The Mighty Thor #3

"Liberality"

It was a word which in essence meant "to be open minded", this encompassed many things and also meant that Thor would have to be open to all possibilities.

What if someone with a bad reputation was to be accused of something they did not do? These are the questions we must ask ourselves and these are the questions that Thor himself would have to answer.

The halls of Asgard were unusually quiet on this particular day, no celebrations were being held, no battles were being fought and the great dining hall was also deserted. The reason for all things being as they were was simple........All of Asgard was awaiting the Trial of Loki.

24 hours ago

The day had started out nice and celebratory, Thor and the warriors three were in the great dining hall with many of their dear family and friends. They were all celebrating a great victory by Thor and the warriors three, they had fought off an attack by the frost giants to try and steal some on the weapons of Asgard and take the palace.

"Drink up warriors of Asgard" said Almighty Odin "This day we celebrate a great victory, once again Thor and his companions have saved the realm eternal"

"TO THOR AND THE WARRIORS THREE" rang the hall.

The only one who was not present at this great feast was Loki Laufeyson, he had no time for such things, he found them to be dull and of no use. What was the use of celebrating when danger would be upon them once again very soon and they would all once again have to fight. Besides they were all frivolous pleasures anyways for which no purpose was served.

Loki went to his own chambers to be alone with his thoughts.

Meanwhile back in the great dining hall Thor was taking in all the praise that was being given to him and the warriors three. Thor then heard a sound coming from somewhere above the hall, then suddenly a ball of fire came through the roof and went straight for Odin, Thor without hesitation jumped at Odin and tackled him toward safety.

"Art thou alright father?" Thor asked Odin.

"I am fine my son, however this attack will not go unpunished, whoever has done this foul deed will feel the judgement of Odin" Odin said as he got back to his feet.

Everyone in the hall got up and looked around "Tis only one foul enough of Asgard to have done such an attack,I say that it was the vile Loki" said Balder the Brave with an angry fist raised.

Odin then spoke "I do not like to go on a whim however only Loki was not with us at the table today, fetch him and bring him before me" Odin declared to Balder.

"It will be done" said Balder as he took several of the guards with him.

Loki was in his study doing some reading when suddenly the door was thrust open "You know it is costumary to knock when one enters a room" Loki said as he saw Balder and a cadre of guards with him.

"Pithy comments will not save thee now trickster, we know that thou hast verily tried to kill our lord Odin" Balder said to Loki.

Loki was surprised and the surprise was geniune "That's insane, I have done many things in my lifetime however I would never try and kill my own father"

Balder and the guards then grabbed Loki "thou can say that in thy defense at your trial base villain"

Loki was then brought to the very depths of Asgard and thrown into the dungeons "I always knew you'd end up here you wretched vermin" said one of the guards to Loki. Loki only glared at the man, what could he do other than that, no one would believe that he had indeed been set up.

Loki then saw a shadow in the backround and could barely make out the image of Thor "what art thou doing here brother, come to gloat have you?" said Loki to Thor. Thor then looked to Loki "no my brother, I have come because I do not believe they are right"

"Are you telling me that for once in your ignorant existence that you are taking my word against theirs? Pah, more then likely you've come to make a mockery out of me" Loki said to Thor. Thor shook his head "nay brother, I do know thee to be a trickster and that you would always verily seek the throne of Asgard however I also know thee well enough to know that no matter what thou wouldst not seek the life of our father".

Loki looked to Thor and sneered "Leave me be brother, I doubt thy sincerty and I need not thy help, go back to fathers feeding table for some more scraps". Thor then looked to Loki with a stern look "I should do as thou say however no matter what thou say I will help thee, I will not let someone who is innocent of a crime be condemned, no matter his past deeds".

"Well well how noble of thee" said Loki sarcastically to Thor "I simply think thou hast come to feed thy tremendous ego". Thor then came over to Loki's cell "I will speak on thy behalf at the trial, I will see to it that you get a chance to clear thy name, no matter what thou dost think of me I would not abandon family".

Loki again sneered at this however he did not say anything in retort, he simply watched as Thor left and then started thinking to himself. "At least someone believes in me, but why did it have to be him?" Loki thought as he sat down and started to drift off to sleep.

