Chapter 4 – Unexpected Visitors

Darcy didn't know what time it was when someone knocked on her door because her watch didn't seem to like Asgard much. It must have been morning because light shone through the window, although her watch claimed it was a little after two. If her watch was right, she suspected that the jet lag was going to catch up to her really fast.

"Come in," Darcy said, figuring her usual "door's open" would be a little too casual for an amazing palace like this. She had her luggage open on the bed and its contents, three changes of clothing, a lab coat, an extra pair of shoes, a little makeup, a cellphone, and a couple of books, spread across the bed from when Darcy rifled for the right clothes. She really wished she had something nicer to wear.

A stranger stood in the doorway, long blond hair contrasting with a simple dark dress. "I am Volla. I oversee the palace maidservants, and will aid you until more permanent arrangements are made," she said with a curtsey.

"So, opinion." She held up her little black dress and her sweater up in front of herself. The woman looked completely baffled by both outfits. "Never mind. So, what does a maidservant do?"

"Assist you in dressing." She was giving Darcy's clothing a skeptical look, probably trying to figure out how to help with them. "Make sure you have everything you need while you are a guest in the house of Odin."

"Cool. I've never had a maidservant to help me before. Although I can get dressed by myself. I do need directions to breakfast though. Or a map. Or something." There was a screen stretching across part of the room and she stepped behind it to dress. "So how did I warrant the boss's help?" she asked.

"I have… found myself in need of new tasks," she said sadly. "Since my Queen's passing."

"Oh. Right. I'm sorry."

"It is not your doing. She fought and faced her death with honor and waits for us all in Valhalla."

Darcy didn't know what to say to that so she just nodded. "She saved my friend's life," she said softly.

"You know the other mortal who visited?"

"Yeah. Jane's my friend, and kinda my boss too, technically."

"There are some people that it is a true honor to serve," Volla said with a sad smile. "The Lady Jane was the first mortal to visit Asgard for centuries."

"Centuries? Really? That's awesome. I guess that makes us the Armstrong and Aldren of realm travel." She stepped out from behind the screen and saw the blank look on the woman's face. "But I guess the guys who landed on Earth's, Midgard's, moon aren't a big deal here. That makes sense I guess. Interning with astrophysicists, they're kind of a big deal."

Volla smiled. "You are an explorer then?"

"Me? No. I just seized an opportunity. And before you ask, I have no idea why. I just thought someone should and no one else was going to."

"That sounds like an explorer to me," the woman said with a smile.

Loki was falling. No, falling was the wrong word for this sort of weightless drifting, with nothing but his own thoughts and the endless void. He tried to reach out, to find something, anything to break his slow fall.

"No Loki."

He woke with a start from another nightmare. He had apparently fallen asleep in the throne room the night before and stayed there through what was left of the night.

Looking down, he frowned when he saw a smear of blood on the arm of the throne. He had clawed at the arm of the chair until gold gave way to wood, and wood began to splinter, tearing his nails and bloodying the tips of his fingers.

Waving one of his bloodied hands, the Allfather illusion shimmered to life over Loki. It created a safe distance between the failed prince and the challenges he had to face, created the illusion of control. Sometimes it could almost trick the Trickster himself into believing it. He had somewhere to be soon and didn't have time to let a dream get to him.

Loki avoided feasts. He always had, even before the ill-fated trip to Jotunheim when everything started falling apart, because he had never seen the point of sitting around quaffing mead and telling tales of battle exploits, especially given that the Aesir had little respect for battle exploits that involved magic and trickery and even a modicum of intelligence and Loki had little respect for plans as unimaginative as bashing things with weapons until they were dead. So he would sit quietly as close to an exit as possible and leave as soon as it would go unnoticed.

Now he had new reasons to avoid them, because that many people having the chance to inspect his rendition of the Allfather increased the chance that someone would figure him out. For all of that, he only considered a few people actually risks for figuring out the truth. The general mindset of the Aesir, one of war over subtlety, made people unlikely to assume that anything was other than it appeared. Heimdall, with his sight, was a risk, and the Lady Sif, the warrior Sif, who saw the world as she made it, not as others said it was, they were the most likely to see the truth.

But then this mortal girl showed up and everyone would expect Loki, no, they would expect Odin, to play host. Or to get angry and send her back to Midgard, but he couldn't do that without reopening the Bifrost, which he couldn't do without risk of lots of really bad things happening to him. So playing host it was, at least until he could figure out a better solution that didn't force him to be in the public eye.

Of course, Loki knew that timing was in his favor. The Allfather had just lost Frigga, and Loki would like to think that his perceived loss of Loki would have also had an effect on the man, at least a little.

He felt guilty for using Frigga's death to his own advantage, and annoyed with himself for feeling guilty. Loki didn't do guilt, couldn't afford to with everything that had happened. And it wasn't like she was his real mother anyway. Now if he could just convince himself of that.

The aptly named great hall was already buzzing with life when Darcy arrived.

"Here you are Lady Darcy," Volla said.

Darcy laughed at being called Lady Darcy. Fandral waved her over to a seat near the front of the room. Odin was seated on a throne, albeit a much smaller version than the one in the throne room, at the head of the table. He was keeping to himself mostly.

