Life in a cell
Loki spent his whole life in prison for Norns know what reason. He was isolated, always. His cell was white, pure white. White bed, white sink, white table and chair, white clothes. Everything around him was white except for his hair. There was one small mirror in the cell. Loki would accidentally give himself a small heart attack every time he looked into the mirror thanks to his jet-black hair. It stood contrasted harshly with the white around him. He had a small bookshelf that was also white. The white was irritating and intrusive and the more Loki complained about it, the more books would be taken away from his collection.
The books were the only source of entertainment. Loki learnt a lot through them. He had tutors when he was younger but they only taught him basics, books were the only sources of moral values Loki had. The books showed him that what they were doing was wrong, that he was being tortured. He also learnt a lot about the nine realms through the books. He was called a Jotun Runt once by one of his tutors, so he guessed that he was from Jotunheim. He learnt about many realms like Midgard, Asgard, Alfheim, Auraheim, Helheim etc. He didn't know which realm he was one.
The day Loki was thrown into the cell, he was only 300, the mortal equivalent of 6. He remembered a tall king with an eyepatch was the one that threw him into the cell. The king had a stern voice and a scary face.
"You are Loki Laufeyson. The Norns have deemed you as the God of Mischief, Lies and Trickery. That is why you will spend your life here in isolation. I cannot let you harm my prince or my people. You are my prisoner. Have I made my words clear?" Those words haunted Loki for his whole life. He was a God, but a terribly weak one. He read about magic in his books and taught himself basic Seidr. He could barely hold up an illusion for more than three minutes, but with time and practice, he got stronger.
His Seidr made him strong enough to fight with some guards outside of his cells. That was his first attempt at escaping. He was only 750 (15) at the time. That was his first and last attempt at escaping. The scars of the torture he received that they were still visible. Immediately, magical bonds in the shape of bracelets were placed on his hands and his cell was rebuilt to resist magic. Every month he was allowed outside for an hour. He had the golden magical bracelets on him at all times when he was outside. He was only allowed to walk back and forth in the small, green space called 'garden'. In reality, it was just a pathway with grass that connected with the actual garden Loki had only gotten a glimpse of.
Every time he got to be outside, Loki would make sure to steal something. Pens, Tunics, flowers, fruits-anything that was colorful. And each time he would get severely punished. But very rarely, the guards didn't notice. Loki learned soon enough that it was easier to steal fruits and flowers because he could dispose of them completely once inside his cell, unlike the tunics and pens which couldn't be swallowed. Loki stole a red apple that particular day, but he was caught red handed.
Immediately, he was thrown into the torture cell. That cell was completely black. Only the lights of the punishers lanterns were visible. There were several punishers. They would whip, slap, punch and cut Loki. Of course there was the occasional bone-breaking. That was the worst of all. The punishers would gather around Loki and break the bones of his fingers one by one. And then they would reset the bones right afterwards, which hurt just as much as the breaking of the bones. That day was no different from the others.
Loki screamed, cried, begged and yelled as his fingers were broken one by one, but would the punishers ever listen? By the time they were done, blood was dripping everywhere. Loki's usually white clothes were now bright Crimson. The guards threw him back in the cell and his blood stained the white floors. Loki hated to admit it, but it was rather beautiful. The blood had color, something Loki yearned so desperately for. Maybe he had gone mad because he liked the color of the blood. And then he remembered where it came from and immediately, all the wonder behind the blood left Loki and he left with nothing but the feeling of pain. He crawled over to his mirror to see himself covered with blood and winced at the pain.
For the next few hours, Loki gave his all to reach his bed. By then the blood on his clothes was dried up. Loki twisted his fingers and cleaned up the entire room with a flash of green. It exhausted him to use his magic now, but he knew that the guards would yell at him for making the floor and the bed dirty. Loki rested his head on the headboard of his bed and panted as he looked at his hands.
They were deformed. Broken and put back together. He rubbed a hand along his face and as he did, he felt tiny wounds all over his face. He painfully brought one of his books closer to him and started reading. The book had no pictures and the cover was hand painted white. Of course The King made sure even his books were not colorful. Oh how Loki loathed The King. As Loki read his book, sleep and exhaustion caught up with him and within the matter of a few minutes, he was asleep
*
Loki hadn't slept for more than an hour when he woke up to the noise of a loud thud. Immediately he jolted awake and sat up. He was expecting a guard that threw his books out of anger and started panicking. He didn't do anything wrong, why would they be mad? He nervously looked at the ground and instead of seeing his favorite books on the ground, he saw a girl. She was wearing a beautiful yellow dress. The design in the dress was crumpled up as she was on the ground, but Loki could quickly tell she was a rich person. Colorful. She was blessedly colorful. The two guards that shoved her in the cell had already left.
