~Trial~

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Guards were always present in the Asgardian Imperial Palace. Hundreds of them always on standby in case of an emergency and to protect the Royal Family. Though, it's not every day that the guards had to defend the Royal Family from itself.

Bound in chains, just shy of twenty guards pulled Loki and Olivia forward in front of the Asgardian Throne they had so long ago coveted. Half of the guards kept Loki reigned in while the other half kept a keen watch on Olivia to his right. One nearby held the Casket of Ancient Winters in his hands, confiscated off of Loki when they arrived on Asgard. Not too far behind, Thor and Frigga followed as if in a death procession. In a way, it seemed, they were. As far as they were concerned, the Loki and Olivia they had known died long ago. In their places were spiteful, ruthless shells of themselves. Thor would probably never know how they had turned into the monsters before him.

But Frigga did. From day one, she knew something was wrong. Something they didn't fully understand. She consulted Heimdall often, the pair of them simply watching on for years and years. They put two and two together rather quickly, but not even Heimdall could identify the source. Some ancient and powerful being possibly. Frigga had always known, deep down, what was wrong. A mother never forgets her child's eyes.

Odin sat upon the throne, still in his battle armor. His one eye looked at Loki and Olivia coldly. His face stone, he held no sympathy for the pair. Their eyes said they hated him right back. No remorse, no kindness, nothing.

The procession stopped a few feet in front of the throne. Thor and Frigga stood off to the side to bear witness to what would happen next.

"I don't even know where to begin with you both. Have you no shame?" Odin started off.

"Oh, don't act so surprised, Odin. You never cared for either of us." Loki spat back, neglecting a proper form of address. Odin held back on mentioning it; there were far more serious things at hand.

"I cared enough to take you both in when you were orphaned and abandoned. Is this how you repay us?"

"And yet you never were a proper father to us. You never saw us as yours to care for. You were so focused on nurturing Thor that all you ever did for us was just that: Take us in. All you ever saw was the poor orphan girl who you didn't need to show care for and the abandoned Frost Giant who you could never see as a son, just a monster." Olivia snapped.

"What we did has no bearings on you or your family. I bet you didn't even care. In fact, you were glad we were gone. That we were someone else's problem. Under our rule, Midgard was prospering." Loki added.

"At the cost of millions of Midgardian lives!" Odin roared.

"Don't pretend like you care for the mortals now. You know what they really are: Dirty selfish rats who's lives mean nothing. So what if some had to die? It's nature. Mortals live and die in a constant cycle. It was our duty to give a sense of direction to their meaningless lives."

"We are not immortal, Loki. It takes longer, but we all eventually die someday." Frigga's soft voice cut in.

"Didn't you once say that death gives life meaning?" Olivia asked her. "I'd say in that sense we gave meaning to the humans' otherwise meaningless, worthless lives."

"We both know that is not what I meant when I said that."

"Isn't it?"

"Enough!" Odin bellowed. "We all know you both had no right to impose yourselves on Midgard and that you had no right to take as many lives in cold blood as you did."

"And I ask you how you came to control Asgard. I would stake my life that it wasn't a peaceful rise to power. In fact, how is it all that different? We're told stories of a noble conquest, but how can we be sure that's what actually happened?" Loki asked.

"Let me know if this sounds familiar: Militarized conquest, burning and pillaging, millions of deaths, building a grand palace with the remains of the old." Olivia counted off.

"Silence!" Odin roared.

"Struck a nerve, did we? I'm terribly sorry." Loki feigned a remorseful tone.

"Face it: You are punishing us for doing what you once did. You are a false king, a hypocrite, and a tremendous bastard. You sit upon a throne of lies!" Olivia snarled. Odin went red with fury.

"And you will never see the light of day again! Captain, I want them executed on counts of treason tomorrow morning!" Odin said to a guard next to his throne. Enraged and possibly frightened, Loki and Olivia fought against their bonds, pulling and shaking to hopefully get free.

"No! You can't do that!" Olivia roared, pulling at her restraints with rage.

"I can and I have!" Odin bellowed. Olivia screamed with rage as she continued fighting, the overwhelming emotion and anger surpassing the power of the enchanted chains and magic inhibitors. Green magic crackled around her hands as she seemed to breathe green fire. The chains started to crack as her magic continued to unleash itself. She screamed and sobbed as she fought, her eyes glowing bright green. Right next to her, Loki's magic also blazed to life, encompasing his hands and making his eyes glow as well, however a little fainter. In his rage, his natural form started to bleed through. Loki's glowing eyes turned red and his skin started to form ridges that were pale blue.

In their rage, all self control crumbled.

