Loki's Bride

Chapter 2 - Not on Earth Anymore

Neeve:

The sound of a chiming clock tower in the distance woke me with a start. A chime that wasn't familiar to me at all. Not that I'd been in this new town very long, but I couldn't remember having heard this song before. I'd been sleeping soundly throughout this ordinary school night thinking nothing of it, that I'd be off to my first college classes by the morning, and yet, here I was, disoriented and confused. I wasn't in my bed, nor in my dorm room, hearing this eerie sound off in the distance.

Where am I? I wondered to myself. This wasn't like any place I'd seen before. Everything was dimly lit, only revealing some of the opulence to the room, so grand, with tall ceilings and gold filigree shining on every wall. The place was barely furnished with only the bed I laid on and a small table by its side. This wasn't my room, so where was I? Was I dreaming?

I looked down at my hands to see if I was still alive and they moved on command, nimbly and easily. Thank god. I was still alive. I hadn't lost my mobility. I pinched my arm to feel some pain, and I did, confirming this wasn't a dream. So why was I here? What was this place? None of it made sense.

I sat up, racking my brain of any sort of incident that might have happened to be brought here, but nothing came to mind. As I furrowed my brow, though, a sharp pain radiated from my forehead. But when I reached for it, a bandage blocked the area. Strange. When the heck did I hurt myself? I wondered.

Throwing the thin sheets off me to reveal myself dressed in a plain, long sleeved, white robe, I questioned how I even got in these clothes in the first place. I paused to take a moment to examine them. They seemed well made, with soft fabrics that hugged my small body in all the right places. But how did I manage to get into these? I didn't want to think too hard about who might have violated me to put them on. So I shook off the thought.

Scrambling out of bed shakily, I tried to find my bearings. The light didn't shine past a certain extent ahead of me and I couldn't seem to see a door anywhere.

"What is this place?" I said out loud, testing out the sound of my voice, trying to make sense of things... anything. Was I trapped? What was happening?

Suddenly, as if to answer my question, someone spoke out of the darkness, "You're in Asgard, dear."

Out of the shadows appeared an older woman, probably no older than my mother, holding a bowl of what seemed to be steaming hot water. Where did she come from?

"I see you've finally awoken," she said in a soft tone.

Perplexed at her sudden appearance, I asked who she was.

"I'm your healer," she replied matter-of-factly as she walked past me to set the dish down on the table.

"Healer?" I'd never heard of doctors refer to themselves as such.

As she stepped into the more concentrated light in the center of the room, I could see that she looked more haggard than initially thought. She had to have some years behind her. Although, not entirely worn with her long blond hair and her fair, translucent skin, she still seemed to exude an otherworldly aura about her. It was hard to describe exactly what, but I felt something was different about her altogether.

"Yes, you've been injured so you shouldn't be standing just yet," she said coldly as she grabbed my arm and lead me back to the bed. Unlike her demeanour, her touch felt strangely warm and comforting.

"Is this the hospital?"

"You could call it that. You Midgardians always find strange ways to name things."

"What did you call me?"

"Midgardian? Ah yes, I suppose you have another strange name for your realm. Earth, is it? We call it Midgard."

Midgard? What was this woman taking about? "I... I don't understand. Am I not on Earth?"

"No, my dear child, you are on Asgard."

Asgard? As in, the old mythological home of the Norse Gods?

I stood there staring at her for a moment while I tried to recall any bit of knowledge I had on the old Scandinavian lore. But most of what I knew was just that: a lore, a legend. So to be transported, somehow, to a place that didn't even exist seemed much too far fetched. This couldn't be right. I must've been dreaming.

"How on earth?" I mumbled

"It's true, you're in Odin's royal palace." the woman said as if reading my thoughts. "Heimdall found you lying nearly unconscious at the Bifröst station. If it hadn't been for Loki being there to help, I'm not sure you would have made it out alive."

Odin? Heimdall? Loki? This woman was naming off mythical Norse gods as if they were very much alive and well. I couldn't help but laugh. "Are you making a fool out of me?"

The woman paused looking stunned, as if my reaction insulted her. "I'd never dare. I'm sure you are no fool."

"Then you know that these characters and this place you're referring to, are all fictional, right? They don't exist. So where am I, really?"

"Oh child," she huffed. "That blow to the head must have struck you harder then I thought." She reached over to touch my bandage, but I quickly pushed her arm away.

"I'm not a child." I said firmly. "Besides, I can tell the difference between reality and a dream. And this," I waved my hand to point at the room around me, "This must be all a dream."

She hummed at me with a stern look, ignoring my protest, before telling me to get some more rest and that she'd be back later to wash me. I wanted to ask her more questions but the woman picked up her bowl and left in the same manner she came in, still unsure of if, or where, she disappeared.

I sat back on the bed, still trying to make sense of it all.

How could this actually be a real place? Asgard only existed in old Germanic beliefs, long eradicated by Christianity. That much I knew. Just like the old Greek and Roman mythologies as well. None of this was real.

There's no way I'm on Asgard, I kept trying to convince myself. It's not real! But try as I might, every time I'd purposefully close my eyes, hoping that, when I'd open them again, I'd awaken from this awful dream, nothing happened. I was still on this stupid bed, in this ridiculous golden room, hearing the clock chime in the distance at what, I assumed, felt like every hour from then on.

This can't be real. It just... can't be!