You're My Son

Frozen Brother

Thirty minutes have gone by and there was no sign of Loki ever since he ran off with the Casket. Thor was beginning to worry for his brother, especially since he didn't know what he had planned to do with the Casket. He wanted to look for him, to make sure that he was okay, but he knew better. In order to really protect Loki, he needed to stop the Destroyer.

No matter what they did, one of Asgard's greatest weapon would not go down. Weapons and powers of all kind were used against the Destroyer, but nothing worked. Sure, it'd stop a few times, but it only bought them a few seconds.

Thor threw his hammer at the Destroyer and knocked it down. It fell to the floor with a big thump. He smiled, knowing that this was their chance to finally end its life.

He raced through his thoughts before the Destroyer could get up again. Mjolnir was strong enough to knock it down, but not enough to destroy it. He needed something more powerful. When Loki put the ice through its chest, it let go of the Casket. It became vulnerable for a second, as if in shock. It didn't need to be stabbed or knocked down in order to be defeated. It needed...

Thor looked over at Odin and Heimdall fighting. Odin took the sword from Heimdall's hand and threw it to the side. He pointed Gungir at the Watcher's face.

"Why do you side with them?" Odin asked.

"Because they have good in them. They have learned. They should be given a second chance like the other realms."

"I gave them that chance when I spared Laufey."

"Loki is their second chance."

"The traitor? The monster?"

"I see no monster here but the one who pins me down. You mind is clouded, filled with anger. If you are to kill me now, my king, I am more than glad to have sided with the Frost Giants."

Odin's gripped on Gungir was strong that his knuckles turned white. "You are a traitor." The tip of Odin's weapon lit up with fury.

"Odin, stop!" Frigga yelled, but Odin didn't listen.

Laufey heard Frigga's cry. He ran toward the two Asgardians and pushed Odin away from Heimdall. A beam of deathly light from Gungir shot up to the sky and the weapon landed next to the Watcher.

Thor saw Gungir next to Heimdall. He looked over at the Destroyer and saw that it was starting to get back up. In a panic and with his heart racing, he yelled, "Heimdall, throw it to me!"

"No!" Odin yelled.

Before Odin could get to it, Heimdall grabbed it and threw it to Thor. Thor caught it without flaw and pointed it at the Destroyer. He didn't want to destroy it--it being one of Asgard's greatest weapons of war--but it had to be done for Jotunheim. The weapon glowed fiercely and a beam shot out from it into the Destroyer's chest.

A deep hole was formed in the chest that one can clearly see right through it. The fire inside the Destroyer was extinguished, leaving it lifeless. It fell to the ground for the last time and never came back up.

Thor let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

Everyone stopped their fighting. They all stood in their place and stared at the fallen metal. Odin was the most shocked out of all of them. His son--his own blood--destroyed a part of Asgard to protect a realm that mocked them. It cracked the king's heart when Loki sided with the Frost Giants. It shattered seeing his own son betraying his kingdom, his people, his father.

"What have you done?" he said to Thor.

Thor was tired of trying to earn his father's respect. Jotunheim needed their help, even if it meant betraying the one he loved and respected. "I'm protecting Jotunheim. Asgard protects all realms, including this one. I am only doing what you have taught me, father."

"Never call me that again."

"I don't need to call you that."

Thor spun his hammer and lifted himself into the air in the direction where Loki ran. Gungnir was still in his grasp.
-------------------------------------------------------
Thor landed on one of the mountains where he saw Loki run to. He tried to distract his mind from Odin's words by trying to figure out where his brother had gone.

He didn't want to admit it, but what his father had said was like having a sword in his heart. It was painful. The words that came out of Thor's mouth were out of anger. He didn't mean any of it. He still loved his father even though they were on opposing sides. The same could not be said for Odin, Thor thought.

Thor exhaled deeply and tried to hold back the tears. He gripped the weapons tight. He walked straight, deeper into the mountains.

"Loki!" Thor called out. "Brother! Where have you gone?" There was no response. "Loki!" Still nothing. Thor sighed in disappointment.
"Where are you, brother?"

After thirty minutes of walking, searching, and finding nothing, Thor was about to turn back. Loki was nowhere. He called out so many times and each time the response was silence. He just hoped that Loki was okay.

But Thor noticed something as he was about to go back to the battle. He's been in these parts of the mountains and never was it this cold. It felt colder than the top of Mount Everest, and it got colder the farther he went in Loki's direction. He looked to that direction and also noticed that the mountains were covered in thicker patches of ice and frost, as if some explosion of ice happened there. And it all started in a cave in the bottom of one of the mountains.

Thor spun his hammer and flew to the mouth of the cave. Once he landed in front of the entrance, he saw that the ice began deep inside. With Mjolnir and Gungnir tight in his grip, he walked forward.

"Loki!" Thor called out once again. "Are you here?"

Still, there was no answer, but the cave got colder the deeper he went in. The ice showed more detail.

Realizing there wasn't time to wander, Thor began to run. He needed to find Loki now. They needed him if they were going to win the war. His people needed him. His heart raced, fearing that something must've happened to him.

"By Odin's beard, Loki, where are--" Before Thor could finish his sentence, he tripped. He fell to the ground and grumbled at the thing that tripped him. But when he looked at what tripped him, his heart skipped a beat.

His entire body was covered in ice, so fragile that just one touch could break him. Not even his hair could be touched. Thor was afraid to touch his frozen brother.

He looked around for the cause of it. His eyes went to the Casket. It was broken. It was no longer glowing. Whatever was inside the Casket was gone and in his brother's grasp.

The tears fell onto Thor's cheeks. "Brother, what did you do?" Thor touched his brother's cheek. It was frozen as if he were only an ice sculpture.

Sparks of electricity began to form on Thor's hands. None of this would've happened if Odin just told them the truth. The truth of who Loki was, why he was taken in by the king of Asgard. The secrets of Asgard only ruined the other realms. He loved his people, his family, his home, but at this very moment he wished that he wasn't Asgardian.

"I promise you, brother, Jotunheim will win this war. Your people will be protected and have security. I will make sure of it."

Thor looked at Loki's hand where the crystal from the Casket laid, but it was gone. Loki's entire body began to glow blue, but remained still. The ice that surrounded the cave didn't seem to melt, but retreated back to Loki. All the ice--including the one surrounding his body--entered his heart.

Thor looked at all of it in awe. He wondered what the Casket held inside and why Loki grabbed the Casket to reach it. "Loki--"

Without warning, Loki's eyes opened wide and he took a big gasp of air. His skin went back to that of Asgardian.