The sound of Loki's chains against the hard floor reverberated off the palace walls as the guards led him to the throne room. A second time now, he was being led in shackles to the Allfather, the second time this month to be exact. He kept his features smooth, calm. He wouldn't let anyone know the storm of fear swirling in his gut, he was good at that. They approached the doors to the throne room, the large golden doors decorated with intricate designs. Loki followed their lines, trying to distract himself from the coming judgment that awaited him on the other side. Footsteps came from his right and Thor stood next to him, it was an oddly calming thing, to have him with him this time to face the Allfather. He did not smile, only gave a solemn nod his direction. He wouldn't expect any more of him, the ridiculous oaf. The heavy doors groaned as they were pushed open by the guards, and Loki was led through.
The walk to the throne felt like a walk through eternity. Guards standing by looked down upon him like a small bug that would soon be squashed.
Deceitful. Trickster. Liar. Monster. He had heard them all before, and could only assume that was what went through their heads as they watched the war criminal make his way to the golden throne, atop which sat his judge, the man he once called father.
Reaching the foot of the dais, they stopped, he remained looking straight ahead. No sarcastic remark, or action, nor did he meet the Allfather's eyes. They were beyond snide remarks now, after what he'd done. There was no room for fair judgment here, no going back. He swallowed the lump in his throat as the Allfather rose from his throne.
"Loki Laufeyson, you are aware of the actions which have brought you back to me in chains, are you not?" he spoke, his voice rising throughout the room, loud enough to wake the dead. Why don't you just invite all of Asgard in here then, old man. He clenched his fists in his cuffs, doing anything to suppress the sarcastic remarks waiting in the back of his throat to slip out. He settled for a nod, showing that he was at least listening.
"I did not seek immediate punishment for you," the Allfather began. Here we go, "for escaping prison and helping your brother rid the Nine Realms of the Dark Elves. I was a fool for not doing so, for you have deceived the Nine Realms once again. You sat on the throne of Asgard, impersonating their king, while I had slipped into the Odinsleep, unaware of your actions." He paused, and he took this initiative to speak, and defend what was left of his dignity.
"Was I not protecting this realm and the others, by taking the responsibility my brother so kindly rejected?" The Allfather's grip on his golden staff tightened as the words hit him, he was right. He had watched over the kingdom while he slept, never harming anyone. Simply ruling over Asgard, like he always wanted.
"While your actions may prove your words true, I cannot assume your intentions were following the same path. Therefore, I cannot pardon you."
Of course not, you couldn't go a day without passing judgment on me if your very existence depended on it.
"And that is why you will return to your cell and continue to live out your previous judgment." Thor stepped forward to speak, but the Allfather shot him a look and he stepped back down.
Loki gritted his teeth at the Allfather's decision. After nearly dying for the sake of this realm and the eight others he was still going to rot in that damned cell. This time though, without Frigga. Without her visits, the books she sent him to keep him occupied. He had no doubt Odin would take all the small luxuries she'd sent him away, and treat him like an animal.
Loki opened his mouth to speak, but immediately closed it, exhaling sharply through his nose. Odin sat back down on the throne. "We are finished here."
The guards took him by the shoulders and pulled him back, leading him away from the throne.
Loki was seething, his fists clenched in rage. Like hell I'm going back to that cell. As soon as the doors to the throne room shut behind him, the struggle ensued. He would not let them take him. Not this time.
Glancing at the guard to his left, he elbowed him in the gut. Turning to the other, he kicked his knee, temporarily crippling him long enough to deliver a swift hit to the head. A handful of guards circled him as he fought to escape. Grabbing a spear from one, he struck him in the head, another in the back of the legs, sending him to the ground. Another guard lunged at him, spear raised high. Loki grabbed his arm, kicking him in the gut, and slamming him against the wall. As another guard charged, he held his arms up as he brought his spear down and it cut through the chains. Ducking under the guard's arm, he grabbed his weapon and threw him to the ground, steadying the spear and cutting through the chains on his ankles.
He looked at two guards closing in on him and conjured his dagger. His pulse pounded in his ear as he began to panic. As the first one charged, Loki slashed him across the face with the dagger, sending him reeling back in pain. A quick stab to the gut and he fell to the ground. The next one attacked, he bent backwards as he swung his spear at him, and kicked him against the wall with a loud thud before he could strike again.
