Chapter 2 – The Prince
Thor loves his brother. Always had, always will. Even when Loki had tricked him into attacking Jotunheim, Thor had loved him. Even when Loki had lied to him about their father's death, Thor had loved him.
Because, you see, Thor trusted Loki. He loved him and he trusted him enough to put his own life in his brother's hands.
Trusted.
Thor hasn't trusted Loki ever since the silver prince buried a knife in his gut.
"I wish I could trust you."
Thor cannot trust Loki.
"Trust my rage."
But he can trust his rage.
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Thor regrets the fact that he left his brother to rot in the Dark World. He regrets that he never gave him a proper funeral befitting one of Asgard's fallen in battle.
When Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three arrive at Svartalfheim, the golden prince breaks down at the sight of his brother's body.
Loki is still, his Jötunn blood turning his skin into ice and frost. His shirt is ripped in half and his death-wound a hole in his heart, black veins from the Kursed blade spreading out across his chest.
Thor cannot look at Loki's face, lonely in death as he was in life.
"I'm sorry, brother," he forces the words out. "Forgive me. It—" He lapses into silence, his grief far too much to bear.
Itshould'vebeenmeforgivemeI'msorrycomebackcomebackLokipleasebrotherIloveyoucomebackI'msorry
Sif places a hand on his shoulder, waiting for him to calm down.
"He was lucky," he says at last, his face still wet with tears. "It was a quick death." The shieldmaiden shakes her head.
"Thor, you know it wasn't," she whispers.
Do not weep, princeling, for war is kind.
Because your brother tumbles in the cold trenches,
Raged at his breast, gulped and died,
Few come to the funeral. Had Loki not usurped the throne or killed several mortals or been like any other Æsir warrior, there would've been more weeping and singing sad songs of his death.
No.
To the Æsir, Loki is an outcast, a traitor. No more, no less. There would be no glorious retellings of his life. There would be no celebrations of his acceptance to Valhalla.
The Æsir do not celebrate the ergi, and that is what saddens Thor the most.
Do not weep.
War is kind.