♤The Conqueror's Dagger♤

~Chapter 10: You'd Do The Same~

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Loki's immediate instinct would have been to drive a knife through his back as soon as it was turned. Now, as he trailed behind the other man through the familiar halls that looked no different than the Sanctum in New York, he thought to himself again how easy it would have been to simply slip a blade through his bones, almost hearing the phantom crunch. Yet, his daggers remained under his sleeves where he always kept them after Sprite was born. Now, they entered the living area, which was probably the only difference Loki had spotted while he was there. It was more spacious than the other one, and there were far more candles and incense in all the corners of the room. Mordo gestured for the god to sit down in a comfortable armchair, which he immediately sank into. "You seem parched," the other man noted. Mordo gestured towards one of the women lighting the candles, who immediately extinguished the stick in her hand, curtsied, and darted out of the room to fetch refreshments. "Now," Mordo began as he sat down in the chair across from the god. "I want you to tell me what brought you here." Loki raised an eyebrow, then let it fall. "I thought I was the one who was supposed to be asking the questions." Mordo chuckled and gestured towards him. "If you have questions that are eating away at you, then by all means, proceed to ask." "All right, then." Loki straightened himself up in his chair. "How do you know who I am?" Mordo was now the one to arch a perfectly shaped and raised eyebrow, then let it fall. "You're becoming quite a celebrity in the multiverses you've passed through. God of Mischief, searching for his daughter and love," he added with a chuckle. Loki flushed a sunset red, and was thankfully saved by the appearance of the shy young woman who they'd seen earlier lighting the candles carrying cups of tea on a tray. She gave both men their tea carefully as to not spill a drop. Mordo thanked her, and the girl bowed her head to both men before leaving. Loki could have thanked her, the words were on the tip of his tongue, yet he was still much too stunned to speak. "The other universes might as well have told us you were coming," Mordo finished as he sipped at his tea. Loki looked down at the amber liquid in the delicate china cup. It looked so perfect, he wanted to watch it fall to the floor, shards and scalding liquid flying everywhere. Instead, he followed suit and sipped at the dark liquid, his taste buds sighing with relief as the warm liquid teased his throat with a sweetness. The scent of cinnamon wafted from the cup, calming him. "So, now it's my turn to ask. What brought you here? And... where is your little one?" Loki wasted no time in answering, "She's with-" he leaned in closer, making sure no one heard. "He-Who-Remain's lair." Mordo's facial expression changed in less than a second. He paled, his hands clutching the cup tighter, sucking in a breath. "You know of him?" Mordo seemed to be snapped back into reality as he sat back and slowly nodded. "Yes, yes, of course. All realities are aware of his existence. Why- why on this green planet would she be there?" Loki felt guilt ebb at him once more. "She's there to rescue Sylvie." "Aha. And... how is she going to get through the main man?" "Sylvie's taken care of that in a way- he's-" Loki took a breath. 'Breathe.' "He's dead." If Mordo's reaction hadn't frightened him the first time, it did now as he grew paler now, his hands shaking. "She's killed him?" "I know. I am aware of the consequences. I am aware of the danger of his variants coming for them both." Mordo shook his head. "I'm afraid... I'm afraid it's not only his variants to fear. It's what they can do." At the final word, the candles in the room began to go out, wisps of steam emitted from them. The room grew dim as Mordo's tone grew animated. "You see, I'm sure you are aware of He-Who-Remain's alternate selves capable of inflicting much more severe damage than the one you've met." Loki nodded, remembering Kang's words in the lair when they first came to him. "But they don't always present themselves as solid figures. You see, there is a spell contained within the walls of the lair. Only the conqueror himself, in this case the deceased, can activate it. He can use that spell to... how shall I put this, infiltrate his alternate selves. Any one of them. And that alternate self, along with the spirit of the previous devil, will use another spell only they can activate. It allows the alternate version and original's souls combined to step out of the body, leaving the physical one behind, and traveling to any other place in the universe, in this case, the most possible place is his lair. These two souls have the ability to... step through another person. Almost resembling-" "Dreamwalking," Loki murmured. "Exactly. In that time, they will puppeteer this unsuspecting host. Speak through them, commit unspeakable acts through them, and although the spell is easily broken, in the time they possess the host or hosts, because at times they can split into two, they can cause irreversible damage to whatever they touch." Loki tried to nod to show he understood, but his head felt heavy for an odd reason. "So it may not be his alternate selves you face... but a host for them." Slowly, as he finished speaking, the light in the room returned. "That's why I need your-" he stopped. His voice seemed to echo in his ears, his head growing much heavier. Mordo gave him a mournful look. "I'm sorry, Loki. But I cannot have the risk of you damaging the multiverse anymore than you already have." Loki tried to grasp something, anything firm that could hold him up. "What- what-" "Oh, that? Don't worry, it's not permanent. Just a nap and you'll feel better afterwards." Loki felt a pang of disappointment in his chest. He'd expected this. He knew better. He should have never went inside so willingly. Mordo sighed. "As much as I wish I could help you, I must obey protocol." His voice grew more distant with each passing second, so to Loki it sounded like: "assssss mushhhhh aaaaa I wisssss I couldddd helllll youuuuu, I musss obeyyyyy protocollll." Loki felt the overwhelming urge to spew everything out and collapse in the seat. He felt the darkness closing in and could only utter a few words. "He's- he's coming..."
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