Good Morrow! Not really, it's actually a lot later than I normally like to post, BUT I FINALLY GOT THE STUPID CHAPTER DONE! WOO! Anywho, I remember one of my readers questioning about this little crystal ball from the terribly done (in my opinion) original story. S/he was rather curious as to what it was going to do, and I finally got that answered, too! Tiryn, sweetie, I hope you enjoy the ball!

As always, thanks for reading!

Univerce

A New Outlook

Ever get that feeling where no one really wants you around? And it's so powerful and demanding that you barely register the feelings of those closest to you as they try to offer support? Well, that's how it felt standing before the 'Allfather' today. He pretty much sat on his throne and glared at me for coming back. Even his wife seemed a little upset with me coming back, despite being the one person in that stupid court – Thor and his friends don't count – that was happy with me being here. Clearly someone did some major campaigning against me while I was gone, 'cause this shit ain't right.

Falling back onto my bed, I try to think a little more clearly in regards to the whole situation at the moment. Upon returning, my stuff was immediately removed from my hands against my will – Aolani was already out and on my shoulder, thankfully – and we were rushed to the throne room. It was there that Odin decided to tell us that my 'services' were no longer required. Apparently he sent someone down to the cell Loki's held in to, uh… assess my progress. He's still treating this like a rash that just needs some ointment.

Why are 'gods' so freaking stupid?

Thor managed to persuade his father, with some help from his mother, to get me one more week with Loki. So little time to work with. My uncle won't be happy with the way things have gone here, no doubt. In fact, the blond demigod has already rushed back for some advice on what to do, leaving me here with my little ninja kitty and his friends. It's already become perfectly clear that leaving my room is a terrible idea, too. Several of the people here have already begun glaring openly at me, even with the warriors and prince of Asgard at my side. That had been a rather huge blow to my plans right then and there…

"Well, sweetie? What now?"

Aolani mews softly on my chest, her head snuggling into my SHIELD assigned armor in some form of comfort. Despite being told that I had a week left, everything about my stay is now regulated down to the last second of time spent with Loki. There will always be someone with me when outside my room, no excuses. If there isn't, there won't be trouble just for myself, but everyone who's supposed to be guarding me at the time. They're the ones responsible, after all.

This was not what went through my mind before returning to Asgard. Seriously, it was only a couple of days! Whoever went to the trouble of badmouthing me must really hate me. Either that, or the idea of Loki being given a second chance.

Wait a second… Loki getting a second chance? Well, crap. Of course that would pop up in a conversation during counsel or court – someone brought it up and now they're all cowering. Or, at least, they probably are. Hard to know or be completely sure when one is pretty much locked up under house arrest… Smug bastards…

"I must apologize, Lady Lyra," Thor sighs, head drooping. "I had not thought that my father would act in such a way. You were intended to be a guest here in Asgard, yet you are unable to even set foot outside your room."

"It's fine," I wave him off, still going through the book that Sif had brought for me.

At my request, she went through the library here in the palace to find a specific book, with the help of some of the library workers. She came back with a handful of books that might help me continue my work without actually having to step foot in the dungeons. Hopefully this will actually work out well instead of screwing me over like some of my studying has done before. Then again, college is a joke…

I support education…

The spells are complicated, to put it simply. It's a good thing that Sif could find anything in English, and even better that the beginnings of 'magic' is simple to understand. Or maybe that's just because my brain likes to overcomplicate things and magic is already overcomplicated as it is. Either way, the basic books she started me off with at the top of the pile were quick reads by skimming. A few of the others, though, are a bit harder to get through. It's all text and diagram with only the instructions. Literally nothing but a bare bone guide book. Thankfully one of my old high school teachers was terrible at his job and pretty much forced the entire class to figure out how to learn by themselves.

Anyway, I don't know whether to say it's admirable that Loki can understand all of this in the first place, not to mention put it to use. Part of me kind of wants to say 'screw Odin' and go down into the dungeon and ask the damn demigod to just walk me through it. 'Cause this stuff is actually pretty interesting.

"Is there anything you need, though?" Thor asks, interrupting my journal entry. "Being locked in this room must leave something to be desired."

Aolani mews sadly over next to the balcony door, also locked tight to keep me from slipping out that way and back in through another window. Odin is dead set on keeping me from going anywhere until it's time to send me back through the Bifrost. Of course, my little ninja kitty's sad little cries break my heart, giving me an idea to keep Thor entertained while I keep looking through these books.

