LANA gasped, her hand instantly finding her neck. It was still sore from where Thanos had squeezed. It was not sore but the memory of the action brought on phantom pains. 

She glanced around her surroundings and frowned. She had dreamt of this place. The large mountain in the middle of nothing. Below it, flat land with a shimmer of water over the top. It didn't even reach the top of her dirty boots. On the horizon, a purple sun sat blazing brightly yet gave no heat as Lana shivered, directly in its ray path. 

She frowned deeply as confusion overtook her. The hairs on her neck raised and she sensed a presence. Lana whipped around, her hands raised in defense aiming her powers at the being. She tensed as she saw the shadow figure advancing menacingly. 

They wore a dark robe, tattered at the bottom, but as Lana noticed it, she also noticed that the figure seemed to be floating instead of walking. 

"Who are you?"

He removed his hood and Lana grimaced at his appearance. His skin was an angry red colour. He had no hair on his head or face and his nose was cut away along with some of the skin on his face. Almost making him look as though her were rotting. Or much like a skull. 

"You're the HYDRA asshole," she addressed. 

He gave a low chuckle as he began to circle her like prey, "I don't see why the fates chose you. You're nothing but a weak, broken girl."

"I'll show you weak and broken," Lana growled, her eyes flashing orange. 

He chuckled once more, "You have fire. Good. That is what you will need to defeat Thanos." He turned and began to float toward the mountain. She hesitantly followed. Lana was cautious of the Red Skull. Steve had told her some pretty bad things about the man. However, he was the only one here, so maybe he could tell her where she was. 

"Where am I?"

"The Soul Realm," he responded beginning the trekk to the top of the mountain. 

"The what?" Lana paused. 

"You are dead."

She was stunned for a moment. She was dead and yet she felt very much alive. Her powers thrummed underneath her skin, begging for her to call on them. It was a large urge. She felt it prowl excitedly and she felt more alive that she ever had in her entire life.

As she stopped to think, she didn't notice that she was magically transported to the cliff of the mountain. She glanced around wearily as she snapped from her daze. The German man drawled, "I can't wait all eternity for you to climb a mountain. Watch."

Like looking through a haze, she saw the battlefield. Where she had been just moment ago and in fact her own death was replaying. 

Thanos gripped her neck tightly as he pulled her closer for him to whisper. "You, Phoenix, are no match for me. And with your death, the prophecy will be null and void," he whispered. He continued, "It is a shame that such power will go to waste." 

His hand lurched and a simple crack echoed as her body sagged. He tossed her to the ground carelessly, stalking toward where Wanda attempted to destroy the stone. Lana didn't care about that though. She was more concerned with her sister, who had screamed from her place locked in the ground. 

The older Romanoff sister fought against her bounds to no avail as she sobbed, crying out for the family she had lost. 

A light broke her stare away from Natasha as Vision was discarded to the ground, the Mind Stone pulling toward Thanos' gauntlet. Before he could move, a flash crackled through the air as lightning rained down — with it, a large axe. It embedded deep into Thanos' chest and he stumbled to a knee. 

Thor landed on the ground. He spoke a few words to the alien before pushing the axe further. Thanos muttered weakly, "You should have gone for the head." He lifted his hand and snapped. A heavenly glow shot from it and as it dissipated, Lana saw the damage. His arm was completely burnt.

"What did you do?" Thor questioned. "What did you do?!" he bellowed. 

Thanos gave no response as he disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

Steve stumbled forward, "Lana." His voice broke as he collapsed beside her body, turning her over. Her head rolled unnaturally and he sobbed, clutching her body tightly. 

As Natasha stumbled beside him, Lana had to look away. Seeing Natasha crying over her would absolutely break her. And she didn't need that right now. 

She heard the crying pause and looked back as her body slowly faded into dust before she was nothing in their arms. She frowned and glanced at the skull, "What is this?"

