An Earthborn Asgardian

This is a Harry Potter, The Avengers Crossover by Kefalion aka. Frida. This is a story with focus on Harry Potter and Loki, but also on the relation between the wizards of earth and the Asgardians. This is Loki/Harry.

As you very well know I don't own the plot or the characters that you recognize.

SPOILIER ALERT! To the people who have yet to see Thor: The Dark World. From here on out I will use the story of the film for more than just drawing inspiration of how Asgard looks and how the characters act. You have been warned.

Part 10: The Ruling
Words: 3 144

Loki walked into the Throne Hall, alone now except for the guards holding the chains that spread out from him like the spokes of a wheel. He had separated from Thor and Harry once they entered the palace. They had to go to the healers as per Odin's request and he had been taken a different route towards the place where he would hear his judgement. They had only said a short goodbye as the Commanding Officer hadn't allowed anymore even with Thor starring him down.

Loki didn't like separating from Harry, but he accepted it as inevitable. He hadn't shared his fears with Harry, but he expected that it would be a long time before they would see each other again and that also accounted for a scenario where he told Odin exactly what he wanted to hear. He had chosen not to say anything as there were would be no use in worrying Harry now that he had already made the decision to come to Asgard. The dice had been cast.

His dark mood was not uplifted by the grandeur of the Throne Hall which gleamed excessively of gold showing off the power and might of Asgard to all who approached its King. It was ostentatious and frankly a bit insipid. Loki was not all that impressed by it or the imaged the Allfather made. Sitting atop the throne with sunlight shining through the intricate patterns of the circular structure behind the throne and the tall windows further above, the King melted into the background and he looked older than he had ever done before as if an age had passed since they last spoke face to face in the Vault.

As they approached the dais he reverted his eyes from Odin and instead found Frigga with his gaze, trying to deduce what she thought of it all. What he saw in her eyes was hard to determine. He thought he could see that she was glad to see him, though still worried regarding what would happen next and disapproving of his actions on Midgard.

"Loki," she said softly, drinking him in with her blue eyes, looking so much like a mother who had at long last found her child again that Loki felt himself mellow. He couldn't be outright cruel to her.

Adopting a genial expression as to not reveal his conflicting emotions he answered in a light tone. "Hello, mother. Have I made you proud?"

"Please take this seriously," she admonished, possibly seeing right through him. She had a way of doing that. She knew him better than anyone, save possibly Harry.

"Oh, really? That is what you have to say to me after a year apart? After believing me dead?"

"Please," she repeated steadily.

He chuckled.

"This is not the time for mischief, Loki."

"Can you not see the fun in this situation?" He grinned wryly, rattling the chains deliberately, the sound of metal on metal spreading through the chamber.

"No, I do not enjoy seeing my son in chains. I am asking you to not make this worse. It is unnecessary and you do not only have yourself to think about now."

Loki's countenance immediately turned grim at that and he allowed his hands to fall. "Yes," he murmured, gaze having dropped to the floor. "And I suppose that in of itself made it worse already."

"It doesn't have to be. This can be something good. I believe that it is."

"That depends on whose perspective you are viewing it from and if the one viewing will allow themselves to see without any bias. My experience in the matter has only been good and it is my sincere hope that it can continue to be so. It pleases me that you should see thing the same way as I, or that you will at the very least delay judgment until you have seen what this implies for yourself. I am even grudgingly grateful for Thor's support. But before I get any hopes up and begin to believe that this indeed can be something good I need to hear those words from the one that will decide our fates and I do not expect to hear them from him."

"You see?" Frigga said to the Allfather seated atop his throne observing mother and son silently, "there is more to this. The man from Midgard may be a blessing in disguise."

"Do not allow yourself to nurture any false hope," the King cautioned coldly.

"I am not," answered Frigga with certainty, "this can be a good thing if we allow it to be." It was an urging.

"Perhaps." He did not seem to care about his wife's council. "You may remain if you wish, but do not interrupt. If you do I will have you escorted away."

Frigga nodded her head in acquiesce and backed away to the side.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Odin asked, addressing Loki directly for the first time.

He shrugged, the chains rattling. "What is there to say? You will have judged me already. When a person is taken in for a crime in Midgard they are sometimes told that anything they say may be used against them, I know you will do the same which is why I may as well keep my silence."

"Do you at all understand the gravity of your actions? People have died; here, on Earth and all over the Nine Realms as a consequence of what you have done. Everywhere you go follows ruin, war and death. The universe does not revolve around you and your whims."

Loki let out a small amused snort and despite having proclaimed that he would say nothing he had to respond. "From all this fuss you are making and the grand speech, one might think that it does."

