Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“The Asgardian has failed. Those unruly humans have humiliated him and our army.”

“Do you intend on whining about it like a miserable child?”

 Somewhere in space, anger was fueling in the sanctuary of a certain mad titan. The invasion of Earth last year had been a complete waste. Both the Tesseract and the scepter were now out of the Mad Titan’s reach because of the failure of a would-be-king.

 “With your permission, I intend to fulfill what I promised him. I promised him you’d have him long for something sweet as pain. After the Chitauri have lost, I found something very interesting. Something, I can assure you, will break apart the Asgardian’s very existence when we inflict on him the worst of tortures.”

 The Other’s sadistic speech brought a smile to the Mad Titan’s face. “And what is your newfound torture?”

 “The same as the one that shattered his mind. Lies. Secrets. Moral conflict. Familial conflicts. In other words, very similar to what Odin did to him.”

 The Mad Titan laughed out loud. “Sentimental breakdown. I’d love to witness it myself, but I must continue with my own matters. I give you full permission to execute your newfound torture. And once accomplished, you’ll drag me the body of that Asgardian to my chair so that I may witness him begging for death.”

The Other gave out a matching sinister smile as he bowed to his master. “You’ll be entertained, master, as we begin the end of Loki’s legacy.”

On Jotunheim

 The realm of the Frost Giants was still undergoing drastic conditions ever since the attack of the Bifrost 3 years back. Laufey murdered by his own abandoned offspring and the Rainbow Bridge destroying whatever was left of the Jotun regal family… The Jotun were quite devastated and things were devastated. A regent was needed urgently but only the blood of Laufey could take the throne and there was NO WAY the Frost Giants would ask Loki.

 Until the positive news came up.

 “Are you certain?” Angerboda asked the spy who had just arrived. She and the few warriors forming a temporary council were sitting on the ground of the cold, lonely throneroom that once belonged to Laufey. Angerboda was a Frost Giantess who had loyally served the house of Laufey following the ‘truce’ established by the Jotun and Asgardians. She was one of the few clear-minded Frost Giants who didn’t seek war first, which is why Laufey had respected and chosen her as one of his closest advisors, which explained why after his downfall, the Jotun immediately went to her for help.

 “I am certain, Lady Angerboda. Frost Giants who live in icy parts of Midgard, camouflaging to live like them! Undetected!” The spy said. “One of my comrades went to pose as one seeking refuge. They immediately accepted him… and they showed him how to pass off as a mortal, earning their strange sense of support and compassion. They told my comrade about her.”

 “Has he actually met her?”

 “Not met, seen her. He was well hidden and he managed to witness her discreetly shift from mortal to Jotun and back when she walked through the freezing cold bay. He saw her using magic in front of some blonde mortal. He saw how she was a walking, female clone of her paternal.”

 “Pale?”

 “Not as pale as ice, but pale enough to be separated from Asgardians.”

 “Dark hair?”

 “No. Dark brown with a pink strand. It doesn’t chance when she becomes a Jotun.”

 “Green eyes?”

 “Like melted emerald drowning in serpent’s poison.”

 “It’s her then.” Angerboda rose up from her seat. “She is an exact match to her father.”

 “She’s his complete opposite, from what I hear,” the spy continued. “She does not seek glory, fortune, or the advantages of sitting on a throne. Her mortal home is average, and from what I heard, she wants to be nothing like the royal bastard.”

“She sounds perfect!” A Frost Giant warrior got up. “Anything that doesn’t sound like Loki is fit to succeed the throne of Laufey!”

 “Hold on!” Angerboda raised her hand. “How old is she?”

 “92 human years, but her appearance is that of one 4 times younger than her,” the spy answered. “From what our comrade says, her mother was mortal.”

 “Has she ever interacted with him?”

 “It’s said that for all she knows, Loki doesn’t know she exists.”

 “Then he won’t care if his own offspring becomes our regent.” Angerboda rose up, towering most of the men in the throneroom. “Still, we must avoid provocations. We’ve seen how that turns out. We’ll go to Midgard, use camouflage, and reasonably approach her to explain the situation and convince her to come to Jotunheim. Our kingdom will finally have a regent.”

 “Lady Angerboda! Lady Angerboda!” Another spy came running in, stomping on the floor hard enough for icicles to fall behind him. “Terrible news about the Chitauri!”

 Angerboda and the other Frost Giants grimaced. They’ve been made aware that during the spring, Loki had repeated his world destruction antics by allying with the Mad Titan and send the Chitauri army to Earth. They had been relieved to hear that Thor and some Midgardian heroes had come to stop him. Who knew if the rampage on Earth could have gone to Jotunheim?

 “What of the Chitauri?”

 “It’s the Other! He’s heard something about Loki Laufeyson having a demigod bastard that Loki doesn’t know exists! He plans on using the demigod to torture Loki into begging for death from the Mad Titan!”

 “Damn it!” Angerboda cursed. “The diplomatic quest became a rescue mission!”

Brooklyn, back in December 2012 (Author’s note: this story takes place following the events of THE AVENGERS and IRON MAN 3. If you have to, pretend like none of the following movies or my previous Avengers fanfic ever happened.)

Steve couldn’t believe he was doing this.

It had now been more than half a year since the Battle of New York. Though nothing global was occurring, the Avengers still stuck around in the Avengers Tower after Tony had designed personal apartments for each Avenger to occupy even though he was still residing in his Malibu house. SHIELD still kept in touch in case Steve, Clint, or Natasha were needed, Banner mostly worked in the labs, and Thor came and went depending on the situations. And when a snowstorm took most of the East Coast by surprise, Cap found himself spending most of his time alone in the Tower.

 And he couldn’t believe that today, on December 21^st, he cracked and went on to use the laptop he had been given to check out this website called WORLDBUDDIES. Natasha had been suggesting him for weeks to check out the website to make some new friends out there. Anyone that wasn’t an Avenger, part of SHIELD, or related to anything that could throw him off. Part of Natasha had hinted that she probably wanted Steve to use WORLDBUDDIES for a potential matching soul, but if that was the case, she didn’t say it out loud.

 Good thing that nobody was around to witness Steve cracking and creating a WORLDBUDDIES account around 5pm. He wasn’t even sure why he used ‘Capsicle’ as part of his username. Nevertheless, the moment he created the account, the blue colored webpage began pulling out names of new members currently active on the site and still needing at least one virtual buddy. Scrolling down, Steve was surprised to see the list of people desperate for friends.

 Members from New York were out of the question, mostly because he didn’t want to start dealing with someone traumatized by the Battle of New York. It would be nice to meet someone from another country then, but England, Austria, Germany, and any place that reminded him of who he lost during the war were also out of the question. This could have been a bit harder if he hadn’t notice one member from a European country he never put his foot on in his entire life.

 Norway.

 His mother, an Irish immigrant, had told him as a boy that a friend of hers had actually gone to Norway and told her how amazing it was, especially when the Northern Lights reflected their rainbow illumination over the snow and fjords. Mrs. Rogers would have gladly saved up the money needed so she could go there one day if the pneumonia hadn’t taken her.

 “I must be out of my mind today…” Steve told himself as he dragged the mouse and clicked on the member’s name.

PRINCESSOFMISCHIEF

He wasn’t sure what caught him by surprise. That he even went through this or that barely five minutes after asking to connect, the member had just responded.

CAPSICLE1918, is it?

Yes. Nice to meet you.

Desperate for friends too? I don’t blame you. I would have canceled my account if you hadn’t asked to connect.

You’ve been waiting a long while?

Barely two weeks. But my sister insisted that I socialize a bit more. Probably her excuse to get more me-time as a hormonal teenager.

Steve smirked to himself a bit at the humor PRINCESSOFMISCHIEF had applied. Is Norway nice? He typed.

 Depends. Is America nice? You know, besides the insurances, the junk food, and know-it-all celebrities?

It all depends on where you go. I lived in New York all my life. I did go to some other states but just for a bit.

I can imagine. I did do some traveling outside of my country for my studies. As for Norway, I primarily stick around my hometown.

Is it Oslo?

Tønsberg. An hour and fifteen minutes away from the capital by car, but I only go there for business. Or, you know, when my sister insists that we go out shopping. Do you also have siblings?

No. Do narcissistic, otherworldly, sarcastic, and cranky dormmates count?

If you do consider them as such.

Do I take too much of your time? I’m not sure if Norway is six hours ahead from us or not.

No, you don’t bother me. I think this could be a very nice virtual friendship, but you’re right about the time. It’s nearly midnight in Tønsberg. Could we resume this chat tomorrow?

Steve smiled. That would be nice.

Back to 2013

“OK, please rephrase what you just said because I’m not sure I fucking believe you.”

 It was early March and the US was dealing with annoying snow weather and the numerous ongoing charities to support those affected by the Battle of New York. Most of the Avengers had managed to move forward a bit from what had happened, but when Nick Fury called in to ask if they could meet at the Avengers Tower, it seemed like the nightmare was repeating itself. So it wasn’t a surprise if Tony Stark asked Nick Fury to rephrase himself.

 “I’ve been damn clear, Stark! Aggressions have been going on in numerous states!” Nick Fury pulled out a tablet and displayed holographic visuals of different towns, ranging from small to big, getting assaulted by what seemed to be a rumble of giants. “The areas have reported no casualties, but it doesn’t explain why random towns are becoming battlefields!”

 “Where was this happening?” Steve asked.

 “It started in Alaska. Then it went to Montana, Colorado, Wisconsin, Illinois, Tennessee, and recently Pennsylvania. But what disturbs me the most are the conflicting parties.” Nick Fury brought up the footage of what had occurred in Pennsylvania, specifically Philadelphia. While it was normal to see snow in this time of year, the dramatic thing was the ice rising from the ground and attacking something that was hovering around. Independence Hall was in a mess as blue-skinned, red eyed intruders roughhoused the familiar aliens in the area.

 “The Jotun and the Chitauri…” Thor gasped. “Why?”

 “You tell me. You had the most encounters with Frost Giants.” Nick Fury grimaced as he paused the footage just when some annoying reporter ticked off a Jotun long enough to get frozen alive.

 “I’m sorry, but I seem to recall sending a nuke to destroy their float and falling down a wormhole!” Tony nearly panicked. “Is anyone forgetting that for nearly 7 months, I had to deal with anxiety attacks?”

 “And that’s why we need to fix this as soon as possible,” Cap said as he properly sat on his chair. “How long have these be going on?”

 “Since the end of January. Once a week.” Nick Fury crossed his arms. “At first, SHIELD thought it was a mere anomaly. The attacks only occurred once a week, and most of them in public spaces of generally meaningless priorities like parks and ski resorts, but when the attacks started to approach places like Chicago, Memphis, and Philadelphia, the attacks were worsened. Besides that one annoying reporter, it doesn’t seem like the Frost Giants are purposely seeking to conquer us at a glance but the damage of their fights with the Chitauri is still enough to indirectly provoke accidents. With all that ice, at least 30 people died of car accidents.”

 “It still doesn’t explain why they are here,” Thor said.

 “Or how. Last time I checked, the Tesseract was sent to Asgard. How and why would the Chitauri come to Earth if they want the Tesseract when it’s no longer there?” Banner took a sip of his decaf coffee. “And the Frost Giants. What could they want?”

 “It still perplexes me. The last time I heard of the Frost Giants, I found out that Loki was actually the son of Laufey, that he set a trap to murder him, and I stopped Loki from using the Bifrost to destroy Jotunheim. My best guess is that the Jotun are struggling with their politics for a couple years now.”

 “A destabilized kingdom… and a pissed off army,” Natasha pondered. “Am I the only one who thinks that the common thorn in this bush of roses is Loki?”

 “Well he did nearly commit genocide on his own people and recently failed to pass his bargain with the Chitauri.” Thor grabbed Mjolnir, his precious hammer that he had left placed on the bar in the room they were in. “I’ll quickly go to Asgard to get some information. Or if, at worst, damages have occurred if the Chitauri came for the Tesseract and the Jotun for the Casket.”

 “Banner and I will set up the monitors to calculate the possibilities of where they’ll appear next,” Tony got up as well. “Everyone stay on guard. Fury, we’re good?”

 “Those Chitauri are hard to miss. As for the Frost Giants, I’m sure that SHIELD’s thermo-trackers can trace anything that can withstand below 30 degrees Fahrenheit without the properly clothing.”

 They ended the meeting, feeling uneasy about the whole ordeal. They had to hope they could put a stop to this before Earth became the preferred battlefield for two alien species. Steve wasn’t so sure he wanted to see the aliens he had fought back in May again, and from what he had understood based off Thor’s stories, he wasn’t so sure that he wanted to encounter Frost Giants who could encase him in ice again.

 His phone beeped in his pocket. Steve pulled it out and saw another message from his friend on WORLDBUDDIES. Not wanting the others, especially Tony or Nat to find out he cracked and made himself a friend on social media for nearly three months now, he made a dash to his room and checked the message.

 Hi, CAPSICLE 1918. How are you doing today?

Worn out. Work is intense.

I hope things are alright. They aren’t putting you in too much danger at the security firm, are they?

The moment they started to interact further on their accounts, Steve didn’t want to overwhelm PRINCESSOFMISCHIEF with everything about himself unless he wanted to end up with another citizen more interested in getting Captain America’s autograph than actually spending time knowing Steve Rogers. Still, he didn’t want to lie so he said things as cautiously as he could, so he primarily told her that he worked for a security firm (which wasn’t wrong, that’s what he used to do), that he used to be in the army, and that he liked riding motorcycles and drawing during his free time.

It’s nothing dangerous. Don’t worry. He continued typing as he sat down on the brown sheets of his bed. How’ve you been? I haven’t heard from you in a while.

  I had some self-conflicts and depressive problems back home. My therapist recommended that my sister and I went on vacation. I would have preferred going to Finland or maybe even Iceland for a winter break, but no, my sis said she wanted to go the US.

 Steve frowned as he kept typing. Don’t tell me she convinced you to come. It’s snowing a lot in the US right now.

 I know this may sound like a rip-off, but snowstorms never bothered me. Honestly, I’d rather be in Scandinavia than go somewhere tropical. No, I still didn’t know if it was safe to go to the US after what happened in May. Even in Norway, people know that aliens and a bunch of superheroes went on a clash… and I didn’t want to be around if the one responsible for it was still nearby.

 So PRINCESSOFMISCHIEF was terrified of Loki. Completely understandable. Still, with the recent news about the Frost Giants using American grounds to beat up some Chitauri wasn’t very reassuring. How long do you plan on being in the US?

  We’ve already been going out and about. I promised my sis we’d go to New York and DC during the last two weeks of our trip.

Aren’t you afraid of going to New York? You made it kind of clear in your messages that the idea of going to New York after what happened in May scared you.

  I know, right! I told her ‘Seriously, we could go anywhere in the East Coast during the last weeks of our trip. Why not go to Maine, where they got seafood and moose, or the Appalachia Mountains, we could have gone camping? Or heck, why not New Jersey? I’d gladly pretend you’re eighteen to take you to a casino if we DON’T have to go to New York City of all places!’ But no, I fall for her hormonal teenager manipulations! I mean, she’s always been dramatic and artistic, it’s nice aspects about it, but I don’t want to do the things she wants to do there! We’d probably go shopping at malls or ice skate at Central Park, we’d be fine with that, but I don’t want to go where she wants to visit!

  What was she thinking of?

  Broadway. Art galleries. The tours of the first floors of Avengers Tower… Say, this might sound out of the blue and desperate, but… Do you think you might be able to have some time off for an actual meeting, you know, in person?

 Steve felt his face burning. An actual meeting with his social media correspondence?

At the same time, in Bensalem, Pennsylvania

 “I did NOT just type this!”

 “You did. Unless you dozed off.”

 While the Avengers were just done hearing the briefing from Nick Fury and Captain America was trying to figure out what to say to the message, nobody was aware that the source of the Frost Giant vs Chitauri conflicts had barely left the areas of Philadelphia. Of course, the source itself wasn’t even aware of what had occurred and had been continuing her trip with her sister with ease.

 In a Krispy Kreme, nobody paid attention to the two sisters talking to one another in Norwegian while eating two dozen of donuts, savoring their beverages, and debating over a message the eldest sister had recently sent. Anyone else in the shop would have probably thought they were just foreigners on vacation, which is what they were doing, and the only thing that could spark curiosity was how they were related. The youngest had sun golden hair, cyan blue eyes, and obviously the one with the most extravagant sense of fashion. The eldest had walnut brown hair that struck out due to the one magenta streak tucked behind her ear, modest clothing, and green eyes of the most peculiar shade. But in the Norwegian town of Tønsberg, they were known as Aaricia and Kory Ikolson. 

 “He’s going to think I’m some creep who stalks people on the internet!” Kory wished she could rip off the skin from her own cheeks in humiliation as she kept panicking.

 “Oh, don’t lose it! It’s not like you’re one of those 70-year-old something old perverts who fake being college boys on Facebook just to snatch some naïve chick!” Aaricia rolled her eyes. “And P.S, your buddy CAPSICLE1918 sounds like a complete dork in his messages.”

 “Dorkiness is not a synonym for social awkwardness, Aaricia.” Kory’s phone vibrated and her cheeks blushed out a blue shade when she saw the notification. “Oh shit.”

 “Is the snowstorm worsening? I hope our vacation gets extended by a week, I really want to go sailing in the Chesapeake Bay.”

 “No… CAPSICLE1918 just agreed to meet up with me.”

 “Hellig dritt!”

 “Language!” Kory warned. “Unless you want every American in this Krispy Kreme to know another way to say ‘holy shit’!”

 “But it’s awesome! Finally, you get a yes for a friendly get together that, you know, isn’t from our community or your drinking buddies.” Aaricia grinned.

 “What should I say?”

 “Let’s think for a bit.” Aaricia pulled out her phone. “We’re supposed to get to New York by tomorrow. Anytime of the week, we could check out the history museums, shopping, ice skating and strolling, disfiguring any public artwork of Stark, and of course, your trades…”

 “Exchanging spellbooks and artifacts is not illegal but the mystical version of those Little Free Libraries that Americans love so much.”

 “I know you don’t want to come see Wicked with me or go to MOMA or be my plus one for the tour of the Avengers Tower… Ask him if he’s available on Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday morning. Though do say that for Tuesday and Thursday, you’re available in the whole day and bring up that Saturday afternoon is when we leave.”

 Kory typed in her message, receiving a response shortly. “Wow… he says he might be able to see me on any of those days! He’s suggesting that I meet up with him on Tuesday for brunch and then he’d give me a tour of Brooklyn if I was interested.”

 “Either he has no friends or the security firm he works at gives too many off days!”

 Kory confirmed her rendezvous with CAPSICLE1918. The ladies eventually decided that it was time for them to get back to the Holiday Inn they were staying at. After finishing their drinks and wrapping the leftover donuts to go, Aaricia and Kory Ikolson headed to the parking space near Krispy Kreme where Kory had parked the van she had rented. A cold breeze harshly struck them, and when Aaricia noticed what was happening to Kory’s cheeks while the latter unlocked the van, Aaricia immediately shoved her sister into the driver’s seat and slammed the door.

 “What was that for?” Kory exclaimed when Aaricia got in and closed the door. The blonde teenager adjusted the mirror so that Kory could see the blue skin and red eyes revert back to their initial appearance as that of a green-eyed doll. “Damn it!”

 “I had to shove you in before someone could notice that you temporarily turned into your half-Frost Giant figure,” Aaricia apologized. “How did you not notice it?”

 “That breeze must have been colder than expected.” Kory checked the mirrors to make sure she looked human again. Once that was done, she inserted the keys and pulled the van out of the parking space. “I keep forgetting that the Americans don’t deal with the same kind of cold we deal with in Norway.”

 “You noticed how the news claim that nearly every place we visited suddenly got colder?”

 “Properly residues of my presence. You know how my Frost Giant capacities are. Even in Norway, whenever I go outside my house, the outside temperature drops by 10 degrees. But still, you’re right about the sudden appearance shift. I don’t want the American authorities to send out their nukes if they find out that some tourist can resist the cold.”

 “Especially when you’re a century in advance compared to L…”

 “Aaricia, I’m driving and would prefer to continue so in a calm fashion. Please don’t cause me to freak out,” Kory warned.

 “OK. The L-word will not be pronounced out loud. All I’m saying is that you’re WAY ahead of that jackass and let’s keep it that way. Forget the Americans nuking you if they see your blue skin; they’ll want to dissect you alive if they find out you’re related to him.”

 “The perks of being his offspring when he doesn’t even know his own offspring exists.” Kory rolled her eyes.

 “Relax! He’s been shipped off to Asgard for nearly a year now!” Aaricia tried to sound optimistic. “They already had him executed by now, given the trash he did around here.”

 “You’re probably right.” Kory chuckled in relief. “I mean, who’s stupid enough to imprison Loki for life, right?”

Chapter Text

Aaricia would probably never know until later that the Asgardians were actually stupid enough to imprison Loki for life. It had been nearly a year since he was imprisoned in the dungeons for his crimes against Asgard and Midgard, and he didn’t dare to break out. The reason as to why remained a mystery. Perhaps it was that Frigga still visited him and made his imprisonment look more like house arrest behind a force field than solitary confinement behind a force field.

 “If you’re here to appeal to my hidden good nature, you can drop it.” Loki didn’t even look up the astronomy book he was reading when Thor appeared on the other side of the forcefield. “Then again, I’m surprised you’re even here. Besides Frigga, Odin doesn’t let anyone near me, so your presence must signify something horrible.”

 “Quite.” Thor said. “There’s trouble on Midgard.”

 “Oh? Have the mortals ripped your friends to pieces because they want my head on a stick?” Loki mused.

 “No. The Frost Giants and the Chitauri are engaged in war, and they’ve chosen Midgard as the battleground.”

 That got the attention of the God of Mischief. His back had been turned the whole time, but now he put the book away and got up to properly look at Thor, green eyes versus blue eyes. “You take me for a fool? Those species have no common history.”

 “And yet they battle in random places on Midgard, but why they do it remains a mystery. Then I remembered how you have common history with them.”

 “Then you’re wasting time. I wouldn’t pit those two species against one another, especially with The Other’s threat still dangling over my head.”

 “The Other?”

 “A master’s servant who guides the Chitauri. The one I communicated with during my exchange. The one who vowed that if I failed, I’d endure something worse than pain.”

 Thor let out a stern scowl. “So, this leader does seek the way of extracting vengeance… Something the Jotun also seek out. And it’s on Midgard.”

 An explosion coming from above shook the walls that formed the dungeons. Both brothers looked shocked as the dust cleared. “That wasn’t me this time,” Loki retorted.
 “FROST GIANTS!” A guard screamed. “They made off with the Casket!”

 Leaving Loki in the dungeons, Thor used Mjolnir to fly out of the dungeons and towards the vault where Odin kept his treasures. No ice was present in the vault nor were there any corpses of a guard, which made no sense to Thor; the last time the Jotun came in an attempt to retrieve the Casket, they had left enough of a winter wasteland until the Destroyer burned them alive. But the Destroyer was no more and the Tesseract was still in its place. And no guard was harmed.

 “What… just happened?”

 “Prince Thor!” A guard came running in. “The King and Queen intercepted a Frost Giantess in the royal library! They kept her from stealing some tome, but she escaped! They demand to see you right now in the throne room!”

 “Thank you.” To that, Thor rushed his way to the throne room, where his parents were. Odin was sitting on his throne and holding his royal spear, thinking pensively while Frigga stood and held on to some sort of black-leathered book. “The Frost Giant took the Casket of Ancient Winters! How did they manage to sneak in? Loki never left his cell.”

 “It wasn’t Loki.” Frigga defensively shook her head.

 “It was another Frost Giant capable of shapeshifting,” Odin said. “Angerboda.”

 “The former advisor to Laufey.” Thor recognized the name. After Loki’s failed destruction of Jotunheim, Thor and Odin had exchanged treaties to end the war and bring back the truce. Contrary to Laufey, Loki, and what Thor once was, Angerboda was far calmer and more diplomatic than her superior. She had managed to lead a stable council of the best leaders to stabilize Jotunheim, but why would she sneak into Asgard? “She didn’t even request the return of the Casket when we reestablished the truce nor has she made claims during the last couple years. Why does she now claim it and by theft?”

 “The Casket does provide an infinite power over winter, but if my memory serves well, a proper incantation would unleash a power within the Casket similar to Mjolnir.” Odin gestured at Thor’s hammer. “Unable to be held and capable to provide certain death… unless the wielder is the rightful heir to the throne of Jotunheim.”

 “Since Loki killed Laufey and the Bifrost certainly destroyed whatever was left of the royal family, the Frost Giants have been without a monarch for a few years.” Frigga nodded. “Angerboda must be seeking out Frost Giants located on Earth, observing if they are connected to Laufey, and have them wield the Casket to see if one of them will become the next ruler.”

 “Then why hasn’t Angerboda simply asked us if we could help her?” Thor asked. “We could have helped her. Surely it meant something if she didn’t attack one of our warriors.”

 “Regardless if the Frost Giantess is ready for war or not, her forces are using the Casket against the Chitauri,” Odin told his son. “End the conflicts and bring back the Casket. Bring Loki if you think he might be useful as long as he bears the handcuffs that neutralize his magic.”

 “Understood, Father.”

 “And bring this with you.” Frigga held out the book she was carrying. “Besides your allies on Earth, don’t show this to anyone, not even your brother.”

 “Can’t be…” Thor’s eyes beamed when he saw the book.

Back in New York, at the Avengers Tower

It was a surprise, if not disgust, that overtook the Avengers when Thor came back via Bifrost at the Avengers Tower, not only with a book at hand but with a muzzled and handcuffed Loki. Fortunately, Tony Stark had been prepared and took a page out of Nick Fury’s book. He had a confinement chamber built to hold Loki, and with the regulated temperature, Loki was distracted by the heat to even perform a spell and the soundproof walls made him unable to hear what they were saying.

 “Where are the Captain, the Widow, and the Eye of Hawk?” Thor asked.

 “Romanoff and Barton went scouting to see if they could find out where the Chitauri and the Frost Giants could reappear next,” Banner explained. “And Steve had business in Brooklyn.”

 “So what’s the deal with that Anger Bride? Is she like an ice version of Hulk?” Tony asked as he casually brushed his fingers on the tome that Thor had placed on the table in the bar of Tony’s penthouse.

 “Angerboda, Stark. A Frost Giantess who used to serve Loki’s birth father, Laufey. After I destroyed the Bifrost and Loki disappeared, Angerboda had managed to assemble the finest leaders in Jotunheim to create a council to reinitiate our peace treaty and govern their kind. Apparently, they now decided to see if Laufey has any remaining relatives on Midgard who could become the rightful ruler of Jotunheim. Why she chose to steal the Casket rather than asking us still remains a mystery. But what I find even more curious is why she nearly stole this.”

 “An ancient book with a disturbing logo on it? What, did Reindeer Games’ old man have a diary?” Tony stared at the black-leathered book. The cover was adorned by a massive depiction of a wolf’s head biting down a serpent. The scales of the serpent and the fur of the wolf were designed out of Nordic patterns.

 “It’s the Tome of Ikolson.” Thor couldn’t resist showing off the glee in his smile. “When a grand mortal warrior goes to Valhalla and is the first in his family to do so, the Asgardians commemorate a legacy by creating an autobiographical tome of his family’s legacy. Even when shut and placed in the royal library, untouched for centuries, the tome keeps recording within its pages what happens to the family’s descendants”

 “And Ikolson is what, some Viking?” Tony rolled his eyes.

 “A great mortal warrior. Ikol was a mere orphan without recognition until he chose to risk his life and protect his village the first time the Frost Giants came to invade Midgard with the Casket. I was only a babe when it happened, but my father was there and witnessed Ikol slaying a dozen Frost Giants, even after one ripped off his arm! When the war was over, Laufey sent a monstrous serpent to destroy his village out of spite, but Ikol still managed to kill it! Because he was wearing a coat of wolfskin, they literally thought he was a wolf who ripped off the serpent’s flesh with his bare teeth!”

 “How charming…” Banner grimaced uneasily at the tome’s cover.

 “My father awarded wealth and prosperity to the family of Ikol for his deeds. He even had a cousin who joined Leif Erikson on his expedition to Vinland.” Thor smiled before sighing like a sad fan does when he misses the opportunity to go to a convention. “Ever since Ikol became a legend, he established a massive family of aristocratic warriors who all died gloriously in battle and went to Valhalla. But when those bearing the name of Ikolson never came to Valhalla for generations, we just stopped paying attention.”

 “They didn’t die gloriously?” Tony asked. “Or is Asgard picky when it comes to that?”

 “Of course not!” Thor shook his head. “No. I think it was somewhere in the 11^th or 12^th century. The Nordic mortals were converting to appeal to the expansion of Christianity… We assume that the Ikolson descendants chose to abandon the glory of battle and their worship to us for the sake of becoming servants to their new God. Regardless, if Angerboda was after the Tome of Ikolson, perhaps it has to do with Ikol’s history with the House of Laufey.”

 “You think that Angerboda s afraid that if Ikol has a living descendant, it could pose a problem for their mission to find Laufey’s replacement?” Banner attempted to open the book, but the jacket and pages wouldn’t budge. He tried to toughen up his pull, but it wouldn’t budge. “Seriously? Is this thing made of whatever Mjolnir is made of?”

 “Actually, legacy tomes such as this one have enchanted locks that can only be unlocked by the blood of the dedicated ones. I hoped one of you was clever enough to see if you could find a match to the blood of Ikolson. If Angerboda seeks to dispose of the descendant of Laufey’s mortal foe, I’d rather not spill innocent blood.”

 “We aren’t much into genetics, but we could try.” Banner shrugged.

 “Maybe a week or two at the least. It’s not exactly like an Ikolson is next to us. That is, if there is still one alive.”

Ironically, in Times Square

 Traffic was vicious in the streets of Times Square, especially on the rush hour of the Monday they were in. Claims had been going on that the expected 38 degrees Fahrenheit lowered to 28 just like that and people were shivering. If Tony Stark was really that aware of things, then he’d have noticed that Kory Ikolson was literally in Times Square, deciding which shops to enter with Aaricia. While waiting to cross the street, they saw the Avengers Tower rising above most of the skyscrapers in Manhattan.

 “You’re really going to go on tour in that?” Kory stuck out her tongue out in disgust. “Who’s dumb enough to plaster a big logo outside the headquarters of a crimefighting organization?”
 Aaricia tilted her head to have a better view of the tower. “Yeah, it’s true that from this perspective, the shape and the big A makes you wonder if they might be compensating for something!” Aaricia laughed her head off.

 Kory rolled her eyes before groaning in amusement. “Alvor? Jeg burde vaske munnen din med såpe, men du får meg til å le!”(Seriously? I should wash your mouth with soap but you make me laugh!”

 “Ja. Jeg er fantastisk på en slik komedie.” (Yes. I’m amazing at such comedy.) The pedestrian light turned on and they were able to cross the street. “You want to check out Forever 21?”

 “You want to check out Forever 21. I’m up for girl shopping and all, but clothes shopping doesn’t drive me nuts like a certain hormonal teenager I know.” Kory’s green eyes stared humorously at her sister.

 “No, I was asking you. It’s Monday. Tomorrow is when you meet up with your pal from WORLDBUDDIES…”

 “So?”

 “So don’t you want to look nice?”

 Kory groaned. “I got clothes enchanted to fit in my purse so that way there’s no need for useless, bulky luggage.”

 “And how many of them aren’t formal attire for public prayers, Sami-patterned, or laced with liquid nitrogen?” Aaricia pointed at the night blue coat Kory wore. It reached her hips, had splashes of star blue glitter, and black fur decorated the collar, the sleeves, and the coat’s end. “It’s also the 21^st century America. How do you think things will turn if people find out you’re actually wearing a fur coat from the 1920s?”

 “You know fully well that my mother wore it!” Kory clutched her coat protectively. “Even if it doesn’t fit modern standards anymore…and of course, it was a present from him, you know I refuse to dispose of it!”

 “I’m not saying to get rid of it… Just to be cautious…”

 “I know, I know…” Kory shook her head. “It’s just, you know how I am.” When Kory noticed her hand turning slightly blue, she shoved them into her coat’s pockets. “I hate him so much… I don’t want anything to do with him. And you know I devoted I am to my culture, my country, and what’s left of my family. And the liquid nitrogen is to keep me cooled down. Everything is unsafe outside the house.”

 “I know, sis.” Aaricia circled her arm around Kory’s. “I’m not asking to change anything about you, but you do have a first physical meeting with a new friend who, for once, isn’t from our community in Tønsberg or one of your drinking buddies. Sure, I don’t know what WORLDBUDDIES was thinking about establishing the ‘no pictures and no name reveals until you meet your friend in person’ rule. Even Facebook isn’t that classified.”

 “I do look forward to meeting him.” Kory smiled a bit. “He was very nice when we communicated for months. If it hadn’t been a last-minute suggestion, I would have gotten him a nice sketchbook from Norway. He said he liked to sketch in his spare time.”

 “Well what do you know?” Aaricia smirked. The sisters stopped and spotted a Blick Arts store just across the street from the nearest Forever 21. “You could get a sketchbook there, you hex it a bit back at the hotel so it looks original, and boom!”

 “Aaricia, you’re a genius!”

 It’s a miracle how no cars ran into them as they ran across the street.

At the same time

Steve had done his roundtrip around Brooklyn, assembling a list of ideas of what to show his new friend tomorrow. Granted, he should have been more focused about the conflict that now overshadowed the Avenger, but honestly, outside of SHIELD and the Avengers, he didn’t socialize a lot. Nearly every person he encountered primarily wanted to give gratitude or get an autograph from Captain America. None of them seemed interested in getting to know the skinny kid from Brooklyn who was still within the serum-induced physique. Maybe that one anonymous friend was worth a shot at an actual friendship.

 It was when he left Brooklyn and made his way to Manhattan that he realized he was out of charcoal pencils for his usual side-sketching and he should get something for PRINCESSOFMISCHIEF. He spotted a Blick Arts in Times Square and figured he’d make a stop there to get his supplies before going gift shopping somewhere else. It took him a while, but he managed to find a decent parking space only one street across from the store. After putting the lock on his bike, he made his rush. He’d prefer to get the stuff he needed and make it back to the Avengers Tower on time before Tony got any silly ideas as he usually does.

 He reached the door of the Blick Arts store, and barely after opening it, he ran into a person. Thanks to him being sturdier, any person who ran into would fall down, but surprisingly it was himwho fell butt first on the sidewalk.

 “I’m so sorry!” A woman’s voice exclaimed. “Are you alright?”

 “No, it’s fine.” When Steve got back to his senses, he saw a black-nail polished hand offering to help him up. When he accepted it, he felt a strange, cold tingling, as if his skin had suddenly dipped in cold water. Steve looked at the woman he ran into and was nearly thrown back.

 The young woman could only be a few years younger than he was physically and bordering a height of 6 feet at most. Her walnut brown hair went towards her shoulders in curls nearly similar to those of woman he had seen back in his day, only hers had a magenta streak sticking on her right side. Her emerald green eyes stuck out like stained glass as she stared at him. Her skin was slightly paler than most but she was purely healthy, her winter clothing was of dark colors, primarily black and blue, and with her fingers sticking out like they did, she almost reminded Steve of a porcelain doll. Likely to be fragile, but still, a lovely sight.

 But not fragile enough. The porcelain doll easily ran into him.

 “I apologize again for the inconvenience,” the porcelain doll apologized again.

 “I…” Steve began only to be interrupted by some sixteen-year-old blonde who grabbed the porcelain doll and urged into a run.

 “Kory, come on! We’re getting into that retail store whether you like it or not! You already bought what you needed!” With her back turned, the teenager’s leather jacket revealed the pasted image of that David Bowie actor Steve had seen hanging in a poster in the Avengers Tower, courtesy of Tony.

 “Hey, watch it!” Steve warned when he saw the two running across the street.

 “Mind your own business, boy toy!” The blonde girl cussed without even looking at him as the ladies finally dissolved in the crowd.

 “Teens…” Steve shook his head as he went inside the shop.

Later, back in the Avengers Tower

 Loki rubbed off the sweat on his head. The confinement chamber, despite the luxuries placed such as a bed and a desk, was really the sturdiest cell Loki had ever seen. The walls had some sort of technology that made him unable to hear what was going on in the rest of the tower, the temperature distracted him from performing the slightest spell, and the security cameras came with force fields, meaning that if he wanted to do something, he couldn’t break the camera to hide his acts.

 The door unlocked, only to immediately close the moment Thor came in with a mug and a bottle of Asgardian mead. “I thought you could use a drink,” he casually said. “Served cold, of course.”

 “As a bribery?” Loki asked.

 “As a concern.” Thor placed the mug and bottle on the desk. After waiting some minutes to see if it might be a trick of the sort, Loki only filled a quarter of his mug with mead. He was relieved when he didn’t catch a scent of poison, so he sipped the mead.

 “Why am I here?” Loki asked. “The Frost Giants and Chitauri are battling, yet you feel the need of having me transfer cells?”

 “I don’t plan on using you as bait, Loki,” Thor shook his head. “I’m trying to understand your involvement. The Frost Giants seek their next ruler and they stole the Casket for it. You said the Other wants revenge for you failing him. If things are put together, it means that the ruler the Frost Giants seek is someone the Other seeks to use against you. Are you certain you don’t know who it could be?”

 “I only knew Laufey long enough to trick and murder him,” Loki shrugged. “And I know nothing of his family. And I have no family.”

 Thor gave Loki a hurt look.

 “I’m being truthful, Thor. What use do the Frost Giants have of placing a son of Odin on the throne of Jotunheim?”

 “We had past traits. Are you certain you didn’t have involvements?”

 “Involvements like how you were a hopeless womanizer for years or involvements like what you have with that mortal of yours? Jane Foster, was it?”

 “What do you think?” Thor crossed his arms. “There were things you were never allowed to tell. Things that Father himself would refuse to slip. What if there was a chance… he wanted to hide the possibility of you having such involvements… and have an unexpected fruition?”

 Loki spit out his mead. “How dare you! I would never… GAAH!”

 The mug shattered when Loki let go. His appearance began to viciously shift from his current appearance to his natural Jotun form, like a virus glitching a computer. He yelled in agony and clutched his throbbing head.

 “LOKI!” Thor grabbed his brother in his arms. “LOKI, WHAT’S HAPPENING?”

 “WHAT’S HAPPENING TO ME?” Loki screamed. “I FEEL LIKE BLADES ARE PIERCING THROUGH MY SKULL! THOR, CEASE THIS!”

In some hotel in Hell’s Kitchen

Kory was getting a panic attack in the hotel room she and Aaricia were staying in. After that shopping trip and dinner at a nearby hotel, Kory had plans of hexing the sketchbook’s cover before going to bed, but barely after she began to pronounce the first syllable of a spell, she was viciously glitching from her half-Jotun appearance to her human one. Her cardiac reactions were causing the hotel room to viciously drop temperatures. If Aaricia hadn’t struck her head with the lamp from the nightstand, who knew if the hotel could have turned into an iceberg?

 The lamp was horribly dented, but surprisingly, it caused the glitching to end. Kory gasped frantically as her cold blue hands clutched the bedsheets.
 “Sis, what happened?” Aaricia tossed away the lamp and rushed by Kory’s side.

 “How should I know? It felt like all of a sudden, a powerful magical surge intercepted with my spell! I don’t know what it is!” Kory panicked.

 “This never happened before during the trip…” Aaricia made sure the curtains were tightly shut. Snow was trailing its way down from the sky. “Then again, it’s New York… You think that what happened last spring could be affecting you?”

 “I need a fucking drink.” Kory bolted up and searched through the room’s small fridge, where they took the liberty of placing the beverages they had brought for the trip. Aaricia watched as her sister drank a whole bottle of Asgardian mead to the last drop. Her semi-Jotun form gradually disappeared, getting replaced by her humane one. “I really cannot stand the idea of panic attacks, especially if they have any connections with him! If it worsens in New York, it’s the last time I let you pick our vacation destinations!”

 “Hey.” Rather than coming up with a protest like she usually did, Aaricia went to give Kory a hug. “It’s going to be fine. He’s no longer on Earth, remember?”

 “True, but…”

 “You’re stressed, traumatized, and angry. I know I can never imagine what you went through, but I’m here. And I’m not leaving you alone… Well, OK, besides tomorrow, but still…”

 “I get it.” Kory tightened the hug before eventually letting go. She went to pick up the sketchbook she accidentally dropped. “I’ll have to take a break on spells. Damn. I really wanted to give his sketchbook a nice cover.”

 “Well… I guess that my suggestion of just hexing it would have been too much of a shortcut.” Aaricia shrugged. “We could just use your weaving kit to create a nicely woven book jacket. He might actually like it better if you gave him something homemade.”

 “That’s a good idea.” Kory put down the sketchbook before going through her suitcase. “I’ll call your help punishment for your lousy behavior.”

 “Me? Lousy behavior?” Aaricia faked gasping in shock. “Whoever was I lousy?”

 “Gee, maybe because we went through 10 stores just so you could find me a turtleneck, you flirted with the waitress so we’d pay less, and of course, the slang you used on that man I accidentally knocked into at the art store.”

 Aaricia scoffed. “He’s a know-it-all American.”

 “You called him a boy toy. I don’t even know if it offends the young men or the old ladies like me. If we hadn’t been in such a rush, I’d have forced you to apologize to his face.”

 “There’s at least a million males in the Big Apple! It’s not like we’re going to run into him tomorrow!”

Chapter Text

Thor was keeping an eye on Loki, who had been sedated so Tony and Banner could check him at their medical ward. He had been sleeping there all night and he was still unconscious when Tuesday morning came. Barton and Romanoff were still on the lookout for potential sightings of Frost Giants and Chitauri. You’d think that Captain America would get himself ready for anything, right?

 Of course not. He was just about done getting ready for his rendezvous: khaki pants, a blue sweater, his biker coat, and some brown boots. After seconds of hesitation, he only put a speck of cologne on him. He didn’t want to find out if Tony could smell cologne from across the tower and start asking questions. He picked up the small package wrapped in blue paper, his gift for PRINCESSOFMISCHIEF. He was very eager to meet her. They planned on meeting at 10:30 at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and take a small stroll before brunch.

 As he began to safely place the gift in a safe pocket within his coat, he accidentally brushed off the desk the sketches he had done last night. He picked them up one by one, nearly spending ten seconds staring again at the sketch of the porcelain doll. He wasn’t exactly quite sure why he drew her face; then again, such details were hard to miss.

 The others were still in the medical ward when he made his exit towards the elevator. His bike was parked outside the Avengers Tower on ground level, so he’d have an immediate way out of here.

 It took him probably about 24 minutes to drive his way from Manhattan to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Snow was coating most of the park, but people still took the leisure of going for strolls there or bringing their children to have fun in the snow. By the time he reached a good parking space near the park’s entrance, his phone beeped. He had received a message from PRINCESSOFMISCHIEF.

 I’m already at the park.

 I just got here. Where are you right now?

At the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden.

 See you there then.

  As he went further through the park, he noticed a strange feeling of euphoria. The snow that gently coated the grass were so white and fluffy, they reminded Steve of pillows when he spotted children jumping around and making snow angels. Along with some snow coating, some ice dangled from branches, causing them to look like shining glass beads under the sunlight. Couples passing by suddenly got excited when they spotted some pieces of mistletoe hanging from trees.

 It’s March and the whole place is a winter wonderland, Steve mused.

 He reached the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden. Not a lot of people were around and they didn’t even notice that somebody had decided to take advantage of the frozen pond to go figure skating. Steve had to admit though, the individual was a spectacular skater. Then after some perfect axel spins and straight gliding, he immediately recognized the porcelain doll from yesterday. Completely ignorant that she was being observed and skating around the pond seemingly undetected, she almost looked like a blue angel.

“I wonder…” Steve pulled out his phone and sent a message to PRINCESSOFMISCHIEF.

Great performance. Did you train for the Olympics?

 He looked up. The skating angel pulled out a phone, widened her eyes at the message, and looked up to see Steve waving at her. She immediately skated towards him and came to a smooth halt. When she got close enough to the pond, Steve realized that she didn’t wear any skates.

 “CAPSICLE1918, I presume?” She awkwardly smiled. “I’ll have to murder my sister later.”

 “If she could survive traffic in Times Square, I think she’ll survive your wrath.” Steve laughed a bit. “How long have you learned to move on ice without skates?”

 “All my life. It’s handy for winter sports when you go to remote places in the fjord.” When Steve held out his hand to help her get back on the mainland, she accepted. The cold tingling from yesterday came back when his hand touched hers. “I’m Kory Ikolson. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

 “Steve Rogers,” he greeted back.

 “Steve Rogers?” For a moment, Steve was worried that she might recognize him as Captain America. “Like that Montreal Expos pitcher from the 70s and 80s?”

 “I guess. I never asked.” Steve felt relieved.

 “Call me old-fashioned, but I still listen to old games from the 20^th century. The ones of today are overly merchandised.”

 Steve smirked. “Indeed.”

Back at the Avengers Tower

 Loki had finally awoken, but he was still shaken by the violent glitching of last night. Banner had to put him on a breathing to ease up his respiration.

 “His heart suffered some sort of violent cardiac reaction,” Tony told Thor as they checked the holographic displays of the various screenings that had been performed over Loki. “I’m surprised he even had one.”

 “I don’t feel in the mood of your jokes, especially when it comes to my brother’s heath,” Thor frowned.

 “Sorry. I know you Asgardians have a stronger metabolism than humans, but I got nothing that could explain why Reindeer Games’ healthy body suddenly cracked. He doesn’t seem like the guys I’ve known who lost it after getting high, but he could have panicked out of trauma. I had one of those after New York.”

 “If trauma was to affect Loki’s health, then he did a perfect job hiding it. Tantrums are usually his thing…”

 “Or we’re not looking in the right perspective,” Banner suggested. “The Other wants revenge on Loki. What if he was using a sort of psychological torture?” The idea might have sounded authentic, given Loki’s panicked reaction.

 “Odin’s beard, no!” He said. “He ceased communications with me since my failure!”

 “How did you communicate?” Thor asked.

 “Telepathy…through the scepter.”

 The Avengers stared at one another in concern. “We might need to contact Fury… in case the Chitauri might steal the scepter.”

In Brooklyn

With Aaricia having taken the subway to do her things and Kory had come to the rendezvous point through her own measures, Steve was more than happy to give Kory a ride on his motorcycle to the café he had in mind for brunch. Kory held herself well during the ride, even though the location was only a dozen minutes away from the Botanic Gardens.

 “Not too old-fashioned?” Steve asked when he managed to park his bike. It had been fashioned to resemble his old Harley-Davidson back from the war.

 “Not really.” Kory shrugged as she stepped off the bike. “I’ve seen stranger things on my Vincent Rapide.”

 “You own a Vincent Rapide motorcycle?” Steve was amazed.

 “I’m a strange collector. Somebody had that beauty back at a flea market in my hometown, so I bought it.”

 They stepped in the café, which also worked as a bakery. Though it had been renovated for modern purposes, it kept some traditional décor of the way it used to be back in the 1920s. Part of the reasons Steve chose this place. It was a weekday, so not a lot of people were there. The waiter gave Steve and Kory some space after directing them to a brown-colored booth and handed them the menus.

 “I know it’s short notice, but I felt I’d be rude if I didn’t get you something.” Kory pulled out of her black purse a red paper wrapped present.

 “What were the odds?” Steve pulled out his and the two exchanged it. Knowing how he first ran into her outside of Blick Arts, it didn’t surprise him when he found a sketchbook when he opened the gift, but he was more surprised by the handwoven book jacket: strings of white, red, and blue, perfectly woven to represent an eagle shaped out of figured carvings. He couldn’t even believe how perfectly woven it was when he touched it. It was obviously made of thick threads, but the tightness made it sturdier than leather. “You made this?”

 “My sister helped me out a bit. I still need to kill her for her insult.” Kory’s green eyes widened when she unwrapped the box that Steve had given her. “No way! Sakura seeds?”

 “You said in our chats that you always wanted cherry blossoms in your yard and I got the idea since we had plans of meeting at the Botanic Gardens. I managed to find a guy who could help me out.”

 “Thank you so much.”

 They had to put their gifts away when the waiter came asking if they wanted drinks. Steve went for decaffeinated coffee while Kory asked for medium hot peppermint tea. “So, what’s your sister doing right now?”

 “Performing the biggest marathon of art galleries that humanity didn’t know existed,” Kory said. “She and I plan on making up for lost time by going ice skating tomorrow at Central Park.”

 “How come you didn’t want to go with her?”

 “I’m not very comfortable in art museums.” Steve gave her a confused frown. “Don’t get me wrong. I like the arts, but I don’t like places where they’re exposed. I don’t like being reminded that my mother first met my father in an art museum… and he abandoned her. He left without even knowing that she was a few weeks pregnant.”

 “I’m sorry,” Steve said sympathetically. “I never met my father either. He died on the front before I was born.”

 “Never met your father either, huh?” Kory sighed. “What about your mother?”

 “Tuberculosis took her. I was in my late teens when it happened.”

 “That recent?” For a moment, Steve almost forgot that he wasn’t bringing up his actual age, but he went with it. “How are you handling it?”

 “It hurts even though I move on.”

 “I can imagine. My own mother died when someone threw a bomb in Tønsberg. It’s been a long while since it happened…”

 “How are you coping?” As Steve asked the question, the waiter came with their drinks.

 “It’s a struggle,” Kory shrugged. She gave out a small blow on her tea before taking a sip. “I work my way around it, but it’s never easy. I never know when the next time will come for something to pull the trigger. No days are easy. Adopting Aaricia did help me avoid the solitude, but the guilt persists. And things are never easy, being me.”

 “Have you done therapy?”

 “The only therapist I can afford is incompetent.” She rolled her green eyes. “I give my exact words and he acts like I just gave him the script to some adult American series.” Kory looked at Steve. “What about you?”

 “Me and therapists? Not so much lately.”

 “Didn’t you say in your messages that you used to be in the military before joining the security firm?”

 “I did.”

 “How are you coping?”

 “Working on it… I lost a lot of people I knew… My childhood best friend included. Things were very different when I left and joined the security firm. And the doctors I deal with nowadays seem to find it more urgent for me to move forward. To catch up with the things ahead of me.”

 “I can’t say I’m surprised. Minus you, my sister, and maybe a couple other respectable people, most people are jerks.” Kory shook her head. “I’m terribly sorry. I didn’t want to turn our first longest conversation into a mourning.”

 “It’s OK.” Steve smiled. He surprisingly found it enjoyable, being able to relate with someone on such matters. “And how are you enjoying your trip to the US?”

 “Surprisingly delightful.” Kory until the waiter was done taking their order to continue. “We recently came from Philadelphia. Very enjoyable in the music department. We’re currently staying at a hotel in Hell’s Kitchen but try to make the most of New York. DC is our last stop before going home.”

 “Have you managed to visit any synagogues?” Steve remembered that Kory was both Norwegian and Jewish.

 “We did make some numerous stops, and let me tell you, I was jealous! Do you realize that back in Norway, we have to drive all the way to Oslo just to go to the nearest one?”

 “Tønsberg doesn’t have any?”

 “Tragically, no. Just a bunch of churches.”

 “Did you have your bat mitzvah in Oslo then?”

 “Heavens no! After that scandal with having me out of wedlock, my mother’s closest associates wouldn’t permit that I became like my father! For all they knew, he could have been a pagan. I lived and was raised by my mother, but they enforced what they deemed a ‘decent’ education for me. They had things organized and I had my bat mitzvah in Jerusalem.”

 “Wow! That much pressure?”

 “To be fair, my mother had lost her parents barely a couple years before my father courted her. Apparently, his reasons for leaving her was out of family disapproval and she was just too understanding for her own good. So, you know… The associates thought she was disgracing her parents by having me, so they thought they were taking precautions. They were actually the ones who had me take ballet and ice skating. Hopes for the Olympics until I sprained my ankle at the age of 14.”

 “But you did it so well back at the park,” Steve complimented, causing a bluish red hue to appear on Kory’s cheeks as she blushed.

In Harlem

 In some ignored alley, a blue-colored portal opened. Frost covered the brick walls as three Frost Giants emerged, one of them being Angerboda.

 “Ugh. New York City.” The sole male of the group scowled. “The capital of mortal plagues. Why is our future ruler here?”

 “Complain later, Utgard-Loki,” Angerboda warned him. “Things aren’t working out as we intended. The Asgardians know what we are after and Thor took the tome of Ikolson. We must recover it.”

 “Couldn’t you have just asked Odin if we could borrow the tome and the Casket?” The other Frost Giantess asked. “Why the secrecy?”

 “Gerd, how do you think the Allfather would react if he found out we were seeking the daughter of his dastardly son? There was obviously a reason why he had Loki abandon the heir’s poor mother before she herself discovered what awaited her.” Angerboda let out a sad sigh. “Note to self. Once we coronate the heir, we’ll have to create a memorial for her mother.”

 The Frost Giants double-checked to make sure no random mortal was passing by. Fortunately, the mortals were too busy focusing on moving through the cold streets, nobody would have cared if the Frost Giants placed their enchanted cuff bracelets on their left forearms. Angerboda and Gerd both transformed into platinum-haired women while Utgard-Loki took on the appearance of a bald, bearded man. All of them wore blue-leathered coats, black pants, and snow boots.

 “I don’t think this camouflage will last.” Gerd gestured at the dark skin of her camouflage; it struggled with her natural blue skin.

 “It’s not supposed to. Cover your hands.” Angerboda adjusted her bracelet, causing blue gloves to cover her hands. Her compatriots imitated her gesture. After some double caution, the three casually made their way into the open street. As expected, none of the mortals imagined that the group dressed like bikers would actually be Frost Giants. “Those bracelets will only shield us 12 hours and will need 12 hours to recharge. That doesn’t give us much time to explore the city, but that gives us enough time to perform better than the previous nincompoops.”

 “They tried, Angerboda,” Gerd said. “We don’t even know why the heir moves around here. I thought she lived in Norway!”

 “She must be oblivious.” Utgard-Loki shrugged. “Or lucky. The Chitauri and our soldiers get to the sites when she’s already gone.”

 “One step at a time, my friends.” Angerboda snapped her fingers. “We divide tasks. First problem. Thor has the Tome of Ikolson. He knows we’re after it and he knows only an Ikolson can open it. We can’t afford to have his band of merry men come after us, so Utgard-Loki, you will find Thor and reclaim the tome. Secondly, with the damage our soldiers caused with the Chitauri, I am not surprised if Thor’s friends or those wannabes from SHIELD…”

 “You’d think the mortals would get creative!” Gert snorted.

 “But you are. And if there’s one magic mortals still cannot comprehend, it’s Jotun ice. Freeze whatever knowledge they might have of the situation and collect whatever you can on the heir. Collect, copy, and freeze.”

 Gerd nodded.

 “And what will you do?” Utgard-Loki asked.

 “Trace out what I can on the heir. We must find her before the Chitauri do. We split and get back here in 10 hours.”

Around 7pm in Hell’s Kitchen

 Aaricia tapped her fingers as she waited on the bench outside of the hotel. The art gallery excursion was fun, but she found out that thanks to a fire hazard inspection, they had cancelled the Wicked performance she had hoped to watch on Thursday.

 The sun was setting and Aaricia could see the rainbow clouds shrouding the sky over the skyscrapers. Snow was gently falling down, which could only mean one thing. Kory was coming back. Aaricia sat upright, expecting her sister to come out of a cab. To her shock, she saw her sister riding on the back of a motorcycle… driven by the same guy she had insulted yesterday.

 “Wow, what were the odds?” She whistled. “Had fun without me?”

 “You’re still in trouble,” Kory casually told her as she got off the motorcycle. She gave back to Steve the spare helmet. “Thanks again for everything, Steve.”

 Aaricia failed to hold the giggle in. “Steve?”

 Kory shot her a frustrated glare.

 “Your sister?” Steve asked Kory.

 “I apologize. Aaricia, this is Steve Rogers, my friend from WORLDBUDDIES. Steve, this is Aaricia, my eccentric little sister who still owes you an apology.”

 “I apologize for calling you a boy toy, Steve.” Aaricia still couldn’t resist laughing. “I would have gone for Baseball Cap if I knew you had the same name as…”

 “The pitcher from the Montreal Expos. So I’ve heard,” Steve shrugged before going back to Kory. “I’ll see you on Thursday then?”

 His question caused Aaricia’s blue eyes to widen in surprise. That day together had been so well?

 “Thursday.” Kory nodded.

 “Would you like me to pick you up here?”

 “Well unfortunately, I didn’t bring my bike from Norway. I would have loved for a friendly race.”

 Steve smirked. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

 “10:30?”

 “We’ll make it 10.”

 Aaricia watched as the two shook hands and exchanged good-byes. They watched Steve drive away, and by the time the sisters finally decided to go inside, Aaricia could see the massive happiness displayed on Kory’s face: the bluish red blush on her pale cheeks and her green eyes glimmering. “Should I freak out?” Aaricia jokingly asked when they got inside the elevator and she pushed the button for the 6^th floor. “I think the last time I nearly saw you this happy was when they had that flea market back in Tønsberg.”

 “I had such a great day!” Kory sighed. “Finally, a friend who doesn’t judge me because of, well, me.”

 “You told him?”

 “Of course I didn’t! No really, could you imagine it? ‘I hope this doesn’t damage our friendship, but I happen to be the 92-year-old daughter of the God of Mischief. You know, the same guy who trashed your hometown with an alien invasion?’” Kory rolled her eyes. Since their hotel room was closest to the elevator, they immediately went inside as soon as they got out. Both sisters randomly threw their purses on the carpeted floor and jumped on the velvet-colored beds. “Two decades of being reprimanded for being a pagan’s child and my poor mother’s burden. Seven decades of being ostracized by both mortals and immortals just for surviving or for my heritage. An eternity of doing what I do best, which is remaining in the shadows…” Kory sighs and looks at the ceiling as she continues talking. “Then there is Steve. He’s so… different.”

 “Do enlighten me.” Aaricia lied down on her stomach and stared at Kory. “What happened today?”

 “We met at the Botanic Garden, he took me for a ride to this café where we had lunch, then he showed me around Brooklyn…” Kory chuckled. “He remembers very well every spot where he was beat up as a kid. We talked as we did everything, and we had dinner at this nice restaurant by the river. We got to see the sunset. It went all well, we’re meeting up again on Thursday. We’re thinking Coney Island and the Lefrak Center at Lakeside Prospect Park.”

 “A friendly get-together at an American carny and ice-skating rink that ain’t in Central Park?” Aaricia raised her eyebrows. “Wow. So he isn’t some hopeless American douchebag.”

 “Why would you think that?”

 “You lost track of the amount of random assholes we’ve met on this trip. At least it’s a relief that he has a personality under that blonde Superman mold.”

 “I can see where you’re going with that comparison. It’s understandable, but there’s so much more to him than that!” Kory sat up. “When you talk to him, you can see that he really listens when his eyes specifically stare right at yours and he stays in a respectful, but comfortable pose. When he gives you a response, he knows exactly which words to use. He makes it clear he heard everything you said and his responses are in context. And when you listen to his words thoroughly, you can hear that despite anything that happens, he has genuine kindness in his tone. When the topics led to similar personal experiences, we talked a lot. Steve is just relatable! Honestly, after all these decades, I never thought I’d meet a mortal who could be so kind and understanding, relating with certain things I went through without even telling him the entirety! He paid good attention to the messages we exchanged, so he asked a lot of good questions. He also got me a box of Sakura seeds for me to plant back home!”

 “Uh. And here I was worried he’d get you a necklace. At least you made yourself a decent friend.”

 “Concerning decent or indecent, how was your day?” Kory got up and went to fill herself a glass of bourbon. She moved her fingers to form ice cubes that dropped into the beverage, creating a sizzling sound.

 “I lost track of the amount of security guards I flirted with so I wouldn’t have to pay for most of the galleries. I did pay the whole thing at MOMA. Then I found out that a fire safety hazard had them cancel the Wicked presentation for the whole week, so I can push my tour of the Avengers Tower to earlier on Thursday, and I accidentally spilled my drink on some biker at a Harlem pub.”

 “It’s a phenomenon that the mortal police still hasn’t arrested you. Your hedonistic tendencies could lead to worse things…” Kory took a sip of her bourbon.

 “Well, it’s like you always say. ‘Simple humans are self-entitled and pathetic.’ I can’t believe I was born in this dumb wasteland! I walked in a pub and I didn’t even wink to get in! Those idiots didn’t even ask me for an ID!” Aaricia took a sniff of her David Bowie jacket. “Even the stench should have gotten me pulled over! I’m taking a shower!”

At the Avengers Tower

 Tony ended his call with Nick Fury.

 “Well?” Natasha had come back from doing a surveillance check and switched places with Thor, who had gone to scavenge the country through the skies for any signs of the Chitauri or the Frost Giants.

 “Fury says that SHIELD tripled its security of the scepter at some classified area,” Tony said. “Still doesn’t explain how the Other managed to psychologically torture Loki without the scepter.”

 “You want me to weasel stuff out of him again?”

 “Nah. He’s passed out in solitary confinement. Besides, he’s so sure he’s out of info…”

 The elevator door dinged and Cap came back in. They hadn’t seen him all day, so they were surprised to see him in such a cheerful mood. “Where’ve you been?” Tony asked.

 “Moving around in Brooklyn. Why? Have the Chitauri and Frost Giants attacked?” Steve responded.

 “Nothing yet. Thor went to check the skies à la Superman, but who knows if the aliens and Abominable Snowmen will stick their faces out.”

 “Good.” Cap started making his way to the kitchen and make himself a cup of coffee. By the time the mug was full, he saw that Tony and Natasha were staring at him strangely. “What?”

 “Did you seriously ‘what’ me? You got that smile I got whenever I leave Vegas!” Tony smirked.

 “I don’t gamble.” Steve frowned.

 “Yeah, don’t tell Pepper, but when I say ‘leave Vegas’, I mean ‘had a really good time’. So, who’s the girlfriend?”

 Cap spit his coffee on the fancy counter, causing Tony to laugh and Natasha to widen her eyes.

 “For real?” Natasha asked.

 “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Cap protested and rubbed the coffee off his face.

 “Our Capsicle is all grown up!” Tony kept chuckling and went to pat Cap on the shoulder. “You realize this will be great for your Facebook account? Captain America is no longer single! Ladies of America will be heartbroken!”

 “Stark, I don’t do Facebook…”

 “You should.”

 “And she’s just a friend. We only met in person today. We talked online for months. Besides… I didn’t tell her I was Captain America.”

 This threw off the others a bit. “Why not?” Natasha asked.

 “It’s none of your business. And since I’d rather not have the Avengers damage my one chance at a regular friendship, I’d rather not talk about it.” Cap used a napkin to grab his mug and made his way out. He remained silent as he took the elevator down to his apartment.

 “Bummer. I would have been curious to meet her,” Tony shrugged.

 “Give him a break, Tony,” Natasha said. “When you see the way women look at him whenever his exits coincide with tours at the tower, it’s obvious that they’re more interested in Captain America than Steve Rogers. The last time any woman reversed the script was Peggy Carter and she’s now retired in London. Maybe he’d prefer if his new friend got to know him better as he is rather than how he is.”

 “I get it. Wanna bet that they’ll start dating at the end of the month?”

 “I say two weeks. Loser cleans the other’s quarters for the rest of the year.”

 And the two shook on it.

Chapter Text

Wednesday morning, barely around 2am, and everyone had to be fast asleep. Even the security guards on the ground floor of the Avengers Tower looked like they were ready to pass out. Utgard-Loki and Gerd cautiously observed from an alley just across from the tower.

 “Balls of Jotunheim! Thor left!” Utgard-Loki cussed. “I can’t race after him to find out where he put the tome! We barely have an hour left until we need to return to Angerboda!”

 “And Thor would have to be stupid to leave the tome unattended in this fortress. Let’s see what we can get from my task.” Gerd leaned her head up and saw the different positioned cameras on the exterior. She removed her glove and tapped the ground with her blue fingers, summoning frost to slither its way through the street and sidewalks, up the walls, and shatter the cameras through ice. The two disguised Frost Giants then ran their way across the street and reached the front doors.

 “Now what?” Utgard-Loki asked.

 “Just going inside in person would be too risky, but I need to gain access to those machines that humans use to acquire information. My imagination is that the Avengers must have the best ones,” Gerd said.

 “And we are the best of the Frost Giants.”

 Both Frost Giants crossed their arms. Their bodies became transparent and of icy winds that flew through the doorway. If anyone was on the ground levels, they would have felt a strange gust of cold and probably gone to check if the AC was functioning. Nobody would have noticed the two Frost Giants moving like icy winds through the elevator shaft and exit the moment they reached the main floor of the Avengers’ HQ. In her icy wind form, Gerd penetrated the walls and froze the security system. Certain that nothing would disturb them, the two Frost Giants transformed back into their humanoid disguises. Unfortunately, because of their temporary shapeshift, the blue skins of their arms and their red eyes were revealing themselves. They ignored the mishap and made their way to the lab.

 Once she found the computer, Gerd sat in front of it and turned on the access to Stark’s vast access of files. “I didn’t think you’d easily access the information withheld by mortal technology,” Utgard-Loki said impressed.

 “Our comrades forget that mortal technology is primitive compared to that of Asgardians. If I can learn to mess with their systems, then the mortals’ systems are easier than feasting a yak on the winter solstice.” Gerd looked through the files. “Let’s see… If I apply the right key words…” Nothing popped up. “It looks like the heir doesn’t appear in any files the merry men carry. The tricky part will be using their systems to hack through SHIELD’s database.”

 “I thought you said it would be easy.”

 “Yes, but this SHIELD is too safe at their distance. My best imagination is that the moment I start stealing files and erasing them, they will warn the merry men.”

 “Balls of Jotunheim!” Utgard-Loki cussed. “How much time do we have?”

 “Give me 20 minutes… Starting now.” Gerd pressed the button.

A few seconds later, at the SHIELD Helicarrier

 Alarms were ringing all over the main deck at the Helicarrier. Nick Fury and Maria Hill rushed in to see agents panicking as the screens flashed glitching images of a skulled snowflake.

 “What’s going on?” Nick Fury demanded.

 “Sir, we are being hacked!” An agent furiously typed on his keyboard. “Random files are getting destroyed and we can’t use any of our protocols against the hacker!”

 “Any way of tracing it?”

 “Yes! But sir, it’s coming from the Avengers Tower!”

 “Well get Stark on the line!”

Back at the Stark Tower

“You know, it just occurred to me,” Gerd said as she managed to hack, save and delete 66% of the files on the computer, “why does Angerboda feel the need of hiding information about the heir on human technology?”

 “To ensure her safety and discourage Thor and his merry men from gaining further information,” Utgard-Loki said. He kept his eyes on the door.

 “Is that what she told you or is that what you believe?”

Utgard-Loki stared at Gerd. The files were now reaching 87%. “Why the doubt?”

 “You must admit that it’s strange. Despite the obvious blood of Laufey running in her veins, you can’t deny that her parentage makes her further connected to the House of Odin. And with Thor having battled the Chitauri, his help would at least be the source of acknowledgement.” The files reached 93%. Gerd continued talking. “Don’t you think it’s strange that rather than outright telling off Odin for denying the heir’s existence to his people and request his help, she proceeds to tricks and theft? She might as well have degraded Jotunheim to when Thor still had an explosive ego.”

 The files finally reached 100%. Gerd managed to save the files on a USB file that she stored in a zipper pocket within her jacket.

 “I’m certain Angerboda has reasons of proceeding with such secrecy. With all her resourcefulness, you know she managed to remain for thousands of years as Laufey’s most trusted and favorited advisor.” Utgard-Loki shrugged it off. “Odin was willing to lie to his own kingdom for thousands of years that he had a Frost Giant in his court. Do you have any idea of the downfall it would be for the Asgardians’ reputation? First a Frost Giant, and now, a semi-divine abomination? No offense to the heir.”

 A crash came in through the lab’s glass wall. Gerd and Utgard-Loki dodged what they recognized as Mjolnir and got up to discover that their disguises had worn off. Mjolnir came right back into the hands of Thor, backed up by the obviously tired Avengers. “Oh look, it’s Thor and the merry men,” Gerd replied sarcastically.

 “Gerd and Utgard-Loki?” Thor frowned when he recognized them.

 “You know them?” Iron Man frowned inside his armor, wondering why the male Frost Giant almost had the same name as the other Frost Giant who was currently locked up in his ‘comfy cell’.

 “Aye. Utgard-Loki, the royal sorcerer to Laufey’s court, and Gerd.” Thor looked coldly at her. “You cost my comrade’s life.”

 “Hey, it was not my fault if Frey was smitten by me, practically stalked me, gave up his sword to marry me, and got killed by Surtur in the first place!” Gerd retorted in defense.

 “Eh, I don’t know. I’d put you at number three after Angerboda and the heir,” Utgard-Loki shrugged.

 “Thank you,” Gerd said drily.

 “You two can go back to debating on your favorite beauty queens when you return those files.” Iron Man held out his hand. “Now.”

 “No,” the two Frost Giants responded.

 “There’s no need to fight,” Thor said. “No lives need to be wasted.”

 “Ha!” Utgard-Loki laughed to the point of nearly causing the lab’s temperature to drop. “The last time I saw you on Jotunheim, you were craving to waste thousands of Jotun lives! And the last time we heard of your brother, he managed to kill hundreds with the Bifrost!”

 “I’ve changed…” Despite his confident approach, Thor still had the guilty expression in his eyes.

 “And what? You’ll kill us?” Utgard-Loki continued. “Will you destroy more Frost Giants until you lay your hands on the rightful heir of Jotunheim? Chain the heir like the barbarians you Asgardians think we are? Present the heir to your father like a pig waiting to be butchered?”

 “Why would Odin do that?” Black Widow’s question made Gerd angrily shoot a glare at Utgard-Loki. Clearly, he hadn’t expected such a slip up.

 “And we’re out!” Gerd crossed her arms and turned into an icy wind that slapped Thor across the room. Iron Man shot a blast at her, but Utgard-Loki retaliated by freezing the blast, grabbing it, and swinging Iron Man away like a frozen baseball bat to an iron ball. Banner ran to hide, preferring to avoid transforming into the Hulk. After Gerd froze Black Widow’s hands to keep her from shooting, Hawkeye jumped angrily at Gerd, only for Utgard-Loki to clench his fists and have pipes rip off the wall and coil around Hawkeye, trapping him like a small bird in the middle of a snake pit.

 The sound of a spinning shield echoed and the Frost Giants were stunned when it struck them in the same method of a pinball machine. Out of the shadows came out Captain America, or in this case, Steve Rogers in his 1940s fashioned pajamas.

 “Enough!” He said. “There’s no need to fight!”

 “If it isn’t everyone’s dream warrior!” Utgard-Loki rolled his eyes. “Honestly, there wasn’t a single street I passed today where a mortal female wouldn’t stop fawning over you! You’re almost as bad as Thor and his list of paramours!”

 “Then again, we find it admirable that you were able to stay alive and with your brain intact in ice.” Gerd smirked at Utgard-Loki. “Come to think of it. Utgard-Loki, you think that Angerboda might give us extra credit if the heir gets presented a frozen captain statue to decorate the throne room?”

 “I don’t know what the heir’s taste in décor is, but I enjoy the idea of a more permanent freeze!” Utgard-Loki let out a usually viciously sneer and started shooting ice blasts at Steve. Panic overwhelmed Steve as he dodged the icy blasts that trapped in ice anything it touched. When he threw his shield at them, they were left with a frozen vibranium shield. “Where are you going, soldier?” Utgard-Loki taunted. “There’s no need for such cold distance!”

 “YOU WILL NOT TURN MY FRIEND INTO AN ICE STATUE!” Thor snarled as he tossed Mjolnir at Utgard-Loki’s chest. While Thor distracted the Frost Giants, Banner got an idea.

 “JARVIS! Pull up the indoor temperature to max capacity!” Banner shouted to the tower AI.

 “Sir, Mr. Stark’s highest capacity for temperature nearly matches the heat signature of his arc reactor…”

 “DO IT!”

 The AI proceeded with the order. The room quickly went up; by the time it reached 80 degrees, Gerd and Utgard-Loki were getting woozy. 100 degrees and their icy blasts were melting. 150 degrees and Gerd was beginning to lose balance. Utgard-Loki took the opportunity to throw her over his shoulder, throw the couch out the window, and jump down the massive height of the tower. Because a snowstorm was brewing, going after them was nearly impossible. The heat had caused the ice to melt off, so Steve went to pick up his shield, yet still internally frightened that the two Frost Giants were thinking of putting him back in ice. Black Widow was now free of her icy bonds and went to pull Hawkeye out of the pipe cage.

 “My friend…” Thor rushed to Steve’s side. The captain was clutching on to his shield, probably holding on to the only thing he could relate to safety right now. In his head, memories of plunging into the Artic waters in that HYDRA plane, the cold overwhelming him, darkness shrouding him, and waking seventy years into the future, all these images were flashing in front of his eyes. And the two Frost Giants had suggested freezing him again for permanent interior design.

 “They won’t hurt you.” Thor rested his hand on Steve’s shoulder.

 “I froze for seventy years…” Steve muttered. Suddenly, echoing all over the tower were the screams of a confined Frost Giant. Realizing that the high temperature was probably killing Loki, Banner had JARVIS bring the temperature down to normal. Thor left his friends to check on his suffering brother.

