fossilised | it's a new plot!

Despite his very recent humiliation in front of the Norns, Loki was also surprisingly content with his lot in life at the moment. He and Thor were on better terms than they had been on in years, with his brother seeming to understand that Loki would always be the God of tricks and lies, and that did not necessarily make him evil. The acceptance of Asgard in thanks for his part in the last battle went a long way to soothing him as well.

But he was still chaos, and he was still secretive, and that was why he hid Thanos' purpose and his own possession of both Tesseract and Casket from his brother.

The snake coiled up at Thor's feet, a beauty with red and gold patterns adorning its scales and a sleepy look in beady eyes. It seemed docile, but if Thor went in for that hug then he would find his arms passing right through the illusion of a snake, and a different snake biting him hard on the behind once it was presented out during him bending down.

If Loki dared tempted him to be hugged, then hugged he would be! Thor merrily bent to scoop the snake up and the serpent dripped through his fingers like water or smoke or sand. There was confusion on the Thunderer’s face for just a moment before he felt the bite on his bottom. With a yelp, Thor turned and wrapped his hands around the actual snake to give it a tug. His skin vibrated, not a good sign these days, and he dug his fingers into the tail of the offender.

Snakes were so delightful! Why then did this one seek him harm? And why did his brother seem to think it was all right to ruin the image of a wonderful creature like a snake!?

His howling caused others to gather and then to laugh as they caught sight of their king swinging a serpent around over his head like some sort of scarf, cursing up a storm that made the ship rock and act as sponge for the sparks rising from his skin. It was a good thing that the vessel was capable of righting itself and keeping itself airborne from the mischief his brother insisted on performing!

“Loki!”

This definitely put him in a better mood.

He wound his coils around his brother's arm to keep himself from being flailed, and bit into his hand with long, sharp fangs. There was no venom in there, he was only playing a trick and not actually trying to kill, but it might sting all the same. Only after he had done that did he turn back into his human form and slide down to the ground, laughing merrily.

"My poor brother, you look as though you had the worst of a fight with a snake, whatever happened?"

There was nothing at all amusing about this! Thor moved his arm once more as if shaking the creature that no longer existed off of his arm and turned his anger towards his brother. As usual, however, Loki’s true belly laughs made it impossible for Thor to stay mad and so his face shifted towards testy rather than anything else. “You have spent three days planning this insult?” Thor reached forward and grabbed Loki by the shoulder. “Surely there is much better things to do!”

He gave his brother a shove to break up the little fest at the end of the hall, the women covering their mouths in mirth, the men clearing their throats, as the king and the prince headed towards the All-Father’s chambers.

“You may have proven difficult to perish in the past, but do not try me, brother,” Thor called out as he gave Loki a little shove into his room. It was all for show, Thor bore no ill will towards this more innocuous of jokes. “I had feared Strange stole you once more for poking at Stark.”

Thor's bluster and faux anger only made this a greater victory for Loki, and he was in truly high spirits as he allowed himself to be pushed into the All-Father's chambers on the ship and jumped onto the bed, reclining as though he were the one who belonged there and not his brother.

"I feared how you might fare with one eye gone, but I forgot that you had always been blind and so it will not make a difference at all."

This was wonderful. For now. He knew he would have to admit where he had been until this point, otherwise he would disappoint the one person in all Nine Realms that he had never wanted to disappoint.

"Such a jest was fine, but it was the work of moments, I have been elsewhere and come with a message." His expression sobered. "Mother wishes to speak with you, she resides with the Norns now, one of them in death."

Thor’s amusement faded almost immediately at the mention of their mother. He’d paused to light on the edge of a remarkably well built chest of drawers, opposite his brother’s leather clad feet when the man’s words stirred him. “Do not jest about these things,” Thor replied, voice waivering ever so slightly. The death and absense of their mother had pained him, and still pained him. To hear she was with the Norns was bolstering but to know that she may not be either their father in death-- Well how could they be together if Hela no longer guarded that particular Realm? Who did guard Helheim, who guided the dead?

It took very little to throw Thor deep into thought these days and this particular news left him with a deep ache in his chest and a brooding look on his rugged face.

“Even should I believe you,” and from the looks of it, Thor wanted to believe Loki so very badly, “I can not simply travel to the Norns, Loki. If you wish to make me the fool in front of our people, so be it and I shall deliver it back as it comes, but do not attempt to wound me when it is simply us. I had hoped we moved beyong this.”

