Counting the many things Charlotte thought she would never do in her life, traveling to Germany would be one of the top numbers on her list. When she opened that invitation to take part in the Great Arts ball at Stuttgart Museum of Fine Arts, Charlotte couldn't believe her eyes. This has to be some kind of junk mail, she thought to herself as she read over the invitation for what seemed like the tenth time. This couldn't be happening…or could it? Everything on the small, purple piece of paper seemed to be legit, but Charlotte just couldn't believe it. Something had to be wrong. As soon as she regained awareness of the things around her and set the card down on her dining table, she called Meagan. Not too long after, Meagan showed up at her front door.
"What do you mean it was you?" Charlotte asked a few moments after Meagan's arrival; the two girls sat in front of the empty fireplace, each with a cup of hot tea in their hands. Meagan smiled wide, a conspicuous look of pride in her face.
She took her time in replying, to further the suspense. Finally, she sighed and began explaining. "You remember when my father dragged me along to one of his business parties in Germany last year?" she asked. Charlotte nodded. Of course she wouldn't forget. She had been very jealous of her best friend. "Well it turns out the president of that party was Dr. Heinrich Shafer. He's supposed to be some big shot scientist, but he's also an arts dealer. He sponsors the Stuttgart Art Museum with his research, and every year they host a ball. I saw a notice somewhere on the Internet and thought I'd check it out for you. I was bored and had a lot of time on my hands…so I emailed Dr. Shafer for invitations." Meagan explained. "I knew you were upset at me last year because you couldn't come. I told him we are both artists and would love to attend."
"Are you serious?" Charlotte cried out, jumping off the sofa in glee. Her heart was throbbing with excitement. Any past thoughts she had about the Asgardian or how depressed she had felt were suddenly gone.
Meagan's smile could hardly match her best friend's. "Alright, just sit for a moment. I'm not done!"
"There's more?"
"Well, they were more than glad to get us invitations, but they did have a sort of request." Meagan said this with a hint of guilt in her voice. Charlotte depicted it right away, she knew Meagan more than she cared to like. "I sent them your painting." She added after a moment in silence. Charlotte's smile instantly faded. The look on her face was too bland for Meagan to read, she didn't know if what she had said was a good thing or if it was upsetting. Charlotte was always hard to read in her eyes.
Charlotte took a deep breath. "You sent them my painting?" a wave of embarrassment came over her suddenly. "What painting," she asked in a panic. If it had been the one of the twister, the one she called God of Mischief (for obvious reasons), she would kill Meagan. Not only was that painting the only copy she had done (she usually did one or two copies of each of her paintings incase of losing them), but it was also not her best; it was very bland for her talents, at least she knew it would be to anyone else's eye. To her relief, Meagan shook her head.
"I sent the painting you did of the Asgardian," she said with a bit of a bounce in her voice.
Charlotte froze. The words her friend had spoken seemed unreal to her. She turned slowly, her face without expression. "You did…what?" her voice was hardly hearable. Meagan stared back at her friend, realizing what she had done was the wrong idea.
"I found a painting you did of the Asgardian we met. I thought it was amazing, so I sent it to the museum."
"What? Meagan!"
"Well, they obviously liked it because it got us invites to the ball."
"Meagan, I can't believe you went through my things and then sent my painting half way across the world without asking me. What were you thinking?"
"Well, I was thinking after you get out of work tomorrow, I can take you to Baselley's so we can get dresses, and then there's this really cute miscellaneous shop down the road that we can look for accessories at, oh, and maybe after the flight-"
"Meagan!" Charlotte's head was boiling. Everything said after Meagan's confession of sending her newest artwork to Stuttgart had escaped Charlotte and she held firmly onto the anger inside her. "I can't believe you! First you went through my workshop when you know I hate that, and then you stole my painting and sent it off to some guy in Germany? Who knows if I'll ever get it back?"
"Char, calm down. I new if I asked you, you'd say no."
"You're damned right I would say no, so why would you go and do that?"
"Will you just calm down for five minutes and let me explain? Please!" Meagan pleaded with a raised voice. Despite her many protests yet to come, Charlotte held in the steam rolling off her bones and sunk into the cushions of her couch, refusing to look her friend in the eye. "Ever sense the incident with…you know," Meagan began. Charlotte's mind simmered at the thought of Loki, the supposed Asgardian prince who she had 'saved' months ago. Chills crawled through her body when her mind brought back the sound of his voice to her ears, the way he seemed so cold, like his whole body was made of ice. Meagan's voice brought her out of her realm of thought. "You just seem closed off all the time. You don't ever leave the house, and you sleep with the lights on now. I just thought this would make you happy and it would give you a chance to get out there again."
