"Sir," Vir said in a cautionary voice as he stood in front of Odin. "Now might not be the best time for this decision. The Raven Blades just saved Asgard."
"I have already made my decision and I see no need to rethink it," Odin vowed. "They have had enough time as it is. I never wanted them to become a squad, but their valor in the first Celestial War left me little choice. They've openly sided with Loki and aided his escape from his execution. They are simply not fit for to be a part of Asgard's Star Guard."
"I understand your vehemence against Loki," Vir reasoned. "His actions this past year and at Thor's coronation are debatable to say the least, but we're currently at war. Loki will have exhausted himself in battle so that means his Ravens are now the best defense. You can't just disband them!"
"Can't Vir?" Odin challenged.
"It would not be wise," Vir corrected.
He looked over at his brother, but Tyr was doing a nice impression of a bump on a log and being just as helpful.
"There is enough trouble already without having to watch over the Ravens," Odin replied. "They will undoubtedly do everything they can to help Loki."
"And how is that bad?" Vir demanded. "Forget about his criminal record for a minute, Odin. He took on a Celestial mothership by himself, and won. Before the Celestials left, Loki said he would help us defeat them. I don't know if he was serious or not, but don't you think having that kind of power on our side would be helpful?"
Finally Tyr spoke, but he was not reinforcing his brother as Vir had thought he surely would. "The Blood Wolves are a powerful squadron as well. They will be able to pick up the slack."
Vir was taken aback by Try's comment for a moment. He was supporting Odin? Here he thought his brother was sane.
"The Blood Wolves were taken out by Loki while he was in restrainer cuffs," Vir retorted. "Loki has ensured his Ravens are trained to that degree. Your precious Blood Wolves might be a bunch of yes men, but they're a very poor substitute."
The siblings began to bristle at each other.
"Are you defending the son of Laufey?" Odin interrupted sharply, his patience for such actions as limited as it had been with Freyja.
"Yes, I do believe that's what I'm saying," Vir replied smartly. "During the first Celestial War Asgardians and Jötnar fought side by side. Laufey may have picked a losing fight with us when he invaded Midgard, but that does not make him poor king. Even if he had been, Loki is an individual. He makes his own choices and his choices were to stay and help."
"Loki is a war criminal tried and proven," Tyr shot back before Odin could interrupt. "He has made it clear that he is on no side but his own. Should he see a reason to switch sides to the Celestials then he will."
"Even after what the Celestials did to Tilaria?" Vir challenged.
Tyr's next comment stuttered and then faded away unspoken. He looked away with a tssk, caught.
"Allfather," Vir addressed Odin in a respectful voice. "I am not picking sides, and now is not the time to pick sides. We're in the middle of a war, and we need to stand united if we want any chance at all against the Celestials. I am raising a valid point, yet you refuse to acknowledge that it even exists. You lost your eye in the war against Laufey, but you are letting your emotions for Laufey transfer over to his son."
Odin had never heard it put quite like that, and he was stunned that the Commander of His Star Guard was acting as impudent and rebellious as Loki or one of his Raven Blades.
Vir shook his head tiredly. "Why did you take Loki from his father and Jötunnheim in the first place?"
Tyr had been about to snap at his sibling again, but quieted. That was the question wasn't it? He'd never heard the answer to that question before and he turned to Odin, suddenly curious.
Odin shook his head. "That has nothing to do with the question of the Raven Blades being disbanded."
"I think it has everything to do with it since Loki hand-picked and hand-trained every member of his squadron," Vir retorted.
"My reason are my own," Odin parried, "and they are of no concern to you. Laufey abandoned Loki to die in the ruins of a temple because he was a runt. I took him. That is all you need to know."
Vir frowned. Odin's wording sent up a warning flag for him, and he remembered a fact that was otherwise unimportant.
"I thought Loki's mother was also a runt," Vir said cautiously. "Laufey loved Fárbauti despite her being small. Why would he abandon his son for the same reason?"
