Sunlight beamed through an open window, as Quillith rushed past feverously trying to pull on her worn leather boots. Somehow she had woken up late today. The sun was already on its way up, and was about to crest the hill which caused her to push into a run down the winding hallway. She passed many doors and raced up the long flight of stairs and down another long stone corridor into the kitchen. As soon as she was through the large double doors Harlin was on her.
"O-oh! Master Harlin" She said bowing quickly, "I-I'm sorry I'm-I'm late sir." She panted between quick breaths.
Harlin was a big man in all terms of the word. He dwarfed Quillith's slender figure in more than one way. He also had a large, gruff sandy-blond beard unlike the majority of his hair that was missing from the crown of his head. His large crooked nose took up a majority of his face, which did not seem to be aesthetically pleasing. The massive chief chef's brown eyes were livid.
"Where have you been?! His Highness and the young lord will be expecting breakfast at any moment! And here you come, bedraggled and barely out of bed! Do you think yourself above the rest of us girl?! Do you think you should be able to sleep the day away while we toil and sweat the morning away?!" The elder man snarled.
"N-no sir!" Quillith replied quickly wishing to get out of the man's way before a fight ensued.
"Then GET MOVING!" He yelled and Quillith ran to her station, nodding to a few of the fellow servants as she passed. The hot stoves of the kitchen were already causing her to sweat, and the sweet smells of the morning food were making her stomach knot with hunger. She dodged around in the massive kitchen until she found a tray that was ready to be sent out to the waiting King and his son.
The gold tray was decorated with a wide assortment of fruits and cheeses, bread and a cask of wine. Quillith heaved the feast onto her shoulder and carried it out to the waiting royalty.
As she walked into the large dining hall, she inwardly reflected on how beautiful the room was. The gold of the morning sun reflected off of the gold tables and chairs, and the crystalline goblets sent rainbow-like shards dancing across the ceiling and tables. She attempted to avert her eyes from the King as he began to sit down; staring was rude after all.
The King wore the whitest robes, flecked with gold trimming and intricate gold spaulders. His golden eye patch matching his spaulders perfectly. The oldest prince was absent from the table at present. Quillith quickly cast an eye around the dining table to see if he was near. She spotted him immediately; after all the giant son of Odin was hard to miss. He took a seat near his father, and Quillith approached.
Quillith made her way toward the older prince, and went to set the tray down in front of him. She grabbed the wine flask and offered the young lord a cup which he refused with a wave. Quillith sighed inwardly and set it down. The young lord looked up and seemed to be studying her. Quillith tried not to look embarrassed so she bowed quickly and was turning to leave when his voice caught her attention.
"Girl," Quillith swallowed involuntarily hoping she wasn't in trouble, "you are the one I sent to tend to my brother last night, are you not?" She turned around quickly and kept her head down.
"I am your highness." Quillith said, mentally trying to keep herself from wringing her hands.
"Good and how is he this morning?" Thor inquired as he grabbed some of the fruits off the platter Quillith had offered him.
"I-…I have not been down to see the young master yet this morning." Quillith kicked herself inwardly at her own stupidity.
"Ah, I see. Well, see to it that he receives proper nourishment this morning. I wish to speak to him later and do not wish to catch him in a foul mood." Thor said before taking a bite of cheese, and then continued, "I am also assigning you to him full time. See to it that he is tended too and is comfortable. If he requests anything no matter how menial it may seem, it must be verified by a guard or by myself before he is awarded it. Is that understood?"
"Of course my Lord." Quillith gave a simple half bow, attempting to quell the sudden urge to shiver. "Is there anything else I can do for you this morning?"
"No, that will be all." Thor turned his attention back to his father and began to engage in conversation.
Quillith bowed and quickly turned to leave. Hurriedly she walked as fast as she was able, winding her way back through the kitchen.
She grabbed an empty tray and whisked through the kitchen, selecting the tastiest looking portions of the morning meal. Once she had compiled what she thought was an irresistible tray, she headed towards the back of the kitchen, taking care to stay out of the eye sight of the many chefs if it was possible. She had almost made her way to the door when a large hand was clapped on her shoulder, nearly knocking her and the tray off balance.
