She led us into the penthouse and then sat down in a chair that was situated in the far corner, by a glass door that led out to a balcony. She poured herself a glass and then said, "I would offer you both a drink, but I know neither of you is old enough. Besides, it's meant to increase libido and I highly doubt either one of you would want to seek out any companionship from one of my workers." She tilted the drink toward Lucas. "Your aunt tells me you have quite the nice girlfriend and I'd hate to be the reason that relationship ends.” She took a drink and then looked at me. “And someone here is trying to charm a sweet monkey king, so I doubt she wants service from even the most talented of my men.”

Lucas and I both looked at one another with a mixture of confusion and embarrassment on our faces. She knew all of that? I didn’t even realize Helen had been telling her anything, or even had contact with her. I was always under the impression that Dad’s side of the family ignored any of Dad’s baby mamas.

Mom stood up and walked over to us. She looked at both of us and nodded approvingly, as if we’d just said something she agreed with. Then she grabbed the both of us and pulled us into a group hug. “My children, I’m so happy to see you again.”

Lucas asked, “Uh… Children?”

Mom patted him on the shoulder. “Oh, Laufey is still the one who gave birth to you, but she didn’t stick around to help raise you. In hindsight, she probably made the smarter decision, as your father has never wanted a legitimate relationship with anyone, just power and ownership.” She walked back over to the chair but didn’t sit down. Instead, she poured herself more of her drink and took another long gulp. "A lesson I didn't learn until after fifteen years of a loveless marriage." She sat back down, now, and then took another drink. "The only positive was you two. And Odin's other children. One from each of the Nine Realms…" She sighed. "Hel said the two of you were coming here so that I could see how you'd grown." She tipped her glass at me. "I see Nora's done the most growing, because the last time I saw you, you were my son."

I laughed nervously, then started rubbing at my arm behind my back. "Yeah…"

She laughed. "It's alright, sweetie, Hel told me everything. You've already started to assert yourself as a mature young woman. A job, school, a cute boy."

"He's just a friend!" I realized about two seconds before I said it that I sounded like someone who'd just been found in the back of a car with the boy her parents didn't know she was dating. "I mean… I like him…"

She smiled. "That's a far cry from the boy who was soliciting sexual favors from every Valkyrie he saw."

I turned red. "I'd like to think so…"

"Trust me, you're doing beautifully." She looked at Lucas. "And shifting people's forms from one gender to another. You've sure improved from just manifesting snakes in front of lawnmowers."

He smirked. "I still do that every once in a while, for old time's sake."

She laughed. "Old tricks are still good tricks. Hel tells me you're in school, as well."

He nodded. "Yeah. It's mostly there to pass time, but I enjoy it."

She reached up and wiped a tear away. "I wish I could have been around more than I was. I would have loved watching the two of you grow into the people you've become."

I asked, "What did you mean when you said Dad only wanted power and ownership?"

She sighed. "I suppose you two probably wouldn't have noticed that yet."

Lucas asked, "What?"

"Odin is a powerful man. Has been, for a very, very long time. He commands the power of the Aesir, and that allows him longer life and control over all Nine Realms. But even he knows he isn’t going to last forever, and he knows a successor will need to be chosen before his time comes to an end.” She pointed at Lucas. “Jotunns aren’t considered trustworthy to several of the Realms, including Asgard. That leaves out Loki.” She then pointed at me. “And you would have been the right choice, as Mjolnir chose you as its wielder, but you have Elf blood in your veins and everyone knows Elves are just promiscuous whores, unfit to be leaders. He used that as his excuse for changing you into the woman you are now, as he also wants a son to succeed him, not a daughter.”

Lucas stepped forward. “Wait, this whole thing was just an excuse to keep me and Nora out of the picture while he picked one of our brothers to be the next ruler of Asgard?”

Mom nodded. "Yes. I never understood it completely, but he always saw the two of you as the biggest liabilities to his bloodline. If I had to guess, Baldr would be my choice. His mother was of Asgard, and I'm sure that old bastard would see nothing more important than a purebred son on the throne."

