In the realm of Asgard, lay two children on the grass, barely old enough to talk, yet old enough to convey every message that they wanted. Their names were Loki and Sari, and for as long as the two could remember, they were best friends. Both had siblings, Loki's being his older brother Thor, and Sari's being Sif, someone who wanted nothing more than to be the finest female fighter in the land. At the speed in which she was able to defeat Sari, even with Sari's foreknowledge, it was more than likely that it would actually occur. For children so young though, their futures were so disturbing, that those with foreknowledge chose to ignore them, in the hope that somehow, they would change. But some events were always set in stone, no matter how crazy they were perceived to be. Asgard was a simple place, ruled by Queen Frigga, and King Odin. They were known as God's on the realm of Earth, with Odin being the one they looked up to. Odin, by chance, was Loki and Thor's father, but since Sif and Sari were also of noble blood, they had a place in the palace. To describe Sari, she had the darkest hair, paired with the palest of skin. Her looks were complimented by her ice blue eyes, which seemed to intrigue those who she met. Her looks were overall, completed by her frail frame, meaning that she was sickly skinny, and not overly tall. It all, she was the exact opposite to Sif, who was more muscular, and had the darker eyes and skin, with blonde hair. That had of course changed, when Loki cut it off to annoy her, but he had fashioned her more made out of the darkest material he could find. Sari knew her sister wasn't impressed with the fact that Loki had cut off her hair, but she knew, deep down, that Sif was grateful for the change in colour. She hated the blonde.
Older now, Loki and Thor were being taught the history of their great realm, while Sari stood outside, and listened in. It was something that she should not have been doing, and she would have been in a large amount of trouble if she was found out, but for some reason, she could not move away. She couldn't remember ever being so intrigued about something that Odin had told the young boys before. "Once mankind accepted the simple truth that they were not alone in this universe; some worlds man believed to be home to their gods, others, they knew to fear. From a realm of cold and fear came the Frost Giants, threatening to plunge the mortal world into a new ice age. But humanity would not face this threat alone. Our armies drove the Frost Giants back into the heart of their own world. The cost was great, and in their end, their king fell. The source of their power was taken from them. When the last Great War ended, we withdrew from the other worlds, and returned home to the realm eternal, Asgard. And here we remain as a beacon of hope, shining out across the stars. And thought we have fallen into man's myths and legends, it was Asgard and its warriors that brought peace to the universe. But the day will come when you have to defend that peace." Odin explained. Sari could just imagine the bloodshed, and the deaths that had arisen from that day. For some reason, the word, and teachings of death stirred something within her, something that she, as a young child, could not yet explain.
"Do the Frost Giants still live?" That was Loki speaking up. Loki had far darker hair than his brother Thor, and was more of a quiet observer. That didn't mean to underestimate him though, because out of everyone who lived on Asgard, Loki was easily the most mischievous of them all. He would play pranks and tricks on anyone and everyone, except for Sari. He seemed to have taken quiet the liking to the young pale female. Or perhaps, after playing just a single trick on her, he was scared into not doing it again. Even Sari had been surprised by her anger that day.
"When I'm king, I'll hunt the monsters down and slay them all!" In contrast, Thor was an action man. He loved to get into fights, even though he was little more than a young child. He was already skilful with every weapon he touched and possessed. It was clear that both of the boys in that room were each going to be powerful assets when they grew up. "Just as you did father" Thor seemed to realise that no one had said anything.
"A wise king never ever seeks out war, but he must always be ready for it" Odin replied. They needed this knowledge throughout their lives, as it was fairly obvious that the boys in the room would be the future kings, or king, of Asgard. To Sari, it was clear who it was going to be, whether she agreed with it or not. She didn't think any amount of begging, pleading, or proof would change Odin's mind, even though his rule was likely to be terrifying.
"I'm ready father!" Thor's voice was beginning to get closer to the young maiden, causing her to hasten her movements. She was quiet a stealthy child; if she didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be.
"So am I" Loki was indignant, not wanting to get left behind.
