A/N:
"What happened next?"
Val was all ears, somehow really invested in her story.
"And then I freed the timeline and pretty much the multiverse," the enchantress answered with a shrug.
The eyes of the dark-haired woman widened, "And..is it a good or a bad thing?"
The enchantress turned to face the other.
"You have no easy answers for me, do you?"
It looked at her with what seemed like endless wisdom.
"It's not about getting easy answers. This is about facing the questions.."
The first part is the present, the cursive are parts of Sylvies dream..Enjoy reading =)
It took her a lot of effort not to fall off the horse every 30 seconds.
One of the times she almost fell, Valkyrie laughed so hard, they had to pause.
"Admit it, you just wanted a good laugh today," Sylvie stated, clinching at the mane, a constant look of panic on her face.
"Well, shit.. you've got me there," the black-haired woman answered between laughing and breathing.
"You said you had a horse for beginners!" the enchantress complained, as the animal jerked and kicked with one of his hind legs a little.
"It is," Val assured, grinning with pure amusement, "Hold on, we're almost there"
They walked for what felt like eternity, but in fact it was more likely half an hour. After passing the harbor, a few fields and lonely cottages, they were now walking into a forest. A few minutes later Sylvie saw the destination Val wanted to show her.
Right before their eyes there was a giant waterfall, coming down a steep mountain.
"There we are"
"It's beautiful," the enchantress marveled and clearly relieved to take a break.
"Yeah, it is, isn't it?"
Brunnhilde climbed off her horse and helped the other, making Sylvies stomach twitch a little. Looking into the Asgardians eyes she remembered why she was so attracted to her in the first place. And it hadn't just been the alcohol..
They sat down near the waterfall on a rock, looking at the water coming down.
Valkyrie held her hand in the water and a second later taking Sylvies to feel it, too.
"Shit, that's cold!"
Val laughed, "I jumped in there once. It's great..really vitalizing..if you want to get your head straight.."
The black-haired woman looked at Sylvie, apparently sensing some turmoil in her.
"..or if you wanna freeze to death," she added, pulling her hand out as well.
"Or if you wanna bet against Thor. You wouldn't guess, but that muscleman is a delicate flower."
Sylvie grinned as well, "He's really a happy-go-lucky guy, isn't he?"
"Yeah, he is," Val started and then thought about it, her expression getting more serious now, "..most of the time. But there had been this five shitty years.."
She took a stone and threw it into the water with a twist. It jumped two times, "The blip thing ring any bells? And..Thanos?"
Sylvie looked at her and nodded, "The one who snapped away half of existence..I was actually in a fight when it happened. One moment I kicked this guys ass, the next he just disappeared in a pile of dust.."
"Yeah, the mad titan. A real liberator.." the other stated, her voice drenched in sarcasm, "But before all that happened, he captured our ship..it was right after Ragnarok. He killed a lot of the Asgardians..and also.."
"Loki," Sylvie finished the sentence and Brunnhilde nodded.
"Thor had just lost his father, his home..and then in the grand finale his brother.."
Val took another stone and threw it, "He loved that man. I don't know what Loki told you, the other one..umm..I don't get the variant stuff just now..Thor told me a little yesterday after you spoke, but he was all pent-up and just gave me a rough overview.. but he loved this man. They were as different as chalk from cheese and if there was a 'worst-brother-award' chances are high Loki would have won the thing. He betrayed and stabbed him probably more times than you can count..he could have held a knife at Thors throat, literally ready to cut it and the last words from that naive blonde idiot would've been 'I love you, brother'.
Sylvie now took a stone herself, concentrating, throwing it. It jumped three times, which made her cheer.
"So..Loki then," Brunnhilde started, looking at the enchantress.
The blonde woman sighed, "Yeah, well, it's complicated.."
"Always is," Val agreed.
"Would it make a difference, if I said he doesn't deserve you?" she asked only half serious, "Listen, about the greasy madman thing.."
"You don't have to.." Sylvie started but was instantly interrupted.
"No, no..don't get me wrong. I'm not taking that back. In my opinion he IS exactly that. I could tell you a good one of how we met on Sakaar.."
Val stopped, only wanting to make a point, but Sylvie looked at her with a curious gaze so she continued.
"Okay..so, I already told you about Hela, the evil sister and firstborn daughter of Odin..funny enough, would be more fitting that Thor was the adopted one..anyway..you didn't have a 'Hela' in your family?"
The goddess shook her head, "Not that I know of.."
Val laughed, "Well, Thor and Loki didn't know, as well. Not until Odin died, at least..another funny story, by the way. Loki is responsible for his demise, because he exiled his beloved dad to a care home on earth.."