"And where, lil miss, do you think you're going?" It was the deep booming voice of Harlin, the master chef. He was not happy. Quillith turned slowly on her heels so as not to disrupt the tray and faced the big chef.
"Down to the prisoner's quarters, in the dungeon." She cringed under Harlin's stare. His narrowing brown eyes suddenly widened.
Abruptly the kitchen seemed to grow quieter. Quillith looked around in surprise, and confusion.
"The prisoner," Harlin said his voice barely above a whisper. "You mean the Lord Loki?"
Quillith only nodded, unsure of the sudden change in atmosphere. The look in Harlin's dark eyes unsettled her. The large man brought his face close to hers and quickly glanced over his shoulder before continuing.
"Take heed then lil' miss," Harlins gruff voice was colored with fear, "the young Master is a sly, cunning and devious man." The large bearded man glanced around once more, looking anxious then returning his focus to Quillith "Keeping 'im here's a bad omen if you ask me. He's a crafty one; so don't be do'n anything stupid now ya hear? He could hex ya with 'is dark magics. Then we would all pay the price."
Quillith backed away slowly, pushing out the door. She turned and hurried out of the hot kitchen, not stopping until she was a good distance away from the hot cooking room. Her heart was still pounding in her ears as she descended the stairs to the dungeon.
Before she entered the large prison room, she paused outside the big wooden door.
He could hex ya with 'is dark magics. Then we would all pay the price. Harlin's words reverberated in her mind.
Quillith growled shaking the thought from her mind. She was afraid of no man, she reminded herself, and that meant that she was not afraid of the magister prince. Inwardly she braced herself for what she was sure to be a pleasant encounter.
She threw her weight against the old thick door and it wheezed open.
~'''~
Loki had endured a haunting dream that had kept him from sleep for most of the night. The cold stone bed hadn't helped either, but Loki had accepted that there was a high probability that he was going to be here for awhile and so he should make an attempt to become accustom with his new living quarters. At least until he could figure out some way to escape his imprisonment that is. Then he would need to find the Tesseract and escape from Asgard either without being noticed or by force. Secretly he doubted he could take on all the inhabitants…especially his brother and his father. He let out a sigh and put his face in his hands. Where did I gone so wrong? Suddenly Loki felt sick to his stomach. Surely there is a way… he said to himself trying to force down the panic that rose in his mind at the thought of failure.
Failure.
The word had haunted him ever since his brother had been chosen to be the king. He snarled suddenly as his brother's face came to mind. Why does he pity me? He thought venomously, it is HE who should be pitied. I wanted nothing more than to claim my rightful place, but instead you used me as a stepping stone brother…I should have become the king. I was fit to rule when you were not…It was I who-
The sound of footsteps echoing off of the outside hallway pulled Loki out of his internal monologue. He glanced up curiously, doing his best not to look as tired as he felt. It would be a sign of weakness after all… the voice nagged.
'~'*'~'
Quilith nudged through the doorway to the dungeon, taking care that she did not spill any of the delectable contents on the tray she carried. "Good morning Master Loki." She smiled above the tray at her master who was seated on the edge of his stony bed. She glanced at the young prince who was either ignoring her or did not notice her enter. She supposed that the ladder was true.
"I have brought you some breakfast if you are hungry your highness." She tried again; still no response. The caged magister did not look up as she approached.
Quillith cleared her throat. "Did you sleep well last night?" She attempted, hoping it would spark some kind of response.
Loki snorted. "I suppose 'well' would be a relative term."
Quillith looked up from the tray and eyed him. "Were there not enough blankets sir?"
He said nothing. Quillith sighed dejectedly setting down the tray.
"Tell me girl," He said suddenly. "Do you know what happened to my clothes?"
"Your…clothes, Master?" Quillith said dumbly. Unless she was blind, he was still wearing them.
"Yes, the ones I arrived in yesterday." The prince sighed. "They were quite comfortable."
"Oh!" Quillith finally understood, a flush came to her face. "Of course my Lord. They were sent off to be studied by the magisters court."
