[ Sieglinde's already on it, rattling off options, trying to gain some kind of information from him.
okay, so. he's not exactly ready to disappear. as much as he would have wished at one time or another (or occasionally still wishes for), he has a battle against himself that he can't lose.
besides, it's possible that the next time he comes back, it'll be as something worse. if he comes back.
that's actually a comforting thought. ]
Oh, some, I suppose. This isn't like balancing a checkbook, the figures are ... subjective, at best.
[ and a little shrug. ]
A few tales spread may help, but there's so few to listen and believe, that it may not even matter.
[ that was what he had told the All-Mother, when they had asked how he wished to be compensated for his service to the throne: erase the old stories, write new ones, and remake himself as he wanted to be, without the weight of expectation.
Loki crosses his arms over the table that he's in front of, tapping dark nails against light colored wood. ]
There aren't just Nine Realms—there are Ten. The tenth, hidden from all by the rage of the All-Father, was locked away in a war with the angels. Odin One-Eye is many things, a good father—eh, debatable—but he will move heaven and earth for his family. So, during a war of the realms, the Queen of the Angels slain his newborn girl in cold blood, casting her off into the furnaces. In his fury, he exiled the realm itself.
Little known to him that the babe lived.
Fast-forward a few millennia: my brother, privy to a secret long kept, recruited me to find this lost sister of his. Ah—or rather ... ours, I should say. He flies in as he usually does, biceps a-blazing, hammer in the air, ready to both fight and flirt his way through the angelic realm. It doesn't work very well, but he's not usually the one with the plans, I am. The queen was easy to track down as any queen would be on her throne. While my brother battled the armies of Heven by his lonesome, I took it upon myself to try for a little regicide the easy way.
[ he taps his fingers again. ]
The queen had other plans. I did the dangerous thing and listened to her, and she and I struck a deal.
[Sieglinde is a good listener, and as Loki speaks her attention is fully on him- on the story. After all, she's memorizing it to be repeated, after all.
A war, a long lost sister... It had good potential.]
We would destroy Asgard—[ a pointed pause. ]—together. She'd give me an army and I'd show her the way to the Realm Eternal. I was an outlier, you see, adopted into Odin's family, and she thought to play on that. There were grand stories exchanged about how together, the Angels and the Frost Giants swept through hordes of Asgardian gods, most of which were grossly exaggerated, but she wanted to play on them. She wanted to give me a home and use me as a weapon.
[ and he had humored her, yes. ]
She delivered—gave me my army—but not a bright one. We found Asgard, floating among the space between the realms. Now, there are some things meant to be tested, you see. I was one of those things. The army was one of the weaker ones in Heven, but it wasn't their brute strength that I wanted. No ...
When my father left the throne of Asgard for the upteenth time, he locked himself into a shadow of where the realm used to be. The Aesir had found sanctuary in a new Asgard, risen by my brother, ruled by my mother, and the old one, the dusty old piece of rock in all its glory, was abandoned by all but him and those he took there.
What I needed from the angels was sheer firepower. There are a few ways to break through inter-dimensional and inter-realm barriers, but you need an explosion worthy of a few megaton atomic bombs. I wouldn't suggest it, it can get ... well, no one wants to die with their parts floating around the space between anything. I gave the order, and they brought their ships forward—
And crashed. All of them. Every one. Creating a blast that rocked Yggdrasil at its roots.
[It was a twisty, convoluted tale, this beast. A second Asgard, a political scheme, a great battle in the heavens... But Sieglinde has a brain if nothing else, and she remembers almost every word she's ever read- this will not be difficult.
She leaned forward somewhat unconsciously, interested herself in the outcome.]
My father was somewhere in there, so I went to go find him.
[ a pause, and then a knit of his brow. he crosses his arms over his chest, as if he's mulling something over. ]
I thought Thor was mad to think that our small sister had survived whatever monstrous punishment the angelic queen could have wrought upon a child. He never stopped believing she was alive. It's very strange ...
[ and then a longer pause. ]
My grand double-cross, my traitorous exploits, the destruction of the fleet of angels, were on his whims. Even bringing my father back to Asgard, which was an awful decision, was to prove Thor right.
And he was. Our sister was among the angels, all of them unknowing of her Asgardian heritage. She had almost taken Thor's head off with her bare hands, I thought they were going to kill each other.
[This was... Well, it was definitely a good story. Betrayal, and a secret sibling, and an almost Greek tragic twist of almost killing your long lost brother?]
[ thanks to Loki, actually. he's a little proud of that one. they would have torn each other part, otherwise. Angela, as Heven's greatest warrior, and Thor as the Asgardian threat. ]
He made his claim as my sister's father, and they exiled her then and there. She was their greatest warrior, and she was cast out, just like that.
Thor went back Earth to take care of something dreadfully important, ah—I can't seem to remember; Asgard was then split in rule between the All-Father and the All-Mother, which is a tale yet to be woven; and Loki ... hm ... Loki came here.
