A/N: we also wrote an introductory chapter to sylvie after the hype around loki season 2. i hope you enjoy this and the next chapter is back to regular programming :D
That night dark clouds had gathered above The Raft bringing with it a violent storm. The emergency lights blared pulsating red and the klaxon alerted all, but it wasn't the lightning crashing all around and mighty waves pounding against the facility that stirred any alarm. No, those were fairly standard. It was what the monitors had detected inside the prison that caught security's attention. What had started as flickers of orange in a small corner of the showers had turned into a translucent rectangular portal and from it emerged a woman dressed in armour with a long flowing emerald cloak and a crown of golden horns atop her head. Sylvie Laufeydottir, Goddess of Mischief, had arrived.
Minutes prior, a long awaited calm washed over Sylvie as she stood silently staring at the fresh corpse of He Who (No Longer) Remains. An eternally frozen look of agony carved on his dead face as her sword hung impaled through his chest, blood still dripping down onto his purple robes. He was the man who destroyed so much of her life. Her home. Her family was gone because of him. For a millennia she'd sought revenge and it had finally led her beyond time itself. It may have taken shoving Loki through a portal, but she assured herself he'd be fine…
This moment of peace was quickly cut short as the sound of the lighthouse crumbling into nothing boomed through the eternal nothing and then the rest of the castle began to shake. "Fuck!" Sylvie cursed to herself as she quickly ripped her sword out of her slain foe's heart, muscle and tissue still clinging to the blade, and then desperately fiddled with her tempad. There was just one charge left and no time to enter proper coordinates as the Citadel collapsed around her. She chose to risk it and just hope that it would land her somewhere safe.
The goddess panted desperately as she fled through the glowing orange gateway, emerging dishevelled in…a tiled room. The floor was still slick with water and there was a sort of grime along the pale walls that overall made the room look rather unpleasant. It appeared to her to be some sort of public bathhouse. She briefly looked down at her little multiversal travel device hoping it might at least have some indication of where and when exactly she was. Nothing. The screen went dark and wouldn't turn back on until it had properly been recharged. Not great but at least she wasn't on an airless moon or another zombie universe. She'd grown to hate zombie infected universes during her travels. Alarms were blaring though. That was never good.
Sylvie ran out of the bathing room and into a long hallway that was illuminated by flashing red lights that swirled about. The sound of at least a dozen footsteps grew nearer and nearer. She drew her sword just as armoured guards rounded the corner armed with tasers. Weapons pointed on both sides, a guard in heavy metallic riot like gear who was presumably their leader stepped forwards and said from behind a screen veiled mask, "Ma'am, please put down the sword"
Sylvie eyed the guards for a moment, a devilish smirk on her face that could mean only trouble. Unlike her variants who would probably introduce themselves to the guards by now with some speech declaring themselves gods of Asgard or Jötunheim burdened with glorious purpose, she found the idea of it all a little too dramatic. Sylvie much preferred practicality over style. She could fight her way through the all female warriors before her (she briefly wondered if this was a matriarchal timeline, but that wasn't important at the moment) then question any who survive for details on this new universe.
The guards tensed with the mysterious traveller's ominous silence…just before she swung the flat of the sword at the nearest guard, intent to knock her off her feet. The first fell hard to the ground and the others advanced, firing tasers and intent on striking with their batons to stun the intruder. Sylvie twirled her sword and caught the first violent baton blow in a tight embrace as a charged tasing shot hit her in the abdomen. The impact of the shot proved far more effective than the actual shock. At best it would be a method that slowed her. With the might of her true Jötun force, she shoved her attacker against the wall and spun around in time to catch another blow with her hand, using the blunt weapon and hitting it's wielder in the throat with it. The next that tried to harm her was met with a bubbling blast of fiery green magic that bent them to her will.
The Raft's security was nothing against her power, and that particular group of guards fell in a matter of minutes. Fortunately for the prison, but unfortunately for Sylvie, those few minutes gave the rest of the armed security enough time to properly prepare. As Sylvie stood atop a pile of the wounded she looked up to see a group of a dozen guards emerge in the dim red light. These ones were using various state-of-the-art HAMMER designed vibranium weapons. Before she could even properly register their presence, the sound of another party coming behind her echoed down the hall.
The guards levelled their stun guns at the Goddess of Mischief and immediately opened fire. 4 shots barely phased her, 6 slowed her down. 10 brought her to a knee, and 15 caused her to cry out as she collapsed. The guards took this as their chance to quickly wrap an inhibitor collar, a large device of wires and metal, around her neck and rip the sword from her grasp. For her part Sylvie resisted for as long as possible but as soon as the device locked around her throat with a loud *click* she could feel her strength rapidly deteriorating. She reached up in an attempt to enchant the nearest attacker. At first green sparks emerged from her fingertips but those fizzled into nothing. Her arms were pulled behind her back and the cold metal of handcuffs bound her wrists. She stopped moving and struggling, just gasping for air. Part of her deep down was glad it was over. After an immortal lifetime of running...she'd been caught. There was a certain satisfying finality to that, and nobody could say she didn't fight with her all.
Sylvie was brought to her feet and dragged to a place of uncertainty. She looked around but made no attempt at further resistance. They arrived at an unlabeled room, but upon entering it was rather clear what it was. A small dark chamber with only a table and two chairs sitting in the centre of the room. Interrogation. Sylvie's handcuffs were connected to a small hook on the table and then she was left in blissful silence as she mentally recovered from her brutal beating. She breathed slowly, trying to calm myself before whatever came next.
