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She came to him in a dream. A nightmare, he believed at first, seeing his cursed sister appear to him. Thor was already battle-scarred and war-torn from his encounter with her and of Thanos. The pain of losing his family and people were still fresh wounds. He had put in every ounce of strength he had left in trying to govern the rest of his people in their new home and this cruel vision was threatening to throw him overboard. “Why are you here? Is this an apparition or just my mind playing a cruel joke on me.” Thor said. “I’m the goddess of death, I cannot die and I am no ghost.” Hela sneered, “I may not have Asgard but I still have Helheim, idiot.”Thor rolled his one eye at her, silently willing to wake up and be rid of her. “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you’d be interested in the state of being of our dear younger brother.” Hela said. That immediately got Thor’s attention, “Loki? Is he okay? How is he?”“He’s alright, all things considering.” Hela said, “He’s gotten on my nerves though. I was hoping you would come and retrieve him. I believe you two to be close, considering the murals of you two he’s painted over the one of mine. I thought perhaps you would be the one to bring him back.”“Is there something wrong with him?” Thor continued to question, “What’s the catch?”“Oh, enough talk!” Hela let out a groan, “I’ve already been annoyed enough by our brother, I don’t need you to add into it, come with me.” “But what of my physical body? You are communicating to me through my consciousness, right?” Thor questioned. “No matter, I’m confident you will be back with him before morning rises in Midgard.” Hela assured, “Come on now.” A small boat appeared below Hela’s feet and the scenery around them changed to a snowy landscape. The boat was pushed into the wide lake next to them. Hela stood at the end of the boat with a paddle, she gestured to the other end of the boat where Thor could sit. He probably shouldn’t trust her. After all, she tried to kill him. But the thought of reuniting with Loki was too tempting, Thor craved to see a member of his family again and he knew out of everyone, Loki would not be resting easy…The boat ride was silent at first. Thor took the time to gaze at his surroundings, the landscape was dull and snowy. Thor couldn’t feel the cold, he suspected it was because he wasn’t truly physically there. “This is not at all how I pictured Valhalla.” Thor said.
Hela glared at him as if he was stupid. “That’s because we’re not in Valhalla, we’re in Helheim.”Silence filled the air once more. “Did you really believe he would be in Valhalla?” Hela questioned, “He’s a Jotun.”“I had hoped that, at least, in the afterlife, we could be together again.” Thor mumbled under his breath, “I was sure that his last act alive would deem him worthy of a noble warrior’s final resting place.”“All Jotuns go to Hel.” Hela said, “I have yet to see one go to Valhalla. Even a Jotun posing as an Asgardian.”“How did you learn of his origins?” Thor asked. “I discovered it on my own. I’ve seen his true form.” Hela said, “I was surprised at first, I never thought Odin would bring a Jotun into his own home, but then I saw his markings…Laufey’s markings. I understood why.” “Laufey abandoned Loki as an infant, just because he was born small. He left him to die a slow and cruel death at barely a few days old.” Thor said, feeling filled with anger as he remembered the rough start of his brother’s life. Odin had told Thor the story not long after Loki jumped off the Bifrost.“You give our father too much credit. It may appear to be a selfless act but he always had a plan no matter what he did.” Hela said, “Still, I am glad Odin kept him around. His is a charming boy, I’m quite fond of his mischief, as long as it’s not perpetrated against me that is.” Thor chuckled, “Yes, I’m sure you would have loved to see the time he turned into a snake to trick me and then stabbed me afterward.” “That’s hilarious, I would have praised him.” Hela let out a laugh, “How much of an idiot do you have to be to pick up a snake.” “We were young!”“Where did he get the knife?”“He conjured it, apparently it was a new self-defense trick my mother taught him. He was banned from magic for a week after.”They were left in silence once more, except this time, it felt more comfortable.