Chapter 2

The ring glowed in front of her as it rolled away on the blackened ground. No matter how hard she tried to run to it, it kept getting further away from him. She reached out her hand to try and grasp it, but it slipped through her fingers, getting further away. She felt herself fall down onto her hands and knees as she lost her footing underneath her. She tried desperately to reach out and grab the ring, frantically chasing it. “Rebecca!”, a mans voice screamed her name, as she felt herself being pulled up backwards from behind, bringing her attention up to the blackened sky. Her eyes fell onto a figure in front of her, drawing itself closer to her. Its darkened body moving swiftly as her eyes focused onto the figures face, its white skull-like face. Then she screamed.

Rebecca jolted away from the nightmare in a cold sweat, her breath coming in gulps. Her eyes shot around the room as she tried to remember where she was. The grand golden architecture of the walls, the green covers where she lay in the grand bed and the large window with a burning orange sky outside. She breathed a sigh of relief; she was in Asgard. She looked to the side of her, and there was Loki, sat there in the chair next to the bed, with his head leant to one side, fast asleep. She sighed looking at him, as he looked awfully pale, and the position which he’d fallen asleep in didn’t look like it was comfortable. She slowly pulled the covers off her and climbed out of the bed, before gently walking up to him, being careful not to make a noise. She stood in front of him for a good minute waiting to see if he would wake up. She even waved her hand in front of his face to see if he was just pretending to be asleep, but he didn’t flinch. He must be exhausted, she thought, remember that there hadn’t been hardly any time different from when he’d left her only a week ago back on earth, when in reality here it had only been a few hours. She could see the faint mark of a tear trail on his cheek. Had be been crying during the night whilst she slept, she thought.

She brushed aside those thoughts as she turned around and took in his chambers in more detail. Although the walls of the room were gold, it wasn’t a pure gold, but more a black scratched texture, with scratch marks all on the walls up to eye level on one side of the room, the side within reaching distance of Loki she noticed. He must have been clawing at the walls in his chains she thought, glancing back at his sleeping figure, feeling sorry for him. She saw how much pain he had been in when he’d used his magic before to try and help her, so he must have tried hitting them against the walls to try and break them. She traced her hand along the wall, following the wall until she reached the anchor point of the chains in the wall that were connected to Loki. She looked closer at them, and saw that the metal hand fused itself to the wall, so there was no break in it. Around this were the most about of scratches, where he’d obviously tried the most to break it. She looked closer at the darkened wall, and let of a little gasp of shock, as there were small lines of blood on the walls. He must have been clawing at it with his bare hands then, she gasped, as she touched the cold chains.

Loki let out a low moan, which caused her to flinch and turn to look at him. His was frowning, and his fists were clenching and unclenching as he shifted in his seat, making himself more comfortable. Rebecca held her breath, not daring to move or make a noise in case she woke him. Eventually he stopped, and his head leant back against the wall behind him and he fell silent again, still sleeping.  She sighed, and turned around and headed over towards the large doors into the chamber. She tried to push them open, but they didn’t budge. Obviously they would be locked; Loki is a prisoner she realised, shaking her head, recognising that she wouldn’t be able to journey out too. She sighed, and moved over to the black and gold drape that was hung next to the door. Pulling it back, she saw that it revealed a small room that was obviously a bathroom, glancing sight of a stone bath in the centre of the room. She closed it again and looked at the wooden dresser cabinet that was next to it. On top of it were an unusual array of items; a large frozen snowflake, a beautiful golden leaf, and a pile of books with torn pages sticking out of the sides of them. What caught her attention most was a large golden horned helmet which was resting on the end, with what looked like a necklace hanging off it. She took the necklace off the horn and looked at it more closely. It was a beautiful pendent, with two snakes entwined around a red/black heart gem stone. Without even thinking, she took the necklace and put it on, admiring it as it hung on her chest.

