Broker-Chapter 220

Sonya stared blankly down at the snow crunching beneath her feet as they passed through the silent forest. She wasn’t entirely sure where she was in comparison to Titania’s court but based on the rules of this twisted world, she wasn’t far away. The wind picked up, whipping between the trees and sending her hair fluttering around her face. She brushed it back absently, glancing towards Pandora while she did so. The woman she had just been forced to torture for months walked alongside her as if nothing had happened, sparkling blue eyes fixed on the path ahead. It was unnerving.

“Even if history never forgives me, as long as the world keeps turning, I’ll do it. I’ve already made up my mind.”

Sonya clenched her jaw and tore her gaze away from the blonde. A miserable lump formed in her gut as she stewed over Pandora’s words. There was a time when she could have looked someone in the eyes and say something like that. She remembered all the promises she’d made to Marta and the others, words that felt so hollow to her now. Had what she’d done really helped at all? Or had it only delayed the inevitable? Created a false hope? She was no closer to figuring out Otis’ weakness, not that she’d tried. She’d let him run about, amused by his childish behavior and curious about how someone as pathetic as him could have become the monster she remembered.

In the grand scheme of things, the time between the flash and the end was relatively short, she thought bitterly, Did I switch out a quick end for extended suffering?

“You’re doing it again,” Pandora muttered.

Sonya blinked, “Huh?”

Pandora gave her an even stare from the corner of her eye, “Don’t play dumb.”

Sonya looked away and frowned, So much for being nice earlier.

Pandora cleared her throat, “Where are you taking us, Loki?” Ahead of them, Loki sauntered between the trees with their hands slipped comfortably into the folds of their shirt. The trickster hummed lackadaisical as they walked, not answering right away. Sonya watched Pandora’s face redden, “Loki!”

“Keep your toga on, Olympian,” Loki said, waving a hand back at her, “It’s just up ahead.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Pandora pressed.

“I didn’t want to,” Loki shot back.

Sonya looked between the two of them, a small pitiful spark of amusement crackling meekly to life in her chest. Pandora didn’t pay any mind to the ghost of a smile on Sonya’s face, her eyes fixed on the back of Loki’s head. They trudged up a small hill while Pandora seemed to be willing the trickster’s head to explode with her mind. Loki, meanwhile, had switched from humming their jaunty little tune to whistling only to pause half-way up and raise a finger as if remembering something. They turned back and pointed directly at Pandora, “Headshots don’t work on me, by the way,” they tapped their lips and looked up at the sky, “Kill shots in general, actually, come to think of it.”

With that said, they just turned back to walking up the slope without a care in the world.

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“Insufferable…” Pandora grumbled, stalking after Loki and continuing to mutter obscenities under her breath.

Sonya raised an eyebrow before letting out a sigh and shaking her head. Making a dig now felt like a bad idea and her heart just wasn’t in it. She had a feeling any attempts at humor would only fall flat, given the circumstances.

When they arrived at the top of the hill she began to hear sounds, shouting and laughing, conversation, the clatter of metal and the ring of coin against a hard surface. Not far off she could make out the glow of a campfire amidst the trees, flickers of movement, dancing. To her right, Pandora glanced around and frowned. “We’re still far from the heart of the court. What is this?”

“My camp,” Loki said brightly and slid down the slope.

Sonya furrowed her brows and glanced at Pandora who could offer nothing more than a shake of her head. With nothing else to do, the two of them made their way down the slope and followed after the strange person. From what Sonya had experienced since she’d arrived in this place, she knew that Loki was a bit of an odd duck, but this was the strangest behavior she’d seen in them so far. Regardless, the idea of a warm fire and somewhere at least moderately comfortable to sit sounded like a balm. Pandora seemed to have the same thoughts in mind since she too picked up her pace to catch up.

The scene was like something out of a dream.

