Brothers

Despite the fact that the Jötnar and Gods have always been at odds, the mighty Odin and the frost jötun Loki eventually became brothers in blood and sál. — Prose Edda, Lokasaga

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(Journal of Loki)

Odin and I have become closer over the years as the years have gone by. My plan has been going well, and with every day that goes by, the moment when we become blood brothers gets closer and closer. At that point, It'll be easier to become one of his key advisors and hold a position of power. If all goes according to plan, I'll also control at least half of the frost jötnar. Today is my name day, and I'll have an amazing party, and since I'm now the crown prince, I'll invite as many jarls from the jötnar clans of Nifleheim, and they should come. I can use this opportunity to strengthen the ties that connect our clans. Furthermore, I'll pose as an Aesir lest I be marked as a traitor and be exiled or killed.

??/??/????

The door suddenly burst open and his mother barged into his room, causing Loki to suddenly jump and try to close his journal. Sadly, it didn't work, and when his mother tried to read it, she discovered that she couldn't comprehend it because it wasn't written in any language she was familiar with.

"By Ymir's beard, what is this language?" Laufey questioned while trying to see if she could figure it out.

"Mother, give it back. Now!" shouted Loki.

"My baby boy thinks he's a big man now, well let me tell you that you'll always be my baby, so answer me."

"Okay, fine, it's my self-created language and no, I won't tell you what's in the journal; it's not Ymirian or Jötunese, so don't ask."

The journal was merely a combination of numerous modern languages; it wasn't written in a unique language. Loki originally intended to just write it in English, but he decided against doing so because he didn't want someone to learn too much from it in the modern age. Although, if everything goes according to all his plans, he won't even have to worry about that.

"Fine, either way, I came up here originally to ask you to come down for dagmal. We'll be eating as a family before you truly become an adult after completing the ritual." Laufey said before setting down the journal and leaving his room.

Loki hurriedly cleaned up his room after his mother left and hid his journal in a hidden place before leaving and closing the door. As he made his way to the stairs, he greeted and passed by several maids and butlers.

'It was a lot better living in our previous house. It was much smaller, and there were fewer people to greet,' he thought as he descended the stairs and made his way to the dining room.

He entered after opening the door and saw the same breakfast as always. While Helblindi was eating porridge and dried fruit, his parents and Býleistr were enjoying some leftover stew from the previous night that was still in the cauldron. He took a little of everything and sat down beside his older brother before trying to start a conversation with his father.

"How did the raid on the Aesir go, Father?"

"Good," Farbauti said flatly.

"Did you get anything good from one of the villages?"

"Yes"

"Oh, okay, fantastic."

Loki knew his father was always like this, but it surprised him to get this much out of him so early in the morning. This isn't to say Farbauti doesn't love his children or that he's a moron; it's just the way he was.

"Brother, you know Father rarely speaks, so why did you bother? It would be preferable if you spoke to a wall, but are you too high and mighty for that?" Helblindi stepped in.

"I still need to interact with Father, and of course, I'd talk to a wall, and to prove my point, I'm talking to you right now, and you're waayy below a wall."

"At the very least, I, I, I-"

"Let me finish that for you and I quote," as he said this, he took the form of his brother, "At the very least, I wet my bed every night."

Everyone at the table burst out laughing, and after hearing such an insult, Helblindi quickly tried to respond but fell short once more, and they laughed and talked until the end of breakfast.

Loki quickly left after breakfast to meet up with Odin, as they had planned the day before. As he left, Laufey and Farbauti were at the door watching him, as they had done several times before. It took him an hour to get to their meeting spot, even though he was much faster since assuming the form of a frost eagle. As he was descending, he instantly saw the house they had built in the "Free Lands of Ymir,". They'd hidden it with magic, and Loki wanted to bind it to themselves, but he discovered he couldn't. He reasoned that it didn't work because it wasn't rune magic, which is more structured than the raw magic they use now.

He entered the house after landing. Instead of the traditional longhouse, he had introduced to Odin a hybrid of a longhouse and modern housing, and they had filled the main room with beautiful paintings of their many adventures painted by Loki. He walked past them and into the meeting hall. When he entered, he noticed Odin sitting in one of the chairs, with what appeared to be a long box on the table. Odin jumped to his feet when he saw him and yelled:

"Happy name day, Loki, my beztr vinr*!"

"Thank you, my great and mighty friend Odin, and if my eyes are not deceiving me, is that a gift I see?"

"As always, your eyes are as sharp as your tongue; this is just part of the gift I bring; the other is something that, depending on how you look at it, isn't necessarily a gift."

Odin returned to the table, Loki slowly following behind, and picked up the box and handed it to Loki. Loki opened the box to find a sceptre that appeared to be similar to one he'd seen in the MCU before dying. He instantly felt a connection to it as he took it out of the box, and the gem at the top began to glow in response to him, and he felt as if he could stare at it for hours. Suddenly, Odin spoke again, jolting him out of his trance;

"The gem at the top is something I discovered while travelling around Nifleheim; according to the smiths, the gem has also given the sceptre the ability to transform into a sword. I'm not sure if it can do anything else besides that because that's all we could figure out. Now, tell me what is the name that you shall give it?"

"I shall call it Laevateinn, the "sceptre of non-deception," so that anyone who hears its name will doubt the power it possesses!" Loki exclaimed with a prideful tone.

"Lævateinn what an amazing name, you never cease to astound me, Loki. Now come, my friend, follow me outside."

Odin walked out of the meeting hall as Loki followed close behind. They exited through the back door, and Loki noticed an arch formed by a strip of turf propped up by spears as he stepped outside. When Loki saw this, he immediately recognized what it was and asked Odin;

"Are you sure about this, my friend? I don't want to impose, and this is a serious pact."

"I am certain Loki, I have considered this for a long time, and I want you to become my blood brother, to be a part of my family, whether my father agrees or not."

"Well then brother, let us begin," Loki said awkwardly.

They went beneath the arch, and Odin pulled out a dagger, slitting his palm and a portion of his forearm, before passing it to Loki, who did the same. They then performed what is now known as a Viking handshake or a forearm handshake before shouting at the same time.

"I swear on Great Ymir that I Loki/Odin will take Odin/Loki as my blood and sál* brother for the rest of my life!"

There was a loud boom in the sky after they said this, and their blood that had fallen on the ground rose, and Odin's blood flew into Loki, and Loki's blood flew into Odin. Both of their eyes turned blood-red before they passed out.

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1. Beztr vinr means best friend in Old Norse. Beztr means best and Vinr was one of the many ways to say, friend.

2. Sál is Old Norse for the soul which wasn't created until after Christian influence, but I'll work in the four parts (Hamr, Hugr, Fylgja and Hamingja) of (what English can really only call soul) into the sál.