***New Asgard***

The Quinjet hovered as it slowly descended to the ground just outside of New Asgard. The ramp door opened and Torunn, followed by Korg and Miek, walked down and waved goodbye to Sam.

A truck was already there waiting for them, so they jumped in and began the ride the rest of the way home.

The ride back down to New Asgard felt shorter than the one to the mansion. But the princess was glad of the time she was able to spend time with her extended family, the Next Avengers. And her love, Jamie, of course.

But now, she was home and was looking forward to being back with her immediate family.

They soon arrived into town and Torunn led her companions through the lively streets. They were greeted and waved at by the citizens of the kingdom, all of whom were happy to see their princess home. As was she and her friend. But there was an uneasy feeling in the air, especially for Torunn.

It took a moment to notice, but then she saw it. In the eyes of all the townspeople, Torunn noticed a slight green hue in their eyes. She didn't know what it was, but it definitely made her feel a little weary. Whatever it was, she planned to speak with her father about it.

As they approached the grandiose hall that served as the residence for the royal family, Torunn's heart sped with excitement to see her parents again. In the big meeting room, Thor was conversing with some of the farmers and other people who had businesses in town. But what surprised her was that Valkyrie wasn't there...nor her mother either. Usually, they'd be around to double check things, consult, or see if certain things were possible as was their duties as Queen and General of New Asgard.

But Torunn brushed this off for a moment before making her presence known.

"Daddy!"

The king of New Asgard turned and smiled as he saw his daughter run up to him and jump into his arms. "Ahh! There's my girl!"

The princess hugged her father and smiled, glad to be home and back with him. Thor soon let her down and waved to his friends that were behind him.

"Did you all enjoy your weekend away?" He asked them.

"Oh yeah, it was great!" Korg stated with glee. "We watched movies, did training exercises, and Miek even learned how to use silly string."

The insectoid chirped in agreement, which both Torunn and Thor laughed at.

"Well, I'm glad you had a good time."

"Sorry we barged in on your meeting, though." Torunn apologized.

"Oh, it's fine." Thor said before turning to the people behind him, "If you'll excuse me, I'd like to welcome my daughter home properly. We'll reconvene later."

They all nodded and left, leaving the four alone.

"I'm so glad you're back, my dear!" The king repeated with cheer, "There's actually something I wanted to talk with you about."

Before he could say anymore, Torunn spoke up with excitement in her eyes. "Wait! First, I have to tell Mom something."

That was all the princess said before running off to find her mother. She left so quick that she didn't hear her father calling after her.

"Wait, Torunn! Wait a moment!" But there was no use, she was gone.

The princess ran through the halls and rooms of the house, calling and searching for Jane with excitement. But with each room she checked, her excitement began to die down as she found no sign of her mother anywhere.

She finally paused when she came to the house library, again finding no one. This puzzled her greatly.

'Where is she?' She wondered.

"Torunn!" She heard her father, sounding like he was coming closer. He soon found her and entered the room. "Ah, there you are! You are a fast one!"

"Dad, where's Mom?"

But instead of answering her question, Thor tried to explain something. "Torunn, there's something I need to tell you."

"Thor?"

The two of them turned to see a woman with shiny blonde hair and shimmery green eyes standing there. She had on her a beautiful green Asgardian dress, fit for a queen.

"Is everything all right? I heard shouting."

Upon seeing her, Thor smiled and walked over to the woman while Torunn stood there in complete bewilderment. And it only increased when she saw Thor embrace her quite affectionately.

"It's all right, Torunn was just excited to be home," she heard her father say.

When he said this, the woman looked over at the princess and smiled at her.

"Ah, so you're the daughter I've heard so much about," she said sweetly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Torunn."

Torunn had always been taught to respect those older than her, but with this woman, something about her just didn't feel right with Torunn. But still, she gave a nod. "Right... and you are?"

"Oh, of course, where are my manners? I'm Amora. Welcome home, dear!"

"Uh...thank you." The princess replied unable to hide her confusion. This caused her to look back and forth between this woman...Amora, and her father, "Um, are you an old friend of my dad?"

The two adult Asgardians began to giggle. "Oh, you could say that." Thor replied somewhat nervously

Aurora gave a flirtatious chuckle at that. "Well, we were definitely more than friends last I remember."

An uncomfortable feeling began to swirl within Torunn as she watched the two. But it shot her in the stomach when she saw the two share kiss. And not a friendly kiss on the cheek, but a kiss on the lips shared by lovers and or a married couple.

The shock on her face turned Into disgust as she watched the two broke the kiss and stared at each other with starry eyes. And while they were may have been having a nice moment, Torunn couldn't help but ask...

