Offerings to a Memory

For a Frost Giant, Loki found it ironic that he kept winding up in a desert.

He wasn't sure where he'd landed this time, and quite frankly... He didn't care.

Being alone for 500 years tends to bring out the cynic in a person.

When he'd first landed in that alternate TVA, his only thought was to find a way back to the Citadel.

To her.

But no matter how many timelines he traversed, or the number of Kang variants he destroyed....there was no trace of his Goððess anywhere.

After awhile, he decided to go home to Thor and the remaining Ásgarðians. His brother was shocked at first (and a little angry) but relieved to see him, even if he wasn't the same Loki that had been there before.

They traveled together to take the rest of the Conqueror's doppelgangers out of the multiverse. For awhile, the mage could almost feel okay again. But then, he'd get a glance of blonde hair or catch the scent of moonflowers and it would bring up memories of Sylvie all over again.

He feared his brother would tease him for the sentiment, but Thor completely understood where he was coming from. He even offered to help find her, but Loki didn't want to pull him away from the family he'd made with the recently deified Jane more than he already had.

So he left, traveling from universe to universe. Loki stopped for a few years to stay with Mobius in the dimension he'd retired to. When the former TVA agent died in his sleep, the Goð built him a funeral pyre on a private beach, then scattered the ashes in the place where he'd ridden his beloved jet ski.

That was the moment he felt truly alone.

Now, here he was,in this desolate wasteland on a dying world, the last of the power in his Tempad fading away.

Loki had come to the conclusion that if Sylvie was able to be found, he would have done so by now. Either she was dead....or just didn't want to see him anymore.

He wasn't sure which was worse.

What he was sure of, was that he couldn't live like this anymore. Without Sylvie, the last five centuries had been nothing but an endless tunnel of darkness, and he'd given up on ever seeing the light.

He walked for several miles until he came upon the dried out remnants of what used to be a lake. The rocky outcrop facing it reminded Loki of that moment on Lamentis.

It was the perfect place to end things.

He sat down on the formation and pulled out a dagger. Loki recalled that moment on the train when he'd explained to Sylvie his theory about love being a dagger....how it was beautiful until it made you bleed.

And oh how his heart did bleed.

He looked up at the red and purple hues streaking across the sky and let out the breath he'd been holding.