Celeste hated the cold and it didn't like her enough. So they had an understanding.

Celeste wondered why this man was sad. He had everything, a castle, the crystal gems under his finger and yet... he seemed sad. She listened to him, contently.

"The frost giants see it as weakness" he added, "They see a lot of things foolishly as weakness. Being too short, any level of hesitation-and that includes mercy. Can you believe that? If you want to show mercy to someone, you have to completely humiliate them so it doesn't even seem like mercy at all. I know so much about Frost Giants and yet somehow it's like I don't understand them at all..." he sighed again and leaned back onto the grass, staring at the ceiling.

"I'm half Frost Giant, half Azgardian, a prince at least in both rights and yet... no one has a place for me. In fact, both sides want me dead. I wonder if Odin will break the treaty and invade Jotenheim to kill me?" he pondered aloud though sounding oddly indifferent to the idea. "That would leave Byliestr to the throne, hm, the giants would love that. Byliestr might even let Odin in for it." he frowned a little, adding sarcastically, "Might as well kill everyone I'm related to while I'm at this."

Chirp Chirp. (It can't be all bad. You just need to say positive.)

She hopped onto his knee, Chirp chirp chirrrrp (Life can be hard sometimes but if you keep at it sometimes good things happen.) Wait was she... trying to cheer him up?

He looked down at her and cracked a smile, "Of course, on the bright side I am King of Jotenheim now. Even if it doesn't last, when you are born to rule there really isn't anything else you can settle for. Believe me, I've tried." he sat up again, "You've taken a fondness to the crystal flower I've noticed. They're quite rare normally, only growing deep in the caves near the planet's core."

She shifted her weight and chirped lightly. 'Well, when the springlings told me they could be turned into medicine, I couldn't say no to making a few more. Plus they make lovely sounds when you walk past them.'

"There's something else rather interesting about them" he commented, gently nudging her off as he got up and walked over to one of the flowers she had created earlier. He knelt by it and held his hands around it. His hands began to turn blue as a deep cold enveloped the flower, freezing it completely. Then he raised a finger and touched the center of the flower very softly, passing on a minuscule white light onto it.

The light shone through the flower, changing colours and casting a beautiful display of light throughout the room. Loki lay down next to it and pointed up at the ceiling, "Can you see?" he asked with a soft smile, "wherever the flower grows, it creates a map within itself of that area. This is about half of the palace's layout."

'Woah...' Ciara chirped looking up at the ceiling and walking over to Loki. 'It's so big...' She shivered, so big and filled with ice. So much ice.

Loki touched the flower again, the light disappearing from it, "Most of it is in disrepair though. At some point, I'd like to rebuild it completely. The Frost Giants don't have much of an eye for beauty in the first place, so most of the old structure is quite... unappealing." he hopped to his feet, "but all of that will change as soon as I get the chance. Like the great hall" he swirled his hands and summoned it around them in an illusion (so they could stay in the warmth). It was an array of ice spikes climbing to a fallen ceiling that made the walls. Cracks in the structure made it look slightly less than safe though it still held together. "Smooth out the walls" he waved his hand as the illusion shifted, "layer the floor" the ground changed to a shining black ice floor, "carvings" he pointed around the room where the layers of the walls became etched with great ice trees and giants that rose their arms to support the sky, larger than even the regular Frost Giants. The floor became etched with what was known as the tree of life that bound all the realms together.

"And then" a large smile had grown on his face and he almost seemed excited as he spun in a circle, the magic flowing from his fingertips. "The ceiling" he pointed to the roof where the ice grew together in a network of branches that seemed like crystal, allowing the sun to shine through and light up the entire room in an array of colour and reflecting through the ice in a display of beauty beyond words.

Celeste ran around in awe at the illusion. Looking at this and at that. She didn't like the cold but she would admit there was beauty there.

She shared at the ceiling before her eyes on the carvings and some of the plants depicked in them.

"Hmmm... I wonder." She ran around the grass until she found the right spot in the room. Yes, this was where she'd sensed those minerals... She flew over to the pond, breaking the part of Loki's illusion and gulpped some water down.

