It was a beautiful world. Lush green grass was surrounded by a ring of huge trees with flowers breaking the monotony in small clumps of bright colors. A light breeze went through the meadow and I sighed in satisfaction. It had the most peaceful feeling and I closed my eyes and laid my head back, wanting to bask in the warm sun that radiated down.
"I'm glad to see you enjoy the scene I created. You seem to be thoroughly relaxed," a voice said, breaking my reverie.
I shot up like a hawk and looked to where the voice was coming from. A few feet in front of me was an older man sitting on a bench that wasn't there previously. He had a white beard and was more muscular than any bodybuilder I had ever seen, but it fit him somehow, not making him look gross in anyway. He reminded me of Papa a little bit, not because he looked anything like him, but he had a grandfatherly feeling to him.
"This isn't a normal dream, is it?" I asked the man. Everything was too detailed, too real. It was like I was in an actual meadow, though I clearly remembered falling asleep in my bed.
The man chuckled. "No, it isn't. You are clever, but I already knew that." He turned to face me so I could see his face for the first time. It was aged with many battles and untold tribulations. The most distinctive feature was a golden eye patch that covered his right eye.
"Who are you?" I felt like an idiot asking it afterwards, mostly because I realized he was going to tell me either way.
The old man gestured me over. "Come here and sit next to me, and I will explain." Seeing no choice but to go over there, I obviously wasn't running the show after all, I wearily made my way over and sat down at the far end of the bench.
"Such a cautious child. I understand, though there is no need for it," the man said with a smile.
"Would you mind explaining what's going on?" I asked impatiently. I was getting anxious being stuck here in this too-perfect place with a man I didn't know and absolutely no answers as to why I was here.
"Patience child, all will be explained. First I must ask you, what mythology do you know of?"
Caught off guard by the strange question, I automatically responded, "Greek, Roman, Egyptian, some Norse, a little bit of…"
"Stop there child. What of Norse mythology do you understand?" he cut me off. I glared at him for a moment; I didn't appreciate being interrupted, especially when he asked the question in the first place.
"Well, Thor is the god of Thunder, Sif the goddess of War, Loki the god of Mischief, um…" I said as I tried to remember what little I had researched on it and what I had seen in the movies that featured them. The man gestured me to say more. "Um… well Odin is the Allfather, kind of sees everything from Asgard. That's all I really remember."
The man smiled and nodded, then was silent for several moments, as if waiting for me. My eyes got wide as I started piecing together the puzzle. "No way," was all I could say.
This time he laughed heartily, obviously enjoying the shock on my face. "Oh yes, child. I am exactly who you think I am."
I immediately wiped the shock off my face and replaced it with disbelief. "I really am just dreaming. There is no possible way in the entire universe that I am speaking to Odin Allfather. Even if I was, why the hell would he be talking to me?"
Odin shook his head. "Please do not be stubborn Jodi, I would like this transition to go as smoothly as possible."
Fury boiled up inside me. I sprang up and faced him directly. "How the hell do you know my name! What transition? You keep dodging my questions. Allfather or not, I want an explanation or I will find a way to wake up and whatever the hell you want to talk about will have to wait!"
"You will not disrespect me in such a way!" Odin's voice boomed out over me as he stood up. He towered over me so much that I felt like I was cowering when I knew I was holding my ground and staring him straight in the eye. Despite standing tall, all my anger almost instantly died. "I am your father, you will pay me the respect that is owed! Especially now since I am returning you home."
Dead silence. The meadow around us had turned into a gray-ish landscape with dead grass and dying trees; the only reminder that this wasn't entirely real. We simply stared at each other for several moments, not knowing how to respond. After my mind finally caught up with the rest of me, I shut my jaw that was hanging wide open in shock.
"Father? You are not my father; my father is a professor at Caltech, not the ruler of Norse mythology! You are just a dream, nothing but my imagination…" I started.
"Stop!" Odin shouted again. He rubbed his eyes, rapidly going from terrifying god to tired man. "I had hoped you would be much more…cooperative, but it appears I greatly underestimated your stubbornness and fire. My best case scenario was that you would simply understand and I could return you to Asgard and explain everything there, though that is, as you Midgardians would say, 'blown out of the water.'" He sat down and I automatically sat down next to him. For some reason I felt bad for him, just sitting there looking like the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. Which it technically did, but that wasn't the point. There was an uncomfortable silence that grew until finally he spoke.
"Many centuries ago, I bore another child," he began. "A young girl, just a few years after Thor was born. If the way children aged in Asgard was correctly proportioned to human years, this child would only be two months younger than Thor. The girl did not awaken for many days after her birth. We had numerous healers try and discover the problem but in vain.
"Finally, many weeks later, her eyes opened and all she did was look at us. A name in Asgard is only given when the child's eyes open for the first time, for that's the short moment we can see into the soul and name them justly. I remember her eyes being a deep green, the same as yours, that already seemed to know so much, and I understood why she slept for so long. That was the day she disappeared, and despite efforts from across the Nine Realms, the child could not be found." He said the last part with obvious pain and tears in his eyes, and the guilt that was already stabbing me in the stomach dug in deeper.
"What was my name?" I asked, not even realizing I had said 'my' instead of 'her'.
