Title is from "Frozen Pines" by Lord Huron

Guardians of the Galaxy belongs to Marvel

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Chapter 14: Frozen Pines

Eternity, wearing Nebula's body like a poor imitation -the smile was too bright, the mannerisms too lose- stepped away from the tree he'd been leaning on and it vanished behind him.

"A talk sounds good," Peter said, standing up to face him. "I have some questions."

"I'm sure you do," Eternity said smoothly. "Ask. And with the time we have, I will do my best to answer."

"Your sister, the one helping Thanos-"

"-using Thanos," Eternity corrected him with an easy grin.

"Right. It's Death, right?"

"Yes, that is her mortal designation."

"Okay," Peter breathed. "I'm sure that's good to know, somehow... Next, can you send me back? To my timeline I mean-Can you send me home?"

"No, time is not my designation."

"Worth a shot," Peter let out in a huff. He'd suspected it wouldn't be that easy anyways. "So why do you need me? And, I mean, why now? If this fight of yours has been going on since, well, forever, why wait until Thanos is so powerful?"

Eternity crossed his arms and shrugged them helplessly, the expression looking all kinds of wrong on the assassin. "It wasn't my intention to wait so long. Ego was so caught up in his quest to consume the galaxies that it took far longer than I had hoped to steer him to Earth."

"Why Earth?" Peter couldn't help but ask. He knew he was drawing Eternity away from his own questions, and more important matters, but Eternity had mentioned his impatience to get Ego to Earth twice now. Peter had always assumed it was a fluke that he was able to do what he could, but now he was beginning to suspect otherwise.

"It had to be Earth," Ego confirmed Peter's suspicions. "No other planet carries the Light within its veins like your home world does. Did you think it was a coincidence that you alone, of all his children, could carry the Light? And that Cosmo, a mere beast, not only survived consuming from a Celestial, but now thrives under a power that should have consumed him instead? Two brothers from Earth are the only beings in the universe to wield the Light, and you never made the connection?" Ego's brow's raised in a mocking expression that was almost fitting on Nebula's face. "Perhaps, you are not so clever as I had thought"

Peter scrunched up his face. "There's no Light on Earth, what are you talking about?"

Eternity let out a sigh. "Before Ego, I had an idea that I could fashion a champion myself. I had my remaining Celestials create a body, a perfect being, containing limitless potential to adapt and change, and infused with more Light than had ever before been gifted to a mortal. He was to be my final creation, and in time, my avatar, but he was a failed champion. Too volatile, to wild, and the body simply would not hold up against time and power as I had hoped. Before I could see to its destruction, my sister caught word of what I was planning. She did not know that I had already dismissed the idea, and sent her agents to steal the body from me. I will not waste our time here with all of the details, but the body was lost in the ensuing chaos.

"It wasn't until nearly a millennia later, when the last of the Celestials had been dismissed from existence, that I tracked it down again. It had somehow found its way into one of the least developed patches of the universe. I suspect someone had taken it there for hiding, and their plans had failed, for the vessel it was being transported on was destroyed. It plummeted through the atmosphere and collided with a planet already filled with life. There, it saturated the planet, the bits of his body burned up in the atmosphere and the blood spilled upon his impact were imbued with a pure Light that leaked into the rivers, the land, the very core of the planet Earth. The body did not die upon impact, however. It took time, a great deal of it, but the bits that remained were able to regenerate. I had designed it to be nearly indestructible by mortal means. Time and the impact had done it's damage, though. My first, failed, champion held no memories of his original purpose, and sought to make himself a new life among these feral creatures. Apocalypse, I believe they called him. A fine Irony, I always thought. He proved too vicious even for them, and was subdued, but his influence had already spread into the populace.

"Humans, Terrans began to appear with unique attributes. The Light that burned within their veins, -barely a drop of water compared to the ocean of power that resides within you even now, but wild and raw- was enough to warp them. My original champion bore DNA from all things that ever were, and bits of this would burst to life at random within his progenies. No other species had ever boasted the sheer variation of powers that cropped up within them. Most developed traits that were simple enough- strange limbs, odd quirks of larger powers belonging to distant alien civilizations, while others might be granted powers that should have been withheld from only the most elite of mortal beings. In others, still, the power lay dormant, but could be drawn forth through moments of extreme distress. Your mother was one of these, possessed of no obvious gift, but blessed with potential.

"Earth has always been a place of cataclysmic change. Powerful forces from across the galaxies flock to it despite its humble appearance. The Light draws them in- often without their knowledge- something instinctual and beyond their understanding.

