Frigga's POV, years ago
"Your grandfather, Borr, was a very honorable man." Frigga told her children as she tucked them in for bed. "He was a great warrior and an even better King." She said with a smile. "That is how your father became such a great King." She said while looking down at her children with pride and an affectionate smile.
Thor, her oldest son, sat still, listening with gleaming eyes, hanging on to every word she said. Loki, her middle child, nudged Thor excitedly whispering to him, while Thor elbowed him to shut up.
Then there was Astrid, her youngest child, and only daughter. Astrid sat listening to her mother intently, her head slightly inclined to one side as her mother spoke. Her eyes gleamed, but her eyes were filled with kindness and passion. Different from her brothers, yet they held the same intensity.
"There once creatures called Dark Elves. The world was dark when they were around, giving them the name, Dark Elves." Frigga went on.
"Their leader, Malekith, held a special weapon. It was called the Aether. The Aether was a fluid of dark matter that the Dark Elves wanted to use to put all the Nine Realms into darkness." She watched as her children's eyes widened in horror.
"But your grandfather, Borr, led his army against the Dark Elves and Malekith. Their army was strong, and they overpowered the Dark Elves, but lost many people in the process. Malekith sacrificed his own people to try and destroy the Asgardians. All of his people died, including him. Your grandfather was victorious. He destroyed the Aether, and the Nine Realms were safe." She concluded, and smiled when her children cheered, happy that the story had a good ending.
"He sounds awesome!" Thor cried.
"Did he use his own magic? Did he have magic?" Loki asked, waving his hands around to try and prove his point.
Astrid elbowed Loki. "He didn't have magic! Only you have magic!"
Loki puffed out his chest. "Because I'm the best!"
"No, I'm the best! I'm going to become King one day!" Thor boasted proudly.
"No! I will become King!" Loki challenged.
"What if I become Queen?" Astrid questioned her brothers.
They both stopped and looked at her in shock for a moment before Thor broke the silence. "But you can't! We're older! And you're a girl!"
Astrid bristled, "So what? Is there something wrong with being a girl?" her eyes gleamed with anger, causing Thor to glance down and looked down at the bed.
"Well no…."
Frigga hushed them. "Quiet now children. It is time for you to go to sleep."
The squabble was forgotten as a series of awwwws sounded, and she smiled.
She tucked them each into their own beds and gave each of them a kiss on their forehead. "Good night my children. Sleep well."
As Frigga reached the door, she turned to look back at her three children, smiling as they lay all snuggled up in their beds. With love filling her heart, she turned off the light and left them to their dreams.
Astrid's POV, Present day
Astrid sat in her room brushing her hair by the mirror as her mother came in.
"Hello Mother." Astrid greeted, continuing her strokes.
Frigga was silent, causing Astrid to pause and turn around and face her.
"Mother?" she questioned softly.
Frigga sighed. "Odin has banished Loki to the dungeons for the rest of his life. That was the best I could do for him."
Frigga had been the only one who fought for Loki. After the events in the dungeon, Astrid left Loki alone. She wanted nothing to do with him. Astrid sighed and turned back to the mirror without another word.
Frigga looked sadly at her daughter. "You used to fight for him too. What happened?"
Astrid's hard eyes met her mother's in the mirror. "He hurt me. That's what happened. He never loved me at all. I almost died because of him." She no longer believed that she had seen something in New York. She told herself that she had been seeing things since Loki hated her so much. The vibrant blue eyes that she thought she had seen was merely an illusion of her fading mind. Nothing more.
Astrid lay her brush down on her table and brushed past her mother without another word, leaving Frigga to watch her go with a sad expression.
Thor had returned with his prisoners that he had brought back from his conquests. The guards led them past her as they made their way to the dungeons. Astrid's eyes caught on a certain prisoner. This one was different from the others, but she couldn't put her finger on why. The creature seemed to be wearing a mask that covered its entire face, long tusks sprouting from the side. Though her gut was nagging her about this creature, she shrugged it off. It was just another prisoner.
That night, there was a celebration feast. Astrid didn't feel like celebrating. She hadn't felt like anything for the past two years, not since Loki had "died".
She stopped by to congratulate her brother and see him after he had been away for a bit, but she soon returned to her room and went to sleep early.
When she awoke the next day, she figured out that Thor had gone to Midgard, though no one would explain why.
She was talking with Sif when she saw Thor with a woman at his side. She was small and seemed fragile, even from a distance. This must be the Jane Foster that he had told her about. Astrid smiled at the memory of Thor first telling her about the woman he met on Midgard during his exile. As he spoke, Astrid could see his eyes gleaming in a way that she had never seen before. She was thrilled for her brother.
She turned to Sif to say a quick goodbye and noticed the hurt and jealousy flash before her eyes, before she returned the goodbye and stalked away. Astrid watched her friend go sadly, before turning and following the pair of love birds.
