"I suppose you know him." Noelle said as they half walked, half ran through the hallway. Noelle suddenly stopped in front of a tapestry of Asgard and walked behind it. She shuffled under it a few seconds until Loki heard a click and she pushed away the tapestry and revealed a door big enough for one person. Inside were torches and steep stone stairs that spiraled away. She motioned him to come forward and leaped up the stairs. Loki had to run to catch up.
"Or you might not know him. He likes to keep secret." Noelle huffed as she took the stairs two at a time. Loki closed the door and ran after her. The air was hot and stuffy and he barely had space. He had to press against the opposite wall to avoid burning his face on the nearby torches and he was getting hot and sweaty from the lack of fresh air. "He's one of the royal scientists but he's the best."
Noelle suddenly stopped and Loki almost bumped into her. Through the dim light, he saw a smooth iron door with no handle. Noelle softly placed her hand on the door. It shimmered gold and disappeared.
"Come on inside, Alden wants to see you."
The room was cozy with high ceilings and airy windows. Books overflowed from bookcases and books were stacked everywhere. On the bookcases were different vials filled with strange liquids and solids. An old man with a beard and white hair sat behind desk reading a book. In front of him was a vial propped over a Bunsen Burner burning violet flames.
He looked up at Noelle and smiled "Hello my dear."
"I've brought someone with me." Noelle said stepping sideways to reveal an awestruck Loki.
"This place is amazing." He muttered, gaping at the books and vials.
"Thank you. They're my life's work." Alden said, standing up and walking towards him. "I am Alden, the wise and Noelle tells me you came from another universe."
Loki nodded while Alden examined him from head to toe.
"You do look like Lady Layka." Alden mused.
"I come from an Asgard where the people are in their opposite genders and have different personalities. I learned enough about alternate universes to learn that this one flows in the same time stream as my home universe though this one flows slower."
"Time stream?" Noelle asked. She was already leaning on a window sill, examining an old book in her hands.
"It means that whatever happens in his universe happens in ours." Alden explained, walking towards one of his bookshelves. "But our time is delayed so his past is our future."
"But something terrible happened to me and I don't want anything bad to happen to Layka."
"Why do you care for her?" Alden asked.
"Because I don't want anyone to go through what I went through. I lost my people, my friends, even my own brother." Loki said.
Noelle looked up from her book and Alden smiled at him sadly.
"You're smart, my boy, and I know that you know how time streams work."
Loki slowly nodded "Yes. Whatever happens in the other universe happens here and there's nothing I can do to stop it. Those were the main laws of Time."
Alden nodded. "Yes. And no."
Loki looked up at him with a spark in his eyes. "really?"
"We all want to understand everything. We want to think that we know everything in its full extent when actually, we're just at the beginning."
Alden turned the Bunsen burner off and took the vial on top of it. It suddenly turned red the moment it was lifted away from the fire.
"We want to limit things and say that they can only this and they cannot do that. We want to record everything. We should accept the fact that not everything is known. Science isn't about knowing everything but appreciating the beauty of the small things around us."
He thrust the vial up and the contents broke into droplets, each lighting up and drifting around and turning into different colors like a rainbow of differently colored fireflies. Loki looked up and smiled. Noelle started jumping up and catching a few of them.
"We cannot control or set the limits of time itself. We cannot say that this is impossible." Alden clasped Loki's shoulders. Loki tore his eyes away from the lights and look at Alden. His eyes were bright and happy. He knew the true meaning of everything around him. Where Loki saw darkness, Alden could see light and it makes him oh so very happy.
"Loki, my young lad, Everything is possible. Don't let someone tell you your limits. And when something goes wrong, all you have to do is find the bright side. Trust me, there always is."