She laughed at that and looked at the other woman with a raised eyebrow, "Be honest, you really sure you wanna get involved with that man?"
Sylvie didn't answer, just looked absent-minded to the waterfall.
"Anyway, Hela and Odin have an interesting backstory as well.."
Brunnhilde told the pretty surprising and shocking story about father and daughter conquering the nine realms together, the battle of the valkyries against Hela, the death of her girlfriend and that she exiled herself after that on Sakaar.
"And then, one day I got in touch with the royal Asgardian brothers. We needed to get off the planet to save Asgard..again..before we did, Loki and I had a fight and he pretty much made me relive my trauma by using his magics, satisfying his curiosity by forcing me to re-experience my fight with Hela.."
Beside her Sylvie sighed, a sarcastic little smile on her face.
"Yeah, sounds like something he would have done.."
Val looked at her, "And you are a variant of him? From another timeline, another universe?"
"Basically yes, it's a bit complicated.."
So it was Sylvies time to tell her story. How she was kidnapped, about the TVA, her life on the run, her mission to bring down the organisation and the one(s) who were pulling the strings.
"And then I met Loki.."
She threw a stone in the water vigorously, "And from that moment on things got really chaotic. At some point he managed to doom us on a planet that would get destroyed within the next 12 hours.."
Sylvie couldn't help but smile at the memory of meeting the chaos god, being stuck on Lamentis, forced to work together.
She told her about the void and Mobius and the citadel at the end of time and their different perspectives.
"What happened next?"
Val was all ears, somehow really invested in her story.
"And then I freed the timeline and pretty much the multiverse," the enchantress answered with a shrug.
The eyes of the dark-haired woman widened, "And..is it a good or a bad thing?"
"Definitely a good thing! It means free will for everyone..possibilities that were never there before.." she said with a convinced tone, but her gaze was more thoughtful than she'd liked.
The story continued with her choosing a timeline to live on and how Mobius and Loki showed up again, the temporal-loom-problem, Victor Timely and the kang variants in general and Lokis final decision so step outside, destroying the loom and replacing it with himself.
"And now he sits there on his precious throne, watching over us like the godly idiot that he is.."
Sylvie looked at the sky above and Val followed her with her own eyes.
She didn't tell her about the recent dreams and the conversation with Loki.
"I still can't believe this. There has to be some crazy brainwashing shit going on in that TVA to get this horned egomaniac to care for someone else than himself..this Mobius agent, he looks suspicious. With that.."
"..mustache," Sylvie concluded and they both laughed.
"Yeah, exactly! Who still wears something like that today? In my opinion only crazy psychopaths."
They looked at each other and Val placed her hand on the others.
"Hey, whatever happens..as Thor already said, you have always a home in New Asgard. When he told me about your conversation, his eyes were glimmering the whole time. I think having his..um..sister?" She made a pause, realizing it was difficult to find the right word, "..a member of the family here would be good for him."
She gave her the warmest smile, "And I'm here, too. We could benefit from your fighting skills and your presence lightens up..well, everything."
Val leaned forward and gave the blonde woman a kiss on the cheek, "I just have to say it..he doesn't deserve you. But maybe that's just my jealousy speaking..you're damn sexy.."
Sylvie grinned and both women hugged.
Brunnhilde stood and offered Sylvie a hand, "Come on, mysterious woman, I want to show you some more things. Maybe I can convince you to stay."
In that moment, a thought came to Sylvies mind.
"I adopted a stray today just before you showed up. I hope I'll get her back from Love when we come back."
"Oh, you better pray. If that girl wants something she can get stubborn as hell."
They got back on their horses (which gave the Asgardian some more opportunities to laugh), rode along the coasts and the beautiful countryside of New Asgard.
It was already evening when they arrived at the village and Thors house.
The moment Sylvie entered the living room, she realized her feeling had been right. Love was laying on the couch, the cat on her lap, both deeply asleep, around them a ton of toys.
"Hey, welcome back, sis..Sylvie," Thor cheered and she saw the joy on his face. She smiled in return, a warm feeling in her heart.
Mobius and Thor were sitting at the table, a beer in front of them. The whole atmosphere was warm and light.
"Mobius was just about to tell me the story of this..void and the giant cloud monster and how you met an alligator Loki."
"Yeah, variants of that special being seemed to survive nearly everything, even a place like the void. And the alligator was the cherry on the cake.." Mobius said, grinning at Sylvie, "Come, sit down with us, goddess of chaos."
"You want a beer, Sylvie?"
