"As a testament to your brave and selfless actions I hear by grant each of you permanent citizenship in Asgard, The realm eternal and a prominent place in the royal court. Do you accept this most gracious offer?" King Odin's deep voice boomed down from the throne to my family and me. My legs shifted a little on the hard gold flooring and I chanced a glance at Val who was kneeling next to me. She looked nowhere near as nervous as I felt, she was beaming up at the King. I looked towards my sister who knelt on the other side of me and she looked calm and controlled as always. I almost sighed but remembered where I was, it seems that I was always going to be the nervous one. My father bowed his head and all of us followed his actions.
"Yes, your majesty we accept your gracious offer." My dad answered the King loudly for all of us. "Rise my dear friend, Daniel, we shall commence with the knightings," The King said and my father rose to his feet and walked to the bottom of the stairs and bowed. The king walked down the large steps and stopped just one above my father. He placed the famous staff Gungir on my father's shoulders and spoke loudly so the whole hall could hear. "Daniel Paul Ardini son of Roy, you have saved my life and shown great promise, much more so than any other Midgardian I have ever encountered, upon observing your family closer I have seen that they all share these qualities with you. You have proven to be a trustworthy confidant and I have grown to love you as a brother. As of today you will be my advisor and you and your family shall dwell within the palace walls forever protected by myself and the great warriors of Asgard. From this day on you will be recognized as Lord Daniel the Great, known for your intelligence, resilience, kindness and bravery. As every prominent figure of Asgard you will be recognized by your colors, royal blue which signifies all around greatness and gold which signifies courage. All of Asgard welcome, Lord Daniel the Great!" Odin bellowed as my father's already fancy outfit was turned to royal blue and gold. He then moved to stand on the step bellow Queen Frigga as King Odin ushered my mother forward. She kneeled in the space my father did and The King once again placed his staff on my mother's shoulder.
"Nancy Anne Ardini, daughter of Charles, wife of Daniel, you have assisted your husband in helping myself and my family in a myriad of ways for which I am forever grateful. You uphold yourself with a high level of decorum and grace, a true lady in all respects. You make a fine companion for my dear friend. From this day forward you shall be recognized as Lady Nancy the Elegant, known for your beauty, kindness and grace. Your colors shall be of the lightest purple signifying your refined and classic tastes and silver for your natural beauty inside and out. All of Asgard welcome, Lady Nancy the Elegant!" The crowd erupted into cheers and my mother stood on the step below my father and my sister took her place kneeling before the king.
I gulped nervously, realizing that I will be next. I wondered briefly what my title would be and what my colors would be, I hoped they weren't something awful, I mean, I have to wear them for the rest of my life and wear them proudly.
"Brittany Elizabeth Ardini, daughter of Daniel, I am forever surprised by your outstanding maturity for a girl of only 13 Midgardian years. A perfect mix of your mother and father, you are a great example for your family. I do not doubt that one day you will make a fine lady. I thank you for you actions in aiding me during my stay on Midgard and in return I place this title upon you. From this day on you shall be recognized as Lady Brittany the Superior known for your nobility, brilliance and wisdom. Your colors shall be rose, signifying your strong feminity and maternal nature and silver signifying your beauty. All of Asgard welcome Lady Brittany the Superior!" Brittany's dress turned to a rosy pink and ordonments of silver lined her hem and neck line, as well as her jewelry turning to silver. She got up and went to the other side of the stairs to stand below Prince Loki and Prince Thor. King Odin turned to me and my heart started pounding in my chest and I rose shakily to my feet and made my way to kneel in front of him. He gave me and kind smile and began his speech as he lightly rested Gungir on my shoulder.
"Brooke Marie Ardini, daughter of Daniel, you have proven yourself at such a young age and for that you are truly worthy of all that shall befall you in your life here in Asgard. I can see great things in your future young one. Never have I encountered a young girl with such strong convictions, intelligence and a kind heart. I shall be forever grateful for what you did on that fateful day in order to save my life. Truly, you are a role model to all other children in the nine realms. From this day forward you shall be recognized as Lady Brooke the Loyal, known for your just nature, your compassion, trust worthiness and fierce allegiance to your loved ones. Your colors shall be navy signifying your faithfulness and true self and silver signifying your innocent beauty. All of Asgard welcome Lady Brooke the Loyal!" King Odin offered me a hang and I took it as he helped me rise to my feet. Looking down I saw that my once light yellow dress was a deep navy blue and I had similar silver accents to my sister. I walked to my place a step below my sister and turned to see Val kneeling in front of Odin.
