Loki, his grandniece Frigg, and the Muspel siblings headed back to Ljosalfgard, the capital of Alfheim, in search of Queen Featherwine. Frigg suddenly spoke to Loki as they traveled along. "I hope you'll forgive us for accusing you unjustly, Great Uncle Loki, especially while you're suffering such a heavy loss."
"Thank you. This is the second time I've lost him, powerless to save him."
"Then we have that in common."
"I'm sorry. If you don't mind me asking, how did your Thor die?"
"Fighting the god butcher: he sacrificed his life to stop Gorr from wiping out every god and goddess in existence. I was still a teenager when he passed; Ellisiv and Atli were children. His noble sacrifice has been a profound inspiration for us, though I wish he could have remained with us longer."
"Yes, he becomes quite heroic, very noble and kind and compassionate, just like Mother."
"I never met either you or Great Grandmother Frigga in my time, but I have heard a lot about you both."
"On completely opposite sides of the spectrum, I'm sure. Your history books probably all list me as one of Asgard's most dangerous villains."
"Not from the Asgardian stories. Certainly not from Grandfather Thor's stories!"
Detective Loki paused for a second. "What did your Thor tell you about me?"
"He told us you were a trickster, that you liked to cause mischief and get the two of you into trouble. He said you made him laugh when he needed cheering and fought by his side for many years. But he also said underneath you were insecure and lonely, felt unworthy of love but desperate to win it. He said there was a bitterness and self-loathing in you that he didn't see until it was too late, and he always said that no matter how many times he saved Midgard, Asgard, or any other place from danger, his one regret until the day he died was that he could not save you from yourself."
"…Was it Thor who named you after our mother?"
"Yes. Even though I mainly take after Grandfather, I can do magic like her, strengthened by the Odinforce I inherited from him." She picked a flower nearby and changed it into a frog as they walked along.
Loki smiled, recalling the fond memories of his Frigga performing the same magic when he was a boy, in awe of the unconventional beauty and charm of her spells. "I know she's proud of you, namesake or not. I hope my daughter takes after her."
"I wouldn't ask for that, if I were you."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Speaking as someone with a namesake, I wouldn't recommend expecting them to be like someone you know. If she likes magic, let her be magical. If she prefers hammers, let her wield one. Let her be herself, love her, and don't be disappointed if she doesn't excel in the same areas that you or your family does. That's my advice, at least."
Loki began to consider her advice, but he didn't allow himself to linger on these thoughts. "Focus, Loki, don't get carried off in your own thoughts again. If I'd have just paid my brother more attention instead of brooding about my own life, perhaps I could have… no, don't think about that either! Focus on the mission: I need to find this murderer before they claim anyone else!"
They easily found the palace, a grand and elegant pink structure in the middle of tall buildings that resembled plants. They were met by guards at the entrance.
"Hello. We're the detectives trying to solve the string of murders that took place here and on Asgard, and we need to question everyone at the party, even your queen." Detective Loki explained.
"That's fine, but she'll need to leave our capital city." A guard replied, gesturing to Fiamma. "We can't risk her burning down the palace or harming the queen."
"She can't use her fire powers; she's restrained, as you can see."
"It doesn't matter to her. Those are the conditions, and they aren't going to change."
"Fine, we'll keep lookout from the outskirts." Fiamma complied as she and her siblings left. Loki and Frigg were then escorted to the throne room.
"Queen Aelsa Featherwine of the Fay, your audience has been requested by Loki Mobiusson and Frigg Wodendottir of Asgard." Her royal attendant announced them. "They seek information to aid them in finding the culprit behind the murders of two of their own."
"Thank you, Luminus. Detectives, what kind of information do you require of me?"
"Firstly, we know that Thor Odinson died from the extremely potent snake venom of a Jörmungandr, which was put into a few of the candies from your planet's Sugar Woods by whoever is behind this." Loki recounted. "Have you seen anyone do anything suspicious around there, anything out of the ordinary to report?"
"I'm afraid not, I haven't been there recently. I was enjoying the party food too much to grab any of our own, especially the cake!"
"I see what you mean. There was almost a third murder not long after that: Loki Laufeyson, the fully giant one, was critically wounded by a woman whom he said was bathed in the glow of a bright light, stabbed with a superheated sword, most likely the same one that blinded and slayed Heimdall."
"And from that description, you believe a Light Elf cast that light as well as poisoned the candies that Thor ate?"
"It's highly likely." Frigg answered. "We know it was someone who can cast magic, has knowledge of their victims, and is proficient with a sword."
"Only my guards and I would fit those qualities."
"We'd like to speak with them too." Loki and Frigg questioned the royal guards, the former using his enchantment after they all claimed to be innocent of the aforementioned crimes. When all of their thoughts proved to match their words, they turned their attention back to Queen Featherwine.
