There was a story of a man, not a mortal man, but a man of the God's. A King in all rights but one, that the coronation wasn't performed for him. This man possessed great strength, was admired by many and commanded the element of an essential storm. Thunder.

But this story is not of Thor, God of Thunder, but of his brother. The God of Mischief. Of course, Thor is still in this story and so are the people of Asgard as no story centres around one person alone. So, this story is about Loki, younger brother of Thor and God of Mischief, and the only person he ever came to love more than his family.


Asgard was serene as per usual; the bifrost shimmered out to the north, and the great sea that surrounded Asgard moved with the moon. The great castle stood golden and tall, the rest of the buildings fitting round it as smaller pieces of the puzzle all centred around a greater piece. Rolling green hills remained unmoving in the east, and the clouds danced endlessly across the clear blue sky.

Theia, an old warrior's child was sitting idly in the field, upon a boulder that gave a view to the sparring fields that the great warriors of Asgard used. She wore a lime green dress that fastened on one shoulder and fell to her feet, which were bare. Theia never saw the point of shoes, although her mother insisted on her wearing them. She didn't care for the fine dresses that her mother had her constantly outfitted in, she wanted to be just like her father, a great warrior with great promise. Yet the only thing she came close to was watching the great warriors spar in the fields. Theia sighed, turning the pages of a book her father brought for her from one of his trips to Midgard. The fantasies the Midgardian's told in their books were wondrous, much like the battles that her father had fought in. They and the sparring fields were the only things that brought her close to becoming a warrior.

Frustrated Theia closed her Midgardian book of fantasies and dropped it on the boulder next to her, where it slid landing with a dull thud on the grass opening up at a page entitled: The legend of Hua Mulan. Theia had read this story many times, it was the story of Mulan, a woman who wanted nothing more than to help her father and stop him going back into war, she released her identity as a woman and deceived everyone in the Chinese imperial army who believed she was indeed a man. Theia loved this story, although she doubted that she could fool people as Mulan did into thinking she was a man.

Theia fingered a lock of her dark brown, almost black hair, she could cut it off, tie it up as Mulan did and make her way down to the training fields. But she couldn't, she was not like the other warriors. She was not like Sif and her warriors three, who she admired greatly. She was not like the princes Thor and Loki who too trained for battle. She was not like any of them, she was a simple warrior's daughter and a daughter who wasn't destined for anything more than being who she was expected to be. Groaning she flung her head back, looked up at the clouds, which happened to be especially white today, and squinted as the sun's rays found its way into the corner of her vision.

"I just want to be like you, papa." She said, opening her eyes fully to take in the clouds, somewhere in her mind hoping that her father was looking back at her.

Theia thought back to that fateful day when her father had lost his life, it had been many years since uproar had broken out in any of the nine realms, and of course the realm that had to cause the disturbance was Jotunheim, home of the frost giants. Of course, being a warrior, Theia's father had been called up to duty. He promised to come back… He did, but not fully. Only his body was recovered, his soul had passed on; the light had long faded from him.

It was the King of the frost giants Laufey that had delivered the blow that killed him. The blow was meant to kill the Allfather who was occupied with another battle, being the man he was Theia's father had taken the blow in his place. He died a hero and a warrior, like he always wanted.

A bird crowed overhead and Theia shook her head. Standing from the boulder she picked up her Midgardian book of tales and began to walk back through the field. The shine on her body and gave the impression that her dress was covered in tiny diamonds. It wasn't, for her mother could never afford such beautiful clothes even after the Allfather invited them to live in the palace walls.

Wandering past the horses that grazed lazily around her she imagined just what it would be like to go into battle, to fight for the ones she loved, and lose them also. Her father must have known one day he wouldn't return from a battle, he must have realised this before he promised to always return. She wondered what would happen if she promised her mother she would return and she did not. Would her heart break all over again? Would it remind her so much of father every time she walked out the door with her armour on her back and sword at her side?

