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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟓
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐃𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐅

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What felt like an eternity passed since Primrose left with Rocket, Groot, and Thor. She was mad at herself for not bringing a book to entertain her instead of listening to Rocket and Groot's strange conversations. The Quill woman would've done anything to return to be with Peter and Gamora. They were the only two who seemed to have a clue about how dangerous everything was. Primrose couldn't help but think about what they were going to do against Thanos. Just the thought of them facing off against the mad Titan made chills run throughout the Quill woman's entire body. All she could do was hope she would see them again.

To Primrose's surprise, Thor was oddly quiet throughout their journey. The only time she heard him speak was when he gave Rocket the coordinates to Nidavellir. Other than that, all the Odinson man has done was keep to himself at the back of the ship. Primrose did find herself glancing back at him a few times, only to find him staring out the back window with his arms crossed over his chest and deep in thought.

"You should ask him about your dad," Rocket said, causing Primrose to blankly stare at him before the raccoon let out a long sigh and continued speaking, "Yondu said that he was a guard for the Asgardian royals. This is your chance to find out more about him."

"I don't think this is the best time for me to do family research, Rocket," the Quill woman retaliated, completely unaware of Thor glancing over at her after listening to their conversation.

"I am Groot."

"Tinkle in the cup. We're not looking. What's there to see? What's a twig? Everybody's seen a twig before," Rocket told Groot while Primrose ran her hands down the sides of her face, wanting to be anywhere but there at that moment.

"I am Groot."

"Tree, pour what's in the cup out into space and go in the cup again," Thor responded, causing both Primrose and Rocket to look back at the God of Thunder with surprise in their eyes.

"You speak Groot?" the raccoon questioned after turning his attention back to the front window to make sure they were still heading in the right direction.

"Yes, they taught it on Asgard. It was an elective."

"I am Groot."

"You'll know when we're close," the Odinson man told Groot while walking toward the front of the ship before returning to his seat next to the latter, "Nidavellir's forge harnesses the blazing power of a neutron star. It's the birthplace of my hammer. It's truly awesome."

When Rocket and Primrose looked back at Thor, they found him staring off into space, lost in thought. The two Guardians shared a quick look before the raccoon let out a long sigh. "Okay, time to be the captain."

Before Primrose had a chance to ask what he was talking about, Rocket put the ship on autopilot and went to join Thor. The Quill woman didn't hesitate to turn her chair around to get a clear view of the two males. Despite how close she had gotten to Rocket, he was still the last person Primrose would go to to get advice. But she was also interested in seeing how the conversation between the raccoon and the Asgardian would go.

"So, dead brother, huh?" Rocket said while tapping on one of the screens at the back of the ship, "yeah, that could be annoying."

Primrose couldn't help but roll her eyes at the raccoon right as Thor opened his mouth to respond. "Well, he's been dead before. But this time I think it really might be true."

Rocket hesitated for a moment before turning away from the screen to face the God of Thunder. "And you said your sister and your dad?"

"Both dead."

"But still got a mom, though?" the raccoon questioned, only for Thor to let out a long sigh as he continued to stare at the floor beneath his feet.

"Killed by a dark elf."

"A best friend?"

"Stabbed through the heart," the Odinson man responded, causing Primrose to internally cringe.

It wasn't long after that when the Quill woman got to her feet and walked toward the back of the shop. All eyes were on her as she made her way past Groot before sitting down across from Thor. The two of them just stared at each other until Primrose broke the silence surrounding them. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

The God of Thunder hesitated for a moment before Primrose watched him force a smile onto his face. "Absolutely. Rage and vengeance, anger, loss, regret...they're all tremendous motivators. They really clear the mind. So I'm good to go."

"I understand that, but we're about to go up against Thanos," the Quill woman retaliated while Rocket nodded along beside her, unsure of what to make of the man sitting in front of him, "this isn't gonna be an easy fight."

"Well, he's never fought me."

"Yeah, he has," Rocket said to the Asgardian with an uncertain look in his eyes.

"He's never fought me twice," Thor declared while keeping a false smile on his face, but Primrose could see right through his act. However, the Odinson man continued speaking before she had a chance to. "And I'm getting a new hammer, don't forget."

"It better be some hammer," the raccoon muttered under his breath.

The God of Thunder forced out a chuckle after listening to the two in front of him before he finally let his smile fade. "You know, I'm 1,500 years old. I've killed twice as many enemies as that. And every one of them would've rather killed me, but none succeeded. I'm only alive because fate wants me alive. Thanos is just the latest in a long line of enemies and he'll be the latest to feel my vengeance. Fate wills it so."

"And what if you're wrong?" Rocket asked the question that was going through both his and Primrose's heads.

Thor hesitated while trying his best to hide all of the emotions bouncing around inside him. That lasted for another moment before he looked back up at the two Guardians. "Well, if I'm wrong, then...what more could I lose?"

Not even a second after that passed when Thor got to his feet and made his way back toward the front of the ship. Primrose ignored Rocket muttering under his breath as she watched the God of Thunder. She was still unsure of what to make of him. On one hand, Thor seemed like their best and only bet at defeating Thanos. But on the other hand, the Odinson man seemed to be unstable. When it finally came time to go up against the mad Titan, Primrose wasn't certain Thor was completely up to it.