"Queen Featherwine of the Fay, we'll need to search your mind next, if you please." Loki requested.
"Very well, if it's to help you and your brother. I appreciate your honesty and politeness."
"Thank you, your helpfulness in this case is likewise appreciated." Loki looked into her mind, seeing her preparing the planet for Jotun Loki's party, hiding with the others before they surprised him, enjoying the party before the murdering spree moved to her home realm, and returning to her palace afterward to calm and lead her frightened citizens. Loki sighed. "Then you don't have any clues for us either."
"Unfortunately not. I'm sorry about Thor, and I hope you catch his killer soon!"
"So, shall we join Sylvie and Mobius then?" Loki suggested as he and Frigg exited the palace. "Those Skrulls could prove dangerous, even with Sif and the Warriors Three by their side."
"They will notify us if they need backup, though I understand your worry for the little one." Frigg reminded him. "Until then, we should search the Sugar Woods for any condemning evidence."
Loki nodded. "Before that… Healer, can you look into the minds of the masses for the memory of anything Jörmungandr or venom related?"
"I cannn and I will!"
Meanwhile, Mobius, Sylvie, Jörmungandr, and the band of Asgardian companions found the Skrulls downing a round of drinks at the Gingerbread Tavern.
"Remember, if it comes down to a fight or flight and they shapeshift into us, just ask them the questions we discussed, and you'll know by their answers if they're Skrulls or not." Mobius reminded the four Asgardians. "They can mimic us down to our DNA, but they can't recall our long-term memories."
"Understood." Sif responded while the Warriors Three nodded simultaneously.
Mobius greeted the Skrulls at the table. "Hey there, we're detectives on the case of the murder of Heimdall of Asgard and Thor Odinson, and the attempted murder of Loki Laufeyson."
Before any of the Skrulls answered, there was a slam of drinks and fists from the table across the room, where Loki's Ice Bros sat. "You tried to kill Loki!?" One of the Jotun men exclaimed. "Is he alright?"
"Yeah, he froze his wound until my son was able to heal him, thankfully!"
He nodded in response, and the Jotuns glared at the Skrulls until they responded back.
"It wasn't one of us, you blue behemoths."
"Yes, if anyone around here is suspicious, it's those frosty Kree lookalikes over there!" The Skrulls turned to the detectives. "What's the idea, coming in here and accusing us?"
"We're not accusing anyone yet." Mobius clarified. "We're only questioning those who have been at the party with the means to kill inconspicuously, and that includes shapeshifters."
"Why shapeshifters? How were they killed?"
"Heimdall and Loki were stabbed, and Loki was assaulted with fire too, but we have proof he wasn't attacked by one of the Fire Giants. Thor was poisoned, but the young elf lady who Loki said showed him to the poisoned food was cleared too, so it's safe to assume some kind of shapeshifter is behind this. Where were you about an hour and fifteen minutes ago?"
"We've been here, drinking our fill and entertaining everyone at the bar."
"All of you? You've been here the whole time?"
"Yeah, just ask the barkeep!"
"It's true." The Light Elf bartender attested. "They're been drumming up a lot of business for me the whole time, especially since the people stopped drinking the party drinks and eating the food because of the poisoning!"
"Alright, we just need to be sure." Mobius nodded to Sylvie, who placed a hand on one of the Skrulls and looked into her mind, and she found that the Skrulls were telling the truth, and every one of them that came to the party was accounted for. She turned to Mobius and shook her head. Mobius put his hands on his hips and sighed. "Okay, it wasn't you either."
"Shall we report the negative results back to our Loki?" Sylvie suggested.
"Sure. Hey, speaking of Loki, the giant one said his 'Ice Bros' were supposed to meet him at Honeywine Falls, but you never showed up. Why didn't you?"
"Because he told us that he changed his mind." One Jotun answered.
"That's right, he said he changed his mind about going there after he heard about this tavern made of gingerbread."
"He told us to meet him here instead. He wanted to see if a witch lived here who would feed him a bunch of gingerbread until he got fat."
"Really?" Mobius asked. "Because Loki told us he was still on his way to the falls when he got ambushed. Hm. Sounds like the work of a shapeshifter to me, maybe a sorcerer/ess?"
"Maybe." Sylvie agreed. "But if you still want to know where the real Loki Laufeyson is, he's on his way with his dad and Thor's parents to question the sorceresses of Vanaheim. You can talk to him on our TemPad too if you want."
"We'll just go to meet him ourselves. You go ahead."
"Suit yourselves." Mobius proceeded to contact Detective Loki. "Hey, the Skrulls turned up negative, but we found your variant's posse, who claimed their Loki told them to change their meeting location to the Gingerbread Tavern, so we know our shapeshifter gets around! How're things on your end?"
"Negative as well: none of the Light Elves in the capital know about the poisoning."
