A Nascent Kaleidoscope.-Chapter 600:

Loki POV

Well, this was not an ideal situation.

I was thankful that I was not in court when this happened because I had a sudden…release of emotions.

No, I was in my private chambers, pacing as I do when I need to think clearly. The view from my window that overlooks much of Asgard was always a welcome calm.

Laufey and his Frost Giants are dead. Sure, there are hundreds of thousands—millions more where that came from—but I'm afraid they wouldn't listen to me.

And now, the Destroyer is also…destroyed.

That was most certainly a letdown. I heard stories of its feats during Asgard's conquests, and even the All-Father spoke of its power. Yet, it wasn't even strong enough to defeat Thor?

Did Father leave a failsafe that prevented me from utilizing its full capabilities?

Did he always distrust me so much?

The situation has yet to spiral out of control, thankfully. Heimdal is still contained, and they have no way to return to Asgard immediately, so I have time to contemplate my next move.

Where did I go wrong? It was a well-thought-out plan, and it should have succeeded.

No, it wasn't my fault.

It was the variables that were presented so late that I didn't have time to properly evaluate them. My supposed 'sister' that Mother had seen to adopt on what appeared to be a whim. She was far more than meets the eye, and she was able to handle Frost Giants with ease that spoke of godly heritage, yet was definitively not an Asgardian.

And then there was that sorcerer.

I recognized him from when I visited Thor, but I thought nothing about it. A god does not care about an insect that jumps around outside of one's home.

Even with the might of Asgard, the full view of Midgard was beyond me, but I could still glimpse enough to spectate the fighting, and the Sorcerer displayed…impressive prowess.

Of course, I do not believe I fall behind him in any regard; I am a god of magic. But for a mortal, he was without a doubt someone of interest.

It's unfortunate that my vision got disrupted at the moment of Laufey's defeat; I couldn't clearly see what happened, but the remains of what occurred spoke of something spectacular.

I was annoyed that I was being wary of a mortal. But Father always spoke that even gods have to care about the mortals under their rule. The Nine Realms, the majority of them house mortal creatures as well, and yet the All-Father kept to a self-imposed rule of managing them softly.

Perhaps there is wisdom there that I should consider, as I will be the true king after dealing with Thor and the girl.

Regardless, I do not believe him to be an issue. He was… a happenstance, a bystander. And I have time to plan my next course of action.

No one else knows what occurred on Midgard, and I just need to remove any evidence, and my original plan can commence. Once I report the deaths of Thor, his friends, and even Mother's newest token of affection, I will have all the support I need to destroy Jotunheim for good.

Perhaps… I don't even need to wait?

Yes, I, as king, noticed the Frost Giants sneaking upon Midgard and sent the Destroyer to meet them in haste before I had time to rally the forces of Asgard.

If they snuck into Asgard once, they could do so again; therefore, they can be blamed for Heimdal's…. Upcoming untimely death.

I merely need to use the Bifrost and aim it at Midgard. I don't even need to destroy the mortal realm either; simply leave it open for a certain amount of time, directed right at Thor and his friends, and the job will be done.

Who cares if the mortals lose a city or two?

It's merely the consequences of the infamous Destroyer going into battle.

Who would know?

I just need to smooth around the edges and compile it properly so it doesn't sound so fanciful when I make my move.

I just need to—

I stopped.

What was that thing in the sky?

It was black, flying rather fast and…. I heard a sound outside; it rattled the windows, but they were insulated enough that I couldn't quite make it out.

And it was getting closer.

And it was big.

And it was coming right at me.

And sweet merciful Norns, is that a dragon!?

"Loki!" It roared loud and close enough that my window vibrated and shattered.

"What the fu –" I didn't even have time to finish my thought as I jumped to the side and the massive creature barreled right into my room, tearing it apart along with a large part of the building.

If the palace itself weren't so sturdy, magical, and otherwise fortified, there would have been significantly more damage. Even still, its massive body was shouldering the weight of a lot of rubble that should have started tumbling down on top of us.

It stopped.

It had barged into my chambers, destroyed everything around it, the ceiling nearly caved in, and it sat there, staring at me.

Rows and rows of sharp, visible teeth tapped against each other.

The creature's power radiated outwards.

A visible miasma leaked from its maw.

".....Do I know you?" It seemed intelligent enough to converse.

