A/N: Well, this chapter basically wrote itself. I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you all think!

Disclaimer: -_-

Chapter 14

Ivy stands there completely shocked, staring at her twin's face. The other woman's smile grows slightly. "Yes, we have quite a striking resemblance, don't we?" she says, moving forward slightly.

'Striking resemblance is putting it mildly,' Ivy thinks, blinking at the other woman. Well, they don't look exactly alike. Ivy notices that the woman's hair is a few shades darker than her own and that her skin is much lighter, though whether that is an actual physical characteristic or simply because she's a ghost, Ivy can't really tell. She also isn't nearly as defined as Ivy is. Ivy has had many years to gain muscle mass and definition because of her skating and while she definitely isn't nearly as strong as she used to be, she still makes sure to run during the warm months and continues doing yoga to maintain a basic healthy physique. This woman is softer around the edges. More feminine. And she has that look that just points out how much more mature she is than Ivy. Trying to figure out what it is though is proving to be a difficult task.

The woman allows Ivy the time to notice all of this, simply waiting patiently. Ivy licks her lips nervously before finally responding. "Who are you?"

"I am Sigyn."

"That's impossible," Ivy mutters, shaking her head.

Sigyn smiles once again, only in amusement. "You can believe in gods and magic but not in a ghost?" she asks playfully.

Ivy blushes in embarrassment. She's got a point after all. Ivy glances around the small cavern again before glancing back at the patient woman. "Where are we?"

Sigyn also looks around her. "We are where I have been resting for the past few centuries," she responds before looking back down at Ivy. "This is where I call my home now."

"Okay," Ivy drawls, trying to follow the cryptic comments. "If we are where you have been resting, then how am I here? I should be sleeping in my apartment."

"Oh, you are." Ivy stares at the woman in complete confusion. "You are still there. Your spirit is here with me. The dead have the ability to call on a spirit of a living soul every once in a while. Ever had a dream about a loved one and when you woke up thought it was completely real?" At Ivy's nod, she smiles. "It is that principle that allowed me to call you here. We cannot do it often, otherwise we would never let you go and move on, but it helps to stave off the boredom down here every once in a while."

"So, we're in Helheim."

"Exactly."

Ivy blinks once again before sighing. "I thought Loki's cape was supposed to stop this sort of thing," she mumbles under her breath, her eyes darting to stare at the altar at her side once again.

"Loki's cape will prevent a god from entering your mind while you dream," Sigyn explains, a gentle smile on her face. "It will not, however, prevent the dead from calling you. Loki may be brilliant, but he does forget some minor details every once in a while."

Ivy stares at Sigyn out of the corner of her eye, her heart pounding uncomfortably against her chest. 'She speaks of him with such fondness.' That really shouldn't be a surprise and it really isn't. She just didn't realize that talking with Sigyn was going to be so hard on her though. Her eyes trail back to the altar and Sigyn moves so she is standing on the other side of it, her eyes also trained on the stone. Ivy swallows uncomfortably. "Is this…?"

"Yes, it is."

"But, I thought that place wasn't in Helheim. I thought it was on Earth."

Sigyn sighs. "Helheim is a copy of different places, different realms. It holds all of the places that could torture a soul or give a soul peace. It is no surprise that a copy of Loki's prison is also down here as well."

Ivy shakes her head at the goddess. "Then why do you stay here? This must be pure torture for you."

Sigyn's eyes come up from staring at the altar to look at Ivy's confused hazel eyes. Her eyes have flecks of brown in them, Ivy notices. Her own eyes tend to stray more toward the blue-green spectrum, but never actually turn that color. "This is the only place Loki would never come."

Ivy blinks. "What?" she asks quietly.

Sigyn grins sadly, lifting herself up onto the altar, one leg dangling off the side of it. "Loki has spent much time here in Helheim. He says it is because he wishes to know Hel, which he does, but his reasons are not so pure. When Hel becomes busy—which is almost always—he'll wander. He has been looking for me for five centuries. And I don't want him to find me. This is one of the few places he has not tried to look because he does not believe I will willingly stay here."

"Why don't you want him to find you?" Ivy asks, completely incredulous. "That could help him."

Sigyn shakes her head. "No, it won't. It will only cause him more pain." She sighs, her eyes drifting to stare at the stone, a hand drifting over the tarnished and spotted surface. "If he were to find me, he would remain here and never leave. I do not want that for him. I want him to heal and move on. I am dead and nothing he can do will change that."

Ivy clenches her jaw, lowering her head to stare at the altar surface too, but doesn't argue back. A hand appears just under her chin and she feels a whisper of a touch. She glances back up, eyes wide. "Think of it this way, dear," Sigyn says, her eyes patient. "If you were to be taken to Hel's realm while still alive and you were able to sit with your father and grandmother at Hel's table, would you leave? Would you willingly return to the land of the living, where you belong?"

