At the entrance of the S.H.I.E.L.D. lab, Loki looked at Eddie and said, "Are you saying, you want to use my body to devour another symbiote?"
Without beating around the bush, Venom said, "I can give you thirty percent of my power as rent, believe me, that's already a lot."
He turned to look at Riot in the lab and said, "The energy that remains within him should be quite pure..."
"I refuse," Loki answered plainly.
There wasn't any special reason, and it wasn't because he didn't want this energy. It was simply because Loki, along with most people of his character, are skeptics. They don't like the idea of another intelligent life form entering their brains.
Not surprised at all, Venom continued, "One of my previous hosts was Tony Stark. He ascended to uniqueness through magic power and unlimited wisdom — you must've heard about this..."
"Don't you wish to experience that kind of wisdom?"
Loki was silent. People of his personality indeed possess another shared trait, which is absolute confidence in their own wisdom.
As a participant in the infamous incident at Nal, Loki was of course aware of Stark's achievements. As a mage, his understanding of the occult was far superior to any human. He knew clearly, that the deposit of energy Stark received from the Demon God was not enough to allow any individual universe being to ascend. So, the only possible explanation lied in Stark's extraordinary wisdom.
People of his kind are odd; on one hand, they believe they are the smartest beings in the universe, yet on the other hand, they are curious about the wisdom of other intelligent beings. Loki had to admit, he was enticed.
"Among my hosts, there was also one whose wisdom was no less than Stark's. Although I can't disclose his name, I believe, that wouldn't disappoint you," Venom added another weight to the balance.
Watching Loki's tempted expression, Phantom wanted to remind Loki that Venom had once fooled around, but she found it hard to speak up.
"You're an Asgardian, your physique can handle two symbiotes cohabitating within you at the same time, plus, you're a mage, you possess a mind barrier, capable of resisting chaos energy attacks on your spirit..."
"You wouldn't suffer any losses, but you would have the opportunity to experience the pinnacle of human wisdom, what do you think? Are you interested?"
"If you had asked me this question two months ago, before I arrived on Earth, I would've given you a negative answer. But recently, I've witnessed the remarkable aspects of human race. Therefore, I am indeed curious..."
Phantom was on the verge of dissuading Loki, but a glance from Venom made her hold her tongue. She closed her mouth and said nothing.
The process of Venom changing hosts is simple. He controlled Eddie to lay a hand on Loki's shoulder. Eddie convulsed slightly, and then, Loki instinctively lifted his head and retreated two steps.
He heard Venom's voice echo in his mind: "... Hm???"
"What's wrong?" Loki asked.
"No... Nothing," Venom's voice held traces of unresolved confusion. Loki went on to inquire, "What's the next step?"
"I need to adjust to my host's body. We'll continue in a few days."
After that, Venom fell silent. Loki couldn't sense the additional symbiote within him at all. After leaving the S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base and returning to Manhattan Street, Loki was just about to use his teleportation ability when Venom's voice resurfaced: "Don't teleport. Let's walk back."
"Is this a peculiar habit of your species?"
"No, it's just beneficial to your mental health. Because next, I'm going to read your medical examination."
"Examination? Symbiotes have this function?"
"This is a basic function of symbiotes, but I don't usually provide feedback to the hosts. For humans, knowing how many cells their body comprises is meaningless,"
"It's just as meaningless to the Aesir," Loki responded.
"That's exactly the issue."
"What?"
"The Aesir..."
"What about the Aesir?"
"I am curious." Venom's tone was complex. He asked, "What exactly has made you believe, all these years, that you are an Aesir?"
"I..." Loki felt he didn't quite understand this symbiote's grammar. He asked, "What do you mean? What do you mean by saying that I believe myself to be an Aesir?"
"It's a euphemistic expression," Venom's voice echoed in Loki's mind, "My conclusion is that, you are not an Aesir."
"... What did you just say???" Loki stopped in his tracks and asked in shock and confusion.
"Symbiotes once endured a thunder attack from the Aesir. This attack caused fatal injuries to most symbiotes, but it allowed us to engrave this power into our genetic bank."
"I have just done an extensive comparison, and I can confirm that you are decidedly not an Aesir."
"What do you mean by that?" Loki asked incredulously.
"You'd better believe my conclusion, this is the innate gift of the Symbiote, we are the most accurate health diagnostic machines across the cosmos."
"I sense your reluctance to acknowledge this emotion, but the clues were early in your surface memories."
"You are physically weak, much less so than others your age, you don't possess the inherent strong power of the Aesir, and you can't even lift those divine artifacts like heavy hammers and great swords..."
"Whether in terms of physical constitution, power, or temperament, don't you ever feel a little out of place?"
Loki froze. He raised his hand and after a few seconds, put it back down, turning to walk away, his steps a bit stiff.
