The Seventh Infinity Stone

A Soul for a Soul

Those three words gave me strength. Those three words allowed me to stabilize myself and concentrate my power. Those three words snapped me free of the Mind Stone. Those three words destroyed me.

My only other father figure, gone because of me. Because I was not strong enough to resist my own selfish desires. It was not fair. It was not right that a man who cared for everyone other than himself should be taken, because I cared only about myself. The universe seemed to be laughing at me.

I fell to my knees wailing, not realizing I dropped the pearl and ended the call with my mother. Each tear held more pain than the last in the vain attempt to express how I felt. No one checked what was making that awful, dreadful sound, not with the wailing and moaning of the demons being torn apart by the Sea of Chaos outside. I wanted to join them. I wanted to feel my soul being ripped apart, but I did not believe it would be more painful than how I felt. I was already torn to shreds.

I hugged myself, but it did not bring the comfort or closure I needed. Even though I knew it was the cancer that eventually took him, I blamed myself. He stopped fighting when he was getting better because of me. Another person I loved dead because I am a monster.

Cien once told me not to be afraid of pain, of emotion. I denied it. I said I was not afraid. Why would I be? But I was. I was afraid of being hurt. I was afraid to feel. I was afraid that if I allowed myself to feel I would hurt others. Not any longer. I embraced it all, the emotions I felt, all the pain surrounding me. For the first time since my father died, I acknowledged that my biggest fear this entire time, was myself. For the first time since being a little girl, I allowed myself to feel my own emotions and not suppress them. At the time I saw myself letting go and letting the emotions flow as a weakness, but I know better now.

Standing up I took a shattered breath. Having no more tears left to cry, my eyes were completely dry. I was nowhere near done grieving, but I had to get up and do the next right thing, and that was getting to the TVA. I was free of the Mind Stone, but I was going to carry through with what I had started. My father would not die in vain, my grandpapa would not die in vain. I would finish the job and help others not to feel the pain that was beating in my chest.

In my mind I formulated a plan, a dangerous guilt-ridden plan. Picking up the fallen pearl I stuffed it back in the bag and headed back to the throne room. Set was back on the throne and it seemed that Loki and Titus were having little to no success convincing him to give them the stone.

".... You've been making some valid points and offers, but I'm going to have to refuse," Set was saying and was about to say something else when he saw me.

His smile wavered and a look of shock crossed his face for a moment before disappearing. I mean, I do not really blame him; there I was storming in looking like a battle ready wailing banshee because of the kohl running down my face. I looked pretty deranged and dangerous.

"You've stabilized yourself faster than I had thought. Good for you, I guess. However, like I was telling your friends, I'm not going to be giving you the stone . . . What by my mother's starry elbows are you doing?!"

I half charged, half stomped up to his throne, grabbed him by his neck and yanked him off. He did not deserve that throne anyway (just look up the mythology about it, I am not wrong). Set was a very powerful being, but he did not try to fight back. I think he was more shocked than anything else.

"You're going to give up the stone with no strings attached, you got it?"

Set laughed despite my grip around his windpipe, "This is cute and all, but I have more control of my powers in the Duat than you do. I can easily turn you into sand and blow your parts across existence. I can overpower you and throw you into the Sea of Chaos. There are so many things I can do to make you suffer. With that in mind, what's going to stop me?"