The next morning

The halls of Asgard were unusually quiet on this particular day, no celebrations were being held, no battles were being fought and the great dining hall was also deserted. The reason for all things being as they were was simple........All of Asgard was awaiting the Trial of Loki.

Several guards came down into Loki's cell to retrieve him "thy day of judgement is at hand evil one, dost thou have any last requests before I bring thee to the all father?"

"Just one" said Loki "that in thy next life thou be not such a base fool and then thy life might have some worth".

"Bring this traitor to Odin" said the head guard to his men "maybe death will still his flapping tongue". Loki chuckled at the guard "does it make thee feel better to exert authority over those who have no choice but to follow thee?". The guard struck Loki across the face "shut thy venomous mouth, I should end thee right now however I am duty bound to our lord to bring thee to him".

"Oh really? is it honor that binds thee or cowardice?" said Loki to the guard, the guard was about to let loose with another strike to Loki's face however it was stopped by the hand of Thor "stop this, no matter what a prisoner is accused of he does not deserve such base treatment, until he has been sentenced I will not tolerate your striking him, if I find that you do it again you will recieve the blow of my most sacred hammer". Loki looked to Thor strangely, he never in a thousand years thought that he would hear those words from his brother, he was almost proud however he did not want Thor to see that.

Loki accompanied by Thor was taken to great hall where he was to receive judgement by the great all father Odin himself. Thor then looked to the guard who was directing Loki "I will take him from here, thy work here is done". Thor and Loki stopped at the foot of Odin's throne, Odin gave a befuddled look to Thor "why dost thou come with thy brother? surely you of all people have been a victim of his treachery more so then all of us".

Thor nodded "that is very true father however I would like to speak on Loki's behalf this day as I believe he is innocent of the crime of which he is accused".

There was a silence in the hall as Thor uttered these words, not one person could believe what they were indeed hearing. "Hast thou take leave of thy senses?" Balder said to Thor.

"Nay my good friend, I have simply come to say to all that while I do know of Loki's past deeds I know that this occasion was not one in which the trickster is responsible" Thor said to the people of the hall.

"While I do applaud thee for sticking up for thy brother the evidence against him is clear, only Loki was not present at the dining hall and it was fire magic that was used, one of Loki's personal favorites" said Balder.

Thor nodded "thou also are correct however that still does not place Loki at the scene of the crime, think hard everyone, Loki is not the only one with knowledge of the arcane and besides no matter how bad his deeds have been in the past he has never tried to kill our father, he has only merely tried to dethrone him".

"He could have gotten tired of waiting to dethrone him and went for what he thought was the quickest course, that being the death of our all father" Said Balder.

Thor looked to Balder "if what thou sayest was true then would not Loki flee? why would he stick around only to be caught for being as clever as he is he would have known we would have come for him".

At this time Odin then spoke "I can see that the son of my heart has been thinking on this for awhile, if you do believe Loki is innocent of the crime then I ask thee, dost thou know who did?".

"I have an idea father however it would require both Loki and I to travel and find this person, I only ask thee to trust me, for you see I do believe I know the culprit" Thor said to Odin.

Odin then looked to Loki "thou hast said nothing in thy defense"

Loki looked to Odin "because I can not believe that thou wouldst think that I would try to murder thee in the first place, I may hold contempt for all in this room however I have always strived to prove myself to thee father, I have not ever once felt I was loved by thee, maybe it's better I die".

Odin then looked to Thor "I give thee and Loki leave to go find the person behind this plot, I trust that the both of you will do your father proud" Odin said.

Balder then spoke "how do we know that Loki will not try to escape?"

Thor then looked to him "then that my friend wouldst mean that thou hast no faith, and to not believe in anything or anyone means that thou art truly lost".

All of Asgard took these words to heart as they watched Thor and Loki depart on their journey to clear Loki's name.

"Where are we headed my bull headed brother?" Loki asked Thor.

"To Jutenheim" Said Thor.

*******************************

The Journey to Jutenheim took much sweat and toil however Thor and Loki were willing to brave the dangers in order to clear Loki's name. It did however seem that Thor was more willing to prove his brothers innocence then Loki himself, who had seemed rather resentful at the fact that Thor was helping him out.

