Hello there,
If you enjoy my stories, you can read advanced chapters on my patreon page
Her Eternal Excellency, a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover, Raiden Ei Reborn as Argella Durrandon, is 15 chapters ahead
DCU:Blacklist, a Raymond Reddington-inspired OC SI using his knowledge for his own advantage, as well as the rest of the world, is 15 chapters ahead,
Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low-End Fantasy World, a Robert Baratheon OC SI in an AU, is 15 chapters ahead,
Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live, a Mass Effect story where Shepard is greater than ever, is 15 chapters ahead,
Loki: The God of Magic , an OC-SI into Loki who is not aware of the MCU, is 9 chapters ahead.
If you enjoy sci-fi, action, politics, romance with an overpowered protagonist, you can check Arrival, my original story on my Patreon or my pages on the fanfiction sites. I intend to make this a long term project, if you wish to be with me in this journey from the very start, now is the time. Your review and likes are appreciated to keep up with the algorithm.
By supporting me, you can read advanced and special chapters, as well as vote on how you want the fanfiction to proceed.
Note: Apple store payments will be refunded because of the company's 75-day hold policy.
—
Midgard
Loki sat down on the branch of a tree, watching a tribe of Native Americans. Usually, the Aesir was not allowed on Midgard unless it was a matter of importance due to his father's decree. Short-lived and disunited, the humans would be affected too much by any Asgardian interference.
Which is why he was just watching and taking photos, of course.
A collection for the future, when the settlers and the American forces would eradicate them. He could intervene in the future, but the Allfather's decree was absolute, and even his sons were not above it.
Also, he had no idea what changing the timeline would do.
So he would observe, record, and move on. He also enjoyed the untouched nature, happy to just gaze at a meadow.
The night fell, and a tribe elder was telling stories to the gathered crowd. It was about the nature of creation, though he couldn't listen anymore. Dinner would be served soon, and it was not appreciated for any member to miss it without a good reason.
Away from the tribe, he gathered his seidr. The beams struck the fabric of space again, and familiar with the sensation, the second attempt was easier. The gravity increased on the point of contact, he accelerated the particles, and he passed through the gate.
—
Asgard
He had left a beacon on the laboratory to create a familiar cluster of seidr to track with his replicated vision.
It allowed him to exit right on the exact location he had left.
Dusting his clothes, he made a note to fix the walls and headed to dinner. This experiment was a massive success. He no longer had to answer to anyone to travel to whichever realm he desired to see.
He entered the hall, glancing at the head of the table where his family was. Thor was still sullen and did not seem to have much of an appetite. Their mother kept discreetly glancing at him between her conversations with the ladies.
"Loki, there you are," his mother said, watching him sit down.
"I am not late, am I?" he asked. The dinner seemed to have recently begun, and a couple of minutes of tardiness could be excused.
"No, you are not," she replied, glancing at Thor.
"Brother, eat up now. Your face is already gaunt." Loki teased his brother to keep up appearances.
"I am not in the mood," the God of Thunder said.
"If you say so."
As he ate, Loki considered the next step in his research. His mastery over gravity had reached a sufficient point. If he could reverse the effects of gravity, he should be able to fly without the need for the cloud platform.
It was easier said than done. Replicating gravity was simple, since he had ample time to observe, yet the same could not be said for antigravity.
—
It took three days to fix the walls, and Loki sat in the middle of his experiment site, notes strewn around. He had to change the effects of the seidr particles replicating gravity, but how?
The gravity was a result of mass curving spacetime, the same way a heavy ball would bend a sheet held from all ends. Asgard, despite not being an actual planet, had gravity created through seidr.
Reversing the curve upwards would mean he could create anti-gravity.
Creating a visual representation of the curvature, he considered how to press the space so up would mean down.
This would take some time.
—
Days blended together for Loki. Thor was still sulking, his mother was getting worried, and he was too engrossed in his research.
Bending spacetime began with infusing his seidr into the fabric to create an echo. He would understand the properties that governed the fabric of spacetime and how to manipulate them.
Creating a gravity well with accelerated particles to break into the higher dimensions he used to travel, his seidr-based scans brought forth a lot of data that he transferred to the computers.
God or not, he could not keep all that information in mind.
There was already a mountain of data to go through, theories to be created, and tests to be conducted.
Should this succeed, the gains would be enormous. Unassisted flight was a mere afterthought. With enough seidr, he could reverse gravity on a massive scale, break the hydrostatic balance of a star, and even move Asgard should it be necessary.
The applications were endless.
"Loki, are you ready?" His mother called from outside the door.
"For what?" he asked, trying to remember anything of importance she might have said.
"A member of the Crimson Hawks is to wed. Your father wants both his sons there," she chided.
"I'll be there in a minute," he shouted back. He remembered his mother mentioning something about a wedding, but he stopped listening after that.
