It makes her sick, the way sadness is addicting. Sadness is familiar. It's comfortable and it's easy in the sense that it comes naturally to her. But everything else about it is hard. The way her body aches with self-hatred. The way her mind spins a...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Why did you bring us back?" Thor asked his father. The journey through the Bifrost felt painful to the goddess. Her arms were still thrown over her twin's and Lady Sif's shoulders for support. The burning feeling from her open wound was bad enough, she didn't want to get stuck listening to the bickering between the two males. Athalia just wanted to rest and be healed.
"Do you realize what you've done? What you have started?" Odin asked his eldest son.
"I was protecting my home."
"You cannot even protect your friends or sister!" Odin shot back, "How can you hope to protect a kingdom?" Odin looked at the warriors three, "Get him to the healing room! Now! Athalia, you stay here."
Sif sent a worried look at Athalia. The princess only nodded, silently telling her she'd be fine and to go on. Quickly, Sif and Loki moved her to the center of the giant, golden orb, before running after the other warriors. Loki stood near his twin, ready to catch her if she were to fall or faint. Fandal, who was still thrown over Volstagg's shoulder, was placed back on the ground. Getting the help of Volstagg and Hogun to get to the castle.
"There won't be a kingdom to protect if you're afraid to act," Thor yelled at his father. "The Jotuns must learn to fear me, just as they once feared you."
"That's pride and vanity talking, not leadership." Odin told him, "You've forgotten everything I taught you about a warrior's patience." Loki and Athalia felt awkward listening to them bicker in those moments. Hearing them fight was normal. But right now, the twins didn't know what to do.
"While you wait and be patient, the Nine Realms laugh at us." Thor explained, "The old ways are done. You'd stand giving speeches while Asgard falls."
"You are a vain, greedy, cruel boy!" Odin yelled at his son.
"And you are an old man and a fool!" Thor fired back, just as loud, just as heated, just as angry. Odin didn't say anything for a moment. He looked down at the ground. The orb fell silent. Thor just stared at his father. Athalia didn't know what to do in the silence. She did know that she felt tired, faint almost, and she'd felt as if she was going to throw up. Blood still bleeds from her open wound. The burning feeling was still there, getting worse.
"Yes," Odin said, quietly. "I was a fool to think you were ready."
"Father..." Loki spoke, stepping forward. Odin snapped his head towards the god of mischief and growled at him. Loki stopped, he didn't say anything more.
"Thor Odinson," Odin started, looking at the blonde princes again, "You have betrayed the express command of your king. Through your arrogance and stupidity, you have opened these peaceful realms and innocent lives to the horror and desolation of war!"
Odin lifted the sword, the key for opening the Bifrost. Large sparks of electricity shot around the room as Odin put the key in the centre. Athalia gasped, falling backward to avoid being hit by the sparks. Loki caught her before she could hit the ground, dragging her away.
Odin walked up to Thor, "You are unworthy of these realms! You're unworthy of your title!" He yelled, ripping his cap off. "You are unworthy... of the loved ones you have betrayed." Thor glanced over to his siblings, who stood with guilty, sad looks on their faces.
"I now take from you your power! In the name of my father and his father before. I, Odin Allfather, cast you out!" Athalia's eyes widened. She watched her father blast Thor into the Bifrost. Banishing him from Asgard.
"No!" She yelled. Odin whispered something to Mjolnir before throwing the hammer into the Bifrost after Thor. "No, no, no, no." She sobbed. It was too late. He was gone.
Her midnight blue eyes pooled with tears. Athalia gripped her twin's arm for support, hiding her face in her brother's shoulder. She couldn't even look at her father. Loki comforted his sister. Wrapping his arm around her, he hugged her, allowing her to cry into him. His hand went to her head, stroking her soft, smooth, thick black hair.
Why did he have to be so stubborn? Why couldn't he have just listened to her? She knew it was a bad idea, that they should have never gone in the first place. A part of her blamed herself for not stopping him.
"Come sister, let's get you to the healing room."
●○●○●○●○●
The sun was now setting. Athalia had been healed and now she was left with a dark scar across the left side of her chest that would later fade. She changed from her fighting armor to a more comfortable Asgardian dress. The dress was white and floor length, with a deep 'v' neck, embroidered with gold straps, waist and around the breast. You could see the fresh scar painted on her skin.
The princess, her twin, Sif and the Warriors three sat together in a lounge-type room. Athalia, who was still upset about her father banishing Thor, sat next to Fandal who comforted the princess. Volstagg sat on the couch opposite them, Hogun walked around the room, in circles, and Loki just at the wall.
"We should never have let him go." Volstagg said.
"There was no stopping him," Athalia mumbled, staring at the burning fire in front of her. Watching the warm, orange flames dance together on the wood as her friends talked to each other.
"Well, at least he's only banished, not dead." Fandal said, speaking his truth, " Which is what we'd all be if that guard hadn't told Odin where we'd gone."
"How did the guard even know?"
"I told him." Loki said, "I told him to go to Odin after we'd left. He should be flogged for taking so long. We should never have reached Jotunheim."
"You told the guard?" Volstagg asked, raising his voice at the prince.
"I saved our lives." Loki said, glancing over at Athalia he added, "and Thor's. I had no idea Father would banish him for what he did."
"Loki, Athalia. You must go to the Allfather and convince him to change his mind." Sif looked at both siblings, a little hope in her eyes.
"And if we do, then what? I love Thor more dearly than any of you, but you know what he is." Loki said to Sif. "He's arrogant. He's reckless. He's dangerous-"
"He's our brother." Athalia snapped, quickly turning her head towards her younger twin, who continued to speak ill of their older brother.
"You saw how he was today. Is that what Asgard needs from its king?" Loki finished, looking at everyone before walking out of the room. The sound of his shoes echoed around the silent room.
"He may speak of the good of Asgard, but he's always been jealous of Thor," Sif said once the prince had left the room.
"That's because Thor is my father's favourite," Athalia whispered just loud enough for the ones closest to her to hear.
"We should be grateful to him, he saved our lives."
"Laufey said there were traitors in the House of Odin. A master of Magic could bring three Jotuns into Asgard." Hogun spoke.
"Loki's always been one for mischief," Athalia said, standing from her place on the couch next to Fandal, "But you're talking about something else entirely," she added, walking towards the exit that Loki had walked through only moments ago.
"Where are you going?" Fandal asked the goddess as she continued to walk away. Pushing open the door she turned to look at the group of warriors.