 “Steve?” Iron Man pulled off his helmet to reveal Tony’s concerned expression when he saw Black Widow and Hawkeye checking in on a still-shocked Steve.

“I’m fine…” Steve barely muttered.

The next day, in Central Park

 “You don’t look fine, Steve.”

It had been more than a dozen hours since the conflict between the Avengers against Utgard-Loki and Gerd. Thor was staying in the tower to keep an eye on Loki, who had gained a bit of a fever until mid-morning following the increased AC stunt. It was so strange how he got easily weakened lately. As for the ‘tome’ that Banner and Tony kept bringing up, they and Thor had managed to hide it somewhere in the tower but didn’t distribute much of the details. So, while Tony and Banner focused on helping SHIELD recover the files, Steve, Natasha, and Clint went into their civilian modes to move around and see if they could spot the Frost Giants. Despite the icy streets causing some traffic, people were still coming into the park, mostly children playing in the snow and the occasional couple here and there giggling during their strolls even though it was way past Valentine’s Day. The three were dressed as civilians, so it was fortunate that nobody recognized them.

 “I told you I am,” Steve insisted.

 “Steve, the bigger blue versions of Loki tried to freeze you. On purpose.” Clint was nearly gritting his teeth as the two last words came out. “We might not understand how things are going for you ever since you were pulled out of the ice, but we can tell the idea of being frozen again scares you.” He patted Steve on the back. “If it makes you happy, I fully intend on putting their heads on my wall the next time they show up.”

 “You know I have a thing against taxidermy…”

 “Maybe we should stray away from topics like Frost Giants and taxidermy,” Natasha switched the subject while they walked past the Gapstow Bridge. A smirk came to her face. “Steve, why don’t you tell Clint about your new girlfriend?”

 Steve blushed. “We’re friends, Nat! Who dates someone they only met in person yesterday?”

 “For real?” Clint grinned. “I bet Tony was eager for more juicy details!”

 “And I didn’t share any.” Steve crossed his arms. “I already said that I didn’t tell her who I was. You know, alternate wise.”

 “Eesh.” Clint cringed a bit.

 “What? His reasons were valid.” Natasha shrugged. “And to be fair, they only socialized on social media until yesterday.”

 “Sure, but at the same time, I don’t think that hiding the truth is the ideal way of maintaining a solid relationship. Especially in our field.” Clint looked at Steve with concern. “You do what you can to keep your friend, but you gotta understand that you’ll have to tell her at one point. Otherwise, it will bite you big time if she finds out while something bad happens.”

 Steve stopped in his tracks. He hadn’t realized it, but Clint’s point was decently valid. On one hand, Steve didn’t want to lose an authentic friendship because of the superficial fandom of Captain America, but on the other hand, lying too long could break the trust. And though it had only been a whole day for interaction, Steve really felt a connection with Kory. “I will think about it…”

 The trio passed by the Wollman Ice Skating Rink. With the unusual lack of masses, they almost thought that Frost Giants were nearby. Then again, why would giants from another planet want to ice skate? Some people were grouped up by the edge of the rink, applauding or gasping in admiration. Curious, they approached the ice rink, just in time to see two individuals performing an infallible death spiral, followed by individual double axels, some Biellmann spins, layback spins, and probably the most impossible ice-skating somersaults that anyone has ever witnessed.

 “Must be Olympians warming up for next year,” Clint casually remarked. Once the stunts were over, people were going back to the rink while the two daredevils made their way back to the lockers. The flash of a magenta streak among the walnut-colored locks caused Steve to grin and make his way to the rink’s exit. Curious, Clint and Natasha followed him, keeping some relative distance when he casually approached the ice-skating daredevils.

 “Did they tip you for your performance?” Steve asked, a small joking tone present in his voice. The moment she recognized his voice and turned to realize he was there, Kory was unable to hide her bluish blush despite how her furred collar nearly brushed against her cheeks.

 “Hello… Steve.”

 “Wow, it’s Baseball Cap.” Aaricia had just shoved their skates to the vendor and joined up. She still wore that David Bowie T-shirt, only this time with a sweater woven with red lightning bolts, tight pants, and red snow boots. Her blonde hair was braided and tied to the side. She could have passed off for one of those rebellious teenagers in 80s movies that Tony was obsessed about.

 “Baseball Cap?” Clint couldn’t resist chuckling. Steve looked embarrassed while the sisters looked curiously at the newcomers.

 “Sorry about that. These are Clint and Natasha. They’re… friends from the security firm,” Steve told Kory. “And I can’t remember if they have Clints or Nats in the Montreal Expos.”

 “I was thinking mostly Clint Eastwood and Natascha Keller.” Kory shrugged.

 Her response seemed to alarm Aaricia. “Since when are you into hockey that ain’t on ice?” She scowled.

 “I don’t know. Since when have you thought that David Bowie was better than Ozzy Osbourne?” Kory snarked. Aaricia pouted and crossed her arms in defeat. “That’s what I thought.”

 Natasha smirked in amusement when she saw the similar expression appearing on Steve’s face. “So, you’re Steve’s friend from WORLDBUDDIES?” She casually asked.

 “Yes. I’m Kory.” The green-eyed brunette nodded. “And Miss Cranky here is Aaricia, my sister.”

  “You don’t seem related.” Clint’s comment came out a bit too out there. Steve and Natasha glared at him for such bluntness.

 “Of course not.” Kory shook her head.

 “So! What brings you by in Central Park before this coincidental encounter?” Aaricia asked. “Did the security firm pick up some sort of breach?”

 “A perimeter check.” Natasha decided to play along, knowing how it meant to Steve. “Everyone knows that sometimes ice interferes with security measures. Cameras breaking, rangers’ horses going wild, and the leftover graffiti from Valentine’s Day.”

 “Leftover graffiti?” Kory frowned. “What does that have to do with ice?”

 “Eh. I’ve heard weirder.” Aaricia shrugged.

 “Speaking of which, we just remembered that they wanted us at the zoo to check on the penguins!” Natasha grabbed Clint and started off with him. “Don’t stray too long, Steve.”

 “Right. Well I’m getting myself some coffee at that stand I spotted 10 feet away from here. See you there, Kory!” Aaricia ran off towards a pathway shrouded my snow-covered oak trees.

 “Well that was strange…” Steve rubbed the back of his neck.

 “I am SO sorry of the way Aaricia behaved!” Kory clasped her black nail polished hands together. Even with the cold temperature and her lack of gloves, her pale hands still resembled the delicate ones of a porcelain doll.

 “It’s fine,” Steve said. “Clint and Nat have their shares of being annoying. Though I’m sorry for Clint’s question.”

 “If I had a krone for every individual in the past eight years who made comments about me and my sister and our lack of similarities, I’d probably make more than the King of Norway.” Kory frowned when she noticed the marks under Steve’s eyes. “Are you alright? You look like you haven’t slept well.”

 “There was a small problem last night. It’s being taken cared of.” It wasn’t a complete lie. The only parts he hid were that because two Frost Giants entertained the idea of turning him into an ice statue, he had nightmares and panic attacks all the way to 5am. “You?”

 “Some… temperature problems at the hotel. You don’t want to know.” Kory bit her lower lip. “I’m… guessing you’ll be on your way for the perimeter check.”

 “Uh? Oh, right.” Steve shook his head. “Maybe I should…”

 “Are we still good for tomorrow?” Kory asked hopefully.

 “Of course! I wouldn’t miss it!”

 “Still at 10?”

Where are you going, soldier? There’s no need for such cold distance! The taunts of Utgard-Loki echoed in Steve’s head.

 “Steve? Are you sure you’re alright?” Kory looked worried.

 “You think we could actually push it to earlier? Maybe meet at 7 instead? I’d take you out for breakfast before we get to Coney Island.” Steve looked awkwardly while Kory just stared at him in confusion.

 “Are you sure? Because with your symptoms of sleep depravity, I almost think I need to call an ambulance…”

 “I’ll be fine,” Steve said reassuringly. “I’ll make sure to go to bed early. But about tomorrow?”

 “7am works. But I’m paying your coffee.”

 “Sounds good.”

 “I’d better go. Aaricia’s probably going to complain that her coffee’s gone cold.” Kory proceeded to make her way but took a quick turn to give a small speck on Steve’s cheek. “Catch some rest, Steve. OK?”

 Steve wasn’t sure what was derailing: the burning cheeks or his heart racing faster than it did back when he had been injected the serum. For a moment, the brutal coldness of last night’s episode was replaced by a softer cool emotion. Kory’s gentle kiss, for some reason, made him feel like he was a little kid from Brooklyn again, having fun in the snow with his mother and Bucky.

 By the time Kory really left, Steve actually stumbled on a bench.

Minutes later

“Woah, hold on!”

The sisters were sitting at a table by the stand where Aaricia managed to get hot coffee for herself and medium-warm tea for Kory. The beverages were still warm by the time Kory came back from her encounter with Steve and told Aaricia everything.

 “Again, we briefly talked, and just like that, he asked if we could meet up earlier tomorrow. I’m pretty sure he was sleep deprived, but that just made him dorkier. Out of concern or because his dorkiness was endearing, I don’t know, but I… Why did I even do it?” Kory gripped her hold on her cup, crushing it and causing the warm liquid to hit her bare hand. Dark blue burns started to appear while she shoved her hand into the hidden liquid nitrogen compartments of her coat. The burning pain faded off, but Kory had to clench her teeth to avoid screaming. “He must think I’m creepy.”

 “Nah. He’s a mortal. He’ll just think that you did it because you care.” Aaricia drank from her coffee cup.

 “But I did!” Kory insisted. “He looked like he only had three hours of sleep. Poor thing.”

 “Well, if the guy’s gonna be up all day tomorrow to spend time with you, it’s not really a friendly get together, it’s a date.”
 “Ha!”
 Kory’s hand slammed onto the table once the burning pain was fully gone. “What, ha?” Aricia asked.

 “It’s reality, Aaricia. People don’t date someone they just met 24 hours ago.”

 “Poor excuse, my dear sister. You never heard of speed and online dating?”

 “Fine, let me rephrase it. Mortals don’t date semi-divine, 92-year-old folks.”

 “Oy!” Aaricia rolled her eyes. “Du og usikkerheten din!” (You and your insecurities!)

“Du og dine erotiske fantasier!” Kory retaliated. (You and your erotic fantasies!)

Back at the Avengers Tower

 Loki was still barely recovering from the morning fever when the voice echoing began to worsen in his head.

 Can you not feel it, Asgardian? Your punishment is only beginning!

 Loki grabbed his hair, nearly ripping it off his skull while the familiar voice of the Other banged from within. “Leave me be!”

 Such pain! Can you feel it? The awakening, the bonfire! Odin’s biggest lie will be your damnation!

 “If you think you can torment me with what I already know, you are more pathetic than I imagined!” Loki sneered. Thor had stepped in the room, dropping the mugs of mead he had brought when he saw the turmoil his brother was going through. Loki couldn’t hear Thor calling out to him.

 He promised you suffering for failing. I am executing his wishes. Your greatest suffering is worth a century of pain, misery, lies, and rejection. Loki almost hallucinated the Other sneering through the shadows of his hood, his fangs bearing through his muzzle mask. Heat will be a burning pyre, injuries will be torture, and lies will be destructive. I have not even reached the full extent of the suffering I have in store for you, yet the smallest things have already made you suffer!

 “LEAVE ME!”

 “LOKI!”

 Loki regained his senses and found Thor shaking him. He pushed him away. “Don’t touch me!”

 “Loki, what is the matter?”

 “The Other! He’s in my head!” Loki got up and frantically paced around the room. “I don’t know what’s happening! It’s mischief that even I, the God of Mischief, can’t comprehend! The pains I endured. The glitching and the elevated heat… It’s become three times more of the pain I can handle! The Other claims it to be part of the suffering!”

 “He won’t hurt you.” Thor gestured Loki to go lie down, which the latter immediately conceded with. “As we deal with the Frost Giants and the Chitauri, the Other will pay.” Indeed, Thor wanted someone to pay. Though things were severed between the brothers, Thor saw no pleasure in what Loki had gone through in the past two or three years. “Rest, brother. This time, there will be no interferences with the night.”

 “Thor.” Loki sat up on the bed sheets and asked the armor-piercing question. “The Other claimed that I would be damned by Odin’s greatest lie. Why do I have the feeling that Odin might have lied to me about something else other than being Laufey’s son?”

Chapter Text

Steve did make sure to go to bed at 8pm. Naturally, Tony had made some snide comments about Steve acting like ‘the old man he was’ until Clint gave the billionaire a smack. It didn’t seem to make that much sense. Steve didn’t really understand the precipitation, but after the ‘ever repeated incident with the Frost Giants’, Steve was certain he didn’t want to spend another morning with the Avengers pestering him with questions of whether or not he was OK. If anything, he definitely needed that day with Kory.

Kory. The porcelain doll was really a unique dame. Natasha really was a better liar than him and easily joined in on the charade, but Clint made a good point. Obviously not today, but when their friendship further expanded, Steve would have to confess admitting to being Captain America. Though she didn’t seem to be of it for now, Steve was worried deep down that she’d wind up being another fan like the others. Still… Kory was so wonderful. She’d been so nice to him; Steve had been rendered as speechless as he used to be back in the 40s. When he brought up the areas he got beat up when he was younger, she didn’t even bat an eye or wonder how it was even possible. Formal and snarky for a dame.

 The small gesture she had given to his cheek really was something. Definitely the third woman to have the audacity but compared to that shallow secretary’s forceful approach and Peggy’s desperate version, Kory had obviously hesitated and made sure she did it gently in an affectionate, friendly way. And he wasn’t sure why, but Kory’s angelic ice skating kept replaying in his head until he woke up at 5:30am.

 Fully dressed and after drinking a quick cup of coffee, Steve made his way to the elevator. He stumbled into Thor, who was making his way out as well.

 “Is something the matter, Rogers?” Thor curiously asked when both stepped in the elevator. “You seem in a rush.”
 “I have a… meeting.” Steve put it simply while the elevator made its slow way down the endless flight of levels. “You?”

 “Expecting the approval for one. After what occurred yesterday, I requested an audience with my father. I’ll be heading to a suitable area for Heimdall to bring me back.”

 “Potential information on the Frost Giants?”

 Thor nodded, but refrained from mentioning the tome, which was still safely hidden in the tower. “The Frost Giants and the Chitauri conflicting with one another is a perplexing matter. The Jotun are looking for their next monarch, obviously a relative of Laufey, and the Other wants revenge against Loki. The current leader of the Jotun made off with a relic that could trap Midgard into an ice age, and my brother is undergoing a crisis where now he and I are both worried that Odin might have lied about another thing. This is all so complex.”

 Steve pondered a bit. “Wouldn’t Loki be the king of the Frost Giants? You did say he was Laufey’s son.”

 Thor snorted. “My brother, king of the Frost Giants? After Laufey abandoned him as an infant and Loki tried to destroy Jotunheim? If you had Loki pick between ruling the Frost Giants or mothering a horse like the nonsense of your myths, he’d go for the latter!”

 “Right.” Steve rolled his eyes. “But still… You act as if Loki is the only one left. He’s never been involved or anything?”

 “What are you insinuating?”

 “Just thinking of some stories my mother told me back in the 40s. Don’t gods have children, you know, half-god?”

 “True. Demigods aren’t an impossibility, but they are frequently persecuted by mortals for their half pagan natures, and those who are fortunate to survive execution are condemned to live out their lives.”

 They reached the lobby and made their way out. “It’s that bad?” Steve asked.

 “Half-divine, half-mortal. A demigod can live half the lifetime of a god and twice a mortal life. Usually around 2700 years total. The tragedy, however, is that their long lives are initiated after a traumatic experience. They stop aging… You were still able to age after being removed from the ice but imagine if you were eternally with the appearance of a young man.” Thor shook his head sadly. “Numerous demigods never make it to Valhalla due to wasting their long lives in sorrow, drunkenness, and even those who succeeded suicide. At some point many decades ago, I think it was after the first Great War, my father declared that anyone on Asgard was banned from producing demigod offspring.”

 “I’m sorry.” Steve didn’t want to imagine how things could be for Thor’s relationship with that astrophysicist. Come to think of it, Thor hadn’t really brought up if he saw her lately.

 “Enough of me. What of you?” Thor looked at Steve. “You seem rather eager to leave.”

 “I told you, a meeting.”

 “Meeting of war or…” The god of thunder smirked. “Fancied a maiden, eh?”

 “No!” Steve protested. It was a good thing that nobody was out on the street this early and with the current cold weather. Otherwise, Steve’s ‘no’ would have been heard everywhere in Manhattan. “I’m only meeting a friend.”

 “My friend, you’re a terrible liar. If I had a mirror right now, you’d see your cheeks redder than the fires of Muspelheim,” Thor chuckled. “I imagine that Stark must be dancing right now. He’s been wondering when you’d finally seek out a paramour!”

 “Well you can tell Tony to mind his own business.” Steve unchained his motorcycle and saddled up.

 “I fail to see the problem, Rogers.” Thor crossed his arms, his hammer still at hand, and staring at Steve. “True, I cannot fathom the hardships you’ve endured, but many of us have been worried that outside fighting, you have no other pleasures. What have you done outside saving humanity?”

 “Train.” Steve turned on the engines. “Read history books. Crime-fighting. Nearly get frozen again. Let’s face the facts, Thor, I have nothing left of my time that isn’t part of some museum or memorial. So yes, maybe I did give in to the idea of socializing a bit more, I made a friend outside the Avengers, and I’m trying to keep it that way. Yes, I’ll have to bring up the facts at one point, but I don’t want to jeopardize things if it turns out that Captain America is a problem to her for our friendship.”

 “Have you tried asking her?” Thor frowned. “From personal experience, my friend, but lying about yourself won’t do wonders for those whose friendships you value.” Thor glanced at the sky and spotted two ravens flying by. He patted Steve on the shoulder, swung his hammer, and flew above the buildings, probably heading towards the upper state areas.

Later

Steve managed to arrive in front of the hotel ten minutes before the rendezvous meeting. Coincidentally, the front doors opened up and the porcelain doll came out. She still had that peculiar furred coat of hers, but for once she actually wore black gloves (though they were fingerless) and had included in her attire some knee-high midnight blue biker boots and stainless-steel earrings shaped like wolf heads. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail that unleashed wild curls at the end.

 “Hi, Kory.” Steve greeted her.

 “Ten minutes ahead of time. Good punctuality.” Kory smirked. “Did you go to bed early?”

 “Yes, ma’am…”

 “Good, because I’m not trusting you to drive me to Brooklyn in your condition.” Kory approached the bike.

 “You mean…”

 “I’m driving. No extra comments.” She held out her hand, expecting him to hand her his driving helmet. Normally, Steve would have insisted on the chivalrous approach, but those green eyes made it clear that if a debate came, he’d lose anyway. He chuckled, handed the driver’s helmet to Kory, and scooched to the back seat of his Harley-Davidson while Kory took up the front seat.

 To his surprise, Kory was an efficient biker. She managed to drive from Hell’s Kitchen to Brooklyn without even consulting a GPS. Her grip on the handles was tight and she kept her position tight, nearly more stoic than a statue. Steve managed to ride safely in the back seat; it was a good thing that his Harley Davidson had the side handles for his hands to hold onto. He didn’t want to have to place his hands on Kory for safety. Some passing people looked at them in confusion, probably wondering why the muscular man wasn’t driving and the woman behind him.

 They made their stop by the Coney Island Beach. With the lack of people at wintertime, there was a great view of the sand, the water hitting against the coastal rocks, and the sun just rising. Steve and Kory managed to find a small diner with a heated outdoor station where they could sit and watch the shades of pink and orange messing with the light blue clouds.

 “Lovely view,” Kory said. “Not exactly to the same level as the sunrise I’ve seen over fjords, but for a cityscape, it’s quite the spectacle.”

 “Right.” Though he did agree with the sunrise, Steve found himself distracted by the effect the sunrise had on Kory’s eyes. During their first accidental encounter at Blick, he thought he had seen a stained glass effect in those emerald orbs, but with her focus on the horizon, he could see the multicolored effects reflecting on the green, almost like the time his mother took him to church once and lights would pass through the stained glass windows. Really a unique dame.

 “Can I get you anything to drink?” A waiter came to their table, breaking up the suspense.

 “I’ll have medium hot Earl Grey and my friend will have café au lait.” Kory stared at Steve. “No additional cream, right?”

 “Right.”

 “Your beverages will be out in a bit.” The waiter nodded and walked off.

 “So how did things work out with the perimeter check?” Kory asked.

 “It was fine.” Steve straightened his chair. “What did you and your sister do after the ice skating?”

 “Shopping. Spent three hours in the Chinatowns.”

 “Wait. All three?” Steve couldn’t believe it.

 “Hey, the only Chinatown close to where I live would require me to go on vacation to London, and we know this guy who said ‘Take advantage of those in New York, because when ya get to DC, ya gonna miss ‘em!’ In the end, we couldn’t decide which of them we wanted to stick around for dinner, so we went back to the hotel and just ordered deliveries… from three different Chinese restaurants in those three areas!”

 Steve couldn’t resist laughing. “You had deliveries coming in from Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn all the way to Hell’s Kitchen?” Even Tony wouldn’t do something that insane and the guy was the only billionaire in town.”

 The waiter came in with the beverages. “Thoughts on what you want to order?” He left after Steve asked for the omelet and hash browns while Kory went for waffles with strawberry preserves and Nutella fudge.

 “I know. Strange experience, but now I know that if we come back to New York for visits, the best veggie dumplings are in Queens.”

 The sentence caught Steve’s attention. “You’re considering visiting the US more often?”

 “I suppose.” Kory’s eyes were fixed on Steve as she drank her tea. “I mean, nothing during the trip has suggested otherwise. Of course, visits during the winter would be more suitable. Why?”

 “Well…” Steve hesitated to come up with answer until a loud rigging came from Kory’s coat pocket. Kory groaned in embarrassment as she pulled out an iPhone with a protective case bearing the BLIZZARD OF OZZ poster as a design.

 “Morgen.” This was the first time Steve heard her speak Norwegian. He was almost startled by how her voice changed easily from English to Norwegian. “Har du dratt allerede? Ja, jeg er sammen med Steve.Fint. Ha det gøy, men vær så snill, ikke få problemer! Jeg ser deg senere. Elsker deg.” (Morning. You left already? Yes, I’m with Steve. Fine. Have fun, but please, for once, don’t get in trouble! I’ll see you later. Love you.) Kory rolled her eyes as she hung up. “I apologize. I know it’s against proper etiquette to…”

 “No bylaws were broken.” Steve raised his hand. “I’m a bit jealous. I never really managed to learn any language other than language. Do you just speak in Norwegian and English?”

 “No, I also speak Hebrew, Yiddish, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Arabic, Latin, Maori, Chinese, Japanese, Swedish, Hindi and Xhosa. I’m only rustic in Korean and Spanish.” Kory saw Steve looking speechlessly at her. “What? I’m a learner.”

 “It’s a great asset. How’s Aaricia?”

 “Oh, she’s fine. She’s taking a tour of some tower in New York. Can’t remember the name.”

Around 9am

Aaricia was sitting in the lobby of the Avengers Tower, waiting with eight or ten other tourists for the tour to begin. Slouched on her chair and her eyes glued on her phone, she easily passed off as some pop-culture loving teenager who could be playing a game.

 Of course, you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover. For one, her appearance. Aaricia was wearing a blue version of the Thriller video jacket, black ripped jeans, dark blue running shoes, navy colored makeup, and dark sunglasses. Diverse shades of temporary blue dyes covered her blonde locks. She could have passed off as someone mixing rocker style and Michael Jackson devotion, but people who knew her like her sister did knew that Aaricia never went out without her precious David Bowie jacket (or at least one article related to his works). And she only died her hair to appear unrecognizable… if she planned on some theft.

 Kory had often punished Aaricia when she caught up to Aaricia openly stealing from mortals and managed to ‘convince’ the victims at ignoring the situations, but whenever Aaricia disguised herself behind her back like she did now, it meant that she was stealing to sell in the immortal black market.

 And stealing from the Avengers Tower would be profitable.

 The tour guide came, accompanied by Stark Industries’ head of security and ‘the tower safety czar’. They were going to distribute the visitors’ badges, but Aaricia was more interested in the clearance badge that was tucked under the collar of his jacket. This is just too easy, she thought.

 She kept her eyes glued on her phone and used some napkins to grab her still warm coffee cup. She got up and walked her way, conveniently bumping into Happy and spilling the hot beverage just in the area she wanted. Happy yelped when the liquid hit him.

 “Oh my gosh! I’m SO sorry!” Aaricia apologized in a rather imaginable French accent (the perks of living with a 92-year-old demigoddess who could speak different tongues). “Here, let me help!” She proceeded to use her napkins to ‘wipe off’ the stains, successfully snapping the badge and wrapping it in the napkin without Happy noticing.

 “It’s fine,” Happy grumbled. He gave Aaricia her visitors’ badge. “Please stick with the tour group. You’ll be visiting the administration levels and a lot of them have liquid-sensitive tech.”

 “Thank you. I’m going to go throw this off.” Aaricia went to throw away her cup and napkins in the nearby trash cans, cautiously unzipping her jacket, nudging her white turtleneck, and slipping the badge in her bra. She set herself properly before joining the others.

 “Do we get to see where the Avengers live?” A Southern-accented tourist eagerly asked.

 “Sorry.” Happy shook his head. “Your tour guide, Sally, will only show you around the 37 floors that we use for administration. Anything above those levels is public-prohibited.” His comment made many of the tourists groan. Happy’s phone rang and he went away to answer it. ‘Sally’ led the tour group to the elevator; all of them were blissfully unaware of the mischievous grin on Aaricia’s face.

11am, Coney Island

Kory was beginning to lose track of time. She and Steve were just having too much fun.

 They had spent a couple hours at Coney Island, taking on the Cyclone (Steve had recalled a time he and his childhood friend went on it and he threw up; fortunately, he didn’t this time), a few carnie games (Kory just kept winning the games. How couldn’t she? Tricksters can detect rigged games), some rides, and one ghost train ride that didn’t even cause the two to bat an eye.

 “I’ve seen scarier,” Steve had shrugged.

 “Way too clichéd.”

 They were now on the Wonder Wheel, where for minutes now, they’d been both enjoying the view and exchanging questions. By the time the Ferris wheel stopped and they were at the top, Kory and Steve were laughing too much at some of the embarrassing questions.

 “OK, OK!” Steve calmed down. “Any embarrassing middle names?”

 “I got two.” Kory crossed her arms. “Evangeline and Lottie.”

 Steve smirked. “Seriously?”

 “Yes. Evangeline was my mother’s first name and her childhood best friend was Lottie. She died in a cruise ship.” Not exactly wrong, but she couldn’t exactly tell Steve that the best friend of Kory’s late mother died on the Titanic. Or say that her legal name was Lokisdottir-Ikolson.

 “Wait… Does that mean that your name gets shortened to KELI?” Steve mused.

 “Keep saying it louder, Rogers. I don’t think they can hear it from the other side of Brooklyn,” Kory said sarcastically. “And you? Any embarrassing middle names?”

 “Grant.”

 Kory frowned. “Steve Grant Rogers? How is that embarrassing?”

 “Eh.” Steve grimaced. “It’s just. I wasn’t what I am until I joined the military. People tended to take me for granted.”

 “Oh…” Snow was gently flickering from the sky as Kory sympathetically stared at Steve.

 “Your turn to ask.”

 “Oh.” Kory tucked the magenta streak behind her ear. “Well… I don’t know how sensitive the topic is for you, but besides your friend James, your mother, and currently your colleagues at the security firm, was there anyone who… had faith in you when you first started out? You know, who believed you had a chance even though… many people took you for granted?”

 When Steve stared at her with such a stunned expression, Kory had a shot of the sunlight causing the man’s blue eyes to remind her of the lights that waved underneath the waters of the fjords. “Well… there was a doctor, but he died. And there was this dame… who moved on now…” Steve covered his eyes in embarrassment. “I can’t believe I recalled that nasty time when some shallow secretary snatched my first kiss and she got jealous. I mean, we got better, but still… me and I hopes of finding the right partner.”

 “Hey.” Kory leaned in and gently placed her hand over his shoulder. “It’s your hopes. I’m not fit to judge, but you do what you can if you still believe in finding the right partner.” She then realized what she was doing and pulled away her hand.

 “Why wouldn’t you be fit to judge?” Steve curiously asked.

 “Because of my parents.” Kory rubbed her hands, purposely to create some minor, internal heat so her inner anger wouldn’t turn the Ferris Wheel into an ice sculpture. “I’ve already told you the insane dramas, but I never really could stand growing up having to listen about my mother’s romance with my ever-invisible father. It’s just… it was irritating. She had the same demeanor as someone who had the relationship of their dreams, the guy then leaves her, and she way she talked about him to me was frustrating. I mean, why still love the man who claimed you were the one for him… when he chose his family over you and everyone thinks you’re an embarrassment while they have to fix your kid? Most people in situations like my mother’s would have either been drunk or abusive towards their kids, but my mother was insufferably kind.”

 “How much did she tell you about him?”

 “Well… she said I got his green eyes and his complexion. Before she died, she once noted that I was reaching his height, though maybe with some extra inches, and that if I gelled back my hair, I could almost pass off as his clone.” Thank God that Kory had inherited the rest of her mother’s features, especially the brown hair and magenta streak. She constantly dreaded to wake up, see her reflection, and find herself with a female Loki staring straight at her. Never be like him, her conscience kept pestering for 70 years. Never be like him. “I really hate it when people tell me I resemble him.”

 “Good thing I never met him or plan to. Then again, I don’t judge people based on their parents. You’re your own person and I really enjoy that.”

 If Kory’s heart had been made of ice, it would have melted by now from Steve’s compliment.

12:45pm, back at Stark Towers

Aaricia had to ditch the tour group and hide in the bathroom of the 37^th floor for nearly three hours. By the time most of the employees had gone to take time off for lunch and the tour group was gone, she managed to use Happy Hogan’s card to use the elevator and catch a ride to the upper floors. Obviously, Stark should have thought against the idea of labeling the elevator’s buttons. The Avengers each had their own living floors, but Aaricia was more interested in the primary floor (aka, where Loki got smashed by the Hulk).

 Nobody was on the floor when the doors opened. For all Aaricia knew, they were probably saving the world. That just made the tower available for some looting.

 “Let’s do this.” Aaricia pulled out a Rubix Cube and tossed it on the ground. The tiles glowed and the bright hues turned to darker ones as the cube shifted, grew, and turned into a holding case, the kind they used to carry weapons. The difference was its enchantment to withhold anything stashed in it. “OK. Obviously, any high tech is going to sell well to some one-eyed handyman, so I can trash the security a bit.”

 Aaricia immediately ripped off from the wall some computerized gadget, unknowingly ripping off the part of JARVIS that sent waves across the tower, creating an electric outage. And unknowingly, the effect caused the security of the door to open, exposing Loki with a way out.

Meanwhile

 The sight of some mortal youth was shocking to Angerboda, who was spying on the Avengers Tower from a building across the street with an icicle serving as a spyglass. Utgard-Loki and Gerd stood behind her, all three yet again in their human disguises.

 “One vandalizing mortal youth just created a window of opportunity for us.” Angerboda smiled with cold glee. “The Avengers are away. Time to reclaim the Tome of Ikolson.”

 “We apologize if we didn’t think of procuring it the last time we went there.” Gerd nodded.

 “Don’t be. Your priority was to get the information out of the mortals,” Angerboda turned to face them. “My priority is to get the information away from Odinson.”

 “And the merry men?” Utgard-Loki asked.

 “You can take care of that.”

 “And that filthy bastard? The one who sought our destruction? The unworthy father of the heir?” Gerd asked.

 Angerboda laughed, causing frost to cover the windows beneath them. “I think that mortal thief can handle it just fine!”

1:40pm, Lefrak Center at Lakeside Prospect Park

Nearly fifteen minutes after getting to the ice rink, Steve was still wobbling on his skates and hang to the railing.

 “It’s not as easy as it looks,” he told Kory in self-defense.

 “Right. An artistic sport that requires you to move on blades at a speed that could cause you tailbone injuries if you land butt first on the ice,” Kory rolled her eyes when she made out her sarcastic comment. She gently took his hands from the railing and pulled him a bit further in the ice. “Baby steps. You’re gonna give me straight eye contact and slide your feet toward me while I back up. OK? Go.”

 Blue and green eyes focused on one another as she pulled and he pushed. His skates still caused him to wobble, but after some minutes, the feeling got away. Kory was taking this so patiently. “Good. Side by side now, but make sure to slightly lean your skates when you turn.” Kory managed to get Steve to focus on the ice ahead. He was definitely making progress, though he still held on to Kory’s hands. “Not bad. If you had the decade of training, you’d be a decent ice dancer.”

 “Only decent?” Steve smirked amusingly.

 “Clearly you’ve never seen professional Norwegian ice skaters on TV.” Kory managed to pull him into a spin. “I still find it strange that you don’t ice skate that often…”

 “Well it never struck me… I mean, not until I met you.”

 “Not even the dame you mentioned? You know, the one who got jealous because of the secretary? I just… assumed that you’d have…” Kory’s sentence got cut short when some imprudent skater knocked her, nearly causing her to fall until Steve caught her. She felt the ice in her melt (metaphorically) when his strong arms pulled her arm. How’s it possible for him to be so gallant?

Hey, regain your senses! Part of her mind was shouting. He’s a mortal!

What? We’ve known each other for three months.

And you’ve been hanging out AS FRIENDS for three days!

 Kory’s mind was out of process, fighting against itself while her focus was on the sweet man. He must have had the same problem, considering that he still held her in the middle of the rink, his face so close to hers. Further contact was so close.

 And then Kory felt the sudden stroke that caused her to lose balance again. Heat was rising within her; the kind that made her feel she was in a bonfire. Kory fell knees first on the ice and started hyperventilating.

 “Kory! What’s wrong?” Steve held on to her.

 Don’t turn blue! Don’t turn blue! Kory didn’t know what was going on. She could feel the sweat on the forehead, probable enacting a high fever while her insides were burning. Her half-Jotun senses didn’t even know how to react as she hyperventilated and started to have trouble breathing. “S… Steve…” Kory saw the red crimson hues coughing their way out of her mouth. Am I coughing blood?

 “Kory!” Steve picked up Kory and urgently skated out of the rink. “Someone call an ambulance!”

Chapter Text

Somewhere around 1pm, back in Avengers Tower, more than a half hour before Kory fainted

Aaricia felt like it was her golden day when she was halfway done with looting the Avengers’ lab. With the things she had robbed and stashed in her case, she was bound to make some money at the immortals’ back market. Ripping off the tech, however, had caused a lot of rubble, wires torn in half, and sparkles showing off.

 “That should do the trick.” After stashing in a tool kit, Aaricia reverted the holding case back into a Rubix Cube and hid it in her coat.

 “A petty thief.”

 Aaricia turned just in time to find out that someone stood between her and the lab’s entrance. It didn’t surprise her that the man looked like a male replica of her sister (except, obviously, Kory was more appealing), but what did surprise her was that he was still alive.

 “Wow. Asgardians must be outright pathetic if they haven’t executed you!” Aaricia sneered. “What, did Thor have to throw a tantrum just to give you first-class house arrest in the same tower where you failed to take over the world or did the Hulk’s smashing give you brain damage?”

 A cold sneer mixed with a confused frown came from the God of Mischief. “Such impertinence. Yet why is there something… familiar in you?”

 “Talk to the bolts, jackass!” Aaricia snapped her fingers. Sparks flew out of the broken wires, merging into electric bolts that cracked and buzzed. Loki was shocked, but not too shocked to avoid the bolts as the girl threw them at his direction. The blasts did, however, create a Hulk-sized hole on the wall. Loki shot some magic at Aaricia until a marine blue dome flickered, shielding her from the magic before disappearing on its own.

 “This… isn’t possible!” Loki snarled. “Who are you, mortal?”

 “Not telling, loser!” Aaricia pounded her fists on the floor. The electric bolts merged and grew into a wolf of pure electricity. Loki had to make a run as the beast ran after him. “WHERE ARE YOU GOING? IS THE GREAT GOD OF MISCHIEF SCARED OF A LITTLE LIGHTNING?”

 “I fear nothing!” Loki prepared to throw a sphere of magic but didn’t expect the electric wolf to breath a blast of lighting. Loki screamed as the bolts gave Loki the feeling of having a bonfire within him. Usually, Loki could take in Thor’s lighting, but the one of this mortal was ridiculously high. The Jotun in him was screaming.

 “Oh, this is the HIGHLIGHT of the tour! I might be the only mortal besides the Hulk who pulverized Loki!” Aaricia gloated. “My sis will be so proud!” To that, she dissolved the wolf manifestation and used the bolts to toss Loki through the window. The god laded on the semi-circular balcony. Aaricia walked over to have a better look, only to hear something strange when her left foot hit a tile. Curious, she held out her right hand, using it as a magnet to lift off the tie. Strapped to the other end was a massive manuscript with a particular logo (in reality, the Tome of Ikolson).

 “That’s weird.” Aaricia unstrapped the tome and had a look at it. “Why would the Avengers hide this manuscript under a floor tile?”

 “Oh, you found it!”

 Loki was struggling to look up, but he managed to see the mortal girl holding some book and a gust of snow approaching the broken window to form into a woman. At first glance, it almost looked like some mortal dressed in one of those biker suits, only the woman was blue-skinned, with red eyes round enough to look like those of a bird of prey. It was hard to tell if she was bald or had hair: snow was moving from her scalp endlessly, like Medusa’s snake hair. Her teeth were sharper and paler than icicles and were sticking out in a black lipstick smile. White marks resembling veins were visible all over her skin. In the distance, probably in the Bronx, explosions could be heard. At Loki’s worst guess, the Avengers had caught up with some Frost Giants.

 “Thank you so much for finding my book! I was horribly irritated when Thor came and snatched it from my library! I was afraid things would go terribly when I’d come to claim it, but I see he’s not home and a kindred spirit has saved me the trouble,” the Frost Giantess said politely. She held out her hand. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am…”

 “Angerboda?”

 Loki and Angerboda looked in confusion at the mortal.

 “You’ve heard of her?” Loki forced himself on his feet, coughing out some blood in the process.

 “Besides the gross myths about you two? Every single Frost Giant I know has told me about Laufey’s personal favorite at the court.” Aaricia shrugged. “You know, a lot of the gammeldags and nybergynnere have mixed opinions about you.”

 “Pardon?” Angerboda asked.

 “Sorry. I forgot, you’re not from around here. Things have changed in the past centuries ever since some Frost Giants ditched Jotunheim to settle on Earth. Gammeldags and nybergynnere means ‘old-fashioned’ and ‘beginners’, the Frost Giants who are traditional to the old rules, snobs, and fans of Laufey, and those who are more modernized, free-opinionated, and not as biased about getting tangled with humans.” She pointed at Angerboda. “Depending on the groups, you’re either a loyal royalist or a racist madwoman.”

 “I… suppose I’ll hang on to those comments for later.” Angerboda kept holding out her hand. “And who are you, ye who recovered my book?”

 “Ye who knows better than to share personal information with a Jotun from Jotunheim?” Aaricia looked down at the tome she was holding. “Must be some valuable book if Thor stole that book from you…”

 “Don’t be daft, mortal!” Loki snapped. “She lies as much as she breathes!”

 “And you act like it’s a foreign concept.” Aaricia rolled her eyes. “I’m staring at the psychopath and the mad advisor from Jotunheim. At least 84% of all the Frost Giants on Earth don’t like any of you…”

 “No, but they will adore the new heir,” Angerboda said as she hid her impatience with a rather well performed smile. “Loki killed my king, nearly broke our world and eradicated any of the remaining royal family members on the planet. One of them is still on Midgard and the tome will help us locate, embrace, and crown our new ruler. Help us, young one, and I will see to it that the rightful ruler of Jotunheim rewards you greatly!”

 For a moment, Loki was certain that the mortal would be tempted and accept the wild proposition. Then again, it was a lie. Compared to Asgard, there were no treasures or jewels on the icy wasteland that could satisfy a mortal’s greed. However, the young mortal wound up shocking both Frost Giants by smacking Angerboda on the face with the tome. She crashed on the balcony, creating a coating of frost to soften her fall. Aaricia made a run for the stairs. Angerboda was about to fly up to the level until Loki grabbed her ankle and tossed her back on the ground.

 “I’m impressed that a mortal was able to resist a witch’s temptation of the likes of you,” Loki sneered.

 “I can’t say the same for the bastard who couldn’t resist the eyes of a mortal,” Angerboda retaliated. “Tell me, darling, has Odin told you about Evangeline?”

 The words stunned Loki long enough for Angerboda to push him off the balcony.

Minutes later

Rather than running down the endless flights of stairs, Aaricia jumped down. Her landing was safe, courtesy of an electric force field, but the impact might as well have cut the power in all of Manhattan. As she made her way into the lobby, people were panicking. Obviously, with the power out, people might be locked in. In the commotion, she lost the clearance badge and she noticed that Happy Hogan was too busy dealing with a bundle of panicked visitors. Aaricia had to get out before the Avengers showed up.

 She ran for the glass doors. After shaking the handles unsuccessfully, she contended to use the massive book as a club and smash the glass. Aaricia groaned when some shards hit her bare hands, cutting them.

 “Got to get out… got to get out!” Aaricia muttered to herself as she ran as fast as she could. She got to the sidewalk and heard screaming falling its way down. In all his pathetic glory, Loki crashed into a convertible, crushing it like a disposed soda can. “Seriously? How are you still alive?” Aaricia exclaimed when Loki got up.

 “How did you get here so fast?” He retorted back.

 “I jumped down the stairs.”

 Loki frowned. “A mortal with powers to rival Thor, jumping down nearly hundreds of building levels? I don’t have time for your games! Who are you?”

 “Man, you’re annoying!” With one hand, Aaricia ripped off a nearby street pole and swung it like a bat at Loki’s face. He crashed into the Avengers Tower lobby; this time fully unconscious. Aaricia tossed away the pole and noticed that her hand holding the tome, a hand bleeding from the cuts, had smeared some on the tome’s cover. The eyes of the wolf head glowed and suddenly popped open in Aaricia’s hand.

 “Woah… HEY!” Aaricia found herself in a tug-of-war with Angerboda, who clutched onto the book with a tight grip. “Give that back!”

 “NEVER!” Angerboda hissed.

 “Why do you even want it?”

 “Go figure!” Angerboda kicked Aaricia in the stomach, causing the teenager to lose her grip on the tome. With the manuscript now in her hands and the Avengers approaching on the scene, Angerboda quickly flipped through the tome and ripped out many of the last pages. She disappeared into a gust of snow that flew away. Aaricia regained her senses to see Thor reclaiming the damaged book.

 Out of instinct, she turned into electricity that sank in the ground and transported itself out of Manhattan through the phone cable.

In a hospital in Brooklyn

Steve never thought he’d endure a frightful afternoon. He’d driven his bike as fast as he could to follow the ambulance carrying Kory. He’d watched the medics pull the stretcher carrying his feverish friend. He had a hard time watching doctors getting confused as why none of the medicines they applied work. When defibrillators had been used, they brought her to consciousness only for Kory to punch a nurse.

 “Leave me alone!” They tried applying sedatives, but those had no effect either. It only worsened her panic and caused her to hit yet again another medic.

 “Sir, you ought to go in,” a doctor from the mental ward advised Steve.

 “Are you sure it’s safe for her?” Steve asked. Numerous minutes had passed and the medics had finally left Kory alone and she was still on the bed, her head buried under the pillow.

 “Her fever has suddenly dropped. I don’t know why the medicine reacted so slowly, I’m not an expert in that field, but her panicked behavior could suggest a form of PTSD. Either she’s scared of doctors, being in hospitals, or something I can’t think of, but perhaps you can console her.”

 Steve nodded. The doctor let him in the room and gently closed the door behind Steve. Kory was still keeping the pillow over her head, her bare hands clutching onto the fabric. The medics had taken off her coat and folded it on top of a chair, including her gloves. Her sweater’s sleeves had been pulled up to her elbows, giving Steve a bit of surprise when he saw that from her right wrist all the way perhaps to the rest of her arm, Kory’s pale skin was covered in tattoos fashioned in Nordic or Gaelic style. Images matched with a year were lined up, as if they were comic book vignettes on paper. He did manage to pick up some that were on Kory’s right forearm.

1971 KAMAR-TAJ GRAD

1974 OIL SQUIRRELS

1979 NEW YEAR RAGER

1980 BLIZZARD OF OZZ TOUR

1985 AMAZONS IN CORSICA

1989 NEW YEAR RAGER

“Kory?” Steve gently asked.

Kory kept her face buried under the pillow. “Don’t you dare tell me that it’s going to be OK…” Her muffled voice grumbled.

 “I won’t. I just… wanted to let you know that the doctors said we can leave once you get better.” Steve would have honestly preferred to tell her that things would be alright.

 “I don’t feel better and I want to get out…” Kory was getting depressed. “I just wanted a good day without any panic attacks! But this was worse!”

 “Kory…” Steve gently put his hand on Kory’s shoulder, slightly calming down her frantic breathing. “What calms you down?”

 This spiked her interest and caused her to lift the pillow off her, exposing her stressed face and green eyes struggling to fight back tears. This was an insecure part of her that Steve hadn’t seen yet. “There aren’t any fjords in New York…”

 “No. But I know a place where we can rent a speedboat. Probably stop it in the middle of the Upper Bay. It’s not exactly the fjords, but the sunset’s pretty decent.”

 Kory’s anxiety partially dissolved. She was still moody, but at least there was a layer of coolness. “That would be nice.” She sat up properly, causing Steve to see that even Kory’s left arm was covered in tattoos similar to the ones of her other arm. Kory realized where his gaze was and immediately rolled down her sleeves until the wool covered it. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
 “I can respect that.” Steve picked up Kory’s coat and gloves. His eyes widened when his fingers picked up the authentic feeling of the fur’s coat. It reminded him of the fur coat Bucky’s mother had back in the 20s; he’d felt the fur once as a kid. “Is that real?”

 He gave the coat to Kory, who immediately went to hold it close to her as if it were a being she was worried of losing. “My father gave it to my mother when they were together. She never stopped wearing it when I grew up, even when we had to go all the way to Oslo just to attend services at the synagogue. She then gave it to me when I was sixteen; I didn’t want to wear it because of its original background, but after my mother…” Kory bit her lips.

 “You just couldn’t part with it,” Steve nodded while Kory got up to put her coat on. “I can’t imagine. I don’t have anything left from my parents.”

 “Besides the knowledge that your father was at least a decent man who stayed with the woman he loved.” Kory sounded bitter as she put on her coat and gloves. “At least he fought for decent purposes and you grew up knowing who he was. My mother never bothered to even tell me his name.”

 “You don’t need to go further.” They proceeded to make their way out, with Steve opening the door for her.

 “You’re an insufferable sweetheart. You know that, right?” Kory cracked a smile through her mood.

 “I’ll take it.” Steve chuckled. “There’s still time before catching that boat ride. Is there anything you want to do to catch a break?”

 “This might sound insane, but I really could go for ice cream. A LOT of ice cream.”

At the Avengers Tower

“A TEENAGER did this?”

 Nick Fury was at a complete loss of words when he and Maria Hill went to check on the Avengers after they recently had yet another encounter with Utgard-Loki and Gerd. Tony had been as dismayed as he was when he found a good portion of the Avengers’ main floor and the lab trashed into what could have been a Matrix wasteland. As for Loki, he’d been bandaged and checked for potential broken bones following his chute down the tower and the pole strike, leaving him with just some damaged ribs and a bruised face. Thor brought him back to his room to recover.

 “Nearly 400 million dollars’ worth of damage and stolen goods.” Tony went over the damages with JARVIS. “Nothing related to the weapons’ system or that can’t be fixed, but a waste of money. And the teen fled through the phone cables. JARVIS can’t track her.”

 “How can you not track a blue-haired minor that gave an Asgardian a shock wave, broke through your security measures, and ripped off a metal pole?” Nick Fury exclaimed. “Do you not understand that this is more problems to add to the list? Alien clashes and using our planet as first-pick fighting zone is already bad pressure! I doubt we can add in the mix some insane lab rat!”

 “We’ll deal with it as the situation goes…”

 “No, we speed things up! What the Chitauri want against Loki, you find it. Who the Frost Giants are looking for, you bring it over. Who the hell the thief was, you catch it. Every target assembled, interrogated, and neutralized. Cappiche?”

 Tony nodded solemnly.

 “Where’s Captain Rogers?” Maria Hill asked.

 “He’s out,” Natasha said. “Under normal circumstances, we’d call him for emergencies, but those two Frost Giants were particularly interested in turning him into an ice statue as a present for their new ruler.”

 “No way we’d have him go in ice again,” Clint nodded.

 “I suppose that makes sense.” Nick Fury calmed down.

 “Did he go see the chick?” Tony asked eagerly, like a high school student eager to share gossip. Natasha and Clint glared at him; they’d hope this wouldn’t fall into SHIELD’s ears.

 “Rogers’ dating?” Nick Fury asked as if the tone was alien to him.

 “No, just a get together.” Natasha shook her head.

 “Right, with a chick that causes him to blush because he doesn’t want to talk about her,” Tony insisted.

 “They’re friends, Tony,” Natasha said. “She’s just visiting the US. She and Steve are just spending some time before she goes back.”

 “Didn’t know Cap was into the exotic,” Tony smirked. “French? Spanish? How about Greek?”

 “Norwegian.”

 “Well, I lost interest,” Nick Fury shrugged dismissively and he and Maria Hill made their way to the elevator. “Don’t forget the things I told you, Stark. I’d better not find you still talking like a matchmaker.” When the elevator went down, Natasha and Clint took their cue to go check on any other damages in the lower levels of the tower. At this rate, anything could be better than listening to Tony geek out about Steve’s latest ‘acquaintance’. Banner and Thor came in, the latter carrying the Tome of Ikolson.

 “Angerboda made off with numerous pages of the tome,” Thor said.

 “Any reason?” Tony asked. “I thought she’d go for the whole thing.”

 “The thief who assaulted her and Loki was injured in the battle. Only the blood of Ikolson can unlock the book. It’s safe to guess that the thief is a descendant of the sort, and with the book now unlocked, Angerboda stole what she wanted.” Thor stared at the book’s cover. “Why she didn’t do anything to the thief following the ripped pages, I don’t know.”

 “Maybe there was something she didn’t want us, your folks, or Ikolson to find out?” Tony suggested. “Speaking of folks, how did it go with yours?”

 “Poorly.” Thor grimaced. “When I asked the All-Father if he lied to Loki about something else other than his true nature, he yelled at me. Horrible things about how with all his tricks, mischief, and crimes, Loki didn’t deserve anything else from him.”

 Banner and Tony cringed.

 “I tried asking my mother and Heimdall. They chose to give me some vague clue about ‘finding the golden-eyed god who rules under Crawford’s freedom’. We can’t expect much help from Asgard.”

 “Let’s see if we can find anything useful.” Tony took the Tome of Ikolson from Thor’s grasp and placed it on a counter. The moment he opened it, a raspy voice escaped like a sudden cold breeze.

  “I am the Tome of Ikolson, the recorder of the history of the Ikolson family. If you’ve managed to open me, it means an Ikolson spilled some blood. The short and long routes to the knowledge are available to you.”

 “What options?” Banner asked.

 “Short version, ask me anything. Longer version, read nearly 1100 years of history.”

 “Can we ask you about the current members of the Ikolson family?” Thor asked.

 “I am not permitted to share the history if the history is missing.” The tome automatically flipped its pages until it revealed the space where the pages had been torn. “Two members of the families had their records stolen. One dead, one living.”

 “Living.” Banner straightened his glasses. “The thief.”

 “The one who shed blood is not a true, biological Ikolson. I sensed the blood she used. It is Ikolson, but transferred. She’s only an Ikolson because an Ikolson adopted her.”

“A blood pact,” Thor realized. “I heard of that performance. One can transfer their blood to another by cutting their palms and performing a sacred handshake, the blood of the giver mixing with the one of the receiver.”

 “The receiver is thus affiliated with the family, but still not considered affiliated enough for me to record her.”

 “So what can you tell us about the Ikolson family?” Banner asked.

 “You know, in a few minutes’ worth,” Tony asked.

 The tome went on to flip through its pages, occasionally stopping on some pages with Celtic-framed portraits of the family members. “956 AD, Ikol the One-Armed protected his village from Laufey’s forces and Frost Giants, earning the respect of the All-father, who’d award him and his descendants with wealth and prosperity.

1000 AD, Ikol’s cousin through marriage joined Leif Erikson in the discovery of Vinland.

1052. By that time, any warrior in the Ikolson family died and went to Valhalla. It ceased, however, when one of Ikol’s grandsons was courted by Freya and gave birth to Anders Ikolson.”

 “The Goddess of Love? Freya from Vanaheim?” Thor was surprised. “No wonder no Ikolson went to Valhalla! Anders Ikolson’s descendants would have gone into the afterlife of Vanaheim!”

 “In irony, the goddess came in the appearance of a magenta-haired woman. Thus forth, Anders Ikolson and his descendants would bear magenta hair streaks. The heritage caused the family to progressively change from highly-awarded warriors to rich healers, laborers, and farmers.

“In the 1390s, the descendant of Anders Ikolson married and converted into Judaism, willingly severing the family from the connections to Vanaheim. However, persecutions at the hands of Norwegians led to deaths in the family. While traitors chose the coward’s way to appease the Norwegians, many of the Ikolson family chose to flee to Scotland in the 1430s.”

 “I don’t understand…” Thor shook his head. “Why such a fall for such a worthy family?”

 “Thor,” Banner gently put his hand on the god’s arm. “I don’t know how to explain it to you, but there were and still are a lot of people who dislike people just for their beliefs.”

The Tome continued. “1450s. Alistair Ikolson marries a French woman, coincidentally a descendant of Toutatis, the protector god of the ancient Gauls. Though dormant, the Nordic and Celtic bloodlines were strong. Alistair Ikolson moved to his wife’s home in the French region of Alsace, where he and his family would go on to live as farmers. For nearly two centuries, Alistair’s descendants struggled to live peacefully with the challenges thrown by two countries and the family slowly losing their former glory.

“1638. Ivo Ikolson, an aspiring scholar, left France and started a promising career in Denmark and married a gypsy. For nearly a century, his family remained in Denmark until his great-grandson, Klaus Ikolson, returned to France in 1810 and settled in Paris. Klaus would go in dispute with his son François, who chose to become a textile merchant rather than a scholar. François left his father to pursue his career in the North of France, causing the old man to die of a broken heart.

“As the only remaining member of the Ikolson family, François was approached by a lawyer from Oslo. The last member of the family remaining in Norway had written a will stating that the family’s domain would legally be owned by anyone in the Ikolson family, regardless of the ‘chosen affiliations'. Thus, in the 1850s, François Ikolson moved to the family’s domain. In the years that passed, he married a Sámi woman named Anja. The two had a daughter named Evangeline, who’d come to be orphaned when her father’s ship was struck during World War I and Anja died of the Spanish Flu in 1918.” The tome shut itself.

 “Wait!” Thor grabbed the tome. “What of Evangeline Ikolson?”

 “Thor, the talking book told us that it won’t tell us about the members who got ripped,” Tony pointed out. “And if this Evangeline Ikolson was around in World War I, she’s probably dead.”

 “I did say ‘one dead, one living’. I didn’t even need to tell you; you guessed on your own, clever mortal, that Evangeline Ikolson is the dead member whose pages were ripped.”

 “Then Evangeline’s child must be the Ikolson that the Frost Giants are against in their pursuit for a ruler!” Thor declared.

 “Um, Thor? I hate to break it to you, but if Evangeline Ikolson is dead and was probably born near the turn of the century, her only living relative must be a senior,” Banner pointed out.

 “Yeah, doesn’t seem to fit unless the Abominable Snowmen are actually afraid of some old grandpa. Or granny.”

 “Tome of Ikolson, where does the last Ikolson live?” Thor demanded.

 “Without the pages, I am not permitted to give you such information.”

 The three men groaned.

 “However, because the pages of François and Anja Ikolson weren’t stolen, I can tell you that they had inadvertently gained some affection from the Norwegian nybergynnere, the Frost Giants who have fully embraced Midgard as their home. Seek out Ingrid, the leader of the Clan of Jotunheimen.”

 “Jotunheim?” Thor frowned.

 “The confusion is understandable, but I refer to the mountainous region of Jotunheimen, a thousand kilometers away from the city of Bergen by foot.”

 “That makes more sense,” Tony said when Thor closed the tome. “A little cleanup and tomorrow morning, we go for a ride to Norway. Though I do find it weird that some Frost Giants actually went native.”

 “I try not to think of the negative portrayal my father tried to plaster on the Jotun in the eyes of my people,” Thor sighed as he put the tome down and stared at the broken window, “but even in the few layers of reasonable authority that Laufey had, he and his people had a craving for blood. The first time they came to Midgard, Laufey wanted to trap the mortals into an eternal ice age and claim Midgard to Jotunheim…” He froze. “And Angerboda was highly devoted to his reign.” He turned to stare at Tony and Banner. “Suddenly, I’m starting to think that Angerboda might not just be interested in finding Laufey’s heir.”

 “You think she’d convince the heir to do what Laufey couldn’t do?” Banner shivered, not just from the idea but from the cold breeze that came through the window.

 “Why else steal the Casket of Eternal Winters?” Thor stared back into the cityscape, showered by gentle snow. “We might be facing something greater than a war against two races.”

Meanwhile

To think that in a mere number of hours, Kory was relieved from the stress she endured, courtesy of that panic attack.

 Steve was just hopelessly sweet on mortal standards. Any common, self-centered human would have made some stupid had he or she seen Kory eating about 15 different flavored ice cream scoops at Ben and Jerry’s, but Steve had acted like it was all natural. Kory was always more into mint chocolate chip ice cream (especially if it was more minty), but she’d gone obsessed with peanut butter ice cream.

 When 5pm came, Steve had driven them to the port. And what do you know, he actually had access to a speedboat. In Kory’s perspective, the security firm probably gave too much benefits to the employees. What wound up shocking the most however, was where Steve docked the steamboat after they left the port.

 “Are you joking?” Kory wanted to laugh when she saw that they had gotten to Liberty Island.

 “What? It’s in the middle of the Upper Bay, nobody’s here, and the view of the sunset is pretty decent,” Steve said as he helped her off the boat.

 “After closing hours?” Kory laughed. “Did that ice cream permafrost your brain? Because I feel like I’m dealing with a Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson impersonator!”

 “I’ll take it.”

 He managed to lead her to a snow-coated area by the base of the monument. Where they sat on the ground, they had the view of the sunset colors reflecting over the bay and the cityscape lights shining like a hive of stars on ground level.

 “I won’t lie, you outdid yourself,” Kory said. “Are you sure you won’t get in trouble?”

 “It’ll be fine. Are you feeling better?”

 “Compared to earlier? Yes, yes I am.” Kory sighed as she stared at the view. “Too bad that not many Americans go through sneaky accesses to monuments just for the view… Then again, is this an American thing or just a Steve Rogers thing?”

 “I don’t know. It’s my first time doing it.” Both laughed and continued watching the view. “Then again, who knows when I’d do it again?”

 Kory was probably more alarmed than ever. “You mean with anyone or…” She cut herself. Definitely NOT a good idea! If her consciousness was heavier than Thor’s hammer, her skull would crack. He’s too sweet, kind, and generous. Not just for a mortal, but for anything! Stay in check!

 But I don’t want to… Her consciousness was now dealing with the heartache of what was left of Kory’s young adult self. The part of herself that was still too emotional nearly seven decades ago.

 Do you want him to be gone like all the others? Then control yourself!

 “Can’t believe that I’ll be going to DC this weekend and back in Tønsberg the next,” she quietly said. “Aaricia will probably be ranting her ‘I Told You So’ Monologue on the flight back.”

 “So you think you’d take another trip to the US should the opportunity come?” It wasn’t the expression, but the hope in the tone, that alarmed Kory. You imbecile! Her consciousness screamed.

 “Depends… Then again, knowing Aaricia, she’d probably insist we come back next winter…” Kory was fortunate to have forced her fingers into the snow. She didn’t want to imagine the possibility of suddenly turning blue in front of him. Sure. Do that and he runs away screaming from the monster you are. “Would you still want to hang out?”

 “Frankly… I’d want it more than anything.”

 “Well I guess you thought it went well.”

 “True. But at the same time…” He stared at her fondly. “I don’t know why, Kory, but for some reason, there’s something about you that’s so relatable. And I don’t think I’ve seen it with anyone else I know. I just feel a bit more at ease around you.”

 That was a first for Kory. In the past seventy years, only the senile and mad folks have dared to be ‘at ease’ with her. Either they were drunk or the superior-wannabes who treated her like a carnival freak. She and Aaricia had a strong sisterly bond, but they were still prone to the ‘sarcastic sister sitcom flyting’ moments. And then of course, a majority of random encounters either ran for dear life, called her out, or had a sniper on her. But Steve? Kory really wanted to punch herself; how was it possible that such an insufferable sweetheart of a mortal could feel at ease around her?

 “Steve…” She found herself interrupted by a violent vibrating coming from her phone. Kory pulled it out and realized, to her horror, that Aaricia had called her 5000 TIMES and got stuck to her voicemail. And another contact’s message was screaming on the screen.

 Call as soon as you get this text. ASAP!

 “BLAST! I missed Aaricia’s calls!” Kory cursed out loud. “Excuse me!” Kory got up and made a dash behind the closest tree. Her finger quickly typed in the number of the second contact, who immediately responded without giving any ringing time.

 “About time, kid!” A male voice snapped on the other line. “Since when do you neglect your sister’s calls? She had to call ME after you went silent! You realize that Thursday nights are date nights for me?”

 “I’m sorry!” Kory grimaced. “Is Aaricia alright?”

 “Oh, she’s fine! Minus the part where she told me that she ran into Angerboda from Jotunheim. You know, your grandfather’s most loyal madwoman? Someone among the Frost Giants on Midgard must have spilled the beans. They won’t stop until you sit on Laufey’s old chair.”

 Usually, Kory would be ranting about the possibility of Aaricia being so careless, but now she was more worried about the news. Everyone knew that if Frost Giants from Jotunheim returned to Midgard after what happened with Asgard the first time, it would be bad news. And ever since her demigod powers had awakened those many decades ago, one thing never escaped Kory’s mind about Jotunheim.

 “I did my tricks to the people at Penn Station. You’re leaving for DC tomorrow morning at 3:20am. I don’t care what you’re doing, but go back to the hotel and pack!”

 “I… I understand.” Kory ended the call and put the phone back in her pocket. The coldness in her froze the tears to keep them from escaping her eyes as she made her way to Steve.

 “Is everything alright?” Steve got up.

 “It’s too confusing to explain but… the train ride to DC got rescheduled to tomorrow morning.” She didn’t have to look up to know that Steve was equally disappointed. He didn’t ask or push for details. Kory felt guilty and remained silent as they sailed off Liberty Island and drove back to Hell’s Kitchen. The worst silent minutes of my life.

 “I’m really sorry,” she apologized when they reached the front of the hotel.

 “These things happen.” Steve helped her off the bike.

 “I know! It’s just… these were such good times and I really think you’re sweet!”

 Steve smiled. “We shared contacts, so calling to check on your or know how you’re doing shouldn’t be a problem. And if winter trips in New York don’t work, I could always look into a summer trip in Norway.”

 Kory couldn’t control herself and gave Steve probably the biggest hug she’d ever given anyone. Despite that muscular built of his, she felt like she was hugging a massive marshmallow. “Remind me to teach you how to ski.”

 “I look forward to it.” They broke the hug apart, but Steve managed to be quick enough to give some retribution back at Kory by placing a small kiss on her forehead. Icy butterflies were in her stomach when she and Steve exchanged goodbyes and he started his bike. Kory stood there, the butterflies still in her stomach as she watched him drive out of the neighborhood.

 “Oh…” Kory touched her forehead, her fingertips tipping on the area of Steve’s souvenir and a big smile on her face. The happiness eventually changed to sadness. “Oh my god, Kory… What have you done?”

Chapter Text

“I don’t like this.” Banner kept muttering about his uncertainties as the Avengers’ quinjet finally crossed the Atlantic Ocean and reached the borders of Norway. It was only Thor, Banner, and Tony taking part of the ride to visit the nybergynnere Frost Giants in Jotunheimen. The others had stayed behind in New York to keep an eye on Loki or in case the Frost Giants popped their noses again or if they had another rumble with the Chitauri. They actually had to wait two days to make sure that Manhattan wouldn’t be harassed by aliens again, but by the time Saturday came, New York was still having another quiet wintery day.

 “I agree.” Thor was now getting desperate: the Frost Giants’ motives might be slightly cleared up, but he was still nervous of the way Loki was being mentally tortured by his former ‘connection’ and couldn’t understand why his brother’s pain was more agonizing than ever. To worsen things, his father left him in the vague. “But we’re almost there.”

 “We are now approaching Jotunheimen. I’ve picked up living signs that match the thermal signature of at least 80 Frost Giants,” JARVIS said.

 The quinjet finally got to fly over the massive and snowy mountain range of Jotunheimen. Just by the coast of the Gjende Lake, they spotted what looked like a village. Houses of wood, stones, and ice were assembled into constructions that looked either like Viking homes or like the houses they’d spotted when passing the coast of Bergen (if Bergen had restricted the color palette to white, blue, black, or some very dark greens). They were almost surprised when they spotted what looked like a church, but even more surprised when they spotted not only Frost Giants but some humans as well.

 Tony landed the quinjet in a small park surrounded by houses. The moment they came out, the Avengers found themselves surrounded by the locals. Thor was probably the most stunned. Compared to the Jotunheim Frost Giants, the ones from the village wore winter clothes expect the males kept their coats open and the females lacked sleeves, exposing the bare blue skin. Some smaller Frost Giants were fully dressed, but Thor noticed that their features looked like fusions of human and Jotun: red sclera with human-colored pupils, bluish red blushes on the cheeks, and small skin markings that looked more like tattoos outlined like blood veins. The few humans present in the audience looked rather comfortable standing next to blue-skinned people that were taller than the average basketball people but everyone looked unhappily at the Avengers, particularly at Thor.

 “We wish to speak with your leader Ingrid,” Thor spoke up.

 “My mother is out of the country.” One of the human-Jotun hybrids stepped out of the crowd. His platinum blonde hair was in a braided ponytail, his pupils were brown, and his dark clothing had neon blue patterns of ice cracks. “I’m Axel, her acting substitute. To what do we owe the displeasure?” Everyone else in the town grunted and nodded, as if it were obvious that nobody wanted such visitors.

 “I’m not here on Odin’s behalf.” In the hopes of reassuring them, Thor put Mjolnir down on the ground as gently as he could and went back to addressing Axel. “I seek information from your clan. Frost Giants from Jotunheim are on Midgard…”

 “In conflict with the Chitauri. Do you think we’re stupid?” Axel frowned. “Why do you think my mother is out of the country? We’re not the only nybergynnere clan in the world. Everyone’s been made aware of Angerboda’s desire to bring back the monarchy of Jotunheim. Her theft of the Casket isn’t exactly yesterday’s news.”

 “Those barbarians will convince the gammeldags to rally and join them!” Somebody in the crowd shouted.

 “An end to our liberty!” The villagers kept joining in.

 “Our civilization!”

 “Our children!”

 “Hashtag, massive Frost Giant civil war that will do much more damage to the Earth than the Casket itself.” Axel glared at Thor. “You think you have witnessed destruction when fighting Frost Giants, Odinson? Be damned if you ever get to witness thousands of us fighting against each other.”

 “He wouldn’t.” Banner cautiously stepped out, as he had stood behind Thor and Iron Man to avoid panicking. “We…”

 “Wait, are you the Hulk?” Axel’s sour expression suddenly turned into a gleeful one.

 “Uh… yes?”

 “Well you should have started with that, morons!” Axel held out his arms. “Let’s chat! Mead’s on me, everyone!”

Later

Apparently, the nybergynnere Frost Giants of Jotunheimen were massive fans of the Hulk. Or, to be more precise, they were fans of Hulk smashing Loki during the Battle of New York. The Avengers found that the shocking way when Axel lead them to his personal tavern and nearly every inch of it was decorated by something that commemorated the deed.

 “I’m not sure how to feel about this,” Banner admitted when Axel lead them to a table where the biggest chair was carved into a wooden sculpture of the Hulk just when he grabbed Loki by the foot. Axel sat right on it.

 “What? He deserved it.” Axel shrugged. “We’re still working on commission-based puny god cuckoo clocks.”

 “What, like at every hour, you hear smashing and puny god?” Tony asked. “Can I order one?”

 “It’s 4550 krones for the pre-order. 500 in the American cash. So, how can we assist? You know, besides the obvious?”

 “Angerboda seeks something related to the Ikolson family,” Banner explained. “We were wondering if you knew anything about someone named Evangeline Ikolson… and whoever her living relative is.”

 Axel leaned on the back of his seat while some human waiter brought over three cups full of mead. “The son of Odin who comes asking about Evangeline Ikolson… Did the All-Father finally confess?” Axel asked.

 “Confess?” Thor frowned before eventually groaning. “I don’t know what you mean. Well… I’m not sure. I mean, there’s been suspicions that he might have lied to Loki about something else other than his heritage…”

 “Ha! That’s an understatement!” Axel snorted. “For a century, everyone that’s part of the non-human community on Midgard knows about the greatest scandal the ever barbaric All-Father tried in vain to suppress! With you here, it’s obvious that he’s too proud to admit his fault! The worst scandal he ever committed than lying to the God of Mischief about his heritage!” He took a quick sip of his mead. “OK, it’s a long story. You just got to understand, however, that no matter how much you request it, I cannot share the full identity, location, and details about the living Ikolson lineage. The few leaders like my mother who respect them made the oath.”

 “We’ll put the bookmark on that.” Tony took a sniff from his cup. “François and Anja Ikolson. What do you know of them?”

 “That was way before I was born in the 70s, but my mother was still a young adult when my grandfather led our clan,” Axel explained. “From what I’ve learned, the Frost Giants who chose to stay on Midgard following the war in 956 stayed as far as possible from anyone related to Ikol The One-Armed. Our clan stopped paying attention as the centuries passed by. We’re a peaceful and prosperous community, but we still resort to disguises to approach human-only towns to do trading. At one point, some of us had encountered the Ikolson couple. Anja was easy to befriend and appreciate; the nybergynnere Frost Giants always had a fondness for the Sámi people, and after purchasing some of his textiles and selling some meat, members of the clan started to appreciate François. They’d purposely stop by the couple’s hometown just for the sake of interacting with them; the Ikolson husband and wife just had a natural kindness in them, it was impossible to detest them.

 “As you’ve brought up, they had Evangeline. My mother said that the clan’s affection for her went to outright adoration. Even in the middle of her teenage years, Evangeline unknowingly attracted the attention of numerous bachelors who admired that personality of hers.”

 “A dude magnet, then?” Tony drank his mead.

 “I heard she could pull off any fashion during the different periods. Clearly taking from her parents, Evangeline sought to become an artisan and designer in the fabrics. She apparently made the best tapestries.”

 “And her parents died in a short amount of years,” Thor said.

 Axel nodded. “Norway had sought neutrality during the World Wars, but in vain. It was during the first one, due to an attack from a German submarine, that François died on his ship, and on the same year the war ended, the Spanish flu struck many people, including Anja. Evangeline was still in her early twenties when she lost them. The family estate was still hers, but she was supervised by her parents’ closest friends, a well-off Jewish couple, the Berkovitz.”

 “I think that name rings a bell…” Tony scratched his skin. “My dad mentioned a soldier by that name who was in Cap’s camp during the super-soldier project. Apparently lost his life trying to save his cousins from Europe.”

 “Yeah. Same family.” Axel nodded with a sour expression. “The families had good ties with each other, but Mr. and Mrs. Berkovitz were a bit more traditional than Evangeline’s parents. They tried to find her the ideal match, but instead, they wound up covering for her during the scandal.”

 “So, what did happen that got Thor’s dad involved?” Tony asked.

 “An art museum in Oslo was hosting a charity event in 1919 for young artists to sell their works both for profit and to support veterans of the First World War. Evangeline was encouraged to participate, but the jury wouldn’t accept her first entries due to their ‘opinions of cultural beliefs’. Eventually, Evangeline spent nights creating tapestries that would get obvious approval: Nordic mythology. Obviously, the jury preferred that and hung up the tapestries on their best wall. My mother actually bought one of the tapestries, which beautifully depicted the World Tree and the Nine Realms. Anyway, the event went well. A little too well, unfortunately. When my mother was at the event, she saw that Odin had actually sent someone to check up on some old Nordic relics, but… Well, let’s just say that the fellow was more interested in Evangeline’s tapestries than his mission. When she managed to sell all her works and left the event, he asked the judges for her address, went to her hometown, and proceeded to fully engage in proper conversation.

 “Our clan freaked out when we recognized who he was. He told Evangeline who he was and where he came from, yet she treated him like an equal, an old friend. He kept visiting her frequently, and as the visits grew longer, their friendly fondness went to outright love. Odin, however, was disgusted by the romance. In March 1920, he told the Asgardian that unless he left Evangeline for good, he’d smite her to dust.”

 Thor got up and began pacing angrily around the tavern. Tony and Banner almost got up to calm hm down until the god of thunder started knocking tables over.

