Jason has done it again! (I think he writes more than I do these days :P) Another fantastic story! This takes place right after Thor has accidently killed his grandfather Bor with help through Loki's magics effectively banishing Thor from Asgard. Loki is in female form.
''The Long Narrow Road''
Loki lost concentration on the magical grid she had been building, and it faded away with her loss of focus. Someone from Asgard approached her keep. Irritated, she pushed a long lock of black hair behind an ear as she started to rebuild her mystic project of glowing lights in front of her, her study throwing a play of colors across her dark garments as the lights changed in size and hue. The presence returned, this time with another that also felt Asgardian, and the two seemed to be drawing closer. Loki snarled in annoyance then dismissed the project. As two forms framed her doorway she began to speak, ''I hope this intrusion is well merited Bal...'' but her voice caught as she observed the two. Balder in all of his Asgardian regalia, and standing behind him, Thor, also decked out in his usual Asgardian royalty instead of his Midgard civilian clothing. Not only this, but the fact that they stood together here in her home, and the set of their jaws as they gazed upon her rose the hackles on the back of Loki's neck. This could not be good. ''An unexpected surprise, gentlemen, I...''
Balder raised his hand to silence Loki, ''Do not bother with the pleasantries, Loki, your deeds concerning Thor and Bor have become known to me. I have already thought on the matter, and made my decision as Lord of Asgard. Thor's banishment has been lifted, but I have also come here to carry out your punishment personally, as I am much displeased at playing a pawn to your injury of Thor.''
Loki's eyes widened and she took a step back, then her brow drew down in a menacing scowl, ''So it has already been decided, no fair trial for Loki? So you have come to kill me? To slay me like a dog in my home?''
Balder sighed as he took Loki's measure, ''Your word games will avail you not here, Loki, I have had enough of your attempts to turn my emotions to sympathy for you. I do not intend to kill you, you are still a son of Asgard, however misguided. However, your crimes are severe. I had thought to banish you as I had banished Thor, but I remember how many times Odin banished you, and for naught good it did. There is hope, though; one day many years ago I observed one punishment that Odin dealt you that laid you low, for I saw you weeping as our lord left the audience hall.''
''What are you...?'' Loki's eyes widened in horror as the memory of the only event he could be speaking of filled her mind. ''No! You cannot mean to insult me so! I am Loki, a god of Asgard, I am no boy for you to administer such punishment!'' Loki took two steps back, her mind racing on what magic she might use to escape if need be.
Balder's face reflected stern commitment, ''You were no boy when Odin applied the rod to you then, in his wisdom he saw that it was not too late, so we shall repeat that punishment here, in hopes that it will alter your behavior for the better.''
As fast as Loki raised her right hand to draw a glyph of vanishing upon the air Balder was upon her, large as he was still moving with a striking snake's speed to snatch Loki's spell casting hand and drawing it painfully behind her back along with her other hand. ''There is no escaping the consequences of your actions, Loki.''
''You cannot do this! Unhand me, Balder!'' Loki strained at his grip, the veins in her temples rising and her face flushing red at the effort but to no avail. ''This is uncivilized behavior! Grown men do not spank other grown men!''
Balder smiled a slight smile ''Well, good thing you are currently a woman then, Loki.'' Balder's face grew serious, ''I will use whatever means I need to to see justice with you, Loki, even if it means hitting you as I would a babe.'' With that Balder sat himself in one of the study chairs and placed Loki across his lap, and began to swat her ass in slow even strokes with his powerful calloused hand.
''Ow! Ow! This is most unseemly, unfair, ow! Ridiculous!'' Loki squirmed around, trying to cause Balder's hand to miss, but each swing swung true, striking the same increasingly tender area of her buttocks. 'He truly means to punish me here like this, with my blasted brother watching on! Yet another disgrace to me for Thor to revel in!' Loki's face turned red with helpless rage and she increased her efforts to free herself.
Balder's eyes grew hard with admonition. ''Loki, do not squirm so, you only add to your humiliation. I should tell you now that your fellow Asgardians back home will be learning of what happens here, so do yourself a kindness and do not add childish resistance to your shame.''
Sweat beaded on Loki's forehead as a look of shock crossed her beautiful face, ''No! Ow! You cannot mean to do this thing! Ow! Is it not enough that you put me low with such barbaric punishment? Ow! I am a god of Asgard, you trample my name!''
