Immediately following the Battle with a young and arrogant Thanos, we asgardians had been greatly humbled.
We thought ourselves powerful, we thought ourselves among the strong.
How wrong we were...
"Father, may I speak with you?" I say after entering my father's chambers. Odin, who is the only reason that any of us are even alive, is sitting on his bed and reading an ancient tome by the pooks of it.
"Of course my boy. Is this about the battle?"
"Yes... father, if not for you we'd have all died."
"This is true. But that being... he was not a normal enemy of the cosmos."
"That is true... but that Battle put into perspective just how weak I truly am. I may be able to see into the future in battle, but without the strength and speed to evade and take advantage of attacks all I can do is see the attacks coming. I can do nothing to evade my death. I barely survived Thanos. And he didnt even have a single infinity gem..." I say, trailing off as I look down at my feet in shame. And here I thought I'd gotten stronger because I could match my mother in skill. Please; she may be a skilled fighter, but that means nothing in the face of unending might.
"All true Verdi... so, what are you going to do about it?"
"Excuse me?"
"What will you do to get stronger? Maybe practice magic? Or study runes more? Maybe get stronger by training your body more intensely? What will you do?"
"I... I think the answer lies on Midgard..."
"Explain"
"Midgard becomes a major stronghold in the universe in the future because of numerous factors. I wish to study from humans and learn their skills."
"Hm... interesting... Give me some time to think on it Verdi. I will give you my answer soon enough. For now though, study the ancient runes, study magic with your brother, and become stronger while you are here. Now, leave me, I would like to get back to my reading." He says, looking back down at his tome. I sigh softly and answer in the affirmative, leaving his room.
Once I exit the room, I begin thinking through what I can possibly do to get stronger in the coming years.
"Think, what is there on midgard for me to strengthen myself? There are so many places, but really the best ones are Kun'lun, Ta' lo and Kamartaj... but I dont fucking know where those are! Damn... ugh, whatever, maybe Heimdall can help?"
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"No. I will not help you."
"Aw what the heck Heimdall?! Why not?!"
"Odin has forbidden me from helping you"
"FUCK." I yell into the void as I try and think through a plan, "fine... fine, whatever, I guess my only solution is to search for these places aimlessly. Fucking bullshit. Kun'lun is gonna be such a pain in the ass too... Damn... honestly all three are gonna take decades to find searching aimlessly... if I were to go to Kamertaj first maybe I could teleport to The other two? Honestly, not a bad Idea..."
And so my plan was set.
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"All-father, Heimdall has sent word the frost giants are assaulting Midgard! They are using their chief weapon-the Casket of eternal Winter- to lay seige to the mortals!"
"Gather the army at once! Tell them to meet my son's at the bifrost! Thor, go get Loki and Verdi, and do battle with Laufey. It is time he died for his actions!" Odin mellowed out, and Thor exited the throne room, practically prancing down the halls in pure excitement. We've been waiting centuries for the frost giants to make the first move, and today is finally the day!
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"You ready brother? Today is your day of triumph over Laufey. Do you believe you can win?" I ask, and still his answer is a nervous chuckle. Not exactly the answer we were hoping for.
"Well, my magic is powerful, but I'm not sure it'll be enough to kill laufey outright in a 1v1. I must mentally prepare. Please leave me br for now." He says, clapping my shoulder in a brotherly hug.
Loki must fight laufey in a 1v1, because otherwise the other frost giants will never follow him, or recognize him as the rightful heir.
"Very well Loki. Thor, you ready to kick some giant asses?" I ask, and the man looks like he's about to ride a roller coaster, like he's some kind of child. That's simply how giddy he is for bloodshed... a bit off putting but that's my brother's battle spirit.
"Of course! Do you know how long I've waited for this day?! I cant wait to bash in some heads! Hahaha!" Quite eager, to say the least.
"Heimdall, open the bifrost and take us to midgard! The Einherjar is prepared!" Odin says from the back. He is not coming with us, seeing as we arm more than powerful enough to take on an army of Frost giants. Just in case, however, he will be on standby.
And at his booming command, Heimdall is seen opening the bifrost, and the Einherjar begins to step through. Loki, Thor, and myself are trailed closely by the warrior three and my two compatriots, Axl and Voltair.
Flying through the bifrost never truly gets old; seeing the galaxies and nebula flying past you as you race through the cosmos is truly incredible.
