Children, don't do what I have done
I couldn't walk and I tried to run…
Mother – John Lennon
-o-
Chapter 140: They were in Love
They were in love.
It wasn't just the love of two consenting adults, of parent and child, of family and friends…
This was the deep and ever binding love of true mates as could only be known by a Celestial and their chosen.
Ragia could see it in the Terran male as she studied him embracing the woman that was her daughter, who was sleeping in the safety of his arms.
Erin was permanently merged with this human woman named Ana and it was a merging that could not have been more fortuitous for either of them. Erin had not only been saved but she had got to experience the bond that Ragia shared with Lytta. It was something she had hoped for when she allowed her daughter to escape their dark realm. For all of her children when they had all escaped…
The Celestial let out the softest of breaths as she remained crouched within the shadow of a toppled wall. It was on an overlook and she had an excellent vantage point of not only her daughter but of the diverse group of beings that Erin – Ragia paused in her thoughts, correcting herself. Erin's human side was just as much her daughter now – Erin and Ana were traveling with. She could sense the bonds not only between her daughters and their mates but also the bond of family. Two of the Terrans that were in the group – an older male decked in red and gold full suited armor and a younger male in a slimmer full armor suit that had a distinct webbing design all around it – were a part of the web of links in her daughters' family. All of them here to fight the Titan…
Perhaps it was because of this, and the fact that her daughters had been cruelly destined to not only carry a sliver of the Reality Stone but come in contact with a half of the Space Stone, that Ragia had decided to make her presence known. She had told Lytta that she would not be a part of the fight with the Titan but this…
Her youngest was carrying a burden she had not wished on anyone but herself.
The ability to tear an Infinity Stone into pieces.
None of her other children had this ability and it was something that Ragia was sure Erin had not had before she had left the dark realm.
No, this was something new that must have awoken the in Erin when she had merged with her human…
She had to protect her youngest daughter from the worst of her inherited abilities. None of their children were supposed to bear this curse.
There had to be some other force at play here…
She wondered about these Terrans…
Maybe there was hope yet in this fight to come.
-o-
While the others were discussing the finer details of the plan on how to deal with the Titan, something had awoken Ana from her uneasy sleep.
She shifted in Bruce's arms, who immediately loosened his grip around her and helped her into a sitting position on his lap. "Hey," he said with a smile, his hand rubbing gentle circles on her back. "You feeling better?"
She looked at her husband, studied the weary look on his face, before she leaned in to press a kiss against his lips. "Waking up and seeing you? I couldn't feel any better…" She pulled away to see the warmth in his brown eyes and his own smile as he leaned in to place his forehead against hers.
They took that moment of quiet and calm before a strange pulling niggled at the back of her mind. It was the same thing that had awoken her. She pulled away slightly and moved to wrap her arms around Bruce in a hug, taking the moment to glance over his shoulder to a broken down wall and rubble on an overlook some ways away. She could sense whatever it was pulling at her mind coming from that direction and it was insistent. It was similar to the pull she had felt back on the ship before this entire mess started.
Pyragia was calling her.
'The Great Mother?' Erin's voice was confused within their shared mind. 'How?'
A good question and one that Ana did not have an answer to.
There was only one way to find out.
Meanwhile, Bruce had returned her hug, burying his face into the thick, copper brown curls and taking in a calming breath. The Other Guy was feeling on edge and, fully aware of the nearness of their mates, was on high alert of anything out of place. Trying to keep the rage under control seemed a little easier this time around since Ana and Erin had essentially "opened" and cleared the dark wall that had always been between the two. Yet, it was still a challenge at the moment.
The constant threat of the Titan looming over them and, with his previous failure at fighting him, the Hulk was eager for a second round.
Tightening her hold over him, Ana turned her head to press a warm and loving kiss against his neck. She knew… She knew that this fight to come was going to be the worst they had faced so far…
And there a good chance not all of them would make it out of this.
"No matter what happens Robert Bruce Banner," said Ana as she pulled away to look him in the eye. "Know that I love you, mon amour. I love Luc and Beccie… I love the family we built together. There is nothing that I would not do, no price too great for me to pay, to protect all of you."
Bruce frowned at her as he looked at her, understanding was there in his warm brown eyes but it did not mean that he liked the words coming from her. "We're going to win this Ana and we're going home together."
Ana smiled at him, the tears welling in her eyes as she gave a firm nod. "Right." She reached up to brush his short salty brown hair and pulled his head forward to kiss his brow. "I need some privacy, sadly they don't have ladies rooms around…"
A weak chuckle escaped him as he released her and helped her up to her feet, watching the subtle dark violet glow of the Space Stone in her right hand. "You'll be OK on your own?"
Ana waved him off as she started walking toward the overlook with the toppled wall, the source of the pull coming from that direction. "I just have a magic stone stuck in my hand, mon amour, I'm not an invalid. I'll be fine."
Bruce gave another nod though he kept his gaze on her as she picked her way across debris, broken stone and other bits of refuse that littered this broken world. The moment she disappeared behind a broken wall on an overlook, he let loose the breath he had been holding and turned his attention back to their eclectic group.
Tony and Quil were still arguing over the positions that Tony wanted to place Mantis and Spider-Man.