She looked into the mirror above on the wall, which was cracked in the bottom corner where it looked like something had hit it, and looked at her reflection. Her brown hair was messed up from when she had been sleeping, and she looked even paler than ever. She tried to straighten it out, and pushed the straggly bits behind her ears, brushing it out of her eyes. She couldn’t help but admire herself in the mirror, as her hair hung at her shoulders, and her dark eyes and red lips were the only colour on her face to try and bring life to her pale complexion. She smoothed down the folds of her golden dress, her hand tracing the embroidery around the seams. Her parents had given the dress to her as a present for her eighteenth birthday, and she had insisted on wearing it as soon as she opened it. Her mother had helped her fasten it up, as the top half was like a corset, so she needed help lacing it up. It really brought out her figure, and she had danced around wearing it as it made her feel like a princess wearing it. The material was so light and soft to touch, with what she thought was a Celtic type pattern running along the seams in a faint golden green. What she loved was the skirt which had a trail which flowed out a little on the floor behind her, and when she spun around really quickly, the skirt would float around her

She eyes looked at the horned helmet again, and she bit her lip, thinking. A small grin crept across her lips, and she glanced back at Loki. He was still sat there in the chair, his eyes closed, asleep. Grinning, she picked up the helmet carefully, making sure as not to knock anything off. It was a little heavy, and was a bit bigger than she expected. She remembered seeing a picture of Loki wearing this helmet in the news back home after the events of New York. She remembered looking at that picture that had been taken with him standing on the balcony of Stark Tower, and feeling a pang of frustration, as that had been when she had been trapped in the room of the tower, and Loki had left her. Turning back to the mirror, she lifted up the helmet, and lowered it down onto her head. It strangely fitted perfectly on her head. She looked at herself in the mirror, looking out from underneath its brow. She couldn’t help but pull an evil grin when she looked at herself; even she thought that she looked pretty threatening wearing it. Sighing, she carefully took it off and placed it back on top of the dresser in the exact spot shed taken it from so Loki wouldn’t notice.

There was nothing else left in the room as her eyes scanned around, eventually coming to stop looking at Loki. He was still fast asleep. Sighing, Rebecca walked over to the large golden window frame and plonked herself down in the window seat, looking out at the orange sky as it began to get light. She could still see the stars faintly as they shone, as on the distant horizon, the sky began to burn red, indicating the sun was soon going to rise. “You look as beautiful as the sunrise”, Loki’s voice whispered to her, causing her to jump in fright. He was sat awake in the chair, looking at her, smiling. “How long have you been awake?”, Rebecca asked, trying to calm herself down after the little fright. “I’ve been awake all night Rebecca. I told you that I wouldn’t sleep”, he said smiling as he stretched his neck. “But you were asleep, I saw you”, she said confused. “Just because my eyes are closed, does not mean that I saw you looking around my room and wearing my helmet”, he said grinning standing up. Rebecca felt herself blushing with embarrassment. “I though-“. “-that I was asleep? No, merely resting my eyes. And for the record, I think you look like a battle warrior in my helmet. Remind me to make sure you get one for yourself”, he chuckled cutting her off as he walked closer to her. “Thanks”, she said smiling, turning to look back out of the window as the sun broke over the horizon, bathing the room in sunlight. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it”, Rebecca said, watching the sun rise on the horizon, the rays reflecting off the golden pillars outside the window.

