A Second Chance // Thorki

Chapter Four

Loki had started to regret those three mugs of mead once he'd accidentally entered the third wrong room. He wasn't lost, no, he couldn't be lost. Sure, it was a big ship, but he was Loki, he was the sharpest knife at the chopping block... yet, those three mugs of mead had fuzzed up his mind enough for him to find himself unsure of where he was.

People walking by always avoided eye contact and sped up their pace, and so asking for help was not an option. Thank god for that. Loki's pride would not be able to handle asking for directions.

Once again, he came across a room that looked like it was his- but when he opened the door, he found himself met with three people, three guards, all fully dressed in uniform, standing in the entry way as if they'd been discussing something. Their chatter stopped as soon as the door had clicked open, and had swung away to reveal the rather lost trickster with cheeks tinged pink from the alcohol he'd drank.

"Well, speak of the devil." One of the guard's muttered, and the tallest one chuckled at that.

The new guard force had been made up of mostly good-hearted volunteers, along with the few survivors after the battle. Valkyrie was the temporary captain of the guards, and was in charge of training and positioning every guard on the ship, to protect and keep the peace.

"My apologies, sirs, I was simply looking for my-" Loki had started, and went to close the door, before one of the guards, the tallest of all of them, went to lean on it, keeping it open.

"That's all nice and well, but, trickster... answer me this. Why is it that the king still trusts you? Last time I checked you were still a homicidal maniac."

One of the guards giggled as Loki took a step back. This felt rather hostile, and it made Loki feel rather confused more than anything. What were these men planning to do? "I beg your pardon?"

"Why would the king put trust in you?"

One of the men started to advance, but Loki stood his ground. Nothing scared the trickster anymore. Not even death.

"Well, it could be something to do with the fact that I'm his brother, Or that I have manners, unlike some people." Loki hissed.

"That's rich, coming from a man who barged in on a private conversation because he was too lazy to knock." The third guard's voice was nasally and rather annoying, and Loki found himself cringing at it.

"I am not lazy," Loki practically spat in the face of the man, "I was under the impression that this was my room. I must've missed the fact that my quarters do not reek of old food and body odour."

The guard at the door took a bit of a step forward to glare at Loki down the crook of his nose. "Take that back."

"And just why should I? It's true."

As fast as lightening, a hand with ugly, sausage like fingers had swung up and met Loki's throat, shoving him against the wall, all of the breath rather forcefully leaving Loki's lungs and his head knocked off the wall, leaving him rather dizzy and disoriented, but not enough so to stop him from grabbing the wrist, yanking the hand away from his throat, and twisting the man's arm until he heard a pop.

The guard gave a screech, and as Loki had swiftly turned to sprint away, he found himself unable to control his now rapidly spasming muscles as he fell to the floor, electricity coursing threw him.

Of course. The tallest guard had been the one monitoring him all day. The tallest guard had the controls to the little thing in his neck that could deliver a powerful shock to him, powerful enough to floor him.

When the shocking stopped, Loki was drained. The man had been awake for something like 45 hours, was still recovering from battle, and had now just been given an electric shock strong enough to take down a bear. Norns, all Loki wanted to do was sleep.

However, that seemed a very bad idea, Loki decided, especially with the strong hands grabbing him by the arms, dragging him through the hallways as Loki struggled to keep his eyes open.

By the time he finally managed to somewhat clear his head, these men had dragged him to a room Loki had never seen before, a room Loki didn't want to see, not in this context.

With a pool taking up the majority of the floor space, there wasn't far for the guards to drag him.

"Take your pick, trickster. Where would you prefer to drown? Hot tub, or the pool? I think the pool would be a lot more fun, watching you sink down to the bottom of it. Erland, grab me that rope."

Loki, already fighting to keep conscious, finds his silver tongue has turned to lead after such a shock. He's unable to even feel half of it. However, that doesn't stop him from using the other trick up his sleeve- Seidr.

A snap of his fingers, and a snake appears, a cobra, slithering up and out of the dark depths of the pool, up the leg of one of the guards. A bite to the thigh leaves one of the guards crying out and stumbling back, releasing one of Loki's arms, which he then uses to rather dramatically flip the other guard into the pool.

Temporarily freed, Loki reaches up to touch his neck, to feel the circular implant which was so often used to control him-

And he ripped it out, sparks flying as he tore out a good majority of the machine, leaving it rather uselessly half-hanging out of his neck until he'd have it properly removed.

Blood seeped from it, although he had far bigger problems to worry about, especially as the guard known as Erland and another who was the tallest charged him, and although Loki fought his best, he was disoriented, exhausted, and had drank too much to properly hold his own. Had the circumstances been different, he would've beat these shits into the ground. But now, he found himself forced up against the wall, rope being used to bind his wrists and his feet.

Unable to do much other than curse and struggle, Loki soon stilled, though he hadn't given up.

Seidr is a powerful thing. Although Loki had yet to perfect the art, he was still probably classifiable as a master at it. And with it, he was able to appear in front of Thor, as much as it hurt his pride to ask for help. He was able to show him where he was, what was happening- even if just for a fleeting glimpse. It would be enough.

It had to be enough, as Loki had soon been shoved into the dark water, sinking slowly but surely. There were few lights in the room that had been turned on, and so it was dark and gloomy as Loki struggled to hold his breath. The deeper he sunk, the greater the pressure. The greater the pressure, the harder it was to stop himself from gasping for air.

Soon enough, what almost felt like panic had finally begun to set in, and Loki had come to terms with the fact that he could very well die. If Thor, the god damn oaf, wasn't fast enough, Loki would drown.

No, no, that couldn't be the end of it. No. There had to be another way. Perhaps he could part the water like that Moses fellow? No, there was too much of it, he wasn't strong enough. Break his bonds? Not strong enough. He could try to burn his bonds, using his Seidr, however that would've been difficult considering the fact he was underwater.

Soon enough, his lungs had began to sting, yellow spots appearing in his vision as he touched the very bottom of the pool.

He couldn't die here, could he?

Could he?