Sinbound: Variants

Part 25

Loki, Mobius and I make our way to the judge's office. He tells us to wait outside while he goes to talk to her, telling her about the delicate situation at hand. Loki and I take a seat and sit close to each other on one chair, our hips digging into each other.

Once Mobius closes the double doors behind him, Loki and I start planning. "What I'm thinking is," I begin, "Fleur is in Mobius's tempad, right? So why not take it and run?"

"How do you expect to get Fleur out without knowing how to work it?"

"I'll figure it out."

"This doesn't seem like something to be rushed. I have a better plan, anyway."

"Oh? Then tell me, oh mischievous one."

He side eyes me, but can't resist a smirk. He holds his hands out, talking with them energetically. "Alright," He says, twisting slightly to face me, "Mobius has the tempad, and is talking to the judge now. I assume these people are not ones to yield from their final previous decisions, so my guess is that she won't see eye to eye with him. Now we must escape before she catches us, yes?"

"Like criminals. Got it. Go on."

"Mobius opens that doorway to another time and we escape, and you mend your connection with Fleur so they have no choice but to let you stay on the timeline."

"Why didn't I think of that, Loki?" I say dryly.

"Sorry?" He asks, confused at my sudden unpleasant attitude.

"You want me to 'mend my connection with Fleur' as if I've known this whole time how to do it. If I had known how, I would have done it already!"

"I have faith in you, darling."

"Blindly! Loki, if we escape, I don't know how much time we will have for me and Fleur to figure this out. If we can't, it means we are fugitives and I might get into trouble and end up back here on purpose! I can't have that, I can't leave everyone again I can't... I can't leave you I..." I say, getting tears in my eyes. Why is it so easy for me to cry at the thought of losing him?

"Darling, please. I'm here, and I will make sure no one hurts you. I promise." He says, pulling me into his embrace. 

"I'm just so scared of failing. I'm trying to do the right thing, I really am, but I always do it wrong in the end. What if I die...again?"

"My dear," He says with a chuckle, "I've died plenty of times. And so have you, but you always make it out alive. Fleur saved your life technically, by separating from you and giving you another chance to regain the trust you have with yourself. She's here, providing you with the change to see yourself differently and accept yourself as you are. At first you hated her, and you didn't know how to control her. Look where you are now, darling. You'd do anything for her. That's how it should be."

"You sound like my mother." I say, chuckling and wiping the tears from my cheeks.

"I take that as a high compliment."

"It was meant that way." I say, leaning in to kiss him. He sharply inhales, missing the touch of my lips as much as I miss his. Through all this drama, it's hard to take a moment and realize who you're with. It's a shame he doesn't remember anything since the timeline was reset. I wish some day he will remember.

Just then, Mobius returns to the hallway where we eagerly wait. We both pop up out of our seats and follow his gesture to walk with him. We pace from side to side behind him as he walks.

"What did she say?" Loki asks.

"Can we leave with Fleur?" I ask right after Loki.

"It's not good news, you two." Mobius says regrettably. 

"What happened?" I question, giving a weary look at Loki.

"She says Fleur gets pruned because she's a threat to the sacred timeline. She doesn't believe me when I say that you two aren't just variants. I believe you, but she needs solid proof."

"Solid proof?" Loki scoffs, as if disgusted with her decision, "As in what, Fleur gets attacked and Ayca falls to the floor in agony? Absolutely not." He says, getting angry. Mobius ushers us into a small room at the end of the hallway and closes it tightly behind him.

He twists around, holding his hands up innocently. "We just need to figure out a way to get you two into one body again so she doesn't want to prune the variant anymore. I really think you need to stay on the timeline, Ayca, and I think she would end up following orders too. Do you have any idea how to do that?" He gives me a hopeful look.

I fall to my knees on the floor, breaking down. I cry into my hands, shaking my head 'no'. I can't do this. I can't believe I've come all this way just to not be good enough to save even myself. I've tried to be the better person and to not let these demons in my head out, I've tried to keep my magic pure and my urge to just go rogue stifled. But I can't anymore, and if Fleur gets pruned I'll be empty for the rest of my eternal life.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." Mobius says gently. Loki kneels down beside me, wrapping an arm around my back and moving my hands away from my face with the other.

"We will find a way, darling. I want nothing else in this world then for you to feel happy and completely yourself." He says to me comfortingly. I look up at him through my soaked eyes, and force a smile. He helps me up and I shake my wings out. I've grown to really love them, remembering that time I pitifully tried to clean up my bloody mess with a roll of paper towels on the bathroom floor when I first discovered I had them.

"Sorry about that." I say to Mobius, referring to my mental breakdown.

"Happens to the best to us. I'll get Fleur out, we can see what she knows." He says, taking the tempad out of his pocket. He flips it open and a golden doorway appears beside us. "Wanna go get her?" He asks, looking at me. I nod, and walk through the doorway.

I start in the hallway of the compound. I keep walking as I hear a few voices further down the hallway. One of them is mine of course, and the other is... why am I not surprised. It's Bucky. I walk up to them; he's in a chair sitting right up against the glass while Fleur is just on the other side, talking to him. The smile on her face is the one I get when I remind myself how in love I am with Loki. I wonder what will happen to that love she has for him when we finally find a way to reconnect. 

I walk up to her, greeting Bucky. "Back so soon, doll?" He asks, standing up from his seat. 

"Yeah, I am. Hey, thank you for taking care of her while I was away. I can really trust you with her." I say, knowing that he won't remember this outside the time loop.

"I could do this all day." He says, winking at Fleur. I turn to her, asking if she's ready to go. She nods while she gets up, and I unlock the cell door. We walk back through the golden doorway, and are both suddenly on guard at the scene we walk back into.

Loki is pinned to the ground with a collar around his neck, like the one they put on Fleur. Oh no. Mobius is being held back on either arm by minute men, about to be pruned by who I can only assume is the Judge, Ravonna.

"Let him go!" I yell at her. 

She turns to Fleur and I, and looks between the two.

"I know you. You're Ayca Beckland."

"Laufeyson." I correct her.

"I'll be taking that variant, now, Mrs. Laufeyson." She says, turning the rest of her body towards me. 

"Good luck with that, bitch." I say, slashing a dagger towards her throat and begin to fight her. Fleur, who's magic is also confined to nothing due to that dumb collar, fights the minute men the best she can. Mobius tries to break free, and I help him by shooting magic towards the men holding him. They fly across the room, hitting the wall behind us. I do the same to Loki, and he jumps up. He's figured out how to get his collar off, and rips it off his neck. Dropping it to the floor, he yells at me to help Mobius, as if I'm not already fighting someone, as he takes the collar off of Fleur. 

Fleur immediately bursts into her wings, her skin smoking and the blood in her veins turning purple. Her eyes go such a deep red that they almost look black. Loki falls back, avoiding getting hit by the force of her extending wingspan. She flexes her hands out, creating a deep purple magic ball in each hand, ready to strike.

Oh, this is going to be good.