Loki could forgive him for being skeptical. He’d cried wolf too many times when there was none in the pasture with the sheep.

"I do not lie."

He wasn't particularly offended at Thor not believing him, his deceptions were so egregious that he had earned himself the title of God of Lies in addition to his other titles, but in this he was being serious.

"But I do not need to offer you proof. Heimdall has the sword, he can send you to the Norns with enough effort and my meeting with them was not shielded from his eyes. Should you distrust what I say, then verify it with him."

Loki knew that Thor would never distrust the word of Heimdall, not after so many years of loyal service to the throne of Asgard.

Thor said nothing more to Loki until he was once again in the hall. He paused, only then, and glanced at his brother over his shoulder. “You will come with me?” A question, not an order. It wasn’t that Thor was afraid to go alone, but rather, or that he needed his brother with him. Once, he’d told the dark haired man, he’d thought the world of him. Well, after Ragnarok, he did again.

And that meant that he wanted to be with him, when possible, to share in triumphs or follies. It mattered not.

What did matter was that Loki stay at his side. And it helped to keep his brother honest with him. There was always that.

To Heimdall they would go and together, they would travel between Realms to stand at the feet of the Norns. To see their mother…and to be told whatever secrets that needed to be told.

Loki would stay by Thor's side until he inevitably tired of it, feeling constrained, and slipped away to his own business for months or years, and then return again. Now that their relationship had become more accepting of who and what he was, this may no longer be a contentious point between them and they would be able to enjoy a healthier relationship.

Heimdall confirmed what Loki had said, and with great effort he conveyed them both to the realm of the Norns. Not truly within any of the other Nine Realms, this was the Tenth, but it both was and wasn't a true realm in itself. The chamber they arrived in shimmered like water all around, but the walls and floor were solid to the touch.

Only their mother stood in the centre, she had been granted the authority to speak with their voice in this instance. She was at once both the Frigga she had always been, and something irrefutably more. Power and immortality radiated from her in a way it never had in life. A smile lit her face and she gathered both her sons into her arms, heart full.

"My children, I sorrow that such events bring us together, but I rejoice to see your faces again."

Thor took this hard. He had been upset at the passing of their father, but he found the man to have been flawed in many ways, enough that he had found some bitterness at his choice to pass, just then. He had been selfish in death as he had been in his youth. Thor had never known that, and it clouded his thoughts of who the All-Father had been and who the All-Father could be in him.

He paused, now, unsure of which way to go. This was their mother but she was beyond such things as well and it caused him both pain and euphoria to see her honoured. Thor eventually made the choice to go to her side, and though he did not touch her, he did lay a hand over his heart and bow to her presence.

“I thought we would never see you again. No matter the circumstance— Oh. And sorry we destroyed Asgard. Did Loki fill you in or—“

Frigga smiled. Her children had changed from the last time she had held either and both for the better. Thor still had that easy way about him but he was kinder now. Bending. And Loki? Well Loki had finally come to peace with his nature.

It was heartwarming and pleasing to know her boys had grown well. But that did not make this task easier.

“I shall rightly take responsibility of course, but maybe we ought to blame the plasterers at the palace. A bit of warning about our sister might have done us some good?”

It was so easy to look back on what had been and regret not being more open - she should have told them both about how Asgard rose in prosperity, how Hela had fallen from grace, and about Loki's origins as a frost giant. Perhaps if they had all known these things from the off then Asgard would still be whole and Ragnarok could have been avoided... perhaps.

But now she was a Norn she knew that these events had played out as they had meant to, that there were threads of fate that could not be avoided and Ragnarok was one of these. That was not what she needed to talk to them about. She put her hand down and cupped Thor under the chin, before gently pushing him to rise, she did not want her sons to kneel before her even if it was right.

"We must look forward to the future, rather than back at the mistakes of the past. You must rally the Nine Realms around Midgard, Thor, a great evil approaches and a battle that will see Yggdrasil saved or destroyed draws ever nearer."

“I think we’ve done a pretty good job destroying most of everything else,” Thor mused as he stood, finally moving his hands to his mother’s shoulders. It was a near enough embrace that he felt better for it, but distant enough to be respectful. “What comes now for Yggdrasil?”

She did not mince words, looking at Loki. “Thanos, the Destroyer, has the Infinity Gauntlet.”

