Fyrsta
Loki's Perspective
No, forgive me. I am explaining things you do not need to know. Allow me to try again. You know the past, or bits and pieces of it. They made me who I am, currently, but they are not what matters now. Do you understand? You know about the Avengers. The Midgardians banded together with whomever they could find, in an attempt to stop my brash attempt at world domination. Please, glance past that, will you? Not my best moment, I confess.
The stones. The Midgardians were correct. There were three stones in New York at that current time, which I discovered long after they themselves did, or perhaps it was earlier? Considering their reality had not happened yet. Nevermind. It does get confusing.
Still, I remember. There was an attempt to reclaim the stones in my timeline, by yours. I had two of them, I know. The Scepter, and the Tesseract. The Present Day Avengers required all of them. It did not take long for me to realize that they were in a time they should not have been in, and it raised a few questions.
Why would your future require the stones? You should have had them.
But, then I answered myself. Thanos succeeded in your future, Thor, did he not? There were no stones because you lost them, but you were desperate to fix what had been done. That is why they were here, searching for stones to replace the ones that they should have had but did not.
It made me think of another question, a frightening one. From the moment I had first used the stones, I knew I would not give them to Thanos. I was a monster, brother, but do you think of me that bad? I would not be spared, yes? The answer was simple. If Thanos had succeeded in acquiring all of the stones, it must have meant that I did not. I was dead.
I die in your time.
That is where we should begin. My death, or the realization thereof.
I discovered that in your time I should die. My future would be my death. I learned this, and I was curious. Why would I die? It was a stupid, untimely death, but if I had not died I feel you would have. The world, at the time, needed you more than it needed me. I realized, Thor, that I died so that you may live.
I needed more than that.
The Mighty Avengers showed me their plans in a matter of minutes, with one small mistake, and I understood everything. Do you want to know what I did? You returned the stones to their respective places, Thor, but that included my own. Of course, I lingered in this place your Midgardians called New York. I waited.
When the stones were returned, I took hold of them. Just the three. Mind, Space, and Time.
Now, Space and Time are already intertwined. They work in very similar manners, which worked in my favor I must admit. Still, I could not remember for the life of me what had occurred in my future to be. I wished to know, so I did.
I used the Time stone to glance through the timeline you came from, soaking in the information I could find. I saw my death but did not remember it. I wished to know your Loki, know the things that he had done. It wasn't impossible. I am not your Loki, but I am.
Using the stones I had acquired, I was able to remember memories that were not my own. Do you understand this? I imagined it to be a catastrophic thing, with too many noises and pictures overlapping, but they are not. They, instead, live simultaneously. Most of our pasts inter-lap perfectly. Our thoughts, our memories, they blur into a continuous motion with smooth dips and curves.
The frayed strands, instead of causing confusion, become braided together. I remember my future as my past as if I have already lived through it.
I remember you, Thor.
I remember our lives as children, as adolescents, as adults. I remember our wars. I remember becoming brothers when we fought our sister together.
I remember dying.
I am not sure I am explaining this well. While I have not lived your Loki's life, I have. I remember every step, every thought I have ever had. After that, after opening my own eyes, I realized that I was alive. I would never have to die for you because I already had.
I realized I would make the same sacrifice if need be.
The next action was done purely based on emotion, which I admit is odd for me. I found my way to your timeline, but I did not bring the stones. I figured you had left them behind for a specific reason. Of course, those timelines losing their own respective stones would cause fractures. I am not stupid.
I left them behind after coming to your time. I have no way home, though I do not think I care much.
I see this town you've built with your own two hands. New Asgard, you called it. I am impressed, but this place smells of pain. I see the cliff it sits upon.
I remember this place. I remember how it overlooked the sea, how the waves smashed against the stones with a sound akin to your Thunder. I remember how father loved this place.
I also remember having never stepped foot here.