The sounds of metal on metal drew close to her ears as she walked along the edge of the sparring field. Theia could clearly see Sif and her warriors three, as well as Thor. The mighty Thor was battling furiously with Fandral; their movements were strong and boisterous. Although Fandral was slimmer than Thor he was unable to keep on dodging his blows for long. A quick clout to the breast sent Fandral sprawling into the dirt laughing heartily as he did so.

"You win again, oh mighty one!" He laughed graciously as Thor helped him to his feet.

"But you fought me well, friend!" They clapped each other on the back, Thor's red cape fluttering in the mid-summer breeze.

Theia knew why Thor was the talk of most of her friends. He was strong, extremely handsome and of course he was going to be a King. Theia was laughed at when she said she would never want to be in any kind of relationship with one so desired as Thor. In fact she wasn't even sure she wanted to be in any type of relationship with anyone, although her mother did press her to meet with many eligible men. It just didn't seem right, a young warrior would pursue a few innocent flings, but they would never settle into a relationship when war and battle was gnawing away at their minds. She knew for a fact that her father had only courted her mother after his sixteenth battle. Most of the young men on the sparring field had only ever seen the horrors of war twice or three times and none of those battles had been as great as the one with the frost giants of Jotunheim.

Along the way Sif was battling another warrior and she defeated him easily, pinning him to the ground her spear pointed at his throat. She was definitely the fiercest female warrior she had ever seen or heard of. The pair were laughing as they battled again. It must be wonderful thought Theia to fight without fear of your death, or the death of friends.

Sighing she flipped her Midgardian book around her hands; she was skilled at this as she practiced it as a child. In the fields when she was young her father would show her how to wield a staff and he was impressed at the rate she could move it. 'Quicker than any warrior I have ever seen,' he used to compliment. Although she hadn't wielded a staff in many years she still practiced with little things. Her book for one, and oranges whenever her mother wasn't around, Theia was usually scolded for doing something so unlady like as juggling food.

A loud crack off in the battlefield brought Theia out of her memory, the Midgardian book flipped to far from her grasp and landed in the dirt for the second time that day. Theia often lost herself in juggling books.

Walking over to where the book hand landed she bent down to retrieve it, but someone else was already there, picking it up for her before she even had a chance to bend all the way down. Theia glanced up, her eyes meeting the darkened brown ones of a man wearing a khaki green sparring suit. He smiled and held out the book to her, to which she stood and accepted it, taking it close to her chest.

"Thank you," Said Theia "Although, I was perfectly capable of retrieving it myself."

The man smiled a mischievous smile, his eyes glinting, "I'm sure you were," He said. "But how do you even know it was your book you were retrieving?"

Theia laughed although she was a little uncertain. "Well, I did see it fall from my hands, and I did see exactly where it landed, which happens to be where you retrieved it from."

The man flicked his fingers, a wider grin appearing on his face as the book in Theia's possession vanished. She gasped her hand flying to her mouth as he produced the real book from behind his back and handed it over. Theia took it although she was a little cautious.

"You're a little mischievous, aren't you?" She said with a smile.

"Well of course," he said with a mock bow. "It is in my name after all."

Theia was about to ask him what his name happened to be, but a light flicked on in her skull stopping her dead before she made a fool out of herself. It was strange that she didn't recognise him even though they had been sharing the same palace for years now.

"My prince," She said bowing her head respectfully at the younger prince. "I'm sorry for my rudeness... I didn't mean to offend."

He chuckled lightly, "You didn't offend. You obviously know my name, so whats yours?"

"Theia, daughter of Ouranos, my prince." Loki's dark eyes widened as he heard the name.

"The man who saved my father's life." Theia looked down as Loki spoke.

"Yes, and at the cost of his own." She said sadly.

"He was a brave man," Said Loki sincerely.

"Loki! Come brother, we must battle!" The shout came from the sparring field where Thor was waving his arm at his brother. Loki glanced over a small smile on his face.

"I must be going," he said. "Enjoy your book."

"You should read it." Said Theia quickly without thinking. She mentally cursed herself for being so forward. "I'm sorry, you probably don't –"

Loki stopped her in mid-sentence taking the book from her hand which she had extended out to him, "I'd love to."

