Loki found himself back at the villa, in his personal quarters.
He pulled the Scrying Mirror from his inventory, and was inspected right it. The fact that it was a legendary 1st-grade item was interesting enough, but the fact that it was somehow supposed to facilitate a meeting between him and the administrator intrigued him more.
He was aware that the administrator could only be interacted with in the Astral Plane, but it was literally a seperate realm of existance, so getting there was quite the challenge. Loki figured they had a way back in Asgard, but tried not to think about that. It wouldn't do him any good dwelling on what he did or didn't have, nor what he could or couldn't remember. He needed to focus on the task at hand.
There was a knock on the door, followed by Fen immediately opening the door and coming in. "Y'know, I didn't say enter." He commented
"Like you'd ever deny me access." She smirked, "I brought tea."
"That sounds lovely," Loki sighed, as Fen set down her tray, and began pouring a cup for her master.
"That smells great," Loki muses, getting a whiff of the fragrance.
"It's my own signature blend of rare tea leaves. I keep some in my inventory for special occasions, since you really like it," Fen said, "outside of my forest, these leaves can't be found anywhere in this world."
She placed the teacup of steaming amber-purple liquid next to Loki.
"Well that just makes this something for the two of us only." He grinned gesturing to her.
Fen paused for only a second, before pouring a second cup for herself, as she sat in the chair opposite Loki.
"To our little secret then?" Fen toasted
"One of many," Loki replied as they clicked teacups together.
They sat there in silence for the next few minutes, just enjoying the superb tea and the quiet company.
Of what Loki could remember, Fen was the only one of the Valkyrie who he could enjoy the comfortable silence with. It was comforting just being in the moment with her.
"How goes deciphering the mirror?" Fen then asked
"It's annoyingly complicated," he sighs, "exactly the sort of thing faeries would do."
Fen let out a growl. She had a dislike for faeries, particularly because she was part faery herself, deep beneath the curses that make her what she is now.
"Well since it's a divination item, mediation would be the first option," Fen said, "which is just what those f@£kers would assume to boobytrap against."
"So not mediation per se, but something just similar enough to still be used in divination." Loki mused, before noticing Fen staring at him, a soft smirk tugging at her lips, "what?"
"You're so different now," she mused, "seeing you work things out so openly... the old you always just seemed to know all the answers already."
"Yeah, quite the downgrade isn't it?" Loki chuckled,
"On the contrary; I prefer this you more," Fen smiled, "you're more genuine this way. Reminds me of when we first met."
Fen's smile dimmed when she noticed the lack of recognition in Loki's eyes. His memories were coming back, but not in any sort of order. Sometimes Fen saw the being she knew very well, then it'd be like looking at a stranger, and she wasn't sure which was the real Nex Loki anymore.
"Astral projection," Loki stated, "we need an out-of-body experience to use the mirror properly."
"F@£king faeries," Fen scoffed, "so predictable,"
* * *
"Why can't I come with?" Thor protested
"When we astro-project, we leave our physical bodied behind," Fen explained, "faeries love to use those vacant bodies to cross between the planes. We need you to make sure they don't do that."
"Why?" Petra asked, "are faeries dangerous?"
"Not really," Fen said, "but they're huge a$$holes. With our bodies, who knows what chaos they can cause."
"Since we'll be crossing over the faery way, we'll have to play by faery rules," Loki said, looking at the twins, "we need a third."
"A third?"
"Faery rules are very specific about 'quests'," Fen said, putting the last word in air quotes, "if you travel the faery way, you either go alone, or with a party of 3 questers, for... reasons."
"Sounds convoluted," Tetra said
"It is," both Loki and Fen replied.
"It's not much of a problem in this epoch, as crossing planes doesn't seem to be very common." Thor said
"Petra will come with us," Fen decided
"We don't get to choose?" The twins protested
"You both want to go, but only one of you is needed," Fen said, "I just cut through whatever long winded argument or debate you were going to have and decided on my own. Besides, if I had let you continue, who knows how many lesser faeries you both would've attracted. The arrogant little s#!ts love to be talked about, which would only make Thor's job harder."
"So, how are we even getting to the Astral Plane?" Petra asked
"Wrong." Loki stated, "the first question is how do we astro-project?"
"Okay, how do we astro-project?"
"You can't," Loki replied, "it takes years to learn, years you don't have."
