A/N: Here we are, the second installment of the Loki/OC series, sequel to After the Fall. If, by chance, you haven't read that, I suggest you go and do read it. Nao. Otherwise this won't make any damn sense, and you would've missed an important part of the story.

Rated M for later chapters for violence and sexual content: so be forewarned.

So here we go. Buckle down, and welcome to the nightmare.


Loki stretched his neck from side to side, awaiting the moment when a guard would sweep him from his confines for his awaiting execution. It had all come to this. In order to escape the hellish torture from Thanos, he would die. His soul would rest until he was called upon to be reborn in some other form. He would much rather delay dealing with Thanos as much as possible and he believed this to be his escape.

He didn't know what the time was, but he knew the day was almost over. No one had come to retrieve him yet.

Come now, father. Shall we go on and get this over with? He laid down on the hard, cold floor. Must we draw this out to unnecessary lengths? He closed his eyes.

"Son?" an old but powerful voice interrupted his thoughts.

He smirked, but didn't open his eyes. "Father. Such an honor it is to have the king lead me to my death, isn't it?" he said dryly.

"The date of your execution is being postponed until your brother's return," Odin stated as he slowly walked up to the jail cell gates.

Loki's eyes flew open. "Thor's return?" he asked in confusion. "Where, pray tell, does Thor have to go so urgently?"

"He has returned to Midgard, where his mortal allies have called him into combat for their safety once more," Odin explained. He has requested to not carry out your death until he returns."

"And I say to Hel with what Thor's wishes are. He will mourn no more or less regardless of how the deed is carried out, him there or not. And what of my wish? Can I not request to see to my end come sooner rather than later?"

"You gave up that privilege when you chose to force your father and king to bestow upon you judgment without any offer of explanations of your actions."

"Oh no. We both know this is about where your heart lies," Loki dropped his smirk.

"This is about protecting the 9 realms from a family feud that has turned into war-"

"Unfortunately for you, father, lying is not one of your strengths," Loki taunted lowly.

Odin looked up from where he was standing and made eye contact with him. "Loki, you are my son; and therefore I love you as my son," he said firmly. "But you have strayed down a dark and dangerous path: One that has landed you in this very cell. If you do not wish to fight for your life that tells me you will not change if I free you. I cannot have you wandering aimlessly through worlds, destroying everything you touch. You have yet to learn your lesson. If death is what it will take for you to see the seriousness and severity of your actions, then so be it."

Loki chuckled and his nasty smirk returned. "And yet, all you did to your beloved Thor was strip him of his powers and cast him out."

"He did not declare war-"

"Of course he did! Though it was upon the Jotuns, and thereby not as serious of a matter; forgive me for stepping out of line!" Loki spat in hatred.

"If you wish to defend your name, then let us hear it!" Odin roared. "Otherwise, your foolish outcries of rage against my decisions will not be tolerated!"

Loki breathed hard, trying to keep himself from lunging at the bars. "Unless you have something of actual value to relay to me, I demand you leave me at once," he growled dangerously.

Odin stared him down in silence before daring to speak again. "Your punishment will be carried out when your brother returns," he stated softly. "I must fulfill my duties as king and protect this realm and all others from the sure destruction and chaos that would rein down upon them if you were to be free. You have still neglected to defend your own honor-"

"What honor? I was never given any honor."

"SILENCE!" Odin roared at Loki's back-talking.

"You know this as truth!" Loki roared back, swiftly rising up and lunging for the gate.

"DO NOT TALK ILL TO YOUR KING!"

"I will say as I wish about my so called king," he snarled. "Your so called rule is pathetic. The only power you have comes only from your title-"

"Reign your tongue, boy!"

"I would die to see you force me to do so. Go on and muzzle me like a wild beast for slaughter," Loki challenged darkly. "After all I did for you during Thor's banishment and your precious Odinsleep, and you still look at me as a monster. I will have none of this!"