Within mere moments we arrive on Midgard, directly in front of an army of Frost giants they dont seem surprised to see us, but as I take in my surrpindings, I find the villiage of Tonsberg behind us. Laufey stands before us carrying the Casket of eternal Winter, and I find the smirk on his face to be most infuriating.
"Laufey, King of the Frost Giants! I am Loki, adopted son of Odin, and rightful heir to Jotunheim! I challenge thee to a duel to the death! And whomever comes out on top will be the ruler of the Jotuns!" Loki announces out of the blue, and I wat h as he dispelled the magic covering his skin, and his body grows to the height of a Frost giant. He now towers over me, standing at an impressive 12'. I also dont even think he's fully grown. Not to mention the golden horns on his head give him an imposing stature, even making Laufey look small.
"My son? The runt? So you survived after all, thanks to that horrid old man. You are just a boy, you know nothing of leadership, and will die here today. But, I wpuld not be the leader lf the frost giants were I to decline a genuine challenge from an heir. I accept your offer." The giant responds, his voice-deep and intimidating- sends a chill down my spine.
Laufey and loki both step forward, and the battle soon commences. Laufey is clearly a skilled warrior- having fought to keep his place as ruler for thousands of years- and is certainly more skilled than Loki. Not to mention more violent amd sure of himself. However Loki has the advantage lf his magic.
"Ragh!" Loki yells out, his daggers- made of enchanted Uru same as mjolnir- covered in an aura of Frost as he continuously slashes them. Laufey weilds a simple ice spike, a weapon made from ice magic. However, even in spite of the weapon disparity, Laufey is holding his own against his son.
Loki is using every tool in his kit to his advantage, his knives, magic feints, combo moves, counters, magic blasts to knock Laufey down, and even martial arts to keep him on his toes.
However Laufey is just that good. By no means is he winning, I'd actually argue he's going to lose, but Laufey is clearly showing just why he is so dominant among the frost giants, even in spite of a lacking arsenal. He moves with aggression and grace all wrapped into one, and strikes only when an opening os presented. Loki is good enough to dodge or block, but each time he has to he uses more stamina. Loki is stronger, for certain, but Laufey is more efficient.
"Loki! Step back and assess! He's trying to wear you down!" I yell out, much to Laufey's annoyance.
"Let me handle this Verdandi!" Loki yells out, and Laufey can't help but smile.
Loki swings his knives low then high, laufey blocks then dodges the second strike, but he was too slow- loki manages to slice the King ever so slightly. And in that moment laufey knows he's on the back foot. But he's too slow to reset, and Loki takes advantage.
Loki creates an ice trap on Laufey's foot, catching the king off guard. Loki hadn't used Ice magic the whole time, so Laufey had assumed he didnt know how.
And so, with his leg stuck, laufey tries to swing down on loki's head, only to be deftly avoided, and stabbed right in the stomach. A clean strike, directly below the ribcage, slicing the giant's solar plexus.
"ARGH! Damn you boy!" The giant tries to stab Loki, but he's too agile, and jumps back so that he is only barely hit by the ice spike on the giant's arm. Loki's attack has critically injured the Frost Giant, and this battle is all but won.
"It's over Laufey, you can't win!" Loki announces, arms out wide, "now accept your honorable death like a man. Kneel before me and announce me your successor, and I will give you an honorable burial!" Truly, Loki is a master of the dramatics. He is clearly exhausted, but despite that has a huge smile adorning his blue skinned face. And what's with the kneeling shit? Is it just who he is? Does he have a kneeling fetish? Ew. Gross thought.
"Loki, just get it over with!" I hear Thor yell out, and clearly he is pissed. The way things are going, we may not get to revel in battle- much to Thor's dismay.
"You have not yet defeated me, Loki... Take a good look at the true strength of the frost giant king!" Laufey yells out, only to grab hold of the Casket of eternal winter, and the energy begins to heal the King- much yo loki's annoyance.
"Now, again!" Laufey announces, and Loki is suddenly put on the back foot, and due to his exhausted state, is now unable to properly defend against the king of the Jotun's and earns himself a stab wound to the stomach, albeit a much less dangerous place than Laufey had received.
"Asgardians, charge! Force the frost giants out of Midgard!" I hear Thor announce, much to the annoyance of Laufey, and I find myself sprinting at Loki, looking to get him out of the fight.