Theia smiled, pulling her hand back, it fell limply by her side. "It's a good book," she said before scurrying off away from Loki.

Theia's heart was hammering in her chest as she scurried away from the sparring field. She didn't stop until she was sure she was well enough away to be sure that he couldn't see her looking back. Even then, from that distance she saw him looking at her. The fatherless girl wearing no shoes.


Theia's home was four floors above the throne room, and six floors above the relics vault, she was also three floors below the Royal's rooms, which explains why she didn't notice Loki when he retrieved her book for her earlier that day. The book that he now had in his possession after she gave it to him like a fool would have.

Theia was sitting on the balcony of her room staring out at the bifrost. The rainbow road was still shimmering as it had been that morning when she was on the hillside by the sparring fields. She looked out closely to where Heimdall watched over the entrance to Asgard. Nobody had ever slipped his watch to gain access into Asgard, not one. He was a hero in his own right, protecting everyone from unwanted visitors and opening the bifrost to the other realms when Asgardian's needed passage.

There was a knock at her bedroom door that echoed across the room. Theia waited, and then slowly her mother, Rayla entered the room. She was dressed in a silver gown that too fastened at the shoulder, her light brown hair was curled and pinned back elegantly.

"Why aren't you ready, Theia?" She asked gently, she walked out to stand on the balcony.

"Do you think Heimdall gets lonely?" Said Theia, turning to face Rayla as she dropped her leg off the wall of the balcony where it swung freely on the edge of oblivion.

"Every man gets lonely sometimes, Theia." Said Rayla. "What has brought this question, child? Is something troubling you?"

Theia sighed, leaning her head on her hands, her eyes turned up to the skies. "Do you think father gets lonely?"

Rayla too looked to the skies, even after all these years she still grieved for her husband who lost his life for the people he cared about. She missed him more and more every day, and she too knew the effect his death had on Theia, their only child.

"He is never lonely, Theia. For he is always here, it doesn't matter the distance between us." She said wisely, taking her daughters hand. "Now come inside and get ready, the party is soon."

"I have never been one for parties, mother." She said, turning her gaze to face her remaining parent.

"Your friends will be here soon." She reasoned, "At least let me fix your hair, I am sure Aria will see to the rest."

Theia nodded, coming in off the balcony and walking into her bedroom where she sat in front of a golden rimmed mirror. Rayla picked up a brush from the table and started to comb through her daughters brown locks. Once or twice she came across stray blades of grass which were hidden from her morning in the field. She totted, she didn't like the time Theia spent in that field, staring up at the clouds and being unsociable. Rayla could never remember being as unsociable as her daughter when she was her age, but when she was Theia's age she had two parents, not one. She always overlooked that one specific detail.

"Have you spoken to anyone but me today?" Asked Rayla, "Your friends seem to think you are abandoning them."

Theia stared into the mirror, locking eyes with her own reflection that mirrored her sadness that being alone caused. Theia had friends, yes, but friends that didn't understand what she was going through, what she had been through. They didn't understand her conflictions, her pain. In truth, they understood virtually nothing about her. She was like a burnt out star that had fallen into Midgard and gotten lost at the bottom of one of their oceans. Never truly found and never truly understood.

"No, I have spoken to none but you." She lied, leaving out her talk with Prince Loki this morning. Rayla sighed; she wanted nothing more than for her daughter to come out of her pit of sadness. The sadness that had gripped her soul more and more each year that passed. But Rayla couldn't do that, she saw no way to bring her daughter out of the iron grips of despair. All these parties, her efforts and her time spent with Theia could do nothing for her. Something in Rayla's mind told her that her daughter was already gone, but something also told her not to give up on her only child. Something would bring her back, something had to.

Another knock sounded throughout the room and a serving girl entered in a peach sundress. Her hair hung in a single plait down her back and she bowed her head as she entered even though Theia and her mother were not royalty.

"You have guests, My Lady." She said quietly, and then she dipped her head and left with all the noise of a baby mouse.

"That will be your friends," Said Rayla. "Join me at the party when you are ready."

