From The Immortal Gazette Studio ⚜️

Forgotten Tales, Twisted Truths & Legends told by Alice, Rumple, and their ever-growing cast of troublemakers.

Loki’s Vendetta: The Fall of Baldur

The Immortal Gazette studio was anything but peaceful.

A stack of ancient scrolls leaned dangerously close to the edge of a table, three different books about Norse legends were open at once, and somewhere in the background, a kettle had been forgotten long enough that Alice was beginning to suspect it had developed a personal grudge.

Rumplestiltskin sat comfortably in his chair, flipping through a beautifully illustrated manuscript while Thorn examined a carved wooden figure of Loki with far too much interest.

Alice looked between the two of them suspiciously.

"I already know that expression," she said. "Whatever story you're about to tell, Rumple, you have that look."

Rumplestiltskin glanced up innocently. "What look?"

"The one where you're enjoying someone else's disaster a little too much."

Thorn smirked. "To be fair, this particular disaster does involve Loki."

"Exactly," Rumple replied. "And Loki has always understood the most important rule of chaos."

Alice sighed. "Which is?"

"Never underestimate how much trouble one clever person can cause when everyone else thinks they are in control."

Thorn leaned back. "A surprisingly accurate summary of half the stories in the Nine Realms."

Rumplestiltskin closed the manuscript.

"Today, we return to Asgard. To the death of Balder. The shining god. The beloved son of Odin and Frigg. The one everyone thought was impossible to harm."

Alice raised her teacup. "We already covered the part where Frigg made everything promise not to hurt him."

"Yes," Rumple said. "And we already covered the tiny little mistake of forgetting mistletoe."

Thorn tapped the wooden Loki figure against the table. "Which leads us to the question everyone asks."

"And that is?" Alice asked.

"Why?"

Rumplestiltskin smiled.

"Why did Loki do it?"

The studio seemed to lean into the question.

Not because the room became silent. It rarely did. The Immortal Gazette studio had a habit of being filled with arguing voices, turning pages, clattering cups, and the occasional suspicious explosion that everyone pretended not to notice.

But everyone listened.

Rumple turned another page. "The stories tell us different things about Loki. Some describe him as a trickster, a shapeshifter, a troublemaker. Others paint him as something far darker. But one thing has always remained consistent."

"He hated being underestimated," Alice said.

Rumple pointed at her. "Exactly."

Thorn nodded. "A dangerous trait when combined with intelligence."

"Loki was not the strongest of the gods," Rumple continued. "He wasn't Thor with his hammer. He wasn't Odin with his wisdom and power. He wasn't Balder, whose very presence inspired admiration."

Alice leaned forward. "So he chose the one weapon he always had."

"His mind."

Rumplestiltskin stood and walked toward the map of Asgard hanging across the studio wall.

"Think about it. Everyone loved Balder. Everyone celebrated him. Everyone believed he was protected by destiny itself."

Thorn smiled faintly. "And Loki noticed something."

"Everyone was watching Balder's perfection," Rumple said. "No one was watching Loki."

Alice frowned. "So this was jealousy?"

"Perhaps," Rumple replied. "Perhaps resentment. Perhaps anger at always being treated as the outsider. Loki was welcomed into Asgard, but he was never truly one of them."

Thorn looked at the wooden figure in his hand.

"An outsider standing among gods."

"Exactly," Rumple said. "And outsiders tend to notice things that everyone else ignores."

Alice placed her cup down.

"But the story doesn't just end with Loki finding a weakness."

"No," Rumple agreed. "That was only the beginning."

After Balder's death, the gods were devastated. Frigg mourned the son she had tried so desperately to protect. Odin lost a beloved child. Asgard lost its brightest light.

But Loki's actions had consequences.

Alice glanced toward the manuscript.

"And then came the punishment."

Rumple nodded.

"The gods eventually discovered Loki's role in Balder's death. Their anger was unlike anything Loki had faced before. The trickster who had escaped countless consequences finally found himself captured."

Thorn grinned slightly.

"Not many people outwit the gods forever."

"Loki was bound beneath the earth," Rumple continued. "A serpent was placed above him, its venom dripping down as punishment. His faithful wife Sigyn stayed beside him, catching the venom in a bowl to spare him the worst of the pain."

Alice's expression softened.

"Even after everything, someone stayed."

"That is often the complicated part of legends," Rumple said. "The villains are rarely as simple as people want them to be."

Thorn nodded.

"Heroes have shadows. Tricksters have reasons. Monsters sometimes have hearts."

Alice gave him a sideways look.

"Did you just become philosophical?"

"Don't spread rumors," Thorn replied.

Rumple laughed and returned to his chair.

"The death of Balder became more than a tragedy. It became one of the signs that Ragnarok was approaching. The end of the old world. The breaking of the bonds between gods, monsters, and fate itself."

Alice looked at the Loki manuscript.

"So Loki didn't just kill Balder."

"No," Rumple said. "He helped begin the chain of events that would lead to the downfall of the gods."

Thorn examined the wooden carving again.

"One decision. One forgotten weakness. One moment where someone decided revenge mattered more than forgiveness."

Rumplestiltskin smiled slightly.

"And that is why Loki remains one of mythology's greatest contradictions."

Alice raised an eyebrow.

"Because he is clever?"

"Because he is both the architect of disaster and the person who sometimes helps save the day."

Thorn laughed.

"Which is incredibly inconvenient."

"Very," Rumple agreed. "A predictable villain is easy. Loki was never predictable."

Alice leaned back in her chair.

"So the lesson here is?"

Rumple considered it for a moment.

"Never ignore the person standing in the corner."

Thorn added, "Especially if that person is smiling."

Alice sighed.

"And especially if that person is Loki."

The three returned their attention to the ancient manuscripts scattered across the studio table. Another legend waited. Another argument was inevitable. Someone would defend a villain, someone would criticize a hero, and Rumplestiltskin would undoubtedly suggest that he could have handled the entire situation better.

Which, naturally, meant the next story was already destined for disaster. ⚜️