She flew back and dug a shallow hole with her claw and poured the water into the hole. She covered it with earth and then blew on the spot.

The area began to glow a warm pink and slowly a small sapling, about 3 ft tall grew out of ground. It had coal dark bark but it bloomed an array of blue flowers.

She looked back over to the carving, yes. That was the one from the carving.

Loki turned to look at it and blinked, "... those only grow in the valley of the sisters" he reached out to touch it. He had never actually been this close to one before. "It actually needs the cold to survive though. It won't last very long in here."

The flowers felt like silk.

"Oh..." She flew over and started to roll a pot over, " Then you better replanted it." She said pushing the pot toward him.

Loki blinked, "There's a much easier way" he replied, "though first..." he looked around at his illusion and with a sweep of his hand, instead of the carvings these trees themselves actually lined the hall. "Can you make more?" he asked.

Ceres turned her back to him, "No, not until you do something for me in return." She stated. A very serious bold stance the bird took.

Loki raised a brow, "... what do you want?"

She looked back toward him, "...You have no intention of letting us return home do you?" She asked.

He shook his head, "I'm afraid I can't do that. To be honest, even if I wanted to the portal from here to Midgard only appears once a month and never in the same place twice in a row. It can take months before even I can find it and I know where to look."

Her little bird shoulder went up and down in a violent motion. No, she wasn't going to cry. She had to do this without sobbing.

"...If I help you, will... will you deliver a letter to Pietro for me?" Even if it took months, she wanted to let him know she was ok and even though she'd never seen him again, that she was being treated well and that the time they shared was some of the best months of her life. That he shouldn't go looking for her because he'd never find her... And to let the others know of course..

Loki watched her for a moment, "Of course I can do that. You just had to ask."

"Really?!" Her head popped up and her throat made a rather cute vibrating cwoing sound.

Loki chuckled, "You don't have to seem so surprised. I brought you here to establish my rule in Jotenheim, not to make you the most miserable beings in existence. If there is anything I can do to make your stay more enjoyable, you only have to ask."

"Oh...ok... but I still don't like you." She stated. She wasn't going to get Stockholm syndrome. She was still being held against her will... in a rather nice Ski resort style place.

"And you should really knock before entering." Even if she was a bird, she'd had a bath in front of him. >///<

Loki chuckled, "You were still sleeping when I came in. I did not wish to disturb. Ah, on the note of Midgard however" he crouched down to her level, "What is coffee and where can I find it?"

"Watching me sleep...watching me bath>///>" She mumbled chirped, not impressed and a little embarrassed.

She blinked, "Oh... right." Apparently they would be stuck here for at least a month with no hope of rescue. (Even though the chances of rescue sounded AWFULLY SLIM at this point)


If Juno didn't get her coffee...

"You won't find it on this planet, Coffea or Coffea arabica is a plant that grows small red and purple fruits. It only grows in warm climates. Inside the fruits are seeds, people on midguard refer to these as Coffee beans though they really aren't beans at all. These beans are then roasted and then brewed much like tea and make a bitter drink which contains caffeine.

Many people of midguard drink coffee because the caffeine gives off a stimulating effect, allowing people to be more alert and focus on work. It's been a very popular trade since the 15th century. It can be served hot or cold, with or without Milk, cream or sugar." She explained and as she did so, she repeated the same process she did for the Ice flower tree and via a small 4 ft coffee tree.

Loki looked it over and opened one of the flowers curiously, "interesting. Is this enough to make Juno happy, or should I locate something on my trip to Midgard?"

"For now, I think it should do. But there's all different kinds of coffees brewed by different companies and such. I don't think she'd mind it if you returned with more. Also, I don't know how much soil you have here but it might be a good idea to pick up 10 or 11 bags of soil as well.... Then I could make you lots of trees and stuff..." she pointed out casually. "This earth isn't terrible but it's not enriched with minerals like the soil from earth." And if you end up going to a bunch of places maybe by some slim chance he'd be spotted and captured, forced to reveal where they were and ensuring a swift rescue... A girl could dream couldn't she?