A Ripple In The Pond || Sylvie x OC

Chapter 5: The Variant

    Despite the fact that Emilia and Sylvie had slept in different beds, the two had never felt closer after their kiss. As Emilia slept soundly, Sylvie lay awake thinking about what this meant for the rest of their time together. Once the Tempad is fully charged, she would leave. Sylvie knew Emilia would protest and want to come with her, but the mission was simply too dangerous and Emilia was the last person Sylvie wanted to hurt. A small part of her hope that the Tempad would never be fixed. Sylvie hoped she could stay with Emilia for the rest of time, but her mission was far too important and she hated herself for thinking that way.

    Every night since the mischievous goddess met the benevolent human, her feelings for her only grew stronger, as did her guilt. Guilt of the thought that she would have to leave Emilia for her own safety, and even more guilt because for almost a year, Sylvie never told Emilia what her mission was. Sylvie's mission was bigger than either of them, and she couldn't risk hurting Emilia in that way. Regardless of the outcome, the human woman would get hurt. And Sylvie hated that about herself.

    And then there was the TVA. This was the first time that they had found Sylvie since she escaped all those years ago. Maybe it was by accident. Maybe another nexus event caused them to show up. For a little over half a millennia, Sylvie had been running from the TVA, hiding in apocalyptic timelines, ensuring her safety and that of Emilia's as well. She was tired; she couldn't remember the last time she had curly slept well, but her adrenaline and deep feelings for Emilia kept her running. And she would continue to run to keep both of them safe.

    After staying up for what felt like hours, the pain from her wound drained her energy. It eventually put Sylvie into a deep sleep but not for long.

Sylvie played happily in the courtyard steps of her home. She played with her toy ships and people, giving each one of them distinct voices and attributes. She told a story of Asgard being saved by a strong Valkyrie from a fearsome dragon that had made its way into the Nine Realms. A gentle breeze blew through her chocolate brown locks, making the young girl smile in contentment. Her life was grand. Her father and brother loved her and that's all she could want and need at such a young age.

    Then an electric whoosh came from behind her. The young goddess turned around and saw four soldiers appear out of a transparent golden doorway that led to an unfamiliar place. One female guard stood before her, holding out a small rectangular device. "That's our variant." She said coldly.

Sylvie's breath hitched as two of the guards picked her up by her arms and drug her away. She screamed for help, kicking and failing her small limbs but it was no use. "FATHER!" The young girl screamed out. "BROTHER!" The soldiers tugged her through the doorway, stripping her of all she was, leaving her to be a completely blank and empty entity. She watched the doorway quickly disappear as she felt all hope drain from her body like water in a bathtub.

    "Sylvie!" Emilia shook her gently. "Wake up!"

    Sylvie suddenly shot up from her bed, feeling the beads of sweat run down her forehead. Her breathing was heavy and fast paced, but when she looked into Emilia's icy blue eyes, her heart rate slowed. Emilia put her hand to Sylvie's forehead, causing the distraught goddess to startle slightly at the contact. "It's ok." Emilia said in a low voice, gently stroking Sylvie's hair. "You're burning up."

    Sylvie sat up more, pushing Emilia's soft hand away. "I'm fine. It was just a bad dream." Sylvie said nonchalantly.

    Emilia knew that was a complete lie. The distant and cold demeanor may have worked for most people, but the human fireball saw right through the Sylvie's standoffish ways. She was able to read her almost like a book now, compared to how she was when they first met. Emilia sat beside Sylvie on her bed once again. She looked into Sylvie's eyes; they were filled with fear, but different from usual. Most of the time, they glistened with determination and anger, but for whom she never had no idea nor did she ever question for whom. "You called out for you brother and dad." Emilia explained. "I've never even heard you talk about your family."

    Sylvie's head fell, unable to make eye contact with Emilia. "I can barely remember them anymore." She said quietly. "And I doubt they remember me."

    Emilia reached slowly for Sylvie's petite and calloused hand, interlacing their fingers gently. "You know that's not true. What ever happened all that time ago?"