Not waiting for another group of guards to discover the scene, he ran.
Racing through the columns of the palace, he jumped a small hedge and took off for the stables. Sneaking past the stable boy, he slipped into the stables and found Sleipner, the steed chewing on some hay in his stall. Not bothering with a saddle, Loki grabbed a bridle and made his way into the stall. The horse recognized his presence and welcomed him with a gentle nudge with his nose.
"I need you to get me out of here," Loki said, nearly pleading with the horse. Sleipner lowered his head, allowing Loki to slip the bridle on. Jumping on his back the horse trotted out of the stall and took off for the fence, jumping it in a swift movement. Loki heard the stable boy shout something, but he was too far away to hear. Charging down the streets of Asgard, they dodged numerous carts as they headed for the city gates. Apparently word of his escape hadn't reached yet, when they sped right through the gate that led to the bifrost.
Halfway down the bridge he heard the stampede of other horses behind them. Urging Sleipner on, the horse sped up, and skidded to a halt at the bifrost, where Heimdall stood. Charging the gatekeeper, he dodged the swing of Heimdall's sword, he revealed his Frost Giant form once more in his desperation. Freezing Heimdall to the ground, he grabbed the sword out of his hand. Heimdall kicked his way out of the frozen shackles and attempted to grab Loki. In a rush of adrenaline, Loki took the gatekeeper by the arm and flung him over his shoulder onto the bridge. Making his way inside, he raised the sword and thrust it into the structure. As the spherical structure began to spin, a thud came from behind him, Thor. For the first time in his life, he didn't want to fight his brother. He just wanted to leave. Putting his dagger in his coat, he made his way to the swirling vortex of color that would transport him to freedom.
"Loki!" Thor shouted, advancing towards his brother. Loki ducked out of the way, sending Thor flying over him, crashing to the ground.
As Loki stepped towards the light, he looked upon his brother one last time, who had stood up and was preparing to charge again.
"Just let me go, Thor." His voice was thick with desperation, causing the God of Thunder to pause. Desperation was something he rarely heard from Loki, who never showed his weak side, if he even admitted to having one. Before he could try to convince him to stay, Loki turned and jumped headfirst into the bifrost.
Unprepared for the sudden jump, Loki was tossed about as the bifrost transported him to his unknown destination. As he was thrown every which way, unable to maintain a steady formation to ride out the trip, flashes of stars and nebulas danced before his eyes. Just as he felt he might be sick, the stars and galaxies instantly vanished, replaced by a bright blue sky. The bifrost opened up, and with an explosion, shot him out like a rocket, and he flew into the ground. The impact of hitting the earth pushed him up again, and he flew another few feet before crashing into the ground.
Rolling over onto his stomach, dizzy from the experience, he tried to bring himself to his feet. Losing his balance, he fell over with a thud and lied in the tall grass, still catching his breath from the fall. His body went limp, and his eyes fluttered shut.
In a small kingdom, nestled at the bottom of the mountains, resting on the side of the river that cut through the valley, the inhabitants looked up as dark clouds began forming in the clear sky seemingly out of nowhere. They gasped as a small funnel shot down from the clouds, creating an explosion as it hit the ground. It vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and the citizens of the kingdom were overcome with fear. They flocked to the castle gates, in hopes that their queen might have an explanation for this strange occurrence.
In the courtyard of the palace, an energetic redhead sprinted behind a column, clutching a stack of papers close to her chest. The doors to the courtyard burst open, and an older woman, her blonde hair pulled up in a neat bun, scanned the courtyard for the redhead.
"Anna," she called. "I know you're out here. Come out, I have work to finish."
Silence.
Quietly making her way down the steps, she crept through the courtyard, peering behind columns in search of the girl. Coming to the last column, the redhead slowly backed around the large cylinder as the queen looked behind it, scrunching the bridge of her nose in confusion when she discovered no one was there. Where else could she be…
The queen stopped as she felt something tug on the magenta cloak she wore, a foot. Peeking over her shoulder, she caught a glimpse of Anna's skirt on the other side of the column. With a sly grin, she poked her head around the column and came face to face with her younger sister.
"Boo."
Anna jumped, dropping the papers she had taken from Elsa. Elsa laughed softly, bending over to gather the papers off the ground. Straightening the stack, she looked down at her sister, who was blushing now that she had been caught.
