~.~

PROLOGUE

~.~

For as long as the world has existed, there has been Asgard.

A shimmering kingdom, in a world that exists alongside our own, that looks down on us with silent, watchful eyes; guarding and protecting us.

The nine realms have always existed.

And although they have faded away into man's legends and myths, it stills exists, and always will.

As will the celestial beings that inhabit it...

Guardians and protectors...

For humans were never meant to cross into Asgard...

~.~

CHAPTER ONE: How It All Began

~.~

THEN

Jenna Campbell was only an intern at S.H.I.E.L.D when it all began.

She was nineteen; young, naive, but smart as a whip and determined to make something of herself.

And she had her uncle to help her.

Michael Linden was Jenna's uncle and legal guardian. He was also referred to as "S.H.I.E.L.D's head case."

Linden was eccentric, to be sure, but there was a method to his madness.

There was always a purpose to everything he did.

That was why he created The Machine.

He, like his niece, had always been fascinated by the prospect of other worlds existing alongside our own.

So he opened a gateway between them.

~.~

"Uncle, are you aware of how crazy this sounds?" Jenna asked her uncle as he led her eagerly toward the large contraption in the centre of the lab; which basically looked like a gigantic iron hula hoop.

"Yes, of course I am," Michael retorted, annoyed. "But just trust me on this. I've finally perfected it! In mere moments, the two of us will step through this thing...into another realm!"

Jenna raised an eyebrow, clearly still skeptical.

"I will prove it to you!" Michael added enthusiastically, gesturing to The Machine dramatically.

Jenna just sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Are you absolutely certain that this thing works?" she asked.

"Positive," Michael said with a nod. "It has passed every cross-check and triple-check I've put it through. This baby is raring to go!"

Jenna couldn't help but chuckle a little at that.

"Well...if you're absolutely sure that it won't kill us..." she conceded, following her uncle up onto the platform of The Machine.

"Don't fret," he said simply, grinning. "It's perfectly safe."

So saying, he pulled the main switch on the panel attached to The Machine, and suddenly the massive ring began crackling with electricity; exuding blue light.

"Here we go!" Michael sang out as he and Jenna were pulled into the portal with sudden force.

Jenna squeezed her eyes shut.

When she opened them again, she found herself standing on a bridge, constructed of what appeared to be crystal; that reflected rainbow colours in the light.

The bridge led to a shining golden castle overlooking an ocean, and a glistening kingdom below.

Jenna gasped in awe.

"Spectacular, isn't it?" Michael said from beside her, clearly as struck as she was.

"What is this place?" Jenna asked breathlessly.

"The realm eternal," Michael responded. "Asgard."

Jenna's breath caught in her throat.

"Uncle..." she said softly. "It's even more beautiful than I imagined it would be..."

Michael just nodded happily.

Suddenly, they were both jarred out of their reverie by the sound of a deep, gruff throat clearing behind them.

They whirled around, to find a tall, dark man dressed in golden armour the same colour as his eyes standing behind them. They were even more unnerved by the fact that he was holding a long, gilded sword between his hands.

"How is it that two mortals have crossed into Asgard without my sight?" the man asked, his voice low, but not angry.

Michael and Jenna quickly bowed.

"Pardon us, Gatekeeper," Jenna said quickly. "My uncle and I have come across this realm using Midgardian technology. We only wish to speak with your king."

Michael was impressed by Jenna's knowledge of Asgardian speech patterns.

"You speak well, for a mortal," the gatekeeper observed, speaking Michael's thoughts. "I am Heimdall, guardian of the nine realms. I shall grant you entry to Castle Asgard, so long as your intentions are true."

Jenna bowed deeply again.

"We give you our word, good Heimdall," she said gratefully.

Heimdall simply nodded.

"Follow the bridge," he told them. "It will lead you to the throne of the Allfather."

Jenna expressed the deepest gratitude of herself and her uncle, and the two of them departed.

Heimdall was true to his word.

The bridge led Jenna and Michael into the golden castle and straight to the throne room of the king.

The king of Asgard was just as he had been described in countless legends.

Odin Allfather sat, ancient and regal, on his gilded throne, dressed in shining armour, with a deep burgundy cape draped about his shoulders. Where his right eye should have been was covered by a gold eyepatch, and in one hand, he held the golden staff, Gungnir; which could only be wielded by the true king of Asgard.

"Who stands before my throne?" Odin inquired, his voice calm, fatherly, but nonetheless full of authority.