The exact amount of time she was left to wait was rather unclear to her. Time seemed to drag when she wasn't constantly living in an apocalypse. Eventually the door was thrown open and a woman with long black hair dressed in a dark purple skirt and blouse stepped inside, Warden Valentina Allegra de Fontaine would be handling things personally. Sylvie noted the newcomer hardly seemed to fit in with the armoured warriors that she'd previously encountered.
"Applause are owed to you for managing to do whatever you did tonight. It's not easy to do what you did. You made my women, some of the most highly trained professionals in the world, look like a bunch of minimum-wage mall cops. That's hurtful. Don't even get me started on my bewilderment at how you somehow managed to get past our anti-teleportation technology. Pretty impressive I must say" the woman in purple complimented in a sickly sweet tone.
"Thank you...but it wasn't exactly intentional. I'm just passing through" Sylvie replied
"Oh you're a comedian too I see" Val rolled her eyes "No one is "just passing through" here. Tell me who you were trying to break out and we can get this over with a lot faster"
Sylvie looked at her with genuine confusion. "Break out? Is this some kind of prison?"
"There's playing dumb and then there's just pretending to be a moron but fine I'll play your game. Yes it's a prison. Actually kinda y'know the most secure women's prison on the planet."
Sylvie nodded, taking that in. "And based on your appearance and style of dress, we're in Midgard, correct?"
"Ok so you're Asgardian! Good to know. There we go a bit of information!" Val replied condescendingly. "Yes this is Midgard"
"Seven other realms call this place Midgard, you know, and that's not even pointing out parallel realities." Sylvie pointed out. "...But yes I am Asgardian...or Jötunheimen, depending on perspective, Midgardian"
"So which of the Norse goddesses are you? Or are you just some random Frost Giant?" Val finally took a seat opposite Sylvie and began writing in a file.
She sighed. "I don't suppose the name Sylvie Laufeydottir means anything to you?"
Val pondered the name of Laufeydottir for a moment trying to remember why that sounded familiar. Annoyingly rapping her pen against the table as she thought. Then it connected. "Laufey? So you're related to Loki?"
"Sort of. I am a Loki from another timeline"
Val looked at Sylvie, not entirely convinced. "Sure"
Sylvie raised an eyebrow at her obvious scepticism. "You don't know about parallel timelines? Right, this clearly isn't a TVA facility. And...you've already encountered my counterpart in this timeline?"
Val looked unamused. She took a long pause before asking with exasperation "You're just Loki aren't you? I mean we thought you were dead, but then again it wouldn't be the first time you've faked your death"
"Well yes I am Loki. That's what I was named, anyway, but that isn't my chosen name." Sylvie replied, oblivious to the cultural context her words took on.
"Ok…." Val nodded. Deciding she'd need to call more than a few people to discuss what to do now that Loki was A) alive and B) captured. "Well this has been an enlightening conversation. One of my officers will be in here to continue asking you questions"
"Will I get to ask questions at any point?"
"Depending on how much you cooperate, yes maybe"
Sylvie looked her in the eyes for a long moment, ready to argue...but quit. "Alright."
She'd destroyed the TVA, defeated her greatest enemy in He Who Remains… and now was ready to rest. In prison? Sure, why not. Seemed as good a place as any to her.
—
Another long wait passed of sweet boredom for Sylvie. She couldn't believe she hadn't felt genuine boredom since she was just a child on Asgard. Occasionally she'd test the resilience of her cuffs but they held strong. In fact it felt like they were draining her every time she tried to pull at them.
Eventually a tall brunette officer stepped in, having been given a quick summary from Val she felt she semi-know what to do. Just fill out the file and, more importantly, process the new arrival. Her heart already ached to just get to the latter task. "Alright so what's your name?"
"I am Sylvie Laufeydottir, Princess of Asgard and Jötunheim" she replied calmly. "Yours?"
"Officer Sarah Weaver"
"Nice to meet you." Sylvie said, with a smile that could be anything from purely sincere to bitingly sarcastic. It was difficult to tell with her.
"Yeah likewise." Weaver took a seat. "Ok so how did you break in?" she asked with extreme disinterest.
"I used a Tempad. Time-travel technology from the TVA...I think I dropped it when I was captured so you should have it. Not certain if you'll know how to properly use it though" Sylvie leaned back as far as the chain of the cuffs would allow.
"Ok. Well then I suppose it would be best to get you situated within this facility."
"Yes, I think so. Tell me, what is this place?" Sylvie asked
"It's called The Raft. The most highly advanced facility meant to hold enhanced women, like yourself, that exists. Outside these walls are about 2000 kilometres of ocean standing in the way of any land mass. So don't think of escaping" Weaver answered, just a little too happy to state how hopeless the situation of prisoners looking for freedom truly was. She liked letting the sorry women that were incarcerated know just how isolated from the outside world they were.
"Oh I wouldn't dream of escaping. But criminal? What crimes have I committed in this world and timeline?" Sylvie figured she was getting locked up, but wanted to hear their justifications anyway.
"Terrorism, mass murder, destruction of a city, trying to conquer the world. All that stuff" Weaver named a few examples off a long list of crimes.
"Really? I did all that? Quite a feat, given that I've never been here before." Sylvie replied, knowing there was no use in trying to explain the whole variant thing but still needing to at least say something.
Weaver ignored the last bit and continued asking some standard questions for far longer than either woman wanted to bear. It dragged on…and on…and on.