Odin and Thor spoke privately of Loki's trial taking place the following day.
"Father, what can we do to stop this?"
"Nothing, my son. This law was enacted millennia ago and has not been enforced for hundreds of years. I should have abolished it when I had the chance. Now it is too late. Loki will pay the price."
"It's barbaric."
"Yes. Asgard has not always been so civilized."
At the trial, Loki was found guilty of treason and sentenced to be burned by venom from the jaws of the stone serpent when the three moons of Asgard came into alignment. The great stone serpent was built before anyone could remember but they knew that the belly of the beast was built around a fountain of toxic vapor, one drop of which could make a man writhe in unbearable agony on contact. The venom only traveled up to the mouth of the stone serpent when the gravitational pull of the three moons was strong enough to condense three drops on the fangs of the great beast. On the Night of the Missing Moons, a drop fell once an hour for three hours. The first drop would be for Loki. He would be subjected to one drop every Night of the Missing Moons for one year and spend the rest of his life imprisoned.
On the night of his punishment, guards came to Loki's cell, ordered him to remove his shirt and motioned for him to hold his hands behind him until the magnetic cuffs were activated. He was led by the guards down the Great Hall lined with tiers of seated Asgardians jeering at the traitor who had caused so much pain on Asgard and on Earth.
The punishment would be severe but Odin knew it could be worse. Thor's friend seeing him distressed, told him, "It won't last long. He will quickly lose consciousness from the pain and it won't scar." Thor wasn't comforted.
At the end of the hall, the serpent waited with a small stone mastaba at its base. If you don't know what a mastaba is, google it. Loki lay down on the top of the mastaba with his torso on the flat top and his wrists and ankles bound at the bottom of the four corners of the stone. His head rested tilted back on one of the slopes of the mastaba but he could still see the hideous face of the stone serpent leering down at him. The hall was silent as everyone looked up to see the three moons moving close to and then disappearing behind each other so that only one moon appeared. In moments, a drop from the serpent's mouth would fall to Loki's exposed abdomen. The crowd held its breath in anticipation.
The pain was more intense than even Loki had imagined. Every nerve in his body screamed in pain and the crowd saw his body contort in agony. A cry of pure anguish came from him and then it was over as he slumped, unconscious. The guards quickly removed him from the stone and locked his wrists behind him. They placed a lifting bar under his arms behind his shoulder blades and carried him back to his cell. This time no one made any noise because Loki couldn't hear them.
Natalie Portman joined Thor in Asgard. When they got married, Natalie Portman became an official citizen of Asgard. Unfortunately, the Chitauri managed to frame her as a traitor and she was condemned to the same fate as Loki. But unlike Loki, Natalie Portman was mortal and, it was feared, would die from the venom of the stone snake. Thor was out of his mind and put under house arrest. It was Loki's fourth and last time to be punished and he was ready for it to be over. When the guards brought him out of his cell, to everyone's surprise, he escaped and made a mad dash for the tiers, jumping onto the wall and causing mayhem. He ran through one of the doors and down a side hall, yelling, "You can't catch me! I'm the Gingerbread Man!" They did catch him but the first drop from the snake's mouth had already fallen. It didn't matter, though, because two drops remained, one for him and one for Natalie Portman. The crowd was screaming, "Coward!" at him but he still struggled and seemed hellbent on not cooperating. It took fifteen guards to hold him down and fasten him to the mastaba. They mocked him, "There's no escaping now. Be a man."
After the drop fell and Loki fainted, he was held by guards at the corner of the room as Natalie Portman entered. Her face was pale but brave as she lay down on the stone and moved her shirt to expose her stomach. The crowd was silent. They knew it was an execution. As the drop formed at the fangs of the stone snake, Loki faded in and out of consciousness, but he had to complete his plan even though he was so weak. Summoning all the willpower he had, he broke free and ran to the mastaba. With his back to Natalie Portman, he lifted his bound hands over her and placed them on the other side of the stone. He blocked the falling drop with his body, collapsing onto his elbows as the venom took all his strength.
It was black at first, but Loki was eventually able to make out faint forms. He was back in the Underworld again, but he didn't know if it was Hel again or Valhalla and he didn't know how long it would be for this time. Hopefully, a month at least because even Valhalla was better than being imprisoned in Asgard. He just wanted a chance to get up to some mischief before he had to go back.