Chapter 92 (Patreon)

Walking through the city proved to be quite the task for Harry. Maintaining illusions was generally easy for him, even if he didn't anchor them to an object. It wasn't quite as easy when you had to put up with two Lokis, one of them who could still talk to you even if you blocked your ears, ranting about how terrible Asgard was.

"If you guys think it's so terrible, why do you want to rule it?" Harry asked. "Never mind. I remember—we just like ruling over people, but humans are too easy to rule over, so you have to rule over the godlike beings."

"Well, I wouldn't call Asgardians godlike—except me, of course."

'We're not godlike; we are gods.'

The palace soon loomed overhead, and the number of guards in the street grew.

Harry glanced at a few guards as they walked past. "I hope there are no dangerous criminals around."

A while of walking later, they were slipping into a side door, leaving a guard's body hidden inside a wall behind them and bringing another with them, this one under the effects of an overpowered Imperius Curse; it would not work for too long, but it would be good enough,

As they had planned, Loki-Two resumed his true form, and Harry took the guise of one of the guards they had taken out. He handcuffed Loki-Two with a pair of fake manacles, and guided him forward, occasionally prodding him with a spear. The actual guard took the lead.

Like that, they marched him to the throne, drawing the stares of many others who seemed too intimidated to do anything. The guards outside of the throne room were apparently not so easily swayed. They crossed their spears to block the group as they attempted to enter the room.

"Out of the way," Harry mentally commanded his Imperiused guard to say. "We're bringing Loki to Odin. He surrendered himself outside the castle."

One of the guards glanced backwards to somewhere Harry couldn't see. For a few moments, he spoke with someone else in hushed tones, and then signalled for the guards to stand down. They parted to allow Harry and the others through.

Harry locked his illusions in place, ensuring that Odin would not see through them. He moved through the doorway and to the side slightly, hanging back and readying himself in case someone decided to attack Loki-Two; that was the only reason he needed to be in the throne room at the moment.

Kidnapping or assassinating Odin and Thor right now would be silly—Loki-Two needed to be forgiven for his crimes first. And so Harry sat back and watched as Loki-Two gave his sob story to Odin, lamenting about how he had been so cruelly enslaved by Thanos, and had only now managed to free himself from his grasp.

When Odin decreed that Loki was to be taken to the dungeons and inspected, Harry relaxed. He hadn't expected Loki-Two to be executed on the spot, per se, but with what he had heard of Odin, there was a slight risk of that happening.

Now, Harry simply had to ensure that the Asgardian healers detected the massive imprint he had made sure to leave on Loki-Two's mind a few hours ago, just in case they missed what Thanos had done. And if they didn't, he would have to use a few spells on them, too.

As Loki was marched from the room, Harry followed the formation of guards, bringing his Imperiused comrade with him.

A few minutes later, Loki-Two was safely imprisoned, two Asgardians standing over him and working their mind magic. Harry and three other guards stared on at them.

Harry was beginning to find guard work boring and he had been doing it for less than half an hour. How did people do this for their whole lives? Harry had already planned how he would kill everyone around him a dozen times over.

"I'm surprised that Loki got off so lightly."

Harry glanced at the other guard. "He was being mind-controlled."

"Yes, but how do we know that? It could just be more of his sorcery. A sentence of only a few weeks is far too short—he should be kept under observation for longer than that, even if he's innocent. If he goes and does this again, I'm blaming that mother of his—she lets her emotions influence her far too easily."


Harry nodded. "Aye, but you must admit that he is very handsome."

"What?"

"Anyway, my shift is over. Goodbye."

Loki-Two had now been imprisoned for just over a week and rigorous observation from the healers, as well as a wee bit of help and manipulation from Harry, had led to him being cleared of all of his crimes—including the attempted destruction of Jotunheim, which Harry had also managed to blame on Thanos' mind control.

He was still being held, though, out of Asgardian spite, and would remain in custody for a week.

That gave Harry a week to make sure that Thor and Odin went missing, if he didn't want Loki-Two to be looked upon suspiciously. Thor had already been dealt with; without his hammer, he was no more than a regular, if reckless, Asgardian. It hadn't been hard to kidnap him whilst he was sleeping, take his place, and proclaim that he was going on a hunting trip.

Harry wandered through the hallways of the palace, Loki's directions guiding him to Odin's rooms.

'So,' he said, 'are we actually going to kill him?'

'I'm not sure.'

'Please hurry up with your decision making. We're going to arrive in less than two minutes.'

'Fine. Don't kill him so we can decide if we're going to kill him later. Use lethal force if it necessary for our survival.'