Witnessing the beginning of a great battle was something I had had the unfortunate pleasure of many times during my life on Vanaheimr and Asgard. It was my duty to attend all of those perilous occasions and keep strong for the people. Not once could I turn my head to look away. But now, observing the lost heroes engaging in war with Loki's growing army, I realised that I had a choice. I could either fight with them against Loki, claiming his honour as my own, or I could watch from a distance, waiting in the shadows until victory was won. Either way, Loki would get his comeuppance. I just needed to decide whether what I truly wanted was to play a part in it or not.

As I was pacing around the room, deliberating which path I should choose, it hit me that if Loki was going to be cruelly defeated, I wanted it to be at my hand. After all, I wasn't going to let the Avengers have all the fun, was I? I smirked at the thought of Loki's face when he finally knew who I was. What a sight that would be. This thought excited me, surrounding my figure in an aura of anticipation. The feeling of exhilaration that crept through me was enough to make anyone leap straight into battle, but I kept calm, breathing deeply to relax my body. The Freyja that I was some days ago, when Fury and the Avengers had first requested that I acquaint myself with the Norse god, had disappeared, and in her place was a new, and hopefully more powerful Freyja.

I looked down at the city once again, summoning the force inside of me so that I could transport myself out of the wretched place that had been my prison. Deep down, I knew that I was terrified and barely confident in the power I possessed, but I could not show it. I would not allow myself to be weak in front of anyone ever again.

"I can do this," I whispered to myself, focusing on channelling the positivity, "I can. I know I can."

I closed my eyes, and within a moment or so, I found myself in the midst of turmoil. The road I had landed on, which ran directly in front of Stark Tower, had been turned inside out. Chunks of concrete had been ploughed from the ground and upturned, scattering all over the street in a path of disarray. Cars had been crumpled and flipped onto their roofs, and shards of glass from broken shop windows had been dispersed everywhere. New York was a mess.

Stepping over a mass of concrete, I kept to the sides of the street in order to not be discovered by the Avengers, even if it was possible that they would not recognise me, for the use of my magic had returned my appearance back to what it once was, or close to it anyway. It was an appearance which they had yet to see. Still, it was better to be on the safe side, I thought as I walked along. Suddenly, a monstrous creature appeared up ahead and caught sight of me. I, lost in my thoughts, was slow to react as it charged in my direction. For a moment I froze, not knowing what to do or how to defend myself. It had been a long time since I was this involved in a battle. As the creature continued to get closer and closer, I flung my arm up, praying that I could conduct some energy towards my target. I scrunched my eyes up, concentrating entirely on the magic that was coursing through my veins. Hearing a large thump, I gradually let my eyes open and allowed light to enter them. The creature, which I assumed must have been one of the Chitauri that Loki had mentioned, had fallen a few feet from me. I sighed in relief that my powers had not betrayed me in my time of need, but I knew that it was far from over.

As I carried on, I noticed that up ahead, the Avengers were fighting against the Chitauri. I had seen them earlier, struggling and outnumbered, but I did not realise that amongst them was Thor. I was relieved to see that he had survived Loki's temper tantrum which had resulted in him being hurled to the ground from the Helicarrier. Dr Banner, however, was nowhere to be seen. I did not allow this to distract me though, and as another one of the Chitauri came my way, I was prepared.

The beast raised its arm, a spear-like instrument in its hand, and went to strike me. I darted out of the way and conjuring a dagger, proceeded to stab its side. The monster let out a moan and dropped to the ground, a sticky substance, which I presumed was blood, leaking out of the wound. I decided to end its misery, and brought the dagger down again into a place where I knew he would not survive.

Seconds later, a further three creatures were doing the same. This time, however, it appeared that they wanted to fight hand-to-hand. I groaned. Hand-to-hand combat was not my strong point. Give me a sword or a bow and I would happily go into combat, but leave me with my fists and legs as weapons and I always managed to end up on my back, sighing in defeat. The three Chitauri were faster that I gave them credit for, and I soon found myself being hit in the stomach and flying backwards onto a pile of shattered glass.

