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“Asgard’s not a place. It’s a people” Thor said firmly. Valkyrie frowned, slightly confused. Loki looked at Thor, wondering where that had come from. It didn’t sound like Thor; it sounded like Odin. Thor excitedly turned to him,
“Loki! This was never about stopping Ragnarok, it was about CAUSING Ragnarok! The vault! Surtur’s crown!” Thor was so scared and excited he couldn’t form sentences. But Loki understood his brother's half phrases, as shocking as their translation was. He stared at him blankly for a moment. Thor shook his head,
"It's the only way."
“Bold move, brother." Loki smirked, "Even for me.”
Thor grinned and nodded. Loki tore off for the Commodore all the way at the other end of the bridge. He weaved through the people, his heart hammering.
“Make way! Make way! Excuse me. Pardon, LET ME THROUGH!” he pushed past a strangely strong old woman in a cloak that was covering her head.
“Let him pass!” Heimdal said, holding back some people.
“Thank you.” Loki nodded to the gatekeeper as he passed him, now on the last stretch to the Commodore. How times had changed. It seemed like such a short time ago that he was sneaking Jotuns into Asgard past Heimdal’s watch. He hurriedly boarded the ship and, somehow, raised it off the bridge. He flew to the palace, his breath burning his chest.
“This is madness…” he muttered, trying to control his shaking. He knew that if this was successful, he may die. He swallowed and set himself to this fate. Yet, already, his mind was turning, thinking of different outcomes and scenarios. What did he have to help him escape a fire giant?
Giant.
Giant! That’s it! The Casket of Ancient Winters was in that relic room. Loki smirked. Fire and ice: the perfect combo. Oh, he’d get out alive alright. The god of mischief still had some tricks up his sleeve.
Loki crashed the ship into the throne room where the dark elf ship had. He made sure to not damage the ship too badly, so that he had an escape route. He charged out of the ship and dashed to the relic room. He threw open the double doors and flew down the steps, cape billowing out behind him.
Surtur’s, crown, Surtur’s crown… there it was! He hefted the crown up and started toward the eternal flame. Halfway down the corridor, he noticed the Tesseract. He hesitated. Should he…
He grabbed the glowing cube (for safe keeping) and continued to the eternal flame. He tossed the crown into the ashes and said the words,
“With the eternal flame… you are reborn.” He watched as the crown festered and rolled in the flames. He swallowed as it began to grow bigger.
And then he ran.
Slipping once or twice, he bolted to the Casket of Ancient Winters and grabbed it with one hand. He sprinted up the stairs, starting to feel heat behind him. No matter how fast he ran down the halls, the heat somehow seemed to only grow. He took the Casket in both hands and, gritting his teeth, sprayed his path with ice, ignoring the biting cold that consumed his body. And not a moment too soon, as the gold melted around him, and he was only held up by the ice. The Commodore was barely holding up, and Loki, mustering this strange, new strength, coated the ground underneath it in ice. Not doubting his skin was dark blue, and his eyes bloody red, he blasted more cold around and below him, counteracting the overwhelming heat that was coming on stronger and faster with every second. He ran down the ice tunnel and turned to the sky that was visible past the throne room, making a sort of ice cave he could escape from.
He boarded the ship and tossed the Casket in the back somewhere. Shaking, he grabbed the handles and flew out of the cave he had made, wincing as he could hear it shattering behind him like a roaring wind. As soon as he was clear, he breathed a sigh of relief and fell back in his chair; his heart was pounding. He closed his eyes for a moment, only to open them and see a giant, flaming something bearing down on him. He cried out and swerved just in time. With the flick of his wrist, he had an illusion of himself lying on the top of the ship, being his eyes and ears. Surtur had spotted him, but now he seemed to be distracted by something. Just in case, Loki made the ship invisible as he shot out of the atmosphere. He opened the doors and sat on the edge, his legs dangling into space as he watched the destruction. He had indeed gotten a good seat from which to watch Asgard burn. The scene didn’t give him as much satisfaction as he had thought it would. And, as he thought to himself, why should it? He grew up there; it was his home, why should it give him joy to destroy it?
Slowly, the realization dawned on him that he, he, Loki, prince of Asgard, had saved Asgard by causing its doom, in a twisted sort of sense. He chuckled grimly at the words he had heard in Jotunheim so long ago,
“The house of Odin is full of traitors.” Laufey had said. Loki gave a small smirk, realizing that it must be some sort of ironic twist of fate that he, the ice giant, would summon the fire giant, that he, the adopted child, would cause the downfall of his home. Traitor, indeed.
He had saved Asgard by destroying it. How fitting that the god of chaos would do such a thing.
Loki looked out at the stars. Somewhere, out there, wherever Valhalla was, his mother was watching him and Thor.
“Hello, mother.” He murmured to himself, “Have I made you proud?”
He realized, smiling, that he probably had, despite... despite everything.
He listened to the silence and looked back down to Asgard as it exploded. His smile flickered. It was really gone. It was a good thing he had the Tesseract, otherwise, he wasn’t sure what would’ve happened. It would take much more than Surtur to destroy the space stone, so it would have just been out there, floating in space for Thanos to pick up.
Loki looked to his right and saw the huge ship floating slowly away. He got up and went to the controls.
He quietly landed the Commodore on top of the ship. Keeping himself invisible, he quietly looked around, until he found Thor. He found him looking in a mirror, examining his new eye patch with uncertainty. Loki smiled, reminded of Odin. He stepped into the room,
“It suits you.”
Thor turned around. He smiled.
“Maybe you’re not so bad after all, brother.”
Loki grinned,
“Maybe not.”
“Thank you for coming back.” Thor reached out and picked up something off the table,
“If you were here, I might even give you a hug.” He tossed the thing at Loki. Loki reached out and caught it. He smirked.