Jenna fell to one knee and bowed her head in respect, putting her fist across her chest in the traditional Asgardian salute. Michael quickly followed suit.

"My Lord Allfather," Jenna said politely. "I am Jenna Campbell of Midgard, and this is my uncle; Michael Linden of Midgard. We have come here from our home realm with peaceful intentions, and we come before you now as your subjects; humble and contrite. We only ask of Your Majesty to grant us your permission of our presence in Asgard, so that we may walk among you and your companions as guests, for the time being."

Michael was once again impressed. Clearly Jenna knew more about Asgard than he had given her credit for.

Odin was silent for a moment, processing Jenna's words.

Then the mighty king spoke.

"Very well," he said calmly. "I have seen how the two of you came to enter this realm, and you have my blessing, mortals of Midgard. I believe that both of you shall be very welcome here."

Jenna smiled and bowed her head respectfully once more.

"Our utmost thanks, Allfather," she said gratefully.

The king tapped his staff against the ground once, the sound resonating throughout the throne room.

As if on cue, two guards in armour entered the room and bowed.

"Escort our guests to their chambers," Odin told them; not quite an order but a request.

The guards nodded.

"I trust that the two of you will be made most comfortable," Odin told them as the guards escorted them out. "Once that has been done, you will both meet my family."

~.~

NOW

A year later, Jenna Campbell was a full-fledged Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. The circumstances of her promotion were still mysterious; at least to all but her uncle, and the head of the agency, Colonel Nick Fury.

She was twenty years old now; her hair still chestnut brown but shorter, curlier; her chocolate brown eyes losing their childlike luster and hardening into that of a warrior. Her pale skin was riddled with scars of past battles, most of which were hidden from sight, but her face remained unmarred.

Michael Linden now worked in S.H.I.E.L.D's laboratory alongside his longtime friend and co-worker, Dr. Erik Selvig. Although he was older, and new lines had appeared on his face, he was no less eccentric, nor had he lost his never-ending drive to make the world a better place.

The two of them were among the first to be notified that night, when the S.H.I.E.L.D base was evacuated.

As soon as Jenna heard, she rushed down to the lab with Colonel Fury and Agents Maria Hill and Phil Coulson.

The four agents soon found Linden and Dr. Selvig in the lab.

"Selvig, what's happening?" Fury asked, his tone more serious than usual.

"Well, to put it simply, the Tesseract is misbehaving," Selvig replied.

Jenna's brow furrowed.

The Tesseract was an Asgardian artifact that S.H.I.E.L.D had recently uncovered. Whoever possessed it had access to unlimited cosmic power. It looked like a simple light blue cube to the untrained eye.

"What exactly is it doing?" Fury demanded.

"That's the problem, Colonel," Michael put in. "We don't know."

"These readings are completely off the charts," Selvig added.

Jenna shook her head as she looked at the screen over her uncle's shoulder.

"Not good..." she muttered to herself.

She turned on her heel to glower at Agent Coulson.

"Where's the Hawk?" she wanted to know.

"In his nest," Coulson replied, indicating the loft above them, in the upper corner of the room.

Looking up, Jenna saw her close friend, Agent Clint Barton, sitting on the loft. His exceptional sniper skills had earned him the nickname of "Hawkeye."

"Hey, Barton!" she called up to him. "Come down here!"

Clint jumped to his feet and shimmied down the wire that he used as a means to get to and from his "nest."

"We're gonna need an extra set of hands," Jenna told Clint matter-of-factly. "Stick around."

Clint nodded. He was a man of few words, most of the time.

Just then, the Tesseract starting crackling with blue light.

Fury, Coulson and Hill stood back, drawing their guns. Barton did the same, as did several other agents in the room.

Selvig retreated behind his desk, taking cover.

"Get down," Michael told Jenna urgently.

So saying, he tugged his niece down behind a desk before taking cover himself.

The two of them watched discreetly from their hiding spot as the energy surrounding the Tesseract shot out toward the platform and suddenly took the shape of a person.

When the light faded, a man stood on the platform. He was tall, extremely pale, and looked exhausted. He held a long staff in one hand, which he leaned on for support as he caught his breath. His skin was beaded with sweat, and his shoulder-length black hair was pasted to his scalp with a combination of sweat and grease.

Jenna and Michael could tell right away from his attire that he was Asgardian.

The breath caught in Jenna's throat as she recognized him.

It couldn't be...

"Sir," Fury said authoritatively, "Please, put down the spear!"

Michael and Jenna rolled their eyes in unison.

Almost in response to Fury, the man raised his staff and sent a bolt of energy shooting toward the agents.

