Chapter 77: Worthy

Bonus Chapter at 2.5k stones.

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"Why did you guys come here?" Thor asked the moment Volstagg, Fandral, Hogun, and Sif entered the compound he shared with Jane and others; all of them were following closely to listen.

"Did the Frost Giants break the peace treaty?" His brows crumpled.

"Peace treaty?" Volstagg tilted his head. "What Peace treaty?"

"Didn’t Loki agree to peace with the Frost Giants?" Thor looked equally confused as them.

"There have been no such announcements," Sif told him with that incredulous look.

"So, Loki was really hiding something," Hogun muttered.

"Hiding? Yes... That makes sense." Thor struck his palm with his fist and nodded. "It would certainly cause unrest if news of a war almost breaking out came; he must’ve hidden the treaty and acted like it never came to that."

Sif, Volstagg, and Hogun looked between each other like they had witnessed a ghost.

"This is gonna be interesting." Fandral chuckled from nearby.

They had to sit Thor down at the dinner table and looked at his innocent smile with serious expressions.

"Loki is overseeing the court as the acting king." Volstagg huffed.

"He has every right to oversee the position since Father is in Odin Sleep. And well I..." Thor’s words trailed off at the end.

"He had this nasty smile when we told him we wanted to meet you." Hogun quickly changed the subject.

"Did he stop you?" Thor tilted his head.

"No..." Hogun continued under his breath. "He even told Heimdall to send us near your location."

"He’s always had a nasty smile, well mostly when he is trying to trick people, but it’s mostly like that." Thor shrugged.

"He was also the one who told the guard to notify All Father when we stormed Jotunheim," Fandral added. "We are almost certain he knew All Father would punish you harshly."

Thor was silent for a moment after hearing that. He replayed that battle from his memories; it was still fresh in his mind. There was a lot that happened that day.

Before, all he felt was anger at his Father’s arrival. But there was another thought coming up in his mind.

"Seems like I have another thing to thank him for." Thor smiled and patted Fandral’s shoulder; he may be susceptible to others’ words. But His Father wasn’t that easily swayed. "I am sorry for dragging you along for my selfish reasons."

If All Father had chosen to exile him, then that may have been the only choice. It didn’t matter if he disagreed with it.

The Warriors Three could only watch Thor with blinking eyes. Was this really the prince they knew all these years? Was he a double, or was Loki playing tricks on them?

They were already suspicious when he had allowed them to find Thor so easily. But now this was going a step too far.

"We have to do something," Hogun whispered to Fandral as Volstagg had smashed his head through a wall, thinking the pain would snap him out of the magic.

While those two cooked up their own plans, Sif quietly sat near Thor. It was a bit weird to have that many eyes focused on them, but she had to ask something as well.

"Do you not want to come back to Asgard?" She also wanted him to come back with them.

"Of course I want to." Thor smiled at her, but there wasn’t that usual impatience in it.

No, it was still there, just very muted now.

"We can take you back if I talk with my brother." She really hoped he would agree.

"There is no need to inconvenience Heimdall on my behalf; he has his oath." He looked at the table and continued while crossing his fingers together. "And there is a reason I am in Midgard, unless All Father allows my return and confirms that it would not affect Asgard... I would stay here."

Sif sighed, but smiled soon after. This was the same prince that used to sneak out of the reflection room after just five minutes. However, it wasn’t her place to challenge his decision.

"I hope you learn your lesson by then." She patted his shoulder and stood up.

Just when it seemed that the Warrior Three had come up with a plan to check if this Thor was real, she made sure they didn’t do anything foolish like blowing up the entire facility to overwhelm the spellcaster.

Still, after confirming that Thor had no intention of returning to Asgard, all that energy had just left. It was a blow unlike any other. However, one thing changed that.

"What is he doing with that iron book?" Sif asked Darcy as the sunlight came through the clear windows.

Thor was in the corner of the room poking at the laptop.

"He’s reading." Darcy yawned; she had barely slept today because of all the ruckus.

"Reading?" Hogun even broke his meditation after hearing that.

Volstagg dropped the KFC drumstick, provided by SHIELD, to the ground.

"Thor is reading?" Even Sif started to believe this might be an illusion.

"By Odin’s beard!" Fandral almost fell off his chair.

But after speaking a bit more, they found out that it was something he had started to do daily after his arrival. And Jane even proudly said that she was the one who got him into reading.

Only Queen Frigga had accomplished that till now. But this mortal woman had done it as well?

’Is this the reason behind his change?’ Sif was intrigued by the book this woman had recommended.

Not just her, the other three had also taken an interest because of how much it had changed Thor. And Darcy was more than happy to spread the word of John Doe.

By that evening, Fandral was cheesing at Your Name’s illustrations.

