fossilised | I come from a land of ice and snow

I come from a land of ice and snow

Asgard sat atop the branches of Yggdrasil since time began, and little had changed in their society in the years since. Each Asgardian was long-lived into the millennia, their lands were fertile, their people brave and strong. They had their vassals, their allies, and their enemies. Yet even those who opposed them respected the might of the Golden Dias, and the royalty who sat upon it. Currently that was Odin Borson, though he grew weary more easily now and had begun to consider passing the throne to his eldest son.

He had been blessed with many children, but only two that he considered worthy of his lineage and status. His firstborn, Thor, strong and honourable and everything an Asgardian warrior should be. His second son, Loki, was not natural born, though none knew that but his wife. He was different, a creature of magic and mayhem, of sharp intelligence. Both were worthy, but together they would take Asgard to a new prosperity, he was certain of it.

Midgard, where the mortals dwelt, was a land raided every few centuries for stock. It was seen as a breeding ground, much like a corral for cattle. Mortals were lesser, short-lived and weak, they were fit only as slaves. The last raid had taken place when Loki had been but a baby, nearly a thousand years ago, but the mortals that had been taken had been bred and cared for so that a healthy slave population still thrived. Slaves were given a weakened mixture of Idunn's crop with their food, to extend their natural lives to at least a few centuries in order to make them worth the effort to train. They had no rights, but they were taught well that this was their natural position.

All slave children were raised in a central pen and taught the same when small, those that then displayed talent at cooking, riding, hunting, housework, artisan skills, or singing were then measured off to be specially trained for higher masters. Every five years those who could afford to buy a slave, or those of high enough status to simply demand them, came to the corral and chose. Those who were chosen were special, were envied, and those who were not ended up working the fields out in the far reaches of Asgard, the most menial of work.

Anthony and Steven had been friends since they were little and being raised in the large pens together. Both had excelled, Anthony at crafting and Steven at warrior's skills, but neither were chosen when they were five, nor ten, nor even fifteen. Now, at twenty, it was their final chance to be chosen before they would be assigned to one of the meanest farmers beyond the borders of the great capital. Steven woke Anthony as the dawn rose, mingled excitement and nerves on his face.

"Anthony! Wake up, I've got news! I heard the overseer talking to one of the passing guards, and Princes Thor and Loki are coming to the corral today."

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To be truthful, Thor was a bit bullheadishly deaf. He heard only the call of battle and while sitting upon the throne during Odin’s last, horrible sleep had tempered him, he was no longer fettered by being All-Father and was allowed out to pursue his adventures. He wanted the fight, and this imposture wasn’t allowing it. Annoyed, especially since his better senses were being spoken to, Thor dropped Mjolnir on the ground so loudly that Tony, miles away, actually jumped.

“A banner of truce? If you are anything like my brother, you will use that banner to manipulate.” See, he’d learned! But he couldn’t help but be intrigued just the same. “But we will meet. In person. And in the duration of that counsel, neither shall raise fist nor weapon towards the other. Bring with an honourable second to ensure this. I will not speak through your magic where you have advantage.”

He moved to dress. While a snap of the fingers could call forth his armour, Thor would not be dressing for battle and his tunic and trousers lay on the fur covered floor.

“In one hour, come to the top of the tallest peak. I trust you will be able to find me there as you did to send your mechanised messanger?”

"You have my agreement. The second I will bring is mortal, so I will accept that you bring a mortal in return, but you must not bring or inform your brother lest an attack come from outside the banner of truce."

Beyond that, Loki merely stopped broadcasting. She was slightly flushed with the adrenaline of dealing with this potentially devastating event, eyes bright as she glanced over to Tony to gain comfort from his presence. Whether what they had to do would work or not-- well, they would find out in an hour.

Back in the tent, Steven stood staring at his master in consternation, his brow furrowed in concern. "My prince, this could be a trap, we already know that these imposters have no honour. Are you sure it's wise to listen to what they have to say without taking Prince Loki with you?"