“I’m here.”
Thor’s face was practically glowing with joy, but he didn’t move. Loki laughed and held out his arms,
“What’s this? Am I too greasy for your tastes?” he teased. Thor grinned and started toward him. Loki met him halfway and threw his arms around him.
“What made you come back?” Thor asked once they had come apart.
“In the weeks I was on Sakaar, I thought you were dead. Once, I may not have cared, but not then, and certainly not now. When I found out that you were alive, I… I didn’t want to lose you again. I couldn’t bear the thought of you leaving and facing our sister on your own. I wanted to keep you with me on Sakaar, where we would be safe from her. When you left me writhing on the ground there, very dirty trick, by the way,” Loki elbowed Thor. Thor snorted and asked,
“Aren’t you the trickster?”
“Yes, tricks are my job. Leave them to me.” Loki rolled his eyes and continued, “I realized that I couldn’t let you go alone. An opportunity presented itself. After I told Korg where you had gone and why, he was only too enthusiastic to help.”
Thor nodded,
“Thank you. You don’t know how much I’ve wanted this.”
“Wanted what?” Loki tilted his head and blinked in confusion.
“My brother back.” Thor put a hand on Loki’s shoulder and Loki smiled. His gaze fell to the floor,
“I’ve missed it, too. I was wrong about so many things, and it’s embarrassing how long it took for me to see the truth. I know I acted jealous of you sometimes but…” he raised his eyes to Thor’s, “Never doubt that I love you.”
Thor smiled,
“I love you, too.”
Loki grinned,
“Now give us a kiss, darling.”
Thor laughed and shoved him lightly,
“Alright! That conversation did get a bit awkward.”
Loki laughed,
“Just a bit.”
They fell silent and looked out of the window. Soon, Valkyrie was in the doorway,
“Your majesty!”
Loki and Thor turned around. Valkyrie looked at Loki skeptically, but turned to Thor,
“Your coronation’s beginning.” And she disappeared again.
“C’mon.” Thor jerked his head to the door and began out.
“Are you sure I’m wanted?” Loki asked, slowly following, “The last time the people saw me, I had,”
“Saved them from certain death.” Thor interrupted. He chuckled, “Come on, Loki. As the “Savior of Asgard” your attendance to my coronation is mandatory.” He smirked, “Just don’t sneak any frost giants in this time.”
Loki chuckled and fell to Thor’s side,
“I give you my word that there will only be one frost giant present.”
Thor patted him on the back,
“Good.”
Loki watched from the shadows as Thor took his place in the throne. He was surprised that he didn’t feel jealous at all. In fact, he felt proud. He smirked, thinking how proud their parents must be now.
“You were both born to be kings.” Odin had said.
“Loki knows the throne like I never will.” Thor had said.
Maybe Loki would never be king. And, again to his surprise, he found that he was fine with that. As long as he was with his brother, with his family, with his people, everything would be fine. He realized, maybe all these years he hadn’t been craving a throne so much as a home.
Cautiously, he stepped out of the shadows and stood next to Valkyrie. They all turned to the window.
Asgard wasn’t a place, it was a people. Perhaps that was what he hadn’t realized, that the belonging he had longed for didn’t come in a tangible form, like a throne. He looked around him at his new family. They were weird, to be sure, but he understood not belonging. Maybe it never mattered that he was frost giant. It certainly didn’t matter now. He realized that now. He was Loki, brother of Thor, and son of Frigga, and perhaps that was all that mattered. In the company of a Kronan, a Hulk, a Valkyrie, and a cyborg-slug, he was hardly the strangest one there.
“Where to?” Heimdal asked.
“I’m not sure.” Thor looked around him at his friends. Loki and Valkyrie looked at him, totally at a loss of where to go. Loki just hoped it wasn’t earth. Thor turned to Korg,
“Miek? Where are you from?”
“Oh, Miek’s dead.” Korg said, pointing to the lifeless slug tucked under his arm.
“O-oh…” Thor said, frowning.
“Yeah, I accidentally stomped on him on the bridge. I just felt so bad, that I’ve been carrying him around.”
Valkyrie looked at Loki, somewhat horrified. Loki just shook his head and shrugged.
“Oh.” Thor said again, completely at a loss for words. Suddenly, the slug chittered and stirred to life. Loki made a face and bit his lip, somewhat disturbed by the scene.
“Oh! Miek! You’re alive! Hey, look, he’s alive, guys! What was your question again, bruh?” Korg asked.
Thor settled himself in the throne,
“Earth it is.”
Later that night, Loki and Thor were in the room that Loki had found Thor in. They were looking out the window. Loki decided to voice the concern that had been on his mind since the coronation,
“Do you really think it’s a good idea to go back to earth?”
“Yes, of course.” Thor answered, turning to Loki, “The people of earth love me, I’m very popular there.”
Loki took a breath,
“Let me rephrase: Do you really think it’s a good idea to bring ME back to earth?”
“Honestly? Probably not.” Thor said, smiling at Loki, who smiled back and looked at the ground, thinking of everyone’s reaction to his arrival. The Avengers probably wouldn’t take kindly to his return.
“I wouldn’t worry about it, brother.” Thor said confidently, looking back out of the window. Loki followed suit.
“I have a feeling everything will work out just fine.”
No sooner than Thor stopped talking, that a large, massive, insanely vast ship rose in front of them, eclipsing the stars, eclipsing the sun, eclipsing EVERYTHING. Fear, bordering on panic, began to overcome Loki as the ship came into view. He swallowed thickly and tried to find his voice.
“Brother…”
“Yes, Loki, what is it?”
“We have to get out of here.”
“Why?”
Loki took a shaky breath,
“…Because I know whose ship that is.”
“…Whose?”