Loki watched as the galaxies of Asgard and Earth intertwined around him, causing him to have the same slight motion sickness that he had when he first came to Earth. He fluffed out an annoyed breath at Thor in front of him, but Thor wasn't watching Loki like the youth had expected. Thor's eyes were wide with astonishment and concern. It was only until they passed what used to be Jotunheim that Loki felt a very tight grip on the flesh between his elbow and his shoulder.
He had thought that he and Thor had left Earth too quickly for Psyche to catch up to them, but they hadn't. Psyche had caught them just in time, and furthermore, by grabbing Loki's arm, she had hitched a ride with the two of them back to Asgard. During the journey, Loki glanced from Thor down to where Psyche was clutching him, but her eyes were clenched closed and her whole body was tense, and she was pressing her body against him fearfully. Not a space traveller, obviously.
They couldn't speak because of the velocity that the Tesseract was putting them in. The power alone was enough to make any noise that could escape Loki's throat get stuck; he could only imagine what Psyche was feeling.
They arrived in the middle of one of the large rooms that were provided by the palace of Asgard for the safety of the royal family. This was where Odin and his people met and discussed intense issues, and it was a given that Thor would have it so that the two of them—three of them—would land in this room instead of in the middle of Asgard itself.
The physics of the Tesseract made it so that when they finally landed on their native homeland, Thor and Loki both were pushed away from the Tesseract device, making it land on the floor. But Loki wasn't concerned about the Tesseract; Psyche concerned him. He turned around quickly, but it was too late. Psyche's small body could be seen flying off to his left, and she hit the wall. Loki cursed loudly, but it came out as a muffled grunt because of his muzzle and his neck flexed in anger. He couldn't move, not since two Asgardian soldiers surrounded him and took hold of his shoulders, preventing him from going over to the mortal.
Loki breathed in a devilish breath before turning his eyes to Thor; they were turning red.
Thor was looking down at his hand, which had been burned by the energy of the Tesseract. So had Loki's, but Loki wasn't paying attention to his own hand. When Thor looked up and made eye contact with Loki, he said quickly to a few standby soldiers, "Take her to the healing room. Now."
Loki turned to watch the soldiers go tend to Psyche. One picked her up bridal style, and Loki flinched angrily as he watched Psyche's head lull backwards, her throat being exposed to everyone and her pout lips parted in her breathing. Her dress had been torn in the two days she was wearing it. The fabric that would have been on her shoulder was now gone, leaving a hole that exposed what Loki saw as a bruise. The cuts that she had gotten while shooting into Tony's tower window hadn't been attended to; they were irritated and were turning blue. And her hair, though as bright as ever, was one big knot with little strands of hair that were falling down, showing the real length of her hair. He only wondered how dull her brown eyes would be. In an instant, she was carried away.
Loki's eyes scanned the room as he stood silently, watching the other occupants. His "father and mother" were standing there, watching him wearily. Odin's face, oh Odin, looked so stern and creased and Loki felt a slight bud of pride in knowing that it was his actions that made Odin worry so much.
"Loki." Odin started. He looked as disappointed at Thor did when Thor first found Loki on the plane with Captain America and Ironman. The only difference being that Odin was a larger entity of godliness, and thus had a shorter temper.
"Who was the young woman?" Frigga asked, "The one the soldiers took away?"
"That is Loki's—" But Thor stopped when he made eye contact with his little brother. Thor made a face of confusion and stared at Loki, who was in turn communicating something with his eyes that Thor had never seen him do. The emotions that were stewing under his eyes almost alarmed Thor as much as an alien army, and he said, "That is Loki's responsibility to tell you."
Odin looked around and said to one of his soldiers, "Go get Heimdall."
In a moment, the gatekeeper walked into the room and looked to Odin. Odin wasted no time, "The young woman that Loki has brought with him. Is anyone searching for her? Should we get her back to Earth urgently?"
"There is no human, nor creature of all existence, that seeks the young woman." Heimdall replied.
Frigga made a face and said, "Certainly her parents are mourning the loss of their daughter."
"She has no parents." Heimdall stated, "At least, no parents that claim her. The only being that seeks the safety of this young woman is Prince Loki."
Frigga and Odin glanced at Loki, who still hadn't spoken, because of the muzzle. Loki glanced at his adoptive parents and then back to Thor once again.
