We couldn't take the path we took out of Sakaar, Valkyrie told us. We needed to find another wormhole because the pull of the Devil's Anus, from outside to inside, would literally fracture our atoms. That didn't sound like something I would want for my precious atoms.

But unfortunately, we were also on a timeline.

"How much would that take?" I asked anxiously as our ship flew past Xandar's atmosphere, and Valkyrie shrugged from her seat next to me. Loki was piloting, after a brief argument with Val that ended with the agreement that they'll switch, somewhere in the middle.

"Three or four days?" She answered, and I scrunched up my face.

It had taken a day to get to Xandar, and we had stayed for two days. If it took four days to get back to Sakaar...that meant a week. We could miss Thor. I face palmed, breathing deeply against my palms.

Okay. It was okay. We could not miss Thor, too. It just was a game of luck.

"Let's go, then." I grinned half-heartedly, lowering my hands and pretending I hadn't done that. "I'm missing the toxic air of Sakaar."

She threw me a dubious look that I looked past, choosing to focus instead on the sights of wondrous Space. Stars twinkled, drawing my gaze, and as the ship flew I watched the planet of Xandar disappear into a speck. I never thought I'd be out in freaking Space. I'd never even thought I'd be to another planet.

This whole experience was simply awesome. There was no other word for it.

I wondered at the sights around me, until my eyelids felt heavy and I fell asleep to the soft drone of the engine beneath us.


The Commodore was a small ship, just the piloting space and a restroom in the back, and the engine beneath our feet. Soon enough I got tired of sitting and doing nothing, and went to the back of the ship and plopped down. We had packed some food, mostly tasteless jerky, some dry fruit, and what looked like granola bars. I grabbed some of everything and started munching.

Valkyrie joined me after some time, but didn't eat. She just sipped from her flask.

I frowned. "Is it good?"

She looked at me. "What's good?"

I gestured. "The alcohol. Whatever kind it is."

"It's not for you," She replied, somewhat amused, and I tilted my head.

"Why not?"

"Because it's bad for your health and it ruins your life. " She took another big gulp.

"...That's very hypocritical of you." I said, staring at her, and shrugged. "You remind me of my math academy teacher."

She raised an eyebrow, and I smiled at the memory. "One time, he wasted like half an hour telling us smoking is horrible, and listed all the things he couldn't do because he smoked. It was a fairly impressive speech. Then he gave us break time and immediately went out to smoke again."

Val smirked back. "Well, was he at least a good teacher?"

"He was an asshole," I said dismissively, then paused. "I'm not saying you're an asshole, though. You're not an asshole. You're just an addict."

"I never tried to not be one," She answered. "That's why I'm still on Sakaar. Because I like being an addict."

"But it's not nice, is it? Hangovers and stuff?"

"It's better than being sober." Val shook her head, as if reminding herself that. "It's much better."

"But what if you find something better than being an addict?" I probed gently. "A goal? Something interesting, like a hobby?"

"I've tried," She responded stiffly. "I know you know what happened with...Hela." She said her name so carefully, as if Hela was going to be listening to us. Kind of like Voldemort. "And I can't get that out of my mind, unless I'm drinking myself into oblivion. Nothing does a better job."

"What about someone?" I said hopefully. "Maybe you should find a friend. Or a lover. Life is a series of relationships, right? I sound like a horrible romantic, but won't a boyfriend or a girlfriend help get rid of the bad memories?"

She didn't get mad at me like I almost thought she would. She just smiled fondly at me.

"You're young. You're hopeful. Don't lose that light, weird one. Don't lose it."

I smiled back, then wrinkled my eyebrows. "That wasn't an answer," I pointed out.

"Don't push it, kid."

"I'm not a kid," I retorted automatically, then frowned. "Wait. I thought Asgardians couldn't tell people's ages."

"What do you mean?"

"Loki thinks I'm two hundred something."

"He's an idiot. You're clearly no older than 80."

"...That in words is?"

"Middle of your adolescence."

"Oh." I was pleasantly surprised. "You're right. That's...nice."

She gave me a strange look, and I almost blushed. It was weird to have someone who could actually see me for what I was. I liked her so much more. Ugh. Why were everyone in this universe so bloody attractive? It made me feel slightly left out.

