The Visit

Trials: Part One

The first thing Clint noticed when he got to the bottom of the staircase was that it was bright. Really bright. But as his eyes adjusted to the light he realized he was in Loki's old cell in Asgard, but it was different from when they first saw him there just month earlier. The scratches and burns on the walls were no longer washed out, but rather fresh and dark. The floor was littered with papers, glass, some small fruits and berries and blood splatters. The furniture was in disarray and in the center of all of it was Loki.

His tunic was ripped and his bare feet were bloody from stepping on the glass. He was on his knees with his arms wrapped around himself in a poor attempt at self-comfort. His His breathing was uneven and his body shook with soft sobs.

This is gonna be harder than I thought.

He sat down next to the god and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. Loki looked up and when he saw Clint, he furiously wiped away his tears and shook the man's hand off of his shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with your family on midgard?" Loki asked, venom laced in his voice.

Clint furrowed his brow for a second before asking: "What year do you think it is? In earth years."

"2013"

Clint nodded his head for a moment before holding his hand out for the god to take. Loki eyed it for a moment before cautiously putting his hand in Clint's.

"Loki, It's June 3rd, 2017. About a month ago the Avengers came to Asgard and we took you in after seeing the conditions you were under in your imprisonment with the chitauri and the Asgardians. We were gathering the infinity stones to stop Thanos when your soul got lost here in the Soulworld. I was sent here to get you."

Loki stared at the ground for a moment, eyes furrowed, before a bit of orange flashed across his eyes and he looked up at Clint. "I remember now. What do we have to do to get out?"

Clint was taken aback about how easy that was. "We have to be back at the temple within the next 2 hours, or..." he looked at his watch, "one hour and 51 minutes, or we are stuck here for the next five years."

Loki nodded and stood up quickly, wincing. He looked at his feet and let a green magic surround them to clear away the wounds. Clint and Loki walked towards the barrier. Clint walked right through, while Loki bumped into the invisible wall with a hiss. "Blast this damn barrier! Over on the wall to my right, there should be a loose brick where the control panel is. "

Clint walked around the cage to the wall Loki had spoken of and there was indeed a loose brick, but when Clint pulled it out, there was nothing  but an indentation in the rock beneath in an odd shape he couldn't quite match. "There's nothing behind here dude, just a weird indentation."

Loki walked over to the other side of the cell and squinted to see the indentation Clint was talking about. He seemed to immediately realize what it was because he reeled back a bit before saying a bit too quickly, "There has to be a different way. "

Clint eyed Loki suspiciously. "Loki..."

"No."

"What is this?"

Loki sighed. "It's..." he let out a small breath, "That's the shape of the ring my mum gave me." He went over to a metal box that had a broken hinge on it and took out a small golden ring with small a glass iris on top. Clint couldn't help but feel bad for Loki, but at that moment he knew they needed to get out of there.

"I know you miss her a lot, Loki, but we need to get out of here. I promise she would not think less of you for it."

"How would you know? You never met her," Loki said defensively.

"Because I hear the way you and Thor talk about her. She lives on through you two, and right now, I'm trying to make sure she can continue to do that through you. But I can't do that if you don't help me right now."

Loki bit his lip and, after a moment, nodded. He walked up to the barrier and held out the ring. Clint reached through and grabbed it and placed it on the indentation in the wall. The brick flew out from Clint's hand back into place and the barrier around the cell shut down. Loki stepped through and walked over to Clint. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Loki nodded in the direction of the door. "Let's just get on with this so we can go home."

Clint nodded back and they walked up to the huge doors. They pushed them open and Clint expected to see the staircase he had walked down, but instead saw what seemed to be the throne room of Asgard. Odin was sitting upon the throne and in front of the dias was a child, no more than 13 Midgardian years old.

Clint stood there confused, while Loki stood there with shiny eyes and an open mouth. His face was a perfect expression of pain. Clint looked over at the god. "You okay?"

Loki shook his head a bit. "I think to get to the temple... we have to go through my memories."

A/N: Hey y'all, long time no see!  So I am kindof sick right now and I have been coughing consistently for the past four days, and my throat wants to murder me right now, but it's starting to clear up a little. But, I promised a chapter, and I am a fangirl of my word so here it is! I am sorry if it sucks XD. I took a bit of inspo from Moon Knight for this (great show btw, I adore Steven). Love ya all!