Revised on 13/06/2013
Disclaimer: I do not own anything other than my OC. *sigh* If only...
I want something good to die for
To make it beautiful to live.
I want a new mistake, lose is more than hesitate.
Do you believe it in your head?
-'Go With the Flow' by Queens of the Stone Age
Chapter One: Encounters
It was through a series of rather odd and unfortunate events things ended up the way they did. Mind you, the Fates had never been to kind to Kaehra so it was to be expected. They weren't necessarily cruel or unjust, just... not entirely nice. Life seemed to have a funny way of going about things, especially when it concerned her. So perhaps it was fate, under the guise of coincidence and fortuity that Kaehra found herself in the same place as Asgardians.
Of course she had played a role in it too. Kaehra was the one who had snuck onto the ship, and she was the one who had first spoken. Perhaps it would have been better just to ignore the incredibly obvious aircraft flying around in her skies, but she was always a curious child. Curiosity killed the cat, or so the Midgardian expression went.
"It's an impressive cage, not built I think for me." He was laughing now, inside his head. All these pitiful mortals scrambling and scuttling around like insects to try and contain him. Ha! He'd let them have their fun for now. The looks on their faces when he just simply walked out of his glass prison would be beautiful. Pathetic. He'd handed himself over to them, practically gift wrapping and tying a nice little ribbon around himself and they still didn't have a chance.
"It's built for something a lot stronger than you." Loki doubted that.
"Oh, I've heard." He grinned; it was so hard to resist toying with the Midgardian and his band of merry men further. He already had them dancing around like puppets on strings and the fools didn't even know. "A mindless beast who makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?"
"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill because it's fun. You've made me desperate. You might not be glad that you did."
"Ooh, it burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited for what? A warm light for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded what real power is." He was having far too much fun with this. Mortals, and their tiny little minds. Minds so easy to bend and break and manipulate and shape. Just what Loki was good at.
The Midgardian was smirking now. "Well, you let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something."
Loki frowned slightly. Was the mortal making fun of him, a god? The Midgardian would be in pieces all over the floor, still alive but begging for death if not for his purpose aboard this confounded aircraft.
Sometimes, Loki hated making plans ahead of time.
"It wouldn't be wise to take such violent actions so soon for such a small matter, Asgardian."
Loki whirled around in an instant, facing the direction the voice came. In the corner of the room stood a woman, a girl really. Her face was narrow and pixie-like with soft, delicate features that were framed by long, dark brown hair that fell just past her waist. She was relatively short, but compared to him most were. Her sharp chin, too-large eyes framed by thick, dark lashes and button nose gave her the appearance of a doll. Far too innocent and childish to be in front of him speaking in such a manner.
Her eyes, however, told a different story. The left was a pale icy blue and the right was a darker, midnight-blue version of its twin. Both were cold and hard, very different from the rest of her features. She wore a dark blue tunic with a leather belt around the waist, dark trousers tucked into brown leather boots and silver forearm guards. Not the typical Midgardian attire.
Loki raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what would I do if I chose to 'take such violent actions'?" He wasn't fond of this woman-child thing with strange eyes speaking to him so callously.
"You were planning to kill that man."She replied with her soft, quiet voice.
"It is of no concern to you what I chose to do and not to do." He all but snarled at her.
"He is an innocent civilian caught up in your childish games. There is no need to harm him."
"I doubt that man is anything close to being a harmless civilian." Loki disliked her sharp, words and accusing stare. "I will warn you only once more. This is of no concern to you, girl."
"I said innocent, not harmless."
Loki growled. The the woman-child was infuriating. "Still that tongue of yours if you wish to keep it. I am in no mood for games."
The woman just sighed and stepped even closer to cage. "Neither am I, Prince of Asgard."
Loki raised an eyebrow at that. "How do you know of my title, Midgardian?"
"I never said I was Midgardian; you just assumed." She was silent for a moment as if she were considering something, before continuing. "You are a prince. It is customary for your subjects to know your face and your title."
"If you are of Asgard, how did you come to be on this realm?"
The woman was still, but her eyes flashed. "I see no reason to tell you that, Prince Loki."
"I was not asking."
"It sounded like a question." The woman quipped, the corner of her mouth twitched upwards.
"Do not toy with me, woman. I will not hesitate to snap your neck." Loki hissed.
"That would be a pity."
He sighed. "I grow weary of this game. What is your purpose here?"
The woman gave the faintest of frowns, which disappeared as quickly as it came. She walked closer to Loki's glass prison, so her nose was almost pressed against it, but continued to walk. Where the glass was, her body simply walked through as if the barrier was nonexistent. She continued to walk until she was within arm's reach of Loki.
"I would ask you to give up the Tesseract." She said without a shred of emotion.
Loki laughed; out of all the things she could have wanted, that was the last thing he would have expected. "And why should I do that? You have not even given me your name. I have no reason to do as you ask."
The woman frowned again. "My name is Kaehra, goddess of the wind and storms."
"Kaehra." Loki said, tasting the name on his tongue. It was a rather unusual name, even for an Aesir, but he was not one to judge. "I will ask again; why should I surrender the Tesseract?"
"Innocent lives will be hurt and this planet will know war. I wish to prevent that."
"This realm is not your home, and the people no longer serve you. Why do you protect them?"
"My reasons are my own. Where is the Tesseract?"