Balder shook his head, ''Wrong, Loki, you have trampled your own name, this is the only thing that may yet teach you the humility you shall need to respect others.'' As he said this, Balder increased the tempo of the spanking slightly, causing Loki to cry out in fresh pain as she tried to adjust to the steady increase in power.
Loki felt helpless frustration mounting as a tight cord in her chest, ''Please, Balder, ow! Please reconsider, ow! I-I have seen the error, ow!, of my ways! Ow! There is no need to, ow!, break my spirit in such a way! Ow! Do you hate me so?''
''You know I do not hate you, Loki, or I would have come to end your life. I do this for your sake, so I ask only that you allow your shame to teach you.'' Balder slapped Loki a bit harder a few more times, causing her to cry out, then as quickly as it had started, it ended. He released Loki to nurse her sore backside upon the floor as he rose to leave the room. ''Your punishment has been carried out here, I shall return to Asgard to tell the others what has transpired.''
''N-no! Please!'' Loki rose to her knees, a look of desperation on her face, ''Please, do not do this!'' Loki's mind raced on what she could do to prevent this insult, ''I shall go back with you, you cannot keep me from addressing the public in my own defense once you have had your say!''
Balder nodded to Loki, ''Yes, you are right, I would not stop you.'' Balder exited the door then, saying over his shoulder, ''However, I do believe your brother might have a word for you on that matter, I shall leave you two to sort your differences.''
Loki's face paled as Thor stepped in front of the door, his strong jaw set and his eyes burning with repressed anger. ''T-Thor, this has all been a great big misunderstanding, I can explain everything.''
Thor did not reply but began to advance slowly toward Loki, the latter backing away from the blond giant. ''I have already been punished by Balder, to my great shame, there is no need for further violence, Thor!'' Loki's back connected with a bookshelf and she looked left and right, seeking escape from his reach.
''He punished you for your crimes against himself and Asgard, you have yet to pay for your many crimes against me, Loki.'' Thor studied Loki as he approached, and Loki could see that he was watching for any attempt at incantation or sign-weaving. Loki needed to make space if she did not wish to repeat her experience with Balder.
''So you will kill me now, brother? Add my death to the shame Balder has brought me?'' Loki's face took on an air of the persecuted.
''No, brother, I intend only to repeat Balder's punishment upon you, to insure that today's lesson stays with you forever.'' Thor's hands came away slightly from his sides, a sign that he readied himself to lunge for the god of trickery.
Loki panicked, 'It is now or never! My rear is still pained from that last beating, this would hurt twice as much, given Thor's anger!' Loki kicked a chair at Thor and used the distraction to bolt for a window, jumping for the opening as she began to incant a spell to turn into a bird, but even as she cleared the ledge, she felt an iron grip wrap around her leg and yank her backwards, interrupting the spell and causing her face to slam painfully into the window sill.
''You cannot escape, Loki.'' Thor's hands clamped like vices around Loki's ankles as he dragged her back into the study by her feet. Loki scrabbled at the floor, succeeding only in dragging a rug along with them.
''No! Wait!''
Thor was heedless of Loki's cries and placed a knee in the small of Loki's back while grabbing her hair as he ripped her dress upwards to expose her bottom.
''Thor! Brother! Please!'' Loki's face was a mask of horror as Thor lifted a muscular arm high to swat her, ''Have I not suffered enough? Look, I bleed now from your cruel blows!''
Thor's mouth became a determined line, ''No, Loki, those cuts you earned yourself trying to escape justice. They count nothing towards your punishment.'' With that Thor's heavy hand fell upon Loki's bared ass and Loki yelped in pain.
''Ow! Ow! Please, no! Ah!
'By Norn!' Loki thought, 'His attacks on me are far stronger than Balder's were, I feel as if I am to break!' ''Please, Thor! Mercy! This feminine frame cannot withstand this beating, you will surely kill me!''
Thor glanced at her appraisingly but did not slacken his savage blows, ''I shall not fall to your trickery, Loki, I know full well a mortal can survive this much from my lengthy time in Midgard, ironically due to your past deeds. No, you shall suffer the full extent of what that body will allow me to do to you.''