"What the hell is this?!"

That broke the king and this woman from their moment very quickly and brought their attention to the princess before them. But before she could say anything else, Thor kindly excused himself from the woman and pulled Torunn out of the room and into the hall.

But the whole time, Torunn was determined to get some answers.

"Dad, what's going on here? Who is that woman? And where's Mom?" She asked, her confusion turning into frustration.

"I know, I know it's a lot to take in and you have a lot of questions," Thor said to her in a calm, whispered manner, "but let's discuss them later when you've settled back in." He suggested, "Perhaps at lunch. Aurora will be joining us too."

"But-"

"Please, dear. I know you have your doubts, but please, just wait. For me."

Thor gently held his daughter by the shoulders and asked her this with as much love and hope that a father could. And though this whole thing – whatever it was – made Torunn feel totally dumbfounded and sick, she did want to show respect to her father of all people.

So with a sigh and a nod, she agreed. "Okay, Father. I trust you."

"That's my girl!" Thor cheered with a smile before kissing her forehead.

She smiled at this and hoped that by the end of lunch, everything would be made clear. But one thing was clear... her appetite would not be present.


***Dining Room***

Well, lunch definitely wasn't something to cheer about. At least, not from Torunn's point of view. The mealtime mainly consisted of Amora and Thor talking about their "younger days" on Asgard. As they told it, they were childhood sweethearts who "got into trouble all the time", especially with Loki.

At the mention of her late uncle, Torunn began to feel a sense of loneliness at the thought him. But in the sense of missing him. It had been almost two years since she had met him during the Next Avengers' Time Heist mission. And though it was only for a few moments, those few moments carried a great weight in her heart. So much so that she wished he were here.

She didn't know how, but she felt that if Loki were here, he'd be on her side... Well, that's what she hoped anyway.

"Torunn?"

The call of her name brought the princess out of her thoughts and back to reality. What caught her, though, is that it was Amora who had called her.

"Are you alright, dear?" She asked with concern, "You seem...troubled."

Torunn played it off pretty well. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine, just...missing old friends."

"Ah, your teammates? The Young Avengers?"

"Next, actually. We're the Next Avengers." Torunn corrected her.

"Torunn and her friends are quite the young warriors," Thor jumped in, doing his best to keep the mood of the room cool and calm, "Despite their youth, they fought valiantly and held their post in order that we – the original Avengers, the millions around the universe, including our fellow Asgardians, all who were lost might live again. And they were victorious!"

Torunn smiled at the praises from her father. That was one of her favorite things since the Blip. Next to being with Jamie, that is.

This also brought a smile to Amora as she listened. "Well, I'm most certainly glad they did! Otherwise, I'd never have been reunited with you, Thor."

The blonde maiden looked to the king with a longing smile, one which he returned and have a nod to.

Now, Torunn was used to this scene...but with her parents. Aka, he father and her mother, Jane Foster. Not this strange woman. When it was with Thor and her mother, she shrugged it off and cringed as most teenage daughters would. But this scene with her father and Amora...felt wrong and twisted.

She decided to cut in break their little "moment". "I'm glad you're back too, Father."

It worked. The king and the mystery woman looked to the princess and heard her words clear.

"Truth be told it was one of the main reasons why I did it." She stated sincerely, "For you. For Mom...and for the Asgardians that were lost."

"Well, I'm honored and proud of you, sweetie."

"You know, Torunn, the way your father tells me of your fighting and skills that you've shown, I think you would have the makings of a fine Valkyrie back on Asgard."

"Well, thank you." "But I'm content with being a warrior and protector of my people."

"Humility. An admirable quality in a warrior."

"She got that from me." Thor winked jokingly, but with a hint of pride.

'And from my mother,' Torunn said to herself.

"Speaking of warriors and Valkyries, Father, where's Val?" The princess asked her father, "I noticed she wasn't here either."

The question seemed to take Thor by surprise "Oh, I've sent her off on a little errand. She'll be gone for a while."

"Pertaining to what?" Torunn asked, still seeking an answer.

"That-that's a private matter, darling. Top secret." Her father seemed to be getting nervous. But why should he be that way with her?

"Even to your daughter?"

"In this case, yes." Thor replied, calmly.

Torunn narrowed her eyes at that. "Uh-huh. And what about Mom?"

"Your mother has returned to her college in the United States." Her father stated, "In fact, that's where Val went. I sent her to escort your mother back safely. And given that they are such good friends, I gave Val a month's leave to relax and revel in the many pleasures that Earth has to offer!"