Loki took two quick steps so he was now directly in front of Kaehra. He leaned in, so close he could feel her breath on his neck and looked down. She was barely tall enough to reach his chin, so she had to tilt her neck to look up at him, her multi-coloured gaze sharp and defiant. Loki smirked as he felt her breath quicken slightly; she was scared of him, even if she showed no outward signs of it.
Loki leaned down and whispered in her ear, unable to restrain himself from baiting her further."If you want to protect this realm so much, why not join me?"
Kaehra's eyes narrowed before she stepped back. "I have no intention of joining you in your quest to enslave Midgard."
Loki smirked. "Enslave? No, I mean to rule them."
"Is that not the same thing?" Kaehra continued to back away until her back met the glass. Instead of sliding through it, like Loki she had the first time, she simply stood there, looking very much like a caged animal.
"Why do you not flee from me? You stepped through the glass before. Why not do it again?"
"Why do you avoid my question?"
"I do not. You, however, are avoiding mine." Loki was grinning now, a mad, almost feral grin plastered to his handsome face.
"It is not important." Kaehra insisted.
The smile never left Loki's face as he walked over to where Kaehra was cowering. "You asked me to do something for you; I expect you to answer my questions." He leaned in closer, much like he had before.
"I see no need to answer your questions; uou refused to meet my demands."
"So I did."
Both were silent for a moment. Loki looked down upon the tiny girl. Her eyes were still full of rebellious protests and her small mouth was hard and stern. He leaned in closer, meaning to intimidate her before he jerked back, as if burned,his eyes narrowed and flashing dangerously.
"You reek of dark magic." He growled, placing a large hand over the slender column of her throat, the other on the glass beside Kaehra's head. "Strong magic. Why?"
Kaehra was silent, her face a mask of indifference as ifhe had never spoken a word to her.
"I asked you a question, girl. The only one who can conjure and control that level of forbidden magic is me, and I have never seen you before in my life. Who are you?" He hissed, squeezing her neck.
"I am Kaehra, goddess of the winds and storms." She was smirking, the corner of her mouth slightly upturned, but enough for him to notice.
Loki grabbed a handful of dark hair with the hand previously on her throat and tugged painfully. "Do not test me, or you will live to regret it." He was seething now. "Who sent you? Or are you master of black magic? Answer me girl!" He tugged at her hair again, yanking her head to the side.
Kaehra winced but still said nothing. Loki's gaze travelled down past her stubborn, pointed chin, long neck and protruding collarbones before settling on several dark lines that spread from underneath her tunic up her neck like branches of a tree. His eyes flicked up to Kaehra's before he brushed her hair away from her neck. The thin lines and the paleness of her skin contrasted sharply, making the design stand out all the more. The inky black tendrils curled up from some unknown place hidden by her tunic past her collarbone and up her neck, ending just before her knew what this was. As a master of magic himself, he was no stranger to curse marks.
Loki released Kaehra from his grasp and stepped back. She stood up straighter before tenderly massaging her neck where Loki had held it tightly in his strong hands.
"You are cursed." He meant it more as a statement, not a question.
"Yes."
"When?"
"A long time ago." Kaehra whispered. "By someone I trusted very much."
"Is there a way to undo its power?" Loki asked, curious.
"Perhaps."
Loki smirked yet again, that mischievous, 'I know something you don't' smirk. "Join me and I will help you reverse it."
Kaehra glanced up at him, eyes flashing with defiant fire,and held his piercing emerald gaze. "Your sweet words will not work on me, Silvertongue." Loki's eyes widened in surprise for a brief moment before he regained his composure; few could resist his honeyed words and gentle coaxes.
"Why are you so opposed to my company?" Loki replied, purposely ignoring Kaehra's previous response.
"I already answered this question. And I am not opposed to your company; I am opposed to your goals. I would rather die than help you enslave and destroy this planet."
"Is it really worth it? To remain cursed forever just to save a race of pathetic mortals that would never raise a finger to help you? You would do that for them?"
"Yes." She retorted.
"Then you are a fool." Loki snarled, angry that she had brushed him off so easily. Kaehra paid no attention to this, and slipped through the glass of Loki's cage with no resistance, just like the first time.
"Perhaps I am." Kaehra whirled around to face him. "You would do well to give up the Tesseract now and return to Asgard."
"I cannot do that."
"Then you are doomed to fail."
"How do you know? I will succeed in my plans. Join me and I will spare your precious Midgard any unnecessary harm."
Kaehra was silent for a moment before she glanced back at Loki, her polychromatic eyes showing just a sliver of regret. "I will leave you now."
Loki stared back at her. "Will you return?"
"Later. I have things to attend to that cannot be ignored."
"Fine, we will finish this when you return." Loki declared.
Kaehra raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Do you desire my company that much?"
Loki snorted. "I wish only to convince you to join me. Your company has nothing to do with it. Your curse intrigues me, nothing more."
It was Kaehra's turn to smile. "Until next time, my Prince." Kaehra stated before she raised one arm, so that the hand was just below her waist and flicked her wrist. A soft breeze swirled around her, growing in intensity,making her long hair dance and giving Loki one last glimpse of Kaehra's curse mark. The air continued to swirl around her and she gave him a final nod of farewell before disappearing with the wind.
Loki's lips twitched upwards in a smirk. "Until next time, my dearest Kaehra."
Author's Note: Loki, stop being mean and pulling on people's hair! That's not very nice. But what do you think of the new and improved version of this story? Kaehra's a little different and the story line won't be exactly the same as the old Ultimate Sacrifice, so tell me what you think! Please review! It encourages me to write. *wink, wink* No flames please, but constructive criticism is much appreciated.
