⏳ --
The questions started straight after Steve and I met with Astra. As I walked side by side with her towards the other side of the camp, the Avengers wanted to know everything Primavera had talked to us about, Tony leading the charge:
"So what's goin' on?"
"Where are we goin'?"
"Are we gonna knock some heads?
"D'you think they have a drive-through around here?"
"If they do, can we get drive-through?"
Astra looked to be on the brink of thumping him, and I wasn't one to stop her when she lost her patience.
"Seriously, though," Nat said, "what are we doing?"
"We're rescuing someone important," Steve replied.
"And that would be?"
"General Gilliam," Astra replied. "We need him if we are going to win this war."
The closer we got to the edge of the camp, the groups of people milling around dropped away. The dark wasteland spread out before us, barren and desolate and dead. We couldn't trek through it on foot. There were hunters everywhere. We'd be picked off easily.
"I got a question," Tony said.
"What now?" Astra growled through clenched teeth. "Have you not asked enough questions?"
"Why can't you guys just open a portal to wherever we're going, save this guy, and come back? Sounds easy to me."
Just after he finished his sentence, a roar echoed in the distance, faint and eerie. More joined the single roar, a symphony of danger. I knew what they were. And I didn't want to travel on foot with them stalking the plains. We wouldn't get very far.
"What was that?" Clint asked, gripping his bow.
"Auradiam," Astra answered.
"Aura suckers," I added. "We use our powers to portal, they'll find us and suck our powers. We can't use our powers once we leave this camp." I glanced at Wanda. "You can't either."
"So how are we gonna rescue this guy?" Sam said.
"Astra." Chameleon walked towards us, leading three creatures. "You're going to need these to get to where you're going. You can't travel across land on foot with Auradiam roaming around."
I hadn't seen a Parthenope in a very long time. It was nice to see the gorgeous animals again. The body of a lion and the head of a wolf with elegant glowing stag antlers and head feathers of an eagle protruding out, it was the default mount in the Chronos. I hadn't ridden one in a long time. I was excited! No, that would be an understatement. I was ecstatic!
"What is that?" Tony wondered.
"Parthenope," I said, stroking the head of the nearest one. "We're riding them to the Caves. Aura suckers are their prey. They shouldn't come near us if we're riding them." I turned to him. "Unless the really brave ones emerge."
"We better get moving," Steve concluded. "Stark, Sam, you guys are flying. The rest of us are riding."
Tony held out a metal hand of earpieces. "We're gonna need these to keep in contact."
Each of us took one and nestled them in our ears. Astra examined hers, looking at it curiously.
"It's a communication devise, Astra," I said, trying hard not to grin in amusement. "You put it in your ear.
"Two to a Parthenope," she instructed, placing the earpiece into her ear.
The creatures lowered into a crouch. I mounted the closest one to me, gripping its mane where the lion part ended and wolf began. Steve sat behind me, sitting so close that we were touching. His arms snaked around my waist and clasped in front of me.
Clint and Nat shared one and Wanda sat behind Astra's.
"I probably should've told you that I've never ridden a horse," he whispered into my ear.
I chuckled. "Riding these animals isn't like riding a horse. I'd debate that it's better."
"Right," he replied half-heartedly.
"Don't worry. Just hold on." I turned my head slightly to send him a sideward glance. "Tight."
With a swift kick, our Parthenope shot forward. If Steve hadn't been holding on, he would've been left behind. As the camp got further and further away, the real trouble ahead was about to begin.
★ ★ ★
⏳ --
I couldn't tell if it was night or not. All around me – the desolate landscape and the black sky hanging over my head – the darkness was too much. It was like it was eating at my heart, poising it and blackening it like rotting apple.
"I'm kind of seeing us as sort of the cooler version King Arthur's knights," Tony remarked, flying above us with Sam. "Like, 'thus the quest be bestowed upon on the mighty heroes, they who strive to make the kingdom of Omega What's-It a better place'."
I scoffed. "And what are we called then, mighty knight?"
"King Stark and the Knights of the Hexagon Table!"
"Wait, hexagon?" Clint interrupted Tony's daydream. "King Arthur's table was round."
"Circles are boring, Barton. I'd rather something more outgoing and eccentric. A hexagon is just...me."
"Yeah, too many sides," Nat muttered under her breath.
"I heard that!"
"What a shame."
"You all talk too much," Astra grumbled.
"It's called banter," Tony countered. "You should try it sometime."
The gentle walking stride of the Parthenope underneath me was soothing. If I didn't have work to do, a mission to concentrate on, I'd lean back into Steve's protective and warm embrace behind me and drift away into bliss. But I couldn't. There was too much at stake, too much to think about.
"You okay, Andi?" Steve whispered into my ear.
I...I honestly wasn't sure if I could voice my answer. Was I okay? No. No, I wasn't. My people and time itself were hanging in the balance, and their survival was resting on my shoulders. It was up to me to lead those loyal to me against Eon. And we had to win. All hell would break loose if we didn't.
I wasn't okay. I was scared. I was terrified. What if I couldn't beat Eon? What if I couldn't succeed? What if my people were wiped out and time were to crumble at my feet? What if Eon won?
I couldn't lose. I refused to lose. But in the end, I wasn't okay.
"Andi?"
I blinked. "W-What?"
"You sure you're okay? You seem...distant."
"I'm fine. Really, I'm fine."
Steve gently hugged my body close to his own. "I've known you long enough to know when you're fine, and I know you're not. What's goin' on?"
I sighed, my fingers fiddling with the Parthenope's mane. "What if I can't do it? What if I can't beat Eon?"
"We will. We'll beat him."
"You don't know what he's like, Steve. He's dangerous. More dangerous than you think." I swallowed. "The...The things he's done. The things he's going to do..."
"Andi." He gripped my hand gently. I turned my head slightly to watch him smile affectionately from the corner of my eye. "We've been through a lot together. We fought in World War II. We took down HYDRA. We destroyed Ultron. I doubt that there's nothing we can't do."
I bit my lip. He didn't get it. He really didn't get it. Eon was no Nazi. Eon was no Hitler, nor was he the Red Skull. Eon was no agent of HYDRA, nor was he an assassin who'd been running around for seventy years with a metal arm. Eon was no walking artificial intelligence.
Eon was a power hungry and extremely dangerous Walker. Eon was a dictator powerful enough to corrupt all who stand in his wake. Eon was a murderous warmonger malevolent and insane enough to take down the hub of all Time Walker power. Eon was the most powerful enemy we were ever going to face. He wasn't going to be easy to defeat. Not by a long shot.
But I didn't want to argue. I didn't want to dampen Steve's spirits, to be the wet blanket in the moment.
I smiled back. "I hope so." I looked ahead at the wasteland stretching out before us. I honestly hoped we could. If we couldn't...billions were going to die.
❈Author's Note: Hey, there! Dayum, that Eon foreboding was fun to write. Hopefully it makes you nervous. It seems like not everyone is gonna return alive ;)
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