"So we're going to cheat." Fen said, "I can brew a potent soporific tea, puts your body to sleep while opening up your psyche. It's pretty heavy stuff, I wouldn't recommend it to a beginner but we're pressed for time."
"Why wouldn't you recommend it for beginners?" Tetra asked protectively
"Well, have you ever had a sugar high?" Loki asked,
They nodded
"Good, well it's nothing like that," Loki smirked, "but it helps if you picture it like that."
"I'll go prepare the tea." Fen said
"Tetra and I will stand guard." Thor sighed
Setting up was easier than one would assume. Fen brewed the bitter soporific tea that nearly put Petra to sleep the second she downed it all, then they all laid down on the ground and drifted off. Seconds later, they rose from their bodies.
Petra appeared just about the same, if not transparent. Loki's body now glowed with emerald energy, with skin and hair like bright green flames. His eyes glowed a pure white in blacl sclera, and the cracks across his body now bled brilliant white light from within. Behind his head was a halo of white light, inside of which was an ornate and ever-shifting green pattern. Fen was the most different, appearing as a giant shadowy direwolf, covered in eyes, and wreathed in chains. A shroud covered her face.
"Why do you look like that?" Petra asked, slightly panicked
"When one enters the metaphysical realms, they cast off mortal facades, revealing their true potential." Fen explained
"What she means is that this is what we would really look like." Loki simplified.
"So what now?" Petra then asked
"We go through there," Loki pointed. What had originally been the Scrying Mirror, now appeared like a portal.
Walking through it, they appeared in an expansive forest. In the far distance, they could see the silhouette of a truly gargantuan tree that seemed a permanent fixture beyond the horizon. The World Tree.
"This place is amazing," Petra said looking around as strange and mystical creatures roamed around, the faeries.
"I hate this f@£king place." Fen growled
"Why would you loath the place of your birth, wayward faery?" Came a voice as the trees parted and a figure floated towards them.
It was an automata of sorts, with a body of ivory and woven gold, like armor. It's head was blank, save for a golden jewel where it's face should've been. It carried a spear of ivory with a silver blade.
It's voice emanated from the jewel in its face, and they didn't hear it so much as feel it.
"Don't you dare call me that!" Fen snarled, "I am no faery, not after your kind cast me out!"
"You are diseased, twice cursed," the newcomer said, "your nature was to despoil. Something like you couldn't be allowed to remain in the faery realm. And you have found a new home and purpose in your enslavement have you not."
"I am no slave." Fen snarled, the chains writhing around her
"Calm down Fen," Loki soothed, caressing her head, he then turned to their newcomer, "I don't appreciate you antagonising my maid."
"She was of us long before you bound her. But you have our thanks, as late as it is, for easing her suffering." It said, bowing slightly, "Welcome, fallen titan, Nex Loki. I am Saint Silver, the faery king, cheif World Pillar, and guardian of the Administrator."
A World Pillar was a guardian deity, among the strongest beings in a world. Specially chosen and empowered to protect the World Tree, the source of all anima and the administrator for the World System.
Loki didn't even need to appraise the faery to tell it was high level, likely in the high hundreds.
Petra was in awe. She had heard legends of Saint Silver, it was known by titles like the world's judgement and army breaker. He was basically the god of war.
Loki looked around, "I thought we were having an audience with the administrator."
"Given your unexpected return, I have come to act as proxy." The deity said,
"Well met, Saint Silver," Loki said, "forgive me, I did not bring any gifts, as per faery tradition."
"We can dispense with formality," Saint Silver said, "many here are displeased by your presence, a few tawdry trinkets would not change that."
"Things seem a little tense here," Fen said, sensing several faeries gathering around them.
"And what of you?" Loki asked
"Personally, I wanted to smite you as soon as you set foot in the Astrap Plane," Saint Silver admitted, "but alas, the administrator is under a Word-is-Bond that ensures we receive you."
"I know I've been away for some time, but last I knew the Faery realm and Asgard were allied." Loki argued,
"Nex Loki, it has been a million years since you last walked the Astral Plane." The world Pillar said, "much has changed, even here."
"What?" Fen demanded
"A million years?" Loki asked, "are you sure?"
"I was merely an infant at the time myself," the automata said, "but truly, eons have passed in your absence, Fallen One."
