Chapter Text
Lille, France
Bustle and hustle. Throngs of people visiting stores, walking to work, enjoying the weather. Cars driving recklessly and honking loudly. A man shouts “Merde!” as a pedestrian tries to outrun a taxi. Another orders “Un café, s’il vous plaît,” as he sits at a small table laden with bread and cheese. Em steps out of the building next to the restaurant and joins the crowd, with the intention of going to her “La France et le Cinéma” class at l’université. It’s the first day of her semester in France. The culture and language are still a little bit, well, foreign.
She stops at the café to get some breakfast on-the-go. The whole idea of “To-Go” meals is generally frowned upon in the French culture, but Em is an American and is running short on time to reach her classroom on the other side of the city. She approaches the counter.
“Bonjour, Madame,” she enthusiastically greets the cashier. “Je voudrais du pain si vous l’avez.”
“Oui, nous avons du pain.” The shopkeeper hands over a long, warm baguette. “Un Euro, s’il vous plaît. Merci. Avez une bonne journée.”
Returning to the road, Em gnaws an end of the crunchy bread, not noticing the unapproving looks the locals shoot her. The subway isn’t far, and then it’s a fifteen minute ride to the building that her class is inside of. French universities are more spread out than American ones because the schools and the cities are so much older. Organization of the town wasn’t a priority at the time.
As she descends the stairs to the underground maze, Em swings her backpack around to her front as she was told to do to avoid pickpockets. She clutches the zippers in one hand and her bread and ticket in another. Running le billet over the sensor, she enters la Métro and stares at a map. Blue line, green line, red line… orange line, orangey-red line, reddish-orange line… alright, this may be more difficult than Em intended. She's not used to subways-- Iowa doesn't have any.
After much consideration, she decides to try the red line because she likes that color the best. Probably not the most logical way to figure out what subway line to take, but the logic of the map is beyond her ability to comprehend. The red line leaves in one minute-- Em dashes through the station and crowds to the platform and jumps on just as the doors close. A few of the French passengers give her disapproving looks, but Em is once again distracted by her baguette.
The train stops and starts multiple times before it occurs to Em that she should be paying attention to where she is. She looks around but doesn’t recognize the signs.
Em turns to a woman next to her. “Excusez-moi, mais je ne sais pas où je suis. Je cherche l’arrête pour Le Pont de Bois.”
The woman looks concerned. The stop Em asked for is on the yellow line, not the red one. She does her best to explain in simple language so that she is understood. “Cet arrête n’est pas dans la ligne rouge. Vous avez besoin de la ligne jaune. Vous devez descendre maintenant et trouver la ligne jaune.”
At the next stop, Em jumps off to try another route, as the woman recommended. She glances at the platform that she is now standing on and realizes she isn’t in the best area of the city to be alone and lost. Looking as confident as possible, she ascends the stairs and reaches the street just as her cell rings. She glances down: call from Loki.
She smiles broadly and answers in English. “Brother! Have you arrived? I am on my way to attend a class on the creation of Midgardian videos.”
On the other end of the line, a low and smooth voice replies: “Yes, Thor, I am here. I am currently in a taxi on my way to your dormitory. Have you time to bring me the key? Then I shall leave my bags in your chambers and explore.”
Em drops the jovial tone. “No, brother, I have not the time to return to you before the beginning of my class. In fact, I have not time for anything at all at this moment, except to ask for your help.”
A lengthy sigh filters through the phone’s speaker. “Are you serious? I know I often function as a navigator for you, but I have only just arrived here. I do not yet know the layout of this town.”
“I’m lost, Sarah,” Em plainly states, dropping the tone she uses when she is cosplaying as Thor. “Seriously, I don’t think the place I’m in is a good place to be.”
Sarah also drops her Loki voice to reveal her normal one. “Well, where are you? I will see if I can come and find-- Oh, wait, someone’s letting me into your dorm so I can drop my stuff off. I’ll call you right back.”
“I’m at… I don’t know where I am.” Sarah hangs up and Em puts her phone away. She observes the buildings around her.Nothing looks familiar. Then again, nothing should. This is her first week in France.
Off in the distance, Em spots a castle surrounded by a large expanse of trees. Intrigued, she sets off towards it, momentarily forgetting about the class she is missing.