Detective Loki followed the faint trail of embers until he found the Fire Giantess, sitting alone on the seashore and hurling fireballs that fizzled out into the sea. She gave him a cynical stare as he sat next to her.
Fiamma sighed. "Whatever you're going to say, just say it."
"I'm sorry you had to witness that, that he rejected you so harshly"
Fiamma gave him a confused look. "Sorry? Why are you sorry? I know you feel the same repulsion towards me that he does, that the other Lokis did, that… that they all do."
"Now now, it's a huge multiverse: you'll find your Loki one of these days, one who will love you, despite your… uh, explosive temper. Believe it or not, for the longest time, I didn't believe I'd ever find anyone I could love, anyone I could trust, until I met Sylvie."
"Well whoopty doo-" Fiamma muttered sardonically. "You think I care about your sappy love story or your sickeningly optimistic speech? I'm in this for power, remember, not 'true love.'"
"Ah well, then by all means, sit here and simmer in your lonely little pity party instead of chasing it. All I'm saying is, I know what it's like to have a sibling who gets everything I wish I had handed to him on a silver platter! I understand your frustration more than anyone else here, but Gnista isn't Sindr: despite today, I've seen how loyal she and your brother are to you. Truly, they put us through Hel trying to keep us from finding you on Muspelheim! I also know that seldom is strong as the bond between siblings, no matter how much they want to kill each other." Loki smiled. "Speaking from experience."
Fiamma squinted, recalling memories of a younger Logi and Gnista, comforting her after Sindr humiliated her in battle and her father mocked her for thinking she could equal her prized sister. Logi cheered her up with lava shark kabobs while Gnista made her smile with roasting jokes at Sindr's expense. She thought of how they supported her after her fierce battle with Sylvie, even though she lost and felt like she let them down: they were there for her, while Sindr and Surtur would have felt nothing more than anger and shame, were they still living.
"And I know the pain and frustration of living my life to prove myself to a cold, distant father who chooses favorites." Loki continued. "So believe me when I tell you, you'll be much happier not trying to fit into the role Surtur wished to force on you and being… whoever you want to be!"
"I know, Therapy Loki. I'm still furious."
"And that's understandable: it's not wrong to feel upset. What's wrong is to react by setting everything and everyone around you on fire in response, especially when at least one of those burned is Jotun!"
"Yeah yeah, I know; I let my emotions get the better of me, which was foolish, because it didn't look like my power aroused the other Loki one bit." Fiamma paused. "And I suppose he didn't really betray me since we hadn't even spoken before then, but Gnista… she knows better!"
Loki raised his eyebrows. "Trust me, I'm no stranger to a lover's betrayal: more than half the Asgardians I've courted used me just to get to Thor, or to make him jealous, which never worked, of course. Do you know how I got even with Sif?"
"You cut her hair, right? Were you two in a relationship?"
"Not a long one, just a passing fling, really. She was a woman who chose the path of the warrior, I a man who preferred book learning and sorcery: I suppose both of our tendencies to break Asgardian social norms provided us something of a common ground. One night, in the heat of passion, I think I accidentally read her mind while I was holding her head; I heard her clearly and repeatedly say my brother's name, but her lips were… otherwise occupied. I confronted her over it at first, yet she denied doing so, but I know what I heard, and yes, it hurt. So later that night, while she was asleep, I thought I'd cheer myself up with a laugh, and I cut off a sizable chunk of her hair, but to be honest, it didn't really make me feel better either. Nor did the pummeling I received from Sif after she awoke, but the wine helped."
"Then you see your mistake." Fiamma critiqued. "Leaving her alive."
"No." Loki scoffed. "If that's what you think of me, then you truly don't know me at all."
"I know you were more competent in my universe: you didn't fail in your mission to annihilate the Frost Giants, not even sparing yourself. By the way, were you planning on telling your variant here how you tried to cause the extinction of his entire race?"
"No, I see no need to."
Fiamma finally cracked a smile. "Smartest thing you've said yet!"
They both turned as they noticed Sylvie quietly approach. "Sorry to interrupt the moment, but there's an ice cream cake being served, and I didn't want my favorite birthday boy to miss out!" She explained.
"An ice cream cake?" Loki repeated, his mouth watering already.
"Ice cream caaake!" His Symbiote excitedly exclaimed in his head. "Quickly, we must go taste iiit!"
"Yuck!" Logi Surturson remarked as he and Gnista joined them. "It's a good thing we left to find you when we did!"
"Coming from the bottomless pit himself, that's saying something!" Gnista added.
