Chapter One
His imprisonment meant nothing to him; Odin was just in fear of him overruling his power. Loki, the God of Mischief, thumbed the cup in his hand and began to toss it in the air, but soon the act became droning and he sighed; placing it back down at his bedside table, he got up and began to pace around his room, looking out of his window and casting glares at the guards standing watch.
Suddenly, a faint shuffle of feet could be heard, as somebody neared his cell.
The guards in their shining golden armor straightened their backs and stood alert as a woman with flowing red waves of hair came walking up to him with a tattered old book clutched in her hands.
"Hello mother, come to pity me some more," Loki sneered.
The woman held the book and placed it through the wall.
"I won't take your desperate attempt at charity."
"Please, Loki, just take it. It's important."
His expression remained in its harsh state, but he hesitated, "How do I know this isn't just another way for Odin to watch me? Is he really that frightened?" Loki glanced at the guards again.
"Loki, I took this from Odin: he was going to destroy it, but I couldn't let him, because I knew how much it may mean to you."
Loki took the book of crumpled pages from her hands and stood completely still. He glanced at her face of stone and then back down at the book. What could possibly interest him more than the beautiful pictures of New York, burning, in his head? He moved his hand over the cover, wiping away some stray dust and looked back to his mother only to find that she had left. Exhaling sharply, he turned on his heels back to his bed. He sat down and opened the book to the first page, where his stuttering heart surprised him. Written in the top, left-hand corner was the name Eris. The book fell out of his hands and crumpled on the floor and Loki's mouth hung slightly open as he bent down and gingerly picked up the ruffled pages.
Slowly, he opened the book more and he began to flip through the pages; they were filled with drawings of the people of Asgard, and as he flipped, he stopped on a picture of himself. In the picture he looked happy, a feeling, Loki felt, was a mistake. He kept turning pages to the very back of the book, when suddenly, his heart stopped altogether. A picture of a girl, beautifully drawn, stole all of the beats of his heart. She was younger than he, appearing to be about sixteen years of age to a midgardian, with an elegant smile and long golden hair that flowed down her shoulders in ringlets capturing the warm sunlight. Atop her head, she wore a crown of gold and around her forearms; golden bands were set to acknowledge her royalty.
Loki knew this girl, and her name was Eris, the Goddess of Chaos. Her smile beamed at him, but in his heart he knew that, in this drawing, she was terrified; after all, he was the one that drew it.
It was a rather cold night, throughout Asgard, and a light snow fell, dusting the kingdom in a fine white. However, this did not dampen the spirits of two young gods that wrestled by a warmly lit fire.
"You grow weaker, my brother. Shall we stop or shall we continue, allowing me to defeat you once and for all." huffed Thor.
"You would have to kill me first, before I ever let you win!" spat Loki.
"That can be arranged," sneered Thor.
Loki stopped struggling, "You jest."
"Maybe, but that would make me king before you would ever be!"
"Then I mustn't die, because it is my birth right to be king." said Loki.
Thor stood up, laughed, and held out an arm. "Then let us see if birth right can be beaten in a race."
Loki's eyes glowed.
"We race to the throne, the winner will be the King of Asgard." spoke Thor.
"The King of Asgard," repeated Loki.
Thor found a crack in the floor and stepped behind it. "We can start the race here."
Loki joined him.
"On the count of three, brother. One… Two...Three!"
Thor took off at a great speed and laughed when he noticed that Loki had tripped on the trimming of a carpet.
Loki stared down the corridor as Thor turned around a corner and disappeared. He reached up to his lip and growled to himself: blood dripped from it slowly. He ignored the pain and got off the floor. With the time that was wasted, Thor would be nearing the throne, thinking that he was about to win, but Loki had a different idea.
Thor entered the vast throne room and started to sprint down the long lead to the throne, but Loki appeared out of a door closer to the throne.
Loki ran to the lead, but suddenly stopped a few yards in front of Thor.
"Brother, look out! I can't stop: I'm going too fast!
Loki's eyes widened before Thor suddenly ran into him.
Expecting a solid thud and for Loki to be knocked over, Thor fell to the ground. He opened his eyes and to his astonishment, Loki was nowhere to be found.
Thor jerked his head to the quick pounding of feet on the floor, to see Loki speeding past him along the lead.
"It's my birth right, brother!" he called.
Thor rose from the ground and set off behind him. "You tricked me!"
Loki climbed up the steps to the throne and collapsed into it.
"It's part of the game, brother," he panted.
Thor stopped at the bottom of the steps. "Tricks were not in the rules!"
"I don't remember any rules, except get to the throne and become king."
Thor was about to speak a rebuttal when their father, King Odin of Asgard, appeared.
Loki noticed and immediately sprung from the throne, "Father!"
Thor jumped from the floor and turned to greet him, "Good evening father!"
"What have you boys been doing?" he asked.
Loki began to describe their race to the throne, but King Odin began to glance about the place, impatiently.
"Where is your mother?" He interrupted.
"M-mother?" stammered Loki.
Thor shrugged, "Father what is that you're carrying?"
He had been pointing to a small bundle in his arms, but the question was not answered before a guard with a monotone voice spoke, "The Queen was last seen tending to her dinner guests, my King."
"Go, at once, and retrieve her." demanded Odin.
Thor and Loki began to politely make their way to their father, but he stopped them in their tracks.
"Boys, I think it is time that you retired to bed."
They didn't protest. Loki simply nodded and Thor bowed his head.
"Yes, Father." They said in unison.
Together they trudged out of the hall and down the corridor.
Loki glanced back and saw his mother rushing into the hall in great urgency, and then he turned the corner and walked off to bed.
"Odin what is it this time? You know it worries me when you visit unkindly realms and bring back something that was never meant to be yours." Lady Frigga, Queen of Asgard, hurried to her husband's side.
"I found her lying in the cold, just as I did with our boy; her parents were killed by the guards that came with me." explained Odin.
"She is not ours to keep. She doesn't belong here and she'll find that out in the end."
Odin scratched his beard and straightened his neck. "That is not the same thinking you had with our son."
Lady Frigga gave him a daring look before exiting the room in a hastily.
"She'll come around," he said softly, "Now what shall we call you? Surely, something as beautiful and as delicate as you should be given a strong name."
The king puzzled as he traveled to his chambers and set his new baby girl in a nearby rocker. The rocker swayed a bit when he set her down, but settled as he walked away. He walked to his window and opened the large double doors; a sudden blast of cool air swept into the room, blowing with it a swirl of snow.
"Eris," he whispered gently, "that is what I will call you."
He supported the little baby, Eris, in his arms, and carefully placed a hand on her forehead.
"Your mother says you will find out someday that you are not mine, but I say that it does not have to be that way."
The little baby opened her eyes and stared at her father for the longest time before releasing a wide yawn and closing them again to dream for a while.
Odin smiled; this was his daughter now and he was determined to do whatever it took to keep it that way forever.