A/N Hello Readers, Thank you so much for your responses, knowing that you hve enjoyed makes writing a treat!
Siibi: I am so glad that this lived up to your expectations! :D I appreciated your comments and wanted this to be special for you.
Misty BLue: Thank you your words are truly a high compliment
Jaqulinelitte: I appreciated your thoughful insight in your review. I understood where you were coming frmo. Yes it it true that in Viking Lore it seems such sacrifices were apart of their practices, but that doesn't seem to be touched on in the movieverse. It seems as though Odin was a king who wanted peace as he fought on the side of the humans when they were attacked and he was also angry with Thor about his starting a new war. I think that the movie portrayed an Asgardian culture that glorified the honorable warrior rather than a ravenous pillager.
To all who reviewed favorited and followed Thank you happy reads and God bless
The Great Hall of Judgment was crowded and full of whispers. It was a sea of murmuring voices that swirled about raging with condescension. "I never trusted that trickster" a pod a chattering elder commented. The fear the was now etched in every nobles heart flung from their lips and frantic paces and caught in the ivory spires and flying buttresses that formed the ceiling. "He's a terrible monster," whispered a herd of dignified ladies of the kingdom, they pulled out their fans and hid their painted lips as they uttered the cruel words scared that the villain would sneak up behind them as he had done in days of old.
Thor made his way down the aisle and passed the clambering courtiers. Everyone was speaking in hushed tones, but in the mob of nobles, courtiers, delegates from the far-flung territories and stately soldiers turned from their conversations only for a moment to pay respect to the Golden Prince. Immediately the gossiping groups fell silent. They bowed and curtsied, saluted and swooned, thumped their fists across their chest and waved their handkerchiefs as he marched proudly pass them. Normally, the Mighty Thor lapped up the applause of his subjects like a hound thirsty for a bowl of water after a hunt, but in the moment at hand he hardly heard their cheers and adoration. Usually, he'd raise his arm high displaying his glorious hammer for all to behold, but he felt not like a champion today.
The people of Asgard packed into the Hall of Judgment. It was a grand chamber. The coloring of the court was gold and blue. The gold representing the fact that it was the highest court in all the land and blue to represent justice. That justice would always prevail above all else in the Hall of Judgement. The only people in the courtroom given seats were those of the Royal elegantly dressed men and women sat on decorative cushions with tablets of parchment and quill to take all dictation made throughout the proceedings. They lined themselves in two rows on either side glass stair case that lead to Odin's Judicial Throne. The others who were seated in the Hall of Judgment were the Chief Justices of the Realm. They sat in stadium style seats behind the throne of the elderly leader. They kept their faces hooded but they wore solemn looking robes. They had long since reached their decision about the matter at hand. For a while they had squabbled over the issue, but it was little squabbling in all honesty. No one was truly willing to cast a vote for mercy for a murderous would-be dictator. The matter was not even up for debate in the eyes of this wise party. It was Odin's sworn duty as King to protect the Nine Realms and by whatever means necessary. It was their job as shrew interpreters of the ancient protocols of their forefathers, to remind their great ruler of the oaths he had taken when it seemed that he may have forgotten. Now all that was left was the execution of the Council's will. The true verdict lied in the hands of Asgard's elderly king. The thought was on every councilmen's mind. It was on the mind of everyone present in the Hall of Judgement. The question was on the mind of those throughout the kingdom. It hand hung in the air for many weeks now, dangling like the prized flank of a Bilgeschnipe dangling off the rack to be displayed in a fine butcher's window. Would he do it? Would he render the ultimate punishment on his son?
The question raced through Thor's head as well. It had plagued him all night and left his tossing and turning in his bed the night before with out even hardly a wink of sleep. He approached the bottom step to the dias and dropped to one knee bowing before his father. The inquiry beat between his temples. What decision would his father make? For so many days and nights he'd pleaded for mercy for Loki. Father was willing, but it was contingent on Loki,But that would mean that Loki would have to have remorse for what he did. His sapphire orbs darkened. A fortnight ago he had spoken with his brother…if that was even the word to describe that person. That villain... that snarling animal was so far removed from the brother he once knew. That being was without regret for his atrocious crimes. Instead of apologizing and begging forgiveness he merely planned to do it all again and to do it with even more cruelty and spite. The great, beautiful, blonde prince's shoulder rolled as he felt an uncomfortable feeling run up his spine as he replayed staring into merciless green eyes. He sighed shoulders slumping…was any part of Loki even the least bit ashamed for all he'd done?Crown Prince Thor stood raised foot to stair and ascended to stand by his father's right side. He steadied himself exhaling in a puffy manner and tapping his strong bronzed hand along Mjolnir's handle. Maybe Loki would merely be banished as he was. Yes Banishment. He learned much in his few brief days of exile perhaps Loki could as well. His brilliant blue eyes lit up for a moment as hope mounted in the pit of his stomach…banishment was mild in comparison to some of the other punishments that had been tossed about during the sessions of the delegates.