She heard the tug of the chains and turned around, to see Loki standing several feet away from her, the chains pulled tight as he tried to get closer. His nostrils flared as he tugged at them again, grunting in effort trying to get closer to her, before letting out a sigh of frustration. “Loki, what is it?”, she asked, getting up from the window and walking over to him. He didn’t answer, but sighed, dropping his eyes down to the floor. “Loki?”, Rebecca asked again, standing in front of him, putting her arm on his shoulder. He looked up into her eyes, his face set in stone, a flicker of sadness in his eyes. “It won’t be long now Rebecca, until they come for me”, he said, pointing his hand towards the door. “I want you to stay here when they come to take me away”. “You know I won’t do that Loki. I’m not leaving your side”, she said to him, putting both her hands onto his shoulders. “Rebecca, please do as I say”, he said seriously, his voice low, his eyes fixed on hers. “No, I’m not loosing you again”, she said shaking her head. “Rebecca, do not argue with me!”, he barked at her, causing her to flinch and leg go of him. He clenched his jaw, before dropping his head sighing. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shout at you”, he said finally after several minutes, looking back up at her. “It’s ok”, she whispered. “I just don’t want you to get into trouble or any more danger and for it to have been my fault. I couldn’t bear for you to… ”, he whispered, trailing off, his eyes getting lost in hers.

Rebecca could see the pain starting to grow in his eyes as he looked at her. She walked over to him, and gently hugged him, burying her face into his chest to comfort him. “Don’t worry Loki, I’ll be alright. The guards can’t see me, so I will be safe. I’m just more worried about you”, she said looking up and him, cupping his cheeks in her hand. She looked longingly into his eyes, trying to read his thoughts, as she brought her face closer to his until their noses were touching. “You have heart, and you are as beautiful as any star. Oh Rebecca, you are too pure and perfect for any man to have. I will miss you deeply, but I am just glad that I have one final chance to do this”, he said softly to her, his velvety voice whispering in her ear before he leaned in closer to her, and placed his lips tenderly onto hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, kissing him back just as equally, biting his lip. Eventually, they both stopped, their foreheads resting against each other, just savouring the touch of each other. “Thank you”, he whispered, kissing her forehead. “For what?”, she replied breathlessly, staring into his eyes. “For giving me your courage, now let go”. “What? What for?”, she asked, but then the noise growing from the other side of the door answered her question; the sound of approaching footsteps. He looked at her sternly, a flicker of pain just briefly in his eyes. Rebecca took her arms from around his neck and took hold of his hands tightly. “Please”, he whispered to her urgently, a look of panic on his face as the sound of the footsteps increased. She squeezed his hands tightly, before quickly pecking a kiss onto his cheek, and then let go, taking a few steps back away from him. “Thank you”, he mouthed to her as the sound of the door being unlocked echoed around the room, looking at her with pain in his eyes. She could feel a lump start to grow in her throat, and was just about say something to him when the door of the chamber was thrown open, causing her to freeze on the spot.

The young guard that had come to see them last night stood there, along with several others behind him, all armed with their swords unsheathed and held tightly in their hands, ready to strike. Rebecca threw a scared glance at Loki who was still stood there, looking at her, his eyes set as hard as stone. “Too afraid to come back alone to collect a single prisoner I see”, Loki said slyly to the guards as they entered into the room, surrounding him. Rebecca pressed herself flat up against the wall as the guards came near where she stood, and she put her hand over her mouth to try and silence her panicked breathing, fearing that they would hear her. “Oh no Loki, I’m not afraid of you. I just decided to bring along a few friends to watch you squirm”, the young guard said coldly. That’s when the guard struck him, swinging his fist and Loki’s ribs, causing him to drop down onto the floor. If Rebecca could have screamed out in fear, she would have done, as she stayed rooted on the spot horrified as the young guard repeatedly threw blow after blow upon Loki. He didn’t cry out or anything as the guard repeated hit him, he just stood there, his facial expression blank, not even making any attempt to defend himself. The guard kneed him to the stomach, causing him to hunch over grunting, dropping to the floor onto his knees. The guard chuckled as the others surrounding him just looked on expressionless, as the guard unsheathed his sword. Rebecca’s eyes frantically looked from Loki to the guard as he stood next to the kneeling Loki, placing the blade of his sword on the back of his neck. “See Loki, who is smiling now”, the guard chuckled, raising the sword up above his head, ready to swing it down.

