Loki:

Loki could not believe he had let the elf see him so vulnerable. Why had he not made himself invisible? Why had he not put up a shield?! He decided that he didn't really want to rule these people. Not if they all made him lose his cool like this. He would find somewhere else to rule. Actually, just relaxing in the sun sounded pretty good right about now. Maybe he should disguise himself and go back to Midgard. He could live low, and wait for an opportunity to cause trouble. Yes, he could wait. He had all the time in the world, after all, he was immortal, or at least close to it.

Decision made, he teleported back to the infirmary after putting up a shield, and did one last thing. Then he teleported back to where he had landed in this realm and started looking for a way to access the recently repaired Bifrost without Heimdall noticing. He was pretty sure it was impossible, but then again, he excelled at the impossible. He decided he would attempt to use his own magic to teleport, though he was afraid that it might kill him if this world was somehow disconnected from the world tree. He would need to rest and be at full strength before he attempted however. He did not want to go back to Minas Tirith, and he was not tired, so he decided to create some simple illusions to mess with the newly stationed guards in the ruins of Osgiliath.

He headed for a group that was chatting amiably, slacking on their duties no doubt.

There was an incredibly large oaf, three spritely young lads, and a two extremely well-built men, all of whom had beards and resembled every Asgardian guard that Loki had ever met.

He observed them as they spoke. The oaf laughed a lot, and he learned that the man's name was Barod. A young lad barely over fifteen with a smooth chin was named Hirgold.

Loki observed as a man walked over, looking mad at the talking men. He had an extremely ugly and scarred face, the most prominent being a long jagged scar running from his left eyebrow along his cheek and over his mouth to his chin. The other men hadn't noticed him yet, and Loki knew what he was going to do.

With a flick of his wrist, he cast an illusion on the man.

When the man walked up, stopping in front of Barod and Hirgold, who seemed to be good friends, Loki whispered to Barod something to say.

"And what's a pretty face like your doing amongst warriors? Come to see if I'm as good as they say? Well little dove, I'm than any of those Riders of Rohan, I can guarantee that!"

Loki removed the illusion with a smirk as the man punched Barod in the face. Barod gasped, and gurgled with blood running from his broken nose. He ogled the man, "Grimbold?...but...but..."

"I've been in countless battles! Do you know how many warg riders I've slain to protect my people while you laze around as a castle guard?!" The man yelled, "Me and my men kill more orcs than you will ever meet! How many orcs did you kill when you finally got the chance? Two, or three?" Grimbold roared.

"Thirteen actually," Barod mumbled.

"You are unworthy to be called a warrior you insolent lazy wretch," Grimbold yelled.

With that, Grimbold easily kicked Barod's legs out from underneath him and the oaf crashed to the ground.

Grimbold turned to the other guards, "And I may be a foreigner, but I've met enough good Gondorian men to be able to say that you are not worthy to be called the protectors of Minas Tirith, you are naught but arrogant oafs who don't love their people and their leader enough to loyally protect them. The threat of Mordor sits on your very doorstep, and you sit around doing nothing but...but...talk!" his face was scrunched up and his neck was slightly purple. He violently gestured at a man smoking, "And...and smoke! Believe me, this will not go unheard by your superiors! I will be thoroughly reporting you all, and as soon as the threat of Mordor passes, I can assure you, you will all be out of a job!"

He turned on his heel and stalked off, leaving the men to wonder why they had seen Grimbold as a lovely young woman. Loki chuckled, leaning back against a wall. Oh good Norns, that had been even better than he had expected! He had certainly chosen the right men to victimize. He decided to aggravate the men even more by letting them know who got them in so much trouble. He removed his shield and called out, "My, my, we really did get in trouble didn't we?"

He smirked as leaned on his elbow and watched the mens' eyes widen in recognition.

"You are that sorcerer!" one cried.

"It must have been him! I knew I didn't imagine the lovely woman before me!" Barod roared.

"He must have cast a spell to blind our eyes to the truth!" Hirgold yelled, and several men yelled in approval as Barod drew his sword.

Loki laughed to himself as he vanished and replaced himself with a copy.

"Please! It was only a joke!" His copy yelped as Barod charged, backing hastily into the wall.

The men laughed as Barod put his sword to the illusion's throat.

"Yes, beg for mercy! Maybe I won't run you through. Yes, how about I just teach you a lesson. Give you as many scars as dear Grimbold!"

