King Loki

Chapter 23
"Lesser, Greater, Major, Minor." Loki smiled at Cephera as she answered his questions on the different groups of ruins.
"And the sub categories?" He asked. He'd been sitting on the lounge chair with her for the last hour. It had been nearly two weeks worth of time spent with her in his tower and it was clear she was warming up to him.
This was certainly a better choice at gaining her trust than what he'd been aiming at before.
"Blood, light, dark...," she paused with an adorable look crossing her face as she tried to remember all 7 categories. Ruins were not a simple subject. Even Loki was still trying to conquering them all.
"Take your time. There is still an hour before I must retire for the night." He told her, tempted to touch her but stopped himself. She chewed her thumb, flicking at the nail as she thought.
"Oh!" She gave her own forehead a little slap. "Aqua, Blaze, Air, Earth. How could I have forgotten those," she said making Loki chuckle.
"It's easier than you think, to forgot things." He told her. Her eyes turned up and connected with his own, but they were not full of a heartfelt feeling, but rather recollection.
Perhaps she was remembering who he was. What he was.
She looked away quickly and stood. "It's getting late. I think I'll go to bed," she said placing the book down and heading for the door.
"Until tomorrow," Loki called after her.
"Yes," she stopped briefly to nod toward him before leaving him completely.
XxX
Her heart pounded the whole way down the stairs. She felt disjointed. Whenever she'd wandered through the Spire it was easy to remember that this man held her friends captive. That he was a Warlord, a King by force.
But inside his tower those thoughts melted away. She was left mesmerized by all the information around her. The beauty and smell of those ancient books. It was like an illusion.
That's not to say she didn't like it there. On the contrary she loved his tower. Inside there made being near him easier.., and dangerous.
Far too often in the last couple of weeks her heart was made to pound. There was more than once it seemed as though he might touch her and she'd secretly wished he would.
On nights like this one, when he'd sit with her, she was hyper aware of his proximity, but not once did he make her feel trapped. There'd been a few times he'd leaned toward her and her heart jolted thinking he meant to kiss her, but instead he'd been reaching for his drink or another book on the nearby table. Her cheeks would flare up hot when she'd realize her mistaken thoughts.
He seemed a different man when he was relaxed in that room among his beloved books and Cephera found herself that much more attracted to him when he was calm and laid back that way.
Those kinds of feelings were dangerous. She was meant to free her friends, find a life, and help bring the world some sort of peace, not fall in love with the man who had caused this chaos to begin with. She felt ashamed that her thoughts were mostly of herself lately and how it might feel to be touched by the God of mischief.
An yet she couldn't shake it. She could chose not to go to the tower, but she was like an addict and she just couldn't bring herself to avoid the place. Knowing he'd join her once his daily duties were finished only added to her excitement, and that was something she desperately tried to keep to herself.
XxX
The Spire was a nicer place than she'd expected. Wanda Maximoff stole through the night, enchanted the minds of the guards and let herself in through the back hallways.
Most of the hallways were quiet. The guards scattered about. Strucker had refused to send anyone in to locate her brother, so she'd decided to do it herself.
She lost her parents, she would not lose her brother too. Guard after guard she manipulated into seeing past her, a vision that would only last a short while, but enough to get her further inside.
She figured her brother would be in a cell, so she made her way downstairs.
The King was no doubt asleep, which was fine. He would be dealt with later.
Wanda ventured far into the basement where she thought it would be dank and cold, but it wasn't. The hallways here was dimly lit, but the floors were lined with carpet, the walls painted in what looked to be ivory that glowed yellow against the lights.
Many room doors lay open. Equipment of all kinds inside each one along with a bed. The perfect set up for keeping a hard to handle prisoner sedated. She had no doubt this is what they did here.
She was surprised at how many rooms were empty. Didn't Loki have a prison full? Or did he kill them all?
Her stomach knotted at the thought that she might be too late to save her brother. What if he was dead?
She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat and pushed forward. Finally she noticed the outline of another guard. Two guards stood outside a single sealed door.
Wanda stretched her powers toward them, convincing them they needed to sleep and sleep they did. They slide down the walls and passed out, lightly snoring.
After stealing the keys off one of them, she opened the door of the room. The lights were dimmed in here as well, so she flipped the switch for the main light above.
The man inside wasn't who she expected. It was not her brother, but she smiled as this was an opportunity she just couldn't pass up.
XxX
Loki lay awake for some time thinking about everything that had come to pass. It wasn't often he let himself think of how he'd gotten here, but tonight he felt nostalgic.
Remembering his previous home brought about mixed feelings of joy, anger, and sadness. He couldn't say his entire life was bad. He'd much enjoyed his time growing up. It was when they'd reached adolescence that things had become increasingly difficult for him.
Thor had made himself a group of friends that he tried to include Loki in, but Loki just didn't get along with them in the same manner. The group shared nothing in common with him.
More and more Loki saw less of his would-be brother as Thor would go out with his warriors three, and later on, the Lady Sif.
Their close bond never truly severed, but those days certainly took a toll on Loki who felt lonely often though the only one who seemed to notice was his mother.
Odin often asked Thor what he'd done that day and Thor would rattle off exciting news and tales while Loki sat quietly listening with no stories of his own.
He can't say that Thor didn't make an effort to involve his little brother. He often asked Loki to go with them, but Loki would decline.
Still, Loki felt resentful.
Not because he was left behind, but because those things were all Thor would do anymore. There was no time between just himself and Thor, it was always with those damn fool friends following along.