 “Hey, leave those tables alone! The wood itself is expensive!” Axel got off his seat.

 “Thor, why are you so peeved?” Tony asked.

 “Because it was a century ago when my father banned Asgardians from ever having demigod children!” Thor growled. “Now I understand why! He was ashamed of how Ikol’s family had fallen from grace and wouldn’t let another of them into Valhalla, despite the Asgardian parentage!”

 “Um… sure…” Axel got the expression that most people had whenever they knew they were about to bring up a risky topic. “But… Odin was more disgusted that Evangeline… had managed to become pregnant… with a child who was half of her legacy and half… uh… Frost giant with magic?”

 When the Avengers all stared at Axel, the tavern went a tad warmer despite the lack of lit candles and the fire-lacking fireplace. If Tony had been drunk enough, he could have peed in his armor, Banner was beyond perplexed, and Thor looked broken.

 “What?”

 “I speak the truth, Odinson. Everyone in the clan knows that Odin was enraged when Loki fell for Evangeline. I mean, could you picture it? The descendant of Laufey’s worst human enemy, in mutual attraction with Laufey’s son? You were away in battle when it occurred, but Loki visited Evangeline more than a dozen times, each visit longer than the previous! When Odin picked up the presence of the embryo growing in the woman’s womb without the couple knowing, he knew he couldn’t have Loki discovering his heritage by discovering the one of his own child upon birth. And to be fair, he didn’t want a Frost Giant on the throne of Asgard. He wasn’t going to go with a demigod, a literal half-breed, be next in line either. Loki was forced to leave, never to see or hear from Evangeline after breaking his ties with her… on an unusual friendly scale. But weeks after he left, Evangeline discovered her pregnancy.

 “That was the scandal. Loki’s one and only demigod child. For Evangeline, it was frightening. She was an unmarried, Jewish woman expecting the baby of a foreigner who left her. The Berkovitz were outraged but owed their help to her. They managed to fabricate a story and forged papers so that in the eyes of the Norwegian law and the Jewish community, Evangeline had secretly married a British soldier who returned to England for urgent matters and died from a rogue German submarine. Our clan wasn’t aware of Evangeline’s pregnancy until my mother received the unexpected visit of a golden-eyed god.”

 Thor’s attention was spiked. “My mother mentioned him. Do you know who he is?”

 “Yes, but we’re banned from saying powerful names to outsiders.” Axel shook his head. “Anyway, the god came to my mother, saying ‘Loki’s flame is expecting a half-Jotun, half-mortal child. She’s still midway, but Odin asked that I kill it...’”

“He WHAT?” Thor nearly yelled.

“But the… golden-eyed god didn’t kill the child,” Banner guessed.

 “Of course not. He said that even for a god of his range, infanticide was beneath him. He crossed his deal with Odin and secretly passed an oath with Frigga to protect the child. Then he came to the clan and asked that my mother sent some merchants to sell meat to Evangeline. Half-Frost Giant, half-human hybrids require nutrition from both cultures, especially when in the womb. My mother had to eat at least twenty-seven muskoxen and elks when expecting me, but the pregnancy is much more fragile if the hybrid’s mother is mortal.”

 “Did Evangeline die in childbirth?” Banner asked.

 “Of course not. With the help of the clan, Frigga and the god ensured that both survived. Frigga even posed as a nurse to secretly give Asgardian goat milk to the newborn drugged with the same glamour spell that she and Odin used to cloak Loki’s true form with a more… satisfying one.” Axel crossed his arms. “I can’t tell you more due to my oaths. Not for matters like the demigod’s name, location, and history.”

 “Can you at least tell us how Evangeline died?”

 Axel’s expression soured. “She died to save her child in the worst time. The demigod was traumatized by both the mother’s death and the reveal of the father’s identity at the worst time imaginable.”

Back in the US

Thor, Banner, and Tony were in Norway, gathering information that they wouldn’t tell the others, who had to make a dash to DC when they heard from SHIELD about disturbance reports. Possibly reports about the Frost Giants or the Chitauri making an appearance. Clint and Natasha immediately went to Fury for a debriefing, but Steve was mentally panicking as he patrolled around the National Mall at nighttime.

 Kory and Aaricia were somewhere in DC. Steve didn’t want to imagine DC as the next New York. He didn’t want to imagine Kory as part of the casualties.

 Kory. Steve honestly didn’t know what was wrong with him. How could someone he mostly talked to online for months have such an impact on him after only three days of physical interaction? After they parted on Thursday, a strange, saddening feeling had ached. It was almost like reawakening from the ice and finding out that time stole a part of your old life.

 Steve had been so lost in thought, he didn’t see the ice pillar before it slammed him off his motorcycle, causing him to land on the road. It was a good thing his shield was strapped to his back and he had gone on patrol fully geared, or his landing would have earned him more bruises. Steve got up and saw two familiar Frost Giants in their mortal gear.

 “Hello, dream soldier!” Utgard-Loki smirked. “Sorry if we couldn’t approach you more delicately, but we had to stop you before you could run off. By the way, nice toss, Gerd.”

 “Thank you.” Gerd rubbed her hands as if to warm up while Steve got up, shield at hand. “What a coincidence running into you in this city, soldier!”

 “Hard to be a coincidence when we know you’re causing a stir,” Steve said.

 “That would be obvious.” Utgard-Loki nodded. “The Chitauri went ahead of us in locating the heir. You can’t exactly blame us if closing their portals disturbed your beauty sleep.” The male Frost Giant stared at his female associate. “You don’t think that Angerboda will be too upset that the one by the obelisk took us longer than expected?”

 “Not in front of the soldier!” Gerd snapped.

 “Why all the secrecy?” Steve demanded. “The Chitauri are our enemies as well. Why can’t you ask Thor or the Avengers for help instead of stealing or attacking us?”

 “We gave our reasons back at your tower,” Gerd said as she and Utgard-Loki took one step forward. “Even with the re-established truce, do you honestly think that Asgardians would accept our desire to bring back our monarchy? And your allies, this… SHIELD. Do you honestly think they won’t try to harm us? Experiment on us? Exploit our powers for their machinery?”

 Steve kept his firm pose. “I don’t speak for SHIELD. I speak based on my belief in humanity and doing the right thing, not Fury’s agenda in new weaponry.”

 “Ugh!” Gerd groaned, not in exasperation but in misery. “Idealized righteousness. The one thing revolting about it is how it plagues a society into self-entitlement and individuals into thinking their spirits are above those of others! You ever heard the story about Frey, my husband? A Vanir god of summer, fertility, and hope and everyone in the Nine Realms thought he was the ideal, golden-hearted god from the ballads. Odin made the mistake of letting Frey borrow his throne to look out the rest of the universe, and Frey saw me. At first, why would a Frost Giantess want a warm seasons god, right? When the first typical wooing gifts didn’t work on me, I saw he really wanted me when he traded his own sword to his handy man in exchange to convince me to give Frey a chance.”

 “The wedding wasn’t that bad.” Utgard-Loki shrugged. “Too bad he died to a fire giant. Honestly, compared to Thor, Frey was enjoyable.”

 “Is this how you see yourself, soldier?” Gerd pressed on to Steve. “What society sees as the perfect human, like they did with Frey? You would give up a valuable asset just to satisfy your heart’s greatest desire, only to die at the hands of fate because you gave something you needed for something that you wanted, like how my husband died because he chose love over self-defense?”

 Steve wouldn’t admit it, but his grip on his shield was shaking. He’d willingly give up his own life to save millions back when he crashed that plane into the Artic. Time froze him and he came back with no one left that he cared. Even with the Avengers, it wasn’t enough. Only fighting made him feel needed. Was that the point Gerd was making? He was made as the first super-soldier, the ideal kind that people had valued. He had given up what he needed, his own life, to have what he wanted, to save the life of millions. Now his life had been lost.

 “Gerd couldn’t save Frey, but you could be, Captain America.” Steve’s was so caught in his depressed thoughts, he didn’t see Utgard-Loki calmly approaching him, his hands prepared to freeze him. “Back where you truly want to be…”

I didn’t want to wear it because of its original background, but after my mother…

I just wanted a good day without any panic attacks!

 Steve suddenly regained his senses when the word ‘want’ repeated in some sentences Kory had told him, provoking him to slam Utgard-Loki down with his shield just before the Frost Giant could put his freezing hands on him.

 “Well there goes the manipulative approach.” Gerd rolled up her sleeves, exposing her blue arms as she shot blasts at Steve, who managed to dodge them and get back to his motorcycle. He didn’t manage to get on it because Gerd was faster by freezing it into an ice cube. He managed to block the upcoming wintery wind with his shield, toss it away, and make a run towards the Washington Monument. Utgard-Loki and Gerd practically skated their way on the soil, leaving behind frozen trails nearly reminding Steve of snakes. A rather cruel image: they were basically snakes chasing him around like a rat.

 “Nat! Clint! I need backup! At the Washington…” Steve got cut off by an ice block hitting him in the back, causing him to fall off the monument’s cliff. He lost his hold of his shield as he went tumbling towards the World War II Memorial. Just seeing it as he struggled to get back on his feet gave him a heartache, worsened by when Utgard-Loki slammed Steve down with the latter’s own shield.

 “Take a good look at this memory of your past, soldier,” Utgard-Loki said. “It will stick in your memories when your frozen body decorates our heir’s throne room.”

 “I can do this… all… day…” Steve fought against the pressure of his own shield against his chest. He finally seized his weapon and threw it at the Frost Giants, hitting Utgard-Loki but missing Gerd, who landed on the fountain and caused the fountain.

 “UTGARD-LOKI!” She finally yelled in impatience. “LAST TIME I CHECKED, ANGERBODA DIDN’T REMOVE YOUR TITLE AS ROYAL SORCERER!”

 “I’m not going to damage a memorial!” Utgard-Loki protested. “I have standards!”

 “OH, BALLS OF JOTUNHEIM!” Gerd raised her hand in the hand in the air. The ice in the fountain moved and shifted into a massive ice sculpted arm that grabbed Steve and threw him halfway across the National Mall. With the darkness of the night, nobody could see Captain America crashing onto the steps of the Capital. And this time, the landing did not favor him. He was certain to have damaged ribs; despite how much he had to get back up, his body gave in. His sight was weakening, but he was certain he saw fiery blasts coming from above him and scaring the two Frost Giants away.

 He was definitely certain of seeing a golden-eyed shadow look upon him as he finally lost consciousness.

Much later

I’ve listened to preachers, I’ve listened to fools

I’ve watched all the dropouts who make their own rules.

Steve’s vision was still in the darkness, but his ears managed to pick up some bits of Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘Crazy Train’ playing at low volume. He mostly knew the lyrics because Kory had brought up during their social media exchange that it was her favorite song from the Blizzard of Ozz album.

One person conditioned to rule and control.

The media sells it and you live the role.

This time, he regained full-on consciousness. He had been placed in some sort of infirmary bed, though the white sheets with fancy golden patterns seemed to throw off the medical aspect. He struggled to sit up and winced when he felt the pain coming from his bandaged chest.

 ‘Crazy Train’ paused out of nowhere. Steve turned his head and saw a familiar person pausing the music playing from her phone. “Kory?” He asked.

 “Steve.” Kory’s fur coat was open, fully revealing her DOWN TO EARTH T-shirt, wolf pendant, and thigh high chunky heeled dark blue boots that got lost underneath her dark skirt, but Steve was more occupied by the green eyes that gave him a stare of mixed expressions. Anger? Betrayal? Self-Guilt? Sadness?

 “Where are we?” Steve’s eyes darted around the room that looked more like a guest room than an infirmary.

 “Technically, a pocket dimension replica of the US Capitol that both works as one of my friends’ house… and my house arrest,” Kory said. She bent down and picked up Steve’s shield with relative ease.

 “Kory… I meant to tell you…” Steve said.

 “What?” Kory asked, her tone getting angry as she faced Steve. “That Captain America wasn’t just some World War II propaganda but an actual crime-fighter? An Avenger? That the Avengers not only didn’t execute Loki but keep him under house arrest? That you’re involved with the Frost Giants’ war against the Chitauri? THAT TWO OF THE ROYAL COURT OF JOTUNHEIM TRIED TO TURN YOU INTO A STATUE, THINKING IT WOULD PLEASE ME? THAT EVERYONE’S AFTER ME? THAT THANKS TO EVERYTHING, MY ONE SHOT AT AN UNRUINED FRIENDSHIP WAS RUINED?” She harshly shoved the shield into Steve’s hands the moment the moment he stepped out of bed. “I can’t believe this! I didn’t ask for any of this! I mean, how is it SO hard to execute a war criminal?”

 “Kory, hold on!” Steve put down his shield and stopped Kory from pacing angrily. “Are you saying… you’re Laufey’s heir?”

 “I didn’t ask for it!” Kory snapped. “I was having the near relevance of a decent life until Loki went on to ruin everything! You’d think his havoc in Asgard and Midgard would make Jotunheim avoid anything to do with me, but no! I had to leave to DC early just to get stuck for who knows how long until my connection could work out on calming down the other Frost Giants on Midgard! Oh, and just because of the mess Loki did, the Chitauri are after me!” Kory finally stopped pacing and dropped herself on a cushioned chair. Steve’s mind was still aching as if his brain had turned into a tornado, but pieces were assembling as he saw the green eyes struggling but succeeding in holding back tears, causing the white in Kory’s eyes to turn red. A red shade he had seen before.

 “Are you… a Frost Giant?” He asked.

Kory said nothing. Steve wasn’t exactly sure how it happened, but like food coloring dissolving into water, the porcelain doll’s pale skin turned into a blue hue lighter than those of Frost Giants but darker than the average victim of hypothermia. Her hair remained the same except the ending curls got frizzier, her black nail polished fingers sharpened a bit, and her sclera turned crimson red while her green irises remained intact. The transformation ended there until Kory took off her coat, revealing that the tattoos covering both of her arms were now bright white to stand out from the blue. “Half-Frost Giantess, Steve. Major difference.”

 “I guess that explains why you didn’t like talking about your father,” Steve said quietly.

 “No, the Frost Giant genes aren’t that big of a deal. You know, minus my dislike for things that are warm temperature,” Kory casually brushed off the notion. “My bigger problem is that I got the Frost Giant genes from Loki.”

 “LOKI is your father?” Steve exclaimed.

 “Unfortunately.”

 “Wait… Loki, the God of Mischief, the madman who tried to take over the world with an alien army, is your father? The same man you said left your mother without knowing she was pregnant or even knew you existed?”

 “You know another Loki who fits that criteria?” Kory asked sarcastically. “Or an Odin who basically acts like the typical old-fashioned racist moron? No, because in all honesty, Laufey did a better job not ruining my life by not even bothering to find out if his runt of a son had a child. Oh, I forgot to clarify. Laufey was my grandfather.” Kory noticed that Steve failed to hold back a chuckle. “What?”

 “Nothing,” he shook his head. Part of Steve was still negatively reacting to the whole discovery, but most of him was relieved that despite the discovery, Kory definitely behaved like the Kory he was used. Well, minus the fact that he hadn’t seen her as an angry, blunt young adult.

 The door burst open and Aaricia stepped in. The blue-eyed blonde teenager stared at the bandaged Steve and Kory in Jotun fun as if she had stepped in on the most awkward scene in a sitcom show. “Well the guys are gonna be peeved,” she let it slip. “How ya doing, Baseball Cap?”

 “I’ve felt worse,” Steve said.

 “He’s been informed,” Kory told Aaricia.

 “I dare imagine. The Big Guy scared off the two Frost Giants when they got too close to the Capital. The only reason he didn’t mind wipe Captain America was because he sniffed out your scent on Steve.”

 “I’m so screwed…” Kory sank her nails onto her cheeks.

 “Speaking of screwed, we got a massive problem.” Aaricia nervously scratched the back of her neck. “The Big Guy reasoning with the nybergynnere Frost Giant clan leaders isn’t working out.”

 “How can it not work out?” Kory got up. “They fully know that Jotunheim’s cause is a lost one! I am NOT placing my ass on the throne!”

 “Oh, no, no, no! They believe you aren’t willing to become queen!” Aaricia walked up to Kory. “They just think that the Frost Giants from Jotunheim won’t give a damn about your opinion so… I guess they want to put you in the same shoes as Joan of Arc.”

 “A martyr burned alive for alleged witchcraft?”

 “I think she means a symbol of rebellion,” Steve said.

 “Absolutely not!” Kory exclaimed. “I explicitly made it clear throughout my life that I do not wish to pursue a career as a leader!”

 How is she Loki’s kid? Steve wondered.

 “I’m a strict neutral party!” Kory groaned. “Oh, who am I joking? Neutrality didn’t even work with Norway!”

 “You can’t propose a replacement?” Steve tried suggesting. “Maybe one of the Frost Giants on Earth could replace you as heir?”

 “I wish!” Kory rolled her eyes.

 “Steve, think of the Frost Giants on Earth like the American Revolution, where there’s the colonists loyal to the monarchy and those loyal to independence. Same thing with the Jotun monarchy,” Aaricia explained. “Most of them are independent, but the split hierarchy is INSANE for anyone and anywhere. There’s going to be too much equal force if a civil war breaks out just because technically speaking, Kory is the one with the label of ‘queen of Jotunheim’.” Kory kept shaking her head as Aaricia continued. “It’s already not helping that both sides have reasons to hate Kory: one side because she’s Loki’s daughter and the other because she’s a mixed breed.”

 “She’s not an animal, Aaricia.” Steve crossed his arms. “And isn’t she a demigoddess?”

 “Yes, but only because Loki’s the God of Mischief. He’s still biologically a shorter Frost Giant, and the loyalist Frost Giants… Well, think Harry Potter.”

 “I never read the series,” Steve admitted.

 “Well, you’d better start to it, because there’s about a hundred independent Frost Giant clan leaders expecting us downstairs and one pissed Big Guy who might have a break down. And unfortunately, they want you downstairs, Steve.”

 “He has nothing to do with it!” Kory protested.

 “The Big Guy knows that, but even he can’t change the fact that some leaders picked up your stench on Steve when the Big Guy urgently brought him in. And some of the American nybergynnere recognized him from the 40s. They think we’re in league with the Avengers!”

 “That’s the biggest bullshit theory I heard this year!” Kory proclaimed before then pointing at Steve. “And don’t you dare tell me to watch my language!”

Chapter Text

The flight back to the US was rather rapid. The Avengers were to meet up at the Helicarrier with Nick Fury, who had his flying fortress hovering around the Mid-Atlantic. Rather than flying like he usually did; Thor was pacing around in the quinjet.

 “You OK?” Banner asked. “I can’t tell if you’re angry or excited.”

 “Both, my friend,” Thor muttered. “The hypocrisy of my father’s action revolts me! Lying to my brother and I about the demigod’s existence! True, Loki has lost it in the past few years, but he had the right to at least know of his only child!”

 “So, the myths about his monster kids were fake?” Tony asked. Thor’s disgusted expression was all that Tony needed.

 “But I’m also excited.” The god of thunder finally cracked a smile. “I actually have a nephew or niece out there! Back in the older centuries, Loki and I used to marvel at the idea of having our own children and grandchildren raised together, played together, and battling together, the way he and I did. Of course, it didn’t exactly work out with, you know, my centuries-worth of haughtiness and Loki’s ostracization.”

 “Speaking of Reindeer Games, how are you going to tell him?” Tony had the quinjet on auto-pilot, so he could turn his seat to look at the others. “He already went psycho when he found out your old man lied to him about being a blue-skinned Abominable Snowman. Don’t you think he might go apocalyptic if you tell him he was also lied about his kid?”

 “Well… it won’t be easy,” Thor admitted uneasily.

 “You think?” Banner responded drily. “I don’t mean to be disrespectful, by Axel outright said that your father purposely casted out your nephew or niece like garbage on Earth! And Fury! Has anyone thought of him? Or the others? How will they react when we tell them? Forget the whole ‘Loki didn’t even know his kid existed’, Fury will want the demigod caged and I think Barton will be on his side!”

 “My nephew or niece can’t be imprisoned if they haven’t performed crimes similar to those of Loki,” Thor insisted. “Besides, two gods, one of them being my mother, thought the child was worth sparing. That should be enough validation.”

 The night sky’s stars were shrouded by grey clouds as the Avengers landed their quinjet on top of the Helicarrier. The trio got inside to the main conference, where they found Fury and the two assassins waiting for them. Surprisingly, Loki was sitting on a chair, cuffed from hands to ankles and his mouth gagged. Apparently, SHIELD was still working on improving a stronger version of the glass cage that failed to hold him, so they thought it would be better to keep an eye on him.

 “Captain America’s MIA,” Fury said.

 “What?” Tony asked. “How did that happen?”

 “Clint and I picked up a distress call coming from the National Mall,” Natasha explained. “We went to find him, but he was nowhere.”

 “The frozen state of his bicycle suggests that he had an encounter with Frost Giants,” Fury said. “Probably the two that broke into your tower, stole our files, and almost tried to freeze him again. It’s been three hours now since we discovered we can’t trace him.”

 “How are you tracing him?” Banner asked.

 “Face recognition, the tracking chip of his uniform, and the unique thermal heat waves enhanced by the super soldier serum. But none of these work. Something is interfering…”

 “His speaker was behind his ear, right?” Tony pointed at his own right ear. “With some dumb luck, if he was captured, the bad guys could have mistaken it as a hearing aid. Let me use JARVIS to track out his speaker’s frequency.”

 Fury nodded. Tony immediately connected JARVIS to the SHIELD database and began to navigate. “Sir, I found the frequency. It’s still recording…”

 “Put on the room’s speakers what got recorded after his distress call.” The moment the speakers went on, the Avengers, Fury, and Loki were treated to a chorus of crashing sounds, vibranium crashing, and freeze rippling.

 Take a good look at this memory of your past, soldier. It will stick in your memories when your frozen body decorates our heir’s throne room.

I can do this… all… day…

UTGARD-LOKI! LAST TIME I CHECKED, ANGERBODA DIDN’T REMOVE YOUR TITLE AS A ROYAL SORCERER!

I’m not going to damage a memorial! I have standards!

OH, BALLS OF JOTUNHEIM!

 The recording went on until it sounded like a mix of the two Frost Giants screaming and running and fire crackling, followed by a strange sizzling sound, sounds of steps, muffled grumbling, and then…

 DUDE! Why are you carrying Captain America?

 “That voice sounds familiar…” Thor frowned.

 Utgard-Loki and Gerd were chasing him and trespassing near my turf! These cowards fled from my security system! I spared the mortal from their hunt.

 “That voice also sounds familiar…”

But WHY is the dude here? You’d have yelled to mind wipe him and drop him in a mortal hospital if Maui or I had done it!

 “Maui! Now I know who just spoke! It’s Bacchus!” Thor exclaimed.

 “The god of festivities and wine?” Natasha asked when Tony paused the recording. “Seriously?”

 “Well he is divine, but he was born a demigod. The demigod of wine and madness. I recognized him when he brought up Maui, the demigod of oceans. Those two are as thick as thieves!”

 “JARVIS, keep playing!” Tony ordered.

Who does he look like without his mask? The other voice asked.

 Shit, Bacchus cussed. He looks like… So he’s… But then… WHAT THE SHIT ARE WE GOING TO TELL KORY?

 That Steve needs medical attention, so I violated my own protocols because I picked up Kory’s odor on him, giving me reasons to skip the mind wipe? Oh, don’t give me that look. I think it’s cute.

 Sure, it’s cute. Do you want to imagine how NOT cute it’s gonna be when Kory finds out that ‘sweetheart-souled Steve Rogers’ is actually ‘close-to-age, nearly frozen again’ Captain America? Does March 1945 ring any bells?

Well thanks for reminding me, Rager Pants!

Big Guy, it’s serious! We are talking about Kory!

You think I’m not aware of the ravaging that’s going on outside, you drunk moron? Do you have any idea what it’s like to brainwash a mortal to switch train tickets and tell an unstable demigoddess that she can’t put her foot out of my house until this whole mess is over? I swear, I’m screwing up my ex with an ankh!

The screaming on the other line was followed by the sound of strange spark-like sounds. At the worst guess, the screaming damaged the speaker into burning.

 “Wasn’t Kory the name of that Norwegian chick Steve was seeing?” Clint quietly asked Natasha. “The brunette with the magenta streak?”

 Thor was shocked, but not as shocked when Loki had suddenly enough strength to rip off his cuffs and gag, knock off Iron Man and Fury, and grab Clint by the collar. He slammed the man onto the table, nearly causing the glass to crack.

 “HOW DO YOU KNOW THE BRUNETTE WITH THE MAGENTA STREAK?” He demanded, nearly crushing Clint’s windpipes.

 “It’s not Evangeline, brother!” Thor pulled back his brother. “Evangeline died seventy years ago! To save your child!”

 Loki’s grip on Clint weakened. He stared at Thor, his green eyes bearing a shattered expression. “What?”

 Thor went on to explaining everything: the Tome of Ikolson, the thief’s blood accidentally unlocking it, Angerboda stealing the last pages, and eventually the discussion with Axel the Jotun-human hybrid. “… and with Hawkeye and Black Widow admitting of knowing her, it all makes sense! The Frost Giants and Chitauri are fighting on Earth because of your daughter!”

 Minutes seemed long as Loki processed things, nearly as frozen as a statue. He then reacted by violently tossing Thor against the wall with his magic. Fury and Natasha aimed for their guns until their hands were trapped in ice cubes.

 “Loki…” Thor begged.

 “ODIN LIED TO ME! I HAVE A DAUGHTER AND HE LIED TO ME!” And in a light of green and yellow hues, Loki disappeared from the Helicarrier.

Meanwhile

While walking through the always, Steve definitely noted that the Big Guy’s replica of the US Capitol was more to reflect wealth and homeliness than politics. Nearly every single wall was golden painted with white trimmings and every single window was covered by black curtains. As they went down to go to the meeting, he’d noticed different lounge rooms, dining halls, ballrooms, and even one massive chamber that had been converted into an indoor playground.

 “Hold on.” They hadn’t even reached the elevator and Kory had Steve paused so she could adjust Steve’s collar (he’d been requested to come in his Captain America gear but without the mask on). “OK. Now we’re good.”

 “Good luck,” Aaricia said.

 “You’re not coming?” Steve asked.

 “Unless requested downstairs, mortals aren’t allowed downstairs. Besides, the Big Guy will probably want me to keep an eye on Mrs. Big Guy and the Big Guy Triplets.”

 “You got the backup muskox ribs?” Kory asked her sister as the elevator doors opened.

 “And the regular cow meat.”

 “Atta girl.” Kory gave her sister a thumbs up before the doors closed in on her and Steve. They stood across from one another in the small elevator with the same aesthetic usually given to a restaurant powder room and tragically moving slowly.

 Steve looked up at the ceiling. “They used to play music,” Steve said quietly. “You know, back in the 40s.”

 “I suppose. I mostly have memories of the obnoxious Hardanger fiddle tune in the elevator of my finishing school. You know, before it got shut down…” Kory straightened the sleeves of her buttoned-up coat. She hadn’t bothered to change for what seemed to be a diplomatic problem and the most change she did was putting on dark colored eye shadow and lipstick, making her look like as tired as she really was. If Stark had been here, he would probably have made some comment on how Kory looked like someone’s non-perky goth kid.

 “Can I ask you something?” Steve cautiously asked.

 “If it’s not going to make me monologue about my life’s problems. I’d rather not break this elevator.” Kory shrugged.

 “Right. So… I really shouldn’t be asking this to a dame, but… how old are you really?”

 “I look like I’m 21, right?” Kory looked at Steve. “The curse of being a demigod…”

 “Thor mentioned it. Apparently, you live longer than mortals but shorter than immortals.”

 “Yeah. But you know what’s the stupid thing? The whole ‘live for 2700 years’ and ‘get these powers’ only kicks in when you suffer a seriously traumatic event. Life was already horrible when I turned 21 on December 21^st, 1941, but it got worse.”

 “You were 21 in 1941?” Steve did the math, and when the result kicked in, a massive smile made its way out. “You’re two years younger than me!”

 “Oh, that’s right. Your birthday is on the 4^th of July.” Kory let out a small smile. “Talk about foreshadowing.”

 “I mean, the common ground makes further sense! You’re from my time as well! It’s…” For a moment, excitement filled him. Forget the whole ‘finding out your online friend was actually Loki’s unknown daughter’, he had actually interacted with someone of his actual age! Someone who actually lived in the 40s! After losing everyone he knew, Steve thought it would be an impossible cause to relate with anyone on such a level until Kory came along. His excitement, however, came to a halt when he realized that Kory was from the 40s.

 And while he’d been just a kid from Brooklyn trying to serve his country, Kory had been a young Jewish girl… in Norway.

 “Kory… You were…”

 “Don’t say it.” Kory shook her head.

 “My God. You were in Norway when… when it was occupied.” Steve looked at Kory, who now slumped her down the tiled floor of the elevator. “You said your mother died during a bombing in Tønsberg… Kory, I’m so sorry…”

 “And you said it anyway.” The elevator came to an abrupt halt. “Great. Some moron must be using the horizontal elevator. The Big Guy really needs to rethink his interior designs.” Kory then noticed that Steve had decided to sit on the floor as well, probably to keep the eye-level contact during the conversation. “Save it, Steve. I’m not going to cry about it in front of you.”

 “I know. But I still want to understand what happened to you.”

 “Can you, Steve?” Kory’s quiet question caused the temperature in the elevator to drop a few degrees. “Can you try to understand that when you both lose your mother and discover the truth about your father and your whole identity in a matter of 24 hours during one of history’s worst events? Can you try to understand that when this happened to me, everything within me just froze? My blood, my brain cells, everything. Can you understand what it’s like to be trapped with the physical appearance and emotional mentality of someone in her early twenties? Can you understand that for nearly seventy years, I’ve tried to keep myself in the shadows, but everyone forces me into the light because they think I’m an abomination? The immortals don’t like me because I’m Loki’s daughter, a half-breed, or that my mortal ancestry is too ‘wild’. There’s a bunch of mortals ought there who don’t like me either because of my religion or because I lived while many others haven’t or because they think I’m a pagan witch? Can you try to understand all of the above?”

 “I don’t want to make empty promises,” Steve said. “There’s no way I can fully understand what you went through, but I want to try.”

 “Because Captain America believes in all human rights?” Kory frowned just when the elevator went back down.

 “Because Steve Rogers had his own experiences being marginalized before joining the army and he lost everything he knew after he came out of the ice. And because despite everything, he still wants to be your friend.”

 “Steve…” Kory got cut off when the elevator dinged, announcing their arrival. The two got up, with Kory immediately transforming into her blue form. “Be warned. These may be modern Frost Giants, but they’re still Frost Giants. Big, strong, and prone to insults. You’re mortal and they’ll get irked if you do or say anything without permission from the Big Guy. So please, refrain yourself.”

 “Alright.” The doors opened and Steve almost took a double-take.

 The conference room looked like the House Chamber, except all the white walls were made of marble and ancient columns held up a stained-glass ceiling representing scales comparing the weight of a feather to a heart. The levels of desk and chairs were replaced by hundreds of fancy chairs carved out of grey stones while at the heart of the conference room, a golden dog-shaped chair stood out in front of black curtains. Dark-colored chairs stood by the golden one.

 The most alarming part had to be the Frost Giants that were spread out in the room: fully-blooded and hybrids of all sizes, dressed in various cultural clothes that mixed countries’ motifs and ice-patterns, and all sitting with flags hanging from the chairs top rail. The flags had the colors of the sitters’ countries, only the designs Steve was familiar with were replaced by symbols he was unfamiliar with.

 “How many are there?” Steve whispered to Kory.

 “Frost Giants are spread out in countries where the average yearly temperature is at or beneath 14 degrees Celsius.” Kory sighed when she saw Steve’s confused expression. “About 57 in Fahrenheit. That’s their limit in temperature on Earth. Hybrids can survive an extra 20 degrees, but that’s it.”

 “Guess that explains why you don’t like the idea of coming to the US in the summer…”

 “Finally! You’re here!”

 Someone approached the two. He definitely wasn’t a Frost due to his human height, Caucasian skin, trimmed beard, and brushed back brown hair that reached his shoulders. Though knowing how the immortals seemed to have a thing against uninvited mortals, it was safe to assume that the forty-something man wasn’t human. His wine-colored shirt squeezed against his stomach and was overwhelmed by a pattern of vines, feline stripes or spots, his business-black pants were quite baggy, and his black shoes bared white maze patterns. Some sort of cologne with the mashed-up scent of fennels, pine trees, and grapes came out of him.

 “Am I dead yet?” Kory asked.

 “No, but we got at least 40 out of 70 Frost Giants who are ready to kill something.” The man shot a glare at Steve with his dark eyes. “I see that you’re handling this surprisingly well, Rogers,” he spoke drily.

 “Leave the insults to the professionals, Bacchus,” Kory said quietly. “You don’t want to start a flyting before the whole court actually riots.”

 “Just sit already!” Bacchus pointed at dark-colored chairs under the golden one. Kory ushered Steve away from Bacchus.

 “Sorry about Bacchus. Apparently, he got peeved when he found out during your healing process that you don’t get drunk.”

 “The super soldier serum did that,” Steve said. “Believe me, I’ve tried, but I can’t.”

 “Hey, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s just, you know, Bacchus lives for wine and madness, being the divine demigod of it.”

 They got to the chairs, but someone beat them to it. Even when sitting up, Steve could tell the Polynesian man was tall and muscular, but it was only after getting up that the man revealed himself to be inches taller than Thor. Bald, stern-looking, and his bare chest covered in tattoos, the only things he wore were a pair of black shorts, socks, and shoes with the logo of the New Zealand Rugby Team. A massive fishhook, almost as big as the man’s upper body, rested by his chair. Steve almost felt pathetic.

 “I don’t want to hear it,” Kory immediately told the man.

 “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.” He shrugged before looking at Steve. “So, you’re the tiny guy they drugged into a big guy. Can’t say I approve of medically-enhanced muscles, but I can respect a guy who did crazy stuff to save mortals.”

 “Thank you?” Steve frowned.

 “That’s Maui,” Kory made the introductions. “Technically, he’s more of a semi-divine folk hero of diverse origins in the Polynesian islands, but people are too lazy to do any actual research so we just call him the demigod of oceans. Maui, Steve Rogers.”

 Maui merely gave a peace sign. Steve nodded in return.

 “How bad is it?” Kory asked. “Aaricia said that everyone wants to start a revolution.”

 “At this rate, the moment we put our asses back on the chairs, it’s going to be more of a kangaroo court than an actual debate,” Maui said. “Frost Giants are such morons in politics.”

 “Gee, you think?” Kory rolled her eyes.

 “By the way, the Big Guy got a text from his wife. Apparently, the Avengers are flying over DC in that flying Studio Ghibli rip-off.”

 “The Helicarrier?” Steve offered.

 “Yep. Oh, and Axel just called Ingrid from Norway. Looks like Thor and the Avengers finally picked up that you exist.”

 This caused Kory’s blue cheeks to turn into a dark red hue. “How is that possible? With all my updated documents, I’ve kept myself legally invisible to the eyes of the moronic mortal authorities! I never got involved in any of the drama shows that would attract attention! I did exactly what anyone would expect of me, which is to remain in the shadows as a redundant citizen among the mortals!”

 “Well Thor has been going back and forth,” Steve said. “He didn’t say anything to anyone else except Stark and Banner, but he’d been doing his own thing. And lately he said he suspected that Odin was lying to Loki about something else other than being a Frost Giant.”

 “Oh! Give Odinson a prize! The haughty warrior finally got all clever!” A slow clapping and mocking tone came from above them. The moment the demigods realized that the Big Guy was in his golden chair, they immediately curtsied. Steve was taken aback: compared to Bacchus or Maui, the Big Guy looked awfully young, maybe older than Kory but younger than Steve. His black hair was trimmed and brushed back, and despite the lack of lighting from above, the lit areas shined like gold. His uniform almost reminded Steve of the ones the Egyptian army had worn during World War II, except the fabric was pitch black and all the buttons were of gold shaped like jackal heads. He lacked the hat. The only disturbing things about the Big Guy were the massive Egyptian necklace he wore over his shirt, the claws that replaced his fingernails, the sharp canines exposed during his toothy grin, and the eyes… Good Lord, the eyes. The sclera was darker than his own suit and the irises were so golden-colored, Steve might have thought the Big Guy had his real eyes plucked out so he could replace them with ones of gold. Steve said nothing as Kory motioned him to sit down on one of the chairs. Fortunately for him, Kory was next to him.

 “So, which one of you morons wants to go first?” The Big Guy slouched on his chair.

 “What’s the Avenger doing here?” Some Frost Giant in the audience called out.

 “You’re dense,” another one spoke up. “My people spotted him with Ikolson a few days back in New York. And apparently, two bozos from Jotunheim tried to freeze him… again.”

 “So, what’s the affiliation?” Steve managed to pick up some sort of European accent from the Frost Giantess who stared at their direction. “You now mangle with the Avengers, Ikolson?”

 “I do not!” Kory exclaimed. “You think that if I did even purposely approach the Avengers, I would be here! I did not know that my friend here was Captain America beforehand!”

 The Frost Giantess persisted. “He is a walking figure from your exposure period! How can you not be aware that he wasn’t an invented propaganda figure?”

 “Give it a rest, Lena.” The first Frost Giantess was interrupted by another one, only the second one was more patient and Steve managed to guess from the flag on her chair and her accent vaguely similar to Kory’s, that she was a Norwegian Frost Giantess. “Kory has sought no ambition to interfere with mortal affairs. Contrary to her paternal predecessors, she’s not plagued by the power-hungered, genocidal madness that poisoned her father and grandfather. She doesn’t seek a throne nor does she seek to prove herself. As for Captain America… I don’t see how he fits in, but I know that Kory wouldn’t tamper the stability of a mortal’s livelihood by exposing him to the truths of our society with rough purpose.” Kory looked somewhat relieved.

 “However, in the pursuit that shows her as a contradiction to Loki, she doesn’t display any interests with siding with the enemies of the one god she detests more than anything else,” the Norwegian Frost Giantess continued. “The Avengers are against Loki. Kory is against Loki. Why doesn’t she side with the Avengers?”

 “Because the Avengers would turn against her.” The room went dead silent when the Big Guy started talking. “They might be heroes, but let’s not forget that they only defend the mortals. They do not defend us. In my perspective, the Avengers are no different than the rest of humanity, who has given us reasons to hide in the darkness. I mean, was anyone surprised when it turned out that SHIELD already had a cage for the Hulk? Who is to say that they don’t have… something worse waiting upstairs?”

 Steve found himself grimacing. The way the Big Guy talked almost reminded him of the condescending tone Loki had used back in Germany to say how ‘humanity craves subjugation’ and ‘the bright lure of freedom diminishes humans’ life’s joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity.’ He even noticed how Kory stiffened in her seat, clutching onto the armrests as if to keep herself under check.

 “Jotunheim and the Chitauri are very evident enemies, but the Avengers could be worse,” the Big Guy continued.

 “Well, if you think they could be worse, why don’t you ask the one you dragged to this meeting?” A hybrid in an icy blue beret sneered. “After all, Utgard-Loki and Gerd tried to freeze him. For all we know, we probably make him very uncomfortable.”

 “You make me uncomfortable,” a male Frost Giant in a kilt retorted.

 “You want to mock my parentage, you haggis-stomached caber toss maniac?”

 “You mock my cooking, you cowardly frog-legged wimp?”

 Steve wasn’t sure what happened, but the Scottish and French leaders were now brawling against one another on the ground, the other Jotun and half-Jotun either arguing or encouraging the fight. Steve stared at the demigods, who looked outright bored.

 “How often does this happen?” Steve asked.

 “Why do you think we call it a kangaroo court?” Maui sighed. “Tiny hint: it ain’t corrupt politics. Answer: conferences like these always wind up with a bunch of barbarians fighting like kangaroos.”

 “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” Kory looked up at the Big Guy, who was leaning in on his golden chair and resting his chin on his hands, like a wrestling fan watching his favorite athletes fighting in the finale.

 “I merely stated the facts. It’s not my fault if Frost Giants are so prone to violence. Besides, this debate was going nowhere, so I needed my entertainment,” The Big Guy shrugged.

 “So, you plan on having the Frost Giants fight against one another?” Steve questioned.

 “Just in the conference room. Honestly, I’d prefer if they didn’t get into a rumble with the more barbaric representatives of Jotunheim. That would get the world into another ice age and I’d rather not have my casinos in Vegas and Houston frozen.”

 “You and your priorities,” Bacchus muttered.

 “Watch it, Booze Breath.” The Big Guy shook his finger.

 “Should I just step out?” Kory quietly volunteered.

 “NO!” Nearly every single one of the Frost Giants in the room, sans Kory and Ingrid, yelled. Their stomping caused frost to cover the ground.

 “This is a waste of time!” Kory declared. “Why am I here when I’m surrounded by frozen-minded morons who know fully well that I have no intentions in taking sides? We all know why I can’t go to Jotunheim, we all know that I have no interest in taking Laufey’s throne or anybody’s throne, and I have no interest in being some sort of symbol of Midgardian Frost Giant Independence! Leadership is not my thing!”

 “Et sicut pestis es, quietam morabantur, non est tuus,” some Frost Giantess muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

 “Take that back instantly!” Bacchus demanded.

 “What did she say?” Maui asked.

 “‘And like the pest you are, staying quiet is not your thing,’” Bacchus quoted.

 “Better a pest than a squalling quim.” The comment just came out of Kory. Nearly every single female in the room, Ingrid included, was appalled, the Italian Frost Giantess was enraged, Bacchus and Maui were shocked, and both Steve and the Big Guy actually restrained themselves from laughing. Steve remembered Natasha telling him that back when she interrogated Loki in the Helicarrier, he had insulted her as a ‘mewling quim’. Steve had been shocked when the god insulted his female friend in such informal, outdated fashion, but hearing the same god’s daughter using a similar insult to a Frost Giantess was somewhat amusing.

 “That’s it! I’m beating the shit out of that freak of nature!” The Italian Frost Giantess got off her seat. Ingrid and some other Frost Giants went on to pin her down. “Why do we even have her around? No one likes her! There’s no way in Helheim that we’ll reignite the Jotun monarchy! Why not simply put her head to get it over with?”

 “Decapitating a demigoddess is impossible, you cretin!”

 “So, let’s push her into Muspelheim! I don’t care what it takes! That beast is better off dead like the All-Father wanted!”

 The Frost Giants backed away just in time for a ball of fire to strike the Italian Frost Giantess. She cried and howled as her icy body turned into a melting puddle. The Frost Giants cowered at the Big Guy, who shook off his right hand as it still let out some smoke. And instead of his toothy grin, the Big Guy had a bitter snarl, like an angry wolf about to corner a prey.

 “My Lord, we meant no disrespect…” Ingrid lowered her head.

 “Then you’d better remember under whose roof you got invited in with generous fashion, you morons,” the Big Guy hissed. “Your colleague from Marmolada paid the price for disrespecting my generous nature.”

 Silence came from the room when the walls suddenly shook. Everyone was off their seats as they shook again.

 “Earthquake?” Kory asked Bacchus.

 The shaking got more violent, one of the Frost Giants actually tripped.

 “More like Jurassic Park earthquake than the one that destroyed Lisbon,” Bacchus muttered.

 The ground shaking was now followed by banging sounds echoing everywhere. “What were the odds?” The Big Guy scowled as he checked his phone. “Looks like Angerboda actually decided to send rougher reinforcements. Oh, and one of the flying whales from New York is popping in.”

 “The Leviathans?” Steve exclaimed.

 “Yes. Looks like DC is about to become a war front.”

 “AAAAAAANUUUUUBIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSS!” A familiar scream echoed against the walls. Kory paled up as she looked up at the ceiling.

 “Please tell me that’s not who I think it is!” She begged angrily.

 “Sorry, but that’s my ex alright.” The Big Guy dialed a number on his phone and brought it up to his ear. “Marion, darling. You might want to take the kids and guide the others out the back door. Loki finally found my doorbell.”

Chapter Text

The moment the Leviathans appeared, not out of the portal, but literally coming through the atmosphere, DC immediately had the citizens evacuate the area. To the surprise of the Avengers, none of the giant flying whales aimed for the city. Instead, they landed roughly onto the Potomac, causing giant waves to crash on land and bridges, and lazily waited. The Chitauri didn’t seem to be in a rush to get out of the giant beasts, but some did perk their heads out when blue portals started appearing. Soon enough, a massive coldness dramatically dropped the temperature all over downtown as hundreds of Frost Giants stepped out on the roads bordering the Potomac.

 “Well, this is a fine sight.” Angerboda was at the lead of her battalion, with Utgard-Loki and Gerd at her side. They still had on the attires of their human disguises, but Angerboda had adopted some sort of cape made of diamond-shaped bone fragments. She might as well be carrying the bone of war victims. “A bunch of giant fish… with hundreds of Chitauri.” Angerboda held out her left arm and a giant machete of spike ice came out. “My kin! Let us spread their blood on this mortal capital to mark the day they failed to steal our ruler, who will bring back to life the legacy of Laufey! In her name, all hail the Princess of Mischief!”

 “ALL HAIL THE PRINCESS OF MISCHIEF! ALL HAIL THE PRINCESS OF MISCHIEF!” The Frost Giants banged their icy weapons on the ground just as some Chitauri emerged out of the Leviathan and started coming straight to the mainland.

 “It’s as I feared,” Thor said when the Avengers saw the two alien races charging at each other. “Angerboda seeks to have my niece lead the Frost Giants into another campaign to conquer and trap Midgard into another ice age!”

 “Speaking of the chosen one, where is she?” Iron Man asked as he scanned the faces of the different Frost Giants stabbing and pounding some Chitauri while one out of five got their faces burned off. “You’d think that the Angry Bride would have brought her along.”

 “We know she’s with Cap,” Black Widow said. “And wherever they are, Loki ran off in a massive hurry.”

 “Maybe not in such a hurry after all.” Hawkeye pointed at the direction of the Capitol, where sure enough, he saw Loki pounding angrily at the front door. “Either the Frost Giants are dense or they’re not paying attention. Steve and mini-Loki must be in there.”

 “Then we split the goods,” Iron Man decided. “I ward off the Leviathans, Thor and Hawkeye take on the armies, and Hulk and Black Widow intercept Loki before he ignites the worst family reunion ever!”

 The teams split up to take immediate action. Black Widow got a ride from Hulk, smashing his way to the Capitol just in time for a golden blast to catapult Loki way from the Capitol. The front door glowed and figures stepped out, primarily Frost Giants in human clothing, a bare-chested, tattooed rugby player with a giant hook, a wildly dressed party man with a golden pinecone scepter, and a World War II Egyptian soldier with a glowing ankh. In a strange way, it looked like an insane supernatural roleplay where Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, and Mena Massoud were the main actors.

 “If it isn’t my ex!” The ankh scepter wielder sneered as he made his way down the steps while the others held back. “How’ve you been since we broke up 400 years ago, Loki?”

 “Still bearing bruises…” Loki grimaced. The blast he had received in the stomach was agonizing due to its heat.

 “Yes, good old memories.” The god noticed Black Widow pointing his gun at him. “Natasha Romanoff. SHIELD’s personal venomous spider. I’ve heard much about you, but on the scale from 1 to 10 lethal redheads, my wife is deadlier than you.”

 “I guess I get why Loki would have dated you,” Black Widow commented. “You got his sense of polite insults. So, you’re the golden-eyed god we’ve heard about.”

 “Anubis Sethson,” the god slightly bowed his head. “Son of Seth and Nephthys, adopted son of Isis, nephew of Osiris, cousin of Horus, ex-boyfriend of Loki, mentor of Koryanna Evangeline Lottie Lokisdottir Ikolson, husband of Marion Romanson, and father of Kebechet Anubisdottir Romanson, Rosetta Anubisdottir Romanson, and Otis Anubison Romanson. You mortals used to worship me as the god of mummification, but most people call me the Big Guy.”

 “Mentor?” Loki scowled.

 “Oh, I forgot!” Anubis tapped his forehead. “Instead of killing your daughter like Odin asked, I spared and invited her into my tutelage. I’d love to chat about how I succeeded at your own job, but I got a bunch of nybergynnere Frost Giants who’d love to clobber your head!” Anubis turned and pointed his ankh scepter at Loki. “Folks, he’s all yours!”

 “SMASH!” The Frost Giants ran their way towards Loki, who actually had to make a run for it when the dozens ahead of the mob started growing icy spikes out of the ground in the hopes of killing him. They chased him as far away from the Capital, which is a good thing, because the Frost Giants who idolized the Hulk might have been pissed if they saw Anubis blasting the Hulk into a tree when the green beast tried attacking him. Hulk grunted and got himself back on his feet, only for golden roots to emerge from the ground and cuff him down. He angrily roared as he failed to break free. Black Widow shot some bullets at Anubis, who merely snapped his fingers and had the bullets transform into golden scarabs that flew off.

 “I did tell Captain America that the Avengers would be no different than the rest of humanity,” he rolled his eyes.

 “What did you do him after you brought him in?” Black Widow demanded, keeping her gun aimed at him.

 “You should know, considering I found that fried up speaker of his when I had him healed. But you wouldn’t care about that, would you? In the end, it doesn’t matter if I saved his ass from Angerboda’s mindless clowns or refused to have him mind wiped him to forget everything because he’s one among the limited poisonous mortals out there. Honestly, had I done nothing, Kory would have been shatteredand I don’t want to deal with another March 1945 scenario.” His golden eyes stared at Natasha’s with disdain. “Compared to Odin, Loki, Angerboda, Thor, and the pathetic morons of any immortality or mortality out there, I actually care about the well-being of my pupil!”

 Black Widow kept her gun up, but after many seconds of hesitation, she put it down. Anubis frowned in surprise. “I didn’t actually think this would work,” he admitted. He snapped his fingers, releasing the Hulk just as it calmed down and shifted back to Bruce Banner.

 “What did you do?” Black Widow rushed to check on Banner.

 “What, the ridiculously golden aloe vera roots?” Anubis shrugged dismissively as he followed her. “I keep these planted around my house as a first-line of defense against brutes.”

 “How sensitive of you…” Banner grumbled as Black Widow helped him up. “Usually I get missiles shot at my direction.”

 “Nah. It sedates violent intruders so I don’t have to unleash my babies. They get particularly hungry when enemies are extremely feisty.”

 “I’m going to ignore that.” Black Widow shook her head. “So where are Steve and Kory?”

 “Certainly not inside my house. Anyone I didn’t want on the battlefield, I had them evacuate through the back door. As I’m talking, they should have arrived in one of my safehouses.”

Meanwhile, in Georgetown

Steve had to recognize that he had seen a lot of strange things, but for some reason, driving motorcycles all the way to Georgetown to stay clear of an alien battle wasn’t even the first thing on his list of strange things. The Big Guy’s wife, a red-maned mortal woman named Marion Romanson, had escorted him, the Ikolson sisters, and her own three children to an underground hangar. Apparently, she and her husband collected vehicles for any possible situation, so by the time the Big Guy and the others had gone upstairs, three motorcycles had gone out: a dark red Harley Davidson for Captain America, a dark blue Vincent Rapide driven by Kory with Aaricia as her passenger, and a white-and-gold Vespa motorcycle that Marion Romanson drove on while the triplets rode on the matching sidecar.

 The driving was rather rapid and the ladies really knew how to dodge cars, so they all got to Georgetown from the National Mall in less than 15 minutes until Marion Romanson had them stop in front of the Old Stone House.

 “Why do you always find safehouses in the middle of nowhere?” Aaricia commented when the adults parked their vehicles on the street.

 “Because hiding in the Marriott wouldn’t have raised any red flags?” The redheaded tuxedo dressed woman asked drily.

 “I’m just saying.”

 “Just help me get the triplets inside.”

 Aaricia muttered something in Norwegian as she helped Marion lift the four-years-old triplets off the sidecar and head towards the back of the Old Stone House, probably in some back door hidden to the mortal. Kory and Steve still remained on their seats, probably uncertain if they should park for real or stay out if something comes up or just… stay there.

 “I’m really sorry I dragged you into all of this,” Kory sighed. “I have no control in all of this.”

 “I know,” Steve said quietly.

 “Something still perplexes me though.” Kory got off her motorcycle and finally decided to chain it on a nearby post. “I gave you my reasons for not telling you what I really am, but I have a hard time understanding why you’d hide about being Captain America.”

 “I know.” Steve decided to park and chain his motorcycle as well.

 “Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t think Captain America was real because the first time I heard of you, it was part of war propaganda, but…” Kory fidgeted her fingers nervously. “You’re a hero and everything. Aren’t you like… America’s golden boy? You know, hopeless admired and venerated like Thor except you lack the ego?”

 Steve smirked a bit at her comparison. “True… But being the ‘American golden boy’? I was afraid that if you immediately found out… Well, I was scared that it wouldn’t have been real…”

 “You thought I would have preferred the poster hero than the guy behind the mask?” Kory’s tone had layers of disbelief. “Steve!”

 “I’m being serious!” Steve leaned on a lamppost. “That’s the way it’s been ever since I got the serum! 1940s or 2010s, people only see me as Captain America! National symbol, soldier, and…” He grumbled in frustration. “That shallow secretary I told you about? Only this interested her!” He waved his hand up and down at his direction. “I mean, there was the dame I told you about who had faith me in me, but she moved on when I went in the ice! I wake up and I feel yet again like a walking relic who doesn’t fit!” He lifted his head up to see Kory, who looked stunned at the frustrated expression he now bared. “So yes, that’s why I didn’t tell you. Unfortunately, the media had my real name plastered everywhere after New York, so you can imagine that I was shocked when you didn’t connect the dots right away.”

 “To be fair, it’s a common name…” Kory said. “And again, I only associated Captain America with American propaganda.”

 “I’m going to go on a limb here and guess that you didn’t pay full on attention to the names brought up on the news, then.” Steve crossed his arms.

 “Obviously.” Kory looked sternly at him. “Between the possibility of my devil-father conquering the world or the girly fandom, my priorities were obvious. That reminds me.” Kory crossed her arms as well. “You want to explain to me why the Avengers didn’t kill Loki? Because I had hoped the Hulk broke his skull when he smashed him!”

 “Thor took him in for Asgardian justice and he got life imprisonment!” Steve stood upright.

 “Right, I forgot!” Kory coldly laughed. “Rather than inviting the executioner over, Odin sends his least favorite son into the dungeons! I forgot how charitable he was! You know, I’m kinda surprised he hasn’t sent any assassins after me yet… or maybe he just expects me to lose it in the grand scheme of things!” Steve took a step back when Kory turned into her Jotun form and kicked the Vincent Rapide, both crushing it into a crumbled state like a wasted soda can and trapping it ice that eventually shattered into perfectly cut out cubes. The sight scared some pedestrians away, but Steve kept his ground. Kory crumbled onto her knees, tears dripping their way to form small specks of ice that shattered onto the bricked sidewalk while her fists balled up. “I don’t even understand why you are so charitable… Despite the talk in the elevator, I don’t understand how… Damn it, I don’t even understand why your inhuman levels of kindness even tolerate a pest like me…”

 “You’re not a pest, Kory.” Steve bent down and pulled her up.

 “Steve… Don’t you dare tell me otherwise…” Kory took a step back. “I’m…”

 “I meant what I said in the elevator!”

 “I know! And that’s the problem!” Kory finally snapped, her eyes transforming into their hybrid form when she did. “You said it yourself, you’re a relic who doesn’t fit in, but millions adored you, before and after serum, regardless of their reasons! You’ve seen me as I am! I didn’t ask God or anyone else to make me who I am, but I am many things that give billions of reasons to dislike just because it doesn’t fit their ‘interest’! A Frost Giant-human hybrid, a demigoddess, Loki’s child, the daughter of an unmarried Jewish woman, the descendant of too many deities, an outcast, a sorceress, a shapeshifter, a biromantic ace, and a capraphobic! You can’t change nearly a century of crowd hatred and self-hatred!”

 “Kory…” Steve didn’t get to finish his sentence when Kory pushed him onto the road. A purple blast went at her direction, and though she made a run for it, Kory’s arm took the hit. She screamed in agony. “KORY!”

 Steve got up and saw the Chitauri who had pointed its gun at Kory. It dodged the flying shield, but it didn’t miss the electric blast that came from the gardens of the Old Stone House. “Kory!” Aaricia ran out into the open, with small bits of crackling energy still glowing through her golden locks. “Kory, are you OK?”

 “No…” Kory took off her coat. The inside had a massive, wet stain that went even into the sleeves. She turned inside out the sleeve where she got hit, revealing a destroyed motherboard the size of her hand. “I mean, I didn’t get burned, but my liquid nitrogen system got busted.”

 “You put liquid nitrogen inside your coat?” Steve exclaimed.

 “Well duh,” Aaricia said. “Frost Giants are weakened by fire and heat. Same thing for hybrids, except the weakness of heat also comes with a weakness to insane levels of cold. The liquid nitrogen circulation systems helps her control her body temperature depending on the environment’s temperatures and also protects her, but without it… the aliens might as well turn Georgetown into a Norwegian midsummer bonfire.”

 “Yes, well I’m not ready to lose my coat yet.” Kory waved her hand over her coat, causing a blue aura to shrink it and vacuum it into the eyes of her wolf pendant. Her shirt was vaguely soaked as got up. Marion Romanson came out of the Old Stone House, carrying a massive dark yellow machine gun just in time to see a dozen Chitauri emerge on the road. The sight of the aliens caused civilians to run for cover while in the distance, explosions and screams of war echoed from downtown.

 “Something’s not right.” Steve tightened his grip on his shield. “The last time I fought the Chitauri, they were a whole armada and randomly attacked anyone.”

 “Well I’m attacking before they can randomly attack my babies!” Marion fired her gun at the nearest Chitauri. Steve didn’t know what her bullets were made off, but the moment it hit the neck of the alien, the bullet electrocuted the Chitauri, killing it from within. The other remaining eleven aliens took their cue and started attacking. Marion kept firing her gun while Aaricia used the underground telephone cables to create electric land mines, killing a couple in the process. Steve blocked a Chitauri with his shield, but just when another Chitauri was about to strike him on the back, the Chitauri suddenly lost its head. The body dropped to the ground, revealing that Kory had decapitated him with a silver-colored, curved sword that almost resembled a sickle. Steve squinted and realized that the color of her weapon was very familiar to him.

 “Is that vibranium?” He asked.

 “Hold on!” Kory pushed him aside and pushed her sword into the gut of a Chitauri. “Yes, it’s a vibranium mambele!”

 “I thought Howard Stark got the last of it when he made my shield!” Steve threw his shield at an upcoming Chitauri. For some reason, the first dozen that had been killed were being replaced by a dozen new ones. At the stage they were in, Marion varied from shooting bullets to whacking Chitauri heads off by using her gun like a heavy club. Aaricia did a similar thing by both electrocuting and throwing cars at the Chitauri.

 “Well obviously not! I knew a Wakandan back in the 40s a bit after my first existential crisis!!” Kory created a patch of ice to cause a Chitauri to slip and get a concussion from Steve’s shield. “The first mortal before you who didn’t treat me like some sort of freakshow! The main difference is that we were in an underground Norwegian Resistance squad and my partner died because of me! I kept the weapon in honor of my partner’s memory!” When a Chitauri got too close to them, she sent it flying with an icy gust of wind.

 “We really need to figure a time after this to sit down and talk about what happened since the 40s!” Steve pointed out.

 “Hey! When you’re done fighting like some old married couple from a CW show, can you give a hand here!” Marion smashed the head of another Chitauri until one came from behind her, snatched her gun, and crushed it in its massive hands. That didn’t stop Marion, who pulled out a golden sword from her tuxedo (how she managed to fit in it was a mystery) and immediately struck the Chitauri with it. “When guns fail, use your husband’s wedding gifts!”

 “Right, I forgot!” Aaricia shouted sarcastically as she threw an empty ice cream truck at two Chitauri. “Nothing screams perfect union than giving your wife a khopesh!”

 “Any update from the Big Guy?” Kory shouted.

 “National Mall’s a mess. The good part, Anubis actually got some sense out of the Black Widow!” Marion decapitated an alien.

 “What’s that supposed to mean?” Steve held out his shield so Kory could jump on it and stab a Chitauri that tried to attack by jumping off a building.

 “He convinced her not to shoot him! The bad part, the other Avengers are really screwing up. Obviously, when two alien species fight for someone who’s not even interested in their pathetic Trojan War, it’s hard for them to decide which side to fight! Oh, and Loki is being handled by the nybergynnere leaders!”

 “Handled like getting his head chopped off or handled like the stuff that should only be on Rated-R movies?” Aaricia asked. Apparently, her question caused some of the remaining Chitauri to hiss in shocked disgust.

 “For God’s sake, I really need to limit your liberties! Steve, shield! Everyone else, brace yourself!” Kory made a run towards Steve, her mambele sword tightly held in a position ready to strike. Steve immediately recognized it as the movement Thor had used to strike the vibranium shield with his hammer. Placing his shield above him, Steve braced himself as Kory swung her weapon at his. The vibranium tools clashing against one another like a gong caused a massive ringing that propelled the Chitauri away by at least a mile and caused Marion and Aaricia to crash on a wall. Steve dropped his shield to cover his ears; the ringing might as well have pierced through his skin and give him a horrible hammering feeling in his brain. He couldn’t even hear his own screaming until a chilling feeling went through him and the pain ceased.

 “Are you alright?” Kory removed her blue hands from his head.

 “What just happened?” Steve asked.

 “Protective brain freeze.” Kory tapped her forehead. “Handy against hypnosis, siren calls, and cancelling out noises that you don’t want to hear. Took me thirty years to perfect it so that I have a thick, mental iceberg protecting my thoughts and nobody can penetrate my head and brainwash me.”

 “That’s effective.” Kory helped Steve get up and the two rushed to Marion and Aaricia, both receiving a taste of Kory’s protective brain freeze.

 “OW!” Aaricia yelped. “Thank god it’s over! Now I know what it feels like for a bird to deal with ultrasounds!”

 Steve checked the streets. He’d lost count of the amount of Chitauri who came by the dozens, but so far none of the corpses that were lying around Georgetown had been replaced by new, armed, and living ones. In the distance, a Leviathan was dying in the Potomac. “I don’t like this,” Steve repeated himself. “There’s got to be only a limited amount of Chitauri in DC compared to New York. I don’t know how many there are downtown, but judging by the sounds, I’d almost say that it’s a slaughterhouse right now.”

 “Obviously not.” Marion grimaced when she saw the cut on her arm. “This is probably only a field test battle for both armies to figure out how much lives their leaders would waste until one of them gets their hands on Kory. The mess is primarily coming from the Frost Giants, but the aliens aren’t here to conquer Earth but to seek vengeance on Loki, so of course they wouldn’t send an entire armada just to capture Kory. Thus, why we don’t have a New York-level carnage.” Marion turned towards the Old House. “We must go. With the Georgetown safehouse compromised, we got to move to the next furthest one in Friendship Heights.”

 “Yeah, before the aliens go hydra on us,” Aaricia commented. Her comment caused the adults to freeze in their tracks and stare at her.

 “What did you say?” Steve asked.

 “That the aliens went hydra on us. You know, the monster that Hercules slayed? I thought about it because each time we killed a dozen aliens, twelve more came to replace them. Sure, it deviates from the ‘cut one head off, two more grow’ basic, but…”

 “We get it!” Kory exclaimed in a panicked tone. “But if we just sliced off a bunch of heads, where is the body?”

 Out of nowhere, purple blasts struck Aaricia, Steve, and Marion. They electrocuted and slithered around them, trapping them in burning coils. The clouds darkened as a portal appeared and Kory saw the dark robed, armored, and muzzled alien with red fangs and an extra pair of thumbs. It stepped out of the portal, which automatically disappeared behind him.

“Koryanna Evangeline Lottie Lokisdottir Ikolson,” the alien smiled cruelly. “Child of the Asgardian who has failed us. The Princess of Mischief.”

 “Who’s asking?” Kory questioned.

“I am the Other. And shattering you to punish your father will be my greatest masterpiece.”

Chapter Text

Kory’s levels of fears were rather limited as she focused on the Other while her friends were struggling in their bonds that caused electric agony. Her grip on her mambele tightened. “You’re wasting your time, Other. I have no association with my paternal and lashing your anger at me will not solve your vengeance against him.”

 “Is it not the matchless cruelty of the matter?” The Other took patient steps towards her. “It was already laughable to witness the Asgardian’s mental shattering as a result of discovering that the All-Father lied to him. Discovering that he was a Frost Giant, monsters in the eyes of Asgard, and powdered with the naïve belief that he was born to be king, led to him crawling to my master’s feet. A simple task and a simple exchange, none of which your childish father could accomplish. And he’s slowly starting to crack at his greatest shattering: discovering that Odin lied about his only child. The smallest needles have already given him immense pain. Imagine the agonizing torture he will endure when I break you.”

 Kory snorted. “Good luck with that. I’ve met five hundreds worth of mortals, demigods, and immortals who have bragged that they would become history by shattering. I sent home crying into the arms of asylum wardens.”

 “Oh, I know. So, I don’t expect you to go nice on me. Put away your sword and hold back that truthful tongue of yours. Demonstrate that you are the destructive force everyone fears. The Princess of Mischief, the Universe’s Most Dangerous Demigoddess, Earth’s Most Powerful Sorceress… titles that you earned without even seeking to earn them or to appease somebody! Fight me with all that power in you, from the ice in your bones to the magic that fuels your spirit!”

“You want me to go all sorceress on you? Fine.” Kory sheathed her mambele and had her pendant aspirate it the same way it did with her coat. “Visitors get the first move!”

 The Other summoned a damaged car to lift up, crumble into shards that formed into giant daggers, and fly right at Kory. She stomped her foot on the ground, causing the road to glow blue and a giant hand to lift out of the ground. The hand column kept Kory up and blocked the daggers, only for them to transform into metallic spiders that climbed their way up. Kory inhaled to the point where the air in her lungs went cold enough to unleash a blizzard’s wind the moment she exhaled, freezing and destroying the spiders. The Other waved his hand, causing the column to slice itself off, but Kory turned into a gust of icy wind that flew away from the road until she landed and materialized herself on one of the bridges hanging above the Georgetown Canal. The Other hissed something and the bricks on the sidewalks ripped themselves off the ground to form a giant boulder. Kory briefly closed her eyes before opening them in their hybrid form. She held out her hands glowing in a blue aura, causing the canal to shake and for the dirty colored water to levitate and transform into a watery arm that batted away the boulder.

 “Is that all you can do?” The Other mocked. “The stories about you say that you were trained by your world’s historical sorceress, favored by a death god, and sired by an assortment of unruly divinities. Some have rumored that you descended from legends… You hold yourself back!”

 “Unlike Loki, I have nothing to prove. I don’t waste my energy for morons who don’t get the message,” Kory said.

 “So I have heard. But do tell me. How was it wasted on Abimbola?”

Then the ice cracked.

At the National Mall

Anubis had called off the Frost Giants chasing Loki (to the latter’s relief). Nobody got killed, but Loki did suffer some injuries when one of the leaders threw him at a statue. There hadn’t been that many Chitauri in the first place, but it was obvious that Angerboda’s forces were advantaged by brute force and ice so many Chitauri lives were taken. More carnage would have occurred until some portals popped open and the Chitauri suddenly ran out.

 “What, did they just run off?” Iron Man landed next to Thor. After killing a Leviathan, he watched as the last one he wounded flew off into a portal.

 “I don’t understand…” Thor shook his head. Some shouts got their attention, and when they turned, they saw that the conflicting shouts had now gone between the two different factions of Frost Giants.

 “You aren’t welcome on Midgard! Get out!”

 “Not until the princess is on the throne!”

“She doesn’t even want the throne!”

 “Yeah! Besides, we know how you barbarians are! You do not seek unity but division!”

 “A suicidal legacy!”

 “Join us! You are Jotun like us!”

 “We are nothing like the cold-hearted snobs you are!”

 “ENOUGH!” A clanging sound was heard; the one of Anubis clanging his ankh scepter on the ground. Surprisingly, all Frost Giants obeyed and stood silently as Anubis, with Maui and Bacchus at his sides, stood their ground on the snow-covered grass. Thor and Iron Man flew down to reach them, resulting in Thor seeing Anubis’ golden eyes.

 “It was you?” Thor nearly choked. “You…”

 “We’ll talk later.” Anubis turned to face the crossed-armed Angerboda. “What an immature performance of loyalty to the monarchy, Angerboda. Waltzing your way to Earth, deliberately harm mortal and immortal lives with your tavern fights against the enemies, betraying the newfound truce between Asgard and Jotunheim, and creating a war in the name of your princess who doesn’t even want to be your queen.”

 “It is a challenging career, to serve and advise the House of Laufey,” Angerboda said quietly. “If you would kindly give the princess back to her people, we will leave Midgard immediately.”

 “Kory has no people besides herself.” Anubis’ demeanor remained intact but his grip on the ankh tightened. “Your former king and his bastard son didn’t even know she existed, the All-Father preferred to have me to kill her than consider her as his granddaughter, neither the mortals nor the immortals like her, and your loyalists on Earth would give you reasons as to why they’d rather die than have a hybrid on the throne. Wouldn’t it be preferrable to have a preferred, fully-blooded Frost Giant from the royal court as your new ruler?”

 “You are ancient enough to know the traditions of our monarchy, Anubis Sethson.” Angerboda continued, though her teeth seemed to grit. “We Frost Giants will only be ruled by one connected to the blood family of Laufey. Between the patricidal dwarf and the chaotic hybrid, you can imagine that we are very selective.”

 “A rather hypocritical follow-up to tradition.” Anubis shrugged. “Besides, you’ve said it yourself. My pupil is chaotic. She goes by the personal motto to never rule or be ruled. Never be one’s ruler nor someone’s slave.”

 “That’s actually a good trick,” Gerd remarked. Utgard-Loki merely nodded in agreement while Angerboda gave Gerd an irritated look.

 “Fancy speeches or war, whatever the means, we will have our queen,” Angerboda persisted. Hundreds of Frost Giants grunted in agreement behind her.

 “If you think Kory will even go by force, you got another thing coming!” Bacchus shouted. “The Amazons learned that the hard way back in 1985!”

 “What happened in 1985?” Hawkeye couldn’t resist asking. Just then, the sky darkened. Even Thor looked up in confusion since he hadn’t summoned any lighting or storm. Then, out of nowhere, violent winds and showering comets rained in the distance, followed by violent explosions. Though they couldn’t feel it here, anyone in the National Mall could hear the rumbling sounds of earthquakes and people screaming in fear at Ward 2. A tornado of hail rose above the buildings, clashing with rising pillars of bricks and metals.

 “The Other…” Loki paled up. “He’s here.”

 “And fancy that, he made the Princess of Mischief angry.” Angerboda let out a sadistic grin. “You know, I think I’ll send my forces back to Jotunheim for now. I won’t have any Jotun casualties when the princess destroys this city. Utgard-Loki, Gerd, we will stick around to watch her work.”

 “Are you sure?” Gerd actually shuddered. “I doubt I want to be nearby…”

 And just when she said that, a massive wintery explosion occurred in Ward 2. The hail tornado had disappeared to be replaced by twelve massive kaiju-sized animals made of perfectly carved ice and building debris placed onto the ice like armor. One of them, a giant Chinese dragon, breathed a blast of ice.

 “SHE HIT CHINATOWN!” The Chinese and American Frost Giant leaders screamed.

At Chinatown

Steve and Aaricia had left Marion back in Georgetown to protect her children while they went after Kory and the Other. Aaricia was unfrazzled after being released from the electric coils, but Steve had been a bit shaken. Thinking that it would be unsafe for him to drive, Aaricia had grabbed him and ran faster than a racecar to the destruction rising in Chinatown. They almost got run over my screaming civilians and tourists. The mess was horrible: shattered roads, cracked sidewalks, water flooding out of broken pipes, broken windows, and what seemed to be a scramble of Chinese zodiac ice monsters scrambling to pick on the Other. The Other was floating around, dodging the ice monsters while the beasts wound up destroying buildings with mere claw swipes. Kory was standing on top of the Chinatown gate, only her Jotun form was more terrifying than ever. Her frizzy brown locks were moving despite the lack of wind and her magenta streak let out a light blue aura. Her veins were popping all over her exposed blue skin and her tattoos glowed in the same coloring as her streak’s aura, making them stand out like neon lights at a disco party, her nails were darker and were closer to actual claws, and all her clothing had its material replaced by a material forming a scaled chainmail. (It was pretty scary to see her DOWN TO EARTH T-Shirt in scales). She slouched, as if she were expecting to get pounced on, her teeth gritted and her hybrid eyes bared a more murderous shade of red.

 “Uh… the fact that my sister goes a tad scarier than the Hulk isn’t going to put a damper on your relationship, is it?” Aaricia asked Steve.

 “Really? Now?” Steve stared at the teenager in disbelief just when they witnessed the Other shattering the ice ox monster. They ran for cover behind a discarded truck to avoid the shower of ice pieces.

 “Yes, now!” Aaricia cautiously looked at where Kory was. “She’s very emotional and it takes some serious triggers for her to go into an assortment of bonkers modes! You’ve seen how she is when she’s sad or frustrated; she becomes a wreck! But when she gets all monstrous Jotun sorceress, that means the freakshow knew where to push her most violent triggers! She needs someone to calm her down!”

 Just then, the ice monsters were obliterated by the blasts of Iron Man. When the ice tiger monster began falling down, Kory floated away to avoid getting crushed. Just then, the Hulk started smashing his way towards her, roaring with all his might.

