Work Text:
LOKI:
Asgard’s small remnant, under attack –
Half dead, half fled. A pitiless end
From one whom I know, and wish I did not
As well as I do. In strange pursuit of balance,
He takes mother from child, and he severs each pair
So that one half may live, served by death of the other.
Even I at my worst were not this ilk of beast.
Here is my bag of tricks, a thousand ways to flee,
With good reason for fear; few are as marked as I,
Who failed this tyrant once in bargain that I made.
The play that cost me freedom, cost him these mighty stones
One of which I still hold, and which has brought him here.
I have no fondness to be flayed, to face the fire twice;
My instinct is to fly, though flanked by fearsome foes.
For all that, my fate is here. For if anyone must live
So that Thanos may be faced and this foul stain of slaughter scrubbed,
It is not I the trickster, but the thunder god called Thor,
Odin’s son, lately filled with the power of his parent;
Heir to the throne I coveted – and indeed controlled twice,
By due, and by deceit. Him whom I tried to kill
On more than one occasion, but do not desire dead.
Experience is experience. And learnt too along the way:
That love, yes, and respect, may be hidden well for years.
That yearning and resentment had twisted thought in me
While what I always wanted was smiling in plain sight.
Even so, masquerading in plain sight as Asgard’s king,
That quest has quieted and the malice I do mend.
Much evil have I done, and will meet an evil end.
Now for the Tesseract, treasure thieved in time of trouble.
Thanos wants the cube. And what he wants I give.
Transaction made with thought, a trade for Thor to live.
The time draws near anon. Time for my closing trick.
Behold, here at the end he sees us for what we are,
A pair that he can halve. So I will force his hand.
Mourn me, my brother, even if you do not understand.
- May 2018