A trumpet sounded and a dignified figure clad in beautiful amethyst walked toward the throne followed by a few demure and lovely women dressed in fine garbs that matched the lady they served, although their apparel was nowhere near as splendid. All bowed as she and her handmaidens made their way toward the Odiny. The crowd bowed to her and whispered their adoration. She nodded politely to her noble and loyal subjects. Once she was at the base of the glass steps of the throne she nodded dismissing her gentlewomen. The walked to left and faded into the crowd of other members of court. She daintily curtsied before Odin. Her head was down as she did so for a minute before rising and starting to climb the steps. His sole good eye gave her a scrutinizing disapproving glance. With every step she felt her husbands' blue eye burrow into her. Frigga let a gulp slide down her throat, but she dare not retreat. She continued to climb and then looked only to Thor her eldest son. They exchanged weary smiles one to another as she came and took her place of Odin's left hand. She turned to Odin one last time. Her features were so soft and perfect. He couldn't be angry with her. She had a ever been a faithful companion. She had been his loving queen since the moment they became bethrothed. She had always honored him. He should have known she couldn't stay away from had advised against her coming. When she protested against his recommendations. He even went so far as to forbid her.
"I will not allow it!" he roared the night before in their bed chamber.
"You will not allow it?" Frigga asked back her toned was a mixtrue of mirth and scoffing. "He is my son!" she yelled back slammping her hairbrush against the onyx stone vanity.
"He is not who he was, my Love," Odin said more affectionately. He came behind her where she sat in front of the night stand and put his stong capable hands on her delicate shoulders.
"I care not," the queen declared her voice a timid whisper as she tried to keep herself from crying, "i care not," she repeted her head slumping as tears dripped from her lovely blue eyes and down to her chin. "He's alive...he's alive when I thought he was dead...and I must see him...I need to, please," she whimpered.
"It'll only cause you greater pain," he tried to explain. "I cannot allow it," It was harsh and unnecessary. He was as overwhelmed about the matter as she was. Later that night he apologized. He didn't recant his earnest desire for her not to come to the sentencing and at that point he had done everything except lock her in her bedchamber to keep her from coming. She wanted to come. She needed to present. She wanted to see him. It could be the last time she'd ever see her son again. She knew all that was intended for Loki. It broke her heart. No mother would want to see her child in pain, but what words could she offer in Loki's defense? There were none now to spare him.
The King of Asgard set calmly on the onyx throne on the elevated platform. He had Gungnir in hand. His grip was slack on the mighty instrument. Gunginir had many functions. It was a weapon in battle, a staff by which he led his flock, the people of Asgard and today as in many times in the past it would be a gavel of a judge. The great king's eyebrows furrowed then he nodded resolutely to himself and clenched his fist around the fine scepter. Odin rose. Gungnir hit the ground and the crowd froze. The murmurs slowly came to a standstill. Odin's voice had a treble in it as he declared, "Bring out the prisoner."
All the eyes in the room flung toward the enormous gilded door in the back of the hall. Carved in the gold was a unique image. The image of a woman blindfolded. Her arms crisscrossed over her chest. In one had she helf a sharp two-edged sword and it rammed into the gut of some brutish looking being. In the other hand she had a shield that she held overtop a head of children cowering by the hem of her gown. This was the sign of Justice.
The woman started to divide in two as the door was pushed open slowly and the prisoner was carted forward. Frigga watched. Her eyes were wide as she tried to catch the first glimpses of Loki. She had heard Loki was alive, she had been told he was alive and she knew he was alive, but she hadn't seen she hadn't actually beheld he youngest since the day of that dreadful destruction of the Bifrost. First all she saw was a herd of burly soldiers. It must have been a whole troop they came in as if they were dragging the carcass of a bilgeschipe all the iron and weapons and chains that the dragged and carried with them. Slowly they made their way down the carpeted walk away and she caught the glimpses of Loki. She bit her lips stifling a cry of elation. She manicured finger flew to her quivering lip as the tears of joy welled up in her sapphire eyes. It wasn't just a vicious rumor, or hearsay. It wasn't another false hope. Loki was home.
