The skies in Asgard were as clear and as blue as they had always been, and the city as shining and beautiful since the beginning of its creation. In the throne room sat Odin, his wife Frigga standing beside him as they watched their son escorted by two Asgardian guards into the throne room. His clothes appeared regal and powerful, conveying the position that he once held in the realm. His hair, greasy and disheveled, surrounded his face and clung to his cheeks, dampened by tears he refused to believe he had shed. Strong hands clasped both of his arms as he made his way to meet his father, their grip in a vice mimicking the shackles around his pale wrists. His stride did not once break, nor did his eyes once waver from the All Father. One thing was for certain, take away everything from The God of Mischief - his freedom, his power, his birthright, but his pride always remained and it was unyielding. This truth was as clear and solid as the look in Loki's eyes as he promptly halted before his father, his shoulders squared back and his stance tall.

"Loki Odinson, my son," Odin began.

"Father, are you not aware that I am the one with is the god of lies." Loki bit back, his voice thick with sarcasm. "It would be awfully embarrassing for you to think that you could lie to me of all people."

"Loki, you cannot deny that you are my-"

"Don't you dare insinuate that I was anything but a pawn to you," Loki hissed at Odin. "You are not my father as I am not your son. Do not continue to pretend that I mean anything more to you than that."

Frigga, silent and still since the moment the doors to the throne room opened, finally spoke up. "Does that mean I'm not your mother anymore than he is your father? Does that erase all the years that I cared for you, all the years that I've loved you as my own?" Like a ship treading through silent waters, her voice rang through his ears, calm and steady. Loki's eyes broke from his father's, and turned to focus on his mother. She met him where he stood and placed her hands on either side of his face, gazing into his eyes with the scowl and furrowed brow that could only belong to a worried mother. His eyes visibly softened and he reached out to her only to feel the tug of the chains around his arms. He sneered at the restraints, his eyes suddenly cast downward.

Frigga looked at her son. His eyes shone like glass and were framed with red around his eye lids. He hid it well from Odin, but he could not hide it from her. He was troubled, and she knew it. She could see it festering beneath the shadows of his lies and trickery. She brought his face to hers and kissed his cheeks tenderly before reaching to clasp his hands softly.

"Odin," She started, her gaze laying heavily on her son, "please tell Loki where he shall be paying his recompense."

Odin cleared his throat causing Loki to once again meet his gaze. "Loki...Laufeyson, you will be sentenced to a year on Midgard to carry out the sentence placed upon you due to the damage you've caused our realm. When the year has come to a close you will return to Asgard where it will be determined if you are fit to take your place among us once again." To conclude his decision he lifted his staff only to bring it back down to the marble floor causing sparks of electricity to fly from the sudden contact. Loki looked at the god and goddess that raised him in disbelief. His face twisted in disgust, "I'd rather waste away in my cell."

Odin leaned forward in his chair, his forearms resting on his knees. "As do I, but she is the reason you are not." He gestured to Frigga, still watching Loki with her kind eyes.

Loki looked anywhere but her, his teeth holding down his most powerful weapon he possessed which was pressed firmly to his cheek. The guards, at the wave of Odin's hand, escorted Loki from the throne room and towards the Rainbow Bridge. The god walked across the colorful bridge, each step taken filling him with more distaste. How could Frigga send me there? What could she possibly be thinking?

Heimdall stood resolute in the far distance, awaiting Loki. He exchanged glances with the guards briefly before they released Loki and proceeded back towards their posts in Asgard.

Loki decided to chance one last look at the Asgardian realm only to see Frigga rushing up to him. He frowned down at her and turned away from her, as petulant as a child. She brushed her hand over the top of his head to smooth his hair down. Just above a whisper, she told him, "I know this is against your wishes, my son, but you must trust me. Trust yourself. Your brother was sent away to Midgard and returned a new god. I know that you will find yourself once again, and perhaps something that will change the way that you perceive our realms." She caught his gaze and they help it for some time before he shrugged her off of him.

"You do not know what is best always, Mother." The word left his lips like a bullet, aiming to hurt her in some way.

The goddess only looked at him, seemingly unaffected. "I love you Loki, my son." She glanced at Heimdall, receiving a respected nod.

Loki looked towards the gatekeeper as well, awaiting the gate to open and send him to the place he least wished to be.

"Loki." Heimdall regarded the god.

Loki sneered, "Oh, just get it over with."

