Astrid was distracted as her mother was giving her lessons in magic. It had only been a few months but she had gotten close to Thor and Loki and always wanted to have them be part of her days when they could. They were currently with their father Odin but she hoped to make a visit to them soon. The magic they were learning was boring shifting objects into other objects which was mind numbingly boring since the objects her mother wanted were so mundane. Now if it was turning a feather into a dagger or necklace that would make Astrid focused but alas, buttons to needles it was. Tove could see her daughter wasn't focused and snapped her fingers.
"Astrid, you must keep focus. A sorceress is only as good as their mind and focus. Without that, your spells won't last long or be as potent as they should be." Tove expressed calmly.
Astrid sighed but nodded as she conjured a small fire in her hands before making it disappear.
"Impressive, but not what we are doing. Magic can't always be shape shifting, elemental blasts, or moving objects."
"It would be much more useful so I wouldn't have to be so weak." Astrid commented.
Tove chuckled.
"You are my daughter. I honestly hated this pace myself when my mother taught me but one must know how to do the simple magic before progressing to advance magic."
"Loki is already doing much more advanced stuff from his mother. It's not fair!"
Tove cracked a slight smile as she saw her daughter's journal was filled with spells she's made up and doodles of her, Loki, and Thor fighting off frost giants.
"Hm...maybe you can do a practical today Astrid if we finish early." Tove mentioned with a soft smile.
That intrigued Astrid and she asked,
"What kind of practical?"
Practicals were when her mother would give her missions of sorts to have her test her magic. She had aced every one and Tove chuckled.
"Let's see how far you've come. Let's see if you can make it in the palace as a cat. You will succeed if you find Odin and his sons." Tove proposed.
Astrid smiled softly and loved that. However, she did struggle keeping her animal forms for long periods and the palace was a stroll away from their home.
"If you succeed, we can accelerate your magic training but if you don't make it, you will follow my lessons to the letter."
Astrid knew her mother would shift into something or someone else to watch her so she couldn't lie. Astrid liked a challenge and nodded.
"Okay mother. I will see to your test and I will find Loki and Thor."
"And Odin." her mother added.
Astrid giggled but nodded. She closed her eyes and channeled her magic in her veins. She imagined a medium sized furry cat with green eyes and orange fur. Astrid felt herself getting smaller and opened her eyes to see she was in fact a cat. Her mother showed her a mirror and it wasn't the cat she envisioned as the cat still had her amber eyes but at least the cat didn't have rose colored fur.
"Good luck Astrid, I will be watching." Tove her daughter.
She mewed and sped off as fast as her new paws could run. Astrid knew a path or two to the palace so getting in wouldn't be hard, but finding them would be the challenge. She found being a cat not as fun since the fur made her warm as she ran frantically and there were a lot of things to account for to make sure she was balanced. She stopped in the hall and heard a familiar old man talking.
'Odin' Astrid thought. She carefully picked up the voice and she heard it getting louder. Astrid needed to slow down so she wouldn't be suspicious...anymore suspicious she thought since a cat in the palace was odd. As Astrid walked, she looked over her shoulder to see if there was another person or animal following her since her mother was supposed to be watching her practical. Oddly, there wasn't anyone or anything. Astrid shrugged as she carefully followed Odin and nearly mewed in joy when she saw Thor and Loki were with him. She wondered where they were going since she had never been at this part of the palace before. Trailing the three of them, she slid into the room before the door closed. Odin gave the story about his bout with the Frost Giants and Loki and Thor looked to him with excitement. Astrid was also enthralled by the story and was very moved by Odin's calm yet firm voice. The boys and her noticed a glowing blue object in the room and Astrid tilted her head. She recalled the story in her mind and this had to be the casket they took.
"One day, one of you will take the throne and help to defend our peace." Odin addressed.
He looked up and Astrid went behind a pillar. Odin was amused but returned his focus to his sons.
Loki looked a bit uneasy at the thought Frost Giants were still around and asked,
"Frost Giants still exist."
Thor scoffed proudly and mentioned,
"When I'm king, I'll hunt the monsters down and slay them all! Just like you did father!"
Astrid found Thor's passion humorous and he was already thinking about being a warrior at a small age. Then again, she was thinking of being a sorceress; a very powerful sorceress so they had that in common but Loki had passion for greatness too.
Odin smiled at Thor since he was very young and naïve in his vision on what it meant to be king. Loki seemed more composed and understanding but Odin knew it was Thor's right despite what he had told them.
"A good king does not look for war...but he is always prepared for it. Only one of you can ascend to the throne, but you will both be fine kings." Odin advised as he walked out of the room.
"Oh and boys...make sure you don't lock up the cat that's in this room. We wouldn't want her to be trapped here with the casket." Odin added.