Ivy blinks in surprise. She gives the notion a moment of thought before shaking her head. "No, I wouldn't."

"And neither would Loki if he were to find me."

Ivy deflates slightly. "But he still loves you so much."

Sigyn grins sadly. "I know. The dead do talk and I know how much he struggles. Loki has always struggled." She sighs. "When I first met him, he was very innocent, for lack of a better phrase. He was always struggling between doing what was right and playing another trick on some unsuspecting god. That's what I fell for: the unabashed trickster who loved getting a laugh. And for a long time, he loved me back. But then things changed and he was pushed over the line that he had tread so carefully for so long and I lost him. I lost him to the darkness within his own heart. He eventually came back to me but it was after the damage had been done. It was in here," she pauses, looking around the cavern again, "that he came back to me. Only for me to be lost to the darkness instead."

Ivy watches her twin silently, allowing the woman to talk quietly. The silence stretches on for a few moments before she decides to break it. "Why did you do it?" she asks, voice low. "Why did you sacrifice yourself?"

Sigyn meets her eyes and the look shining through them can only be described as agony and remorse. "I couldn't bare it anymore," she whispers. "I couldn't bare hearing him scream." She looks away, staring at the head of the altar. Ivy also turns to look and for a second could have sworn she saw Loki lying there. She blinks and the strange half-image is gone. "I don't regret my actions," Sigyn continues. "I don't regret covering his body and protecting him from our son's poison. The Aesir promised that when they thought he had learned his lesson, had learned of the pain he had wrought, that he would be set free. That proved to be a lie. Nobody other than Idunna came to see either of us and nobody believed me when I said he was himself again. Nobody was going to come to end his torment.

"To be honest, I am surprised it took me as long as it did before my resolve started to crack. I am not—was not—a strong woman. I cannot bare the thought of torture in any way nor to see people suffer. To hear him scream every time I had to turn away to empty the bowl was something that always shook me to my core." She sighs and glances down at her clasped hands. "I made the choice to save him in the only way I knew how. I had decided that if my body were to stave off that pain, then so be it. And I am positive that if he had not been released from that prison, my body would still be protecting him to this day. However, he was helped to be set free instead, and I am more grateful for that than the alternative."

"Wait," Ivy says, holding up a hand. "Someone helped free him?"

"Yes," Sigyn confirms, nodding. "He couldn't get free on his own, otherwise he would have been unleashed much sooner than that. Someone simply destroyed the rune that was preventing him from using his abilities and he was able to slip free on his own."

"Who would do that?"

She smiles. "You should be able to figure that out on your own."

Ivy gives her a deadpan glare before shaking her head. 'All of these gods certainly think I can figure out everything.' She shakes her head and forces her thoughts to return to the previous topic of conversation. "Wouldn't your body have been eaten away by the poison?" she asks, trying to figure out every detail of Sigyn's thoughts.

"No. My son's poison was designed to eat away at the flesh, yes, but it would take millennia for it to completely consume my body and I was confident that Loki would get free long before then."

Ivy shakes her head, her previous amazement towards the other woman completely overtaking her emotions once again. She doesn't get a chance to say anything of the kind though. "You must think I'm so selfish," Sigyn mumbles, twisting a stray lock of hair in her fingers.

"On the contrary," Ivy says eagerly. "I know what it's like to have to give up your life to take care of someone you love. I've done it myself. If anything, I'm completely amazed by you, Sigyn. You gave up everything for your husband whom you thought didn't love you anymore. You gave your life to prevent his pain, even with the corpses of your children around you. And you gave your life in an attempt to permanently prevent his pain." She swallows thickly, trying to dislodge the sudden lump in her throat. "I can see why you would think all of that was selfish, but it wasn't. You don't strike me as the selfish type."

Sigyn grins gratefully. "Thank you, Ivy. I appreciate that." She shakes her head in a way similar to dislodging thoughts before hopping off the altar and moving back around to stand in front of Ivy. "There is an actual reason why I brought you here though."

"Okay," Ivy says.

"I come with a slight warning: history has a tendency to repeat itself, but never in the same way twice. Looking at you, I can see why you captured his attention."

"Looking at you, I can see why too," Ivy grumbles, suddenly a little more uncomfortable with the situation.

Sigyn smiles. "Do not worry. You are no more me than I am you."

"So reincarnation isn't a possibility?" Ivy asks.

