Chapter 2
Thor greatly regrets to inform the group that he would be a highly unwise decision of all here to try and talk to his brother. "Why?" Natasha asked, curious, leaning forwards as her eyes sparked in interest. Thor knew his last words to Loki before he disappeared behind the Void were not kind...not at all, and now realizing that during the entire time his brother was grappling with his reality of being Laufey's firstborn? Thor cursed his youthful arrogance. His attempt to destroy the Frost Giants, the hatred that Asgard had for them, and the surprise that his father would even do such a...cruel act, was what opened his eyes to many things, but he had to admit...he doubted seeing him would do any more good than on the cliff, which was none. He had not managed to get through his brother then, and he doubted that he would be able to now.
"I regret to say that...I was not aware of Loki's parentage, and when I found out it was far too late to correct centuries of cruel words and jokes. Afterwards, when I tried to get him to see reason, he was far too lost to grief and anger. I do not know what Mother truly was thinking, nor my Father, hiding such things from him, and not attempting to hush the words of those around us, but neither made a move to inform Loki of his heritage. This did not...end well. I presume he found out alone, rather than from them, and it destroyed him...from the inside out. I, of course, did not help things when I finally returned to Asgard, and my brother...fell."
"Fell?" Banner questioned, raising a brow, confused. Thor cleared his throat. he was not used to speaking to people who had no idea how things worked on Asgard, but he sighed, reigning himself to explaining things from the beginning. He was not good at things like this, this was far more Loki's territory than his own, but Loki was currently locked up having been tortured by a master who proceeded to break his mind and wipe it...likely altering some memories...Thor did not really know how the mindstone worked, but he doubted that it would do anything good, let alone to someone whose mind was such a maze as Loki's...and the torture needed to get his mind to a place where such a stone would even work on a being as his brother left him to not want to think of what had happened when Loki fell through the Void.
Perhaps, I need to go back a bit. I forget sometimes, that Midgardians are not quite aware of how things began, and perhaps I know things a bit more clearly now...though I must urge you to remember, this is told from one side, and we do not have the story for the other...My Father, Odin Allfather, waged war with the Jotunns as they descended to Midgard. We do not know how they came to the planet, nor do we know why there were here. Father claims they wished to make war, but...Well, that is unknown as it were. War lasted, waged for quite some time, over a century before my father managed to finally end the battle by taking the heart of Jotunnheim. Unbeknowst to most Asgardians, and even myself until recently, the heart of the planet was not the only thing that my Father took. He claims there was a babe, abandoned in the temple next to the powerful relic, and his mercy was taking the child...The firstborn son of Laufey, the King of Jotunnheim." The Avengers were silent, taking this information in, Hill was scrambling on a notepad, no doubt to imput this in their database of information. "Father raised the child as his second son, and forbade any to step foot on Jotunnheim. I was a foolish prince, and during my corination, what was to be my crowning day, a small group of Jotunns attempted to steal back their relic of their land, which failed...of course, however I was insistant that we demand answers, but my father refused. I did not understand then, as I do now, why.
"My Brother came to console me in all my rage. However, instead of listening to his reasons, I thought myself above all, and in my arrogance and pride dragged my brother and friends to Jotunnheim to demand answers. My brother, foreseeing the folly of this, told one of the guards to inform our father-though I regret, my own blithe treatement of him, and the treatement I allowed others to act on him, caused the Guard to wait quite a while before actively informing my father, which led to us reaching Jotunheim long before we should have. I, in a fit of rage, ignoring my Brother's acts of pardon and negotiation, rose to anger at a slight from the King, and began an act of war.
"I presume at some point this was when my brother found out his heritage. There is no other time that he would have managed it, and I am not entirely sure what happened, too blind in my bloodlust to really pay attention to anything but battle and not paying attention to either my friends and their calls to me, nor my brother's words, I do not even truly recall what they were telling me, only remember the lust of battle. Father returned soon, and scarecely managed to leave with us, and I was banished, but not before stating I would kill every Jotunn that crossed my path, not realizing how stupid it sounded. I cannot even begin to fathom how it sounded to my brother, who had just come to the realization that he was a Jotunn.
"I was banished. Rightfully. My brother was given the throne in my absence when my father went into the All Sleep-none else was able to rule, and the current King cannot undo the law of the last. It was likely difficult. Loki was not given much respect by the people, guards, or warriors of Asgard, and this was partially my own fault, and my fathers. When I returned, I was forced to destroy the Rainbow Bridge, to stop my brother from trying to kill all Jotunnheim in order to convince my father of his loyalty and his...right to be my father's son. The bridge is quite dangerous to traverse, considering one drop off either side will land you, if you are lucky, into another planet and not many survive, but there is one section of the bridge that is under something we all call the Void. None have ever returned, though many have fallen into it.
"Destroying the bridge almost cast both my brother and myself into it, however my Father woke up from the last moment and saved me. Loki tried to implore to Father his attempts, but my father...rejected him, and this caused him to let go..."
"He tried to kill himself," The words were hushed, serious, grim, and somewhat awful to hear from someone normally so blithe. Yet, Tony was staring at Thor. "Not to sound like an ass, but plenty of people who find out they are adopted don't ever recover from it, your dad sounds like an Asshole. Not only did he lie to Loki for his entire life, but did not even try to mitigate the damage of what would happen when he inevitably found out by allowing people to talk shit of his birth heritage. What exactly was he expecting? Sunshine and rainbows?" Thor hung his head.
"I do not know what Father or Mother were thinking, truly. They should have staunched such words, and never did...because of this Loki's mind broke."
"Wait, he was the son of the King of the person your dad went to war with?" Natasha huffed, folding her arms over her chest. "Sounds pretty strategic to me." Thor furrowed his brows.
"I am afraid I do not understand..."
"I just mean, having the firstborn son of the King that you are notoriously rivals with seems to be a pretty damn good barganing chip to make sure they stay in their lane, and definitely good leverage should anything happen, you know, like your first born son decided to go on a battle spree."