It was as regular a day as any other in the free city of Nüjaven. The city was alive and bustling as people mingled about in the markets, roads, and buildings.
Around midday, there was an eerie quiet, noticed by many; no birds flew in the sky, no dogs barked, there wasn't even the sound of mosquitoes. This unnerving silence lasted for several tense moments, then came a deafening boom, accompanied by a bright flash of light. It was like a lightning strike at the heart of the city, followed by a powerful shockwave, threatening to blow away anything that was not tied down.
It all happened in moments, and when it was all over, many of the stunned citizens now found themselves in the shadow of a massive dark gray tower that suddenly sprung up from the woods.
* * *
Asgard Tower was once more above ground, and stood proud, taller and grander than any other building within the city, effortlessly piercing the sky.
"Bifrost transfer successful." Yggdrasil reported from her dryad body.
"That was quick," Loki commented, "what happened with the vault we were just in?"
"Since Asgard had already talen root there, when we left it triggered a conceptual collapse." Yggdrasil responded
"Oof," Thor said, "good thing we aren't anywhere near there. A space that size, the aftershock is going to be messy."
"The city wasn't that close to the vault, so they should probably be okay," Fen commented,
"Where are we anyway?" Yggdrasil asked
"We're close to the vault where Thor was sealed away in," Loki said, getting up from her throne.
"So what now?" Fen asked
"Well, I'm sure our arrival caused quite the stir," Loki mused, "so let's go meet our new neighbours."
An hour later, Loki and his group were back in the city-lord's manor, meeting with a haggard Margaret and her ministers.
"And you just decided to drop a hundred story tower right in the middle of my city?" She demanded
"The transfer was a lot stronger than I anticipated," Loki said, "I will pay for the damages the city suffered because of it."
"Do you know how much money we are talking about?" One of the ministers demanded
"Asgard's coffers currently holds a substantial amount of gold, valuing about five billion points at least." Yggdrasil retorted, "Whatever the bill, we can afford it."
"F-five billion?" Margaret said, her eyes wide, nearly bulging.
"The problem is more than just about funds for damages," another minister coughed, "when your tower appeared, it released a massive burst of anima, that amount of power would undoubtedly attract a lot of attention from all sorts of parties."
"Not to worry," Yggdrasil replied, "the tower has a number of safeguards and protections. With your help, I should be able to expand the range of these some of those protections to cover the city."
"You can do that?" Loki asked her
"Yes," she replied, "though their effectiveness would diminish the farther from the tower the range gets."
"Diminish how?" Margaret asked cautiously
"Rest assured, your city will still be well protected, so long as Asgard is secured."
"Well, I guess even a slightly weaker defence is better than none at all," Margaret reasoned,
"Very well," Loki nodded, "I trust our business is completed?"
"Yes,"
"Good," Loki smiled, "you are always welcome at the tower, the first ten floors are open to you, buy you need express permission to go any higher."
As they were leaving, Yggdrasil suddenly turned to face Loki.
"Master!" She exclaimed, "there's been a breach in the upper floors."
"What?" He demanded, "the tower is shielded against trans-mat."
"This wasn't any form of teleportation," Yggdrasil said, "the intruder came in through the Astral Plane."
"Dammit," Loki cursed, "let's go see what they want."
Yggdrasil nodded, and the two of them vanished ina halo of light.
The reappeared in the gazebo of the 90th floor, the Spirit Grove. The entire floor was specially designed, existing both within the Physical Plane and the Astral Plane, which allowed them to grow their own strain spirit trees that Jörmungandr had spliced from a cutting from the original sapling, these pseudo spirit trees were inferior to true spirit trees in every conceivable way, but they still had the trait Loki wanted; they grew skill seeds.
The skill seeds grown in this grove were low grade, and virtually useless, but Jörmungandr beleived that it proved they could make their own specialized skill seeds given some fine tuning. Now that the tower had its own World Tree, the spirit grove had grown considerably. The trees are healthy and vibrant, and the crystal fruits growing from the branches are plump and ripe.
In a clearing in the middle of the grove, stood an automaton, trembling in frustration.
"What is this?" Saint Silver snarls, the outrage evident in its voice, "What have you done?"
"Oh, you mean the grove?" Loki said, "it's looking much better now."
"You." Saint Silver points and accusing finger towards Yggdrail, close to her face, "you allowed this... this abomination? You were put here to prevent such egregious overreach from the fallen one. This is an embarassing level of incompetence and subversion from a tree maiden of the predecessor Administrator."
"I am Yggdrasil of the Valkyrie." Yggdrasil snapped, slapping its finger away, "Will of my own World Tree, administrator of this tower. I am dedicated to my master, Nex Loki, and loyal to his goal. You do not get to stand there and deride me, Saint Silver, after your own transgressions, and those of your ilk. You are within my domain now, and you will comport yourself accordingly or you will be permanently removed."
