The Variant's Shadow - LokixOC - ONGOING

* Quiet Before The Storm *

They had been on the road for a while now, and Ophelia didn’t even remember how they got so far from the cloud in the first place. When they got close enough for it not to come after Sylvie, they all agreed on finding a place where they could look around for an idiot attacking the cloud with a knife. 

Mobius showed them a hill that seemed to have a good view of the cloud and its surroundings, as well as an easy way out if they needed it. Everything was going rather smoothly in the car, Sylvie even had a plan they all agreed on. But then, the cloud got angry again. 

As Mobius was driving faster to the top of the hill, Ophelia and Sylvie were sticking their heads out of the windows to catch a glimpse of what was going on with the cloud. 

Quickly enough, the cloud calmed down and Ophelia had a strange feeling in her stomach. Maybe they were too late, and it wouldn’t have taken more time for the cloud to eat a man with a knife. 

“Can you drive a little faster ?” Mobius turned to Ophelia and sighed. 

“I’m already-” Sylvie interrupted him, pointing at the hill before them. Ophelia crawled back to the front seat, trying to see what it was. 

“Is that-” As the car got closer, she could definitely see people on the hill. “You’re joking.”

“I told y-”

Ophelia didn’t wait for Mobius to tell her he was right. She didn’t wait for the car to stop either. At this point, she didn’t even care if she got hurt. She jumped from the car, rolled on the floor and got back on her feet surprisingly well. 

As Loki was walking towards the car, seemingly surprised to see Ophelia jump from it, she ran and threw herself in his arms. They hugged each other for a few seconds before she realized what she was doing and got back on the ground, making sure to take a few steps back. 

“Did you just jump from that car ?” She opened her mouth, not finding anything to say. 

“That’s her thing now.” Loki looked at Sylvie, even more confused. 

“You’re here too ! What happened ?” His eyes went from one woman to the other. “Are you two ok ?” His brain was still processing the current flow of events when Mobius stopped the engine and joined them. “Mobius ! How-”

“We thought you could use some back up.” Ophelia looked at Sylvie for a second. She probably forgot how she had to fight for them to agree to look for him. 

They noticed some people walking towards them. Sylvie pushed Ophelia to the side, her hand ready to get her blade out and fight them. Loki stopped her before she could do anything. Knowing Sylvie and the fact that she hadn’t been in a fight for at least 5 minutes, she was probably disappointed. 

“Wait ! These are my friends.” Mobius, Sylvie and Ophelia exchanged some doubtful looks. “Us, as a child…” He pointed at a black-haired kid who could actually fit the basic description of a variant. “Us, in the future…” Ophelia found it hard not to laugh at this one. The helmet, the cape, the underwear on top of the tights… “And us as huh… an alligator. It’s best not to question it.”

Ophelia looked down and noticed the animal. And that thing had some horns on his head too. This was probably the funniest thing she had ever seen. But he was kind of cute. 

“You throw a rock out here, you hit a Loki.” She turned to Mobius, laughing at his remark. So far, the only non-Loki people they had encountered here were… well, each other.

“So you’re all after the giant cloud monster, then ?” Sylvie seemed weirdly fine with seeing herself as an alligator, and definitely ready to go back to her mission.