"The climate is horrid, the air is foul and I for one can not fathom why someone would want to live here in the first place" complained Loki. "All I hear from thee are complaints, not once have you said one thing that has been helpful to our journey, wouldst thou prefer the good graces of the great judgement hall again?" Thor said in response.

Loki looked to Thor "What I would prefer is not having a vain arrogant dullard as a brother"

"Aye and I wouldst say that I would prefer the company of a twisted hobgoblin to thee" said Thor in response.

"Then why dost thou pursue this quest? wouldnt you rather have me convicted of the crime and be rid of me forevermore?" Loki said. "Because" said Thor "no matter our quarrels we are family besides that I do not condemn the innocent as you do".

"And that my brother is why you are weak, given the chance had the roles been reversed I would have easily turned my back on you" said Loki. "That Loki is also where your failing lies, tis not a strength to condemn someone but a weakness".

"We could argue semantics all day Thor however that still does not bring us any closer to our goal, speaking of which thou hast never told me who thou believes to be the culprit" said Loki with a puzzled look as they walked farther into the frigid regions of Jutenheim.

Thor looked to him "the type of magic that was used was a spell synonymous to thee Loki, not many know the dark arts such as thee and to use them in the same manner is also just as painstaking, also take into account this was a particular case in which someone wanted you to suffer by asgardian justice, there is but one person whom we both know that would have cause to do that".

"And who pray tell be this person?" Loki asked.

"Tis simple brother" said Thor "thy estranged wife Sigyn is the culprit".

Loki then stopped in his tracks for a moment "I should have known, ever since I was married to her I knew that it would bring me nothing but trouble".

Thor then looked to him "You give her too much credit brother, I wouldst think that if thou had paid more attention to her she would not feel so bitterly towards thee".

Loki then glared at him "That woman and I should not have been wed, it did not further my aspirations so what use did I have for her?". Thor then shook his head "if that is what thou truly thinks then thou dost not truly understand the matters of the heart".

"Pah" said Loki "what do I care for matters of the heart? that my brother is for weak minded fools such as thee". Thor said nothing then as they continued on their way and finally came up to a small castle on the outskirts of Jutenheim.

"I can see why thy wife may be bitter towards thee Loki, why didst thou banish her here? the least you could have done was place here somewhere warmer" Said Thor. Loki then sneered at Thor "She should be thankful I didn't just end her altogether".

"What a tangled web thou weaves Loki" said Thor.

No more words were said as they made there way to the castle, a guard called out to them from overhead "why dost thou come to this place?".
"We have come to see the lady Sigyn, her husband Loki wishes to have an audience with her" said Thor half sarcastically. Loki then glared at Thor and whispered to him "what art thou doing? you want her to kill me don't you?".

Thor looked to Loki "art thou saying that thou dost not wish to shower thy bride with loving kisses?". Loki bitterly answered "thou knows that is not at all what I desire, get this horrid charade overwith so that I might be parted from her company as well as yours".

Just then the gate to the castle was lowered and the guard spoke "thou may proceed, thy lady Sigyn is expecting thee". Thor and Loki walked inside and took a look around, both of them on their guard not knowing what to expect for they knew that Loki was not welcome inside these walls.

And just as Thor had expected as soon as the gate behind them had closed up a cadre of guards surrounded them both. "The good lady sends her regards however she could not be here to greet thee personally" said the head guard as him and the others drew their swords.

Thor looked to Loki "you have been practicing your fighting skills have you not?".

Loki smiled "how else will I defeat thee when the time comes?"

Both Thor and Loki then lept into the fray, Loki grabbing his spear from behind his back and Thor grabbing his Uru hammer. The guards came at them as well and all exchanged swings to try and end both Thor and Loki.

Loki ducked, weaved and dodged many of the guards and as three of them came at him he fired a bolt of magic at them sending them all hitting into the far wall. "Thou dost not know the meaning of fair combat" said one of the guards. Loki smiled "fair play is for those with no stomach to do what is necessary".

Meanwhile Thor not needing to resort to such tactics was already doing well with a swarm of other guards, a sword came to strike at his head however he dodged it and then sent several of the guards back with the force of his hammer. "Thou will not defeat the sons of Odin this day" said Thor to the remaining few guards.

