Amelia ▹ Avengers

3 | her rise

3 | HER RISE

❝like a phoenix, from the ashes she rises.❞

Was all Amelia heard right before she was left to bleed out. She was suffocating. She couldn't breathe. It was as if sand had infested her lungs and sealed her throat. She was screaming, fighting, kicking for a gasp of air. She thought that was what death felt like. However, death felt like nothingness. What she was feeling was something we all feel everyday. Life.

* * *

Amelia's eyes shot wide open. The particles of dirt quickly encased her eyeball and dug itself deeper into her eye sockets. Amelia scratched at the dirt over and over until sunlight began to peek through the darkness. She clawed at the earth more and more until her face was completely uncovered by the soil. She began to cough. A thick brown goop (likely old dirt that was stuffed in her throat) was spat up, clearing her airway and allowing her to gasp for air. "What the hell happened to me?" Amelia groaned, her chest suddenly feeling heavy as se realized all of the dirt that was laid on her.

Slowly, but surely, she managed to climb out of the hole. As soon as she did, she propped herself up on all four limbs to catch her breath. All the while, a calming dinking of cool ice hitting glass was heard. Amelia shot her head around to look at who it was. It was a woman, unfamiliar to her eyes but she could tell she was an ally. The woman was sipping at her pink lemonade through a yellow straw as she seemed to sunbathe in the graveyard. "They really didn't give you a coffin? I'm surprised you didn't come out all rotted and gross." The woman had a Latin accent and her skin seemed to be peeling and burnt.

"Who are you?" Amelia growled lowly, like a wolf.

"Catalina da Silva Udaku. Queen of Wakanda and the Serpent of the Sea. Pleasure to meet you, Chronos." Catalina winked at the woman as she chuckled like a rich, stress-free woman.

"How'd you know I'd be here?" Amelia inquired.

Catalina snorted. "Why, the Earth told me so. Apparently the keepers of the other three elements were busy." Catalina joked, as she was one of the keepers of the elements of earth. Her element was water. She ruled every sea and ocean on the Earth. Every pirate knew to turn their ship in the opposite direction if they saw hers approaching— for she'd ransack them otherwise. Only recently had she gotten married to T'Challa Udaku, King of Wakanda, when she was attempting to pry about his tech for her mentor, Tony Stark.

"Where's Steve?" Amelia waved the young girl off.

"Probably with Val and Liv training. Oh, and I haven't told any of your people, including Tony, about your little resurrection here. Not even T'Challa. He thinks I'm shopping. I don't think he's very smart. It's been three days... and he still thinks I'm shopping." Catalina pulled off her sunglasses to eye the woman as she rambled.

She paused before continuing to speak. "You know, for as much as everyone talked about you... I expected you to be... more intimidating." Catalina shrugged then placed her sunglasses back on the bridge of her nose.

Amelia ignored her. "Who's Liv And Val? And... You've been out here for three days?" Amelia questioned the girl, unsure as to why a stranger would wait for her to unbury herself.

"Would've been four if my flight wasn't cancelled," Catalina grunted, "I'm never flying with United—"

Amelia interrupted Catalina from rambling again. "Who is Liv and Val?" Amelia raised a suspicious brow at her.

Catalina's jaw dropped open in shock. "Oooh, I forgot to tell you! You've been dead for," Catalina paused to count in her head, "three years. Sorry, I had to remember when you died, I'm not stupid I swear." Catalina defended her momentary pause of thought.

Amelia's eyes widened in shock. "Holy shit." She jumped to her feet then began to mindlessly walk away.

Catalina sneered. "Where are you going?! You don't even know where you are! Hey! Hey!!" Catalina called after her, then took one more sip of her lemonade and ran after the woman who was stalking away.