As she rubbed her fingers, a flower which looked looked like it was made of crystal appeared in her hand, it was a very rare plant that grew on the plant. Ceres had never seen the plant but from touching the earth she could recreate it.

She shook her head and looked up at him, "You must be joking. I- I didn't even get to say good-bye! And now you want me to help you..." she looked away wiping her cheek. She had a feeling even if she did help him, he would never let them go... She'd never see Pietro again or Ciara... Or... earth.

"If I had asked, you would have said no" Loki replied, "If I had let you say your farewells, you also never would have come. There is no scenario where you would have ended up here of your own accord, I considered it. But now that you are here, are you really going to do nothing? You don't have to lift a finger for me, Ceres, but I expected you to care more about the thousands of innocent lives in this realm and beyond. If I cannot ensure peace between the tribes, giants will die and when the snow settles in the aftermath, there will be so few left to tend this world. Nidavellir will not get their rare metals to work with. Should Alfheim succumb to another plague, there will not be enough to gather the medicine they need. Even Azgard will feel the cost. There is a reason why the Frost Giants nearly won the war of the realms all those years ago, and it was not by their size and strength alone.
The other realms disregard Jotenheim as dangerous and a wasteland but it's more than that. There are things beneath the surface here that sustains life across the realms" he knelt by the crystal flower, touching it gingerly though he wouldn't dare pluck it, "and I think if you pay attention, you can sense the truth in that." he looked up at her.

"...I hate you." She whispered under her breath, refusing to look at him, staring at her palms which had formed into fists as tears fell from her rosy cheeks. One of the tears fell down onto the flower and chimed like bell.

Of course she could never forgive herself if she let people died but his logical explanation would not make her feel any better about being taken from her home.

She quickly wiped her her cheeks with her palms, she didn't want to show her tears.

Loki sighed as he stood tall again, "I can live with that" he replied, turning to leave, "the question is, what can you live with?" he headed out of the room.

Once he was gone, Celeste fell over on the stone path and burst into tears.

Her voice yelling at her sisters to leave her alone echoed enough to be heard in the hallway. Polly soon walked out of the room and back to her own room and Juno teleported away into the courtyard below for some training. Anything to take her mind off of what was happening to them.

"Pietro...Pietro..." She cried softly, her heart breaking at the thought of never seeing him again.

"Celeste?" Pietro's voice spoke next to her. He was standing right there, looking down at her with a smile on his face, "Why are you so sad? I'm right here"

"Pietro! Pietro is it really you?" She sat up, looking up at him in awe, her heart skipping a beat.

He knelt in front of her, "You know, it's not fair that you're cute even when you cry. But I still like it better when you smile."

She laughed, wiping her tears, "How did you get here? If Loki finds you..."She put her hands on his upper arms.

But her hands passed right through him. He took half a step back, acting as though nothing had happened, "It's good to hear you laugh. You have such a cute smile"

Tears started to form again and her hands began to tremble. "You're....you're sick..."

Pietro paused and blinked at her, "But... you were so happy..."

"You're not real..." No more cuddles, or forehead kisses, or be zipped around super fast... something she was starting to get use to. No more cotton candy head. or Fluffy cloud. nicknames.

"I can be just about as real as you want me to be" he replied, "And there's lots I can do-like juggle!" three rubber balls appeared out of nowhere as he started juggling them.

"You're not Pietro. You aren't my speedster." She got up and walked over to her bed, taking the pillow and hugging it tightly. Apparently this Pietro meant a lot to her.

Loki sighed and began hitting his head against the wall in the hallway. This girl was impossible. The Pietro illusion faded away and Loki went to pursue other things.

Vesta rubbed Loki's shoulders. "I just worked these out... What has got you making such tough knots?" She asked. They're first day there was almost over.

Loki sighed, "Your sisters are a handful" he replied, and as nice as it was to have Vesta there to help him relax, she was also part of the cause for his frustration. He pulled away from her hands and walked to the window, "Vesta." he spoke in a serious tone, "do you love me?"

"It's not an easy adjustment.... They will learn to adapt to their new surroundings." She walked up behind him and slipped her hand into his, "Of course I do. Why would you ask such a thing?"

"Have you always loved me?" he questioned, still staring out the window, refusing to look at her.

"Do you remember the night we bonded? You had dressed my wounds and taken me home with you... I was scared, but your gentle touch and firm grip let me know that you would take me but you would also take good care of me... Never had a man treated me... like a temple, to be cherished and treasured. Never had I been treated as a person, rather than a piece of property... You made me so happy..."

For some reason her words did nothing to calm him. On the contrary Loki felt a burning rage rising up inside, filling him to the brim until he was ready to explode, "Then why... Why did you take your life?" he turned on her, those green eyes filled with anger and pain and a fierce questioning, "I gave you everything you could ever want or need. How could I have been so terrible that you would want to die to escape, when you yourself say I made you happy?!"

She looked down, gripping her hands together as she tried to find the words. "Being with you made me happy but... I..." She bit her lip, looking back up at him, "I... my body..." Tears started to form, "I... I was never going to be able to bare you children... to make you happy. To give you something back for all the things you had given me. I found myself sinking down a hole no one could pull me out of and when the option of taking my life appeared..." She wrapped her arms around herself, not being able to look at him, "You deserved a wife, a woman... not some child bride."

Loki stared at her, it still didn't add up though, "Why did you run from me then? Hide after that? I don't even care about those things-I've mastered shapechanging magic" he snapped his fingers and suddenly he was a child. Again and he was an old man, once more and he was back to normal, "If you had told me what the problem was I could have fixed it. But instead you fled, you broke my heart and you tried to disappear forever." he pinned her against the wall, "I loved you and you left. I was going to show you everything. Tell you who I really was. I know you didn't like the way I treated those mortals so piece by piece I was giving that empire back. You said once that the people of Midgard should be allowed to grow and learn on their own. So I was going to let them. For you, it was going to be a surprise. I was going to invite you back to Azgard with me." he raised his hand as an engagement ring materialized in his palm, brilliant Nidavellir metal pieces entwined into a ring with tiny red stones.

"Do you have any idea what it felt like?" he demanded, "Through the bond I could feel your life fading. Dying. Dragging a piece of my heart down with it." his fist closed around the ring and punched the wall next to her head, causing cracks in the ice to splinter out, "All you had to do was wait one more day. One more miserable, Midgardian day. But no, You couldn't handle it. I should have known better, I really should have and with everything that has happened you should see it by now to. You never loved me, you never will. And I have come to terms with that."

Silent tears rolled down her cheeks, hurt by his words. She had loved him, more than she could ever express into words. "Loki, I had no idea of my past life with you until I saw you that day 5 years ago. You killed our families! I feared for my sisters safety!... We live such long lives, our memories of the past are often tucked away and only resurface when needed. My gem returns to the family shrine which had been relocated to britain... I did love you... I still do... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..." she explained softly as best she could.