Charlotte knew Meagan meant no harm and that she was just looking out for her, as she always did. She had been a lot more unsociable after that night, but the thought of going all the way to Germany to fetch her painting back seemed overwhelming, suddenly. Plus, the thought of flying over the ocean did not thrill her in the least. Then again, the idea of going to a ball in an art museum sounded like fun. Maybe doing something radical like going over seas would bring Charlotte back to reality. Looking Meagan in the eye again, Charlotte sighed. She knew she would come to regret her decision in some horrid way. "When is the flight?"
"Meagan, I can't wear that." Charlotte stared at the dress before her uncertain about its modesty. This wasn't a masquerade ball, so she didn't have to go all out on her outfit, whereas Meagan had handed her several dresses that she knew would surely make her stand out in a large crowd, however, that was not Charlotte's intention. Meagan looked over the dress she held tired of the constant rejection she had received so far.
"Come on, what's wrong with this one?"
"It's too…flashy." Charlotte judged the dress with furrowed brows. There was no doubt, the gown was beautiful, but she felt she couldn't wear it without disgracing the dress, plus it was another one of those look-at-me types of gowns.
It was a strapless dress. The cloth underneath was a smooth, pale tan fabric dropping all the way to the floor. Covering the dress from the top were hundreds of thin shiny, gold strands which curved over each other at the breast line and spread out more the closer they got to the bottom. It was tight at the waist, but after the hips the fabric loosened, and it flowed as Meagan swayed it in front of Charlotte.
After a moment of looking it over, Charlotte grabbed the hanger and rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll only try it on, but that's it." Meagan clapped her hands in excitement as her friend searched out a dressing room. Charlotte had little difficulty trying on the dress. It fit almost perfectly and it felt wonderfully comfortable. When she looked at herself in the mirror, her soul gasped. The gown was very beautiful, even on her. Images of herself dancing at the ball in the dress flashed through her mind. She loved the way it looked with her red hair and pale skin and the gold color brought out the amber in her eyes.
"Let me see, Char." Meagan called from the other side of the door. Hesitantly, Charlotte opened the door. She was suddenly bombarded with 'Oooo's' and 'Ahhh's' as she stepped out of the dressing room and recoiled back when she realized the entire store had stopped to see her in the dress. There were a lot of good comments mumbled throughout the crowd, but Charlotte fled back behind the door in embarrassment.
"Meagan, I hate you," she yelled. She could hear her friend laughing at her.
"Charlotte you look amazing. I don't know about you, but I think that is the one. Let me get it for you, please!"
Charlotte stared at herself again in the mirror, feeling the fabric of the dress. She did like it very much. It just felt right. Changing back into her other clothes, she agreed this was the dress she would wear to the ball.
After purchasing the dress, Charlotte returned home to pack for the trip. Their flight would leave in a few hours and Charlotte had only a few minutes to get her things together.
Charlotte had never left Arizona before. She had grown up and lived in a small town all her life, so she did not know what to expect when the two would arrive in Germany. Part of her still couldn't believe she had agreed to go halfway across the world just for her painting. Another part of her tugged on a certain hope that maybe if she went to a big city like Stuttgart, then she would possibly reunite with her long, lost sister.
It had been years sense the two had last seem each other, and over very bad terms. In fact, Charlotte hadn't thought about it in a long time, but for palpable reasons. Glancing around her darkened room, Charlotte looked back to the incident that had broken the two sisters apart, though it was a painful one. She remembered the snow, which was something no one would expect in the Arizona heat. Charlotte had been waiting by her bedroom window, staring out into the night for any sign of headlights through the peculiar blizzard. She waited for hours and hours, until her body could no longer take the agony of waiting. She turned to leave the darkness of her room. There in the doorway was Natalia.
For a long while, nothing was said between them. Charlotte could hardly see the expression on her sister's face or the condition she was in due to the lack of light in the room, but something in their silence told Charlotte something was horribly wrong. Tears began to well up in her eyes. Her worst thoughts arose and the longer her sister remained silent, the more she thought them to be true. Finally, through a thick breath of air, Charlotte asked, "You found him?" More silence. Despite the order she had been given to never show overwhelming emotion while on the job, Natalia could not help but shed a tear as sadness took over her.
