Thor stood on his balcony, breathing in the sweet Asgardian night air. The smell of lotus blossoms and spring danced about on the breeze and he swore the beauty was his mother's doing. Somewhere in Valhalla, she was crafting a new, beautifully elegant season to spread over Asgard. He smiled and nodded up to the sky before walking back inside his chambers, almost feeling as if his mother were really there. However, the peaceful scene was quickly interrupted.

"Ignorant prince…"

Thor froze as soon as he heard the icy, almost hollow voice in the air. Who was there? A guard? Maybe even his father? But as soon as it came, it vanished. Perhaps I've just made myself tired, he thought, I ought to get some rest.

Thor walked over to his bed, quickly brushing the issue aside as he lay down. It seemed like everyday since Loki died, his days were missing something. Something he could not yet determine, but it was definitely there. And he felt the pain in his heart almost everyday. Maybe it was better for Loki, then… surely he'd be in Valhalla with Frigga. Thor didn't doubt for a moment that the two would be happy together. They always had been in this life, and so they would be in the next. With the rare pleasant thought in his mind, Thor closed his eyes and began to drift off to sleep.

Cold.

Cold… Wind

Ice

Snow

"Should we tell him…?"

"Nay, we mustn't… 'tis too soon."

"But he is here! He must know…"

Voices…

Odd warmth…

Thor blinked his eyes open, almost as if in a half dazed state. What was going on? How did he get here? He slowly took in his surroundings. He was lying on the floor of a small hut of some sort, thatched together with twigs and leaves and mud. A tiny fire burned brightly in the center of the room, stones surrounding it as the smoke drifted up and out through a hole in the roof.

"Quiet, he wakes!"

Who were those voices?

Thor sat up, almost without any effort, to his surprise. There, kneeling before him, were two of what he recognized as elves. Elves? How did elves appear? Were they any sort of danger? Confusion raced rampant through his mind.

The woman elf blinked at him, her large brown eyes gazing at him almost hesitantly. Her long, blonde hair was plaited in many small braids, and she wore a brown, ragged dress. Her ears were long and pointed, as an elf's should be. She almost looked as if she had sprouted from the very soil they stood on.

"Himmel! You mustn't stare at him as if he is one of Master's glamorous spells. We are wasting time!" The male elf scolded, running a hand through his shaggy, short brown hair before adjusting his black patched tunic. He looked almost identical feature wise to the woman, save the lips and long eyelashes and voice.

"Who are you?" Thor demanded, letting his current situation sink in. What the Hel was going on? Was this some kind of dream?

"Thank you, my Lord, for your kind manner of greeting," the male elf scoffed, folding his arms. The woman gave him a look and smiled at Thor softly.

"Pay my husband no heed, my prince, he is only rough around the edges." Thor shook his head and backed away slowly, feeling his back hit the wall of the small hut.

"What's going on?" He demanded once more, agitation in his voice. He was growing tired of the confusion.

"Fear not, this is but a dream. We only have a short time to convey to you our message before you wake."

Thor's eyes widened as realization suddenly dawned on him. This was one of the Norns Dreams. He knew he'd have one someday, but he never suspected tonight. Why would the Norns be trying to speak to him now? Norns Dreams were considered sacred and taken very seriously, as they were always accurate and usually foretold an important event to come. It was the Norns way of speaking to people, but normally only the elder and wiser experience them. Thor suddenly, for some unknown reason, began to feel nervous. However, he dared not let it show on his face.

"Why am I having a Norns Dream so early? What is going to happen?" He breathed. The woman sat down cross legged in front of Thor whilst the husband kept a wary watch from the corner.

"Ah, so you understand what this is. Very well, that leaves less work of explaining on my part. I am Himmel, and that over there is my husband, Sven. You, prince Thor, are extremely unique to be having this dream. And extremely lucky, might I add, it took us much arguing and pleading to the Norns to get them to allow you this moment."

Thor furrowed his brow. "You are saying that you are not one of the Norns yourselves?"

Himmel laughed and shook her head, ears twitching. "No, sire. We are sorcery elves, not fate spinners. But we do have something very important to inform you of, something that cannot wait any longer, so listen well."

