Loki: Mischief's First Love

Chapter 19 - Banished

Loki would not make an appearance in the court for Angrboða's funeral. He stoutly refused and dared Odin to order him. Odin covered up Loki's absence and told everyone that he wanted to mourn his wife alone. Loki remained with his three children in his chambers, holding Hela to him almost the whole time. Surprisingly, the little girl seemed unnaturally calm and collected. She hardly cried, and laughed frequently. The mood of her father and brothers did not match her own. A few days after Angrboða's death, the plague disappeared from Asgard and the rest of the Nine Realms. "I knew it was your treachery against Yggdrasil that caused the plague!" Odin told Loki when he came to see him one day.

"Put a tally under your name," Loki responded sarcastically as he gently rocked Hela. Odin frowned and watched as Fenris and Jor just stared at him.

"Loki, you know they can't stay here," Odin said and Loki looked up, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"What the hell do you mean by that?! They're my children! Of course they'll stay here!" Loki shouted, actually making Hela cry. He put her in her cradle and darted over to Odin, grabbing hold of his collar. Fenris stood up and began to growl, while Jormungandr hissed. "You can't do this!" Loki yelled, but Odin pried his hands off his armor.

"I am the All-Father! What I say, is law! If you don't want your children to be treated like monsters, they have to be sent away!" Odin barked before walking out of the room. Loki stared after him for a few seconds, and when the door slammed shut, Loki sank to his knees. His hands went out and he drew his fingernails down the stone floor. The sound was loud, and Fenris covered his ears with his paws as he was hearing a different frequency. Suddenly, Loki jerked his hands back and stared at his fingers. He saw that several of his fingernails had been cracked or split, and were bleeding. He inhaled and exhaled sharply, trying to control himself. A sound reached his ears and he turned around. Hela was sitting up in the cradle, by herself! Loki stood up and went over to her.

"How is that possible?" he asked her numbly.

Many things seem unclear now, but, they will eventually come to light, Hela mentally transmitted to him. Fenris and Jor looked up at their sister, and their tongues hung out of their heads. I don't know about the rest of you, but, I don't want the All-Father picking my destination, Hela said, and Fenris and Jormungandr agreed. Loki looked at them and shook his head.

"No! You're not going anywhere!" Loki said, but Hela's little hand touched his cheek.

As long as we make the decision, we'll still be with you, she told him.

She's right Father, Fenris said as he joined them. Jor slithered over and rested his chin on Loki's knee. I'd rather decide for myself, than have Odin come up with some remote place you can't visit. Loki brushed the tears from his cheeks and nodded his head.

"But, without help from Heimdall, there is no way to leave Asgard," Loki said.

Come on Father. Use that genius brain of yours, Jormungandr said with a slight smirk. Loki closed his eyes and let his mind relax. It went blank, and Loki began to conjure up ways to leave the realm without using the Bifrost. Suddenly his eyes snapped open and he stood up.

"I need to visit the library!" he said and he disappeared from the room.

Loki did not want to send his own children away, but, if the decision was left up to Odin, he would pick a place where Loki would never be able to see them. Loki could not bear that. When he reached the library, he had gone to a long forgotten section, a place where the mages used to go to expand their knowledge. In there, Loki discovered an ancient text that spoke of the olden ways to traverse the realms before the Bifrost was constructed.