''Ah! Ow! Ow! Ahh!'' Loki felt a shiver of fear run down her spine. 'All of that strength, he intends to hurt me to my very limits, this pain is too great!' Loki shuddered as Thor swatted increasingly sensitive cheeks. ''P-please, Thor! My suffering is great, please stop, I am sorry for having wronged you, and will do whatever you like, just please stop this awful torture.'' Tears of both pain and shame ran down Loki's cheeks as she said this.
Thor glanced at Loki and his heart softened upon seeing the real pain in her eyes. Thor closed his eyes and reminded himself of all the pain Loki's treachery had brought him in the past, and he steeled himself against his pity. 'No, my brother requires this, it is truly for his own good. I cannot shelter him from the results of his own actions.' Thor continued to swat his brother's feminine form without mercy, Loki's butt taking on a dark hue of red.
''AH! OWW! AHHH!! OW, OW, AHH!'' Loki looked into Thor's eyes but saw only resolve, and the last of her composure fell away, ''You hurt me! Ow! You hurt me so! Ah! Please! Pleeeeaase! Stop! Ahh!'' Loki's words melted into raw cries of agony as she passed her pain threshold, dark shapes swimming in front of her eyes. 'Surely my brother shall kill me after all. I, Loki, am to die at Thor's hands in this most humiliating fashion. So ends Loki of Asgard, remembered for his shame.' Tears streamed down Loki's face as she thought this, her teeth gritting against the agony of it. ''I shall change, Thor, please allow me the chance to change, if you stop this grisly work I swear I will never cross you again.''
Thor stopped striking Loki, his face reflecting surprise. 'A trick? Likely. But I cannot rule out the possibility of his sincerity. And if I were to do so, I would invalidate the point of this exercise.' ''Very well, Loki. I leave you with a warning, however, should you fail to enact this change you speak of, I will make sure you regret it; I consider it my responsibility as your blood.''
Loki simply nodded up at him with tear-stained cheeks. ''Y-you have my word I shall not cross you again,'' Loki sniffed as Thor released her and rose, allowing Loki to crawl onto a couch, laying there on her stomach afraid to test the welts on her ass.
Thor shot Loki one last look of reproach, ''I leave you now, I pray that I never have to shadow your door again.'' With that Thor swung his hammer over his head thrice and leapt from the window, flying into the open night sky.
**Six Months Later**
Loki sat upon a bench in a park, watching the sun set. She wore the unassuming clothing of a Midgard mortal, a simple blouse, jeans, and a light jacket. She awaited a meeting with the enchantress, Amora, who had promised to meet her here to discuss their plans. Loki had been afraid to even set foot in Asgard for some time, her shame at the thought of being seen by her fellows after what Balder had surely told them was great. That, and the mere thought of Thor brought a twinge of remembered pain to her buttocks. But now she had a fail-safe plan to get revenge on Balder for her humiliation, for if the plot was discovered, Loki would be sure that it was Amora that took the fall. She was late. Loki stood now, her hair pushed by the breeze as she looked left and right. Something felt wrong...
A shadow passed over Loki and she wheeled to see Thor standing behind her. ''Hello, brother. I had hoped we would not meet again like this so soon.'' Thor wore his usual Asgardian apparel, his mighty hammer dangling from his hand. ''It seems I let up on you too early the last time, I will not make that mistake twice.''
Loki's pupils shrunk in abject terror, ''N-no! You cannot mean to do that again! I have fulfilled my promise to you, I have not crossed you since!''
Thor studied Loki, his face grim, ''The promise was to change, Loki, I see you are back to your old treachery, though.''
Loki took a few steps away from him, panic firing his every nerve, ''I know not of what you speak! I have committed no treachery!''
Thor moved towards Loki then, ''You have consorted with others in an attempt to cause Balder harm. Every evil you summon must eventually come to light, Loki, there is no escaping the consequences of your actions.''
Loki's mouth moved soundlessly as she stared at Thor wide-eyed, '' Who... Amora told you this?! She is a liar and wishes me ill, do not believe that witch!''
''Loki, she had us standing in a nearby hall when last you met with her. We would have taken you then, but needed to decide on how to react to your continued betrayal.'' Thor moved faster towards Loki now, and Loki backpedaled until she tripped on the base of the park's fountain, falling backwards into the water. Thor lunged and Loki cast a snare of potent magic only to watch it dissolve upon contact with the tow-headed warrior. Then Thor was upon her, flipping her over onto her hands and knees and then grabbing her around the throat with one hand from behind while wrapping his legs around hers to pin her in place.