"Hey, how's it going? I'm Nidhoggr." The dragon spoke fluently.

…Oh no.

"Your illustrious name precedes you."

"How dare you." The dragon growled. "I, Nidhoggr, am a shitty dragon; don't compliment me."

Oh, how pleasant. Not only is it the legendary dragon that is spoken of in tales, the beast that gnaws on the World Tree's roots, but it's also damaged in the head.

"How may I...assist you?" And buy time to call for aid. The sounds of horns were very clear; they were already roused below.

"I've got a bit of a problem; I need your help rectifying."

"Oh?" Or perhaps other means can be used. If it were Thor, he would have already been swinging his hammer. But for me, I can manage to handle a dragon with but words! "If I knew what troubles you, I believe we could achieve a satisfactory conclusion through words."

"Oh, that's nice to hear." He said with an almost joyful tone. "You see, I'm a bit pissed off."

"You don't say?"

"Yeah. So, let me regale you with a tale. I have a partner. I've been with him for a while. We've had our ups and downs, but he's my partner, y'know? He has a bunch of people around him, and I can't help but admit that the time they've spent together, well, I can't say my heart is made of stone. I can't say I care for them in the same way he does, well....I'd also happily burn down a few kingdoms if it meant keeping them safe."

"I see…" I did not see; I had absolutely no idea what this creature was talking about.

"Good, good." The dragon nodded its large head. "There's one girl of his, a sweet thing. Pure and kind enough that even I, as a dragon, get moved by it sometimes. Now, imagine this scenario. Some upstart little shit of a god sent a bunch of Frost Giants and a divine robot to try and kill her. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

Oh dear.

I swallowed.

"I have an answer that may satisfy you." I smiled without showing a hint of fear.

"Oh? Do tell."

I cleared my throat, taking a few steps to the side.

Distance to the ground? Calculating that is easy: spells ready, illusion released, and out the window I go.

I released an illusion of myself to keep talking and grab its attention as I unceremoniously jumped right out of the gaping hole in the side of the palace far up where my quarters once stood.

Oof, my legs wobbled slightly as I hit the ground; taking a quick glance upwards, the room exploded again.

"Loki!!!!!" The dragon roared and burst out of the side of the palace, and it spotted me immediately.

It sucked in a large breath, and anyone who knows anything about dragons knew what was coming.

I quickly summoned Gungnir and thrust it upwards, summoning a mighty shield with the help of Asgard as a wretched and venomous miasma came down like a waterfall.

The golden light released from the divine spear pierced through it easily, dispersing the bile the dragon spewed, but the very ground and glittering gold around me had been eroded away, revealing how monstrous that simple attack was.

I looked up and…Why was the dragon smiling?

Can dragons smile?

"Fus Ro Dah!"

A wave of something invisible slammed right into me. An invisible force that collapsed the earth beneath me, sending me deep into a dark hole, Gungnir lost from my grasp.

"Owww….."

My head was dizzy; was blood leaking from my nose? I managed to climb out of the hole and stayed still because the dragon was there, waiting for me.

"On a scale of one to ten, how fucked do you think you are right now?" The dragon asked me.

My anger boiled over. "I am a god, I am a king, I will not be mocked by an overgrown lizard!" Fire and Frost answered my call. I never knew until recently why I had such an attachment to Frost, but the answer was now obvious.

My spells collided with the beast, but the tales of its mighty scales proved true, and much of the damage had been negated. The worst possible matchup for someone who relies so heavily upon magic.

Its claws raked out, and I managed to dodge, dozens of illusions of mine splitting, each of them also casting their own spells.

They formed into a proper circle as the beast rampaged about, its tail whipping about wildly and that bile of his leaking out every time it opened its mouth.

My illusory clones all cast together, chains of fire and frost manifested, tying the mighty beast down.

The chains bound it in every which way, first its wings so it couldn't move, then it pulled its claws and tail down, binding them to the earth so they couldn't flail about. Lastly, the chains wrapped its mouth closed.

Hmph, I am Loki, god of Magic; why must I run from a dragon?

I stood in front of the beast. "Would you like me to answer your question now?" I mocked him, hearing the sounds of Asgard's warriors nearly here.

The dragon, though, didn't display the fury I expected. No, I could hear that full-body chuckle; its maw having just ever so slightly the breath to release sounds. "Would not guess."

