Chapter 723

"So, are you satisfied now, brother?"

After a prolonged rampage, Loki had finally calmed down. Perhaps he was exhausted, or perhaps he’d simply run out of things to destroy.

His cell was unrecognizable.

The furniture lay in splinters, black footprints stained the walls, and just about everything that could be broken had been broken. The place looked as though a fully grown husky had been locked inside and left unsupervised for an afternoon.

Loki himself was in no better condition.

His hair was a tangled mess. His clothes had been torn to shreds, and both shoes had somehow ended up on opposite sides of the cell. Barefoot, he sat against the wall in a thoroughly undignified sprawl, wearing the vacant expression of a man whose soul had just been put through a meat grinder.

He stared at Thor without the slightest concern for how he looked.

At this point, Loki had little left to care about.

When he’d first learned that he was a Frost Giant, he’d immediately turned against Odin. In his mind, the revelation explained everything. Odin had never truly loved him. He’d merely been using him, and everyone else had been in on the deception.

Loki had convinced himself that Odin’s decision to adopt him had been a calculated political maneuver rather than an act of kindness.

The plan, as Loki imagined it, was simple.

Odin would wait until Thor ascended the throne, or until the All-Father was nearing death. Then Asgard would strike, kill Laufey, the Frost Giant king and Loki’s biological father, and place Loki on the throne of Jotunheim.

Bound by his upbringing and his attachment to Asgard, Loki would naturally favor his adoptive family over a people he’d never known. He would lead the Frost Giants into submission, bringing their entire kingdom under Asgardian rule.

The result would be a magnificent political victory. Asgard would gain control over Jotunheim, while Thor’s authority as the new king would be strengthened by the conquest.

And the timing would be perfect.

The Frost Giants had repeatedly provoked Asgard. They had even infiltrated the palace vault and attempted to steal the Casket of Ancient Winters, a clear act of aggression. Yet Odin had dismissed the matter with a few words rather than declaring war.

When Thor had finally led an attack against Jotunheim, Odin had been furious.

Loki had once believed this was because his father valued peace and had grown too soft with age.

Now he suspected there had been another reason.

The time simply hadn’t been right.

The conflict had to happen during the transition of power, when the defeat of Jotunheim could serve as the crowning achievement of a new reign.

A conquest presented as a coronation gift.

Whether Odin had genuinely intended any of this when he adopted Loki was impossible to know. Perhaps the old king had planned it from the beginning. Perhaps he’d simply recognized an opportunity later.

At this point, Loki hardly cared which was true.

It was an elegant strategy, certainly. But had anyone considered how the person being used as a political instrument might feel?

Imagine discovering that your entire life had been arranged by someone else. That the love you thought you’d received from your father was nothing more than a performance. That your greatest value lay in being a convenient stepping stone for your brother’s rise to power.

Who could accept such a thing?

Perhaps that was why the world called him the God of Lies, the God of Mischief, the God of Deception.

Not because he was particularly good at lying or playing tricks.

But because his entire life, as he now understood it, had been one enormous lie. A cruel joke played on him by the people he had trusted most.

Whether Odin had ever intended to use him in this way no longer mattered.

Loki believed it.

And that belief had driven him to betray Asgard without hesitation. It had led him to cooperate with outsiders and invade Earth.

He hadn’t done it simply because he coveted a throne or craved absolute power.

He wanted revenge.

He wanted to look Odin in the eye one final time and prove that he was no obedient pawn waiting to be moved around a board.

Well, Father? How do you like your disobedient son’s little scheme?

Even now, with every plan in ruins and his freedom taken away, that desire for vengeance remained.

Loki felt no particular attachment to Asgard anymore.

Yet there were still two people he couldn’t bring himself to abandon.

The first was his brother, Thor.

Their relationship had always been complicated. Loki could tell that Thor genuinely regarded him as family. Either his brother truly loved him without reservation, or his straightforward mind was simply incapable of entertaining the elaborate suspicions that plagued Loki himself.

Perhaps it was both.

Loki had never wanted to become Thor’s enemy.

But he’d spent his entire life in his brother’s shadow, constantly compared against him, and now he believed he was destined to become little more than a supporting character in Thor’s reign.

He couldn’t accept that.

He couldn’t quite stop loving his brother, either.

Their relationship had become an endless struggle between affection and resentment, neither of which seemed capable of winning.

