Mischief and Enchantments

Chapter 12: Embrace

Time seemed to stop.

The world seemed to fade.

And Loki could only see her.

He saw her wrap her arms around him and break down into tears.

This couldn't be real.

But it was.

There she was.

And so Loki accepted the first real embrace that he had received in years.

They fell to the ground and Loki pulled her closer, still in disbelief. He held her as if she might disappear any second. She was a lost treasure that he had finally found, and he didn't want to let her go.

Tears poured from Loki's eyes as he pulled Sylvie back to look at her. A wobbly smile came to her face as she met his gaze. Hesitantly, Loki touched her cheek to wipe her tears away. She leaned into his touch, her smile turning into a grin.

A laugh escaped Loki as he finally accepted the truth.

She was here. She was alive.

He smiled at her. A real, genuine smile. He didn't think he'd ever do such a thing again.

How could he not? This was a miracle. His only friend wasn't dead.

But she would be if they didn't get moving soon.

But he also didn't want to shatter the moment just yet.

Sylvie leaned back into him, crying once again.

"Sylvie." He whispered her name over and over. "Sylvie."

No tricks this time. No daggers in the back. This was real for him.

"I've found you." Sylvie choked. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

Suddenly the ground shook. Loki tightened his hold on Sylvie so she wouldn't fall over.

"We need to get moving." Sylvie sniffled, looking up at her friend.

"Where?" Loki asked.

"There's power somewhere on this moon," Sylvie explained. "We just need enough of it to travel through inter-dimensional time and space."

With one last squeeze, Sylvie got up. She extended a hand to Loki and helped him off the ground. Not letting go of him, she opened the door and sprinted out of the shack.

They ran for what seemed like forever, dodging asteroids and other debris. Loki would've died in seconds if Sylvie hadn't been holding onto him.

"Sylvie!" Loki panted. "Syl! How are we supposed to look for power properly if we keep running at full speed?"

Loki saw Sylvie look towards the sky as if checking for any pieces of falling rock. Then, without warning, she skidded to a stop. She caught Loki before he could fall. When he got his bearings, Loki immediately doubled over and started coughing.

"Weakling." Sylvie coughed.

"Shut up." He panted. But they both couldn't hold back their laughter.

"In my defense," said Sylvie. "That plan you interrupted was years in the making. Years. So of course I would want to move quickly."

"Sorry," Loki mumbled. He couldn't remember the last time he said that. But Sylvie and his mother (and sometimes Thor) were the only exceptions.

"It's all right," Sylvie said. "I'm not mad at you. Yet."

"How long do we have?" Asked Loki.

"About twelve hours." Answered Sylvie.

"It'll be okay." She said. "We'll survive."

"You sound so sure about that," Loki noted. "Why?"

Sylvie smirked. "I always survive."

With that, she turned on her heel and started walking. Loki caught up to her.

"And when we survive," said Sylvie. "We're going straight back to the TVA to finish what I started."

"Oh, yeah," said Loki. "Why do you want to kill the Time-Keepers, anyway?"

Sylvie looked at him like the answer was obvious. "Because they're the ones that separated us."

Before Loki could ask more questions, they came across a town. With one glance at each other, they knew they were thinking the same thing. Something in there had to be able to charge the TemPad. And so, they went in.

"It looks like everyone already fled," Loki said, looking around the abandoned town.

"If they did, it was vain." Said Sylvie. "Things down here are only gonna get worse. More meteors, gravity quakes, and of course, the collapse of society in the face of annihilation."

They spotted a metal house with glowing lights.

"Could that charge the TemPad?" Asked Loki.

"I don't think so," Sylvie replied. "The TemPad requires a massive power source, not a night light."

They moved on.

They came across another house, and they could tell this one was locked. Sylvie drew her sword, preparing to knock the door down, but Loki stopped her.

"Brute force is no substitute for diplomacy and guile." He warned.

"Noted," Sylvie replied.

With that, she kicked open the door.

She immediately got shot with some sort of gun. The blast from it knocked her down the steps. Once Loki saw that she was okay, a corner of his mouth turned upward.

"It's remarkable that you ever made it as far as you did." He taunted.

He turned his attention to Sylvie's attacker. "Sorry about that." He said.

"Don't be." A woman's voice came from inside the house. "I enjoyed it."

"Oh," Loki chuckled. "I did too. But I can assure you, despite my friend behaving like an animal, we mean you no harm. We are simply weary travelers."

"Sure you are." Said the woman sarcastically.

Loki peered inside the house from the window and noticed a picture of who he assumed to be the woman and an old man standing beside her. An idea came to him. He shape-shifted into the man and stepped into the woman's view.

"Hello, dear." He said. Only it wasn't his voice that came out of his mouth.

"Patrice?" The woman gasped.

"It's been a long time." He went on. "You're as beautiful as I—"

The woman blasted him before he could finish his sentence. Loki's illusion faded as he landed next to Sylvie.

"Patrice never said a thing that nice in thirty years. " Said the woman. "You're no travelers, you're devils."

Sylvie tapped Loki on the shoulder. "Which one was that?" She asked. "Diplomacy? Or—"

"Don't." Loki interrupted her. "Just don't."

Sylvie backed off with a laugh.

"What do you devils want with me?" The woman asked as Loki and Sylvie stood up.

"We just wanna ask you a question." Said Sylvie. "Where is everyone?"

"The ark." The woman answered as if it were obvious. When she saw that Loki and Sylvie were clueless, she elaborated.

"The evacuation vessel." She said.

"Something like that would have enough juice to recharge the TemPad," Sylvie whispered to Loki.

"How do we get there?" Loki asked the woman.

"Train station's the edge of town." The woman replied. "But you'll never get a ticket."

Sylvie ignored her. "Come on," she told Loki. "Let's go."

With that, they walked off.

Hello!

Feel free to let me know what you think in the comments! 😊

—Blue 💙