I came up with this fic while listening to Ghost of you-5SOS on repeat. I hope you enjoy it.
This is actually part of an Original work that I'm writing but I thought that it matched Loki pretty well. If you see the wrong name then that might be why lol.

This is predominantly a Loki/OC fic. I know some people don't like that so this is your warning.

Night was rapidly falling outside the palace. The stars-that shone whether or not it was night or day-became brighter. More visible against the backdrop of deep space that surrounded them. A plethora of colour swathed the sky. Like an artists canvas awash with swirling clouds of paint. Clashing colours blended together seamlessly. Inspiring awe in whoever looked upon it. The truly astonishing sight could only belong to the great realm of Asgard. Home to the Aesir.

However, there were no windows from which to view such a spectacle in the place Loki now resided. The only way he even knew that night had fallen was by the changing of the sconces along the walls. In the day the flames flared bright and white. The light meaning to be reminiscent of the sunlight that lay beyond its reach. As the day wore on the flames would dim. Until finally transitioning to a light blue. The colour was considered less harsh on the eyes and would not blind you when you left your rooms in the night.

Loki thought it was pointless. They were Gods after all; a little bright light should not really be that much of a hinderance. Yet the residents of the palace still insisted upon them. They were all pathetic if you asked him. Not that anyone ever did. These days most people avoided him completely. Skirting around him for fear that he would turn his ire towards them. He may not be able to physically hurt them but he could still find ways to ruin their day if they tested his patience.

The torches along the walls were growing bluer by the second. Signalling to Loki that it was time for action. He drifted down the golden corridor. The floors were carved with great swirling designs. Spirals that interweaved with one another. Some depicted sprawling leaves and flowers. While others were impressive beasts. A standard fixture across most of the palace.

On the walls hung an assortment of paintings and tapestries. Most showcasing heroic deeds performed by one Asgardian or another throughout the years. Defeating towering beasts or fight off army hoards. Loki wrinkled his nose at them and sneered. What a terrible excuse for decoration. On more than one he could see that the enemy had distinctively blue skin. It was like the palace itself was trying to show him how much he didn't belong there. Not amongst the 'great' heroes of Asgard.

Ignoring the flare of anger in his stomach, Loki continued on. The Einherjar paid him no mind as he slipped passed them. Mainly because at that moment he was invisible to them. He may not be in possession of his full power but he still had a trick or two up his sleeve. The spell itself rendered him less invisible and more unnoticeable. When the guards would peer in his direction their gaze would simply slide over him. As if he was not in front of them. However, if he drew too much attention-either by making too much noise or bumping into them- then the illusion would break and they would be able to see him again.

His house arrest did actually extend to this corridor. If the guards were to see him here they would not be too concerned. They would still watch him warily but they would not go much further than that. However he preferred not to have an audience for what he was about to attempt. If they saw him do what he intended to they would not hesitate to capture him and drag him before the King. It wasn't exactly within the realms of his sentence after all.

Loki reached the junction of the long corridor. Which forked into left and right. He physically could not go any further. If anyone else were to walk this way they would do so unhindered. Not even blinking an eye or feeling anything amiss. On the other hand if he were to try he would not get very far.

An invisible barrier lay before him. To the untrained eye there was no difference between this entryway and any other. However, Loki had been taught to look deeper. To see the tendrils of magic that floated on the air. When he willed his sight to see the magic he saw the air change.

A golden sheen now covered the entryway. Shimmering faintly, like tiny motes of glitter were catching the light. It reached from wall to wall. Ceiling to floor. No gaps to be found. Within the glittering expanse lay several runes. Floating in the air.

The same runes were also firmly attached to his wrists. Cuffs, made out of a thin metal, encircled both of his wrists. Bright silver in colour. Much to Loki's chagrin. He may have been called silvertongue but it was decidedly not his colour. There was no seam to be found and they would not budge. The only person who could remove them were the ones who put them there in the first place. Runes were carved along the edges of the metal. Linking him to the barrier. It was this spell work that prevented him from going any further. Created by Odin's own hand.

Loki grimaced at the barrier before him. The darn thing had been a pain in his side ever since he had been placed under arrest. That was over a year ago. After his failed attempt to take over Midgard for the Mad Titan, he had been brought before the mighty allfather to receive his judgement. He had been certain that he would spend the rest of his days sequestered in the dungeons far below. Never to see the light of day.

The strange thing was that Loki had not minded the idea all that much. In fact he yearned for it to be the case. Then again, if you were acquainted with Thanos then you would definitely understand. He had just failed the task that Thanos had set out for him. Spending his days locked in a cell would be infinitely better than facing that Titan's wrath.