Val had been in the wrong place at the wrong time when Odin crash landed on our planet after a nasty fight with the frost giants. She had been staying over for the week while her parents and older brothers were visiting her brother's home country of Brazil. Val was adopted as where her brother's but she was from Texas not another country. When my dad found Odin and brought him back to our house me and Val had been terrified of him. But what can you expect from two eight year olds when a huge bearded man in shiny armor and an eye patch barges into their home while they are trying to watch The Lion King? But Odin stayed for a while and when that troop of dark elves found him here and attacked him in his wounded state me and Val had to help. And so we did. As my dad was actually fighting them along side Odin Val and I set up a trap for them to trip through, which gave my dad and Odin enough time to regain control and kill the creepy grey skinned elves.
Apparently Odin had given up an eyeball, hence the eye patch, so that he could see into people's true souls and get a glimpse of their future. He could see that everyone in my family was truly good and apparently worthy of Asgard. He also saw that nothing bad would come from us being made citizens of Asgard, and that me and Val would help postpone Ragnarok. Which was apparently the end of the world. So obviously he brought us here and now we would live in the palace for the rest of our lives as nobles. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me. Val unfortunately couldn't bring her parents and would never see them again but when Odin went to them to explain they wouldn't really say no. She was going to prevent the end of the world and would only do so if she was in Asgard, and because they love her they gave her up so she could have a better life. If you love something let it go.
"Vallory Mikecia Austin, daughter of Bradford and honorary member of the Ardini family, you like Brooke have proven yourself at a very young age. I am eternally impressed by your boundless courage and sacrifice for those you love. You truly know no fear. I believe you will make a fine warrior one day. You are a fine role model to all children of the nine realms. From this day on you shall be recognized as Lady Vallory the Dauntless known for your strength, fortitude and lion's heart. Your colors shall be a rich royal purple signifying your courage and selfless bravery and gold signifying your prowess and beauty as a lady and a warrior. All of Asgard, welcome Lady Vallory the Dauntless!" With that Val stood and her dress turned a deep violet with gold accents and she came to stand beside me on the step below my sister. She reached toward me and took my hand giving it an excited squeeze, I looked down at her, me being a couple of inches taller than her but infinitely more scrawny and she beamed at me. I smiled back nervously and we both looked forward out into the crowd as Odin stepped back and sat on his throne. He slammed Gungir on the floor and everyone fell silent.
"From the glistening eastern sea I give you Lady Brooke the Loyal! From the great western wood I give you Lady Vallory the Dauntless! From the majestic central mountains I give you Lady Brittany the Superior! From the radiant southern sun I give you Lady Nancy the Elegant! And from the clear northern sky I give you Lord Daniel the Great!" King Odin and Queen Frigga said in unison and the crowd erupted in cheers again.
"This is a day of great celebration! Let the feasting commence!" Odin boomed and everyone cheered as they left the great hall together. Once the last person was out and the guards stationed at the doors closed the huge golden doors behind them Odin and Frigga turned to us.
"My dear Midgardian friends I would like to introduce you to my sons, Thor and Loki." Odin told us while he gestured to the two boys standing above Brittany. My father walked toward them and shook their hands. The older boy, Prince Thor was about my sister's age and seemed extremely excited to have new people in the castle. But the younger boy, who looked to be about ten seemed really, well…bored. Thor stepped kissed my mother's hand and then my sister's and introduced himself with a wide charming smile. I wasn't surprised that my sister was completely unaffected by a really cute boy kissing her hand, she had always only liked boys who were much older than her. Which was good I guess because she was so stuffy and uptight for anyone under the age of 40 that she would probably eat a boy her age alive. Thor seemed a little put out by my sister's uninterested expression but he smiled widely again when he reached Val and Val beamed at him. "Hi, I'm Val!" She said enthusiastically and all the adults looked on with fond expressions. Grownups always though me and Val's over friendliness was cute and apparently Thor was like that too. "Hello, Val. I am Thor, god of thunder!" He told her loudly and she raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "But your just a kid, you don't look like a god of anything to me." Talk about kids say the darndest things. All the grownups, including my sister because she might as well be one, laughed at Val and Thor's behavior. I looked over to see Loki smirking as Thor's charming smile faltered. "Well I am, and you'll see one day, I will be king!" Thor protested in something that sounded quite a bit like a whine. "Whatever you say." Val said with a shrug.