"So we don't kill her?" Odin asked out loud. He watched as Loki narrowed his eyes at his father. Odin made a deep-throated grunt in his throat and said, "It doesn't feel appealing when someone threatens the things you love, does it, Son?"
Loki made a hiss under his muzzle and breathed in to try to control his anger. Odin looked to Thor, and Thor said to Loki, "We'll put you in prison for now. Until we know what to do with you."
Loki didn't break eye contact with Thor as the two soldiers behind him pushed him forward, and then they led him through the corridors of the palace of Asgard, down a few flights of stairs, Loki knew exactly where they were taking him, to a darker spot than where the artifacts were, to a colder, more desolate spot that had often plagued his interest when he was younger. Often when Asgardian prisoners were placed in these cells, they never saw the Asgardian sun again. The soldiers, rougher than Loki had expected, shoved him into the cell and closed the door. It was magic, it had to be to hold Loki, and the bars went from their dull black color to a shining silver, and a wave of protective magic covered the walls.
Night fell over Asgard. Loki couldn't see it, but he knew from how the soldiers were changing shifts to guard him and the cell. Above him, far above him, Psyche was laying in one of the elaborate bedchambers; Frigga was watching over her.
The bed had been set up for their guest, but the main concern was to keep her safe and make sure she'd wake up. She would, she had bumped her head against the wall and thus blacked out, but she'd come to and Frigga had offered to be there when she did. The cuts along her face and her clothes had been tended to, leaving her laying there in a long white nightgown, her face with little pink scars on them that should disappear before the night was over. Her long hair had been left alone, however, since Frigga decided it would be something she could do herself when she woke.
Frigga was sitting in the chair next to the bed, watching the moons float up into the sky like they did every night. She had, in the interest of Psyche, left her bag unattended, but it sat beside the bed as her only personal item.
Psyche was sure she was having the weirdest dream possible. All she could see were stars and travelling between worlds and spinning, a lot of spinning. REM sleep did that to you, have you involuntary images during sleep, but when Psyche slowly went from REM sleep to consciousness, the images that she was seeing were not leaving her. Not in the way most of the images during dreams did. They stuck with her in her short-term memory; they were real.
Frigga just about jumped when Psyche's eyes snapped open. Psyche laid there, staring above her at the gold encrusted ceiling, with little paintings of what looked to Psyche as battle scenes. Psyche then said out-loud, to anyone who might be listening, "Can someone tell me why my condition is bad enough to have to be given an hallucinogen drug?"
"We have given you no such drug." Frigga said gently, "We have simply healed you of your wounds and let you rest."
Psyche blinked up at the ceiling, but she wasn't sure if her body was strong enough to get up and walk about, so laying there, she asked in a whisper, "Where am I?"
"You are in Asgard." Frigga said, "I am Frigga, wife of Odin Allfather, mother of Thor and Loki, Queen of Asgard. Who, may I ask, might you be?"
Psyche didn't reply right away. She only stared above her silently before saying, "I'm Psyche Velle."
"Psyche." Frigga replied softly, "What a pretty name."
Psyche turned her head when she realized she wasn't attached to tubes and little hospital trinkets and looked at Frigga. The golden queen smiled at her quest, but Psyche said, "What are you going to do with Loki?"
Frigga's face fell slightly, but she said, "We're not sure. We wait until Odin comes to a decision."
"To kill him?"
"If need be." Frigga whispered.
"How does that make you feel?" Psyche asked, laying there with her mass of curls surrounding her head, "Having one of your sons killed by your country."
"He committed a crime." Frigga stated sternly, "But it does hurt. Knowing that this is how I raised him."
"Has he said anything?"
"He has a muzzle over his mouth." Frigga said, "We thought it prudent to withhold speech from him until you woke."
"But he's safe?"
But Frigga didn't get to reply. Odin had walked into the room and looked down at the young mortal. Psyche, in her bed, was still lying down, but she made eye contact with his one eye. Odin leaned over and said, "How is this mortal feeling?"
"Fine." Psyche stated.
"You hit your head." Odin explained, "Much like my eldest son did when he first went to Earth. Will this be a trend for travelling between worlds? A toll, to enter, by chance?"