“NO!”, Rebecca screamed in horror. Loki’s head immediately shot up to look at her, fear and panic in his eyes whilst his face remained unchanged. Thankfully, no one had heard her, because one of the other guards closest to the younger guard had shouted no also at the same time. He was stood holding onto the young guards arm, stopping him from bringing the sword down. “Odin wants him to be put on trial first”, the guard announced, forcing the younger one to sheath his sword. Rebecca glanced back over at Loki who was still kneeling, who had a smug grin on his face. Loki got back up onto his feet, and turned to look at the younger guard, grinning slyly at him. “So who is smiling now?”, Loki asked, chuckling a small, deep chuckle, his eyes set firmly on the younger guard as he stepped back. The guard held his gaze defensively, before his eyes dropped to the floor sheepishly. “I thought so”, Loki whispered smiling slyly. The older guard then walked over to the far wall where Loki’s chains were connected to the wall, and touched them, and they immediately released from the wall, separating into individual chains which he passed around to two of the other guards. The pulled the chains taught, which prevented Loki from walking off anywhere. “Come and meet your fate, fallen prince”, the younger guard muttered to him, as he turned and left the room. The other guards began to follow too, pulling Loki along with the chains. Loki managed to throw a quick glance and smile at Rebecca where she was still stood, routed on the spot, before being pulled out of the room.

Rebecca must have stood there alone in the room for a good few moments before she’d even taken in that the door had been left wide open. She gulped in air, trying to overcome what she’d just seen, watching Loki being beaten and nearly being caught. She dreaded to think what would happen to her if they’d found her. She ran to the door and peeped out into the grand hallway outside, and saw it was completely deserted. She bit her lip, thinking. Rebecca knew that Loki had told her to stay here because it wasn’t safe, but then the guards couldn’t see her, so all she had to do was make sure that she stayed quiet and in theory, she should be ok. She glanced down at the little black pumps she’d been wearing from back home, before taking them off and throwing them onto the bed. Back home, if she had wanted to sneak around, she found doing it barefoot created no noise at all, so made her virtually silent. She peaked out around the corner of the door again to check if it was still clear, before then running down the corridor, sticking to the shadows, chasing the sound of the dying footsteps.

It didn’t take her long to catch up with the guards escorting Loki, as he couldn’t walk that quickly because of the chains on his legs preventing him from moving them very far. He must have sensed that she was following him, as he glanced over his shoulder, looking straight at her. However, he wasn’t able to look at her for very long, because one of the guards walking behind him pushed him, forcing him to turn back around, whilst another one pulled at his chains, making him walk on. The look in his eyes was enough for Rebecca; he was annoyed that she had followed him. She didn’t want to break her word to him, but what choice did she have. Loki was the only reason why she was here, and she wasn’t about to let him just be taken away from her, with the risk of never seeing him again. She hadn’t noticed that they’d stopped walking as she had gotten lost deep in thought, that she nearly walked straight into one of the guards at the back of the group. She immediately froze as the guard glanced over his shoulder, sensing someone was there. However, because the ring had made her somehow invisible, he merely looked straight through her, before focusing his attention back towards Loki. The massive golden doors they had stopped in front of opened, revealing a massive room filled with golden pillars that must have been the size of skyscrapers. She gasped in awe at the sight as she slowly followed behind them, still unable to take in the sheer size and beauty of the Asgardian Palace.

