Heimdall would never betray Asgard, Thor knew that as surely as he knew the weight of his own hammer. The moment the gatekeeper's absence registered, dread coiled in his chest.
Something was wrong.
He launched himself down the shimmering bridge toward Asgard, storm wind trailing behind him.
But when he burst into the hall, the sight that greeted him stopped him mid-stride.
Soren who should have been on Earth, was beating Odin.
"…!"
The All-Father's face was swollen beyond recognition, bruises mottling his skin. If not for the golden armor and the remnants of regal cloth, Thor might not have known it was his father at all.
"STOP!" Thor roared. "Soren, what in the Nine Realms are you doing?!"
Soren's heightened senses caught Thor's arrival before the words left his mouth. He paused mid-swing and turned with a relaxed smile an expression wildly at odds with the broken figure dangling from his grip.
"Thor. Good timing. Let me introduce you to someone you've been missing."
With casual ease, he hauled the battered Odin and tossed him at Thor's feet.
The figure hit the ground with a groan.
"Do you want to keep pretending?" Soren asked coldly, the air around him crackling with killing intent.
Thor stared, heart hammering. Odin's appearance stirred a faint recognition, but the aura… the aura was not his father's.
Before Thor could speak, the broken 'Odin' flinched and shrank back under Soren's gaze. And then, with a choked snarl, the illusion peeled away.
The All-Father's features rippled and reformed into someone Thor knew far too well.
"Don't… don't attack! We can talk about this!" Loki sputtered, raising both hands defensively.
Thor felt his vision tunnel. "Loki?!"
Why was Loki here? Why was he disguised as Odin? And why was Soren beating him, and why could Loki do nothing to stop it?
"Your brother thought he could fool me." Soren let out a humorless laugh, stepping back.
"Even threatened me when I called him out."
He glanced down at Loki, who now looked very much like a chastised child, albeit one with a grotesquely swollen face.
"When words stop working," Soren said calmly, "I switch to a language everyone understands."
Despite the brutality, Thor noticed Soren's attacks hadn't caused mortal wounds, no lasting damage.
"Speak," Soren said coldly. His gaze slid from Thor to the battered figure on the floor. "Why are you here? And where is the real King Odin?"
Loki twitched at the sound of Soren's voice.
Every inch of him throbbed… Soren had been merciful only in the sense that he'd left no permanent injuries. The humiliation, however, had been relentless.
Half an hour of being physically corrected had reduced the God of Mischief to a quivering, swollen mess.
For a moment he lay pretending to drift into unconsciousness.
Soren's brow twitched. "Hm?"~ Loki jolted upright like a man rising from the dead.
"O-okay! Fine! I'll talk!"
Thor folded his arms, anger simmering beneath the worry etched across his face. Loki looked up at him, managing a crooked smile that only made his bruised face more grotesque.
"Brother… it's good to see you again," Loki wheezed.
"Enough," Thor snapped. "Where is Father? Tell us the truth."
Loki swallowed, eyes darting between Thor's fury and Soren's icy disdain. "I know where he is. I can take you there."
It was the only answer that wouldn't get him beaten again.
Moments later, under the astonished eyes of countless Asgardians who whispered behind their hands, Thor, Soren, and Loki departed the palace together.
The sight of the disgraced trickster prince limping behind them spread speculation.
As they walked through the golden corridors, Soren finally asked, "Loki claims Odin exiled himself for Asgard's stability. You believe that?"
"Father would not abandon his throne. Not like this." Thor gritted his teeth.
"And certainly not by leaving you to rule in his place."
Loki shrank back at the emphasis.
But Soren's attention drifted to something massive, the horned skull Thor carried in one hand.
"Thor," Soren said, "What exactly is that?"
Thor blinked as if he'd momentarily forgotten he was holding it. "Ah. This."
He lifted the monstrous skull, its hollow sockets glimmering faintly. "Surtur's skull, a powerful relic. Returned to flesh in the Eternal Flame, it becomes a monster of unimaginable strength."
Soren eyed it. It emitted no aura and no divine pressure. "That's a divine artifact?"
"In a manner of speaking," Thor replied. "It contains the soul of destruction itself. Extracting it… took effort." A shadow crossed his features.
"And from that soul, I learned troubling things."
Soren raised an eyebrow. "Troubling?"
Thor nodded. "A prophecy."
Soren's interest peaked, prophecies had been chasing him across worlds lately.
"What prophecy, Thor?" Thor's grip tightened on the iron chain.
"Ragnarök."