"So be it then," Odin forced the words to leave his throat. He turned to walk out of the prison, almost regretting he had come to speak to Loki in the first place. He stopped, however, when he got to the door. "It is such a waste, throwing away your life in this manner," he said, his back still to Loki.

"That is your loss, not mine," Loki said cleverly.

Odin didn't answer him. He simply walked out.


How much time truly passed before Loki saw anyone again, he did not know. There was no window for him to look out for him to count the days as they passed, so to him, it all compacted into one long day.

But until he heard the same strange sucking noise the Tesseract had made before when he had left Earth echo through the walls of the prison, time was irrelevant. He could hear whispering, but what these strangers were saying, he did not know. A feeling in his stomach told him his time would soon be coming to a close.

"We must wait until nightfall!" Loki heard a familiar voice hiss as this person bounded down the stairs to the prison. "I will brew a storm just after sunset, and then Heimdall and I will make our return! You must stay out of sight until then!"

Ah, the valiant return of Thor; smuggling in a stow-away already, are we?

"Loki," Thor's voice made his eyes snap open.

"Come to tell me my time has run dry, have you?" Loki smirked.

"No. I am asking you to follow my directions," Thor whispered as best he could, gazing into the cell at his brother with soft eyes. "It is but a simple request-"

"Have you gone mad? I am locked away, and you beg of me to assist you?" Loki scoffed at his audacity.

"Please Loki," Thor knelt down on one knee and grasped ahold of the bars caging his brother in. "I still do not agree with father's decision. He is but a fool to give you what you desire of him at this moment."

"He is more intelligent than you at this point, I must say."

Thor pounded the cell door at his resistance. "Brother. There is a bigger problem at hand here," Thor said with a serious face. "Director Fury believes the 9 realms are in grave danger. If we surrender you to death, then we lose such an intelligent and competent strategist that could lead to our downfall."

Oh, so they have finally started researching my commander. Took them long enough. "I refuse to work with you and your close minded human fools," Loki rolled his eyes.

"If you plan on being reborn later, there might not be a chance to be reborn if our universe is brought to an end! How will that work out for your magnificent plan!" Thor exhaled and held back a frustrated growl. "I do not have the time for this. Extend to me your wrists."

"Persuade me," Loki snarked.

"I am to replace your restraints with ones that don't bind your magic abilities," he said, removing a pair of cuffs identical to the ones Loki was already wearing. "You will need your magic when you enter the King's Court Hall should things go wrong."

Loki simply gazed at his brother, studying his face in search of the truth. He gruffly held out his hands and Thor began to undo the shackles at his wrists. "What are you planning, brother?" he spoke in a hushed tone.

Thor looked up as he removed the shackles. He gave Loki a half smile. "You will find out at nightfall."

"Thor, do not leave me in the dark," Loki said firmly.

Thor snapped a new set of shackles on his wrists loosely to avoid causing more damage to his brother's wrists; they already had abrasions from the deathly tight cuffs on his wrists before, and Thor couldn't bring himself to cause him anymore pain than he was already in. He gave Loki another cheeky grin.

"Silence shall fall," Thor barely whispered, "and Darkness shall rise."

Before Loki could ask what that meant, Thor was off, retreating back into the palace.

Has he gone mad? Loki shook his head in puzzlement as he sat back down in his cell. What in Valhalla has gotten into him?

Loki tried to figure out for himself what was going on and just confused himself further. There were so many unanswered questions floating through his head: Was Heimdall with him and why would he travel to Earth with Thor? Who had Thor been talking to before he went into the prison to talk to him? Why did he put the disenchanted shackles on him when he knew Loki could easily escape with his magic now at his fingertips?

What the hell was about to happen?

By the time his brain had gotten to that question, there was an enormous clap of thunder that rolled overhead. It was so loud it was able to penetrate the depths of the castle where Loki was being caged.

