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[ it's Loki! he turns his head for a moment before focusing back at the locket, his chin is resting on his hand, and his elbow on a desk. he gives a friendly wiggly-fingered wave, holding the locket with the other hand. ]

Hello. Story time, anyone? Some of you have already heard this one before, and I hate to tell it again, but bear with me, there are some interesting deets that most usually lack.

[ and then, he starts in his best storyteller voice, playing with words on his tongue and in a certain cadence. ]

There's a place known as Asgard aka the Realm Eternal. Asgard, in all of its glory, rests in the branches of the World Tree, up near the tippy-top. This place is the home to the gods. The nine realms below it are homes everyone else: storm giants, frost giants, angels, elves of the most annoying sorts, some humans, dwarves with bearded faces, etcetera etcetera. Inter-realm relations are always tenuous at best, someone is always fighting someone else over blah blah blah. There are even wars over dumb squabbles, and you'd think that the only way anyone could solve a problem is with an axe to the face.

However—cue the dramatic music—there was only ever one war to end all wars: Ragnarok. [ he draws a circle in the air with a dark nailed finger.

it's a funny thing to call something "the such-and-such to end all so-and-so," because it generally comes up again and worse somehow. there are lots of wars to end all wars, ends to end all ends, but it does make everything sound more dramatic. ]

In short, Ragnarok was a fated event and the Gods of Asgard were always finding new ways to try and stop it. [ a pause and he scratches the back of his head. ] Actually—erm, hold on just a sec. Let's rewind just a little bit. This Ragnarok, this "end of all ends" and "war to end wars," kept happening. Over and over and over again. The gods would get caught up in the same pattern, and boom! another Ragnarok. Even if details differed, everyone would fight and suffer and die just like the last time. [ then his hands come up in wonder! ] And then be reborn! Ta-dah! It would start all over again. More Ragnarok and more betrayal.

It's like they were stuck, and they were. Fate was using them, and just as many other things in this cosmos, someone found a way to take advantage of it. They stopped it eventually, and cut the threads of the tapestry that the Norns had woven. Those that had fed from their suffering were extinguished. [ and as an aside, he says: ] Or so they say. Who knows what happened to them?

And thus, the gods won their free future. Dancing ensued, parties happened, drinks were passed around, and everyone lived happily ever after. [ he lets out a breath and looks bitterly amused. ] Or so you'd think. But, hm, let's say—they kind of did. Here's the part they don't tell you, the epilogue: they didn't want it. They broke free from the horrors of Ragnarok only to find themselves at a loss. In their freedom they lacked security, so they forged themselves other chains of destiny.

[ he waves his hand and sits back in his chair, bringing the locket with him. ] There you have it. It's not like stories like that haven't been told a million times, but it does beg the question: are some events only deemed the "natural order" because they've happened so many times before, becoming a favorite trope of the cosmos? Perhaps fate would have us think so.

[ there's a pause. ]

Ah, well, enough of that for one day. I could use a pint of ice cream and a good romcom.

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But romcoms are kind of terrible. I don't know if I trust your judgment in movies, dude. Can't you just share out of the goodness of your h--what am I even saying.

[Sigh. On the other hand, that's a good point.] And if they don't? What happens then?

Oh, the we die, the world dies, an other obvious unpleasantness ensues. Everything is reborn and happens again.

And then hope we get the next chance.

[There's a very long pause.]

…you could always turn it into a romcom if you really wanted people to pay attention. Think about it. Boy meets girl in some wacky kind of circumstance where they're both so far out of their elements they only rely on each other. It's up to the boy and girl to save the world and convince everybody that the world's dying but in a slew of hilarious antics their message keeps getting ignored and they keep missing each other. But finally at the climax of the story they get to declare their undying love for each other and the fate of the world changes forever as they overcome the impossible while the boy looks at the girl and says "you met me at a strange time in my life." And they live happily ever after while the credits roll with the music from some upbeat pop song.

[Another pause.] I've avoided romcoms most of my life, in case you couldn't tell.

So. Why bring up ragnarok now? You told us about it over a year ago.

Clearly you have.

[ he looks amused, but he's pinching the bridge of his nose. he offers Hiro a slightly skeptical look before straightening his voice. ]

It seemed appropriate. I saw you at the audiences—did you see me?

I stayed for everything. Kinda thought it was important.

[A pause.] You mean did I understand what Morla told you about the Drabkeeper. Right?

And about the fate that she's bound to.

You once told me about the cycle you're bound to and how you changed some of it. Think the Drabkeeper would have been able to do the same?

I think that's a good question. Either the observer is the one that binds, the observer is the one who can change, or Morla's lying.

Somehow I don't think it's the latter.

Edited 2015-06-02 17:54 (UTC)

I'm tired of thinking Morla might be lying, so I don't think it's the latter either. [He'll elaborate on that to Loki later.] But isn't the Drabkeeper...where would you even start looking for an answer to that question?

The question that comes before the question.

Apparently he resided here before we arrived, in a fire hazard of a castle. Then, of course, someone had to go and light a match.

And everything that was known of the history of the Drabwurld was destroyed. Yeah, I remember reading about that.

But what makes us think he's really gone? There were multiple versions of you that kept cycling until you broke your cycle, weren't there? That's what I want to know. What makes us think he's really gone and instead isn't able to come back and rewrite fate?

Edited 2015-06-02 18:16 (UTC)

Well, he escaped Reynard the Fox, and something tells me that if Reynard the Fox didn't want you to escape, that it was awfully difficult to do so.

Before we sink our teeth too far into the juicy stuff, there are a few questions that we have to answer. Namely, how did the Drabkeeper escape, and why the arson?

[There's a short pause.]

…when the fire was set at SFIT, it was used as a distraction. Callaghan set the fire so that he'd be alone and everybody would think he was killed. The only reason he got out was because of my microbots. He just didn't think about the outside factors.

[Like one of his students caring about him so much he ran into a burning building to save him. There's a deep breath to clear his head before he continues.]

Why couldn't it be the same thing? What makes us think the fire wasn't set just as a tactic for the Drabkeeper to go into hiding instead and work on something much bigger? Especially if Reynard was involved. What we're really missing is what Reynard said to the Drabkeeper before he managed to escape? That is if Reynard didn't just let him go free as part of a bigger plan.

It's not impossible.

Whatever happened between the two of them is still shrouded in mystery. It could be a case simple enough to clear with Occam's razor.

But it smells.

[Ah. Got it.]

Tell me about it. But until then…[There's a shrug even if Loki can't see it. They can't do anything yet. There aren't enough pieces. There's another pause though.]

When Harry Met Sally and mint chocolate chip. It's one of my aunt's favorite combinations to chill out. [If Cass isn't watching cheesy, B-horror movies.] Maybe you're really onto something.

[That is to say they'll touch upon this later. But that's something to think about. at least.]

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