He had suffered immensely under Thanos's 'kindness'. Both physically and mentally. Thanos had often wrought torture upon him. Using his 'children' to inflict as much pain as possible. The worst culprit being Ebony Maw. He relished in the deliverance of pain. Producing vile creations with his telekinesis to mutilate Loki. Tearing flesh from his body. Breaking his bones. If it wasn't for his superior healing capabilities he would surely be dead.

Thanos told him that it was all to make him stronger. So that he could do what needed to be done. To create a better universe.

The mind stone had also come into play on occasion. Tearing into his mind. Manipulating his thoughts. It seeked to uproot his sanity and leave him at the mercy of his captors. In doing so Loki had been unable to differentiate between his own memories and fabricated ones. Thanos conjured images so twisted it could have only come from the mind of a reached a point that he could not trust his own mind. All he felt was a near constant rage. A rage that Thanos had used to his own advantage.

However, that did not mean that Loki had been entirely at the will of the Titan. He still possessed enough of his mental capabilities to plot against Thanos. All it took was to act as if he was following his plans only to inconveniently lose. If his heart had truly been in it then he would not have been stupid enough to enrage Midgard's protectors. The so-called Avengers.

His plans could have been fulfilled before anyone had noticed. Yet he purposely made a spectacle. One which demanded attention. Midgard reacted, like he knew they would, and they 'stopped' him before he could accomplish his task. That way Loki could escape from the Titan's clutches and Thanos would not know that he had betrayed him.

So yes, at the time of his capture by Thor he had been all too willing to slip into a cell. To forget the world around him. As long as he was far away from those that would seek to destroy him.

Loki had been dragged before the Allfather-chained up like some dog-completely expecting to be locked away. However, it did not play out that way at all. He had expected to be hauled out into the throne room. Put on display for the whole Kingdom to ridicule. Instead he was led into Odin's personal study rooms. The ones that the Allfather used to perform his menial Kingly duties. Only a small number of people had been present. Odin, Frigga, Thor and Tyr. Along with the Einherjar that guarded over him of course.

Tyr was Odin's right hand man and lorded over everything judicial. Ensuring that the law was followed and justice was served. He was the lawgiver of the gods afterall. A fair man who was fiercely loyal. The God of war and law had the biggest respect for authority and strictly adhered to the rules. As the god of mischief, Loki had been on his bad side more than once.

Even so, Loki had never outwardly hated the man. Quite the opposite in fact. As he was one of the few generals that took his advice about war strategies. Most of the others had sneered at the mere suggestion of espionage. Yet Tyr had considered it with seriousness. He understood, far more than others, that war is not only won on the battlefield. As such he had earned Loki's respect throughout the years he had known him. Not that Loki would ever tell him that. Especially not now.

In the study, Odin stood in the middle of the room. With everyone else flocking around him like flies. Odin had looked him in the eyes and berated him for all of his wrongdoings. Cutting into Loki with his words. On the outside Loki merely smirked and laughed it off, which only seemed to irritate the Allfather more. However, on the inside, Odin's words cut him to the bone. Like the lash of a whip.

Just when he thought that Odin was going to lock him up, he had turned to Frigga. Whose eyes implored the Allfather in an unspoken way. Odin let out a long suffering sigh and turned back towards Loki.

"I have decided to be merciful" Loki had not even tried to suppress a snort "You are not to be thrown in the dungeons. Though will be confined to a small area of the castle."

Loki was so taken aback that he barely concealed the surprise on his face.

The cuffs were then firmly sealed around his wrists and his seiðr was bound. Not all of his seiðr was bound however. That would be considered abominable. Even Odin would hesitate before doing that to someone. Magic was so intrinsic to who you were that binding it would be like removing a limb. He still had some of his power but it had been greatly diminished by the manacles he wore. What he had left was still more than what most people had, though.

Loki was now under what most Midgardians would call house arrest. He had been restricted to the royal chambers-excluding the Allfather's room, for obvious reasons. Along with the odd drawing room and balcony. It was a rather small area but a year ago it was more freedom than Loki had even dreamed of. He had relished it.

Not that he had let anyone know this. No, to everyone else he only showed scorn and hate. It's only what they would have done to him after all. Asgard's people had never accepted him before and they certainly wouldn't now. He was going to show that he despised them just as much before they ever got the chance.

