NOVEL FROG Arc Seventeen. Chapter Four Hundred Ninety-One. Broken
On Asgard, Queen Freya sat on her throne. With no official duties to perform, she was taking some time to relax. She was picking up grapes and throwing them through a hole in space. Freya would lift one, kiss it, and then aim it at Loki who was weaving back and forth, laughing as she caught it.
“I wish you could come home,” Freya said, sighing.
“I know but we’re almost finished here. Earth has accepted most of our agreements, there are just a few holdouts.” Loki replied, sitting back down on the bed in her quarters. “Once the treaty is signed by the United States then the rest will fall in line.”
Their relationship was known amongst the Skrulls. They needed code words to make sure who they were talking to was the actual Skrull. It was only for appearance's sake, they kept it hidden from the Asgardians. While they were slowly warming to Loki taking over, it was still important to keep hidden. With Thor missing, Loki was next in line after Freya, who could abdicate without question.
Freya heard the beeping, “Work?”
Loki checked a display on her chair and nodded. “Long-range communication from the outer monitoring station.” Loki leaned over and her face fell. “I have to go. An enemy force has arrived in the system. Portal to the bridge in one hour. I will have more information then”
Freya nodded, and the space tear closed. Tilting her head, she summoned Lady Sif, the head of her guards.
“I have received word that our forces around Earth are under attack. Prepare a dark matter bridge to Earth, we may need to send reinforcements," Freya commanded.
The missile launched by the renamed idiots of the galaxy had destroyed the Bifrost. Heimdall had tried to use the Power and Space Stones to repair the damage but was unsuccessful. For now, The Space Stone had been used to create bridges between the worlds. Heimdall, injured from the explosion, had retired and taken a more supervisory role.
A new watcher had been assigned, Skurge, and while the bridge was stable, it was easier for Skurge to use Dark energy. Instead of the Space Stone, the Power Stone sat under the newly constructed Eye of Asgard chamber. Loki opted to keep the Space Stone with her at all times, and not just as an easy way to contact her love.
Lady Sif saluted and left, leaving Freya to sit on her throne. It was the longest hour of her life, tapping her finger on the arm of her throne. She eyed and picked at the grapes but was in no mood to eat. She read reports on the deployment of Asgardian forces but the worry gnawed at her insides. If they had made it to Earth, was their token force there large enough to repel a force of any size? Especially if it was the Kree.
As the hour slowly ticked past, Freya hurriedly opened a spacial tear, “Loki?”
Loki was sitting in the command chair of their cruiser. The stolen research vessel was the largest ship they had, even if it was Kree. “Freya. It is the Kree. We are mustering our forces right now, and they have made-”
The spacial tear spewed out a blast of hot gas and flames, blowing Freya from her throne and across the room.
Freya lifted herself, seeing the throne room was now in shambles. Her guards fought with the normally regal curtains, now engulfed in flames. Thick black smoke belched from them, threatening to choke the occupants. With a wave of her hand, water doused them.
Freya could see through the spacial tear and watched in horror as the ship fell. As it passed her portal, she could see the means of energy striking the planet. Earth was under attack. As a bright beam of light streaked dangerously close to the tear, Freya quickly closed it. She had felt the heat of the beam as it brushed close enough. If she had been slower, she would be dead. Only a warship was that powerful.
Sitting, huddled against a wall, she shook her head. This wasn't happening, this couldn't be happening. Veranke was leading their forces to victory. Only Earth and the Kree homeworld remained unconquered. While there was token fighting, the galaxy was at peace.
Freya felt the sharp pain of anguish in her chest. It was Veranke who persuaded her to give up on her foolish quest. A family was who you chose to be with, and with Odin and Freya quietly dealt with she could start fresh, with her.
They had made plans, they had giggled and laughed as they schemed and plotted. They would choose a new homeworld for the Skrulls. Queen Freya would quietly retire to Earth and Loki would rule in her place. The pair could end their ruse, and Veranke could be Loki's official bride. It was perfect, and it had been working.
Only the Kree had resisted, as they always did, and fled into the outer rings. Hiding and conducting raids on any peaceful civilised planet. Their government brushed off their attacks as rebels.
Once Earth had been brought into the fold, the next step would have been to annihilate that stupid planet. Neither Loki nor Veranke had any qualms about annihilating a race if they proved to be too genocidal. And the Kree certainly were. Peace was for the peaceful, and the Kree sought war no matter the end cost. No, the galaxy would cry out, but ultimately, nobody would grieve for them.
They had attacked Xandar, and it was only luck that saved them. The Power Stone was not something to be trifled with, and even Loki and Veranke feared its true power. It was a delicious irony that the Kree Accuser had been killed by it, after being tricked by an idiot.
But now it was over. Veranke was gone. Freya curled her legs against her chest and sobbed as she buried her face between her knees.
No, wait, she thought.
Ignoring the guards struggling to bring fires back under control she ran to her chambers.
There she found the book. It was the book of Asgardian history and she hurriedly flicked through the pages. This one spot was worn, and the book almost fell open at its page,
“If all seven are united, then the will of the bearer can alter the fates of the universe itself.”
Loki shimmered back into her own form, uncaring any longer about the ruse. And she took a breath.
