Kapitel 6: Butterfly Effect

An 18 year old Vali Odinson alongside his guardian duo, were chilling in the pub, at least that's what it looked like. The three of them were completely disguised, though it did little to hide their impressive physiques. They could've completely blended in with a little bit of magic, but it was obvious that they weren't really trying hard to hide themselves.

The people in the tiny bar knew when to mind their business and wouldn't pry into matters not of their concern. As the young man finished contemplating his early life on Asgard, he couldn't wait to start his education. He finished his drink, and was about to get his guards to foot the bill when he felt someone calling him from across the realm.

He almost instinctively turned on his 'truth eyes' and looked in the direction of the Bifrost, he could see Heimdall look in his direction and mouth a few words that probably no one other person in the realm would've understood.

'The Allfather has returned, my Prince!' he mouthed and it was like a whisper that magically found its way to Vali's ears.

Almost instantly, Vali got up and urged his guards to rush back to the palace. Though confused, they didn't hesitate for a second; paid a few coins and more to the barkeep before heading for the exit with the prince.

They could see that the prince was in a hurry so they didn't inquire anything and just rushed along as they made their way back to the palace. On the way to the hall of the palace, they could see the guards a lot more serious and attentive than the usual. The guardian duo instinctively slowed down before adopting a serious look and posture before hurrying behind the prince, obviously having understood what was going on.

They made their way past the guards towards the hall, before the doors were pushed open and they were led inside by the guards manning the entrance. The hall was mostly empty, with long staircases leading up to a lavish 5m tall golden throne on which sat a bearded, one eyed man with an eye-patch, wielding Gungnir on his left and golden armored clothing with a hint of black.

The white haired man was Odin, having a rather heated conversation with Queen Frigga, who was standing beside the throne. Their conversation halted the moment the trio stepped in, with obvious dissatisfaction on their faces, they turned to face the beings who intruded on their discussion.

[Vali POV]

My 'truth eyes' were turned on ever since I stepped into the palace pathway and I was preparing myself to meet my father who probably hasn't seen me since I was a baby. As I was walking past the guards towards the hall, I could sense the immense raging magic from the hall even from all the way here. I ask my guards to shut up and not speak a word from here on out, and they agreed happily. If anything, it seemed like they wanted to run away but I wasn't having any of that bullshit, as I didn't want such cowardly beings under me.

I walked towards the source of all the horror, doors were pushed open and I was led inside before being assaulted directly by an otherworldly pressure. An accurate description would be, that the gravity in the surroundings multiplied several fold and the air in the atmosphere seemed to have disappeared, making proper respiration an impossibility.

I looked up at the normally empty throne which now housed a white haired, monstrous being as my eyes started hurting and I had to look away, cutting off the magic to my eyes before I looked back at the throne. That split second allowed me to see a godly force that was expertly controlled within the being on the throne, which prevented it from leaking out and most definitely destroying the realm. I was stunned for a second, before I collected myself and greeted my father, who was looking straight at me.

"Welcome back Allfather!" I exclaimed as I greeted and tilted my head downwards subconsciously, which I expertly reined in towards the end.

"Vali, it seems that you have grown well." He replied as he scrutinized my very being, with an unknown expression on his face.

"Of course he has, who do you think raised him when you were absent all this while?" interfered Queen Frigga, my mother before she made her way down towards me and rubbed my silver glossy hair.

She turned towards my father before speaking, "We'll continue our previous conversation later, but now you should call your other sons and inform them about what's going on. They're old enough to know the truth." though the last sentence was spoken with a little hesitance.

Odin paused for a moment before nodding and returning to his own thoughts.

"You should leave with me, as your father has problems of the realm to deal with. You'll understand everything tonight when your brothers arrive for dinner." She looked at me and my guards before asking us to follow her out.

I nodded firmly and turned around to look at my supposed 'guards' who had slight jelly legs, after the experience they went through. I dragged them both by the collar as I followed my mother out of the hall, waiting for dinner time to arrive.

[POV ends]

Dinnertime came along, followed by the clamorous arrival of Thor and Loki with their company. They made quite a commotion with their arrival only for the atmosphere to turn dead silent when the Queen released a bit of her magic, and with that the crowd dispersed leaving only the three princes and their guards.

The two older princes soon shut up after understanding that the King had returned and corrected their messy attires before stepping into the hall where dinner was served. Odin was already seated awaiting their arrival as all the members of royalty soon took their seats at the dining table. Frigga and Odin soon discussed something with hushed tones for a few minutes before turning towards the 3 princes with a shocking revelation.

Apparently, after the war with the frost giants ended a few centuries ago, the last two decades had seen movements from the giants with them ambushing Asgardian outposts. This was completely different from their usual direct confrontations as the giants had poor talent for stealth operations.

Imagine leaving Odin troubled with sneak attacks and most importantly staying hidden from Heimdall's eyes. The attackers obviously prepared well and Odin confirmed that this wasn't the work of Laufey, their king. After all, Odin had personally paid the blue giant a visit and checked his head which led him to believe that someone was using a few groups of frost giants as their pawns to weaken Asgard.

The warriors outside the realm suffered repeated ambushes by the frost giants which led everyone to believe that there was a traitor leaking inside information.

Thor was excited at the prospect of war, ready to start the battle himself if needed to and satisfy his battle lust.

Loki was calmer upon receiving the news and probably pondered upon how to use it to his advantage and play a few tricks.

Vali on the other hand was raging, as he knew that this had to have something to do with his birth. His mind soon calmed down and his thought process didn't allow him to brush things off as coincidences. The ambushes had only started after his birth, and he started thinking deeper about the possible consequences of everything that had happened till now.

He first thought of Loki, when associating a traitor with frost giants but he knew that wasn't possible. This Loki was too young to build connections with them and have the power to help them hide from Heimdall, and he was personally under Vali's eyesight ever since his birth. Vali had also made sure to beat humility into him the last two decades.

It couldn't be him, but it had to be an Asgardian. He soon thought of all possible consequences of the attacks and he could think of many problems. The most crucial being, the traitor had managed to keep Odin away from the realm for the last two decades, and could probably keep him away for more. Their goal might be Vali himself or some other treasure stored in the realm.

At the least, Asgard's timeline had diverged ever since the day Vali was born. The prime canon events would most probably remain untouched, he thought schemingly. He needed to solve this problem quickly before it caused ripples across the rest of the realm and completely disturbed the timeline.

Asgard had always stayed reclusive during this time period, so the only source of trouble that could change things would be the traitor who was responsible for this mess. He soon calmed down as he came to this conclusion as he knew Earth would remain untouched as long he stayed away from it, most probably. Even if there were changes, they would probably be minute or inconsequential. Now, he needed to hurry and find the rat who could possibly become a great hurdle on his quest to power.