All my chains broke in an instant, and the dragon turned into a whirlwind, shooting forward.

The next thing I knew, I was on my back, staring up at the sky.

"Owwww...…" I squeaked out, noticing the rubble around me was not the same stone that made up the walls and ground around the keep.

Why was I in the lower district?

Wasn't that several buildings and several walls away from the palace?

Why did a dragon know magic?

I managed to push myself up to my feet, wiping a mix of blood and sweat from my brow as I pushed my hair out of the way.

Where was everyone? Had they been evacuated? That's good… I suppose.

"Yor Toor Shul!" The dragon's roar sounded out, and I clenched my teeth.

I swung my arms around, casting the spells needed; the dragon's flames released from its mouth collided with my hastily cast spells that I reinforced.

What a fearsome fire; it most certainly wasn't normal fire; it was as if it was the concept of fire manifested.

I redirected the torrent of flames upward rather than blocking.

"Your Majesty!" Many sounds came out as the warriors finally arrived. It seems they prioritized evacuating. I will have words with them later; I'm just happy they're finally here.

There's a reason that nearly every story regarding dragon slaying involved large pointy objects.

Dragon scales are notoriously resistant to magic, almost unfairly so.

Yes, hundreds of Asgardian warriors stormed the beast, weapons drawn. Asgardian steel can easily cut—

"Zun Haal Viik!" The dragon's strange magic sounded out again, and all the weapons they had went soaring out of their hands.

Well.

I believe they have it covered.

I will assist them…from the back.

Very, very far in the back.

With hundreds more illusions conjured, I made a hasty and strategic retreat far away from the creature.

I had managed to get to the Rainbow Bridge without problems.

Perhaps Heimdal may be so kind as to slay it properly? Hopefully, he won't be upset about the whole…ice thing.

Well, it's not as if this situation could get any worse.

"Loki!" Another roar reverberated through Asgard, and it most certainly wasn't the dragon. It was accompanied by the crackle of lightning and the boom of thunder.

"Dear Brother." I smiled as Thor hit the ground right in front of me, the hammer about to hit my face.

"There's a dragon here!" I quickly blurted out as Mjolnir stopped a hair's breadth from my face.

The sheer absurdity of it was enough to quell his obvious rage.

"You will not distract me with—"

The dragon roared at the perfect time. "Loki!"

Thor blinked in surprise.

".....it tried to kill mother." I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind.

Thor's eyes widened, and the fury he showed a moment ago paled in comparison. Thor launched off right at the beast. "Have at thee, foul creature!"

… I can't believe that worked.

Right, Bifrost, what to do? At the very least, if everything comes tumbling down, I would destroy Jotunheim for good.

That wretched place doesn't—

"Are you looking for something, my young king?" Heimdal asked patiently, standing in the corner.

I gulped again. "Heimdal, you're looking good. Distinctly not frozen as well."

"The Prince was kind enough to unfreeze me." He said without showing a shred of emotion. "The Bifrost is unfortunately inoperable at the moment, if you were intending on using it."

"I am still King." I narrowed my eyes.

"Yes, you are." He agreed, despite everything.

…once more, I didn't think that would work. "I…order you to turn it on?"

"As you are king, I am honor bound to listen to your orders. However, there is a problem, Young King."

"And what's that?"

He threw his sword into the mechanism of it; cosmic energy burst out in an array of colors as the grinding of gears could be heard from some part of it. "It's broken."

"Part of me thinks you're holding a grudge, Heimdal."

"Of course not, young king." Heimdal smiled politely. "I am forever in the service of Asgard."

"Loki!" Thor's voice rang out again, and he quickly returned with another thunderous boom, landing right outside the Bifrost. "No more tricks, no more escaping; you will answer for your crimes."

I looked around, and my eyes landed on Heimdal. "As king, I order you to disarm Thor and put him into prison."

"Apologies, Young King. As decreed by the All-Father, I have decided to take my allowed 'vacation' for this century. I will not be available for duties until the morn tomorrow." Heimdal spoke, turning away as if nothing were happening.

Very well, then I must do everything myself.

I held my hand up and summoned Gungnir. It wasn't the same as Thor's Hammer, but it would answer the call of Asgard's King if needed.

The Divine Spear once more entered my hand as I was ready to fight my brother.

