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Chapter Text

- If I was possessed then I'd ask for your curse You said I'm free to be free, but being free just makes it worse -

When she closed her eyes she didn't know what awaited her in her dreams.

Like dreams always are, you can't remember where it started or how you got there. The first thing she remembered was a strange, white light surrounding her, sort of foreign but at the same time familiar too.

She sat up, trying to make sense of it, to get a better view. The light was all around her, circling her. With eyes wide open she watched it kind of dancing around her.

It came in rays.

She couldn't trace them back but it was like they were guiding her in a specific direction. She watched them with wonder and curiosity and at the same time her heart seemed to start beating faster.

And so she stood and took the first step.

Sylvie sat down on the van with her McDonald's meal.

It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, only a few small clouds in the sky.

"You know, sometimes I catch myself looking up there, wondering if you look close enough..maybe you can see a green light."

Sylvie gave him his coffee and apple pie, a hint of disgust on her face.

"I don't know why you love this coffee so much, it's really crappy."

Mobius took the beverage and the pie, a satisfied smile on his face. His eyes still looking at the blue, almost cloudless sky.

"It's delicious," he simply stated, biting down on his pie. "The man who had the idea of this hot, sweet, delicious thing should get an award." He obviously meant the pie. No pie, no Mobius. He moaned a little in gratitude. "I would give him one, that's for sure."

Sylvie rolled her eyes and took a sip of her coke.

"Don't you ever wonder?" Mobius asked with a lost- in - thought voice, catching up on the topic before the pie.

"I'm too busy for stargazing Mobius," she answered in a sharp, slightly annoyed tone which got the attention of the agent.

He looked at her from the side and when he didn't turn his head back she turned her head, too, looking at him.

"What?"

He had that typical Mobius - gaze, interested but almost analyzing. And a hint of a smirk.

He could be so annoying.

Sylvie took a deep breath and turned her head back.

"I have a restaurant to lead and I have my girls," she added almost defensive.

A few months ago, she was asked to do a training to become the branch manager of the restaurant in Oklahoma. Besides she was leading a Capoeira course for young girls.

Mobius sighed and lowered his head to take another bite of his apple pie.

For a moment there was silence. They both sat beside each other, eating and drinking. It was not a weird silence, not at all. There was a connection, a shared story, a bond.

Mobius was the first to break the silence.

"You're dating again?"

Sylvie nearly jumped at that and looked at the man beside her.

"How do you..?"

When she realized how, she groaned in frustration and anger.

"B- 15"

Mobius laughed at that.

"I'm going to kill her," Sylvie stated.

Mobius laughed even harder.

"Impossible. After she told me, I suggested her to submerge for some time."

Sylvie shook her head and took a long sip from her coke.

"So" Mobius started "What's the name of the lucky guy?"

"Matt", she started, then thought about it.

"Brad...no, Chad!" She thought for another second but yes, that was his name. But she cursed herself because Mobius was amused.

"Lucky Chad. What do you say, am I invited to the wedding..and if yes, will there be apple pie?"

Mobius couldn't keep back his wide grin. He was such a pain in the ass.

"Oh, piss off Mobius!"

He clapped her on the back, cleared his throat and took a deep breath.

"Can I ask you a question?" His voice was more serious now with a hint of curiosity.

Sylvie sighed, "As long it isn't about swooning over the sky or about my sex life."

Mobius thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"Neither. You know, I'm a curious person and I always wondered what happened on Lamentis 1?"

Sylvie looked at him and began to complain, "I thought it wasn't about.." but stopped herself to get this into another direction. No need to fuel this on. So she just shrugged like it was no big deal.

"He teleported us there, we almost got killed, tried to get the tempad going, smuggled us on a train that should rescue us from getting killed, he got drunk..no..very full!.." she raised her finger and tried to imitate his voice "..beyond all repair, sang an Asgardian lovesong.." she paused at the memory, almost lost track on what she wanted to say.

She cleared her throat when she realized and continued.

"Nearly got us killed...again, tried to get off this fuckin planet on foot, realized that wasn't going to happen, sat down and accepted the fact of sudden, painful death getting crashed by a giant planet."

Mobius looked at her with curiosity and amusement.

"He sang an Asgardian lovesong?"

The enchantress raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

"Seriously Mobius, that's what caught your attention?"

He chuckled: "Of course! Didn't take him for a Johnny Cash."

Then he thought for a moment about the man he was talking about and his tendency for drama and attention seeking.

"I revise my statement. It fits."

He grinned, "And you just sat down and what? Smoked a cigarette, drank a margherita and waited for the big crush and the white light at the end of the tunnel?"

Sylvie looked at him with a snappy grimace, eyes pressed slightly together, "Yeah, pretty much sums it up."

Mobius nodded and seemed to be okay with her statement. But she was wrong...of course, he was Mobius.

"I talked to him after that, you know. About you two meeting each other, about the Nexus event. It was very interesting. So here's what I think: You two shared a moment of connection."

Sylvie waited for his laugh, for him grinning at her, but it didn't come. Instead he had a serious expression on his face.

"..real connection"

She looked into his eyes and all of a sudden tears started to well up in hers. She quickly looked in the other direction, held her head a little higher to clear her eyes, make it go away.

She stood up, anger flooding her.

"Break's over Mobius. It was nice to see you. Stop by at any time."

"You never thought there may be a way to get him back?"

She was already heading into the restaurant again but his words made her stop. So she stood there, her back against his, taking deep breaths for what felt like eternity.

"It was his choice, Mobius. It was his choice to sacrifice himself."

She took a few more breaths, even deeper than before but the tone of her voice began to change.

"His big sacrifice for us all, unselfish, altruistic, pure charity... yeah right." She sounded bitter now, sarcastic.

She turned to him again and Mobius saw the tears in her eyes.

"He shot us out and made the decision...ALONE. But it was his great sacrifice, right?! He saved us all. So what excactly would there be to complain about, Mobius?!"

She paused for a moment and looked him deep in the eyes.

"So, no, Mobius, I'm not sitting on my veranda, swooning over the sky with puppy eyes and a bumping heart, hoping to spot a green light ...because I don't wanna know."

Her face was like it was made of stone now, her voice hard and sharp.

She turned her back on him again.

"I don't care."

Putting her feet to the ground it lighted up, too. It was like walking through water or jelly, kind of stiff but also easy and beautiful because of the light.

Her mind was cloudy, a bit like she drank too much but not in a bad way. She felt light like a feather and so she walked, following the white light that seemed to guide her.

With every step she took she seemed to step out of the cloudy feeling, like slowly awaking, but still in a dream.

A dream in a dream.

She closed her eyes a few times and the light slowly turned into a pale yellow.

Sylvie shook her head from time to time when the cloudyness got heavy again and slowly walked the way, sourrounded by the now bright yellow rays.

And all of a sudden she realized the light wasn't white or yellow.

It was green.

Realization hit her hard and for a moment she thought her heart would stop.

She pressed her hand against her chest. It was still beating but beating like a drum.

Catching a sharp, deep breath the last bit of cloudyness disappeared and her eyes wided in shock.

She was there.

Yggdrasil.

Chapter Text

- It doesn't matter where you are

I'm gonna go that far -

The talk with Mobius stuck with her like chewing gum on a foot and she couldn't get rid of it.

"Hey, Sylvie, you wanted to tell me my shift schedule for the next week."

Kenny stood there and waved at her. She shook her head to clear her mind.

"Sorry, I..I'm going to look at it."

He had a worried expression on his face.

"Is everything alright Sylvie?"

She stood up from her desk and sipped on her coke.

"Everything's fine, Kenny, thanks. I just...didn't sleep well the last night."

She put on a smile and cursed herself at the same time.

Kenny still looked concerned but nodded: "Okay, just write a Mail or call me."

Then he took off and Sylvie let the mask drop again.

What the hell was wrong with her? She cursed this day and Mobius with his questions about green lights and past memories.

Wasn't her problem that he couldn't move on.

She was perfectly fine with her life, her work, her hobby, her friends, herself and above all without green lights, chaos and narcissistic gods.

She was happy.

Her life was just the way she wanted it to be.

She chose her life here in Oklahoma.

She chose it.

No.

He chose so that they could choose.

He chose so that she could choose.

He chose.

Sylvie watched the scene before her with wide eyes.

Yggdrasil.

The huge tree was standing, or more precisely, floating there, green and enlightened, his branches growing high up to the sky and deep down to the ground.

It was everywhere.

It was magnificent, breathtaking.

Her hands pressed to her chest, her heart beating like a hummingbird and she had to concentrate on breathing and not fainting away.

What was happening here?

Why?

Her mind was so caotic she couldn't form a solid thought. She just walked and walked, like a puppet, like sedated, like enchanted.

But she wasn't.

She was asleep and wide awake and clouded and aware all at the same time.

When she saw the center of the tree, she collapsed to the ground and her heart skipped a beat.

Loki.

She couldn't even see his whole body clearly sitting there, it was all a chaotic mess around him but at the same time it was strangely calm and peaceful.

He was intertwined in the branches, they seemed to grow through him, under him, above him, surrounding him.

They were everywhere.

All shining in a green and golden light.

She forced herself to stand up and something seemed to change.

The rays and branches began to move faster and messier, lighting up and down again, dancing at a more rapid pace now, around her, they came closer and closer..

And then he opened his eyes.

And their eyes met.

And everything around her stopped and the world faded away.

Chapter Text

- And as you left my heart was beating like a drum

Whatever you did to me can't be undone -

It was dark when Sylvie left the office. The whole day she couldn't really concentrate and everything took twice as long.

She was exhausted and just wanted to fall into bed, closing her eyes.

"Hey there"

Mobius sat on her truck, waving at her. She sighed.

"Come to poke a little more, Mobius? Or do you just want to chat a bit more about green lights and your psychological theories? Come on..I'm too tired to argue. Easy game for you."

Mobius pulled out a bottle of sparkling wine and two glasses.

"Came to drink."

Sylvie sat down beside him and he tossed her a glass, half full. She looked at it sceptical.

"I'm Asgardian Mobius, that ringing a bell?"

He laughed and filled the whole glass.

"Almost forgot."

Sylvie took a big gulp and breathed out in release.

"Great idea. Don't try to keep up with me, it won't work."

She emptied her glass and filled it up again.

Mobius grinned, "I have a good story. One time Ravonna brought rum to the office. It was one of her pruning anniversarys.."

Sylvie looked at him in disgust, but he just shook his head.

"No, hang one. That's a good one, I promise. So the day was business as usual and the evening came. Everyone was there, Dox and X- 5, B- 15, myself..so, basically everyone. First we had a meal, no expense or effort was spared. Already some bottles of wine where emptied but then she pulled out the rum."

He paused for a second, grinned at the memory.

"So Ravonna Renslayer started to fill the glasses and on and on it went. She really wanted that celebration. So at some point she started to dance around with her pruning stick, sang to it like it was a microphone. She climbed on a table and shouted: "The TVA, you guys..yeah, I mean youuu..you're my heroes! And Mobius..Mobius, you're the best..est collegue and I love your mustache..and LONG LIVE THE SACRED TIMELINE!"

Mobius laughed so hard now he almost couldn't finish his story. Even Sylvie laughed. Not as hard as Mobius, though.

"And with that she jumped from the table, the pruning stick in her hand - which she had accidentally turned on during her performance - and if X- 5 hadn't catched her she would have pruned herself in the process."

Mobius had to hold his stomach, his whole body was shaking with laugh.

"Than she tried to kiss X- 5 and throwed up into the trash can beside her desk."

They both laughed now, together.

Mobius raised his glass: "To Ravonna Renslayer, whereever you are, I'll never forget the look on your face the next day. Thinking of it now is like therapy."

Sylvie raised her glass, too.

"Where did you sent her, by the way? I hope to some ugly place where toilet paper and apple pies weren't even a thing. Perhaps to the vikings? That would make the hell of a story."

Sylvie slowly stopped laughing.

"To the void where she could keep Alioth company."

She smirked at that. They both went silent for a moment, everyone with their own thoughts.

This time it was Sylvie who broke the silence.

"I kissed him.."

Mobius looked at her, kind of irritated of her sudden confession.

"Who? Chad? Lucky guy, I suppose you would..."

But Sylvie interrupted him, before he could finish his sentence.

"Loki"

Mobius choked on his wine and coughed. Sylvie rolled her eyes and slapped his back.

When he calmed down again, the blonde woman looked to her feet, drawing small circles on the ground.

"We never talked about it."

Mobius nodded, "Was this at the end of time before you kicked him through the time door?"

Sylvie slowly nodded and Mobius smirked.

"I knew something had happened. He was so cryptic about that when he returned, told something about a draw..but it made no sense. If it was a draw, how.."

"Mobius"

He stopped babbling and looked at her intensely.

"How come you never spoke about it?"

Sylvie rolled her eyes with frustration.

"Everything was so crazy from the moment you came here again. Timely, Renslayer, the TVA, the temporal loom, the collapsing timelines.."

"You didn't want us there, did you?"

Sylvie looked at him like he stated something so obvious it was an insult.

"No, Mobius, I didn't want you here. I started building a new life. After running from the TVA all my life, camping under crashing stars and apocalypses, meeting you guys, meeting Loki.."

She paused for a moment, suddenly deep in thought.

"After meeting the charming fucker who built the TVA while eating an apple and grinning to my face and after I killed him and freeing the timelines...it was my fuckin turn to have some sort of normal life!"

Mobius laid a hand on her shoulder. There was silence for a moment.

"I'm sorry."

He was honest about it, his voice understanding.

"You know, there are moments I wish you hadn't shown up here in Oklahoma. Moments, I wished I stood there, serving a customer, chatting with my collegue about his cat doing stupid stuff and then let it all go. Let it all die in peace, let me die in peace.."

She sighed deep.

"..even if it meant being spaghettified."

The thought made her laugh, but it was a bitter one.

Mobius gently stroked her shoulder, massaged it a bit. Her muscles were so tense.

"I didn't want you here but once you were, it couldn't be undone. I wanted to stay here, wanted to ignore it all, let it all go to hell...but I couldn't."

She took some deep breaths.

"Couldn't kill timely, couldn't refuse your seek for help, couldn't stay away...and in all that chaos, there was no time or place to..."

She paused, in search for the right words.

"..discuss romantic issues."

Mobius didn't answer, because he sensed she wasn't done.

"We worked together, we fought together..I mean, I fought for the fuckin TVA! And suddenly he shot us out and decided to go all Jesus and fulfill his.."

There was a pause again. Sylvie looked at the sky, whether seeking something or fighting down tears, Mobius couldn't tell. Maybe a bit of both.

"..glorious purpose."

Sylvie woke again on the ground, surrounded by the green lights. They were calm again, dancing around her and she slowly stood.

She looked around. It was the same place, she was there, at the end of time or something like that, the mighty Ygdrassil in front of her.

She looked to the center again.

His eyes were open.

They weren't excactly the way she remembered them..or maybe they were..behind the white, clouded eyes looking at her now.

It was like he was dreaming and awake at the same time.

She slowly walked further..she couldn't get too close..he was entwined thick and tight with branches and the nearer she came, the thicker the branches grew.

He was a bit higher than her, lifted off the ground and into the branches and the tree like they embraced him.

After a while and after the first shock, Sylvie found her voice.

"Don't get the idea I'll kneel for you, your majesty."

Her tone was sharp but she couldn't completely hide the anger and pain in her voice..and her nervousness.

Nothing.

Just the white, dreamy eyes, looking at her..or so she thought. She couldn't tell for sure, but it felt like he looked at her.

Sylvie couldn't just stand there, she was overwhelmed. Shock mixed with pain, grief, nervousness and..excitement.

"You build yourself quite a home."

She walked around, eyes wandering and wondering..it was all so surreal.

"A bit too much green for me..yeah, it's our colour..but, too much is too much, Loki."

She strolled around, always keeping an eye on him.

Was he even in there?

Was he dead?

Why was she here?

"I could recommend some interior architect. He'll turn this place inside out in no time. You'd be surprised."

Silence.

Only the branches made quite noises, wreching a little, sparkling with sound.

It was hard to describe. She had never seen a place like this. Or even dreamed of it.

But this was a dream, wasn't it?

"Are you in there, your majesty?"

She playfully held her hands to her mouth like a funnel.

"Earth calling Laufeyson, do you hear me?"

Nothing.

Sylvie started to get frustrated and tried to get nearer, get to him. She stumbled over a branch that reacted by turning dark. She inhaled deeply and feared for a moment she broke it, but it just needed a moment to adjust and enlightened again.

She let out a sigh of relief but didn't try to go further again.

"Loki, why am I here? I don't even know if you're in there.. Are you dead?"

She wanted him to react in some way so desperately..to get some sign, anything..but it didn't happen so the enchantress turned her back on the tree and pinched her arm, trying to wake up, shouted into the sky, "I want to wake up, please. I don't like this dream. It get's odd."

She started to walk away.

"Sylvie"

Her heart skipped a beat and she froze in place. For a long moment she thought it was a mirage, her mind playing tricks on her.

She was afraid to turn around, but she did and then she saw it.

The branches started dividing, moving aside, making room for something. It took a while because there were thousands and thousands of them but now she saw him, sitting on his throne.

And the branches were slowly carrying him down.

Sylvie hold her hand in front of her mouth in shock..it was a surreal scene from another world.

And she had seen a lot of worlds.

This was outstanding.

Creepy but also beautiful, chaos but also peaceful.

And for the first time since he had locked them out at the temporal loom, she saw his eyes.

She saw his eyes and her tears came.

There was no feeling to describe it.

"Sylvie"

Chapter Text

- No I cannot forget you

No matter how I try -

She emptied her third glass now and slowly all things started to feel lighter.

"It is a process and it slowly get's better."

They were talking about Mobius now, about the search for his purpose in life.

He tried several things, being a Hippie (wich was so amusing to watch), going on a trip around the world (of course there were Jet Skis involved..honestly there was a lot of Jet Ski action), living a life in isolation on top of a high mountain in Switzerland..and now since some time back at the TVA.

"That's what I'm good at," he had told Sylvie a few months ago when she had shaken her head in disapproval.

"And to be honest..I miss it."

It was not Sylvies decision to make, and he was happy there at the moment and therefore it was okay. Even if it was the fuckin TVA.

"But something's always missing," he said, deep in thought, sipping at his glass.

Sylvie nodded.

"I know what you mean."

They listened to the chrickets chirping, two friends, washed up to life after all that happened, stranded, in search for..a life that fit.

"If there would be a chance..any possibility.. to bring him back..would you do it?"

Mobius looked at her and both friends shared eye contact, looking deep into the others eyes and soul.

"There isn't.."

"How do you know? How do you know that after everything we've seen, after all the things we've done..there's no possibility to bring him back?"

Sylvie sighed and looked up to the sky. This time it was safe to say she was searching for something there.

"I don't know, if he would want to."

Now Mobius sighed and looked above.

"Most of the time, I think we got the better deal out of it. We can try, start a new life, being with our friends.."

Again the laid a hand on Sylvies shoulder and she returned the favour, placing her own above his.

"But then there are moments I think he has something we can't have.."

He paused, looking up again.

"He sees everything and everyone and he sees us..but we can't see him."

Sylvie shuddered: "Kind of a creepy thought..him..seeing us all the time."

Mobius instantly knew what she meant and laughed.

"I think he can turn off the..umm..things he don't want or isn't supposed to see."

Sylvie took a deep breath.

"Do you know what hurts the most?" she asked.

The analyst looked at her with curiosity.

"I'm pretty sure he thought the kiss was a distraction, so that I could kick him through the time door."

"And it wasn't?"

Sylvie shook her head.

"No. During the kiss I had the idea but it wasn't the reason I did it in the first place. I did it because I felt it. I wanted it. I felt him, me, us. It felt right."

Mobius let out a little chuckle. "You know, I mocked Loki after we took you from Lamentis 1. He told me you were irritating and kind of a pain in the ass..but his eyes betrayed him. He fell for you the moment he met you and for some time I thought it was pure narcissism, the ultimate Loki - thing..to fall for himself."

He paused, thinking about the memory, smiling.

"But at some point I changed my mind. He always saw you as an individual and you two are so different in so many ways.."

He smiled at Sylvie, their hands on her shoulder.

"Yeah, you two have a lot in common, the stubborness, the magic, the soft spot for green, the thing with the mischief..but you're irritating and annoying in so very different ways."

They both laughed at that.

"And I think you deserve the talk you never had."

"Yeah, I do," the enchantress said addressed to the sky above them.

"Sylvie"

He sat there in his throne, covered in green and gold, the branches still there, still holding him there. She could go a little further now but not much, they were still draping him, almost felt like they were protecting him.

"Hi"

It was all she could say. She was breathless, speechless.

They just looked into each others eyes. His were a little clouded still, but nothing in comparison to before. Now she could see his pupils and the bluegreen color of his eyes.

"Hi"

It was like back in Oklahoma, when the three of them, X-5, Mobius and Loki stepped into her restaurant and he came to the counter.

She couldn't stop the smile. She just had to.

He looked different.

He was lean, even a bit more than before, his skin pale, his face was partly covered in some sort of..she wouldn't say bark..but something like that, natural, matching with the pattern of his..horns.

The horns.

"You know I wouldn't want to talk about potency and toxic masculinity..but those horns..I mean, seriously Loki? You're a drama queen and an attention whore, you know that, right?"

It took him some effort..obviously because of the lack of use..but he gave her a tilted smile.

It lightend up her heart.

That smirk.

Now she realized to the full how she missed this.

His voice was rough and quiet as he spoke..like his smile..lack of use.

"I don't have much company, if you noticed. What attention is there to seek?"

But it was his voice.

It was him.

Some godly, pale, enlightened, branches - wrapped him..but it was him.

"Yeah, right. But you got your throne, in the end. Don't say this is completely ego - free - Loki. Because if you say so..I won't buy it."

She mocked him, smirked herself.

"That was not the throne I had in mind when I.."

His voice broke, he kind of coughed but couldn't move a lot.

It was strange.

But it was him.

"Can I..come a little closer..?", Sylvie was afraid to ask and even more afraid of the answer.

His voice was even quiter than before when he answered.

"I'm sorry."

He looked at the branches, couldn't say more, his voice barely a whisper.

"Because the branches of time won't allow you to come near me...that get's the award for the most creative brush off in history, Loki."

"..t's like you sa..id...drama qu...een"

Sylvie laughed and shook her head. She looked around herself and once again pinched herself.

"Is this a dream?"

"..t..is..and it..s not"

That didn't make sense but he couldn't speak any more. It already caused him a lot of pain. She saw it.

So let's try this another way.

"Can you blink once for yes and twice for no?"

He blinked.

Okay, that would do for the moment.

"Am I asleep?"

One blink.

"Are you just an imagination? A creation from my mind?"

One blink. She already fell to pieces inside.

Another blink.

She breathed out in release. So she was asleep but he wasn't just a mirage, a trick of her mind.

"That means..we're here together while I'm asleep? We're really here? You are here with me?"

Her heart was beating so fast right now..she was scared he would blink twice.

But he didn't. Just once.

"And what does that mean? Why is it happening?"

He made a grimace. She instantly felt sorry, because it was not a yes / no question.

"..we..kind..of. sea..ch for each..other"

He cleared his throat, shut his eyes for a moment, trying to concentrate. When he spoke again, it was very quietly.

"I can't quite explain it, either."

So whispering was possible.

"Does that mean I can visit you in my dreams now at the end of time? Or is it even possible...to find you for real?"

She heard him sigh. She was afraid of the answer, again.

"I don't know if you can find me for real. I don't even know where I am..I mean, I know it, from another perspective. But not measured at..normal standards."

"Can you try to explain it to me?"

"It's difficult to understand. I'm not bound to any universe or timeline. I'm above them all."

Sylvie had to laugh at that.

"Yeah, above them all. Like you always wanted. On top of the universe...or multiverse now. You came quite far, Loki Laufeyson. A god who always wanted to be knelt to. Now it doesn't even make a difference if they kneel or stand or jump or fly..you're above us all."

His grin became a little wider. Some of the bark - thing on his face crumbled.

"But I don't know if you got the memo. I won't kneel, your majesty. Not even after you pulled that Jesus move off..not even with this..giant horns on your head."

"You like them, I presume."

Sylvie shook her head, eyes glimmering with mischief.

"Don't let it get to your head too much, Mister. Mobius just told me how proud he was of your journey and the decrease of narcissistic behaviour."

He tried to laugh but it just hurt him. He smiled gently because of her mentioning Mobius.

"How's Mobius?"

"I thought you could see anything from on top of us all?" Sylvie pointed out.

"I can and I can't. It's.."

"..difficult to describe," she finished his sentence and Loki tried to nod. It looked awkward and painful.

It was when her mind got cloudy again, little by little. Sylvie looked at her hands. They seemed to fade out and she panicked.

"What's happening, Loki?!"

His voice sounded distant when he answered. It was like she had cotton in her ears.

"I guess you're waking up."

The enchantress shook her head forcefully, trying to concentrate on her body and mind at the same time. Why was that happening?

She didn't want to wake up.

"I don't want to! Please, I don't want to wake up!"

She couldn't hear his answer, his voice was so dull now.

"Will I see you again?!"

Sylvie was so desperate now. It was not fair she was pulled out. She wasn't ready to leave.

The last thing she saw was his strained nod. It must have caused him a lot of pain, because she saw it clearly before everything went black.

Chapter Text

She woke up with a start, sitting up in bed straight away.

Her heart was beating so fast, she thought it would jump out of her chest, her eyes wide open.

"Fuck"

Sylvie buried her head in her hands for a moment, closing her eyes, cursing everything. She was frustrated and energized and confused and sad and happy..all at the same time.

She tried to hold onto the dream, onto the picture, onto..him..

But it was already fading away before her mind.

Damn it!

She balled her hands into fists and sighed in pure frustration while kicking away the blanket.

The enchantress opened her eyes again and looked around. She was in her bedroom, laying in her queensize bed, the window in front of her half open.

She stood up, went to the window and let the cool breeze of the night in, forcing herself to breathe, closing her eyes once more.

Slowly her nerves settled down.

What on earth had happened? She had been there, at the end of time..or maybe the beginning..was this even real?

It hadn't been like the dreams she usually had..it was all so clear before her eyes..

The green lights..

Yggdrasil..

Loki..

She couldn't stop herself from smiling when she thought of him. Looking into his eyes, hearing his voice again, talking to him.

If this wasn't real it was a very convincing mirage..

A cruel mirage.

But it couldn't be real..

It was just a dream.

Tears started to well up in her eyes.

From the distance she heard a noise and realized it was a message on her phone. She took another deep breath and went to pick it up from her nightstand.

Every distraction was welcome.

It was a message from Chad.

"Hi, I just watched a movie you would like. A lot of action and drama and great fighting scenes..oh sorry, spoilerfree version. How 'bout you and me, 8 p.m. Sheridan Ave..drinks and snacks are on me."

She smiled, thought about it for a moment and texted him back.

"Great idea, hadn't watched a good one in months. When it's shitty, the whole thing's on you."

He was online now and read the message, so she waited a moment for his reply. When he didn't immediately text back, she raised an eyebrow and read her message again.