Oh dear Thor, you must be playing games once again. And here I thought you had grown wiser. He rolled his eyes. He always had to add such odd theatrics of everything, doesn't he.

"Loki, your father says the time has come," a guard snapped Loki's train of thought into non-existence. "We will be leading you to the throne."

"Make haste, shall you?" Loki grumbled in annoyance. "I believe Thor to be up to something that I do not wish to be a part of," he said as the guard unlocked the cell gate and swung it open. He stood up and allowed the guard to grab his arm and escort him out. There were 8 guards there, all waiting to walk in a box around him so that he couldn't bolt through the formation.

As Loki was having his escort organized around him, on the opposite side of Asgard, things were happening. The second his cell door clicked open, a figure materialized on the rainbow colored bridge, a magnificent cloak hiding the person's identity. A wide hood was pulled over this person's head, casting a shadow that hid the face underneath. The only thing that indicated this was a person and not some creature of the 9 realms was the long, black hair that escaped the hood and gathered in soft curls at the tip, which fell just past the chest; though some shorted, straight strands had escaped whatever this person had used to tie the upper layered midnight black locks away from their face and were peeking out from under the hood as well.

And their eyes. One was partially covered by side-swept bangs, but they were still visible and glowing a bright emerald green from underneath the hood. Other than that, she was faceless.

She was kneeling on one knee when she materialized out of thin air, but the second she realized it was dark and a storm was rolling in, she immediately glided into a brisk stride towards the golden gates. Her black heeled boots didn't even make a hint of a sound, and her cloak billowed silently behind her in a menacing elegance, almost short of eerie as she practically glided towards her destination as the darkness of the night swallowed her whole. It was like a shadow; there one moment and gone at the next flash of lightning.


Loki walked silently in the middle of the guards that were walking him to his certain end. He had the faintest smirk on his lips, he finding the situation comical since S.H.I.E.L.D had him in the same situation just two months ago. He kept his chin straight forward, planning on maintaining his pride and dignity up until the very moment the life left his body.

He had won. He was escaping Thanos until a new era. He and the Other couldn't find him if he wasn't alive. It was the ultimate escape.

They were walking down the final hallway before they reached the double doors that lead to the throne. Just as they reached the middle of the final hallway, the candles illuminating their path suddenly extinguished, plunging them into almost complete darkness. The only light that was there was filtering through gaps in the ceiling that were made to let in light during the day to illuminate the hallway.

Thunder erupted overhead and the guards stopped when the lights went out, almost causing the entire group to run into each other. Thankfully, everyone was paying enough attention to prevent that from happening. The guards looked around, their senses suddenly heightened at the event. Some of the guards held their staves out in front of them in a defensive stance, trying to gather themselves as something gnawed at everyone's stomach nervously.

Thunder struck again and caused everyone to jump slightly. Why everyone was suddenly so on edge, Loki didn't know, but he could feel their unease in the air and it didn't help him either. The dim pillar of light they were standing in made it hard for their eyes to fully adjust to the dark and caused an eerie feel to the room.

Suddenly one of the guards jumped and cried out, startled at something he saw in the dark. Everyone swirled their heads to where he was looking and everyone froze. Loki caught sight of glowing green orbs floating directly in their path to the double doors and his heart stopped.

What…

"Halt!" the center guard called out into the dark. "Who goes there!"

He was met with deafening silence, but the green orbs were still floating on down the hall in the complete darkness of the wide open hall. The guards readied their staves and pointed them towards those orbs in the distance. They broke their formation around Loki to stand in a defensive position.

"Show yourself!" the guard called out once more, his voice splitting the silence like a knife. Loki could tell they were getting restless and beyond spooked as the seconds ticked by. The setting of the night wasn't helping them either. With the strange thunderstorm, the eerie thick darkness blanketed around the entire castle and silence so thick, one could hear their own hearts pounding like a herd of horses in their chests. The tension hung over their heads, which made everyone on edge as it were and the feeling of the entire castle was rather…haunting and spooky, which was very unsettling and made everyone jumpy and edgy.

