A/N: Hey there! :) This is my second Thor series, my first Thor/OC, and is the first in the Heroic Hymns :) So, as fair warning, this will NOT be a Jane/Thor story or a Thor/Sif story either. For any who are interested, I've written some other stories for Doctor Who, Supernatural, Sherlock, Star Trek, Thor (Loki/OC), Merlin, and OUAT. This series will be my attempt to incorporate an original character in. This story will be based around the Thor movie and will be intermingled with some original scenes but should follow the movie, from Thor and the OCs POV :) This story will be about 10 chapters long, updated daily :)

For a reference, I picture the OC, Athena, to look something like Rosamund Pike :)

I hope you enjoy :)

~8~ is a scene break

Disclaimer...I don't own Thor or things from the movie/comic, just my OC and some original aspects...or else we'd have even more Loki to see :)

~8~

Finding One's Place

A young woman stood at the edge of a balcony, overlooking the land beyond, a soft, but sad smile, on her pale lips. There was a gentle breeze blowing past, causing her dark hair to blow into her face though she hardly reached up to brush it away. She was a warrior by nature, firm and unyielding, made of fortitude and dedication, a small bit of hair was hardly a distraction worthy of her moving and disrupting her thoughts. She let out a deep breath, her gray eyes casting downwards at the structures below, the realm before her was exquisite, beautiful, pristine and she adored it. But her home, her family, the life she was living within the walls behind her were slowly wearing at her.

And so she'd made a decision to prostrate herself before her father and plead for the freedom to leave, to just…have the life she was craving. She was so old now, had lived for so many centuries that it was unbearable the life she lived now. It was natural for them, being what the mortals would call gods, to live so long. She was sure the mortals truly thought them immortal, that they would live on to the end of eternity. They tended to live more…thousands of years instead. It was both a blessing and a curse, a blessing as they were all 'immortal' her friends, her family, she would never be lonely. But it was a curse because they had been forced off the earth, to another realm that was left to watch over the mortals from a distance, able to travel via the rainbow bridge that existed between worlds. It was a curse because she was trapped in a life that it seemed a majority of her family had longed for yet she found it agonizing.

It was…calm.

It was peaceful and tranquil there and it was torture! She was used to battle, to fighting giants and titans and monsters that would make most mortals tremble. And now she had been reduced to a simple woman in her simple clothing and jewelry and she would give anything, anything at all to go where there was more activity. She and one of her brothers would spar, daily, for hours on end, and it was the one respite she had in her life, one relief, to be able to pick up a blade and rush at an opponent, even if it was her brother. They fought hard, they struck blows. He was one of the few that hardly cared that she was a woman, he knew her prowess with a blade, her strength, the strategic mind she took with her in battle.

She gazed down at her arms, they were pale but there was a faint bruise near her elbow, it was fading quickly though. She hated this garb she was forced to wear when not sparring. Her arms were bare from the shoulder, save for the bracelets on her one wrist. It felt wrong, all of it, it felt so wrong, to be so exposed. She should have arm guards on, metal plates from her wrist up to her elbows, she should have her leather armor on her front, her skirt should not be down to the ground but to her thighs. This gown she was wearing felt constricting and left her feeling exposed even though her battle garb was more revealing.

She was used to battle, she needed excitement, and this was just…too calm, this wasn't her and she was an inch away from going out of her mind if she was forced to stay there a day longer.

"Care for another spar?" a deep voice came from her side and she looked over to see her brother approaching her. HE got to wear his armor nearly nonstop, the black leather matching his black hair and beard.

"I think I should hardly be allowed to at the moment," she muttered, turning to look back out at the landscape, "I am to be presentable for when father calls me to issue his decision to my request."

He looked at her a long while, "You really asked him to leave?"

She glanced at him again, "You know I had to," she reminded him softly, of all her siblings, he was the one she was closest to, "I cannot stand being here anymore. It's so slow!" she complained, a bitter note to her voice, "It's making me slow too. Our sparing can only go so far, I know all your tricks, I need something new."

