Six days passed.
Aura knew this because Howard Stark told her every time he came inside the temperature controlled room. She wasn't allowed to leave this chamber now. They proved her with a bucket twice a day to do business in. Her meals had been cut from three to two times a day.
At least she didn't have to shackled and cuffed in the frigid room.
Presently, she sat slumped in a corner. Exhausted and in constant pain. Her chest heaved up and down with labored breaths. Nothing was numb. She felt everything with electrifying clarity. Dried tears and saliva caked her face and neck.
Of all the ways the palace kept its servants in line, "shock therapy," as the Colonel called it, was not one of them. Not that she had seen, anyway.
She wasn't sure how to process this kind of pain. As much as the cold hurt, at least she turned numb after some time. This was the opposite. And this was not a form of agony she could get used to. Every time she was shocked, it felt worse than the one before.
Though she had no desire to die, she couldn't help but wonder why they wanted her alive when they tortured her so. She knew Loki wasn't going to come. They never had any sort of mental link. She could only plead to thin air.
And to Heimdall.
Her eyes lifted to the ceiling of the chamber. She knew he could see her. He saw everything. How could he let her stay in this Hel of a place? It wasn't like she knew the Guardian of Asgard very well, but he hadn't wanted to send her away to begin with. Would it really be a crime to return?
She inhaled a sharp breath. Now that she thought about it, returning to Asgard would most likely mean death. Not torture but death. Especially since she was a slave. Odin never called them servants.
The door to the experimentation chamber opened. However, it wasn't Howard Stark who entered this time. The Colonel walked in with his hands behind his back.
Aura closed her eyes. What could he do to her now?
The hardened man smirked. "How have you not reacted to our stimulation? I'm beginning to doubt that you actually have abilities."
"I don't like," she struggled for a breath, "I don't like using my fire unless absolutely necessary."
"Clearly, you don't feel threatened enough then. What can we do to change that?"
She attempted shaking her head. She felt very threatened, but that wasn't how her magic worked. It wasn't just when she was angry or desperate or anything like that. Her fire tended to reveal itself whenever it wanted. She didn't have much control over it, and that's why it scared her so much.
Before she was banished, Loki was going to teach her how to properly use her flames. Obviously, it never happened.
The Colonel squatted next to her, taking her chin in his hand and forcing her to look at him. "We have video and audio of your time in here. After detailed review, we noticed your first couple days you called out to a 'Loki.' Would you like to tell me who that is?"
Her eyes shifted away. "It's a general term used in Asgard."
"Then why don't I believe you?"
"W-where is Mr. Stark?"
"I've sent him on a scientific expedition. And Agent Carter has run into some…minor setbacks in her mission. They'll be back when they can."
She was alone with this man? There was no telling what would happen now. Other than she was scared. She was very terrified of what this man could potentially be capable of. Even if he didn't want her for the same reason the one guard did.
His tone deepened. "Who is Loki?"
"N-nobody. It's a general term our people use."
"Oh, really?" He rose. Paced around the perimeter of the chamber. "Because I kept thinking Asgard sounded familiar. I turned to one of our researchers, and turns out, it's a place in our mythology."
"It is real."
"I never said it wasn't. I'm one of those people that has always believed all of our myths have some root in facts. And you know what's funny about what else I found? Your Loki is a real being."
Aura's lips pressed together. She didn't think about the ramifications of saying her beloved's name out loud. In all honesty, she hadn't meant to say it out loud. It was an instinctive response to the pain. But what would they do to him if they were somehow able to capture him, too?
The Colonel stared at her. "Since you know that I know Loki is a real being, why don't you make it easy for all of us and tell me about him?"
She panicked. She couldn't betray the one she loved to a monster of a Midgardian. To a man who would use said information to exploit a weakness and persecute. Her mouth clamped shut.
"Oh, I see." He crossed to the other side of the chamber. "It's because he's royalty, isn't it? That's why you love him. He's your knight in shining armor who will save you from a life of servitude. Tell me. Does he even know you exist? I bet he doesn't care at all for you."
"That's not true." She couldn't help herself. No one could make her believe lies about Loki. "He loving me is what got me banished."
"So his mistake cost you your old life? He's the reason why you're here. The reason why you're being tortured. Does he know of your plight? If he does, and he hasn't come saved you, then that tells me he doesn't care about you in the slightest."
"No! He does care. He doesn't know where I am. He doesn't know where I got banished to. It's not his fault."
"But it's because of him, though, right? You're paying for his faults. So am I the real villain here?"
"No. I-I mean, yes. You're the villain. You sent Agent Peggy Carter and Mr. Howard Stark away because they disagreed with you, and you want your way. You're mean, and you're a bully. You're the villain."
The Colonel chuckled. "Is that really all you can muster? I've been insulted worse by a ten year old."
Despite herself, tears welled. She didn't have enough mental capacity to be dealing with this type of verbal barrage. Even if she was capable of handling it, she still wouldn't have anything clever to say. She wasn't clever in these situations. Regardless, a servant could never speak out against anybody.
"Your Loki has betrayed you."
"He has not."
"Tell me about him, and should he show up on Earth, I'll be able to handle him for you."
