She screams in anger as she throws another book across the room.

"Tan…?"

"The pompous, self-serving fools! I hate them all! I hate them all!"

"Tan…"

She whips around, her face finally displaying all her anger and betrayal.

"They tortured Tora! Every single day of her life, she lived in agony! She had to live with poison inside and out, every day! Saving people who hated her! She never deserved this!"

"I know, Tan… I know…"

"And what did you ever do? Eh, Cap? Where were you when Tora was killed!? Why didn't you have an Avengers team on Utopia?! WHERE WERE YOU!?"

She pulls away, looking at me like I'm a murderer… Like I killed Tora… And in a way, I did. I should have done more for the X-Men. I should have been there for Tora. But I wasn't. And now she's dead and Etana is looking at me as if she hates me and a part of me can't help but whisper that she's right to hate me.

Etana has crumpled, lying on the floor with her head in her hands.

"Tan…"

"She could have lived forever… Don't you get that? She could have lived forever…"

She looks at me, her eyes dark.

"I felt in her, finally, there was one I need not fear for. She would always survive –survival was her skill. She could fight and would fight. I just never thought she'd fight so hard she'd kill herself."

"Tan, you think I wouldn't give anything to bring her back…"

She whips around.

"YOU DON'T GET IT, DO YOU?!"

She stands, and flames flicker for the briefest instant.

"SHE CHOSE THE DOOR! SHE WENT THROUGH THE DOOR AND NOW SHE CAN'T COME BACK! SHE CAN'T EVER COME BACK! SHE CHOSE THE DOOR AND I'LL NEVER SEE HER AGAIN!"

I stop.

"The…Door?"

Tana stops and slumps.

"The Door. It's the portal from the minor Afterlifes –the Underworld, Valhalla, Hel, the various Hells- into the true Afterlife. The Door to Judgement if you would. Once you pass that, you can't ever leave –not that you would ever want to. It is Death's true domain. And Tora chose to go through. She felt it was her time. She heard the voices singing and they lured her past me before I could beg her to stay."

My heart sinks.

"Can't you… I don't know, call her back?"

Etana shakes her head.

"It would take something a lot more powerful than a mere servant of Death. You'd need one of the Predecessors, or the Firsts."

"Meaning?"

"The Predecessors are the cosmic beings who preceded the universe. The Living Tribunal, the Phoenix Force –and don't suggest Hope try it. It would take vast amounts of power –more than enough to kill her –and there's still the Law of Balance. A life would be required to bring Tora back. And it can't be an unwilling sacrifice. It has to be a life given willingly."

"That's…complicated…"

She looks at me.

"And that's why Tora won't come back. No one will bother with her."