Infinity

Chapter 165

Nat's POV

Hearing Marlie's voice for the first time in years, especially after everything that just happened made me freeze. Only for a moment though, I didn't trust my legs just yet, so I just spun around from my spot on the ground. There she was looking the same yet also different from the last time I saw her. She stood there wearing what looked to be workout clothes. She had on a pair black leggings, a form fitting red tank top, and a tight black jacket. At the center of her chest was what looked to be an arch reactor, which I could only assume was the housing unit for her suit. Her dark wavy hair flowed freely down to the tops of her shoulders and her green eyes were just as vibrant as even.

I wasn't her physical appearance that was different though. No, it was the heaviness that seemed to weigh down on her. I could see it in her eyes and body language. Mentally, she wasn't doing well. She looked as if she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders and doing it alone. In a sense, I guess that was true.

Besides the visible weight, there was also a sense power radiating off of her. I don't know why I felt this from her, I couldn't see anything different, yet it was still there.

Marlie smiled down at me as if I was a lifeline. She walked over and offered me her hand. I took her hand, and she pulled me up to my feet and straight into her arms. It took me a moment to steady myself, but she was clinging to me so tightly that there was no chance of me falling. I'd missed my friend so much and this hug was one of the best I'd had, yet something about it worried me.

"If you squeeze me any tighter, I might burst." I chuckled trying to release some of my worried tensions.

Marlie hugged me even tighter for a moment, before stepping back. I smiled down at my friend. "It's good to see you Marlie. I've really missed you." I told her honestly.

The smile she gave me was genuine, but I saw the underlining sadness in her eyes. "Yeah, I've missed you too."

I then looked around. "Where are we?" I asked her, not wanting my first question to be about my observations. It wasn't hard to come up with a different one, since I had tons of questions to ask.

"The Soul Realm. It's a place the Soul Stone created where all of the souls of the people connected to the stones to go after they die." She said plainly with a slight shrug.

This whole thing sounded crazy, yet here we both were. Did I really need to understand why? No, there were other things I needed to know.

"Have you been here all this time?" I asked, trying to figure out what was wrong without flat out asking.

Marlie gave me a nod with a sad expression on her face. "Yeah. When the snap occurred, the stones fought against their own powers to try and keep me alive. When that didn't work, the Soul Stone sent me here instead."

I couldn't believe it. She'd been here this whole time. She was living here, in what appeared to be an empty world, alone. It was a miracle she hadn't gone completely insane. I understood now why she looked how she did. I hated this for her. And I hated that none of us knew. Not that there would have been anything we could have done but knowing that one of my best friends had been somewhat alive and alone in this world for five years didn't sit well with me.

"So, you've been here alone, for five years?" I asked carefully, who knows what mental state she was in right now and I didn't want to upset her.

She shook her head. "It's complicated. The concept of time doesn't exist here, just the feeling of it."

I gave her a confused look, so she continued. "Basically, everything here never ages or changes. Time isn't a thing here, yet it feels like it does. My mind can feel that I've been here for what feels like years, but my body doesn't. I don't need sleep, or food, or even air in my lungs, because my body is frozen in time, but I still remember every moment here. I have five years' worth of memories, yet my body hasn't changed... If that makes any sense."