??? days remaining, ???

I, Loki, god of mischief and thieves, tricksters and traitors, have been thoroughly humiliated.

First and foremost, I've been captured again after centuries of being chained up. The second offense is that this cell is nearly impossible to break out of- short of incinerating the entire thing while still inside. Then the upstart god of Time decided to leave me here, with no entertainment other than the occasional Pixie or Jack Frost for food!

The worst part? I remember nothing about my world as it was, and I cannot for the life of me recognize the familiar blood-drenched boy on the ground.

I frown at the boy, who lays still next to me. Ice shards are scattered across his chest, leaking more blood on him. I'm curious, so I tug out one of the smaller shards, releasing a deluge of blood. It spatters my face, but most ends up on the ground.

It's only then I notice it.

Blood that is old flakes off surfaces like splintering ice. Blood that is recent is sticky, but not fully dried. Freshly taken blood, however, is runny. There is nothing strange about this but for the fact that when I touch his blue face, my fingers come away dripping blue.

Fresh blood, I realize. Some of it may have been from the ice, but not all of it. Even his hair is blue-soaked. That's almost certainly more blood than he could actually have in his body... which is what I would say if he was a measly human. Personas can be healed quickly, with barely a trace of the wound, depending on the healer.

It's an easy conclusion to draw. He was hurt continuously for... a very long time. And although many scars stretch across his chest and a vicious burn rips a blue line across his throat and wrists, there are no open wounds to speak of. A cold feeling makes its way down my spine. Losing this much blood would normally kill anyone- human, Persona, god- yet the fact that the boy lives means Kronos used healing spells. And if he bothered to heal a Persona, he wants something from him. Considering he is still alive- somewhat alive, I reconsider, clearing some of the blood off him- he has not yet given Kronos that something.

This is the most fun I've had since I was captured. I hope he wakes soon, considering that I'm so bored I could cry. If I must stay here any longer, I can and will turn this world into an inferno. Odin's Eye, I'm bored...

"Nnn..."

My hand, cast lazily over his heart, senses a sudden pulse. It's my only warning before his eyes flash open- they're a bright, indistinct color that reminds me of crystals- and his bare, scorched feet scrape against the ground. The black-haired boy jumps up with startling speed. I sense the fear emanating from him as he lashes out. His clawlike nails scrape my throat, but I'm already leaning back just enough. The boy settles into a defensive stance, his crystal eyes narrowed into slits.

Fortunately, I'm already in front of him, and his left foot is pressed against the wall. He trapped himself. I have a clear advantage.

I seem to not need it. He sways and drops his guard to brace himself on the stone. His unfocused eyes glance tiredly at me, then widens.

"Loki?"

The first thing that strikes me is that he says my name wrong. He says it the English way, but with the intonations of a smoother, flowing language that sounds like a winding river. I next realize that he knows me, but I do not know him. The boy may either be part of my missing memories or has heard my fearsome reputation. No use asking 'how do you know my name?' What a waste of energy that would be.

"You. What is the last thing you remember?" I say instead.

The boy seems to curl in on himself. His silence practically screams that he was conscious for the whole of whatever torture Kronos put him through.

"Do you know where we are?"

He nods. "You are Loki, correct? If I do remember, you could never shift your eye color."

The dark-haired boy knows me well, to know such a thing. Yet something in his phrasing feels offensive. "I am Loki. Did you think I was some weakling?"

"You are stuck in a... stuck in a cage," the boy points out.

He has a fair point.

"I was certain you were here," he says. "I have a plan."

"Your help is worthless to me, if you're here too," I reply. It's the honest truth, if not a bit harsh. The best support he can provide is a bit of entertainment, but he seems useless in any sort of fight. Although his pain tolerance seems abnormally high and he could be a useful bargaining chip...

His eyes widen comically. "Worthless?" He has the nerve to sound insulted. "I crushed you when we battled!"

