Madness of the Serpent

Captured

The spirit was firmly guided into the human air vessel, which had lightly landed in the pavilion to collect the warriors and their captives. It had found itself, once again, under the dominance of someone more powerful and capable.

Fabric restraints were drawn down its shoulders to cross its chest, though the latch was unable to connect between its knees as this was made impossible by the nature of its cumbersome formal wear. It still wore the dazzling black material, impractical footwear, and glittering jewelry.

Apparently, the Jotun-Asgardian thought it would be more entertaining for it to remain garbed in this fashion. He also found the behavior of one of their captors amusing as he watched the blue-clad human become flustered as he fussed with the spirit's restraints.

"You'll have to sit side-saddle, ma'am. I don't think these seats were designed with evening gowns in mind."

The spirit did not comply, as it did not understand what the human was attempting to communicate.

"The mortal is requesting you move your legs to the side," Loki interjected in a smooth voice from directly across the transport where he had also been restrained.

The spirit blinked and moved its knees so they were wedged in the space between the two seats while the large human looked back at Loki.

"You will have to forgive her. She is not familiar with Roosevelt-era English."

The human ignored him and frowned briefly before moving to the front of the compartment to speak with the two humans who piloted the air vessel.

The spirit watched as the metal humanoid placed the golden apparatus into a long, clear rectangular case. The unique energy of the mind-jewel was muffled, but not completely buried. Even in its secured isolation, the spirit could sense its pervasiveness. Its connection to the jewel had not faded, and it was constantly wary of the consciousness that resided within the azure orb.

It also wondered why the humans did not react to its presence in the same manner as the spirit. Were they ignorant of its power, or were they without reason to fear the artifact as it did?

Their captors were made up of four humans, three males and a female. The female piloted the air vessel along with a male, and had fiery red hair which fascinated the spirit. It had not known humans could exist in such various hues.

The male in the blue suit had de-masked his face, staring down at the spirit with what it could only interpret as concern.

The red-and-gold metal construct, however, was merely a human wearing a suit of armor which could become airborne. He, too, had taken off his helmet, and his visage watched the spirit and Loki with a mixture of exasperation and curiosity.

"Seriously? How can this genocidal string bean have groupies?" the metal human asked as the air vessel began to ascend slowly upward, before traveling horizontally at an increased speed.

"I really don't want to know," the blue-clad human responded, running a gloved hand through his brownish-yellow hair, giving a hard stare at the Jotun-Asgardian.

"I don't suppose you want to tell us where the Tesseract is?" the human inquired of Loki, who merely smiled at him with an obvious intent to be as uncooperative as possible. He neither answered that question, nor the next, which inquired as to where he had taken the SHIELD personnel he had enslaved. The third question, which inquired as to why Loki had come to Earth, caused him to yawn and pull his focus elsewhere, as if the human was not worthy of his attention.

Discovering quickly that he would gain nothing from the intractable Loki, the shield-warrior walked over to the spirit, his hand gripping one of the holds on the ceiling as the vessel was slightly jostled from the air currents.