Shmi fell.
There was no ground beneath her.
No sky.
No ocean.
Only darkness.
The witch's spell had worked.
That much she knew.
Where it had taken her was another matter.
Her body continued falling through the darkness.
The pendant around her neck remained warm against her chest.
Shmi reached for it.
"Mother…"
The pendant pulsed once.
Then everything changed.
Light exploded around her.
Shmi hit the ground.
Hard.
She rolled across a dusty surface before finally coming to a stop.
For several seconds, she remained still.
Her ears rang.
Her body hurt.
She slowly opened her eyes.
Sand.
Endless sand.
Shmi pushed herself upright.
She looked around.
There were no golden towers.
No Bifrost.
No Asgardian guards.
No familiar mountains.
Nothing.
Only an endless desert beneath a strange sky.
Shmi stood.
Her clothes were covered in dust.
She brushed herself off.
"Where am I?"
There was no answer.
She looked at the pendant.
It remained intact.
The witch had told her the spell could not guarantee where she would arrive.
Shmi had expected another realm.
Perhaps one of the Nine.
Perhaps some distant world where she could disappear.
She had not expected this.
She took several steps.
Her boots sank into the sand.
The heat was uncomfortable.
Not dangerous.
Asgardians could tolerate far worse.
Still, Shmi hated it.
She looked toward the horizon.
Something moved.
A vehicle.
It traveled across the desert at tremendous speed.
Shmi watched it approach.
The machine slowed.
Then stopped.
Several figures climbed out.
They carried weapons.
Shmi's hand moved toward the small blade hidden beneath her clothes.
The strangers stared at her.
One of them shouted something.
Shmi didn't understand.
The stranger raised his weapon.
Shmi reacted instinctively.
She drew her blade.
The weapon fired.
Shmi moved.
The shot missed.
She crossed the distance between them before the stranger could fire again.
Her blade struck his weapon.
It flew from his hand.
She kicked him backward.
The others froze.
Shmi pointed her blade toward them.
"Leave."
They stared at her.
One of them said something.
Another slowly lowered his weapon.
Then they ran.
Shmi watched their vehicle disappear into the distance.
She lowered her blade.
Her breathing remained steady.
She looked at the weapon lying in the sand.
She picked it up.
It was unlike anything she had seen in Asgard.
She examined it carefully.
"Primitive."
Then she looked toward the horizon again.
A strange feeling settled in her stomach.
She had survived.
But she was alone.
For the first time in her life, Shmi Borson had no idea where she was.
No family.
No kingdom.
No title.
No army.
She looked down at her hands.
Hands that had once been treated as royal.
Now they were covered in dust.
Shmi began walking.
Hours passed.
The sun began descending.
Shmi's pace slowed.
The desert seemed endless.
Her Asgardian body could endure the environment, but even she needed water.
She finally spotted something.
A settlement.
Small.
Dirty.
Built around a cluster of buildings.
Shmi approached carefully.
The people inside watched her.
Nobody greeted her.
Nobody offered assistance.
She entered the settlement.
The first thing she noticed was the smell.
Metal.
Fuel.
Dust.
Sweat.
The second thing she noticed was the species.
Humans.
Aliens.
Creatures she had never seen before.
Shmi stopped.
She stared.
A four-armed creature walked past her.
Another being had blue skin.
A small alien barked at someone from across the street.
Shmi slowly turned in place.
"What realm is this?"
Nobody answered.
A human woman passed her.
Shmi caught her attention.
"Excuse me."
The woman stopped.
"Where am I?"
The woman looked at her strangely.
"Tatooine."
Shmi waited.
The name meant nothing.
"Tatooine?"
"Yes."
"What kingdom rules this world?"
The woman laughed.
"Kingdom?"
Shmi frowned.
The woman continued walking.
Shmi watched her disappear.
No king.
No kingdom.
No obvious ruler.
That was strange.
Very strange.
Shmi continued walking.
Eventually, she reached a building filled with people.
Food.
Drink.
Conversation.
She entered.
The room became quieter.
Several people looked at her.
A large alien behind the counter stared.
"You lost?"
Shmi approached.
"I need information."
The alien laughed.
"Everyone needs information."
"I can pay."
That changed his expression.
"With what?"
Shmi reached into her clothing.
Her fingers found a small gold ornament.
She pulled it out.
The bartender's eyes widened.
"That's real?"
Shmi looked at the ornament.
"Yes."
"Where did you get it?"
"It belonged to my family."
He examined it.
Then he offered several credits.
Shmi stared at them.
"What are those?"
The bartender blinked.
