Beneath The Bitter Masks

Chapter 18

Then his eyes went back to his familiar green and the blue receeded returning his skin back to alabaster. The chains disappeared and he fell to his knees.
One tear fell from his eyes then another.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry." Loki started crying. Natasha knelt in front of him. "I'm sorry. I saw Mother fall you all here and I-I thought that Odin brought you and I saw you all hurt -I thought I was going to loose you all and-and", Loki kept talking almost like a child who had just woken up from a nightmare.

Natasha shocked everyone as she leaned in and hugged Loki. Thor sat besides his brother. "Shhh sweetie, it's alright. Everyone's alright. You don't have to cry." Natasha spoke in a soothing whisper. Thor started running his hand through Loki's hair. He cried into Natasha's shoulder.

For awhile they stayed like that until Loki's crying subsided. He finally moved away from Natasha's shoulder, blushing and clearly embarrassed. Thor laughed at his brother's face causing him to go even redder. As payback Loki flicked his wrist and made Thor's hair blue and extremely poofy.

Everyone laughed at the sight while Thor threatened his brother to turn his hair back. Even the three sisters of fate laughed lightly and fondly at the sight. This made everyone remember that they were there.

Loki stood up and went over to them, "Sisters of Fate, I apologize for my behavior before. I was blinded with rage and fear and if I caused you any problems I am truly sorry." The three sisters smiled down at the young prince.

Skuld spoke, "Loki, son of Frigga, you do not have to apologize. We have been keeping an eye on you ever since you fell into the void." Loki's eyes widened at this.

"When you landed in the clutches of the Mad Titan we saw how you remained defiant till the end against him." Urd continued, "Though you were angry at the royal family not once did you give him any knowledge that could have been used against them."

"You have a strong will and a caring heart. Even after all the injustice you went through in your life you only ever blamed yourself. You did not wish to attack Midgard and fought against the mind control to the best of your abilities. Never once in the presence of the Titan did you beg for your life." Verthandi said.

"And for that reason Loki, you have gained the favor of the Norns. You have our blessing and it shall remain with you always." Skuld finished. Loki at the current moment was doing a good impression of a fish thus he could not respond.

Thor came up to him, his face filled with pride and grabbed his shoulder lightly shaking him. This brought Loki out of his shock, "I-I thank you for giving me such an honor my ladies but I don't think I am worthy of it. I mean I did what anyone would have done. I'm not special or anything like that." Loki was rambling. The Norns watched him amusement and fondness clear in their electric blue eyes.

"Child in our eyes you have passed the test life laid out for you", Verthandi spoke, "and are worthy of our favour. And do not doubt your strength.

"You are one of the very few whoose magic comes fom the roots of Yggdrasil itself. That is one of the reasons Odin treated you as such fearing if you became too powerful you could lay waste to his plans."

She spoke Odin's name as if it were garbage and the three sister's eyes turned hard seeming as if they were rocks. Tony stepped forward, "Um pardon me but now that he's been mentioned what's gonna happen to the old geezer?" he pointed to the frozen Odin.

The three sisters eyed each other, "I believe it is time for us to pass the judgement then is it not?" Skuld asked and the other two nodded. "Bring in the citizens. It is time they heard the truth."

When all the Asgardians were brought inside they saw the Avengers standing in a line facing the throne with Loki standing between them no longer looking like a Jotun. The Norns were floating behind them no longer in their armor bit now wearing simple white robes, still looking beautiful and ethereal as ever.

The citizens watched as Queen Frigga walked in looking healthy and fine. She walked upto the Avengers standing in front of Loki. Loki embraced her tightly, smiling joyously. She returned the hug and mouthed 'thank you' to the others. She then stood with the Avengers.

Skuld waved her hand and the enchantment on Odin ended. Odin almost fell but caught his balance. Looking around he spotted Loki and he sneered. "You brat, how dare you put a spell on your king? You should be killed, you ungrateful child."

Steve frowned not liking the behavior of Odin at all. This man was conceited and filled with only greed. The three sisters spoke in perfect sync eyeing Odin disdainfully,

"Odin, son of Bor, you have committed great wrongs against the kingdom, against your family and against this child, whose protection was entrusted to you. Instead of showing him love you tried to bend him to your will and when your plans failed you decided it was best to get rid of him.

"Greed has blinded you. You are no longer fit to be a king. You are stripped of you title and your powers." As the norns said this Odin was encompassed in a white light. He started screaming loudly, "No you cannot do this to me. No."

"Your soul will be cast into Helheim, never to see the walls of Valhalla, where it will be at the mercy of the Queen of the Dead to do as she pleases." A portal opened behind Odin and he was tossed into the barren wasteland that could be seen on the other side. His screams were heard as the portal closed.

The Norns then addressed the people, "Citizens of Asgard, tell all what you have witnessed here. Loki is innocent and has been forgiven for all past crimes by the Norns. He has earned our true favour."

"But now that Odin's gone who will lead Asgard?" Loki inquired curiosity dancing in his eyes.

"Queen Frigga will. We remember her magic's touch and we are certain that she will lead Asgard into prosperity." Skuld replied. And with that they were gone in a blinding light as suddenly as they had come.

Everyone just stood there gaping before they quietly moved out ready to tell those that had missed what they witnessed. Frigga also left as she had matters to attend to now with promises of visiting again. The Avengers just stood there awkwardly before being led out by Loki and Thor.

"It's official. Today was one of the weirdest and best days of my life." Tony commented. "I mean seriously Rudolph how much fire power do you have? You were taking down all those guards like they were nothing. And you looked so cool when you turned blue." Tony lept talking like a child after the movies.

He stopped talking as he noticed Loki's hand, "Hey when did you get a tattoo?"
This caused everyone to stop in their tracks. Loki lifted his hand. Sure enough there was a beautiful black mark at the backside of his hand.

"It's appears that the Norns left a parting gift. I believe it tells that I am under their protection."

"Cool. It looks like a tattoo though." Clint said. Nat only shook her head. They all headed to the bifrost ready to just relax after the past stressful days. Thor asked his brother as Heimdall prepared to beam them back to Earth. "Ready to go home brother?"

Loki looked towards him and grinned. Home. That sounded nice. "Yes."
                       _____________________
And it's finally ended. I think it got a little weird in the end don't you? And seemed kind of rushed.

And dumb. But then again nothing in this story was that great as compared to some I've read.

Once again I'm sorry, for people who like Odin, that he was a nasty person but I don't feel that bad about it.

Anyways thank you for reading this and if you managed to get through the entire story without cringing or feeling the need to punch the writer, congrats.

I might write an epilogue if I feel like it but at the current moment it's complete. Thank you. Good-bye. Stay safe.

Your sincerely,
YeranJ.