 “NO! DON’T DO IT!” Aaricia ran out from her hiding spot, with Steve in pursuit. The Hulk roared at Kory’s face, hoping to scare her off, but the demigoddess suddenly grew to be double of Hulk’s size, her monstrous features sharpening, and her teeth morphing into fangs as she unleashed an unholy shriek at the Hulk, destroying many windows in the process. The Hulk grunted and smashed his way into the escalators leading into the metro.

 “Son of a gun…” Steve muttered.

 “Eh!” Aaricia waved it off in dismissal. “I heard she could resist a Gorgon’s stare and I saw her send some monsters screaming for their mommies. Her scaring the Hulk doesn’t surprise me.” Just then, Iron Man began flying towards Kory, who shot a blue beam at him and suddenly caused his armor to fall apart. Steve ran in and caught Tony before he could crash.

 “She just dismantled my armor!” Tony exclaimed.

 “Kory!” Aaricia ditched the men and walked to Kory. “Kory, please stop.”

 “Tilbake, Aaricia!” Kory barked, causing a cold wind to blow through Aaricia’s blonde locks just as the other Avengers and the sisters’ allies came in. (Back off, Aaricia!)

“Jeg vil ikke.” Aaricia took part in the Norwegian exchange. “Jeg vet ikke hva han sa for å utløse deg, men det er ikke slik.” (I don’t want to. I don’t know what he said to trigger you, but it’s not the way.) Kory angrily pulled out the mambele from her wolf pendant.

 “Shit,” Aaricia bit her lip. “Jeg vet at du har vondt. Jeg vet at du savner Abimbola, men du kan ikke gi etter for triksene hans på grunn av din skyld.” (I know you're in pain. I know you miss Abimbola, but you can't give in to his tricks because of your guilt.)

 The demigoddess’s grip on her weapon loosened a bit, but her scorned expression did not. “Jeg vil at han skal blø.” (I want him to bleed.)

“Og jeg vil ha søsteren min. Den som tok meg inn når ingen andre gjorde det. Den som aldri sluttet å bry meg om til tross for mine dumme øyeblikk. Den jeg delte en ed med. Den som er min eneste familie.” The teenagers’ blue eyes didn’t do so well at restraining tears. (And I want my sister. The one who took me in when no one else did. The one who never stopped caring about me despite my stupid moments. The one I shared an oath with. The one who is my only family.)

 The demigoddess stared at her blade, her expression turning from scorn to shame. Her weapon disappeared back into her pendant, leading Aaricia to run and give Kory a tight hug. The latter went on to change from her monstrous sorceress form to her human appearance. Kory shook and sobbed as she placed her hand over Aaricia’s head during the hug.

 “I’m so sorry…” Kory choked.

 “You will be.”

 The Other had appeared out of nowhere. Fearing the worst, Kory shoved Aaricia away and the teenager fell back first on a broken car. The Other held out his six-fingered hand and shot six blue bolts at Kory, who was too worn out to evade them. She screamed as the bolts nearly burned from within the cells of her already exhausted muscles. Many feet away, Loki suddenly collapsed on the ground and started screaming.

 “Loki!” Thor struggled to hold Loki up as the God of Mischief twisted like an agonized worm. Up above, the Other smiled in sadistic pleasure.

 “LEAVE MY SISTER ALONE!” Aaricia got up from the ground.

 “Why should I? This is only a mere fraction to the Asgardian’s punishment,” the Other sneered. Hawkeye and Black Widow shot their arrows and bullets at him, but the Other merely waved his spare hand and the firepower deviated their courses towards Aaricia. Steve blocked the attacks with his shield and tossed it at the bolts. The bolts reflected and struck back at the Other, who let out a groan after the bolts hit him in the guts. Kory frantically breathed for air while Loki coughed out some blood. A gesture Steve did not fail to notice when Thor used his cape to wipe off Loki’s mouth.

 “The attack on the tower… The ice rink…” He looked up at the Other. “Loki got injured while Kory had a panic attack that got her into the hospital. You’re torturing her because he’ll feel her pain!”

 “A century’s worth of pain,” the Other spat. “A pathetic mortal human cannot fathom the cruelties, the horrors, the heartbreaks, and the shame that this demigoddess endured. Her handling is pitiful. Compared to the others like her, her link with her divine parent is of pathetic fragility and her immortality childish. Only her years of experience and the river in her veins keep her standing but makes the slow torturing process ever so delightful. I’ll have fun watching her dissecting her from within and watch her paternal fall into a deadly, but beautiful agony when I have his only child executed!”

 Mjolnir was tossed towards the Other, who dodged the flying hammer and opened a portal. “The Chitauri have done their work in locating her. I will retreat for the time being… That is, if Angerboda has any of you live.”

 “What’s that supposed to mean?” Tony asked. He got his answer the moment the Other disappeared with the portal and Maui swung his fishhook to slice the ice spear that nearly struck him. Steve rushed to pick up Kory and lift her in his arms when the dust cleared and Angerboda, Utgard-Loki, and Gerd stood out.

 “We’ll be taking the princess, thank y…” Angerboda’s red eyes flashed in fury when she spotted Aaricia. “YOU!” She pointed a cold finger towards the teenager.

 “Moi?” Aaricia feigned ignorance.

 “You pesky little brat!” Angerboda hissed. “Dyed hair or not, I’d recognize that round chin of yours!”

 “I failed a spot check here.” Aaricia couldn’t help herself and rubbed her own chin. “Any reason why you’re so pissed?”

 Angerboda bit her lip, but the angry groans still came out.

 “Is that the mortal thief who slammed you?” Utgard-Loki suddenly let out. This caused everyone to realize they failed to notice that Angerboda’s left cheek had a massive bruise, its dark hue sticking out on her skin. A perfectly straight angle, like the edge of a book, formed the bruise’s edges closest to the nose, and pressed onto her cheek were leftover ‘prints’ of a wolf head biting down a serpent.

 “You can’t be serious!” Aaricia had a mixture of exasperation and entertainment as she laughed. “You’re pissed because I damaged your face? Wow, you’re crazy!”

 “Hold on… YOU’RE THE TEENAGER WHO TRASHED MY TOWER?” Tony exclaimed.

 “Oh, you’re looted with money since you were in diapers! Pay for your own housekeeping and fix your own security snafus!” Aaricia snapped. “I got to deal with an old Jotun shrew whose biggest priority is her facial reputation!” Anyone who wasn’t human or the still unconscious Kory gasped in shock, with Angerboda looking like she was ready to destroy everything. She skated through, leaving a trail of ice behind her, as she held her arms out, ready to reach for Aaricia’s neck. Steve and Thor pulled the smart move of throwing the shield and hammer at Angerboda’s direction, creating large vibrations that propelled her away. Gerd helped her up while Utgard-Loki cast an ice spell that forced Thor to crash into a restaurant.

 “Utgard-Loki?” Maui hung up his fishhook and crossed his hands behind his back. “A temporary call of truce?”

 “Fancy that, a demigod who seeks diplomacy after violence.” Utgard-Loki summoned an ice spear from his arm as Maui walked forward.

 “Yeah, I tend to go for kill first and questions later, but now’s not really the time,” Maui nodded and stopped fifteen feet away from Utgard-Loki. “I can understand your devotion to Jotunheim and to assist Angerboda in rebuilding the monarchy, but the latest performances isn’t doing any wonders. You trash Kory’s home planet, your boss steals pages belonging to Kory’s family records…”

 “And they stole SHIELD files!” Hawkeye pointed out.

 “What he said.” Maui waved his hand toward Steve. “You then try to deep freeze her friend, encourage a false campaign in her name, and you kind of let your boss take Kory against her will and nearly kill her adoptive sister.”

 Utgard-Loki widened his eyes in fear. “Adoptive… sister?”

 “Yeah, don’t get me started. Anyway, you’ve seen the damages. I can’t really vouch for Kory, she’s her own independent Frost Giantess, but you honestly think she’d want to rule a people who don’t even take into account her opinions and basically kidnap her? Is she even capable of coming to Jotunheim? Will the people even like her? There’s already some Frost Giants, the more traditional, who dislike her just because she’s half-human.”

 “To be fair, we didn’t really think much about the genetics being a problem,” Utgard-Loki admitted.

 “Yeah, and what the ceremonies? The parades? Is Laufey’s castle even fit for her? How much are you going to deposit to celebrate what’s supposed to be the unification of all Frost Giants?”

 “The cake and ice cream?” Aaricia offered.

 “My god, the buffet!” Maui dramatically raised his arms up. “Have you even thought of that? A hybrid demigoddess like Kory almost has the same appetite as ten humans and five Asgardians! Did you even check to see if she has allergies!” Maui stared at Bacchus. “Back me up, Bacchus! They didn’t even think about the possibility that they might accidentally poison Kory if she had food allergies?”

 Utgard-Loki and Gerd looked outright horrified, Angerboda stared at her fellow Frost Giants in disbelief, and the Avengers couldn’t believe they were watching two demigods practically conning two giants while Anubis watched like he was enjoying a sitcom.

 “Yeah, what will be the refreshments? Do you need to commission my specialty wine? Spanish rosé? Asgardian mead? Kvasir Mead? Ambrosia?” Bacchus dramatically cupped his cheeks. “Goodness, some morons out there just don’t know how to handle the spoiled demands of a ninety-two-year old brat with daddy and self-esteem issues! Must they learn the hard way through a public flyting?”

 “Ooh, a flyting!” Maui chuckled as he and Bacchus gave cruel smirks. “Hey, what if we wake up Kory? Sure, she’s injured, but I think she’d have enough energy for a little flyting. Send these morons crying to their mommies because they don’t have any of their so-called respect to her!”

 Utgard-Loki turned to Angerboda with a panicked look. “Didn’t the Jotun in Alaska mention that she was an expert at flyting?”

 “Yes, worse than Ratastok. So?”

 “So, do you wish us to approach things delicately or be sent crying home? Because after the Bifrost ray, I cannot deal with Jotunheim flooding if she makes us cry!”

 “You can’t be serious!” Angerboda jumped on her feet.

 “Look, a few weeks will not kill anyone,” Gerd agreed with Utgard-Loki. “It isn’t like Jotunheim will collapse if there’s a delay. The demigods do bring up some points, and we know nothing about medically attending a hybrid demigoddess.”

 “Some time for recuperation, consultation, and preparation won’t kill anyone.” Utgard-Loki nodded.

 “Ugh! Fine!” Out of nowhere, a portal appeared behind the Frost Giants. “Three weeks! That’s all I’m giving for the princess! Gerd and Utgard-Loki will stop by here and then to check on her well-being. Do NOT see this as a sign of potential friendliness! AND I STILL DON’T LIKE YOU!” Angerboda shouted that last line at Aaricia.

 “GO FREEZE YOUR OWN BRAINS OUT!” Aaricia shouted back. Utgard-Loki and Gerd had to restrain Angerboda as the portal closed. Anubis waved his ankh scepter and the debris around Chinatown picked, floated, and fixed itself up to its original appearance, as if there hadn’t been a single alien confrontation.

 “Well, that should clear up the mess…” Anubis commented.

 Tony marched up to Aaricia, who was busy counting with her fingers. “You got a lot of explaining to do on how you managed to trash my tower, steal some tech, beat up Loki, and anger Angerboda! Or why you even did. Are you even paying attention?”

 “23, 24, 25… Oh shit. Guys!” Aaricia pushed Tony aside and rushed to Anubis and the demigods. “Three weeks? That’s when Passover comes up!”

 “Way to go, Hook Brains!” Bacchus swatted Maui on the head. “You could have thought of the time limit possibility when you played the verbal con artist on those frozen aisle idiots!”

 “Excuse me, which one of us is the Polynesian trickster and the other some Greco-Roman drunk douchebag?” Maui slapped Bacchus on the cheek. “You didn’t even lift a finger!”

 “I did when you asked for backup! You purposely hinted that you needed backup from the theatrical god!”

 “Yeah, the god of booze, madness, and drama, and overall the hypocritical demigod who thinks primarily for himself!” Maui gripped Bacchus by the collar. “You would have stayed in Tuscany, probably partying with your wife in a cabernet filled pool if the Big Guy hadn’t called you!”

 “And you would have snuck your way into the All Blacks’ games if the Big Guy hadn’t called you!”

 The two male demigods argued, causing the waters from the pipes and sewers and the nearby plants to agitate with their fury. Banner came up from the metro station just in time to see Anubis slap them back to their senses.

 “Are you idiots done?” Anubis demanded.

 “Yes.” The two demigods grumbled.

 “Good.” Anubis turned to Aaricia. “Yeah, Passover is gonna be a problem. I know Kory makes it a mandatory tradition for you two to go to Oslo, but looks like you’ll both have it for the first time in the U.S.”

 Nobody had time to quickly catch on until Steve used his shield to block a bullet. His right hand held on to his shield while his left arm cautiously held Kory. The Avengers and immortals finally saw the sniper standing on top of a restaurant. As he restrained his gun, it was made evident that the sniper had intended to shoot Kory on the head. A SHIELD helicopter came flying down, with Nick Fury and Maria Hill rushing out.

 “Stand down!” Nick Fury demanded to the sniper.

 “I’m under orders of the World Security Council!” The sniper shouted. “They demanded that I terminate the one responsible for the invasions!”

 “How dare you?” Thor snapped while Loki was still unconscious. “She’s my niece!”

 “Further reasons why the World Security Council has demanded to have her killed on sight!”

 “You realize that it’s stupid, right?” Aaricia rolled her eyes as if this was among the stupidest things she heard. “She’s a demigoddess! They can’t be killed by conventional means! She’s even more physically invulnerable than Bacchus and Maui combined! Even poisons, drugs, and human medication have no effect on her! She even survived the insane power of nine nuclear missiles!”

 “She did?” Nick Fury shouted.

 “Well, it was back in the 60s and she made a run before they could send missile #10.”

 “Who the fuck sends ten missiles at one person?”

 “I still have orders to terminate her!” The sniper insisted. “If it isn’t done the direct way, they’ll demand vivisection!” The sniper suddenly started choking and dropped his gun. His body levitated down the street and in front of Anubis, who had been clenching his fist in a golden aura. Anubis indifferently stared at the sniper and forced his clenching fist into the mortal’s chest, pulling out his heart. Black Widow actually covered her mouth in horror.

 “Let me explain something to you,” Anubis used the same tone he had used after he melted the rude Frost Giantess into oblivion. “I care very little for most mortals because you’re a bunch of cisgender, heterosexual white male monotheist with massive hit lists, and thanks to your endless list of ridiculous prejudices, I can’t even find a nice private school for my kids. I have a habit of just dismissing every single conflict because watching people fight, get hurt, or die entertains me. I should know, I am the god of mummification. I feed the souls of the unworthy to my pet. But if I catch a single of your mortal peers or leaders make a prejudiced attempt on my prized pupil’s life, I WILL MUMMIFY EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU AND STUFF YOUR ORGANS IN CANOPIC JARS UNTIL I DECIDE TO EAT THEM!” Anubis shoved the heart back in the sniper, who almost had a stroke. “THAT ALSO GOES TO ANYONE WHO’S MORTAL! ONE MERE MISHAP, ANY SINGLE ATTEMPT TO PURPOSELY ENDANGER MY PUPIL, THE DEMIGODDESS, OR OUR CLOSEST ASSOCIATIONS, AND YOU’LL FIND OUT THE HARD WAY THAT I CAN KILL HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE JUST BY TIGHTENING MY FIST!” Anubis’ yelling reached a point where his human face nearly distorted to more jackal-like traits. Bacchus and Maui quickly shielded Aaricia, as if expecting Anubis to self-combust.

 “Fine!” Nick Fury exclaimed. “As long as you don’t kill anyone, we don’t kill you. But I still got some questions for you five.”

 “We won’t do it on your flying Lego contraption.” Anubis turned back to his human face.

 “I just agreed that we won’t kill you!”

 “And your Lego contraption is full of cells, labs, and weapons that are threatening us. Besides, these semi-divine stooges get easily cranky on planes. You’ll be dealing with severe damages if these three get caught arguing.”

 “Yeah, we’ve seen the damage.” Tony waved at the plant overgrowth and water floods that Bacchus and Maui had caused. “SHIELD’s definitely out of the question, but the little ice princess isn’t going to be safe in DC with the aliens and Frost Giants looking for her. So what if, we all go back to the Avengers Tower? Private space for you guys to mend her up, comfy for all of you, civilized communication to discuss what happens next, and also negotiate the amount of money that the blonde Carmen Sandiego owes me?”

Anubis gave Tony a suspicious look. “Your tower’s security got breached by Loki, Frost Giants, and a teenage girl.”

 “The main floor with all the fancy equipment, yes, but not the floors occupied per Avenger. If it will make you feel any better, Cap can keep an eye on the sisters on his floor.”

 Anubis’ golden eyes darted around the Avengers. “Very well. But no experiments, no harassment, and no stupid comments. I’ll be keeping my hands to myself if Kory retaliates should you pick on her. And until things are figured out, I don’t want Loki anywhere near her.”

 “He’s her father!” Thor walked up to Anubis. “I will not refuse to him what the All-Father has denied to him! She is from my family!”

 “Koryanna doesn’t consider you barbarians as family,” Anubis retorted. “Your father made it pretty clear that he’d never have a hybrid for a granddaughter. Your mother only ensured that the Ikolson mother and child survived and that Koryanna’s heritage was never discovered and look how that failed majorly. Your brother, despite the superficial love most of you barbarians have for mortals that he also had for his brother, didn’t even lift his pinkie at defying Odin or even bothering to discover his lover’s pregnancy. You would have never considered it imaginable to have a demigoddess for a niece until Odin had you banished. Loki didn’t even go mourn at his lover’s grave, too occupied by his fantasies to satisfy Odin.” Anubis confronted Thor, revealing himself to be actually taller than the Thunder God by an inch. “You and the House of Odin have no familial claim on Koryanna. She has never, doesn’t, and never will consider you her uncle. Odin is a monster to her and Loki is the foul root that grew the thorny nest of all her problems and trauma. So, a tip of advice, barbarian. The distance rule between father and daughter also applies to you.” Anubis stared at all the Avengers. “Honestly, come to think of it, anyone who isn’t the Hulk or Captain America is a walking hazard.”

 “That hurts,” Black Widow said drily.

 “It was intended. Are we all in agreement?”

Chapter Text

It was certain that they were all in agreement. This temporary ‘alliance’ was going to be unbearable.

The immortals didn’t bother catching a ride on the quinjet. By the time the Avengers had gotten there, the immortals were already waiting for them on the balcony. Anubis, being the paranoid he was, had refused to let the unconscious Kory be carried on the Avengers’ ‘play plane’ since Loki would be in it, so Maui was carrying the injured, probably comatose Norwegian.

 “How the heck did you guys change so fast?” Stark commented when he noticed that they changed appearances. Anubis had switched his historical regalia for a simple army green long-sleeved shirt, black khaki with silver jackal patterns on the ends, black shoes, and he had kept that massive necklace of his. Maui had gone for an entire All Blacks tracksuit. Bacchus wore baggy black trousers and the same shoes as before, but he had now gone for a plaid shirt with nearly every single wine color known to man. Aaricia looked like a chaotic model: a Union Jack blazer over a white turtleneck, tight black pants, and checkered sneakers that revealed her magenta, yellow, and cyan socks. She even dyed the ends of her hair, making her French braid look like her socks. Only Kory was still wearing her previous get-up, though the previous rips she had looked like they had been properly sewn.

 “How is she doing?” Steve walked up to Maui. Compared to Steve, who had held on to Kory in his usual gallant way, Maui was holding Kory the way a nurse held a newborn infant with the utmost delicacy. Somehow, her fur coat had reappeared and been used to bundle her.

 “Well her bruises and cuts were easily fixed, but we haven’t checked how she’s doing mentally,” Maui said.

 “Cap’s floor is two floors underneath. Capsicle, why don’t you show the big guy with the little patient around?” Tony suggested. Steve merely nodded and lead Maui indoors. “As for you, Miss Ziggy Stardust, you…” The billionaire got interrupted when the teenager slammed an envelope full of checks at him. Puzzled, he looked at the checks and flipped. “You sold all my stuff you stole AND you made three times more than it’s worth? HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?”

 “Easy. I steal, I sell it to rich immortals, I make them beg, there’s haggling, and I keep rising the prices until they finally crack,” Aaricia shrugged. “And maybe a little flirting here and there.” While Bacchus slapped his forehead in frustration, Anubis merely chuckled. “Yeah, I had many American Frost Giants nybergynnere customers.”

 “Goodness, I wonder what they were going to use all that fancy stuff for…” Anubis chuckled.

 “Actually, they’re using it for more Hulk-Smashing-Loki memorabilia.”

 “Oh, not again!” Banner groaned in frustration. “Even in America, the Frost Giants sell merchandise?”

 “Wait until you see the anime the Rikubetsu clan came up with!” Anubis chuckled while they all went inside the main floor, still covered by some scaffolding and second-hand scraps (aka rich replacements) thanks to Aaricia’s mess. “What did the Americans want to come up with? I’m gonna need to expand my Christmas shopping list to spoil my kids.”

 “Oh, it’s hilarious!” Aaricia jumped on the nearest leather stool. “Fancy lights show and ice sculptures in Alaska, a ski resort in the Rockies…”

 “Wait. How would it work?” Banner was shocked by the idea. “An entire ski resort? Themed after Loki getting smashed by the… other guy?”

 “Oh yeah! And don’t get me started with their plans for the honeymoon suite! Let me think, what else? Oh yeah, a lighthouse lobster dinner in Maine, a lightshow on Mount Rushmore, a bread and butter shop in Minnesota, and oh, this one is epic! Rave fest, complete with the Hulk My World album!”

 “Hulk My World?” This actually made Tony laugh as he counted his checks. “What, like an entire album dedicated to Hulk smashing Loki around?”

 “It’s just a compilation of mortal songs crushed and replaced by lyrics about the ogre smashing the horny one,” Bacchus rolled his eyes.

 “Hey, the stuff is fun!” Aaricia protested. “You Smash Me Round, Come and Get your Hulk, Smashing on the Telephone, Bad Hulk-mance…And don’t get me started with the music videos!”

 “Big whoop. I’ve seen dumber parodies when they keep changing fairy tales, from the gruesome to Disney.” Bacchus scoffed when he strolled around the bar Tony had set up in the main floor. “Cheap booze.”

 “Most of that stuff is expensive,” Tony remarked.

 “Most of the time, I don’t care,” the immortal demigod retorted, causing many to sour their moods. If Anubis had the toned-down levels of psychopathy that Loki had, Bacchus made it evident that he was nastier at undermining mortals. To further prove out, he made a crystal wine bottle appear out of nowhere and drank the multicolored beverage in front of them.

 “I dare imagine how Steve’s doing with the other guy,” Clint whispered to Natasha.

Meanwhile, on Steve’s floor

If anything, the Polynesian demigod was the outright contrast of the Greco-Roman jerk.

 Steve didn’t know how to feel as he led the rugby lover on the elevator while the latter carried their unconscious friend. Maui had been politely quiet, even when they stepped inside Steve’s floor, which had been entirely designed to resemble a mixture of 1940s interior design and Stark’s tastes in aesthetics, which also included the glass walls exposing Manhattan. Two guest rooms, along with Steve’s own bedroom, were included in the package, and the one closest to the window happened to be the only guest room with access to a glass.

 “Will this do?” Steve asked when he opened the door.

 “Should be.” Maui gently placed Kory on top of the king-sized bed’s blue plaid bedsheets. She didn’t even shift, groan, or breathe. For a moment, Steve was frightened about the idea that she died.

 “She’ll be fine,” Maui said.

 “Excuse me?” Steve looked confused.

 “You’re not the first one who’s wondered why Kory sleeps like Snow White.” Maui shrugs. “It’s a half-Jotun, half-human thing. When they sleep in the cold season or after surviving some life-challenging moment, they use the same energy sustaining techniques as hibernating animals. I managed to fix her coat’s liquid nitrogen system, so hopefully she won’t get cold before she finally wakes up.”

 “I’m not sure I follow…”

 “I overheard Kory explaining to you that her type of mixed heritage can only endure 20 degrees more than the typical Jotun. Her human half makes her survive a few sweats while her Jotun half spares from the common degrees that give mortals hypothermia,” Maui explained patiently. “Unfortunately, surviving 20 degrees more than a Frost Giant in warm temperatures means that she survives 20 degrees less than a Frost Giant in cold temperatures. And Frost Giants can survive temperatures as insane as the Ice Age.”

 Steve had a hard time processing the words. “That doesn’t make sense. How can Kory be both vulnerable to both extreme heat and cold?”

 “Well, think of it like you.” Maui circulated his finger at Steven. “Crashing into the Arctic would kill a regular mortal, but you survived at the price of being frozen… No wait, that’s a bad comparison. Well, snakes… Bad example…” Maui groaned in frustration. “OK, this might be better. Humans can’t handle extreme temperature levels, right?”

 “Most of them, yes.”

 “Think of it this way. In common circumstances, most humans can’t survive extreme cold or hot temperatures, the same way that nobody lives in Antarctica or the Sahara Desert. Frost Giants live on Jotunheim; they love the cold, the Asgardians can survive it, but even the smallest Jotunheim snowflake could shatter a mortal human. Now, imagine that you mix Jotun and human blood. The genetics mix, each side giving the other a benefit but giving itself a disadvantage, all to balance out the DNA.” Maui held out his hands to further emphasize his points. “The Jotun half gives the mortal human half the capacity to survive more cold degrees than the average handling and the mortal human half gives the Jotun half some bearable degrees of heat. But because of the given benefits, there are the disadvantages: by giving the cold degrees to the human genes, the Jotun half loses parts of what it could handle…”

 “So, Kory can stand colder temperatures than most of us humans but not the permafrost that Frost Giants can handle… because of the gene balance.” Steve looked back at the sleeping demigoddess. “But… if she can’t handle the extreme cold, won’t she die in Jotunheim?”

 “Obviously. It’s one of her four reasons for never seeking the fake glories of royalty. Number 3, actually.”

 “Is it safe for me to guess that Number One is that if she were to be queen, everyone would think she was no better than Loki?”

 “Completely.” Maui nodded. “Number 2 might surprise you, but besides Loki being crazy, Odin a jerk, and Thor an outdated barbarian on the Asgardian side, Kory doesn’t really like how… negatively self-portrayed her biological family is. Laufey was already known for being a genocidal maniac, his royal predecessors were no better, and Anubis is quite convinced that patricide runs in the family. Kory’s worried that she’ll turn out like them, which is why she’s lucky that Laufey died never knowing she existed… And, well… Let’s just say that during this whole ordeal… I think you see the picture.”

 “Unfortunately, I can.” Steve sighed. He could imagine that if Kory were to meet Loki face-to-face, the Norwegian dame wouldn’t resist the urge to murder her paternal as payment for nearly a century of suffering while he was out of the picture. Steve did recall looking up stories from the old Testament after he got virtually acquainted with Kory and knowing that she wasn’t fully orthodox, it wouldn’t surprise him if the 5^th and 6^th commandments were the only ones that Kory had no problem ignoring. Usually, he would have encouraged someone to give their estranged father a chance since he grew up never knowing his, but he knew that his idea didn’t mix with Kory’s. He shook his head and changed the subject. “What’s reason Number 4?”

 “Taxes.”

 Steve turned to look at Maui in confusion. “Taxes?”

 “Yeah, taxes. You know, the kind they put at the end of your grocery receipts, the one they take out of your monthly salaries to reimburse damages, the government, and insurances. Taxes that worsen every year and make you broke. And the 20^th century was shit in changing currencies, so you can imagine that Kory got frustrated as she had to pay different taxes on a yearly basis. She’s never been on debt and always pays her dues, but for her own household, it’s insane enough. When Bacchus teased her about the idea that being the Jotun Queen would mean being in charge of the tax rates of nearly a thousand Frost Giants… he spent a whole month in a sauna because she almost permafrosted his ass.” Maui shook his head and nudged Steve to the door. “We should give her space.”

 “You’re probably right.” Steve looked hesitant at the idea of leaving Kory alone, especially knowing that two alien groups out there were after her hide. Then again, he didn’t want to underestimate the idea that she might destroy everything if she woke up angry. He followed Maui out of the guest room and gently closed the door behind him.

 “She’ll be fine.” Maui pulled out a small drinking bottle of clear water. “Got some glasses? Spring water from Waikato is rather soothing for the soul. And before you ask, it’s plain old water from a spring. Nothing alcoholic or poisonous.”

 “Why would it be poisonous?” Honestly, Steve should have asked why Maui would even bother offering him a poisonous drink, but the last thing he needed was for Maui to get angry and see his floor flood the way Bacchus and Maui argued, nearly destroying Chinatown. Steve led Maui to his kitchen, obviously fashioned to resemble a white and baby blue 1940s kitchen from the cabinets full of antique dishes to the island counter decorated with a small radio. Maui fondly patted the counter’s surface before sitting on one of the blue stools that came with it.

 “Wow. Stark really nailed it at making things homy for you,” he said.

 “Took me a while to convince him to not put a bar.” Steve pulled out two small glasses from a cabinet and put them on the counter, giving Maui the nudge to fill them with spring water. “Besides the serum immunizing me from intoxication, I was a kid during the Prohibition Years.”

 “Damn, prohibition… Bacchus hates that. Tip of advice, Steve, talking about prohibition pisses the wine demigod more than not getting drunk. He refused to put his foot in the US during the 1920s, hates Nordic alcoholic monopolies, and don’t get me started with prohibition and reform movements in New Zealand! I mean, he invented the whole wine and alcohol trends when he was mortal and turned it into an eternal mad worship when he became a divine demigod! He used to walk around with crazy followers, throw the best parties, and arouse worshippers! Now? With the hatred against immortals causing him to hide, he became the drunk white guy nobody likes and who had to watch his inventions either get commercialized by greedy humans or rejected by self-entitled humans with fake illusions of purity.”

“How do you feel about it?” Steve took a sip of the spring water. He didn’t know what to think of the flavor. One second, it was saltier than the one time his mother screwed up a beef stew, and sweeter on the next second. Not sweet like sugar but more like the sweetness he’d been feeling around Kory.

 “About Bacchus being an asshole?”

 “No… I mean, what’s your perspective on immortals being persecuted by humans?”

 “Not much. I just think it’s a common human characteristic.” Maui stopped mid-sip when he noticed Steve scowling. “What?”

 “Not all humans are like that,” Steve quietly said.

 “And you’re not wrong, Steve. Not all humans are like that but most of them are. You fought in World War II, Steve. You probably know better than any of your friends upstairs that it was a time period where the worst in humans were exposed. For a demigod like me, that’s only one in a thousand different time periods when humanity was at its worst. Take into account that I’m a demigod of Polynesian and Hawaiian mythology. I’ve witnessed centuries of different Oceanian islands being occupied by European forces. I also had to witness the Polynesian islands being divided during the war.”

 “I’m going to guess that you heard of December 1941…” Steve said quietly.

  “I was there.” Maui stared at his glass. “The Polynesian islands were split between the two sides of the war. My hands were full of handling the sea creatures and immortals who ran away from the mess. It didn’t help that certain armies had officials who actually hunted them.”

 “HYDRA?” Steve remembered the old talk he had with Dr. Erskine before he had gotten the serum. The talk in the barracks about the enemies’ interests in the occult, primarily to create pep rallies. Except for the Red Skull and what happened with the Tesseract.

 “There were others. But yeah, mostly them…” Maui quickly checked the kitchen’s doorway, as if to make sure that nobody would walk in and startle them. He took a deep breath and went flatly to the point. “The Tesseract was in Tønsberg. Kory’s hometown.”

 Steve almost choked on the spring water. “HYDRA… bombed Tønsberg… The same day she lost her mother?”

 “Kory will freeze my ass for telling you this, but with the situation we’re all stuck in, she’s bound to shut herself and snap at everyone for pushing her buttons. You’ve seen how she is when people bring up sensitive topics that anger her while she’s already angry, so it’s better that you know now than never.” Maui refilled his cup with more spring water and offered some to Steve, who politely declined. “I don’t know how cautious she was with details, but Kory’s first job in the 1930s was being the apprentice of an apothecary; she has a real knack for horticulture and plants. Her work helped her mother pay the bills a bit more during the economic crisis and it already wasn’t easy. Norway already had its… difficulties and issues against Jewish people way before the Germans came in and invaded in 1940.

 “Obviously, one of their many restrictions was sacking the Jewish who worked in the medical industry, so Kory and her employer were booted out. He didn’t want to lose the money and Kory’s skills had brought in many reliable customers who would gladly pay the doubled-price for her work than going across the country to get much more expensive medicine. Kory’s employer created a system of communication with himself and his clients. She told me they’d come up with made-up poetry that the mailman would deliver to the clients. If someone intercepted it, they’d see some Norwegian poetry about the Princess of Mischief bringing flowers and a magician blessing a crowd at a festival. The clients managed to translate the poems as ‘Kory prepared your medicine. I’ll deliver it to you at this location.’”

 “Very much like how I heard they coded in the French Resistance,” Steve nodded.

 “It worked for a year. And Kory didn’t know it, but Anubis and Frigga favoring her had caused a force field around her childhood house. Nobody was sure why, even the Big Guy wouldn’t explain it…” Maui pointed up at the ceiling. “The Ikolson mother and daughter struggled but were alive. Then, in January 1942, a German caught two clients sneaking to meet Kory’s employer in the dark of the night. Kory overheard that her employer had been arrested when she was out shopping for groceries for her mother. Mrs. Ikolson begged her to not continue the business, but Kory refused. She insisted that they needed the money. To play more cautious, she took some gigs as a maid, an ‘excuse of going to her clients’ houses and leaving the products in their rooms’. It also helped to play it safe due to the curfews they put on Jewish folks.
 “Then there was that fateful night of March 1942. The night you brought up. A client had run to Kory’s house to beg her to come treat her son’s illness. Obviously, Kory refused. The lady had barged in an hour before the curfew was to be put into action and Kory had made it clear she was an apothecary, not a doctor.”

 “What caused Kory to agree?” Steve asked.

 “Well, a couple of days before that night, Mrs. Ikolson had accidentally twisted her ankle and had gotten a fever. And gaining money was a whole lot harder. So, when the client offered her triple of the current price and brought up that her cousin visiting from Oslo was a doctor…” Maui shook his head. “Mrs. Ikolson begged Kory not to go, but Kory was desperate to get what her mother needed. The client even offered to let Kory stay at her house for the night if she helped her son. Obviously, Mrs. Ikolson didn’t want to lose her daughter… The woman went with Kory and the client to the latter’s house, at the heart of Tønsberg.

 “Kory gave the kid what he needed. The client kept her promise, paid Kory and gave the Ikolson women the guest room. Then came the gunshots and danger. A neighbor came through the streets screaming that some Germans were attacking a local church. The client tried to keep them in, but Mrs. Ikolson finally managed to get Kory to take them back home.

 “Kory keeps saying how her mother was rather intuitive. The war and persecutions obviously made her worried more about Kory’s safety than her own life. Mrs. Ikolson was still limping and Kory had to help her move in the dark as fast as possible. You must understand how dangerous that was, Steve. Two Jewish women, a mother and daughter, one sick and the other doing business in the black market, sneaking past curfews while rogue Germans were attacking a church and threatening to shoot random people with a tank.

 “They had to hide in an alley. Kory said she hoped she and her mother could stay quiet behind the trash bins. Maybe the Germans would go their merry way once they were done. She said she saw a strange blue light flickering from the church for a few seconds before disappearing, followed by a gunshot, and the next thing she knew, the tank fired at the whole town. With people screaming and running everywhere, regardless of what they were wearing, Kory thought she and her mother could escape with the crowd. ‘With people running out of their houses screaming, who would notice two stars in this dark chaos?’ That’s how Kory phrased it.

 “Kory had street-smarts from her underground work, but it didn’t help her in the end. She didn’t notice the wall of a three-stories-tall building falling at her direction.” Maui lowered his head solemnly. “Mrs. Ikolson, unfortunately, noticed it enough to push her daughter out of the way.”

 Steve could only imagine the horror. He’d seen first-hand what HYDRA was capable of. He’d seen the labs, the prisoners, the destroyed towns, and he still had nasty nightmares of the aircraft carrying the bombs that could have destroyed cities if he hadn’t crashed into the ice. But this? It had to be the horror that started a chain of horrors. What were the chances that when the Red Skull attacked a small town in Norway just to get the Tesseract, he’d have unintentionally caused a demigoddess to awaken?

 “I won’t lie, I have known Kory for nearly 7 decades. A horrible liar and Anubis even had me look at her memories when I tried hydro-therapy to calm her down, but in her origins, her mother’s death makes the least sense to me,” Maui admitted.

 “Why? Her mother sacrificed herself to save Kory.”

 “No, that makes sense. What doesn’t make sense to me is the wall. When I observed her memory, as foggy as it was, I very clearly noticed that the building was never caught in the firing and it just happened to explode and fall towards their direction. I wondered if it had been staged. Shouldn’t have said that; it caused the Big Guy to be highly protective of Kory.”

 Out of nowhere, the sounds of a door breaking and screams following afterwards echoed against the walls. “What was that?” Steve got up on his feet.

 “It appears that people are screaming from getting sudden hot and cold water temperatures, sir,” JARVIS randomly spoke up. “Mr. Stark was surprised to wash his hands with icy water.”

 “Boiling and icy water all over the building. Looks like Kory woke up and hit the showers.”

Meanwhile

Things were just getting creepy for Kory.

For one thing, she woke up in a strange bed. Out of instinct, she should have run to save her hide but for some reason, her Frost Giantess nostrils picked up two familiar scents in the room’s atmosphere. Scents of two men who had just left. Maui and Steve.

 Why Kory managed to pick up Steve’s scent both confused and creeped her out. Why she was here, she didn’t know. When she looked out the room’s window, she almost wanted to throw up when the New York City landscape and Steve’s scent added up to her being in the Avengers’ Tower.

 Great. Stuck in the Avengers Tower. With the Avengers and my associates. Things had to be that bad. Her gut clenched at the idea that if she was in the same building as the Avengers, that could only mean that Thor and Loki were somewhere around as well. No way in the balls of Jotunheim would she stay in the same building as them! She and Aaricia would leave ASAP.

 The moment she got out of bed, however, she nearly tripped. Her head ached horribly. She clasped onto the handle of a nearby door to lean on, accidentally destroying it and crashing into the small blue-and-white bathroom almost fashioned like the one she had before she lost her mother in the 1940s.

 He’s seriously from the 40s. Kory rubbed her aching head and spotted the bathtub. Kory didn’t know how long she was out, but knowing her associates, they probably fixed her injuries while she was unconscious. Her odor, however, left to be desired. Taking off her coat and cautiously hanging it over the sink, she noted that her liquid nitrogen system had been fixed. Kory easily manipulated the handles to get medium-warm water. She never understood why, but for some reason, doing so on her part caused the plumbing to send boiling or icy water to other people. Thus why she heard the screams echoing all over the Avengers Tower.

 Stripping herself bare, her foot dipping in the full tub caused her skin to turn blue, cooling the water by a couple degrees. The half-Frost Giantess grumbled to herself as she let herself sink in the flat surface. Kory snapped her fingers, causing the soap to disintegrate and fall in a small shower of glitter into the water. Yellow bubbles with a sweet vanilla fragrance caused the water to stir. Far more soothing as she rubbed herself, trying her best to ignore the stitched cuts and bruises she had. They were practically invisible over her blue skin but it was bound to be a nasty sight in her pale tone. A long-sleeved top would be necessary.

 Stepping out of the scowled, she frowned. What had happened? The alien, the Other… he knew exactly what would throw her off. If anything, her temper was far more delicate than the Hulk’s fury; she almost destroyed Chinatown if it weren’t for Aaricia. And out of nowhere, he had attacked her when she was worn out. The mental pain she had endured had been three times worse than the usual, as if somebody else’s pain was added to her own. Kory had always made it clear she wanted nothing to do and never involved herself in the affairs who Loki. She never acknowledged him. She had nothing to do with his mess with the Chitauri. She had nothing to do with the Frost Giants of Jotunheim. And now she was in a crossfire were both parties either wanted to crown her or kill her. Just for being Loki’s offspring.

 Tears dripped out of her eyes as she dried herself, forming ice droplets that fell and broke upon hitting the ground. Using her enchanted wolf pendant, she managed to summon her luggage to find clothes to change. Five minutes later, she stepped out of the bathroom, her fur-coat covering her latest attire: white dress shirt, knee-length black skirt with a very subtle Sámi pattern, hosiery, and black heels. Despite her hair being pulled into a tight braid, she let the magenta streak loose.

 Thinking it would be better to just get out and risk her hide, Kory went for the guest room door and opened it. Probably too fast, considering how the moment she opened it, she collided with Steve Rogers.

Chapter Text

Obviously, Steve had been worried when he heard the noises coming from the guest room, especially since Kory was already in a delicate situation. Temporarily leaving Maui in the kitchen, he went to check on her, but before he could even knock, the door catapulted itself open and Kory accidentally ran into him. He tried to catch her but the weight and foot placement caused the two to accidentally fall on the ground.

 “Steve! I’m so sorry!” Kory exclaimed, struggling to pull herself up.

 “No, i…” He had planned on saying ‘no, it’s alright’, but the moment his vision, his blue eyes were staring right at the green eyes with the stain glass effect he had associated. He hadn’t noticed how those irises stood out with her red sclera in her Jotun form, making him think of pine and holly even though he knew Kory didn’t celebrate Christmas. The latter looked probably as confused as his head was when he stared at her. Even he didn’t understand why right now, he thought that her Jotun appearance was just as lovely as her human appearance. “Hi?”

 “Uh, hi to you as well.” Despite the confusion in her tone, a blush appeared on Kory’s cheeks. If it had been bluish red whenever she was in her human form, her blush was more reddish blue as a Jotun, causing the coloring to stick out of her blue cheeks like the hue in a sunset.

 “I, uh… Just wanted to check you… I mean, check up on you!” Great. Steve hadn’t mumbled like this since he’d first known Peggy. He tried to pull himself away from her to give Kory space, but since it collided with Kory attempting to get up herself, poor timing caused them to stumble onto one another again, this time with Kory’s hands griping onto Steve’s neck for support and causing the two to be much closer.

 “I’m really sorry!” She exclaimed.

 “You already apologized…” Steve said reassuringly, blushing himself a bit when he saw that his own hands had landed on Kory’s waist. “I shouldn’t have… I’m sorry!”

 “This is awkward on both parties, I can’t see how this can get any worse…” Kory groaned. And right on cue, Maui came into the hallway, saying something under his breath about how cool the 1940s living room was, he froze in his tracks and looked speechlessly at the two. In all honesty, the last time he had seen them, Kory was left unconscious in the guest room and he just had spring water with Steve. Seeing Loki’s daughter and Captain America on the ground, the former practically straddling the latter by accident in her Jotun form, and the two reacting in cute embarrassment rather than alien disgust… Maui’s silence and stoic composure was enough to put the two awkward kids in a situation of getting back up on their feet.

 “Let’s establish that I’m going to pretend I didn’t see anything,” Maui offered.

 “Agreed,” both Kory and Steve consented.

 “Don’t get me wrong. I thought it was cute, but we got people upstairs.”

 “Right,” Kory grimaced sourly. “How long are we stuck here?”

 “Three weeks, I’m afraid,” Steve said. “Your, um, friends managed to convince Angerboda to give you three weeks to decide.”

 “Decide what? Do I need to remind everyone that the day I become Queen of anything will be the day that the Sun goes supernova and everything collapses, which in my case will be billions of years after I’m dead in the 28^th century! You know, if I manage to reach the demigod golden years!” Kory hissed.

  “I think she meant willingly or by force.”

 “What a charming woman.” Kory’s gritted hiss revealed some of her teeth sharpening until shock caused her to turn human. “Wait… isn’t Passover in three weeks? Are they shitting me?”

 “Yep. And Gerd and Utgard-Loki plan on ‘visiting’ you to get your preferences for coronation preferences,” Maui sighed. “I’m sorry, but Bacchus and I tried. This was the best we could do… and threaten them with your flyting.”

 “Great. Maybe I can flite them into going back to Jotunheim and staying there,” Kory responded with a dry tone.

 “I’m not exactly sure what flyting means,” Steve admitted.

 “Oh, it’s like a rap battle, except without the music, the cultural exchange, the cheering crowds or the good sportsmanship. And multiply the soul-crushing insults by a thousand,” she explained to him. “Obviously, I got the insulting skills from both He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and my great-great-who-cares-how-great-she-is grandmother Freya.”

 “Loki and Freya were among the most notorious at the oral exchange of soul-crushing insults,” Maui added. “Trust me, it was a mess when these two flited back in the 1400s against each other, but it got messier when Kory flited against Freya in the 1960s. And beat her divine ancestor.”

 “And she had the audacity of still treating me like shit afterwards.” Kory rolled her eyes.

 “Kid, you’re a biromantic ace who insulted the crap out of a Norse love goddess and publicly embarrassed her! It’s a miracle she’s never spoken to you ever again or even mentioned you to Odin!”

 “Right, how great would that have been. ‘Sup, Odin, guess what? My descendant, aka your son’s daughter who never got killed, verbally shamed me!’” Kory shook her head. “I hate flyting. I only do it when I feel threatened or if button-pushers really test me.”

 “You’re in the Avengers Tower. You might want to try restraining yourself because this whole tower is full of button-pushers.”

 “She managed to scare off the Hulk,” Steve pointed out. “I think Kory will be fine.”

 The demigods stared at Steve as if he had just spoken to them in another language. “I swear, the way you stay so calm confuses me.” Kory shook her head.

 “Speaking of calm, I should let the Big Guy know you’re awake… And to make sure that nothing will be a danger zone if you have to go upstairs.” Maui began making his way to the elevator.

 “Ko ahau te rangatira o te kino, wairangi! Ko nga wahi katoa e haere ana ahau he rohe morearea!” Kory snapped at Maui in Maori, startling Steve a bit. (I’m the princess of mischief, idiot! Everywhere I go is a danger zone!)

 “Ae, e kore ko Steve Rogers tetahi o ratou. Ki to whakaaro ka waiho e ahau ko koe anake ki a ia?” Maui’s smirking comment caused Kory to gasp in bafflement. (And obviously Steve Rogers isn’t one of them. Why do you think I’m leaving you alone with him?) Kory looked like she wanted to shoot an ice blast at him, but the Polynesian demigod was saved by the elevator doors closing behind them. She grumbled before turning and noticing Steve staring at her. “What?” She asked in English.

 “I think this marks the third language I heard you talking since we met,” he smirked. “You spoke so naturally. But… honestly, I don’t think I ever heard you letting out an accent.”

 “Well, I obviously learned British English growing up.” Kory shrugged. She cleared her throat, noting its dryness. “I… I don’t suppose I could ask for a cup of water?”

 “Always.” Steve guided her to the kitchen. The moment they stepped in, Kory probably took the same surprised step back that Maui had at seeing the décor. “I know. I’m a bit old-fashioned…”

 “A bit?” Kory smirked. “It feels like my childhood home… Except the kitchen window had a view of the fjord and my mother put the Sabbath candles right by it.” Steve pulled a stool out for Kory, surprising her as she sat down and he kindly pushed it closer to the counter. He really is from the 40s, she thought.

 “When you told me the languages you knew how to speak… Did you learn them from your friends?” Steve pulled out a water pitcher from his fridge and evenly filled out two glasses.

 “It’s hard to explain.”

 “How.”

 “Well for one I’m from Norway. Obviously I speak Norwegian but I never learned the Sámi dialect, which frustrated my mother since my grandmother was a Sámi woman. But since control of my education was to her family friends the Berkovitz, they insisted that I learned English, and for obvious reasons, I learned Hebrew and Yiddish.” When Kory took a sip of water, her grasp on the cup caused some frost to appear on the glass under her fingertips. “Came the revelation of my demigod nature. Despite being a half-blooded Frost Giantess, I…” She shuddered in disgust. “Being the daughter of the Nordic god of mischief and technically being born with Asgardian magic, I have some All-Speak. The natural-born skill that helps Thor and his kin communicate with people from different species and their dialects. I can speak fluently and naturally a diversity of languages, but my half-human nature bars me from knowing every single language out there.”

 “So, you still had to learn.”

 “Of course. I picked up Maori with Maui, Greek and Latin through Bacchus, and Arabic with Anubis. French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Swedish, and Hindi mostly come from interacting with Frost Giant communities. And…” Her grip tightened on the glass. “I learned Xhosa from my partner from Wakanda. Abimbola.”

 “Was he…”

 “Was she, Steve,” Kory corrected. “Abimbola was a woman. And yes, she was the one who originally owned the mambele.”

 “I’m sorry.”

 “For what? The gender confusion or the loss?”

 “Both.” Steve pulled out a stool to sit on. “I’ve been there, though. I lost nearly everyone I knew back in the war. My best friend? I failed to save him. I still can’t forgive myself for letting him fall off the train… into the ravine…” Steve took a grim sip of water. “I couldn’t even drink my pain away… The dame I knew… I crashed a plane full of bombs into the Arctic… We set up a date over the radio… And I woke up only a couple years ago.” When he noticed the silence, he looked at Kory. The demigoddess’s green orbs stood out in the red and paid direct focus at him, the way they were wide open showing that she had been attention. For some reason, her teeth nipped at the skin of her index finger.

 “To think I’ve been complaining my problems.” She said critically.

 “It’s fine, Kory…”

 “So when you meant that your father died in front before your birth, you meant the first war.”

 “Mustard gas exposure.”

 “And your mother died when… Steve, you lost your mother to tuberculosis during the economic crash?”

 “Yes. And… Maui told me what happened to your mother.”

 Kory stared at her half-empty glass. Her grip on it caused the water inside to freeze. “Just great.”

 “I’m curious, though. If you don’t want to be queen, why do you let people call you the Princess of Mischief?”

 “I don’t let them, Steve.” Kory’s exasperated tone was followed by a reddish blue blush. Keep in mind that she was still in her Jotun form. “It was… my mother’s pet name for me since I was little.”

 Steve smirked. “She called you that?”

 “In Norwegian, it was Ulykkesprinsesse.” Kory sighed. “Loki did tell my mother he was a prince of Asgard.”

 “But she never told you.”

 “Of course she didn’t.” Kory grimaced. “She just told me he never treated her beneath or above him, so when she called me that, I just assumed she called me that because loving parents treat their daughters as such. The few villagers in Tønsberg who caught her calling me that back in the 20s thought it was just her way to ‘butter up’ my status as a devil’s child.”

 “You’re not a devil’s child.”

 “You’re conscious that for the Vikings, Loki was pretty much the Nordic version of Satan, right? The horns on his helmet don’t really help.” Kory made the hand gesture to shape out the helmet in reference. “I told you I was capraphobic back in Georgetown. Shortest way of saying the fear of goats I developed when I was little and a bunch of kids in school thought it would be fun to provoke a goat to hit me in the stomach. ‘Why don’t we hit the devil’s child with his own animal?’ It’s a miracle the school nurse liked me enough to patch me up. Most of the teachers didn’t like me. Decades forward, some mortals had the audacity of calling me a witch or a Satanist. VERY insulting! There is a distinguishable line between a witch and a sorceress. I incline myself to the second because I make decent money, I don’t engage in pagan cultures, and I don’t waste my decades of learning by persecuting humans for the fun of it!” Kory paused to take a deep breath. “I tend to make myself a long list of ways I am different from Loki. One of them is that while Asgard buttered him with wealth, power, and lies to make him feel like he was meant to be king, everyone I knew since I was a child used all of their honesty to tell me that they saw me as nature’s greatest mistake.”

 “Small question, Kory. If you think everyone sees you as nature’s greatest mistake, why are we talking about this in your Frost Giantess form?” Steve asked, quietly, but patiently. Kory blinked in shock at him. “I mean, if you thought I was going to be that repulsed, wouldn’t you have changed into your human form?”

 “Well… No… I mean… How should I know, Steve? You almost got frozen by two Frost Giants!”

 “And here I am.”

 “Loki is your enemy! And two out of this world species are using Earth as a battlefield because of me!”

 “And here I am drinking water with you, having a conversation over our problems and I’m not even leaning back to avoid you.” As if to emphasize, he finished drinking from his glass. “I can do this all day.”

 Kory just stared at him in disbelief. Frowning, she bit her lip, holding herself back and failing, finally releasing a laugh. Her laughter caused her body to change into her human form. “Is Captain America always this smug or did you pick that up from the egocentric millionaire upstairs?”

 “I had no idea Tony was egocentric.” Steve let out a sarcastic smile, further worsening Kory’s laughing fit.

 “And I thought he built this building to be the size of his ego!”

 “I think it would overfill the Atlantic.”

 Kory’s laughter got to the point where she had to lean in on the counter for support. She wiped away a joyful tear until loud gurgling sounds caused her to sit back up in embarrassment. “Did that come out of me?”

 “I don’t think I’ve eaten at all today.” Steve put a hand on his own stomach. “You’re not ready to be near the other Avengers yet, right?”

 “I… don’t think so. Knowing the industry you’re in and the people upstairs, I’ll probably be at my worst. Being surrounded by people bound to push my buttons wind up provoking my nasty side, and if you think Loki is a manipulative jerk, you don’t want to see me as sarcastic, snappy, and flyting jerk. I could probably deal with the Hulk, but not the others. ESPECIALLY not Thor.”

 “Good point.” Steve asked. “Did you want me to make something or…”

 “I think you’ve done enough for me today.” Kory smiled softly. “Have you ever had goulash?”

Meanwhile, on Thor’s floor

Thor had to hold back Loki for the 3^rd time in a row. Since waking up, Loki had tried to make a run for the door. With the anti-magic system enforced in his room, the only main strength he had was anger mixed with entitlement.

 “LET ME THROUGH!” Loki shouted at Thor.

 “BROTHER, THIS ISN’T HELPING!”

 “IT’S MY RIGHT!”

 Hit at the nerve, Thor managed to give a final push and shove Loki onto the bed, breaking it in the process. “Listen carefully, brother! For once, shut up and listen! I am just as angry about it as you are…”

 “Fancy that. The great Thor Odinson, angry for his Jotun ‘family’…” Loki sneered. “If you were still the same from a couple years ago, you would have been disgusted enough to kill her!”

 “So would you!” The strong comments made both of them calm down and take a breath. “Loki. The Frost Giants and Chitauri wage war against each other and this Other wants to use your child against you! You saw what happened back in the battle!”

 “I did.” Loki bit his lip. “Divine psychic links. Demigods share it with their divine parents upon birth. Depending on how close they are to one another, they can feel each other’s pain. If they are emotionally close enough, it hurts less… That time I glitched between my forms earlier in the week! I must have sensed her presence in this city by accident!”

 “When Utgard-Loki and Gerd attacked the tower and Banner had to raise the heat, your exposure might have affected her as well!”

 “And when I was assaulted by Angerboda and that pest of a young mortal?”

 “And of course, the recent battle! The fiend! He knows that the weak link you share with her will give you two tremendous pain! He will try to break her body and soul and force you to feel it. You might not be able to stop it!” Thor stopped when he realized that Loki wasn’t responding. His brother sat on the remains of the bed, hands fidgeting. “Loki?”

 “She must look so much like her mother…” Loki said.

 “The magenta streak gave it away then?” Thor smirked.

 “Evangeline said it was a strange hair discoloration that ran in her paternal side of the family.” For the first time in a long while, Thor saw a fond smile that he hadn’t seen on Loki in a while before it then faded into a sad smile. “Why did I ever listen to Odin?”

 “Because his beautiful lies rivaled your own.”

 The Asgardians turned. As if the anti-security had never existed, Anubis stood before them, his arms crossed behind his back. In his eyes, the gold stood out of the black two burning suns, rivaled only by the flashing teeth his smile had. Some seconds, his teeth seemed like perfect, straight human ones while at the next seconds, they morphed into more canine fangs that a jackal would need to rip through teeth. “Let’s not kid ourselves. I merely manifested an illusion of myself here while I’m currently watching Bacchus criticize Stark’s choices in booze.”

 “But this room repels magic!” Thor exclaimed.

 “Correction. It repels his magic.” Anubis pointed a finger at Loki. “Need I remind you barbarians that I am a thousand years older than your own All-Father. The Vikings may have had their glory, but don’t forget that the Egyptians were among the founding pillars of civilization.” An angered Loki grabbed the nearest lamp to throw it at the illusion, only for said illusion to grab the lamp and melt it in its touch. Thor instinctively put himself in front of Loki. “Which means that my illusions are stronger than yours, moron.”

 “There’s no need for conflict…” Thor began.

 “Really? I could have sworn that you always had a need for conflict, Odinson.” The illusion admired the remains of the melted lamp. “Don’t get your hopes up. I’m not here to provoke a conflict. Just reminding you of your position in this situation.”

 “If you want to kill me, you can’t,” Loki said.

 “I’m aware. Great Ra, you’re far denser since the last time I saw you! I’ve been listening to your whole conversation, so thank you for confirming that the divine psychic link was the reason for my pupil’s pain!” Anubis stared at Loki. “Then again, it’s mostly your fault and Odin’s. The lack of physical and emotional presence in your child’s life weakened the psychic link. The pain one of you endures would be for the other far worse than Prometheus’ sentence. And my pupil spent seventy years creating mental and internal shields to protect herself. If the Other manages to crack through all of them… I don’t think she’d survive.”

 “Would strengthening the link help?” Thor asked hopefully, only to be met by thundering laughter from Anubis.

 “Of course not! That’s wacky nonsense!” The god of mummification exclaimed. “Even an apology wouldn’t cover a lifespan of suffering! No, rekindling it wouldn’t work. Murder would actually work since the murdering party wouldn’t die or feel the pain of the murdered one, and dear Loki, your daughter would gladly do the one thing the royal family of Jotunheim is best known for. PATRICIDE!” The emphasized words were addressed with bared teeth and venomous growling. “Come near the demigods or anyone closely associated to my circle and I will let Kory rip you alive and I won’t hesitate to stuff your organs canopic jars and feed them to my children!”

 Loki paled up at the god’s threat. “OK, no pressure then! You relax in your…” Anubis mockingly eyed the room, “… abode, and I’ll be continuing my conversation with Thor outside!” The door suddenly opened and Thor felt a sudden force pull him out, shutting the door behind him. Loki’s banging and muffled shouts came from the other side. Thor frowned angrily at the illusion of Anubis, who entertained himself by admiring the few framed pictures Thor had on his floor. A great portion of them were of his mortal friends, especially of a certain astrophysicist. “So nice of a couple. Not as stable as me and my wife or as heartwarming as Kory with Steve Rogers…”

 “What do you have to gain in all of this, Anubis?” Thor demanded while the illusion lazily sat on the nearest couch. “Why won’t you let my niece near her family?”

 “My pupil’s family is dead. The only one she has left is Aaricia, who, may I remind you, outright ridiculed Loki and is currently explaining to Dr. Banner every single detail about the Hulk merchandise on Frost Giant markets… It’s ironic. Kory and Aaricia have a healthier, non-lethal sisterly bond that rivals the toxic one you and Loki have. And need I say this again? Your side of the ‘family’ mean nothing to Kory.”

 “You don’t know that unless you give it a chance,” Thor said.

 “Alright.” Anubis got up from the couch and looked at Thor. “Let’s do a scenario where it’s back to the days before your supposed coronation and the fiasco that led to your so-called character development and the beginning of Loki’s self-existential crisis. Let’s imagine that I came to you and told you that your brother was actually a Frost Giant and you have a half-mortal niece who’s a half-Jotun, has magical powers, and likes to walk around her house in her cute, blue self. Would you have A, ignored your prejudiced view on Frost Giants, embraced your brother and niece as they are and offered to make things up by convincing Odin to let Kory live with her ‘family’ on Asgard, or B, called for an executioner to kill off what you have been told were savage monsters?”

 “What kind of question is that?”

 “Answer, Thor. A or B. BEFORE you landed on Earth.”

 Thor bit his lip, unable to answer.

 Anubis’ illusion smirked as he continued. “Alright. Another scenario. Let’s take it back to last year during Loki’s invasion. Let’s pretend that a SHIELD agent found out about Kory before Loki did and told you about it. Would you have A, given her the benefit of the doubt and all your protection, or B, let SHIELD interrogate and experiment on her because they think that since she’s his daughter, Kory must be in league with Loki?”

 “Your questions are unfair!” Thor protested.

 “Because humanity is unfair, barbarian.” Anubis smirked. “You may have changed, Odinson, but even you can’t answer to your own past prejudices.” He shook his head and went back to the pictures on the wall. “Kory is powerful, but she is delicately sensitive. The first time she and I had our first proper conversation, it was in March 1945. The loss of her mother AND of her first greatest love in one war had driven her to attempt a double-suicide.”

 “She tried to take her own life?”

 “Oh yeah. Stabbing in the stomach while leaning over an open portal. If I hadn’t intervened with the help of Bacchus and Maui, her stabbing would have been followed by a one-way ticket to Muspelheim.”

 “Don’t tell me you convinced her to sell your soul to you…” Thor grumbled.

 “In exchange for bringing her to Ingrid’s clan and saving her? Fat chance. I’m her patron god. My grasp on her life has existed since your mother and I collaborated to save her. To Kory, I’m already the thing she never expects from Loki: a lifelong mentor and annoying father figure. No, she never traded her soul. She’s not that stupid. We had a fair trade during our proper first conversation. A trade I only give to my pupils in sorcery. They pick the time they’re willing to commit to learning, and in return, they do services that culminate to that same time.”

 Anubis turned to show off his necklace. “Tell me, how much gold do you see on this?”

 Thor squinted at the god’s necklace, a crazy rainbow of jewels made of bone, metal, glass, and gold, until he recognized the forms of the beads. “YOU USE YOUR PUPILS’ TEETH AS JEWELRY?” He was repulsed.

 “Aren’t I a tooth fairy?” Anubis joked. “But yes, a tooth surrendered by a pupil reflects the time they are willing to sacrifice to learn and serve. A regular incisor for a day, a metal canine for a month, a glass premolar for a year, and a gold molar for a century.” He tapped on the necklace’s main centerpiece: four molars positioned to form a golden diamond, shining brightest among the other fancy teeth. “Kory was clever. She gave me all her wisdom teeth. The only pupil to over do that. She willingly decided to serve and learn from me for 400 years.”

 “Are you mad?” Thor exclaimed.

 “Hey! She chose and I offered! Besides, when I say ‘serve’ me, I don’t mean slavery but more like… freelancing call of arms. Each summoning is marked as a day in the agreement. I gave her lessons and recommendations to the greatest sorcerers out there, she gets to go wherever she likes, live and feast as she pleases, and in return, she shows up to do things I need her help with. You know, like helping file my taxes, kill an enemy, control the stock markets in favor of my bank accounts, babysitting my kids, and others. She just owes me a total of 145,600 services.”

 “Don’t 400 years make 146,000 days?”

 “Yeah, but I make deductions when she does VERY well. And her services in the 70s and 80s satisfied me enough to reduce 400 services. Unlike your relatives, I bear magnanimity and generosity.”

 “And how many services has she completed?”

 “2,013.” Anubis crossed his arms and smirked. “I call the service and she does it. A good example: if you don’t respect what I said and you don’t keep your distance, if you try to get Loki near her or speak to anyone on Asgard about this, I will easily tell her that her 2,014^th service would be to kill you and Loki. Who knows, perhaps Loki’s death would get the Chitauri to leave?” The illusion went on to casually pat Thor on the shoulder. “Relax, it’s relatively easy! Out of all the Avengers, I only trust the Hulk and Captain America to not irk Kory.”

 “The Hulk, I can understand. What do you have against the Captain?”

 “Nothing! Are you that dense that you still don’t understand that Kory and Steve are already acquainted? Kory was rather shaken when the mess with the Chitauri and Jotunheim had her leave New York early, she thought that yet again, her heritage ruined another potential friendship! And as far as I’ve seen it, besides Aaricia, he’s the only mortal who actually keeps her calm and isn’t like the sinful pigs out there! I know, you may find it ironic. Captain America in a respectable friendship with the daughter of Loki! Even after finding out she’s not fully human, he still humanizes her and protects her. His nice boy routine really pulled her heart strings…” Anubis’ smirk widened furthered. “How ashamed would the Houses of Odin and Laufey be? Tell me, Thor…” The illusion leaned in, suddenly beginning to become gradually transparent. “Loki was already jealous of you for being your father’s favorite. How jealous do you think he’d be if his own child not only continuously rejected him but actually favored one of his enemies, one with a much kinder heart? But more importantly… how will YOU handle it?”

 To that, the illusion disappeared, leaving the thunder god baffled.

Chapter Text

By the time Anubis’ illusion disappeared, the god himself was keeping an eye on the male demigods, the crazy teenager, and the cautious Avengers. Hawkeye and Black Widow were probably the only mortals smart enough to double-check the tower’s safety and leave them alone while Maui and Bacchus silent drank the latter’s homemade scotch. Stark was cleaning up the remains of his bar, destroyed by the critical Bacchus and Banner had just come back from the lab.

 “Fury’s coming by tomorrow. I’m afraid he wants a word with you…” He admitted.

 “The mortal can whine all he wants, I’ll make sure I’m too drunk to even care…” Bacchus took a large sip of scotch and slammed his glass hard on the coffee table. Each broken shard enlarged and morphed into a new glass that automatically refilled itself with scotch. Anubis indifferently shrugged as he grabbed one of the glasses for himself.

 “I’ll do my best to not kill him,” Maui said.

 “Fury or him?” Stark asked by pointing at Bacchus.

 “Already tried to, it didn’t work.”

 “Isn’t this nice?” Bacchus sneered. “The world is about to end again and you actually make me smile when you talk about how you tried to kill me. Remember when you hit me with that tequila bottle back in Aguascalientes?”
 “It was in the 1600s, back when it was still Nueva Galicia. Intoxication can’t kill the divine demigod of wine but the biggest tequila bottle of the times caused you to see pink elephants!” Both demigods chuckled at the humor.

 “Yes, and while you were busy feasting on the first tequila during your vacation there like a bunch of drunk college boys, millions of mortals died from the different exposures that came from the egocentric, white-dominated Europeans.” Anubis made his dark comment before sipping his scotch, effectively shutting up the two. Aaricia, meanwhile, kept her eyes glued on her phone. “Feeling alright, Mini Bowie?”

 “Does anyone care?” Aaricia asked.

 “Only me.” Anubis finished his glass. “You realize I can’t vouch for you anymore? Koryanna will be beyond pissed when she finds out what you did.”

 “I’m conscious.”

 “You’re taking this pretty well for somebody who will be grounded for the next decades of her life leading to retirement,” Anubis nodded.

 “Come to think of it, that reminds me.” Tony glared at Aaricia. “Can you remind me why you stole from the tower? You buy drugs behind the Snow Queen’s back?”

 Bacchus snorted. “Yeah, kid. What were you going to use the money from that fiftieth-rate booze collector? Another spa treat? A yearly delivery of Finnish coffee? Loki’s head on a platter?”

 “No!” Aaricia shoved her phone back in her pocket. “I intended to save up on that electric sports car Kory spotted in Oslo!”

 “Kid!” Maui exclaimed in shock. “PLEASE don’t tell me that an electric car is what you’re going for as a birthday present for Kory!” He got up from his seat and walked forward so she could see his exasperated expression. “Tell me THAT was not what you were going for!”

 “It’s not what I was going for. Happy?” Aaricia asked sarcastically. Her retort got chuckles from both Bacchus and Anubis.

 “Let me see if I get this straight…” Banner raised a hand. “You steal Tony’s stuff included, to immortals… because you want to get presents for your sister?”

 “Duh.”

 “Why?”

 “Can’t a sister do something amazing for her amazing big sister?” Aaricia shrugged. “I mean, that’s the point of birthdays, ain’t it? You spend 364 days a year giving to others, and for just one day, they got to return a year’s worth of adoration to you. And trust me, for everything she’s gone through and done… she deserves the nicest things.” Her blue eyes deviated to her fidgeting fingers.

 “And… she doesn’t ask where you got the money?”

 “Oh, she tells Kory that I gave her the cash.” Anubis raised his hand smugly. “I’ve been rolling in gold since the time of the pharaohs and I’m the ever-benevolent god of mummification! Obviously Kory believed it every year. ‘Yeah, Anubis gave me some money because I wanted to give you something special!’ THAT was better for Kory to handle than how she’ll react in a few hours when she finds out you used money from sold stolen goods!”

 “My sister’s a demigoddess! It’s not like some handmade greeting card would be worthy enough for her!” Aaricia got on her feet.

“I agree with ya. And what speaks better than a 2012 Renault Zoe from a first-class car dealership in Oslo to say how much you love her?”

 “It was fjord blue!” Aaricia said as if it were obvious. “And Norway is getting into electric cars for environmental safety! Kory’s half-Jotun, do you know how she and the other Frost Giants care insanely about global warming?”

 “More than what humans are willing to commit, that’s for sure.” Bacchus took a sip of scotch. “Why do you think the nybergynnereFrost Giants from the Andes are pissed? Or the Canadians and Russians?”

 “I THINK…” Tony walked over to pat Aaricia on the shoulder, “that what your drunk buddy is trying to tell you is that the next time you want to get your old sis a nice present, don’t steal cash. Honestly, if you had told ME, I would just help you buy the ride. OK, Missy Ziggy Stardust?” Aaricia gave a mere nod and went back to her seat. “Anybody hungry? I might be in the mood for Chinese…”

 “Already placed the orders.” Anubis waved an iPhone with a jackal designed golden phone case. “Three immortals’ worth of food from the NYC markets. And no need to thank me boys, I got Italian and Filipino.”

 “Thanks for considering the kosher menu for the girls,” Maui said sarcastically.

 “I didn’t have to. I can smell Kory’s homemade goulash from here. You guys honestly thought that Kory would be anywhere near the Avengers for dinner tonight?”

 “Because she cooks for twelve people all the time or because she’s prone to emotional eating?” Aaricia got up from her seat. “I’d better check to make sure she doesn’t empty out Steve’s kitchen. Unless she cloned the ingredients.”

 “You’d think she’d run a Michelin-stars restaurant with her cooking, but it would close on the first day.” Anubis chuckled.

 “That’s mean.” Aaricia pushed the elevator button to go down.

 “Don’t play smart, kid. I’m referring to the fact that humans would never tolerate a sorceress’ cooking.”

 “Steve would.” The doors opened, revealing Thor to step out of the elevator.

 “He’s Steve.” Anubis raised a finger. “Only one tolerating, sympathetic human in a cesspool on unsympathetic bastards. Now go enjoy the goulash and whatever will happen next as Kory decides how to ground you for the rest of your life.”

 “And people where Kory gets her nastiness from.” Aaricia shook her head and went inside the elevator, her shoulder bumping against Thor.

 “My apologies,” he said.

 “Shut up.” Aaricia pushed the button and indifferently looked on, hands in her pocket as the doors closed in front of her.

 “Did I miss something?” Thor asked.

 “Besides finding out that Loki was handled and I was robbed by a teenager who wanted to give your niece a car?” Tony shrugged. “Nothing much.”

 As Tony talked, Thor glared at Anubis. The god obviously entertained himself, his legs and fingers crossed as he watched the scene. Thor didn’t know if the god said anything but giving away that Anubis practically tormented Loki through an active illusion and outright admitted that Kory worked with or for him… didn’t sound like a good idea. He especially didn’t know how the Captain would react if he found out, if Thor was to believe what Anubis said about his ally and his niece being friends. He shook his head and held on to the Tome of Ikolson that he brought upstairs with him. Unfortunately, Anubis picked up its presence. He teleported from his seat to appear right behind Thor and snatch the tome from him.

 “Return that!” Thor went to grab it, only for Anubis to teleport by the bar. “It doesn’t belong to you!”

 “Nor does it belong to the House of Odin. It belongs to the House of Ikolson, and since I am Koryanna’s patron god, I am entitled.” Anubis smirked as he opened the tome.

 “I am the Tome of Ikolson.”

 “And here we go again,” Tony rolled his eyes as the tome started talking again. “This is gonna get old.”

 “Clearly you’ve never been to the Libraries of Alexandria. My brain nearly died from the know-it-all talking records.” Bacchus rolled his eyes while he and Maui got up to have a closer look.

 “Greetings, Anubis Sethson. It is an honor to share the knowledge of the house of the current Ikolson descendant favored by you. How may I provide you knowledge of the House of Ikolson?”

 Anubis smirked. “The blood pact between Kory and Aaricia. They cut their palms and shook on it when they became sisters. Kory was very careful to make sure that it was only her mortal blood that went into Aaricia’s.”

 “The receiver is thus affiliated with the family, thus why her blood unlocked me. But she isn’t considered affiliated enough for me to record her.”

 “I know,” Anubis nodded. “It’s the tragic thing with tomes of legacies, isn’t it? Collecting the histories of the born descendants but not of those married or adopted into it.”

 “Unless the legacies brought from the additions had impacts on the born descendants. Was there something you were looking for? Do know that I cannot give you information from the missing pages.”

 “Just one thing. The ancestry of François Ikolson. I’m highly conscious that the Ikolson family had divine ancestry in Freya and Toutatis, but I was curiously if you knew anything about the less… pagan ancestry. Maybe… Israel?”

 The Tome took some time to answer. After some seconds of silence, it finally answered. “It’s a challenging question when it comes to matters of monotheism. Are you asking about the non-pagan ancestry of the extinct side of the family or the non-pagan ancestry of your protégée?”

