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—
Once back at the village, Thor had surrendered the custody of the brigands. He also implored Chief Urd to lessen the punishment.
Questioned on why Skeld's Crossing would wish harm on their village, the matter was revealed to be over gold. Weftspire had discovered traces of gold south of the village. The village did not have the means to build a proper mine, and their neighbors offered a deal.
Though, it was more like a demand.
Skeld's Crossing would build the mine, and in return, nine out of ten dregs' worth of gold would be theirs.
Urd was inclined to accept, only the Warden wanted the deal to stay as it is, forever. He had refused the offer, and the potential discovery was left to be. Until Eirik had a different idea on how to acquire the mine.
"Brother, what now?" he asked, though it was obvious.
"We pay Eirik a visit. Heimdall," Thor called out, and the Bifrost fell on them.
—
Asgard
"Prince Thor, Prince Loki, congratulations on your victory," Heimdall said as the two of them came out.
"Thank you, Heimdall, but it is not over yet."
"Indeed," he said, waiting for the Einherjar to pass through.
While waiting, Loki inspected the Bifrost, as he had hundreds of times before. The seidr and the machinery of the Bifrost were extremely complicated. It crossed thousands of light-years in the blink of an eye and, barring some exceptions, could transport the Aesir anywhere.
He could use it to travel anywhere in the Nine Realms, but then Heimdall would know which realm he intended to visit.
"Done with your musings, brother?" Thor asked as the Bifrost realigned.
"I am; let us leave."
—
Skeld's Crossing
The town did not have an opening like Weftspire, and Heimdall transported the company outside of the walls. The guards were alarmed by the sudden ray of light and gathered on a tower.
The brothers walked out first, surveying the town, and walked to the gates. The sight of the hundred Einherjar behind further worried them. Bows were drawn across the wall, though they did not heed them.
Crude, iron-tipped arrows wouldn't even scratch them.
"I am Thor Odinson of Asgard. I will speak to the Warden of the Skeld's Crossing, Eirik," he declared in his booming voice.
No sooner had he finished his words than the gates, which were about to be closed, pushed open again. A balding, fat Nornheimer, dressed in fine black hunting leathers, came running out. Loki chuckled at the sight of the warden's gut bouncing up and down.
"Prince Thor, welcome to our humble town. Please, allow me to greet you inside in a manner befitting you."
"I am not here for frivolities, Warden. You have commanded criminals to attack the village of Weftspire. You will answer for your crimes," his brother said, pointing Mjolnir at the corrupt warden.
"Slander. Urd is slandering me, my prince," Eirik cried out.
Thor took a step forward, forcing the warden to take one back and fall unceremoniously on his back.
"We have questioned the brigands assaulting the village and ascertained the truth of their words," his brother shouted for all to hear.
"My brother means to say you should have some dignity and confess before we make you," Loki added.
Eirik was about to open his mouth, to further deny the accusations perhaps, but he stopped, looking down to avoid the stares. The townspeople had gathered around him, muttering about the missing prisoners.
—
Left with no choice, and too scared to lie anymore to the princes of Asgard, Eirik confessed to his little scheme. Thor had declared that the townspeople would decide his fate and called for a new leader.
Some elders had approached, willing to take the position, and Thor left Loki to find the most sincere and capable one.
Ulfar, an old trader that had left the family business to his sons, had been chosen as the new warden.
They were planning to hang Eirik, but he suggested a more fitting punishment. The previous warden had gorged himself on the taxes of the people; it was only fair he was made to pay it all back.
A shovel was handed to him, and Eirik the Warden became Eirik the shit shoveler.
The townspeople wished to show their gratitude, but Thor wanted to return to Asgard. There was no glorious battle to be had here, and his slumped shoulders told him all he needed to know.
—
Asgard
The Einherjar were dismissed, while Thor and co. went to report to the Allfather. He was in the gardens with their mother, participating in a tea party.
"Father," both said at the same time, tilting their heads down.
"My sons," Odin said, spreading his arms out, "you have returned. How did your first task outside Asgard fare?"
"It went well, Father; we took most of the brigands prisoner. They were left to the village of Weftspire. We also found the mastermind behind it, the warden of a neighboring town, and he was punished accordingly."
"Was he imprisoned?" their father asked.
