Nearly an hour later, I have managed to get my emotions under control. I am quite annoyed with myself for reacting the way I did. I have to be stronger than that. I can't just run off crying every time someone mentions what I've lost, I berate myself angrily as I change into a Nike tank top and leggings in preparation for my upcoming training session with Loki. What I've done is my own fault, and I have to learn to live with it without making a huge deal of it. I sit down on the bed and tie my tennis shoes on, then look at my watch. Ten minutes to go.

I sigh, wondering what I should do. Practice, maybe? I stand up, looking around for something I can use as a substitute knife. After searching for a minute, I discover a long nail file in the half bath and decide to use that. I go back into the bedroom and stand in the middle of the floor. Taking up a position Loki taught me yesterday, I attack an imaginary opponent, swinging my "knife" at his invisible throat. Then I turn, as though to face another opponent who had snuck up behind me, and stab him in the chest twice before slitting his throat. I dispatch a third imaginary warrior in the same way Loki did me a few times yesterday, using his momentum to throw him to the ground and slicing his throat open.

After multiple imaginary encounters fashioned after what Loki taught me, I decide to try to mimic Bucky's moves from The Winter Soldier when he was fighting Captain America on the roadway. But I quickly realize that I don't know enough about his style of knife fighting to do much with it, so I switch back to Loki's style. Thinking back to the movie Thor: Dark World, I imagine myself fighting the Dark Elves, and mimic Loki's moves from his fight in the movie. It's rather hard, since he was moving incredibly fast, but I manage to get a couple of the fight sequences down.

I'm so absorbed in what I'm doing that I don't hear the knock on my door. I continue my fight with a particularly vicious Dark Elf, blocking his imaginary attacks with my nail file knife. After a moment of trading blows with him, I jump forward, mimicking a move I saw Loki use in Dark World, and spin the imaginary Dark Elf around and slit his throat from behind. Then I turn around, my "knife" leading the way as I prepare to face yet another invisible opponent who is behind me. But my blade is stopped mid-swing by an opposing blade—a real one. My eyes widen upon seeing Loki standing there, his arm outstretched to block my slice. But I don't have time to say a single thing before he reaches for my other arm, spinning me around like I had just done to the imaginary Dark Elf. However, remembering his tactics from yesterday, I continue the spin, grasping his arm and using the leverage to pull him forward. As he stumbles forward, I plant my leg firmly in front of him, continuing to pull him forward and causing him to trip over my leg, which sends him to the ground. Without hesitation, I leap on top of him, pinning him to the floor with my nail file pointed at his throat. The entire encounter is over in less than two seconds, leaving both of us staring at each other in astonishment.

"Where did you learn to do that?"

"Why the heck did you attack me?!"

I quickly get off of him and stand up, dusting myself off and glaring at him, even though I am just as surprised as he is that my maneuver worked. I actually caught him off guard?!

Loki stands as well, eyeing me with a mixture of amazement and confusion on his face, his knife fading away in his hand. He looks down at my hand. "What is that?"

I look down and realize he's asking about my makeshift weapon. I blush slightly and turn, setting it on my nightstand behind me. "Nail file. I didn't have a knife to practice with." Then I look back at him, noticing he's changed into a much more comfortable and lightweight outfit, probably remembering the intense heat from yesterday. His green and brown long-sleeved shirt is covered by a deep green sleeveless jerkin, and his black pants are tucked into knee-high boots. It almost looks like something you might see Robin Hood wear, but it's obviously Asgardian attire, with intricate designs on the jerkin and a beautiful, though odd-looking, brown and gold belt at his waist. All the colors of his outfit are muted, which surprises me, since he usually seems to like brighter colors. I have to admit he looks very good in it, though.

"Why did you attack me?" I repeat, crossing my arms.

"I wanted to see how you would respond to a surprise attack," Loki answers, his usual mask of confident indifference now back in place. I frown.