Odin's features blackened. "It is irrelevant, and the answer to that question died with the Jötunn race. My decision stands. The Raven Blades are disbanded, and since most are orphans and commoners they will be escorted off of palace grounds."
Vir knew something was wrong now. He had hit a point, and it had raised Odin's ire. It seemed that Freyja was right about Odin after all. As Odin stalked away Vir couldn't help but wonder and fear ever so slightly, what was he hiding?
"Vir," Tyr said quietly behind him.
Vir was surprised that Tyr hadn't left with the Allfather and turned to face his twin, half expecting Tyr to punch him for the impudence he had shown Odin. Tyr didn't though. He just stood there and looked sadly at his younger brother, and that frustrated Vir more than if he had gotten a black eye.
Loki watched the door to the Weapon's Vault. Although he had a rather impressive criminal record, he had never managed to break into Odin's trophy room before. It appeared that the Celestials had beaten him to that honor if the burn and blood marks scattered about the hallway and door were any indication.
Loki focused his magic to try and reach for his gear, but the enchantments around the vault prevented him from scanning within. Nonetheless, he was sure they were inside. If he could get to the magic that stored in that ring then his power would double. Because it was Loki's own energy that he had stored in it, it would also be a stable dose that wouldn't hurt his magic more.
Before he could plot further how to get inside, someone grabbed his jacket and yanked him back. Loki knew that making a sound would alert the already on-edge guards, so he just grabbed one of his stole blades and slashed at his attacker as he turned. His attacker saw the blow coming and caught it neatly on his bow, twisting it and knocking the blade from Loki's hand.
The identity of Loki's attacker caught him off guard. "Jeren?"
Jeren gave him one of his easy smiles and lowered his bow. It was Jeren in civilian clothes no less, a sight Loki was not used to. He motioned Loki back and Loki warily recalled he blade to his hand and followed him. Once they were far enough away from the guards to speak without alerting them, they did so.
"Ya out of practice," Jeren accused instantly.
Loki knew he wasn't in a position to defend himself. Jeren had managed not only to approach him unnoticed, but grab him. If he had meant Loki harm then Loki would have been in trouble.
"What are you doing?" Loki whispered sharply.
"I knew yous'd come to fetch your gear." Jeren slung his bow back over his shoulder with his quiver and rustled around in his satchel. "So I brung a present."
With infinite care he took out a glass sphere, small enough he could almost close his hand around it. Inside it was a glowing red mist that swirled around as if alive.
"A Celestial stunner?" Loki whispered.
"Took it off one of their alien allies." Jeren gently shifted it to Loki's cupped hands.
The red mist within this one marked that it was a non-lethal stunner that released a mist similar to pepper spray.
Loki stared at the swirling sparkling mist. "Why help me?"
"I was the one suggested keepin your gear in the vault for starters," Jeren shrugged helplessly. "For another, I figure this way, you use that an there's a chance ya won't kill the guards."
Loki still didn't understand. "Odin will brand you a traitor just like he did Angborn."
He thought about seeing Angborn's body.
"I'm not the Captain of the Raven Blades no more," Jeren said bluntly. "Tis why I'm not in uniform. Odin's disbanded us."
Loki knew he shouldn't be surprised but he was. Odin had been against making such a ragtag band of misfits a squad, but they had reinforced Tilaria in rescuing him from the Celestials flagship. After a victory like that in the First Celestial War, Odin had no choice. Procedure and Raven Blades were not be used in the same sentence and Odin had only ever tolerated them.
"We still get th mos' kills in this last battle even, and he's still disbandin' us," Jeren slurred with a quiet growl. "Consider this somethin to even the odds, and I sure's don't care if Odin gets mad at me."
Loki looked down at the stunner. He sent a careful pulse of magic to it and the red mist spiked to a brilliant white. Quickly he shushed his magic. The stunner's power faded back to red. It worked then, that was a start.
Jeren flashed Loki an honest smile when he looked up at the former Raven Blade. "G'luck my prince."
Loki nodded absently and he watched Jeren walk away with a light step. Odin would tag the death penalty onto him just as quickly as he did to Angborn if he was found out. He hoped Jeren knew what he was doing.
