Thor and Loki hesitated briefly, but instinctively agreed on one point, eating was important especially to Thor.
The golden portal opened. Without the slightest suspicion, Thor followed the Ancient One inside. Loki noticed immediately that Thor had not even spared the portal a second glance.
Reckless brute, Loki thought darkly.
As the portal began to close, Loki had no choice but to step through as well.
You accept food and drink from a mage without question, he fumed inwardly. Have you never considered poison?
Honestly speaking, Thor's temperament was completely unsuited to ruling Asgard.
Only I, Loki gifted with superior intellect and caution, am fit for the throne.
Yes. Absolutely.
No arguing with that.
When Loki's vision cleared, he froze. They stood in a vast banquet hall.
A long wooden table dominated the room.
Seated along both sides were figures that defied easy classification: a fox-like being with sharp eyes, two succubi radiating seductive charm, a human mage, four men and women with visible currents of unusual energy flowing through their bodies, and a black panther crouched calmly by the table.
At the head of the table sat a fat orange cat.
The cat was being held quite naturally by a human mage.
"…What?" Loki muttered. This was nothing like what he had imagined.
The moment the Ancient One appeared, the hall erupted in greetings.
"Master, hello."
"Welcome, Master."
"Ancient One, what brings you here?"
"Old Master."
"Please, sit."
The Ancient One smiled faintly and gestured to Thor and Loki beside him. "No need to fuss. Allow me to introduce Prince Thor of Asgard and Prince Loki."
Loki's mouth twitched.
Prince Thor of Asgard. Prince Loki.
No titles or epithets.
The orange cat raised a paw and waved lazily at them. "Thor and Loki, honored guests of Asgard. Please, take your seats."
"Guests?" Thor frowned slightly. "Brother, that sounds distant. You should call us brothers."
Loki nodded in agreement. "Indeed. That would be more appropriate."
Even as he spoke, Loki was reassessing everything.
This is no ordinary cat, he realized grimly. Nor merely a demon beast with powers. The energy within him… it is something far more profound.
I am not a cat person, Loki reminded himself firmly. And I absolutely refuse to hug it.
Thor tilted his head, studying Loki. "Loki, didn't you have a cat when we were children?"
"I recall it died, and you cried for days."
"…"
Loki's face darkened instantly. "You remember incorrectly."
"Hmm. Perhaps I do." Thor scratched his head.
The orange cat cleared his throat. "Alright, my future brothers. Sit first. We can talk while we eat."
Thor nodded readily.
The cat gestured to the two seats closest to him. "Please. Master, would you like the main seat?"
The Ancient One shook his head. "This is your home. You should sit there. That will also be true in the future."
"…Very well."
As always, the Ancient One spoke in riddles that sounded suspiciously prophetic, no doubt a consequence of gazing too deeply into time.
They sat.
Food was brought out in waves, far more than what had been prepared earlier in the kitchen. Garfield had planned ahead.
A warrior of Asgard, especially one like Thor, possessed an appetite bordering on the terrifying.
An urgent call had been made to the High Claw Group to requisition additional ingredients.
As for the original customers who had ordered them? They would be compensated.
Generously.
And if anyone insisted on refusing compensation and filing complaints…
Against the backdrop of the Great Depression, such lavish hospitality was a rarity, and the guests, all individuals of means or status, understood the unspoken rules.
When the High Claw Group offered compensation and a complimentary feast to reclaim their private room, no one objected.
Refusing would be foolish, it was a chance to enjoy a sumptuous meal and, more importantly, to subtly acknowledge a favor owed to the globe-spanning conglomerate.
Gaining its goodwill was far more valuable than a single evening's reservation.
The spread was magnificent, rare ingredients and culinary masterpieces floated from the kitchen, but the true star was the liquor… a potent, aged baijiu Garfield had procured from the ancient East.
Thor, after his first cautious sip, blinked in surprise before draining his cup in one gulp.
"Brother!" He boomed, slamming the empty cup on the table with enough force to make the delicate porcelain tremble. "This liquor!"
"When did Midgardian humans learn to brew something so magnificent?"
Garfield, nestled comfortably on a cushion, swirled the clear liquid in his own cup.
"That recipe is centuries old." He replied. "Best enjoy it now. We might not get another chance."
Thor, already refilling his cup, frowned. "Why not?"
"The land where this is made is under invasion," Garfield said, his voice dropping to a measured, serious tone. "By a nation drunk on cruelty."
"The artisans who craft this, the families who pass down the secrets... they are not soldiers. Yet, I fear the invaders will see them as targets."
"Such beauty and history, erased by senseless violence."
Crack.
The delicate porcelain cup in Thor's hand shattered.
Amber liquor dripped onto the fine tablecloth as his face darkened with a storm not born of clouds, but of wrath.
"What cowardice is this?" His voice was a low rumble, the precursor to thunder. "To slaughter artisans? To wage war on culture and craft?"
"Such beings are not warriors. They belong in the fires of Muspelheim, where their souls can burn for eternity!"
Garfield met his fury with a grave nod. "Their crimes run deeper. They prey upon the defenseless, women, children."
"They wield their strength as butchers against the unarmed." He placed a paw over his heart, his gaze unwavering. "This, I swear upon my soul."
A heavy silence fell, broken only by the drip of liquor and the low hum of Thor's brewing anger.
His knuckles were white where he gripped the table's edge.
"Such a blight does not deserve to exist among the Nine Realms," He growled, the air around him prickling with static.
"It should be scourged from the stars."
From across the table, Loki watched the exchange through half-lidded eyes, a faint, weary smirk on his lips.
Oh, you simple, hammer-swinging fool, he thought.
Led by the nose by a talking cat with a few well-placed words. Asgard's future, in your hands? A terrifying prospect.
Garfield's keen eyes caught Loki's calculated silence. The God of Mischief was not stirring the pot, a deviation from character that was more telling than any lie.
Garfield had no intention of letting Thor's righteous fury become a blunt instrument he himself would have to later deflect.
"Thor." Garfield interjected, his voice cutting through the god's indignation. "Your anger is just."
"But the easiest solution is not always the right one. A hammer can smash a problem, but it cannot build a solution."
Thor glared, the storm still in his eyes. "Then what would you have me do? Stand by while injustice thrives?"
"Among humans, there is wisdom: 'Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.' True strength," Garfield continued, leaning forward.
"Is not just in defending the weak, but in empowering them to defend themselves. This is the way of a wise ruler."
"It lightens your burden and forges allies who may one day stand with you. But this path has a crucial prerequisite."
"Which is?" Thor asked, his brow furrowed in concentration, the thunder momentarily receding.
"The person you help must not be a... 'white-eyed wolf'," Garfield said, choosing the term carefully.
"One who accepts the helping hand of the Skrulls to rise from primitive hunter to Star Empire, only to turn and hunt their former mentors to extinction." He let the example hang in the air before delivering the final piece of information.
"Incidentally, the ones invading that ancient land, the ones threatening those artisans... their patrons, the Kree, have been secretly conducting forbidden biological experiments on Earth itself for quite some time."
The final sentence landed not like a hammer blow, but like the precise click of a lock.
Thor's rage found a new focus. Loki's smirk vanished, replaced by analytical interest.
The game had just expanded from a single world conflict to a chessboard spanning the stars.
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
PhantomDream