Disclaimer: I do not own it, nor am I making profit.
Loki walked with his head held high as Thor marched him to a Bifrost site. The other Avengers were with them, each with a duffle bag over their shoulder. Other Midgardians gathered around, the sounds of cameras snapping coming from the little phones that they loved so much. Though he knew the Midgardians hated him for destroying their city and killing their loved ones, a part of him still enjoyed the attention.
The Avengers gathered around them, all grabbing either Thor or someone connected to Thor. The Captain made a different call, instead grabbing Loki's bicep. He jerked and tried to pull away, but the grip only tightened. Two Chitauri dragged him up, one on each side. The Other stood in front of him, using one claw to raise his chin so that he was facing the creature. His legs shook, his back burned and everything was screaming.
"Still weak. The Master will not be pleased. Do you want to displease the Master?" Stubbornness wanted to tell it to go rot in a cave somewhere, fear wanted to plea and cry. Neither could be uttered through the swelling and dryness of his throat and mouth. Swollen from the continual beating and dry from the heat and screaming.
"I believe the Lost Prince made need a little push in the right direction." The Other spoke in it's native tongue and the Chitauri next to him shoved him forward. They twisted through the Sanctuary, eventually ending up in a large room, a blue glow coming from the scepter in Gamora's hand. The Mind stone. He tried to resist, but his body refused to obey his terror. The Chitauri dragged him towards the favorite daughter of Thanos, stopping a few feet away. She stabbed him in the temple, thrusting him into his memories, twisting them to her desire. His knees gave out and he slammed to the ground, his neck snapping back to maintain the connection between him and the scepter.
He was on the broken Bifrost, looking out into the abyss. He was on his knees, shaking arms barely supporting him. The Avengers were beside him. Wait. Loki glanced around, surprised to see an unfamiliar scene. Right. He stood, swaying as Einherjar surrounded him. Thor was looking at him with concern in his eyes, but for once, the oaf was silent. Deep breaths.
Now that his heart rate was slightly calm and his mind cleared, he determined that he must have had a flashback when the Captain grabbed him. He was only glad that he had been muzzled so that no pathetic cries escaped. He mustn't show any weakness or signs of coercion. The stakes were simply too high. Under normal circumstances, he would simply cast an illusion, but his current situation didn't allow that.
He stepped forward, making sure that it appeared he was stumbling because of the chains and not because of his disorientation and shakiness. It was perfectly logical to fold ones hands when chained together and it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he was shaking like an øsper.
They were nearly to the end of the Bifrost when the shaking subsided enough for Loki to walk without fear of tripping embarrassingly. People gathered outside of their homes to watch the procession. To watch their faux prince be marched to the axe. He could only imagine how glad they would be to be rid of the snake prince, the darkness that diminished the light of their favorite, Thor. To watch the monster in disguise be marched to be slain.
Loki walked with his head high, ignoring the stares of the people. It would be over soon enough. Odin would have him killed and Thor and mother would be safe from Thanos. Midgard would be pleased that justice had been served and Thanos would be prevented with the Tessaract safe on Asgard. At least until the titan was bold enough to attack Asgard.
He was led through the winding alleys of the lower classes, low murmurings and whispers following in their wake. Loki zoned out, letting his feet lead his distant mind. What was Asgard?
"You come home."
"I don't have it."
It wasn't a lie. He had no home. He was an outcast, always had been. He had attacked his birth world, betrayed his home world in the eyes of all and he'd rather relive the past year than call Thanos his father. He had always been an outsider and he always would be.
They stopped outside of the throne room doors, said doors swinging open to reveal the AllFather and Loki's trial.
Tony's mind was overloaded. There was way too much information to take in. Ship-boats were flying, the ground itself seemed to be alive, what he assumed to be the palace was larger than any building on Earth and looked like pure gold. How that worked, he wasn't sure. Gold was weak and heavy, so if the weakness itself didn't cause it to collapse, that much weight on top of a weak base should. Yet it stood high and proud. It must have seidr incorporated into it.
What blew him away even more was how human it seemed. The outskirts of the city were poorer than the heart of the city. What appeared to be cat-rabbits, raccoons and wolves ran around with the children. As soon as they neared, the mothers gathered their children, standing quietly by their doors. Reading their faces, all Tony could see was shock with a tad of unease.
