Chapter 96: Bonus - : Loki (IV)

Chapter 96: Bonus Chapter: Loki (IV)

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The veil of light sitting on Loki’s skin tore open.

Beneath that veil of perfect and presentable acting, the king was a Loki with deep dark circles under his eyes and shaggy, mop-like hair.

Just from the dreary sight alone, it was like he hadn’t eaten or taken care of himself in days. Truthfully, he had barely slept a wink since he had discovered he was a Frost Giant.

"No matter the form, I cannot hide anything from you..." Loki muttered, his throat turned dry.

"You don’t have to, my child." She said tenderly.

"I don’t have another choice." He muttered, slowly closing his eyes.

Loki had always found it easier to lie and circle the situation. It had always worked, and he found the process quite endearing. But that very thing held him back now.

Thor was already exiled, his powers stripped. His brother couldn’t even lift his hammer. Truthfully, Loki didn’t need to go down there and break his spirit further.

He didn’t have to put him down like that. Yet he did, and he was going to do it more brutally. And he even used this woman’s name, who was gently cupping his face in the moment, to drive the nail further into his heart.

"Whatever you did, it’s already happened." That was a very Frigga-like line; he had to agree.

"I told Thor that Father collapsed because of him, but in truth..." He couldn’t even face that his outburst had put a much greater strain on Odin.

The anger and betrayal in his eyes at that moment, the feeling that he wasn’t loved by the one who raised him, and the fear that he didn’t belong where he was- it was too much for him. And it seemed to affect Odin even more after Thor’s exile.

If the All-Father truly didn’t wake up, if he really passed away like that, Loki didn’t even want to continue that line of thought.

So, he tried to place that burden on someone else, his own brother. When in truth, that brother also had to face exile because of Loki’s petty prank and manipulation.

The one who should’ve been exiled, and the one who should take responsibility for the war with the Jotuns and for Odin’s collapse, wasn’t Thor.

"It’s me... it all happened because of me." Loki could barely speak.

"It’s ok, my child. It’s all ok." Frigga slowly pulled him in a hug, arms around him as she gently patted his back.

And for a moment, Loki closed his eyes. Feeling the warmth seep into his body, but it was only for a moment.

’That’s not what she would say...’ Even as he felt the slow exhale hit his hair, the concerned gaze that he had seen since childhood, Loki slowly moved back. Breaking away from the reaching fingers.

Frigga wasn’t the type who would coddle him like this, especially after he had made such big mistakes. Although it was true that he didn’t expect that Thor would be exiled, what he had done afterwards wasn’t something to overlook this easily.

His mother was gentle, yes, but she was a stern woman. Every time she caught him doing a prank, she would always reprimand him and make him address the damage he had caused.

Only after that would she allow him to reflect or invite him for some food, feeding him with her own hands.

"I’m sorry..." He muttered.

And the moment he became aware of it, the world around him started to crumble. Like a sandcastle under the waves, it melted away quickly. Leaving him alone on a boulder in Jotunheim.

The one he faced in that frigid cold was none other than Laufey, and the ten elites he had gathered.

"What are you doing?" Laufey’s red eyes barely contained the disgust underneath the cold gaze.

He had been standing there for a while. And he already understood that Loki was under the influence of his own illusion magic.

’First this child changed his entire being after birth, and now deludes itself with magic.’ Laufey looked at the reddened eyes of Loki and shook his head.

It was the right decision to discard this one. If it wasn’t for the promise that Loki would take him and the elite behind him straight to Odin’s chambers, Laufey would’ve snapped his neck the first time he arrived.

It was almost appalling that this thing came from him.

"Is the magic circle not ready?" He asked at last, glancing at the blinking mess at the foot of the boulder.

The moment he had achieved his long-standing vengeance, there would be no need to look at this mess.

"Yes, as promised." Loki jumped down from the boulder, landing firmly on the ground.

As the worn cloak on his shoulders flapped in the sharp winds, he already knew what Laufey would do once he stepped into Odin’s chambers.

Even now, it felt like he could imagine the scene in his head, enjoying each moment and repetition of it. And in the middle of it all, or rather in the corner, was Loki himself. Watching on as the blood spewed out of Odin’s throat.

’There is no turning back from this.’ Loki gazed at the magic circle with a heavy heart, but there wasn’t so much as a wrinkle on his forehead.

He knew what Laufey would do to him after he had accomplished his revenge. It felt like death was waving at him, but how much closer would he have to be to understand what was important?

Would he know when Laufey killed Odin? Or could he only know when his head would be on the chopping block?

Loki stared at the magic circle absentmindedly as Laufey and his entourage were doing the last of their preparations. The slowly blinking array of lines took him back to the first time he succeeded in using magic, the first spell.

It was a simple spell of invisibility, nothing too fancy, that Frigga had taught him. The first thing he did with it was help Thor break free of the reflection room. Of course, his brother was caught the moment he stepped out because he announced himself exiting and faced extra punishment.

Loki wasn’t caught then; he slipped away then, and he had done it a dozen times. But eventually, he did get caught.

That’s just how things were; no matter how good a lie or illusion was, it would unfold one day. It was the same with what he had done as a child; it was the same with the truth about his lineage, and it would be the same with this whether he survived or not.

A thousand years, two thousand years, no matter how deeply he hid everything, eventually it would come to light. There was no way around this.

What would the people of Asgard think when they find that out? What would those officials who plan to put a crown on his head think of him then?

The Warrior Three, Sif, Heimdall? He couldn’t get himself to care what they thought, or what the rest of Asgard thought of him for that matter.

Truthfully, he wouldn’t have even cared what his brother, Thor, would’ve thought before. But he couldn’t get the words that blockhead had said that day out of his head. He had never expected to hear such words, and he truly wished he hadn’t heard them at all.

However, most of all, Loki only cared about the eyes, the thoughts of one person in his life.

And surprisingly, it wasn’t the All-Father.

"Why aren’t you stepping on the circle?" Loki turned to Laufey at last, who had this frigid look.

Even if he had been day-dreaming for a while, this impatient lot should’ve already rushed the circle. After all, he had observed their smouldering hatred over the past few days even in this cold land.

And Laufey seemed most pumped up for this opportunity, but now, he seemed to be contemplating.

"You step on it first." The king of Jotunheim finally spoke.

"What? Developing trust issues at the last moment?" Loki tilted his head back, matching the angered gaze of his blood father. "Or did you notice something?"

Laufey answered by throwing an ice dagger through Loki’s head. But instead of the lightning-like strike embedding into the target’s head, it passed through Loki’s person and shattered the boulder behind him.

"Unsurprisingly ruthless and moronic, how would you have gotten to Asgard if that was the real me?" Loki’s voice echoed from the surroundings with a small chuckle.