Loki made his duplicate whimper, "Please! I can make him forget that this ever happened!"

Barod paused and lowered his sword slightly, "You can?"

"Of course!" his duplicate said, and then vanished.

Loki shimmered into existence behind the man and hissed in his ear, "But why should I?"

The man yelped and whirled around. Some of the others backed away in fear and Loki laughed, "Fool. If I were too weak to escape after such a simple trick, I wouldn't be worthy to be called the God of Mischief now would I?"

Loki was wearing his full armor, as he enjoyed intimidating people with it. He held up his staff, and poked the man in the chest and chuckled as the man's eyes took on a glazed and blue tint, "There, now you should follow orders flawlessly. At least, my orders that is."

Some of the other men ran away and Loki laughed, "Come now, I won't hurt you. You just needed to be taught a lesson. Now, Barod, take me to your quarters. I wish to rest, and I do not feel like sleeping on the ground.

"As you wish Master Loki," the man said in a drone like voice and his friends gasped.

The man led him to a large tent and some makeshift cots. Loki released the man and the cowardly mortal fled. Loki looked around the makeshift tent.

Several other men were snoring in their own cots and Loki sighed. He had been hoping for a real bed. This would have to do, he supposed. He summoned a fluffy mink coat and laid it over the rope cot. Two of the men, who were playing something resembling checkers, gasped and stared greedily.

"Keep dreaming," Loki muttered, knowing they would try to steal it from underneath them if they could.

He summoned a silk sheet to cover himself and switched his clothes to sleepwear. He tried to sleep, but all he could smell was sweaty mortal and the men playing checkers were talking loudly.

He glared at them and willed them to be silent. They suddenly found themselves unable to make sound. He lazily twirled his fingers and the air suddenly was filled with the scent of pine wood. He summoned a silk pillow, green to match the sheet, and laid his head back with a sigh. Shutting his eyes, Loki tried to relax. But all he could see was his brother's pitying looks.

His mind flashed back to when Thor had first started changing.

He had watched as the Destroyer had tried to incinerate Thor and his friends. He remembered how Thor had offered his own life to satisfy him so that he would leave the mortals be. And he, being the monster that he was, hadn't forgiven him. No, he had accepted the offer. He hadn't felt a single shred of remorse when he had ordered the Destroyer kill his...his...brother. He finally realized what a fool he had been. But he still... He couldn't admit it! He wasn't going soft! Why was he forgiving his brother for all the torment he had put him through when they were younger?! He certainly wouldn't forgive Odin for lying to him his entire youth. He was nothing but a stolen relic to his adopted fath...Odin, and...

He seethed and stopped himself from working himself into a frenzy. He had to get ahold of his emotions, he had to... He had to leave. Right now.

He stood and walked out of the tent, and rolled his eyes as the men instantly stole the bedding he had conjured up, squabbling over who got what.

He turned a corner, and then another, and ran straight into Legolas.

Legolas:

Legolas found Aragorn, and told him everything he had learned. Aragorn had reluctantly admitted that the man hadn't just gone cruel for no reason, but he also said that no man had an excuse to be the monster that Loki had become. Estel had be kind enough to help Legolas search for Loki.

"Perhaps he does not want to be found," Aragorn commented a half hour later.

"Let us check the Halls of Healing, mellon nîn, and if he is not there, we can focus on preparing for the coming battle.

Aragorn nodded and they headed for the Halls of Healing. When they arrived, they checked to see if the sorcerer was sleeping.

"We ought to get him his own chambers," Legolas commented

"He seems perfectly content here. If he wanted his own chambers, he would have ordered us to get him some," Aragorn said.

"Estel! He is being polite!" Legolas protested.

"Polite? I do not think monsters are capable of being polite!" Aragorn hissed loudly.

The bed was empty, except for a small piece of paper covered in delicate cursive.

Legolas picked it up and read aloud,

Legolas,

Farewell. I leave for the realm of Midgard. You are free to do as you wish, you are henceforth released from my service. You will find that King Theóden has been restored to his former self and him and his guards have no memories of the event whatsoever. The only one that presented a problem was the old man in the grey robe. He resisted me entering his mind entirely, which puzzled me immensely. Best wishes in your battle against Sauron.

Sincerely,

Loki of Asgard