Daughter of Trickery- I'm not sure what that geez means. Is it a good geez or a bad geez? Was making Ar'iaal and Thanos the same person too forced? I thought I'd been cleverly leading up to it but I could be wrong. Is Loki too out of character? I'm not sure. Ah well, I'm glad you're still reading this either way.

9,000 Years Ago

Ar'iaal frowned at the person standing before him. Or more accurately, at the person cowering before him. "But that's impossible. Someone like Miriam would never just drop off the map, whether I was with her or not. I just can't believe that. Tell me the truth. Where is she really?"

The smaller being shivered, and spoke in a squeaky voice. "I don't know, I swear. I've never heard of anyone named Miriam. No one's seen an Eternal in thousands of years! Please don't kill me!"

Ar'iaal took a deep breath in, then slowly let it out. "I would not do something like that." There were more important things to focus on at that moment. More important people to focus on. He'd been asleep for nearly five thousand years, and tracking someone down after all that time was starting to feel nearly impossible.

After a moment, he realized that the pathetic thing in front of him was still babbling on. "I might know someone who could help you, but you have to swear you won't hurt me if I tell you! Please!"

Ar'iaal hadn't been planning on killing the idiot anyways, as he'd clearly just stated. "Fine. Tell me what you do know, then."

"The planet Xarez was destroyed around a thousand years ago. No one was ever sure of the exact cause, but there'd been a lot of things being destroyed like that around the time. Then some big shit went down on Asgard. The king of those pompous pricks died, and then the planet wide destructions stopped. The survivors of Xarez have been looking into all of that. That's all I know, I swear."

Ar'iaal frowned. "Get out of my sight. You are absolutely pathetic and you disgust me."

,,,

When he reached New Xarez, it was made immediately clear that he was not welcome there. "Eternals cause nothing but trouble for everyone around them. Get out of here."

He scowled. "I'm simply trying to track down my friend."

"Well you aren't going to be finding any friend of yours around here. Whoever told you that stupid story was probably just lying to save their life, since they know how dangerous your sort is."

Ar'iaal took a step forward, and found satisfaction when the Xarezian took a single step back, a slight look of fear on his face. "Now you listen to me. I have been alive longer than you could possibly imagine. And I have fought very hard to get this far in my search for the woman I care about more than literally anything else in all of existence. Now you will tell me anything you know about an Eternal who often goes by the name Miriam, or you will lead me to someone else who can tell me. It's up to you. Your only third choice is to watch all of Xarez literally crumble beneath you for the second time."

The Xarezian finally gulped, then nodded. "Fine. If I take you to the king, will that satisfy you?"

Ar'iaal nodded. "I suppose that it would, seeing as no one else around here seems to have any clue of what's going on."

After being led through the long winding hallways of the castle, the Xarezian stopped outside a large set of double doors, and he motioned for Ar'iaal to wait where he was. "I must speak with the king before he can see you." He disappeared into what was presumable the throne room. He returned a few minutes later, and bowed his head. "He will see you now."

Ar'iaal went into the throne room, and found a smug looking Xarezian sitting on a fancy chair, a dented crown resting lopsidedly on his head. He bowed his head as a sign of respect so that the king would be more likely to cooperate with him. "So the Eternal has come to grovel before me? Finally bothered by the constant loneliness of being the last of your kind?"

The Eternal's head snapped up, and he took in a sharp gasp of air. "What are you talking about? I am not the last."

The king grinned, looking excited to incite drama onto the universe. "Oh, but I'm afraid you are. My guard explained that you're here in a desperate attempt to track down your friend. But I can assure you that she is long gone. The Asgardians banded together, gathering all of their most powerful people. They succeeded in destroying the menace, but they all died while doing so. Eternals are hard to kill. But even they are invincible. Not even your friend."

Ar'iaal clenched his hands into fists. "Where did they do this? Where did they murder her?"

The king shrugged. "Does it matter? That was a thousand years ago. Why dig up buried memories? That bitch got what she deserved for trying to kill all of my people."

Ar'iaal's eyes narrowed, and he surged forward to wrap his hands around the king's neck, squeezing tightly. "How dare you speak of her like that!"