Shaking his head, he made his way over to where Tony was standing to find out just what their game plan was.
-o-
The moment Ana had rounded the corner of the broken wall, and was safely out of the line of sight of the others, she quickly looked around for the source of the pull.
Why was the Lyttans' home world pulling at them from here? Was it a wild portal of some kind?
She was on edge as she searched through the rubble for signs of a distortion, a spark of unknown magic, anything.
"Erin…" The voice that called the name of Ana's Lyttan side was husky and female.
It had not been expected and Ana whirled around in fright, her heart nearly jumping out of her chest. She had been about to pull on her magic in defense when Erin suddenly took control.
'No! Don't! Ana, that is… this is… it's her,' said Erin, her voice filled with awe as she studied the inhumanely tall woman that had materialized from out of no where.
A lingering of dark red fluid energy swirled about her form as she stood before them, a kind and loving smile on her face. With thick black hair hung like a sheet of silk about her face, her skin a deep olive tone and glowing yellow eyes, she was instantly familiar and achingly beautiful to behold. There was something distinctly feral about her and it was something Ana recognized as a part of Erin. The slight point to her ears gave the alien woman a somewhat elven quality and it was this that Erin recognized above all else.
'The Great Mother… She is real…' said Erin, her voice was wavering in disbelief and nervousness. 'Pyragia… Erai and I thought her nothing but legends that she still lived...'
'Erin?' Ana asked, her confusion quite evident. How could a planet be a person?
The woman's smile grew at the confusion she saw on Ana's face. "Hello Erin… My youngest daughter… it eases the ache in my heart to see you with my own eyes" Her gaze shifted as she took in the form Erin now had and the look of approval was not hard to miss. "You are stronger. You chose well in your merging." Her glowing eyes flicked back up to Ana's and the sadness briefly passed her face. "Thank you for saving my daughter, Ana. You have my enteral gratitude."
"Wha…" Ana's breathless question lingered on the air as she stared at the alien woman that seemed to be Erin's true mother. "How…? Who…?"
The woman let out a soft laugh. "My name is Ragia and I know who you are thanks to your ally, a son of Odin."
The confusion cleared right away as a bright smile appeared on Ana's face. "You met Thor?"
"We saved him after the Titan and his Children had left the remnants of that ship."
'We?' asked Erin, her question directed to Ana but it answered by another.
"Your mother, Lytta and I," said Ragia, ignoring how Ana had stiffened in surprise. "Thor told us what had happened on that ship. Lytta had gone to help Thor obtain a new weapon and I… I came here to help you and yours…"
"How…?" Ana barely got her question out.
Ragia smiled. "You are my daughters… Being the children of a Celestial has its advantages yet privacy is not among them if I so choose."
The silence that fell was thick but not for any other reason than surprise.
Everything from before had clicked into place, everything that they had learned and known about the Lyttans over the years.
"You're the Ancient One who split the Reality Stone in half…" Ana said, her voice naught but a whisper as she stared at the taller woman.
The woman did not voice a response to this but gave a single nod in confirmation.
Oh god… This answered so many questions and yet…
"The time for questions will have to be for when we meet again," said Ragia, reading Ana's thoughts, as she took a few steps closer to Ana. "And we will my little one… Yet, for right now, we have a potential catastrophe to avoid if we can. This Titan is unlike any being you had faced so far with a will stronger than any being I had come across. I am not sure how well you and your group would fair against him on your own."
Ana and Erin, who had so many questions for the Celestial, agreed that she made a fair point.
The time for questions would have to wait for a better moment when they were not in the middle of a battlefield.
"What do you suggest we do?" Ana asked as she studied the taller woman, still in awe of the fact that an ancient being was Erin's true mother. "We have no choice but to fight."
"The Infinity Stones are not just pretty rocks with unfathomable power," said Ragia as she began to walk around Ana, her face set in slight frown. "They are living, nearly sentient things. The left over remnants of the universe that came before this one. The Great Collapse of that universe gave birth to this one and the Stones carry what is left of the beings who had lived and died within it. We Celestials were born from those same remnants, which is why we can handle the power of the Stones better than others - to a degree."
She turned to look at Ana as she stopped walking. "The Reality Shard that we guard is a parasitic energy that thrives off the possession of others. It has, sadly, spread to all of you and your children the moment Lytta and I had chosen to birth you into this universe. It can regenerate itself and form a fully functioning Stone if its host is strong enough to will it so. The only way I can think to truly save this universe from this Titan's deadly will is to beat him at his own game. If you are willing, I can help you with this. You are not a full Celestial but you have inherited one of my abilities. Would you be willing, my daughters, to let me help you?" She paused at this as a shaky breath escaped her. "I… I can't promise what will happen as a result of this or if it can be undone if his will overpowers yours but… it would be better a chance than you had."
Erin and Ana were silent as they studied the woman before them.
With all that they had been through, what other choice was there?
They had their family's future hanging in the balance and to lose them all…
To lose Bruce all over again…
Ana closed her eyes, feeling Erin's agreed thoughts through the clear wall between them. "…What do we need to do?"
-o-
(A/N) Mmmph... -=points at Troy Baker and his portrayal of Bruce Banner in the Avengers game.=-