Y/N's POV
We walked inside the house. The walls were made of black and gold marble. If I weren't extremely angry or scared, I would've took some time to admire the architecture.
We only had time to take a couple of steps before something appeared in front of us.
"Hey y'all !" It was Miss Minutes.
Sylvie and Loki took out their respective swords and I conjured two daggers as we pointed our weapons at the orange clock.
"Welcome to the Citadel at the end of time. Congratulations. Y'all had an awfully long journey to get here. He's impressed" She said.
"Who's impressed ?" Sylvie asked in a threatening tone.
"He who remains" Miss Minutes answered.
"And who is he ?" I 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" Miss Minutes explained.
"Won't disrupt things ?" Sylvie said, slightly intrigued.
"The TVA can keep doin' its vital work and y'all can live the lives you've always wanted"
"What have we always wanted ?" Loki asked.
"Now don't play coy with me, mister. You know how you got into this mess. The battle of New York, silly. You and Y/N versus those self-righteous Avengers. How would you two like to win ? But not just there. You can kill Thanos, before he kills you two. You want the infinity gauntlet ? Yours. Throne of Asgard ? No problem. What about you, Sylvie ? All those years on the run, how would you like to wake up tomorrow with just a lifetime of happy memories ? How about we bring you girlfriend back from Valhalla, as you call it ?"
"All of us on the timeline ?" I said.
"It's crazy, but he could make it work. All of it. Everything. Exactly the way you've wanted" Miss Minutes said.
"It's fiction" Sylvie said.
"We write our own destiny now" Loki said.
"Oh, sure you do. Good luck with that" Miss Minutes said as she disappeared.
We walked trough the silent hallways. It was dark and there was no one.
Loki touched dust that was on some furniture.
"Are we sure he's even still alive ?" Loki said.
We heard a door opening. We walked in front of the door and pointed our weapons at it.
Inside was a man who looked happy and excited.
"This is wild" He said with a laugh as he slowly walked towards us.
"He who remains" Sylvie said.
"He who remains. She still calls me that ? Creepy, right ? But, I like it. Come on let's talk in my office"
We walked inside an elevator with the man, our weapons pointed at him the entire time.
"Not what you were expecting, huh ?" He said.
"You're just a man" Loki said.
"Flesh and blood. Don't tell me I'm a disappointment"
"No. Just a little bit easier to kill" Sylvie said, angrily.
Sylvie tried stabbing him, but he somehow teleported himself away from her. He laughed and teleported himself again, this time, out of the elevator.
When the elevator door opened, he was right in front of us, smiling.
He walked behind a desk and sat down.
"Take a seat" He said, as he pointed at three chairs.
We sat down, our weapons still in hand.
"It's been a long journey for you hasn't it. Lot of running, lot of pain, some losses" He said as he looked at Sylvie.
"You're a flea on the back of a dragon, you're in for one hell of a ride. But you did manage to hang on" He said as he looked at Loki.
"I'm not sure you quite understand the situation. You've lost. We found you" Loki said, confused.
"Duh. Of course you did. Let's get this out of the way" He said as he took a file from his desk.
"You can't kill me because I already know what's going to happen" He said as he showed us two papers.
On the papers was what we were currently doing and saying. Like a script.
"It's a parlour trick" I said.
"Don't you wonder how I'm able to get out of the way before you try to kill me ?" He said in an amused tone.
"No, it's because of that little TemPad you have there" Sylvie answered, annoyed.
"Right. But how do I already have it loaded up with everything I need to know to keep myself from being killed by you ? It's easy. I know it all and I've seen it all. Everything you guys did on Lamentis, I saw. All the stuff the TVA didn't know about, I knew. All the scheming, all the talking, that hand holding by the lake. Quite sentimental, very touching stuff" He who remains said with a smile.
"No. We broke out of your little game. That's how we got here" Sylvie said.
"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" He said as took more papers out of his desk.
"Everything that's going to happen. There's only one way this can go" He continued.
"Then why are we here ?" I asked.
"Oh, come on. You know you can't get to the end until you've changed by the journey. This stuff needs to happen. To get us all in the right mindset to finish the quest"
"Right"
"So it's all a game. It's all a manipulation" Loki said, frustrated.
"Interesting that your head would go to that. Y/N, Sylvie, you two think you can trust this guy ?"
"Don't listen to him" Loki told me.