I wondered if that was true, though. Dad rarely let Baldr into the castle, and didn't seem to acknowledge him otherwise. Was that just for Lucas and I? To give us the impression we were his favored children when he was really grooming Baldr as his replacement?

I felt my hands ball into fists. Nineteen years of being treated like the son my father wanted only to find out I was just the piece of garbage he wanted to cast out? How the hell could anyone do that to their children? He was never the father of the year, but he had just lowered himself to being the worst father in history, and it was pretty damned bad when you dipped below Zeus. That guy raped his children when he wasn't killing them.

I wanted my hammer, but that was back on Earth. I had random pieces of my mom’s furniture I wanted to throw it at just to express my rage. Mom and Lucas both saw it on my face, and Lucas tried to calm me by putting a hand on my shoulder. I just swatted it away. I wanted to be angry.

Mom stood up. "Loki, please, let me talk to your sister in private."

He looked at her, nodded, then seemed to realize he'd need to touch the doorknob and grabbed a tissue from a box that was sitting beside the bed. He'd slept with guys before, so I didn't really see the problem, though I knew he was more into girls.

Mom carefully led me over to the bed and gently sat me down. "I know what you're feeling," she started, "and you have every right and reason to be angry. Your father is a master at playing people, something I also learned after it was too late."

I felt tears in my eyes. "How could he do that? Tell us every day that he cared about us and then just throw us away like that? What kind of asshole…" I doubled over and put my head in my hands. The tears were flowing quite freely now.

Mom put an arm around me. "In his own way, I'm sure he actually believes he does care. The truth of it is that he only cares about himself."

I pulled my knees to my chest. "I just… I just wanted him…"

"To accept you?"

"Was that so much to ask?!" I screamed.

She shook her head. "Of course not. Every girl wants her father's love, I was the same way when I was your age."

I wasn't sure how long I cried, but Mom held me the whole time, which did little to console me but definitely helped me feel like one of my parents cared. And to think, Dad made me think Mom was just a whore who didn't love me enough to stay around. The whole time, he was the one leading me on, making me think I meant something to him, and then he pulled the damn rug out from under me. I was worthless to him.

Mom started brushing my hair, which calmed me a little, but I was still upset. I felt like my life had been ripped out of my chest and thrown at the wall, and I didn't know what to do. I knew the best course of action would be to just go back to Earth, live out my life there. I had a job, school, friends, everything I really needed. Helen cared, Lucas cared, Evan cared. What was Asgard to me now except the place I wasn't wanted in?

But that didn't make me feel any better. Asgard had been my home for most of my life, and like it or not, Odin was still my father and I still felt a need to earn his approval, even though I also felt a need to take my life into my own hands. I was being torn in two basically by my own choosing.

Mom set the brush aside and turned my head to face her. "I know, everything feels like it's spiraling out of control and you don't know where you'll be thrown when it's over. There are times when you need to just set the bad aside and focus on the good. For instance, the monkey king whose eye it seems you've caught."

I choked out a laugh. "Evan. His name is Evan."

She nodded. "That's a start. Does he tickle your fancy, if you see where I'm going?"

I shook my head. "Not… Not like that. He's special in a different way. I don't really want to hurt our relationship by having sex, even though I don't know what our relationship really is."

"That's awfully mature of you. Elf blood coursing through your veins and you manage to stop yourself from sex. Then you feel the Chill."

I blinked. That weird cold feeling I had? "That's… A thing?"

She smiled faintly. "The least the bastard could have done was teach you something about the Elven part of your biology. The Chill is rare, it only manifests in Elves who've made a significant connection to someone. It means you care about Evan, almost to the point of love. That's why it subsides the closer you are to him."

"Is there a way to stop it? It gets annoying."

She shook her head. "You'll get used to it. Especially if he's around you often enough."

I thought back to the first time I felt that coldness. "If it only goes away when I'm around Evan, why did it start to fade when I was around Lucas once?"

"Lucas?" she asked, then she pieced it together, "Oh, Loki." She rubbed at her chin. "He and Evan are both shapeshifters, it's possible your body was momentarily confused." She gently pushed some hair back behind her ear. "Has it happened since then?"

I shook my head. "No, just that one time."

