The day following the Celestial's initial attack was a blur for everyone. Injured soldiers and civilians were brought in, and every mage not searching was brought to the Healer's Ward to help with the wounded. After being forced to do nothing but watch from the sidelines as the battle raged, they were eager to help.
There were so many patients that even the Healer's Ward was overstuffed. The Ward was inside a spatial fold, so there was a lot more room inside the Ward then the actual space of the room. Patients lined the hallway and some were crowded into nearby rooms. Those whose injuries were minor were dragged into helping the others, and those who had been shot by a Celestial disruptor or hit by a lightsword slowly died one by one as there were not enough healers to go around.
The dead were gathered and laid in Idavöllr, a large courtyard in front of the palace where citizens would gather to hear announcements. Those working tried to lay their comrades out respectfully, but there were simply too many bodies. Much of Asgard's town had been razed and most of the casualties were civilians – some very young. The sight of a Star Guard dead would hurt his squad mates, but the bodies of the civilians they had sworn to protect was a much grimmer sight.
The Star Guard not wounded or helping out combed the city for injured Æsir, still alive Celestial allies to take as prisoners, and the escaped prisoners from the dungeon. Two Blood Wolves were out searching near the place where Thor had been shot by the Celestial. They loitered out in the street, exhausted from the search.
"How about we a quick sweep of the street and then take a break, Svanr?" One of the Blood Wolves asked.
Svanr rolled his eyes over to his temporary partner. "You're looking for a break already? Typical…"
His squadmate smiled at Svanr's scorn and waved a finger at him. "Don't tell me you're not ready for a break. I won't believe you."
Svanr surrendered to his squadmate and heaved a huge sigh. "I suppose I wouldn't mind resting my feet for a little."
"Yes," his companion grinned triumphantly.
"Let's sweep this street first," Svanr interrupted.
His companion hung his head at the prospect of more work, and then looked up as an idea struck. "How about we split up, Svnar? You take the right side of the street, and I'll take the left. We'll meet at the end and then relax."
"Split up?" Svanr frowned at the suggestion, aware that their orders had been to not travel alone.
"We'll get done in half the time," his companion smiled confidently. "Besides, we'll be near each other. Just shout if you see anything."
Svanr raised a hand after his squadmate when he started to walk away, "h-hey! Where are you going? I never agreed with your plan!"
His squadmate waved without turning back around to face Svanr, and kept walking. Svanr hesitated and then let his hand drop to his side. It seemed to be decided, so he might as well search his half of the street.
Svanr walked towards the nearest of the buildings on his side of the street with his sword in hand and shield braced on his other arm in case he encountered trouble. The building he approached was a bookstore that had been gutted by yesterday's fires.
This was one of the larger stores, and there was even a staircase that led to an upper landing. Part of the roof had collapsed near the entryway, and there was a scuffle of a foot behind the staircase. The noise startled Svanr, and he fell into a defensive stance instinctively, raising his shield. He halted any potential attack of his when he saw a civilian woman with red hair and a worn blue dress hiding behind the staircase. She flinched when the light reflected off of Svanr's sword.
Svanr exhaled quietly in relief and relaxed his stance. He looked the woman over, and although it was hard to tell because she was hiding he didn't see any blood dripping onto the floor. Only ash and dust stained her dress. It seemed to his eyes that she had escaped yesterday's bloodshed safely, and that made her the lucky minority. Considering the circumstances, this woman might not even realize that the danger had passed.
"It's alright," Svanr promised the Æsir woman in a confident voice to try and soothe her terrified stance. "The Celestials have gone. You can come out."
"Did you chase them away, soldier?" The woman asked as she cautiously walked away from the cover of the stairs.
Her voice sent a zing through Svanr, and his stance straightened. His sword slipped from his fingers and fell to the ground, and he stared at the woman with open wonder. The effect of the woman's voice made his will slip away, and he was instantly enthralled by sorcery within the sound of her voice.
Svanr's expression changed from weary to love-struck. "Who are you, beautiful maiden?"
"What is your name, wonderful soldier?" The woman asked Svanr.
"Svanr," Svanr introduced and knelt on one knee as if addressing the Allfather.
