A burst of light arose from the transmitter, and Sylvie and Loki, carrying Helen, hurriedly stepped out, or perhaps, it would be more accurate to say they barged out.
The moment she landed, Sylvie grabbed a nearby attendant and asked, "We want to go to Asgard. Which ship should we take?"
"To Asgard?" The attendant, although not humanoid and seemingly not an Asgardian, gave Sylvie a puzzled look and observed, "Aren't you already in Asgard?"
"I...," Sylvie baulked before continuing, "Isn't this one of the Nine Major Kingdoms?"
"Where did you peasants come from?" the attendant rolled his eyes, saying sarcastically, "The Nine Major Kingdoms are ancient history. That place is now the capital star zone of the Asgard Empire! What are you going there for?"
Loki stepped forward, tugging Sylvie away and again spinning her tale of familial visitation. Given her delicate appearance and the child she held, the attendant softened, and advised,
"Alright, you can check for any upcoming ships at the service window up ahead. However, get yourself up to speed at the information desk. The Queen is not known for her temperament..."
A somewhat deflated Sylvie was led by Loki to the information desk, where they discovered the details of the Second Cosmic Millennium War.
"In essence, His Majesty Thor emerged victorious and is the greatest king in Asgard's history. However, recently he has rarely made public appearances..."
The administrative staff was patient. They knew that among Asgard's residents, many of the Immortal Species often missed out on a generation or two. However, Loki honed in on the crux of the matter, asking,
"So why did Asgard declare war on the Kree Empire?"
The staff member, who was likely a native of one of the Nine Major Kingdoms, looked furious. "Because the Kree Empire went too far!"
"They had the audacity to kidnap the current Queen's younger sister, who was the second princess of Asgard, Loki."
"Princess Loki unfortunately lost her life. At the time, His Majesty Odin and her brother Thor were almost driven mad. Odin demanded the return of Loki after tracking her last known location to the Kree territory, but they refused..."
"Therefore, Odin led a fleet towards them. But Supreme Wisdom orchestrated a rift between Odin and Thor."
"In the end, Odin returned to the World Tree to sleep, and Thor ascended the throne, declaring war on the Kree Empire his first day as king..."
"But..." The employee closed his eyes and shook his head. "In the end, she was unable to find her younger sister. During the final critical moments, Supreme Wisdom chose mutual destruction."
"I still remember that day..." The wistful employee continued, "The wind howled, the thunder groaned, and the whole cosmos could feel His Majesty God King's heartbreak."
"Maybe her sorrow was too overwhelming, or the years of wars had taken a toll on her body. Lately, Her Majesty Thor doesn't appear much. She is single, childless. We are all worried, wondering about Asgard's future..."
Before he could finish, Sylvie was already restless and suddenly stood, pulling Loki behind her. She only responded after reaching the service hall lobby, "No, we can't take the ship. It's too slow..."
She then pulled out her Time Controller and said, "Although it controls time, it can also transport us spatially. We are leaving now!"
"Wait, are you mad? You're planning to air-drop into Asgard? You would be shot down!"
Loki tried to hold Sylvie back, attempting to stop her this insane plan, but Sylvie retorted, "That's perfect. If Thor shoots me down, wouldn't it give me a chance to meet her?"
Loki still wanted to talk her out of it, but Sylvie had already frenziedly dashed out and found a space in the nearby forest to open the transmitter.
Seeing her charging recklessly ahead, Loki hesitated, clearly knowing securing passage via the Rainbow Bridge's attack or Thor's lightning strike could seriously harm them.
But Helen murmursalured reassuringly in her ear, "It's alright, go ahead, I will protect you."
"I'm afraid of you protecting me!" Loki surveyed their surroundings and whispered in a suppressed voice: "You certainly must not bite Thor. He will definitely have a foul temper in this world. You will be beaten…"
"Don't worry." Helen patted her chest in reassurance.
Loki hesitated a moment before stepping through the transmitter, clutching Helen as they arrived directly above Fairy Palace. As expected, thunderbolt lashed at Sylvie, who had arrived first.
A somewhat dazed Sylvie even avoid it, and she fell to the ground like a shooting star. Loki knew, however, Thor would soon arrive, since she could always sense who her lightning had struck.
Loki, carrying Helen, had just landed on the ground when she saw a blond figure rushing from the Fairy Palace.
But at the first sight of this female Thor, Loki froze. Her appearance was so aged.
She appeared older than Frigga, without any trace of her once handsome youth – only signs of hard, tired, and decrepit life. She was nothing like the vigorous and spirited young King Thor Loki knew.
