You are led down a curved hallway with a small room. It has a bed, a desk, a nightstand, and a dresser. They are simple for Asgard standards but better than you have ever seen.
"You are my new personal servant from now on." The dark-haired man with green eyes says matter of factly.
"Where am I?" You ask, trying not to show fear.
"You're on Asgard." A tall man with dark hair towers over your small height. He looks intimidating.
You laugh. "Like the myth? Where did you get all the gold to build this castle? Did you rob El Dorado or something? Who are you?"
"I am Loki, prince of Asgard; God of Mischief." He says calmly.
You laugh nervously. "You sure you don't mean God of Madness?"
He is quiet and his gaze looks more menacing than before. Loki didn't like that comment too much.
"You do not leave this room without my permission do you understand?" Loki asks pointing a finger at you.
You nod but remain silent.
"I want an audible confirmation," Loki says.
"Yes," you say. You remember this man asking your name. He had secretly followed you onto a train when you remember him knocking you unconscious as you gazed out the window. You lived a rough life on and off, there was nothing really to return to.
When he is gone, You run around the castle anyway and run into the Warriors three.
"Who is that? Why is she running around like a mad Midgardian?" Volstagg asks
"Maybe I am a mad Midgardian!" You yell, running off down the hall.
You can teleport small distances and land in Loki's mother's room. The queen's room is huge with a row of windows that curve around overlooking Asgard. She's looking at you curiously and smiles. You can feel her kindness and am suddenly overwhelmed by it. You've had walls up your whole life and you push back, yelling at her before you realized it.
"Stay away from me you bitch or I will end you." You threaten.
She looks slightly startled as you run off. You end up outside. Siff and Volstagg are there. You take on a threatening pose and hold a small wall of water you magically had summoned between you and them, not that it would do any good. She takes on a fighting pose and you realize you're a bit outmatched. You look around and are absolutely stunned by the view, forgetting about the threat. You lower all defenses, looking up into the sky with your jaw dropped.
"Who are you?" Siff demands.
"Danelle, I'm from the planet Linaria."
"How old are you?" She asks.
"Fourteen." You answer
"Why are you here?" Sif asks again.
You see Loki heading your way, he looks unhappy.
"Ask Loki." You nod in his direction.
"She's my personal servant." He picks you up with one arm as easily as a rag doll and carries you to your room. He lets you down, pushing you into your room.
"I told you to stay in your room!" His voice is stern, but even. His eyes are angry.
"I'm sorry," You say with a bit of an attitude.
"I don't do sorry." He said.
Thor calls his brother out into the hallway. He tells Loki that you threatened their mother.
"What? Is she okay?" Loki asks alarmed.
"Yeah, apparently she was just scared and your servant ran off," Thor says.
Loki comes back into your room after Thor leaves and looks at you with fierce, angry eyes. You realize how dangerous Loki can be at that moment and it terrifies you, taking you down a notch or two.
"Did you threaten my mother?" He snarls in your face.
His 6'4" height towers over your small 5'3" size, intimidating you "I wouldn't have hurt her. She was kind and nice and stuff. It scared me I guess."
"Well congratulations, you just pushed away the only person in this castle that might have any sympathy or compassion for you because I sure don't. From now on you are to help in the kitchens and clean when needed. You will keep my suite clean at all times including your room. You will obey me to the letter or I will whip you from now on for disobedience." Loki warns, his eyes blazing with fury.
You look at him terrified, shaking, "Yes Master Loki."
"By the way, it's the God of Mischief, not madness," Loki tells you.
Before he leaves you ask, "Why did you bring me here?"
He smirks at you, "The economy at its finest." With a little bow, he vanishes through the wall. Cheap labor?
You are new at magic but you can see him in your mind. As angry as he was he is joking around with Thor and the Warriors 3, mocking your shocked reaction when you saw Asgard for the first time.
The first time you bring him tea, you forgot to add the tea leaves and pour him water. It's loose tea and you tell him you don't know who to make it. Instead of getting mad, he calmly walks you through it and makes you do it again.
You lay in bed, wondering about your life here when suddenly Loki appears out of nowhere and gets up. He had concealed his presence and got up startling you. This was his way of subtly letting you know he is watching you.
Loki is sitting with you in your room going over lessons. Not only are you his servant you are his pupil as well. He's sitting in your room, studying you with his gaze. You wonder if he can read your mind or something. Your focus drifts and you start daydreaming.
Loki snaps his fingers in front of your face to get your attention. You are still terrified of Loki and stammer an apology. You go back to your math and write down your height.
He looks at it for only a moment, "How tall are you?"
"Five foot three." You answer.
"Are you sure?" Loki asks. "According to this, you are only three feet tall."
You look down and realize you wrote 5"3' and hurry and correct your mistake. "Oh duh sorry."
"Why do you do that? Why do you make people think you are not as smart as you are?" Loki asks.
This surprises you. It's something we all do, small insults we say in the mirror and lies we casually tell ourselves and believe over time. Loki's not familiar with this behavior and not having any of it. "Don't downplay your intelligence ever again." He warns.
