Been having a lot of fun playing the Arkham trilogy but still managed to get a nice long chapter done! Complete with more illustrations. I'll be moving those back a few chapters once I'm reasonably confident everyone's seen them.
Svartalfheim
The Asgardians had treated them much better than Algrim ever would have imagined. The food was bland but plentiful, the tents weren't new but they kept the wind, dust, and daylight out, and the guards didn't interfere with them without cause. He'd watched tearful reunions between friends, siblings, and couples, between parents and children. He'd watched the children happily drawing in the dirt, wrestling, and playing games of chase together. Even they weren't immune to the reality of their defeat, however; as much as they seemed to enjoy racing each other about the camp, any time one of them dared to let out a laugh, they would all freeze and glance anxiously to see if golden helmets were turning their way.
The Dokkalfar were alive, but either they had utterly lost the Aether's favor…or they had never had it, and all that they had lost in millennia of war had been for naught. Malekith himself had said that the Aether had forsaken them—right before he had thrown away their only chance on a foolish attack against the Asgardian prince. If they truly were forsaken, then why continue to serve the Aether's will, or even presume to understand it in the first place? Algrim wanted to shove these thoughts aside, for they were heresy of the highest order, but they kept creeping up and multiplying in the back of his mind.
X
A night and most of a day after their capture, the Bifrost slammed down again, bringing the Asgardian general with a few extra soldiers. Many adults exchanged nervous looks and the children ran to hide behind them or inside the tents, but Algrim felt this was a good sign. If the realms had decided to exterminate them, they'd have sent more men than this. The guards at the perimeter parted the barrier to allow the general and soldiers in. They marched to the center of camp. "Prisoners," barked the general. "Your attention!"
The Dokkalfar began gathering as they had when first brought to the camp, but he didn't wait for them all to be in place before continuing. "The Council of the Realms has made its decision. If you're still agreed that the one called Algrim can speak for the lot of you, then I am instructed to bring him before them. Once he has heard the verdict, I will return him to camp and he can tell you what you're all in for."
The suspense knotted in Algrim's insides. He'd much rather have done with the formalities and just hear the verdict from the general. A few hands grasped his arms briefly as he stepped forward to present himself. Their support would give him strength. He feared he had very little left of his own.
He sneered when the soldiers closed in around him, brandishing a full set of irons, but held out his hands and stood with his feet apart. They clapped the shackles around his wrists and ankles and the collar about his neck. Though the new restraints greatly hampered his movements, he wouldn't have minded if they didn't also quadruple the effects of the seidr-suppressing manacles he still wore. He could barely feel his own magic at all now. It was like his blood had stopped flowing in his veins. His heretical thoughts about the Aether leapt up to plague him anew.
The general and the soldiers led him outside of the camp towards where they'd emerged from the Bifrost. Algrim had to shuffle quickly to keep pace with them; he wouldn't give them the pleasure of making him lose his footing but it was still humiliating.
X
Asgard
Leif Volstaggson had never seen royalty from the other realms before—well, everyone except the baby had seen King Njord, but he'd never seen any interesting royalty from other realms. Queen Brigid must be the most beautiful being in all of Yggdrasil, and he wanted to make a helmet like Queen Mab's when he got home. Byleistr-Prince was so very big and, except for a cloak, wasn't wearing anything on his torso at all. (Leif had been forced to endure Gudrun and Gunnhild giggling and sighing about that throughout the feast.) King Eitri was just as big and he shook the feast hall with a laugh that was a lot like Pabbi's.
Leif decided he liked all of them. Brigid was clearly the best one, and even with his sisters being so silly about him, Byleistr was all right too. He didn't seem the way Frost Giants were in the stories Mama and Pabbi used to tell at all, and if he got to stay in the palace, then the House of Odin must like him. Leif wondered what it was like to be so tall.
The feast had barely started when all the royalty left to go talk about the Dokkalfar. Fjolnir and his parents went too, and all of the mortals.
"Aren't you going, Pabbi?" he asked his father.
"Nonsense, I've hardly eaten anything yet!" said Volstagg thickly. "The princes don't need my help for this. I won't be missed more than I'd miss this excellent food."