This seemed to appease Thor because he grabbed Val's hand and kissed it and he wasn't even the slightest bit offended when she grimaced and wiped her hand on her dress. Thor then turned to me and took my hand in his much bigger one. He wasn't very tall, more stocky than anything and his blonde hair fell in his really blue eyes, he was really cute and my stomach fluttered a little when he raised my hand to his lips. "I am Thor, prince of Asgard." He said and I smiled widely at the fact that he didn't say he was a god. Because I agreed with Val, he was just a little boy; he didn't look like the god of anything to me. "I'm Brooke." I told him and he grinned, clearly happy that I didn't blatantly insult him the first time we met like Val did.
I stood by and watched as Loki kissed everyone's hand and said in a very quiet voice that he was Loki. I noticed that he never once told anyone what he was the god of and it made me wonder. He finally came to me and shyly took my hand in his. "It is very nice to make your acquaintance I am Loki." He told me in a voice barely over a whisper. I noticed that he had really green eyes, and I wondered if his green outfit made them look even greener than they already were. I also noticed that he looked nothing like his parents or Thor. They all had blonde hair, tan skin and sky blue eyes, while he was pale, with dark green eyes and black hair. He was also taller and skinnier than his brother, which was interesting because I knew Thor to be older than Loki.
"What are you the god of?" I asked him and I could see all the grownups turn to us and grin. Val and Thor were too busy sharing scary stories to notice. Loki looked shocked, he blinked and stared at me. "I'm gonna guess it has something to do with being really quiet." I observed. He shook his head and looked down. "No, I'm the god of mischief and lies." He said quietly. I pursed my lips. "So do you play a lot of pranks and lie a lot?" I asked. He nodded sheepishly. I smiled but he didn't see since he was still staring at his shoes. "I lie a lot too…my second grade teacher called me a liar. She wasn't very nice. I once told my whole class that I had a whole stable of horses that I bred myself. And that I was on the titanic. They didn't believe me, I guess I'm not a very good liar." I told him. He looked up surprised and studied my face for a moment. He then surprised me by smiling widely. "I'm Brooke by the way." I told him and he grinned and kissed my hand. "Do you want to be my friend?" I asked him and he seemed shocked. He pointed to himself. "You…want to by my friend?" He asked me and I saw Queen Frigga grin out of the corner of my eye. "Yup." I said
"Me and not Thor?" He asked shocked. I shrugged, not really sure what this had to do with Thor. "Um, I guess Thor can be my friend too, Val and him are clearly already good friends…" I said gesturing to where they stood laughing and talking. "But I wanna know if you want to be my friend." I said turning back to face him. His cheeks reddened a lot and he nodded shyly while looking at the floor. I grabbed his hand and tugged him along toward Val and Thor. "Were are we going?" He asked me, alarmed. "To see if Val and Thor wanna play!" I said with a look that clearly read that it was obvious what we were doing.
We stopped in front of Val and Thor. "And then my father grabbed the back of the dwarf's head and sliced it clean off!" Thor shouted, gesturing widely and pretending to wield a sword. Val laughed and clapped at his story and he grinned. He looked to us then and his eyes zeroed in on Loki's hand that was still wrapped around mine.
A wide smirk covered his face and he looked up to Loki. Loki clearly sensing where this conversation was going practically ripped his hand from my own. "I see you have yourself a lady friend, Loki. I am surprised at you…This seems like something Fandral would do not you." Thor said. Loki glared at him and crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh please, Thor." He said with a roll of his eyes and an air of indifference. I frowned as I watched him look at his golden cuff links like they were far more interesting than me.