"Maybe." Psyche replied, "It prepares you a little bit, I suppose."
"Do you have strength to sit? So that I can address you properly."
Frigga ran to Psyche's other side and placed a hand behind the younger girl's back as Psyche moved to sit up. Not too many things hurt, just her back and a little bit of her arms, but overall she would have to say that her first space adventure had been a safe success.
Odin sat down in front of the bed and looked at Psyche, "You are the young woman whom Loki has affiliated himself to."
"Yes?" Psyche stated, "Unless he has more."
"No more." Odin stated, "You are his only, true, confidant."
Psyche nodded in her white nightgown and she reached up to run her fingers through her hair; only for them to get stuck. She gave an apologetic look to Frigga and said, "Can I have my purse?"
Frigga smiled and handed the young woman her bag, and Psyche pulled out her brush and started to tend to her hair.
"You know about Loki, then." Odin stated, "About him being adopted."
"Yes." Psyche stated.
"Then you know that he's not a happy son. You know that this little stunt that he did was a way to find vengeance against me, against Thor, and against Asgard, and that we have no intention to rage war against your world. The Chitauri, the aliens that Loki controlled, were from a corner of space that we do not work with. You know all this?"
Psyche nodded, having forgotten to brush her hair during Odin's long speech.
"And you know." Odin continued, "That Loki's crimes will be tended to, and Loki will be punished."
Psyche swallowed and said, "You've decided how to?"
"I have not." Odin said, "It will take a lot of talking with not only Thor, but Loki himself. I come here to ask if you know of anything about Loki that I should know. Anything…I should take in to consideration."
"Not really." Psyche replied. But she did. She knew exactly what had caused Loki to be who he is. But to tell Odin, the god, the King of Asgard, that all of Loki's personality stemmed from his parenting techniques was something she couldn't do. Not until she saw Loki for herself. "Where is he?"
"In a cell at the bottom of the castle." Odin replied, "Alone."
"Can I see him?"
Odin glanced at Frigga, but Psyche didn't. Frigga must have nodded because Odin looked at Psyche and said, "I'll have two soldiers escort you down."
The journey from one of the towers of the castle to the basement was a long one, but Psyche, wearing her nightgown and a pair of sandals to protect her feet, found it fascinating. She asked the guards which was which. Who was that the statue of? Who was in that picture? Was that pure gold, real pure gold? How long had that been there? Had the corridors always been this way? Was the country of Asgard equally as lavish? How many guards patrolled the halls during the night? How old was the palace? How old was Asgard? How old was Odin? And the guard, true to the Asgardian disposition, answered each question politely.
But the basement was a different vibe altogether. But before going in, Psyche stopped and said to the guards, "I know this might sound crazy, but is it possible that you leave me alone with Loki?"
"Alone…All alone?" The guard asked, "By yourself?"
"Yes. I don't think he'll say anything with an audience."
The guards glanced at each other and then said, "We've been instructed by Odin to do as you say…so to question you would be unwise. But to do as you command, we suspect this to be equally unwise…"
"If you're afraid of Loki getting free, lock me in the cell with him." Psyche offered, "And come back for me in an hour."
The guards stared at her in astonishment, before one of them said, "You intend to die tonight, mistress?"
"Loki has saved my life multiple times. More times than I'm aware, I bet. I don't think he's going to kill me."
"You are strange." The guard continued, "A strange creature with a strange hold over the Prince."
Psyche's tense smile gave her away, "I've always been a little strange."
But in the end, the guards agreed, and when Loki looked up to see what was rustling in the basement, he came face to face with Psyche, on the other side of the bars of his cell. Loki didn't move to get up like a gentleman, though. Mainly because his body was in too much pain to really move suddenly. But his eyes widened when the guard opened the cell, let Psyche in, and closed it. Psyche turned and nodded to them, and all four guards, the two that were personally guarding Loki and the two that had escorted Psyche, left.
Loki looked her over. She looked well. As small and fragile as ever, especially in Asgard, she looked like a paper crane more than a human being. Her hair had been brushed out and it looked almost exactly like the soft fabric of her nightgown, only with little flecks of gold all along the strands. Her face still had a few bruises and cuts on it, and she looked skinnier because of her travels. But when his eyes followed up her body to her own eyes, they were hard, steel hard, and Loki leaned his back on the back of the cell and watched her.
