"W-what?!"

I gape at Eira in frozen astonishment. She and Loki were betrothed? My mind begins to run wild as confusion and fear take hold. How is that possible? Have I ruined the timeline? No, they must have been betrothed before I came here if what she says is true. But...how? When? I know for sure that she wasn't in the MCU timeline!

Eira's glare doesn't falter, though I can see the smirk in her eyes. It almost makes me suspect that she did that on purpose, just to freak me out. "You heard me, Victoria," she says, standing up from where she was sitting on my bed and walking towards me with her hand out. "Give it to me."

I frown. "I-I...no, there's no need for that," I say, stuttering as I recover from my initial shock. I have no idea why she's being so demanding, but I know Loki wouldn't want anyone messing with his knife. Or would he? She was his betrothed, after all. But I decide against giving it to her. Despite the fact that she was to marry him, I still don't think that's a wise idea. And I don't want anyone-especially Loki-to find out that I can summon his knives still. This was a stupid idea... "I'll just send it back to where it came from. See?" I flick my wrist, and the knife disappears once more. "I'm sorry, Eira. I didn't mean to offend you; it was just the first object that came to mind, since he trained me with it. I won't do it again." I surprise the girls-and even myself- with this apology, but I don't want to make enemies here.

Eira stares at me for a moment, a mixture of shock and remnant anger in her eyes. Then it's gone, replaced with a mask of cold indifference. "Fine." She returns to her previous position on my bed, and an awkward silence falls over the room. I quickly try to fill it.

"Uh, well, where was I? Oh, right, he trained me. Um, after that, he began to put his plan in motion for taking over Midgard, and once my part in it was accomplished, I was sent back to his hideou-base of operations. From there, I escaped using the very magic Loki taught me-" I give a small grin. "-and then I fought on the Avengers' side in the battle for Midgard."

Leyja looks at me with interest. "Who are the Avengers?"

I smile. "They are Midgard's most powerful warriors, and they led the battle against Loki and his army."

"How did they defeat him?" Zora asks, her own interest piqued.

"Iron Man sent a nuclear bomb into the portal created by the Tesseract, and destroyed the Chitauri mothership, which in turn killed all of the Chitauri."

"Iron Man?"

"The prince found the Tesseract?"

"He created a portal?"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on! I can't answer so many questions at once!" I say, holding up my hands and grinning. "Yes, the Tesseract has been on Earth for many years, and Loki stole it from those in possession of it. He then used it to create a portal large enough to let the Chitauri into Midgard. And Iron Man is actually a businessman named Tony Stark. People call him Iron Man because of the suit of armor he wears when fighting."

"Who was in possession of the Tesseract?" Leyja asks.

"SHIELD, an American Government organization." I realize I should explain further. "Uh, America is one of the countries of Midgard. It's also where I grew up."

"Oh, can you tell us about Midgard?" Liv asks excitedly. Andromeda looks just as interested.

"Yes, I'd love to hear about Midgard!"

I smile, but Leyja answers first. "Perhaps another time. We need to hurry so that we don't get caught here."

"Oh, right." I nod. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have dragged that out so long."

Liv shoots a glare at Eira. "It's not your fault that Eira can't keep her mouth silenced."

A look of fury crosses Eira's face, but I immediately step in. "No, no, that's not true. It was my fault-I shouldn't have summoned Loki's knife." I look between the pair of women, silently asking them not to fight. Liv sighs, and Eira glares at me.

"Why do you keep referring to him by his first name? Have you no care for proper respect?"

I blink in surprise, pushing aside my annoyance with her. She has a valid point. "I'm sorry, I keep forgetting that. On Midgard, I always referred to him as 'Loki', until he kidnapped me and just about killed me." I frown remembering that, and I subconsciously rub my neck where his hand had wrapped around it. Eira looks shocked at that.

"He...almost killed you?"

I look up at her, surprised. Why does she care? Then I realize that she's horrified at the thought that her former betrothed would be capable of murder. I can't help the sympathy that fills me. "Losing" Loki must have been a great blow to her a year ago, and she likely never got the full story. I doubt she even knows of his true heritage. And now, she's hearing that he's completely turned against everything she knew of him, tried to take over another realm, and almost committed murder. Actually, he probably committed a lot of murders on Earth, if Black Widow's mention of 80 dead people was actually his fault. I nod slowly. "Yes. He strangled me."

