Prologue

Fallen from Grace

"Oh, bloody bilgesnipe," Odin muttered distastefully as he sat on his throne.

His one eye surveyed the four figures before him as they approached. Two were guards, flanking the other two figures. And the other two figures… were the princes of Asgard, Thor and Loki. They were slouched and limping, but there were sheepish grins on their faces. They were covered in filth, their skin marred with innumerable tiny cuts, and their hair and clothes were mussed.

Odin sighed as the guards escorted them to the base of the steps up to the throne, and then left the two princes standing by themselves, not looking up to meet their father's gaze. The king shook his head. Their appearances perfectly matched that of the havoc they had wreaked this time…

The throne room was trashed. There were cracks in the marble floor, and the curtains that had once framed the windows were now either in heaps on the floor or hanging haphazardly from the wall. The windows themselves were cracked or smashed. The throne itself was fine… but only because Odin had ordered that it immediately be cleaned and set upright once again that morning. The rest of the palace was in a similar condition… utterly wrecked. And the culprits currently stood before the king, unabashed grins on their royal faces.

Odin merely surveyed them for a moment. He knew they would not regret their actions… they never regretted their actions. Not in all the times he had scolded them and demand they change their behavior… never once had they cared. Yes, this had happened before… countless times. And the Allfather had had enough of it. He had had enough of his sons' antics. And simply confining them to their quarters would not do… something more had to be done about Thor and Loki's troublemaking.

"Thor, Loki, what do you have to say for yourselves?" he boomed out finally, unable to contain his rage anymore.

Thor winced at his father's loud voice. "Please, Father, not so loud… my head still hurts from the ale last night."

"As it should!" Odin said bitterly. "Now what have you to say for yourselves?"

Loki smirked. "At least this time the ceiling didn't collapse?" he suggested with a wicked grin.

Thor guffawed, and Loki winced.

"Really, brother, laugh a little quieter; my head hurts, too," Loki muttered, rubbing his temples.

Odin glared. "I am putting a stop to this terrible behavior right now," he spat.

Loki and Thor exchanged smirks. "What is it this time?" Thor sighed. "Perhaps the dungeons?"

"Odin growled. "I have had enough of your flippant remarks and unruly behavior… I am not going to put up with this any longer. I have decided that you two shall no longer be my problem."

The brothers raised their eyebrows curiously. Their father had never said anything like this before… what was he planning, exactly? Surely nothing that would actually put a stop to their antics for good?

Odin, a short time later, was leading the princes into the Observatory on the Rainbow Bridge. He greeted Heimdall with a curt nod. Heimdall nodded gravely back, already aware of the king's plan for the ornery princes. The princes, confused, exchanged looks before returning their gazes to their father.

Odin sighed irately and glared at his disrespectful heirs.

"You will learn to fend for yourselves. You will learn to not always live so frivolously, my sons." Odin paused and sighed. "I am banishing you both to Midgard until I see fit."

Thor and Loki blinked in shock. They looked at each other, their heads suddenly clear and all symptoms of their hangover forgotten.

"You're banishing us to Midgard?" Thor exclaimed. "You cannot—"

"I can, and I am," Odin snapped, cutting off his son's protest. "Furthermore, you shall not have your godly powers or strength. You shall have no memory of your life here. You will live as humans. You will make your own living, and bail yourselves out of trouble instead of relying on me," he growled. "I, Odin Allfather, hereby take away your power… and cast you out!"

There was a flash of blinding multicolored light as Heimdall activated the Byfrost, and the princes disappeared, still stunned, and no longer of god status. But then they were gone, sucked into the portal to their new lives.

"Are you sure these measures are wise, Allfather?" Heimdall asked in his rumbling voice as the light faded.

Odin sighed regretfully. "It is the only way… they shall still have each other. They will recall their brotherhood bond. They shall have their friendship… they shall have their personalities. They shall have their skills. They shall just not have their powers or memories of Asgard."

Heimdall chuckled humorlessly. "They're going to die, my king." He shook his head and turned his gaze on the realm of the humans.

The two ex-gods and princes had landed, confused and disoriented, in a grassy field not far from a town, and close to the dark, cold sea. Their clothes had been replaced with that of the mortals', and they did not appear to be angry… merely confused. The two glanced at each other and grinned.

"Don't remember what happened last night, do you, Loki?" Thor asked brightly, shaking his head and standing. He wore a shirt of red cloth and pants of tan material. A wooden mallet swung from the belt at his waist rather than the mighty Mjolnir.

Loki hummed in assent and stood as well. He wore a green shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and black pants and a black vest. "No, don't recall in the least… Though I'm guessing it involved ale."

"Well, Loki, what's the plan for today?" Thor asked with a yawn.

Loki frowned and rubbed his chin. "I don't know… swindling, I'd suppose… we don't have any money, do we?"

The two checked their pockets. Nothing.

"Yes, I'd say perhaps we should swindle someone into giving us a bit of loot," Loki nodded.

Heimdall sighed and returned his gaze to Asgard. "Bad news, my king… they have not seemed to have lost their taste for tricking and joking. I believe they have now given a new meaning to the phrase 'thick as thieves'. They have landed in Scandinavia… and they seem to think they are con artists."

Odin scoffed. "We'll see just how long they last before they learn a little humility, Gatekeeper." He swept out of the Observatory with that last statement, and went back to the palace.

Heimdall decided he should keep an eye on the ex-princes… they were bound to get into trouble... and lots of it.

Note from LoquaciousQuibbler: Hello, all This story is being published after my best friend and I discussed at length how much Loki and Thor are like our two favorite con artists from The Road to El Dorado, Miguel and Tulio. We've all seen those hilarious Facebook/Tumblr posts about it… But I was shocked to find that (as far as I know) there is no actual fan fiction on it. So, behold! The Road to Asgard.

This fic will mainly be The Road to El Dorado movie, in a written work, with everything Norse-ified, and characters from Avengers taking the place of characters from the movie.

I hope you all will enjoy it… please favorite, follow, and review.