Chapter 94: Loki (II)

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"Perfect, and yet he killed a human? Are you saying that’s what being human is?"

Loki was stuck on Atom’s line for the rest of the night.

He didn’t know much about the history of Midgardians because there was nothing worth learning about them, but after looking through a few books in Asgard, he found out enough about them and their favourite pastime, War.

The people across the sea were of a different color? War.

The people across the river followed a different god? War.

The people in other countries had more gold? War.

The people in a particular region had good spices? War.

It was almost comical how many wars there had been between them over slivers of land and other inconsequential reasons, and that was just in these few books.

But wars weren’t something he wanted to shame.

An Asgardian warrior’s greatest end was in battle. Still, the reason for the war had to be sound. Asgard itself had many records of wars, the greatest one being the conquest of the nine realms that the All Father led.

And the result of that war was years of peace and prosperity, the very reason for that war.

However, since All Father won, there were also the defeated ones.

The Ice giants were one of them, and they still harboured the greatest grudge against All Father and Asgard for breaking their claws and taking away their treasure.

Loki was a frost giant himself, and not just any frost giant; he was the abandoned son of the current ruler of the race. If he was to go by the story’s logic, was he supposed to hate Asgard, the very land he had been raised in?

Growing up, he had often heard Thor say he would destroy all of the Frost Giants; most Asgardian warriors had similar thoughts because of the tales and eternally hostile attitude of Jotunheim. But Thor didn’t know that he was raised beside a Frost Giant; would he have the same thing to say if he found out about it?

And that buffoon actually left the reins of his precious kingdom in the hands of a Frost Giant. If he wanted, he could destabilize Asgard to the core.

’But I don’t feel the need to do any of that. Is it because I have been here this entire time?’ Loki wondered about this while sitting on the steps to the throne.

He couldn’t relate to the Frost giant part of himself; he barely understood it even. There was no way to know what he was supposed to feel; that’s why he had turned to All Father for an answer.

Was he just a pawn to be used later? Was he a hostage? Was he needed here?

Loki had hoped someone like him would be able to give him an answer to the sudden void in his chest that kept growing from the day he found out about his true lineage.

But all he got was more confusion, more uncertainty, as All Father still lay in Odin Sleep, while Loki stewed with these piercing questions.

Since the day of the collapse in the treasury, Loki hadn’t visited him; he had hovered around the doors to the room countless times, but was unable to push them open or even peek inside.

Most of his time was spent trying to find the answer for himself, but that had also been a fruitless endeavour.

Even if he observed the Frost Giants in Jotunheim, there wasn’t anything meaningful he got out of them. Aside from the fact that they were quietly building up a force.

If the war ever came to be, where would Loki stand in that conflict?

’Such a simple question, yet I cannot answer it properly.’ Loki had fooled many people with his words, so much so that along the way he had forgotten how to be fully honest. Even with himself.

Every thought he had, every thread he had tried to follow sent him to one place. Loki craned his neck and looked at the throne behind him, the seat of honour, the one only the true ruler of the Nine Realms could claim.

It was the ultimate prize, and the reason for his education and upbringing, or was it?

Would he understand everything if he sat on the throne like he was raised to do so?

Loki had thought of it many times, but even now, as he looked at the golden seat, only one thought came to his mind.

’It looks uncomfortable.’ It didn’t feel like he would get anything meaningful out of it; if anything, it felt like a burden.

Tired of the court’s gibberish, Loki pulled out the book from his coat’s inner pocket. As the handful of officials looked at his undivided attention, standing by the throne in all regalness, Loki himself was sitting on the steps, flipping the pages as his physical projection oversaw the place.

The pages sent the story into the past as Brando stood beside a conflicted Mont Blanc who had to destroy his own kind in a senseless war, with a stretch of wreckage lying before the two.

Brando and Mont Blanc took in the destruction with heavy hearts, just like North had. But Hercules was different; he was hardened, more callous.

Loki could understand that to an extent; he hadn’t felt anything when he had murdered a Frost giant, someone that was supposed to be his kind. It wasn’t the first time he had killed, but he didn’t feel any sense of conflict from any point of view, whether it be moral or something else, even after learning who he truly was.