With a shivering sigh, Natalia quietly breathed out the reply, "Yes."
Charlotte let out a silent weep at her sister's answer. It was over, and there was nothing she could do now, but the realization that Samuel was indeed dead brought more pain into Charlotte's soul than she could bear. She knew why it had to be done, but her heart still denied any truth Natalia had spoken. She fell slowly to her knees, weeping uncontrollably. As for Natalia, she knew that what she had done was an obvious mistake, but she could not bring herself to tell her sister this. Not now. Charlotte would find out in a letter left by Natalia the day following.
Wiping a slight tear from her cheek, Charlotte rose from her bed to pack the rest of her things. It would be good to see Natalia again, despite the differences between them in the past. It was Natalia who had taught her to not dwell on the mistakes of the past. Though it was a hard thing to do, Charlotte eventually forgave her sister and moved on, but she still had not heard from her in years. Expecting her to be in Germany that week was more than a ridiculous hope, but it was a hope she was willing to take.
When the bags were zipped and ready to go, the telephone rang as if on cure. Forgetting her memories for a little bit at least, Charlotte skipped merrily to the phone.
"Are you ready to get this show on the road, Sister?" Meagan sang on the other line. Charlotte smiled.
"Absolutely."
She felt ready, but there was nothing that would have prepared Charlotte for that night at the museum. Landing in Germany was an entire experience by itself. The ride in from the plane was a breathtaking event from start to finish, and though it was well into the night by the time the two of them were on their feet again, the atmosphere around them felt wonderful. To be in a different country, thousands of miles away from anything familiar felt as if they were on a completely different planet.
Eventually, the girls were able to relax in their hotel room, which was a two bedroom, one bathroom, and three main-room living space. There was a dinning room, a large kitchen, and a living room, complete with a 92-inch entertainment system, two thermal system sofas, and a cute antique coffee table set. Charlotte had never loved the fact that her best friend was practically rich until now. She had never even lived in a house this nice, save the one she did now. When she told this to Meagan, he friend laughed. Of course she had; the house Meagan lived in now was more like a mansion to Charlotte.
The first couple of days, Charlotte and Meagan spent roaming around the area. Meagan introduced her to a young man sitting behind a bar counter in one of the diners Charlotte guessed she had met the last time she was in Germany. The two were extra friendly to each other, and Charlotte could not help but laugh, even though half of their conversation was in German and she couldn't understand a word they said. After that, there was more exploring to be done.
"You see that white building way on the other side of the block?" Meagan asked Charlotte when the two girls had walked onto a small bridge over the small lake just outside of the square. Charlotte squinted to see what building she talked about.
"The large one? Is that the museum?" Charlotte asked. "Can we go see it?"
"No, of course not. We need to save that for tomorrow night. I'm going to tell you though, it's beautiful." Meagan explained. Charlotte was a little disappointed, but the excitement rose within her at the thought of the following night. She couldn't wait.
During the final day just before the ball, Charlotte could do nothing but wait for the night. Excitement was raging inside both of them, but more so in Charlotte. She had never been to a ball before, let alone one in Germany. As she thought about it, she was actually kind of nervous.
"What if I stand out horribly? What if the dress you bought me doesn't fit in with the rest? Oh God. Meagan, I don't want to stick out like a sore thumb!" Meagan only laughed at her friend. She knew she was just overreacting, but Charlotte could hardly stand it.
"Charlotte, you need to relax." Meagan told her as she handed her friend a glass of cold water. Charlotte gulped it down almost instantly. "I'm sure you'll be just fine. I can't imagine what you would have been like if I hadn't come along."
"Oh, don't even go there." Charlotte chucked nervously. What would she have done? Probably go insane, she thought to herself. Once she was able to calm down, Meagan lured her into the bathroom so the two could get ready.
By the time Charlotte had gotten into the shower and the hot water was running over her, she felt completely relaxed. The steaming liquid soothed the nervousness out of her body, like a spirit flowing in and out of her soul, filtering out whatever was unwanted. As she stood in the porcelain tub, she let her thoughts wander (it was a routine of hers to let the day's events, or really any events of the time, run through her mind while she was in the shower). After everything: her fears of what might happen, the hope of seeing her sister, even thoughts of the Asgardian prince, was washed away, replaced again by pure excitement for the ball, Charlotte got out of the shower.
