❝ and there's no remedy for memory, your face is like a melody. it won't leave my head ❞
༺ ❖ ༻
chapter eight,
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐃𝐈𝐕𝐄
——— IT WASN'T LONG until Loki and Lidianna were chained up again, back on the Quinjet. Both Steve and Tony pulled their daughters away from the ramp, away from the dangerous Gods, which the girls were both annoyed over.
It was soon that the jet arrived on a very large flying transportation called the Helicarrier. There, dozens of SHIELD police escorted Loki and Lidianna throughout it, who were in handcuffs. But Loki was grinning.
As they passed a lab, a man named Doctor Banner stopped working on the Loki's scepter and looked up right as Loki and Lidianna passed by. Loki eyed him as he walked, nodding and smiling before Doctor Banner began to rub his head.
Led into a detention section, Loki and Lidianna were now free from their cuffs and were contained in a large glass cell held by hydraulic rigs. As the two glanced around, Director Fury stepped inside, and approached a nearby control panel.
"In case it's unclear..." and the two glanced back at him, curious looks over them, "You try to escape. You so much as scratch that glass," he then pressed a button which opened up a hatch underneath Loki and Lidianna's cell. Together, they peered over as much as they could from the glass.
Without seeing, the sounds of gusting wind gave them a pretty good idea of how terrifying below them was. "Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?!" Fury snapped before the hatch closed.
Loki and Lidianna glanced back at him just to find him pointing a finger at them. "Ant." And then he pointed at the button which would drop the two into the steel trap. "Boot."
"It's an impressive cage, truly," Lidianna complimented, "I have one almost just like it back home, for my three-headed dog, Cerberus. Grandfather— Sorry...Odin Allfather got it for me from Hades. Quite proud actually."
"Your point?" Fury asked.
"My point, Director Fury, is that, this is not built for us," Lidianna sternly said.
"Built for something a lot stronger than you," Fury said.
"Oh, we've heard," Loki said before he creepily glanced into the security camera, knowing Doctor Banner was most likely watching. He turned his attention back to the Director before continuing on, "The mindless beast, makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?"
"How desperate am I?" Fury questioned, "You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill 'cause it's fine. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."
"Ooh," Loki murmured as Lidianna smirked, "It burns you to come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is."
"Well, you let me know if Real Power wants a magazine or something," Fury said, shooting a small smile before he walked off, leaving Loki and Lidianna in their glass cell.
Lidianna deeply sighed, beginning to pace around the cell while Loki glanced back at the security camera, smirking.
———
Some time later, Lidianna was sitting on a bench, her eyes shut close while Loki sat next to her, his focus intently on her. She had her hands to her thighs, her fingers fiddling as her head moved a bit.
"Have you gotten it? Have you gotten her name?" he asked.
"I'm...close..." Lidianna quietly murmured, trying to focus out on the energy of everyone onboard.
She started with Triston, then hopped off to Thor, then to Natasha. So many secrets with this one...
But she moved on and hopped onto Steve. Oh, yes...perfect...
"Ow!"
"Nothing?"
"Hey! Are you nuts?!"
"You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?"
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offense, doctor."
"No, it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things."
"You're tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut."
"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark."
"You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."
"You think Fury's hiding something?"
"He's a spy. Captain, he's the spy. His secrets have secrets. It's bugging him too, isn't it?"
"Uh...I just wanna finish my work here and—"
"Doctor?"
"A warm light for all mankind, Loki's jab at Fury about the cube."
"I heard it."
"Well, I think that was meant for you. Even if Barton didn't post that all over the news."
"The Stark Tower? That big ugly— ...building in New York?"
"It's powered by Stark Reactors, self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?"
"That's just a prototype."
Got you.
Lidianna hopped to the little girl who just walked in, seeing images of her, recognizing her from the Quinjet.
"I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now."
"So, why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?"
"I should probably look into that once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files."
"I'm sorry, did you say-"
"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours we'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide."
"Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around? And you knew? You're just a child."
"I may be a child. But I'm his child. And we have a pact, to not keep secrets. Seems like maybe you should take the advice."
