Hello, if you have any opinion about this story that you would like to share I will gladly take them into consideration. I remain your obedient servant. ~ Imagineer
Alone. A word I use to describe myself, who I am. I don't have a name, but I do, I just can't remember it. There are things from my past that I can't remember, important things like my name, or my heritage; what I am.
My parents died when I was six years old. They had been gravely ill, and also in a great deal of pain; while they were ill I tried my best to take care of them both, I read as many books as I could to see if I could find a way to cure them, but a little child such as myself could not perform such a miracle.
Mother and Father had died peacefully in their sleep, and for that I was grateful because I did not want them to suffer any longer; I could no longer bear having to watch them struggle in pain just to take a decent breath of air, or see their entire body shake uncontrollably as they tried to sit up to greet me every morning. Yes, I was grateful.
The reason for my lack of name is because when I was eleven, and homeless, I was hit by a giant rolling barrel of alcohol that had gone astray. The deliveryman, who worked for all the local merchants of Asgard, took pity on me when told by passers by that I was just a street urchin and that he should just leave me to die. He took me to his home, when I woke I had lost some of my memory; there were blank spaces in my mind where important information and memories should have been.
When Rohlstagg, my savior, asked me if I wanted a new name I told him no, but allowed him to give me a nickname; I wanted to wait for my memories to return to me. I have been waiting for seventeen years.
Growing up, being… different from what people consider as normal made me an easy target for getting accused and blamed for things that I didn't do. This meant that I was brought before the king very often, so often that Odin became very familiar with me and would chuckle and ask 'What have you done this time?'.
The first time I was brought before him I was accused of stealing a young cat (whom I named Mogget), which I did not; I had found the poor thing shivering in snow that covered the ground... I was twelve.
The second time was when I was fourteen and I had been accused of endangering the people by bringing a wolf-pup home with me; I had found the little one crying by the body of her dead mother when I went out for a walk (I named her Kibeth), I couldn't just leave her there to die.
At sixteen (there seems to be a pattern, even numbers) I was accused of stealing a large, rare, and priceless bird from the market. It followed me home, what was I supposed to do, they would not believe me if I tried to explain. The bird was a phoenix named Velkan; I still have no clue as to why he followed me home. He just tells me that he preferred my presence more so than anyone else. I can talk to animals, sorry I forgot to mention about that.
When I was eighteen I brought before king Loki by the same people who brought me before Odin for my past transgressions with them, thinking that the newly appointed king would be stupid enough to side with them. They were so wrong; Loki was very insightful and knew the difference between a liar and someone who is telling the truth. I remember him asking me to stay.
Flashback
"What is your name?" he asked me, staring intently into my eyes.
"I have no name my king." I answered, returning his gaze as best as I could.
"… Surely you must have a name that friends call you then?" He asked. Sympathy shone in his eyes.
"I only have one friend who is not an animal; his name is Rohlstagg, cousin of Volstagg." I explained.
"And what does he call you by?"
"Wonder. He calls me Wonder."
"What an intriguing name. Well then, Wonder I pray that our paths may cross again." He said dismissing me.
"So do I my King." I replied and then left the throne room
End Flashback
When I was twenty a grocer accused me of stealing five apples, and a large loaf of bread for a family of beggars. After I paid for the food and handed it to the children the grocer who was a little overweight decided to slap me and then drag me through the streets by my hair to the palace.
You have not lived until you have seen Queen Frigga angry; a word of advice: 'Never have her angry with you because she is very scary when she is angry… trust me.' As soon as she had seen the grocer drag me into the throne room she turned into a hurricane of rage. I swear on my life Queen Frigga gave this man's mother a run for her money, because she gave this man the biggest scolding, and lecture on how to properly treat women.
Queen Frigga officially became my new role model. She turned to me, and for the first time in forever I felt like I had a mother again; she was so kind, gentle, and understanding. When she asked me to visit her every third day of the week for the rest of her life, I was in complete and utter shock; over the time we had shared together our bond grew to the point where she called me daughter, and I called her mother.
Twenty-two was an uneventful age due to the fact that everyone knew that the queen had practically become my mother, so they all left me alone. I was grateful to the divine providence for granting me to have such luck in life.
At the age of twenty-four Asgard went to hell, for the Dark Elves had attacked our home and… and… murdered our Queen… I lost another mother that day. I was in the palace when it happened; she introduced me to Thor's Midgardian lover, Jane Foster, who seemed to be an exceptionally talented woman. Frigga had asked me to help hide Jane from the enemy; apparently she had something that they wanted… badly.
When I saw her lying dead on the floor I immediately ran to Loki's cell to inform him of his mother's passing, for it was what Frigga would have wanted. I appealed to Odin to let Loki attend his mother's funeral.