Stunner in hand, the fallen prince retraced his steps to his previous position. Something troubled him as he magically inspected the door. They weren't locked. The Weapons Vault contained the most powerful artifacts in the Nine Realms, so why wouldn't they locked? A sneaking suspicion took root in his mind.
He tightened his grip on the stunner just enough so the glass cracked. Once more, its red color turned to white as it charged to detonation. One, two, three… Loki threw it low to the ground, nudging its trajectory with his magic.
Not again, one of the Guard thought an instant before Loki tightened his hold on the magic. The stunner detonated. Both of the guards coughed and dropped their weapons as they stumbled back. Their eyes stung and the mist absorbed through their skin to dull their nerves.
Loki was running towards the door the instant it exploded. The guards couldn't stop him as he ran straight at the door and kicked it as he jumped. The damaged latch slipped and the doors slammed open. Once inside, Loki slid to the stop at the top of the staircase and stared in shock at the sight before him.
The Weapons Vault of Asgard contained the most powerful weapons of both Asgard and the other Realms. Every pedestal had once been full. Now, it was empty. Loki forgot about the guards as he walked down the steps.
They had taken everything, the Casket of Ancient Winters, even his Tesseract. Ichaival, the magic bow of the black cell inmate Ullr, was missing from its rack. Once the arrow was released it always found and killed its target no matter where they hid or what protections they had. It was also bonded to Ullr like Mjolnir was to Thor, so Ullr was the only one who could use it.
The cursed blade Dainsleif was also not locked down in its sword rack. Once that sword was drawn it had to kill a man before it could be returned to the sheath. A blow from this magical sword never failed to kill, or cause a wound that never heals. The injuries inflicted by a blade enchanted with a blood curse made the target's injury heal as slowly as a human – even if they were Asgardian. Blade Blood Curses were said to have been created after studying that sword.
Annalayana was also missing from its pedestal. It was a unique blade, and it had a Wraith of the same name sealed inside of it. Anna had formed a strong bond with Freyr, and she consented to only let him wield her. If anyone else tried, she'd kill them. Then Freyr had become jealous of his sister Freyja's magic, and tried to take it and her life by force. The action landed him in a black cell after, but he would now be free and cross to find that Anna was missing.
There were dozens of more artifacts that should be here. Some were other superweapons taken from criminals like the sword Laevateinn, a sword Loki had made in Niflheim that could match Excalibur. Others were simple wonders, like the magic ship Skidbladnir that could sail over land and air as well as the sea and could be folded up to put in a pocket.
The barriers around the Infinity Gauntlet alone had been strong enough to withstand the attack and it stood as a lonely sentinel for the empty room. Loki had been raised on Asgard, and he had grown up believing that certain things were simply impenetrable. The Weapons Vault was one of those things.
He walked down the steps and felt his gaze drawn to where the Casket had once rested. There was where he found the truth and finally understood why Odin hated him. With some effort, he looked away from that particular pedestal, and followed his magic to his weapons. His two main weapons were a pair of mismatched battle daggers. Among those daggers were his four-point throwing blades. Though, his magic ring – his primary target sat on a different pedestal. Blades first he decided.
One of his daggers was a dirk, long and straight with a pure silver-white blade and sapphires in the hilt and handguard. The handguard was surprisingly plain, and consisted of only a pair of crossed crescents. It was actually an illegal sword-breaker, and if Loki caught an enemy's sword between the crescents he could snap it. Thor had amazed Loki when he had managed to forge the delicate weapon and had turned it over to Frigga so she could enchant it. Its name was Íss, which that meant ice in the Asgardian language. There was a faint pattern of snowflakes on the metal and the sapphires were frosted over.
