Past Friends

Part 159: Morning Ambush

It had almost been 5 years now, since the snap, and not a day went by when you didn't think of Loki or the family you left behind on Earth, wondering exactly who was still around. You wondered if they even thought you were still alive or did they think you were snapped away like half of everyone else, you tried not to dwell on it though, as you had much more important things to deal with. You remained on the so-called Lost World soon discovering the planet was once called Nervaria, but the new name sort of stuck so the title you ended up going with was Nervaria, Home of the Lost. It made sense after all, as the months following the snap many ships ended up crash landing on Nervaria, many were searching for answers or their families, there was more than one ship carrying just children or teenagers, as the adults on board were gone.  

You took them in and explained what Thanos did, offering them food and shelter with most of them making a home for themselves on your planet, and soon a sort of colony was formed. People from all walks of life, from all different planets and civilizations, soon filled the city you built and being the strongest among them, along with the planet pretty much being yours, as you brought it back to life, they made you their leader. With help from several newcomers, you were able to contact what remained of the Nova Corps, the few who survived the snap and Thanos's attack on Xandar. There weren't many but with the food supplies you provided, a network across the universe was soon formed, and the Nervarian Empire was established.  

With your powers and abilities, individuals from across the universe came to learn how you grew food and plants from almost nothing and you soon were helping many master their own Chi. As you were technically a living Fire Crystal you learned how to unlock the use of Chi within others, soon forming a school of sorts, having students both young and old join. Of course, you had a regular school built as well, for the very young to learn math, reading and writing, martial arts, robotics and agriculture, as well as about Universal law and inter-planetary travel. There weren't many children but you made a point to step in and teach them a martial arts lesson every now and again, as well as more motherly things as most of them, were orphans at this point. In time, you became a mother figure to all of them, and although it didn't completely fill the hole in your heart, it helped with the aching you held there. 

The main city, being the only city really, grew quite fast, becoming the center of trade in your sector of the universe, and you were soon recognized as the Queen of the Nervarian Empire. It was not what you had in mind, but you took up the role as leader, selecting a new name for your position in an attempt to start anew in some way, you ended up choosing Hestia as it felt right. The next few years were quite peaceful, as your Empire and influence spread, providing support for many planets becoming a valued trade partner with most of them. You became one of the richest and most respected rulers in the known universe, not that money was that important to you, and you invested in many poor and struggling civilizations. This only added to the Empire, with several planets joining under your leadership as without your support they would crumble, not that you would remove your aid as it was your goal to make sure no one went hungry. Thanos had more of an impact on you than you initially thought, you didn't want anyone to go hungry, or suffer in bad conditions but you were going to do it your way, no one's life would be traded to feed another and secure the future generations. 

Over the next few years, you had more than a dozen giant facilities where food was treated, packaged, and sent out on a weekly basis, taking food across the universe. You also had plenty of ships coming in to pick up supplies for their own trips across the universe as Nervaria was in a good location, found along many routes to other planets. You also had a couple of research centers, whose main functions were to study which foods would provide the best nutrition and how to make them better, even crossing several plant species to produce better food. Although you recently began helping several planets with repopulating certain species of animals, having a few of them introduced into the wilds of your planet.  

One of which produced something similar to honey, they even sort of looked like honey bees, a bit bigger and a little more beetle-like but because of them, a new industry took off for your people. It even led to a festival of sorts, a kind of Valentine's day where people would make sweets from the honey-like syrup to give to the most important people in their lives, being friends, family, or lovers. Traditional holidays from other planets were incorporated onto the calendar as well, but seeing as a full year was 400 days exactly it was hard to know where to put them. You figured it out eventually, making sure to add a Christmas-like holiday where you would exchange gifts and sweets, sing cheerful songs about love and togetherness, and oddly enough a soup ritual where everyone would provide an ingredient to the pot as a way to symbolize that you're stronger together. It seemed however that New Year's was the same across the universe, no matter what planet you were on a completed cycle around a star was met with a large party, with drinking and dancing, and even though you didn't like loud, rockish events it was nice, as it reminded you of home. 

It was just like any other morning, it was early and as usual, you didn't want to get up, enjoying sleep and your comfortable bed way too much, but with the sun rising, you knew it was time to get up. You opened your eyes to look out the window down at the capital, choosing to build your home in the large opening on the side of the plateau where Thanos left you, nearly 5 years ago. You built it right into the rock there as a reminder of what the Titan did but also, you could always see every inch of the capital so you could always watch over it, besides you still liked your privacy. It was a beautiful sunrise as always, you could see the coastline from here, and you remembered that you had to go over what aquatic species would be introduced with your scientists as the plantlife you tried growing underwater had been a success. A few other dozen things you needed to do came to mind and you groaned, not wanting to do anything, all you wanted to do was go back to bed and avoid everyone as you didn't feel like being around anyone today. As you stretched and looked out over your empire, laughing to yourself for a moment at how ridiculous that sounded, you still weren't used to it at all, but as you thought about this and that you realized you weren't alone. Someone was here, two someones, to be specific, they were nearby and moving closer, you knew you were under attack and readied yourself for the ambush.