Thor then slammed his hammer down and unleashed the fury of his lightning knocking all of the guards away and unconscience. "Crude but effective brother, maybe next time we'll just announce ourselves with a bevy of trumpets" said Loki.

"The way hath been cleared" said Thor "let us proceed to where Sigyn be"

"No need thunder god" came a commanding yet feminine voice, just then Thor and Loki where sent flying back by a magical bolt which pinned Thor and Loki to the wall. They both then saw the lovely vivacous figure of Sigyn come into view.

"Welcome Thor, I see thou hast brought my wayward husband with thee, this makes things so much simpler, it was simply too much of a chore to try and get him punished by thy own people, I had a feeling that thou wouldst come here and now I can end the both of you" said Sigyn with a laugh.

"Art thou saying that you had a larger plan other then framing thy husband?" asked Thor.

"Thou art correct thunder god, punishing my husband was but a part of the plan, I also intend to take Asgard itself, I will not only end him I will also take his ambition, when I am finished I will be the absolute empress of all" said Sigyn with a smile.

Loki smiled at her "Thou art as devious as I, I may have had a small use for thee once however thou art a pale shadow to Loki Laufeyson". Sigyn glared at Loki "Thou can say what thou wantest however tis both of you who are my prisoners and it will be you both who die by my hand".

Thor then looked to Sigyn "Tis truly sad the plight thou hast been through, I too have been hurt many a time by Loki and his machinations however I have not let it drive me to desperation, for you see that is truly why thou hast concocted this plan, now matter how it is dressed in the end it really is just a revenge plot".

Sigyn then glared at Thor "it does not matter what thou thinks, I will continue with my plan and Loki and thee will be but a memory". Sigyn then started to conjure up a spell, one of such intensity that it started to shake the very foundations of the castle itself.

"Congratulations brother, you managed to make our deaths that much worse, does thou have any last words dullard?" said Loki sarcastically. Thor then looked to Loki "thou always thinks that I act without thought however thou still has yet to learn that there is always a method to what I do" said Thor.

Thor then kicked a small patch of dirt into Sigyn's eye, while she was distracted trying to wipe her eyes Thor managed to break away a piece of the wall and roll to his hammer which upon touching it dispelled the spell that was cast on both him and Loki.

"You see Sigyn it does not matter what thou sayest, in the end thou reeps what thou sows, hate and prejudice will never lead to glory, in order to be a good ruler one must have a sense of liberality, not everyone is the same" said Thor swinging his hammer.

"I still have not lost thunder god, thou still must yet defeat me" said Sigyn as she threw a bolt of magic at Thor. Thor managed to dodge the bolt and threw his hammer at her, Sigyn was thrown back and knocked unconscience, Thor and Loki then stood over her.

"I meant what I said Loki, thou reeps what thou sows, I do hope that you realize this happening is the result of a woman scorned and I'm sure thou knows how that cliche ends" said Thor to Loki.

Loki then glared at Thor "thou needs not remind me of my past mistakes, I could go over a bevy of thy mistakes as well". Thor nodded "we will leave it at this brother, we will take Sigyn to Asgard for her punishment and we will clear thy name".

Nothing was said between the two brothers as they traveled the way back to Asgard, the silence was speaking volumes. Many times it seemed as if both Thor and Loki wanted to welcome each other as brothers should, with a hug and a good word, however that was not the fate that had been set for these two.

Upon reaching Asgard Thor and Loki were greeted by Hiemdale "Odin awaits thee both and hopes to hear great news from thee". Thor nodded "I have come with pleasant news, all is as it should be".

Loki then looked to Thor "before we head hence into Asgard I wouldst say to thee that I do thank thee, however I must also let thee know that this deed changes nothing between us, no matter what we both have dreams we aspire to, we will always be fated enemies Thor".

Thor nodded to Loki, a slight tear crossing both of their cheeks "I know this brother, each of us has a part to play and we are but the actors upon it".

Kudos to you for pulling out the obscure character of Loki's wife.

You did throw me a bit with "knocked her into unconscience" instead of "unconsciousness," however.

That's simple, it was a typo.

And thank you, I always thought it a tragedy that Marvel never really used Sigyn all that much, I kept thinking to myself "here's a character worthy of being in many stories yet they barely used her".