King Loki

Chapter 18
Cephera was summoned early morning to the throne room where Loki waited sitting upon his chair. Captain Steve Rogers was with him looking as passive as ever. Cephera wasn't sure if it was the brainwashing or if he always had that look about him.
"You wanted to see me?" She asked wondering what might be happening.
"Indeed," Loki smiled. "The inhuman who last caused the good Captain problems has been located. We test your strength today. You will accompany the Captain to the location and subdue this woman whose powers are giving our enemies an edge."
Steve turned to look at his King. "Sir, it's my professional opinion that she's not ready yet for out in the field." Steve told him. Loki turned to glare at Captain Rogers.
"That's not a request, it's an order." Loki commanded and Steve straightened his back. All trace of anything more to say washed from his face.
Cephera said nothing in her own defense. What could she possibly say? Loki was determined to see her power put to good use, heading into dangerous territory was inevitable.
"Protect her with your life Mr. Rogers. Her worth outweighs your own." Loki added just as Steve was about to escort Cephera out.
"Sir," Steve saluted and Cephera followed him as they left for the airship.
XxX
They traveled to the next city over shrouded by clouds and cloaking. When they landed it was behind some rubble to give them cover. Cephera stayed close to the Captain. She'd never experienced real battle before. She'd only ever done training with her sister and Steve. She was nervous.
Steve was cautious upon his approach to the runes of an old building that looked like it was once a grand hotel. The nuke that hit New York had managed to do some serious damage to surrounding cities as well.
Whose dumb idea was it to blow up New York? To Cephera it sounded like a desperate attempt to take control of the alien situation. A bad call as clearly the nuke is what made it easier for Loki to win the initial battle, though not without his own losses.
"It's quiet," Steve commented looking around suspiciously. Cephera also began to take in her surroundings more. He was right, it was very quiet. "Stay close...," Steve began to say to her and the rest of his team behind him when the shots first fired.
Steve rolled fast and placed himself behind a fallen wall. Two men behind Cephera were shot and fell instantly to the ground, the rest scattered and began to fire back. Cephera ducked near Steve her heart racing.
Steve began to making hand gestures to his troops. She had no idea what they meant but they did. Little by little they eased their way up toward the building by darting behind different piles of rubble.
Steve stood from behind his rock and gave his shield a mighty toss. It went soaring through the air and took out four people standing on treacherous looking balconies before returning to Steve as if it were a boomerang.
"Come on," Steve told her. Cephera followed him quickly. They cleared the open space and hide below a cracked outcropping. Her and Steve kept moving like that, along the buildings edge until they found a crack to squeeze through to enter it.
Heading in they found three guards at the bottom of the stairwell. Captain Rogers rushed them, taking them down before they could get off a single shot. She could see why Loki kept him around.
So far she'd been lucky. She hadn't needed to fight, only follow. Probably for the best.
A long hallway greeted them at the top of the stairs and cephera paused. She felt the hum of power, different from her own but strong. She grabbed Steve's arm to halt him. "I feel something," she told him.
"Loki's Puppet returns," a heavily accented, female voice said before the girl herself stepped from a room up ahead.
Cephera knew without a doubt the power she felt was coming from this girl. This is who she was here for, but her power somehow felt different from any magic Cephera had ever touched before.
"Who are you?" Cephera asked her unable to stop herself.
"Where is my brother?" She ignored Cephera and directed her question to Steve. Her accent was heavy, Cephera was unsure where it was from.
"He's safe," Captain Rogers told her.
"I want him back," she warned a light flashing between her fingertips.
"Then come with us," Cephera offered. "Why do you fight with the rebels?"
"I could ask the same of you toward Loki," she retorted her eyes narrowing and yet another spark flying.
"I aide Loki because the Earth has seen enough bloodshed. What the people need now is peace, quiet. This continued war can only end in misery." Cephera replied. She may not trust Loki, but she really did feel this was the best path.
The woman laughed. "You really believe that?" She asked and after looking at Cephera she shook her head in disbelief. "You really do." She sighed. "Perhaps you are a mindless robot like him." She gestured at the Captain with a simple nod of her head.
"I am not. I just know more about war and politics to weigh my options accordingly." It wasn't a complete lie. Her sister was the one who had been made to study those things but to save her sister from being alone in the process, Cephera joined her.
"You are a fool to trust him." The woman scoffed.
"I don't trust Loki, but I trust that he can be set to the right path. Right now everything is in a state of ruin and havoc. He hasn't had time to show us what he plans to do. No one has given him a chance to prove he means no harm."
"He's an alien and we are his toys," Cephera was aware that the sparks going between this women's palms were growing. The intensity behind them strong.
"Listen to the lady and we can end this peacefully." The Captain agreed with Cephera.
"Peace will only come with the death of the man who calls himself King." The woman threw a red blast of her energy of them. Cephera jumped one way and Steve the other. "Strucker will see an end to all of this."
Cephera came up short against the wall, the hallway making it hard to avoid each blast coming at them. Steve deflected two balls of energy at once and one of them hit the woman backward, causing her injury.
Cephera took her chance. Heart racing, she dashed forward. She grabbed hold of the inhumans arm and though she couldn't, for some reason, copy her power, she was able to connect to her energy and pull it from her.
The woman cried out in surprise and for a moment Cephera was relieved that this would be over shortly, but she was wrong. Gun fire behind them caused Cephera to let go of the girl as a bullet struck her in the upper shoulder.
The girl, only left at half strength, blasted Cephera off her feet to fall to the floor. Cephera's ears rang and her vision blurred at the impact. She heard the ruckus around her and only until she was pulled to her feet did she realize they were outnumbered.