For years Loki just wanted his brother back so they could resume doing things together, but of course the time for those things were over.
Finally, Loki had begun to join them, only because he'd become so lonely. At first it had been fun until he would listen to the tales retold and his part to play had been greatly downsized, made fun of even. His magic turned into nothing more than parlour tricks when in reality those tricks had saved them on a few occasions.
Loki went from being lonely to feeling bitter. It was not only the Warriors telling these tales but Thor chiming in, making himself sound the masterful hero at every turn.
Loki would put on his serious face and brush off the hurt he was feeling. He would attempt to tease Thor back, but Thor always had a way of making Loki feel irrelevant with his over the top jesting.
Yet Thor would continue to invite him, claim to enjoy his company and Loki would agree. It came down to Loki wanting to prove himself useful and that his tricks were so much more than that.
Looking back Loki now realized that Thor was simply an ego filled brat back then. He enjoyed the attention he got by embellishing the stories to suit his needs and he probably hadn't realized just how much it hurt Loki in the process. Thor had been consumed with himself without regard for others.
Thor was no longer that boy, but Loki was no longer who he had been either. There were many things in his past Loki wished he could change, but as that was not an option he could only look to the future.
XxX
He'd dozed off. In the midst of remembering his past life, Loki had fallen asleep. A significantly loud bang had him awake and on his feet in seconds.
He used his conjuring to clothe himself and adorn his armor. Grabbing his sceptre he left his bedroom. He heard the sounds again coming from the lower levels.
"What's that?" Cephera had woken to. Loki and her met at the junction of their hallways. She was dressed in her nightgown, a sight Loki would have liked to enjoy, but hadn't the time.
"Go back to your room," Loki ordered her.
He stalked onward. He could hear his guards yelling out, some screaming in pain. He rushed down the stairs, unwilling to teleport until he knew just what it was he was up against.
He stopped to listen. The floor shook lightly and another bang rattled the walls. The sound of footsteps behind him made him look over his shoulder and he glared at Cephera who'd followed him.
"I told you...,"
"I heard you." She told him. "I made my choice." She added.
"You've said before you are not a fighter, you should...," Loki didn't finish his words. Up through the floor came the sound of all the noise. Bruce Banner in his green glory roared upon spotting his captor.
Loki pushed Cephera backwards as the Hulk swung at them. She fell onto the stairs as Loki was flung across the room to collide with the wall and falling to hit the lower staircase.
He'd forgotten how it felt to be hit by this creature. His body ached for a moment, but he gained momentum quickly.
He fired his scepter at the Hulk. His power was still at full strength, but the shot missed and instead put a hole through the wall. This was a bad place to be fighting this beast. He could easily destroy the Spire and Loki would be left with nothing.
"Captain," Loki shouted, angry that his best man was no where to be seen. Had he done this?
"Sir," Steve jumped the banister, throwing his shield at Banner. "He's going to tear this place apart," Steve said.
"He needs to be restrained, sedated." Loki told him.
"Is that how you've been keeping him all this time?" Steve sounded unhappy about it.
"What would you have preferred I do?" Loki growled avoiding another attack. Steve didn't seem to have an answer, instead he began to fight, for all the good it would do.
Loki had been lucky. He'd found Bruce Banner unconscious and had kept him that way. How he got free was a question he'd look into once this was settled. If they could settle it.
Debris from the crumbling walls began to fall, taking out some of the staircase. Loki could see Cephera still on the upper level, the Hulk paying her no mind.
More of his men joined the fight, merely toys for the Hulk to play with. Distractions really. Loki was unsure how he'd stop this monstrosity. Perhaps keeping him around had been a bad idea after all.
He tried to channel a sleeping spell and it seemed to affect the green behemoth, but not enough to actually knock him out.
The Captain was swiped out of the way, the Hulk's target was clearly Loki. Loki attempted to block the Hulk's attack but was unprepared for the cement rock Banner had in his hand.
Loki was crushed against the wall between the rock. The wall shattered behind the force. Loki felt bones crack and uttered a few choice curse words. He pulled together his strength and managed to teleport himself free of the rock.
He stumbled as he landed on the same level as Cephera, who was no longer there. Loki pulled himself to his feet and looked down.
Cephera had jumped onto the Hulk's back, both her arms wrapped around his thick neck. She hung on as he thrashed and attempted to pull her off. Her eyes were pinched closed and blood began to seep from her nose and ears. Loki called out to her, ordered her to let go but she hung on. She hung on until Banner dropped to his knees, his energy slowly drifting through her touch.
When Bruce fell onto his face Loki teleported back down and pulled Cephera off as Banner began to take his human form once more. Loki's body ached with every movement he made.
"I helped," Cephera breathed, catching her breath and wiping the blood from her nose with her arm.
"Yes, you did." Loki nodded.
"What will we do with him?" Steve asked standing over them.
"Sedate him. Find a safe place to keep him until I can make further plans." Loki watched Steve Rogers with caution. It looked as though he had something to say, but he didn't put voice to it. He did as Loki commanded and at this moment that was all Loki cared about.
"Come on," Cephera said, attempting to pull Loki to his feet. "Let's get you healed up,"
Loki didn't argue, he got to his feet and allowed her to escort him to his medics. He'd heal in time anyhow, but he enjoyed her concern. Her own energy seemed to have returned quickly and for that he was relieved. Things could have gone so much worse.

Notes