To Roam Into the Unknown

Banished

Loki stared down at his hands, in his prison cell. The suns were setting, casting a golden glow on the walls. This was to be his last night as a free man.

“May as well…” he said to himself. Laying back on the cot, he folded his arms behind his head and crossed his feet and closed his eyes. He cast one last projection of himself out to the remaining realms, one last trick. Through the eyes of the projections, he could see into the other worlds. The icy remains of Jotunheim. The fiery sulfuric landscape of Muspelheim. A pair of golden eyes, wide and staring. Pink lips open in awe. He was staring at a woman. From Earth by the looks of the surroundings. She sat in a dark blue uniform, as an elderly woman spoke to her, but she stared at him. Locking his eyes with her, he gave her a smirk and just as she gave a violent start, he disappeared.

oOoOoOo


He stared at his reflection in the massive golden doors which no doubt concealed his fate behind them. His hands were bound in front, Thor stood to his right, jaw clenched and eyes staring at the same reflection.

Loki let out a sigh, worn and exhausted.

“Loki-” Thor began.

“Don’t.” Loki cut him off. He could feel Thor’s eyes on him, but refused to allow his gaze to turn. “I want to hear nothing from you.”

A metallic clang alerted them to the time. Judgment. The large doors opened silently. Before them stood nearly the entire population of Asgard, and they turned, casting curious and angry glares in his direction. He held his head high and met their gazes with a smirk.

“Let’s go, brother…” Thor said quietly.

“As you wish, brother.” Loki replied. The first step was easiest, but as they moved closer to the thrones, each step became heavier. By the time Odin and Frigga were in sight, he felt as though he were trudging through molasses and nervousness set in. Stopping before the steps of the throne, he found he couldn’t meet their eyes.

Odin stared down at him, his face a mix of anger and disappointment. Frigga’s eyes were red and slightly puffy as she stared down at him.

Thor stepped forward and kneeled, crossing his arm over his chest. “Father. As you commanded.”

“Well done. You may rise.” Odin said. Thor ascended the stairs to join his parents.

“Loki.” Loki looked up at Odin as his name was spoken. “There are no words to express the feelings that course through me as you stand before us this night. Where did I go wrong? Did we not give you everything? Did we not love you unconditionally?”

“No, father. Not unconditionally. To love unconditionally, you cannot withhold pertinent information as you did all those years ago. You do not use someone whom you supposedly love unconditionally!” Loki snapped angrily.

“It may not have been right, but I did what was necessary to ensure our survival. You were abandoned! I saved you from certain death that night and raised you as my son. You are my son. And it is with a heavy heart that I once again do what is necessary.” Odin held up his hands in declaration.

“Loki Odinson for your crimes against Asgard and her people, and your crimes against other worlds, I herby declare you BANISHED. Back to the Earth you so despised. Let them do with you what they will.” With those words, Frigga burst into tears. Thor looked to his father incredulously.

“Father-” Thor was silenced by a harsh glare from Odin.

“Laufeyson! I am Loki Laufeyson! Child of Laufey, of the frost giants. Last of my kind.” Loki cried.

“You are banished. You are stripped of your powers. Never to return until such a day that your heart finds true peace. Our ears will be deaf to your cries.”

Loki’s body shook with barely controlled rage. “Why not just sentence me to death, All-father?”

“Attempted fratricide? Murder of innocent people and destroyer of worlds? I should. However, as much as you refuse to acknowledge us as your family, you are still my son. And that is the only reason I don’t rob you of your life right here on these steps!” Odin bellowed, gesturing to the guards.

Loki held his head up high, narrowing his eyes. “No matter. You have killed me. You just don’t realize it yet.” The guards grabbed him by the arms and began to drag him towards the repaired Bifrost.

“I AM LOKI LAUFEYSON! And I curse you all!” he cried. Odin, Thor and Frigga followed him as he was thrown at the feet of Heimdall.

“Banished to Earth. Stripped of your powers. Never to return.” Odin said.

“Brother…I am truly sorry things had to turn out this way.” Thor said, looking at him sadly.

“I am not your brother.” Loki said, voice full of venom. Refusing to look at him or Odin, he stared at the Bifrost, seething.

A gentle pressure on his arm gave him a start and he looked down. Frigga stared up at him, eyes swollen and red. Tears streamed down her face as she stared up at him. He felt his anger fade, remorse slipping in. His brow furrowed sadly as she took him in her arms and stroked his hair, as she used to when he was a child.

“Loki, you are so loved….and will always be loved by me, my son. I pray this knowledge fills some of the emptiness in you broken heart.” she whispered in his ear. He felt his resolve shatter and buried his face in her hair, tears falling freely.

“Mother…” he cried, unable to find words.

“It is time.” Heimdall said, sliding his sword down into the Bifrost.

Loki felt cold as his mother was pulled away by Odin. Her face was the last thing he saw, before being jerked violently into the portal.

oOoOoOo


“And what brings you in today, Mrs. Bullock?” Aurora asked, removing the blood pressure cuff from the tiny woman’s arm.

“My shoulder. I had such high hopes for the last injection to work, but it hasn’t. If anything the pain has gotten worse.” Mrs. Bullock said. She wore a small pair of glasses which had her oxygen tubes taped to it. “I’m getting very discouraged…”

“I can understand that. So you had no relief at all?” Aurora asked, clicking her pen open. She began to jot down the shorthand version of the woman’s complaint. She glanced up at her as she continued to elaborate about the pain, waiting politely for the right time to interject. She gave a slight gasp when she looked past the woman. A tall man with black hair stood watching her in the window. He stared down at her with a smirk. She blinked and he was gone.

“Ok Mrs. Bullock, I’m going to go grab the doctor and it will be just a few minutes.” she said, quickly stepping out of the room and closing the door behind her.

“You ok lovie?” Stacy asked when she walked into the nurse’s station.

“No. There was some man staring at me through the window in B-2.” Aurora said, opening the back door and looking out.

“Well don’t go after him! Lock the door and tell the doctor.” Stacy said, pulling her back in. “He could be a creeper!”

“What is the doctor going to do? He can’t lock the doors even more than they already are. If someone wants to get in, all they will need is something to smash the glass on the windows because the doctor is too cheap to get reinforced glass!” Aurora snapped. The physician’s assistant Chris stood behind her, waiting to be handed the chart. She turned and slapped the chart down into his open hand.

“Her shoulder still hurts. Injection didn’t help. All vitals are normal.” she snapped, walking off to the bathroom.

Chris gave Stacy a questioning look. Stacy just shrugged and shook her head.

oOoOoOo


He sat up with a deep gasp as pain coursed through his body. Lightning zig zagged through the black nighttime sky, cold rain soaked him to his core. Even in banishment, his brother taunted him.

After a moment of disorientation had passed, he looked at his surroundings. He lay in the middle of an empty, muddy field, the ground beneath him broken and crumbled by the force of his landing.

Painfully, he got to his feet, taking a moment to gather his bearings. Looking around, he slowly began to realize his desperate situation. A large highway was to his right, with vehicles zooming by in either direction. City lights flashed brightly in the distance to his left. Spotlights danced in the sky, as if beckoning him.

Taking it as his only viable option, he crossed the field heading for the city.