"Thor!" She called out as she approached them quickly, her simple purple gown swishing at her feet as she hurried to catch up to them.
Thor stopped and turned around at her voice. Jane followed his example and turned towards the voice. When Jane looked at Astrid, she noticed the shock come across her face as she examined the woman in front of her. Astrid silently did the same, running her eyes across the woman that her brother loved.
Thor cleared his throat, forcing Astrid to tear her eyes away from Jane to meet his. "Jane, this is my sister, Astrid. Astrid this is Jane Foster."
"Yes, I know who you are." Astrid said with a smile and Jane looked surprised. She turned to Thor and whisper-shouted, "You told your sister about me?" Before Thor had a chance to respond, Jane turned to Astrid again. "But you were with the Avengers too! I saw you in New York. You were injured! Wait! That makes you Loki's sister as well?" Jane asked quickly, with curiosity, thought Astrid could detect the small trace of fear in her voice.
"No!" Astrid snapped quickly, the words falling out of her mouth before she even really thought about them. "He is not my brother. He's adopted," she parroted the words Thor had told the Avengers. At the time, she was angry at him for saying it. Now, she just wanted to distance herself from Loki as much as possible.
Jane fell silent. Thor watched the exchange, looking at Astrid with a curious, yet sad gaze before speaking.
"I was talking Jane to the Healing Ward to get her checked out. There is something wrong with her."
Astrid nodded. "Then I will go with you. We can always use more women on Asgard. Helps balance out all the masculinity that overflows the place," she chuckled and took Jane's arm in her own, locking them together as they headed towards the Healing Ward. "Oh the stories I could tell you," Astrid whispered to Jane, causing her to giggle, while receiving a death glare from her brother. Astrid simply laughed.
She watched from beside Thor as Jane lay on the table and the women looked over her. An image of Jane popped up above them and the women looked at it, examining Jane's body. Astrid listened with amusement as Jane tried to figure out their technology.
A voice caused Astrid to jump. "My words are mere noises to you that you ignore them completely?" Their father questioned Thor as he entered the room.
"She is ill," Thor said, turning to Odin.
"She is mortal. Illness is their defining trait," Odin spoke sternly. The women in the room backed away.
"I brought her here because we can help her," Thor continued, ignoring Odin's tone of derision.
"She does not belong here in Asgard, anymore than a goat belongs at a banquet table," Odin said harshly.
"Father," Astrid spoke sternly, trying to reprimand her father for his harsh words.
Jane looked up at Odin in shock and anger. " Did he just-?" she glanced at Thor before turning to face Odin. "Who do you think you are?" she demanded.
"I am Odin! King of Asgard. Protector of the Nine Realms." Odin replied with authority.
"Oh." Jane paused, losing her fire. "Well I'm-"
" I know very well who you are, Jane Foster." He replied evenly.
Jane glanced at Thor. "You told your dad about me?"
Thor turned towards Odin as he started to leave the room. "Something is within her, father, something I have not seen."
Odin paused as he faced his oldest son. "Her world has its healers, they're called doctors. Let them deal with it. Guards!" he turned towards the guards that were outside the room. "Take her back to Midgard."
The guards stepped forward immeaditly, heading towards Jane's side. As they reached out for her, Thor shouted, "No, I would not-!"
A bright red light emminated from Jane's body, forcing the guards away from her, causing Astrid to be pushed back into the wall.
Odin stopped suddenly, turning back towards the Midgardian woman, who collapsed back down onto the table. Thor rushed to her side, cupping her jaw in his hand. "Jane, are you alright?" As Astrid reached his side, she saw Jane give a slight nod. Odin came around the other side of the table and reached out tentatively above her arm. Astrid watched as a sort of red liquid became visible, running through Jane's veins.
Odin looked at her arm in amazement. "It's impossible," he murmured softly. The head healer stood by Odin's side. "The infection, it's defending her," she said quietly, glancing at Odin.
Thor shook his head. "No, it's defending itself."
Odin backed away from Jane before speaking, "Come with me."
Astrid followed them as Odin led them to a room full of books and pulled one off the shelf. He opened it and placed it on the table.
"There are relics that predate the universe itself. What lies within her, appears to be one of them." Astrid glanced towards Jane in shock as she listened to her father. "Nine Realms, and not eternal. They had a dawn, as they will have a dusk. But before that dawn, the dark forces, Dark Elves, reigned absolute and unchallenged."
"Born of eternal night, the Dark Elves come away to steal the light," Thor murmured.
Astrid nodded, "We know these stories. Mother told them to us as children."
