Disclaimer: I do not own MARVEL; that credit goes to Stan Lee, Kevin Feige, and Disney.
A/N: Firstly, as a warning, this chapter will be short. Second, the next chapter will be the end of Age of Ultron. The story will continue throughout some of the next movies.
Next, thank you to my reviewers; . Your enthusiasm helps me write faster and be inspired! I've decided to respond to reviews because of this. I'm sorry if your review isn't responded to, but I'm only going to respond to the most recent ones (in this case, the ones from chapter ten - including the prolouge).
To PrettyRecklessLaura: Thank you for your continued support!
To ILoveMarvel: Thanks for reviewing! The next chapter will be the end of Age of Ultron, and you can expect more Loki in the future!
To YvetteHGranger: Thanks for reviewing! You'll get your wish in this chapter!
Alright, that's it! Please read and review! Here's Chapter Ten of the Stark Legacy:
Chapter Ten - A Soul For A Soul
Xania turned from staring at the screaming woman when she heard the bullets raining down.
Xania turned to see Pietro above the man with the bow and a small child.
"You didn't see that coming." He said to the bow-man. That's when Xania saw them. The multiple bullet wounds. The blood. The acceptance of death.
Xania raced over to her brother, catching him as he fell and setting him on the cracked ground.
"Sister…" Pietro whispered, and Xania realized that she was in her normal form. She didn't care. She'd think of a lie later.
"I'm here." Xania said, trying to be comforting, "I'm here, brother."
"I-" Pietro started, before coughing up some blood, his mind too pain-filled to remember the whole Loki stunt, "I love you, little sister."
"I love you too." Xania replied, blinking away tears. She was crying, now.
Pietro smiled.
Pietro took a deep, rattling breath.
Pietro closed his eyes.
She froze.
She put her hand on his heart.
…
…
…
Nothing.
Then she screamed, and everything was cloaked in blackness. Other screams joined the symphony, but she couldn't hear them, couldn't hear anything - couldn't see anything but him - this was so, so much worse than Ave, so much worse - she couldn't stop - couldn't stop screaming, stop crying, stop hurting - it was a thousand knives stabbing her and twisting and then stabbing her again and again and again and they weren't stopping - she had stopped feeling, stopped caring for anything else - all she knew was that she wanted him back - come back, Pietro, come back come back come back -
There was a crack like lightning, and Xania Maximoff disappeared off the face of the Earth.
She was kneeling on top of a mountain.
"Hello, Xania Maximoff." Came a voice. She turned, hollow, to see a man in a black cloak standing before her. He had a red skull for a face.
She didn't care.
She said nothing.
"You wish for your brother to come back." He said. She nodded, eyes staring unseeingly at him, "You wish to put his soul back into his body."
A spark flared in her eyes, flared in her.
"Yes." She whispered, her voice coming out as a broken, raspy whisper. Broken. She was broken.
"There is a way." The skull-man said, "But it comes with a price."
Xania's eyes flashed with hope.
"Name it." She replied, willing to pay anything.
The skull-man stared at her with his sunken eyes.
"Follow me."
They climbed up the mountain. It must have taken hours, but it felt like mere minutes to Xania. She had hope. She had a purpose.
They got to the top of the mountain. There was a platform, a large, stone temple-type thing, and a large cliff.
"It requires a sacrifice." The skull-man said grimly, "A sacrifice of someone you love. A soul for a soul."
Xania stared. There was almost no one she loved. Pietro - dead. Wanda - not there - and she would never make the choice to sacrifice one of her siblings for another. And…
A lightbulb went off in Xania Maximoff's head.
Xania took a deep breath and stepped forward.
She didn't look back to see the skull-man's expression, but if she did, she would have seen shock, surprise, and a bit of awe.
But Xania didn't look back.
She stepped off of the edge of the cliff.
