Chapter 1

Loki was sitting on his bed in his little cell, throwing a up in the air, catching it, and throwing it up again. He was bored. Frigga hadn't sent him new books in a week, and he was out of things to do in his jail. He let his mind wander off, remembering things. Midgard, especially, from the last time he visited to the first. Then he remembered a girl. She said her name was...El? It was an odd name, but he didn't question it at that time.

He remembered how he first met her, the dark brown hair and equally dark brown eyes looking up at him. He'd sensed a bit of mischief in her eyes, but it was hidden well behind an innocent smile. He remembered how her dull, empty eyes lit up as soon as she saw him. He remembered how the girl tried to feign innocence, and was actually really good at it unlike most young creatures, just not good enough to trick him. He was the god of lies and trickery, after all.

He remembered how she bought him tea. It was in an oddly shaped cup, with a stick that he could suck on to drink his beverage. She looked like she had been around five, maybe six, but was very, very clever. She knew how to use her facial muscles to her advantage, something most six year olds don't know how to. Now that he thought about it, most five year olds don't talk the way El did. Perhaps she was older? If so, she was definitely malnourished.

He also remembered how El's eyes widened at seeing her shoes turn into something different. White ones. Flats, strapless and simple. He didn't hate it, though - she finally had the shine in her eyes that she should have as a young child. It wasn't a terrible feeling to see her act like one. She tried too hard to be mature.

He remembered taking her home at night, her tiny body limp in his arms. She had fallen asleep after taking him to many different places. His low, soothing voice whispering stories of Asgard was probably too hard for El to resist after walking around for a few hours. Because of that, he had to cast a confusion spell on her worried parents, but he didn't find it too bothersome for some reason. He didn't mind it then, but now that he was thinking about it, why didn't he?

A maid interrupted his thought by bringing him food. He glared at her and laughed as he watched her knees tremble in fear. He leaned back and picked up a book.

"Hey, El, wait up! El~!" shouted Sally as she ran towards Elisha. "You're so mean, you never wait for me!" she whined, her eyes tearing up.

"God, Sally, stop whining like a kid. You do realize you're doing that in front of a kid who's two years younger than you, right?" El grumbled, but stopped walking to wait for Sally. Sally knew that behind her harsh words and seemingly careless attitude was a sweet girl who actually did care. Maybe that was why she acted like a child so much in front of El.

Elisha Greens, although still 14 years old, was in 10th grade. She was still the same bored girl, but she no longer wished for an interesting life. In fact, she stopped that since she was 8, after she dreamed an odd dream that she couldn't quite remember.

School was over, and El and Sally went to watch the new Thor movie. Or, more precisely, Sally dragged Elisha to go and watch the movie with her. El barely stayed awake during the movie.

El pretended to listen to her friend's endless chitter chatter as they walked out of the cinema. They'd just watched Thor 2, and although El didn't really get what's fun about the movie, Sally seemed to love it. She went on and on about the movie for what seemed like hours. As they reached the bus station, El smiled and waved goodbye to Sally as the older girl hopped onto a bus. El lived nearby, so she decided to walk home.

When Elisha was about half way home, she regretted not catching a cab or taking the metro. She was too close to home to do so now, but her heavy backpack was weighing her down. She had pretty much everything that she needed (or thought she would need in the future) in her backpack, from her class notes to a 10 meter rope. 'Having heavy shoulders are better than being in heavy trouble' was her life motto.

She looked into her phone and texted her mom that she'd be home soon. It was really getting late, and all the drunk people were starting to come out of bars, staggering along. She knew better than to walk in the middle of the street when there were drunk people, so she set her eyes to the ground, knowing that she wouldn't ever bump into anyone, and started walking faster. When she looked up again, it wasn't midnight anymore, though. It was bright.

At first, El thought she was standing in front of a car or something, and that the light was from the car, but as her eyes adjusted to the light, she realized that it wasn't a car. She was standing in broad daylight, in the middle of a busy street...that looked completely different from the street she was walking on just seconds ago.

She was having a lot of trouble understanding the situation at hand.

'Wow, I must've been really tired. Did I fall asleep inside the movies? Yeah, that must be it. I should wake up though, I can't have Sally see me sleeping. I can't believe I dreamed of going home. I must have really hated that movie.' El thought as she ran in circles, her eyes shut tightly. It was her fail proof way of waking up from a dream.

It didn't work though, and when she opened them again, she was still in her dream world, and this time people were looking at her as if she was a lunatic or something. She grunted and tried it again. And again. And again. And she was about to go for the fifth time when someone tapped her shoulders.

