"So, what exactly have you been doing all this time?"
Hermione asked about his experiences in the Void.
She had given Loki two tasks: trick Thanos into giving him the Mind Stone Scepter, and lead the Chitauri Army to Earth.
But that only gave Loki a direction. How to pull it off was up to him.
Loki held nothing back and began recounting what he had been through.
From deliberately falling into the rift, to drifting through the Void, to being discovered by Thanos's people, everything had happened just as Hermione had foretold.
As Loki spoke, he watched Hermione's reactions.
He noticed that Hermione showed little interest in Thanos. Instead, she cared more about the Chitauri.
That made Loki even more certain that Hermione knew far more about the universe than he had imagined, and that her goal was by no means limited to a single Mind Stone Scepter.
"You... weren't lying to me, were you?"
After finishing his account, Loki suddenly asked.
His voice held hesitation, hope, and a faint undercurrent of fear.
"Can you really help me avert Ragnarok, save Asgard and my mother, and put me on the throne?"
He stared intently at Hermione.
The scenes from those prophecies haunted him like nightmares.
Asgard's destruction and Frigga's death had left him unable to eat or sleep in peace. He desperately wanted to change it all.
Hermione chuckled, her tone certain. "Of course."
"I'm very good at keeping my promises."
She paused, a sly gleam flashing in her eyes. "Still, you know there's no such thing as a free lunch."
"If you want something, you have to give something in return."
"The more you want, the more you have to give. Obedience earns rewards."
Hermione began her manipulation. "Are you ready to obey?"
Loki nodded to show he