Woo! It's finally being published! Been working pretty hard on this one~
So, just to clear stuff up, "Exile Vilify" is the name of a song by The National, written for the video game Portal 2. I just love the song, and it fit so well, I had to use it. ^.^
"Are you quite satisfied? Has your pathetic mind taken pleasure in the knowledge of what your brash actions have caused?"
No response.
"I want you to tell me," Thor's voice echoed with a furious intensity. "If you feel that what you have done was worth it!"
Loki, whose mouth was bound, could not have answered with spoken words. He simply gave a wicked grin, allowing his eyes to convey his message: "I can assure you it was."
He had failed. He knew that. But then again, was the goal ever to succeed? He had succeeded in his own way. He had shown their world- every world- that he was a force to be feared. All those years of being mocked, being cast aside, and he had finally gotten to prove himself. Yes, that was the goal. That had always been the goal.
Thor sighed and turned away. "Six months." He said softly. "Six months you have been in isolation, and you still fail to understand the extent of your vile ambitions." His voice was almost sorrowful in tone. "Are you unable to learn, brother?"
The chains holding Loki in place rattled as he jerked forward, letting out a muffled cry of rage, as he wished to strike him. He dared claim their relation, after all they had been through? He dared speak down to him, after seeing what he was capable of?
So he sat, looking up at his adoptive brother, loathing radiating from those piercing eyes; those eyes Thor had seen as friendly for most of their lives.
When had it gone wrong? Had it been when Thor had been temporarily exiled? Or perhaps during the minor invasion of Jotunheim? Or had it begun much earlier than that? Back when they were children, when Loki had first begun to suspect that he was different than his Asgardian kin, based on his appearance alone? He had always been clever like that. Thor often contemplated how that would feel, to think oneself an outcast, only to discover his whole life had been a lie. Although he tried, he could never finish the thought. It was far too frightening, too painful.
Loki glared up at him, wishing he could somehow know what he was thinking. "You are an incompetent fool who finds joy witnessing others' suffering." A small chuckle on Loki's part. "And now, you yourself shall be shown into a life equal to those which you impacted." Wait, surely he can't mean... "You will return only after you see the error of your ways." The unusually cool, composed face took on an aura of fear, of pure terror. "I am sorry." Could Thor not simply kill him, save him the torture? Did he have no mercy? "You may thank our father for giving me the idea." And in a flash of blinding light and sound, Loki found himself falling, his mouth free to let out a scream, and he hit the cold, foreign ground.