"So, you think a sorceress of Vanaheim is the murderess then?"
"That would be my next guess, though I can't imagine what would motivate them to kill Thor, especially since one of their own is his mother and the other his aunt! Hogun, you're Vanir… are there any remaining grudges between Vanaheim and Asgard since the war?"
"There are a few who harbor silent prejudices, but none known from the ladies that came here."
"I thought not."
"It could be anyone here then." Mobius remarked. "Though as far as sorcery goes, your family is exceptionally talented, especially your mother… we know firsthand that not all variants are the same morally as we know them, she's highly skilled in deception and illusion, and she's the last person anyone would suspect, so no one would think to check her mind. She might very well b-"
"Finish that sentence and I'll rip your mustache right off your face." Loki threatened.
"I'm not saying for sure, just that it's a possibility. Maybe it's your aunt, maybe someone else? Besides, you were the one who convinced me that variant of Gil was corrupt in the good Thanos's case, so who's to say there can't be a corrupted Frigga?"
"Just stop, Mobius, before you say something you'll regret. It wasn't her: she loves Thor."
"You loved Thor and you tried to kill him years ago."
Loki impulsively grabbed Mobius by the collar of his shirt and released him quickly after, shaking his head. "My mother isn't me."
"So my other son can do evil things but your mother can't? That's pretty hypocritical of you, Loki!"
"I don't care; no one slanders my mother in front of me, not even you."
"…Fine then, overgrown mama's boy, but we still need to question everyone here."
"Hm. What about the Grandmaster? I saw him a while back; he's got that Melt Stick, and he enjoys killing people for entertainment!"
"Nah, Sylvie and I checked him while you and Frigg were finding your variant: he's still a whackadoo, but he's clean."
"Not the term I'd use for him, but yeah, he's not guilty of this." Sylvie concurred. "And neither are the Ataraxians. So, should we join the others where the Vanir are?"
"That's what I proposed to do, but Frigg suggested we search the Sugar Woods for evidence first. You can be the tiebreaker."
"I think we should try to find more evidence first." Mobius recommended. "I gave your mom and Odin a way to reach us if they need us."
"What evidence?" Sylvie asked. "What could we find left over from a poisoning that we don't already know?"
"For starters, anything that could lead us to the Jörmungandr the venom came from, traces of magic, if you guys can recognize that sort of thing, DNA samples from whoever owns the serpent, stuff like that. Anyone else for a crime scene investigation?"
"That sounds like the best course of action to me." Hogun seconded.
"Alright then, we'll meet you there." Detective Loki said. The two teams searched until Loki found a shed scale. "Jörm, track this to your variant please!" The snake did as instructed, leading them underground until the two Jörmungandrs were face to face.
Loki motioned for his team to keep back while he approached the present universe's Jörmungandr, which opened its fangs threateningly. His own Jörmungandr kept the other from biting his master with his tail while Loki looked into its mind. His eyes widened as he removed his hand. "I know who killed Thor and Heimdall!"
Not long after Detective Loki exclaimed this, however, the serpent disappeared in a flash of green light.
"Where'd it go?" Sylvie wondered. "You touched it: it wasn't an illusion!"
"Jörmungandrs can't teleport, can they?" Mobius inquired.
"No, they can't." Loki assured. "Not on their own."
Earlier, Odin, Frigga, Laufey, his son Loki, and Mantis met the Vanir ladies in the Valley of the Moon Elves. "Gullveig, ladies, how do you do?" Frigga greeted them.
"Ah, Sister, how goes the investigation?" Gullveig responded. Her eyes widened slightly at seeing Jotun Loki with them. "Oh dear, have you come to aid in your brother's case? It must be just as hard for you, like losing a family member."
"I did." Loki somberly replied.
"As did we all." Odin stated. "We have questions we yet need answered; there was a shapeshifter involved in the poisoning of our son…"
"And we thought it wise to consult my fellow Vanir sorceresses in that area, as we were trained in the art of illusion and transformative magic." Frigga finished. "What do you think of this?"
"Do you suspect the Skrulls? Shapeshifting is their specialty."
"Yes, we've sent another team to find and question them as we speak, as well as the Light Elves at the palace."
"The Light Elves…" Gullveig thought. "Come to think of it, Queen Featherwine of Alfheim and I were discussing politics, and she mentioned how disappointed she was with the young princes of Asgard and Jotunheim, that they were so lax with their constant partying that if something happened, we'd all be doomed, but… I just took it as a stern ruler's exaggerations! Do you think she was desperate to prove a point? After that fire blast everyone saw from the Fire Giantess, perhaps she wanted them off her world?"
"That could be true… yes, that's a logical assessment. May I look through your mind to see this conversation, maybe find some details you may have overlooked?"
Gullveig smiled. "Be my guest, Frigga."
