Must I do EVERYTHING (The Dark World Remix)
He was absolutely sure that his brother thought he was a complete coward. After a year of running and hiding, using the tesseract and his gradually replenishing seidr, Loki was almost ready.
In the beginning he was just content to run and hide from Heimdall and Odin. To create a new life that was all his own. Unfortunately, the universe had other plans and the wards he'd placed on the palace (with the help of many other mages and his mother) were breached. It had only been a short time since he'd escaped Thor and his little mortal hero friends and he was not ready to return to Asgard yet.
You could take a prince out of Asgard…. But even if he was disgraced and hunted, you couldn't take the need to protect Asgard out of the prince.
When he'd felt the protective dome fall, he'd done what he could and with illusions, traveled to Asgard disguising himself as a guard.
Of course, he was ok with a sword, but his fighting style still showed through enough that while protecting Frigga and Thor's ridiculous mortal, his mother saw through the trick.
Of course she would have. She was the one that had taught him some of his tricks… He knew better than to go anywhere near her while still hoping to be undiscovered.
But he had relieved one of the guards at the door to be able to eavesdrop on what was going on.
And once the Kursed showed up, he had no choice at all.
He would defend his mother. If she refused to give up the mortal, so be it.
The precious few minutes of fighting they'd needed was gained by a deadly dance of two lithe warriors, mother and son, spinning around the room taking turns advancing on Malekith and the Kursed, or shielding the woman.
If it was important enough that Frigga would face such foes alone, then regardless of his feelings of her betrayal… He would fight at her side.
Unfortunately, all of his concentration was needed to fight, so his illusion had been dispelled.
When Thor burst into the room, he was stunned to find his brother and mother fighting.
Mainly his brother.
So it was in those few seconds of pause that the Dark Elf decided being outnumbered was unfavorable and withdrew.
And only a moment went by before Odin was striding into the room past his son.
As fatigued as they were though, his mother stood between them as Jane ran to Thor.
Loki could only see Thor's face. His grateful and happy expression made something Loki had been trying to fight for a year bubble up to the surface. His mask was in place as his eyes flicked to Odin. The unwanted pleasure of helping Thor drained away as he watched Odin’s eye become steely with resolve as he shared silent communication with his wife.
Eventually Odin spared him a hard look. Helping protect Frigga and Jane, or rather the Aether, in his eye, was honorable enough to grant him an actual chance to redeem himself of his crimes on Midgard.
But it didn't do much else.
He hoped he could at least tell Odin the actual truth. He may not be believed, and he hated with a fiery passion to admit the weakness…. Of admitting to being broken by torture, but at least he'd done something that warranted the Allfather’s pause to hear his side.
That was all Loki could've asked for.
Because as they filed out of the room to survey the damages and regroup, he felt his mother's comforting hand on his back and knew at least he still had her trust.
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The Allfather and Allmother decided, after hearing a condensed version of Loki's fate in the void, to renew Asgard’s defenses and stay there to recover wounded and assemble what troops they had left.
Thor took Loki and Jane with him and they fled. Of course, out of everyone in his home realm, Loki would be the one that knew of the secret passageways between worlds.
It had been a tense ride at first, with the mortal slapping him, but all in all, Loki didn't complain. Yes, he still hated that Odin and Frigga had lied to him for so damn long…. But Thor, for all his blindness in how he'd treated Loki over the years, still cared for him.
The sentiment was easy to see, as always when it came to Thor, so Loki found himself softening towards the oaf.
Eventually, he had to warn Thor of the dangers of losing his heart to a mortal…. He didn't think Odin was capable, nor Frigga frank enough to prepare the thunderer for how quickly her life would pass. The proof was right in front of them. She'd already succumbed to the power of the Aether and fallen asleep during the incredibly short and exhilarating ride.
She was getting weaker.
They needed to draw the liquid stone from her but even with all of Odin and Frigga’s combined knowledge, they didn't know how.
The only one that knew seemed to be Malekith, so a very careful deception was planned.
It was carried out with only minor setbacks…. Some historical architecture destroyed…. Lots of property damage…. and an skewering of himself while trying to do the right thing.
The damage was great. So massive was the hole through his chest that it required him to go into his own form of restorative sleep. His seidr slowed his bodily functions so much that he appeared truly dead.
Very faintly and from far off in a dreamscape surrounded by fog, Loki could hear Thor mourning him.
Sentimental idiot.
If he would just use his brain for once, he'd realize the illusion of his Aesir appearance would've faded out to reveal his Jotun skin if he had actually physically died.
But no. Such a concept was too hard to grasp.
So there he lay, in the cold desolate and bleak dead lands of Svartalfheim. Healing. Alone. He needed something to calm his mind and settled on the one thing he'd seemed to always be good at.
Scheming.