"Only one of you can ascend to the throne. But both of you were born to be Kings" That statement sounded like it made little sense, but if you listened carefully, and read between the lines, it held all the sense in the world.
As she grew older, Sari learnt who she was, and also, who she needed to be. Everything that she had been growing up meant something; she was just unaware of it until her later years, where she was given her full title as a Asgardian. She travelled to Midgard, which everyone did for a year, and learnt who and what they thought of her as. When she came back, she surprised more than a few people with the knowledge that she now possessed. On Earth, She was known as the Goddess of Death, Night, Visions, the Moon and Death, which was all very fitting, considering her somewhat mysterious yet protective personality. She was now known as Lady Sari, though she made people refrain from calling her that, for reasons that were unknown to even her. She knew where the protection came from in her earthly title as well. Every day, Loki needed protection from someone who was out to get him, and every day, she granted it to him. By the time she was considered older than a child, but not yet an adult, she had worked out a way to protect him even when she wasn't there, but it required a lot of energy, and left her drained for long periods of time. Instead, she resorted to sticking close by him, being able to recognise when someone was sneaking up on her. That was practically where she had earned the title, from the stories that other Asgardians would have told on Earth. The next was fairly simple, the night and moon. It simply meant that she was incredibly quiet, and intensively hard to surprise. True to that though, she was also more in depth with her abilities at night, meaning that she was faster, and stronger. Visions were tricky. She was able to see the future, but she wasn't able to search it. They would come to her randomly, and without warning. Normally they had to do with the protection of others. But she was forbidden to speak of what she saw, even to Loki, who she told everything. Death was the last one, and Sari was fairly certain that was the most complicated of them all. She was able to sense when someone was close to death, but if she was able to save them, she was most definitely unsure of how to do it. She always had a reaction when someone she knew died, and if she knew them well, she could literally feel them die against her. Sari wasn't one to show her pain, but this, she couldn't stop anything from tumbling out. Simply, it hurt.
Everyone on Asgard was aware of this, how much it hurt her when someone died, but no one was more aware of it than Loki. The way in which their minds were connected, ever since they were small children playing in the garden, was astounding. He didn't feel her pain as such, they were not that connected, but he just knew when she was hurting, and he hated it. He wanted to make whatever was hurting her stop, putting it simply. Truthfully, if he had the chance, he would bash it to the ground and then burn it.
The next event, that was probably the beginning of a chain, was the announcement of Thor's coronation, a day that had long since been coming. Loki tried his hardest not to be bitter, and to the untrained eye it worked. But Sari knew him better than most, better than all, really. Loki was jealous, and in Sari's mind, he had a right to be. Thor was arrogant, a gloater and bloodthirsty. In the mind of Sari, which should have been trusted, as she was a seer, Thor was not ready for the throne of Asgard, although she did believe he was the rightful King, if that made any sense at all. She didn't let Loki know this though, as she knew it something that he didn't need to know. Sometimes the people who loved you the most were the ones who kept their thoughts to themselves so that you were never hurt by them. You trusted them, and if they told you their true opinion on a matter, that trust could be broken immediately. Now, on the day of Thor's coronation, Sari was forced to stand besides Frigga as she watched the eldest son of Odin walk down the aisle, waving Mjolnir around
"Oh please" Sif was less than impressed with his actions. There was no way that you could ever suggest that Sari and Sif were close, but it didn't mean that they didn't care about one another. Even Frigga though, smirked at her child's antics. You could see the love she held for him in her eyes. With a slam of Gungnir, Odin's Staff, the hall fell silent, everyone waiting for the wise king to speak.
