Author's Notes

Song Lyrics from Paramore - When It Rains
/watch?v=QY9pbOPeLbM&list=PLb-h0TgZRJZpYbnvq7gW1FBvsBMdCI_mZ&index=10

Additional Songs:

Loneliest Girl from Carole & Tuesday
/watch?v=pEkpCS65XTA&list=PLb-h0TgZRJZpYbnvq7gW1FBvsBMdCI_mZ&index=11

Imagine Dragons - Bad Liar
/watch?v=fZE5UxVQTXI&list=PLb-h0TgZRJZpYbnvq7gW1FBvsBMdCI_mZ&index=13

Whole Playlist:
/playlist?list=PLb-h0TgZRJZooJ-TPIjxWEFoYEnXi2vcl

Luciana stared at the man behind the magic glass. It had been, what, a few months, a year maybe since she had seen him last, but in this moment to her it felt like ages had passed. He had claimed to be fine, but was that really the truth? She studied his face, searching for an answer. There was something about his expression and the way he looked at her. It almost seemed… sad. Like he had been crying.
But it was only there for a second. And before she could say a word his face changed, his usual smug grin replacing whatever emotion had been there before.

"To what do I owe the honor of this visit?"
"What?"
"Well, the great Lady Echo must surely have more important things to do than visit a lowly prisoner." he said, taking a few steps away from the wall. "I hear you've been quite busy these days. With what? Restoring the peace of the nine realms with my brother?" He put an extra dramatic play on the words as he spoke, clearly mocking the task they had been given and her role in it. Luciana gulped as the guilt kept creeping its way back. She knew she had waited too long. Of course he would react that way now. "I'm sorry…" she spoke softly, "I should have been here sooner."
For a second Loki's eyes grew wide, of all the things he expected to hear, an apology had not been one of them. However, he wouldn't allow himself to be swayed by such words.

The God of Mischief shook his head and scoffed. "Been here sooner? God forbid. Did you actually think I wanted to see you?" he began and she could already guess where this was going. "What, did you think I would miss you? Mope in my cell? Cry myself to sleep every night because my dear Luciana wouldn't come to visit me? Now that's rich! I didn't think you were that delusional!" Loki started laughing about his own words, like he had just made the greatest joke in the world. But to her it sounded hollow.

Lifeless. Fake.

"Lucy, these past few months have been the greatest days in my life! No one is here to annoy me. I wasn't expected to interact with these brutes that lack the brain cells to keep up with even the most basic of conversations! I didn't have to look at my brother's idiotic face when he proudly boasts about another one of his oh-so-glorious battles! And you, I've finally been free from your nagging!
Or well, I was, until now. I didn't want to see you, I was glad I didn't have to."

He's doing it. Luciana thought as she listened to his rambling. Pulling up another wall, trying to hide behind the malicious words. But…
"You're lying." she stated, matter of factly.
"I beg your pardon?"

A loud, animalistic roar interrupted their conversation and the brunette spun around in the direction the sound had been coming from. "What was that?"
Other than her, Loki didn't seem to be concerned about the noise in the slightest. He just shrugged at her question. "Probably just another one of the problem children down here. They sometimes have to let out some steam. Anyways, what I was saying-"
The roar resonated again, louder this time. And longer. Or rather it didn't seem to stop. It caused an ominous feeling to rise in her stomach. Something was definitely wrong. She needed to check. Slowly she took a few steps away from the cell, to look down the rest of the long hallway.

"Lucy, what are you doing? Whatever it is, I don't think it's a smart idea."
"Oh, really? Well, you said you didn't wanna see me, so I guess I'll do you a favor and get out of your face."
He blinked before letting out an exasperated sigh. "What? That's not- Lucy. Lucy!"

She ignored his calling and stepped away, down the hallway. It didn't take her long to spot the cause of the outcry. Although, she would've rather seen the tall armored creature behind bars instead of it standing outside of the cell. Effortless it knocked away the two guards that had attempted to get it to surrender.
"Oh. Great."
The next instant the creature turned to the opposite wall and destroyed the magic glass with one swift swing of its arm, effectively freeing the prisoners in the cell. Not bothering with them any further it proceeded to the next cell, repeating the action.
"Lovely. Just lovely. A prison riot. Just the thing I was missing today."

