Melody had never experienced such plot whiplash in her life.

And here she had thought she'd be all the backup Loki would get. But beyond that, Frigga wasn't there in the original story. She was compliant and left when Odin told her to, and let her son get sentenced. She hadn't stood up for him at all, let alone accused her husband of being a child abuser. And there's no way she could've affected that decision on the queen's part.

That meant that this universe was already different, besides just having her in it. Had this variant of Frigga always made excuses for Odin before, and had decided enough was enough now? Or was it an entirely new upbringing for the Odinsons, where Frigga hadn't clung so tightly to Odin "having a reason for everything he did"?

Did this mean Odin was going to go under scrutiny for child abuse? Could you impeach an Allfather? Or were they just going to brush it off? There weren't any witnesses here, after all.

"Are you alright?" Thor's hand gently tapped her shoulder, shaking her out of her bewilderment. "You look like you've got a headache."

"No, I'm fine," she assured him. "That's just… not how I expected it to go."

"Even Mother gets her visions wrong, sometimes," Thor gave her an encouraging smile. "Being a seer takes a lot of practice. You'll get better at it over time."

As always, Thor was sweet, but a little misguided. Eventually, she was probably going to have to tell someone what actually did happen, especially due to this recent canon divergence.

Odin had stormed off the moment Frigga had taken off the handcuffs, and Loki and Frigga had left together, talking in low voices to each other. Loki had looked about ready to cry, so it was probably best that it was just Thor and Melody left by themselves.

"Do you want lunch?" Thor changed the subject. "I'm half-starved."

"Same," she agreed. "Fighting aliens really gives a guy an appetite, huh?"

"We'll have to go find my mother again once we're finished," Thor said as he began leading her towards the corridor outside. "Since you're staying, she'll want to help get you settled. Also… I have to explain to her that you are staying in the first place."

"Loki might tell her," she pointed out, only half-paying attention. She'd never been in a room so big that only served the purpose of getting to other rooms. "Where are we headed, actually?"

"First the kitchens to get food," he cheerfully explained, but there was something deeper than just that surface level happiness. Something in the way he didn't meet her eyes made her worried for him.

"Are you okay?"

He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her, the smile hardening around the edges. He almost looked awkward. "You were right."

"About what?" This was kind of new. Very few people in this world had actually admitted that she might be right about anything.

Thor shook his head, either unable to put it into words, or unwilling. "Let's just get lunch. I'll tell you when we're outside."

The awkward silence weighed heavy on their heads like a thick coat in the summer. The kitchen was empty, and no one stopped them from getting some toast stacked with beef and cheese and heading out the back door.

They sat down on the long stretch of beautifully-kept lawn, the sun shining brightly over the towers of the palace. Thor took a bite out of his sandwich, probably just to put off talking about… whatever it was, for as long as he could.

"Don't leave me hanging, here," Melody reminded him.

Thor reluctantly swallowed after one too many chews. "Did you hear what he said to mother?"

"He called her 'woman'," she answered. "Seems kinda rude to not use her name, you know."

"He said he knew she was going to take Loki's side." His voice was hushed in almost horror. "I think… my father wasn't actually trying to do justice. He just wanted Loki out of the way."

"No kidding," she agreed with her mouth full, "if I hadn't been there that life imprisonment would have been the future he had to look forward to. Plus he'd be banned from ever seeing his mom again."

Thor was very quiet, and took another convenient bite of his lunch. If he kept taking such massive bites, there wouldn't be more than three mouthfuls left.

"You aren't surprised," he mumbled.

"Not really," Melody shrugged. "It's like I told you earlier. Odin only says stuff so you won't like him so much, because Odin doesn't like him."

"If Odin didn't like him, why would he adopt him?"

"Beats me." Melody paused to brush crumbs from her lap. "Actually, it doesn't. He thought he could use him for his own purposes. Besides, Loki was way cuter as a baby."

Thor had to laugh at that. "Less spikey."

"More bald," she added.

"Less teeth."

"Both literally and figuratively."

"Not really the stabby type." Thor's eyes held a sense of fond, yet joking reminiscence. "Ah, those were the days."

Melody was highly amused by the picture in her brain of baby!Loki with a grumpy face and a knife. Thor smiled, this time genuine, as Melody cackled in the grass.

"Speaking of which, how's your wound?" she asked after she'd gotten her breath back.

"I'll live," he sighed. "I'd ask what kind of things Odin wanted to use him for, but I fear the answer."

"He kind of outlived Odin's purpose for him, anyway."

Thor looked sad again, his eyes unfocused as he stared towards the palace. "Looking back, I can tell."

He could tell.

Melody sat bolt upright, sandwich dropped to her lap. "And you didn't do anything?"

"Melody…" Thor looked very conflicted. It was probably too much emotional turmoil for one day. Everything he thought he'd known about his family was upended. He'd figured out his brother was alive just the day before. She decided it might be better to have mercy on him, but not before he turned to her with tragically furrowed brow and wide eyes and demanded, "I really am stupid, aren't I? I should've… I'm his brother, I should've done something."

Melody was taken a little aback. This hadn't been something that just occurred to him. He'd been thinking he was stupid for a long time, and he'd just gotten confirmation. She didn't know how to respond to that. "I don't think you're stupid," she began, but didn't know where to go from there.

