The war against the Jotunn was difficult but Asgard's triumph was imminent, any could tell. The year had been long and arduous, with many lives lost, and many families broken, but it was for the good of Asgard, Odin reminded himself, watching the brutal fighting.

White snow now soaked red and pink glared up at him from his position in the capital's main temple. He now held the heart of the realm, Casket of Ancient Winters, in his gloved hands, thankful that the war would be over soon if not this day. Without the Casket, the Jotunn people would not be able to sustain their strength. The Casket gave life to its people and would lead to Jotunn weakness and soon, surrender. The cold of it bit through the fur gloves that he wore but his grip remained steady; this was not to be given to any other than him, not even for a moment, until it was safe in the weaponry vault in Asgard.

Odin looked out the large open window at the broken structures and the wreckage in the city with weary malaise, and yet satisfaction at their victorious efforts. He then turned and came down the staircase, steady so that the Casket remained stable before meeting his horse at the bottom. He wasted no time throwing a leg over it and mounting the great steed and riding off to find his head general. The sounds of metal crashing against ice and flesh rang in his ear and he remained unfaltering through the fighting as he approached his most trusted comrade.

"How long until we can return?" he asked and the man called over the ruckus,

"Your highness I don't think we'll be able to really stop until Laufey either surrenders or is killed," he said honestly. "These frost giants are ready to, and are dying in order to keep their palace safe, and what with all the lack of surrendering I think it would be best to just take over, Sir." Odin nodded understandingly, knowing that it had really come to this, not that it was entirely surprising. The frost giants and the Æsir have never gotten along at all and finally after thousands of years, the Jotunn had given the Æsir a reason to end the feuding. He gave his general a grip of thanks on his shoulder before redirecting his horse to the palace.

He rode hard and fast through what used to be the gates to their palace and stopped abruptly when he saw Laufey in front of the great palatial doors. He swung off his horse then put the Casket into one of the satchels attached to the saddle before looking at Laufey. No doubt he saw the item and his possession but he made no indication that he was focused on anything but Odin at this moment.

He, alone, had stood tall before him and wielded his spear of ice in one hand and kept his other at the ready, entirely prepared to die if the situation so called for it. Odin admired his adversary's steadfastness and patriotism as he tightened his grip on Gungnir. The silence between them in the midst of the clash and clang of battle was palpable when broken by Laufey,

"Allfather," he spoke as if in a quiet room and not across a clearance among the fighting. His face had faded since their last meeting, his eyes were duller, and his skin swallower. All the more advantage to his cause, Odin thought as the terrible, howling wind whipped his cloak about him and burned against whatever skin was exposed.

"Laufey," Odin called out to him. "End this now. Your resiliency fades and Asgard has arisen as the victors of this war. Why continue to fight if your people have no chance at survival? Is that not just, to let them rest?"

Laufey smiled viciously, clearly unconvinced of Odin's concern, and the smallest slit for his teeth to show shined through as he shook his head. "I will not surrender my people to you."

A moment of mutual understanding of what was to come was shared between them before the first strike was made.

Laufey quickly shot sharp knives made of ice through his fingertips which were immediately blocked by Odin's shield, after which Odin returned with a blast from Gungnir, narrowly blocked by Laufey's own shield of ice. A thin, barely visible dagger left Laufey's hand before Odin could see it and it imbedded itself in his left shoulder. Sharp disgustingly abundant pain spread throughout his body and he dropped Gungnir on the ground to pull out his sword. Laufey used this as the opportunity to throw another into his leg and Odin grit his teeth at a second wave of doubt and pain came. He used his uninjured arm to bring down his sword hard onto Laufey's shield of ice, breaking it into pieces and managing to cut deeply into Laufey's leg. Laufey snarled as he embedded a knife into Odin's thigh to repay the favor. Odin bellowed and through the pain, he managed to get a decent enough angle when Laufey was positioned over him to stab him in the back in a matter of seconds, to shove his own sword up through Laufey's chest.

Laufey, shocked that he no longer had the upper hand, looked down incredulously at the sword that indeed was protruding out of his chest and then looked to Odin. Odin just stared at his enemy staring at him with the most peculiar expression on his face. It looked like an odd combination of acceptance and fear. Then stepped back to lean against the door to the palace before really falling. He stayed leaning against it as he looked up at Odin, breathing haggardly with the most disgustingly thick and wet sounds coming out with the breath. Laufey's softening features focused entirely on Odin as he choked out,

"Allfather, do not do this." Odin knew exactly what he meant but he shook his head.

"I must."

Laufey glared up at him and if there was a glassy, watery look in his red eyes then Odin pretended not to notice. Laufey's look then softened permanently and Odin stepped aside of him and opened the door, leaving the fallen king of Jotunheim fallen.