"Besides, an intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not possible."
"I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, his naive daughter blindly following, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them."
"Following is not really my style."
"And you're all about style, aren't you?"
"Of the people in this room, which one is; A. wearing a spangly outfit, and B. not of use?"
"Your daughter."
"Ooh. Now you crossed the line."
"Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?"
"Just find the cube."
"Just so you know, Captain sir. I may be a child, and have no use, according to you, and I may not know what's exactly going on all the time, but I am smart enough to know that Loki and Lidianna are a threat. To this world. And I may be a secret, but I still have friends. One in this very city to be specific. So please, instead of judging my father and me because it's not what you're used to, wake up and realize you've been asleep for over half a decade. Things are different now, and we need to work together, so people like my friend, stay safe."
"I told you to not underestimate her."
"Control your daughter."
"Just let it go, Emma."
Lidianna's eyes shot open, with a knowing look in her eyes as Loki perked up. She slowly looked over at him with a small smile. "Emma," she said, "Her name is Emma."
"Emma," Loki repeated and Lidianna nodded, "Huh. Well...Emma might be the answer to all of this."
Lidianna blinked, tilting her head at him confused. She didn't know what he meant, but surely, she'd soon figure it out.
Meanwhile, on a SHIELD monitor was a photo and record of Jane Foster, with Triston and Thor looking down at her, remembering all their memories. And with them was Agent Phil Coulson. "As soon as Loki and Lidianna took the doctor, we moved Jane Foster. We've got an excellent observatory in Traunsee. She was asked to consult there very suddenly yesterday. Handsome fee, private plane, very remote. She'll be safe," Agent Coulson explained to the two and they nodded, graciously.
"Thank you," Thor said, "It's no accident Loki taking Erik Selvig. I dread what he plans for him once he's done. Erik is a good man."
"Indeed he is," Triston agreed.
"He talks about you two a lot," Agent Coulson said and Triston rose his brows surprised, "You changed his life. You changed everything around here."
"I'm sure they were better as they were before," Triston said.
"We pretend on Asgard that we're more advanced, but we...we come here batting like Bilchsteim," Thor told Agent Coulson.
"Like what?" he asked.
"Bilchsteim? You know, huge, scaly, big antlers. You don't have those?" Thor asked.
"Don't think so," Agent Coulson said.
"They are repulsive, and they trample everything in their path," Thor shortly explained.
"They are miraculous creatures," Triston countered before he watched his father walk over across the room, gazing out the window, lamenting about what had happened. And what may come.
"When we first came to Earth, Loki's rage followed me here and your people paid the price. And now again. Not too long ago, my niece's mother passed away but she was a very dear friend to me. To distract my grief, I courted war. I damaged my relationships. Like with my son and his mother," Thor explained before glancing back at Triston, who lightly smiled at him, with a hint of sadness in his eyes, "I was able to fix that. But I don't know how I'm supposed to fix what we have with Loki and Lidianna if he will start war — If only Kaarina was here...he wouldn't dare...he just wouldn't—"
"War hasn't started yet," and the three turned back to find Nick Fury walked in, "You think you can make Loki tell us where the Tesseract is?"
"I do not know," Thor honestly answered, "Loki's mind is far afield, it's not just power he craves, it's vengeance upon me. There's no pain that would prize his need from him."
"A lot of guys think that, until the pain stops," Fury told him and Triston eyed him.
"What are you asking us to do?" he asked.
"I'm asking," Fury said, "What are you prepared to do?"
"Loki and Lidianna are prisoners," Thor said, confused by his question.
"Then why do I feel like they're the only ones on this boat that wants to be here?" Fury asked and Triston blinked, staring at him wide eyed before he quickly averted his attention to a nearby monitor, watching Lidianna pace around her cell with Loki watching her.
In the detention section, Loki sat down in the cell, watching as Lidianna paced back and forth. But soon enough, Loki closed his eyes again, reaching back into his mind, relaxing himself.