With gusto, Thor actually laughed. “Can you imagine being with two Lokis? No. One is quite enough,” Thor said, doing up his wide buckled belt before he bid Steven to dress as well. It would be easy to get to the rendezvous point with Mjolnir, but he did not wish to be seen in the sky. He did not want another potential issue to spring up with another Jotunheim due to his visit. One potential war was enough.

And though he did long for that war, even Thor thought it best to mitigate it. His brother would never rest until his wrongs were righted and though Thor did not believe he could reason with a different brother any better than he could his own, diplomacy was always a worthy course of action.

Even if he would rather use his hammer instead of his tongue, a year of being All-Father taught him well. Especially as it had been undistracted, with Steven kept apart from him and on his duty during the raid. He cast an appreciative glance at the blond.

“You must wear more than boots, Steven. Quickly.”

Why did his master have to be so charming? Steven smiled a lop-sided sort of grin and hurried to get into his tunic. He would take a weapon with him, it would not break the truce as long as he didn't draw it, and he would rather be armed in case the untrustworthy other side broke the truce first and they needed to defend themselves.

It wouldn't be too long before they stood atop the peak that Thor had named, Steven looking down through the snowfall to a worrying sort of sight. He had seen pictures of Jotunheim in his time on Asgard, it was ruined and the cities were barely more than rubble now, but--

"My prince, look--" He pointed off into the distance where a perfect and beautiful city still stood. "Do you believe this Jotunheim won the war?"

Thor was less disturbed. Steven was young, all things considered, and while Thor was technically too, he’d spent less time learning history than Steven had in the village. “Remember what my brother instructed. Take little for what it is like at face value. For all we know, Asgard may occupy this Realm rather than destroyed it. Or perhaps in this Realm, Jotuns did not rise up against Asgard to rob them of Midgard. Untill we are certain of what has occurred here and meet with the imposter, it would do us little good to speculate.”

But the view was disturbing and Thor found himself falling into a gruff silence as the dark night wind blew his unkempt hair around on his shoulders.

They would have a chance to watch the approach of those they would treat with, given Tony’s rational desire for Loki not to use her magic whenever possible, and that disturbed him more than the lack of ruined Jotnar buildings.

“Does the prince send a girl and an old man in his stead,” he called, booming from the top of the peak.

"There is no prince lest I wish to take male form."

Loki was afraid, but she would not show it. She was the daughter of Laufey-King, the future wife of a prince who would be All-Father, and chaos fire to her core. She stood as tall as she could, straight backed, and looked him in the eye with ones that burned crimson of her own. For she would face this in her true skin.

"I am Princess Loki of Jotunheim, first born daughter and second born child to Laufey-King of Jotunheim, and you have come to seek me out. I do not wish war between our peoples and so I have come to speak with you. Do you wish greater shelter or do you wish to speak out here on this peak?"

Though Thor did not feel the cold, Steven might be. He would never admit his chill but Thor did not wish him to be at a disadvantage should it come to a fight. His mind was already a bit stuck on this presentation of Loki, though, to really say or do too much more than spread one hand and nod.

Loki, he knew, was Jotnar. He’d been born to Jotun and was one himself even if he didn’t present it. He knew Loki could shape shift as well. But that was about the only similarity he could find between his brother and the princess.

“We will find a suitable place. This will be a long conversation.”

There was a difference between them in a way that Loki did not know and Thor could not possibly hope to recognise yet. His brother's shapeshifting had been stymied by a removal from the seidr of Jotunheim and the insistence of an Aesir shape by his parents, his changes were mostly illusionary now, whereas the Princess was a true and natural shapeshifter in control of her powers.

She nodded in agreement and led both mortals and Thor to an abandoned hut a few miles away, so as not to endanger any of her people should this go wrong, and built a fire within to allow both mortals to feel comfort.

"This all remains under truce, no harm shall be given or taken, and hospitality will be offered. I hope that in talking we can come to some agreement that will give us both what we seek without the need for further bloodshed."

