Libertas
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Additional Notes(1): I have only seen the movies and read a few comics. I am receiving information of substance from my resident expert, though he is not Beta reading for me (nor does he actually know I am writing this!) Please bare with me if my story breaks one or all of the existing universes.
000
Prologue
Well this was awful.
Loki was paraded around Asgard like some sort of circus animal or war trophy (though he supposed he was the reward for being defeated on Earth…) His arms were completely bound in a freeze resistant material and his mouth was covered by an absurd muzzle. While no one could see his full expression, his eyes gave away the scowl he was wearing.
Even while being considered insanely dangerous, with a full guard protecting the spectators from so much as a look from him, Loki still stood (literally) in his brother's shadow.
As they approached the landing where Odin King stood, he involuntarily slumped and slowed his shuffling. Thor grabbed hold of his arm roughly, pulling him to stand before the old man. There was a moment of silence before Odin finally spoke.
"Loki Laufey-Son," he said, immediately causing a stab of pain to shoot through the prisoner's surprisingly existent heart for Odin's apparent disownment of him, "with your first disobedient incident, I was prepared to forgive you. I understood your underlying pain and the reasoning, however distasteful, behind your actions. When you fell into the abyss, I mourned the loss of my son. You have made it very apparent that we were right to do so, as the Asgardian Prince Loki is now dead, leaving nothing but cold shell of man that had been. In addition to spurring us into tension with a world with whom we have no quarrel, you have made us the enemies of the Chitauri and their allies.
"In order to maintain some semblance of peace, other realms have asked for your imprisonment and I have agreed. You will serve an indefinite sentence. Your release is conditional and will be determined by a council of other-realm leaders, so long as peace remains. Thor, the Warriors Three, Lady Sif—" Loki was surrounded by four of his former friends, "—you will take this prisoner to Tartaros." Odin raised his metallic staff and slammed it to the ground, a thunderous boom resonating throughout the Hall.
Ugh, Tartaros. That was to be expected, he supposed.
Loki was rushed from the Hall and to a distant bridge, one that was not opened nor closed from Asgard, but from the prison realm itself. His guards were silent and cautious as they forced him up the long steps to the hardly used circle. They had only paused for a moment before they were sucked from one world to the next.
It was an uncomfortable place to be. Tartaros was a realm under the control of none, but the protection of all. Only the very worst criminals were sentenced there, and very few ever left. For anyone to be sent as a prisoner, it had to be decided upon by a group made up of the leaders from numerous worlds. It took for many realms to be threatened before Tartaros was considered.
And here he was.
He supposed he should have been proud of himself, in a twisted sort of way.
Even Thor compared to the guards of Tartaros. They were towering, shapeless creatures. Or rather, many shaped creatures. If one were to stare long enough, they would see that the beings rapidly shifted through many different forms—armored men and women who had likely died combating evil and who chose to continuing battling in their afterlives. They unnerved Loki, who had always considered himself to be un-threaten-able.
"Who is charged with this prisoner?" One of the Tartarians glided forward and said in a very non-human tone.
"I, Thor Odin-Son, am charged with this criminal, Loki Laufey-Son, formerly of Asgard," said the prince humbly, fully aware of his lack of authority in the dark realm.
"Thor Odin-Son, do you swear by your life and your realm that this is the Tartaros bound prisoner, Loki Laufey-Son?" Another Tartarian came forward, adding his(its?) presence to the growing pit in Loki's stomach.
For a moment, it seemed as if Thor was unsure of how to answer. Loki supposed he couldn't blame his one time brother. He had many times tricked Thor into believing he was somewhere he was not, or sometimes that he was someone he was not, and the blonde was likely remembering all of those times. Still, Thor answered, "yes, I swear by my name and my realm that his is the prisoner Loki Laufey-Son."
"Then from this moment forward, we take the prisoner, who will be placed in imprisonment until a time which the council declares him free." The two Tartarians moved forward, causing the Asgardians to quickly back step to stay away from the formless masses, and created a sort of bubble around Loki.
The beings did not need to turn around. They simply moved back in the direction they had come from taking Loki with them. At first, he thought to struggle, but he found his legs were moving on their own accord. He had no control over his own body. He tried to open his mouth and speak through the muzzle, but he found his mouth would not move. Loki was forced to stare straight ahead and walk in whatever direction the Tartarians chose to take him.
He couldn't help but think, "this must be how those humans felt once I took their freedom." He did not like that thought.
Loki could not turn his head from side to side, but he still managed to catch a few glimpses.
There were many men and women, as well as some other… things… Some were bound. Many simply stood or sat. Cells were minimal, bare. Some people seemed as if they might have been screaming, but he couldn't hear them.
It annoyed him that he couldn't look upwards. He wanted desperately to see how high up the levels of cells went, but he simply could not. How frustrating it was to not have free will! He felt like a lowly human!
His walk seemed endless. He quickly grew bored of his momentary glimpses of inmates and his legs were tired from moving with an odd heaviness, but he continued on nonetheless. Finally, the Tartarians halted him in front of a seemingly glass cell. The doors opened on their own, and his body walked him in. Loki's arms raised themselves, and the beings took his cuffs, then his muzzle (to his relief,) but his bubble did not yet burst.
When the doors securely shut, the Tartarians' bubble-field disappeared and he felt 'freedom' rush back into his extremities as he fell to the floor due to muscle weakness. Loki took a moment to observe his surroundings while he recovered on his knees. His floor was white, as was his ceiling, but the other four walls were clear. The first thing he noticed was that his room had only three things: a small bed that would barely fit his 6'2" frame, a white table, and a white chair. He did not have a toilet area as some of the other cells, which he surmised was because he technically did not need food due to his 'immortality.' Nor did he have a sink or mirror. Nothing he could freeze if chose to use his frost giant heritage.
"Aren't you a pretty one," a voice mocked from his right, immediately pulling Loki from his thoughts. Originally, he had assumed that the cells were soundproof, but that was apparently not the case, much to his annoyance. When he looked over, he had to fight to avoid showing his disgust. A balding man in a black prison uniform (which Loki had not yet received,) with some sort of boils or bumps on his neck stood smirking at the God of Mischief.
Loki looked away and grimaced. He was, for the first time in his life, starting to second guess himself. He supposed maybe he should've just the stupid humans alone.
Why didn't he just live his life in Asgard as a wealthy, powerful, attractive prince with everything handed to him on a silver platter?
"Because he would always get the gold one, that's why," Loki muttered to himself in spite. With a 'humph,' he shifted to sit cross legged with his arms across his chest and a frown plastered to his pale face.
000
Additional Notes(2): as I've said, I've only really seen the movies. However, I feel that most people who read this won't find much of an issue with that fact. I haven't done fanfic work for a while, so, hopefully I stay motivated. I will probably get a few chapters out, but if no one is reading, my desire to work on it will drop! So please, let me know what you think!
I will be honest with one thing though—I do not proof read, so there is likely grammatical/spelling errors that will not be corrected. I hope that won't bother you too much!
I am not sure where this is going. I simply love the character of Loki, and I adore Tom Hiddleston. So thus I write! My original ideas were scrapped as I was writing the prologue, because, well, I realized that they made absolutely no sense and were just not fully thought out. Ah well, I will post again soon nonetheless.
A_F