Stephanie woke with a start - the damn alarm was buzzing and bleeping again. *BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*   “God, just shut up already!”  She moaned, wondering whether she should toss her pillow at the damn clock. I’d better get up, she thought, reaching over to turn the annoying noise-maker off.  Time to get ready for work, dammit.   The sun was up - in fact it already looked like it was very nearly noon.

 

Crawling out of bed, she quickly went about her morning routine - shower, brush and dry hair, shave, apply light makeup, light scent, deodorant, and brush and floss teeth, followed by looking in the mirror, trying to see if any more changes had shown themselves.  She looked about 5' 10", with long light brown hair going to silver, mossy green eyes and a roundish face that looked serviceable and maybe a little cute - but never would look pretty.   Her shoulders were a bit too broad, and her face had too strong a profile. I know it takes time, she thought. But a year and a half on the hormones should be enough to see more changes than this, shouldn’t they?  I wish I’d transitioned when I was sixteen, dammit and not when I was over forty.   Stephanie tried to deny it - but she really wanted the beautiful feminine body shape many real girls had... but barring a miracle, she would simply have to make do with who she was and try to be happy about it.

 

It was her usual routine - one she’d been doing without much change, except on her days off, for over two and half years since she got the job working afternoon shift at the call-center.  Stephanie’s morning began around 1pm, and work went from 3pm to 11pm, unless things were really slow and the boss sent some agents home.  Stephanie didn’t mind - she loved being a night-owl. The dark streets, lit by the luminescent glow of street-lights, seemed both scary and magical at the same time.  She didn’t miss television - anything she really wanted to watch was on Netflix or her DVR - which wasn’t much - and most of the time she was too busy anyway.  The call center pays good money for Peterborough - and any job was better than no job, especially now, she thought. In her head, Stephanie planned to have her surgery within two more years - preferably sooner - but the requirements for SRS were very strict, and her real life experience was lacking - so she needed this job.

 

A few minutes in the kitchen produced an acceptable breakfast, and Stephanie sat to eat at the kitchen table in her small apartment.  The English muffins were good - but the peanut butter, all melty and gooey was just divine, and Stephanie made pleasant moans as she devoured her breakfast treat.  

 

I wonder where Andrew is? Steph wondered. She checked the whiteboard they used for messages - but there was nothing.   Her room-mate and boyfriend was usually a late-riser, and usually didn’t go out much.  A Diabetic with weight issues, Andrew spent most of his time on the internet or on the XBOX - but he had the dubious luxury of being on provincial disability.   To be fair, he’s pretty screwed up, health-wise though.  Steph thought.  He has migraines so often he should take stock out in Excedrin, and he’s got Arthritis so bad he can barely walk half the time.  No wonder he’s so heavy.   I don’t know if I could do as much as he does with his problems.  “I wish he’d try a little harder sometimes, though.”  The last bit slipped out loud - and Steph started as she realized she’d started speaking her thoughts out loud.  “Damn.  Better watch that.”

 

She puttered about in the kitchen with a few dishes, and took some meat out to thaw for dinner that night, then started getting ready to leave for work.  Another day in the salt mines. She joked to herself.  I wonder if I’ll get one of those calls that make the whole day worthwhile?  With boots and coat on, she left the house, priming herself for the 10 block walk to work. It’s normally not too bad, she thought, but I hate walking in the rain - especially in the fall.  October is always so damn cold and damp.   Oh - and next weekend is Thanksgiving.  Yay.  Steph wasn’t thrilled about seeing her family this Thanksgiving; she hadn’t told them about Andrew being her boyfriend and she was sure they were going to be less than impressed with her choice of partner.   Like I don’t have enough crap to deal with, Steph thought. Oh Well.

 

The walk was kind of miserable - in the way only fall or winter can make someone.  The world seemed on a downturn, and with it, it took Stephanie’s relatively decent mood.  By the time she walked into work she was a little bummed out - which made dealing with some of her co-workers a big chore.  Most - like Sheila and Tom - were pretty good about Steph’s transitioning - but a few people often made odd glances and snide comments when they thought Steph couldn’t hear.   It pissed off Sheila and Tom to no end - but Stephanie for the most part ignored it.  “Don’t worry about it.”  She would say.  “I’m not concerned with what a bunch of mental defectives think about me anyway.   I did this to make ME happy, not them.”   Usually she even believed it but Steph knew that sometimes the comments of the others - the people who whispered and pointed, but weren’t brave enough to call her out on it - bothered her.  She didn’t know why - but they did.   She tried not to think about it much.  “I guess I’m a victim of conditioning as much as everyone else is.”

 

Sighing, she put her coffee on the desk, signed into her phone and got her dry erase board ready for business. Stephanie worked at a technical support center that supplied technical advice and billing advice for a number of cell-phone companies from the United States - amongst them T-Mobile.   If I have to hear ‘Can I have some free minutes?’ again I’ll literally shoot blood out my eyes, She thought.  Fortunately the first few calls were quick, easy and pretty fun - one of the few perks, aside from a nice set shift that let her plan her weekends and days reliably, was that occasionally you’d get to have a short chat with someone really funny, or really interesting.  Today is looking up already, she thought, her mood brightening.   Her phone rang and she reached to take the call...

 

“Hello, and thank you for calling T-Mobile.  This is Stephanie speaking.  How may I help you today?”

She began, expecting the usual – ‘Somebody turned off my phone!’ or ‘My phone has the wetness indicator showing.’ or ‘I want a new phone!’ - but instead she got something different...

 

Is this Keith Walsh, Agent 119?    It sounded like a woman’s voice - neither too young nor too old.

 

“Ummm?  Excuse me - I don’t recall using that name.”   Stephanie was a little taken aback.  How does she know my birth name and agent number?

 

“Oh good - I finally got the right one.”  The voice was clear, and quite beautiful with a touch of a Scandinavian accent.   “I want you to sign off your phone, leave work without telling anyone, and come visit me at the Silver Bean Café.  I’m the large blonde woman sitting near the back.  Ask the waitress for Mary.”

 

Stephanie felt her body act without her direction, shutting off her phone and getting up from her desk.  Why am I doing this - I can’t control myself!  What’s happening to me?  Panic swelled in her - she couldn’t move a muscle - and realized that somehow, she was simply along for the ride - a passenger and not the driver.   Her blood pumped and her pulse raced as she wondered in terror what the woman on the phone had done to her.

 

*              *              *

 

Ten minutes later, Stephanie found herself entering the Silver Bean.  It was a coffee house on the shore of Little Lake - a nice rest on a summer day when the breeze would cool the place right down and you could watch the canoes and pleasure craft drift idly by on the Trent canal.   In October, it was less inviting - but an electric fireplace lent the scene a bit of warmth.  The muffins and cookies here were always good - but the coffee not so much, Steph thought. Then, I was always one for sweet, sweet carbonation...or hot chocolate.  She was still scared - but realized there was little point in panicking - her body was still moving on its own.  No point in panicking until she could actually DO something about it.

 

A waitress with a yellow uniform pointed out Mary’s table - like she said on the phone, it was in the back, and it was populated by a heroically built blond woman, who had to be at least the same height as Stephanie, or more - but who looked incredibly beautiful while doing it.  Athletic and muscular without being muscle-bound, intelligent without looking as if she put on airs of superiority, and charming without seeming overbearing.   Her most striking features were her long blonde hair, her heroic physique, and her friendly smile. Stephanie felt incredibly self conscious and ugly compared to her. 

 

Steph felt her body walk over, and sit down - and suddenly, just like that, she was back in control.                 “What the hell just happened?”  She spit out, jumping to her feet and nearly knocking her chair down.   “How did you make me do that, just now?”

 

The woman smiled, and said “Sit, Keith - or is it Stephanie now?  We have much to talk about.   And have a cookie – they’re quite good.”   The woman calling herself Mary held out what looked like a really large chocolate chip cookie...   Oddly enough, her words didn’t carry the voice of command this time - but it was obvious to her that Stephanie was considering staying all the same.

 

Stephanie did sit again - wondering why she did, even as she accepted the proffered chocolate chip cookie.  “I guess no one can turn down a good cookie, can they?”  She said, trying to hide a bit of her confusion.   Why was this woman alternately so magnetic and so familiar?   She couldn’t take her eyes off the strange woman.   Mary was dressed in a nice wool coat, under which she could see a knit sweater-dress that went down to her knees.  Hose covered her legs, and she wore fashionable boots.  Her hair was tied in a pony tail, and decorated with many braids and gold and amber beads, and she smelled faintly of amber as well.   Steph took a bite of the cookie to give herself a moment to think before she spoke...