"You don't know ALL my tricks," he countered under his breath, though they both knew it was true, she really did. And he did understand, there was only so many times you could fight the same person before growing bored.

"I just…need more excitement than this," she sighed, "You're the only one who spars with me on a regular and I need more than that."

"I know," he turned and leaned on the balcony, looking out at the land with her, the sun starting to set, "I suppose I should tell you, then, that father has called you in for his decision. He sent me to get you. He's in the garden."

She took a deep breath, "Thank you," she smiled at him before turning to head out of the room, needing to make it to the garden quickly, best not to keep her father waiting on this decision. She found him relatively quickly though, he was sitting on the edge of a fountain, looking out at the water swirling within, "Father."

He looked up at her, silent, and merely placed his hand on the marble beside him before he folded his hands in his lap, waiting for her to sit beside him before he spoke, "You must understand your request troubles me greatly."

"I do," she nodded, speaking softly, "But, father, please understand I need something to do besides sit here and play the lyre or weave," she sighed, "My sisters might find that acceptable but not me. You KNOW it is not me."

"I do," he mimicked, smiling softly at her as he eyed her, his gray beard and hair making his eyes brighter, "You are so like your mother," he whispered, thinking of his first wife, "I suppose I have held more tightly to you because of that. You are…the only child she gave me."

He had more by his second wife, but she was the only one his first wife had given him, she was the only thing he had left of her.

"You look so like her," he reached out to touch her face, "You have her gray eyes," he mused, before sighing, "I cannot keep you here if it would make your embittered against me. I could not abide that happening…"

"I would never be that against you father," she reached up to touch his hand on her cheek, before gently taking it down to hold it in her lap, "I just…I'm a fighter, and there is no fight here."

"I know," he gave a soft chuckle, "Do not think I have not seen your brother walking out of the healers quarters after your spars. They are getting progressively harsher, aren't they?" she gave him a sheepish smile and he laughed louder this time, "I suppose it would be best to let you go, somewhere you shall be happy, where you shall have all the fight you desire."

"You mean it?" she asked, "Truly?"

He nodded, "The Rainbow Bridge is open to you to go whenever you please."

"Thank you father!" she leaned in and hugged him tightly, tears in her eyes. She didn't want to leave…but she had to, for her own good, for her own happiness she needed to go where she could find her own way and those like her.

~8~

Loki Odinson stood beside his father as they watched the warriors sparring in the courtyard just outside the palace of Asgard. The Warriors Three had seemed to have made some sort of tournament going, the three of them with Thor, two other men, the Lady Sif, and another woman, a blonde woman in brown leather armor, "Who is she Father?" Loki asked Odin as they watched the goings on.

The Warriors three had all 'fallen' in the tournament, Lady Sif nearly making it to the end bracket however the woman she was fighting, the blonde, had beaten her which left her to face the mighty Thor himself. He could see it in his brother's eyes, the arrogance, the smug quality of his look as he not only eyed the blonde in question, but seemed to be boasting to the men about how easy it would be to best her. His words were clearly irritating both Sif and the woman as well as they stood to the side, their eyes narrowed. Thor had a…peculiar way of encouraging Sif in her battles, he always supported her but he did so with taunting her to victory, enraging her so much that she gave it her all and eventually came out on top. He honestly wasn't sure if Thor was doing the same for this woman or if he genuinely felt he could beat her easily despite the fact she had managed to best Sif herself.

"She is a guest," Odin said, "A warrior come to join our ranks."

"I hope she's warrior enough for Thor, he never goes easy on the new recruits," Loki murmured, "And he goes even less easy since Sif began insisting that the warriors treat she and the other women as equals."

"I have no doubt she shall hold her own," Odin remarked, a small grin on his face, "She is wise beyond her years, something Thor lacks prowess in in the heat of battle. If she cannot best him in strength and skill alone, she shall outwit him easily enough."

