Chapter 19

Laufey actually gulped out of nervousness as all eyes settled on him. "Now...... this isn't what you think."

"And what should we think?" Astrid now asked with her eyes narrowed. "Did you or did you not plan to use Loki to open this door?"

"I only realized that he could possibly do it after meeting him. I SWEAR!!" Laufey argued. "It wasn't even on my mind then!"

"Wait.... Loki, as in the second Asgardian prince Loki?! How is he able to open this door. He isn't a Jothun." Býleistr interrupted and the gang facepalmed, having forgotten that Laufey told them nothing of their older brother.

"Well.... Actually," Hiccup mumbled and Astrid shot the twins a glare when she overheard them making a bet to see if Hiccup would be pulverized this time or not. "According to Eart-Midgardian sagas," Hiccup was actually nervous as he stared down the two Giants "Loki was adopted by Odin but he is actually Laufey's son and your older brother."

Hiccup cringed when the outrage came. He had sort of expected it with Helblindi's distaste for Asgardians. "Are you telling me that my brother is.... Is an ASGARDIAN!" The Giant spat as if it was a personal affront. "And you knew this!"

"Technically, raised by Asgardians," Hiccup corrected only to quickly step back as Helblindi raged. "Way to go genius," Toothless commented. "Anger the Frost Giant even more."

"That's even worse!" Helblindi uttered. "To.... To have one of our own raised by the enemy!" At this point any Asgardian present wisely kept their mouths shut as the Giant raged.

"Helblindi calm down!" Laufey chastised.

"Calm down? Calm down?!" Helblindi uttered. "You knew about this! When you found him, why the hell didn't you drag him back here?" He directed at his father.

Laufey was quiet for a moment before he answered "Your brother is..... A grown man. If he did not wish to meet us then that's his choice."

"This isn't like you," Býleistr commented with a frown. "You would have dragged him back here. You dragged a kicking and screaming Helblindi to a marriage interview!"

"I thought we were never going to bring that up again!" Helblindi having somewhat calmed down punched his brother in the arm.

"I chose to respect his wishes because he saved my life." When Laufey said this all eyes were on him again.

"Okay...... we are going to need some MAJOR clarification here," Dagur stated and Heather and Fishlegs both nodded.

"But can we please do it somewhere warmer!" Snotlout complained as his teeth chattered. "My goosebumps have goosebumps!"

That was how the entire group ended up back in the dilapidated dining room. Laufey was seated under guard and everyone looked at him to find out exactly what had happened.

"Alright, so this starts before I had met Ve and Vili," Laufey told them. "I knew the whole time who Loki really was and as you might have figured out I did not tell my other children because of the way they exaggerated."

"We did not exaggerate!" Helblindi huffed while his brother muttered "You sort of did." This earned Býleistr a pinch from his brother.

"Moving on....." Laufey muttered as he shot the two a glare. "One of the Norns, Skuld, kept in contact with me and informed me of how Loki was doing. This was up until he left before the naming ceremony."

"Wait... wait... wait, just a minute!" Býleistr stopped his father. "Why would one of the Norns, one of the prime seers of the Realms, be in contact with you?"

Laufey actually blushed, or the gang thought it was the Frost Giant version of a blush. "After your mother and I went our separate ways..... I... uhm... might have gotten a bit friendly with Skuld." Laufey confessed. "She was very sweet."

"Well that was more information than I needed to know," Helblindi muttered as he shot a glare at Býleistr for even asking that question.

"As you can imagine it was hard to pinpoint Loki's location afterwards," Laufey continued while completely ignoring the looks his sons were giving him upon finding out that their father wasn't an old hermit in an igloo. "One day Skuld contacted me out of nowhere, telling me that the best chance I had at speaking with Loki was at a tavern on Svartálfaheimr on a particular day, at a particular time." Laufey admitted. "Sometimes that woman's power was scary. But she seemed quite certain of herself."

--------------Flashback--------------

(Svartálfaheimr- On a particular day, at a particular time)

Laufey muttered under his breath as he trudged through the mud towards the tavern that Skuld had indicated his first-born son would be at. The rain came down like a thick curtain and it was difficult to see but Laufey could hear the sounds of merrymaking all the way out here. He was near one of the Dwarven mines and the tavern that slowly came into view was a two story building. The lights could be seen through the heavy rain and Laufey eagerly trudged towards it hoping to get dry. He was a Frost Giant darnit, he was Ice and Snow, he just didn't like rain all that much.

The tavern slowly became more visible and Laufey pressed a large hand against the doors, opening them. Warm air flit past him and the atmosphere in the tavern was jovial, well it was jovial until he stepped in the room. Dwarfs stopped toasting with their ale mugs and blatantly stared at him. The musician missed a note as Laufey saw his eyes widen. The Dark Elves in the tavern hid their curiosity well but the Jothun-king knew better. It wasn't everyday a Jothun ventured out of Jothunheim, especially with all the hate towards them.

He slowly walked into the tavern and eyed the patrons. One of them was his son but he could see no Asgardian in here which caused him to frown. There were plenty of Dwarves since the mines were nearby and even a couple of Dark Elves that inhabited the areas nearby as well. Laufey's giant footsteps caused the floorboards to creak and the atmosphere in the tavern became somewhat tense.

