Power of Gods | Loki FanFiction

VIII | puppeteer

"no, I'm not a player, I'm a puppeteer"

The long table was covered with all kinds of food and more than two people could possibly eat in one evening. From fish fillets and steaks to cheese platters, plain bread, pudding, and cakes, you could find everything. No one was here yet, so I instantly went searching for possible escape routes, just in case.

There were two doors on opposite sides of the hall. The one I had entered through, the other blocked an unfamiliar path, while in front of me, only a stone banister blocked the way to freedom. I had seen the palace from the outside and knew how high it was, but I couldn't recall having used too many stairs, so it couldn't go down further than ten to twenty meters. Nothing I couldn't survive, assuming I fell correctly.

Before I could overthink it or take a look, quick, elegant footsteps sounded and I turned to the person, who just entered the room.

I did a sleek curtsy - thank you, ballet lessons - before scanning him. As before, he was terribly good-looking in his gold and green armor. Not even the burns that still scared his face were able to spoil the perfect picture. If anything, they only made him more attractive.

My brain went on strike as he bowed to me and pressed a delicate kiss on my hand. His lips barely grazed my skin, but a small, forbidden part of me imagined me ending up as his dessert.

I fought for focus. He was the god of lies, I couldn't trust him and I couldn't allow myself to show any signs of weakness. No weakness. "What gives me the honor?", I asked calmly with a gentle smile on my lips.

"Let us sit first," he replied, returning my smile, and led me to one of the chairs lined up on both sides of the table. Always the gentleman, he pulled out the seat for me before sitting down across from me.

The only thing that overshadowed his charm was his unbearable, mysterious manner, which drove me nearly insane. And not in a good way. I hated not knowing things. Especially things that concerned me personally. This had made my early years S.H.I.E.L.D. particularly bad. Every day it had been 'orders from upstairs' at classified locations. But with time I had made myself important, had therefore also increased trust, and had worked out every piece of information bit by bit.

"Would you tell me why you have summoned me here, now?" I inquired, as politely as one could ask such a question. "You are very curious," he replied instead, and I suspected that this was not only related to my questions per se but was also part of the reasoning.

So it actually had something to do with the conversation with the Warriors Three. "Is that something bad or something good?" I pressed on. Amused by my tone, Loki replied: "That is undecided." "Is that why I am here?"

During our quick exchange, no one acknowledged the food between us.

We stayed silent for a moment. Even now there was something in his eyes; something I couldn't quite read. They were clear and bright and immediately captivated you. He tilted his head slightly and raised one eyebrow, trying to make sense of me.

He ignored my question and changed the subject. "Help yourself before it gets cold. You've had a long day," he pointed at the food. I hesitated, but then put some on my plate. If you ever have the chance to eat like this, you shouldn't waste it.

Meanwhile, I decided to change my strategy. "The same can be said for your day. I wanted to thank you for taking the time to teach me yourself." "Well, if I want you to fight my brother for me, I should at least prepare you for it, don't you think?" he responded. So he knew that I didn't trust him and that I had more information than I was letting on. Or he would never speak so openly.

"Is that the only reason?" I replied with a lifted eyebrow and a challenging smile on my lips. I watched him closely, paying attention to every little reaction.

"I need to know if I can trust you." Again, he surprised me with his openness. But it confirmed my suspicions. And it put me in a position to determine what I would make of the situation. I considered my words carefully before speaking.

"I am rarely loyal to other people," I confessed, "but I have a strong sense of morality. If I think you are doing the right thing, you can be sure of my loyalty, but if I disapprove, you better not stand in my way." I rewarded honesty with honesty. And he seemed to appreciate it.

"And what do you think is the right thing?" he asked more calmly than I expected.

That was the big question that had been bothering me since I arrived here.

Both sides were hiding an important part of the story from me, which made it much more difficult to put together a coherent overall picture. However, Loki was trying a little too hard to win my sympathy, which made him suspicious. On the other hand, he could do me a lot more damage than the Warriors Three.

"I think that the Exile's friends are not objective. They only see the best in their companion, rather than the potential threat he presents. A good quality in a friendship, but naive in most cases. Especially since they put so many lives at risk. Consciously or unconsciously is unimportant," I replied carefully, apparently hitting the nail on the head.

"If there was another way, I would choose it any time, but I know my brother and his flaws- he will stop at nothing to regain his power. I must face that fact as a worthy king," he said, looking genuinely unhappy.

Although I knew he was almost definitely manipulating me, I felt pity. He seemed much less arrogant than when we first met; rather... lonely. And somewhere in his eyes, I saw myself.

Somewhere in the back of my head, my conscience was screaming at me not to trust him. I couldn't let anything distract me from the facts and, fact was that I couldn't trust a word Loki said, especially because we were so similar.

"I can only imagine how difficult this must be for you. I had... problems with my sister as well, but that hardly comes even close to what you have to go through." The term 'problems' was a bit of an understatement in this context, but he didn't have to know that I had tried to kill her several times out of revenge. A quiet, rough laugh filled the room for a moment. "Siblings aren't easy," he smiled. His absent look made me suspect that he had a specific event in mind.

To avoid an awkward silence in which I just stared at him, I tried to get the talk going again. But how? I quickly went through all the previous conversations in Asgard again and paused at one point. "I'm sorry about your father. It can't be easy to follow in Odin's footsteps." For a split second, surprise flashed across his face, but then it turned into what seemed like genuine regret. "Yes, it's difficult. We can't do anything but hope that he wakes up again soon. But someone has to take care of the kingdom and after the heir to the throne was expelled, that burden now unfortunately falls onto me."

I nodded understandingly. In truth, he had just given himself away. He had laid it on too thick, had given himself a motive. If Thor didn't come back, Loki would remain king. And according to Jill, he was responsible for the Allfather's sleep.

I wanted to believe him. It would have made so many things so much easier.

But life rarely makes things easy for any of us.