"So you see, Peter, it had to be Earth. It had to be a human. No other creature could interact with the Light the way they could. All of his other children failed when the Light found no purchase within them and fizzled out long before they were born. Even the ones who came from lines once blessed by the Light were too specialized, and could not handle the sheer power needed for his purpose, and when he tried to force the connection the power consumed them. Burned them up from within."

"And they died..." Peter breathed, his head reeling from all he had learned. His mother had possessed the Light?

"All but you, Peter," Eternity was continuing as Peter's head span. "You were born to the Light. You were born for this. For me."

Peter's head snapped up.

"What do you even think I can do here?" he demanded, unsettled as ever by the hunger that seemed to be always present in Eternity's eyes, no matter what form he stole. "I'm not strong enough to take on Thanos right now. I couldn't even take on Ronan. He thrashed me, in case you forgot about the whole me almost dying thing, because I haven't." He held up his still healing hands for proof.

"That's why you need me," Eternity soothed, stepping closer again. "To help you. To offer guidance and lend you power. You are capable of so much more than you ever dreamed. You're right, you're not strong enough to defeat him on your own right now, but with my help, you can be. My sister wants to shift the balance of power in the universe by removing uncountable souls from existence, I merely want to prevent that tragedy. Would you truly refuse to help me for fear of losing your own life? You have my word that I will do everything within my considerable abilities to preserve it. I have no intention of sacrificing you to my cause, Peter." Eternity was standing right in front of Peter now, staring up at him with dizzying stars swirling in his eyes. Peter felt like if he stumbled, he could fall into them and be lost in their terrifying depths forever.

"What about my friends? Would you sacrifice them?"

Eternity hesitated for a moment. "I would prefer no one die beyond the natural order, and with the powers I lend you, wouldn't you be all the more able to protect them? Isn't that why you're here on Ego's planet to begin with? I would only help you towards that goal."

"I-I don't know-"

"You do not have to answer this moment," Eternity interrupted Peter's stuttering reply. "We have some time, but only some, so I will give you that time to think. Now, you are growing weak. Is there anything else you would ask before you return?"

An idea struck him suddenly. "Gamora's parents! You know all the souls in the Universe right? So you must know where they are."

Eternity pursed his lips and tilted his head. "Not necessarily. I do not keep tabs on every living soul any more than you know each individual cell which makes up your body. I would not know where in the cosmos they are."

"Could you find them, though? At this rate-"

"I will look into the matter if you wish, but you will likely find them long before I ever could. It is time to sever the connection so you may return to your world before you exhaust yourself too far. You may call on me again when you are rested and ready. Until then, think on what I've said." Eternity raised his hand and placed one slender blue finger against Peter's forehead, much as Ego had that morning, and he was swept away.

-x-

Peter awoke with a gasp, his lungs burning and screaming for air as if he'd been holding his breath the whole time he was gone.

"Peter?" Nebula's voice, tinged with worry, reached his ears between his heaves.

"Ah'm-" he choked out. "Ah'm okay... I'm alright... Just gotta- gotta catch my breath." A few more gasps and he was feeling better. With a cough to clear his throat he straightened back up and found Nebula hovering over him, one hand held out like she had been reaching towards him.

"Your eyes," she said, straightening up, but remaining unusually close.

Peter reached up to pat at his face, suddenly worried he was weeping blood or something equally horrifying, but he felt nothing. "What's wrong with my eyes?" he asked.

"You should... look at your reflection," she said slowly, indicating the nearby pool.

While Peter had been out, the world had grown considerably darker. The sun must be setting up above. Curious, Peter stumbled to the edge of the pool and summoned a ball of energy to his palms to use as a source of light. It came, but it was sluggish and surprisingly difficult to summon, and he was hit with a wave of unprecedented exhaustion.

It took a moment for him to realize that the shadows weren't playing tricks on him, and in his reflection his eyes were flooded with a deep purple, cut through with sparkling stars and colorful blobs of galaxies. He looked like Eternity. The edges of his eyes were traced with the deep black and purple, dark cracks running through his skin like he'd been poisoned. As he probed at the discolored flesh, the effect began to fade, his eyes returning to their normal bright color and the inky spiderwebs retreating.

"Whoah," Peter couldn't help but say. "Were they like that the whole time I was out?"

Nebula appeared beside him at the pool. "Nearly. They were glowing white at first, similar to how Cosmo's appear at times, but then they started turning into... this." She waved one hand to gesture at his face where the last traces of the darkness were fading away. "Did you find him, then?"

Peter let the ball of Light in his hand flicker out, too tired to maintain it. "Yeah. I found him. And I think we should go back to the others to talk."

Nebula glanced up at the rapidly darkening sky. "I know a shortcut back."

