Thena (eternallymad) wrote in momadness_log, @ 2022-03-16 16:44:00 |
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This place was still not his home. He wasn't sure if he ever would. The grandeur that was a staple of Odin's Asgard was missing. Their kingdom seemed to have been downgraded. The might of the Asgardian people needed to be rebuilt.
The beach, however, was a place he most closely still felt like home. No New York in the back. Just the sea in front of him. He spotted Thena and walked over to her.
"How are you finding your new home?" he asked as he stepped close to her.
Though she had been looking for time alone, Thena showed no sign of being disturbed when Loki approached her. She opened her eyes and looked up to where Loki was standing, and Thena remained sitting.
“It’s more modern than I am used to, which is not a bad thing. And I prefer the sea air to the dry desert anyway,” Thena explained. Her body was quite resistant to things like temperature change, but she did like to be comfortable. “And you? I’m sorry to hear about Asgard. You have my sympathies.” Her memories of ‘Olympia’ were fabricated, but Thena did sometimes feel that lack of connection for a home world.
"Thank you," he said softly. For a moment, he was quiet, gaze scanning the sea and watching the waves break. "I cannot say that Midgard has won me over. Humans are a short-lived race. We are tolerated now but what if the next generation decides against us. But you have been here longer - what is it like to live on a planet where generations pass by in a blink of an eye."
“It can be boring at times,” Thena admitted freely. When Deviants were at their height, her warrior instinct was to fight and protect. She had a mission, though it took her a long time to remember why that mission was wrong. “But when you realize that the core of what humans are, what they do and believe is fairly constant, you adapt and adjust,” she said looking at Loki. “I used to be worshipped as a Goddess. Not that it mattered to me, but we were all recognized and accepted at times. Now, the only humans who know of my existence are those I’ve met here and a handful from my own timeline.” However, there were only ten of them (six of whom Makkari couldn’t find). That was different from a whole community of displaced people.
“May I?” he asked, gesturing towards the bench. At her approval, he took a place next to her. He still played over her words. It had always mattered to him, the way he was seen. He had built a part of his pride upon it. “So, what are your plans now, on this planet?” He could feel the power of the reality gem stir at the question of the future. Probabilities lay within its realm. It gave fascinating outlooks.
Thena nodded her approval that Loki could take the seat next to her. She didn’t mind that he was quiet as they sat together since quiet and peace was what she came down to the beach for. When Loki’s question finally came, she considered her words carefully. “For nearly 8000 years my plans have been to protect this planet,” Thena admitted because that was all certainly true. “Very recently, my priorities have changed. But, it is still my intention to continue to protect Earth and everything and everyone that lives here.”
The trickster watched her as she considered her answer. They had had a strange way of protecting a planet. Their code of non-involvement had often puzzled him. But for once, he wasn’t one to judge. He respected their age. Respected their strength. “And what exactly has changed among your priorities?”
“Coming through the portal for one,” Thena gave as an easy answer without hesitation. It meant she didn’t have to talk about the Emergence. “There are four of us that came through the portal. There have been five but… well our Prime disappeared,” Thena admitted about Sersi. “We have been trying to locate the others in this time.”
“I saw…” he said quietly. “I am sorry for your loss.” For a moment, he was quiet. Watching first the waves, then her. “How is the search going? Is there anything Asgard can assist with?” It had been easy for them. They had been able to locate the Statesman and rescue their people. But a whole people differed from individual ones.
“Thank you,” Thena nodded at Loki’s sympathies. It appeared to be even worse than just Sersi going back through the portal. She didn’t exist in this world at this time. None of the others did. Thena didn’t know what that meant, but it had already dashed her hopes that Gilgamesh was out there alive somewhere.
She had stayed silent while Loki had been thinking of his next question for her. And the offer of assistance was… well what Thena and Makkari had been hopeful for already. “The search is ongoing. They aren’t where they are supposed to be,” Thena admitted to that. “I suspect that something is going on and we are going to need all the help we can get,” she said looking to Loki.
“Even the ones who did not arrive through the portal?” he asked. That was new information. A mystery. And one deeply connected to what was going on in this universe. Were they simply not around? Or was something bigger going on? His mind was already turning, spinning with ideas and coming up with more. At the end of the day, he wanted to stay in this world. Leaving was not an option and knowledge was power. The more he knew about what was happening, the more he felt he could prevent it. “I found that people of this world disappear when a version of them arrived through a portal.”
Thena nodded at Loki’s question. Their friends who hadn’t come through the portal were missing, and Sersi had gone back but didn’t appear in this world again either. Were they all gone? Had Arishem come for them? She didn’t give Loki much more detail than that. She was more than away from his reputation, but to give him some information would help her gage his interest, and he would be a useful ally, especially if they could get Thor’s help as well. “I have been told that,” Thena nodded in understanding at Loki’s explanation of the portal. “Is there another portal elsewhere?” she asked.
A quirk of his lips That had been a thought he had had. She knew which questions to ask. Not everyone did. “We know of at least one more. My brother did not reappear into this world after he vanished. Instead a different version of him appeared. I think your friend Sersi is gone but the others in your group might have arrived through a different portal.” He weighed his head to the side, giving the idea emphasis.
Loki’s answer confirmed what Thena had suspected. It was only a theory, but it seemed like a possibility if they couldn’t find their family where they should be. “So, this isn’t the first Thor to be here?” That was interesting information. That gave Thena hope that Sersi could return again. “Where is this portal?”
