Parasite

It had been over six months since Tetra had last visited the dungeons and she was wary to do so again. She stood atop the stairs that led down into the darkness, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Thor was waiting for her, and had undoubtedly told Loki that she would be joining them, but she couldn’t make her feet move.

“Lady Tetra?”

She nearly jumped out of her skin then, and spun around to face the guard making his way over to the stairs.

“Were you in need of some assistance?”

She opened her mouth to respond, not sure what to say. But when the guard stepped forward with a look of concern, Tetra just shook her head and fled down the stone stairs. At the bottom there were torches lining the walls and it didn’t look nearly as dark. The path split into two corridors, voices coming from the left. She took a few steps down the hall, but paused and shrunk back against the wall when the voices grew louder and angry.

“Loki, you do not understand. You’ve being given a chance to change, to become the man you used to be,” Thor’s voice was strained and desperate.

“Oh, but I understand perfectly well, dear brother.”

The words were spat out with pure venom, but the silky tone caused a shiver to climb up Tetra’s back and her insides to tighten. For as long as she could remember, that voice had been a part of her life, the beguiling timbre somehow smooth and rough at the same time. She had no idea how much she had missed it but her ears were soaking up his words with eagerness.

“Yours and Odin’s guilt at having shut me away is beginning to tear down your conscience, so you think to pawn me off on some poor, unsuspecting soul to help with my….shall we say, rehabilitation.”

“But, Loki, you didn’t even give me a chance to explain the terms of your release.”

“No! I do not desire your pity, nor do I regret my actions on Midgard, or any realm. And I most certainly do not want to be tied to some idiotic fool without a brain.”

Tetra decided that she had had enough and chose that moment to step forward and into the golden light cast by the cell windows. Thor’s troubled expression broke free and he smiled but Loki’s scowl deepened, his gaze turning downright murderous.

“What did my father wish to speak with you about?” Thor asked, curling a protective arm around her shoulders.

Loki’s eyes followed the movement with a flicker of anger he didn’t understand, and his upper lip curled back in disgust.

“Nothing of importance,” she muttered, before turning to look at the cell window. “Loki, I see you are faring well.”

“Oh, yes. I am so happy here in my gilded cage, wasting away with books and endless time to ponder my horrendous deeds,” he said sarcastically, words practically dripping with disdain. “Or perhaps you are here to alleviate my boredom, hmm? Provide entertainment?”

Thor’s grip on Tetra’s shoulder tightened, before he took a step forward, Mjolrnir clenched tightly in his fist. She grabbed his arm to stop him and shook her head, mumbling a quiet ‘no’.

“Thor, leave us. Let me speak to Loki alone.”

With a glare sent in his brother’s direction, Thor let go of her and stomped away from the cell, mumbling something about foolish women.

“Could I have been right? Has Odin sent me a shiny new toy to play with?” Loki smirked. “If so, then perhaps my sentence will not be so boring after all.”

“It’s of no consequence, because this boring sentence of yours is over. Odin has agreed to your release on a few simple terms.”

“Yes, Thor mentioned something of the like,” he said offhandedly, waving a hand as if to brush the topic away. “Said I would be tied to someone of Odin’s choosing, and that they would ‘watch over’ me during my rehabilitation.”

“But what Thor failed to mention is that I would be that person.” Tetra took great satisfaction in watching Loki’s mouth fall open slightly before snapping shut. “And that you will be training me in the ways of magik. And if you so much as say one insult about the Royal Family, I will promptly let the King know, and you will be tossed back into this cell. For good.”

Loki was pressed against the golden glass in the next second, eyes set in a fierce glare.

“Train you? I would rather rot in this cell for the rest of my life.”

“Why must you say such cruel things? Is the Loki I once knew completely gone?” Tetra asked, voice no more than a whisper. “We used to be so close as children. You, me, Thor, my brother…”

“Ah, now I see why you have agreed to this ridiculous task that Odin has asked of you. To pay back your dear King for sheltering you in your hour of need.”

She stalked forward to the cell window, until the faint golden light cast from the glass was falling over her face. From this close she could see Loki’s glittering green eyes hardened into two shards of emerald, and the scowl firmly tilting his lips downwards.

“I agreed to this because I believe that everybody deserves a second chance, even a lying trickster such as yourself,” she spat. “So whether you like it or not, tomorrow you will be moved from this cell and you will train me.”

She turned her back to him, intent on walking away and leaving but his silky voice reached her once more.

“What has happened to you? What has turned the quiet, bookish Lady Tetra Mason into this fiery woman I know see before me? Last we spoke, you barely said two words. But now…you’re like a different person.”

Tetra looked over her shoulder at him, silvery eyes filled with pure contempt.

“I grew up, Loki. I think it’s time you did the same.”