"I am Lorelei," the woman in the blue dress introduced herself in turn, "and you, Svanr, will help me gather an army. I want Asgard's crown, and I'm going to need help to kill the royal family."
Svanr nodded but did not raise his head, "if that is your desire then of course."
Svanr was now under Lorelei's thrall, and his will had been voided and replaced by Lorelei's. It was an effect remarkably similar to the Chitauri Scepter Loki had used at New York only Lorelei's ability was inherit in her magic, and her thrall could not be broken by a simple hit to the head.
"It is," Lorelei her new thrall him. "You may rise."
Svanr did so, and when Lorelei held out a hand he walked over and took it. Although Lorelei's voice was enough to enthrall most men, those of strong will could resist it, but none could resist her touch. Taking Svanr's warm hand in hers was enough to seal the enthrallment.
"Svnar?" A voice called out in the street. "Where'd you go?"
Lorelei raised her head to the source of the voice. "Who is that?"
"One of my squadmates," Svanr informed her with a small smile at the exasperated edge to his companion's voice. "We were scouting this street before I found you."
"I see," Lorelei mused, "kill him for me, would you?"
"Eh?" Svanr blinked, surprised by Lorelei's order.
Lorelei did not have to order the other soldier's death, but she wanted to test out her enchantment and ensure her imprisonment hadn't dulled its effects. Svanr sighed and then knelt down to pick up his sword he had dropped earlier.
"As you wish milady," Svanr told Lorelei and started walking towards the doorway. "This won't take but a minute."
Lorelei tipped her head in dismissal, and Svanr walked out into the cobbled street and waved his sword at his squadmate. She leaned against the doorway, hidden by the debris and the shadows of the building, and watched as Svanr approached his shield-brother. His shield-brother didn't realize that anything was amiss and sheathed his sword as he approached Svanr with a friendly smile and question as to where he had gone.
Svanr shrugged off his squadmate's question, and asked him if he had found a place where the two of them could sit and rest. His squadmate had apparently because he nodded and turned his back on Svanr to lead him to where he had found. It was to be his last mistake for as he looked away, Svanr raised his sword.
Lorelei smiled in satisfaction as Svanr's squadmate crumbled to the ground a few seconds later, life bleeding out of him until his heartbeat finally stopped. Svanr shook his squadmate's blood from his sword and turned to look at Lorelei, eager for praise like a child. She nodded her approval, and looked overhead at the clear blue sky over Asgard. Despite the centuries spent in a cell she hadn't lost her touch at all. This was perfect.
Other than a few light burns and the scratches from Loki's Wyvern, the golden surface of Gladsheimr had escaped serious harm. Unfortunately, the same could not be said about the inside of Asgard's palace. Every room had been gutted and torn apart by the Celestial's forces as they searched for their missing staff.
Desks reduced to splinters, beds and furniture destroyed and the stuffing torn out and scattered like snow. Shelves had bene knocked down, closest and dressers emptied and the drawers as a mess as their contents. Those places with dishes or jars had all of their contents smashed onto the ground. Books were scattered on the ground, some with pages torn out or spines broken.
Everyone knew they had been searching for their staff but no one breathed a word of it as if speaking it would make the attack real. Throughout their fifteen thousand years as the ruler of the Nine Realms, Asgard had never lost a war. It had given a false sense of security and arrogance that they could handle anything thrown their way, and that illusion had become as shattered as neatly as the mirrors or windows of the palace.
Gladsheimr had never been ransacked like this, and there had never been this many bodies before from one battle. They had lost the battle, and the people of Asgard knew that they had lost so severely that there was little chance of winning a war. Even more troubling for them was that when they turned their eyes to the royal family for guidance they found them split.
Loki's crimes were well known by now, and the fact that Loki was not Asgard's prince had been as severe a shock as the crimes that had been committed. During Loki's attempted execution Thor had fought with Odin to protect Loki. The scars on his face were proof of that.
Odin's actions of late had seemed irrational. His order to hunt for prisoners and for Loki instead of aiding civilians was baffling. A king should protect his people not ignore them, not after what they had just been through.
Frigga was trying hard not to take sides over Loki. She knew that the royal family could not afford to be at odds with itself right now. Odin and Thor needed to stop this feud until Asgard was more stable.
