Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters or places.

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The frozen air tore at her lungs but the maiden did not halt her escape, finding strength amongst the pain each heaving breath caused. The forest was thick around her, the moonlight faintly streaming through the dense snow covered trees, but the branches and thorns that cut her pale skin and the rocks that dug into her bare feet would not stop her. She must listen to her mother. She must run. She must escape.

She must live.

Booming shouts could be heard, her name slurred amongst threats, coming from the men that no doubt were charged with returning her to the village and to her death. She refused to allow her fear to cloud her mind, focusing on the pounding in her ears and in her chest rather than the destiny that she was currently fighting to escape. Her entire body was numb, with not even a scrap of clothe on her body to provide warmth against the harsh snow that fell all around her.

"AESA. Child, you will not be harmed."

She recognized his voice amongst the others, hearing the anger in her father's tone even from the distance between them. Even if she had not recognized her father's voice, she would always recognize the same lie that he spoke to her for every day since she could remember. Her father had prepared Aesa for her destiny since she was bore from her mother's womb, screaming and bloody just as any other of child in the village. But unlike the other children of the village, with their hair golden and eyes as blue as the sea, Aesa had been cursed with hair black as the darkness and unnaturally gray eyes. Aesa had been born a Dottir Myrkr.

Her father always had spoken lies to her, telling her that it was an honor, telling her that she should be grateful. The only truth her father had ever given her was that her death, her sacrifice, would ensure peace from the Gods. Aesa had heard the truth from her mother, just three nights ago, that she would not be sent away from the village to learn the ways of the Gods, to nurture the mystical gifts that she had been given. The lies that she had been made to believe shattered when she discovered that the Kveykva, the Light, would instead take her to her death at the hands of the Gods she so faithfully had worshipped.

Aesa had waited for the moment during the ceremony where she would be left to bathe, to cleanse the filth of the world from her body before ascending above, to make her escape. In desperation she had dug her way out of the hut with nothing but her fingers to use as tools, time closing in around her as her twenty-fifth year approached. She would have thanked the Gods for the loose ground around the huts if not for the fact that it was their bidding that created her forsaken destiny.

"AESA!"

Her father's voice was becoming louder, as were the shouts of the other men he had gathered to chase her down and drag her back to her death. Aesa refused to glance back, knowing that it would be her ending if she saw just how futile her escape had become. Instead she continued running, her limbs nearly useless as the cold sunk in deeper and froze her blood, hoping that she would die before her father could reach her. Her mother's tears pushed that hope from Aesa's mind, the need to survive giving the young woman one final push of determination. She steadied her body, preparing herself for the pain that running faster would bring her. She propelled her body forward, but in that same moment she felt an impact from behind as she was tackled to the ground. Aesa screamed out in agony, from both the pain the fall had caused and the realization that she had failed in her escape. She had failed her mother.

She now would die.

Her body had landed with her front buried in the snow and the man who had finally caught her sprawled across her back. She did not, she could not, move and simply allowed the hunter to have his prey. Her breath was still coming out in harsh pants and her body began to quake from the cold and the exhaustion. The man slowly, leisurely, stood, but Aesa's body had become too numb and did not notice that the weight had lifted. She did not see as the man removed his heavy cloak, nor did she notice that the angry sounds of shouting no longer rang through the forest. The man carefully turned Aesa's limp body so that he could wrap the fabric around her, his eyes showing curiosity instead of pity for the dying girl.

"Midgard truly is home to the simplest of creatures." Aesa fought to focus her eyes on the man before her, unable to make out his features or place his voice with a familiar face. The man continued to speak in a condescending tone, as if he were a parent scolding a child. "To spend your birth celebration like a savage running through the forest with no clothing to protect you from cold." If Aesa had been able to see, she would have seen the smirk upon the man's lips, she would have seen the hunger that now filled his eyes. "What secrets do you hold for me, Dottir Myrkr?"

