The detective duo went through the time door to the Null-Time Zone, and in a bit, Loki came back through with his own sweetheart.
"Fandral, this is my girlfriend, Sylvie!"
"Hello." Sylvie extended her hand to shake.
"Enchanté, mademoiselle!" As he tried to kiss her hand, she conjured a frog in it and pressed the slimy amphibian to his lips.
Fandral jerked his head back and made a funny face. "Ohhh, she's perfect for you!"
"Hinder yourself." Loki warned. "I'll have you know she's actually me as a woman."
"Really? Well, that's strange!"
"No, Strange is more of an unfortunate acquaintance."
Fandral winced. "And what exactly does that mean?"
"Not important."
"Are you sure he's not a variant of us too?" Sylvie asked. "The smarmy routine and the green cape are enough of a commonality. By the way, Loki, I thought you might like to give this a read." Sylvie handed him a book titled, 'Sherlock Holmes.' "He's supposed to be a master detective."
"Yes, I've heard of him, but I've yet to read the actual stories!" Loki beamed at her. "Thank you, Syl, I'm going to enjoy this!"
"So, Odin and Thor are on some father-son hunt together?"
"Yeah, they'll be back in a couple days." Fandral pondered for a moment, getting an amused expression on his face. "Do you think there are any lady versions of me out there? If so, could you introduce me? Please?"
Loki snickered. "Sure. If I meet a female Fandral variant somewhere, you'll be the first Fandral I tell. Now, Sylvie, there's someone immeasurably important to me I'd love to introduce you to. Follow me, my dear!" Loki led Sylvie down the halls of the palace until they reached a lovely lady's room, furnished completely in gold like the rest of the palace. Loki took a deep breath as they stood at the door. He reached out to Sylvie, who took his hand as they entered together.
"Mother? Are you here? I-it's-"
"Loki? I thought you were studying teleportation in the library." The long-curly-haired, light brunette woman in the golden-yellow dress addressed him and looked to the blonde holding his hand. "And who's this? Have you finally met that special someone, my love?"
Loki smiled. "Sylvie, it is my sincere pleasure to introduce you to the wonderful woman who raised me, my mother, Frigga! Mother, this is Sylvie, the love of my life."
"Pleased to meet you, dear."
"Yeah, Loki's told me a lot about you, wonderful things. You taught him magic, and manners, and the like. I've been wanting to meet you for such a long time now." Sylvie told her.
Loki conjured a bouquet of gylne maner flowers behind his back as the ladies were talking and handed them to his mother. "Here, for you, Mother."
"Thank you, Loki, they're beautiful."
"Mother, I know I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I'm certain you'd figure it out anyway, if you haven't already: I'm not, exactly, your Loki. I'm from another timeline, in the future."
Frigga smiled. "Yes, I could tell from one look in your eyes: there's a happiness, a sense of contentment, that I haven't seen there before. And yet, it's mixed with a twinge of regret. Is there something you'd like to tell me, Son?"
Loki sniffed another deep breath, fighting back tears. He nodded. "Yes. I- it's my- in the future- well, further in the future than… my future, I… you… I'm so sorry." A tear fell from his eye. "It's my fault, it's all my fault. I'm so… s-s-sorry-" His voice broke as more tears streamed from his face. Sylvie stroked his hair as Frigga wrapped her arms around him, and he wrapped his around her in return.
"Why are you sorry, Loki?" Frigga asked. "What happens?"
"You… th-the dark elves… they attack, and I- I lead them right to you."
Frigga looked puzzled. "Do you now?"
"'Take the stairs to the left of the prison,' I tell them- I tell them where to go. It's my fault. I'm sorry."
Frigga raised an eyebrow. "Well, I'm certainly glad you do not become an architect in your future."
"What?"
"Hehe, Loki, the stairs to the left of the dungeons lead to the barrier control room. My quarters aren't anywhere near the prisoners." Loki lightly laughed through his tears, in relief and nearly disbelief, while she gently pressed her head to his. "But I want you to know, that even if they were, I would never blame you for my coming to harm, so don't you dare blame yourself either. I know you: you are a good son! Let no one tell you otherwise, especially yourself."
"You have no idea…" Loki wiped his eyes. "…you have no idea how relieved I am to hear that! Thank you, Mother! Please, no matter what happens to your Loki, no matter what sort of mess he gets himself into, no matter how much darkness clouds his mind and his heart, don't let his Odin and Thor give up on him! I truly hope one day they can follow your example. And when you tell your Loki the truth of his origins, could you please stay by his side, no matter what, as he will and always has needed you the most, and don't force a throne upon him until you're absolutely sure he's of sound reasoning, so he doesn't try to, say, destroy Jotunheim?"
"That… is an oddly specific request…"
"And if he ever returns from falling into a wormhole below the rainbow bridge, just tell him you know about Thanos and that he's been through unspeakable tortures, and let him tell you the rest."
"Unspeakable tortures?" Frigga grew worried. "Physical or mental?"
"Both, often simultaneously." Loki took his mother's hand. "Be patient and gentle with him, as you have always been." Tears fell from Loki's eyes again. "I wish so much I could stay here with you, but your timeline has your own Loki, and he will undoubtedly need you more than I. My place is with Mobius and Sylvie now, solving the mysteries and crimes of the multiverse. Know that I love you dearly, all of me does, and we always will." A tear fell from Sylvie's eye as she nodded in agreement.
"And I love all my children, every Loki with every fiber of my being. No matter where or when you go, I will always be your mother, and you will always be my boy." The three spellcasters hugged one more time and bid each other farewell as the Lokis went through their time door, hand-in-hand, back to the Null-Time Zone.
"Loki, how'd it go?" Mobius wondered as Loki and Sylvie came his way. The former looked him in the eyes, an unsettled mood in him apparent.
"Did you know?"
"Did I know what?"
Loki furrowed his brow and huffed angrily. "When you first interrogated me, you told me I lead dark elves to my mother's chambers before they kill her. In fact, you practically taunted me over it."
"Loki-"
"Did you know that I lead them to the control room, not my mother's chambers!?"
"What?"
Tears dripped from Loki's eyes again, still keeping eye contact with his friend. "Were you lying to me, Agent Mobius, or did the 'great Loki expert' get his facts wrong!?"
"Loki, I- I lied, about a lot of things, as part of my job back when I worked for the TVA, but… I didn't lie about your mother. What I told you about her is what I put together from the footage, what I was told! Was I a bit harsh in the way I told you? Yeah. We didn't trust each other then. But I really believed you led the elves to her, by accident, just as much as I believed the TVA created me to do good."
"…okay. Okay, that's all I needed to know."
"Control room, huh? That must have been a relief to hear! I mean, wow, that's great news, Loki!" Mobius walked over and patted Loki on the back. "Okay, you're right: I was wrong, and I was out of line, what I said about Frigga, but I was a total jackass about it. I'm sorry."
Loki hugged his good friend and therapist, as all was forgiven. Sometime later, Loki started his first Sherlock Holmes book, fascinated by the Midgardian character and his extraordinary observational talents. Sylvie approached and sat beside him as he excitedly read.
"Is it good?"
"Oh, I can't put it down! It's been far too long since I've read a good book, for that matter! Thank you so much, Sylvie!"
She grinned. "Don't mention it. Speaking of mentioning things, you'll never guess the little tidbit of information I got from Moby!"
"And what would that be?" Loki pondered, still absorbed in his novel.
"He told me that you're ticklish."
Loki looked up from his book. "Sylvie, you wouldn't-"
But her grin widened as she crouched down to his sitting eye level. "Oh, but I would." Loki unceremoniously dropped his book in utter terror. "Run."