"Would you mind too much taking Aolani out for a little bit?" I ask softly. "I'm a little worried about how confined she is right now. Maybe take her to Hogun for a while?"

Thor beams down at me, striding over to the now full grown – still growing – cat and picking her up. Don't ask how she's still growing despite being at the proper size for a cat – Sif already blamed Asgard for me. No need to add on additional blames. With a quick farewell, and that happy smile somewhat back on his face, the prince of Asgard slips out of the room and into the halls. Leaving me in the silence of my own form of 'prison.' It makes me wonder how exactly Loki puts up with all the quiet down there. Then again, he's probably used to it.

Now I miss my kitty…

My eyes drop back down to the journal in my lap, along with the multiple texts from the library scattered across my bed. Thor was probably alerted by Sif to my 'strange request,' as she called it. She's rather apt at catching the little things that need to be caught ahead of time. Even more so most likely since she probably had some inkling of Loki's intentions before it all went horribly wrong.

No matter, though. Even with how interesting it all is, there's most likely no way for me to get down to the dungeons short of injuring someone and getting sent down there myself. But that would endanger the already precarious relation between Asgard and Earth. The likelihood of me being placed in a cell is very low, thus why they've already begun to treat my room as more of cell before anything truly goes wrong. Personally, can't wait for someone to snap that idiot king back into his place. He clearly needs a wakeup call, at least.

Placing my pencil down, my fingers gently close the journal and set it off to the side, replacing it with one of the books on my bed. It's open to a section outlining a teleportation spell and the many variations it could take. Frankly, it doesn't really look doable for my part, and most likely is far above my level of skill – what skill? But it doesn't hurt to try, right?

Carefully, my feet set down on the bedroom floor for the first time in probably a week. Before actually attempting this, my first mission is a bath, leading me to the adjoining bathroom and the tub that somehow fills itself. No plumbing pipes makes it very suspicious, to say the least. After that, though, I stride out of the bathroom with just a towel and slip into my uniform, completely gearing up just in case this spell attempt drops me in some hell filled with man-eating monsters that love the taste of college student…

I support education…

Yet again my eyes go over the page, book held barely at an acceptable distance from my face, and slip out a piece of charcoal from the fireplace in the room. Quickly, my fingers drag the burnt piece of wood along the floor, marking out the circular diagram in the book, only a great many times larger. With that done, I take a seat in the middle of it and place the book in front of me. According to said text, this spell is done by pure concentration, the only words to ever be muttered being a name of the person focused on. That seems a bit simplistic to me, though. Well, not being the person who came up with the spell, it isn't really my choice.

But before that, another quick check of all my gear – Bead System, or flying discs, check; Oh Shit Bar, check; little necklace given to me for my safety but hasn't actually been on my neck since getting here… Wow, I'm really bad at this. Anyway, check! Control gauntlets and ankle cuffs, check. Thank the almighty Green that said Bruce redesigned a set of gauntlets to lock around my ankles instead. Easier to wear, and far more comfortable with the extra padding.

What else… Oh, crap! Security knife!

That's quickly collected from my suitcase and slipped into my boot, right above the ankle cuff for the Bead System. Hopefully being underneath fabric or material doesn't disrupt the system's… whatever's that make it work…

"Okay, all set," I sigh as I lock my door, an afterthought to keep people out just in case.

Returning to my spot with all of my gear locked in place and sat back on my heels, my stare land blankly on the spell page, currently trying to decide if this is a good idea. Anything goes wrong and I'll be screwed senseless. Not quite in that way, but definitely mind-fucked nine ways to Sunday, no doubt. Even worse, what if whoever catches me isn't trustworthy or doesn't like me on first glance? That will drop me straight into an even larger abyss of 'fuck my life's and 'kill me now's and 'WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON's.

Well, better hope no one catches me, huh?

After a deep breath and a 'what else is there to do?' I focus on the memory of Loki's cell. Time to get some work done, permission or no. While focusing on that cell, my vocal chords almost instinctually start to mutter the man's name, the only one that could possibly work for him. 'Loki, God of Tricks and Lies.' Glorified, yes, but mostly likely the only name he'll openly accept from someone at the moment. After all, his father no longer cares for him and he particularly hates him brother. Pretty sure a mother's name can't be used to identify him, either, since he seems a bit cross with her as well. Oh, Loki. What am I going to do with you?

