Picking Up The Pieces

21. Some New Changes

"Starlord!" Quill corrected him, not amused. Rocket waved a hand to shush him.

"And two," he continued, "The old fart under the sea told us that he won't tell us nothing if we don't have a Kree. Imagine the shock we got when we heard one was being held captive by a pirate crew." Hugonyn. That's why they hopped on the space craft. Technically, he was a Frost Giant-Kree mix, but I guess he fit the standard. That meant I did too.

"Okay, but you're not selling me, are you?" I asked Quill nervously. Groot gasped at the idea of it and glared at Quill as if that question had already been answered.

"God, no!" Quill exclaimed, holding a hand to his chest as if he had been hurt. Gamora rolled her eyes at his action. "He just wants to meet you. That's it." I wish I could believe those words. Nobody ever wanted to only meet a person.

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I looked down at the slightly grey water by my feet, my reflection showing. It was hard to breathe with the atmosphere's density. Luckily, it had a lot more water in it, allowing me air. I could hear Quill's soft breaths from the suit he was wearing.

"Our guy is down there?" I asked him, wading to my ankles. Before we had left the ship, Gamora had shown me a few chemicals that could keep my clothes dry while being underwater. "I'm guessing he's far away."

"Just a little less under a mile," Quill assured me. "But for us, we just have to get to the outskirts of the city. That's about 800 yards."

"Yay," I said to myself sarcastically. It felt so weird, being on a planet that was almost completely water. All the power around me was giving me a boost as if I had drank twelve cups of coffee. "Well, let's get to it then." Peter waded in beside me, and the two of us dove under once we felt the ground beneath us disappear. I was expecting it to be very dark, but the entire area was lit up with bioluminescent lights. Peter took charge; setting a propeller off in his suit so he could swim faster. I used my powers to create a small current following him.

The trip was silent as we swam. I couldn't help but look around in awe at the plant life around us. Small kelp gardens with colored rocks kept appearing, but as we went, some of the aliens living on the planet started to appear close by them. They looked human except for their grey skin with scales and gills. Centaurians, I think they were called? One that looked like little girl waved at me eagerly, and I waved back. Quill tapped my shoulder and pointed at a male Centaurian coming towards us. The two of us stopped in our place.

"Mr Quill," he greeted nonchalantly. "Mr Azulan didn't expect to see you so soon."

"Well," Quill sighed, the suit making his voice sound a little clouded, "tell him I have the item he wants." I glared at him. If he called me item a second time, that suit was going to be crushed into a tin can. The Centaurian nodded and motioned for us to follow him. As we passed by buildings, it reminded me of the summer feudalism project I had helped Peter on. My heart clenched, and I continued on. This was the second to last mission left. I was finally going to get to see him. "I know that look," Quill said quietly to me.

"What look?" I questioned him, giving a small smile. My voice sounded a little weird underwater, but it wasn't in a bad way. I never tried speaking in water, but it sounded so... angelical.

"The look of wanting to be with someone," Quill chuckled. "I'm guessing you have someone waiting back home?"

"Not really," I sighed. "I mean, I have someone I miss, but I don't think he misses me the way I miss him. Everything is just weird."

"Elaborate on that." I made sure we were still behind the Centaurian. Several others of his kind stopped to gawk at us. The city seemed similar to Queens with the milling people, but as if Queens was in the Renaissance.