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(HWR= He Who Remains) Disclaimer: Some parts of the dialogue belong to the Loki series, S1-E6, credits to its respective authors*
- Eons ago, before the TVA, a variant of myself lived on Earth in the 31st century. He was a scientist, and he discovered that there were universes stacked on top of his own. At the same time, other versions of us were learning the same thing -.
I think I had fallen asleep, because when I opened my eyes, He Who Remains was giving a super speech, the giant tube was more ramified than before, and I saw the whore of my vision from the train, right next to...him.
- Hello, variant – I purred, low key because I didn’t want to be heard.
- Naturally, they made contact. And for a while there was peace, narcissistic, self-congratulatory peace...They shared technology and knowledge, using the best of their universes to improve the others - he continued his history.
- However, not every version of me was so pure of heart, to some of us new worlds meant only one thing, new lands to be conquered. The peace between realities...erupted, into all-out war, each variant fighting to preserve their universe and annihilate the others -.
- This was almost the end, ladies and gentlemen, of everything and everyone – Wait, all that still hasn’t happened in my time, he said 31st century, meaning, he’s an enemy that hasn’t born yet, I loved how his story made absolutely no sense, but still managed to be entertaining.
- And then the Time Keepers came along and saved us all – I found it funny that even her voice made me want to beat her up with the very chair she was in.
- Nope, this is where we diverge from the dogma. That first variant encountered a creature, created from all the tears in reality, capable of consuming time and space itself, a creature you both know – HWR looked at both of them funny, until Loki spoke.
- Alioth – he sounded so...tired. His clothes were ragged and teared apart, and he was bleeding from a scratch on the arm. The smell of blood was intoxicating, almost made me gag.
- Bingo! I harnessed the beast’s power and began experimenting on it... I weaponized Alioth, and I ended...I ended the Multiversal War – But that’s what made me vomit, he used a living creature, an innocent being, for war!!
- Once I isolated our timeline, all I had to do was manage the flow of time and prevent any further branches, hence the TVA, hence the Time Keepers and a highly efficient bureaucracy. Hence, ages and ages of cosmic harmony! Hence...your welcome – In the reflection of the glass I noticed the change in my eyes, from green to gold and red, again, I couldn’t jeopardize losing my temper now, I had to keep it cool.
- You came to kill the devil, right? Well guess what? I keep you safe, and if you think I’m evil, well, just wait ‘till you meet my variants...And that’s the gambit! -.
- Stifling order or cataclysmic chaos, you may hate the dictator but something far worse is gonna fill that void if you depose of him, I’ve lived a million lifetimes, I've gone through every scenario, this is the only way...the TVA, it works – “What fills the void” I repeated in my head while peeking through the edge of the window to get a brief image.
- Or you’re a liar – She spoke again, this time I somewhat emphasized with her stand, I would’ve said the same.
- So, you just continue to prune innocent timelines? - HWR shook his head, and froze all of our nerves after a few chuckles, - You two would -.
- There’s two options, one, you kill me and destroy all this, so you won’t just have one devil, you have an infinite amount. Or, you two... you two run the thing - “What the hell? A tyrant giving up control? This has no sense!”
- You’re lying, why would you give up being in control? - Loki questioned, rather both confused and threatening, it gave me chills.
- Buddy, I’m tired, and I’m older than I look, this game is for the young, the hungry...I’ve gone through a lot of scenarios, trying to find the right person to take this spot, and it turns out that person came in two...but it's definitely you two – HWR gave me a quick glance, causing Sylvie’s head to move in my direction, but I hid before she could see me. Due to the movement and the anxiety that second gave me, my heart beatings nearly hammering my head.
- So, no more lies, you kill me and the Sacred Timeline is completely exposed, Multiversal War, or you take over and return to the TVA as its benevolent rulers...Tell the workforce who they are and what they do what they do – wait, the workers weren’t made by him? They’re variants! HOLY SHIT!
“That man will have committed a crime of time?” I wondered speculating a million options, I couldn't imagine him doing something wrong, to be honest. I was thinking about the boy at the reception back at the TVA, the one with the innocent eyes and cute smile.
- You treated real people’s lives like some kind of game – “Wait what?” although I was in a moral conflict with myself, whether I should be against or in favor of HWR’s statement, I still didn’t want to support her, so I remained unbiased.
- It’s not personal, it’s practical - Ok, me with my impartiality to the maximum, and being practical and perhaps somewhat cynical, or even heartless, but I do not see the error in his decisions.
- It was personal to me – I rolled up my eyes, “So they pulled you from the Timeline, maybe because you did something wrong, duh, otherwise...why?”.
- Grow up! Grow up Sylvie! Murderer, hypocrite! We’re all villains here...We’ve all done horrible things, terrible, horrific things – I couldn't agree more with his words, and her face was absolutely priceless, she should’ve learned how to let go.