Íss was a support dagger and one Loki wielded in his off hand. His true weapon was a sixteen-inch Suete knife with a slight and wicked curved. The metal was black with a slight crimson ripple from the blood magic Tilaria had infused it with when she had made it. Continuing with his raven theme the handguards were a pair of raven wings, mostly horizontal with a slight upward curve. Scattered about each of the delicately carved feathers of blood and shadow were pinpricks of emerald and one larger jewel was set above the copper rings in the hilt that helped his grip. In honor of Tilaria making it and the Dark Elves love of the stars, he had named it Dresidar. It didn't have an exact translation, but it meant roughly Wing Star.
Seeing the blades made by his family made Loki's chest tighten, but he brushed the irrelevant feeling away and raised his hands over the ward around them in preparation to break it. The trouble with freeing his gear was the protections in the Vault. Once you crossed the threshold into it, all magic ended. Any active magic shut off and no more magic could be used. He couldn't teleport away until he was outside again or even use a senseline.
Loki let his hands hover just above the barriers and tendrils of golden light glowed in warning of his proximity. Of course, just because Loki couldn't use any of his magic didn't mean he couldn't use any of the Vault's. He nudged his weapons awake, and tugged their magic using the barriers around them as a medium. It was a clever trick that created a loop of ever-growing strength as he turned the barrier on itself.
He stepped back as the barrier glowed white and shattered. Loki smiled and snatched his blades off the pedestal, placing Dresidar in its scabbard on his right thigh and Íss on his left.
Next were his throwing blades. They looked like a four-point throwing star only one of its points was as long as a normal throwing blade. When Loki used them, he threw them more like needles instead of most throwing blades.
His throwing blades he picked up next and put each one on its assigned loop on his waist. Part of his perfectionism was his OCD that all mages had, but part of it was the enchantments on the blades. Two minutes after Loki threw a blade it was charmed to rematerialize in its assigned holster. If there was another throwing blade in the wrong place in its way, it couldn't do that.
He felt much more comfortable rearmed. Even better, because of the way he had dropped the protections, no alarms had sounded. Armed again, he turned to his ring.
The ring was on its own pedestal and was hovering in midair, something that made Loki glare at it in an unamused manner. If the magic of the barriers around it was so great that it made the ring hover it would not be easy to break. Loki tried to repeat the trick to turn the ward in on itself, but his ring's power was intertwined with the barriers so it couldn't work.
Loki drew Dresidar and clenched it in one hand in a reverse grip above the ward, knowing that this would sound the alarm. Due to the Dökkálfr magic the blade had been made with, Loki could use blood magic with it as the medium. To give it fresh blood to work with, he slashed the palm of his free hand and watched as the blade absorbed it. The blade's black metal turned red as tendrils of his blood ran up the metal like a set of veins, energizing it. Again he raised it above the ward, and this time he brought the dagger down on the protective ward. When the dagger hit the ward, the ward shattered.
Fragments of the barrier flew up past his face and instantly the alarm could be heard. It was officially time for Loki to go, and he tried to grab his ring out of midair with his free hand. His eyes widened when his hand went right through the illusion of the ring, and he hissed as the illusion vanished. The ring wasn't here at all. He'd been tricked.
Loki spun around as Star Guard appeared around the edges of the vault and drew his second dagger as he fell into a fighting stance. Odin had lowered the barriers in the vault just enough to hide troops within, but not enough that Loki's magic was free enough to detect the intruders. In fact, it was still caged. Thor had led him into a trap!
Loki would pay that traitor back for this, but right now he needed to get outside of the vault so he could use his magic and vanish. Most of the Star Guard present were Blood Wolves, but there were others present. The total number of soldiers seemed to be around two squads, and the high number amused Loki. Odin must want him apprehended badly if he was willing to divert this many troops the day after a battle.
"Anyone care to go first?" Loki called out as he stepped away from the pedestal so he would have room to maneuver.
The troops present knew that was their orders, but were wary to engage Loki. Loki believed that it was because they had seen the slaughter he had left in his wake after escaping his execution, and he wasn't wrong since that was on their minds. Some were actually thinking that Loki had won the battle for Asgard and were less then excited about recapturing him so Odin could kill him. Eventually it was a Blood Wolf who broke away from the line and challenged him.