She watched as he was brought before the great assembly. Guards surrounded him on each end his arms held tight in chains that three guards held fast to on either side of him. A thick medal collard was latched around his ivory throat. One soldier held a chain that connected to it from the front and the other hair a chain in the back. His mouth was just as guarded as the rest of him. It was trapped in the terrible device. She studied all the restraints and security, was all of this really necessary? It made her eyes falter for just a moment. Quickly her sweet blue eyes flashed toward Odin, but she only caught his stately profile. They treated her sweet child like he was the most dangerous being to ever roam the realm. Was he? For a moment she closed her eyes doing the best she could to hold back the tears she longed to shed. The queen calmed her fraying nerves and opened her eyes to take in the sight of her youngest son once again.
His clothes were torn and dirty, still caked with the mud and grime that was unavoidable in the dungeon. Odin should have at least allowed him the dignity of bathing before he had to march before the people of the court. She remembered many time chiding Thor that "Cleanliness was next to godliness," he was always such a dirty little scamp as a youngster, but Loki on the other hand had always preferred to be clean and polished. Even as a baby. He loved the tub.
He'd get dirty, he'd spill something on himself or Thor would touch him with messy, grubby fingers and leave some sticky ooze on Loki's flawless smooth skin. Loki would get upset and flustered. He'd cry and pout in his soiled state. The nursemaid would get frustrated with having to constantly bathe the fastidious babe. "I'll take him Helga," the queen would say as she stepped into the nursery only to find Loki wailing and Thor running amuck. She'd chuckle as she'd scoop the squirming child from the old woman's arms and take him to the bathing room inside her own private chamber. She set him in the small porcelain basin designed with little lilypads and leaping frogs. Loki would immediately start to gurgle becoming happy about the bath. Once in the tub he was contented splashing and playing. His tiny hands would reach up eagerly to try and touch the bubbles that had risen from the suds in the tub and had become airborne. He'd laugh if one popped on his nose and clap his hand, then expectantly look back at her and make the popping sound to see if she'd laugh to and she did. She'd finish bathing him, take a green towel and swaddle him as he dried. "Now you're all clean and tidy, like a prince of Asgard should be,' she declare to him proudly tapping his nose.
The queens mind came from her reminiscing, she looked at the disheveled and battered appearing young man before her. He was so filthy with atrocities that she felt no amount of baths could ever make him the pristine and sparkling prince he had once been.
He continued to make his way toward the majestic bench where he would be given the penalty for his dastardly deeds. Their eyes met, for the first time in more than a year. It had been by accident she doubted he had really been trying to look in her direction, but it happened none the less. Momentarily, his proud footsteps staggered. He had envisioned seeing Thor many, many times in the days that he planned his revenge, he had thought about encountering Odin once more after he was the King of Midgard, but Mother…Frigga…he hadn't really thought of what it would mean to see her at long last.
It was the look in Loki's eyes that broke her heart. Still as she watched him she couldn't help but note how much he had changed. It was apparent from the dark circles that formed under his eyes, to the feral glint that shown forth through his pupils… He was not the same. She shuddered. His icy gaze made her tremble. Loki had always been a reserved person. He'd always been slightly austere, but he was never cold. He wasn't tainted and malicious. He wasn't like this rigid animal that made his way to her.
He was marched to the foot of the podium from behind which the King of Asgard would give judgment. Despite his rough and ragged look and boos and jeers and hisses of the crowd of regal Asgardians (They called him all manner of evil names. Some even spat as he passed. They raised their fists threatening at him) the prince held his head high. His back was straight and proper. Green eyes keen and sharp and his mouth held in his characteristic smug grin.
Finally, he was at the base of the throne. The scribes who sat on either side of the daïs cowered as he drew closer. The guards shoved him to the ground and a few of the soldiers pushed his shoulders forward forcing him into the humble posture. Odin started to make his way to stand on the edge of the step where he could look down at Loki. He put his hand up signaling for the warriors to release the skinny young man and released his mouth from the confining muzzle. Tentatively, the command was obeyed. The soldier hesitated slightly the snatched Loki's head up by his matted hair forcing it back and exposing his porcelain throat as he undid the muzzle. It feel from around his jaw and settled on his collarbone. When the guard was done he thrust Loki down on the velvet carpet. Loki fell forward, barely managing to catch himself with his elbows and lower arms being that his thin wrist were bound. As soon as the faithful soldiers of Asgard backed away Loki popped up, standing firm as a stone. The beloved queen of the realm started to descend the steps. She started to rush up to greet her youngest son. Her precious baby boy who she'd thought was lost to her for all time. She was horrified by hearing all that he had done. It was unthinkable. Unspeakable. But at the moment, seeing him, alive, dirty, filthy as he was, but so very much alive… all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around his neck, kiss him until her lips were sore and weep into his chest. It was only her husband muscular hand turned back and pressed toward her stomach that held her in place.
