"Dude," says Magnus, very seriously. "No man is an island." There's, like, an entire movie about it^*. "And if I've learned anything from all the battles I've fought, the easiest way to overcome someone who doesn't have people -- like Loki; he had an army but they didn't care about him or his reasons, they just cared about stirring things up -- is by having a community." His hand flexes into a fist, fingernails biting into his palm. "She doesn't have people. You need to have people. If I have to be 'people...' if Hanguang-jun can't help... I will."


*He's thinking about About a Boy.