"You are the Phoenix. You will rise again. The world has selected me to teach you to control yourself."

Lana scoffed out a laugh, "Control? Yeah, you're such a model example of that."

"You are weak," he responded, turning and floating to the edge of the cliff. 

Lana's eyes blazed, "Weak?" She gripped him quickly, "I'll show you weak." The skull struggled in her hold and she yanked him forward, catching his throat in her hand. She pulsed her magic through her hand and he began to convulse as her magic stung him. She waited for a moment until he got the message before dropping him roughly. He collapsed at her feet choking, though he was dead, and she rolled her eyes and stepped over his hunched body. 

Lana took one look over the edge and frowned. It was a high drop. She stepped back as the skull collected himself and stood upright. 

"I knew you weren't weak. There is not much for me to teach you. You've already accessed the larger portion of power, therefore, you just have to use it."

"Larger portion?"

He didn't respond but made her look elsewhere. Her head turned and she watched Natasha and Clint ascend the mountain. For a moment she thought that she wasn't dead, and they'd found her. But she was disproved as they walked through her like a ghost. Lana whipped around to find the skull but noticed he wasn't there. Though he did stand in front of her, but he wasn't on her astral plane. 

Whereas before he gave off a ghostly presence, now he seemed to be whole again. 

"Welcome," he spoke to the visitors. Both Clint and Natasha drew weapons. What she thought was strange was that Clint drew a large katana instead of his usual arrows. As she circled around them, she noticed differences. Natasha's hair was once again long, and the red had grown back, with small strips of blonde. 

"Natasha, daughter of Ivan. Clint son of Edith," he spoke. Lana frowned. She didn't even know her father's name was Ivan. The two advanced. 

"Who are you?" Natasha questioned wearily. 

"Consider me a guide... to you... and to all that seek the soul stone."

Natasha responded sarcastically, "Oh good. You tell us where it is, then we'll be on our way."

The skull spoke amusedly in German, "If only it were that easy." Lana followed them as he lead the two over to the edge of the cliff, "What you seek, lies in front of you. As does what you fear."

"The stone'd down there," Natasha frowned. 

"For one of you. For the other... in order to take the stone, you must make sacrifices for those you love. An everlasting exchange. A soul for a soul."

Lana's eyes shot between the two as she caught on to what the skull was saying, "Natasha! It's a trick! Don't do it!"

Yet as she screamed, her sister did not hear her. 

His body remained there but his soul met Lana on her side of the astral plane, "You want one of them to die? You're sick."

"Neither needs to die. They just need to figure that out," he responded cryptically.

The two were trying to figure it out and Lana prayed to the highest god that they would figure it out. However, she didn't know what it was. She began to search for a way out. 

As she peered over the edge Lana frowned, replaying the words of the skull again. She whipped around and pointed at him, "You little bitch! You said 'sacrifice for those you love' not 'sacrifice those you love'."

"Let's see if your sister thinks the same way you do," he responded, "Either way, a soul for a soul."

Lana rushed to her sister, "Natasha you have to hear me, please. Please. You have to push him off. A soul for a soul. You have to push the skull off the cliff."

And almost as if Natasha had heard her, the older redhead's eyes turned to the skull's body. 

"Yes! Yes! Think about it!" Lana screamed. 

Natasha pulled Clint aside and Lana watched wearily as they walked toward the edge and simultaneously the skull. 

The skull suddenly spoke to them, startling them slightly, "Have you made your decision?"

"Yes," Clint responded. He took one step forward and shoved the skull back into the abyss. He tumbled from the mountain and smacked against the rocks below. 

"Didn't expect that to work," Natasha chuckled. 

Energy flowed through the mountain and a blue light cascaded over the two before they disappeared before Lana's eyes. 

"First person to ever get it right," the skull stated from behind her, causing her to jump. 

"I thought you were dead?"

"I am a soul, not a body."

"What now?"

"You've died. Now it's time for you to be reborn."