He had spent the past year recovering from his ordeal with Thanos. Now that he was finally away from the Mad Titan, as well as from the influence of the mind stone, he had been able to heal his troubled mind. To sort through all his true emotions and ones that he was forced to feel. It had been an arduous process but Loki finally felt like his head was clearer than it had been since he had thrown himself from the Bifrost.

It also meant that he was no longer content to wile away his days in his chambers. What had been perfect for him when he arrived had now turned into his own torture. Quite frankly, he was bored beyond measure. He needed to get away from these blasted walls before he truly lost his mind.

That's what brought him to one of the barriers in the middle of the night. For the past few months he had been devising ways to escape his confines. At first he had attempted to break the spells on the cuffs. For if he broke those then he wouldn't have to bother with much else and could slip out of his prison with ease. Though it was easier said than done. More impossible really.

While there were runes carved along the bands they were not the only spells at work. Multiple layers of magic interlocked together within the cuffs. They were tied to his own seiðr as well as the world around him. Some of the spells even he could not detect. Odin was a master spellmaker after all. Without knowing all of the spells placed on them, cancelling one rune out could cause a chain reaction that resulted in some serious damage. He would not risk it.

Cancelling out the barrier, however, was completely different. It was only linked to the cuffs and not directly to him. If he performed something incorrectly on the barrier it was less likely to cause him serious bodily harm. Well that was the theory anyway.

Looking around he made sure that there was no one to witness his attempt. The last Einherjar had walked through around 5 minutes ago. Which left him around 15 minutes before the next set of guards would be sent to walk through. Plenty of time to achieve his goal.

With a wave of his hand the runes, that had been floating around aimlessly, rearranged themselves. They were now set in neat, rigid rows. Tied together with thick strands of gold. The order hinted at what spell had been used to conjure it. Loki quickly got to work with unpicking certain runes. Unthreading them like loose strands from a tapestry. Once he picked them, he ground them beneath his fingers. Using a small amount of magic to render them into dust. Someone would have to physically replace the runes to re-establish the barriers hold.

Once he removed what he perceived to be the last key rune, the remaining ones flew back to where they had been before. Listing gently around the air. If Loki's reasoning was correct, the barrier would no longer recognise him and he would be able to slip past it. Steeling himself, he took one step forward.

And immediately regretted it.

The reaction was instantaneous. Fiery, forceful and, above all, painful. The runes on his wrists glowed a bright gold. The same light shooting through the barrier. Making it momentarily visible to the naked eye, before fading just as quickly. A burning sensation travelled up his arms and coursed through his blood stream. Like fire had been poured in his veins.

"Fuck!" he exclaimed, stumbling backwards

As soon as he was no longer under the barrier the pain subsided. His breath still came out in strained rasps however. He bent over, with his hands resting on his knees, until he recovered.

The blasted things used his own magic against him. Like an auto-immune response, it started to attack him instead. With his magic bound it wasn't as painful but it still packed a punch. Though, it seemed that toying with the barrier had amped up the pain quite a bit. It wasn't usually so all-consuming

Well that was a week of solid research down the drain, he thought. He had been so certain he had got it right this time. It must have had a backup for if it was tampered with.

He let his magical sight slip back over his eyes and he barely suppressed a groan. All the runes he had painstakingly removed had returned. This time glowing brighter than those around it. As if they were shiny and new.

The runes had been regenerated. They didn't need someone to re-establish them. That should not have been possible. Runes cannot be self-regenerating; they need an external magic source to create them. Loki straightened back up, his jaw hard set. His gaze drifted down to the cuffs around his wrist and then to the barrier.

He swore with sudden clarity. "Oh you clever bastard" he whispered to himself.

As much as he despised Odin he had to give credit where it was due. The man had somehow tuned the cuffs to produce whatever runes were needed. When they glowed, it wasn't just his magic reacting. It must have also been recreating the runes that were missing. Like an atom releasing an electron. Reinforcing the barrier. That way, if the barrier had degraded with time, the cuffs would automatically update the runes. No need for Odin to get his hands dirty a second worst part was that it was using Loki's own magic to do so.

So in actual fact he had been completely successful in disabling it. However, as soon as his wrists had touched it it had been re-enabled. So long as his own magic was supplying the cuffs he would not be able to permeate the barrier. As far as he could tell there was no way around it.

Well fuck.

oOo

"How are you, darling?" asked Frigga around her cup of tea.

Breakfast was spread out across a small table. A selection of meats and cheeses, pastries and breads. A fare suitable for royalty.

