FENRIR ※ Tony Stark [2]

24 - LIES, LIES, LIES

"The truth is, I sent someone to watch over you, on Jötunheim."

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IMMEDIATELY, HER STOMACH dropped as all the sirens in her mind began blaring one single name:

Grimolf. Of course.

Everything was clearing up now. She had never felt more foolish in her life.

"It was Grimolf, wasn't it?!" she let out panting "He was working for you all these years?!"

Grimolf was an old Jötnar warrior who took her in a few years after she moved to Jötunheim. He saw potential in her to become the best warrior to come out of Jötunheim... or so she thought.

Before he supposedly died, Grimolf had made her the Guardian of the Chitauri Scepter, the weapon that started the whole ordeal with Loki and the Chitauri...

Four years ago, on the Helicarrier, as Loki was telling her about the destruction of Jötunheim, he also revealed that Grimolf had been lying to her about the Scepter the entire time ... clearly, the God of Mischief was telling the truth on that part; but only now was she realizing the true extend of the lies she had believed all these years.

Angie's eyes filled with rage "So this potential he supposedly saw in me, the title, the Scepter, the prestige, even being the Harpy of Jötunheim... it was all a lie you created!"

A bitter laugh escaped her lips as she remembered how training under Grimolf had given her a purpose. Her life after Fenrir had been filled with self-hatred and emptiness. For the first time in her life, she had a mentor, a true father-figure that gave her the approval she needed to carry on. It was the one thing her actual father never gave her... but all of that had been a lie.

Her words clearly upset Fenrir but it made no difference to her.

Loki's distant voice came back to haunt her from four years prior. She could still see his pretentious grin and hear his infuriating snigger as he stood inside the glass cell of the Helicarrier.

"Wake up Angrboda!" he had exclaimed "Everything you think you know is a lie!"

Even he didn't know how right he'd been.

Her brother came closer, yanking her out of her thoughts. He grabbed her shoulders firmly "No Angrboda, you cannot think like this," he leaned in to be at eye level with her "This strength you have in you, this discipline and resilience, Grimolf didn't give you that. You made that for yourself. You are the Harpy of Jötunheim. You earned it."

She shut her eyes briefly, not wanting to put up with this humiliation anymore. This wasn't about her wounded ego. It wasn't about her stupid reputation. He was missing the point.

What this was really about, what hurt her most of all, was being lied to by someone she had loved more than anything in the world. Her own little brother, the child she raised herself and took care of even when she had been scared to death of what he could do to her... she had been nothing more than a puppet to him. A means to an end.

How could she ever forgive him?

There was nothing to fix or explain anymore. In that instant, she understood the true nature of what he'd become: a power-hungry manipulator, who, perhaps did love her deep down, but had used her like a commodity anyway.

"Why did you allow Grimolf to give me the Chitauri Scepter?" she finally broke the silence. This time she was not interested in justifications. She just wanted answers "Clearly, this Guardian title was just more bullshit you made me believe... so why would you leave such an important weapon in my hands?"