“Maybe if things were different, if father didn’t do what he did, we could have all gotten along.” Thor said. “I believe we would have.” Hela told him with confidence, “Damn, our old man.”The boat wavered as it slowly came to a stop. Ahead of them was a great big castle, the exterior was undeniably black, Thor could tell that much even under all the sheets of ice layering it. Long thick icicles hung off of the roof, Hela took a sword and started breaking them off, revealing a very frozen door. “Is this where you live?” Thor asked. “It was where I lived. Our brother has taken over the entire place.” Hela let out a heavy sigh, “Now go on in and bring him out already, I never knew younger brothers could be so annoying until I started living with him.”“Did he cause this place to freeze over?” Thor felt the ice around the door, it was surprisingly very cold. He recoiled his hand, of course, his brother’s ice would be the one thing he felt in this realm, even if he wasn’t truly physically there. “Yes, the little shit.” Hela groaned, “When you get in there you better get him out quick. I’m sure he’ll do it again.” Hela herself cut through the ice and kicked the door open. Thor expected to see his brother there, either standing at the entrance ready to make a snarky comment or moping in a corner.Instead, Thor found many sets of eyes glaring at him, and all belonged to his brother. Two little Lokis, one very much the child he remembered growing up with and the other a blue jotun. “Brother! Brother, you’re here! You’re really here!” The boys cried happily as they hugged him.Thor stood frozen still. Eyes darting around the room at all the other Loki’s. One Loki was dressed in what looked like a full body green leotard covering even his head, there was a fake blonde ponytail hanging from the back. Another Loki resembled that of a homeless mortal, stubble on his face dressed in shanty clothing with a hat and scarf. There was also a Loki as big and green as the hulk, only recognizable through the trademark horns and black hair. Then there was a Loki who was just Loki…With a cat head. Thor looked down at the two little Lokis who were so happy to see him and returned the hug, he looked back at Hela with a confused expression. “I should have mentioned, there are many Lokis now but there was just one at first. I have no idea where that one went.” Hela spoke as if any of this was something normal. “What happened?” Thor asked, “How did this- There are so many!”“Our brother is a very prominent figure in this universe and in many other universes and timelines. Therefore, there are many forms of him, some created by himself unintentionally.” Hela explained, “Perhaps it’s the damage caused from the void, but once he arrived in Hel he broke. They’re all broken, I believe the children are the only versions of him that are truly happy.”“But where is he, the real Loki?”“These are all Loki, but the one you and I know is here somewhere. Some of the more hostile Lokis have hidden him, perhaps they know that if it were he who gets brought back to life order will be restored and these Lokis will cease to exist in this dimension.” Hela said, “You see, I believe the Loki you know brought all these Lokis here unconsciously. Layers to hide his anguish, shattered identity, something unintentional of the sort.”Anguish and shattered identity were strong words. Thor knew very well that his brother had issues but never imagined they could be so severe that other variants of Loki would arise. He had hoped and prayed that Loki could be at peace but it seems that death did not spare him. “No matter what I do I can’t get through to any of them. I may be their sister but they just aren’t close enough to me.” Hela said, “A lot of them talk about you. You two grew up together, I’m confident you will be the one to save him, all of them.” “Of course, I won’t stop until I find him and bring him home.” Thor said with confidence, Hela smiled. “Make his life a good one. I’d hate for an incident like this to happen again once he dies a natural death.” Hela said, “Good luck, I will see you once it’s over.”“You won’t be staying?” Thor asked. “Some of the Lokis won’t allow me onto the second floor of my own house. Only you can help him now.” Hela said as she left the door. “Then I’ll do my best! Maybe I’ll even be able to bring him to Valhalla with me one day!”“That’ll be the day!” Hela said as the door closed behind her. Almost immediately after, Thor heard a feminine voice speak up, “Finally, that bitch is gone. Man, I hate her.” A woman walked in wearing golden horns, a fur cape, and black lipstick. She looked mysteriously like his brother except she couldn’t be his brother…Could she?