"Caroline Irene Adlers."
                          
"Ahh. One of my most precious additions."
                          
Loki's breath hitched, his heart stuttered. She shouldn't be of value to him. His turbulent eyes said it all - he knew all too well what she was, and what she meant. 
                          
"I offer my immortal life in exchange for hers." He announced.
                          
"Your worthless life, Son of Odin, could not possibly be price enough. You have done your misdeeds, boy, and I see you suffering for the millennia to come a far more just punishment." 
                          
"Then take mine." 
                          
"A shadow in exchange for a shadow... You have come all this way to mock me?"
                          
Tom threw an indignant look toward the tall throne, forgetting himself for a brief moment. He stepped forward, raising his voice. "I don't understand, why do you hate our kind so much? What could we have done to deserve this resentment?"
                          
"Your existence alone is a cruelty." The echo of his voluminous voice clashed against the walls, disengaging crystal dust to rain down. 
                          
"You think you're the first to try and fuse mortal with immortal life? Gods long before you have taken mortals, by force or free will, creating children who defy our universal order. Some died an agonizing death before being born, some became abhorrent monsters. There is no legitimacy for your kind."
                          
They had angered him, rage raved inside those all-seeing eyes. For the first time in a long history, the Soul Keeper rose from the majestic crystal chair, descending toward them, floating over the glistening stairs. His gaze unmatched in intensity and purpose burnt into Tom's. Every step sent a wave of tension through them.
                          
"Every time a shadow is born, the gods toss a coin. It's either death or madness."
                          
He came to a halt in front of Loki, tall and majestic with all his glory and power. "I have taken the burden of erasing all memory of shadows as to not further inspire insatiable, dissident gods. Gods as you, Loki."
                          
If Loki was afraid, he didn't show. Perhaps it was the finality of it all, gifting a strange feeling of safety. The Soul Keeper could very well refuse them, and in that case, there was nothing Loki could do anymore. He stepped forward as well.
                          
"I could not have possibly known after you have wiped out all records of shadows."
                          
Closer. He stood but inches away from him, sheer power oozing from his body in a terrifying aura that erected the hairs on Loki's neck. "You knew it is forbidden, and that is enough."
                          
"Only my son was created by conception, whose future I have already seen. He will not be mad. Tom was created unintentionally. Caroline - " He hesitated, closed his eyes for a split second. This would not be in his favour, but it had to be revealed. "I failed to immortalize her. None of them have gone mad. Forgive my saying so, your records are incomplete."
                          
"Disrespectful wretch, you stand before me shamelessly in full admission of your misdeeds. You dare ask for a bargain?"
                          
"Yes." Loki answered definitively. "What would please you, Soul Keeper?"
                          
His eyes wandered, almost maliciously, over Caroline, Loki, and finally Tom - sticking to the bundle against his chest. 
                          
They saw it simultaneously. "No!"
                          
"What better justice could the universe give you, Loki, than to strip away from you what you hold so dear." 
                          
"It already has." Loki grimaced, letting the pain mar his features. "He's but an innocent child!"