Winged Deceit

A/N: Wooooo! This chapter officially pushes this story over 100k words! I feel like that's a pretty big milestone as my first fic. Thank you so much to everyone who's made it to this point with me!

Chapter 41: Winged Deceit

The guard turned to Jake, and behind his ornamental golden helmet, a creepy smirk appeared. "Oh, believe me, I am helping," the guard said in an unsettling tone. "But you're right, Jake Gremory. I have places to be. Farewell for now," he said before turning and walking away in a different direction.

…

Jake was right with his hunch; something was seriously wrong here. As he darted through the palace, he noticed he was getting strange glances from the people he passed. For some reason, none of the Asgardians seemed upset or panicked, despite the recent supposed plundering of the palace treasury.

"Excuse me," Jake called out to a random maid in the hallway, catching her off guard.

"Yes?" she replied, confused by the unexpected presence of a guest.

"Do you know what's happening?" Jake asked hurriedly. The maid returned a puzzled look. "Wasn't the palace treasury just broken into?" He asked.

"What?!" She exclaimed, drawing attention from nearby maids. "Absolutely not!" She said loudly. "If something like that had occurred, the entire palace would be on lockdown!" She was wondering if Jake was plastered and dreamt of such a thing. It wouldn't be the first time someone had after all. Asgardians loved their drink.

Ignoring the odd expression she gave him, Jake sprinted towards the throne room. Something was off, and he needed to inform the king immediately. Could the guard he encountered earlier be an imposter? There was definitely something not right about him.

Jake quickly located the entrance to the throne room, but the doors were shut, guarded by two sentinels. "Halt," they commanded. "The throne room is currently off-limits as the king is meeting with foreign dignitaries."

Coming to an abrupt stop, Jake huffed, "It's an emergency! I think Thor and Loki are being led into a trap." The guards' faces tensed; a claim like that could not be dismissed.

"Fine, we'll let you in," one guard relented, "but make no mistake, outsider. If you're lying, it will be on your head." They stepped aside, allowing Jake to open the doors and enter.

...

"As I was saying, King Odin," a portly yet well-dressed man stood before the throne, addressing Odin. "I believe my son would make an excellent match for your royal daughter. By uniting our houses, we can expand my family's cheese empire across the galaxy. The wealth we'd amass would be-"

Odin, exhausted and irritated, sat on his throne. He was already overdue for his Odin's sleep due to the delay caused by Thor's coronation interruption. Now, he was compelled to listen to these bothersome diplomats vying for his favor. This intergalactic cheese merchant was not even the first one today seeking his daughter's hand...

To Odin's relief, the man's absurd rant was abruptly interrupted as the throne room doors swung open.

"King Odin!" Jake shouted, eliciting perplexed looks from everyone in the room. "You must come quickly; it's an emergency."

Judging by Jake's tone, Odin sensed the urgency of the situation. Weary, he rose from his throne and, accompanied by his wife, apologized to the dignitaries before hastening toward Jake outside the throne room.

"I must thank you, Jake, for rescuing me from these vultures," Odin remarked with a small chuckle. Frigga, his wife, gave him a stern look, prompting him to add, "Perhaps next time, avoid screaming 'emergency' in front of the entire realm. That tends to incite panic. Now, what has you so flustered?"

Jake swiftly briefed Odin about the guard who informed him and Loki of the treasury raid, with Thor and his companions heading to Jotunheim to wage war while Loki rushed to stop them. Jake doubted if she would arrive in time to prevent the conflict.

Frigga gasped in shock at his tale. "Odin, this is dreadful! It could destabilize the entire realm!"

Meanwhile, Odin's anger flared. The vault had not been raided at all! As king, he would have been immediately aware of such an event. Whoever this guard was, they had managed to deceive his naive son, potentially pushing them into a war the realm could ill afford at this time.

"Come," Odin urged, "we must make haste to the Bifrost immediately. Jake, you should join us." Turning to the two door guards, Odin commanded, "Have a detachment of men follow us to the Bifrost." The guards, now terrified by the gravity of the situation, were relieved they had allowed Jake into the throne room.

