Silvertongued Motives

DhampyrX2

Well-Known Member
#1
<a href='http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8097052/1/Silvertongued_Motives' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Silvertongued Motives</a>

Yes, it's one of mine. And yes, I will be posting the next chapter or snippets of it here eventually. Since it seems to have generated feedback here when I only had it on FF.net, I figured it was worth working on it here to get some feedback as the story evolves. I know the next chapter will have some of Loki's mindset as he is imprisoned in Asgard, and possibly Figga and Odin's thoughts after Thor drops his newest bombshell. I would like to hear suggestions on how Asgardians in general would react to the thought of SPOILER WARNING Thanos making Loki into a kind of Manchurian Candidate when he was already showing suicidal tendencies.

I also like the Sif's theory that Prince Charon pointed out where Loki set himself up to be an epic villain to better improve Thor's image. After all, as second son and the more scholarly and even tempered of the two Loki seemed to be tailor made to become Thor's chief adviser. Some would even say he would have been the power behind the throne without having to deal with the more boring responsibilities. Instead be became a threat to overcome that would catapult Thor's legend in at least three of the Nine Realms. And it's so very Asgardian to sacrifice yourself for your brother and the throne to bring greater glory to everyone.

Just some food for thought as I await feedback and suggestions before I have time to bust out a new chapter.
 

Cornuthaum

Well-Known Member
#2
One of the nice things about the story, so far, is your portrayal of incompatible cultures: It is so obvious to Thor that his brother has been seeking a warrior's death that he hadn't seen the need to inform the others of it - who, in turn, never even considered it (because our culture stigmatizes actions like that, branding them suicide).

And indeed, that theory would be so very Asgardian. After all, in sacrificing his position and drawing all the ire of Asgard onto himself, Loki helped make Thor grow from a superpowered brat to a man who deserves his beard of wisdom, and taught him a lesson on sacrifice in the same strike.
 

DhampyrX2

Well-Known Member
#3
To say that the Avengers looked uncomfortable during their most briefing would be like saying the ocean was slightly wet. They were not at all happy to hear about what Director Fury and Thor had spoken of earlier in the day.

"And I thought Goldilocks talking about him being suicidal like it was a noble thing was messed up," Tony muttered loud enough to be heard by the rest of the room.

"We would have seen it. We're trained to see it," Natasha grumbled with a look that said she was not as certain of her words as she sounded.

Bruce looked at his hand, the hand that had held Loki's scepter and wondered how much of the "other guy's" rampage was related to the weapon. And if there was still a danger from it.

Clint winced. He hated Loki. He understood that. He could even pity him if Thor had been right. But this? If Loki had been in the same position or worse as compared to what was done to Selvig and himself then... God this was fucked up.

The only one that looked relatively composed over the matter was Steve, and that was mostly because he was too stunned to show the growing sickness in the pit of his stomach.

"Now I want to reiterate that this is all conjecture at this point. Thor's basing this on the fact that Loki was acting very different from what he knows about him, but that doesn't mean he's right. It's not like Loki hasn't played us all for saps before," Fury stressed with a detached look.

"Yeah, because it's not like the guy that spent centuries growing up next to Loki would have a better idea of what he should be acting like. Or would understand all the little cultural cues that seem downright alien to the rest of us because, y'know, they are, or anything. I mean, Thor thought suicide by cop was a good thing. How do you wrap your head around a society where that's normal?" Tony grumbled.

"Ask someone who is Japanese. Hara-kiri is based on a similar principle. Death before dishonor," Natasha responded idly, her face deep in thought. the way he seemed to switch between smooth and bloodthirsty in their interview had been off-putting. She had chalked it up to Loki being an insane megalomaniac. Had she really read the situation that poorly?

"Where is the staff right now? We didn't send it back with Thor and Loki. Is it secure?" Bruce asked, his mouth suddenly dry.

"We've had it moved to a more secure location, and after the briefing I'll want everyone that has been in contact with it to be looked over by the medical staff again," Nick assured him.

"Which basically means only you and Cap don't have to stay after class," Hawkeye quipped with a scowl.

"Well, in all fairness, all he touched with me was my arc reactor housing. And he was having performance issues at the time," Tony interjected with a smirk.

"Sir, if Loki was under another's control, what do we do?" Steve asked, ignoring the by-play between Clint and Tony.

"That's the million dollar question, Steve. Thor has returned to Asgard to warn them that Loki might still be compromised. If he is, for now it will be up to them to handle him. And to find out just who might be pulling the strings," Fury noted grimly.

"Is that a good idea? I mean, keeping Loki and the tessaract in the same place if he was supposed to deliver it to a bigger bad in the food chain?" Tony asked.

