It makes her sick, the way sadness is addicting. Sadness is familiar. It's comfortable and it's easy in the sense that it comes naturally to her. But everything else about it is hard. The way her body aches with self-hatred. The way her mind spins a...
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Athalia joined her brother down to the dungeons. It was dark, the only light coming from the orange barriers keeping the prisoners inside their cells. It was cold, miserable, depressing. So many words could describe the dungeons. It was also empty. Some of the cells seemed to be empty, holding no one. Athalia assumed it was because of the attack on the castle.
She walked next to Thor, the bottom of her dress circled at her feet as she moved. Athalia hugged her hooded cape that was draped over her shoulder, keeping herself warm. The hood rested on her head, allowing people to still see her face.
She stood in front of a cell, face to face with her twin brother. He walked toward the barrier his hands behind his back. "Thor, Athalia. After all this time and now you come to visit me." Loki said, leaning close to the wall he asked; "Why? Have you come to gloat? To mock?"
Though his words hurt that that's what he thought of them, Athalia knew Loki well enough that this was not him. That it was a trick. A lie. She knew that he'd hurt the news about Frigga. She had made sure he did, after all, if was his mother, blood or not, and he had the right to know. Athalia had been furious with Odin after she heard him say he wasn't going to tell Loki.
"Loki, enough. No more illusions." Athalia said calmly. Loki smirked.
"And how do I know that you're not an illusion yourself?"
"Take it down, or I'll take it down for you." Loki sighed, lowering his head as the illusion started to collapse. Athalia felt a twinge in her heart as she saw the truth, her real brother.
Loki sat on the ground, leaning against the wall. Chairs and his table flipped upside down, books broken and scattered on the floor. Red blood stains on his feet printed on the white floors. The pain his face held, the regret, was what Athalia felt at that moment. It was what she wanted to feel now but because of her stubborn nature, Athalia wouldn't allow herself to grief properly. To tell the truth, all Athalia wanted was to get revenge, honor Frigga, and kill the person, the monster, responsible for her mother's death.
"Now you see me, sister," Loki said, quietly. Athalia walked over to the other wall, the one closer to her twin. Thor followed closely behind his sister. "Did she suffer?" Loki asked, locking eyes with the princess.
Before she could even reply, Thor cut her off. "We did not come here to share our grief. Instead, we offer you the chance of a far richer sacrament." He explained. Loki looked in between their two siblings.
"Go on," he told Thor.
"We know you seek vengeance as much as I do. As Athalia does." Thor started, "You help me escape Asgard and I will grant it to you. Vengeance and afterward, this cell." Loki looked away, towards the mess he'd made during his fit of rage. He thought of the blonde's offer before rolling his head back to fix his gaze on them.
Take a painful breath, Loki chuckled. His devilish smile on his face. "You must be truly desperate to come to me for help," Loki stated. "What makes you think you can trust me?" they asked.
"We don't," Athalia spoke as Thor started to slowly pace up and down the wall of the cell. She didn't meet his eyes as she continued. "Not after Thor's banishment, not after faking your death, and not after what you did in New York. But Mother trusted you, and I trust her. I trusted her. But you should know that when we fought each other in the past, I did so with a glimmer of hope that my twin, that you, Loki were still in there somewhere."
"That hope no longer exists to protect you." Thor told him, "You betray us, and I will kill you."
Loki hmmed, resting his head back on the wall behind him. A small smirk on his face, "When do we start?"
"He will betray you."
"He will try..."
●○●○●○●○●
"This is so unlike you, brother," Loki said, a devilish smirk on his face as the three siblings walked through the castle quickly. The youngest had returned into his usual Asgardian leather, after changing out of the tatited outfit he found himself in before. "So clandestine. Are you sure you wouldn't rather just punch your way out?"
Athalia guessed that after being down there, locked away on his own, Loki hadn't had the chance to talk to anyone. Or annoy his siblings in the ways he used to as a kid. As a result, he hadn't stopped talking since they had released him from his prison.
"If you keep speaking, I just might." Thor let out an annoyed sigh, looking around to make sure no one could see them. Loki rolled his eyes.
"Fine. As you wish. I'm not even here." It was Athalia's turn to roll her eyes as she watched her twin shift forms into one of the guards. His face is almost like Fandral's. "Is this better?" he asked Thor.
"Better company at least," Athalia spoke, her eyes straight ahead as she continued to walk down the hall.
"Still, we could be less conspicuous," Loki said. Athalia looked to her right and watched as her two brothers switched forms. Loki returned to himself and Thor changed into their friend, Lady Sif. Loki looked Thor up and down, "Mmm, brother, you look ravishing."
"It will hurt no less when I kill you in this form," Thor told him as Athalia brought Thor back to his true form.
"Very well. Perhaps you prefer one of your new companions given that you seem to like them so much." As they kept walking, Loki once again shifted forms. Out of the corner of her eyes, Athalia could see a round, red, white, and blue shield. There next to her, stood Steve Rogers. One of Athalia's new friends she and Thor had made while they were in New York. Athalia felt a weird feeling in her chest, like her heart had stoped for a second.
"Oh, this is much better," Loki said. "Ohh. The costume is a bit much. So tight. But the confidence... I can feel the righteousness surging. Hey, do you want to have a rousing discussion about truth? Honor? Patriotism? God bless Ameri-"
Athalia cut off her brother's teasing. Her hand wrapped around his neck, the other on his mouth to keep him quiet. She removed the enchantment her brother held, making his form go back to his normal form. She did this partly because she was sick of his games and also because, during his teasing, Loki hadn't seen or heard the guards walking closer.
"What was that for?" Loki asked his sister as she removed her hands from his neck and face. She turned her head, looking at the guards who had walked passed, not realizing that any of the siblings were there. "You could at least furnish me with a weapon. My dagger, something."
Athalia looked into Thor's eyes, it was the easiest way for her to use her mental abilities without anyone noticing. She raised an eyebrow, seeing Thor's plan inside his head. Athlaia watched as he did a simple nod of his head.
"At last. A little common sense." Loki said. He looked down at his hand, hoping to see his daggers but instead was met with cuffs wrapped around his writs. He held his hands up, a frustrated look on his face. Looking at her older brother, Athalia saw the smile resting on his face.
Athalia smirked, meeting the eyes of the annoyed princes. "And I thought you liked tricks." She said, "It's just a little taste of your own medicine."
"Well , what then? Your lovely mortal is being guarded by a legion of Einherjar who wil see you coming from miles away."
