Chapter 2: Redning Til Sjøs ~Rescue At Sea~

The early morning air was sweet and salty, a subtle mixture of the winter air being filled with the scents of the season and the usual salt of the sea from the nearby beaches. The sun wasn't set to rise for at least another half hour or so, and the stars were still easily visible, despite the lights of the city blocking most of them out. Despite being late December, the morning was warm thanks to the usual Texas heat that lasted year round. A small, content sigh escaped a young woman who stood leaning against the railing of a small sidewalk that led down towards the small beach area. The sight of the lapping waves at such an hour when most were still asleep or too busy preparing for the day ahead was soothing.

Anya let her smile grow a tiny bit as she leaned back, her hands gripping the metal bar of the railing to keep her balance. A small, light wind picked up, causing the young woman's white cosplay gown to flutter against her legs. She inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of the salty beach air, continuing to watch the moon and stars. Letting go of the railing entirely, she started walking down towards the beach, humming lightly to herself and contemplating the idea of returning to her hotel to fetch her camera to get some pictures of the sunrise. Ultimately, she decided against it, enjoying the quiet of the morning too much to want to leave, even for a short while. Inhaling deeply again, the golden blonde haired woman took slow steps as she walked along the beach, letting her shoes half-sink into the sand with each step she took. However, her peaceful thoughts and daydreams were interrupted by a sudden bright, almost blinding light. It came out of nowhere, suddenly shooting straight downward from the sky right into the waters of the Gulf.

Anya's eyes widened as she saw what appeared to be a person falling from the sky, as if the light was acting as some sort of portal between here and somewhere else. At first, she was terrified, remembering the incident in New York some months ago. But when the strange light faded and the figure continued to plummet from the sky, landing straight into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Anya felt her heart stop for a split second. She had to try and help that person. Landing in the water was sure to help 'cushion' the fall, but she had no idea how far they had fallen, or if they were even conscious. And if not, they were likely to drown if she didn't help. Her eyes scanned the area quickly and due to the early hour, the beach was all but deserted save for herself and a number of seagulls.

'I'm know I'm gonna regret this somehow.' The blonde woman thought to herself as she hurriedly kicked off her shoes before she ran straight into the water, still wearing her cosplay gown, swimming out towards the floating figure as fast as she was able. She found it harder than she expected, aware that the weight of the fabric would make swimming harder for her. "Hey! Hey, are you okay?!" She called out, glad to see that they were still afloat for the moment. "Can you hear me?" She asked, wading water for a moment, hoping the person was alive still. She could feel the fabric of her dress trying to pull her down, but she managed to stay afloat.

When she saw that the person, which was now obvious was male, starting to sink underwater, Anya gasped and began to increase her speed as much as she could. Having never gone swimming in a gown before, the blonde knew that this would've been faster and easier if she'd been wearing a bathing suit. And while the fabric wasn't extremely thick, the two layers of material was more than enough to cause problems for swimming. She mentally cursed herself but focused on swimming and saving the man's life. "Hang on!" She yelled out, trying to remain calm as best she could. Taking a deep breath of air, Anya dove underwater, trying to keep up as the stranger sunk faster in the water.

Loki's eyes opened briefly as he sank deeper into the water. He could see blurred images, faint shapes with shadows, hints of the morning light adding to his confusion. The pain from the vast journey through the realms was still too strong for him, making it hard for him to think straight about anything at the moment. The prince thought he saw a hand reaching out towards him, as if to help save him. He saw the faint outline of a face before he blacked out once more.

Anya quickly grabbed the stranger's hands, noticing they were bound together with some sort of metal handcuffs. She ignored the cuffs for the moment, pulling with all her strength and struggling to get back up to the surface before both of them drowned. Breaking the surface, the blonde began to cough for a few moments before pulling the man up out of the water as best she could. "Oh gods, you're heavy…" She muttered, coughing again as she began to swim back to the shore, half-carrying, half-dragging the stranger with her. Either way, she was glad that he hadn't fallen too incredibly far from the beach, otherwise she didn't think that he would've survived at all.

A yelp escaped the human woman as a large wave crashed over them, dragging them underwater once again. Anya recovered as quickly as she could, breaking the surface and coughing as she struggled to keep her head above water and not go under again. It took her a moment to notice that the man was missing, prompting to take as deep a breath as she could before diving under again. The double layers of fabric of her cosplay gown made it hard for her to dive each time, but somehow, she managed to submerge herself entirely. She could see the stranger sinking like a rock once again, which only urged her to swim faster. Something that was not easily accomplished in her current situation.

When she finally caught the stranger again, the blonde struggled to keep a firm grip on him this time as she swam back up to the surface. This time, she made sure to link his arms around her shoulders. "Hang on just a bit longer." Anya said, not even sure if the man she was trying to rescue could hear her. She winced at the amount of weight she had to pull, her gown and the stranger both weighing her down greatly. The human woman kicked as hard as she could to swim back to the beach, having to stop once or twice to readjust the weight of the stranger on her back.

Upon reaching the shore at last, Anya began coughing again as she dragged herself away from the tides, surprised that she'd managed to pull herself and the strange, if not handsome, man, from a possible watery death. "Hey… Are you all right?" She asked, checking to see if he was even still alive. After noticing that he wasn't breathing, she froze. Had she not reached him in time? Placing her fingers to his neck, the young woman found a weak pulse, causing her to give a sigh of relief and a tiny smile. It didn't last however, as she moved to perform CPR, wanting to make sure that he would be fine. It took a few tries before she finally got a reaction from the man, watching him as his emerald green eyes shot open and he began coughing out the sea water he had swallowed unintentionally.

