driftfleet | dreams in digital

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dreams in digital

[ Calibration Rooms ]
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ROOMS BY CHARACTER

A - C

Connor

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Haggar

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Lup

(last updated: 1/21/19)

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[ loki purses his lips. that is difficult, especially in here. finally he shrugs, glancing to the table of books. ]

You could try there.

[There had been books in the last vision, too. He'd figured Loki was a reader, fit his personality to a T, while Taako was more of a doodle in the margins and pretend he didn't memorize the book the first go around type.]

Cool cool, here we go then.

[He moves away from the portraits, eyes lingering for a moment on the image of Frigga - a mother who loved and a mother who lied for that love - before he focuses entirely on the stack of books. Lots of leatherbound looking tomes, heavy and old, thin and intelligent looking. He tilts his head and bends at the waist, looking at the titles.]

Favorites from your long travels?

Unfortunately no. There would be far too many books for such a room. This is where the narratives are stored.

[ the stack of books don’t seem very interesting at first glance. Then you notice it’s like a series. The covers are blue with bold titles on them. The order seems to be.

The Tragedy of Loki
1. The Giant Killer
2. The Discovery
3. The Fall

There are a few that are unnumbered called Death and Rumours.

when you open up the books, you notice that there are no words. They’re all drawings of a childlike nature. As you flick through the pages, they start to move and change, taking on an entirely different scene. ]

[Man, he isn't kidding when he said this place contained all his doubts and unhappiness.

"The Tragedy of Loki?" Hooboy, that's a title.

Death is something he's keen to steer away from, so Taako glances at the other titles. Rumours? Or maybe The Giant Killer? That one sounds...well, it's going to be bad, but it's the first in the list so why not?

He grabs that one, flipping open The Giant Killer and is surprised to see children's drawings inside.]

Hey uh, no offense but--

[And then they start moving and Taako is drawn into the scene they play.]

[ you hear a voice clear as bells. It sounds like odin, gravelled but pronounced.

once upon a time, there was a war between monsters and gods But it ended with the monsters banished back to their world and the gods returning to theirs, overseeing the realms. In the golden realm, there lived two princes, the elder as bright as the sun and the younger as cold as the moon. They were brothers, as close as kin could be but only one could truly be king. And slowly, the younger brother watched as his brother fell deeper into arrogance and pride. He had beg, pleaded and tried to convince his brother many times to choose differently but the elder brother always scorned him.

The story breaks briefly as echoes can be heard around you, never doubt that I love you, never doubt, never doubt so please, please, listen to me, why won’t you listen to me?

They fade as soon as you turn your head to catch them, shadowed footsteps. When you turn back to the book, it resumes as normal.

So in desperation, the younger set off a plot. He would let the monsters into the golden realm to show to the rest of them that his brother was not ready. It went perfectly and his brother’s coronation was disrupted. Angered, his brother had charged into the frozen wastes, ready to slay the monsters. But he failed and the high king banished him ]

[The story is fascinating. A glimpse at Thor and Loki long before he knew them - like two different people. Thor had told him of this mistake in not so many words, admitted he'd done something the he deeply regretted. Seeing it is something entirely different.

Loki is so subdued in these memories, Thor so full of pride and anger. The voices that creep in turn Taako's head, but the story moves on before he can see who is talking. It's not the narrator, that's for certain.

Thor's banishment plays out in front of him and Taako frowns, looks up at Loki.]

Not so much a giant killer after all then, I guess.

[ loki shrugs loosely at that. ]

Thor felt the need to prove himself as a warrior. I was never much of one, so I never needed the proof.

[ of course that changed later, but those were extenuating circumstances. loki has a lot of pride and anger too, but they no longer scald him. ]

Big n' burly guys usually do.

[Taako is totally fine with letting them too, because that usually lets him relax and hide in the back where he's less likely to get hit so hard he dies. He might be able to deal out the damage, but glass cannons and all that jazz, he has the lowest HP in the party and knows it.

He snaps the book shut and sets it down on the table, going for the next in the order - The Discovery.]

I guess banishment cooled his head though.

No. Love did.

[ the voice is different from that of the giant killer. This time, it’s clearly thor’s voice dictating the book. He sounds younger though, boisterous and happy.

the younger sibling ran into the vault, where the casket of ancient winters resided. There, he discovered the awful truth about his heritage. He was not a son of asgard, but a monster from the frozen wastes. Weary from the elder’s betrayal, the high king fell into a deep sleep. And then . . .

Then the younger was given kingship by his mother. His brother was gone, his friends cursed him and abandoned him and his mother was heartsore from the loss. He was alone and he knew that when his brother returned, he would return full of wrath. His father would wake, full of anger. He knew that the hammer would fall on him for what he had done. So he tried to rid the golden realm of monsters by plotting to destroy its king. ]

[Love, huh? Gods, that's cheesy, but? Well, weren't they always joking about how "love was the true power all along" or some junk?