"Let us go, children. The feast is starting." Queen Frigga told us as she herded us down the hall and out the door. As we walked toward to large ballroom were the feasting would be held I kept glancing at Loki and wondering why he would change his mind about being my friend so quickly. It was obvious that Thor had just been teasing and didn't mean any harm in his words. But Loki had taken them so seriously and felt the need to make it obvious he would never like me like that. He caught me glancing at him as we entered the hall and I was mortified when the queen showed me to my seat and it was next to Thor and directly across from Loki. We sat at the high table with Odin at the head and Queen Frigga and my dad on either side of him. My mom sat next to my dad and Loki next to her and then my sister on her other side. Thor sat next to Frigga and I next to him and Val sat next to me. I knew right then that this was going to be very awkward with Loki sitting across from me at all meals every day, unless I confronted him about this and he wasn't mean.
Having had dinner in Asgard the night before I wasn't really surprised at the rich and fancy food that was laid before us. But unlike last night we were each given a serving of Idunna's apples. The apples that made the people of Asgard god's. They tasted amazing, unlike anything I'd ever had before.
From then on we sat and listened to Odin tell us the history of Asgard while Thor and Loki looked like they wanted to die of boredom. The second Odin paused to ask a servant for a new mug of ale, Thor jumped up. "Father, can Loki and I take Val and Brooke to meet our friends?!" He asked excitedly. Odin chuckled and nodded and Thor practically ripped me and Val out of our seats as Loki followed with a relieved look on his face.
Thor's grip on my hand almost hurt, I could tell that this boy didn't know his own strength at all. We stopped on a large balcony overlooking a court yard garden. Thor led us down the winding stair case that led to the garden and I could see a group of kids gathered there, it looked as if they were fighting.
"Fandral! Sif! Volstagg! Hogun! My friends!" Thor shouted as he entered the garden. Val and I stayed back as Thor got their attention. I glanced backward and saw Loki leaning against the railing of the stairs, even father back than me and Val were standing. Wasn't he their friend too?
"Thor!" The kids yelled in unison. They all dropped their wooden weapons and ran to him, giving him hugs and that weird arm grab thing that boys did here.
I could actually see their faces now that they were in the light that poured out from the balcony into the garden. One boy who looked to be the oldest at around 15 or 16 was almost growing facial hair and he was really tall and fat with curly red hair. Next to him was another teenage boy that looked Asian with a bun at the back of his head and dressed in all black with chrome armor and then the two other kids who looked to be around Thor's age turned towards us and smiled. One was a boy with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes and the other was a girl with long curly blonde hair and brown eyes.
"Brooke, Val…this is Sif," Thor said gesturing to the blonde girl and she smiled and waved. I smiled back as did Val and then Thor turned to the blonde boy. "This is Fandral." He told us, Fandral winked at me and Val and I couldn't help but giggle. I noticed then that Loki had come to stand beside me and I watched as he rolled his eyes at how me and Val had giggled. I decided to ignore that. "This is Volstagg." Thor said and the big fat redheaded boy grinned and bowed at us. "And Hogun." The Asian one just waved.
"Can you fight?" The girl asked as she stepped forward and help a wooden sword out to Val and me, handle towards us. Val grinned and nodded taking the sword in her hand. Sif then looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I blushed deeply and shook my head no. She sighed and turned to Val with a grin. They started talking about fighting techniques and Sif was showing Val how to use the sword. The other boys joined in almost immediately and I was left standing off to the side with Loki, not knowing what to do.
"You don't fight either?" I asked Loki. He was practically glaring at his brother and their friends. I was starting to think that maybe they weren't really Loki's friends after all.
"I do, just not the way they do." Loki said haughtily while crossing his arms over his chest. I wasn't quite sure what that meant but I decided to just leave it be, he didn't really seem to be in the mood to talk.
We watched in silence as Thor and his friends showed Val how to fight and started sparring. It was kinda awkward and my legs were getting tired so I finally sat down. I looked up and saw Loki staring at me with wide eyes. "What? I'm tired of standing, aren't you?" I asked.
He gaped at me. "But your dress…ladies aren't supposed to dirty their clothes." He told me in a rude tone. I scoffed. "Well I'm a girl not a lady and I don't care." I told him in a clipped tone.
He sat down beside me much more gracefully than I had just done. He looked at me with a critical gaze for a moment before saying. "You're strange."
"Thanks." I replied with a smile. He looked at me like I was the dumbest person he'd ever met in his entire life. "That was not a compliment."
I laughed out loud at that one. "I know." I told him with a grin. He rolled his eyes and gave me a your-weirdo-idiot look. A look I was very familiar with receiving.