By All Means, Try.
“It would do you all some good to listen to this,” said the angel with a sad expression “you will all face death in the end and as an angel of death, I can help you out. As for you Thanos, it will let you learn a bit about Lady Death.” The angel’s wings ruffle themselves as she shifts on the ground, calling the black and gold to her hands, morphing into various daggers and half-moon blades before turning back to a thick, oily liquid and pooling around her.
“It is a story of an angel, Azreal, who was born too small and weak for her unsuspecting father to love or accept her.”
Loki shifts and Thanos leans forward. Stories about the angels of death that didn’t depict them as monsters or glorified targets were rare, a story of the angels had never been told by an angel of death.
Everyone knew to listen, the angel's voice echoed with the voices of hundreds, with sorrow, rage, envy, and joy. Demanding the attention of everyone even though they barely spoke above a normal level.
“Death left her on a hidden planet during a time of war. War was raging throughout the universe but no one was ready to acknowledge it, whole planets and armies were lost. This war was fought for the fundamental powers of the universe. Some of these powers had already been claimed through endless bloodshed while others were guarded by the unkillable. Death held the Soul Stone and her final angel and watched the universe turn on itself. Deciding to let her angel grow up safe and to put the Soul Stone out of reach, they were hidden.”
Loki noticed the barest movement of Thanos, he had a hungry gleam in his eyes, the Soul Stone had been thought lost for centuries, it was thought to be lost for all eternity, yet this was the story of that very stone.
“Azrael grew up with a father who was a monster, one who didn’t just cause the scars that could be seen but also the scars that couldn’t be."
"A daughter who was, despite everything, never enough."
"Azrael’s father wished for a son and cursed her every chance he got but used her all the same. So the child sought comfort from the only being who cared, Death. The child begged for death, so Death came, she came and told Azreal her true name, she told her who she was and what she was. So at 4 years old, the angel of death claimed her title and powers”
Loki startled, angels of death claimed their titles when they had first used their power, to remain hidden for so long, since they were now clearly an adult was quite the accomplishment. Even now, with the angel clearly in front of him, he could barely detect her.
“She was dragged to places she didn’t want to be, was preyed upon by her father's friends, kidnapped, and once was almost killed by them."
"She tried to be a good daughter, to earn her father’s love by being useful. But it was all in vain. Her gifts and victories, forever in the shadow of a man long dead, the ‘perfect’ man her father would rather have as a child, but the perfect man had left. Yet she continued to try, Death visited when she could and the child was happy. But every child seeks the love of their parents, even when there is none.”
Loki felt each word connect with him, he knew what it was like to look for love from a father when there was none and from the looks of it, Gamora and Nebula understood the angel too.
“As the years passed he father died and the ‘perfect’ man returned."
"Azreal did not desire power and she had always known the ‘perfect’ man would return. The day he returned all she felt was dread."
"This man was arrogant and foolish, he fought without thinking. He cared not for those he slaughtered while Azreal was haunted by their dying screams. He did not heed other’s advice, the angel saw a future of fire and death if the man did not remember he was not, in fact, perfect. So she went to her so-called second ‘family’ that had been built, speaking of her worries. Requesting they wait until the man was not so foolish before they gave him so much power, but she was ignored. Her ‘family’ shunned her, claimed her to be jealous, disregarding her concerns."
"So the angel did what was necessary in order to save the planet she called home, and the people she thought of as her own. She returned the power of the man to those it had once belonged to, the man was enraged and blinded by greed. He claimed those who were not him to be dangerous, untrustworthy, and would bring about their doom so he fought the angel. He tried to kill her, and he succeeded.”
She smiled wryly as she moved to stand. “the end."
Loki snapped out of his reverie as the Avengers asked what happened next, despite their exhaustion they were obviously just as captivated as him.
"I fear I am boring you with my tale. I suppose it is not so interesting, you all look so very bored.”
Even Thanos inclined his head to the angel if a request or an allowance to continue, Loki was still unsure.
“Shall I continue?” the angel asked.
They didn’t look at her face nor did they speak, but they nodded anyway.
“Azreal had been holding back, she was the angel of merciful deaths and justice. She had not wanted them to suffer, but if that was necessary then she would teach them their lessons."
"They were not immortal."
"They were not unkillable."
