Chapter 1

Dark. This one word is more than enough to describe my cell.

A cell indeed. I am a God, a sorcerer, a Frost Giant; I could escape any time…if I still had my powers. But Odin, my dear father, has stripped me of all my powers before I could so much as blink. Now I am nothing but a mere, weak, vulnerable, pathetic mortal. That is what Loki Laufeyson, the rightful King of Asgard, has become.

Enough with the self-pity. I will find a way out of here. I have to. All Father shall have me executed, there is no doubt on that. I have done horrible, horrible things. I must be punished, and punished I shall be.

Thor hasn't paid a visit yet, and honestly that hurts me more than it should. Much more. What is Thor to me?

Do I really want to answer that question?

He is my brother and my friend. My lover and the person I hate most of all in the world, in every world, because he has such great power on me without even trying.

He is angry with more for certain. He strongly believes that I have used his love for me in order to save myself. Well, I did just that at first. But then I gave in. I love him, and that shall be my undoing.

I cannot allow this. Hatred is the only emotion that I "support". Hatred is pure, cleansing. If you hate someone but they don't hate you back, you don't end up heart-broken. When hatred finds a home in your heart, all you are is driven and free.

And lonely.

So, yes, this is my life. Wonderful, is it not? Well, I hate it. I hate everything. I can't live as a mortal. I have been so close. I could reach out and grab the world and rule and do whatever the hell I wanted with it. Now, however, I am nothing but Loki the wretched.

Maybe execution would have been better, a kinder fate. At least, I would keep my pride and dignity. I wouldn't have to endure all this. The pain, the loneliness, the absence of my own honor. I would die as Loki, the King of Asgard. Now, I shall die as a mere mortal who had been defeated again and again and again.

The thought that the presence of Thor would make things better is killing me. I don't need anyone. I am fine on my own, thank you very much! I have seen how I was when I had "friends" –I am, of course, referring to Lady Sif and the notorious Warriors Three—and how I was without friends. I do not need friends. I don't need anyone. I almost gave everything up for Thor. Then, I got my sense back and stabbed him.

Yes, well, I cannot really blame him for not wanting to see me. I would just love to see him angry once again. I do not know why, but I love seeing him angry. Maybe it is the fact that it reminds me just how possessive and strong and dominating he can be. What I am sure of is that sometimes I can do anything in order to provoke him and see him put the mask of the God of Thunder on. And now I have given him enough reason to be angry with him, haven't I?

I have been a bad boy. Will you punish me, brother?

Or will you just leave me here to rot or kneel before you just as I wanted those mortals to kneel before me? I am a mortal now as well. It is my natural state now.

Has Odin crowned you King yet? Why shouldn't he? You are so big and strong, we must worship thee. You are Odin's true heir, and there is no one around to bring Frost Giants inside Asgard and ruin your crowning day. Maybe you should call your new friends, the Avengers, to be present at the ceremony. Wouldn't that be great? Stark would make fun of everything. Barton would be constantly looking for me in order to put an arrow in my eyeball. Romanoff would be at his side, as beautiful and courteous and deadly as ever. Rogers would try to understand our world. Banner would try to remain calm so as not to turn into a green monstrosity.

I will not be there. I will not be by your side. I will remain here, unaware of what is going on outside the bars, suffering. And you will forget about me as if I have never been a part of your life, your brother, your friend, your companion, your lover. I will die, but no one will remember me. Not even as the monster I have grown to become, the monster I have always been, the monster I have been born to be.

Leave me alone. Leave me here in this dead silence, this decaying cell. I do not need your pity. And I do not need sentiment. Life is better without it. Life is better without you…