“This is no your conflict. You stole breeding stock from us and attempted to pass yourself off as one,” Thor said abruptly, certainly not one to mince words. Tony frowned st him and at the scarred and shorn version of Steve Barnes standing stoically at his side. He was so different from the one he knew and yet he held himself the same way. That was more annoying than it probably ought to be and he barely hid his disdain.

“You kidnapped, killed, raped and stole the children of an entire planet, and then you left them to die,” Tony pointed out and Thor, looking baffled, narrowed his eyes.

“You will speak when spoken to—“

“Yeah no. I’m not a slave. We are equals.”

“I am prince of Asgard! You are nameless and mortal and nearly dead!” Thor bellowed back. “We have no equality between us!”

"You will both be silent," Loki said in tones of furious order, sitting proud and regal even on the ramshackle chair within this hut, looking every inch the princess despite her stature and youth.

"If we are to debate our hierarchy, then you will defer to me. I am princess of this realm, on which you are trespassing without invitation, but that is not how I wish to do things. My friend, Tony, is no slave, and you are no All-Father's son in this reality."

She folded her arms, the chaos that Loki had garnered into jealousy tempered in her, for she had grown up knowing her place and embracing it. Cherished instead of teased.

"Wrongs have been done on both sides, and the magnitude of which is not what I want to discuss. I wish to ensure that no further wrongs are done on either side, and that will only be achieved if you return to your realm peacefully. I do not wish a fight and you should not either."

Wrongs had not been done to Asgard. If Loki meant to equate what was done to his people with what was done to a few slaves because of what amounted to an accident, they were going to have to exchange some unpleasant words. Tony was silent however, not because he was told to be but because he was so angry that if he didn’t hold his tongue, there would be some real trouble here. Thor could kill them. Easily.

And Thor knew that too, for rage was behind his eyes and flowing through his veins as he stared at the princess. She made him feel ill. This was not his cherished brother. This was nothing like him.

“We want what amounts to our property. There is no need to begin a war and you would do well to remove yourself from these negotiations. Midgard is a planet of slaves. It is their noble duty and right to be treated and cared for as such. Anything other is treasonous speech.”

The feeling was mutual. She could see in this Thor a more arrogant and less bending form of her future husband, one who had been allowed to grow too much without a tempering influence and who now thought far too much with his heart instead of his head. She would make sure that her husband surpassed this fool even though he was well short in years to match him.

"These are not your property. Perhaps in your reality Midgard is a planet of slaves, but that is not so here, nor was it so in the reality of the Midgard that you pillaged and stole from. You have invaded what is not yours, you have taken beyond the bounds that have been assigned to you, and that is an act of war."

She hated this man, she hated this Asgard.

"But I do not wish war, and neither will my people. We will rise to it if we have to, but to see blood shed on all sides when you could leave and not seek to take what is not yours to take would be the final proof that you have no honour. I have been taught that all have their place on Yggdrasil, even those I do not understand or care for, such as the Fire Giants of Muspelheim, it seems these are lessons that have passed you by."

Thor’s brother was right. This branch was poisoned. “I pity you,” Thor said, though his voice had dimmed. “I pity those that must live under your weak willed Asgard. There must be many wars, much instability. Peace is not achievable the way you live, just as it had not been when my brother invaded Midgard. He told me of the horrors found upon the Realm.”

Tony stayed silent despite his increasing anger. His mouth felt bitter, like he was licking batteries, and maybe a little numb from the pain of this encounter.

He knew these people had been unreasonable. He knew it. And he’d allowed Loki to put herself in danger. Despite her age, she was a kid. He had known and felt guilty about that when he slept with her so why would he not do everything in his power to keep this from growing worse?

He could not hold his tongue much longer.

“I need you to take a step back. If you don’t like it here, go back to where you’re from and leave us alone.”

"My companion speaks truly; this is not your realm or reality, and if you do not like what you see then you must leave. But you are wrong, there have been no major wars within my Yggdrasil since the days of Bor All-Father, when Muspelheim last rebelled against the yoke of vassalage. We keep our peace not through force, but through negotiation."