“Oh look, our dear brother is here.” She said, her heels clicking against the frosted over floorboards of the dark living room, “Sure is refreshing to see your face around these parts.”“Who, who-“ Thor tried to speak. “We call her Lady Loki.” The Homeless Loki gestured towards her from where he sat slouched on the living room couch, “She decided she’s in charge.”“That’s because I get stuff done.” She spoke back to him. “How?” Thor could still only spit out single words. “I’m just as much of a Loki as all these boys.” She said “I suppose by the look on your face you had no idea that your Loki could transform into a woman, has, and felt comfortable doing so. That’s why I’m in charge, I’m the only confident one here.”“I’m plenty confident! You just humor yourself too much!” Leotard Loki spoke up. “My brother is also my sister too.” Thor said, “How come he never told me!”“You’re an oaf, that’s why. Probably figured you couldn’t comprehend the concept of being gender neutral.” She shrugged off Thor’s comment. “I can understand plenty of stuff! Why do all Lokis take me for an idiot!” Thor shouted. The group of Lokis laughed, Lady Loki sighed, “Oh, I’ve missed you, brother. Being around so many versions of myself is terrible company.” “I plan on getting you all out of here, back to whatever reality you came from, I just need to find where my Loki is.” Thor said. “He’s talking about the one that got choked…” Little Jotun Loki whispered to Lady Loki, as if that subject was deeply cursed. “Oh, that one…He’s rather bothersome, I’d love for him to be gone.” Lady Loki said, “Alright brother, I don’t know where he is exactly but I do know he’s somewhere on the upper floors. This house is big, I have no idea how far up he is. He could be as far as the very top floor. I can guide you far but not all the way, Kid Loki could probably escort you further. No one really has any problems with him.”“I still don’t understand this weird hierarchy thing going on, why are some Lokis not letting Hela in? Why are they keeping you trapped in this level?” Thor asked. “They’re just jerks. Especially King Loki, he’s the biggest jerk.” Kid Loki explained, “Everyone got in fights at first, it was easier to keep the peace once everyone decided which rooms and floors were their territory.”‘No wonder Hela wants him gone’ Thor thought to himself, ‘Wait, there’s a King Loki?’“Come on now.” Lady Loki gestured for Thor to follow her up the stairs, “We best make haste.”Behind her Hulk Loki started to tag along, Thor backed up a bit to let the green monster through. “Hey…Hulk Loki.” Thor greeted him timidly. Hulk Loki said nothing, he grabbed onto the railing of the stairs and smashed through another frozen over door. He then left without a word as Kid Loki rushed to follow them. Once they were on the second floor, Lady Loki instructed Thor on where the nearest stairwell was. They were confronted by another Jotun Loki, this one was much taller and had very real horns on his head in comparison to the horned helmet that Loki wore. Thor suspected this Loki is what his Loki would have looked like if he had grown up in Jotunheim.“What are you doing here?” Full-Grown Jotun Loki hissed. “I’m just guiding our brother through the house, is that so wrong?” She sassed him right back. Now Thor was starting to understand why all the Lokis weren’t fond of each other. “That’s Thor, huh.” Full-Grown Jotun Loki looked back at Thor, who waved awkwardly back at him, “That’s not at all what I expected him to look like.”“Anyways, I’ll be leaving. I rather not get poked in the eye with those wretched horns of yours.” Lady Loki walked gracefully back down the stairs without looking back. “You wished you had horns like me!” Full-Grown Jotun Loki yelled back at her, then he turned back to Thor, “It’s nice to meet you. I don’t really know you as the others do. I was never adopted.”Thor shook his hand and felt Full-Grown Jotun Loki’s icy touch burn him. Thor winced a bit but continued to be polite. “How are you doing, Little Loki?” Full-Grown Loki asked Kid Loki with a fond expression. “I’m good! We’re looking for the Loki that Thanos choked!” Kid Loki replied cheerfully. Full-Grown Jotun Loki looked visibly upset, “Oh…Him.” He looked at Thor with sympathy, he knew that his brother he never knew was there for that Loki, and in a way, for himself as well.