"Thor Odinson" Sari didn't look down at Thor, but instead, looked across to Loki, who was switching his gaze between the two of them. It landed on Sari, and she shot him a small smile. He didn't return it, but unlike others, she understood why. "My heir, my firstborn" Odin continued. "So long entrusted with the mighty hammer Mjolnir." The one thing that Sari couldn't argue with, no matter how hard she tried, was Mjolnir. If that hammer, which was one of the most powerful weapons to have ever been fashioned, chose Thor, then it had obviously seen something inside of him which no one else had. And if he didn't turn into that person soon, no one would live to see what would happen. "Forged in the heart of a dying star, its power has no equal. It's a weapon to destroy, or it's a tool to build" Odin's words were right, but used in the wrong context. For Thor, Mjolnir was a weapon to destroy things with. "It is a fit companion for a king. I have defended Asgard and the lives of the nine realms" Sari blanked out, feeling an utterly familiar and creepy feeling crawling up her skin. It took ever longer to recognise what that meant, and by the time she finally had, she could feel it was almost too late.
"Do you swear to guard the nine realms?" Odin asked his son. Perhaps if they hurried up, she wouldn't need to interrupt.
"I swear" Thor was confident. Perhaps too confident for the future of a King.
"And do you swear to keep the peace?"
"I swear" He said again.
"Do you swear to cast aside all selfish ambition and to pledge yourself only to the good of the realm?" Sari was growing impatient as Odin continued to talk. How could he not realise that there was imminent danger?
"I swear!" It was taking far too long. By the time it was finished, all would be lost.
"Then on this day" Odin, for maybe the first time in his rule, was cut off.
"Stop!" Sari was actually quite panicked now, racing across the steps to Odin, where she spoke to him in a hushed tone.
"Odin, I fear that Asgard has…" But she needn't have to. He had just seen what she had.
"Frost Giants" He muttered, causing a shiver down Sari's spine. She hadn't actually known who was there, just that there were people getting killed in the protection of something. He slammed his staff down, and it was at that exact moment when she realised something. Eyes narrowed, Sari cast a look to Loki, whose confused gaze was giving way to more of a smirk. Resisting the urge to shout at him in front of everyone, she resorted to rhyming Loki's name with rude and unspeakable words. This was his doing, but even Sari was unable to hide the fact that a part of her was satisfied that he had done so. At this present moment in time, Thor did not deserve to be the ruler of Asgard.
The ceremony was ceased, and postponed to a later date, so that Odin, his two sons, and the women who had foreseen, or at least felt, the event could race down to the vaults, to see the damage that had been done. Sari resisted the urge to flinch at the sight of the two dead bodies, feeling their spirits calling out to her as they struggled to leave. With a slight flick of her hand, she sent them on their way out, somewhere that they could do well.
"The Jotuns must pay for what they've done" Thor announced to the three people standing in the room.
"Hasn't there been enough death?" Sari shot back, her anger raising just a touch. Thor and her had never been the best of friends, as Thor tended to act before thinking. Sari always thought before acting, except in the protection of Loki. That always came first.
"They have paid, with their lives" Odin commented, point out what Sari had trying to say to Thor. "The Destroyer did its work, the Casket is safe, and all is well" He continued.
"All is well?" Thor growled, disbelieving of his father's ignorance. But it wasn't ignorance. It was wisdom, far beyond what Thor currently possessed. "They broke into the weapon's vault! If the Frost Giants had stolen even one of these relics"
"But they didn't" Thor was interrupted, his father not willing to listen.
"Well I want to know why" Thor was stubborn in his beliefs. They wouldn't change for anyone. Loki looked back towards Sari, who had crossed her arms over her chest. Her expression was growing angrier by the second. Quickly, he took a slight step backwards, so that he was close enough to reach out and grab her hand, successfully calming her down. Sari didn't get worked out about much, she was possibly one of the calmest on Asgard, but Thor talking about running into battle, where multiple lives would be sacrificed, set her off. He knew it was because part of her could hear and feel their cries of anguish and terror as they lost their lives. She hated it; she hated that part of her, because she knew that there was no possible way to save them.
"I have a truce with Laufey, King of the Jotuns" Odin replied to Thor after a few moments silence. Neither of them had noticed the subtle gesture that Loki had just made towards Sari.