"Yes, Master Loki." You say.
You later learn from Volstagg that you had nearly been flogged for the incident with the queen. The flogging would have led to your back being scared for life.
"I guess I have Frigga to thank," You say in a quiet voice.
"I wasn't supposed to say this, but it was Loki that intervened," Volstagg says.
You are shocked to hear this and have a new respect for Loki.
Later you find him one morning at his desk in his personal study reading. "Do you need anything, Master Loki?"
You await his answer and start nervously biting your nails.
"Get your fingers out of your mouth. I'm not going to tell you again." Loki warns.
He watches you for a moment. "Go get me some tea."
You return and pour him a cup. The tea is made right this time. You wait for him and bite your nails without thinking.
He looks at you and stands up. His face is stern and cold. "I warned you not to do that. Give me your hand."
You look up as he raises a small strap over his head. You nervously raise your hand, terrified at Loki's request. He brings the strap down on the back of your hand with five hard strokes. He puts his hand down and the strap vanishes. You cradle your stinging hand, trying not to cry.
"I am going to break you of that habit," Loki promises you. "I'm immortal, we can do forever if we have to."
"Yes, Master Loki I won't do it again." You say.
He simply goes back to sipping tea and reading. Loki keeps his promise and takes a strap to your hand every time your hands are in your mouth.
"Are you mad at me Master Loki?" You ask.
"I didn't punish you because I was angry, I punished you because you disobeyed me," Loki explains calmly.
"Yes... yes sir." You nod and leave.
You stand near the wall as Loki is standing in front of you nearby, waiting on Thor. Your attention span drifts and a loud clap startles you as Loki claps his hands to get your attention. He looks at you sternly and raises a finger in warning. You nod and he points to the kitchen letting you know to go help with dinner.
There is plenty of staff delivering food trays and mead. The men have been drinking and smashing more cups on the ground to indicate more mead. Loki is laughing with Thor and the Warriors Three.
You go and try to clean up the glass but Thor doesn't see you and smashes the cup nearby. A tiny shard of glass hits your eye and you feel the sharp pinch. You panic and run out into the hallway. You are not sure if you should try to pull it out yourself or go to the doctor. Before you come to a decision, Loki is already in the hallway and notices you.
"I... I think I have glass in my eye." I say, feeling my panic rising.
"Let me see." He gazes at your eye for a moment and moves his hand in to remove the glass. You panic, fearfully grab his hands and push them away.
"Let go of my hands right now." He ordered sternly.
You force your hands to your side, shaking fearfully from the rising panic of the shard of glass in your eye. He draws close, being careful. "What made you decide to clean up right then and there?"
His voice is distracting you from the pain and calms you down. you try not to blink as he is gentle and thorough. "I just wanted to help clean some of the mess up."
You blink and the glass is gone. He takes both of your arms and looks you sternly in the eye. "When those men are drinking you leave them alone do you understand?"
"Yes sir," you say.
He gets back up and leans into the doorway of the kitchen. "One of the servants got glass in her eye I'll be right back."
Thor and Volstagg come out and look at you curiously.
I look down and see blood on my shirt. "I'm bleeding!"
"It's Asgard, better get used to blood." Volstagg tries to joke.
Loki puts an arm on my shoulder and the other on my back, leading me to a nurse.
"The servant got glass in her eye. I managed to get it out. Can you take a look at it?" Loki asks the nurse.
"Right away. Please have a seat." She tells you.
You lay down as she takes a look. Loki waits in the doorway for a moment. You cry out startled as she takes a blood sample from your finger.
"I'll be back in the morning to check on her," Loki says and disappears down the hallway.
You relax, grateful for Loki's quick thinking and actions.
One morning he calls you to him. He is on the balcony as you stand before him. He is leaning with one arm on the balcony railing watching you. You were never good with people, especially eye contact.
"Good morning Master Loki." You greet looking down.
"Look at me." Loki orders.
He doesn't say anything for a moment, just watches you. Your eyes dart around. His voice startles you. "You have an attention span of about 2.5 seconds."
You smile tightly and blush.
"Go to the kitchens and help clean the dishes. Dismissed." Loki says.
The next day Loki orders you to follow him. The room is semi-crowded as he motions you to someone in the room. You look up at Frigga and freeze. Her kind smile hits you like a ton of bricks as you realize you never apologized to her. You panic and spin around facing Loki but he catches you and forces you back around and gently pushes you forward.
"Nope. You're on your own this time." Loki says.
It takes you a minute to look up. You can hear Loki sigh.
"Her insufferable shyness." He says.
Between the threats you made to her, the kindness she is showing, and Loki protecting you as he did you break into tears. "I'm sorry. Please don't I don't deserve your kindness."
You wipe at more tears as Loki watches you. You look up again at Frigga.
"I'm sorry for whoever hurt you." She says and leaves.
Loki walks you back to your room. "I've scolded you, yelled at you, taken straps to you, and not once have you cried. Yet my mother broke through that without even trying."
"She's a lovely woman," you tell him.
"That she is." Loki agrees.