Case 10: Something Fishy with Loki
"Ahhh, this is nice~" Loki cooed as he and his friends leaned back and relaxed in the luxurious, bubbling hot spring.
"Nice? NICE?! We are being BOILED ALIVE, and you call it nice?!" His Symbiote complained.
"Oh Healer, it's only a bath!"
"Said the crab to the lobsterrr, as the water reached the boiling point."
"Oh please, don't be such a drama queen!"
"Yeah, Loki hates competition over his title." Sylvie teased. "Hey, why don't we have our wedding here in Iceland, like when the aurora borealis is shining down?"
"The aurora borealis is also visible from Norway… perhaps we could host our wedding in New Asgard?"
"And it's warmer in New Asgard than it is here too, minus the hot springs!" Mobius added.
"Or we could get married in the original Asgard: you could see more of our old home, and you did propose to me on the rainbow bridge, which is arguably more beautiful and absolutely more colorful than Midgard's aurora borealis, and we wouldn't have to wait on a specific day for it to become visible."
"You mean like the ceremony in the dream you had on Asgard, where I was officiating from the throne?" Mobius asked.
"And I was the second bride?"
"No, not like that, but if you want to officiate, Dad, that's fine by me!"
"Isn't he supposed to walk one of us down the aisle?" Sylvie wondered.
"I dreamt my mother did, and that part I don't want to change."
"Well in that case, there'll be two Friggas accompanying me." Sylvie said with a smile, and Loki returned the sentiment. "That is, if we have a girl."
"In that case, I'll be surrounded by the three loveliest ladies in the multiverse, and I'll be the happiest Loki to ever live." Loki dreamily kissed his fiancée as he imagined the glorious moment.
They returned to the Null-Time Zone, meeting their friend who stayed there with them. "Hello Casey, we've returned from our well-deserved vacation." Loki greeted. "How's little Stephen fared in our absence?"
"Oh, the same as usual, since I'm the one who feeds him."
"Yes, but I was curious if he'd grown any extra eyes or appendages? Of all the oddities in the universe, he's the first 3-eyed fish I've seen for myself!"
"Nah, he's still got the three. I feel like he's always watching me with that third eye though."
"That's likely because he's fond of you." Loki smirked. "Or maybe he's wondering when your third eye will manifest."
"Yeah, wise guy."
After a few days, they got a call on their detective hotline. "Time Detectives, solving any mystery throughout history, what's your case?"
"Time Detectives, I am Poseidon Aegaeus, God of Oceans, Storms, Earthquakes, and Horses. I have need of your investigating skills at once!"
"Wow, Poseidon, king of Atlantis? Do you want us to meet you there… underwater?"
"We could meet on land if you prefer, but you'll need to search for clues deep in the ocean. I could temporarily bestow you with the ability to breathe underwater and withstand the great pressure, and then you can follow me down to my kingdom."
"Wow, that sounds amazing! Yeah, just give us the coordinates and we'll meet you there." Mobius wrote down the timeline, universe, and location, and finished the call. "Ever been to Atlantis, Lokes?"
"No, but I've heard stories of the sunken city, though I always wondered if it was a real place myself!"
"Hey guys, can I come with you this time?" Casey asked his friends. "Do you think Atlantis has mermaids and fishmen?"
"By all means, come with us and find out!" They took a Time Door to 1237 AD, on the shore of a beach in the Atlantic Ocean. As soon as they neared the water, Poseidon emerged from the ocean's surface: tall, muscular, and blue with long, white hair, and wielding a great golden trident!
"Detectives, behold as I, Poseidon, King of Atlantis, am about to bestow on you-" Poseidon paused his speech, noticing Loki. "What- what is this? Have you figured out your assignment without me even telling you!?"
Mobius and Loki exchanged puzzled expressions. "Uh, no, we haven't."
"Really?" Poseidon looked closer at Loki, who wondered if the Atlantean king recognized him, even though they'd never met. Suddenly, he grabbed Loki under the arms and pulled him down with him underwater. Startled, Loki began to push himself away, but Poseidon's grip was far too strong. Poseidon started speaking to Loki in what he assumed to be the Atlantean language, but he'd never heard the underwater-specific sounds, so he was even more confused. Eager to save them both, Healer bit Poseidon on the arm while Sylvie dove down and froze his other arm with her Jotun powers, distracting him long enough for the mischievous couple to swim to the surface and take a big breath of fresh air.
When Poseidon resurfaced, both Loki and Sylvie had rejoined Mobius and Casey, readying their magic for a fight, but their Atlantean adversary held his hands up.
"Wait. Please forgive me, young detective, I mistook you for someone else."
"And that's why you attempted to drown me?!" Loki angrily inquired, drying his fiancée's and his clothes with a green flash of magic.
"That green magic… and your appearance. No, I thought you were my son; if you were, you couldn't have drowned, being Atlantean as I am. He's the one you've been assigned to find for me for your case."
"Oh no, your son is missing?" Casey asked.
Poseidon shook his head. "Not missing, no, let me explain: a few days ago, I only just discovered that my youngest son is going to be a father anytime now, but he won't tell me who the mother is! I have my suspicions, but I also have a right to know for sure!"
"You need us for that?" Sylvie questioned. "Won't you know who the mother is as soon as she has the baby?"
"No, I will not, because it is my son who is pregnant!"
"He's- pregnant?" Mobius repeated. "Huh, do a lot of guy Atlanteans give birth?"
"Again, no, my children, especially my youngest, are exceptional. Some of us take characteristics of different forms of aquatic life, and Loki just happens to take after the majestic seahorse!" The detective group all turned to Loki upon hearing his name.
"Ohhh, that figures." Loki remarked. "Your son's name is Loki… did you, by any chance, adopt him from Jotunheim?"
"How did you figure that out?" Poseidon asked, astonished.
"We've met a few from other universes. If you don't mind me asking, how did you come about meeting him?"
"It was a great many years ago, in the middle of the Norwegian Sea…" Poseidon smiled, a wave of nostalgia washing over him. "I had heard rumors that Frost Giants were attacking the human country of Norway, but I didn't pay it any mind until a spotted a baby, floating on the surface of a sheet of Jotun ice. Any ice from this world wouldn't have carried him anywhere near the length he traveled from the battleground, but the ice from Jotunheim, the land of the Frost Giants, is much stronger and sturdier!"
"A Frost Giant sent him out to sea during the Battle of Tønsberg?"
"I assumed his mother, but whoever it was carved a Jotun word on the frozen sheet that kept him afloat: Loki. I thought it was a bit bizarre to carve the word 'peace' when their people were the ones who started a war, but I looked into the innocent, little blue baby's eyes and found a peace I didn't quite comprehend myself! So I named him thusly, used my trident to transform him into an Atlantean, and brought him down to my kingdom to live with me and my family as my own son!"
The detective Loki furrowed his brow, his curiosity piqued. "Then… my parents, most likely my biological mother, sent me away from the fighting? And I thought Odin named me, since he was the one who plotted to use me as a peace treaty between Asgard and Jotunheim… then again, this universe is already different from mine by having Poseidon adopt me instead of Odin… so perhaps my mother naming me and trying to protect me in this universe is a variance as well?"
"Lokiii, I have an idea!" Healer interrupted.
"An idea?"
"Let's adopt all the baby Lokis that haven't been rescued! Then we'd have one humongous, happy familyyy of Lokis!"
"Ah, no, let's not. One child on the way is enough for now, thank you!"
Poesidon made a grand pose, his trident at the ready. "So, Time Detectives, are you ready to visit the magnificent city of Atlantis?" They all nodded, excited to begin their underwater adventure!"