The tension was palpable.

The fate of Asgard would be decided.

Silently, both of us moved at the same time.

He swung his hammer, and I swung the spear.

"Zun Haal Viik!"

The spear was no longer in my hands.

Why was the world flipped upside down? I felt an aching in my jaw, and I believe blood filled my mouth.

I could vaguely see the Rainbow Bridge getting further away and Thor shouting my name.

It all disappeared as the void consumed me.

@***@

Agent Coulson POV

"Sir, we got a connection. The director is on the line."

"Set it up." I told the agent, brushing off the medics around me. "Give us some privacy."

They left in a huff.

My arm wasn't going to get worse, so it didn't matter.

I turned to look at the computer set up haphazardly in the back of the SUV as Director Fury's face came onto the screen.

"Coulson, what the hell happened to your arm?"

"Nice to see you too, Director." I greeted him with a smile.

Fury frowned like he normally does. "Coulson, report. I keep getting all kinds of noise coming from your location, and I've had to keep the military from rolling in. Tell me you have the situation under control."

"Yes, sir. We have the situation under control." I nodded.

"...You're on the good stuff, aren't you?" He sighed. "Do I need to send back up?"

I shook my head. "We just received enough reinforcements to handle the immediate concerns. So far, any fighting has stopped, and we're now trying to secure the town properly. With just my own men, I had only been able to contain the town itself; now with the extra hands, we're sweeping through and finding any civilians."

"What are the casualties so far?" He grunted.

"So far, zero."

"Come again?" He paused. "Are you telling me, in what could be considered an invasion, that we have zero civilian casualties?"

"That's correct, so far, sir. And I wouldn't call it a proper invasion."

He raised a hand to his face, rubbing his eye. "Hold on the first part; explain the second."

"It seems more like a squabble over succession rights between heirs from what I could gather, sir."

Fury grunted again, most likely not liking the answer, but it's better than the alternative. "Okay, an internal conflict that just happened to be taken here to Earth. I can work with that."

Because admitting that we were invaded would be opening another whole can of worms. If we could just wrap it up as a singular incident, then we could keep things calm and keep it in our hands to handle.

"Now, explain how in God's name we have a town nearly leveled with reports of nuclear detonation without a single death."

"Did you read the full reports with the entirety of the conversation I sent back previously, sir?"

"The one involving our John Doe, a.k.a. Wilhelm Schweinorg? I read it."

"Do you recall the part where he jokingly called himself a magician?"

"Vaguely."

"It wasn't a joke."

A series of expletives flew out from the other side of the screen. "Magic?"

"Magic, sir."

"I hate Magic." He scowled.

I was surprised. "You've had run-ins with magic before? How come I've never heard anything about this?"

"It was before I was Director, and my previous bosses weren't so open-minded." He waved his hand. "It got shuffled and stored as whatever bullshit they could make up at the time."

Huh.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised when you reported a literal Norse god had presumably touched down in New Mexico." He grumbled again. "Start from the beginning, just the outline, and anything I need to know immediately."

"Yes, sir." I replied. "It started from our last call when what I now am calling the Bifrost touched down again in the quarantine zone."

"I'll make a note of the terminology; continue."

"Our experts are calling it an Einstein-Rosen bridge—or a wormhole in laymen's terms. Basically, mass teleportation from another world. With it came the arrival of several people, including the unidentified woman who was accompanying our magical friend."

"Do we have an I.D. now?"

"....yes"

Fury sighed again. "Just spit it out; it can't be any more ridiculous than anything else I've heard today."

"How familiar are you with the story of Joan of Arc?"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Fury cursed again.

"It appears not."

"Okay, so we have a canonized saintess walking around that should have died hundreds of years ago."

"With superhuman abilities." I added. "She seemed capable of some sort of magic as well because her dress turned into…a different dress? But one with armor and such. She also had a flag, and she had a mean swing, sending a Frost Giant through the air."

Fury snorted. "I'll be reading the detailed report, Agent. And I sincerely hope that this is just the drugs talking right now, but continue."

"She arrived with several now-named Asgardians, who referred to her as Princess. From what I was able to eavesdrop on, she was adopted by the Queen of Asgard, though I am unclear about the details. I offered to take them to their lost companion to minimize any risks and to see if I could get any information."