Thor was already on his feet but the enchantress shook her head.
"Thanks Thor but I think I'll pass this time, I'm tired."
She nodded at Love and Nélya, "Seems like we're staying another night."
Thor shot her an apologetic gaze, "She didn't let her out of her sight, played with her until they both got so exhausted, that the fell asleep within seconds."
They both looked at the sleeping girl and Sylvie smiled, before she went to the bedroom Thor provided.
That night it wasn't Yggdrasil she dreamt of.
But it was mind-bending all the same.
"Love"
Sylvie called her name, walking towards the rock where the brunette girl was standing.
"Wanna come inside, your dad made pancakes for us all.."
But she couldn't finish her sentence, before a hand took hers out of nowhere and pulled her away. In an instant the cliffs and hills faded before her eyes and suddenly she found herself sourrounded by golden lights and a scenery that was kind of familiar.
A palace bathed in warm lights of fire torches and the sounds and scents of a beautiful summer evening..
"Oh hello little fella"
She heard a voice, the voice of a child, seemingly a boy. He was excited about something. She could hear the pure joy only the heart of an innocent child was capable of.
Untouched from the world, still save and sound..
Sylvie turned to see from where the voice was coming and saw a golden haired boy, bending down to something. He was more than familiar, only much younger than the man she knew now. She couldn't immediately identify what he saw was but something moved down there, wriggling.
Sylvie tried to guess his age, maybe six or seven..she was not good at guessing ages.
Only a little older than the brother she had to leave behind..
He reached for the wriggling thing, his hands trembling with happiness and excitement. A warm smile was forming on her lips because of the emotion and joy of this child and so she watched him and now she could see what it was.
It was a snake..
A green snake with golden stripes..and the boy picked it up in admiration, fearless, and looked at it as if it was the most precious thing in the world.
He held it to his chest, probably ready to adopt it and call it his own and then something happened..a green glow appeared. It wasn't enough time and the moment he let it go the snake had already turned into..
..another boy, dark-haired, dressed in green and gold.
"Wahh, it's me!"
She could see the shimmering weapon in his hand, sharp and ready to stab someone.
And so he did.
He stabbed the blonde boy in the belly and Sylvie pressed her hand to her mouth in terror and shock.
A shrill scream filled the air.
"Ahh why did you do this?!"
The blonde screamed and cried and tried to hit the other but the flesh wound hurt so he just landed one strike before he nearly collapsed to the ground. Sylvie started to move forward, wanted to help him but at the same time the crying boy already ran into her direction and directly through her.
"Mom, Loki stabbed me!"
She looked at the black-haired boy, who was now turning to watch his brother run away in pain and she saw the smirk on his face.
That smirk..
In that moment the scenery faded and the small hand of the child grabbed hers again.
"Come"
She looked to her side and saw the same dark-haired boy, holding her hand, looking at her with big blue eyes, eyes she knew all to well, an unreadable expression in them.
"Where do you take me?" the enchantress asked with curiosity and confusion but he just pulled at her hand and when she didn't move he shook his head, let go of her hand and ran, slowly disappearing into the darkness.
"Wait," Sylvie shouted and ran after him.
Everything was clouded before her eyes, clouded and dark.
And suddenly..
..she was on a square, a big city, huge buildings surrounding her.
She immediately felt the tumult which filled the air, heard the noises and saw..a crowd..standing outside a building.
No, they were not standing, they were herded together and she could see fear and terror on their faces. The horror of the whole scenery was almost palpable. The next thing she saw was someone stepping out of a building, walking slowly, relaxed even, down a red carpet, a spear in his hand.
And on his head..
Horns..
Sylvies eyes widened with realization.
A helmet with big, golden horns. He was wearing a long green cape and massive green and golden armor, leather and metal plated. People were still running outside the building, past him, into the crowd, left him completely unimpressed.
It was bizarre.
The man suddenly turned his head just a bit and she saw him move and blue flames were coming out of..the spear..his hands?
Out of reflex she jumped to the side but the flame just went through her and she heard crashing sounds of cars and sirens behind her.
But all that..the noises, the car crashes, wasn't what frightened her.
It was the look in his eyes.
Cold blooded was the first thing that came to her mind at the expression on his face, in his eyes. She had seen a lot of expressions in that mans eyes..ambitious, combative, amusing, mischievious, angry, caring, tired, full of love..
Loki spoke with his eyes.
They say the eyes are the mirror to the soul..that statement was meant for him, made for him..
But she'd never seen them like this.
And it froze the blood in her veins.
