FENRIR ※ Tony Stark [2]

23 - OVERLORD

"No, I guess I don't!" he spat "I thought you were the Harpy of Jötunheim! I thought you were a true warrior with ambition, just like Father taught us to be!"

Angie's jaw dropped. Of all the outrageous things he said so far, this was probably the worst. Clearly, she remembered their childhood differently from him because as far as Angie knew, their Father never had anything but contempt for either of them. Even more ironic was the fact that while she never thought he ever cared about her, he probably had cared even less about Fenrir.

Angie sighed, feeling her heart sink. There was a time though, when Himnir had been a semi-adequate parent. But that was long before Fenrir was even born. Angie's mother, Eylis, was still alive back then.

Eylis died when Angie was barely a child. After that, her father had never been the same. Not that he had been a proper father-figure to begin with, but he wasn't nearly as awful as he became after her death.

Her memories of that time were so hazy — after all, she had been very young — that she often wondered if they were real and not a fragment of her imagination. Perhaps it was the distant recollection of her mother's presence that affected the way she remembered things.

At least, Angie had those memories to help her despise Himnir a little less; Fenrir didn't.

"When did you become so appreciative of Father? Have you forgotten the way he treated us?!" she scoffed. Although she didn't want to rub salt on the wounds Himnir had left them, it was astonishing to hear Fenrir speak of him almost... admiringly. After all, Angie was the one who raised her little brother.

"Let's be clear, I am not praising this atrocious man. All I'm saying is I've come to learn from him," Fenrir shrugged like it was no big deal at all "Don't be mistaken, I am glad that he's dead!"

Somehow, this made her shudder a little. Obviously, there was no love lost between Angie and her father but she wouldn't say she was glad that he died. That just wasn't right.

Angie took a long breath, feeling as if she would crack under the weight of the last few hours. She had a hard time believing all this was real. She had still thought her brother was dead, barely a day ago. Now, there they were, reunited, after decades apart and the conversation was stirring inevitably towards their father, of all people.

Himnir had been a force of nature. It seemed like even in death, they couldn't escape his influence and — in Angie's case — the constant craving for his approval.

But for some reason, something about their conversation sounded... off. It took a few seconds for her to realize what it was; and once she did, she just couldn't ignore it. There was no logical explanation.

"Fenrir..." she muttered quietly, after a long pause "How do you know Father is dead? I never mentioned it."

Fenrir's eyes widened ever so slightly, like he was taken aback by her question. The uneasiness lingered on his face for a fraction of a second before he forced back his usual impassible expression.

"I told you I have emissaries in every corner of the galaxy."

Angie stayed quiet for another few seconds. Maybe he thought she was going to be satisfied with this explanation but the more she thought about it, the less sense it made. Once the doubt had settled in, there was no way to shrug it off. Her intuition was berating her to dig deeper.

"Are you saying you had emissaries on Jötunheim...?"

His mouth opened and closed immediately. The way he stiffened up told her he understood exactly what she was asking.