“I hope you find him. He causes a lot of trouble here without meaning to.” Full-Grown Jotun Loki said and then retreated. Thor stood still for a while, Kid Loki caught onto this. “I think he’s a little sad because he doesn’t fit in with most of us.” Kid Loki explained, “He has Jotun brothers, I think their names are Helblindi and Býleistr. They aren’t as great as you.” Thor smiled down at Kid Loki, “I’m glad you think so.” Thor ruffled his hair. It was heartwarming to see a Loki who still had light in his eyes. A Loki who was untouched by the horrors of the later years, a Loki from the days where mischief was all he caused and his lies petty, a Loki before he disowned himself, a Loki before Thanos, a Loki who was happy. “Let’s find your Loki.” Kid Loki held Thor’s hand and walked him down the long icy hallway. Every door had to be checked, every corridor, every nook and cranny that his Loki could be hidden. With determination, Thor said to himself ‘I’m coming to bring you home brother’. He opened the first door…
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There were empty rooms one after another. It was frustrating, Thor wanted nothing more than to bring his brother home with him. Somewhere in this house, his brother lay trapped, captive, or even worse…In charge. Thor caught Kid Loki looking up at him with wide curious eyes.“What?” Thor asked. “Nothing, I’ve just started to notice how old you’ve gotten.” Loki said with a smirk. “Hey! I’m only 1500!” Thor grew flustered. “Not my Thor! My Thor was only a few inches taller than me and he didn’t have wrinkles or a big hole in his right eye.” Kid Loki explained. Thor felt around his face, tracing his fingers across the crevices that outlined under his eyes. “If I have wrinkles then they surely came from stressing over you.” Thor said.“Yet you’re still coming back to save him, to save me.” Kid Loki replied.Thor stopped in his tracks, just short of opening the door at the farthest end of the 2nd-floor hallway. “Of course, you’re my brother.” Thor’s voice almost sounded hurt, “Don’t doubt my love. You annoy me endlessly and always cause trouble but you’re still my brother. I’ve only ever wanted the best for you. I swear…You, him, all of you, so dramatic.”Kid Loki simply laughed, “You’re still Thor.” Was all he said. His smile and laugh were contagious, it made Thor remember the past where he could make his brother laugh and how they played together. With so much time alone, Thor had time to reflect on that, and more than anything, more than the destruction Loki brought in his later years, Thor just wanted to go back to how it used to be from the very beginning. Thor opened the door by just a sliver. He didn’t feel like putting in the effort of opening the door all the way if it were to be empty like all the others but to his surprise, someone was inside and it was someone different from the Full-Grown Jotun Loki they had met before. Thor saw a Loki wearing his usual pale Asgardian skin. His hair was much shorter than the others, the last time Thor had seen his brother with hair that short was the day his brother jumped off the Bifrost. He was dressed in the outfit he wore to Thor’s coronation. Thor opened the door wider and Kid Loki poked his head through to see who it was. Kid Loki almost immediately took hold of the door and attempted to shut it. “Let’s try someone different.” Kid Loki said, his voice alarmingly serious. “What’s wrong? I can talk to this Loki, this is before he jumped off the Bifrost.” Thor said, opening the door further despite Kid Loki’s protests. “Yes! Yes, but there are more issues besides the Thanos incident! Brother! Thor!” Loki attempted to reason but Thor walked in headfirst, “Ugh! You’re still just like Thor! You never listen!”Thor walked in and knelt to where Coronation Loki sat by a frosted over window. While Thor wore a great big smile, Coronation Loki had a less thrilled reaction. “You…” Coronation Loki spoke in a low and hateful voice, “What are you doing here?”“I came to save all of you and to free you from this place.” Thor said, “I’m looking for my Loki, he has longer hair and he was killed by Thanos, have you seen him?”