Mandela Effect: Prologue

It's ALIVE!!!

When Loki came to, he was fully prepared for the empty feeling that always came from overextending himself. He was not, however, prepared for the stranger dozing at his bedside.

The man was almost as tall as Loki, with salt and pepper hair, prominent cheekbones, and a carefully sculpted goatee. His outfit was incredibly outlandish for a Midgardian, with a long blue tunic cinched at the waist with a complex leather belt and blue cords wrapped around his forearms. A high-collared red cape rested on his shoulders, its edges ornately embroidered with designs. His hands were loosely folded in his lap and Loki could see that they were crisscrossed with a multitude of raised pale scars.

'That had to hurt,' he thought, groaning softly as he raised himself into a sitting position against the headboard of the large, sinfully comfortable bed underneath him. He peered around at his new surroundings, intrigued by the odd room. The forest green walls were lined with shelf after shelf of leather-bound books of varying sizes and designs. Along the moulding near the ceiling, shifting silver runes encircled the room and Loki immediately recognized them as a high level protection spell. In fact, there was magic everywhere. He could feel it radiating off of every wall and object in the room, but it didn't overwhelm him like a heavy perfume. Instead, it surrounded him, enveloping him in a peaceful presence like the scent of flowers or freshly baked bread. He glanced at the man with renewed interest. He was obviously a sorcerer, and a powerful one at that. His eyes returned to curiously scanning the room and fell on a painting of a dragon that was... waving at him?

A broad grin spread over his face as the thin blue dragon resting in the shade of a massive oak waved a dainty paw in his direction, its eyes crinkling at the edges as it gave him a kind smile. Loki waved back and the creature winked at him before tucking its slender neck under its wing and promptly falling asleep. As his eyes continued to devour the room, he saw that there were more paintings tucked between the bookshelves and that each one was alive with movement. Even the seemingly still landscape above his bed had a delicately painted deer bounding across its distant fields. All of this was illuminated by a window across the room, which looked out on a dense pine forest alive with new green growth. This didn't make much sense, seeing as the last time he checked they were in the middle of winter. Either he was halfway around the world right now or he had been asleep for much longer than he had originally thought.

But no, once Loki concentrated on it, he could feel the faint magical energy radiating off of the portal. He immediately recognized the spell for what it was. Basically, the window was actually a small wormhole, similar to the Bifrost. The scene on the other side of the glass could well be halfway around the world or even on the other side of the galaxy for all he knew. He was just about to push back the covers in order to investigate the room further when a deep voice makes him start in alarm.

"You're still weak."

Loki's attention snapped to the man in the chair to see him wide awake. The man's strange multi-colored eyes seemed to peer into his very soul. Loki stiffened under the scrutiny and stared right back. Suddenly, the man's features softened as his mouth curved into a small smile.

"Loki Laufeyson, you-"

"Odinson," Loki corrected, and the stranger's smile widens.

"Loki Odinson," he amended with a nod, seeming almost relieved, "you drained every bit of magic that you had performing those spells. As a result, you're in no condition to be up and about. Frankly, I'm surprised you even survived."

Loki's eyebrows drew together as he remembered the scene on the Midgardian monument. His frown deepened even further as he realized that he would have to contact S.H.I.E.L.D. and tell them what happened. The fools wouldn't be able to piece it together otherwise. But shouldn't S.H.I.E.L.D. have sent reinforcements when the Avengers went offline anyways? And if that was the case, why was he here instead of a cell?