First message
The court did not begin with voices.
It began with silence
The Astral Court of Asgard hung suspended above the realms, untouched by time, untouched by decay. Stars drifted beneath the obsidian floor like slow-moving embers, and the pillars—carved from frozen lightning and ancient runes—hummed with a power that predated war, kings, even belief.
Seven thrones stood in a crescent.
Occupied.
Watching.
Waiting.
No one spoke at first.
Because they all felt it.
Something had changed.
A pause.
Then—Loki laughed.
Low. Amused. Dangerous.
Chains shifted as he leaned against the pillar binding him, golden restraints glinting as if they resented holding him.
“Oh, that’s my favorite part,” he drawled. “You lost her… and something else found her first.”