Welcome back my readers! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Key To redemption, and here's the second chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 2
FOUR MONTHS LATER:
Loki barely looked up as he heard the door to his cell swing open, and barely moved as the heavy footfalls of Thor came closer until he saw the blonde god's boots a foot from him.
"Are you ready to talk to me yet brother?" Thor asked, noticeable pleading in his voice.
"I'm not your brother, and there is nothing to talk about you oaf." Loki almost sneered, but his energy wasn't in it. He had been alone for the past few months, and he was even thinner than before. The guards felt the need to cut back on his food rations in order to teach them a lesson. He was just lucky that they hadn't chosen to deal out a more wicked punishment he supposed, and that they were lucky that his cell prevented him from doing magic.
"That's not true brother, and you know it. We may not be related by blood, but we were raised together as brothers! You know this!" Thor said emphatically. "You still owe me an explanation for why you let go when dangling over the abyss, and for why you sought to rule Midgard!"
Loki looked up at Thor now, and sneered. "You're even more of an oaf than I thought. And you want to know why? Because I was tired of living in your shadow!" He hissed venomously, eyes blazing as they looked into Thor's, "I was tired of always being second best to you! Everywhere we went people drowned you in praise and barely looked upon me with nothing more than pity and contempt!"
"That isn't true! We have always been equals!" Thor interjected adamantly.
That made Loki snap as he stood up from his cot, making Thor back away from him as if he'd been bitten. "WE WERE NEVER EQUALS! I was always beneath you in the eyes of everyone, and you did nothing to discourage it! You always boasted whenever you beat me at wrestling or fighting and called me 'weak' and 'woman' whenever I studied my magic! Odin always encouraged you and showered you with praise while I never got a second glance when I showed him whatever I managed to accomplish, and I was always dealt a harsher punishment whenever I did something wrong!"
Loki panted from his outburst, while Thor just stared at him in shock. Did I really do that to Loki? Was I always so callous to shove him aside and make fun of his magic and studies? He thought, staring at his brother as his chest heaved.
After a few moments of silence, Loki turned his back on Thor and stared at the wall of his stone cell. "Leave Thor, I wish to see your face no more on this day, or any day to come. You've subjugated me with enough of your presence." Loki said coldly, making Thor sigh, knowing the battle for today was over.
"Very well Loki. I will leave for today brother. But I will be back soon." With that, Thor turned and strode from the cell, ignoring Loki's hissed, "I'm not your brother." on his way out.
Loki scowled deeper as he sat back down on to his cot, going back to staring at the cold stone floor.
FIVE MONTHS LATER:
Loki looked up as the door to his cell swung open, fully ready to yell at Thor to go away but the words died in his throat as he saw Frigga walking into the room, a warm smile upon her face.
"Hello my son." She said lovingly, if a bit sadly, as a chair appeared out of thin air for her to sit in.
"I'm not your son." He said almost automatically, pretending the flash of pain on her face as he said those words didn't send a dagger to his heart.
"I raised you, so you are my son, no matter what anyone else says. I swaddled you, held you as you cried, kissed away cuts and bruises you gained as you grew up, and encouraged you in the art of magic," She said vehemently," You ARE my son, and nothing will change that."
Loki looked at her, anger flashing in his eyes, but also deep sorrow. "Then why did you never tell me of my heritage? Why did you never tell me that I was a frost giant, that I was one of those monsters?!"
Her eyes grew sadder, and unshed tears pooled in them. "Odin forbade me from telling you until he felt the time was right, but you were never one of them! The moment he put you in my arms you were mine, and no one could change that. You are my son Loki, and you always will be." Tears fell from her eyes as she stood and made her way out of his cell.
Loki watched her go until the door to his cell clanged shut, and then he curled up on his bed and tried to hold back his tears, but one still made its way from his eye to splash upon the thin and grimy sheet of his cot.
THREE MONTHS LATER
Today was the day, the end of his imprisonment in Asgard's dungeons. That is if he was truly regretful of his actions. He thought back on the past year, how his only two visitors had been Frigga and Thor. His so called 'father' hadn't visited him once. He thought of how cold his cell had been in the winter, and how damp it had grown once the snow on the grounds started melting. He thought about how tangled and longer his hair had grown, and how thin his blankets were and about how dirty his cell was. He thought about the smaller meals he had gotten from the guards, as their own personal form of punishment, and he thought about his so called 'family.'
He thought about Thor and his once a month visits, about how those visits always ended up with one or both of them shouting, and he thought about Frigga, the woman he still thought of as his mother deep down in his heart, and how her visits had always ended with her saying that he was still her son and with her shedding tears.
Loki scowled as he started thinking about Odin, the man who saved him from death, only to try and use him as a pawn in the game that is diplomacy. He thought long and hard about if he was truly regretful of his actions, and when his cell door opened to admit Thor carrying the magic canceling manacles and a hopeful expression on his face, Loki had his answer.
"I truly hope you've seen the error of your ways brother." Thor told him hopefully, before they entered the throne room and walked toward Odin. Loki said nothing, not even giving Thor a glance as he held his head high, showing that he was not afraid, and that he was still fit to be called a prince.
Frigga looked hopeful as she stood to the right of Odin's throne, while Odin himself held a guarded expression on his face.
"Loki Odinson," he started, almost ignoring the slight wince Loki gave at his last name, "you are brought before the throne of Asgard today for I and the Council to see if you have learned from your past actions and are ready to take your place as a rightful son of Odin again and as a prince of Asgard."
Odin looked down on the man he still called son, a glint of hope sparking in his eye. "Are you ready to be one of us again my son?"
Loki looked back at the man who called him son for his whole life, his eyes emotionless, back straight and body stiff, before he leans back and spits at Odin's feet.
"I would do it all again, and I never was and never will be again your son." Loki calmly said as the room around him erupted in anger at his action. Frigga sobbed and looked away from her son, who might as well have signed his death sentence.
Odin sighed deeply. "Then I have no choice. Since you've wanted to be Thor's equal in the past, I will give you the same punishment I gave him. You will be banished to Midgard, with your immortality and magic stripped, until you've learned from and regret you're actions."
He banged Gungnir on the floor, before pointing it at Loki, whose armor and magic was stripped from him in a shower of gold and green, leaving him in nothing but a pair of black trousers and a green tunic, before Loki was pushed through a portal behind him that would take him to Midgard.
The last thing he saw of Asgard was Thor's stricken face and his mother's blue eyes shining with tears.
Whoo! Done with chapter two. Sorry it took me so long people, I've had other things to do. Anyways, I'd really like some reviews on how I'm doing so far.
Loki: *rolls eyes* Must you act like a dog begging for a treat?
666Silvermoon: *glares at Loki* Least I'm not acting like drama queen.
Loki: *sneers* You wish you were as amazing as me.
666Silvermoon: Yeah, yeah, whatever makes you feel better Primma Donna. Anyways, review!
