Nyctophilia // Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

eyes full of stars

Josephine's pov

As I sit in an empty room, I can't help but feel like something's off. I haven't heard from the others in a while, I mean yeah, I locked myself in a random room but still.

For the past hour, I've been trying to piece the broken pieces of my heart back together. Peter's words were still ringing in my ears

I just don't understand.

I thought he liked us.

I thought he liked me...at least enough to stay.

Stop it, Jo. If he wanted to, he would. You need to pull yourself together. Don't depend on anyone, that's the rule. In this world we only ever have ourselves. That needs to be enough. It has to be.

But to do that, I need to know myself. How do I figure out who I used to be, in order to know who I am now?

I can't just forget about my past like I planned to, can I?

Maybe that's why Quill is doing this. Maybe he just wants to figure out a little piece of himself that was missing.

Maybe I do understand.

Shit, how long has it been?

I should go find the others.

Third person pov

Back in the main hall of the building. Peter and Ego talk about their life now as celestials.

"Doesn't eternity get boring?" Peter asks his father after finding out he's immortal.

"Not if you have a purpose, Peter. Which is why you're here." Ego explains, showing him a model of life. "I told you how all those years ago, I had an unceasing impulse to find life." Now standing in front of a pod demonstrating Ego and other life forms he encountered. "But what I did not tell you, was how when I finally did find it...it was all so disappointing." He sighed.

"And that is when I came to a profound realization. My innate desire to seek out other life was not so that I could walk among that life...Peter, I have found meaning." Ego uses his powers to show Quill the meaning of life.

Peter's eyes fill with the stars, galaxies and universes. Experiencing the true meaning of life, he is in complete awe. "I see it. Eternity!" He gasps.

Ego goes on to tell Quill that his purpose is a thing Ego likes to call The Expansion. Over the years Ego has left extensions of himself on thousands of planets, wanting to grow and spread throughout the universe. Covering everything that exists, until it's all him.

As Quill is still in a trance, Ego continues his speech. "I only had one problem, a single celestial doesn't have enough power. Two celestials? Well, now that just might do."

A hologram of the universe displays across the room, showing The Expansion. "Out of all my labors, the most beguiling was attempting to graft my DNA with that of another species. I hoped the result of such a coupling would be enough to power The Expansion." Ego explains how badly he wanted his children to carry the celestial gene. "I had Yondu deliver some of them to me. It broke the Ravager code, but I compensated him generously. And to ease his conscious, I said I'd never hurt them. I mean, that was true. They never felt a thing." Ego admits to killing his children.
"But one after the other, they failed me. Not one of them carried the celestial genes. Until you Peter." Peter looks at his father still dazed and smiles. "Out of all my spawn...only you carried the connection to the light. For the first time in my existance...I am truly not alone!" Ego yells accomplished.

Peter's smile drops as his eyebrows contort in sadness.

"What is it, son?" Ego asks.

"My friends." Peter says barely above a whisper.