The agents' bullets reflected harmlessly off of the man as he lunged toward them off the platform.

Within moments, he had killed two agents and stunned three, despite the attempts of the senior agents to stop him.

One of those agents was Barton.

Before Clint could make a move against him, the man grabbed him and held him in place.

"You have heart," he said with a grin.

As he spoke, the man jabbed Clint in the chest with the point of his staff. Clint's eyes rolled over black, then white, then settled on a light, glowing blue; the same colour as the Tesseract.

Thinking quickly, Jenna leaped out from behind the desk (despite Michael's protests) and ran over to where the Tesseract rested in Dr. Selvig's machine.

Just as she reached for the glowing object, a silvery voice made her freeze.

"Please don't," the man said, his voice disturbingly soft. "I still need that."

Fury slowly walked closer to the man, placing himself between him and Jenna.

"This doesn't need to get any messier," Fury told the man, trying to sound civil.

"Of course it does. I've come too far for anything else," the man responded.

The agents, Michael and Dr. Selvig all stared at the man in a combination of fear and disbelief as he raised his head confidently; almost defiantly.

"I am Loki," he introduced himself, "of Asgard."

Jenna felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as he looked at her with eyes the color of ice.

"And I am burdened with glorious purpose," he finished.

It is him...

"Loki..." Selvig breathed in awe. "Brother of Thor!"

Jenna glanced at Dr. Selvig. He knew more about Asgard than she had thought.

"We have no quarrel with your people," Fury told Loki quickly.

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot," Loki responded coolly, glancing from Jenna to Fury with a toss of his head.

"So, you're saying you're going to step on us?" Fury said in disbelief.

Loki chuckled, but it wasn't a pleasant sound.

"I come with glad tidings," he said, "of a world made free."

"Free from what?" Fury wanted to know.

"Freedom," Loki replied with a wicked smile.

"Freedom is life's great lie," he went on, pacing the floor to address each of the agents. "Once you know that...in your heart..." He glanced at Jenna again. "...you will know peace."

Just then, Barton stepped up beside Loki.

"Sir," he said in a voice that was not quite his own, "Agent Fury is stalling. We need to act, now."

Loki glanced from Barton to Fury again, still with a wicked smirk on his face.

"Very well, then," he said.

Saying this, Loki used his staff on Selvig the same way he had with Barton; his gaze never wavering from Jenna. It had the same effect. Now both Selvig and Barton were under Loki's control.

Please, stop... Jenna wanted to say, but she couldn't bring herself to speak the words.

So she chose to act instead.

While everyone else was distracted, Jenna grabbed the Tesseract and pulled it from the machine.

Loki (and everyone else) noticed right away, but within seconds, Jenna had thrown the Tesseract into a briefcase and run off with it, as quick as a fox.

Loki growled.

"Follow her," he commanded Barton and Selvig, and they obeyed.

"No!" Michael shouted, but it was too late. She was already gone, and Loki, Barton and Selvig were in hot pursuit.

Jenna had already taken off through the tunnels that led out of the S.H.I.E.L.D base.

Pursued by Fury and the agents, Loki hijacked a S.H.I.E.L.D truck, which was helmed by Barton, with Selvig in the passenger's seat. Loki stood in the back of the truck as they sped off after Jenna.

Hill leaped into a jeep and took chase.

Despite being on foot, Jenna's training and petite frame gave her innate speed, which she used to her advantage.

Nevertheless, the truck was gaining on her, fast.

Thanks to the efforts of the remaining agents to stop Loki, she made it a block before they caught up with her. Unfortunately, Loki's skillful trickery stranded Hill at the base.

The truck pulled up beside her as she ran, and in one swift movement, Loki reached out and hooked the briefcase with his staff.

"I'll take that," he said smoothly.

Jenna wasn't about to let him win so easily.

Moving as quick as a flash, Jenna jumped up into the back of the truck and leaped onto Loki's back; one arm around his neck in a chokehold and the other in an effort to grab the briefcase from him.

The two of them scuffled for a moment before Loki was able to shake her off. He turned and caught her by the edge of her jacket, pointing his staff at her throat.

"You think you can outwit me, mortal?" he growled at her. "Who do you think you are, you fool?"

The words had barely left his lips as Jenna jerked her head to the side to avoid the staff, and her hair flew back from her face.

Loki suddenly froze in shock as he recognized her at last.

For an instant, they just stared at each other; his ice-blue eyes locked onto her doe-brown ones.

