ILLYRIS | ix. "SHE'S THE BEST THEY COULD ASK FOR." THE MOTHER OF MAGIC
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THE WORLD WOULD be rejoicing soon enough. The greatest evil that could plague the universe was vanquished and that cheesy outcome of "good triumphing over evil" proved more true than Theadora would've thought.
Thea also never imagined taking the Infinity Stones off of Tony Stark's corpse would be the way she would finally wield the mythic Ember. She believed it would be in a moment of divine justice granted to her as the blood of her enemies spilled on the ground. She would take the stone, victorious, and reclaim it for the Valaryens once again.
But not this way, she thought, kneeling down in front of Tony. It shouldn't hurt this much.
She was told the Stones had to be returned to their respective timelines, part of the "heist" the surviving Avengers organized to take a stand once again. She felt her heart break once again as she learned of the sacrifice Natasha Romanoff made to acquire the Soul Stone.
With a heavy heart and solemn silence, the remaining few took each of the six jewels off and left the red one for her to observe out of blatant respect. For a few seconds, the conquering Maegya disappeared and she looked like a young girl again, entranced by the beauty of the stone in such a devastating context, the object of her greatest desire.
It was right there— the reason for her long journey across continents, the endless conflicts, the deaths of her loved ones, galaxy-wide murder and slaughter, the eons-long war between gods and witches: The Reality Stone.
Thea reached out to touch the jewel lodged in that gauntlet that was practically smelted into Tony's cold flesh. The vision had flashed in her mind, surrounded by gold rather than nanotech. But this wasn't a vision. That was real. She touched one of the facets, resting her fingertips on the cosmic entity that many of her ancestors' hands rested on for so many centuries.
Steve looked down at the girl in silent confusion, perplexed by the conflicted expression on her face. He didn't know, how could he?
The maegi looked up at him, the corner of her mouth twisting up wryly. "When I was a girl, my sister told me it was the most powerful entity to ever exist in the world. With it, we became one with fire. It gave us the blood of gods and dragons. Can you imagine what that sounded like to a three-year-old kid?"
Thea was met with appropriate silence. She looked down at the Stone and with a small twirl of her fingers, it dislodged with a melodic clink. A gentle warbling filled the solemn air as the jewel danced gracefully in the sky and settled in the palm of her hand. With one touch, she could feel its raw power flood her senses and she wondered if this was how her ancestor Rhaenar felt, creating Dragofyre for the first time with the very stone she was holding.
Without a second's hesitation, she extended her hand and the stone hovered over to the suitcase, rejoining the five other stones. Thea inhaled shakily as the lid snapped shut. It didn't feel like a surrender.
