The dim glow of the distant lights reflected off the white, clinical walls, the low humming sound of the cells' force fields made it nearly impossible to focus and find peace of mind. And yet it was the ever ongoing silence that almost drove him insane. A mind as loud as his was only ever fueled in its' suffocating pain by the silence. Unfortunately prison riots happened too seldomly. Loki sighed. This was madness! How did they dare lock him up in this utterly ridiculous way! It has been far too long since they had put him in this cursed cell. His body was going numb while his mind was going insane. Never had he dared to believe that such a dreadful fate would become his own. In his youth he had found it rather amusing to sneak into the prisons to occasionally free some of the prisoners. It would entertain him for a while on dull days. Thor on the other hand would practice fighting and running and all the things Loki could find absolutely no interest in. He had his magic and that, he thought, would serve him well enough for the future.
As if his thoughts had reached out of the cell, he heard Thor approaching him. But when Thor arrived in front of the cell it was empty.
"Oh brother, when will you ever stop trying to deceive me?" Thor asked, not impressed at all.
"When you stop falling for it ever so often, brother." Loki chuckled bitterly, speaking the last word with obvious disdain, as the illusion faded away between them. He sat on the cot, his back against the wall. Oh how much he wanted to trick Thor more often. It brought Loki the greatest of joys to see him at his mercy.
To his surprise, Thor did not reply but opened the cell instead. "I have something to show you. But believe me, if you try to escape you will be very sorry."
With a smirk, Loki jumped to his feet. Whatever Thor had in mind it was going to be more interesting than the prisons. As they walked up the stairs leading into the palace, a hand full of guards appeared around them.
"Does the Allfather know about your doings?" Loki questioned with a smirk.
"He sure does by now. Still, I would rather not meet him or mother right now." Thor replied coldly. He did not like walking around Asgard with his criminal/genius/insane brother. But this had to be done. He had merely made sure that it would.
After only a few minutes Loki knew where they were headed. "So… Why exactly are you taking me to the Bifröst?" He had very well noticed how he was not in chains nor were they escorted by many guards. This was a mere joke of security. At least for what Thor knew him to be capable of. And exactly this was what intrigued Loki, he therefore decided to wait with escaping at least until Thor had shown him whatever he was so excited about.
It did not take them long to arrive at their destination. Heimdall awaited them already and Thor nodded in his direction. "Show him."
Heimdall nodded and a second later Loki could see the slightly blurry image of a rather young woman in a flowy, rather short dress. No doubt that she was Midgardian. Loki groaned. "Why for all heavens, brother, are you showing me a girl? A midgardian peasant..." He rolled his eyes but yet took another look. "She is not even your type." His lips curled up in a smirk. Now it was for Thor to roll his eyes indeed. "Just watch…" He said with a sigh. For once, and only once, Loki obeyed and watched the projection of Heimdall's vision.
The girl was clad completely inappropriately for Loki's taste. She looked ridiculous, but on the other hand, all Midgardians did so it did not surprise him much.
She walked down a dark alleyway, one of the type a person in his right mind would avoid at all costs. More or less suddenly a bunch of midgardian men, if you could call this primitive bunch men, followed after her.
"Are you really making me watch this?" Loki asked, annoyed. "This is Midgard, these things happen there all the time. It is daily business for them."
"Keep quiet and watch!" Thor grumbled. Neither he nor Heimdall seemed uncomfortable watching the scene. Loki on the other hand wanted to turn away in disgust. Exactly events like these had made him want to rule the place after all. Under his rule, nothing like this would happen ever again. Only that no one but him had seen that. With a long and angry sigh he continued watching nonetheless. The men caught up more and more with the girl as she suddenly stopped in her movement and stood completely still for a moment. Loki let out a huff, even Thor shifted in his stance and neither saw coming what happened next. Slowly the girl turned around. The men had almost caught up with her now, coming yet closer and closer. Her sparkling green eyes were full of utter excitement and… joy? Focus still on the subjects at hand, she reached into her pocket, pulling out a puny apparatus Loki could not identify. The men now stood directly in front of her, reaching out their hands, groping and brutal. Suddenly, an electric buzz. Then silence.
In a mere second she had all five men laying on the ground, groaning in pain.
Loki's jaw dropped. He had not seen this coming at all. Thor on the other had grinned in satisfaction.
Before neither could say a word, the girl stepped over her victims, as they definitely were at her mercy now, with light, feathery steps. She slowly walked back in the direction she had just come from, with a devilish smile playing on her lips.
Then the image blurred and vanished into thin air. For a moment Loki was speechless. He had no idea what he just witnessed and neither knew he how to respond to it.
"Well…?" Thor asked with a smug expression on his face. "I told you it was worth coming with me after all."
Slowly Loki nodded, yet he remained silent for his mind was screaming at him. What he had just witnessed intrigued him beyond measure. But she is merely a MIdgardian for heaven's sake! How dare she fascinate me… How dare she even exist! For what felt like hours Loki stared into space, eyes wide and lips slightly parted as his mind raced around itself.
"Well I think I just broke Loki." Thor chuckled, looking at Heimdall who had the same stoic expression as always.
"Who was that?!" Loki finally asked in his usual demanding voice. "And why did you show -this- to me?"
"Ooohh… I was just thinking that I had silenced you for good." Thor teased, but the furious glow in Loki's eyes told him better to quit joking around. "Her name is Harper. She is out of your reach, brother." He sighed.
"I could have guessed that much." Snapped Loki. "But why did you show me this?"
"Well, I thought it might be a good idea to show you that you are not the only evil mastermind in this world or another." Thor said, as he moved to return to the palace, the guards urging Loki in the same direction. "Your ego has gotten the better of you over time."
"I would not necessarily call it an evil mastermind." He snarled back. "How dare you compare that peasant to me!"
"Oh quit the façade Loki! I saw how you looked at her, so stop acting like a jerk!"
"What does that mean?" Loki asked, irritated at Thor's choice of words.
"Jane calls me this sometimes. It's a midgardian word for fool." Thor replied in annoyance. "Now stop acting up while the guards take you back to your cell." With that Thor hurried ahead back to the palace, leaving Loki with the puny amount of five guards behind. Oh brother, when will you learn…
In an instant Loki had taken out all of the guards and walked back up to Heimdall.
"Bring me to the place where this… Harper is." He ordered loudly.
"Odin has forbid anyone leaving Asgard while you are not back in your cell." He answered calmly.
"WILL YOU OBEY!" He yelled, "You know what happened the last time you refused to!"
With what could have been taken as a sigh, Heimdall finally did as he was told.
Meanwhile, Thor was headed to the throne room. He was sure Odin would wish to speak to him after all this madness.
"Thor…" Odin greeted him upon entering the large hall. "I see you are well."
"Yes, father, I knew he would not harm me." Thor answered calmly. "The guards are back at the palace as well. Loki thinks he outsmarted them, he thinks I was a fool for not bringing more guards. They are unharmed. Heimdall let him pass, just like he was supposed to."
"I hope you know what you are doing, my son. I trust in you, yet I deem you responsible for all actions Loki might take in Midgard." Odin went on.
"I know that… And I trust in the plan." Thor answered quietly. He just hoped the remaining bit of trust he had in Loki was not in vain. "Did you take his powers? His magic?"
"I would not have let him leave with them still present. As much as I trust in your judgement, I do not trust in Loki." Odin's voice was stern and cold. For a brief moment Thor wondered if he was always like this to Loki, always had been...
"I think they will help each other." He finally said securely. "I think they will heal each other."
Odin sighed. "Or they might just destroy us all."