he drunk?" Loki asked no one in particular.
Tony rolled his eyes. "He is here and listening to you, idiot."
Thor looked genuinely concerned. "I think his mind is not in the right place. He is talking about himself in third person."
Natasha and Clint both snorted.
"You, my dear friend." Tony pointed at Thor. "Need to learn about Midgardian slang."
They spent the rest of the day planning and plotting the best approach and route, which was difficult since they had close to none information. Tony insisted that he go, and Bruce tagged along, mostly because he wanted to make sure that they would be okay and partly because he was a Science Bro, after all, and he had to admit that he was curious. No amount of persuading would make Director Fury allow Clint or Natasha to go, but he sent Steve instead since SHIELD really needed the information and Steve, being such a good boy, would never disobey orders. Loki only had two vomiting fits that day, and even though there was significantly more blood than usual, it was still, nevertheless, not a big decline.
So in the end it was decided that they use Tony's technology to travel to the roots of Yggdrasil, and only Steve, Thor, Bruce, Loki and Tony would go.
Their plans were set.
Time to get moving.
Let time be turned.
And their journey starts.
Oh, guys, I really can't believe that I'm now really making headway into this series. The framework is set, albeit still a bit unstable, but still, it is in place. The next story in this series will be called 'Time'. Stay tuned and thank you!