Sigyn laughs and it is a purely happy sound. It makes Ivy smile in response. "No. If you were me we would not be having this conversation. Rebirth is possible, but not in the way that your people think." She cocks her head to the side, giving the notion some thought. "Being reborn requires certain criteria that is extremely difficult to fulfill. It requires the entire population of that realm to mourn over the loss of the soul for a part of the soul to be reborn."

"So, basically what the Baldur myth says?"

Sigyn shrugs. "I am unfamiliar with what your people say about the events of Baldur, but yes. Everyone within Asgard had to mourn for his passing. Only, there was one who did not so he was forever kept here with Hel."

Ivy rolls her eyes. "That one person being Loki."

Sigyn grins. "Yes.

"I'm surprised all of Asgard didn't mourn for you, then," Ivy comments, raising an eyebrow and staring up at the ceiling. "Everyone who mentions you always sounds so fond. And we know Loki mourned."

Sigyn cocks her head to the side. "I will admit, I have no idea if Asgard mourned my passing. But we are both here right now, so that couldn't have been a possibility."

"Right…" Ivy shakes herself, looking back at the thoughtful woman. "Sorry, you were mentioning something about history?"

"Right," Sigyn giggles slightly before turning serious once again. "History has a tendency to repeat itself, like I said. I was wishing that you would stay by Loki's side, even with knowing his past and experiences. Even knowing how similar we are in appearance. I have a suspicion that he is going to be needing someone like you and soon. The dead do talk and circumstances are taking place that worry me."

"I was never planning on not seeing him," Ivy mumbles. "I don't see how I could help him though."

"You have become his friend. And he treasures that because friends are so few and far between. I just wished to implore you to not leave his side."

Ivy nods. "I can promise that. I have no intention of turning him away." 'Not that I could…' she admits to herself. "I still don't see how my presence could help him though. I'm just a mortal girl who really can't do much."

"You can help him heal."

"How?"

Sigyn gives her a knowing look. "You may be able to hide it from Hel and Loki himself, but I know differently. I know of your feelings for him."

Ivy blushes, hard. She fidgets slightly in front of the now amused goddess. "Okay, fine," she mumbles. "I have a crush on him, yes. But…" she trails off, flinging her hands slightly in a helpless gesture. "It's not like that matters. He's still in love with you and there is no way I am going to infringe on that."

"I want you to."

"What?"

Sigyn smiles gently. "Like I have said, I'm dead. Loki is still very much alive and I don't want him constantly looking back. Help him heal, Ivy."

Ivy shakes her head, eyes wide. "There is no way I am going to force myself on him or try to manipulate him into liking me."

Sigyn chuckles. "I'm not asking you to. I'm just asking you to be yourself. Trust me when I say he will fall for you on his own."

Ivy blinks, still trying to push her blush off her face. "You'll have to forgive me if I don't really see that."

Sigyn nods. "I know my husband. You know him too, whether you believe it or not. Just be yourself, Ivy. We both know it is because of your looks that captured his attention, but we are not the same. You are kind but you are able to stand up for yourself in a way that I never could. You have a passion within you that I never had. That is what intrigues him." She smiles. "And it intrigues everyone else too. You are quite the young woman."

"Thanks," Ivy mumbles, rubbing the back of her neck in an attempt to hide her blush. She's really not used to hearing anyone compliment her like she just did.

"I mean every word. Your family speaks very fondly of you too."

Ivy rolls her eyes. "Family doesn't count. They have to say nice things about you to strangers."

Sigyn laughs. "Regardless, I can only ask you to do this one thing for me: stay by his side, be his friend, his moral center for when times get dark. If that is all you become, then that is fine. Help him to take that next step away from me and our past. That chapter is done. It is time for him to start the next."

Ivy glances up at her eager expression. "Okay," she agrees. "I can promise that I will remain his friend for however long he wants me around."

"That is all I ask for."

"I am going to assume you don't want me to tell him about this encounter, right?"

Sigyn nods once. "I would prefer it if you told no one. Hel has also been searching for me when she gets a free moment, but I don't want her to find me either. She would tell Loki." She pauses for a second. "Although, you might want to find a way to ask her why we do look so similar. It is quite unnerving staring at a face that looks just like my own."

"Tell me about it," Ivy says, chuckling slightly.

The two women smile at each other. A distant sound is heard, another rock tumbling before something that sounds like an object sliding across the surface of the stone floor comes from the passage Ivy came from. Both turn to stare at the opening. A small grey wolf peeks around the corner, what looks to be a snake hanging from his mouth. Sigyn gives both a stern glare. "Narvi, what did I tell you about carrying your brother like that?" she reprimands, moving over to the two. Before she reaches them, she turns back to Ivy. "I am sorry for dragging you all the way down here, Ivy. But thank you for listening to me."

"It was my honor, Sigyn."

She is able to make out a bright smile before she is drowning in darkness once again.