Before encountering the female Thor, Loki had speculated how it would feel if her brother became her sister.
However, it makes sense when you think about it. After all, Thor and Hela share the same parents, and their family genes are all very good. Thor is handsome, Hela is beautiful. If the two were to switch genders, they would likely be the same.
But the blonde beauty she imagined didn't appear. Instead, there before her stood a still menacing queen Thor, looking like an angry lion, but her appearance was too old and haggard.
Sylvie, who was thrown on the ground, also froze. She stood there like a wooden sculpture, even her gaze could not focus on Thor.
"Loki…Loki…" Thor called out: "Are you Loki?"
Then she lowered her head and shook it hard, as if trying to get rid of some illusion.
Sylvie stood completely still, unable to respond. Thor, however, approached, extending somewhat shriveled fingers, gently touched Sylvie's cheek. Upon realizing that this was not an illusion, she was stunned.
"How did you become like this?!!" Sylvie incredulously stared at Loki and nearly shrieked, "Thor!!! How did you become like this?!!"
As soon as she said that, she was hugged by Thor. Sylvie closed her eyes in pain, tears streaming down from between her eyelashes.
"Where the hell have you been?" Thor's voice carried both exhaustion and confusion. She said, "I thought, you would never come back…"
"I..." Sylvie's voice was choked by tears.
Loki, who was just recovering from the shock, cleared her throat and said, "Your sister didn't leave on purpose. She was captured by the Time Anomaly Management Bureau. They even tried to torture her for a confession, fortunately, a few kind-hearted staff let her go. Otherwise, I wouldn't dare to think about what could've happened to her…"
At that moment, Thor slowly shifted her gaze to Loki. After seeing Loki's face, she froze again.
All Lokis across the cosmos shared one face. Although Loki looked younger, you could see the resemblance in appearance to Sylvie.
"I am Loki from another world. This is my daughter, Helen. Greet your aunt!"
"Hello, auntie!" Helen shouted aloud.
"What were you saying just now?" Thor immediately walked towards Loki, but Loki took a step back. The Queen's every move carried an angry majesty, making one instinctively want to retreat when her attention is on you.
Noticing Loki's movement, Thor paused slightly. Taking a deep breath, her appearance began to change gradually towards the beautiful, powerful queen Loki had imagined.
The scars on her body and signs of age on her face completely disappeared. She became vibrant and electrifying again, even more flamboyantly bold than the Hela Loki had seen before, matching Thor's temperament in her memories perfectly.
"Come with me. We will speak inside." With rapidly adjusted demeanor, Thor led Sylvie and Loki inside.
Sylvie remained in a somewhat dazed state, constantly puzzled. Loki's state wasn't all that much better. Once they stepped inside the Fairy Palace, a sense of unease arose.
They arrived in the reception room, with Thor sitting in the main seat. Sylvie, instinctively headed for the seat on the right, but Loki was already familiarly heading there. So, she settled for the next best option and moved to sit on Thor's left side.
Her manner of sitting was extremely awkward. She instinctively turned her head and didn't look at Thor, but Loki appeared completely at ease. She bowed and addressed Thor: "Your Majesty, here's what happened…"
While listening to Loki recount Sylvie's ordeal, Thor noticed, Loki's movement and wording were too practiced. As if she had been a servant for a long time. There was a strangely formulaic feel, devoid of emotion, all just technique.
After Loki finished speaking, Thor slowly narrowed her eyes, muttering the name repeatedly in her mouth: "Time Anomaly Management Bureau…"
Then, she sighed and said, "Odin led the fleet to trace Loki's last known location, which was inside a transmitter within the Kree Empire's territory. We naturally assumed that the Kree Empire abducted her."
Loki turned her gaze to Sylvie. Sylvie slowly came back to her senses and numbly said:
"When I was taken away, their transmitter had a slight issue, and first descended to other locations in this cosmos. Only when the guard team arrived to support was I taken to the Time Management Bureau."
Suddenly she stood up from the sofa, almost collapsing as she said, "This war is all a mistake! This is all a mistake!!!"
Sylvie glared at Thor with tear-filled eyes, looked at the injuries and the rapidly declining life force in her soul, and cried out:
"How could you do this?!! Why did you look for me??? I am not the heir, I am just an ignored princess, why did you…"
But what completely froze Sylvie in her tracks was the weary Thor only quietly watching her and then breaking into a smile.
This smile contained so many emotions: joy from recovering what was lost, reminiscence of old friends, but there was absolutely no anger or regret.
Thor also stood up, pulled her sister into her arms, and whispered in her ear.
"It's okay, you're back now."