That news had Thor’s eye widen. “How? It was with the other artifacts. I’ve seen it.” He did not bring up the way that Loki looked afraid. All of the mischief in the universe tended to stem from his brother.

He already knew that Earth lay home to at least one of the stones from Loki’s sceptre, brought with him during the invasion of New York, and he knew it resides within Vision now.

And that did not bode well. Especially when Frigga sighed. “The representation we kept was not the real gauntlet, my sons. You must not dally here. All the Realms must be brought together and the task is monumental.”

Loki already knew this, he had known it from the time that he had been taken and tortured by the Chitauri and then manipulated his way into Thanos' presence to make claims and promises that he had never had any intention of fulfilling as long as he could gain his revenge on the family that had lied to him.

He should have told them before, but bitterness had sealed his lips, and now shame did it just as effectively. He didn't want to admit how much he had been hurt and how it had got so bad that he had cried aloud for Thor and his mother to save him, and how when they didn't it had shredded the last vestiges of trust from him.

So he just looked innocently back at his mother, as if he didn't have the Tesseract and Casket in his own possession.

"There are other stones in space that should garner his attention first, we cannot be in immediate danger."

“He has claimed one already and now travels to the highest concentration of stones,” Frigga corrected. She did not need her son to be truthful. She could see all. She saw his folly but it would not help nor harm the current danger for the moment. His possessions would be taken last. He would be killed slowly for them. Thanos would take pleasure in this.

Thor glanced at Loki, frowning. “Midgard has become quite the popular Realm,” he said in half a joke. His anxiety was up, not because he didn’t relish a fight, but because he knew the legends of the Mad Titan and because his people were still trying to heal. “Can you tell us how much time we have?”

“Months,” Frigga responded. “Less than one hundred days. It is difficult to see his current erratic behaviour.” It was likely not allowed to admit that she and her kind were not so infallible either. Frigga has always been a rebel. “You must leave now. You will need all the time that can be mustered.”

Loki turned preparatory to calling Heimdall, but he hesitated. He did not really want to do this in front of Thor, but he had no choice because he would likely never make it back here again or see her. She would be a Norn for all time, she would not be seen in any of the realms of the dead, and what he had said to her before she died was a piece of poison that still lived in his heart.

There was a long moment where it seemed as though he would say nothing, but then he finally forced the words out while staring at the floor.

"You are and have always been my mother. When I spoke before, those were words of anger and falsehood. Forgive me."

The sweetest of smiles lighted onto celestially tinted lips. Frigga lifted lily white hands towards Loki with every intention to embrace her son. “You have come far from the days of your imprisonment. I have watched you and your brothers with all of the love in my heart.” She could not say that Loki was her favourite in front of Thor, not when it was likely the last time that they would meet like this, but the way she broke out the ‘you’ from the set of sons she had ought to have made Loki understand that he still held the greatest part of her affection.

After all, none had shared her gifts, not even Baldur, though he had shown some acumen with seidr, moreso than even Thor, born with lightning in his blood. It was different to be born with a magical inclination and to be born with the ability to commune with all magic, everywhere.

It was a long time before Frigga let Loki go and since Thor was starting to look sore-hearted, she opened her arms for her too. It was a briefer hug, but she held onto his hand and reached once more for Loki’s. Together, she held them tightly before she offered her youngest one more piece of advice.

“In all the many branches and trunks of the World Tree, there is one that suits your heart beyond all others. The nature of your relationship with this soul changes with every instance but it is the singular compliment to yours. Seek this one out to provide you access to your untapped strength. Your father was my match and he resides with me, always, though we are long apart. His strength added to my own. All great masters of seidr, if they are lucky and fortunate, will find and cherish their counterpart. I expect you to do the same.” She did not have the same advice for Thor, and so to him, she smiled and said: “There will be no finer All-Father. It gladdens me that you have discovered the source of your own strength on all your own. Embrace this. You will need it in the battle ahead.”

Thor dragged Loki into another embrace with their mother before he cleared his throat.

“Heimdall!”

And in a flash of light, they were pulled back to Earth.

Loki had no idea what his mother meant when she spoke of a soul that would be the pair to his own. He doubted any soul could be the pair to his own, his was a unique and chaotic soul, and he had no interest in tying himself to someone else. Especially not if it meant that they would have to watch out for each other, he was much better at watching out solely for himself.

