The next week passed in a blur of similar events to that first full day on Asgard. She would get up, train, practice with Loki, eat and then disappear off for the evening.

Loki, Sif, Thor and The Warriors Three had not seen her other than their 'designated' times with her all week. She had declined every offer made to her to attend celebrations or drinks at various taverns, not just by them but by other warriors who after watching her train had come to respect the Midgardian Girl. She retired almost immediately after she was done with Loki and she ate by herself.

It was a rare day off for them and so they were eating breakfast in the great hall together. Thor had sent a guard the night before to inform Lady Alina of the free day and he had hoped to see her wandering as they were eating late in the morning. He was yet to see her. The group was immensely interested in her since her display of lethality against Eli however she was yet to show such control or power again. She still fought with talent and skill but she always appeared to be holding something back. Refusing to make connections with them or any of the warriors, she seemed distracted and concerned.

Similarly, Loki had been unable to make any headway with her in terms of the Soul Gem.

"Nothing yesterday I assume?" Thor asked, he didn't need to state the topic

Loki shook his head.

It was easy to everyone to see that his project had begun to both annoy and concern him. Even they thought the process would be quick and simple however it had drawn out to nearly 7 days without so much as a glimmer of the power the girl possessed. Loki had tried everything from trying to teach her magic off the bat, to exposing her to powerful magic, to allowing her to observe and be affected by his own talents however nothing had drawn out the power within her.

"Something's missing" Volstagg commented through a mouthful of grapes

"Hmm?" Loki hummed

Volstagg swallowed but Hogun spoke first.

"She is missing something. Or something is blocking the gem from activating"

"I have already checked her mind and spirit and there are no blockades in the way" Loki remarked

"What is preventing it then…" Sif wondered

It was at that moment that the doors to their left were flung open and Alina strode through. She walked right up to Loki and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him out of his seat and to his feet.

"May I help you?" he queried, annoyed at her abruptness

"I need you to attack me"

"Excuse me?"

"With your magic, with weapons, with whatever. I need you to attack me with genuine intentions of harming me"

"That is not going to happen darling"

He was rather confused now, as was everyone else.

"Lady Alina are you unwell?" Thor asked, concerned

"I'm fine Thor."

"Then pray tell me why you want me to attempt to harm you?" Loki asked

"Infinity Stones. They are remnants of of one of the universe's oldest being and their source of power were originally for protection and power."

"So?" Fandral asked

"So… So you need to try and harm me. Something needs to make my body react in such a way that the soul gem would need to protect. Like you said with uh.. Jane?"

"Yes.. Jane." Thor answered

"Yes well the power gem, the ether, it only reacted when it felt it's vessel was in harm. Rather, it overreacted as such. On Earth.. Midgard.. I have been in harms way, at near death, many times but the gem never reacted. I was confused at first but then I realised that it needed to be exposed to magic of some sort of power before it would begin to activate. Dueling with the warriors, I felt no fear for my life because it was safe, the sparring rods are not lethal. I have yet to be put in a situation where it could be lethal after being exposed to magical elements"

"That… has merit" Thor spoke

"How do you know all this?" Hogun asked

"Library" she replied simply

Behind her back, Loki shot the others a look which told them to go along with whatever he was about to do. Her idea was indeed something he should have thought of earlier.

In a shimmer, he changed his armor to something more elaborate and threatening. Alina glanced at him and then double taked when she saw his changed attire.

"Good… It gives me an apt excuse when I explain to father how you accidentally died" he murmured

"What?" She said sharply

He took her by the neck, pinning her against the wall, her feet dangling off the ground.

"Brother..!" Thor warned

"What Thor? You're an oaf. Think of the power that would be released if I killed her. I have grown tired of playing Father's games and this… this is the perfect excuse" he hissed

"Loki stand down" Fandral cried

Loki grinned. Smoothly he flicked a wrist, throwing up an barely visible barrier between Alina and himself and Thor and the warriors.

Thor roared and smashed his hammer against it, to no avail. In truth, Thor was barely trying and the barrier was not a barrier at all but a simple wall of light Loki had created to trick the girl.
By now, she was struggling in his iron hard grip but he threw a light enchantment over her to keep her a little sedated so she would not harm him. She felt this and struggled harder.

