In the Meade hall Loki sulks in a dark corner away from the others, looking out over the darkened palace grounds, a cup of spiced wine untouched in his hand. His thoughts tumble around each other, fighting to make sense. Where did she come from? Why is he seemingly attracted to her, a mortal by all accounts? It doesn't make sense. Even Odin can't see the future or the past where she's concerned, or so he says. So why would he allow the use of the elixir of Golden Apples? Why save the life of this alien and give her some measure of immortality if she could be a threat to his precious Nine Realms? As always, his father's reasoning frustrates Loki, only making his mood darker. In anger and worry, Loki crushes the goblet in his hand and tosses it into the fire pit, turning to stare back into the night sky and slipping back into his tumbling thoughts.
Thor, finished with regaling his companions with his side of the tale of the crash of the alien ship, sits back on the couch and looks towards the corner where his brother sulks.
"I've never seen Loki so concerned over a maid before." Thor says to no one in particular. "I wonder why this one's different? We know nothing about her."
"Who really knows what goes on in that mind of his," Lady Sif replies. "He's probably plotting how best to use her to steal the throne again." Murmurs of agreement arise from the companions sitting around the hearth. Thor turns and glares at Sif.
"Enough. I know none of you agree with my Father letting Loki walk free in Asgard after what he did on Earth, but he has his reasons, and I for one think Loki learned his lesson." Chided, everyone finds sudden interest in their drinks and the conversation ceases.
As the night wears on, the Meade Hall slowly empties. Thor's companions leave him to find their beds, and servants quietly clean up and disappear. Even Odin and Frigga retire to their rooms, content with the knowledge that Master Healer Gustause will summon them when he's done all he can for the strange alien woman.
A the sun begins to illuminate the Hall, only Thor and Loki are left; Thor snoring loudly on the couch where he'd spent the night telling tales, and Loki, still pacing near the windows, getting more and more impatient as time passes.
Footfalls are heard in the hallway outside the doors to the Hall. Thor wakes with a start, and Loki begins striding toward the main doors even before they open. Grabbing the servant by the throat as the door swings open, Loki lifts him up and turns with him back into the room.
"What news from the healers?" he growls. Struggling to breathe, the man kicks at the air, his feet several inches from the ground.
"Put the poor man down Brother. He cannot answer you with your hand around his throat."
"Oh," is all Loki says as he puts the shaking servant back on his feet, seemingly unaware of what he's just done. "Well, out with it man!"
"M-my-my Lord, Master Gustause bids you come to the Healing wing. He says the woman will live." Bowing low, he backs quickly away and turning, runs back down the hall.
"Now Brother, you didn't have to give the man such a scare." Thor chides as he joins his brother at the door. Turning briefly to glare at his brother, Loki strides down the hall, refusing to reply. Shaking his head at his brother's mood, Thor jogs to catch up to Loki and they walk to the Healing Room in silence.
The recovery area of the Healing wing of the royal palace in Asgard is a spacious room, able to hold hundreds, while still seeming intimate and quiet. Huge windows make up most of the upper walls, allowing in light, and when the weather is good, they become porous to allow a fresh breeze to flow around the room. Plants of all colors and sizes lend their healing touch to the room as well, making it appear more like a luxurious spa than a place of recovery. But when the brothers enter the room, it's plain that the woman they pulled from the crashed ship is not there. Curious, they approach a healer's apprentice at the far end of the room. As they approach, Thor puts a hand on Loki's arm.
"Let me talk to her this time? I'd hate to see that pretty throat bruised." Loki huffs in response, but stays a step behind as they reach the apprentice. Bowing to them, the young lady says, "Please follow me, my lords. Master Gustause thought it better that our patient be kept in a more – secure – location." Turning, she begins to walk down a hallway, confident the two men will follow her.
A short distance down the hall, she stops in front of a room with clear walls, turns to Thor and Loki, bows, sweeping one arm out indicating this is where the patient is and walks away. As they approach, they can see Master Healer Gustause and their father talking rather animatedly in a corner of the room while the woman they pulled from the ship lies sleeping on a bed surrounded by a gold stasis field. Frigga stands at the bedside, quietly looking at the raven haired woman. As the men enter the room, Odin pauses his conversation to look at them, giving them an indication that he will speak with them shortly. Loki barely notices, so intent is he on the woman in the bed. He makes a beeline to her, resting his hands lightly on the stasis field, and stares down at her. The woman lying quietly on the bed is a vision. Her face, calm and cleaned of blood, shows nothing of the lacerations, bruises or pain he saw when he carried her out of her ship. Her arms, placed gently over her stomach on top of the sheets are whole – no longer broken and torn. He can tell the healers have taken great care with her, and yet, he still wonders why he cares. His eyes are drawn back up to her face as he finds himself wishing she'd open her eyes. All he remembers is the pain making them seem to flash from green to blue and even an odd glowing red. He doesn't know what color her eyes really are, and he finds that somehow, that's important to him. Looking more closely at her face, willing her to wake, he notices a faint scar above her eyebrow, extending into her hairline and disappearing into a streak of white amid her black tresses.
