The Ancient Sorceress ~Loki x Bucky AU~

Chapter 1

    Slowly, I opened my eyes as the sun started to rise through the morning clouds and over the tops of the skyscrapers. I always enjoyed the mornings, but yet I found more solace at night. I just enjoy the moments when the world seems to go to sleep or rest its eyes, and you can hear the humming of a few cars and the sounds of birds chirping and maybe even music from a nearby street performer. Living in a big city isn't always everyone's dream, but I have come to love it.

    I stretched out on my comfy, worn out bed, letting my muscles and bones come alive from a long weeks work. I didn't have much in my cozy little room, but I enjoyed having only what I needed. I had collected some small wood palettes from a lumber yard to use as a platform and even fashioned myself some wooden box shelves of sorts to hold up plants or books. A kind neighbor of mine found me an older, but still nice, mattress that I could use. She refused to let me sleep on the floor anymore that one day she helped me carry in my groceries when it was raining and saw I was just sleeping on worn out blankets. She was a sweet little old lady, maybe in her 60's, not too old but not too young. I enjoyed spending time with her on my days off because she reminded me of my grandmother (that I didn't have) in the two to three years I had been living here.

    I stopped stretching in bed and sat up, resting my hands on the window sill right next to my bed, peering out the window to look at the street below. One of the regular street performers started playing his guitar, trying to earn some money for the day. I turned my head to look at my alarm clock...6:37 am. Even though I am off today from work, I still couldn't manage to wake up later than 7:00 am. I threw my legs over the side of my bed and figured it was a good time to grab a quick shower and then work my way over to Alices' apartment to say hello. I liked to ask Alice (my cute little old lady neighbor) on my off days if she needed help running errands around the city or if she just wanted to get coffee with me at the bakery that I worked at. She could get lonely at times, even though she wouldn't admit it to me, but I could tell that not having her soulmate around anymore got to her sometimes. Alice's soulmate, Daniel Jones, died about 7 years ago in 2005 due to pneumonia. According to Alice, he got really sick during one bad winter when they didn't have the means to afford proper heat. She tried everything she could to get him help but the hospital could only do so much.

    I could tell once she met me, she seemed to liven up a bit, as if taking care of me sometimes got her mind off of missing him. I knew enough about soulmates to keep up with the general knowledge of the world. I knew that we were all destined to be with someone and we would have some sort of representation of that person appear on our body somewhere as a tattoo or soulmark. Alice had shown me her tattoo, even though slightly faded now that her soulmate was gone, it was the shape of a tree with tiny flowers within the foliage. She had told me that Daniel was a big family man but also was a doctor before he retired, so his tattoo was almost like the tree of life.

    I finished washing off the tiredness and aches of my body, and stepped out of the hot steamy shower to grab my towel. Even when the water was off, the steam filled up the space of my bathroom and floated into the kitchen area. I wrapped one towel around my body and took my other towel to start drying my hair. I walked over to my small closet to pick out an outfit for the day. I knew today was going to be chilly, but it shouldn't be snowing or so cold I needed my coat. I was happy that for the next few days I wouldn't need to bother with heat and extra bundles, even though it is the middle of January. I settled on my favorite type of outfit...