''No! I did not understand! I fulfilled my promise as best I understood our agreement, I have done nothing against you, wait!'' Loki clawed at Thor's hand on her throat, but his hand was too strong to move, and the effort caused Thor to tighten his grip, making her gasp and choke. ''Urk! W-wait!''
But Thor did not wait, pulling her pants down until they bound her legs, then standing to better swat her bared ass. Loki gasped at the sudden pain, her memories of this experience creating a stark terror within her. ''Ow! Oww! I-I did no harm! I only considered it! No deed was done, ow, this punishment is unneeded! Ow! Ahh!''
Thor's rigorous spanking continued unabated, ''Consider this preventive maintenance, Loki, you have still nonetheless proven that you have not changed. I allowed myself to believe you when you said you would, imagine my shame when I realized you were back to your old tricks.'' Thor's brow drew down in anger, and both the power of his swing and Loki's cries of pain increased.
Loki stifled her cries of pain as she looked out across the park. 'Oh no, not everyone has left this public place. I must be silent, or they will hear my yelling from this distance!' Sweat broke out on Loki's brow as she struggled to hold back from vocalizing her pain.
Thor noted this, ''I am glad to see you take this punishment more as a son of Asgard would, Loki, it had pained me to see you crying out like a small child. I shall reduce the duration of your whipping for your courage.''
Loki's voice hissed out a desperate pained whisper, ''P-please, Thor, let it end here, I understand what I must do, I am changed, I beg you, let it end.'' Loki glanced out again, seeing that a couple had stopped throwing a football to each other and were looking her way. Loki's face flushed in embarrassment. 'Oh no! They are looking at me! Please, let them turn away and leave!' But they did not leave, in fact, they began to approach the fountain, one of them pointing, and Loki saw others across the park doing the same to better see the spectacle at the fountain. 'No! Not like this!' Loki closed her eyes, as if doing so might hide her shame, or make them disappear in reality, the way a small child might think to make his fears disappear by closing his own eyes. She heard their approach, though, heard their footsteps and the sound of their murmuring voices. Loki hazarded a quick look at her audience, gasping at how many had flocked to watch the show. She squinted her eyes shut again, the redness of her flushed body matching her reddened cheeks, cold sweat pouring in rivulets down her back. 'No! I am a god! These peasants observe MY humiliation?!' Loki cried out in helpless fury as her body shook. Tears of shame ran tracks from her eyes, and Loki did not realize for some moments that Thor had stopped hitting her and released his hold.
''It seems your shame here has been two-fold, Loki. Once again, I shall bid you learn from it, and leave you in peace.'' Thor watched the shivering Loki as she crouched in the water, head in her hands, and shook his head at the gathered crowd. He felt pity once more, but this had to be done. Maybe, just maybe, it was what Loki needed to become a better person. Thor threw his hammer up, dragged along behind it until he soared out of sight into the horizon, and Loki was left to her shame. The crowd seemed to take pity on her after a while too, dissipating finally until she was alone sobbing in the fountain. 'I have fallen so far, to be pitied by mortals. Woe is Loki.'
**One year later**
Loki locked the door behind her, being sure to check the room she entered first. Loki wore a long dark dress and golden jewelry this night, having wanted to make the most favorable impression on her new 'business associates' at their secret meeting. She found herself nervous lately. Even after all this time, Thor's words hung in her mind and haunted her every footstep. Loki walked to her personal mini-bar and poured herself a drink, trying to relax. 'That brute has no reason to know what I am up to, it has nothing to do with Asgard, you are being paranoid, Loki.' Still she shuddered even as she gulped down the wine. She choked as a knock sounded on her door, her heart racing within her chest. Loki tentatively stepped toward the door... 'What have I become that I fear every knock upon my door?' Taking a deep breath, she strode to the door, checking the peep hole and feeling her heart sink. Loki dashed across the room suddenly in a panic, and the door blew inwards with great force as Thor entered.
''Have we not gone over the problems of your trying to escape, Loki?'' Thor kicked a last panel out of his way as he charged into the room after Loki, ''It would be much better for you to accept your punishment.''