"You sure know how to pick your damsels in distress, Brother" Thor says as he walks up next to Loki.
Startled, Loki turns his back on her and replies, "She's not unattractive, for a mortal."
Before Thor can tease him more, Odin and Gustause approach the bedside.
Speaking to the brothers, Gustause says, "My Lords, as I've been telling Odin, we have managed to heal her wounds and we expect that she'll make a full recovery. Though we do not know of what race she hails from, her physiology is almost identical to ours. That was in her favor. As you saw when you brought her to us, my lord Loki, no normal mortal could have survived her injuries."
"Why is she in this stasis field? Why have you not wakened her?" Loki asks as he turns towards the healer. "We must find out who she is."
"Be at ease, Loki." Odin says in a calm voice. "Gustause informs me that she still has healing to do, and this is the best way to accomplish that quickly."
"Yes, Odin is right." Gustause replies. "We did as much as we could in the Healing Room, but her body needs time to finish healing and rebuild its energy stores. And, in spite of the elixirs we've given her for the pain, and the healing of her wounds, our instruments are telling us that the amount of pain she's in hasn't lessened, so keeping her under the stasis field is necessary to help her recover." Approaching the head of the bed, Gustause presses a button and the golden energy field disappears. "There is one thing I want to show you." Gustause motions a waiting nurse over to the opposite side of the bed, and together they roll Anara onto her side. Carefully pulling the sheet down to expose her back, Gustause looks to Odin. "My Lord, I thought you should see this. This woman has been to Hel and back. I don't know what happened to her, but she's definitely of a warrior caste." As he steps back to let those in the room get a better look, Frigga gasps, covers her face and looks away. Loki and Thor simply stare, while Odin seems to study the scars. Though only half of her back is exposed, it's obvious that the scars that create a lacework pattern on her back extend across its entirety. Most are old, faded to gentle silver, but some look newer. It's difficult to tell what made them. Some scars are delicate thin lines, others thicker. Some are jagged, and others look like long burns. There's even one on her left shoulder that looks almost like a bird. It's the only scar that isn't crisscrossed by other scars, though it sits over older lines.
Laying her gently back down on the bed and tucking the sheets around her, Gustause reactivates the stasis field and turns to Odin.
"My lord, her clothes were obviously ruined, but we kept her belt. Among other things, it had this on it." Gustause retrieves a cylindrical object from a nearby table and hands it to Odin.
"It's some kind of energy sword."
Gustause reaches over and presses a button on the silver and black cylinder, activating the light saber's blade.
"Don't touch the blade!" he cautions. "One of my people was dumb enough to try and lost a finger. Thankfully for him, we're good at putting things back together." He chuckles. Odin turns off the light saber and tucks it in his belt.
"Thank you, I'll make sure this stays out of curious hands." Turning to Frigga, Odin holds out his hand. Frigga casts one more look at the woman under the golden glow of the energy field and joins Odin, placing her hand in his.
"Master Gustause, you have done a fine job. How long do you anticipate keeping her in stasis?" Odin asks.
"A week, maybe less if we see her pain levels come down."
"Very well. Send for me when she wakes." Turning for the door, Odin surveys the room one last time, his eyes resting briefly on Loki.
"If you'll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to. Thor, Loki, when you're done here, join me on the far practice field. I've had the remains of her ship moved there. I'd like your help deciphering what's left." And with that, Odin, with Frigga on his arm, strides from the room.
Turning to face Thor and Loki, Gustause bows and says, "My lords, I too have other matters to attend to. You are welcome to stay as long as you like, and visit at your leisure if you so choose. This young lady might benefit from a kindly word or two. I fear she's a long way from home." As he turns to leave, Thor stops him with a hand on his arm.
"Do you have any idea what her name is? Was there anything in her belongings that would tell us?"
"No, I'm sorry my lord, there was nothing. We're simply calling her "the maiden" for now," Gustause replies as he walks from the room.
Left alone, the brothers gaze upon the woman lying as still as death on the bed before them. Each thinking their own thoughts and each hoping the other can't divine them. Thor finally breaks the silence.
"Come brother, there's nothing we can do here. Let us go down to the practice field and see what we can learn there."
Loki looks up, letting a cool mask of detachment slide into place, hiding his internal turmoil. "Very well. I'd very much like to know if this creature is friend or foe."
Chuckling, Thor teases his little brother, "Better to know if you can plot with her or against her, I'm sure! Come, let's stop at the kitchens on the way to the field, I'm starving!"
Anara, thanks to the sedatives administered by the healers, is blissfully unaware of anything, and floats quietly in a sea of darkness.