The guards rearranged themselves before continuing to walk on further, placing themselves behind Loki, making him walk on ahead of them whilst they followed him, still keeping a firm hold of his chains. She’d seen him smirk at them, before holding his head high and walking forward into the giant room. Rebecca looked ahead to where they were walking whilst she followed behind, now running between the columns. At the end of the room was a large, beautiful throne raised up high up a set of steps with a figure sitting atop of it. She couldn’t make them out, but she figured that is must be the Odin or Allfather that Loki and the guards must have mentioned; he must be the King. Rebecca’s attention was drawn to a woman who had just walked out from one of the pillars up ahead, who now stood waiting for Loki to come closer. She couldn’t make out her features clearly, so she ran closer to get a better look, and to hear what was going to be said as Loki neared her. “Hello mother”, Loki said, smiling at her. “Have I made you proud?”. Rebecca gasped. She looked at her more closely; the beautiful blue gown, her blonde hair, she looked beautiful. “Enough!”. Rebecca nearly jumped out of her skin when the other voice boomed from on top of the throne, distracting her from her thoughts. “I will speak to the prisoner alone”, they commanded, causing the woman to turn and leave. Rebecca watched her leave, as from where she stood behind the column, she passed right by her. The woman slowed her pace down however when she neared Rebecca, and looked towards where she was stood, straight at her. Rebecca gulped as Loki’s mother continued to look right at her, her gaze not wavering as she continued to walk past. Then she smiled gently at her, and raised a finger to her lips, and winked, before turning and walking away out of sight. Her mind frantically raced, trying to work out what had just happened and how she had seen. Rebecca didn’t want to think about that now though, as she was more worried about other things, so she turned her attention back to Loki.

He stood there, smiling smugly as he began to walk forward slowly, the sound of the chains echoing through the vast throne room. He stopped at the bottom of the steps up to the throne, and slammed his feet together, causing the chains to create an very loud clang, almost like as if he were saluting, which caused him to chuckle. “I really don’t see what all the fuss is about”, Loki joked, and gestured to the chains he was wearing. “Do you not truly feel the gravity of your crimes? Wherever you go, there is war, ruin and death”, the man told him bluntly. She couldn’t make out the man clearly from where she stood, so she slowly crept out from where she was stood hidden behind the pillar so that she now stood at the bottom of the steps too, closer to Loki. “I went down to rule of people of Midgard as a benevolent god … just like you”, Loki said up to this man. “We are not gods. We’re born, we live, we die, just as humans do”. ”Mmm, give or take five thousand years”, Loki sarcastically said back to him, raising an eyebrow as if it amused him. Rebecca stared back at Loki in shock, was he really that old? She knew that Loki was a god, he’d told her that back on earth, but was he really nearly five thousand years old. She edged closer towards the steps up to the throne and looked at the man addressing Loki. He looked old, like really old with his white hair and wrinkled skin, but what freaked her out more was that he only had one eye. She felt a cold shudder run down her back as the face of Fury from SHIELD popped into her head. She never wanted to meet that horrible man again

“All this because Loki desires a throne”, the old man said musingly, looking down at Loki; she couldn’t help but feel that he was loving this whole scene. “It is my birthright”, Loki said to him, his nostrils flaring. “Your birthright was to die!”, he shouted at Loki, causing Rebecca to jump in surprise. “As a child, cast out onto a frozen rock. If I had not taken you in, you would not be here now to hate me”, he said darkly, a sly smile on his lips. Rebecca couldn’t believe it. So this man who was currently King of Asgard was Loki’s adopted father, and that he was meant to have died as a child. This must have triggered something inside Loki too, as he stepped forward, as if wanting to climb up the stairs to this man, but the guards holding his chains held him back. “If I am for the axe then for mercy’s sake, just, swing it. It’s not that I don’t love our little talks, it’s just… I don’t love them”. Rebecca shook her head, not wanting to hear any more. “Frigga is the only reason you’re still alive and you will never see her again”. So that was her name, Rebecca thought, glancing between Loki and the man, watching the pain and anger build in Loki’s eyes.  “You will spend the rest of your days in the dungeon”. “And what of Thor? You’ll make that witless oaf king while I rot in chains?”, Loki challenged him as the guards began to pull him away. “Thor must strive to undo the damage you have done, bring order to the Nine Realms, and then, yes, he will be king”.