"Anything worth noting?"

"Nothing, I believe, sir. But I already submitted a copy of the transcripts for someone else to pore over."

"And when did this 'sibling squabble' start?"

"It wasn't long after that. The Bifrost arrived again, and with it the arrival of the alien species recognized as Frost Giants. I sent plenty of pictures along with everything else related. They seem to range between twenty to thirty feet in height and possess superhuman abilities beyond just their size."

"I assume something ice-based?"

"You would assume correctly, sir. The town immediately began freezing. Their leader, whom Thor named as Laufey, claimed he was there to kill both the prince and princess. I included a detailed examination of their abilities based on the encounter and what I was told. They were able to create ice weapons that could freeze anything at a touch. Some of them made ice bows and arrows, and well…" I held up my stumpy arm. "I wasn't aware at the time that Miss Arc had superhuman capabilities and deemed it imperative that the 'Princess' of an alien godly race wasn't killed on our world."

Fury raised an eyebrow. "What was their reaction?"

"I believe I earned quite a bit of good will. Especially from Wilhelm Schweinorg. I made mention in my report—I apologize that I didn't physically write it myself as per protocol. But I believe that they may share a romantic bond based on their interactions. He expressed a very obvious protectiveness of her. He also gave me a slip of paper that he told me if I rip it, it can call him regardless of where I am."

"Well done, Agent."

"Thank you, sir." I smiled. "It's my job, after all."

"You kept the 'paper' you got out of your report, right?"

"Yes sir, it isn't my first rodeo."

"Good." He nodded again. "We'll keep that just between us. Don't need any inflated heads thinking they can call in a favor that isn't theirs." He grunted.

"Continue on, sir. Wilhelm seemed to…cast spells…"

"I'm fine with the terminology; proceed."

"Right. He seemed to cast several spells that I noted. One was a giant barrier-like dome over everything that contained the majority of the mess at the start. A second one was some sort of ethereal armor over everyone's bodies. It provided a superhuman boost in strength and durability. It allowed some of our agents to physically contend with Frost Giants in a pinch."

"Interesting." He kept a stoic demeanor. "And highly dangerous. He displayed heroic tendencies at least."

"Things took a turn for the worse when the King—Laufey—revealed a WMD that Thor called the 'Casket of Ancient Winters,' claiming it can freeze an entire world if utilized correctly."

His face changed drastically. "Was it secured?"

"It's in the possession of Wilhelm."

Fury didn't say anything, but it was clear his mind was racing. "How was it dealt with?"

"You must have heard about the second WMD, the news of atomic detonations. He revealed a bow that seemed to have the power of fire in some way, be it magical or not; I don't know. He shot an arrow from it, and it killed the majority of the Frost Giants and exploded on the horizon."

"And both of those are in the hands of someone you compared to Stark."

"I would retract that statement, sir, if it makes you feel better."

"Oh? And how would you describe him now?"

I hummed. "I would say he's more like Stark and Banner combined."

"...That doesn't fill me with confidence, Agent." He groaned. "So the arrogance of Stark, with the unstoppable rage monster of Banner. Wonderful."

"Jokes aside, sir, I would like to amend my earlier report. While he doesn't lose out on the arrogance in comparison to Stark, he does seem to have a modest side that doesn't need to be forced out."

"And your evaluation of him? Give me one word you would use."

One word?

"After everything that happened." I gave it some thought. "Reliable."

"Reliable?"

"Yes, sir. It seemed like the situation never spiraled out of his ability to control even as no variables were introduced that caused significant concern. Compared to Stark, I would say he's more reliable as a teammate."

Of course, I wasn't dismissing Stark's intelligence or abilities. But he didn't play well with others.

But I knew what the director was thinking when asking me that question. His initiative he's trying to build isn't a secret.

"Are you sure he's human?"

"No." I said immediately. "I forgot to mention, and I kept it out of the report for your own discretion on how to deal with it. But several times, the Asgardians, along with Thor, referred to him as a 'demon.'."

"Of course they did." Fury sighed. "And from what you said, this supposed 'Demon' and the supposed Saintess are sweethearts." He said dryly.

"So it would appear."

"Biblical or something else?"

"I'm afraid I don't know, sir."

"Good, keep that to yourself then. We don't need some idiots up above causing problems because of some dumb beliefs." Fury grunted. "Goddamn magical bullshit."