He ignored me and continued on. "I did not want to give up hope on finding her, so every daybreak I had Heimdall, Gatekeeper to the Bifrost, search for any sign of her, or her soul." He must've noticed my questioning look, because the next thing he said was, "There have been times in the past where a soul is detached from the body or a god passes on and their soul is reborn into a new body instead of moving on to Valhalla. Each soul has a unique signature that Heimdall, thank the Nine Realms, can see." I nodded, remembering some research I had done on him as well.
"Every day was met with disappointment, and eventually I became distracted with raising Thor and Loki, handfuls I assure you. Heimdall continued to report every day, until eventually it just became another 'no sign' that I heard every day about other missing gods or enemies.
"That is, until a little over 18 years ago. Heimdall, quite literally, sprinted into the throne room. I don't think I've ever seen that man run so quickly in my life," he said with a little chuckle. "'I have found her' was all he said. I nearly fell into the Odinsleep right then and there. She was a young girl, born to parents who were only a few years older than she is now, in Midgard. The first thing I wanted to do was to bring you back home and raise you here, but Frigga stopped me, saying that it wasn't time yet. Frigga has always had the power of prophecy, so I listened to her and waited. I still only have the barest of knowledge as to why we had to wait."
"Why did you, as far as you know, have to wait?" I interrupted.
He took the interruption in stride this time. "The only thing that Frigga told me was that it had to do with your soul. I believe that you needed to age to the person you would be in Asgard had you not disappeared, for reasons I know not. Perhaps it's something completely different, I do not know. So I simply had people watch over you, to make sure you survived without interfering with your life. And you have been so strong throughout it all. You are ready now. It's time for you to return home."
My mind was trying to rapidly process this information while still keeping an eye on Odin so he didn't zap me away without any warning.
"That's who the people were, standing over my bed all these years. Asking questions. Asgardians coming to see the missing child, weren't they?" Odin only nodded solemnly. "You have the wrong girl, sorry. I'm not your missing daughter. I'm not a goddess. I'm the oldest of three kids who just moved out, that's all. I'm not a Norse god." I started pacing around the meadow, head in my hands, fire crackling everywhere I stepped. This was absolutely insanity, but it explained so much…
"I will show you that you are truly my child," Odin said, appearing right next to me in a second. Before I could protest, he put his hand on my shoulder and closed his eyes. His grip was gentle, but strong enough I couldn't run away.
I felt something begin to stir, something that had waited a long time to awaken. I looked down and saw my t-shirt be replaced with first a leather long-sleeved shirt, then on top of that chainmail, and finally a dark maroon breastplate that covered me from my shoulders to the bottom of my waist. What appeared to be fire was blazoned onto the center of my chest. Wonderful placement was the first thing that popped in my mind, and I giggled slightly at the silliness of it.
My loose jeans transformed into a matching maroon, skin-tight, leather trouser covered by black boots that went halfway up my leg. Everything fit perfectly, which for some reason didn't surprise me. Something plopped onto my forehead and, in vain, I tried to look up at it. Odin seemed to be truly smiling for the first time since I'd met him and conjured a mirror. I looked in it and saw that my hair had been pulled into a perfect ponytail (something I had never achieved nor would ever achieve on my own) and a black crescent moon rested in the middle of my forehead. Upon closer inspection I saw that a thin silver chain that went around my head was connected to the moon, nearly invisible.
All I could do was stare. This was so far from anything I had ever worn, but it felt as natural as my jeans and tennis shoes had, like it belonged on me. For one brief moment I panicked as I thought about my necklace. My hand first shot to my neck and I let out a sigh of relief when it was still there, not lost in the transformation.
Odin stared at the small blue necklace that still rested around my neck. "Your garments reflect who you are. Strange though, I have never seen jewelry be worn in the field of battle. But, of course, I did not expect your garments to naturally be armor either. Most women, except for Sif, slip into a dress befitting of their status. You are unique amongst the Asgardians though; I shouldn't expect anything else." My curiosity over the name that Odin grew, but it was not my primary concern at the moment.
My mouth was trying to form words with no sound behind them. "I...this…wow. That was…unexpected," I finally said.
"I imagine. I apologize, Jodi, but I have spent more time than I should have explaining this to you. I know you must have a thousand more questions to ask but I can't delay any longer or Heimdall will not be able to open the Bifrost to your location. It's time to go."
"How do you take someone to another planet from a dream? They have no body!" I yelled as he grabbed my arms. He was damn right I had a thousand more questions, and I sure as hell didn't want to be taken without all of them answered, even with my belief in him slightly increased with the armor. Maybe he was crazy and I'd wake up in my bed. You couldn't just take someone in a dream and take them in real life.
"Speaking through dreams was the only form of communication between planets. Heimdall is transporting your body. The solar alignment today gives us just enough strength to adjust the Bifrost for a short period of time to a different location. You will be in your body when we reach Asgard. No more questions, it is time!" He shouted the last part and panic seized me.
I struggled against him but it was pointless. A bright light surrounded us and I screamed for Alice, for Papa, for my dad, for anyone that could help me. I felt like I had just been shot out of a cannon and was flying through the air with absolutely no control.
It stopped just as quickly as it started. All I saw was darkness for several moments until I realized I had my eyes closed. I peeled them open and saw that I was on my knees. As I began to stand and look around, Odin's voice resounded from behind me, and I finally heard the name that Odin had given me. "Asgardians, it is my greatest joy to announce the arrival of the long-missing child of Asgard. My child and the goddess of Dreams and Fire, Princess Niorun."