Puppeteer

Not so little now

"Let me just fix that..." Replied the small girl, her voice floating peacefully into Loki's ears. 

She was somewhat cute, he supposed, with large green eyes, much like those of a cat, and silky, golden hair that curled gently down to her petite waist. She looked about ten, maybe a bit younger, and certainly not like someone who should be kept in a secure death-trap with a mass-murderer. Yet Loki could sense some great power about the small child, something that made her less like a child and more like a... Well, he wasn't sure. But by the slight glow that was engulfing her body, it became clear he would soon find out.

It was a deep blue glow, almost black, at it carefully crawled over her skin, turning the slightly tanned flesh into almost translucent, extremely pale skin.  The glow engulfed her hair too, cutting away at the length and dying the gold, turning it onyx, as dark as the night sky, the small, star headband now perched on her head, fitting in perfectly with her shoulder blade length hair. Her green eyes changed too, one turning a bright shade of gold, the other turning striking, almost blood-like red. She grew too, her short stature rising upwards, her legs growing long, her hips widening and her breasts curving far more. She was still petite, especially compared to Loki, but was no longer child-sized, more the size of a grown-up. Her outfit had changed too, turning from a pair of green pajamas covered by a deep blue dressing gown, into a sleeveless, knee-length black dress, with a gold belt around the waist, perfectly showing off the curve of her hips. The only part of her outfit that didn't change was the metal cuffs on her wrists, both clearly there to halt whatever true power she had within her. 

Loki felt his jaw drop slightly as he took in the now-grown woman, the blue glow now vanished from her body, leaving her stood elegantly before him, her golden pump tapping impatiently on the floor as her terrifying eyes surveyed him. 

"Now I know you're confused." She purred, her child-like voice completely replaced by a naturally seductive, elegant tone, "But I'd rather not answer a ton of questions right now. So you may ask three. Only three. Understood?"

Slowly, Loki nodded his head, his eyes thoroughly scanning her body, his mind reaching out to her own, only to find it completely blocked off, before cautiously starting to circle the woman, earning an amused smirk and a small, breathy chuckle to escape her lips. 

"I suppose my first question is how did you do that?" Asked Loki, still circling the woman, his grin growing each time he strolled past her front side and took in the mischievous smirk playing on her gold-painted lips. 

"My powers." She merely replied, her smirk growing at his annoyance. 

"And what are your powers?" Asked Loki, growling as she started to chuckle. 

"Wasting two questions on that I see." She replied, rocking back on her heels, her hands clasped elegantly before her, "I have multiple powers, though they all revolve around the same thing. I can control and manipulate people, force them to do things, force their souls to feel things, make them do as I please, and...I can take their forms, steal them. At a price, of course, I must end their life first, but that's hardly the worst thing ever. And once their form is mine I can store it away, until I have a need for it. Like I'm manipulating their body, rather than their soul."

At this last part, she smirked, almost as if she were waiting for his final question. He was going to ask if the body she was in now was her true form, or if the little girl she had been before was the real her, but that was a waste of a question. Something that, over time Loki could work out on his own, and clearly, from the way she was surveying her body, it was what she expected him to ask. He didn't want to give her the satisfaction of being able to read him, even though he knew she could. 

He could feel her prodding around inside him, poking at his head, his heart, his soul, feeling for weak spots, trying to weasel her way inside him, trying to take him as another of her victims. Loki wouldn't let her do that. 

Quickly, he rebuilt his walls within him, blocking her out completely, causing a near-silent huff of annoyance to leave her, before stalking around and stopping before her. Smirking, watching in delight as her eyes burned and her grin vanished, Loki leaned in closer, his face inches from her, before he purred, "What do people call you?"

She looked surprisingly taken aback by this question, almost as if she hadn't expected him to ask now, or ever, but she quickly regained herself, before strolling away from him and settling herself on the metal bench, crossing one leg elegantly over the other. 

"People call me many things." She purred, keeping his gaze, something most people didn't dare to do, "Fury calls me her, or it. Romanoff calls me Gepetto and Barton, that idiot, calls me Pinocchio, which doesn't even make sense. I suppose it really depends on who you ask."

"Well, I'm asking you." Said Loki, turning to face her, but not moving from his position in the middle of the cell. 

Before him the woman scowled, her gaze now focused on her slightly wiggling feet, one foot free from its shoe, the toes wriggling freely in the air, before she raised her stare slightly and curled her finger beckoning him forward. Loki did as she said, cautiously strolling forward, and placing his head before hers, allowing her to slip her lips beside his ear, causing him to shudder slightly at the closeness and warmth of her lips. 

"My name..." she purred, her lips practically caressing his ear, causing him to shudder once more, "Is Ophelia, but everyone calls me the puppeteer."