Chapter 13
"Sig."
It had been Loki's voice which anchored Sigyn back into reality— that was, if that could be considered reality in the first place, although admittedly, that term had proven itself to be rather flexible in light of recent events. After having contemplated the monstrous structure in the near horizon as time quite literally surrounded them, she had stopped in her tracks without even realizing, for an ominous metaphorical weight had settled upon her chest unexpectedly. Sylvie, indifferent as to what the other two subjects chose to do behind her for in her mind there was only room for the realization of a plan years in the making, had kept walking. Loki, however, had stopped just a few steps later after having noticed Sigyn was no longer advancing, and was now turned towards her.
"Everything okay?"
Not only did she lack the terms to formulate a sensical answer to that question, she was also suffering from a turning sensation in her stomach which warned her that whatever she was feeling, she did not want to share, least of all with Loki. Why, of course, was another question entirely, yet another that was to remain unanswered, for Sigyn was far too overwhelmed with the sheer, guttural act of experiencing all of that for her to bring herself to make some sense out of it on top of everything else.
"This is wrong," she realized, not knowing whether she had actually said so out loud or merely thought it to herself.
All of a sudden, she began to question every decision she had ever made which had resulted in her standing there, beyond the end of time itself, upon that remote corner of existence. She cursed her own impulsiveness as she tried to decipher what motivation could have possibly justified her challenging everything she had once considered certain which now appeared to her to be intangible.
"Hey... hey, hey, hey—"
Loki must have sensed that behind her seemingly neutral countenance she was in fact in crisis, for he rushed towards her and placed his hands upon her shoulders.
"What am I doing here, why am I here?" Sigyn mused in whispers.
"That's what we're here to find out."
"No... No, I can't— I don't—"
He took gentle hold of her chin, turning her face so she would remove her gaze from their destination and set it upon him instead. It had been the most loving gesture she had experienced in who-knew-how-long and yet, far from comforting her, it only reminded her of what reality used to feel like, what her life had actually been, what she wanted back more than anything— and something told her whatever awaited on the other side of those closed doors would only drive her further away from it.
"We've made it this far..."
Sigyn nodded, for she agreed.
"I just don't think I was supposed to."
Vexed as she was over the fact that all along she had been but an accessory, something to been placed next to the God of Mischief, only to be adjusted and even removed according to a scheme she hadn't the faintest control over, now that she had become aware of her role, rather than wanting to fight it, she was closer to surrendering to the fact that she hadn't control over her own fate and she never would.
Realizing Loki was genuinely struggling to find words of comfort, and coming to terms with the fact that the only way to surrender to her pre-written destiny was simply to walk straight towards it, Sigyn swallowed her distress. She took him by the hand but it was him who laced their fingers together, a gesture that could have been instinctive, but also surprisingly in tone to what the Loki she remembered and had married would have done; they caught up with Sylvie.
Once inside, they encountered the alleged culprit for that whole calamity to which all three variants had been subjected. The more they learned, the worse Sigyn felt, as if some sort of illness became graver and graver with every fact He Who Remains uttered, most likely because she could foreshadow that there was a purpose behind such abrupt candor.
"There's two options," announced the creature across the desk from them, and Sigyn's breath got caught in her throat in anticipation to an ultimatum. "One... you kill me and destroy all this, so you don't just have one devil, you have an infinite amount. Or... you. You run the thing."
Loki's brow furrowed at the lack of clarification.
"Which of us?"
"Oh, that's for you to decide," remarked the man with a chuckle. "I've gone through a lot of scenarios... trying to find the right person to take this spot. It turns out one of them came in two. And the other one, well..." He extended an impressed grin to the woman seated between the two Variants. "—the other one's just one tough lil' bird, am I right?"
Sigyn narrowed her eyes with annoyance, repulsed by the idea that the only commendable aspect of her was only, and had always only been, her resilience.
"Oh, don't get me wrong, I mean it as a compliment. You are what we, Tyrants of the Space-Time Continuum, like to call..." He looked away as if in thought, very evidently only just now trying to come up with a term to describe the likes of her. "—an anomaly. That sounds about right, doesn't it? An anomaly?"
The other three glared at him with distrust still.
"See, this one..." He pointed to Loki. "was hard to shake off, I'll give him that. But you..." He sighed and shook his head at Sigyn, as if impressed by her persistence. "Boy, did nexus events like you. Everything I threw your way, killing your parents, even killing your husband, none of it stopped you. One way or the other, you always found it in you to..." He illustrated an evasive maneuver my making his hand trace a zig-zag-like figure in the air, making a playful onomatopoeic 'whoosh' to go along with it.
"So you removed me altogether," Sigyn accused.
"Paving the rode," He Who Remains reminded her. "I gave you a motivation and what's more, I threw in your partner in crime. Actually, I gave you two of 'em," he chuckled, pointing at the two seated on either side of her.
