The loud thunk of Gungnir on the stones was a welcome sound. Loki wasn't particularly fond of the sceptre, much preferring to use his daggers and magic but Gungnir was brimming with power and it was a comfort on certain occasions.

Like the present occasion which saw him walking to the prisoner's cell, guards flanking him on either side. The further into the dungeons they went the more nervous all the prisoners seemed to be and Loki told the guard to explain.

"She has a strange affect on the prisoners." He said and Loki was surprised and amused to see the Einherjar swallow. "We had to move some of them, she had them all but climbing the walls."

The other guard hesitated but began talking nonetheless and they both were growing more and more tense the closer they got to her cell. "We lost one of the inmates, he threw himself headfirst against the wall repeatedly until he died."

Fascinating.

"I can find my way to her cell myself, you are dismissed." Odin's voice commanded and they both visibly sagged in relief. Loki was surprised when they didn't protest, so far the royal guards had only left his side when he was in his chambers. It had annoyed him for the longest time, being so unable to be alone and now here they were all but running away.

"As you command, Allfather." They said and dropped back, turning on their heel almost immediately and Loki was alone. He passed by his old cell and remembered his mother visiting him with a twinge. A year he'd spent in there, a very long year. But it was nothing compared to the void and with that in mind he walked, quicker now, and soon reached the cell where the girl was held.

She was fast asleep leaning against the golden walls, curled up so she didn't even take up a square foot of space.

In repose she looked young even by the standards of mortals. No lines marked her face and her mouth hung open, moving on occasion as if she was mumbling. He stepped closer and with a start she woke, scrambling back and Loki saw that the sickly blue eyes were brown now. Confusion marked her face before she gasped, her head rolling back in one snappy motion and when her eyes opened again they were the blue he expected, glowing and vicious. He knew what he was dealing with now.

A vessel. Not another one of his 'daughters', a proper vessel, a puppet he was connected to.

"Thanos." He said in Odin's voice and a sickly parody of a grin spread on the small face, all teeth and tending to the right and he knew he was right in the name he addressed her by. There was a familiarity in the way her eyes gleamed at him and he knew, he just knew that Thanos was seeing through her eyes past his illusion and knew who he was really talking to and that it wasn't Odin and was very glad that the surrounding cells were empty and there were no Einherjar for this conversation.

"Little godling." She sneered and stood. "You were told after all, there would be no place left for you to hide in. Wearing Odin's skin will not save you. Not from me."

"Really Thanos? A mortal?" Odin's face twisted, light and jeering but Loki's mind ran.

Something had happened, something that had caused Thanos to take things into his own hands. He never did the dirty work himself, he sent his daughters, the chitauri and the Other to do them for him. His armies laid waste to lands but he only showed up in the end to delight in the screams, to take his pick of worlds.

"Frail little things but useful. Very useful. If their bodies weren't so weak to death I would be tempted to take her in. She rebels but she knows things." The grin widened. "Yes, she knows things."

A happy Thanos was not a good sign. What had gone on in Midgard since he'd last seen it? He had focused on the other Realms and left that plane alone, assured that Thor would come to the 'Allfather' in his time of need but he had been wrong.

It was time to see what his 'son' had been up to all these years on Midgard.