章 1764: 40
Chapter 40: The Lightning In Your Eyes
Summary:
Meanwhile, on Asgard…
Notes:
Chapter-specfic warnings: the usual [unreliable narrator, canon-typical violence and mental health issues, etc].
NOTE THAT THIS FIC IS VERY VERY AU. You have been repeatedly warned, here's where things go off the rails. Again. Also feat. a metric buttload of my headcanons, including 'Loki was mind-controlled by Thanos during The Avengers' and 'the Nine Realms work a little differently than what I've seen in the MCU'. Suspension of disbelief may be necessary as a result.
Short chapter this time, because of Reasons.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Loki [Odinson— no Laufeyson—no of Asgard—maybe? no of Jotunheim—that was not his to claim], brother of Thor, sat on the the Allfather's throne and wielded Gungir and cast judgement as expected of the King of Asgard and despised every second of it.
As a matter of fact, the only one who could possibly have a stronger claim for hating this entire farce was Heimdall.
Heimdall, who would have undoubtedly run him through if not for the fast-approaching threat that was the Mad Titan, and the bitter truth that Odin was neither capable of nor willing to be up for the task.
Not with his disastrous handling of the Convergence. Not when he was living proof that Asgard had been resting on its laurels for centuries now, insistent on ignoring the way the rest of the galaxy had changed in the time since. Not when he had fallen in the Odinsleep shortly after his wife's funeral, and left an empty throne whose true heir insisted upon gallivanting about the galaxy in search of rumors.
Once upon a time, Loki would have been overjoyed to be where he was now. To be regarded with the same respect and admiration as the rest of the royal family. To get things done, and not have his every action and decision scrutinized by those around him.
Once upon a time.
[Ha.]
He can't even remember how those aspirations felt like, back before.…[before his breakdown and being at the Mad Titan's mercy and—anyway.]
Now, Loki sat on the throne.
Now, he was the [hopefully temporary] ruler the realm that had shaped him, for better or worse.
Now, he and Heimdall were the only ones aware of the ruse that would hopefully save Asgard.
They couldn't afford to show their hand, couldn't afford to move too fast. Loki more than Heimdall, especially. After Odin had cast his judgement, no one would believe him now. And even before— would anyone have even cared to hear of his experiences, of being at the Mad Titan's mercy after his fall from the Bifrost? Or would they have just sneered once again, and mocked him for living when any true Asgardian would have died before submitting to the will of another? [But then, he never had been a true Asgardian, had he.]
And even if Heimdall also publicly spoke of what he'd seen, of the desolate remains of Xandar after the Mad Titan had gotten his hands on the Power Stone— who would believe him, once they found out he had associated with Loki?
Even if all Loki had done was rip away the veil Thanos had used to hide his vast armies from those with the Sight. Even if there had been no love lost between him and Loki for centuries now, and he had no incentive to lie. Even if the facts were laid out for all to see, Asgard would rather remain blissfully ignorant, would laugh at the idea of an invasion, because who dared attack the greatest warriors of all the Nine Realms?
Of course, that was assuming that they'd even hear him out to begin with, considering how quickly Odin has cast his judgement on his youngest son [ha—] without so much as giving him a chance to speak in his own defense.
And while Loki no longer cared to appease the Allfather, he refused to let his brother's home be damned thanks to an old fool's thoughtlessness.
So he bided his time.
He bided his time, and the moment he saw the perfect opportunity, he took it with both hands, and no one even suspected what truly happened the night Odin Borson went to his chambers and re-emerged a new man.
Not when he used every clever trick and every shred of manipulation he'd ever learned to keep up the ruse, even as he did his best to get this woefully unprepared realm ready for a war the likes of which had not been seen in millennia.
Months of searching, of hunting down every last whisper and rumor and Thor Odinson was finally home again.
Was finally able to reunite with his shield-brothers, after having traveled to countless worlds in disguise in the hopes that beings would have looser tongues around nameless strangers than Asgardian royalty— or Asgardians in general, for that matter.
More than once, he'd found himself sorely missing his brother. More than once, he'd found himself clumsily stumbling into delicate situations and blundering through the same niceties and double-speak that Loki had excelled in, and for all the progress he'd made in his search, Thor didn't doubt his brother would have— no. [It was an old hurt, now. Was the dull sting of an wound that no longer wept freely but was still nowhere near healed and he couldn't afford to think about this right now.] Things had gotten to the point where his stumbling upon Doctor Banner in his travels was scarcely a footnote in the great scheme of things— even if they had both been similarly befuddled by the specifics at the time.
But that was in the past.
Now, they had an idea of what was to come, and somehow, it was even worse than he'd feared: the Mad Titan aspired to obtain and use the Infinity Stones in his campaign.
