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The sounds of war rang out among the cold ice plains of Jotunheim. The wind slammed against the two armies, blowing snow around in a blinding whirlwind of white. The sound of metal Asgardian blades hitting Jotun ice blades was present everywhere, and the ground was stained with blood and littered with as many Asgardian corpses as there were Jotun corpses.
Loki was in the middle of it. He shot another burst of magic at a Jotun, who fell to the ground, and he stood over an icy blue box at his feet-the Casket of Ancient Winters. Loki bent down and picked it up, feeling the familiar ice spread through his body as he changed into his Jotun form, and felt the Casket respond to his change. It came alive in his hands; power surged through Loki, and he felled the next six Frost Giants who came charging at him.
He felt the air grow electric and bent backwards as Mjolnir came flying, passing an inch in front of his face to slam into the bodies of seven Frost Giants, all in a row, and Thor stopped beside Loki as the hammer returned to his hand.
"They're almost all gone. They should be surrendering soon," Thor half-shouted, over the howl of the wind. Loki nodded as Thor ran off, and continued to fight the Frost Giants that threw themselves at him.
The wind and snow suddenly stopped, and Loki could finally see more than a foot in front of him. He saw several pockets of Frost Giants fighting Asgardians; Thor ran between all of them. Sif finished one of her opponents, only to whirl around and engage in fierce battle with another, and the Warriors Three were all occupied with quite a bit of Frost Giants.
Loki wasn't being rushed by any more Jotuns; he teleported himself to one of the Warrior's battles and began fighting.
...
"I see you have emerged victorious." Heimdall's deep voice rumbled through the chamber as Loki, Thor, the Warriors Three, Sif, and a number of remaining Asgardian warriors walked out of the Bifrost. All had wounds; none were left unscathed. Eir, the lead healer, and a party of other healers stood to the side, but quickly began to disperse through the crowd as they came through. Within seconds, every Asgardian soldier had at least one healer assigned to them.
"We won, but it was close. Send some reinforcements, Heimdall, to bring the prisoners back," Thor said, gesturing to about sixty Asgardian soldiers waiting on the Bifrost. The soldiers walked into the portal in neat ranks on one side of the raised platform Heimdall stood on, while the healers and the other soldiers walked towards Asgard on the other side. Thor and Loki stood in the middle.
As the chamber emptied, Thor nodded respectfully at Heimdall. "I thank you once again for your services for Asgard," he said.
Heimdall returned the nod. "It is my pleasure, Your Majesty. I will never hesitate to provide services to Asgard in time of need."
Thor and Loki exited the chamber. Thor flew to the palace using Mjolnir, while Loki simply teleported himself to the throne room. He handed the Casket of Ancient Winters to one of the guards and requested it be put back in the vault.
Loki walked up to Thor as he burst in to the doors. "Why do you think the Jotuns attacked us like that? They've known we have the Casket for years and have never bothered to attack until now," he asked.
Thor simply shrugged. "I do not know, brother, but I do not like it. Their army was far larger than it should have been. Where are they getting all those soldiers? Their numbers went from a mere ten thousand to nearly two hundred thousand. They should not have been able to get that many."
"An outside force, perhaps?" Loki suggested. Thor shook his head adamantly and walked around the throne room. Loki took a few steps forward, then stopped and watched his brother pace.
"The Jotuns would never have accepted help from an outsider. They would've known that there was a chance of betrayal, and if the outsider obtained the Casket before they did, they would have almost complete control over the Jotuns due to their need for its power. We've never used it-we've never had any reason to control the Jotuns since our grandfather defeated them hundreds of years ago-but it has always been possible to force them to bend to our will using the promise of the Casket's power," Thor reasoned.
Loki shrugged. "We'll figure it out eventually. They're subdued for now." He moved to turn away, but stopped at Thor's voice behind him.
"Brother, don't you think a visit to the Collector is due? We haven't checked on the Aether for several months. It would be wise to do it now, to make sure that if there is an outside force behind this, the Aether is secure," Thor said.
Loki nodded and, without turning around, said, "I will do that now. Expect me back sometime tonight.
...
Loki followed the servant through the winding hallways of the Collector's maze. He pointedly ignored most of the displays in the cases and instead tried to stare ahead, at the girl's pink skin. She held her hands in a praying position at her chest, with her elbows sticking out, and she walked with precise, measured steps, which made progress slow through the halls.
Finally, Loki rounded a corner and spotted the Collector standing in the middle of the aisle. The servant girl stopped and bowed deeply.
"Taneleer Tivan, the Collector," she said, and walked off. Loki waited a few minutes before she finally went out of earshot, then he spoke.
"Taneleer," he said smoothly, nodding in acknowledgement.
Taneleer did not return the favor—he was not one for social graces. He wasn't really one for social contact, either, given how he was just slightly insane. Just slightly.
"I presume you have come to check on the Aether?" he asked in his slow drawl and, at Loki's nod, turned and began leading the way.
After endless minutes of silent walking through the aisles, they looked on to see a stone pedestal with the Aether's case on it. Loki could barely distinguish the faint red glow from the black sides of the golden-rimmed box.
Taneleer produced a coin and casually tossed it at the case. It bounced off a magical barrier that glowed where it hit, but then faded away to invisibility.
"This surrounds the entire case," Taneleer said and, as if to prove his point, dropped a coin on top of the case. It was shot away by the magical barrier, and Taneleer smiled.
Loki, having been satisfied, turned to leave, but Taneleer stopped him.
"Would you like to view my most recent addition to my Collection?" he drawled slowly. Loki turned on his heel in a slow circle back towards the Collector, knowing that he'd want to be anywhere but here, but he, unlike Taneleer, had at least some idea of basic social graces. He couldn't very well refuse; after all, the Collector was taking care of the Aether, and even going so far as to provide it with a magical barrier, though Loki wasn't sure how much of that was simply his own guard against theft and not a favor to the Asgardians.
"Yes, I would. . . very much. . . like to," he said. Fortunately, Taneleer didn't pick up on the sarcasm, but simply began to lead Loki down the hallways once more.
"I decided to take a trip to Jotunheim. Asgard has just won a battle with them, no?" Taneleer asked as they walked.
"Yes, we have," Loki replied, and Taneleer continued almost instantly after.
"Your guards did not look hard enough," he said as they approached a tall glass case with something gray and shapeless in the corner.
"I found her inside the palace," Taneleer drawled, "in the dungeons."
Loki nodded absently, his attention focused on the figure in the case. She was curled up in the corner, wearing a gray cloak and bent down. The hood of the cloak covered her face; she remained completely still and silent.
"A girl?" Loki asked. Taneleer nodded.
"Yes. She could be Asgardian; she looks human enough," he said. Loki nodded slowly.
"I'll take her back to Asgard."
A/N: The first few chapters will be a bit uneventful, but they're only the prelude to the action! I already have the first several chapters written out, so I can promise you that there will be lots of action coming.
This is one of my first fanfictions, so reviews would be appreciated. :)