Hello all! In this chapter I'm addressing the scene that is shown at the beginning of the movie "Thor" where Odin talks to young Loki and Thor about the Casket of Ancient Winters and the war with the Jotuns.
Thank you again to my lovely reviewers, I always love reading what you guys leave :) A Wild Clover- your review made me laugh so hard, shallow fishy was such a great phrase! I'm sorry that you experience not being able to sleep also. I usually do not fall asleep until anywhere between 6-8am- it is quite annoying.
Cougar roly-poly bug- I'm glad that my character is relatable, it means a lot! I really like to try and make characters relatable and avoid any Mary Sues which can be hard at times.
Mougann- Wow! Your review really made me smile :) I have a little fangirl attack when I see such lovely reviews myself! I'm touched that you love this story and my writing so much, thank you!
Loki's POV
"What do you think father wants to speak to us about, brother?" Thor inquired.
"I do not know, brother. All will be revealed once we reach him." I replied, silently worrying about what father possibly could have wanted to speak to us about.
I was afraid that perhaps Odin had found out about my prior encounters with Fandral. I did not wish to speak about what was going on, nor did I want Thor to know. Even though Fandral had singled me out as someone to mock, I did not want anyone else to become involved in the matter; I would settle the affair myself. Involving father would just make everything worse and Fandral would think of me as weaker than he already does. Fandral would think that I had sought out my father's help to ward off Fandral, but I did no such thing and I would not go to father about any of it. As Thor and I walked to meet father I was growing increasingly anxious. I worried that father would talk about Fandral and express anger toward Thor for not noticing or not attempting to stop it, but I am quite sure that Thor knows nothing of Fandral's malice toward me. If he had, I am certain Thor would do something on my behalf. Thor is a good brother in that regard; he supports me.
"It is time to find out then!" Thor exclaimed as we stood in front of the large golden doors.
The golden doors opened before us and I gingerly walked in beside Thor who displayed no apprehension at all. I, however, was very nervous.
"Greetings, my sons." Father spoke as he walked towards us.
"Hello father!" Thor said loudly.
I winced at the sound of Thor's voice because I was in such close proximity to him and the volume of his voice was not pleasant to my ears. It was difficult enough to try to ignore the pounding in my ears from my own rapidly beating heart. I needed to learn to control my nerves.
"Father." I said as I bowed my head in respect.
"My sons, I wish to show you something in this room and tell you of what happened many years ago in a country on Midgard." Father spoke.
I lifted my head at his words and breathed a small sigh of relief; I was relieved to find out that father was not going to mention anything about Fandral. My earlier nervousness was replaced by excitement because history interested me, even when it concerned realms other than Asgard. I loved to learn new information. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Thor, however, looked rather bored.
"Follow me as I tell you this information that intertwines our past with that of Midgard." Father said as he began walking down the vault.
Thor and I followed him as he continued, "I am going to tell you about the war between Asgard and Jotunheim that took place a long time ago. From the realm of cold and darkness came the Frost Giants. They planned to utilize the Casket of Ancient Winters, a powerful weapon supplied by unlimited magical energy, to conquer all of the realms, starting with Midgard. Humanity would not face the threat alone because we at Asgard found it our duty to maintain peace and harmony among each of the nine realms. If any realm tried to disrupt that peace, we would act accordingly."
I listened intently to father speak and immediately disliked the Frost Giants because they had invaded another realm, inciting a war and trying to take over something that wasn't theirs. It all seemed rather uncalled for, to me.
Father continued his story by saying, "Upon our arrival, a battle ensued against King Laufey and the Frost Giants. Our warriors fought valiantly, but not everyone lived to tell the tale. Despite the bloodshed, however, our armies drove the Frost Giants back to Jotunheim after their king had fallen in battle, but I chose to spare his life. The casket was taken from them and we returned home. Here we remain as a beacon of hope shining out across the stars that peace among the nine realms might be possible to exist."
By now, we had reached the end of the walkway and father, Thor, and I stood in front of the casket. Father departed from our side while my eyes, as well as Thor's, remained transfixed on the swirling blue cube shaped object. It looked like arctic wind was actually moving around inside of it.
"But the day will come," Father's voice reached my ears, "When one of you will have to defend that peace."
"Do the Frost Giants still live?" I asked.
Thor glanced over at me and smiled brightly. "When I'm king," he began as he placed his hand on his chest, "I'll hunt the monsters down and slay them all!"
Thor completed his statement by swinging his arms back and forth while I simply stared back at him. Thor's arrogance was truly unrivaled, except for Fandral's perhaps.
Father did not seem amused or angered by Thor's display. Instead, father said to us, "A wise king never seeks out war, but, he must always be ready for it."
Father walked past the casket and back toward where we came. Thor looked over at me and smiled. I smiled back at him as we turned and ran after our father.
As we reached him, we both grabbed one of his hands and Thor spoke out, "I'm ready, father!"
Desperate to be heard as well even though I wasn't entirely sure I was ready, I said, "So am I!"