- But now, we, you, have a chance to do them for a good reason – There was a rumble that cut him off his sentence, the tube turned out to be the entire Timeline, and it was branching fast and loud.
HWR started acting weird, looking everywhere, and letting something just fall into the desk, in complete amazement, fear, uncertainty … or at least that’s what I thought I saw.
- So, I fibbed...I fibbed earlier when I said I know how everything’s going to go, I, I know...I knew, everything up to a certain point, and that point was about...seven, eight, nine, ten seconds ago... But now I have no idea, no idea of how the rest of this is going to go...I’m being candid – he was saying the truth, I felt it, I saw it, there was no way he could fake a fear like that.
- So, that’s it?... That’s it? This is what happens at the end of time? And now you’re just going to sit there with all that freedom and... let us decide your fate? - “If he stands up to kill him, I swear I’ll hit him with his scepter” I held back a laugh, that would hurt both his head and his pride.
- YES! What’s the worst that can happen? You take over and my life’s work continues, or you plunge a blade in my chest and an infinite amount of me start another Multiversal War, and I just end up right back here anyways... Reincarnation baby -.
- No, it’s just another lie, another manipulation – “She really is bad at reading people” I thought looking for a window to sneak back inside.
- Oh, no lie, no manipulation – HWR took off a disk off his hand, and slowly placed it on top of the desk, and slide it in front of them - Wow...I love this... I love all this honesty. Feels like a fresh start -.
There was a brief silence, until Sylvie stood up from the chair really fast, and tried to slice off his head with the sword in her hand, but Loki stopped her, which I didn't think I'd see in my life.
- He’s a liar Loki – she was trying to fight him, but he was resilient, - So am I, and I don’t think he was lying, not about that. Insane, yes, but maybe he was telling the truth – “wow" I gasped.
I found a small vent, so I transformed into a snake and got into the tube, which prevented me from hearing any of the conversation, their voices were muffled, so I did not understand anything.
It took me a while to get out of it, there were sounds of fighting and metal crashing, so I hurried, until I reached the study door, hidden behind it and making as little noise as possible.
- Maybe he’s lying, maybe he’s not, the cost of getting this wrong is too great! - I could sense his struggle, his desperation, and fear.
- Fine, do it! Kill me! Take your throne! - my heart sank low when he refused to it, with the saddest expression I’ve ever seen. I wanted to kick her ass myself, but a quick glance to HWR who slowly shook his head to me, made me stand back, against my better judgment that is.
Finally, Sylvie was going to kill him, in my hand my dagger manifested, and I was prepared to jump on her and stop that madness, my heart skipped a beat when Loki appeared in front of her, blocking her attack with his body, literally risking his neck.
- Sylvie, stop, stop – his blade clanked against the floor at the same time as my own, so neither of them noticed me picking it up.
“Apenas te ponga las manos encima, perra desgraciada, ya vas a ver” I can’t say I thought that, because my lips were moving, but I didn’t emit a sound. HWR found it humorous though, I caught him grinning at me. I showed him my middle finger with a mockery smile and kept paying attention to her movements.
- I’ve been where you are, I’ve felt what you feel...don’t ask me how I know - I ... did not know what to do, his words were sincere, full of pain. Caught in my own doubt, I didn't move a muscle, even if I wanted to, what the hell was I going to say? Tada! I am your daughter, I come from the future!
Not even in a million years! I didn't know if I was nervous or it was a case of stage fright sort of thing, it was a sensation that I had never felt, and that I spent my whole life wanting to meet him, I finally had him in front of me, and what did I do!? Nothing.
- All I know, is I don’t wanna hurt you – she was crying, I knew exactly how this was going to end, in my heart I just felt it, the pain, the misery and the betrayal, she had the same stare as Morgan, a mix of “I’m sorry but I have to” and “I will regret this for the rest of my life”.
- I don’t want a throne, I just...I just want you to be okay - Although I thought I had no more tears to shed, those last words reached me deeper than allowed. I was very happy, it was very moving, I could even say that my heart lit up; however, as beautiful as the moment was, I wished those words had been for me.
I longed to freeze that moment in my memory, but it would hurt a lot to remember that it wasn't me, and most importantly, he wasn't him.
- But I’m not you – she broke the kiss, opened a gateway and pushed him through. Looking at HWR I mouthed with my heart in hand, “I told you”, and he placed a 20-dollar bill on his desk, fairly disappointed, and once again I was fatherless, but this time, it was my fault. I decided to stand idly by.
But what pissed me off the most, what ended up driving me crazy, and made me lose my temper, was that before any warning, after an hour of speech about how the whole universe would go to an endless war without him, Sylvie killed him anyway, without even thinking twice.
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