Hell is Living Without You ~ Loki

Chapter Twenty Two

Freyja's POV

We stood infront of the door and waited in silence. "Aren't you going to tell me not to kick the door in?" Sylvie asked the pair of us. "It never made a difference." I chuckled. "Well, if you think it's a bad idea, I prefer you to speak your mind." She said. "No. Nothing to say." Loki muttered. "That'll be a first." She chuckled. Sylvie let out a sigh and I looked at her worriedly. "Everything okay?" I asked hesitantly. "Yeah, just need a moment." She said. "Right. It's just, you normally..." I started. "Freyja. Shut Up. I was pruned before you even existed. I have been waiting for this moment my entire life. I just need a second to get my head straight okay?" She nervous snapped. "Sure. Of course." I smiled. Sylvie was just about to kick the door down, but it opened by itself.
The three of us entered cautiously and looked around at the vast space. It seemed eerily quiet, before it was interrupted. "Hey Y'all!" Miss Minutes said, appearing out of nowhere, causing all of us to draw our weapons. "Welcome to the Citadel at the End of Time." She said. Loki leaned in close. "Come on." He said, as me and Sylvie followed him slowly. "Congratulations. Y'all had an awfully long journey to get here. He's impressed." Miss Minutes said. "Who's impressed?" Sylvie asked, as we still moved slowly. "He Who Remains." She answered. "And who is he?" Loki asked. "He created all and he controls all. At the end, it is only He Who Remains. And he wants to offer you a deal. He's been making a few creative adjustments, and he's worked it out so we can reinsert all of y'all back into the Timeline in a way that won't disrupt things." She explained. "Won't disrupt things?" I questioned. "Mmm-hmm. The TVA can keep doing it's vital work, and y'all can live the lives you've always wanted." The clock said. "And what have we always wanted?" Loki asked. "Now don't play coy with me Mister. You know how you got into this mess." She said. "What?"
"The Battle of New York, silly. You versus those self righteous Avengers. How would you like to win? But not just there. You can kill Thanos. You want the Infinity Gauntlet? Yours. Throne of Asgard? No Problem. What about you Missy? All those years on the run. Desperate, alone. How would you like to wake up tomorrow with just a lifetime of memories? Don't get me started on dear old Pops. He can bring your brother and father back." She explained. "Two Lokis in the same place? Both of us together on the timeline?" Sylvie asked skeptically. "It's crazy, but he could make it work. All of it. Everything. Exactly the way you've wanted. And you can have it all." I scoffed. "It's fiction. We write our own destiny now." I told her. "Oh, sure you do. Good Luck with that." She said, before disappearing.

We continued venturing throught the halls, until an elevator appeared with a man sat in it. The three of us raised our weapons and kept them there. He stood up and put his hands up in surrender. "This is wild." He chuckled. "The two of you, same person. I mean, it's a little unnatural, but...Wow. Wild." He said, before biting a chunk out of his apple. "He Who Remains?" I asked. "He Who Remains. She still calls me that? Creepy right? But... I like it." We all exchanged a look. "Come on. Come on, let's talk in my office." He said and we hesitantly followed.
"Not what you were expecting huh?" He asked with his back to us in the elevator. "You're just a man. Flesh and Blood?" Loki questioned. "Don't tell me I'm a disappointment." He chuckled. "No, Just a little bit easier to kill." Sylvie said, lunging forward. But the man disappeared. Seconds later, the elevator stopped and the doors opened and He Who Remains was stood there. "Come in." He smiled. He poured out three glasses of liquid and there was already three chairs laid out. "Loki." He said, placing a glass next to a chair. "Loki." He said, putting another one down. "And Freyja." He smiled, placing the final one next to the middle chair. We all sat down and the man chuckled. "Been a long journey for you hasn't it? Lot of running, lot of pain." He said to Sylvie. "And you two. You're the fleas on the back of a dragon. In for one hell of a ride. But you did manage to hang on. I guess that counts for something." He smiled. "I'm not quite sure you understand the situation. You've lost. We found you." Loki explained. "Duh. Of course you did." He chuckled. Sylvie lunged forward and he moved out of the way again. "Whoa! A swing and miss." He taunted. "So we're still doing that hmm? Let's get this out of the way. Okay. Here we go. You can't kill me because I already know what's going to happen." He said, pulling out a file. "See." He said, showing us what looked like a script. "It's a parlour trick." Loki said. "Okay. Don't you wonder how I'm able to get out of the way just before you kill me?" He asked. "No. Its because of that little Tempad you have there." Sylvie spat. "Right. But how do I have it loaded up with everything I need to know to keep from being killed by you three? It's easy. I know it all. And I've seen it all. Everything you did on Lamentis, I saw. All the stuff the TVA didn't know about, I knew. All the scheming, all the talking. That little act by the lake. Quite sentimental, very touching stuff by the way." He taunted. "No." I said firmly. "No, we broke out of your game. That's how we got here." I told him. "No, wrong. Every step you took to get here, Lamentis, The Void, I paved the road. You just walked down it. And I have the rest right here. Everything that's going to happen. There's only one way this can go." He smiled. "Then why are we here?"
"Oh come on. You know you can't get to the end until you've been changed by the journey. This stuff, it needs to happen. To get us in the right mindset to finish the quest." He explained. "Right, so it's all a game. All a manipulation?" Loki asked. "Interesting that your head would go to that. Sylvie, do you think you can trust this guy? Do you think you're even capable of trusting anyone at all?"

"I understand your moral objections to what the TVA does. And my methods are deceptive. But the mission it never was. Without me, without the TVA, everything burns." He explained. "Then what are you so afraid of?" Loki asked. "Me." He replied, after a long pause. "And jsut who are you?" Sylvie asked. "Oh I've been dubbed many names by many people. A ruler, a conqueror, He Who Remains, a jerk. But it's not that simple as a name." He told us. Before fiddling with his watch. "Now get comfy, because this is one tale." He said.