…

Jake found himself aboard a magnificent flying golden chariot, accompanied by Odin and Frigga. They raced across a mesmerizing rainbow bridge, heading towards the grandest waterfall he had ever seen. The Bifrost was an awe-inspiring sight, just like the rest of Asgard. However, Jake couldn't help but think that they may have overdid it in the gold decor in certain areas. Following the royal chariot were five others, each carrying ten fully armored and armed Asgardian soldiers.

The chariot touched down at the end of the rainbow bridge, and Jake, along with the king and queen, quickly disembarked and headed towards the Bifrost.

"Heimdall!" Odin called out urgently. "What is happening? Where are my children?"

Heimdall, the guardian of the realms, appeared resigned upon seeing his king and the multitude of soldiers. "My king, I apologize. Prince Thor informed me that he received a secret mission on Jotunheim under your orders. It was only later, when the princess arrived shortly after I sent them off, that I realized I had been deceived. She went after them to stop their reckless actions. Unfortunately, Thor provoked a battle when he murdered a frost giant. I can currently see them," he explained, his eyes glowing faintly. "They are currently fighting for their lives, surrounded by hundreds of frost giants. The princess is badly injured, and Thor has narrowly avoided death multiple times against their relentless onslaught!" Jake wasn't exactly surprised at hearing Malfoy 3.0 someone pissed off an entire realm into wanting to kill him…

Jake was surprised to hear that Loki was badly hurt though. After all, she had effortlessly defeated him before. Just how tough were these frost giants?

"Open the Bifrost now!" Odin demanded. "I will retrieve my children." Heimdall complied, and Odin vanished through the radiant portal.

Left behind with Jake, Queen Frigga appeared deeply distraught. She was even crying a bit, fearing for her children's lives. "It will be alright," Jake reassured her. "Isn't Odin incredibly powerful?"

The queen wiped away her tears. "I apologize for such a display," she said, waving off Jake's concern. Behind them, the fifty soldiers had also arrived and stood in formation. Many of them appeared anxious, knowing the horrors of war. However, around half of the soldiers wore a peculiar grin, the same unsettling expression that the deceptive guard had worn...

Whoosh!

The Bifrost portal blazed back to life, and Odin emerged, looking even more exhausted than before. Following him were his two children, accompanied by Thor's friends. They all bore evident injuries. Loki clutched her side, where she had clearly been stabbed and was bleeding heavily. Jake was relieved to see she was still alive at least. He didn't get to finish his spar with her yet.

Jake thought that everything had turned out alright given the circumstances and that they would be heading back soon, but that was not the case.

To Jake's surprise, instead of thanking him for saving his life, Thor turned to Odin and started heavily berating him.

"Father, why did you interfere? We could have won that fight! We could have slain Laufey and brought glory to Asgard!" He shouted at the King of Asgard in front of everyone.

"You foolish boy!" Odin exclaimed in response. "Do you realize what you have done? You allowed someone to easily deceive you and potentially ignite a war!"

Thor seemed unconcerned. "So what if that guard lied? When I become King, I will eradicate all the frost giants! Haven't they been the monsters in all our children's stories? I was finally going to put an end to it, and you ruined everything!"

"You are a foolish and cruel boy," Odin declared firmly. "You would subject our realm to the horrors of war based on mere stories?"

"And you are an old man and a fool!" Thor retorted. Jake watched in disbelief as the mother beside him began sobbing, witnessing the exchange of hurtful words between her husband and son.

...

What transpired next was beyond anything Jake could have imagined. Odin deemed Thor unworthy of his powers and stripped him of them before everyone present. Then, Odin opened the Bifrost and banished his son, along with his hammer, into the portal...

Afterward, Odin wearily took a seat on a nearby step, surveying the room occupied by his family, Jake, and the watching soldiers. "I apologize to all of you for having to witness that," Odin said, his voice filled with exhaustion. "This is necessary for Thor. I hope that without his powers, he may learn humility and perhaps return to us one day as a changed and better man..." Odin sighed.