Steve pulled her into a room and forced her to jump off the balcony back into the open air.
"Retreat," Steve ordered his men over their headsets.
"I almost had her," the words sounded foreign leaving her mouth. The thought of helping capture someone still felt alien.
"I know him," Steve told her as they began their retreat while fight back those in hot pursuit.
"Who?" Cephera asked when they stopped behind a demolished brick wall.
"Strucker. He came to the King a while back. When he was leaving I saw him talking to Dr. Whitehall. They seemed friendly to eachother. We thought he was an ally. We need to get back and report to King Loki."
Though the information didn't quite make sense to her, Cephera grabbed Steve before he could move to the next location. "Wait. We need to consider our options here." Cephera thought of Whitehall, the man she'd love to see gone. His experiments turned her stomach.
However, without Whitehall's support Loki wouldn't have his team of Loyals protecting the Spire. They needed more information first. Without meaning to, Cephera's grip on Steve tightened and before realizing just what she was doing she stole the magic holding him accountable to Loki and freed him from his brainwashing.
She watched his eyes dilate before he shook his head in a moment of confusion. Cephera let him go, shocked. She didn't have time to worry, no time to talk. The wall covering them exploded sending them both sprawling to the ground. Cephera felt something pierce right through her body.
Looking down a long building prong protruded through her abdomen. The sight made her feel nauseous right before debris came flying and collided with the side of her head knocking her out completely.
XxX
Loki watched Steve's team enter the Spire toting with them the injured. Among those injured was Cephera. He watched them pass him, his eyes focused on her, a small twang of guilt nagging at him.
He turned to the Captain who walked in behind them all. Loki was trying to stay calm. Yet another mission failed. Loki's attempt to stay calm faded as anger began to seep through. He was angry that Steve Rogers had allowed Cephera to come to harm. "You idiot. You were suppose to keep an eye...," Loki's scolding was cut short as Steve Roger's fist met his jaw. Loki stumbled backwards in shock before regaining his senses.
Straightening up he clutched his staff, his anger turning into rage but his emotions were forgotten when he realized that Steve was no longer mind controlled.
"She's released you from my control and yet you returned?" Loki raised an eyebrow at the Captain, his anger dissipating.
"Not gonna lie, I wasn't going to." Steve replied his hands flexing in and out of fists like he yearned to take another shot at Loki.
"What changed your mind?" Loki asked.
"She did," Steve looked toward where Cephera had been taken before turning his eyes back to his King. "I'm no fool. I've been in a war before. I've seen the changes it makes on the lands, the people, and their culture. Changes like that can't be taken back. She talks about Earth needing peace, I think she's right."
"And so you serve me because you believe in your King?" Loki doubted it was so cut and dry.
"No. I don't like you any more than the next war criminal, but right now your the only certain thing around here, but mark my words, if I see something or someone who can do better, I'll switch sides in a heartbeat." Steve stood proud, staring Loki down like the brave man he was.
"And why shouldn't I just cast my spell on you again?" Loki stepped forward, seriously thinking it might be better, but somehow knowing that Cephera would just defy him again and release his magic.
"Right now you have my support. If the rebels see, and know for sure I'm not your puppet, then they might just start coming to this side. It's called giving people hope. This resistance fights back because they see you as an evil that needs to be purged. They need to see that you don't intend to harm anyone outside this war."
Loki contemplated the Captain's words. Loki was surprised when Steve turned and began to walk away. "Where do you think you're going?" Loki demanded, irritated.
"To the training room," Steve replied not stopping, or evening glancing back.
XxX
She looked peaceful sleeping. There was much more to her than Loki knew. The bullet in her shoulder had been removed, as was the rod. The wounds healing at a slow, but alarming rate. It reminded him that she was not just some human.
He stuck around in the evening waiting for Cephera to wake. He had guards keeping an eye on the Captain for the good that would do. Steve Rogers was no mere man to be toyed with.
Upon hearing her stir, Loki moved closer to Cephera's bedside and waited for her to open her eyes. When she did he saw confusion mixed across her face. "I'm alive," she said licking her lips before taking in a deep breath of relief.
"I was worried when I saw you carried in. Your wounds could have killed a normal human," Loki told her. "Though they seemed to have healed rather quickly. I didn't know you could heal like that." He commented.
She sat up, keeping the blankets tight to her, staring down at her hands. "Don't pretend to be concerned for me," she said after a moment of silence. "All you care about is the potential my power brings to the table."
Loki scowled, though he had no reply. Could he really blame her for thinking that when he recruited her for that very reason. It wouldn't matter to her if he admitted to enjoying her company lately, she would forever think him shallow, and deviously acting a part.
"I never came here thinking I might die. I had hopes, dreams." She continued, her hands shaking. "You took those things from me." Loki resisted the urge to grab her and shake her.
"Might I remind you that it was you who came to my Spire unannounced and uninvited. Sneaking in through windows to find and rescue your friends. Even had I not been there as Lana to feed you crumbs you still would have not given up. One way or another you would have either ended up here or in my prisons." Loki turned on his heels and left the room, seething at her accusations.
Damn her. Damn this world and it's useless race. His heart contracted with disappointment. He felt angry that she didn't trust him. When had he become so concerned with that? His plans to woe her seemed to be taking on a much different path then he'd imagined.
He was torn.
On one hand he had recruited her for the use of her power, but at the same time he wanted her for other, more intimate reasons. Maybe sending her out was a mistake after all. Perhaps, he should have heeded the Captain's warning. After this incident Loki was unsure how he could ever get her to trust him now.

Notes