A Tale of Death and Debt ✔

Chapter 11

They were on the terrace of the New York Sanctum. The Ancient One gazed at the two. "You did it," she murmured, looking at Tessa as if she were the Eighth Wonder of the World. Loki stood stoically behind Tessa, not moving a muscle, leering at the Ancient One with narrow eyes.

Tessa chuckled nervously, "What's that supposed to mean? Wasn't this a do or die situation?"

"Well ..."

This hesitation by the Ancient One was like fingernails on a chalkboard.

"Are you kidding me?" Tessa mumbled. Clenching her fists and grinding her teeth she continued, "God! You know what let's just get this done with already."

"Actually... we have a few hours left" The Ancient One replied softly.

"Say what now?"

"Well, usually when I send someone on a mission, they come back saying that if they had some more time, they would have been successful. Because of this... I provided some buffer time ... just in case."

Tessa doubted the Ancient One could have explained it any slower. Each word stretched on for eternity, and the pauses in between were even worse. Tessa felt like her brain might snap any second.

"Kill me now!" Tessa growled, frustrated, her temples pounding with rage.

"Why don't you two take a walk," the Ancient One said, "In three hours we'll meet up here"

"Take a walk?" Tessa hissed "Take a Walk! You little—"

The Ancient One pursed her lips and made a portal to a grassy land and scooped the portal right though them.

*******

Tessa stumbled over to the other side. Stomping over to a log, Tessa sat down and commenced muttering some not too nice things about the Ancient One. A few moments later, Loki seated himself about a foot to her left.

For the first time after the zap, he spoke out. "So, how exactly is this going to work?"

Tessa got startled. She had almost forgotten he was there.

Tessa looked at him, "Well, the three of us will travel to Asgard. When we reach there the current timeline Loki - let's call him Loki 1.0 - will probably be unconscious, floating in space. Using astral projections of both you and him, we'll merge Loki 1.0," she gestured up, "And Loki 2.0," she nodded at him, "Into one body. So you'll be like two souls in one body. That's why I needed to bring you mental state to match Loki 1.0's, or else your chakras wouldn't align. And you'd be some glitched up person with - I don't know - bipolar syndrome."

Slowly, Loki nodded, "And my memories?"

"The present Loki's brain is primary." Tessa explained, "So, the memories you have of New York 2.0 – since you're Loki 2.0 - will be suppressed and gradually fade away. You'll forget everything except for maybe a few things that uniquely impacted you."

"Everything," Loki repeated, meeting Tessa's gaze, "Even you?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Tessa replied, trying to be cheerful, "But you know what the cool part is? You'll have an extra life!"

"What does that mean?" Loki queried.

"Well because you are two souls in one body, if you die -so to say- only one soul will die, the other the primary one - will survive. Of course, your chakras would be completely out of balance and need alignment. But yeah. The uh sun ... would shine you again. How 'bout that."

Despite her shaky explanation, Loki seemed to understand very well.

"Then," he said, "I would need a sorcerer like you or the yellow one to restore me?"

Tessa nodded, "Yup. The longer you delay your alignment, the longer it will take to heal you."

There was a brief pause as Loki contemplated his near future. He then asked "But what if I cannot find anyone?"

"Someone would find you" Tessa said with a smile. "Or here, take my card, if you remember who I am by the time something happens, pay me a visit."

At that moment, a fiery gold portal appeared next to them and The Ancient One emerged. "It is time."