Through marriage.

It was one of the reasons she had been betrothed to Thor since she was born, and why when they had a son that one of the daughters of Alfheim would be betrothed to him so that they may take their place as All-Mother when the time came.

"If there is war here now it will be of your doing, is that the legacy you wish to leave behind? That just because you do not understand or agree with a thing, that you will respond by violence? It is I who pity you."

“It is the sworn duty of Asgard to rule all,” Thor bit back. Loki would likely have had better chance negotiating with anyone else. Thor was so indoctrinated on what his role and duty was that he could see nothing. “If each Asgard is not up to the task, it is our great and terrible burden to assist. It is unseemly for there to be no recourse here for you to turn to.”

He stood, his great bulk standing tall and proud, though he showed no sign of attack.

“I wish to speak with the All-Father of this universe,” Thor said and Tony leaned back, arms crossed, and glanced at Loki. This had escalated in the wrong way. And quick.

He was an idiot, an idiot and a bloodthirsty warlike creature, what a terrible thing for Asgard to be ruled over by one like him. Would he subjugate all who disagreed with him? Is that how things worked in their worlds?

"Why would I assist you in gaining an audience with the All-Father, when you do not even show proper deference to the rulers of the realm you are on? Asgard may stand at the pinnacle of Yggdrasil, but that does not make the other branches lesser in comparison."

She could already tell she was losing this battle, he was so stupid. Did he not see that only be negotiation and agreeing to accept their differences, to return to their own worlds, would war be avoided? Did he care so little for the lives of the men under him that he would doom many thousands to death for his own arrogance?

“Will you excuse us?” Tony stood too, hand out to Thor, who looked half incredulous and half angry by being told to wait by a mortal. Tony gently put a hand on Loki’s shoulder and headed out of the room to stand on the edge of the glacier they had taken shelter in. He was starting to feel the cold, but it was tolerable inside. Outside? Well, they couldn’t linger. “You’re talking to a guy who is taking the White Man’s Burden on a cosmic level.”

He knew Loki wouldn’t understand so he tried to give the Cliff Notes version of imperialism and that the ‘civilized,’ white Europeans had a strong belief that they were directed by God to go out and tame the noble savages of the places that they were conquering and trying to settle.

“You can’t change the mind of someone with that belief. You have to appeal to the fact that he probably doesn’t want to start a war, not why he should live and let live. All you’re doing right now is cementing into his mind that he has to invade because this universe is so backwards that he would be doing the wrong thing to let it suffer. He’s not going to listen to me. I’m inferior to him. So, and don’t zap me or kill me for this, but you really need to check your pride here.”

It was getting them in trouble again.

Loki had no issue with Tony pulling her outside, he was her equal in this conversation and, in fact, had far more right than her to be angry at the Asgardians and far more right to fear a war. After all, if Asgard demanded the Midgardians in recompense then it could be that they would be forsaken by Jotunheim in order to prevent a war that would weaken them all.

"What would you have me say?"

She looked a little annoyed, but mostly confused.

"I have tried to tell him that he should not want a war, what other reasons should I give? I did not realise that I was speaking with pride, only with truth."

“You’ve got to sound pitiful. Not worth his time. Men like that want their egos stroked and they want to have fun. If they’re forced into conquering a universe, that leaves absolutely no fun time for them.” Tony hoped he was reading the other alien’s cues correctly. Thor was quick to anger. He remembered that on the hellicarrier when a little offhand remark had him choked out. And he’d seen this one in action over Rogers.

Tony lightly cupped Loki’s cheek. She was his lover even if she looked like a child and he tried to treat her with affection when he could. She deserved that and this was going to be a difficult task.

“You’re supposed to have a silver tongue, right? Tell the guy what he wants to hear. Ask him to tell you how he rules so maybe you can install his system here. We just need them to go away.”

Though she understood the necessity of a lie more than most, even she made a face of disgust when he suggested that she should pretend to want to implement this regime here where there was a far better balance.

