She turned the small violet jewel around in her hands over and over again, watching the light catch it at different angles, sparkling sinisterly.
So much trouble for such a little thing, she thought.
"Indeed," Loki said.
Lyanne reached her free hand up, slipping her fingers in between his own and squeezing gently. He lifted her hand, kissed it, and let go, sitting next to her, his knees up on the rock. The sun here was shining beautifully, warming and gentle, the wind blowing the scent of sweet grass and old wood in their direction.
"I asked you to stop using the blue gem to read my thoughts," she said coolly.
"Since when do I listen to anyone but myself?"
She gave him a long, hard look, but decided to drop it. Pestering him would only make him do it more.
"You're right, I will," he said with a snicker.
Lyanne rolled her eyes, leaning against his shoulder, tucking the purple gem away.
"Where to next?" she said.
"I'm still trying to trace where the others would be, but Allfather cannot be reached by the blue gem, and the range of it can only extend so far… For now."
"Is he immune or is he using something?"
"I'm not sure, but all of Asgard is shielded from my power and that of the sapphire, as well as several spots of Earth."
"The Avengers," she said. "There's a shield set up to keep you out."
"Of course," he sneered. "As with Asgard."
"But what about the gems?"
"They are most likely concealed magically - hidden, as if in an invisible pocket."
"How can you know where they are then?"
"There are reasons they are placed where they currently are. Someone who would not be tempted by power would be more likely to have the gem of power, and so forth," he explained, quickly becoming agitated.
"So then where do you think Odin would've been most likely to hide them?" she asked.
"I told you I don't know!" he snapped, leaping up from the rock and pacing in front of her, yet another mood swing coming to bat. Lyanne dealt with it the way she had learned to; with patience and a cool demeanor.
"Alright," she said calmly. "Let's just go over what we know again."
Loki sighed, placing a hand to his forehead.
"Green was in Asgard, Blue was in Midgard - Earth - and Purple… I'm not sure where Allfather had hidden it, but he was able to retrieve it fast enough for Sif and the other three to use it."
"But you think there's a correlation between where they're hidden and where they can be found - as in the green one, controlling souls and free will, was kept in Asgard, protected by Odin, who would never use it. And the blue one, controlling telekinesis and psionic ability and mind-reading an all that jazz… left with a professor in upstate New York who happened to have those abilities naturally already."
"Obviously," he snapped. "But who would need not use a gem for time travel, wishing, or power?" He grunted in frustration and kicked a large rock the size of a bowling ball almost 10 feet across the field.
"And wait - didn't you say the gems are probably in kind of magical pockets? Invisible? Then why bother to give them to anyone at all?"
"There must be a protector there, to make sure no one tries to access those areas in the first place," he muttered, running a hand back through his hair in frustration.
Lyanne stood up and wrapped her arms about him.
"Loki, is what we have enough?"
"No, we need all of them," he said, wrapping his arms around her in return, calming down quickly. "And the Gauntlet."
"Why do we need that, too?"
"We need it to wield them all simultaneously - without destroying ourselves. It's a tool used to focus the Soul Gems' energy and protect the one who would wield it."
"I see," she said. "And that's in Asgard, too?"
"Odin has probably moved it out of reach already," he said with disdain.
"Is there anyone sympathetic who would help?"
"Not that I'd like to be indebted to. But it's doubtful, anyway - Odin would not risk putting the Soul Gems into the hands of those likely to use them for personal gain, or to help me."
"What about manipulating someone into revealing something?"
"Asgard is a bit beyond reach right now," he said. "Either one of us would be recognized. And Allfather would know me in an instant, even if I was concealed."
"Isn't he still in the Odinsleep, from having used his powers to teleport us back to Earth?"
"Probably, but I don't know for sure," he admitted. "It would be risky - awake or asleep, I believe he'd sense me and it would not end well." He laughed, a little shakily. Lyanne could tell he was beyond frustrated.
"What about me?" she asked meekly. Loki glanced at her, either contemplative or uncomprehending - she couldn't tell which, so she tried to clarify. "If you conceal me magically, maybe I could teleport there with the purple gem, read thoughts with the blue one, and / or control someone with the green one. It could be worth a shot."
"Yes," he said slowly, "If I gave you some of my power, and you used them one by one and rested in between, maybe… But why should I trust you with all three of them?"
Lyanne shrugged. "It might be our only chance."
"You'd return to the Avengers," he said, "Or hand the gems over to Odin."
"No," she argued. "Why would I have come with you if I had planned to betray you?"
"So that you could take the gems from me and save the world… or… something," he said, waving his hand dismissively, angrily.
"Loki," she pleaded softly. "When you use the blue gem you can view my thoughts, feelings. I have nothing to hide from you - are you trying to tell me that even though you can open my mind like a book and read whatever you want, you still have doubts about trusting me?"
He made a noncommittal grunt. Lyanne tsked, but kissed him, her hands around his neck.
"Believe what you want," she said airily, "Just don't turn your back on the only person you should trust."