As this was going on, Frigga ran over to Odin and whispered into his ear. She told him everything she had seen over the years, how what Loki and Olivia had done had been out of their control. Odin was impassive at first, but once she mentioned Infinity Stones and their unnaturally blue eyes, it finally went through his head. Zeroing back into the chaos, Frigga spread her arms to allow her own magic to burst forth. The restraints strengthened and Loki and Olivia slumped over, nearly collapsing to the floor. They powered down as Frigga went over to them. She said nothing, but Loki and Olivia looked at her with disgust and betrayal in their eyes.

"Death is too good for you both. While I find execution to be very tempting, life imprisonment has no honor. You are not due for Valhalla just yet. You will spend the rest of your days in the dungeon." Odin ordered. "Take them away."

Loki and Olivia glared at Odin one last time as they were dragged away by their captors. Thor could only watch on, yet he recieved the same hateful gaze. Shaking his head, he retreated back into the halls of the palace.

As they were taken down to the dungeon, Frigga followed close behind. Coming upon the first cell to the left, the guards unbound Loki and Olivia (bar the twice as powerful magic inhibitors on their wrists) and forced them into their cell. The room was white with golden energy barriers to keep them contained inside. Most of the guards left, only two remaining on either side of the front barrier. There would be constant supervision of the pair for a very long time.

That only left Frigga. She stood in front of the barrier as Loki pulled Olivia close in a protective embrace. Not letting go, they turned to face Frigga. She couldn't help but notice their foreign eyes that stared back at her with no kindness in them.

"Is... Is there anything you both need?" She asked.

"Don't pretend to act like you care." Loki scoffed at her. Ignoring the hurt in her heart, Frigga stood her ground.

"I will send for a bed. A table and chairs would be nice. Oh, and some books. From the Astronomy shelf? And the History shelf, perhaps?" She continued, trying to entice them. No matter how much they would protest otherwise, Frigga knew them. She knew them well. Olivia and Loki stared at her, making no move to reply. "Oh, that's right. You also enjoy your Epics and Plays, do you not? I'll make sure to get those as well."

"Your little peace offering will get you nothing. Nowhere. If you think you can just mend whatever hurt that's been caused, you're even more of a fool than I took you for." Olivia hissed, slowly approaching the barrier so she was barely six inches away from Frigga's face, despite the energy between them.

Frigga stared at Olivia, her odd blue eyes showing nothing but contempt. Frigga couldn't help but remember her and Loki as young children, laughing and wrestling with each other in the snow. As teenagers, learning their magic and reading by the fire in the library each night. As young adults, completely in love and the kindness that they had shown to others. Where, she wondered, had those two people gone? Perhaps they were the untold of victims like the millions of Midgardians these two impostors had left in their wake.

"If only I knew what your mother would say..." Frigga whispered. She had meant to pose the question to herself. What would the long deceased Iri say to Frigga, seeing how her daughter had turned out? Frigga knew she didn't deserve high praise for this. Frigga had tried, but now Iri's daughter had turned into a twisted, megalomaniac version of herself. Yet, Olivia still heard the question. Her lips curled into a snarl as she stepped back.

"I care not for what that woman would say. I know she'd be disappointed, but I don't care. I was strong, I had power, and in my eyes, I was perfect. I don't need her approval. The woman who gave birth to me is not my mother. Iri didn't raise me, so what she would think does not matter. I have no mother. I have no father. Any shortcomings she would see are your own fault, not mine. I'm certain Iri would blame you for this. Loki is the only family I have and the only family I need. Not Iri, not Aemon, not Odin, not even you." Olivia said in a deceptively calm voice, but Frigga could sense the rage behind it.

And the sadness.

Olivia didn't even refer to her parents as her parents. She called them by their names. Loki really was the only one she could turn to, and she the only one he could rely on. Them against the universe, two halves of one frozen heart.

Frigga didn't humor them with a response. She just sighed and walked away, hugging herself as though she were cold. Really, there was no warmth there for her.

Perhaps there never would be.

Olivia and Loki watched her leave the dungeons. Once Frigga was out of sight, Loki approached Olivia from behind and wrapped his arms around her. He rested his chin on the top of her head, completely surrounding and protecting her. Olivia, in turn, leaned into his embrace.

"Are you alright?" He asked her. Olivia didn't respond, just stared ahead past the barrier into the dank dungeons around them. "Here, look at me."

Loki turned her around so she was facing him. Looking into his eyes that held her so highly, Olivia seemed to forget her hatred for all others around her. For that moment, all she saw was Loki and his love for her.

"I'm fine." She finally said, leaning in closer so she rested her head on his shoulder. Loki slightly swayed them back and forth soothingly as he ran his fingers through Olivia's slightly matted hair.

"Listen to me." He whispered into her ear. "We are going to be alright. No matter where we are, you will always be a Queen. My Queen."

"And you will always be my King." She replied softly. They stayed like that, curled into each other's embrace in the white void of their prison cell, for a long time. Deep down, though, Olivia knew that they wouldn't be stuck in there forever. They would go free eventually. She didn't know when or how, but she still had a feeling.

They just had to wait.

***