Cracking her neck once, Luciana summoned her rapier and took on a fighting stance as the first set of freed prisoners made their way towards her. One of them took a swing at her which she smoothly avoided before piercing his arm with her blade. He sank to his knees with a painful groan, but it didn't take long for another to take his place. Soon the young woman was engaged in a full on fight, as more and more guards showed up, trying to bring things under control. From the corner of her eyes she could see Volstagg and Fandral who had joined the battle, sending various creatures flying left and right.
"It's almost as if they resent being imprisoned!"
"You really can't make some of these creatures happy!"

Luciana chuckled at their exchange when she noticed the armored creature make his way towards Loki's cell. Sending the one she was fighting to the ground with a well aimed kick, she ran after it, avoiding getting hit by other prisoners and guards fighting on either side of the hallway. However, a few meters before she could reach them, she was stopped by another batch of criminals.
To her surprise, and relief, the monster decided against freeing the God of Mischief but the words the latter spoke to it made the blood freeze in her veins.
"You might want to take the stairs to the left."
Being occupied, she could do nothing but watch the armored creature disappear up the staircase with heavy steps.

A few moments later lightning struck the remaining two men she was up against and they tumbled to the ground like a bag of potatoes.
"Thor!" she called out to the blonde who came running towards her, knocking off prisoners left and right. "You're fucking late!"
"Sorry, I was on a date."
Luciana scoffed looking behind the prince at the stairs, the ominous feeling inside her growing stronger by the minute. "Thor, listen, there's something important I have to check. Can you manage without me here?"
"Should I be offended? I could take out these small fries all by myself."
"Yeah, right. I don't wanna hear your whining about any bruises later, you hear me?"
They both laughed and Luciana darted off. She momentarily stopped as she passed Loki's cell. He was sitting next to the magic glass, casually reading a book as if the chaos around was none of his concern. For a moment he glanced up at her, his trademark grin on his lips. The brunette gave him a stern look before running off as she yelled "You're a fucking idiot!"

Just running away
From all the ones who love you
From everything

The sound of explosions rattled through the castle walls as Luciana sped up the stairs, almost stumbling over them several times. She didn't know what was going on but it sure wasn't good. Her stomach was in knots and her breathing strained. By the time she finally reached the end of the stairs she was panting heavily. But the sight that awaited her took the last bit of air from her lungs.

In the middle of the grand hall the wreckage of some kind of spaceship lay. The floor was covered in debris, several of the grand pillars had been destroyed and there were holes all over the walls. As she looked around, she could see several bodies sprawled across the cold stone floor. Some belonged to the guards, while others were clad in strange clothing and armor. She had seen a lot of different folks, cultures and attire during their journey across the realms, but she didn't recognize what was in front of her.
Who were these people? Where had they come from? Why were they attacking Asgard and what was their goal?

Another explosion and the continuous sound of battle brought her back to reality. But when she realized where the sounds were coming from her heart dropped.
The throne hall - and close to it were the queen's chambers.
Forgetting about her worn out muscles, Luciana sprinted in the direction of the battle. Her lungs felt like they were on fire, but she had to keep running. Or else something horrible would happen, she felt it in her bones. She could only hope that she wasn't already too late.

Luciana made her way past the grand hall where the throne of the Allfather once had been, even though it was now no more than a pile of debris and broken stone. There were still several guards fighting the strangely clad attackers, but she ignored them as she ran past, although she silently prayed for their safety.

After what felt like an eternity she finally reached the queen's chambers. The tall door was open, the sight sending a chill down her spine. Cautiously she slipped inside, careful to eradicate all sounds her body made that could have alerted whoever was inside. But when her eyes caught sight of the scene, her heart dared to stop from the shock. In front of her was Frigga, held by the armored creature from the dungeon. And across from them stood a man. He was clad in the same strange attire as the attackers wore, although he wasn't wearing any helmet, allowing Luciana to get a clear picture of his face. His skin was pale, almost completely white, as was his hair that was styled in a long braid. And his ears, they were pointy.
Could it be? No, they had been killed centuries ago. But what if-

"My name is Malekith." the man announced. "And I have come to take what's mine." He turned away from the queen, towards the opposite of the room. There stood Jane Foster. No. It was more accurate to say that it was an illusion of Jane Foster. Luciana had spent enough time around Loki to be able to recognize his illusions. And this one was similar to his, which meant-
Frigga. She must have conjured that image in an attempt to protect the real Jane. She must have known that they were after her, or after the Aether inside the scientist to be precise. Luciana had no idea where the real Jane was but she knew that something bad would happen once Malekith noticed the trick.
No sooner had she thought it, when the man reached out to touch the Midgardian woman, but instead his hand only went through her as the image disappeared in a green glow.