Loki frowned at that before he turned to watch the battle commence. He could understand instantly what his father meant by how the woman fought. Thor attacked with brute strength, the woman though seemed to be purposefully on the defensive, saving her strength so that Thor put all his power into the first few attacks. She appeared to be both wearing him out and observing him as well. He could see her gray eyes flickering to Thor's arm and feet and posture for the barest moment every time he moved to attack. He noticed she was doing other moves, moving one way to strike, then a few moments later making the same move as though to test how he'd react.

He started to smirk as the small duel went on as it became more and more obvious to him that she was learning how Thor operated, how he'd been trained, the way he'd fight her, and he felt the anticipation building at what the outcome would be when she turned his own tactics against him…

The end came rather quickly though, he was almost let down by it had, or would have been had it not been for the fact that his beloved brother had ended up on his backside with a sword aimed at his neck, the tip just under his chin, the blonde woman smirking down at him. It had happened so fast that he almost missed it, to be honest. She had gone to strike him with her right hand above Thor's head and the man had instantly raised his right arm to block, and shoved her arm to the left, something she'd seen him do at least twice before in that very same motion. Just as he was turning back to recover from the move, she grabbed his sword arm with her left hand to keep him lifting it again and turned her blade in her right hand so that her fist was gripping the hilt with the blade extended along her arm and punched him across the face with both fist and steel, sending him to the ground…apparently she had anticipated his skull would be quite thick and had compensated by using the hilt of her blade against him as well as the force of her punch. He'd fallen as she twisted his right hand, the move of falling and the way she twisted it made his own momentum cause him to release his blade which she quickly ducked to grab before stepping towards him to place her own blade at his neck.

The cheers that went up for Thor's defeat had even Odin cracking a small smile at the sight of his son even slightly humbled. The woman in question remained stone faced at her victory, a mask of a warrior's focus and determination etched on her face…before a smirk took hold of it and she flipped Thor's sword in her hand, catching the blade and extending his sword back to him. He took it and she kept her left hand out to help him up before she turned and sauntered back to Sif as the woman congratulated her.

Thor, however, despite being clapped on the back by the other warriors, more in amusement for his defeat than in a move of victory, kept his eyes on her, before he found himself walking towards her, "You, girl…"

"I am not a girl," the woman gave him an unimpressed look, "I am a woman," she glanced up and down at him, "Boy."

His eyes narrowed, all sense of being polite and commending her fleeing at her jab against him, "I assure you, I am most certainly a man."

"And yet you were the one on your back," she taunted, nearly startling him with her audacity, nearly, but…he could tell something in her, that she was used to talk like that, the crude talk that came with warriors…and he could respect a lady such as that.

"Well then allow me the chance to prove it to you," he challenged.

"Whenever you wish," she lifted her chin, accepting the challenge.

He smirked at that, holding out his arm to her, "I am Thor, Odinson."

She felt her own lips quirk into a smirk as well, having the feeling that their next challenge wouldn't be the last one, before she grasped his arm in a firm grip, "Athena."

~8~

"Do we HAVE to be here Sif?" Athena nearly groaned as she and the Lady Sif walked through the halls of the palace of Asgard.

It was a lovely building, quite magnificent to be seen. It was gleaming and bright, spacious and regal, a true testament to the might of those who dwelled within. The doors and windows were enormous, allowing light to filter in from the sun, the entire landscape beyond wonderful in its metal and shine. And it had become a home to her as well ever since she had become one of the warriors of Asgard. Sif liked to call the two of them the Valkyries, the female warriors, however she only truly did that in private with the two of them. They were the closest of all the female warriors…not that there were many, but they had bonded quite a lot in the time she had been there, ever since she had gotten Thor on his bum during her first spar with him.

