Loki's past self's path now sufficiently smoothed, Loki prepared once again to return home to his own timeline, to his own Sigyn. He had again taken possession of the relic that would guarantee it remained so to remove it from that timeline. Of course his original intention behind taking possession of it turned out to be sadly for naught, seemingly having proved to be one of The Ancient One's "inevitable" events, though there was no way to be absolutely sure of that fact. Loki thought with sadness how in this timeline as well, his mother would not be alive to welcome her grandchildren, that was if this timeline's version of himself and Sigyn saw fit to provide any, though he was reasonably sure that would eventually be on their agenda. Once again resting his gaze over Asgard from the balcony he thought of all that this version of him and this version of Sigyn, along with others would never suffer. There would be no attack by Malekith and the Dark Elves, he would not die at the hands of Thanos, there would be no snap, nor once he had removed the Aeither and the Mind Stone from this timeline would anyone else ever be able to gather all six stones for any purpose, and if his father did as he had advised him to do, there would be no return of Hela and no Ragnarok. Asgard would go on, most likely anyway, it was possible some other event could in the future occur leading to its demise, but at least it would exist far longer than it had in his timeline.
On earth the people would continue to live their lives blissfully ignorant of life in the other realms and elsewhere in the universe for awhile longer. There would be no Ultron, no Sokovia, again, no Thanos to snap half the population out of existence. Of course that also meant that there would be no Wanda Maximoff and no Vision as well, though he only knew of them through Thor's memories he had shared with Loki. It saddened him a bit that the change in circumstances here meant Sigyn would miss out on meeting one of her closest and dearest friends, Peter Quill, but perhaps it would happen some other way.
All he knew was that from this point on, this timeline's version of him and Sigyn's lives were their story to write. He would have no further involvement. No one of this timeline other than the few that knew of his appearance in it would ever know of his contributions, and even they would be unable to fully grasp them not having experienced the events of his timeline. He was in a sense a savior yet again to so many that would otherwise have fallen in the coming days, months and years, though they would never know that was to have been their fate. Strangely for Loki, he was at peace with that. He knew he still had other loose ends of the whole episode to tie up once he returned to his timeline, but the heaviest lifting appeared to be over. It was hard for him to believe that this had all started with a simple transaction to obtain what he had thought at the time was a harmless rock, an inanimate link to his lost home. It was definitely a lesson learned and one he fully intended to pass on to his own children.
Having already said his goodbyes to his past self and Sigyn and the others that were now aware of his existence, including those who he knew he would never see in life again, he produced the modified cylinder. The balcony now stood empty.
"Steinn...can you hear me?" the disfigured man lying restrained in the bed heard his name as his consciousness fully rose to the surface for the first time since his unsuccessful attack on Loki. He felt somewhat different, perhaps lighter in a sense. The feeling of his mind and heart having been weighed down as if under a mass of heavy blankets at least partially having lifted. The flame of resentment, of anger, though not wholly quenched, burned low, no longer a conflagration.
As he attempted to open his eyes, unused to the light after an extended time in darkness, he felt the sensation of a strong hand gripping his. His brain struggled to put together the identity of the voice, who it could possibly be that would be by his bedside as he recovered from...what exactly was he recovering from? He couldn't recall. His consciousness attempted to put together the pieces of disparate flashes of memories. Finally they all fell into place as he slowly opened his eyes, squinting them as they adjusted to the light.
"Loki Odinson..."
"Yes, old friend."
"You're not my friend. I'm not sure you ever were." Steinn replied.
"It's true. I forfeit that designation long ago. I have since come to regret it."
"You've never regretted anything in your life."
"There are many things I have now come to regret." Loki said, bowing his head. "I knew what they did to you, but I didn't really know, not until I saw it through your eyes."
"That changes nothing." Steinn said.
"No, it doesn't. There is a place...the people there can help to change it, they'll teach you how to heal your body and your mind, if you're willing. We have much to discuss. First however..." Loki said before releasing his grip on Steinn's hand and removing the restraints that had bound him.
"You trust me?" Steinn asked.
"If you still wish to kill me, do it, though my death will also change nothing." Loki said to him. Producing a dagger, he put it into Steinn's now free hand and gripping Steinn's wrist, moved Steinn's hand so that Steinn held the point of the dagger to Loki's throat. Steinn and Loki stared at each other for a few tense, silent moments. Finally, Steinn released his grip on the dagger, dropping it, Loki catching it as it fell.
"Tell me of this place." Stein said.
Bruce Banner's gargantuan green form stood once again in front of a computer monitor in his lab looking over the data on the screen. A smile crossed his face, signifying that what he was seeing was to his liking.
