It takes Loki twelve years to find Tony again.
He has never been adapt at reading auras (at least, not more than the common mage is – his specialities have always been illusions, invisibility, shape-shifting or teleporting;the tricks of a coward, as Thor used to say, no matter how often they have saved his life), so he has spent years studying and, to a certain degree, mastering the art of it. Still, he has never been sure if he would be able to find the mortal again.
After all, Anthony died these years ago.
Loki has, all the time, not had an idea whether he would be reborn as a human, an Aesir or perhaps on Vanaheim... he has even travelled to Jotunheim to find the reincarnation of the man who has been his lover all those years ago. All he knows is that he will be reborn, sooner or later, because there is something in his soul that does not belong to him. Loki's magic is intertwined with Anthony's soul and with a soul that is not completely his, he will not be able to go to Hel or Valhalla.
No matter what it costs, Loki is going to get his magic back.
He is, however, aware that his efforts could take him centuries until they bear fruit. Anthony might not be reborn in centuries from now on, but Loki would not be Loki if he would stop trying to find him; simply because there is the chance that Anthony will not be reborn in, say, two hundred years, but right now. He is going to get his magic back or die trying.
Also, he has a debt to repay.
When Loki steps out of the branches of Yggdrasil, opening a small gateway for him to cross dimensions, Loki finds himself in front of the Avengers Tower. The sight makes him curse softly as he turns away; his travels on the world tree always seem to end here when he has no other goal set in mind. Must be the force of habit, he thinks with a bitter smile. Here, where everything had begun when Anthony had nonchalantly offered him, the would-be conqueror, a drink.
He takes another leap through space that ends in the small, run-down apartment he has here in New York. He has not been here for four years; he has spent those travelling the other realms and allowing himself some rest in Vanaheim. The flat here is and has always been a temporary abode as he never stays in one place for long and it is accordingly small (living room, bedroom and kitchen are one room, the only separate chamber is the bath).
With a sigh, he slumps onto the only couch and coughs at the cloud of dust that rises out of its cushions. The problem is solved with a simple spell (cleaning spells have been among his first ones to learn because magic was an uncommon practice in Asgard; thus, the magical books in the library have always been covered in layers of dust) after which the god makes himself as comfortable as possible while he prepares for the searching spell. He keeps telling himself that if it fails this time, he will visit Thor because of the lack of something better to do, but no matter how often he gets disappointed, he never does.
Closing his eyes, he extends his mind into the world around him. Slowly. First, he feels the energies of the people moving in the storeys below and above him. Further. The people on the streets around him, some moving quickly in their vehicles, others standing still. Further. The whole city, a large net of foreign auras. Further. And further. And further. Suddenly, there is a surge of familiar energy that causes Loki to gasp and lose his concentration. With wide eyes, he stared at the blank wall in front of him. That is what he has been waiting for. That was Anthony's energy, there was no mistake to it. The familiar tingle of the arc reactor's energy signature is missing, but it was still the same aura. Loki is sure – he has to be. He knows how his own magic feels after all.
Magic is a part of its user, like an additional limb that can be trained or neglected. Loki's magic is the only reason Anthony is reborn, has to be reborn, instead of going to the afterlife. His soul was not purely his and he could not take another being's 'limbs' into another world with him. Loki's magic.
Loki wants it back.
Closing his eyes again, he begins his search anew. This time, he is prepared to be met by both his and Anthony's energy and focusses on it, trying to pinpoint its location. The place he ends up finding is... he has to strain his knowledge of Midgard's geography, but the island seemed to be... Italy? Well, a little tan can't hurt, can it, Loki thinks sarcastically, fully aware that he will always stay pale as a sheet.
He rises from the couch, clapping his hands together. He has some magic to reclaim.