ACT 1: Awakening; Chapter 1: Signs and Portents
Loki smiled at her pleased to see her, but he takes a moment to consider her question before responding to it. "You have made an adult decision in forcing me to choose between letting you go off alone and letting you come along. But adult decisions have adult consequences. So, maybe you aren't old enough to understand that you are about to grow up faster than you needed to, or what that means. But it is too late to change things. Unless you choose to go back, you need the whole truth. You are smart enough to get what you want, so it seems you will need the truth more than you need comfort." he says with a sad sigh, regretfully, as a man beginning an unpleasant task.
"And the truth is I don't know. She may be dead already, in which case I will avenge her or die in the attempt. We may not find her at all, no matter how long we search. I will die before I stop searching for her, but that is not what she would want for either of us. She would be mad at me, but she would hate me if she learned that I let you throw away your life too. So, if I think it's hopeless, you are going home, or I will have to stop searching for her because of you. But there are no guarantees Imotsu. If there were, you would be safely at home, because I would have been able to tell you that if you came with me you would slow me down. But I didn't, did I? Because I don't know how long this will take, or how dangerous this will be. All I know is that if she is in trouble, I am the trouble that will soon follow, and only her safety will inspire my mercy."
His eyes and tone at the end grew cold and distant, and he seemed to retreat inwardly, lost in whatever spectres his own words had conjured within him. After a moment he seems to see her again, and offers a comforting smile as he says, "I am sorry if that seems harsh, but it is true. Do you have other questions?" he says, his eyes sad, almost wounded, and perhaps they glistened a bit more in the light...