Loki crouched down in the snow, taking hold of the dying girl's limp hand, and prepared himself for the journey back to Asgard. He let his head fall back in silence, knowing that Heimdall would be waiting for the Prince's signal that he had gathered what he needed. Barely enough time for a breath to be taken passed before the Gatekeeper allowed the Bifrost to descend, collecting both Prince and passenger in haste. It would do no good for the girl to die before her secrets could be discovered.

Once his feet landed back onto firm ground, Loki immediately stood and moved away from the mortal woman. Her breathing had nearly ceased and he could see that the skin not covered by his cloak had taken on a hue that surely had to be strange for a Midgardian. His silent observation was disturbed as three healers surrounded the girl, quickly lifting her and carrying her away. Loki watched their retreat in boredom, neither caring if the simple creature survived or if her stupidity caused her death.

The Prince casually made his way back towards the castle, intending to find his father and share the news of his success. It had been so fulfilling to see Thor's outburst when the Allfather charge the younger son with the task of retrieving the first Dottir Myrkr that Midgard had seen in centuries. Loki could imagine that Thor would have killed the men chasing the girl, destroying the entire village because of his immature rage. Strength of a different manner was needed for this task, as Odin had said. In truth, Loki had felt like a glorified wetnurse when he was told to retrieve the child. He would have refused had Thor not reacted as he did. It may have been petty and childish of Loki, but it still brought a smile to his face when recalling the pout on his older brother's lips.

Making his way through the castle and to the Throne Room Loki could feel the thrum of excitement from anyone that he passed, from the servants to the ladies of court. He did not see the excitement in having a dying, naked and fragile mortal in their realm. Even if Loki had not already seen her, it would not be excitement he felt. Annoyance, mild curiosity, thirst for knowledge, of course. But excitement because of a Midgardian? Pathetic.

Except for Odin and Frigga the Throne Room sat empty, meaning that Thor must have taken his leave to destroy something. Loki allowed the smallest of smirks to grace his features at the thought, but he quickly sobered as he arrived before his father. Odin stood to greet his son, but it was Frigga who moved to embrace her dark haired boy. Loki stood in silence as his mother pulled her body away, her hands remaining on his upper arms to keep him steady as her eyes searched his face.

"Well? Is she truly a Dottir Myrkr?" Before Loki could answer, Odin spoke for his son.

"Where is the girl?" Loki should have expected the lack of gratitude, the lack of recognition, for bringing the girl from her Midgardian home. Of course, Thor would have been greeted with an entire feast upon his return. Frigga gave Loki's arms a gentle squeeze before dropping her hands to her sides and turning to face her husband fully. Loki closed his eyes for only a moment, taking in a breath to calm the ache in his chest before answering his father, and then settled his gaze on Odin's face.

"The healers took her away upon my arrival." Loki offered no more words to his father, bowing his head in respect before turning and making a swift exit. Frigga turned her head back and watched his retreat, looking back to Odin only when Loki's form disappeared with the closing of the door.

"You could have given a word of thanks to him."

"A son needs no thanks for following orders given by his father." Frigga let out a small sigh, moving to stand by her husband's side once more. "Thor would not have required a word of thanks."

"Perhaps your one eye is failing you, but that was Loki who just stood before us, not Thor." Frigga stood close enough to reach out to Odin, but did not make the effort to bring contact between their bodies. "You could have offered any words, really."

"You coddle our sons, Frigga."

"Call it what you will, but I treat them as sons and not only as successors." Frigga bowed her head before making a slow exit, allowing time for her husband to respond. She cast a glance behind her to see that Odin was not watching her, but instead had made his way to his throne. With a small shake of her head the Queen closed the door silently, pausing a moment to collect herself before she tended to her daily tasks. She had only taken a step when she heard the commotion coming from the room behind the door that she had just exited, signaling that her words still had at least some effect on Odin. She hoped that he would acknowledge Loki as he had in the boy's youth. Before the reality had set in that only one of his son's would ascend to the throne and Odin had slowly pulled his attentions away from the younger prince.

