Mischief and Enchantments

Chapter 18: The Nexus Event

Mobius paced outside the golden elevator, waiting for Ravonna to come out of it.

When they brought C-20 in from Roxxcart, all she kept saying was, "It's real, it's real". He needed to figure out what she meant by that.

Finally, Ravonna stepped out of the elevator.

"What'd they say?" Mobius asked her. "Are you okay?"

"No, no, Mobius." She answered frantically. "I'm not. Under the best of circumstances, it's jarring to stand before the Time-Keepers. And this is not the best of circumstances."

"Yeah, but they can't blame you." Said Mobius.

"They can and they do." Said Ravonna. "The Variant was right here. What if she got to the Time-Keepers?"

"Yeah, but she didn't," Mobius replied.

"No. But she got away." Ravonna pointed out. "Along with the Variant that I got you permission to bring in here."

Mobius cringed as flashbacks of Loki and the Variant came into his mind. He still couldn't believe Loki betrayed him like that.

But he wasn't surprised either.

"Do you have any idea how impossible it is to keep the timeline stable?" Ravonna seethed. "The Time-Keepers are all that stand between us and full-scale calamity."

"And I'm glad they're on our side." Said Mobius. "But if they want me to find Loki and the Variant, I need access to Hunter C-20."

'I'm sorry," Ravonna replied, "but that's impossible."

"Look, when we found her, she kept saying, 'It's real. It's real.' Over and over. I need to find out what that meant and what else she saw when she was with the Variant. Look, I know there's protocol, but she could have information—"

"She's dead, Mobius!" Ravonna blurted out.

"What?" Mobius asked, shocked. "How?"

"The Variant," Ravonna said, "she enchanted C-20, scrambled her mind."

"I don't get it." Said Mobius. "She seemed okay. She seemed fine."

"At first, yes," Ravonna told him. "But by the time she got in here, she could barely speak. The decline was steeper after that."

"I didn't know," Mobius whispered.

"Nobody does." Said Ravonna. "We don't want people to panic. Can I trust you to keep that between us?"

"Of course. Yes." Mobius replied. "I'm sorry."

"Every moment those Variants are out there, we're all in danger," Ravonna said, walking away from him. "Find them!"

Loki and Sylvie walked out of the town that was now burning behind them. Sylvie led Loki to a lake and they sat down on a rock that was in front of it.

It was a peaceful place to die.

Neither of them spoke for what seemed like an eternity.

"I'm sorry," Loki said, breaking the silence. He'd said that phrase at least a thousand times that day.

Sylvie nodded, her way of forgiving him, even though he didn't deserve it.

This was all his fault. And now she was going to die. Because of him.

At least he was going to die with her.

"This was all for you," Sylvie whispered.

"What?" Loki asked, not sure if he'd heard her correctly.