"Important?" Sven interrupted from the corner, coming out to the light of the fire to face Thor, "More like dire! It is foolish of the Norns for not allowing us to come to you sooner. We almost had to trek to Asgard by foot to tell you ourselves!"

"Sven! Do not question the Norns wisdom." Himmel scolded. Sven just frowned at her and looked back to Thor, his face set in hard lines.

"The boy has to know sooner than later, woman, do not be daft. We must hurry up before the Norns close the portal and it shall be too late."

"What is going to happen? Is it my father? Is he unwell?" Thor pressed, a bad feeling at the pit of his stomach.

Himmel shook her head, but to Thor's surprise, a look of deep sorrow crossed her features, even Sven's. She stared at the ground for a moment before waving her stubby fingers about, revealing a magic misty image hanging in the air.

"You were young, I don't expect you to remember… some things are better forgotten. He begged us not to tell you, oh, gods, did he beg us… but we cannot continue this any longer. You must know the truth, Thor Odinson."

Thor stared at the mist, watching with wide eyes as an image of none other than his brother appeared. He was younger, but only by a few thousand years. It portrayed him as he looked only a short time before the bifrost was broken. His raven hair was shorter and slicked back in it's usual style, but something was wrong… his face looked pained, sadness. Something Thor hadn't seen on his brother's face in a very, very long time. True, genuine sorrow.

"What is this?" He demanded, trying to keep the shaking sound from his voice, "My brother is dead, why do you present me with this vision?"

Himmel stared at him for a moment with a look that made Thor shiver, her eyes hollow and solemn. Sven sighed and shook his head patting his wife gently on the shoulder.

"It was before everything started that it occurred. About two thousand Asgardian years ago. But he had been planning it for a while. Our master was wise beyond his years, so he knew his destiny would one day come."

Before Thor could even ask another question, Himmel waved her hand about once more and the image shifted to show Loki standing in the crowd, watching as Thor was about to become king. But once again, his brother's face was sullen and sad, almost depressed looking. His features were gaunt, and his fake smile slowly slipped away to reveal a pained grimace.

"The day you were to become king was the day he saw the vision."

The image shimmered again and quickly changed to instead portray fire, burning what looked like the palace halls… A dark, tall figure's shadow danced among the flames, laughing as chaos and death spread. And in the figure's claws he saw… himself! Thor barely suppressed a gasp. He could almost feel the heat of the fire, almost hear the distant echoed screams of the people… He could only watch in horror, his mind trying desperately to understand what was happening before him.

"The dark one, Thanos, was coming. He sought you out, crown prince, as the prized jewel in his collection. He is the keeper of souls, the epitome of death. He was coming to kill you, Thor Odinson, and with you bring to ruins the land of Asgard."

What was happening, what was this?

"However," Himmel continued, the image quivering again, "your brother, being ever observant and clever, saw Thanos's plan. He knew what the dark one desired to do, and he could not let that happen."

Thor felt his heart skip a beat as the image changed. What did Himmel mean, Thanos? His soul felt a sharp pain of grief as soon as the pictured transformed to show Loki, a look of pure horror on his face upon discovering this Thanos's alleged plan.

The next thing the magic shimmered to portray, however, was the one that truly turned Thor's world upside down. His brother, his brother, the one who said all those terrible things to him, who killed so many Midgardians, who died on Svartalfheim to save Thor's life, whose heart was broken and angry upon hearing of Odin's lies all those years… it was Loki, the brother he thought he knew, on his knees begging. Loki did not beg, a god did not beg. This couldn't possibly be a Norns Dream if it showed such lies! But there Loki was, pleading to this shadow looming before him in a dark place that resembled a cave.

"Loki…" he whispered, "No! Lies, these are lies! What kind of trickery is this?! My brother hated me! He might have died with honor, but he tried to kill me, tried to bring Asgard to dust! He hated me!"

Himmel backed up instinctively, frightened by Thor's sudden outburst. Sven looked protective, but did not say a word. After a moment of silence, she spoke.