"Coming from the man with all appetite and no taste, it isn't." Loki countered. "Well then, let's grab ourselves a slice while it lasts!" Sylvie took his arm in hers, escorting him back to the party while Fiamma talked with her siblings.
As the mischievous duo rejoined Mobius, they turned as they heard an argument taking place between Thor and his parents. "-but what does that have to do with me?"
"What does the murder of Asgard's royal gatekeeper and all-seeing protector have to do with the future king!?" Odin exclaimed, aghast at his son's apathy. "Is this an attempt at jesting or are you really so dense as to consider a birthday party of greater importance than the safety of our realm, of all nine realms!?"
"Oh pish, Father, you're being melodramatic, and this isn't just any old birthday party: it's my best friend Loki's, and he's more important to me than anything boring old Asgard has to offer!" Thor turned back to his assembly. "The party is still on!" They cheered as the music and the dancing resumed.
Frigga shook her head. "When will that boy ever learn to take anything seriously?"
Detective Loki approached her and Odin in concern. "What's this about Heimdall being murdered?"
Frigga blinked. "Are you Asgardian? By your voice, you sound just like Laufey's son."
Detective Loki shuddered inwardly at being called such by his mother's variant, but he didn't let it show. "Oh, yes, I am Loki, actually. Another Loki."
"From another universe!" She figured.
"Yes, raised by you and Odin on Asgard, and I happen to be part of a team of time-traveling detectives; allow me to help you find this killer and bring them to justice." He faced Mobius and Sylvie. "Are we all in?"
"Always." Mobius answered.
Sylvie confidently smirked. "You have to ask?"
"As you say, 'The mission always comes first,' right?" Loki quoted her.
They all looked as they heard Party Thor's voice ring out from the stage, having snatched the microphone from the MC. "Party people, I'd like to dedicate this song to my brother from another mother, my partner in partying, the one and only Jo-tun of Fun, Lokiii!"
The Party Loki shook his head in an amused grin and raised his glass of champagne as Thor sang a popular Elvis song, shaking his hips with great zeal! "Knock 'em dead, Bro!"
Detective Loki winced. "Does everyone in this universe speak so… colloquially?"
"Only the children." Frigga replied.
"Fair enough. Lead the way, Allfather."
Odin nodded, readying Hofund to take them to Asgard. "It is refreshing to know at least one prince of Asgard has his priorities straight!" However, he lowered the sword and furrowed his brow as Loki quickly went to get a piece of ice cream cake for Sylvie and himself before leaving for the crime scene.
"I nearly forgot." Loki admitted, taking a bite of cake and hastily finishing it. "We're ready."
Odin sighed and raised Hofund once more, and the Bifrost transported them to Himinbjorg, where Heimdall's body laid at his post.
"Whoever did this knew their target well." Loki assessed. "They took out his eyes first, robbing him of his greatest sense."
"Then they stabbed him in the heart from behind after a crazy tough fight." Sylvie finished.
"But they didn't take the Bifrost sword and use it to escape, so that would most likely mean they're still on Asgard somewhere." Mobius deduced. "Unless they know the secret passages between realms too."
"Yes, but the matter at hand is, without Heimdall's all-seeing eyes, finding this assassin will prove a monumentally difficult task." Odin summarized. "And if they are not found soon, there will be no telling how much mayhem they'll get away with!"
"Indeed, and to make matters more challenging, there's no fingerprints, no hairs, no DNA of any sort to go on either." Loki put a hand to his chin."Yet the question remains: if they didn't kill Heimdall for his sword or his position, what are they after?"
"Maybe for the same reason they blinded Heimdall first?" Mobius theorized. "They're planning something they don't want your late gatekeeper to see, maybe the theft of a powerful Asgardian artifact, maybe another murder, maybe taking over Asgard, usurping the throne while you're distracted, maybe something even worse…"
"Ah, I have an idea!" Loki opened a Time Door to the Null-Time Zone and called his trusty golden serpent, Jörmungandr, to his side. "Jörmungandr may be able to track what we cannot!" He gave instructions to his pet snake, and Jörmungandr promptly checked the area for the faintest of tracks to follow. Soon, he slithered over through a lovely garden, stopping in front of a mossy rock formation and flicking his long tongue at his owner.
"He says the trail leads in there, through the secret portal to Alfheim, ironically enough."
"You think they're planning on murdering someone at the party too?" Mobius wondered.
"Or are they just passing through, realm-hopping for their getaway?" Sylvie pondered.
"Go!" Odin ordered. "We will keep watch as best we can here, in case our culprit is still lurking about!"
"Good luck, detectives!" Frigga wished them. "Please see to it that my son returns to us in as sober a state as possible! Protect Thor, both from his own recklessness as well as that of the others!"