Loki observed his surroundings closely. The air around him was thick with mist and fog. It was dark, the distant streets only illuminated by the yellow hued street lamps. The grass beneath his feet was wet, the excess water leaving small droplets on his heard the wet sounds of cars driving, their tires slick from the light rain. Using the little magic he was able to possess, Loki concealed himself from view and made his way down the street closest to him, his footfalls undisturbing to the puddles he passed. Cars drove by, people walked past him, all unaware of his presence. He could only continue on in disgust. He was too good for the ground he walked on, the mere presence of him too valuable for the planet he was currently inhabiting. If only I could've lived out my life in that pathetic cell, Loki thought to himself. It was not as if he'd be in there for very long; Loki always had a plan. He glanced at the buildings that he past. They were simple in every aspect of the word. The brick used to build them was aged, the windows microscopic compared to the grand glass walls he would stare out of overlooking Asgard. The doors were not much bigger than the windows. Loki could not bring himself to admit that he would be spending his days among such lowly Midgardians. He passed by one building separate from the rest, with familiar objects in the window catching his eye. He read the words painted on the glass, now chipped from age: The Rabbithole.

With a twitch of his wrist, the door to the building unlocked and eased open gently, allowing enough room for Loki to enter with ease. Closing the door behind him, he looked around. Books lined the walls, from floor to ceiling, each shelf filled with more than it could contain. There were stacks of them on the floor, some were man made while other were created simply from falling off the overfilled shelves. Loki took a deep breath and allow the stale smell of paper to fill his lungs. To his immediate left there was what he could only assume was a desk that was also covered with more books stacked quite unceremoniously on top of it. The wood from which it was made was chipped and scratched, but not a speck of dust was on it. Just beyond it were a flight of stairs. Loki climbed them, quiet as a shadow. Once he reached the top he was met with more rows of shelves that contained the same amount, if not more books than the shelves downstairs. It seemed rather like organized chaos, he admitted to himself. Past it all sat two chairs next to a much larger window overlooking the street on which the building resided. Loki looked out the window, taking in the buildings that he had passed and seeing the park where he had first arrived. The sky was dark, and Loki's energy was limited. He pulled a book from the shelf near him and sat in one of the chairs, reading the title Anna Karenina. Curious, he opened the book and examined the pages, his fingers running over the yellowed paper. The first sentence he read aloud to himself, "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Loki rolled his eyes and tossed the book over his shoulder, the spine hitting the floor with a resounding thud. He continues to sit in the chair closest to him and stare out the window, planning on how he could make this city his.

A distant click and the sound of the door below him closing caused Loki to jolt awake, the muscles in his body tensing at the sudden intrusion. Still invisible, it took Loki only a few strides to reach the landing at the top of the stairs where he awaited the creature that impeded upon his comfortable solitude.

"Hmm, that's odd...I could've swore I locked the door after I left last night."

It was a woman's voice that hummed in his ears. It was quiet, almost hushed, but he could clearly hear every word that left her lips with near perfect enunciation. Loki descended the stairs to get a better view of the woman.

She was investigating the door that he unlocked the night before, turning the knob slowly back and forth as if trying to solve a puzzle. She looked around the floor near her, searching for something. He heard her muttering to herself, "He leaves me for a week to watch this place and I can't even keep the door locked." Loki smiled to himself, her actions he found oddly amusing. She gave up trying to solve the mystery and made her way to the desk covered with novels and textbooks. Taking off her top layers, she placed them on the back of the wooden chair behind the desk, and began to walk about the store, finding stacks of books on the floor and attempting to give them a home with the others amongst the shelves. Finding himself bored, Loki retreated to his seat next to the window, looking for another book to read.

Downstairs, Erin was sweeping the floor, her mind turning over in her head the morning's events. She chided herself repeatedly, saying, "How could you forget to lock the door? It's as simple as unlocking a door...Rookie mistake." Putting the broom away in a nearby closet, she reached for the nearby stack of books and started placing them as neatly as she could on their appropriate shelves. The store did not open for another hour, but Erin liked the quiet mornings spent at The Rabbit Hole. Most of her mornings were spent arriving at work early to clean what she could just to spend the rest of her time in the shop reading. The store was never really busy, people rarely read books anymore. She had worked at The Rabbit Hole for a few years only to help the owner, Vincent, who had owned the building since he had moved to America thirty years ago from Poland. Now sixty-two years old, Vincent Sarkovski couldn't manage the store on his own. Erin had been a regular customer since she first discovered the place at nineteen. Now, five years later, Erin helped the older man run it a few days out of the week.

Through the front store windows, the sun was beginning to rise past the city buildings, painting the sky in a warm golden hue and erasing the cold blues left from the night sky. She looked out the window taking in a deep breath and releasing it before the window, fogging up the glass. She reached up with her arm and used the sleeve of her sweater to rub away the moisture.

