Chiliad: a thousand things or a thousand years; millennia.

One moment the universe was rushing past Reagan in a brilliant blur of lights and colour and the next she was standing within a great golden dome, a cool ocean-like breeze kissing against her skin. As soon as their feet were on solid ground again, Thor released his grip on her and Reagan stumbled, disoriented and breathless. She clutched at her stomach and groaned softly as a sudden wave of nausea moved through her.

"Bifrost travel can be a difficult experience for those who are unfamiliar with it." Reagan turned in the direction of the deep voice to find a large man with strange golden eyes watching her. "The illness should pass soon enough. Welcome to Asgard, Reagan Matthews."

"How do you know my name?" she asked, trying to distract herself from the lurching feeling in her gut.

"Heimdall sees and hears all within the nine realms," Thor answered for him. "He is the Gatekeeper of Asgard. He knew we were coming."

Heimdall offered Thor something of a smile as they approached one another and clasped hands by way of greeting.

"You did well on Midgard, my Prince," he said. "The King has been made aware of your return. He's sent guards to escort the prisoner." He nodded in Loki's direction.

It's such a pleasure to see you again, too, Heimdall. Loki's voice rang out in Reagan's head again and she cringed away from it.

She walked towards Thor and moved to subtly position herself on the other side of him, using him as somewhat of a human shield. Though it did nothing to dull Loki's invasive presence within her mind, it comforted her a little to know that she was at least obscured from his view. Thor seemed to pick up on her unease and ushered her gently towards the opening of the Bifrost leading towards the city of Asgard.

"Come," he said with a smile. "Allow me to show you my home."

I'm on another planet, she realised suddenly and nervous excitement fluttered in her chest.

When Reagan looked upon Asgard for the first time she managed to forget, if only for a moment, all about Loki. She forgot about the harrowing battle she had just been through and the way that it had left her body aching. She forgot that only a moment earlier she was on the brink of vomiting. She forgot she was afraid. The air rushed out of her lungs as she emerged from the golden dome and stared out at a backdrop of snow-capped mountains and the towering empire of Asgard. It was overwhelmingly beautiful and Reagan was mildly surprised when a lump formed in her throat at the sight. Every curve of the great buildings caught the light, shining gloriously beneath a bright sun and a horizon rimmed with stars. There were statues of warriors made from stone and copper and gold which stood taller than Stark Tower. Over the great body of water that stood between her and the mighty city, jutted a grand bridge that glimmered in every colour she could imagine. Reagan thought perhaps it was made of glass and something... more. Something magic. She turned around to see the water cascading over the edge of the world. She felt an aching urge to stand there and peer over the edge, wondering how far her eyes would allow her to see out into the universe. As she took a step closer to the edge of the bridge in an attempt to get a better view of the drop, it occurred to her that the bridge had no railings.

That seems like a serious safety violation, she thought idly, and felt Loki roll his eyes down the link in response.

Stupid mortal.

Just like that, the moment was over and she was left feeling bitter once again. Reagan scowled but forced herself not to respond. She wanted to engage with him as little as she possibly could until whatever linked her to him was undone. It couldn't happen soon enough as far as she was concerned.

She followed Thor as he made his way towards the two transport pods which awaited them along with a dozen soldiers, all clad in golden armour. They straightened as Thor approached them and offered him a salute.

"Welcome back, Your Highness," one of them spoke. "Permission to take the prisoner into custody? The King would see him alone."

Thor nodded his permission, handing over the chains which bound Loki. Two of the soldiers went to work securing extra shackles around Loki's ankles and then his throat.

"Inform Odin that I need to speak to him urgently, it seems another complication arose while I was in Midgard."

Thor stepped up into the nearest pod and reached back to help Reagan climb aboard. As she took his outstretched hand and climbed up into the pod along with him, she felt a pang of annoyance from Loki down the link but once again refused to acknowledge him. To her relief, he and the soldiers who now surrounded him climbed into the second pod before they sped off, heading towards the city.