A small clearing had been cut out of the trees. The wood cut and piled into a fire that warmed the air the moment they passed the last set of trunks standing guard at the edge of the campsite. Tables and chairs that looked to have been made of the very same wood were scattered about between cloth tents that looked more like miniature houses than what she had expected. Amidst the fire and function, about twenty people laughed and sang and danced with one another, clapping their hands and drinking deeply from bronze mugs. Then there was the music - strings and flutes and drums hit her ears so suddenly it startled her. It was like the trees had blocked her ability to hear them until just that moment.

It was a goddamn party.

She numbly heard Pandora shouting something after Loki but couldn’t concentrate long enough to even process it. She watched Pandora storm by, her shoulders square, her posture set, unwavering. As if she hadn’t been tortured, as if she hadn’t suffered at all. Not a single hint of what had transpired before seemed to weigh on Pandora. She was already swept up in the next movement, the next moment, concentrating on what was in front of her. Is it because she knew she could heal from it, that it didn’t matter? What about the pain? I don’t understand. I can barely move, barely think at all. She felt like she’d been ground down until only the barest remenant of who she was remained.

“...and why are you doing this?” Pandora demanded from… somewhere. Sonya turned to look for the source of her voice and found her and Loki facing off. Loki already had a mug in hand and was extending it to Pandora.

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“Figured you could use a drink,” the trickster said with a laugh.

“YOU KIDNAPPED ME!” Pandora shouted, “Now you’re, what? Offering me a meal and a drink? Nothing you do makes any sense!”

Is she really more annoyed by the kidnapping than what happened after?

“Excuse me? Young miss,” a new voice called to her, rousing her before she started to lose herself in her thoughts. She turned to see an old man standing behind her. He had dark skin, wizened features, and thick curls of white hair on his head. He held out a mug to her, “This is for you.”

She looked down at it, “I don’t drink,” she muttered.

“Take it anyway,” he said with a knowing smile, “It’ll warm you. It’s a bit cold out.”

She took it graciously, her fingers feeling numb around the metal cup. She looked back towards the pair of Loki and Pandora. Loki was laughing as Pandora grew more and more red in the face, shouting at the trickster and demanding one explanation after another. She frowned only for the old man to speak again, “No point in trying to understand what that one is doing in the moment,” he said with a shake of his head, “Loki isn’t concerned about immediate consequences. Never has been.”

She looked back at the elderly fellow who was gesturing towards a table, “Sit with this old man, would you?”

Sonya nodded and followed him, sitting down and staring into the cup in her hands. She mulled over his comment, her mind working in spite of her emotional weariness, “He talks about outcomes a lot for someone who doesn’t care about consequences.”

“Immediate consequences,” the old man corrected her with a chuckle, “Drink! I promise you’ll feel better.”

Sonya gave him a deadpan look and sighed, far be it from her to refuse. It wasn’t like liquor could do much to her anyway and after experiencing what amounted to true, mind-wiping mind control a little bit of drunkenness (if it were even possible) was almost welcome. She raised the glass and muttered a half-hearted cheers before taking a sip. The scent of flowers and honey and ozone filling her nostrils. She nearly coughed before a taste unlike anything she’d ever tasted jolted her. It was sweet, intensely so, with a smooth bubbly finish to it. It was warm and cool at the same time. Rich and almost tangy as it sat on her tongue, it made her think of a single word. Gold.

She set the cup down as warmth spread through her body, an ache in her chest unravelling like a spool. The numbness eased and she even felt a bit of warmth rise to her cheeks. She looked down at the liquid in awe. “What is this?”

“You’ve never had nectar before?” the old man asked.

She froze, her shoulders tightening. Saying too much would draw the other side of Titania out. She could almost feel her eyes on her, watching, waiting for her to slip up. She knew that she wasn’t actually observing moment to moment. But… she trailed off in her thoughts, pushing them away to focus on the conversation. “Not the real thing, no,” she said carefully.

“Curious!’ the old man laughed, “Took you a while to come up with that, cautious, are we?”