Nick did not have a response ready for that question.

*****

In a dark cell in the dungeons of the Royal Palace Loki sat unmoving, his face pulled into an unnatural grin. These fools surrounding him would never understand the truths the tessaract bestowed. He had finally seen the truth of all things. Seen the lies he had told himself all his life. And soon, he would break those lies for all of Asgard as they had been broken for him.

And somewhere deep within him, deeper than the Chitauri could reach; deeper than even their master could delve, Loki screamed. He screamed and hoped for deliverance. He hoped Thor would save him. Sometimes he hoped that Thor would destroy him.

But even there in the deepest depths of his mind, it was only Thor he called out for. He had lost faith in Odin to care for his second son- no. His private war trophy. Neither Odin nor Frigga truly cared for him. Nobody in the Realm Eternal did except for Thor.

And even Thor's good grace was becoming harder to picture in his increasingly isolated mind.

*****

"I did not expect you back so soon, my son," Odin commented as he looked at the kneeling from of Thor before him.

"Father, has Heimdall kept you and mother informed of events on Midgard?" Thor asked without preamble.

"Aye," Odin acknowledged with a trouble look. "Come. We will speak of this in our private chambers," he commended as he rose from his throne.

It was only when the trio of Thor, Frigga, and Odin were well away from prying ears that the Allfather did speak again. "It was troubling new Heimdall brought of your meeting with the Man of Fury, my son."

"Thor, do you think it is possible?" Frigga asked. Her heart was still heavy at the sight of her youngest son bound in chains like a common criminal. The first thing he had done when Thor had brought him back to face the consequences for his actions was to denounce Odin and herself. That single act had hurt the Queen more than any physical blow could have. The look in his eye as he spat they he was no child of Odin was so hateful and maddened that she feared there was nothing left of her little boy. Now, to discover that it may have been something done to him deliberately. Well, if it were true, there would be Hel to pay.

"At best, his actions here in Asgard were still his own. We must not forget that," Odin argued gruffly.

"And can you blame him? You reveal something that makes his whole life seem a lie then fall into the Odinsleep before you can truly explain things. You leave him with a throne he never wanted and was not prepared for than then scold him for losing his way?" Frigga challenged. It was something she would only do when the family was truly alone. But she had seen enough of Odin's attitude toward their son. And Loki was still theirs no matter where he had been born.

"I can not deny that mistakes were made, wife. There was not a day that has passed since that day on the Bifrost that I do not wish I had been more careful with my words. That I could have called Loki back from the despair and madness that had taken him. But what's done is done. We must content with that is, and not with the past," Odin responded.

"Allfather, do you have any idea who could have put these poisonous thoughts in Loki's head?" Thor asked.

If possible, Odin's face grew even grimmer as he replied, "There is one who once sought the tessaract. A being of unimaginable power and malice. One that was said to court Death itself as a consort. It was only through an alliance of the most powerful in the Nine Realms that he was bested. In fact, his cursed glove rests in the Vault now between the tessaract and the Casket of Ancient Winters."

"Who is this being? Why have I not heard of him?" Thor asked.

"He was bested long before you or Loki were born, my son. And at a terrible price. There are some monsters you dare not name for fear they still linger in the shadows waiting to leap out at you. The master of the Infinity Gauntlet was such as monster. But, because you have asked, and because I fear he may be once more lurking in darkness again, I will tell you. He is called Thanos. And I pray that we are wrong and he has not corrupted Loki's mind. For that may be a fate worse than any we could imagine," Odin warned.
 

SotF

Well-Known Member
#4
As a side question, why did you pull most of your stuff off of TTH?
 

DhampyrX2

Well-Known Member
#5
I didn't really pull anything. I was just lazy about getting my stuff up there.
 

SotF

Well-Known Member
#6
DhampyrX2 said:
I didn't really pull anything. I was just lazy about getting my stuff up there.
Odd, because for some reason it's showing you as having a total of 2 stories there when I was pretty sure there had been several more. And both are listed as having last updated in '05...
 

DhampyrX2

Well-Known Member
#7
SotF said:
DhampyrX2 said:
I didn't really pull anything.? I was just lazy about getting my stuff up there.
Odd, because for some reason it's showing you as having a total of 2 stories there when I was pretty sure there had been several more. And both are listed as having last updated in '05...
No, that's right. It's usually FF.net where I sent the updates. I didn't even finish putting my Inuyahsa x-over that I actually completed up on TTH. Like I said, I was deeply lazy.
 

DhampyrX2

Well-Known Member
#8
The madness in Loki's eye was still startling to Odin when he came to the dungeons that night to look over his fallen son. The thought that Thanos, or another like him, might have hold of the second price's very soul chilled the Allfather to the core in a way that not even the Casket of Ancient Winters could achieve.

