Yggdrasil_Loki
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I’m Loki and I’m Back! [Chapter 17]
🕑 Added 2025-12-28 08:39:18 +0000 UTC"Reasonable," I was starting to like this conversation more and more. "But back to business. You're right, I have things to discuss with you. But the question is, are you ready to listen? Because despite all your cordiality, something tells me you still don't believe the name I gave is real."
"All mutant names based on their abilities are real, even if they aren't written in documents," Xavier's gaze became a tad more serious.
"But if you wish to convince me that you are the genuine Norse God of Mischief, I will be forced to ask you to back that up with something that cannot be explained by a mundane mutation and special training."
"To be honest, I prefer the title God of Magic," I waved my hand vaguely, pursing my lips slightly. "I wasn't named God of Mischief out of great love and respect. As for proof…"
Bringing my hands together, I distorted the spatial metric, extracting one of my daggers from the pocket dimension.
Not the best one, durability and sharpness weren't the main priorities in its creation.
However, its merit lay elsewhere: my predecessor made it in imitation of Odin's Gungnir.
"Please," standing up from the chair, I extended the golden-shimmering quillon to Charles.
"A medieval knight's dagger?" the telepath raised his eyebrows in genuine surprise, accepting the weapon.
"A techno-magical artifact with a neural interface. If you grasp the hilt, you can command it to coat itself in a film of low-temperature stabilized plasma or expel a bolt of it from the tip.”
“Unfortunately, the energy capacity of this trinket is quite modest, I made it a long time ago, but it's capable of burning a soccer-ball-sized hole through a person once a minute. Alas, not everyone is so fragile, and against Aesir it's no longer very effective, so don't bother testing it on me, it won't even singe my skin."
"Is this a joke?" the professor asked in bewilderment, still holding the dagger by his fingertips.
"Grasp it, and find out. I think with your abilities, figuring out the principles of mental control won't be too difficult. Just as it won't be difficult to understand that Earth science has hundreds of years to go before reaching this level," I smiled ingratiatingly with the corner of my mouth.
Measuring me with a distrustful, wary gaze, yet still not attempting to read my thoughts, Xavier slowly moved his right palm to the hilt and closed his fingers.
In the next instant, his face twitched slightly, hinting at an attempt to grimace, but he quickly pulled himself together and closed his eyes in concentration.
For a minute, nothing happened. Charles sat motionless in his wheelchair, holding the dagger in one hand before him, looking as if he were listening to something. I knew roughly what he was doing right now, so I didn't interfere and politely kept silent.
Finally, the mutant's eyes opened, and a new expression splashed in them now, as if he were simultaneously delighted and refused to believe what he saw.
A second later, the blade of the quillon was coated in an orange film of magically infused plasma.
"That is… impressive," Xavier said, examining the play of the "witch-fire." "So these stories are true? The Elder Edda, the Younger Edda, the Song of the Nibelungs?" The man extinguished the dagger and looked up at me.
"Very relatively," I shook my head, grimacing with half my face. "Even in this age of the internet and recording devices, people manage to distort any news ten times a day, and others believe them despite having video evidence of real events before their eyes. So you shouldn't put too much faith in the drunken gossip of bandit savages, which was also embellished with inventions by every new generation."
"I understand," Xavier placed the blade on the table and straightened in his chair. "And what does the real history look like?"
"It's rather long and not terribly important for our conversation," leaning on the armrests, I steepled my hands in front of me. "What is important is that Asgard truly exists, as do Odin Allfather, Thor the Thunderer, and…" I shrugged, "me."
"And what are you doing on Earth?"
"At the moment…" I pretended to choose my words, "I'm trying to take a break from my family." And a smile.
"Your wife Sigyn and children Narvi and Vali?" the professor showed off his erudition.
"No," I shook my head, "that's all human fiction. I've never been married and don't plan to be anytime soon. Didn't sire any children either. It's just that my little brother Thor's coronation is taking place in Asgard in a few months, and I don't want to see it. Besides, I haven't been to Midgard in ages. Surely you have a couple of new books, musical compositions, and good movies?"
"You don't get along well with your brother?" Xavier continued his questioning, smiling with the corner of his lips at the mention of movies.
"No, we get along great. It's just that while I spared no effort studying diplomacy, economics, the geopolitical structure of the universe, and other disciplines necessary for a ruler, Thor was punching giants in the face, hunting boars, and, in the intervals between these activities, throwing month-and-a-half-long drinking binges surrounded by his buddies.”
“But in the end, he is the universally beloved hero and heir to the throne, and I am the treacherous and vile God of Deceit. The universe has a sense of humor."
"I must apologize. That is likely a painful subject," the mutant repented with complete sincerity.
"Well…" I pretended to ponder. "It was painful about two hundred years ago, but now circumstances have changed slightly, and I no longer need the throne of Asgard. In a way, I'm even enjoying anticipating what will start there under Thor's rule." A not-so-kind smirk climbed onto my face on its own.
"And Odin, is he…" Charles fell silent, searching for words.