Thor seemed a bit surprised but Loki chuckled. A cat came out from behind a pillar and locked eyes with Odin. He cracked a small smile to the cat before leaving her with the boys. Thor bent down as the cat to him. Thor was a bit rough with his pets and she let out a small mew in pain.
"Brother, look a cat! She's so soft! You think mother will let us keep her?" Thor asked.
Loki bent down and noticed the amber eyes and smirked slightly while stroking her fur gently.
"You need to work on your eyes, Astrid."
Thor was very confused.
"Loki what do you mean?" Thor asked.
The cat mewed and stepped back from the boys a bit to shift back into Astrid. Thor was speechless as he looked to where the cat was and Astrid was in its place. Loki chuckled and gave her a hug when she was done.
"Magic lessons ended early?" he asked.
"Um, well kind of. I was getting bored so my mother let me do this to see if I could find you as a cat. Mainly, if I could keep my form long enough to find you. By the way, you need to learn how to be gentle, Thor." Astrid expressed with a laugh.
She pulled away and turned her attention to Thor. He crossed his arms but he soon opened them up for Astrid to hug her. His hugs have gotten softer but Astrid could still feel a slight pain in her spine when he hugged her, causing her to giggle slightly. He pulled away and asked,
"So you heard the story too, about the Frost Giants."
"Clearly, she was in the room too. But I do wonder...who would you want to be king?" Loki asked.
Astrid shook her head.
"Don't make me choose; like your father said, you both will make excellent kings. Makes me wonder who the next queen will be." Astrid mentioned.
Thor chuckled and teased,
"Why, you want it to be you Astrid?"
Astrid turned pink and shook her head.
"W-What? No! I was saying it like that! I mean Queen Frigga is a wonderful Queen and...why would you think I would want to be queen?"
"I mean it's not a bad idea...perhaps it is a good idea. I mean I would want a queen I could trust with my life and we're good friends right?" Loki told her.
"Right but Astrid is like a sister to us, kind of gross to think of her like that. It's almost like seeing Sif like that." Thor expressed.
Astrid got a bit bothered when Sif was brought up but asked Thor,
"How is she doing? I still haven't forgiven her for taking my glass crystals to smash in her training."
"She's doing great; she destroyed a training dummy and almost beat me in a spar...almost." Thor grinned.
Astrid rolled her eyes but nodded.
"I guess that is impressive." Astrid commented.
Thor heard her voice was flat and asked,
"Oh? And what have you been doing lately aside from shifting into animals?"
Astrid chuckled and summoned an orb of fire from her hands. Thor thought it was another light trick and reached out only to feel his fingers getting warmed up. His eyes widened and Loki smiled.
"Elemental magic, very nice. I'm able to use a bit of ice powers myself." Loki praised.
Thor smiled but still said,
"She should least learn to use a weapon. I mean Sif..."
"Stop comparing me to her! You know it bugs me!" Astrid exclaimed as her fire flared up slightly in her anger.
Sif bringing brought up and how she was better than her made Astrid angry. She was good in her own way, better in others, and Thor was really dense not to realize Astrid got jealous when Sif was around or talked about.
"Okay okay sorry. I won't bring it up again shesh! I'm just trying to help since you want to help me someday." Thor mentioned.
"Us, help us you mean and don't worry. There are weapons she may pick up that are long distant but her magic can be enough on its own. She is a Vanir and that means her magic will be very strong." Loki defended.
Astrid sighed and she made her fire go away. She looked away from Thor, feeling bad she snapped at him.
"I'm sorry Thor. I didn't mean to get all loud and mad."
"It's alright Astrid. You're just strong in some ways that I want you to be stronger." Thor responded.
Astrid smiled lightly at that and nodded.
"Well you do care about me but I don't know if I am a warrior type. Sorceress yes but I'm not one for being up close and personal to kill people."
"Maybe you should take up a bow? It will give you distance and you can imbue magic or poisons in the tips of the arrow." Loki suggested.
Astrid thought for a moment and it wouldn't be such an awful idea.
"I might think about it; thanks. Now what do you wish to do now?" Astrid asked.
Thor chuckled and said,
"How about we race to the courtyard? Winner gets to decide the game we play!"
Loki chuckled and shook his head playfully.
"This again Thor? You're going to lose." Loki grinned.
"Aye no magic!" Thor exclaimed.
"Aw but that's not fair to us." Astrid giggled as she shifted into a cat and started to book it to the courtyard.
Loki smiled as he ran after, shifting into a dog while Thor followed behind.
"Loki! Astrid!" Thor yelled after.
While the children sped off, Tove stopped her invisibility spell and became visible and made her way to see Odin and Frigga. Her daughter was quite a magical little marvel and she underestimated her power. She also underestimated how attached she would become to Thor and Loki since the three of them were truly at their best together. She wondered just how strong their bonds will be when one becomes king and perhaps wants Astrid as their queen. Power can corrupt and ruin people and she hoped for the best for those three.