“I don’t have to answer to you!” Coronation Loki lifted up his legs and kicked Thor onto the floor, “GET OUT!” He screamed viciously. As Coronation Loki was attempting to push Thor out of the door, Kid Loki was on the other side trying to drag him out of the door. Thor eventually got the upper hand and tackled Coronation Loki, he tried his best to keep him pinned down for interrogation but Coronation Loki used magic to escape from Thor’s grasp. “I’m trying to help you! Let me talk!” Thor yelled as he tried to catch Loki once more. “Oh, you’ve done enough talking in your life.” Coronation Loki hissed, “Leave! I don’t want to see your damned face!” “Brother-““I’M NOT YOUR BROTHER!” Coronation Loki landed a kick to his face, Thor staggered backward and fell on his behind. Coronation Loki summoned a dagger and held it close to Thor’s throat. “I don’t understand.” Thor said in a small voice, “I thought you were happier during this time, why do you say you hate me?”“You ask me this as if you have no idea what you’ve done to me. Are you still so ignorant? Even now, with your precious golden locks sheered off your head and with a vacant hole where your right eye should be? Even now, you don’t have the capacity to think just for once in your damn life.” Coronation Loki spoke with hate laced into his words, “I’m a stolen relic, Thor. Odin took me in hopes of making a peace treaty out of me. He kept me captive in a home where he only truly loved his precious blood born son. I tried so hard to get him to see me as an equal but I was always second to you.”“Loki-“ Thor tried to interject until the knife came dangerously close to slitting his throat. “And you, arrogant and reckless, always acting as if you are above everyone else in the world. Thoughtless, rash, always running into battle and dragging me and your friends along with you. Stupid, idiotic, and you have the audacity to treat me as if I’m below you because the crown was always yours despite your dull-witted actions.” Coronation Loki ranted. The two looked at each other for a short moment. Kid Loki stood in the corner of the room, unsure of what to do or how to help.“You once told me to know my place.” Coronation Loki said, “What is my place? Because I surely don’t know it. I never had one.” “Loki…I’m sorry.” Thor’s eye grew blurry. When he blinked, a tear rolled down his cheek and dripped off his chin. Coronation Loki loosened his grip on the knife and dropped it soon after. Thor let out a big sigh of relief.Coronation Loki quietly stood up and walked back to the window he was sitting by before. He turned to face away from Thor and Kid Loki who exchanged confused glances, unsure of what to say next. “Loki…” Thor tried again. Coronation Loki looked back at him, teary-eyed, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you apologize so sincerely before. You elope with a mortal girl over the span of a few days and all of a sudden you change your views on yourself and the world despite all the desperate attempts I’ve made for years. Now you actually believe you care for me when you thought so little of me before.”Thor felt a stinging in his chest at the mention of Jane. He never saw it in Loki’s perspective, Thor learned humility through the short-lived relationship with his ex-girlfriend when he could have learned much sooner if he heard what his own brother was trying to say. He desperately wished his brother wasn’t right, but he was. “I love you.” Thor said, “I wish I wasn’t such an idiot in the past. I regret all of it, everything I said and didn’t say. I know father does too.”Coronation Loki seemed much more forgiving towards Thor but remained much colder towards their father. “This house is dreadful but I don’t see how things will be better if your Loki returns to life. He’ll just be living in your shadow like the rest of us.” Loki said. “I don’t want you to live in my shadow, I want you by my side. I want to rule Asgard with my brother together.” Thor explained, “You mean the world to me. You made me laugh as no other could and although I did not see things you did, I still remember our childhood together fondly. These past years for me have been filled with mourning for you. I want you to be safe and happy.” Coronation Loki, moved to tears, said “I have waited so long to hear those words. Perhaps there truly is more to family than blood.”“I don’t care if you’re Jotun. I wouldn’t care if you were an elf or a dwarf or a mortal. You’re always my brother.” Thor said. Coronation Loki’s face lit up. It seemed, to him, that his inner anguish had finally dissipated. A look of relief and happiness was glowing on his face. “It’s been days since I’ve seen you’re Loki so I don’t truly know his whereabouts, but I do know he is most likely on the 5th floor.” Coronation Loki explained, “Back when most of us still talked to each other, Lady Loki got into an argument with King Loki about what to do with your Loki. King Loki declared that he was going to keep your Loki with him and dragged him away. That was the last I saw of him.”