Flashback
"I SAID NO! MY WORD IS FINAL!" Odin roared. The sound barely echoed in the desecrated throne room that I had 'visited' in the past so many times before.
"In this matter your word is not final, my liege. This is not about what you want, this is Frigga's funeral and it is about what she would have wanted. You and I both know that she would have wanted both of her sons at her funeral." I chocked out as loud I could, for I did, and still had not properly mourned the loss of my new mother.
"LOKI… IS A TRAI-"
"IT MATTERS NOT WHAT HE IS! TRAITOR OR NOT, FRIGGA STILL CONSIDERS HIM AS HER SON! EVEN IN DEATH!" I raged. My voice resounded in some ethereal rage, I felt as though my voice was not my own. Odin stared at me in shock.
"Very well."
End Flashback
Loki showed no emotion at the funeral, as I walked away from his cell after returning him there once the funeral was over I heard him roar in rage, anger, despair, and sorrow. It was the most gut-wrenching, mournful cry I had ever heard or ever will hear again in my entire life.
"Wonder, are you going to come and help me with the deliveries today?" Rohlstagg asked me as I served him breakfast before serving myself.
"No, not today, I need to go to the market and get some things." I answered.
"I will assume that your friends will be accompanying you."
"Your assumption is correct Rohlstagg." I smiled and then grabbed my empty basket from the table and then walked out the door.
"Be careful Wonder, you turned twenty-eight just three days ago, try not get noticed for anything you can be framed for." Rohlstagg called out the door as I walked away.
"I'll try my best." I called back then kept walking with Velkan on my shoulder, and Mogget and Kibeth at my heels. Mogget was on my left, and Kibeth was on my right.
As we were walking home we passed by an alley and I thought I heard something… something that you wouldn't normally find in an alley. Despite the fact that I knew that what I would find would most likely get me into trouble, I did not care because whatever I heard might need help.
Once I looked into the alley I saw that the cause of the noise was no animal or inanimate object, but a baby. I quickly took the cloth that I had placed at the bottom of the basket and swaddled the baby. The cloth was just the right size to comfortably wrap this tiny infant in.
"Congratulations, it's a boy." Mogget sarcastically stated.
"Anymore sarcasm Mogget, and you'll drown in it." Velkan snapped; he never tolerated Mogget's sarcasm.
"Will you two pipe down, you're going to give mistress a headache… again." Growled Kibeth, she could not stand their bickering… ever.
"Hush now you three or you'll wake the baby." I told them as we walked out of the alley.
"Hey! You there! You're coming with us!" It was the same people that had been accusing me for the past six years, two men and three women; all of them were now in their early fifties. They grabbed my arms, took the wailing baby from my hands and dragged me to the castle with Kibeth, Velkan, and Mogget following behind at a safe distance.
"What have you done this time, Wonder?" Odin asked.
"This witch has stolen a child, my king. Surely the child is proof enough for you to throw her into the dungeon." The woman who was holding the crying infant said.
"Give her the child." Odin ordered.
"But sire-"
"Give her the child!" he barked. The woman complied and placed the child in my arms, glaring at me. As soon as the child was in my arms he stopped crying and a little smile graced his small mouth. I smiled upon seeing such a sight; I had this indescribably warm feeling in my heart. Looking up at Odin I explained my half of the story.
"As you all can see this child clearly knows where he wants to be. Now leave, for you have no reason to be here anymore." Odin dismissed the five, and walked to where I stood.
"Thank you my liege." I bowed my head.
"Come with me, I will take you to the healers and they will take care of the babe, and perhaps be able to tell you how old he is." Odin said then began to walk out of the throne room with me alongside him.
"He is now all cleaned up, perfectly healthy. I would advise feeding him goat milk since you cannot provide for him. Exact age is: Two months." The healer explained.
"Thank you." I bowed to her and was then escorted out by Odin.
"I am to find a new queen before the year is out. Thor does not want the throne and Loki is dead, he would have been unworthy of the throne anyway." Odin said out of thin air. Why was he telling me all of this?
"But my liege, Loki was a clever man and proved himself to be a worthy heir of the throne when you fell into the Odin-sleep ten years ago." I said.
"That was ten years ago, he changed and became an unworthy heir." Odin told me.
"What is the age limit my liege?" I asked him.
"Twenty-five to forty. No more, no less." Odin said grimly, he did not want to go through this.
"Can't you just appoint an heir? Isn't there some way to not go through with this?" I asked him.
"Sadly, no. All eligible maidens will receive their invitations to the palace tomorrow and two days after they are to arrive at the palace to present themselves." He explained. We arrived at the door to the outside.
"Well then, I suppose I will be seeing you again in three days time." I said to him, taking my leave of the palace.
"Yes I suppose… Farewell, Wonder." He nodded then walked away the door closing shut behind him.
I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter.
I remain your obedient servant. ~ Imagineer