Contest of Champions

3

The halls of Asgard are bustling with servants as I enter. How can I forget? The three children of Odin will all be reunited again today, like we are every year on Reaping day. How exciting.

As I enter the dining chamber after cleaning the blood from the cut on the back of my head, my parents are already seated. Odin is having a mild argument with Hela, his oldest child and only daughter, another champion that belongs to the Odinson family. Actually, she won the very first Contest, back when it was a way to punish certain of the Avengers after they tried to overthrow Thanos. It had been relatively easy for her to win, and she had said that if Thanos had wanted her dead, he should have chosen a path that didn't put her in her element – death.

So I suppose Thanos didn't exactly want her dead.

Frigga, my mother, looks up from her steaming tea and smiles brightly at me. "Good morning, Loki," she says. "How did you sleep?"

I shrug and slide into my seat, aware that Odin's and Hela's eyes have moved over to glance at me, their argument paused for the moment. "Not that well."

"Reaping Day jitters?" Hela quips, a slight grin pasted on her face. I scowl at her, and her grin only widens. But Frigga answers for me with a frown. She has never gotten along well with her stepdaughter, although not for lack of trying on her part. Hela is just...intent on making sure people hate her.

"No, Hela, Loki doesn't sleep well anymore. He's a growing boy, and he gets restless at night."

That's not the reason, but Hela lets it slide and I don't add anything. Why should I add that I can't sleep because I get so overheated I feel like I might catch on fire? And that only ice, cold, soothing ice, can calm me down again?

"Where's my other brother?" Hela asks Odin, turning her attention away from me. I look at her curiously while her gaze is elsewhere, not having seen her for about a year. Her long black hair is loose, hanging down her back like normal, and she wears her customary black eyeshadow. Right now, she looks casual, casually fierce. Later, during the ceremony, she'll look downright scary.

"He's gone out," Odin remarks. "He's spending some time with his friends before he has to leave with this year's contenders." He looks at me for a moment as he says this and I look down, unrest stirring in my heart.

Odin has never said outright that he wants me to volunteer, but I know that, in his eyes, I have to in order to be worthy. Frigga has made it clear that there is no pressure on me, either from her or from him, but how would she know? The weight's on my shoulders, not hers.

I know all the reasons why Odin wants me to volunteer, although he's never expressly stated them. My volunteering would bring more honor to our family, would possibly give Odin three champions out of three children, and it would bring recognition to Asgard. All Odin cares about is honor and recognition, apparently. Not the life of his youngest son.

Hela sees my father's glance at me and she looks like she has discovered a tremendous revelation. And that's just when Thor bursts into the room, breaking the current silent tension only to swiftly establish another one.

He's late, of course, the big oaf. But he doesn't seem to notice that. He just crashes into his chair and expects everything to carry on as it did before, but it won't.

Now, don't get me wrong: I care for my brother. But he just doesn't understand others who aren't like him, leading to many arguments and fights between us. And with him winning the Contest a few years ago and meeting his new "girlfriend," we've grown ever more distant.

The most irritating thing about this little development? Thor doesn't even realize it. He thinks we're still as close as we used to be.

We're not.