"Well, it worked. I was very surprised." Suddenly my eyes widen, and I look at my watch, realizing why Loki had come to my room. "Oh my gosh! I'm fifteen minutes late!" I do a facepalm. "Lo-your highness- I'm so sorry! I didn't realize how much time had passed..."

"Obviously."

I look away, embarrassed. "It won't happen again. I'll just set an alarm or something next time."

"Set an alarm?"

I look back at him to see a confused expression on his face. "Oh, right. Um, it's just something that will help me remember the time. I can show you later."

Loki nods. "Let's go."

Loki's training centers on weapons and magic today, and I'm glad to be relieved of the physical training from yesterday. It was very intense, at least compared to what I'm used to. But quickly I find I have as little skill with weapons as I do anything else he's taught me. Except for using magic to turn invisible, of course.

"No, like this."

Loki throws a knife at the tree trunk, showing me yet again how to do it. I sigh, and pick my own knife up from the ground where it had landed after smacking hilt-first into the trunk a moment ago. We've been at this for at least fifteen minutes, and I am getting annoyed with myself. "How can you possibly be so good at this? Are your knives enchanted or something?"

Loki shakes his head, pulling his knife out of the bark. "This one is not."

I look at him, interest piqued. "Wait, you can actually enchant your knives to always hit the target?"

"Yes. But I want you to learn how to properly throw one before enchanting yours," he replies, knowing what my next question was going to be.

I groan. "Oh, come on. I obviously have no talent," I say, flicking my wrist and sending the knife flying at the tree again to prove my point. With a solid thunk, the knife buries itself in the bark. I stare at it in astonishment.

"You were saying?" he says with a smirk.

I glare at him. "Oh, be quiet." Still frowning, I jerk the knife out of the tree trunk and inspect it, watching him suspiciously. "Did you make it do that, just to prove me wrong?"

"No," he answers. I narrow my eyes at him. He looks innocent, but I don't know him well enough to tell if he is lying or not. I shake my head and position myself again, letting the knife fly at the tree.

Thunk.

"Ok, how is this possible?"

Loki chuckles. "Do you truly have so little faith in yourself?"

I look at him, an eyebrow raised. "I've never had a knife lesson in my life, and I'm standing next to a master, who also happens to be the god of mischief. Now why would I have faith in myself under those circumstances?"

"Because you'll never succeed if you don't," Loki replies, face more serious than a moment ago. I pause, realizing he's right.

"Point taken," I say. Then I pull my knife out of the tree and try again.

After over an hour of practicing, I've gotten to where I can throw fairly well. Usually the knife sinks solidly into the tree, but I'm still having trouble with my aim. Loki seems to have an infinite reserve of patience, which is encouraging, and also very surprising. Of all people to be a good, patient teacher, I would never in my wildest dreams have expected him to be one of them. So since he isn't upset with me, I try not to let my lack of skill annoy me.

After knife practice, Loki moves on to teaching me about magic. This is much easier for me, and within a few short hours I've figured out a couple of tricks that are easy to do, but very useful. My favorite one is the knife trick, though. With a mere flick of my wrist, I can summon a knife to my hand or make it disappear. I can't help but laugh out loud with excitement the first time I make a knife appear, and I glance at Loki to see him smiling as well. And not a condescending or teasing one like I'm used to, but a real smile. It warms my heart in a way I can't explain.

Loki also works with me on using my ability to turn invisible. It's even easier than the little tricks he taught me, and he stuns me by telling me that invisibility is usually very difficult to master. He says that even he cannot make himself invisible without casting an illusion of himself somewhere else. To my disappointment, though, he says I'm not ready to learn illusions. But even so, by the end of the day, I am feeling much more confident in my magical abilities.

That night, I fall asleep with a smile on my face for the first time since I stepped through the magic door in Uncle's garage.

Author's Note: Hello again my dear readers! This has been so fun, and I am really enjoying creating this story! Working with these characters and their world is so satisfying and even relaxing, and I really hope you are enjoying. Thank you so much for reading!

Signing off, AuthorsDream.