Everyone in the room stares at me in horror, even Noma. Apparently she didn't see that one coming. I sigh and look away. "Look, let's just change the topic from Lo-the prince."

Zora immediately voices her agreement, as do Andromeda and Liv. "Shall we continue with the ritual now?" Liv asks. I nod and smile gratefully at her. She grins back, sympathy in her eyes. Then she turns to the others. "Well, I don't mean to scare you, but-" She turns back to me and says in a low voice, "-every plant I touch dies upon contact."

My eyes widen. "What?!"

The girls laugh, and I look around, confused. Liv practically falls backward because she's laughing so hard. Astra grins at me from her place on the windowsill. "That's not true. She just can't take care of plants. She always forgets to water them, or put them in the sunlight, or feed them."

A grin slowly spreads across my face, and I look at Liv, who is wiping away tears of laughter. "I'm going to pay you back for that one day. You had better watch out."

"Ooooooooooh!" Astra and Andromeda chorus. "Drama," Astra whispers darkly. I can't help it. I howl with laughter.

"Ok, that was amazing. Nice secret, Liv."

Liv grins. "Thank you!"

"Well, I'm next," says Leyja. "My secret is that I am a siren, one of the last of my kind."

I gape. "Sirens are real?"

Leyja smirks. "Yes, I'm real."

I shake my head. "Wow...I just...wow."

Andromeda snickers. "Well, mine isn't quite as shocking as Leyja's, but I want to be the captain of my own ship one day, and travel to the worlds beyond the Nine Realms."

I smile, imagining that. "Oh wow, could I join you?"

Andromeda laughs, a surprised look in her eyes. "Well, I doubt it will ever happen. I'm just a handmaiden to the Queen."

I furrow my brows, though my smile remains. "Don't ever give up on your dreams, Andromeda."

She shrugs, but I can see the gratefulness in her eyes. Then she turns to Astra, who grins at me. "I'm the resident writer."

My eyes widen. "Really? I'm a writer too! What do you write?"

Astra's eyes widen as well. "You are?"

I nod. "I have one novel published on Midgard, and I also wrote fanfiction. I love stories."

Astra grins. "I write poetry. Romantic, thoughtful, or just descriptions of my surroundings."

I raise my eyebrows. "Wow, I've attempted poetry before, but mine is no good. Plus, it takes forever to get anything to rhyme!"

Astra laughs. "It doesn't always have to rhyme. It's an art. You write with your heart, not your mind." Then she grins. "See? I just rhymed. It's not that hard."

I laugh and shake my head. "You have a gift."

Astra's grin widens. "I have a lot of gifts. Some more...prevalent than others."

Several of the girls groan, and Liv takes off one of her slippers, making to throw it at Astra. Astra cowers away as much as she can in the windowsill, throwing her hands up in defense. "Alright, alright! I won't!"

I stare at Liv, brows furrowed. She puts her slipper back on, eyes narrowed at Astra, and then looks at me. "She's well known in the palace for her inappropriate jests."

I blink. "Inappropriate...you mean dirty jokes?"

Liv blinks back. "Ah...I suppose so."

I grin at Astra, but decide not to say anything so that I don't get hit with a slipper. But I know right then that Astra and I will get along quite well-as long as she doesn't get too dirty.

Fluir turns towards me after glaring at Astra. "Shall I tell next?"

I nod. "Sure!"

Fluir blinks at that, but doesn't question it. "I don't tell many this secret, but because we live in the same home, I don't find it necessary to keep this from you." She hesitates. "I am the daughter of Heimdall the Gatekeeper."

My jaw drops. "What?!"

Fluir nods, a slight smile on her face. I shake my head. That explains the golden flecks in her eyes, and her mixed race. "That's...amazing. I didn't know Heimdall had a family."

Fluir's smile fades slightly, and I can see pain in her eyes. But she nods again, and looks to Zora. The woman with wings smiles softly at her-almost reassuringly?-and then turns to me. "I'm sure you've noticed my unusual necklace," she says, pulling it out of her nightgown and holding it up. The beautiful stone I noticed earlier today when we were first introduced gleams brightly in the lamplight that illuminates the room. "Well, most assume I never remove it because it is special to me. While it is indeed special, the truth is that I actually cannot remove it. I've tried many times. I even attempted to burn it once." She drops the necklace and moves her dark hair, exposing a scar on her neck. "Needless to say, nothing has worked."

I stare at her in amazement. "How long have you been wearing it?"

