They was broken. Utterly broken. Loki sighed as they sat in the interrogation room of the TVA. They had been sent to a different TVA, a TVA where they did not have any memory of them, where Mobius did not recognize them. At first they thought they was an analyst, then realized they was not and now they was sitting here, waiting to be interrogated and probably pruned afterwards. If this was a different world, would he still go to the Void? Would there be an Alioth?
They had believed the one called He Who Remains. They was the God of Lies and sensed no falsehood. Why could Sylvie not sense it? Maybe she did, but it did not matter. It wasn’t really like He Who Remained had tried to soothe Sylvie’s temper, instead pointing out that they were both where they were because they had followed the paths he set for them.
They wondered what she was doing now. Was she happy? Fullfilled her Glorious Purpose? Had He Who Remained lied and now she had been broken, possibly killed? That last thought filled them with dread. They knew she was a variant of them, a Loki, and yet they had fallen for her. They was truly a fool.
---
“Oh, hi.” Loki heard a voice, a young voice, and as they turned to look at the speaker they saw a young girl in a flowery summer dress. Her hair was blonde and her eyes an icy blue, not unlike their own. What was she doing here? Didn’t she know the danger.
“So… uhm… Do you like her?” the girl asked, and Loki was speechless, stunned, but just for a moment.
“Who are you?” Loki questioned, their muscles growing tenser.
“I dunno. Been called many things. But I might be your only hope.” This caused Loki to frown. “And what can you do?”
“Oh, I know a few tricks. Used to play pranks on both daddy and mommy. So… Do you like her? Sylvie?”
Loki sighed and shrugged. “Maybe I do. But it doesn’t matter.” They was a Loki, they was meant to be alone, to always lose. To see others happy, while they felt misery.
“Okay. Well, maybe I do will be enough,” she girl said, letting out a laugh. She looked down at her hands. “Yup, It definitely is.” As she looked up they noticed that not only were her eyes an icy blue, it also seemed like they were filled with stars.
Suddenly she disappeared, then she was right next to them, touching them and suddenly they found themself falling!
And then they landed. As they got up they looked around. Somehow looked like they was in Midgard somewhere. Judging from those talking into their cellphones they probably was somewhere in… Yup, definitely America, as they could see the tower they once battled in, though it had been restored and had a huge A, meaning it was the headquarters of the Avengers. So they was at some point after the Battle of New York. They looked around and noticed a billboard, denoting the year as 2021. Also after the Snap. After the Avengers fixed everything. After they died. Who was that girl? How had she done this? It was no TemPad, they had not gone through a portal.
---
Sylvie sat on the floor. Sometimes she looked at the corpse on his ‘throne’. Sometimes she looked out of the window, at the branching timelines. She had set the timelines free. She had been certain it was the right thing to do. According to him, no matter what they did, he’d always end up back here. Did she really have free will? He had claimed he did not know what happened after the threshold. Yet he had at no point actually seemed surprised, not even by her sending Loki to safety. He had laughed and been cheerful, even as she had stabbed him and ended his life.
She heard the door creak open and saw a figure enter. It was him, yet he looked younger and more fit. And a cruel sneer on his face. So He Who Remains did speak the truth. She had unleashed something truly terrible. She tried to get up, but she found herself unable to move. “Time tech. Freezes you in time. My, aren’t you pretty? Hah.” He Who Remains variant said. He reached up to touch her and she fought hard to close her eyes. And then He Who Remains simply let out a scream and vanished.
“Hello. Do you need some assistance?” Sylvie tried to turn her head, but could not. “Well, you should be able to move now.” And she could. She looked at her savior. It was a young man, looking a bit younger than her, clad in some sort of school uniform. His hair was short and jet black. While his eyes were icy blue, reminding her of Loki. Sylvie wanted to thank him, yet found it hard to say the words.
“You’re still damaged. He really did a number on you. But you did the right thing. You set everything free.” The young man said.
“Who… Who are you?” Sylvie did not trust easy, yet she somehow felt that this man was trustworthy. Was it some sort of mind magic?
