⏳ --

"What kind of name is 'Guardians of the Galaxy?' If you guard the 'galaxy', how come I've never heard of you?"

"Shellhead's got a point," Clint added. "You're like Ben Affleck's creepy brother who nobody knows the name of?"

"Casey?" Nat said.

"That's it!"

I leaned against a table off from the group outside Primavera's tent. The Avengers and the Guardians were conversing, Stark and Clint pulling the piss out of the newcomers, and it was quite clear that this was going to end in tears.

"What kind of name is 'Avengers'?" the raccoon, Rocket, snarled back. "What kind of bullshit do you do?"

Sam nudged Steve standing next to him like a brick wall, arms crossed and stone-faced. "Language."

Steve sent him a don't even start glare his way.

"We avenge injustices," Stark fired back.

"And we guard the galaxy, including shrimps like you," the raccoon retorted.

"Shrimps?" Clint countered. "Dude, you come up to my knee."

"You better check yourself, bird brain."

"Watch it, rat face."

"Enough!" Steve stood in between the archer and the raccoon, a stern, warning finger pointing at Stark as well. "We're not here to argue. We're here to help."

This wasn't going according to plan. I assumed that the idea of this 'collaboration' (inverted commas completely intended) was to help the Walkers fight off Eon and his army, not argue about shrimps.

"You must be Andromeda." I turned to the leader of the Guardians who stood next to me. "Sirius has told me a lot about you. So, you're the Chosen One?"

"Please don't call me that," I grunted back as I watched Rocket trying to tear into Hawkeye, the big tree guy holding the little mammal back and the archer grinning stupidly in victory.

"Ookay. Well, I'm Star-Lord."

I glanced at him, brow furrowed. "Who?"

He sighed incredulously, standing to spread his arms out in a duh! fashion. "I'm Star-Lord, man! The legendary outlaw? Leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy?"

The more he spoke, the more confused I got. "Uh..."

"Forget it." He held his hand out for me to shake it in greeting. "Peter Quill."

I shook his hand, still confused but genuinely glad to have another team on hand to help with the plight. "Andi. And don't call me the Chosen One. It's...unnerving."

"Fair enough."

There was a moment of silence between us before I glanced at him again, eyes squinting suspiciously. "What exactly did Sirius tell you about me?"

He chuckled as he sent me a look that sent my heart aflutter and my pulse quicken. "Don't worry, all the things he said were good. He spoke quite highly of you. It seems everyone around here does."

I huffed. "Yeah, I bet they do."

"Well, from what I've heard you're the Obi-Warn Kenobi here."

"What?"

"You know, Star Wars. 'Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.'"

"That comparison is–"

"Awesome?"

"Cringe-worthy."

"Oh."

I smirked all the same. "I know what you're trying to do, Peter, and I appreciate it..." I turned to the Avengers and the Guardians continuing to square off nearby, Steve trying to push forward a truce between the two. "...but I don't need you to cheer me up. I–"

"Don't have time?" he wondered, his green eyes watching me curious.

"Ironic, isn't it?"

"I suppose so."

I smiled gratefully all the same. "Thanks."

He smiled back. "Anytime."

My attention snapped to the sounds of boots hitting the ground, heavy footfalls of running. Lily tore through the camp towards Primavera's tent. I stood cautiously, Peter following, as she charged into Primavera's tent. I could faintly hear her breathless words tumble from her mouth, and I heard the one word that made everything inside me go cold: Eon.

And that's when I heard the drums in the distance. An army marched towards the camp – over one hundred strong, stomping in time like a thunderstorm was on the way. The bickering between the teams nearby ceased as fast as it began. Walkers around the camp crept from the tents and around to stand on the fringes of the walkway leading up to us.

I swallowed as the small – a tiny dispatch of soldiers compared to the actual army – battalion reached the edge of the camp. My blood ran through my body like liquid ice when I recognised the cool figure and icy expression of Eon parading towards me and the others standing at the high point of the camp. Chameleon was by his side, his body tense and a pained and nervous expression pulled.

Primavera entered the corner of my eye as she exited her tent, standing at its entrance with her fingers threaded, patiently waiting for Eon to approach.

"Well, well!" he boomed. "It has certainly been a while, Milady!"

Primavera simply raised her chin in silent anger at our enemy entering our camp.

I wasn't stupid. I'd been around long enough to understand what was going on here. This was a parlay. What Eon was intending to do with this opportunity was disturbing. If things went wrong, we were severely outnumbered. This moment was a temporary time of peace, and we needed to keep it at all costs. Live today, fight tomorrow.

I detected Steve's aura approach as he moved closer to me, Peter falling back towards his team. I felt his hand try and reach out to mine. I curled my fingers away. I didn't want comfort, especially not from him at the moment. I needed to look strong, not look like I relied on others. Eon could use that to work against me, and I wasn't going to allow him to do that. I'd be putting Steve and the others in danger, and I wasn't willing to risk that.