"So it is you..." he whispered, and she could see in his eyes that if she didn't get away now, he would never let her go.

In his shock, Loki had absentmindedly lowered the staff, and Jenna was able to wrench herself from his grasp.

Unfortunately, in doing so, she rolled from the truck and landed on the ground as the truck left her behind.

At that moment, Fury arrived in a S.H.I.E.L.D helicopter.

Jenna clamboured to her feet.

"FURY!" she shouted in an attempt to warn him.

To no avail. Loki took the chopper down in seconds using his magic staff, but Fury was unharmed.

The two agents stood and watched helplessly as Loki and the truck vanished in the distance, taking the Tesseract with them.

"I'm so sorry, sir…" Jenna apologized, gasping to catch her breath. "I lost the Tesseract."

"You did all you could," Fury said simply, giving Jenna a forgiving gaze with his one eye.

Just then, Coulson radioed Fury on his walkie-talkie. The S.H.I.E.L.D base had been completely obilterated.

"What do we do?" Coulson asked Fury over the radio.

"We get ready," Fury responded. "As of this moment...we are at war."

Jenna heaved a sigh and closed her eyes.

This was just the beginning...

~.~

THEN

Jenna and Michael were in awe as the Allfather led them out onto the terrace of the castle.

Not only were their chambers luxurious, but the entire castle seemed to have been built for the lap of luxury itself.

"The two of you are guests in my household," Odin told the two mortals. "Therefore, you must both meet my family. The royal family of Asgard."

As they stepped onto the terrace, a woman dressed in Asgardian finery and two young men in armour came into view; one wearing a blood-red cape, the other one of emerald green.

The woman turned around first. She was an older woman, around the same age (in Asgardian years) as Odin. She wore a glamorous gown and jewels adorning her ears, neck, and dark blonde hair. She smiled at Odin as he approached.

"Odin," she greeted him tenderly, going to meet him. The Allfather kissed her hand before pressing a kiss to her lips.

"My dear," he said, "I would like to introduce, Miss Jenna Campbell of Midgard, and her uncle, Master Michael Linden of Midgard. The two of them shall be guests in Asgard for the time being."

The queen smiled kindly at the two of them and gave a nod of greeting.

"You are most welcome in our home, Midgardians," she told them. "I am Frigga, queen of Asgard."

Jenna bowed deeply, and Michael followed suit.

"It is an honour to make your acquaintance, my lady," Jenna said respectfully.

Odin gave a nod, and one of the young men came forward; the one in the red cape.

He was tall, broad-shouldered and muscular, with blond hair that fell to the end of his neck and a short beard to match. He had cyan blue eyes, with the familiar glint of one raised in priviledge, and in one hand he carried what appeared to be a large iron hammer.

"Greetings, Midgardians," he greeted them with a deep, cordial voice. "I am Thor Odinson, firstborn son of Odin and heir to the throne of Asgard. I am sure that both of you will find it most comfortable here."

As he finished, he kissed Jenna's hand in a gentlemanly fashion before giving a slight bow of welcome to Michael.

Michael looked slightly frazzled, but Jenna was unfazed. She knew the customs of Asgard.

Jenna curtsied to Thor politely.

"My deepest thanks, son of Odin," she said with a smile.

Despite his lion-like appearance, Thor's smile was kind and reassuring.

Odin nodded again, and the young man in green stepped forward.

He was tall, thin and lean, with pale skin, defined, chiselled features, and thick black hair slicked back to his scalp. But what was striking about him was his eyes - eyes that were light blue, like chips of ice, but appeared to be a pale green in a certain light.

Eyes that were now fixed squarely on Jenna.

However, his gaze was not predatory...in fact, it was anything but. The younger prince looked...fascinated, if not somewhat frightened. Like he needed to be comforted.

Jenna smiled at him.

"And may I ask your name, Your Highness?" she inquired, still as polite as ever.

"Loki, milady," he answered. His voice was soft, silvery, and gentle.

"The other son of Odin..." Jenna mused, almost to herself.

"Yes," he said simply, but his eyes betrayed the meaning behind it.

His gaze never left Jenna's face as he took her hand with gentle, elegant fingers and slowly raised it to his lips.

The moment his lips touched her hand, Jenna felt a sudden chill, raising goosebumps on the back of her neck.

When he released her hand, all at once the world started turning again.

Jenna caught herself and resumed her grandiose courtesy.

"It is a pleasure to meet you...son of Odin," she said lightly.

"The pleasure is mine...Miss Jenna," Loki replied.

~.