Their only two choices were presented to them once more: Multiversal War or continuing his life's work. Their decision, as it turned out, became rather time-sensitive as a rumble of thunder roared in the distance, announcing the end of time itself.
"Better hurry. Timeline's already branching," warned He Who Remains as he snuck a peek out the window behind him.
Sylvie was the first of them to react, leaping out of her seat and wielding her blade. It was Sigyn who stopped her.
"What're you doing?"
"Sylvie—"
"I'm finishing what I've started."
"Sylvie, wait," Loki intervened. "Hang on a moment. Let's just talk about it. What if he's telling the truth?"
Sylvie took a second attempt at He Who Remains' life, but once more the other two prevented it.
"I believe him," Loki stated and for the sake of their common cause, Sigyn remained silent to pretend she agreed.
"Believe what? That a bazillion boogeymen will turn up just because we give people free will? He's a liar!"
"So am I. And I don't think he was lying. Not about that. Insane? Yes. But maybe he was telling the truth."
Sylvie glanced over Loki's shoulder towards Sigyn, who felt utterly transparent in spite of her attempts to conceal her true opinion.
"And what do you think?" the Goddess of Mischief asked her, almost challengingly.
"I... think you need to think about this," was all she offered as a response.
"I need to think about this?" she repeated. "And what would you two be doing in the meantime, precisely?"
"I know what the TVA has done. I know how much it's hurt you, it's hurt us all," Sigyn insisted, lowering her blade as she tentatively approach her. "But this is not going to fix that, it's not going to take any of that pain away."
"I'll be the judge of that, shall I?"
A second confrontation ensued; again, it was Sigyn who blocked Sylvie's first blow, but when the Variant pressed a swift kick to her chest and shoved her aside, Loki magically manifested in front of her and this time, she stopped in her tracks.
"Sylvie, the universe is in the balance, everything we know to be true. Everything. What if by taking him out, we risk unleashing something even worse than the TVA?"
His female counterpart scoffed, backing away a step as if unbalanced by disbelief.
"What was I thinking trusting you?"
"Sylvie," Loki implored.
"You want the throne."
"You know that's not true," Sigyn joined in after having gotten back on her feet.
"No, I know that you would never think it's true," Sylvie corrected, her blade up and out, wielded defensively as if she feared a sudden attack from the two people she had all but trusted thus far. "That's precisely my concern, you may know a lot about Lokis, Sigyn, but you can't be trusted around them. One offer from him telling you all he wants is to remember you so you can both ride off into the sunset and you'll do whatever he says in order to make that happen."
At that point, Sigyn had advanced towards her, but Loki extended an arm and placed it in front of her in order to stop her.
"That's what you think of me?" His voice when addressing the other was practically a whisper. "After all this time?"
That was the first time since they had met, Sigyn realized, in which Sylvie's expression seemed to be betraying her by cracking her otherwise composed demeanor, exposing her true feelings through her glossy, tear-filled eyes and quivering lips. When Loki advanced towards her, in a visibly benign spirit, Sylvie did not hesitate to protect herself for good measure, adroitly twirling her knife in her hand, positioning it up and close to the other's throat. He scoffed, and even though his back was turned towards her, Sigyn heard in his voice that there were tears in his eyes as well.
"Sure. Why not?" he huffed. "Evil Loki's master plan comes together. Well, you never trusted me, did you? What was the point?"
"Sylvie," Sigyn dared to intervene, taking a tentative step forward.
"Stay exactly where you are," Sylvie commanded; Sigyn obliged, letting her dagger fall to the floor so she'd see there were no tricks up her sleeve.
"This is bigger than our experience," the Asgardian went on. "Whether he's lying or not, all we can know for a fact is that we don't know who or what is going to fill the void if we eliminate him." For a moment, they could have sworn they were at last getting through to her, only to become disappointed a moment later when the Goddess of Mischief went back to adopting an unyielding countenance.
"You two really are meant for each other," she said with a sorrowful smile as she glanced between the two subjects before them. "A liar and a fool who'll believe anything that comes out of his lips."
With a swift maneuver, Sylvie pushed her way past Loki and towards the being seated on the other side of the desk, who seemed perfectly content to succumb to whichever agreement the three of them reached. Sigyn, no longer armed, could think of only one way in which to put a stop to her, rushing to instinctively positioning herself between He Who Remains and the blade meant from him. Seeing this, Loki reacted with an impulse of his own, magically appearing in front of Sigyn so as to shield her from imminent death, thus sparing Sylvie the grief he knew it would cause her to harm either one of them while blinded with rage; the other's blade winded up positioned between his shoulder and against the side of his neck.
"Sylvie, stop!" He also released his sword, hearing a metallic clank as it reached the ground. "Stop... I don't wanna hurt you. And I know you want to hurt us."