Jake just walked over to Odin and sat himself down next to him. "Well it could be worse. Where'd you send him too anyway."

Odin just sighed. "I decided that he needed some perspective among the common man so I sent him to-" He wasn't able to finish as he was interrupted by a mad laugh.

"Hahahaha! Oh my mother, this is just too perfect!" Someone started laughing followed by many other people in the room joining in. Jake turned around and saw that half of the soldiers that had accompanied them were giggling creepily to themselves uncontrollably. Out of the group of them, one soldier stepped forward. It was the same 'guard' who had tricked Thor and Loki!

"That's the impostor guard!" Jake shouted, pointing at the man who continued to cackle.

Odin and Frigga perked up at Jake's revelation. The man responsible for all of this chaos was among them! "Who are you?" They demanded in unison.

Meanwhile, Loki, lying on the ground, clutching her bleeding side, glared fiercely at the man.

"Hahaha! Who am I? Just a random soldier, one among many..." The laughing imposter trailed off before glancing at the others behind him. "But what you should be worried about is that WE are not soldiers of Asgard!" With his declaration, the armor of him and the other soldiers fell away into illusionary motes of light, revealing white togas beneath.

FWISH!

In a flash, angelic white wings sprouted from the backs of all twenty-five laughing soldiers. The angels from Heven had truly infiltrated Asgard!

"You four, come with me," the now revealed angel commanded, gesturing to four others. They advanced towards the still-active Bifrost portal. "Odin has so kindly stripped the prince of his powers... Let's go kill him. The rest of you... ATTACK!" With that, he dove into the Bifrost.

"No!" Odin shouted at the five angels as they vanished through the portal, headed to kill his defenseless son. However, before he could pursue them, three angels wielding burning swords attacked him simultaneously. In his exhausted state, he struggled to fend off these grunts.

The remaining angels launched into a frenzied assault on everyone else in the room. Caught off guard by the sudden betrayal and ambush, a few Asgardian soldiers fell victim to the onslaught. However, the remaining soldiers quickly rallied, fighting back against their ancient winged foes.

"Fight back!"

"Attack!"

"For Asgard!"

Thor's friends and even the queen joined the fray, standing against the angels.

The room descended into chaos as everyone fought for their lives within the confined space. Amidst the chaos, Jake noticed Loki, still on the ground, clutching her bleeding side. An angel flew towards her, wielding a flaming sword.

"No, you don't!" Jake yelled as he deployed his own wings and soared towards the angel, intercepting its attack. He conjured an ice sword and clashed blades with the angel.

"Die, interloper, die!" The angel wore a crazed expression as it locked blades with Jake.

"Why don't you die first?" Loki's voice called out from behind the angel, and her blade impaled the angel's heart. The angel's wings drooped, and it fell to the ground, lifeless. Jake was taken aback before he looked back and saw that the injured Loki on the ground was fading away—it was an illusion!

"Thanks for trying to save me, Jake," the real Loki said, appearing unscathed. "But remember what I told you earlier, don't always trust your eyes when it comes to magical combat." Jake nodded in understanding. "That being said, I have a favor to ask of you, Jake." Loki's unhurt form shimmered away, she was now revealed to actually be seriously injured, covered in small and large cuts and bruises all over her body. She spoke with urgency, "I need you to go through the Bifrost and save my foolish brother from being killed." Jake didn't question why she couldn't go herself; if this was truly her real current appearance then she was absolutely battered from fighting the frost giants. She barely looked able to stand…

Jake solemnly nodded. "Just keep Serafall safe for me while I'm gone."

"You have my word."

Turning away from her and the ongoing battle, Jake leaped into the Bifrost. He was determined to rescue the God of Thunder… wherever Odin had sent him...

-#########-

I have another story I'm currently writing as well. Check it out on my profile.

Thank you to my current Hero Team Patrons: Denacious, Michael, Mason, Rick, Nirojan, Benzaboyo, Carl, and William

If you want to also read ahead or support me, check out p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m/FiveStarTomato