"It is not. One vanished and a little later another arrived," he said, doing his best to keep the pain out of his voice. "As for the portal, I am not the one to ask." Oh, he was curious about it. "But if you find out and need an extra pair of hands, let me know. These portals concern us all."
Thena and her friends had only been there for a short while and already experienced what it was like to lose someone. She wasn’t looking forward to see if that would continue. “I will keep you informed,” Thena promised even if Loki couldn’t give her any more information. At least she got his promise of assistance without revealing the true concern Thena had for this planet.
Loki acknowledged her words with a nod and for a moment, he was quiet. Just watching the waves come and go. He had never thought that one day he would be living on this realm instead of his own. “What made you come here? To Midgard I mean… you arrived way before I was born. Humanity must have barely taken its first steps back then.”
That question has so many answers now that Thena had only learned about recently. She of course couldn’t tell Loki everything, but she could at least tell the truth. “We were sent to Earth by the Celestial Ashram. Our mission was to defeat all the Deviants on the planet. They would have killed all the humans. We arrived nearly 8000 years ago. We’ve protected Humanity all that time while they developed their cultures and history. Well, the last time all ten of us were together was the 16th Century.”
"Deviants? What are those?" Had he heard his father talk about them before? He wasn't sure. It didn't matter. Thena could provide more clarity than a faint memory of his father's words could. And by now, he took the knowledge he had gained from the man with a grain of salt. Lies had been an old practise of his.
“They’re monsters that try to kill all life,” Thena explained with the hatred evident in her voice. It didn’t matter if Thena didn’t agree with the emergence, it didn’t lessen her hatred for the Deviants, especially for how they killed members of her family. It didn’t matter if they were all created together by the Celestials.
"How charming," Loki commented with a flat tone. "So, what made humans so special that they needed your protection? It seems… excessive for such a young emergent race." The trickster god wondered if they simply provided that protection for every sign of helpless intelligence. Maybe this was more about fighting the Deviants than protecting earth.
“There was nothing special about humanity except for their potential and allowing their potential to thrive,” Thena explained. “There are other groups of us that were sent to other planets to also fight Deviants. They aren’t unique to Earth.” Thena wasn’t revealing anything that wasn’t already known by anyone who’d encountered their kind before.
“Ah, well, their potential has turned into atom bombs and racism…” He chuckled softly. The thought that humans judged each other by their skin colour was ridiculous for the Jotun. Then he waved a hand. “I know - I know not all humans. There is great kindness among them…” Blah, blah, blah… Loki did not add that. Thena seemed to have a soft spot for them. “But you must admit, they could use some guidance here and there… I am not looking forward to having to renegotiate my standing among them every few years.” Democracy - at least the way humans practised it - seemed impractical in the monarch’s mind. There was not much one could get done within a decade… four years full of discussions and votes - no, in Loki’s mind it would only lead to a halt of a nation.
“They are not perfect,” Thena was willing to admit. This was not a new argument with her family members. The reason they had all split was due in part to Druig’s frustration without being able to interfere. And then Thena’s madness was another. “Guidance we did provide in some ways.” But complete interference had been forbidden. Of course, they hadn’t known why until recently. “How long do you have until you need to renegotiate again?”
"I do not know but you know how their governments are. Their factions-" Parties was what they called them, wasn't it? "- are deeply at odds with one another. If one is voted out of government, the other rushes to undo their accomplishments. It leads to a country standing still. But it also means that with the next government change our presence might not be tolerated any longer." The act of a fool in Loki’s mind but that fit with his own few of Midgardians.
“I’ve seen empires fall, and countries invaded,” Thena corrected Loki about what she had seen about how the government of this world worked. “What sort of agreement do you have with the current government? Is it not long term?” They never had such an agreement. It was never needed when they were together because there had only been ten of them. And even when they separated, they found a way. Kingo lived on and on in movies and no one ever noticed.
"Currently, we are no independent nation. We are citizens of Wakanda and the land we live on is diplomatic territory." He had to look up what that meant. His knowledge of Midgardian politics was only just beginning to grow. He had always deemed it highly irrelevant and more amusing than anything else. "We are bound to both the US government and that of Wakanda." His face twitched in dismay. The thought of their dependence was a sour one. Asgard had shone like a bright star long before Midgard had even gained a fraction of importance. "I hardly wish for it to stay that way. We are our own people with our own customs. So, we have contracts about minor issues but need to convince governments to support a claim for independence." Especially with his reputation and, what Loki felt, was a brother with terrible negotiation skills, it was an uphill battle. "We negotiate, new elections come along, and, well…" He sighed. They had barely started on it. But Loki was already fed up with the brevity of his negotiation partners.
“That does sound frustrating,” Thena agreed. With her and the others, they just blended in wherever they decided to live. They didn’t have to negotiate for their place to live. The Asgardians had the longevity they did, but also more public recognition and were larger in numbers. “I hope you’ll be able to gain your independence.”
"Thank you. If I were on my own, it would not be such an issue. But my people have been reduced to a small number. They deserve a home and a-" A beep interrupted him. He blinked. He pulled out his phone and switched off the reminder. "And I fear that is my cue to leave. Duty calls. It was a pleasure." He nodded towards her with a smile on his face.
The beep interrupted them, and Thena nodded back to Loki when he announced the need to leave. “It was good to finally meet you. Until we speak again.” Once they had a plan, Thena knew that Loki could help. He had an invested interest in protecting this planet now.