Author's Note
Song Lyrics from Ava Max - Torn
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Whole Playlist:
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Having been taken into custody by the henchman, she was now being led somewhere by the woman directing them. At first they had gone down in a glass walled elevator, which had given her the chance to get another good look on this planet. Though her impression of it had only gotten weirder. She had spotted several people clustering the streets of what had seemed to be a city. However, she hadn't been able to deduce anything about what should have been the local culture. Each of them had been clad in a different style of clothing. Hell, a lot of them had been different creatures, some of whom she recognized from planets she had been to before. It seemed all different kinds of people and cultures had clashed on this planet. And exactly that's how everything looked like. It was a complete and utter chaos.
Currently, they were walking through a long hallway, leading them to, she could only assume, either the place's prison or to the one in charge of this whole tower. Luciana hoped it was the latter.
"Really now, where are we going?" she tried asking the woman for what felt like the hundredth time. But to no avail. As before she was only met with silence. The brunette let out a sign when her eyes finally caught sight of what had to be the end of the tunnel.
Emerging from it, they found themselves in a grand hall, bustling with people who all seemed to be having the time of their lives. Some of them were dancing, others drank to their hearts content and a few seemed to be engrossed in conversation.
"Did you bring me to join a party?" Luciana asked in an amused tone and finally was granted with an answer. Although it wasn't quite what she had hoped for.
"Quiet. The Grandmaster will decide your fate now."
"The who will do what now?"
Still confused by what was going on, her ears caught the sound of a silky voice. "My Topaz, what have you brought me here?"
The young woman turned her head and her gaze fell on an elderly man who seemed to be trying really hard to appear young. He was clad in a strange looking golden robe and on his chin a streak was painted in blue. He came walking over to her, or more like he seemed to float over. It was hard to describe, but the way he posed himself was… special.
"You my dear, seem to be quite the beauty." he said with a chuckle as he looked her up and down. The notion gave her a weird appalled feeling and she felt goosebumps all over her body. "Uhm, thank you."
"You're welcome. Topaz, she is gonna be a worthy addition to my special escorts. You really outdid yourself. Have you thought of maybe switching to become a scrapper?" he said, turning on his heel to go back to whatever he had been occupied with before.
"I caught her in the act of infiltrating my spaceship."
Hearing that, the Grandmaster spun around to face them again. "Oooh."
"What? No, no. That's not what happened at all. I simply happened to land on her ship when I fell from one of those portals. I really had no intention of-"
"Aww, that is such a shame, dear. We could have had a lot of fun together. But infiltrating my home? That is a big no-no." the man interrupted in an apologetic tone. "Get me the melting stick."
One of the soldiers nodded and soon the Grandmaster got handed a strange staff with an orange bulb on top of it.
"The what?! Wait a second! This is all a misunderstanding."
"I'm sure it is, dear. I understand. I'll personally apologize in your name to all the soldiers you wronged with your actions, starting with Topaz here. After I freed you that is."
Even though his words and voice sounded amicable, the way he brought the strange crystal closer to her ever so slowly filled her with dread. She tried to wriggle herself free from the grasp of her captors, but the woman called Topaz had apparently made it her personal agenda to keep her in place. And she was smiling while doing so. Luciana gulped, closing her eyes in fear of what was about to happen.
"WAIT!"
A loud voice echoed against the walls, interrupting the Grandmaster in his motion, only a mere centimeters before the staff could touch the brunette's cheek.
"Urgh, what now? Who's interrupting the melting procedure?" the man sighed, lowering the weapon. He looked across the room to find the source of the voice. But none of the people in the room stepped forward.
Until a figure pushed his way past them all, emerging from the crowd.
"Wait. Please wait. I think your decision to melt this woman is a bit hasty."
Luciana had opened her eyes upon hearing the shout. She had immediately recognized the voice, but now that she saw him standing there her still eyes widened ever so slightly.
"Loki?!"
He gave her a look that seemed to ask her to let him handle the situation. Confused by what was going on, the Grandmaster looked from one of them to the other with a raised eyebrow. At last he pointed his index finger between them. "You two… You two know each other?"
Loki laughed. "Yes. We're from the same planet." It was one of those laughs he displayed when he was trying to charm someone into getting what he wanted.
"Ooohh. Oh. I see, I see. What was it again you were? Some kind of prince or something?"
"That's correct."
"Right, right… So, what does that make her? Is she some kind of concubine of yours or…?"
"Pffff…" Luciana snorted upon seeing her friend's facial muscles freeze at the Grandmaster's question. He obviously hadn't expected those words and they had caught him off guard a little. The way he opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, while seemingly trying to figure out how to respond was a funny sight to behold.
"No. No she's not… anything like that. Lucy is more like… Well, you see it's a little complicated. We were kinda in the middle of something important before she went and disappeared for four years, so I can't really say what exactly she…"
"Yeah, alright, you know what? I'm gonna cut you short there. I can see that there's apparently a story here, but I'm kinda not interested enough to hear anything more about this. Like at all. So-"
"We're childhood friends." Luciana jumped into the conversation before it could get any more awkward. "That's what he was trying to say."
"Thaaaank you, dear." The Grandmaster responded to her words before turning back to the God of Mischief. "See, that was a short answer. A good answer. Why can't you just word it simply like that, instead of going into some long ass explanation of will they, won't they."
Seemingly offended, Loki scoffed, putting his hands on his hips. He glanced over at her, but the brunette only shrugged, smiling innocently, at which he shook his head in exasperation.
"Anyways." The Grandmaster continued. "You want me to spare this woman because there's some sentimental stuff going on between you two, is that right?"
