The Final Shard (A Loki Fanfic)

Chapter One

Loki waded through the knee-length water until he reached the stalagmite in the middle of the cave. The top had been smoothed off and on it sat what he had been searching for for two months. The last piece of the tesseract. It radiated an unearthly light through the dark cave and lured Loki right in. Pulling out the other three pieces he had collected, he took a breath and fitted them all together. The finished tesseract pulsed brighter and lifted off the stone.
"Finally, the tesseract is whole!" Loki exclaimed, reaching up to take it. He grasped the cube and turned it over in his hands. But then he saw that one corner was still missing.
No! he thought angrily, That wasn't even the last piece! Will I ever be done searching?
Loki broke the tesseract into four pieces once more and stuffed them into the small bag he kept them in. Huffing, he turned around and went back through murky water. When he reached the end of the water, there was a narrow set of rocks to climb in order to reach the entrance to the tunnels. He slipped up the rocks like a wet lizard and lifted himself into the entrance.
My reward for finding these pieces better be good! he thought bitterly while finding his way through the dark.
After what seemed like a few hours, Loki found the entrance to the cave, bright sunlight and the mountainous scenery greeting him. He lifted an arm to shield his eyes from the blinding sun and gazed out into the mountains. Although it was very sunny, it was actually quite cold.
He made his scepter appear and trusted the infinity stone inside to guide him to the last piece. Pointing the scepter in front of him, he made a portal appear and entered into the mass of blue swirls. When he exited the portal, he saw that he was in a small neighborhood of apartments.
"Are you saying it could be in any one of these buildings?" Loki muttered to the scepter.
Since he was in a populated area now, he used his magic to change into a more casual look so people wouldn't think he was weird. His green, black, and gold garments turned into a green button-up shirt and black pants.
Where should I go? The last piece could be anywhere on this petty, mortal-ridden planet.
Loki wished the scepter was a little more accurate, but at least it got him to the right town. Speaking of which, what town was it? He actually had no idea where he was, so he looked around for a street sign or something. He spotted one up the street and went up to it.
BRIGHAM CITY
At that moment, a girl who looked to be about 10 years old walked up to him.
"Hi!" she smiled.
"...Hello," Loki answered, looking down at her.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"I am L... Lance. Tell me, girl, have you seen a small, glowing blue shard?" he questioned her.
"Ummm, no," the girl responded, rocking back and forth on her heels.
You are a terrible liar, thought Loki. "Are you sure?" he asked, a warning tone in his voice.
"Mm-hm," she said.
He narrowed his eyes and was very tempted to scare the girl into telling him, but thought the better of it; her parents might be around...
"Bye!" exclaimed the young girl and ran off, probably knowing Loki was suspicious.
He watched her run down the street until she stopped and went into one of the apartments.
Well now I know where the piece of the tesseract is... he thought with a small grin.