"Why don't I put the gown on first? It would make more sense that way," Charlotte had suggested when Meagan began doing her make-up for her. She stood completely still on the seat of the toilet, trying not to blink a single eyelash. Meagan was applying a dark, gold eye liquid to her eyelids as carefully as she could manage.
"Don't question – my genius, Charlotte," she said with a smile, concentrating on getting Charlotte's make-up perfect. "Why do you not trust me, I've only been doing this for years." Charlotte laughed at her friend's accent. Though Meagan was raised in America, because both of her parents were English she sometimes talked like them, but only when she was completely relaxed, or when she wanted to show off.
"I never said I didn't trust you. If that was the case, you wouldn't be doing this, would you?" Charlotte laughed. Meagan had half a mind to rub the eye make on her face, but didn't; it was too expensive to waist. When she was done with that, she pulled out more make-up containers, all filled with different varieties of beautiful colors. "What's that for?" Charlotte asked. Meagan gave Charlotte an annoyed look, and Charlotte turned her head back into the position it was before and motioned zipping her own lip, giggling slightly in the process. Meagan laughed and grabbed a tiny bottle from her purse.
"Now you don't need much of this, because your complexion is like, perfect, but I'm going to use just a pinch on your nose to cover up those pores." Meagan explained and applied a pale, skin-colored cream to Charlotte's face. Charlotte was slightly frightened by it, but she stood still. She would never understand the roles of certain cosmetics, because she hardly ever wore make-up at all. The one thing she did use was eyeliner, but it was a color of liner nearly identical to her complexion. "That's no fun at all," Meagan had told her, but she simply ignored her. Having Meagan do her make-up now was somewhat fun, to a certain extent.
After her make-up, Meagan also offered to do Charlotte's hair. "Are you going to have enough time to do yourself?"
"Of course! I am the appearance wizard, am I not? Don't worry, just plug in that straightener over there." Without a word, Charlotte did as she was told while Meagan plucked several tall, cylinder-shaped cans from her purse. "I'm going to give you an option here. What would you prefer: extra curly, or straight?" Meagan asked, setting the bottles down on the bathroom sink.
Charlotte sat on a stool in front of the mirror, thoroughly looking over her reflection. "Wow, Meagan. What did you do to my face?" she exclaimed. Meagan laughed and took Charlotte's hair out of the pony tail she put it in earlier.
"I told you, I'm a genius. Now, answer my question."
Charlotte thought about it for a while. Her hair was naturally wavy, but not as curly as her sister's hair. She always envied Natalia for having the beautiful hair out of the two of them. But Charlotte had curled her hair many times in her attempts to look like her older sister, and never had she come out with the result that she wanted in the first place. "Let's go with straight." She said, feeling both excited and ambiguous at the same time. With the straightener in one hand and a brush in the other, Meagan went to work in the mess that was Charlotte's hair.
It took a few hours; Charlotte was surprised at that, but not as surprised as she was with the end result. She never noticed her hair was actually long enough to cover her chest until it was completely straightened, but the red color and the natural shine it had was beautiful to look at; Charlotte was proud of her hair. It felt lighter than before, like Meagan had secretly cut off most of the flawless strands in secret, which Charlotte knew she would never do. Looking her reflection over in the mirror again, Charlotte smiled. "You are an appearance wizard, Meagan."
"The appearance wizard, dear Charlotte. I am the one and only, now let's put your dress on so I can get changed."
"Or you could just wear that." Charlotte joked.
Meagan looked down at her holey sweatpants and The White Stripes t-shirt with distaste. Looking up with a sarcastic smile, she led Charlotte into a clumsy waltz out of the room, singing a humorous tune of La la la. Both girls laughed hysterically, not believing how ridiculous they were. It is why they had remained best friend for so many years.
Charlotte twirled her fingers nervously over each other as she sat in the back of the black limo. Meagan sat casually with a glass of champagne in her hand. She watched Charlotte over the edge of her glass while taking another sip. Her friend stared out the window, watching the people they past. She didn't expect to be arriving to the ball in a limo. It made her worry that everyone would be watching her when she got out. She was an imposter. She didn't even remember why she was going to this ball.
Meagan smiled and clasped her free hand over Charlotte's. "Char, you're going to be fine. I don't know why you're so nervous."
"Maybe because people might expect some senator or something when we step out of the limo. I'm dressed in this absurd dress, wearing all this make-up. I don't feel like myself."
Meagan laughed. "Charlotte. You're being ridiculous. You look amazing! I wouldn't be surprised if you picked up some hot German boy from this."