"You don't know what credits are?"
"No."
He laughed.
"You really are lost."
Shmi accepted the money.
She sat down.
"Tell me about this world."
The bartender shrugged.
"Tatooine."
"I know its name."
"It's a desert planet."
"I can see that."
"It's controlled by the Hutts."
Shmi paused.
"The Hutts?"
"Crime families."
"So there is no king?"
"No."
"Who rules the planet?"
"Depends where you are."
Shmi frowned.
This galaxy was strange.
No centralized authority.
No Asgardian protection.
No Odin.
No Cul.
No Bifrost.
No gods.
At least, not here.
The bartender leaned closer.
"You really aren't from around here."
"No."
"Where are you from?"
Shmi looked at him.
She thought about Asgard.
Then about Odin.
Then about Cul.
She shook her head.
"Far away."
The bartender smiled.
"That much I figured."
That night, Shmi rented a small room.
It was barely large enough for a bed.
She sat beside the window.
Outside, Tatooine's twin suns had disappeared.
The night was cold.
Shmi held the pendant.
She stared at it.
Her mother's pendant.
The only thing she had carried with her.
She remembered Bestia.
She remembered being a child.
She remembered her mother's voice.
She remembered Odin.
Vili.
Ve.
And Cul.
Her eyes closed.
She remembered the moment Odin told her that Cul was dead.
A tear rolled down her cheek.
She wiped it away.
She had spent her entire life surrounded by powerful people.
Now she understood something.
Power meant nothing if you had nowhere to use it.
She looked around the small room.
"I will survive."
Her voice was quiet.
"I don't care how long it takes."
She stood.
The pendant slipped from her hand.
For a brief moment, a strange shimmer appeared inside the crystal.
Shmi noticed.
She picked it up.
The shimmer disappeared.
She stared at the pendant.
"What are you?"
No answer came.
Shmi placed it around her neck.
Then she went to sleep.
Three days later, Shmi was out of money.
She had sold everything she could.
The gold ornament.
Her jewelry.
Anything that connected her to Asgard.
The pendant was the only thing she refused to sell.
She found work.
Cleaning.
Carrying equipment.
Repairing machinery.
None of it was beneath her.
She had been a princess.
Now she was simply a woman trying to survive.
It was humiliating.
But humiliation was better than death.
Weeks passed.
Then months.
Shmi slowly learned about Tatooine.
She learned about the Hutts.
She learned about slavery.
She learned about smugglers.
She learned about the Republic.
She learned that Jedi existed.
That caught her attention.
Jedi.
She had never heard of them.
But something about the name bothered her.
They were warriors.
They wielded strange weapons.
They used something called the Force.
Shmi wondered whether the Force was simply another form of magic.
She never got the chance to investigate.
One afternoon, everything changed.
Shmi was walking through the market when a group of armed men approached.
The leader looked her over.
"You."
Shmi stopped.
"Me?"
"You owe money."
"I owe nobody anything."
The man laughed.
"You've been working in this district for months."
"I paid for my room."
"Not to us."
Shmi's eyes narrowed.
"I don't know you."
"You don't need to."
He pointed toward a waiting transport.
"You're coming with us."
Shmi looked at the men.
Then at the transport.
Then back at the leader.
"No."
The man's expression changed.
"That wasn't a request."
Shmi smiled.
It was the first genuine smile she had given anyone since leaving Asgard.
"Then you should have brought more men."
The man reached for his weapon.
Shmi moved first.
She fought.
Hard.
But there were too many.
One struck her from behind.
Another grabbed her arms.
A third placed restraints around her wrists.
Shmi struggled.
"Let me go!"
Nobody listened.
They dragged her toward the transport.
She looked toward the sky.
For the first time since arriving on Tatooine, she felt genuine fear.
Not fear for herself.
Fear that she would disappear into this world.
That nobody would ever know where she went.
That Asgard would forget her.
That Odin would never know she survived.
The transport door opened.
Shmi was thrown inside.
The door closed.
The vehicle began moving.
She sat against the wall.
Her wrists hurt.
Her clothing was covered in dust.
The pendant remained around her neck.
She touched it.
"Mother."
Her voice broke.
"I don't know where I am."
She closed her eyes.
"But I will survive."
Outside, Tatooine stretched endlessly beneath the setting suns.
And somewhere in the distance, the future was already waiting.
A boy.
A slave.
A child who had not yet been born.
A child who would one day carry the blood of Asgard.
The blood of the Force.
And the ambitions of a man who had died on another world believing he knew the story.
He had no idea that the story had already begun.