Infinite (A Marvel Fanfic)

Chapter 41

Chapter 41

" We have to go back." I told Chloe for the 15th time.

After dropping me through a portal, we had ended up on a rooftop in what Chloe told me was Budapest. " Would you calm down, please, I need to tell you something." Chloe pleaded, and I turned on her mid pace. Dahlia appeared on raised part of the roof a few feet away with Marley on her lap, and Jami leaning against the wall below her with her arms crossed and a frown on her face; each surrounded in a Kaleidoscope of yellow, red, and purple light. Then to Chloe right, a flash of green light appeared and a young man stood before us. His hair appeared black, but as the light of sun setting in the distance hit it, I realized it was actually a very dark green color, his eyes were the same and seemed to spark with a hidden light.

 " When?" I asked looking at Chloe and she grinned. " The jewel that Strange was wearing, that must have been the time stone."

I glanced toward our new arrival and he nodded in confirmation before speaking one word. " Avery."

" What?" I asked confused and he smiled. " My name. That is what I wish to be called."

" I like it." Jami said and Dahlia grinned in agreement.

" So, now what?" I asked and they exchanged a look, before Chloe stepped closer. " You've found the pieces, now you just need to find yourself, Aria."

" Find myself? How?" I questioned and Marley appeared next to me with a small. " Just like you found us, and woke us up. You find the last stone."

" Space." Chloe said

" Reality." Dahlia continued.

" Power." Jami added standing up straight and moving to follow Dahlia to stand next to Marley as she pulled on my sleeve again. " Mind."

" Time." Avery muttered

" Soul." They said as one as they stood around me and I frowned but before I could say anything, a feeling of weightless flew through me and I found myself falling backwards. One minute I was standing in Budapest, the next I was floating in the middle of a hospital.

" You have to return to your body, you don't have time." I heard strange say and I followed his voice to a balcony where I found him talking with the Ancient One. " Time is relative. Your body hasn't even hit the floor yet." I floated toward them but neither turned as she continued. " I spent so many years peering through time, looking at this exact moment, but I can't see passed it. I've prevented countless, terrible futures, and after each one there's always another. They all lead here, but never further."

" And you think this is where you'll die?" Strange asked

" You wonder what I see in your future?"

" No." Strange responded and she looked at him with a smile causing him to look away. " Yes."

" I never saw your future, only it's possibilities. You have such a capacity for goodness, you've always excelled, but not because you craved success, but because of your fear of failure. "

" It's what made me a great doctor."

" It's precisely what kept you from greatness. Arrogance and fear, still keep you from learning the simplest and most significant lesson of all."

" Which is?"

" It's not about you." Surprise crossed his face and she explained how someone else had come to her for healing, and that he now channels dimensional energy directly into his spine.

" So, I could get my hands back? My old life?"

" You could. And all the world would be a lesser for it. I hated drawing power from the dark dimension, but as you well know, we must break the rules in order to serve the greater good."

They discussed Mordo and that only together could the two of them stop Dormamuu from returning to this realm. " I'm not ready." Strange said.

" We don't get to choose our time. " She said taking his hand. " Death is what gives life meaning. To know your days are numbered, your time is short. You'd think that after all this time I'd be ready, but look at me, stretching one moment out into a thousand just so that I can watch the snow."

Strange disappeared as the ancient one faced me and I frowned at her as she sighed. " Aria Stone, your destiny is tied to so many others, weaved in and out of the tapestry of time. You came to me, not for healing like so many do, but for answers.  Answers even I don't have. We all have a point in our lives where we ask the unanswered question of 'why do we exist?'. " She looked toward the window again. " Your purpose was decided long ago, Aria, by forces we do not know. In the end, I hope you make right choice."

" What choice?"

" That's for you to decide."

And just like that, she was gone.

Would have updated sooner but wattpad decided to temporally delete Infinite from my profile, reading lists, and works.  Thankfully it's back now. I will also be updating I Am Sam, as soon as it returns.