She nodded. "Oh, Nora… I'm so proud of the young woman you've become."

I did something I hadn't expected and hugged her. This was our first real mother/daughter embrace, not counting that family hug a few minutes ago. It made me feel warmer than I had been, but not to the same extent as being around Evan did. "Thanks, Mom," I said, through tears.

* * *

Mom did the stereotypical "mom" things, like straightening our clothes and making sure we weren't slouching. It was like she was sending us to school and not like we were just going back home.

"You know you can visit whenever you want, the both of you. Hel -- Helen -- usually keeps me up to date about you, but don't let that keep you from coming to see me yourselves."

Lucas nodded. "Don't worry, Mom, we'll be sure to."

She pointed at me. "And you, bring that Evan around sometime. I want to meet the nice boy my daughter wants to be together with."

I felt myself turn red. "Well, not like together together… Or… Not yet, anyway."

She giggled. "Baby, he sounds like a keeper to me." She stood back. “Tell your aunt I send my love, and don’t either of you hesitate to come whenever you feel the need to. Just because I’m enjoying a client doesn’t mean I can’t send him away to one of my other women.”

I laughed. "Thanks, Mom. I promise, we'll come back whenever we need to."

She put a hand on my shoulder. "Come back whenever you want to. You two are always welcome here."

She stepped back again and then Lucas held out his hand. That familiarly strange portal opened up and, after another nod both to and from Mom, the two of us stepped inside. After the short trip through the tunnel, we found ourselves back on Earth, in our house, specifically my bedroom, and it was pitch black outside.

It was strange. The room looked exactly as when we left, but it felt so much different. I wasn't sure if that was because of some sort of magical something that happened after we left, or if it was because of the very different way I felt about myself. Nora was almost a brand new person now, someone I'd been as long as I could remember.

And I really didn't know why. Yeah, meeting Mom like this and connecting with her had been such a liberating experience, but I'd already felt as though I'd come out of my shell when I spent last night talking to Evan and making my connection with him. I'd decided this morning that my life as Thor was a part of me I was going to cast off.

But it was only on Alfheim that I learned that Thor's future was always going to be a waste. Was that it? Was it the realization that being Thor was going to be a dead end? That was the only real new piece to this puzzle. In fact, by being Nora, I'd almost played into Dad's hands by accepting his excuse to erase me from the family.

I plopped down on my bed and breathed a sigh. It really wasn't a big deal, though. Asgard wasn't where I belonged, least of all now. I was more at home on Earth, despite only having lived here a week. The sense of accomplishment I felt at my job, having people who were friendly to me just because they were friendly people and not because I was royalty. Life here was much more fulfilling than on Asgard.

So what if Dad had lied to me about what this was? It helped me learn who I wanted to be instead of who I felt an obligation to be. It was simultaneously a sense of freedom and terror. I was going to live the life I decided, whether I wanted to or not.

Tomorrow was a brand new day.

Except today wasn't quite over. I’d missed my first classes for both marketing and cosmetology, and thankfully today had been my day off at work anyway, but there was still one more important thing I had to do today, and I still had some time left before that. Dinner with Evan’s parents was going to be a nightmare.

Lucas sat down on my bed beside me. “So, what happens next?” he asked.

I laughed. "What's next is I call Debi and ask her to help me get ready for a dinner date that's probably going to make me piss myself at least twice."

He put an arm around me. "Ah, you'll do fine. From what Mom says, the two of you are destined for great things."

I smacked him on the back of the head. "Shut it. That kind of crap is not appreciated."

He smirked. "Hey, I'm looking at it like my little sister has finally found somebody, like I did. It's only taken ya… A while."

I stood up. "Whatever. Also, I'm older by, like, three days."

"Semantics."

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and quickly texted Debi to ask her to come over, and then just as quickly pushed Lucas out of my bedroom.

* * *

"It's a 'My parents want to meet the nice girl I accidentally spent the night with' kind of dinner date," I said as I looked at the three things Debi wanted me to consider were laid on my bed. A nearly see-through, sleeveless white dress; a practically skin-tight, long-sleeved black dress; and then finally a thin, white blouse with a black pencil skirt. "Are there rules against just wearing jeans and a tee-shirt?"