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It had been weeks since Aesa had been delivered into the healer's care, but no word had reached Loki's ears on her condition. The excitement of having the girl in Asgard had slowly waned, but for Loki his curiosity had finally been piqued. The scrolls said very little about the origins of the Dottir Myrkr making the Prince's thirst for knowledge that much stronger. He had kept away from the activity surrounding the mortal, filling his days will battles, training and trickery, but the need to know why Odin had brought the girl here continued to grow.

The image of her dying near his feet had staying within his mind, reminding him that a mysterious source of unknown power was only moments away from him and if he had been a moment later that power would have been gone. It bothered him more that Odin knew of the girl's powers and he had chosen to keep it as another one of his secrets. Loki continued to pace his room, the thoughts running through his mind becoming maddening. The ache, the gnawing at his chest, seemed to consume him, driving him from his room and forcing his feet in the direction that the supposed Dottir Myrkr was being kept.

It was late in the evening, closer to early in the morning, and Asgard had fallen into slumber. The guards that stood before the door, between Loki and his goal, were no challenge for his magic but he still found a bit of enjoyment in the look of pure confusion on their faces as the floor beneath them seemed to disappear. A mere illusion that was more than effective for its intended purpose.

Loki entered the dimply lit room, no bigger than a closet that one would keep their weapons in, and saw the Midgardian lying prone on a simple bed in the middle of the room. There were no windows and the stone walls were bare. It was a room that the healers often used for dying men and women to be alone in their final hours, rather than leave them amongst the healthier inhabitants of the infirmary. But as Loki's eyes took in the form of the still naked girl, noticing how her chest rose and fell signifying that she had yet to die.

As he took the few steps to stand by the side of the bed, Loki was able to see more of the girl and saw that her skin had bluish glow to it. As he got closer he felt a strange tingling along his skin, instantly recognizing it as a reaction to the magic that could clearly be seen radiating off of the mortal before him. Loki looked over the girl's arms that lay bare by her sides, taking in the slope of her shoulder and the dark hair that fell about her body. It was shade to match his own and the observation intrigued him, but he ignored the thought for the moment.

Loki crouched down a bit to better examine the smallest of magical force fields he had ever seen. The bluish glow was not coming from the girl's skin, it was surrounding it. He had not seen the healers use this sort of technique before if ever. Loki straightened his body once more, his intention to leave as he would find no answers and only more questions. But when he was fully standing, he could see that the girl's eyes were now opened and her gray gaze was trained on him. In silence the two locked their gazes on one another for a moment, but as Loki made to open his mouth to speak, the girl's mouth opened in a shrill scream.

Loki quickly made to cover the girl's scream with his hands, but the moment the skin on his fingers met with her lips a wave of blue magic swept out across the room and threw him against the stone wall. His back hit the hard surface with a thud and he landed on his side on the equally as hard floor, a crack echoing through the room as his head made contact. The girl continued to scream at a pitch that burned his ears, but Loki did not have the strength to move as his body throbbed with an unexpected pain. From where he lay Loki saw that the girl was arching her body in what could only be described as pain.

"Silence." Loki did not know how the girl could hear his nearly whispered command over her screams, but as the word left his lips she obeyed and became silent. Loki slowly lifted his body, his eyes never leaving the bed as he moved. The girl's body lay limp once more upon the bed, but out of experience Loki knew to keep alert for a trap. When he was fully standing, he could see that the girl had once more fallen into slumber with the bluish glow surrounding her. The glow seemed to be more intense than before, but that could have been Loki's mind playing tricks on him. He move sideways towards the door, opening it and exiting quickly, but the girl did not move again. The guards were surprised at his exit, but he swiftly left before even a sound came from their mouths.

Loki was sure that they had heard the girl's screams, but why had they not tried to enter the room? No one seemed to be running to where the girl was once again sleeping, but with the intensity of her screams why would not one healer go to check on their patient? While Loki displayed a calm appearance on his journey back to his room, inside his mind was racing. The magic he saw and felt was not of Asgard and the girl was a source of power that could be worth possessing. Now he had more questions than before his visit to the girl, and the only way to receive answers would be to speak with his father or to wait for the girl to truly awaken. A third option came to Loki's mind as he stepped in his room, a sly smirk falling onto his lips.

Loki would be returning to Midgard.

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