Age Of Miracles | Pietro Maximoff

Chapter Fifty-Four: A True Hero

Music is "Pain, Loss & Love" by Rupert Gregson-Williams from the Wonder Woman OST.

Picture is Jane Levy as Glory Maximoff.

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"Then your soul will heal. It will take much time. But given that time, you will eventually be you once more. Not the twisted creature that you were, or the problematic being you've become, but a true hero."

- Death

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CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

What is a victory if you didn't save anyone?

"A victory, nonetheless." Death appears beside me, appearing as the same cloaked figure that she always has. She sits beside me, keeping her distance as I let my sadness out. She's not just a whisper in my ear right now. She's actually here. "You won, Gloria. You defeated Thanos."

"Yeah?" I gasp, trying to get my sobs under control. "And what did I win? I won nothing! I won a dead universe, an empty pocket of shit! That's what I won."

"You have lost so much," Death sympathizes, her voice soft like my mom's. "What you have lost, I could never repay that debt. I knew I was right when I chose you to take my place, but this is too much for anyone. That's why you're a hero, Gloria. A hero does what they must, even when they know that they will lose everything. You are a true hero, Gloria Maximoff. There will never be another like you."

I laugh dryly, raising my head from my knees. "You're damn right, 'cause there will never be another person in this universe. They're all gone, Death. Every last one of them. Thanos killed them all."

Death's shoulders slouch, and she remains wordless for the next few moments. I can feel myself becoming more and more like her as time passes. What's left of Gloria Maximoff is fading away. Pretty soon, I'll be Mistress Death forever.

"I wish I hadn't gone through that portal after Pietro," I whimper. "That decision I made over ten years ago was a mistake."

"Love is never a mistake, Gloria."

"It is when you end up destroying the thing you love," I reply sharply. "If I had known what was coming..."

"What would you have done differently?" Death asks bluntly. "Deprived Pietro of the love of his life? Your children of their existence and mother? Yourself of the relationship you've reignited with you mother and sister? What of every hero whose lives you've touched, saved, brought happiness to? Those smiles weren't fake, my child. I have been around you your entire life. I have seen the joy you bring with you. You are pure sunshine, Gloria. Never doubt the difference you have made."

I wipe my nose with the back of my hand. "What difference have I really made in this world? I've married and had children. Maybe defeated a few villains. But what have I really done?"

"You defeated the greatest threat this universe had," Death responds with a small smile. "Thanos would have won without you. Everything your daughter, Elaine, swore would happen will never come to pass. We have you to thank for that."

"You know that for sure?"

"I do not need certainties, Gloria, just as you do not need regret. There is only ever what you make of it in this world. Good or bad, those don't exist. You have made things better for everyone in this universe, despite its end. Things may seem hopeless right now, my child, but soon you will see that everything happens for a reason."