Niorun? What the hell kind of name is Niorun? I asked myself when I heard Odin pronounce my full title. He was standing in front of a throne directly behind me with a barely concealed smile on his face. At least I know what room I'm in now. It was something to distract myself from the thousands of people staring at me, plus, who the hell named their kid Niorun? I could only ponder over this question for a few moments before I was pulled back to the Asgardians staring at me. As I scanned my eyes over them, I realized I'd seen most of them over the years as my visitors. Most were dressed very formally, some in what I assume counted as casual here, and some were in armor like I still was.

I had absolutely no idea how to respond to all these people staring at me. Was I supposed to give a speech? I was not good with speeches, especially ones on the spot. I tensed and thought I should probably say something. It had been at least a minute since anyone had last spoke and I could hear whispers circling around the gigantic room.

"Um…hi," I said with a pathetic smile and a small wave of my hand. That must have done something because they all were suddenly on one knee and bowing their heads to me. I stared with wide eyes and shook my hands. "No no no! You don't have to kneel it's okay," I started to say.

"Let them," a vaguely familiar voice whispered in my ear. "It is a sign of respect that they are required to give to a newly named ásynja." What the hell is anásynja?

"Well I don't need their respect, I need to go home. If this isn't an extremely vivid dream of course," I muttered back. I heard a low chuckle but no more from whoever was standing next to me. Whoever they were they had to be royalty at least because they weren't kneeling and were standing only a few feet in front of the throne. I looked over to see who was so important and froze as I saw a familiar pair of green eyes.

Well, this day couldn't possibly get any worse.

I stared at the man who had terrified my dreams two years ago. He wasn't more than two inches away and smiling down at me. He was only a few inches taller, my boots adding a few extra inches to my height, but he still seemed incredibly intimidating. It was offset by the fact that his smile was incredibly charming and it caught me off-guard. I didn't have any longer to examine him though, as Odin began to speak again.

"Rise Asgardians. I thank you for attending today. It is certainly one of the more momentous days in our history, and while I wish we could spend more time introducing you all to her, I'm afraid the princess needs her rest. Good night my friends." The crowd briefly clapped before exiting the throne room in organized lines that would have been any event planner's dream. "Niorun, I can only imagine that this has been an exhausting day for you. Loki, will you escort Princess Niorun to her chambers, as your brother seems to be distinctly missing from the ceremony."

"Of course Father. It would be my pleasure," the man next to me responded in a sickly sweet voice.

Shit. Of course Loki was the one visitor that had to scared the living daylights out of me, of course he had to be the only brother to show up, and of course he had to be the one to personally escort me to my room. God hated me, no, scratch that, I was a goddess apparently, so therefore I'd be on equal turf with God. Nope, some greater, omnipotent force hated me. Just my luck.

Loki grabbed my arm and gently tugged me down one of the corridors. I yanked my arm out of his grasp the second we were out of the throne room. He raised an eyebrow at me. "Did I offend you in some way?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No. But I can walk without having to be guided thank you very much." He continued to stare at me perplexed for a few moments before looking ahead again.

It was mostly silent after that as we made our way through the maze of hallways. There is no way I'm remembering how to get back I thought despondently. There were so many twists and turns that at times I was pretty sure that Loki was intentionally trying to confuse me.

"You will not have to remember how to get back to the throne room. Father will have a handmaiden for you at morning to help you through the castle," Loki said, as if responding to my thoughts, or the confused expression on my face.

"I don't want a handmaiden for God's sake, I want to wake up from this nightmare," I replied harshly.

Loki shook his head. "What makes you believe this is a dream? And what makes it a nightmare instead of a dream?"

I lifted up my fingers as I said, "One, I was asleep when Odin came to me. Two, he said it wasn't an ordinary dream, not that it wasn't a dream, and three, what sane person wants to be kidnapped by a Norse god only to have to face one of their worst nightmares?"

"I am one of your worst nightmares?" he asked, genuine surprise on his face.