The World Pillar balked at Yggdrail's harsh rebuke, backing up under her scolding, realizing that it was addressing something more than the simple nymph it had been expecting. Yggdrasil was a being equal to the world administrator, above its ability to intimidate.
"Yggdrasil, calm down," Loki said, resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder,
Yggdrasil nodded and stepped back,
"Give us some privacy please." Loki instructed
Yggdrasil looked like she wanted to protest, but simply bowed her head, "Very well."
She turned back to Saint Silver, "Be glad I don't inform Fenris about this."
With that, her dryad body unraveled and vanished into one of the spirit trees. Once the two were alone, Saint Silver turned towards Loki.
"I know why you're here," Loki said, a spear materialising in his hands.
The faery inspected the weapon, then turned to Loki.
"This is not the catalyst you used," it noted
"No, but it is what I promised to give you for that information." Loki replied.
Saint Silver seemed ready to protest, then just sighed, "you truly are a Lord of Lies." It hissed as it took the offered spear.
"I've been called worse," Loki said, "and I can assure you that I just need to hold onto that catalyst for just a little longer."
"This tower is an an affront to the Administrator," the World Pillar stated, "it should be torn down,"
"Fortunately, that is not your choice to make." Loki smirked, "Yggdrasil has made her own deal with your Administartor, so they don't interfere with each others domain."
"A stop-gap at best," Saint Silver said, "there cannot be two World Trees existing in a single world. As long as this tower remains on Uone, the Administartor is under threat. And since your curse prevents you from leaving, it is just a matter of time until war breaks out."
"And at that time, I would do everything in my power to ensure my side comes out on top." Loki said, glaring at the World Pillar.
"That is why you are the greatest threat to this world, fallen one. You are dangerously powerful, even now, in this lesser form." Saint Silver said, brandishing the spear, "and as a World Pillar, I will be duty-bound to prevent any threats, no matter how daunting."
"Don't delude yourself into thinking you alone are enough to stop me," Loki scoffed, raising his hand, "due to my curse I am bound to this planet, but I always knew of a way to free myself. I simply refuse to do so because Uone is special to me."
"I doubt I will ever trust you, Fallen One," Saint Silver said, "but at least I can acknowledge that you speak the truth about loving this world."
"We don't have to be friends, but at least we have common grounds," Loki said, before plucking a skill seed from a nearby tree.
"Here," Loki said, tossing the skillbseed to the World Pillar, "consider it a gift from Asgard, a gesture of good will and good faith."
The faery king considered it for a second before nodding and vanishing.
"Is it gone?" A child-like nymph Yggdrasil asked jumping down from the branches of a nearby tree.
"I thought you were going to give us privacy?" Loki said
"I did," she shrugged, as her body quickly grew and matured into the adult dryad form, "but I am always watching what goes on in the tower. That thing really wants to kill you."
"I've known that since we first met," Loki said,
"It is more powerful than I gave it credit for," Yggdrasil cautioned, "it could potentially be capable of shattering you. Letting it leave after that confrontation might've been a mistake."
"I know that too," Loki sighed, "but I can't just kill it outright. I need to be smart, set up the right scenario for justification to prevent retaliation from the Administrator or the other World Pillars. We are in no condition for a god war right now."
"So are we going to war against them?" Yggdrasil asked
"No, there isn't a need to," Loki said, "it's better to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with the Administrator. But we may need to change up her retinue."
"Well, any remaining loyalty I held for the faeries ended when they betrayed us." Yggdrasil scowled, "but it came back to haunt them in the end."
"What do you mean?" Loki asked
Yggdrasil looked at him, "I thought you knew?"
"My memories are all f@£ked up," Loki said, "there are things I remember and things I don't."
"It was the faeries that caused the cataclysm a million years ago," Yggdrasil revealed, "they conspired against you, and called out to... something. They were foolish enough to think it would go unnoticed by the other primes, and it ended with the World Tree dead and the planet in flames."
"Did the Administrator know about this?" Loki demanded
"No, I don't think so. I only found out when one of my sisters reached out to me about the discovery. Shortly afterwards the World Tree was killed and the tower went into lockdown."
"F@£king faeries," Loki cursed, then glanced at Yggdrail, "present company not included, of course,"
"No, I agree," Yggdrasil smirked, "those arrogant f@£ks got my sisters and our mother killed. The only reason this planet still lives is because of all your contingencies."
"My what?" Loki asked
"Wow, you really don't remember?" Yggdrasil said, "you were the one who set up the vaults with the old Administrator. Created this whole reset system for the whole world."