["And then Loki, well- he came here." Admittedly, not a bad last line for a story. Sieglinde nodded, thinking hard- she could gather those Nalawi children she'd met during the feast... tell the Innkeeper...]
Very well! I shall not do wrong with the legend you have entrusted me with.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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...
[ there's a puff of his cheeks, and he brushes the back of his head, as if he's carelessly weighing her words. ]
I don't know. All of me, most likely.
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And how much of you is already compromised, would you say? Percentage wise? Is there any way you might bolster your strength?
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okay, so. he's not exactly ready to disappear. as much as he would have wished at one time or another (or occasionally still wishes for), he has a battle against himself that he can't lose.
besides, it's possible that the next time he comes back, it'll be as something worse. if he comes back.
that's actually a comforting thought. ]
Oh, some, I suppose. This isn't like balancing a checkbook, the figures are ... subjective, at best.
[ and a little shrug. ]
A few tales spread may help, but there's so few to listen and believe, that it may not even matter.
It may be best to find the source of this.
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[They needed stop gap measures... Until then. In case of failure, of delay in finding the source.]
Which tale do you prefer? The longer the better- or the more interesting?
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[What's a story time of two between... Friends? Master and disciple? She could spread a rumor or two!!]
I am personally fond of the brood tales and the escape ballad but if you have a preference... ?
[It is... You, after all.]
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then he relents. ]
... Not those, the ones that I am now.
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[She just. Settles where she is, fluffing out her skirts.
Yeah. She's ready for storytime.]
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Loki crosses his arms over the table that he's in front of, tapping dark nails against light colored wood. ]
There aren't just Nine Realms—there are Ten. The tenth, hidden from all by the rage of the All-Father, was locked away in a war with the angels. Odin One-Eye is many things, a good father—eh, debatable—but he will move heaven and earth for his family. So, during a war of the realms, the Queen of the Angels slain his newborn girl in cold blood, casting her off into the furnaces. In his fury, he exiled the realm itself.
Little known to him that the babe lived.
Fast-forward a few millennia: my brother, privy to a secret long kept, recruited me to find this lost sister of his. Ah—or rather ... ours, I should say. He flies in as he usually does, biceps a-blazing, hammer in the air, ready to both fight and flirt his way through the angelic realm. It doesn't work very well, but he's not usually the one with the plans, I am. The queen was easy to track down as any queen would be on her throne. While my brother battled the armies of Heven by his lonesome, I took it upon myself to try for a little regicide the easy way.
[ he taps his fingers again. ]
The queen had other plans. I did the dangerous thing and listened to her, and she and I struck a deal.
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A war, a long lost sister... It had good potential.]
What sort of deal?
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[ and he had humored her, yes. ]
She delivered—gave me my army—but not a bright one. We found Asgard, floating among the space between the realms. Now, there are some things meant to be tested, you see. I was one of those things. The army was one of the weaker ones in Heven, but it wasn't their brute strength that I wanted. No ...
When my father left the throne of Asgard for the upteenth time, he locked himself into a shadow of where the realm used to be. The Aesir had found sanctuary in a new Asgard, risen by my brother, ruled by my mother, and the old one, the dusty old piece of rock in all its glory, was abandoned by all but him and those he took there.
What I needed from the angels was sheer firepower. There are a few ways to break through inter-dimensional and inter-realm barriers, but you need an explosion worthy of a few megaton atomic bombs. I wouldn't suggest it, it can get ... well, no one wants to die with their parts floating around the space between anything. I gave the order, and they brought their ships forward—
And crashed. All of them. Every one. Creating a blast that rocked Yggdrasil at its roots.
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She leaned forward somewhat unconsciously, interested herself in the outcome.]
And then... ?
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[ a pause, and then a knit of his brow. he crosses his arms over his chest, as if he's mulling something over. ]
I thought Thor was mad to think that our small sister had survived whatever monstrous punishment the angelic queen could have wrought upon a child. He never stopped believing she was alive. It's very strange ...
[ and then a longer pause. ]
My grand double-cross, my traitorous exploits, the destruction of the fleet of angels, were on his whims. Even bringing my father back to Asgard, which was an awful decision, was to prove Thor right.
And he was. Our sister was among the angels, all of them unknowing of her Asgardian heritage. She had almost taken Thor's head off with her bare hands, I thought they were going to kill each other.
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But she did not, of course?
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[ thanks to Loki, actually. he's a little proud of that one. they would have torn each other part, otherwise. Angela, as Heven's greatest warrior, and Thor as the Asgardian threat. ]
He made his claim as my sister's father, and they exiled her then and there. She was their greatest warrior, and she was cast out, just like that.
Over blood feuds and old wars.
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[Odin would not have come to announce her parentage unless he desired her to rejoin the family, right?]
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[ simply; his brows go up into a peak, thoughtful. ]
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Very well! I shall not do wrong with the legend you have entrusted me with.
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You're truly set on this.
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I am.
[It was his magic (his life) at stake.]
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all right, he relents.
a little smile, defeated, quirks at the ends of his lips. ]
As you will.