Clearly angry he turned around, questioning where the queen was hiding her. Luciana had to do something. But what? If she charged out now the armored creature could snap Frigga's neck in half before she would even have the chance to reach them. If only one of the princes was here. Thor's lightning or Loki's magic - they could have hit them from afar. But her? She needed noise to fight from a distance, which put her in a severe disadvantage during hostage situations like these.

While she was still pondering on what to do, the queen refused to hand any information to the enemy. "I will never tell you."
"I believe you."
He believed her?
No. That meant-

Luciana threw away all common sense and darted out of her hiding place, her rapier ready as she charged at the armored creature.
But it was too late. She wouldn't reach them in time.
Her eyes grew wide in horror as the monster drew out a blade and effortlessly pierced it through the unprotected flesh of Frigga's body. The queen's eyes grew wide from the shock of the sudden pang in her chest and she let out a pained shriek. Luciana reached the creature the moment it pulled the blade back out, her rapier piercing through the armor of its arm. It led out a pained growl but smacked the young woman's body away with his other arm, sending Luciana flying to the ground. A wave of pain ran through her as she hit the cold floor. Dizzy from the impact, she desperately tried to scramble to her feet. Her vision was blurry but she could see the silhouette of Frigga's body as she sank to the ground, laying still without moving. The next moment a grief-stricken cry echoed through the room and a shot of lightning hit the armored creature. It mixed with her own pained scream that came from her mouth as she sank back down on the floor.

Luciana didn't remember much of what happened after that. Thor had tried to strike down Malekith and the creature but they had escaped in their big spacecraft. At one point the Allfather had entered the room, crouching down to take ahold of his wife's body. Up until this point she had still hoped everything would somehow still turn out fine. That the healers would come any second and that they would be able to save her. But as she watched the scene in front of her, both Thor and the normally ever unfaced Allfather, Odin himself, crouching on the ground, desperately holding on to the queen's body - she knew it was too late.

Frigga was dead.

You made yourself a bed
At the bottom of the blackest hole (Blackest hole)

All of Asgard had assembled for the funeral, clad in black, mourning over their queen's death. Draped in beautiful robes Frigga's body looked devine as she lay in the big boat designed to send off the kingdom's lost ones onto their next journey to Valhalla. She looked peaceful, almost as if she was sleeping and would soon awake from a long dream. However, Luciana knew that this wouldn't happen. Standing next to Thor and Jane, she watched as the boat sailed over the water towards the chasm. It glowed from the fire and upon reaching the cliff it started to float as the Allfather brought down his heavy spear. No sooner Frigga's body started to dissolve into a thousand tiny lights that drifted up to the sky, mixing with the countless stars above them. While it was an absolutely beautiful sight, it was also the saddest she had ever laid eyes upon.

Tears streamed down Luciana's face as she sent off her white orb of light towards the sky, where it was to join the hundreds of others that had been released by the citizens of Asgard. While she let the grief and pain take hold of her, her thoughts drifted to the one person that wasn't allowed to attend the funeral. Her heart ached thinking about what he had to be feeling right now. Had someone even bothered to tell him? He was all alone in his cell, alone with the grief he must have felt. With no one to lean on, no one to comfort him, no one to tell him that it wasn't his fault.
The thought pained her almost as much as the loss of the queen did and she gritted her teeth, swallowing down her tears. The next moment she ran, away from the funeral, away from her friends, away from all the grieving citizens. She didn't stop, even as Thor called out her name. As fast as her feet carried her she ran, only one goal in her mind - the dungeons.

And you'll sleep 'til May and you'll say
That you don't want to see the sun anymore

Luciana was completely out of breath when she finally found herself in front of the cell and she needed a few moments to calm herself before she could approach the magic glass wall. She peered inside the cell. The interior looked the same way it had when she first had come down here. Nothing had changed.

