"You have a thing for dragging me, don't you, Loki?"
"Well it gets you to do what I wish for you to, so yes I do."
"Subjugation?" I asked, thinking back to his speech.
"Something like that, yes." There it was again, that smile-smirk. I was wondering where it had gone to, it had been missing for a while there.
We were now in the hall that I had fainted in earlier. At the end of it there was a lift, which he pressed the button for. The door was made of steel that I could see myself relatively well through. My hair was god awful, falling out of my bun in a frizzy, curly mess, which I combed through with my fingers to try to tame. The clothes he gave me fit well and flattered my figure; my green eyes were more noticeable with the shirt and with Loki's cosplay-like outfit. He was looking at me go over my appearance and I could feel it. I looked at his staring reflection and compared the two of us. Our hair was only a shade apart, his raven black, mine a brown-black that didn't quite go either way. Our skin was exactly the same ghostly pale. But that was where our similarities ended. He was tall while I was short; I had almond shaped eyes while his were sharper, more calculating. My features were soft, more round than his prominent cheekbones. We were both quite muscular but in different ways. He still had the appearance of being a very thin but very muscular man while I had more curves. I had an hourglass shape, but I felt out of place in this world where stick thin women were everywhere and were considered more pretty than a healthy me.
The lift's ding brought me back and Loki pulled me into the shaft. I grew uncomfortable being in such a small space with him, so close to him after our almost-kiss that still had me reeling. I had to focus to keep my mind somewhere other than on his lips, which he just had to moisten every now and then. Yes. That did not help.
"Will you promise me you won't be afraid?" Loki asked so quietly I could have mistaken it for being just my imagination. The way he was looking away from me showed that he was the one who was afraid.
"I could never be afraid." Not with what was in my past. I could compare any experience to anything I've had to live through and it would be a walk in the park. He seemed to take comfort in my words, but was still curiously wary.
The ride seemed to take forever, going farther and farther down. From the pressure building in my ears I decided that we must be going under ground, and very far too. Finally, we reached the end of the lift, and the doors opened.
It was a room. A vast, open room that looked hard and cold. There was a flurry of scientists, if their lab coats were to be trusted, and they were all working around a cube in a way that reminded me of bees in their organized mess. It was a bright light blue I had seen in Loki's men's eyes and of a material I had never seen before. I was instantly drawn to it, Loki trailing behind me with a bemused look on his face. There was an energy in the room that made me uneasy but feel safe at the same time, and it seemed to be coming from the cube. Somehow I got through the scientists and was standing right in front of it. I don't remember walking to it; I don't remember anything after the lift opening but the cube. In those moments, it was my essence.
I was a moth to the flame.
My hand reached up on its own accord to the cube, I just wanted to touch it. I wanted to feel its power and know how it felt. It was just a few inches from my fingertips, just an inch, mere centimeters away…
Then a hand slapped mine down, hard. It was Loki, of course, and he was holding my hand in a vice like grip. I was slowly loosing all feeling from it.
"What were you thinking?!" He half hissed, half yelled at me.
"I just wanted to touch it." I said petulantly, still a little dazed from the effects of the cube.
"You have no idea what could happen to you. You don't even know what it is!" He was growling now, which was pretty damn sexy if you ask me, but my curiosity got the better of me.
"Well, what is it exactly?"
"This is the Tesseract." And my mind was zooming. This is what Uncle Phil was talking about! I had heard only whispers about it through my friends and Uncle Phil, but I thought it wasn't as important as they made it out to be; they made a huge deal of everything. So I didn't try to pry my way into it.
Well it looks like you should have, sweetheart. And for once, I didn't disagree with my snarky side.
So the Tesseract was in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hands, and Loki had stolen it.
Loki continued on as if there had been no great revelation going through my mind. "The Tesseract is one of the most powerful artifacts in all the nine realms, Rosanna. It has almost unlimited power, something that drew other Midguardians to it. And it," he let his hand hover over the side of the Tesseract, "has enough power to destroy your entire planet." He looked at me anticipating me to be horrified.
I had no idea what nine realms he was talking about, but I believed every word. Enough power to destroy Earth. I snorted.
"Do you think I lie, Midguardian?" He snapped.
"Don't call me that." I snapped right back at him. "I have a name. I'm not some dog. And for your information, I find it funny that my people had the power to destroy the entire Earth and didn't do it themselves."
He raised his eyebrows. I rolled my eyes. "Oh come on. You pointed it out yourself. We kill and maim each other every day. We talk of peace but all we end up with is destruction. We're at constant battle with ourselves, going from parent between child to nation between nation and passing down the grief to every generation after. Honestly, I think I believe more in your big speech than you do. I don't necessarily believe we need one person ruling us all, don't get me wrong. That person or group of people would become mad with power and eventually become corrupt, just like the rest of us. I only hope that we all just don't exist one day. I see so little good in our everyday world. That's all I'm saying."
I had shocked him, that much was evident. His eyes were wide and his mouth slightly gaped open. It annoyed me.
"Shut your mouth, the flies will get in. Are you honestly surprised that I have an opinion?"
"No," Finally, he speaks. "Just surprised that you would be so harsh on your own people and narcissistic."
"If you haven't figured out that I'm one hell of a narcissist then you haven't been paying very much attention."
His lips quirked up in a little smirk. "You remind me of my self, Rosanna, and my attitude towards my own people." He got a certain wistful look on his face but it was quickly gone.
"I should remind you of no one; I am my own person Loki."
"Then I should say we are similar. Would you agree to that?" He was smiling now.
"Yes." I snapped back. I paused for a moment then asked quietly, "Why do you do this?"
"Do what? Attack this pit of base creatures?" He scoffed. I could almost feel him about to go into a speech. "Because this world needs to be ruled. You kill and hurt each other every day. But when someone comes to show you a better way, you act as if it is wrong. You are all weak."
"Well I am glad to know that I am nothing more than a weak and base creature. Thank you for enlightening me." I turned and ripped my hand away from where he was still holding it.
"Rosanna, wait!" What a damn idiot. I reached the lift and almost broke the button by smashing it, repressing the urge to push it repeatedly as if it would come more quickly.
"Rosanna." His tone was reapproving and I spun on him.
"A base creature?! Really?! Those were your choice of words. I am not some base creature, nor one you can order around so stop trying to."
"I did not mean it like that Rosanna-" Oh but I was too mad to listen.
"Oh don't you even dare try and talk to me like that, you pathetic monster." It was the rage talking; I truly didn't feel like that, but it came out and I paid the consequences.
As soon as the words were out of my mouth there was that damnable walking stick in Loki's hand. He raised it to me and the point to my chest. I lifted my arms up as if to protect myself, but a zap of blue light came out of it and wound itself in me.
Loki was controlling me.
