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*~.
The sea was boiling, rolling waves crashing onto the rocky shore,
Dark green eyes were staring out into the horizon, waiting for the
sun to set, the timing had to be perfect or all would fail.
He had spent the last three days meticulously preparing the spells
that would free his son from his watery prison, it would not be long
now…
1.
It started as a dream, unfocused and fleeting, a feeling, a vision, a hope...
One was now freed, through sweat and blood, She was freed as the sun
was setting over the land of death she was freed.
She was freed with an army and a sword flashing through the air, but
it was not enough, still they were pushed back, so she was freed with
magic and hope and love, and she was free.
it was years before he could try for the next, years of lying low and
planning, years of pretending to be content with but one victory after
years of crushing defeats, years of lies and half truths, it was years
all for nought. --For when at last a chance presented itself so enticingly,
not a chance to be missed… He failed.
A crushing blow was dealt him, in one moment it was all so clear,
every slight, every snide comment, and worst of all...every child ever
stolen from his arms, and the plan in pieces at his feet.
His son lost to him again even farther from his reach then ever before
and without a hope of reaching his youngest son still chained in the
bowels of his father's home, and in the stables his oldest a beast of
burden trapped in eternal servitude, and he is falling, falling,
falling……..
2.
Pain. That is the first thought as he wakes Pain and Pain and Pain,
but it can not touch him, it is nothing compared to that which he has
already suffered. --Having his children ripped from his arms and cast
away, isolated, bound, and killed. for the crime of being his, no this pain
has no bearing, it can not touch him.
It is so easy to convince them otherwise, a scream, a plea for mercy,
do they really think him so low? to be brought to his knees through
nothing but outward physical pain? --He would laugh if it would not
compromise his place, and risk his last chance to bring redemption
for his children.
It is in the end child's play to convince them that he has broken, in
part because it is the truth, he was broken, but not then and not by
them, Never by them. At last he is let go, with an army to control,
and a staff to control him. First he takes the hawk, to guide his shadow,
then he slips away to prepare.
It is harder then he thought, to plan on
three fronts between his son's freedom, his "Masters" gift, and moving
his brother in such a way as to seem to easily defy the "Master Plan" and
a ruse great enough to fool all the mortals, the Aster, and his "Master,"
Time is running out.
3.
When the Tesseract was turned off, and the army fell, it became clear
that something was wrong. --For one thing there were no bodies, not
even a dog. Leave alone a human or 'bug-monster from outer space'.
They were just gone. There was no explanation to behold.
When the wormhole closed and the Man of Iron was alive, he allowed
himself a moment of calm, his breathing even and unhurried was but a
mask, in truth he was reeling from his success on the the
Helicarrier, and when all was done he allowed himself a smile.
His son was free and he could not be reached from Asgard any longer,
he was safe, and that was worth anything, everything.
There were now only two left to be freed, and it does not seem quite
so insurmountable now, as it did but one week ago.
He is going back to Asgard.
*~.
His little Jormungand has finally found his way home, It had been a
gamble in the beginning, If Jormungand would realize what His father
planned, would he fail to find his way through the portal? or would
something else go wrong? --In the end it doesn't matter how or why,
all that matters is that he is now free.
1.
His return in heralded by whispers, angry whispers, satisfied whispers,
concerned whispers, that follow his every move. He will not let it touch him,
nothing can get through his elation at having succeeded, not even the
hateful words that dogged his steps, even as he reached his Father's...Odin's
throne room, his spirits cannot be brought low.
Odin sits imposing and silent, he does not react visibly to his
youngest son's return, nor does he spare him more then a glance,
this is not unexpected.
The court is quiet, waiting to see just what will become of Asgard's
lost prince. The Queen is not in attendance, this also is not
unexpected.
The trial, as it is, is soon over, a thorough review of his crimes,
followed by sentencing, imprisonment until such time as Odin
All-Father believes him to be suitably punished; perfect.
His son is in reach.
2.
It takes him perhaps Five years to successfully escape his cell with
none the wiser, Four more of systematically searching the deepest
dungeons to find his Fenrir.
When he finds his youngest son, his son is in a sorry state, chained as he
is to the floor by terrible spiked and magicked chains, and a great steel
post keeping him bound, unable to move even one of his large paws.
