Tempest

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I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.

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11th February 2013, Royal Palace in Asgard

(Odin Borson POV)

Odin Borson knew that he wasn't a good man. A good king, perhaps, but not a good man. He was very manipulative in nature, which was a very good quality to have during court, but not so much when raising children.

He knew that hunger for power was in his nature. He was destined to be a conqueror, to spill the blood of millions to become the undisputed king of the nine realms. Perhaps it was his fate, or perhaps it was his own greed that always pushed him in his younger years, that motivated him to claim everything he could as his own.

In the end, it didn't matter. In every iteration of Ragnarok, Odin Borson always conquered the nine realms. That was an undeniable fact, a fixed point in time, one that always disgusted him the moment he remembers his past lives during his ritual where sacrificed his eye.

It wasn't even the Shadows' fault. Odin was a conqueror far before he became a prisoner in his own mind. At least there's something that he couldn't blame on them, no matter how much he wished he could.

He was old and weak now and it was fitting in a way, that a way for his people's freedom appeared at this moment at the hand of one of the most frustrating people he had met in any of his lifetimes.

The Morrigan was an impossibility that did its best to frustrate him as much as possible. She was touched by Death, that's for sure, and was technically the Avatar of Death, a thankless responsibility that granted her a frightening amount of power. But there was something else, something more. He had seen Avatars of cosmic entities. By the Norns, he had once fallen in love with an Avatar of the Phoenix Force. Even if the Morrigan was the first Avatar of Death, she was too connected with the entity for her to simply be just that. The King of Asgard had no idea what in the nine hells she was, but it was something that he had never seen before in any of his lifetimes.

In Odin's experience, new elements presented too many variables in the equation, and with it, they almost always bring unforeseen danger with them. It was one of the main reasons he disliked the Morrigan in the first place. Well, that and the fact that the Avatar of Death had disrespected him in more than one instance, even if he was thankful that she dealt with the mess that was Hela, Odin's firstborn.

And what a surprise it was when he awoke and realized that Hela was his daughter, and not Loki's. It was great in a way that meant that the Shadows were weakened by the previous Thor. Odin suppressed a smirk at his son's frankly impressive accomplishment. His Gamble with Gaia's essence had worked out splendidly.

The fact that the usual timeline had derailed meant that they were not as in control as they used to be, even if he still heard their whispers in his head. They did seem to grow stronger and regained their control over him especially when Thor was born. He really scared them, didn't he?

Odin theorized that the Shadows did not grow suddenly in strength when Thor was born, but they probably chose to focus only on him, and maybe a few select individuals who heavily feature in their plans, instead of being the immense web of influence that controlled every single soul in the nine realms. Unfortunately, he couldn't take that risk. Even if they couldn't control everyone, they could control anyone. Odin had to assume that they had eyes and ears everywhere.

Perhaps, in a way, even should they fail in the destruction of Those Who Sit Above in Shadow, they were able to grant the nine realms at least one cycle of freedom, for the most part.

Yet now, he was putting his hopes on his son, and a stranger who had asked his help in a far bigger fight than he could afford. But in a way, his word was law, and hence their agreement was binding. He had never fought against a cosmic entity before.

Their assault was going to start during the convergence, and from what he understood, the Morrigan had everything under control and was training Thor adequately.

Oh, how he longed to train his son, both his sons, in the ways of the warriors and magics. Loki was a bright child, whom he never regretted saving, even if he was being manipulated, and had helped cause the destruction of Asgard in most other iterations.

In many ways, Loki was the son that was the most like him. He had his lust for power, and his tendency to manipulate everyone around him. Loki had his cruelty and ruthlessness before it was tempered by his long life.

Truly, Odin had no idea how Thor could be this noble, this heroic, in almost every iteration while being raised the same as Loki. Sure the King of Asgard favoured his biological son in many ways, and sometimes even silently condemned Loki's actions, but it was mostly tainted by his memories of their predecessors.

At least Hela is imprisoned. Her presence would have made a mess of things, and she would probably join the Shadows just to defy him. Alas, Odin didn't want to think about his firstborn daughter and this lifetime's greatest failure.

Back to Thor, Odin supposes that the main difference would be Mjolnir. Its presence was always there, even if it was faded. Odin knew that the hammer had a consciousness. He was one of the biggest reasons that the Hammer was forged in the first place.

It was a tale lost to time, one that only Odin knows today. Millions of years ago, in one of the iterations of Ragnarok, before the Shadows' arrival, Asgard was destroyed by a storm. It wasn't any normal storm, but the first one in existence, the very embodiment of Thunder. It had a rudimentary intelligence that wished for nothing but to propagate, tearing apart time and space in every fabric of reality that it touched.

Back then, the universe hadn't stabilized then. It was in a constant state of flux, of chaos. Odin rarely tried to navigate it, preferring to remain in the realms outside, which were far more stable. In an environment like this, the universe gave birth to chaotic beings, which were later hunted down and exterminated by the Celestials.

