Valkyrie

Banishment

The guards pulled the girl roughly through the great hallways of the castle, their boots clicking loudly on the beautiful stained glass floors. The girl knew better than to fight against them, she was outnumbered four to one. They pulled her into the main room of the castle and dragged her down the path towards the throne. They threw her down in front of the throne and stepped back. The girl pulled herself to her feet and smoothed her dress. She glared around at the hundreds of people that had come to witness her punishment. They were whispering to each other and staring at her. She turned her attention to the throne. Odin sat on the throne, glaring down at her. She held his stare, not allowing herself to be intimidated by him. The room fell silent as Odin rose from his seat. "You have betrayed the people of Asgard for the last time Aster." His voice was deep and steady. Aster maintained eye contact with him, not saying a word. "Do you have anything to say in your own defense?" He glared down at her. Aster stood in silence for a moment, contemplating what to say. "I did what was right." She answered simply. "How is betraying your own people to ensure the safety of humanity, doing the right thing?!" Odin roared. "They are insignificant, short-lived beasts, they deserve nothing." His voice remained raised. "They are not insignificant!" Aster raised her voice to match his. "They are but insects under our boots, their lives are meaningless." Odin's voice had dropped back down to a normal volume. "Their lives are not meaningless! Yes, they are broken and they are lost, but they have hope and though they have their flaws, they are amazing, beautiful creatures." She was slowly making her way to the throne. The guards near her stepped forward to stop her, but Odin waved them off. Aster came to stand directly in front of Odin. "They just need someone to protect them and to point them in the right direction." Odin remained blank-faced. "You must choose between the humans and your people. If you choose the humans, you will no longer be welcome in Asgard." Aster stood, stunned. Was he really going to make her leave? She turned her head to look at Thor. He looked upset, his brows furrowed and eyes pleading. He obviously wanted her to make the choice to stay in Asgard. She looked away from him and her eyes met Loki's. His face was completely blank and stone-like, no emotion present. She couldn't help the feeling in her chest as she realized that he couldn't care less about what choice she made. She quickly broke eye contact with him and turned back to Odin. "Fine I choose them." Odin sighed and sat back down on throne. "Very well. You have until sunset to make preparations. After that, you will be banished from Asgard." The guards grabbed Aster and pulled her back through the halls and took her to her room. Aster stood there a moment, unsure of what to do next. There was a guard stationed in the corner of the room. He had been told to keep watch over her and make sure she didn't attempt to escape. Aster glared at him. "Can't you stand outside or something?" He didn't say anything, but he just stared at her. She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "It's not like I'm going to escape. There's nowhere for me to go." The guard's eyes flickered to the window, she followed his gaze and rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding me? Do you really think I'm going to jump out of the window from this height? I would break every single bone in my body." The guard shrugged and didn't speak. Aster rolled her eyes and wandered over to her dresser. "What kind of clothing should I take?" She looked up at the guard, waiting for an answer. He didn't respond and once again just stared at her. "Are you really not allowed to even speak to me? That's-" She was interrupted by someone knocking on the door. Aster moved to open the door but the guard stopped her and opened it before she could. She glared at him and watched him go. The guard stepped back to allow Thor to come in. Thor immediately started in on her. "Why did you pick them. I'm sure if you apologized to my father he would forget everything, forgive you, and let you stay. You don't have to go." He was practically begging her, his blue eyes pleading her to stay. "No. The humans need someone to protect them, they can't do it themselves." She turned away from him, her raven hair shifting on her shoulders as she did so. "Aster, they're not worth it." Thor's voice was strained as he tried to reason with her. "You could protect your own people if you stayed here." Aster turned on him. "They are worth it, they are far more worthy than any of us." She raised her voice until she was practically yelling. "Our people are capable of protecting themselves, the humans need all the help that they can get." Her voice grew softer as she spoke. "I'm not going to be able to change your mind am I?" Thor asked sadly. "No you're not." Aster wandered around her room going through things that she wanted to take with her. She and Thor stood in silence for a long time before Aster decided to speak. She turned towards her bed and leaned against one of the posts. "Is Loki going to come see me before I have to go?" Her voice was barely above a whisper and found that she couldn't look Thor in the eyes. She already knew the answer. "I tried to get him to come with me and he refused." Thor came to stand next to Aster. She stared blankly at the book in her hands, Loki had given it to her a few years ago for a birthday. "I'm sorry, I can ask him again if you like." Thor offered, his voice was low and kind. "No, if he wanted to see me, he would have come." She couldn't keep her voice from breaking and forced back the tears threatening to spill over. Thor glanced at the guard before pulling Aster into a tight hug. Normally she would have laughed and told him to let go because he was crushing, but with everything that had happened she just hugged him back. They stayed like that for a while before Thor pulled away. "He does care about you, Aster." She gave a bitter laugh and looked around her room trying to burn it into her memory. She knew that she would very likely never see it again. "If he cared he would be here we both know that." She looked out her window and let out a shaky breath as she saw the sun was beginning to set. "I guess it's time for me to go..." She trailed off. The guard moved to grab her arm to take her to the Bifrost. Thor put up a hand to stop the guard. "I'll take her myself." The guard looked from Thor to Aster warily. "I am not going to help her escape; you have my word. I would never go against my Father's orders." Thor assured him. The guard nodded and left the room. The only things Aster had decided to take with her were a few dresses and the book she had picked up earlier. She ran her fingers over the spine of the book nervously, as she and Thor made their way through the castle. They walked in silence and Aster stared at the book in her hands. She turned a corner and ran directly into something warm and solid. She stepped back annoyed. She looked up to see who she had run into, only to find herself looking into Loki's eyes. They stared at each other for a moment before Aster spoke. "Loki..." She whispered. For a brief moment something like pain flickered across his face before he slipped back into the empty expression. He brushed past her without a single word. Aster turned to watch him. "Loki please!" She felt her throat tighten with emotion as she fought back tears. Loki didn't even acknowledge her and continued down the hallway. Aster and Thor watched him go before Thor spoke. "Come." He led her out of the castle and down the path to the Bifrost. Heimdall stood waiting for them. "Are you ready?" Was the only thing he said as they approached. Aster nodded and turned to face Thor. "I suppose this will be the last time we see each other." She said weakly. "Yes, I suppose so." Thor pulled her into a bone crushing hug. Aster couldn't help but cry as she realized she would never see any of the people she cared about again. She pulled away from Thor, wiped away her own tears, and nodded to Heimdall, who opened the Bifrost. Aster gave a weak smile to Thor before stepping through the Bifrost, still clutching the book.