It was a bit snarky..yes..that's just how she was.

After a pause he wrote back, "Okay, I'll pick you up at 7:30 p.m. Looking forward to see you."

She nodded to herself and put the phone away.

With the distraction gone, her thoughts immediately returned to the dream..and the lights..and the tree..and him..

The enchantress shook her head forcefully.

It didn't matter..

None of this mattered..

It was just a dream, no more, no less..

Time to wake up.

Time to go to work.

Time to forget about the past and move on with the present.

Time to forget..

"Wanna eat all the Popcorn alone?"

Sylvie jumped at Chads voice. She hadn't even noticed she had drifted off. She smiled at him and handed him the snack.

"Did I pick the wrong movie?"

She shook her head and looked at him.

"No, just remembered I forgot to do something at work. I'm here now, promise."

She touched his hand on the armrest. It felt kinda good, yet somehow strange at the same time. He smiled at her touch.

"Nevermind, that was worth it."

He caressed her hand for a moment, before Sylvie pulled hers away to grab some Popcorn.

"I usually don't share mine at all, you know," she smirked.

"So, I can feel honored?"

"You betcha."

Sylvie looked at the screen and had to admit to herself, that she remembered nothing from the past half an hour. The enchantress nudged the man beside her, who seemed very involved in the movie, although it was the second time he watched it.

"Umm..Chad..could you give me a short update on the last..um..half an hour?"

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow and Sylvie just grinned at him apologetic.

He leaned over and whispered to her, "She's a streetfighter, he's a detective and they somehow get involved in a mysterious conspiracy that threaten the world and now they're forced to work together."

He made a pause.

"And I don't want to spoil everything.. but they kinda like each other."

Sylvie choked on her coke.

The enchantress coughed loud and hard, which attracted attention from the other people near them and made her sink deep into her seat.

"So what do you think about the movie?"

They were in her favourite bar, sitting opposite each other and Sylvie took a sip from her Whisky.

"Not the best I've ever seen but I liked Sophia. I think it was smart that she was the one who discovered the source of the conspiracy. She was a good fighter, too. Just the right combination of smooth and sharp moves."

"You think so? I don't quite understand why she didn't give him a shot? He was clearly into her."

Sylvie looked at him with doubt.

"I don't think so."

He smiled at her, "Of course he was. Didn't you see how he looked at her?"

Sylvie started to feel uncomfortable.

Why was he talking about that now?

When she answered her voice was sharper than intended.

"Why should she? She was there for the mission and didn't plan to fall in love."

Chad chuckled at that and touched her hand slightly, looking deep into her eyes.

"You never plan to fall in love, Sylvie. That's the magic of it."

The enchantress sighed and pulled away her hand to take a deep sip of her whisky and because the touch suddenly felt wrong.

"There's so much more that happened in this movie. Why are we talking about that now?"

She sounded annoyed, almost angry. Chad looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Why do I get the impression that I hit a nerve?"

Sylvie wanted to leave it at that but the man watched her closely like he wouldn't want to drop the subject.

"Listen, here's what I have to say about that: Love is just a distraction. It confuses you and you lose your path. And when you're not careful it makes you bleed."

"..until it makes you bleed"

When Sylvie recognized what she just said she drew a sharp breath and closed her eyes to calm herself down. She realized how loud she had been because everyone around them looked at her now.

Chad tried to touch her hand again but she pulled it away.

"I'm sorry Sylvie. Obviously there is an old wound and I didn't want to rub salt into it."

The blonde woman shook her head, put money on the table and stood. She felt embarrassed and upset.

She had to get out of the situation.

Now.

"I have to go, early shift tomorrow. Keep the change."

When she was out of the door, the enchantress closed her eyes, leaned at the wall and tried to calm herself down.

"...until it makes you bleed"

Chapter Text

He let the branch slide through his hand as he watched it absentminded. A few fragments coming through, words, voices, pictures..

How long had it been?

The question haunted him recurrently these days.

Since that one day..

The day she came here..

How much time did pass by since he went out there, destroying the loom?

Time had always been linear to him and for everybody else it still was this way. Yesterday was past, tomorrow hasn't been written yet, the present was the only thing concrete, tangible.

For Loki, it wasn't anymore. For him, time was just another variable now.

But how much time did pass by for them? He almost got lost on his thoughts, when he heard something.

At first, it was just a rustle..

..a whisper..

Like leaves that are blown over the ground by the wind.

Loki thought it was the branches. They crackled a little, particularly when there was a lot of going on on the timeline. He had to make sure that everything was okay. So he looked at the branch he held in hand, his eyes rolling inwards, getting cloudy.

He looked inside the branch. But everything was okay, nothing suspicious, no Kang variant, no disruption.

Just a girl, leaning against a wall outside the bar she liked so much.

Outside the bar she went with him, when he had tried to convince her about going back with him to fix the loom. When he had told her that he didn't want to be alone. That he wanted to be with his friends.

But he also wanted to save this.

All if it.

All of them.

And you..

And then he felt something.

A touch on his shoulder.

"Loki"

He shivered, letting the picture in front of him fade away..coming back to his physical form.

The gently placed hand on his shoulder. He remember the touch, the feeling, the warmth.

How could he forget..

He didn't dare to dream to ever feel it again.

Tears started to well up in his eyes.

"Mother"

Then he saw her smile, her soft, blue eyes, her long blond hair, braided, falling over her shoulders.

A tear was running down his cheek and before it could fall she catched it, her hand caressing his face gently.

"Loki, my son"

He leaned into her hand, his heart melting, everything inside and outside of him trembling. The touch was so overwhelming.

"How..how can you..?"

Frigga shook her head slowly, her smile could have melted ice.

It certainly melted this ice runt..

How could she be here? How could she come this close to him? Touch him..

It felt so good and also teared something open. Something that had been closed. Had to be closed, given the circumstances.

"I am a mother, Loki. I have my ways."

Another tear ran down his cheek, it was a strange feeling, long forgotten..

..but relieving..

The timelines moved, making room for her next to him. He watched it with fascination. It was something special, they had never done this before. The branches even formed kind of an abstract chair for her, so that she sat on the same height.

Like in those days, back on Asgard, when they had dinner together. Or when she sat with him, teaching him magic, practicing a new trick.

He looked at her, still couldn't believe she was real. Still waiting for her to disappear any moment. She turned her head and placed her hand on his again, caressing it.

"A thousand years, Loki, and I never seen you like that.."

His mother pointed at the timeline on which he was still holding onto, near his heart. Loki had forgotten about it and realized he was almost clinging to it now.

She looked at him with the knowing look of a mother.

"You love her"

It wasn't even a question.

No need for a question.

And no need for an answer from him.

So they sat there in silence for a moment, mother and son, touching each others hands and hearts. Lokis voice was rough and he stumbled, as he broke the silence.

"I thought..I would never..see you..again.."

He still couldn't grasp what was happening here but now everything came back to him in an instant.

The last time he had seen his mother, before he had fallen from the Bifrost. After his fight with Thor..

Before New York..

And everything Mobius had shown him when he first came to the TVA, how it all was supposed to happen. The trial before Odin on Asgard, his cell, the books she had sent him..

"Frigga is the only reason you're still alive and you'll never see her again."

How she came to him, not in her physical form, because she wasn't allowed to. But nevertheless came to visit him, to see him, to talk to him.

And all he cared about was his hate for Thor and Odin, his failed attempt to rule earth, that Odin has locked him in this cell. Unspokenly using his mother as a messenger for his brother and father..to sprinkle salt in old family wounds.

To distract from his own bleeding wounds and his hurt..

His hurt ego..

"Does Odin share your concern? Does Thor..?"

All the pain and the grief came back to him. All the things he said to her.

And the worst..

"Than am I not your mother"

"You're not"

He looked deep into Friggas eyes and placed his own hand above hers. It felt so wholesome but everything inside told him that he didn't deserve it. Her touch, her gentle smile, her love..

"Mother, I am so sorry.."

But she just shook her head and took his face into her hands, looking straightaway into his soul.

"Hush, my son. I don't have much time. I wanted to tell you how proud I am of you.."

With those words Frigga stood and took both of his hands in hers once more.

"..how proud we both are"

Lokis eyes widened and tears shot into them..

Proud..

His mother was proud of him..

Odin..his father was proud of him..

"And I wanted to tell you something else.."

She made a pause and came nearer, holding his hands tightly.

"Don't put your roots down here forever, Loki. I fear for you to waste away because of a self-imposed solitude."

Loki looked at his mother, deeply moved and torn apart.

"I can't leave here. It is my.."

Frigga smiled at her son one last time.

"..glorious purpose, I know, my son. And you grew beyond yourself and beyond all our expectations. But as your mother, it is my duty to remind you that you don't deserve to be sitting here alone forever, Loki."

"You really think you deserve to be alone?"

Her physical form slowly faded away before his eyes, but her last words were full of emotion..

..and love.

"Your brother was right, Loki. The throne suits you ill. But not because you don't deserve it or because you're not a good king..but because you deserve to be loved.

A last breeze caressed him..

Her scent..

And for one moment he saw a small black haired boy, who was giggling with excitement and joy, a firework emerging from his hand..and beside him a proud mother who took him into her arms.

And at that moment all he felt was love.

Chapter Text

Sylvie was shaking when she sat down in her truck.

She tried to calm down a bit before she started the engine. Thankfully her apartment wasn't far away. She wasn't drunk but she was agitated.

It was almost a year now.

Almost a year since she was here now, back to her life in Oklahoma and she had made herself a home.

Yeah, of course it wasn't easy. She had lived a totally different life before. She was an enchantress, her whole life on the run and now settling down in the normal life she always wanted. It was small steps, little by little, but she was happy.

She was happy..right? Why did she become upset like this in the bar? She felt embarrassment and shame..and hurt.

The enchantress stood in her parking lot, got out of her car and leaned against the door.

Everything was perfectly fine. She liked Chad (yeah, she had forgotten his name before but Mobius had made her nervous with his questions, that's all). Chad was a nice guy, he was nice and good looking and funny and above all..normal.

So why had this evening become a total disaster? Why did she suddenly just want to run, get away from him, away from this situation..

She looked up to the sky with tears in her eyes.

"Thank you for that! Thank you very much for ruining my life..again!"

Sylvie digged in her pocket and found the tempad B-15, or Verity, had given her.

She didn't write much but a few moments later the familiar yellow door opened and the black-haired woman stepped out of it. Sylvie waved at her to make the door disappear before anyone could see it and then she hugged the other woman in relief and joy.

Verity had become a close friend and it had shown that they both had a lot in common. Sometimes she took her to Lyle, listening to music together. They both loved the old stuff like The Stones, The Velvet Underground, The Cure..

"You're lucky, Sylvie. I just came back from a mission."

Verity smiled warmly, her eyes shimmering..she was one of the kindest people Sylvie knew. Maybe the kindest..more decent and kind than Sylvie could ever be. And intelligent, too. A rare combination.

"What was it this time?" Sylvie asked, rolling her eyes playfully and grinned at her friend. "Serious matter or just another poor guy you scared to death?"

Turned out Victor Timely wasn't the only crazy- professor- Kang- variant and the last one just got a heart attack when the TVA showed up in his lab with their black uniforms and yellow time doors.

"You know we have to make sure.." Verity started but stopped at Sylvies tilted head and amused look on her face.

"So, harmless, nerdy guy, stargazing?" Sylvie guessed.

"How do you..? He really was an astrologist."

"Just a guess. You know, you should suggest to alter your uniforms to be a bit more.. nondescript. 5 out of 10 times these guys are harmless scatterbrains and you traumatise them for life."

Sylvie lowered her voice and faked a serious expression.

"Variant X30025, on the behalf of the Time Variance Authority I hereby arrest you for potential, future crimes against the multiverse and all of its timelines."

She took her imaginary pruning stick and held it playfully to a cat which strayed on the street before them.

"For all time. Always."

The cat looked at them annoyed by the disturbance, hissed and toddled off.

They both laughed and Verity nudged Sylvies shoulder.

"I take your suggestion with me to the next meeting. You wanna take a walk?"

Sylvie nodded and they started to walk down the street to a field nearby.

"You know, we still have some vacancies at the TVA. Maybe you want to consider.."

Verity started half- ironically but was silenced by the angry expression on Sylvies face.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence. You know, I'm still a magician and you might not like the echo."

Sylvie looked at her with put-on rage, holding her hands up as if to cast a spell. The other woman joined in the play and held her hands up in surrender.

They laughed again and Sylvie put her arm around her friends shoulder.

"But, seriously, we could need a few good people, you know, growing together, watering the tree.."

Sylvie fumbled a cigarette out of her pocket. She hated that newly found habit but it helped her relax.

"Yeah, watering the tree.."

Verity looked at her wordlessly and Sylvie handed her a cigarette.

"So, why did you text me? I mean, I'm happy that you did it, I like being here with you..but usually it's not that spontaneous and I get the vibe that something is bothering you."

Sylvie looked at her cigarette absentminded and took a deep drag.

"I told you about Chad, yes?"

Then she remembered something, turned to Verity and pushed her a little. Not to much, because the enchantress was still much stronger.

"Yeah, right, thanks for telling Mobius, by the way."

The black-haired woman put on an innocent smile.

"I'm sorry, it just slipped out. I hope he didn't make a big deal out of it?"

The blonde woman rolled her eyes, sticking out her tongue to her friend.

"Well, it's Mobius, so guess again."

Sylvie took another drag, "Anyway, we met a few hours ago."

Verity suddenly looked at her with curiosity and joy but Sylvie waved it off.

"We went to watch a movie together and afterwards to the bar to drink something. I mean, it was a nice evening, he was nice to me, it was a good movie and nice to have him there.."

Verity grinned, "I never heard anyone using the word 'nice' in that context so many times in a single sentence."

"I doubt you have much experience in people talking about dates in the first place," the enchantress replied snarky but added "sorry" because it came out a bit mean. That was not her intention.

"It's okay, Sylvie. You're right, I don't have much experience with that context..but I have plenty experience with people," she answered softly.

"More than I do," Sylvie concluded truthfully.

"So, I try not to use the word 'nice' again. I like him, he's handsome and intelligent and he has a good sense of humor and he's.."

"..normal," Verity ended her sentence.

Sylvie let out a deep sigh.

"I like normal. I want normal. Normal people around me, talking about normal stuff."

"You like us, too. Mobius, me..and we're far away from being normal."

"Yeah, I know, but that's different. And I was excited of meeting him, remember when I told you?" Sylvie asked.

"Of course"

But something in Veritys voice made her sceptical.

"What?"

"You know, Sylvie..I think.." she stammered.

"Out with it. We're friends. We can be honest with each other. I want you to be honest."

"Okay, Sylvie, I think dust just hasn't settled yet. It's not even a year.."

Sylvie looked at her friend, listening carefully.

"..and to be completely honest with you, I think Chad is a gap filler."

Sylvie stopped at these words.

Okay, that was Verity being honest. Part of her cursed herself for wanting that honesty.

The other woman took her hand in hers.

"Look, Sylvie. I don't think you're made for this kind of normal life. I'm happy for you that you made a home and that you have people around you like. But do you really think you'll stay here forever?"

"But I just settled in here, did the education for the restaurant and the girls I train..especially the girls.."

"I don't say give it all up and go back to a life in danger and fighting. Not now. I know you need to heal first."

She really had to. She needed to heal after so many years of chaos and uncertainty and fighting for her life.

There were those nightmares about her running for her life, running away from an imaginary monster. In one of them green apples were falling from the sky and someone was whispering "see you soon" before everything fades away and she awakes, bathed in sweat.

Sylvie even went to a therapist once but it didn't work out. It's always been difficult for her to open up to someone. The last person she had opened up to was a certain man, who was no longer around..

"But what do I do about Chad? I left him alone in the bar. I just needed to go. He started to talk about how you never plan to fall in love and we were just talking about the damn movie."

Verity looked at her with a mild smile.

"What now?" the enchantress asked with confusion in her voice.

"You miss him, Sylvie."

Sylvie sighed in frustration and shook her head in denial.

"Now you, too. Can't you all just leave me alone about that."

Verity placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You wanted my honesty, Sylvie. I think before you can move on you have to come to terms with your feelings."

Move on..

Something about that sounded wrong. She wanted to..she wanted to move on so badly..and it was great that she got the chance.

"He's giving us a chance"

"I dreamt about him.." she blurted out. "Last night, I dreamt about him. I was there, at the end..or the beginning of time."

"Was it the first time you dreamt of him? I mean, it's just natural. It's your subconscious mind processing all the things you went through together."

But Sylvie shook her head, "No, it was different. It felt so..real."

Verity let out a thoughtful "hm" and looked at Sylvie.

"I could..feel the ground, the lights, the tree, Loki..it's difficult to describe but it was all..there."

The black-haired woman seemed to think about something but didn't say anything.

It felt suspicious.

The enchantress turned to face her in confusion.

"Do you know anything about that?"

Verity shook her head slowly.

"Mobius told me..maybe a week ago about a dream that felt real. He told me about green lights surrounding him, how he saw the tree, started to walk towards it..but then he woke up. He was absentminded at work and I asked him. He told me the same thing - that it didn't feel like a dream, that it felt real."

Sylvies eyes widened at her friends' words.

"Why..why didn't he tell me? We met a few days ago and he didn't say anything about it."

"I think he didn't want to upset you."

The blonde woman raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously, Verity? Mobius always wants to upset me."

Sylvie held a finger above her mouth to symbolize a mustache and imitated his typical Mobius voice, "You should stop smoking, Sylvie. It's not healthy and you're a bad example for your girls. You should sleep more, Sylvie. You look like an angry panda and the customers probably think you'll poison their coffee."

Yeah, he was kinda right about the panda thing but Netflix all night was so tempting.

"Am I invited to your wedding with Chad and will there be apple pie?" she continued playfully.

Verity let out a loud laugh, "Okay, okay, you're right. He can be annoying. But that's something different. I think that dream really confused him and he didn't want to spread the confusion..especially to you."

Sylvie smirked and shook her head.

"Now it makes sense why he was so obsessed with the green light thing and about if there's a chance to bring him back."

"He thinks a lot about that. Even before the dream. He didn't want to admit it but I know he talked to O.B. about it."

Sylvies eyes widened even more and she looked at her friend with a "does-anyone-tell-me-anything-at-all" expression and Verity shrugged her shoulders.

"He's not sure if.."

At this moment they heard a familiar sound and a yellow door appeared behind them.

A hunter stepped out of it, a serious and stressed expression on his face.

"We found another variant."

"Where?" Verity asked, ready for work in an instant.

"In New Asgard"

Sylvie looked back and forth between Verity and the hunter.

"New what?!" 

Chapter Text

The analyst shut the massive door and with that he left the issues and problems of this day behind.

It had been a hard day and he was happy to close the door and loose his tie.

Mobius M. Mobius was exhausted.

But he was happy.

It was his decision to come back and since he did there hadn't been a moment where he regretted the decision.

The apartment at the TVA was simple. It included a small bathroom, a bedroom, a kitchen..even though cooking wasn't one of his favourite things, he knew he couldn't live on pie alone - even though that would be a great thing.

The meals in the canteen where not so bad and today had been "salad day". Once a week, on thursdays, the only thing he ate was a small bowl of salad.

It was nothing special, but for him, it was.

He looked forward to every thursday and when he sat down he always took a minute to think about that one day a simple salad had been given a whole new meaning.

"Let's just say your salad is Asgard"

"No, it's not Asgard. That's my lunch"

Mobius smiled at the memory, poured himself a glass of Whisky and sat down on his lounge chair on the small balcony.

He held the drink in the air as if to clink glasses with someone.

"To you, Loki, in honor of salad day. Today it was an exquisite mix of greens with tomatoes and onions, you would have hated it..oh and it wasn't totally ruined by salt and pepper and juice..I mean, the hulk falling from the rainbow bridge and a fire in the palace."

The analyst smiled and took a sip from his glass.

It was a grateful but also sad smile. Because the man who had ruined his salad wasn't there anymore.

When he could choose between his lunch and the man who ruined it..the decision would be easy.

It wasn't like he was alone.

In fact he had a lot of people he cared about. O.B, Casey, Verity, a few people he met on the world trip..and of course Sylvie.

His favourite goddess of mischief. His one remaining pain-in-the-ass-orphan-demigod.

They all had a strong connection, even stronger than before, after everything they went through together.

But someone was always missing.

Mobius talked to him..a lot. At first he had felt ridiculous about it.

He remembered the day he started it. It was his first day back at the TVA. It was a strange feeling to be back, a weird day, familiar yet totally different.

On that first evening he sat on the balcony, reflected on the day and looked at the sky above. A strange urge had come over him, he couldn't explain it, but it was there.

So he had started talking.

"Yeah, guess what, I'm back! The old analyst with the heart of gold, back on the battlefield. Seems like they could really need me..hadn't been sure about that but my desk is already full. You can imagine the look on Sylvies face when I told her..it was priceless."

That night, Mobius talked so much, he completely lost track of time.

He told him about his adventures, the world trip, the mislead Hippie thing..talked about the new TVA guidebook O.B had written, the new tree posters, about Sylvies life in Oklahoma and her friendship with Verity, Caseys strange kleptomaniac traits after seeing the life he had before the TVA..

Mobius had never been a religious person, not in the sense of what normal people would define it.

His whole life he had believed he was created by the time keepers to protect the sacred timeline..so yeah, from that certain point of view he had been a religious person.

Only that all of this had been a lie..

"Everything you've been doing is wrong and all your gods are dead"

That was what he had said to B-15 after they had discovered everything.

After Loki and Sylvie had discovered the truth.

He smiled because of the irony, "Do you know how funny this is? The gods I believed in all my life were fake all the time and now I'm speaking into the sky to a god I hunted down my entire life for the fake gods I believed in. The god that actually saved us all. That little blue ice runt, that narcissistic wanna-be-king.."

The analyst took a deep breath and added, "You're missed. I miss you, the team misses you..she misses you."

He smiled and took another sip. The day had been long and he was tired, to tired to even stand up and go to bed. It was a warm summer evening, so he put his glass down and closed his eyes.

When he woke up on the ground he immediately remembered the first time he was here a few nights ago.

The first time it had only been a short trip. He had barely walked a few steps before he had woken up. But it haunted him since that day.

The green lights, the feeling..

He slowly stood up and hoped the dream wouldn't collapse in an instant like the first time. Mobius walked, sourrounded by the green lights and saw something that couldn't be real.

In front of his eyes he saw the picture evolving.

The world tree, the new loom..

Yggdrasil..

The eyes of the analyst widened and he almost tripped over his own feet because of the nervousness he felt and the uneven ground he walked on.

With every step, the lights became brighter and the picture in front of him became more and more clear.

His emotions were a wild mixture of disbelief, nervousness and fascination.

Never had a dream felt so real before.

They all were aware of the tree. It was omnipresent in the new TVA, on the posters, the screens, the presentations..They knew about it, had a vague perception of what it was, what it stood for, but nothing concrete, tangible.

Not until now..

And it was stunning.

Beyond everything he had ever seen.

To call it beautiful would be an understatement.

When his eyes caught the center of the tree, he couldn't believe it. There he was, the god of mischief..no..the god of stories, wrapped and entangled in branches..

Whatever this was, Mobius was grateful for it.

One of his greatest fears was that he would never see him again.

And all those branches..never had he come so close to a branch before. They were enlightened, rotating, green, alive..

He thought about how many of them he had pruned over the eons.

All those lives..

But now they were glimmering with life and a wave of joy and gratitude flooded him.

Gratitude for what this man, this god, had done.

He couldn't see much, only a glimpse of his face and the horns. His eyes were cloudy, like he wasn't really there, not conscious.

"Loki"

Mobius whispered, almost afraid to..wake him? Interrupt something? Cause a disruption..?

Perhaps even afraid that if the god opened his eyes, he would immediately wake up because of the shock.

The first time nothing happened, so he whispered again and also a third time.

Slowly the branches began to move faster and messier and the peace became a little more chaotic. Little by little the atmosphere changed as if something was waking up from a sleeping beauty slumber.

The moment Loki opened his eyes was the moment time stopped for Mobius.

Well, not exactly..but it seemed to stop.

He stood there with his mouth agape as the branches carried Loki down to the ground, still holding him in a loose embrace.

"Mobius"

The gods voice was rough and quiet but the moment he spoke Mobius smiled.

He wasn't dead..wasn't completely devoured by the loom, the tree.

He was alive.

At the TVA they had the crudest theories about him and what had happened. They barely knew anything and..of course..that's always the best breeding ground for speculation and the wildest fantasies.

Mobius tried not to listen too much to any of them, because deep down he knew Loki was alive, he couldn't describe it but he just felt it.

Seeing him now made him happy beyond all measure.

"Long time no see, god of stories," Mobius said with delight and excitement in his voice.

He tried to go further but the branches blocked his way. It was just too many of them, they were everywhere.

It was a beautiful chaos..

What better way was there to describe the demigod himself.

"Is that what they call me now?"

Loki tried to smile but it looked stressfull.

"It's the name O.B. came up with and we all went along with that. You like it?"

"Yeah, it has a nice ring to it. But I think I'll miss the mischievous part," he said with an amused tone.

Mobius smiled back at him, "Oh, don't worry. You'll always be my mischievious scamp."

The analyst laughed when a memory came to his mind.

"And besides that..you have a worthy representative on earth..the chaos queen herself, also known as Sylvie Laufeydottir."

Mobius didn't miss the expression in the gods eyes when he mentioned the enchantress.

The branches caught his attention again and he studied them for a moment, listening to the sounds they made. It was almost af if they were whispering.

He always thought that Loki could see them, watch them, but he hadn't been sure about it.

"Can you..watch us from here? Can you hear us?"

Lokis lips moved and this time it almost looked like a real smile. The strange structure which covered part of his face cracked a little.

Was he slowly becoming a part of the tree?

Was the "devour" theory not completely false after all?

"It's difficult to describe. I can hear everyone but basically it's a permanent background noise, but your voices..the voices of the people I know..I can sound you out. But not the things you say, just the voices."

Mobius was curious, excited. He wanted to know everything.

It was all so surreal. But what in life wasn't?

He thought for a moment about their conversation at the TVA of how existence is chaos. About time keepers, frost giants, where we all came from..

"So, yeah, I can hear you. Actually..I hear your voice a lot."

The friends looked at each other, smiling.

So he could hear him. That fact alone gave Mobius a warm feeling, an assurance of connection..even if they were worlds apart and even if he couldn't hear his words, but he was there, listening..

The feeling of seeing him now, talking to him, making sure he was alive and well..it was all he could have hoped for.

He was, wasn't he?

Alive and..well?

"I'm able to look into the timelines. But it..costs a lot of energy. The longer I look, the more. It's exhausting. I only do it when I feel there's something suspicious..besides, I don't think I should see..everything."

There it was again, the expression in the eyes of the god. He couldn't hide it. Not from Mobius, who had studied almost everything about the tricksters life.

For a moment Loki seemed to be deep in thought.

Mobius broke the silence.

"She's fine"

He watched the expression on Lokis face change as if he had set him thinking with his statement.

"She was here. I don't know how long it's been, but she was here."

