***ASGARD(2013)***
The sun shined brightly on the shimmering gold palace of Asgard as well as it's surrounding land up into the mountains.
***Palace, Dungeon***
However, in a dark corridor, Torunn, Rocket and Viv dropped in from the Quantum Realm and into the palace. Fortunately, they were in the most inconspicuous place: the dungeon.
Their suits dematerialized and they were ready.
"Alright, princess," Rocket said to Torunn as they looked around, "where are we?"
But she merely shrugged at the question. "I don't know, I've never been here before. I've only heard stories about it."
"Oh great." the "raccoon" rolled his eyes.
"Don't worry, I got this." Viv stated, beginning to hover a little off the ground. "I'll go check it out and see where we need to go."
And with that, she closed her eyes and slowly began to disappear. The other two realized that she had turned invisible and left.
While Viv went to search the area, Rocket and Torunn made their way through the halls of the dungeon, sneaking past multiple cells as they did.
However, one cell in particular caught Torunn's attention. She paused and looked into the cell at the prisoner who lay on his back, tossing a small cup up and catching it again and again to entertain himself. He seemed familiar to Torunn, and for good reason too. The particular prisoner she stared at was none other than, Loki. "God of Mischief". Brother of Thor... her uncle.
As she now stood at the power barrier that acted as the bars of the cell, she saw him catch the cup again but he didn't throw it back up this time. No, this time, he stopped on account of the feeling of eyes on him. Her eyes. Turning his head to the front of his cell, the mischievous prince saw the blonde standing there staring at him. At this, he slowly sat up and stood. He then began to stride towards the cell barrier with his hands behind his back, his eyes never leaving Torunn's. Once there, the two held their curious gaze at one another.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's not nice to stare?" Loki asked, his tone slightly condescending.
Torunn scoffed at that. That was rich, hearing that coming from him after all she'd heard about him. "Doesn't seem to be stopping you," She cleverly retorted.
To this Loki chuckled cheekily, "Oh, I like you. You have a spark."
"Oh, I got a lot more than just a spark. I promise you that!"
And right there, Loki became intrigued by this girl. Other than just the confidence with which she spoke, there seemed something familiar about her. "Have we met before? Because your face seems terribly familiar."
Surprisingly, Torunn wanted to tell him who she was, who she was to him, who he was to her. But she knew it wasn't a good idea, though she did want to say something. "Let's just say...we're family."
"I see...Oh wait, I can see it now. It's Thor, isn't it?" He said, still holding that smile of his. The mention of her father's name specifically shocked Torunn so much, her eyes went wide and her breath hitched in her throat. This gave Loki all the confirmation he needed. "Ah, so it is. And who is your mother, I wonder."
"Could it beee...Sif? No, she's more interested in Thor than he is in her, he's never really fancied her that way. Hmm..."
A moment or two later, an all too familiar grin returned to Loki's face. "Ooooh...oh no." His smile turned into a laugh. "Oh no, this is so delicious! You're the daughter of the Foster woman, aren't you?"
Torunn remained quiet and merely blinked with some tears behind it. Finally, she looked up to him with a pained/upset look. "Yes...uncle."
And it was that last word that made Loki's smile go down just a little. Only a little though, the rest went into a more humble look.
The two held their stares until Torunn heard Rocket call to her. "Hey, Tori! C'mon, we gotta go."
The blonde princess looked to her friend and then back to her uncle. As much as part of her wanted to stay and maybe even ask a few questions, Torunn knew she had a mission to carry out.
She began to walk away to catch up with her friends. That is until...
"Wait!" she heard Loki call to her. She halted for a moment before looking back to him. There was a humble look again and it seemed as though he was trying to think of something to say. Unusual for him based on what she knew of him. Finally, he spoke. "Since it would seem I am your uncle, I do believe I'm entitled to give my niece at least one gift. If you would allow me..."
This surprised Torunn. She wasn't aware of how much her uncle had redeemed himself and became more of an ally than just a mischievous traitor in her timeline, so this genuinely surprised her to see and hear words like this from the God Of Mischief himself. But then again, this might very well be the only time she'd get to meet him. And he was family, like it or not.
So with that, she walked back to the cell and faced him again. "What kind of gift?" she replied.
Loki smiled at her question and held up one hand. "Would you mind holding up your wrist, please?"
The request was a little strange, but Torunn obliged. She lifted it and watch as her uncle slowly waved two fingers towards her wrist. Suddenly, a gold-greenish glow engulfed her wrist before disappearing, leaving a black leather braided bracelet in it's place. There was also two gold beads on it with a small green string linking them.