Thankfully, the fragments of glass did not pierce my armour, but the force of the fall had shaken me somewhat. With as much strength as I could muster, I got up, staggering slightly. The Avengers had not caught sight of me; they were too wrapped up in their own fighting to notice. I shook some of the fragments out of my hair, picking out any that I had not managed to get rid of. As I did this, I noticed that my hair had grown longer and more undulating. My fingers went to my face, stroking my cheekbones which had become more prominent. Glancing at a building where the windows had not yet been broken, I realised that my true self had been revealed entirely. I could no longer hide from Loki. One look at me, and he would know exactly who I was. If he saw me too soon, then my entire plan would be ruined.

I looked back to the Chitauri who had attacked me and with a burst of power, threw them out of my way and checked that no one had seen me do so. Hearing the sound of an object soaring through the sky, I squinted upwards to see Tony in his Iron Man suit. He touched down beside the rest of the Avengers, who were still struggling to gain advantage over Loki's army. I heard a large roar behind me and quickly turned around to see a swarm of Chitauri flying in the direction of myself and the Avengers. As soon as I saw them I knew that without the use of dark energy, I could not hope to defeat them all by myself. I glanced back to see Fury's team in shock at the sheer number of them, and without thinking, I rushed towards them.

They did not notice me running through the rubble in their direction, and only did when I screamed at them.

"Go! Get away from here! Just run!"

Their eyes all locked with mine, with the exception of Thor, who was searching the skies, and their faces contorted with confusion at the sudden appearance of a stranger telling them what to do.

"And you are?" asked Tony.

"It doesn't matter, but what will matter is that in a few seconds you are all going to be in a lot of trouble," I answered, pointing towards the Chitauri.

"I think we can handle them, sweetheart," Tony said in a mocking voice which made me scowl.

Even when he did not recognise me, he was rude and arrogant.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I have a question. Why are you dressed like that?" Steve interposed, motioning towards my armour.

Thor turned to look, raising his eyebrows at my obvious Asgardian getup. As his eyes found my face, he frowned at the familiarity of it, but could not quite place who I was.

"Come to think of it, you do seem a bit familiar. Have we met?" Tony questioned, folding his metal arms.

All of the Avengers were staring at me now, their brows furrowed in thought. I wondered whether I should just save them the trouble and tell them, but it amused me to see them try to figure it out. I could hear the Chitauri getting closer, and one by one the Avengers shifted back into the present moment and realised the danger that was heading straight for them.

In the centre of the swarm, I spotted a figure that I was well acquainted with. My brother stood tall and proud on one of their strange flying machines and smiled at all the destruction that had been caused. How he could enjoy this sight of demolition on a planet we had both been fond of since childhood I did not know. Whatever Loki had done to him, he was going to pay for it.

The Chitauri raised their spears, and blue energy shot out of each one of them, causing a considerable explosion that blasted us backwards onto the solid ground. The dust cloud from the concrete was swirling around us, limiting the visibility of the group of creatures, and I could hear several people choking. I twisted my body to see what had happened to the others, hoping that they had not been injured too badly.

"Well, we weren't expecting that," I saw Agent Romanoff say as her arm was grabbed by Steve and she was lifted off the ground.

I was a little surprised that she had not been able to get herself up, but then I noticed that she was limping as she ambled over to the rest of the group, who were already up and observing the damage.

My eyes found Thor's, and he narrowed his, speaking up.

"I don't know how I didn't see it before. Is it really you?"

I hung my head, avoiding his gaze as everyone turned to listen to our conversation.

"It's been a long time, my lady. Too long."

"Wait, you know her? Who is she?" Tony asked, darting his head back and forth between us.

"Tell me, friends, do you not recognise her? For she was in our company for some time."

They all focused on my face, trying to establish a link. And then, something clicked.

"Freyja?"

Three chapters in one day. Crazy. More Loki soon, I promise!