But her words and her forgiveness, that embrace, that soothed a part of him that had been damaged since she died. Regretting the final words said to her had weighed on him since it had happened, he had never imagined that she would actually fall in that battle and he wouldn't be able to take back those words, but-- that was one of his greatest miscalculations.

He had no chance to ask anything or thank her before Thor was calling for Heimdall and they were suddenly back on the ship again. He glared sidelong at his brother and stalked away towards his own quarters. Even though he knew that they had had to leave, he had still wanted more time and now he blamed Thor for taking that time away from him.

Perhaps he would just leave. He had no interest in fighting Thanos.

There was no time to spare, not for Thor. He watched Loki depart without heavy heart. He knew his brother was fickle, he knew that he detested fighting. And he knew that he could not count on him to join in this. He did not blame him, he’d just long since understood that Loki’s default mode was and would always be anger. Thor returned to the bridge of the ship where Valkyrie and Hulk were having some sort of drinking or throwing or both contest. He held up his hands for attention and ended up catching a flagon of beer that Valkyrie looked annoyed at. “Give it here,” she said, her own brand of respect more in action than word.

Thor did not, however, give her more to drink. “We have a problem.”

“That seems usual. Give that flagon here.”

Thor ignored her. “Where are the Avengers? Scott Lang and Sam Wilson?”

Valkyrie stalked over and grabbed the flagon from him and he let her without incident. “They left yesterday to secure a place in Norway for us. They’re expecting you to— Hey!” Thor had already turned away from her.

“There are greater needs. We will soon be under attack from worse than my sister. Ship! I wish to make a call to Friend Rogers! Take us to the site of his home!”

It would be easier to land the ship in the woods around HQ anyway.

“Have him Assemble All Avengers!” Nothing happened and Thor frowned. “Ship! Call Rogers and—“

“Thor?” Korg broke in, clearing his throat. “See the ship isn’t voice activated? Miek’s just been fillin’ in for it when you talk but he’s at the gym. Should I call for him? Or can I just direct yah to the button to press?”

Thor opted for the latter.

Loki was conflicted about whether to stay and fight or whether to run. He knew that Thanos would want to inflict revenge on him personally, and if he wanted to stand any chance of escape then he would need to abandon both of his objects of power before he fled. He was, however, loath to do that when he had worked so hard to gather both of these things to himself, which meant he should stay.

He was still mulling over the options in his room when the ship began to move again and when Steve answered the call to Thor.

Steve looked tired. Drained. Not in the way of a man who had been doing a lot of physical exercise or who hadn't slept enough, but in the way of someone who's heart has grown heavy and who has suffered a lot of blows to his soul. He still made himself smile when the video answered, genuinely pleased to see his friend even if the loss of his hair and his eye were big changes.

"Thor! We missed you at the meeting, it's good to see you again. Let me offer my condolences for your father, and my, uh, congratulations on becoming King."

“I should not have fled the battle so quickly,” Thor said, jovially enough. “It would have done us all well to be once more reunited. I also am sorry that I neglected to email. I had been on a quest to discover the truth behind the visions shown to me by the one called Scarlet Witch. It took me many places and ultimately, I was unable to prevent the destruction I was shown. Yet, I know this excuse does not sit well with humans and I give you instead my heartfelt apology. I also am pleased to inform you that my next point of conflict need not be mine alone! We will once again take together to the field of battle. It will be glorious for all not immediately killed.”

Thor meant well. He just did not understand how any of this might be absurb and horribly frightening at the same time to a mortal.

“I am coming to discuss tactics with you in person. Would you please have the Avengers assemble before our arrival? Ship, how long until—”

Korg cleared his throat in interuption. “Uh, Thor, about that talking to the ship—”

Thor rolled his singular eye. “Right, aye, I do remember. Korg, how long until we arrive?” Thor asked as they broke through the clouds and started to land on half an acre of forest about to be utterly flattened.

Korg frowned. Sort of. It was hard to tell. “About now?”

“Oh. Well let us continue this discussion in person. Turn off the screen now, Korg.”

At least Steve was used enough to Thor and his weird ideas about what constituted glorious to not be afraid, although the idea of a large battle coming was not one that he liked the sound of. He certainly couldn't have the Avengers assemble before Thor arrived if he was arriving right now, but he put the call out anyway.

