Mischief and Enchantments

Chapter 17: Moonfall

As Loki and Sylvie walked towards the town where the ark was, Loki looked skyward. Pieces of rock fell from the sky in streaks of light. A deadly meteor shower. Loki had to admit, it was beautiful, in a sort of sick and twisted way.

As long as one of those rocks didn't hit them.

"How did you know it was me?" Loki asked Sylvie abruptly.

"What?" Sylvie glanced at him, confused.

"At Roxxcart," Loki elaborated. "What made you decide to enchant me to access my memories? I have multiple Variants, so what made you think it would be me specifically?"

"Well," Sylvie sighed. "While I was enchanting the people in Roxxcart, possessing them, and I first saw you, my first thought was, Well, he's an idiot. Then, when I saw you in person, I thought, Oh yeah, he's an idiot."

"Then you mentioned the horns and your name." She went on. "And then I thought, Wait a minute, that could be my idiot!"

"Thanks," Loki grumbled.

"Hey, I'm only speaking the truth here," Sylvie said, throwing her hands up in surrender. "It's there for everyone to see."

Loki glared at her, but they shared a laugh as soon as they locked eyes.

Loki remembered her horn headpiece. His mother and her father had given them near identical ones when they were younger, saying that they would grow into them in time. Loki had to admit, he was a little disappointed when Sylvie's broke. But she had to use everything she could as a weapon, so he understood.

"So, I just..." Sylvie went on. "I don't know. I guess part of me was hoping that it would be you. I had no idea I was going to be right. But I just thought, What the hell? It's worth a shot."

"Isn't that your thought process for everything?" Asked Loki, smirking.

"That's your thought process for everything." Sylvie corrected. "I was just following your example."

They laughed again, and a voice in the back of Loki's mind said they shouldn't be joking around like this when there was a possibility that they were going to die.

But it's what they did best, so Loki dismissed the thought.

"How does enchantment work, anyway?" Loki inquired. 

"I have to make physical contact and then grab hold of their mind," Sylvie answered.

"How?" Loki pressed.

"It depends on the mind." She explained. "Most of them are easy and I can overtake them instantly." She glanced at him, and Loki couldn't help but think that she was referring to minds like his. "Others, the stronger ones, it gets tricky. I'm in control, but they're there, too. In order to preserve the connection, I have to create a fantasy from their memories. That young soldier from the TVA, her mind was messed up. Everything clouded. I had to pull a memory from hundreds of years prior, before she even fought for them."

Loki stopped in his tracks, wondering if he'd heard her correctly. "What?" He asked her. "What'd you just say? Before she joined the TVA?"

"Yeah." Said Sylvie. "She was just a regular person on Earth."

"A regular person?"

"Loved margaritas."

"I was told that everyone who works for the TVA was created by the Time-Keepers."

"That's ridiculous." Said Sylvie. "They're all Variants, just like us."

"They don't know that," Loki told her.

Before Sylvie could respond, they heard an announcer at the town they were going to say that there were ten minutes until the ark launched.

"That's our ride," Sylvie said.

They started to run toward the town, not wanting to waste any more time.

"This is gonna suck," Sylvie muttered as they walked through the entrance of the town.

"It'll be fine," Loki whispered.

People were moving towards the gate, but guards held them back.

"Remain calm." They said. "We are now at capacity."

Loki climbed up to higher ground to see what was going on. Just as he did, the gates to the ark closed.

"We have to get on that ark and make sure it takes off." Said Sylvie.

"How?" Loki asked.

Sylvie grabbed his hand. "We go around." She told him, pulling him down and leading him through the crowd of people.

"Okay." Said Loki.

As they ran, people were screaming and frantically sprinting for shelter. Loki and Sylvie grew confused, unsure of where to go. Just then, they saw the planet above them crack into a million pieces. Rocks came crashing down on them. One landed a few feet away from them. They bolted, trying to find a way to the gate, but a shockwave from another rock knocked them back. Loki recovered quickly and helped Sylvie off the ground.

"You okay?" He asked her.

"Yeah." She replied, panting for breath.

They ran into a bar, where guards attacked them, which confused Loki. It was the end of the world, why did they even care? If he were in their position, he would be drinking wine and reminiscing. This was pointless!

They managed to get passed the guards, only to be met with more falling rocks and debris. They dodged them, as well as the people running all over the place. Eventually, a giant chunk of debris came down, but Loki was able to stop it with his magic.

The gate to the ark was so close. Just a little farther. But another group of guards came at them, holding them back. With all their strength, Loki and Sylvie fought back. They pushed passed them and the crowd of people. The gate was just a few feet away from them now.

But they were too late.

A giant rock crashed right into the ark, toppling it over and destroying it.

So...

That was it then.

They failed.

They tried, and they failed.

He failed her.

But she didn't seem to care.

She took him by the hand, smiling at him sadly. That only made him feel worse. He failed her. After everything they went through, he failed her.

Sylvie tugged Loki away from the gate. He gave the gate one last longing look, lamenting their stolen freedom.

It was all over now.

Dun Dun DUN!!!!!!

Lol, feel free to let me know what you think 😊

—Blue 💙