The sight of it brought a shock and awe effect, along with a smile to Torunn. "Oh my gosh! It's beautiful."
She admired the bracelet, feeling it to se if it was real, which it was. And she loved it. She also loved the fact that it was from her uncle as well. But unbeknownst to her, said uncle had another surprise in mind for her.
While she was still admiring her uncle's gift, Torunn's attention was pulled away from it by the sounds of whistles and mini explosions and colorful lights above her. Looking back up to her uncle, she was welcomed to the sight of fireworks emanating from his hands. It was a beautiful sight. Almost...magical.
"Fireworks," he said before making them disappear. "bit of a two-for-one."
"That was amazing!"
To that, Loki took a small but dramatic bow in thanks.
"Torunn!" A voice called.
The two looked and saw Viv standing there. Though Loki had no idea who she was, he could tell that she was a friend of his niece.
"We've gotta go." she said, waving for Torunn. But there was a patience in her voice on account of seeing her friend converse with her uncle.
"Okay, I'm coming." Torunn assured her before turning back to Loki. As she did, a smile came to her face and tears threatened to form in her eyes. She was happy. Happy that she had a taste of what other family she had, and she loved it. "Thank you, Uncle."
A warm smile came to Loki's lips and he gave her a short nod of respect. "My pleasure, Torunn."
The two smiled at one another and Torunn wished she could hug him. But this would have to be enough.
Motioning that she had to go, she slowly walked away and met with Viv. But before they left, Torunn looked back to the cell once more and waved goodbye to Loki. And he in turn waved back with a smile.
Having shared that one last tender moment, Torunn turned and walked on with Viv.
Loki watched as they disappeared from his sight and smiled once more. What a surprise that had been. He had a niece. By Thor, and his Earth girl. What a feat!
"Well done, brother," he hummed as he strode back to his chair, "well done."
***Palace Halls***
Having made it out of the dungeon, the three came into the high ceiling halls that would lead throughout the palace. They were careful to stay out of sight until finally, they spotted their target.
Said target, Jane Foster walked through the halls with a woman by her side. She was guiding her somewhere, possibly her room or to the dining hall. Hopefully her room. That would be a more controlled and secluded setting, easier for the task they had to do.
They were about to follow when they heard a door open and heard people approaching. Observing, they saw that it was at least five women But one in particular, with shiny blond hair, walked ahead of them all as they talked. She was dressing in a fine royal garment while the others behind her were dressed in simple dresses. Still fancy, just not as much as hers.
"Who's the fancy broad?" Rocket asked, nodding to her.
Viv did a quick check and was able to identify her. "That's Frigga. Queen of Asgard, Mother of Thor and Loki."
"My grandmother." Torunn added, a light smile on her lips. But then a shuddering thought came back to her, one she was afraid of. "Wait, Viv, what day is it? Here I mean, where...when we are now."
Viv closed her eyes and checked her records before opening them and answering the princess. "November 12th, 2013. Why?"
Torunn felt her heart hurt when she heard the date read. She had been told by Valkyrie about this day...and the terrible weight it carried. "She...today's the day she...that she dies..."
"Oh...that's today?" Rocket asked, surprised by that piece of information.
But Torunn couldn't bring herself to answer, a touch of fear had suddenly sparked in her. She found herself shaking, worried for the queen...for her grandmother.
"Well, hey we gotta get moving," Rocket said as he moved to head the other way. But he halted when he saw that Torunn hadn't moved. "Tori!"
Once again, the princess was pulled from her thoughts and looked behind her to Rocket, but then back to the direction that the queen and her ladies had gone. Suddenly, an anxious feeling spiked within Torunn. She knew that she was on a mission, but this...she had to this. She just had to.
"I'll be right back." She said back to Rocket. He was about to say something, but she cut him off with an apology. "I know, I know. I'm sorry, Rocket. I'll be right there, I promise. I just have to-...I'll be back."
And then she ran off.
"Tori!" Rocket groaned before letting his hands fall. "Ah, kids. Well, Viv, looks like it's just me and you."
The "raccoon" looked next to him but was surprised that the teen-synthezoid wasn't there. "Viv? Are you invisible or are you really gone?"
No answer was all the answer Rocket needed to make him groan in annoyance. "Ugh, these kids."
With that, he went on alone to where Jane Foster would be.
Torunn had followed the queen and her maidens and watched them as they walked down a hall.
