The blue star of the space where Crow was cast strange shadows on the asteroid field, and nebulous clouds floated beneath the star-filled sky. Crow currently stood contently on a shard of asteroid. Things had gone perfectly.
Crow had not lost his touch to manipulate mortals like Arlen, and all it had taken to make the ambassador try and kill the Halfling girl were a few whispers in his mind that he thought were his own, and some Dreamspeaking. It had been so easy it was almost boring.
The only problem Crow saw was that Arlen had mentioned his name, and it had been heard by the Tilaria girl. It could be problematic for even his alias of Crow to become known since he had only one chance to carry out his plan. Hallien was presumably going to eliminate her though, so Crow didn't give it much thought.
An unexpected side effect of this little endeavor was that he had been able to stop Asgard from going to war. Arlen attacking directly had forced Hallien to wreck his own plan and dismiss Arlen's actions, stopping the takeover before it began. A little internal strife was always fun for Crow to watch, especially among the Nine Realms, but he didn't want Asgard to go to war right now.
Asgard was where Loki lived, and Loki was still young and inexperienced, alien to battle and killing. If Asgard went to war now with Loki as he was then there was a chance the boy might be killed. It was a risk Crow could not allow if he could stop it, for he needed Loki and his ability to control the Tesseract in the future. The fact that Arlen had tried to kill Loki was agonizing, but Loki had proven resourceful enough to stay alive. It was impressive.
Once Loki was older, then manipulating Asgard into war with another race would be a good idea. The challenge would further Loki's fighting skills and give him a taste for blood that Crow needed Loki to have if he wanted to use the boy in the future. For now however, Crow simply needed Loki to stay safe.
How fortunate Loki was to have a guardian angel like me, Crow chuckled to himself.
Hallien's confusion over Arlen's change of personality and actions was of no concern to Crow either although it amused him. Since Tilaria was soon going to be killed the realms would not even know of "Crow's" existence.
The next stage of Crow's plan was already in motion, and he thought it might be wise to check how things were going on Alfheim. He needed to make sure Tilaria did die since she was the only one who know of Crow's hand in Arlen's actions, and to make sure that his newest pawns were playing their part. If they were, then the Ljósálfr should soon be eliminated just as the Dark Elves had been.
That would leave only seven of the Nine Realms for Crow to deal with, and if his plan continued to go as it should then that number would continue to get lower. Little did the realms know what they were in for.
THE END
To Be Continued In…
'2 One Month One War'
Pre-Thor. Sequel to "The Supers before the Heroes." Tilaria returns to Alfheim knowing Hallien will kill her, but she isn't the true threat to Alfheim for Crow's newest pawn is a traitor with blood magic and elves loyal to him. He wants King Hallien dead, and only blood can counter blood. As a blood mage herself, Tilaria is the only one who can stop him and Crow's newest plan.
Here is the answer to Hallien's question of why, but do you wish you hadn't known? Tilaria is the only one who heard Arlen mention Crow's name, so she's the only one that knows he's involved. Even though she knows his name, all that is known is his name. It's not that important since Crow's name is likely going to come up again during his "next stage" involving Alfheim.
If you're curious about Crow and his interest in Loki, read A Different Kind Of Courage. That details Loki's use of the Tesseract, and how so many people first noticed him. Consider that a mortal can't touch an Infinity Stone, excepting the Aether but it kills its host anyway, and how hard it is to harness the limitless power of one of them. Loki can do it without trying, so it makes him a target.