GUARDS MARCH A LINE OF PRISONERS into the dungeons of Asgard, and Loki watches from his cell as they march past him. His raven hair has grown longer, now reaching his shoulders, and he wears it pushed back from his face. Instead of his armor, Loki wears a simple green tunic topped with a leather vest, along with leather trousers, and he stands rigidly by the shimmering golden forcefield keeping him locked in his stark white prison cell.

"Odin continues to bring me new friends," he muses, grasping his hands behind his back as he turns away from the new prisoners. "How thoughtful."

"The books I sent. Did they not interest you?" Frigga asks, watching her son as he steps away from the edge of the edge of the cell. The room is bare aside from a few small pieces of furniture, luxuries that none of the other prisoners are allowed, and he steps toward the single armchair in the room.

"Is that how I am to while away eternity?" Loki asks sarcastically. "Reading?"

Frigga sighs, "I've done everything in my power to make you comfortable, Loki."

"Have you?" He asks, unclasping his hands and leaning forward to press his palms on the back of the chair. "Does Odin share your concern?"

His voice is laced with venom as he spits out the name of his adopted father, and Frigga watches sadly as he continues.

"Does Thor?" Loki sneers. "It must be so inconvenient, them asking after me day and night."

Frigga remains unmoved by his speech, well-practiced in her son's manipulative tendencies. She loves Loki, passionately, but she cannot deny that his actions have placed him firmly in this situation. While she would prefer it if he did not harbor such animosity toward his father and brother, she knows better than to let her emotions get the best of her.

"You know full well it was your actions that brought you here," she replies evenly.

"My actions?" Loki waves his hand toward himself, releasing the chair and pacing the room to the other force field at the edge of his cell. "I was merely giving truth to the lie that I had been fed my entire life....that I was born to be a king."

Frigga lifts an eyebrow, "A king? A true king admits his faults. What of the lives you took on Earth?"

"A mere handful compared to the number that Odin has taken himself," Loki argues, turning away from her once more.

She sighs, "Your father--"

"HE'S NOT MY FATHER!" Loki roars, his black hair whipping around his face as it contorts with rage.

Frigga pauses, her heart breaking inwardly as she watches the son she raised embrace so much hatred.

"Then am I not your mother?" She asks softly, her eyes filled with sadness.

Loki lets out a sigh, remorse flickering through his green eyes for a moment before he hardens himself once more.

"You're not," he states, emotion thick in his throat as he forces out the words.

Frigga chuckles, but he can see the tears swimming in her blue eyes. It burns him inwardly to hurt the woman who raised him, the mother he will always love, but stubbornness and the pain in his heart prevents him from opening up to her once more. She lied to him, along with Odin, and the family he thought he possessed was ripped from him. Instead, he discovered that he was a monster all along - the fodder of nightmares - so he told himself that he must not be weak again. Why fight against his true nature only to disappoint them again? The loss of all that he had known - everything he held dear - shattered him to his very core, and he would not let his heart be broken once more. Ever since Anna was taken from him, he felt that his heart could not bear the strain of another disappointment.

Instead, he works daily to build up a wall between himself and his mother. Distance from him will keep both of them safe, he tells himself, believing in his own lies. Without Frigga, without Anna...both are better without him, and he will no longer be at risk of another heartache. The thought pierces his chest like a thousand knives, awakening the memory of her once more. His mind drifts to Anna's face - her wide, blue eyes staring up at him, her soft brown hair curling around her cheeks - and he nearly winces. Perhaps someday he will not feel such excruciating pain of their loss, he tells himself, because he will teach himself to feel nothing at all.

"You're always so perceptive," Frigga says sadly, taking a step toward her son. "About everyone but yourself."

Loki shakes his head, his eyes downcast, as he takes a step toward his mother. Of course, she's right. She sees right through him. She always has. Still, that does not change what has happened, what must happen. 

He reaches a hand for hers, and it slips through the space where her fingers would occupy. The illusion begins to fall away, and Frigga stares into her son's emerald eyes as he breaks the connection with her.

Once she is gone, he sighs - closing his eyes - and allows a single tear to escape from his eye. 

Now Playing: "Born To Be A King" by Jo Cohen ft. King.

*****
AUTHOR'S NOTE

YOU ARE WELCOME! Double update day!! I expect all of the comments, considering a certain someone has made his reappearance. (And, with enough comments, I might just update AGAIN.)

I also added gifs from this scene because it's just too heartbreaking.

Shout out to PomegranateAddict. This chapter is dedicated to you + everyone else who waited until Chapter 13 for Loki to appear in IOJ. (Record = broken.) 

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