AUTHORS NOTE
Hello! Just letting any new readers know that I am currently in the process of re-writing the earlier chapters of this book as I am not happy with sixteen-year-old me's writing! So far I have only rewritten chapters 1-3, so after that the quality drops a bit before it gets better again. Just in case anyone is confused lmao.
CHAPTER ONE
Nylah Odinsdottir was your average teenager, if you look past the mere fact that she is an Asgardian princess, thousands of years older than the 'average Midgardian teenager'. However, living a life such as hers was not all sunshine, rainbows and pure happiness. Young Nylah was forced to grow up earlier than most children her age with all the trauma endured by simply being the daughter of a king. All the pain and suffering she faced after losing her mother and her brother, she was forced to act if it had not pained her to lose the two people she loved the most. She was raised to be the glue of the family and the entirety of her kingdom from the moment she was born; which had only made sense, seeing as she was born as the Goddess of Healing.
But being the Goddess of Healing came at a price that her father ignored, that her family had not noticed. She shielded her pain behind close doors in the comfort of her bedroom, where no one would care to wander in. She cried herself to sleep most nights after Loki's death, losing her mother was enough to sadden her, but losing her brother was too much. Thor grieved too, so did Odin, but they all seemed to shield their pain. Perhaps it was the way they were raised. But it had no changed the fact that her family was crumbing, and she was unsure of how to save it.
She deeply missed Loki, and that made it difficult to get out of her bed and fix her family most days. Her bond with her brothers was stronger than most, and it hurt her like hell the day her brother died. The very moment she found him lying lifelessly in Thor's arms, eyes cloudy and face pale, another piece of her soul faded away. She felt as though she failed at being a princess again - at being a Goddess of Healing. Her world was crumbling around her and she was desperate for something to heal her for a change...
But being a Goddess of Healing, she had the ability to heal everything around her.
Except herself.
P R E S E N T D A Y
2 0 1 7
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
Nylah cleared her throat politely to break the silence in the grey glassy-like office she was seated in. Happy, a man who was rather not happy at all, was sat opposite to her in his own desk chair. Their eyes darted down to the strange device that vibrated annoyingly against the glass desk, the light from the device adding some dim light into the dark room. 'Tony Stark, Boss' appeared in bold letters on the device as a sigh of relief escaped Happy's throat, his chubby fingers reaching for the device as he pressed a button. She recognised the name on the device, and that was for a reason. She had been sent here to help Tony Stark, though she was yet to learn why, she it was killing her.
She watched the man in front of her carefully, her head tilting slightly in curiosity as she stared at the device that he held against his ear. Nylah shifted in her seat in an uncomfortable manner, not because she felt uncomfortable around Happy, but because the clothes she had to change into was not like the comfortable material back at home. The black denim jeans she wore were too tight against her legs, and the waistband of the jeans felt as though she were cutting into her flesh. The green v-neck shirt was the only comfortable item of clothing she wore, and it was understatement that she missed her long and flowy dresses back at home. Midgardians were strange when it came to fashion trends.
Happy noticed the Asgardian's curious eyes burning into his soul, his bushy eyebrows raising as wrinkles formed on his forehead. For a man whose name was Happy, she found it strange that he never seemed to match his name with the emotion.
"Hold on Tony," Happy mumbled into the device, as a quiet murmur of what seemed to be anger came from the device, but only after Happy had spoken. "What's wrong?".
"I have seen the metal man with one of those before, what is it?" Nylah asked curiously as her blue eyes stared at the black device with curiosity.
"...a phone?" His eyebrows furrowed together as he cleared expressed that he was not impressed, and instead of explaining what the device was, he handed her a piece of paper. "Here, read this. When we're finished with the phone, I promise I'll let you look at it."
"Thanks!" A wide smile curved itself onto Nylah's lips as hereyes darted down to the paper she held in her hands. A small picture of a boywho looked to be around Nylah's age was placed in the corner, with the name 'PeterParker' attached to it. His thin pinkish lips were curved into a shy smile, hisbrown puppy-like eyes lit up in excitement and his brown curly hair was a messon his head. "Who is Peter Parker?"
Happy looked up once more, and again, he was not impressed with her questions. The deal was to keep quiet until Tony got there, but he was taking too long, and Nylah wanted her questions answered. She had only been to Midgard once; she wanted to be able to explore a bit, even if that meant learning about a Midgardian boy named 'Peter Parker'. He let out an exasperated apology to Tony Stark for the second time, before he turned his full attention to the princess.
"He's a teenage boy Tony recruited a little whileago." He explained grumpily, half-turning his attention back to the unhappy manthat spoke on the 'phone'. "He thinks he's an avenger now—""
"Is he not an Avenger?" She asked curiously, her head tilting to the side slightly as she tried to understand who this boy was. "Is he not like my brother?"