Reagan sat waiting in a hallway adjoining the Throne Room as Loki was taken before the King. Thor positioned himself by the doorway looking deeply pensive as he slowly paced back and forth. He cast intermittent glances in Reagan's direction and discomfort began to grow within her. At first, she'd thought Thor had been keeping close to her to protect her, to reassure her that everything would be alright. After all, they were a team, weren't they? Admittedly, they hadn't been one for long, but they'd fought well together against the Chitauri. He hadn't been afraid of what she could do and it had been a refreshing change after years of mistrust since gaining her powers. She'd liked him. But she was beginning to think now that he was remaining so close to her not for her benefit, but to keep tabs on her. Whatever this strange link was between her and Loki, it had made him unsure of her. Of her motives. Of where her loyalties might lie. She felt unclean as he tried another subtle glance in her direction, tainted.

"Hello, mother. Have I made you proud?"

Reagan gritted her teeth as flashes of Loki's conversation invaded her mind. It was one thing to hear him in her head when she'd been in the same room as him, but now, separated by distance and stone walls, unease grew in her again. How could they still hear each other? Why could they hear each other?

"It's beautiful here," Reagan said to Thor, at last, trying to distract herself. "It's like nothing I ever could have imagined."

Thor smiled at her. "You should feel blessed. You're the first Midgardian to set foot in Asgard in centuries."

Reagan let out a short laugh as another echo of Loki's conversation rang in her head again; I really don't see what all the fuss is about.

"Yeah, trust me, 'blessed' is the last thing I'm feeling right now," she told him, pressing her fingertips into her temples.

Thor looked at her then, really looked, and she thought she might have seen a small amount of sympathy in his eyes.

"It felt strange, to be in Midgard again," he told her. "We've been stranded in Asgard for some time now since Loki destroyed the Bifrost, cut off from the other Realms. We rebuilt it in hopes that we could harness enough power to make it functional again, now with the Tesseract we can do just that, and restore order to the Nine Realms."

"I thought you said no good could come from using that thing."

"Not in Midgard, but here it can be a tool for good if harnessed by one wise enough to wield it carefully."

"You mean your father?"

"Yes, Odin has wielded such power before, and it brought peace to the realms. He'll do it once more if it's what is necessary."

Reagan nodded at that, gazing out the window at the strange and beautiful rainbow bridge.

Frigga is the only reason you are still alive and you will never see her again.

The voice sounded in her mind like an echo, a voice she assumed was Odin. She flinched at the sting Loki seemed to feel as those words were spoken. Sadness - a deep hurt - that was not her own welled suddenly in her chest and for a moment she couldn't quite bring herself to shake it away. It felt important that it was there. Until she remembered who exactly she was trying to shoulder the burden for.

"How many people live on Asgard?" she asked, still desperate to make conversation to distract herself.

Thor suddenly seemed hesitant and Reagan felt her cheeks colour with embarrassment. He doesn't trust me, she realised. He doesn't want to give away information I could use to... to what?

Mercifully, there was a loud bang that cut through the tension in the air as the doors to the Throne Room were thrown open. A guard stepped forth and nodded respectfully to Thor.

"The King will see you now," he said and Thor thanked him.

Thor reached for Reagan and she stood, moving towards him but was careful this time to stay out of arms reach, uncomfortable with the mistrust she was now detecting in him. They made their way into the vast hall and approached the throne, and Reagan was once again left in awe not only at how beautiful it was, but how gargantuan everything was too. An escort of armoured guards at either side of them, and when they reached the King, Thor dropped to one knee respectfully. Reagan gazed up at King Odin and the woman stood beside him and thought they looked familiar to her, before realising that she had seen images of them in Loki's head. She dropped her gaze to focus on Thor instead.

"Father," he said, his head bowed. His voices echoed throughout the throne room right up to the paintings that decorated the high ceilings above them.

"My son," Odin spoke, and Thor rose once again to his feet. "My guards report that you have returned to Asgard with a mortal girl. What is the meaning of this?"