The eyes of the analyst widened. Well, that's a thing..So why was this happening, was there a coincidence? And why didn't she say anything?

But well..he hadn't told her about his first dream, either.

Didn't want to upset her..

Mobius just wanted to ask another question but Loki paced him out.

"How much time did pass by since I went out to the loom?"

He was nervous about this question, Mobius could tell from the way he asked.

It seemed as if he desperately wanted to know but at the same time was afraid of the answer.

It made sense. He was, like the TVA, outside of time now.

And perhaps time felt even more different here.

"It's almost a year now."

The gods reactions were often like an open book for Mobius, even when he tried to hide them but this time the relief that came with his answer was completely obvious.

His tense muscles relaxed and his face softened.

"What was your guess..on how long it's been?"

The moment he asked he noticed that it was a weird question to ask someone outside of time.

Loki shook his head, "I have no feeling of time anymore at all. Could have been weeks, could have been decades.."

Mobius nodded and thought about his conversation with Sylvie a few days ago and smiled to himself.

"So, what did you guys talk about?"

He was an analyst, after all. One of the best analysts at the TVA. And one of his favourite topics was the two chaotic orphan demigods.

Loki thought about it for a moment.

"We hadn't had much time. We were both surprised that she was here. She wasn't quite sure if it was a dream or if she could find me for real.."

He paused for a moment and his lips formed that typical Loki- smirk.

"..and she called me a drama queen."

His eyes were glimmering. Mobius remembered this glance very well. He had seen it in the gods eyes almost every time he looked at Sylvie.

And then something happened..

Lokis face grimaced with a tormented expression and it was like every muscle in his body cramped at the same time. Mobius could see the veins on his neck and hands standing out.

It looked awful and reminded him of the horrifying image of him timeslipping.

Lokis whole body was on alert before everything settled back to normal.

The agent thought about the disturbing theory O.B. had about Loki and the tree he created.

In that moment all Mobius wanted was to go to him and pull him into a tight embrace..

Besides, he was lean..

Mobius knew he hadn't eaten much in that whole TVA - loom - chaos. He had to force him from time to time to eat something.

Now he was even skinnier.

And the crown on his head, the horns..even though it made a remarkable impression..it looked like it weighted him down.

Mobius was the one who took the floor.

"Are you okay, Loki? What was that?"

The god seemed to be relaxed again, but he was clearly exhausted, stressed out.

"I don't know..this is going on for some time now. I can't control or contextualise it..it just happens"

Mobius shook his head.

"You shouldn't stay here forever," he said quietly, half to himself.

Lokis eyes turned sad when he answered.

"I can't leave, Mobius. I'm bound to the tree, bound to the multiverse. I made a choice."

The agent laughed at that, "Yeah, that's the same thing she said, you really have a lot in common, you two. Some would define it as realism or acceptance..others would say it's fear or running away from something."

Loki raised his eyebrows at the challenging, almost offending words.

No problem.

When there was one thing Mobius was good at, it was challenging people out of their comfort zones.

He had challenged the god of mischief out of every arrogant, wanna-be-king, leather-covered comfort zone and it saved a lot of peoples lives..and made him one of his best friends.

If not the best..

The three of them had never spared themselves anything..one of the greatest qualities of their friendship.

Why should he start with false restraint now?

Especially when there clearly was a reason to worry about Loki.

"And what if there's a way to change that? To bring you back? Before this thing.."

He pointed to the tree and the branches.

"..devoures you"

He hadn't thought the eyes of the god of stories could get even sadder but nothing was impossible, particularly with that trickster.

"Then it'll be that way. If this is part of my purpose..if it has to be that way..so be it.."

Mobius chuckled but his tone remained serious.

"You wouldn't even try? It wouldn't be easy, for sure. And it would bear a risk and maybe there is no way, maybe it's all just a fantasy..But you wouldn't even want to try? Not even if that thing kills you in the end."

He made a pause and took a deep breath, looking deep into the gods eyes.

"I can't thank you enough for all that you've done..for all of us. But maybe there's a way to return the favor. You wanted us to be safe, to have a chance. But what about what we want for you?"

He thought about leave it at that but sometimes there were things that just needed to be said.

"What about her?"

Loki sighed long and deep. The silence was heavy between them.

"She's happy, Mobius. She wanted a normal life."

"I just want you to be okay"

"You're afraid to hurt her"

It wasn't even a question, because Mobius already knew it to be true.

"It's all I ever did. Isn't that what you said to me in the first place, Mobius? That all I ever did was hurting the people around me?"

Lokis tone was upset now and if he could take his hands away from the branches he surely would have crossed his arms in front of his chest.

It was just like their first conversation at the TVA, when Mobius had confronted him with his life and actions.

"You were born to cause pain and suffering..and death.."

Mobius looked at the god with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"Tell me when you're done pitying yourself"

There was a long pause where the two man looked at each other.

Loki didn't seem to be in the mood to answer, so Mobius decided to show his best analyzing skills.

"Look, Loki. After the two of you had the fight at the end of time..with the kissing and everything...yeah, don't look at me like that, she told me. So, after that and in that whole crazy exploding loom- dying timelines- multiversal chaos, there was no time to calm down and reflect on anything.

So here's my take and no, she didn't confirm that but I can connect the dots. She felt betrayed because you weren't as fire and blood with her after He who Remains made his speech. I assume she thought this was about you changing your mind, claiming a throne, robbing everyone of their free will, wanting to rule..taking away the freedom she fought for her entire life. You were the first person she trusted in a very long time and that trust shattered the moment you held her away from killing him."

He paused to take a deep breath and to make sure he still had Lokis attention.

"You, on the other hand, felt betrayed because she kissed you and kicked you through the time door and at the same time you hated yourself because you gave her the impression that you betrayed her trust. Which then again fueled your self fulfilling prophecy and the picture you have of yourself that you're doomed with the inglorious purpose of backstabbing and betraying everyone."

"What you confirmed to be true," Loki simply stated.

The analyst looked at his favourite god and rolled his eyes.

"Seriously, Loki? Do you want my guess why you hold onto that old story, even after everything that has happened since I said that to you?"

This time it was Loki who rolled his eyes at the analyst.

"As if I could stop you from telling me your theories.."

Mobius smirked and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm just getting warm here. So, here's my guess..and don't stab me with those horns..that's just you being scared as hell of facing your feelings, facing her. Because yeah, you're afraid to hurt her. With great power...um..great feelings..comes great responsibility."

He really liked to hear himself talk sometimes, he noticed. Or he just missed this..but he wasn't done yet.

"But here's the even crazier theory: maybe it isn't just about being afraid this could go wrong and hurt you both beyond repair, but being afraid this could go...right. And the possibility of something making you happy scares the shit out of you."

Lokis eyes were proof enough to Mobius that his words hit all the right places.

The eyes..

They always betray us, even if we're doing everything to avoid that.

Even the eyes of a trickster god. Especially the eyes of that trickster, because Mobius had studied almost the entire life of the demigod.

Even if he would never admit it, which made Mobius smile to himself even more.

Hell, Lokis were so overly sensitive.

"So, long story short: You two have to speak about it! Speak about what happened at the end of time..speak about your trust issues..and wow..there are a lot. Speak about your fears and for god's sake..speak about your feelings."

He made a last pause after his monologue and took a deep breath. The smile what followed was amused, yet warm and the smile of a very good friend.

"I would do the mediation myself, but my hourly rate is very high..and I'm not overly fond of two angry demigods torturing me after a stirring therapy session. Not so eager of you Brad Wolfeing me with your terrifying shadowplay or Sylvie shattering my mind with enchantment."

Loki had lowered his head and once again Mobius could see the weight of the crown in several respects..

The demigod shook his head slowly but he had a smile on his face.

"I really miss this," he admitted, "I hope you're able to use your outstanding skills again. A lot of people could benefit from it, like I did...but for me, in this equation..it's all fiction. I'll stay here because I have to. And it's okay."

It seemed like he tried to sound positive and accepting but when he raised his head again he couldn't hide the grief and sadness in his eyes.

Out of nowhere the scenery before Mobius eyes slowly started to turn foggy and realization hit him..

The setting..

The dream..

..and that he was about to wake up.

"We'll see, Loki..we'll see"

He catched a last view of the god of stories, whose eyes were already getting cloudy again.

One, the god, became unconscious while at the same time, the other, the man, regained consciousness again with one single thought on his mind..

I have to speak with O.B.

Chapter Text

It felt strange the be in her battle armor again.

For so many years it was like a second skin.

So many years on the run and there had been no other option. Well, there would have been..but it's really difficult to fight with all of your body and soul when you're stuck in jeans.

Sylvie liked to experiment with fashion and she really liked to go shopping, especially with Verity. Mobius was a shitty shopping buddy though.

And she was really into comfy stuff like jogging trousers and hoodies, best together with Netflix and a big bucket of Ben and Jerry's.

"You could conjure me a new outfit. You have no idea how uncomfortable something like this is"

But honestly..at this moment she didn't want to wear anything else.

The moment they stepped out of the time door and Sylvie saw the sign, she felt her heartbeat increasing.

"Welcome to New Asgard"

The name alone..oh boy, she hadn't thought about her birthplace in a long time. It was a distant and painful memory, being ripped out of it as a child, forced to leave her family, her friends, her home.

Her brother.

And then there was Ragnarok.

Asgard was completely destroyed in the process, she had read about it once. And after that she had taken the memory, the pain, the feelings and tucked it away, into a dark corner of her mind..

Together with a lot of other stuff..

It didn't occur to her, that something could have survived Ragnarok.

Well, Loki had survived it..the other version of him. But this mischievous guy seemed to survive nearly anything. For a moment she grinned to herself at that thought.

In her dreams, she saw it sometimes.

Asgard.

Little blips of her mother, not much, just warm feelings..her hugging her, eyes so warm and deep and the love she saw in them.

She saw herself playing with her wodden toys, the viking ship her father had built for her, the wolf, the dragon. And someone sneaking up to her from behind, trying to scare her so that she would fight with him. He had been so annoying sometimes. Constantly seeking her attention.

Her brother.

And after she was kidnapped all she could think about was that she would give everything in this world to see his annoying ass again..

Sylvie came back to the present, seeing Verity, who was looking at her suspiciously.

"What?" Sylvie asked.

"I think you shouldn't wear the..you know..horns."

The enchantress raised an eyebrow and touched her horned crown.

Two horns..one whole, from root to toe, one broken..broken in a very good but hard fight. For some time she wanted to replace them, to have an intact crown once again. But ultimatively decided against it. It was part of her, part of her story, of her being. Like a battle scar. And to be honest, she found it quite appealing.

She hadn't worn them for a long time..like her armor..and touching them again sent a warm feeling through her body.

It felt like being herself again.

And she hated and loved this at the same time.

She thought for a moment about it but then realization hit her.

"Thor," Sylvie simply stated.

Verity nodded and Sylvies heartbeat increased once again.

What an entrance that would make. Her, in her leather armor, the crown on her head, the green magic..

"I didn't know something had survived Ragnarok," Sylvie remarked absentminded, running her hand along the letters on the sign.

"Actually a lot of the Asgardians survived it. Thanks to a group of warriors, including Thor and..Loki."

Sylvie smiled at that, "Yeah, that's what we're good at..surviving."

"But after they escaped Asgard, Thanos, The Mad Titan, captured the ship and killed the majority of them," Verity continued with a sad tone in her voice.

Yeah, that was where Loki was killed. The other one..by the hands of Thanos.

Verity, Sylvie and the other two TVA agents began to walk towards a fishing village and what seemed to be the center of New Asgard.

It was not like anything she remembered Asgard had been. There were no palaces, no gold, no glorious monuments built up to the sky. No place where you would expect gods and kings and warriors.

"You nervous?"

Verity looked at her and the enchantress realized that her hands were shaking.

"Yeah, guess so. I know this isn't my home, these aren't my people..but they're the closest link to my past."

She shrugged her nervousness away. "So why would a kang variant go to New Asgard?"

Sylvie looked around, the harbour, the boats, the simple cottages..

On the cliff they saw a couple of children fighting with sparring swords. Sylvie was about to go to them, only to be stopped by Verity.

"Please be careful. We don't want to cause more trouble than needed. Just want to catch this guy and then go our way."

"Hey, did you ever take me for a troublemaker?" she asked with a wide grin.

And they both had to laugh at that.

"I will be discreet, promise," Sylvie added, sticking her tongue out to her friend.

When they walked towards the group, there was a lot of confusion on their faces. The children pulled their swords to defend themselves but a woman, seemingly the teacher of the class, told them to stand down, positioning herself in front of them.

"Who are you?" the dark haired woman asked.

Verity hold up her hands to signal peace, "Don't be afraid. My name's Verity. This is Sylvie, these are Steve and Jeff. We're here on behalf of an organisation called the Time Variance Authority. We're keeping the peace in the..um..universe"

Sylvie realized her friend had to bite her tongue. Not many people knew of the multiverse at that point and there was no easy way to explain this in a few sentences.

"There was a disturbance and we have to make sure that everything's alright. We search for a man, he might be dangerous."

The other woman nodded, but her glance remained sceptical, "Then, welcome to New Asgard. I'm Brunnhilde, or Valkyrie."

She put her sword away and they shook hands.

Sylvie smiled at the woman and her fighting class. It reminded her of her capoeira girls. A bunch of kids, too young to fight, but willing to learn..and grow.

And hopefully they didn't have to fight so soon..they were still so young..

"Was there anything suspicious going on? Did you see anybody you don't know?" the enchantress asked.

Brunnhilde shook her head but at the same moment a small boy ran to her.

"King Valkyrie, there is a man and he asked for Love..I didn't tell him anything but he looked strange and he had a blue armor on."

The eyes of Valkyrie widened in shock and she held the hand of the boy, calming him down, "Thank you for telling me, Ryan."

She looked at the other kids, "Go back to your parents. Tell them to stay inside and lock the doors."

Then she waved at the agents, "Come with me"

They ran to a gathering place in the middle of the small town.

There he stood, dark-skinned and, like the boy said, in a blue and white armor with a blue cape. Nothing about him fit in here. A foreign man from a foreign planet. Only here to make trouble.

Around him he gathered maybe fourteen or fifteen masked fighters.

And in front of him there was a scared, little girl. Her eyes were full of fear and Sylvies body flooded with rage in an instant.

The variant held her close to him, a knife at her throat.

"Scaring little girls. That's a new low for you guys," Sylvie stated with disgust.

He was different. But he wore his face..

Why did they always have to look like him?

"Let go of the girl, immediately!" Brunnhilde was right beside her now, hands balled to fists.

At that moment Sylvie saw the familiar time door appearing a few steps away.

Oh Mobius, perfect timing, as ever.

The variant laughed. It was the laugh of a madman. No sign of a harmless scatterbrain or a nerd stargazing.

There was no innocence in him.

"No, I can't let her go. We need her."

He moved a bit and everyone was on alert. Sylvie heard the deep breaths Brunnhilde took, trying to hold herself back for the sake of the girl.

"Who is we?"

Another crazy laugh filled the air.

"All of us."

Sylvie pulled out her blade, going a few steps in his direction.

"You attack me, the girl dies."

The enchantress froze in place. This was no idle threat.

But one of the agents made a move and so it started. Sylvie watched in shock as the TVA agent was knocked out in a few seconds. The other one and Verity quickly pulled him away from the battlefield.

One of the warriors swung his sword at Sylvie, a mighty swing that caught her off guard. Okay, seemed like they were definetly skilled in combat. She managed to duck out of the way just in time.

"You can't do anything here. This isn't your fight. Go!!" she screamed at Mobius and Verity.

She shot her magic at one of them, but he fought it off like it was just a small irritation, which made her wide her eyes in surprise.

The next thing happened so fast..first she saw something in the corner of her eyes and then the whole ground was shaking under them. Everything around them flashed as someone landed next to her, a massive hammer shattering the ground.

She knew in an instant that it was him.

Thor.

He cast a quick glance at her before turning to the scenery in front of them.

"Thor, god of thunder," the variant started, looking at his hostage, "Don't worry. I just borrow her for a little while."

Rage was coming out of every pore of the god. He didn't wait a second longer and swung his hammer at the first one.

Valkyrie touched Sylvie on the shoulder, "Can I leave you alone for a moment? Have to get something..I'll be back in a minute."

She blinked at her and took off.

Two of the masked fighters stood before her now, swords in hands, ready to attack.

"You know, this day was pretty shit already. And you guys don't make it better."

The enchantress did a fight combo of swinging her sword and shooting her magic at them. Her attack hit one of them but the second warded off the attack easily, swung the sword at her, forcing her to roll out of the way.

Sylvie focused herself and sprung up from her coiled position, thrusting her blade out.

The sound of metal penetrating skin and bone filled her ears. It wasn't that she particularly liked this sound but it reminded her of a past life and the adrenaline and flow that came with it was hard to ignore.

At the corner of her eyes she saw Thor fighting three of the warriors at the same time. They were incredibly strong. Another one attacked Sylvie and she fired everything that she had, her green magic filling the air.

One moment she catched the god of thunder looking at her with surprise, as she managed to fight the other off with a giant wave of green.

But then one of the remaining catched her by surprise and the enchantress stumbled backwards. She tried to hit him with her sword but he was too strong and she was already tiring.

After all, it was the first fight in a very long time..

He managed to push her until she stood with her back against a wall.

Breathing was hard and her heartbeat increased fast, as she saw his sword crystal clear before her eyes, fear rushing through her body.

The moment the realization hit her that it was absolutely possible that she'll lose this fight she felt something warm on her face..

Blood.

It wasn't hers.

Then the tip of a sword in front of her eyes and a dead body falling to her feet.

The next thing she saw was a grinning Valkyrie, holding her hand out to help her stand up, "Sorry 'bout that. I pay the cleaning. Wanna take a ride?"

Sylvie breathed out in relief and laughed while climbing onto the winged horse behind Brunnhilde. The pegasus flapped his wings and Valkyrie managed to stab another one of the masked warriors with her sword.

"It's gonna be a rough one so hold onto me," she told her while they were already lifting off into the air.

Sylvie clinged to her, placing her head on the other womans shoulder.

"The guy took off with Love but I know where they are. One of the kids saw a portal in the woods. But we have to hurry."

The enchantress looked at the fight scene which was slowly fading before her eyes.

"Thor..," she started.

"He'll manage. He knows I love this girl more than anything. And you know these guy."

Sylvie nodded but it wasn't true..she didn't know this guy..not him. But his kind. His face..his eyes..his laugh

She tried to shake the thought away and watched with fascination how that big, majestetic horse was carrying them with its elegant wings.

And then she saw them.

In the woods.

A man and a small child. Love was carrying an axe with her now. A big, massive axe..

And there was the portal.

Sylvie jumped of the pegasus while it was still half in the air in one elegant and quick move and pulled out her sword once again.

"Sorry to interrupt, but can't let you go with her," she told him.

The enchantress held her hands up and green flashlights shot into the kang variants direction, pinning him down against a tree before he was even able to make another move.

Free of his grip, Love ran into the waiting arms of Valkyrie.

The enchantress slowly walked towards the man, her sword in her hand. The similarity of the scenery was shattering.

It took her much effort to stay focused.

"He shows up again, his variants, what are you gonna do?"

"Kill 'em"

At that moment the kang variant started to grin.

And suddenly flashbacks were shaking her whole body like lightning while old memories and feelings flooded her mind and body..

"We're all coming, you can't stop it."

He was calm, he was composed.. he was..

..familiar..

"But you already knew that, didn't you...Sylvie? With what you did..you doomed many people. And you paved our way"

She hold her sword with two shaking hands now, ready to swing, ready to kill. Ready to silence this devil..forever.

But it was just one of them..

She concentrated on his face, on what she would do in a second and everything around her faded.

It was just the two of them.

"Any last words?" her trembling voice was soaked in hate.

"It will be a joy for us to kill you all. And when it's time, even your god won't save you.."

He grinned and blinked at her.

"..see you soon."

Sylvie couldn't take her eyes off the blonde man who was cradling his daughter to his chest. His face was pure relief and happiness.

She had to hold herself back of running to him, hugging him, making up for all those years..

It was a strange feeling.

Because it wasn't him. It wasn't her Thor..but in a way he was. He had the same smile, the blonde hair, even the movements were similar to the child she knew.

Sylvie didn't know at what point imagination ran away with her and she tried to come back to reality.

"I thank you so much, agents of..TAV!" the god of thunder said, his voice full of gratitude. "You saved my daughters life."

He hugged her even tighter, "How did you know this man was here on New Asgard?"

Mobius smiled warmly, "That's a long story"

Thor nodded and smiled back, "You can tell me all about that later. Now we celebrate! Have you ever tried real Asgardian beer, agent Mobius?"

The analyst shook his head.

"Then, prepare yourself for a massive culture clash," the god said with a wide grin and stood.

When they had all left except for Mobius and Sylvie, he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Everything's okay?"

Sylvie nodded slowly, "Yeah, I guess. Just haunted by ghosts from the past for a second.."

She smiled at him but as always he saw through her facade.

"Come on, goddess of chaos, let's celebrate. Try that Asgardian beer and see who's the first one to fall from the chair."

The tavern was already well-filled as they entered it.

The atmosphere was lively and everyone was in a good mood. They had fought them off, they had saved New Asgard from a foreign threat and the people and their children were save.

Love was save.

For now..

When she saw a woman with dark rastafarian braids sitting at the bar, she patted Verity on the shoulder.

"You'll excuse me?" the enchantress asked with a joyful smile and her friend nodded, smiling herself, a little suspicious, but Sylvie didn't mind.

"Of course. Meanwhile I'll keep our lovely analyst company," Verity said, pointing to a small table in the corner of the bar.

Somehow Mobius had managed to sit at the most lonely table in the whole tavern and Sylvie shook her head at that.

Oh, Mobius..

But the moment Verity walked towards him a mysterious redhead sat down next to him, two beers in her hand.

Well, that was unexpected.

The two woman looked at each other and started to laugh.

"Good for him, getting back in the game."

Verity pointed to the bar, grinning, "Speaking of beeing back in the game.."

The beautiful Asgardian looked at them, well, especially at Sylvie and smiled, rising her glass.

"See you later, Ver"

With that the enchantress sat down next to the warrior.

"Beer's okay? First one's on me."

Their eyes met and Sylvie nodded, smiling with a mixture of nervousness and joy.

Valkyrie waved at the barkeeper, "Another one for the pretty lady here"

Once the beer was served Sylvie took a long sip and emptied half the glass in one shot while Brunnhilde watched her with wide eyes.

"Wow, someone's thirsty. You sure you're not Asgardian?"

Sylvie laughed..yeah, well..

"You're really impressive, you know that? I mean, hel, that magic.." Val pointed out.

"Thanks, likewise. That winged horse.."

"Aurora, my battle companion, the truest friend I ever had" Brunnhilde raved, thinking of her pegasus, smiling. "She'd saved my ass a lot of times. You'd ever ridden one?"

Sylvie shook her head, "Hadn't even ridden a horse.." she admitted, half ashamed, half wistful..there were so many things she hadn't done.

Never had the opportunity to try them..

The other woman placed her hand on Sylvies and looked at her with disbelief, "You're kidding me! No way..we have to change that! Tomorrow I will put you on a horse! We have the perfect ones for beginners."

The enchantress smiled shyly, gently stroking the others hand with her finger.

Their eyes met and Val waved at the barkeeper again, not breaking eye contact, "Two Tequila, please"

When the drinks arrived they both licked their hands, sprinkled salt on it and Brunnhilde intertwined their arms, all the time looking deep into the blonde womans eyes.

"To you, foreign woman, for your amazing help today..and for your beauty."

They both downed their glasses in one and bit down on their lemon slice, simultaniously grimassed and laughed.

At that moment Val closed her eyes, her lips forming a delightful smile when they heard Johnny Cashs "I walk the line"

She started humming and in an instant she was on her feet, holding her hand out to Sylvie.

"May I ask for that dance enchantress Sylvie, saviour of the day and delight of my evening?"

The blonde woman blushed at those words and the invitation. She looked at the others hand.

"I'm..umm..I think I can't.."

"Even better, me neighter. Let's see whose feet are more sore tomorrow from stepping on the others"

Her smile was so pure of heart, so bright, her hazel eyes glimmering with excitement.

She was stunning..a beautiful, dark haired warrior with a kind heart, which she carried out on her tongue.

So Sylvie placed her hand in hers shyly, entering unfamiliar territory here. She had danced with women before, but that seemed to be eons away.

Valkyrie pulled her towards her, their faces only inches away, "Problem if I lead?"

Oh hel, that was also unfamiliar terror..

Normally Sylvie was the one in charge, at least with women, and the whole situation started to overwhelm her.

But before she could even object or overthink Brunnhilde had already wrapped an arm around her waist, the other hand raised together with hers and started to spin them around.

A strange, warm feeling flooded Sylvie at the touch, especially the arm tightly holding her around her waist.

The enchantress' foot was the first one to step on the other.

Their eyes met and they both started giggling while moving together in their own rhytmn, not always on beat.

But they both didn't care..

The world slowly faded away and the only thing that mattered was her, her hazel eyes and her gentle, but firm touch.

They both forgot time and space around them and only stopped when they were breathless, panting.

Valkyrie bowed and took Sylvies hand once again, "Ready for another drink?"

The blonde woman nodded breathlessly and they sat down at the table where Mobius, Verity, the two other agents and now Thor were sitting.

"Ah, our dancing queens," Mobius said with a smirk to Sylvie and Val, blinking at the enchantress.

Sylvie shot an annoyed look back at him and he grinned, handing her a glass of water.

"No, thanks, not planning on getting sober so early," she blinked back and looked at Brunnhilde, whose eyes were on her the whole time.

Thor grinned, stood up and walked to the bar, shouting, "Beer please!! Beer for my new friends from the..umm..TAV?"

They all laughed and he came back with the drinks, raising his glass, "To you, my friends. For you'll always have a seat at my table and a home in New Asgard."

"We had one of the largest armies Asgard had ever seen. A powerful women army, respected and loved..and feared by our enemies. And she and I..We fought side by side, she was my destiny..at least I thought so. We were unstoppable, until.."

Val paused when the memory hit her. The two women sat next to each other outside the tavern, several drinks and hours later.

"..until Hela"

Sylvie looked at her with a questioning look.

"The vicious sister of that big, blonde, gentle muscleman."

With her chin she pointed through the window in Thors direction.

Brunnhilde started to laugh, "That's some shitty disfunctional family, I can tell you..the Royal Asgardian family," she accentuated the last words and made a dramatic gesture with her hands, "Their dad, Odin, the allfather..locked and tucked away everything that bothered him too much.. a daughter, evil as evil can be, two sons, one a kind-hearted hot-head, the other..a traitorous, greasy madman.."

Sylvie almost choked on her own spittle at that.

"..and a peace-loving, gentle mother, holding that whole circus together."

She made a pause, shaking her head, smiling.

"And now Thor's the only one left.."

Biting her lip, Sylvie touched the others hand and their eyes met.

"What about you, mysterious woman? I talk and talk and don't know much about you..you always worked for the TA...for that time police organisation?"

The enchantress let out a scornful laugh because of the irony..working for the TVA..working her whole life to bring the TVA down would be more accurate.