"How is that possible?" Fen demanded
"That is not the subject of discussion." Saint Silver waved off, looking squarely at Loki. "On your last visit, you made a deal with the previous Administartor, even after she perished, the deal persisted and now binds this Administrator."
The last administrator perished? But that would mean the World Tree, the cornerstone of the world died with her. Such an apocalypse would explain the significant world shift they had experienced, and why the system works so differently now. But it would take something truly cataclysmic to kill a World Tree, what happened while he was sealed.
"I have questions," Loki stated
"I am not required to answer them, only to facilitate your deal." Saint Silver said as something erupted from the ground, a gemstone the size of an anvil.
In its presence, Loki felt an existential pull, deep in his soul.
"Is that...?" He demanded
"Yes, it is you." Saint Silver said, it's voice carrying an awed tone, "a peice of you at least. That was your deal; to hold this for you until your return."
Fen turned to Loki, "when did that happen?"
"I don't know." Loki said, confused as to why his past self had done such a thing.
"You titans are curious creations," Saint Silver mused, "if any other being had this much of their own essence ripped from their being, they would have perished. The shard has nourished the Astral Plane in the eons since, it allowed the new World Tree to grow as strong as her predecessor in only a fraction of the time. The terms of your deal was the bring this shard to you upon your return. Those conditions have been met and satisfied, correct."
"Yes, that's right," Loki answered slowly, not liking the tone of the deity, "the Word-is-Bond has been satisfied."
"Good," the World Pillar cooed, before driving its spear into the shard, shattering it instantly.
Suddenly, all the faeries Fen had sensed made themselves known, brandishing weapons that glowed with power. Weapons they pointed at Fen and Petra. From the look of them, they were all World Pillars.
"What the f@£k?" Fen demanded, "that wasn't part of the deal?"
"The deal is done, the fallen one said so himself," Saint Silver sneered, as a second spear manifested in its hand, before being launched at Loki, impaling him and pinning him to a tree.
"LOKI!" Fen screamed, as the other faeries manifested ropes of energy to ensnared the Black Wolf and the werebeast.
"That shard has fed us for eons, we will not give it up to some spoiled fallen titan." Saint Silver declared, "Instead, we shell harvest your primordial essence eternally, as recompense for what your kind has done."
The deity's monologue was interrupted by slow laughter, laughter coming from the only being who would dare to do so in such a situation, Nex Loki.
"And here I thought there was more to this than petty greed." Loki chuckled, as he grabbed the spear that had run him through. He pulled it out, noting how it was stained with his glowing white blood, the blood of a titan.
"You held on to my shard for a million years, why did you shatter it now?" Loki asked
"We couldn't break it before, due to the Word-is-Bond, so we could only syphon off a fraction of its true power." Saint Silver explained, "Now that the Word-is-Bond is done, we can release all the power held within."
The World Pillar looked confused as to why it had answered so honestly.
"Thanks for this," Loki said, holding up the bloody spear, "it made the perfect catalyst to set up a new Word-is-Bond for you."
"What?"
"Don't worry, it was a one-time thing, just enough to compel you to answer my questions honestly and immediately." Loki shrugged,
"Even still, there's nothing you can do now that the shard has been shattered," Saint Silver said, "that power belongs to us now, as will you."
"Did you know that energy can't be created or destroyed? It can only change." Loki said casually, "that's really interesting when you're made of living energy, like a titan. It means we are truly immortal, even when shattered, we still exist in some form. Isn't thar amazing?"
"What are you babbling about?" The faery king demanded.
"A titan is power given will." Loki explained, "when we're shattered, that will is dispersed along with our fragments, spread it too far and the will fades. Now a strong enough will can gather all the active fragments of power in our immediate surrounding before it can be absorbed. Like so."
Loki closed his eyes, as his body started to glow brighter.
[ALERT! THE SKILL [ANIMA MANIPULATION] HAS BEEN ACTIVATED!]
Around them, the forest glowed a similar green, as if coverer in glitter, which started to flow from the forest towards Loki.
"No!" Saint Silver cried, feeling the power in the Astral Plane dip, it was still a plane saturated with power, but now there was less.
[ALERT! YOU HAVE RECLAIMED A SIGNIFICANT POTION OF YOUR POWER! THE SKILL ANIMA MANIPULATION HAS EVOLVED INTO THE SKILL [AUTHORITY]! YOU HAVE LEVELED UP X300!]