"Excuse me, do you need help? What's your name? We can take you to the hospital." said a brunette, smiling gently. Another girl stood next to her with a frown, carrying a huge load of groceries.

"Don't talk to me, dream people, unless you're going to help me wake up." El replied sharply, then did another circle run. When she stopped, the girls were still there.

"We're just trying to help. What's your name? My name's Jane, and this is Darcy." said the girl with the nice smile.

"How am I even dreaming this?" El muttered to herself as she pinched her cheeks. Nope, didn't hurt, and didn't wake up either.

"Jane, let's just go, she's fine." Darcy whined, tugging on Jane's shirt.

"Darcy, she needs our help." Jane said stubbornly, and tried again. "What's your name?"

Then it clicked inside El's head. Jane. Darcy. Brunettes. Thor 2. A wicked smile flashed on El's face for less than a second before it was replaced with a sweet one.

"Elsie Grand. My name's Elsie Grand." replied El. 'This dream could be way more fun that the actual movie. I guess I'll just keep sleeping until Sally wakes me up. I'll deal with her after I wake up.' she thought as she grinned even wider and looked up at the confused brunettes.

"So, Elsie, where do you live? I can take you home." Jane punched Darcy's rib, making her say the same thing.

"Right now I'm sort of homeless. Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine, I just had a bit of a panic attack. You're Jane Foster, right?" El asked, quickly coming up with a lie.

"How do you know my last name? And why were you having a panic attack?" Jane inquired, with a mixed expression of suspicion and worry.

"I… I was having a panic attack because I had no idea how to find you in this huge place. I know you because you're supposed to be my legal guardian until my Aunt shows up. I'm only 12, you see."

El decided to give a fake name and age. She knew that with her being so short and skinny, she could easily pass for 12.

Darcy was now scanning the small girl up and down with narrow eyes. "Explain what that means."

"My...my grandmother, she died a month ago. My parents died in a car accident when I was a baby, and I've lived with her ever since. I have an aunt, but I've never seen her. Granny died a month ago from old age, and in her will she made it clear that if my Aunt doesn't pick me up in three weeks, I'm to live with the Foster family. Aunt never showed up, and it's been two weeks already."

"What's your grandmother's name?" Jane asked, softening her face after hearing the twelve year old's sad story.

"Grace Grand. Her name is Grace Grand. She was friends with your great grandmother, I heard." El made up the whole thing. Now she just hoped that Jane didn't really know her great grandmother. Thankfully, Jane bought the lie.

"I'm so sorry, Elsie. It must've been hard for you. Yeah, we'll look after you from now on until your Auntie shows up, 'kay?" Jane said in a soothing voice, but Darcy butted in.

"Now wait a second, Jane, you actually believe this really crappy lie? Come on!" Darcy snapped, glaring at me.

"Look, kid, that doesn't explain why you know Jane's name, or how you know that she's a Foster. And what? Great grandmother? You need to lie better than that to trick me!"

It was all okay until Darcy decided to ruin the dream. El knew that Darcy had a point. She couldn't explain how she knew Jane. So, she decided to use her last resort: tears.

She quickly teared up, and soon, her eyes were like broken faucets. Jane quickly came closer and hugged the small girl, rubbing her back while glaring at Darcy. Even Darcy looked sorry now.

"I'm sorry, Elsie, I thought it was a lie. I mean it sounds like one. I'm really really sorry, Elsie." Darcy whispered, trying to get the girl to stop crying. They were still on the street, and everyone was staring at them now.

Slowly, Elisha's tears began to dry up, and she and Darcy quickly made up. They all headed over to Jane's lab, talking about mundane things like what they should eat for lunch and stuff. Soon they arrived at the lab, and Elsie excused herself to go sit on the couch. Her shoulders weren't hurting anymore, so she kept her backpack on, as she sat down and thought about things.

'So this is my dream. It must be, I'm not feeling any pain. But it feels so real! Anyway, something doesn't make sense. I remember finishing the movie and heading home. Was it all a part of my dream? Must be. Then how much of the movie did I watch before falling asleep? More like, how did I dream the end of the movie? I still remember how it ended! Maybe I should be an author, with my imagination!'

El was so focused in her thoughts that she didn't hear Jane and Darcy telling her to sit still until they came back. El's head snapped up at the sound of the door being slammed shut, and she realized she was going to miss the whole Aether event.

She quickly grabbed her backpack and rushed out the door. Jane and Darcy had just started their car, and were leaving. Luckily, a cab was passing right by, so El got on and asked to follow the car that Jane and Darcy was in.