They were sat in one of Frigga's personal rooms. It was open and airy. Covered from floor to ceiling with all of the Queen's own artwork and tapestries. Doors, to a large balcony, lay open and let a gentle breeze float through. It had been one of his favourite rooms as a child. Where his mother would show him her paintings or teach him an act of sorcery. It had been a sanctum away from the judgement of others.

Now it felt more like a memory of what he had lost. As well as being part of the terms of his imprisonment.

Frigga- for he had refused to call her mother no matter how much her hurt threatened to cut him- had told Odin that as part of his sentence he had to spend time with her. Whether it be for breakfast or some other part of the day.

It hurt Loki to see her. The woman that had raised him. Who had been one of his only confidants. One of the only people he had felt truly loved by. And it had been a lie the whole time. Was any of it real? Or had it all been the devising of a manipulative King. He struggled to reconcile that concept with the woman he knew. So having to see her everyday only made it harder for Loki to bear. He desperately wished that they could go back to how they were. But they both knew that that was no longer possible.

"I'm fine" Loki grumbled.

So far he had not eaten a single bite. In fact never did when he was forced to dine with her. Much to Frigga's displeasure. Sticking to drinking the mead in his goblet instead. If Frigga disapproved of his choice of breakfast beverage she made no indication.

"You just seem rather tense is all" said Frigga, placing her tea back down.

Loki scoffed. You could say that again. He had been so maddened by his revelation the previous night that he had stormed back to his rooms. Many a piece of furniture now lay broken across his floor. They could be fixed with a flick of his wrist but he refused to do so out of principle. Sleep had also evaded him as his annoyance grew. Leaving him exceedingly irritable right now.

"Maybe I would be less tense if I wasn't confined to a dark corner like some wayward beast" said Loki, letting his irritability be known before he could stop himself, "Or if I could choose my own reading material. I'm not a child, I don't need some tight laced scholar deciding what I can and can't read"

Losing access to the library had been one of the biggest blows. It had been his place. Throughout the years it had been one of his greatest forms of comfort. When everyone else had left him out of their games he had gone there.

Frigga didn't bat an eye at his rant. Instead she gave him a small smile. Loki narrowed his eyes, becoming suspicious of her reaction.

"You are right, Loki" she said.

"I am?" Loki raised an eyebrow.

Frigga reached over to place a hand over Loki's. He pulled away before she could touch his skin. Leaving his hand in his lap so that she could not reach it. Her hand hovered in the air for a moment before setting down on the table in front of him. A sad smile curled the edges of her lips. Loki reacted the same way every time she tried to touch him. Yet she still tried none the less.

He tried to convince himself that it was because he didn't deem her worthy of touching him. That she had lost her right to do so. It is what he had convinced everyone. But deep down he knew it wasn't true. Fear is what drove him away more than anything. Ever since he found out about his Jotun heritage, a fear had rooted itself deep into his mind. That his skin was tainted and that he could cause harm to anyone he touched. Ever since he had seen his true form he had refused to let anyone touch his skin.

"Your father had decided.."

"He is not my father" Loki cut in.

Frigga blinked at the interruption. The only indication that she was affected by his words. "Nevertheless, he has decided that due to your good behaviour you should be allowed to access more of the palace"

Loki stilled, absorbing the news. The term 'good behaviour' was laughable. If you called not actively plotting against the King good behaviour, then yes he had been good. He sat back so that he could assess Frigga's face, looking for any falsehoods. "You're serious?" his voice sounded bored, not betraying how excited he truly felt at the prospect of leaving these accursed halls.

"Yes, Loki. By tomorrow you shall be allowed access to most of the top levels of the palace. Along with the training grounds and the great hall. The gardens and anything outside of the palace walls are still restricted however"

Loki felt like he was walking on air. He could not believe it. Could it possibly be a trick? To fool him into doing something idiotic. As a way to teach him some lesson.

No. That wasn't Frigga's style. She preferred that people were completely aware of the lesson they were supposed to be learning. Otherwise she feared that they would take away the wrong message. Which Loki often tried to do, if only to wind someone up.

If that was the case then the offer actually seemed genuine. Things seemed to finally be looking up for him. As if not 12 hours ago he had been attempting to break out. If something had gone wrong then it would have compromised this new tentative freedom. Thankfully, Odin must not have known about his attempted escape or he certainly wouldn't be receiving this offer. The absurdity made Loki want to laugh.

"You say this was Odin's decision?" Loki asked skeptically. If Odin had had his way he would probably be in the dungeons right now. Not sipping mead in the palace.

"Yes, I've found that he can make a lot of good decisions when pointed in the right direction" said Frigga, taking another sip of her tea.