"Did you exact revenge for her?"
"Perhaps so."
Quill's gaze has always carried a hint of sadness, but his appearance doesn't seem to match such lancholy, Rocket Raccoon thought. There must be darker stories related to his mother.
"The entire saga began with a spaceship that crash-landed in Colorado State, much like the start of a clichéd sci-fi story. From it erged a heavily wounded alien, who was saved by a human woman.
They started living happily together, and soon, the woman got pregnant. However, the husband had to return to his holand due to his own responsibilities, leaving his pregnant wife to live alone in Englewood.
On the day of the child's birth, the woman was suddenly seized with a frenzied idea that took control of her soul. Sothing was calling out to her, and she knew she had to respond.
So, the woman who had just given birth rushed outdoors with her newborn, wanting to show him the sky, or the stars hidden behind it, for it was they who were calling to her.
Not surprisingly, she saw the scattered stars ford into a straight line. She let out a cry of madness like she had never before, almost fainting. Perhaps a mother's instincts were telling her that the stars would take away her child.
All these were told to by my mother, who repeated this story to countless tis, especially her sorrow and uncontrollable emotions.
Perhaps because of the alien blood coursing through my veins, I achieved sothing unattainable for humans. On the day of my birth, I possessed clear vision and definite mory.
What I did not tell my mother is that on that day, amidst her cries, I saw the stars open their arms to .
Deep within the stars and further still, I saw sothing terrifying yet magnificent extending its hand towards ."
"What did he see?" Stark asked, shifting his eyes from the words on the notebook in front of the round Zen window.
For so reason, Strange kept silent. This kind of thoughtless silence was rare on this increasingly mature mage, as if a certain rule had blocked him and made him opt for silence.
Perhaps after a few seconds, or a few tens of minutes, Strange spoke in a strange voice, like the sudden rise of a violin, "Tony, has the power of the Iron Demon God given you indomitable courage and faith?"
"Obviously."
"What if there is sothing that can't be asured by power?"
"Are you afraid that I will be afraid?"
"Obviously."
"What is it?"
"The stars."
"When I describe the stars, I would use more neutral terms, rather than exhausting fancy complints like many poets do for the sun." Shiller's voice reverberated throughout the room, as if he was talking to soone.
"The sun belongs to humankind. We never hesitate to praise our own, but the stars are different. They have never belonged to us. They just hang in the sky, staring down at us quietly, scrutinizing us."
"When humans take a step towards the stars, apart from the bustling interstellar society, there might be sothing greater, yet more terrifying waiting for us in the depths."
When Shiller dried the ink on his hand and picked up the pen again, the notebook started exhibiting so fluctuations in the usually stable narrative tone, and the once unfamiliar cursive started appearing on the paper.
"On the second day of my return to Earth, I received a strange letter. It had been many years since I received a letter, but I still opened it and read its contents."
"Unsurprisingly, it was a letter from my good friend, Lisa. She worked for the Arican Aerospace Administration. After the death of my mother, she has arguably been the most important woman in my life."
"But, our relationship wasn't romantic. It was born out of shared passion for the sa career. Although it might sound crazy, I, the insane roar filled with nonsense, had once worked as a chanic at NASA's aerospace base, and it was all thanks to Lisa."
"Within the first hour of my return to Earth, I had called her. After hearing her robust voice, I was reassured. However, the content of her letter made uneasy."
"She ntioned that over the decades following my mother's murder, sightings of unidentified aerial objects had rapidly increased in southwestern Arica and the entire country. The East had reported similar phenona. This wasn't good news."
"A thought suddenly sprang to my mind—were they growing impatient? Was it because they were impatient that they had to send a more distinctive, louder call?"
"So, what do you plan to do?" Rocket Raccoon asked Quill, arms crossed, "Honestly, I don't want to wander the cosmos again. At least, not alone."
"But you haven't explained why you are here." Quill turned to look at Rocket Raccoon.
"At the banquet, I realized that we probably sympathize with each other. That day, I heard you tell Heimdall, the keeper of the Rainbow Bridge, you wanted to co to Earth. The psychologist temporarily in charge of just so happened to also be from Earth, so I ca looking for you."
"But you're a raccoon."
"A chanical raccoon." Rocket Raccoon rolled his eyes, extended his paw. Seeing nothing unusual, Quill leaned closer, and with a "swish," the sharp chanical claws sprung out, nearly slashing open Quill's nose.
"Astonishing." Quill slowly shook his head, way down almost to the ground, eyes gleaming in excitent, "Will you help then?"
"That's why I asked. What are you planning to do next?"
"I need to find Lisa." Quill ran his fingers through his hair, "She needs my help. Recently, there has been another unidentified flying object that has landed in the Rocky Mountains. I ca back at just the right ti."
"It was always her helping , and since I left Earth, there had not been any chance to return her favor. Now she's under a great deal of pressure due to her work, and she's at her wit's end. It's clear from the letter. I have to help her."
Quill reached out to Rocket Raccoon and sighed. After a brief pause, Rocket Raccoon grasped Quill's arm and jumped onto his shoulders.
As the last blush of the setting sun sunk below the horizon, the silhouettes of the young man and the raccoon on his shoulder disappeared into the skyline of the road by the cetery.
"At that ti, I was still motivated by the desire to help a friend. But what ensued not only failed to match my selfless sentint at the ti, but also greatly exceeded it, shattering it."
"It's not because our friendship is not strong enough. It's because the thing that had been calling from the darkness was like a song from a lark high in the sky, far, indifferent, and unknowable."
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