OoO

Ivy shoots awake, gasping again. Loki's cape is clutched tightly to her chest and she blinks around her dark room. 'Seriously getting tired of these rough awakenings.' She grasps the cape just a little bit tighter before loosening her grip and letting it fall onto her lap. She covers her face with one hand while attempting to get a hold on her heart and breathing. She wipes the thin layer of sweat off her face before relaxing once again. "Well that was interesting," she mumbles to herself, staring at her closet across the room.

"Are you alright?"

Ivy shrieks, spinning to face the now amused face of her friend. She stares at him with wide eyes before they turn into a glare. "Oh sure, I'm just peachy," she growls out. "First I get scared awake out of a… nightmare and then my friend decides it will be fun to just pop in during the middle of the night and scare me again. I'm great." She bundles the cape up into a tight ball and tosses it at his head.

He catches the material effortlessly, snatching it out of the air before it reaches his face. He is laughing now and her glare intensifies. "It's not funny," she says, crossing her arms.

"I find it to be quite amusing," he chortles, sitting down on the edge of her bed. She rolls her eyes at him.

"You get far too much enjoyment out of scaring me."

"You make it so easy to do so."

"Do you want me to be in a constant state of tension waiting for you to pop up randomly?"

His grin turns into a smirk and she gives him a deadpan glare. "I would much prefer you in a relaxed state, darling," he mutters, his voice lowering slightly.

Ivy clenches her jaw. 'I am not blushing. I am not blushing. I am not blushing.' No matter how much she tells herself that though, she can feel the blood pooling into her cheeks and she shakes her head forcefully. "Damnit," she mutters before standing up and moving out of her bedroom. His laughter follows her retreating back all the way into her bathroom. She shuts the door firmly, leaning her head against the wood. 'Why do I always find myself in this situation with him?' She sighs before turning on the light, squinting from the sudden brightness. Once her eyes adjust, she stares into the mirror. Her own face stares back at her, but the image of Sigyn is what is playing behind her eyes. She can see all of the slight differences now, but they are very slight. They're eyes aren't exactly the same shade of hazel and Sigyn's lower lip was a little more full, giving her a more pouty look. But otherwise, the similarities are completely mind-boggling.

Ivy shakes her head before turning away and taking care of her bladder. She remembers the end of their conversation and knows that she won't say a word to Loki. But she isn't sure if she is going to be able to fulfill her other promise. 'My ability to stay by Loki's side is all contingent on him. It's not like I can jump from place to place. And find him within a heartbeat.' She sighs softly, washing her hands. 'Besides, I'm still mortal. I'll be his friend, but nothing more. He's already had to lose the love of his life once. I'm not going to make it worse.'

With that decision solid in her mind, she turns off the light and walks out into her dark hallway. She stops for a second when she can't see anything, moving again only when her eyes adjust just enough to make out any obstacles. She walks back into her room to find the god lounging across her bed, laying back on his elbows with his long legs over the side. He watches her walk back over and she takes a seat at the foot of it, crossing her legs Indian style. "What did you dream about?" he asks her.

Ivy blinks, apprehension shooting through her. "Oh, it was nothing. Just a bad dream."

He watches her silently. "About what?" he asks again.

She shrugs, trying her best to look nonchalant. "I don't really remember."

He hums, still watching her carefully. She stares back, trying not to fidget. He finally glances away and Ivy releases an almost imperceptible sigh of relief. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" she asks, trying to change the subject before he can pester her more about it.

"I came to make sure you were alright," he answers, glancing back at her. "I was told you had quite the time with Hel and Idunna this afternoon."

She snorts. "Yeah, they're a riot."

He cocks his head in confusion. "A riot?" he asks.

She blinks at him. "You know, they're fun but kind of crazy? Have you never heard that expression before?"

"I have not, no."

She sighs, grinning slightly. "How are you going to make it in the modern world?" she asks rhetorically, shaking her head at him.

He rolls his eyes. "I am sure you will do a wonderful job at teaching me, my dear."

"Well, I'll at least try." She points a finger at him playfully. "But know that I am a very strict teacher who expects only results."

He smirks. "And I am the most diligent student you will ever have," he responds.

She nods once, grinning. She turns to look at her clock and her eyes widen at the time. "It's four in the morning?" she bemoans, leaning forward to crash face first into her bed. "I have to be up in three hours."

"But you are already up now."

She turns her head to glare at him. "Yeah, but I'm going to be a complete wreck by the end of the day." She turns so she is laying on her back. "It's going to be a long day."

He places a hand on her forehead. "Then go back to sleep," he tells her softly.

Before she can respond, her eyes drift shut and she is falling back into the black abyss of sleep only a few moments later.