Infinity Stones?
Before Thor had learned what the Aether inside Jane was, those words would not have shaken him.
But now...
Thor instinctively looked at John's right hand. On the Silver Hand, stones of different colors shone.
Odin was all too familiar with those things.
He had collected them himself, but just before stepping into the abyss, he had chosen to pull back from the brink.
No one understood their power better than he did.
The Tesseract, once hidden on Midgard, had returned to Asgard.
John's arrival in Asgard at this particular time raised questions about his motives.
Thor wanted to say something, but Odin spoke firmly. "Thor, take Frigga out."
"Father, John..."
"Leave!" Odin's tone brooked no argument.
Thor gave John a worried glance, then obeyed his father, helping his mother and Jane out.
As Frigga passed Odin, she reached out and took his hand.
Odin squeezed it to reassure her.
Once everyone had left.
Only John and Odin remained.
This would be a conversation between two kings.
"You are collecting those things." Gungnir touched the floor in Odin's hand with a metallic clang.
His remaining eye searched John's face for a change as he said coldly, "Those things will doom you beyond redemption, Wizard King."
"Will they?" John twirled his wand once between his fingers. Lowering his eyes to his right hand, he said lightly, "It sounds as though you once possessed them."
"Yes, I did."
Odin's voice grew much more solemn. "That is why I know exactly what desires lurk beneath that seemingly endless power."
"My conscience made me choose to relinquish them and become the guardian of the Nine Realms."
"Guardian?" John chuckled. "Not the king of the gods, reigning above the Nine Realms?"
John mercilessly exposed the flattering title Odin had bestowed upon himself. "Did