The second person was Frigga.

She wasn’t his biological mother, but she’d raised him from childhood with the same love she gave Thor. If anything, she’d sometimes been even more indulgent toward Loki.

That was what made her love so precious.

It had never depended on blood.

And now she was dead.

She had come to say goodbye to him, and he’d been too proud to give her even a single kind word. Their final conversation had ended with him lashing out and hurting her.

He hadn’t known it would be the last time.

Now every plan he’d ever made had failed. He was imprisoned, stripped of his freedom, and utterly defeated. The person he loved most had died before his eyes, and he’d wasted his last chance to tell her how he felt.

What was left for him?

Go crawling back to Odin and admit defeat? Agree to become the obedient puppet his father had supposedly wanted all along? Smile graciously while helping Thor ascend the throne?

Never.

He would sooner die.

"Loki, there are some things I never wanted to tell you," Thor said from outside the cell. "But you’ve seen what happened with your own eyes. There’s no point hiding it anymore."

Thor stood stiffly, his gaze wandering toward the ceiling rather than meeting his brother’s eyes.

"Mother was poisoned by the Dark Elves. Evenson did everything he could to suppress the effects, but..."

His voice faltered.

"She didn’t have a peaceful death."

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Loki slammed his fists against the floor three times and sprang to his feet.

He seized the energy barrier in front of his cell, gripping it with both hands.

"Why are you telling me this?" he roared. "Do you want me to feel guilty?"

He jabbed a finger toward Thor.

"You’re the one who should feel guilty! You stood there and watched her die, and you couldn’t save her!"

Thor’s eyes snapped down from the ceiling.

The accusation struck home.

Frigga was alive, of course, but the danger she’d faced had been real enough. Thor still remembered the helplessness he’d felt when Malekith’s attack had left his mother dying in front of him.

Without Evenson, she might truly have been lost.

Thor had been powerless to stop it.

And hearing Loki throw that failure in his face was more than he could bear.

"Did you try to save her from your cell?" Thor shouted back.

"Who put me in this cell?" Loki roared. "Who do you think?"

"You know exactly why!" Thor slammed both hands against the barrier. "You know what you did! I had no choice!"

The two brothers glared at each other, their faces so close to the barrier that they looked ready to start headbutting it.

Around the corner, Evenson peered out with a deeply troubled expression.

Well, this is going beautifully.

He’d expected some tension, perhaps a few sharp words.

He hadn’t expected the two of them to start tearing into each other with such enthusiasm.

"They’re taking the performance a little too seriously," he muttered.

Beside him, Frigga rolled her eyes.

"Children. I swear, not one of them knows how to make life easy."

She closed her eyes and formed a hand seal.

Back in the cell, Thor was still arguing when he suddenly stumbled backward.

A broken mirror lay behind Loki. In its fractured surface, Frigga’s face had appeared.

Her eyes were fixed on Thor, and the expression she gave him was positively murderous.

Thor froze.

For all their differences, he and Loki shared one important trait: neither of them was particularly afraid of their father.

Their mother, however, was another matter entirely.

Frigga had a way of making both princes feel like unruly children who’d just been caught breaking something expensive.

Thor drew a deep breath.

"I’m not here to argue with you."

His voice, which had been rising moments earlier, gradually settled.

Around the corner, Evenson watched the sudden change with open amazement.

What just happened? Why did the two men who were practically trying to bite each other’s heads off suddenly remember how to behave?

He could practically hear a documentary narrator explaining the mystery.

Tonight, on Asgardian Family Court: The Strange Face in the Broken Mirror.

Thor continued, carefully returning to the lines he’d been given.

"I’m not here to mourn Mother with you, either."

The encounter with Frigga’s reflected face seemed to have restored his composure. He straightened and delivered the next line with considerably more restraint.

"I’m here to offer you a chance to gain something far more valuable."

Under normal circumstances, Loki would have seen through Thor’s clumsy acting almost immediately.

But Loki was in no state to scrutinize his brother’s performance. His emotions were too raw, his thoughts too chaotic.

"What chance?" he asked.

"I know you want revenge," Thor said, reciting the prepared words with all the subtlety of a man reading from a script. "I want the same thing. Help me escape Asgard, and I’ll give you the opportunity to avenge Mother."

Loki didn’t immediately agree.

Instead, he gave a bitter laugh.

"You must be desperate if you’ve come to me for help."