Seeking to escape the purge, the storm had somehow escaped the main universe and bound itself to the Bifrost, which helped it propagate throughout the nine realms, destroying them without a single warning. Asgard was the last one to have lasted and it was mostly because of his protections. Not that it mattered in the end, Asgard was destroyed and only Odin remained.

He was in his prime, then, and fought for what seemed to be years, attempting to destroy the cosmic storm that he named the 'God Tempest'. In the end, he only managed to bind it using his runes, sealing it away in an ingot of Uru, which he buried in the heart of a mountain.

After dying from exhaustion, the iteration of the cycle was officially destroyed, and a new one was created. Ever since that fateful day, Odin always checks on the God Tempest at least once in every single iteration, in fear of it escaping.

Everything continued as usual until, during one visit just after his war with Heaven, the King of Asgard discovered that the mountain had disappeared and only a single block of stone remained which hummed with power.

The God Tempest's basic consciousness had evolved and learnt to affect the world around it. It absorbed the entire mountain until all that remained was this block of stone, inside which the ingot of Uru metal resided.

In the end, it didn't take long for Odin to convince it to use it as a weapon, but only if they agreed on their wielder. And so, Odin manifested a branch of the World Tree itself, a fragment of the border of the universe, and bound it to the block of stone to create its handle. On this day, Mjolnir was born.

For some reason, when he took it back home, Mjolnir had taken a liking to his son, and thus Thor became the God of Thunder.

Many people question themselves as to why Odin has given Thor, his own heir, the divinity over Thunder, and in truth, it was because of the hammer. Mjolnir, the embodiment of the first storm, the mother of thunder, coupled with a divinity over thunder, made Thor one of the mightiest warriors in all of Asgard. The potential that the Prince of Asgard had was staggering, which was a shame since he often wasted it and rarely explored it.

This was why Thor, who used to be the God of Strength, was always given control over Storms, Thunder and Lightning. And even now, with the Shadows doing their best to stop Thor from obtaining it, making Odin forge fake copies, Mjolnir longed for its wielder and their reunion seemed to be approaching rapidly, which boded well for Odin and his moves against Those Who Sit Above in Shadow.

Odin smiled to himself; Thor was doing very well in his training and it didn't escape the King that the Morrigan was also training his son on how to exercise restraint and cunning, something that the boy often lacked. She was turning him into a ruler, and Odin was very grateful for her for doing so.

Perhaps, after this juncture was over, he would start the ritual to pass on the Odinforce to his son, should he fall in the battle with the Shadows? A small plan formed in the King's mind which made him unconsciously grin.

The Shadows had done their best to gain control over him. While Odin's mind was protected and unbreakable, they had opted to control his body. Unfortunately for them, Odin was the All-Father, and he had a few tricks up his sleeve. And with the Shadows being weakened, he had a little leeway. In this case, Odin decided to take a risk.

Odin created an energy projection that disguised itself as one of the guards which appeared in the lower level of the prison, specifically, where Loki was located. The guard slowly walked towards the prisoners and stopped in front of the cell belonging to the disgraced prince of Asgard.

The God of Mischief was lying down, feigning sleep. He was relatively calm compared to the other inmates who kept banging on the golden energy field that separated them from the outside world.

Loki looked surprisingly well and calm compared to his crazed self when he tried to commit genocide and destroy an entire realm. Perhaps it was the Shadows giving up on him since he was imprisoned and thus useless for their plans for the time being, or maybe it was Frigga's regular 'secret' visits which turned the boy's imprisonment into a makeshift house arrest, and not the deep dark dungeon that people who had committed his crimes are sent to.

Odin's thoughts were interrupted by Loki who spoke up, "Are you here to stare at Asgard's disgraced prince, or is there a purpose for your presence?"

Odin, disguised as the guard, smirked, "Asgard has need of you, Loki Odinson."

The imprisoned man sneered, "I would gladly see Asgard burn."

"Even your mother?"

The question seemed to shock the godling enough to shut him up. Odin took this opportunity to continue, "Grave danger is upon us, one that would kill us all. Your king, your home is asking you to protect everyone you hold dear. Are you willing to do your duty, to repay your sins and return home as a hero?"

"Suppose that this was true, that I would agree to help, how am I supposed to do so from this cell?"

Odin went through the energy shields as if they aren't even there and touched the prince's necklace. It was a gift that he had given the boy when he was younger. It was charged with his Odinforce, along with a fragment of Bifrost energy. It was supposed to be an escape, a quick way to Asgard's healing chambers in case of emergency, one that should manifest itself when he was only mortally wounded. But now, Odin was altering the enchantments slightly, like he had done to Thor's a few years back to travel to Midgard to stop Loki during his foolish invasion.

Smirking at the shocked look his son had, Odin asked again, "Do you accept your mission, Loki?"

The boy nodded and Odin continued, "Travel to Midgard and meet with Thor's teacher. Give your brother this box, and stay with them," Odin handed Loki a small box with runes on it, "Everything will be explained when you arrive. Good luck, my son."

Before Loki could say anything, Odin activated his necklace, sending the boy to Midgard. The energy projection faded away into nothing, leaving an empty prison cell and a missing prince.