As she did, she noticed that the queen had stopped and looked around for a moment. Then she could hear her dismiss her maidens, and watched as they walked away. Torunn hid behind a large column to avoid sight and waited a few until she was sure the maidens were gone.
After a few seconds passed by, she peered around the column only to find...no one. There was no one there. The queen had vanished.
Now, Torunn slowly stepped out and wondered, 'Where did she go?'
Suddenly, "What are you doing?"
"AAAAaahhHh!" The sudden voice behind her frightened Torunn so much, she jumped and screamed.
The queen too jumped in surprise and let out a short scream from Torunn screaming and put her hand over her heart to calm herself.
"I don't believe sneaking is your strong suit."
Torunn quickly tried to compose herself. "Y-yes, yes I know. I'm so sorry, y-y-our Majesty."
The queen waved it off and a gave Torunn a short of breath smile. "It's alright, dear. But, are you lost?"
"Uh, no, ma'am. I... I snuck into the palace and... wanted to look around. Yeah, that's it."
Though Torunn did her best to sell her story, the queen wasn't so easily fooled and smiled as if she could see something Torunn couldn't. "You're not from here, are you?" It was more of a statement than a question as the queen didn't seem to have any uncertainty in her face, tone, or mood.
Still, Torunn did her best to play it off, shrugging and feigning confusion. "Of course I am."
Frigga continued to look at Torunn, almost like she was seeing right through her...which she kind of was. "You're from the future."
"What do you mean? I'm not from the future, who said anything about the future?" Torunn chuckled nervously, not doing a good job at playing it off though. But the queen didn't show frustration or annoyance, but kindness and humility.
"My dear, you should know that I taught Loki tricks as a child, so I know when someone's lying to me."
Now that she had said that, Torunn felt found out and didn't want to lie anymore. On the verge of crying, she let up.
"Okay! Yes, I'm not from here... I'm sorry, you're so right. I'm sorry for lying."
Frigga came and cupped the princess' cheeks as a mother would. "Shhh, shhh. It's alright, darling. It's alright." she murmured, "Who are you? Tell me."
The undeniable urge to tell Frigga came and she finally confessed. "My name is Torunn, and I-... I'm your granddaughter."
Frigga smiled at hearing this and could see it. "Thor." She said knowingly and Torunn nodded at that. "I could tell. You resemble him very much."
Torunn's tears came and she let them flow with a smile. Frigga, being the mother she was, took a cloth and wiped away the tears as they came down. This made Torunn smile more and gave her a sense of comfort, the kind she hadn't felt in a long time.
Motherly love. Not to say that Darcy didn't love her or show it, but this...this was something entirely different...
"So... Torunn. My granddaughter," The queen whispered those words and seemed to be on the verge of tears herself.
That almost sent Torunn into a bawling state, but she held it together and nodded tearfully and smiling, her head still cupped by Frigga. "Yes ma'am."
This made Frigga let out a chuckle herself, a tear escaping from her eye, giving Torunn the chance to return the favor of wiping her grandmother's tear.
"You can come out now." Frigga said before looking behind Torunn.
From behind the princess, a girl with bright green hair, who was previously invisible showed herself.
"Viv?"
"Sorry." The teen-synthezoid said with a sheepish grin and a shrug. "Just wanted to make sure you were fine."
"I'm fine. Um...G-Grandma?" She said it in a way that sounded as though she was asking permission to call her that. But that was confirmed when Frigga smiled even bigger and nodded, which made Torunn smile and feel more comfortable. "Uh, Grandma, this is my friend, Viv. Viv, this is my grandmother."
"Pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty." Viv gave a slight bow of respect.
"The pleasure is mine. To meet my granddaughter and her friend."
"Thank you. Uh, Tori, I'm gonna go find Rocket. I'll be back."
And she left.
"There's more of you?" Frigga asked.
Turning back to her grandmother, Torunn blushed lightly. "Yes, ma'am. Three of us, we're on a bit of a mission."
"And it seems you've been quite busy. Would you like to tell me about it?"
Torunn smiled like an excited kid. "I'd like that very much."
Okay! Team Two is in and WHOA!😅 it's been an interesting ride so far. It's been a family meet and greet for Torunn so far, having met her mischievous uncle and her wise and loving grandmother. But it's not done yet! I think you'll like what happens for her here in Asgard. 👀😁😁
Next chapter is the big one. The one you've all been waiting for, worrying about, and betting on...next stop: Vormir... (Dun-dun-dunnnn)
Samuel L. Jackson: "Hold onto you butts!"😂👍