Loki calmly hooked his opponent's sword between the crescents of Íss and twisted it to one side as he slashed open the Wolves throat with his other blade. He subtly shifted his weight, and the Blood Wolf was thrown backwards. His body slammed into the pedestal where the false ring had been, and he landed in a crumbled heap.
"Anyone else?" Loki asked as he shook the blood from his dagger.
His smile was more just baring his fangs in victory. Finally, grudgingly, another Wolf jumped at him, backed by some of the others. Loki shifted Dresider to his right hand, drew two of his throwing blades from his belt and threw them without needing to waste a moment taking aim. His instincts were still sharp, and both blades got the guards in the neck. He knew that the injuries weren't lethal for an Asgardian as they would be for a human, but right now, Loki just wanted to clear the area so he could leave.
Rather than wait for his other opponents to get close, Loki took the offensive. Loki cut a messy swath through the guards with his blades, glad to have his real weapons back. His kill total was not as high as he would have normally gotten, but he was too busy trying to expand his sense and find his ring to pay enough attention to use killing moves. After a two and a half minutes Loki was the only thing standing in the Weapons Vault. He sighed in irritation and sheathed his blades.
"Rats, no ring." Loki muttered and crossed his arms over his chest. "Where is it?"
He shook his head with a tssk as he turned on his heel and walked calmly out of the Vault, blood dripping from his clothes, although none of it his. Once he passed its threshold into the hallway, he used his magic and ghosted out of sight. Heimdall watched as the ghosting charm took hold and Loki vanished from sight, already reaching out to contact Odin and tell him the ambush hadn't worked.
Vir glared at the wood grain of the table as Odin listened to the report about his failed trap. Loki had escaped. Eight guards had been killed by him and the rest were in the Infirmary.
"I warned you about that trap." Vir sighed. "If anything, Loki's proven that the year he spent with the Chitauri has made him stronger. A few squads of guards are no match for him, magic or no magic."
Tyr muttered something about overpowered as Odin responded to Vir and said, "Which is why his ring was not placed with his blades."
"Where is it by the way?" Vir asked.
"Safe," Odin replied sharply.
He didn't know if Loki was masquerading as someone else – he had the skill level to be almost anyone – and so Odin didn't know who to trust. Vir didn't press the matter although he wanted assurances that the ring really was safe. He feared what might happen if one of the Black Cell prisoners, especially a mage, retrieved the ring.
Loki's ring was enchanted with Dragon's Flame, a magical substance dragons could produce besides the normal burst of fire. Excalibur and that ring were the only known artifacts to have Dragon's Flame empowering them as Loki was one of the only realmers to have earned the trust of the dragons. It was a substance more coveted then Unicorn blood, and despite the ring's small size there was an amount of magic stored inside it that hadyet to be measured successfully. Letting anyone near it was dangerous.
Odin was well aware of the dangers involved with someone apprehending Loki's dragon ring, which was why the ring was hidden on his person where Gungnir would cloak its presence. Since Loki was still stealing lifeforce to stay alive his seidr had to be very low and unstable. If Loki got his ring and the energy stored within it then he would be able to stabilize his lifeforce. Fel, with the magic in the ring any mage would have access to a level of power on par to that of Gungnir's, an artifact whose power was only a few steps behind the Infinity Stones.
"Come," Odin told the brothers as he stood. "The council meeting is about to start."
One thing about Odin that really struck me was during the second Thor movie. Thor asks his father what is the difference between him and Malekith (the villain of the movie), and Odin says that the only difference is that he will win. That is the Odin i am basing this on, and he is getting too old and too paranoid. If the Odin from the Marvelverse ever met the "real" Odin from Norse mythology, Marvel-Odin would get thrashed. In Norse mythology, Odin was a war-god who didn't care in the slightest for justice law or peace. He loved war and starting fights - something he had in common with Thor. My Odin is somewhere between the two of them.
(Hmm, council meeting, council meeting, isn't something supposed to happen during the meeting? Oh yeah, Tilaria's backup plan with the explosives that they have no idea about. Can anyone say gulp?)