 “What do you think, genius?” Bacchus snapped.

 “Be nice, Rager Pants. It’s a sentient collector of knowledge from Koryanna’s family,” Anubis said quietly.

 “I respect your politeness, your Excellency. Are you more interested in the direct or spiritual heritage?”

 Anubis pondered. “Both.”

 “Well, the information that will fascinate you is that 98% percent of the women who have married into your protégée’s family were either direct or spiritual descendants of the Tribe of Levi. Does this information satisfy you?”

 “It does. Thank you for your time.” Anubis put the tome on the counter and looked at Bacchus and Maui with a toothy smirk. “It looks like you two owe me some cash.”

 “Moron…” Both muttered as they went through their pockets and pulled out wallets full of cash.

 “The Tribe of Levi…” Banner said. “She has a lot of crazy ancestry…”

 “What’s that?” Both Thor and Tony asked.

 Banner scowled at Tony. “Jesus, Tony, do you ever read? Just because I study gamma radiations doesn’t mean I don’t read books during my spare time. And Thor, how do you not know this?”

 “He’s a barbarian that came after the BCs, what did you expect?” Anubis said. “If you people weren’t so invested in modern tech, you’d know more about the basic foundations. The Tribes of Israel formed the first Israelite Nation. Each started with the twelve sons of Jacob, they each had their purpose and patch of land, and have assimilated into communities. When the tome said that most of Koryanna’s great-great-something grandmothers were either direct or spiritual descendants, it means her ancestors were either direct descendants of Levi himself or Levites.”

 “And Levi is…” Tony pressured on.

 “Tony, you’re hopeless.” Banner sighed. “In the Bible, it’s said that Levi was the great-grandfather of Moses. The Tribe of Levi was said to have been carried on by the descendants of Moses’ brother Aaron. It was primarily associated with priests.”

 “For decades, I was rather confident at the possibility that Koryanna was connected to that Tribe.” Anubis got off his seat to walk around a bit. “Even before her demigod awakening, it seemed evident that she had the aptitude of such connections. Her God let her live. He always gave signs for when he found mortals that were worth living, regardless of their backgrounds. Very unlike the mortals who persecuted them BECAUSE of the backgrounds.”

 “For a pagan god, you seem convinced.” Banner frowned.

 “Don’t get me wrong. Gods are superior to mortals but we are most certainly not superior to Him. Capital H him.” Anubis stopped to look out the window. “He created this world and universe… and whatever were his reasons, it’s up to everyone to interpret it. It’s not his fault or ours if millions in the past thought that force, torture, persecution, and death were the best resolves to spread his messages.”

 “That’s pretty morbid,” Tony commented.

 “Would a less morbid explanation be more convenient?” Maui asked.

 “Please,” Thor said.

 “It’s been both rumored and proven that all mortals have at least one-sixth of their DNA that was received from some divine connection, either because they’re connected by blood or because of spiritual connections,” Maui explained. “Take Bacchus. Obviously, his dad his Jupiter, his grandparents are the Titans Saturn and Rhea, and his great-grandparents are Ouranos and Gaea, the oldest concepts of sky and Earth. But take his mother Semele. Mortal woman. Her father Cadmus was apparently the grandson of Poseidon and her mother was Harmonia the goddess of Harmony. So, in a weird sense, because of his mother, Bacchus’ uncle is also his great-grandfather and his mother-in-law is a goddess!”

 “Don’t forget Ariadne,” Bacchus pointed out.

 “Oh yeah! Your wife!” Maui chuckled. “Ariadne, the princess of Crete who helped Theseus in the Labyrinth? Her dad Minos was a demigod son of Zeus and her mom Pasiphae was the daughter of Helios, Saturn’s nephew! You might as well say that Bacchus married his own mortal cousin because that’s how fucked up genetics are! And I don’t have that kind of problem because none of my parents are biologically related to one another!”

 “Story of our lives…” Bacchus shrugged.

 “And let’s not forget the lovely incest combination of my parents and uncle and aunt.” Anubis let out a sarcastic smirk.

 “So long story short, we’re all related?” Tony waved his hand.

 “If you’re that creepy, sure.” Anubis shrugged. “We’re just more superior than you.”

 That threw off Tony. “Excuse me?”

 “What? You should have seen it coming!” Anubis chuckled. “I mean, Thor might treat you as allies, but he certainly doesn’t treat you as equals. To Asgardians, humans are lower than Frost Giants… and Frost Giants are already considered as monsters, an Asgardian’s own dog would actually be seen as worthier to sit at its master’s table. On Earth? Well… humans are beneath immortals, immortals are beneath gods, and demigods are just the neutral party on the line between mortals and immortals and said party is considered worthy enough to be in a god’s social circle.”

 “Is that how you treat your own friends?” Thor gestured at Bacchus and Maui.

 “Business friends, nothing more.” Bacchus gestured between himself and Anubis. “Plus, all the other gods have been so corrupted by humanity’s vices, they stopped showing their faces’ in public. I don’t even know where Jupiter is.”

 “And there’s not really a great amount of demigods left anyway,” Bacchus shrugged. “Either they committed suicide or they never had their awakening or the humans persecuted them. Anyway, besides the Big Guy, there hasn’t been any talk of gods breeding with demigods lately.”

 “And my dad was NOTORIOUS for being a walking baby factory.” Bacchus groaned.

 “Don’t you and your wife have children?” Thor asked Bacchus.

 “We do. But because of the expansions and the wars, we had to limit the visits. They’re still hiding out in the Mediterranean. We only get to see them during my end-of-the-decade rager parties. Ariadne and I had an especially hard time contacting them during the Greek War of Independence, the 1967 coup, the 2010 debt crisis, the Fascist Regime, and the Armenian Genocide.”

 “And whoever I know in the Pacific is just too busy. Let’s leave it there,” Maui said.

 Tony, Banner, and Thor looked at each other with a hint of misery. Hopefully Cap had better luck with Loki’s daughter than they were with those immortal jerks.

Meanwhile

If anything, Steve had a much better time than his allies upstairs.

 Despite being a sort of magic-user, Kory refrained herself from using it for mundane activities like cooking. It was a miracle he even had in his kitchen the ingredients she needed for her goulash and the kitchen was now filled with the aroma of sauteed vegetables and boiling stock. Even though it was a small quantity, it smelled like a feast for twelve.

 “My mother cooked the best meals when I was little.” Kory cautiously stirred the mixture in the pot. Her cooking was taking longer; despite Tony adding some ‘modern features’ to speed things up on Steve’s old-fashioned stove, Kory kept the temperature at its lowest and her distance from the stove far enough so that her unfolded arm could stir. “Primarily Kosher menu or Norwegian dishes. When we went to Jerusalem for my bat mitzvah… she almost burst… Granted, at the time, it was unrestful due to some… civil unrest, but we did run into some folks on pilgrimage. Other Jews coming to the Holy city for the wall… Hannukah… We met some Hungarians, Germans, and other parts of Europe at the hotel we stayed at with the Berkovitz. She talked a lot with them since they didn’t hate her so much. Exchanged recipes…”

 “They didn’t care that she was raising you on your own?” Steve asked.

 Kory stopped stirring to finally add in the floured beef. She gave it some tapping before doing so. “Not their business. As far as they knew, the Lord was blessing me by letting me become a woman in the Holy City. The Berkovitz? They thought of it as forgiveness.”

 “You know, when you brought up that name, it caused me to think.” Steve went through his cabinets to pull out some plates. “I think I knew a Berkovitz myself. I don’t remember his first name, but he was part of the super-soldier program in the training camp I was in. When I was being filled in after my time in the ice, I heard he died in service.”

 “So have I heard.” Kory nodded silently as she stirred her goulash. “Isaac and Rebecca Berkovitz were my grandparents’ friends. They REALLY didn’t take it well with my mother having me out of wedlock to some possibly pagan gentile. They thought I had to be corrected from a mistake to something useful…” Kory shook her head. “They tried fleeing to Sweden a month before I lost my mother… I’m still not sure how it happened, but they got… They couldn’t make it to the border…” Frost was beginning to grow on the wooden spoon she had been using for stirring.

 “Kory…” Steve realized that Kory must be growing a storm inside.

 “They did bring up an American cousin… of course he couldn’t save them, none of those arrested in Tønsberg could! Merchants, blacksmiths, homemakers, clerks, managers, students, pupils, businessmen, machine operators… They were all rubbed off… My mother died… And I lived…” The Frost was now spreading all over the counter, icicles growing on the edges like ivy.

 “Kory.”

 “I tried to finish myself off… God, why did the Lord let me live? Why do I see millions of ghosts… screaming at me?” It was fortunate that Aaricia happened to stumble into the kitchen and quickly ran to pull Kory away, hugging her in the process. The process must have worked; the frost thawed and disappeared.

 “Føler deg bedre?” Aaricia asked. (Feeling better?)

 “Min situasjon kommer til å gjøre meg sint.” Kory groaned. (My situation is going to drive me mad.)

 “Maybe I should cover the rest of the goulash.” Aaricia patted Kory on the back. Once again, Steve being Steve, he pulled out a stool for Kory to sit on. Taking seat, Kory wound up freezing the stool into a perfect ice sculpture while Aaricia took charge of the goulash, rising the temperature a bit.

 “Post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor guilt, huh?” Steve asked quietly.

 “I’m going to have a hard time, aren’t I?” Kory asked miserably. “I didn’t ask for any of this…”

 “I’m aware…”

 “And I’m surrounded by a bunch of trigger pushers!” Kory growled for a few seconds. “Excluding you, of course…”

 “The eyepatch guy from SHIELD is coming tomorrow.” Aaricia stirred the goulash.

 “Nick Fury?” Steve asked.

 “Who names their kid Nick Fury?” Aaricia chuckled.

 “Gee, I don’t know. Who calls their kid Koryanna Evangeline Lottie Lokisdottir-Ikolson?” Kory asked drily. “Literally, why would you call your kid ‘maiden full of grace and good news, vigorous, the daughter of Loki and the great-who-cares-how-many-greats-granddaughter of Ikol’? WHY?”

 “Because your mother thought it suited you. I don’t disagree with her.” Steve’s sincerity must have done a number on Kory. Either because he said something nice about the demigoddess’s late mother or because he gave out a compliment, whatever the damn reason was, it caused Kory to relax a bit and let out a blush. With the goulash getting close to ready, Aaricia managed to find some bowls. “I’m feeling better,” Kory said quietly, “but I don’t think I’ll be able to handle an interrogation. Pestering questions drive to triggers being touched and touched triggers… Let’s just say I’m not an expert at letting go of my anger. And knowing what happened here with Loki…”

 “I’ll talk to Fury when he comes in,” Steve said. “The man isn’t one of the sincerest I know…”

 “How can he not be sincere?” Kory asked while Aaricia filled the bowls with goulash.

 “The first time we caught Loki, we found out that SHIELD was planning on using the Tesseract for weapons of mass destruction. Back in the war, I had to fight against HYDRA, a Nazi scientific division gone rogue that wanted to use the Tesseract for the same reason.” Steve looked at Kory. “They…”

 “Attacked the Tesseract’s location in my hometown, I’m conscious.” Kory sighed. Aaricia put out the goulash bowls in front of them and went to grab utensils. “I waited in the rubble. I held on to my mother’s corpse… I just cuddled her in the darkness, waiting for them to leave… My insides froze, just like that.” Kory snapped her fingers. “The pain of my body rivaled the pain in my heart. I didn’t know what was happening. I didn’t connect the dots at first. All I could understand that the Norwegian cold… suddenly became less cold. I did feel it but it didn’t make me shiver. When things quieted down, I saw that one of the church’s monks came back from out of town. He saw the carnage and went to check the holy ground. I followed him, carrying my mother in. When I got in, I begged for shelter and for an area to bury my mother… even though I wasn’t supposed to be outside.”

 “He attacked you, didn’t it?” Steve gave a taste of the goulash and found himself liking it.

 “To be fair, it was dark when I got in. He thought I was out at the wrong time and place, so he did let me in… initially.” Kory shook her head. “Next thing I knew, he panicked when he saw me for real and he grabbed a torch. ‘Frostgigant! Jotun! Gyte av ymir!’ He shouted at me. I didn’t understand why he was calling me a Frost Giant, a Jotun, or a spawn of Ymir. I held out my hand to protect myself…” As if to demonstrate, Kory cautiously raised her right hand and put it in a defensive pose. “And the next thing I knew… the monk was gone. All I saw were destroyed chunks of ice, but when I saw that the ice looked oddly human and a nearby broken mirror revealed my appearance… I panicked.”

 “And that’s when you stumbled onto that wall of Yggdrasil the World Tree.” Aaricia paused in eating the goulash to explain the rest to Steve so Kory could catch a break. “The ruins of the church are still there but cultural guides just say it was destroyed during a bomb. They never brought up HYDRA like you did. A few years after she adopted me, Kory showed me the Yggdrasil wall in the ruins. They had a small area near the roots where they hid the Tesseract. Apparently, because the Tesseract was handled by Nordic gods and since a bunch of humans hid it in an artistic representation of what they thought connected the Nine Realms, the Tesseract’s leftover residue somehow gave a view on truth.”

 “I thought the Tesseract could only open portals or even increase energy,” Steve frowned.

 “Well apparently its residue increased the energy in cultural history,” Aaricia sassed. “After all, its leftover effect on the wall opened a portal to Kory for the truth about her paternal heritage.”

 “A magic wall… told Kory that her father was Loki and that she was actually half-Frost Giant,” Steve said in disbelief. “You must be joking.”

 “I know, right?” Both sisters said sarcastically in unison before Kory went back to silently eating while Aaricia continued.

 “So obviously, Kory freaked out. It was horrible timing! Kory was so freaked out, she just carried her mom over her shoulder and ran straight home! Apparently people didn’t freak out when they saw a Frost Giant running through the streets of Tønsberg with a dead body because they were all traumatized by the attack, she might as well have been a hallucination! So Kory went home, she buried her mother in her garden, and for months, she didn’t step out of her house unless she had to get out for food.”

 “I stopped my black-market business…” Kory muttered.

 “Ya even took up crossdressing to pass off as a Norwegian man to get food and get a gun.” Aaricia turned to Steve. “She took up hunting and fishing during the war. Helped her earn some money by selling it since Norwegians and Jews equally starved. She wound up turning her basement into a bunker and discovering at her same time that the Ikolson family that stayed in Norway since the Middle Ages were properly paranoid.”

 “What do you mean?” Steve asked.

“A whole network of catacombs and secret tunnels where my Christian relatives would bury their own and hide centuries’ worth of treasure and money.” Kory muttered. “The hoarders. Way after the war, I managed to make a fortune by selling the relics and antiquities and converted the coins into actual cash. It’s why I have such a fortune now.”

 “And the force field around your house kept anyone from stealing, even after the three years you spent away from home.” Aaricia nodded. “You ever heard of the SS Donau, Steve?”

 “Sounds like a German ship,” he said, finishing the goulash.

 “It was. Until it was bombed, it was notorious for deporting what was left of the Norwegian Jews.” Aaricia shook her head. “Kory was hiding out in her house and she managed to avoid getting arrested when they came to Tønsberg. Kory told me she was so certain that people thought she and her mother died when HYDRA attacked… but then there was the town drunkard.”

 “The town drunkard.”

 “Look, I don’t know how the bastard still managed to land himself on booze even after he lost his job!” Kory raised her hands and got off her stool to pace around a bit. “I’m out selling elk in December 1942 and the guy just happens to be there, ranting about how he needs vodka, some Germans plan to arrest him for disturbing the public, and it’s when he starts ranting about an ‘ice blue girl with red eyes’ and a German with an odd pin started asking him questions about it. ‘Gets slippery when it goes near the Ikolson house.’ That’s what the drunkard said.”

 “But I thought your house had a force field,” Steve said.

 “It’s still there. The force field keeps off anyone uninvited.”

 “And you thought HYDRA knew you were a Frost Giantess?”

 “How should I know, Steve? My only main resource at the time about my non-human heritage was some wall about a magic tree!” Kory stopped in her pacing. “You think I wanted to let the Germans experiment on me? I couldn’t risk it! I took what I could and fled Tønsberg. I tried going through the Valdres district because I figured that they wouldn’t think of finding me scaling the mountains all the way north to Sweden…” She shook her head. “I don’t want to continue.”

 “I understand. And trust me, it’s a good thing you didn’t get caught by HYDRA.”

 “What were they trying to do with some Rubix cube from outer space?” Aaricia cleared the empty dishes.

 “Weapons of mass destruction. Red Skull, the leader of HYDRA, tried to bomb major cities with them. When I stopped him…” Steve shook his head. “Well, you know…”

 Aaricia and Kory exchanged some grimaces. “God Almighty…” Kory sighed. Aaricia quickly shoved the dishes into the dishwasher.

 “Maybe I should check if my phone’s out of batteries.” It was perhaps the lousiest excuse she could come up with, but Aaricia used it to flee out of the kitchen.

 “Kory…” Steve began.

 “Do I make you uncomfortable?” Kory started blurting out.

 “What? No!”

 “I’m just checking, Steve! I mean, I’m half-Jotun! The statement’s bound to get redundant at this point, but that last thing I need is to make you uncomfortable or scared! Frozen for seven decades and nearly done for by those Jotunheim hooligans! And my nature is putting you into trouble with aliens again!”

 “It’s not your fault, Kory.” Steve got off his stool. “And you already know that if you were really that worried about me being uncomfortable, you wouldn’t be yourself.” The words had a different impact than he intended. Kory wound up looking at her reflection in the kitchen mirror and instinctively turned into her human form. “That’s not what I meant!”

 “Steve, I don’t know how to be accepted! That’s the way things are!”

 “I accept you. Why can’t you accept that?”

 Kory just sighed, her attempt at calming down successful. “You told me that you wanted to try understanding. I appreciate you, I really do, but in the end, it’s just you. You’re just one man. I’m sure you’re the type of guy that still manages to give rousing speeches to bring people to his cause, but even one noble mortal can’t bring down the legacies of persecution, discrimination, and hatred that parasites the world since creation and still continues today.” She shook her head. “And I told you back in DC that you can’t change nearly a century of crowd hatred and self-hatred. Anything of what I am throws off people, mortal or immortal, and if it’s not what I am… They make their own conclusions.”

 Kory began making her wait out. Steve tried to stop her by gentling putting a hand on her shoulder, successfully stopping her in her tracks. She was facing the direction of the door while he faced the opposite. “You may have given up, but I never do,” Steve said, using the same calm tone she had used. “You can keep pushing me out, but I’ll still push my way in. You can easily tell me to just give up on you, but you’ll find out the hard way that when I set my mind on something, I can do this all day.”

 Kory’s hand gripped over the one he had on her shoulder. Steve felt the nails threatening to scratch. “I’ve broken the bones of folks with necks thicker than the Hulk’s when they don’t take ‘no’ for an answer,” her voice got into a warning tone. “Do you really want to cross that line?”

 “Do that, and you’ll just convince everyone that you’re exactly what they hate,” he responded back. “And I prefer to help my friends rather than leave them crawling under the barbed wire.”

 “That would be a mountain in my case.” Kory managed to push his hand away and turn to glare at Steve. “You’d only go three feet before the cuts got through your suit and cut you back to reality!” Her green eyes stood out with her anger as she held out three fingers.

 “I’d still go through.” Steve began to get frustrated as well. “Are you really that stubborn?”

 “Did you just… I don’t believe it!” Kory began pacing around the kitchen before finally storming out, rambling in another language. “Ir zogn eyn shtarbik az zeyn abjektivz tsu bashitsn ir zenen umzist, er nokh pushiz! Tsi di imbesiles dervartn mir tsu lernen zey vegn vos es mitl tsu zeygn aleyn? Ikh ken nisht afilu… Ir visn vos? Ikh bin gegangen tsu bet baren tsulib!”

 Steve waited until he heard a door slamming to finally step out of the kitchen. No sign of ice was present in the hallway, but he was surprised to find Aaricia leaning on the wall by the kitchen’s doorway.

 “Did I upset her?” Steve asked nervously. He almost got the response he expected when he heard the sound of furniture breaking.

 “She’ll be fine,” Aaricia said. “After an argument, she usually steps aside to break stuff privately. Then I check on her when she’s crying her heart, cuddles follow, and I sleep with her until morning. Tomorrow, she’ll be depressed, and if people piss her off… You might want to tell Mr. Stark to suit up.” The teenager properly stood up. “She screams a lot in Yiddish when she’s angry. She basically said ‘You tell one mortal that his objectives to protect you are futile, he still pushes! Do these imbeciles expect me to educate them on what it means to be alone? I can't even... You know what? I'm going to bed for fuck's sake!”

 “Aaricia, what can I do?” Steve sighed. “How do I help her? She’s pushing me out!”

 “When you woke up in the 21^st century, did you immediately accept the help of those who tried to help you?” Aaricia casually asked.

 “No.” Steve grimaced as he remembered waking up in a fake 1940s hospital room, courtesy of SHIELD trying to break the news as gently as possible. He’d also been stubborn for weeks about using technology.

 “Exactly! Kory acts like one of those abused dogs that got abandoned by their owners into the streets, brought into a shelter, and don’t really warm up to the shelter workers or new families until WEEKS, maybe MONTHS, have passed!” Aaricia shook her head. “I got Kory into WORLDBUDDIES because I hoped that she could make a friend among the humans that she could relate with. Give her a light of warmth. Don’t get me wrong, Anubis, Maui, and Bacchus are fun for the sake of fun, but they’re the toxic friends that shouldn’t have such an influence on your sensitive sister who suffers from trauma, self-hatred, and self-esteem issues. And her mortal therapist’s downright pathetic.” She sighed. “Look, I can’t be her mortal morality pet all the time, OK?”

 “Is that how she treats you?”

 “Like a pet? No. Pets don’t get spoiled the way she spoils me. Does she treat me like I’m the only thing she really loves in her current state of existence and if I disappear, she’ll break for good? Yeah.” Aaricia sighed. “Her mom and Abimbola were the only ones who really gave Kory what she needed. When both died, Anubis banned her the luxury of suicide.”

 “Since when is suicide a luxury?”

 “In his eyes it is,” Aaricia said. At the end of the hallway, the sounds of furniture destruction ended. “Look, we’ll talk more about it today. I’ll take care of Kory. You get some sleep, OK?”

 “OK. Thanks, kid.” Steve smiled a bit.

 The two cringed a bit when they heard loud sobbing coming from the guest room. “Uh… So I know Mr. Stark probably hates my guts right, but can you tell him that we need 30 different types of Ben & Jerri’s ice cream packs for breakfast? Jumbo size.”

Chapter Text

Furniture breaking. Sobbing. A hail in the human city that lasted for maybe an hour until it finally stopped. Loki could hear all these things happening from where he was. The silent night that torture. It must have been 3 in the mortal morning and Loki still kept himself awake, unable to sleep and sitting on the ground like a block of ice.

 If his breakdown from finding out he was a Frost Giant had led to him becoming the villain he was, the discovery of his child’s existence had an even more heart-shattering effect on Loki.

 “Why are you crying, Loki?”

 Loki looked up. Obviously, the room’s security system barred him from using his physical powers but not the mental ones. In his grief, he now had a mental visual of someone else talking to him. Someone he had loved and had been forced to abandon. Someone he regretted to not have kept.

 “Did Anubis send you to torment me? Loki miserably asked.

 “Loki. Min kjaerlighet. Meyn lib. My love. Even after all these decades, you confuse what I have for you with what I believe in. I love you, but I only follow one god. I told you that when I die, my soul wouldn’t be destroyed.”

 “You can’t be here. I’m just seeing a fragment of my memories of you.” Loki wanted to cry so badly. It had to be an illusion of Evangeline Ikolson’s ghost since he could see the wall behind her through her like glass. Still, the ghost looked so much like the first time he had seen and met her in Norway in 1919: average height and figure, her black coat covering her dark-colored shirt, skirt, hosiery, and shoes, her black hat shrouding a shadow over her light-skinned face and brown hair pulled up in a bun. She had been in mourning when Loki first met her, losing both of her parents in the Great War. Still, in her mourning, Loki had seen her like an angel. He still remembered her small nose, her sharp eyes with a light brown hue almost reminding Loki of Frigga’s hair, and the magenta streak falling off her light brown bun… Loki had almost mistaken her for a nymph.

 “I am in your memories. If I am or not here in front of you, why should it matter since you still remember me? Since I am still in your heart?”

 Loki dropped his face on top of his folded legs, crying his heart out. Some frost began appearing on the ground. What a miserable sight he was! A prince of Asgard, a Frost Giant runt, wallowing over his last lover, a mortal who died decades ago! He didn’t scream at her to stay away when he felt the ghost float towards him and kneel to be at his eye level.

 “Life is never easy, but I had my blessings,” the ghost said.

 “You died…”

 “Many others have suffered worse than I have.”

 “I left you…”

 “You did. You left me with the most wonderful thing that could only be equaled by the love I had for you. You gave me my daughter.”

 Silence filled the cold room.

 Loki looked up, still upset and tearful while the ghost kept smiling. “My little Ulykkesprinsesse. My little Princess of Mischief. She has your green eyes.”

 “Evangeline… why didn’t you… Why didn’t you send me some kind of sign?”

 “The dead do not work that way. Well, those who had fulfilling lives. Only those who never accepted and appreciated what they had in life would encourage necromancy. I taught our daughter to mourn and respect the deceased. After I passed, I was very proud that she never sought to use her magic to bring back the souls of who she loved. Koryanna never sought to abuse her magic. We were not that thorough, but she put her faith in God over her faith in humans and the immortal pagans. She put her faith in me, her mother. She put her faith in Abimbola, her partner in the war. She puts in her faith in Aaricia, her little sister.”

 “She doesn’t have faith in me, does she?” Loki grimaced.

 Evangeline’s ghost let out a smile that seemed to mix amusement and sad disapproval at the same time. “Loki, I understood that Odin wanted you to leave me because he didn’t approve of me being your weakness.”

 “You weren’t a weakness…”

 “You spent a lot of time visiting me. Had it gone further and you’d have stayed for good. Koryanna would have grown up with her father. I initially thought that your father would not love Koryanna as his granddaughter. It was not until after I died that I saw the real reason why Odin wanted you to have no part in her life.” She stopped smiling.

 “All this time, I thought Odin would not love her because she was half human. Or because I worship God and not a Nordic one. In the end, I find out that Odin wanted my daughter dead because she is half-giant. He had the audacity of labeling my daughter as vermin before she was born.”

 “The fact that you bred a monster doesn’t bother you?” Loki asked.

 “If I did not still love you even after my death or accept the life I had, you would be getting an understanding of retribution from the grave,” the ghost’s voice got stern. “I kept my daughter. I was her only family. I tried to give her EVERYTHING I could while we were ostracized and persecuted. I sacrificed my life to protect my daughter BECAUSE I LOVED HER. You DO NOT have the understanding of how hard it is to care for, love, and protect your child when the world around her throws its worst hatred at her. My greatest failure is that because I embraced my life, I cannot do anything. Do you understand what it means to be deceased and watch your child receive horrible experiences and influences just because of her double-nature? Do you understand what it means to question the nature of your former lover? Even with the love I still have for you, I now don’t know which aspect of you I truly fell in love with? Was it the inner Frost Giant or the glamorous illusion of the Asgardian prince that Odin crafted?”

 “How could you have known?” Loki got up on his feet to make himself superior to the ghost. “I didn’t even know my true nature until a few years ago! What right do you have to claim yourself more experienced than I?”

 “Did Adam and Eve have a right to believe the snake over God when God made it clear that tasting the apple would damn them? Did the pharaoh have the right to believe he could test God’s will until the plagues resulted in the death of his firstborn son?” Despite the calm expression on her sad face, Evangeline’s ghost had angry tone. “Did most of humanity have a right for persecuting my kin for centuries? Did the townsfolk have the right to treat my daughter like a beast of burden? Did you have the right of abandoning me and now act entitled to the child you never knew you had?” The ghost shook her head sadly and angrily before beginning to fade away. “Bad things will happen. The cracks will slowly reopen as the enemy gets closer. The Giant cannot resurface. Koryanna already made the mistake.”

 “Wait… what do you mean?” But before Loki could ask any further, the ghost had disappeared.

In the morning

When Nick Fury and Maria Hill say they’d come first thing in the morning, they literally mean the first thing. Around 7:45am, the Avengers were already up when JARVIS announced the presence of the SHIELD figures at the front door. Only a couple handguns and a dozen cups from Starbucks. When they went up to the main floors, Bacchus and Anubis were drinking their own booze at the bar, something that they completely understood.

 But Maui and Aaricia making an ice cream sculpture out of 50 different mega-sized Ben and Jerry’s ice cream cartons?

 “What am I looking at?” Nick Fury frowned in confusion.

 “Apparently it’s to calm down Cap’s guest,” Clint said. “He did seem like he wanted to jog off his feelings, seeing how he left at the first sign of dawn.”

 “Did she attack him?”

 “Nice to meet you too,” Aaricia snarked as she and Bacchus worked on filling a volcano carved out of chocolate ice cream with liquid fudge. “Let’s just assume that the only half-Frost Giant in the building is a savage monster who doesn’t suffer from self-esteem issues. Cue screaming, a thousand years of darkness and moronic therapies, and then the world dies of global warming!” After the fudge went in the volcano, Aaricia sprinkled some powdered sugar on top. “And voilà!”

 “That is probably the biggest and only ice cream sculpture I’ve ever seen in my life,” Maria Hill admitted, somewhat impressed by the confectionary work of art that covered two coffee tables. “How long did it take for you to make it?”

 “All the love in the world,” Aaricia answered smugly.

 “It’s for Kory to eat emotionally while you guys talk shit to her.” Bacchus drank from a whole bottle of wine.

 “I already agreed that I wouldn’t cage her up or experiment on her after the showoff made a statement yesterday!” Nick Fury pointed an accusing finger at Anubis. The god of mummification merely chuckled in amusement as he drank his coffee. “Do you realize the shit I went through this morning to get the World Security Council off my back before we left?”

 “Was it one of those ‘Oh Fury, we don’t care if she’s sensitive, that she wants to be left alone, and that she is a nicer angel than her Crapsack Swine Shit Dad! She’s a monster, end of story, kill her, give us a blood sample, and we’ll promote you!’ Because that kind of shit talk is so old-school, Kory remembers every single one of those better than she can remember every single episode plot of Everybody Hates Chris, Alt for Norge, and Star Académie!” Aaricia smacked Maui on the hand when he was almost tempted by the idea of putting his thumb on a Roman temple carved out of vanilla ice cream. “Hands off! It’s for Kory only!”

 Before Nick Fury could make some kind of sour comment, Maria Hill intervened. “So… how would you recommend that we approach your… sensitive sister? If you were us, how would you ask her questions without, you know…”

 “Turning the tower into an ice cube? Easy!” Aaricia listed the things out. “Don’t ask her if she’s in league with her dad. Don’t ask her if she wants to be queen of Jotunheim, Earth, or Asgard. Don’t ask her about March 1942 or March 1945. Don’t ask her about her vibranium mambele. Don’t even think about touching her coat or mambele; I saw a car dealership freak learn that the hard way with.

 “Don’t ask her if she thinks she’s good or evil. Don’t ask her perspective on capital G God. Don’t ask her about politics. Don’t ask her about petitions or charities. Don’t ask her about freaks who can’t take no for an answer. Don’t ask her what her list of 5 second crushes were. Don’t ask her about her school years. Don’t ask her about why the hell she adopted me. Don’t ask her how she feels about Steve being… well, Steve. And THE MOST important thing! NEVER ask her why her life is a fate worse than death and why she hasn’t contributed to save or destroy the world! NEVER!” Aaricia ended the blunt list with a big smile. “Any questions?”

 “Alright then…” Maria Hill said. Nearly every adult in the room was stunned. “Just two. What can we ask her with everything off limits, and if your sister is so sensitive about everything, why did you make her an ice cream sculpture about the destruction of Pompeii?”

 “Because it’s like one of those television shows where they pull up people recording themselves doing shit to make the public laugh at their own failures!” Aaricia waved at the sculpture as if it were obvious. “And what cheers Kory up when eating emotionally? Ice cream sculptures of humanity’s epic failures! Today’s pick is obviously the poor choice of real estate located near active volcanoes!”

 “THAT was NOT my fault!” Bacchus snapped. “Why is everyone pointing fingers at me after nearly 1900 years?”

 “Probably because you were too busy dealing with Hercules when he offended those Vandal ladies back in Gibraltar by accident?” Anubis chuckled. “Ariadne almost thought you were cheating on her!”

 Nick Fury stared in disbelief at the trio of immortals making fun of one another. “Suddenly I’m understanding why she’s likes being near Captain America…”

 “Way to be behind on the forecast, Fury,” Tony commented from his chair. Out of nowhere, ripping sounds were heard coming from the elevator doors. Everyone turned to see the elevator doors get ripped apart, crushed into a ball, and thrown out the window. Bacchus and Maui ducked for cover but Anubis didn’t even flinch from his seat. Standing at the edge of the elevator, in front of an empty elevator shaft, was a visibly annoyed Kory Ikolson. Yet again, her appearance was different: black plaid pants, a dark night blue peplum shirt with nearly invisible snowflake patterns, her trademark fur coat changed into the size and form of a blazer, heeled sandals, her wolf pendant with a matching silver wolf choker, and Celtic wolf earrings. She must have given herself a haircut last night, considering how she now sported an asymmetrical hairstyle: straight and reaching just underneath her ears on the left side, and brushed curls reaching her shoulders and nearly covering her right eye. Cutting her hair somehow made some brown strands seem a bit lighter, but the magenta streak didn’t change at all.

 “Shit…” Bacchus groaned. “Kory’s gone all Winona Ryder doing a crossover between the Heathers and Beetlejuice.” He shook his head and pulled out a big, plastering smile. “Morning, Kory. How is your generally depressive life so far?”

 “Ask the Big Guy,” Kory said flatly. “The stairs were destroyed and someone broke the elevator cords, I had to climb with my bare hands…”

 “What did you do to my stairs and elevator?” Tony suddenly interrupted to glare at Anubis.

 “Oh. That?” Anubis chuckled. “After the wannabe officials got here, I cast a spell to damage the stairs and elevator so the barbarians would stay on their level. The last we need is for those savages to be rude. I apologize, Koryanna, I should have given you a heads up.”

 “You’re lucky your head is still up.” Koryanna walked up to them.

 “You could have just teleported. You learned those tricks back in Nepal… OW!” Bacchus yelped when Kory unceremoniously flicked him on the forehead, probably giving him some sort of brain freeze. “BITCH! What was that for?”

 “Sorry, I don’t speak the dialect of ignavum atque conviviis,” Kory said, earning a snicker from Bacchus, Anubis, and Natasha, who’d been silent the whole time. “Portals are emergencies only.” She shook her head and went to the couch closest to the coffee tables bearing the Pompeii ice cream sculpture. She sat down and held out a hand, immediately receiving a spoon from Aaricia. “By the way, the moment we get back to Norway, you’re grounded.”

 Aaricia blinked. “But I didn’t even confess yet!”

 “Confess what? That you yet again abused my trust and your independent tour to vandalize and rob the tower? Unless a billionaire with poor tacky art tastes suddenly became a fan of your electric scorch marks on the walls and ceilings, you need a better alibi. Oh, and Joseph called me this morning.”

 “The chief of the American nybergynnere Frost Giants. Shit.” Aaricia slapped herself on the forehead.

 “Now, I would have grounded you until your golden years just for robbing the house of people who can arrest, kill, or experiment on me,” Kory said quietly before hammering the spoon into Mt Vesuvius, causing the ‘fudge lava’ to erupt and drown the candy Romans, “but I had just ONE rule regarding the few Frost Giant chiefs that I have dysfunctional alliances with. Just one. What was it again?”

 “Don’t get involved with their heirs, especially flirtation wise, because you don’t want further involvement if I’m involved?” Aaricia said quietly.

 “Exactly. So… WHY THE FUCK DID YOU GO NEAR JOSEPH’S NEPHEW?” Kory’s scream caused all the glass in the room to break. Banner had to toss away his glasses before the shards could possibly hit him in the eyes. “YOU SOLD STOLEN TECH TO THE HEIR OF THE AMERICAN CLAN! DO YOU REALIZE YOU PROBABLY DESTROYED MY DYSFUNCTIONAL ALLIANCE WITH THE LEADER OF THE SECOND LARGEST CLAN OF FROST GIANTS IN THE WORLD?”

 “Uh… Very…” Aaricia tapped her fingers nervously.

 “Relax, Loki Jr…” The words just slipped out of Barton’s mouth. The dead giveaway that too many lines were crossed was how Aaricia and the male immortals, Anubis included, looked nervous and the ice cream sculpture of Pompeii’s destruction got covered in thick layers of frost, crumbling it into blue dust from within. All this was happening while Kory sat on the couch, stiffly, and bending the spoon with her bare hands as she let out a vicious series of grunts.

 “Uh, OK…” Aaricia quickly rushed over to Barton and forced him to turn his back on Kory and face the wall across the room as if he were a child back in school. “You’re nice and all and I get that you got brainwashed by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but you can’t go around calling ‘He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Junior’ the same woman who is very emotionally unstable, is around a bunch of people who can hurt her and can easily make you suffer something far worse than brainwashing. You know, unless you want to cast yourself as a moron who gets frozen alive for next 2600 years or something. So just stand here and shut up.”

 “Rude much, kid?” Barton scowled.

 “I hurt Loki REAL bad,” Aaricia menaced, some lightning flashing through her eyes. “And I disfigured Angerboda. I can’t hurt any psycho Frost Giant right now, but I will GRILL YOU ALIVE if you pull another stunt like that!” She then dropped the flashing eyes and angry tone and replaced them with a cheery smile. “OK?” She cautiously backed away and went back to Kory. “It’s alright. The uncivilized American knows what he did is impolite and is currently under time-out.”

 “You’re still gonna get grounded, ye who used to be an uncivilized American before I took you in,” Kory calmed down but retained her firmness.

 “I saw that coming…” Aaricia said quietly.

 “Do you also see that not only will you be grounded, but unless we all die in another shitty cosmic war, one of my first priorities once we get back home is to research which boarding school to ship you off to for the rest of your secondary education? I could go for military school, but you’d probably just make the teachers cry for retirement. Finishing school, on the other hand… I already suffered through that last century, it’s only decent you suffer it through this century.”

 Aaricia nodded and sat down next to her.

 “Now that…” Nick Fury began.

 “I don’t want to talk to you,” Kory snapped, her response startling him. “Interrogate me, shoot me, drug me, or trap me in some glass snowball just because you don’t give a shit about anything, and I’ll give you a five second example of what I do to people who don’t back off and leave me alone.”

 “Funny speech coming from the one who voluntarily came here and almost threw a balled-up elevator door at our heads,” Nick Fury retorted.

 “Funny speech coming from the guy who thinks he can play God.” Kory turned to face him. “SHIELD’s full of Crapsack and I want nothing to do with them. In what universe do you think you can use an alien relic for weapons? In what universe do you think of not double-checking to ensure that Loki was executed? This whole shitshow could have been avoided if Loki was dead! You people ever heard of Ravaillac?”

 “A 16^th century assassin who murdered Henry the 4^th?” Banner asked.

 “Exactly! Delusions of self-righteousness leading to regicide!” Kory got up, practically towering Nick Fury. “Did the French just decide to let some barbarians take care of his sentence? Did they decide to check if he was executed rather than being put in some sort of pompous, first-class solitary confinement? No! They took responsibility and dismembered him with four horses, burned his ripped-up carcass in hot fluids, and tore apart whatever was left of his skin with pincers! AS SOON AS THE GUY WAS DEEMED GUILTY! ‘Oh no, let’s allow the barbarians to take care of it themselves! Not our problem!’ And tada, here I am, having to deal with the consequences of YOUR problem! So, when YOU guys take more responsibility, maybe we can have a proper discussion about funny speeches, but right now I don’t feel like taking the shit of a no-nothing-know-it-all with an embarrassing backstory behind how he lost his eye! Oh, and FYI, I hate cats. I’m obviously a dog person, especially wolves.”

 It was hard for many of the present Avengers to understand, but Kory’s direct verbal assault was just the beginning of the match being thrown into the wooden logs. The warm-up before the actual flyting. And seeing Nick Fury actually struggling to keep his sharp expression, his lips quivering, and his fingers shaking, it was obviously working. Thinking quickly, Maria Hill searched through her jacket and pulled out a book.

 “Hi.” Her small interruption led to Kory shooting her a glare. “You happen to be an Ozzy Osbourne fan, right?”

 “What, you hacked into my search history?” Kory snapped but cooled down.

 “I did after I noticed your T-shirt back in Chinatown.” Maria Hill held out the book. “Apparently you never managed to get your hands on one of his autobiographies.”
 “I Am Ozzy… I had a hard time finding it with all the shit that happened since 2010!” Kory took the book, fawning over it for a few seconds until she noticed something acting as a bookmark within the book. She flipped it open, revealing three tickets. “What the… you can’t be serious.”

 “I am.”

 “Private Black Sabbath concert tickets in Bergen? On December 21^st, 2013?”

 “Elite-access only. I pulled a few strings. The only catch is a small one-on-one conversation. No interrogation, no force, no insults, and no hazardous audience. Just a decent conversation in Stark’s office to try to find an understanding… and, you know, to continue your trash-talk because I actually find it funny how you talk about your Loki.”

 Kory looked at Maria Hill then at the book. Pulling an indifferent façade, she tucked the book in her furred blazer. “OK. I’ll pretend I’m a gullible human who goes along with it because I really want that book.”

 Maria Hill nodded and gestured Kory to follow her. Before doing so, Kory patted Aaricia on the head. “Don’t hurt anyone until you ask me, alright?”

 “Of course,” Aaricia smirked.

 “Good. Because I’m still planning on shipping you to finishing school unless we all die by the time Passover comes.” Kory pressed a quick kiss on the blonde teen’s head. “Elsker deg.” (Love you). Kory followed Maria Hill down the hallway towards Stark’s office, leaving a lot of people baffled.

 “What just happened?” Barton asked.

 “It’s called diplomatic bribery, loser,” Anubis chuckled. “Nice recruitment, Fury. You have an agent who actually did the smart thing and didn’t harass Koryanna upon first meeting her.”

 “Is she always this… sensitive?” Banner tried to ask cautiously.

 “To be fair, Clint Eastwood there thought he could get away with calling her ‘Loki Jr’ and this guy obviously doesn’t know how to talk.” Aaricia pointed an accusing thumb at Nick Fury, who managed to regain his senses.

 “I’m the director of a security agency, not some… therapist to an emotionally unstable woman who gets easily bribed by pop culture memorabilia!”

 “Dude, you just witnessed Kory warming up in flyting.” Bacchus got up and stretched his arms. “Piss her off longer and you’d be broken inside and out. All because you wouldn’t back off.”
 “You guys gotta wake up a bit.” Anubis snapped his fingers and addressed them in a mocking tone. “Loki and Kory are major contrasts. Unlike my freaky ex, Kory’s a very straightforward demigoddess. If she doesn’t like you, if she hates, or if she sees you as a threat, she’ll make it clear. It’s like all those wild animal and human encounters in the wilderness: animals are naturally fearful of men, they do their best to be left alone and avoid the men, but when the men don’t get the message and start harassing the animals, the animals obviously attack. And if verbal attacks don’t work… well…” Anubis chuckled. “You’ve seen Frost Giants summon ice from their hands, but have you ever encountered a half-Frost Giant demigoddess who can summon ice with her own mind? Without even lifting her pinkie, Kory can easily impale an army with her ice. Bloodshed can be easily avoided if you don’t provoke her.”

 “And you’re eager for that, aren’t you?” Natasha asked. “You want to see how long it’ll take her to kill us all… just for provoking her.”

 “Don’t act so surprised,” Anubis said. “I mean, the worst pharaoh in history learned that he shouldn’t have provoked capital G God with his own speed limit when the Angel of Death murdered all the firstborns of Egypt and spared those of the Israelites. 10 plagues… that could have easily been avoided if the pharaoh had known better than to provoke more than he could chew.”

 “And you know that Cap wouldn’t provoke Kory,” Tony said. “Is that it? You think Steve is better off as Kory’s therapy pet?”

 “No. But thanks for suggesting the ‘when push comes to shove’ mentality, Stark, now I can’t wait to see the end results.” Anubis smiled cruelly. “Kory’s as possessive as she is sensitive. She’s doing her best right now to stay away from him. Isn’t it cute how she fears possibly hurting him? Frankly, with the way she lost her loved ones all the same way, I wonder how many will die when the enemy finally use Steve Rogers against her.”

Meanwhile

Kory had to give points to Maria Hill. An Ozzy Osbourne bribery, a small talk in Stark’s lousy office, and two cups from Starbucks.

 “I figured you might be a sweet tooth since we hacked into Stark’s receipts and saw all those Ben and Jerry orders.” Maria handed a cup to Kory once the two sat down on opposite sides of the desk. Kory quickly popped the lid open to sniff a bit, picking up the berry scents of the tea.

 “That’s my third favorite tea flavor, but still, points for successful effort.” Kory put the cup down on the desk.

 “Thanks.” Maria took a sip from her coffee cup. “Director did try, but he’s better at approaching criminals than civilians. He means well, but, you know.”

 “I get that a lot.” Kory shrugged. “People can’t get past what I am. I was already expecting prejudice from your organization just because I was Loki’s daughter.”

 “And it’s obviously a very difficult situation for you. You’re being targeted by people simply because of what he did.” Maria put down her cup and clasped her hands together. “Look, your sister already told me the sorts of questions you don’t like being asked and I don’t want to force information out of you, but we need to know as much as we can to see can get to understand how we can find a solution for all of this. In the end, the only question I can think of is… what can you tell me about your life?”

 Kory looked solemnly at Maria. “You’re asking for nearly nine decades worth of history.”

 “I’m not asking for history. Just… your story. You only have to tell me what you’re comfortable with.”

 Kory stared at the SHIELD agent a bit before straightening herself on the chair. “Everything I say is the truth. I even ensured that I’d get physical pain just for lying. So, you can trust that everything I’ll tell you is the straight, agonizing truth.”

 She looked at the wall-sized window. Snow could be seen floating gently down Manhattan. When Maria turned to look at the window herself, her eyes widened to see the glass rippling like water, distorting the view of the urban city into that of an old European town, very much like that of an old postcard, and covered in snow.

 “It only makes sense,” Kory’s voice almost sounded like an echo as Maria felt the office disappearing and turning into the rest of the old town, “that we begin with my childhood in the 1920s.”

Chapter Text

Maria really didn’t know what to say. She felt like she was literally surrounded by an actual town, walking in the shoes of common people living in an era long past. She could even feel some sort of coldness hitting her, as if she were in one of those 4D movies where you suddenly felt the theater chairs moving and water being sprayed at your face to go with the movie’s action. The main difference was that this wasn’t a movie but a memory. The greyscale Norwegian commonfolk were moving around, ignoring Maria as some even managed to walk through her.

 Maria noticed an old bus driving into the town’s square. It was a very small 1920s bus, big enough to carry the twenty-something passengers that stepped out. Not too far from the bus, Maria spotted some Norwegian women gossiping by a fish stand.

 “Who are they?” Maria was surprised to hear the ghosts speak in English. Perhaps Kory had translated her memory? Come to think of it, where was Kory?

 “Local Jews. They just came back from Oslo. Should have stayed there, if you ask me.”

 “Cautious, ladies.” Maria noticed one of them pointing her umbrella towards the bus. A woman, probably in her thirties or something, was stepping out of the bus, cautiously lifting up the skirt of her dark-colored dress. She straightened her head covering before turning back and picking up a small girl who also got out of the bus. The child’s dress was lighter, with hints of laces, and went with the matching stockings, bonnet, and matching shoes. Her hair was cut to her ears’ level and the tips came out in curls, nearly resembling a cloud. However, a singular strand of hair escaped from the child’s bonnet. It matched the loose strand that escaped the woman’s head covering as she carried the child in her arms. A singular, magenta-colored streak that stood out in the greyscale world.

 “Isn’t the little girl a cutie?” The first woman in the memory asked. “She reminds me of those children they put in those American magazine covers my sister from Bergen is fond of.”

 “A cutie, alright, but a devil’s child!” The woman with the umbrella hissed. “The Jewess holding her is nothing but a wannabe sheba!”

 “People have been talking about it for six years now!” The second woman said. “Their community say that the woman is a widow to an English soldier. Apparently dead in waters before the child was born, but even a ring cannot change the fact that the ‘little cutie’ is probably the child of some foreign pagan!”

 “The woman did not even remarry! The umbrella-wielding woman snarked. “Then again, what suitable fellow would even serve as the stepfather of the anti-Christ?”

 “Are you certain you are not being a bit preposterous?” The curious one asked. “She is just a mere child.”

 “Then entertain me, my dear. How many ‘mere children’ do you know happen to be able to listen to your conversations without even being near you?” It was like the umbrella-wielding ghost had asked Maria the question. Maria found herself being transported closer to the shuttle, gaining a better look at the Jewish Norwegians who were stepping out of the bus. While Kory’s mother seemed actively engaged in conversation with some other people, the little Kory kept cuddling in her mother’s arms. Maria spotted her green eyes standing out and staring at the three women across the street. Apparently, she had been listening. Maria took a step back in shock when the greyscale little Kory suddenly changed to technicolor while the rest of the grayscale world froze like statues in a wax museum. Maria found herself becoming scared when the grayscale child finally revealed the baby blue hues of her dress and bonnet, the hazel brown hues in her hair, and the pale skin that stood out against the other whites on the grayscale. Just like that, the colorful little Kory jumped off her frozen mother’s arms and walked up to Maria.

 “Kory?” Maria asked.

 “Good morning, Ms. Hill! How are you doing today, exploring my subconscious mind?”

 Maria fell on her butt in startlement. Younger Kory sounded both so much like and so much different than Kory as an adult. Younger Kory obviously had the small, sweet honey tone of a child being reminded to keep her manners straight at afternoon tea, very different from the ever-changing tones Kory had, but what was creepier was the fact that despite an obvious gap of decades, both child and adult Kory had the dialect of a smart person far older than them.

 “Do you like my hometown, Ms. Hill?”

 “Kory? What’s going on? Why are you like this?” Maria asked.

 “Why am I like what, Ms. Hill? I am just being a little girl who needs to remember her place and to stay invisible.”

 Maria blinked for a few seconds and yelped. Out of the blue, little Kory’s cheeks had vicious bruises on her arms and dark marks ruining her cheeks, making her look like she tried to cry the life out of her but couldn’t kill herself in the process while the background got distorted.

 “I am not a devil’s child, Ms. Hill. I am not a devil’s child. Ms. Hill, why will they not leave me alone?”

 “Kory, what is happening?” Maria looked around to see the environment turn into a plain gray. “Kory, what are you doing?”

 “What am I doing? I did not do anything wrong!” Little Kory started crying, the tears falling down her cheeks and hitting the ground. “I am just a little girl, Ms. Hill. I do not understand why people have a problem with me! I do not understand why my daddy is not here!”

 Maria held out her hand, hoping to reach out and attempt to comfort the child. All she managed to do was scare the small Kory into running away, disappearing in the flat greyness, crying. The words kept echoing.

 I want to be left alone! Why does everyone hate me? Did I do something wrong? Why is my daddy not here? Why does Mommy still love him if he is not here? Why do people say such mean things about me? Why can they not see that I am not some devil’s child?

  WHERE IS IT?

 Maria had been covering her ears the whole time. The echoing cries of a confused child were suddenly replaced by a deeper voice. The environment around Maria felt colder, nearly freezing her throat from the inside out.

 WHERE IS IT? WHY DID YOU BREAK IT? I MUST BE COMPLETE!

 No…

Strange noises were heard and the surroundings distorted again. This time, Maria saw herself in some sort of room. It was hard to tell what the main function of the room was. It lacked windows and furniture. The only source of light came from a small lamp hanging from the ceiling, illuminating the room and revealing the collection of debris: shattered vases, boulders split in half, and stone statues that were either decapitated or outright destroyed by pillars. Upon closer inspection, Maria noted the designs of the destroyed pieces of art. It was hard to ignore the horns.

 This room was full of destroyed artworks dedicated to Loki himself. Maria then saw the adult Kory angrily kicking the head of one of the statues towards a pillar of ice. Kory looked in a mess just as big as the one of her child-version: wrinkly Ozzy Osbourne pajamas, dirty bare feet, a messy hair that surprisingly went down to her waist, and the eyes in her Frost Giant form looking more bloodshot than ever. Kory dropped her ass onto a pillar of ice, groaning in frustration.

 “Shouldn’t you be in bed, kid?”

 Maria saw her. The small eight-year-old child stepping out of her hiding spot behind a boulder. The child didn’t seem to react much to the cold despite her cloud-patterned nightgown and fuzzy slippers exposing her bare arms and ankles. She clung on to her braided blonde hair as she walked out in the open and sat right next to the woman towering her.

 “Don’t get too close, kid,” the hybrid used a calm tone to give the child a warning. The child just ignored her and sat close enough for her small hand to hold on to Kory’s, confusing the woman as she looked down at the hand… as if she expected something bad to happen.

 “Why are you sad?” The child asked.

 “What makes you think I’m sad?” Kory asked sourly.

 “You’re blue. And you’re breaking stuff.” The small child’s eyes looked around the room. “Why are you breaking stuff in your basement? I thought you’d be happy after beating up those bad guys. You saved my life. Why aren’t you happy?”

 “Are you?” The Kory in the memory asked. “Do you even know what I am?”

 “A hero?” The child innocently offered.

 “A hero.” Kory scoffed. “What adorableness in innocent ignorance! Kid, I’m no hero and I’m no villain. I just killed those mercenaries because they were hunting you down like an animal. You don’t treat a child like that.”

 “That means you’re a good person, right?” The child insisted. “If you weren’t, you would have left me alone.”

 “They broke your arm. I fixed it. Nothing more.”

 “You let me in your big house. You gave me food and a bed. My daddy and mommy would have never done that for me. They never loved me…” The child looked sad, successfully earning a sympathetic look in Kory’s eyes as she fought the urge to give the child a hug. She got up to keep some distance between her and the child.

 “I think I love you…”

 Maria almost found herself chuckling at this memory giving out the raw emotion of a family movie plot, especially when Kory came to a brutal halt in the memory.

 “You barely know me. Besides, the first time I met you, I tried giving you poisoned candy. Because I was bored. Remember that?”

 “Yes. But I said no. And you put the candy away and we talked. You gave me your card. You gave me a place to look after the train blew up. My parents never saw me as their kid. I see you as my family.”

 Kory gritted her teeth in the memory. She took a deep breath and clasped her blue hands together. “Oy vey, kid. Look, it’s sweet that you see me as the family you always wanted, but… I’m gonna be a bit real with you here. I’m not… the ‘best’ when it comes to being loved and keeping the loved ones alive…” She waved her hand to show off the destroyed artworks. “This junk? It’s all about the dad I never met and who doesn’t know I exist. He’s… He’s kinda your dad. The kind that’s pretty bad who isn’t around to give you the love and support you need. The only difference is that while your dad used you as a lab rat for profit, mine’s a god who… is kinda of what people see as evil and a liar, so when he doesn’t know who you are but you do and so does everybody else. And you basically end up being this sort of celebrity that nobody really wants to spend time with because you have a parent nobody likes or there’s a bunch of things about you nobody likes, and the only friends you end up having are professional jerks who just want you so they can be popular and all you have in common is that you hurt people for the fun of it after you drink a lot and complain about how horrible your life is because you live longer than everyone else.” Kory sat on the ground, putting her eyes at the same level as the child’s. “I had two people who really loved me. My mom and the love of my life. They were those who really gave me the love and support I needed. They paid for that love by sacrificing their lives just to save mine.”

 The child merely got off her seat and went to yet again grab a gentle hold of Kory’s blue. The memory’s scene just made Maria let out a touched ‘aw’. “You saved my life. We’re not dead.” The light of the ceiling lamp reflected the blue in her eyes as she lifted her head up. “Can I save yours by staying with you? Please?”

 “Wait… Is that?” The memory began to fade away, but Maria easily saw Kory picking up the child in her arms and practically melting in a hug before finding herself back in the office. The window now showed the natural urban environment that was New York City. While Maria held on to her chair like a person holding on for dear life before going down a rollercoaster, dark marks appeared underneath Kory’s eyes. She got up from her seat and wobbled a bit as she took small steps.

 “Are you alright?” Maria asked.

 “Mentally or physically?” Kory asked in return.

 “Both.”

 “I need a goddamn nap.”

 The two women stepped out of the office and back in the hallway. Maria kept a close eye on Kory as the demigoddess kept blinking her eyes to stay awake. Before they could reach the main area, Maria held back Kory when Maria noticed Thor arguing with a smug Anubis. The golden eyed god noticed the ladies and immediately shoved Thor with such force that the god of thunder fell into the broken opening and down the elevator shaft.

 “LOVELY CONVERSATION, BARBARIAN, BUT LOOKS LIKE YOUR BROTHER’S LONELY!” Anubis casually snapped his fingers.

 “Was that even necessary?” Nick Fury demanded.

 “Let me think. Duh. Maui, mind helping Kory?”

 “Shit.” Maui rushed to help Kory walk to the couch, where Aaricia was reading a book. Kory finally collapsed on the couch, her head landing on Aaricia’s lap. Her heaving back indicated that she fell asleep. “Two hours of memory sharing? I need to have a word with her once she wakes up!”

 “Two hours?” Maria gasped. “That can’t be right!”

 “Can be. It’s already 11:30 and I ordered pizza,” Tony said. “Point Break wanted to get a shot at talking to her but Puppy Love here made his no a bit obvious.”

 “Did you learn anything useful?” Nick Fury asked Maria.

 “Nothing much. She tried to start a chronological detailed… depiction of her life starting in the 1920s… but then her younger self started talking to me, she screamed and cried, and then… she abruptly changed memories.” Maria shook her head. “She jumped from the 1920s to the 2000s.”

 “She does that.” Maui nodded. “When Kory shows people her memories, it always starts off with a bad one… Then something happens, she has a breakdown and she switches to a nicer memory. Of course, it’s a draining process. One memory takes an hour to show, so expect her to nap for two hours just for showing two memories.”

 “How much goes on in her head? I mean, in the first memory that I saw, she was stepping out of some bus in 1926 with her mother and other Jewish folks and she overheard women across the street gossiping about her being a ‘devil’s child’.”

 At the mention of those words, the Avengers and Nick Fury couldn’t resist looking at Kory as she kept sleeping. Aaricia alternated between reading her book and stroking her sister’s head.

 “Well she… doesn’t exactly scream ‘devil’s child’,” Natasha offered.

 “More emotionally unstably insecure?” Banner offered.

 “Sure. Why not?”

 “You’re telling me that she could understand townspeople verbally targeting her when she was six?” Nick Fury sounded skeptical. “A child that age can’t even comprehend why a big kid bullies them in elementary school.”

 “To be fair, her… ‘interactive self’ asked a lot of questions,” Maria said. “Why won’t they leave her alone? Why does everyone hate her? Did she do something wrong? Why is her daddy not there? Why does her mother still love him if he is not there? Why do people say such mean things about her? Why can’t they see that she’s not some devil’s child? All these questions were in her head… Must have been in her head at that time.”

 Banner paced around the room, thinking before finally pausing in his steps. “It’s possible that her aptitude was far more developed than those of children her age.” He turned to Bacchus and Maui, the only demigods currently not napping. “I know there’s the whole eternal youth and anatomy enhancements following traumatic events, but what about beforehand? Do demigods display mental traits far more advanced than those of mortals?”

 “Obviously.” Bacchus lazily slouched on his chair.

 “Not obviously, it varies,” Maui told his colleague sharply before addressing Banner more calmly. “Look, nearly all the time, demigods are raised by their mortal parents. They live among their peers and if they give off signs of enhanced mental processes, the mortals easily dismiss it as prodigal intelligence. They think more thoroughly and are more conscious about their surroundings.”

 “It was different in the old days, where demigods were more accepted and worships were mandatory because of the shit that disrespecting them was disrespecting their godly parent.” Bacchus rubbed his chin. “I remember knowing my way around plants, even weird stuff like which ones would sprout out before the roots even came out of the seed. I discovered the properties of alcohol all on my own before I became the god of wine in my thirties.” He chuckled. “That one time I turned pirates into dolphins in my puberty…”

 “I think for me I had a knowledge of every single marine animal without even being taught,” Maui said. “Frankly, I only remember my exploits from after I became a demigod. Again, varies on the divine parents and the time periods. Especially when, you know, demigods got more and more persecuted, so…”

 “Then again, you and Kory are trickster demigods, so it’s another story,” Bacchus said.

 “What’s the difference?” Banner asked.

 “The difference, Doc, is that Maui and Kory’s brains are hard-wired to pick up on any tricks in the plane of existence.” Bacchus continued using the tone he used as if all the mortals around him were dumb. “They could easily figure out a person’s physical weak spot, hit them there, and win a fight. They could easily figure out security codes just by looking at a keyboard to know where the fingers have been. They could figure out how much a person has on their bank account based on the clothes they buy, what they eat, what hotels they go to, and all the junk. They can figure out where are the values for them to make a ton of cash on the stock market. Heck, based on statistics, they can even figure out which teams will win in major sports. Ask them a random trivia question and they could give you quotes without having a book or screen in front of their noses!”

 “Really?” Banner turned to Maui. “Give me two stanzas of Charles Baudelaire.

My love, do you recall the object which we saw, 
That fair, sweet, summer morn!
At a turn in the path a foul carcass
On a gravel strewn bed,

Its legs raised in the air, like a lustful woman, 
Burning and dripping with poisons,
Displayed in a shameless, nonchalant way 
Its belly, swollen with gases.

The mortals in the room (except Aaricia) nearly had a heart attack when they heard Kory mumbling stanzas in her sleep. “‘A Carcass’. Charles Baudelaire,” Aaricia said.

 “That’s… a bit unnerving,” Banner said.

 “You don’t want to hear her doing Shakespeare in her sleep.” Aaricia closed her book.

 “What were some books Kory read when she was younger?” Anubis mused. “Let me see… The works of Halldis Moren Vesaas, Amalie Skram, Camilla Collett, and Dorothe Engelbretsdatter were her all-time favorites. Non-Norwegian wise, there was… let me see… nearly every written work of Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Victor Hugo, and Shakespeare. The Jungle Book and Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. Some short stories from H.P Lovecraft until she found out how much of a racist bitch he was. The Torah. History books. Oh! And there was also The Ego and the Id and The Future of an Illusion…”

 “Hold the phone!” Banner waved his hand. “You’re telling me that she read Sigmund Freud?” He then pointed at the demigoddess naming on the couch. “When she was like seven or eight?”

 “Obviously.” Bacchus rolled his eyes.

 “She’s got a photographic memory,” Maui said. “She can remember anything she reads from the random daily newspaper to the longest grimoire collecting a thousand centuries-worth of magical knowledge!”

 “Right, and knowledge is power.” Nick Fury scowled.

 “Says the guy who plays with bombs…” Kory muttered in her sleep while Aaricia kept stroking her head.

 “Dude, just stop talking, alright?” Bacchus patted Nick Fury on the head in mockery. “She can hear people in her sleep. No guy was able to murder her and live to tell the tale. And that’s not even a demigod thing. That’s a Kory thing.”

 “You can cut the condescending, Bacchus, and leave it to the professionals.” Anubis crossed his arms. “It’s not your fault if you’re dealing with morons with a dialect limit to money, weapons, experimentation, and disregard of emotions because if something isn’t human, it has no right of acknowledgement.”

 The Avengers scowled at Anubis. “You know, you’re really getting on my nerves with your bigotry,” Tony said.

 “Then you shouldn’t have invited us,” Anubis said. “Then again…”

 “Pardon me, sir, but the Frost Giants Gerd and Utgard-Loki of Jotunheim are at the ground level of the Tower,” JARVIS spoke up. “They seek to consult with Princess Koryanna on the matters of her coronation. Mr. Hogan is currently holding them back but they say to come peacefully.”

 “Oh, come on!” Kory snapped herself awake and sat up. “Stark, can’t you just tell your AI to send them away?”

 “Hey, your buddies are the ones who wanted to play the long game!” Tony pointed accusingly at Bacchus and Maui.

 “Must I do everything myself?” Kory bolted up and pulled her phone out of her jacket, putting herself at a good distance away from the others as she immediately started a call. She took a deep breath and pulled a forced smile as the ringing ended. “Yueqiu! Hey, how’s it going?”

 Bacchus and Maui gasped in horror.

 “Who?” Aaricia asked.

 “Oh, this is great.” Anubis chuckled.

 “Look, I apologize for ruining DC’s Chinatown, but I was dealing with an alien who threw me off… Oh, the damages were covered… Wow, you know your way around investors, do you? Well, glad to know you and Joseph fixed things… and to know that DC’s Chinatown is a joke to you…” Kory shook her head. “So, you’re going to find this crazy, but there’s some Jotunheim assholes down Stark’s front, probably the followers of my grandfather’s she-devil second-hand, and they want to talk to me about coronation ceremony preparations and catering.” Kory practically hissed that sentence. “I know! The lousiest diversion my associates could come up with! I’m practically under some shitty sitcom house arrest with a bunch of people that I don’t want to be around with…” Kory’s eyes widened. “No, there’s nothing between me and Steve Rogers. Nothing legal or illegal, so when you have the chance, give me the name of the moron who told you that so that I can crack into the IRS and sue the moron for TAX EVASION!” She calmed down. “I apologize. So, to cut to the chase, I was wondering if you, the mogul of global Frost Giant industries, could go over, and, I don’t know, terrorize those Jotunheim morons with your GRAND industrial capitalism of the special occasions industry? What’s in it for you? I don’t know, let me think. Abject humiliation on a bunch of uncivilized Frost Giants and humans, trash-talking Tony Stark for that defective weapon destroying your charity back last decade, brainstorming a proper execution for Loki…”

 Kory suddenly froze and slowly turned her head at the others, giving a murderous glare at everyone. “No, I did not get the memo that apparently I was in the same building as the father I don’t want to see or speak, so I’m also going to add to the list that I need to verbally traumatize the Avengers and SHIELD for being TITANIC IDIOTS!” Kory shouted those two words before calming down. “Oh, and I’ll surrender my 2015 reservation for Johanna’s spa resort to you. Of course, I’m that generous. You’ll be here in 15 minutes? You’re right, I’ll take your word on it. Noah’s in town? Good. OK, thank you so much for your generosity. Stick around the tower when the stooges are gone, dinner’s on me. OK, see ya. Bye!” Kory shoved her phone back in her jacket, calmly turning before shouting.

 “WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? YOU LET LOKI IN THE TOWER?”

 “He’s been hanging around since Thor first heard of the Chitauri and Frost Giants,” Tony said. “Relax, I put him in solitary confinement in a room that neutralizes his magic. And we never let him out…”

 “Sure, except for that one time when I electrocuted him and he almost dealt with a mob of Frost Giant chiefs wanting his head,” Aaricia said sarcastically.

 “You know what? You guys deal with Yueqiu scaring off Utgard-Loki and Gerd!” Kory grabbed Aaricia by the wrist, lifting her off the couch. “We’ll be spending the rest of the day praying at a temple, and I’d better not find any drones or snipers stalking me!”

 “With company of Noah Vinter-Likht? Never.” Anubis said.

 “You can’t just leave!” Banner said. “People are after you!”

 “Really? I couldn’t tell, I’m so used to being treated like an animal since I was a child! Maria can confirm that!” With her spare hand, Kory made a clockwise circular motion. Blue lights appeared, forming a circle that showed an active street in New York. “Oh, and if Steve calls, just tell him it’s all your fault! And you’d better go along with Yueqiu if you don’t want her to skin you alive! Aaricia, let’s go!”

 Without a single dose of protest, Aaricia followed Kory through the portal before its blue-colored faded away.

 “Well, that did not go well…” Natasha said.

 “We’ll keep satellite surveillance,” Tony shrugged. “Just to see if she’s safe.”

 “Contact Captain America.” Nick sighed as he glared at the immortals, especially Anubis, who looked entertained. “You really enjoy watching her lash out at everyone, don’t you?”

 “Of course. Because in the end, you people deserve it. Except Steve. Obviously the only Avenger that Kory can tolerate, but he’s not here. So yeah, no reason for her to be polite to people she doesn’t like when he’s not here.”

 “Sir, Utgard-Loki and Gerd are now trying to bribe Mr. Hogan and satellites picked up a helicopter flying in towards the tower.” JARVIS interrupted.

 “If it’s the World Security Council making a scene, just tell them to fuck off,” Stark groaned.

 “Actually, the helicopter is in the property of Hua Cryokinetic Industries. It is currently transporting five passengers, including the owner of the company, Hua Yueqiu-Bing.”

 “Hua… wait…” Tony’s eyes widened as he stared at Anubis. “How does your little student know a Chinese billionaire who runs the world’s biggest company in cryokinetic tech? I mean, #5 on the list of world’s richest people, but still… OW!” Tony felt Anubis suddenly flick him on the nose.

 “Because, bitch, in mortal cash, she’s #5, but in immortal cash, she’s the richest Frost Giantess on the planet,” Anubis sneered. “So polish your manners, people. You’ll be meeting the leader of the number one largest clan of Frost Giants in the world.”

Chapter Text

It was probably a miracle that just after Kory and Aaricia left through the portal, JARVIS warned the Avengers that Loki had managed to trick Thor into destroying the door of his room with Mjolnir, giving Loki a chance to run the Hell out of the magic-proof room, quickly recovering his powers to just teleport from Thor’s floor to the main lobby.

 Naturally, al the humans panicked when they saw him. The only ones who didn’t flinch were Happy Hogan, Utgard-Loki, and Gerd. The two Frost Giants revealed their blue skins and red eyes but kept the blue leather jackets, black pants, and snow boots attire that they had acquired for their human disguises.

 “Well, if it isn’t the runt of the royal family,” Utgard-Loki sneered.

 “Where’s my child?” Loki demanded.

 “Aw, will you look at that, Utgard-Loki? The tiny giant thinks he can boss us around!” Gerd laughed out loud. The Avengers flew in from the stairs and security came in just as Gerd began summoning some snowflakes. “Think we need to put him back in place?”

 “Why not?” Utgard-Loki added. “After all, it’s not like he’s Jotun royalty. Not like his father or daughter.”

 “Oh, I’ll show you…” Loki froze when he felt two presences behind him. Even the security people with guns took a step back in shock as two burly humans suddenly turned into elephant-sized creatures with sleeveless uniforms revealing their bare arms full of white hair and scars. Their fists were curled up, but their black claws touching each other sounded like bones crunching. Their snow-white hair was long and braided to reach their waists. Loki could have almost mistaken them for Frost Giants until he saw that their snarling, fang bearing features reminded him more of angry gorillas than Frost Giants. They even looked bigger than the Hulk!

 “Shenghuo! Siwang! Róngyì de nánhái!” A woman’s voice from behind them said. (Shenghuo! Siwang! Easy boys!) Shenghuo and Siwang stepped away from Loki and parted to make way for a woman coming in from the front door. At first, she looked like some common fifty-year-old Chinese woman with pleasant features, long black hair that ended in small ringlets past her shoulders, a red cheongsam shirt underneath her navy-blue blazer, formal pants that matched her blazer, and black heeled shoes. She definitely passed off as an important female billionaire. Then out of the blue, her appearance and attire changed. Her blue skin and red eyes nearly matched those of Utgard-Loki and Gerd, except her skin was more porcelain blue and her eyes retained the shape they had in human form. Her black hair was now in a bun and kept in place by jade hairpins with moon phase patterns. She now wore a sleeveless blue cheongsam dress with bright red patterns of calligraphy and illustrative rats and flowers, made even more creative as it seemed like the rats on her dress were scurrying through the flowers. Her bare arms were covered by neon white tattoos of cryptic zodiac designs, the right one bearing the animals and characters of the Chinese zodiac and the left one bearing the constellations and names of the monthly zodiac. Her heeled shoes now had white fur trimmings on the ankle areas.

 “Well, isn’t this a spectacular sight?” She chuckled. “Angerboda’s errand puppies and a stray puppy under the same roof of know-it-all humans. Some people just don’t know how low they can go.”

 “Who the Hel do you think you are?” Loki asked.

 “Not really what I think but what I know.” The Frost Giantess walked up to Loki, revealing that even on her heeled shoes, she was still much taller than him. She had to be taller than the tallest athlete in the NBA… whoever it was in 2013. “I’m Hua Yueqiu-Bing. Descendant of the legendary hero Hua Mulan and of Chang’e the Chinese moon goddess on my human ancestors’ side of the family. High chieftess of the Everest Clan, the world’s largest clan of nybergynnere Frost Giants on Earth. Unlike you, Loki Laufeyson, I have status.”

 Loki scowled at her remark.

 “Are you part of the princess’ followers?” Gerd asked in an eager tone that was way too hopeful. “We’re seeking an audience with her to discuss preparations for her coronation.”

 Yueqiu-Bing looked at her giant henchmen and then at the three Frost Giants in the same floor as her. Finally, both the High Chieftess and her henchmen laughed their heads out, the combined laughter causing the whole lobby to shake and for the security people to fall on their butts. Even Iron Man found himself stumbling a bit.