"I'm not changing my mind," declared Sylvie, shaking her head with resolution. "You're not changing yours— and you are incapable of making a choice of your own." She jerked her chin towards Sigyn from over his shoulder. "Either you kill me, take over and have your perfect little happy ending— or I kill you two and him."
"This doesn't need to be 'either, or'," Sigyn disagreed.
"I'm sorry, darling... I don't think the sheer, dumb luck that's had you surviving up until now will get you out of this one."
The other woman scoffed a sad chuckle. Loki was caught off guard as Sigyn abruptly grabbed his arm from behind his back, performing a move so as to toss him aside and out of danger, moving on to reach for Sylvie's wrist so as to press the very point of her sword to her own chest.
"No!" Loki cried out from the floor.
After having overcome the surprise, Sylvie resumed her tight grip on her weapon, trying to appear unfazed by the fact that a single move from her part could result in Sigyn's death.
"Then kill me."
"Sigyn," Loki pleaded, slowly getting on his feet.
"Is this supposed to change my mind?" asked the variant, finding it harder and harder to maintain her determination, especially since further tears began to flood her eyes, betraying her true feelings.
"No. Kill me."
"You think you can manipulate me like you did him? D'you seriously believe I'll fall for the poor mourning widow act?"
"Stop deflecting and kill me," Sigyn asserted, carrying in her tone an authority that neither one of the deities of mischief had witnessed in her before.
After what must have been mere seconds that to all three of them had felt like eternity, Loki was the first to crack at the anticipation. Refusing to spend another second in the sidelines, during which he was risking losing either one of them, he turned to his magic again. Sylvie fell backwards to the floor, which momentarily disarmed her and Sigyn was positioned right in front of him, face to face, both panting as they locked eyes.
"You promised," she reminded him.
"I know."
"I don't care if that makes me a coward, I am not choosing sides."
"Sigyn, that's not it," he denied, fervently shaking his head.
"I'm not letting something like this happen again, I can't take it..."
"Sigyn!" he insisted, grabbing onto her shoulders in order to stop her. "Please... I just..." Unsure how to word what he wanted to express, he exhaled in defeat, bringing a hand up to tenderly cup her cheek. "Sig, I..."
Once again, he was caught by surprise. Sigyn watched as a green glow made contact with the variant's temple; this time Sylvie was able to successfully grab a hold of his mind, only to release him from it a moment later, having already achieved her goal. Sigyn had been able to distinguish a very particular synapse occurring within Loki's head from the way in which his eyes had suddenly widened, as if in realization.
What it was he had discovered, however, would remain a mystery, for before he could utter a word about it, a blast of Sylvie's magic had thrown him through an orange portal that had materialized without his noticing. Sigyn turned her head to find the Goddess of Mischief dropping on the floor the black and gold wrist piece, He Who Remains' personal TemPad, which she must have sneakily taken from the desk.
"Clever, I'll give you that," managed the woman despite the shakiness of her voice, a few tears escaping her eyes on account of what she had just witnessed, watching the portal close as swiftly as it had been created, stranding Loki on the other side.
"Why did you enchant him?"
"I didn't."
"So what were you doing to him?"
"I freed him."
"Where have you sent him?"
"I know stalling when I see it, Sigyn, it won't work," Sylvie warned as she brought up her sword once more, wanting to make clear she was as strong-willed as ever to fulfill her purpose.
"Sylvie, I can't let you do this," the other variant reminded her, posing no defense whatsoever when Sylvie approached her, now threatening her throat with the edge of her blade.
"You can't stop me."
"Maybe not."
"But you'll try."
Sigyn swallowed, answering nothing.
"Why?" demanded the outlaw.
"Because of what you saw when you looked into my memories."
"All I remember seeing was your little boyfriend and how you'll stop at nothing to please him." Sigyn formed a half-hearted smile.
"See, I don't think what you saw reminded you of him— I think it reminded you of you. I think you saw someone in the exact same position you are now, feeling what you're feeling now, yearning for a revenge that in the end got him nowhere."
She could feel the blade begin to slightly tremble against her throat; she brought a hand up to Sylvie's wrist, gently lowering her hand.
"Sylvie, we cannot afford to make the wrong decision here. We are, quite literally, wagering the universe... an infinite number of them. And for what? What will you truly gain from this?"
Sylvie swallowed, hesitating for only a moment before she rose her weapon yet again, never mind that tears were now streaming freely down her face.
"You don't know me."
"You're right, I don't," Sigyn agreed. "But I've lost count of the number of times I've been next to someone as determined as you are about to make the same choice." She shook her head. "Going down this path? It'll solve nothing, it'll remove none of the pain you're feeling, it'll improve nothing."
"It has to be better than this."