"For as long as I can remember," she answers, a little more quietly than before. I nod, about to ask another question, but Eira speaks first.

"My secret is that I was Prince Loki's first kiss."

My gaze snaps towards her, just as a flash of pain sparks in my chest. My eyes wide, I shove the pain away, having no idea where it came from. I can't think of anything to say, so I just stare at her. She stares back, her face neutral but her eyes smirking at me. It reminds me so much of Loki that I have to do a double take. But the other girls, Liv in particular, groan.

"Can't you stop trying to assert your dominance over everyone else for once?" Liv asks, annoyance obvious in her tone. "You may have been betrothed to Prince Loki once, but you don't have to act like a twit because of it!"

I look back at Liv, surprised and starting to become a little annoyed myself. Why are these two always at each other's throats? "Please don't-" But I'm too late. Eira stands up, furious.

"I am not the one who is behaving inappropriately, Liv! You should watch your tongue-"

"Stop!" I nearly shout, jumping to my feet. "Guys, we don't have to fight about everything!"

Eira turns her glare on me. "You stay out of this, Victoria! You don't know him like I do!" Then she flinches at her own words. I stare at her, dumbfounded. So that really is what this is all about. Loki. What the heck, am I living in some crazy fanfiction? A love story gone wrong? What is happening to me?

Eira stares back at me for a moment, looking almost horrified at her own choice of words. Then she swiftly exits the room without another word. Silence falls in her wake.

I look around at the other women. "Did I do something wrong?"

All of them shake their heads. "No, of course not," Zora answers.

"She's always like this," Liv adds, and the rest nod. I frown, looking in the direction Eira just left.

"Why?"

An uncomfortable silence falls again. Noma is the one to answer me. "Just...don't speak of her parents," she says, looking me in the eye. I instantly understand, sympathy filling me once more. That poor woman. I nod to show I understand, and Noma smiles.

"Well, since I'm last, and since we are already on the subject of Prince Loki, shall I tell my secret?"

I give a half smile and sit back down. "Please do."

She grins a little. "I grew up in the palace once the king discovered my ability to see the future in my dreams, so I knew both of the princes growing up. Once, when we were very young, Prince Loki convinced me to help him steal the AllFather's eyepatch." She ducks her head, her cheeks coloring. "We were caught before we could pull it off. I still feel like a traitor sometimes."

I laugh, my eyes wide. "What a terrible thing to do, pulling you into one of his schemes! Did you ever pay him back?"

Noma smirks. "Actually, I did."

I lean forward, grinning. "Do tell."

Noma grins back. "Well, a few weeks after the incident, Loki learned how to transform others into animals using his magic."

My grin widens. "And is that when he turned Thor—I mean Prince Thor—into a frog?"

Noma raises her brows. "You know about that?"

I nod. "Queen Frigga told me the other day." I shake my head. "Honestly, it shouldn't surprise me, knowing him."

Noma laughs in agreement. "He was always one for mischief." She continues with a mischievous grin of her own. "Well, I knew from one of my dreams that the princes and I would be joining the king and queen at a formal meal with some ambassadors, so on that day I found a small frog and brought it with me into the dining room in the sleeve of my dress. When I walked past the princes to my seat, I slipped the tiny frog into Prince Loki's drink." By now, all of us are giggling at the thought. Noma grins widely at us. "The resulting chaos is a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life. Prince Loki still thinks that his brother is the culprit."

I laugh at that until tears run down my cheeks, and the others in the room aren't in a much better state. Looking around at them, I see Astra and Andromeda leaning on each other helplessly, Liv lying on the floor with tears running down her face, Zora and Leyja holding their stomachs, and Fluir just about to fall out of my desk chair. Noma is grinning at our reactions to her story. My own laughter quiets down somewhat, but my smile does not fade. Looking at these girls laughing together, I see more than a house for young ladies.

I see a home.

Author's Note: Now do you see the reason for the name of chapter 45? I love to incorporate these kinds of themes into my writing, and in my opinion, one of the most touching themes in literature is the question "What makes a house a home?" I believe the answer is love. The people you live with may not be blood related, they may not even know you, but if there is love in that house, then it's more than just any random house. It's a home.

Anyway, enough with my rambling. I hope you enjoyed the no-cliffhanger, and all of the girls' secrets! I thought you would enjoy getting to know them a little better, since they will play a large part in Vikki's life.

I love you all 3,000!

Signing off, AuthorsDream.