"Kneel, Loki!" The thunderer ordered.
"Kneel before whom?" Loki's voice came out crisp and clear with unbridled defiance and bitterness as he stood before all. He was not supposed to be in this position. He was a King. The Rightful King of Asgard. He need kneel to no one. "Before whom shall I bend my knee?" he questioned boldly. "Before you, oh mighty Thor?" he continued smartly. Thor growled and started to come and force Loki down himself, but Odin restrained him with a simple gesture of the hand. "
"Loki Odinson," The great king spoke and his one eye burrowed into Loki's two dark green pupils. "Kneel," he ordered.
" Shall I kowtow before my king?" He inquired one snake like eye brow raised. His voice was sincerely questioning he put on a childlike expression putting his dirty finger on the edge of his dry and cracked lower lip " Before my…" He paused his arrogance faltering for just a second. "my…my… father?" Loki's voice cracked he dropped his head. He could feel hot tears forming behind his eyes. He slammed his eye lids closed. He'd not cry. Not here. Not now. Not in front of them. Not ever again. Not over him. He growled as he squared his shoulders once more. He had no father. He had no brother. He had no…mother. He looked up at Frigga. She was crying. He twisted away from her kind, unconditionally loving gaze. Mother….Frigga…she made it so difficult, she had been his mother… once. His pale eyelids slid closed and he averted his green eyes from her own crystal blue pupils. He opened them again with ferocity and focused his emerald eyes on the Odin. Odin was easy to fume and rage at. He regretted every moment that he'd ever spent trying to please the man…he thought of as his father he was never his father, merely his captor. He was never his son, he was merely a relic a pawn to be used at will. " Well you are none of the above, Odin," he remarked. His green eyes looked up into the elderly king's face. Odin jerked. It was a quick reaction only a person as shrewd as Loki could have noticed the pained reaction. His smile grew wider as insolence filled him. The Asgardians were horrified. How dare he speak to their king in such a way! Their murmurs were like a roar and he sucked it in merrily how he shocked them. One dedicated palace soldier came rushing from the sidelines enraged like some rabid bilgeschnipe. He charged sword raised and letting a battle cry ring from his throat. He would teach that traitor to the House of Odin some respect. He raced up on the slim man clad in muddied green tunics only to find himself being lifted into the air by an invisible hand. He twisted and kicked his legs frantically as he felt his windpipe being constricted. He writhed in the air. The people yelled and screamed. Loki looked at Odin sinisterly a tiny smirk on his lips. It was so small and so jaded and contented.
"Loki put him down!" Thor yelled from the raised daïs.
Loki's smile broadened even the more. His hand that was just barely raised above his chest pantomimed squeezing and the poor overly zealous soldier struggled all the more. "I see you haven't told the people of our little family secret ," Loki said aloud, still cool and collected. His jade pupils darting around to fix on familiar faces in the crowd only to watch them recoil or screech. The solider still hung in the air kicking and flailing desperate for breath "Ahh, but secrets, secrets are no fun until we share with everyone," he chided his father publically with the humor of a nasty schoolmaster who sought to embarrass pupils. "Go on Odin and tell them," Loki said cocking his head to the side gesturing to the crowd. "Tell the children of Asgard of the spoils you brought home from the Great War," He arched his eye brows and bared his teeth in a sick grin challenging the king. "Because the Casket wasn't the only thing you brought from Jotunheim was it?" Loki asked as if he was a lawyer and not the one at the mercy of the court. But with that he did lower the scrambling guard. The man's body fell to the ground with a thud. He staggered to his feet and ran back to his place. "Was it?" he taunted the more emerald eyes never faltering as they stared at Odin. His hand quivered as he held the person's life at bay. . Be proud of your work, Sire," he turned his gazed from the blonde who stood tall and proud dressed in finery like a prince shoulder. "Go on," he insisted his voice a testy whisper, "Tell them," he urged levitating the feisty, young soldier higher into the air, right at Odin's eye level where he could watch the young newly pledge servant of the king claw at the invisible fingers that clutched at his neck. "TELL THEM!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. The court was silent as Loki's voice rang out like a clear bell.
The King of Asgard looked at the young knight, his blue pupils dilated in fright thinking that this youth may be slaughtered in him sight. He looked at Loki. He was little more than a madman now, and Odin dare not give into his taunts and demands.