"So in order to protect you, to protect everything he loved, prince Loki of Asgard made a deal with Thanos. The safety of you and Asgard… In exchange for his soul."

The image shimmered once more and grew larger, taking up more space in the hut until Thor could see clearly what was going on. His brother stood amidst the dark shadow, his wrists and ankles chained and his head bowed. The shadow smiled, claws flexing as he created as if from thin air an exact clone of Loki. And then, Loki, despite his chains, dropped to his knees, threw his head back and wailed. It was custom and respectful on Asgard to wail as loudly as you could when a loved one died, or… when you would never see them again.

"Loki, No!" Thor screamed, suddenly thrashing about and destroying the image in fury. He flung his hands through the air, breaking the spell and distorting the image until it faded away into the smoke of the fire. Lies, they were all lies… they had to be, Loki wasn't alive, he was dead. His brother was dead and gave his life for him after so many bitter years of hatred. It couldn't be, it just couldn't be…

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and only then did he realize that his eyes were closed and he was breathing hard.

"Your brother is not dead, Thor," Himmel said softly. Not dead, Thor, not dead… The words echoed in his mind. He turned up a wary, pained face to look at her.

"Why do you keep torturing me with these lies?" He pleaded, his voice hoarse. Himmel took a deep breath and shook her head, a sad smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"I do not lie, Thor. Thanos has kept him prisoner all these years, hidden away in the dark forests of Muspelheim. The attack on Midgard, the destruction of the bifrost… it was all Thanos's illusion, his clone. He seeks to ruin your brother's name, to cause as much death as he can. And all these years, Loki could do nothing but watch as everyone thought his heart had turned cold. But something much worse is coming, something more terrible than all the rest. Thanos seeks to conquer Asgard and then the other realms, to bring an end to everything and anything with a beating heart. He seeks your father's throne. And he will break his deal with your brother, thereby killing him in the process if you do not stop him."

Thor felt like retching, everything was coming so fast. All these things he was being told, he just didn't believe. It couldn't be true, he would have noticed if his little brother was gone, he loved him! He had to have noticed… didn't he?

"You lie!" He growled, "You're a traitor and a lowly wench, elf woman, dishonoring my brother's name like this and spreading these rumors! I ought to smite you where you stand!"
At this, Sven jumped in between Thor and Himmel, an angry look on his hard face. "You dare insult me wife, ignorant prince! You want lies?!" He shouted angrily, digging around in his pocket for something. Himmel, apparently realizing what he was doing, paled and put an arm on his shoulder.

"Sven, no! Master made us promise we wouldn't, he's not ready-"

"I don't care what he said! If this stupid oaf doesn't believe us, then he will surely believe this!" He boomed, and pulled jerkily from his pocket a small green box. He waved it in Thor's face menacingly, and then lifted the lid with surprising gentleness while still keeping his voice angry.

"Does this lie?!" He snapped venomously.

As soon as the lid of the box opened, a tiny wood carved figure of a soldier with a magnificent horse emerged and began to move jerkily, its limbs whirring to life as the vessel began to play a tune… this wasn't an ordinary box, it was a music box. And as soon as the song began to play, memories hit Thor like a tidal wave.

"Come down to the river

by the water's edge, we shall play

come down to the river

and we shall laugh 'til the end of the day

Come down to the river

I'll meet you under the willow tree

and we shall battle together

just you, the river, and me"

Memories of him and his brother fighting with their wooden swords in the gardens, pulling pranks on the maids, playing hide and seek in the courtyards… memories of his mother smiling lovingly at them after they would fall asleep on each other in the tapestry room while she was sewing. Memories of a time he longed more than anything to go back to… Loki made up the tune one day and made it into a music box with some wood and magic for Thor's 578th birthday.

The blonde god looked up shakily to Himmel, breathing hard as realization set in, as the horror brewed in the pit of his stomach… they spoke the truth. Everything he thought he knew about his brother, everything he thought he had done… was a lie. In fact, it wasn't even his brother. It was a clone. A damned illusion, and Thor had thought nothing of it… his baby brother, his Loki… gone because he gave his very freedom for his family and realm. After all these years, he had been gone.

"Where is my brother?"