Oh, Norns.
Doctor Banner had been a bit confused, at first— but then, his species' experiences with volatile items of cosmic power had thus far been brief and surprisingly benevolent. He did not know to fear the prospect of the Power Stone used in battle, didn't know about just how much havoc could be wreaked by the Aether in the wrong hands.
Thor was certain he understood, though, by the time their search was over.
That should have been the hard part: the weeks and months of tracking down rumors, of traveling in disguise and trying to not arouse suspicion, just to have an idea of what was to come.
Instead, Thor found that the single most frustrating aspect was the fact that he'd seen the Chitauri himself and yet his realm was adamant in its insistence of Asgard's might.
The only people even slightly amenable to acknowledging his concerns and taking action were Heimdall and the Allfather, and even that was a very charged situation.
The current consensus was that Frigga's death was what had kicked off Odin's new silence and the somber way he held himself. That it was shortly after her funeral that quietly started working on improving the citadel's defenses, and on implementing new security measures.
Thor…didn't know how to approach that entire situation.
"But shouldn't it be the easiest?" Doctor Banner had once asked, early on during their search for rumors. "Because he's the head honcho and your father?"
He had been left struggling to articulate just how complex Asgard's politics were, of the Allfather's role and where he himself stood as the Crown Prince— and of Odin's…unique parenting skills. Of the blatant favoritism shown that he could only now see clearly [Loki hadn't willingly lurked in the shadows at first, had he], and Odin's reluctance to shift the status quo in regards to whoever he'd deemed a 'lesser species' prior to Frigga's death and the more he thought about it the more questions he had and focus. [Not now. Later.]
Suffice it is to say, the good Doctor had quite a bit to say on the matter once he had a general idea of the situation. [Had flushed green for a moment, actually, but that was neither here nor there.]
And so it was that Thor struggled to approach the grieving Allfather, and spoke with Heimdall, and made sure to interfere whenever one of his Asgardian shield-brothers tried to challenge Doctor Banner because as respectable an opponent the Hulk had proved to be, Banner had often voiced his dislike of fighting and Thor could respect that. Thus why he'd introduced him to Asgard's libraries, and pushed away bittersweet memories of his brother hiding in between towering stacks of books in favor of talks of what to do with this knowledge in favor of formulating arguments for why they should expand the use of the Bifrost from its current status of 'for dire emergencies only' so as to send the Midgardian home.
It made for an interesting time, to say the least.
…and then warships were spotted in the distance, and Thor knew their time was now very limited.
Thor clenched his jaw and readjusted his grip on Mjolnir, exchanged a serious look with the good Doctor who had somehow had the misfortune to have gotten involved all this, and pressed onwards. He needed to talk with with his father, because before Hogun had received a message they'd been on the front lines, and every second in the fight against this encroaching threat was far more valuable than the gold Midgardians prized so highly.
Asgard was under attack, and he should be there defending it with his shield-brothers, why was his father calling him now?!
He was directed to the Bifrost, and if Thor had not already known Asgard was under severe threat—something he would have thought inconceivable, a year ago—then the sight of Heimdall not at his post would have driven the stark reality of the situation home.
Asgard was under attack, was struggling with the war at its doorstep, was desperate enough to have needed one of its greatest generals to pick up the mantle again.
Thor just clenched his jaw once more, and pressed onwards to the disturbingly empty chamber. There was still hope, that they could overcome this. Still hope. [He had to hope.]
But then—the moment the doors closed, he felt a chill steal over him, and suddenly he couldn't move, and if his shield-brother's widened eyes were anything to go by, he couldn't either.
This was…
From the shadows, a familiar form emerged. His father stood, impassive, watching as Thor collapsed and Mjolnir's leather strap was the only thing that kept it from falling from slack fingers but this magic was so, so familiar, was something he'd remembered from childhood, but he'd seen—
Loki. Loki's skill with deception, oh the Norns, Thor was a fool.
He couldn't move, as the image of the Allfather faded away with every step he took and his brother strode in, intent in every line of his face, and Thor couldn't move as he and his shield-brother were dragged, and he couldn't move, even as he fought the magic with all his might.
"Father?" Thor managed to get out, barely, as the realization hit and he tried to keep the horror at bay because he'd thought his father had been mourning, as the reason for why he had been acting strangely at times, but…
"Odinsleep." Loki replied with a thin-lipped smile. "He's hidden. Safe. But Asgard needed a leader, and you were away, and I was the last one in line for the throne. Heimdall agreed, after he saw what happened to Xandar."
"Brother," Thor started, and he wanted so, very badly to move, to make sure this wasn't yet another trick, that his heart wasn't making him see things. He strained desperately at the magic, but to no avail.