"That sounds truly believable," I laugh. This fool? Crushing me? At best, our battle would last a few minutes while I shatter his defenses. No outcome seems to bode well for the boy.

"I'm fully willing to give you a rematch," he snaps. "Later. For the time being, you need your memory back. Then I can explain everything."

I suppose it was the 'truly believable' bit that tipped him off. Odin's Eye, how humiliating! My brother would laugh until he couldn't breathe if he ever heard. In most instances, I would slaughter the boy for daring to oppose me such, but knows more than he lets on. It seems borderline insane... but I believe this Persona was captured on purpose. By the way he's unsteadily dragging himself around the cell in a semblance of pacing, I can safely assume torture was not something he planned for.

What is it this devious Persona has planned for me?

"Kronos!" he roars into the darkness beyond the cell. His Japanese- yes, despite saying names like an Englishman, Japanese sounds all but natural on his lips- rumbles through the void around us. "You are watching us! Face us here instead of cowering away in that cesspool you were sliced up and thrown into!"

I'm getting a clearer picture of why he was tortured.

One moment, there's nothing but darkness, the next, Kronos is there in all his puzzle-piece glory, his ornate golden armor and scowl firmly in place. His attention is solely on the boy, who pins him with a furious glower nearly worthy of my brother's. "Believe it or not, Thief, I have a life outside of your pathetic demands."

Thief is what Kronos called him, and to call him that with slightly less disdain than when he speaks to me, he must be a very good one.

"Really?" the boy retorts. "Like what? I don't recall women falling for a humanoid lump of tar."

He fools no one. His face is whiter than Niflheim and when he looks at the scythe gleaming gold on Kronos's back, he stiffens. I believe he may actually have been petrified, rooted to the spot or turned to stone.

Kronos opens his palm. Golden lightning jumps from one finger to another. "Don't waste my time."

"Then don't waste mine and give Loki back his memories!" The boy folds his arm, proving my petrification hypothesis wrong. "It's a bother to explain everything he's forgotten."

Kronos examines the lightning dancing across his black nails with little interest. His gold eyes stab through the boy's. "I see no reason to."

"What if I told you about the owner of the Moirai?"

The Moirai. Fates. Deities whom I predate, yet they still manage to overpower me! Perhaps it is because I spent much of my life hiding and shapeshifting, rather than cultivating my power into something fearsome. Is it not more thrilling to take what others have earned than the mundane task of earning it yourself? It is the same with my power; I trick and trap those who are stronger and eliminate those who are weaker.

Nevertheless, a cruel smile flits across Kronos's face. They exchange a look, a silent conversation which I cannot decode. "Perhaps you should introduce yourself to Loki. After all, he does not even remember your name."

"You..." It took me a few seconds to find the correct words. "A brainwashing effect."

"How clever of you."

"It was either that or Dream Needle, and Thief boy seems perfectly fine."

The boy chokes out a laugh. "Perfectly fine?" he repeats incredulously. "I..." he shakes his head and laughs more. His crystal eyes flicker over the blood coating his body like fresh paint. "Yes, Loki of Asgard. I am perfectly fine."

"Introduce yourself to your god," Kronos says boredly. He unsheathes his scythe and slings it over his shoulder as casually as I could shift into him. I don't miss how the boy goes even paler, which is rather impressive. I had not realized it was possible to turn that color without shapeshifting. "Now."

The menace in his tone is unmistakable, but the dark-haired boy is a rebel at heart. He stares down the god with a maddening smile. "Ask nicely."

"You asked for the deal. You should be on your knees."

"Now why would I do that?"

It happens so fast that I can barely track it. One moment, the boy is leaning against the wall, the next, he crashes against the acidic stone bars with all his force. Magic- Curse, like a few of my spells- wicks around him and tears at the space between the stone. Kronos's eyes widen just a fraction as a few stones clatter to the ground and our cell hums with energy. I sense the power flooding off him and turn a little pale myself.

