AN: I know that it's cannon for Asgardians to age like normal people for the first part of their lives and begin to slow that process down once they reach adulthood, but I thought that it would be interesting to try something new. So this is me putting a different spin on the Asgardian aging process, I hope you guys like it.

Chapter 5: The Beginning of Us

There were always drawbacks to having the King of Asgard as one's father. Mainly because it meant that anything he said was law, and was to remain unquestioned.

So when Odin stated that he would be taking the children back to his Vault there was not much that anyone could say to dissuade him. Not Frigga's various protests nor his sons' outrage. Elysia's tearful cries had not even swayed him.

Odin firmly believed that it was his duty to his children to teach them about the legacy that he would be passing down to one of them, and what better way to show them their history than through his many relics? Nevertheless, Odin did understand the hesitance and resistance that he received in response. From his perspective Elysia was coming along well with her control and there was no further harm that the Tesseract could cause her, thus making the area safe for her to be in.

Getting her into the room had proved difficult, but eventually the four of them found themselves standing in front of the dark blue cube that caused their family so much heartache. Elysia was clinging onto Thor's arm for a change, typically she would be attached to Loki seeing as how he was more sensitive to her feelings, but Thor himself was still so uneasy around the cube that he could not bear to have her away from him when confronting it once more. The last time he saw the Tesseract was when his sister's life was hanging in the balance.

The hand that Elysia hadn't monopolized was placed in Odin's as his father held Loki's hand with his other. Odin let go of his sons' hands in order to stand in front of them, turning his back to the cube. Once he was sure that he held all of their attention, even young Elysia's whose gaze had been planted on the object behind him, he decided to begin their lesson on an event that began over three thousand years in the past and ended only over half a millennium ago.

"Once mankind accepted a simple truth, that they were not alone in this universe. Some worlds, man believed to be home to their gods. Others, they knew to fear. From a realm of cold and darkness, came the Frost Giants." As always there was a slight hitch in his breath when he mentioned the Frost Giants. Ever since that fateful night he could not bear to mention their name and look into his youngest son's eyes, afraid of what he might see reflecting back at him.

Without drawing attention to the conflict within himself he continued, "Threatening to plunge the mortal world, into a new ice age. But humanity would not face this threat alone. Our armies drove the Frost Giants, back into the heart of their own world. The cost was great. In the end their king fell."

Your true father. The thought burned Odin and his eyes dropped down briefly in shame. Although in his mind he had every right to bring the child home, lying to him about his true heritage was another matter. But taking him was never a part of their peace treaty and such an action could have started an entirely new war. Instead of dwelling on his past failings Odin did what he did best and swept it out of his mind.

"And the source of their power was taken from them. With the last great war ended we withdrew from the other worlds and returned home, to the realm eternal, Asgard. And here, we remain as the beacon of hope. Shining out across the stars. And though we have fallen into man's myths and legends, it was Asgard and its warriors, that brought peace to the universe." Odin focused back on his children, noting the way that small smiles had all crept on their faces. There was a part of him that was hoping that he would be capable of distracting them enough to where they could become comfortable in the Vault.

"But the day will come, when one of you, will have to defend that peace." Odin knew that there was a very long time before a day like that would ever come up, but the fact remained that it would. And better to be prepared early than when it was too late.

"Do the Frost Giants still live?" Loki's question came out quietly, he wasn't afraid but he was curious. And Frigga had always told them that curiosity could often times be dangerous, thus they should always handle it with caution.

"When I'm king I'll hunt the monsters down and slay them all! Just as you did father." Thor swung his free arm in a slashing motion in the air in front of them as if he were wielding a sword. His statement was not said with maliciousness, not in the slightest. Thor did not think about what it would mean for his siblings if he became king, never thinking that in order for him to ascend it would mean his siblings would not. The only thing he knew for certain was that it was his destiny to reign as Allfather.

Odin knew all too well that an attitude such as Thor's could lift him higher than any king before, but it could also cause him to come crashing back to the ground. "A wise king, or queen, never seeks out war, but..." Odin paused and took a good long look at the three children, trying to imagine what they would be like when they were grown. Thor was looking up at him with anticipation, visibly hanging onto every word that he was saying. Loki on the other hand was looking at him with eyes that displayed he understood the severity of his father's words. "They must always be ready for it."

