Y/N's POV
Loki, Mobius and I had travelled back to an apocalypse to test Loki's theory. Mobius didn't trust us and he was risking his job by being here.
We were in Pompeii. The people were doing their daily tasks, not knowing that their lives were going to end brutally in a matter of minutes.
"Here we go" Loki said excitedly.
Mobius shushed him.
"I don't think we should mess around too much. I mean... these people are about to die" Mobius said, clearly uncomfortable.
"That's why what we do doesn't matter" I said.
"I know. I'm gonna watch the TemPad for any variance energy"
Mobius took the TemPad out of his jacket and looked at the timeline.
"You make the end of the world sound boring !" Loki said.
"Anything we do can affect history ! We need to start with small disturbances" Mobius raised his voice.
"Like what ?" I asked.
Mobius hesitated for a second.
"Can one of you make bird noises ?" He asked.
"Bird noises ?"
Mobius began making bird noises, which was very strange.
Loki ran towards a wooden cart that held goats, and unlocked the door so that they could run free. I walked towards the goats and began petting them.
"Loki ! Y/N !" Mobius whisper-yelled.
"Be free my horned friends ! Be free !" Loki screamed.
Loki began speaking in Latin to the villagers.
(Italic = Latin)
"My name is Loki and this is my wife Y/N. We are agents of the Time Variance Authority. I bring you all dark tidings. All of you ! You're all about to die. That volcano is about to erupt ! I would know, because I'm from the future" As Loki finished his speech, the volcano began erupting and the ground began shaking.
The people started screaming and running away.
"Enjoy your last meal while you can !" Loki said, overexcited as he threw food around.
He ran towards me, completely ignoring Mobius.
"Dance with me Darling" He said as he grabbed my hand and put and arm around my waist.
For little while, it felt like time slowed down. The only thing I could concentrate on was Loki.
I couldn't remember the last time we danced together. Before Thor's failed coronation, Odin would always throw parties. The ballrooms were always filled with people dancing.
Oh, how I wished I could go back to those simpler times.
Loki let go of me and we walked in front of Mobius.
"How'd we do ?" Loki asked with his signature mischievous smile.
"I don't believe it. Zero variance energy. No branching in the timeline" Mobius said with a shocked tone of voice.
"The TVA would never even know we were here" Loki said.
"That's how the variant hides" I added.
The rubble from the eruption began falling towards us. Mobius opened a portal, and we left.
~
We were back at the TVA. We were at Mobius's desk discussing our recent discovery.
"The variant has been ambushing soldiers and hiding in doomsdays to cover his tracks" Mobius said finally understanding completely.
"You learned that thanks to us. Your welcome" I said.
"Yeah, yeah" Mobius said in a dismissive tone.
"For this theory to hold, the disasters have to be naturally-occurring, sudden, no warning, no survivors" Mobius said as he began to stress.
"How many of those could there be ?" Loki asked trying to calm the TVA agent down.
"I don't know. We're going to find out" Mobius said as he grabbed multiple files from his desk and began walking to the library.
~
After multiple hours of reading TVA reports, Loki fell asleep on the table. His face was in some papers he was reading before he gave up.
Mobius began waking Loki up.
"Let's take a walk" he said with an exhausted voice.
We got up from the table and we walked to the cafeteria. We sat down and Loki began making meaningless conversation with Mobius.
"By the way, at your desk, that magazine ?"
"The one on the jet skis ?"
"Yes. Why do you have that ?"
"Because they're awesome"
"I suppose they are"
"We don't have any on Asgard" I added.
"You know, some things... actually most things in history are kinda dumb and everything gets ruined eventually. But in the early 1990s, for a brief, shinning moment, there was a beautiful union of form and function, which we call the jet ski and a reasonable man cannot differ"
"You ever been on one ?" I asked.
"No. I think a TVA agent showing up on a jet ski on the sacred timeline, that would create a branch for sure"
"It'd be fun though" Loki said.
"Yeah" Mobius said in a sad tone, looking down.
"So why look at them ? In magazines ?" Loki asked.
"Just helps remind me what we're fighting for" Mobius answered.
"The TVA is fighting for jet skis ?" I said trying to lighten the mood.
"It's a metaphor" Mobius said.
"I mean, you really believe in all this stuff, don't you ?" Loki told Mobius.
"I don't get hung up on 'believe, not believe'. I just accept what is"
"Three magic lizards" Loki said.
"Careful, they might be listening right now" I said with a small smile.
"Time-keepers" Mobius corrected Loki.
"They created the TVA and everyone in it, including you ?"
"Including me" Mobius answered.
"Every time I start to admire your intelligence, you say something like that"
"Okay. Who created you Loki ?" Mobius asked.
"A frost giant of Jotunheim" Loki answered, referring to Laufey.