“King Loki is on the 5th floor?” Thor asked for clarification. “Yes, that’s where he stays so your Loki must be somewhere up there with him.” Coronation Loki confirmed. Thor turned towards Kid Loki with excitement, “Thank you so much.” Thor wholeheartedly thanked Coronation Loki. Just as they were about to walk out the door, Coronation Loki gave them a warning, “It will be difficult to get there. There is a Loki who has been freezing this whole place over, I believe he’s barricaded himself within the 3rd or 4th floor.”“All this ice is caused by just one Loki?” Thor looked around in horror. He had never seen a Jotun cause so much damage, especially in such a large area. By the look on Coronation Loki’s face, the Loki freezing everything was very powerful and very dangerous. “Be careful.” Coronation Loki cautioned him. “I will.” Thor said, and with that him and Kid Loki retreated the room. While Thor was ecstatic at finally getting a lead as to where Loki was located, Kid Loki was seldom and quiet. “Brother.” Kid Loki spoke in a quiet voice as they walked farther away from the room, “You should have killed me.”“What?” Thor spun around shocked at Kid Loki’s words. “You should have killed me before I went bad.” Kid Loki said, “There are so many evil Loki’s here, and even the ones who aren’t evil are all sad and angry…They’re all me…This is who I become no matter what…”With a heartbreaking sob, Kid Loki admitted, “I don’t want to be like that.” There was nothing Thor could do or say that could help in this situation. His brother was almost cursed at birth. The start of his life was just as filled with pain and agony as it is now, Thor was powerless to stop it. While he often had thoughts of ‘I should have been better’ and ‘I should have done this’ haunting his mind, it wouldn’t have changed much. Abandoned at birth, lied to about true origins, feeling inadequate, Thanos…Most of it was out of anyone’s control. Here Loki was as a child, at his most innocent, and he was scared out how his story was going to end. Thor could do nothing but hug him. “I promise you, from here on I will do everything to prevent you from having a bad future. I’m going to protect you.” Thor promised, “You are good at heart Loki, never forget that.” Both Thor and Kid Loki traveled to the 3rd floor. They were greeted with ice.
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“My brother, always keeping secrets!” Thor venting as he repeatedly tried to punch and kick outage ice covering ever single door so far. Kid Loki offered as much assistance as he could but not even he understood how Jotun ice worked nor did he know how to make it go away faster. “He’s, uh, he’s- um, non-binary? Yes, he’s non-binary and he doesn’t tell me.” Thor struggled to find the right words, “He carries great disdain for me since the cusp of our manhood and not once does he try to talk to me about it! He waits until his dying day to tell me that the entire time he’s been a slave of Thanos- and he doesn’t even say it directly!”The rant made Kid Loki uneasy. Again, on top of lying it’s just like Loki to feel unwanted at even just the mention of being disapproved of. Thor stopped ranting once he saw Kid Loki’s sad little face, it wasn’t at all his fault. He was the most innocent Loki of the bunch. “I’m sorry.” Thor apologized, “Call it a brotherly quarrel. I’m sure you and the other Lokis have a lot to criticize me for.” “You don’t listen.” Kid Loki said. “What?” Thor silently scolded himself for such a stupid comment, it was only after it came out of his mouth that he realized it proved Kid Loki’s point exactly. “I’m sure your Loki has tried telling you stuff before, I know I did with my Thor, but you just don’t hear it.” Kid Loki explained, “You always spoke your mind without hesitation and I admired that because I never had the courage to speak without fear…But even as you talk you very seldom listen to others, it’s like you can only hear yourself…So maybe, your Loki…Gave up on trying.”“I’ve changed.” Thor insisted, “He just doesn’t want to hear what I have to say.”