They approached the palace, doors opening before they arrived. The inside reminded him of Greek architecture, lined columns supporting the levels. Soldiers stood at regular intervals, servants bustled about with laundry or food or lists. As they traveled further in, most of the columns were replaced with walls or some sort of gold energy. These people really enjoyed extravagance. Not that he was complaining. He was hardly a simple living person himself.
They stopped momentarily, the soldiers opening the doors to what he looked like the throne room. It was essentially a long hall with a throne at the end. On that throne sat Thor and Loki's dad, Odin. Beside him was a women in a blue dress with long, curly blond hair. They stopped about ten feet away from the man, power practically radiating off of him. One of the soldiers, Einherjar, he believed they were called, removed the muzzle from Loki before resuming his post beside the Trickster.
"I must have done great wrong to be honored by the presence of the AllFather." The women who was next to the throne stepped forward.
"Please Loki, don't make this worse." The Trickster turned towards her, replying,
"Define worse."
Tony jumped as the spear banged on the floor.
"Enough! Thor, why are your Midgardian comrades here?" Point Break stepped forward, fell to one knee and put a fist to his heart. After he was acknowledged, he stood and answered,
"The Man of Iron believes Loki's actions are not what they seem. He wishes to speak to you of the matter. The others are here to make diplomatic ties." Loki whipped around, green eyes seeming to bore into him. The guards turned the prince around as Odin spoke once more.
"Is that so. I suppose he believes that Loki was coerced into attacking Midgard? I suppose he did some research on us from the old Midgardian stories and decided Loki was not himself?" The king leaned forward slightly, saying
"I agree." Tony's brain stuttered to a stop. It seemed everyone else's did as well, as an
"I beg your pardon?" from Loki and a
"You do?" from Thor.
"Yes. You see Loki is a very quick minded individual who could have won Midgard with ease if he so pleased. I wanted to see my son again before sending him back to Midgard with you. While I cannot make him mortal as I did Thor, I can bind his seidr inside whilst he is on Midgard. I expect that you will treat him fairly, without special treatment nor abuse. However, since you have all assisted in bring my son back, I must insist that you all stay for the feast tonight." Tony surveyed the group discreetly, noting the reactions of the others. Most looked surprised, Barton looked ready to murder something and Loki was stiffer than a board.
"Thor will show you to your rooms. I would like to speak to my son alone." Tony caught the muttered
"You're not my father." As he left the room. He had a feeling that he was going to be looking in the mirror for awhile.
Thor led the way, his mind wandering. He still couldn't believe what his father had said. He himself had been torn on the matter of what to do with his brother. The sentimental part of him wanted his brother back. He wanted to believe the Man of Iron more than anything. The responsible part wanted to put Loki away so that he could not hurt anyone else. Yet, what if there was a larger threat out there?
He was so used to his father always taking his side, always ignoring Loki. Most people did. Perhaps his father regretted the way Loki had been treated in the past? The Jotunheim debacle had opened all of their eyes. Some more than others. Nonetheless, they had all seen a side of Loki that none of them knew he kept hidden. Perhaps they did, but they chose to ignore it.
He snapped out of his thoughts, nearly running into the guest wing doors. He turned to his comrades, wondering if he should assign rooms or let them choose amongst themselves. He decided on the latter.
"I'm afraid this is where we depart, friends. The feast will be at sundown, so I advise you get some rest. Once you pass through these doors, the seidr will react to your biology and adjust the temperature to that of your home world." He nodded at them in acknowledgement before heading back the way they came, towards his parents and brother. He felt nearly as lost as he did when he found himself a mortal on Midgard.
He didn't know what or who to believe anymore. Twice now, he had had to go to battle against his brother. He wasn't sure what or who to believe anymore. Could he really afford to hope that his brother was still in there, only to learn that his brother was truly gone, replaced by a bitter, venomous creature that he did not recognize? He did not know.
For now, he would rest for the festivities. Even if his brother had been coerced, it would be a long journey before they got any answers.
A/N: Okay, the next chapter will probably be half on Asgard, half on Midgard. Then it should start to pick up the pace a little bit. I admit that I was expecting a lot more resistance from Odin, but he actually came out as a not so horrible person this time.
Translations:
Norwegian: Øsper is aspen
French: Faux is fake
Enjoy the rest of your day and/or night.
