"Be good and you will be lonesome."-Mark Twain
The coliseum was in an uproar. "Exile! I say we kill the god!" "He will just take over Midguard again!" "Toss him in prison!" "What sort of sentence is this?!" Apparently, I was wanted dead still. "Silence!" Forseti called out over the crowd. "For The Council has made their decision! Loki will go to Midguard, and there he will carry out good deeds, a minimum on one per day. He will reconcile for the destruction of New York by living in Midguard. You shall leave tomorrow, Loki, and you must take nothing with you." This seemed just as cruel as the horse punishment to me. I had to be nice? Nice to the human race? That was one of the last things that I would ever want to do. "As for your magic, you must use as little as possible. If you use too much, it will be bound. There is one more rule." Forseti said. "You can have one Confidant. He or she may know everything about you and your purpose on Midguard. But only one mortal must know." I gave a solemn nod. Gerd looked rather upset about this compromise between the gods, but I could see how they did it. Snorta got her self-control wish, the other two created some sort of imprisonment, but Gerd did not get her execution wish. Whether I was glad or not was unknown to me. "Will I be exiled forever?" I asked. "No, you will not." Forseti replied. This gave me a little more hope in returning here again. "When am I aloud back?" I wondered. "When you must come back is when you do not want to leave." Great, I'll be there forever! I had already signed the contract in my own blood. There was no turning back now.
There was still many talking whilst I stood in the center of it all. The two men grabbed my elbows and turned me around on the podium. As I was dragged out of the arena, the people began to leave too. I was led back though the hallway we had entered, all the gold and silver somehow looking dimmer than before. When we reached the large doors leading outside, the muzzle was shoved back onto my face. I did not struggle this time; I gave up. The doors opened up from outside with a pull from Thor. "Brother-" I held up my hands as to surrender. I did not want to discuss this right now. His shoulders sunk and he sighed. "Come, brother, let us go home." I had to bite my tongue (metaphorically) from telling him I was going back to prison. Nonetheless, I nodded and waited until the guards unlocked my ankle irons. Quickly I mounted the horse and we took off back to the prison.
"Rise and shine!" Someone shouted at me. A blast of coldness hit my face and I scrambled on the ground. Water soaked though my shirt and pants and then reached the dirt floor. "What was that for?" I spat. Like today was going to be a good day anyways. I just did not expect it to start out so…wet. "Baths here." He said. Looking around the small room I saw a wooden bucket a little bigger than a normal sized one. Full of more cold water, I did not doubt. Then the idea of being clean made me smile. Finally, I could get these blasted mites out of my hair. "How am I to bathe when my hands are chained together?" I asked the guard as he was unlocking the shackled on my feet. "Good luck." Was all he had to say. After another set of irons were on my wrist, I was released from the irons on the wall. With some help from the guard, I was back upon my feet. "What about my um, clothes?" I asked. "I'll cut your shirt off, and your new clothes are by the bucket." He pulled a knife from his pocket. I stood deathly still as he ripped a tear down the middle of it. The guard then cut down the seam of the sleeves. There was no easier way for him to take it off. The ankle cuffs were removed, but they did not bind magic anyway. He could not risk a prisoner of my value to escape, so the ones on my wrist remained. How thoughtful of him.
"I think you can do the rest." He said before exiting. "Oh gods." I muttered. I began to tug at the tie of my pants (and for you mortals who have never seen Asguardian pants (though I bet you would love to,huh?), they lace. We do not have zippers in this realm.) After I tugged everything off, which was a hardship in itself, I stepped into the rather small bucket of water. It was not as cold as I thought it would be. I reached my hands down into the bottom of the bucket. It was hard since I was chained together. At the bottom was a small scrub brush. Thank gods, now I can scrub all of this dirt from myself. I started quickly on my legs, removing the dirt and turning the water a nice brown color. Getting the grime off my feet was particularly hard. I had not worn a pair of shoes in a long time. Next I attempted to scrub the dirt from my arms. This did not go as well as I wish it would have, but it would have to do. I was itching (literately) to clean my hair. I removed myself from the bucket and stood back up on the dirt. Lowering my head, I stuck it directly into the bucket. With my fingers I rubbed close to my scalp, ridding me of the bugs that have resided too long. I pulled my head up, my hair flipping back onto my shoulders. Taking the brush, I combed it all back. A shiver traveled down my spine as I was messing with my hair. Dropping the brush back into the bucket I grabbed the pair of pants. I pulled them on and tied them. All I could do was stare at the shirt. Because I can totally put that one on. Sighing, I awaited for the guards arrival.