"That's more like it. I knew it!" he said to himself.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything. I've returned, as promised." he heard Loki's voice say from behind him. Banner turned his head, looking over his shoulder, his eyes falling on Loki, the modified cylinder in his hand, in his other hand he held that of a young, dark haired boy. "I apologize for the delay."
Banner turned the rest of the way around, a broad smile on his face as he looked down at the boy who stared up at him in awe.
"Hey, buddy." Banner said approaching Leiffrid and kneeling down, extending his large green hand.
"What manner of monster are you?" Leiffrid asked.
"Leiffrid-" Loki began to admonish his son's impolite question, though posed innocently enough. Banner chuckled.
"It's alright." Banner said to Loki then looked back to Leiffrid, "I'm not sure myself. All I know is I'm the only one you're ever gonna meet. I'm Bruce. So your name's Leiffrid. It's nice to meet you. I guess you had quite an adventure."
"I was lost, then the nice lady found me, then father came for me." Leiffrid said. Loki looked down at his son questioningly. His past self had made no mention of there being another with him when he'd located him. He had not yet talked at length with Leiffrid about his experience, he and Sigyn having both thought it better to distract him from it for a time by returning to his normal routine and insuring he once again felt safe before discussing the subject in any detail.
"I'm glad you're back home safe and sound." Banner said, returning his attention to Loki. "You can't deny he's your son." Banner said, commenting on Leiffrid's favoring of his father's features. Leiffrid had left his father's side and now wandered the lab, looking at the equipment curiously.
"Why would I want to?" Loki asked, puzzled.
"Oh...no...didn't mean it that way. I mean he looks like you."
"Oh...yes. Seeing as I was adopted, the same could not have been said of myself and my father, or my mother for that matter, though I wasn't made aware of the fact for some time. As a child I thought little of it."
"I don't have kids myself, but I've always thought it's best to be honest with them. My parents always were with me, as far as I know anyway." Banner said.
"I tend to agree." Loki responded. A clanging, metallic sound came from the side of both of them, both men turning their heads to see Leiffrid fiddling with a piece of scientific equipment, having accidentally knocked off parts of it onto the counter on which it sat. "Leiffrid-" Loki began again to admonish the boy, moving in his direction. Banner walked over, reassembling the lost parts.
"I'm sorry." Leiffrid said.
"It's ok. It's hard not to touch when you see all this cool stuff. It all looks like it'd be fun to play with...it is actually. Hey, would you like to play a game?" Banner asked. Leiffrid nodded. Loki watched, amazed at Banner's ease in relating to the child seeing as he had none of his own and his imposing led Leiffrid over to a computer station and pulled up what looked to be some sort of scientific themed game on the screen and instructed Leiffrid on how to play it before returning to stand near Loki.
"You have it?" Banner asked. Loki produced the modified cylinder and handed it over. Banner walked with it over to what appeared to be a workbench, grabbing a small tool and with his hulking back to Loki, went to work. As he did so, Loki caught sight of a television on the wall tuned to a news channel. He watched as scenes accompanying stories of various violent crimes flashed on the screen. After a few moments, Banner rejoined Loki, handing him back the original cylinder, holding the rectangular device that had been attached to it in his large hand before closing his hand over it, crushing it. "Well, that's that." Banner looked to Loki who continued to stare at the television, appearing lost in thought and tired, a hint of dark circles under his eyes. "You alright?"
"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
"I dunno...you look a little tired..."
"I suppose I am."
"Did I win?" Leiffrid called from the computer. Loki and Banner walked over looking down at the screen where what appeared to be a representation of a molecule appeared. Banner looked astonished.
"How old is he again?" Banner asked, knowing that Asgardian life spans and rate of aging differed from humans.
"Four. Up to now he has aged at the same rate as mortal children."
"Smart kid." Banner said, still in awe.
"He comes by it naturally. As you say, I can't deny him." Loki boasted.
Loki and Leiffrid stepped out of the light of the cylinder back into the great room of the royal chambers, Loki holding Leiffrid's small hand, the cylinder in his other. Turning to Leiffrid, he knelt before him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Leiffrid...this 'nice lady' you spoke of that was there with you..."
"Frigga...like sister. She told me stories about you when you were little and about your father too. She kept those things away from me and showed me how. She taught me to make it so you could see me better so you could find me." Leiffrid explained. Loki stared into his son's eyes, hoping he didn't notice the tears beginning to collect in his own. "Can I go play with Zosime now? " Leiffrid asked. Loki stood, extending his hand to his son once again.