"Hello." Psyche said awkwardly. Always awkward, Loki thought. She stood before him, a few feet away right next to the door.
Loki didn't reply.
"Sorry." Psyche apologized before she walked over to him. Loki flinched away suspiciously at first, but stopped when he realized that she was reached over to take off his muzzle. His hands were still tied in chains, so he couldn't even do anything in reply. Only wait as her warm fingers brushed against his cheek and find the clasp that kept it on. Once she did, she pulled it off, and Loki immediately flexed his jaw and craned his neck. Psyche took a seat on the chair that was provided for visitors, while Loki sat on the concrete bench used for a bed.
"You're late." Loki said, his voice dry and hoarse from not speaking for more than a day. His wounds, unlike Psyche's, hadn't been tended to, so it still hurt to speak too much for him.
Despite the fact that Loki almost enslaved her earth, and her race, and was the sole reason why she was in Asgard, and the fact that he was sitting across from her, his hands chained and his face covered in wounds, as an inter-dimensional war criminal, she smiled and said, "I didn't know I was supposed to be here as a certain time. Did we decide on one?"
"No." Loki said, with a smirk of amusement at their own harmony.
"Then how can I be late?"
"You just are." Loki replied, and after a moment of silence between them, he shook his head in a tired fashion and leaned in against the wall.
"Does it hurt?"
"Certainly."
"I meant the wounds."
"Not very much, no. I've felt worse." Loki's eyes went from the ceiling to the woman across from him, "I expected you dead. After you threw my scarf at me."
Psyche gave him a look, "Why would I be dead? The aliens ignored me."
"The aliens recognized my scent, and didn't attack you. But without that scarf you were unprotected."
"Oh…" Psyche whispered, "So it wasn't because I spoke to one of them?"
"You spoke to them?" Loki asked, shocked, for he whipped his head forward and caused pain to run down his neck, "You actually talked to one of those lowlife creatures? Are you insane?"
Psyche shrugged, "He was already dying and I just…I don't know. Asked him about his life."
"They're killing machines, Psyche, they would have killed you no matter how many you spoke to. That's why I used them. Don't you know that words do not save lives?"
"My entire degree believes that words save lives!" Psyche yelped.
"Not when faced with Asgardians, Chitarui or the Hulk." Loki snapped.
Psyche, recognizing defeat, sighed and got up to sit next to Loki. Loki didn't move, and he felt Psyche sit close enough to have her small body brush against him. She said after a few moments, "So are you proud of yourself?"
"You know very well that I am not."
"You should tell me about it." Psyche offered, "I've asked the guards to give us privacy. Confidentiality and everything."
"Heimdall, I expect, is at my father's side. There is no confidentiality."
Psyche nodded, though she had no idea who Heimdall was. "That's an excuse not to speak to me."
"That's a fact, that prevents me from speaking to you."
"Same thing."
"It isn't. Why are you so argumentive all of a sudden?" Loki snapped.
Psyche paused and it caused Loki to have to look down to her. She stared before herself and said weakly, "I'm very angry with you."
Loki looked at how her face was so set, and he said, "What did I do to anger you so?"
"You lied to me."
"And attempted to rule your race was just a personality quirk." Loki clarified.
"Odin said you'll pay for that when he decides your punishment." Psyche said, "But what you did to me was personal. They're separate things."
"Intertwined. Unless, of course, you didn't mind being ruled."
"Loki." Psyche said, and she had to look up at him. For the first time since they had hugged, Loki realized their close proximity, she said, "You're intelligent. You know what I'm talking about. Stop pretending."
"I'm the god of mischief." Loki said, "All I do is pretend. I've been pretending all my life. My life is one, big, pretend."
Psyche stared at him, those eyes bearing into him like they always did. More piercing than Odin's one eye, Loki concluded silently. But Psyche drew his attention back to her by saying, "So, when you protected me, it was pretend?"
Loki gave her a stern look, his eyes becoming sharp, "All you human women are the same, you know. The world, any world, all worlds, could be in the middle of a raging war, and you find the most intricate detail between two people and cling to that."
"You didn't answer my question."
