I'm having so much fun writing this that I figured I may as well start posting it! We're onto Thor: The Dark World at last. I have a lot in mind for this.
I hope you like it!
Please review!
Chapter 1: Some Time Later
As usual, the kitchens in the Palace of Asgard were bustling. Even with the crown Prince and most of the army he led away, they prepared a feast. The one in charge barked orders to the bustling workers, stern and not missing a thing as she helped with anything that wasn't being done fast enough.
Or at least, she thought she didn't miss a thing.
So caught up in making sure that nothing went wrong, the stern woman didn't notice the faint flash of blue light in the corner. In the flash of light, a figure appeared, wearing a pale yellow dress under a worn, black cloak. The hood was pulled up, obscuring their face, and nobody seemed to notice them as they kept to the shadows. When they moved, it was at a speed that nobody else could keep up with, and kicked up a gust of wind that made several workers cry out in surprise.
"Who left a door open?" the woman in charge barked. "If even one plate grows cold before it goes up, I will have your head!" she warned, none of them noticing another flash of blue as the intruder vanished.
As if taking a step, the figure moved from the kitchens, to a bedroom. The room itself was grand, with a large bed and massive windows that looked out over Asgard. However, the place was a mess, with the bed unmade and the curtains still mostly pulled, allowing only a small amount of light in. Books covered most of the desk, with a small pile even on the ground beside it.
"Damn," in a flourish, Ciara pulled off her cloak, tossing it onto her bed. "I've heard SHIELD agents that are less ruthless," she laughed, setting her plate of pilfered food down on the desk and taking a seat. As she picked at the different foods that she'd stolen from her brazen raid, Ciara returned to one of the books that she had been reading.
A knock on the door interrupted her reading, but Ciara barely looked up. Instead, she flicked the page of the book, before sighing and closing it with a snap.
"Oh, honestly," the door opened and a tall woman with long blonde hair strode in as if she owned the place. "You can move faster than anything I've ever seen, and you can't spend two seconds cleaning up?" Astrid complained as she surveyed the messy room.
"Busy," Ciara replied without looking up at her. Astrid, the maid who had been assigned to take care of Ciara - and ensure that she behaved herself - went to the window and flung open the curtains, flooding the room with light. Ciara cursed as the light stung her eyes, and she flinched away, raising her arm to shield herself.
"And I see you've been pillaging the kitchens again," Astrid tutted as she saw the remnants of Ciara's stolen meal. "You know you can just ask," she told the girl as she started tidying the place.
"Astrid…" Ciara pinched the bridge of her nose, both as a way to cover her eyes, and as a way to hopefully stop Astrid's scolding. She was starting to miss the nervous, inexperienced maid she'd met over a year ago.
"I know, I know, you won't be able to just ask when you eventually return to Midgard. If you actually do go back," Astrid shook her head, and Ciara lifted her head, leaning back in her chair.
"It sounds like you want me to go back," Ciara smirked, and Astrid swatted at her, knocking her silver hair into her face.
"You're such a brat," Astrid grumbled as she turned, resuming making the bed.
"I know," Ciara agreed with a nod.
"While I am glad that you have found something to alleviate your boredom, perhaps you should go outside for a while instead of spending all your time reading?" Astrid suggested. "It's the perfect opportunity to show off that dress!" she exclaimed, happy that Ciara was wearing one of the many dresses that she had shoved at her.
"Yeah, I guess," Ciara shut the book over, hiding the contents before Astrid could see what she was reading. While she liked Astrid - might have even considered her something of a friend - she didn't want anyone to know that she was searching for information on the Infinity Stones.
Over a year had passed since Ciara had found the call of the Tesseract too strong to resist any longer. When she had touched it, the power had flowed into her, and she'd 'awakened' to her destiny as a Guardian.
Over a year later, Ciara still thought it was bullshit.
While she had no desire to follow some destiny that others tried to push onto her, Ciara was slowly gaining control over the power that the Tesseract had given her. While she still couldn't teleport between worlds, as she'd been told she would eventually be able to do, Ciara was finding it easier and easier to use the power, and could now make the jumps with very little thought.
However, even if she refused to be a Guardian, she still wanted to know just what she was connected to. So she had taken to pouring over every book she was allowed access to from the library, but they were frustratingly limited.
Yet despite everything, Ciara was bored. Once the Bifrost had been repaired, Thor and his friends had left to aid the other realms, which seemed to have fallen apart without Asgard's assistance. They would return for a short while, and then move onto the next issue, and their current quest had them in Vanaheim, fighting off marauders that had taken advantage of Asgard's absence. And Ciara, who for months had spent hours training with them to learn how to defend herself, suddenly found herself with very little to do.
It was almost enough to drive her back to her old ways. Ciara snorted. Now that entertained her. When did they become the 'old ways'?
