The walk was long, and dull, and boring. Summer occupied herself tilting her head back to stare at the sky, trying to match the stars with anything familiar at all. It was a fruitless exercise, but better than watching the dull, lifeless rock and dirt surrounding them. She supposed it could be worse — whatever sun this place had could be up, rendering it blazingly hot. Or blindingly bright.
It was possible, she mused, that there was no sun here. Just the cold, distant stars in the velvet black of space. How achingly lonely that would be. She shivered, and wrapped her arms around herself.
Loki was acutely aware that his vision was rather skilled in the dark. Perhaps he was simply used to such things; anything develops if it is used enough. The thought made him sad, and he didn’t know why.
“Keep your senses sharp, fire child,” he said low. They were getting close. In fact, he could see the dark fortress materialize before them—a twisting series of angular towers, and the faint glow of red-purple light through a low window. His fists clenched over his throwing knives instinctively, remembering the last time he was brought to that room.
“I’m going to need brain bleach after this,” Summer murmured back. “It’s like having everything slimy crawl through my head. But nothing’s changed. Still the two, one very strong, very … ” She paused for a long time, searching for a word. ” … very disciplined. And the others, flickering.”
He nodded quickly, selfish for the moment, his mind entirely focused on forming a plan. ”Disciplined…I would call him power-obsessed. If I had ambitions to rule Midgard, Thanos makes me look like a child at play. Summer, I need your full cooperation and…trust.” He closed his eyes and began charging a spell, an odd feeling in his gut telling him he was a leader for the first time in his life.
She drew in a deep breath. This was Loki. God of Mischief. The demi-god who had nearly destroyed New York City.
A man who, those whole time, had only asked. Not demanded, or commanded, but asked.
She poured out confidence and strength. ”What do you need me to do?”