In her head she was screaming, her words had been rushed and she had just given a powerful and sociopathic man a justified reason to 'accidentally' kill her. Her previous train of thought lost, she struggled and kicked against him but he watched her with mild amusement.

Suddenly, he tossed her to the side, sending her rolling across the marble floor. She felt dizzy from the sedative enchantment he had put on her and managed to stand on her feet barely.

A fight commenced.

Loki was surprised at the girls skill while so sedated. At one point she sent a punch into his jaw so hard that it flicked his head to one side, giving him whiplash. This made him angry and by her reaction, he could tell she could see it in his eyes. In the background, Thor was still attempting to 'break' his barrier. Loki grinned and formed a long, curved knife in one hand.

Anger still running through his veins, he kicked her directly in the chest sending her backwards onto a set of marble steps and stalked towards her. She was leant on her side, dazed from his enchantment and winded from his kick. He increased his pace, spinning the knife in one hand.
As he raised his knife coldly, he was blown backwards off his feet with such force that he let go of his weapon. He was thrown so far that he landed a top of Thor, who along with the others, had also been knocked to the ground.

Scrambling to their feet, weapons drawn they looked about for the source of the blast. Instantly, Loki looked to Alina to check for injury but his gaze stopped dead when he reached her. The others followed his line of direction.

She sat on the steps, slightly propped in a position which indicated she was still winded but she held them mesmerized. She was surrounded by a bright golden mist which seemed to dance in the air and settle, shimmering and then disappearing. As the golden mist disappeared, their attention was brought directly to her eyes;

They glowed the same golden colour as the mist but the green behind them still showed through intently.

"Is that.. " Fandral trailed off, his eyes not leaving the girl

Thor moved forward to approach her. He did so too briskly and she immediately threw up a golden wall, similar to Loki's barrier however when Thor pushed against this one, it crackled and did not give in the slightest.

"It seems she was correct in her theory" Hogun remarked quietly

"She is frightened. Her mind will not be working as quickly as it normally does since I enchanted her. She is dangerous" Loki said

"What do we do?" Sif responded harshly

"Allow me…" Loki replied

Slowly he approached her barrier and placed his hands against it. Straight away he could feel the pure power coursing through it. It throbbed with energy and force. Alina stared directly at him, her head cocked to one side.

"No harm will come to you. Everything that just happened was fake and at your suggestion.."

No answer.

"Alina…? It wasn't real" He tried again

It was silent, she stared at him. In her head she was hearing what he was saying but it took every fibre of strength she had to drop the shield she had created.

"I know' she whispered, dissipating the shield into golden dust.

Slowly, she laid down against the cold marble steps, placing her face against them and closing her eyes. After a long moment she felt a hand on her shoulder. Opening her eyes she stared up at Loki.

He grinned.

"Nice guess with the theory"

"Thanks.." she murmured, pulling herself into a sitting position and then to her feet.

"I guess you really can't claim it as your doing now Loki!" Fandral smirked

Loki glared daggers.

"We must tell mother and father immediately so we can begin her training!" Thor announced happily

"You know what.. I am good for now" Alina mumbled as she stumbled slightly on her feet

"You are exhausted from the sudden and intense magic use" Loki said simply

"And.. your stupid enchantment" she growled

"That too" he remarked

"Perhaps we should let her rest and pick this up with the Allfather in the morning" Volstagg laughed

After being escorted back to her room by her companions, she promptly collapsed into bed and fell asleep, fully clothed and exhausted, unable to even give a thought to the immense power she had surging through her.

Outside, Fandral began to speak as they departed Alina's door.

"I am not an expert at magic but I do believe that was powerful"

"It was. Similar to Jane when she possessed the Dark Ether but this was far more controlled" Thor agreed

As they discussed it, Loki stayed silent replaying the events of the past hour. Thor noticed an almost immediately disrupted him.

"Brother, you are the only person here talented in such a thing. Why remain so silent?"

Loki considered this for a second.

"Because she's powerful-and dangerous" he said simply.