First Encounter

Hera had always been the top student in her class. Though excessively introverted and timid, she managed to excel in all subjects and was even offered a private session with the local sorcerer to learn a bit more about the details and history of Asgardian magic.

And as a reward for her excellence in her studies at a really young age, she was invited to go on an excursion trip with other top students of Asgard to the palace. Asgardian commoners rarely have the chance to go and visit the palace. They could only do so if the royal princes and those above them were hosting a huge event, or if they were working in the palace or for the palace as warriors, servants, and so forth.

So being the given the chance to visit the palace was a great deal to Hera. Her foster parents had dressed her up nicely as much as their meager salaries could afford. Upon arriving at the palace, a tour guide led the group of children around, to have a look at the palace. They even had the luxury of being brought into Odin's Trophy Room, with the Queen's blessing, to have a look at the relics taken in by the Asgardian army from wars and gifts from various realms.

There was a certain relic that enchanted Hera the most. She took most of her time admiring it. It was the Tablet of Life and Time – something that did not make sense to her, hence her curiosity. She took her time to study it, to study the engravings marked on it and be dazzled by the amount of magic it held. However, she had been oblivious to her surroundings as she examined it because the moment she peeled her eyes away from the tablet, she realized that the tour group had left already, and she was alone in the vault.

Her heartbeat picked up and she ran out of the vault, into the halls of the palace. Pillars towered over either side of her and she had no single idea of where the tour group had gone. She wanted to cry – because feeling so alone and lost always got to her. But she, even as a child, understood the importance of respecting the palace. She willed herself not to cry as she searched through the palace walls for her tour group.

As Hera turned to a balcony, to see if she could spot the tour group anywhere, the young Sif caught her at the corner of her eye.

"Are you lost?" she asked Hera, who in turn jumped out of fright.

Hera's eyes flicked to the black haired Sif instantaneously. "Y-yes, I've lost my companions – could you help me?"

Sif grinned at her question and nodded. "Yes, but you'll have to help me first. We're playing hide and seek."

Hide and seek. Hera grinned at the sound of it. She nodded eagerly and ran towards Sif before they ran together through the palace halls to find a suitable hiding place. As they ran, they bumped into a young blonde boy with a trailing red cape behind him.

"Thor!" Sif called out, causing Thor to turn around and look at them.

Hera wanted to bow down, shocked to see the prince in person. But given that they were playing and no guards were around to witness her failure to show some respect, she did not bow.

"Sif! Have you found a hiding place yet? Loki's finished counting," Thor said, smirking. His eyes never bothered to turn to Hera, who seemed invisible to him.

"We were just about to –" Sif was cut off when she noticed that Thor was getting distorted in shape. Both her brows and Hera's furrowed down in confusion and before they knew it, Loki revealed himself, his illusion of Thor fading away.

"You fail to hide properly, oh Lady Sif," he said, his smirk still plastered on his fair face. "I told you I would not take long to find you, yet you and Thor still insist on playing."

Hera's jaws dropped. Amazing. She had never witnessed such illusions through sorcery before.

"Yes, and you failed to disguise yourself as Thor," Sif rebutted haughtily.

"I'm still working on it," Loki defended himself. He was about to say more when Hera interjected, "How did you do that? How did you – " Her eyes were wide with fascination at Loki. It almost seemed like she was expecting him to turn back into Thor again.

Loki's brow lifted as he gazed at the unfamiliar face, then back to Sif. "Who is she?"

Hera stopped talking immediately and felt her cheeks burn in red.

"She's lost," Sif explained. "She came in as a visitor of the palace."

Loki was silent as he examined Hera. "Let me guess, you lost track of them from maintaining your hair I suppose?" He asked, referring to her intricately braided blonde hair that ran around her head. A skill her foster mother was blessed with. Her hair was especially styled that way for that day's visit to the palace.

Hera shook her head, oblivious to his half-mocking tone. "No, your highness – I was too busy studying the Tablet of Life and Time."

Both Loki and Sif smiled at each other, impressed.

"It is such a gorgeous and mystifying relic, is it not?" Sif agreed with her. "My father was part of the army from which this relic was received."

Both Loki and Sif then set out to help reunite Hera with her tour group, searching the whole palace, making various turns here and there. But upon finding out from one of the palace guards that the tour group had left already, Loki led them to the Great Library of the palace. Together with Sif's help, they moved a bookshelf away to reveal a gaping hole in the wall.

"This leads you to the market," Loki explained. "You'll be able to find a hovercraft that might be able to take you back home."

Hera nodded immediately and slowly lifted the hem of her dress up to step into the hole.

"Oh, and next time you come here," Loki said, "Please don't get lost – it really is such an inconvenience to lead strangers around the palace." Sif merely rolled her eyes at what he said as Hera nodded obediently once more.

She muttered 'thank you' before curtsying and setting out deeper into the hole.

"Oh, and watch out for that immediate descent too," Loki called out once more, his hands on the edges of the hole immediately as he poked his head through, squinting in the darkness.

His warning came off a little too late though, because what followed was an agonizing gasp from Hera.

"I'm alright!" She croaked, trying her best to hide the pain in her voice as she struggled to move on deeper into the hole.