So this is the prologue for Marvel: The Casket. Yes, it's another AU about for Marvel: Again, that story will be under hiatus until further notice. Marvel: Behind Closed Doors will be updated soon, but probably not for a few days. Also, reviews are seriously appreciated, so long as they offer constructive criticism and/or encouragement, NOT flames. All flames will be deleted on sight PERIOD.
So, here we go.
. . .
Prologue
"When I'm a king... I'll hunt the monsters down, and slay them all!"
"And would that include me?" Loki wanted to ask when he heard those words come out of his brother's mouth. But he kept his mouth shut. The truth must be kept secret.
He remembered the horrified and concerned look on his mother's face when Loki came racing in, crying. He had been practicing a shape-shifting spell and it had failed. Instead of turning him into a frog like he wanted to (so he could hop into Sif's bedchambers and scare the living daylights out of her), he had unknowingly stripped himself of the cloaking spell that hid his Jotun form.
Frigga restored the disguise, but warned him not to tell anyone. Not even Thor. For everyone's safety, it had to remain secret.
You would "slay" me, wouldn't you? You would cut me down mercilessly if you knew what-no, who I am.
. . .
Many years later...
"Where is he?" Odin demanded. Of course, Thor was late for his coronation. Of all times...
"He said he'd be along," Loki replied, feeling excitement as well as dread. Soon they will see he is not ready.
Sif realised what was going on and shook her head, amused.
"What?" Volstagg was completely clueless.
"He wants to make an entrance," Sif told him.
"Well, if he doesn't show up soon, he shouldn't bother. Odin looks like he's ready to feed him to his ravens," Fandral joked, smirking in amusement. Odin did look pretty pissed at the moment.
"I wouldn't worry. Father will forgive him. He always does," Loki said.
Thor's famous hammer Mjolnir roared into the room at incalculable speeds. Then the man himself proudly strutted in and easily caught his hammer. He did some silly spinning of the hammer, getting the crowd wild.
"Oh, please," Sit muttered with amusement.
Loki pressed his lips into a thin line as he considered his next move. He focused his powers on the portal outside the Vault. Just a little more...
Thor, finishing his display of prowess, marched up to the front of the room and knelt down. Odin struck Gungnir upon the floor, bringing the audience to attention. "Gungnir. Its aim is true, its power strong. With it I have defended Asgard and the lives of the innocent across the Nine Realms since the time of the Great Beginning. And though the day has come for a new King to wield his own weapon - that duty remains the same.
"Thor Odinson, my heir, my long entrusted with this mighty hammer, Mjolnir. Forged in the heart of a dying star, from the sacred metal of Uru. Only one may lift it. Only one is worthy. Who wields this hammer commands the lightning and the storm. Its power has no equal - as a weapon, to destroy, or as a tool, to build. It is a fit companion for a King.
"Today I entrust you with the greatest honor in all the Nine Realms. The sacred throne of Asgard. I have sacrificed much to achieve peace. So, too, must a new generation sacrifice to maintain that peace. Responsibility, duty, honor. These are not merely virtues to which we must aspire. They are essential to every soldier and to every King. Thor Odinson, do you swear to guard the Nine Realms?"
"I swear," Thor replied, his excitement growing. He had waited for this day for a long time.
"Do you swear to preserve the peace?"
"I swear."
"Do you swear to cast aside all selfish ambition and pledge yourself only to the good of all the Realms?"
There was a slight hesitation from Thor. He replied a little loudly, "I swear!"
"Then on this day, I, Odin Allfather, proclaim you-" Odin stopped speaking, staring at the ice that was spreading through the room. "Frost giants..."
Loki tried not to smirk at his dirty work. Phase one of my plan is complete...
. . .
Thor raced to the Vault, heart racing. Of all the days...
When he entered the sacred room, he stopped short. The guards bodies lay strewn on the floor, along with that of the Jotuns. And the Casket was gone.
The Destroyer stood in the center of the room, staring at the carnage.
Sif, the Warriors Three, and Loki hurried in behind Thor and stopped short. Loki stepped up next to his raging brother hesitantly. Then he noticed the Casket's absence. Loki's heart sunk. The Frost Giants were just supposed to ruin his brother's big day, not actually get their hands on the Casket. What have I done?
Odin stepped in behind the other Asgardians as the Destroyer stomped back to its post.
"The Jotuns must pay for what they've done!" Thor roared. "We must march into Jotunheim! Take back the Casket, teach them a lesson!"