“Just as you to him.” Kid Loki added. Thoughtfully, Thor paused and placed a hand against Kid Loki’s neck, “You’re right. Once I reunite with him I will be sure to listen.” Maturity. It took Thor longer than most to gain it. It might have been because he was a prince, he didn’t have to grow up so soon as long as his father was still in power and his kingdom stable. Confidence made him strong in battle but at the time of his coronation, he lacked the maturity and the wit to be a king. Those were Loki’s stronger qualities…Though Thor still saw Loki immature himself, he supposed Loki did have slightly more maturity due to him being more quiet and observant in childhood. He was mature now. Mature far too late but mature none the less. Childish complaining wasn’t going to find his brother, his willpower would. “Do you two need help?” A stronger voice broke through Thor’s thoughts. A tall and mysteriously muscular Loki stood before the two of them. The infinity stones themselves encased in his armor, Mjolnir clasped in his hand. Thor couldn’t tell what shocked him most, seeing his brother wielding his precious hammer, seeing his brother with all the cursed infinity stones in his possession, or seeing his brother so…buff. Loki had always been smaller and leaner, it was unnerving seeing him bearing Thor’s body shape. “Brother, is that you?” Infinity Loki let out a hearty laugh, “By the gods, it really is you! And with a hole in your face!” “Loki? Why do you have Mjolnir?” Thor questioned, “Why do you have-? Never mind, please, if you could assist us in our search for my brother I would be grateful. The ice burns have grown painful.” “Silly brother, this is my hammer!” Infinity Loki swung Mjolnir around, “You should have seen the look on your face when you failed to lift it and I was the only one who could! You were close to tears!”“In my universe, the hammer is mine.” Thor said, “or, was mine. Hela broke mine.” “Ah, siblings…They ruin everything, don’t they, brother.” Infinity Loki released the hammer and Mjolnir flew across the room, not only breaking most of the ice but destroying doorknobs as well. The ice-cold rooms all made a loud creak as they all opened for the first time since they had been frozen over. “If you’re looking for unworthy tricksters, there are many here to claim as your own.” Infinity Loki spoke, “Just be sure to choose one that actually likes you, and one who isn’t pitiful.”“Thank you, but I’m looking for a specific Loki” Thor shrugged off Infinity Loki’s off-putting comment, “He was killed by Thanos. Have you see him?”“Ah, that poor thing.” Infinity Loki sighed, “It was quite a sight, he was completely mangled…Then he was kidnapped by the absolute worst Loki of them all.”“King Loki.” Thor spoke the name, Infinity Loki’s expression seemed to grow dimmer from hearing that name.“Yes, that’s the one.” Infinity Loki agreed, “While most here are tricksters he truly is very evil. I don’t believe he has good intentions with that Loki, he may even be planning something nefarious.”“He’s on the 5th floor, right?” Thor questioned, growing both impatiently and fearful. “Yes, that’s where he resides.” Infinity Loki said, “I wish you luck on your endeavor. Your Loki, he’s the one keeping us trapped here…If you set him free, I can return to my own universe.”“You’ll all be home soon. I, uh, I hope the me in your universe is good to you.” Thor said. Infinity Loki laughed, he laughed an awful lot more than Thor’s own, “Oh please, I don’t get upset over petty things like the other Loki’s here. I am too powerful to let the words of my dear brother hurt me. I’d hold onto that hope and give it to one who needs it…Like the Loki freezing this house.” “Where is he? Is he on this floor?” Thor asked. “To tell the truth, I don’t know. This is the first time I’ve ever ventured to this floor.” Infinity Loki shook his head sadly, “I thought I heard crying.” Thor and Kid Loki looked at each other, neither of them hearing any sort of noise in that hall. “Thank you for your help.” Thor held his hand out for a shake but Infinity Loki pulled him into a tight hug, so tight that Thor swore he could hear some bones crack. “Always a pleasure!” Infinity Loki said and then took his leave. “Crying, did you hear any crying?” Kid Loki spoke softly after Infinity Loki was truly gone. “No, not at all.” Thor answered, “He might have been imagining it.”They rummaged through all the empty rooms, once they started traveling closer down the hallway, it became more and more clear to them that there was indeed a sound that resembled that of crying, but it was so soft that it seemed impossible to decipher through just the door. Kid Loki pressed his ear up against the door, “I don’t know how he heard it from where he was but there’s definitely someone crying in here.” “The infinity stones do provide great