"Frigga, did I make a mistake?"
Upon the royal throne, Odin held his wife's arm. Regret and guilt appeared on his imposing face as he thought of the adopted son who had made such a grave mistake, his heart filled with tangled emotions.
After defeating the Frost Giants, the King of Asgard had found Loki in Jotunheim while clearing the battlefield. The frail child had been abandoned by his own kind and left in the bitter cold of the icy wilderness.
Odin had chosen to raise the abandoned infant and conceal his origins. He had planned for Thor and Loki, once they came of age, to have one ascend Asgard's throne while the other became the leader of the Frost Giants. Perhaps then, the blood feud built up over a thousand years of slaughter could gradually be resolved, bringing peace.
But nothing had gone as he expected. Loki had discovered the truth and believed Odin had deceived him all along. The throne had always belonged to Thor. No matter how hard Loki tried, he could never surpass that crude, arrogant brother of his.
"Loki will come back. One day, he will understand that Asgard is his home," Frigga said softly.
She often missed that quiet child. Loki was unlike Thor—sensitive and proud, yearning for recognition and encouragement. Learning that Frost Giant blood ran through his veins had only trapped him in a torment of inferiority and rage.
"I hope so." Odin sighed. He knew his adopted son had committed an irreparable sin.
The Chitauri army was about to arrive. Heimdall, whose sight could span the Nine Realms, had lost track of them. Clearly, under Loki's guidance, they had somehow evaded Asgard's detection.
As the two spoke, a tremendous crash rang out. Then an impassioned horn sounded from the direction of