Odin did not share his amusement. "You had a privileged position, a position of power. You have proven that you were ill suited for the responsibilities that come with belonging to Asgard's royal house. I reiterate; the universe does not revolve around you. If the cosmos is a pond of water then every being in it is a stone tossed, breaking the surface and creating ripples that spread and impacts others. Through your relation to me and your title as Prince the waves you create are large. I had believed that you were aware of this and you would be level-headed enough to not let your emotions run away with you. I was wrong and I am disappointed. What I feel is not important however, if you can justify your actions to my satisfaction and understand that you have done wrong is much more important. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Loki did not want to admit it to anyone, least of all himself, but hearing Odin say that he was disappointed in him was like receiving a punch to the gut, the air in his lungs being forcefully expelled. Harry and the future they could have together had been his main motivation, but more than that he had always looked for Odin's approval and even now when he did not acknowledge the man as his father it hurt. It made his hate flare up and all his caution was thrown into the wind. "I only proceeded to take the place in this universe that I had been moulded for. The place I was born to hold, that was my right had not both my fathers cast me aside," he said snidely, walking a few steps forward pulling the guards with him as the chains stretched.

"You told Thor and I that we were born to be Kings," he continued. If I could not have the Throne of Asgard I had to find another way to claim my birthright. Midgard was a natural choice. The mortals are week and in desperate need of strong leadership, if not they will end up destroying themselves. I would have ruled them as a benevolent god. Just like you."

Odin's face was statuesque, unchanging and grim, his one eye cold. "That is how you see it?"

"How else could I possibly see it?"

"I took you in. I raised you as my own. Where did I go wrong for you to hate me so?"

The hate Loki was feeling grew stronger. Odin must know and he was playing ignorant. "You did it all with an ulterior motive. Steeling away an unwanted child was not an act of mercy. You wanted to use me to bargain for peace."

"Is that such a bad thing? Is the aspiration of peace something which should inspire hate?"

"It is wrong when a child is concerned. A child should only be accepted if the guardian has the intent to care for, nurture and raise the child to the best of their ability, not if the intent is to use it as a political tool."

"You would rather have seen me leaving you for death? You would have preferred it if you had been left on a frozen rock with no one to care for you?"

At this Loki had no other option than to stay mute. He did not wish that.

"This isn't a conversation is not about what happened so long ago," the Allfather declared. "This is an interrogation where you have the option to explain your recent actions. Is it truly all because you desire a throne? If it were not for our guest I would have believed so. Tell me Loki, what more is there?"

At the reminder of Harry, Loki swallowed some of his pride, trying to reign in his anger and resentment. He had to try. He had promised that he would try, if not succeed. "What I did, I did because I want Asgard to become better, more equal, more understanding of others and those who are different. In our might we have become self-assured and arrogant. Our society has become stagnant. We need to evolve as the world around us does. As for my timing; Thor needed to be kept away from the throne, had he not forced my hand I would have been content to wait, and perhaps I would have been content with him as my King if I knew he would heed my council. If you call accuse me of not being level-headed you should accuse him of the same. You saw what he did. He brought war down upon us." It was always easy to revert to criticising Thor. His gratefulness for the other's assistance only extended so far.

"Thor has been punished for his actions."

"And now it's my turn?"

"Yes. Do you not feel any regret over what you have done, the lives you have taken and the many more which would have been lost had you not been stopped?"

"Collateral damage. Change comes with a price. The end justifies the means. If the quality of life can be improved for millions; what does the premature ending of a few hundred- or thousand matter? It is the price that must be paid."

"What of your allies? Would they agree with you? Or would you say that their ends are in conflict with yours?"

Loki stiffened, feeling like as small boy being chastised for playing with the children of unsuitable people, the spawns of criminals running around in the mud and playing at war and ruin. He did indeed feel some guilt over this matter. He hadn't wanted to cooperate with the Other, the servant of Thanos or the Titan himself. He hadn't wanted to deliver the Tesseract into their hands. He feared them and what would happened if they reached their goals. "I did what I had to," he withheld. He believed that he had. He knew that he had. He hadn't had any other choice. He did what he had to do to return. The price in this case might have been too high. Now that he hadn't paid it he didn't know how much it mattered.

"Once more a consequence of an ill thought action."

Now he sneered. Odin was implying that he shouldn't have let go of Gugnir the day the Bifrost was destroyed.

"This can be forgiven as it has given us valuable warning."

Loki looked back up at Odin, surprised. "What?" he asked in a clipped tone.

"Your foray into unknown corners of the universe has alerted us to that Thanos seeks the Tesseract. It is likely that he wishes to reclaim the infinity gauntlet and its gems. If he is gathering his strengths so can we. Now we can prepare."

"You forgive me this?" Loki was incredulous. It was ludicrous. It was enough to draw away his indignation at the implication that his conversation with Harry had been listened to. "You forgive me for my choice of allies as it has given you information you deem valuable?"

