Loki leaned against the wall with his arms folded - only half dressed - and watched Zora sleep. She lay on her back, the sheets covering most of her legs as they crossed delicately at the knees. The rest of her form was exposed, one hand over her chest, the other arm above her head. Her hair barely smouldered, her face was almost serene, and Loki could now see, as the sun fell on her skin from his balcony, the faint scars that covered her body.

Head to toe her skin was mottled with the kind of scars left by burns. In the dimness of the night and of the confines around them, especially the harsh artificial light in her cell, it was hard to notice them at all, but the sun seemed to bring them forth. Loki thought of what Odin had said about her,

'...I was sure the destruction she caused was self-destructive. Until a skeletal, burned figure found us...'

The thought of Zora charred as Odin described chilled Loki. The smugness he felt seeing such a powerful, beautiful creature in his bed fell away and anger took its place. Loose objects and furniture in the room began to tremble as his will fed from that anger. He heard footsteps approach the door. He quickly calmed, setting the rage aside for later, and disguised his self as Odin. An advisor entered, none the wiser to the form sleeping in what appeared to him, a made bed.

Zora woke in Loki's bed, and was disappointed he was not still there with her. Flashes of Loki staring devilishly up at her from between her legs filled her thoughts and she writhed happily. She took another shirt from his drawer and realised she was no longer captive; Odin no longer ensured she was provided for with basic necessities like clothes; she was free to go out herself.

It was no easy feat – Zora had to scale some of the palace from the outside, dodge soldiers from the inside and collect the discarded shirt once or twice after being forced to flee into fire to remain unnoticed. She was free though; totally and utterly free.

Stealing money was far too easy a task – people's pockets were full of coin and a display of fire in the distance was an easy distraction for Zora to make. With the stolen coins Zora bought a bag to carry the clothes she bought in. She was drawn to green but recognised this had more to do with Loki than her own preferences. She thought about red but if she turned to ash in a hurry it would be easy to see the discarded garments on the ground. The castle was predominantly gold, so she chose yellows and oranges.

Still in Loki's shirt and a new cloak on top, the day was drawing to its end. She thought about returning to Loki, but the city was so beautiful, and she had patiently waited for the episode with the Dark Elves to be over close to the palace. She was free now; she had time to wonder.

The sky was black and crowded with glittering stars. Zora stood in an open space, far from civilisation by foot and amused herself with an airborne fire display. She drew Asgard's enemies to her; they had shared the hall of cells with her.

"Well, well, well." A reptilian bear sighed, approaching Zora slowly. Creatures like him followed, all wearing similar uniforms, similarly dulled with time and battle. The plates on their chests were black, silver chainmail beneath that hung like a skirt over their brown leather-clad legs. Their feet were toughened and bloodied.

"So they didn't manage to round you up, did they?"

"You're voice isn't as pretty as I imagined." He told her.

"Glad to disappoint. Is there a good reason for you interrupting me?"

"It's lonely out here." He grinned, earning a series of chuckles from his friends.

"Is everyone so lonely?" she muttered to herself, rolling her fingers outstretched while raising her arm gracefully to one side. Fire spilled forth and the invisible creature that had been inching towards her shrieked as her flames consumed her. The reptilian bear's smirk dropped.

Another of his friends barked an insult before charging towards her. She didn't want to ruin her new cloak and so avoided bursting into flames. She punched the air and a quarter-circle of fire flew forth, fusing his armour to his skin.

He fell to the floor screaming, wriggling under the heat that was now in his chest plate. Two more were already coming towards her and she waved her arms, like legs swimming side ways in water, creating a pulsing beam of fire in front of her. She turned as she did, crouching low as she moved, cutting down her enemies.

She had used a lot of energy, and it had been a long time since she had used her abilities combatively. She leaned on her hands and one knee, on the ground, taking deep breaths in attempt to steady the dizziness before her eyes. Gold figures came towards her, long gold weapons in their hands.

Pain erupted to one side of her jaw and her shoulder and the opposite side of her head soon followed with more outbursts of pain. She had been struck and landed on the ground hard. A blade pierced her skin, above her heart and she dispersed quickly, appearing again standing where she had lay, as a naked figure of fire.