When he said he went toe-to-toe with me, he wasn't lying.

And he definitely isn't a weakling.

Just as quickly, the boy retreats against the wall. The Curse spells dissipate and the boy sighs to himself. Was he testing the bars... or was he genuinely going for Kronos's throat?

Kronos still has not released the lightning spell. "Well?"

"Are you going to torture me again if I don't?" He yawns exaggeratedly. I suddenly feel a bout of sympathy for Kronos along with an urge to partake in some torture, myself. Before I have the chance, he waves his hand dismissively. "That was a joke. Loki."

"I know what a joke is."

"That... wasn't what I was going to say..." His brows knit together. "Although I will keep that in mind."

"Was that also a joke?"

"That was a lie, my dear man."

My dear man.

Kronos erased my memory well, but Goro Akechi studied myths, legends, and books for a very long time. In fact, he committed everything to memory. Funnily enough, there was only one Thief he remembers, one he studied very much, who happened to be good friends with a certain author. Not only that, but a specific phrase stuck out to him whenever the character spoke to Maurice Leblanc. 

I've got you now.

A wicked smirk splits my face. I don't bother to disguise it. Instead, I let my skin- which itches from remaining stagnant for so long- morph and pale from my dark-skinned form to an older man. Dark, salt-and-pepper hair. An average height. Thin arms, the muscle well-disguised by my loose clothes.

Of course, he would never be complete without the ever-changing crystal eyes.

The Phantom Thief, who changed faces as he pleased, who stole hearts and treasures and lived a thousand lives in a single mortal one.

The skin I wear now bears a certain resemblance to the boy in front of me. He smiles, a bit shyly, I think, before sweeping an imaginary hat off his head and bowing low. "You do know."

"You didn't make it easy."

He laughs softly.

"Loki of Asgard, god of mischief and thieves, tricksters and traitors. It truly is a pleasure to meet you properly." He offers a wry smile that looks older than his sixteen-year-old skin. "Although I certainly wish the circumstances were different. My name," he adds in a second language. This one flows like a river and runs smoothly over each word, wearing down the harsher syllables into something soft and malleable. French, and although I know it, I have never heard it be spoken in such a... beautiful... way. Truly, it is something enchanting to listen to.

"My name is Arsene Lupin."

Watching a winged demon-thief stride proudly behind his silent master. His image is blurry, but Loki can see a certain beauty to both beings. He hides in Goro Akechi's mind while he stalks the pair. A longing feeling emanates from his master's heart as the demon-thief's master leans back and smiles a warm smile.

-

Story after story about fantastic thieves and stolen hearts. Goro Akechi is frustrated. He throws the book across the room. Loki, who is silenced and pushed aside, wishes he didn't. The story was interesting. This famed thief would be an interesting friend, he thought, and perhaps a more interesting rival.

-

Observing Arsene behind a pillar. The Persona shoves his master out of the way and braces himself against the Leviathan. The metal cuts into his skin and draws blood. This is the first time Loki has seen the thief bleed. He thought he would be happy to find a weakness, but he only feels a hole in his chest where a human heart might once have been. He sees the moment Arsene saved his master without a second thought.

Loki bows his head silently to a true Phantom Thief.

-

Robin Hood has already been defeated. 

Standing in the open, broadsword in hand. Arsene Lupin is five and a half human paces away, as if such a small space was enough to separate their bloodlust. Loki can taste the sweetness of victory on his tongue and realizes; he wants to win for his master. Arsene wants to win for his master. But Arsene is not an enemy, no. He is not a weakling or a coward.

Arsene is an equal, and Loki smiles as Goro Akechi releases his psychotic power.

-

Falling to his knees as the last of his master's psychotic power drains, Loki's raspy pants are echoed across from him where Arsene leans on the wall. His wings droop and ugly feathers, charred to unrecognizable heaps, settle around his boots. His masked head tilts inquisitively at him.

