Odin. The man I despised, had called for an audience with me. Emil had brought me to the throne room and squeezed my shoulder for good luck before opening the door for me. He wasn't allowed in, so he stayed at the door. It was only me and Odin in the room.

"Sammee," he greeted.

"Alfather," I acknowledged back and bowed my head slightly in respect, "may I ask what this is about?"

"You may," Odin told me. "Now that you are much healthier and stronger, I think it's time for you to serve your purpose on Asgard." He said and hit his staff on the marble floor twice. A door to my right opened and a guard came in, holding a strange box. I started to worry, but made myself stand tall.

"Of course, but I have a few conditions I would like to be met first." I told him. Odin raised an eyebrow at me and held a hand up to the guard. The guard froze before immediately turning around and leaving the room.

"And, what are these... conditions?" He questioned me.

"They are simple really. First, I would like for you to release your sons from imprisonment. Second, I would like to see them whenever I please. It seems that I'll be needing my support system around me to do whatever it is you have in mind for me. Without a proper support system, it might not go as smoothly as you think-"

"Is that a threat?" Odin asked harshly.

"No, Alfather, it is not. With the physical affect powering Asgard will take, if my mental state isn't strong, I can quickly deteriorate. Humans are a lot more fragile than Asgardians." I explained, knowing that, although it was true, I would never let myself get that bad. Not until I had saved Loki from Thanos, at least. But, I would do anything to get Thor and Loki out of that prison.

"Then, it is granted." Odin nodded in understanding. "I assume there's more?"

"Yes," I nodded. "I will need to be protected everyday by someone I trust. I would like to request the Valkyrie to be my personal guard."

"Don't you already have a personal guard?" He asked me, knowing I did.

"Yes, Alfather." I said. "But he cannot be with me all day everyday. He is only my guard when I leave the palace. I request the Valkyrie because I trust her to keep me save both in and outside of palace walls. I would still like to have Emil accompany us outside the palace for extra protection, though." I added.

"It is a reasonable request." Odin told me. "Granted, anything else?" He asked.

"No, your majesty." I responded, happy that I got what I wanted.

"Then, we will proceed." He said and hit his staff into the floor again. The same guard came in, carrying the same metal box, and stopped next to Odin. "I would like to put you through a test before we discuss anything further." He stated.

Odin opened the box and pulled out a glowing blue cube, the tesseract... My eyes went wide at seeing it again. It had been so long. Odin motioned for me to come closer and held out the cube to me. I slowly walked up to him and took the tesseract from his hand.

As soon as I touched it, power went through me. Power that belonged. I felt like I could feel the whole universe in the palm of my hands. Pleasurable heat spread throughout my veins and my eyes rolled back as I breathed in the power. After it had settled, I opened my eyes again. The guard was gone and it was just me and Odin again.

"Just as I suspected." Odin smiled. "Now, using the tesseract, I would like you to find the Valkyrie." He stated. I looked at him with furrowed brows. "She has been hidden somewhere in the forest. And, you should probably hurry. I'd say you only have until nightfall to find her." Odin said. My eyes went wide as anger filled my entire being.

"You'd put one of your own in life threatening danger just for a test?" I seethed, my veins lighting up purple, like when I had the Aether in my body.

"None of that, girl." Odin dismissed with a wave of his hand. "She is being protected as of now, but the guards have orders to leave just before nightfall. Once you find her, and bring her back, all of your conditions will be met and we will discuss the next step in the process." He told me. "Now, I would hurry if I was you. You only have six hours until nightfall and a lot of forest to look through." He said and stood from his seat to leave the throne room.

I stayed frozen in my anger for a good fifteen minutes. Once I felt like I could move without going to attack Odin, I finally started thinking of a plan. Odin had left the metal box that the tesseract was stored in, so I grabbed it and put the tesseract safely back inside before leaving the room. As soon as I opened the door, Emil stood from his position leaning against the wall.

"How'd it go?" He asked before seeing the pure rage and determination on my face. "Not good..." Emil answered his own question and sighed. "Where to next, Princess?"

"I need to find a few people before I leave." I told him and handed him the metal box. "Don't open it." I demanded. "And don't lose it. I'll need it later. Can you take me to the Warriors wing? I need to speak with Sif and the Warriors three." I explained.

"Right away, follow me." Emil nodded and started leading me down the halls to the Warriors wing. He didn't ask any more questions as we walked . He knew I didn't want to talk about it.