… That made him seem like he's my own child or responsibility, didn't it? Wow, that's a bit creepy. And now my focus is off. Dammit!

Carefully, after checking if anything bad had happened yet, which thankfully has not, my mind focuses back on the cell. With almost single minded determination. Muttering his name like the book instructed, focusing almost with blinding concentration, I ignore the rest of the world as best as possible. Until my ear catch a rather loud crack. Freezing up, my eyes open to see what's broken.

To my slight surprise, there isn't actually a portal open to me at the moment. Checking the book one more time, my eyes land on the exact wording. Teleportation of the desired location, specifically the image into a spherical object that will act as a sort of communication between the two areas. Use with caution. Highly volatile when suffering loss of control.

… Huh… My bad. Looks like crap studying is crap studying, no matter what kind of subject matter it is… Ain't that just dandy?

I support education…

Just sitting there in front of me is an orb, rather shiny, with a picture of Loki's cell. No, not a picture, but a video feed or something similar to one that's showing me the man himself and exactly what he's doing. At the moment, it looks like he's doing nothing but staring off into space. And he looks a little paler than the last time I saw him. Although that could just be my imagination since he is a Frost Giant and they're supposed to be paler than normal, right? Or, at least, the ones who have normal looking skin are.

Regular Frosty the Snowmen are supposed to be glacier blue, abnormally tall by my standards and freezing cold to the touch… Actually, it's deathly cold, isn't it?

Adjusting to sit cross-legged instead of on my heels, I lean my head onto my fist, balancing my arm on a knee. He's just sitting there, staring off at the wall, almost like he was trying to discover some great mystery. When he swiftly shifts his focus and glares in my direc- No, the direction of my 'Video Feed,' as this trick shall now be known.

"I don't know who you are, but stop watching me."

"Wonder if he can hear me," I hum quietly to myself.

"Yes, you moronic plebian, I can hear you."

"Well, then…" I trail boredly.

That answers that. Looking around, I note that my journal is actually still on the bead and frown at it. Great, this 'session' of sorts will have to be recorded later. No actual work can be done while in this circle, unless leaving it is an option without this spell thing failing on me. On impulse, my gaze checks the book, more specifically being the little handwritten notes. One of which calls the sphere a type of 'magic crystal ball' and completely independent of any outside power source. Although it'll shut down on its own once all power poured into its creation is used up. So that means I'm powerful… Right?

Before any other thoughts scramble through my head, my feet scramble a bit as I attempt to reach my journal. With that in my hand, while Loki continues to mock me, my body plops back in the middle of the circle. Thankfully, the little crystal ball is still there.

"Let's see… First off, spell actually works. Shocking, really," I hum, scratching away in my journal. "Can you see me, too?"

"Who the blazes are you? And why should I even answer you?"

"Because 'Daddy's' pissed at you and refuses to let me visit you anymore without someone as a 'guard.' Fucking cowards, the lot of them," I huff. "I maintain the idea that he needs to pull the stick out of his ass already."

My eyes glance up from my journal to see Loki now staring in the general direction of the Video Feed with interest. Then, surprisingly, he starts to chuckle, slowly evolving into full blown laughter as he somehow falls from his bed. That's… a new development, no doubt. Hopefully the guards can't actually hear him at the moment.

He laughs at this. He's laughing at this. In the few weeks of visits that we've met, he never once struck me as a person who actually laughs at anything. Chuckle, snicker, smirk, enjoy something funny, maybe. But actually laugh? No way in hell. Is this trick really that funny? Or was it what I said about Odin? Well, either way, he's not glaring at my Video Feed anymore. Hopefully that means he's done with insulting me randomly.

Pulling the pencil away, my eyes go back up to sphere where Loki is climbing up from the floor, still snickering every so often. Time to give my breakthrough idea a shot.

"How is she?" Sif hums, petting the cat on her lap. "Is she not coming to dinner?"

Thor shake his head, sighing softly. "I fear that this form of confinement is a retaliation to my father and his orders. Every time I knock on her door, she answers it and refuses to let me in, even if just for a moment."

Sitting across from the two, the Warriors Three are all rather silent themselves. Save Volstagg's eating in which he stuffs the usual amount of food down his throat. Hogun and Fandral have barely touched their own food, much like Thor and Sif, as they all stare at the empty spot between the prince and female warrior. Which is where they would have had Lyra sit if she had actually left her room for dinner.