Rayla left then, her silver gown trailing after her like flowing water running under the bifrost. There were hushed whispers as Theia's friends entered the room before hers. They didn't knock before they entered her chambers like everybody else would, but they all scurried in like squirrels all chattering endlessly. The noise made Theia's head ache.

"Theia!" Squealed a short haired girl at the front, she was as tall as Theia, a little bit over in fact, she wore a pale red dress that gave the illusion that flame was rising up her body as she walked. Her sing song voice echoed around the room for a moment before she plopped herself on Theia's bed. Three other girls followed, all equally as beautiful as the first but all in different ways, they wore dresses of rich purples and light pinks which flowed gracefully behind them. They too took up seats in Theia's room.

"Where were you today?" Asked Aria, crossing her legs. "We were all meant to be getting ready together tonight."

"I was just on the hillside," Replied Theia. "By the sparring fields."

Aria groaned as well as the others, she flopped back onto Theia's bed and spread her arms above her head. It seemed that Theia's mother was not the only person who disapproved of her time in the fields.

"You need to get a life," Said Greta, a small girl with long brown hair who sat on the floor closest to the balcony. "Either that or go and spar with the other warriors, we all know that's what you want."

"My mother would never approve," Said Theia bitterly. "It's not what a lady does."

"To hell with what a lady does!" Groaned Aria, her annoyance showing through. "Your father would approve! He was a great warrior, Theia. He would want you to do what you wanted, not be stuck up in here learning how to be a lady."

"My father isn't here, Aria."

Theia looked down at her hands that were folded in her lap. The room had gone awfully silent, but Aria would not have her friend upset on this day. Not when there was fun to be had at a party. She clambered up from the bed and walked over to where Theia was sitting rather stiffly on the stool.

"No," she said softly. "He isn't here because he was protecting you and your mother. The least he would want is for you to be able to protect yourself." Aria gestured to the staff that hung in place over Theia's bed. "Take that staff, and use it. It's what he would have wanted."

"I agree," said Demaris, a blonde girl who was leaning up Theia's cabinet on the far side of the room. "Too Jotunheim with that now, there is a party downstairs and fun to be had!"

The girls behind Theia squealed with delight, their cheeks were red with a blush for they knew that something special might happen that very night.

"We might get to meet a Prince tonight!" Squealed Greta excitedly as they laid out Theia's dress on the bed for her. "I wonder who it will be?"

"Neither goes far without the other," Noted Kari, the silver haired girl sat on the far side of the room fiddling around in Theia's jewellery box for something that would complement her dress. "So it's almost guaranteed that they will both be present."

"Especially if the Allfather and the Queen are there,"

"I wish to meet Thor," Said Aria. "It is said that he is quite the gentleman."

"You only want to do that so you can flirt with him!" Argued Greta.

"I doubt she'd get far," said Theia, coming out of her stupor to converse with her friends. The conversation was good for her; it was a well needed one. "Sif would gladly cut off your arm if you so much as look at him the wrong way."

"Sif has her warriors three to flirt with, why can't she just leave Thor to the swooning girls who obviously want his attention."

"She's playing hard to get that's why you barmpot," laughed Kari. "Honestly for a brunette you can be so blonde!"

A pillow to the head shut Kari up, she landed on the floor with a dull thud after tripping over a book that Theia had left scattered on the ground. The room erupted with laughter as Kari puffed a stray bit of hair from her face.

"Why do people care so much for Thor?" Asked Theia, more to herself than anyone else. Her friends all stared at her in disbelief.

"Because… because he's so handsome!" Complimented Greta.

"Heroic!" Laughed Demaris pulling a pose to show off her none existent muscles.

"Brave!" Yelled Kari brandishing an invisible sword.

"He's such a gentleman," Swooned Aria. Theia rolled her eyes.

"More like a hothead," She said causing a collective gasp to echo across the room. "What? I think he is."

"But that's our future King; you can't say that about him." Gasped Kari, her hair had come loose from where the pillow had struck her and now she was attempting to fix it.

"Exactly," Theia said. "Future King, at the moment he is still a Prince and as far as I am concerned Kings and Princes are no better than ordinary people."