Thwarted in his hopes to get into the Council chambers with Fjolnir, Leif left the table in search of his other friends. Instead he nearly ran into Harald Hjalmarson, an older boy he did not like. "Hullo, Harald," he said warily.
"Oh look, it's little Leif. I hope you've had a chance to say farewell to the Jotun prince."
"How would I say farewell to Byleistr-Prince when I haven't even been introduced to him?" said Leif, already annoyed.
"Not Byleistr," Harald sneered. "The Jotun prince your father is always adventuring with."
"You're just jealous your father doesn't have the favor of either of the princes, let alone both," said Leif, trying to shoulder past him. Harald stood firm with his arms crossed, causing Leif to bounce off him. Leif glared, but Harald just kept watching him with a nasty smirk that said he would be getting punched in the mouth the next time there weren't grown-ups around. "Why do you think Prince Loki's going anywhere?" Leif asked to break the stalemate.
"Are you stupid?" said Harald. "This is the first time royalty from Jotunheim has come here since the war. You think it's chance that it happened right after we found out the truth about Loki? Obviously they're here to take their stray back home."
"You're a liar," said Leif. He was on the verge of firing off everything Fjolnir had told him about the alliance his parents were hoping to help build between Asgard and Jotunheim when he clamped his mouth shut. He didn't want Harald learning anything about Fjolnir that he shouldn't know.
"We'll see tomorrow when Asgard only has one prince," said Harald. He stamped hard on Leif's foot as he passed him and elbowed him in the ribs, but Leif was so upset by what he'd said that he barely noticed.
X
When he first spoke to the camp, the general had boasted of the other realms' prosperity in the absence of the Dokkalfar. He had not exaggerated, if Asgard was a good example of the rest of Yggdrasil. Algrim watched the city passing below and mourned for what Svartalfheim could have been if the tides of the war had never turned.
The skiff brought them to a great palace at the heart of the realm. The soldiers added a seidr net around Algrim when they drew close. They must still think him dangerous. It was almost flattering, but they had nothing to fear from him.
At last he was led into the hall where the heads of the other realms waited. There were jeers and hisses from the gallery above as he entered. The Asgardian princes were at the top of the hall with the queen and the king. This was a son of Bor who hadn't been born yet when the Dokkalfar went into stasis, but now he was silver-haired and missing an eye. The remaining one was fixed on Algrim, as were all other eyes in the chamber. The most wrathful gaze came from the Dvergr in the circle. Nidavellir had prospered enough to have representation here too, then. A Jotun prince sat beside him, glaring. Opposite them were the Vanr king and the queens of Alfheim and Ildathach. The latter must be a daughter or perhaps a granddaughter of Ethniu. She had her beauty and her piercing eyes. Even the Dvergr and Jotun didn't make Algrim feel small in their presence like she did with one look, and he had to fight a wild impulse to throw himself at her feet.
"Algrim of the Dokkalfar," said Prince Thor. Algrim faced him, grateful for an excuse to tear his gaze from the elf queen. "Your people waged war against the other realms for generations. In pursuit of vile magics, you massacred the Dvergar and stole and corrupted their planet, sparked a war between Jotunheim and Muspelheim, and slaughtered countless innocents on Vanaheim, Alfheim, Jotunheim, and Nornheim. All of that wasn't enough to satisfy the bloodthirst of Malekith, who also sought the extermination of all life in Yggdrasil except yours."
Hearing the great deeds of his people's history summarized thus was deeply jarring. Algrim had always understood that those who refused the Aether's blessing were heretics and any who were incapable of receiving it (a common flaw of non-Alfar peoples, the Dvergar worst of all) were heathens. As such, it was naturally the Dokkalfar's duty to purge Yggdrasil of them. Prince Thor's words turned it into something monstrous and completely unnecessary. It struck Algrim that Thor's would be the version taught to generations of schoolchildren.
"Malekith will die for his crimes this very night," Thor went on. "Any Dokkalfar soldier who does not renounce him and swear oaths of peace on their seidr will share his fate. One way or the other, you will set an example for them in this."
That was to be expected. As much as he had devoted himself to Malekith's cause since his youth, Algrim felt too deeply betrayed by him to be very sorry that he would be executed. "You will have my oath," he said. It was difficult to keep the bitterness out of his voice.
