LOVE IS A DAGGER | Loki Laufeyson

05. The Variant [P3]

"Time-Keepers."

"...created the TVA, and everyone in it..."

"Right."

"...including you?"

"Including me." Mobius confirmed.

"You see, every time I start to admire your intelligence, you say something like that." Loki said, looking at him dubiously.

"Okay, who created you, Loki?"

"A Frost Giant of Jotunheim." Loki answered after a pause.

"And who raised you?"

"Odin of Asgard."

"Odin, God of the heavens. Asgard, mystical realm, beyond the stars." Mobius went on, "Frost Giants. Listen to yourself-"

"It's not the same! It's completely different."

"It is the same Loki." Týr challenged, smirking slightly, "And I'm too tired to be pondering existence right now."

"It's not the same." Loki repeated, rolling his eyes at Týr.

"It's exactly the same thing." Mobius agreed with the brunette, "Because if you think too hard about where any of us came from, who we truly are, it sounds kinda ridiculous. Existence is chaos. Nothing makes any sense, so we try to make some sense of it. And I'm just lucky that the chaos I emerged into gave me all this... My own glorious purpose."

Loki scoffed.

"Cause the TVA is my life, and it's real because I believe it's real."

"Fair enough." Loki said, after another pause, "You believe it's real."

"Yeah."

"So everything is written. Past, present, future. There's no such thing as free will."

"Well, I mean, you know, it's an oversimplification..."

"So, in fact, in a way," Loki gestured between himself, Mobius and Týr, "You and I here at the TVA, we're the only ones who are actually free."

"Where are you going with this, Loki?"

"How does it all end?"

"That's a work in progress." Mobius responds.

"Oh, those lazy Time-Keepers. What are they waiting for?" Loki joked, mimicking looking at a watch on his wrist.

"Au contraire." Mobius chuckled, "No. Because while we protect what came before, they're toiling away in their chamber, untangling the epilogue from its infinite branches."

"Ah, I see. So, when they're finished, what happens then?"

"So are we. No more nexus events. Just order, and we meet in peace at the end of time. Nice, right?"

"Only order?" Loki asked.

"Mmm-hmm."

Týr raised his eyebrows, smirking at Mobius, "No chaos? It sounds boring."

"I'm sure it does to you two." Mobius rolled his eyes at Loki's nod of agreement.

"You know, you called me a scared little boy." Loki stated, randomly, recalling their previous conversation.

"I called you a lotta things."

"You did." He paused for a brief moment, "You're wrong, though. You see, I know something children don't."

"What's that?"

"That no one bad is ever truly bad, and no one good is ever truly good."

Mobius paused, eyes unfocused as he stared at the empty space beside Loki.