The Ashen Keeper

Chapter 9

She sat down as she watched Loki gets strapped to a chair. Nat was driving the quinjet while the captain and the tin man now known as Stark started talking.

She sat down beside the false god Loki, "Pardon me stranger, but may I pose thee a few questions.".

"Stranger?", he sounded hurt, "I know that you don't know me very well, but this hurt me.".

He was an incredible actor, and she would have not been able to tell if it weren't for her senses.

"Thou hath claim thyself a god with no shred of divinity. The only thing I can sense from thee is the scent of giants. May I know why thou hath claim thyself a god?", she told him bluntly as his face visibly frowned.

He still appeared to be calm, but she could sense the malice from his heart. "You do know how to hurt someone Ms. keeper, but I fear that I am .... adopted.".

He knew her name. This was not him slipping up. No, this was a form of intimidation. He appeared to have inside information.

She immediately thought about Barton and how he disappeared after seeing her. 'An insider', she thought to herself.

She did not sense it as she prefer not to constantly probe other people's inner activities.

'I'll get his mind out of this trickery once I have a chance.', she thought to herself.

This giant was no god, but his ego might be bigger than one. Externally, her face did not change one bit. It was the same as ever.

Just then, thunder started to rumble from the sky. She titled her head slightly above and sensed it. It was divinity. An actual god was here.

Though the god may hold very little divinity. It seems more to be a demigod; however, one cannot argue that it is divine in nature. It was heading straight here.

She did not speak a word. But if one had to ability to look past her metal blindfold, they would find her eyes glowing.

Using the knowledge gained from Manus the Father of the Abyss, she laid out a trap. Of course, it would have taken more time if she had meant it for a true god. However, for a weak 'demigod' like the one coming straight at her, it was enough.

The captain started asking Loki if he was afraid of a 'little lightning', to which Loki reply, "I am not overly fond of what follows.". A moment after he said that something landed on top of the quinjet.

The quinjet shook but the firekeeper did not move from her seat as if nothing was wrong. A flash of blur quickly rushed towards Loki.

Just then, there was a crash, a man had crashed down onto the floor. He fell right at the feet of the firekeeper.

He looked up immediately. "Father? Father!", he called out seemingly mistaken at whom he thought had made him lose his powers.

She seemed to have triggered some form of trauma. "Welcome to my temporary home, young god. As long as thou art by mine side, let there be no forms of violence.".

She said it in a form of courtesy, but this simply seems to anger him. He tried to pick up his hammer but settled for a simple punch when he failed to lift it. She did not even attempt to make a move as his fist was caught by the good captain.

Stark was pointing his blasters straight at the young god. This seems to have calm him down somewhat.

Just then, Stark opened his mouth, "Shakespear in the park? Doth thou mother know you wear-th her drapes?".

The young god simply replied despite being angry, "You have no idea of what you are dealing with.".

"Were thou making a jest at mine tounge?", she asked slightly curious. While it would be normal back home, she was still a stranger in this land.

"Uh- no, my ... lady.", replied Stark rather nervously for some reason. Whether it be out of fear or not was something he would only know.

"Worry not, my dear Stark, for I am no lady. I am but a humble firekeeper and I shall tend to thee. As long as thee hold true to thine purpose of protecting, I shall be at thy side to the very end.", she replied to assure him of whatever worried he held.

She existed to serve people like them. This seemed to have made him even more nervous.

Although, they might not show it out loud, he could tell that they were uncomfortable around her. A being not even of their world will always be instinctively rejected by everyone.

Similar to how people usually rejected the Ashen one for being 'unnatural'. She held no resentment over this.

Eventually, they arrived at the helicarrier. A group of armed soldiers accompanied the 'small giant' to his cell. She followed them along.

Since Fury did not say anything, the soldiers also said nothing to her. The cage used to imprison Loki was made of glass.

Fury then walks in. "Miss Keeper", he nodded at her to which she returned the gesture with a polite bow.

He then started his demonstration to Loki, "In case it's unclear, you try to escape- you so much as scratch that glass."

Fury pushes a button and the floor beneath the cell drops away to nothing as the wind howled,

"Thirty thousand feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" He pushes another button and closes the floor beneath the glass cage.

He pointed at the 'small giant', "Ant", he then pointed at the glass panel in which buttons were located, "Boot".

Just then Loki started once again, "It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me.".

Fury retorted immediately without missing half a beat, "Built for something a lot stronger than you.".

Loki looked at the camera located at the corner, "Oh, I've heard .... a mindless beast-make play he's still a man", he then stared straight into her metal blindfold,

"... or a lady not of this world pretending that she belongs here.". The firekeeper simply kept her silence at this matter neither moving nor flinching.