Chapter Three: Gods and Mortals

"Father," Thor called as he opened the large doors to a room where Loki and some of the high council sat, discussing concerns that other realms had of an approaching darkness.

Loki looked up from a letter from the kingdom of another realm telling of their fears of a dark mass heading their way.

Loki felt happiness surge through him before crushing the feeling down with annoyance at Thor's presence. He still had yet to figure out how you could love and hate someone at the same time.

"Thor," he said, disguised as Odin, "why are you here? I thought you wished to remain on Midgard for a while longer."

"I have come to tell you of my intentions regarding Jane," Thor said, a smile on his face.

Loki's stomach dropped and he could feel jealousy rear its unsightly head. It was beyond a doubt that Thor was going to announce that he wanted to marry that base and vapid woman.

"Leave us," he told the men in the room.

"Mortals and gods do not belong together, my son," Loki said, trying to sound as Odin would when speaking to Thor. "I forbid your union with the Midgardian."

"But father," Thor pressed, clearly not ready to give up. Being a spoiled child had only made him push for what he wanted even more. Loki knew that part of him hadn't changed from his time on Earth. It could be endearing, but most of the time it was plain annoying. "I love Jane, and wish her to be my wife."

"And what of Asgard," Loki asked, a testy edge in his voice. "Eventually I will no longer be living, and you will have to take my place. You are heir, and no mortal may live in this realm. You are fooling yourself if you believe any mortal can withstand the passage of time with their limited time of life."

Odin would not have allowed Thor to marry a mortal and Loki agreed with the decision. Though he didn't like that woman, it wouldn't have mattered if Thor had chosen someone else of Midgard to wed.

Mortals grew old and died. Thor would have to live through that and experience grief and misery most probably until he passed on to Valhalla. It was best to put an end to Thor's idealism for a hopeless relationship doomed to end in despair. He had seen enough grief from Thor already.

Idun's apples and ambrosia wouldn't do the mortal that much good either. Human bodies simply were not made to handle immortality.

The fact that Loki was ruling Asgard at the moment and that he'd have a problem if Thor came back to rule was pushed away for the present discussion. This specific conversation about matrimony would have to be discussed sooner or later anyway.

"I am sure this Midgardian woman realizes that her lifespan is far lesser than your own. I did not take her for a fool the last time she was here. Or am I mistaken?" Loki felt a great pleasure in insulting Thor's love interest. As far as he could tell, they hardly knew one another. Thor was always ready to jump head first when it came to getting to 'know' someone, and liked everyone well enough in the end. But love, and falling in love, was a different matter.

A dark shadow passed over Thor's face, but he did not say anything to defend Jane.

"But we agreed that I do not wish to rule Asgard the last time I was here," Thor said, choosing to go a different tract of reasoning but still looking angry.

"It does not change the fact that Asgard will be without a ruler should I die. You have a duty to this throne," Loki said, speaking nothing but the truth. If his identity ever got found out, Thor would have to rule. No one else was worthy on the seat of the throne but those raised to rule a kingdom.

"But Fa-

"You will not debase yourself by marrying that quim!" Loki shouted, realizing too late that the word 'quim' left his mouth before he could stop it. He did not realize the depth of his dislike for Thor's amour.

But he still really did despise that woman, more than any other mortal, after all. Wasn't she the main person Thor cared about besides himself?

Thor narrowed his eyes at the remark. Odin had never used that word in all of Thor's life, and he knew of only one other person who had.

"No," Thor breathed, eyes going wide, and his mouth falling open.

'Damn!' Loki thought, before turning away and practically fleeing the room. He was so panicked that he didn't think to teleport.

Thor was hot on his heels.

"Brother!" Thor yelled out after him. "Stop and explain yourself! Where is father?"

Loki kept running; there was no staying in Asgard now. Not when Thor knew he was alive. He would be imprisoned if he didn't escape to a place where he could plan a different way of living in Asgard.

Odin was still alive, though asleep. They would undoubtedly find him soon enough.

'Damn it all!' he cursed again.

Loki made it back to his chambers and used magic to gather all his most important items.