"Kneel"
His commanding voice filled the air, a voice she knew all to well..and at the same time it was as if it came from another person. She couldn't believe it was the same voice who said things like, "All I know is that I don't wanna hurt you" to her..
He hammered the spear on the ground.
"I said..KNEEL!"
She jumped at that and the crowd followed his order, going down on their knees. At this point there were several magic duplicates of him, surrounding the crowd.
Sylvie looked at the sky, the expression on her face confused but also challenging, "Is that what it's about Loki? Do you want to frighten me by showing me those things?"
She wasn't even sure what this was..a dream? A vision?
No answer was given..of course not..
Sylvie looked down to the child who was sitting on the ground now, legs pressed to his chest, rocking back and forth.
The enchantress crouched down to him, to comfort him and she also wanted to take her eyes off the shocking scene before her. She touched the shoulder of the boy who flinched at her touch and looked at her with watery eyes.
"Do you see?" he asked, agony in his voice. It broke her heart in two..no child should know so much pain..even if it was all an imagination and the pain was mirroring the hurt of the elder, mature version of that boy.
But it was her pain, too.
The pain of a child, ripped out of her reality, alone, her whole life on the run..
She touched his cheek, caressed his face.
"I see a boy in pain," she answered his question.
Child Loki shook his head and pointed to the other one, the elder one.
"What do you see?"
She didn't want to but looked at the bizarre scene before her again.
"Isn't this simpler. Isn't this your natural state.."
The man was now walking through the crowd, his spear in hand, looking down at everyone of them.
"It's the unspoken truth of humanity that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity."
Fragments of their conversation at the citadel came to her mind..
"Did you listen to what he was saying. That's the gambit..without the dictator, what fills the void?"
She shook off the thought. That's not how it was anymore.
That's not how HE was anymore..
"You were made to be ruled. In the end you'll always kneel."
Sylvie shook her head at those words, unbelieving and desperately trying to fit them into the picture of the man she knew.
It didn't work.
She tried to get an answer, again, "Yeah, that's some terrible ideological shit going on there, I get it. Not your brightest moment. Maybe that massive helmet cut off your blood circulation."
The enchantress smiled at her own words. She still nailed it. And she missed the discussions with him. Pissing each other off. The back and forth, both of them quick-witted in their own individual way.
The boy pulled at her hand.
"Do you see?"
The blonde woman looked at the man in front of her again, covered in layers and layers of leather and metal, his face half covered..half hidden..behind that big helmet..the heavy leather boots..
She put aside the words he said, the terror he brought to those people, the cold blooded expression in his eyes..
And it was all the same..
"I see a boy in pain"
She shared eye contact with the young version of Loki and for a moment the pain in his eyes turned into something else.
He felt seen, it was warm.
Sylvie looked at the sky again.
"But at the end you freed them all. All the timelines, all the people. From wanna-be-enslaver to free-will-giver..it's quite a turn, don't you think?"
In that moment everything faded again in front of her eyes.
She immediately remembered the next setting. The dome, the sword, the bifrost..
Asgard..
It was a fight scene, two man standing across from each other. Ready to attack, ready to cause the other as much pain as possible. The blonde had his hammer in hand, rage flowing through every vein, rage and hurt and disbelief. It was a wild mixture of feelings.
The black-haired had tears in his eyes, tears of hate and pain.
"Come on, what happened to you on earth that turned you so soft?"
He spat the raw emotion in his brothers face, who did not reply, which encouraged Loki to go on.
He had told her.
During their conversation in pie land. That he had mocked his brother after he was banished from Asgard.
The two brothers couldn't be more different.
One fought with hands and hammers, the other with words and magic. But it served the same purpose - make the invisible pain visible, give it a form and give it a target. In the corner of her eye she saw that the small boy next to her had covered his ears with his hands, rocking back and forth again.
"Oh, it was. Well maybe, when we're finished here, I pay her a visit myself!"
This part he had left out..
Sylvie stumbled backwards at his words, the cruel insult and foreshadowing, hair standing on end and she wished she had covered her ears, too.
When Thor attacked his brother the scene faded again before her eyes.
The next moment she was standing in a yellow-brown room, lights dimmed and as she turned around she saw him..
Loki.
Sitting on the ground, on a stair at the TVA.
This was how she remembered him. With his shirt and tie, the sword holder on his back, the blood on his shoulder.
His eyes full of grief, full of pain..broken
She realized..and her heart hurt like stabbed with a dagger.
"Love is a dagger.."
It was after she kicked him trough the time door.
She walked towards him, knew he couldn't see her, that it was all an imagination but she did it anyway.
Sylvie sat down across from him.
"Loki, why am I seeing all this?"