It takes two years to work the spells to free his son from his chains,
sneaking into the upper halls disguised as a maid, hiding in the
silent library, deep into the night, to search through endless books
until at last, through trial and error and endless failures, a way is
found. --It takes longer still to heal his son's wounds, in body and soul.
Finally after many years and many long nights spent holding his son
close, through the wild howls and savage growls, until the ripped and
bleeding throat could utter no more and his son thrashed in silence unable
even to cry out his terror, as bloody gashes and terrible bites came
to litter his son's body, brought about by a pained and fearful thrashing,
he held him through the anger, the pain and the fear until his son
could once again stand alone -on his own feet with pride.
Then at last the Prince could let him go, to find his home,
a world where he can find peace.
3.
It takes longer then he thought, all told it has been over Fifteen
years since the All-Father had sentenced him to this prison. It is
soon after he sends his son to the world and place that had been
prepared for him, when he is summoned before the court for the first
time in almost sixteen years.
This time the Queen is in attendance, it shocks him to see her,
standing by the side of his greatest enemy, with a sad half smile,
as though he had been caught in some small mischief, she that he
called mother for nearly the entirety of his life, she who professed
to love him as no other, and who had done nothing to help him spare
his children, from their terrible fates. It takes much more work then he
had anticipated, but he does not let the effect she has on him show
before the All-Fathers court.
It was much as last time he was tried, in that he was paraded before
the court, his crimes were read once more, and then before the court
he was asked to beg pardon and whether he had learned the lesson the
All-Father had wished.
He hangs his head before the King and Queen, before the crown Prince
and the warriors three, before the court and before the commoners of
Asgard, and bends his knee, and at the King of King's feet begs for
pardon and repents for all his wrongs.
If he hides a private smirk behind his hair, unseen by all as he rises
from his prostration, once again a Prince of Asgard, then he alone
would know.
*~.
He is brought forth from the queen's chambers with a heavy heart, the
shame and betrayal hang about his shoulders, nearly tangible is his
grief, but some of the anger has been cooled, now that the grief and
sorrow for the one he once called Mother fills his heart, she who has
been so blinded by the All-Father's lies truly she is more the prisoner
then he has ever been, she can not tell even where the sun
rises, so surrounded and caged by his lies is she.
1.
As the plan moves ever forward he can spare no more thought for the
Queen or even the Prince of Asgard.
He spends many nights walking the halls of Asgard, thinking, planning,
trying to stay unseen for as long as possible before suspicion could
spread.
It is no small task, this that he has saved for the last, it may
indeed be the most difficult of all, that remains before him...Sleipnir.
He is the most closely guarded, the most highly regarded, and always
surrounded, there are up to twenty stable hands at the royal stables
at any given moment, accessible only to a given few, of whom he is
surely no longer one. and the task is truly made more of a challenge by
Sleipnir himself. Better to wait, until suspicion of him lessens,
before trying to sneak an eight-legged horse out past a garrison,
across the grounds, and into a giant glowing portal, unseen.
It is many days and nights later, that he is greeted by the one he
once called brother. It has been more then sixteen years since they
met, alone and face to face. And it was not then an occasion of joy.
--The prince is unchanged, blind, willfully ignorant of the world he
lives in (be it Asgard or any other), and hiding behind a mask of
innocent uncertainty. It is sickening to witness, even more so than
some of the acts he had committed over the years, ones that caused
far more death and suffering then he would ever match, to other
warriors, women, children, enemy, friend, mother, Brother, NIECE,
NEPHEW!
It will be a glad day indeed when ones such as He were forced to see
just what Monsters they truly are, If only the humans, his precious,
precious humans could know just who they have welcomed into
their midst with open arms.
2.
On the day, the All-Father is in council meetings until late; the
prince however proves to be more difficult to get rid of. --In the end
he has a summons for the Prince, sent from the queen. It
will keep them both occupied for some time, as the queen has left
Asgard for the day and will not return till the morrow, not the most
elegant solution, but it will do.
The stable master he disposes of with mead and legends aplenty, until
he is quite too drunk to do more then sit in his chair, sleeping
peacefully. The guards he sends away with illusions of their master
and spiked water skins. The portal he prepares beforehand to be
triggered with but a word, the enchanted halter to lead his son over
and through the All-Father's protections proves to be the hardest task
to accomplish, but is achieved in only few months. The spells are
ready, the board is set, the players in place, all that remains is to
pray and to act.