Odin felt that if he had been better prepared, then Elysia might still have her own parents in her life.

"I'm ready father" Thor announced after a moment's thought. Elysia didn't trust her voice so she nodded her head along rapidly, though she wasn't sure that she actually meant it.

Loki, not wanting to be outdone, quickly spoke up. "So am I."

"Only one of you can ascend to the throne. But all three of you were born to be kings and queens." At first Loki's face grew slightly pale as he worried over Odin's words. He knew that the eldest always held the higher claim, and he was afraid that they might begin to drift apart if Thor thought he was after the throne. But with Odin telling them that they were all born with the same advantage made him feel somewhat better.

Seeing that his sons were buzzing with excitement Odin let them go, signaling the end of their lesson, and he watched as they both took off towards the doors after smirking at one another. Elysia had let go of Thor's hand sometime during his words about wise kings and remained.

"Father..." Elysia reached out and tugged on the hem of his pants, trying to get his attention now that her brothers were gone. There was still something that was bothering her, but she did not want to seem childish if she brought it up in front of Thor or Loki. Or perhaps it was more that she did not want to be embarrassed if it turned out to be true, so she waited until there was no chance that they could hear her.

Odin glanced down at his daughter and saw the way she bit her lip in contemplation and decided to humor her. "Yes my child, what is the matter?"

Regardless of how well she hid it, Alvilda's words still lingered in her mind. Elysia knew she shouldn't place any value on the poison that came out of Alvilda's mouth, but in her circumstance it was unavoidable that she would feel such insecurities. "You said that only one of us could defend the peace of Asgard, didn't you mean that only Thor or Loki could?"

Odin immediately knew what it was that Elysia was truly asking, and the thought broke his heart a little. Elysia was the child of his best friend Gunnar, a friend who gave up his own life in order to save his during their war with the Frost Giants, and Odin had promised on Thor's life that he would look after Gunnar's daughter in his place. It was true that Elysia was not of royal blood, but this life was all that she knew and to deprive her of its benefits would be cruel.

Besides, Elysia was not the only child with no royal ties to Asgard that he had claimed as his own.

"You are as much a princess as Loki is the prince of Asgard." Her father's words soothed the ache in her soul and Elysia hugged his leg in appreciation. To know that he placed her in the same level as her brothers regardless of blood, brought her serenity.

It would not be something that she understood the true meaning of until she was much older. It would be then that she would realize that Odin had failed to mention Thor's birthright.

After their naming ceremony the time seemed to fly by. The days passed and the children grew, coming into their inheritance more and more. While Thor's physical strength grew, both Loki and Elysia's focus remained on their magic.

Though Elysia had perfected her control in regards to absorption, she was still wary to actually use her ability to manipulate the energy around them. Everyone had decided to let her set her own pace when it came to that and she was extremely grateful.

In the meantime they watched Sif make moon eyes at Thor while he pranced around with his friends, telling all about the various adventures he would go on, and tried to make the most out of their lessons while they still could.

Eventually the day came when they were pulled out of their public lessons and placed into more private ones with just the three of them. There was a lot to learn when it came to leading an entire race of people, not even mentioning what it took to be Allfather over all nine realms. The three of them had a lot to learn.

Loki and Elysia were still patiently waiting for the day when their soulmates would take their first breaths, checking the spot on their right wrist first thing in the morning and right before bed. The more time that passed the more disheartened they became, wondering how much older they would be than their mates.

Elysia had just turned 500 years old, making Loki 530 years, and Thor beating them both with his 560 years. Half a millennium was still considered to be young in their culture. Based off of the fact that the average life span of an Asgardian was somewhere around 5,000 years.

Although they were still grouped in as part of the younger ones, Loki and Elysia still felt like they had already waited an eternity for their soulmates. Their plight was not something that their eldest brother understood either.

Thor and Sif had known each other since they were young babes, so Thor had never known what it was truly like to be without the other half of one's soul. By no means did that mean that Loki or Elysia were upset with their brother because of it, but at times they did envy him a fair amount.

The two of them had given up, for the time being, on making Thor see that Sif was meant for him as more than just a close companion. The whole situation was something that Elysia really struggled with.