Hidden around the corner, Frigga’s expression darkened.

"Even now, he’s hesitating over a chance to avenge me."

She sighed in exasperation.

"After all these years of loving him, I might as well have raised a sack of flour. It would have been more cooperative."

Despite his hesitation, Loki eventually agreed.

He wanted revenge. That much was beyond doubt.

His reluctance was merely the product of habit. Even now, his pride insisted on making him difficult.

Besides, escaping the dungeon would give him opportunities to pursue his own plans. Once he was free, fooling Thor wouldn’t be particularly challenging.

Thor reached out and opened the barrier.

Frigga saw her opportunity to leave.

"That’s my cue," she whispered to Evenson.

She slipped away quickly, leaving the rest to them.

Once Loki was out of his cell, the change in his mood was immediate.

Perhaps it was the thrill of freedom after so long in confinement. Perhaps it was the prospect of finally taking revenge. Whatever the reason, he was practically buzzing with energy.

And he wouldn’t stop talking.

He also seemed determined to demonstrate every possible application of his illusion magic.

One moment he looked like a man, the next like a woman. His features and appearance shifted so fluidly that he seemed capable of becoming anyone he pleased.

Evenson followed behind them, watching the spectacle with mounting irritation.

Show-off.

Loki was clearly demonstrating his abilities for Thor’s benefit. The message was obvious: travel with Loki, and you could have the company of every woman in the universe.

And if Thor preferred men, well, Loki’s talents could accommodate that, too.

The God of Mischief was nothing if not versatile.

Eventually, Thor had enough.

He produced a pair of handcuffs and snapped them around Loki’s wrists.

Loki stared at the restraints in disbelief.

"Are you kidding me?"

He lifted his bound hands.

"You’ve put me in handcuffs? What happened to the plan? Am I supposed to fight our enemies like this?"

Thor ignored his protests.

The little detour accomplished, their escape proceeded according to plan.

Their first task was to draw Odin away from the palace.

That responsibility fell to Heimdall, who was stationed at the Bifrost’s control point.

Of everyone involved, Heimdall had perhaps the most difficult position. He had sworn loyalty to the All-Father, yet he also knew better than to casually defy the crown prince.

Caught between his oath and Thor’s wishes, he chose the narrowest possible path.

He reported that an important matter required Odin’s immediate attention and lured the king to the Bifrost’s central control point.

That fulfilled his promise to Thor.

Afterward, he could confess his disobedience directly to Odin and accept whatever punishment the king deemed appropriate. In his own mind, at least, that would preserve the spirit of his oath even if he’d technically betrayed it.

With Odin occupied, the next step was to retrieve Jane Foster.

Sif took care of that herself.

She knocked out every Einherjar assigned to guard Jane and brought her to the others.

The moment Jane joined the group, she walked straight up to Loki.

SMACK!

Her hand connected with his face in a resounding slap.

"For New York!"

Evenson stared.

People liked to say Jane wasn’t particularly tough.

Apparently, those people had never seen a mortal woman walk up to two Asgardian princes and slap one of them across the face without a shred of hesitation.

Loki, for once, had absolutely nothing to say.

With everyone assembled, the group moved to the final stage of the escape: leaving the Golden Palace.

Unfortunately, there were too many people for Thor to carry them all by flying with Mjolnir.

They needed another way out.

Fortunately, a Dark Elf spacecraft had been left behind after the invasion.

They stole it.

When Odin learned what had happened, he nearly lost consciousness from sheer fury.

That ship had been Asgard’s only captured example of Dark Elf technology. He’d intended to have it studied, hoping the examination might reveal weaknesses in the enemy’s cloaking systems.

And now his own son had stolen it.

That ungrateful boy!

Odin could almost hear his plans for studying the vessel disappearing into the distance.

Thor, meanwhile, had taken the controls.

Once he and the others were aboard, he proceeded to press nearly every button he could find.

It was fortunate that the Dark Elves hadn’t installed a self-destruct mechanism.

Eventually, the ship started moving.

And then things became unpleasant.

The vessel lurched through a series of tight turns, sudden dives, and rotations that seemed to defy every known principle of comfortable transportation.

Evenson clung to whatever solid surface he could find, his stomach threatening to rebel.

The ship spun through the air, completing one maneuver after another. Evenson was beginning to wonder whether Thor was trying to escape Asgard or audition for a stunt-flying competition.

