Age Of Miracles | Pietro Maximoff

Chapter Nine: The Moment Between Moments

Music is "The Dark Knight Emotional Suite" by Hans Zimmer.

Picture #1 is Tuppence Middleton as Elaine Nomad.

Picture #2 is Chris Pine as Balder Odinson.

Picture #3 is Karl Urban as Hodur Odinson.

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"We are inside the moment between moments. We may even be able to affect what happens after the quantum possibilities collapse into one reality: our future."

- Stephen Strange, Doctor Strange

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CHAPTER NINE

"Where do I start?"

"What do you mean?"

"There's... There's so much to tell. I need to give you background information for you to understand the time I come from, but at the same time I have to tell you my warning as soon as possible."

"How about you start at the beginning."

Elaine takes a deep breath in, leaning over to place her elbows on her knees as she looks from Sigyn, Loki, and Sif, to Pietro and I. "Where I come from, the time I come from, is 2051. It's been twenty-four years since The Invasion, almost two decades since the Earth was destroyed..." her eyes drift to the floor, "and since my father died. My mother died ten years after that."

"How old are you?" I ask in surprise. From her looks, her rugged attire and battle armour, the forlorn look of a soldier in her eyes, I thought she was in her late twenties, early thirties.

She runs a hand through her dirty, blonde hair. "I can't remember the last time I celebrated a birthday, but I think I'm nineteen. Birthdays aren't exactly mandatory in the world I live."

I stand up and pace to the window of Sigyn's guest chambers, crossing my arms over my chest as I cross the large room. I hear Pietro quickly rush after me. "Jesus, Pietro! She's my age when I started." I cover my mouth to keep from breaking down.

Pietro places his hands on my shoulders, trying to look me in my avoiding eyes. "I know. She is far too young for this."

"Dear Odin, I figured she was young, but I thought she was older than that!" I shout in a hushed tone. "What has this girl seen?"

"Far too much," he replies, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, "but we owe it to her to listen farther. Can you do that?"

I give him a nod, and we cross the room once more. "Sorry," I mutter, not saying another thing about my actions as we both retake our seats.

"Please," Pietro says, "continue."

Elaine clears her throat. "I was born on August 6th, 2032, in a bunker on one of the last safehavens for humanity and heroes alike, to a widow who had two children before me. I can't risk telling you who they are, so I will tell you their alias' they used. My brothers were called Earthling and Anomaly. My father and mother were heroes also. He died saving my mother and me from a dying Earth; she died saving her kids.

"When she was four months pregnant, the Earth was destroyed. She, and the rest of the heroes of Earth, stayed on the planet to save as many people as they could, getting them to the Stark Arks."

"Tony Stark Arks? He's still around then?" I ask, the name catching my attention.

Elaine nods. "It was his last great invention. He... He hasn't been seen since the Earth exploded. My mother used to tell me that he saved one ten thousandth of the planet alone, but was so broken up about how he failed us that he stayed on the planet as it died."