The Xarezian rolled his eyes. "Well, you're already proving that you're better at holding your temper than she was. And I'll dare to speak however I want about the one who destroyed my entire planet, and ninety percent of its population. The point is that she's gone now, and there's nothing you can do about it." Ar'iaal let go of the alien's throat before actually killing it.

"You disgust me," he spat. Then he left to go talk to an old friend.

,,,

Ar'iaal looked around the dark cave, and didn't feel at all bothered by the dankness or eeriness of it all. "My lady, where are you?"

A moment later, a soft voice came from behind Ar'iaal, and he slowly turned to face his friend. There was a dark hood covering her face in shadow, and Ar'iaal was still afraid of what was beneath. "You called me so familiarly, as though we are friends. But that can't be right, can it? Because you are the one who rejected me! And then you avoided me for several thousand years!" As she spoke, her voice got louder and louder. Then she paused to take in a deep breath, and let it out. "I'm sorry, that was rude. I'm going through some things right now. What do you want, Ar'iaal?"

He clenched his hands into fists as he spoke, hoping desperately that his friend would be willing to help. "Is it true… is Miriam really dead? I've heard that she died a thousand years ago, but you're the only one who could know for sure."

Death pulled back her hood, revealing a pale skull with black designs tattooed across the forehead. It was certainly one of the stranger sights that Ar'iaal had seen before in his very long life. "Ugh, Miriam?" She tilted her head, and smiled. "Yes she's dead. Like you said. A thousand years. Sorry, old friend. Guess you're just a tad too late."

Ar'iaal felt like his heart was being stabbed a million times over. He couldn't imagine going through life without Miriam. He should've been strong enough to stick around and protect her even after their fight. Instead he'd gone off and slept while the only person he loved had been in danger. He sank down to his knees. "Please, my lady, there must be something you could do to bring her back. Please." He could feel tears falling down his cheeks, and he felt as pathetic as all those lesser creatures he'd spoken to just to get to this point right now.

Death shook her head. "Sorry, but that's simply impossible. I only do crazy shit like that for people who impress me. And you, darling, are the very definition of boring. I can't believe you're actually begging to me on your knees. You're so worthless."

Ar'iaal clasped his hands together. "I know what I said before. That I could never love you so long as Miriam is in my life. But that didn't mean it was an invitation for her to be gone! Please, I swear, I'll be with you forever if you just bring her back. Even if I never saw her again, just knowing that she's alive and alright would be enough for me. Please."

Death kicked at Ar'iaal's head, and he dodged the blow just in time. "Maybe you didn't hear me the first time. You don't impress me, you're boring, and you're useless. I don't need you, and I was crazy to believe that I ever did."

Ar'iaal jumped to his feet. "Then I'll just have to prove my worth to you. I'll send so many people your way that you won't even have enough space for all of them, and I'll keep killing more and more. I'll prove that I'm worth it. And then you'll bring back Miriam." He turned and hurried away.

Death slapped one skeletal hand against her face. "That's not what I was trying to say, you fucking idiot." He was already way too far away to be able to hear her. "Stupid Eternal. Your girlfriend isn't even dead." She put her hood back up, then turned and went back to where she'd come from.

,,,

Ar'iaal smashed down the castle on Xarez, and watched it crumble with a sense of detachment in him. He no longer cared about what happened. He'd kill everyone in the entire universe if it would mean that he could get his Miriam back.

The king was still sitting in his throne when Ar'iaal stormed in, though he definitely looked much paler and shakier than last time they'd met. "Who are you, anyways? Don't I at least deserve to know the name of my killer?"

Ar'iaal knew that he had to honor his fallen friend. He had loved her with everything he had, and now she was gone. If the thoughts of revenge and potentially bringing her back weren't so provocative in his mind, then he probably would've fallen right back asleep at the horrible news. "Thanos." He frowned. It didn't feel right, but that had been her name as a child, and he couldn't bear to think of the name he'd lovingly called her for so long. "My name is Thanos. I'm the most powerful thing in existence. And don't you dare forget it."