She didn't understand why people thought it was so hard to face Thor down, he honestly wasn't that hard to defeat, no one was, if one only paid attention. People were trained in different ways but their reactions, from years of training, were often the same when certain blows were dealt. All it took with her was to test those skills and reactions, to find the best method of blocking and attacking back once she worked out what they were. So much could be learned about watching how a person moved to allow one to guess the way they'd react. Thor had seemed to learn that though and their spars since that day had gotten rather…interesting. He had actually started to change his reactions and the styles of combat he used to try and throw her off. He knew quite a few and, while she would never say it out loud, she was thrilled when it happened. She enjoyed the challenge of sparring with Thor as much as he seemed to enjoy the challenge she offered as well. She had learned more about the power behind certain attacks if force was applied correctly, he'd learned to observe the enemy for a means to attack, and…they were actually helping each other improve.

But that didn't mean that his arrogance diminished any when he lost to her, he would just issue another challenge as would she. He seemed to take each defeat as a means and opportunity to get better, which it should be, but the way he went about it, so cocky at first was offputting. She didn't like a few things about his personality, like how childish he could be, how petulant, and arrogant too. It was just as well, she was sure he found her strategicness in all areas of her life irritating, along with her chastising nature and near exasperation when it came to him and his ways. It seemed the way she was in facing off with him in duels was the same as when they were off the field of combat, neither of them backed down, both were born warriors.

"It is Thor's coronation day," Sif reminded her with a small smirk, "We must."

It was…the most amusing thing in the world to her and the Warriors Three, to see how Athena and Thor interacted. They were like cats and dogs at times, but there was never any true bite to them. It stemmed more from Thor being an arrogant child at times and Athena becoming irritated with how he acted. She'd asked once, why she was like that, why his attitude bothered her so much. All she had to say was that she had spent her life around pompous siblings and that her own father was quite arrogant in some ways, or he had been, that his lack of consideration for consequences and his desire to do as he wished had caused many problems in the past. She was wise enough to see how attitudes and personalities like that could lead to ruin and she had come to see the palace as a home she did not wish to see fall.

They were all quite sure that it was more that both Athena and Thor were attracted to the other but were at an impasse in that they both had qualities that the other disliked so much it was holding them back, or that they just didn't want to be as attracted to the other as they were so they tried to find irritation in the other. She, for a short while, felt as though she should have been cross with Athena, for so easily winning Thor's attention. The man was fixated on her the moment she entered a room, took delight in antagonizing her, always asked HER to spar first whenever he could. She had felt that she should be angry and bitter because, for quite a long while, she had had an attachment to Thor, she had desired to have a relationship with him, so much so that she had, at first, defended Thor's attitude to her. But the more she was around Athena, the more she did see Thor had faults, as every man did, and that those faults were better suited to Athena's own than hers. The two were a better match than she or Thor could hope to be and she had endeavored to help her friend, for Athena had certainly become a very close one in her time there, be happy with Thor. She had long since moved past her own fixation on Thor and felt more confident and sure of herself for doing so.

"Has Odin lost sight in his other eye?" Athena shook her head, "Can he truly not see that Thor is still such a child? He wishes wholly to put a child on the throne of Asgard?"

"He's not a child Athena," Sif laughed, "He's a full grown man."

And, just as they said that, passing a small antechamber to get around the large throne room where the coronation would take place and reach their spots, they passed Thor as he smashed a goblet of mead into a fire, sending the flames roaring higher, with a cry of 'Another!' before he headed over to stand by his brother Loki.

Athena gave Sif a look, "You were saying?" she gestured at the man. Honestly, smashing goblets, demanding drink, he was as arrogant and pompous as he had been since the day she met him.

Sif could only shrug at that.

~8~

Sif and Athena stood to the side of a small room, another antechamber, one that would led to the back of the palace throne room, nearer to the thrones than where Thor would enter from. They were removing their weapons as no one was allowed to have a weapon in the throne room during the ceremony save Odin and his two sons.

"Volstagg," Sif murmured under her breath, glancing up at the man who was off in the room behind Athena.

Athena smirked, "Combing his beard," she supplied, "Probably finding some kind of meat hidden in it."