Loki looked at her with a quizzical glance.
"Er, you know…" Quillith said, uncomfortably. "To be made sure that you could not use them to cast spells or escape or something…" She finished lamely, and paused casting him a sideways glance. His face was expressionless. Quillith was unsure of what to say except for "I could certainly fetch them if you would like sir…once they're done being examined that is."
"It would be much appreciated." Loki did not even look at her; instead he kept his gaze to one spot.
Quillith sighed defeated. "Is there anything else you would like sir?"
"No." The word had a finality to it that gave the impression that the young prince was in no mood for idle banter.
"Very well then Master." Quillith bowed and left the room. What a pleasant and cheery fellow she thought sarcastically.
Thor in all his muscular-demi-god-of-Thunder-manliness thundered down the circular winding stairway. It was at least noonday; the rays of the sun shone brightly outside off the tall Asgardian buildings. It is good to be home at last. The demi-god had mused to himself as he had taken in the beautiful scene at breakfast this morning.
Now he was on his way down to the down to a secretive room, feverishly hoping that he could help add to the knowledge of his forefathers. In his fight with the Chitauri, Thor had learned much about the alien species, such as their weaknesses and how to combat them. With the help of all of his allies on Midguard the task of defeating his brother's…army…had been a simple one. In his mind Thor still rejected the idea that it was his brother who had brought suffering of such magnitude to the Midguardians. Thor growled to himself as he passed the hallway that lead to the dungeon. No matter what your transgressions are Loki…you will always be family; you will always be my brother. Thor thought sadly.
Thor continued down the long stairway until he was almost at the bottom; strange magical lights that lit the hallway cast deep shadows on the stony walls. Thor turned down a long dimly lit passage, following it until he reached a large golden door. It was massive in size and Thor guessed that it weighed at least twenty times what he did. Behind the large engraved door lay the Vault of Memories. Thor himself had never entered this room before, but had heard of it many times. It was said that the memories of all of Asgards rulers, past and present, were stored here. Not only that, but thousands of warriors had stored memories of battles, bards had stored their songs, the council had stored files of court and so forth. Odin had once explained to Thor and Loki that the Hordraizl, the memory vault, was much like a library. He had told them that they could access vital memories and gain crucial knowledge instantaneously, or learn a battle strategy without ever having to be on the battle field.
Hordraizl contained almost any information anyone could ever want; and that is why it was concealed. It was powerful, dangerous even, because any person could access it; use it. Status or rank mattered little to the memories, and anyone could find what they desired. Its location was a secret to all; the room constantly moved around, never staying in a location for long and could only be stopped by the will of the Allfather. It was supposed to be impossible to locate using magics unless one was king and held the staff of the throne, the staff of the Allfather. Then they were supposed to be able to access it by will. However no one knew what the long term effects of accessing so many memories were, and thus far none had tried.
This day Thor had come to store his memories of the Chitauri by request of his father, in the event that they would need them again someday in the future. Thor had not resisted but the idea made him uneasy. He was not sure what he would experience when the magical device copied his memories. His father had told him that it would feel like a thread was being pulled from his mind, but would not be painful if Thor did not resist the incident.
Thor was just about to reach out and touch the massive door when a voice caused him to turn.
"There you are my son." Odin walked down the hallway towards Thor, his large golden staff at his side. "I am surprised that you were able to find the room so quickly."
"You gave me good directions Father." Thor chuckled as his father came up beside him. "Besides, I think I know this castle better than I know Mjolnir"
"And you told no one where you were going?" Thor shook his head; His father had made it clear that he was to tell no one where he was going.
"The servants only know that I am 'out' until day's end." Thor glanced at his father, who regarded him with satisfaction.
"Good," boomed the Allfather slamming his staff into the ground, "Then we shall get started. As soon as the words had left the old king's mouth the door started to open; pieces of the door began to float apart in large angular shapes revealing a long pathway with a large white/blue core. Odin nodded towards his eldest son, who hesitantly proceeded into the dimly lit chamber. As he entered Thor suppressed a gasp; around him the "room" was seemingly empty void with a singular crystalline bridge that extended out to a platform. Large electric blue runes zoomed past him in the empty space in a circular fashion up above his head and under the suspended pathway as he made his way across the crystalline bridge. Down between his feet he could see energy surge across the small bridge out to the core and seemingly out to the rest of the darkness. As Thor approached the center he could see a small cube that had one hole in every face of the cube with a core at the center that seemed as bright as a star.
