"I'M A DEAD MAN, THOR, GOD OF THUNDER, HOW CAN I POSSIBLY HELP YOU?"

Kaipo was still seated on the table, crossing his arms and looking at the blond man with the level of calm only a man resigned to his death could be. If anything, he should be pacing and panicking, much like the man in front of him.

"I am searching for the Infinity Stones. I've been through all the Nine Realms, but have come up empty. Now, I hear that you Asterions have unspeakable knowledge, your people must know something," Thor said, before motioning towards the ceiling, "But this place. It's on fire."

"How observant," Kaipo drawled, "Listen, Thor, son of Odin, while Asterius is not part of the Nine Realms and, yes, is currently dying, you've found yourself in the presence of the one being still alive who contains all of the knowledge of both my people and the Kallrynions. Unfortunately, we don't have much time before we are both killed."

"We can fight," Thor said, raising his hammer, "I just need you to help me."

Kaipo blinked. "Not gonna happen. It was nice meeting you, though. You can just go back the way you came or into that corner over there, I don't really want you around when I die."

Thor scoffed. "Did-did you not hear what I just said?"

"No, I heard it," Kaipo sighed, moving so he was leaning back, splayed out on the table and staring at the ceiling, "But I don't fight. Personal choice, respect it, so there will be no fighting, at least from me, and I doubt you can face a whole army of advanced people set on destroying my home and my people, so either you get out of here now or accept your fate. I have."

"You're giving up?" Thor demanded, "What are you? A coward?"

Kaipo laughed as he sat up, smiling dangerously at Thor. "I am no coward. I am merciful."

"The fate of worlds depends on you helping me," the man said, stalking back over to him, "If you do not help me, there will be consequences. I'm not just talking about ones from me."

Kaipo raised an eyebrow, unfazed. "Brutum fulmen."

Thor shook his head. "What?"

"Brutum fulmen," he repeated, "Do you know what that means?"

Thor shook his head again, frustrated. He scoffed and took a step back, devolving back into pacing. "We don't have time for this..."

"It means 'an empty threat,'" he continued, still in his numb drawl, "Latin. Its direct translation is 'senseless thunderbolt.' Sounds just like you, doesn't it?"

"Do you find this funny?" Thor demanded, grabbing him by the front of his shirt, "Because innocent people will die if you don't help me."

Kaipo took a deep breath and sighed, thinking back to his times as a child. When things didn't go his way, he and Alasdair often came up with other solutions, different ways to get what they both wanted, even if everyone said they couldn't, or it was impossible. He was still a strategist, even more so now that he didn't fight.

"Let's make a deal," he offered, still just as calm, "I will give you all the information I can if you agree to protect me."

"What?" Thor scoffed, shoving him back and stepping away, "You think I would just agree to—"

"I had a protector, he was the most important person in my entire life, but now he's gone," Kaipo said, his voice raised and calm resolve breaking, "My mother and father were on Seter trying to negotiate a peace treaty, but now we're being attacked and they're dead, my people have abandoned me, and I don't want to die."

To his surprise, Thor looked at him with sympathy. His bitter smile was gone and replaced with pity and slight guilt. "I'm sorry for your loss. I will protect you in any way I can."

Kaipo held out his arm. Thor glanced at it, before looking back at his face, finding no humor. At the tilt of his head, Kaipo explained, "An oath. An agreement. Just grasp my arm, agree when I say, and everything will be set in place."

Thor sighed, nevertheless grasping his forearm with his hand, Kaipo doing the same. "Is this necessary?"

"This might be the last oath I will ever make, and definitely the last one on my home, let me have this memory," Kaipo sighed, close to a plea, "I have lost so much in just a few hours."

Thor nodded. "Where do we start?"

Instead of answering, the prince of Asterius tilted his head back, calling forth the rest of his energy. Thor watched in shock as the man's veins turned gold, snaking across his arm and intertwining their arms. If his eyes were opened, they, too, would be gold.

Then he spoke in a voice that didn't sound like his own, even to Thor, who hadn't heard him speak for very long.

He asked him to defend and guard him with his life, agree to always keep him by his side, and to never allow harm to come to him. He made sure that Thor understood that this bond was not to be taken lightly, that there were forces in place to make sure he played his part.

"I do."

Thor's eyes closed as a wave of calm washed over him, bathing him in a golden feeling. In those brief moments, he was one with everything, one with the man in front of him, everything and nothing at all. But it was all gone in an instant.

That was when they heard the shouts and the footsteps, felt the shaking of the building as the library was being invaded.

Kaipo sighed as he heard books being thrown off the shelves and burned, feeling the flames even from where he was, leaned against the table, still gripping Thor's arm. "It's good thing I took in everything. It's a shame, I always did like physical copies."

"We need to get out of here," Thor said, using his grip on Kaipo's arm to pull him close, wrapping an arm around his waist as he used his other hand to spin the hammer.

"What are you doing?" Kaipo asked, glancing around as he was pressed flush against the other man's body.