"I ask your forgiveness, father. I had no choice. Her name is Reagan, she fought alongside me and a few other Midgardians of heightened abilities to defeat Loki and his army. She possesses power not seen in other mortals. But that is not why I have brought her before you." Thor gave a short glance in Reagan's direction without meeting her eye before he returned his gaze to Odin. "After the defeat of the Chitauri, when Loki was apprehended, he touched her... they now each possess the Mark of Sjelevii."

The atmosphere shifted instantly as if a dreadful chill had swept throughout the room and Reagan glanced around, confused. Even Odin's soldiers, stoic and unmoving, seemed unable to hold back low murmurs of surprise.

Odin's one eye remained trained, unblinking, on his son. His gaze was so intense that Reagan wondered how Thor managed not to cringe beneath it.

Eventually, Odin spoke. "Are you certain of this?"

"I am."

Odin stood and Frigga moved cautiously towards him. Together, they descended the steps of the Throne and as they approached, Reagan was filled with the urge to run. She curled her toes in her shoes, willing herself to stay put. When Odin, at last, stood face to face with her, much taller than she had thought he was when he was seated on his Throne, she forced herself to meet his gaze.

"Leave us," Odin said, finally, and for a moment, Reagan thought he was talking to her before his guards turned and marched out of the room.

"This power of yours, let me see it," Odin commanded.

Reagan's gaze flicked to Thor momentarily and he nodded his encouragement.

Reagan lifted her hand and allowed it to catch fire. Flames engulfed her fingers, her palm, her forearm. Odin stared into the flames, his features flickering in their light as he studied them. He then raised his hand and ghosted it over Reagan, not quite close enough to touch her fire, but close enough that she worried she might burn him, yet she didn't pull away. She felt her power prickle under his hand as though it was being tugged at by some sort of magnet and she flinched uncomfortably as she realised his magic was inspecting hers. When he was done, he released her and lowered his hand, and Reagan allowed the flames to extinguish.

"And now the marking," Odin said.

Reagan, who had somewhat unconsciously been holding her branded arm behind her back, drew it out slowly and presented it to the King.

"And can you be sure, my son, that this is not just another one of Loki's ploys to deceive us?" Odin asked as he stared down at Reagan's arm.

"It is no trick, father. I saw them forge the bond, myself. Neither of them intended it. He was just as surprised as I was."

"Did the Midgardians understand what it was?"

"No, not one."

"That, at least, is good news."

Frigga took a step toward her, her eyes also trained upon the mark. She moved with such effortless grace and such proud posture that Reagan realised something inside of her desperately wanted the woman's approval.

"May I?" she asked, holding out her hands. Reagan nodded her permission and the Queen took hold of her arm with a gentle grip. Her fingers danced over the marking with a sort of reverence as she stared at it intently. Reagan watched her face for any clue of what she was feeling, but she masked herself well.

"And Loki's is the same?" she asked.

"Yes, identical," Thor replied.

"Will someone please tell me what it means?" Reagan asked finally, frustration was growing within her by the second.

"It is known as the Mark of Sjelevii," Frigga answered at last, and released her arm, though she couldn't seem to fully pull her gaze away from the markings. "They were once common amongst our people. Now, most Asgardians have never seen one of these markings with their own eyes. They were a gift bestowed upon us by an ancient goddess, Kaha. She had the ability to touch a person's soul - to weigh it in her hands and to know its worth. To feel its purity. Legend tells us that she spent her years travelling throughout the realms, touching all the souls she passed, looking for the one that was her equal. She searched for millennia, never giving up hope that she might one day find her match, until at last one day she found her. Her name was Liiva, she had felt a force out there in the universe searching for her. And you see, Liiva had a gift as well, she could make the stars burn brighter, and so she lit a path across the heavens so that the force she knew was searching for her could find her at last. When the pair were united and their hands touched for the first time, Kaha felt such a joy that she let it burst out of her and spread across the galaxy, to all the other souls she had passed throughout her search. Souls she knew belonged together. She gifted them with clues, a longing, a desire to find the soul that equalled theirs. And should they find one another, they would bear the Mark of Sjelevii - the map that Liiva laced amongst the stars so that Kaha might find her at last."