Loki is in awe of the strange Thief who has yet to say a word to him. Loki knows what he wants to say, but he wants to say it first.

And before he has a chance, a Shadow with his master's face levels a gun at Goro Akechi's head.

-

Loki sees the bullets spiral towards each other in slow motion. He remembers hiding in Goro's mind, being repressed until he wanted nothing more than to vanish. But... he remembered a different time, a time when Goro smiled more freely and let loose his true power on any Shadow unfortunate to be nearby. He would laugh and Loki would feel something in his empty chest.

His master was so close to victory. When he won, he could be himself again.

So he moves, faster than he thinks he's ever moved in his life, and Goro Akechi and Loki tumble to the floor, bloodied, but alive.

"Thank you," his master whispers before his eyes drift closed.

There is nothing to say to that.

-

He senses the god before he sees him, a wraith in the foggy Palace's sky. Loki carries a sleeping Goro in his arms. When he feels the danger so close by, he carefully sets the boy on the ground. His red-soaked hair spills out like a curtain under him and his eyes remain peacefully closed. After all, Loki thinks to himself before turning to face the Time-Lord, he's suffered so much.

Had it not been for Arsene, Loki might not have bothered to rescue his master.

"Kronos," he says to empty air. The wind shifts, masking the god's scent too late. The disgustingly opulent cruise ship stinks of his presence.

A familiar face, pieced together and sealed in crude black streaks, snags his attention. Loki hasn't seen Kronos since he almost killed him.

"Good evening, Loki."

"What do you want?"

"You."

He lets out a short, sharp laugh. "Flattering, but no."

Kronos's face turns angry. "You truly think that's what I mean?"

"Who says 'truly'?" Loki mocks. He does, of course, but it is an old-fashioned way of speaking. Kronos's pathetic attempts at replicating more powerful gods' speech is, well... pathetic.

Kronos gives him a furious look, then sighs. "I have no time for this." He snaps his fingers and Loki finds himself encased with ice. His vision is as still as stone. He's been frozen in time.

When he escapes the ice, which takes far longer than he'd care to admit, Loki finds himself and Goro Akechi in the boat's engine room. He immediately knows it to be a trap, and the game to be up. He's out of energy and Kronos could easily take his master hostage. Loki has been caught.

Kronos stands in front of him and his eyes begin to glow pink with a brainwashing spell. Loki slams his own blue eyes shut and casts fire with the last of his energy.

Howls in the distance. His power has attracted Shadows, drawing them like moths to the flame.

The god in front of him staggers back and fixes the god of mischief with a hateful look. Loki braces himself for the status effect and trusts himself.

Trusts himself to...

Everything goes dark.

---

I blink once, my memories rushing back to me in a single wave.

Arsene's eyes light up with a sort of hope.

Kronos's mouth twists into a smirk.

As a being who lived on revenge, I'd expect myself to scream at Kronos and tear him to shreds. Instead, I feel myself turn to stare at the Thief. Arsene Lupin, the first mortal I have ever been... jealous of. The feeling is strange, scenes I have only just been given back playing across my mind. Arsene laughing in Mementos. His master's grateful eyes when he thanked Arsene after the Levithan. Arsene staring him down.

Yes, I must have been jealous.

I wonder if Goro Akechi even remembers me.

He likely doesn't. My master did not dwell on useless things.

"You did give him all his stolen memories, correct?"

"Do you take me for a liar?"

Arsene glares at him, then looks at the cell around us. "Loki, what do you think?"

"All gods are liars," I agree.

"I gave you all your memories," Kronos snaps. Electricity snaps between his fingers. "Now, Thief, hold your end of the bargain."

The demon-thief's pale face splits into a grin. "I don't think I will." As the Time-Lord opens his mouth to deliver his verdict, Arsene cuts him off. "You cannot hurt me unless you come in here."