"Oh, don't even." Charlotte loathed the idea of some strange guy hitting on her, especially since she wouldn't be able to understand him.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you," Meagan said, giggling wildly. She sipped the rest of her champagne and straightened out her dress, which was a shorter, dark blue gown with small sparkle specks here and there, and with straps that wrapped around her neck in the back. It brought out the light blue in her eyes, and complemented her figure remarkably. She wore little make-up, but what she had brought out her face in a brilliant, beautiful way. She had slightly curled her hair, and pinned it up in some places to make it look shorter. To Charlotte, she almost looked like Cate Blanchett, which Meagan was proud of; they dearly loved their Australian actresses.
The vehicle came to a sudden stop, startling Charlotte. Meagan sat up in her seat, a wide smile plastered on her face. "Are you ready?"
Charlotte nervously shook her head. "No." and then the driver opened their door and they both exited the limo.
The night air was chilly, but not too cold. As Charlotte stepped out of the limo, she admired the scenes around her. In front of them was the museum. It was a beautifully large building, with three, gorgeous, stained glass windows on either side of the front entrance, welcoming the sights outside within the ballroom. Lights flashed and circled around the ground where a large group of people stood, waiting to get inside. Meagan took Charlotte's hand and led her in that direction. Two bright clocks hanging on both sides of the middle windows caught Charlotte's eye. It was nearly 8 o' clock.
When they had gotten inside, the atmosphere suddenly changed. It was warmer, and more breathtaking. A symphony was being played; the sound was relaxing and lovely. Charlotte indulged herself in the architecture of the large ballroom. The ceiling seemed to be made out of marble, which stunned her a bit. She had seen marble floors, but never a ceiling, though it was high up from her view, she could tell. Another thing that caught her eye was the statue in the middle of the room. It was some sort of table, with two bulls acting as the tables' heads at either end. Immediately after walking into the crowd of people, Charlotte went to the walls to look over hanging artwork. They were all beautiful, but then Charlotte suddenly realized why she had come. Where was her painting?
Her thoughts were interrupted when Meagan caught her by the arm. "Look, there is Dr. Heinrich right now. I'll introduce you."
"Meagan, you've only met the man once. How do you know he won't recognize you?" Charlotte asked, but was ignored as Meagan pulled her through the crowd. She caught sight of an older man who hardly had any hair on his head, wearing a black tux and tie. He had a round face, but a friendly smile, which was pointed at Meagan when he caught sight of them.
"Ah, Victor jüngste tochter," the man said, though Charlotte couldn't understand him. Mentioning Meagan's father's name, he must have recognized her. Meagan planted a kiss on the Doctor's cheek, which he returned.
"Es ist schön, Sie wieder zu sehen, Doktor."
"Ein Vergnügen."
Meagan turned to Charlotte, who waited in the background of their reunion to be introduced. "Doctor, this is my close friend, Charlotte. She is the one who did the painting I sent you." Charlotte shook the man's hand with an uncertain smile. Heinrich smiled back, looking a bit surprised.
"Jou are the one who made dat glorious painting? I have to say, Miss Charlotte, I v'wass amazed." The doctor said, kindly, a hand gesturing over his chest. Charlotte was flattered to here him speak greatly over her work, whether it had been stolen from her or not. She smiled and nodded. "Well, thank you, Doctor. I'm glad to hear you like it."
"Tell me, v'wat vas you inspiration, to paint in the arts of mythology? As you can tell, the museum has its own great love for mythology. It v'was the legend of the Asgardian Prince, in vich you painted, v'was it not?"
Charlotte opened her mouth, but didn't quite know how to answer the doctor's question. Luckily she didn't have to. A man came to Heinrich at that moment and slightly tapped on his shoulder, whispering something to him in German. The doctor seemed disappointed, but when the man disappeared, he turned back to Charlotte and smiled. "I am sorry, my dears, but I must go now. We vill talk about this more. Please, enjoy yourselves. Meagan, alv'ways a pleasure." And then he dispersed.
Charlotte, too felt a little disappointed. "There goes my only hope of finding my painting." She mumbled. Meagan sighed, then looked around the room, but realized none of the paintings hanging around the ballroom were the one they were looking for. "Well maybe we can look around. It has to be here somewhere."
Charlotte thought about that too, but she knew it wouldn't be that easy to just go anywhere she wanted. There were men standing around the room, she noticed, just watching the others. They were most likely guards of some sort. "I bet most of the museum is off limits."
