Loki's Daughter, Mortem and Mischief

Chapter Thirty-One

"I'm here to collect Grimnir, Hunter G-13," Mobius explained with a sigh. I could hardly hear him over the sound of my beating heart and the steady hum of the magic that grew in my hands. In that moment, I felt ready to do anything to keep him from Grimnir. I could've just reached out and ended the problem right then and there but my Father gently grabbed my wrist. His eyes met mine and with a steady glance he warned me to stop.

"I have reason to believe he snuck into this timeline when you did your whole killing of the former Goddess of Death," Mobius elaborated. He glanced down at my hands-deadly magic laced through my fingers, and he took a calculated step backwards.

"He's not here," I snapped, tugging my wrist away from my father. Instantly, my father gave a warning glance. He knew better than to mess with the TVA, I had yet to learn that lesson. I took a deep breath and relaxed my shoulders before I repeated, "He's not here."

"I don't want a fight or to argue, but I got trackers saying he's literally in the palace," Mobius said as he took the TemPad away from us. With another few clicks, a map of the palace popped up on the screen an a bright orange target steadily moved throughout the ballroom.

"Why should I hand him over to you?" I asked wearily, eyeing the moving tracker upon the screen. I was attempting to put together the pieces in my mind, to make sense of what Mobius was saying. Grimnir fit in effortlessly, he had friends and allies across all of Asgard and had even fabricated his own backstory. I had trouble believing that what Mobius was saying true. Honestly, I didn't want it to be true.

"He's a deserter," Mobius said matter-of-factly, as if the answer he provided was sufficient. But even to my father, it didn't seem to provide enough clarity. "Who is he then? And what's his crime?" my father asked, his brows furrowed. He seemed reserved and calm, quite opposite of how I felt.

Mobius sighed and pulled a small device out from inside his coat. With a click of a button, a life size hologram of Grimnir appeared. Numbers and letters swirled around his form, describing every minute detail about him.

"Grimnir was a law abiding Asgardian citizen, born in the sacred timeline the same year Hela was," Mobius explained as he sat the hologram on the floor. Taking a deep breath, he crossed his arms. He looked as though this was the most boring thing in the world. "He's half frost giant, not that it matters. But it does make you and him kinda twinsies," he said with a gesture to me.

My father scoffed and mumbled, "Now that's interesting." I rolled my eyes and prompted Mobius to continue, "Please get on with it."

"Anyways, he was a normal kid, right? But before you went ahead and changed history, Ragnarok happened," Mobius said as the hologram shifted to an image of Asgard in ruins. Amongst it all, a young boy stood in the middle-alone and afraid. I could tell by the faint stripes on his cheeks, it was Grimnir. "He was left behind, but he wasn't supposed to be. What was supposed to happen, was he was supposed to be on the Ark with everyone else. Kid's got potential, especially at Hela's side," Mobius explained further as the image shifted once more. Now, New Asgard was shown. I could easily recognize those rocky cliffs and that lucious green grass. Close to the edge, just before where the waves break, Grimnir and I stood hand in hand. We were much older and we looked as happy as ever. My father instantly cringed at the sight, he turned pale in the face as if he had just seen his worst nightmare.

"I'm failing to see the issue. If him and I are ordained by your scared timeline or whatever, then everything should be fine. He's here, I'm here, everything works," I argued with a shrug. Mobius shook his head and clicked his tongue. My blood was boiling beneath my skin, Mobious was turning out to be quite the pain in my ass. All I wanted was a clear cut answer, I didn't want this whole backstory.

"Well, it doesn't work like that. You see, we plucked him out the timeline. Just straight up erased his entire existence so he could become apart of the corps. He's a sweet kid, didn't want to prune him, and he was crying so hard when we found him we also couldn't wipe his memory. So he becomes a hunter, right? Good hunter, one of our best even. Then one day he up and leaves. Of course I got the blame but ya know, serves me right for not pruning him right off the bat,"Mobius dragged on and on. With each word, an instinct to run grew inside me. I wanted to flee, to protect Grimnir from being pruned or whatever that meant. I didn't want to lose him, not after I had just gotten everything I wanted.

"Point is, he shouldn't exist," my father said as he rubbed his temples. Clearly, he understood this better than I did. "I don't care," I said, my temper rising like a steady flood.

My father took a deep breath and shook his head. "Darling, my love. You have to just do as the Agent says. You've messed with things enough already," he said.

"This isn't fair," I argued, slowly backing away from the two of them. "He hasn't done anything wrong. Why should he be punished for that?" I said, scanning the area around me. I needed to but myself time, to at least have the minutes necessary to warn Grimnir. I couldn't give in without a fight.

"I'm not giving you all the details, you realize. I don't wanna traumatize ya, kid," Mobious said as he cautiously approached me. His hand went to his belt where he grabbed hold of another device. It looked like a short staff but as Mobius flipped a switch, it began to glow and spark at the end. My father's eyes went wide as he immediately stepped between Mobius and I.

"Just let me do my job, and everything will be okay? Okay?" Mobius said with a smile, "I'm not here to hurt anyone."

Somehow, I didn't believe him.