By the time Frigga was finished, Reagan's heart was thundering away in her chest and her ears had begun to ring. The gears in her mind had all clicked into place but she refused to accept exactly what those gears were saying.

"So..." she said cautiously as she shook her head in disbelief. "Are you trying to tell me that-"

She couldn't bring herself to say it out loud.

"Sjelevii," Thor said. "Is from a forgotten language, no longer spoken even in Asgard. But it translates roughly to 'soulmates.'"

Silence hung heavy in the air as Reagan stared at Thor with her mouth agape, attempting to process what he had just said.

"Soulmates?" she repeated. "Soulmates?"

Revulsion rolled through her as images of the past few days on Earth flashed through her mind. The deaths, the fear, the destruction. The cruel smile Loki had worn all the while. The way he had stolen Clint's own mind from him. It wasn't possible. Someone like him meant for someone like her? The thought made her skin crawl.

"No," she said, shaking her head again. "No, there's no way that's what this is. I mean, it's a nice story and all but that can't be what this is. Soulmates aren't real. And if they were, there's no way that mine would be Loki."

I couldn't agree more. His voice sounded in her head again.

"You, shut up," she spat at him, earning a strange look from the three Asgardians before her.

"Before the markings appeared on your skin, you likely sensed him," Frigga suggested gently. "A desire to be near him or speak to him, perhaps even to touch him."

"No," Reagan lied quickly, crossing her arms uncomfortably. "No, nothing like that."

Liar.

"Stop talking to me."

She squeezed her eyes shut and sucked in a deep breath, attempting to calm herself down. Her hands were beginning to tremble.

"Okay, look. It doesn't matter what it is, or how it happened. How do we get rid of it?" she asked the three Gods standing before her.

"To our knowledge, there is no way to remove it," Frigga told her. "The marks are said to be eternal, a bond that not even death can break."

It sounded so absurd to her that Reagan actually laughed at that.

"Come on," she said, trying and failing quite miserably to remain calm. "There must be something. A spell or something, right? Or-or a doctor who can remove it? A god damn human rights lawyer? Something."

Thor only shook his head, while Frigga and Odin exchanged a glance. Anger was slowly overtaking panic as Reagan began to pace, trying her best to work off some nervous energy so that she wouldn't burst into flames then and there.

"Okay, well then you can tell this Kaha that I'd like to lodge a complaint. And have a little discussion with her about consent. Where is she?"

Thor winced. "Unfortunately, she's been dead for quite some time. Before my father was even born, actually. Well before that."

Reagan froze.

"So, let me get this straight... You're telling me I'm stuck now - forever - with a maniac in my brain because some dead lady - with the worst taste in men ever, by the way- decided she wanted to play matchmaker?"

Frigga pursed her lips disapprovingly but held her tongue, but Reagan was too angry to care.

"I can't believe this is happening."

"I understand that this is difficult," Frigga began but Reagan didn't let her finish.

"No, you don't understand. He's inside my head. He can hear everything I'm thinking. You can't just expect me to go back to Earth and go about my life with that psycho invading my thoughts."

Thor hesitated and glanced from his mother and then to his father, who Reagan suddenly realised had remained rather quiet up to that point. He let out a weary sigh and nodded to Thor, offering permission for him to speak again.

Reagan's eyes flicked between the pair, growing frustrated at the fact that she was witnessing yet another unspoken exchange.

"What?" she pushed.

"Loki having access to your thoughts may not be the most pressing concern here," Thor said slowly.

"I'm sorry?" she replied, her eyebrows furrowing.

"In the past, Asgard has come across a race of beings who know a great deal about the Mark of Sjelevii. It is sacred to them. They do not have the ability to wield any magic of their own but they are powerful, and they believe that the markings can be used to strengthen their people. They are called the Atraxis."

"Great. So they'll know how to take it off me. How do we get in contact with them?"

