Loki: Winds of Winter

Chapter 52 - The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Dagmar looked around 177 Bleecker Street before she looked up at the older building. Her, Dr. Strange, and Wong were wearing street clothes so as to avoid attention. Her dark hair was up in loose pony tail, her hands were shoved into the pockets of her brown trench coat. "This is where we'll be mainly stationed. Your father and I had a talk before we left," Strange said as they approached the door and he opened it with magic.

"Oh? And you both made it out of that conversation alive how?" Dagmar asked as they entered the foyer of the house. Dr. Strange glanced at Wong. 

Loki and Dr. Strange were glaring at each other across a table. Wong was standing behind Strange and Sansa was standing behind Loki. Suddenly, they heard a hiss and Alfie landed on the table. His back arched and his tail flicked. Strange just stared at the cat, while Loki scowled. Sansa just raised her eyebrow and held her arm out. Alfheim jumped from the table, up her arm, to her shoulder.  "So, gentlemen. Dr. Strange, my husband and I agree to let you take our younger daughter under your tutelage. However, we expect to have access to her. We will speak to her whenever we want and come to visit whenever we can. I ask that her title as princess be respected. Her abilities are not to be abused. Know that too much usage will exhaust her and leave her vulnerable. Please don't push her to that point, or allow her to force herself. We're entrusting her to your care. Please do not abuse it," Sansa explained.

"Of course, your highness," Wong answered and bowed slightly to them. Loki and Dr. Strange just continued to glower at each other. 

"Stephen didn't do any of the talking, and neither did your father. The conference was held between myself and your mother," Wong answered the princess. Dagmar smiled a little as she started to walk up the stairs, her hands out and fingers moving. She was using her elemental sensory magic to feel the world around her. 

"There is not a lot of natural magic here. I'm wondering if you can teach me anything," Dagmar stated as she turned to face both mages.

"Excuse me?!" Strange asked in an affronted tone of voice. 

"The magic that you use is pulled from the energy around you, but hardly any of it comes from the four elements or their sub-elements. That is where my magic based. Both my parents are students of all kinds of magics and they were the ones who were teaching me. They would take me to places that were considered centers for each specific element. I went the Iron Islands, a small isle off the coast of Westeros. The waves crash on the cliffs and it rages all around the jagged rocks every day, all day. If you want to learn how to control water, that is the place to go. For air, I was sent to the Vale and their stronghold called the Eyrie. For fire, I went down to Dorne, the sandy region to the south. I went with my dragon, Rayna, and I learned to life in the flames. Finally, for earth, I went to Bear Island and meditated surrounded by their earthen structures and spirits. It is a process, and one I've been on since I was twelve," Dagmar explained. 

"That sounds like child abuse," Stephen commented. Dagmar chuckled a little ran her hand along the bannister. 

"Of course you would. You Midgardians spoil your children and try to put them in a protective bubble. Children will do stupid things. Children learn from mistakes and that's how I developed my powers. I had to fail before I could succeed. The first step to success is failure. My father said that. He certainly was not a genius right out of the gate. He was educated by my grandmother, Frigga, Goddess of Motherhood. He made mistakes and he literally burned himself. If you don't let children get hurt, they will never learn. If you keep them in a fake world, they won't know how to handle the real one. I think you have, as my sister would call it, an epidemic in your society today. It is called 'college students'."

"You condemn higher education and those who participate in it?" Strange asked, looking hard at her. Dagmar shook her head.

"I do not condemn higher education or those you seek to better themselves. I merely see a return to actual trade studies. Authentic craftsmanship and real occupations. None of this 'fanciful' trash," Dagmar answered. She walked into the hall of relics and gasped as she flitted between the glass cases and studied the artifacts therein. Strange and Wong followed behind her. 

"You say these things because you come from a medieval world; a very different time from ours," Stephen rejoined.

"Yes," Dagmar said, turning to face him. "And in my world, the concept of being a 'teenager' does not exist. You are one day a child and next an adult. There is no pretense of an area between. You are prepared for work and taught something useful."

"Working your fingers to the bone until the day you die?" Strange asked. The words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them, and Wong elbowed him in the side.

"Performing such duties as carpenters, smiths, horse masters, ship builders, sailors, merchants,and knights. Positions and tasks which are important to our society. They were once important to yours too," Dagmar reminded. Her hand went out and touched a glass that separated her from an open book with magical calligraphy. She smiled as she studied its inscriptions with rapt attention. "The art of usefulness I believe is lost in your world. Your kind have mastered the art of whining and wasting away. Begging is a talent you possess. I'm sure if my father had been invading for himself, he would have won and bettered your world."