You Let it Happen to Me
The streets of Asgard were crowded with her citizens, all waiting to see the return of their prince.
Where there should have been cheering, there was silence. They watched with scornful eyes as Loki stumbled behind Thor's mount.
Traitor, they whispered.
Betrayer.
Prince of Lies.
Bane of Asgard.
Monster.
Loki turned his head and caught sight of the woman whispering into the ear of the man next to her.
Monster, she accused?
Loki snapped his head forward again when he lost sight of her as they continued ahead.
His ears burned.
He had done nothing to them. He had wanted to protect them, just as Thor wanted to. He would have done it better. He would have rid them of Jotunheim. He would have been loyal to them, like he had been all those years.
These were people he would have died for, for the love of Asgard. Now they cursed him...
They left the silence and the whispers behind and made for Valhalla. As soon as they arrived, Thor dismounted and untied Loki's hands.
"You should not have had to endure that, Loki." Thor muttered to him. Loki scowled up at him, his eyes burning with scorn.
Don't you dare feel sorry for me. I don't need your pity.
Thor frowned, but said no more as he led Loki into the hall, his face grim. A guard of Odin's men walked in formation around them.
The doors opened with a resounding boom, announcing their arrival. Behind the doors and within the hall were a score of people.
It reminded Loki much of Thor's coronation. Much of the same people were there, but of course they were not there to see a Prince of Asgard crowned king this time. No, this time they were here to wittiness a Prince of Jotun's downfall.
There was silence here too. It was like everyone was holding their breath. The sound of their footsteps on the floor and the clinking of Loki's chains were the only sound as they approached the throne.
Loki looked at them with his hollow eyes, a smirk hidden beneath his muzzle.
They feared him. They feared what he might do, what he could do.
Good. They should fear a man with nothing left to lose.
Thor pulled Loki to a halt. Loki raised his head to see Odin standing before the throne of Asgard in all his golden armor, Gungnir in his weathered grasp.
Loki lifted his chin defiantly, challenging his once father's gaze.
But Odin really didn't know how good it was to see him. After everything, all the lies and disappointment, he was still the man who raised him and gave him life where there should have been death. He was the only father he had ever known, just like Asgard was the only home he'd ever had.
Odin raised Gungnir and slammed it down again with a bang, bringing noise into the deafening silence he demanded.
Loki and Odin looked at each other. Odin's eye was watery as if he were pained, but there was also a hardness to it.
"Loki," he said, his voice echoing in the massive hall. "Loki Laufeyson, traitor of Asgard, you are brought here to be tried for your crimes against the crown and the realm of Midgard."
His words were like a knife in his heart.
Laufeyson...
Not Odinson. He disowned him. In front of everyone, in front of all of Asgard.
Loki's eyes began to burn with the familiar sting of tears.
He thought he didn't care. He thought that deep down, after all this time had passed that he had finally accepted that he was not Odin's son.
But hearing it from Odin's lips made it final. It made it real.
Loki hadn't realized he had been hoping Odin wouldn't forsake him. That he might still love him like he said.
"You are my son…"
But what kind of hope was that? It was a fool's hope. He had been hanging onto something that could never be. Just like he could never be Thor's brother.
Hearing Odin disown him was the final snap of the ties he had to his old life. The life of a glorified Prince of Asgard. The life with a family that loved him and a home that welcomed him. A place to belong. But Loki had ruined it all. It was all his fault…
Anger raging to fight against the pain that burned inside Loki lit a fire in his haunted eyes.
NO! Loki surged forward, screaming. Hands were there quickly, holding him back. YOU DID THIS TO ME! YOU LET THIS HAPPEN TO ME!
Loki thrashed and rebelled against the ones who restrained him. "You are henceforth banished to the cells of Asgard," Odin declared over Loki's muffled screaming, the clamor his thrashing caused, and the horrified voices of those present to whiteness Loki's madness. "There you will stay until a punishment suitable for your treason can be arranged."
Odin raised Gungnir and slammed it down by his foot with finality.
"Father!" Thor called out, his head whipping back and forth between Loki being dragged away and his grim faced father.
Odin silenced him with a growl. Thor's face dropped and filled with distress as he turned to watch Loki dragged through the doors.
There was nothing he could do.
Even with the muzzle on and the doors closed behind him, they could still hear Loki's screaming.