Havoc and Retribution

It Comes Back Around

"Hey," Barton puffs, running into the common room of the Avengers Tower, breathing hard, his tablet in hand. Everyone is standing or sitting upright within moments, the urgency in Clint's eyes enough to spike the room with adrenaline. He waves the tablet. "We've got a problem."

The Avengers gather around the tablet without ceremony and Clint passes the tablet to Tony, who puts the incoming transmission up on the wall with his holograph technology. The picture flickers once, then two very familiar faces fill the screen.

Director Fury is trying to look unimpressed, but the Avengers, especially Barton and Romanoff, know him well enough to see the thin creases of pain in the corners of his eyes. Jared Bradlich is holding the Director firmly by his shoulder, the massive fingers digging in hard enough that it is clear he possesses something beyond normal human strength.

"Well, hello, hello," Jared Bradlich purrs. "Did you miss me?"

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"There are two possibilities," Frigga says, piling another scroll onto the stack in Thor's arms.

Having bypassed Odin, the guards and basically all uncomfortable conversations about Loki's presence on Asgard completely, Frigga had taken both of her sons straight to the Grand Library. She hasn't stopped moving since meeting them on the Bifrost and Loki gets the feeling that she's have taken both of them by the ear and hauled them here if they hadn't obeyed. He rubs his ear in memory; Frigga was a kind mother, but a stern mother.

"First," Frigga says, throwing a book at Loki, the pages fluttering and smelling of dust and disuse. "That text alludes to a 'God of Creation'. Sexist." The last part is said under her breath, but Loki still hears it. He flips through the pages as Frigga continues to bustle around them. Thor doesn't look like the weight of the scrolls is straining him by any means, but he certainly doesn't look comfortable in the library. Loki restrains so, so many comments about Thor's intelligence. Barely.

"The God of Creation, as the name implies, created the universes, bringing forth the Nine Realms as we know them today. He is somehow related to the Norns, although I have been unable to piece together how so far. It's your basic creation story, all, he did mystical things with stars to make the Aesir, blah blah blah." Loki has never heard Frigga sound so flippant and almost laughs. His mother, ever shrewd and the dominant female, looks at him with a look that makes him feel as if he is a seven year old again, and has just been caught sneaking into the throne room to play with Odin's scepter. "The God of Creation supposedly had many mythical beasts that served him in his exploits before he retired to Valhalla. One of those was a dragon."

There is a quick burst of memory behind Loki's eyes. He sees Jay and Hel fighting in Niflheim, sees those dragon fang blades whipping between them, the chains catching against Jaycee's wrists. He sees Jay picking up those swords and a pain behind his eyes grows. He physically and mentally shakes his head, willing away this memory that he does not want to re-experience.

When he is back in the present, it is to Frigga's assessing look. "And the second," he asks. She looks at him very deliberately to let him know that she knows he changed the subject but will let it slide this one time.

"The second," Frigga says, placing another scroll in Thor's arms; he gives a small 'ooof' of discomfort as the dust goes up his nose, the edge of the paper resting on his mustache. "The second is the Goddess of Valhalla, once the queen of the Valkyries. She gave her life in battle to Hel long ago, and I believe that perhaps this story is a perversion of what actually may have happened between Hel and Sigyn."

Loki is shaking his head. "According to Jay, Sigyn and Hel were once the same person."

Frigga nods. "I know," she says. "However, if you read deeper into the old Aesir texts, the legend goes that Hel and the Queen of the Valkyries were once one goddess. When they split, one was the goddess of the underworld, Hel, and one was the goddess of the victorious dead, the queen of Valhalla. It is close enough to what you know from Jaycee, but I don't know how Vanaheim and Sigyn fit into this legend. Even Odin does not know of any Queen of the Valkyries. It is possible that the legends have been molded to favor the Aesir; it is not unheard of for Vanir heroes and myths to have been rewritten as Aesir legends." The look on Frigga's face is slightly ashamed. Vanaheim has always been oppressed by Asgard in recent memory; Loki has never known it any other way. He didn't know his mother was ashamed of that until now. Odin or Thor has never shown any shame on that subject and while he remembers Frigga's kindness to Sigyn, he didn't think she was any different than the All-Father.