"Good," said Thor. "Soldier and civilian alike, all Dokkalfar will submit to the cleansing of their seidr."
At this, Algrim's knees gave way. "You mean to take the Aether's blessing from us?"
"It is no blessing," said the elf queen harshly. Her voice had the same resonance as Malekith's. She spoke with power and conviction. "It is poison to your spirits; an plague my forebears failed to eradicate when they had the chance, to the ruin of countless lives. I will not repeat their error."
On any other day, Algrim would not have been able to contain himself from screaming that these were lies, but his well of righteous outrage had been choked off by defeat as thoroughly as his magic had by the shackles. He tugged fruitlessly at one of the cuffs.
"From infant to elder to the felled corpses on your ship, you will all be cleansed," said the sidhe queen. "My mages will see to it."
Then even death would not spare them, and the brave dead who had already gone to the eternal night in Asgard's assault would be ripped from it. Algrim's stomach writhed but he managed to get back to his feet. "Some of my people may seek to end their lives when I bring them this news," he said.
"Thank you for informing us," said Thor. "They will be stopped. They may feel differently once the mages have finished their work. After that, to pay their debt to Yggdrasil and earn the goodwill of the other realms, all Dokkalfar who are of age will be assisting in the restoration of Dvergverden as indentured servants for the foreseeable future. The flora and fauna on your ship will be turned over to the Dvergar to determine if they will be useful as well."
Algrim was fairly numb to difficult news at this point; nothing could be worse than having the Aether's blessing stolen away, but to be made to rebuild their own world for the benefit of worst of the heathen races? He glanced over at the Dvergr king, who shot him a spiteful grin.
"How well you perform your tasks in the coming years will determine what freedom will look like for you once Dvergverden is returned to its former glory. As for the children, we do not hold them responsible for what they were born into, as they have not participated in it. They will become wards of the crowns of Alfheim and they will have opportunities for education and may find sponsors or masters to apprentice under among the other realms, but they will not be taken from their Dokkalfar parents or caregivers."
Algrim exhaled slowly. This would not be easy news to bear back to the others, but he hadn't really expected any better. "So be it. I must congratulate the council for devising such a gentle extermination method," he said with a bow. "The Dokkalfar will live on, but the Children of the Aether will be no more."
X
Rygi hadn't known what would happen when he had volunteered to be part of Byleistr's impromptu guard. All he'd been thinking was that if he came back alive, he'd have a thrilling story to tell Menja, the very pretty miller's daughter. So far, he had no cause to regret coming along. No assassination attempts, just a load of dirty looks and rude staring. It was easier work than doing drills with the captain. He supposed it could still turn out to be a trap, but why? All the advantages were on Asgard's side. They didn't have to bother with making nice and giving them fancy cloaks and all if they just wanted to kill them later.
The summit meeting went off without any problems either. It was odd to watch his prince on the same side as all these other rulers, but with the Dokkalfar on the other side, it was only proper that a descendent of the hero Ymir be part of this.
After Prince Thor delivered the sentence and the soldiers took Algrim away again, the Allfather announced that they were free to go back to the celebration. Byleistr glanced at Rygi and Baugi, the other drengr, shrugged, and followed the king of the dwarves.
When they got back to the massive feast hall, most of the Asgardians had moved on from eating to dancing. Rygi had never been very graceful and didn't want to be the one to break the truce by treading on some Aesir noble by mistake, so he kept back while Byleistr and Baugi completed the Dvergar's dance circle. He made sure he never lost sight of his prince as he edged back to the feast tables and helped himself to more of the fruit from Alfheim. It was the sweetest he'd ever tasted. Maybe he could stow some away to give Menja when he told her all about Asgard.
"Excuse me, sir?"
Rygi looked around at shin level and was surprised to find a (very) little Asgardian boy staring up at him with wide eyes. No Asgardian had spoken directly to him so far and most hastily looked away if he caught them staring. The boy looked like a snow hare caught in the open, and his face was getting redder and redder by the second. "Er…," said Rygi. "What?"
"You're not, erm, you're not here to take Prince Loki away, are you?"