"You believe that he would be so foolish as to believe, after all of our argument, that we have seen the benefits of his world and he would leave with no further issue?"

She could hardly imagine that anyone could be so stupid as to be taken in by that, surely they would be seen through in seconds?!

“Have you met a Thor?” Tony wasn’t being cute or fasceous. He really did believe that they could angle this, if Loki was reluctant but willing to see the course. “You can’t massage it a little? Say that you don’t believe in slavery exactly but as the future All-Mother, you can see merit in Asgard being a strong ruling body?”

He threw his hands up in frustration. He had to rely on the girl to pull this off or they were going to die in the very near future and their universe, Loki’s original and Tony’s adopted, would implode.

“If we get out of this? First thing... we are figuring out a way to keep every universe separate because c’mon, this is just insane.”

Loki watched Tony try to contain his passion and his fear within eloquence and she respected that, they were similar in these ways where they tried to do good and yet could not help but follow their own slightly chaotic impulses at times as well. She reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder, carefully above his clothing and only for a second so as not to burn him.

"This is why I need you. I hope to bring wisdom to my husband and see Asgard rise, but it seems I need you to bring wisdom to me. If he is stupid enough to fall for such a ploy then he deserves to return to his home with his tail between his legs."

Believe her, she would dedicate her life to closing these portals, perhaps she saw the wisdom of regulating that travel with the Bifrost.

"You must attempt to look servile, then."

“Non I have to look angry. I have to look hurt. And you have to put me in my place.” It wasn’t just Thor that they needed to convince. It was Steve too. He had the prince’s ear and his pillow and so he really needed to at least be momentarily convinced that this was happening. “I’m going to say some terrible things but you must keep trying to remind me that this will save my people and that I might even be happy looking up to a different ruler than myself. Or something. Ad lib it.”

He wasn’t too certain about how this would turn out, even if he pretended to be. He wanted to be that person to bring wisdom to someone after all. He’d done a lot of hurt at home and a lot of hurt on their journey here.

It was time to give back a little.

And he felt things for Loki that he didn’t, or hadn’t, felt before. So that helped.

Loki did not like this plan and she did not think that it would work, but they had tried her methods and they similarly had not worked and so it could not surely do any harm to try what Tony thought. She hesitated to give him a brief warm smile and then her entire countenance shifted into annoyance and she raised her voice to be heard inside as she stalked back.

"You have overstepped the line far too often. It is through Jotunheim's might and generosity that you have even a place to survive, and yet still you think over and over to style yourself my equal?!"

She stepped back into the room and brushed past Steven to sit opposite Thor once more, feigning an attempt at trying to calm down.

"I apologise for our negotiations being so disrupted."

And they were on.

Luckily, Tony had enough pent up anger and frustration by all of this that it took very little for him to get riled up. He stalked back in after Loki and again put a hand on her elbow. “Are you kidding me? I’m all for the greater good, but we are people. You literally just got done telling this Blond Bozo that exact same thing!”

His added a hiss to the end of that as he tried to force Loki to look at him.

“If they go to war over this, there’s a good chance we can even win!”

A blustery Thor, who had remained standing with his arms at his sides, narrowed his eyes. “You barely live for but a moment,” he said, not to Loki, but to Tony. “You do not see the picture at large. It matters not the strength of each army.” And this was where his time on the throne had taught him well, and the near loss of his brother to Jotunheim. “War of this magnitude will lead to destruction on both sizes. We will reign victorious, no matter the price we pay.” And while boastful and prideful, Thor spoke grimly. Even Steven looked a little shocked that his prince played his hand, that he saw this princess’ way. “It is difficult to rule. Most can not manage it. Few genuinely want to. But we have spent generations without war, and for good reason. Each Realm must know their place and accept their place. Asgard’s is to rule. The rest must kneel.”

Tony hated to say it but Thor spoke a lot of truth there. His own, twisted truth, but he knew where he was coming from. Sympathy for the devil was real. “Uh. Hello? We did just fine before we knew aliens existed!”

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