"The townsfolk wanted to hang him, but I suggested the warden should pay back to the people for all the privileges," he said, smiling.
"Oh?"
"He is busy shoveling excrement now," Loki admitted, smiling at the memory.
The Allfather chuckled, a sentiment shared by the occupants of the garden.
"Dear, we should celebrate this," their mother suggested.
Odin smiled, grasping her hand. "Indeed. What better way than a feast?"
"For now, you two are dismissed. Go and rest," the Allfather ordered, and Loki was all too grateful for it.
"Yes, Father."
—
Loki sat down on his chair, and the computer came to life. His brother took his place in the royal gaming room, right next to this desk.
"Brother, I was thinking. Why don't you make games out of Father's exploits? Slaying Surtr, the war against Jotunheim, and protecting the Nine Realms?" Thor asked. His brother was putting on his Virtual Realm goggles and control equipment.
He stopped, about to turn on the Realms of Valor, and decided it was the time.
"You know, Thor, even though I am a Jotun, I am not as obsessed with them as you are," he admitted.
"What are you talking about? You are not a Jotun; you are my brother," Thor chuckled, shaking his head at the silly joke.
"Adopted, actually," he clarified. It would take a while to convince his brother.
Good thing he was prepared.
The mirth in his brother's voice was gone now. "No, you're not."
"Thor, who do I look like? Mother or father?" he asked.
"Neither," Thor admitted, taken aback by the question.
"Why do you think that is?"
"Because you look like Grandfather Bor?" he said, scratching the back of his head.
"He and Father look the same. You would know if you read the history records properly," Loki admonished. A century of life, and his brother always found a way to ditch his classes.
His brother sat down, brows furrowed, "Then from Mother's side."
"Perhaps," he said. Their mother was raised by witches, and her birth family was unknown.
Rummaging through his drawer, he handed a datapad to Thor. "Here, read this."
"The infant's overall condition is good. There are signs of malnutrition, but he is healthy," Thor read aloud, seeing an image of his brother from when he was a baby.
"What is the date?" he said, stopping his brother from reading through the entire thing.
"Four months after my birth?" Thor tilted his head to the side. "There must be a mistake." Loki was born a year after him, around the first anniversary of the end of the last great war.
"Do you know what happened four months after your birth?" he asked. Even with his brother's penchant for ignoring his studies, he was still a well-learned person as a prince of Asgard and the Allfather's heir.
"The war against the Jotnar ended, and Father returned home for the final time," his brother explained, eyes widening.
"No, this must be a jest," Thor denied once more, putting the datapad aside.
Loki glanced at Thor with half-lidded eyes and sighed.
His skin morphed into a deep blue color, with eyes akin to bloody rubies. Shallow, branching lines appeared across his forehead, starting near the temples and drifting inward. Along with three parallel lines on each of his cheeks and chin, they signified his lineage.
"Ta-da," he said, wiggling his fingers halfheartedly.
Thor flinched, almost going down with the chair. He leaned forward, inspecting the blue, clearly Jotun face before him.
"I refuse to believe this. Father wouldn't just go and adopt a Jotnar," said the god of thunder.
His father was knee-deep in Jotun blood; why would he adopt one of them? Could his father have…
"He did, and Laufey's son to boot," he said, circling a finger over his lineage marks on his forehead.
"Laufey's son? I…" Thor exclaimed, lost for words. He combed a hand through his hair, mouth open in a silent O. It did not make any sense to him for his father to adopt a child of the Jotnar that took his eye.
"I'll speak to Father and learn the truth of this." He rose from the chair, but Loki stopped him.
"No, you won't," he said, holding a hand out.
"Why is that?" Thor asked, lips pursed.
"Because it is troublesome, and I don't want to explain how I even discovered this in the first place. And if you insist on going, I won't speak to you again," he threatened.
The drama that would ensue was not something he wanted to go through.
Thor looked at him with an unreadable expression and left the room without looking back.
Loki raised his shoulders and dropped them. Switching his form back, he turned his attention to the game.
—
It was dinner time, and the hall was loud. The people were conversing over Nornheim. It was a trivial matter, ensuring the safety of a small village, but one that was Asgard's duty.
Defeating a handful of brigands was nothing impressive, especially for Odinsons, but taking most of them prisoner without even fighting was. The punishment given to the schemer behind the disturbance was not forgotten either.