Kronos runs a finger down the bloodstained scythe. It gleams menacingly. Arsene's lips whiten, but he maintains his composition with admirable determination. Especially for a mortal Thief. "Would you not have hurt me sooner? I was attacking you with intent to kill, yet between the bars is an invisible... something... that will not allow me through. I was unable to hurt you. Which leads me to believe you cannot hurt me, so long as I am in here and you are out there."

There's a beat of silence, then Kronos presses his palm against a stone bar. It melts away and Arsene moves. He's as fast as I am, a flash of claws and black-red Eigaeon that hurtles for Kronos's exposed throat.

He's too slow.

Electricity tears at his skin, furiously ripping it open. Blood explodes out of his chest, a grisly shower of blue and black. A terrible scream, and then Arsene's on the ground, clawing at the stone. His screaming becomes hoarse, then weak, then silent. All the while, blood spills out of his chest, soaking him to the exposed bones.

Kronos smiles.

I sense Arsene's heartbeat pause. Then it stops.

Fear. Genuine, terrifying, fear burns in my chest. Arsene Lupin has been tortured, broken... and now he will die for even attempting to help an enemy. He is too trusting, but I cannt help the ache where a human's heart would be.

Then Kronos puts his hand on Arsene's chest. "Diarama." The wound immediately seals itself closed. It regains its previous shape, muscle and bone filling in the empty space.

Arsene lays there, shaking. His crystal eyes are filled with despair. He remains silent.

"Just tell me who has the Moirai," the god says mercilessly. "And you may go free."

"N-n..." Arsene coughs and tries to force words through his shattered throat. "-won't!"

A firstful of electricity gathers in his palm. "Last chance, Thief."

He closes his eyes.

Defeat. I can taste the bitter word. For now, Arsene and I are allies. And he is giving up. He's accepting a stalemate, but eventually he will break, or Kronos will lose patience and decide to not heal him.

I will not let us accept defeat.

The electricity is centimeters away from Arsene before I tackle the god. We hit the ground hard and I hear the breath leave his chest. He's vulnerable. I summon fire and throw my burning hand against his throat, but he only smiles. The next thing I know, my back hits the ground and Kronos's hands are wrapped around my neck.

I laugh, the shortness of breath he expects never coming.

 I'm a shapeshifter, you utter fool! 

It's child's play to redirect my circulatory system and change my skin to something like stone. Then I double the length of my arm and swing my fist up, earning a satisfying crunching sound. Kronos reels and I sense his muscles clench. He's winding up for the time-freeze-thing.

My arm's transformed into tentacles and I shoot them at him. Ink splatters his face and I pin him to the wall. Behind me, I sense Arsene stirring.

I look back to see Kronos grinning. "Foolish Loki," he whispers.

There is a blast of some Bless spell, and the next thing I know, I'm on the ground and Kronos is holding Arsene by the throat. "Tell me."

Arsene doesn't even try to disguise his shaking. "You- You know her. She- she's the most important one."

"Trae."

"Don't... Don't you lay a finger on... on her..."He closes his eyes again. I would be convinced if I were a foolish mortal, but certianly not now. I see his fingers twitch- slightly, of course- and his whole body's shaking, so it's near impossible to notice, but I am Goro Akechi's Persona. I notice these things.

He's lying.

Kronos steps away. "Was that so difficult?" He lifts his chin. "I won't be needing you anymore, Thief."

"Don't."

The word slips out in a low, menacing growl. I don't even realize I spoke until I'm towering over Kronos with claws and fangs the size of human heads at ready.

"Can you truly stop me?"

I wrinkle my nose. "Who says truly?"

Arsene chokes on his laughter.

The god thinks for a moment, then shrugs. "He's of no use to me now. Do as you will." He presses a small, round stone from his cloak against the walls. They melt away, and he strides out confidently.

Then he pauses and comes back.

