Ad Infinitum

Loki lounged in Odin's form, watching the opening production of his newest play with a critical eye. He could hardly believe Asgard was not openly questioning "Odin" lauding Loki as a hero and immortalizing him - phrased as 'making amends for past wrongs' or not. Had anyone known it was in fact Loki behind this, it would have appeared as self-indulgent, self-laudatory nonsense. Had he not consulted Hela beforehand, it might indeed have become a vehicle of self-aggrandizement. But now? Now, as with nearly everything he did, it served multiple purposes.

Asgard had too long disregarded mages. It was all too probable that successfully facing Thanos would require the combined might of the Realms, and Alfheim and Vanaheim, at the least, considered seidr wielders a valuable part of their military forces. Indeed, their few generals who were not mages themselves were required to take training specifically on how best to utilize and support their mages' talents. And as it stood, Asgardians would refuse to follow any orders issued by such a general out of their deep disapprobation toward magic and all things connected to it.

Hence the plays - education disguised as entertainment for the masses.

When he'd put forward the idea in one of their many discussions, Hela had chuckled and asked just one question: "You could lay a decent foundation for acceptance, and use it to your advantage, but do you truly WISH to rule Asgard? You certainly would be capable of it, and if that is what you truly desire, you shall have it as your just reward when the coming battle is ended."

No, Loki had realized, he really didn't. He had long wanted to be acknowledged as Thor's equal - as CAPABLE of ruling, but it had been centuries since he had truly WANTED the burden of the crown. He had been furious at being constantly sidelined and ignored, utterly terrified at the prospect of THOR on the throne - what a disaster that would have been. Had there been any chance of Thor actually listening to him - considering, if not taking his advice, respecting his abilities and knowledge - he would have willingly been an advisor.

But King? No. Particularly not after having even this brief taste of ruling. His inevitable discontent with the dull minutiae of bureaucracy would be less disastrous than Thor's temper-driven rashness, but that's all he could honestly say in his favor. For all the wrongs done to him by Asgard's ruling classes and warriors, Loki had no grudge against the vast majority of the common people. (well, maybe a few of the merchants...) They should not have to suffer for his boredom.

What he truly wanted was freedom. Freedom from the insuperable expectations of others, from the stifling disapproval and mocking jeers of those who did not understand or value him and refused to even try. Freedom to live in peace, to study, to work, to play. Freedom to be only Loki.

But for now, he bore the burden of the throne, of gently herding recalcitrant, headstrong, prideful fools along a new path.

This was the third play he had sponsored, and the first to include Odin's feats of magic as well, reminding the people and warriors that they had long had a king capable of magic, though they had ignored that fact for millennia. (and given Odin's long reign, just when, exactly had it become a mark of shame for a male to use magic?) Loki had put scholars to looking for stories of battles fought with mages as part of the forces, and any record of Odin's daughter - Hela, now somehow an aspect of Death Incarnate, had been erased from Asgard's histories. Presumably by Odin himself, if what little had been found was accurate. It was a fine line to walk. Masquerading as Odin while having others search out Odin's history meant dodging the occasional question that he could not answer. Hela's input had been invaluable, but even she could only speculate on some of Odin's motivations... and not all of what she could answer would be wise to spread at this time.

The first play had been much easier to pull off - a series of tales based on the TRUTH of the ridiculous adventures he'd been dragged on by Thor and his posse. It had both illustrated the usefulness of magic in a fight AND redeemed Loki's reputation enough that when he eventually stepped in as himself he just might BE LISTENED TO about strategy ... as Thor and his idiots never had. The chance at tearing down their self-propagated reputations was just a bonus in his eyes.

Most of the common folk took to the plays readily - they had no particular issue with magic, associating it with the temple Sanctuaries and Healing Halls. Loki became more and more aware that it was chiefly the warrior class - those who would be forced to admit their own lack if faced with a foe they could not simply beat into the ground - who insisted magic was a dirty, shameful hobby, unworthy of laud. ...unless it was being used for their express benefit by those who acknowledged the warriors' supremacy. (yeah... Loki had always had a problem with the last part of that... Use his powers to benefit someone else? Look no further than the continued survival of his idiot brother's idiot friends. Bow his head and expose his neck to them...? Only under extreme duress, in open mockery with a dagger in his hand.)

The plays weren't the only arrow in his quiver, of course. The scholars had been rewarded handsomely for their work in the dusty archives, and - as Aesir were wont to do - went to celebrate in the usual ways. Fortunately, a few of the scholars took the oblique hints he'd dropped as to what they were to do with the stories they uncovered. Warriors would boast of their own deeds, and craftsmen of their own works; scholars would boast of the deeds and works of others. His scholars were cheerfully improving the reputation of seidr users by telling the tales in taverns for entertainment, and also actively participating in discussions of the plays - confirming their accuracy and expanding on parts that had been glossed over in the name of artistry.

Fortunately, the warriors all loved a good battle story, and wouldn't dare object to someone telling tales of Odin's past glories or Thor's youthful adventures - magic included or not. (At least, not after LokiOdin had stripped the first to do so of his rank for it.) Tales of the Valkyries had also mostly been forgotten, and were slowly being revived. It would do no harm to remind everyone that women could also be fierce fighters, and had once been proudly included in Asgard's elite forces. (Loki had never objected to Sif's passion for battle because she was female... it had been entirely personal. Mostly because Sif, herself, had made it so.) It took very little time for the skalds to pick up on the trend and carry it from there.

It helped Loki to play his role as Odin by thinking of it all as yet another play, and this first act was going nicely.

Thor's friends had been separated - either scattered in various tasks and missions of their own, or retired to family life. In any case, they were not making trouble, and that was sufficient.

Loki occasionally looked in on Thor's diplomatic education on Vanaheim. It was ...progressing... in it's own fashion. It seemed he'd learned at least a modicum of restraint from his mortal friends, though tact was still an untenable hope. At least he hadn't managed to anger a long-friendly Realm into declaring war. (That would have been an impressive feat, but detrimental. It was a good measure of Loki's doubt in Thor that he was actually mildly surprised.)

Hela was still playing a waiting game; time was not yet running out. More changes were coming to Asgard, and more comprehensive preparations needed to be made: the stage would soon be set for the second act, and thence the finale.

And then he would be free.