Chapter 2
Thor had seemed surprised and I'd left him with his thoughts to get back to my work. Not that I'd get much done. I sat at my desk, staring blankly at the papers in front of me, my thoughts kept going back to Loki in his cell and Thor's angry reaction. At last I raked a hand through my hair, stood up and sat by the window, staring at my homeland. I was woken up by knocking on the door and quickly sat back at my desk, trying to look busy.
'Come in.' I picked up a piece of paper and glanced at the door, seeing Odin standing in the door opening. I sat up straight, put the paper down and stared with amazement. To have the King himself visiting was rare.
'Close that mouth, Haylee, you'll catch bugs.' He said jokingly. I adjusted myself and nodded.
'How can I help you, my King?'
'Cut the formalities, I've known you long enough to know you hate talking like that.'
'Fine then, something wrong?' He closed the door and sat down in one of the chairs.
'Yes, as my advisor I wish to ask you for advice.'
'Anything.'
'When Thor and Loki returned I was relieved but also angry. I wondered if I made the right choice by imprisoning him. Maybe I should've made a different call.'
'You mean execution?'
'Exactly.'
'No, that would've been wrong. I'm not just saying that because I've known him for so long or because he's my friend but because I know he's not bad. I know he can become who he used to be, back when we were kids.'
'You've talked to him?'
'I have.'
'In that case I don't doubt your judgement. You're still the TruthTeller after all. And I have an idea, as you're convinced that he can return to how he once was, you will be one of the main characters in it.'
'What do you mean?'
'I'll release Loki,' I wanted to speak but he raised his hand. 'and I'll chain him to you. You'll teach him how to be normal again.'
'Excuse me? You'll chain him to me?'
'Precisely. Remember the chains Loki wore when he came back? An invention of S.H.I.E.L.D., unbreakable cuffs.'
'What if I say no?'
'That's kind of it. I'm not giving you a choice.'
'That's just great.' I said as I sighed.
'You're always good at keeping Thor from acting like an idiot so why not his brother for a change?' He made it sound so creepy.
'Fine, fine, you win. When?'
'Right now!' He stood up, gestured at me to do the same and walked out of the room.
As we progressed down the stairs and into the dungeon I glanced at Odin from the corner of my eyes, he seemed troubled and tired and I felt a bit sorry for the old King.
'Well well well, so many visitors on one day.' Loki said, a smile on his face.
'Put this on.' Odin said, taking out the chains and throwing one half through the wall.
'Why? You're going to walk me like a dog?'
'No, I'm letting you out.' After staring blankly for a moment, Loki silently put the cuff on and nodded. Odin handed the other end to me, I put it on and nodded as well. The King tapped a few times on the wall, a strange rhythm, and the liquid dissolved.
'What's the meaning of this?' Loki asked as he held up his arm. Odin looked to me, I had to give him an explanation.
'I have to rehabilitate you.'
'And this was your idea, I suppose?'
'Of course! Now good luck with everything.' Having said that he took off, walking faster than technically possible.
'So... what now?' He asked.
'I don't know. You want to go outside?' He raised his shoulders and slowly followed me out.
Once we were outside the chain stopped me and I turned back. Loki was standing still, staring at the sun.
'You haven't been down there for very long, have you?'
'No, it's only been a week or so.' He said as he followed me again.
'He didn't give you a choice, did he?' He asked after a while. I sat down on the grass and shook my head.
'Seems like I never get one.' He sat beside me and let out a deep breath.
'Was it for revenge or just for attention?' I asked.
'Neither, I wanted to be the more powerful one for once. The one in charge.' He looked away, apparently he hadn't planned on saying that.
'You said that before, when we were kids, that you'd become stronger than Thor. I never expected that you'd show it in such a way though.'
'Are you... angry with me?'
'Not angry... just surprised I guess, disappointed maybe.'
'That's always much worse than angry.' He murmured.
'Thor is just an idiot, really, why'd you want to surpass him?'
'Same reason you always wanted to beat your brother.'
'If you put it that way.' To avoid more awkward silences I changed the subject.
'I've been thinking about the cave, back then. It's fun to remember those things, even if she was planning to kill us.'
'Fun? It's childish.'
'But childish is fun. Now that I'm all grown up I kind of miss those times.'
'Then why not go there? It's not that far away.'
'Yeah, good idea!' We stood up and started walking to the edge of the palace grounds.
I was surprised at his proposal of going to the cave, maybe he was trying to cheer me up. We reached the cave and peered inside, some rocks had fallen and they blocked the entrance for the biggest part.
'It seemed a lot bigger back then.' He said.