But let's not complicate things..

"No, I joined them a year ago. My life wasn't that..interesting..like yours"

More like a lot of chaos, apocalypses and a lot of more chaos..

Valkyrie looked deep into her eyes, "You don't trust people easily, do you?"

Sylvie shook her head and held her gaze, "No"

"Bad experiences, I get that. Wise of you, bad for me.."

She moved closer, her hand slowly touching her cheek, gently stroking it, "Mysterious woman, I like you very much..would be an honor if I get the chance to prove that I'm trustworthy."

Sylvie blushed so deeply, the touch of the other sending shivers down her spine and through her whole body.

Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe it was the aftermath of the battle and all the relief that came with it. Surely all of that played a part in what she felt.

But at the moment this just felt so damn good..

Slowly they moved, Sylvies hand on Vals. She closed her eyes and then their lips met..

The softest lips she ever touched..

A warm sensation was slowly growing inside her body, both their hands now touching..face, neck, hair..

Her lips parted and tongues touching each other, circling, exploring, first gently than more firm. Electricity firing though Sylvies whole body at every touch, every breath..

..and then a flashback..

Fragments of purple and green, a fire cracking in the background, the sound of crashing daggers..

Heavy breathing..

Gentle hands on her shoulders..

"I just want you to be okay"

And then all of a sudden Sylvie broke the kiss, looking with wide eyes into confused ones.

"I can't..I'm sorry..."

And then she did something she'd never thought she would ever do and saying the next words shocked herself to the bone..

"I love someone else"

She stood, her hand pressed to her mouth, leaving a confused Valkyrie behind, only to run backwards into the arms of..

Mobius..who was standing in the doorframe.

"Not..a..word!" Sylvie silenced the analyst when he started to open his mouth with a smile on his lips and rushed past him.

In the hurry she didn't pay attention and something fell out of her cape and onto the floor..

Suddenly all eyes were on her and a firm hand grabbed her by the arm. Looking up she met the questioning and upset eyes of Thor, who looked back and forth between herself and the fallen horned crown..

"Who the hel are you?!"

This time, she couldn't be more thankful that Mobius was there, placing one hand on Sylvies and one on Thors shoulder.

"We have a lot to talk about"

Chapter Text

She looked happy.

There had been a lot of emotions the past few hours..it was the hell of a day..she went from anxiety to anger, then excitement..

..and now affection?

..arousal?

His hand was pressed to the branch, holding it so tight that his knuckles already went white.

"I just want you to be okay"

Liar..

No, it was the truth.

There was always a prize to pay and he had payed it. He had payed it for them..for her.

"I want a life..I want to live."

And then something happened that he knew he wasn't supposed to see and it hit him like a dagger in the heart..

He saw her soft, red lips..the ones that had argued with him, pissed him off, the ones that had gotten on his last nerve. The lips he had seen smiling and laughing and trembling..

..the ones that had kissed him.

After the fighting, the arguing, the trembling, the hurt..and the moment she had pressed them against his..he knew he was lost.

That moment he had fallen into the sweetest abyss..he had already known he would do anything and would sacrifice his life for her, even before the kiss..before the void and the talk under the blanket, even before he had sung her the Asgardian folksong during their train ride on Lamentis..maybe he had known it from the very beginning, the first contact, the first time he had looked into her eyes at the Roxxcart hurricane apocalypse.

But the moment she had kissed him, he was truly lost..

"..but nothing ever.."

"..real"

And now she was kissing someone else..

He clinged to the branch like his life depended on it, overlooking that it already crackled unnaturally.

"Did you ever dive so deep you were afraid you couldn't make it to the surface again before drowning?"

There was that voice again.

A voice he couldn't contextualise. A voice that he heard for some time now.

First it had seemed like it was his own.

How ironic it would have been if the only one keeping him company at the end of time was his own voice, echoing in his mind, telling him about past memories and lost opportunities..

"You're like a child, telling his mother that it surely wouldn't eat the cookie before lunch but then grabbing it the first chance he gets."

Was he slowly going crazy? Was this his punishment after all..because the sacrifice he had made wasn't enough to balance out all the cruel things he had done all those years?

His demons coming back to play..

Karma hitting had..

"I thought you had stopped lying to yourself.." the voice whispered.

"But I shouldn't be surprised..god of lies, after all.."

"Enough," Loki shouted into the void with all the force and strength he could manage.

If this truly was his own voice echoing in his head, then perhaps it would stop for a moment..or maybe laugh at him.

Or both..

If this was another being talking to him, there maybe was a chance he would show himself.

And then there was a shadow..or maybe it was a light..emerging between the timelines, going through them.

The sinister appearance made him shudder.

It was hard to tell if it was friendly or a threat. The thing had no defined form..Not completely dark but not bright, either.

"Nice to meet you, god of stories," the being said with a low but clearly audible voice.

"Who are you?" Loki asked.

"I'm all and I'm nothing," it answered, "I watch and I see"

"Are you here to pose me riddles?" the god asked with a sour undertone.

"I'm here to help," it simply answered.

Loki sighed, "And what makes you think I need help?"

"Why so agitated, god of stories? Seen something disturbing?"

Loki didn't answer so it continued, "You want to ask a question and you want to ask it so desperately that it scares you and you forbid yourself to ask..Because desperation is not included in the glorious purpose. In the purpose there's only peace. But you're not at peace, god of stories..you're far away from peace"

"And what question would that be in your eyes?" the god asked with an annoyed voice.

Great, riddles and lectures from unknown beings and there was no possibility to move away from this place.

"There's tumult in your heart and as long as there's tumult there's possibilies..possibilies for the wrong forces to mess with."

"I don't know what you're seeing from wherever you are, but there's no tumult in my heart"

But the moment he said those words he realized even the dumbest person could spot that it wasn't true..

And then it laughed.

"And here we are with the lying again"

Loki was slowly but steady getting angry. The branches felt it and reacted. They always reacted to his emotions, it was a symbiosis they shared, a bond. He was bound to them and they were bound to him.

"What did you see on the timeline that made you so upset?"

"I didn't..there was a kang variant and I wanted to make sure that everything was okay."

The being stopped laughing.

"The variant was already dead for several hours..there was no need to watch the branch any longer. So, I ask you again, god of stories: Whose story did you watch..?"

Loki shook his head and in this moment the crown felt so heavy like it never had before.

"It's none of your business.." the god stated in a low voice, almost not recognizable.

"On the contrary - I think it is. Because you're holding the branches of the whole multiverse in your very hands, Loki Laufeyson."

Loki looked at the shadow again, brows furrowed, "So, what are you getting at? If you watch me like you said, you can see there's no point in questioning my sense of responsibility."

It nodded, "You're right, god of stories. I don't question your sense of responsibility..I question your place on this throne."

Lokis eyes widened before he narrowed them, trying to stay as calm as possible with this offence.

"As I said, tumult brings possibilies for the wrong forces to mess with..at some point you have to ask yourself what it is that you really want.."

"What is wrong with wanting something, Loki? What do you want?"

"I wanted to save them all," the god answered, truthfully.

"Yeah, that is beyond question. But your choices where limited in this situation and you chose the lesser of two evils. But if you could choose again.."

"If I leave, the branches will die.." the god stated, his voice getting louder again, frustration in his tone.

"Maybe they will, maybe they won't..but perhaps you're right. Trying would be a high risk and the best option is to forget about them. Forget her.."

Then the shadow moved, away from him and past the timelines again.

"..seems like she's already on her way to forget about you."

The situation couldn't be more tense.

They were sitting around a table in the town hall. Thors adopted daughter, Love, was already asleep in their house and he didn't want to wake her up.

Valkyrie wanted to join them but Mobius had convinced her that the first talk should be between the three of them- Mobius, Thor and Sylvie.

The enchantress was sitting with her arms crossed and an unreadable expression on her face. Mobius guessed it was a defense mechanism because it was all too much for her.

Thors eyes went back and forth between the two of them, repeatedly focusing on the crown Sylvie now held in her hands, fumbling at the horns to calm herself and her nerves down.

"Who are you?" the god asked again, his voice full of confusion and a bit of anger.

Mobius tried his best to keep his own tone as soothing as possible. The whole atmosphere was overheated already.

"First of all - we mean no harm. We're friends, not enemies."

Thor draw his eyebrows together at that, "I will decide that myself after I heard what you have to say, Mobius..agent of TAV."

Mobius took a deep breath, "We're..I'm an analyst of the TVA - the Time Variance Authority. I know you never heard of us before, because you never needed to. The story I'm about to tell you is a little complicated and I'll try to explain it to you as easy as possible.."

So he told him about the TVA and its mission (well, the mission they had for eons). He told him about the Sacred Timeline they protected and about variants. The more he explained, the more the expression on Thors face became irritated.

"So, you.. pruned these variants because you thought they could do harm, cause trouble..?"

When he said the word "variant" he looked at Sylvie, who was really quiet the whole time, head lowered.

"Yes, we pruned them because we were told so. Every variant and every extra branch was a potential threat in the eyes of the person who really created the TVA - I'll come to that later. But before that, we must tell you something..the most important thing..and this will sound unbelievable to you.."
The gods eyes were focused on Sylvie and on her horned crown now.

When she noticed it she raised her head again and looked at him with green eyes full of emotions.

"Who are you?" Thor asked and his voice was low, almost trembling.

The two of them looked at each other for a long moment and Sylvie stopped fumbling at her crown. She opened her mouth to say something and closed it again for several times..

After a long moment she finally found the courage to say the next words.

"I told you my name is Sylvie. But that isn't the name I was given at birth.."

There was a pause and the tension and emotion in the room was palpable.

Sylvie almost whispered the next words.

"..my real name, the name my parents gave me..is Loki"

The moment she said the name Thors jaw dropped. There was silence for a moment where you could have heard a pin drop.

"What..what did you say?"

Sylvie looked at Mobius nervously who nodded and encouraged her with his gaze. He knew this whole conversation and the emotions that came with it was not her forte..

The enchantress took a deep breath, "I'm a Loki variant. I changed my name but the first few years of my life I lived on Asgard..a different Asgard from another branch, another reality."

Thor looked at her, still confused but now there was something else in his eyes..maybe it was the mentioning of Lokis name, maybe it was the fact that Sylvie was kind of a sister from another mother..maybe it was a bit of both.

Mobius cleared his throat, "But that's not the big revelation I was talking about..what I'm going to tell you now may sound unbelievable and crazy..but there's a reason we're all still here, a reason we're still alive. The multiverse I told you about wouldn't exist if it wasn't for one person.."

He made a pause, nervous about the next, most important words he was about to say.

"..and that person is your brother..Loki"

Thors eyes widened with shock and for a long moment he just stared at Mobius, paralysed.

A few moments later the god of thunder closed his eyes tightly and shook his head in disbelief.

"No, that's not possible.."

He made fists with his hands and sparks of lightning emerged from them. His breathrate was slowly but steadily increasing.

"My brother is dead. He died at the hands of Thanos.."

When he opened his eyes again there were tears in them..tears of hurt..tears of anger..tears of desperation, "So, Mobius and Sylvie from the TVA, why do you tell me all these lies?! What do you want from me and my people? And it better be a good story because I'm running out of sympathy here.."

Mobius sighed and thought about the right words to calm the whole atmosphere down..

..the right words to convince the god that he wasn't lying.

"You're right, on one side..The brother who was by your side during Ragnarok and the invasion of Thanos was killed. But you remember you travelled through time with the Avengers to collect the Infinity Stones to reverse what Thanos did. You travelled to Asgard..Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers and Scott Lang travelled to New York 2012 to take the Tesseract, which contained the space stone..But they couldn't get it because Loki took it..do you remember that, Thor?"

The analysts voice was gentle and understanding, because he understood.

He understood the gods reaction, triggered with past, deeply painful memories and crazy stories about time travel, variants and multiverses..

Thor nodded slowly, his hand now pressed to his mouth, his eyes moving wildly back and forth, his mind processing all the information Mobius gave him, bit by bit.

"..so Loki took the Tesseract and landed himself in Gobi desert, where we, the TVA appeared on the scene and catched him.."

The agent stopped and gave the god of thunder some more time to process his words.

"..what ultimately created a 'variant'. So he is your brother. Not the one you knew the last few years, but the one you knew your whole life until New York 2012."

Thor was nonstop shaking his head absentminded. He stopped the moment when a hand was placed on his arm.

"Thor.."

He looked up and right into the eyes of Sylvie.

"..can I hug you?"

At first Mobius couldn't believe his eyes and ears and he watched his chaos goddess with an irritated gaze. He would never have guessed Sylvie would do something like this, letting her guards down..

But now it was obvious that there was a connection.

A connection considering who she and what her origin was..her being a variant of his brother..

And a connection through the Loki they both knew..

..the Loki they both love..

The first few seconds the god of thunder looked at the enchantress with confusion in his eyes and nobody moved.

And then Mobius almost jumped as out of nowwhere Thors strong arms pulled Sylvie to him..

..and into the tightest embrace.

The god pressed the goddess against his chest, his arms wrapped around her slender waist and given the tightness it must have been hard for her to breath.

But all he saw was peace.

The agent had never seen so much relief and peace in Sylvies face. Her eyes were closed and it seemed as if something inside herself had broken free and she finally found something she never expected to find again.

Family.

Not like Mobius or Verity, not like her friends who surely had become the closest thing to a family for Sylvie.

But her origin family..her Asgardian family..and with them the brother she had to leave behind when she was a child.

The analyst saw tears welling up in her closed eyes, as she pulled the god of thunder even closer..Thor, her long lost brother from another mother.

When they broke the embrace she smiled, her eyes glimmering with tears of pure joy.

"Family reunion," Mobius said, truly touched and happy for his chaos queen.

God and goddess smiled at each other for a long moment and Thor wiped away a single tear that fell down her cheek.

It was a beautiful, gentle gesture.

The loving gesture of a big brother..

Even if it wasn't blood that bound them together and even if they came from different realities..but all of that didn't matter now, because there was a connection.

And it was beautiful.

Slowly Thor turned and looked at the analyst again, "And..what happened to Loki, agent Mobius? Where is he? Is he..is he alive?"

His tone was nervous now, full of expectation and now full of fear, too.

Mobius nodded, "A lot had happened at the TVA, so here's the short version..the one who created the TVA also designed something that was called the 'temporal loom'. It protected the sacred timeline, but it wasn't enough to hold onto an ever- growing multiverse. It was all very chaotic and there was a lot of trial and error but ultimatively..the situation was so muddled and at some point we thought we reached the dead-end and that we were all doomed to die..and we would have died..if your brother hadn't sacrificed himself."

He made a pause and smiled to himself and to Thor, who listened to his words, that knocked him of his feet, "He stepped out there, went all god - mode, destroyed the loom and created something new..which is actually a version of Yggdrasil, the world tree."

With telling the story to Thor, Mobius felt the pride for Loki again. He saw the eyes of the god of thunder widened as he mentioned Yggdrasil.

"So Loki.." Thor began with a trembling voice. Sylvie placed a gentle hand on his own.

"..saved us all..eyeryone..the whole multiverse." Mobius finished his sentence with a warm smile on his face.

Thors face was a wild mixture of emotions at that point and he was obviously torn between pure joy and complete disbelief.

He shook his head again, "That can't be possible. It's hard to believe that, agent Mobius. My brother, the Loki I knew back then in 2012..he invaded earth with an alien army. He was driven by hate and pain and lust for power..and I think it is possible that he had been tortured by those aliens.."

Mobius nodded and smiled, "You're right, with everything. The Loki during that time..his mindset was rather..egomaniac. When we catched him he was an arrogant, narcissistic wanna- be- king."

Thors eyebrows twisted, "Careful, agent Mobius. You're talking about my brother here, after all."

Mobius smile grew even wider, "I mean no offence, Thor. But you knew him. And fortunately we grew past that very quickly - even quicker than I expected. And at the end.."

The analyst smiled and thought about his words, "..at the end he became my best friend."

The thunderers gaze was even more unbelieving at those last words.

Yes, Thor..you're brother was capable of making friends..sometimes it even shocked Mobius what change Loki had gone through..

How hard must it for Thor to believe these words..

Mobius continued, "And I always admired your unconditional love for him, even after everything he had done..you never lost faith in him..never stopped believing."

The god looked deep in the other mans eyes and there was nothing but pure honesty, "Agent Mobius, it's easy. He was my brother. I never doubted that. From the moment he drew his first breath to the moment he drew his last..I loved him. He might not have shared my blood, but he was my brother, we shared one heart and one soul.."

Mobius saw in Sylvies eyes that she was touched by Thors words, too.

He hadn't seen her this emotional since..no, in fact he had never seen so much emotion coming from her ever. When it came to Loki, she had hidden her feelings very well, from everyone..and most of all from herself.

Until a few hours ago..

Thor spoke again with nervousness in his voice, "Can we..can I..is it possible to go to him? Where is that 'loom' you talked about, agent Mobius?"

"To be honest, we don't know that, Thor. We can't contact him or anything. We have a vague perception where he is but nothing concrete. We know it is some place outside of time and space. We have a special device, called Tempad, which was the only thing that could bring someone to the end of time..but Loki kind of destroyed the castle where the last one in charge sat and with that being destroyed there are no anchor points anymore..but something is happening recently.."

The analyst locked eyes with Sylvie. They both knew what he was talking about.

"You dreamt of him.." Sylvie pointed out with agitation in her voice. "Why didn't you tell me, by the way?"

Mobius looked at her with an apologetic gaze, "I didn't want to upset you..I woke up before I even saw him..last time though.."

He couldn't finish the sentence before Sylvie interrupted him, leaning forward in her chair, her tone challenging, "Last time? You dreamt of him, again?! When? And when did you plan to tell me?"

Mobius hold his hands up in surrender, "Easy, Sylvie, it was just last night. And I wanted to tell you this time. Besides, you weren't in a hurry yourself to tell me about your dream.."

"How do you..?" the goddess started, irritated.

"Loki told me," Mobius answered.

Sylvies eyes widened at his words in surprise..and something else, "You spoke with him? About me..?"

The analyst grinned at her, "We spoke about a lot of things."

The enchantress sat back again, arms crossed, defensive.

With the upset glimmering in her eyes his grin grew even wider, "But the thing you said to Brunnhilde earlier..that is something you have to tell him yourself."

She rolled her eyes at him and blushed at the same time, "Oh, piss off Mobius and get a life of your own.."

He could have been hurt at her words but he knew the goddess of mischief too well by now to be offended. He knew she was just embarassed.

He wouldn't bet on who was worse at expressing their feelings - Loki or Sylvie.

Two gods, a thousand years old..fought hundreds of battles..

But when it came to their feelings for each other, they were both idiots, even worse than teenagers.

"I'd love to, Sylvie..but I'm afraid my help is inevitable here with you kids"

He had almost forgotten about Thor for a moment, before he heard the god of thunder clear his troath.

"So, these variants.." Thor looked at Sylvie but it seemed he hadn't been paying attention or had been too busy processing the given information to listen to Mobius and Sylvies last topic.

"..are they the same people? Do they all share the same..?"

Mobius interrupted, smirking at Sylvie but answering Thor, ".. genetic code, DNA? We actually don't know that. We never had to test that.."

He locked eyes with the goddess again and almost felt sorry, but he couldn't leave it at that..it was just too glorious,"..but now I think we'll need to do that."

The first miracle was that Mobius could hold it together with all the triumph he felt, the second was that Sylvie didn't stab him immediately.

Thor now looked at her, too, with a gaze of sheer confusion, which made her blush in the most beautiful shades of red.

Mobius grin grew from ear to ear.

"Oh, just save it, Mobius.."

Thor looked back and forth between the analyst and the enchantress, "What does that mean?"

"Sylvie and your brother..how do I put this..they formed a deep connection. First I thought it was pure narcissism, you know, two variants of the same being and especially your brother..but these two are completely different annoying beings," Mobius said, finally offering peace with his smile to Sylvie.

He wanted to step out of this room alive, after all.

"So the one you were talking about to Val when you said you love someone else was.." Thor started and looked at Sylvie, her face glowing now.

"..my brother?"

There were no words coming from her lips so she just nodded.

That revelation in combination with the variant - story could cause a lot of reactions..confusion, dismay, fascination, disgust..but none of it was happening right now.

Thor just smiled.

He smiled warm and gently and his eyes were full of joy. After a few moments the smile even became a blissful laugh.

"Well, then, Sylvie.."

"..Laufeydottir," she said, a little embarrassed and still blushing.

Thor nodded with realization, "Of course. Well then, Sylvie Laufeydottir, welcome to the family."

And before she even had the chance to complain and tell him a thousand reasons why this whole thing with Loki couldn't work out..

..the god of thunder had pulled her in another tight embrace.

Catching her off guard, silencing her thoughts and fears.

Held by her big brother.

Chapter Text

She dreamed to wake up.

It was like the last time, waking up on the ground, the warm green light around her..familiar in the strangest way but mind blowing all the same.

And not just the scenery.

Her heart started beating so fast right now and with every step the nervousness inside her grew.

Now she knew this wasn't just a dream. And even if the connection was unclear, the reason invisible..it had to mean something.

When she finally stood in front of the tree she already knew where to look out for him.

There he was, unmoving, his eyes in that dreamy state again.

She placed a hand over her chest, as if it was possible to calm her heartbeat down with this simple gesture.

"Loki"

No reaction.

The branches kept going through his fingers and hands and he held them together. It looked kind of effortless, like it was the most natural thing to do..it was like someone was casually knitting a sweater.

A sweater entirely made out of green, multiversal branches.

"Your majesty, could you please do me the favor of honoring me with your presence?"

Sylvie faked a curtsy.

She wasn't the typical nervous talker, not like her male counterpart. When Loki was nervous the headache that followed for the listener was guaranteed. But in this very moment Sylvie felt like back then before they stepped into the citadel at the end of time where she wanted his reaction, his assurance.

The man above her moved his lips to form a smile.

"You know, I could get used to you calling me that."

As he finally spoke, her heart skipped a beat and she cursed and loved how it made her feel at the same time.

She was here again..she was really here.

"Not even in your wildest dreams, Loki."

And then the branches divided, giving him space and bringing him down to the ground.

The most surreal thing to watch, no less than the first time.

Loki opened his eyes and god and goddess of mischief locked eyes.

God, have they always been this big and bright?

"I'm happy to see you, too," he said with that typical smirk, which made her sigh, a little out of sarcasm, a lot out of happiness.

She managed to hide it.

Never in her life had she felt so vulnerable as with him. Even more after what she said to Val outside the tavern. What she admitted to herself..

And vulnerability was not her forte..

"Soft get you killed"

It was hard to admit to herself but she was getting weak in her knees. Time for some smalltalk to calm down the nerves.

"So, what's up in tree- land?"

She did her best to hide her nervousness and excitement in her eyes and voice.

Damn, that smirk.

It all seemed all a little more easy for him than last time, the smiling, the talking.

He almost looked like himself, like she remembered him..well, apart from that strange structure on his face and the layers upon layers of green, kingly gown and massive horns.

And he looked skinnier than last time.

"You just missed the party I threw..to bad for you, everyone was there.."

Sylvie made an imaginable phone with her hand on her ear.

"Just call me next time"

They both smiled and looked each other in the eyes for a long moment.

"We hunted down a kang variant," Sylvie started, "You know, the old fellas, Verity, Mobius..after good old Mobi dusted himself down and finished the letting- time- pass- thing'..but I heard he was here, anyway."

The god nodded and smiled, "Yes, he was. Seems as if some barriers are coming down. For better or for worse.."

He probably noticed the possibility to misunderstand his statement and added quickly, "..as long as I don't have to welcome Miss Minutes any time soon"

Sylvie knew what he meant with the 'for better or for worse' part. Everyone was irritated why this was happening right now. And in the vast universe..multiverse..everything was possible, for better or for worse.

"You'll laugh. These two idiots, O.B and Casey really revived her. Either they are just highly confident of their skills..or the three of them are plotting to take over the world. Only time will tell, I think."

Sylvie shrugged and they both laughed. Looking at him caused some funny feelings in her stomach. Long ignored, swallowed down..

"I met Thor," she stated, waiting for his reaction.

The god smiled but for some reason she didn't see much surprise in his eyes.

"And? You two got along?" he asked with curiosity and mischief in his voice.

"He's irritating.." the enchantress answered, getting a laugh from Loki, "..but I already expected that. My brother was the most irritating being I ever met..well, besides you."

The last words caused even more laughter from Loki, "I think that's the exact way Thor thought of me our whole life."

"But..I think I like him," Sylvie added truthfully and thought about their conversation and the bonding with him.

"Were you aware that he founded a new place for the Asgardians..you know, after Ragnarok?"

Loki was absentminded for a moment and nodded then, "Mobius told me after I read about the destruction..it's a place on earth.."

"Norway," Sylvie said, "New Asgard. It's actually very nice. Nothing compared to the gloss and splendor and golden toilets.."

Loki laughed. What a beautiful sound..

"Don't tell me you had golden toilets on your Asgard? That's a new one."

"Come on, prince of pomp and glory, don't tell me you didn't eat from gilded plates served by some poor guys, desperate to get a glimpse of your magnificence."

He raised an eyebrow, grinning, "My magnificence? You're highborn yourself, princess Sylvie of Asgard..I mean, just in case you forgot."

Sylvie stuck out her tongue to him, "That's where it started. But I grew out of that very fast, just in case YOU forgot, your highness. And from that moment on I hadn't had any servants to polish my crown and wipe my ass.."

"I could take care of myself and my ass just fine, thank you," he affirmed.

"Yeah? But I suppose there were a lot of volunteers to help their prince taking care of himself," she presumed with a grin and it felt a lot like their first conversation in the train on Lamentis.

Again the raised eyebrow, but this time with a serious undertone, "That's an interesting topic, Miss Laufeydottir. There had been some distraction, for sure, like I told you before. But.."

"..but nothing ever.."

"..real"

Sylvie smiled and shook her head.

It was all still so surreal. Being here again, seeing him, it was something totally different. Different than talking to Mobius or Thor or Brunnhilde..

And for some reason, in that moment..it all came crashing down on her.

All the things that had happened since the last time she was here..her disastrous date, the talk with Verity, New Asgard, Valkyrie, Thor..

And now she was here again.

She was a princess of Asgard, Jotunn, an enchantress..powerful and strong.

But most of all, she was a survivor. She knew her strengths and weaknesses..in battle. And she had begun to explore them in her 'normal life', too..with all its ups and downs.

But this whole thing..this thing with Loki was different.

She knew how powerful she could be and yet in in this very moment she felt powerless..

The enchantress had been alone her entire life. There had been many encounters, for sure, people she met, men and women, sex in the face of certain doom..with all the desperation and fear and bravado and survival instinct that came with it.

But all of this had been to keep her going.

And it had been alright.

Until this presumptuos ass of a demigod had walked into her life, talking and smirking himself into her system.

The emotions which flooded her now knocked her off guard.

Fuck it..she was done with the smalltalk..

"Why did you lock us out?"

Suddenly pain was hanging thick in the air, it was amost palpable.

Pain and anger and incomprehension..