After letting out a long sigh, the Quill woman looked back over at Rocket just in time to see him take a prosthetic eye out of his bag. A disgusted look overtook Primrose's features as she looked up to meet the raccoon's gaze. "Do you always carry an extra eye around with you?"

"No. Sometimes it's a leg," Rocket responded as if it was the most normal thing in the world before he approached Thor, "if fate does want you to kill that crapsack, you're gonna need more than one stupid eyeball."

"What's this?" the Asgardian questioned after taking the prosthetic from the raccoon.

"What's it look like?" Rocket retaliated after sitting back down in the pilot's chair while Primrose returned to her seat between the Asgardian and Groot, "some jerk lost a bet with me on Contraxia."

"And he gave you his eye?"

"No, he gave me a hundred credits. I snuck into his room later that night and stole his eyes."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Primrose muttered under her breath while rubbing a hand down the side of her face.

"Thank you, sweet rabbit," Thor said before removing the eyepatch from his face.

The Quill woman couldn't help but look away while the Asgardian put in his new eye. Because her attention was elsewhere, Primrose completely missed the disgusted look Rocket was sending Thor.

"I would've washed that. The only way I could sneak it off Contraxis was up my-" the raccoon was cut off by a loud beeping sound, drawing everyone's attention to the front window, "hey, we're here!"

Confusion flowed through Primrose's veins when she saw nothing but darkness in front of them. All the books she read about Nidavellir described it as a brightly glowing star, not what looked like a rundown warehouse. And by the look on Thor's face, the Quill woman knew he was thinking the same thing.

"I don't think this thing works. Everything seems dark," the Odinson man announced after banging his hand against his head a few times.

"It ain't the eye," Rocket announced as Thor and Primrose stood up to get a better look at the scene in front of them.

No one said a word as the raccoon flew them around a few pieces of rubble and closer to their destination. The fear within the Quill woman did nothing but grow the more she took in Nidavellir. Right as they flew past the giant outer rings, the Odinson man broke the silence surrounding them. "Something's wrong. The star's gone out. And the rings are frozen."

"I didn't think that was possible," Primrose said in a tone just above a whisper as they flew past Nidavellir's core.

"It shouldn't be," Thor stated, making chills run throughout the brunette woman's entire body.

What felt like an eternity passed before the Asgardian directed them to the entrance of what he said was the dwarves' workshop. Primrose was still surprised that the only source of light as far as she could see was from their ship. In another place and at another time, she would admit that it did look interesting. It was like exploring a world that no one had ever seen before. But at that moment, the whole thing made the Quill woman want to turn around and go find her brother, but she knew that was impossible now. Especially since Rocket found a place to land their ship.

After grabbing her quad blasters and securing them to her belt, Primrose followed her allies off the ship. Her eyes glanced around the dark warehouse as the feeling that they were being watched settled in her stomach. The Quill woman had a bad feeling about Nidavellir and she was ready to leave the place behind her.

"I hope these dwarves are better at forging than they are cleaning," Rocket said as they walked further into the workshop, "maybe they realized that they live in a junk pile in the middle of space."

"This forge hasn't gone dark in centuries," Thor announced, not liking the atmosphere around him just as much as the Quill woman.

Primrose only made it a few more steps when her eyes landed on an object that caused her to stop in her tracks. She studied the object for a moment longer before finding the courage within her to speak. "Hey, Thor. You said Thanos had a gauntlet, right?"

"Yes, why?"

"Did it look anything like that?" Primrose questioned right as Thor stopped next to her, shocked to find an exact copy of Thanos' gauntlet sitting in front of him.

"I am Groot."

"Go back to the pod," the Asgardian told them, only to be thrown across the room.

Not even a second after that passed when Primrose felt something slam into her back, sending her through the air before her body slammed against one of the machines. A groan passed over her lips as she slowly opened her eyes to find a dwarf walking toward her. Panic began to flow through the Quill woman's veins as he got closer to her, only for him to stop a few feet away from her. Her breathing quickened as she looked up at the dwarf, who was staring right back at her with confusion in his eyes. It wasn't long after that when he muttered a single word under his breath that made the panic within the brunette woman turn to confusion. "Primrose?"

"Eitri, wait! Stop!" Thor shouted, drawing his attention over to the God of Thunder while the Quill woman continued to stare at the dwarf with confusion in her eyes.

"Thor?" Eitri questioned with a hint of disbelief in his voice before he slowly lowered his arms, "you were supposed to protect us. Asgard was supposed to protect us!"

"Asgard is destroyed," the Odinson man declared while he and his allies slowly stood to their feet, "Eitri, the glove. What did you do?"

Sadness instantly formed in the dwarf's eyes as he turned around and walked away from the blonde man. Everyone watched as Eitri made his way across the room before sitting down against a pile of rubble. The dwarf just stared at nothing for a moment longer before opening his mouth to speak. "Three hundred dwarves lived on this ring. I thought if I did what he asked, they'd be safe. I made what he wanted. A device capable of harnessing the power of the stones. Then he...then he killed everyone anyway. All except me. 'Your life is yours,' he said. 'But your hands...your hands are mine alone.'"

"Eitri, this isn't about your hands. Every weapon you've ever designed, every axe, hammer, sword...it's all inside your head," Thor declared while Primrose moved to stand beside Rocket and Groot to hear the conversation better, "now, I know it feels like all hope is lost. Trust me, I know. But together, you and I, we can kill Thanos."

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