Odin entered through to what used to be the palace's main hall. What might have been a shining icy room with a thinly veiled ceiling that let in the dim sunlight and a grand thrown with palatial fountains was now nothing but shards of broken ice pieces littering the ground and a chilling draft. His foot crunched as he stepped through it, appreciatively at first of his victory, but now determined to find what rumored wealth he could find. Flanked by men on either side, he ordered for not a closet unopened or a bed not overturned as he began to turn down one of the labyrinth of hallways that undoubtedly led to Jotunheim's deepest, most coveted treasures. Most men were sent into the bowels of the building as he simply walked about what was now to be his conquest. It might have been impressive at one time but now appeared to be entirely uninhabited. Perhaps Laufey had sent all his staff off to perform as warriors, Odin thought. It was slightly eerie as the sun shone through broken windows and half-destroyed walls, giving the place a somber and vanquished look. He made his way down a grand, far-off hallway not yet explored by his men and gave the few empty rooms a glance-over, slightly disappointed at few prospects.

He was about to turn and leave when he noticed there was a closed door at the far end left unsearched and he felt the exhausted trace of anticipation anticipation was left when he heard one of his guard's call for him from the way he came, that the treasury had been found and opened with monumental findings. Satisfied yet still curious about the unsearched room, he nodded his acknowledgement at him, yet stayed his path to the door and as he took the knob in his hand, the faintest sound could be heard inside. Perhaps some cowardly maid had thought to hide herself in here? He turned it and opened the door, greeted with nothing but the faintest breeze from a cracked window.

The room looked lived in entirely as the bed was unmade, clothes littered the floor, and jewelry and hairpieces strewn about the wide vanity opposite the bed. Odin's interest thoroughly piqued, he examined the room with the highest tracking and military skills, thinking that perhaps a sort of guest of the kingdom must have been residing in here. And where were they now? he thought as he opened drawers of the bureau, flipped through the few small books on the shelf, though entirely unreadable to him, and inspected the trinkets on the floor and on the counters of tables. He lifted a fur blanket that had been haphazardly thrown on top of a large wooden case, and tossed it onto the floor. A small sound scuffled against the wood and Odin smiled.

"You're very clever to have found a safe haven, even if for only a moment." He then slowly lifted the lid not to reveal a palace maid, but a small mass of black hair, which then decided to look up at him. He started at the very small, very young Jotun child with the markings of the late King Laufey and long black hair that reached halfway down it's back. It looked reasonably frightened with its startlingly red eyes and shaking with its arms wrapped around its legs.

Odin frowned at it, disconcerted by the fact that no word of a child of Laufey had been spoken to him; the little Jotun was quite young, judging by it's still roundness and tiny stature, but it was not so soon that a delayed announcement would be acceptable. Laufey had kept this child a secret for a reason, Odin thought immediately, still ever suspicious of his fallen enemy, and he was determined to find out why.

The petrified red eyes were wide on him and tearing slightly when Odin reached into his armor's pockets and pulled out some some gloves, cautious to not burn his hands when he reached to grip the child's arm. It was insistent to stay inside as it gripped the edge and tried to press its body to the bottom of the chest, clearly afraid to death. He released his grip on the child and stared around the room, thoughtful of how to go about this. Odin took a deep breath and looked back to the tiny thing before taking Gungnir up again to use its magic to put the child to sleep. He took one of the furs and laid it in the chest along with the now sleeping Jotun child and then quietly closed the lid, deciding that perhaps that would be the most secretive and cautious way of handling the situation.

He was shaken out of his reverie as the child's silent tears began to fall as it sniffed and wiped it's nose on it's arm. That might have disgusted him before his first born, but now it was simply routine. He handed the child the handkerchief he kept about his person and the child looked cautiously at it then him and back at it before deciding it would be safe to use.

It had been entirely frantic when it awoke in Odin's private chambers and not in the home that he had known but Odin had placed it on the bed with food on the bedside table and water. Surely it wasn't what the child usually ate but it would soon become accustomed to it, he was sure. It had taken a great deal of time to pick through the foods, smelling and taste-testing each one before biting it or setting it back down on the tray and Odin thought that perhaps it would go on forever before the child redirected its attention to him.

"What is your name?" He asked quietly, so as to not frighten the Jotun worse, although it wasn't particularly fruitful as it seemed startled that he had even made a sound, even further a sentence. The child remained quiet and then it had suddenly occurred to him that this child wouldn't understand him. He eventually settled for gesturing to himself and saying "Odin" a few times, which it seemed to understand and it reciprocated, saying "Loki" in a soft and small voice.

He was glad for his breakthrough, though he wasn't sure how he was going to go on with his plan. He examined the child's long dark hair. That would have to go. No young boy would wear his hair like that and neither would any self-respecting Æsir man, and if the plan were to work, then assimilation was crucial. The child's familial markings glared at him. The skin and the eyes would be simple for magic, the child's appearance would be easy, but the behavior would surely be a challenge. This child had no knowledge of the language, or where its family or home was, though it was young enough that perhaps its own language would be forgotten and the memories would fade into imagination.

"This could work," he sighed.

*comes back three years late with starbucks*