''I have done nothing!'' Loki shrilled as she slammed a fist into a panel that slid open an escape tunnel. Loki cast a quick incantation behind her, throwing thick webs between herself and her brother as she ducked into the tunnel, but she advanced only two steps before Thor tackled her, ripped webbing still clinging to his powerful torso. ''Leave me be! I have done nothing wrong!'' Loki entered a frenzy of fear, visions of her past trauma spurring her to claw at the stone floor in a futile attempt to escape Thor's strong hands, her long black nails breaking with the effort.
''You forget so easily that I am still in contact with the Avengers, Loki, I am an old hand at seeing your work at play.''
Loki's face broke into a cold sweat of anticipation, ''So you are here to beat me again? Three times you are to disgrace me so?''
Thor shook his head, ''Actually, Loki, I am going to return you to Asgard with me.''
Loki's mind raced at the implication of this, her face going pale. ''Y-you mean to make it public, don't you?! How cold your heart is to treat me thus!''
Thor appraised Loki with hard eyes, ''Whether that becomes the case is solely dependent on you, Loki. I have decided that the only way to keep you out of trouble is to have you nearby where we can watch you closely, for your own sake. The know the alternative, so make your choice Loki.''
Loki felt a drop of sweat run down her back. 'They mean to make me a prisoner, Loki penned in to ensure he causes no harm, 'for his own good'. But if I refuse, he will beat me here and now... I cannot stand another such...' '' ...V-very well. I shall go with you.'' Loki's eyes dropped to the floor as she said this, and she felt cowed, which flushed her face with shame.
The two left then, Thor standing close and watching her constantly, making Loki pointedly aware of her position as prisoner for the entire journey.
**Two Months Later**
Loki felt the familiar tremor of terror when the messenger rat reported to her that the message had been lost. In her anger, she slew the animal with a bolt of pure energy. Her slender body shook with fear over this horrible news. There is still the possibility that the paper had simply fallen from the animals grip, but even if that had happened, that would mean that now Loki's treasonous letter was lying somewhere in the wilderness for anyone to find! 'Blast! I should have asked that damned rat more questions!' Loki bit her nails in frustration, 'What if Thor... No, I cannot allow myself to think that, there is nothing I can do now, I will simply stop communication with the Hill Giants until it is clearly safe.' Loki summoned her courage and returned above ground, shaking her boots free from the filth of the sewers. Today she wore a long dark green dress with fur shoulders, her usual godly attire complete with long curving horns. She caught herself glancing left and right and forced herself to look forward as she returned to her personal chambers. 'Cell, more like.' As she approached the building, Loki dismissed the magic that had rendered her invisible and climbed up several flights of stairs to her suite. As she opened the door, Loki froze, terror binding her feet to the floor as she observed Thor, sitting upon her couch, the missing letter rolled up in his hand. He appraised her coolly, the look in his eyes a promise of pain. Loki bolted back through the door, running so fast down the stairs that she tripped on the last flight, skidding down the last few steps painfully. She ignored the injuries and scrambled up, throwing herself through the door into the street. Loki froze once more as she looked out at a guard to the front, left and right, blocking all routes of escape; men placed here to prevent her from leaving. Loki wheeled around desperately, nearly running into Thor, who grabbed her horns and pulled her head close so her eyes stared levelly at his.
''You have once again made things worse for your own self, Loki; had you stayed in your chamber, the spanking would not have been made public.''
Loki's face grew ashen as panic set in and she glanced left and right, noting all of the commoners who had stopped their daily activities to see the commotion. ''No! Please! I will be good, just please, please, let us return inside!'' Tears began to run down Loki's face, and Thor could see that her words were sincere, but regardless he shook his head.
''No, Loki, I am past sheltering you from yourself.'' Thor held out a hand and a guard approached, handing Thor a strangely shaped length of wood that had the words 'Loki's Shame' carved into one broad flat side. Her eyes widened, ''You fashioned a, a paddle?''
Thor nodded, ''Yes, Loki, it has become clear to us that you do not yet understand our commitment to altering our fallen brother's course. This instrument of your punishment shall hang within our public hall until such a time as you have proven yourself beyond such childish discipline.''
Loki felt the blood rush to her head, feeling dizzy, ''The.. the public hall? Thor... you hurt me so!'' Loki wept openly now, all pretense of composure lost.