Unsure what to do, the people kept their loyalty to their leaders. Their loyalty though, was split between the three. Some such as the Blood Wolves stood with Odin in his view that Loki was a Jötunn monster that needed to be killed, and the quicker the better.
The Raven Blades were among the group that agreed with Thor that Loki was still their prince and it was about time Thor's coronation was rescheduled. They waved about Loki's victory against the mothership and what he had telepathically said to it as proof that Loki was still Loki. Odin's irrational actions such as focusing on a fruitless hunt for prisoners instead of helping their own civilians was also noted.
These were the two main factions, but there following Frigga was a third obliging for peace. The third said that Asgard had just brutally been declared in a war. It should focus on that war and on the Celestials, which would be hard enough to defeat a second time, rather than bicker. This group was small in numbers.
The Celestials had timed their actions well. With the Royal Family fractured and the people taking sides against each other the possibility of a civil war existed for the first time in fifteen thousand years. Those with Loki and his Ravens bristled at those that agreed with Odin and the Wolves.
Although things had not risen to a civil war yet, the frightening possibility remained. Not only did Asgard now have to fight the Celestials and possibly each other, they also had to deal with the Black Cell prisoners who had escaped. Each one of them was powerful enough to count as their own enemy front, and they would undoubtedly recruit the escaped Marauders into their own army. Only a fool fights a war on two fronts.
Now that the dust was starting to settle, it was all too possible that the other realms would see Asgard's scars from the raid and use this as an opportunity to defeat them. Jotunnheim was not the only realm to have the heart of its power sitting in the Weapon's Vault. That made it a war on at least three fronts, the Celestials, prisoners, and other realms. Only the prince of fools fights a war on three fronts.
The tension and conflict across the realms was because of Loki's actions last year. During the Celestial War 30 years ago, Loki had been the one to unite the Nine Realms into a single fighting force called the Alliance and he was the only one the rulers of all the realms trusted with their armies. He had been the Commanding General of the armies of all the realms both living and dead, but now that trust – and the fragile trust that had been beginning to form between Asgard and the realms it ruled – was shattered just like the Bifrost had been.
Loki was not aware of Lorelei's reappearance although he knew already that the trust had been broken because of him would prove crippling in the coming fight. While Thor rested from getting shot by the Celestial disruptor, Loki was in Heartland trying to untangle his magic and increase his lifespan by a few precious days.
Though his magic still stung him, Loki ignored the pain and continued smoothing out the currents of his seidr. He was still where he had collapsed earlier in the day and was between awake and asleep, just out of Chthon's reach as he worked. The knowledge of his approaching death hadn't sunk in for Loki yet.
When he had been thrown in the dungeon he had been stripped of his daggers and his ring. All three of those artifacts had jewels that literally hummed with his own magic, and his ring was one of two artifacts in existence to ever be forged with Dragon's Flame – the most magical and powerful substance in the Realms. If he could get any of them, or even just his dragon ring back, then he could dose himself with the magic stored inside. Since it was his lifeforce stored in the jewels it would be a stable dose and that could do wonders for his soul.
He still had quite a list of chore's to do in the meantime: save Tilaria, defeat the Celestials, put Chthon in his place, and see Thor crowned.
Loki paused in his work. That wasn't what he meant. He meant finish his fight with Thor.
Now that Thor had learned a little humility he would make a good king, but that was not Loki's concern anymore. He was not Asgardian, and Asgard was not his home. Whatever happened to it happened. As long as the Celestials didn't defeat it he didn't care who did.
First, I will say that it is impressive that Asgard has managed to get itself into this large of a mess in so little time. The events of Shadows of the Past happened within the span of a week, and most of the week is spent with Loki is his cell awaiting his execution. Only a few days have passed since Loki's failed execution, and look how drastically things have changed for everyone.
If you want to get a better view of Lorelei's powers then watch the Agents of SHIELD episode "Yes Men." She is the main enemy in that episode, and my Lorelei is based off of the one in that episode. Sif has a grudge against Lorelei in this story, like in that episode. The episode is in the first season, and you can watch it without watching the rest of the series and not be totally lost.
The next chapter will not be in such a passive voice, but like the chapter name suggests this is sort of a status report of what exactly Asgard has gotten itself into.