“I guess you could say I’m the incarnation of Chaos. I’m here to save you, to give you hope. But I’m also here to ensure that there will never be another to take over this place again. It existed before time and exists at the end of time. It was how Nathaniel, Kang, He Who Remains, whatever he is calling himself was able to take control of the timelines. Over and over and over. Cycle after cycle. This was the centre of their power. And each time the same variant would win, the most ruthless, the one who destroyed all the other timelines. He returns again and again. Until now…”
Sylvie looked at him confused. “The multiverse found a way. It is supposed to be free, not bound. So it ensured that someone could do the impossible, someone capable of bending reality. Someone who could break the chain. It tried in previous incarnations. But each of those were destroyed before they could complete the task.”
“The Multiverse? It’s alive?” Sylvie questions. “Well, alive is not the right word. Not really fully sentient either. But instinctually it knows what it must do to return balance, to return freedom.”
“Well, the next one is about to enter.” The young man suddenly say. “I just ask that you’ll listen to him. Give him a chance. He’s a bit dense, but you’re not really much better.” Sylvie looked at the man, saw his eyes look like they were filled with stars. And with that Sylvie found herself just suddenly fall. Until she landed somewhere. Midgard in the 21st century is she was not mistaken. She heard a gasp behind her and as she got up she felt someone give her a hug. She froze, then realized it was Loki, her Loki. She allowed herself to return the hug. It felt different. She was not used to the closeness. She looked around, fearing the TVA, but as a few moments had passed, everything seemed quiet. She wondered what was going on.
---
At the Citadel at the End the figure put on a small smile. “See you soon, mom,” he said with a smile. Then he looked at the floor and the ceiling and simply bent reality around him. It started creak, then started collapsing. He heard the screams of the few variants who were battling outside the Citadel as they too were pulled into the black hole that was forming.
He started changing his shape again. His silly parents insisted he went to school in his birthform, though they allowed him to change when he was at home. The young girl shook her head. Her parents understood her, but most humans would not. Not that it really mattered. She was comfortable in any form, she just hated being stuck in the same form for too long.
She was the first born. The universe had found a way as it had allowed two of the Avatars of Chaos fall in love, thereby allowing the birth of her, him, they. The incarnation of chaos, for whom nothing was impossible. She wielded more power than the infinity stones added together, yet she had a bed time. Sometimes she feared her power, nobody was meant to wield such power. But she had sworn she’d only use it to serve the Multiverse.
As she disappeared, returning to her own place in the timeline, the entire Citadel at the End disappeared into the Black Hole. Only to then explode, the new Big Bang. There was no more end of time, the Multiverse would not have a finite end, it would be endless, never again to be controlled by any single entity.
---
3 years later (2024)
“This is your fault!” Sylvie screamed. Loki was close to screaming, their hand being crushed by her frost giant strength. “The next one you’ll carry!” she exclaimed as she let out another scream. Loki heard the doctor next to them. “Well, don’t worry, we hear that often. Never seen it happen yet.”
Loki gulped. While they might not have seen it happen, the truth was that it could happen. Both Loki and Sylvie were shapechangers. While Sylvie did prefer female form and considered herself a woman, Loki was a bit more fluid. Sometimes they went on date night as woman and man, sometimes as two women. A few times they had even coaxed Sylvie to go on a date as man and man. Or with Sylvie as the man and them as the woman. When they changed shape their forms were fully functional. And the truth was that they did like to spice up their life.
It had been 3 interesting years. They had worried about TVA, then about the various heroes finding them. In the end the solution had been to change their last names, set up new identities and for Loki to change their appearance. They were now Loki Lushton, while their beautif… “Let go of my hand, woman!” Beautiful wife was Sylvie Lushton.
And then both heard a baby’s cry. Loki looked and saw a baby. Their baby. The most beautiful baby ever Loki decided right then and there. As the baby was handed over to Sylvie, Loki sat down next to her, looking at the life they had created, their own little miracle. According to the sonograms it was believed they would have a son and Loki had been thinking of a name for their heir. But their baby was a beautiful baby girl. With the same ice blue eyes as them. Sylvie smiled, looking at the baby’s eyes.
Loki froze as they looked at their daughter’s eyes too. Not only were they icy blue. But it seemed like they also sparked like stars. “Hope,” Loki said. “Her name is Hope.” Sylvie looked at their spouse, then nodded in agreement. “Hope.”