 “Great moon craters, you people actually take this seriously!” Yueqiu- Bing laughed. “Shenghuo, Siwang, are you hearing this? First we get a dose of a wannabe prince who thinks he has a right of status among other Jotun, but now Angerboda’s Kōngtóu tù waltz in thinking they got it covered!” (Empty headed rabbits) She sneered at Utgard-Loki and Gerd. “Especially when they think my good old K-girl would be queen. Last time I checked, I’m the one who shouted at the National Mall that she didn’t want the throne.”
 “Why wouldn’t she want the throne?” Utgard-Loki asked. “She’s the heir. Laufey’s rightful successor.”

 “Definitely worthier than the dwarf there.” Gerd motioned at Loki, earning an amused grunt from the giant henchmen. One of them grunted something at Yueqiu.

 “You’re right. He is tiny,” she laughed. “Humorous as always, Shenghuo.”

 “Just what are they…” Nick Fury began.

 “DON’T INTERRUPT A CIVILIZED CONVERSATION!” Yueqiu suddenly shouted, losing the extrovert, pretty chill personality she had, startling the humans in the room. “GUNS DOWN, SHOULDERS STRAIGHT, HEADS UP, HANDS OUT OF POCKETS, AND DON’T TALK UNLESS YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO TALK POLITELY! GREAT GODS, WHERE ARE YOUR MANNERS?”

 “We are all very sorry, madam!” The security people spoke up in trembling voices.

 “WHAT KIND OF MOTHERS RAISED YOU ALL? WHEN YOU APOLOGIZE, YOU CURTSY AND YOU SAY ‘FORGIVE US, HIGH CHIEFTESS HUA YUEQIU-BING, FOR OUR IMPOLITE, SAVAGE INTERRUPTION. WE PROMISE TO STAY SILENT AND ONLY SPEAK AFTER RECEIVING PERMISSION!’”

 “Forgive us, High Chieftess Hua Yueqiu-Bing, for our impolite, savage interruption. We promise to stay silent and only speak after receiving permission,” they all said formally, shocking Nick Fury, Maria Hill, and the Avengers. Loki and Gerd both looked like they witnessed the craziest thing ever while Utgard-Loki, on the other hand, practically had wide eyes gleaming in strawberry red sparkles.

 “Great balls of Jotunheim, what a woman!” He quietly sighed as Yueqiu-Bing reverted back to her casual tone.

 “I’m so sorry, but some people got to understand their standing in the whole mortal and immortal food chain on this planet.” She clasped her hands together. “Sadly, your coronation ceremony will have to be cancelled. Koryanna’s not interested and you people would probably give the ceremony of nightmares.”
 “But we haven’t started asking details!” Gerd protested.

 “What’s there to ask? Let me think.” Yueqiu walked around Gerd. “Where will it take place? Jotunheim? She obviously doesn’t want to go there, so where will it be? Norway? Finland? Canada? Maybe Mount Everest? Who officiates the ceremony? Who do you think of hiring to design her coronation suit and what she will wear afterwards? Who’s in charge of catering? I must inform you that she follows the Kosher menu but you CANNOT cater a ceremony without thinking of the different guest preferences!”

 “Well…” Gerd got cut off.

 “I mean, who do you plan on inviting? Are your ideal guests carnivores? Vegetarians? Cannibals? Gluten-free? Lactose intolerant? Allergic? Suffering from digestive disorders? How are you decorating?” She grabbed the two Frost Giants and forced them to sit on the ground. Shenghuo and Siwang bent on their knees, forming a stepping stool as Yueqiu stepped up to sit cross-legged on the front desk. “Come on! Banners! Party favors! Streamers! Flowers! Did you even think what to do for the coronation ceremony of an esteemed sorceress whose high career points include herbs, botany, and potions? Do you even know what her favorite colors and flowers are? Do you know which plants are bad luck for a ceremony? NEVER PUT WHITE FLOWERS IN A CEREMONY, that is like THE biggest failure plot point any Frost Giant in my line of industrial empire could make!”

 “I guess…” Utgard-Loki began, but he also got cut off.

 “Not to mention that in the delusional likelihood of the coronation, aka NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN, how will Jotunheim transition with the new regime? Are you people ready for your first demigod ruler? What’s her political plan? How will foreign relationships work when you’re putting a bastard on the throne? MORE IMPORTANTLY, how will you all react if her first act as queen is to execute you two for trying to freeze her friend into an ice statue? ESPECIALLY when said friend is a national symbol for Western white dominance. You people could easily provoke a bunch of capitalist Americans!”

 “Uh…” Utgard-Loki was rendered speechless.

 “You think she might forgive us if he became number one in her harem?” That was Gerd’s mistake right here and then. Yueqiu rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers. Immediately, Shenghuo and Siwang grabbed the two Frost Giants by the collars of their jackets and carried them towards the front doors. Siwang kicked the doors open, destroying them in the process and giving room for him and his colleague to toss the two out the door.

 “AND DON’T COME BACK WITHOUT PROPER CEREMONY BLUEPRINTS AND REFINED 21^ST CENTURY ETIQUETTE!” Yueqiu shouted. She snapped her fingers and ice materialized into icy versions of the doors. “Savages…” she muttered.

 “Bold insult from said savage,” Loki said. Shenghuo and Siwang turned their attention to Loki, cracking their knuckles with sounds reminding of an orchestra of crushed skeletons. Thor flew in, ready to put himself between his brother and the giant henchmen.

 “Boys, don’t waste your time.” The chieftess’ attire changed to a navy-blue waistcoat with neon white ox and floral patterns, a sleeveless white shirt, a navy-blue bow tie with matching trousers, and the same shoes. Her dark hair was now loose but partially held up by a moon-themed hair pin. “After all, Koryanna invited me to the Avengers. It would be a disgrace for the barbarians if she found out they purposely attacked her guest. After all, how much worse could things be if the uncle and dad she never wanted in her life were found responsible for attacking a member of the Frost Giant chiefdom on Earth? ESPECIALLY when she and I have known each other for 50 fifty years and, well, they only bothered for like five seconds.”

 “Chieftess Yueqiu, may I have permission to speak?” Natasha raised her hand.

 “Finally, someone civilized!” Yueqiu raised her arms in relief. “Doctor Robert Bruce Banner, the Hulk himself!” She turned her head when she heard Siwang grunt and hold out a notepad and pen in his big hands. “I apologize. Siwang promised an autograph from the Hulk to his nephews back in the Everest Clan. Would it be inconvenient for you to sign for a bunch of yetis?”

 “Uh… sure.” Banner accepted the notepad.

 Siwang grunted something at Yueqiu. “He’s asking if you can address it to Wenyi, Zhixing, Huimie, and Zuzhou.”

 Banner blinked as he looked up from the notepad. “If I may ask,” he said politely, “why does your bodyguard’s nephews’ names all translate into plague, execution, devastation, and damnation?”

 “Creativity is peculiar with yetis.” Yueqiu shrugged. “Siwang literally means ‘death’ and Shenghuo, aka ‘life’, has his own nieces. Xingfu, Fanrong, Ai, and Fuhuo. Happiness, Prosperity, Love, and Resurrection. I don’t know who came up with the naming system for the yetis. I just know that the Everest Clan elites always have yeti bodyguards with name contradictions.”

 Siwang grunted in satisfaction when Banner handed him the autographed notepad. He let out a thankful grunt. “You’ll have to forgive them,” Yueqiu said. “Yetis have limited dialect. Grunt dialect in their natural forms, Chinese only in human forms. A… negative settlement for the species that serve the Frost Giants.”

 Shenghuo grabbed Loki and Thor by the back of their necks. “Unhand us!” Thor shouted.

 “I wouldn’t do that, if I were a barbarian like you,” Yueqiu said casually. “Shenghuo lives to his name. He’s an expert in qi. One small misstep out of you and he can hit your weakest pressure point. He also gives amazing acupuncture sessions but I don’t think you want to witness how else he uses his needles when you piss him off. If Siwang sends people to their graves by crushing their necks, Shenghuo will send you to a hospital in a yearlong paralysis, you won’t even remember your first names when you get out.”

 Shenghuo grunted something.

 “Yes, I know the paralysis is actually 9 months, 15 days, 7.5 hours, 3.75 minutes, and 1.875 seconds long, Shenghuo!” Yueqiu said in exasperation. “Work with me here! I’m threatening a bunch of poorly dressed nincompoops who don’t get math and ‘yearlong paralysis’ is shorter and more menacing. You know what, I think they get the memo.”

 Shenghuo tossed the two gods onto the security people as if the yeti had started his own humanoid bowling game. A big pile of people fell on the ground. “There goes a strike for Team Shenghuo-Siwang!” Yueqiu clapped. “I swear, the proficient work ethics you get when you pay a yeti 938,237 renminbi…”

 “Forgive me,” Banner said, earning a small scowl from the chieftess for his minor interruption, “but are you paying your bodyguards the equivalent of an American lawyer’s yearly salary?”

 “Of course. Chiefdom in the nybergynnere Frost Giant clans does come with fame, fortune, and… how to put it, a caste-based ego rooted from years of influence based on humans’ own silly discriminations. I don’t mean silly like ‘they’re worthless’, but silly like ‘wasting centuries for needless perfection rather than focusing on more important things like global warming.’” As the Frost Giant chieftess spoke, her yeti bodyguards reverted into their tall, human disguises. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go upstairs. Not only do I need to verbally mock the male demigod junkies upstairs, but I need to inform Lord Anubis about the new change in chiefdom for the Marmolada Clan.”

 “What happened to the previous chief?” Banner asked.

 “Eh. The usual. We had a kangaroo court in Lord Anubis’ house, as usual a chief who hated Koryanna’s guts got into an argument with her, the Italian chieftess called her a noisy pest in Latin, Koryanna called her a squalling quim, the chieftess wanted to shove her in Muspelheim, and long story short, Lord Anubis ended the court session with an Ave Maria.” Yueqiu shuddered. “Great moon rabbits, that guy is terrifying.”

 “He’s also an asshole,” Barton remarked.

 “I usually scream at impolite interruptions, but for once, I’m going to agree with you. With humanity’s antics of persecutions, all the pagan gods either fled, dissolved into the myths, or allowed themselves to have their talents corrupted by humans’ sinful intake on them. My own divine ancestor refrains from visiting Earth. Whatever gods are left on Earth have been corrupted into sociopaths who find humans tearing each other apart entertaining. And when the oldest of them happens to be a god who used to be responsible for guiding dead souls to be judged based on the good or evil in their hearts…” Yueqiu shook her head. “Lord Anubis is the one god that Frost Giants on Earth really fear. He can burn us alive or torture us with heat exhaustion.”

 “If I may ask, why do you tell us this?” Nick Fury took a page from Banner’s book and asked as politely as he could.

 “I’ve known Koryanna since I was a kid and I don’t like the way he treats her. He preaches that he wants to guide her, give her a sense of chaotic freedom that no master or slave could provide or receive, basically give her the delusion that he’s the paternal mentor figure in her life unlike Krampus over there.” She pointed at Loki, who struggled to sit up. “It’s almost like a tiger guarding a rabbit. The tiger doesn’t attack the rabbit but when it gives the vibe that it can hurt you if things don’t go its way, the rabbit stays put. Sure, when I told her to get out of the tower, I made it sound like I agreed with her that she should stay away from Loki. In reality, I wanted her to stay away from Anubis.” She shook her head and started making her way to the stairs, followed by the yetis. “And yes, in case you’re wondering, I suggested to Koryanna that she and her sis go meet up Noah, the Frost Giant chief of the Safed Clan, at the Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn. And obviously, I suggested they go there because I tracked Captain America’s phone in Prospect Park.”

 “You tracked Cap’s phone?” Tony exclaimed. “I put layers of cloaking security so that only Stark Industries could track the device without alerting potential paparazzi stalkers.”

 “Yes, but Hua Cryokinetic Industries has immortal tech that surpasses whatever energy you use. And my company’s name obviously makes it clear that my satellites tampered with the thermosphere surrounding your satellites, sending nano-drones into them once we cooled the system, and hacked into your network.” Yueqiu smirked. “Made in the Everest Clan. “Bù kèqì!” 

In the afternoon, in Prospect Park  

Steve had acted rather selfishly; he was ashamed to admit it.

Naturally, he always went jogging at dawn, but the argument with Kory last night had thrown him off. Figuring that she'd probably not want to see him after the fight, he went to the boxing ring he frequented a lot in Brooklyn. Not much help there. Every punch he threw just made him angrier. Nearly ten boxing bags were destroyed, just because his head was clouded with thoughts about Kory.

How could he not be frustrated? He was ECSTATIC that he met someone just like him. Someone from the older days, with probably as much childhood issues as him. Both fishes out of water. But while he was the skinny kid from Brooklyn who never turned down from a fight, she was a semi-divine princess who wanted nothing to do with conflicts. None of them could handle their traumas. She outright refused anyone near her.

When punching boxing bags partially got rid of the anger, Steve went for his most soothing activity: sketching by the lake in Prospect Lake. Nothing bothered him when he was there. He could just sit on the grass and sketch the landscape and the people doing their usual pleasantries. He even sketched on the new sketchbook Kory had given him the first time he met.

Honestly, he didn't know what was happening to him today. First he was trying to sketch out the lake and trees surrounding him, but the next thing he knew, the green leaves convinced him to draw several different facial expressions he had seen on Kory's face. Whenever the porcelain doll let out an expression, it definitely was beyond blandness.

Just what was wrong with him lately?

He didn't have time to answer his own questions. He heard a group of people coming in from the nearby pathway. Fearing that they were tourists who managed to track him down, he went to hide behind the oak tree he had been leaning on. A dozen people came in, all wearing modest clothing: plain white blouses, dark blue or black pants and knee-long skirts, some in full on uniforms, and a select view wearing scarves and small caps that Steve immediately recognized as kippah. The group sat down by the edge of the lake, all on the grass. Many made the way for three people to get to the lake. Leading them was a man, probably in his eighties, his white hair and beard trimmed to look presentable and a simple navy-blue scarf covering most of his dark blue uniform, only under the sunlight, the scarf almost reminded of a nighttime full of stars. What startled Steve the most whoever was the presence of Kory and Aaricia with him. He was even surprised by how the senior gently patted her on the shoulder and she returned a small smile before she joined Aaricia and sat down on the grass.

"We prayed to the Lord at the temple with the humans, and now that we are here alone, we may talk about our significance." The senior held out his arms to his audience. "I'd like to thank you all for your interest in joining my Faith Unity Among Immortals Seminars. As the chief of the Safed Clan, one of the very small Frost Giant clans dedicated in the influences of beliefs on our lives, I make it a goal to annually visit other countries with people like us. Not just Frost Giants, but people in the immortal culture who feel like they need to ask, 'why am I here'?"

NOW Steve recognized him! Back in the court session in Anubis' house, he recalled an aging Frost Giant chief who had been sitting quietly in the courtroom. He seemed to have paid close attention to the session, and if Steve remembered well, he actually had a quiet, but disapproving look on his face when the Italian chieftess verbally harassed Kory.

"My name is Noah Vinter-Likht. I'm not like the other Frost Giant chiefs, who have mortal ancestors with divine ancestry. My ancestors, the previous chiefs of the Safed Clan, all had mortal ancestors from the Tribe of Naphtali, Jacob's sixth son." Noah clasped his wrinkly hands together. "Can anyone guess who old I really am compared to how old I look?" Somebody raised their hand. "Yes?"

"If I may be polite, you look like you might be an eighty-year-old human."

"You're not wrong. I pass off as an 82-year-old human, but my real age is that of an 820-year-old Frost Giant." His response earned him some silent murmurs. "Yes. I have mortal human ancestry but recent generations have brought me to the world as a fully-blooded Frost Giant. I age depending on how I mature. Maturity and spiritual was not easy for me. Overtime, it constantly changed. I lived long enough to witness the invasion of sultans. A crusade from Europe. The Ottoman Empire. Persecutions, expulsions, and revolutions. Riots. Civil wars. Massacres. It's very difficult to describe good things, especially since we make ourselves distant. How many of you wondered 'if I am immortal, why can't I fix the problems that would have made the world a better place?'"

A lot of hands raised up.

"Who would like to give an idea of why we don't interfere?" Some hands went down. Noah called on someone. "Yes, my child?"

"Well…" From his hiding spot, Steve saw how the immortals paid close, respectful attention, especially Kory, the most attentive of them, as the volunteer spoke up. "My immortal mother is descended from dryads who immigrated from Greece… and my father ran a restaurant in the Bronx. I spent my life alternating between both worlds… because my parents thought it was better if I was part of both. But… it happened when…" The volunteer tried to keep herself from crying. "You know, it just happens when you're both of everything but others expect you to be one thing. A lot of the older dryads in the Bronx that Mama knows… they don't understand why my mom converted after marrying Papa. They… said things like 'why do you support a man whose faith isn't in nature?' Then there was last year… a…" The volunteer sniffed. "The aliens destroyed the restaurant. Papa yelled at me and my Mama, shouting like why we didn't use our powers on nature, or heck, why we didn't turn Central Park into an army of mutant trees to ward them off… When the alcohol and shouting got bad, I called the police on him… He's currently in jail and Mama's currently filing a divorce paper."
Steve felt a punch of guilt in his stomach as more volunteers began sharing stories: a dwarfish redheaded giant shunned by his cannibalistic community because he chose to be vegan, a mute banshee who had been mocked by both her immortal and mortal peers when her lifelong dream was to sing in Broadway (thank goodness Noah could translate sign language), a spirit who endured stereotypes because of his name being Capricorn… Besides their common choice in beliefs, Steve could see that they also connected through experiences of ostracization.

Though he was curious as to why Kory didn't open up herself.

"Thank you all for sharing." Noah nodded. "You are all here today because besides your common beliefs, you are self-conscious. Self-conscious about the pressure of being part of two worlds who must share one. Self-conscious about the unfairness of both ends. But let yourself understand this: mortals think immortality is the same as godhood and immortals see mortality as a dead end. It isn't. We are all born, we live, we die, and if we have done good, we might be reborn into a new life. That is the immortality we all have from the human commoner to the immortal Frost Giant chief of any clan in the world." He noticed a hand raising. "Yes?"

"I can understand the general 'we all live, die, and reborn', but that doesn't explain the genetic immortality. We still live longer than the average mortal."

"That is true. It's true that we live longer than humans, which causes them to mistake 'difference in aging' for 'extended life'. In a sense, we are all immortal if we have been good and are rewarded with another shot at life once we die. God is eternally existent. The pagan gods, mere assets created by the Lord to test mortals and immortals in their lifelong pursuits, live for thousands of years and can choose to either age as they mature or constantly change appearances. Immortals like us, who walk on Earth, only physically age based on how they mature. For instance, many of you could live for 30 years with the appearance of an 18-year-old because you think like an 18-year-old." Noah put a hand on his chest. "I'm 820-years-old but look like I'm 82. I only physically aged as I mature. I looked 20 when I was 200, 45 when I was 450, 74 when I was 740, and here I am. The main difference is that I took my time in my maturity so that I could see the world from different lenses. I took my time to see the world change in 8 centuries from the eyes of a young Frost Giant to those of the elderly man I am. I got to see both the good and bad sides of mortals and immortals. I see myself as a believer of hope in change."

Noah rolled up his sleeve, revealing a silver-colored wristwatch. "Well, it's past 4. How about we call in a break? I spotted a food truck procession on the way here."

The immortals agreed eagerly, got up, and took their turns shaking hands with Noah, thanking him for his wise words before heading back to the pathway.

"Aaricia, why don't you go ahead and buy yourself some hot drink?" Noah pulled out a wallet from his uniform's pocket and gave her a $20 bill. "Koryanna and I need to talk for a bit."

"Thank you, sir." Aaricia gave him a small bow. Kory gently patted her sister on the head and watched as the young blonde ran to catch up with the volunteer group. So certain that they were alone, Koryanna and Noah turned from mere humans to Frost Giants and started talking to one another in another dialect. If he had to guess, they were probably talking in Hebrew.

"How are you holding up, my child?" Noah asked.

"Fine as I can. Why? Because if it's about my patron or the aliens, I refuse to talk about it. It's all anyone can talk off."

"I know. I can imagine it to be annoying for you. But still, do you still keep in mind the proposition that Ingrid, Yueqiu, and I have given you?"

Kory sighed and continued in Hebrew. "You are a very good man, Noah, and a great leader. You are the eldest among all the chiefs. I've known you for 60 years and the solace you bring as a fellow believer never dies. Out of all the fragile alliances I have, the one I have with you and the girls are the best ones that I have, so close that I see you three as good acquaintances outside of my patron's circle." Steve didn't know what Kory was saying, but whatever it was, it seemed to upset Noah. Despite the calm, small smile on his blue face, his red yes let out a sad look of regret. It was as if the topic of the conversation was a frequent one.

"But you know I cannot," Kory continued. "I am a source of hatred wherever I go. If anything, unless this war wipes us all, should we succeed, I plan on staying in the shadows permanently. All I do is bring messes."

"Is Aaricia a mess?" Noah smiled a bit. "Because for a mess that you brought to your house and treated like your own mortal blood, you certainly haven't cleaned it up."

Out of nowhere, a small sparrow fell through the branches of a nearby tree, prompting Steve to hide himself deeper behind his oak tree. He watched as Kory went to pick up the small sparrow, gently cup it her hands, and send a small blue glow on its injured wing. The sparrow tweeted and flew around happily, eagerly landing pack on Kory's palm and allowing the demigoddess to gently pet its small feathery head with her thumb.

"I don't disagree that many people don't see you as you are, Koryanna," Noah spoke in English as Kory kept petting the sparrow, "but you are only a mess if you refuse to see how you can repair yourself. Besides, if messes couldn't be repaired, why are there people who stick by them with the belief that they can be repaired?"

Kory said nothing. She raised her hands in the air, releasing the sparrow and allowing it to fly away, above the trees surrounding the lake and into the New York City sky as the lights of the sunset began to reflect on the skyscraper windows. "Could we please change the subject, Noah?" She asked in a polite tone that tried to hide her begging.

"It's alright," Noah nodded and strained the scarf over his shoulders. "How is the fellow who accompanied you during the court session?"

"Fellow?" Kory frowned.

"The American. The one that Bacchus doesn't like because alcohol cannot corrupt him," Noah chuckled a bit.
Kory smirked a bit. "Oh, Steve. What do you mean with your question?"

"I just want to reassure myself that he's alright. It must have been a turmoil for him in the past 48 hours. And of course, I do want to reassure myself that he's treating you fairly in that tower of hooligans. Knowing how you shield yourself; you can imagine that neither Ingrid nor I would take it kindly if any of the Avengers or SHIELD harmed you."

"Noah, I'll be fine. My loud mouth is enough to shut them up and my patron terrifies Thor and Loki." Kory shook her head. "I mean, I can't believe that they expect me to be in the same building as Loki. Steve didn't even tell me…" Steve bit his lip when he heard Kory continue. "I don't even understand why he wasn't there today… I lashed out at everyone… I got bribed by Maria Hill with an Ozzy Osbourne autobiography! An OZZY OSBOURNE AUTOBIOGRAPHY, Noah! And tickets! How sad is that? I'm a 92-year-old demigoddess who looks and reacts like a crazy college student on steroids, I'm whining about this guy, and I get bribed by trinkets that anyone could buy on Amazon for 20 freakin American bucks!"

Kory dropped on the grass and hugged her legs, holding herself the desire to break into tears while Noah sat down next to her. Steve felt his chest ache.

"I understand how you feel, Koryanna," Noah said sympathetically. "Sometimes, it's difficult to trust good-hearted humans, especially when we are used to cruelty surrounding us. But look at it this way. He's a naturally kind-hearted soul, he does not condemn everyone he meets on sight as good or evil, and perhaps, given how the Lord sees it, you'll progressively allow his kindness to sink in. Try not to push him. Good humans always deserve gratitude from broken immortals."

"No." Kory paced herself away from Noah.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you get it? It's not that Steve doesn't deserve my gratitude, it's that I don't deserve his kindness. I mean, look at me! I'm the daughter of Loki, that's enough to make me off limits. I'm half-Jotun, that's enough to freak out a man who was trapped in ice for nearly a century! Before and after my awakening, everyone gave me the memo that I'm a freak of nature and I shouldn't exist! I mean, look at me!" Kory phased from her Jotun form to her human form. "What do you see, Noah?"

"A very self-conscious young woman?" Noah offered as he also turned back into his human form.

"I see a freak who will never live a life." Kory got up and went to stare at her reflection in the lake, her back turned on the oak tree where Steve was still hiding. "I mean, Steve's a hero. A kind one at that. He'll keep saving the world, everyone will love him, then he'll move on, meet someone, and live that typical 'American Dream' where couples grow old in the suburbs, buy a dog, and get to watch their kids grow, go to college, build successful careers, and bring the grandkids to visit their grandparents on holidays before eventually the grandparents die and reincarnate somewhere else! Steve may have come out of the ice looking like he's two years older than me, but give him 70 years of living and he'll look like he's my grandfather or something! Don't you get it, Noah! He and Aaricia can live lives but I can't. I can never physically age… I'll be spending the next 7 decades watching any of them live and die… And then it will be same thing for Aaricia's kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, and this whole cycle until I'm 2700-years-old, I still look like I'm 21, I finally die either because of some high-scale pandemic or when mutant pigs from outer space take over the world!"

"Mutant pigs from outer space?" Noah frowned.

"What? I'm a conspiracy theorist! You see what I mean?" Kory shook her head and crossed her arms. "Let's face it, I'm cursed. If there was a way I could move and actually live a life, I would but I can't. The Lord made it clear that I'm a mistake and I don't… Wait a minute."
"Is something wrong?" Noah asked.

"Yeah, I just realized… Why have we been talking about my self-existential crisis and my thoughts on Steve in English instead of Hebrew." Kory turned to face Noah. "You usually have a fair reason to suddenly switch dialects."

"True." Noah held his hand up and swung it backwards. Steve took a step back in startlement when the oak tree in front of him turned into ice and fell down to the ground in perfectly cut slices. When the frost dust cleared, he stood there, sketchbook on hand and shield strapped to his back, looking awkwardly at the Frost Giant chief and the Princess of Mischief. Dear God, Kory's cheeks had a large quantity of her bluish red blush, but now it was perfectly mixing her embarrassment and anger.

"Yueqiu-Bing tracked his phone, so I purposely diverted by seminar to the Prospect Lake. I obviously wanted Steven to listen to my lecture and to properly get a grasp on how your denial and issues are becoming a problem, thus why you need help." Noah said quietly. "After 60 years of knowing, you keep forgetting that the only 820-year-old Frost Giant chief in the world has enough experience to outwit a trickster demigoddess and play the role of shipper on deck without her even realizing it."

Chapter Text

A lot of things went down in Kory’s head right at that moment. Embarrassment and anger were the top finalists. Embarrassed because A, Steve had overheard one of her nonsensical breakdown and B, she had fallen yet again for Noah outsmarting her. Anger because A, not only had Steve not been at the tower this morning but he had just eavesdropped on their conversation, and B, Yueqiu-Bing and Noah, two of the very few Frost Giant chiefs who weren’t after Kory’s head, had tricked her in a new matchmaker game of theirs.

 If this had been Loki in her shoes, a lot of killing and verbal anger would have been lashed out. If it had been someone who didn’t leave Kory alone or that she respected the way she respected Noah, then yeah, there was a chance she could have killed someone. But rather than yelling at them, she grumbled and walked out, her trademark coat materializing as she left. The only times she never wore her coat in public were in belief-related matters, but since she was leaving the seminar, that wasn’t the problem anymore.

 “Kory, wait!” Steve went after her.

 Just ignore him, just ignore him, just ignore him. Or better yet, if the Lord can make him give up! Kory shook her head and continued onto the pathway surrounded by greenery.

 “Kory, please!” Steve managed to catch up to her. “We need to talk.”
 “I don’t want to talk, Steve,” Kory said, trying to seethe as much politeness as she could through her scowl.

 “Alright, I will. I swear I wasn’t in on this…”

 “Of course not. Yueqiu is just to me the Frost Giant version of Tony Stark without the Casanova tendencies and Noah is just the wisest among the chiefs, they’re both great acquaintances, and they don’t know how to butt off from my problems. So, no, I don’t except even you to willingly take part in one of their antics.”

 “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop on the seminar, but I was by the lake before…”

 “Yeah, the lake’s great. Which reminds me, how was your day outside of the tower?” Kory asked sourly. “A perimeter check? Must have been a lousy one, since I didn’t feel safe surrounded by your colleagues and your charming people from SHIELD.”

 “Safe… Wait a minute!”

 Kory did expect Steve to successfully block her path. She kept her sour, stoic demeanor as Steve stood in front of her, though she had to admit that she wasn’t expecting Steve to give her a pissed off scowl. “First you complain that I’m all over you and you say that you don’t need help, but when I actually give you space, you complain that I’m not there for you? Now you’re confusing me!”

 “No! Steve Rogers confused by a trickster demigoddess? Stop the presses!” Kory chuckled sarcastically and walked past him. “Wake up and smell the mud, this isn’t the idyllic belief of good and evil from the 40s! The world is full of bastards with the minor cases and said minor cases don’t understand when some freaks of nature are better off being invisible in the shadows, especially when said freaks of nature is the daughter of Loki…”

 “Kory…” Steve’s deep breath caused her to turn and look at him. “I’m only going to say this once, and I apologize in advance if it’s against my moral codes.”

 “What?” Kory was confused.

 “Kory… GET A GRIP ON YOURSELF! I’M DISGUSTED BY HOW YOU LET YOURSELF BE TREATED LIKE DIRT! I’M SICK OF HOW YOU TREAT YOURSELF LIKE A MONSTER, BUT YOU OBVIOUSLY AREN’T SINCE YOU’RE AMONG THE MOST DARING, INTELLIGENT, INCREDIBLE PEOPLE I’VE MET, IF NOT THE SWEETEST IN ALL OF THEM! IF I HAD THAT SAME LEVEL OF SELF-LOATHING AS YOU DID, I’D STILL BE THE SKINNY KID FROM BROOKLYN THAT EVERYONE MARGINALIZED! I DON’T CARE IF YOU’RE LOKI’S KID, A DEMIGODDESS, A PRINCESS, OR HECK, THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND, BUT I DON’T LIKE THE WAY YOU PURPOSELY HURT YOURSELF! IT IS NOT ALRIGHT TO INFLICT PAIN ON YOURSELF AND IT IS NOT ALRIGHT TO PUSH OTHER PEOPLE WHO CARE AND WORRY ABOUT YOU! I CARE ABOUT YOU! LET THAT SINK IN!”

 Kory blinked in startlement. This was the first time she’d witnessed Steve getting angry. The moment the angry words were out, a look of shame landed on his face, like he was obviously ashamed of raising his voice like that in front of a lady. Kory didn’t know what too say. She was so used to ignoring other people, especially whoever she knew in the immortal world, when they said she needed help; her own mortal therapist back in Norway was a disaster. But Steve? Not only did the words come sincerely out of his guts but he had a way of making them sound motivational. Moving. The parts in Kory’s mind that usually told her ‘Dismiss it!’ where now starting to question themselves.

 “I…” Kory wanted to say something, but a distant sound alerted her. She looked around the roundabout they were in on Prospect Park, but every mortal seemed to be actively engaged in their daily routines. They probably didn’t even hear Steve’s words or notice Kory picking up on something. She looked up at the sky. It was still sunset but the dark blue hues were showing off signs of stars. In those dark blue hues, Kory spotted something dark and round. Something that kept enlarging. She quickly connected the dots and swung her arm. The winds swirled around it, forming a giant ice arm that flew towards the projectile, destroying it in the process. Giant ice debris fell from the sky. Kory held her hands out, freezing the debris mid-air before the chunks could hit the panicking civilians.

 “EVERYONE EVACUATE THE PARK! NOW!” Steve pulled out his shield.

 “Evacuating the park?” Kory exclaimed. She clenched her fists, turning the ice debris into mist. “Everyone in Brooklyn needs to evacuate unless they want to die!”

 “You heard her! Everyone go!”

 The civilians didn’t hesitate to run away screaming. Just then, rumbling noises could be heard. The louder they got, the more it sounded like stomping.

 “Am I hearing footsteps?” Steve asked.

 “I hope it’s really not what I think it is! We got to find Noah and Aaricia…” Before she could continue, a ring of orange-colored magic lit up, revealing Flatbrush Avenue on the other side as Noah grabbed Steve and Kory. In less than a few seconds, they found themselves transported out of Prospect Park and into Flatbrush Avenue. Civilians were running past them, screaming as giant boulders of ice were thrown at cars and buildings. Noah led the two towards Aaricia, who was helping somebody get out of a taxi after a boulder hit the trunk.

 “What’s going on?” Steve asked.

 “THAT is what’s going on!” Aaricia pointed behind them. Steve and Kory turned to see about six Frost Giants standing in the middle of Prospect Park. Obviously, they were different from the Frost Giants encountered so far this week. 50-feet-tall, their wispy, messy braided white hair almost passed off as white clouds in the sky. Their muscular, strong limbs were scarred and almost as see-through as glass, they could almost be mistaken for ice sculptures. Their red eyes looked like supernovas as their big hands cupped large amounts of water and dirt into their hands, balling them up, and freezing them into projectiles. But the most disturbing? Their helmets, hair bands, arm bracelets, sandals, and the handles of their ice maces hanging from their backs? All of them could easily be distinguished as thousands of bones assembled into jewelry.

 “Gammeldag Frost Giants…” Kory had a hard time spitting the words out.

 “Those are gammeldags?” Aaricia panicked. “You said they were snobbish pureblood in-breeds! Not colossal abominations!”

 “They can’t be here!” Noah looked worried as well. “Kory, we expelled them to Antarctica after the 1980 Blizzard of Ozz fiasco!”

 “The date on Kory’s tattoo?” Steve frowned. “Kory, what happened then?”

 “Short version of the story: they got hungry, they tried to create a worldwide blizzard so they could feast on all the humans at an Ozzy Osbourne concert, I was there, and we had to save the humans by killing them…”

 “Those giants are cannibals?” Both Steve and Aaricia freaked out.

 “Yeah, they act like the stereotypical giants that give civilized giants a bad name. Back to the short story: we killed a lot of them and banished them back to their lands in Antarctica.”

 “That doesn’t explain why they’re here!” Noah pointed at the monsters in the distance. “Kory, you killed every single one of their spell-casters! You even managed to have your patron create a barrier around the ocean that would burn them alive if they went through it! How are they here?”

 “I’d be tempted to say that Jotunheim got their local allies, but even Angerboda’s ice magic couldn’t rival the desert heat of an Ancient Egyptian god, so either it’s the aliens or somebody I don’t like is getting involved.”

 “They’re probably as big as the Leviathans from the Chitauri army. We got to keep them away from the civilians!” Steve said.

 “We could lure them towards the bay!” Kory snapped her fingers. “Noah, what if we use those old plague spells on the bay?”

 Noah said something in Hebrew before transitioning to English. “God forgive us for what we are to do.”

 “But if we do it from the bay, it’s bound to crack them! I’ll be right back!”

 “Koryanna, don’t you dare! Koryanna!” Noah exclaimed, but it was too late. Kory had summoned one of her blue-colored portals, revealing to the horrified trio that she was running straight to the gammeldags. With the portal still open, they had a view of Kory summoning an ice whip and striking the ankles of the six gigantic giants. The ice whipping gave bleeding numbers on the skins, causing the giants to look down angrily.

 “HEY, JACKASSES! I’M DOWN HERE! THAT’S RIGHT, FOLLOW THE MOUSE, YOU ENORMOUS PEA BRAINS!” To that, Kory ran away, the giants in hot pursuits.

 Panicked, Aaricia pulled out her cellphone and immediately hit speed dial. “Maui? Something came up! I don’t know if you can see it from Manhattan, but Kory’s being chased by giant cannibal Frost Giants! Please come ASAP at the Upper Bay!”

Back at the Avengers Tower

Maui hung up his phone.

 “Gammeldags in Brooklyn,” he said out loud. “Kory’s luring them towards the Upper Bay.”

It had been a strange afternoon between Thor restraining Loki on his floor and Yueqiu-Bing transitioning between talking to Anubis and having to translate everything for her yeti bodyguards who still kept acting like fanboys around Banner.

 “Finally, something decent to fight in this pit of American pollution,” she muttered. “Shenghuo! Siwang! Zhǔnbèi mèilì dùnpái! Wǎnbào shàng méiyǒu shé me bǐ zhè gèng hǎo dele!” (Shenghuo! Siwang! Prepare the glamour shields! None of what happens better be on the evening news!) The two yeti guards grunted in compliance before heading out.

 “We’d better do fast,” Tony said. “The last time something big came in New York, the World Security Council sent a missile!”

 “The mortals won’t see anything this time.” Yueqiu-Bing held out her arms. One tattoo of each arm, Aquarius and the Rabbit, glowed with white lights. A gust of snowy wind came out of nowhere, destroying a window. The new opening gave Yueqiu-Bing a chance to jump off. The panicked Avengers and SHIELD agents rushed to the window just in time to see Yueqiu-Bing turn into a giant white rabbit that began hopping on top of the skyscrapers. The civilians downstairs seemed less aware about the giant fluffy creature hopping on buildings and more interested about the sudden appearance of large quantities of snow falling randomly.

 “OK. That was the weirdest thing I’ve seen all week,” Nick Fury finally gave in.

 “What, that the 50-years-old High Chieftess of the Everest Clan can turn into any animal and summon the powers of the zodiacs?” Maui asked. “You should see her when she can summon all of them at once. She’s the second most powerful Frost Giantess on Earth after Kory.”

 “You should still head out,” Anubis casually said. “The Upper Bay is obviously your game field.”

 “Excuse me, but it’s New York! All the water is terribly polluted! I was damn lucky that the DC water was less dirty than this overpopulated island!”

 “Yes, and the gammeldags Frost Giants will be terribly inconvenienced when they realize how pure it is compared to the fresh waters of Antarctica. So unless you want the nybergynnere Frost Giant chiefs to do all the nice work before Kory gives those pea-brained cannibals a reminder of the 1980 Blizzard of Ozz concert, you and Bacchus will go there while I figure out how those same cannibals got through my flame barrier.” Anubis dropped his smile as he poked Maui’s nose.

 “But…”

 “No questions. Or my kids will have to change from having you as babysitters to eating you for barbecue breakfast.” He said it so quietly, stoic, and sternly, the Avengers actually saw a bit of terrified shivering coming from the demigods. Once the message was clear, Anubis started making his way towards the stairs until Thor burst in, panicked.

 “LOKI ESCAPED!” The moment the words came out, Anubis slapped him on the face, giving him nasty cuts on his cheeks with his clawed fingers.

 “For Isis’ sake, what is wrong with you, barbarian?” Out of the blue, Anubis transformed into a giant black jackal, retaining his Egyptian necklace, that sprinted past everyone and jumped out the window.

 “So… is it too late to ask for a trip to the Upper Bay on quinjet?” Bacchus asked. “I was too drunk to admit it, but I really want to ride it before Anubis kills us.”

At the docks of the Upper Bay

To think that all he needed to get away from Thor was to hit him on the head with a vase. Loki thought it was a miracle when he got the chance to escape to the stairs, overhear what the Polynesia demigod said, and teleport himself to the docks by the Upper Bay.

 The first thing that obviously alarmed him were the colossal Frost Giants standing on the waters. Far more gigantic than himself and the other Frost Giants he’d known, they towered most of the buildings in the wretched human city. The second thing that shocked him were the lack of humans in the whereabouts. His Chitauri invasion had immediately scared thousands of mortals into running away like the harmless ants they were. None were present by the bay. Where were they? Had they already evacuated? Or were they all at home.

 “LOKISDOTTIR!”

 That picked his attention. The six colossal Frost Giants pulled out their maces as a pillar of perfectly carved ice emerged from the bay. When it stopped rising to match the eye level of the monsters, a fog coated the surface of the waters. It made things harder, but he was certain that he picked up a feminine figure standing on the ice pillar. Risking everything, he turned himself into a seagull and flew towards Ellis Island, the landmass closest to the ice pillar. He transformed back into himself and hid behind a tree.

 “I apologize for having you run through Brooklyn, but I don’t like wasting human lives.” He heard it. A voice so similar to Evangeline’s… but with hidden hints of his own craftiness. His own silver tongue. “I’m sure you understand that the last time you gammeldags tried to play tourists far from your turf, three quarters of your tribe was decimated. And you ruined a fabulous Ozzy Osbourne concert! So, I will only say this once. I don’t want to be queen of anything. I don’t want it, you don’t want it, and no one else wants it. So why don’t you just go back to your turf in Antarctica where you can be free as little penguins?”

 Luring them away from crowds and using diplomacy as the first approach. She was obviously his daughter.

 “FROST GIANTS NEVER HAVE HYBRID AS RULER!” Loki couldn’t tell which of the gammeldags had shouted. Their deep voices, all sending shivers like crumbling icebergs, sounded the same.

 “So, we’re in agreement! Very well. You can just tell Angerboda that her attempt of using you as threat tigers isn’t going to work on me. I don’t care if she’s willing to wait until Passover. The day I become queen is the day Ragnarök comes. In other words, I’ll be dead before it even happens.”

 “FROST GIANTS NEVER TRUST TRAITORS!”

 “RULER OF FROST GIANTS MUST BE BLOOD OF KING LAUFEY!”

 “FROST GIANTS NEVER WORK WITH TRAITORS OF HOUSE OF LAUFEY!”

 “FROST GIANTS KNOW NO JOTUNHEIM WITCH!”

 “MAN FROM SPACE LET US GO!”

 So much was being thrown out, but from his hiding spot, Loki processed the sentences shouted by the colossal Frost Giants.

 Ruler of Frost Giants Must Be Blood Of King Laufey. Apparently it didn’t matter if his child denied the throne of Jotunheim. They only cared that she was Laufey’s last remaining relative deemed worthy enough to succeed him.

Frost Giants Know No Jotunheim Witch. So that crossed off the idea that Angerboda had gone to the South Pole and tempered with Anubis’ barrier. The ‘man from space’ must have obviously been the Other.

 The Other had managed to breach a barrier that used heat spell to keep in the giants.

 Frost Giants Never Trust Traitors. Frost Giants Never Work With Traitors Of House Of Laufey. These two sentences were the ones confusing him the most, perhaps because they sounded so much like a sentence Laufey himself had said when Loki had gone to Jotunheim with Thor and his friends. A sentence so familiar in context.

 The House of Odin is full of traitors.

 Loki had been the traitor of the House of Odin at the time. But what were the savages on the bay insinuating? Were they suggesting that Angerboda, Laufey’s most loyal servant even after his demise, wasn’t really what she was?

 You know, a lot of the gammeldags and nybergynnere have mixed opinions about you. Loki recalled the words of the annoying electric-overcharged blonde teenager when she had addressed Angerboda during their conflict at the tower. Depending on the groups, you’re either a loyal royalist or a racist madwoman. From what Loki had managed to understand so far, the blonde teenager was well connected enough to his own child to avoid spilling personal information to Angerboda.

 Tell me, darling, has Odin told you about Evangeline? Those were the words that Angerboda had thrown at Loki before shoving him down the Avengers Tower. How did Angerboda know who Evangeline was when it was only recently that the Jotun started looking for his child?

 “Well, I’m terribly sorry that you had to go through the inconvenient crusade for nothing. Could you go home now? I’d hate to further pollute the Upper Bay.” Loki heard his child continue.

 “FROST GIANTS NOT LEAVE! MAN FROM SPACE SAY THAT YOU HIDE SOMETHING!”

 Loki could sense the air getting colder.

 “LOKISDOTTIR HIDE SOMETHING IMPORTANT! SOMETHING BELONGING TO FROST GIANTS!”

 “Speak English. I hide a lot of things.”

 “WHERE IS SKULL? WHERE IS SKULL?’

 “WE WANT SKULL!”

 “WE WANT HEART!”

 “WE WANT BLOOD!”

 “WE WANT REAL RULER!”

 Then it happened. He saw the silhouette of his child raising her arms. The waters filling the Upper Bay suddenly split in half, each moving towards the docks. Loki watched in shock as the filthy waters of the bay turned into deep crimson shades, flowed upward, and froze. The red waters formed massive ice walls around the docks, barricading the human city from the colossal Frost Giants. The gammeldags started hitting the red icy walls, but not even their gigantic fists to crack the ice, and given how much time they spent on it, it seemed like the red ice was doing nothing. Their powers didn’t work on the frozen waters.

 “You know, if you barbarians weren’t so caught up eating humans, you would have actually used your spare time for reading.” Loki heard his child speaking drily as she evaporated her ice column away and landed on the dry pit of land beneath her. “My favorite part of history was how God sent plagues to torment the Egyptians. He managed to turn the waters of the Nile into blood, polluting the fresh waters so the fish would die and the Egyptians would die of thirst. But you wouldn’t know that, right? American waters aren’t as clean as Antarctica, so me turning the Upper Bay waters into frozen blood? Do your worst.”

 They tried their worst. The gammeldags started grabbing junks of the ground beneath their feet, balling them up into boulders the same size as their heads, and throwing it at Loki’s child. Like a mouse underneath a herd of elephants, she ran around at incredible speed and easily punched the boulders into dust. When one brought down his mace on her, she jumped on the weapon and started running up the weapon, up the arm, and jumped to land on his nose, quickly striking him between the eyes before turning into a raven and flying away. When she landed on the ground in her human form, the giant screamed in agony as snow white boils appeared all over his skin, horribly rotting the flesh until all that was left to fall down was his skeleton.

 “Boils that killed the men and animals.” His child continued. “Keep in mind that I was born in the early 20^th century. I was surrounded by diseases.”

 Two of the remaining five angry gammeldags worked together to create a snow tornado. Loki’s child took a deep breath and puffed out a gust of wind at the tornado. The snow morphed into ice carved locusts. The two giants tried to swat away the thousands of locusts trying to bite off their flesh; Loki watched in horrified amazement as the ice locusts devoured the two giants.

 “Are you even trying?” Loki’s child asked in boredom. Loki snickered a bit as he got close enough to watch more of the spectacle. One of the Frost Giants trying stomping on her, but she snapped her fingers and the giant wailed. His hands covered his eyes as he wailed about darkness surrounding him. When she snapped her fingers again, the giant looked like he could see again, but when he spotted Loki’s child waving at him, he ran away, screaming in terror. His dissatisfied comrade smashed him on the head with his mace, killing him.

 “OK. That was a tad bit harsh, don’t you think?” Loki’s child asked.

 “NO COWARDS AMONG FROST GIANTS! HONOR ONLY IN BATTLE! FROST GIANT RATHER DIE IN HONOR FOR FACING VERMIN THAN RUNNING AWAY FROM VERMIN!” The last Gammeldag didn’t get the chance of raising his weapon. He was inconveniently placed in front of one of the frozen blood walls, so he didn’t notice the ten large icicles suddenly emerging and impaling him right in the stomach and chest.

 “I… am NOT… vermin.” Loki’s child said in a calm, deadly tone. The giant finally died and his corpse collapsed to join the others when the icicles retracted away.

 Loki was amazed. His own child had managed to defeat 6 colossal Frost Giants. On her own, using her tricks and ice magic. He could tell she was obviously his. Now that he had finally seen her in action, Loki really had to speak to her. He didn’t care if she wanted him dead; he had to speak with her. Remind her that he washer father.

 Before he could take a step further, he realized that his child had suddenly vanished. Loki frowned? When did this happen? How could she have vanished into thin air? Where was she?

 Before he could even find an answer, pain overwhelmed him as a metal blade went through his ribcage and retracted. He grunted in agony, his hands holding on to his injured hole as he turned. Someone was standing before him, bearing a mambele soaked with his blood. Loki almost took a double take when he recognized the person’s coat and saw how she disturbingly looked very much like his beloved Evangeline. Even more disturbing was how the person’s green eyes were identical to Loki’s.

 “Backstabbing really runs in the family. Doesn’t it, Dad?” The last word was so cold, cruel, and venomous, like saying such a word was agony for her.

 And before Loki could utter another word, Koryanna Evangeline Lottie Ikolson Lokisdottir shot a blast of ice at him. He fell of Ellis Island and into the Upper Bay as the waters closed in on him, a look of accomplished revenge on his daughter’s face as she watched him fall.

Chapter Text

Kory felt like Hel once she transported herself from Ellis Island to the Pier 44 Waterfront Garden. The moment her foot landed on solid ground, she let herself drop flat on her butt.

 “Six gammeldags dead and the glamour managed to throw off all the humans.” She looked up and grimaced at the sight of Anubis standing in front of her, crossing his arms and tapping his fingers eagerly. “My main curiosity though is whether or not Loki approached you.”

 “He tried to. His corpse is currently sleeping with the fishes,” Kory snarled.

 “You killed him?” Anubis’ toothy grin got wider.

 “Literally stabbed him in the back and closed the Upper Bay on him the way God closed the Red Sea on the Egyptian army.”

 Anubis clasped his hands together. “Thank Isis! Those barbarians really never listen, but I’m so glad you do! Unfortunately, you understand that because he is a fully-blooded god, he’s only going to be ‘dead’ for like an hour after Maui fishes him out and sends him back to the tower?”

 “The bitches.” Kory got up, only to sit down on the nearest bunch. “Anubis, I can’t do this! The tower, the Avengers, Jotunheim…” She shook her head. “I just want to go home! Back to Tønsberg and continue the life I had! Not being some trinket for two sides of a war to fight over or being confused over some guy I met online!”

 “I know.” Anubis patiently walked up to the bench.

 “I was fine…”

 “You were.”

 “I’m sick of this.” Kory shook her head. “I’m sick of Jotunheim and the gammeldags not letting it sink to their heads that when I say ‘I don’t want to be queen’, it means I don’t wanna… I’m sick of mortals and immortals branding me as a problem because of Loki and my heritage…” She got up from the bench and walked forward to have a closer view of the water. “And I’m sick of Steve being so ridiculously protective of me.”

 “What? He’s a nice guy!” Anubis held out his hands in defense. “You realize that humans only breed 0.5 percent of golden-hearted like him at every generation?”

 “Please, he already yelled at me a few minutes ago about how my ‘self-harm and self-esteem problems’ are annoying.” Kory rolled her eyes. “Or how I push away those who care about me...” Kory snorted. “Like I have anyone left in that category.”

 A glow flashed in Anubis’ golden eyes as an idea hit him and he walked up to stand next to Kory. “Really?” He asked with a grin. “Then again, Steve has shown quite a level of protectiveness. If I was blinder than a dead prophet, I wouldn’t come to the conclusion that Steve’s… protective, caring behavior towards you might be developing far past good acquaintances. Maybe more than…”

 “Say what you are suggesting and I might rat out to Marion that you’ve been turning humans into animals and feeding your kids with them for sport,” Kory said venomously. “I might be annoyed with Steve right now, but I’d rather walk on fire than harm him physically or emotionally. He’s been through enough!”

 “What?” Anubis asked in defense. “I’m merely saying that compared to his biased battle companions, Steve’s the only one decently nice to you. Sure, the man comes from a time period where the world was more black-and-white than today’s grey moralities, he isn’t some power-hungry maniac or easily corrupted by money or any form of lust… If I remember well, the whole reason he’s that good-looking is because the pintsized runt in him had a hopeless pure heart.” Kory didn’t flinch when Anubis suddenly appeared a few feet in front of her. The Egyptian god clasped his hands together. “The American Prince Charming doesn’t realize it, but he’s unknowingly developing sentiments for you.” He pointed at Kory. “And you, Snow Pie, have similar sentiments for him.”

 “Even if I had those non-existent sentiments, they would remain non-existent.” Kory crossed her arms and turned her head away to hide her sad expression. “You know what happened the last time…”

 “You think I don’t?” Anubis snapped his fingers, summoning every microscopic grain of dust to fly off the ground. The trails of dust turned into gold and formed into hieroglyphic apparitions of two women in a fond embrace, the one being held looking too much like Kory. The present Kory did her best effort to keep herself from crying when she saw the hieroglyph version of the other woman. A woman who had been close to Kory’s age at the time. A woman bearing a blue Basotho blanket while Kory had her trademark blue fur coat. A woman whose mambele was strapped to her belt.

 Anubis shook his head with a genuine, solemn expression. “Abimbola. She really brought out your romantic side. A spy from the Border Tribe from the world’s most secretive country in Africa. She was just one in many sent out to investigate how the war was ongoing and report back to her country of her findings so that none of the conflicts affected Wakanda. How her mission changed… when she met you.”

 Kory bit her lip and dropped on her knees. A tear escaped her eyes and trailed down her cheek as she watched the manifestations of herself and Abimbola exchanging a wonderful kiss. Anubis continued: “Her job was to pose as a member of a ragtag team of misfits in the Norwegian Resistance. No questions had been asked about a black woman carrying a vibranium weapon in a Scandinavian country since this was a secretive group. But then she met you. Saving you from HYDRA hunting down a Jewish woman rumored to be a monster from pagan mythology. She took you in on the operation. Helped you find a way to allow yourself to transform back into your human form and vice-versa.” Anubis paced around the manifestations. “She opened up to you in ways that would have made her betray her country. She told you all about Wakanda. She taught you her fighting skills. She taught you her language. Over the course of the war, your sentiments for her grew, as did hers.”

 Anubis shook his head. “I understand how it sucks. Immortals aren’t as nitpicky about romantic attraction as mortals are.”

 “Please stop talking,” Kory shook her head, speaking up in a small pleading voice.

 “Why? It was a beautiful romance! I mean, when things got close enough to Norway’s liberation, she still wanted to be with you. She even asked you to come to Wakanda with you, but because you didn’t have the guts to leave your home country, she chose to stay with you! And what happens next? One last battle against the enemy and some homophobic loser spotted you two together, and when he obviously aimed for your head, Abimbola pushed you out of the way!” Anubis waved his hand and the manifestations dissolved into the cold air. “She was right, you know? Wakanda had the technology to protect your icy body from the heat. You could have had actual happiness with the love of your life in a secretive, non-oppressive country, easily ignored by the rest of the world, but here you are. A failed suicide, in debt to me, and surrounded by morons from both sides of the immortal and mortal scales.”

 “I know the lesson!” Kory got up and turned her back on Anubis to wipe away her tear, though the small hail falling from the sky didn’t help her. “No romantic attachments! Otherwise, the lover tries to play hero and I have to live with the guilt that said lover died because of me!”

 “No, the lesson is your horrible sense of decision-making, because believe me, in the end, your own selfish guilt will be your undoing.” Anubis teleported in front of her. “So, here’s what will happen next, Snow Pie. You’re going to continue being yourself, the girl with so much trauma that she won’t open to anyone, you go along with Maria Hill and her questions about you, you keep saying no unless bloodshed is the only way for any Frost Giant to understand you won’t be queen, and most important comes next.” He poked Kory’s nose to emphasize his point. “You. Stick. With. Steve.”

 “I don’t…” Kory began to protest until Anubis made it clear that her opinion didn’t matter by slapping her on the face. Kory fell on the ground and held on to her bruised cheek.

 “Don’t forget who told you to stay in the line that divides master and slave, Koryanna,” Anubis said in a deadly, patient voice. He massaged the hand he had used to hit her. “Or more importantly, which one of us is the fully-blooded god with the capacity to punish you with heat exhaustion for not doing what you’re told. So if you dare to finish that sentence of how you don’t want to hurt Steve, I think I might need to give all Frost Giants the memo that not even a half-blooded Frost Giant demigoddess could keep an Egyptian god from burning off half of her face through the Dante Basco technique!”

 During his monologue, none of them had heard vehicles pulling up. Neither Kory nor Anubis had realized that some people were actually listening in on their argument until Kory witnessed something hitting Anubis and flying back like a boomerang. Kory’s widened when her patron stumbled back a few feet and found himself getting beaten down by Steve after the latter had reclaimed his shield.

 “Steve! Don’t!” She exclaimed.

 “Koryanna!” Noah helped Kory get up.

 “Sis! God, your cheek!” Aaricia gasped when she saw Kory’s face.

 “Don’t say the Lord’s name in vain, Aaricia!” Kory snapped.

 “Lord’s name in vain? For fuck’s sake, sis, the Big Guy just did a number on you and you’re worried about be saying the Lord’s Name in vain?” As Aaricia snapped back, a quinjet arrived and a large snowy rabbit hopped down into a building, turning into Yueqiu-Bing as she ran to hold Steve back from Anubis.

 “Captain America! Stop!” She demanded.

 “Get off!” Steve tried to pull himself away from Yueqiu, who managed to have a stronger grip than him.

 “Hold it, soldier! You realize that the Big Guy is actually letting you punch him?” The Frost Giant chieftess pointed at Anubis. The god was leaning on to the railing, but despite the beating that Steve had given him, his bruises were outright invisible compared to the one on Kory’s cheek. If anything, it had done nothing. And the god of mummification was smiling about it. “Don’t fight a brawl you can’t win against a god, Captain America!”

 “I’d rather do this all day than let him bully Kory!” Steve retorted. His remark caused Yueqiu to turn and freak out when she saw Noah consoling a bruised Kory. “Koryanna! By all the moons, what happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it…” Kory shook her head. The Avengers, Nick, Fury, and Bacchus got out of the quinjet. The wine demigod walked up to Anubis as the latter straightened his necklace.

 “First ya send Maui to fish out Loki out of the bay and now what, you’re beating up Kory?” Bacchus scowled.

 “You might want to sober up, Bacchus,” Anubis warned.

 “What on Earth happened here?” Nick Fury demanded. “Will somebody explain to me why not only there are no casualties and no giant cannibal Frost Giants, and more importantly, what’s happening right now?”

 “Miss Ikolson, what happened to you?” Maria asked.

 “I don’t want to talk about it.” Kory insisted.

  “We got here just in time to see Anubis beat up Kory because she didn’t want to take advantage of Steve Rogers,” Aaricia said flatly, “and he did.”

 “Aaricia! Shut up!” Kory snapped.

 “SILENCE EVERYONE!”

 The shout that came caused the ground to freeze, shutting up any Avenger, mortal, or immortal arguing. Somebody had joined in on the Waterfront Garden. Another Frost Giantess. She looked like she could be 41-years-old but she had to walk with a wooden stick. Her black luhka cloak had white knitted Sami patterns and covered her blue winter dress, though the ends of the skirt revealed beaded Nordic patterns of a woman carrying a basket of apples. Unlike Yueqiu-Bing and Noah, she walked barefooted. Her platinum blonde had minor gray streaks, had some small braids, and was tied back in a ponytail. Though her sclera was red, her pupils were brown.

 “Are you all down arguing like a bunch of juvenile orcas fighting over seal meat?” She asked. “Koryanna’s gone through too enough drama in one day. First those gammeldag savages and now all of you! I suggest you cease this and you bring her back to your tower for a medical checkup and for most of us to have a serious discussion.”

 “I’m sorry, who are you?” Iron Man asked.

 “You met my son Axel in Norway,” she answered sourly. “I’m Ingrid Aybeer. Chieftess of the Jotunheimen Clan in Norway.”

Later, at the Avengers Tower

No questions asked, everyone went to the Avengers Tower. Kory found herself alone in the infirmary, sitting on a flatly cushioned bed as she patted her cheek one last time with a bag of ice that she kept freezing with a bag of ice.

 “Take some aspirin.” Banner came in with a glass full of water and dropped a pill in it.

 “Thanks for not lying about it…” Kory took the glass and drank everything in one gulp.

 “What would have given it away?” Banner asked.

 “Body heat increase when lying. In case you’ve forgotten, Frost Giants don’t like heat.”

 “I obviously forgot,” Banner said in humor. He pulled down a machine hanging from the ceiling and held it a few feet away from Kory. He tapped on some buttons, turning on a screen that suddenly showed Kory’s heat signature. “Body temperature varying constantly changing from 47.5, 49.3, 57.5 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s half the heat temperature of warm-blooded and cold-blooded animals. Interesting.”

 “Dr. Banner, I must warn you that I don’t like being tested on…” Kory warned.

 “This isn’t a test. It’s a health scan and examine machine. Tony helped me build this machine in case I needed medical attention after turning into the other guy. The H…” He paused. “The other guy’s not really into shots. And I figured you’d be against it as well, so… yeah.”

 “Oh.” Kory put aside her empty glass. “My apologies.”

 “It’s fine. I’m already aware of the unwanted fandom the other guy got from the Frost Giants.” Banner checked the screen of the health scan and examine machine, switching it so that instead of body signatures, he saw skeletal X-rays. “Have your bones had such a long history for an inconsistent fracture healing system?”

 “What do you mean?”

 “Well, Tony helped me design the scanners to detect any severe or long-lasting injuries that the Big Guy could have endured in combat. The gamma radiation strengthened my durability and healing systems, but major injuries as the Hulk could lead to bigger, more serious ones as myself.”

 “What, like if the Hulk had a mere broken rub, you’d have to go to a hospital or something?” Kory gasped. “That’s awful!”

 “It is.” Banner nodded solemnly before shaking his head and showing the screen to Kory. “Your bones. They have inconsistent healing history. Some took longer than others and then there’s few that look like they healed in five seconds. Is that a Frost Giant or a demigod thing?”

 “It’s hard to explain.” Kory slouched a bit.

 “You don’t to go through all the details. Just the easiest.”

 “Fair enough.” Kory got off her seat and paced around a bit to get her head straight. “First off, there’s the whole half… non-human thing. Technically speaking, when Jotun-human hybrids are born, they already come with the split immune and durability systems. You know, the whole weather management, cryokinesis, and yattee-yatta. The problem is that my immune system reacts differently because of my semi-divinity. Everything immortal about me? Strictly dormant all my life until the traumatic event that led to the demigod awakening. That’s when I had everything 100%.”

 “So you had to wait until you ended being an eternal 21-year-old for your Frost Giant immune system to fully kick in? That’s not very fair.”

 “I know!” Kory exclaimed. “And the dumbest shit was that when I was in the ‘dormant’ phase, I had blood cells that could only perform a fifth of the immortal immune system capacity, and surprise, when I became a demigoddess, I lost those blood cells!” She sighed. “Oh, and second off, I drank water from the River Styx. You know, underworld river that immortals swear on and where Achilles forgot to dip his heel in?”

 “Did you drink it to make your body invulnerable from the inside?” Banner asked.

 “Nope. I was betting against Bacchus.”

 Banner blinked incredulously at Kory. “You drank water from some river in the afterlife… because you had a bet with the Greco-Roman god of wine and madness.” The irritation was made evident in both Banner’s tone and that some green hues were beginning to appear on his neck’s veins. Kory calmly placed the ice pack on his neck, rapidly calming him down. “Wow. That helped…” Banner groaned.

 “Trust me, I’m really a fan of the way the Hulk beat up Loki, but I don’t want a live demonstration on me.” Kory allowed Banner to hold on to the ice pack. “And yeah, I had a bet with Bacchus in the 90s. He said that a monotheist demigoddess like me wouldn’t have the balls of going into the pagan afterlife to drink water from the Styx.” She went so sit down on the infirmary bed again. “Obviously he lost and owed me a first edition Eiffel 65 CD and a lifetime supply of Asphodel Absinthe.”

 “You can’t be serious…” Banner was exasperated. “You did all this for music and booze.”

 “Hey, when you bet against the wine demigod, you’re obviously going to want him to hand over his self-manufactured booze if he loses!” Kory raised her hands in defense. “He constantly produces, courtesy of humanity turning alcohol into an everlasting indulgence over the centuries, to the point where he makes bottles and stashes them for centuries. The older they are, the more monetary value he makes. And Asphodel Absinthe is a specialty since he makes it out of the asphodels that grow in the Asphodel Fields of the Greco-Roman afterlife, leaves every bottle to age for 300 years, the time has passed and he sells them to a very select few. Unless you have a VERY strong stomach, a tablespoon could kill a mortal while a whole beer mug would make an immortal woozier than a dehydrated man in a desert! So, yeah, I currently have enough bottles to last me until 2299. My next refill will be in 2300.”

 Banner had a rather sad expression on his face. He shook his head and pushed the machine back up on the ceiling.

 “Is something wrong, Doctor Banner?” Kory asked.

 “Nothing. Everything is fine,” he said. “You’re good to go.”

 Evidently, Kory wasn’t buying it. “You know, Dr. Banner, one of the advantages of be drinking from the River Styx is that unlike my father, the God of Mischief, and the rest of you, I can’t lie. I can only either tell the truth or ditch it by saying I don’t want to talk about it.”

 “OK.” Banner took a deep breath and turned to face her, straightening his glasses in the process. “I’m not a therapist. I can only partially relate with what you went through based on my own experiences as the other guy. I think it’s great you’re not a daddy’s girl or that you don’t want to kill everyone out of evil, but in all bluntness, I think you’re worse than Loki when it comes to how you handle your own trauma. Self-isolation, refusal to socialize, meaningless gamble, getting psychological stepped on by toxic friends… I mean, Anubis is your patron god. He’s supposed to protect you and you’re letting him act like a sociopathic domestic abuser to you! You don’t let yourself have friends because you’re afraid of hurting them, I get that, but you surround yourself with toxic ones. I think it’s great that you have a great relationship with your adoptive sister Aaricia, but I’m starting to think that you only see her as a temporary asset, an emotional that sticks with you until they die.” He paused. “I don’t even know what to make of you and Steve.”

 “I don’t want to hurt him.” Kory crossed her arms. “Why does no one get that?”

 “We do.” Banner nodded. “But you’re letting yourself get hurt just so you don’t let him get hurt. And I’m not sure you’re aware that Steve doesn’t like that.”

 “Captain Obvious already made the speech at the park,” Kory said drily.

 Banner let out a small chuckle. “That’s a good one. Still, you’re not understanding the thin line that separates you two…”

 “Dr. Banner, I don’t belong in any sides of a line.” Kory got up and began making her way to the door. “I stay in the line.”

 “And that’s unfortunately why there’s one between you two. You give up and do nothing for yourself because you think the smallest thing you do will have everyone prove you a monster. You and Steve are both fishes in the same bucket when it comes to being marginalized, but while you stick in your own bucket, he jumps out and screws practically any order to go back in because his gut tells him to do the right thing. You beat him down, he always gets back up. And as infuriating as it is, he can do this all day.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Like it or not, Kory, but won’t give up. He cares about you. And you know that.”

 The last words of Banner’s sentences caused Kory to petrify and her expression to freeze as she thought of the last time she had heard such words. The words of someone she had been in love with. Who promised to be there forever. Who swore that she’d risked everything so that they could be together in some world where neither would be rejected.

Someone who sacrificed herself to save Kory.

I care about you. I love you above anything else in my heart. You know that, right?

 “Thank you for the checkup, Dr. Banner,” she said. In a rush, she opened the door and got as fast as she could out of the infirmary. She walked as fast as she could, hoping to ignore the Avengers and two SHIELD agents as they argued with Bacchus and Maui. Apparently, Stark had managed to find the way to enforce security so that Anubis couldn’t get up to their levels. Literally.

 Kory kept her arms crossed and looking at the floor as she made her way to the elevator. Thank God that the Frost Giant chiefs were the only ones decent enough to leave her alone until tomorrow afternoon. Granted, she still owed dinner for Yueqiu-Bing, but the Chinese Frost Giantess had shrugged it off and ordered food to be delivered to her.

 The moment she heard the elevator doors open and the stench of barbarians went to her nostrils, Kory kept her eyes down as she went for the stairs. Unfortunately, the barbarian wasn’t getting the message since he grabbed Kory’s shoulder.

 “My niece…”

 Feeling the storm boiling up in her stomach, Kory’s hands landed on the arm of the hand touching her and swung Thor away from her, sending the God of Thunder crashing through the glass wall, past the people arguing in the room, and landing on the solid wall, damaging some furniture in the process.

 “SWEET JESUS!” Nick Fury exclaimed.

 “Seriously?” Stark stared incredulously at Kory. “Are you going to trash the tower every time you have a tantrum?”

 “Who cares, Stark?” Kory snapped. “You have ludicrous piles of money; you can easily buy new furniture! Should too easy, considering how none of you can either finish off Loki with something as simple as death or keep that barbarian away from me!” She pointed an accusing finger at Thor.

 “Thor didn’t even do anything, Kory,” Natasha said patiently. “Then again, he had to do something after finding out that you stabbed Loki on Ellis Island…”

 “Oh, I get it.” Kory clenched her fists. “When the good guys kill the bad guy, you get a thumbs up for heroic homicide, but when it’s the bad guy’s kid who does it? I get the ‘what the hell’ lecture, is that it?” She shook her head. “At least I did what you guys should have done last year. But no, instead, you left the barbarians to do their justice. Oh, and who has to deal with all the shit of Jotunheim and the Chitauri being at war? ME!” Kory changed from her human to her Jotun form. “Who has to deal with the Jotunheim savages who don’t understand inheritance rejection? ME! Who has to deal with the creepy alien who wants to use the hidden child as psychological torture to the guy who failed them? ME! Who had to deal with six gammeldags in Brooklyn? ME! I’m the one who has to deal with the results of YOUR mistakes!” She shot her accusing finger at the Avengers and SHIELD.

 “I don’t deny our poor choices in decision-making,” Nick Fury said sternly, “but coming from the demigoddess who can’t even make the right decisions herself, I’m going to ignore that.”

 “Oh, the guy who wanted to play God with a Rubix cube from outer space wants to lecture me on decision-making? Well here’s MY decision, bitch! When all this shit is over and if the ‘day is saved’,” Kory said while air-quoted, “I’m staying as far away from the Avengers and SHIELD as I want! Permanently! Same thing applies to you!” She pointed at Bacchus and Maui.

 “Why us?” Bacchus asked in defense. “We’re your only friends!”

 “Yeah, what marvelous friends you are! Bacchus, the cisgender straight white European male friend that nobody likes, and Maui the he’s-alright-but-still-silent-around-the-Big-Guy friend! No, I’m done!” Kory shook her head. “No more demigods, gods, or immortals! No more SHIELD! No more Avengers! Once everything is done, I’m going back to Norway and I am STAYING there! And if I find any of you even outside of my hometown, whether you come in person or send me a drone, I will literally give you people a demonstration of being frozen alive! And I ESPECIALLY want to be nowhere near the royal bitches of the asshole barbarians who guard their own asses in that gilded cage cloud Asgard of theirs!” She muttered something in Hebrew and turned to make her way to the stairs. Thor pushed himself up, nearly wobbling because of Mjolnir.

 “What would it take…” Thor dared to ask, “…to earn your forgiveness?”

Bacchus and Maui stared at Thor in shock as if he had asked an alien question. The Avengers and SHIELD members looked surprised as well. Kory already had her door on the handle and was opening the door to the stairs.

 “Just give up and leave me alone. I lost any sense of forgiveness I had back in the 40s. Besides, I don’t believe in you.” Kory shot a cold look with the green pupils standing out in her Jotun form. “Claim all you want about your character development or being a hero. I’ll never consider a pagan god like you as an uncle. If anything, you’re just another Jotun-hating self-entitled savage from outer space in my eyes.”

 Kory closed the door, unaware of the incredulous looks that had been thrown at her directions.

 “Thor?” Natasha asked when she noticed the god of thunder wiping away and failing to hide the tears on his cheeks.

 Maui crossed his arms and sighed. “She needs time. Today has been pretty bad for her.”

 “Two days of shit,” Bacchus nodded solemnly. “We screwed up.”

 “I don’t disagree with her,” Nick Fury said. “You three are probably the worst example of friends I’ve ever seen.”

 “At this rate, asking her anything will be harder.” Maria Hill shook her head. “What can we do?”

 “Maybe try to take indirect, more progressive approaches,” Maui offered. “She’s highly sensitive, but she feels positive and acts proactively when she’s around things that she likes or cares about. Things that keep her grounded.”

 “Which are?”

 “You might need something to write with. It’s a lot.” Bacchus sighed. “I hate doing this, but I’d rather have her get all perky than pessimistic all in one day.”

 “We’ll also need to pick up something in Norway. Something important.” Maui added. “I hate saying this, but can I borrow your quinjet?”

Meanwhile

Kory picked up the scent of food when she opened the door to Steve’s level. It must have come from the kitchen, but that probably meant Steve and Aaricia were in there as well.

 I can’t do this right now. I need to be away from people right now, she thought. She took a bee-line towards the guest room, which she had reorganized this morning after her destructive tantrum last night. If anything, she might as well destroy it again the moment she opened the door.

 Of course, the last thing she expected was to find Steve in her room, caught in the act of placing a vase full of hydrangeas, lavenders, and irises on her nightstand.

Chapter Text

Steve wasn’t quite surprised when he heard Kory coming in, but he had actually hoped he’d be gone by the time she came in. Probably because he figured she wanted to be alone yet again.

 “Kory…” He began.

 “Give me a second.” Kory raised her hand and quickly walked to the guest room’s bathroom. Steve expected her to slam the door or something of the sort, but no, she kept the door open. Rather than doing anything violent, Kory merely pulled her hair to the side so she could easily unclasp the chain of her wolf pendant. She coughed as she shoved the piece of jewelry in her coat’s pocket and zipped it shut.

 “Kory? Are you alright?” Steve reached out for her when she stepped out of the bathroom. Her Jotun form changed into her human form, her pale skin looking a bit more colorful. Like the porcelain doll had warmed up.

 “I apologize about that,” Kory breathed before letting out a smile. “Today was just a long day. My list of unethical behavior was ludicrous…” She fidgeted her fingers at anxious speed. “I especially treated you unfairly in these past couple of days. I hope you can forgive me.”

 “You know I always will.” Steve let out the best smile he could and gestured to the flowers. “I… had these delivered from Whole Foods. I… I remembered you like gardening and Aaricia suggested that a bouquet would cheer you up.”

