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- Anon: awww thank you so much, dear. You're just too kind. Here's more ^^

still without a beta.. I guess I'll never find one, LOL. Sorry for my mistakes (I swear I always re-read, but I always miss something :/)

Chapter I: The Verdict

The two gods head towards the throne, where there's Odin, standing strict and solemn.

Frigg reaches her consort, while Thor leaves Loki in the middle of the room.

Tons of guards are watching over the whole room perimeter.

The god of Thunder gives the Tesseract to two trustful guards who took them to a safe and impregnable place; and then walks towards the steps of the throne, standing on the left, next to his mother.

There isn't anyone else, save the royal family and the guards.

"Welcome back, Loki!" the king starts, touched by the vision of his all family finally reunited, but without showing any emotion, just like a lucid and impartial king is supposed to do.

"Well, it's not that I came here very willingly!" the brunet barks back, scornfully.

"Fine. I see that someone else already set your silver tongue free!" the king asserts, glaring lightly at Thor, which bows his head, submissive,

The indictee is slightly amused by that scene.

"Now your fate is going to be established, in the interest of all the Asgardian people!" the all gods' father claims.

"Let's begin with the most remote events, when with deceives and lies you usurped the throne," the old god goes on.

"That was a very good time!" Loki smirks cockily.

"Silence! You, insolent, never forget that you are here at your trial that will establish your future!" Odin admonishes him.

Loki confines himself to nodding with his head, but he doesn't look submissive at all; as he waits for his interlocutor to go on.

"It's undeniable that, in the light of the facts, you did what you did for the good of Asgard, since you tried to defeat our worst enemies; although you soiled your hands with a foul deed, such as an unfair double-cross, in order to succeed. Your motivations were noble, but your methods were not." the king asserts, pausing for a little.

Loki is rather astonished by that response, but he prefers to say nothing.

"About the Destroyer that you sent to Midgard, that was a slanderous and inconsiderate deed." Odin reproaches him. "On the other hand, the town had been evacuated, which means that you created a lot of chaos, piles of rubble, but not any irreparable damage. There are events that are much more devastating than what you did; such as earthquakes, tornados and other natural calamities that overthrow on that realm sort of frequently."

"Father, are you challenging me?" Loki cuts him off, feeling insulted.

Odin's face lights up, Frigg smiles, just like Thor does; and Loki realizes too late what he actually said, cursing himself and his impulsivity.

"You see that as an offence. I see that as a praise." the wise king states.

"There's a different matter about Midgard, which is related to your alliance with the Chitauri and the robbery of the Tesseract. That was a deplorable and wicked deed!" the old god goes on, increasing the authority in his tone.

"The only deplorable thing is that they turned out to be such a shoddy army, those damn good-for-nothing!" Loki grumbles.

"Loki, you're in the presence of the all gods' father, before the verdict, try to behave!" Thor warns him, fearing a sharp reaction from Odin, which can compromise the offender's fate.

But it happens nothing like that; quite the contrary, Odin seems to soften, as he exchanges an understanding look with Frigg.

"After all, we must not forget that you were in a highly vulnerable, emotional distress: you had recently found out that you were adopted and immediately after you fell in the depth of the space. These are things that would put a strain on every single one of us!" he asserts.

"It's useless; I know that you're just trying to sugar the pill! Quit it and condemn me to spend my days in the eternal jails, in the abyss of the realm!" Loki cuts him off, bothered.

He violently dislikes whoever sympathizes with him.

"Don't you dare cut me off!" the king snaps.

"Loki, don't get your father angry and... don't be so pessimistic!" Frigg winks at him with a smirk.

Loki doesn't get the meaning of those words, but he feels that odd heat in his heart once again, as he doesn't even realize that he's smiling back at her.

Thor is not looking at him, nor is Loki searching for the god of Thunder's look.

The first god acts like that because he can't stand the fact that, after so many efforts to take his brother back home; someone is going to take him away from the blond forever; the second god acts like that because he fears to find in Thor's eyes the disdain and the spite towards the brunet and he doesn't want to associate such a horrible look to their last goodbye.

" I, Odin, king of Asgard, all gods' father, hereby condemn you, Loki," Odin pronounce his solemn sentence.

Thor stares at the ground, clenching his fist so hard that he halts his blood circulation; while Loki is like a coiled spring.

He can pretend to be indifferent and disrespectful with everyone else, but the truth is that that sentence is scaring the hell out of him.

"To think about what you did!" the king ends his verdict.

Loki stares at him in pure disbelief.

"Is that all?" the god of Chaos raises his eyebrow, in an interrogative way, wondering if Odin is making fun of him.

That news utterly and pleasantly astonishes Thor, but he prefers to say nothing.