Loki shook his head, annoyed, and wondered what his father was thinking with Heimdall giving him updates on the conversation between he and Psyche. If he admitted to anything, he would be compromised. He said softly, "Maybe you should stop pretending as well, Psyche."
Psyche nodded silently and she leaned her head on his shoulder casually, which in turn caused Loki to sit perfectly still, so as not to disturb her. They sat like this for a few moments, Loki looking forward and watching the magic that was within the walls shine and dull softly, and he had reached up to rub the sore skin under his chains, while Psyche stared before herself as well. He wasn't uncomfortable, but he was surprised that she wasn't either.
"It's not your fault." Psyche said after a few minutes of silence, "Who you are. What you're feeling, I mean."
"I'll be punished for it, won't I?"
"It's Odin's fault."
Loki looked around himself, mainly so that Heimdall knew very well what she said, before he looked down at her. She was looking at him already. He said, "How?"
"By hiding your true identity from you, he took your identity from you as well. And by repressing your curiosity and your true self, he made it so that you would eventually lash out against him."
"Well that's a very eloquent way to put it." Loki agreed.
"But you've overreacted."
"This is less eloquent."
"If you felt like you didn't have identity, why couldn't you just rebel like a normal child? Do drugs, have a lot of children, change genders. Why did you have to try to prove you were a leader?"
"My father." Loki said, but corrected himself, "Thor's father, stated that he and I were born to be kings. But what he meant was that Thor would be king of Asgard, the home I had grown used to and grown to love, and I would be King of Jotunheim, the enemy land of Asgard. I was one of his tools."
"Like how I was one of yours?"
"I—!" Loki said suddenly, before he pushed himself off the wall and glared down at Psyche, who had moved her head fast enough to prevent herself from being hit in the face by Loki's armor. He turned to her, so that they could look at each other face to face, his hands pinned down to his knees but he could still shove his face right at Psyche, causing her to be in his direct line of vision, "I protected you because-! Because of my personal choice. It was my personal choice to protect you, to keep you safe. You were never my pawn! You misunderstand my intentions!"
"Like you misunderstood your father's." Finished Psyche, looking him square in the eye. Oh, thought Loki, she was clever.
Loki felt a lump in his throat as she said it, and he was breathing heavily. Not only because of the emotions Psyche alone invoked in him, but also because she had gotten him to say exactly what she wanted; she had outwitted him. The god of mischief. They were still staring at each other when Psyche said, "Do you know what I did when I turned 18?"
"I could only guess." Loki stated as he glanced between her eyes.
"I had a falling out with my adoptive mother." Psyche explained, "She only adopted me to look good to her bridge club. You know, if you adopt a child out of the goodness of your heart, you look more…more kind. Two weeks after she adopted me, she became the president of the church circle club, and everyone in my old town thinks she's the most charitable woman. But she actually was a witch, she never spent time with me. I felt like I was just a tool to make her look good. I haven't spoken to her in seven years."
"That explains why no human seeks you." Loki mused more to himself than to the woman in front of him.
"Yeah." Psyche said, "Yes, I suppose."
"I seek you." Loki said suddenly. Psyche looked at him in surprise, but Loki made a face of annoyance and stood up suddenly, leaving Psyche sitting on the bench, confused. Loki made an annoyed hiss and shook his head before he started to pace around the cell, angry with himself, and the fact that he just admitted something so intimate.
The blush on Psyche's cheeks was obvious as she blinked and swallowed, suddenly feeling extremely small in the cell, in the middle of Asgard, with a frustrated demigod pacing in front of her. She said, "I brought the mythology book…"
Loki stopped pacing and glanced down at her, "The Norse Mythology. Why?"
Psyche stood up and reached into her bag to take it out. Loki walked up to her and looked over her shoulder, to see what the big deal was. She turned to Thor's page and Loki made a noise of annoyance in his throat, but she said, "You love Thor, don't you? You've always loved Thor, despite your relationship with your parents."
"That is true." Loki said softly, "I love my brother dearly."
"Because Thor was deceived just like you were." Psyche said, "Thor thought that you were his true brother as well. It had never occurred to him that you were different, like it occurred to you, and your parents knowing. He's the only person in the entire universe that has loved you unconditionally."
"Yes." Loki stated.