Volstagg, the burly man with a beard reaching his pot belly, was reduced to tears by Look Back.

And Hogun quietly endured the aching heart caused by the ending of Five Centimetres per Second.

But the biggest reaction came from Sif, who had just reached the last Chapter of Princess Mononoke that ended when the Deer God’s head got severed.

"Where is this... writer? I must have the last Chapter." She looked about ready to march out and grab the author, sword in hand and everything.

"I like the enthusiasm, but you’ll have to get in line." Darcy chuckled. There were a lot of readers that had similar thoughts online around this time.

"Well, we should just wait for it. Tomorrow is the last Chapter, correct?" Thor laughed at his friend’s reaction.

"Yes, I plan to binge the thing again after the physical copy arrives; it says there is also a BGM CD as well." Darcy looked hyped.

"Can we have more of these books?" Hogun asked with not-so-good intentions. "Good stories are meant to be shared after all."

Jane looked at the two books he had raised, Look Back and Five Centimetres per Second. She felt bad for whoever was going to receive them, but she was on board with it 100%.

"It takes a day or two for the delivery to happen around here." Jane nodded to herself, thinking if they could shorten the time somehow.

"We have extra stock if you’d want." That’s when Coulson came in.

"Do you use it for mental torture?" Darcy wondered.

"No, we don’t." Coulson turned to the expectant eyes of the four Asgardians. "But it will take a few hours to get them out here; would you mind answering a few of my questions until then?"

"Depends on what you ask," Sif said as they followed Coulson.

By the following day, they went back to Asgard with a box full of books, each in exchange for answering basic questions. Promising to come back for Princess Mononoke’s copy when it arrived.

After Thor saw the Bifrost take them back, he returned to the compound. Sif had insisted on reading the last Chapter of Princess Mononoke before leaving, but he hadn’t read it yet.

’She did get really quiet after reading it.’ But she was also smiling, so he wondered what it was like.

What would happen now that they had killed the Deer God? Would that spell the end of the forest?

Opening the laptop, the website welcomed him on the first page of the last Chapter. The monk ran away with the head, and Eboshi lost a hand to Moro.

The Deer God was the one who gave life and also took it. But without his head, the Nightwalker had no restraint. It took the life of everything it touched without any thought.

This was not something one could defeat, no matter the strength they possessed. But Ashitaka wasn’t looking to defeat anyone. He always had the strength to turn the tide of the war; he even had the chance to appease his curse by killing Eboshi.

But he didn’t do any of that. Because then he would be allowing his eyes to be clouded by his personal feelings.

And even if San was blinded by revenge, he stopped her from killing the injured Eboshi as well.

Even now, as the curse spread all over him, he chased after the monk to return the head to the body in hopes of quelling the god’s anger.

’San is also cursed.’ Thor frowned as both of them offered the retrieved head back to the body that had become a wave of death.

"O Deer God, we return your head. Be at peace!"

With those words, the headless body came down and took the head back. Then it crashed on the earth and set out a fierce wind, returning the peace and life to the mountain and forest it had destroyed without mercy.

The pages showed several pages focusing on growing flora, fully coloured, as Yakul found Ashitaka and San at last. The curse had left a mark on Ashitaka as San returned to the forest. Still unable to let go of her anger against the humans’ unforgivable actions.

Even after all that death and destruction, there was no clear winner by the end of that war. Everyone had lost something important.

He placed the laptop on the chair after standing up.

’Power without direction, huh.’ Thor remembered the Deer God after it had lost its head.

It had all the power, but it only brought destruction. To be a great ruler, power alone wasn’t enough. All-Father had great power, but that wasn’t all to him.

’I am still not there yet.’ He walked past the security and arrived before Mjolnir.

The moment he was dropped on Midgard, his first thought was to reclaim Mjolnir. He didn’t even think about the reason his father had cast him out. And he didn’t reflect on his actions leading up to that as well. He only thought about returning to Asgard after he got his powers.

But even if he got his powers now, what was the use of them? What would he do with them?

He didn’t want to fight the Frost Giants anymore. He didn’t have any grievances with his father’s decision. He didn’t feel that he had a right to contend for the Throne either.

At this moment, what difference would it make if he had his powers or not?

Life on Midgard was peaceful. He had food, a bed to sleep in, someone he looked forward to talking with every day, and he still had much to learn.

There was no certainty that his right to the throne would ever be restored. But he wanted to make sure that Thor that returned to Asgard wouldn’t be the same that was exiled.

"I promise... I will become worthy of my name." He touched the cold metal on the hammer for a moment before walking away.

And after he was out of sight, a low hum rang out from the Mjolnir as thunder clapped above the desert.

Even then, the hammer remained in its place, waiting for its rightful owner.