She wholeheartedly believed that it was a personal decision for someone to choose who they loved. There had been cases where soulmated pairs became more like family to the other, there were even a few tales where the bond had been rejected.

Elysia wished with all her heart that such a possibility would not become a reality for her in the future. Though her soulmate had yet to be born she already loved them so much. She would be devastated if they did not love her the same.

There were times when such thoughts would pester her for days, but she tried her best to shut them out. Doubt was a common feeling among those whose soulmates had yet to appear in their lives. Until they met their other half they would not understand the completeness that the bond would bring, which often left them feeling as though they were inadequate.

Loki was the only one of them who was conflicted about his soulmate. Sure he was excited for when they would come, but he was also afraid that their presence in his life could cause his future plans to change. The only people in his life whose opinions mattered was his family. What if his soulmate did not want him to go with Thor on various adventures that would take him away from Asgard? Such a thing was unlikely, but everyone had their own personal doubts and this was Loki's.

In the meantime things around the palace did not change much. Elysia had 310 years to become more accustomed to the foreign energy that flowed within her, and she thought that she was doing a fairly decent job at it. There hadn't been any more incidents, which had pleased Odin a great deal, but she was still too afraid to try using the energy.

Frigga had been teaching Loki and Elysia self-defense techniques with small knives while Thor had taken to following Odin out to the training grounds where the warriors practiced. After learning how to properly hold the various knives, as well as where to store them so that they could remain hidden, they had been ready to move onto sparing.

Many would not have believed it, but Frigga was just as fierce a warrior as her husband. She moved with a speed and accuracy that many who stood against her did not survive. While Odin and the men had gone to war against the Frost Giants, Frigga stayed at home and protected the palace against any threat who deemed them vulnerable. Needless to say, all attempts to overthrow the throne were squashed.

During the middle of their spar Loki's knife got close enough to graze Elysia's cheek and three things happened in a very short amount of time.

First, Elysia's eyes flared briefly and her hand flung out towards the knife that was rapidly making its way closer.

Secondly it felt as though she sucked something in only to force it back out and she watched as Loki was pushed backwards. The same golden light that had she had been taming had made its reappearance. Its consistency reminded her of smoke, looking as though it would be easy to wave her hands right through it. But looks were deceiving, because even though the energy looked disarming it had easily sent her brother to the opposite side of the room without excessive force.

The third thing that happened was when Frigga swung her gaze to her daughter to find her eyes engulfed in what looked to be golden flames as her hair wiped around the room as through a strong wind had just blown through. The look on her face indicated surprise and she quickly dropped out of her defensive pose in order to hover over Loki, ensuring that her brother was okay.

However Loki's face split into a wide grin, in awe of the display of power his little sister had just shown. When his knife got to close to her face he had panicked, thinking that if she did not move he might hurt her. He was glad that even subconsciously Elysia was able to protect herself against harm.

Even though Loki sustained no injury, Frigga still decided that their lesson had come to its end. It took Loki a little while to talk Elysia down, letting her know that he was fine and that she could grasp ahold of his hand without worry. Once he finally talked her into it both made their way to where Thor was, knowing that soon he would have free time to spend with them.

When they arrived at the training grounds Odin noticed them standing off to the sidelines and told Thor that he could be done for the day, and released him to his siblings.

The three of them wandered around the grounds of the palace and even into the marketplace, all the while playing games that involved monsters and damsels in distress. They ran around their home and the citizens watched as their future leaders giggled and lunged at each other with wooden swords.

They were assured in their knowledge that at the very least the children were kind and capable of showing displays of intense love, something their father certainly lacked.

Time continued to pass, as it typically does, and the children continued to grow into their teen years. This was a particularly trying time for the Odinson children. Thor was more determined than ever to follow in Odin's footsteps, and that had caused a small rift between him and his siblings. Pride was ever present in his disposition and Loki and Elysia did not like what it was doing to him.

Another thing they did not care for was the three friends that Thor had taken to sticking to. Fandral, Volstagg, and Hogun were all names that served to agitate Loki and Elysia.

Instead of spending time with them, Thor had elected to be with his new-found friends. It hurt Loki and Elysia a great deal to know that their eldest brother no longer wished to remain with them only. During dinner time the stories told used to be told about the different scenarios Thor and Loki would create and act out, and now it was stories about what Thor and his friends had done during training.