I finished off the granola bar and leaned my head back against the ship's metal walls. It wasn't comfortable, but it wasn't awful. I pointedly did not stare at Val and soon I dozed off again, feeling exhausted despite the fact that I haven't done anything.

Maybe it was the fact that we were speeding through Space in lightspeed, that took such a toll on my body. But I could think or theorize no longer as I drifted off into somewhere darker than the space around us.


I woke up to see Loki looking at my face. Our gaze met, and I blinked.

"Staring much?"

He looked slightly annoyed at the fact that he'd been caught. I felt smug.

"You're so-"

"Awesome?"

"Weak," He gives me a look like stupid-mortals-die. "You've spent almost the entirety of the travels sleeping."

"Well, I'm sorry to say I'm not a god. Just a worthless little human."

He gives me another look that says I-don't-believe-that. But he dropped it, and I straightened up, sincerely hoping I hadn't been drooling. I didn't try as hard as Loki to look always composed, but I had a bit of dignity left to protect. Not much, but still.

We settled into a comfortable silence as I looked, bored, outside the transparent window. I didn't know this, but apparently anything can get boring after two days. Even Space. We were moving too fast to catch sight of the planets we were passing by, but stars still shone brightly around us. It was kind of like seeing Star Wars, except completely different.

But soon my gaze returned to the guy in front of me, and I peered at his face. I hadn't yet planned out how to save his annoying ass. If Loki didn't carry the Tesseract on the spaceship to Earth, would Thanos still find them? Was Thanos tracking the stones, or Loki himself?

And also, what do I do with the power stone in my hands? How do we destroy the stones? I knew Wanda could, but would I be able to keep everyone safe even through the trip from Asgard to Earth that was already doomed?

It was depressing to think that Loki and everyone else could still die, even with me here. And we were running out of time.

"Staring much?" Loki echoed, and I blinked. And reddened. He looked smug.

"...What are you going to do, after this is all over?" I questioned, trying to sound natural, like that was the reason I had been staring at his stupid face.

He looked back without a single flicker of emotion. "What are you going to do?"

My mind went blank. I hadn't actually thought about anything. I admit, I kinda believed when all this mess was over, I would be able to go back to my world. If I didn't...well. Life would be amazing, but sad.

I tried a relaxed smile. It felt a bit too dorky on my face. "I always wanted to be a Space pirate when I was young." I said jokingly. "Maybe I'll fulfill my childhood dream."

"Space pirate," Loki repeated strangely. "I thought little girls wanted to become princesses, not," His lips curled downwards in distaste. "Space pirates,"

I threw him an offended look. "First, that's very sexist of you. And second, even as a little girl I knew monarchy was against everything equality represented because seriously? Predetermined rulers? That's so 19th century."

"...I'm a prince." He stated, and I tilted my head. Oh. Right.

"I thought you gave it up because of your daddy issues."

"I don't have daddy issues," He spat venomously. "Odin was-" He cut off abrubtly, probably remembering that the Allfather was dead. I winced.

"Sorry," I said, not cruel enough to rub it in his face. "That was short-sighted of me."

"Yes, you were." He retorted, not nice enough to not rub it in my face.

Awkward silence. "Maybe we can be Space pirates together," I said hopefully, feeling much like a puppy who wanted approval from her master, and he gave me a blank look like you-are-so-beneath-me.

I generously smiled back. One had to have a lot of patience when dealing with Loki, because he held a grudge like a bloody lifeline. I knew that by now, after living with him for a week.

And soon enough, he lost interest of the smile pasted on to my face, and looked bored.

I contemplated my life.

"You have the space stone," He asked suddenly, and I didn't try not to roll my eyes.

"Oh no," I said dryly. "I lost it. I lost the very essence of the universe that we specifically went to another planet for!"

He glared, and I pulled it out of my jacket pocket. I waved it at him, then paused.

"Can you touch it?" I asked, curious. I remembered people blowing up because of its power.

"I can, but not for long."

"Like how long?"

"I would rather not try." He gave me a look that was a mix of stupid-mortals-die and you-are-so-beneath-me. I shrugged, and after peering at the orb illuminated from the inside, I did something stupid.

I parted the orb, opening it to reveal the oval shaped stone inside.

Loki straightened up immediately. "What are you doing?" He hissed, clearly afraid of the stone, but I ignored him. The power stone was purple, and glowing with literal...power. The light had a hypnotizing and gaze-drawing something about it, that made me realize if I stared at it for too long, I wouldn't be able to look away. I would be addicted.

