Vanyel glances around. :I feel like I missed some explanation here. How does 'Allspeak' work?: 

"It's translation magic. I'm not sure of the exact workings, but it causes me to be able to understand all languages and causes you to hear my language as your own. It's not actually relevant to the mission; right now I need to go to Asgard, which is very definitely not Valinor, and you and Leareth are welcome to come along."

:Sure, sounds good: He looks over at Leareth. :Anything in particular you want to do to get ready for it?: 

:We can wear protective artifacts again. And, Thor, I would like to go over a map of the area we are visiting first, just so that I know what to expect. Other than that, I think those are adequate precautions - as long as we believe it is very low-probability that Thanos will stake out Asgard and find us, at least: 

Thor doesn't have a map of Asgard but he can draw a crude one. It's a city on an artificial flat planetoid with artificial gravity and a magitek dome for keeping the air in. One side is an ocean and there's a bridge leading out to the Bifröst, which is as far from the city as possible (when it was first built there were concerns about it exploding, but that hasn't happened). To the best of their knowledge no one but the Asgardians and Dark Elves, who are now all dead, knew it was ever on Asgard, and there's no known way Thanos could have found out, but there is a slight complication that the city was invaded by the Dark Elves (who were uniquely able to magically detect the Stone) several hours after they're planning to go. They should be out by then, though.

(Unlike the Light Elves, which are pretty obviously the same kind of thing as Fëanor, but of a different lineage, the exact nature of the Dark Elves isn't really known, but some relationship between them and the Light Elves seems likely, and their capabilities are fairly similar when not augmented by the Reality Stone.)

:That is not ideal timing but I suppose there are many other constraints here. What are the sorts of difficulties that might end up delaying us? We should spend some time on contingency plans for that, since we have time now and will not once the mission starts: 

"I think if we're delayed we should just leave and try again with a different branch timeline and hopefully the knowledge of how to not get delayed again. We shouldn't have the problem with that that we did in New York."

"The biggest obstacle is likely to just be Asgardian security. That shouldn't be a problem for me, I was a prince, if you can do a little bit of illusion magic to make me look more like I did back then. In the absolute worst case you may need to—nonlethally—incapacitate my past self. Leareth and Vanyel can pass for Asgardians and won't be questioned too much as long as they're with me. Tony, if you come along, you should probably keep the suit stowed or have an illusion to cover it."

"I think I'll sit this one out."

Vanyel sighs. :I'm...less useful than I'd like, for the 'nonlethal' part. Leareth?: 

:I can do a compulsion, if it is necessary, that is likely to be the most reliably nonlethal approach. And I can prepare an illusion in advance, if you can show me a memory or something of how you looked before. With lead time, I can tie it to an artifact, so that it will not be disrupted if I am distracted or injured. ...Are there any magical protections, or magical weapons that might be used if we are discovered?: 

Thor remembers his former appearance—the obvious difference is the longer hair—and sort of shoves the memory in Leareth's direction. "What sort of lead time would you need to do an artifact?" he asks. "Not that we're really limited in that way, I suppose.

"Asgardians don't really distinguish technology from magic. It's possible that some of our stuff would show up as magical to your Othersenses, but I don't know enough about how your magic works to know how anything would interact with it. The Reality Stone is obviously magical but I don't expect it to be used against us."

:Then I would like to plan on spending a few minutes after our arrival scoping out the area with mage-sight, if that is workable? I will need about half a day for the artifact. It is not difficult magic, though, merely time-consuming, so I will be able to depart immediately: 

"That will work."

Leareth gets to work on the artifact. It's fiddly work, but not complicated; it leaves plenty of space to think through everything that might go wrong this time. 

Vanyel goes off to find Savil. "Hey. Want to go for a walk or something?" 

He's very aware of what's ahead of them. Talking about it feels agonizing and impossible, but...well, he at least wants to take every opportunity to see his aunt's face. While he still can. 

She doesn't bring it up either, just offers her nephew a one-armed hug. "Of course, ke'chara. You've been planning for the next mission? I hope this time they briefed you on everything that could come up!" 

"I think Leareth made sure of that! He had a lot of questions. Don't worry about me." 

They go for a walk, through the incredibly pretty village near Fëanor's house. Mostly they don't talk; when they do, it's about inconsequential things. The knowledge of what they still have to do seems to squat in the air between them, heavy, muffling. 

Vanyel's mind can't stop poking at it in the background. Wondering if there's another way. He hasn't thought of anything yet, though. 

Thor, Leareth, and Vanyel travel forward to 2014 and then Bifröst to Asgard. They land on an out-of-the-way balcony near the Palace hospital.

There's no overt magic in the area, other than the Reality Stone itself, but Asgardian spirits in general shine brighter than humans, about equal to elves, and there are some people that look like they might be Gifted, but they don't appear to have any specific Gift known to Velgarth. None of them are especially nearby, though.

"This way," Thor says, gesturing for the others to follow him.

Leareth checks their shields and Thor's illusion, and then Mindtouches Vanyel. :You have the greater Thoughtsensing range. See if you can locate the younger Thor?: 

Sure, Vanyel will try to do that. His range comfortably stretches to miles; he should be able to unless there are shields against Thoughtsensing around for some reason. 

Younger Thor is near where they're headed, but leaving and going the opposite direction.

They reach their destination without incident. There's a woman lying unconscious on a bed, covered by something that looks a bit like a mage-barrier, too faint to have been seen from a distance. Another woman is tending to her.

"Thor," says the second woman. "Didn't you just leave?"

"I came back," says Thor. "These are my friends, uh, Leif and Vanjur. They know magic that might be able to help Jane."

The doctor looks confused but isn't going to question the prince who can summon lightning and is a war hero on five different planets. "Alright, go ahead," she says, and goes to check on her next patient.

"Can you do the, uh, thing where you teleport objects?" he asks Vanyel. "Put the Reality Stone—which is currently inside Jane's arm—into this box." He holds up a small metal box.

(The Reality Stone is, indeed, inside Jane's arm. It looks strange compared with the others they've seen—not a single bright point at all, it's like it's liquefied.)