Invitation
By Rey
A young, curious, intrepid scholar, Loki Odinson seeks to know more, more, and more, especially about the knowledge that is forbidden in Asgard. And there is no knowledge that is currently more forbidden than anything about Jötunheim and the red-eyed, blue-skinned, black-clawed giant monsters that inhabit it. So he asks round, including to the monsters themselves.
Well, he should have been introduced to the adage: "Be careful what you wish for. You might just get it."
(Set a few days before Odin was supposed to declare Thor's upcoming coronation.)
Story notes:
1. This story is a gift for Lov_pb, one of my most faithful Marvel-fic reviewers, with the topic as requested by the said reviewer. Thank you for all your support!
2. The timing of the declaration for Thor's coronation is inspired by SofiaDragon's timeline in her series, Another Turn of the Wheel, namely a century before the events in Thor 1. The meaning of the lines on the jötnar's body is also inspired by her series.
3. There is a biological and cultural difference in age for humans, jötnar and æsir, in my universe. In this fic, Loki is 1192 years old, about 14 or 15 years in modern human standard for an ás', biologically, but about 8 (nearly 9, maybe, or half-way there) in the same standard for a jötun.
4. In Rey-verse, places like Asgard, Jötunheim, Vanaheim, Midgard etc are planets, not countries occupying specific plots of land. They are scattered in 9 different galaxies (called "realms," hence the Nine Realms) bearing their respective names, but interconnected tightly nonetheless through the pathways that make up Ygdrasil. It is why sometimes I will say e.g. "in Asgard" while in another time I will say "on Asgard." The former signifies the country or realm/galaxy, while the latter signifies the planet where the country lies.
1. The Book
The Children of Ýmir: A Compendium
By Voðen Bestla-Childe
Carefully, oh so carefully, I pry the thick, huge, heavy-looking tome out of its nook on the highly warded shelf. It is nestled among a score and more of other tightly restricted manuscripts. However, those other topics do not interest – and appall – me as much as this one does.
Then again, throughout the centuries, I have managed to sneak a read on those other wells of knowledge, and yet not this one. The temptation of a new, rare type of knowledge compells me onward, even as confusion of who the author is and revulsion of what the knowledge pertains to makes me act slower than I ought to.
The slowness and distraction were always my bane in past attempts, when it came to sneaking this tome off the restricted section of Father's private library. But today Father is busy with his advisors and lords and generals, even more than the usual; too busy to catch me trying to spirit this tome away, hopefully. I do not know why I keep doing this, risking an ever-more-serious, ever-more-inventive punishment from Father each time….
Well, at least, this day I apparently need not risk such punishment.