"Before we start, I want to know," Loki said, "are we going to drag this conversation all night long, or can we skip the boring parts?"
Luthar looked at her without expression. "That depends on Hephaestus." He pointed toward her before continuing. "This meeting is happening because she believes letting you in may be worth the trouble. As far as I'm concerned, you're a complication I could do without."
Hearing him, Loki laughed softly and dropped onto the nearest sofa without invitation. "A complication? That's almost flattering."
Finn Deimne hesitated for only a moment before taking the seat beside her, clearly still adjusting to how quickly she had discarded whatever careful approach they had planned.
Loki leaned back, entirely at ease. "But fair enough," she said. "I'd be suspicious too. Gods like me usually are complications. Some are harmless, some are disasters, and some are the kind you ignore once and regret later." Her smile sharpened slightly. "I'm hoping to be the useful kind," she said. "But if you ignore me for too long, I can become the disaster type."
Hephaestus's expression lost what little softness had been there. She knew Loki well enough to understand that beneath the joke, she wasn't exaggerating. If anything, she was being honest.
Luthar remained silent. As long as she didn't set fire to his forges or turn his sanctums into a disaster zone, whatever trouble she caused was of little concern. His silence was enough for Loki.
"Now," she said. "Can we get to the part that actually matters?"
"Maybe you can start by giving him a reason not to throw you out," Hephaestus said while leaning back slightly.
Loki's grin faded, just enough, her gaze settling fully on Luthar. "Because I'm not stupid," she said. "A few weeks ago, this city made sense. Everyone knew who mattered. Who could move things." She shrugged lightly. "Then you showed up, and now I'm having an existential crisis."
A brief silence followed before Luthar finally spoke again. "What you're describing sounds less like usefulness and more like desperation." The words were flat, almost dismissive.
Hearing him, Loki let out a short breath and leaned back. "Maybe," she said. "But the problem isn't my desperation. It's you."
That got a faint glance from Finn Deimne, as if silently asking her to stop saying deliberately confusing things.
"You're asking me how I'm going to be useful to you," Loki said. "But the problem is, I can't offer you something useful if I don't even know what game you're playing." That was the first truly honest thing she had said since walking in.
Hephaestus let out a quiet breath, something between annoyance and resignation. "That part's on you," she said, looking at Loki. "You pushed your way in here without even knowing enough to make a proper argument."
Loki gave her an unapologetic shrug. "If you'd told me more than 'trust me, it's a secret,' I might've come better prepared."
That earned the faintest narrowing of Hephaestus's eyes. "That's not happening. I can't tell you what we're actually doing before you join us."
Luthar watched all of it in silence, then he spoke. "You want to understand my situation, or at least my goals."
Loki's grin returned, shorter this time. "That's the idea."
Luthar didn't answer immediately as he started thinking. What was his goal? Once, the answer would have been survival and escape from a universe where existence itself was meaningless. That had been the only thing that mattered. The problem was, he had already done that. A thought of living a normal life in a fantasy world like this had crossed his mind once. But remembering the problems he had left unsolved—in his previous universe and in Marvel—made that idea pointless. If he really tried to live normally, sooner or later Chaos and the Mephisto would both come knocking, ready to hand him the full 40k 2.0 experience combo pack.
Luthar's gaze settled on Loki. "I want to gather knowledge and build a place where miracles can materialise," he said calmly, "which will make me strong enough so I can actually look for a better goal." The answer was a little different from the first time when he was having a conversation with Freya and Hephaestus, but the meaning behind it was still the same. To everyone in the room, it almost sounded ordinary. After all, there were too many people in the city chasing strength. To him, it was just a fact.
As Loki studied him for a moment, the curve of her smile shifted into something more thoughtful. At least now, she finally had something real to work with. "And what is the scale of the strength you're seeking?"
Luthar's expression didn't change. "To the point where I could treat a group of Black Dragons like toys and never have to block my memories to avoid being corrupted," he said calmly.
Loki let out a low whistle, the grin returning to her face. "Well, that's only slightly more ambitious than some of my worst ideas," she said. "But before you start collecting Black Dragons as pets, do you have an actual goal right now?"
Luthar's gaze remained steady. "There's someone I need to kill," he said plainly. "Mephisto. The problem is that he rarely leaves Hell, and he is almost impossible to kill."
Loki was quiet for a moment, then gave a small shrug. "I have no idea who Mephisto is," she said plainly. "But immortals aren't exactly rare. The details change, but the solution usually stays the same." Her smile returned, easier now. "Just find a way to kill him. If that's not possible, then tricking, trapping, or crippling him would work."
Hephaestus gave a faint nod, as if already understanding her meaning. Loki caught it immediately and leaned forward, resting an arm on her knee as if the meeting had already shifted in her favour.
"So," she went on, "if you're planning to deal with something like that eventually, then I'd need to know everything." She gestured lightly toward the room around them. "The things you're building. The weapons. Whatever insane plans you've already got half-finished in your head to make yourself stronger." Her grin widened slightly. "Because unless your master plan is to glare at him until he gets nervous, I'm guessing you need more than ambition."
Luthar's expression didn't change. "This meeting wasn't about me explaining my plans," he said. "It was about you explaining what you can do."
Loki didn't miss a beat. She lifted a hand and tapped her temple with a smug little smile. "I'm good at seeing where things are headed before everyone else catches up," Loki said. "Figuring people out, spotting problems early, and finding angles others miss- oh, I'm also good at scheming in case the strength isn't enough."
That earned the faintest breath of amusement from Hephaestus.
At some point, the balance of the room had shifted without anyone quite noticing when. The meeting where Loki needed to justify why she deserved to be included had somehow turned into one where she was already picking apart Luthar's problems and speaking as if her place here had long since been decided.
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Author's Note: on Pa rteon you can 45+ og this FanFiction and new evil whose 31 chapters are already uploaded, then TBFW who is chapter 55 got uploaded yesterday so if you go to Patreon you can at least get 25 + overall even for $1 you could at please get around 80 chapter you can also vote for which story need to be re started or stopped
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