"Ciara?" she looked up when Astrid touched her shoulder. "Are you alright?" she asked with concern in her voice that never failed to throw Ciara off balance.
"I'm fine," Ciara stood, and stretched. "I guess I'll go get that air you're always raving about," she smirked, and Astrid huffed, all too aware that she was being made fun of as she watched Ciara leave.
Life outside the Asgardian palace was as busy as ever, Ciara found. When she slipped out past the guards and towards the market, she saw the Asgardian people going about their day. Her hand then went to her head, and she paused as she only brushed strands of silver hair.
"Dammit…" Ciara groaned when she realised that she'd forgotten her cloak. It was rare that it happened, but she had wanted away from Astrid's worried look. She always hated when people looked at her like she was something to be pitied or worried about.
For a moment, Ciara debated returning to get her cloak. After all, it would only take a moment. But she didn't particularly want to face Astrid right now. While she did consider the woman to be something of a friend, there was only so much fussing that she could tolerate.
Ciara sighed. Looks like she wouldn't be able to wander unnoticed. And as soon as she approached the busier part of town, she was immediately noticed. Not for the first time, Ciara cursed her silver hair, which garnered attention regardless of the world she was on. Not that it would have mattered if she had covered her hair - she was smaller than most around, and it was obvious that she was most definitely not Asgardian.
Most, after a quick glance at the oddity, continued on without hesitation. After all, Ciara had been on Asgard for over a year now, and word had spread quickly about her. Now she was common knowledge, even if it was weird for a mortal to be wandering Asgard as if it was normal. Of course, not everyone was so casual, and some, mainly children, openly stared at her as she walked by. Ciara ignored them, as even after a year away from Earth, she was well used to it.
She almost missed the rare times that someone attempted to pick a fight with her.
"So brazen, walking around as if she's one of us," she overheard one gossiping mother speaking to another as the child by her side stared at Ciara with wide eyes.
"I hear she's exactly the same in the Palace. According to my husband, she talks to Prince Thor like they're old friends," Ciara smirked as she listened in on their critique of her. If only they knew. "And look at her. Such a fragile little thing. Mortals really are just the most tragic creatures," the woman sighed.
"My fragility is deceptive," they jumped as Ciara addressed them, flashing a pleasant smile. Without waiting for them to react, Ciara turned and walked off, humming to herself.
Before long, Ciara was sitting up on a perch, having found a way up to one of the rooftops, and she sat watching people go by. People-watching had always been a hobby of hers, and even on Asgard she found ways to just watch people going about their daily lives.
As she watched them, she couldn't help but be reminded of the last time she had sat watching people when on Earth. It felt like forever ago; before Thor had been exiled and Ciara had learned that there were other worlds out there. She'd thought it was a regular, boring day - other than beating up some anti-mutant bullies - even with Clint appearing to warn her about snooping.
"Guess I should have listened," Ciara mused aloud. After all, if she'd heeded his warning, she wouldn't have been on the run from SHIELD for learning about Phase 2, and probably wouldn't have snuck into their off-the-grid base where they were storing the Tesseract. Ciara laughed quietly, watching as a group of children ran by, ignoring the scoldings from the adults who they ran into. It was so different, yet all too similar to sights on Earth.
And yet she didn't find herself homesick in the least.
She sighed, watching as the children ran circles around those trying to get them to behave in a busy area. "I suppose you need to have a home, to be homesick," she considered, before shrugging. "Well, that's on me for burning my bridges," Ciara said to herself, standing up. She watched the children for a moment longer, before turning and vanishing in a ripple of blue.
Loki paced in his cell, irritated with no outlet for his frustration. At least, until he felt the familiar whisper of foreign magic that always prickled at his senses.
"Your neighbours seem cheery," when he didn't acknowledge Ciara, she made a passing comment about the other cells. He turned, and saw her blended into the shadows with her cloak keeping her hidden as she sat cross-legged at the edge of his cell. Even her voice was quieter than usual as she took the other prisoners into consideration.
Ciara wasn't looking at him; instead she was watching the others imprisoned in the dark of Asgard's dungeon. Some sat sulking near the back, almost daring others to get close so they could fight. Others paced, angrily cursing the Asgardians who put them in there, and some were banging on the shimmering golden forcefield, either thinking they could break it, or just to make a scene to try and get the guards to come over.
Not long after the Bifrost had been rebuilt, the dungeon had started to fill with those who were responsible for trouble across the Nine Realms. Marauders and others who fought against the Asgardians, refusing to submit and instead continuing causing trouble. were brought back to Asgard and placed in the dungeons until the Allfather decided they'd learned their lesson.
Finally Ciara turned back to Loki, and he met her gaze for a moment before turning away. He didn't speak, knowing that it only encouraged her.