Then the Asgardian automated cannons opened fire on them.

Evenson stared at the incoming blasts.

"Are you people serious? Both princes are on this ship, and you’re shooting at it anyway?"

He couldn’t decide whether to be impressed by the defenders’ dedication or appalled by their complete disregard for friendly casualties.

During the chaos, Jane apparently succumbed to motion sickness and collapsed onto the floor.

Evenson scrambled over to her and placed a Healthstone in her hand.

"Here. Hold on to this."

The magical stone helped restore her strength, allowing her to recover enough to continue.

The Dark Elf vessel, however, had drawn the attention of every defender in the area. Its distinctive silhouette made it an irresistible target.

Thor seized the opportunity.

He shoved Loki out of the ship.

Then he scooped up Jane and jumped after him.

Below them, Fandral was waiting in an ordinary Asgardian spacecraft.

The entire maneuver was an elaborate bit of misdirection. The enemy vessel would continue drawing fire while the real escapees transferred to the smaller ship and slipped away.

It was an elegant plan.

A textbook case of switching the real target with a decoy.

There was just one tiny problem.

Nobody had told Evenson what to do.

He stared down through the open doorway.

The two ships were separated by a drop of nearly fifty meters.

Thor had jumped without hesitation. Loki had gone with him. Jane was safely in Thor’s arms.

Evenson, meanwhile, was still aboard the Dark Elf vessel.

"Hey! What about me?"

He leaned out of the doorway, looking desperately for a way down.

At that moment, an Asgardian pursuit ship pulled alongside.

Evenson took two deep breaths.

Then he jumped.

As he fell toward the pursuing vessel, he twisted in midair and unleashed Shadowfury.

The burst of dark magic caught him at just the right moment, propelling him sideways and allowing him to land on the deck.

He hit the surface hard but managed to stay upright.

A ring of Einherjar immediately turned toward him, their weapons ready.

Evenson offered them a tight smile.

"Fear!"

He released a Howl of Terror.

A visible wave of shadow energy erupted from his body and swept across the deck.

The warriors screamed, clutched their heads, and promptly threw themselves overboard.

One after another, they plunged from the ship.

Evenson watched them disappear into the distance.

"Well, that was easy."

He moved to the controls.

Asgardian spacecraft were surprisingly simple to operate. The controls were intuitive, the mechanisms straightforward, and the whole thing was easier to handle than a construction excavator.

If you could operate a video game controller, you could probably fly one of these.

Evenson took hold of the controls and steered after Thor’s group.

Their destination was a narrow opening in a sheer cliff face.

So this was the secret passage.

The entrance was hidden inside a deep fissure, so narrow and difficult to navigate that few pilots would dare attempt it. The slightest mistake could send a ship crashing into the jagged rock walls.

No wonder the route had remained undiscovered.

Evenson would never have dared to fly through such a gap if not for all the games Clea had forced him to play over the years.

He lined up the ship, adjusted his approach, and plunged into the fissure.

The surrounding landscape changed almost immediately.

The passage shimmered, and the world around him blurred as though he were traveling through the Bifrost itself. Strange lights flashed across the cockpit.

Then a brilliant white glare filled his vision.

And just like that, he had arrived.

Evenson blinked.

He had unquestionably crossed into another realm.

But Thor’s ship, which had been directly ahead of him, was nowhere to be seen.

He slowed down and brought his vessel to a cautious stop.

The landscape beyond the cockpit was barren and desolate. Not a blade of grass grew anywhere. Jagged black mountains rose from the ground like enormous swords, their peaks piercing a sky so dark that it seemed to swallow the light.

Evenson stared out at the alien wasteland.

Well. This place certainly needs a landscaping crew.

He began scanning the surrounding terrain.

Then he noticed something on a distant mountain ridge.

A figure stood against the dark sky.

It was impossible to tell whether the stranger was male or female. Their body was obscured by distance, but the helmet they wore was unmistakable: a monstrous structure crowned with multiple layers of twisted, jagged horns.

Evenson narrowed his eyes and leaned closer to the controls, trying to get a better look.

The figure vanished.

One moment, someone had been standing on the ridge.

The next, there was nothing there.

Evenson remained still, staring at the empty mountainside.

Had he imagined it?

He wasn’t sure.

But he had the uncomfortable feeling that someone had been watching him.