He was in his bed chambers, sitting at his desk. But when he heard the clicks of heels enter the room, he glanced over to find his beautiful wife had entered, fiddling with her lapis necklace around her neck. He immediately shot up from his desk, staring at her intently while her face lit up in a smile. "Hello, my love," she said, walking up to him as he stammered a smile. He hesitantly placed his shaking hands on her hips, pulling her closer to him, gazing down at her in admiration while she just grinned at him. "Lidianna is asleep. As well as Triston..."
This sounds familiar...
But he just continued to stare at her like she was his entire world. Because she is. She...was.
He cupped her face again, staring at her in familiar, angsty pain while her brows furrowed. She tensed up, as if seeing him for the first time, yet she didn't move. She gripped hold of his hands, stammering a smile as his normal blue eyes stung in tears. He leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss on her lips, a kiss that shouldn't have felt real. But it did. It felt more real than anything else. He wanted it to be real so desperately.
He held her tighter as the kiss hardened desperately. He wanted her to feel how much he needed her. "I love you," he whispered on her lips when they parted. She averted her eyes from his lips to his gorgeous blue eyes. "I still love you. I'm in love with a memory...but I can't seem to let you go. I don't want to let you go...you're the only light in this darkness..."
Surprising him, Kaarina placed her hands to his face, caressing his horrid, pale skin. "Don't let me go," she whispered and he rose his brows in surprise, "I need you to—"
"Who is this woman?"
Loki flinched, glancing around them at that voice. The voice of The Other. But to his utter confusion, Kaarina flinched as well, hearing the same thing.
His eyes glanced around the room, desperately searching for the alien as his arms slowly held Kaarina closer to him, in some sort of protective way.
"Just a memory of the past?"
Loki's eyes shot open, and he would've flinched but he composed himself as his eyes were back to its glimmering state. He stood from his spot as the still pacing Lidianna glanced back at him, brows suddenly furrowed. The action was abrupt and odd but she didn't say anything.
He began to pace back and forth as Lidianna watched him, utterly baffled by his sudden calm behavior. But suddenly he stopped pacing and grinned.
"There are not many people that can sneak up on me," he said before he glanced back to find Natasha Romanoff standing there, staring at the two dark haired Asgardians.
Lidianna glanced back at her, her brows rising in surprise and interest as Natasha said, "But you figured I'd come."
"After," Loki said, "After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm. And we would cooperate."
"I wanna know what you've done to Agent Barton," Natasha said.
Lidianna tilted her head with a slight smile, "I'd say...I've expanded his mind," she said.
"And once you've won. Once you're King and Princess of the mountain. What happens to his mind?" Natasha asked.
"Is this love, Agent Romanoff?" Loki asked.
"Love is for children. I owe him a debt," Natasha said, and Lidianna eyed her as Loki sat down again.
"Tell me," Lidianna said and Natasha hesitantly stared at her before pulling up a chair.
"Before I worked for SHIELD, I uh...well, I made a name for myself. I have a very specific skillset. I didn't care who I used it for, or on. I got on SHIELD's radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me. He made a different call," Natasha explained.
"And what will you do if I vow to spare him?" Loki asked.
"Not let you out," Natasha told him but Loki laughed.
"Ah, no. But I like this," Loki said, "Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man?"
"Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian...or was," Natasha said.
"What is it you want?" Lidianna asked.
"It's really not that complicated," Natasha said, "I've got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out."
"Can you?" Loki asked and Natasha eyed him, "Can you wipe out that much red? Drakov's daughter? São Paulo? The hospital fire?"
As Natasha stared at him in utter disbelief that he knew all that information about her, Lidianna slowly glanced back at him, pondering where he was going with this. "Barton told us everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything?" Loki asked as he slowly got up from his spot. He began his way towards the glass as Lidianna eyed him. He glared the agent down, angry.
"This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer...Pathetic! You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horror. But they are a part of you, and they will never go away!" he yelled before he slammed his fist against the glass cell, causing Natasha to flinch, "I won't touch Barton. Not until I make him kill you! Slowly. Intimately. In every way he knows you fear! And when he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!"