Her original plan was to alter the past. She would change Odin's decision and remain with her Jotun family, but now. Now she would gather and use the stones to revive Veranke.
Holding the book to her chest, “I will save you, my love,” she said, as she gritted her teeth, “No matter the cost.”
Loki stood and stared at the book, she threw it onto her bed and shimmered once more, taking on Freya's form. “I have the Space Stone,” she said to herself as she tapped the bright blue gem around her throat, and a portal opened.
Skurge was standing, with two very attractive Asgardian ladies. “Behold.” he announced to the giggling pair, “My Stuff.” He swept an arm around, showing off the piles of junk from various worlds he had taken a fancy to. “Now you see, I don't just-” but he froze as a very angry-looking Freya stepped through a portal in front of him.
“Leave or perish,” she announced and the two ladies took one look at the angry Freya, bowed and fled.
“My Queen, it is an unexpected...” Skurge started but Freya summoned a portal behind him and pushed him through it. She had thought of somewhere at random and had no care if he was still alive or not. Drawing upon the Dark Energy in the chamber, she opened a new portal to the chamber below. Sliding her hand through it she grabbed the purple gem from its holder under the Eye’s floating platform.
Screaming in pain, she let the gem go and stared at the burned and mangled hand.
Cursing, she remembered that carrying more than one stone would amplify their power. She needed a suitable container to safely wield them.
Another portal opened and Loki was standing in the Asgardian vaults. Where her father kept not just the most dangerous items he had taken, but his spoils of war.
As Loki searched Odin's vault, she finally found what she was looking for.
It was a gaudy giant golden gauntlet with six spaces on the back, forged aeons ago and now sitting unused. Sliding it on it hung over her arm, having been made for someone much larger than herself.
Stupid. It's too big, she eyed around the chamber once more.
Over the millennia, hundreds had sought the Stones and forged their own containers. Odin collected them and kept them here. Boxes, bracelets, gloves, suits of armour, and finally a necklace, with six empty ovals.
“This is perfect,” she said. She lifted it and slid it over her head. The Space Stone vibrated slightly and was sucked onto the new one, sitting at the right-hand end.
It was Uru. Forged by an ancient Asgardian queen for this very purpose. Like most, she had been killed before collecting all six stones. It was her legend that Loki had first read about the Stones, and it was her quest that Loki had followed.
She conjured another portal and strode through into the Eye. This time she levitated the Stone and as it hovered near the necklace it too was sucked into place at the other side. Loki felt a twinge of pain as its power, although still muted, tried to flow into her. She could handle the power of all six stones, she was a God after all, but even a God felt pain. Even a God could only withstand the power of the Universe for so long.
Crying out in pain, she fell to her knees. A pulse of blue and purple streaks of energy coursed her skin. Her eyes flashed and glowed but as she screamed in anger, the light faded. She rolled over, panting on the floor of the armoury. The Power Stone should have been the last. It was the power of the cosmos, but Loki had no choice.
The pain didn't matter, she would collect each stone in turn and revive her love. Nothing mattered. Nothing was more important than saving Veranke, not even her own life.
Loki cursed as the power from both stones flowed through her. She could connect to both, and use the Power Stone to empower the Space Stone. She was connected to every point in the galaxy. Every cell in her body screamed in agony as they tried to remain whole under the pressure.
She could feel them. The Soul Stone was on a distant dead world. The Mind Stone was on Earth, and the Time and Reality stones flickered in and out of her perception.
Anyone else would have failed to locate them, but Loki was gifted and well-versed in magic. She knew they were on Earth and were being held behind powerful wards. Their flickering told her they were dimensionally locked, hidden away by powerful magic. But even the Earthen magic could not stop her from locating them, or from taking what was hers. No matter who got in her way.
As she tried to narrow down her search the power of the Space Stone tore at her and a small part of her vanished. As her fingers crumbled she pulled back the power and contained it within the necklace once more. Two fingers were a small sacrifice for her love.
She now had two locations to gather the final four stones. All she needed was to get to them.
With the knowledge of their locations, she summoned her guards and began to plan. Through the portal, she quickly adopted the illusion of Freay once more.
Sitting on her throne, she summoned the last of her captains. Soon, the Warriors Three and Lady Sif stood before her.
Queen Freya stood and paced in front of her throne.
“Hear our Royal Decree.” Summoning a scroll, she began to read.
“The murder of Loki is a crime we cannot excuse. To attack and murder a member of the royal family is to attack the heart of Asgard.”
Lady Sif stiffened and had been very vocal about blaming the Kree for the disappearance of Thor. It had been reported his ship had gone missing close to a Kree outpost, a lie to attack the Kree. With no evidence, the Kree had denied all knowledge of his whereabouts. But now they had received official word from the Kree about the reclamation of Earth. Asgard had been ordered to retreat from what was now, under galactic law, a Kree world. However, the destruction of the cruiser and the death of Loki was a war crime, and Asgard was free once more to act.
“Lay waste to their homeworld. Lay waste to their colonies. Any who resist are traitors, and all who resist shall perish. The Kree think themselves above all, You shall show them that Asgard’s power is absolute.”
Nothing would stop her. Nobody would dissuade her from bringing back the one person she cared about. Even if she had to destroy them all, nothing was as important as Veranke.