 Kory let out a small chuckle. “Most folks waste money at a florist’s shop when they try to buy their way to me with flattery,” she casually pointed out as she made her way to the vase. She bent down and deeply inhaled the scent of the bouquet, nearly burying her nose in the petals of a blue hydrangea. “They tend to forget that I have a great preference for blue and purple flowers. Thank you, Steve.”

 “It’s… nothing.” Steve blushed a bit.

 “Hydrangeas for heartfelt gratitude, irises for wisdom, and lavenders for devotion.” Kory pulled her nose away from the flowers and cautiously patted them, the blue hydrangeas getting more saturated hues, the lavenders duplicating and the irises growing and blooming until Steve nearly confused them for small, blossoming trees. The bouquet had turned into its own small, tabletop version of a forest.

 “Wow…” Steve couldn’t resist and found himself stroking on some of the green leaves in curiosity. The textures almost felt smoother than silk. “You really have a green thumb.”

 “Courtesy of my ancestry.” Kory plucked out an iris flower, holding it in her hands as she sat on the bed. While her left hand held on to the flower, her right hand toyed with her hair’s magenta streak. “One of my ancestors was courted by Freya, the Vanir goddess of fertility. Obviously I’m not on the same level as Bacchus, but my green thumb is… decent enough. I have my own greenhouse where I grow my own flowers, either for my business or general selfishness.”

 “What business?” Steve asked.

 “Eh.” Kory shrugged. “General apothecary. Alchemy. Potions. Whatever the mortal and immortal clienteles require. Ask whoever reviewed me on Yelp. They’ll highly recommend my essential oils for aromatherapy.”

 “Not sure I’m ready for that yet,” Steve said. “Tony tried to put air fresheners in all the floors when we moved. You know, in case the Hulk had unfinished business…”

 Kory pondered a bit. “I can see that. But I doubt the Hulk’s unfinished business smells worse than the old stinky fish market Tønsberg had when I was younger.” Her comment earned a brief chuckle from Steve. Her hands went back to the flower, and in the seconds that followed, Steve witnessed her distorting the iris into various forms. It withered before converting back into a small bud. Its petals switched shades of purple and started flashing all sorts of rainbow colors. It twisted into geometric shapes close to origami folds, back to its original form, then a purple star surrounded by a blue glow, an ice sculpture of an iris, and finally into a sentient iris flower that used its roots to walk its way back to the over-blooming vase. It froze in place, as if it hadn’t just walked through a more physical trip inside a carnival hall of mirrors.

 Steve was quite stunned by the whole scene of the flower transformation, but what really caught Steve was the expression in Kory’s eyes. He saw no light in them when she did her magic trick. The light that Tony had when he built amazing machines, when Thor could still lift Mjolnir out of worthiness, when heroes succeeded in doing what was right… the light that had extinguished from his own when he woke up in the 21^st century.

 “You really don’t like using your powers, don’t you?” Steve realized out loud.

 Kory lowered her head. No tantrum followed, but she silently turned so she had her back facing Steve, her sitting position changing into that of a lotus position. “They were out of control when I had my awakening. The most I was able to control during the war were my ice powers and the possibility to change my appearance from Jotun to human and reversed. Abimbola…” She bit her lip. “Sorry, I forget…”

 Steve shifted, trying his best to sit next to her so he could face her. “I’m just a kid from Brooklyn. Not a judgmental person.”

 Kory frowned. “You judged the Big Guy by tossing your shield at him.”

 Steve felt her stiffen when his hand cupped the cheek that had suffered the slap from the Egyptian god. When his thumb gently stroked the area where the bruise was close to invisible, the coldness of her skin nearly tingled his.

 “I don’t like bullies, Kory. I don’t care where they’re from.”

 Kory blushed a bit. Putting her hands on Steve’s, she gently pushed it away. “You’re very sweet, Steve. I know you mean well, but the Big Guy is more dangerous than my father. Anubis is far older than Thor’s own father, don’t forget that, and he happens to be the guy who was responsible for guiding dead souls to have their hearts’ weight compared to that of a feather’s good purity. Heavier than that feather and Anubis tossed the heart to his pet monster whose stomach is an alternate dimension where souls never get to know the afterlife.” Kory went back to looking at the window. “I heard he was nicer in the old days. When his job was easier due to how everything was easily divided between good and evil… Sure, the other gods hated him because he was the son of the evil god Seth…”

 “Very much like how people distrust you because your father’s Loki…”

 “And how Odin favored Thor over Loki because Loki’s father was Laufey. A never-ending cycle.” Kory nodded. “I heard Anubis had all the love he needed from his adoptive mother Isis… But then… You know… Monotheist movements, pagans hunted down, demigod genocides, and the gods either faded away or found their skills twisted due to humanity’s evolving sins… War gods shifting personalities due to political agendas… Love deities corrupted by the sex and greeting card markets… Fertility gods demoralized by deforestation… You saw what it did to Bacchus? An invention that was strictly his now transformed into an overproduction that brings out the worst. So, the gods either fled, disappeared, or got twisted. And the Big Guy… took the greatest hit when he was the only one of his kind left.”

 “There was no one left?” Steve’s eyes widened.

 “Besides his heart-devouring pet? None.” The demigoddess shook her head. “He hasn’t even seen Isis or Seth. He’s spent the past thousand years being disillusioned by how humanity’s corruption worsened, constant changes in what was good and right to the point that grey areas were created. The grey area really drove him nuts. New pupils to teach and paramours changing every century…” She lowered her head. “He takes pride that I’m his greatest pupil. He encouraged decades of studying to perfect my magic. He hates my guts.”

 “And that’s the part I still don’t understand. Is he doing what he did to you because of something you did or…” Steve got his answer through Kory’s expression. “Son of a gun. He hates Loki that much?”

 “Loki? Nah.” Kory scoffed. “Anubis is just one of the weird list of exes my father has, nearly three-quarters of them being psychopaths. And Loki is just one in so many immortals that Anubis got involved with. No, the Big Guy’s problem is with Odin. Asgard.” Kory pointed at the ceiling. “I hate to sound like a jerk, but you have to realize Steve that while most immortals either ceased to exist or had their views twisted by immortals, the Asgardians and the other ‘Nordic’ gods stayed on their own little clouds.” She air-quoted. “They come and go for their wars and any small visit they make on Earth is either a quick quest for glorified attention or a passing fling. They live on their own paradise.”

 “They blame Asgard for doing nothing.” That was a topic that Steve was all too familiar with during the war.

 “Wouldn’t you? They have the tendency to be self-entitled and opinionated about other species. Odin had no problem going to war with other nations when he ‘united’ the Nine Realms. And sure, some Frost Giants in Jotunheim were actually nasty, but it was still Odin that instilled the whole ‘Frost Giants being evil monsters’ campaign, and trust me, dealing with that shit is bad enough coming from my perspective.”

 “I know. I’m sorry.” Steve apologized.

 “And to be fair, he left the Tesseract in my hometown after his last war with Laufey. You know, seventy years later, it still sounds like the dumbest rationale ever. ‘Hey, we just saved your town from outer space giants! Can you owe us big time by hiding this very dangerous glowing Rubix Cube in your town? Thanks!’” Steve chuckled a bit when Kory did a humorous interpretation. “Yeah. Asgard leaves the Tesseract. Humans try to exploit the powers of the Tesseract. Gods come and go. Odin banishes Thor. Loki goes on a mad rampage in his self-identity crisis. Aliens invade. And I’m here. So yes, to answer your original realization, I don’t like using my powers due to the branding I get for merely using them. Not to mention that they’re constant reminders of the life I lost.” She sighed. “My life was horrible then and now, but if I could reverse time so it never happened, I would. I mean, aren’t there moments, Steve, when you wonder how things could have been different if you had stayed in the 20^th century? The dame you brought up… Don’t you sometimes wonder how things could have been different if you had survived the crash, married the dame, and grow old together as you raised your own children?”

 When has Steve never thought about it? There were moments when he still cried in silence about how he missed out on everything. How he didn’t fit in with the new times. How everything in morality was twisted than it was back then. How even now, he was still certain that people preferred Captain America and not Steve Rogers. How he never got that dance with Peggy. He thought about it too many times.

 But there were still moments when he didn’t regret the present.

 “I guess. But if that had been the case, would I have ever met you?” Steve asked.

 His response earned a long silence from Kory and a large blush on her cheeks. “Steve…”

 “I mean, I’m not insinuating the impossibility…”

 “Of course not.”

 “But I don’t regret meeting you. I don’t regret our talks and how we met up. I don’t… regret any of it, even after everything.” Steve was stunned by how long he had to pause before finishing that sentence. He really did value whatever he had with Kory, despite the recent conflicts and discoveries. But what exactly did he have with Kory? Were they just friends? Acquaintances based on similar histories? Now that he thought of it… how different would have things been if he had never met Kory? Or even stranger, if he had but in a different time? Now his mind was trying to imagine how his life could have changed if he had actually met Kory before and during the war.

 What if… instead of Peggy, it had been Kory?

“Steve?” Kory’s concerned voice brought him back to his senses. “Is everything alright?”

 Before Steve could respond, repetitive knocking came from the other side of the door. “You guys done?” Aaricia’s voice practically shouted from the other side. “Because I don’t want this Chinese food to go cold and microwave heat it!”

 “Steve’s on his way, Aaricia.” Kory got up, quickly sniffed her sleeve, and cringed. “Eesh! I might have taken a swim in the Dead Sea! I’ll be with you in a few. I need to shower.”

 “Sure!” Steve got out of the room as fast as he could, the speed suggesting that he didn’t want to be caught in Kory’s private space. He headed to the kitchen, followed by a concerned Aaricia.

 “Is Kory alright?” Aaricia asked.

 “She’s fine…” Steve made himself a glass of water, which he quickly gulped.

 “OK. Then are you alright? You make me think of Kory when she freaked out just before Norway lost to Germany in the 2009 Women’s Euro semi-finals.” Steve started at Aaricia in confusion. “It’s a soccer tournament,” she explained.

 “I thought Kory was into winter sports.”

 “She is. Soccer is the one exception.” Aaricia shrugged. “Still, what gives?”

 “I don’t want to upset you, Aaricia. You’re a nice kid. But…” Steve took a deep breath. “I think I really like your sister. As more than friends.”

 The silence lasted a few seconds. Aaricia tried to keep a straight face, but she couldn’t hold in the eager squeal that came out of her smile. Small lightning bolts struck out, frying the nearby blender’s circuits.

 “YAY!” Aaricia raised her hands in the air. “Best news ever! I knew it!”

 “Wait, what?” Steve was confused.

 “God, Baseball Cap, I’m so happy to hear this!” She hugged him, causing him to wince when he realized that an excited hug from her gave him static shocks. “I mean, everybody could tell you two were cute together and Kory obviously likes you! But you liking her? YAY!”

 “Aaricia! You’re hurting me!”

 “Oops!” Aaricia gave him space. When she saw him cringing from the remaining static, she went through the cupboards and found a bottle of liquid aloe vera. “So… did you tell Kory?”

 “I only realized it now. Besides, I can’t just waltz in and say I like her.” Steve rolled up his sleeve and used the aloe vera on his arm. “And I know nothing about women.”

 “Good thing I do.” Aaricia hopped on the nearest. “Well, I know about the things that can tug the strings of her sensitive side. Just stay away from the clichéd stuff and you’re good. I mean, you already nailed it with the flowers. People these days always go for roses. Like Kory says, roses are an overrated capitalist icon.”

 “I still don’t think I’m her type. I mean, wasn’t Abimbola her true love?” Steve was done putting aloe vera on his arms when Aaricia nearly zapped him on the forehead with a small bolt. “Are you crazy?”

 “Man, for a guy who was way ahead in the 40s, you’re clueless! Kory’s a biromantic asexual! She’s has no sexual attraction preferences, but romantic attraction wise, it’s very wide open. Seriously, Steve, you need to read the Internet more often, otherwise you’re going to accidentally offend some people. Besides, true love is something invented by animation studios that try to profit on kids’ innocence so parents will buy more toys!”

 “Another thing that Kory said?” Steve guessed.

 “Yup.” Aaricia leaned in on the counter. “Look. Case in point, you have a fair shot. You’re awfully nice, and if I can say this without saying too much, you’ve obviously impacted. She sees you as you are, and as much as she tries to push you away, it’s how she tells people that she really cares about that she doesn’t want to hurt them. I mean, the Big Guy hit her just because she refused to exploit you. So, keep it up, approach her with your usual Steve self, and if we’re all alive by Passover… You get the picture.”

 Steve blinked. Did he get the picture? He wasn’t so sure anymore. After all. Peggy and Kory weren’t exactly the same… Why did he even think like that?

 “Hey, Steve? Can I quickly ask you something?” Aaricia interrupted him from his thoughts.

 “Uh… sure?”

 “Was it just me or did Kory sound rather ‘mood-lifted’ when I knocked at the door?” Aaricia was looking at her phone. “Maui just texted me that she threw a scene upstairs before coming down.” As if to emphasize her point, she showed to Steve the text on her screen.

K GIRL TOSSED GOLDILOCKS AROUND. GAVE A SPEECH ABOUT HOW WE ALL SUCKED. SELF-IMPOSED SOLITUDE RADAR WARNING.

“Self-imposed solitude radar warning?” Steve asked.

“It means that whatever happened upstairs pushed Kory. Everything is becoming too much for her. And when things become too much for her, she puts herself in exile in Norway,” Aaricia explained. “After her failed suicide attempt, Kory refused to leave her house after the war ended. For 3 years. And in 2000, something bad happened. So bad that neither Maui nor Bacchus know what the heck it was. It was so traumatizing to her that she didn’t leave her house for 5 years.”

 “5 years?” Steve gasped.

 “She didn’t even take her one hour long drives to the synagogue in Oslo. Did all her business, taxes, groceries, and therapy calls online. She didn’t even talk to the guys or the Frost Giants from the Jotunheimen Clan. She only stepped out of the house in 2005… when she met me. And after that, she worked on being more involved but she’s tried avoiding doing anything for the Big Guy besides babysitting the triplets.” Aaricia put her phone away. “You got to do something, Steve. Jotunheim, Asgard, Loki, the Avengers, SHIELD… I don’t want to imagine the idea that I could be thirty by the time Kory steps out of another period of solitary confinement.”

 “I will. I promise,” Steve said, a determined look on his face. He checked the doorway again. “Aaricia, this might sound dumb, but I’m getting a weird feeling about Kory’s pendant. You know, the one with the wolf head? I’ve seen her wear it all the time since I woke up in Anubis’ house and now she shoved it in her coat’s pocket.”

 “I knew that trinket was pure evil!” Aaricia hissed venomously. “She never wears it back home or anywhere else unless she’s near the Big Guy! And he went back to DC to check on Marion and the kids!”

 “Did he give it to her?”

 “I think he gives everyone he deals with a trinket. And he puts his pupils’ teeth on his necklace.” Aaricia shuddered. “I’ve gone through Kory’s jewelry box and that pendant is fishy. It doesn’t have any prints like ‘Made In China’ and it’s not priceless like whatever jewelry she has left from her mom or that she buys online. I remember the first time I tried borrowing it, she freaked out and said only she could wear it around the Big Guy!”

 Steve scowled, not liking where this was going. “Aaricia, I’m going to ask you to be honest with me. I’ve seen the way Anubis treats Kory and I don’t think that’s the way he should behave for somebody who’s supposed to protect her. But… do you think Anubis would use that piece of jewelry to influence her? It could be just me, but she seemed more violent when she had it…”

 “Nah, I agree with you. Why do you think she didn’t wear it when you two first hung out? I think you’re right as day.”

 “But what would be his reasoning?”

 “Obviously to bite back at Loki. Sure, Anubis has had his shares of lousy exes before he got hitched with Marion, but you saw the way he threatens the Frost Giants. And he HATES the House of Odin with a passion!” Aaricia tapped her fingers on the counter. “You know, there are times when I question whether or not Odin really wanted Kory dead as a baby. I mean, I could understand not wanting Loki to discover his heritage through the birth of his demigod offspring, but killing a baby? As lousy as he sounds, he still spared Loki himself as a baby. I never bring this up, but I wonder if Anubis invented that story about Odin asking him to kill Kory…”

 “I don’t know if we’ll get answers for that, but if what you say is true, I got to get that necklace off her! But I can’t just put my hands in her coat pocket! That would be inappropriate!”

 “Trust me, I’d gladly pickpocket for you, but Kory guards that coat like an American millionaire guards his finances in a Swiss bank account! That coat never gets out of her sight, not just because of its liquid nitrogen system, but because it’s the last gift she ever got from her mom. She even sleeps with it. I mean, the only times she doesn’t wear it are when we go to the synagogue, when she has to clean the house, when she goes dancing, or…” Aaricia interrupted herself when she heard high-heeled footsteps. She gestured Steve and the two immediately grabbed plates. Just as Kory stepped in, Aaricia was putting veggie dumplings on her plate. “So, Steve! Since you were from the 40s, does that mean you’ve heard of the Brooklyn Dodgers?”

 “Heard of them? I saw them!” Though Steve tried to play along, part of him was excited on the new conversation topic. “I went to one of their games back in 1941. You know, when I first woke up in this century, SHIELD tried to break it slowly by putting me in a fake 1940s New York City recovery room. I knew something was wrong when they put that same game on a radio.”

 “That’s creepy.” Kory opened up a container of fried rice.

 “That’s creepy?” Aaricia rolled her eyes at her sister. “You’re a 92-years-old Snow Queen who lives with an electric lab rat and a giant dog, is associated with the demigods of rager fests and rugby, knows nearly every single Ozzy Osbourne songs on the planet, and managed to do crazy stunts that not only you won’t tell me but you flipped off the TVA, and you think that broadcasting inaccuracy is the creepiest thing?”

 “You tell that to the same Snow Queen who had enough decades to be music obsessed.” Kory sat down after filling up her plate.

 “Right.” Aaricia smirked. “Kory’s Faves. Perhaps the biggest compilation of music piled up in duplicated tapes varying from records to iPhone.” Her eyes beamed and she suddenly ran out the kitchen. “I saw a gramophone in the living room! I’ll be right back!”

 “Aaricia, wait! My 1940s gramophone might be too heavy…” Unfortunately, Steve’s words fell into deaf ears. Kory merely ate from her plate as she watched the scene with an unsurprised look on her face.

 “You were in the war bonds propaganda films in the war, right?” Kory casually asked.

 “Yes. The Star-Spangled Man With A Plan.” Steve rolled his eyes. “A year wasted.”

 “I did see those films. For a soldier who saved lives and makes rousing speeches, you’re an awful actor.”

 Steve stared at her amused face. He chuckled a bit in shared sentiment. “I had the script taped at the back of the shield.”

 “I think I heard a recording of your theatrical musicals. You never sang.”

 “I was bad at speeches, you expected me to be an amazing singer?” Steve said. “What about you? I know you were trained in ballet and ice skating. But what about you? You’re a music fan.”

 “Well, when you live to witness the evolution of musical arts, obviously.” Kory ate a whole fish dumpling. “I mean, Norway has its shares, but the world had its own shares. And before you ask, yes, I do sing and dance, and no, I don’t like singing.”

 “Bad at it?”

 “I wish! Bok choy?” Kory offered the container to Steve, who gladly accepted it and put some on his plate before giving it back to Kory, who immediately put a good chunk on her plate. The demigoddess had quite the appetite. “I grew up reciting and singing prayers, the Norwegian anthem… and of course, when the whole awakening thing happened… You know, daughter of the silver-tongued god…”

 “Craftiness in language, huh?” Steve guessed.

 “I swear, I beat Bacchus to a bet by drinking water from the River Styx so I can’t lie. Ask me to lie.”

 “Uh… can you lie to me about your favorite color?”

 “Gre… gre.. green… GAAH!” Kory fell off her stool. The veins on her cheeks and throat glowed in ugly grey hues, causing her appearance to glitch between her two different forms. Panicked, Steve rushed to cradle her before she finally screamed. “IT’S BLUE, ALRIGHT? I LOVE BLUE MORE THAN ANYTHING! THE FJORD WATERS! THE SKY! MY JOTUN COMPLEXION! THE EIFFEL 65 SONG! NEARLY EVERY SINGLE VEHICLE I HAVE IS BLUE! WHEN I WATCH NASCAR, I ALWAYS ROOT FOR THE BLUE CARS! I REALLY LIKE THE COLOR OF YOUR EYES BECAUSE OF HOW THE BLUE MAKES ME THINK OF SUNLIGHT UNDER FJORD WATERS!”

 “Kory…”

 “What happened?” Aaricia rushed in the room.

 “She tried to lie.”

 “Oy vey. Come on, let’s take her to the couch. Help her take her coat off.”

 “My coat stays…” Kory managed to hiss coldly in her weak state.

 “With how you’re sweating, you’ll either break the liquid nitrogen system or you’ll ruin the fur!” As Steve helped Kory up, Aaricia pulled the coat off Kory with a better ease than a matador pulling a red cape away from a bull. “Relax, I’ll just hang it in the closet of your room.” Aaricia turned to leave. As she did, Steve managed to spot her going quickly through the coat’s pocket and successfully pull out the wolf pendant before hiding it in the pocket of her vest. Steve took his cue and picked Kory in his arms, carrying her to the living room. Very much like the rest of his level, it was designed after the 1940s interior design. Half of the walls were painted beige while the other half bared a wallpaper with subtle flower patterns, a carpeted floor, side tables holding lamps, flowerpots, and a gramophone playing Hoagy Carmichael’s ‘Stardust’, bookshelves full of war and history books, maroon-colored armchairs and couch, and a fireplace. Obviously, the fire in the fireplace was artificial and Stark had insisted on putting a widescreen TV on top of it.

 Steve gently placed Kory on the couch, but her sitting position was rather lousy. She had trouble sitting up straight. “I want my coat…” She groaned miserably as Steve sat next story. Kory gave in to the weakness of her body and dropped, the back of her head landing on Steve’s lap.

 “Uh, Kory?” Steve didn’t know what to make of that awkward position.

 “I want my coat… I want my mother…” Kory continued miserably. “The only person in the world who never treated me like a crap was my mother. Jeg vil ha moren min.” (I want my mother.)

 Steve sighed. Out of some strange impulse, he stroked Kory’s hair. Besides his mother, he never dared to touch a woman’s mane. And Kory’s was almost silkier than cloth. Her magenta streak seemed to send tingles as he stroked through. Almost as if it knew what he was doing. His gestured seemed to calm down Kory, who sighed through her sad expression.

 “My mother did that to me when I came back home beaten up,” Steve said quietly.

 Kory chuckled a bit. “Your mother must have been my mother’s American equivalent. She did the same… when I came back hurt, with a black eye, or tears because I was lonely. The adults in Tønsberg had convinced their kids to not be my friend.”

 “Bucky was my only friend. He stuck with me to the end before and after the serum. And I failed him.”

 Kory said nothing. Before Steve could stroke her again, Kory’s hand suddenly held his, keeping it close to her heart as both of her hands held his hand. Steve felt the small cold from her skin, like soft snow in December.

 “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine what it’s like losing a best friend.” She sighed.

 “It’s alright.”

 “Steve.” The demigoddess shifted a bit so her green eyes met his blue ones. “Had things really been different… If we had actually somehow known each other before or during the war, do you think we would have still been friends?”

 The question was so similar to what they had talked about in Kory’s room. Deep down, Steve really wanted to believe in the possibility of them being friends in the previous century but he still didn’t know how it could have been different now that he realized he had deeper feelings for the demigoddess. How would things have been different? If they had been kids, growing up together in either Brooklyn or Tønsberg? If maybe… This part really stung him, considering his own experiences with Peggy and Kory’s with Abimbola, but what if… What if he had the current feeling for Kory back in the 40s? Would he have saved her? Protected her like he did now despite her being the most likely to outlive him? Or worse, what if she endured the same thing Peggy did when Steve fell into the Arctic, and she wasn’t able to move on the same way she still couldn’t?

 “I don’t know how things could have been different.” Steve slipped his hand from her grip and held her in his arms, keeping her somewhat seated while her head now rested on his chest. “I can’t change the past. But now? I know I want to keep you safe.”

 “Because it’s Captain America’s duty to protect,” Kory said flatly.

 “No. Because I’m your friend. I worry about you. I…” Steve held himself back from saying the ‘l’ word, switching words. “I really care about you, Kory.”

 He didn’t know if it was his choice of words, but he felt Kory stiffen against him. She straightened up, still sitting, and glared at him. “No… You can’t…” She paced herself away from him. “Not again…”

 “Kory, I don’t…”

 “Don’t, Steve. Just don’t…” Kory stood in the living room, turning her back on him to hide her crossing arms and tears appearing.

 “Kory, I don’t want to see you get hurt…” Steve got up and put his hands on her shoulders, goading her to turn and look at him. “Why won’t you trust me?”

 “You still don’t get it?” Kory choked. “I thought I was obvious… Steve, I trust you since day one! I know how sweet and kind you are! It’s me I don’t trust… The only people who weren’t absolute jerks and really cared about me all died because of me. I can’t trust myself… because if you got hurt or killed because of me…” She gave in and cried. “I can’t… My little sister, I can trust since she can protect herself and she can easily do without me. But…”

 “Nothing will happen to me because of you, Kory.” Steve hugged Kory, who shook a lot in his grasp. “I promise I’ll be there for you. If you don’t want me to, just say so. I don’t want what happened today to happen again.”

 “Neither do I.” Kory sniffed. “But I can’t just trust your words…”

 “Then don’t trust my words. Trust in me.” Steve gently placed his hand to lift up Kory’s chin so she could look up at him. “You know me. You know I’d do anything for you, right?”

 “I know,” she sighed as Steve’s spare hand wiped off her tear.

 “Then just trust in me that I’ll keep you safe.” He held her so that their foreheads practically met.

 “Don’t make me regret my choice…”

At the same time

Aaricia hummed to herself as she headed back to the living room. The coat was in Kory’s room and the pendant of malice was in a plastic bag stashed in her own room. Now she had to go check on Kory, especially since the latter was probably eager to go back in bed.

 Aaricia just reached the doorway to the living room when she silently halted in her tracks. The scene she saw was probably not what she expected at the end of a week, but it was so delightful to her that she had to cover her mouth with her hands,

 She managed to keep her excited squeal to herself as she saw her sister returning a kiss from Steve Rogers.

Chapter Text

If anything, Aaricia had things going just right for her.

 In less than a day, not only had Steve Rogers dared to hit Anubis, but he had actually listened to the electric teenager’s advice on how to positively approach her sister. It worked and she had the best news ever when Steve admitted to liking her sister.

 As if it wasn’t obvious enough that Kory was in denial when it came to her own sentiments for the super-soldier. Then they managed to snatch that pendant, which Aaricia still had in a plastic bag hidden in her room. Kory had agreed to join Steve on his morning jog at Central and the two would go grocery shopping before the Frost Giant chiefs came in for the meeting. (Lesson learned by Aaricia: when Frost Giants chiefs are chummy enough with one another, they host potlucks during their meetings, so get ready to feed eleven Frost Giants that each eat for nine people.) So, while these two went out, Aaricia ‘volunteered’ to stay pack to keep an eye on the others, when in reality, she had plans on asking Banner to have a look at the pendant of evil.

 And there was another Jotun that she wanted to meet with.

 This definitely was her plan.

 Of course, she had to hope things would work. Around 3am, way before Kory and Steve had to leave, Kory had gotten into Aaricia’s room and awakened her.

 “Aaricia, I think I experienced a hallucination while awake. I didn’t sleep. I just laid on my bed staring at the ceiling,” a somewhat freaked out Kory had said. “Was it a dream, a nightmare, or an actual mistake? Did I… kiss Steve?”

 “Man, I envy God and his seemingly permanent all-nighter existence…” Aaricia had yawned and refused to sit up on her bed. “He did it because he likes you. You like him. Get over it…”

 “Get over it? Steve’s too nice for me!” Kory had quietly hissed before shaking Aaricia. “And liking me lead to Abimbola dying! What is wrong with me?”

 “Get over yourself!” Aaricia had pushed Kory to keep her from shaking the teenager. “Just do stuff with him, take it slow… and let me sleep… I’m sixteen…” To that, Aaricia had dropped her head back on her pillow and fell asleep. When she had woken up around 6:30am for, Kory had left a note by the nightstand, confirming she and Steve had left. Just as she got up and stretched, her iPhone vibrated on the table with a text from her own account on WORLDBUDDIES.

YOKAIGIRL1995: Sister out of the tower yet?

Aaricia texted back.

ZZZAXROCKS1997: Out jogging and shopping with the ‘American Dreamboat’. Definitely back before the chief meeting and potluck.

YOKAIGIRL1995: :D

YOKAIGIRL1995: Be here at 7 with breakfast. You got something to soften my landing?

ZZZAXROCKS1997: Use an elevator for once.

YOKAIGIRL1995: Love ya too. See ya in a bit.

Aaricia rolled her eyes. Her connection really had a thing for making dramatic entrances. She put on her suit for the day: her Union Jack blazer, a black turtleneck with matching miniskirt, magenta-and-blue striped leggings, and her checkered sneakers accompanied by small yellow socks. After tying her long blonde locks in a ponytail, Aaricia walked towards the nearest screen on a wall animated by Stark’s more-than-entertaining A.I.

 “Good morning, Ms. Ikolson. Is there anything you need help with?”J.A.R.V.I.S spoke up.

 “Sure thing, Jeeves.” Aaricia leaned against the wall. “Is there any chance that the Avengers Tower has a massive mattress like, say, double the Queen-size, very soft but still sensitive to static electricity, and close enough to that helicopter-landing space the balcony has?”

 “Dr. Banner’s level is at the same level as the landing area and his mattress is big enough should the Hulk sleep in. Why do you ask?”

 Aaricia gave her answer to J.A.R.V.I.S by sinking her fingers into the screen. Bolts of orange electricity grew and crackled around the walls. The teenager felt her body slipping through the wires and electricity until she found herself materializing on the balcony. Just then, a window was destroyed and Aaricia caught the flying giant mattress after making a jump to catch it. She then started moving around at lightning speed, using a blue spray paint bottle to mark X signs on the balcony, the windows, and the helicopter-landing space.

 “WHAT THE HELL?” Aaricia looked to see Dr. Banner, already dressed up but with messy hair, looking over the broken window. “Aaricia, what are you doing?”

 “Using the Hulk’s mattress and triangulation to soften the landing of someone moving in at typhoon speed,” Aaricia said matter-of-factly. “What time is it?”

 “6:55. Why?”

 “You might want to hit the deck, Doc!” Just as Aaricia shouted that, the wind was becoming agitated. Something was coming in from the East at lightning speed, pushing the winds away from its direction. When Aaricia saw the comet-like thing approaching, she positioned herself, steadied her hold on the mattress, and tossed it in the air. The thing landed on the mattress, dropping a couple plastic bags in the process. Aaricia jumped, grabbed the bags, and landed on the X sign she had sprayed on the balcony. The thing forced the mattress to land on the X signs on the window, shocking Dr. Banner as he realized that the thing landing on his mattress as actually a teenager. The teenager bounced off the mattress, leaving it to fall a hundred miles down as she flew towards the helicopter-landing space, landing on her feet and causing some scratching sounds as her shoes slid on the surface. She landed perfectly straight.

 The teenager jumped away from the helicopter-landing space and onto the balcony, facing Aaricia. She was about seven-feet-tall, nearly the same height as a bear standing up, though that could have been due to her black wedge sneakers that constantly made taiko drum beating noises every time she put her foot down. Her pants were torn and had black-and-white vertical stripes, her white sweatshirt was big enough to hide her figure but lacked sleeves, and her black hair was cut just below her ears and dyed in numerous shades of pink from the middle to the tips. Her bare arms revealed tattoos, her left one representing some Japanese mythological figure beating drums and summoning lighting and the right one showing a female samurai leading an army. Despite the cloudy sky, her sky-blue skin and red eyes stood out.

 “6:59. You’re one minute early,” Aaricia pointed out casually.

 “Kuso!” The Japanese Frost Giant teenager cursed. (Fuck!) “I was aiming for 5 seconds early.”

 Aaricia pried the plastic bags open and sniffed. “Pancakes… chocolate chip and strawberries. Maple syrup. Turkey sausages. Hot peppermint tea. You remembered.” She let out a big grin.

 “For you? Anything. I still find it a miracle that I was able to find a decent immortal pancake house in Manhattan. You realize that some lowlife immortals have the audacity of drugging their clients’ food in America?”

 “Yeah, well, so far I haven’t really met a decent American immortal…” Before Aaricia could continue, Banner had opened the door to the balcony.

 “Aaricia, get in here this instant! It’s getting too windy!”

 “In a minute!” Carrying the plastic bags, Aaricia led the Japanese Frost Giant teenager out of the balcony and into the main floor of the higher levels. Banner had his arms crossed and gave her an expecting glare. “I’m sorry for the mattress, Doc. I had to use it to soften Tomoe’s landing. She’s rather bad at landing.”

 “You could have ended it at ‘I’m sorry for the mattress, Doc’!” Tomoe frowned. “I had to deal with the bills the other chiefs sent me every time I accidentally broke their property just for landing.”

 “Other chiefs… Wait.” Banner was confused. “You’re one of the Frost Giant chiefs?”

 “Tomoe Fubuki.” Tomoe bowed in greeting. “Chief of the Rikubetsu Clan in Japan. Descendant of Tomoe Gozen, the legendary mortal female samurai, and Raijin, the god of thunder.” She quickly glanced at the window. “Ironic, I know. I’m probably the only Frost Giant who can summon both ice and lightning and fly, but Aaricia’s right. I’m bad at landing.”

 “Not to sound rude, but… How old are you?”

 “18. Why?”

 “I think he asks that because so far, most of the Frost Giant chiefs the Avengers know are older than they look,” Aaricia said as she put the plastic bags on a coffee table.

 “Yueqiu-Bing is 50 and she looks her age.” Tomoe frowned.

 “So I’ve heard…”

 “So you’re literally a teenager?” Banner was still shocked. Tomoe rolled her eyes. In a matter of seconds, her sky-blue skin and red eyes changed into warmer hues and dark eyes respectively and Banner was now facing a human Japanese teenager. Her arms’ tattoos received darker, saturated hues to stand out.

 “I am 18, I look like I’m 18, and I have every hormonal problem that comes with being a teenager! Jeez!” Tomoe rolled her eyes and walked to the coffee table, taking off her sneakers before kneeling on the ground by the table, Aaricia imitating her. “Babe, could you pass me pumpkin muffins?”

 “How many of those did you order?” Aaricia pulled out a carton box, her eyes widening. “45 mini muffins?”

 “What? It’s good!” Tomoe said defensively. Aaricia passed her the box and the teenage Frost Giantess began taking 25 mini muffins. Still perplexed by the situation, Banner sat on one of the nearby chairs as the teenagers ate breakfast.

 “Now I’m really confused…” Banner admitted. “Aaricia, is Tomoe one of Kory’s allies or she just your friend? And if it’s the latter, I’m definitely curious as to how you’re friends with the Japanese Frost Giant chief and you had to wait until Kory was out to bring her over.”

 “Frankly, I’m only associated to Koryanna Ikolson because my parents are on fine terms in her. Especially my mom.” Tomoe took a sip of her own herbal tea. “They met in 1985 after some crazy man-hating, bloodthirsty Amazons managed to kidnap Kory. Since Amazon lands are forbidden to males, they get killed on sight, so ‘the Big Guy’,” Tomoe air-quoted, causing Aaricia to almost choke on her pancake in laughter, “had to ask nearly all the lady Frost Giant chiefs to interfere. Long story short, it was probably one of the most glorious warrior women battle in history, there are no more Amazons in Corsica, and Koryanna’s phone number is on my mom’s list of contacts. It’s kinda sad since… well… Aaricia, you want to put nicely? I don’t think I have the nice words?”

 “My sister has zero social life. She only interacts with the Frost Giant clans when she feels like she has to. I had to push Kory into joining WORLDBUDDIES to make friends.” Aaricia made the list. “By the way, thanks for the suggestion, Tomoe.”

 “Eh, it was no biggie.” Tomoe shrugged. “After all, my family invented the app.”

 “Given that Yueqiu-Bing is into cryokinetic technology, I’m guessing that you invested in technological domains as well?” Banner asked. When Tomoe offered him a mini muffin, he gladly accepted it.

 “Robots, video games, social media networks, or any tech where we can use cold power or liquid nitrogen to our advantage.” The teenager nodded. “And given that my maternal side of the family is descended from the Japanese thunder god Raijin, we own the biggest electrical power plant in all the Frost Giant communities.”

 “I couldn’t help but notice. Why do the Frost Giants chiefs on Earth, creatures from Nordic mythology, happen to be descended from legendary humans or gods from the local cultures?”

 “Excellent question, it’s just pure dumb luck!” Tomoe chuckled. “I mean, there was the whole Frost Giants from Jotunheim who managed to stay on Earth since the 900s while the rest of Laufey’s people went on war with Asgard. And then there was the faction creation that separated the gammeldag from the nybergynnere. The gammeldag faction was pushed and exiled to Antarctica, the one coldest landmass to never be occupied by humans…”

 “Right. Because of how these two factions have separate opinions about mixing with humans.” Banner nodded.

 “And then the nybergynnere had to leave Norway.”

 “But Norway is awesome!” Aaricia frowned.

 “I don’t disagree with you, but Norway is a small country.”

 “Uh, isn’t Japan…”

 Wanting to avoid hearing Aaricia make a potentially offensive remark, Banner took over. “So, because of the reproductions with humans, Frost Giants began to overpopulate. They wanted to go to other countries,” he said.

 “Yep. And obviously, we went to the cold areas of the world.” The food was finished, Tomoe snapped her fingers and the remaining junk suddenly disintegrated, curtesy of tiny yokai-shaped lightning bolts popping from Tomoe’s fingers. Once the lightning disappeared, she blew at the remaining ash, causing it to fly in swirls towards the nearest trash bins.

 “But traveling must have been challenging.” Banner was amazed by what he had just seen. “Did Frost Giants have the technology Asgardians have for teleportation? Because traveling around the world by foot could have cost your ancestors to suffer from heat exhaustion if they traveled for years…” He stopped talking when Tomoe started beating her hands on the coffee table in a drumming rhythm. Frost grew from her tips, spreading all over the table and causing a miniature ice sculpture of a tree to grow. It stopped when it could stand on its roots and spread-out thick branches. 8 orbs settled themselves to be impaled by the branches and roots while a 9^th was impaled at the center of the tree.

 “Neat reproduction of Yggdrasil the Tree of Life, Tomoe,” Aaricia complimented.

 “Been practicing for the elementary school guest lectures.” Tomoe smirked. She poked her finger into the ice bark, causing lightning bolts to move within the bark. They flowed through the orbs in the branches and trees but intertwined into a mashed-up pile of snakes in the central orb. “Babe? A little touch?”

 Aaricia nodded and snapped some rainbow lightning at the tree. Soon enough, they flowed in to match Tomoe’s lightning movements. Each colored lightning bolt was connected to an orb and flowing towards the central orb, nearly creating a rainbow net.

 “Is that a network of energy currents intertwining in one general relativity core?” Banner bent down for a better look.

 “The Tree of Life is a general concept to explain the connection of the Nine Realms in the universe,” Tomoe explained. “Technically speaking, it does exist, but the whole tree thing was the best way to explain to primitives at the time that Yggdrasil is actually a network of Einstein-Rosen bridges. It doesn’t teleport to other realms the way the Bifrost does, but these bridges form ‘currents’ for magic to flow from the other realms to Earth. Given that Earth is literally the heart of Yggdrasil, the magic of the other realms will flow from the ‘branches’ and ‘roots’ to mix up.”

  “As if the tree’s central bark, cambium, sapwood, and heartwood were twisted up due to the mixing magic coming from the other realms.” Aaricia nodded.

 “Can you enlarge this?” Banner asked. Tomoe clenched her fist and managed to enlarge the ice-and-lightning sculpture until it reached the ceiling, crushing the coffee table, but Banner didn’t care as he got to see a more detailed, enlarged depiction of Earth with the intertwined rainbow bolts covering the planet like a ball of yarn. “So you use the blue lightning to show the magical energy that comes in from the Einstein-Rosen bridge that connects Jotunheim to Earth. If I’m understanding this, the tree’s pith is literally on Norway, but because Earth is the heart of the Nine Realms… The intertwining causes the magic to cover the world…” He squinted to have a better look at the blue lightning energy going through Norway. “The Jotunheimen is here… So, your clans are specifically located where the flux of energy coming in from Jotunheim are located. In a strange sense, the clans are located… where the Frost Giants have the closest connections to their home world.”

 “Literal branches with Jotun magic. Yep,” Tomoe said. “All our ancestors had to do was to follow the branches and use their magic for safe passages. So yeah, if they were walking, sticking to the trails protected them from the heat. Many clans were formed in Europe, Asia, and some bits in the Middle East, simply by foot, but the Americas was a whole other story. American Frost Giants came in either from Russia using the Bering Strait or by boat when Leif Erikson sailed to America.”

 “And your clan is based in the one area in Japan where you’re connected to the ‘branch from Jotunheim’. I suppose that makes sense.” Banner polished his glasses a bit when his lenses picked up some frost. “But I still don’t understand why the clans decided to adopt the local cultures?”

 “Bias confusion or because of the general human bullshit of white heterosexual guys conquering everything, killing everyone, and forcing locals to adopt their perspectives?” Tomoe asked.

 “Both… I guess?”

 “Did I just miss out on some kind of high school science fair?” Banner, Aaricia, and Tomoe got up when they saw Tony Stark come in, followed by Thor and Natasha. “Seriously, how many more teenagers are going to break into my tower?”

 “I was invited. I’m just hours early for the meeting.” Tomoe shrugged.

 “She’s the chieftess of the Japanese Frost Giants,” Banner told Tony.

 “You must be kidding… OW!” Tony’s scoffing was interrupted when Tomoe turned into her Frost Giantess form and snapped her fingers, causing a lightning bolt to fly towards his chest and for his arc reactor to send out to his body mixed signals of electrocution and cold shock waves. “OW! Man, that was cold!” He panted when the pain stopped.

 “Ice is just frozen H2O that can become a more proliferating conductor for electricity,” Tomoe rolled her eyes. “Quit mocking and start respecting nature.”

 “Lightning and ice…” Thor was awed before noticing the ice tree with internal electricity and then Tomoe’s tattoos. “Raijin? I’ve heard of him. You are his descendant?”

 “Yeah, don’t wear it out.” Tomoe shrugged. “And yeah, I was among the chiefs who tried to maul Loki back in DC. It’s nothing personal. We really don’t like him. Frost Giants don’t like Asgardians.”

 “I can understand.” Thor nodded.

 “My ancestors’ autobiographies constantly described your people as self-centered, over-competitive, bloodthirsty demons. I’m going to do my best to stay clear of biases, but my parents would try to kill me again if I was friends with you, so I’m going to be very disrespectful in the most diplomatic way possible. You know, since I’m in the same building as the guy who also has the same capacities as me to create a blackout.”

 “That is probably the kindest insult I ever heard,” Thor smirked in amusement.

 “Been workshopping.”

 “And remind me again, you’re here… why?” Tony frowned as he checked his arc reactor.

 “Just to spend time with Aaricia.”

 “Didn’t your sister forbid you from flirting with the heirs of the clans?” Natasha asked Aaricia.

 “Her fault, not mine.” Aaricia pointed at Tomoe.

 “Not disagreeing there.” Tomoe paced around the floor a bit. “My family was visiting Ingrid Aybeer and her son Axel at the Jotunheimen Clan when Kory had to introduce Aaricia to the clan after adopting her. Even though she has no ‘legal citizenship’ with the communities, Kory still had to follow protocols when it comes to immortals adopting mortal children.”

 “There are protocols for that?” Banner asked.

 “Man, you guys really see us as savages.” Tomoe crossed her arms. “Of course there’s protocols! Introducing mortals to an immortal community is basically trusting them to assimilate and protect the community! What, you think we waltz around kidnapping mortals just for reproduction? No, they come willingly! It’s a matter of bureaucracy! We even have protocols for handling humans who try to force their way in!”
 “Force their way in?”

 “Invade the clan borders, physical aggression on immortals, or desires to exploit the resources,” Aaricia listed. “You know, like the way SHIELD barges in, claiming alien relics as their own and experimenting on them to make weapons without caring that they could provoke gods?”

 “And as backwards and controversial as it sounds, mortals with negative intentions against the clans face the protocoled punishments: retribution via experimentation, discrimination, and, at worse, slave labor.”

 “And here we go…” Aaricia muttered when she saw the dark expressions appearing on the three Avengers’ faces.

 “You persecute humans?” Thor demanded. “As if they weren’t better than anything else than subjected servants?”

 “Because they treat humans as equals on your world?” Tomoe asked, a pinch of sass in her voice. “What? You thought that just because we mix we humans, we’re gonna trust them one-hundred percent even though humans got a track record of persecuting and murdering what they deem unfit for their society? We’re Frost Giants, not idiots. You think that if we fully trusted humans, Yueqiu-Bing and Joseph and the leaders of other larger clans would have force fields to protect their territories? My own clan is in a pocket dimension so unwanted humans don’t barge in!”

 “But if you have defenses to repel humans away, how do you manage to get them involved in your clans?” Banner asked. “Which leads back to my initial question of why you chiefs seem to be descended from gods or legendary humans.”

 “Dumb luck, really.”

 “Excuse me?”

 “It wasn’t in the original agenda, really.” Tomoe sat down on a couch. “When we started creating clans, we went for what we call appeasing assimilation.”

 “It’s like the reverse of when Asgardians, Europeans, or the general white male, Christian heterosexual conquerors try to show whose boss,” Aaricia said. “They come over, they conquer, they steal lands, and they tell the locals ‘Ya wanna survive? Then abandon your cultures, your faiths, and your languages in favor of ours. Ya know, because our society is better than yours.’”

 “Yep.” Tomoe gave Aaricia a fist bump. “While your type of people goes that way, we Frost Giants go for appeasing assimilation. We go, we interact with the locals, and we say ‘We want to settle here but we understand this is your land as well. Let’s talk it out. To prove to you that we can make this work, we will adapt to yoursetting, your culture, your language. We’ll work on rules that will make things work. Let’s walk through it so we can make some ground rules.’ So, yeah, cue the thousands of years of appeasing assimilation… And again, we didn’t plan out that chief quirk. It just happened where our ancestors managed to stumble on mortals who descended from great figure, and those traits just got stronger when said legacies mixed with the blood of the chiefs. And sometimes it’s not so much about blood heritage. I mean, Noah’s the Chief of the Israeli Clan, second one in a row, and he’s more of a spiritual descendant than a blood one.”

 An awkward silence of ten seconds lasted between everyone. “I know it’s too hard to believe, but don’t you have Avenger thingy stuff to do?” Tomoe asked.

 “I do, actually.” Thor started making his way to the door. “I must return to Asgard to discuss with my father. I want to hear his word on the matter. With what I have witnessed, I refuse to believe that he allowed such tragedies, even if it involves Loki. I don’t trust Anubis as my niece’s patron god.”

 “Wow.” Aaricia clapped her hands in a deadbeat rhythm. “Super Hammer finally joins the club.”

 “The guy’s a douchebag…” Tony muttered.

 “Douchebag? The guy acts like a stereotypical death god both for laughs and because he’s a sociopath!” Tomoe’s frustration caused the ice Yggdrasil sculpture to crumble into ice cubes. “I don’t know what stories you’ve heard, but none of the Frost Giant chiefs trust the last Egyptian god who so happens to be a death god and a pyromaniac. The chiefs coming over are those who REALLY don’t trust him, 25% for him being a douchebag and 100% for his grasp on Aaricia’s sister. Besides the Chitauri and Jotunheim problem, things are getting too out of hand; Noah insisted that we use the meeting to deal with that problem.”

 “If you saw a problem, then why didn’t you guys do anything about it?” Tony asked.

 “Cut me some slack, I’ve only been chief for two years! I’m still new at this!” Tomoe protested. “Anubis’ is 100% firepower. Captain America can tell you all about it, he was there when Anubis burned up the Italian Frost Giant chief! And Koryanna is also her own problem!” She turned apologetically to Aaricia. “No offense to you or your sis…”

 “Kory doesn’t have a problem? I was NEVER aware!” Aaricia gasped in mock sarcasm before scowling. “I’d have to be a moron for eight years straight to not notice that my sister’s skull is thicker than the iceberg that sank the Titanic. Speaking of thick heads, I wonder when Bacchus and Maui are coming back. Also, besides Ingrid and Noah, who else is coming?”

 “Yueqiu-Bing, OBVIOUSLY. Tragically, Nikoletta.” Tomoe gagged on the last one. “Yeah, you might want to dull out your senses when she comes, Avengers. Nikoletta can make things ugly when she uses her capacities.”

 “Internal frostbites?” Tony joked.

 “Just keep yourself safe!” Tomoe snapped. “You’re dealing with more Frost Giant chiefs: more capacities, more tricks, and anything that they’ll use to keep anyone who bugs them in line! Ingrid could strangle you with ice vines, Noah is the only one who could probably pull off any damn miracle…”

 “You with the lightning. You could easily put a virus on the Internet,” Aaricia pointed out.

 “Or hack someone’s private safe drive.” Tomoe nodded. “What else? Oh yeah, Yueqiu-Bing can easily manipulate somebody’s essence based on their zodiac signs ESPECIALLY on a full moon, Joseph controls anything aerial or voodoo, Cyril is a great healer but he’s also a spiritual medium, so piss him off and he could send some death spirits on you. Emma is also a green-thumb like Ingrid, but one yodel or one blown horn and she knocks out Manhattan. Otto’s a bit of a pacifist, but don’t underestimate him. Kunal’s an expert strategist. Gawain is another trickster Frost Giant like Koryanna, but he leans more towards the Fae and demonic. Speaking of demonic, be VERY careful with Nikoletta. That archer is deadly.”

 “Clearly she hasn’t met Clint,” Natasha smirked.

 “I’d personally prefer that Agent Barton doesn’t meet Nikoletta.” Tomoe grimaced. “She’s the only other Frost Giant hybrid oddball besides Koryanna. ¼ Jotun, ¼ human, and the remaining half succubus.”

 That put all the human Avengers on edge. Even Thor looked uneasy.

 “Oh, is she the one that Kory keeps calling a ‘grass snake pheromone stench, sin spreading bitch’?” Aaricia casually asked. “No wonder she doesn’t speak Swedish.”

 “Yeah, out of the batch, Koryanna’s probably more uncomfortable around Nikoletta. She can hit any target with her arrows, but her nastiest trick is when she soaks her arrows’ tips with any of her succubus aphrodisiacs,” Tomoe agreed. “My mother said that one time, when rock giants tried to invade the Kebnekaise Clan, all Nikoletta was shoot one of those arrows at the invaders’ leader and they all started getting tangled like male grass snakes fighting in dozens over a female.” The teenage chief shuddered. “Total orgy.”

 She and Aaricia both gagged.

 “I’d better wear my armor,” Tony started making his way to the lab.

 “The rock giants apparently said the same thing and their bodies are thicker than titanium!” Tomoe called out.

 “Still protecting myself!” The door closed behind Tony.

 “Huh. I’d say that if things were different, Loki would actually fit in well with those magically-talented Frost Giants,” Thor said.

 “Hardly. None of the Frost Giants on Earth-like him. My mother says that him just being a disguised Jotun raised by barbarian propaganda spreaders is a dishonor to his own species, doubly-so since he’s Laufey’s son.”

 “Must be a miracle for you and the chiefs to tolerate Kory then…” Natasha said.

 “Nah. Koryanna’s cool. Unless you force her to, she’s not much of a spotlight hoarder or power-hungry like her relatives. The others coming over either tolerate or like her. Any other chief that’s not invited is either a biased bitch or those who see her as a ticket to boost their clan’s rep.” Tomoe crossed her arms. “Yeah, definitely morons out there who actually think that her ‘princess’ title is really legit.”

 “I would have thought that ‘Princess of Mischief’ was her title, given that Loki is the God of Mischief…” Thor said.

 “Childhood nickname from her mom turned into an unwanted professional moniker.” Aaricia shrugged. “I mean, she’ll really get mischievous when you get on her nasty side. You saw the way she backstabbed Loki on Ellis Island. She’s even better than her old man when it comes to casting illusions. Hers are more physical and capable of direct attacks. When she cleans the house, her illusions help her get it done in 10 minutes. At the Upper Bay, she fought the gammeldags on her own but used an illusion to sneak up on Loki.”

 “So, she didn’t really try to kill him?” Thor asked, perhaps a bit too hopefully, since it caused Tomoe and Aaricia to laugh hysterically.

 “You’re hilarious!” Aaricia wiped away a tear of laughter. “Kory has no forgiveness towards Loki. Besides, along with the capacity of physical proactiveness, her illusions are also projections of her desires.”

 “Which means that obviously, Koryanna had the desire to kill him.” Tomoe’s eyes widened when she saw something howling in the balcony. “GREAT YOKAIS OF JAPAN, WHAT IS THAT?”

Chapter Text

Steve and Kory finally gave the jogging a break by the time more people started arriving in Central Park.

 It was a miracle that none of them had run out of breath after those 10 jogging laps they did, circumnavigating the entire park since dawn. It was already hard to believe how despite wearing heels, Kory still managed to keep up with Steve’s speed. She didn’t even slip when they made turns on trails. At one point, they ditched the trail for the greenery, which caused Steve to discover that Kory ran a whole lot faster over grass and through trees than she did on the cemented trail. It must have been around 9am when they finally decided to settle in a shaded spot by the Harlem Meer.

 “You’re impossibly fast!” Steve took deep breaths as they paused underneath a tree by the lake. Powdery snow covered bits of the grass. Kory grabbed some of the snow, rubbed it with her hands, and just like that, bottles full of liquid bottle appeared.

 “I’m a whole lot faster without them. Try jogging with me in the Taiga and you’d lose when we barely started,” Kory said. She handed him a bottle.

 “Thanks.” He uncorked it and took some sips, pleased by the cool temperature. Steve then noticed Kory’s perplexed look. “What?”

 “Nothing.”

 “Kory.”

 “I should probably just give up. Knowing you, you’ll keep insisting until I give in. Which ends up happening ALL the time.” Kory groaned.

 “Well, I can do this all day.” Steve shrugged.

 Kory rolled her eyes. “Evidently you can, Captain Stubborn-Head. Go promote that catchphrase, I’m sure it will sell out faster than the ‘I LOVE NY’ merchandise.” She sat on the grass. “You’re worse than Abimbola and Aaricia. Hopelessly stubborn. Always refusing to give up on me.”

 Steve sat down next to her. “I know it’s a… difficult topic for you, but what was she like? Abimbola? When you first met her?”

 “Hopelessly stubborn like you, but maybe a bit worse.” Kory sighed. “Insanely brave, a great warrior… and the kind of person who’d do anything for her country but who ends up turning her back against her government in favor of someone else. Very much like you, unfortunately. Except she wasn’t a super-soldier but a spy who infiltrated an underground Norwegian Resistance brigade…” She paused, to be careful with the words she chose, and pointed at Steve. “Your… government had their ways of acquiring vibranium from her country. They sent out spies to see how the Westerners might use it… If the spies might have to reclaim the vibranium. Abimbola was stationed in Scandinavia before the Axis Powers claimed it. Posing in the underground resistance was to gain further info on potential vibranium exploitation on any side. Fortunately, there was no vibranium in Scandinavia… Unfortunately, she met me.” She sighed again. “After the war ended, I personally went to the Wakandan Embassy in Oslo to deliver a consolidation letter to her family…” Tears escaped her eyes and began to freeze. Steve wiped them away for her gently.

 “Did it turn out alright?” He asked. “I mean, you got to keep her weapon.”

 Kory grimaced. “Yeah, the response was a bit ugly. They were annoyed that she was turning their back on them… but since it wasn’t an outright crime like leading unwanted invaders in their country or sell vibranium on the black market, they sent paperwork confirming that I could keep her weapon and that she’d receive a memorial as a war hero… Her family wasn’t enthusiastic about her leaving their country for a pagan demigoddess. I haven’t heard back from them since.”

 Steve nodded solemnly. “Bucky didn’t have other relatives besides his parents. They died before the war started. My mother died during the Great Depression, so we only had each other. Then he died…” He looked at Kory. “We’re really bad at keeping those we love alive, right?”

 “Sadly.” Kory tilted her head. “Though it’s highly likely that Aaricia’s better off.”

 “You’ll be better off…” Steve got shushed by Kory pressing her cold finger on his lips.

 “Don’t finish that. Especially if you want to convince me that you were sincere last night,” she warned him.

 “I always am.” He took her hand, planting a small kiss on it gallantly, causing Kory to blush. “Are you?”

 Kory blinked at him. Her green eyes then turned to the lake in front of them. She got up and raised her hands, a blue aura illuminating them as her skin turned blue. Something sparkled on the lake’s waters before a fog suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It covered them before dissolving. Steve and Kory were no longer in Central Park but in some sort of black-and-white mountainous forest under a dark night.

 “Kory, what is this?” Steve looked around. He was especially confused when he saw how he and Kory looked like colorful ghosts compared to the old picturesque forest.

 “A projection of my memory. After I ran away from home…” Kory pointed ahead of them. Steve noticed the ashamed expression on her face and looked at what she was pointing at. To his horror, what lied ahead was a black-and-white mass of ice. Not polished or perfectly smooth, but jagged and spiked. These spiked spears of ice were growing on the snowy ground, piercing through the stomach of what looked like World War II soldiers. Not just any soldiers, given how Steve recognized their uniforms’ symbols despite the colorless blood staining them.

 “HYDRA soldiers…” Steve gasped when he got closer and saw more than dozens of past HYDRA soldiers impaled by ice. He looked at Kory, who still looked ashamed. “You killed so many.”

 “I nearly killed a hundred. My powers were so uncontrollable…” Kory began before the gunshots interrupted her. She and Steve turned to the direction of the noises. Countless men were seen running in the forest, many were while some seemed to be carrying flamethrowers. To Steve’s shock, one of the soldiers shot a beam of a familiar blue hue towards a shadow running in the distance. Another soldier, a superior judging by the uniform, shot the shooter in question.

 “Idiots! Herr Schmidt wants the witch dead or alive, not disintegrated! Capture her!”

 “Red Skull did know about you!” Steve gasped. “How could he have known?”

 “The town drunkard, remember?” Kory said. In the memory, colossal shards of jagged ice grew from the ground, impaling to death another dozens of soldiers.

 “Kory, it was winter in Norway! And at a time of diseases! You could have been mistaken for a hypothermia victim! Typhus possibly!” He pointed at the direction the soldiers were heading. “HYDRA hunted you down when the drunkard confirmed their suspicions, which meant that Red Skull was after you SPECIFICALLY!”

 This seemed to be new to Kory as she blinked in confusion. “But I never ran into HYDRA after that… After…”

 The memory blurred. Instead of where they were in the forest, they found themselves in a different part of the forest. This time, they were close enough to see a hole underneath a conifer, hidden by a thicket. Unseen by the soldiers that ran past it but seen by Steve and Kory. They saw the people hiding in the hole.

 A younger Kory was in the hole. Steve couldn’t believe how Kory’s younger self was different than her current self: clothes coated in mud and branches, probably to camouflage herself, her bare feet and tattoo-less arms bandaged, longer hair tied in a braid, a loaded bag meant for a traveler planning to hide in the wilderness for escape, and most importantly, her Jotun appearance. She kept shaking, most likely not due to the cold, and her eyes were filled with horrified, scared agony.

 Next to her was a young African woman, pining Kory to the ground while keeping her hidden next to her underneath her Basotho blanket. Her braided hair was tied up and she kept a concentrated look outside the hole while holding down Kory.

 “Is that Abimbola?” Steve asked.

 “Yes. This was after she caught me running. She pulled me aside and into her hideout.” As Kory said that, frost was appearing under her younger self in the memory.

 “You need to calm down,” Abimbola firmly whispered to Kory. “Turn into your human self.”

 “I can’t!” Kory-in-the-memory whimpered. “I’m a monster! I don’t know what am I or who can help me! Everyone was right to despise me!”

 “I don’t even know you. Do I despise you?” Abimbola quietly snapped. “The only monster is your head telling you that you are.” Abimbola held younger Kory’s hand, startling the latter. When the frost started stinging on Abimbola’s hand, younger Kory tried to pull her hand away, only for Abimbola to tighten her hold.

 “Let go! You’ll get hurt!”

 “No, I won’t! Concentrate and tell yourself that you CAN control your powers! Tell yourself that you can change back and forth because whatever you are, they are a part of you! Tell yourself that you know who you are! Tell yourself that you know you wouldn’t purposely freeze me so you don’t freeze me!”

 “What tells me you won’t kill me when I’m weakened?”

 “Who do you want to tell you what you are? Me, or you?”

 Abimbola’s words had their effect. Younger Kory closed her eyes, inhaled, and the blue of her skin shifted into their human coloring. Despite the projected memory’s black-and-white state, Steve knew her eyes were green when Younger Kory reopened them. Younger Kory smiled in joy when she saw herself human again. Abimbola pulled her and put herself in front of Kory, keeping the demigoddess hidden underneath her Basotho blanket while pulling out her mambele.

 “Why are you helping me?” Younger Kory asked.

 “I don’t know why those Germans are after you, but no one deserves whatever is in their way. Why are they after you?”

 “I don’t know. I thought I was being chased because I’m Jewish, but I think they’re after me because I’m blue.”

 “Then I guess you and I will be stuck together for a while…”

 Kory chuckled as the memory dissolved and they were back in Central Park. “And we were stuck together for the rest of the war…”

  “She was brave. She didn’t even know you and she immediately protected you.” Steve smiled. “No wonder you fell for her…”

 “Hey, she fell for me first!” Kory protested with a smile as they decided to stroll a bit around the lake. “I was the most distant when it came to what we head. What we had meant the world to me, but I didn’t want to lose her like I lost my mother. Then I let her in and I lost her…” Ice cracking interrupted her. She and Steve then saw how without any spectacular move, the lake’s waters had frozen into perfectly smooth ice. “OK, I did not do that,” Kory said.

 The ice glowed until two large red-and-purple lights appeared, formatting into eye shapes.

 “What is that?” Steve exclaimed.

 “WHERE IS IT? WHERE IS IT, KORYANNA?” A deep voice shouted out of nowhere, but the blinking eyes suggested that they were the source of the voice.

 “Why are you speaking to me?” Kory demanded in fury. “It’s already bad enough when you torment me in my head! Since when do you go torment me in the living realm!”

 “Kory, you know him?”

 “ASK HER WHERE IT IS!” Steve looked alarmingly at the ice. Did the ice just talk to him? “TELL HER TO FIX IT! SHE NEEDS TO FIX IT OR ELSE EVERYONE WILL BE DESTROYED!”

 “Don’t you dare talk to Steve!” Kory pushed Steve aside as she confronted the talking ice. “He doesn’t deserve any of your stupid speeches!”

 “THEN TELL THE OTHERS I NEED TO HAVE A WORD WITH YOU PRIVATELY! AND BRING SOME OF YOUR GOULASH WHEN YOU! ALSO, TRY NOT TO GET YOUR LOVE INTEREST KILLED AGAIN!” The lights disappeared.

 “Hey! Stop lecturing me!” Kory ran towards and started kicking on its now-liquid contents. “And you don’t have the luxury of approving or disapproving Steve! Thanks to you, I’m screaming at a lake for no reason!” She kicked the water again, freezing it where she struck. When she marched away from the lake, frost was found on her footprints. “Steve, I need to clear my head in medium-hot cocoa and as much sugary goods as possible. You want any coffee before we get the stuff for that meeting?”

 “Sounds reasonable.” Steve followed her. “Kory, what was that?”

 “Long story short, you just had the dishonor of meeting my great-great-grandfather.”

Much later

One of the things that Kory could appreciate about Steve was that he didn’t press on for specific topics. After she literally admitted that the ‘talking ice’ was her great-great-grandfather, Steve was startled but let in sink in and kept himself quiet as they went to the nearest café. He didn’t even make a comment when Kory went for a technically unhealthy breakfast (a large Black Forest cake slice to go with her semi-hot chocolate coated with whipped cream, fudge, and sprinkles). Kory couldn’t resist smiling when Steve decided to go along and get himself an apple pie slice to go with his coffee. Fortunately for them, they found a pretty nice booth table at the café, well secluded from the other tables.

 “Feeling better?” Steve asked.

 Kory took a sip of her drink. “Mentally? No, I’m not. Physically? I’ve been worse.”

 “Fair enough.” Steve slightly poked his apple pie slice with his fork. “I’m really worried…”

 “If it’s about my…”

 “I don’t mean your great-great-grandfather, Kory.” Steve looked at her. “I mean, yes, I do want to know about that, but I know there’s things you don’t want to talk about. I’m hoping we can because I’m worried about you, but right now? I’m more worried about why HYDRA was chasing you…”

 “Steve, that was seventy years ago. They didn’t catch me…” Kory lost her words when Steve reached out to hold her hands, startling her with their firm grasp.

 “Kory, it’s HYDRA! You lost your mother because they destroyed Tønsberg to get the Tesseract! When you were hunted down in the memory, one of the soldiers had a gun fueled by the Tesseract! Their weapons disintegrated people and destroyed towns!” Steve let out. “Red Skull believed in weaponizing what people think are myths! When we first captured your father and brought him to SHIELD, I found out that SHIELD kept HYDRA’s weapons in their archives! They used them for research so SHIELD could make weapons of mass destruction using the Tesseract! Don’t you get it? Red Skull knew about you, he could have weaponized you! I don’t want you to end up in some sort of SHIELD lab and get experimented on!”

His hands actually trembled. Kory was stunned by his words. His blue eyes looked like they wanted to break from the worry. “Steve… That’s… an understandably, heartwarming concern from you. I don’t know what to say. But you do realize that I’m more worried about the cosmic and divine threats than mortals trying to play God, right?”

 “Still doesn’t put me at ease. After finding out that HYDRA weapons were being studied by SHIELD, I started to remain suspicious of them like Tony and Banner pointed out.” Steve’s hold softened. “I plan on doing more research. I don’t like the idea that Red Skull knew about you. Whatever he wanted from you, I plan on finding it.”

 Kory smiled at Steve. She didn’t understand it, but Steve’s endless thoughtfulness was so warm, it painlessly melted her internal icy barriers. He was willing to put up so much for her despite how much of a burden she was. She sighed and gently pulled herself away from his grasp.

 “My great-great-grandfather is Ymir. He’s the first Jotun. Literally,” Kory finally said quietly. “He’s… the only member of my paternal family I actually met.”

 Steve tilted his head. “I thought you avoided interacting with Loki’s side of the family? And why on Earth did he talk to you through ice?”

 “Actually, he annoys me telepathically… OK, how to explain this…” Kory pinched her nose. “You know how I’ve been talking about the Tree of Life that supposedly connects all the Nine Realms?”

 “Yes. And the mural of it in the church that caused you to learn who you are.”

 “Very good. So, as much as I hate going along with this nonsense of how the cosmos works, it’s the only supernatural, logical explanation. The Frost Giants on Earth literally believe that Yggdrasil represents the magic flowing from the other realms onto Earth. You learned how to make knots in the military? Imagine making a knot out of nine colorful strings, you have this knot with many different colorful areas, and you decided to put pins anywhere you see a blue area. That’s how the Frost Giants here explain the magic, or essence or whatever, flowing from Jotunheim to Earth to intertwine with the magic of the other realms…”

 “And where there’s a connection to Jotunheim, that’s where the clans are,” Steve finished. “Like the way you figure out how to set military bases on enemy turf.”

 “You got it.” Kory gave him a pleased wink before getting serious. “So you get that principle. I obviously know the scientific explanation of how planets are formed and I believe in the universe being built within a week. Unfortunately for me, other people who see Yggdrasil as a real tree where flowing magic are the branches and roots, they see the realms as ‘the fruits.’ And in their perspectives, said fruits are titanic, conceptual beings of nature. Earth’s cultures see their fruit as Mother Nature figures like Gaia. For the Frost Giants, the titan that bloomed from Yggdrasil to create Jotunheim from his own body was Ymir.”

 “Your great-great-grandfather is… how big is he?”

 “Well, if Jotunheim is cosmically believed to be made out of his body, his foot would be the size of New York’s six boroughs combined… And the American Frost Giants are convinced that if he lied down, his ass would crush California. Look, I know, it sounds creepy! Long story short, Ymir’s the first Frost Giant ever, his body formed Jotunheim, and he spent the first millenniums self-mauling so that his ripped-up body could bring things to Jotunheim like glaciers, mountains, frozen forests, icy cold oceans, and eventually, the replicas that would become the first members of his people. Then, when he was done, he decided to just give the leadership to his actual biological children and practically killed himself by ripping off his head and heart.”

 Steve looked rather disgusted, he pushed aside his apple slice. “This is.. a disturbing new intake on Loki’s side of the family. Why did your great-great-grandfather do that to himself?”

 “How should I know?” Kory asked in exasperation. “Ancient mythology is weird! It’s a miracle I haven’t gone insane from the mere nonsense!”

 “But Ymir survived his own intended suicide, right? He just talked to us… somehow.”

 “Brace yourself, the story gets weirder.” Kory straightened herself on her seat. “First, he rips off his head and throws it at Earth for no reason whatsoever. Human records obviously show nothing, but the immortals native to Earth before Frost Giants came believe that Ymir’s skull crashing on Earth was so hard, it caused the Ice Age. Then, Ymir shrunk his heart and gave it to his six sons and one daughter as a relic. Mind and heart separated, his soul then moved into some alternate dimension within Yggdrasil. Where there’s ice, snow, winter, or Frost Giants, Ymir can see and hear everything. A lot of Frost Giants I’ve met firmly believe that whenever they hear some sort of rumbling in a blizzard, an avalanche roaring, or even glaciers breaking, they’re the results of Ymir’s agitations from what he sees. And we never know if he’s happy or furious.”

 “What about his heart?”

 “Well, my great-grandmother and her brothers kept the heart safe and used it to encourage the other Frost Giants into what would become their civilization. Unfortunately, and logically, they had archenemies prior to the Asgardians. Fire Giants from Muspelheim, the realm of Fire. Surtur was their equivalent of Ymir, only he could manifest into smaller sizes. His people tried to wage a war on Jotunheim, thinking that they could burn the realm to oblivion before the civilization was properly founded. Ymir’s six sons perished to defend Jotunheim… My great-grandmother discovered that she could use the heart to freeze the Fire Giants to oblivion. She saved the realm, but Ymir wasn’t happy with how she weaponized his heart, so she vowed to him that she would lock up the heart in a confinement that could only be used or opened by someone of Ymir’s biological blood. Can you guess what she turned it into?”

 Kory watched as Steve tapped his fingers against the table. “Well… if I heard right from all of Thor’s stories… didn’t his father confiscate from your grandfather a relic that could freeze people?”

 “More like a lethal Ice Age Pandora’s box, if you ask me.” Kory crossed her arms and turned her head, hoping to hide the hint of fear in her eyes. “My great-grandmother built the Casket of Ancient Winters. It holds Ymir’s heart. During her reign, she kept it in the throne room as a symbol of Jotun unity… Well, that didn’t last well until she died, Laufey became king, and he went against her wishes and he weaponized it.”

 “That’s horrible. But what does it have to do with you?”

 “Besides the heart being in the Casket? Ymir’s skull not only landed in Norway, but it landed and remained in the fjord of Tønsberg.” Kory saw Steve’ incredulous look. “What? Earth is literally called Midgard, the middle of Yggdrasil! People say that Yggdrasil’s trunk goes through Norway. Tønsberg, specifically! It didn’t seem like much of a coincidence for Laufey to use my hometown as a starting point. He didn’t seem to know that Ymir’s skull was fossilized deep in the fjord… which really angered Ymir. He thought that Laufey brought his heart to Earth to bring Ymir back among the physically living. In the end, not only did Laufey not know where the skull was, but he weaponized the heart in an attempt to colonize Earth. Jotunheim overpopulating was his excuse. As for me finding out about Ymir… I fell into his skull by accident.”

 “You fell into his skull by accident,” Steve repeated in disbelief. “In the middle of a fjord?”

 “It was in 2000. Ingrid Aybeer had funded an excavation project so the Jotunheimen Clan could collect remains of the original civil war to put on display. I was trying to dig out a buried ship when I tripped and fell into some rapids flowing towards an underground network that finally led into a cavern literally underneath the fjord… And… And…”
 “Kory?”

Kory’s hands were shaking and her fingers cut through the tablecloth. Without meaning to, getting agitated over the past event caused the café around them to blur. Kory couldn’t move from her seat as she now witnessed the café turn into a colored, barely saturated underground cavern big enough to fit a cathedral. The walls were surrounded by fossilized skeletons, but on one wall was a massive skull. Made of pure ice sticking out of the rock and its mouth wide open enough, it could have put the biggest cruise ship in its mouth. In the memory, Kory looked almost like she did now, except her excavation suit was wet and covered in mud and Kory held out her hand to summon a glowing orb of blue light. Her own skull felt like breaking into ice cubes when the skull’s empty eye sockets glowed with red and purple orbs that stared down at her past self. Her past self screamed in fright until the memory dissolved, courtesy of Steve shaking her back to her senses.

 “Kory! Calm down!” Steve gestured at the frost that appeared underneath her fingers. Kory quickly summoned it away. Thinking she couldn’t take it, she pulled Steve out of the café and into the park.