Eon's red eyes drifted to me. And a sly and malevolent grin crawled onto his weathered face. "I see you have found more to die for your cause, Andromeda."

"I do what I must to take you down," I countered back coldly. "My intentions are good, and my friends are loyal. I cannot say the same for you."

He scoffed. "Good? We shall see when their blood runs at your feet." His eyes flicked to the Avengers. "'Heroes', you are called. I beg to differ. You are nothing but defiers of death. The Vision: the one who challenges death; the Asgardian: the one who does not fear death; the monster: the one who seeks death..." His eyes moved to Stark. "...the Innovator: the one who believes he is immortal."

Stark's expression twitched, what looked like memories of Ultron flashing back to haunt him.

Eon turned to Steve. "The Soldier: the one who has to die; and his other side of the coin, the Soldier Who Betrayed: the one who has died before."

I fought with all my being not to look at Steve, to look at his expression, for I was afraid of what I'd see there. He knew of the future words and I knew that they were haunting him at that moment. Eon was rubbing salt into an already gaping and bleeding wound.

And then his red eyes rested on me, sending my heart pounding hard in my chest and my blood thrumming in my ears. The next words he uttered were true, and it hurt: "The Time Walker; the hero of our story; the One Who Will Save Us All; the one who escapes death, flees it at every turn, sacrifices all who stand in her way and by her side for her own selfish immortality." The more truths he spat out the louder and angrier his voice became, raising it high for all to hear. "The one who would rather run than face her responsibilities, who would rather frolick within the peaceful periods of time than save her own people." He spread his arms out to gesture to all around him. "And you follow her! You choose to align yourselves – your lives, your safety, your children, your freedom – with a hidden tyrant! A lurking darkness standing in the light! An architect of destruction! You have sealed your deaths in stone siding with her. She will be your doom."

I could feel everything inside begin to crack. With every word he spoke, an earthquake shook inside of me, tearing down everything I'd built. It was like a every word, every truth spoken, was a blade sliding into my skin, twisting further and further, before being ripped out and done again. I did not defend myself. It felt wrong to. It felt wrong to against words that rang true.

"What is your purpose here?" Primavera boomed, silencing the whispering among the crowds and moved persecuting eyes off me onto her.

Eon raised his hands in surrender. "I wish to parley. Enough have died over our squabbling."

Primavera nodded ever-so-slightly, her eyes closing and opening again in unison. "Then let us parley."

Before stepping forth, he sent a halting hand in Chameleon's direction. The traitor stood as still as a statue after raising a closed fist at the army behind him, who retreated away from the camp as instructed. Primavera spun on her heel and entered her tent with Eon following close after. His aura hadn't changed since the last time I'd encountered him – one of death, danger, and coldness – as he passed by me, sending one more glare as he followed Prima in.

★    ★    ★

⏳ --

The parley had lasted for longer than an hour. People got sick of waiting, dispersing from the head tent to attend to other matters. The Avengers and the Guardians remained close by, however.

I sat on the table I'd been leaning against, legs crossed and elbow rested on knee with chin on fist. The wait gave me time to think about Eon's words. As much as I wanted to deny it, he was right. He was right about everything. When I stumbled onto something I didn't want to confront, my first instinct was to run, especially if there was something I could do to mend the situation. I was willing to sacrifice people for my own cause; for myself. Just because his words rang true, didn't mean I was proud of them. Those truths were words I lived with every day, words I was forced to think about every waking hour; words that haunted me no matter where I went.

My attention snapped to the entrance of Primavera's tent as the flaps whipped open. Eon sauntered out, swiftly making his way down the walkway towards Chameleon and his small battalion. Before leaving, he turned back to the Lady of Time, who exited her tent to stand how she did before the parley began.

"You know my terms, Primavera," he said coolly. "Like you, I do not want this war to continue. If you want it to end, I expect them to be met. You know the consequences if you refuse."

Prima's expression was that of stone: blank and unwavering.

Eon squinted. "You have three days." He whipped around and stormed off with Chameleon in tow, who sent me a sympathetic glance before following his leader away with their army.

"What are his terms?" I asked Prima, not looking her way.

The Lady of Time did not answer. She simply turned on her heel and re-entered her tent in silence. To say that her response made me nervous would be an understatement. I didn't like where this was going. Whatever these terms were, it was clear that they weren't in our favour, and, with that said, we needed to get our plan underway as soon as possible. If we didn't soon, Omega Chronos was lost.

❈Author's Note: Hey, there! I'm sorry this chapter's been so very late. I've been on a crazy Assassin's Creed binge lately that I've been completely dead to the world (and I've been working on a related project I'm soon going to revive).

Also, a really, really good friend of mine has just joined Wattpad! Yay for TheWardenofFerelden! I would really appreciate it if you'll could follow her. She follows back (90% of the time), so if that's a little incentive, then yay! Also she's written a Dragon Age fanfiction, so if you like that kind of thing it would be lovely if you could check it out! :D

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