Taako listens and watches as the story continues to unfold. The discovery that Loki wasn't Asgardian, his mother's attempt at smoothing over the deception, and then Loki choosing a plot against his father. Why? Just because he lied to him?

Taako was so used to people lying to him at this point, shoving him away, that he can't really fully comprehend this. Family lied. Family pushed you aside. They weren't any different from anyone else, just that they shared blood with you (sometimes). To him, no one stayed around so might as well get the goods while the goods were able to get got. He can't comprehend Loki's pain and what he chose to do with it, but he can see and acknowledge it at least.

He closes the book and sets it down.]

Damn, homie, you turned to patricide preeeetty quick there.

[ his eyes flash slightly. ]

He wasn't my father.

Well sure, not by blood or anything. [Taako shrugs casually, not really noticing the thin razor edge he was walking right off of.]

But he raised you, right? Other'n not being blood, that's pretty close to being a dad.

[ ah. comprehension dawns. ]

I didn't kill Odin nor did I ever try to.

[Okay? That's- that's not what he saw though?]

Well, I guess, no, you got that big blue dude to do it, but isn't hiring an assassin kinda the same thing?

That is not the whole story.

Then hit me up, homie. Let's see how this thing plays out.

[And he picks up the last volume and flips it open. Time to see what The Fall could be about.

Proooobably nothing good though.]

[ the voice was loki’s but fully distorted.

And so, the younger sibling kills one father to save another. Pride fills him at last. At last the golden realm could love him. Could not discard him. He had done what no one else could. They could see that he was a true son of the golden realm. But his brother had returned, changed. Gone was the Giant-Killer, here was the gentler brother he had tried so hard to reach and failed, every time. Wrought with anger, fear and pain, they fought on the bridge between worlds. The bridge shattered under the weight of the hammer and they fell — nearly.

Nearly . . .

The younger son told the high king what he had been trying to do. He asked for understanding — he was a fool — he thought his family would take him back — but he wasn’t theirs — they saw him for his monster that he was and said no. And thus, the monster was defeated, plunged back into the depths and the golden realm was saved . . .

The rest of the pages are filled with celebration and a single spread page with Thor and Odin standing over a mound of blue. And a pitiful voice whispers, I could have done it, Father. I could have done it. For you. ]

[Holy?

Shit???

Taako hadn't expected things to go that way, but maybe he should have. Loki had said he hadn't tried to kill Odin, but to have him use this whole thing as some elaborate plot to kill the Frost Giants? And not just that, but the entirety of their planet?

That's. Wow. Maybe he and that earlier, younger Thor had more in common than he thought. Then again...It was kind of like trying to erase everything that would connect him to that world of 'monsters,' as the Asgardians called them. Sure, they were a warlike society - kind of like orcs, actually - but that didn't mean you straight up murdered the entire race.

But Taako isn't sure if Odin is denying Loki as a person or if it's simply his actions. Even Taako can't really get behind killing that entire planet, despite everything they'd done. The doubt that plagues Loki, the pain of having his machinations fall around him and the double punch of being told 'no,' he can see how it'd grow into bitterness easy enough. He'd done what he thought his father would have wanted, not realizing that in his own way, he'd followed Thor into being a Giant-Killer.

With a sigh, Taako closes the book and shakes his head.]

Kinda whiffed it on that plan, huh? Why'd you think killing the entire planet was a good idea?

Desperation. Thor had been banished and he was their son. I could not take any chances. For all I know, he would have killed me.

[ that sort of feeling has faded over time, but back then, it was all loki could think about. if thor came back, if his father woke up, what would loki have to prove he was worthy of staying? of being part of asgard? everything was collapsing around him. ]

I mean, technically, so were you? Your mom kept telling you that.

[But he knows. Just because someone says something doesn't make it true, can't make it true in your heart. Taako knew family was supposed to care for one another, could see it in the way that Frigga interacts with Loki, but to him? Well, family was always just going to be the people who put up with you only as long as you're useful or not a burden, and then they'd pass you along.]

But I get it, I guess. Can't really see Thor killing you, but I guess you know that now, huh?

It was a long time ago.

[ it feels like another lifetime ago. things were markedly different. ]

Thor's goal as a child was to hunt the monsters down.

[A real long time ago, judging by how they both act now.]

And your goals now? Less monster hunting, more universe saving from what I've gathered.

Now? I don't know.

[ he had wanted to start anew with asgard. with thor. now of course, such dreams have long been shattered. loki is still rebuilding. ]

[...oh.

....right.

Taako flinches as he remembers that, technically, Loki is dead right now. Even if he's alive and well on the Marsiva now, when they get back to his world? He's very much dead. Not many goals you can have when the Astral Plane is the only thing waiting for you.]

Take up a hobby, maybe? Spin class is a thing I've heard of.

[ loki doesn't take it personally. ]

Spin class?

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