Sam and Scott were in Norway, obviously. Natasha, Clint, Vision, and Wanda were here in the Tower, so they were easy to get together. Tony didn't seem to be picking up, though he left messages with FRIDAY to try and get him here (which would be passed along in case her boss did want to go), as well asking him to pick up Peter from Queens on the way if he could manage it.

He really hoped he would.

Not that Tony was his best friend or anything, he wasn't, but he was the only link that he had to Bucky right now. That was probably pathetic, but it didn't stop it being true.

Feet up from spending the afternoon looking under dust covers at a house he had very little dealings with since he was little, and having found nothing really amusing to tinker with, Tony cracked one eye open as FRIDAY stated that she had a message for him from HQ. He wasn’t sure where James was, they had each gone their own way after the hand holding in the kitchen and after Tony assisted the man in resetting his arm so that it would properly heal, mostly because they didn’t need to constantly be in each other’s company, no matter what they had rashly rushed into a decision on half a day before.

“Let’s hear it,” Tony said, blandly, and FRIDAY played the message for him, speaking over Steve’s voice in case it triggered James…or worse, was about him. He groaned and had the AI switch from voice mail to broadcast. “James, gotta go. You can come or stay, but it sounds like Thor decided to bring some new and wonderful alien menace back with him from space. Pretty sure it’s Loki anyway, which is fine. We dealt with him before. Anyway, I have to pick up Parker from Queens on the way…which actually isn’t on the way but whatever.”

Tony pulled himself up, paused for a moment at the silence, and happily headed down the stairs towards the front door. He was two steps from the bottom when a powerful hallucination hit him, freezing him to the step as he sucked in a breath. It was a familiar one, similar to the vision that Wanda had shown him with one distinct difference…it wasn’t stylized. There was no heap of dead Avengers. And while Steve was there, he was bearded like he was now instead of smooth faced and curled up on his side, gasping and telling Tony to run.

James had gone to look out his own room, choosing one high up over the ocean with floor to ceiling windows so that he could look out on the churning waves no matter where he was in the room. He spoke to FRIDAY occasionally, he found her quite a soothing presence because she was knowledgeable and friendly without actually having a physical presence to be a threat.

His head snapped up when Tony's voice appeared in the gloom to tell him that he had to go and why, torn between wanting to go and make sure he wasn't hurt, and holing up in his new safe space just for one single damn night. In the end he made his way down to the front door, at least to see Tony off if not to go with him, only to take the last few steps at a run when he saw how frozen the other man was.

"Tony? Hey-- Hey! Tony! Tony!"

He set his hands on Tony's shoulders, shaking him lightly, worry marring his face and heartrate picking up.

"FRIDAY, what's happening here?"

There wasn’t a whole lot that FRIDAY could do but tell James that Tony’s heart rate had spiked and that he was in an advanced state of shock. The whole of it lasted a frightening ten full seconds as James watched, unable to help, until Tony blinked through tears and nearly collapsed against the other man. If James hadn’t been there, Tony would have very likely hurt himself falling.

He was shaking pretty badly, tongue dry as he babbled something about the vision not being about Ultron.Wanda had shown him something beyond his worst fears, she’d shown him something of the future, something that had scared her too, but she hadn’t known why. Tear-filled eyes eventually tracked back to James as Tony scrambled up to his feet. He didn’t need to be graceful and he wasn’t trying to be either.

“Something bad is going to happen,” he told James. “Something I thought we stopped-- It’s-- It’s that thing again. That thing where I just know-- I know it sounds crazy but I think it’s actually just voices-- I have to go.” He gripped James suddenly by his upper arms. “It’s going to be dangerous. It’s going to be really bad. I think Steve is going to get himself hurt and I have to go.” Steve wasn’t his best friend, but he felt a connection there. A strong one.

And he was honestly terrified of a place in the world without Cap.

"Okay-- give me a second to tool up and we'll go."

He didn't question whether what Tony had seen was true, and he didn't call him crazy, he just accepted it as if there could be no question that what he said was the truth. He was scared down to the marrow of his bones to imagine a danger that could mean the end of Steve; just because he wasn't ready to speak with him, it didn't mean he wanted anything to happen to him.

And he definitely didn't want anything to happen to Tony either, especially not when they had just tentatively decided something probably dumb.

"I'll fight by your side, just promise me that you'll pull me back after the fighting is done."

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