"Brother," Thor shouted from where he was running down the hall. He blocked the doorway when he reached it.

"I thought you dead," he said, eyes filled with grief. "Again," he added, anger coloring his voice and shading his face.

Loki stood where he was, rooted to the spot. It was harder seeing the grief on Thor's face this time now that he had to physically face him. This time the fault was entirely his. He had meant to fake his death by that dark elf so many months ago now. Thor was never supposed to know. Or at least not to find out like this.

"Have me remain dead to you," Loki said, his disguise long gone. "We are not brothers, Thor," Loki lied.

Thor shook his head, hurt flashing across his face.

"You will always be my brother," he stated, as if there were no truer truth in the Nine Realms.

Loki had to school his features to remain neutral.

With one last look at his brother, he teleported away.

Loki stood on a cliff overlooking the outskirts of Asgard. Fierce wind whipped at his long hair and made his clothes snag and fly about him. The huge black cloud over the palace was visible even from where he stood. It wasn't as great as the storm Thor had created when he thought Loki had died, but it was still impressive.

'All that time ruling Asgard,' he thought, 'more than half a year. Just for it to crumble over my resentment of a human.' Loki could almost laugh at the ridiculousness of it. "What a human behavior to have happened within me."

Yes, Thor was still his brother, in the end. He couldn't lie about that. Didn't want to lie about it, either. At the end of the day, however, he had to keep moving.

Loki used secret passages and traveled a few realms away from Asgard. It took about a week to make it without being seen by Heimdall or others, but it also gave him time to think.

Ruling Asgard had its perks, for sure, but he didn't really miss it as much as he thought he would. A lot of the issues were time consuming, and a lot of paperwork had to be done.

Power was a fun thing to have, but as the effects of the mind stone had worn off over time, Loki had felt his hunger for power diminish quite fast.

He did enjoy having the authority that Odin had over other Asgardians, but his crave for ruling, like what it had been on Earth with the Scepter, was nowhere near what it had felt like before the stone was taken from him. His desire to rule now mostly stemmed from a childhood belief that he was born to be a king.

'What now,' he thought. He was out of the palace and away from its citizens. Thor would have to take over now. Surprisingly, Loki was more okay with it than he thought he would be.

It was true what he said to Thor so long ago. He never wanted to rule so much as just wanting to be Thor's equal. But he would need a kingdom for that, wouldn't he?

Loki really didn't know what to do with himself. Odin was dead to him, and Thor was the only person he knew he truly cared about. Where did that leave him?

Did he want revenge against the Asgardian people and their insubordination towards him for so many years? The thought did give him some satisfaction.

He kept traveling as his mind came up with different plans for his future.

Not three weeks had passed when Loki found himself back in Asgard. Cries of pain and shouts of fear reached him across the realms he had traveled, and he grew curious as to what was happening.

'Gone for only a month and Asgard falls apart,' he thought as he traveled. 'Do they need direct instructions to fully function?' He kept making derisive comments until he drew closer to the palace.

When he entered his old home, the same feeling of panic that had seized his heart in his nightmares descended upon him, making him break out in a cold sweat.

'Thor!' he cried, teleporting inside Thor's room and throwing caution to the wind. He found Thor in bed, but it did not look to be his brother at all. In place of a young, vibrant, and powerful god of thunder, he found a frail, graying, and hunched man breathing heavily on the vast bed. Only Thor's blue eyes remained the same.

"Brother," Loki said, before he could stop himself.

Thor, despite his condition, smiled the smile Loki knew was only made when he saw him. Loki willed the stinging of his eyes away as he looked down at Thor's withered state.

"How did this-," Loki began, "What happened?"

The confused look on Thor's face told Loki everything he needed to know. No one in Asgard knew what had caused their condition.

"I will fix this, brother," he promised. He reached for Thor's hand, briefly fearing he wouldn't be able to grasp it before it was too late like in his dreams, before gripping Thor's wiry hand firmly. He sighed in both relief and pure dread.

This was no dream, though Loki felt he was in a nightmare nonetheless. Thor was in real danger of dying.

But Thor was still alive, at least for now, and Loki would die before he let the fate his dreams had for Thor become real.