The enchantress watched him closely, waiting for an answer. Lokis expression changed as well, into something more thoughtfull, touched. He didn't answer but never broke eye contact, either.

"..at the temporal loom. Why didn't you tell us?"

She wanted to add something to her question, but she didn't.

Why didn't you say goodbye to us..?

Why didn't you say goodbye to me..?

He sighed deep, closing his eyes for a moment, before he opened them again. They seemed just a bit watery.

"There was no time for that."

Sylvie shook her head..his words cutting into the scars that were already there. The scars she had covered perfectly fine with pretending to be perfectly fine.

"Seriously, Loki?

The enchantress was hurt and she had no intention to hide it anymore.

Screw all the jokes and the fake restraint.

Time for honesty.

"I think you had enough time. You know I didn't lose my memory after the loom was destroyed in the first place, right? Didn't it come to your brilliant mind once that I may remember our last conversation, too?"

Her green eyes bore into his blue ones, not hiding anything, letting it all flood her and directly to him.

"Do you know how hard it is to feel grateful beyond all measure for you saving my life and all of reality when at the same time I just want to kick your godly ass and scream in your face how much of an asshole you are for locking us out and making this shit decision alone!"

The god closed his eyes, which made Sylvie even more furious.

Now she was all in.

"Come on, Loki, what about that silver tongue of yours? Cat got it?"

Her voice became louder and every word was full of raw emotion now. The intensity of it shocked even her.

She hadn't noticed but his hands were balled into fists now, the timelines around him reacting, quivering.

His eyes remained closed but his lips were pressed into a small line now.

"Did it occur to you, that it was the only option, after.."

Sylvies eyes on the other hand were glimmering with anger now, ready to fight.

"Say it, Loki. For god's sake, just say it."

"After you freed the timelines."

She nodded, the smile on her lips now full of bitterness.

"There it is. Tell me, god of never-shutting-up, why did you wait so long before flapping this in my face?!"

He hadn't. Not once.

Not even when the loom was exploding. She thought that she had done the right thing in killing He who Remains and most of the time it still felt right..but everything that happened afterwards had cast a larger and larger shadow over her decision and the bigger the shadow grew the bigger grew the unspoken mass between the two gods.

And in this very moment she realized how much she had wished he had confronted her with it.

Not him argueing with her about her walking away after giving everyone free will or about how much they should intervene for good or letting Victor Timely behind the curtain..no

Confront her about her killing the man in charge in the first place, telling her how stupid she had been, how she had also betrayed him, kissing him and then kicking him through the timedoor..

She had wanted him to shout at her how her own selfish decision was turning everything into a desaster..wanted to tell her how betrayed he felt.

"Do you care about anything than the TVA?"

Away from the TVA, away from the greater good, away from two gods arguing about free will..

And back to two people caring for each other.

Kissing each other..

Betraying each other because of the high stakes around them..

And then never speak about it again.

When Loki opened his eyes, she saw tears in them..tears of hurt, but also tears of anger.

"What do you want to hear? You persisted that you did the right thing. Nothing I could have said would have changed that."

"Would be the first time that stopped you from speaking your damn mind."

His voice was full of emotion and it almost broke as he answered.

"But that wasn't about you and me anymore, Sylvie, don't you understand? This was about the greater good!"

The greater good..

"Maybe it should have been about you and me."

There it was. Cat out of the bag.

No turning back now..

"Can you imagine how much I just wished we had time to talk? Not about the damn TVA or Victor Timely or the temporal loom but about everything that went wrong between us?!"

The goddess of mischief breathed heavy and for a moment there was silence.

The gods eyes had widened and in them there was..irritation?

Disbelief?

"You kissed me because you needed a distraction."

Thank god she remembered the words he had spoken to her during their fight at the citadel.

"Really, that's what you think of me? After all this time..sure, why not, evil Sylvies masterplan comes together."

They simultaniously grinned at that, a mixture of amusement, bitterness and realization hang in the air.

Her heart was beating like hell in her chest but there was no turning back now.

"That was not the reason I kissed you, Loki."

The disbelief was still there in his eyes, but also something else, too..a spark of bliss..

He hesistated for a long moment but it was clear where this was going..

"Then, why did you do it?"

His voice was barely a whisper while asking this big, important question.

"I don't know how to do this"

"I don't even know what we're doing"

Now Sylvie was lost of words. In that moment she wished the ground would swallow her up. She hadn't thought this throught.

To be honest, she hadn't thought at all. It just came out..had to come out.

And then she felt them, literally and metaphorically..

..cold feet.

"I..it's complicated.."

His eyes were full of agony, his voice a mixture of frustration, hope and disbelief.

"No, no, no, Sylvie..you're not fobbing me off with that now."

Don't let your guards down, Sylvie

"This is new for me"

It was..not just for him.

And now the mask of being perfectly fine crumbled. Everything crumbled.

Vulnerability rushed through every vein now..

Don't let your guards down..

But it was like a snowslide. Once kicked off, it couldn't be stopped.

Fight or flight..

Flight it is.

She slowly walked backwards..

And in that moment Loki did something out of reflex that he had never done before.

With one hand he let go of the timelines.

And they stayed.

And glowed.

God and goddess froze in place and looked with wide, unbelieving eyes at the spectacle in front of them. The only sound was the little whispers of the branches, twisting and glimmering with green energy.

And then simultaniously they looked deep into each others eyes.

Longing..

And in that moment, with all the emotions..her walls came down and she rushed towards him.

Only to be stopped by the branches immediately.

Before she even realized it she stumbled and fell, the timelines building up around her like a jungle.

"Fuck!!"

For a moment she couldn't see him, they blocked her sight..they were everywhere, whispering, forcing her to stay in place.

Protecting their king.

She felt ridiculous, speaking to the branches and particularly because was almost pleading now.

"Let me through, I'm not going to harm him..or drag him away from his precious throne.."

But she wanted to..she wanted to pull him away from that thing, detangle him from this self- imposed destiny, scream a thousand malices at him, slap him in the face..and then press her goddamn lips against his.

But all she got was a jungle of timelines surrounding her and a gush of frustration.

"Common, Loki. Summon your branches back..I can't see anything."

A few moments passed before the chaos slowly cleared up.

She began to see him as he was grabbing the branches again, "Thank you very much"

For a few seconds there was that glimpse, before he seemed to remember something.

The god of stories sighed long and deep and his eyes turned into something which could be described as sad acceptance.

"It's okay...and it doesn't matter anymore..things are how they are. Besides, I'm not going to stand in your way, Sylvie. I meant what I said back then at the citadel. I want you to be okay, to be happy.."

Sylvie knitted her brows, not understanding why he brought that up now.

"What the hell are you talking about, Loki?"

There was something he didn't want to tell her, she felt it, some information, some realization.

It hang between them.

"Spit it out, Loki."

He took a deep breath, clearly hesistating, before he answered, "I saw you..outside the tavern..kissing her"

Sylvies eyes widened, "What?!..You saw me?"

Now it made sense that he wasn't surprised when she told him about Thor.

The enchantress sighed, her lips forming a bitter grin. She felt embarassed, exposed..and reacted defensive, "So, that's how it's gonna be from now on? You, sitting there on that throne you promised you wouldn't even want, stalking me? Well, that's just great.."

Sylvie trowed her arms up in frustration, walking back and forth, "Well, if your highness had waited just a few seconds longer.."

She was already bracing herself to end this sentence.

Do the one thing she hadn't done once in her life until now and looked deep into Lokis eyes.

And there she saw it..

He had already come to a conclusion, made up his mind, building his walls back up..the walls carried by countless branches, excessive heroism, misguided protectiveness and self told purpose..

So be it.

She had walls, too.

And they could be solid as stone.

"Nevermind.."

This time she was totally fine as the scene started to fade before her eyes.

In fact, it was perfect timing.

She had to say one last thing before she woke up, though.

"Do me a favour, Loki, and stop stalking me."

Chapter Text

She sat at the table, head lowered, repetitively stabbing the pancake on her plate with her fork.

Mobius noticed and placed a hand on hers.

"Everything alright? You seem to be in a particularly good mood today, Sylvie. Wanna tell old Mobius what's on your mind?"

"No," the enchantress said and shot him a deeply irritated gaze, "And stop talking of yourself in the third person, you sound like a creep.."

Sylvie stabbed the pancake once more, this time even louder, causing Thor and Love to look at her.

"But whatever crime, I bet the pancakes are innocent.." Mobius started and got a death stare from the goddess in return.

"Just let me finish breakfast in peace, Mobius."

"Okay, got it," he said in surrender and then to Love, "You're dad did a great job with these."

"You like marmelade or maple syrup better? I love maple syrup!!" the girl cheered and hold a fork to Mobius' mouth. He bit down and made a grateful moaning sound.

"Yeah, definitively my favourite, too!" the analyst confirmed and smiled at Love.

"You have a sweet tooth, agent Mobius?" Thor asked, coming out of the kitchen with another pan.

"Oh, that's an understatement," Mobius laughed.

"Pour a ton of sugar on it and Mobius is in," the grumpy woman next to him stated, looking down on her plate and the masacre she made of her breakfast.

Thor looked at her with curiosity, a joyful expression on his face.

"And what do you prefer, sister?"

Sylvie stopped the pancake torture at once and Mobius saw her jaw tense.

"I'd prefer you wouldn't call me sister," she grumbled.

Everyone was silent for a moment. When the enchantress looked up she was confronted with three confused and worried faces and decided to stand up.

"I'm sorry, guys. Thanks for the breakfast, Thor. But that's too much happy family right now. I'll leave and look for something to hit or stab for real.."

And with that the goddess left, slamming the door behind her.

"What's the matter?" Thor asked with a questioning voice.

"I don't know. But I think I'll better go after her," Mobius answered and bend down to Love, "Save me some pancakes, okay? Don't let your dad eat all of them."

The girl grinned at him and promised with a pinky swear. He waved at them and left.

After searching the woods and the harbor, he found her sitting on a cliff and with one last deep breath he walked towards her, surprised at what he saw.

There she sat, his hotheaded chaos queen, not stabbing or scaring anything..

But petting a stray cat.

"Well, that's a first," the analyst remarked with a surprised tone, sitting down beside her.

"Found her screaming her lungs out down there," she said, pointing to a ledge a few steps under them, "She seemed lost..look how skinny she is. I'm going to ask Thor for some meat later."

The enchantress stroked the entirely black fur gently and got rewarded with purring and a headbutt.

"You think the mother's coming back?" the analyst asked.

"Didn't see any other cat around. Given her condition, I think she's already alone for a while.."

He looked at the small kitten. Her tousled fur was lackluster and you could clearly see the bones through her skin.

"You want to adopt her?" Mobius asked and stuck his hand out, letting the little kitten sniff, before he carefully stroked her head.

Despite how it looked, the fur was really soft.

"Maybe.." the blonde woman answered, thoughtfully, "Don't know if I'm good with living things, though.."

"She seems to like you," Mobius noted warmly.

"Yeah, well, in that case, chances are that she'll die or hit the road anytime soon."

Sylvie let out a scornful laugh, "Or perhaps she'll purr herself into my heart first, before she realizes her true destiny is to save the universe, go all cat- jesus- mode and turn into a giant catnip- tree.."

Mobius didn't know if to laugh or hug her. But he wasn't sure if that would be too much right now, so he gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm used to your sunny disposition, Sylvie..but not to this amount of bitterness. What's the matter?"

The goddess looked at the waves, all the time petting the black stray in front of her.

"I was there again.."

Mobius was all ears now, waiting for her to go on. There was a long pause and it seemed as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself a few times.

Then suddenly her gaze hardened and her jaw tensed up.

"I want to know why this happens and then stop it."

He tilted his head, wanting her to look at him, "Sylvie, look at me.." and added as she shook her head, "..please."

She hesistated first, but then turned her head and he saw her watery eyes.

"What happened?"

"It's okay, Mobius. I'm too old to live in fairyland..he's fine, he has his purpose, he has his throne. Everything's alright.."

But Mobius looked at her in disbelief, "I want to shake you so desperately right now, can you imagine that? You two are just so unbelievable.."

Sylvie didn't answer so he continued, "Did you see him? Did you see how skinny he is?!"

The gaze on the enchantress' face was upset now, "Of course I saw it. I'm not blind, Mobius. But that doesn't mean anything..it's not that he has to eat, anyway. Grown beyond that, I suppose.."

She shook her head, "We don't even know what he is, Mobius..he certainly isn't human anymore, that's for sure.."

"Not that he was particularly human in the first place," Mobius stated with a raised eyebrow.

"You know what I mean. Demigod or not..I have to eat and sleep and pee..he's not tied to this world anymore, Mobius."

She paused for a moment, sighing deep, "He's gone.."

He saw that she blinked tears away.

"What did you guys talk about? Something happened..the thing you said to Brunnhilde..our talk with Thor.."

Her hands were trembling now, her voice shaky, "I confronted him, asked him why he locked us out at the temporal loom. He said there was no time to say goodbye, but that's bullshit..you know it is, Mobius. It was unfair. And I'm so done with pretending that his sacrifice was pure altruism, because it wasn't. He's done what he always did, playing god, deciding for everyone..I told him the kiss wasn't just a distraction but then..yeah, I got cold feet. Flight mode kicking in. Leftover from running all my life, I suppose."

She took a deep breath, grounding herself, petting the kitten with soft hands.

"He let go of the timelines out of reflex, which shocked us both..and the branches didn't die, which was even more shocking. That was the chance, I wanted to go to him..but they stopped me. I couldn't get through..it was impossible..then he revealed to me, that he saw the kiss with Valkyrie.."

Sylvie chuckled with disbelief, shaking her head. Mobius looked at her with wide eyes, "He watched it?"

The enchantress turned and locked eyes with him, "Honestly, Mobius, does this really surprise you? Not me..he's established himself some nice playground to satisfy his need for control."

"I wouldn't go this far, Sylvie..He just wants to make sure you're okay.."

He probably shouldn't have said that, but he realized his mistake not until she shot him the most disgusted look since he went out of the control room to get some pie during the loom- chaos.

"You're kidding me right now..Seriously, Mobius?! But I'm not surprised that you legitimize this..you've done it yourself your whole life, didn't you? Watching people, deciding if you like what you see and then make your judgement. There's a name for that..That's stalking, Mobius..that's abuse!"

Despite..or perhaps because of her anger and shaking, the black cat snuggled against Sylvie, rolling herself up into a small ball in her lap.

Mobius knew her emotions didn't just come from her talk with Loki..it was a mixture..a mixture of their meeting and her experience with the TVA and her past.

He knew she had nightmares.

She told him about them a few weeks ago. Nightmares of He who Remains and the TVA..the analyst guessed it all came back, now that she finally found some peace after all those years on the run. Now her mind had the chance to deal with all the stuff she went through.

He was positive, that it was some sort of post- traumatic stress disorder.

Sometimes the guilt creeped over him, when he looked at his chaos queen, especially when she was so vulnerable.

But there was no way to undo what the TVA did to her..what they took away from her..

"No wonder Loki was so eager to work for the TVA. You have the same twisted idea of peace - keeping and protection."

Now Mobius shook his head and tried to place a hand on her shoulder, but she flinched away, "Come on, Sylvie, you're taking the easy way out here..there was a lot of chaos, you were there yourself. Things are not always black and white.."

Sylvie shook his hand away, "I was about to tell him that he just had to watch a few moments longer, but he already made his conclusion. A conclusion he got from watching me without any consent or knowing. He told me he wants me to be happy, doesn't want to stand in my way..yeah, sure, tell it to the marines..because it's all his call, like it always is..why listen to my words when his majesty already made up his mind.. If that's not twisted, tell me what is.."

"You two talk at cross purposes..you want the same thing, Sylvie.."

"But it's not possible, Mobius!! Even if you're right, the branches keep him there, they won't let him go..and he doesn't want to, because he's a coward..and yeah, maybe I'm too. And maybe..he and I..it just wasn't meant to be.."

The kitten meowed and looked with wide eyes at her, headbutting her hand. The enchantress stroked her little head.

"Listen, Sylvie.."

"No, Mobius, you listen to me now!!! I lived my whole life, a thousand fucking years, watching my every move because there was a fascist organisation that just waited for me to step on a wrong leaf. While you were sitting in your comfy chair at the TVA, eating pie, observing your next pruning target and Loki bathing himself in his own glory, fantasizing about being king and commanding people around..I ran from apocalypse to apocalypse, fighting to survive another fucking day.."

She stood now, holding the kitten in her arms, "So, for the record: I'm not going to romanticize this asshole watching from above like some benevolent godly thing..but hey, I have an idea - why don't YOU TWO just start something?! Because you clearly share the same toxic perception of helping and saving people."

"The TVA chairs really aren't this comfy and I think I prefer redheads..," he analyst started, trying to make a joke, loosen up the heated situation.

Didn't work.

Of course it wouldn't..

Once fueled on, the goddess of mischief was a loose cannon. Which he respected..in fact, he admired her. Two unleashed demigods had somehow managed to turn inside out and bring down an organisation which existed for eons, all within the blink of an eye.

But for now she had seemingly decided to leave it at that and with one last withering look at him she ultimatively gave her attention back to the little, meowing thing in her arms.

"Let's get you inside and see if we find something to eat for you."

When she had already turned her back on him, she added, "I want to know why this happens and then I want it to stop. Give him his glorious solitude back and me my peace.."

Mobius sighed deep and nodded.

Eons of experience and yet these two demigods were the most stubborn and complicated beings he ever had the honor of meeting.

She cradled the little furball to her chest, as she opened the door.

It took maybe five seconds before an excited eight year old ran into her.

"Aww, she's soo cute!!"

Sylvie crouched down to the girl, "Careful Love, she's tiny and she's hungry..would you take her for a moment, while I ask your Dad for some meat?"

"Dad's in the kitchen. I'll promise I protect her," the girl confirmed with joy and excitement.

The enchantress nodded, handed the kitten carefully over and went to the kitchen.

There stood the mighty Thor, in a kitchen apron, doing the dishes.

"Thor, god of thunder, chosen for the sacred duty of dish washing," Sylvie said, standing next to him.

He turned his head and smiled warmly, "Chosen for the sacred duty of being a dad."

Sylvie remembered her statement from before and felt a little uncomfortable now in his presence. He was really nice, opened his doors for them, but the all sunshine- and- rainbows- atmosphere was just too much..

She had woken up with an aching heart and a bunch of anger in her stomach..and at the same time she felt strangely hollow and ten minutes after that a jolly Mobius had called her for breakfast..

The goddess returned his smile shyly, "About what I said earlier..the sister thing.."

But he shook his head, "That's okay, Sylvie. It's a little weird, I understand that..and much to process, for both of us. I mean, two days ago I didn't even know you existed..or variants in general..and everything"

She nodded, grateful for his understanding and remembered why she came here in the first place, "I found a little kitten outside. Do you have some meat and water for her?"

"Oh..of course, wait.." he answered, opening the fridge, handing her a few pieces of meat, "Beef fillet, she'll like that for sure."

"Thanks, Thor," Sylvie said, taking the fillet, putting it into a bowl.

As she walked into the living room, Mobius was already there, sitting with Love on the carpet, the kitten between the two of them. Love held a cord, moving it up and down, laughing with joy when the kitten jumped, trying to catch it.

Sylvie gave Mobius a nod and sat down with them, putting the meat in front of the black furball.

"Hey, little one, time for lunch."

The kitten immediately jumped at the bowl and nearly fell over it in the process, causing a laugh from all three.

"There you are..hey, not so fast. It's all yours," Sylvie commented the gulping kitten.

"She's really hungry!" Love stated, exited, grinning at the enchantress, "What's her name?"

Sylvie thought for a long moment, looking at her new fluffy companion and put on a smile.

"Nélya"

"The horned one," Mobius mentioned, slowly approaching to the goddess again.

"The survivor," Sylvie corrected.

"How suitable," the agent said, smiling warmly.

A moment later Thor came out of the kitchen, grinning from ear to ear.

"There's someone waiting for you outside, Sylvie."

She knitted her brows, looking suspicious at the god and his wide grin. He really was a ray of sunshine, wasn't he?

"Come on, you'll like that!" Thor assumed and the goddess stood.

"I'll take care of Nélya!!" Love promised with googly eyes.

Sylvie opened the door and hardly believed what she saw there.

Valkyrie, and beside her..

..a horse..

A giant, elegant, white horse.

"Good morning, mysterious woman. Ready for your first riding lesson?"

Wide eyes stared back and forth between the smiling Brunnhilde and the..really, really big animal besides her.

"I said I put you on a horse today and I stand by my promises."

"Seems like you're on a roll with living things today," an amused analyst said, patting her back.

"Hop on, mysterious woman. I'll show you the hidden gems of New Asgard"

Chapter Text

It took her a lot of effort not to fall off the horse every 30 seconds.

One of the times she almost fell, Valkyrie laughed so hard, they had to pause.

"Admit it, you just wanted a good laugh today," Sylvie stated, clinching at the mane, a constant look of panic on her face.

"Well, shit.. you've got me there," the black-haired woman answered between laughing and breathing.

"You said you had a horse for beginners!" the enchantress complained, as the animal jerked and kicked with one of his hind legs a little.

"It is," Val assured, grinning with pure amusement, "Hold on, we're almost there"

They walked for what felt like eternity, but in fact it was more likely half an hour. After passing the harbor, a few fields and lonely cottages, they were now walking into a forest. A few minutes later Sylvie saw the destination Val wanted to show her.

Right before their eyes there was a giant waterfall, coming down a steep mountain.

"There we are"

"It's beautiful," the enchantress marveled and clearly relieved to take a break.

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?"

Brunnhilde climbed off her horse and helped the other, making Sylvies stomach twitch a little. Looking into the Asgardians eyes she remembered why she was so attracted to her in the first place. And it hadn't just been the alcohol..

They sat down near the waterfall on a rock, looking at the water coming down.

Valkyrie held her hand in the water and a second later taking Sylvies to feel it, too.

"Shit, that's cold!"

Val laughed, "I jumped in there once. It's great..really vitalizing..if you want to get your head straight.."

The black-haired woman looked at Sylvie, apparently sensing some turmoil in her.

"..or if you wanna freeze to death," she added, pulling her hand out as well.

"Or if you wanna bet against Thor. You wouldn't guess, but that muscleman is a delicate flower."

Sylvie grinned as well, "He's really a happy-go-lucky guy, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he is," Val started and then thought about it, her expression getting more serious now, "..most of the time. But there had been this five shitty years.."

She took a stone and threw it into the water with a twist. It jumped two times, "The blip thing ring any bells? And..Thanos?"

Sylvie looked at her and nodded, "The one who snapped away half of existence..I was actually in a fight when it happened. One moment I kicked this guys ass, the next he just disappeared in a pile of dust.."

"Yeah, the mad titan. A real liberator.." the other stated, her voice drenched in sarcasm, "But before all that happened, he captured our ship..it was right after Ragnarok. He killed a lot of the Asgardians..and also.."

"Loki," Sylvie finished the sentence and Brunnhilde nodded.

"Thor had just lost his father, his home..and then in the grand finale his brother.."

Val took another stone and threw it, "He loved that man. I don't know what Loki told you, the other one..umm..I don't get the variant stuff just now..Thor told me a little yesterday after you spoke, but he was all pent-up and just gave me a rough overview.. but he loved this man. They were as different as chalk from cheese and if there was a 'worst-brother-award' chances are high Loki would have won the thing. He betrayed and stabbed him probably more times than you can count..he could have held a knife at Thors throat, literally ready to cut it and the last words from that naive blonde idiot would've been 'I love you, brother'.

Sylvie now took a stone herself, concentrating, throwing it. It jumped three times, which made her cheer.

"So..Loki then," Brunnhilde started, looking at the enchantress.

The blonde woman sighed, "Yeah, well, it's complicated.."

"Always is," Val agreed.

"Would it make a difference, if I said he doesn't deserve you?" she asked only half serious, "Listen, about the greasy madman thing.."

"You don't have to.." Sylvie started but was instantly interrupted.

"No, no..don't get me wrong. I'm not taking that back. In my opinion he IS exactly that. I could tell you a good one of how we met on Sakaar.."

Val stopped, only wanting to make a point, but Sylvie looked at her with a curious gaze so she continued.

"Okay..so, I already told you about Hela, the evil sister and firstborn daughter of Odin..funny enough, would be more fitting that Thor was the adopted one..anyway..you didn't have a 'Hela' in your family?"

The goddess shook her head, "Not that I know of.."

Val laughed, "Well, Thor and Loki didn't know, as well. Not until Odin died, at least..another funny story, by the way. Loki is responsible for his demise, because he exiled his beloved dad to a care home on earth.."

She laughed at that and looked at the other woman with a raised eyebrow, "Be honest, you really sure you wanna get involved with that man?"

Sylvie didn't answer, just looked absent-minded to the waterfall.

"Anyway, Hela and Odin have an interesting backstory as well.."

Brunnhilde told the pretty surprising and shocking story about father and daughter conquering the nine realms together, the battle of the valkyries against Hela, the death of her girlfriend and that she exiled herself after that on Sakaar.

"And then, one day I got in touch with the royal Asgardian brothers. We needed to get off the planet to save Asgard..again..before we did, Loki and I had a fight and he pretty much made me relive my trauma by using his magics, satisfying his curiosity by forcing me to re-experience my fight with Hela.."

Beside her Sylvie sighed, a sarcastic little smile on her face.

"Yeah, sounds like something he would have done.."

Val looked at her, "And you are a variant of him? From another timeline, another universe?"

"Basically yes, it's a bit complicated.."

So it was Sylvies time to tell her story. How she was kidnapped, about the TVA, her life on the run, her mission to bring down the organisation and the one(s) who were pulling the strings.

"And then I met Loki.."

She threw a stone in the water vigorously, "And from that moment on things got really chaotic. At some point he managed to doom us on a planet that would get destroyed within the next 12 hours.."

Sylvie couldn't help but smile at the memory of meeting the chaos god, being stuck on Lamentis, forced to work together.

She told her about the void and Mobius and the citadel at the end of time and their different perspectives.

"What happened next?"

Val was all ears, somehow really invested in her story.

"And then I freed the timeline and pretty much the multiverse," the enchantress answered with a shrug.

The eyes of the dark-haired woman widened, "And..is it a good or a bad thing?"

"Definitely a good thing! It means free will for everyone..possibilities that were never there before.." she said with a convinced tone, but her gaze was more thoughtful than she'd liked.

The story continued with her choosing a timeline to live on and how Mobius and Loki showed up again, the temporal-loom-problem, Victor Timely and the kang variants in general and Lokis final decision so step outside, destroying the loom and replacing it with himself.

"And now he sits there on his precious throne, watching over us like the godly idiot that he is.."

Sylvie looked at the sky above and Val followed her with her own eyes.

She didn't tell her about the recent dreams and the conversation with Loki.

"I still can't believe this. There has to be some crazy brainwashing shit going on in that TVA to get this horned egomaniac to care for someone else than himself..this Mobius agent, he looks suspicious. With that.."

"..mustache," Sylvie concluded and they both laughed.

"Yeah, exactly!! Who still wears something like that today? In my opinion only crazy psychopaths."

They looked at each other and Val placed her hand on the others.