"Yeah, you are. In case you don't remember, you visited me two years ago, basically said you would manipulate me in anyway you could and that I would be your greatest ally. Quite frankly, I'd rather not be the God of Mishief's greatest ally."

"So you could see me, interesting…" Loki mused.

"Apparently I'm the Goddess of Dreams, so I would think you wouldn't be surprised."

"Most people would be. I, however, am not." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Arrogant prick," I muttered under my breath. Loki stopped in front of a door so quickly that I nearly crashed into him.

"Here is your chambers sister, I hope you find them accommodating," he said in a tort voice.

"I'm not your sister, not in any way, shape, or form. So don't call me that," I chided him.

He looked as if he was debating whether or not to retaliate, but instead he just turned and walked away. Great, I just pissed off the Trickster, smart move Jodi, smart move. I begrudgingly walked into my room and had to stifle a gasp. It was huge, at least twice the size of my apartment, with minimal furniture that just made it seem larger. There was a huge canopy bed that could hold at least five people. A wardrobe sat across from it with beautiful vines engraved on the edges. It was probably more valuable than my whole life.

There was a vanity sitting against the far wall that would most likely continue to gather dust during my tenure. Other than that, the room was empty. There was a door ajar diagonal from the entrance that looked to be a bathroom. The room's motif seemed to match my armor. I was getting sick and tired of red and black really quickly. "How the hell do I get this off anyway?" I questioned to no one, staring down at my armor.

"You will it to," a voice from behind me said.

I yelped and jumped back, my hands already forming into fists out of instinct. A girl, about a foot shorter than me, with wide blue eyes and short blonde hair stared at me, much smaller than the people I had seen at the ceremony. A child. I put my hands down and relaxed.

"Oh, hi. Who are you?"

The girl refused to meet my eyes. "I apologize Princess; I did not mean to frighten you. I had heard of your arrival and could not wait to finally meet you. I am your handmaiden."

I walked up to her and put what would hopefully be interpreted as a friendly hand on her shoulder and said, "It's okay, though there isn't anything particularly exciting about me. And I don't need a handmaiden; a friend would be appreciated though. Now, what do you mean by 'willing' it to come off?"

She gave me a tiny smile and finally met my gaze. "A friend, not something I was anticipating, but I can try if you wish. My mother told me that if you think about your normal-wear, the natural garment should disappear. I do not know if it is true, as I'm not old enough to have those. I pray it works for you."

I smiled and backed away from her. It seemed like the appropriate thing to do. "Alright, let's give it a shot." I closed my eyes and focused on my normal clothes that I was wearing before Odin had transformed them. The weight on my body significantly decreased and I opened my eyes. It wasn't my jeans and t-shirt, instead being a light red tunic and loose trousers, but it was better than the armor. My hair came out of the ponytail and fell to just below my shoulders. The moon circlet still rested on my head, and no matter how hard I tried to pull it, it refused to come off. Deciding to appreciate the success I did have, I laughed and hugged the girl still standing at my door.

"Thank you so much!" The girl tensed as I was hugging her and I let go. "Sorry, I'm a bit of a hugger. By the way, what is your name?" I asked her.

"'Tis fine, I am not used to a hug though. My name is Astrid, Princess Niorun. I must be off to bed now, I should not have come in the first place but it was a pleasure to meet you," she said as she began to walk away.

"Good night Astrid. And please, call me Jodi!" I called after her.

"If you wish, my lady," she said before scurrying away.

I could already tell it was going to take a while to crack her of the habit of "my lady" and "Princess". Hopefully I didn't have to; I was still holding on to the lingering hope that maybe this was just a horribly vivid dream that was incredibly detailed and taking forever. Who was I kidding? I was stuck on a planet that was millions of light years away from my own, I didn't know anyone, my nightmare lived here, and all my belongings were stuck back at home.

The hopelessness of the situation crashed onto me. Tears blurred my vision and I could barely see the door well enough to close it. I stumbled over to my bed there and curled up, waiting for sleep to take me home.