Chapter 15 - Reunion with Jane, Part 2 - History and Truth
"Odin was the vehicle to introduction. Thor was the catalyst to bringing us together. The Aether bound us together so we may survive the coming Decimation."
"Let's skip forward a bit. What is an Infinity Stone and what is this Decimation you keep referring to?" Jane boxed up her emotions and Loki knew he needed to tread carefully. He let her shut down, for now. Soon though, she would have to face the truth.
"We should probably sit down for this." Loki moved to the couch nearby. Jane followed him wordlessly, settling onto the far end from him. She looked skittish and uncertain. Loki settled into a relaxed pose and began his story.
"When the Universe was born, cosmic energies ebbed and flowed across the stars. Over time, the first beings, the Celestials learned how to harness the powers. Eventually they forged them into the six Infinity Stones, and the secret of how has been lost to the memory of time. One of those stones was the Aether, otherwise known as the Reality Stone. It has the power to shape the world around you to anything you desire. With its power, you could make anything you want happen, and if your force of will was strong enough, the change would be permanent."
Loki watched Jane's expressions change as he told his tale. At first there was skepticism before it morphed into interest, and then horror at the end when she realized what had taken over her body. While all the stones were powerful and dangerous in their own ways, the Reality Stone tended to have larger and more far reaching consequences when used.
"I had that inside me?" Jane echoed faintly, staring down at her hands. Even now Loki could still imagine the red veins of power that had traced along her skin.
"Now you know why I had to come back and shield you. To protect you. Without you, I would have fallen completely to the Darkness. If I had done so, the Universe would have been destroyed many years before the Norns decreed Decimation that is to come."
"So how did you come back and save me?" Jane worked her way past her shock, inquisitive mind kicking back into gear. Loki watched as she chewed on her thumbnail, eyes becoming unfocused as she examined the problem at hand. After a few moments she looked up, eyes large on her face.
"If what you say is true, then time is a Causal Loop. In that case, every action is predetermined, and nothing you can do will stop it." Jane's voice had an edge of hysteria to it.
"Actually, the Causal Loop is in play until the year 2016, and then after that, Time Loop effects take over." Loki replied. "Everything that must happen in order for the Decimation to happen cannot be changed. If someone were to travel back and interfere in a way that disrupts the phenomenon, time will crumble and the Universe will cease to exist."
"That's not possible. Time has a way of setting things right, doesn't it?"
"Generally yes, but only to small things that can be fixed easily. If someone were to remove an Infinity Stone from the timeline, or if a key player in the upcoming battle were to die early, then the story gets wiped clean and everything gets erased."
"Ung, I hate time travel. It makes my head hurt. Nothing ever makes sense and there are no real rules." Jane complained, making Loki smile.
"That's why it rarely happens." He spread his hands with a flourish. "Except for me apparently. The Norns had a plan for me all along. I didn't travel back in time of my own free will, they did it to me."
Jane took a deep breath, letting it soak in. Everything Loki said made sense and fell in line with what she had been shown of the future. His knowledge of the events to come only reached until his death at the hands of Thanos, but he knew of the Mad Titan's plan for the Universe. The Decimation.
"Explain the Decimation to me." Jane was curious. "I caught a glimpse of it when you showed me the future, but I don't understand what I saw."
"Thanos thinks himself to be a savior, someone to bring balance and order to the Universe. He sees reality as bloated with life, too much life for the Universe to sustain. In his mind, by removing half of all the living things, he will even out the distribution of resources to the survivors."
"He's deluded." Jane scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Life will flourish afterwards. Yes, it may take a while, but eventually the Universe will be just as crowded then as it is now."
"You try telling an insane Titan that and see how long you survive." Loki quipped, hints of his past cockiness and quick tongue showing through.
"Ok, all of that makes sense in a twisted way." Jane decided to let everything slide, seeing how there was nothing for her to do to change the future. According to what she saw, after the Dark World, she no longer showed up in the timeline that Loki experienced. More than likely she was still here on Earth, avoiding conflict at all costs.
"I guess the only thing left for you to explain why we are bound together."
She watched Loki sigh and shift forward on the couch, leaning towards her. Cautiously Jane straightened her spine, yet leaned back just a touch. She suddenly felt like prey and that the man before her was looking for a meal.
"You remember the power of the kiss I gave you to save your soul?"
Wordlessly Jane nodded, remembering the heat and desire vividly. At the same time though there had been a sense of rightness. A sense of coming home.
"What you felt was just a fraction of the connection between us." Again, Loki reached out his hand to her. This time though, there was no magic. Just a man holding out his hand to the woman before him. "If you permit, I can show you how it could be between us."
"I'm not sure that is such a good idea." Jane felt cornered, pressured into doing something that she didn't. Even though she wasn't a virgin by any means, she wasn't about to be forced into doing something against her will.
"It is a Spirit Weave only." Loki tilted his head to the side, long black hair sliding over his shoulder sexily, green eyes hooded. "Nothing will happen unless you want it to."
"Are you sure?" Jane still felt the need to clarify, to make sure that what she was doing was of her own free will.
"Jane." The way Loki said her name was silken, like he savored saying it. "Even though we are bound, that bond also prevents me from forcing you to do anything. You are protected from me by the very thing that binds us together."
For several long moments Jane stared at the god in front of her, trying to read his intentions in his tone and face. She knew that if she accepted Loki's hand, her future would change forever. She would no longer be Jane Foster, making her way through the world alone. Part of her celebrated the idea that she would find someone who fit her better than anyone she had ever known, while the other part of her was skeptical. Jane, never one to make a decision without all the facts, took a deep breath and accepted the hand that was held out to her.