"Well, how about I distract the curly haired guard over there, and you sneak past him." Charlotte laughed.
"I'm not sneaking anywhere."
"Oh, come on, Charlotte. Have some fun for once in your life."
"I have fun. I also obey rules, unlike someone I know."
Meagan gave her friend a childish look, but the two laughed at one another. There was a tapping sound that echoed through the air at that moment, and the girls' attention was drawn to the front of the room where Dr. Heinrich stood in front of a microphone. He spoke to the crown in German, but sense Meagan hardly showed interest, she knew it wasn't anything she was really missing out on. As the rest of the crowd had their full attention on the Doctor, Charlotte's eyes wandered.
She looked over the winding stairs and wished to know what secrets were hidden up there. Her eyes followed the stone railing until they fell on the balcony above the ballroom. Though the large painting on the wall of that floor interested her a great deal, something else caught the better of her attention. There was a man standing alone, looking over the balcony railing down at the crowd, maybe even directly at Dr. Heinrich. She could not see his face, but noticed he carried something in his hand: a walking stick of some sort, with a bright, luminescent, blue orb at the top. As she stared at it, Charlotte suddenly felt a little diverted. She felt drawn to it, like a moth drawn to light. It was beautiful.
The man moved away from the balcony, as if he could detect Charlotte watching him. There was something strange about him, but she didn't know what. Not completely knowing why and without a word to Meagan, Charlotte walked through the slightly spread out crowd to stand nearer to the stairs. "Charlotte, where are you going," Meagan called after her, but Charlotte did not answer. She kept on toward where one of the guards was standing until the man she had seen was now at the top of the stairs just behind Dr. Heinrich. He paused for a moment, glancing at the crowd, and then made his way down. At this point, Charlotte could see his face, and she could not believe her eyes.
Meagan caught up with her friend and whispered fiercely in her ear, "What are you doing? I was only joking about the guards."
Charlotte ignored her. Instead she stared at the man on the stairs. He was dressed in a black suit, with a green and white scarf hanging over the back of his neck. He held the cane in his hand, almost too firmly. What Charlotte recognized about him the most was his face. Those features had hardly left her mind for the past couple of months. His skin was pale, and his dark eyes seemed almost lifeless, yet he moved. The heart in Charlotte's chest thumbed loudly within her. Nearly too quiet for Meagan to here, she whispered, "It's him."
Meagan's gaze followed that of her friends, and her eyes also fell on the strange man. Almost immediately, she recognized him. Charlotte held her breath as he approached. She didn't know why he was there, or what he was doing, but for some reason, she suddenly felt afraid.
One of the guards caught sight of the two girls and looked back to see what they were staring at, and as soon as he did, Loki appeared behind him, tossing his cane in the air and catching the end of it again, and suddenly swung it into the guard's face, knocking him to the floor. Charlotte jolted backwards when this happened, as did the others that were near enough to see it happen. As they cried out, Dr. Heinrich turned as Loki grabbed him by the throat and dragged him to the table with the bulls, flipping him on top of it.
"Doctor!" Meagan cried, as many others did, but there was no helping him. The moment Loki brought out a strange devise and then plunged it into Heinrich's face, all who had been in the ballroom hastily made their way for the exit, screaming in fear as they went. Charlotte was numb in watching this. She could hardly breathe, too terrified of this man before her to move. Meagan was yelling frantically for Charlotte while also crying for the Doctor as Loki mutilated his face, smiling at he did.
She ran back for Charlotte, but then suddenly noticed one of the guards had dropped his club. Without thinking, Meagan picked it from the ground, holding it firmly in her hands, and marched toward Loki. Charlotte's fear arouse from her mouth in a scream. "Meagan, no!" But it was too late. As Loki was about to turn, Meagan swung the club in the same way he had done with his cane, and slammed it into the side of his head, prying him away from the dead Doctor. Loki cried out in mere surprise, but was unharmed. He turned to Meagan with hatred in his face, leaving fear to be the only expression on Meagan's. She slowly stepped away from the Asgardian, but not before she witnessed the cane in Loki's hand transform into a large, metal spear. Meagan's heart raced with terror. She dropped the club, but could not turn to run in time before Loki lunged his scepter into her stomach. Charlotte screamed when she saw Meagan jolt back, gasping in pain. And then she fell to her knees, holding her stomach where Loki had stabbed her. Charlotte stared, horrified at her friend, and then looked to Loki who wore nothing but rage on his face. When she had fallen, he smiled. He had not stabbed her enough to kill her, he realized, so he raised his scepter again. Charlotte's eyes grew wide, and she screamed to him by name.
