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Journeying via Bifrost was an unforgettable experience for the Avengers. Tony barely managed to land on his feet, while Bruce, Steve, and Clint looked green, as if they were about to vomit. Only Natasha and Thor seemed unphased, but a keen eye would have noticed Natasha's hesitation as she moved forward.
"Uhh, man, that was awful," Tony muttered, straightening up. Thor burst out laughing and clapped his friend on the back, almost knocking him over.
"My Prince," greeted a dark-skinned man in golden armor. His golden eyes gazed into the void.
"Heimdall, my friend, it's good to see you," Thor greeted the man with a smile.
"Likewise, my Prince. Your parents await you in the royal gardens," the bridge guard informed.
"Were the Warriors Three and Lady Sif not here to greet me?" Thor asked, a look of disappointment crossing his face.
"Your friends are also in the royal gardens, accompanying the royal couple."
Thor nodded and, along with his Midgardian friends, headed toward the palace. During the walk, there were plenty of questions about the rainbow bridge, the shape of the planet, and the omnipresent gold. Thor answered as best as he could, though there wasn't much. He bitterly thought that Loki could have said more.
"So, do we know how Loki managed to escape?" Steve asked, getting to the point. That's why they had come. Apparently, Loki had escaped Asgardian justice, and the Avengers were here to investigate and capture the fugitive.
"Unfortunately, I don't know more than you, my friend," Thor began reluctantly. "I found out about Loki's escape quite recently, and by accident. Apparently, my father didn't intend to tell me anything and didn't want me to get involved," he finished bitterly.
"Don't worry, Point Break, we'll find your little brother," Tony stated.
"We should have killed him last time," Clint muttered, but fell silent when Thor gave him a threatening look.
They continued in silence, admiring the city of gods. The Asgardians looked at them curiously, greeted their prince, observed for a moment, and returned to their duties. It felt a bit like stepping back a thousand years. Though there was no doubt they weren't human, there was a great similarity.
"Does Loki pose a threat to the royal family? Is that why your friends are with your parents?" Natasha finally spoke up. Thor tensed and was silent for a moment. He sighed and lowered his head.
"I'd like to say no. That Loki would never harm our parents, especially our mother. But now, I don't know. He's... he's completely different from how he used to be, and I don't know if I know him anymore."
They continued the rest of the way in silence until they reached the gardens. The gardens were magnificent. The scent of flowers filled the air—beautiful roses, tulips in all colors, and many flowers they had never seen and probably didn't exist on Earth. There was even a flower that constantly changed color. The group had to forcefully pull Bruce away from it, as he wanted to know if the petals had a crystal structure or if the changing color was caused by something else.
They finally arrived under a large tree, by which stood a bench. On the bench sat a couple: an older man with gray hair and an eye patch, and a beautiful woman with blonde hair and brown eyes. Beside the seated couple stood four armed Asgardians. One woman with short dark hair, one blond with a short beard, one black-haired Asian, and one red-haired man built like a stereotypical Viking.
"Father, Mother," Thor greeted. "Friends," he nodded to the three warriors and Sif.
"Son," the queen stood up with a smile and embraced Thor. When they parted, she sat beside her husband, who looked at his son with a stern gaze.
"Thor, didn't I make it clear when I forbade you from bringing mortals to Asgard?"
"But father, these aren't ordinary mortals. They are the Avengers, the group that stopped Loki. This is Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man. A great sage and a brilliant blacksmith. He created armor that can fly," Thor spoke excitedly, ignoring his father's stern look and his mother's amused glance. "This is Steve Rogers, who holds the title of Captain. A great warrior and an excellent leader. This is Bruce Banner. Though he looks unassuming, he is a true berserker. When he gets angry, he turns into a green monster whose strength and endurance are unmatched. This is Clint Barton, who has hawk-like eyes. A master archer who could rival the best elven archers. And this is Natasha Romanoff. She is silent, deadly, and extremely perceptive. The only person I know who could see through Loki."
Thor introduced his friends, but clearly didn't intend to introduce them to the royal couple or the Asgardian warriors. Steve cleared his throat and hesitantly stepped forward.
"Umm, Sir, we are here to help capture Loki."
All the Asgardians, except Thor, looked at him in surprise, which quickly turned to disdain in Odin's case.
"You needn't have troubled yourselves. Loki has attempted to escape multiple times, and each time we managed to capture him," Odin stated disdainfully, making Steve shift uncomfortably. There was a rustle from the tree, but no one paid attention.
"I understand you don't see the usefulness of Earthlings, but we have captured Loki once before. I think we can be of help."
Suddenly, right beside Sif's head, where she couldn't see, Loki's head appeared, hanging upside down from the tree, an open book in his hands, and he looked at everyone with a crooked smile.
"Mortals become more insolent every year," Loki whispered. Sif jumped with a scream (which she later denied) and struck the unexpected source of the sound.
