4 Early life on Asgard-1
Almost two decades had passed since the birth of Prince Vali Odinson, all the clamour in the realm had settled down and brought in a new rush of productivity among the citizens. Plenty of interesting things had happened since his birth and the gossip among the citizens never ceased to exist especially when it was associated with the royal family.
A young man and woman were walking down the street talking about recent events.
"I remember you telling me that your uncle worked with the palace guards; why won't you tell me about what you know about the handsome young prince?" asked the woman enquiringly
The young man was alarmed looked around to see if anyone heard her before speaking, "I told you that it was a secret, are you trying to get me jailed or worse, killed?"
"Oh, come on, it's not like I'm gonna tell anyone about it." said the woman with puppy eyes.
"I heard that the youngest prince Vali roughed up prince Loki so heavily, that the guards and even the Queen had to intervene. Apparently, Prince Loki was bedridden for a month with a look that questioned his reason for living." whispered the young man after looking around twice in case anyone was eavesdropping.
The young woman sucked in a cold breath of air before she shivered. "Let's get out of here, and you tell me more at your place tonight" she said knowingly as they held hands and walked away.
In a particular region of Asgard was the lower streets, crowded with people from all walks of life. It was pretty common for brawls to start randomly, with drunkards taking swings at each other. Most of the time petty thieves got off scot free, because the guards didn't bother maintaining a tight order over this chaotic region.
In these lower streets stood the Medina, which was akin to a pub and the standard of night life in the entire realm. Unlike the rest of the streets, the area around the pub wasn't very anarchic, probably attributed to the warriors and retired veterans who owned and frequented the place. It was said that even Thor Odinson, their eldest prince was a regular here.
In one corner of the pub lay a young man in a hood, probably in his late teenage years calmly observing the crowd while musing on the events of the last two decades. He was accompanied by two men who sat on either side of him quietly, with their eyes peeled for any signs of danger. Any experienced man in the place would understand that they were guards for the young man in the center.
The handsome young man had glossy silver hair that stopped at this neck, healthy honey coloured skin with a well-defined muscular jawline and dark blue starry eyes that resembled the universe itself. He was over 2-m in height, well-built like a tank without being overly bulky, and tense muscles that held tremendous explosive power. This was 18-year old Prince Vali Odinson.
A lot of things had happened since he was born, and he did a lot of things he never thought he would do. After spending time with his mother, he came to care for her and realised that he would anything to protect her and keep her safe. Not that she needed it, but still, it was quite the odd feeling, for someone like him who had never felt this way before even in his previous life.
He felt the potent love and affection she held for him whenever she gazed at him with kindness and so he figured he'd also protect her from that annoying rat bastard Loki.
Yeah, he had met Loki when he just a baby and he despised the feminine guy who tried playing tricks on him. Loki on the other hand, came to dislike him for stealing his mother from him. The guy was over 200 years old, the fuck was he on about.
When Vali was a 6-year old kid, Loki transformed himself into Frigga and approached him when he was half asleep with obvious nefarious intentions. Imagine waking up to a Loki who had shifty sleazy eyes, pretending to be his mother, caressing Vali's head without knowing that his illusions don't work in front of the eye of truth.
Vali lost it that day, his starry pupils went abyssal black and his magic rioted before he grew taller and stronger from 1m to 1.5m, with his clothes trying to keep up magically with his sudden growth. Rage filled his mind, his face flushed as he caught hold of Loki's legs who had just lost his illusion transformation in shock and that was it. The Asgardian floors were extra clean that day and several walls had to be rebuilt. The entire realm would've heard of it, if it wasn't for the Queen and the guards interfering. Odin disappeared from the realm 5 years after Vali's birth, so he wasn't there to save Loki.
Since that day, Loki vowed to master his magic and get back at Vali for the humiliation he suffered. He even cried when mother went to visit him privately in the recovery chambers and poured out his grievances regarding Vali. His mother being the kind woman she was, naturally agreed with Loki and chided Vali in front of the others the next day.
Well, there were positives and negatives from every event. For instance, the guards were extra respectful with a hint of fear towards Vali after the madness he unleashed in palace against Loki. They even had some self made assumptions that, Vali was the God of Strength. They weren't entirely wrong though, as he was born with two divinities, one major and a minor.
Vali also met Thor when he was kid, and they competed at the dining table regarding who ate the most only to lose to the infant god of strength. Thor was childish and brave at the same time which could be seen when he tried getting into a brawl with the 6 year old only to get banished from the palace by mother.
Vali let the childlike personality of his other half take the driving seat mostly when he was with his mother and let his soul fuse perfectly over the natural course of time, because he didn't want to force it and cause any complications that could delay it. Over the years he received an abundance of his mother's love and care, actually having a fruitful childhood.
He practiced using his eyes from the time he was baby, as that was the only process he could think of that could empty his magic container. That's what he called it for convenience sake, till he found the actual name. And yes, he had an intense starring contest every day, with the orange eyed black man on the other side of the realm. He was also the only person, Vali was never able to contend with. That man had his eyes open forever standing like a King's guard, never tiring while Vali was able to keep his eyes open for barely an hour when he was 12.
Vali also meditated as that seemed to slightly speed up the fusion process, and it wasn't like he could anything else as his mother was always onto him. She was always worried that he was growing up a little too fast, with the meditation and everything, so she tried to slow him down by babying him.
Loki hung out with Thor and his friends, and as Vali preferred solitude, his mother used this chance to become his friend. He was almost 15 years by the time he stopped his mother from monitoring him. Odin had been gone for a decade and when questioned, his mother replied that he was needed outside for maintaining the stability of the realm.
A year later, at the age of 16, He managed to get into warrior's training despite the stubborn refusal of his mother and for the first time he decided to brush her off. His soul was very close to perfect fusion and he sure it would happen in a year or two, and he took full control over himself so that he could get some training done before he'd have to start his education at the age of 20.
He quickly picked up the battle arts with his battle IQ, and the guards where no longer surprised by what he did. They wouldn't blink an eye even if he took over the realm at this point, as they were tired of him exceeding their expectations. Over the following the months he picked up different weapons and fought on par with the instructors and even several guards at once. He eventually settled on using twin-curved blades as he already had idea about the weapon he wanted to forge in the future. It was something that was close to him and been on his mind since his previous life.
He battled regularly when he reached a point where he bored, because they weren't much of a challenge as he already had to control his strength and the instructor, the only man with good technical skills had become too monotonous to fight with. His almost 2-meter muscular frame looked tall and imposing when paired with the guards for combat and they subconsciously always held back, so he stopped with this training as it wasn't doing any good.