Guess he had to go and be the gracious prince.
—
His father had personal guards, named the Crimson Hawks, dedicated to giving their lives for the Allfather should it be necessary.
One of their members, Theoric, was to wed Lady Sigyn.
His wife in the human myths.
Assuming that the original Loki was the kind of person depicted in the legends, he might have become jealous and killed this Theoric in order to wed Sigyn.
He, on the other hand, was not interested in her in the slightest.
"I can't wait for the day you two find lovers and wed as well," his mother said. The bride and the groom were approaching the Allfather now.
He didn't even glance long enough to remember their appearances.
"Us? Wed? Unless my brother finds a woman that is basically a female version of himself, I don't see it happening," he said, imagining a maiden with raging muscles, carrying an oversized weapon.
"As for me, I have yet to see any female that could match me when it comes to seidr. Chances are, we'll both be single for life."
Not that he was against romance, but there was too much to do for him to consider pursuing a woman.
"You are barely a century old, Loki; you cannot know what the future will bring," said his mother.
"I wager I can create a method to view the future," he retorted. "However, that would make life boring, so I shall refrain."
What was the purpose of life if you knew how it would play out?
His mother lifted a single eyebrow before turning her attention to her husband.
Now that the wedding was starting and he had to be silent, he could ignore the entire thing.
He understood and appreciated the sacrifices that were expected of the Crimson Hawks, but their sole duty was to his father. What happened to them didn't really concern Loki or anyone else except the Allfather.
Alas, that is not how the Allfather saw it, and here he was.
At least the original was continuing the research.
Odin wed the couple with grand promises, along with blessings for a happy and prosperous life. He clapped politely, a courtly smile plastered on his face, and took part in the feast.
He offered his congratulations, filled his stomach, and excused himself.
"Brother, may we speak?"
"Very well, meet me in my room."
—
His shade fused with him, and Loki took a couple of seconds to assimilate the memories. With a wave of his hand, the room put itself back in order.
The bed was made, his notes arranged themselves, the floor was swept, and the windows were opened to air the place.
Thor had finally made up his mind.
There was a knock on the door, a first for his brother. "Come in."
His brother entered, giving him a shallow nod before closing the door and taking a seat across from him.
Uncharacteristically silent, he just sat there. Loki summoned a mug, filling it with mead. He always made sure to keep around a casket or two for his brother.
Handing the mug, he waited.
"I don't know why Father brought you home, or why he never told us the truth. But know this, even if we do not share blood, you are my brother, now and forever," Thor declared, holding his arm out.
Loki took it, smiling, "Brothers forever."
He knew that his true parentage would not matter to his brother. Thor just needed time to figure it out for himself.
"Still, I don't understand. Why didn't he just tell us?" His brother wondered. Did his father think he would not see Loki as a brother anymore?
Remembering how he declared to slay all the Jotuns, calling them monsters, Thor's shoulders slumped.
"Most likely because he didn't want me to feel like an outsider," he said. That was the only reason that made sense.
He simply did not know enough to extrapolate.
"Are you certain about not asking him?" Thor said. He wanted to go and confront Odin on why he kept this a secret for so long, but Loki's words had stopped him.
"I am," he nodded, "because I don't think my origins are the only great secret he keeps."
His brother looked at him with a weary gaze before finishing the mug and leaning back. "What do you mean?"
"Thor, who do you think used Mjolnir before you?" he asked. The first time they were taken to the vault, just at eight years old, he remembered seeing Mjolnir sitting in the vault.
"No one," his brother replied.
The God of Thunder did not like where this was going.
"Then why was it in the vault? No one, not even our father, commissions a weapon like Mjolnir from Nidavellir and puts it in a vault for no reason," he explained. The only prophetic visions his father ever had concerned Ragnarok, and unless he somehow planned to have a son that would have powers over thunder, it made no sense for Mjolnir to exist.
Thor dragged his palms over his face with a long sigh. "You think there was someone else before me?"
His brother was right. The weapons forged by the dwarves were highly sought after, and seeing as the hammer lacked any prior history that they knew of, his father wouldn't just commission it to be a decorative piece.
"Most likely. One that Father keeps a secret," he said. Who, though? He had no idea.
"What else?" Thor asked, a mirthless chuckle leaving his lips.
"Valkyries. The great heroes of Asgard that fell in a battle long ago. Do you know which battle it was?" Loki queried. While Thor did not care much for books, he absolutely was a fan of the Valkyries, so much so he wanted to be one until learning they were all females.
"No."
"Neither do I because it is not stated anywhere. It just says a battle that took place long ago. Yet we know they existed in our father's time. Then why aren't there more details? How could Odin Allfather not know who or what killed the Valkyries?" he asked in a rapid order.