    Sylvie remained quiet for what felt like ages. She had never opened up to anyone about her past, and she never planned to either. Her walls had built were so high, she could barely able to be honest with herself anymore. All she knew now was rage. "The TVA took me when I was young." She hissed, her face turning into a scowl. "They took everything from me."

    "The soldiers from earlier?"

    "Yes. They took me away from my home. My family. My people. They ruined my life."

    Emilia's eyes grew sympathetic, but she also knew that when it came to sensitive subjects, it was best to not beat around the bush and get to the point. "Seems like an awful sort of life."

    Sylvie scowled at Emilia's comment. "What I have isn't a life." She said barely controlling herself. Her words were sharp and laced with venom. "The TVA stole the life I was supposed to have. This isn't a life. This is chaos."

    Emilia noticed how harshly her comment had hit the goddess. Her breath hitched as she quickly thought of the new question. "How did you escape then?"

    "Before my trial, I stole a Tempad and ran. I'd run for days at a time until I found out those bumbling idiots couldn't track me in apocalypses. So that's where I grew up: the ends of a thousand worlds. All I've done is run from them my whole life. It's all I've ever known. But I don't want to run anymore. I've been trying to figure out a way to get back to the TVA and destroy them. To hurt them the way they hurt me."

    Everything made sense now. Emilia understood why Sylvie was so angry all the time. She finally understood all the running and hiding. Sylvie's seemingly infinite anger burned white hot with a passion Emilia had never seen before. But there were still some unanswered questions Emilia still had. "How come you've never tried to return home when you escaped?"

    "I can't." Sylvie looked down at her hands. Emilia could see that Sylvie's eyes were beginning to glisten with tears. "They wouldn't remember me anyway." Sylvie quickly wiped away the tears forming in her eyes before they chose to fall.

Emilia caught Sylvie's gaze once again. Her eyes were filled with so much pain, too much pain for one person to carry. She swore she even saw her eyes begin to glisten with tears. "W-what do you mean? Of course they'd remember you. I'm sure they searched the day you were taken."

    Sylvie bit her lip hard. So hard, Emilia thought she'd make her lip bleed. "The TVA supposedly protects the proper flow of time." Sylvie stood up and began walking around the small room. "Their soldiers, 'minutemen', they're known as, do so by resetting branch timelines that aren't supposed to exist, like me being born the goddess of mischief. When I was a child and they took me and 'reset' my timeline, meaning they erased any signs of my existence on Asgard." Sylvie leaned against the could metal wall and suddenly her demeanor changed from anger to guilt and almost shame. "The universe wants to break free. So it manifests chaos, like me. Everywhere and every-when I went, it caused a Nexus event. Sent you a smile flare. Because I'm not supposed to exist." There was a long pause of silence before Sylvie returned to original state to continue her speech. "Apparently I had 'broken' the sacred laws of time. But later I found out that the TVA takes people from their timelines and turns them into minutemen by erasing their memories and replacing them with new ones. Making them think they were created by the TVA to work for them. The TVA is a corrupt organization that literally takes people's lives, and I'm going to bring it down."

    Sylvie's determination and rage returned to her eyes. The words kept ringing through Emilia's head: "The universe wants to be set free. So it manifests chaos, like me." The former princess of Asgard truly believed that she didn't belong anywhere and was merely the product of chaos. That she was nothing more than universal chaotic mistake. It saddened Emilia terribly, but she knew it would take more than just her for Sylvie to believe otherwise.

But Emilia now understood the rage Sylvie felt towards the TVA. They had stripped her of everything she identified herself with. Her family and friends were all gone. She had nothing. This was the only thing she know now. God only knows how many lives the TVA has stolen, and Emilia could only imagine the numbers; if it was even fathomable.

    An overwhelming urge came over Emilia. Before she could do anything, her mouth spoke before her mind could process what she was even saying. "Where do we start then?" Emilia asked in a low, determined voice.