"Come to see your broken trophy, have you?" Loki rasped as he turned his gaze to his adopted father.

"Can a father not visit his son while he is ill?" Odin countered with a stoic expression.

"I was not aware that Thor had taken ill. And here I thought the poison on that bade I stuck between his ribs had not worked. How delightful," Loki leered with nasty smirk.

It took everything Odin had not to bristle at Loki's words. The Chitauri poison coating Loki's prized daggers had been detected and treated on Midgard long before Thor had returned to them, and his eldest had seen Eir herself once he had delivered Loki to his cell, but the thought of Loki knowingly taking pride in poisoning his brother rankled. "Thor is quite well. I was speaking of you, my son," Odin finally said when he was certain he would not lash out at this... creature wearing Loki's skin.

"I may be the God of Lies, but I do not appreciate being patronized like that. I am no son of yours, Odin One-Eye. I never was," Loki sneered as he willed himself to achieve his natural Jotun form. It was something Loki had never done before, something that would horrify the younger Odinson to even contemplate. Loki despised his Jotun heritage. He wanted nothing to do with it. It was another clear sign Loki was not himself.

Odin could not repress the flinch as his younger son called him "Odin One-Eye." It was a title of loathing given to him by the Frost Giants. It was what Laufey had called him. And in that moment, Odin saw a similarity between Loki and Laufet that had little to do with the blue skin and red eyes glaring at him. Rather, it had more to do with the abject hatred burning in the Jotun sitting in the cell.

"Come now, father, can you not stand the sight of what you brought into your home? To see your war trophy in all its gruesome glory? Had you forgotten what the babe you stole from its crib really was in your plans to put a puppet ruler on the throne of Jotunheim?" Loki purred with that same unnatural grin.

"What has done this to you, Loki? What drives you against your family? Against those that love you?" Odin asked with sad expression.

"Save your pity for the weak, Old Man," Loki snarled at he stood from the cot left in his cell for him to sleep on the charge the front of his cell. The magic woven into the room stopped him before he could even contact the bard and he had to sell for growling like a beast at the man that had raised him.

"It is not pity that drives me, Loki, it is concern. Something had hold of you and I fear we may not be able to free you from it. But know this. You are Odinson no matter what. We will not give up on you. In time you will return to us," Odin vowed.

"Oh I will return, One-Eye. I will return to rip your precious Thurderer's heart from his chest and present it to you. I will return to cut your bride's throat and let you watch helplessly as she bleeds to death at the hands of the monster you dared to claim as your own. I will return to bring ruin and damnation to all of Asgard. And there is nothing you will be able to do to stop me," Loki spat with narrowed eyes.

"Is that what you master has bade you to do? Or are you here for another purpose? Are you his errand boy to retrieve his little glove?" Odin asked, apparently unfazed by the venom Loki hurled at him. He was not Thor who would let his passions rule him, nor Frigga that would allow her heart to break at the words of their second son. He was the Allfather, and ruler of all of Asgard. It would take more than Loki's attempts at shock value to break him.

"Master? And what Master have you concocted to explain the fact that I am ever bit the creature you made me to be?" Loki asked with a derisive snort as he unconsciously returned to his Asgardian form.

"Know this servant of Thanos, Loki, the true Loki, will not be subdued so easily. He will fight you, and he will have all of Asgard to help him. You and your master will not have him. I Odin Allfather, swear it. Thanos will fail, just as he did when we claimed his little trinket from his beaten form the first time," Odin warned.

"You think you know power, King of Asgard? You are nothing. I will show you true power. I will show it to you in the burning ruins of your kingdom, right beside the ruins of Midgard. When I am through with you Nifelheim and Muspelheim will seem like paradise compared to what you are left with," Loki sneered.

"You face betrays you, beast. Let your master know his machinations do not go unnoticed. Even now he faces the might of Asgard and her allies. And he faces both my sons. I assure you that Thor and Loki together are a force he will be ill prepared to handle," Odin warned with a smirk.

"Your prattling is tiresome, Allfather. Believe me when I say the son you knew is gone. He was burned away before he ever fell from the Bifrost and the Loki Laufeyson you see before you is all that remains," Loki warned with narrowed eyes.

"Fell? Last I heard you were claiming he had been thrown," Odin retorted as he turned to exit the dungeons. This conversation had proven enlightening to the King of Asgard. Not only had the reactions of the beast in his son's mind demonstrated that another was influencing him, but Odin saw a spark of the real Loki in those last words. His youngest son was still in there, and by Valhalla, they would have him back.
 
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