Strife of Misfortune(Wattys2016)

The Dark Worlds

It was early and the children of night still dwell within the room. They swirled and danced over the walls and played across the ceiling. Moving pictures they were. The shadows. Their fingers crawled across the vanilla carpet and vanished with the sun's appearance. The yellow giant peered from its chambers and climbed over the horizon.

A ring of faint blue hue circled the orb and formed a magnificent halo. And slowly the night withered in the presence of day.The star were devoured by the flood of sunlight. Nothing remained of the night's legacy.

Egypt tossed and turned in Aqua's bed. Her left arm hung over the edge. Her leg hugged her chest. The cool bed sheets scarcely covered her. They droop over the edge and gathered on the floor. The sunlight charged into her room and disrupted her beauty sleep. It's yellow hands slapped her face and demanded her attention. Egypt hid herself from the orb. Pulling a pillow over her head, the act caused her side to ache. Egypt touched her side. The bandages were worn.

A week had passed since her encounter with the raven haired man yet the day still claimed her body. After the battle Egypt decided against going to the hospital. Being blessed with a decent healing factor she thought it unnecessary. She removed her barrier. The sunlight instantly attacked her. It's sun rays like limbs tapped her face and bounced on her body. She hated the morning. Egypt sat up. According to the news the Avengers defeated the man. That man. Egypt brought her legs to her chest.

Egypt couldn't stop thinking about him since their encounter. The familiarity in his touch, the mystical glow of his sea blue eyes, the way the sun shimmered upon his night locks. She remembered the feel of his hands, his lips. She groaned as if in pain. Loki was a stranger! A psychopath and not to mention he was a little creepy, so why? Why was Egypt fantasizing about this man? Why was he so familiar to her?

Was he really the man from her dreams? A ludicrous idea. But Egypt couldn't deny the parallels between them. Both were adorn with pure blue eyes and silky black hair. Both had an air of mysticism about them. The man was an alien to this world and so was the dream boy. It didn't make sense. Nothing made sense. But, it felt right. So right.

She then reflected on the man who saved her. The man who provoked her fears. The very thought of him sent brought to Egypt's body. There was no answer to this fear. Why was his presence a catalysis to such thoughts? She never met him either but it was clear that he recognized her. Egypt remembered his eyes, the screaming ghosts hidden within them. He looked at her with abhorrence. Surely the dread in his eyes derived from something. It had weight to it. It had a story. Egypt wasn't sure if she wanted to find it out.

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Bound and shackled Loki was escorted through the halls of Asgard like an animal escorted to the kill. He felt like he was walking to his death. The slaughter house. Loki gripped the silver chains binding his wrists. He couldn't die not when he finally found Asta. Not when his ambitions were close at hand. Closing his eyes, he felt the claws of oblivion raking at his astral form. He heard the shadow woman. She spoke of promised fortunes to him. Loki chose to listen to her.

The golden halls were packed with Aesirs. There was aversion in their eyes. Loki smiled. The act further provoked their judgment. Their tongues spoke of fabricated tales of his conquest. Each person added their own truth to the story. Called him a monster, a murderer of children. Others dared to entertain the name and said he slain ten thousand woman instead of the original eighty-two mortals he slain.

Loki ignored their stories. They were nothing but leeches here to be entertained. Loki's scandal had swept across the land. He kept everyone entertained now. He stared at the allfather and wondered if he believed their absurdities. Perhaps so. Knowing Odin he will blow Loki's actions out of proportions. He then met the king's eye and he saw nothing but rage. No love. No affection. He was taken aback. His nonchalant exterior nearly cracked. Loki felt foolish.

What was he expecting from a man who wasn't his father? A warm embrace? A celebration for the return of his son? Loki chuckled at the pathetic sentiments. There's no love in war. He will always remind Odin of war. Loki then searched his mother's eyes and wondered if she rued nursing a demon.

Loki halted and awaited the king's judgement. Odin sat upon the golden throne, his eyes reflected thunder. Anger. Some would argue that it was bitter disgust in his eyes and not revulsion. Perhaps it was both. Finally Odin presented his true feeling for Loki. Loki was a barbarian to him, one he toiled to 'civilize' in the Asgardian ways. He wasn't Odin's son. He was a monster.

Loki didn't mind. He was finally all his parents thought he would become. An infection. They should be proud that they raised an abomination. His eyes then returned to Frigga. Her sculpted brows were knitted together. Her beautiful face was darkened with sorrow. It hurt to look. He didn't want to see disappointment in her eyes! Loki wanted to see disgust and anger. Why did she still feel for him?! He didn't want to see her as his mother anymore. So why? Why did the sorrow in her eyes beckon his own sadness? Why did it hurt to betray her trust? Frigga wasn't his mother. He wasn't her son. The statement felt more like a lie than the truth. If only it were a lie then everything could go back to the way it used to be. But, was that what Loki truly wanted?

Frigga banished the emotion from her eyes and refused to believe that the man shackled before her was her son. A child who fed from her bosom for nine months of his life. The boy she cradled and bestowed affection upon, named the very heavens after.

No, that man was not her son, but a man of darkness. She looked into his eyes, they weren't the eyes of the boy she raised. Frigga searched desperately for light, for the joyous child she nurtured and found only the bloody remains of his spirit. Her child. He was gone. She couldn't believe he was gone.

"Hello mother." Loki said. "Have I made you proud?"

"Please, don't make this worse." She pleaded. Frigga stood beside her husband and saw his rage multiply.

"Define worse." Loki replied wistfully

"Enough! I will speak to the prisoner alone." Odin demanded. His voice was loud and sharp. The crowd disappeared immediately after. Silence was a constant foe and seemed to stimulate the tension between the men. This was not a meeting of father and son, but of a god and a devil. But even the devil was once god's son.

"I really don't see what all the fuss is about?" Loki spoke. His words filled the void. The ocean of silence evaporated and only a barren desert separated the men.

Odin leaned forward. If it hadn't been for his wife's intervention, he would have sentenced Loki to the ax. "Do you not truly feel the gravity of your crimes?" He started. "Wherever you go there is war, ruins and death."

Loki cocked his brow. He was sure all of Asgard associated him with misfortune. Maybe he was cursed. The cost for his life is the deaths and ruins of another. He felt the crashing waves of silence once more. Odin made sure to remind Loki of his ancestry, that horrid giant blood coursed through his veins. Maybe he was damned from the start. Nobody loves the damned. Only the foolish do and the foolish always die. Asta died.

"If I'm for the ax then for mercy's sake, just swing it." Loki knew Odin wanted to execute him. He saw the desire rekindle in his eyes. Maybe it's for the best if he died. He was already dead in everyone's eyes. "It's not that I don't love our little talks, it's just." He paused. "I don't love them."

Odin shook his head before releasing a heavy sigh. "Frigga is the only reason you're still alive and you'll never see her again. You'll spend the rest of your days in the dungeon."

Authors Note: Hey guys so the next chapter is private due to its mature content. The only important piece of information is that Egypt has a nightmarish vision about Loki.