Soul Of The Matter

It took Peter Quill exactly 3 hours, 14 minutes and 26 seconds to realise that most of the Ravagers don't have normal dæmons. Yondu's dæmon is a crystal-like creature, so still Peter originally thought she was just decoration. Kraglin's dæmon is just a cloud of Dust, fluctuating around him as he walks along. Horaz, along with several others, doesn't have a dæmon at all.

Kahraman Settles fifteen years after they're abducted, far later than most dæmons do. She tries every possible form before that time, copying every dæmon she sees on every planet they go to. She copies Yondu's dæmon for a month, changing colour every day but only manages to go six minutes like Kraglin's before both she and Peter are throwing up.

They are on a job when she stops changing. Quill is 23 and has been complaining for a good decade that his soul can't make a decision of what to be. Kahraman just sits on his shoulder, rolling her eyes and changing form again.

'What are we going to do?' She hisses, shifting into a ferret with dark red marking instead of black. 'There's half a dozen guards out there.'

Peter grimaces. They were sent to get some sort of royal necklace, having been told there would be nothing to stop them. 'Have a look, I need to know what they're carrying. Check for dæmons too.'

She glances around the corner, as fast as she can. 'Six guards. Three with guns, two with dæmons, one with both. Coyote, jackal and a rock thing.

Star-Lord nods, placing a hand on her back. 'Okay, I need you bigger. Tiger or lion, maybe.'

Kahraman nods, squinting slightly. Then she freezes, glancing up at him. 'I can't. This is it.'

Quill groans. 'You have to be kidding me.'

Koruyucu shuffles into the cell, shivering as Gamora gestures for the doors to shut. The other prisoners slowly walk off, their dæmon staying until their bonds force them to move. The tiger-like creature sits down next to her bed, dual tails shaking back and forth. Gamora runs a hand over his orange and dark blue stripes, sighing to herself.

'We're going to die in here, Kor.'

He looks up at her, cybernetic eyes blinking. 'It'll be fine. We'll be fine, the guards will protect us.'

Gamora raises an eyebrow, staring down at him. The stupidity of that idea is clear in her eyes.

Kor shrugs. 'Okay, we'll protect ourselves. You watch my back, I'll watch yours.'

She nods, shifting slowly from the bed to the floor beside him. He lifts his head onto her lap and she threads her fingers through his fur, combing out the knots he got during the fight. His eyes close slowly, a rare expression of peace forming on his face. Gamora smiles slightly but it drops as she looks out the door. Across the prison, a group has formed, gesturing towards her every so often and scowling. Her hand forms into a fist on Koruyucu's back, her eyes widening as the group starts to move.

'Kor, they're coming.'

The tiger nods, getting to his feet and standing over her. She grabs one of his tails, trying to pull him back as the door opens again, six dæmons jumping at Kor straight away and knocking him to the ground. Gamora holds in a scream as one, a five-headed snake, bites in the tiger's side. As she is distracted, the dæmons' men grab her, holding a knife to her throat and digging nails into her skin.

'Take her to the showers. Easier to clean up.'

'Are you feeling alright?'

Drax tilts his head to look at Cha as Rocket and Groot start to argue about how to help Quill. The pure black wolf steps closer to her man as the filthy vermin and the dumb tree start planning and plotting. The smallest dæmon Drax has ever seen is crawling over Rocket's skin and a creature is poking her head out of Groot's chest, clinging to the bark. Cha watches them closely.

'I will be fine eventually. What are you staring at?'

She turns back to face him, eyes squinted slightly. 'They have dæmons, both of them. I didn't think they had the sentience for a soul.'

Drax inclines his head as Rocket's dæmon crawls over the ground toward Quill's ship. Rocket waits a moment before following, Groot gesturing for Drax and Cha to go with them. Cha glances at her man, moving so he can lean on her as he gets to his feet.

'That is understandable.' He nods, as they limp along to the Milano. Cha shudders slightly as Groot tries to help her man along, his tiny rodent dæmon almost touching the blue alien's arm. Drax shrugs the tree off, using his own dæmon as a support instead. 'We weren't expecting Ronan to have a dæmon either.'

Cha sighs, thinking about when the Kree turned up. Everything they had read about the Kree said they didn't have dæmons or, if they did, they must be very small so they were constantly concealed. When the fight had started, Cha had just bounced around Ronan, trying to cut off where he could step to little effect. She hadn't expect the snake that lashed out and bit into her neck.

'No we didn't.' She accepts as they enter the Milano. 'But we'll be ready next time.'

He didn't want his dæmon to start off with. What self-respecting lab experiment wants the creature scientists made for him. The creature that was made from them poking and prodding at his soul and making it solid, modifying it until there isn't a shred of organism left, just a metal beetle crawling over his skin. He didn't even know if she can talk. Then again, it took him some months to realise he could talk.

When Rocket escapes, he doesn't have much choice but to take her with him. He tries to leave her behind but it hurts when he leaves and he has to run back for her, hiding her in his fur and running across the planet. She clings tight, silver claws digging into his skin and body cold to the touch.