"Loki?" she softly called out. No reaction.
He was laying on his bed, facing the white wall. She tried calling out again but he remained still, not moving. Was he sleeping? No, there was no way he would be if he knew what had happened. Had no one told him after all?

Not wanting to disturb his sleep Luciana thought about leaving. But in the end she decided it was best for her to stay. If he really didn't know yet, then someone had to tell him. And she rather it be her than one of the guards.
There were no such things as chairs or benches in the hallway so she had no other choice than to sit down on the floor, leaning her back against the piece of wall protruding where his cell connected to the next one. That way she could still see inside in case he would wake up. Like that Luciana sat in silence for quite a while, watching Loki's back. She didn't know how much time had already passed.

The problem with sitting in silence was that you basically were left alone with your thoughts. And hers trailed in circles as the events of the last day kept on repeating in her mind. She wondered about what she could have done differently. If she had just run faster would she have been able to catch the armored creature? If she had acted sooner, if she just had been there a tad earlier - would she have been able to save her? As the pain and grief in her started to mix with the newfound guilt, tears started to gather in her eyes again, threatening to spill as she was overwhelmed by her emotions. Not knowing how else to deal with her feelings she started to sing again, hoping to be able to breathe normally again after letting everything out.

[ The Loneliest Girl ]

"Can you only love with a broken heart?
In the cold rain"

It was the same song she had been singing when she first had made her way down to the dungeons the day before. Although she had never finished it, as there was still a second part.

"I'm giving it a try, I let it fly
You can count me in"

When she had first listened to it quite some time ago, the lyrics had immediately spoken to her. She had felt them, connected with them deep in her heart - and she had cried. Quite the same way she was crying now.

"So when the night falls I'll be on your side
These eyes don't lie"

Luciana closed her eyes, hoping the notion would keep her tears from falling. But it was no use. They kept on streaming down her cheeks, dropping to the floor, one by one.

"'Cause my defeated heart's
Got nothing to hide
It's my only vice"

Slowly the recaptured prisoners started to gather at their respective walls. They had all done terrible things, deserving to be held captive under Asgard's castle. Yet none of them dared to disturb the woman's soft voice that echoed across the walls in the dungeon.

"Can you feel my…
Can you feel my…
Can you feel my tears? They won't dry"

However, Luciana couldn't see them. She didn't know that they were listening, that the ones who could were watching her.

"Can you feel my…
Can you feel my…
Can you feel my tears? They won't dry"

She just kept on singing, drowning out everything around her. Just focusing on the gentle melody, the words and the pain she was feeling.

"Can you feel my…
Can you feel my…
Can you feel my tears? They won't dry"

What she also didn't notice was that Loki was awake. He had never been sleeping. How could he after what that guard had told him? She was dead. Frigga was dead. And the last thing he had said to her was that she wasn't his mother. A blatant lie. And he cursed himself for it.

"Can you feel my…
Can you feel my teardrops of the loneliest girl?
The loneliest girl"

He cursed himself for ever saying those words to the armored creature. For leading the way for it. He had tried to shield himself with this illusion. But it was also a lie. A false pretense. For everyone in this dungeon, for him and for her .
His heart had dropped when he had heard her soft voice call out his name. Why had she come? Why now? Now when there was no way he could face her. Not after what had happened. Not when it was his fault that his mother was dead.

"Keep it, keep it close to your heart
And it won't go"

But now she was here. And she was singing that song again. It was a lovely song but also incredibly sad, there was no denying it, and the fact that she sang it made it all the more beautiful. But he hated it. He hated how listening to it made him feel. He had tried so hard. Tried not to shed any tears. But with this, with her voice in his ears he didn't stand a chance. And the tears silently rolled down his face.

"Keep it, keep it close
And then you'll start to grow"

As the last note left her lips, Luciana suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion roll over her. The events of the past 24 h had completely drained her. And now the physical and emotional fatigue was finally catching up to her. No matter how hard she tried to keep her eyelids from closing, she couldn't fight it any longer. Soon she felt herself drifting off. And Luciana fell asleep in her position on the floor, leaning against the wall as her head slowly tilted to the side, coming to a rest against the cold magic glass of Loki's cell.