Another soft rumble of thunder rolled over their heads as the guards stood with bated breath as their fear slowly burned in their stomachs. Everything was so dark, so quiet, and so still that they couldn't see anything that wasn't in those few pillars of dim light spotted on down the hall. If that hall wasn't such an open space, they wouldn't be so jittery, but due to the open area, it just made things so much worse.

Loki's eyes darted around, he trying to figure out what was going on. His breath was heavy, his heart was racing in his chest, and he could feel the uneasy churning in his stomach as his nerves slowly grew into fear. Why, he did not know. He just knew that something bad was about to happen.

"Show yourself! Are you an ally or enemy?" the guard called out again, the echo relaying the fear in his voice.

Lightning suddenly struck overhead and illuminated the entire empty hallway with a blinding light as thunder exploded above them. Everyone jumped, startled from the deafening noise, but what startled them the most was that in the split second of light that illuminated the entire hall, a black, cloaked figure was illuminated as well, standing down the hall from them where the glowing green dots had been.

A few guards let out an audible gasp before they all aimed their staves in that direction. Loki's heart felt like it had jumped into his throat and choked out his breathing. His eyes grew wide as he tried to adjust his eyes to the darkness. He was trying to see the outline of this…thing once more. He couldn't see anything; just pitch black darkness. Those were eyes… he realized. He was definitely spooked, but not totally afraid by what was going on.

"By the order of the King, we demand you to come forward!" a different guard called out this time.

The glowing pair of emerald eyes vanished in the darkness. Everyone this time froze in fear and anticipation; the silence that surrounded them was sharply agonizing, and the air was so dense that it made it hard to breathe. Once the thunder died down, the only sound that was there was the rough, shaky breathing of the 9 people standing in the hall utterly terrified of what lied in front of them in the dark.

"We demand you show yourself and tell us who you are!" the guard behind Loki called out.

Without a second of hesitation, that same guard was grabbed from behind and put into a strangling chokehold. The cloaked figure had darted out of the dark and into the faint pillar of light they were standing in, it pressing a very sharp and delicate mystic silver dagger to the throat of the guard as he yelped out in surprise.

Everyone swirled around once they heard his cry in distress. They all shuffled a few steps back nervously while pointing their staves at this cloaked figure. Those bright green eyes struck fear in Loki's chest almost instantly, and he was sure that if he was the slightest bit scared, then the guards must have been shaking in their boots. The figure was still faceless, still hidden by the hood that cast a shadow over their face to hide their identity.

"Who are you! And what is your purpose here!" a guard bellowed in intimidation, trying to get the creature to stand down.

Loki could barely make out a silhouette of a face, but it wasn't very distinct. He did, however, see a daunting smirk crease the lips of whoever was standing in front of him.

"Who am I?" they breathed in such a ghostly manner that Loki had to suppress the shiver that shot down his spine. "I am everything," the figure started slowly walking backwards into the shadows with the guard, "you will ever fear."

Only the green eyes were visible, along with the arm choking the guard and the hand holding the dagger. The cloaked figure had been engulfed in darkness while the guard was barely standing on the edge of the pillar of light.

With the sound of metal slicing through skin, the blade was plunged into the guards neck, splitting open a vein and causing an eruption of blood to spray from the wound before gushing out uncontrollably. It painted the silver blade red almost instantly, and as the figure dropped him to the ground, there was a flourish of the train from the cloak and they disappeared back into the dark.

Thunder roared loudly as everyone stared, frozen in place. One guard, Bjorn, was brave enough to go after the killer.