'That's probably because we were smaller.' I heard a yell behind me and turned around, my hearing had always been better than others' so Loki didn't notice. As I saw something flying his way I shrieked, he plucked the projectile out of the air, it was an arrow. A group of men and one woman came rushing up to us, the only one I recognised was Thor. Loki pushed me behind him and straightened his back.
'Haylee!' Thor yelled furiously as he halted. 'Did you release him?'
'I didn't do anything! This was your father's idea!' I yelled back as I held up the chain.
'Father's..?'
'And who shot that arrow?' I glanced at the group and saw a man with a bow in the middle. I walked forward, dragging Loki along and pointed at the guy.
'Don't shoot at others just like that!' I said annoyed as I took the arrow from Loki and held it out. The guy took it and put it back in the quiver on his back. I stepped back and let out a deep breath, calming myself.
'I understand that you are the group Thor refers to as "The Avengers"?' They nodded.
'And he,' I gestured at Thor. 'invited you to the banquet tonight?' They nodded again. 'Good! Let's get to the palace then, shall we?' I dragged Loki and Thor along and heard how the group followed us.
'What does father want to achieve by doing this?' Thor asked.
'Turning me into some softie.' Loki grunted.
'Something like that.' I agreed.
'And he uses you for that?'
'He didn't give me a choice but I see it as a trial and I'll pass it, I'll definitely pass it.' I said determined. 'But more importantly. They're the group of super heroes you were talking about?'
'Yeah.'
'Really? That's disappointing...'
'How so?'
'You told me of an iron man, a huge green guy and some super soldier.'
'They're here as normal people, not for work. But they have brought their uniforms.' We arrived back at the palace doors and stopped there for a moment, I turned around to the group and bowed.
'Please excuse my rude behavior earlier. I tend to speak my mind, even when I shouldn't. By all means, please treat this palace as if it is your own home.' They all relaxed a bit and nodded.
'That'll be no problem.' A black haired man walked forward, took my hand and kissed the back. 'The name's Tony Stark, Iron Man.' I frowned as I looked at him.
'Sorry but you don't look like you're made of iron.' Everyone laughed but I was serious.
'I'm not made of iron, of course, my suit is. Well, not iron but something incredibly strong I created. But there's something about me that is mechanical.' He tapped his chest, a metal-ish noise sounded. Now that I looked more closely something shone beneath his shirt, I leaned closer and squinted my eyes. He coughed and I quickly leaned back.
'Why don't you all introduce yourselves to the lady?' Stark said to his companions. A blonde, short haired man walked up to me and held out his hand. Thor had told me after his first journey to earth that it was the way humans greeted one another. I shook it and smiled.
'Steve Rogers, Captain America.' He said as he stood beside Stark. Next was the archer guy.
'Clint Barton, Hawkeye. Apology for the arrow, m'am.'
'That's alright.' Next was a woman, dressed fully in black.
'Natasha Romanoff, Black Widow.' That explained it.
Last was a man with glasses, he seemed calm and composed. He gave me a hand and smiled.
'Doctor Bruce Banner.' He said.
'The incredible hulk.' Stark added.
'Ah, the big green man?' I asked. He nodded faintly and stood with the rest.
'I'm Haylee, court advisor.'
'Not so modest! Haylee TruthTeller can tell when someone's lying.' Thor added.
'That's a good quality.' Doctor Banner said.
'I wonder...' I whispered.
'Well, Thor shall show you to your chambers and I'll see all of you at the banquet.' They nodded and followed Thor inside. I let out a deep breath.
'I thought that girl had come back from the dead when I saw that arrow.' No reaction came and I looked to my side. He was staring after the group with a fire burning in his eyes. I stood in front of him and saw how he snapped out of his angry state.
'What? Did you say something?'
'Yeah but never mind. I'm going to take a-' I broke off, realizing that I was stuck to a guy.
'A what? A bath? Be my guest but I doubt you can take your clothes off.' He smiled evilly. I hadn't realised it before but being chained made it impossible to change into a different outfit.
'Then I'll have to wear this forever...' I whispered horrified. I shook my head. 'No, I've got to worry about the banquet. I haven't even checked everything yet.'
'That won't be necessary.' I looked up and saw Odin strolling through the hallway. 'It's all been taken care of.' Having said that he turned and took his leave again.
'Is he excluding me? Is this some kind of indirect dismissal?' I asked no one in particular.
'Knowing him he wants you to invest all your time in me.' He sounded content. I felt somewhat relieved but not entirely at ease.
'So what now? I can't bathe, change or do my job.'
'Neither can I.' He noted.
'You don't have a job.'
'You're right, I don't.' He laughed.
'I can't stand having nothing to do.' I said annoyed.
'Then let's do do something.' He walked back inside, forcing me along.