Synopsis: Set after the events of the pending Avengers movie. Having been apprehend by Thor and taken home, Loki must answer for his crimes on Midgard.
No, Loki.
The words inside his head rang clear. Reverberate from the time of his fall. An insidious lopsided grin broke across his narrow mouth in a placid but hollow movement. He made sharp note of the courtiers who recoiled themselves but more importantly those that did not, the stoic Hogun, the perpetually indifferent Sif and of course Balder. Balder who had probably waited for this moment his entire life. Those who had loathed him from birth now afforded him no civility. For all he once was had expired. Loki straightened and reclaimed his neutral expression. It would do him no good to writhe like a creature possessed, being shackled before Odin, the All Father, while Balder, Sif and the Warriors Three looked down on him, was humiliating enough. It seemed appropriate to adopt a different tactic.
Thor continued to regale Odin in a low tone. Disbelief crushed his anger. Loki remained still, carefully marking the specific details that Thor deliberately did not include. Dutiful Thor, how you cling to your misguided sense of honour and to be burdened by such a protective nature, you would shield a monster if he be your own. Loki felt an emotional drop. When Thor brought the names of his mortal team, the Avengers to his lips, a strange rasp overtook his speech. A fierce blue glare shot the trickster deeper down into his emotional rut. To have been considered your equal just once would have been enough. It would have been enough, brother. Thor was breathing deeply. Having stated his piece, he bowed his head reverently and waited.
In turn Odin was slow to respond. All but one member of the assembly felt stifled by the sombreness. Loki pondered his next move absentmindedly. A regrettable force of habit.
Odin lifted his eyebrows. He addressed his son with an exasperated sigh. "Loki," More was spoken between them then either had intended. Loki milked his poisonous concoction of apprehension, disappointment and guilt. Odin withdrew his gaze, distraught with the image of his own child's vulnerability. "Loki," He repeated himself more softly. "Have you any explanation for your… mischief?"
Mischief was an odd word to use. Loki slipped back into his analytical thoughts. There had been malice in his deeds, could Odin not see it? Did he not think Loki capable of having a serious intention? Did he look the other way because he thought so little of Loki? Try as he might, Loki could not rein in his sudden revulsion and so settled himself to his own brand of satisfaction. Toying with a verbal knife.
"I fell through a wormhole and went mad," Loki smirked.
"This is no joke!" Odin did not quite boom but there was no mistaking the anger in his voice.
"Quite right, I went mad prior to falling into a wormhole," His amusement was unsurpassed. I can always find solace in myself. Perhaps I'm of no use to anyone but myself...
Odin seemed stunned, his stern expression dropped abruptly. As anticipated. The trickster felt pleased with himself. After all it was Odin who had allowed the rejected runt of a mongrel race to enter his household, his beloved family and to some extent his old heart. It was Odin who had enabled the Frost Giant spawn to have a legitimate claim to the throne of Asgard. It was Odin who had lied. Loki curled his lips. How you must regret your decision, that fateful day! How you must despise the sight of me! He began pacing mentally, certain that his doom had been sealed.
For a creature so pragmatic, to be taken by surprise was never a pleasant experience.
The All Father had observed his adopted son repeatability fail from an early age. As a small, fragile child, Loki was neither strong enough nor brave enough to match his much-loved elder son. Asgard favoured Thor as their Prince and their future King. It had never been a secret. It had never been a contest. Loki never stood a chance.
Then Asgard had never been privy to the family behind closed doors. Thor may have been easier to relate to, he was a chip of the old block in more ways then one, but little Loki was something of an enigma. Unusually bright and perceptive, the child possessed a natural talent for manipulating situations to suit his advantage. Odin maintained that Loki was brilliant rather then an inherit Jotuun trait. It pleased him further that Loki lacked his brother's vices, the foolhardiness, the arrogance, the impatience. If Loki had other personal demons, they went unnoticed. Odin seemed content that Loki had the makings of a fine second-in-command, but had never entertained the thought that he was more suited to be King.
In my vanity I desired that only my blood should inherit the crown. Odin slowly realised.
"I never understood you, Loki." The All Father spoke in a tight voice. "That is my failing as your Father. And not my first, I gave you false ambition and dangled you over a future I had no intention of letting you have. I never expected the truth to be of comfort to you, but I never thought it cause to become so volatile. Make no mistake. I know precisely what you are trying to do." Odin's face sharpened. "Do not go down this path, my son. You will not like where it leads."
