Timeless

◈ 22 ◈

"Brother, I don't think I'm going to stay on Asgard. I'd rather spend my time traveling from one corner of the universe to the other. That kind of life is what suits me best." Thor said, breaking the wordless silence that had consisted of nothing but the waves crashing against the rocks on the beach.

I smiled.

"That works out perfectly. I was wondering how I was going to tell you this, but you've made it very easy. Father asked me to rule over Asgard while you are gone."

"What about him?"

"He plans to spend a few years on Norway and retire from his kingly duties before his death."

Thor's stormy eyes darkened at the mention of Father's death, but he didn't do much else besides gaze at the sea with me.

I'd chosen wisely on the place I'd decided to spend my remaining time at. We sat on the beach overlooking the sea in a spot that few knew about. The small alcove cut into the mountains had been enchanted by my mother when she was still a young woman. From that spot, we could see not only the water but also the galaxy full of stars beyond it instead of the sky.

Thor traced simple patterns in the sand and let the wind blow his hair away from his face. I sighed, feeling somewhat satisfied for the first time in my life. Making peace with Father had done wonders to lift my spirits. I felt as if a terribly heavy weight had been removed from my shoulders.

Thor glanced down at the box in my lap. He said nothing, but I could tell that he was expecting an explanation.

I reopened the box and lifted up a few layers of protective casing. Underneath the layers was a small gold compass with my initials carved into the rim.

I turned the object over in my hand, inspecting every detail of it and watching the tiny arrow turn from side to side.

"Mother gave this to me over a decade ago. I'd been complaining to her about the issue of one of us becoming king while the other was denied their birthright. Even then, I still knew that my chances were little to nothing.

"She went out to a shop in town and came back with this compass. At first, I didn't think anything of it, but then I saw what was hidden inside."

Thor watched as I turned it over in my hand once more before letting it lay flat in my palm. I pulled the back of the compass open to reveal a small compartment the held nothing but a single piece of paper.

I unfolded it carefully and read it out loud.

"Everyone goes through struggles in their lives, but few have the strength overcome them. You, Loki, are stronger than most. I want you to keep this compass with you until you no longer need it to guide you in the right direction. You'll find your way someday. Though I raised you to be independent, this is your reminder that everyone needs help to a certain extent. With all my love: Mother."

I pocketed the note and stood up. Thor followed suit.

"I don't need this compass anymore, Thor. I've found my sense of direction, and it's led me home."

He smiled and patted my back.

"And you're happy?"

"Happier than I've ever been."

I took one last look at the compass before tossing it as far out into the sea as I could. Somewhere in the churning waves, it sunk to the bottom of the sand and found its place of belonging, just as I'd found mine.

We stepped away from the alcove so that we were once again standing under the blue sky in the heat of the day.

"I told you, brother, that the sun would shine on us again."

I felt a strange, tingling sensation, and I looked down at my hands to realize that I was beginning to fade away.

"Thor, I think it's happening!"

"What do you mean?"

I waved my disappearing hand in front of his face.

"I'm fading away! I think my time is up!"

He didn't even seem to hear me. In fact, he was looking right through me.

I gasped for air as everything but my torso vanished. When I disappeared completely, I watched Thor continue on in his conversation with what appeared to be me.

Scenes both familiar and unfamiliar flashed through my head at light speed as my mind caught up with everything that had happened after my talk with Thor on the beach. New memories of ruling over Asgard and visiting Father on Norway with Thor by my side. Old memories of Asgard being destroyed and meeting Brunnhilde on Sakaar. I was feeling lightheaded by the time I got to the final memory of five minutes ago on the Statesman in a meeting with Thor, Heimdall, Bruce, and Brunnhilde.

I landed on the hard metal floor with wide eyes, having gotten the wind knocked out of me.

Brunn stared down at me in confusion.

"You okay, Lackey? You just tripped and fell over your own two feet."

She helped me get up off of the floor with a smirk. I dusted off my armor and looked around. We were standing right outside of the room where the meeting had taken place.

Oddly enough, I could remember things that I'd experienced in between my talk with Thor and my fall in the Statesman.

"I'm fine. Are you?"

"I wasn't the one who fell." She responded. "Are you sure you're okay? You're acting a bit weird, and you look like you just saw a ghost."

I watched, dumbfounded, as Heimdall exited the council chamber with Bruce at his side.

Maybe I did see a ghost.

"I assure you, Brunn. I'm perfectly alright."

"Well, you'd better be. We're only five days out from Midgard and we all need to be in good condition for at least appearance's sake."

Five days out. That meant that we'd avoided a confrontation with Thanos.

I must've succeeded in my Second Chance. Destroying the Tesseract and Aether had ruined Thanos' original plan.

I sighed in relief and nearly jumped ten feet in the air when I saw Thor.

He rushed over to us and pulled me aside, earning an eye-roll from Brunnhilde.

"I can't believe we did it, brother," I whispered breathlessly.

"Did what?"

"You helped me survive my Second Chance."

He chuckled.

"Loki, that was years ago. Why are you bringing it up now of all times?"

I hadn't even stopped to think about how life had still continued on after my Second Chance. To me, I'd just gotten back, but to everyone else, it had been ages ago.

"I'm just happy."

"Happy?" He questioned, tracing his finger over his eyepatch out of habit.

I nodded.

"Happy to be alive."