"What about you Y/N ?" Mobius asked.
"I don't know. I assume Asgardians. If they didn't want me they wouldn't have travelled all the way to Asgard to leave me there" I said.
"And who raised you two ?" Mobius asked.
"Odin of Asgard"
"And Frigga" I added.
"Odin, god of the heavens, Asgard, mystical realms, beyond the stars, Frost Giants. Listen to yourself" Mobius said getting a little defensive.
"It's not the same" Loki said.
"It's completely different Mobius" I added.
"It's exactly the same thing. Because if you think too hard about where any of us came from, who we truly are, it sounds ridiculous. Existence is chaos. Nothing makes any sense, so we try to make some sense of it. I'm just lucky that the chaos I emerged into gave me all this. My own glorious purpose. The TVA is my life. It's real because I believe it's real" Mobius said.
Loki scoffed.
"Fair enough. You believe it's real. So everything is written. Past, present, future. There's no such thing as free will"
"Well, I mean, you know, it's and oversimplification..." Mobius said trying to defend his cause.
"So in fact, us three, here at the TVA, we're the only ones who are actually free"
"Where are you going with this Loki ?" Mobius asked, getting tired.
"How does it all end ?"
"That's a work in progress"
"Oh lazy time-keepers" I said while rolling my eyes.
"What are they waiting for ?" Loki asked.
"Au contraire. Because while we protect what came before, they're toiling away in their chamber, untangling the epilogue from its infinite branches"
"So once they finish, what happens ?" Loki asked trying to annoy Mobius.
"So are we. No more Nexus events, just order and we meet in peace at the end of time"
"No chaos ? Sounds boring" Loki said.
"I'm sure it does to you"
Mobius got up and left us as he ran towards the library.
"I'm staring to believe we'll never catch your variant" I said with a sigh.
"I think that's the first time I see you give up" Loki said with an amused tone.
"Don't get used to it"
We ran after Mobius who was looking in boxes of evidence.
"The variant left something behind at an old crime scene. A cathedral. A candy. An obvious anachronism. I gave it to analysis, but they couldn't find anything real" Mobius explained.
"Why does that matter ?" Loki asked.
"Because now we have to variables. Apocalyptic natural disasters and Kablooie" Mobius said as he showed us something in a transparent bag with the words 'Kablooie' written on it.
"What's that ?" Loki asked.
"Candy. Do you have candy on Asgard ?" Mobius asked.
"Yeah, grapes, nuts" I said.
"No wonder you're so bitter" Mobius said.
We sat down at a table and Mobius grabbed some more files.
"Kablooie was sold only regionally on Earth from 2047 to 2051. We need to cross-reference that with every apocalyptic event. I'm gonna give you both a part of the files. Let's have a competition, see who finds it first" Mobius said quickly.
"Sure" I agreed for Loki and I.
"You wanna bet something ?" Mobius asked us.
"Yeah" Loki answered.
"Let's play for pride. May the best one win" Mobius said.
"That's not a real prize" I said.
"Go !" Mobius said as he began searching.
"It's not the climate disaster of 2048" Loki said.
I was reading as fast as I could. Spending all my time in the palace's library finally payed off.
"It's not the tsunami of 2051" I said.
"Come on. Let's go" Mobius whispered.
"Got it !" I said getting up from my chair.
"Alabama 2050" I said showing them the file.
"I have to go see my boss about this" Mobius said, taking the file and leaving for his boss's office.
"Congratulations, Darling" Loki said.
"Thank you" I said.
We walked towards the office Mobius had ran into.
Not even a minute after, Mobius came out.
"We're on" He said with a happy tone.
He walked away, and again we followed.
Mobius stopped in front of his locker and opened it. He took something from the too shelf and gave it to us.
"My daggers" Loki said with a smile.
"Absolutely not !" B-15 said as she took the knives out of Loki's hands and put them in her locker.
Loki's smile left his face.
~
Loki, Mobius, B-15, other TVA agents and I were now talking about our plan to catch the variant.
"Roxxcart is a vast superstore common to the era. It consists of a series of sprawling sections including a large warehouse. This warehouse is being used by civilians as a shelter trying to ride out the storm. Remember, this is a class ten apocalypse. While the variant shouldn't know we're coming, he could be hiding anywhere and should be considered hostile. So stay alert. Every time there is an attack, the variant steals a reset charge. He's planning something. We just don't know what. So keep an eye out for the missing charges and if you see a Loki, prune it" B-15 explained.
"The bad Loki, preferably" I said and Loki put an arm around my shoulders.
We walked inside a portal. On the other side was a Midgardian store in the rain.
"We should've brought coats" I said.
Published : 17-11-21
Number of Words : 1810
Edited : 22-05-22