Meda took out six drachma. "Passage to Olympus for two, one of them Thor. I have six drachma."
She tossed them into the pond. A water naiad appeared.
Three more drachma, please.
Meda took out three more drachma and let them fall.
The hall of the gods was shown, and she motioned for Thor to step in.
She grasped the Norse's arms, just so Zeus wouldn't try to blast him.
~:~
"I do not like this," Poseidon said with a frown. "Keeping Loki here will only bring the attention of the mortals."
"Nevertheless, Loki was brought to us as payment for Thor's stay –" Zeus was interrupted by a crash, and they all saw Meda standing there, wringing her hand. Thor also stood there, clutching his nose.
"Gods above, what's your face made of?!" Meda yelped.
"Wow, that was stupid," noted Apollo, making Meda freeze. The demigod bowed before the gods, then straightened.
"Forgive me for entering Olympus uninvited," Meda said in a stoic voice. "Thor needed to see you and I needed to ask Lord Zeus to stop soaking New York."
"I won't until Loki is out of my palace." Zeus glared down at Thor. "And unfortunately, Loki must remain as a bargaining tool with the Greeks. I will not release him, not even temporarily."
Thor frowned. "Your world faces the Convergence," he said gravely. "A temporary joining of the Nine Realms."
"And I don't really care."
"Every realm will be destroyed by the Aether!" Thor protested. "Loki knows ways out of Asgard that I do not."
"Then how did you leave your Ass-guard?" Zeus questioned, purposely pissing Thor off, if the way the Norse's hammer sparked.
"Actually, I think I have a solution," Meda spoke, bringing everyone's attention to her. The demigoddess raised her chin. "I am Greek. If Thor takes me with him and Loki to do whatever must be done, then I can still hold Loki hostage for the Greeks."
There was a silence. Athena chuckled.
"It seems even my daughter can rub off on your offspring, Poseidon."
"It's not wisdom, so no," Meda said blandly, causing Athena to frown. "Everybody just ignores the obvious."
There was a dead silence.
"Well, that's true," Hades finally said. "The demigod, while mortal, could have protective enchantments on her to not make her sway to Loki's Silvertongue." Thor opened his mouth, but Hades continued speaking. "It wouldn't even take that long to place them on her. Plus, she can withstand the Celestial Bronze chains that we'd have to connect them."
"Hades!" Athena stood. "Putting Celestial Bronze chains – you're not seriously thinking of them, are you?"
"I am," Hades affirmed. "Locking them together in such a way is the only way to ensure Loki does not escape. Unfortunately, this means that until Loki has learned his lessons to Andromeda's satisfaction, both of them are stuck together."
"Anything would be good, if it would be hurried. Where is this Andromeda?" Thor looked around expectantly.
"Here, idiot," Meda said shortly. "And I don't appreciate decisions made for me, Norse," she added darkly, glaring at the one she'd walked in with. "I'll do it anyway, I'm bored."
There was a dead silence as the gods just stared at Meda with blank expressions.
"This is a matter of 'you might never be able to escape having Loki with you everywhere' situation, and you'll do it because you're bored?" Dionysus questioned. "Did the Pit addle your mind?"
"Yep, to all, possibly," Meda yawned. "Let's hurry this up. The faster we get this done, the faster we can end this Convergence thing."
~:~
Loki opened an eye as the cell door opened. His muzzle – to stop him from using his Silvertongue, he assumed correctly – was taken off by a nymph. He was escorted to a room where his clothes were (save for, oddly enough, his bracers), the aurae flying around and vanishing only when he got dressed; when he was done more aurae appeared with nymphs.
Odin was probably under the assumption that he was in his cell, still; his mother was probably keeping that fiction alive.
He rounded a corner with his guards and stopped at the sight of his brother speaking with a dark-haired woman.
The woman glanced at him.
There was nothing in her eyes.
"The spells are working," announced the Greek Sorceress, Hecate. "Shall we commence with the chains?"
"Won't they be a little obvious?" asked the mortal woman, turning her sea-green gaze to Hecate, who gave her a patient smile.
"No. They're of magical Celestial Bronze, usually only connecting our worst prisoners to a certain location. No god can be chained with them and not bear scars for the next century; bearable pain for us, aye, but locked between demigods it will not hurt you."
The mortal was a demigoddess, then. Pretty one, for a mortal.
A man dressed in purple brought a box forward.
"You're Ganymede!" The mortal stared at the man dressed in purple.
The man blinked, then grinned. "Well, well, demigod! I never, ever thought someone would recognize me! Most people just call me Zeus' royal cupbearer, not Ganymede!"
"Yeah!" the mortal looked a little creeped out by him. "So… Can I ask what's in the box?"
"The Chains of Bronze," Ganymede responded eagerly, setting it down and opening it.
"They look like armor," the girl observed. "Like bracers."
"Which you don't normally wear," Ganymede told her. "They take on all forms suited to their bearers, even though they're almost impossible to get off without a little scarring."
"Will it scar my brother, too?"
Hecate shook her head. "No, most likely not."