I followed close behind him, not even giving myself a chance to lose sight of him. Soon, we made it to the Warriors quarters and Emil showed me which doors belonged to the warriors. I knocked on Sif's door first, but there was no answer. Volstagg was next, but still no answer, the same with Hogun.

The last door I tried was Fandral's, expecting no answer, but I was wrong. The door opened and a shirtless Fandral stood in the doorframe. I raised an eyebrow at him and he smirked. Looking passed him, I saw a woman on his bed, covering herself with the sheets.

"Come to join?" Fandral asked me and I rolled my eyes.

"Get dressed, there's a situation." I told him seriously. Fandral's smile fell immediately and he nodded. "Do you know where the others are?" I asked him.

"Uhm, training, I think." He said. "I'll be ready in five minutes."

"Meet us at the training grounds, then." I told him and turned before he could answer.

I heard Fandral's door close quickly as Emil and I walked away. Emil didn't know where the Warriors three private training grounds were, so I led him this time. It took me a bit longer to find it since I never went there from the Warriors quarters, but I found it soon enough, soon enough that Fandral wasn't there yet. As soon as Sif saw me and Emil, she knew something was up.

"Sammee?" She asked and stepped away from the practice fight Hogun and Volstagg were having.

"We have a problem, and I need you guys." I explained to her. Sif frowned, but nodded and called over to the others. Hogun and Volstagg stopped their match and walked over to us, still laughing and pushing each other playfully.

"Sammee!" Volstagg cheered once he saw me and jogged over to us.

He picked me up in a hug that actually calmed me down. I hugged him back with a small smile. I was only allowed to train with Sif, so I practically never saw the other warriors. Once Volstagg put me down, Hogun stepped up to hug me. He smiled and kissed the side of my head while greeting me. When we stepped back, it was back to business.

"So, what's going on?" Sif asked me. My small smile dropped and I sighed loudly.

"We have to wait for Fandral to get here. He said he'd only be a few minutes." I told her.

"He's with that maid. He'll be longer than a few minutes." Volstagg laughed.

"Speak for yourself!" Fandral said as he pushed him and joined the circle. Now that Fandral had joined us, everyone looked at me.

"Odin is testing me." I explained. "He wants me ready for his plan."

"What plan?" Fandral asked. I paused for a second. I was ordered by Odin to not tell anyone, but I didn't care about him or his plan.

"If Odin finds out you know, or you tell anyone, he could kill you and lock me up. The little freedom I have now will be gone and you three will be dead, got it?" I questioned them.

They all nodded, even Emil, but I didn't want him anywhere near this, for Asa's sake. I turned and took the box from Emil before ordering him to stand and guard the entrance. He looked confused and hurt, so I added, "I trust you, Emil. Which is why I want you and Asa nowhere near this. Understand?" I asked. He finally understood and nodded. He wanted Asa safe, too. Once he was far enough away, I turned back to the warriors.

"Odin wants to use my life force as a power source for Asgard." I explained. The warriors expressions turned to shock.

"You're Midgardian," Sif stated, "does he want you dead?"

I shook my head and licked my lips before answering her.

"When I had the Aether, my life force got stronger instead of weaker like it was supposed to. Somehow Odin thinks that that means I can be used as a power source. I don't know." I sighed. "Now that I'm stronger, he thinks I'm ready, so he's given me a test."

"What kind of test?" Hogun questioned.

"He took Valkyrie and is keeping her in the forest." I told him.

"The forest? But-"

"I know," I cut Fandral off, "Odin said she's has protection right now, but the guards have orders to leave her there just before nightfall. If we don't find her..."

"She'll be dead." Sif nodded in understanding. "What's that?" She asked and gestured to the metal box in my hands. I looked down at it and undid the lock to open it. The shining blue glow of the tesseract came out of the box and I reached in to pull it out. Sif gasped. "How did you get that? It was in the kings vault."

"He gave it to me for the test." I told her.

"Alright, so we have about six hours to find the Valkyrie and we have the glowing cube, we've got this!" Fandral said and pat Volstagg and Hogun on the back. "Let's get our weapons." He told them and they turned to get ready, but Sif stayed behind with me.

"Don't worry, we'll find her." She assured me. "She's strong enough to survive if she has to."

"I know," I nodded. I wasn't sure if I believed it, or if I was trying to convince myself.

"Come, you need your weapons."