"Loki." Odin spoke quietly yet his voice held much natural power within.
Loki did not move. He sighed inwardly with many defeated thoughts trudging through his mind, and stared up at the Allfather's face; outward defiance glinted in his deep emerald eyes. Odin's gaze, although it only came from one eye, unnerved Loki and pierced into him with such righteous justice and judgment that made him glare at Odin menacingly.
Odin placed a hand on Loki's shoulder to ensure no struggle from him.
"Allfather." The mysterious woman bowed her head respectfully towards the father of immortal gods. The Allfather gave a curt nod in return, never letting his attention wander from Loki.
"You have chosen this foolish and desolate path," Odin began, projecting his voice in such a way so that the onlookers would hear his every word.
"You have taken the lives of the innocent and have disgraced your holy Asguardian heritage."
The corners of Loki's mouth curled in a bitter grin when the Allfather mentioned his heritage. 'But it is not my heritage…in truth…' he thought sorely, letting his eyes slowly meet with those of his enemies, holding their gazes until they one by one looked away; all but that mysterious woman.
Loki could feel the defeat begin to overwhelm him; he had fought each one of them for so long; he was tired.
"Loki, Odinson, for all your false pride," Odin continued.
Loki felt a surge of energy run through him from Odin's strong hand.
"For all your vices against the mortal race,"
Loki fell to his knees as a weakness flooded over his senses.
'Surely Odin would not…'
"For all the unsolved demons within, I take your heritage, your magic, and I curse you with mortality!" Odin roared.
Judgment had passed.
Tears fell freely from Loki's eyes as realization and stubborn disbelief weakened him into his now deepened sorrow; the Allfather had once again abandoned him.
Loki frantically pulled a golden dagger from his sleeve, found the strength to stand, and lunged at Odin, his tears blinding him in his rage and disappointment.
Odin turned his body quickly and Loki saw, also turning his body and using the momentum to drive the dagger close. Suddenly the dagger fell from Loki's hand, as a warning yell left Thor's lips, and the mysterious woman grappled Loki's arms back and forced him back down to his knees once again like a slave in the presence of a great King; he could feel magic surging through her.
"Odin!" Loki screamed, hot and heavy tears streaking his reddened face.
"Why must you torment me? You shattered all truth I had known by raising me in a lie!" Loki watched with blurred eyes as Odin's face betrayed weariness beyond repair with every spoken word.
"If this be not the true path, if this be foolish; if this is madness, then it is a madness that you have conjured with your lies!"
Odin walked over to his screaming son and kneeled to his level.
"Loki, one day you may understand why I have acted against you with such measures, yet now you must sort the demons inside yourself. If you cannot change your path, those of Alfheim will have legal contract with your soul, and then, even I will not have power enough to save you." Odin said in a quiet tone that made everyone else in the room strain to hear his words. He extended a fatherly hand and gently touched Loki's forehead, like he had done for so many years when Loki was a young prince swaddled in the safe lies and ignorance that Odin had shaped with so much care.
'No!' Loki thought as his mind and body grew suddenly heavy.
'This cannot be my reality!'
All went black.
What do you see, wife of Odin? You gaze intently into the pool beneath Yggdrasil, the tree of worlds; each root, each branch, a netherland to Asguard yet so curious they make themselves to be to you and you people.
What do you search for?
Ah.
An image forms, one of quick-moving pictures. There you see struggle; hopeless struggle, having wont to change a consequence that is eminent to them that bears it; and still they fight against it, blind to defeat that is sure to follow their meaningless toil.
Who is it you watch so attentively?
A face now forms on that pool's untroubled surface.
Tell me, mother of Thor, what you are feeling; tell me of your suffering, your shattered dreams; your hopes.
Ah…
You hope for redemption, not for yourself but for his; you dream of his return, new and changed, acceptable to this godly society that you and your husband have created. You know he will not change so willingly yet you feel that in time he might find that this is the sort of life he needs, not the road to damnation and betrayal that he had brought upon himself.
There, a face.
Once pale,
Then blue-hued,
Now pale once more.
"My son" you say;
"Come home" you say
Who is it that you watch?
Ah.
Loki.
That adopted son of Jӧtenheim; he is truly lost in mind and soul, so unpredictable even to myself. So, you think he is still worthy to be called prince of Asguard? We shall see in time.
You keep watching, looking, searching; finding disappointments.
Who is that? That face…a woman.
Ah, you are looking deeper; the power of the seers has found you. Futures appear and vanish; what is her fate?
You are smiling now; what did you see?
Loki and…that woman.
Though I am Fate, I know not all futures; I know not the doom of Loki Laufeyson.
And that woman? Keep watch, O wife of Odin, for my hand guides this one, and has for many an eon.
Where is she from, you ask?
Her name?
Do you wish to put the pieces of Loki's distracted future together so soon?
Very well.
Her name is…