Loki smiled to herself, noting that she had, once again, shifted gender. Loki hadn't realized just how little anima she previously had, she had practically be running on fumes. With the influx of power came a flood of memories that would need to be sorted out later, but she felt much more assured of herself now.
"I am Nex Loki!" She declared, as six broken and shredded wings of light manifested from Loki's back. "3rd of the Primes. Legion of Fools. Jack of All and Master of None. The Great Trickster. The Chronicle Eternal. My titles are as numerous as the stars in the sky, and you thought to feast and grow fat off my starlight marrow, little god thing?"
As she spoke, the air trembled. All were rendered immobile and unable to act as Loki stood over the prostrated Saint Silver. With a wave of her hand, the World Pillar rose into the air, splayed out by some unseen force that threatened to tear it apart.
[ENOUGH!] came a new voice that boomed from everywhere at once. It was as if the entire forest was speaking with one voice.
The wings folded in and melded with the cloak the titan wore. Loki then turned towards the huge tree silhouette in the distance with a performative bow. "At last we meet, Administrator."
[OUR DEAL IS DONE, LORD OF WONDERS.] The administartor said, [DO NOT HARM MY WORLD PILLAR, LEST YOU RISK PROVOKING A WAR WITH THE WORLD ITSELF.]
"Saint Silver and its ilk must be punished for their hubris." Loki demanded, "Or would you have just stood by and watched as they bled me dry?"
[MYPILLARS WERE... MISGUIDED, AND SUFFERED A LAPSE IN JUDGEMENT. THE FAULT LAYS WITH ME, SO I BEG YOU; LET ME DISCIPLINE MY WAYWARD VASSALS.]
"Fine," Loki huffed as Saint Silver dropped unceremoniously onto the dirt. "But you owe me."
[THEN LET ME CLEAR MY DEBT.] the administrator said, [I DO NOT KNOW WHAT TRANSPIRED AFTER YOUR LAST VISIT, NONE ALIVE DO, BUT THE WATCHER HAS STOOD IN SILENT VIGIL SINCE TIME IMMEMORIAL. WHAT YOU SEEK MAY BE THERE.]
Loki paused to consider this, "alright. Thank you, administrator, for your insight. I hope we can continue the cordial relationship Asgard had with your predecessor?"
[AS DO I, LORD OF WONDERS, BUT I HOPE TO AVOID THE FATE SHE SUFFERED AT THE HANDS OF YOUR SIBLING.] The administartor said
Loki paused, "Sibling?"
[YES, THAT MUCH I DO REMEMBER. THE FORMER WORLD TREE FELL TO A PRIME.]
"You have given me much to consider, administrator," Loki said, "we shall leave your realm in peace."
The return trip was uneventful, and when they awoke in their bodies, Loki received a series of system notifications.
[NOTICE! DUE TO YOUR FALLEN STATUS, YOU CAN NEVER AGAIN BE WHOLE. HOWEVER, ADMIN0 CAN IMBUE MANY OF YOUR LOST PRIVILEGES ONTO YOUR EQUIPMENT.]
[NOTICE! FAFNIR'S MANTLE HAS EVOLVED INTO A DIVINE REGALIA. IT HAS GAINED THE TITAN SKILL [SKYWALK].]
[YOU HAVE FORGED A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WORLD ADMINISTARTOR.]
[YOU HAVE EARNED THE IRE OF SEVERAL HIGH LEVEL FAERIES, AND THE WORLD PILLARS ARE NOW WEARY OF YOU.]
[YOUR IRREGULAR (ACE) STATUS IS NOW IN EFFECT. TOP RANKERS WILL NOW BE MADE AWARE OF YOU.]
[THE ADMINISTRATOR HAS SENT YOU GIFT. ADMIN0 HAS SENT YOU A GIFT. ADMIN0 HAS LEFT YOU A MESSAGE.]
"Well, that was eventful," Loki said stretching
"Indeed it was, Lokkun," Fen said, hugging her, "glad to have you really back."
"Not all the way, not yet," Loki said, "there are still pieces missing, but I'm mostly put together."
"So who's this Watcher person?" Petra asked
"It's not a who, it's a what," Fen corrected her, "and there isn't a werewolf who doesn't know the Watcher. There it is right now."
Fen pointed out the window, where it was late evening, with the moon glowing brightly in the night sky.
"You mean...?" Petra gulped
"Yep," Loki smirked, "it seems my answers may be on the moon."