"Let me out you bastard! I am Areena, Princess of Auraheim, Godess of Control! I shall not be treated like another stolen relic kept in your cells!" The girl yelled ferociously. Her voice was louder than most of the guards. She banged on the walls of the cell as she spoke.
" Let... Me..... OUT! " She yelled as she shoved a wave of yellow light towards the white wall and Loki could only watch in awe as the seemingly concrete wall broke shattered into a million pieces like it was fragile glass. The Lady who's name was reveled as Areena was fuming. Her eyes were glowing bright yellow and yellow magic flowed beneath her hands. Loki soon realized that she was..... Gorgeous
Her dress reached at her kness. It had two slits on both sides. A beautiful golden embroidery covered her dress. She was also wearing royal golden Armour that covered her chest, shoulders and elbows. Her pants had many small compartments in them which were empty. Loki assumed that she stored weapon in them. Her long, honey-brown hair reached her lower back. Part of her hair was braided into a beautiful bun at the top of her head while the rest of it flowed down her back and rested on her shoulders. Her hair seemed to gradually become more of a golden color, but then again Loki could just be blind. She stood there with all of her might. Though she called herself a Princess, she looked more like a warrior.
One of the guards outside the cell was staring at her the same way Loki was staring at her. The other guard was probably a Sorcerer because before she could throw herself at him, the wall was rebuilt. The Lady yelled loudly before slamming her fist into the wall making a huge dent in the wall. Within a matter of a minute, this Lady walked in, broke the barrier Loki so hard to break for years and also made a dent.
"Hello?" Loki said as he got up with a grunt. His body reminded him that he had been tortured as soon as his brain forgot. The Lady turned to look at him and her glowing eyes turned into a hazel-green
"Norns, are you okay?!" She asked with worry as she rushed over to Loki. Damn it. He probably had a black eye.
"Yes, yes. I'm fine!" He assured the girl but she didn't listen. She immediately sat him back down on the bed and Loki felt incredibly happy. No one had ever been this nice to him. No one even cared for his wounds. He could die and the guards would start dancing. She rushed a hand over Loki while muttering a spell and suddenly, all the pain left Loki's body.
"How.... Who?" Loki asked confusion
"I'm Areena, Godess of Control, Manipulation and Strategy. Nice to meet you" Areena's voice was so sweet and calming, Loki felt like he was listening to an angel
"Why are you here?" Loki asked again sounding very confused
"My realm has been attacked, my family has been killed and my home destroyed by the traitorous Odin! I have been brought here as the only living member of my family, and I am being kept like a stolen relic until Odin finds a use of me!" Areena spat and made Loki slightly flinch but then she took a deep breath and shut her eyes.
"What about you, who are you" Areena asked calmly as she sat next to Loki on his bed.
"Loki.... Loki Laufeyson" Loki struggled to remember his own last name
"What is you last name?" Loki asked as he realized that Areena never told him her last last name. Areena smiled in reply
"Royalblood. My full name is Areena Royalblood. Only members of the Royal Family have or at least had last names. And it is Royalblood. It's a bit of a mouthful" Areena chuckled as she spoke. Loki looked at her amusingly. He had never seen anyone smile
"What brings you here, Loki?" Areena asked as she titled her head curiously
"I don't know. I was thrown in this cell when I was 300. I don't remember anything about what happened in the first 300 years of my life. I was raised here." Loki said with a sad shrug and Areena's face darkened.
"You've never gone outside?" Areena asked with concern visible in her face. She sounded just like the people in books. Loki knew that concern was a normal emotion, but he never experienced it. No one was ever concerned for him
"I have. I get to walk in a small green path way for an hour every month. And some times if I misbehave, I get sent to a torture cell, but I've never gone outside of these boundaries" Loki said as he looked at his shaky hands. He shouldn't be talking about his self that much, he knew better than to trust anyone. But he couldn't help it. Areena's voice seemed so lovely. He felt like he had to spill his guts to her.
"Oh darling! That is horrible! No wonder the wounds on your face! I'm so sorry!" Areena said sympathetically as she rubbed Loki's back. Although he initially flinched at her touch, it felt heavenly to be comforted.
And out of nowhere, the tears started.