"Yes ma'am!" Loki fondly smiled as he and his team went through the portal together. As they returned to Alfheim, they met with another surprise as they saw a trio of young Asgardian women and a following of Ataraxians escorting Fiamma and her siblings, who were contained in a fireproof casing, to their spaceship. "The goddesses of thunder!? How did they get here?"
"Hey look, it's Gruncle Loki again!" Atli pointed out as the detectives came closer.
"You knew I was your great uncle this whole time?"
"Ever since we met the you from this universe, we do." Ellisiv answered.
"But we did easily figure out you were the ones who broke this criminal out of her cell, not long after you brought them to us." Frigg stated. "What we want to know now is why?"
Mobius took a deep breath. "In your timeline, have you ever heard of Gorr the God Butcher?" Her eyes widened slightly, and she somberly nodded. "He was threatening to kill every god in universe 199999, and his next target was Thor; thanks to Loki and his Symbiote, we learned that Gorr had a weakness to fire through his own Symbiote sword, so we needed Fiamma's firepower to save your grandfather! We made a deal with Fiamma: she helps us defeat Gorr in exchange for us taking her to meet Lokis, until she finds one she wants to start a family with."
Frigg shook her head. "I understand your reasoning, but it was still foolish to unleash her unrestrained on world after world; just from the people here, we've already heard of how she burned several people in a fiery rage. She's far too dangerous to walk free."
"I know she can be emotionally volatile at times: I took the brunt of her fire, but the damage has been healed, and we've come to an understanding." Loki persuaded. "We'll bring her straight back to her cell in Niflheim when she's found her mate, and I won't allow her to harm any more innocents, I promise you!"
"Yeahhh, but you're an infamous liar, and you've already been crisscrossing the line between stopping and aiding the Muspels." Atli countered him. "So we can't really trust you either."
"You can trust this Loki." Fiamma unexpectedly vouched for him. "He's different from the rest."
"It's true, he's loyal to a T!" Mobius added. "This Loki nearly died protecting the Asgardians, and he's true to his word: he's keeping his promise to Fiamma, and I guarantee he'll keep his promise to you."
"I second that testimony!" Sylvie concurred.
"They are correct, he is the purest Loki of them allll." Healer agreed. "If he became a maiden, he could undoubtedly ride a unicorn!"
Don't overdo it." Loki mumbled in embarrassment.
Ellisiv turned to her oldest sister. "I think they're telling the truth. What should we do?"
"…So be it." Frigg relented. "The arsonist Fiamma will be allowed to accompany you, but she shall be kept in power restraints at all times to suppress her outbursts. Are we agreed?"
"Yes, thank you." Frigg reluctantly released the children of Surtur from containment, much to the Ataraxians' protests, and put the aforementioned restraints around Fiamma's wrists.
"Goddess Frigg, please reconsider!" The chief scientist begged. "This is the monster who threatened us to build her a suit for her to claim an ancient sword of flame and go from burning down innocent people's homes to burning down the entire universe! I may not have known her long, but it's no mystery that all she cares about is power: if you give her a family, it'll only mean to her a bigger force to destroy everything with!"
"We won't allow that to happen, Doctor Aristophanes. We've tightened the Niflheim security to the maximum since she escaped; we never expected her to be whisked away to another time before, but I promise you, it won't happen again!"
"Promises, promises…" Doctor Aristophanes muttered under his breath.
Detective Loki faced the scientist. "I'm sorry she threatened you, and I absolutely intend to make sure she faces justice for her crimes, but we do owe her for her assistance in saving my brother; I hope you understand."
"It sounds like you're defending her."
"I'm only stating the facts, Doctor Aristophanes, and summarizing our agreement." Loki turned to his team. "Now, back to our current assignment, where does the trail lead, Jörmungandr?" The humongous snake flicked his tongue in another quick series of movements. "He says the trail ends over by the Chardonnay River."
"And… there aren't any secret inter-dimensional portals in there, are there?" Sylvie asked.
"I'd be more than willing to dive in and find out." Loki volunteered.
"You would."
"But of all of us, I'd have to admit Jörmungandr is the best swimmer." He stroked his pet's nose. "Yet, if you'll allow me to be your eyes, I have the most experience finding wormholes." His hand flashed green, and Loki's consciousness transferred to the great serpent, who immediately dove underwater, taking a quick sip of the river before they went under. After carefully searching the entire river, Jörmungandr resurfaced, and Loki released his enchantment.
"You find anything?" Mobius asked.
Loki shook his head. "It would seem our culprit has decided to join the party after all."