"No. He's only fifteen."
"That's quite young," Nylah's face contorted; struggling tounderstand the difference in ages between Midgardians and Asgardians. All sheknew that her race lived longer. "Can you tell me why I am here now?"
"You know what?" Happy smiled sarcastically as heplaced his phone on the table, though Nylah could not tell the difference. Asmile was a smile. "Tony will be happy to tell you. Now, a phone is a way thatyou can communicate with someone who is directly with you. Don't be weird."
"Yeah, okay, enough with the instructions Happy,she's smart." Nylah's eyes widened at the sound of Tony's voice coming from thephone, leaning back slightly in confusion. "Nylah, hi, it's Tony. How're youdoing?"
"I am fine, thank you." Nylah said louder than needed, earning a face-palm from Happy on the other side of the table. "Why am I needed here?"
"Look kid, I need you to do something very important for me, okay?" Nylah nodded her head, even though Tony could not see. "There's this kid I need you to watch out for. I've just gotta feeling that he's going to get himself in some big trouble and I've got my own stuff to deal with right now, and no one else will agree to babysit this kid for me."
Nylah looked up at Happy in confusion. "You mean... I was sent here... to look after a Midgardian?"
"Yes." Tony bluntly responded. "His name is Peter, but his little hero name is Spider-Man. But here's the catch; he can't know that you know who he is. That's like his thing. He hides his identity. That is also what you are going to do. Happy has you enrolled into Midtown High, where you will be an ordinary exchange student from England. Just be friends with him and stop him from doing stupid stuff. Got it?"
"Why do I have to do this?"
"Because you've got super-strength and healing abilities in case this kid gets in trouble." Tony cleared his throat in an awkward manner, as if he were too afraid to reveal that he cared about the boy and did not want to see him hurt. "Can't have more blood on my hands."
Nylah understood that Tony cared about the boy, even if he was not ready to admit it just yet. She knew what it was like to lose someone you cared about, and if she had the chance to have someone watch over Loki or her mother the same way she was going to do for this Peter boy, then she would take it without hesitation. Her father would not be happy about her staying in Midgard for a while, or for how long until Tony could trust the boy, but it was necessary. She could not refuse to help someone who needed it.
"Okay. I will do this." Nylah nodded. "When do I start?"
"Great!" Tony said with enthusiasm. "You start tomorrow."
///\\\
Nylah woke up the following morning to a very grumpy Happy banging his fist against the bedroom door as he yelled words that were muffled. Thinking as though he was in danger, she jumped out of her bed and rushed to the door, pulling it open as fast as he possibly could. This resulted in her almost being punched in the face by Happy, but luckily he had stopped himself before his fist could make contact with Nylah's skin. Nylah looked at him in confusion, tilting her head to the side slightly. He did not look as if he were in trouble.
"What is wrong?" She asked.
"You've got school, remember?" Happy asked with a sigh, forcing himself to stay calm. He couldn't yell at her – she was too kind to be yelled at. He'd probably feel guilty for weeks if he said one mean word to her. "Just get dressed – you have got no time to shower. Pepper picked out an outfit for you."
"Okay." Nylah nodded as she walked into her bathroom. Last time she had been here, that was usually the spot where Pepper – Tony's lover – would place the outfits Nylah would have to wear. On the counter was neatly folded white loose shirt, a denim shirt and a pair of black jeans. On top of the clothing was a pair of black converse shoes. Nylah frowned at herself in the mirror, her hands brushing over the fabric of her new clothes gently. She missed home already.
She quickly brushed her teeth and grabbed her black backpack, as Happy called it, and walked out of the bedroom to meet Happy at the front door. The pats of her shoes hitting the tiled floor entertained her until she reached the front door, where a not-so-happy man happened to be standing. He looked at Nylah with his eyebrows raised once again and nodded.
"Yep. You look normal." He mumbled to himself as he wrote something down on his piece of paper. Nylah looked at him curiously again before helped herself to opening the front door, stepping outside. She smiled as she inhaled a deep breath, enjoying the fresh hair on Midgard. When she opened her eyes to observe the lovely greenness of the planet, she was met with a paper version of a boy with brown eyes again. Her eyes widened as she took a step back slightly, surprised at what she had been seeing. After all, that was the last thing she expected to see right at that minute. "Remember that this is Peter Parker; the guy Tony wants you to keep an eye on. Remember – you have to be his friend. Get him to trust you and make sure he doesn't do anything that you wouldn't do."
"Okay—" Nylah did not have time to say anything more as she was shoved into a car with her backpack and the photo of Peter Parker.