The sound of a book falling to the floor above her shattered the comfortable silence that filled the air. Erin quickly spun on her heel, the sudden assault on her ears sending a rapid fire jolt through her body and raising her hair on end. If it weren't for the door being already unlocked she would have dismissed the sudden interruption to her morning silence. However, as she eased her way as quietly as she could towards the creaky wooden steps, she couldn't help but reach to her back pocket where she kept her small pocket knife. Her hand rested on the handle that was clipped to the fabric of her jeans, awaiting the moment she'd have to use it. She climbed the stairs carefully, attempting to calm the nerves in her body. The top of the landing seemed undisturbed, to Erin's relief. She searched the aisles quietly, her footsteps soft, until the toe of her shoe tapped against the culprit of the noise. She knelt down and took the book in her arms, scanning it for any damage. It was an old copy of Anna Karenina. Erin had thought back to when she had read it before years ago, thoroughly enjoying the tale. She searched for the space on the shelf from where it had fallen, clearly finding unoccupied space between to large textbooks. The row of books in the next aisle were able to be seen through the bookshelf where she stood. She peered through the space, staring at the air before her.

Loki's eyes met hers from the other side of the bookshelf, unbeknownst to the young woman. All he could see of her through the small space was her face; she was shorter than him by a good deal, he could tell as he hunched his back to peer through the space between the books that she was standing at her full height. Her eyes were a lighter honey colored brown, with the same richness of freshly tilled earth in the evening sun, all encased by thick black lashes. Her skin was light and dusted in freckles. She looked oddly still, like a doe sensing a sudden change in the air. Her eyes stared right at his and for a moment Loki wondered if she could see right through his illusion. Before either of them could act, a loud knocking came from the front door below. Erin, releasing the breath she didn't know she was holding, hurriedly placed the book back in its place on the shelf and rushed to the front of the store. Loki walked to the other side of the shelf, standing in the space that the girl had occupied nearly a moment ago. What a terribly strange creature, he thought to himself as he watched her descend the stairs to greet an ugly old human at the door.

He followed behind her, wanting to watch her for a few moments longer. She helped the old thing into the store and quickly grabbed a bag of books to give to the her. "How pathetic," he hissed at the kindness that radiated from her.

"Sorry for coming in so early dear. You see my granddaughter is arriving in town today and I just want to make sure I get all my errands done as early as possible." The old woman smiled kindly at Erin, her hand firmly gripping her cane as she leant on it to talk to the young woman.

"It's not a problem, Mrs. Fillmore, I'm usually here pretty early most days anyway." She smiled at the woman and they continued to chat for a few more minutes until the older woman departed, leaving Erin once again alone in the store, or so she assumed.

Loki spent most of the day reading the books in the small store. They were all old and used, but he rather enjoyed knowing that such unintelligent creatures were capable of getting as much use out of them as they did. He had managed to finish reading three novels before he looked out the window and realized that the sun was beginning to set. He turned his attention to the young human woman sitting behind the pile of wood called a desk. From his position on the floor between the rows of shelves, Loki was able to watch her throughout the day. She was quiet and would take up her time cleaning the store or reading. It was void of life except for the pair of them, and he thought back to when a couple came in earlier in the day. She held a childlike excitement as she talked to them, it radiated off of her. However, once they turned to make their leave and said their goodbyes, her smile did not reach her eyes. Loki watched her now as she continued to read from her novel. He stood and walked over to her, looking at her sitting form slouched over the desk, her head resting heavily on her hand as she used the thumb of her other hand to keep the book open in her hand. Her hair was tied up in a bun that he assumed at some point must've been neat, because now her locks fell around her face and neck in copper red waves. In the sunlight, the tresses shone like liquid gold dripping down her neck. Her eyes suddenly looked to where Loki stood, her eyes assessing the space in front of her. Loki scoffed, "Like a pitiful animal such as you could sense my presence."

Erin held her gaze for a moment longer before breaking it. She rubbed at her eyes tiredly, "Geez, what's wrong with me today." She checked the clock above the door and noticed that it was time for her to go. She gathered her things and pulled her jacket on before making sure the store was properly locked up. Once she felt everything was in order, Erin made her way to the door, pausing a moment and looking about the cluttered store once more as if searching for something in plain sight. Loki stood there, watching with mild interest. She abruptly let herself out and locked the door behind her.

Loki watched the woman from the second story window, a scowl painted on his face. So useless, so...simple. She hurried off, Loki watched her until the lights and buildings and distant streets engulfed her. He turned away from the window and was faced with an empty store. A familiar feeling entered his chest and threatened to crawl its way into his throat. Swallowing heavily, he roamed the rows of books, plucking some off their shelves and returning to his chair by the window, beginning to read.

She continued on her way down the busy streets of Philadelphia, the cold January air opening her senses. Erin reflected how strange it felt in The Rabbit Hole that day. Like someone had been watching her. There were moments were she felt a presence, something intimidating yet intriguing. She shook it off and focused on the few blocks left that she had to walk. Reaching her front steps, she pulled a small key chain from her pocket. Opening her door, she stepped through the threshold and closed it behind herself, her back leaning against the wood. She shed her jacket and hung it on a peg on the wall adjacent to the door. Her apartment was dark, cold and once she was able to flip the switch up, she was forced to acknowledge how empty it was. Before the feeling of loneliness could take its chance to settle inside her, she grabbed her jacket and bag off the wall and was gone as fast as she had came.