She really didn't see Thor as stupid. Maybe a little self-centered sometimes, a little distractable, but definitely not stupid. He could talk astrophysics with Bruce Banner. That was smarter than she could even dream. But just said like that, it sounded so flat, like a meaningless platitude. Thor obviously was going to need a bit more convincing, too.

Unfortunately, Frigga wasn't just sneaky when entering the throne room. Melody nearly jumped ten feet when the queen's hand rested gently on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry to startle you," Frigga smiled when Melody whipped around, heart racing. Judging from the smile on her face, she wasn't that sorry. Loki really was just like his mom. "Have you finished with your meal? We have much to discuss."

"Sorry, Thor." Melody jumped to her feet. "You can have my sandwich, if you want. We can talk later, okay?"

Thor nodded, his face once again full of sandwich. Melody took that as a "Oh and by the way, I'm not mad at you for being an instrumental part in exposing my father and destroying my perception of reality," and turned hopefully to Frigga. "I get to stay, right?"

"Of course," she replied, taking her hand and leading her back towards the palace. "It's a matter of what you shall be doing, here. I've ordered servants to ready you a room in the royal quarters, and once we're done with our talk, I'll be sending you to the tailor to get your measurements. You'll have to tell them what sorts of styles and textures make you most comfortable."

"Custom-made clothes," Melody interpreted. "I'm a rich person, now?"

"You're living with royalty, are you not?" Frigga laughed, and Melody was immediately entirely at ease. "Tomorrow we shall go over curriculum, but that can wait until you're more properly settled."

Ew. School. Of course she wasn't escaping it, here.

The queen led her up a flight of stairs, and onto a balcony sectioned off by curtains with soft couches. Frigga sat gracefully on one, and gestured to the chair across from her. Melody sat, and thought perhaps if she was any heavier, she would sink to the very bottom of the couch's base. It was just that fluffy. "So… what did you want to talk about?"

Let it not be said that Frigga was one to dance around subjects. "How much do you know, dear?"

"Huh?"

Ah, the eloquence.

"Loki told me you have some certain knowledge of our stories," she elaborated, "but he isn't clear on how much, exactly."

"Oh." Melody suddenly felt very small. Now she was confronted with it, up front, and she had to deal with it, first by determining what the heck had happened to her, and second by how much to tell the queen. But she didn't have time for a full-on existential crisis. Frigga was looking at her with an Expectant Face, and she had to say something.

"I… Don't know," she admitted, and drew her knees up to her chest. "It's not all going the way I thought. It's… For the most part it's what I thought I knew, but then… it really does look way more different than in the… I mean… what I saw."

Frigga hummed in understanding. "How did you materialize in Loki's vehicle?"

"I don't know." At least she could be perfectly honest, not even stretching the truth, with that one.

Frigga shook her head with a sigh. "You really are a puzzle, aren't you? And yet, you're not telling me everything."

Melody kept her eyes glued to the tops of her knees. "No. But I… I'd rather wait to make sense of it, myself."

"Perhaps I can help you to understand," she offered. "I have a rudimentary knowledge of magical things like such."

"Rudimentary," Melody scoffed.

"See, now there's something you're right about," Frigga smiled. "You know I'm a very powerful sorceress."

"Well, yes," she dared not correct the queen, "but who doesn't?"

"Touché." Frigga shifted her weight to lean against the back of her couch, looking ever more elegant and refined. "I don't think you need tell me. I can see you're already suffering, just thinking of it. I will strike a deal with you, though. I will tell you what I know of you, if you promise to tell someone. It doesn't have to be me."

"Tell someone when?"

Melody swore that smile had a bit of pride in it. "Soon. Stagnant water brings mold."

She glanced up from her knees. "What does that mean?"

"It's a turn of phrase, here," Frigga explained. "It means that when water does not move, it will go foul, but when it's allowed to flow, it can run pure, again. In the same way, heavy thoughts will cloud up the mind, creating mold, but when you let these thoughts flow to someone else, there's often clarity found in them."

Surprisingly apt, it seemed. She wondered how often Loki had heard that, growing up, and how many more times he had needed somewhere to let his thoughts flow.

"Okay," She agreed. "I'll tell someone. Soon. Eventually."

"Thank you." Frigga stood up, and Melody was pretty sure it wasn't to dismiss her. "Melody, there is also the matter of my daughter. I can't have you talking about her."

Hela. Now there was something she hadn't considered that she'd have to keep quiet about, but it made sense. "What happens if I don't?"

Frigga's face thinned in irritation. "My husband might do something rash. If you think there's a liability that you might tell someone, I don't think Asgard is safe for you. There are other places you can stay out of harm's way, but given how angry my husband is over the trial, we can't really risk him losing his temper over something else."

So she either had to keep a secret, or get banished from Asgard. It seemed simple enough, and she was pretty good at keeping her mouth shut when she had to. "Sounds like a deal to me."

Frigga's smile renewed its warmth, and the tension drained out of her posture as she stood up, offering a hand to help Melody to her feet. "Excellent. Then all we have left to do is show you to the tailor's workshop to get your measurements and preferences. I do think you'll like living here."

Oh, Melody was sure she would.

TheOnlyHuman.