There were hundreds of battles where the Valkyries had won great victories, all meticulously detailed, yet their death was hidden? When did Asgard pride itself on martial capabilities and honoring those that fell on the battlefield?
Either their father had made a monumental mistake that led to the death of the entire order and was keeping it a secret out of shame, or something else.
Loki did not know which option was more worrying.
"He keeps it vague on purpose," his brother realized.
"Exactly."
"Why though? What could he possibly gain from all those secrets?"
"That is a question we are not strong enough to answer yet," he replied.
They were silent after that while Thor tried to make sense of everything.
"You know what? Let's play some games and clear our heads."
"Fine."
—
Loki sat on his game chair, leaning back and relaxing. The system, created through mastery of seidr, scanned him. The neural links were connected, and when he opened his eyes, he stood in a great clearing.
The wind caressed his face, and the sunlight warmed him. Everything inside the digital world was so realistic, even the Allfather had a hard time discerning it from the truth.
Thor materialized next to him as orange cubits built his avatar.
They looked the same as they did outside, except for their gear. He was dressed in overflowing green robes as a sorcerer, carrying a simplistic staff he absolutely did not need.
His brother wore armor similar to his real-world one, though this one was forged by the dwarves of the Realms of Valor with the materials acquired from Fafnir, the Gold Hoarder, whom Thor had wrestled down single-handedly.
Carrying an oversized hammer that he had named Mjolnir, his brother was a warrior through and through.
"I was thinking, why don't we go fight Surtur?" Thor proposed. Created from what little they knew of the Fire Demon and King of Musphelheim, Surtur was a boss that required at least a fifteen-person raid team to kill.
Or if you can find the Allfather's Boon, you could summon Odin to watch an epic battle where their father killed Surtur.
"We'll most likely die," Loki said. He did, in fact, have the Allfather's Boon but wanted to keep it for a rainy day.
"Come on, you keep all those artifacts in your inventory," Thor whined. "They are just gathering digital dust. We can win if you use some of them."
He also did have other artifacts created through alchemy, blacksmithing, and seidr. Several were inspired from the vault, such as the Casket of Ancient Winters, while the rest were created through what he remembered from his past life.
The Golden Apple of Idunn, Skidblanir, Draupnir, and more were gathered in his inventory.
"Thor, it took me years to gather those items," he reminded, lips tight. Game or not, he had spent a lot of time in Realms of Valor.
"So?" his brother asked, and Loki did not have a good answer to give.
"Fine," he relented, "but I get the Eternal Flame."
Useful for many purposes, he had already acquired one from last year's great boss raid but had used it to fuel the shield of their home in this world.
"I just want to hang his crown on our guild base," Thor replied.
"Alright."
—
In truth, the Realms of Valor served a purpose no one else knew.
It wasn't so much a game as an extremely realistic simulation. All the pieces from the real world, such as the Eternal Flame, the Casket, and Bifrost, were scanned beforehand. Loki had claimed it was to have accurate representation in the game.
The world itself was a massive computer, connecting the thousands of game chairs across the Nine Realms so he could understand the seidr behind the artifacts.
It was slow work.
The Eternal Flame, for example, was inextinguishable and the source of Surtur's power. Understanding how exactly it worked could allow him to create a source of unlimited energy.
One that was solely his own.
He could forge weapons like Mjolnir and Gungnir and understand the seidr behind Bifrost, smoothing his interstellar gates.
Understanding, however, wasn't all.
With the tidbits of information he had, the artifacts that did not exist on Asgard were being simulated to see how they could work.
Could he create a golden apple to make people immortal? A ring that replicated itself constantly? To create a source of unlimited materials?
The entire world was working for that purpose, all behind the scenes.
It wasn't all schemes, however. He still enjoyed traveling and fighting in this digital world. They would never be allowed to travel to places like Musphelheim.
Yet here, they could do whatever they wanted.
—
In the next chapter:
"Why are you even trying to fish in this empty lake?" his brother said, waving his hand at the fishing pole.
"I am not trying to fish, Thor; I am resting near the lake. The pole is just to confuse the people," he said. He had, in either life, never gone fishing.
Though there was nothing to catch, he still could live the experience.
Thor chuckled, "Sometimes, I think you are just too old for your age."
"I was a mortal before being reincarnated. Could be because of it," he admitted, swirling the mug of mead in his hand. He knew Thor would not believe it, which would make it even sweeter should it ever be necessary for him to admit.
His brother shook his head. "Just speak to Amora, will you?"
"Fine," he agreed, and summoned another chair. "In the meantime, why don't you sit down and enjoy the scenery?"
He was sure he could knock some sense into Amora and save his brother from this menace.
"Alright." Thor took a seat with another chilled mead casket to enjoy the day.
Curious about the next chapter? Please consider supporting me on Patreon.