Asgard, a year ago…
Loki stood before the man who, for all intensive purposes, was his father. His adopted father. He no longer called him father, not even Allfather. As far as he was concerned, he no longer had a father. He killed his biological father, Laufey, after tricking him into coming into Asgard under the guise of killing Odin while he was deep in Odinsleep; and the man he had always believed to be his father had betrayed him. Cast him aside, as if he were a second fiddle, favoring his own son, Loki's brother, Thor. He failed to tell him of his true heritage, that he was a Frost Giant, though malformed. Loki had to discover this knowledge on his own and he questioned Odin's motives ever since. In his mind, it explained everything. Odin could never let a Frost Giant sit on the throne of Asgard.
"What do you have to say for yourself, Loki?" Odin demanded, his voice booming with authority.
Loki did not respond immediately, opting instead to think of the perfect response and how it would be crafted. Truthfully, he did not believe he owed anyone an explanation, but he had to consider all the options and possible outcomes; he was not one to make rash decisions. As he thought of what he wanted to say, if anything, he felt the eyes of all those in the room on him. He looked up at his mother, the woman who had cared for him so, looking at him tearfully. Though many would believe him to be an emotionless, heartless monster, seeing her eyes welling with tears did break his heart. She was the only one who he did not want to ever hurt.
"I wanted to prove to you that I, too, could be great," he finally answered. "I was tired of living in the shadows of Thor. I felt invisible to you. I wanted you, Thor, and all of Asgard to see what kind of leader I could have been."
"I no longer know who you are," Odin responded, his voice laced with defeat.
This declaration had no affect on Loki. He continued to stand ramrod straight, with his head held up high. He was not going to be the cowering fool he was upon his defeat, when finally captured by his brother to be lead back to Asgard, handcuffed and muzzled like an animal.
"Likewise," Loki replied, boldly. He was taking quite a chance, as his fate rested entirely with the Allfather.
A tense silence crept over the room. Everyone was waiting to see what Loki's fate would be. Death? Imprisonment? Eternal sleep? Something else? Loki could see Odin contemplating, thinking carefully on how he would punish the man he had once considered a son; he could feel Thor's nervousness. Despite all that had transpired between the two, he knew Thor still cared for him deeply. And though he hated to admit it, he still cared for his brother, too. When he fell into the abyss, Thor was the only one who cried out for him.
"Loki, I don't know what to do with you," Odin finally stated, breaking the silence. "Your mother still regards you as a son, so I cannot in good conscience send you to your death and yet, I feel like imprisonment would be too good for you and perhaps too dangerous for us all, should you manage to find a way to escape."
He would be a liar if he were to say his heart wasn't pounding. Death was out, which was good, but so was imprisonment. What was left? If he were not standing before Odin, his mother, next to Thor, and in a room full of important Asgardians, he would have shuddered at the thought.
"Instead," his father declared, "you will be turned into a tree, on Midgard. The only way for you to retake your true form is if you can actually manage to find a human who will cry for you."
"Father-" Thor began, attempting to reason.
"Silence!" Odin interrupted, his voice echoing throughout the chamber. "My decision is final."
Loki felt like the air had been kicked out of him. He no longer could withhold his emotions as shock overcame his face. His breathing grew labored as he tried to grasp what was happening to him. He had barely heard his mother burst into tears. He hardly noticed the panic on his brother's face. A tree? A tree?! His father was going to turn him into a Godforsaken tree?! Before the panic could set in, however, before he could fully understand what was about to happen to him, he saw a bright light and suddenly, Asgard disappeared and his body was falling faster than the speed of light toward Midgard.
Notes: I know that in the comics Loki was turned into a tree, I thought I would pay homage to that in my story, since it hasn't appeared in the movies (yet). How he will get out of it will be different, however.