Mischief & Magic - Loki (Disney+)

The Great Lie

Silence hung in the air after the clip had ended. Was Renslayer smiling? Smirking? Sigyn didn't want to look. She didn't want to know. 

Her own heart swelled with pain, and the pressure behind her closed eyelids was the telltale sign of tears forming and waiting to erupt. 

Sylvie was staring at the ground, while Loki was staring directly at Sigyn. His eyes had been locked on the screen the whole time. 

It was like she was reliving the whole thing, even after the clip had ended, even long after.  The moment in time that had constantly haunted her ever since it had happened, every time she closed her eyes.

It were as though she had had her very soul ripped from her very being, and she essentially had. For she had not only lost the man she loved then and there and been forced to watch his awful, gruesome death, but had lost her best friend, her life partner. They were soul mates, and not only romantically, but in all walks of life. Her other half - her more wild half.

"See?" She managed to choke out, unable to fully meet his intense gaze. "How could I show you? How could I let you see it? Witness it? It was torture enough for me."

"Lokis-" Renslayer interrupted with a shake of her head.  "Always destined to lose. And Sigyns - perhaps your destiny is to suffer." 

Sigyn lunged forward at her, but she just merely tapped the screen of her TemPad, controlling Sigyn  via her collar and stopping her attack mid-force. 

With that they were led into an elevator, one of the TVA's many, and from there they headed down, down, down... Seemingly moving infinitely downward. The whole time Loki wouldn't meet Sigyn's gaze.

Finally, the lift ground to a halt. There was an almost cheerful ding! and the doors slid open. 

The room they arrived at was dark, lit by a single red light in the back, illuminating the shadows of three figures from behind: 

The Time-Keepers.

Finally, they had what they wanted: an audience with the Time-Keepers themselves. 

"Gracious Time-Keepers. As promised, the Variants and their accomplice," Renslayer stepped forward, bowing her head and addressing them. 

"After all your struggle, at last, you have arrived before us," spoke one of the Keepers in a booming voice. 

"What do you have to say for yourselves before you meet your end?" asked another. 

"Is that really the only reason you brought us here?" Loki shot back.  "To kill us? I've lost track of the amount of times I've been killed, so go ahead! Do your worst!"

Sigyn flinched at his words - the fact that they had just watched his death play out before their eyes exactly as it had happened only made it worse. She had never wanted to relive that moment, and now she had, more than once. 

"You and your bravado are no threat to us, Variant," spoke the third Keeper.

"Oh no, I don't believe that," said Sylvie.  "I think you're scared."

"No Variant. You're nothing but a cosmic disappointment. Delete them, end them."

"Oh no, I'm not done with you yet - and stop calling me Variant-" Sylvie approached them - Renslayer tried to hold her back, but suddenly her TemPad was malfunctioning.

Behind them, the elevator doors slid open and Hunter B-15 emerged, holding a TemPad of her own in one hand, a weapon in the other.  With a click of a button, she released the prisoners from their collars.  "For all Time, always." With a swift swing of her arm, she tossed a blade to Sylvie. 

"Protect the Time-Keepers!" ordered Renslayer. 

The Hunters jumped into action against the prisoners, who had always worked well together, and tossed the blade back and forth between them. 

"You're a child of the Time-Keepers too, Sylvie," the first Keeper addressed her.  "We can talk."

"Oh yeah?" Instead she whipped her blade at him, slicing his head clean off, which bounced down to them with a series of metallic thuds. 

Sylvie picked up the head and inspected it. "Fake. Mindless androids."

"Well, so much for the Time-Keepers," said Sigyn. 

"It never stops," sighed Loki. "Then who created the TVA?"

"I thought this was it. I was so certain." Sylvie tossed the head aside. 

"Sylvie, Sigyn-" Loki began. 

"Not another pep talk, please," sighed Sylvie. 

"No, I have to tell you something. I have to tell you both something-"

"Loki, what is it?" Sigyn pressed gently. He was tongue-tied and struggling with his words, very unlike him. One didn't have to be his best friend to know something was definitely up. 

But he didn't answer - he wasn't given the chance. 

Suddenly, he was glowing,  illuminated from behind - Renslayer had pruned him from behind. 

"NO!" Sigyn grabbed onto him, he taking her with him, wherever it was he was going.

Both disappeared. 

The last thing she saw was a bright flash and that was it. 

----------------------------------------

"Come, quickly," Classic Loki said.  "We must avoid Alioth, and we saw another portal open that way-" He gestured to the side.  "So we must go, now!"

"We're getting close!" Kid Loki said.

"I see something!" cried Boastful Loki. 

Alligator Loki growled something in what must have been agreement. 

The whole group started moving, leaving Loki no choice but to follow.  He fired off question after question, but they avoided all of them.  

Far across the field, where the portal had dropped her, Sigyn stirred awake. But she had always been led to believe that being pruned meant death, so then how and why was she conscious?

Was this Valhalla? Could this be Hel? 

She got to her feet, feeling a little groggy but otherwise fine and peered at her surroundings. It was a gloomy skyline, like a storm was brewing, and far in the distance a giant dark cloud swirled. 

A group was moving towards her. She saw him. "Loki!" Then she suddenly realized - and recognized - who he was with.  "Loki!"

(I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update - work has been extremely busy, and I've been working on other stories. Of course I plan on finishing them, it might just take me a while! 

As always, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :))