Loki's Apprentice: A Tale Retold

Chapter 14: Prison

"But now that I'm broken, and now that you know it.

Can you see inside?" -Jet Black Heart

Chapter 14: Prison

He stared into the fire angrily as the past conversation seemed to encompass his thoughts completely where he couldn't escape it. She had an ability of somehow getting inside his head, causing him to contemplate things he would much rather ignore. He had asked her to leave, for he wanted to be alone, but her question echoed inside his head.

'Is that really what you want?'

She could see through him, far better than he could himself.

His misery and insanity had caused a cloud to shroud himself and blinded him.

Had he imprisoned her out of selfishness, sealing someone else to the same dreadful fate as he, so that he wouldn't be driven insane from the whispers of the empty castle?

Seclusion frightened him.

He realized that now.

The past is able to haunt when there is nothing to distract the mind.

He cast the realization away and charged out of the room and went deeper into the castle with the rose clenched in his fist. Turning corners and up stairs he went like a demon in the night with eyes blazing. He arrived to the deepest part of the castle, a cold and dark place.

A place where he spent most of his time.

The room was cold and beyond bearable for any ordinary man. Frost covered the walls like cobwebs and the floor was frozen, like slippery marble beneath the feet.

He began to pace.

"I've never seen a woman cause you so much distress."

"I'm not distressed." Loki snarled in response.

"I'd beg to differ."

Loki turned sharply and glared at the three figures behind him and bellowed "You have no business here."

"We're a part of you," Thor said. "We have just as much reason to be here as you."

Loki closed his eyes. "You're not real."

"Real or not, you need us." Frigga said stepping up beside him and placing a hand on his shoulder. All it did was glow and he felt nothing.

"What are you going to do with the girl?" Odin asked.

"What do you think?"

"You can't keep her here!" Frigga cried.

Loki ignored them and walked to a corner of the room to pick up a bell jar from one of the small dressers. It once held a butterfly, like a prison shrouded in glass, but the poor creature laid frozen  like a statue.

He placed the rose that was still tightly clutched in his hand and placed it inside. With the glow of his magic, it levitated in place. Admiring the beauty, he placed it in the center of the room.

"Why did you do that?" Thor asked.

Loki sat at the foot of his bed and stared at the glowing promise. "As long as the petals remain, I know that her promise remains true. Whenever she intends to break her word, they will drop and I will know."

"You can't keep her prisoner, Loki! This is madness and you know it."

"DON'T tell me what to do." Loki growled. "You have no authority over me here."

With those words, the three disappeared and he was left by himself to watch the promise shinning true.

"You are mine."

Short Chapter for this week!

I'm thinking of starting either updating on Thursdays or Saturdays because I really want to get this story going :)

Hope you enjoy!

God Bless

-Em