"Hey, whatever happens..as Thor already said, you have always a home in New Asgard. When he told me about your conversation, his eyes were glimmering the whole time. I think having his..um..sister?" She made a pause, realizing it was difficult to find the right word, "..a member of the family here would be good for him."

She gave her the warmest smile, "And I'm here, too. We could benefit from your fighting skills and your presence lightens up..well, everything."

Val leaned forward and gave the blonde woman a kiss on the cheek, "I just have to say it..he doesn't deserve you. But maybe that's just my jealousy speaking..you're damn sexy.."

Sylvie grinned and both women hugged.

Brunnhilde stood and offered Sylvie a hand, "Come on, mysterious woman, I want to show you some more things. Maybe I can convince you to stay."

In that moment, a thought came to Sylvies mind.

"I adopted a stray today just before you showed up. I hope I'll get her back from Love when we come back."

"Oh, you better pray. If that girl wants something she can get stubborn as hell."

They got back on their horses (which gave the Asgardian some more opportunities to laugh), rode along the coasts and the beautiful countryside of New Asgard.

It was already evening when they arrived at the village and Thors house.

The moment Sylvie entered the living room, she realized her feeling had been right.

Love was laying on the couch, the cat on her lap, both deeply asleep, around them a ton of toys.

"Hey, welcome back, sis..Sylvie," Thor cheered and she saw the joy on his face. She smiled in return, a warm feeling in her heart.

Mobius and Thor were sitting at the table, a beer in front of them. The whole atmosphere was warm and light.

"Mobius was just about to tell me the story of this..void and the giant cloud monster and how you met an alligator Loki."

"Yeah, variants of that special being seemed to survive nearly everything, even a place like the void. And the alligator was the cherry on the cake.." Mobius said, grinning at Sylvie, "Come, sit down with us, goddess of chaos."

"You want a beer, Sylvie?"

Thor was already on his feet but the enchantress shook her head.

"Thanks Thor but I think I'll pass this time, I'm tired."

She nodded at Love and Nélya, "Seems like we're staying another night."

Thor shot her an apologetic gaze, "She didn't let her out of  her sight, played with her until they both got so exhausted, that the fell asleep within seconds."

They both looked at the sleeping girl and Sylvie smiled, before she went to the bedroom Thor provided.

That night it wasn't Yggdrasil she dreamt of.

But it was mind-bending all the same.

"Love"

Sylvie called her name, walking towards the rock where the brunette girl was standing.

"Wanna come inside, your dad made pancakes for us all.."

But she couldn't finish her sentence, before a hand took hers out of nowhere and pulled her away.

In an instant the cliffs and hills faded before her eyes and suddenly she found herself sourrounded by golden lights and a scenery that was kind of familiar.

A palace bathed in warm lights of fire torches and the sounds and scents of a beautiful summer evening..

"Oh hello little fella"

She heard a voice, the voice of a child, seemingly a boy. He was excited about something. She could hear the pure joy only the heart of an innocent child was capable of.

Untouched from the world, still save and sound..

Sylvie turned to see from where the voice was coming and saw a golden haired boy, bending down to something.

He was more than familiar, only much younger than the man she knew now. She couldn't immediately identify what he saw was but something moved down there, wriggling.

Sylvie tried to guess his age, maybe six or seven..she was not good at guessing ages.

Only a little older than the brother she had to leave behind..

He reached for the wriggling thing, his hands trembling with happiness and excitement.

A warm smile was forming on her lips because of the emotion and joy of this child and so she watched him and now she could see what it was.

It was a snake..

A green snake with golden stripes..and the boy picked it up in admiration, fearless, and looked at it as if it was the most precious thing in the world.

He held it to his chest, probably ready to adopt it and call it his own and then something happened..a green glow appeared. It wasn't enough time and the moment he let it go the snake had already turned into..

..another boy, dark-haired, dressed in green and gold.

"Wahh, it's me!!"

She could see the shimmering weapon in his hand, sharp and ready to stab someone.

And so he did.

He stabbed the blonde boy in the belly and Sylvie pressed her hand to her mouth in terror and shock.

A shrill scream filled the air.

"Ahh why did you do this?!"

The blonde screamed and cried and tried to hit the other but the flesh wound hurt so he just landed one strike before he nearly collapsed to the ground.

Sylvie started to move forward, wanted to help him but at the same time the crying boy already ran into her direction and directly through her.

"Mom, Loki stabbed me!!!"

She looked at the black-haired boy, who was now turning to watch his brother run away in pain and she saw the smirk on his face.

That smirk..

In that moment the scenery faded and the small hand of the child grabbed hers again.

"Come"

She looked to her side and saw the same dark-haired boy, holding her hand, looking at her with big blue eyes, eyes she knew all to well, an unreadable expression in them.

"Where do you take me?" the enchantress asked with curiosity and confusion but he just pulled at her hand and when she didn't move he shook his head, let go of her hand and ran, slowly disappearing into the darkness.

"Wait," Sylvie shouted and ran after him.

Everything was clouded before her eyes, clouded and dark.

And suddenly..

..she was on a square, a big city, huge buildings surrounding her.

She immediately felt the tumult which filled the air, heard the noises and saw..a crowd..standing outside a building.

No, they were not standing, they were herded together and she could see fear and terror on their faces. The horror of the whole scenery was almost palpable.

The next thing she saw was someone stepping out of a building, walking slowly, relaxed even, down a red carpet, a spear in his hand.

And on his head..

Horns..

Sylvies eyes widened with realization.

A helmet with big, golden horns. He was wearing a long green cape and massive green and golden armor, leather and metal plated.

People were still running outside the building, past him, into the crowd, left him completely unimpressed.

It was bizarre.

The man suddenly turned his head just a bit and she saw him move and blue flames were coming out of..the spear..his hands?

Out of reflex she jumped to the side but the flame just went through her and she heard crashing sounds of cars and sirens behind her.

But all that..the noises, the car crashes, wasn't what frightened her.

It was the look in his eyes.

Cold blooded was the first thing that came to her mind at the expression on his face, in his eyes.

She had seen a lot of expressions in that mans eyes..ambitious, combative, amusing, mischievious, angry, caring, tired, full of love..

Loki spoke with his eyes.

They say the eyes are the mirror to the soul..that statement was meant for him, made for him..

But she'd never seen them like this.

And it froze the blood in her veins.

"Kneel"

His commanding voice filled the air, a voice she knew all to well..and at the same time it was as if it came from another person..

She couldn't believe it was the same voice who said things like, "All I know is that I don't wanna hurt you" to her..

He hammered the spear on the ground.

"I said..KNEEL!!"

She jumped at that and the crowd followed his order, going down on their knees.

At this point there were several magic duplicates of him, surrounding the crowd.

Sylvie looked at the sky, the expression on her face confused but also challenging, "Is that what it's about Loki? Do you want to frighten me by showing me those things?"

She wasn't even sure what this was..a dream? A vision?

No answer was given..of course not..

Sylvie looked down to the child who was sitting on the ground now, legs pressed to his chest, rocking back and forth.

The enchantress crouched down to him, to comfort him and she also wanted to take her eyes off the shocking scene before her.

She touched the shoulder of the boy who flinched at her touch and looked at her with watery eyes.

"Do you see?" he asked, agony in his voice. It broke her heart in two..no child should know so much pain..even if it was all an imagination and the pain was mirroring the hurt of the elder, mature version of that boy.

But it was her pain, too.

The pain of a child, ripped out of her reality, alone, her whole life on the run..

She touched his cheek, caressed his face.

"I see a boy in pain," she answered his question.

Child Loki shook his head and pointed to the other one, the elder one.

"What do you see?"

She didn't want to but looked at the bizarre scene before her again.

"Isn't this simpler. Isn't this your natural state.."

The man was now walking through the crowd, his spear in hand, looking down at everyone of them.

"It's the unspoken truth of humanity that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity."

Fragments of their conversation at the citadel came to her mind..

"Did you listen to what he was saying. That's the gambit..without the dictator, what fills the void?"

She shook off the thought. That's not how it was anymore.

That's not how HE was anymore..

"You were made to be ruled. In the end you'll always kneel."

Sylvie shook her head at those words, unbelieving and desperately trying to fit them into the picture of the man she knew.

It didn't work.

She tried to get an answer, again, "Yeah, that's some terrible ideological shit going on there, I get it. Not your brightest moment. Maybe that massive helmet cut off your blood circulation."

The enchantress smiled at her own words. She still nailed it. And she missed the discussions with him. Pissing each other off. The back and forth, both of them quick-witted in their own individual way.

The boy pulled at her hand.

"Do you see?"

The blonde woman looked at the man in front of her again, covered in layers and layers of leather and metal, his face half covered..half hidden..behind that big helmet..the heavy leather boots..

She put aside the words he said, the terror he brought to those people, the cold blooded expression in his eyes..

And it was all the same..

"I see a boy in pain"

She shared eye contact with the young version of Loki and for a moment the pain in his eyes turned into something else.

He felt seen, it was warm.

Sylvie looked at the sky again.

"But at the end you freed them all. All the timelines, all the people. From wanna-be-enslaver to free-will-giver..it's quite a turn, don't you think?"

In that moment everything faded again in front of her eyes.

She immediately remembered the next setting. The dome, the sword, the bifrost..

Asgard..

It was a fight scene, two man standing across from each other.

Ready to attack, ready to cause the other as much pain as possible.

The blonde had his hammer in hand, rage flowing through every vein, rage and hurt and disbelief. It was a wild mixture of feelings.

The black-haired had tears in his eyes, tears of hate and pain.

"Come on, what happened to you on earth that turned you so soft?"

He spat the raw emotion in his brothers face, who did not reply, which encouraged Loki to go on.

He had told her.

During their conversation in pie land. That he had mocked his brother after he was banished from Asgard.

The two brothers couldn't be more different.

One fought with hands and hammers, the other with words and magic. But it served the same purpose - make the invisible pain visible, give it a form and give it a target.

In the corner of her eye she saw that the small boy next to her had covered his ears with his hands, rocking back and forth again.

"Oh, it was. Well maybe, when we're finished here, I pay her a visit myself!"

This part he had left out..

Sylvie stumbled backwards at his words, the cruel insult and foreshadowing, hair standing on end and she wished she had covered her ears, too.

When Thor attacked his brother the scene faded again before her eyes.

The next moment she was standing in a yellow-brown room, lights dimmed and as she turned around she saw him..

Loki.

Sitting on the ground, on a stair at the TVA.

This was how she remembered him. With his shirt and tie, the sword holder on his back, the blood on his shoulder.

His eyes full of grief, full of pain..broken

She realized..and her heart hurt like stabbed with a dagger.

"Love is a dagger.."

It was after she kicked him trough the time door.

She walked towards him, knew he couldn't see her, that it was all an imagination but she did it anyway.

Sylvie sat down across from him.

"Loki, why am I seeing all this?"

Frustration hit her hard as his face once again faded before her eyes and everything went black.

The first thing she heard was his voice.

A voice that should haunt her up to her dreams..her nightmares.

"Without me..without the T.V.A..everything burns"

But now she was sitting on the other side of the desk, at the window, behind him.

..He who Remains..

"We're all villains here..we all did terrible, awful..horrific things.."

It was a strange perspective, to see herself sitting there. Her gaze, focused on her lifetime goal, her mission..

The freedom for everybody. Freedom she never had..she wanted to give it to them.

It was her destiny, her purpose.

She was determined, never looking left or right..

But from this perspective she finally had the opportunity to watch Loki.

The turmoul inside him.

And she saw what she hadn't seen in this moment. He wasn't sure..he was ambivalent, he was desperate, he was..

..afraid.

"But now we..you..have the chance to do them for a good reason."

And then the threshold was crossed.

And from this point on their thinking and inner decisions branched off like the timeline behind her..

"You want the throne"

"No..that's not it..no"

It was the truth.

A truth she didn't want to know and didn't want to believe because it fit into everything..her self- fulfilling prophecy.

That she could trust nobody.

No one should be trusted and especially not Loki.

He would betray her..he would stab her in the back.

As he did.

Only that he didn't.

She looked at the two people, the two demigods..who were so similar but divided nevertheless.

He was so desperate to do the right thing.

For all the chaos and pain he had caused all those years - the thing he wanted so desperately was stability and orientation.

He didn't plan on betraying her. Formost, he didn't want to betray her.

He wanted to do the right thing.

So did she.

There was no possible way to find a solution in this decision.

Because there was no middleground.

They were both just complete polar opposites of a spectrum.

"I just want you to be okay"

When she saw her own sword drop Sylvie turned and looked outside the window, no need to look any longer..she didn't want to see it.

The view was beautiful, stunning. A perfect network of colors, slowly freeing itself from the restricted corset it was forced in for such a long time.

A network of endless possibilies, from which salvation and disaster would emerge equally.

Free will..

"Did I do the right thing?" the enchantress asked the being that now stood beside her.

"What's right, what's wrong?"

"They should all have the possibility to chose..to live by their own terms. To have free will.."

"Sounds right to me.." the being answered in a calm voice and nodded.

"But there will be a lot of pain and death that wasn't there before.." Sylvie added deep in thought.

"I assume that's the consequence of free will and the decision you made. The other side of the coin.."

The enchantress turned to face the other.

"You have no easy answers for me, do you?"

It looked at her with what seemed like endless wisdom.

"It's not about getting easy answers. This is about facing the questions.."

The enchantress thought about that for a long moment.

"I didn't ask any questions.." Sylvie stated for the very first time, "..because I thought I already knew the answer."

"Did you show me all of this? The small boy, Loki..was that you?"

It nodded but didn't answer with words.

"Why? Why am I seeing this?"

"Ask the right questions and you will find the answer, Sylvie."

And then it happened..the timeline broke..they witnessed it together and the goddess touched the glass with her hand.

"He thinks he deserves it. It's about guilt and atonement.."

It was just an assumption and of course it wasn't that easy..never was..

There were layers upon layers, just like his armor, just like their story.

No easy answers..

No simple truth..

"I doomed him. I doomed him to sit there and hold it all together. On a throne he never wanted..because I thought I knew the answers to questions I never even asked.."

Bitterness and realization in her voice..

But the being shook his head, "These are statements, not the question that needs an answer.."

She thought about everything she saw and everything she knew.

There was always a prize..

The prize of decision..

The prize of truth..

The prize of freedom..

.

"What are you so afraid of?"

.

"Me"

.

"You came to kill the devil"

.

"..and an infinite amount of me cause another multiversal war and I end up right back here anyways"

.

"We're all coming, you can't stop it."

.

"And when it's time, even your god won't save you.."

.

And then it hit her..

"Is he save..where he is..is he save on that throne?"

"The seat was taken, the purpose was fulfilled..the burden is heavy..the threat is growing..the multiverse doesn't rest..and the fall from the highest throne is the deepest.."

And then everything faded before her eyes..

Chapter Text

He was just about to take the first bite of his still warm muffin, when he heard something.

Next thing that happened was a sight he didn't get every day.

And one he wouldn't forget.

The goddess of mischief, standing in the doorframe in a wide shirt, hair messy, eyes widened as though she'd seen a ghost.

"We have to get him out of this throne!!"

Mobius froze in the moment, mouth still open, the muffin in his hand. He looked at the chaos queen with disbelief in his eyes.

"Did you hear me, Mobius?!"

"Loud and clear"

Sylvie was standing there with the most miserable but defiant gaze, seemingly just jumped out of bed.

"And did you understand it?!"

He pointed to the empty place beside him. No one was there at the moment, Thor was at some meeting and Love was practising sword fighting with Brunnhilde.

It had been a quiet morning. Just him, his breakfast, and the cat who made herself noticable every now and then.

Until Sylvie decided to shake things up.

"Why don't you take a seat first, Sylvie. How about some coffee? Thor made scrambled eggs before he left..some food in the belly calms the nerves.."

Sylvie knitted her brow, "I'm not you, Mobius. Not everything can be solved with calories."

"But it doesn't hurt, eiter," he replied with his warmest smile, trying to talk her down a bit, pouring her a cup of coffee, "Come, sit with me."

The enchantress sighed and sat down, running her fingers through her hair, refusing the eggs Mobius pushed over to her, "He's not save there.."

The analyst pushed the plate to her again, "Well, he won't go away the next few minutes and I'm pretty sure you won't help him by starving yourself."

The goddess shot him this one look, that typical 'Really, Mobius?' look.

She should apply for a patent on it.

"You're not taking me seriously, do you?"

"I do, Sylvie. But that's a rapid change of heart and you need to grant me a minute to catch up. Yesterday you told me you want it to stop and that we should give him his glorious solitude back.."

Sylvie sighed even deeper, "Yeah, that was before some creature..some being..showed me scenes from his life and basically spelled it out for me that he's not safe there."

Mobius looked at her confused, "What does that mean..scenes from his life?"

"He as a kid showed it to me..the time he stabbed Thor after turning into a snake..a fight with his brother on the bifrost..his earth invasion.."

"You saw him in germany?"

"Yeah, in all his glory. Great experience, captivating speech, no need to see it twice."

Mobius chuckled, "Yeah, he won't be happy that you saw him there. What else?"

The enchantress took a fork and unwillingly picked at her food, "I was at the citadel. It was basically the scene with He who Remains but from another perspective. I watched the fight and at some point there was a being standing..or floating..next to me. He urged me to ask a question. Speaking of it now feels strange, but everything made sense in this moment.."

From one corner of the room came a "meow" and a few seconds later Nélya jumped on Sylvies lap, headbutting her hand, looking up to her with her big eyes.

"Hey there," the enchantress said and although she was still stressed out, the presence of the cat seemed to calm her nerves a little, "How are you? Did Love take good care of you?"

"Not only Love, she had my attention, too. Fed her some meat and cheese..she likes to be petted behind the ears.."

The analyst was grateful for the little distraction to calm Sylvie down, even if it was just for a moment.

She stroked over the seemingly already more shiny black fur and finally took a sip from her coffee, "Anyway, he's not safe on that throne.."

Mobius knitted his brow, "That's what I tried to tell you yesterday..he gets thinner, the strange bark on his face will grow.."

Sylvie rolled her eyes, "It's so typical..first we have to worry about his timeslipping thing, now we have to worry about his holy tree-ness.." with that she looked up, "You're the biggest drama queen in history..I hope you know that!"

"Who's the biggest drama queen?"

A door was slammed open, and a second later a smiling Thor stood in the doorframe and an agitated Love ran directly to Sylvie, taking Nélya with her approval out of her lap.

"Your brother," Sylvie stated dryly, finally taking a bite from her muffin.

Thor laughed and sat between them, "Yes, I already knew that. But I think you two are the first ones who can tell this to his face without getting stabbed."

"Well, maybe he didn't try to stab me, because he knows that I'm better than him and that trying would end with me kicking his godly ass," the enchantress stuck her tongue out while looking up.

It was a strange thing to do, because they were inside and she basically talked to the ceiling.

Thor shot her an irritated gaze and followed hers, "Why do you talk to my ceiling?"

Sylvie lowered her head again and sighed, her voice getting a sarcastic undertone, "Well, because his majesty sits somewhere over the rainbow..or at the end of time or wherever, on his precious throne..watching over us."

Thor chuckled at that, "Are you being serious? You say he finally got his throne?"

"Yeah, the most lonely one..not at all what he had in mind all those years," Mobius answered the question.

Thors smiled, "And he can watch us? That's interesting..and also beautiful..like our ancestors in Valhalla."

The same moment he said it Mobius made a gesture with the side of his hand at his throat at Thor, signaling to drop the subject immediately.

But it was too late and now the thunder god had the pleasure to get the full experience of Sylvies unbelieving, disgusted gaze for the very first time.

One of her trademarks.

"Am I the only one who thinks stalking isn't romantic?!", she stood up with a start, an angry flame burning in her eyes, and as she saw Thors confused gaze she added, "I ran over a thousand years from people who watched me..ask the beloved analyst next to you."

She shot Mobius a glance, before she took off, "I need a cigarette!"

Mobius and Thor exchanged looks, "It's a sensitive topic. I was kind of a specialist in hunting Lokis down. These variants caused a lot of problems and endangered the order in der universe..or so we thought. A big mistake as it turned out..", and as his gaze turned more inward, thoughtful, "..one that cost her a lot. She was classified as comic mistake and since she escaped the TVA once..we tried everything to find her again."

Thinking of it gave him chills and not for the first time he felt utterly grateful that Sylvie called him her friend, after all they did to her.

Grateful they developed a friendship.

A connection that was precious to him..

"The two of them..as similar they might be in a certain light..there are HUGE differences in another.."

He gave him a short overview about Sylvies life on the run and her mission to find the one in charge, bringing down the TVA, opening up the multiverse.

"At some point these two, very different, somehow broken demigods had to decide over the fate of the whole multiverse..there were a lot of discussions, it was a wild time.."

It was almost a year now, which was somehow strange itself. Some days it felt like it happened yesterday, some days it was as if a lot of time had passed.

"And as crazy as it may sound to you, at the end, the last thing your brother wanted was a throne. He did it for us..and for her. I never experienced two Lokis form this kind of connection, and if two of them managed to work together, at the end it always went the same way..well, you can guess..betrayal, backstabbing..but these two, they were different from the beginning."

He thought about the moment Lokis file was handed to him in the church were the searched for Sylvie, and the gods trial at the TVA. If he hadn't stepped in, Loki would have been pruned that day.

"I think I might..have an idea of what he's capable of."

And, oh boy, was he capable..

A few minutes later a visibly calmer but still miserable Sylvie came back, sitting down, running her fingers through her hair.

"He thinks he deserves to sit there alone, but he didn't want the throne..he never did. I get that now.." she sighed long and deep, burying her face in her hands, "..why didn't he tell us his plan for god's sake..that stupid, egomaniac asshole..and now we have to drag him down this thing and we have no idea how to do this.."

Sylvie took another sip of her coffee, clinging to the cup, "I swear I'll get this self-sacrificial drama queen out of that thing..and even if it's just to kick his ass for not involving us in his plan.."

She looked up to the ceiling again, "You heard me, Laufeyson?! Don't you dare sitting there like the goddam messiah..you promised me something, remember? You know, the "figure it out together part" and now you sneaked yourself away again like the weasel you are. But not this time.."

Then the enchantress pointed to Mobius, "And when all of this is done, all I want to dream about are unicorns. No apple eaters, no narcicisstic tree-gods..just. fuckin. unicorns!"

He wanted it for her..

She deserved all the happiness in the world.

Then she took her muffin, nodded at Thor and went to Love and Nélya, "Unicorns, Mobius..fuckin unicorns."

When she was gone, Mobius grinned at Thor, "She's pretty confident."

Thor just laughed, "I think they're perfect for one another."

"If he survives her revenge," the analyst mused, grinning himself, "And if we can get him out of there.." his tone had become more thoughtful now, "But all signs seem to indicate that we must try.."

"What do you mean? Did something new happen?" Thor asked confused.

"Sylvie dreamt of him tonight..some strange being suggested that he's not safe where he is.."

The two man sat together in silence for a moment and Mobius looked at Sylvie, who laughed at Nélya tapping Love on the nose with her paw.

They had to try..

If there was a possibility, they had to try.

"And..is there a way to do that..get him out of there I mean?" the god of thunder asked, anticipation in his voice.

"It's hard to say.." Mobius was deep in thought, "..we have to speak with O.B, he's a scientist and kind of an expert when it comes to the temporal loom..or now Lokis Yggdrasil. Maybe it would also help to speak to another sorcerer..perhaps some sort of highly developed magic could help to get there.."

"Highly developed magic like opening a portal through dimensions?" Thor asked, obviously having something in mind.

"Maybe..it's worth a try.."

Thor grinned, "They we should visit an old friend of mine."

Chapter Text

"Do me a favour, Loki, and stop stalking me."

Her words echoed in his mind over and over like a merry-go-round and every time they cut a little deeper, making the wound even bigger.

The last thing he wanted was to hurt her. He had convinced himself that all he wanted was to make sure that she was okay, that she had the life she always wanted.

The life she deserved..

"I want a life..I want to live."

His last words had hurt her, he knew it. Had seen it in her eyes, in the way her lips moved, her body tensed up..heard it in her voice.

Loki thought about the moment that had led to this.

The moment when she had mentioned their kiss, the moment she had told him that it wasn't her only intention to distract him with it.

In this moment something had started to burn inside him again. A flame that hadn't been visible, but had always been there all the same.

He had felt the irrepressible urge to know it. Know why she had done it.. had to hear it out of her own mouth.

Had to know what it meant to her.

It had been the first time that they spoke about it at all and when she mentioned it, there was that hunger again, that need he had buried deep inside himself and he couldn't, no, he wouldn't let her get away with excuses.

And so he did the one thing that he never thought he would do, something that had never come to his mind before.

He let go of them all..

"Because you're holding the branches of the whole multiverse in your very hands.."

The moment it happened was so surreal that they both could just look at the moving timelines before their eyes.

The branches didn't die.

And for one tiny moment there was hope.

Hope that they could live without him.

Hope that he could climb down this throne.

Hope that he could take the woman he loved in his arms..

..and never let her go again.

And when their eyes met the world as they knew it, the whole multiverse, everything and all life in all universes seemed to stand still.

"At some point you have to ask yourself what it is that you really want"

And then the moment was over.

And hope was pushed away by bittersweet realization.

For some reason Sylvies words came to his mind. The words she had said to Miss Minutes when they walked into the citadel..her answer to the deal she had offered them.

Everything that they ever wanted..

Everything they ever craved..

And they could have it all together.

Sylvies answer to that had been realism in its purest form..words so real, so true, yet so hard to speak out loud considering all they could take, all that had been within their reach.

"That is fiction"

Quite similar to the words he had said to Mobius when the analyst had confronted him with his deepest fears. The fear to face his feelings, the fear to hurt her.

But also the irrational fear of happiness.

And that they should try..

Try to get him out of there.

"But for me, in this equation..it's all fiction. I'll stay here because I have to."

There it was..

It was fiction.

Before his eyes the god remembered everything that had happened from the moment she came here, the moment she stood before him again.

The pure joy and excitement to see her had turned into relief. Relief, that he was still a part of their lives, a part of his friends lives.

A part of her life.

The serious tone that had followed, her burning questions, listening to her talk about how she felt..it had all been necessary.

Never had come to his mind that it could have been this hard and hurtful for her that he had made the decision to step outside to destroy and replace the loom, alone.

Mobius had been right after all.

It was about time they spoke about it, spoke about what had happened between them. Verbalise all the pain and anger and frustration, everything that they hadn't had the time and space to reflect on.

It had never occured to him that Sylvie might want to talk about them so badly.

She had been so angry and he, for his part, had been so unsure.

And then within a heartbeat all the cards were on the table.

Even though she still couldn't speak it out loud, what some part of him had always felt intuitively had proven to be true.

Their kiss had meant something to her.

It hadn't just been a distraction.

And then, as fast as it happened, that moment was over again.

They wouldn't let him leave..

That was what he had signed for, the sacrifice he had made.

How ridiculous his characteristic words felt in retrospect. Everything he thought he had wanted his whole life, what he thought it would mean..the sentence he had said over and over again like a manta.

"..and I am burdened with glorious purpose."

