Loki's fall (sequel to loss and Loki)

One For The Heart, And Two For Show

"I'm sorry, Ora, my love. I've failed us."

"I'm sorry."

"So sorry."

I sat up with a start, my heart pounding as I blinked my heavy eyes rapidly, feeling them shutter mechanically like they hadn't been opened in years. My stomach twisted painfully as I groaned and levered myself into a fully sitting position, looking around my living room hastily, trying to piece together what had happened before I'd supposedly passed out on the floor.

As I looked to my left, I noticed my brother staring at me, his eyes wide and glazed with a confusion I surely mirrored in my own gaze. Something felt off, and I could tell he felt it too. He was crouched on the floor, staring at me like I'd just appeared out of nowhere and scared the shit out of him.

"What the-"

"-Fuck happened?" He finished for me, looking down at his hands as I followed with a sudden urge to do the same, running my fingers over my solid flesh and the ragged scar in my palm. I stood on shaky legs and watched him closely, trying my hardest to gain access to whatever had happened before now in my scattered memories, only seeing glimpses of a note on my nightstand, a crying baby, and then nothing.

I'd woken up from being passed out on my own floor countless times with no memory of the night before, usually burdened with a skull splitting headache and a painful growl in my stomach. But this was different, this felt, new, unusual, like I'd been thrown out of myself and remade in a completely new vessel, in a completely new world.

"Aurora what do you remember." Jack stuttered quietly, his breathing shallow as he turned to the shelves beside him and his eyes grew wide as he ran a fingertip over the thick buildup of dust on the surface.

"Nothi- I remember nothing." I uttered hoarsely, my own voice cracked and broken like i'd only just learnt how to use it.

"Where's Rory?" I suddenly breathed out, noting the quietness of the house, and how the entire room looked like it hadn't been stepped into by another human for years. Jack's pale face turned to me as his brow flew up to his hairline, a sudden fear coating his expression.

"Where's Abby?"

~~~~

"Abby! Baby where are you."

"Jack, please. They're clearly not here." I shouted back, turning the corner into the bedroom he was in, the one he was sharing with his wife. My eyes widened as I saw how empty it was, lay barren, void of any belongings or possessions Jack and Abby owned, housing a single double bed, and a wardrobe.

"Fuck." He croaked quietly, tears of confusion and fear swimming against his vision as he scanned the room, taking in its bleakness. I swallowed thickly and turned back, almost stumbling over my own feet as I ran down the hall to my own room, barrelling into it and releasing a choked up breath of relief when I saw it. Unchanged, clothes still strewn across the floor, books and bottles still adorning the surfaces. Only difference being the god awful dust that seemed to have plagued the entire house in the time i was asleep.

"Aurora we need to find them. We need to find out what's happened." Jack spoke from behind me, his words trembling as I turned to face him, my throat dry, with the letter Loki had written me clutched tightly in my hand. I nodded slowly, and quickly pulled my phone off the chest of drawers, powering it up as Jack released a breath and shuffled over to where I stood.

"Shit- I think it's broken or something." I sighed, pulling it up to my face as I read the lock screen.

"April 20th 2023? that's not right. And I'm on 6G data? what the fuck even is that?" I frowned as Jack shook his head next to me. But the phone unlocked easily when I punched in my password, and everything seemed to be working just fine as I opened up the phone app and passed it to Jack to dial Abby's mobile number in.