The candour of the All Father seemed to unsettle Loki the most, who began shifting uncomfortably on his knees.
Continuing his temperate pace, Odin turned his thoughts to reconciliation. "There is no action that you could take that would diminish my love for you. Nor words that would ever make me consider you less then my son. Now is the time for amends and to put the unhappiness behind us. What was lost can always be salvaged." He smiled gently on Loki. "I swear to you from this moment until Ragnarok, I shall not mislead you again."
A peculiar feeling seeped into Loki's stomach. It was nausea. "You think your words mean anything to me now?" He snarled. "I am not your son! That was a lie! Everything you ever told me was a lie! And you would ask me to go back? Why? So that you might feel justified? That you might have peace of mind? Why should either be concern of mine?"
Unable to hide his irritation, Odin clasped his head. The old King was started to feel exhausted. It was then that Thor took leave of all formality.
"What does Loki mean, Father?" A dark scowl had been embedded into his large brow. Odin levelled his gaze to include his two sons. Loki bolted upright. The truth had just dawned on the trickster. It was all too delightful.
"He doesn't know? You didn't tell him!" The coarse accusation shrieked across the hall. Loki flung back his dark head and wrenched a cold laughter from his throat. Surely this would prove his undoing! "Come, come Father! Don't be bashful! Did you just not promise no more deception?"
A bewildered Thor watched his younger brother carefully. In a grave voice the thunderer proceeded with the question once more.
"Do no press this matter." Odin commanded. "It will do more harm than good."
Loki put his grin away quickly. "Then again, the truth was never something our Father was never best acquainted with!"
"Hold your tongue!" Odin barked.
"How quickly you abandon the façade of a loving Father when it suits you! Tell me what harm does the truth pose? If it does not offend you or Mother, then why should it matter to my dear brother or to the rest of Asgard? Unless that is another one of your many lies! How convincing! Is this how you propose we begin our relationship anew? Then nothing has changed! Perhaps because it can't, because there is nothing between us except lies!"
Thrilled to have dominion over the entire room, Loki struggled with a fit of giggles. Of course there was no going back. There had been a chance of that. For better or for worse, I will never walk in Thor's shadow again!
"I am not Odin's son. I was never Odin's son! I was never anything but the abandoned son of Laufey. The rejected Frost Giant runt, left for dead, only to be stolen by Odin in a moment of weakness. Or perhaps it was opportunity. You did intent to cast me out when it favoured the realm, didn't you Father? I was just a means to an end!" Loki grimaced. "Doesn't it all make sense now, Thor? We're not related by species let alone blood! I am just a stolen relic! A war trophy! A…"
"Hush, brother…"
Loki raised his head sinuously. Interruptions annoyed him, especially during a rant. He hunched his shoulders and raised an eyebrow. "Something displeases you?"
"It changes nothing, brother." Thor said flatly.
"It changes everything, you sap!" His pale features contorted with a roar. It had to.
Didn't it?
Didn't it?
It was done, over in an instance. And his son cared not. Odin shook his head. Prince of Asgard, son of the All Father, brother to the Mighty Thor, titles alone could not protect Loki now. With a firm hand, Odin motioned to the guards. Wide eyed and sprawling, the trickster was hoisted to his feet. He flashed his sharp teeth venomously. "I may be the Prince of lies, but Odin is the Father of lies!"
"Govern your tongue, Loki," Thor opened his mouth in frustration. Reluctantly Loki seemed to recline into his captors grip, unwilling or uncaring to protest further. He was shortly removed from sight.
The silence took their breaths as it had never done before. As the uproar shrank from range, troubled eyes fastened on the All Father, for guidance or vindication. Undoubtedly moods were mixed. Some were better at masking their emotions then others. Volstagg's pale eyes bulged. He exchanged nervous glances with Fandral whose mouth hung low and wordless. Sif was fixated on Thor, attempting to read him. Balder was incensed, the broad warrior now realised his hand tightly clasped the handle of his blade.
"What was stated here will not become public knowledge," Odin turned to cautiously survey those assembled. "If it does, the perpetrator or perpetrators shall be publicly executed." He stiffened and rubbed his temples. "I will not have Loki cast out, not by anyone. Not while I live."
Thor gritted his teeth. Bowing with his hand covering his heart, he left the hall alone. Shadowed by Balder and Sif.