Rygi frowned blankly. Was this the trap? Was there a plot to frame them for kidnapping the second prince? "Why would we take Prince Loki away?" he said, glancing around. He could get Byleistr-Prince in a lot of trouble just by standing this close to an Asgardian child if someone decided to raise a fuss about it. No one seemed to have noticed so far; the skalds had started up a new song that was quite lively. Rygi clasped his hands behind his back, took a step away from the boy, and tried to appear harmless.
"I didn't believe you would, but it's what Harald said. Harald is mean and lies a lot, so he's probably just lying again. You're really not taking Prince Loki away?"
"No, we're not taking him away," said Rygi, taking another step, still struggling to see the trap.
A terrible thought seemed to strike the boy. "What if you're not taking him, but he just wants to go because he doesn't think we'd miss him?"
"I don't know anything about Prince Loki wanting to go to Jotunheim," said Rygi, giving up. "Shouldn't you find your parents?" Or maybe Asgardians didn't keep track of their children. Then again, maybe they did, for the boy looked chagrined and darted off without another word.
Rygi stared after him, then moved back towards the circles of dancers, fruit-related plans forgotten. He had no idea what that was about, but the prince should know right away in case anything nefarious was afoot.
X
Earth
Objective: Select replacement for lead organic Hydra operative Pierce, Alexander Goodwin.
Status: Incomplete. Identity of murderer of Pierce, Alexander Goodwin: Unknown, high probability of Hydra affiliation. Likely successors all top suspects.
Objective: Maintain Hydra's ties to world governments.
Status: Secure.
Objective: Maintain Hydra's cover within SHIELD.
Status: Security risks identified. Countermeasures in progress.
Objective: Replace all points of contact for Asgard with Hydra operatives.
Status: Pending, operatives selected.
Acceptable collateral to achieve success: High.
Objective: Eliminate primary targets.
Primary Target: Stark, Anthony Edward.
Primary Target: Rogers, Steven Grant.
Primary Target: Fury, Nicholas Joseph.
Primary Target: Hill, Maria.
Primary Target: Barton, Clinton Francis.
Primary Target: Romanoff, Natasha.
Primary Target: Coulson, Philip J.
Status: Pending, preparing Operation Drawbridge: 67% complete. Current risk of Asgardian interference: High. Do not initiate operation.
Objective: Control public perception.
Status: Pending, opportunity to eliminate uncooperative allies. Identify patsy organization with optimal ratio of public villain appeal to Hydra utility…
Assess Status of Ten Rings…
Public visibility: High.
Hydra level of strategic intel: Low.
Hydra friendliness: Low.
Overlap in areas of Hydra influence: Low.
Ability to retaliate: High.
Ability to expose Hydra operations: Low.
Assess Status of Red Room…
Public visibility: Low.
Hydra level of strategic intel: Moderate.
Hydra friendliness: Moderate.
Overlap in areas of Hydra influence: High.
Ability to retaliate: Moderate.
Ability to expose Hydra operations: High.
Assess Status of The Hand…
Public visibility: Low.
Hydra level of strategic intel: Low.
Hydra friendliness: Moderate.
Overlap in areas of Hydra influence: High.
Ability to retaliate: High.
Ability to expose Hydra operations: Low.
…Pending…
I've finally drawn Helblindi and Byleistr! Which you can see if you look at the Ao3 version of the fic, along with several other illustrations I've done so far. As you can hopefully see if I've gotten the likenesses good enough, my final casting decision for them is Mark Strong as Helblindi and JJ Field as Byleistr. A few people rightly pointed out that it wouldn't be the first time the MCU has recycled an actor, and none of those cases involved casting for a strong family resemblance between brothers.
More cultist PoV from Algrim. Always a fascinating exercise to write. I can't muster much sympathy for what the Dokkalfar are losing, but I can for how crazy they are.
Some Asgardian kids running around unwittingly throwing wrenches into things again. Aren't they cute?
So, back when I did the Yankee Stadium press conference arc, I included a few hints that Hydra was going to use Russia as a scapegoat if the assassination attempt on Tony had succeeded. World events now being what they are, I no longer want to go anywhere near a "Russia was framed!" implication, so I'm changing directions slightly. I think the changes will also help what I'm planning to do with the Hydra stuff anyway.