The assassin lead him through the forest, cutting a path through the trees that took them to the canyon's edge much faster than it had taken Peter to come out. Peter let out a long sigh as they approached the bottom of the sheer drop.

"Can you get up?" Nebula asked him.

"Yeah, my boots'll get me up." It wouldn't be graceful, but he knew he could make that distance. "Do you want a lift?"

Nebula made a face and inched away as if she thought he might reach out and try to grab her. "No," she said. "I'll meet you up there."

-x-

The others were waiting for them back in the greenhouse dining room. With the sun sunk below the horizon, Peter had expected to have to eat his dinner in the darkness, but apparently Mantis had mentioned the lack of lighting when she'd seen Ego before breakfast that morning and Ego had fashioned some small light sources into the greenhouse. The others had already eaten, but there were a couple of plates left out for Peter and Nebula. While Peter ate, he shared the details of his latest encounter with Eternity.

"Your eyes were filled with galaxies?" Mantis asked with a gasp as his story came to an end, leaning over the table and craning her head as though she was checking to see if there were any stars left inside of them.

"Yeah, it was crazy! I looked like Eternity. It faded pretty quick, though."

"Did you feel strange?" she asked, eyes shining bright with excitement and curiosity.

"Just tired," Peter admitted. "I guess there's some sort of time limit for how long I can talk with him. Or something. It's not that bad, though. I'm already feeling better."

"How long do you think you managed?" Drax asked.

Peter chewed his lip in thought. "I dunno, a few minutes, maybe more, but not that long. I asked him about your parents, too," Peter said, pausing with his food half-way to his mouth to address Gamora. "He didn't know anything. I'm sorry."

Across the table, Gamora gave a dismissive gesture with her hands, but said nothing, and the table fell into a sullen silence for a while after that.

"Has there been any word from Ego?" Nebula asked Mantis once she had finished eating and was gathering her dishes. "Will he be returning to tutoring Peter tomorrow?"

"I do not know," Mantis answered quietly. "He has not been back since the call from the Nova Corps."

Nebula rolled her eyes in disapproval before leaving to clean her dishes.

Again, Peter was caught between relief and a sense of duty. "With or without him, I'll keep working on it tomorrow," he promised the Guardians. "I think I almost have fire down, and it's not like Ego was being all that helpful anyways."

Mantis's dark eyes flickered up at him as though he'd just said something blasphemous.

"Speaking of tomorrow, I believe it is time to turn in." Gamora rose from her chair. She was speaking loud enough that she was probably including everyone in her statement, but she was looking pointedly at Mantis. "Get some rest, and make sure you stretch before you sleep or you will be unable to continue tomorrow."

"I will," Mantis promised as she stood as well, folding her hands and giving Gamora soft bobbing bow. "Have a good night, everyone."

The remaining Guardian's murmured their goodnights and everyone filtered away as Peter gathered his own dishes and brought them to the small room leading off from the dining room where the dishes were stored. A sink sat in one corner, and Peter set his dished into it. He briefly considered just leaving them to deal with the mess in the morning when he was less exhausted until Nebula, who had been putting her own freshly washed and dried dishes back where they belonged cleared her throat.

"If you leave them there, Mantis will be stuck with them in the morning."

"Yeah," Peter sighed, grabbing the scrubber and turning on the water. "If Ego can just make this stuff at will, why doesn't he have a system where he just makes new ones every day?"

"Don't be a spoiled brat." Nebula closed the last cupboard with a soft click and Peter felt a heat rise on his cheeks at her admonishment.

"Sorry," he mumbled. He didn't even have the energy to pretend to defend himself with the usual quips. She said nothing, which was probably as good as forgiveness right now. Over the sound of running water he could hear her footsteps leading towards the door. "Are you going back out?"

The footsteps stopped. "You're too exhausted to come with me, and I'm not dragging you back if you collapse."

Peter stifled a laugh at the thought. "That's not what I was after, but thanks for you're concern. It's been a few days and I don't think Rocket has been back yet..."

"Out with it."

"I was wondering if you could bring him something?"

"No."

"But-"

"I am not your delivery service. He is perfectly capable of surviving without our help. If you ask Mantis, I'm sure some food has mysteriously gone missing by now."

"I know," Peter huffed, turning off the water and grabbing a towel to dry with. "We've been here for a while now, though, and might need to leave soon. How am I supposed to explain everything and talk some sense into him if I never actually talk to him?"

"If you're that worried about it, stay here tonight, and maybe he'll come through. If he doesn't, I will show you a way through the canyon when you are more fit."