"Aren't you eating?" Darcy asked Volla, seeing the older woman was not following her.

"In the Great Hall? The servants don't eat with the warriors." She said it like it was the most obvious thing.

"Oh. Thanks for helping me find the room them."

"It was my pleasure," Volla said, bowing as she took her leave. Darcy scrambled over to the empty seat Fandral indicated.

"This is amazing," Darcy said, waving at the roast boar on her plate. She spent most of her time over the past few years alternating between S.H.I.E.L.D. cafeterias and ramen noodles and cereal in her dorm and various labs. It was a little odd for breakfast but good food was not exactly a staple of her life so she was enjoying it for all it was worth. "I was kind of afraid you might eat lutefisk or something."

"Lutefisk?" Sif asked.

"Fish soaked in lye, I think," Darcy explained.

"People shouldn't treat food like that," Volstagg objected.

"You don't have to worry about that here," Odin assured her. "People who try to poison the Allfather are summarily executed."

Fandral dragged his thumb across his throat theatrically in a gesture surprisingly similar to earth's version.

"No really, Eric claims it's an actual food," Darcy persisted. "It's Scandinavian so I kind of thought you might eat it because of the whole Viking thing."

"Thankfully not. It sounds terrible," Fandral said. "I'm pretty sure I would cheerfully mistake it for poison and have anyone caught trying to feed it to me at least arrested" Volstagg, Sif, and Darcy laughed. Even Odin's lips twitched up in a very brief smile.

"Why did you come here?" Odin asked.

"I told you. On Earth, y'know, Midgard, I'm extraneous, one of many who do my job. I'm easily replaceable. Like, really, really easily. But here I'm the only one getting to see sights that only perhaps a few Midgardians have ever laid eyes on. I'm not one of many, I'm a pioneer."

"So in your quest for importance you decide to move to a realm where literally everyone is stronger than you?" he asked, sounding almost amused.

"What's that got to do with it? I don't measure my worth by how much I can carry," she said, unconcerned. For an instant a genuine smile flashed on the All-Father's face, then was gone again, replaced by a more generic sort of smile, like a mask that slipped for a moment.

"In that case you are in a very small minority here on Asgard," Odin said.

"Before coming here I spent most of my time with people who measured their worth in their science skill. I'm used to being odd intern out."

"If you don't mean to fight, and you don't mean to study, what do you plan on doing here?" Sif inquired.

"I'm guessing ambassador isn't really a common job here," Darcy said, trying to figure out how to explain the concept. "And I am here to study; I'm just studying culture instead of physics. I had hoped to be able to call S.H.I.E.L.D. with a heads up if any unfriendly aliens were heading their way, but the whole communications blackout isn't going to work with that. But mostly I want to put a face on Midgard, make things like the invasion of New York less likely to happen, ask for assistance if we need it."

"How do you want to do that?" Odin asked.

"I was kind of hoping for an office, nothing fancy, just a small room to set up in. I'll take notes and stuff, and talk to people. I'll study what I can and learn how things work here. And I'll talk to anyone who's curious, y'know, about Earth, about Midgard.

"Will that not encourage invasion? Your world is not well defended," Odin pointed out.

"I don't know the details of our defenses, or anything that would actually help would-be conquerors, but I do know that we've been invaded before and we won." She had enough tact not to mention Loki by name. "We've got the Avengers, we've got your son, the god of Thunder, and I'm hoping someday we'll have an official alliance with Asgard. We don't have the fancy magic of some places, and we don't have physical strength of others, but we're surprisingly scrappy when it comes right down to it."

"So I've gathered," Odin said.

"My king," Heimdall said, stepping up and bowing. "You directed me to bring it to your attention if I discovered any more shadows. There is one that needs immediate attention."

"Very well. Excuse me Lady Lewis," he said, standing from his seat. "Enjoy the remainder of the meal." He took a few steps and turned back. He flashed her a smile so brief it might not have been there at all. "And feel free to try the trout. I promise it contains no ingredients for making soap."

"That's a relief," she said with a grin.

Loki followed Heimdall down the hall at a brisk pace. He led the way past the more occupied parts of the city to some of the more damaged regions, where the workers wouldn't show up for perhaps another hour yet. There was something odd in the way the gatekeeper moved, something just off enough to make Loki nervous.

His mind raced through options. Was this where the mysterious thief was hiding? Had Heimdall discovered his trick and decided to take him somewhere secluded to confront him? No, that did not seem very much like Heimdall. There was something else wrong here.

Heimdall turned to face Loki, and the image shimmered and faded, the dark-skinned man fading to reveal a frost giant, taller than the Gatekeeper, with blue skin and blood red eyes, long dark hair pulled back and shaved in patterns along the sides, the curve of its form revealing it as a woman. She smiled, revealing sharp teeth.

"My king," the monster said with an oddly respectful nod

AN: All of my OCs, which there will be a reasonable number because I am developing two different worlds and societies, come directly from Norse mythology or from the comics. Volla is traditionally the handmaiden of Frigga.