"Yes. I too know that everything comes with a price and it might be that you were charged a high cost, and yet it may have been an acceptable price in the scheme of what might come. I could oversee all that which we have spoken of because of this. However you have done more. Something far more severe. Something that affects this Realm and out future in a very direct and possibly painful way."

Odin rose from his seat. "You have reopened a near forgotten wound and I fear that you have no idea what it means. When it comes to Harry Potter son of James nothing is certain. What you started in him may have been to the planting of a seed which once before grew to become the destruction of one realm, nearly two."

Odin's dark tone made Loki fear for Harry. There was something going unsaid. "Secrets," he said stiffly, hiding his concern. "You've hidden what happened. How was I supposed to know that my actions would draw your ire when everything that could have told me so has been hidden? What is this dark past that you fear so? What happened on Midgard?"

"It is only for the ruler of Asgard to know."

The answer was irritatingly evasive, but Loki knew that he wouldn't be told more. He hoped that Thor, Harry and his mother would be able to learn more. If the libraries couldn't tell them what was needed there must be someone still alive who remembered. Odin thought that Harry was dangerous, that he represented a nightmare from his childhood. This fear was dangerous even if Harry might not be.

Loki would never believe that Harry could pose a threat to the two realms he was born of. The man had power, but his heart would never allow him to do anything that would lead to their ruin. If the man had been his exact mirror image he might have seen a cause for concern, but Harry was better than him. "What do you plan to do with him?"

"For now I will observe. Perhaps Frigga is right and this can be turned to something good. Harry Potter will be observed. If all is as you believe. If all that has happened is that you've awoken his Asgardian blood he will be allowed to live as one of us."

"And if not?"

"If not, then I will act accordingly."

"You lied to Thor then, when you said that he would evaluate Harry, that Harry would be given a chance to prove himself."

"I did not tell any outright lies. If you are correct, which you must believe that you are, the Midgardian has nothing to fear from me. If your beliefs regarding him proves true, so will my words be."

"Would you kill him?"

"I will if I have to."

"Killing him will bring you war as sure as any ghost you fear. The magical people of earth see him as a leader and he has other powerful allies. They would not look kindly on his death by your hands. They would declare war."

"So quick you are to proclaim them as powerful. One moment you justify your actions by saying that they are weak and in the next you threaten me with them. What is the truth?"

"Why cannot both be true?" Both were true. He had come to realise that. His preconceived knowledge proved true; the masses were sheep, weak, ignorant, conceited and dumb. Then he had learned that there were people who rose above the rest. Meeting Harry had opened his eyes to this truth. The extraordinary individuals found on Earth could when banding together could pose a threat even to Asgard. It does not take millions to create an army.

Odin stood silent, regarding him. A minute passed. Another. And another. Then silence was broken as the Allfather beat the end of his spear against the dais twice. "I've decided your sentence, Loki Laufeyson."

It was another hit to the gut. Another rejection. Another reason for resentment and hate.

"You will be kept in the dungeons. You are stripped of your titles. Your magic will remain locked away. You shall have no visitors. This is your future until I have gained more clarity regarding this situation. Pray that the outcome is favourable." He banged the spear into the ground once more. Two low notes ringing out, sealing the judgement.

"My King," the Queen stepped forth.

"What did I say?" Odin was without sympathy. "Escort her away."

"This isn't right!" she said even as two moved to enclose her, jerking away her arm as a hand was placed on it. "Locking him away will solve nothing! He is our son!"

"He is not mine. He has rejected me and I do the same. Escort the Queen away from my sight."

The guards forced Frigga to walk, brining her towards a side door. She struggled against them for a moment, giving Loki a lingering glance. "Do not give up hope," she told him, and then she went with the guards her head held high.

"Is this how it ends? Am I to rot away in the dungeons for mistakes that are as much mine as yours? Will you imprison or kill my companion? A man who has done no wrong. And Thor, is he to be rewarded with the throne?"

"Thor may well become king one day. Once the Bifrost is repaired he will start cleaning up the mess you made a year ago, and I shall endeavour to repair the other damage you have done. I have nothing more to say to you this day. Take him away."

The Allfather sat back down, having nothing further to say. Loki had nothing to say either. If ever there had been a chance of reconciliation between them, it was gone now. He averted his gaze and began to walk away with needing to be prompted.

AN 28th April 2014

I know the chapter is a bit short, but I thought I could end it here and post it so that you at least get something since I've taken so long to get to this point. And it's not my shortest chapter in this story, so there.

I hope nobody thought I rehashed the scene from Loki's Trail too much. I used a few lines (I couldn't help myself, there are some good lines) but I think I added and changed enough to make it okay. I think this story is growing a bit dark. Oh my. I hope I haven't created a plot hole that I won't be able to crawl out of. Hopefully I'll be able to make it work and become epic.

As always I'd love to hear what you thought and if there is anything at all that you would like to see in this story tell me and it just might happen.