"Protecting you," Thor replied, before throwing up his hammer, the two flying up into the ceiling. Kaipo hid his face as the onslaught of rubble and dirt was thrown into him and Thor, the two resurfacing a few stories later.

"We have no more escape units, there's no way out of here," Kaipo said, his voice stalling when he caught sight of the palace in the distance. "Nevermind."

"What do you mean?" Thor demanded, backing up as a wave of Setera appeared over the horizon.

Kaipo kicked over a piece of rubble in his anger. "I could have gone! I could have gone with him, I didn't have to stay here, I—My mother and my father have units of their own in the palace. One for each of us, and one for the family, which they took when they went to Seter. Let's go."

"You go, I'll fend them off," Thor said, pushing him in the direction of the towering building.

Kaipo scoffed. "There is no need for violence, now let's go!"

"You go!" Thor retorted, throwing up his arms.

The heir to nothing grumbled under his breath as he backed up and took a running start, leaping towards the castle, landing halfway there. He smirked at the sound of Thor's shout as he went, not wasting any time to reach the palace, slipping on the sleek floor of the foyer.

He ran into the building, surprised to find that he knew exactly where the units were kept. There were certain places in the palace that he was never allowed to go, and the unit hangar was one of the places he was allowed to go when he became older, but never found much reason to.

"Wow," he sighed, shaking his head as he caught sight of the family unit and his own unit sitting in place, the mother and father units gone, "Why did they...?"

He decided not to think of the implications of his parents taking separate units when leaving, instead just making his way to the family unit, his heart aching as he stepped inside. His parents used to take him on diplomatic outings, letting him take Alasdair with him during the last of their outings together, which was when he was still relatively young.

He took his place at the controls, sighing as he started the unit, hands moving with a practice that wasn't his own. This would take some getting used to, sifting through the thoughts and memories to discern which ones were his own; it was as if he was more than just himself, he was now his people.

He shouted slightly as the unit took off, exiting the hangar and making its way into the sky. He lowered it, making his way towards Thor who he could see from his vantage point, fighting off the horde of Seterans.

"What did I tell him," he sighed to himself, coming to rest the unit just above a few buildings, closest to the man. Pressing the announcement button, he called out, "Get in, you idiot!"

He watched as the man shoved off a few Seterans that had managed to get a hold of him, using his hammer to clear a path. Kaipo winced at the action, but found that he couldn't feel any ounce of sympathy towards the beings; they took everything from him.

He opened the lower hatch, sighing when Thor jumped in and jolted the craft. He closed the hatch, flying off as the god made his way into the main area, behind the control section.

"Thank you," Thor coughed, squeezing a small flame on the tip of his hair.

Kaipo shrugged. "You protect me now, it'd make no sense for me to let you die." That was the partial truth. The rest of it was centered around his fear of being truly alone, something that he would never admit, especially not to a man who called him a coward.

Thor grumbled, but said nothing, taking a seat in what would be his mother's. "Whose unit is this?"

He frowned, glancing at him in his peripheral vision. "My parents'...why?"

"Just wondering," Thor hummed, "Didn't think your unit would be so...spacious." He tapped his fingers on the chair, nodding absentmindedly.

Kaipo sighed, shaking his head as he held his breath, the unit leaving the planet and out into oblivion. He looked away, looking at Thor, answering him to avoid having to look anywhere else. "I don't understand why they didn't take this one. They took their own, mine was still there, I don't..."

Thor glanced around the unit, clearly uncomfortable. "Um...I don't think it meant anything, maybe they just wanted to cover more ground?"

"On a diplomatic excursion?" he scoffed, shaking his head, "I barely even step foot in the palace anymore, but I should have noticed something."

"Maybe it was just them having a fight, you don't know," Thor offered, trying to smile, "Now, c'mon, don't think ill of the—" he paused, realizing his mistake.

"Dead," Kaipo finished, shaking his head as he turned back to look out at the oblivion, "It's alright, I don't..." he sighed, "It doesn't hurt. Yet. Not much, anyways. I'm an Etera, I can't afford to let emotions cloud my judgement, we're not out yet."

"What do you mean?" Thor asked, turning to look behind them at the window, standing to see.

"The Setera are ruthless, they won't stop until they've eradicated everything. Now, everyone else is gone, but they've already caught your scent." Kaipo raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "Told you it wasn't worth it."

Thor scoffed. "How was I to know, did you even know?"

"I just told you, didn't I?" he countered, continuing to just circle his dying home, "Point is, we can't leave or else they'll just chase us out until we run out of fuel, then get to us. I have a plan, we just have to wait for them to come out."

Thor sighed, falling back into his seat, crossing his arms. "Great."

The two waited in silence, Kaipo continuing to circle the unit. They were still out, but they were close enough that he didn't have to worry about the unit losing fuel, as it always took the natural abundant energy from whatever planet they were on, so long as it was living.

Finally, he said, "I didn't know that. Not until today. Just now, really."

Thor frowned. "What?"