His father's voice brought the young prince back. "This is Hordaizl, Thor." The king had to talk loudly over the sound of the powerful vibrations the cube was emitting. "Its power is almost unmatched in terms of the knowledge it holds." Odin clapped a hand on Thor's shoulder, "are you ready to begin, my son?"
"Yes," Thor paused then looked at his father questioningly, "How does one begin exactly?" Thor said bashfully. He was nervous, but did not want to show it to his father. Something about this place unsettled him.
Odin leaned in close to Thor so he would not have to shout over the massive vibrations.
"Giving a memory to Hordaizl is much like accessing a memory; first, the staff of the Allfather must be present" Odin said, glancing at the long carved golden staff he held in his hand. "Second, to give a memory, you must focus on the topic and recall a memory of it while touching the cube. Then Hordaizl will search through you memory and copy every one that has to do with the topic. Be careful that your mind does not stray for if it does it will copy everything your mind thinks of. Many have lost their life to Hordaizl because their mind was weak, and untrained. Their very essence was drained from their person from being tapped into Hordaizl for too long." Odin paused and regarded his eldest son carefully before continuing, "This is a dangerous task my son, and I would not have you undertake it if I did not think it could be done.
"And if I were to want to access a memory? How does it work then?..." Thor asked carefully "You can access memories, can you not?"
Odin hesitated visibly, then nodded, seeming to have come to a conclusion. "To access a memory you must do everything in the same order, however instead of grabbing the cube Hordaizl you must grab Henzdiel, the falling star that is contained within the middle of Hordaizl. Henzdiel is one of a kind, and is not to be used idly. It, much like Mjolnir, has the power to create or destroy with the knowledge it possesses and is therefore a dangerous tool that must be locked away at all times."
Thor wondered at the cube, and found that he was transfixed by Hendziel. "Father…where did this 'star' come from?"
Odin chuckled smiling at his brave eldest son. He had grown wise in his recent exile and was evermore showing his merit as future king. "No one knows where it was found, and few in the universe even know of its existence. It has been said that it was captured as a sun died and that this was at the center of the massive star…" Odin waved his hand dismissively, "but none can say with any accuracy what is myth and what is fact."
"I see…" Thor approached the glowing etched cube slowly. It appeared to be made out of some kind of ancient crystalline stone and was etched with electric-blue markings where the energy coursed through it. Out of the holes in the cube of Hordaizl, the fallen star Henzdiel lay. Thor felt a chill as he neared the housing pillar which the cube floated atop with Henzdiel locked in the center.
Thor cast a glance back at his father who hollered "Are you ready my son?" Thor could hardly hear him shout over the vibrations that seemed to be emitted by the powerful cube.
Thor nodded. "I am ready father." He shouted above the noise.
Odin said nothing, but slammed his mighty staff into the ground. Suddenly, shockwaves seemed to emanate from the staff which pulsated around the room and time seemed to slow. The massive vibrations and pulses of energy seemed to slow by at least half. Thor looked quickly around the room, then back at his father. Odin nodded his eldest son; Thor hesitantly reached out and grabbed the cube.
His mind was the first thing the cube touched as blue energy surged up his outstretched arm.
Thor gasped. It felt like needles were digging into his brain; he tried to focus…on what?
"The Chitauri my son!" Odin yelled from afar. "Do not forget to recall you memories! Once you do the pain will stop!"
Thor scrambled to remember-
THUNK.
Thor's massive hammer collided with the large alien, hitting it square in the jaw. The creature let out a gargled howl as its jaw broke and it was sent flying backwards. Mjolnir barely flew back into Thor's grasp before he swung the mighty hammer again at an oncoming foe.
THUNK.
And another. And another.
THUNK. THUNK.