Since his return to Asgard and subsequent imprisonment, Ciara had - to his disgust - become the one constant. No matter how much he ignored her or insulted her, she'd always come back, complaining about how boring everyone was. And, somewhere along the way, he'd grown to tolerate her presence, even if he did still find her incredibly annoying. She'd answer his questions and he'd answer hers, and somehow they'd found some kind of balance.
But she was still annoying.
Unfortunately for him, Ciara wasn't deterred. She just stretched. "Oh, you're grumpy today. I thought I heard the guards talking about…" she trailed off, which wasn't as common. Normally she wouldn't stop talking. "There are other ways off Asgard, aren't there?" Ciara's voice was even quieter, and thoughtful this time. Finally curiosity won out over his irritation, and Loki turned back to her. Her blue eyes glittered in the poor light.
"I thought you were free to go whenever you desired?" he asked.
"Apparently so," Ciara shrugged lightly. "But I'm curious after reading something in a book about passages between worlds, but none of them elaborated," she complained, a little annoyed.
"And what would you do with that knowledge?" Loki asked, not about to tell her anything without getting something in return. Ciara's eyebrow rose.
"Go check them out," she said, as if it were obvious. "Everyone's so convinced that the Bifrost is the only way off Asgard, but I know that isn't the case. And in case you didn't realise, I'm kinda petty and like to prove people wrong," Ciara shrugged lightly.
"And if I said there weren't any other passages off Asgard?" Loki asked, still standing and looking down at her. Ciara stood, but barely reached his chin.
"I know lying is your thing, but I can't think of any merit you'd get in lying about this," Ciara said honestly, meeting his gaze. "Like you said, I'm free to go when I want. It's not like I need it to get away - although, it might have been nice to know when I first got here," she said, and saw the faintest of smirks cross his features.
"You're so convinced that you're right, why ask me?" he asked, skipping past the part where he could have told her over a year ago that there were other ways off Asgard. Ciara tilted her head in an almost birdlike motion.
"I'm not an idiot," she said, so simply it almost made him crack a smile. Almost. There was a long stretch of quiet, as Ciara waited for his answer.
"I think you will find it hard to 'check them out'," with that answer, Loki turned and walked away.
"Why? Because they don't exist?" Ciara asked, raising her hands and touching her fingertips to the golden forcefield between them. It tingled, but she didn't pull back.
"Because if it were so easy to find them, everyone would know of them," Loki said lightly, and Ciara hummed.
"I guess that makes sense," she nodded, somewhat appeased by his words. "It's been so quiet with the big guy and the others gone lately. It almost makes me want to cause trouble," Ciara considered, leaning against the pillar beside her.
"I'm surprised that you've restrained yourself for so long," Loki drawled, managing to sound completely uninterested as he continued to pace. However, what he didn't realise, was that his irritation was already fading. "Do you miss that oaf that much?" he asked, and Ciara snorted.
"Not at all. I was real bored of their constant training orders," she answered. It was the truth. She never liked the training she was forced to take part in, even after Sif stopped attempting to train her, and the guards were no longer allowed to watch and make fun. "And I do plan on leaving Asgard. So why not leave with a bang?" Ciara shrugged, before hearing the telltale footsteps of guards.
"Who thought I would ever appreciate the increased patrols?" Loki wondered, and Ciara met his gaze. She didn't speak, and instead, to his surprise, stuck out her tongue in a childish gesture, before running off.
"Leave with a bang…" Loki repeated under his breath as he fell backwards onto the small bed in the corner. He sighed, closing his eyes, as he worked on pushing his meeting with Odin out of his mind.
It was dark, and Ciara could barely see anything in the eerie dark green light that surrounded her. She frowned, and her body seemed to move on her own accord. She looked down, seeing that she was on a crumbling stone platform.
"Not again," Ciara grumbled, realising that it was the same dream that she'd had only a few months ago. Her body once again moved of its own accord, as if she was in the mind of someone else, and she approached the massive obelisk that was the only defining feature of the area.
As she grew closer, Ciara's instincts to run started to wake, urging her to do what she did best. Run, and run fast, far away from the massive stone structure.
"Remember that feeling, Ciara Ellis," the Norns chorused together in her mind, as she reached out to touch the gap across the dark rock. "Deny it all you want, but you are the Guardian of the Space Stone. And there are five others just like you," they warned. Ciara wanted to roll her eyes, but instead, her hand ran along the patterns on the rock, and there was a flash of red light.
Ciara woke with a jolt, rolling onto her back. She cursed loudly, flinging her arm over her face.
"I get it, you want me to actually take this seriously," she said aloud, as if she expected the Fates to be listening to her. "But I've never listened to warnings that dumb," with that, Ciara rolled onto her side again and tugged the covers over her head, not paying the warning any heed.
Hope you liked it! I've gone a little mad with setup in these stories now, but we'll get into the actual movie soon enough!