 

As she chewed the delicious morsel, Stephanie felt the wonderful flavor wash over her like liquid electricity - it was like bliss, like sex, like love itself.   It held her up, and gave her strength and it took her breath away.  She felt herself orgasm against her will, which would have embarrassed her if she was capable of thinking for the next few moments.   For a while, she drifted in a bliss-like state... When she could think again, she composed herself as best she could, and simply said “That’s some cookie!”

 

“I’m glad you liked it, child.  I think anyone who can honestly say they don’t enjoy a good cookie is probably a monster inside.  We need to talk - so will you listen?”   The woman looked intense - and no nonsense, while somehow still maintaining an air of approachability and friendliness.

 

“Who ARE you?”  Stephanie asked.  Panic still roiled around in her head, but it was so greatly dimmed by the effects of that amazing singular cookie, that she was able to think clearly.  

 

“It’s a very long story - but I think it’s one you’ll like.  I’m Sif, of the Aesir.  Wife to Thor Odinson - and your mother.”  Her face was very serious when she said the last - and it was plain there was no lie in her voice.  Steph couldn’t explain exactly why - but she knew Mary or Sif or whoever she was, was speaking the absolute truth.  

 

“That’s not possible.”  Steph said.  “Gods don’t... don’t... not like this... do they?”

 

“I come to you now at the end of an era.  A new age is dawning, and both you and your boyfriend Andrew have been chosen for a great task.  I do not know if you are worthy of this honor - but if you wish to find out, I ask you to travel to Norway, to the village of Trondheim, where you must undertake a dangerous quest.   There is a stone house some miles from the city - and near that stone house is a gully.  Within the gully is a cave - and within the cave is a foe - a monster - of no mean threat.  If you wish to earn my trust, and be judged worthy of the honor to be bestowed upon you, you will travel there and slay the beast.”

 

“What... what do you mean, a great honor?   How can I expect to slay a monster?  I’ve never fought in anything more serious than a schoolyard fight my whole life!”   Stephanie was beyond fear and stress - although she knew the moment this encounter ended, she would be a wreck.   “I can’t do this alone.”

 

“You don’t have to, Stephanie.  The great honor is being chosen as my adopted daughter - and I believe in you.   I believe you hold hidden depths of heroism and bravery that those funny games you play only touch on - but hint strongly at.  You know good from evil, and you aren’t afraid to stand up to cowards and blackguards.   You have courage, and loyalty - both traits my people cherish, but you have also endured much suffering, and still found ways to express your inner self without admitting defeat.  You are stronger than you look, my daughter.”

 

“How can I be your daughter?  I have a mom and dad - I think they’d know.”

 

Sif laughed.  “Oh dear – it’s still refreshing to hear that after all these years.   My dear, the obvious answer is I said adopted mother - but what that really means is that your real parent abandoned you years ago - and I found you and chose you.  You were the child of another... family, let’s call it - and your father gave you up a long time ago, for reasons of his own.   You were adopted by mortal parents, and drifted, lost for many years - until I found you, and decided to give you a chance. A chance to be a hero.”

 

Stephanie sat dumbfounded for a moment.   How could this be real?  She wondered.   The obvious answer was it couldn’t - but she was absolutely sure it was real - so sure she could feel it in her bones.   She found herself saying “I don’t have a passport. Am I really considering this?  What about Andrew?” 

 

“Your boyfriend is being visited by another friend of mine while we speak.   I assure you he’s probably just as confused about all this as you are.   I expect that unless he chickens out, he’ll be coming with you - although I expect his patron will be giving him his own task to accomplish before she shows him her favor.   You will not be parted from each other unless you each wish it to be so.   We are not so cruel.”   Sif smiled.   “I want to help you, child - but I need you as well.  The world is on the brink of a new era - but whether it is one of good or ill I cannot see - and I sorely believe that this world will need heroes - Scions of the Gods - to protect the rest of humankind from what is coming.”

 

“What threat?  What is coming?”  Stephanie’s breath was held - like she couldn’t breathe if she tried.

 

“Winter, my child.  Winter is coming - and it may be the end of us all.”

 

*              *              *

 

Stephanie left the café more than a little stunned.  The walk home was a blur - she didn’t even notice work calling her to find out where the hell she was.  She didn’t really come enough to her senses to think clearly again until she was perhaps a half-block from her apartment unit.  What the hell just happened?   Did I meet a goddess?   How the hell can I explain this to Andrew?  Hoping for the best, she headed inside.  One thing she did know was that if she didn’t get a drink - or something to calm her down - pretty damn soon she would be such a mess she wouldn’t be able to explain a damn thing.   She muttered “Let’s do this,” and went inside.