"Close," Sif chuckled, "A grape."

It was a game they had come to play, Sif never got used to how truly observant Athena was. She observed and studied her opponents, trying to find their weakness, but it also seemed to work off the field of combat as well. She could guess, from what she knew of the people around her, what they were likely doing based on their personality and habits she'd gleamed in them. Athena was one of the most focused warriors she had ever encountered, something she appreciated as she liked to think she was just as dedicated and focused. Truly the only time she had ever seen Athena break her concentration, the only time she'd ever seen Athena flee anything or become frightened, was when spiders were involved. The woman would go pale and back away and scream…one time when Fandral had played a rather cruel joke on her in putting a spider on her sword when she went to grab it, she had literally jumped into Thor's arms at the sight of it. She didn't understand how a woman as strong as Athena could be frightened by a little arachnid but to each their own, she had her own fears to deal with as well and, so long as they weren't facing an army of spiders, they all doubted Athena's fear would cause her any distraction in battle.

"And what of Fandral?" Sif continued, grimacing slightly as she watched Volstagg, a rather plump man with a thick red beard, eat the grape he'd found in his hair.

"Playing Narcissus," Athena mused.

"What?" Sif shook her head, sometimes Athena made comments and remarks that they weren't quite sure what she was talking about.

"Flirting with himself in a mirror," Athena elaborated, "…before flirting with the next woman who walks past him."

"Got that in one," Sif nodded, seeing that happen, the blond man with his well groomed moustache grinning at himself in the mirror and winking at the woman holding it up to him, though there were a few more women around him than just one, "And Hogun?" her gaze drifted to the rather severe and stone-faced man, his black hair held back tight.

"Brooding."

Sif smirked at that, Hogun was quite intimidating, very much a no-nonsense sort of man.

"And," Athena grinned, setting down a sword on the table, "I believe I win again."

Sif looked down at the weapons they'd been discarding and placing carefully on the table, "No," she started to smile, setting one of her own blades down, "I believe we're at a draw, for once."

It was another game they had, where they would try to see who had more weapons, who could conceal more of them. But Athena just smirked, "Oh are we?"

"Oh no don't…" Sif nearly pleaded. But Athena reached up to her hair that was held half up half down, with a small bun on the top portion, and pulled what appeared to be a small stick out of it, setting it down on the table, one last, fine, delicate dagger, "You are no fun."

"Come," Athena laughed, taking Sif's arm and leading her into the throne room, the Warriors Three, Hogun, Fandral, and Volstagg following them as they took their places along the throne's stairs to wait for the entrance of Thor.

The room was already filled with all the Asgardians that had come to witness the coronation of their new king, the room entirely crowded with only a single aisle down the middle for Thor to walk down.

"I hope this goes quickly," Volstagg muttered under his breath, "I'm famished."

"No!" Fandral turned to him, mock-shocked at that, heavy in his sarcasm.

"Are you attached to that pretty face of yours?" Volstagg glared, "Because one more word, and you won't be."

"My, we are hungry, aren't we?" he joked, before sighing at Hogun, "Go on, Hogun. Smile. You can do it. Even you, Hogun the Grim. Just one smile?" but Hogun remained staring at him grimly, "Alright, half a smile. Look, forget the smile, just show some teeth."

"Fandral, I wonder if you are brave enough to accept a challenge?" Athena rolled her eyes to him, he was, at times, even more irritating than Thor in his pompous nature.

"Name it, Lady Athena."

Sif smirked and issued it for her, "Keep your mouth shut."

Fandral narrowed his eyes at them as they just smiled at him and turned back to the crowd as Odin's wife, Frigga, entered, escorted by Thor's brother, Loki, the two taking their places near the top of the stairs, closest to the throne.