"I just wanted to you take a break, you always have to stay in that office…" her voice trailed off as she looked down. Sighing softly, the queen looked at her sibling; she knew it killed her to be deprived of her attention, especially after she spent so many years shut out of her life. Come on, just give the girl twenty minutes of your time. There's always going to be work, it can wait.
"Okay," Elsa gave in. "I'll take a break."
"Really?!" Anna's eyes lit up with excitement. The queen nodded, and called for a servant. Instead, a guard came rushing through the doors to the courtyard. Searching frantically, he spotted the queen and hurried to her. Reading his facial expressions, her face grew dark with concern.
"What's happened?" she asked, her brow furrowed.
"My queen…" he panted, trying to catch his breath from running. "There… the townspeople... outside the gates… they… they're asking for you…"
Handing him the stack of paperwork, she motioned to Anna to go inside, who nodded and headed for the doors without question. Making her way to the gates, two more guards stood at her side as she summoned for the gatekeepers to open the gates.
Hooking their metal poles to the large knobs on the gates, the gatekeepers pulled back. The wooden gates opened up, revealing a crowd of terror-stricken people.
"The queen is here!" someone shouted from within the crowd. "She will save us!" The crowd cheered as the queen approached them. Holding her hands out, she motioned for them to quiet down to speak.
"What has happened that has caused you such distress?" she looked from face to face. They responded with several answers at once.
"Strange phenomenon!"
"Black magic!"
"Mother Nature is furious!"
"We have angered the gods!"
"The end of the world!"
"Hold on, one at a time." Elsa said, remaining calm. "Now, someone tell me exactly what happened." A man stepped forward. A farmer, she presumed. He wore dirty overalls with a straw hat, which he removed before bowing to her. She nodded, urging him to continue.
"My queen," he began. "I was plowing my fields, when my donkey jumped, like a beast was hiding in the woods. I couldn't get her to calm down, couldn't tell what was the matter with her, when I saw it. Strange black clouds were swirling in the sky above me. I heard a loud noise and a funnel, like a snake coming out the sky came down. And then, it was gone! Just like that!" shouts of agreement rose from within the crowd, confirming the man's story.
Glancing at the sky momentarily, she saw no sign of dark clouds, or a storm in the distance. "Does anyone know where this funnel came down?"
"Yes ma'am I do," answered the farmer. "Right there on that hill." He pointed to a field not far outside the kingdom. "But we don't dare go up there, who knows what could be hiding there."
Examining their faces, Elsa sighed, knowing no one was going to step up to see what had happened up there.
"Fetch me my horse! I will go to the field myself and investigate this phenomenon." Elsa declared.
"My queen," a guard replied, "There could be something dangerous up there, you could be injured."
"This is my kingdom, and I will protect it from whatever decides to endanger my citizens." She replied, refusing to back down.
"Please my queen," the voice of her servant Kai came from behind. "Let the guards go and investigate, we can't have you running off and getting hurt." Looking at one of her most trusted servants, she sighed. She knew why he couldn't let her go. They couldn't lose another leader. Looking to the guards, she cleared her throat.
"Take a handful of men on horseback with you to the field. Investigate and return to me with your findings, but should you encounter anything you believe you cannot handle, do not stay. Come straight back. Understand?" The guard nodded, and called for a group of guards to assist him. They headed for the stables as the queen turned back to her people.
"We will take care of this situation immediately. In the meantime, go back home, and do not leave the kingdom. When I receive word of what has happened I shall summon you all and repeat what they tell me." She offered them a reassuring smile; it was all she could give them for now. But they understood, and thanked her for taking care of the matter, and they dispersed.
Looking back at the field where the storm supposedly hit, she silently prayed it was nothing that her men couldn't handle. Kai laid a hand on her shoulder and ushered her back inside the gates as a group of men on horseback charged through the streets towards the field.
Loki groaned and squinted his eyes in the bright sunlight. Sitting up, he felt a sharp pain in his side, which he assumed occurred when he fell. Looking around, he tried to figure out which realm he had landed in. He hadn't even thought of a place when he opened the bifrost, leaving the choice of the destination random. There were no buildings nearby. He had landed on a hill near a field of tall, green grass. Looking to his right, there were snow-capped mountains, on his left, a small valley of trees led to a small town. Upon closer inspection, he discovered a castle resting by the edge of a fjord, which led to an ocean. A kingdom.