-x-

Peter did end up waiting for Rocket. He spent most of the time laying on the table and tossing a cup up in the air and catching it to keep himself awake, and wishing he had thought to ask Nebula to get his Walkman and maybe a pillow. She probably would have said no, but he could have at least asked. Sometimes she surprised him.

When his eyelids grew too heavy and his game of catch wasn't enough to keep them open anymore – leading him to miss a catch and the cup to land smack across the bridge of his nose- he moved to sit on the steps outside instead where the cool night air breathed a new life into his veins, bringing a plate of food with him just in case.

Nothing was happening, and he was considering turning in and getting at least some sleep before the sun rose on a new day when Rocket suddenly made an appearance.

"You're in the way, jackass."

Peter nearly leaped out of his skin. He hadn't even seen Rocket approach. One moment the court was empty, the next Rocket was standing on the steps off to Peter's side, his eyes glowing red against the silver moonlight and deep blue shadows. His team was comprised of three assassins, now that this universe's Rocket could fall into that category, that was nearly half. It was like trying to keep track of a bunch of feral cats in the dark; some times he couldn't find them to save his life, other times he couldn't seem to take a step without tripping over one.

"Rocket?" Peter straightened. "I was waiting for you."

"Yeah, I got that impression. Now move. Your fat ass is blockin' the door."

Peter glanced back at the open doorway behind himself. It was a good few yards back, and there was plenty of room for Rocket to walk past him, but apparently this was too close. "I was actually hoping to talk to you." He grabbed the plate at his side and held it up. "I brought food?"

Rocket's muzzle wrinkled in the beginnings of a sneer. "I'll get my own, Stalker-lord. This is the last time I'll ask so nicely; move, or else."

"Fine," Peter pouted, scooting a few feet to the side and taking a bite of the food himself, out of spite more than anything else.

This didn't seem to impress Rocket very much, who stalked silently past him and vanished into the doorway with a look of warning that made it fairly clear just what level of pain Peter could expect if he was stupid enough to try to follow. There was only one exit, so Peter waited patiently, snacking on his plate of rejected food, until Rocket returned.

"We can't stay here forever you know," Peter said as his yet-unwilling friend stepped back through the doorway. His eyes had reverted to their normal brown. The special red lenses were probably dismissed for the dining and storage rooms which were still bright from the new lighting system Ego had added in. "I need to go after Gamora's parents, and the Nova Corps is going to want us back eventually. It would be a lot easier for everyone if we could maybe... talk, and make plans before that happens?"

"I don't give half a flying Orlani's ass what promises you were dumb enough to make Gams, and I'm not working for you or for the Nova Corps."

"I'm not asking you to do anything except not get yourself and the rest of us killed, Okay?" Peter tried.

Rocket paused at the top of the steps to narrow his eyes and tilt his head. "And what if I tell you where you can shove your hero act, and I take the first opportunity I see of freedom anyways? What are you gonna to do to stop me?"

The food nearly slid off of the plate in his hands as Peter deflated miserably. "Nothing," he murmured, staring at the tips of his boots. "I couldn't stop you if I wanted to, and I won't force you to stay. I'll ask, though, or beg, or bribe. We need you, Rocket, and I just want to help you, what can I possibly do to convince you of that?"

"Well as luck would have it, I do believe you."

Peter's head whipped up, hope blooming in his chest so hard it physically hurt, but the humor in Rocket's eyes was dark and cruel.

"I believe you couldn't stop me even if you wanted to," he said with a wicked curve of his lips.

Peter opened his mouth, but nothing came out. What was he supposed to do here?

Rocket stared back at him for a long and terrible silence, like he was waiting for something, probably for Peter to change his mind or lose his temper after all, to tip his hand and prove this was all some sort of act. Peter did nothing, and, eventually, Rocket blinked. When he opened his eyes again they were red, and he was heading down the stairs, away from Peter.

On the last step he paused.

"You're looking in the wrong place, by the way."

It took Peter a moment to process the words. "What?"

"For Gams's parents," Rocket glanced back over his shoulder, his ears pinned back against his skull. "You're looking in the wrong spot. You'll never find them on some outdated prison that's probably been disbanded by now, you need somewhere more recent."

"Do you know where they are?"

"Nope! Ain't never seen 'em myself. But every time they send her away for her 'visits,' she comes back all loopy like she just had a fresh lobotomy, babbling on about how great her parents are and how much she loves them." Rocket made a disgusted face at this. "Last time they sent her somewhere new, somewhere closer to the front lines, and she came back reeking of manure. The smell hung around our whole flarkin' mission. I'm surprised it didn't give us away."

Peter's brows drew together. "How do you know where the Nova Corps is looking?"

"The video is routed through the ship, numbnuts. Guess Ego never thought to change that. I can see everything they send."