"What? No. Of course not. I would never waste your precious time because of something useless like that, Grandmaster" he answered, glimpsing in her direction, as if to make sure she wasn't offended by his words. "I simply meant to point out that executing-"
"Aww, don't use the E-word here."
"Pardon me, that freeing her from the burden of life would be quite a loss because of her special abilities."
That seemed to catch the ruler's attention. "Oh, really? What can she do?"
"Many things. For example, she excels at impersonating people. Like-"
"Hand me the melting stick, Topaz." the Grandmaster's voice resounded.
"As you wish, sir." the woman replied, handing the man the staff, effectively letting go of Luciana. The ruler raised an eyebrow at his subordinate in confusion. "Topaz, what are you doing?"
"Handing you the melting stick. As you requested."
"I didn't. I didn't say that. …Oh." He turned his head towards the brunette, an amused smile on his lips. "That was you."
"Hehe~"
"Oh, she's a little jester, that one, huh. Alright, alright. Do someone else."
The brunette tilted her head a little before taking the stance of standing in attention like a soldier. "I caught her in the act of infiltrating my spaceship. She must be executed at once."
The Grandmaster chuckled. "Oh, that's you Topaz. Look at that, she even perfectly copied your emotionless expression."
"Mhmm. She's a real talent." the woman curtly responded, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, I am loving this. Another one. Let's see, oh. Do him!" He pointed at Loki who laughed half-heartedly at the suggestion. Luciana however, smirked at the opportunity, coughing a few times as if to ready her voice. She stepped forward to the center of the circle of people and struck a dramatic pose.
"I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose!"
For a few seconds the hall was completely silent. But suddenly the Grandmaster doubled over with laughter. And soon the rest of the people followed suit, even Topaz had a smile on her lips.
"That, that is not how I sound." Loki huffed, offended.
"That's exactly what he said to me the day he came here!" the ruler pressed out in between ragged breaths. By the end of his laughing fit he had to wipe a few tears from his eyes. "Haaah… You're right, melting this one would be a total waste. What is your name, dear?"
A proud grin on her lips, she answered the man, bowing slightly. "I am Luciana of Asgard. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance Grandmaster."
"Likewise Lucy, likewise."
Loki's face twisted a little upon hearing the ruler call her by her nickname all familiar. Just now he had been ready to kill her and suddenly he acted like they had been friends for years.
"Anything else you can do? Can you fight, Lucy?"
"Of c-"
"No, she can't! She is completely useless in battle." the God of Mischief intercepted at which the brunette glanced at him, not hiding her apparent irritation. However, the feeling quickly dissipated when she saw the pleading look in his eyes as he glimpsed at her. She didn't understand what was going on, but for the time being she decided to play along with him.
"Sadly, he's right. Otherwise I wouldn't have gotten caught so easily by your soldiers."
"Fair point. Anything else then?"
"She's a decent singer."
"Decent?" Luciana scoffed in pretend offense. "I have you know I am an excellent singer and there were times when a certain little boy refused to let me go home before he had heard another song from me."
"This is hardly the time to reminisce about the past. How about giving The Grandmaster an example instead?" Loki responded, trying to steer the conversation elsewhere to escape the imminent humilation.
"Alright. Grandmaster, I saw you've got a synthesizer over there, would you mind accompanying me?"
"Oh, of course dear! Come on over. Follow me."
The crowd made way for the two of them and soon they found themselves in front of the machine. The Grandmaster had taken his position behind it and was already randomly hitting some of the buttons, producing strange sounds. "Ready when you are, dear."
Luciana had been given a microphone. Not that she needed one, but it added to the general atmosphere, so why not go along with it? She let her eye wander along the crowd of people, when she found Loki's face among them. He looked quite tense, uncharacteristically so. Her lips curled up into a confident grin and she turned to the Grandmaster behind her.
"Hit it!"
[ Ava Max - Torn ]
"You, you take all of the li-li-light away
But, but then you give me fireworks
I, I think of leaving ni-ni-night and day
But, but then you always find the words
You're contagious, baby"
After only a few notes a murmur went through the crowd and people started to whisper to each other. Behind his console The Grandmaster was stunned at first before his expression turned to one of awe. He was clearly impressed, going as far as mouthing a quiet "Wooow." in the direction of Loki who now had a proud smile on his lips.
"Love when you love me, hate me
The way you rock, rock, rock my body lately
You set the rain on fire
I wish the lows were higher
Wish I could stop, stop, stop to save me"
"Alright, I'm convinced! Luciana of Asgard you're officially spared!" The Grandmaster announced in a strange distorted voice from the microphone connected to his synthesizer. "And now it's time to party, everyone!"
The crowd erupted into cheer and soon the whole room was filled with dancing people, all moving to the song she was singing. It was strange, a few minutes before. she had feared for her life, but now here she was, giving a concert in front of the universe's misfits. And she enjoyed it.
"Oh, I wanna stay, wanna walk out the door
Oh no, right now baby I'm torn
I can't get enough, can't take anymore
Oh no, right now baby I'm torn"
Loki was the only one who wasn't dancing. Not because he disliked the song, far from it actually. But somehow he just couldn't get himself to move. Relief had flooded over him when he had heard that The Grandmaster intended to spare Luciana. He hadn't even noticed how stressed he had been until all the tension had left his body and now he was feeling rather exhausted. Yet he stood frozen in place, watching her perform. It had been four years since he had last heard her sing but to him it had felt like ages. And now that he could finally hear her voice again, watch her move along to the music, she seemed to be glowing - and he couldn't take his eyes off her.
"You dry my tears and make it pour
You show me love and give me war
I can't get enough, can't take anymore
Oh no, right now baby I'm torn"