Okay so this is a prequel to my story Hardest of Hearts, but for those who HAVE NOT read Hardest of Hearts, you do not need to read that first to understand this. But it would mean a lot to me if you read it after.

And for those who HAVE read it, you'll notice some references to Hardest of Hearts but there won't be many and the story will still be clear, and I also want to thank you for reading this one as well.

Disclaimer: All characters involving Thor belong to Marvel, I only own the OC's present in this story.

The story title is based off the song 'Addicted to Love' by Florence and the Machine, whom I do not own.

"Now girls, remember to be on your best behaviour. We don't want the royal family to think low of us."

"Yes, mother." The two sisters said simultaneously.

Their mother, Astrid Garnockdottir, wife of Cyrus, was preparing her daughters for their first visit to the palace, where the King of Asgard, Odin, and his family had invited them.

The older black-haired women eyed her daughters with her brown eyes, and pushed her one streak of grey hair away from her face as inspected them from head to toe for any imperfection. Her daughters were her pride and joy, as they were her only children, and she loved them both dearly, but she was a perfectionist, and anything imperfect had to be fixed or the rest of her day would be off balance.

Viveca, the eldest, did not share her mother's looks, but instead shared her father's. Dark brown hair, pale skin, but had her mother's brown eyes, as opposed her father's grey. Viveca was a proud, smart, and beautiful young woman, who held herself with great pride and elegance. But she was not above creating petty scandals and gossip, and she was a stubborn, high-tempered, dramatic girl, who loved to complain and who shared her mother's desire for perfection, often considering others below her if she didn't deem them perfect, even though she was considered one of the lowest by the rest of Asgard.

And then there was Luciana, the youngest. Unlike her sister, she shared her mother's looks, black hair, pale skin, but had her father's grey eyes. Luciana was not unlike Viveca, but she wasn't exactly the same. She held herself with elegance as well, but with a much lower amount of pride. She, like her sister, was quite smart and beautiful, but she didn't get involved with gossip and scandals, and wasn't at all dramatic. And although she was a stubborn perfectionist as well, she didn't place herself above others, for she knew the bitter taste of discrimination.

The two sisters were like day and night, the sun and the moon, black and white. They were opposites, yet in an odd way the same. And they liked it that way.

"I don't even see why we have to go," Viveca said, getting irritated as her mother straightened her purple dress. "It's not like it's going to change anything."

"Actually," Astrid said, looking her eldest over. "It may change things quite a bit. If we make a good impression on the King, he may deem us more trustworthy and the rest of Asgard will follow."

You see, Astrid, her husband, and their daughters, all practiced sorcery. They knew powerful enchantments and curses that could overthrow even the most powerful of kingdoms, a fact that the rest of Asgard found unsettling. The rest of Asgard found it so unsettling, that many, many centuries ago, during the war between Asgard and Jotunheim, they forced all those who practiced witchcraft, wizardry, and sorcery, out into the deep woods of Asgard, fearing that during the war the magicians could rise up against Asgard.

Many of the magicians did in fact leave, most of them away from Asgard and into other realms. But some families, like Astrid's, chose to remain deep in the woods and far from the city. Thought the magicians had now been allowed to return to Asgard, Astrid and her family were the only ones who remained in the woods, and practiced magic freely, unlike those who had returned to Asgard, who chose to stop the practice, though occasionally young men and women who were brave enough to venture into the woods showed up at Astrid's home, asking to be an apprentice to Cyrus.

Cyrus Darrochson was Astrid's husband, and a powerful sorcerer, who often took in apprentices, who were usually the children of former sorcerers. He was a great and wise man who loved his family very much, unfortunately he was also quite set in his ways and refused to give up the practice of magic, instead stubbornly confining him and his family deeper into the woods, where they were almost never found.

Viveca sighed irritated. "What say you, Luciana?" She asked her younger sister.

"Well, I agree with mother," The younger one said. "If things go well then maybe we will no longer be discriminated by the rest of Asgard."

"Very good, Luciana," Astrid say as she pushed her daughter's black hair away from her face. "At least someone isn't as stubborn as someone else." She said narrowing her eyes as Viveca.

"Well it's not that I don't wish to go," Viveca defended. "It's just that the city is so far away, and the palace even farther, and I hate riding, mother, you know that! I'll be sore by the time we reach the palace, I'll barely be able to present myself in a dignified manner!"

"Well, dear," A man's voice began. A tall, older man with dark brown greying hair walked into the room where the three ladies stood. "You'll have to at least make an effort. I'll admit, I'm not overly fond of visiting the palace either. But we have too, for the good of our family."

Viveca grumbled and crossed her arms as she looked down at her feet. Luciana looked at the man she recognized as her father, and smiled.

"Shouldn't we be off?" She asked. "We do want to get there by nightfall, don't we?"

"Of course, we do!" Viveca said for her father. "I don't fancy being eaten by a troll."

Astrid chuckled at her eldest daughter and took her husband's arm. "Well, then we best be going, the horses are already outside along with our things."

Luciana and Viveca followed their parents out of their stone castle-like house, Viveca complaining about the riding distance as she got onto her brown horse. Luciana ignored her sister as she climbed on her white mare, lost in thought.