"At the very least, it would be beneficial to have an expert on magic in our corner."

"One of the few bright sides to this whole clusterfuck." Fury agreed. "If we can secure a reliable partnership."

"He did promise to get someone to heal my arm, so I don't believe it's impossible." I informed him.

Fury's eyes landed on my arm. "You will submit yourself to medical examination after it's done, Agent. I want a full-body examination done; you're not getting out of it."

"Do you want me to ask them if they do eyes, sir?"

He snorted, barely containing a laugh. "Don't get smart with me, Couslon. Finish up the report; I know you're not done."

"The remaining Frost Giants surrendered after their king died; they're currently being treated as prisoners by the Asgardians. In the spirit of not pissing off the mythological gods and monsters, I believed it prudent to allow them to do things their way."

"Good call, I'll smooth things over if anyone kicks up a fuss." Fury agreed.

"Lastly, we received one more guest. Thor called it the Destroyer. Apparently, a powerful weapon of theirs was so fearsome that even Thor showed fear. It seemed to be some sort of magical automaton commanded by his brother. Thor was able to regain his powers—the hammer, from the previous report—and deal with it without any casualties."

"How convenient." He said dryly again. "And where is it not? There should be remains of this thing, right?"

"It was collected by Wilhelm again, sir."

Fury let out another long groan. "I don't know who I'm more annoyed with, this Loki for causing this big mess, or your Magician for being in the middle of it at every turn."

"If it makes you feel better, sir. We have a recording of Wilhelm being blasted out of the town by the Destroyer after calling Loki—and I quote—a Horse Fucker."

".....Send it to my personal device."

"Will do."

"And he's fine?"

"He appeared mostly unharmed. It's already noted in his file."

"And everything is cleaned up?"

"Not quite. The Frost Giants are still being contained by the Asgardians. Thor returned to Asgard to confront Loki while the others remained to help us out."

"So they have some kind of consciousness at least." Fury's expression loosened slightly. "Good, that's something we can maybe use."

"One last thing that I also kept out of the report, sir. It was Wilhelm who helped Thor return to Asgard. He was able to seemingly open a portal—presumably through magic—and helped him return to his world. For which, he also used to leave before anyone could protest. Several of my agents saw everything, but they know to keep their mouths shut."

Being able to teleport anywhere was a frightening concept for many, and it would just paint a picture on the back of his head.

At the very least, I could keep that out of any reports so nobody gets any additional ideas.

"After you get healed and send in your report, take a few days; you earned it, Coulson." The connection from his side cut off.

A few days?

I wonder what face he's going to make when he realizes I snuck in my three months of vacation under his nose.

Hmm, I forgot to ask if there was any update on the Wakanda situation.

Oh well, I'm sure it's much less significant than what's going on here.

@***@

Wilhelm POV

The sun was shining.

The birds were chirping.

"Neh!"

And Jeanne's booty was just as wonderful as always.

"S-stop hitting my butt!" She wiggled in my arms as I carried her over my shoulder until she squirmed out of my hands and fell onto the ground.

I looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Black is a bold color on you."

She let out another loud squeak as she shuffled to pull her dress down that had pulled up over her hips when she fell down.

You know, I don't think I realized just how many times I've been flashed.

Granted, quite a few of them have been from Jeanne, but it's something that seems to happen often.

"Come here." held my arms open for her, her cheeks puffed up cutely. I carefully helped her make sure no dirt got on her dress and that it wasn't torn or damaged in any way. I doubted that a dress she got from a literal goddess would get damaged so easily, but this was very clearly something very important to Jeanne. "Do you want to keep wearing the dress or change to something else?"

Jeanne looked a little panicked. "I wanted to show Orihime my dress, but I don't want to ruin it…"

I forgot that she became friends with Orihime until now. The fact that they met in Youkai Kyoto when Izzy brought her over.

I knelt down and held my arms to the side. "Hop up, I'll carry you properly."

She awkwardly climbed up onto my back, and I lifted her up. Her arms wrapped around my neck tight as her head pressed up against mine.

"Thank you." She said quietly, and I felt her lips press against my cheek briefly.

I couldn't see the expression she was making, but I'm sure I could guess.

I took a deep breath, feeling the Reishi in the air. It feels like it's been forever since I've been back in this world.