For some odd reason, Odin decided it would be another feast day, something that has happened unusually often lately. It would be more normal if it happened every month or so, since they usually sent out warriors on expeditions throughout the nine realms to keep tabs on things. But so far, in the last month, they've had around two a week. The first few were excusable, one being to introduce Lyra to the rest of Asgard and the next two to celebrate returns of warriors from their expeditions. But every one after that had been questionable, to say the least.

"Maybe we should go check on her," Sif sighs, letting Aolani climb up onto the table and eat the food instead. "This seclusion is unhealthy for her."

"What can we do?" Fandral scoffs. "She happens to be a fair bit like you, Lady Sif. If we try to force her out, she may step out for a few moments, but the first excuse she gets will find her back in confinement. I think she just wants to be left alone."

"But why?" Thor groans, elbows leaned against the table. "She has no reason!"

"Loki," Hogun hums, finally taking a bite from his food. "She worries."

Volstagg finally stops his stress eating, swallowing heavily to force everything down before speaking up. A valuable lesson he'd learned from Lyra after she had smacked him over the head. Several times. For talking with his mouth full.

"Why would she worry about him?"

"She has been visiting regularly," the samurai points out. "And now she cannot."

Like a lightbulb clicking on, Thor pounds on the table with a grin, startling several men and woman further down the table. He'd just caught on and his mind was piecing the rest together, now that the basic model had been formed. Such a simple thing yet they all failed to see it, simply overlooking the fact that was looking them in the face.

"She likes him!"

… Or not…

"No," Hogun denies quickly.

"That would be rather strange for them both, Thor," Sif chuckles weakly, stroking Aolani's head. "She does not 'like' him. Merely worries. You said yourself that her Uncle told you a bit about her, correct?"

Thor nods absently, slightly put off that he'd missed the point and that his brother didn't have an admirer. That would have made his day, to say the least.

"Headstrong, dutiful, a right warrior, by Asgardian standards."

"The second one," the woman sighs with a soft smile, happy to have been given an out. "She feels like she's failed. And as such, is trying to cope with the fact. After all, would you be alright if you messed up during a battle and found that you failed your objective?"

His immediate response is a shake of his head. "Not even slightly. I would feel as if…"

"As if you no longer deserve what you have," Hogun hums quietly. "She is coping. We should not disturb her."

It's amazing, the difference a simple bit of distance can make. Loki is acting a fair bit more friendly now that we can't communicate normally through the glass wall of his cell. With the simple change of going from face to face to a Skype chat, it seems the law of communication has taken affect. Maybe he just doesn't like speaking with real people and his mind went ahead and placed these conversations alongside the 'imaginary friends' he probably had as a child. That is something to ask him later on.

Moving on, it's interesting how he's opened up so quickly. Well, on certain subjects, of course. My thoughts on magic and getting him to teach me some were in actuality a fantastic idea. Thinking back, though, I once wrote that everything would have to be taken with a grain of salt, huh? Okay, well, in appearance, he thoroughly enjoys talking about it and explaining the complexities of the spells in some of the books here in my room. If he's being genuine, then he absolutely loves being a scholar. Knowing everything he does brings him great joy, and letting other people know that he knows so much is an ever greater one. Part of me, though, likes to think that he's enjoying talking about it because it's with me.

Great, now my inner selfish bitch is coming out. Just what everyone needs.

On the other hand, he might just be humoring me and using what's been given to him to take advantage of his situation. Maybe testing some of the hints he gave me on the spells would be a good idea to tell if he's being honest in his reactions…

That might get me killed, though.

Well, either way, he finally asked me where exactly I managed to get all these books since Odin won't let me be left alone except in my room. He seemed relatively surprised when he learned that Sif had snuck them into my room for me instead of me going and getting them myself. It's kind of funny, actually, how he seemed to think that I went and got all of it on my own. How the hell would I have known what kind of books to get in the first place?

Which drags me to my next thought. Would he mind too much if one of these books went missing? Or if a few pages were pulled from them? What kind of stupid question am I asking? Of course he would! Good thing I've been marking down little bits from every book I've been reading. After he explained the basis of magic, being an inner will and control of one's own energy, it became something of a mission to study up and mark down some simpler ones. With any luck, I'll be a novice at this crap by the time I'm 40.