"The thing about the Setera and your scent, I didn't realize I knew that until I said it," he sighed, dropping his head onto the controls, "I'm having trouble discerning what I know and what others knew."

"Do you really hold all the knowledge of your people?" Thor ventured, "All of it?"

"Unfortunately," he sighed, groaning, "I don't know how to go through it all, I guess it just comes up when it needs to. The way memories work. But I'm an Etera, I have the ability to take all of it in if there is a chance all of it will be lost. I also hold all the knowledge of the Kallrynions. I was given that once Alasdair and I..."

Thor shifted, turning more towards him. "Who is Alasdair?"

If Kaipo had been paying more attention, he would have wondered why the god was asking, but the very mention of him had his heart aching. "He was the head of the guard and my best friend. We...I...being apart was never a concept we toyed with because it made no sense, not even to the elders who despised the idea of their bloodline being corrupted by one who wasn't our own. But now he's gone and I can't..."

"Can't what?" Thor pressed.

"I can't feel him," Kaipo sighed, motioning to his chest, "I can always feel where he is, not in actual words or directions, but I can feel his presence, always. But now, he's too far."

Thor glanced down, clearing his throat softly. "I'm sorry."

Kaipo shook his head, reaching for the controls and glancing behind them. "No time to cry now. They're here."

º º º

"I thought you said you had a plan!"

"I did, but it doesn't mean it always works!"

The two had been circling the planet for longer than they wanted, dodging all of the attacks sent by the swarm of Seteran units. They were more advanced than the Asterions who used magic and nature rather than developed technology.

"Any idea how to stop them?" Thor demanded, gripping his seat as they spun around.

"Maybe, but nothing is coming up right now," Kaipo shouted, groaning as one of the projectiles grazed the bottom half of their unit, "Do you know anything about the Seterans?"

"They're not part of the Nine Realms, so I never bothered," Thor replied, having the decency to sound embarrassed, "Nor did I really learn about the other realms unless I had to, studying was more my brother's thing."

Kaipo sighed. "Wow, you really are useless."

"Hey!" Thor shouted, "I'm very useful. I get this is a stressful situation, but there's no need to be rude."

"God of Thunder and he's telling me not to be rude," Kaipo muttered under his breath, continuing his pattern of avoidance, going left and right, up, down, then reverse, stiffening whenever they were hit.

"What are you doing?" Thor demanded, "Instead of wandering aimlessly and getting us killed, we should be fighting back, there are weapons controls right here."

"I have a plan, there is no need for violence," Kaipo retorted, groaning when Thor still reached out and grabbed the weapons controls, making quick work of the buttons, smiling when he pulled up the artillery. The heir to nothing let out a guttural groan, continuing to focus on his plan. "Brutum fulmen."

The ship shook as Thor tried to use the controls and shoot behind them, which was a feat that took some trial and error. While Thor might have put a stop on his plans with his erratic shooting, Kaipo wasn't about to give up; this was his unit, his plan, and the people chasing them destroyed his planet, not Thor's.

"Stop," he commanded, reaching over and slamming his fist on the override controls, a button that only his father ever knew about and would only ever be used in dire circumstances; there was a level of equality on Asterius, the king couldn't have too much control over the queen.

"What are you doing, we have to—" Thor began, but his complaints were immediately silenced by Kaipo's movements.

Initially, the Asterion had been avoiding the enemy units at a set pattern that he never diverted from, making sure he had a rhythm which he struggled to keep track of despite his arguing with the Asgardian. However, once he was sure that the Seterans had locked onto his regular path, he veered off course, immediately plummeting down and backwards, letting them crash into each other and the floating debris which had been steadily drifting away from his home which he had been keyed onto for a while.

They immediately took off, Kaipo not bothering to look behind him to make sure they weren't following; he knew they weren't and he didn't want to see the wreckage. That wasn't an act of violence, it was a tactical retreat, whatever ensued afterwards was something he was not held liable for.

Thor relaxed in his seat, slumping back. "Huh."

Kaipo smirked faintly, barely sparing him a glance. "Brutum fulmen."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 01.18.18 )

I was gonna call this Heir to Nothing because I referred to him as that (I felt so bad writing that like ouch) but Brutum fulmen is such a great phrase, I found it while I was looking up good book titles. Senseless thunderbolt, it was perfect, so that's Thor's nickname from Kaipo get ready.

Their relationship was a little all over the place, they argue, but Thor is a Good Boy™ so he does take a step back and understands that Kaipo just lost everything (it's also even worse when you see he doesn't even have time to get upset over the fact that he could have went with Alasdair, he didn't need to be in that situation poor boy) and so Thor is like "wow, you're a jerk, hey, I'm sorry your parents didn't love each other, don't be sad."

I'm trying to pump out chapters for this as well, because I really wanna get started on my Loki fic before Infinity War, and also wanna show how I get all of them to Sakaar because I think I'm clever. Seriously, I'm way too proud of it, someone knock me down a peg.

That's all I have to say so...thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!