Strangely, it felt like my own Reiatsu was happy to be back.

Thankfully, this time around, Karakura town wasn't under attack; there were no explosions going on. I would probably be a bit more upset if my time with Jeanne was interrupted because some idiot wanted to do something stupid again.

It's nice to just have a peaceful time even after the whole nonsense that happened previously.

On a side note, I wonder if I should pretend like I'm not keeping a path open for Ddraig's soul to properly return to the Boosted Gear. Maybe give him a little bit of a panic attack.

"Hey, Wil."

"What's up?" I responded.

"I w-was wondering something. H-hypothetically speaking, would you ever be interested in settling down and having children with your, um…lovers, in the future?"

"You know, I've asked myself that question plenty of times. I don't think I'm the type of person who can forever sit still. But…a much bigger piece of me wants a bunch of kids running around from each of my girls, and I could never not be a father to them. If they want kids, I'm more than happy to have as many as they want." I answered her.

I felt her grip tighten around me and her head bury into my back, as if hiding from me despite the fact that I couldn't see her anyways.

"What about M-marriage?"

"They all have their own thoughts, but I would happily marry each and every one of them." I answered without a second thought.

"You wouldn't ever think about abandoning any of them, would you?"

"Jeanne, there's something you need to understand about me. I'm greedier than you can imagine; once they became mine, I was never going to give them up. I'm going to take care of and cherish them forever."

"En." She made a noise that I think was something happy.

She didn't say anything else for the remainder of the walk.

"Oh hey, look who dropped by!" Yoruichi jumped off the roof of Urahara's candy shop. "We weren't expecting you."

"Oh, stop bullshitting; you sensed me the moment I popped into town."

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

"I was being polite." She hummed. "Who's this?" Yoruichi, in her cat form, jumped up onto my shoulder and right into Jeanne's face. "Oh, is she sick? Her face is really red."

"I'm fine!" Jeanne squeaked.

Yoruichi chucked for some reason, jumping off. "Introductions? New friend or another one of your imaginary harem?"

"F-friend!" Jeanne quickly blurted out.

"And my harem isn't imaginary." I deadpanned.

"Hmm, I don't believe you." Yoruichi hummed. "Anyways, I'm Yoruichi Shihoin. You can just call me Yoruichi."

"I'm Jeanne D'arc; please call me Jeanne. It's nice to meet one of Wilhelm's friends." Jeanne carefully slid off my back onto her feet.

"Because he doesn't have many?"

"Well….I don't want to say anything impolite…"

"Oh, you two are hilarious." I rolled my eyes, but it's rare that Jeanne takes the piss out of me. "I sensed Orihime's Reiatsu here; I need her help with something, and Jeanne wanted to catch up."

"Oh, you're the girl she talked about." Yoruichi's eyes lit up. "Orihime said she made some friends. Alright, come on in." Yoruichi led us inside. "They're downstairs training."

"Downstairs?" Jeanne tilted her head.

"They got a pretty big basement." I shrugged as the hatch opened, and Jeanne got her first look.

Bewildered Jeanne was bewildered.

"How is this a basement!?" She looked out at the literal canyon.

"It's under the house, duh."

She hit my shoulder.

I looked up as we scaled down the ladder.

She was still wearing her dress and came down behind me.

This more than makes up for getting blasted by the magical divine robot from earlier.

There were quite a few people here at the moment. Urahara, Tessai, Ichigo and his friends, and those Shinigami that were in town from before. They all seemed to stop and come gathering over as we entered.

"Jeanne!"

"Orihime!"

Both Jeanne and Orihime ignored everything else and nearly ran at each other.

"Oh my gosh, that's such a pretty dress; you're like a princess!"

"Thank you, I like it very much!" Jeanne smiled brightly. "Do you want to see my cactus?"

"Do I!?"

Jeanne quickly took her cactus out and showed Orihime, and the two gushed over it.

"Holy shit, there are two of them." Yoruichi hopped back onto my shoulder, staring at the scene in shock.

It's like a wholesome singularity that devours any negativity in its vicinity.

I bet if I threw these two at Goetia, he might just give up right then and there.

@***@

A/N

Loki meets Uncle Ddraig. Loki does not have a good time.

If you want to read 10 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone

I also have a boosty if you can't read the above under the same name.