The stream of Chitauri seemed to be endless! Suddenly a mighty roar bellowed forth from the great green monstrosity, as it flew towards Thor and the oncoming Chitauri. Banner. If someone had told Thor that he would have been fighting alongside such a beast but a month's time ago he would have scoffed at the idea-
Thor was on the "squadron", as the metal man Stark had named it, with the "human" known as Banner. The massive green Midguardian ripped up an armored plate and slammed it into the fleshy body of the flying monstrosity when-
Stark whisked by Thor, with at least a dozen or so Chitauri tailing him. Loki was nowhere to be seen-
Thor glanced and saw the small earth woman, known as the "Black Widow" fly by on a Chitauri Fighter with Hawkeye watching her movements closely. He had made short work of the Chitauri fighter flyers as had Stark, but Black Widow was being pursued by Loki. Thor himself was busy bottlenecking the portal as the human known as "Captain America" had told him t-
Thor watched in amusement as the two humans Stark and this Steve Rodgers fellow bickered over their petty differences. Commander Fury, Natasha and Banner were in the room all arguing about "phase 2" of Midgard's ridiculous program to-
"This only signals that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war. If not for your work with the Tesseract, Loki would have never been attracted to-"-
Agent Phil Cole's son lay bleeding on the ground, Thor trapped in a giant glass cage. His brother Loki was grinning manically at him from across the room about to flip the switch. Thor glanced back at the weapon in the fallen man's hands. This had all happened because of him-
"Jane Foster was asked to consult at a base in Toronto very suddenly yesterday. Private jet, large sum of money…she'll be safe." Cole's son looked at Thor, who nodded appreciatively. She was safe…that is what mattered-
She was in his arms suddenly, her warm lips pressed against his with the passion of a hundred suns. Thor had known love for war…but never love such as this. He was helpless against it, enveloped by it. He did not want to leave her for a second. He wished only to lie next to her, caught in her embrace until the end times-
The tall Demi-god gasped; sweat poured from his brow. Subconsciously he let go of whatever was in his hands, and his legs gave way. Thor sprawled out on the cool crystalline bridge of the chamber and vaguely acknowledged a noise somewhere behind him. It took him a few moments to realize that his father was at his side, looking at him anxiously.
"How are you feeling my son?" Odin asked his son slowly.
Thor groaned in response. Odin chucked, Thor had reacted much the way he had during his first experience with Hordaizl. "Do not worry," Odin said, "the effects will wear off quickly. Can you walk?" Thor nodded as he slowly got to his feet.
"F-father…" Thor breathed heavily, "I need to…rest."
"Of course my son." Odin nodded solemnly. His eldest son deserved a rest after this most draining of ordeals.
Odin slammed his mighty staff into the crystalline bridge one more time as he watched his eldest son drag himself out of the chamber. Odin took a moment to glance back at the magnificent Hordaizl before turning and following Thor out of the mystical chamber.
When they were both outside, Odin turned to his son. "Thor, my son. Go rest now before dinner. I can see that you are tired." He clapped a hand on the warrior's shoulder. "You did well, my boy."
Thor grinned, "Perhaps it will go better next time."
The Allfather's face suddenly became solemn "There shall not be a next time my son. I cannot allow you to go through such a danger again. Hordazil and Henzdiel are only meant to be accessed once by any given person, for each time they are accessed both tap into an individual's life force, draining them of a significant portion of their life. The more they are accessed the more life force of the individual they consume. But now is not the time for such a discussion."
Thor nodded defeated, and began the long climb up the circular stairs to his chambers.
Odin watched his son until he was out of sight, then turned so his back was facing the young demi-god and focused his attention on the massive golden door. The Allfather slammed his mighty staff into the ground and held out his hands; the door responded instantaneously. The pieces of the door glided back into place, sealing the sacred chamber; all of the intricate mechanical locks clicking behind him as he turned and swept down the long corridor. Behind him a stone wall lay, no longer the entrance to the chamber of Hordaizl.
Thank you all for reading another chapter of Loki Imprisoned! :) We will hear more from our favorite God of Thunder, and God of Mischief in the upcoming chapter! Thank you all for the wonderful reviews and support!