Finally the steel door was pulled back and two guardsmen entered. "You grab the bucket." The older one said. "Loki, you need to put your shirt on." He reminded me, picking it up off the floor. I lifted the chains in the air. "You think I did not try?" I asked. The guard smiled back sheepishly. "Oh, right, the chains." He pulled a pair of hand irons from his belt. "We will just have to put these on your ankles, and then you can pull on the shirt." After another pair was stuck on me, they freed my hands. This would have been helpful earlier. These people are geniuses here, they really are. Taking the shirt from the floor, I pulled it over my head. The guard clamped the cuffs back down on my wrist and we waited for the other one to leave with the water. As soon as he was back, they grabbed a hold of me.
I waded though the crowded street with the two guards at my side. There was a lot of unnecessary yelling and shenanigans, but I pushed it all away from my mind. I was truly leaving Asguard and forced to be kind to the inferior race of humans. In addition, I was suppose to make a Confidant. Did The Council expect me to be overly social with people? For I am not even overly social with people in this realm, but yet they think I suddenly will once I reach Midguard. I wanted to rule them, what makes them think I should have to be so close to one of them? This was all very frustrating to me. As we were jostled though, we reached a clearing. I saw Heimdallr, the gatekeeper of the Bifrost, farther in front of us. The Bifrost is a rainbow bridge that allows us to pass though to different realms. In this case, to Midguard. He was decorated in large plates of golden armor. On his head he wore a large helmet with small horns (not nearly as great as mine).
Suddenly the guards shoved me forward and I stumbled into an empty space near Heimdallr. "Uh, hello." I muttered to him. He gave a nod as to recognized I said something. "Are you ready to leave, Loki?" He whispered, not wanting any of the others to hear our conversation. "As ready as I will ever be." I replied back. Heimdallr and I turned towards the rainbow bridge as there was a commotion farther down in the crowd. He turned back around and so did I. What I saw made me smirk. "Pardon me!" He yelled on top of a horse. "I must get though!" As soon as he spotted me, Thor leapt from his horse quickly, not bothering to bring it with him. People parted as he raced down the hill towards me. Heimdallr drew his sword, and I became alarmed. "What are-" With a swift cut, the chains between my irons were broken. I extended my arms out and smiled. Thor reached the bottom of the hill and I embraced him tightly in my arms. "Thinking of leaving without me, brother?" He asked into my ear. "I was hoping I would not have to. Perfect timing, Thor." I told him. From over his shoulder I saw two small children in the middle of the street. They seemed almost out of place, the little boy's. The two of them were holding hands innocently looking at my brother and I. My jaw lowered in horror as I realized the overly familiar faces, the long blonde and black hair, and the similar outfits. They disappeared in a black mist as someone passed though them. What dark magic could this possibly be?
Standing behind Thor and I was Frigga. I was honestly surprised to see her here. I released Thor and he stepped aside. I could tell that her eyes were red as she cautiously moved forward. I debated whether I should say anything at all. Then I remembered I would not see her face for a very long time. "Hello, mother." I said. Frigga rushed forward and wrapped her arms around my midsection. "I'm so sorry, my son." I heard her murmur to me. She pulled her head back and took a look at my face. "Take care of yourself, Loki." Her petite hands held my face as she smiled. "And maybe, just maybe, when you get back, this place will be somewhere where you belong." My lips kissed the top of her forehead. "Just maybe." I whispered. I could not help but wonder what she was thinking. Easily I penetrated her thoughts. Gods, please take care of my sons. So she was praying. I smiled a little and she slid her arms back to her sides. Turing to Thor, I smiled bigger. I read his thoughts too. Do not cry. You cannot cry. Ooh, suddenly I wish I had not. That pained me that my brother would be upset to the point of tears. This was my own entire fault anyways. I looked away and stood next to Heimdallr. "I am ready." I told him. With a nod, he stepped aside, revealing the rainbow bridge to Midguard. I could not help but to look behind me again. Thor had his arms around Frigga, the two of them giving me looks of sorrow. Quickly I turned around. I could not bear to see anymore. That was the last time I would see them though, and the image was stuck in my mind.
My foot touched the bridge and I knew I must not look back anymore. One foot in front of the other. Soon, Asguard was long behind me as I traveled back to Midguard.