Luciana had never left the forest, anything that the family needed her father conjured up, had to be found in the forest, or her mother grew in her garden. So it was easy to imagine the young woman's excitement about leaving the seemingly endless array of trees and dirt, and into the city her mother had told her stories about.

She was abruptly brought out of her thoughts by her horse suddenly racing forward and down the long dirt path.

"Calypso! Calypso, stop!" Luciana screamed as her horse bounded down the road. But the horse didn't listen as she continued to race down the road.

Luciana heard her father's laughter and the sound of another set of running hooves. "You need to learn to control your horse, dear!" He shouted as his black horse caught up to hers.

"She's never listened to anyone, what makes you think she'll start now?" Luciana replied as her mare only began to run faster, making the black steed speed up.

Astrid laughed as the two horses bounded down the road, and she kicked her caramel mare to go faster. "Come on, now. Don't want to lose them." She said to a frowning Viveca before speeding off.

Viveca groaned as she watched her mother speed up. "Great."

"Will you make your bloody horse slow down, Luciana? I can't keep up!" Viveca yelled at her sister.

"She won't listen!" Luciana called back as Calypso continued to race down the road.

Cyrus and Astrid chuckled at their daughters, who were now racing in front of them. "We'll be in Asgard soon." Astrid said to her husband as she slowed her horse down to a steady trot to match Cyrus' pace.

"I know," Cyrus said, turning his head to look at his wife.

"I do hope he thinks more highly of us after this visit, perhaps we can get the girls proper husbands." Astrid said.

"And my apprentices are not proper?" He asked, raising an eyebrow teasingly.

"Not that they aren't 'proper' to say, but they are-"

"I know," He cut her off. "Foolish, arrogant, and they lack intelligence."

"That's not what I think of them," She said, looking at her husband in shock.

"Yes, well I do," He said, chuckling. "You're right, I do hope they marry men who have some decency, or can at least tell the difference between left and right!"

Astrid laughed at her husband. "Yes, you did spend quite some time in the forest looking for them."

"And they didn't even fetch what I asked for, they picked toadstools, not mushrooms, there is a difference!"

Astrid laughed again before suddenly becoming serious. "Do you think it was wise to leave them in charge of the house?" She asked worriedly.

"Not to worry, I've locked everything up and taken the most dangerous things along with us, and we'll only be gone for two weeks."

"That's an awful long time, dear." Astrid said.

"Don't worry, I'll go back by myself in three days to see the damage." He assured his wife.

Suddenly the two heard a scream and looked over to their daughters, before chuckling again.

"Calypso! Don't do that!" Luciana yelled at her horse, who had bucked her off.

"Serves you right for not training that thing properly!" Viveca said looking down at her younger sister.

"Oh hush up, Viveca!" Luciana said, brushing herself off before placing herself back on her mare. "It's not like you haven't done things properly!"

"Actually, I've done everything properly, if you haven't noticed Rosalind is perfectly trained!" Viveca said gesturing to her mare.

"Yes, but you're not! Or do I have to remind you about the little teleportation accident?" Luciana teased.

Viveca frowned and looked back towards the road ahead of her.

"Oh we're here!" She said, seeing the outline of the city.

Calypso seemed to understand Viveca's words and sped up once more, racing towards the city.

"Calypso!" Luciana screamed.

"Here we go again!" Viveca exclaimed, kicking Rosalind to speed up, and Cyrus and Astrid laughed and did the same. The three horses racing to catch up with the speeding white mare that ran towards the city.

After riding after her through the city at top speed, they finally caught up with the white mare at the entrance of the palace, and found Luciana staring up at it in awe and Calypso dead still, equally stunned at the sight before her.

"Here it is girls," Cyrus said to his daughters. "The palace of Asgard."

"It's beautiful..." Luciana breathed as she got off her horse and led the mare by the reins towards the entrance.

"It is, isn't it?" Astrid said getting off her mare and leading it to follow Luciana.

"How long will we be staying again?" Viveca asked as she caught up to her mother and sister.

"Two weeks," Cyrus said. "We'll be here for two weeks, and I expect the both of you to behave."

The sisters stayed silent as they walked through the courtyard, admiring the nearby garden.

"Excuse me!" A voice called, and the family turned around to see a guard walking towards them.

"I suppose you are Lord Cyrus Darrochson?" The guard asked as he stopped in front of them.

"I am," Cyrus replied.

"Good, the King is waiting for you in the throne room, a servant will attend to your horses. Now if you will, follow me." He said before turning around and walking.

"What a nice welcome," Viveca said sarcastically. "I feel one hundred percent welcome."

"Remember, people don't think highly of us, this is our chance to prove them wrong." Astrid reminded her daughter as she handed the reins of her horse to a servant before walking after the guard with Cyrus.

"Well that will be quite easy, don't you agree, Luciana?" Viveca sarcastically said again, handing her reins to the servant.

Luciana rolled her eyes and followed after her mother and father, with Viveca close behind.

"We won't ever be truly accepted, you know. There will always be people who deem us untrustworthy. Just because if the King grows to trust us doesn't mean the rest of Asgard will." Viveca whispered to her sister.

Luciana stayed silent, but knew her sister was right.

There will never be a truly warm welcome.

Okay so chapter one is done!

Please review!