MaLoki 20 themes: ties

9. Isolation

The last time Odin spoke to Loki was when he banished him. Odin finds it faintly laughable, how that brief freedom from Baldr’s control was used to send Loki into an exile of his own. It was a poor last gift; but Baldr’s hold is now too absolute for Odin to do more than think of the past or wonder what the future holds for them all, so that is all Odin does. At the very least there is this: the grim satisfaction in knowing that what he suffers now is worse isolation than Loki will ever know on Midgard.




20. Stasis/Monotony

For a moment Loki feels there is more than just Utgard Loki’s spell that keeps him from moving. Utgard Loki steps forward to face him. The moonlight falls just right, silver on silver hair – Loki does not move, is not sure he would if he were able to. He can still feel the coldness of the moon in his palms.

Utgard Loki’s days are measured by the moon, his hours by routine. Tonight is a break from the norm; even as he turns away from the night sky to lead Loki into the castle, he is not sure if he regrets it.




5. Vision

His falcon takes off from his wrist, feathers falling like remembrance, and Heimdall, for all his foresight and the visions that still haunt his dreams, does not expect the warmth that fills the emptiness beneath his scar. He opens his eyes -- both of them -- and does not believe, does not want to; does not believe, either, the new presence in his mind, though as he speaks his voice trembles with the effort of keeping it his own:

“Who are you?”

-- and the only answer to his question is a distant laugh, but Heimdall recognises it and realises and finally sees --




14. Split Personality/Sides Of The Same Coin

Baldr smiles. His triumph is not out of place in Heimdall’s eyes; the edge his hatred lends to Heimdall’s voice is also familiar. Loki thinks of the nature of light, the capacity for darkness. The parallel is a forced one, but it makes it easier to rationalise.

Not that there is space for rationalisation, now -- Loki moves by instinct as much as strategy, and when he has Baldr pinned against the rock all he can think about is Heimdall’s blood on his fingers, Odin’s blood in his own veins, what Baldr could have become if Loki had never taken his place.