I Am Zeus-Chapter 47: Asgard

The skies above Asgard were a pale blue dome streaked with thin clouds drifting like silk threads. The golden towers of Gladsheim rose high, their rune-carved walls gleaming under the mid-morning sun. Banners of deep red and black fluttered from their battlements, each one marked with Odin’s triple-horned symbol in silver thread. The bridge of Bifröst shimmered faintly at the realm’s edge, its fractured rainbow light curving down into distant mortal skies far below.

Inside the courtyards, laughter echoed.

"Thor, wait up!"

Small sandals slapped against polished flagstones as a boy with wild dark hair raced after a taller child. Thor, sturdy and golden-haired, swung a short wooden hammer in wide arcs as he ran, his deep laughter booming through the gardens.

"Too slow, Loki!" he shouted, spinning to face his friend with a grin, his young arms flexing with the easy strength he was born with. "You can’t catch me even if you tried all day!"

Loki skidded to a stop, his thin frame heaving with short breaths. His long black hair drifted in the breeze, framing sharp green eyes that glimmered with playful irritation. He wore dark green tunic robes tied with thin gold cord, and a fox-fur collar that shifted each time he moved.

"Don’t be so sure," he panted, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. "Speed beats strength... watch."

He raised his hands, fingers weaving through a quick set of runic gestures he’d practised in secret behind the apprentice halls. A thin flicker of green-gold mana pulsed through his veins, crackling lightly around his knuckles.

Thor tilted his head, grin widening as he planted his small wooden hammer against the stone floor.

"Magic again?" he said, his young voice deep despite his age. "Don’t tell Father. He’ll say you’re cheating."

"Only if you tell him," Loki shot back, eyes flicking up sharply. "Which you won’t—"

He vanished in a flicker of green mist, reappearing behind Thor in a silent blink. Before Thor could turn, Loki jabbed his fingers into his friend’s ribs, making the bigger boy jump with a loud yelp that rang through the marble gardens.

"Got you!" Loki crowed, his grin stretching wide across his pale, sharp face. He flicked his long black hair over his shoulder with arrogant flair.

Thor rubbed his ribs, scowling half-heartedly. "That’s not fair, Loki. You used your vanish again."

"And you use your fists for everything," Loki said, shrugging. "We’re both good at something."

Thor grunted, his frown melting into another big grin as he hefted his wooden hammer over his shoulder. "Still gonna beat you in the next spar."

"I’m counting on it," Loki replied smoothly, his green eyes glittering with cunning mirth.

From the high balcony above the training courtyards, Frigg stood watching them. Her white-gold hair fell in braided loops around her shoulders, and her robes of midnight blue silk drifted softly in the courtyard breezes. She rested her palms lightly against the stone balustrade, her gaze soft and watchful.

"Always playing tricks on Thor," she murmured under her breath, though a faint smile curved her lips.

Beside her, a broad-shouldered figure stepped forward, clad in heavy rune-etched black steel. Odin’s single eye gleamed under his low battle crown, the other covered by a smooth iron patch carved with shifting protection runes. His beard, streaked with silver, stirred faintly in the breeze.

"He learns fast," Odin said quietly, his gravel-deep voice echoing across the balcony stone. "Faster than Thor."

Frigg glanced sideways at him, her pale blue eyes tired but warm. "But Thor’s heart is kinder," she said.

Odin said nothing for a moment, simply watching his sons below. Thor had grabbed Loki around the neck in a playful headlock, grinding his knuckles into Loki’s scalp as the smaller boy flailed and shouted curses in ancient Vanir dialect that Frigg pretended not to understand.

"Kindness has its place," Odin said at last, folding his massive arms across his chest. "But cunning wins wars."

Frigg exhaled softly, though her eyes never left her sons. "And who will win peace?"

Odin didn’t reply. His gaze remained locked on the courtyard below, his single eye reflecting the shifting green-gold mist that flickered around Loki’s fingers as he slipped from Thor’s grip and vanished again, reappearing high atop a marble lion statue to stick out his tongue at his brother.

Thor roared with playful rage, running forward to jump onto the statue’s base, shaking it so violently that Loki lost his balance with a yelp, tumbling forward. Thor caught him easily, slinging him over his broad shoulder with a grin wide enough to split the sky.

"I win again!" Thor shouted, spinning in place as Loki flailed in the air, his green robes twisting around his thin legs.

"Put me down, you oaf!" Loki screamed, though his laughter rang clear beneath his curses.

Frigg’s smile widened faintly, her hands curling tighter around the stone railing.

"Let them be boys a little longer," she whispered, almost to herself.

Odin’s gaze flicked sideways, studying her for a moment before returning to his sons.

"They will be gods soon enough," he said.

Below, Thor set Loki down roughly, making the smaller boy stumble forward. Loki immediately spun, his green eyes blazing with annoyed pride.

"I’ll remember that," he hissed, brushing dirt off his knees.

"Good," Thor replied, still laughing. "Then you won’t do it again."

"Oh, I’ll do it again," Loki said, grinning wickedly. "But better."

Thor just chuckled, ruffling Loki’s black hair with one big hand before walking away, humming a crude tavern tune he’d learned from one of Odin’s Einherjar guards.

Loki watched him go, his grin fading into a thoughtful line. He reached up, fixing his dishevelled hair before flicking his fingers lightly, summoning a small illusory serpent that curled around his wrist with faint hissing sounds.

He watched it slither across his knuckles, his green eyes narrowing slightly.

One day... he thought quietly. One day you’ll see what else I can do.

He closed his fist, making the illusion vanish into a ripple of green mist.

High above them, the ravens Huginn and Muninn wheeled across the Asgard sky, their cries ringing across the golden towers. Odin turned his gaze upward, watching them for a long silent moment before lowering his eyes back to his sons.

Thor had sat down under a laurel tree, chewing on a thick piece of honeyed barley bread, while Loki perched beside him, muttering something under his breath as he flicked pebbles into the fountain with precise rune-enhanced flicks. Each pebble skipped six, seven, eight times before sinking under the silver surface.

The quiet courtyard breeze carried faint echoes of their childish bickering and laughter up to the balcony where their parents stood, wrapped in the restless peace of a realm that stood always on the edge of storms.

Odin exhaled softly, his massive frame unmoving as his voice rumbled low under his breath.

"Let the world sleep while it can."

Frigg said nothing, only placed her hand over his, her fingers cold against his battle-worn knuckles.

And far beyond Asgard’s gleaming walls, the mortal realms stirred under waking dawns, unaware that two boys – one with thunder in his veins, and one with serpents in his shadow – would shape their fate for centuries to come.

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