~1 The Planes Walker~

Heimdall looked out upon the vastness of space as he contemplated what his late queen had asked of him. It had been right before the Dark Elves attacked. She had come to Heimdall late one evening in need of someone to talk to.

"My queen," Heimdall nodded in respect as she entered the bifrost. He knew why she was here, he had of course seen it, and he knew Frigga and Loki still talked to each other through their magic.

"Good evening Heimdall, how do you fare?" she answered him with a greeting of her own. Heimdall was almost surprised, most asked after the stars, yet his queen saw the person, saw him, just as she did with all she came into contact with.

"I am well." He smiled, "But I think it may be I who is to ask that. How do you fare my queen?" she sighed deeply before answering.

"My son is being difficult." She looked to Heimdall who only waited, "It helps not that the Allfather treats him like a wild animal. I think even he's even begun to believe it." She said softly.

"Loki is a criminal." Hiemdall offered, and Frigga smiled softly.

"Yes, and he is also my son, despite what he thinks. I have come to ask you for help Heimdall, I fear my son has lost all hope," Heimdall nodded in agreement.

"What would you require of me?"

"I am not as farseeing as you are. I need you to send this to Midgard, to one who has hope to share. One who is empathetic and is not easily corrupted."

"What is it that you ask me to send? There are ten Trillion souls out there and many are of the description you gave, what are you planning? Why to Midgard when you know the Midgardians won't welcome him?"

"I cannot reach Loki, but I believe there is someone out there who can connect with him in a way I cannot, and I know they are on Midgard. however I am unable to pinpoint their exact location, this," she held up a small bag made of a rich blue velvet. "Hold's the memory's Loki has shared with me. Send them where they need to be and the one who they are intended for will find them. One more thing I ask of you, that when the time is right, send Loki to the same place." Heimdall raised an eyebrow.

"Would it not be wiser to send this person to Asgard? Loki would wreak havoc upon the Midgardians if he were set loose there." Heimdall responded.

"Odin Would never allow that. However I will talk to him. For my Sons sake I must try."Frigga answered. Frigga never got the chance however, as not long after the Dark Elves were upon them.

And now the time was drawing near, it was some weeks after the events surrounding the Convergence and the Dark Elves. And though Loki was clever and could conceal much, he could not hide everything. Heimdall knew the Odin on the throne to be false. The real Odin having been sent by Loki to Svartalfheim, the dark world, Odin however made it back to Asgard, though the trip took much of his energy. Now with his strength returned he would retake what was his.

Heimdall had seen Frigga's bag picked up by a young Midgardian woman, and though he had little faith in Frigga's plan He would keep his promise. With a very small sense of urgency (He had no great love for the trickster,) Heimdall turned and made his way back to the golden city.

Loki sat on his throne as Odin, watching as a cloaked figure walked toward the throne. Most likely another peasant with a complaint, oh how he wished he could do away with all the bothersome peasants. But that was not at all "Odin-like" and if he wanted to keep his throne, he had to keep up this utterly boring façade.

"I would ask to have back what is mine," The cloaked man said with authority, his voice making Loki slightly apprehensive. "But I know you will not give it willingly, Loki." He finished lowering his hood to reveal himself to his estranged son.

"Odin," Loki growled, as he let his illusion fade, revealing his true form, his green eyes shone with hate at the man standing in front of him.

"Did you think I would not return?" Odin asked.

"I did not believe you would return so quickly." Loki replied descending from the throne and leveling his spear at Odin. Odin reached out and smiled, the spear in Loki's hand disappearing for an instant, reappearing in Odin's hand.

"You cannot threaten me with what is mine." Odin chided. "Now to end this," he pointed the spear at Loki, yellow energy building at the point. Loki glared on in silence.

"Hold Allfather!" a deep voice rang through the large nearly empty throne room. With long strides Heimdall made his way to where Odin and Loki stood,

"What is the meaning of this Heimdall?" Odin snapped.

"My king," Heimdall bowed, and then grabbed Loki's arm so he wouldn't disappear. "Frigga requested I send Loki to Midgard."

"What?" Both Odin and Loki cried astonished. Odin recovered quickly enough to add,

"Frigga is dead."

"This request came before the dark elves attacked, she told me to wait until the time is right. And the time is now."