The king nodded solemnly. "I would be a fool to do so. But please, let me tell you why I am still here, even as all of my people run for their lives." Ar'iaal- no, it was Thanos now, nodded for the Xarezian to continue. "I have something that may be of some interest to you. If you wish to truly be the most powerful, there is something that can help you. Six somethings, actually." He held up the staff that had been propped up against the side of the throne, and gestured to the jewel that was on top. "No one's quite sure where these stones came from. There's six of them, which is a strange number, but that's not the point. The point is that a single one of these stones contains more power within it than most living things could ever dream of owning. They can only be touched directly by the most powerful of beings. If I give you this stone, will you cease this unprovoked attack?"

Thanos paused to think. He'd never heard of these stones before, but if they were really that powerful, then he definitely wanted them. He could use them to prove his worth to Death so that she would be willing to bring Miriam back. He nodded. "Fine."

The king thrust the staff into Thanos's hands. Thanos tilted his head, then touched the stone on the staff to the floor. The castle began to shake and crumble down around them. The king jumped up. "What are you doing? I was trying to find a peaceful resolution, but I should've just used that on you!"

Thanos stayed exactly where he was, even after the entire planet was gone, and the staff in his hands was the only thing left to remember it by. That was one powerful little rock if it could do so much damage in such a short amount of time. Surely if Thanos were to collect all six, Death would be impressed beyond belief, and she'd be willing to return Miriam to him. It was all for her, after all.

,,,

Soon, the stories were everywhere across the universe. Thanos, the god-like being on a never ending search for power. He could destroy entire planets in a matter of minutes, and he could never be hurt. So many people gathered around him to revel in his power that it was becoming less and less necessary for him to go out and do much damage himself.

Finding more of the gems was shockingly difficult though, even with all the power and influence he'd managed to get for himself. Whoever else owned those rocks must covet them greatly because of their power.

Thanos was interrupted from his thoughts by one of his subordinates. "Sir, we've brought you an Asgardian, as requested."

"Send it in."

A minute later, a pathetic little Asgardian was shoved to his knees in front of Thanos, his hands bound in front of him. "Whatever it is that you want, you won't be getting from me. I have a duty to my people, and I will not talk."

Thanos rolled his eyes. "You don't need to talk. In fact, this will all be much easier if you just sit there and shut up." He reached forward to touch the Asgardian's head. He quickly scanned through the weakling's mind to find the information he was looking for, then he shoved the alien aside. "Well you're completely useless. All you know of your past is a small bit of lore and nothing else. You are truly disgustingly pathetic."

The Asgardian clenched his jaw. "I don't care what you think of me. You are the scum of the universe. You already have so much power, but you want more and more so that you can prove to everyone how strong and scary you are. You're the one who's pathetic."

Thanos quickly slapped the Asgardian, sending him flying backwards. "You know nothing of me or why I do the things that I do. If you were so smart, then you'd know that I don't care who I scare. All I care about is killing lots of infants like you, and getting lots of power so that I can impress an old friend. It may have been some time, but I've never lost sight of my goals. And you are nothing in the long run. Just an insect to be squished beneath my feet." He quickly killed the Asgardian, and left the body for his people to take care of.

,,,

"Sir, the stones… they're all… um… talking…"

,,,

Thanos frowned. With three of the stones in his possession, there was no one alive who could even hope to take him on. No one was going to defeat the mighty Thanos. He was going to be the most powerful being in existence, and he was going to convince Death to give back the piece of his heart that had been missing since the moment he'd heard of Miriam's death. Because she was his heart, as far as he could tell.

This would all be worth it in the end, when Miriam was returned to him. Thanos had been through too much, and he was not going to lose.

A/N- So now that the big reveal has been put out there, I thought it would be fun to have a quick 'what has he been up to' chapter from Ar'iaal's perspective. Also, I know that no specific progression of time is listed here, but I'm assuming that between each little section, at least some time has passed. Obviously it's hard to sum up 9,000 years in a single chapter. I hope that this is okay, and people don't think that I'm taking too many liberties with the canon material haha