"Let me explain that better. There's a tower that's been built and that's where you will be leaded and isolated. Such a condition will allow you to reflect on your wild actions and figure out what you really want." Odin clarifies. "The sunlight won't be denied to you, nor will the vision of our wonderful lands. You'll have food, you'll receive all the necessary care, but you'll be deprived of your magic!" and saying that the Allfather throws a stream of light that crosses Loki's entire body.

Screaming in pain, the young god collapses on the floor, weakened, as he can't feel that oh-so-pleasant pulsing energy flowing in his veins, which now seem to be drained to him.

"But mostly, no one will be allowed to see you ever again." the king adds.

Once again, Loki feels a sudden tension overwhelming his body. He doesn't appreciate at all that horrible perspective of utter loneliness; while Thor has to resort to all his self-control not to burst screaming in frustration.

"Nobody will; nobody but one person only." Odin informs him, creating a huge suspense again.

Loki doesn't even dare to wish that the all gods' father pronounces that name; because he doesn't think that he deserves such a good luck.

Thor appeals to that last, tiny fragment of hope as hard as he can.

"Thor is the only one who can pay visits to you. Every day, after sunset, because he has to train during the day, in order to forge his spirit!" the king claims.

The god of Mischief skilfully disguises his happiness with a very disappointed grimace, snorting and rolling his eyes; while the god of Thunder, far from disguise his feelings, shows a bright grin with a little yelp of joy.

"Among all us, Thor is the one who knows you better, the only one who you can't deceive so easily!" Odin adds.

"Well, when I told him that you were dead he swallowed it, hook, line and sinker!" Loki chuckles, as he tries to get up and he succeeds, with tons of efforts.

"Hey! Back to those days, I was the one in a highly vulnerable, emotional distress!" Thor snaps, glaring at him.

Frigg stares at them in confusion.

"To swallow hook, line and sinker?" she repeats, frowning.

"It's a Midgardian idiom, mother!" Thor explains.

"Yep. In plain terms, it means that your elder son is such a credulous block!" Loki adds, exchanging an understanding look with Frigg who lets a snicker escape from her mouth.

Thor observes them. Deep inside, he knows that Loki has always been Frigg's favourite son and there's such a special connection between them, which Thor is slightly jealous of; but if it can help to bring his beloved brother close to his family again, Thor can't do anything but bless that connection.

"I must admit that the Midgardian has a funny way to speak!" Loki comments, amused.

"Dear my son, do you miss Midgard?" the woman asks him with melancholic apprehension.

Loki shakes his head negatively, glancing briefly at Thor.

"Nope, my place is not there," he murmurs. "Which doesn't mean that it's here!" he rushes to add, in a crabbed way.

The king leaves his throne and walks closer to the accused god, which means that the trial is over.

Frigg and Thor reach him.

"Listen to me very carefully, Loki. I chose Thor, because I want you to rediscover the affection, the friendship and the strong brotherly bound that there was between you, before finding that unpleasant truth!" the all gods' father confesses.

"You can forget it!" Loki snaps. "Am I still in time to choose the eternal jails?"

"Loki, I'm not joking!" Odin roars.

"Neither am I, indeed!" the young god strikes back, boldly.

"However, I've never said that you had a choice!" Odin makes him notice with an evil smirk. "I want you to be brothers again, because it's not your blood that establishes who you are, and you *are* brothers!" he retorts, as serious as ever.

"Oh, father, I'll try my best to accomplish your wish!" Thor assures, as he can barely contain his jubilation.

"So, tell me, how long will my isolation ... with the exception, last?" Loki wonders, snorting annoyed in Thor's direction.

"Oh, it will last as long as it needs to last, it could last forever! I'll personally figure out when you will be ready to be free, assured that you won't abuse of said freedom to lose yourself once more!" the king asserts.

"How will you know when I'll be ready?" Loki gives him a hard time.

"I will. Period. My son, because no matter how much you protest, this is what you are," Odin comments, mindless of Loki's disappointed grimaces and the hatred in his eyes. "I won't see you for a long time, I guess." and saying that the Allfather hugs him, as Loki tries to break free, reluctant to that gesture, but only partly; because deep inside he's impressed by that, although he'll never admit it.

"Make good use of the opportunity I'm giving you." the king parts from him.

Also Frigg hugs him one last time, and there's no need of words between them.

Thor and Odin exchange an understanding look and, escorted by the royal guards, the god of Thunder gets ready to take Loki outside, in order to head towards what is going to be the brunet's new abode.

"My king, are you sure that this is going to work?" Frigg wonders, letting her consort wrap his arms around her, as they observe Loki being pushed further and further, until he disappears from their visual.

"My dear, don't be doubtful. What I saw today makes me realize that maybe there's still hope!" the old god comforts his wife. "Besides, you should know better than me: there's always a purpose in everything I do!"

TBC

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