Natasha turned around, walking away from him disgusted as Lidianna gazed at her father stunned. Her brows knitted together with her moth opened shocked. She didn't know what to say. Or if she should say anything.
"You're a monster," Natasha said, quietly and distraught. But Loki laughed, his breath fogging up on the cell.
"No, you brought the monster," Loki said. And right then, Natasha turned back around, completely poised and calm.
"So, Banner...that's your play," she said and Loki was staggered while Lidianna was more stunned.
"What?" He asked.
Natasha pressed her earpiece as she began to walk away. "Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab. I'm on my way. Send Thor and Triston as well," she said before she stopped, turning back to Loki and Lidianna once more, "Thank you for your cooperation."
Natasha quickly walked out, leaving Loki and Lidianna frozen. The daughter then shook her head, walking towards the bench to sit down.
———
The two waited patiently. They knew it was coming soon. The attack. All the could do was wait.
Lidianna was trying to listen throughout the ship to find out what was happening while Loki was back in his seat, his eyes closed. She was his safe place, and he needed to escape.
His eyes opened and he quickly glanced around to find himself back in his bed chambers. But Kaarina wasn't to be found anywhere. Just as before...
His heart immediately dropped as his eyes darted for the door. "Rina," he murmured before he darted for the door. He did the complete opposite as he did that night when everything went wrong. Instead of running off to find help, he immediately ran out of the palace. Into the woods. Where Kaarina was originally found dead.
He darted through the darkened woods, pushing branches out of his way, not letting anything stop him. But he pushed himself even harder when he heard Kaarina's shrieks of fear.
Further down in the woods, Kaarina stumbled back into a tree, a slice of blood covering one of her cheeks. A Chitauri soldier was approaching her and fast, holding a weapon with a bayonet at the end. Another scream left her lips, right when she thought he would stab her when— he dropped dead.
Revealed behind him, was Loki, breathing heavily with a dagger twirling in his hands. He gazed down at the soldier intently, shaking his head. "You're not hurting her," he muttered before placing his eyes on the shaking Kaarina, who slowly averted her eyes to him.
She leaped over the dead soldier before running into Loki's arms, who quickly held her close to him. "Kaarina, you're okay. You're okay...I won't let anything—"
"So her name is Kaarina?"
Loki and Kaarina flinched again, glancing around to hearing that voice again. Except it wasn't The Other this time. It was a deeper, darker voice. Loki knew who it was, from his brief time with him in the throne room. He was sitting on the throne, the one demanding the Tesseract, the one who sent Loki and Lidianna to Midgard.
"Everyone has a weakness, and this Kaarina...is yours. You shouldn't have shown me this, Laufeyson."
"No!" Loki shouted as he pulled Kaarina closer to his chest, holding her more tightly, "You stay away from her! She is not yours to take!"
Loki's eyes shot open, gasping, finding himself back inside his cell as his eyes were normal for a moment. But when Lidianna looked back at him confused, they flickered back to its glimmering state. "They're here," Lidianna told him and Loki blinked, looking around at the absolute stillness of their surroundings.
He slowly sat up right before—
BOOM!
An explosion.
Lidianna stumbled back from the impact, about to slam into the glass window but Loki quickly reached for her, pulling her into his chest. They stood there for a moment, knowing absolute chaos had erupted on the Helicarrier.
Soon enough, Agent Barton had come to free Loki and Lidianna. One of the turned SHIELD Agents came in his place, setting the cage doors opened.
As soon as they stepped out of the glass cage, Thor, Triston, and Emma came running into the detention. They had heard the two were being released and Emma came along with them because she was under their protection.
"NO!" Thor yelled before he and Triston stormed at Loki and Lidianna, but to their short confusion, the two dark haired Gods dissipated into nothingness, causing the two yellow haired Gods to stumble into the cage.
Loki and Lidianna reappeared behind a confused Emma before Triston quickly spun back around, wanting to punch the glass cell when he saw the two behind the girl.
"Are you ever not going to fall for that?" Loki asked.
Emma swung around to find herself facing the two evils in horror and fear. Not a second more, Loki aggressively grabbed her arm, causing her to scream as Lidianna eyed her father.