Laufey huffed as he glared at the patrons who quickly tried to hide their blatant stares. When the Frost Giant reached the bar he was greeted by a muscular Dwarf with an eyepatch. "Greetings," The short man mumbled as he eyed the Giant. "We don't get a lot of your kind in these parts."

Laufey merely shrugged. At least this man had no open hostility for Frost Giants. Red eyes blinked for a moment as he took in the drinklist before seating himself at the bar. "A mug of mead," Laufey ordered as he put three silver coins on the counter. The barkeep eagerly took the money and poured him a large mug. Laufey assumed that the man had no problem with him as long as he was a paying customer.

The mug was placed before him and Laufey took a sip before turning a bit and observing the room. The tavern was two stories, with the upper part being rooms for rent. The lower part was lively. There was a stage near the back and even a firepit where miners huddled around telling tall tales. Tables throughout the room hosted Dwarves and Elves playing games, most notably card games that involved money. The Frost Giant king wondered what would draw Loki to such an establishment.

"You seem to be looking for someone," The barkeep noticed and Laufey turned in his direction. "I know every patron that visits here. Maybe I can be of help stranger."

"So I may leave quicker I assume," Laufey quipped back as red eyes stared at the barkeep.

"Your presence..........." The Dwarf wrinkled his nose "Makes my other patrons......... nervous. I would like to keep my business booming."

"Maybe you can help me," Laufey said as he stared at the barkeep with a raised brow. "I am searching for an Asgardian."

Laufey expected a reaction, just not the barkeep's reaction. The man actually barked a laugh and snorted.

"Then you are in the wrong place!" The Dwarf laughed as if Laufey had just told the funniest joke in all the Nine Realms, and maybe he had. The Jothun did not understand Dwarven humor.

"No Asgardian would ever come to my backwater tavern," The barkeep said as he caught his breath. Many things were going through Laufey's mind at the moment, one of which was the thought 'Has Skuld lost her touch and gone insane to send him to this place?!', that thought was immediately replaced with 'Skuld would kill me if she knew I was even thinking that!!'.

Laufey gave the room another sweep and his eyes landed on a table nearby that wasn't so jovial anymore. There several Dwarves must have just lost a fortune in a card game. The female Dark Elf they had been playing against happily scooped up the coins into her leather messenger bag. Laufey belatedly realized that he was smirking at the scene. It took a lot to outsmart a Dwarf, it took even more guts to outsmart a table of gambling Dwarves.

The Dark Elf that was scooping up the gold coins was just like any other elf Laufey had met. Fair Skinned, slim, white haired. The only thing that set apart Dark Elves from the Light Elves of Álfheimr was their ears. The long pointy ears of Dark Elves were pointed upwards instead of sideways like their counterparts.

Laufey mused as he nursed his mug of mead. The two Elf races had been one in the past until the Dark Elves exiled themselves from Álfheimr. The details as to what had happened were a little foggy to him. And then one thought made his eyes widen, 'The same but different!'. Laufey berated himself for why he hadn't asked this as well. He called back the attention of the Barkeep.

"I've still not seen any Asgardians," The Dwarf told him dryly.

"What about Jothuns?" Laufey asked with a little bit more hope than he would like to admit. Maybe Loki came here as a Jothun so he would not be recognized.

"You are the only one that has walked through these doors." The barkeep answered as he started pouring more ale for his customers. The lady that had won big approached the bar and sat down a couple of stools away from Laufey. She scooped out some gold coins and placed them on the table before calling out "The next two rounds are on me!" That seemed to liven the mood of the tavern as the patrons gave a loud cheer. Laufey took a swig of his mead but secretly eyed the Dark Elf. She had shoulder length white hair and was dressed in a form-fitting long-sleeved green and black battlerobe. The clothing was stylish but allowed for easy movement. Laufey guessed she was either a Mage or a Huntress.

"Lady Discord, always so generous after a big win. Your usual?" The barkeep said and his tone was much more pleasant to her than it was to Laufey.

"The mood needed livening up," The woman shrugged as she received a glass of some type of Dwarven liquor that Laufey was not familiar with. The female Elf then turned to Laufey, her emerald gaze upon him now, and raised her glass in a toast. "You are a long way from home. May you have a safe journey." The woman commented.

"Thank you," Laufey mumbled as he raised his own mug slightly. The tavern was back in full swing and Laufey just sat there wondering if he had made the journey for nothing. With one last nod to the barkeep and the Dark Elf he drank the last of his mead in one gulp before departing the tavern.

"You know he was looking for...." The barkeep started but the female Dark Elf interrupted with "I overheard."

"What are you going to do now?" The man behind the counter asked in a whisper.

The emerald gaze of the Elf followed the Jothun king's departure along with some not so friendly clientele not soon after. The lady stood up from her stool and muttered "Probably something stupid."

------------Flashback to be continued-------

AN: Helloooo all. Yes, this is an early update since I won't have time in the weekend to add this. I hope you all enjoy. In the next two chapters we shall see some events unfold that have led to the mess the gang currently finds themselves in. There are still several issues to resolve and some pants to set on fire. We'll be seeing some more faces from the famous Norse myths soon and where they will stand. ;)