As soon as the burning laboratory is out of sight, Rocket climbs a tree and settles in to sleep. His dæmon runs down his arm, perching on the branch and trying to scrub the dirt off her pristine body. Rocket watches her struggle for a few moments before shuffling forward, holding out a hand.

'Here let me help.'

The beetle pauses but does climb onto his arm, letting his other hand gently rub off the dirt. He even pries off her shell, checking the wiring underneath it. She shudders against him as he does, clinging even tighter to his fur.

'It's alright, it's alright.' He mutters, as he goes about fixing her. 'We haven't been introduced. Dunno if you can talk or understand but, anyway, I'm Rocket. Your thing...your person, I guess. Dunno if I count as a person but-'

'Nice to meet you Rocket.' Comes a tiny squeak from his dæmon. 'I'm Pertsona.'

Rocket smiles, falling into a content silence with his soul.

It takes Groot six days until he is able to speak again, chirping out little "I am Groot"s anytime he wants someone's attention. It takes another twelve days, during which Rocket and Pertsona hurry around him, for his dæmon to emerge from the soil. Apur is the same as she was before, although smaller, and Groot holds out his arms as soon as the mouse appears.

'I am Groot.' I missed you, where did you go?

'I am Apur.' I wasn't far, just wasn't solid yet. How are the others?

'I am Groot.' They'll be fine. Just going through a bit of a culture shock.

'I am Apur.' I'm sure. Rocket must be going crazy having to actually talk to people.

Pertsona jumps up onto the counter, shuffling up onto the pot. She doesn't touch the soil, not knowing where the roots end and the dirt begins. Apur scuttles over to the beetle, pressing her stone nose to her metal one. Like Groot, Apur is not made of flesh and bone but rather moss, leaves and stones. Also like Groot, she doesn't really have a gender, just calls herself a girl because Pertsona is a girl and it reassures the beetle to have something similar around.

'I am Apur.'

'Yeah, yeah.' Pertsona shrugs, batting a silver antenna against her head and turning around again. 'I missed you too, little idiot.'

Apur chuckles, leaping backwards herself into Groot's open arms. It shows how tiny she is that he can hold her, small as he is. Quill walks past, smiling at both of them and Apur waves a tiny paw back.

'I am Groot.' Don't leave me again.

'I am Apur.' Same to you. I hate being alone.

'I am Groot.' I love you.

'I am Apur.' She says, meaning clear.

Leporatzen gazes at the infinity stone, the purple light reflecting in her own eyes. Kree do not have dæmons but Ronan, needing an advantage when fighting, had kidnapped women from Muspelheim and forced them to give him a dæmon. The snake had come into the world writhing and screaming, killing all five fire demons in a matter of seconds.

Tzen didn't want to be made. She had been at peace before, able to rest within her man's body, feel his emotions without ever directly feeling his pain. Now she had venom in her mouth that burned her teeth and skull, an ache in her chest whenever she leaves Ronan's side and the forever pulsing pain of holding the infinity stone. The venom doesn't hurt Ronan when she bites into him (it was the first thing she tried) and he is too fuelled by vengeance to feel the gem's power.

'What are you staring at?'

Ronan turns his head to look at her, one eyebrow quirked as she moved close to the infinity stone. Maybe, if she touched it, she could end their miserable existence or at least have the immunity he has. Before she can reach it, he grabs her tail, yanking her back ont his shoulders.

'You don't want to do that.' He smirks, running a hand over her scales. He doesn't feel the pain she has. 'All our plans would be ruined in seconds.'

Leporatzen hates being a dæmon. But, more than that, she hates being Ronan's dæmon.

Nebula pulls at the controls of the ship, silently wishing she hadn't left her other hand behind. Replacement limbs are rare, hard to buy and even harder to steal. Gorrotoa moves closer to her, tugging on the steering wheel with his teeth. The hyena nudges his nose against her arm, bending down to pick at the mechanics on his paw with his teeth. Nebula punches in a few more controls, setting it into autopilot and pulling his face away.

'Leave it.' She rasps. 'You'll only break yourself.'

She grabs the gears, struggling to work them with one hand and no screwdriver. Gorrotoa nudges her away and the two hit each other for several seconds, growling and snarling each time the other touches them.

'You're not helping.' The dæmon scowls. 'Why did you leave the hand behind?'

Nebula hits his face, knocking some wiring out. Only his paws and nose are mechanical, so she knows to hit him there when trying to hurt him. 'I didn't exactly have a choice. Gamora drove us off remember.'

Gorrotoa remembers. Koruyucu had bitten into his side just to make him stay and the hyena had turned in the tiger's mouth, biting off one of his tail's. 'Gamora and her pathetic friends. Now we're running from them and Thanos.'

'Thanos will accept us back.' Nebula smirks, relaxing. 'All we have to do is kill Gamora and her friends.'

Gorrotoa sneers. 'How are we going to succeed where a soul Gem failed?'

Nebula smacks her dæmon.