''I am truly sorry that it has come to this, Loki, perhaps if our father and I had been firmer with you when you were a boy, there would be no need for such a thing. However, I have already told you, I intend to take responsibility for correcting your actions, and both Balder and I have agreed to use whatever works.''
Loki felt something inside herself slip, her ego failing in the face of overwhelming humiliation, and she was filled with a desperate primal need to flee that overwhelmed her ability to think clearly. She shifted out of her body, her true astral male self evident to all as his host body went limp in Thor's arms. The fact that Loki could not maintain this state for long mattered not, he could only think of escape from this cruel fate. He flew through the air quickly, his heart soaring with the thought of freedom even as Thor's vice-like grip closed on his shoulder. 'What?!' ''H-how?!''
Thor pulled Loki's shimmering form down until they stood level with one another, ''We actually thought you would do this back at the park, and Amora had enchanted me to be able to touch your spirit form. It appears the enchantment held all of this time. I am curious to see how this form reacts to your punishment.''
''W-what?! You cannot be serious! I should not be able to feel pain, I am... Ow! Ahh!'' Loki cried out as Thor twisted an arm painfully behind his back, then drew his translucent body down over one knee.
''It seems you still feel pain just fine. It is fitting that I strike your true self with this punishment.''
Loki watched in horror as Thor drew down his incorporeal pants, which technically should be nothing more than self-image created by Loki's freed mind. He saw his host body twitch and his heart sank when he realized what was happening. 'That witch Amora, some spell has me tied to my host!' Loki tried to return to his host then, thinking desperately to try flight once more, but realized fearfully that Thor's grip restrained him from doing so.
Thor lifted the wooden paddle and began to strike Loki, who gasped in pain. 'This device hurts even more than his hand did!' He could feel the letters engraved into the paddle, and his spirit form seemed only to amplify the pain rather than dull it, surely Amora's work. ''Ah! N-no! Please! A-ahhh!'' Loki looked around him as Thor beat his astral cheeks and saw that nearly all of Asgard had come to attend this event, people lined up on all sides watching somberly. 'No! NO! NOOO!' Loki felt his tears and saw them on his host's face. He tried to close his eyes, but his eyelids were transparent, forcing him to see his onlookers. He saw Amora in the crowd, a small smile played on her face. He saw groups of persons whispering to each other, pointing at him, surely mocking him. 'NOOOOO!' ''Please, Thor, ow, I will do anything, anything, release me! Ow Ow!'' 'The pain must stop! I can bear no more of this humiliation!'
''I have heard this before, Loki, and look where we still stand. No, I shall continue as needed.'''
Loki's voice carried desperately across the crowd, ''Please, ah, someone help me! Ow! My brother has gone mad, someone, anyone, please! Oww!'' But no one responded, not a hand moved to aid him. 'I am truly alone here. Forsaken by those that call themselves my people...' Loki felt his tears renew, and watched them track wet paths across his host's face. 'My shame is two-fold, two bodies for double the humiliation.' Loki wailed in misery, his passionate cries making his throat sore and echoing off of the nearby buildings. And still there was the ever-growing pain as Thor continued to hit him harder with that accursed slab of wood. Loki felt certain that the words on it would surely be printed into his host's ass. This thought spurred him to greater levels of embarrassment, and he saw his host flush red with his shame. 'How has my life come to this? Reduced to humiliating punishment in front of all of those I have ever tried to prove myself to? They have even created a monument to my shame, a permanent reminder of how low I have fallen, to be displayed in nothing less than our most public building; 'Loki's Shame' a testament of the feelings of all my people.'
Almost as if he had read Loki's mind, Thor spoke, ''Do you know what has brought us to this point, Loki?'' Thor's icy blue eyes literally studied his brother's soul, searching for something Loki could not place.
''Thor! Ow! Please tell me what I need to do! Ow! Anything!'' Loki writhed in duo pain within Thor's grip, his host body likewise writhing.
''This is not about doing something to end your pain, Loki. There is nothing you can do to stop this punishment.'' Thor felt pity rising again as he watched Loki's terrified reaction, but he pushed it down under the force of his resolve.
