Crying. Someone was crying. Loki turned his head but all he could see was darkness. He wasn't standing on anything but he didn't seem to be falling either. Just floating alone in the darkness.

"Brother!"

It sounded so familiar, he thought, but where he had heard it he couldn't remember.

"Mommy! Daddy! Big Brother! I'm scared and alone, what do I do? I'm scared!"

The crying didn't get louder and it didn't get quiet either but it seemed to fade in and out.

"So much to do, so little time.

Take your time, don't be afraid.

The door is still shut.

Power sleeps within you.

If you give it form…it will give you strength.

Choose well."

A voice, one Loki didn't recognize. Somehow Loki was standing on a stained glass window, the image was familiar but he just couldn't place why. Small bursts of light caught his attention, three stone platforms came into being. On one a sword, on another a staff, and on the third a large shield.

"The power of the Warrior. Invincible Courage. A sword of terrible destruction.

The power of the Mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin.

The power of the Guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all."

Each item gave off a faint glow and a pull of power. The voice had said to choose well, Loki decided that for now he would take the voice at face value. He got the feeling that it would let him know when the time to scheme was about.

'Each has their merits but which to choose? I have no friends but Thor does and he'd be such a mope if anything happened to them. On the other hand I could always stand to learn more magic, but on a third hand it would be nice to be the strongest for once…' Loki thought with little to no true malice. He didn't really begrudge the others choosing Thor over him, he could certainly understand the appeal Thor had as a best friend. But that didn't make it hurt any less.

Mind made up Loki reached out and grasped the shield. He would defend Thor and their family and friends, even if he had none of his own.

Is this what you seek?

"Yes." The shield disappeared in a small glimmer of light.

Your path is set now…what will you give up in exchange?

'Give up in exchange?' a frown formed on Loki's adorable face, this one was challenge. 'If I give up the strength of the warrior I might not be strong enough but if I give up the power of the mystic my magic might leave me!' Loki thought hard and eventually reached forward and tapped the sword, it disappeared in a sparkle of light and the platforms began to fall apart and tumble into an inky blackness. Loki unable to recover his footing fell and was swallowed when he opened his eyes, the stained glass had changed. The color and the pictures were different, though no less familiar.

You've gained the power to fight. Use this power to protect yourself and others.

Dark little masses pulled themselves from the darkness and, with an odd little hobble/jump/walk that Loki thought was cute, advanced on the young prince of Asgard.

There will be times you have to fight.

Another burst of light, this time from Loki's hand, and the shield from before appeared in his hand.

Keep your light burning strong.

The little dark things jumped crossing over from 2 dimensional to 3 dimensional and lunged at the prince. Loki brought up the shield to block it and then bashed the shield against the dark creature. Either Loki was stronger than he thought or the creatures were a lot weaker then they looked because the creature 'died' and vanished in a strange puff of blackness.

Soon not a single one remained and Loki once more stood alone. A bright light, almost like a spot light, formed in the center of the stained glass platform. Loki moved towards the light almost against his will, if he kept this up he'd be just like Thor in no time! (A dead idiot that is.)

The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes.

Looking behind him Loki saw that his shadow had grown a great deal, he had a sudden flash of standing in Thor's shadow, it had grown so much that it even started to pull itself from the floor. Loki ran to get some distance between them, hopefully there was another platform he could jump to. There was not.

But don't be afraid.

Easy for the voice to say, it wasn't getting swallowed alive! Or was it? This place was so confusing. The inky darkness spread itself over Loki like a nightmare on legs.

And don't forget… You hold the mightiest weapon of all.

'I do?' A stray thought tinged with disbelief amongst the panic.

So don't forget: You are the one who will open the door.

The voice whispered before Loki was swallowed whole by the darkness and then knew no more.

Thor sat up with jolt, his head pounding like after a night of drinking too much mead with Sif and the others. Glancing around Thor quickly realized that he was not in Asgard or at least not in a part that he recognized. The Warriors three lay in a slumped pile not far away and Sif not too much farther than that.

'What happened? Where are we and what were those-those things?' Thor wondered as he made to stand his body protesting all the while. 'Whatever they were they fight well enough.' Groans filled the air as the others began to regain consciousness, Sif cursing the day those beings were born and promising retribution.

The five of them soon found themselves in a coliseum fighting warriors from realms never heard of before on Asgard. They soon forgot their shadow swallowed world, so sure was their belief that Odin Allfather had it under control. And if nothing else, Loki could easily protect Asgard with the strength of his magic. At least that's what Thor thought and assumed that the others did as well. Sif was sure that Loki had something to do with the shadows but that probably had more to do with Loki cutting her hair off then it did with any real malcontent on her part.

PITA: Okay so here is chapter 2! *rubs hands together* rather glad that that is over with but now comes the hard part…any constructive criticism or thoughts or suggestions will be welcomed!