And puts the keystone just outside of the cell's impregnable walls.

Fury tears at my insides. Being taunted, freedom being so close, but so far away... Goro Akechi felt the same thing for years upon years. I cannot bear to feel the same way.

"Goodbye, Loki."

He vanishes.

Arsene lifts his head and gives me an exhausted smile. "That went well," he says as he gets to his feet. His face turns white and his legs give out. He pushes himself up again, wobbling dangerously, but he recovers with only a few steps. "Perfectly, if I do say so myself."

I shall never understand the inner workings of this mortal. "Might I remind you-" I finish with a gesture to his blood-soaked chest. Blue still pools around him.

"It was necessary. There is an entrance here, but I would have never found you. This was- perhaps not the smartest- but the best way." 

"Perhaps you've failed to notice it, but you and I are trapped. Did you happen to plan for this?"

Arsene turns and gives me a ghost of a smirk. He nods to the keystone, which waits just before the darkness."Tell me, Loki, how does this prison function?"

He knows as well as I. Everything is enchanted to keep people inside. Once the doors close, unless someone on the outside lets you out, I've found that it's impossible to leave. It's unlike a normal cell, where bashing a guard's head against the wall is trivial, but I cannot reach through the bars. "I- ah. I see." Naturally, the mortal thief would think to risk his life solely to prove his hypothesis. I believe he may have actually been insane enough to let himself be tortured and defeated to make Kronos leave the stone there. "I see. Care to tell me what innocent girl you sent him after?"

"He will not kill or injure her in any way," Arsene confidently says. "Trae is far too important to him."

I assume he would tell me everything if not for the fact Kronos has the ability to see our next moves, if he so chooses. There is one more thing... "Where are we? You hinted earlier that you knew."

"Home," he says. "You never did arrive at the Mansion, did you?"

"The Mansion?"

"A parallel dimension. Compare it to the Velvet Room. It was only recently one of us found the basement, and I was careful to keep him away from it... at least for a few hours."  Arsene smiles. "He should be coming here soon."

On cue, a small, purple-silver form emerges from the darkness, smelling like snow and ice.

Arsene laughs. "What kind of thief would I be if I allowed myself to be caught so easily!"

"Arsene?" Silver eyes peer curiously into the cell. The child- and while Arsene may look young, he truly is a child- points and crosses his arms. There's a flash of fangs. "You told me there were banshees down here- WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?"

His face flushes and the formidable demon-thief fixes his gaze on the ground. "A few... minor difficulties."

The child stares, aghast, at the blood-covered Thief. "How are you still alive?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Arsene brings his gaze back up to meet mine. "Let us out. Please, Fenrir."

Fenrir. As in the Nordic Wolf? I look closer at the child, his long silver-purple hair, his pale eyes and flashing claws. He could be Fenrir, but he could just as soon be a bridge troll.

The instant the cell opens, Arsene grabs me by the arm- I notice his fingernails are still bloody stubs- and drags me out. "We're going to Wish!" he yells over his shoulder. "Free the others and get everyone out of the Mansion!"

The world ripples into reds and black, then reforms around us. I blink the lights out of my eyes- even the full moon is painful to look at after only darkness for... who knows how long? 

I cannot see for the moment, but I certainly don't need to.

I can still hear the screaming.

---

And now you all know whos perspective Nameless was from! yey! 

DAmmit im just over 4200 words.... :(

Anyways, now we have Loki in the mix, which'll be intersting to mess with. One more person to torture. 

I'll explain anything you dont understand, but first and foremost, i think id better clear up the Thanatos thing. Names and faces cam be changed real easily. He just had to dress different and call himself a differnet name, then boom, hes thanatos.

Kronos is the mastermind, as ice already discusses... but why is Arsene so confident he wont hurt Trae???

Put hypothesis here??? please i love comments pleasseeeeee

also i made myself a new banner ^^ Time and Keys hehehee

Robin out!