''W-what? OW! You mean that you shall beat me regardless?! Then what is the point, I thought discipline was meant to get a result?'' Loki twisted painfully, trying instinctively to avoid the blows but succeeding only in making the strikes hurt more. ''Ah-hahhhhh!'' 'My brother is a sadist, he is enjoying this! They all want to see me cowed, to see me suffer!' ''Ow! Ow! Ahhh!''
''You failed to understand the lesson in this, Loki, I want your actions to change, yes, but to achieve that you need first to change your mind. Now tell me please, why are we here?'' Thor continued the steady beating, his massive arm not seeming to tire at all from the exertion.
''Ow! B-because of my, ow, my actions!'' Loki's face was a mask of pain as he spoke, ''You wish me to, ow, change my mind, ow, you want real change!''
''Correct.'' Thor studied Loki, hoping that the pain would cause Loki to allow his own words to sink in. ''Everything that happens to you now was in one way or another caused by your own hand. You have the power to change your fate, Loki.''
Loki looked about him again, took in all the faces, people whom he had known for centuries, all judging him. ''Ow! No one here believes...ug... that I can do this, ow, even when I was a child, ah!, mine was the role of the outsider, I am not truly one of you, ow oww, Odin made a mockery of my life, ah, when he adopted me, my fate was written in stone.. oof.. to be less than anyone here, and this day proves it without a doubt. Ow!'' Tears created by his own psych flowed down his spirit face as he wallowed in his self pity.
Thor's face softened slightly, ''Loki, you are wrong about the feelings of your peers... have you spoken to them, asked them personally what they think of you? You created who you are based on what you believed others thought you to be? I see a strong will within you, Loki, even if you were right about this, are you going to allow yourself to be molded by the opinions of others? You can be anyone you want to be, Loki! Do you not want to put this behind you, let who you were die and be reborn a man who selects his own fate, with or without Asgard?''
Loki grew quiet save for his occasional whimper and cry of pain, despite the crowd the only sound that of the paddle's rhythmic strike. 'There is hope for Loki? Thor really wants this for me? He is not gloating as I imagined he would, and the others are not laughing... do they want this change as well?' Loki's tearful eyes swept over all assembled, and he saw inscrutable eyes looking back, even Amora's face reflected no malice. 'My whole life, I... I have deceived myself?' Loki's mouth curled into a small smile despite his pain, 'Truly I am a master of deception, greater even than I knew, that I have built such a cage for myself.'
Thor saw the smile, and momentarily the beating stopped, Thor allowing Loki to rise. The two brothers stood for a long time gazing at one another, and Thor's own face reflected his brother's hard smile, both of them feeding on the others strength.
''Please, Loki, I see revelation in you, would you be so kind as to share your next choice?'' Thor maintained his grip on Loki, but his brother did not seem to mind.
''You are right. I do not need any of you, or your acceptance, I am my own man, I... don't know where I will go from here, but I shall build a new life. I will not let others decide who Loki is!'' Loki's voice carried his passion, and Thor released him slowly, still half expecting Loki's words to be a ruse, that the trickster might take to flight once more.
Thor watched Loki carefully, then the hard look in his eyes melted away, ''Do you disown us then, Loki?''
Loki started at the question, 'A trick? No, Thor just had me at his mercy, to what point would a trick serve him now?' ''You, you all still want me around? After everything I have done to you personally, trying to usurp you so I could take what I thought I wanted?''
Thor's face was calm, ''I have ever been your brother, Loki. I shall let our past speak for me.''
Loki stared at Thor a long moment, then floated over to his host, merging with it and rising painfully from the ground. Loki turned to those gathered and swept them with a fierce glare. ''So you all still welcome me as an Asgardian? I tell you now that I am not of your blood, I am not one of you!''
The crowd parted as Balder stepped forward, his bearing that of a born king, ''We all consider you of Asgard, though; you were raised here, you have eaten with us, slept with us, rejoiced with us and wept with us. You could be nothing less than one of us. We have not approved of your actions, but we all know that there are ties stronger than blood.''
Loki turned back to glare at Thor once more, but her glare did not hold, and a tear escaped her, ''I... I am sorry.'' Loki raised a hand up to draw a sigil of teleportation, ''I shall return when I deserve to call myself one of you.''
Thor watched Loki fade away, and a strange mixture of sadness and joy filled him. ''Good luck, wherever your road now takes you, Loki.''