"Oh," Peter breathed. "Well, thanks Rocket, but why the sudden change?" Maybe Rocket had decided to help them after all?

Rocket turned to face Peter fully. "How did you know about the Hadron Enforcer?" he asked, his eyes narrowed accusingly. "That's my weapon. I invented it. I only ever told one person what I named it and I know she ain't never told nobody. Never had the d'asted chance to- so how does someone like you know?"

"You told me. The you I met on Xaandar. You tried to save me and Gamora with it and nearly blew us up in the process, and later, you and Drax used it to destroy Ronan's hammer so I could grab the Stone. It was a bit different there. You had to have Drax fire it because it had such a big kickback."

There was a spark of something in his eyes, like a recognition or surprise, but before Peter could place it, Rocket turned away and was leaving. Peter sat back down on the steps and let him go without protest. He was pretty sure this had been some sort of test, and he had somehow managed to pass it.

End

Chapter 15 Preview: "...Oh!" Mantis exclaimed. "I thought there were less plates than usual. I wonder what he has been doing with them?"

"Probably throwing them into the canyon," Nebula supplied without looking up from her own food.

"Yes," a familiar voice drawled out from the doorway. "He has quite the arm on him..."

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This chapter would have been up days ago, but I couldn't find a title I loved. Both the opening and closing scenes were thing's I've had planned for ages, but they wound up not being attached to certain events I had in mind, so they're this little floaty bubble without an attached song. Eternity's scene was supposed to be a part of a chapter called 'On the Mountain Tall,' which wound up being changed around and replaced with another one. I might use it later on for a more Thanos-y chapter, since it fits his movie-version (But it didn't fit his comic self.). And Rocket's was supposed to be attached to 'The Queen of Peace,' which should be the next chapter.

Rocket calls Gamora Gams in the comics and cartoons. Honestly, I can't remember if he uses it in the movies. I haven't had time to watch them recently, but I don't think he does. But it gives me a way to highlight the difference in their dynamics in the new universe if so.

Ever since I decided to include Ego, which was a pretty early decision, I began working on this idea of the Light on Earth. Later, part of why I added Cosmo in (Aside from the fact I adore him, and he balances out Supergiant, and fills a lot of necessary plot moments) is that I could use him to link back to why Peter has the Light but no one else does. (I never could find a canon explanation anywhere for how Cosmo got the Light beyond getting it from the head on Knowhere.) It also let me link this story back to Earth and add in the X-men, making the 'wild Light' the 'X-factor' which somehow inexplicably allows humans to sprout both physical attributes and psychic or reality-warping abilities. Deadpool wound up being a big contributor to the idea as well, with the idea that the gene could be activated in times of extreme stress. I decided to link this in to the 'seeing the light when you die' thing, which may come up later in Tenebris, and came up in a way when Peter almost died and he saw both the Light and the Nothing (dark). That is, humans seeing the flash of light when they die is the Light trying desperately to keep its host alive.

This was a much bigger plot point before IW came out and I had to completely redo my version of Thanos, and a huge chunk of the story, but it's still going to be relevant. Anyways, about a month ago I discovered that in some of the Marvel comics, it actually is canon that the X-gene came from a Celestial which crashed to Earth, who's corpse rotted and soaked into the core of the Earth then saturated the planet, leading to mutants. My original plan was to use Apocalypse, the 'original mutant,' which my bad memory thought had crashed to earth, not been born on it, lol. I kind of still kept it, and compromised with myself by having Apocalypse be a kind of 'reborn' vessel, or the remains of the vessel's attempts to heal its self, leading to a baby with no recollection of its purpose, but possessing insane power. It makes it more complicated, but makes me happier, and gives me another thread to sew Tenebris in with(It can also be a way to explain why there are so many mutant humans, yet no such animals, though both reside on Earth and should have been infused equally. Humans with any relation to him can carry the mutant gene, while the rest of the humans and animals posses a sort of 'tolerance' for it, like Cosmo). Ultimately, I think this version works better anyways, so it can blur the timeline between Ego's birth and Peter's. Although we're never given a real idea of how old Ego is, aside from the universe already possessing intelligent life by the time he began exploring, it felt too close, and it was bothering me.

There's still more to it, more details to get into, and more links to make, but here goes one of the big reveals of the story(At least for me). Nothing to do now but cross my fingers and hope no one hates it. Everyone here is so supportive and nice, I don't know why I'm always terrified.

Also, I've posted up some Luciferous related art on my related tumblr; ThereareMonstersintheDark. Mostly Mantis and Ego stuff.

Sorry for the wall of text.

-OMaM