In fact, he was the one who had steered Thor towards storming Jotunheim. At the time, it was just a prank; even he didn’t expect it to result in a battle and Thor’s exile.

But that wasn’t even the biggest issue that came out of that incident.

’If only I could go back and talk myself out of that blunder.’ Loki didn’t even want to think about it anymore, so he kept reading as the story returned to the present as well.

Brando was breaking a promise he had made with the kids. That was unnatural. But Loki had noticed the disturbed sky, and he had already connected the dots.

Pluto was coming for Brando now. And Brando seemed to have a plan of his own as he looked at the picture he had taken with Mont Blanc.

’He wants revenge, huh.’ Loki understood that look from the expression Laufey had that face when looking up at All Father, just that the king of Frost Giants had a much uglier showing.

Still, Brando took his Pankration suit and drove by the sea, entering the suit with his head and heart as the human-like body slumped to the ground while the tornado touched down.

And the first to feel the ongoing fight was, without surprise, Gesicht. Hercules and Atom felt the connection right after as the former two tried to go and help Brando.

’This Pluto thing can’t be a human...’ Loki glanced at the shadow shown on the page; even if human eyes were shown, something was amiss.

But the mystery had long become a secondary thing to Loki; solving this case before Gesicht wasn’t his goal anymore. He simply wanted to see something else; it was what made these robots feel so human.

As the pages turned, a cluster of metal fell into the sea. Brando claimed he had beaten Pluto, but he won’t be able to come back.

’Is a victory like that worth it? He should’ve waited for the others.’ Loki was sure that Pluto wasn’t defeated; there were 2 more volumes after this and maybe even more.

So, what Brando had defeated wasn’t Pluto at all, or he had severely weakened the main threat of the story.

He chose to read on as Brando said he would be transmitting the data he had gotten from the fight. However, the following pages had Loki’s eyes widen.

Within the scratched-up panels, there was no sign or resemblance to Pluto or whatever happened between them. The only pictures that came through were of Brando’s family.

His wife, his children, their words, and the time he had spent with them. Even after he claimed to have switched off the channel to his family, that was all he could send to his fellow robots in that moment.

’Do robots’ lives also flash before their eyes?’ It was a funny thought, but Loki found his answer in the next few lines.

"Inspector Gesicht, I told you I’m a lucky man. I promised my kids I’d take ’em to the Zoo. I made a promise so tell ’em not to worry, cause I’m a lucky man."

Looking at the words until midnight, Loki slowly closed the book even before finishing the Chapter. Did Brando think he’d survive? No, if he had thought that, he wouldn’t have sent those memories of his family.

Was it an attempt to make sure these memories weren’t destroyed with his body?

Lying on the stairs, not caring for the awkwardness and the sharp marble digging into his spine, Loki looked at the murals on the high ceiling.

The murals had grand heroics of the All Father and of many other warriors. But that wasn’t what Loki focused on in this moment.

These murals were not made by the warriors themselves; it was done by others. So, if it was left to the warriors themselves, what about his life would they want to leave behind for others?

"This could work..." He muttered, slowly rising to his feet.

’Maybe staying here wasn’t the best of ideas...’ Rubbing his stinging back, Loki exited the royal palace and slipped under the gaze of Heimdall.

Although he was a bit distraught at this gatekeeper’s lack of focus these days, it made his job easier, so there wasn’t a need to make a comment on this right now.

Loki slipped back into Jotunheim as he had done before Thor’s coronation. But this time he hadn’t disguised himself as a Frost Giant to gather some bumbling fools to crash Thor’s big day.

In the barren land that was devoid of any life and warmth, he hadn’t arrived as the acting king of Asgard.

Loki didn’t bring Gungnir; he hadn’t worn the royal clothes he had. He had arrived in simple brown clothing as simply Loki.

It probably wasn’t the best idea, even more so as the frost giants’ ice-like gaze kept pricking his skin.

However, he kept walking through the desolate landscape as these giants kept moving back to make way for him. And at last, he arrived before a stone throne and the towering presence that sat on it.

"What brings you here, Odin’s pup?"