A Whole Bunch of Loki's

To Be Granted One More Chance - Part Two

I was unceremoniously jolted awake when something heavy collided with my chest and stomach, winding me in the process.

With a grumbled curse, I opened my eyes to find myself face to face with the fluffiest white canine I had seen in existence, its tongue lolled out to one side as it stood practically nose to nose with me and the overstuffed duster it called tail wagged behind it.

Flinching away from the beast, I turned my head away to avoid the skin eroding breath and gently push its head away.

"How did you get in here?" I grumbled, sitting up in my bed.

Which wasn't my bed.

In fact, the entire room wasn't mine.

It was small, a shabby brown colour and compacted with barely anything to it.

The roof looked thatched, the carpet looked rough and there was nothing else in the room beyond the bed and a trunk that sat in the corner, which I came to learn contained varying bits of clothing.

Throwing aside the extremely thin blanket and jumping up, I rushed towards the open door across the room that led to the bathroom but found no mirror, only a makeshift lavatory and a large wooden bucket of water.

That would have to suffice.

Grabbing onto the sides of the bucket, I leaned over to inspect for any signs of potential harm or bruising from a possible kidnapping that I hadn't awoken throughout and instead found myself staring in awe at myself.

The younger me I once knew.

With full black hair which was messier and more knotted than I would typically allow it to get, clear skin that looked pale rather than old and grey and bright eyes without even a hint of pale milk due to gradual loss of eyesight.

I would estimate myself to be in my mid-300's, a time that I would consider to be a prime of mine.

Looking down, I stared at my hands and then at the green cotton shirt and black three-quarter lengths that I was wearing.

Everything was me, but why was I in a shack?

Stepping out of the bathroom, I check around the rest of the home, not that there was much to it at all.

Beyond the bathroom there was the bedroom, a small lounging area with a pitiful excuse of a bookcase and a kitchen that had seen better days with barely any food.

That was all.

Behind me there came a knock at the broken wooden door that caused my apparent companion to go insane and run over with loud barks of greeting.

A laugh and soft hello sounded as the door opened I turned in time to see a young woman around my new age stepping into view, her hair pinned up, her face smeared with what looked like dirt which also sullied the rolled up sleeves of her baggy white shirt and brown shorts, the black boots she wore were also caked in mud.

Wonderful, I hadn't even had time to process everything and I already had a guest.

"There are you," she laughed, "I know you must have been tired after helping me yesterday but that's no reason to be lazy and sleep in for so long."

"I'm sorry?" I frowned in confusion, shaking my head.

"Yesterday?" She asked slowly, "you helped me gather up my fully-grown pumpkins for the fall festival? I know it was a lot of work but surely you weren't so tired that you've suffered memory loss."

"I feel you may have me mistaken with someone else."

Her eyebrow rose and she laughed again, nodding slowly.

"Oh yeah, sorry, guess I stumbled into Prince Baldur's quarters by mistake, do let me leave you alone."

"Prince Baldur?"

"Yes, Prince Thor's brother?"

"What? What of Prince Loki?" I could feel my head beginning to hurt from all this new information being thrown at me.

The look she gave me was one of amusement as she rolled her eyes.

"Okay, I know you have a delusion to grandeur but you are no prince."

She gently shoved my shoulder then stepped back.

"I'll give you a minute to get changed, then you're going to help me hollow out and seed these pumpkins like you promised you would."

Tapping her leg, she opened the front door and stepped outside, the animal following behind her.

I stared towards the door as it closed then looked around, running a hand through my matted hair and trying to make sense of what was happening.

How had I suddenly wound up in such a place?

I recalled being sad the night before, wishing for something different, for youth and spryness once again as I fell asleep in my empty room but this wasn't what I had meant.

Granted, I received the youth I had asked for, but in the process I had shifted into a world where I had also lost my title and apparently lived in poverty on some farmland working with a woman I had never encountered in my life.

My magic wasn't nearly as strong as it had to have been to manage such a large reality shift.

Staring out the grubby window, I watch as she lifts two full buckets and makes her way towards what I can only guess is her own home and frowned in thought.

If my entire life had altered, what else could have?

Lifting my hands, I stared down at them in the hopes that at least something beyond my body would prove to be familiar.

A spark of relief overtook me and I grinned as a reassuring mist of emerald green engulfed my hands, warming the skin of my palm.

That was new, but at least I still had my magic.

I would use that night to test just what abilities I had and what I had lost, though I had a growing suspicion that my Jotun roots had been removed and I was now a pure-blooded Asgardian.

"However," I murmured to myself as I took another look out of the window, "I suppose I have a promise to uphold for the time being."