Sylvie advanced; despite being disarmed, Sigyn tried her best to fight her, struggling to pull her away from that end of the room, distancing her from her mission as much as possible. What must have been a little over a minute felt like endless hours as the two wrestled, one trying with all her might to drag the other back while she, in turn, tried with all her might to shake the other off. Sylvie turned to her magic, Sigyn picked her dagger back up, they fell to the ground, they shoved each other aside, until at last they were back where they had started: One variant stood with her blade to the side of the other's throat; the other stood between her and the being she wished to eliminate.
"I know what it's like to have everything taken from you, I know what it's like to wake up one day just completely and utterly alone—" Sigyn knew there was no need for any evidence, for anyone who had given her memories so much as a glance would have realized just how familiar she was with loneliness. "And I know you do, too... but you're not alone anymore."
Once again, her weapon clanked against the floor as she dropped it. Soon, Sylvie's joined it. The Goddess of Mischief stepped up to the other Asgardian, cupping the nape of her neck as she pulled her in to press a longing, urgent kiss to one of her cheeks. Taken aback as she was at first, Sigyn quickly overcame it, placing her hands on the other's arms as she prepared herself to tentatively envelop her in an embrace.
Before she could, however, just like Loki before her, all of a sudden she felt a blast of energy throwing her through a portal she hadn't perceived had been created which transported her through time and space. After landing on her back and checking her bearings, Sigyn realized she was back at the TVA.
With sirens and alarms echoing down every hallway like they had been back when Sylvie had first stirred up trouble in the Agency by bombing the so-called Sacred Timeline, Sigyn was able to take advantage of the general state of panic of everyone around her, running her way down every turn, every room and every area, seeking for a familiar face. Why, exactly, she wasn't sure, for no familiarity would be able to take back what was undoubtedly taking place on the other side of the Portal that had dropped her there. She supposed all she wanted was some company to brace through whatever happened next as a consequence.
"Mobius!" she called her friend as soon as she had caught sight of him. "What's happening? Is this it, does this mean she's done it?"
The analyst, who seemed to have been startled by her practically jogging towards him, gave his head a little shake.
"Who's done what?"
Sigyn sighed, realizing she had given too much information for granted.
"Sylvie, she was... When we got there, past... past the Void, she..."
"Listen, hey... hey," Mobius interrupted. "Are you an analyst?"
"What?"
It was the man's turn to sigh, for he hadn't the time nor the patience to deal with yet another loopy agent.
"Look, suit up and man your division, alright? This is an all-hands-on-deck situation."
And before Sigyn had the chance to pose another question, he had ran off with Hunter B15 following behind him. She glanced around her, now feeling as desolated as she did disoriented. Despite having imagined that their universe would hardly remain untouched after their experience at the end of time, regardless of what they decided to do, she had by no means prepared herself to face someone who had once known her so well suddenly not retain the faintest memory of her— at least not again.
Upon a second survey of the space surrounding her, she saw Loki in the distance and even though she wanted to approach him, her legs did not seem to respond to her brain's command, perhaps because it was so half-hearted. Worst than any Time Cell would have been a loop in which she lost her husband yet again and got reunited with him only to see that he no longer knew of her. Deep down, up until the very last instant before Loki posed his eyes upon her, Sigyn had been fervently hoping she'd be wrong; and yet, what she saw looking back at her was not familiarity, but rather the same empty oblivion she had noticed the first time she had ever interacted with his variant.
Nevertheless, while a grief-stricken Sigyn remained nailed to that spot, Loki rushed towards her, as though he had managed to read from her demeanor and aspect that she was going through something similar than him.
"Terribly sorry," he excused himself rather shakily once he had reached her. "Do y— Have we met before?"
He doubted she had ever met this version of him, at least, otherwise he would remember her. However, desperate for an ally, someone with whom to confide his latest misadventures and who could guide him as to what to do next, he thought he had seen in her eyes a sense of familiarity, hoping he could use that to his favor.
"I've met one of you," Sigyn confessed at last.
"So, you've also..."
"Yes."
"And have you also... If you know who I am, do you happen to know if you've met a female version o—"
"Sylvie."
"Yes!" answered Loki enthusiastically as he placed his hands on her shoulders, if only a little over-excitedly. "I'm sorry! I'm... Yes! Sylvie, you've met her?"
With a sad smile, Sigyn shook her head. "I think we're two ends of two identical situations except for one thing," she supposed, imagining there existed a timeline out there —one of the branches that had originated as He Who Remains awaited the fate of his Sacred Timeline— in which someone exactly like the Loki she had recently met had still to meet one of her.
Loki, who was also having a hard time composing himself, took a deep breath and turned his head back upon the statue towering over the agency, the second indicator that there was no longer one version of it any longer.
"What are we supposed to do now?" he wondered.