A grin spreads over my face at the rant now sprawled across two entire pages of a journal. It's one of my longest entries yet. How exactly the idea hadn't hit me over the head before going home, I'll never know, but it's a good thing that it managed to pop up when it did. But now, with only one day left… So much for getting in at least one real visit.

The original idea was to speak with in person about magic and get him to teach me a bit in person. Since that isn't technically possible at the moment, my way is just as good, although it appears to be far better. Thankfully, we haven't run out of any topics on magic to talk about – Sif has been continually bringing me new collections of spells and scrolls to keep me occupied when we're not speaking. At the moment, my room is stuffed full with at least a good 30 or 40 books, each one at least two inches thick of paper.

Odin apparently still doesn't trust me enough to walk about the castle freely. And visiting Loki with more than his brother at my side would be pushing the boundaries, at least. He'd probably throw a fit of some sort is anyone else were to even walk into the room with me. Whoever had it out for me has officially won this war. Not even Thor asking for an audience for me could get that stubborn jackass of his throne for a few seconds.

Smug bastard.

One loud set of knockings at my door snaps my gloomy attention from the journal in front of me. Slamming it closed, I quickly roll up the large square of fabric with the circle on it – a thought that Sif, my technically partner in crime, suggested – and store it under the bed, much to Aolani's annoyance. She was accidentally covered with the thrown up blanket for a moment. With that done, my feet bounce me over the books scattered around the floor and to the door, yanking it open. My visitor, though, is a bit of a surprise. This particular person has been avoiding me, I believe, since the beginning of the week.

"Lady Frigga?" I smile awkwardly. "Is something wrong?"

"Of course not," she smiles. "May I come in?"

Ooch… That's one that has been denied to almost everyone save Sif, who actually just took up the habit of swinging onto my balcony and waltzing in that way. Clever woman, that one. But you can't just say 'no' to a queen, especially the one hosting you.

"Uh, yeah, sure," I nod, moving out of the way for her to walk by. "Sorry, if I'd known you were coming, it wouldn't be such a mess."

Her soft chuckle as she looks about has me wincing. It's not that bad, is it? Books scattered about the floor, my clothes haphazardly pile off in the corner with my bag, the dresses that were made for me for dinners and strolling around pretty much left to gather dust in the open wardrobe… Okay, it's that bad.

"This is rather nostalgic," she giggles. "Loki used to keep his room in almost the same manner."

"Wow," I hum, closing the door to block out the guards' stares. "That… is slightly worrying, actually. Now I'm worried about my future. I don't want to be a recluse for the rest of my life."

Again, she giggles. "Loki was never a recluse. He just… failed to find the right people to spend time with. I believe Thor was the only one who he spent any amount of time with regularly. Outside of that, he spoke with some of the healers every so often, but more out of academic necessity than any sort of relation."

"Makes sense," I hum. "He does have a lot of intel on anything magical."

Frigga looks up at me with a raised eyebrow, and for a moment, I stare dumbly back. Then my words hit me and my eyes widen, sputtering left and right for some sort of excuse to get by with. Again, though, she simply chuckles and waves it off. How very Frigga like. I don't think she could ever hold something against someone, so long as it helped out one of her sons. Unless it hurt one of her other family members.

"So how did you manage it?" she questions softly, stroking Aolani's head.

"Uh, well… Sif snuck a few volumes of magical texts into my room for me. Asked her for a few more every time she came back. One of the first few books had this spell that's almost like a portal, but only for imagery. You see and speak, but can't actually go there."

The queen smiles peacefully, sitting on the bed and letting my overgrown cat climb into her lap. This is the first time this week that she's visited me. Admittedly, her visit was more expected at the start of all this rather than at the end of it all. But maybe she just couldn't find an excuse to come down and talk to me without seeming suspicious. She does still care for her son, after all. And it doesn't matter what anyone says, she will continue to care for him so long as she considers herself his mother.

Ah, motherly instinct.

"I see," she sighs happily. "Is he doing any better?"

A grin lights up my face. "As better as he can! He seems really happy whenever we talk now. Granted, I've completely avoided any topics aside from magic or magical influences like amulets or enchantments… But still!"

She laughs happily, Aolani mewing in her lap with a swishing tail. This is good. Frigga needs to laugh, she needs to know that her son is doing well… I wonder how Loki would feel if she was present during one of these talks that we've had. Despite having already spoken today, would he particularly upset if we talk one more time?

"Actually," Frigga sighs, a smile on her face, "I should probably talk to you about the reason I came here today."

Uh oh…