"They did not stand equal or above death, they stood below her."
"They could not rule the universe."
"They could not kill whomever they wanted with no consequences."
"But she knew something was coming, something that would bring so much death the universe would become unbalanced. Life would die and so would Death."
"The ‘perfect’ man had pleaded with the angel. Trying to apologize for past wrongs claiming he was uncertain what wrongs he’d committed. His miserable excuses for apologies enraged the angel but death was her priority so she showed her ‘family’ mercy once more and let them come back home but watched them, waited for them to cross the line.”
Loki covered his laugh with a hacking cough, that something was obviously Thanos.
“The angel had met someone, someone who didn’t need her power, didn’t want her power, just wanted her. So she pledged the universe to them, and to her children, her brother, her sister, to Death, and to the Soul Stone. She knew all their failures and faults, but she loved them all the same and they loved her too. For the first time, the angel knew what true happiness was, even Lady Death who was dealing with hundreds of thousands of more souls than normal could feel her joy.” the angel let out a shuddering breath.
“She felt it when that ‘something' arrived, she wanted to go immediately but she needed to know something first. So she went to Death and asked ‘what am I?’ and Death answered, ‘you are my angel, you are Azreal’ but such an answer did not make sense with all the angel had experienced, all she knew, all she felt. So she asked ‘what more than that?’ Death looked at her and said ‘I wasn’t sure how to tell you’ that was all the angel needed, she was no longer broken, she was made whole. Everything fell into place and she knew what she had to do.”
Loki’s eyes were now locked on the angel’s face, she told no lies but his curiosity was getting to him.
“The angel raced to the fight, she could feel each soul that fell, she could feel the dead that lay across the battlefield, she could feel every drop of blood that was shed as if it was her own. The angel reached out to death as she stalled for time, asking for her to come and give her final answer, so the angel could rest. The angel hid away and entered the fighting, she saw people she cared for, even though she had never known them, dead. She could feel all the pain and sorrow and she wanted it to end. She accepted her fate and awaited her death, she could hear the soul of the one she loved cry out for her. She regretted letting go but she knew what had to be done. She called to who she really was and she called to Death, and she was answered.”
Standing beside the angel with a face half-rotten and a half so perfect that it would have put all others to shame if Loki had not seen his mortal’s face when she smiled. Eyes looked at him with understanding, one dead and one alive.
The angel stood and nodded to Lady Death as Thanos spoke “Mistress,” he breathed in what sounded like a mix of insanity, awe, and obsession, “You have come back to me.”
Eyes stare blankly at him and Loki felt the urge to smile, his death would be soon, he would be back with his mortal.
Death smiles, but something is off “not by choice, you happen to have forced me to work to the point of exhaustion thanks to your ‘courting’. But I have to ask... you claim to have a gift and the dead have told me it is the Infinity Stones, yet it is incomplete. You are missing the most important one, at least to me.”
“I tried to give you a hint, I actually gave you several.” the Angel said, even with thousands of voices they managed to sound snarky.
Thanos stared at Death and opened his mouth but no words came out.
He frowned as he tried again but nothing.
Loki snickered and he could have sworn he heard a giggle that sounded just like Antonia’s but when he looked around he didn't see her.
“I swear to you, I will get you the Soul Stone no matter the costs,” Thanos said, quickly recovering.
Death raised her rotten brow, “No matter the cost, no matter who you kill, you will get the Soul Stone?”
Thanos nodded “Yes, no matter what I will get you the Soul Stone.”
“Then, by all means, try.”
Something in Death’s tone sent Loki onto high alert.
He didn’t realize why until he heard the harsh sound of metal on metal.
There, beside death stood the angel, holding two blades.
The darkness of the blades reminded Loki of his time in the void, a place where all light was lost. But unlike the void, gold trickled through the blades, glowing brightly, making it as if the Soul Stone itself was trying to break out of the darkness, the same could be said for the large wings. Resting in the angel’s chest, was the Soul Stone. Glowing cheerfully, like a welcoming fire in a hearth.
Looking up Loki was shocked, that couldn’t…
he must be seeing things.
Just because the Soul Stone is in the same place as the Arc reactor was doesn’t mean that she wasn’t…
but hope flared to life in him
only to darken as he heard the humming of the Infinity Stones.