All Too Well

Chapter 6

I approach my motorcycle, stoping right in track as Loki occupies the driver seat ahead of me, leaving me puzzled.

"...you-"

"Just get aboard. It can't be hard to wield a Midgardian gadget."

"Are-you-sure?" I try my best to wipe off the skeptical look on my face. "Cause...I will have to make sure that I have paid for the insuran-"

"Get aboard already." he spits, deliberately slow. I swallow before settling myself onto the back seat, my hands groping for the handles beside my pelvis.

"We should get you a license."

I try to take a peek from behind him, failing to see anything but smelling the natural fragrance the lingers on his pale skin. I back away a little, my senses startled by the sudden scent.

"Do...you even know how to start this thing?"

"We had these in Asgard." I narrow my eyes in the wind as my surroundings fade to nothing, my palms sweating out of extreme nervousness.

"Past tense always sounds so sentimental."

"It's very much an antique now." I can feel his back vibrating ever so slightly as his lips move to speak, and the ebony frabic that lies atop his skin.

"Too slow for our taste."

"Slow...? But I'm already feeling like puking."

"Hold onto me." he orders harshly in a fatherly tone, his serene voice stinging.

"Wu-at?" I exclaim quietly.

He remains taciturn, probably too annoyed to answer my question. I give a loud sigh, my arms giving up as they extend to encircle his waist. I sit back gingerly, trembling at the sight of our bodies being so dangerously close.

The trip comes to an end with a swift turn that leads us to a dark alley. I eye the door that lean closely to the brick wall on the right, and Loki who leads the way forward with overconfidence.

ELECTRICTY...UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY PROHIBITED.

"This...is the electric machine ro-"

"Shut it."

And I did.

He mumbles something to the presumably intercom in a voice that I can't hear.

And the door clicked open.

He leads me through certain gloomy chambers before descending to the underground level, with the metal stairs that complains loudly the everytime I take a gingerly step.

I glance around my surroundings in reflexive curiosity.

It had been an underground warehouse in an evident way, for drugs and probably weeds. Not anymore.

REGION 7-PRISON.

It's for men.

I shudder at the thought and start cantering to keep up my pace in a flurry.

Loki slows his footsteps as a strong man comes to advance towards us, his sly eyes lifting to meet Loki's.

"Would you be stating the purpose of your presence, Prince Loki?"

"I doubt the necessity of this question." Loki lift his chin with natural pride and the man backs away with an unyielding expression, a terribly fake smile on his face.

"Of course, my prince."

"King."

I try to ignore the attention we've brought about as we pass along the muddled cells, my curiosity getting the best of me.

"What's a...region 7?"

"Odin had been selecting the right places for his secret prisons that hold banished Asgardians, most on Vanaheim and some on Midgard for they have the best living conditions and the most resemblances compared with Asgard." Loki begins with reluctance.

"Before that, Bor had divided the nine realms into certain regions during his reign, with Asgard into 9 and Midgard into 11. And here, where you are standing, is the prison of region 7."

"Wh-what the definition of a region?" I grill behind him, oblivious of the abhorrence that dominates his face.

"One more question and I'll throw you in one of those." he threatens, squinting at the cells that restrain dreadful prisoners.

I take a deep calm breath.

"I would like to know the definition of a region."

He presses his lips together in discontent.

"That's not a question." I defend.

"And since it is not a question, it won't be necessary to give you an answer." he snaps.

I follow closely as he reaches the depth and finally a decently furnished cell that blocks the way. My eyes catch a moving figure that staggers towards us, his sapphire eyes glowing faintly in exhaustion.

"...Loki?"

"Hello, brother." Loki says evenly.

"Heard you didn't end up well in your latest visit."

"Which then leads me to where I'm standing right now." Loki snaps with authority and the man beams a helpless smile.

"And to do what?"

Loki gives a light snort and looks away intentionally.

"You know what I'm doing, Balder."

I thought Balder is a myth.

"What do you want?"

"I know you want Odin dead dearly." Loki watches as his brother's hands slip down to loosen his grip on the metal bars. "And so I finished him off for you."

Balder leans back, eyebrows raised.

"You want the soul stone."

Loki seems to have chosen not to approve the authenticity of this statement. I stare in amusement, curbing myself from shviering too much as the two guards on each side glare at me like I am some weirdo.

"So you say you killed Odin." Balder stares at Loki through skeptical eyes.

"Where is the evidence?"

Loki flashes a sly smirk that can't be something good. His flicks his wrist, fiddling the green glimmer that sparkles in his palm.

A narrow object starts to materalize in his hand, some sort of scepter. It glistens so bright that his fingers glow.

I witness as Balder strightens his body slowly, his face twisting into some mixture of awe and horror.

"Gungnir." I catch him mouthing.

Loki takes a few steps forward, his lips broadening to form a smirk that has my legs shaking in fear.

"Is that not evidence enough?"

Balder nods his head lightly in content, the smile on his face as sly. And from that moment on I know he's fallen for the snare laid in front of him the way I have.