"Loki, release him!" Thor yelled once more as he watched the poor soldier twitch while Loki held him in an invisible chokehold. The bulky blonde prince was horrified at Loki's display. He had only seen Loki use the spell 2 other times. The first time Loki had been a teenager and he had done it to save their lives. He performed the act with tears in his eyes and when it was over he sank to his knees and cried into his palm. Thor had comforted him led him away from the scene telling him that he did it out of self-defense and it was alright. The second time had been a similar scenario, but Loki didn't cry like a baby after he did it. He was stoic and calm about the trick. He took out three men at once and he barely batted an eyelash. "Brother?" Thor remembered softly murmuring in the after math of the battle and finding the 3 warriors at Loki's feet. "I…I…it was necessary," Loki uttered his voice distant and soft. Thor had simply nodded along. This, this was different than both those times. Loki never took such delight in it. Thor watched as the face of the young soldier turned bright red. A few women screamed when the watch the sight of how Loki's breathing got ragged with pleasure as he squeezed his fist shut tighter. His eyes darted around with devilish glee seeing who would flee and shout as his merciless acts continued. The court was in an uproar. It was the feeling of power that Loki loved most of all. He finally released the boy of a warrior. He let him fall to the ground just before the last bit of air was choked from his lungs. "Guards!" he called.
Immediately soldiers rushed in from all sides they burst from the behind the doors and columns and came rushing through the crowd causing screams and shrieks and they jostled those around. Their swords and spears were drawn they were ready to seize Loki. Loki was not at all unnerved by them, rather he stood as if he were ready to take on the whole army. The golden realm's rule told him mean to stand down. They were confused by the order, but the were obedient as well trained soldiers should be and they put their weapons back by their sides. Though they still stood surrounding the once prince of their realm. "Be still," declared Odin, but his voice is sad and hollow. It is weary like that of the parent of a toddler tired of the noncooperative child. "And kneel," the king uttered once more and he didn't speak the words as a command. He asked and almost begged for Loki to comply so that the court can see that Loki can make the right choice. So that Asgard could see that Loki wasn't completely gone and so that he could see that there was something remaining of the smart and gentle lad he once called his son.
"NO!" Loki roared back sharply. The court raged. They shouted and screamed and begged for Loki's immediate execution because nobody…no one dare say no to Odin. The guards finally could take no more they rushed to seize the scrawny, dirty enchanter who dare make threats and make the Hall of Judgment a place to display his twisted spectacles. At once, the palace defenders had encircled him. At least 50 or so dedicated men and women who had sworn oaths as warriors of the realm surrounded the green-eyed prisoner on all sides. Loki looked around giddy with the thrill of the ruckus he was causing. His jade eyes roved over the numbers of the troop. He even spied the few he had dared called his 'friends', their swords and spears drawn same as the other soldiers. None would have hesitated to skewer him where he stood.
"Stand down, Loki!" He heard Sif growl she was directily behind him and he could almost feel her freshly forged blade press against his back. He smiled the harder. Shaking his head as if bemused by a child and he maintained his magic death grip un the new recruits throat. The young person huff in any attempt to pull in some air, his face turning purple.
Prince Loki ignored Lady Sif's warning, he kept his focus on Odin. "Think you that I will beg for my life? Think you that I will plead for mercy from your hand? Think you I'm some simpering whelp trying to escape a beating?"
"Be silent!" Odin shouted. His good eye looked up at Loki, his cherished younger son, his missed…so deeply missed boy, his pitiable child. His sky blue eye gazed into Loki's emerald eyes. Loki merely glared back, no humility or shame or traces of regret. Those crazed jade pupils danced and laughed with an evil type of mischief. Loki's eyes are wild and ravenous. They darted back and forth as if looking for another target. Odin saw just how far gone Loki was the gentle youth Loki had been. He was dangerous. Odin would not allow any more of Loki's monstrous displays to continue. "Now kneel," he whispered his voice raspy with displeasure. It was no longer a choice. Odin tapped Gungnir on the ground and all of a sudden Loki felt his chains shake as a magnetic forced pulled them toward the floor. He fell on his knees. His hands became glued to the floor. He fought and bucked but he was like a bilgeschnipe in tar…stuck. He fought hard causing himself to get winded and weak He still hadn't eaten well in many days. He trembled and looked up at Asgard's true ruler. He started to say something, but found he couldn't. He panicked, finding his lips were forced to be pressed together. His lips quivered with rage and fear. "Read the charges!" Odin told the Chief Scribe. The court official did so. Slowly, methodically he read the list of grievances and atrocities committed by this once respect man in the house of Odin.