"By order of the king, I demand you-"

His orders were cut off with the sickening sound of a dagger piercing through skin. There was a loud thud as another roar of thunder shook the palace. A piercing scream was heard over the thunder as it faded and was then brutally silence as the sound of metal ripping through skin met everyone's ears. The scream was reduced to a nauseating gurgle as they heard the disturbing sounds of someone murdering him in cold blood. There was a loud crack and suddenly all was quiet besides the shaky, uneasy breathing of those watching the darkness in horror and terror.

No one made a move. They waited for their eyes to pick up any sort of movements in the sea of black. It wasn't until the leading guard, the one who was now behind Loki, felt something nudge his foot.

His heart pounded to an abrupt stop as an overpowering sense of dread an anxiety fueled his terror. He breathed sporadically a few times before building up the nerve to look down towards his heels. He stiffened as the sight of Bjorn's head staring back up at him with dead eyes, the fear on his beheaded face frozen with the look of horror he had worn when he was slaughtered. Blood was seeping from the neck, which had so raggedly been sawed through and a knot of his spine where the bone had been snapped from his body was jutting out.

He dropped his staff and ran, screaming incoherently as he was swallowed in the darkness. The others grew more terrified as his screams grew distant, but with another flash of lightning that lasted longer than the ones previous, they watched and witnessed as a dagger flew through the air and sunk into the soft spot where the skull net neck, right where the helmet didn't protect. They saw him fall, but their light source was lost before he even hit the ground.

Loki turned on point, desperately searching the darkness surrounding he and the remaining 5 guards for the person who managed to have them scared stiff to the bone. His heart pounded wildly in his chest as adrenalin surged through his veins. He had faced Thanos and the Other without a problem, yet a faceless person wearing a cloak had his body quivering in fright on the inside of his hard exterior shell. He frantically scanned the darkness, searching for those glowing green irises that would give away this serial killer's position.

"Please!" another guard just behind Loki to his right called out, kneeling down to the ground and quaking in his armor. "Show us mercy! We cannot best you! Show us your mercy!" he begged at the darkness before him.

Those around him watched as he got down on both knees and almost jumped out of his skin when this haunting and daunting practically erupted from the shadows like a phantom materializing out of thin air behind him holding two daggers to his exposed throat. The way this prowler held the daggers was with such finesse and elegance that it was almost like they were showing off.

"You will see no mercy from me," the hooded person spat quietly before withdrawing one of the daggers so they could shove the guard's chin to his chest and then slit his throat before slipping back into the blackness.

Loki was able to get a good look at the ghost this time since the cloak hadn't covered the left shoulder properly since it had gotten caught behind their back on that side. It was a woman, the curves of her body and armor giving that away almost immediately. From what he could make out in the dim light, she was Asgardian; he could tell from the way she was built and her Asgardian style armor. The way her words rolled off her tongue like royalty was the same as everyone on this god forsaken realm spoke.

She looked like death; haunting, terrifying, inescapable death.

Loki suddenly felt something shove him into the darkness violently and he stumbled forward. His feet were suddenly forced out from under him and he ended up falling to the ground. He scuffled away from that pillar of light as fast as he could, hoping that maybe he could hide in the shadows. Another string of cries begging her to reconsider their deaths met his ears and he twisted his body to see what was happening. He watched in awe as two daggers were plunged into one of the four remaining guard's neck right next to his spine. She dropped him to the ground, face against the floor, and then she jumped on top of him, shoving the other dagger on the other side of his spine at his neck. Loki winced when he saw her precisely snap his neck with those daggers, using them like guillotines and pushing then towards until the bone broke under pressure. She didn't stop there, however. She sliced his head clean off and had blood pooling on the floor faster than she had snapped his neck.

This is shameless slaughter, not murder. Loki thought as he watched her knock the other three guards to the ground and crippled them so they couldn't get away from her. The last three were finished off quickly; she sliced open the vein at one's neck, plunged a blade through the bottom of another's chin and straight into their skull, and the last she had kneel before her as she took his head clean off.