How naive he had been, blinded by false perceptions, misled by fantasies about grandeur and purpose. Never could he have comprehended what it really meant.

"You just choose your burden."

They were all right and they all were wrong, nevertheless. Mobius, Frigga, the being that had spoken to him. He had put it on himself, burdened himself with something that was so much bigger than everything he could have ever fantasized about.

And the most ironic thing was that he didn't want it anymore.

He didn't choose it..

But it had chosen him.

They had chosen him..

"Can't you see that this is bigger than our experience."

How ironic the words he had told Sylvie in the citadel now sounded in his mind.

Because it was exactly like that.

This here was so much bigger than everything else..

Therefore they all were right and they all were wrong, nevertheless.

Because they didn't know what it meant, couldn't feel what he felt, weren't connected with the branches like he was.

The moment after he had destroyed the loom, when they were all dying before his eyes, he had felt that connection for the very first time..had felt that they needed him, heard all the pain and the despair through all the universes..

And at this point it wasn't even a conscious decision anymore.

He just knew it..

Felt intuitively that he had to save them. And so he had put all his energy, all his life, all his seiðr in them.

And this process couldn't be undone.

They were a part of him and he was a part of them. As unfair and bittersweet as it might be, he had made this decision.

And for the very first time in his whole life he couldn't, no, he didn't want to run away from that responsibility.

Because if he did, what had all that been for?

And besides that, it just wasn't possible..

That realization hit him hard again the moment the branches forced Sylvie to the ground, when she tried to reach him.

The illusion was over.

And now he was the one who had to speak out the hard truth.

He was the one who had to be realistic about it.

"It's okay and it doesn't matter anymore..things are how they are."

Speaking those words out loud was as if he pushed his own dagger deep into his heart and Sylvies face and reaction did the rest, turned the dagger painfully around, was the final straw for him.

She didn't understand it and he told her what he had seen.

The kiss with Valkyrie..

The moment he had mentioned it he saw it before his eyes again and the pain inside himself grew even bigger. But at the same time he witnessed how happy she looked, how at peace.

Everything in her life had been hard.

Now she had the possibility to find true happiness.

And who was he to stand in her way..

He mad his position clear but her reaction shattered everything inside him, nonetheless.

"Do me a favour, Loki, and stop stalking me"

And then she was gone..

Deep in thought Loki let the branch slide through his fingers. It was the only thing that he did, didn't look inside. He forced himself not to look.

For her..

And for his own peace of mind..

If something like that was possible for him at all.

Loki held the branch in his hand like it was the most precious thing that he had ever possessed and would ever possess.

She would understand it.

Like he had to understand it.

And so he banished the flame deep inside himself again. He couldn't blow it out, no matter how hard he tried, but maybe it would abate through time and die out in the end.

He wished he could believe it..

"I want a life..I want to live"

Unwilling and against everything that he wanted he let go of the branch that felt so right and so good in his hand..releasing it back to the other ones and the emptiness that came with it slowly filled every cell of him.

Something wet ran down his cheek.

A single tear..

"177 a Bleecker Street"


"And this is where one of the biggest sorcerers of this universe lives?"

Sylvies sceptical tone came with an even more sceptical expression, while her eyes roamed over the old building in New York.

Thor just grinned and began to knock at the door, "This here truly brings back old memories," he said and looked at Sylvie, "the last time I was here, Loki and I were in search of Odin."

Sylvie smiled back at him while Mobius nervously shifted from one foot to the other. The enchantress turned around to the analyst.

"What's the matter?"

"Over the eons we dealt with several variants of Stephen Strange," Mobius started, "how should I put this..not all of them were 'good' sorcerers."

He made inverted commas with his fingers while he said the word 'good'.

Sylvie responded to his statement with an eye-roll, "Let me guess..you got rid of them discreetly?"

"One of them almost got rid of me," Mobius answered and thinking of it seemed to unsettle the analyst.

"Do not worry Agent Mobius," Thor started and placed a gentle hand on the other mans shoulder, "this one here is a friend."

Thor knocked again, this time with even more force.

"Hm, that's unusual.."

"Shouldn't he have already seen us?" Sylvie asked, "after all you told us about his powers?"

Thor slowly began to open the door a crack, "The last time he did. Before I could even take a step inside he already teleported me there. He also knew that Loki was on earth."

The three of them exchanged glances, before Sylvie took matters into her own hands and opened the door.

She rushed past Thor and directly into the Sanctum Sanctorum.

But the scenery they found inside could only be described as bizarre.

The huge stairway in the middle of the vast hall and all the walls and pillars where covered with thick layers of dust, as if no one had been here for a very long time.

"Hello?!"

Sylvies loud voice echoed through the room and back from the walls, but no one answered.

"Is there someone?!"

Slowly and cautiously Mobius moved beside the goddess, "Not so loud Sylvie..we don't want to.."

"..wake up the dead?" she finished his sentence, "since when are you such a chicken, Mobius? We have witnessed the end of all worlds together and recently you just stumbled into a war zone."

He just grinned and nudged the blonde woman slightly into the side, his tone still nervous, "Well, maybe that's because I'm the only one here who isn't endued with superpowers."

Thor went to the big wooden stairway, swiped with two fingers over the handrail and held them up, showing the dust to Sylvie and Mobius. The enchantress grinned, as she remembered something.

"Now THAT brings back memories.."

The god of thunder took a few steps, trying to see something on the upper floor.

"Sorcerer Stephen Strange, can you hear us?"

All of a sudden yellow sparks emerged beside them, which made Mobius jump immediately. Within a few seconds the sparks changed into a big circle of light.

A portal..

..from which someone stepped out.

"He can't hear you, because he's not here."

The man who just emerged in front of them was obviously of Asian origin. He was dressed in a robe made of cloth and leather, which looked like some kind of combat gear.

His brows were knitted and his expression could be described as sceptical, to put it mildly.

"Thor Odinson"

When he looked at the Asgardian, his gaze seemed to get even more suspicious. He clenched his hands behind his back and turned to look at Sylvie and Mobius.

"I don't know either of you."

"I'm Agent Mobius, we want to.." the analyst started in obedience, but was interrupted by Sylvie immediately.

"Who are you anyway?!" the enchantress asked provocative, her eyes bore into the others, her arms crossed before her chest.

"I'm Wong, Sorcerer Supreme and protector of the Sanctum Sanctorum, as long as Stephen Strange is..absent."

His voice was powerful and clear but the pause at the end of his sentence made Sylvie suspicious.

"Where is he then?"

Wong held her gaze, unyielding, "We don't know that..but back to you.."

"Sylvie," she simply stated and the tension that filled the room now was almost palpable.

With her strong presence and determination, Sylvie could manage to make someone feel really uncomfortable within the blink of an eye. But at least externally Wong didn't let anything show. Despite his grim expression and the obvious irritation concerning Strange, this man seemed to be very self-contained and calm.

Thor now moved beside Sylvie and placed a hand on her shoulder, "These two belong with me, Mister Wong."

The Asian didn't seem to be the sort of person who gets easily overflowed with joy, but the statement from the thunderer raised a slight, but visible smile from him.

"Thor Odinson, I remember something that Strange said to me once while I was protecting the Sanctum Sanatorum for him before.."

His smile grew even a little bigger, "I try to quote him..'And no matter what you do, Wong, don't let yourself get involved in one of Thor Odinsons family dramas."

His gaze roamed over to Sylvie and Mobius, one eyebrow raised.

"Is this a family drama, Thor?"

"Well, truthfully.." Thor started.

"It's about the multiverse!" Sylvie blurted out.

Wongs eyes widened at that and for a moment the grim stoic in his face seemed to vanish.

"How do you know about the multiverse?"

Mobius took a deep breath because of Sylvies rash briskness, "I'm afraid that's a really long story.."

Wrong also crossed his arms before his chest now, an expression of deep mistrust on his face, obviously waiting for more explanation.

So Mobius continued, "We were searching for someone who can open interdimensional portals and we thought Stephen Strange could help us with that."

But that, too, didn't seem to be enough for Wong. He stood there like a statue, calm but relentless, at any time ready to fulfill his duty to protect this place against all enemies.

Mobius took another deep breath and continued, "We can't quite assess the urgency of this issue yet. But it is possible that the existence how we know it, this new multiverse..could be in danger."

Wong looked at the trio for another long moment without saying anything, his face unreadable.

When Mobius already relinquished his hopes that they could get any answers or help here, the black-haired man made a vast move with his hand and the yellow lights from before began to emerge before their eyes.

The circle of light opened again and on the other side they could see something that looked like an Asian castle.

Wong went through it and waved at them to follow him.

"Strange can't travel the multiverse..but I know someone who can."

A/N: 

Hey y'all,

I'm sorry that this took such a long time now.

I hope there are people who are still reading my story, though. And I hope you like the chapter. For me it was necessary to get Lokis POV after his last talk with Sylvie. And I'm also sorry that Strange isn't there at the moment, but they'll get help nevertheless ;)

Please read and leave a review if you have some time - it means everything to me =) 

Chapter Text

The soft whispering was slowly turning into a rustling, which became more and more clear. It wasn't time for him to come back yet, but he had to do it nonetheless. His presence was mandatory, when something was getting near the tree.

And so he turned away from the timeline where his mind had been and went back to his physical form.

Like the last time, he saw the being through his still blurry eyes, approaching the tree slowly and sighed long and deep. He wasn't keen to meet it again.

Last time all it had left behind was a ton of new questions and a bitter taste in his mouth.

Without effort it slid through the branches, a fact which alone gave the god an oppressive feeling. By this time it was out of question, that they were protecting him, as much as he was protecting them. But in this case they didn't seem to sense any danger.

Exactly the opposite of what he felt.

"God of stories, how nice to meet you again."

Loki didn't answer, just observed how the being made itself some sort of platform besides his throne to sit. The branches still appeared unimpressed, just reacting to his own nervousness with agitation.

In the face of the being there was something that could be described as a smile.

"Suspicious to this very day, god of stories."

Loki pressed his own lips into a thin line.

"To reinforce what I said last time, I'm protecting all of this. Would be reckless, if I wasn't suspicious."

"The branches obviously aren't," it remarked and took one of them into his hand, as if it was no big deal.

Loki looked at the scene with a mixture of surprise and resentment. What was it thinking? Apart from him nobody ever touched the timelines. It was his duty and his privilege, only he was capabale of protecting them.

The being let the green branch slide through his fingers, but looked at Loki while doing so. Although looking wasn't really the right term..

Instead of eyes there was just a strange, bright light.

"Even with all those centuries of experience with time and the multiverse, you still think very linear. Do you really believe you're the first one who ever got devolved the responsibility for the multiverse?"

Loki frowned, "I made all of this, the center, the tree..destroyed the citadel and the loom.."

"The tree is something new, that's correct. But the multiverse isn't. Sylvie might have unleashed it again, but it was there a long time before you even existed..long before all of you existed."

When he heard her name, the facial expression of the god changed. It didn't go unnoticed.

"Ah yes, speaking of which..did you think about the words I said to you the last time?"

Loki didn't plan on answering this question. First and foremost, because it wasn't his business..Moreover, because it was too painful to think about it now.

"Sticking to the linear thinking..do you wanna know where your friends are at the moment?"

The god shook his head, but his eyes seemingly betrayed him.

"If I tell you, you weren't the one who watched them. It's not your fault that way."

Loki shook his head again, this time with even more force. As if by doing so it was possible to convince himself that he wouldn't want to know.

Once more he felt the weight of the horns. He didn't remember them being this heavy at the beginning.

And then suddenly, without warning, his whole body began to tense up and a sharp pain ran through every nerve, every muscle. In this moment he wished he could scream, but his throat cramped abruptly, too, and so there was no sound coming out of his mouth.

As fast as it started it was over, causing the god to take a deep breath, truly relieved that his lungs granted him this again.

The being sat there unaltered, the glance of light centered on him.

But the timelines were not the same as they were before.

With horror Loki perceived how they stiffened, too. They had transformed their elastic, twirling form into something hard, rigid. And a fact that was even more terrifying..

..they started flickering.

"What's happening?" the god asked absentminded, not really adressed to the being, more likely to himself and the branches, while they were slowly recovering.

"That isn't happening for the first time.." the other stated, touching one of the timelines again, almost casually, "..but it's getting worse, doesn't it?"

The gods glance went through the branches and back in time to the moment, when they were all dying before his eyes.

Before he had made the connection with them..before he had touched the first one..right after the destruction of the loom.

It had been a giant wasteland.

He would never forget the sound of the dying timelines, this devastating last gasp before they would perish painfully.

Fortunately it didn't last long.

Loki nodded barely visible, "Why is this happening?"

He came back completely and looked at the being, "When you're all-knowing as you say you are..then tell me what those attacks are?"

"First of all," it started, again with this hint of a smile on his face, "I never said I was all-knowing. I can see everything. But that doesn't mean, that I know it all..let alone understand it all."

Loki sighed with utter frustration and asked himself why it was there in the first place.

"But I could tell you my theory, if you wish so."

Visibly exhausted and stressed out, the god gave his approval and waited.

"To explain that in a way that makes sense, you first have to understand, truly grasp, what the multiverse is. It's not only a place with seemingly unlimited possibilities and fascinating realities..it's first and foremost one thing: unstable.."

Loki knitted his brow warily, but remained silent.

"The universes itself are self-contained and consistent. Every one of them is bound to its own rules, its own physics. What seem to be impossible in one reality, in another it's common. Some of them are very much alike and differ only a little bit, while others come across downright bizarre. Don't think for one minute, that the alligator was the strangest version of yourself.."

Loki grinned inwardly, as he thought about the green reptile with the golden horns they had met in the Void..but still asking himself, what the whole point of this was.

Apparently it seemed to sense his thoughts.

"The realities are separated from each other, that's how it should be, that's how it's meant to be. But the unknown is fascinating, appealing. Maybe your one self had to go through a loss, while another Variant has never had to deal with that kind of pain and grief.."

It seemingly thought of something specific, because his facial expression changed into a more serious one.

"Some of them are just curious about the unknown..others are changing whole realities and circumstances in their favour, which can cause a lot of damage..but there's a third group, and this one is the most dangerous of them all. They're not using the doors to satisfy naive curiosity or to change one specific life and destiny..they go through those doors with just one goal in mind: to subjugate other realities..they want nothing but to conquer."

Loki sighed long and deep. This story was yesterday's news.

He heard that one before.

"I'm aware that you know what I'm talking about. He who Remains showed you. But that isn't what I wanted to tell you.."

"Then why aren't you getting to the point of all this already?" the god asked, no longer making the effort to hide his anger.

And so it continued, "Imagine you're going through the same door again and again. Not once, not ten times, hundreds and thousand times over and over..but maybe the door is the wrong metaphor. Think of it as a membrane..it's elastic enough to stay versatile, but stable enough to hold, to protect what's inside. What happens when this membrane gets pierced again and again?"

Loki didn't have to think twice, "It gets breakable..porous."

The being nodded and the god slowly began to feel uneasy.

"And that's exactly what will happen with the multiverse. The more often the barriers get crossed, the more the realities get changed, the more porous it will become. And when that happens it doesn't matter anymore, if it's just simplicity which drives someone or a deeply selfcentered thought..at some point the whole system will get so unstable, that it looms to collapse..which in turn will pave the road for those, who don't see chaos as a pit, but as a ladder..a ladder on which they can climb to the very top without anyone noticing due to dealing with a multiversal cataclysm."

By now cold shivers were running up and down Lokis spine and the lump in his throat seemed to get bigger and bigger. His voice was rough and quiet when he answered.

"But..come what may..first it has to get past the tree. It has to get past me!"

The smile of the being almost looked stone still, yet it increased Lokis anger and the cold shiver all the same.

"And that's what brings me to the point I made last time we saw each other. You're not a super-being, you're terrestrial. Despite your roots you were always mortal and despite centuries of experience you're still human - in a demigod kind of way. With putting on your robe and taking responsibility of the timelines you might got rid of physical banalities.."

It made a pause and pointed to the gods head and chest.

"..but your emotions, your self, your soul..didn't change. All of this perpetuated. To develop the thought further..imagine there is someone who craves power, it always happens the same way: He will look for the flaw in the system, the weak spot in the equation.."

The cold shiver had turned into a freeze, which pervaded Lokis whole body.

In that moment this one specific timeline caught his attention.

The one he had tried to ignore with all his willpower.

"So I ask you, god of stories..what's your weak spot?"

Together they stepped outside the portal of light and directly onto a huge terrace. Around them there were massive walls made of stone.

A beautiful, monumental fortress.

Mobius walked to one of the walls and looked down, followed by Sylvie. While the castle was mostly made of lifeless stone, everything around them was green.

From the distance they could see large mountains covered with snow.

"Where are we?" the enchantress asked and looked at the special, multi-layered, pointed roofs of the buildings inside the fortress.

"Nepal, Kathmandu," Mobius answered her question, no less fascinated by the scenery.

Wong turned around and faced the group.

"Welcome to Kamar-Taj. What you see is the training ground of the 'Masters of the Mystic Arts'. It's a privilege to be here and not granted to many..which means that I expect respect and decency."

His serious tone was accompanied by the matching glance, watching everyone of them closely. While speaking his next words he mostly looked at Sylvie.

"Moreover I want no mess and no chaos!"

He turned around again and waved at them to follow him.

They found themselves in a room stocked with bookshelves all over, reaching up to the ceiling..a giant library.

"Take a seat, please."

Wong came back a few minutes later, a tray with a pot and four cups in his hand.

He sat down, pouring them all a cup of tea.

"Thank you very much, sorcerer Wong," Thor said gingerly, "usually I don't drink tea, but.."

The Sorcerer Supreme raised an eyebrow and before the god of thunder could even finish his sentence, he had a mug of beer in front of him.

"Anyone else a special wish? Caviar, a jar full of gold or maybe a house with ocean view?" he asked sharp-tongued and Mobius shook his head.

"Thank you very much, tea is perfect," the analyst said thankfully, bringing his cup to his mouth,"..is this traditional, Indian tea?"

"Traditional tea from the India-shop in New York," the Asian remarked dryly, taking a sip of his own.

Mobius grimaced but tried to hide it, stealthily pouring a ton of sugar into his cup.

Sylvie let her gaze roam over the slightly dusted bookshelves, "And that's the place where the sorcerers and sorceresses-to-be are trained?"

Wong looked at her with a sceptical gaze, "This is the place where those who search for a new purpose, a new meaning in life are trained..lost souls, broken people, like Stephen Strange once was."

Sylvie sipped at her tea, "Like the one you mentioned? The man who can open interdimensional portals?"

"This man is a woman..America Chavez..and yes, she too wanted to strike a new path. But back to you people: Who are you and how do you know about the multiverse?"

Mobius, Thor and Sylvie exchanged glances, before the analyst took the floor.

"What I'm about to tell you might sound strange and unbelievable, but we..or to be more precise, myself..am from an organisation which is called the Time Variance Authority. We.."

Wong raised his hand, a gesture that caused Mobius to stop immediately, "..protected the order in the universe, guarded the Sacred Timeline," he finished the agents sentence, leaving all three of them behind with eyes widened in surprise.

"This is the community of the most powerful sorcerers in this universe, guys. Did you really think we wouldn't notice what monumental things happened recently?"

He paused, nodding knowingly, "So you're from the TVA.." again his gaze fell on Sylvie, his expression impossible to read, "..one of our magicians saw something, but the vision was impaired.."

The goddess held his gaze, but didn't respond.

"He told us that he saw a woman freeing the Sacred Timeline, ultimately unleashing and exposing the multiverse.."

Sylvie clinged to her cup more nervous than she probably wanted.

"You are that woman, aren't you?"

It was hard to paraphrase the expression in Wongs face and for a long moment he just looked at the enchantress, the tension in the room palpable. Thor and Mobius looked at Sylvie now, too.

Then, in one smooth movement Wong stood, vanished between the bookshelves, mumbling.

Mobius had obviously held his breath, because now they heard his relieved exhale. Even Sylvie released the clutch of her cup.

Two minutes later Wong returned with a stack of books, placing them audibly in front of Sylvie.

The goddess of mischief shot a questioning glance at him.

"A good read for you," he commented his doing dry as dust, pragmatic, but without any ulterior motives, "I'm a fan of taking responsibility. You unleashed it, you'll get your teeth into it. Some of the facts and theories in there are really interesting."

"What else do you know?" Sylvie asked, actually a bit abashed and unsure.

"I assume you're not human. A human very likely wouldn't be able of doing such a monumental and..hazardous..thing."

There was a clearly audible undertone of irony and reproach when he spoke the word "hazardous".

Mobius looked at the chaos goddess, studying her facial expression. Even though she stood by her opinion, bit by bit she began to outgrow the naivety that she had done the one and only right thing.

He wouldn't have swapped places with her.

Forced to make this important, impossible decision, on top of that with the tremendous trauma she had to carry around for over a thousand years.

Yet it was a good thing she got confronted every now and then with the consequences of her decision.

Especially when it was coming from someone else than him or Loki. Someone who, in Sylvies eyes, wasn't already classified as a person who would choose control over freedom.

Someone else who wasn't a Variant of her, charged with so many complex emotions or an agent of the TVA.

The blonde woman shook her head, "No, I'm an enchantress. An Asgardian, to be specific..a" she hesitated, before continuing, "..Loki Variant"

This provoked a grin on the Sorcerer Supremes face, this time adressed to Thor.

"Like I said, Thor Odinson..family drama."

From one moment to the other the goddess found her confidence again. With a challenging gaze and an even more challenging voice she leaned in Wongs direction.

"Even though this tea ceremony and the funny, verbal attacks are nice and all..but unfortunately we have some more important things to do. So, why don't you tell us where this powerful woman, who can open interdimensional portals, is?!"

Mobius placed a friendly hand on Sylvies shoulder, which she shoved away without comment. Thor took a big sip out of his mug.

"She's in deep meditation right now," the Asian replied, knitting his brow, "when she has finished, you can speak with her."

Sylvie leaned back with a scoff and crossed arms, while Wong shifted his attention to Mobius.

"Now I know WHO you are..but you didn't answer me the question WHAT you intend to find with this interdimensional portal?"

"We're trying to find a friend who might be in danger..we want to make sure, that he's okay."

Wong raised an eyebrow, "And this friend of yours is stuck somewhere in the multiverse?"

Mobius thought about his next words for a moment, smiling warmly, "This friend is sitting in the center of the multiverse, holding it all together."

Darkness was surrounding him.

A black, domineering darkness.

"I told you.."

The threatening voice pervaded every cell of the gods body, freezing the blood in his veins.

"..but you refused to listen!"

And then, suddenly, it wasn't dark anymore.

It was maddening bright.

Loki was standing in the middle of a giant arena and the first thing that he heard was a deafening screaming..no..a cheering. He looked around and on the stands they all were..and cheered.

Thousands of them..

And they were all wearing his face.

A second later he saw what was in front of him. The source of the voice.

"You came to kill the devil"

And then he saw her.

Within the split of a second, his whole body was flooded by anxiety and adrenaline.

"Sylvie!!"

The man held her in front of him, a sharp blade at her throat.

Her whole body was shaking, her hair messy, her eyes red and swollen.

"Let her go, you bastard!!"

The god wanted to go to her, do something, react..

..but he couldn't move.

"You should have tried harder, convince her..I warned you what would happen if you kill me."

His Variants on the stands formed a diabolical choir with their cheering and the roaring echoed like thunder through the whole arena.

"And now you get the war you wanted!"

Sylvie looked him in the eyes and tears started to well up in her own.

Again he tried to move, preventing what was about to happen.

..but his body felt like it was frozen to the ground.

And so all he could do was scream in despair, helplessly witnessing how the blade cut Sylvies throat.

"NOOO!!"

The last thing the god saw was blood..her blood..it soaked everything around him..

Before he woke up with a start.

Drenched in sweat and completely tense he held the branches in his hands, which wriggled more closely around him than ever before.

For a moment it seemed as if they wanted to wrap him up..

..bury him within them.

He still heard the echo of the cheering Variants and this one voice.

"See you soon"

Chapter Text

The atmosphere in the library of Kamar-Taj was difficult to grasp.

A mixture of tension, anticipation and uncertainty was hanging in the air, but the calming aura of the Asian temple seemed to partly cover it up, balance it out.

Sylvie flipped through the book that was lying before her absentminded and without really paying attention to what she was reading.

It wasn't the first time she had a book in her hands.

Even while running from apocalypse to apocalypse, there were moments of contemplation, hours, where life wasn't hanging in the balance, moments of peace and rest.

This was not one of those moments, because inside Sylvie Laufeydottir it was anything but quiet.

Even though she tried to hide it.

"You ever thought of us sitting together, reading books while drinking tea?" Mobius, who had taken a seat at the other end of the table, asked, legs crossed, his cup of tea in his hand. In comparison to Sylvie, he seemed to be at peace with himself, at least on the surface.

"I would prefer to do something else than sitting and reading..that being said, you're the only one who is enjoying that 'tea'..it tastes like grass."

Sylvie impatiently thrummed on the table with her fingers, "How long can a meditation last?"

For almost three hours they were sitting here and aside from Wong, who came in from time to time, bringing another pot of tea, stopping Thor from destroying some magical artefact, nothing had happened.

Mobius poured himself some more tea, seriously thinking about the question, "I heard of a monk who had been in a meditation for five days.."

"It was a rhetorical question, Mobius.." the enchantress stopped him eye-rolling, placing her head on the thick book in front of her, playing with one of her rings, "I hope it's worth the wait and she's really able to travel the multiverse..particularly to the center of the multiverse!"

Mobius peeked over his own book, looking very closely at the goddess, "Do you know what you're going to say to him, when we..if we..get there?"

Sylvie turned the ring on her finger, deep in thought.

This question was the one she was racking her brain over since Thor told them, that he knew someone who could open interdimensional portals. Only in this moment something became concrete, that has had no form until then. Even though they had met each other in her dreams at the end of time..it had never been this real, never been this tangible until now.

Before the dreams had started, she never even thought about seeing him again.

No, that was far from the truth..

She had given thought to it, but she hadn't believed in it. And now seeing him again was actually within the realm of possibility.

And she had no idea, how to deal with that..

The goddess took another deep breath, trying to verbalise her jumbled thoughts, "Hi..well, how's it hangin in treeland?"

In the meantine she had Thors attention, too, who had been taken a nap on his chair.

"I know, I told you to leave me alone..but, well, after our last..meeting..some strange being led me through your past, making clear, that you're everything but safe on that throne..I know this sounds strange..honestly I don't get it, too.."

She paused for a moment and then all of a sudden, the words came tumbling out of her mouth, "..and truth be told I refuse to have these stupid dreams and shitty nightmares any longer, while you made your tiny, godly ass comfortable on that thing..that is why we went to New York and then to Kathmandu, to find someone who can help us get to you..I know everything should be okay and you gave us a chance, but honestly nothing is okay, something is brewing and we have to take care of that now, because you're stuck there. That's a great feat, Loki..because there are a million other things I should be doing right now..and why does everything have to be this fuckin complicated, Mobius?! I should be selling burgers and refill the strawberry shake right now.."