Loki wobbled, his eyes wide open, then fell from the tree at the feet of Sif and the royal couple, clutching the book safely to his chest. Sif looked at him angrily, disapproving that he protected the book more than his head. Frigga watched her son with worried eyes, as if something might have happened to him from such a height. Odin merely looked at his son with weariness. No one except the Avengers reached for their weapons.
"How long were you up there?" Odin asked with a sigh.
"I was there before you arrived," the would-be conqueror of Earth replied, not even bothering to stand. "And really, you two can be disgusting when you're alone. The only reason I didn't hang myself from this tree is because these fools arrived," he pointed to the Warriors Three and Sif. As the woman was about to kick him for calling her stupid, he quickly added, "And Sif."
"You were there the whole time?" Frigga asked with amusement.
"Yes, and I don't see anything funny about it. You two shouldn't flirt with each other. For the love of the Norns, you're too old for that," Loki shuddered, lying on the ground, making Frigga giggle, and even Odin's lips twitched into a smile.
"And no, you definitely shouldn't have more children," Loki continued, completely ignoring Thor, who looked at him, gripping Mjolnir. "Raising two didn't exactly go well. And what kind of name is that? Baldur. How could you do that to a child?" Loki prattled until Sif nudged him with her foot. The black-haired man looked at her indignantly, which looked comical lying on the ground, then noticed the Midgardians and Thor ready to attack. Thor stepped forward and grabbed Loki by the collar, setting him on his feet.
"Not in the face!" Loki yelled, trying to break free from his brother.
"Your tricks are over, Loki. You're going back to the dungeons," Thor said threateningly.
"Oh no, what shall I do now? I've only escaped from there five times," Loki said with ironic terror, still struggling with his brother. Just for the principle and pleasure. After all, is there anything more enjoyable than kicking your older brother in the shin?
"Five times?" Thor asked, confused, letting go of Loki and looking at his parents.
"I told you your brother had escaped multiple times, but each time we managed to lock him back up," Odin said wearily.
"Actually, after the fourth time, they changed my punishment from the dungeon to house arrest. It wasn't worth keeping a cell for me since I kept escaping," Loki whispered to the completely stunned Midgardians.
"Are you saying that Loki keeps escaping, and you do nothing about it?" Clint asked, horrified and angry.
"Loki does nothing nefarious, so as long as he returns, I see no reason to detain him," Odin said, ignoring the mortals' lack of etiquette.
"When he says there's no reason to detain me, he means he has no way," Loki explained politely.
"So where did you escape to?" Thor asked threateningly. Everyone looked at Loki with curiosity.
"Yes, that's a good question," Odin agreed. Loki looked at everyone, then snorted.
"Well, the first time was for Mother's name day," he simply said. Thor opened his mouth, then immediately closed it in shame for forgetting his mother's name day. "We always spend a few hours together in the gardens, so this year I decided to stick to the tradition."
Several people looked at the queen for confirmation. Frigga only smiled at her younger son.
"My Lady, why didn't you say you knew where our son had escaped to?"
„This was our tradition; you can't blame me for wanting to spend some time with my son. Especially since the older one clearly forgot about me.” - Thor blushed and mumbled an apology.
„The second time, I was with Father.” - Everyone looked shocked at the king.
„We had to sign a treaty with the Kree.” - Odin just shrugged.
„Yes, and apparently in this realm, there's only one capable diplomat.” - Loki remarked, inspecting his nails. - Which shouldn't be surprising, considering most Asgardians are idiots.
Loki ignored the outrage of the Warriors Three and Thor, as well as Odin and Frigga's disapproval.
„The third time, I was on a date with Sif. Ugh.” - Loki doubled over when he got an elbow in the stomach from Sif, even before Frigga could celebrate her son's relationship.
„It wasn't a date, idiot!” - Sif snapped. „- I was on a mission. Because of you, we almost got killed! And I certainly didn't ask you to be there.”
„But we were kissing.” - Loki noted with a wide smile, which grew even wider when Sif blushed.
„To distract them from us!” - She explained hastily.
„It was real to me.” - Loki declared, blowing a kiss to the woman and chuckling when she tried to hit him again.
„What about the fourth time?” - Thor changed the subject before the two could launch into one of their legendary fights.
„I visited my daughter.”
„Daughter?” - The Midgardians exclaimed.
„Awww.” - Fandral said.
„How's my lovely granddaughter doing?” - Frigga asked with a smile.
„Quite well. Hela recently learned to conjure blades from nothing. I think she'll grow into a mighty warrior.” - Loki said proudly. All the Asgardians, except for Hogun, smiled at the thought of Loki's mischievous little female version.
„I can't believe he has a daughter? What's going on here? This must be some nightmare.” - Clint whispered to himself, and Natasha looked at him sympathetically.
„And the fifth time?” - Frigga asked, curious. Loki grinned mischievously and looked at Tony.
„In my defense, I owed him that drink.” - Stark defended himself, even before Loki could say anything.