The Royal Scribe took the podium and unraveled the scroll as voice fell still. "Loki Jarl, Second Son of their Imperial Majesties Queen Frigga the Beneficent and King Odin the Brilliant, High Chancellor of the Court of Universities, Master Mage of the Realm and Prince of Asgard is hereby charged with and found guilty of
Conspiracy against the Crown, Conspiracy to Murder, Attempted Murder, Treason, War Crimes on 3 realms, Harnessing unlawful power sources, Assembling an Army and Attacking and Innocent Realm, and Numerous Casualties of Mortals," The scribe elaborated.
"Loki Odinson, Prince of Asgard " The great king proceeded. "Your arrival to Asgard was an omen of peace and goodwill to the Aesir. Your birth set the town for a time when wars would cease after many centuries. You were meant to represent a beacon of light and promise after much time of darkness. Never could I have foreseen this that you have become. Your crimes against Asgard, Jotunheim and Midgard are horrendous!" The great king roared. "You have deceived your realm as their prince and you have brought shame and dishonor to this very house. Most of all you have betrayed yourself. You so desperately seek power…you crave to rule…lust for other to acquiesce to you, but you deserve no power. You deserve no crown. You are not fit to rule over a flea! You have brought war and chaos to the innocent. You have become a heartless monster. I find you unworthy to be called Prince of Asgard."
Thor drew in a sharp breath, "Father," he entreated quickly his voice a roll of thunder amongst the hush.
"Silence," Odin dictated turning and glaring sharply at his eldest. " Now in the name of my father and his father before, I Odin your father take from you your title," Odin proclaimed and slapped the magical "Your privileges," He declared and hit the ground with the staff again. Loki barely winced at the sentencing. "And what you love most Loki" He stopped and breathed because it did pain him to do so. "Your power,"Loki's gemlike pupils practically jumped from their sockets. He shook his head vigorously in protest since he couldn't speak. Loki grunted and screamed through his teeth and most would have been even more grateful that his thin lips were clamped shut for all the vile filth that he attempted to utter.
Odin raised his mighty scepter, his eye closed for just a second, his lips curled downward under his white beard, then his wizened blue eyeball was opened once more and his look got firm and resolute. He shot a streaming blast of pure gold energy at the dark-haired criminal he once called his son. The minute the streaming bold hit him, Loki felt as if his skin was set a flame by 1000 suns. He thrashed rocking from side to side allowing his body to slam against the floor as he felt his energy and essence drain from him. Loki writhed in pain. He twisted and squirmed in agony fighting to maintain his power. He screamed through closed lips. Tears poured from his forest colored eyes. . It was frightening to see.. Women averted their eyes. Even the strongest warriors did the same. He covulsed like a fish out of water and the bloodcurdling scream that echoed from his sealed shut mouth could even be heard outide the palace,
"My lord, my lord," Frigga cried dropping down to her knees. She grabbed Odin's free hand and pressed her lips against his ring. "Show mercy! Show mercy! Show mercy !" she sobbed into his palm. "Please," she begged. She finally brought he gently blue eyes up to gaze into Odin's one good eye. She knew Loki had done horrendous things. Things that made her blood run cold, but she was still his mother. He was still her son…She couldn't bear to watch him suffer so. "Please," she asked in earnest once more and clutched his robe burying her face there.
"Father!" prince Thor cried out seeing his brother's distress. He was tempted to snatch Gunginir from Odin's hands. Loki was so helpless, he couldn't stand or run ao get away he couldn't even scream properly as father stripped him of all. He thought surely Loki's very life was being torn from his body and he couldn't watch him die...not again. He couldn't sit back and scream like a powerless infant as Loki slipped through his fingers once more. "Father, no more. No more." The crown prince begged. Eventually the pain became so great that Loki frantically tore his lips apart. He wailed all the louder from the sheer pain a feeling the sensitive flesh rip as he broke free of Odin's magic. His mouth bled profusely his lips had already been parched and cracked. He slammed himself back and forth on the ground groaning madly.
Odin heard the pleas of his family and finally stopped Gunginir from taking its toll on the man who had attack Midgard. Amazingly enough, the torment hadn't left Loki completely devoid of his magic. After so many years of study and practice magic was apart of the dark-haired young man. It was embedded in every fiber of his being It mostly just weakened it. Still the effects were devastating. Loki was a quaking mess. His body convulsed on the ground as if he was having a seizure. He screamed and thrashed for a long while as he felt the energy pulsate through his body robbing him of what he had for centuries worked so hard to obtain. He was exhausted, spent and finally all he could do was whimper as he lied in a curled up heap at the foot of the steps to the throne.