A deadly silence followed her scream. Loki stopped, meeting Charlotte's eyes in a wave of surprise. He lowered his scepter, slowly, and stood straight as he examined Charlotte's appearance. She was shaking, and small tears fell from the corners of her eyes. Loki stood still, slightly smiling at her, but she did not know why. It kind of scared her to see him so pleased. "And our paths meet again, Charlotte," he said simply, glancing down at Meagan briefly. "I suppose, you know this woman."
Charlotte took a deep breath to calm her trembling body, glancing down at her friend. "What if I do?" she said, more boldly than she thought she could. Loki leaned back, turning again to a terrified Meagan, still holding her belly, blood now visible on her beautiful gown. Loki swiped his scepter under Meagan's chin, causing her to weep in fear. "Please, Loki. Leave her, please." Charlotte pleaded, taking a step toward the two of them. Loki glanced up at her while dragging the tip of his scepter through Meagan's hair, tormenting her. "Please... "
Finally, Loki took back his spear and turned completely to Charlotte. "You wish to see compassion?" he asked, smiling. He stepped toward her. Charlotte was too afraid to move back. Her body was trembling worse than before. She simply nodded. As if mocking her, Loki shrugged his shoulders. "Show me compassion." He pointed the scepter in her direction. "Kneel to me," he ordered. Charlotte stood still, stunned. Was he joking? Of course not, she realized. She glanced at Meagan, who was hardly awake now. She had tears in her eyes as she looked to the floor, slowly lowering to her knees. When she was situated on the floor, Loki's smile grew. He walked to her, now completely ignoring the other girl. "That was not so bad." He said, walking around her. Her eyes remained on the floor.
Charlotte's skin felt cold as he stepped near her, and she completely tensed, holding her breath when she felt the chill of his fingers on her shoulder. She closed her eyes tightly as she felt him bend to her ear, his breath warm on the back of her neck. "I will spare your friend…Charlotte," he whispered. She could feel his cold gaze staring at her while he spoke. "If you vow to me. Vow to obey, to do as I ask, to let me rule you, then I will spare her life." He stood again and waited in the silence of the museum.
Charlotte sat there for what seemed like years, rotting in the cold silence that was Loki. She was scared, for both Meagan and herself. Tears ran down her face. What else could she do? She sighed out, and then held what remaining breath she had until she felt dizzy. She opened her eyes as blackness surrounded her sight, but only for a moment. The world seemed to spin around her, and it wouldn't stop. What else could she do?
"I…vow," Charlotte whispered, so silently, she could hardly hear herself.
Loki leaned in to her ear again. "You vow to what?" he said, knowing it would aggravate her. Charlotte took a deep breath.
"To obey. To be ruled…Loki." She said, finally breathing all the way out.
At her words, Loki smiled. There was something about him that made Charlotte quiver. Just the sound of his breath sent chills through her body, and she couldn't control it. Loki walked in front of her and offered her his hand. For a moment, she only stared at it, not sure what to do, like it was alien to her. Eventually, she raised her hand in the air and Loki grabbed it, pulling her to her feet, which frightened her a good deal. When she jerked back, Loki gripped her forearm and held her still, making it to where she had to stare into his eyes. She noticed he had somehow changed from his suit to the Asgardian attire she had first saw him in, minus the horned helmet. His smile was gone, but there was something in his eyes, like a sort of accomplishment. Was this his plan all along? He smirked slightly, loosening his grip on her arm. "Come, then," he said, leading her to the exit. At this point, Charlotte had somehow forgotten about Meagan.
When the two were finally outside, Charlotte was surprised to see everyone who had been in the ball had not yet dispersed. Chaos filled the streets. As Loki stepped out of the museum, the police came driving down the street, only to be blasted away at the power of his scepter. The people were surrounded by holographic images of Loki. Whether they would be dangerous at all was unknown to the people of Stuttgart, so they dared not approach them. With Charlotte slowly trailing behind him, Loki made his way to the crowd. With his scepter raised, Loki demanded the people to kneel before him, as he had with Charlotte, but not a single one of the obeyed. "I said…" He slammed the scepter down on the ground, sending a wave of electricity to the other Loki's in the crowd. "Kneel!" he screamed. In their fear, the people obeyed he wish and fell to their knees.