"Reagan," Thor said, shaking his head. "You misunderstand me. The last time two Asgardians were graced with the Mark of Sjelevii, my grandfather, Bor, was king. The Marks were becoming rarer and rarer and so the couple were celebrated. There was a great feast held in their honour, and word soon reached the rest of the nine realms. Their names were Diavan and Ester. They were abducted from Asgard not a month later. King Bor waged war against the Atraxis to retrieve our people. It was an awful, violent war and many lives were lost. By the time King Bor's forces found where the pair had been taken, it was too late. The Atraxis had roasted Diavan alive and forced Ester to eat his flesh. They believed that by making her consume him, making the pair one in a literal sense, it would give her the ability to bear the strongest children. They'd intended to use her for-"

"Okay," Reagan said, taking a shuddering breath. "I understand, I don't need to hear anymore."

"Once the King and his army returned home, Bor ensured every measure was put in place to prevent the Atraxis from setting foot on Asgardian soil ever again. Our people swore an oath that the next time a pair was blessed with the markings, they would be protected and kept a secret from the other realms so that the Atraxis would not hear word of them."

Thor looked at her, sympathy etched upon his features.

"Reagan, for your own safety, and for that of Midgard and Asgard alike-"

"We cannot permit you to return to Earth," Odin finished for him.

"I'll have some food brought to you," Thor told her, after leading her to the chambers she was permitted to sleep in.

There were two adjoining rooms; one with a large bed and in the other was a lounge chair, bookshelves and a fireplace, with a washroom just off of that. Reagan was so exhausted, both physically and mentally, that she hardly even bothered to really take in the surroundings. She and Thor had parted from the King and Queen's company, with Frigga promising to pay a visit to the Priestesses of the Witches Coven. She had assured Reagan that if anyone might know of a way to undo the bond, it was them.

"Thank you," Reagan murmured to Thor, with a small attempt at a smile.

Thor nodded and bid her goodnight before she pulled the heavy door closed.

Reagan leaned back against the door and breathed a deep sigh of relief, happy at last to be alone. It was only then that she began to realise just how much her body ached from the battle in New York. It was so strange to think that it had only been a few hours earlier that she had watched a portal open in the sky above them. After everything else, it felt like it had happened a million years ago.

She moved toward the washroom, eager to wash the grime of battle from her body. She began to peel off her shirt but then hesitated. Loki was still present within her mind, she hadn't heard him speak to her in a while but she could still feel him there. Like a tick, she thought to herself and bit her lip, concerned. Could he see her? Could he see through her eyes? If she were to undress alone in her room, was he still watching?

She shuddered at the thought - the invasiveness of it.

However, as soon as the thought crossed her mind, she felt him suddenly shrink out of her head. She furrowed her brow, uncertain of what had just happened. She reached out experimentally in the direction she had been avoiding all day - down the invisible link she felt between the two of them. She was surprised to find that when she reached the other end of it she was met with a solid and icy wall. It was as if, she realised, he had built up a defence against her. Mentally, she poked at it. It was impossibly cold and hard as steel. Impenetrable. Yet the bond between them had not disappeared entirely, she could still detect a faint... glow of him behind the wall. Just enough to leave her feeling like she was bathed in a pale blue light. Except now, mercifully, she felt as though she was alone.

How did he do that? She wondered.

Reagan retreated back into her own mind. As confused as she was by the small act of kindness - was it kindness? - she was grateful and she undressed hastily before stepping into the nightgown that had been laid out for her on her bed. Unsure of how long Loki's small act of pity might last, Reagan decided to forgo a shower, not entirely sure that he wasn't just waiting for her to be at her most vulnerable before invading her mind again. She instead filled the basin in the washroom with warm water and washed herself with a sponge and some of the scented oils she'd found. With each squeeze of the sponge, Reagan became more aware of just how much her body ached, and how much she longed for sleep. Her eyes grew heavier with every passing minute and as soon as she made her way back into the main bedroom, she flopped down on the bed without even bothering to pull herself under the covers. Sleep claimed her almost instantly.

She was so tired, that she didn't hear the knock on her door, indicating that a meal was awaiting her. She was too tired, even, to notice that the icy barrier between her mind and Loki's was slowly melting away and that a presence had begun sifting its way into her sleeping mind. She didn't hear the words he murmured inside her head.

Now then, let's see if there's anything in here that I can make use of.