"For 500 years you shall sit in that cell. Alone." Odin emphasized. "Then it shall be decided if you have atoned for your sins." He confirmed. "he stated firmly. "I want you to know… I consider this punishment extremely lenient. And if need be Loki, you will face the maximum consequence for your vile deeds." Odin declared. Loki trembled, but managed to raise his head and take Odin in. The man's face was stern as stone. Would Odin really make good of his word? Odin was weary, weak in his old age, frail and soft-hearted. Loki gave a feeble by none the less defiant smirk at Odin. His eyes that of a snake in the grass that bides their time before they strike as blood from his bleeding lips stained his teeth. It made the ruler draw a breath back.. " Take him away!" the king ordered The guards grabbed him, hauling him into a kneeling position once again.
The guards yanked on him and Loki collapsed into their rough grips. He was too weak now to put up any struggle. "Wait!" Loki heard a frantic feminine voice cry. He was listless now, he was scarcely able to lift his green eyes let alone his head. His ears were muddled with frenzied, feverish sounds, boos and rantings and jeers from the citizens of Asgard. Their taunting words as slanderous names were indistinguishable as he struggled to hang on to consciousness, but this desperate cry of "Wait!" forced him to try and keep his orbs open. He looked up into the face of a beautiful golden queen rushing toward him, her arms outstretched desperate for him and Loki thought that maybe out of old habit he attempted to raise his arm back to take her in. "Loki," he heard her call his name. "Loki," her tone was softer closer, a mere whisper in his ear. Perhaps he felt the warmth of her tender hand swipe across his dirty brow. Perhaps he inhaled her perfume the soft scent of lilacs and plums. Perhaps he hadn't...his emerald eyes lifted and he saw guards block her path, placing their spears before her holding her back. "I love you," he heard, but after that everything was black.
"Father,please, recant this decision!" Thor begged Odin when the two were able to speak in private after the sentencing. They were in the scribe quarters. The head scribe had written the decree out on formal and decorative parchment in the signature style of calligraphy that depicted the royal documents. Once the decree was signed it was sealed into law and there would be no revoking of the punishment than for the rules of the eternal realm were ever binding. Odin was sitting at his desk. Hours had passed since the sentencing and he had read over the document time and time again. It would seal Loki's fate, but Loki's own actions had decreed what would await him. He nodded to himself
"The decision is final," Odin replied sharp and unyielding as he unrolled the scroll and read the runes that held the details of the sentencing over once more that night.
"The punishment is too great," Thor insisted, his voice rising and ringing out clear as day. He slammed his fist down on the mahogany desk where the document rested. His fist pounded loudly at it called the golden king's attention away from the details of his harshly rendered punishment.
"The punishment is not great enough!" Odin yelled back he rose to his feet and leaned heavily on the ornately engraved table. He and Thor stared defiantly at each other. The King's glare was firm as a mountain and Thor's as turbulent as a storm at sea. Odin sighed. He recognized the look in the young man's eyes. It was the same look he would get when he and Loki were but lads. Loki had always been impish. Playing pranks on people speaking out of term to adults who he found to be buffoons. Odin would go to punish him, but then Thor would jump in insist that the fault was his. Somehow the eagerness to protect always softened the rulers heart. Odin's shoulder's slump as he felt deflated of his fury, he was now just weary. He started to remove his helmet. His hair which was already gray with age looked positively white after the stress of recent events. He raked his strong but wrinkled hands through his snowy hair. He frowned as he placed his crown on the rich wood desk in the room full of the private legal documents. "Loki is very ill, my son…you must recognize that." He announced steadily. He reached across the desk that separated them and put a hand on Thor's shoulder. His only' eye glistened with the words.
"Exactly, Father," Thor said nodding and smiling a little more at ease now that he was making progress. "he's sick. He needs time to heal. He needs a chance to recover." Thor explained with such fervent hope.
"After all he has done you prescribe a convalescence?" Odin shook his white-haired head almost scoffing.
The great warrior almost felt foolish. His father's wisdom often made his own logic seem so obsolete. "I do not mean to suggest that Loki not be punished. But Loki should still be tended to…We don't know what transpired after he fell from the Bifrost," Thor went on.
"Nothing he has endured can make up for his heinous crimes, Thor." Odin explained authoritatively.
"I don't offer excuses for his behavior father, but he needs us…He needs to know that we still care about him. Rejection…look at what years of rejection drove Loki too…" the beautiful blonde young man tried to explain.
"Loki was never rejected, he was embraced and he was loved,"
"Loki saw it differently,"
"Than his silver-tongue has finally worked against him where he can no longer decipher fact from fib," Odin stated decisively.
Thor shook his head, golden lock flopping as he did. "You miss the point!" he nearly shouted. He composed himself quickly, "When I talked to Loki before the Chitauri arrived, he asked if I mourned him." Thor tried to convey desperately to Odin. "He wants to be missed, Father," Thor tried to clarify. "He needs to know how much we mourned his passing, how much we love him and want him back. " Thor added quickly.