"He just broke your truce!" Thor was screeching at his father now. "They know you're vulnerable." No Thor, perhaps they knew you were vulnerable, considering that you were about to be made king, Sari thought to herself.
"What action would you take?" Odin was intrigued by the sheer force of his son's anger, and now, he wanted to test it.
"March into Jotunheim as you once did, tech them a lesson, break their spirits so they'll never dare try to cross our borders again!" Sari squeezed onto Loki's hand, in an attempt not to lash out at Thor then and there.
"You're thinking only as a warrior" Odin dismissed.
"This was an act of war!" Thor argued, clearly upset that his father wasn't taking his side. Then again, Odin always took Thor's side.
"It was an act of a few, doomed to fail" That was obviously wrong. It was an act of Loki, but Sari would never betray Loki like that.
"Look how far they got!" The pale women in the room shivered as a drop of water from the melting ice landed on her.
"We will find the breach in our defences, and it will be sealed" For every move that Thor made, Odin had a counter. Now, Thor went in for the kill strike.
"As King of Asgard" And yet again, his father had a countering attack.
"But you're not King! Not yet." Sari winced at the loud voices, or voice. An angry Odin frightened her more than she was willing to admit to anyone, including Loki. But all three of them just watched as Odin walked out the door, fuming silently at Thor's foolishness.
Thor left soon after, leaving Sari and Loki alone in the weapons vault. The latter watched as the former traced patterns on the wall with her fingers, letting the ice drop beneath them. Loki loved that about her, how the simple things in life gave her more joy than the extravagant. But here, she wasn't trying to remain happy; she was trying to cast her mind away from the tragedy which had occurred in this room.
"Are you alright?" Loki questioned her. She was the only one he had ever cared a great deal about, and it was pretty evident.
"I'm fine" She shook her head, as though she was trying to banish all dark thoughts from her mind. When she looked up again, she looked more certain of her words, and less like she was about to have an emotional breakdown. "Why did you call the Frost Giants?" This was another thing that Loki loved about her. Her tone was not judgemental, it was inquisitive. She did not care if his motives were for good or for bad.
"You may not tell me the future, but I see clearly enough" Loki answered her in a slight riddle, before continuing to explain. "Sometimes, you forget that I can see your mind, as you can see mine." Sari's eyes widened. It was true; she usually forgot that Loki had the key to her mind. But she had thought she had locked the memory of that vision away, deep within her mind where no one, not even herself could see it.
"I can see that Thor's rule will bring nothing but bloodshed, war, and death. I can see the countless bodies piled up against a wall as he seeks to quench his thirst for battle" Sari winced at Loki's words, as he basically recounted her dream to her. He was right; the vision had spoken of nothing but pain and loss. Sari had woken up in tears, but she had been forbidden by her own law to speak of it. It was the same with every vision that she had ever received. Because knowledge of the future in the wrong hangs could prove catastrophic. But then again, Sari always had her own agenda, and it wasn't for the good of everyone. It was for the good of the people that she cared about. "I can see the terror and pain that would become Asgard, but I can also see what it would make you." That was also true. Sari, couldn't, and didn't, handle death very well, even though she was the Goddess of Death. It was most likely because as they died, she could feel it. She could feel their last breath leaving their body, and as of late, she had no idea how to stop, nor embrace that feeling. She was still quite young; it wasn't unusual that she hadn't mastered her powers yet. And then again, who didn't shiver at the sight of someone dying. If you felt someone dying, would you be able to handle it? Sari was stronger than anyone ever believed, and everyone always underestimated her.
"Stop" She finally found the strength to murmur, halting Loki's words. In a weird and twisted way, he had done this for the both of them, and she was eternally grateful. "Thank you." Loki replied with a simple and large smile, before offering his arm in leading her from the room, which she graciously accepted.
So, here we are, first chapter in my first Thor story... Just to let you guys know I haven't really read the comics or anything, so don't chop my head off if there's something that could be argued (though, you can imagine chopping my head off if that makes you feel better). Hope you enjoy it, and I look forward to responding to some reviews... :)