"I have a truce with Laufey, the Jotun King," Odin told him firmly. "This was an act of but a few. We will retrieve the Casket, but not through war."
"He just broke your truce! He just wanted us to think that this was an act of just a few insignificant Frost Giants!"
Odin turned to Sif and the Warriors Three. "Leave us."
With some hesitation, Thor's comrades left.
Odin eyed Thor, as Loki stared at the pedestal where the Casket had once been. What have I done? This wasn't supposed to happen... should I tell them- no, no, no... I could be punished for treason. But I must do something...
"And what action would you take?" Odin asked Thor.
"March into Jotunheim as you once did, teach them a lesson, break their spirits so they'll never dare try to cross our borders again!"
"You're thinking only as a warrior!"
"As King of Asgard, I would-"
"You are not King!" Odin roared. He paused, trying to contain his anger. "Not yet."
Thor stormed out of the room in a fit of rage and soon found himself in the banguet hall. Anger pulsing through him, Thor violently tipped over one of the massive tables. Food spilled all over the floor, thoroughly soiling it.
Sif, Fandral, and Hogun followed Volstagg as he entered in search of his dinner. He was sorely disappointed to find his dinner on the floor.
"Redecorating, are we?" Sif asked.
Volstagg stared the overturned table, horrified. "What's this - ?!"
"I told you they'd cancel it," Hogun said with some amusement.
"We thought that was just you being your normal cheery self." Fandral seemed to find the whole food debacle funny, while poor Volstagg was clearly feeling the opposite.
"All this food - so innocent, cast to the ground," Volstagg spoke in sadness. "It breaks the heart!"
Thor stomped away from them to the far end of the room. Loki walked in, feeling rather ill. What am I going to do now?
"It's unwise to be in my company right now, my friends," Thor said, his back to them.
"If it's any consolation, I think you're right. About the Frost Giants, about Laufey, everything," Loki told his brother, approaching him slowly. "With the Casket in their hands, they could destroy Asgard. Bring the Nine Realms into another war."
"Yes exactly!" Thor exclaimed, turning to his brother.
Loki swallowed hard, pulling himself together to make his proposal. "We must go to Jotunheim. Take the Casket back. If we are left at war with Jotunheim, then so be it, but I'd say it is a lot less costly than what might happen if we just sit here and twiddle our thumbs."
Thor thought this over a moment. "You know this means we would be defying father, correct?"
"I am aware of that."
"And that we will most likely die in trying to get the Casket back?"
"I know that too."
"And that our deaths will most likely follow long and very painful torture?"
"Tell me something that I don't already know, brother."
Thor smiled. "Then we shall do it."
"Excuse me?!" Sif glared at Loki, then at Thor, and back at Loki again. "Thor, of all the laws of Asgard, this is one you must not break."
"We're going to Jotunheim," Thor said simply.
"This isn't like a journey to Earth, where you summon a little lightning and thunder and the mortals worship you as a god," Fandral told them. "This is Jotunheim."
"We're going to Jotunheim," Thor repeated.
"And if the Frost Giants don't kill you, your Father will!" Volstagg was itching to get back into the fighting game, but this...
"My father fought his way into Jotunheim, defeated their armies, and took their Casket!" Thor roared. "We would be taking back what is ours!"
"It is forbidden!" Sif knew that when Thor set his mind to something, he'd do it. But it didn't hurt to try and talk him out of it. Well, unless one were to end up on the wrong side of his beloved Mjolnir.
"My friends, have you forgotten all that we've done together?" He turned to Fandral. "Who brought you into the sweet embrace of the most exotic maidens in all of Yggdrasil?"
"You did," Fandral replied, remembering that day fondly... and then fantasizing about the rather rowdy night that followed.
"Who led you into the most glorious of battles," Thor asked Hogun and Volstagg respectively, "and to delicacies so succulent, you thought you'd died and gone to Valhalla?"
"You did," the two warriors said simutaneously.
"And who proved wrong all who scoffed at the idea that a young maiden could be one of the fiercest warriors this Realm has ever known?" Thor asked Sif.
"I did," Sif replied as a matter of factly.
"True, but I supported you. My friends, trust me now. We must do this. Come on. You're not going to let my brother and me take all the glory, are you?"
"Then I will fight beside you, my friends!" Volstagg declared proudly.
"And I," Fandral said.
"And I," said Hogun. "The Warriors Three fight together."
"I fear we'll live to regret this," Sif muttered, sighing resignedly. Another day, another battle.