Hidden on Titan (Infinity War x Fem!Reader)

Chapter Twenty-One

(A/N: I highly recommend listening to Beethoven's "Piano Sonata No. 14 C-Sharp Minor" while reading this chapter. It helps it make more sense! -Abi)

The same sonata that Strange had listened to time and time again while he was wallowing in self-pity overturned his senses in an instant. Being away from (Y/N) made Beethoven's No. 14 Sonata seem more realistic in an Earthly sense rather than a foreign one. Even throughout all of the evenings where he attempted to regain his strength in his hands after his accident, he often wondered if a piano would have ever proved more useful than hand stretches that put him through misery. 

As he stared at the wasteland before him, the sonata played loudly in his mind. Every note change was evident to him, more vibrant than a previous shift. One of his favourite parts about the sonata was that it sounded so beautiful in C-sharp minor. He'd listened to other composers attempt to change minors and majors throughout the entire accompaniment, but nothing sounded as beautiful as C-sharp minor. 

He couldn't believe how many times he let the chance to learn piano slip passed him.

So many different instances where he could've completely abandoned the idea of being a surgeon and instead, a rather popular pianist. However, even if he'd become successful with piano, it's likely he would've still ended up right where he was at this very moment-- stood still on dirt that had most likely not been hydrated for a long while, imagining all the different lives he could've had if he hadn't gotten into his accident. 

And then how many other forms of his life that could've ended if he'd interrupted (Y/N)-- if anyone had interrupted her. 

"It's the same song." 

Strange flinched at the sound of Mantis' voice which caused her to draw backward momentarily, unsure if she should've readied herself for a momentary quarrel or harsh banter. However, as he noticed it was just her, he placed his hands behind his back and turned around again, eyes scanning the horizon for something--anything--but what?

"She's never even heard it and yet I can still feel it resonate from within her," Mantis' voice was quiet again, similar to a whisper, "She may be far away from me, but her heart is swelling, Doctor Strange," Stepping forward, the woman placed her left palm across the lower-middle part of the Sorcerer's back, eyes closing with comfort as his song played loudly in her head, "Yours is minor," Her hand falls away from his back and she steps to the side of him for a moment, eyes closed as she attempted to feel the same song in the air, "She's just shy of a major." 

His eyes widened momentarily, shock overtaking him.

How could she know that sonata? Nobody on Earth played it as often as they had such a long time ago. How could she hear a song she's never even listened to before?

"That's impossible," He muttered. Denial was the only thing that made sense. There was no way she could've known that song. No way at all. "You must be hearing it from Peter or Tony or Quill," He shook his head, sighing loudly, "You can't hear this song from her. Not even in major." 

Mantis stood still, silent. 

She did not attempt to stop Strange as he walked away from her. His song kept getting louder with each step he took in the opposite direction. The minor-key became more prevalent. His despondency was easier to pick up from that. 

What did he have to be sorrowful over? 

The woman he put so much faith into had just saved the whole universe not even a week previous, or however many days it had been. Nobody could keep count anymore. They'd been on Titan for so long, time seemed like an illusion.

But why sad?

(Y/N) meant little to nothing to the group as a whole. Even as being a savior, she was still a stranger to them. They only knew her backstory slightly but could not comprehend her present whatsoever. She was the biggest mystery to each and every single one of them, but why was Strange taking it so personally?

--

After Strange's encounter with Mantis, he managed to make it back to the little camp they'd set up recently. Quill, Drax, and Peter slept near the pile of rubble no one had tried to clean up. As for Tony, he wasn't doing much of anything. Just standing. 

Strange walked to him, arms crossed as he stood beside the billionaire.

"A long time ago, someone told me that music was the most complicated form of communication," Strange said, eyes never leaving the line of the horizon, "Growing up, I'd watched as young boys communicated their favourite bands, musicians, and songs to girls and other boys alike," A faint, empty chuckle followed his words and he looked to the ground momentarily, a sorrow filling his heart that he'd never felt before, "The person that told me that never believed in melodies. Couldn't fall in love with the sound of a guitar, a voice, or a piano. Balance and harmony always seemed prohibited in the life they led." 

Tony looked to Strange, confused as to why he was saying all of this.

"What's the point you're trying to make here, bud?" 

Strange looked up from the ground, eyes slowly brimming over with tears he didn't even know he needed to let go of.

"Do you believe in soul-songs?" 

"Soul-songs?" 

"Yeah. They're types of songs that belong to only soulmates and once you hear it, you can't get it out of your head. Ever." 

Tony sighed a rather annoying sigh, "Please don't tell me you think your soulmate is Miss Savior." 

Strange shook his head, "No, but what if her powers connect beyond Titan? Tony, she's never heard Beethoven's Sonata No. 14, but Mantis said she can hear the song in my head in a minor-key with hers in major," He threw his hands up in the air, alluding to a type of self-defeat, "Please explain to me how the hell that makes sense." 

Tony patted Strange on the back rather aggressively, chuckling in the process.

He couldn't believe Strange was actually going to fall for something like that. As mystical and confusing as the whole world and the entire galaxy actually was, it made no sense for a "soul-song" to exist amongst a Titan and an Earthling. It made absolutely no sense at all. 

"That light she zapped the grimace with must've zapped your brain a little bit, too," Tony joked, "I'd suggest getting some rest. Maybe you'll actually use your brain correctly when you wake up." 

Strange rolled his eyes at the other man's comment and shrugged his hand off of him. 

He wasn't crazy.

He hadn't been "zapped" by (Y/N)'s light. 

He just wanted to understand why the sonata he fell in love with when he was young was suddenly the sonata someone from another planet could also hear without even ever having listened to it. 

"I'm going to go check on her," Strange mumbled, "I'll be back... Eventually." 

Tony scoffed, "Right." 

As the Sorcerer walked farther from the camp, the sonata kept increasing in volume. He looked around his surroundings to see whether or not Mantis was around to manipulate his mind, but she had been nowhere in sight. Where he'd been standing with her previously was now vacant of anybody. 

And then he heard it. 

A minor and a major cord smashed together in just an instant until the melody dwindled in harmony with minor-key. 

And she stood there.

In front of him.

Just as confused as he was.