Thor, the hero of the hour, was silent.
He played with his food and did not engage in banter.
"Thor, we know you didn't get the glorious battle you wanted, but that is no reason to be so sullen," Sif said, holding out a mug of mead for him.
"It is not about Nornheim, Sif," he replied, taking the mug.
"Then what?"
"Something I have to deal with myself," Thor said, shoulders hunched, gaze fixed to his plate.
Unused to seeing her friend so sullen, Sif let him be.
Sitting on her husband's left, Frigga watched her eldest.
"Loki, did something happen between you two?" his mother asked, right on point.
A mother's intuition was a terrifying phenomenon.
"Nothing much. Just a small disagreement over the Jotnar," he answered. It was true, in a sense.
"Is that so?" she asked.
"What else would it be?" He smiled, pointing at the holovision. "Oh look, your favorite opera is starting."
His mother gave him a pointed stare and turned to the screen.
—
With Thor down in spirits, he was able to excuse himself. He returned to his room, deciding to sleep so he could continue his experiments with a clear head.
His brother, shaken by the revelation, avoided him for the following days. Lady Sif and the Warrior's Three followed Thor along, and without any other tasks, he was free to finish what he started.
—
Across the Nine Realms, the Bifrost was the greatest means of travel. It was instant, precise, and did not come with any downsides.
It wasn't the only method to travel, however. Due to the loose connection between the Nine Realms, there are cracks that could allow a person to travel to the other worlds. It was, according to his mother, akin to stepping through a door and finding yourself in a whole different realm.
They were rare and impossible to detect unless you came across them by chance.
Ships that could traverse the stars existed, but Asgard had no need for them. Dark magic was another method, but it was taxing on the body and mind.
If this worked, it would be an alternative that he could use to go wherever his heart desired.
Starting with Midgard.
His theory depended on increasing the density of the seidr particles to simulate an increase in gravity. Once the gravity reached a sufficient strength, he could bend space and time to a small degree.
That alone would just cause anomalies, and nothing more.
Bending the space, he would have to accelerate the dense seidr particles to faster-than-light speeds. The accelerated particles would tunnel through reality itself, reaching the target destination.
Anchored on both sides, the higher space tunnel would be compressed.
Then, he would truly have a door to step through.
The room he was in, his lab so to speak, was constructed for this purpose. Walls so thick and protected by the strongest enchantments he could produce, even his plasma beams would take hours to cut through.
Hidden from Heimdall's sight with seidr, it was the perfect place.
Two green and jagged beams struck a certain point in front of him. He continued to feed it, changing the composition of the particles, and the effects became noticeable immediately.
He felt heavy.
The point of contact became dense enough in seconds, and he proceeded with the second part. The space before him broke like glass, falling inside the white nothingness.
His eyes glowed green, and the particles accelerated, guided by the replicated all-seeing vision.
Heimdall would either be impressed or furious.
Ten seconds, he counted inside his head. The walls wavered, his knees buckled, and the tear in reality glowed to blinding proportions.
Loki could feel the strain, both on his body and seidr, but pushed through.
And in a split second, it was all over. The glow disappeared, the tear repaired itself, and the sole occupant of the room was nowhere to be seen.
—
Midgard
He coughed, stepping out of the gate, and looked around.
It was a wilderness.
The replicated vision was nowhere near as strong or precise as the original, and he couldn't see more than the planet itself.
He had no idea what Earth was like now.
Conjuring the cloud platform, Loki rose above the trees, invisible. All he could see, however, was a forest with no end.
Where could he be?
His musing was interrupted when an animal flew by his head, narrowly missing him. A black-feathered body with a white head—it was a bald eagle.
He was in America, probably before it was even discovered by anyone. Loki felt like laughing.
He had done it. A method to travel thousands of light-years that did not require the Bifrost or dangerous seidr.
Now, he just had to perfect the all-seeing vision.
—
In the next chapter:
"Loki, are you ready?" His mother called from outside the door.
"For what?" he asked, trying to remember anything of importance she might have said.
"A member of the Crimson Hawks is to wed. Your father wants both his sons there," she chided.
"I'll be there in a minute," he shouted back. He remembered his mother mentioning something about a wedding, but he stopped listening after that.
Guess he had to go and be the gracious prince.
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