To Love a Prisoner (Loki x GN!Reader)

Part Two- Sidekick

(Word Count: 1511)

I was laying back in my bed with a book in my hands, though it was lying on my chest as I had no interest in it at the time. It had been several days since I had last seen or heard about the man who had been taken a prisoner in the Underworld. My curiosity ate at me every day. I only once attempted to ask my father about it but after his harsh reaction, I decided against doing that again.

I had been out of the palace twice since that day; I simply had no other interests. It wasn't every day that something in the Underworld captured my undivided attention. This was new and unexplored, so it was more than tempting to follow up on this. I sat up, placing the book on my bed. I was going to try again. I was going to find out where this man was taken. I had checked the dungeons three times already. There had to be somewhere I wasn't looking! Somewhere that had gone unseen!

With my thoughts occupied with finding the man I quickly walked to my closet. I pulled out a black cloak and placed it over my shoulders, leaving the hood down for the time being. I pulled the sides to where it covered my clothes almost completely. With a sigh, I left my room in the direction of the dungeons once again.

The same as every other day, there was a guard outside of the doors. I walked up to the doors only for them to hold an ax in front of the door, blocking my path. I stopped and looked at them. My usual eye color began to glow a deep purple color as I muttered, "You will not tell Hades about this." I waved my hand, making the ax slowly rise from in front of me. That was until I heard the familiar hiss of a snake. I turned and saw Jormungandr wrapped up along a torch that was on the wall.

My eyes went back to their normal color as I rushed over to him and allowed him to slither around my arm to where his head was even with mine. I sighed before glancing back at the guard and walking away with Jormungandr. I whispered in a partially frantic tone, "Jormungandr, you've been gone for days! You have no idea how long I've been waiting. Do you know where they took that prisoner?"

With the nod of his head, I lowered him to the ground and he immediately began to lead me to where he was. After what felt like a mile of walking I suddenly approached the end of a hallway. I had never been there before - most likely because it was a dead-end - but it wasn't dead enough. Jormungandr slithered through a small hole in the bottom corner of the wall.

I stared at it for a moment, focusing on my current objective. I knew I had other powers besides the ability to control other's minds. I did practice all sorts of magic, after all. I took in a deep breath as I turned into a shadow of black clouds. It took little effort for the form of clouds to push through the small hole and reform on the other side. I then took back my solid form as I hit the ground, leaning on the wall for support. I shook my head, gathering myself as I felt Jormungandr nudge my ankle. I then noticed two guards standing beside the man who was held up with chains.

My eyes turned a bright purple color as I mentally urged them to leave, and they did. They left in silence as though completely disregarding the fact that they had a prisoner to watch.

As soon as there was no one besides us I walked forward, my eyes going back to their natural color as I stopped in front of the man.

His eyes flashed open as he looked up at me. He bared his teeth as though seemingly ready to have a few unpleasant words with me. That was until Jormungandr slithered around his arm in what I could translate as a calming motion.

All the intensity that was previously in the man's eyes left as he looked at the serpent that had begun to hiss at him. That was when I first heard the man speak. "They're with you?" His voice was raspy and cool, as days of screaming were strongly taking a toll on his vocal cords.

The snake hissed at him as though formulating a perfect reply. I stood with my eyebrows furrowed as I had no idea of what was taking place before me. Could this man fluently understand Jormungandr?

The raven-haired man then looked back up at me with a growl, "You're the witch who extended my time in here."

I crossed my arms as I retorted, "I'm the one who gave you a chance to live. I'm the one who's giving you a chance to escape. I needed to extend your time here to do that."

"You're... you're helping me?" He almost seemed speechless as his eyes were wide at me. I almost felt bad at how innocent he truly looked. His eyes were glazed with an unknown emotion. Fear? Pain? There was something that made me draw sympathy for him. Perhaps it was just the rawness of some emotion that I managed to touch. Was he shocked at my offer of help?

I slowly pulled my hood down revealing my gentle features and (hair color) hair. We seemed to stare at each other for a moment before I replied with strong assurance, "I will do what I can. It's not every day something gets my attention in this dead place."

His eyes trailed my features as though looking for some sign of deceit, anything to tell him it's all a trick. But a hiss on the side of him made him sigh and ask, "So what is this? Personal entertainment for you?"

"I don't take joy from your pain. I do hear your screams." I stepped closer to him, though he was elevated a few inches above me. "Maybe you can call me a friend. The only one you'll certainly find in this sullen place- aside from Jormungandr, apparently..."

We both watched as the serpent slithered between us and found himself lightly looped around my neck. The man questioned, "How do you know him?"

My fingers rolled across his scaly features as I glanced at the man before me. "He's the only friend I have here. He was given to me a few months ago by my father. I didn't hear where he came from though."

"From me." His reply was short before he gathered the physical strength to explain, "Hades doesn't like me. Taking Jormungandr was just fun for him." He sighed as he breathed for a bit, regaining the energy it took to say those few sentences. I moved forward carefully with my hand caressing his cheek, my eyes scanning his features, the blood becoming apparent around his light and frail body. My thumb softly crossed his dry and cracked lips, recognizing his lack of hydration. Our eyes met as he whispered, "I'm glad he ended up in good hands."

My hands dropped to his chest as I said as quietly as him, "You need food and water... It'll make you stronger..." We didn't break eye contact until he finally nodded his head. He didn't move much, as too much stress on his muscles caused a great deal of pain to trail through his body. "I'll be right back." I looked at Jormungandr and placed him on the man's arm while commanding, "Stay with him."

I looked at them before turning to walk away. Just as I was slipping my hood over my head I heard his weak voice calling from behind me. I fractionally turned my head as he rasped, "My name..." He coughed roughly at having to speak so loudly for me to hear, "My name is Loki."

I smiled as I finally gained that information that had escaped my notice for too long. "I'm (Name)."

There was a comfortable silence before I left his presence in the cave.

As soon as I was again walking through the typical halls of the palace I realized just how dark it was in that cave. Perhaps I could learn some type of light spell before returning to him. It would help greatly.

I walked to my room, ordering a light meal from the servants before going to find a book in my room. It was placed on the top shelf of my bookcase. It wasn't too hard to get down with the help of my powers. It was just the book I needed- I hoped. I only needed to find the right spell.

I would take care of Loki. I would let him know that he wasn't the only one to suffer in this world of death and darkness.