Torunn's brow furrowed with concern. "But why didn't she tell me? And where is Valkyrie? Something feels wrong."

Thor sighed, his voice laced with a mix of hesitation and conviction. "In your absence, we had a discussion, your mother and I. And it turned into quite the argument. And we both came to the agreement that it would be better for us to separate."

His daughter's eyes went wide in disbelief. "What?! That doesn't make any sense! You loved each other, how could you decide to separate just like that?"

"We came to the conclusion-"

"Without me! Why wasn't I told about this before it happened? And in just the span of three days, you decide to separate? No, something is wrong here."

"I know it's a surprise to you, but trust me when I say, it's for the best. And what's more, we have some more good news."

"More?" Whether that was in reference to her not wanting to hear any more news or her not considering all she had just heard to be good news, it was clear Torunn wasn't happy.

"Yes, more." Thor said, doing his best to keep it together. "Amora, darling, why don't you tell her?"

'Big mistake already,' Torunn said to herself. Whatever was coming, there was no doubt in Torunn's mind that it wasn't good news at all.

"Well, since we've come together again," The woman in green began, "Thor and I have rekindled our relationship, and it's given us time to think."

The bad feeling began to swell up inside of Torunn, twisting her stomach like a pretzel.

'Oh, no.'

"And so, after a lot of thought and talking it over,"

'Oh, god!'

"-we've decided..."

'Please no!'

"-to get married!"

...

Silence. Total silence.

Thor and Amora waited for a reply, hoping for one of cheer or congratulations.

But all Torunn could say was, "...WHAT THE FU-"


***Torunn's Room***

Needless to say, lunch didn't go so well. Also, Torunn's shocked/frustrated response was somewhat expected, but not to the extent that Thor saw coming. But it upset him to the point of him sending her to her room without dinner.

And now, she sat on her bed, arms crossed and Lana Del Rey playing through headphones to calm her nerves. In her mind, Torunn was on a roller coaster and being twisted. Ever since she had arrived back in her homeland, everything has been off. It's like an episode of The Twilight Zone, and she was the main character. And like most of the main characters who found themselves in a peculiar/dangerous situation, she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Suddenly, she felt a dangerous presence about and whipped out Sharpious to see it pointed at...Amora.

"Well, that's definitely not the point I was hoping to find," She said, seemingly amused and unfazed by a sword being less than an inch from her face.

Seeing who it was tempted Torunn to keep Sharpious erect. But she held back and lowered her blade.

"What are you doing here?" The princess asked in an unhappy tone.

"I was hoping we could talk. Woman to young woman."

Torunn scoffed at this before putting Sharpious down and turning away from the older woman. Amora took a moment before approaching the bed and setting herself a foot or so away from Torunn.

Then, taking a breath, she spoke. "I know that my arrival here, the announcement of your father and I's engagement was quite a blow to you. Especially in the wake of your mother departing."

The mere thought of the word in this scenario filled Torunn with disgust. And the mention of her mother leaving made her want to shout in objection. But she said nothing and listened as the Amora went on. "And what's more, I know it's not easy being without parents...

"What I'm trying to say is...I may not be your mother, and I don't man to replace her for you. But I do love your father, and I would like to feel the same for you. And I would also like to do my part as a fellow Asgardian refugee to help make this people, our people, great in any way that I can."

As Amora kept speaking, Torunn had slowly turned to face her and seemed moved by her words. And from the looks of it, this woman was attempting to be sincere.

"Torunn, I understand your concerns," Amora said, "but I assure you, I only want what is best for all of us. But I can't do that without your help...might we seek peace and work together to try?"

Torunn's gaze met Amora's, her instincts telling her not to trust the enchantress. However, she knew that playing along, at least for now, was the only way for her get to the truth.

So, swallowing her pride, the blonde princess nodded. "I suppose I could give peace a chance...Amora."

At that, Amora smiled. It seemed like a common, peaceful ground had been established.

"Wonderful!" She said cheerfully. With that, she stood and began for the door. "Well, you have a good night, my dear. Tomorrow starts a new day for us and the people of Asgard."

'New Asgard,' Torunn said to herself, but kept a smile on her face.

"Goodnight, Amora."

"Goodnight, darling." The woman replied, "Sleep well."

And Torunn did sleep well that night, with a clear mind and mission. She was going to find out who this woman was, look into her mother's absence(and that of Valkyrie's, as well), and set things right.


And the plot thickens. Hope you guys are still with this story, it's been a little slow, I know and I apologize. But I'm not done yet! :) There's plenty more to be done.

More to come soon in the Next Avengers MCU-verse! Stay tuned!

Laters, gators!