Debi glared at me. "Are you kidding me? I thought you wanted fashion help!"

I shook my head. "Not like clothes. I meant, like, makeup or accessories or things like that.”

“So what are you wearing?”

“Jeans and a tee-shirt?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“No why?”

“No because I said no.” She practically threw the white dress at me, then walked into my closet and found a denim jacket with pink hearts stitched all over it, which I did not remember owning. Then again, Lucas, Helen or Debi could have snuck that in there when I wasn’t looking, and I’d never have known. Along with the jacket was a pair of white pumps that I also didn’t remember having in my closet. I was starting to suspect Lucas more and more. “You’re wearing this because Evan is a great guy who needs a friend of the feminine persuasion.”

I groaned. “It’s just dinner! We’re not dating yet!”

“One thing leads to another, Nora, and you two both happen to like one another enough that I think you’d be a great couple.”

“Hey, I’m the one who said ‘yet’ just a second ago, so believe me, I’m open to the idea of it. I just don’t want to rush him or me into something neither of us is completely ready for yet because he just had that break-up and I’m only just realizing I’m better like this and... “ I groaned again. “It’s just dinner!”

She reached around behind me to pull my shirt off of me like some kind of barbarian. I helped her do it, though not without protest. After that, she gave me a look of annoyance. “I know that, you know that, the walls know that -- and by the walls, I do mean that adorable brother of yours -- and more importantly, so does Evan. He’s not trying to rush into anything, but he also sees someone he could make a genuine connection with.” She turned to look at my desk behind her. “Isn’t that right, Lucas?”

Lucas -- or to be more specific, his Kimmy form -- suddenly appeared out of thin air, sitting on the desk. Her legs were crossed, and it was like she was enjoying the conversation she was eavesdropping on. “You’re asking me? Like I know what’s going on in the monkey king’s head?”

I turned red. “What the hell are you doing in here?!” I quickly used the dress to cover up my practically bare chest (I was wearing a bra, but still, basically nude above the belt), which looked awkward and goofy.

She hopped down from the desk. "Relax, sis, I made sure I was in this form before I snuck in here. Didn't wanna scare you. After all. Or, y'know, see something that would scar me for life." She picked up the black dress. "Is this that dress you wore to Club Grande last month?" she asked Debi.

Debi quickly grabbed the dress and tossed it at the back of my closet. "Don't worry about crap like that and convince your sister that she and Evan will have a good time."

Kimmy was suddenly chewing on a granola bar. "Of course she will." She gulped it down. "But what's wrong with just jeans and a tee-shirt?"

Debi glared at her. "You're just asking that because Nora did."

"Yeah, but it's still a legitimate question."

"The legitimacy of the question isn't the issue, young man, just shut up and remember that you're supposed to be on my side in this argument."

Kimmy shrugged. "Whatever. I'mma just sit back here," she once again planted her ass on my desk, "and wait until this is all over with."

I glared, this time. "Really? You have no problems with me standing here in this state of undress when you just the other day walked in covering your eyes to avoid seeing me naked?"

She shrugged. "It's mostly only weird when I'm in my default form. I have tits, too, right now, y'know."

Debi pulled her off the desk and pushed her toward the door. "Out, Lucas!"

She shifted back into her default Lucas form just before going out the door. "Remember this the next time you want to sixty-nine!"

Once the door was closed and locked, I asked, "Do you two really…"

She held up one finger. "Not something we're discussing, young lady. But some things transcend reality changes. And Kimmy tastes like strawberries."

I turned red. "There are things I don't need to know and I ask not to hear them ever. Again. As your friend and future sister-in-law, please grant me this request."

She smirked. "You got it."

* * *

After finally finishing up with my outfit (the white dress with the denim jacket and the white heels), Debi and Lucas were about to walk me out to my moped and make some grand spectacle when the three of us stopped dead in our tracks. I hadn't seen or heard the telltale colors of a Bifrost opening, but that he was here meant there had to be one somewhere. He hadn't seen us as he walked into Helen's room, but I felt my heart stop as if I'd just gotten caught doing something.

Dad was here.