"But he is hot," shrugged Aria. The room burst into a fit of laughter once more.

After Theia had dressed and had her makeup and jewellery done to her friends standards they were ready to leave. The five of them walked down the hall quickly as they were already late for the start of the party, not that Theia could remember what the party was for anyway. They descended the stairs leading to the throne room. The noise of the party could be heard two floors above. The hallway in front of the throne room was bathed in liquid gold light from the torches that hung on the walls in brackets.

The noise of the party was incredible, in the throne room Theia could see people dancing and drinking to their hearts content a great feast was laid out on a large mahogany wood table on the far side of the room. The five girls entered, the four chattering excitedly and looking round for the mighty God of Thunder. Theia however searched for her mother, she was sure she would find her eventually but she didn't want to be known as another girl who swooned over the mighty Thor. She hung back and waited by the far side of the room as her friends disappeared into the crowd.

They won't even notice I'm gone, she thought. Well good, I would only ruin their time anyway.

Theia waited for a long time for any sign of her mother in the looming crowds scattered about the room. The day had fallen into night and she was sure no doubt that this party would last far on into the morning. Eventually, to avoid looking lonely and attracting unwanted attention from a group of warriors who seemed already too drunk to comprehend their wellbeing, she wandered into the crowds.

Most were laughing and joking with one another, she saw some people she knew and others that she had never seen before in her life. More than once she caught a glimpse of Thor who was shadowed by Sif and her warriors three. She also saw her friends a little less than gracefully swooning over the soon to be King. After searching the room a full three times she decided it was futile and that her mother was purposely eluding her so she would socialise, Theia ended up at the table on the far left of the room. The smell of succulent boar reached her nose but instead of food she helped herself to some water which was placed next to five full caskets of ale which she assumed would be consumed before night had drawn into morning.

"Come alone?" It was obvious that the voice was directed at her as she was, as far as she could see, the only person alone in the entire room, apart from the person who was speaking to her.

"No…" Theia drew out the word as she turned to Prince Loki who looked a lot more formal than he did in his sparring gear that morning. "I'm with my friends… and my mother."

Theia glanced over to where her friends were dancing and having fun, whilst staying in close range of Thor so they could whisper and swoon. Loki followed her gaze, his mouth forming an o.

"You're not one for parties I gather." He said, "Ale helps you know."

"I didn't take you for one who drinks," she said a small smile forming at the corner of her lips.

"I don't, I just judge others." Theia thought back to the group of warriors she saw stumbling over themselves earlier that night.

"I would like to remember my actions in the morning." At this statement Loki laughed. Not a chuckle, and not a mischievous laugh that Theia had heard earlier on in the day, it was a genuine 'that was funny' laugh.

"I agree it seems some have already had more than they can handle." He said, before producing a book from inside of his cloak. "I thought I'd give you this."

Theia looked down at the book then back at Loki. "Thank you, but I couldn't borrow this from you… it's yours."

"You let me borrow one of yours." He said, "It was the least I could do in return… Your Midgardian book is very interesting; I hope you think the same of this one."

Theia took the book from Loki's grasp, tracing her finger over the cover. She opened it and scanned the first few lines, as well as looking at the few of the drawings. "This isn't Midgardian," She noted, closing it again.

"It comes from Alfheim, I thought you would be interested in it as one of the stories in your Midgardian book talks about them."

"The realm of the light elves…" Theia said in awe, "Thank you, Loki."

"It's my pleasure," He smiled.

The rest of the evening Theia didn't spend alone, rather she spent it in the company of Loki whom she had only met that very morning. They talked idly about their lives, they were somewhat similar, but whereas Loki was of royal parentage and was trained for battle, Theia could only dream of those things. It was only when Theia's friends asked her if she wanted to come back that Theia took her leave promising Loki that they would talk again. In truth Theia wanted to talk with Loki again, there was something about him that made Theia feel that they were similar, and that made everything about the young prince all the more mysterious.


I hope you liked my first chapter. I can safely say this is the most i've ever written in one chapter for any fanfic! *Proud moment!*