In a fit of anger, Thor slammed Mjolnir onto the glass cell as Loki pushed Emma to Lidianna, who quickly grabbed her, trying to calm the child down. But Emma continued to cry, shaking terribly.
To Thor and Triston's surprise, the cell door only cracked while the ship shook violently. Lidianna pulled Emma behind her, covering her from harm as she and her father faced Thor and Triston, anger filling up their identical sky blue eyes. "A child! She is just a child!" Thor shouted as Loki walked over to the control panel.
"The humans think us immortal. Should we test that?" Loki asked.
Lidianna was completely still. She almost didn't look at Triston when he shouted pleas for her, "Lidianna, please!" But she did. She slowly gazed onto him, blinking repeatedly. And upon looking at him, just really looking at him, she broke. Her glimmering eyes flickered back into her normal, night sky eyes. The spell she was under...broke...and she wasn't being brainwashed anymore. The Other and whoever he worked for — didn't have a hold on her anymore.
She hesitantly glanced down at Emma before back to Triston, blinking repeatedly. It all felt like...a horrible dream that she knew was real. But had no control over.
Suddenly, Lidianna's attention was averted over towards the entrance of the detention center when the guarding soldiers dropped like trees. Everyone looked as well to find Agent Phil Coulson standing there, holding a Phase 2 prototype weapon. "Mr. Phil!" Emma happily exclaimed.
"It's okay, Ms. Emma. I'm here to rescue you," he said, keeping his eyes on Loki, "Move away, please," and Loki reluctantly moved away from the switch, "You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent The Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does. Do you wanna find out?"
Lidianna gasped, staring in utter horror when a loud gasp escaped the Agent's mouth, from being impaled through the heard. Her father appeared behind him, holding the scepter through him.
"NO!" Emma screamed.
Lidianna just watched, completely fumbled in shock that her father would kill a man in front of a child. She breathed heavily as Agent Coulson was pushed against a hall wall, where he slumped to the ground, gasping for air.
Lidianna then dropped to the ground, turning Emma to face her, who only looked more horrified of her. But the Goddess gently placed her finger to Emma's forehead, and blue magic glittered over the girl's head, causing her to slowly calm down. Lidianna didn't brainwash Emma, just simply erased the memory of witnessing her friend get impaled. No child should have to suffer that kind of trauma.
Once Emma's breathing evened out, Lidianna stood up, pulling Emma into her, covering her eyes away from the scene. Loki made his way towards the control switch and gave his brother and nephew one last look as Triston slowly placed his eyes on Lidianna. His eyes pleaded, hoping she'd stop this madness, while she just stared at him with her brows furrowed.
Loki opened the hatch and hit the button, and Lidianna held in a sob as she watched Thor and Triston drop out of the ship. Loki looked down at the giant hole in the ground with no remorse, while Lidianna stayed still, holding onto a grieving Emma. Loki closed the hatch and proceeded to leave while Lidianna heavily eyed him when—
"You're going to lose."
Loki and Lidianna glanced back at the weak and dying Agent Coulson, who stared the man with blood pouring from his mouth. "Am I?" Loki asked as Lidianna eyed Agent Coulson.
"It's in your nature," Agent Coulson said.
"Your heroes are scattered, your floating fortress falls from the sky — Where is my disadvantage?" Loki asked.
"You lack conviction," Agent Coulson told him.
"I don't think I—" But Loki was blown through the wall behind him when Phil shot him with his Phase-2 weapon.
Lidianna stared wide eyed in shock as Agent Coulson slightly smiled to himself. "So, that's what it does," he muttered before glancing his eyes onto Emma, "Ms. Emma—"
"Lidianna!"
The Goddess turned back to find Loki had pulled himself up off the ground, keeping his balance by leaning against the wall behind him. "It's time to go," he said before his eyes landed on Emma, Lidianna breathing heavily when he did, "And bring the girl." His daughter stared at him shocked, but reluctantly did what was told. And though she tried to fight it, Emma was dragged away with Loki and Lidianna.