Loki smiled, pleased with himself. The people looked up to him out of fear, wondering what he was planning to do. Loki casually walked to the crowd, and some of the people parted a way for him as he walked past. "Is not this simpler?" he asked, gesturing his hands toward them. "Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity…that you crave subjugation." Some of the people in the crowd bent their heads down in thought. Of course they did not agree with him. Charlotte even disagreed, but who were they to speak up? What would he do if they did? "The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power…for identity." Loki went on. "You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."
As Loki finished his short speech, Charlotte saw at the corner of her eye an elderly man stand in the crowd of kneeling people. Her eyes grew wide with worry. She glanced at Loki as the older man spoke. "Not to men like you," he said, in a voice braver than anyone she had heard. Loki only laughed.
"There are no men like me," he said. He said it only because he knew he was not entirely a man, but something more, at least in his eyes.
The old man meekly shook his head and said, "There are always men like you."
Loki was not fazed by this speech. He took one step closer and pointed the scepter in his hand toward the one who spoke up to him. "Look to your elder, people." Charlotte gasped, knowing what he would do. She took a step forward, but realized anything she did would be no good. And the vow… "Let him be an example."
The light left the scepter, blazing toward the old man, but before it could meet its target, another stood in its way. The electric ball bounced back straight at Loki, throwing him into the ground. Everyone around him was dazed. What had just happened? The crowd turned to the old man, but saw someone else standing there with him. All the stories Charlotte had ever heard when she was young, and did not believe, suddenly came back to her when she looked and saw Captain America standing in the middle of the crowd, his legendary shield at his side. Most around him could not believe it either, Charlotte knew by the way they looked at him. She smiled, feeling a sort of relief.
Loki scrambled to get back on his feet as the captain approached him. "You know, the last time I was in Germany, and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing."
"The soldier!" Loki observed, relaxing the rage inside him. He stood with the help of his scepter, laughing. "A man out of time."
"I'm not the one who's out of time." The captain replied.
Charlotte and the others looked up in the sky as a jet approached the crowd. The relief on most of the people's face could be seen from anywhere, but Charlotte knew Loki would not go down without a fight. The guns of the jet dropped, pointing at the Asgardian. A woman from within the jet spoke, "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."
Of course, he did not. Loki fired his scepter in the direction of the jet, which moved quick enough to avoid the blast. In the distraction, Captain America threw his shield at Loki and marched forward in an attempt to capture him. The people who had been held captive now scattered themselves to get away from the fight, all except Charlotte who went toward it. She did not know what she could do, but she felt if she ran away, than it would be the end of her. She pushed past the screaming crowd of panicked people as a sound of music took over the skies, like someone had turned on the fighting theme song. She realized then that is was Tony Stark as she saw him flying near them in his Ironman suit. Another smile lifted her face. Just before Charlotte reached the place where Loki stood, Tony discharged a ball of flame toward Loki, knocking him directly into Charlotte, who flew back into the hard concrete underneath him. Though he felt little pain, Charlotte rolled down the concrete steps unconscious.
When Tony landed, the captain met with him just before Loki changed uniforms in a form of surrender, holding his hands in the air. When he knew there would be no more fighting, Loki turned to the comatose Charlotte and, glancing at either men near him, slowly made his way to her, calling her by name. She didn't answer. This confused Tony and Cap. Who was this girl, and how did Loki know her? Loki took one of the girl's shoulders and shook her slightly before Tony grabbed him, raising him to his feet.
In the back, the jet landed and a woman with short red hair came running out. When she saw the scene, she ordered Tony to take Loki to the jet. Loki held back, staring anxiously at Charlotte. When he was finally away, Natasha, the red headed woman, looked down at the unconscious girl. "Who's this?" she said, crouching down beside her.
"Don't know, but that Loki…called her Charlotte." Captain informed her. Natasha paused and fiercely turned to the unconscious girl. She bent down at her side and flipped her over to see her face. Of course, she would recognize that face anywhere.
Tony exchanged glances with Captain. "You know this girl?"
Natasha did not reply right away. She stared down at Charlotte and took a moment to feel a pulse to see if she was still alive. To her relief, she was. "We need to get her help. Get her in the jet, she goes with us."
"Hold on a minute, ma'am. We can't take a civilian with us. She needs a hospital."
"No!" Natasha yelled back, startling both men. They were confused at this. Though Natasha held firmly onto one of her blank expressions, confusion, mixed with a bit of joy and worry raged within her. "You don't understand. She's my sister."…