During her last sentence, the door to the library opened, "Did I just hear burgers? If so, I'll take one..double cheese with extra bacon, sweet potato fries and a big Coke with that!"

Sylvie looked at the woman, who had just entered the room, followed by Wong. She was maybe in her early 20s, long, brown, braided hair and she was wearing a robe, not dissimilar to the one Wong was wearing.

The young woman turned with a criticizing gaze to the man behind her, "All we get here is rice and fish..and this green tea that tastes like grass."

Both of them looked at each other and it was shown what kind of connection, what sort of dynamic their relationship was.

He was her mentor, she his protégée, yes..but despite the age difference, the hierarchy and different magical levels, it was obvious, that this woman knew how to stand her ground.

Wong introduced them to one another, "Thor Odinson, Sylvie Laufeydottir and Mobius M. Mobius, this is America Chavez. She is the one who might be able to help you with your.. project."

Sometimes one look was enough to tell that two people would never like each other, no matter how much effort they put into it, how hard they try.

And sometimes it was the exact opposite.

When America Chavez hold out her hand and Sylvie took it, it was without doubt, that the second one was the case here.

"You're the woman who freed the multiverse? Really cool to meet you!"

The young sorceress moved Sylvies crown in her hands, "May I?"

With an approving nod from the enchantress the younger woman placed the golden horns on her head, turning to Wong, who had entered the room in this moment, to check if everything was in order, "Does it suit me? Would be a nice upgrade, what do you say?"

But Wong looked at her and the horns which were sitting crooked on her head with a knitted brow, "I wasn't aware that you're an Asgardian demigoddess."

"There's a lot you don't know about..", America started, but then her gaze went abruptly back to Sylvie, "wait a sec..you're what?!"

The blonde woman smiled warmly, taking back the crown from the others head, putting it back in her cape, "Does Asgard ring any bell? You must know this guy..the famous god of thunder. Thor?"

Sylvie screwed up a piece of paper, throwing it at the thunderers head, who was busy with some magical puzzle.

"Hm?", he asked startled, looking over to the two women.

America smiled at him and thought for a moment, "Yeah, I know him..at least I read about Asgard in a book..Odin, Heimdall, the rainbow bridge..sounds utterly crazy to me..even though I've seen a lot of freaky stuff in the multiverse."

Sylvie looked closely at the young sorceress sitting across from her..the curiosity in her gaze, the enthusiasm in her voice..there was a certain childlikeness in her behavior, but at the same time she seemed to be everything but naive. There was a clarity, a serenity.

Something that was attached to a person after she had seen a lot, experienced a lot..

"How did you find out that you can travel the multiverse?"

Sylvies question seemed to remind her of something and judging by her gaze, it was attended with a painful memory.

"By chance actually..I was scared of a wasp and suddenly a portal opened before my eyes..", she paused and the smile, that played around the corners of her mouth was a sad one, "..that changed my whole life."

The eyes of the two women met and Sylvie saw that Americas were glistening.

"I was just a child.."

Or if you're forced to grow up very fast.

Far too fast..

Sylvie placed her hand on Americas shoulder, "I know exactly what you mean.."

In this moment and in the middle of the room, the yellow time door opened.

The atmosphere, a moment before filled with wistfulness and deep emotions, changed in the split of a second when Mobius stepped out of it..

..in one of the infamous TVA protective suits against temporal radiation.

Americas room filling laughter infected Thor and even the usually stern-looking Wong, who was also very amused by the sight.

"Agent Mobius, that's really a sight to behold", Thor commented with a wide smile.

Sylvie exchanged glances with the analyst and nodded, "Now that's a revival. I have to give you some credit..the thing looks even better on you than it looked on Timely."

Mobius took a few clumsy steps in his oversized spacesuit, which made him look like he lost his neck, together with all of his joints, "Happy that I can be of service entertaining you guys. I'm just glad that O.B replaced or repaired the helmet.."

And in fact, the tape that had sealed the crack in the helmet provisionally, was gone.

"That's a good thing, really, because I didn't plan on losing all of my skin and end up as spaghetti."

Thors gaze was irritated and the others didn't seem to get the ironic statement of the analyst, too.

Meanwhile Mobius tried to sit down, but it didn't work and just looked awkward, "It's a long story..spaghettification..temporal radiation..", instead he leaned against one of the bookshelves, trying to look as casual as he could.

"You think that's really necessary?" the enchantress asked and looked at the padded suit with a sceptical gaze, "after all, the loom doesn't exist anymore."

"O.B said, we shouldn't take the risk.." he answered, shrugging, which looked funny, too, "and since I'm the only one in this room without godly blood or other superpowers," he smiled at America, "I'm going to wear this stylish thing. We don't know, what's out there, what the atmosphere is like, Sylvie. It's safe to say that reality isn't comparable to what happens in our dreams."

The moment he said the word 'reality' Sylvie instantly got a queasy feeling in her stomach and her lungs immediately demanded a deep breath, to relax herself and her heartbeat.

It only helped to a limited extent..

In a thirst for action America jumped up from her chair, "Let's go!"

Mobius smiled at Sylvie, "It looks like we're really doing this."

"Looks like it.." Sylvie repeated and felt her hands getting wet and the collywobbles increased.

"All of this feels so unbelievable..seeing my brother again..", Thor stated and the nervousness in him was clear to see, too. When he stood up and walked over to Sylvie, she took his hand, squeezing it.

America made a sequence of movements with her hands, but instead of the round portal from Wong, the yellow sparks turned into a big, sparkling star.

"I have to warn you, I have no idea, if or how fast this will work..there's a chance, that we're going to fall through several universes.." she thought about her statement and corrected herself, "..we might fall A LOT", than another thought seemed to cross her mind which made her smile, "prepare yourself for the possibility that you're going to feel sick. You won't be the first ones to puke..no, actually, you would be the first ones NOT to puke."

America and Wong exchanged a last, in case of the Asian, very serious glance, "You know what I told you..patience and prudence..strength lies.."

"..in calmness" the young sorceress finished his sentence, seemingly not hearing it for the first time.

One last time the four of them, America, Thor, Mobius and Sylvie looked at each other.

Then they stepped into the star-shaped portal.

..and fell..

Four travellers, mirrored a thousand times

..and fell..

Water that was coming from all sides

..and fell..

A retrospective in black and white

..and fell..

Drenched in a thousand colors

..and fell..

Fish as big as mankind

..and fell..

Hands that grew out of their heads

..and fell..

A quartet, united in a tuneful melody

..and fell..

And then, suddenly, the falling stopped..

..and they landed roughly on the ground.

"Damn, what the hell.."

Mobius held his helmeted, wildly spinning head. He knew that it was impossible to stand up in the suit by himself and so he was glad that Thor lend him a helping hand.

And, like America had foretold, he felt sick.

Really sick..

But not him, but Thor was the one who had to puke eventually.

The god of thunder was, after all, the only one who probably wasn't experienced with multiversal travels. And even though this was something totally different and not comparable to using a Tempad..but America, as well as Sylvie and him had experienced it before.

"Where are we.." Mobius started, but trailed off immediately when he saw the color of the atmosphere around them.

The green glow put a warm and happy smile on his face.

They had made it..

They were here..

At the end of time.

"Sylvie, we did it!"

But both Sylvie and America had obviously been on their feet before them and none of them turned around.

Mobius thought about the dreams he had had of this place, especially the one where he didn't wake up straight away.

It was, without doubt, the same place.

But there was something that made him suspicious..

The green glow seemed paler, sonehow faded..like when you wash something too many times.

The air around them was heavy and traversed by strange particles, which partly accumulated on their clothes and skin.

The ground looked different, too. The structure of the stones seemed more porous and the golden glimmering cracks were merely a weak flickering now.

Even though it wasn't quiet around them, even if a soft whispering was audible, this place was surrounded by a strange silence.

..a silence hat felt wrong.

With her curious gaze and the slightly opened mouth America looked like this place seemed to fascinate her. But she was, after all, the only one who didn't have a certain expectation concerning this specific journey..she wasn't emotionally involved in this, wasn't connected with this place, with Loki..

Sylvie on the other hand walked persistently forward, without looking left or right. Since he wasn't able to see her face, it wasn't possible to correlate her thoughts with his. What Mobius did see were her hands opening and closing in a steady rhythm, but they were also shaking.

And that she seemed to speed up her steps every ten seconds..

The analyst looked over to Thor, whose stomach had apparently calmed down and judging by the gods face, he felt it, too.

"Something feels wrong with this place.." the Asgardian mumbled, verbalising Mobius' thoughts.

But the agent tried to shake his fears off.

He had never been one to jump to conclusions when faced with a new situation, always trying to keep a cool head for as long as it was possible. Besides, he was perfectly busy putting one foot before the other, concentrating on not falling.

Thor now walked a few meters in front of him, a fact that wasn't only accepted by Mobius, but it was actually completely coherent and understandable.

If everything would turn out the way they hoped, there would soon be a reunion between two brothers and two lovers.

So taking a step back was not difficult for him.

As they moved on, the air around them thickened bit by bit,  until everything was enveloped in a mist. It was so heavy, that it wasn't long until he couldn't see the women before him anymore, and at some point even Thor got slowly blurred.

Then, after what felt like eternity, Mobius stepped out of the fog.

The moment he could see clearly again, a shock went through his whole body.

That just couldn't be true..

Before their eyes stood the mighty world tree, Yggdrasil.

So high that nobody could ever climb to its crown, so deep, that it was impossible to see the roots.

He had no beginning and no end.

But he wasn't green..

He was grey.

He was dead.

Chapter Text

It took her a few seconds, before Sylvie realized that they were no longer falling.

That she was on firm ground again.

Or at least something that was comparable to it.

The way stone used to be it should have been hard and cold, but this one felt different. It was way warmer and a soft vibration went through its surface.

Exactly the way it felt in her dreams..

As if it was part of an organism.

As if it was alive.

Loki..

From the corner of her eyes she saw America, who had landed next to her. As she glanced over to Mobius she couldn't help but smile, because with the oversized spacesuit he looked like a ladybug, awkwardly lying on its back..or a beached whale.

With Thors nod she reinsured that the god would help the analyst stand up, even though the thunderer looked a bit pale himself. After all America did warn them that it would be highly probable to get sick.

But all of this didn't matter now.

Even her own queasiness was not worth mentioning.

She was here..

And the moment she truly grasped that it had worked, she also realized how bad she had wanted this to happen..

..and how well she had deluded herself.

Even the little dizziness she felt when standing up and which made her first few steps a bit shaky and unsteady, couldn't slow her down.

Because she had a goal in mind.

And she was so close..

She could hear Mobius muffled voice from behind, calling her name.

"Sylvie, we made it!"

What felt odd was the fact that they couldn't see the tree and the light seemed to be different, too. The branches, which had guided her in her dreams, were also missing. But then she recalled Mobius words about the atmosphere and that it would be different and not comparable to their dreams.

And then there was fog..

Fog, which soon surrounded her completely and if she had seen America beside her a few moments ago, now she could barely see her hands.

The goddess tried to ignore the feeling which imposed itself on her more and more.

That's not a dream anymore, Sylvie..it's reality. And soon it will all make sense.

She prepared herself mentally to step outside the fog, meeting the man again to whom she had said goodbye almost a year ago..without words, just one last look and a shake of the head.

A headshake, which, like before in the Void, as he decided to play the bait for Alioth, wasn't really meant to stop him from doing it.

Not because she didn't want to..but because she knew that it wasn't possible to disabuse him.

It hadn't been possible in the Void, because without a distraction, they wouldn't have stood a chance against Alioth and no one could have guessed that the other, the old Loki, would come and help them.

And it hadn't been possible at the Loom, because he had started something that couldn't be undone.

The fail-safe had been destroyed, the branches were dying, the multiverse perished before their eyes..before it even had the chance to fully unfold and rise to all its glory.

And although she was mad at him for making this decision alone and even if she still couldn't fully explain what had happened at all in this moment..

..his gaze, when he had turned his head for the very last time, made clear, that he had to do this.

And now she would see him again.

Sylvie closed her eyes, took one last deep breath and then she stepped outside the fog.

..and her heart skipped a beat.

Although she had sent so many people here over the eons, for her, this place had always stayed a profound mystery.

All she knew was that getting sent there was a death sentence.

A death sentence which she had gladly signed countless times without even batting an eye.

"Nothing comes back from there"

But as it turned out, doors could open in the most unlikely places..

And so she stood here, on the highest balcony of the pyramid and looked outside to the sheer endless scenery with its conglomeration of lost treasures and long forgotten memories.

From up here she had a great view over everything that had been..

A part of her own past.

On the horizon something started to gather and when the violet light came closer little by little, the smile on her face grew wider.

This wasn't her death sentence..

..it was her reincarnation.

Sylvie could neither grasp what was happening before their eyes, nor did she notice anything else that was going on around her.

It was Mobius hand which pulled her out of her trance.

She looked at the analyst who was standing beside her now and just like her, he couldn't believe his eyes. His gaze seemed lost, his mouth half open, his hand on her shoulder apparently meant not only to comfort her, but also himself.

"What happened here?" he asked unbelieving, shaking his head, "that..that can't be real.."

Next to them Thor arrived, no less confused, "What is the meaning of this? Is this even the right place?!"

America looked back and forth between all of them, "Judging by your reactions, this place shouldn't look like this, should it?"

Sylvie had to gather up all her power to remain standing, even though her weak knees urged her to do something else entirely. Basically she wanted to sink to the ground, bury her head in her hands..or preferably straight away deep in the ground.

All hopes, so many questions, all those unspoken wishes..

Had they all fallen prey to an illusion?

And if so, why all those dreams? What was the point of this being guiding her through Lokis past..

..if he was dead?

And shouldn't they all be dead by now, if Yggdrasil..if Loki really wasn't alive anymore?

The worldtree wasn't green anymore, nothing was illuminated..instead it was grey, lifeless, its branches rigid and stiff and everywhere around them were these strange particles.

Parts of the dead branches..

Lifeless matter..

Unfinished stories..

Mobius hand squeezed her shoulder a bit and when she looked at him, he nodded encouraging. He was right, it made no sense to stay here.

Even if she was afraid what they might find down there..

With every step they took, the picture before their eyes was getting more and more clear and at the same time the sting in Sylvies heart got bigger and bigger.

She had a lump in her throat and fought hard to hold back tears.

"This can't be real.." the goddess mumbled quietly, touching the particles, grinding them between her fingers.

They were like thick ash, once served their purpose as part of a gigantic fire..now only dead witnesses of a once living blaze.

Then, finally, they got to the center of the tree. The throne was still there, high above, nestled in the almost fossilized looking branches.

The heart of the tree..

"Lok.."

Someone was sitting there..

But it wasn't Loki.

The black-haired man with the silver strand was sitting there in the middle with a hardened expression almost like the tree itself, legs crossed, one hand supporting his head, the other on the armrest of the throne.

"Ah, company.."

His voice sounded as presumptuous as his facial expression was.

As if he was above all things.

And like it happened in her dreams and despite the fact that it wasn't a living tree in front of them, the branches started to take him down.

Even before the throne reached the ground, the man in the blue garment was standing up, floating to the ground, while the red cape with the stand-up collar was moving a little too much..as if it had a life of its own.

When his eyes met the ones of the young sorceress in the middle, the expression in his seemed to lose the arrogance for a moment.

"America.."

Before he could say another word, the young woman ran towards him, greeting and hugging him with so much joy, like he was an old, long missed friend, "Stephen! We looked for you..everywhere..Where have you been?!"

If not before, now it was obvious who was standing in front of them.

"Strictly speaking I'm not even here", the wizard answered, while he hugged America back more warmly than expected given his arrogant behavior.

He let his gaze roam over all of them, "Dr. Stephen Strange.." he introduced himself, then nodded at the god of thunder, "Thor Odinson, long time no see.."

"Friend Strange, good to see you again", Thor replied with a sincere smile and it was obvious that there was some sort of connection, shared experiences in the past, maybe battles in which they had fought together.

"Mobius M. Mobius", the analyst mumbled into his helmet, raising his padded arm awkwardly to greet the sorcerer.

Sylvie took a few steps forward, her gaze challenging, "What are you doing here??" she blurted out, her voice full of disappointment and irritation, while she made no effort to introduce herself first, "you shouldn't even be here.."

Strange raised an eyebrow and looked at her as if he couldn't believe that she talked to him like this, "I was about to ask the same thing..and yes, that's what I wanted to say as well."

The goddess understood nothing, "The center of the multiverse isn't guarded by you, but by.."

"Loki Laufeyson, the god of stories..", he interrupted and finished her sentence, "there's an easy explanation for that - this is NOT the center of the multiverse. At least not the version you guys were looking for."

"What do you mean by that?!" she pressed him, desperately looking for anwers.

The bearded sorcerer let one of the gnarled, rigid branches slide through his fingers, while he looked at her with a reproachful gaze, "You caused quite the chaos. I hope you're aware of that."

Sylvie felt anger arise because of the tone in his voice and the arrogance behind it. The way he spoke to her wasn't even close to Wongs pragmatic, unbiased personality.

And she just wasn't having it.

Moreover from someone who didn't even know her and who, with his perfectly trimmed beard and the sophisticated magical cape, seemingly believed he could speak to others like this.

But he wasn't done with his condescension, "Your desicion was the act of a stubborn child, not thinking about the consequences of her actions."

Sylvie crossed her arms in front of her chest, really struggled to control herself and not go at his throat right away, "I gave free will back to everyone in the multiverse. Everything that was done before was mass murder.."

Strange snorted, "Naive children interrupting a powerful spell and endanger everything..egoistic witches, who can't accept that their made-up world isn't real..a demigoddess, who changes the reality of the whole multiverse because of her own trauma..do you kids have ANY idea what damage you're causing with your infantile actions?!"

Mobius was the one who interrupted, before Sylvie could even react to the insult, knowing full well that the situation could escalate further at any moment.

"Dr. Strange, you said this isn't the version of the center we were looking for. What do you mean by that?"

Strange and Sylvie stared at each other for a few more seconds, before the wizard shifted his attention and looked at Mobius, "What you see here.." he let his gaze roam over the tree and its branches and looked back to the four travellers with the most serious expression on his face.

"..is one of eleven million versions, in which this whole thing ends exactly like this."

His words sunk in all of them and for a long moment there was absolute silence. They all stood there with open mouths and the only thing which was audible was the quiet whispering of a dying tree and its branches.

Thor was the first one who found his voice again.

"Does..does this mean that in those eleven million versions.. my brother is dead?"

There was a bitter smile on the wizards lips. He emphasized every word of his next sentence, as if he had to get a message across to a child, which it shouldn't forget under no circumstances.

As if he had to explain the hopelessness of his siuation to a dying man.

"That means that the whole multiverse is dead, Thor."

For others the creature was nothing but a monster.

A merciless, cruel monstosity, which devoured everything that crossed its path.

With a twisted smile she thought that maybe this was the exact reason why she felt connected to it.

For a long time they had been worried that the food source for the living storm would run dry and that they would be forced to improvise, find other alternatives.

But right now there was still plenty of food for it.

Moreover something seemed to happen lately, which she observed with a certain delight.

Even now some confused being was waking up a few hundred meters away in the desert, a moment before living his life, now stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Which could only mean one thing..

..there was pruning again at the TVA.

"Seems as if not everyone wants to submit to the new order", she noticed with satisfaction.

The violet light was getting closer and closer and with it lightening and rumbling thunder.

The atmosphere was charged with electricity which emerged from the powerful creature and when she felt the wind arise, she closed her eyes.

It was the wind of destruction..

But also the wind of change.

She felt it and it electrified her in a way that she hadn't felt in a long time.

Desperation had never been one of her weaknesses and she wasn't a person who would lay down her weapons without a fight..but for some time she had almost lost hope.

All of a sudden she had been an outcast, thrown out of her own world, forced to let go of something she had believed in for eons, dammed to this godforsaken place.

But it wasn't in her nature to give up and so when she felt the wind of destruction in her face, she ran..she ran as fast as she could, determination in her eyes and the strong will to survive this.

Survive to take revenge..

To find her way back to the top..

..to build the utopia she dreamed of, to which she had dedicated her life.

The utopia that had been promised to her.

The utopia she deserved.

And so she had disappeared for hours, days, weeks..gone into hiding in old bunkers, abandoned caves, lost houses. What she had eaten, what had ensured her survival, shouldn't be mentioned here.

It was just a means to an end.

And the end, the outcome, the victory was a thing she could always see crystal clear before her eyes, no matter how hopeless, how dispirited she had felt from time to time.

For a moment she had been alone, lost..

..until she was found.

And the wind of destruction had changed into the wind of  change.

While she was watching Alioth grow to his full size, devouring his confused, utterly scared prey, someone approached her from behind.

"His highness is back from his mission and wants to see you."

With one last look at the creature, which already headed back towards the horizon, taking thunder and wind with him, she turned around and nodded at the servant.

Straightening out her uniform, Ravonna Renslayer smiled and walked towards the throne room.

Chapter Text

"..and fries with that, please.."

Sylvie smiled kindly, while she handed the meal to her customer.

She never had thought that she would have such an easy time with the kindness, the smiling..

But at the moment it was way harder to maintain that expression and pretending that everything was okay was exhausting.

It was the time of the day where things were slowing down at the restaurant. Nobody was at the counter so she went back, where Jack was standing at the grill.

"Hey Sylvie, you okay?"

The blonde woman placed a hand on the younger ones shoulder and he smiled back shyly. They never talked about it, but everyone knew that Jack had a crush on Sylvie. He was always grinning from ear to ear, when he saw her and checked if they would work together in the same shift when nobody was watching.

"Great Jack, thanks! I'm taking a break. See you later."

"See ya, Syl."

She went straight away to the office to get her coat, when something attracted her attention.

A round object, black and gold, which was lying on her desk.

Sylvie picked it up, letting her fingers slide over the black and golden surface, from one second to the other deep in thought.

It was almost three weeks now since she was there the last time.

At the end of time..

The new kingdom of the new king.

And shortly after that standing right in front of the dead, petrified version of the tree..with open mouths and a thousand questions.

"We will find out what happened here, Sylvie.."

Mobius had encouraged her when they came back, but Sylvie was a just a mess. Everything was spinning in her mind, all at the same time..

The tree, the being, everything Strange and Wong had said to her, Thor, Valkyrie..

Loki..

When they came back, she didn't want to figure anything out, all that she wanted was to get away.

Back to her job..

Back to her life..

Back to normality..

Whatever that was.

Mobius hadn't been there since that day, too. He told her, even though she didn't ask.

Because he knew she wanted to ask..

"Why aren't you glowing anymore.." she mumbled to herself, "..you don't want us to find you, do you..?"

She spoke to herself and the Tempad in her hand..as well as someone else.

It was obvious, that the Tempad wouldn't answer her question.

Nobody would..

"Wouldn't make a difference..might as well just throw you away.."

For a second she really thought about it, looking at the trash can in the corner of the room, but ultimately changed her mind, opened one of the lower drawers in her desk and threw it inside.

Out of sight, out of mind..

Sylvie took the back exit, heading towards her green truck, which she parked further away now, to get a little peace and quiet between her shifts.

And there was always the possibility that Mobius M. Mobius would honor her with one of his spontaneous visits.

The keys already in hand, the enchantress was about to open the door..

"Hello Sylvie"

Mobius was sitting at the root of the stony sculpture.

The tree trunk was several meters thick and the impressive, widely ramified branches towered high above into the skyline of the TVA. It could be seen from everywhere, every office, but down here was his center.

The heart of the tree.

The new mangement commissioned the replica of Yggdrasil shortly after the loom destruction and a few days ago it was completed. Thereby no one would forget why they were doing all of those things and to whom they owed it.

To remember what must never happen again..

"Those who cannot remember the past.."

He heard the familiar voice of a woman from behind, a voice which put a smile on Mobius face, despite of all the contemplation. He didn't turn around, continued to look at the elaborate made branches, finishing her sentence.

"..are condemned to repeat it."

He thought about all those times he had spoken a different mantra. Usually it was spoken together. One had started, someone else finished it, like a prayer..

..or a curse.

For all time..

..always.

Thinking about the dogma he had followed blindly, without asking any questions for so many years, still caused shivers running down his spine.

Verity sat down beside him on the bench, "Today's salad day, Mobius..I didn't see you in the canteen."

Damnit, he had never forgotten or skipped salad day before..

"Yeah..I'm a little distracted today. Is the canteen still open?"

His mind was wandering away all day and he could hardly concentrate on his work.

Too much had happened the last days.

Something cold yanked the analyst out of his thoughts. When he looked down, he saw the small bowl, which Verity had placed in his lap.

He looked at the hunter gratefully, "What would I do without you. Thank you!"

With his fork he took the first lettuce leaf and was happy to see that she remembered to bring the dressing, too.

"And?" Verity started with curiosity in her voice. They hadn't had time to speak about the last few days yet. The dark-haired woman had left New Asgard during their celebration, because the next disturbance was already looming.

Mobius took a deep breath, ready to give his report.

"We had a really great talk with Thor.." when he thought about his conversation with Sylvie and the god, a genuine smile spread across his face, "..looks as if Sylvie found her long missed family in some way. Most of all her brother.."

"Good for her. She needs things like that."

On the analysts face the smile grew even wider, "She had a great connection with Valkyrie, too. But when the two of them kissed..hold your hat.." he made a pause and looked at the hunter, "she finally confessed that she loves Loki!"

"You're kidding me!!" Verity exclaimed in disbelief and Mobius nodded deeply amused.

"I think no one was as shocked as she was", he stated and turned serious again, "That night she was there again, at the end of time, in her dream..let's just say the two of them finally talked.."

"No way.." Verity started but Mobius raised his hand.

"..mostly at cross purposes. He told her he saw the kiss and doesn't want to stand in her way.." Mobius facepalmed, "seriously, Verity..how do you deal with two grown-up demigods, who carry the traumas of a thousand years with them and yet act like teenagers?"

They both laughed at this and Mobius continued his report.

He told her about the adopted cat, Sylvies strange dream, their visit in New York, Wong, Kathmandu, America Chavez and their mission to get to the end of time.

"For a moment we really thought we made it..but that was a fallacy. Eventually we landed in a.." he thought for a moment what exactly it had been..a construct? A simulation? "..in one of many realities, in which the tree and the multiverse doesn't exist anymore..where everything collapsed."

Mobius looked at the sculpture before their eyes and shuddered when he realized how similar the replica was to the scenery they encountered.

How much all of this was unsettling him..

And how sad he was, too..sad, that they didn't find his best friend there, but instead this other sorcerer.

Verity looked at her long-time colleague and friend with a caring and at the same time worried gaze, "What is the meaning of this?"

The agent poked into his salad again, which, despite Veritys effort and his favourite dressing, tasted terribly stale. He shrugged, "I don't know..I guess I'll have to speak with our two Tech-Nerds.."

Yes, that's what he would do. That was a good plan.

Maybe O.B. and Casey could bring a little light into the darkness.

"And Sylvie?" the hunter asked with a concerned tone.

Mobius sighed, "The moment we came back, she couldn't get away fast enough. Stephen Strange, the sorcerer who welcomed us in this version of the tree, really bothered her with his statements and the whole story..I mean you know her.."