Loki placed a hand on her stone lightly, "Let it go..."

She had started to rub at her skin but with Loki's touch she calmed down. "Who's there?" She looked directly at Loki.

"It's just me" he replied

"..." She stared at him not really focusing on anything. "Mmmm!" She slowly started to rub her chest again.

((And... stuff))

As the mins went by the blackness completely withdrew back into her gem while her cheeks faded back to rosy red. Ceres still seemed very disorientated, her eyes not being able to focus on anything for too long but one thing was for sure, she had gripped onto Loki's hand which rested on her gem and didn't let go.

"It's just me here who?...." She whispered to herself softly, her eyes becoming heavy.

Loki was half asleep himself at this point, it was so comfortable to be laying there next to her. If only he could ignore the insanity that lay outside these walls? "Loki" he replied, "Just me... Loki"

"Can't be.... he left with the key... He can't... too much at stake..." She mumbled curling toward him.

Loki looked at her, "Ceres? Ceres that isn't real"

"How can it not be real? I've always been in this cage..."

Loki looked at her oddly, "... Ceres?"

"...Tweet tweet.." She mumbled lightly.

Juno teleported in a few feet away, "How she doing?" She asked a look of relief at Ceres' warmed skin tone.

"She is not making any sense" Loki replied, sitting up.

"She hallucinating?" Juno asked kneeling beside her and snapping her fingers in front of Ceres' eyes. Ceres didn't seem to notice them, "What has she been saying?"

"being in a cage" Loki replied

Juno started to get a sinking feeling, "A Bird cage?"

"Yes" Loki replied carefully, "What does it mean?"

Juno frowned, "It's a nightmare she's been having for years...." Juno's hands glowed and she ran them above Ceres' body. "But this state...this has happened before..." Juno placed her hands on Ceres' gem the green glow flowing over her, "One winter, it was so snowy that they barely got visitors at their estate and with her Grandfather being so busy, she spent a good deal of time alone. She sunk into a depression and this happened. Her soul is retreating back fully into her soul gem. It's something that happens when we die or... near death experiences. I was barely able to pull her back out of the last time. Loki, I'm going to need your help."

Loki hesitated, "... I have had this dream as well" he finally admitted, "but I know not what to do. Your magic is so different from my own"

Juno looked at him and blinked for a moment, then nodded, "Make sense, you and Ceres are linked. Bad omen if I ever saw one though... This will be similar to how Iron Fist set Ceres to find you when the Sisters spirited your soul away but you won't be on a the spiritual plane, you'll be in there." She tapped Ceres' gem gently.

"That cage is something Ceres' subconscious has made up. It's how she portrays the world.. everything." Juno said, but was mostly guessing. "You'll have to be the one to pull her back out. Only you can do this Loki."

"I do not exactly recall most of what happened when she was in my mind" Loki admitted, "but I will try..." he hesitated, glancing back towards the door, "we had better make this quick. I do not know what Amra will do next"

"Just help her." She said before grinning, "Don't worry, Amra's sleeping... I may have... accidentally knocked her out."

Juno instructed Loki to lay down, Juno sat in between Ceres and him a hand on each of their chests. "Just relax and let the flow take you."

Loki would begin to feel like a vaccum was pulling at him.

Loki was not terribly fond of the concept, allowing someone else to guide him through potentially dangerous areas, however Juno was fairly trustworthy and there didn't seem to be much alternative anyway. So he let himself be pulled away into Ceres' soul.

It was dark much like his dream but there was also a sort of black fog in the air as well. If Loki were to look down, he would just be able to make out dead grass and various flowers beneath his feet.

In the distance was a faint light and the faint sound of singing.

He had a sinking feeling he was going to be seeing that bird cage again as he walked forward through the dark.