There was a blast of a horn and everyone fell silent as the guards entered, walking in formation down the aisle towards the throne, up the stairs before they broke away to reveal Odin himself as the man turned and took his seat upon the throne, his weapon, a staff, Gungnir in his hand. Frigga smiled and moved to join him at his side, standing beside the throne with one hand resting upon it. Odin lifted his head and turned to the Warriors Three, then to Sif and Athena, before his frown grew more pronounced as he turned to Loki who shrugged as the man was clearly seeking where his other son was.

"Where is he?" Volstagg hissed to Loki under his breath.

"He said he'd be along," Loki answered back just as quietly.

"Of all the pompous…" Athena started to mutter, but Sif grabbed her arm to quiet her.

"What?" Volstagg looked at them.

Sif sighed, realizing what Athena had, "He wants to make an entrance."

"Well, if he doesn't show up soon, he shouldn't bother," Fandral remarked dryly, "Odin looks like he's ready to feed him to his ravens."

"I wouldn't worry," Loki shook his head, "Father will forgive him. He always does."

Just as he finished speaking a round of cheers went up in the hall and they turned to see Thor enter, Mjolnir, his hammer, held high above him in one hand, a wide, cocky grin on his face as he strode forward, moving slowly, trying to work the crowd up more, clearly basking in the cheers and adoration of his people.

"Oh, please," Sif muttered.

"You were saying before Sif?" Athena gave her a look.

Odin too seemed rather irritated with what his son was doing, shaking his head slightly at Thor as the man reached the base of the steps to the throne and knelt down on a knee, placing Mjolnir beside him. He looked to his mother as she gave him a slightly chastising look but smiled as he winked at her. He turned to his brother, his grin widening as Loki appeared amused. Before his gaze drifted to Athena, making him lift his eyebrows at her with a smirk, though she rolled her eyes at him and shook her head, turning her head pointedly to look to Odin as Thor did the same.

Odin struck Gungnir on the ground, silencing the crowd with the deafening boom the staff made as he stood, "Gungnir," he held it up before him, "Its aim is true, its power strong. With it I have defended Asgard and the lives of the innocent across the Nine Realms since the time of the Great Beginning," he slowly lowered it to the ground again, "And though the day has come for a new King to wield his own weapon," he nodded to the hammer, "That duty remains the same. Thor Odinson, my heir, my first-born. So long entrusted with this mighty hammer, Mjolnir, forged in the heart of a dying star, from the sacred metal of Uru. Only one may lift it, only one is worthy. Who wields this hammer commands the lightning and the storm. Its power has no equal, as a weapon, to destroy, or as a tool, to build. It is a fit companion for a King," he smiled at his son, "Today I entrust you with the greatest honor in all the Nine Realms. The sacred throne of Asgard. I have sacrificed much to achieve peace. So, too, must a new generation sacrifice to maintain that peace. Responsibility, duty, honor. These are not merely virtues to which we must aspire. They are essential to every soldier and to every King."

Athena frowned, looking around as she felt a chill creep into the hall, seeing a few people shifting as the drop in temperature was felt by them as well.

"Thor Odinson," Odin continued, pulling her attention back, though the feeling that something was wrong did not disappear, "Do you swear to guard the Nine Realms?"

"I swear," Thor spoke, pledging his oath.

"Do you swear to preserve the peace?"

"I swear."

"Do you swear to cast aside all selfish ambition and pledge yourself only to the good of all the Realms?"

"I swear."

Athena bit the inside of her cheek for that one, the Thor before her was half made of selfish ambition at times.

"Then on this day," Odin smiled, "I, Odin Allfather, proclaim you…" he trailed off suddenly, looking across the room as though seeing something beyond it, sensing something, and as they turned to look, they could see it as well, ice creeping into the room along the banners on the wall…and there was only one thing that could make such a thing occur, "Frost Giants."

That was all Odin need say before Thor, Loki, the Warriors Three, Sif and Athena were racing from the hall to get their weapons and stop the enemy for if there were one enemy of Asgard that needed to be stopped immediately…it was the Frost Giants.

And now they had breached the walls.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter :) I can say that we'll really see Thor and Athena's relationship come together in this story.