"Good." She set her arms out. "Ready when you are."
The nymph next to Loki shoved Loki forward more, next to Ganymede and the mortal.
"And this must happen why?" Loki questioned, bringing all attention to him.
"Because nobody in this room likes you, but your brother needs you," the mortal snapped, her eyes flashing angrily. "And Zeus will not leave you in the care of your brother." She didn't seem to like Loki.
Ganymede carefully lifted one of the set out. "Desmios," he said aloud, and a glowing set of Greek letters appeared – δέσμιος – and Ganymede forced the bracers onto Loki. Loki felt nothing but abnormal warmth before they seemed to settle. He was the prisoner, after all. Greek for 'bound' or 'a prisoner' must have been needed for the chains to work.
Ganymede brought out the other pair. "Fýlakas," he said to the other pair. 'Φύλακας' inscribed itself on that pair, which was then passed to the demigoddess next to Loki.
Just like that, with no fanfare, chains, literal chains, appeared between them. Then the chains vanished, but the bracers didn't.
"So, they're going to act as bracers?" the demigod asked, staring at her bare arms.
Hecate paused in taking off Loki's less powerful chains.
"What do you mean? Your arms are bare."
Meda raised an eyebrow and jerked her wrist down, onto the pommel of her sword. A metallic clang was heard before the bracers were revealed.
"Hm." Hecate frowned. "That has never happened before." She paused. "And, Andromeda?"
The girl raised her other eyebrow.
"Loki cannot lie to you, but he can lie to others. If you so choose, you can lie to him and he won't even know it."
"What?" Loki growled, his eyes flashing. He reached for his magic and his bracers burned.
"Oh, yes," Hecate smirked, obviously seeing the bracers on Loki's forearms, "he can't really do anything but talk without your permission."
"Joy," Andromeda said with sarcasm. "This is going to be so much fun."
Loki glared at her.
~:~
"Our father," Thor began, "is not unaware of Loki's presence on Midgard. So we're going to have to make it seem like you're trying to win the Norse over, for a peace treaty."
Andromeda arched an eyebrow. "And how am I supposed to do that?"
Hecate laughed, making Loki twitch as Hecate passed him and handed her a scroll.
"Give this to the Norse."
"A scroll?" Andromeda made a face. "What's this supposed to do?"
"It's a false treaty. Zeus will be made aware that we're simply playing along." She glanced at Loki. "Take care of her, Loki Laufeyson."
"I thought Loki was Odinson," the mortal said, her eyes narrowing.
Loki glared at her. "My so-called father stole me from an abandoned temple from the realm of Frost Giants." Monsters.
"Oh. I'm going to pretend I actually understand what you're saying." Hecate placed her hand on Andromeda's shoulder and leaned in, whispering something to her. Andromeda nodded.
Andromeda turned to Thor.
"I suppose we should go –" she began.
"No!" Hecate snapped her fingers after she interrupted the mortal. A flare of green later and Andromeda stood in a dress suited for the Ancient Greeks – a very attractive dress, Loki noted. Her sword was in a scabbard on her back, a shield with the face of a Greek monster – Medusa, Loki knew. A thin black cord acted as a belt for her dress.
"And luggage." Ganymede produced a suitcase; Hecate plucked the scroll Andromeda held and placed it in a pocket. Loki watched with interest as Hecate showed Andromeda several useful things – the Greeks' healing supplies, the weapon cache should she ever need extra weapons… Greeks were odd creatures.
"And finally, last but not least… If you hit Medusa square in the face – on your shield, idiot," Hecate said as the demigoddess looked like she was searching for something. "If you hit Medusa square in the face your armor with fit on you, nice and snug."
"Great, but you just told me to not reveal my parentage if I can help it, and that means fighting," Andromeda said blandly.
"I highly doubt anyone would be able to guess your parent from your fighting, dear."
Loki had already guessed, and he hadn't even seen her fighting. There was something in the eyes.
"Poseidon," he said aloud.
Everyone in the room gave him a filthy look for speaking. Except the girl.
"I guess it's obvious by my looks, Lady Hecate."
"Only if you're as smart as Loki," Hecate said, looking back at the Greek girl. "You'll have to act like Zeus' child, instead."
"Oh, that's easy." Andromeda smirked. "Act like a total bitch. Got it."
"I don't understand," Thor admitted. Nor did Loki – why must the mortal hide her heritage as a demigod daughter of Poseidon?
Hecate glanced at Thor. "Most of Poseidon's children are like the sea. Their natures are interchangeable. But if word got out to Odin that a child of Poseidon was securing a treaty for Zeus instead of Poseidon, it would be a cause for wonder – is it the time that Poseidon will truly overwhelm Zeus? No. Rather than leaving room for doubt, a child that claims to be the child of Zeus managing a treaty for Zeus seems less like a power play on Poseidon and more of a 'Zeus is using his own child to do what he wants'."
"So, the usual godly games," Andromeda said, her green eyes narrowed.
"Pretty much," Ganymede nodded. "Now, really, if you want to go, you should go now."