"Don't listen to him" He who remains mocked.
"I understand your moral objection to what the TVA does and my methods are deceptive. But the mission never was. Without me, without the TVA, everything burns" He continued.
"Then what are you so afraid of ?" I asked.
"Me"
"And just 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 as simple as a name" He said as he created some sort of mini-illusion that looked like him.
"Eons ago, before the TVA, a variant of myself live 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 learning the same thing. 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. However, not every version of me was so, pure at 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"
"And then the Time-Keepers came along and saved us all" Sylvie said.
"No, 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 know"
"Alioth" I answered.
"Bingo. I harnessed the beast's power and began experimenting on it. I weaponized Alioth and I ended the multiversal 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 you're welcome" He Who Remains said as he jumped onto his desk.
He stopped the mini-illusion that showed his life's story.
"You came to kill the devil, right ? Well guess what ? I keep you safe and if you think I'm evil, well, just wait until you meet my variants" He said as he jumped off the desk and stood in front of us.
I looked at Loki then at Sylvie.
"That's the gamble. Stifling order or cataclysmic chaos. You may hate the dictator, but something far worse is gonna fill that void if you dispose of him. I've lived a million lifetimes. I've gone trough every scenario. This is the only way. The TVA, it works" He said as he went back behind his desk and sat back down on his chair.
"Or you're a liar" Sylvie said.
"So you just, continue to prune innocent timelines ?" I asked, concern in my voice.
"You three would"
We looked at him confused.
"There's two options ! One, you kill me and destroy all this, so you don't just have one devil, you have an infinite amount. Or you guys run the thing" He said in an amused tone.
"You're lying. Why would you give up being in control ?" Loki said.
"Buddy, I'm tired and I'm older. 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 or people to take this spot. It turns out those people are you. It's definitely you three. 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 it's benevolent rulers. Tell the workforce who they are and why they do what they do" He said, this time in a more serious tone.
"You treated real people's lives like some kind of game" Sylvie said.
"It's not personal, it's practical"
"It was personal to me. Her death was personal to me" Sylvie said.
"Grow up ! Grow up, Sylvie ! Murderer ! Hypocrite ! We're all villains here" He screamed.
"We've all done horrible, terrible, horrific things" He added.
Loki and I looked down remembering the battle of New York.
"But now, you have a chance to do them for a good reason" He explained.
We heard multiple noises outside. Crashes, thunder, explosions and more.
He who remains stayed silent for a short while.
"We just crossed the threshold" He said calmly.
"So, I fibbed. I fibbed earlier when I said I know how everything's going to go. 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 how the rest of this is going to go. I'm being candid" He said, slightly shocked and amused.
"So that's it ? This is what happens at the end of time ? Now you're just gonna sit there with all that freedom and let us decide your fate ?" Loki asked .
"Yes ! Yes ! Yes ! What's the worse thing that could happen ? You either 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 anyway. Reincarnation, baby" He Who Remains said loudly.
"No, it's just another lie, another manipulation" Sylvie said.
"No lie. No manipulation" He Who Remains said truthfully.
We remained silent for a while, all looking at each other.
Sylvie jumped at He Who Remains, but Loki grabbed her and I walked in front of He Who Remains so that she couldn't get to him.
We needed to analyze our options before we did anything irrational.
Sylvie took her sword and pointed it at Loki's neck.
"What are you doing ?" She asked him.
"Hang on a moment" He said, angrily.
"Let's talk about it Sylvie" I said.
"How about we finish what we started and kill him ?" She said
She tried running towards He Who Remains, but Loki and I stopped her. We fought with our swords.
"What if he's telling the truth ?" I said.
"So what ? He killed her !" Sylvie answered, referring to her girlfriend.
"I believe him" I said.
"You believe what ? That a bazillion boogeymen will turn up just because we give people free will ? He's a liar Y/N !" Sylvie said to me.
She was angry. It's the first time since we met that she had talked to me this way.
"So am I and so is Loki. We're liars and we don't think he was lying. Not about that"
"Is he insane ? Yes. But maybe he was telling the truth" Loki added.
"Better hurry. The timeline's already branching" He Who Remains said nonchalantly.
"So what are you suggesting ?" Sylvie said.
"That we think about it ?" I said.
"And what precisely is there to think about ?" She answered.
"Weren't you listening to what he was saying ? That's the gamble. Remove the dictator and what fills the void ?" Loki said, angrily at Sylvie.