Odin looked at her and nodded. "Their leader, Malekith, made a weapon out of that darkness, and it was called the Aether. While the other relics often appear as stones, the Aether is fluid and ever-changing. It changes matter into dark matter. It seeks out host bodies, drawing strength from their life force. Malekith sought to use the Aether's power to return the universe to one of darkness. But after eternities of bloodshed, my father, Borr, finally triumphed, ushering in a peace that lasted thousands of years. He killed them."
"But Borr destroyed the Aether," Thor interjected.
"So you believed." Odin replied. "The Aether was very powerful and could not be destroyed. Asgard took it and buried it deep where no one would ever find it." He stopped to look at Jane. "But someone did."
"Does this book happen to tell you how to take it out of me?" Jane spoke up.
Odin frowned. "No. It does not," Odin closed the book and stepped away. "But I will see what I can find."
Astrid nodded, before turning to Jane. "Come. While father tries to figure this out, let's get you into some better clothes. I have too many anyway. I'm sure we can find one that suits you," Astrid said with a smile, trying to appease the young woman. Jane gave her a small smile and nodded.
Astrid turned towards her brother. "I will take good care of her, brother. Come find us when you are done." Thor gave her a grateful smile and nodded, before turning back towards Odin.
Astrid managed to find a dress for Astrid that fit her and Thor had come to collect Jane. With a smirk and a wink at her brother, she let the pair go.
She found her mother walking the palace and relayed the story to her. Frigga's eyebrows furrowed with concern. Astrid explained the details as they walked until they heard voices on a balcony. Frigga smiled as she recognized Thor's voice and the pair headed that way.
"My father doesn't know everything," Astrid heard Thor tell Jane.
"Don't let him hear you say that," Frigga chuckled as she stepped out to join them.
Thor smiled at his mother before turning to Jane. "Jane, meet Frigga, Queen of Asgard, and my mother."
Jane looked at Thor in shock before looking at Frigga. She quickly pulled her hand out of Thor's self-consciously, before bowing her head slightly. "Hi," she mumbled quietly.
An alarm filled the sky. They all looked towards the direction that it was coming from. "The prison," Frigga noted out loud.
"Loki," Thor said to himself. Dread filled Astrid as she looked towards the prison, hoping that Loki was not the one who had caused this.
Frigga nodded towards Thor. "Go. I will look after her," she nodded towards Jane.
Astrid looked at Thor and they came to a mutual agreement. Thor grabbed Astrid around her waist as Mjolnir came flying into Thor's hand, carrying them both towards the prison.
Loki's POV, a few minutes earlier.
Loki lay sprawled out on his bed and was throwing an object up in the air and catching it. He didn't even know what it was. He was that bored.
Suddenly, the lights flickered, causing him to stop his movements. He placed the object on the table next to him and hoisted himself up and off the bed, heading towards the barrier, where shouting and banging began. He noticed guards running past his cell, and Loki leaned closer towards the barrier, hoping to catch a glimpse of what was going on. This was the most excitement he had since he was put down here.
As he scanned the rest of the prison, he noticed that one of the newer prisoners was walking confidently out of its cell, which had its barrier destroyed. As Loki watched, he saw it smashing its fists into the barriers of the cells around it, letting more prisoners flow out into the cramped hallway.
Then the warriors showed up. Asgard's finest warriors flooded into the prisons, fighting back the prisoners that attempted to flee. But, they were not going down easily. The prisoners fought the people with a deep rage and vengeance.
As Loki watched, the creature which had started this all stopped outside his cell, causing Loki to smirk with pure mischief. It stepped up closer to the barrier, but seemed to hesitate as it looked at him, before it let out a quiet grunt and turned away, beginning to walk away from his cell.
Loki tried to hide his disappointment. He so wanted to cause a bit of mischief. As the creature was walking away, he decided that he could still provide a bit of mischief. He was so bored after all. When the creature was almost out of earshot, he called out. "You might want to take the stairs on the left."
The creature paused and glanced back at him, as if wondering if he could believe him or not, before turning away and heeding his advice.
Astrid's POV
Thor held on to Astrid as they headed toward the prison. As they both landed, Thor grabbed her arm, turning her to face him.
"Please be careful, Astrid," he pleaded softly. She knew he was worried about her ever since the incident in New York.
Astrid gave him a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine, Thor. I'll stick by your side if it makes you happy." She saw the relief flood his eyes as he nodded and let go of her arm, turning towards the entrance to the prison. Astrid unsheathed her daggers and held them ready at her sides as they both entered.
As they entered, pure chaos surrounded them immediately. Guards and warriors were fighting a majority of the prisoners that existed within the palace. Whatever happened, most of the prisoners had gotten out of their cells and were attempting to escape. Astrid prayed that Loki was not one of them.
As Thor stepped forward, some of the prisoners stopped to look at him. Thor's voice boomed loudly as he addressed the prisoners. "Return to your cells and no harm will come to you. You have my word." As soon as Thor finished speaking, one of the prisoners that was closest to him punched him in the face.