It looked as if Thor had lowered his gaze to meet my eyes for a brief moment before looking back up at father. Perhaps I was mistaken, it was so quick that maybe I had imagined it, but Thor did not look too pleased at my words.
"Only one of you can ascend to the throne, but both of you were born to be kings." Father said as we exited the vault.
"It is to be me!" Thor called out.
"Do not make such statements yet, Thor. It will be a long time before one of you is chosen as my successor. It would be in both of your best interests not to dwell on what is to come, but to focus on yourselves just as you are now." Father said firmly.
I nodded, happy with father's answer because I did not want to argue with Thor over which of us was to be king when it was so far away. Thor is so concerned about the future whereas I try not to stress so much about what might happen in the future since I have no way of knowing exactly what will happen.
We parted ways with father and went to go find our friends so we could tell them what father had just told us. Although, I anticipated that Thor would be doing most of the talking.
Aurora's POV
It was past midday when you were wandering through the palace wishing you had Loki with you to talk to since you were feeling quite bored. Loki always had interesting things to say and the two of you could talk for hours on end.
"Lady Aurora is that you!?" you heard a voice call out, recognizing it to belong to Thor.
You turned around as you replied, "Why yes, Thor, it is I."
Thor was positively beaming and even Loki looked a little brighter than he had as of late.
"We spoke with father." Loki said to you as the three of you approached each other.
"You did? How did it go?" you asked.
"It went well, he-" Loki began, but was cut off by Thor.
"Father showed us this interesting cube object and he talked to us about war and Frost Giants and becoming king! He said only one of us can become king. I hope I do…sorry brother." Thor said enthusiastically and then apologized to Loki.
Loki rolled his eyes. "It was called the Casket of Ancient Winters, brother."
Thor furrowed his eyebrows. "Winter is ancient?"
You snickered into your palm as Loki continued, "Well yes, Thor. Do you recall winter never existing in your lifetime?"
Thor looked confused. "No…I always remember there being cold and snow at some points."
"Right, and winter has existed for a long time even before we were born, before mother and father were born, and before others too. It is ancient." Loki said.
"I thought only people could be ancient." Thor responded.
You shook your head. "Not just people, Thor."
"Oh. Well then, I see how the er, what is it again?" Thor looked to Loki for an answer.
"Casket." Loki answered.
"Yes! The casket…it makes sense that it is ancient then. It certainly looked old." Thor said as the three of you began walking down the hall.
Loki gave you a frustrated look which only made you laugh.
"It is not humorous." Loki said to you telepathically.
"I beg to differ." you thought in your mind.
Loki titled his head to the side as he stared at you, his eyes bright and searching. "You always do."
You cracked a smile at him and thought, "I may be different from everyone else, but you and I aren't so different when you think about it."
Loki smiled back at you; a genuine smile that made his skin crinkle slightly at the corners of his eyes. "You are correct in that we are no so dissimilar. I am thankful for that."
"The two of you are awfully quiet. Is something the matter?" Thor asked, breaking your silent conversation with Loki.
The two of you jolted slightly, but Loki was quick to respond, "We are not quiet, brother. It has merely been less than a minute since we last said something; why does a moment of silence bother you so much?"
Thor shrugged. "I just enjoy talking is all."
"There is nothing wrong with that, Thor. We do too." You said as you placed a hand on his shoulder.
Thor smiled down at you. "Then let us go find the rest of our friends. I wish to tell everyone about the conversation Loki and I had with father."
"The last time I saw everyone they were in the courtyard." You answered.
"Let us go to the courtyard then!" Thor exclaimed as he grabbed one of your hands as well as one of Loki's hands and pulled you both with him.
"I fear that we do not have much of a choice otherwise." Loki said as Thor hurried you both along.
You laughed at Loki's observation. "I couldn't agree more, Loki."
"It will be fun! You should always choose what is fun to do and I'm saving you both from having to choose! Besides, brother, I think that you would choose to go back to your room and study those books of yours. I do not understand why you study so much." Thor said loudly and ending his words on a note of confusion.
"Reading those books is fun to me, Thor and as you just said, one should always choose to do what they enjoy, therefore, I abide by your belief statement when I choose to read my books." Loki said without so much as a second thought.
"There's the lovely and smooth speech of Silvertongue again." You laughed.
Thor looked at both you and Loki before saying, "Sometimes I don't understand what either of you are saying. Loki, I don't know what abide means, but if reading is fun for you, then keep reading!"
"Oh I will. Do not worry, brother." Loki smiled as Thor released you both from his grip because the three of you had arrived in the courtyard.
As Thor walked over to Sif, the Warriors Three, Ingrid, Liv, and another boy from your training classes, you glanced at Loki once more. You sensed something different not in the tone with which Loki spoke, but the way he smiled and the way his eyes looked as he spoke to his brother. Loki's green eyes glinted in the sunlight and concealed something deep within their emerald depths. You couldn't quite place it, but his enigmatic smile proved to be a little easier to decipher. The way Loki's lip curled up over his brilliantly white teeth on the left side of his mouth paired with the glint in his eyes, hinted at mischief. You didn't think too much of it or know it then that the mischievous look Loki had right now would soon become a new trademark for him.