Sonya frowned, “It’s a healthy habit.”

“Not your usual tactic I think?” the old man asked, resting his elbows on the table and propping his chin up with his fists. “You strike me as a fast talker.”

Sonya snorted, “That way of doing things has only caused more harm than good,” she muttered, swirling the cup before taking another soothing sip. She breathed deep with the next wave of comfort that spread through her body before resting her head against the mug on the table, not wanting to look up at her new conversation partner, “I shouldn’t be talking about this. Thank you for the drink but I’d like to be alone.”

The old man harrumphed, “Says the woman with more positive karmic bonds than I’ve ever seen, and I’ve met Kings.”

She looked up sharply at him, her eyes narrowing a little. “Who are you?”

He chuckled and looked down into his own cup before taking a long drink, he set it down and relaxed, leaning back a bit and looking into her eyes before turning to look over at Loki and Pandora. The two of them were still arguing with one another though it seemed to Sonya like Loki was enjoying it more than anything else. “Do you find Loki’s behavior strange? One moment, your enemy, the next…” the old man trailed off, “Taking you to their camp and offering you food and drinks without a single expectation of repayment.”

Sonya scowled, “I asked you a question.”

“And I don’t have to answer it, young miss,” the old man said, his eyes still on the arguing pair. She watched them as well, her stomach churning. She just couldn’t understand how anyone could feel safe enough or sane enough to behave that way after everything. She turned back to him and found him looking her dead in the eyes, his smile a little flinty, “I will answer that question, as long as you agree to answer one of mine. A promise.”

She frowned, A promise to answer a direct question. A trap. I know myself well enough to know that if I agree, I’ll be an open book. She shook her head, “Not worth it,” she said and started to rise.

“I can help you,” the old man said, “With that heavy lump of metal you call a heart.”

She glowered at him. She wanted to dismiss him by saying she was fine, but that would have been a lie. She looked away, “No,” she repeated and got to her feet. Even then she didn’t move away, she watched him, waited. The bitter side of her wanted to just turn away and leave the conversation behind. The tiny fragment of hope in her felt compelled. The businesswoman wanted a good deal. There was no guarantee he could help and she didn’t like the feeling that he could see right through her somehow. It made her feel exposed in a way she hadn’t been since before she’d been sent back to the past by Pandora.

Her eyes flicked towards the bickering pair. How does she turn into the person I know?

“Billions of lives, seems impossible to me.”

Her eyes widened and she whipped her head towards him, he just smiled at her in that easy going way he seemed to have before sipping again at his drink. She looked him up and down and he gestured to the seat she had just vacated. A muffled thunderclap rang out overhead but it seemed more distant, pushed away, than before. The feeling of being watched was muted as well, it was still there but it was as if it was coming through a blurry lens. She sat back down and glared, “What’s your question?” she asked.

“Promise to answer it first,” he said with a wry smile.

She clenched her jaw and sighed through her nostrils, “Fine. I promise to answer your question,” she bit out. She was already regretting this.

He smiled brightly, “You asked first, it would be rude of me to force my agenda when you have your own concerns,” he said with a laugh sipping again at his drink, “My name is Set. I come from…” he trailed off and looked around at their snowy surroundings, “...warmer climates.”

Sonya felt every muscle in her body tense, The Egyptian God? She racked her brain for what she knew about the being, the ‘great one’ as they called themselves. Destruction, Chaos, War. Brother of Osiris and Isis. Her thoughts were still so muddled that she couldn’t remember the specifics of his myths, not that any of them would have any bearing on the real man. They could give me some insight though, maybe help me figure out what this guy wants.

The old man didn’t give her enough time to think any further, though, even as she felt the sudden urge to get up and leave the conversation immediately. “Now for my question,” he said, cutting into her reeling thoughts. He leaned forward and set his mug down, resting his chin on his knuckles. He never stopped smiling as he posed his question;

“How long has it been since the real me died?”