"You want the throne" She said to Loki.
"No, that's not it. No" Loki said defending himself.
"I don't believe you" Sylvie said.
"Sylvie the universe is in the balance, everything we know to be true. Everything. I know the TVA has hurt us both. But what if by taking him out, we risk unleashing something even worse ?" I said trying to calm her down.
"All we're suggesting is we just take a minute to think about it" Loki said.
"What was I thinking trusting you two ?" Sylvie said.
Those words hurt me. Loosing someone's trust is always hard.
"Has this whole thing been a con ?" Sylvie asked.
"Really ? That's really what you think of me ? After all we've been through ?" I asked.
"You never trusted us" Loki added.
"This is bigger than us" I said to her.
"Why aren't we seeing this the same way ? We always got along..." She said.
Sylvie began fighting us again.
"Don't hurt her" I told Loki.
I conjured my daggers, and tried stopping her, but she didn't have any interest in fighting me. Each time I got close to her she would simply push me away.
He Who Remains watched our fight attentively.
Sylvie used her power to push Loki and I into a wall, making us fall. She ran towards He Who Remains, but Loki used his powers to make her fall too.
She tried getting closer to He Who Remains, but I stopped her each time.
She tried attacking me with her sword, but I blocked her attacks.
Sylvie teleported Loki and I to the other side of the room as she prepared to jump to cut off He Who Remains's head.
I looked at Loki and he nodded. He teleported me in front of her. Her sword was on my neck, and she looked shocked.
"Sylvie stop" I said as I let go of my dagger to show her I meant no harm.
"Would your girlfriend have wanted you to destroy the multiverse so that she could be avenged ? You're blinded by revenge and anger" I said, calmly.
I slowly put my hand on her should and I was about to use my powers on her.
She noticed and grabbed my face. She did something I never would have expected, she kissed me.
After a brief moment she let me go.
"Don't you get it ? You're my girlfriend ! She was a variant of you ! That's why I've been so nice to you. I see her in you" She said as she somehow opened a TVA portal behind me and pushed me in with a sad look.
She teleported Loki in front of the portal and pushed him in too.
I got up and tried running back to the portal, but she closed it. Loki looked at me with a saddened look.
"W-We'll talk about it later..." I said as we ran out of the office.
We ran through the hallways until we found B-15 and Mobius talking.
"How are we going to stop the branching ?" Mobius told B-15.
"We can't" Loki screamed.
"What ?" Mobius said turning to face us.
"It's done Mobius. We made a terrible mistake" Loki explained, his voice shaking.
"What's done ?" B-15 asked.
"We freed the timeline. We tried talking Sylvie out of it but she wouldn't listen" I explained.
"We found him, the man. Beyond Alioth, a citadel at the end of time. He's terrifying. He planned everything. He's seen everything. He knows everything. It's complicated. But someone is coming, countless different versions of a very dangerous person and they all want war. We need to prepare !" Loki said quickly.
"Take it easy, you're an analyst right ? What division are you guys from ?" Mobius asked.
"Divisions ? What are you talking about ?" I asked as I tried to catch my breath from the running.
"Who are you two ? What are your names ?" Mobius asked as if he didn't know us.
"Mobius, it's us. Y/N and Loki. You helped us when the TVA wanted to kill us because you needed our help to catch Sylvie" I said.
"Y/N, look" Loki said as he pointed at a Time-Keepers statue.
When I looked at it, I realized that it was no longer the Time-Keeper's statue, but He Who Remains.
"Oh gods" I said.
A/N : It's finished for now ! Wow, I wrote an entire episode in one chapter, that's just insane. I will be writing Loki S2 and any other works that might feature Loki, so if he has a cameo in an upcoming Marvel movie / series, I'll probably write that. I'll be writing a What If chapter (Thor as an only child). I will also be writing Bonus chapters (Canon and Non-Canon to this story). If you have any request for a Bonus Chapter please leave your suggestions in the comments. There won't be a schedule for the Bonuses and What If Chapters. I hope you all enjoyed this book and I'll see you next chapter <3
☟ ︎My Other Books ☟︎
- Solitude (Bucky Barnes x Y/N)
- Copycat (Erik Lehnsherr x Y/N)
- Roses (Peter Maximoff x Y/N)
- More coming very soon
Published : 02-02-22
Number of Words : 3018
Edited : 10-06-22