 “We should get back to the tower,” she said. “I think the others can skip my cooking at the meeting.” Snow was beginning to fall from the sky in inconsistent patterns to match her panicked breathing.

 “Did you destroy his skull?” Steve asked as they walked quickly.

 “The clan chiefs I’m allies with helped me destroy Ymir’s skull and they hid the fragments back in their clans.” Kory shook. “I had to. Ymir terrified me.”

 “Did he try to kill you?”

 “Worse. He actually sees me as family.”

 “Now I’m lost. ‘Terrible’ doesn’t define Loki enough. Laufey was obviously just as bad, but what has Ymir done… besides self-harming himself in gruesome ways to create Jotunheim?”

 Kory let out an amused snort. Steve’s ignorance could be silly at times. “Well, he’s like Anubis. Forced to watched mortal civilizations come and go, fall into self-corruption, and being left into non-existence. The only difference is that with Ymir, the Frost Giants know he still exists and is their equivalent of a physical god. They just haven’t bothered to bring him back among them, too busy fighting in their civil wars and creating clans. Doesn’t help that humans keep worsening global warming and melting ice caps. DEFINITELY doesn’t help that Laufey and Loki were both on Earth and never ONCE bothered to stop by.”

 “His feelings were hurt?” Steve frowned. “He sounds sensitive.”

 “I guess… Honestly, it’s just weird for me. You know how some people have like this odd relative that really loves them and would outright dote them but is unbearable to be with because of their personality? Usually says trashy stuff like ‘I don’t like this non-white person you’re dating’, ‘I think all people from this group are terrorists’, or ‘Why are they telling you that homosexuality is good?’ You know?” Kory sighed. “Ymir is like that, except with him, he’s more ‘Why can’t you accept that I think you’d make a better ruler than the rest of our family, you’re worthy, we could be a great team, and yattee-yatta.’ What’s worse, the self-harming, the family betrayal, and how civilizations changed… really did a number on him.”

 “He sees you as probably the only real family he has,” Steve concluded. “And because you aren’t a power-hungry conqueror like Loki or Laufey, he probably thinks you’d make a better ruler, just like your great-grandmother. Maybe that’s why the Frost Giants on Jotunheim insist that you lead them. You won’t abuse the power.”

 “But I don’t want the power, Steve!” Kory paused in her tracks to block him.

 “I’m not telling you to want it, Kory. I’m saying it’s because you don’t want it that they want you. You told me yourself, Ymir was upset when your great-grandmother weaponized his heart, when Laufey used the Casket to conquer Tønsberg without even looking for him, and when Loki never went to look for him when he invaded Earth. You ran into Ymir by accident and he sees that you didn’t seek power when you ran into him! Isn’t that how it started, the prejudiced stories that Frost Giants are power-hungry, conquering monsters? It’s only the actions of limited people and the perspectives of those with higher positions that lead to these beliefs, which is followed by persecutions! You defy those prejudices, you’re what they see as a worthy ruler, and all this because in the end, you’re not trying to prove anything. You’re you.”

 Kory’s heart swelled at his words. She fought back the tears above her smile and rushed to give Steve a hug. He returned the gesture, piling up all the human warmth she had missed out on in decades.

 “If I had a krone for every time your words hit me where I need it…” She sighed.

 “You’d be richer than the king of Norway?” Steve guessed.

 “Hilarious.” Kory’s hold on him tightened. “But seriously, Ymir’s dangerous,” she said seriously. “If his skull and heart ever unified, his soul would transition out of Yggdrasil and into his reincarnated body. The first thing he’ll do is turn everyone into Frost Giants and if you even get near a lethal area, I will start killing people!”

 “I wouldn’t be surprised. You’re dangerous.”

 “Idiot.”

 “Jerk.”

 They let out some chuckles. Kory found herself blushing when she looked at his blue eyes. However, when their faces were getting closer, Kory was the one to halt it.

It’s not that she didn’t like him. He made that impossible.

It’s not that being with her would kill him.

She just worried, deep within her, that she might be betraying Abimbola.

 Kory pulled away from him but passed off from a cold shoulder by holding his hand in hers. The small smile and nod that Steve gave her was a relief. It was telling her that he understood.

 They kept walking hand-in-hand out of the park and took their way to the Avengers Tower just in time to hear a beastly roar.

Chapter Text

After Tomoe had shouted ‘GREAT YOKAIS OF JAPAN, WHAT IS THAT?’, the Avengers had all gathered to the main level to see the monstrosity that Bacchus and Maui had brought back from Norway.

 “CARMINE! EASY!” Bacchus screamed when the monster larger than a minivan ran off the balcony and hopped through the window, breaking the glass in the process. The large canine was lean and muscled, her claws leaving thick dents on the floor. Her snow-white fur had patches of black on the back, nearly outlining the spine and ribs. Her fluffy tail kept swishing around, shattering the furniture. Her eyes were an insane mixture of blizzard blue and wildfire red. She howled and barked as she kept running around.

 “What is that? A giant Alaskan Malamute?” Iron Man flew in, only for the giant dog to grab him in her mouth and shake him around like he was her new iron squeaker toy. “Hey! Stop that!”

 “CARMINE! STOP THAT!” Maui ran and pulled Iron Man away from ‘Carmine’. The process caused Iron Man to lose the armor of his lower body.

 “Why in all the Nine Realms did you bring a hellhound in the tower?” Thor demanded. He began swinging his hammer, only for Carmine to knock him against the bar with her tail. A sharp two-tone whistle stopped Carmine, who turned and looked at Aaricia. The blonde teenager looked unfazed as she held up a brown-colored dog.

 “Don’t give a canine chocolate! It’s lethal!” Banner freaked out.

 “Duh! That’s why it’s a hellhound meat treat fashioned like a chocolate bar.” Aaricia held out the treat for Carmine. She tossed it in the air and ducked before Carmine could snatch and eat up the treat. Aaricia then ran underneath the monstrous canine and repeatedly rubbed Carmine, who went on to roll on her back, allowing Aaricia to climb on her belly and keep rubbing it while Carmine ate her treat.

 Tomoe couldn’t resist taking a picture of the scene with her phone. “Didn’t know you could handle Malamute-Hellhound hybrids, babe.”

 “Malahound.” Aaricia corrected. “Or as I like to call her, Very Rude Dog.”

 Carmine growled at her.

 “Hey! Don’t give me that trash talk!” Aaricia sat on Carmine’s belly and pointed at her. “You know what happened the last time you stole the remote from me!”

 Carmine blew a raspberry at Aaricia, getting some saliva on her face. “Jerk.”

 “I’m at a loss of words,” Clint said.

 “So, why did you bring this… Carmine here?” Thor asked Bacchus and Maui.

 “She’s Kory’s familiar. We thought she’d be more at ease if we brought Carmine over,” Maui explained.

 “Right. Because nothing screams happiness than a giant dog with bad dialect,” Tomoe snarked as she posted the picture on social media. “Why does Koryanna have a hellhound-regular dog hybrid for a pet?”

 “Familiar, not pet.” Aaricia slid down Carmine’s belly. “Stereotyped to be associated with witches, but high-level sorcerers can be connected with supernatural creatures that are a physical representation of your internal self.” Carmine rolled to lie down properly, causing her tail to accidentally brush away Iron Man. Aaricia chuckled uneasily. “And Kory’s rather…”

 “Chaotic? Unsocial?” Tomoe offered.

 “That and self-destructive. So, yeah, Carmine’s very chaotic, unsocial, and destructive. She’s basically Kory’s internal self… only rude, grouchy, fur shedding, and A TOTAL REMOTE CONTROL HOARDER!” Carmine blew another raspberry at Aaricia. She rolled her eyes and kept talking with Tomoe. “Definitely not a household spirit like a tomte. Or a brownie…”

 “I think Gawain has a brownie,” Tomoe said. “Or maybe it’s a hob.”

 “Ingrid Aybeer definitely has a tomte. You got your yokai, right?”

 “Yep. Otto has a kikimora, Johanna has a haltija, Yueqiu-Bing has her yetis, Nikoletta has her empousa, Joseph somehow has a Chupacabra for an assistant, Noah has a golem, Kunal has his Naga, Emma’s got her Tatzelwurm, and Cyril has a fox.”

 “Huh, I don’t want to interrupt a lovely conversation about household spirit preferences, but why is the Fubuki brat here?” Bacchus asked. Tomoe scowled and held out her hand. A thunder bolt appeared and fused into a solid, red naginata with a silver weapon. Bacchus actually got frightened and started making a run for it when Tomoe started running towards him, eager to strike him.

 “GET BACK HERE, YOU WIMPY EXCUSE OF A THUNDER GOD’S SON! COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT LIKE A GIANT!” Bacchus made a run for the stairs. Tomoe ran after him with her weapon at hand just as Steve and Kory stepped out of the elevator to witness the scene.

 “Is that Tomoe Fubuki?” Kory got exasperated. “Who let Bacchus provoke her? Does nobody know that the women in the chiefdom of their clan are notorious for their naginatajutsu?”

 “What’s that?” Steve asked.

 “Japanese martial arts. Specialty for female samurai,” Kory calmly explained to him. “Tip of advice: bad idea when a guy provokes the ladies of that chiefdom. Tomoe’s mother was rather skilled. Don’t get me started on how she slayed a thousand Amazons back in Corsica back in 1985.”

 “Didn’t you kill more than her?” Maui pointed out.

 “Don’t change the topic,” Kory warned. Her expression turned into sudden glee when she saw Carmine. “Carmine! Baby girl! Come to Mamma!”

 The massive hellhound wagged her tail in excitement and ran towards Kory, tackling the demigoddess to the ground and licking her on the face. “OK! OK! EASY THERE! EASY!” When the licking became too much, Kory clapped her hands three times. Carmine took a step back and suddenly shrunk into the size of a Cocker Spaniel, startling the Avengers.

 “Are you shitting me?” Tony glared at Maui. “You couldn’t have done that BEFORE the mutt decided to trash my window?”

 “I did!” Maui protested. “We clapped! Nothing happened! Kory, can you explain why nothing happened?”

 “Two free guesses before I decide to smack you for not using your head.” Kory looked worried when small-sized Carmine decided to start sniffing at Steve’s shoes but calmed down when the hellhound started rubbing herself against Steve’s legs. “Aw… Carmine likes you.”

 “She’s rather cute…” Steve bent down to scratch her ear. The hellhound happily wagged her tail. “Eesh, the breath…”

 “She does eat a lot of bones. I just give her the skeletons of whatever animals I killed.”

 “She even ate a Bilgesnipe skeleton once,” Aaricia said, licking her lips. “Really good meat.” She noticed the shocked look Thor gave her. “What? You find them in Norway. They taste like beef. Kory knows how to make killer Bilgesnipe Briskets.”

 Carmine growled something. Kory began to slowly turn her head and give Aaricia a cold look. “Aaricia. Why did Carmine just tell me that my Bilgesnipe Briskets taste just as good as the two mailmen corpses you gave to her last year?”

 Aaricia gulped. “Uh, funny story…”

 “Do reassure me that you didn’t feed Carmine THE SAME MAILMEN that were carrying those bad report cards you had!” Kory clenched her fists. “THE SAME REPORT CARDS I WAS SUPPOSED TO SIGN BUT THAT I DIDN’T RECEIVE, SO I GAVE YOUR PRINCIPAL A CONCUSSION FOR SUCH DELIVERY TARDINESS?” Kory struggled to retain her angry, muffled noises until she found a solution by throwing her fist at the wall, creating an icy crater with her finger signature. Out of nowhere, a hole broke through the floor and a beaten-up Bacchus and Loki were tossed out, followed by a victorious Tomoe holding her naginataproudly in the air.

 “Hah! Beat up two gods in one morning! I am ON IT!” Tomoe cheered until Kory grabbed Tomoe’s weapon and lifted it in the air. Tomoe still hung on to it, causing her to have her feet off the ground. “Hey! I was having a moment!”

 “Save your moment for the meeting, Fubuki Junior!” Kory roughly put her down. “The others will be here in a matter of minutes so we need to set up the conference room.”

 “No humans or assistant allowed, right?” Tomoe asked. “I still need to have my yokai bring the goods for the potluck. What are you bringing?”

 “My face, my anger, and my fucking attitude. Does that answer your question? Good. Now let’s go!” Kory began ushering Tomoe out of the room. “Oh, I almost forgot!” Kory causally walked back and went towards Loki. The god was trying to stand up and almost looked too optimistic before Kory turned into her Jotun form and kicked him in the groins. Loki screamed in pain and clutched himself. The Avengers and immortals present cringed at the sight. “There. Now I feel better.”

 “Yeah, nothing screams morality booster than giving a fake Jotun a frozen dick.” Tomoe chuckled at the sight until Kory dragged her by the collar towards the exit.

Later

By the time Kory had adjusted the final touches to the door, she knew the conference room had been secured. She had to make sure that this meeting was as private as possible. If no humans were allowed, that meant she had to cast spells to tighten the locks on the door, shroud coats of ice on all the windows, and destroy any cameras or security system that the humans could use on them. And if non-Jotun immortals were banned, that meant spells had to be casted so no demigod or god could bother them. Kory had already been annoyed that Thor wanted to be at the meeting, but thankfully Maui had peacefully dissuaded him. The obnoxious thunder god was now out to get questions he’d obviously never find the answers, that’s what Kory thought.

 Once the enchantments were done, Kory snapped her fingers and her outfit, including her treasured furred coat) turned into a dark-blue pinstripe tuxedo suit with fur trimmings, Victorian boots, a tie with howling wolf patterns, and her hair pulled back in a ponytail.

 “How do I look?” She asked Tomoe.

 “Like a mafia boss waiting to murder everyone,” Tomoe responded. Once Tomoe’s yokai was done with setting the table and placing the large tea set, sushi platters, oyakodon bowl, and mochi boxes, the teenager dismissed it. It left in a portal of thundering snow. Tomoe adjusted the skirt of her uniform resembling that of a Japanese school student and sat down. “Who do you think will show up first? My mother said that Ingrid and Noah tend to be the last ones to arrive. You know, leading chiefs and all.”

 “There’s no such thing as a hierarchy among the Jotun chiefs, Fubuki. Ingrid and Noah just happen to be the most important because Noah is the eldest and Ingrid is the chief of the Motherland.” As tacky as it sounded to Kory, Motherland was what the Frost Giants on Earth used to refer to Norway. With the whole whatnot of Norway being the center of the World Tree and where Nordic mythology was primarily based, the Jotun treated Norway the way a lot of Jewish people viewed Jerusalem as the sacred city. The Jotun basically viewed Norway as the most important in the Scandinavian lands, so even though Ingrid, Nikoletta, and Johanna formed a strong triumvirate as the chiefs of the Scandinavian clans, Ingrid was the most culturally powerful. And in all fairness, she was the only other chief besides Noah that Kory really respected.

 “Hierarchy. Yeah right,” Tomoe muttered.

 Kory scowled at the teenage chief’s behavior. “Unbelievable to your ears?”

 “More unbelievable that it’s coming from the one person who literally dominates the hierarchy.”
 “I’m sorry, is there a problem that you have with me that I should be made aware of?” Kory was cut off from her thoughts when a breeze making bell tingling sounds alerted them. “They’re here.”

Meanwhile

The Avengers didn’t know what to make of it, but Tony was definitely getting aggravated that immortals were abusing his balcony. The rest of them, on the other hand, were apprehensive. The eleven Frost Giant chiefs had appeared in gusts of snow, freezing the balcony the moment they landed and materialized into their human forms. Their assistants, all various mythological creatures, kept their appearances while carrying fancy covered dishes. The humans, Loki included, couldn’t resist looking out the window to see the assembled chiefs. Besides Yueqiu-Bing, Noah, Ingrid, and Tomoe who was with Kory, the rest of them looked unfamiliar: a platinum-blonde dyed chieftess muscular enough to be a wrestler, a chieftess with a red-and-black mane that reached her knees and a revealing outfit combining a jumpsuit and pimp costume, a Black Indian man with a tuxedo suit subtle voodoo patterns while his tie was held by a Thunderbird pin, a Black-Belgian in casual work clothes that went well with his Bantu bracelets and torc, a muscular redhead bearing a strange attire mixing a kilt, a red infantry uniform, and rather misty boots, an Indian man with a white blouse, beige pants, black shoes, and two golden necklaces bearing pendants of a deity and a female horse rider, a brunette dressed in rock climbing gear while a metal cornucopia hung over her shoulders, and an old man in plain civilian clothing walking with a golden staff with a headpiece of a hare carrying a golden orb in its mouth.

 “You must be joking.” Loki muttered at the sight of the old man.

 “Isn’t that the guy you tried to obliterate before Cap saved him?” Natasha turned to Steve. “Steve, the old man in Stuttgart… He’s a Jotun?”

 “Apparently. He was in DC when they had that ridiculous court session. He didn’t really speak up, he was as quiet as Noah, but he obviously doesn’t like Loki.”

 “I failed to notice the obviousness, Captain,” Loki responded sourly.

 “That’s Otto Winterernte,” Aaricia said while the Frost Giants outside started making a line in their human appearances. “He’s the chief of the Funtensee Clan in Germany. Otto’s actually nine years younger than Kory. Kory told me they met a few years after the war ended.”

 “He was a teen during the war in Germany…” Steve crossed his arms. “I can’t imagine the nightmare.”

 “Try not to,” Maui offered as he looked out the window. “The Funtensee Clan suffered a lot. Using stronger force fields to protect their borders from bombs, the thousands of mortal refugees that their forces collected, and Otto... His father died protecting the clan when a misaimed human almost hit a squad of his warriors escorting human refugees to the clan. Otto was traumatized. He had to become chief before even performing his clan’s rite of inheritance. He’s also another Jewish chief like Noah. The two really had heart-heavy responsibilities following all the casualties. Otto related well with Kory in the category of trauma following a parent’s death.”

 “But Otto did better.” Bacchus shrugged. “You know, with coping, seeing shrinks, socializing… He’s basically Kory if she had accepted the support she needed after the war.”

 Steve nodded solemnly. The moment each Frost Giant entered, their human features disappeared and were replaced by their Jotun features. Loki took a step back, startled both by the memory of the nybergynnere Frost Giants chiefs who wanted to kill him back in DC and the diverse appearances of the present chiefs. He couldn’t believe how even in their icy appearances, their features were smoother, detailed, and less barbaric than the Jotun from Jotunheim or the more gigantic, savage gammeldags. They retained the same faces and proportions in their human appearances, except that each of them had at least one feature that stood out, emphasizing their uniqueness.

 “Weapon confiscation,” Noah calmly said as he turned to face his fellow chiefs. He held out his hands expectantly. Many of them, sans Ingrid and Otto, groaned. “You all know the rules. No fights in meetings. Your weapons, now.”

 “But what if we need them?” The chieftess in the rock-climbing gear exclaimed.

 “You’ll need them after the meeting if danger comes,” Noah said, unfazed.

 “But you, Ingrid and Otto get to keep yours!”

 “We’re the least likely to start a brawl that will result in bloodshed, human sacrifices, and tax evasion,” Ingrid responded casually. The other chiefs recognized she wasn’t wrong and started pulling out their arsenal, placing it in Noah’s hands one by one. Loki kept himself quiet, but it did not work. The red-and-black maned chieftess, the sultriest of the bunch, noticed him just after placing her bow and arrows and daggers in Noah’s grasp.

 “Oh look,” she said condescendingly. “Koryanna’s rabble of a dad.” Her words caused the chiefs and chiefesses to send their glares at Loki. The chieftess in question was a beautiful nightmare. Her light blue skin was covered in asymmetrical patterns of scarlet red freckles shaped like hearts. Her bare arms were covered with tattoos of a god bearing a bow an arrow and a blonde woman preparing to behead a man with an axe. Sticking from her butt was a literal light blue devil’s tail with scarlet red freckles. Despite wearing stiletto heels, she was obviously the tallest among the Frost Giants present in the room, even towering Yueqiu-Bing. It didn’t help that she was also the only Frost Giantess with large roe down horn that seemed to be carved out of rubies and sapphires and was ornated by dangling crystal potion flasks, each bearing a colorful, glowing fluid. Creepier still, ominous smoke could be seen flying through the flasks’ corks.

 “I beg your pardon?” Loki demanded.

 “Rabble. Poser. Wannabe.” The chieftess listed out as she made a few steps towards him, making it obvious that she surpassed Loki in height. “A fake Jotun.”

 “Easy there, Niko,” Yueqiu-Bing warned before changing into an equally mocking tone, “you might have him wet his pants. He’s getting enough of a cold shoulder.” That pun earned some snickers from the Frost Giants. Thor looked at Loki, who tensed uneasily at the Frost Giants mocking him.

 “There’s no need to mock…” Thor began.

 “Can it, barbarian. No one gives a shit if you’re an Odinson,” ‘Niko’ flicked her tail so that the sharp tip pointed at Thor’s neck. “At least his Jotun nature gives him leverage.”

 “Still beneath us,” the kilt uniformed one pointed out.

 “I’d go for no better than the humans.” The voodoo tuxedo one muttered.

 “Nice to meet you all,” Tony said from within his Iron Man suit. “Look, the Little Princess is downstairs. Use the stairs or elevator, just don’t destroy any of it…”

 “Don’t talk to us…” ‘Niko’ raised her hand in dismissal. “We don’t touch human billionaires. We have standards.”

 “I’m surprised that an imp even has standards,” Loki remarked sarcastically. His witty words caused a few of the chiefs to take a step back when Niko’s gritting teeth made a sound similar to breaking glass. Her horns grew in branches and the smokes from her flasks did the same, creating vicious clouds of red, purples, and blacks. The more the vicious smoke clouds started growing above her, the worse it smelled. Captain America, Bacchus, and Maui were the first to instinctively clog their nostrils. Loki, on the other hand, was the first to get treated to the ghastly smells of Niko’s angry smoke clouds: vaporized chemicals, animal pheromones, sweaty skin, salt and sugar, melted gold, and worse of all, internal fluids. The odors were too overpowering and paralyzed Loki.

 “Call me that again and you won’t even remember…”

 “Nikoletta! That’s enough!” Ingrid used her wooden stick to smack Nikoletta on the head. Nikoletta growled in frustration, but Ingrid wasn’t impressed. “Honestly, tormenting a weak Frost Giant with all the lusts known to mortal!”

 “He had it coming!” Nikoletta protested.

 “I don’t care! Act like the chieftess you are until you clock out! For Ymir’s sake, you’re an embarrassment to Scandinavia!”

 “And to be fair… you should have left him alone. He didn’t do anything wrong.” The Belgian Frost Giant spoke up quietly. “You went looking for trouble yourself. He was minding his business.”

 Nikoletta grunted in frustration.

 “Cyril is right, Nikoletta,” Noah shook his head in disapproval. “Unless danger calls for actual last resort measures, please refrain from your Hellish behavior. You aren’t helping at disproving outsider opinions of your succubus origins.”

 “Förlåt mig, Noah.” Nikoletta nodded in genuine shame before joining the other chiefs. (Forgive me, Noah.) Noah gently patted her shoulder in approval.

 “We appreciate your hospitality and generosity for allowing us to use your headquarters for our personal meeting, Avengers,” Noah spoke up towards the mortals, “but please understand that this is a matter among Frost Giants. The safety of our clans could be jeopardized by this brewing war and we are a rather sensitive race. I do implore that you do not cause us to seek retaliation by doing anything that could provoke us directly or indirectly. I would honestly prefer that methods without bloodshed are applied.”

 “We will, Mr. Vinter-Likht,” Captain America said politely.

 “Thank you, Steve.” Noah gave a reassured smile to the captain, leading the other Frost Giant chiefs to calm down as well. “You remember the others. Ingrid, Nikoletta, and Johanna from Scandinavia.”

 Ingrid nodded, Nikoletta merely shrugged, and the wrestler chieftess Johanna gave a mere indifferent hand gesture as if to say ‘Sup’.

 “Cyril, Emma, and Otto from Belgium, Switzerland, and Germany. You already know Otto since you saved him in Stuttgart last year.” Otto gave Steve a grateful smile while Cyril, the chief who surprisingly stuck up for Loki, and Emma the chieftess with the rock-climbing gear gave some friendly waves with their hands.

 “Gawain, from the United Kingdom but based in Scotland.” Noah gestured to the redheaded Frost Giant. “But you also probably remember him from the court room… when he and Vincent had that tiff.”

 “It was not a tiff but an unprofessional flyting!” Gawain protested. “That cowardly frog-legged wimp had it coming!”

 “Does he have frog legs though?” Nikoletta randomly asked.

 “How should I know? He makes your industry look like a family friendly movie! At least your underpaid employees get better insurances while he keeps 105% of the profits! The extra 5% just in case customers make reservations for holidays!”

 “Now you know why my mother always said madams before pimps,” Nikoletta smirked.

 “As much as I wish to spank both of you for sharing your interests in such a revolting industry in public, please save that garbage until after you clock out!” Noah was showing signs of both impatience and disgust. Nikoletta and Gawain cringed and went back in line while Noah continued. “Yueqiu-Bing and Kunal from China and India. Knowing Tomoe, I imagine she is already ahead of us, and lastly, Joseph. The chief from the United States.”

 The American chief gave reasons for the Avengers to give a proper look. The voodoo patterns on his tuxedo almost faded with the black fabric until his fabrics revealed them to glow in small neon colors. His braided dreadlocks were tied in a ponytail and causing his skull to have a pattern of the Mississippi River. The Thunderbird pin on his tie was constantly blinking, as if to keep an eye on everyone for its wearer. He was currently the last chief holding on to his weapons, a cavalry lance and two small drums attached to his belt. His neck had signs of old scars. He stared distrustfully at the humans with his two unique eyes, left one being a regular dark brown human one while the right eye was an actual eagle’s eye. An eagle eye that caused him to squint and reveal its synthetic nature due to the mechanical noises it created.

 Joseph snorted in disdain, handed his lance and drums to Noah, and was the first to take the stairs to the meeting. Noah sighed in disappointment and gestured the other Frost Giants to follow along with Joseph.

 “Well… That happened,” Tony took off his Iron Man mask after Yueqiu-Bing was the last Frost Giant to leave and the assistants followed along. “Suddenly I understand why the Little Princess has a fragile alliance with Joseph.”

 “Actually, Kory had a better relationship with Joseph’s sister,” Bacchus sat down on the nearest chair.

 “Bad relationship?” Loki dared to ask. “Did Joseph usurp the throne?”

 “No.” Maui shook his head.

 “Fun fact, the clans have an international rule that chiefdom through coups and treachery results in brutal limb ripping and shipping the bones to the nearest cannibal tribe,” Aaricia said casually. Her words terrified Loki.

 “Besides, they don’t do ‘rights of firstborns’ or ‘parental favoritism’ like the shit you assholes do,” Bacchus rudely told Loki and Thor.

 “All the nybergynnere Frost Giant clans have a mandatory tradition called rite of inheritance,” Maui explained. “Nearly all of them are at sixteen, but at a certain point in adolescence, the heirs to the clans must perform a challenge that proves their capacities to protect their clan.”

 “If they get it on the first go, they immediately become the next chief and get officiated a few days after the ceremony,” Bacchus added in. “If they don’t, they need to train for more years before performing the rite again.”

 “Except in Tomoe’s clan…” Aaricia grimaced. The two demigods shuddered in agreement until Maui went back to the topic.

 “Of course, the matter is different if the chief has more than one heir. Take Joseph. His sister Aiyana was his twin sister born 30 minutes after him. Bacchus and I were familiar with their parents; we were invited to the twins’ rite of inheritance. Both were raised and trained with the same necessities; they were even punished if they argued. Since they had the same birthday, they had to have their rites of inheritance on the same day.”

 “And the American rites are way different than those in Europe or Asia!”

 “Bacchus’ isn’t wrong. Very much like the United States, the Rockies Clan is composed of smaller clans where all the citizens are classed and perform rites to gain a totem. That’s exactly what Joseph and Aiyana did, but since they were their father’s heirs, they had to climb the tallest mountain in the Clan to reach the Thunderbird nests.”

 “That doesn’t sound so bad…” Loki began before Aaricia pulled him down by the collar and covered his mouth with her hand.

 “You’re such a twit!” She rolled her eyes. “Totems in the Rockies Clan are pretty portable, friendly familiars that a clan teen can easily run after when their rite is basically their version of high school graduation. But the Thunderbirds? It’s like your brother in eagle form… If the eagle was the size of the Hulk, could break through titanium with its beak, its feathers turn into lightning bolt every time it creates a literal storm by flapping its wings, and they stare at you like they want to search your soul to see every single thing you did in your life before deciding to play with you or kill you!”

 Loki’s eyes widened.

 “And the mountain their nests rest on is an ancient pile of the sharpest crystals!” Bacchus clenched his fists. “Merely touching one without protection can cut your skin! And since it’s a mountain of purified crystals, if you piss off a Thunderbird in its nest, expect a fatal electrocution attempt on your life!”

 Loki gulped.

 “Only the clan heirs are allowed to climb the mountain. No magic, ice or whatever,” Maui said. “They climb with their bare hands to the top, face the Thunderbird they want as a totem, and if the bird wants them, they come, but if they don’t, it’s a one-way ticket to a full-body cast after a major fall.” He shook his head. “Joseph and Aiyana were sixteen. They both got to the top, but Joseph aimed for a very untamed Thunderbird. It immediately tossed him off the mountain.”

 “Is that how he received those scars?” Thor tapped on his neck.

 “That and the next times he performed the rites. Aiyana succeeded on the first time he failed. Even after he got his Thunderbird before World War 2, it didn’t matter if he got his totem. Aiyana succeeded on the first go, her father passed the chiefdom to her later, and she led the Rockies Clan for a century.”

 “His success did prove that in case something happened to Aiyana, he’d succeed as the next chief. He’s currently chief until his nephew David passes his rite of inheritance…” Bacchus groaned. “Could be a while. The teen’s a moron.”

 “But what happened to Aiyana?” Natasha asked.

 “Human raid.” The words shocked the Avengers.

 “How could humans raid the Rockies Clan?” Steve asked. “Wouldn’t it have a barrier to protect them?”

 “The Jotunheimen Clan wasn’t protected by a barrier,” Tony said.

 “Because it’s smaller and in a generally secluded area! The Rockies Clan cover the whole mountain range, they have to use magic to both create a barrier and put their clan in a pocket dimension!” Aaricia pulled her hand away from Loki and raised her hands. “It’s the freaking United States! You think local cabin dwellers would give a cup of coffee to the first 8-foot-tall Frost Giant they meet!”

 “Aaricia’s right. And it’s exactly what happened.” Bacchus got up. “A decade ago, some governmental humans somehow discovered a breach in the barrier. Aiyana led Joseph and a couple of warriors to meet the humans. ‘Let’s discuss with them to convince them to leave us alone. Perhaps gain their consent to erase their memories of the whole thing.’ You know, convince them to walk away and imagine the barrier just being a local trick to go to nearby tourist traps. It worked JUST FINE…” Bacchus clasped his hands together. “They burned her alive with a flamethrower the moment she revealed her Jotun form…”

 “None of the humans came back. Joseph had them killed or rendered fully amnesic, making them think they were being tormented by other humans into seeking shelter. Ever since Joseph filled in after his sister, he heavily put restrains on rights for humans in the Rockies Clan.” Maui sighed. “Basically, no different than the mortal country itself.”

 “I can imagine…” Steve sighed.

 Tony shook his head and tapped onto his armor’s keyboard. “JARVIS, connect the footage system to the nanotech security system I have in the snowmen’s meeting room.”

 “Yes, sir.” A holographic image suddenly appeared, showing a perfectly colored visual of the meeting room. The walls were entirely covered with frost and big chunks of ice blocked the door and windows. The Frost Giant chiefs and Kory were seen finishing up the food and the chief’s assistants clearing out the empty dishes.

 “What, they’re done already?” Bacchus checked his wristwatch. “They only went down ten minutes ago! Man, we talk too much!”

 “Knowing my sis, she probably ate the whole buffet.” Aaricia rolled her eyes. The footage showed Kory, in her Jotun form, drinking a barrel-sized jug full of blue liquor in one gulp. She then threw it at some ice sculpture of Loki. Johanna and Gawain let out some cheers as the ice and glass broke into pieces. “I rest my case and add what she always does at home. Get drunk and throwing stuff at her dad.”

 “She hates me that much…” Loki looked painfully at the footage. After the last assistant cleared off the table and disappeared, the Frost Giants properly sat down. Noah began the discussion, but none of the eavesdroppers understood a single thing he said. They didn’t understand the next things the other Frost Giants said. All they heard and saw were grunts, growls, pounding, and punching.

 “Uh… what’s happening? What am I looking at?” Clint frowned.

 “Shit, these guys are smarter than Anubis ever claimed them to be!” Maui crossed his arms. “They probably figured out that you guys or SHIELD would spy on them. They’re talking Gigantic.”

 “Gigantic?” Thor asked.

 “I never heard of such a dialect and All-Speak allows Asgardians to speak thousands of dialects,” Loki said.

 “Yeah, well, not EVERYONE speaks a thousand languages!” Aaricia snapped. “You’d be surprised, some languages combine both words and physical gestures. But like Kory would tell me to do, I’ll explain it to you the way only a barbarian understands: most giants are universally tough or violent, so they talk like lions and gorillas running for presidency!”

 “Um, I did not need the rudeness, but OK.” Loki turned to Bacchus and Maui. “Do any of you know Gigantic?”

 “I’m only fluent in Sea Monster Mannerism,” Maui admitted in guilt.

 “Eh. I’m just an expert in drunk dialects,” Bacchus grimaced.

 “I know a bit of Gigantic, but it’s pretty mediocre. I’m better at Trollish.” Aaricia saw all the adults, even the demigods, looking at her in confusion. “What? Trolls are very common in Norway after Frost Giants. I’m friends with at least five in my high school!”

 “You live with a Frost Giantess demigoddess who knows more languages than the baby of an average Wikipedia page and Oxford professor,” Bacchus said quietly, “but you’re average in Gigantic? You’re sad.” Aaricia responded by hitting him in the eyes with both hands, growling, and kicking him in the groins. “OK!” He yelped. “You’re at least VERY fluent in cussing!”

 “What did she call you?” Clint snickered.

 “You don’t want to know,” Aaricia pulled her hair back. “Who wants me to try translating?”

 All the Avengers raised their hands.

 “Fantastic. Anyone have a notepad for Loki? No? Then pay close attention.” Aaricia cracked her knuckles and turned to the holographic display. They were surprised by what looked like the other chiefs freaking out and Yueqiu-Bing trying to pull Kory away from Tomoe as she kept hammering the teenager’s head onto the table.

 “What is Kory doing to Tomoe?” Steve freaked out.

 “OK, I don’t know what we missed,” Aaricia said nervously, “but Kory just said ‘Your idea is bullshit’.”

 In the hologram, Kory grabbed Yueqiu-Bing by the ankle and swung her around. Loki cringed as his own daughter beat up a Frost Giantess taller than her in the same fashion that the Hulk beat him. “‘I am not going to calm down… This idea is shitty…’,” Aaricia groaned, “and now I can’t tell if she’s saying that Yueqiu-Bing is an idiot or that her toothpaste smells like rabbit poop.”

 “I’m going to lean for the idiot part,” Loki offered.

 Noah used his staff to levitate and shove the two Frost Giantesses in their seats. He started drumming against the table with his staff and growling. “OK, now it got complicated. I’m positive that he just called these two a bunch of babies since staff hitting against a table is how you tell someone they’re being childish, but I can’t figure out if he just said ‘shut up’ or told them to give Tomoe a chance to talk.”

 Tomoe then gave out a variety of grunts, growls, punching Emma, the chief sitting next to her, in the arm, then punching a dent in the wall, pounding the table with both fists, and sitting down so hard, she broke her chair.

 “Uhhhhhhh…” Aaricia agitated her fingers to figure out a translation. “Manipulate aliens? Find a replacement? JOTUNHEIM GOING DOWN! I quite confident that she was talking about destruction. They translate ‘destroying furniture’ as ‘destroying your enemies’. If my translation is OK, I think her idea involves tricking the aliens and bringing down Jotunheim.”

 “Does she mean destroying both the Chitauri and Jotun?” Loki asked.

 In the hologram, Kory growled and agitated her hands as if she were REALLY struggling to resist the urge to jump off her seat and try strangling Tomoe. “Kory’s saying that she wishes she could kill Tomoe because it’s OBVIOUS that Loki will ruin his own involvement in the plan.”

 “But what plan?” Thor demanded.

 “How should I know? I don’t know anything about alien wars or a myth-based species nitpicky about their rulers being strictly from the same family!” Aaricia froze in her tracks. “Unless… that’s why they want a replacement! Kory doesn’t want to be queen!”

 “She never has,” Steve picked up on where Aaricia was going. “But only Laufey’s family can rule Jotunheim! Laufey’s dead, and since Kory doesn’t want to be queen, that leaves…”

 Everyone’s eyes turned to the one candidate available for the picking.

 Loki.

 The Frost Giant chiefs wanted to use Loki as Kory’s replacement for the Jotunheim throne.

Chapter Text

Yueqiu-Bing and Nikoletta were the first two to get out of the conference room and up to the main level where the Avengers were currently at.

 “Do any of you morons have a room void of anything valuable, world-saving, or dear to your hearts?” Yueqiu-Bing quickly asked.

 “Uh, we do have an empty room on this floor in case the Hulk makes a scene.” Tony pointed on the left.

 “Xièxiè.” Yueqiu-Bing grabbed Nikoletta and the two ran to the direction Tony had pointed them to. When they heard the sounds of shuffling and ceramics, Steve and Aaricia followed after the chiefs. Loki and Thor glanced at each other before deciding to follow along as well. They stopped at the open door leading inside a large, empty room. No furniture, no weapons, no whatever. Just walls and a floor made of whatever metals Tony Stark could come up with to contain the Hulk. Yueqiu-Bing and Nikoletta were frantically running around the room, placing Yuan dynasty ceramics of various types on the ground.

 “Wait!” Nikoletta suddenly stopped in her tracks. She looked suspiciously at the tea kettle she was holding. “Yu-yu, these aren’t the kinds of ancient ceramics that hold ancient forces that will probably wreak havoc to mortals, right?”

 “Nikko, I would carry no such things!” Yueqiu-Bing gasped. “Besides, the only haunted relics I possess are guarded by the terracotta warriors who guard my family’s tomb!”

 “OK, just checking…” Nikoletta put down the tea kettle.

 “What happened?” Steve asked.

 “Is my sister OK?” Aaricia looked worried.

 “Helvete nej!” Nikoletta exclaimed. (Fucking hell no!) This earned her a punch on the arm from Yueqiu-Bing. The Chinese Frost Giantess took a deep breath, adjusted her golden monkey head shoulder pads, and turned to Aaricia.

 “Aaricia Ikolson, Koryanna’s little sister, right?” She asked calmly.

 “Yes. I apologize for the inconvenience. When it comes to chiefs, I’m more familiar with Noah and Ingrid,” Aaricia politely nodded.

 “You’re definitely more familiar with Tomoe.” The Frost Giantess winked teasingly. Aaricia blushed and gave a dismissive hand gesture.

 “Yeah, I’d prefer to keep the nature of my… long-distance relationship with Tomoe under wraps!” Aaricia awkwardly smiled. “Kory would murder me if she found out. Metaphorically, that is. We don’t have whatever these two have.” Aaricia pointed a finger at Thor and Loki.

 “I agree.” Yueqiu-Bing put her hands together. “So, about your sister. The chiefs came up with a plan that your sister isn’t enthusiastic about.”

 “That’s an under…” Loki didn’t get to finish saying ‘understatement’ when Aaricia quickly slapped him on the face, the static in her skin giving his cheek an accidental burn and Kory to yell in pain one level down.

 “I’M SORRY!” Aaricia shouted to the floor. “LOKI WAS BEING AN ASSHOLE TO ME!”

 “Jeg elsker deg, men overlate håndteringen av den jerkens karma til meg! Og neste gang, ikke bruk kreftene dine på ham!” Kory’s voice shouted from downstairs. (I love you, but leave the handling of that jerk's karma to me! And next time, don't use your powers on him!)

 “She thinks I’m a jerk?” Loki winced as he touched his cheek.

 “I’m going to pretend you’re a mime.” Aaricia rolled her eyes. “So… Chief Hua, are you and Chief Isfästning putting around fancy ceramics so my sister can lash out on them and destroy the room rather than the tower?”

 Nikoletta leaned over Yueqiu-Bing, annoying the latter when the half-succubus Jotun rested her arms over her shoulder pads. “You sound used to it, Guldlock.” (Goldilocks)

  “She keeps a room in her manor’s underground just for smashing ice statues of this guy when she’s pissed.” Aaricia pointed at Loki. “You know, the usual daddy issues, immortal bigots, prejudiced mortals, carolers, conservative rioters, and the idiots out there who still don’t accept the fact that Kory doesn’t sell cancer cures.”

 “Wait, Kory knows how to cure cancer?” Steve was surprised.

 “I just know she doesn’t sell because it would be ‘disrespectful to actual practitioners’. I didn’t bother to ask if she actually knows how.” Aaricia went back to the two chiefs. “Must have been one HECK of a plan for her to need a room full of valuable ceramics from an ancient dynasty?” She quickly eyed the ceramics. “Uh, none of them are cursed, right? Because one time, Kory blew a tantrum and accidentally destroyed a locust jar.”

 “Was her garden destroyed?” Thor asked.

 “They were flesh-eating locusts. And Kory’s the deadliest exterminator; she’s violently protective of her manor’s greenhouse.”

 “She does have a green thumb,” Steve smirked a bit. Unbeknownst to the Avengers, Loki, and Aaricia, Nikoletta and Yueqiu-Bing exchanged some glances with one another. Contrary to what the mortals believed; the Frost Giant chiefs were aware of the nanotechnology surveillance system in the tower. They were highly aware that the Avengers would have attempted anything to gain information on their plans. After all, the chiefdom proverb was the same in all the clans.

 NEVER fully trust a human.

 Naturally, along with keeping alliances to get rid of Jotunheim and the Chitauri from their turfs on Midgard, the chiefs also found entertainment in mocking humans for their sins in their self-proclamations of incorruptible righteousness. And tempting them was just too easy. Not to mention that before coming to the tower for their meeting, Noah and the other chiefs of the circle closest to Kory had agreed on the… matchmaking scheme.

 Yueqiu-Bing and Nikoletta couldn’t resist such opportunities.

 “You’re quite right, Captain Rogers,” Yueqiu-Bing politely nodded her head. The two chiefs were the first to make their way out of the room. The other four joined them in the hallway after Thor helped Loki get up. “Did Kory show you her powers? She surpasses me as the most powerful Frost Giantess on Earth, her ice powers and magic are beyond anything. Granted, her plant magic is third compared to her direct heritage, but it’s still highly regarded. My own parents envied her collection.”

 Nikoletta blinked in fake confusion. “Weren’t you a kid when your parents first met her? She was still in the mid-phases of her magical development while you still had a hard time summoning an Aquarius.”

 Yueqiu-Bing gave a dry look at Nikoletta. “Thanks for the reminder of my annoying childhood, Nikko. Yeah, I really needed the reminder.”

 Nikoletta chuckled, the smoke coming out of her horns’ flasks creating snickering hisses.

 “You know, when Kory first took me in, I was hiding in her greenhouse from some mercenaries,” Aaricia casually brought up. Thor and Steve gave her shocked looks.

 “We know,” Yueqiu-Bing nodded.

 “I’m still amazed that she didn’t stuff your head. Didn’t you touch her most prized plant in her entire greenhouse?” Nikoletta crossed her arms. “Last time somebody sent a negotiator to purchase it, she shipped his disembodied skeleton.”

 “Hey, I had to get the mercenaries off my back. Obviously breaching her ‘DEATH AWAITS THOSE WHO TOUCH THIS’ sign saved my life!” Aaricia protested. “And, you know, the mercenaries either ended up as Kory’s garden statues or Carmine’s midnight snack.”

 “All that vengeance… for some flowers?” Thor said in disbelief.

 “Obviously you barbarians have no sense of gardening whatsoever…” Nikoletta began.

 “He doesn’t understand that talented sorcerers tend to nature. A basic practicality in alchemy and potions,” Loki quickly said.

 “And Kory does work as an apothecary,” Steve added. Thor gave both a small, grateful eyes.

 “True.” The Swedish Frost Giantess shrugged. “But on her level as the most powerful Jotun sorceress, Kory has plants that no mortals could even fathom. Lotus flowers from the island of Lotus-Eaters. Golden apples from so many cultures I lost track of. Mandrakes.”

 “Holy brambles,” the Chinese Frost Giantess joined in. Weeping willows. Somehow she even got a pomegranate tree from Persephone’s grove.”

 “Her garlic and herbs collection,” Aaricia said flatly.

 “Yes, she… Wait, did you say garlic?” Nikoletta blinked in confusion at Aaricia. The smoke coming out of her flasks even formed into question marks.

 “To ward off evil pagan spirits.” Aaricia shrugged before clasping her hands together and licking her lips. “And to cook the MOST fabulous food ever. You guys know she makes the BEST goulash, right?”

 “Gee, I wouldn’t know,” Nikoletta sassed drily.

 “Ha!” Yueqiu-Bing poked her in the neck to mock her. “She’s still not over you being half-succubus, she doesn’t trust you to NOT sneak in some drug! Or, at worst, add in some spice. You and Tomoe are the only ones most tolerable to heat!”

 A loud crash echoed across the hall.

 “KORYANNA’S COMING!” Nikoletta pushed Thor and Loki towards the doorway.

 “Don’t touch me!” Loki snapped.

 “Thank us later! Your kid has a horrible tantrum habit!”

 The two Frost Giantesses finally got them out of the hallway.

 “Maybe you should check on Tomoe,” Steve told Aaricia.

 “Not to underestimate you, Baseball Cap, but I don’t think you want to see Kory’s nasty side when she has a tantrum,” Aaricia hesitated.

 “I promised I’d be there for her.” Steve crossed his arms. “I’ll be fine. Besides, I’m worried that your girlfriend might have a concussion.”

 Aaricia blushed furiously. “Tomoe is NOT my girlfriend!”

 “And Kory isn’t mine either, yet here we are,” Steve said, almost smugly.

 Aaricia frowned at him. “Fine. But we are NOT creating a mortal-blondes-dating-Jotun club. Also, keep your shield on.”

 Aaricia dashed out the hallway. As soon as she got out of sight, Steve was greeted by the sight of an angry Kory marching in. He could have sworn she saw a vein popping in her Jotun appearance. Her tuxedo somehow loosened, the sleeves rolled up to reveal her biceps as she tightened her fists. Her coat reached the knee level and Steve could have sworn he saw its glittery patterns moving as the fur trimmings moved like the fur of a menaced wolf. Kory gritted her teeth and huffed angrily as she moved into the room and slammed the door behind her, ignoring Steve.

 He watched as Kory started throwing around the Chinese ceramics, frequently kicking in them or smashing them with ice clubs. She howls or shouted what he guessed were Hebrew words of rage. She used her magic to assemble the shards into multiple vases before destroying them as well. She even created a statue of Loki out of broken ceramics, a perfectly detailed one that would have boosted the god’s ego… until Kory began to headbutt, punch, kick, and stomp on it viciously. She stomped and jumped on the mess she was making, she was shouting, and Steve could picture the words Fury had brought up.

 An ant has no qualm with a boot.

 That’s what Loki apparently told Fury when he stole the Tesseract. That’s how Fury taunted Loki when SHIELD had him in that glass cage. And right now, Steve could imagine that Kory REALLY wanted her father to be the ant to her boot.

 When repeatedly destroying the ceramics wasn’t enough, Kory moved to ripping apart the metal floor. Steve decided it was time to intervene when Kory began punching the walls, piercing holes, and causing the level to shake. He held his shield in front of him and cautiously moved in just in time for Kory to punch his shield right at the star. The hit vibrated the shield, but Steve kept his ground. He held it up with both hands and anchored his feet to the ground, allowing Kory to mercilessly punch his shield like a punching bag.

 Steve got the hang of it… until Kory grabbed his shield, yanked it out of his hands, and slapped him on the face with it. Steve fell to the ground and got back up. He hadn’t expected such reaction from a high tantrum, but he wasn’t going to give up.

 She struck again, this time hitting him on the nose. He managed to hold his ground, but the pain was unpleasant. To his surprise, Kory stopped her violence to start sniffing in the air. Her eyes looked at him, her nose sniffed, and she stepped back in shock.

 “What have I done?” She gasped.

 “I’m fine, Kory…” He said.

 “You’re BLEEDING, Steve.” Kory put her hands together, compressing the air to create a small icy fabric. She cautiously tapped Steve’s nose with it, causing him to realize that he hadn’t notice the blood leaking out of his nose. He was also surprised by the softness of Kory’s icy fabrication as she tapped the blood away with it. Cold, but soft… like when his mother or Bucky used damp cloths to tap his bruises when he had been bullied in his youth.

 He sighed peacefully as Kory finished tending to him. Her element was far more positive to him than the ice that had imprisoned him.

 “There. Like it never happened.” Kory took a step back and viciously broke her icy fabric in half. “NEVER use yourself as a punching back for my tantrums, Steve Grant Rogers! NEVER!” She threw the remains against the wall. “Even Aaricia doesn’t do it!”

 “I’ve dealt with worse, Kory. Besides, you were tearing apart the room that Tony specifically designed for the Hulk to tear down.”

 “I don’t care, Steve!” Kory raised her hands. “You’re human! A regular Frost Giant could damage you, but me, a Frost Giant demigoddess? You’re lucky I had enough restraints to bleed your nose rather than disintegrate your bones by accident.”

 “And you didn’t,” Steve said. “Are you done?”
 Kory took a deep breath and exhaled back into her human form. “I’m fine.”

 “How did the meeting go?”

 Kory looked coldly at him and crossed her arms. “The Avengers were spying on us. Why do you think we spoke in Gigantic?”

 Steve rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. “It was Tony’s idea…”

 “And you probably tried to have Aaricia translate for you and she did a lousy translation. I know, Steve. Just because I’m a hermit raising a human I adopted doesn’t mean I didn’t enroll her in a human school, a weekend immortal social studies camp, AND weekly Hebrew classes. You think I haven’t seen the report cards? She speaks Trollish better than she speaks Gigantic.” Kory sighed. “How much did she translate for you?”

 “Mostly the bad language.” Kory nodded as Steve listed. “Either you insulted Yueqiu-Bing or you compared her toothpaste to rabbit poop.”

 Kory tilted her head in thought. “Uh. Kinda grey zone there, I have NO idea what’s in her toothpaste, but she does have bad breath.”

 “And finally, something about tricking the Chitauri and putting Loki in your place.” Steve finished. “You want your father to replace you for Jotunheim’s throne.”

 “Tomoe’s idea, not mine.” Kory dropped herself on the ground. Steve joined in and sat down net to her. “Her suggestion was that if we trick the Chitauri into thinking that I killed Loki in a public combat, they’ll leave us alone, which would give us room to mold…” Kory gulped down her disgust, “my bigoted biological paternal into a better candidate. She said that technically speaking, Loki is the rightful ruler of Jotunheim before me. If we… mold him into a proper Frost Giant chief, he’ll be king before Passover, Earth doesn’t turn into an ice cube, he can return the Casket to Asgard, and most importantly, ANYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH HIM leaves me alone!”

 She let out a frustrated puff.

 “Tomoe does know that this plan does have flaws, right?” Steve asked. “Your father’s not exactly the most trustworthy person in the building. Tony purposely put him in a room that blocks his magic.”

 Kory gave him a glare that practically screamed ‘You think?’

 “I mean, what if he doesn’t participate? Or worse, he DOES become king but he decides to send an army of Frost Giants against everyone for revenge?” Steve pointed out.

 “That’s what I said, Steve!” Kory exclaimed. “But then Team Tomoe pointed out that if doesn’t cooperate or if he abuses this ‘alliance’, then we just kill him… at best. At worst, Nikoletta shoots an arrow of bloodlust all over New York and Loki has to deal with a million mortal zombies who want to rip him apart like a pinata at a birthday party.”

 Steve gasped in horror at her words.

 “What? Her horn flasks each carry a different form of lust to impact a crowd!” Kory tapped her head. “Single-target bloodlusts are among her worst weapons! If she wanted to, she could have zombified SHIELD to eat apart the Hulk. Her instigated bloodlusts are far scarier than her instigated orgies…”

 “I don’t think I want to know the rest!” Steve shook his head and got up.

 “Now you see where I am!” Kory puffed. “And the worst part? I have to be near him for weeks.”

 “I think you might be able to catch a break.” Kory and Steve looked at the doorway when they heard a voice speak up. They hadn’t noticed Cyril, the Belgian Frost Giant chief, arriving in his human form. “Utgard-Loki and Gerd of Jotunheim are at the tower’s gates.”

 “Why?” Kory hissed.

 “Your friends tried to delay them with coronation preparations, remember?” Steve helped Kory get up from the ground.

 “And Yueqiu-Bing tried to intimidate them with your ‘high expectations’,” Cyril air-quoted. “We’ll have to consider them non-intimidated. At worst, aroused. Mr. Hogan claims that Utgard-Loki came with a bouquet for Yueqiu-Bing.”

 Kory facepalmed herself. “Can’t we just tell them to get lost? I don’t want to deal with their blueprints to my never-gonna-happen coronation, or at worst, pulverize them for trying to freeze Steve again.”

 “You should leave the tower again,” Steve suggested, “but the last time you left, Brooklyn got attacked by man-eating giants.”

 “Good thing that America also has its shares of diversity in the immortal community.” Cyril put his hands on his hips. “I interact with the Belgian-American Jotun community as their cultural chief. I managed to locate and convince some to keep an eye on you in Jersey City. Still close to New York but far enough from the two visiting weirdos. And if things get weird, they’ll notify me or Joseph.”

 “You expect us to just hang around in Jersey City? Why not Hoboken?” Kory asked sarcastically.

 “Because one my hotels is in Jersey City,” Cyril answered back. “You know, that looks like a Steigenberger Wiltcher on the inside but looks like a Marriott on the outside?”

 “Oh.”

 “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea…” Steve hesitated. “What if the Chitauri or the Frost Giants find Kory there? Or worse, Anubis?” His tone took a sour turn, which made Kory cringe.

 “He never steps foot in our turfs when we have them sealed away from him,” Cyril said reassuringly. “Protective seals from other gods create force fields that keep him from entering. I personally made sure that any territory of any Belgian Jotun bore a Toutatis seal.” Cyril waved his hands and an ice sculpture of some god’s head appeared in his hands. “And the uniqueness of the Rockies Clan reinforces the force field. Besides, Kory is a distant direct descendant of Toutatis. I doubt the god would want her harmed within his protection.”

 “I don’t know, Cyril… Last time I was near a Toutatis-protected turf, I accidentally caused a brawl that almost caused some earth giants to eat cyclists of the Tour De France…” Kory shook her head.

 “We’re having spring specials in the hotel’s all-chocolate restaurants.” Cyril’s flat response caused Kory to wave her hands, creating a blue-lighted portal right into Jersey City.

 “Did you just get…” Steve started, only to be dragged into the portal by Kory.

 Cyril sighed and chuckled as the portal closed. “Women. They just love chocolate.”

Minutes later

“Did you warn Koryanna?” Noah asked as soon as Cyril go to the main floor. The Avengers were loaded up just in case, Banner stayed close to the nearest exit, Nick Fury and Maria had arrived on helicopter, Aaricia sat on Carmine’s back, and the Frost Giant chiefs held on to their weapons.

 “She and Captain Rogers are in a secure location.”

 “Good.” Noah sat down on the couch, the other chiefs forming a semi-circle at his sides.

 “What is the plan here?” Thor asked. Most of the Frost Giants hissed at him.

 Tomoe turned to look at him. “It’s basic nybergynnere Jotun warfare. Allied chiefs form a defensive arch of diplomacy. If the ‘guests’ try to attack the leading chief, it’s an official battle declaration. But since it’s Noah, it’s gonna be a TOTAL FROST GIANT WAR!”

 “So comes the responsibility of being the eldest Jotun chief in all of Earth…” Noah’s grip tightened on his staff.

 “It’s a bummer you don’t have kids,” Emma said sourly.

 “I’m the second chief of the Safed tribe. I’ve lived to protect my tribe, to guide other worshipping immortals, to mentor all the Jotun chiefs, and to advise the legacy who is our only closest link to our roots’ divinity. From the ancestors you sprouted from to the descendants you will grow, I’ve viewed all of Earth’s Frost Giants as my own children.”

 The other chefs nodded their heads in acknowledgement. Some sniffing was heard, and everyone looked at Iron Man, who had removed his face’s helmet to wipe away some tears.

 “Tony, are you crying?” Black Widow asked in surprise.

 “I got armor dust in my eyes,” Tony claimed.

 The elevator doors opened. A beyond frustrated Happy Hogan stepped out, followed by Utgard-Loki and Gerd. While Gerd was holding icy tablets thicker than her arms and a frozen wooden chest on top of that, Utgard-Loki was holding what seemed to be a bouquet of frozen ferns, ice blue daisies, and baby’s breath so puffy, it could be mistaken for cushy snow. Yueqiu-Bing let out an uneasy grimace at the sight of the bouquet.

 “Utgard-Loki and Gerd, I believe?” Noah asked firmly. “I am Noah Vinter-Likht. Chief of the Safed Clan…” To the surprise of most in the room, Utgard-Loki and Gerd kneeled before him. “…And I will admit, I did not anticipate that.”

 “Forgive us, my Lord,” Utgard-Loki spoke apologetically. “It may come as a surprise, but the rumors and stories of a powerful Jotun such as yourself have existed longer than the Princess herself. They say that your miraculous magic surpasses my own.”

 “Rumors don’t prove anything,” Noah said, straightening himself while the others kept on their toes.

 “And we don’t want to encourage them,” Utgard-Loki nodded. He then looked meekly at Yueqiu-Bing, who kept her hand on the sword strapped to her belt. The Jotun sorcerer presented the bouquet to her. “For the chieftess with a blizzard’s fury… milady.”

 Yueqiu-Bing looked at Noah and waited until he gave her a nod of approval. She groaned and took the bouquet from Utgard-Loki. “Thank you, I will consider this as a token of peace than a token,” she said.

 “Xièxiè nǐ jiēshòu wǒ de lǐwù.” Utgard-Loki suddenly speaking Chinese startled Yueqiu-Bing, who walked away to put the flowers in a nearby water jug. (Thank you for accepting my gift.) Apparently, he’d gone as far as to learn a human language to impress the Frost Giant chieftess he was crushing on since yesterday.

 “I am assuming that you are here with coronation blueprints and a bribery to convince Princess Koryanna to become queen, but I am afraid that she has no pursuit to the throne. Coercion will only bring forth a civil war among all Jotun, or worse, her wrath. We should know, despite her skills in magic, her strength and ice have murdered armies.”

 “We understand. But about that…” Utgard-Loki gave a head motion to Gerd. She put aside the frozen wooden chest and laid down the big icy tablets. Everyone bent down to look at the small, but well carved runes and surprisingly well carved linear art.

 “Is that a story of the bucks in the star?” Thor was confused.

 “It’s Starbucks, moron!” Joseph snapped. “It’s a fucking list of all the Starbucks in New York!”

 “And… Wow, you guys really did a neat job copying the MOMA goods,” Aaricia nodded.

 “Everyone step back!” Everyone followed Noah’s example.

 “Is this what you came for?” Loki demanded. “To bribe my child with a coronation consisting of coffee shop marathons and art plagiarism?”

 “Not to mention that Kory hates art museums,” Aaricia agreed with Loki.

 “I asked for everyone to step back.” Noah’s warning indicated the patience beginning to thin out. He took a deep breath, straightened his scarf and going back to the visitors. “You must understand that we are confused.”

 “We know, but we had to make an excuse to Angerboda. She wanted us to prepare the coronation, so we had to trick her into thinking we were… And I might have been obsessed by coffee on Midgard, so I carved those addresses claiming that we were going to scavenge the finest beverages for her Majesty since we were told she loves coffee,” Gerd explained.

 “Kory doesn’t really do coffee. Occasionally she does, but she’s more into tea or hot chocolate,” Aaricia interjected.

 “Noted. But it deviated Angerboda’s attention away from us.”

 “OK, I apologize for interrupting, but what is going on here?” Banner cut in. “Or, more importantly, why are you really here?”

 “Last time I recalled, you were desperate to prepare the big party, but now you want to delay it?” Nick Fury pondered out loud. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you two don’t really want the coronation to happen.”

 “Well, it’s half-right…” Utgard-Loki admitted. “On the half-wrong side of the truth, we do want the Princess as our queen. The right line must be on the throne to restabilize Jotunheim, and we were made very clear that only the royal member who has no craving for power would be the ruler.”

 “On whose demand?” Noah questioned. “Angerboda’s? A council’s?”

 “Ymir,” both Utgard-Loki and Gerd spoke at the same time. The chiefs looked in startlement at one another.

 Noah tried his best to stay calm. “Have you addressed the problem with him through prayers?” He pointed his staff at Gerd, scaring her a bit. “I know of you, Gerd, widow of Frey Njordson, the god who traded away his own weapon for your affection.” His suddenly harsh words caused Gerd to look mournful. “Did you or did you not know that as the widow of Frey, and thus sister-in-law of Freya, you are the distant aunt of the Princess herself?”

 Gerd’s eyes widened in surprise. “She’s a descendant of Freya?”

 “I swear on the River Styx that none of us knew!” Utgard-Loki kneeled and pleaded before Noah. Tomoe quickly looked out the window.

 “No signs of the Heavens retaliating,” Tomoe blinked. “He’s not lying. They didn’t know.”

 “If you’re Kory’s aunt, why don’t you become Queen?” Aaricia asked Gerd.

 “She’s not wrong.” Loki spoke up, suspicion in his eyes as well. “Funny enough, the colossal Frost Giants that my daughter fought just yesterday said that they would never accept a hybrid as their ruler. They also wanted a skull, a heart, blood, and their real ruler. Yet for some reason, they said that they must have the blood of Laufey rule Jotunheim since they refuse to work with ‘traitors from the House of Laufey’.”

 “It sounds like what Laufey said when he spoke of the House of Odin…” Thor frowned at Utgard-Loki and Gerd before pointing Mjolnir at them. “Either you are betraying your kin just to come to us… or you are here because you think there’s a traitor among your kin.”

 “You don’t trust Angerboda, do you?” Loki asked sharply.

 Gerd hesitated before sighing. “We trusted her for so long, but with the way Jotunheim was wasting away, she has made her work so distant, it seemed like the only value in consuming her life was to serve King Laufey. Closer to him than the rest of the court. So when we lost our king and a majority of our court to the power of the Bifrost, she sank deeper into her work and encouraged the others to find the rightful heir across the Nine Realms.”

 “Such encouragement… that we almost confused her search for the rightful ruler as a hunt for a rare animal.” Utgard-Loki gulped. He seemed scared, contrasting his usual demeanor. “We tried praying to Ymir, asking him if he’d accept any other candidates, but he denied. We even volunteered ourselves, but he refused.”

 “He wouldn’t accept Gerd, the distant aunt of the princess?” Noah asked firmly.

 “I suppose that if she had been a paternal aunt, she might have. Unfortunately, Gerd and the princess are only connected because of the Vanir gods. It doesn’t count.”

 “Then there were the thefts on Asgard, the file downloads, the battles with the Chitauri, and Angerboda’s stubbornness,” Gerd added. “She stole vital family history and the casket, both heirlooms to the princess. We didn’t understand why she would steal when our newfound treaties could have requested an alliance, but she claimed that Odin would want nothing to do with our kingdom after Loki’s actions. We didn’t understand why she kept the pages of the mother and daughter from the Tome of Ikolson, but she claimed she had her reasons. We didn’t understand why she wanted to force the Princess back in Jotunheim when she could have convinced through groveling, but she said it was for the good of Jotunheim.”

 “Last night, Gerd and I saw that how the princess challenged those uncharacteristically giant Jotun cannibals on her own and her treatment at the hands of the Rapharion…” Utgard-Loki said.

 “Raphael’s Eon?” Tony frowned. “What is that, a band?”

 “Rapharion,” Noah corrected. “As the term ‘Aesir’ is used by some to refer to Asgardians or ‘Vanir’ to those of Vanaheim, ‘Rapharion’ is the term we immortals use for the Ancient Egyptian gods. A combination of Ra, their creator, and pharaoh, the kings said to be their reincarnation. When Utgard-Loki refers to ‘the Rapharion’, he means Anubis.”

 Sounds of distaste came from everyone in the room.

 “So, you guys were also wondering why Angerboda didn’t send anyone to protect Kory,” Black Widow concluded.

 “She claimed that to send defenses for a legendary warrior like the princess would be humiliating to her Majesty. That if we were to interfere, we would be a mere distraction,” Gerd shook her head. She then pointed at Loki. “King Laufey would have probably succeeded in murdering Odin if he had come with defenses rather than being left along with you.”

 “I guess we’ll never know.” Loki shrugged.

 “And now you know why we came.” Utgard-Loki nodded to Gerd. Both went for the frozen wooden chest and pulled it up, carrying it before Noah’s feet. “At the risk of our own lives, we dared to bring the princess’s rightful heirloom to her.”

 The Frost Giant chiefs gasped in horror.

 “You… pea-brained… IDIOTS!” Noah slammed his staff against the floor. Every single one of Stark’s expensive tiles broke, rendering the floor into a painful, frozen mosaic. Noah stood on his feet and pointed his staff at Utgard-Loki and Gerd.

 “Noah, nei!” Ingrid held him back. (No!)

 “Do not tell me no, Ingrid Aybeer!” Noah got angry. Frost started spreading beneath him.

 “What did we do wrong?” Gerd pleaded. Utgard-Loki put himself in front of her, shielding Gerd. Curious themselves, Nick Fury and Loki dared to walk up and approach the frozen wooden chest. However, after getting close by five feet, Loki held Nick Fury back.

 “Why are you touching me?” Fury demanded.

 “The Casket…” Loki gasped.

 “The Casket of Ancient Winters?” Thor was shocked as well. “How in the Nine Realms did you succeeded in stealing it from Angerboda?”

 “It isn’t really that hard for me to alternate the appearance of a rock and have it pretend to be our most powerful relic,” Utgard-Loki confessed.

 “But ARE YOU MAD? Do you understand how dangerous it is that you brought it here?” Noah demanded.

 Aaricia dismounted Carmine. Tomoe followed her and approached the frozen wooden chest, using her naginata to pick and break apart the lock.

 “Tomoe, be careful!” Yueqiu-Bing warned, pulling Aaricia closer to her and as far away from the wooden chest as possible. Tomoe lifted the lid and looked inside. For safety precautions, Nick Fury looked above her shoulder for a better look at the Casket.

 “It looks like a dumb old box,” Tomoe said, disinterested.

 “That ‘dumb old box’ is a royal relic and the most powerful item of the House of Laufey, girl!” Utgard-Loki snapped, slightly offended.

 “Mōichido `on'nanoko' to yonde kudasai. Anata no ha o tsuyoku nagurimasu. Anata no senzo wa anata o ninshiki shimasen!” Tomoe showed her fist at Utgard-Loki. (Call me 'girl' again, and I'll punch your teeth so hard, your ancestors won't recognize you!)

 “I do not understand a single thing you say.”

 “Well, try to understand her. Samurai Princess broke my floor by throwing Reindeer Games and the other two semi-god divas.” Iron Man pointed at the crater Tomoe left earlier. DO NOT TRESPASS yellow tape had to be placed around it to keep people from falling. Utgard-Loki looked uneasily between the crater and a threatening Tomoe. “Noted…” He gulped.

 Tomoe growled and looked back at the Casket. “It still looks like a dumb box to me.”

 “You never paid attention in history class, have you?” Johanna sighed.

 “I was more invested in robotics,” Tomoe shrugged.

 “Well pay attention. THAT THING is deadlier than Pandora’s Box,” Nikoletta said, closing the lid by force. “The Casket of Eternal Winters doesn’t hold the evils of the universe. Just the heart of Ymir…”

 “Yeah, I’m going to pretend that I believe in this supernatural non… OH MY GOD, THERE’S A DEAD GUY’S ORGAN IN THERE!” Tomoe’s skeptical mood turned into typical teenage disgust. “Dudes! You are SO GROSS!”

 “Well, it isn’t like we ASKED for our creator to carve his heart out!” Gerd protested.

 “We have no need for disgust! Emma! Joseph! Ged rid of that chest!” Noah ordered.

 “What are you doing?” Fury asked Noah while the Swiss and American chiefs used their ice powers to triple-up the icy coating over the wooden chest. They definitely looked like they didn’t want the Casket to get out or anything.

 “We are disposing of it! The Casket, and Ymir’s heart within, must not go anywhere near Koryanna!”

 “Should we freeze it within a glacier?” Otto suggested while Gawain helped Emma and Joseph lift the chest. “Or perhaps hide it within the Titanic?”

 “Otto, any of those sites you have suggested are always packed with capitalist, Western tourists,” Noah groaned. “We can never hide valuable items in any of those locations?”

 “What about the Bermuda Triangle?” Cyril suggested. “We got far-ranging catapults.”

 “Mysterious appearances in that triangle are lies. The chest could easily be vacuumed into Alaska for all we know.”

 “What about Atlantis?” Ingrid suggested. “The humans don’t believe in it.”

 “Do any of you even trust the people who live in Atlantis?” Noah asked. His question was received by a repeated ‘no’ from the other chiefs.

 “Why don’t we just put it in a volcano?” Nikoletta offered. “I resist heat more than all of you, I could drop it.

 “Two words, Nikoletta. ‘Volcanologists’ and ‘tourists’.”

 “Can’t we just destroy the heart?” Tomoe asked.

 Noah shook his head. “The heart is indestructible. The casket can be destroyed, but not the heart.”

 “Why don’t we open a portal and throw the Casket into Muspelheim?” Kunal came up with his idea. “The mere heat of the realm can incinerate a Jotun alive. No Frost Giant in their right mind would risk their lives to get the relic there. Not to mention that the Fire Giants there would rather murder their mothers than use ice magic.”

 “You are talking about destroying a weapon of unfathomable power!” Nick Fury exclaimed. “Do you realize the resources you’d be wasting?”

 Out of instinct, Emma, Joseph, and Gawain put down the chest and pointed their weapons at him. This caused Hawkeye and Black Widow to side by him and point their weapons at the chiefs.

 “Drop your weapons, please,” Black Widow asked firmly.

 “You think we’re gullible?” Emma pointed her ice axe at Black Widow. “We don’t trust the likes of Avengers or SHIELD with anything!”

 “You’d just experiment on the Casket and weaponize it, just as you did with the Tesseract.” Joseph tightened his grip on his cavalry lance.

 “That’s a bit jumping on conclusions, you don’t know that,” Iron Man said.

 “Says the bitch who industrialized weapons without giving a damn of the lives you damaged.”

 “I’m sorry, but is the American chief honestly going to call me out on my past mistake?” Stark took out his helmet and stomped up to Joseph, pushing Fury aside. “You want to tell that to me, witch doctor?”

 “Spoken like the colonizers you mortals are. You constantly speak of seeking peace and protection of others, but you’re none other than exploiters. Murderers. You all hate things that aren’t mortal or nowhere near your level of normalcy. You claim for diplomacy, but in reality, you just crave to test the guns on those that aren’t ‘human’ enough for you.”

 “I think that’s kind of pushing it…” Aaricia began.

 “Why do you pretend to care what they think, Aaricia?” Joseph looked at her incredulously. “Did you forget how Kory found you in her property? You were being chased! By humans who blew up the train you were in! All because your biological parents decided to find a bigger bidder! Because your father preferred experimenting on his kid than being a real parent!” Joseph’s words made Aaricia tremble. Carmine growled and pounced on Joseph, bearing her massive fangs at them.

 “That’s enough, Joseph!” Noah reached for Aaricia, causing her to run into his arms. “We’re discussing the matters of the casket, not your hatred for mortals outside the Rockies Clan because of what happened to Aiyana!”

 “That’s it, I’m beating your teeth off!” Tomoe ran to punch Joseph, only for Johanna to hold her back.

 “Why not just ask my daughter what she wants to do with it?” Loki finally spoke up. “You don’t need to bring it to her if it’s too dangerous, but after all, it’s her heirloom. She should decide how to dispose of it if she wants nothing to do with it.”

 “That’s the most sensible thing anyone has suggested in the past half-hour,” Banner sighed in acceptance.

 The Frost Giant chiefs shot many sour glares at Loki. Utgard-Loki and Gerd looked like they wanted to spit on him. Cyril finally broke the tension.

 “Loki is right. Even though it’s too dangerous, the Casket is still Kory’s heirloom. If she doesn’t want it, then she can decide the relic’s fate. Besides, it holds the heart of her ancestor. To dispose of the casket, Kory would have to deal with Ymir himself.”

 “Dude, in case you forgot, Koryanna dealing with Ymir DID NOT work out the last time it happened!” Johanna pointed out.

 “Well… if her desire to not be our rightful ruler is that strong… I suppose she can be strong enough to deal with our creator,” Gerd thought out loud. “Besides, we can return the Casket to Odin. It can stay in Asgard until the Princess decides what to do with it.”

 “My father would greatly appreciate that,” Thor said. “I could escort you personally. There are some questions that he needs to answer for.”

 “Agreed. We…”

 And just like that, explosions and screams could be heard coming from various parts of the city.