Of all the things to put into words I had to go with a third act reveal in Asgard instead. My mind is far afield indeed.
It had been two weeks after Thor's return from Asgard after confronting what they had all believed to be Loki, only to discover it had been a Chitauri infiltrator wearing the Trickster's form when they caught the beast trying to access the Vault and the Infinity Gauntlet within it. The ensuing battle had been intense enough that the creature, who could never take the kind of damage an Aesir or Jotun could, reverted to his natural form before expiring.
Needless to say, all of Asgard was in an uproar over the matter as it raised several more questions than it answered. The biggest, of course, being "Was Loki really still alive?" and "Did he have any idea this impostor was running around wearing his face?"
For his part Odin could only hope that his second son was alive and unaware or that he had perished. The alternative, given the infiltrator's target, was that Loki was in the hands of Thanos the Eternal or one of his agents. It was not a pleasant thought to consider.
Thor was perhaps the happiest with this outcome as it allowed him to contact his friends on Earth the very moment the Bifrost had been repaired with the power of the Tessaract and inform them of his brother's innocence. Granted, it had more to do with a matter of security as Fury needed to be concerned with other shape shifters, but he could at least tell his friends that it was not truly Loki that had attacked them. Stark was already trying to work on devices to ferret out any Chitauri, or other shape shifters, that might try to infiltrate SHIELD.
But even within Thor there was a pall of uncertainty as he returned to Asgard. He still did not know Loki's true fate. Was it right to mourn his brother once more? Was he truly gone?
The answer to the question would come after nearly another year of uncertainty as three different people on Asgard sensed a change in the very fabric of reality.
Odin sensed a release of power the likes of which he had not felt since the Winter War. The Casket of Ancient Winters was stirring. Not released fully, yet, but stirring as if in anticipation. And considering it had been in Loki's possession the last time anyone had seen it, that spoke of who exactly might be drawing upon it.
Frigga sensed a great bellow of rage and sorrow that resonated through her and the magic in her blood. The last time she had felt anything like it had been when Loki's children had been banished from Asgard and he fought to keep them at his side. Something terrible had happened to her son. Something that wounded him down to his very soul.
Heimdall saw a ripple of power in the veils between this reality and those that run beside it, beyond the branches of the Yggdrasil. Something had stirred in a side reality that the Light Elves of Alfheim would refer to as Underhill or Elsewhen. The Gatekeeper of the Bifrost peered long and deep into the Void, trying to see past the veils where he had first seen the ripple, only to recoil in shock once he accomlplished the task. Heimdall knew the King and Queen must be informed as soon as possible.
*****
So it was that an hour later Odin, Frigga, and Thor, were gathered together with Heimdall to hear his report.
"Loki lives," Heimdall reported without preamble, eliciting a gasp of shock from the youngest Aesir in the room, but not from the King and Queen.
Thor took note of the reserved faces of his parents and asked, "You knew?"
"Little more than an hour ago I sensed a stirring of power I had not felt since the Winter War from the Casket of Ancient Winters. I suspected it could be Loki as the Casket was last in his possession, but I was not yet certain," Odin informed him.
Thor turned to his mother who informed him, "I felt a tremor in my seidr. A burst of great pain and sorrow. I last felt anything like it when your brother's children were removed from Asgard," Frigga noted with tears in her eyes. For Loki to lose control of his emotions so completely something terrible must have happened.
Thor took in that information with a contemplative nod before he turned to Heimdall and asked, "Where is he?"
"A land called Oz within a pocket dimension in what the Elves would call Underhill. One that seems to have a small connection to Midgard given that there are two Midgarians that seem to have found their way there independently of one another," Heimdall informed him.
"A shadow path perhaps? One we could find and use to reach this place from Midgard?" Thor asked.
"No, my Prince. The pocket realm is also Elsewhen. It is tied to a period nearly a century in Midgard's past. And judging by what I have seen, Loki has been there at least twenty years by the local reckoning. Perhaps more," Heimdall explained.
"Did you see what caused Loki so great a distress as we felt him through the veil to this realm?" Frigga asked as she noted that even if the realm was Elsewhen it seemed like time was running ten times faster there than it did here.
"I did not see the event itself, but I did overhear hear him discussing it with a few others, my Queen," Heimdall replied. "Apparently a sorceress in the employ of the local ruler, although Loki implied she was the real power behind the throne, has killed a young woman named Nessarose, the youngest daughter of an old friend of his, while trying to flush out and capture her elder half-sister Elphaba. Loki had been asked by the woman to watch over both girls on their mother's deathbed and was named their godfather. He did not take the attack upon them well."
Frigga more-so than any of the others in the room knew her second son. Knew what drove him and what would scar him in such as way. And so she asked, "Which girl had been Loki's child?"
"Mother?" Thor asked in shock.
"I know what kind of pain I sensed in your brother, Thor. An honor debt, even to one he cared for deeply, would not have been enough to pierce the veil between realities," Frigga explained. Her attention returned to Heimdall as she coolly demanded, "Which one?"
"The younger. The sister that had been killed. Although Loki seemed to care for the elder sister as if she were his own. He was training her to control her own magic even as he fought to control his own power. The Casket is calling to him," Heimdall informed them.
Frigga let out a yelp of despair in mourning for the granddaughter she was never allowed to know. Her poor child, to have such happiness ripped from him like that. Especially as a tool to flush out someone else. This sorceress clearly had no honor.
"You said that this was done to flush out the elder sister. For what purpose?" Odin asked worried over the political dynamic of the situation.
"From what I have gathered now that I can look into the Veil, the girl refused to become an agent of the local ruler. She discovered he was a powerless Midgardian who was manipulating the people of the land into following him. He wanted to use her magic to better secure his position. After her refusal, she was branded "wicked" by the his lead sorceress to discredit her and hunted as an outlaw," Heimdall explained, glad he had overheard the conversation between Loki and Elphaba that brought so many details to light.
"A coward. A liar and a coward that strikes at our very house," Thor growled as his ire grew. How dare these people murder his niece as part of plot to capture her sister?
"That explains why the Casket is stirring. Such pain and rage would call out to summon Ymir's power and release the Fimbul Winter," Odin noted gravely. "Thor, gather Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. You must go to this Oz and retrieve your brother."
"Father, surely you would not deny Loki his right to a father's vengeance?" Thor asked in shock.
"Nay. He may deal with this witch that has slain his daughter he sees fit. And if he insists, he is allowed to bring his... stepdaughter back with him for a time. But you must not allow him to release the Fimbul Winter. Even though he is Laufey's son by birth he has no idea of how to truly control the power of the Casket. If he gives in to its siren call he may well bring Ragnarok to us all without meaning to," Odin explained. "Now go, and bring your brother home. I will summon the power needed to send you there and, if necessary, bring you back. The Tessaract will be invaluable in that endeavor."
"Aye, father. I will stand with Loki as he deals with this poor excuse for an enchantress and then bring him and my new niece home," Thor promised with a bow to his parents before heading out to gather his friends for the quest. And as he went he secretly hoped Loki would grant him the honor of striking a few blows with Mjolnir against the foul curs that had dared to harm his family.