"Your father is safe, Thor. And I'm protecting Asgard as much as I can, for our mother's sake. But this is a threat we cannot allow to win, and…I'm raising the last defenses. Nothing goes in, nothing goes out, but you need to warn those Midgardians you seem to care about so much. Thanos has three stones, we cannot afford to let more fall in his hands." Loki said forcefully, determination in his voice but with no small amount of fear in his eyes.
"Wh—"
Then Loki reached into his cloak, and Thor's eyes widened as he took in the familiar blue glow.
"The Tesseract. Space Stone. This is what Thanos is after. I altered the signature, he can't track it anymore. But if Asgard falls…"
Thor fought as much as he could, because suddenly everything was rapidly falling into place and Loki wouldn't—he couldn't do this to Thor!
"He can tell if the Bifrost activates. But I know other ways of traveling through the branches of Yggdrasil."
Thor was powerless to move, as Loki carefully placed the glowing container in his grasp. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the slow flush of the good Doctor, but when the magic finally lifted, Thor didn't have the time to do more than reach out and roar, "Brother, no!" before his world became shadow.
He was still roaring, and clutching to the Tesseract with one hand and reaching out with the other, when the shadows lifted and he recognized the night sky of Midgard, and he was still roaring when he felt the final defenses of Asgard slide into place, sealing any hope of going back.
Asgard was under siege.
And once the Mad Titan had decimated his home, Midgard would be next.
"Oh, Norns." Thor breathed as the realization hit of just what his brother had done, "Loki, no."
This time, his roar was of rage and grief and denial. Warriors weren't supposed to cry, weren't supposed to show weakness— but he could not care less, as he remained sitting in the grass of a land that was not his, unable to protect his home or do anything other than warn Midgard of what was to come.
"He's coming," he found himself repeating as he frantically cast about for some way, any way to return home, to traverse the stars and be able to stand up and fight—
But the bitter truth stared him in the face as the Tesseract illuminated the people and simulacrums now fast approaching him, Lord Anthony among them.
"He's coming," he murmured as he buried his face in his hands, trying to bite back a sob at the way the Nine Realms even now rumbled a challenge to those who dared attack its head. Asgard would fight, and continue fighting to the bitter end— but this was…
"It's over," Thor said, still reeling, still grieving his people, who did not know what they were facing, who had never been conquered and whose warriors would go to Valhalla because they did not know the meaning of defeat and would refuse to stand down, even if Loki were to reveal that they no longer possessed the Tesseract. [The Mad Titan's campaign was a foregone conclusion, Asgard's fate was sealed the moment he had it in his sights, he courted Death and—]
"Thor?" Lord Anthony asked cautiously as he reached towards him, and Thor couldn't help it— he wrapped him up in a bear hug because Doctor Banner did not like feeling confined but he needed something to anchor him, to remind him to focus on the now [instead of his home, oh his home—] and Lord Anthony had never begrudged him of this before and would probably understand now.
"The Mad Titan is coming. Asgard is now under siege."
He sought out the Infinity Stones, Midgard now had two of the remaining three. Thor couldn't help the tremor of grief and rage in his voice as he continued. "Once it falls, Midgard is next and it's over."
"Oh, no, Thor." Lord Anthony awkwardly patted him on the back, and he finally pulled away to see an odd mixture of emotions that flitted across his Midgardian shield-brother's face, as he noticed Thor's distress and tried to reassure him.
"I cannot imagine what you're going through right now, Thor. But thanks for the warning, and breathe. And—" Lord Anthony's voice shifted to a dark, quiet viciousness, accompanied by a smile like bared teeth as he faced the night sky and continued. "Know this: no matter how bad it looks, the war is far from over now."
Notes:
Unreliable narrator instances:
—in this chapter, Loki is 100% sane and very very bitter about how Odin [and most of Asgard, for that matter] treated him for so much of his life. The reason he didn't reach out to Thor? His brother's basically the only family he cares about now, and last he saw him, Thor was more than happy to assume the worst of him. Sure, he reacted when he faked his death [intentionally, this time], but Loki's not about to risk it. Especially when there's so much at stake, and there's a chance that Thor might've just punched him if he were to go '...so, I survived and have been impersonating your dad. Surprise!' before he can get the 'also I hate Thanos and know this place is on his hit list' thing out.
———————
I outlined this before Ragnarok came out, if things hadn't hit the fan I would've finished this fic before Infinity War came out. I had this in mind since before I posted the first chapter, we're going shamelessly AU here. Here be dragons and all that, canon went out the window a long while back.
Also: there's only a few more chapters left, I'm deviating from said outline when hell freezes over.
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