On the streets of Manhattan, even though summer had passed, the midday sun was still strong. Loki walked in the middle of the pedestrian path, not even trying to dodge into the shadows of the buildings.
He had once sneered arrogantly at humans who knew no magic wasting most of their lives commuting, but now he found that walking is not just a way to get to one's destination, especially when you don't have a destination at all.
Loki didn't even know where he was going, yet he kept moving forward, as if every twilight in Asgard, he became a tiny black dot, passing through the bridge in front of the gates to the Fairy Palace, trudging through arch after arch.
This path to the Fairy Palace in his memories was always really long, for this was the only area in Asgard where teleportation magic wasn't allowed. During his childhood, he complained countless times that this long walk was wasting his life.
But he didn't know when it all started, he began to enjoy this process, even hoping it would last a bit longer, so he'd never have to set foot in the Fairy Palace to confront a person he'd rather not face.
What he found ridiculous was that the only thing that could bring him some solace at this moment was this simple process of walking just like a mortal.
Time always flies when you're deep in thought. Unconsciously, Loki had already arrived at the entrance of his apartment. Looking back, he realised that he had indeed walked down a common street, not the majestic and magnificent bridge of Asgard. What he faced was not the gate of the Fairy Palace, but the door of an apartment building.
The elevator doors opened, footsteps echoed in the empty corridor, the faint sound of a key inserted in the lock was a little abrupt. As the door was pushed open, Thor, standing by the floor-to-ceiling window fiddling with a clothes rack, turned his head and saw Loki at the door, he asked, "Why did you come back at this hour? Aren't you supposed to be at work?"
The sunlight coming through the window gave a blurry halo behind Thor, much like the halo on Odin's throne. Loki shut his eyes momentarily, in confusion. He took two steps forward, then, supporting himself on the wall, he half-kneeled, much like how he would when paying respects to Odin.
However, Thor looked somewhat startled. He quickly walked over and asked, "What's wrong? You...wait, your divine power wasn't stripped, you can't be sick then? Why..."
Just as he was pulling out his phone to make a call, Loki stood up, pushed Thor aside, and went into his own bedroom, slamming the door shut with a thud.
Thor was a bit confused. He mumbled something to himself before going back to continue fumbling with his clothes.
Loki, with one hand on the door, was shaking all over. He took several deep breaths, then dragged his heavy feet to sit on his bed, leaning against the edge.
"What are you still doubting?" Venom's voice echoed in Loki's head, "From what I perceive, your wisdom is indeed quite remarkable, so it shouldn't be difficult to find the implicit hints in your everyday life."
"Or is it that your ability to deceive yourself has reached a point where you can genuinely trick yourself, allowing you to comfortably remain amongst the chickens, even though you're actually a duck?"
"No, I'm just thinking..." Loki's voice was filled with a myriad of emotions.
Loki, leaning against his bed, swallowed hard and looked up at the ceiling.
A very evident fact was that if he wasn't an Aesir, then Odin couldn't possibly be his biological father and Thor his real brother.
Loki wasn't without suspicions about why his physical constitution was so poor, but he dared not ask the Father of All Gods, Odin. His mother, Frigga, would always explain that it was congenital deficiency, that he was just unlucky.
Loki didn't know how he managed to convince himself with these flawed explanations, but in his memory, there was more resentment towards the injustice and jealousy towards Thor.
As he sifted through memories, those fragments lurking in the corners were still unearthed by him. All the children were keen to play with Thor, because he was always able to lift the heaviest stone. He could only watch from the back row during duelling competitions, knowing that he wouldn't get a chance to take part.
"I sensed a taste of vengeance in your emotions, but it's mixed with too many impurities. It isn't palatable. I don't like it." Venom's voice suddenly wavered, he said, "Revenge should be pure. What exactly do you have mixed in there?"
Loki didn't respond to him. After recovering from the initial shock, his mood became even more complicated. Now that all of Odin's past favouritism was explained, what has been happening recently?
Loki thought hard and found he hadn't done anything noteworthy, yet his treatment had completely reversed with Thor's.
Thor had been dumped on Earth, weaponless, powerless, and destitute while Loki stood among countless Cosmic Sorcerers. Odin introduced him to those sorcerers as his son, the prince of Asgard, and the most talented and potential mage in the Nine Realms.
Then, Odin put him in a position on the power channel, started channelling that power to him, and finally awarded him the position of a true god, being the first among his age group to receive this distinction.
Loki never dreamed this honour would be his. Discounting Thor, among Asgardians his age there were too many exceptional warriors, they spearheaded attacks and held their defenses, loyal to Odin, the future pillars of Asgard.
Loki had still been staying on Earth because he was reluctant to face these people. He could imagine their sceptical gazes towards him, as if he was a thief who stole the honour meant for Thor.
Not just them, Loki doubted himself too.