Thor turned to the prisoner and smirked. "I guess you don't have my word." Thor lifted Mjolnir and swiped it across the prisoner, sending it flying away. At that, everyone jumped into action again.
Astrid jumped into the fight, twirling her daggers around her as the prisoners tried to overpower her. At times, she pushed some back with some magic so they would not overwhelm her.
A loud crash and the ground rumbling beneath her feet caused her to pause. A quick glance towards Thor showed that he mirrored her concern. With a quick scan of the room, she noticed that the guards seemed to be handling the rest of the prisoners, so she turned and headed out into the sun of Asgard, looking on in pure horror as she saw a hole in the citadel of Asgard. Where was the shield? When Asgard was attacked, a shield would be activated that would surround the center of the city, the palace of Asgard. Where was it? But, more importantly, what had crashed into it?
Thor came up to her side, looking at the palace, with the same amount of horror that she had.
"Mother! And Jane!" Astrid gasped, grabbing onto Thor's arm.
Thor's face blanched at their names, before it turned to one of anger and determination. He wrapped his arm around her waist once more, before taking them both towards the palace.
Frigga's POV
Frigga tensed as the doors opened, allowing a lone figure to step into the room. Jane stood up and quickly moved behind her. She trained her eyes on the creature that stepped into the room, holding onto the sword tightly at her side.
"Stand down, creature, and you may still survive this," Frigga demanded as she stepped closer to the creature that was approaching them.
"I have survived worse, woman," the creature spat at her.
Frigga narrowed her eyes, "Who are you?"
"I am Malekith," he said with a smile. "And I would have what is mine." His eyes drifted towards Jane. Frigga glanced back towards her to see her trying to move further away from them. As Malekith stepped towards Jane, Frigga drew the sword upwards, slicing it across Malekith's face.
Malekith hissed before drawing his own sword and lunging for her. But she was ready. She dodged blow after blow that he sent her way, managing to land a few hits onto him. She finally got the upper hand and placed the sword against Malekith's throat. Frigga thought she had him beat, but then she noticed Malekith glance to the side. Following his glance, she noticed a larger creature approaching the pair. She tried to swipe her sword towards the creature as well, but it pushed her hand aside and grabbed her throat, lifting her off the ground.
Malekith recovered as the creature subdued Frigga and headed towards Jane. Jane was backing away, while Malekith was advancing quickly. "You have taken something, child. Give it back," Malekith demanded.
Jane was cornered into a wall, staring defiantly back at the creature, though still a hint of fear in her eyes. He reached out to grab her, but his hand slipped through her and Jane faded away with a green shimmer. With a growl, he turned towards Frigga. "Witch!" he yelled. Frigga smirked in response.
Malekith stalked towards her. "Where is the Aether?" He asked as he came face to face with Frigga again, the creature wrapping its arm around her throat.
"I'll never tell you." Frigga spit out.
He smiled. "I believe you." The creature brought out a sword and plunged it up through her back. Frigga grunted in pain, before she was dropped to the ground. She heard a cry, before everything went black.
Astrid's POV
Thor and Astrid had searched room after room for their mother and Jane. When they came to a pair of open doors, they both ran into the room, only to see a large creature thrust a sword into their mother.
"No!" Thor screamed. Lightning shot out of his hammer, hitting Malekith in the face. It screamed and fell back from the force. The monster that stabbed her mother went to the elf's side. Thor threw his hammer at the pair, knocking them off the balcony, before Astrid saw a ship that must have been right under the window, fly away.
Astrid raced to her mother's side while Thor raced onto the balcony in pursuit and threw the hammer again, hoping he would reach his target.
"No! No. No. No…. Please mother!" She wailed, tears blinding her vision as she saw the blood pooling around her mother. She reached out to touch her mother's face. It was still warm, with the remnants of life within it, but Frigga did not move. The tears began streaming down Astrid's face as Odin came into the room. He was at his wife's side in an instant and pulled her head into his lap. He wiped strands of her hair away from her face, a look of pure shock on his face as he cradled her face close to his. Astrid could hear him mumbling unintelligibly.
As the ship got away, Thor came back inside with a look of defeat on his face and watched his father mourn his mother, his own eyes glistening with tears as he looked down at the body of his mother. In the midst of it all, Jane walked out from behind a column, safe and sound. Frigga had died protecting her.
Astrid started sobbing as the shock and adrenaline started to wear off, leaving her body numb. "No! Please mother!"
Thor went to her side and pulled her to his chest, away from her unmoving body. Astrid wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his chest as the tears fell freely. She could feel Thor's own tears land on her hair, causing her to cry that much harder. Thor never cried. If he did, it was never in her presence. He was always so strong, so to have him break down with her, caused the dam to break.
Their mother was dead.