Frustration hit her hard as his face once again faded before her eyes and everything went black.
The first thing she heard was his voice.
A voice that should haunt her up to her dreams..her nightmares.
"Without me..without the T.V.A..everything burns"
But now she was sitting on the other side of the desk, at the window, behind him.
..He who Remains..
"We're all villains here..we all did terrible, awful..horrific things.."
It was a strange perspective, to see herself sitting there. Her gaze, focused on her lifetime goal, her mission, the freedom for everybody. Freedom she never had..she wanted to give it to them.
It was her destiny, her purpose.
She was determined, never looking left or right..
But from this perspective she finally had the opportunity to watch Loki.
The turmoul inside him.
And she saw what she hadn't seen in this moment. He wasn't sure..he was ambivalent, he was desperate, he was..
..afraid.
"But now we..you..have the chance to do them for a good reason."
And then the threshold was crossed.
And from this point on their thinking and inner decisions branched off like the timeline behind her..
"You want the throne"
"No..that's not it..no"
It was the truth.
A truth she didn't want to know and didn't want to believe because it fit into everything..her self- fulfilling prophecy.
That she could trust nobody.
No one should be trusted and especially not Loki.
He would betray her..he would stab her in the back.
As he did.
Only that he didn't.
She looked at the two people, the two demigods..who were so similar but divided nevertheless.
He was so desperate to do the right thing. For all the chaos and pain he had caused all those years - the thing he wanted so desperately was stability and orientation. He didn't plan on betraying her.
Formost, he didn't want to betray her.
He wanted to do the right thing.
So did she.
There was no possible way to find a solution in this decision.
Because there was no middleground.
They were both just complete polar opposites of a spectrum.
"I just want you to be okay"
When she saw her own sword drop Sylvie turned and looked outside the window, no need to look any longer..she didn't want to see it. The view was beautiful, stunning. A perfect network of colors, slowly freeing itself from the restricted corset it was forced in for such a long time.
A network of endless possibilies, from which salvation and disaster would emerge equally.
Free will..
"Did I do the right thing?" the enchantress asked the being that now stood beside her.
"What's right, what's wrong?"
"They should all have the possibility to chose..to live by their own terms. To have free will.."
"Sounds right to me.." the being answered in a calm voice and nodded.
"But there will be a lot of pain and death that wasn't there before.." Sylvie added deep in thought.
"I assume that's the consequence of free will and the decision you made. The other side of the coin.."
The enchantress turned to face the other.
"You have no easy answers for me, do you?"
It looked at her with what seemed like endless wisdom.
"It's not about getting easy answers. This is about facing the questions.."
The enchantress thought about that for a long moment.
"I didn't ask any questions.." Sylvie stated for the very first time, "..because I thought I already knew the answer."
"Did you show me all of this? The small boy, Loki..was that you?"
It nodded but didn't answer with words.
"Why? Why am I seeing this?"
"Ask the right questions and you will find the answer, Sylvie."
And then it happened..the timeline broke..they witnessed it together and the goddess touched the glass with her hand.
"He thinks he deserves it. It's about guilt and atonement.."
It was just an assumption and of course it wasn't that easy..never was..
There were layers upon layers, just like his armor, just like their story.
No easy answers..
No simple truth..
"I doomed him. I doomed him to sit there and hold it all together. On a throne he never wanted..because I thought I knew the answers to questions I never even asked.."
Bitterness and realization in her voice..
But the being shook his head, "These are statements, not the question that needs an answer.."
She thought about everything she saw and everything she knew.
There was always a prize..
The prize of decision..
The prize of truth..
The prize of freedom..
.
"What are you so afraid of?"
.
"Me"
.
"You came to kill the devil"
.
"..and an infinite amount of me cause another multiversal war and I end up right back here anyways"
.
"We're all coming, you can't stop it."
.
"And when it's time, even your god won't save you.."
.
And then it hit her..
"Is he save..where he is..is he save on that throne?"
"The seat was taken, the purpose was fulfilled..the burden is heavy..the threat is growing..the multiverse doesn't rest..and the fall from the highest throne is the deepest.."
And then everything faded before her eyes..
Hey guys,
I'm sorry it's been such a long time since the last update. For some time I was in a different headspace, updated my other story. But now I'm back!
I really hope you like this chapter! I love the connection between Sylvie and Val and also Thor, Love and Mobius together with her. And the dream was kind of a matter of the heart to write.
Your interest in this story and comments mean everything to me!
I'll answer to your last comments the next time. I have to give the computer back..unfortunately my doc manager still doesn't work on my mobile phone :(
See you soon!