power.” Thor concluded, “Somehow Mjolnir couldn’t break through this one…I’m going to try it myself.” His fists then collided with thick ice. Thor found that the more he willed for the ice to break, the easier it became for it to crack. Whoever was in there wanted to be heard and wanted to be free for all the ice to weaken. Or, maybe it was Thor who wanted to open the door the most because whoever was crying was absolutely his brother As soon as the door broke open, what once sounded like quiet cries became loud wails, and wails at that pitch could not be made by any grown man or child. There was a baby. Abandoned, left on a chunk of ice. Someone had to have put it there, maybe King Loki, it couldn’t have gotten there on its own because it looked no older than a day. The baby had Loki’s Jotun marks…The baby was Loki. How long was he left there alone? Was this someone’s mean-spirited idea to leave this Loki so young or was it a manifestation of what Loki’s first moments of life really were like. An unwanted infant condemned to die alone. Thor didn’t hesitate to scoop Baby Loki into his arms. He spoke softly to Baby Loki, words like “It’s alright” and “I’m here” couldn’t offer much to a baby who couldn’t understand him, but as soon as he was held, Baby Loki stopped crying. Thor turned to see Kid Loki in tears so he opened his spare arm wide and motioned for Kid Loki to come closer. Thor pulled Kid Loki into a hug and they knelt down together. They sat there for a bit, Baby Loki had ceased crying as he felt comfort and love for the very first time. It was Thor and Kid Loki who were in tears in his place. Thor himself got to see Baby Loki’s skin turn from a Jotun blue to a pale Asgardian color as he smiled up at him. “So that’s how you did it, unconscious magic.” Thor let out a laugh, “Since the beginning you’ve just wanted to fit in somewhere where you felt loved.” Kid Loki looked down at himself, curious in his own ability. He focused his sights on his own fingertips, trying to see if he could make them slowly turn blue. “I don’t think it will come so easily. You’ve been harboring this magic since the day you were born and you didn’t even know it.” Thor told him, “As far as your mind is concerned, this is your true form. Don’t erase what you made for yourself.” Kid Loki smirked but his attention soon turned to the room melting around them. “Is he doing all of this?” Kid Loki asked, pointing at the content Baby Loki in Thor’s arms.“I’m not sure, it could be.” Thor answered, “But all this from a baby? His magic is powerful but…”A large crack erupted below them, Thor felt the very foundation of the house shift. Many alarmed voices went off below them. “Loki, hang onto me.” Thor stood, shifting Baby Loki to his left side and pressing Kid Loki close to his right side, “I think this house is going to fall apart.” Just as he said that the floor beneath them gave way. A hole opened up beneath Thor and his legs fell through. He pushed Kid Loki ahead of him and with all his upper arm strength he held Baby Loki’s tiny body just ahead of him. Through gritted teeth he begged Kid Loki to take the baby and get out of there as fast as he could. Loki was always a few steps ahead of his brother. Thor pulled himself through but found very little support left in the once frozen room. Through the hole he almost fell in through, Coronation Loki looked up at him and expelled magic, lifting him forward and followed him even as he disappeared out of sight, using magic to hold everything together long enough for all of them to escape to the 4th floor. Kid Loki was there by the stairs to drag him up further. The entrance to the 4th floor was significantly more melted than before, but the inside was more frozen than any other section of the house they had ever seen. The floors, walls, and ceilings were all glazed over in thick eyes. Kid Loki slid and fell on his bottom, Thor quickly caught the baby and then lifted Kid Loki up with one arm. They didn’t have to venture far to find the Loki causing all the freezing. The Jotun Loki stood there, looking eerily similar to the last time Thor saw his Loki. His skin was dark blue, his eyes red, his markings visible, but he looked so broken and bare…No horns, no horned helmet, no cape, no elaborate outfit…Just a very sad Loki, standing alone in a room of ice he encased himself in. “Thank you, you stopped it’s dreadful crying.” Jotun Loki spoke dolefully.Jotun Loki slowly raised his arm outwards.“Now bring it here so I can kill it.”