"Oh thank gods…" Anya whispered to herself as she saw that the stranger was alive. The human woman let herself collapse in the sand for the moment, trying to recover some of her strength after that strange ordeal. She didn't see the man sitting up, or see him easily break the cuffs he'd been wearing on his wrists. For a few minutes, she didn't care about anything other than trying to relax and recover.

Loki sat up and stared at the young woman, coughing a few more times to empty his lungs of any unwanted seawater. First, he noticed the gown that she wore. A white, satin-like fabric with touches of gold around the top of her bodice that clung to her body, now that she was soaked. Secondly, he noticed how her hair was wild and somewhat ragged, more than likely as a result from rescuing him from the water. Finally, he noticed the temperature of the air. It was cool, like late autumn or early winter. But this caused him to notice that the woman who saved him, for whatever reason, was shivering from the cold air. "You should remove your gown." He said after a moment.
Anya looked at the man, blushing pink in a matter of seconds. "Excuse me?"
"You're soaked to the bone. Continuing to wear that garment will only make you sick." Loki said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"Oh. Right." The human woman replied, standing up and wiping off as much sand as she could from her gown. "C'mon. The hotel's not too far from here. I'm sure they can have our clothes dried for us." She added before offering a hand to the prince.
Loki stared at her hand for a moment before frowning and slapping her hand away, as if insulted by the very notion. "You would dare try to lay your hands upon me so casually? To dare think that a filthy mortal like you should believe herself worthy to touch an Asgardian prince, either must be quiet bold or quite stupid."
Anya raised a confused eyebrow at the 'prince' before frowning at him, hearing him insult her. "I, sir, will have you know, that I am the one who just saved your life from drowning and nearly died myself in the process. And all I was doing was offering you some help to stand up and to help you walk, if you needed it."
"I do not require nor want your help, wench." The Asgardian said curtly, moving to try and stand up on his own. He found his legs weak but was able to stand. "Besides, what reason do you have in aiding me, let alone saving my life?"
"It's called being a decent person." The blonde replied, putting her hand on her hip. "Or is such a concept completely foreign to you?"
Loki looked at the woman again, his eyes narrowing. "People say that, and yet they still tend to want something in return. You can just as easily be the same way."
Anya narrowed her own blue eyes in response. "Look pal. I saw you fall from the sky straight into the Gulf of Mexico. I put my own life in danger while trying to save yours. The least I'm asking for is just a thank you. Or is that too difficult for you to manage?"
The prince growled a bit before covering his mouth, coughing once again. His actions only earned a sigh from the mortal woman. "Look. Let me take you back to my hotel. You can dry off, clean up, get some food, do what you need to. After that, you can do what you want."

As much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, Loki couldn't deny the woman's words had some merit to them. He had no idea where on Midgard he had landed, nor did he know if those damned Avengers or S.H.I.E.L.D. were going to be able to find him easily. Before, he'd had minions to help him navigate through the world of mortals. This time, he was on his own. Letting her words sink in, the prince looked at the young woman again. Despite her soaked and unkempt state, the Asgardian did admit that she was rather attractive. Plus she had a good amount of spirit to her. And if she seemed to be eager to help him, he could probably use her kindness to his advantage for the current time. "Very well then. I will follow you, for the time being. At least until I am able to find suitable lodgings for myself."

"All right then. If you'll just follow me then, Mister…" She said, pausing and looking at him, to ask for the stranger's name.
"I am Loki, Prince of Asgard." The royal said firmly, watching her reaction carefully.
"Prince, huh?" Anya said, raising an eyebrow, assuming that he wasn't being serious with her. "Well, Prince Loki, you can call me Princess Serenity."
Loki only scoffed lightly. "I highly doubt that you're a princess. Your manner is coarse and unrefined."
"I never said I was serious, for one. But let's just get going before we catch a cold out here." The blonde said with a light groan. "Though for the record, my name really is Anya." She added as she began to lead him back to her hotel.

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"Sir! We're picking up on high levels of electromagnetic energy located in the South Central region. Near the Gulf coastline." An agent said, turning to look at the director of SHIELD.
"Can you pinpoint it?" The one eyed man asked, walking over to take a look at the information for himself.
"Working on it now, Sir." The agent replied, typing quickly. "It's almost as if the signal landed directly in the gulf itself."
"Find the closest land location of that signal and send someone to investigate. Electromagnetic levels like those can only mean that we have visitors from Asgard. And I want to make sure we know who exactly is visiting us this time." Nick Fury said, his eye narrowing a bit.
"Yes sir." The man said with a nod, continuing to type while making a connection as Fury moved to return to his previous position on the Helicarrier.
After a moment, Fury looked at the agent again. "Better yet… Contact Agent Romanoff. Tell her we have an important mission for her."

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SO! Loki is now on Earth. And someone else has already taken notice of his arrival. And Anya may soon regret getting involved with the Asgardian prince. Please review and let me know what you think!

I OWN NOTHING BUT ANYA AND THE STORY!

Loki, Nick Fury, etc © Stan Lee, Marvel
Anya © Me