"Probably this is what they call sentiment…" Faced with this, Tohka was also a bit speechless. Asgard's technology was top-tier even by cosmic standards. Just look at the Bifrost—alone, it was enough to make countless enemies wary—but they insisted on using firelight for illumination. It made the palace look like a medieval royal hall, so dim and gloomy that the two of them, accustomed to brightly lit nights, felt incredibly uncomfortable.
"Just bear with it. It's a tradition. Once daytime comes, it'll be fine." Hearing their complaints, Thor didn't say much else. He had seen Earth's power firsthand, so unlike Odin, he didn't underestimate humans. In fact, he had a feeling that if Earth really did go to war with Asgard, victory might not necessarily be theirs.
"By the way, your father mentioned the Aether." But Tohka wasn't in the mood to dwell on this. She just wanted to quickly deal with this matter. Judging from the timeline shown in the previous movie, the Guardians of the Galaxy seemed to take place sometime after Thor 2—but she wasn't entirely sure. After all, the Collector was notoriously rich—who knew if his collection room broke once, would he go after a second one?
"Yes. That's exactly what's giving me a headache. You have to understand, that's also an Infinity Stone. No one in all of Asgard can control it. Whatever—come with me and see for yourself." Hearing Tohka mention it, Thor looked utterly exasperated. After all, this was about his girlfriend. Having such an unstable thing in her body was truly helpless. And since the Aether had emerged, the Dark Elves were bound to appear eventually. So, Thor directly led Tohka toward Jane's chambers. After all, Tohka possessed the World Tree fragment—more than enough to suppress an Infinity Stone. Hadn't she directly destroyed the Tesseract, which was used to seal and stabilize the Space Stone? Yet the Space Stone itself remained perfectly calm. Many Infinity Stones, even dormant, were still extremely dangerous.
"Uh… it's this late. Are you sure she's not resting?" Glancing at the sky outside—even though it was still broad daylight in New York—here in Asgard, it was already dark. Tohka honestly wasn't sure if it was truly nighttime yet.
"It's fine. Night only just fell. Come on—Jane should still be awake." Hearing Tohka's concern, Thor shook his head, indicating it was still quite early.
"All right—let's go see it." Although she wasn't particularly interested in Infinity Stones, Tohka didn't mind taking a look at another one. After all, these Stones were artifacts that spanned the entire cinematic universe. She just didn't know exactly when they'd end up in Thanos's hands. But Tohka knew—now that she was here, the Space Stone definitely wouldn't fall into his grasp so easily. As for the Power Stone—she knew there was still a stretch of time before Thanos began collecting them, so she still had plenty of time.
While they were chatting, they followed Thor to a room next to Jane's…
"This is where you'll be staying in Asgard. Jane is right across the hall—if there's anything you need, you can find her. Since you've arrived, I'll just leave from here." But what surprised Tohka was that he'd actually brought them to the room next door to Jane's. Then again, it made sense—people here were always looking down their noses at others. Besides himself and his mother, Jane had almost no one to talk to.
"All right—let's go see the Aether." Nodding, Tohka didn't bother going into her room yet and instead stepped directly into Jane's. There, she saw Jane—whom she'd met briefly before.
"Hello, Miss Tohka. And… you must be Miss Miku?" Maybe Tohka wouldn't remember her, but Jane definitely remembered Tohka. What surprised her was that Miku was here too. After all, the two of them had become public figures. Even though Tohka had mostly played a supporting role in the Battle of New York, the near-sky-filling strike she unleashed at the start killed quite a few Chitauri soldiers and bought everyone time. So of course Jane had seen her on television.
"Jane, let Tohka check your condition." At that moment, Thor followed Tohka inside. Compared to pleasantries, he cared far more about Jane's health.
"Tohka?" Hearing Thor, Jane looked at Tohka with puzzlement. This young lady—though she looked so impressive in battle—was known by nearly everyone to be completely scatterbrained. Yes—what you'd call an airhead. So, she was rather skeptical of Tohka's "expertise."
"Don't worry—let me take a look." But Tohka didn't think much of it. She simply grabbed Jane's arm in one swift motion. Even Thor—standing closest—couldn't react in time and could only step protectively in front of Miku. After all, as a man, he couldn't let the women get hurt. As for Tohka—he wasn't worried at all.
But to his surprise—nothing happened. That energy, which even his father dared not touch lightly, didn't react to her in the slightest.
"Well—can you do anything about it?" Seeing Tohka standing there without any reaction, Thor grew excited. So far, none of them had figured out a way to extract the Aether particles.
"You're overthinking it. Every Infinity Stone is shrouded in deep mystery." Looking at Jane's arm and the dark red markings on it, Tohka shook her head. The reason nothing happened was because she knew very well the power of this thing—and who knew if the stronger one's energy was, the fiercer the backlash. So though her motion had been fast, she'd actually been extremely cautious. That was why the Aether hadn't flared up. But at that moment, the instant she let a little of her own power show, the Aether manifested.
But Tohka had no way to control something like this. So far, the only one able to wield it was the Dark Elf leader. But even he probably hadn't fully awakened the Reality Stone. Otherwise, a thousand years ago, the losers wouldn't have been them but Odin's side.
"I see… in that case, never mind." Hearing this, Thor looked helpless. He had thought Tohka—who could suppress the Space Stone—might be able to handle the Reality Stone too.
"All right then. Let's rest for tonight. Tomorrow, I'd like to show Miku around Asgard a bit." Knowing she couldn't help, Tohka simply took her leave, leaving the space to these two.