ʙᴀᴄᴋ ғʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴅ || 𝘓𝘰𝘬𝘪

"Not Loki?" || Chapter Seventeen

That night, when I arrived back home after dark, I instantly made my way up to my bedroom. I threw the car keys onto the counter top as I passed and dropped my shopping bags near my bedroom door.

When I stepped inside and closed the door, I couldn't help but notice the green sparks in the corner.

"Hello?" I mumbled.

The sparks spread, revealing Lokis face behind them and then the rest of his body.  He was still meant to be in Asgards dungeons.

"Hello darling..." He whispered softly.

"Loki? What happened to you!?" I quickly rushed over to him. He had dark circles under his eyes with droopy eyelids. He was dressed in a dark green outfit with a cape and uncharacteristically loose clothing underneath. Not a single sign of Asgardian leather. The horns upon his head were much darker and taller than I had ever seen them before. I gently reached up to his face but he quickly dodged.

"Paige, dear... I am not the Loki you know." He admitted, a small tear started rolling down his cheek, "I don't think I will ever be lucky enough to see my Paige again."

I couldn't help but blush, "y-yours?" I calmed down from how flustered his words had made me, thinking about what was actually going on, "Hang on- what do you mean not Loki?"

"Have you heard of a thing called the multiverse?" He asked

"Yes... i didn't know it was real though. My mother had her speculations and wrote them all down into her sketchbook which is now mine. She never had proof... are you saying it exists?"

"I sure hope it does..." He scoffed with sarcasm "I have made its safety my life's work. My glorious purpose."

I nodded, catching up to what he was saying. "Why are you here? I don't mean to be rude but I just don't think it's only a catch up..."

He smiled sadly, "I am seated at the centre of the multiverse, the head of a secret authority called the TVA."

"And that's my problem... how?"

"An evil artificial intelligence has taken over since I am unable to contact anyone within it. Somehow both you and the Paige I once called mine have been impossible to locate on any timeline... I believe eventually the time will come when you can help me."

"Pretty sure your evil bot isn't artificial anymore - just intelligence."

"That she is... like your personal creations." He explained to which I just nodded, "Miss Minutes wants to become the TVAs lead. Since the death of He Who Remains, there has been a vacancy open and I am trying to fill that void but it is difficult when I'm stuck on a throne, holding together the branches of Yggdrasil-"

"Yggdrasil?" I interrupted, "So Loki was right?"

He let out a deep sigh, "Yes. Now, can I continue?" I nodded and he continued after clearing his throat, "I believe your immunity to nexus events will save the dying timelines and the people who live upon them... I am simply here to warn you."

"Okay but-"

Before I could finish my sentence, the was a loud knock at the door and Loki Who Remains (as I've now decided to refer to him) was gone.

"Mon fille, êtes-tu d'accord? (My daughter, are you okay?)" My fathers voice could be heard from the other side of the door.

I pushed my previous encounter to the back of my head, not wanting to cause any worry for my father, "Oui Papa, juste fatigué (Yes Dad, just tired.)"

"Ah... bonne nuit? (Ah... good night?)" He suggested, meaning well.

"Oui, bonne nuit papa! (Yes, good night dad)" I quickly replied, listening to his footsteps as they faded away.

My thoughts were whirling. I just met a Loki that wasn't my Loki, the multiverse is real, variants are real, my mother was right... and I'm meant to save some secret Time Variance Authority from an evil intelligence who's gone rouge while I'm immune to them detecting me? How was I ever meant to help if I don't even know where it all is?

I quickly decided I had to just wait for fate to do it's thing and climbed into bed, whatever was happening outside the barriers of time was not my problem... not yet at least.

~~~

From that point on, my weekend went rather typically for when I'm in Alsace.

I spent time with my father but the majority of the time he was working. I can't lie, he had always been a workaholic but this weekend felt different - he barely had any time for me.

On the other hand, Elise and Jules had been constantly calling me or asking me to go hang out with them. A lot of the time it was simply to ask questions about the Avengers and my time in New York or Asgard but I just appreciated the fact they were including me. I still made sure to leave out the bits about Loki and especially my feelings for him but other than that, I'd tell them the most amazing stories.

Clement came round to my fathers mansion at one point with Elise but Chloe was never around. I wondered if he had even told his twin sister that I was back. Was she avoiding me? Or had he not told her I was here so she didn't even know she was avoiding me?

Oh well...

It didn't really matter, wasn't like I ever wanted to get back with an ex but it would have been nice to see her. We were friends when I left so thought we'd still be friends when I came back.