"I will not set this monster loose on the innocents of Midgard!" Odin replied.

"I understand, my king, however Frigga felt there was another fate for her son, and that perhaps he would find it there." Odin sighed and thought a moment.

" I do not like it, but I will honor Frigga's memory. However" And Odin glared at Loki. "I take from you, your power, as I did to Thor so long ago, with one exception. Though it is a small mercy, you will be able to alter your appearance to hide from any Midgardains who may recognize you. Now you will be like them, and Loki if you ever come back, I do not guarantee your safety or a warm welcome." Odin said. "Take him away."

As Heimdall lead him out of the throne room, the palace, out of the City of Asgard, Loki could only look on numbly. Not because of what Odin did, but because of what Frigga had done. Even after her death she was still looking out for him. He knew she had loved him till the end, and now he knew that he was truly alone.

"Loki," Heimdall broke into his thoughts, he looked up and tried to recover his calm and disinterested manner.

"What?" By now they bifrost was running and about to bridge the gap between worlds.

"I thought it only fair to warn you the Chitauri have begun their search for you. So think on that before you draw attention to yourself on Midgard." With that Heimdall shoved Loki into the portal.

It was quiet in the small one bedroom, New York apartment. The sun was beginning to stream in through the windows, when a loud and piercing beep woke Kera from sleep. She growled as she shut her alarm clock off, but immediately smiled as she rolled out of bed and bounded to the bathroom. It was a going to be a good day! Today she had a tournament to go to! She looked in the mirror and saw that her shoulder length brown hair looked more like a lion's mane.

"Well Ajani would be proud!" she muttered as she splashed water into her face to help wake her up. Her brown eyes shone with humor as she tamed her bed head and got ready for the day. By the time she had changed she was wearing her favorite black Zelda t-shirt and blue jeans. She found and equipped her tennis shoes and then went to grab her two favorite Magic the Gathering decks and her bag of dice. She then ate breakfast, threw the stuff she wanted to take to the tournament into a bag and headed out the door.

It was a brisk spring morning in New York as Kera navigated the paths through Central Park as she headed to her favorite game store. The streets as usual were already crowded at ten in the morning as she emerged from the park and crossed the street. As she looked north she could see Stark Tower in the distance. She wondered what Iron Man was up to, nothing much had happened since the attack four years ago. But she quickly put that out of her mind as she entered the store. It was time to prepare for battle.

"Morning Jake." she called to the store owner, Jake looked up from the register and smiled. He was slightly taller than Kera, and had short dark hair and the hint of a beard on his chin. He wore a red t shirt and blue jeans.

"Morning," he called back. "You do know the Tourney isn't for another three hours right?"

"Yeah I like to show up early, might buy some booster packs or whatever." She smiled.

"Well Zack and Brian are in the back, they're honing their decks right now. Oh hey! There's a new guy back there as well, said he wanted to build an army. Wanna Show him the ropes?"

"Sounds fun, does he have a deck?"

"Not yet, said he wanted to observe, I have a few you could borrow, if you need an extra." Jake offered.

"Nah I brought two with me. I'll see ya in a bit for those booster packs." Kera said as she made her way to the tournament area in the back of the store.

She saw Zack and Brain at one of the many tables already deep in play, as Brian looked up, he waved at her, Zack turned to wave as he saw Brian was greeting someone. It was then she noticed the tall man standing at the end of the table watching the game intently, he had short red-blonde hair and a neatly trimmed beard. He was dressed in a casual light blue-grey suit, and looked to be of lean build. He stood with an air of authority and when he turned to look at her, she immediately noticed his piercing green eyes.

"Hello," She said as she came to stand by the newcomer, she smiled at him and then turned to see what was happening between Brian and Zack.

Loki watched the girl as she stood next to him. Surprised she was standing so near, most knew to avoid him, even the merchant that owned this shop and the two he was watching only engaged him if he spoke first. Yet she seemed completely at ease while she stood with folded arms watching the game, wait, no, not completely, Loki saw her tense up ever so slightly, she knew he was watching her. But she was trying not to notice.

"Good, let the mortal squirm." He thought, suddenly one of the young men moaned, and Loki looked back to the table. The girl laughed as she looked to the young man, Brian, yes that is what the others had called him.

"Really Brian, a hydra?" she asked, the youth had a smirk on his face.

"Well of course! You know I love to run hydras in my deck!" he replied.

"Good luck defending against that beast, Zack."

"No kidding" Zack mumbled.

"So," she said after a moment of silence. "Jake mentioned you were interested in learning to play?" she asked, turning to Loki. He looked back to her as he responded.

"It appears intriguing, But I do not own any cards," he wondered why she was engaging him in conversation, since none of the others had yet to do so. Part of him was annoyed that she was so forward and hoped that this was the end of their conversation, but the other part of him enjoyed being treated like a person.

"Oh that's not a problem," she said with a smile, "I brought an extra deck with me." Loki gave her a half smile,

"Well then, why not?"

"Great!" The girl pointed out a table a small distance from the game that was in progress, and took a seat, Loki sat across from her. "Oh, I'm Kera by the way." She introduced herself, as she opened the bag she had brought with her. When Loki wasn't forthcoming she asked, "What should I call you?"

"Tobias, call me Tobias." He answered, she nodded and looking into the bag, pulled out two small boxes and a small drawstring bag. She looked back down into the bigger bag, a look of amusement on her face.

"Why you sly trickster!" She said amused.

"What?" Loki asked. How had she known?

"It looks like my Jace deck was in here as well," she said pulling out a blue box. Loki nearly sighed in relief but managed instead to look amused.

"Is that good?" he asked. She shrugged,

"I have never been great with that deck, but hey it's another option, so which deck would you like to use? This one," She pointed to the one on the left. "Uses cat people, and focuses on dealing damage and gaining life, this one" she pointed to the middle, "Uses wolves, and focuses on making the Pack stronger, and this guy," she pointed to the one called Jace's deck."This deck focuses on using manipulation and illusions to mess with your opponents."

"I will use Jace's deck." He answered taking the deck.

"Cool, I'll use the cats!" She opened the small pouch and let the contents spill onto the table, revealing dice of different shapes and colors. She then began to explain the game and it wasn't long before they were playing.

"So who exactly is Jace?" Loki asked, placing Jace onto the battlefield.

Kera looked up at her opponent a look of surprise on her face.

"You got your Planes Walker already? Sheesh Whenever I use that deck Jace is burdened with glorious purpose." Loki Looked the girl in the eye, trying to figure out if he had seen her before, but no He was sure he would have recognized her if he'd had. Thinking he should say something he raised an eyebrow.

"Planes Walker?"

"Oh sorry," Kera shook her head trying to get over her surprise. "To answer you first question Jace is a Master of magic and illusions. He's also a Planes Walker, Which means he has the ability to travel to different worlds on his own."

"I see," Loki answered, he then played another card taking control of Kera's creatures and attacked with them. Kera smiled and sat back in her chair,

"Well Played Tobias, that's game. You sure you haven't played before?"

"No, this is my first time." He smiled back at her as he gathered the cards. Her friendly nature almost contagious. He offered the deck back to her. She held up a hand to stop him.

"Keep it, You're obviously a master of magic, and I never could quite get the hang of it."

"Thank you." Was she always this kind?

Kera noticed that Tobias looked at her slightly confused, as if he wasn't used to being given gifts. Kera gave him a lopsided grin as she put her deck away.

"Besides, I want to battle you again, I need the practice against that kind of deck, since you know what you're doing, Jace's better off with you." She began putting dice back into her bag. It was then Loki noticed the velvet blue bag.

"Where did you get that?" he asked, indicating the bag.

"Actually I found it a few months ago. Out in the park, it's beautiful isn't it?"

"Very," it reminded him of Something his mother once had owned, but it couldn't be the same one could it?

"Tobias?" Kera broke him from his reverie.

"Yes?"He looked into her brown eyes. She held out her hand, trying not to be unnerved by his intense green eyes.

"It was nice to meet you, and good game." He took her hand and shook it, she felt something like a shock occur when their hands met but chocked it up to her nerves. Loki also felt the shock but didn't really notice it, as he was still trying to figure out if she was really sincere. Suddenly the merchants voice broke into his thoughts.

"Okay anyone participating in the Tourney come sign up!" he called.

"I'll see you around Tobias, if you have any more questions for the game I'll be there for you." Kera said to him as she headed over to the merchant.