The guards clamped their hands down onto Loki’s shoulders and began to pull him backwards. Rebecca wanted to say something to Loki in some form of comfort but he just looked at her and she fell silent. As Loki turned around and followed the guards, Rebecca looked back up towards the man on the top of the throne, and couldn’t help but feel rage and hate towards him. He just sat there smugly, watching his adopted son be lead away. She fought the urge to run up the steps and slap him round the face, as she knew that would get her into even more trouble than she was already in. Rebecca turned and followed the guards again as they lead Loki back out of the throne room and into the passageway. He didn’t make any sly remarks, or even make eye contact with her as he was escorted along; his eyes fixed ahead, his face expressionless. She followed them as they began to descend down stone steps leading deep underground; the grey stone walls lit with flaming torches. Eventually, they reached the bottom and stopped in front of a massive set of stone doors, which the guards pushed open with great effort, before pulling Loki in through them, closing them shut behind. Rebecca had only just managed to squeeze through in time before the doors had shut by ducking under the arm of one of the guards. Now she stood shoulder to shoulder with Loki, who didn’t even glance at her as they began to walk. Cells of prisoners covered both sides of the passage as they walked; some of them hissing and clapping as Loki passed them by. Eventually, the guards had reached the end of the cells, and stopped outside of one empty one on the end of the empty row. The golden light barrier acting as the cell wall dropped down and a guard pushed Loki inside. Being stood next to Loki however, Rebecca was accidentally pushed inside too by Loki colliding into her. Before she could even take it in, Loki’s chains had been removed by the guard and the light barrier was raised, locking her in with him. She turned around to see the guards chuckling to themselves, before turning and leaving, walking off up the empty corridor, leaving them both alone.

“I told you to stay where you were”, Loki said quietly. His voice was low and cracked as he stood there, his back still facing towards the barrier, staring straight ahead. “I know you did, and I’m sorry. I wasn’t going to just stay there when you’re the main reason why I am here”, she said gently, turning around, looking at his back. He didn’t answer, but put his hands behind his back and looked around the plain empty white cell where they were now trapped. “You know your trapped in here right?”, he said finally after surveying the surroundings, looking at Rebecca. “No. You said that you’d be able to send me home using your magic once you were out of those chains, which you are now”, she said, gesturing to him, smiling hopefully. Loki looked at her sadly, and shook his head. “Rebecca, it doesn’t work like that now”. “W-what do you mean?”, she asked confused, trying to keep the now rising panic out of her voice. “Yes I could have sent you back home using my magic. I couldn’t do it before because the chains stopped me from doing any magic at all. And your thinking is right, in believing that because now I no longer have the chains on, that I can now do my magic again, which is correct. Only I cannot send you anywhere. My magic is confined to this cell. No getting in, no getting out”. Loki said the last part of this very slowly to Rebecca, dragging out each syllable until it sunk in.

“You lied to me”, she stammered, not even bearing to look at him anymore. He doesn’t answer, but walks over to the cell window and looks out as Rebecca slowly breaks down into tears. “So, I’m trapped in here, with you, forever?”, she asked between broken sobs, her body shaking as the realisation kicked in. Still, Loki doesn’t answer her, but sighs and lowers his head, resting his head against the window. Rebecca staggered her way over to the corner of the cell and sank down the wall, collapsing onto the floor as her legs gave way underneath her. She curls herself up in the corner and weeps, her eyes darting around the cell. “Rebecca, I’m so sorry”, Loki said as gently and as softly as he could, as he turned around to look at her, his eyes filled with pain. “Rebecca, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me”, he whispered, taking a step closer her. “Stay away from me!”, she screamed at him, pointing her finger threateningly at him, causing him to stop in his tracks. “Ok”, Loki whispered softly, stepping back, moving himself over to the far side of the cell, before sliding down against the wall, and sitting with his head in his hands. Rebecca leant her head against the wall, and closed her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks, her whole body shaking in emotion as the reality finally hit home of the situation she was now stuck in. She hugged herself tightly as she cried, and soon feel into a troubled sleep, where she slipped from a living nightmare into her future one.