"Loki may be too far gone to come back," the wise leader whispered plainly.
Thor shook his head. "What are you saying?" he questioned a puzzled look taking over the blonde's features.
"I am saying, Thor that this time away…has changed him… you are right," Odin paused, "We know not what he encountered when he fell into that abyss, it was obviously a pathway to a dark realm, but Loki…he is not who he was ." Odin replied. "There may be no traces of the old Loki left to return to us." His head hung when the words parted his lips. He tried his best to sound strong, for Thor's sake. He too had mourned Loki. He too had been guilt ridden after the boys' suicide. He too had gone to Heimdal asking for news of his son. He went every day on a vigil. After so many days past he gave up hope that Loki had survived, but he at least wanted the body. He wanted to hold him like he did the day he found him and tell him how worthy he truly was apologize and give him a proper burial and lay his body in the family crypt or float him off to sea in a burning boat. He commissioned a team of Valkyrie to go and search for Loki's body. He used a great amounts of magic to conjure the female warriors to the father's corners of each of the known nine realms hoping that one would bring back the shell of his son. There was no such remains found and his grieving continued. He felt as if he had failed, thinking that the raven haired boy's corpse floated around in space.
When Heimdal finally called him and explained that he had seen Loki it was almost a year later. He burst into tears of joy. After the gatekeeper had described what he had seen the tears of joy turned into only horror and the his mouth formed the phrase that had rung in his ears like an unwanted gong, "No Loki"
. "He is very dangerous," Odin spoke up once again.
"He's still my brother!" Thor yelled because he just couldn't stand the thought that Loki was too far gone. That he was unreachable. He wasn't was he? Deep down inside…he was still…Loki…wasn't he? "he's still your son." Thor pointed out he regulated his voice. He looked at the king hopefully. Odin didn't return the hopeful glance. He turned his head and looked down at a scroll in his hand. "isn't he?" Thor urged. Odin's eyes didn't turn to meet Thor's rather he looked a small portrait that he had on his desk. The portrait was of Thor and Loki. They were but boys then. Thor had been about 10 by human ages and Loki roughly 7. They had both been standing next to their new ponies they'd received. Odin smiled fondly. Loki had been so pleased when he'd brought him that winged horse. King Odin's large strong, but withered hands strayed to hold the old portrait. His calloused fingertips brushed against the imaged of Loki's young smiling face. Some of his teeth were even missing then. Odin's mouth turned up. His eyes crinkled. Thor noticed.
Odin looked up and that sad smile remained he placed the portrait back on the mahogany writing desk and turned it down. His look immediately hardened."This is for his own good Thor," the gray-bearded one stated softly allowing a heavy hand to rest on a marble column.
"Own good? Own good? Chaining him to a wall, keeping him in that wretched dungeon, stripping him of everything and then leaving him isolated." Thor argued shaking his head refusing the statements he was saying. "How is that for his good?"
"And what would you have done? Roll out a red carpet? Play trumpets? Have a grand feast for him with sugar cakes and pheasant?" the monarch demanded his temper flaring. He took no pleasure in what had to be done but it had to be done. Loki could not be trusted. He was power-hungry and ravenously so.
"No, no," Thor protested, " But Loki still needs some contact! He still needs to know he has a family who loves him and wants him well."
"And if he cannot be made well?' Odin questioned.
"Will you not even give him a chance?" He asked.
"A chance to what? To wreak havoc on the innocent once again? To awaken Ragnorok?"
"A chance to redeem himself father!" Thor yelled.
"He is a rabid dog, Thor! If you slack the chain he will turn around and bite and devour," Odin said with a grave tone.
"So we just forget about him? Leave him in that dungeon to rot? To be driven insane from centuries without anyone coming to see him? What life is that?"
"it is a better life than he is deserving of." Odin growled. He heard his eldest son's lips smack together forming a protest. "HE DESERVES DEATH!" Odin shot. "And nothing more." The Avenger took a step back. "As a king Thor, I must protect the realms that is the oath I swore. That is the oath that you swore," Odin explained. His right hand still hovered unsteadily over the declaration. "it is for the good of Asgard…for the good of all the realms," Odin thundered. His heart broke as he placed his signet ring on his middle finger he pressed his signet ring into the dip of red dye. He rolled the ring back and forth stain the tips of his knuckled with the crimson coloring. He rolled out the long parchment scroll. He took a long deep breath and Odin's hand trembled ever so slightly as it hovered above the scroll. Odin swallowed the lump in his throat and confirmed.
"Father, will you not at least visit with your son?"