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One hundred thousand. The number was so large, so absurd, that it barely registered. Hermione lay on the shattered remnants of the Rainbow Bridge, a giddy, intoxicating rush of pure, raw power flooding her system. It was a high unlike any she had ever known. The souls of an entire race, harvested in a single, glorious instant. It was worth it, she thought, a slow, triumphant smile spreading across her face. It was absolutely worth it.
The victory was short-lived. The final, explosive death of the Bifrost sent a cataclysmic shockwave ripping through the observatory. She threw up a hasty Shield Charm as the world around her was consumed by a blast of cosmic energy. Through the blinding light, she saw the forms of Thor and Loki, thrown from the broken edge of the bridge and tumbling into the endless, star-dusted void below.
At the last possible second, a figure of pure, golden light materialized at the edge of the abyss. Odin, the All-Father, awake and radiating a terrible, paternal fury, reached out and caught his son's hand.
Hermione, seeing Loki about to be lost to the void, acted on pure, cold instinct. A whip of solid, orange magical energy, a trick she'd copied from the mystics of Kamar-Taj, shot from her hand and wrapped around Loki's ankle, snatching him from the precipice.
"I… I could have done it, Father!" Loki screamed, his face a mask of desperate, tragic anguish as he dangled between the two realms. "For you! For all of us!"
"No, Loki," Odin's voice was a low, sorrowful rumble of thunder. He looked at his younger son, and there was no anger in his eyes, only a profound, bottomless disappointment.
The light in Loki's eyes went out. He looked at Odin's disappointed face. He looked at Thor, the favored son, safe in their father's grasp. Then, he looked at Hermione. His expression was a complex, unreadable mixture of gratitude and despair. He conjured the Casket of Ancient Winters, the source of the Frost Giants' power, and tossed it to her. A deal was a deal.
Then, with a final, heartbreaking look at his brother, he let go.
Neither Odin nor Thor expected it. By the time they realized what he was doing, it was too late. They could only watch, horrified, as Loki was swallowed by the churning, cosmic chaos of the broken wormhole.
"LOKI!" Thor's voice was a raw, animalistic roar of pure, undiluted grief. He tried to lunge after his brother, but Odin's iron grip held him fast. He turned his wild, tear-filled eyes on Hermione.
"You!" he bellowed, his voice cracking with rage. "You saved him once! Why didn't you save him again? With your magic, you could have!"
"He let go, you idiot," Hermione snapped back, her voice cold and devoid of all sympathy. "I can save a man from falling. I can't save him from himself. Besides," she added, her tone turning mocking, "the space here is a mess of unstable, multidimensional turbulence. We are not related. Why would I risk my life for your traitorous, suicidal brother?"
Thor was speechless, his grief and rage warring with the brutal, undeniable logic of her words.
"Instead of screaming at me," she continued, her gaze shifting to the one-eyed king who was now watching her with a terrible, silent authority, "you should be asking yourself why he would rather fall into the endless void than return to your loving family."
"Mystic Mage of Midgard," Odin's voice was low and majestic, carrying the weight of a thousand years of rule. "What is your purpose here?" He had seen her use of the light-whip, a magic that did not belong to the wizards she claimed to be.
He looks like he wants to eat me, she thought, a flicker of genuine, primal fear cutting through her bravado.
"Loki already told you," she said, forcing her voice to remain calm and steady. "He did it for Asgard. I did it for Earth. We were… neutralizing a mutual threat."
"The Frost Giants have been a sworn enemy of my world for millennia," she continued, her argument falling into place. "They invaded Earth once. They broke your treaty and tried to assassinate you. And yet, you showed them mercy. That is not the act of a wise king, All-Father. That is the act of a weak one. And weakness invites aggression. I simply did what you should have done centuries ago."
Her tone was flat, as if she were stating a simple, inarguable fact. Odin and Thor just stared at her, stunned by the sheer, breathtaking audacity of a mortal child lecturing the King of the Nine Realms on the ethics of genocide.
"A ruler must be merciful…" Odin began, his voice a low growl.
"You can sell that fairy tale to Thor," she cut him off, her patience gone. "I've read the history books. The real ones. You didn't unite the Nine Realms with 'mercy,' Odin. You conquered them with fire and blood, with your firstborn at your side. And now you sit on your golden throne and preach about peace? The hypocrisy is staggering."
She gestured to the empty void where Jotunheim used to be. "Today, a Frost Giant. Tomorrow, a Dark Elf. The day after, a Fire Demon. You let anyone who challenges you walk away with a slap on the wrist. You are the God-King Batman, playing with a ridiculous 'no-kill' rule while your kingdom burns. Asgard will fall, not to its enemies, but to your sentimentality. No wonder Hela rebelled."
The name hit Odin like a physical blow. The regal composure of the All-Father shattered, and for a split second, she saw only a very old, very tired man, haunted by his own dark past.
"You dare speak that name to me?" he roared, his voice pure thunder. "You dare to cause this destruction in my realm, and then lecture me on how to rule it?"
"What did I destroy?" she asked, her voice a picture of innocent inquiry. "I saved your heir. I stopped a war between brothers. And I eliminated a threat to both our realms. You should be thanking me." She pointed a finger at Thor. "Besides, he's the one who broke your bridge. What's that got to do with me?"
"I was trying to stop a genocide!" Thor protested.
"SHUT UP!" Odin and Hermione roared at the same time.
Thor shut up.
Odin's one good eye was now burning with a furious, golden light. His grip on Gungnir tightened, and the air around him began to crackle with a raw, cosmic power.
Hermione's bravado finally failed her. A jolt of pure, cold terror shot through her. Okay, I've gone too far. He's actually going to kill me. Where is she? Where is my backup?
Just as the All-Father was about to unleash his divine fury, the air beside them tore open. A quiet, swirling, sparking orange portal materialized out of thin air, and a familiar, calm figure stepped through.
The Ancient One had arrived.
The tension on the broken bridge instantly defused. Odin's fury subsided, replaced by a wary, solemn respect. "Sorcerer Supreme," he said, his voice a low rumble. "You trespass in my realm."
"And you, All-Father, were about to vaporize my most promising, and most troublesome, new student," the Ancient One replied, her voice calm, a gentle, chiding smile on her face. She looked at Hermione. "You have gone too far, little witch."
"I did what was necessary," Hermione retorted, her confidence surging back now that her ridiculously powerful backer was here.
"Odin," the Ancient One said, her attention returning to the king, her voice now a silent, telepathic whisper that only he could hear. "I know you are angry. But there are things you do not know about this child. Things that change everything."
As the Ancient One spoke, Odin's expression shifted from fury, to confusion, to pure, unadulterated shock. He looked from the serene, smiling Sorcerer to the small, defiant girl, his one eye wide with a dawning, impossible understanding.
"You mean…" he whispered, his voice trembling for the first time. "You mean she is…"