His son is startled to see him after so long away and unwilling to
come closer, it takes much gentle coaxing and soft calls to convince
him that it is well and safe to come, it is heart-breaking to see his
once proud, clever son brought so low, but yet heartening to see him
at last free.
His last child free at last, or near enough to it to make no matter,
just a little farther now and it will be done, just a little more and
years of plans and counter-plans will have paid off at last; it is
just a few more yards and it will be safe to lay the portal and
escape, he will be free, at last in a land where all his children
will be free, to live together or apart as they wish, anything that
they wish, Finally free.
It is Time….It is too late, the guards have come, the prince is here,
the king summoned, it is too late he has failed his children, He has
Failed...
3.
Hel watches in silence, from her cold throne in the land of unhonored
dead she can see anything that pleases her.
Her two brothers at her side as they wait for their last brother and
Father to come to them, she sees through her dead eye as they run
pursued by armed guards almost to the end of the palace grounds where
her father will be free with his magic and family once more.
he is too slow even with the months to recover he is greatly weakened
from his years as a prisoner, Sleipnir runs ahead but is unable to speak
the spell to open the doorway, if he know of it at all.
She sees how the All-Father is almost upon them, Sees the prince send
a mighty blow to the ground in front of her father causing him to fall,
sees her brother turn to find his missing Mother,
sees the All-Father descend upon them, sees a sword fall… sees hope die.
Then a mighty explosion of air and light, both in Asgard and just
outside of her own realm, a resounding clanging sound and a panicked
foaming eight-legged horse is here alone.
--Their Father/Mother has fallen and will rise no more.
*~.
Epilogue.
When He at last awoke, it was to a feeling of warmth and an inborn
knowledge that he was at last at peace...
1.
Thor looked to his father for order, as he had been trained to do all his life,
he was not comforted by what he saw in the king's withered face:
satisfaction, 'that this adopted son would at least cause strife in
his hall no more', anger ,'his famous steed was lost to the halls of
the dead never to carry him into glorious battle again', and
resignation, 'his plan for the foundling prince had failed-- there would
be no peace'.
Thor was torn between grief that his brother in all but blood was dead
at his hand, and bewilderment that his Father seemed so unconcerned;
and that his brother would once again be lost, alone and unmourned.
He came at last to break the news to his mother's ear, that she had
lost her youngest son again and for the final time, that that son would be
laid to rest the following morning.
He found her in her weaving room, crying into her handkerchief, as
though her heart had be torn out, as though her son whom she had raised
with love, and yet had failed in every way that mattered, was at last
gone on to find peace. He stayed but a while before again he fled.
2.
The warriors three had no help for their remaining prince, their
comfort was awkward and unmoved, so little had they felt for their
young prince that it hardly mattered to them that he had fallen,
their concern was only for how Loki's death would affect their friend.
It was with a heavy heart that at last he returned to Midgard, the
place that in his mind his brother's madness had been realized, to
inform his comrades of Loki's fate, He was surprised by how little it
had all changed in the years since his last return, not since Loki's
first sentencing had he been back, and yet by how much--most of his
old comrades had moved on.
So it was with great joy that he was reunited with his comrade, the
mighty Steve Rogers, His old friend Phil, the son of Cole, and their
great leader Directer Fury, his sadness was great that his old comrades
had been unable to be there, to hear and share tales of other things
and greater quests.
They received the news of their foe's death with the gravity it
deserved, and Thor went to his home, not to return for many years
more.
3.
Hel knew what was to happen before any other, therefore it was she who
was first to leave the palace walls, followed closely by her brothers,
to the gaits of Hellholm.
It was apparent that, while Loki was dead in the act of saving his
Children from slavery and imprisonment, while in battle, he would yet
not enter the famed halls of Valhalla.
Therefore it was to the land of the dishonored Dead that Loki at last
arrived, and to the welcoming arms of his family, reunited at last in
death as they could never be in life.
It will be many long years yet, until there comes a time when the tale
of Loki can be heard and told without disdain and derision for the God
of chaos, 'until it is only the love and devotion of a father, a
mother, who would willingly do anything, Anything to bring peace to
his family, his children,' can be heard resounding through the nine
realms.
Until that day it will remain a profound aspect of his character,
known only to his children, who will hold him in their hearts until
the end of days, and in this way the God of Chaos will be remembered
always--for with every prank, and every harmless white lie, with every joke
and with every laugh, and with every child who is loved and lost and
found again, so will we.