Loki, Unraveled|| NovaVerse 2

12|| Dance of Deception (Part 2)

Word Count: 3,083

The air was cool, and a sweet scent was carried on the wind, which swayed the trees slightly. The moonlight made the grass appear silver, and the only sound to be heard was the crunching sound of grass as two people ran through it, and their laughter.

"Must you run so slowly? I'm sure that by the time you catch up to me, I will have a full head of white hair," Loki ran backwards just so Nova could see his smirk. He was a good ten to fifteen feet ahead of Nova and was yelling over the wind. His golden horned helmet was tucked under his arm, but the wind did not misplace even a single hair.

"It's sort of hard to run in heels and a huge dress!" Nova replied, one hand holding up one end of the dress, the other constantly wiping her long strands of midnight-black hair out of her eyes. 

Loki stopped running, allowing Nova to catch up to him.  She arrived many seconds later, kicking the heels off her feet and sitting in the grass. He took her hands and pulled her up nearly immediately, inspecting her dress. "That's fine Asgardian silk, you don't just sit on nasty dirt with it, like a lowly peasant!" He plucked a blade of grass from the dress.

"But these shoes are killing me," Nova whined. She wasn't big on whining, but they were essentially subjecting her to torture with the unnecessarily high heels or the corset, for hours, so she thought she had a pretty good reason to whine at the moment.

There are sure to be bruises on my waist and feet tomorrow.

"Oh, poor Nova, wearing shoes meant for Asgardian royalty must be such a terrible fate," Loki playfully mocked, "What else troubles you so?"

Nova thought seriously for a moment. Then, "Other than the Toe Torturers you call shoes? Maybe the Medieval Waist Trap you call a corset, and whatever the hell these are," she lifted her wrists and pushed down the sleeves so reveal the cuffs that wrapped her wrists, rendering her power useless. "And this is so scratchy, and I can't even properly move in this," she pointed to her dress.  

He took her wrist in his hand and looked at the skin around the cuff. It was slightly bruised. He cringed, not knowing how tight the guards had made them when Nova arrived four months ago. She hadn't made a single complaint about them until now.

"You're right," Loki said, "if you cannot run faster than the speed of a snail, then how can I ever expect you to duel me?" He snapped his fingers, and Nova's dress shortened to a few inches below her knees, the cape disappeared, a belt with pockets appeared at her waist, and two golden shoulder plates appeared. A comfortable pair of boots were on her feet, and they nearly reached her kneecaps. The fabric was light and flexible.

"A duel? Don't you think we've had enough fights for the past two days? Besides, no matter how much I hate to admit this, I can't win a fight against you- unless I had my powers, but I don't," She lifted up her cuffed wrists, which glimmered in the moonlight.

"No cheating," he said, "And no injuring me either, especially not the face. It would be a tragedy for all Asgard if you were to disfigure it."

Nova slightly tilted her head to the side. "What are you trying to say, Loki?"

He moved his hand over the cuff, and with a little flash of green light, it was gone. Nova watched in shock and confusion as he gestured for her to give him her other wrist, and the cuff was gone. He let his hand linger on the scarred tissue. He leaned in and whispered two words, a smile played on his lips, "Let's fight."

They circled around each other, preparing. Loki conjured two daggers that slid to his hands from his sleeves, and Nova flexed her wrists, enjoying the feel of the cool night air on the skin as she flexed them, Loki saw small wisps of light escape from her fingertips, and tiny golden sparks glow in her eyes. Everything about her seemed to glow, and for a moment she closed her eyes to feel that amazing power swim through her veins for the first time in months. Loki raised an eyebrow, a look of curiosity and amusement evident on his face.