"Loki, you must retreat!" I say, grabbing his shoulder as Thor engages with Laufey, sending the Frost giant King reeling with a mighty swing of Mjolnir.
"I lost, damnit... if only I had that Casket too... I almost beat him!" Loki was clearly beating himself up for his loss, but allowing him to pity himself was not on my to do list.
"Loki, you almost defeated a more experienced and more skilled King of the Jotuns, give yourself some credit! He beat you because he has an extremely powerful artifact that plays into his strengths. That doesnt make you weak, that just makes you a bit unlucky. None of us knew that Laufey could do that, so lick your wounds, get home, and train for the next go around." I say to Loki, and he seems to take my words to heart as he stands and head towards the rear of the army.
Once the battle commences, Thor quickly relieves Laufey of the Casket, and our army gains the upper hand. Within minutes the Einherjar has forced the Frost giants to retreat using their dark magic, and we have gained the Casket of Eternal Winter. Honestly a fairly weak atrifact, but a boon nonetheless. Maybe I could get the Dwarves to use the casket as a material for my sword? I've been working on my own to design my own blade, one that will be stronger than Mjolnir, but in order to do that I need to make my own enchantments. And in order to do that, I need to study norse Rune magic more.
Which, right now, is practically an impossibility due to the facts that I simply lack the wisdom. Rune magic is an extremely advanced form of Magic, and even my mother has barely tapped into the art- let alone begun using it in combat.
Honestly, my best bet is to learn rune engraving, a trick that Doctor doom picked up by studying rune magic and applying it to his technology. If I were to engrave runes into my future blade, then It could potentially become massively powerful- given I carve the correct symbols and utilize Merlyn's enchantments to the maximum degree.
And where do I go to learn rune magic? I go to Midgard, to study under the ancient one.
But for now, we train.
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Odin has come to the conclusion that the infinity gems actually do more to threaten asgard than provide any value. So, after the battle of Tonsberg, Odin placed the Teseract in the care of it's citizens. He hid it in a enormous tapestry depicting the world tree, and placed several runes inside the box to deter anyone from finding it or tracing it's cosmic signature.
Then, he placed the Mind gem in the hands of the Wakandans, at my suggestion. He told them that although he was gifting it to them, they were not to use it for technological advancement. They agreed, (though I doubt they'll listen) and placed the gem in a similarly constructed tapestry- only this one depicted bast. Again, wards were placed on the box the gem was placed in, and Odin left it at that.
So, where are all the Infinity gems? Wasn't that Thor and Loki's quest of nearly a century? The answer is simple. The mind gem is now in Wakandan control. The time gem is in the hands of the sorcerer supreme on Midgard as well, and the Tesseract is in the careful and dutiful hands of the people of Tonsberg. The Aether is also on earth, kept in a secret vault hidden in a pocket dimension. As for the soul and power gems?
Last rumours were that the Stranger was still in possession of the power gem.
And the soul gem is in the hands of the high evolutionary. Who will eventually create Adam warlock- an absolute necessity for the survival of the universe.
So essentially, exactly as I predicted.
But, that also leaves us with a huge problem- there are four fucking gems on earth... that means earth is a major target for people like Thanos.
All the more reason to get stronger faster.
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Across the universe, in a hidden place...
The boy has grown.
That is how asgardians fuction- they grow with Time.
Indeed... what are your plans for him?
You will see.
Always so cryptic. Just spit it out.
No. I am excited for the future outcomes.
He fought the Titan.
I saw. He did well... all things considered.
He got his ass handed to him.
True... but he wasnt entirely helpless. Most are in front of that one.
Death likes that one.
Hard to believe. She doesnt like anything.
True. I wonder if he knows he's being toyed with?
He does not.
That's funny.
True.
What of the eater?
He is doing his job.
Good. Will he encounter the boy?
Not for a little while.
When?
Good question. Get out.
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A/N: Hey guys, Cthulhu here, how's it hanging? Sorry I was gone for so long, I kinda lost motivation to write for a while, and we'll it was really difficult to find that motivation again. And we'll, I didnt. Instead, I decided to be disciplined instead, and I guess motivation followed. So, I will try to make at least one 2000 word chapter a day from now on. Emphasis on try. Might miss a day or two here and there, but I'll do my best. Any questions, post them here please, I will answer them timely. Bye now!