He jumped when he saw those green eyes suddenly dart to him and stared at him like a hunter seeking prey. He bolted for the court door down the hall. He wouldn't put it past this she-monster to kill him and the rest of the palace single handedly. He ripped the door open and bolted inside, not bothering to shut the door behind him. He knew if she was drawn out of the dark, the guards that would be in that room could take her down easily by mere numbers.

His father was sitting in his throne and his mother, brother, Heimdall, Sif and her warriors three were all there waiting for him, along with half the palace's guards as well.

"Loki!" Odin said in confusion as Loki briskly walked down the flight of stairs towards them. "What have you done to the guards?"

"That actually wasn't me this time," Loki spoke matter of factly as his feet left the bottom step of stairs. "Someone should really fix those front gates; they let just about anyone in these days," Loki spouted off.

"Loki, are you alright?" Frigga, his adopted mother questioned in concern as Loki stopped before the two rows of guards lining the walkway to the throne.

"If I was, would I be here?" he smirked darkly. "Let me say this: I didn't make that mess in the hall, though I would love to say I did."

Odin's eyes darted back to the door and grew wide as he suddenly rose from his seat. Loki went to look over his shoulder to see what his sudden alarm was aimed to, but all he saw was an arm suddenly grab the back of his neck and drill his forehead into the ground as they hurled through the air.

For someone who can only work in absolute darkness, they are fairly stupid for running in after me as they have Loki thought as he groaned. He didn't move, not wanting to make his splitting headache any worse.

The guards jumped into action and attacked this stranger like a pack of ravenous dogs.

"What is the meaning of such treason?" Odin roared over the sudden chaos. He watched with widened eyes as his guards swarmed the hooded figure, and the sight of her was swallowed by a sea of gold. He smiled.

"Unless you want a blade to the throat, I suggest you all back away! MOVE!" he heard a woman's voice yell over the commotion. Odin's smile faded instantly. "DO IT! ALL OF YOU! Back away, or make an orderly line and I'll have you all one by one until no one is left!"

The guards all halted and gave her confused looks. One of them actually lunged at the woman, and what happened after that happened so fast, it left most of them wondering what the hell happened.

Odin couldn't really see it since she was engulfed in the sea of gold capes, but all the familiar noises of metal slicing through skin shrilled through the air, and the deafening crack of bone being split soon followed.

His guards suddenly backed away quickly, parting the way and allowing Odin to finally see what was going on. He clenched his jaw and his breathing hitched when he saw her pinning a now lifeless guard on the floor; she crouched on his back with two daggers sticking out of the guard's back. The entire room gasped when she took his head clean off and send it rolling across the floor.

"Now back away," she suddenly stood up and growled, pointing her two daggers at the guards surrounding her. They did so slowly.

Loki, who was still lying on the floor suddenly felt himself being snatched up off the ground by his neck and was dragged closer to the throne by this strange woman and was then thrown back to the ground once more. Before he was able to get a better look at his captor, he felt the sharp heel of her boot press against the soft spot behind his head.

"His soul is mine for the taking," he heard a menacing hiss from the woman as his skull was pressed into the gold floor. "Not. Yours."

"How dare you walk into my palace so disrespectfully!" Odin gasped in anger at the audacity of this woman. "How dare you disrespect my son as you are!"

"Hold your tongue!" she yelled back at him, silencing his rage immediately. "You have no right making such rash accusations when you yourself never gave him an ounce of respect since you found him-"

"That is NOT how you speak to a KING!"

"SILENCE!" she bellowed back even louder than Odin had. "You will listen to my orders and follow each and every one of them. If you fail, then I will paint the walls red with all of your blood along with anyone else who dares challenge me!" She pointed a dagger at Odin.

He scowled, angry that this woman had taken command of the situation so quickly. "Who are you?" he demanded softly.

He froze when he saw the glowing green eyes appear from underneath her hood. He could barely make out a haunting smirk as it curled across this woman's lips.

"I am your worst nightmare."