Psyche ran her fingers gently over the crease of the page before saying softly, "You're so lucky. He's never question his love for you, even when you questioned everything."
"But Thor does not need to question any longer." Loki stated.
"You're right. Without question, he still loves you."
Loki breathed and shook his head, before looking away from her and going over to his concrete bed and sitting down, letting his restrained wrists fall on his knees, "I believe you've proven your points this evening. I congratulate you in your excellent psychological expertise. But I believe your hour is just about up."
"Yeah." Psyche agreed.
"You better put this on me once again." Loki said, indicating to his muzzle by nodding his head at it, "So Asgard can rest in peace tonight."
Psyche went over to the muzzle and went to place it on him, but before she did, she said, "I do have a proposition for you."
Loki looked at her. She was leaning down to look at him, her hair falling over her shoulders and Loki had half a mind to run his fingers through it, but he didn't break his eye contact with her deep, brown eyes, "Yes?" He said.
"I just want to know." She said, "For certain. If you're ever pretending with me."
"Pretending. Back to that."
"Are you?" Psyche asked, "Are you pretending? Do you really care if I'm on time or not?"
"I care a great deal." Loki said, his blue eyes staring at her with as much intensity as she was using with her brown eyes. His jaw was so set, so cut and he was pressing his lips together to form his next statement. "And I promise, that I'm not pretending."
Psyche reached around his head to put his muzzle on, and Loki noticed that she took her time in clipping the clasp behind his head. But he didn't mind. He was able to smell her and watch as her eyes flitted between his, her long eyelashes, he noticed, curled slightly at the end naturally, and they framed her eyes just perfectly. The only thing that bothered Loki, with Psyche's arms around his neck and her standing so close, was that there was a muzzle of his lips and his hands were cuffed. She smiled at him, a warm genuine smile that he never could quite pull off, and she said, "If Thor had tried to enslave Earth, would you stop him?"
Loki narrowed his eyes and let out a disappointed breath. He had expected a lovely 'Goodnight' or an 'I seek you too,' but instead it was Thor. The demigod of cockblocking, he was.
"Miss Psyche?" Came a command from the other side of the basement. Loki watched as Psyche stood up quickly and waited, "Miss Psyche, it's been an hour."
"Alright, I'm ready." Psyche announced, and the guard came to the cell and looked between them.
The guard said, "So what did you say to him for an hour? Did you just talk to him?"
"Yes." Psyche said, "He's a very good listener."
"You had the desire to simply…speak to Prince Loki?" The guard asked. He glanced at Loki, who shrugged innocently from where he was sitting.
Psyche looked at him, at Loki, and Loki stared right back at her. His blue eyes, they were calm. Psyche said, "He understands me, I suppose."
"Odin wishes to meet with you tomorrow morning." The guard informed while unlocking the door, "You will need your rest tonight. Come, miss, we'll escort you safely."
Psyche left the cell and glanced back at Loki. He watched her go, wearing her white nightgown that hugged her where he liked watching. She smiled at him as the guard talked about something she obviously didn't care about, her brown eyes glimmering. She could see his blue eyes clearly, even when the rest of him, his green and his black, faded in the darkness. And when the guard closed the large stone door of the basement, Loki leaned back on the wall and looked at the ceiling above him. Would he really stop Thor, if their roles were reversed?
The guard trumped beside Psyche dutifully and said, "Prince Loki will be put on trial. Odin commanded it while you were down there."
"Oh." Psyche said, "What are Asgardian trials like?"
"You either walk away as a certified innocent man, or you are executed." The guard said.
"How does someone decide, though?" Psyche asked, "Where does one get their evidence?"
"The gatekeeper Heimdall has seen everything Loki has done. He will inform Odin of Loki's morale, and Odin will judge him accordingly."
Then Psyche realized for certain, about the deflated demigod in his cell in the basement of Asgard, she knew she'll be losing the only person in all of the Nine Worlds that helped her identify herself.
Big update is big because little writer didn't want to split this up into two chapters. Thanks for the reviews, for the alerts, for simply reading. I hope this isn't too long for you; I'm sorry if it is. But it'll hold you over for a couple days while I, you know, have a life. Please feel free to comment on what's happening, on how Loki is portrayed and where the story is going. Your feedback is very important to me, and so long as it's respectful, I'll take heed. xx
