Young Gods {𝟙𝟘} | Marvel √

eight

Meanwhile, standing in the palace courtyard of Ego's planet, Quill looked up at the giant sculpture of his mother, upset while Ego watched behind him sadly. "My mother told everyone that my father was from the stars," Quill said before he turned to look at his father, somewhat accusatory, "She had brain cancer – so everyone thought she was delusional."

Ego looked sad, ashamed, "Peter-"

"Listen, I'd love to believe all of this, I really would – but you left the most wonderful woman ever, to die alone!" Quill snapped.

Tears pooled Ego's eyes as he watched his damaged son before him, "I didn't want to leave your mother, Peter. But if I don't return regularly to this planet, and the light within, this form will wither and perish-"

"So why didn't you come back?!" Quill cut in, "Why'd you send Yondu, a criminal, of all people, to fetch me and Meadow?!"

"I loved your mother, Peter!" Ego snapped, "I couldn't stand to set foot on an Earth where she wasn't living! You can't imagine what that's like!"

"I know exactly what that's like! I had to watch her die!" Quill practically screamed.

Ego caught his breath, holding in his tongue, seeming to finally hear his son, "Over the millions and millions of years of my existence I have made many mistakes, Peter. But you're not one of them. Please give me the chance to be the father she would want me to be," Ego said and Quill stared at him vulnerably, "There are so many things I need to teach you. This planet, and the light within...they are a part of you."

"What do you mean?" Quill asked.

Ego took Quill's hands in his own, gently placing them in a correct position, "Give me your hands son. Here. Hold them like that," and Quill held his hands apart. Ego stepped back, holding his hands in the same way, "Now close your eyes and concentrate. Take your brain to the center of the planet," and Quill began to concentrate. He held his hand out and a white light emanated from it, "Yes! Yes!"

"Whoa," Quill muttered, mesmerized.

But the light disappeared as quickly as it came, "Yes, yes – it's okay. Just relax. Concentrate. You can do it. Bring it back," Quill concentrated and the light once again burst up from the palms of his hands, "Yes, yes, now – shape it-" Ego showed him, pulling in the molecules around him, so that the light itself formed into the shape of a ball, "Feel the energy," and Quill tried to pull the molecules into a ball.

Little by little, they came, and the ball glowed brighter, "Yes," And Quill laughed while Ego was joyous. He almost looked as if he was going to break down in tears, "You're home, Peter — Here," Smiling, Quill threw him the ball. Ego laughed once more, inspecting the cosmic ball of light, and threw it back to Quill. He laughed as he caught it, and threw it back. Ego moved back further as the two continued tossing the ball back and forth, laughing, a friendly father and son game of catch in the middle of the palace courtyard.

———

On the steps leading up to the palace, Drax and Mantis sat together, soaking in the sun and gazing at the lush, and flowing hills, like something an alien Maxfield Parrish would paint. "How did you get here?" Drax asked.

"Ego found me in my larva state, orphaned on my homeworld. He raised me by hand, and kept me as his own," Mantis explained.

"So you're a pet?" Drax asked.

"I suppose," Mantis said.

"People usually want cute pets. Why would Ego want a hideous one?" Drax asked.

"I am hideous?" Mantis questioned.

"You're horrifying to look at, yes," Drax said but noticed she seemed sad about this, and instantly felt bad, "But it is a good thing."