Odin and Frigga could only shake their heads at the three of them, knowing that as they aged they would make more friends instead of sticking to one another only. Thor had just reached 910 and felt as though running around and playing was now beneath him, Loki was on the cusp of feeling the same at his 880 but Elysia still wished to run around the fields and dream about what it would be like to explore other realms, and there was nothing Loki would not do for his little sister.

After another disappointing day of trying to pry Thor's attention away from his friends, Elysia laid in her bed and tried to get some sleep. There were still times when nightmares would plague her mind and she would run to Loki's room to slip into his bed and latch onto him, knowing that he could drive the awful dreams away. Somewhere deep down she knew that if she were to run to Thor that he would do his best to soothe her, but it didn't stop her from worrying that he might turn her away claiming that at 850 she was too old to be sleeping in his bed.

Elysia's dream started out wonderfully. She was running through a field, spinning around as she reached out and felt the flowers that surrounded her, taking in their beauty. The sun was shining, warming her skin and hitting the grass in such a way that caused it to twinkle.

Her dream started to take a rapid turn when she went to lay down on the ground.

Instead of hitting solid ground she fell through and found herself tumbling into a world gone white. Everything was cold and she stood up, taking in the white flakes that fell from the sky. They stuck to her hair, making the midnight strands stand out like a beacon.

Elysia's began looking around in all directions, looking for any sign that would help her figure out where she was. All she could tell was that she was at the base of a mountain that she had never seen before. It reminded her of the images she had seen of Jotunheim, the land covered in snow and rocky fixtures.

Off in the distance she noticed a dark figure on the ground and she quickly made her way over to it, intrigued to see what it was that had entered her dream.

The closer she got the more she was able to distinguish about the figure. It was a man, a frighteningly beautiful man, just laying the on ground where blood was quickly pooling out from beneath him. The sight was alarming and Elysia looked for the cause of the bleeding, wanting desperately to help him.

That's when she realized that his left arm was missing.

For some odd reason the sight caused her heart to seize and her blood pumped loudly in her ears. There was no way for her to describe why it was that this man had such an impact on her, but he did. His skin was pale and it looked as though he would soon die, another thought that pained her.

Trying to provide him with a semblance of comfort, Elysia reached out to place a hand upon his cheek. As soon as she touched him the skin on her right wrist burned and she felt herself begin to wake up. She tried to fight to stay with the stranger, not knowing why but everything in her screamed that she was not meant to leave him. Elysia scrambled for some kind of purchase but the next thing she knew the man was nothing more than a vestige and she was opening her eyes in her own room.

The skin on her wrist still burned and when she looked down at it her heart nearly stopped. There, written plain as day, was the scripted black tinted words that she had been waiting so long for.

What's a doll like you doing with a punk like him?

The words were foreign to her, spoken in a language that she did not quite understand. What was a doll or for that matter a punk? Elysia chased the questions out of her mind, who cared what the words said? These words on her skin proved to her that her soulmate had just been born.

Tears of unrestrained joy burst from her and through them, for the first time ever, she noticed that her rose tinted soul was tailing off out of the room, finally having a person to reach out towards.

There was no possible way that Elysia could sleep without trying to see if her soulmate was on Asgard. She threw her blankets off of her and jumped out of the bed racing after the lingering trail that would lead her to her future.

And the man she left behind in the snow was forgotten.

Elysia followed her soul's trail straight to the Bifrost, not once stopping to see that she was racing across the Rainbow Bridge, the only thing separating her from the raging sea below. Her midnight hair whipped across her face stinging her cheek every time it snapped against her, but it would not deter her. With the promise of a soulmate at the end of this trail there was nothing anyone could say or do that would stop her.

Only when she had made it to the very end of the bridge, where with one wrong step she could be sent hurtling towards oblivion, did she stop to catch her breath as she watched the rose color of her soul stretch out across the stars.

"You're out there." Elysia's voice came out in a disbelieving whisper as she panted heavily from all the running she had just done. A new determination blazed brightly within her, "I will find you one day, I swear it."

Millions of miles away on Midgard, in a city known most commonly as Brooklyn, a small baby boy by the name of James Barnes took his first breath as he entered the world.

He was unaware that there was a girl waiting for him amongst the stars.