"Of course."
"I'm going to marry her someday." Leiffrid said as they walked towards the door.
"You have much growing up to do before then. You both will meet many others."
"But I already know." Leiffrid said. Loki thought back to the day his mother had introduced him to Sigyn.
"Perhaps you do." Loki said as Loki opened the door, leading Leiffrid out into the corridor.
Loki sat alone in the plush armchair in the great room of the royal chambers later that night, the light in the room turned down low, almost imperceptible. Loki looked more tired than he had in Banner's lab, the circles under his eyes becoming darker and more noticeable. He looked down into the palm of his hand at the blue round crystal containing the yellow stone that rested in it that he had removed from the scepter, staring at it. He had deposited the Aether in Heven's vault for safekeeping upon his return until he had the opportunity to move it to what Loki planned to be it's final resting place. However, he had felt a compulsion to keep the stone on his person, hidden magically out of sight as he had once done long ago with the Tesseract.
"Loki?" Sigyn's voice said from behind him. Quickly he stowed the stone away once again. Sigyn, dressed in a long nightgown covered by a silky robe reached him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Loki said, sounding irritated.
"You usually don't wait this long to join me. I thought maybe something was wrong."
"No, I was just thinking." Loki said, Sigyn's hand still resting on his shoulder.
"About what?" Sigyn asked.
"Must I tell you everything?" Loki asked, perturbed. Sigyn, taken aback at his response, was silent for a moment.
"No...if you don't want to talk about it.." Sigyn said calmly, worry in her voice at Loki's unusual demeanor.
"Today, on Midgard...I was watching the television...just for a few moments...but in just those few moments...nothing has changed. It's the same as it ever was even despite knowing what they now know, about us, the universe, after Thanos...they slaughter each other in droves...you would think as short as are their lives they would respect life more."
"I know. It has always been so. Hopefully someday they will realize how pointless it is. Come to bed. You look tired." Sigyn asked.
"Soon." Loki answered. Sigyn turned, retracing her steps back to the doorway leading to the bedchambers and passed through it. Loki sat for another moment, contemplating, then leaned forward, grabbing a sheet of paper from a stack sitting on the table between the chair and the chaise across from it and grabbing a pen from beside it, began to sketch.
Mariel opened the door to her chambers to see Loki standing outside. He held a small, flat box in his hand.
"Loki...come in. I'm almost ready." Mariel turned, Loki following her inside, closing the door behind him. Mariel applied her perfume to her wrists, rubbing them together, before stowing the bottle away again in a small, gold bag. Another larger bag sat on the floor near her feet. Mariel tucked the smaller bag into the larger bag before turning back to Loki. The scent of her perfume reached him. Mariel looked slightly curiously at Loki noticing something off about him, the expression on his face, the slight dark patches under his eyes. "The Queen did not accompany you?"
"She awaits you in the throne room. I have something for you. A parting gift, though I hope the parting will not be long." Loki said. Mariel looked to Loki and the box in his hand.
"What is it?" Mariel asked. Loki handed the box to her. Opening it, Mariel's eyes came to rest on a gold necklace, upon it a pendant made of milky white crystal like moonstone.
"I commissioned it to be made for you. The stone is a remnant of the one that once adorned Loriel's crown. I thought it symbolic." Loki explained.
"Yes. It's lovely. Thank you." Mariel said, as she continued to look upon it. Loki reached out, taking the box back from her hands.
"Allow me." Loki said, removing the necklace from the box. Mariel turned her back to him before he placed it around her neck. She looked down on the pendant, taking it between her fingers, feeling the smoothness of the stone. Mariel turned back towards Loki, still looking down at the pendant she held between her fingers.
"Are you certain you wish to go?" Loki asked. Mariel, again surprised, looked up at Loki.
"I think it best. I'm looking forward to it. Perhaps what I learn there I can use to help others when I return."
"I've been thinking...perhaps we could come to an arrangement." Loki said. Mariel looked puzzled.
"What do you mean?" Mariel asked. Loki drew nearer to her, breathing in the scent of her perfume.
"It's not at all unusual. Even my father it seems..."
"I don't understand..." Mariel said, confused.
"I think you do. You've made your feelings quite clear." Loki replied. Mariel stood in stunned silence for a moment as what Loki was inferring became clear to her, Loki only now inches from her.
"No...I couldn't...we couldn't...she's my Queen and also my friend...you would never do such a thing. I know your love for her."
"I have more than enough to share." Loki said. Before Mariel could say more, she found herself in Loki's arms, his lips meeting hers.