A prisoner joins Loki in the Asgardian dungeon. Someone with a past almost as tumultuous as his own.
Content Warning: Angst, Strong Language, Mature Themes.
Highest Ranking: #54 in Thor.
A/N: A brief warning of strong language being used in this chapter.
Visna's head hurt. It was pounding. It raged like a storm out of control. She was struggling to reconcile what had just transpired.
There was no recollection of the journey back to the dungeon; she just suddenly found herself in her cell. She couldn't even find the strength to sit down.
Her ashen face and vacant eyes told Loki that something was wrong.
"Visna, what happened?"
"I fucked up." She replied dejectedly.
"My dear, don't be so dramatic."
"I fucked up Loki!" Visna shouted loudly. "I admitted it. I told him I was a murderer."
Silent tears started to fall.
"He managed to find my old handler and he gave evidence in return for the offer of reward they must have issued."
Loki was feeling something akin to shock. He got up from his seat and stood as close to the golden barrier as possible.
"Loki, they had enough evidence to execute me without my admission. But with it..."
She swallowed the burning hot sensation in her throat.
"I don't even have the consolation of seeing my parents again. I won't go to the same place as them. I'll go where the bad people go."
"Visna, don't say that. You are a good person who was forced into a difficult position."
His words didn't reach her.
"They will return tomorrow morning to take me to be sentenced."
"I can't let you go through with this, Visna."
"I don't exactly have a choice."
"Beg him! Get on your knees and beg. You do not deserve to die for trying to live!"
"I have to face up to what I have done and accept my fate."
"No." Loki's expression turned stony. "I can't believe you are going to leave me like this."
Visna was unable to ignore how selfish his comment sounded, and looked over at him in horror.
But the expression on his face found the pieces of her already broken heart and turned them into knife-like shards. They cut her insides to ribbons. She sunk to the ground and began to weep, barely managing to choke out a reply:
"Please don't look at me like that."
"I am sorry." He began to feel regret. "Tell me what I can do. What do you need?"
She cried even harder, gasping for air, shaking uncontrollably.
It was the first time that Loki had seen past her carefully curated, unyielding exterior. All the hope that she had been feeling not an hour ago was bleeding out of her.
"I don't know what I need Loki." She whispered. "All I know is what I want, and right now I want a dark oblivion. But I can't have that with all these fucking lights." She looked up frustratedly through her reddened eyes.
"I can solve that, my dear."
Loki's fingertips twitched ever so slightly and the glare was extinguished.
She felt her irritation come down a notch. Then she lay down on her side.
"Visna."
"Loki?" She replied tentatively.
"I would like to tell you a story."
"Okay."
"It's about a Prince."
Visna smiled sadly. Why was she not surprised?
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"This Prince lived in a vast and flourishing kingdom, which was prospering after a peace had held for many years. He loved his mother, respected his father and had the good fortune of having a brother he genuinely enjoyed spending time with. They would run around the halls and grounds of the palace, sometimes causing mischief but never doing anything malicious."
Loki's tone shifted from nostalgic to melancholic.
"But as the young Prince grew older, he began to feel himself falling out of stead with his brother. He was quiet and observant, whereas his sibling was boisterous and quick to act. Over the years, it became apparent that his brother's attributes was more suitable for the needs of the kingdom, and preferred by their father. Not that the Prince let anyone see or know his feelings. As time went on, the boy started to sequester himself and the sibling's paths diverged more and more. "
Loki paused for a moment to choose his next words.
"The Prince however, had his distractions from the feelings of loneliness. He built on the foundations of the sorcery that his mother had taught him, honing his skills until he felt proficient enough to handle any situation. He ventured far beyond the reaches of his home and discovered secret pathways and portals that led to other realms doing away with the need of using the monitored means of transportation. But most of all, he planned how he would get his father to notice his aptitude."
Visna knew the direction the story was about to take. She was unsure whether to sit up and show that she was truly listening. In the end, she decided to stay where she was so as not to disrupt his flow.
"He began to enact his plans but after a series of decisions, drawn out suffering and not so favourable consequences, the Prince found himself imprisoned in the dungeon of the very palace that had once been his home. He lived in anger and denial for so long but eventually accepted that he would never see the light of day ever again."
Although Visna's tears hadn't fully stopped from earlier, hearing these words made her want to weep out loud once more. Her heart ached for him. But then Loki added something as somewhat of an epilogue.
"However, one fateful day, the Prince met a person who burned brighter than daylight itself and she restored some warmth in his being. It was from knowing this woman, that the Prince began to see that maybe he hadn't completely lost positivity from his world, and from here on his outlook began to lean towards a more hopeful disposition."
The words 'The End' had not been spoken but Visna knew the story had come to a stop. She was trying desperately to hold herself together. She had provided him with hope.
The resulting sob pained Loki keenly. "Tell me what you're thinking."
"Hearing that has reminded me that there is still so much I want to do. I've never been to another realm. I've never been with someone... I-I'm so sorry Loki. I wish things could be different; for you, for us."
"My dear, if it were not for these barriers I would gladly show you the universe."
A/N: As always, thank you so much for reading. Let me know what you think. I, for one, am feeling really sad after writing this chapter's end. Will hope to have the entire book uploaded within the next two weeks.