Her upper lip curled into a snarl, a fire beginning to burn inside her. "He is the most powerful being in all the Nine Realms. If anyone is handled, it'll be you."
An evil smile crept across his face. "Even the greatest of powers have weaknesses. Ask Adolf Hitler. His greatest weakness was his own pride. That's how we won the War. What's your Loki's weakness? Is it you?"
Aura's gaze dropped. She hadn't considered that before. Would she be considered Loki's weakness? Would she be the reason he would ultimately get hurt in this Realm? She would rather die than be the cause of his discomfort.
The Colonel's grin broadened when he realized what she was contemplating. "Oh, yes. You will be his downfall, and when we have him, we will do the same thing to him we've been doing to you. Understand?"
Her deep blue eyes lifted. "You will not hurt him."
"Yes, we will. We have more than enough capabilities with Stark's technology. And should the newest advancements not work, we can always use the old fashioned hack and slash methods."
"You will not hurt him."
"I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation. We've hurt you, and we will hurt him."
She slowly rose. Gaze hardening and flames forming around two tightly clenched fists. She spoke each word slowly and deliberately. "You will not hurt him."
His eyes lit up in wonder at her fire. He had gotten exactly what we wanted. And he continued to push. "We'll make you watch, too. As we peel the flesh from his body, as we take the life from his eyes."
Aura released an uncharacteristic battle cry and lunged forward. But time seemed to stop within her mind. Her subconscious had turned to darkness, and there was a single ball of fire floating in the middle of the space.
The mental projection of herself waded through ankle deep waters as thick and inky as the rest of the expanse. The flame called to her. Beckoned her. Begged her to take it. It had been hidden away for so long. It needed to finally be brought to life.
Cerebral Aura reached out a slender arm, her open palm enjoying the warmth the fireball provided. She had never seen it before. Didn't know it existed within her. But she could feel its power and strength. She had felt so weak for so long, she wanted nothing more than to take it. And thus, she did.
The physical Aura changed form for the first time in the years of her existence. While she had been pushed and tormented before, she had never been taken to this extreme. She had never been tortured for this long of a time. Everything in her was shot.
But most importantly, no one had ever threatened Loki like this to her before.
Embers from her flaming hands travelled along her body, her pale skin cracking and floating away as blackened dust, revealing bright crimson flesh. Her tri-colored hair became the color of thick ash, and black horns curled backwards from her forehead. A prehensile half-spaded tail grew from the end of her tailbone.
The Colonel locked eyes with the newly-transformed alien. Locked gaze with a pair of the darkest, most soulless orbs he had ever seen. He whipped out his pistol.
This new Aura laughed, grabbing the barrel and melting it with ease. Even her voice had changed. A new air of sultry confidence lingered within it. "You wanted a display of my abilities, did you not?"
He scrambled away. His eyes unnaturally wide as he gasped for air.
She glanced at her hand. Held it up to better view her black nails. Then her pure black gaze returned to the other. "Shall I peel away your flesh? I think you would benefit from learning how to do it properly."
"Stay back! I'm warning you!"
"Oh, what? The big bad man no longer wants to play now that he's not in control?"
His voice cracked. "Stay back."
"Mm, let's see. You threatened to capture my beloved and force him to live a life of pain and suffering." The entirety of both of her arms erupted into huge flames. Her expression darkened. "How about no."
He finally found the door and opened it. Slammed it shut in time to seal a burst of fire in with the…thing. After cranking the lock, he vaulted over the computer system and smashed his favorite button.
The two spikes sparked to life.
The fire demon's eyes widened as she whirled around to face them. But before she could destroy them, streams of electricity coursed through her body. She fell to one knee. Tried maintaining her new appearance. However, she failed. And fell into the realm of screams.
Aura was caught in an excruciating alteration between her two forms until the surges of power forced her to back to her original form. She dropped to her side, greatly trembling. Her normal blue eyes wide.
It wasn't just the electricity causing her distress. What had just happened filled her with fear. Filled her with dread. That wasn't her. That couldn't have been her. She was nothing like that…that fiery fiend. Her eyes focused on her permanently black fingernails. Even though she convulsed with the powerful surges, the pain momentarily disappeared.
She had caught a slight reflection of herself in the glass. Clearly saw her red arms. Felt a new kind of strength swelling within her. That ball of fire in the void of her mind had consumed her, and she didn't know if she liked it. She didn't even know she had an alternate form.
Her vision focused on nothing now. Fell out of focus. Loki didn't know she had an alternate form, either. Would he still love her when he found out? If he found out. She didn't know if she would ever see him again. And with how the Colonel talked, she didn't want to see him again because she would be his downfall.
A strong jolt of electricity pulled her out of her mind, causing her exclamations to grow louder. Yet, she pleaded with Heimdall. Pleaded with him not to send the Bifrost, not to send help. But to not allow Loki to come to Midgard. She wanted the guardian of Asgard to promise her he would never let Loki pass through the Bifrost to this wretched place.
Hot tears fell as she found the Colonel on the other side of the glass. That monster would never get what he wanted. Even if it meant she would never see her beloved again.