Like people were addicted to power.

And suddenly everything went very quiet, and I could feel the stone beckoning me. I could literally feel it. It wanted to be used, it wanted to give me power. Enticing, overwhelming power. Something was whispering in my ear, taking over my vision until the only thing I could see was the stone, and I wanted to touch it. I wanted it. I wanted it so bad, because it promised me I would be the strongest sorcerer, I would be irresistible to everyone that I cared for, and-

I would be able to go home.

I didn't realize I had grabbed the stone, until the power was coursing through me and I realized everything.

My senses were heightened. I could feel a ship passing by us thousands of miles away, and I could feel the live forms, no auras, of the living beings inside. I could hear every breath, every word, and every laughter. I was aware of everything, a dying star on my right and a planet teeming with life on my left.

And my magic.

With the power stone in my hand, I could do anything.

I could change my appearance even more fluidly than Loki. I could open a portal to Xandar and with enough effort and practice, I could...go home. Home, where my family and friends are. My real home. Where magic didn't exist and these characters simply belonged in movie theaters. I felt a pang of something in my chest.

And these thoughts of home simply pushed back the thought of power in my veins, and I realized something else, something the power stone had tried to obscure.

My mind, was uncoiling.

Even I could sense that this much power couldn't be stored in one being. It was probably realizing that too, and was starting to eat me from inside, starting from my head. As seconds passed, I noticed it was harder to keep a conscious thought, and I knew that the longer I held the stone, the more damage would go to my brain.

I would literally go insane with power within a few minutes. Then, I would explode.

And...No.

I opened my palm, the stone dropped and Loki lunged forward, grabbing the orb and the stone and closing it inside the other. I gasped for breath, literally feeling as if my mind had been pulled apart and put back together. Okay. Power stone, bad. Got it.

I raised my head, my body trembling, and Loki stared at me.

"Why," He said stiffly, his accent emphasizing the words. "Would you do-"

"Sorry, sorry," I muttered. "I'm sorry. It was so..."

He grabbed my jacket, and I flinched. "You realize you could've killed us all," He said with a low, threatening voice. I just tried to get a grip on my shaking. My vision was darkening, the familiar feeling of exhaustion coming over me.

"I-I'm sorry. Really."

"But you didn't."

My breath hitched. "...Um, what?"

He let go, eyes suddenly gleaming with fascination. "You weren't overwhelmed by the power,"

I frowned. That had taken a sudden turn. "And?"

"No mortal can stand the Infinity Stone's power. But you," Loki looked weirdly intrigued. "You were able to channel it."

I was speechless. Then I regained the control of my usually talkative mouth. "I didn't channel it. i just avoided being blown up-"

"No, I felt your magic expanding. Do you realize what this means?"

I shook my head timidly, and he leaned closer to me.

"This means you could actually use the Infinity Stones. You can use them to fight Thanos."

"No." I said, my mind tangled and confused. "We have to destroy the-"

"Why destroy them, if we can use them as a weapon against Thanos himself? I can wield the Tesseract, and with you and the power stone, no one can stand before us."

Okay. That sounded a bit too super-villain-like for me, and I shook my head again, this time more firmly.

"No. I almost died, right now. I'm not trying it aga-"

"You almost died because you didn't draw on the power, and make use of it. If you were able to draw the power out of your body and manipulate it, you will be able to harness the power safely." He smirked with revelation. "You can be the most powerful-"

"Okay, shut up." I pushed him back. "We're not talking about this. Maybe it can be a last resort or something, but not now. We can defeat Thanos without any of this dangerous stuff."

He looked incredulous. "You can have the most powerful-"

"Power yada yada. I'll only be interested in this piece of rock if it can play Taylor Swift." I rolled my eyes. "Stop fixating on power. Your super-villain is showing."

Loki glared and opened his mouth and Val cleared her throat dryly.

She was standing in front of us, and I realized with a start that Loki was way closer to me than I would've liked. I scowled at him, and stood up.

"Yes?"

"We're at the wormhole." She looked at me then at Loki. Then narrowed her eyes. Then shrugged. "Buckle up."

I refused the urge to punch Loki in the face. We glared at each other, and I stomped away dramatically. Agh. I fucking hated that dude.


A/N: I hate dialogue.

Thanks for reading!