Infinite (A Marvel Fanfic)

Chapter 50

I place no claim to the song above, only Aria, the characters I create, and her story. Hope you've enjoyed the story, and I thank you for following Aria and her selves on their journey. The song above is called Daughter of the Moon by Adriana Figueroa.

Chapter 50

There was silence for several minutes, and Thor frowned as Thanos glanced toward his gauntlet in confusion. He snapped his fingers again, but still, nothing happened. It was then, that he registered the laughing behind him and glanced toward Aria in confusion as she raised her head to reveal a pair of vibrant orange eyes, but as they returned to their normal grey, the area around them shimmered and disappeared revealing that it had all been an illusion. Thor, his axe, the wound in his chest, the defeated avengers behind him. The mind and time stone upon his gauntlet vanished and his eyes narrowed as she stood, completely unharmed.

They now stood in the clearing several miles from the city, and Aria stepped toward him with a small smile on her face as he tried to piece together how he hadn't noticed it. A crowd had gathered several feet away, and many of them exchanged glances as they to tried to figure out how Aria had done it. Chloe, Dahlia, Avery, Marley, and Jami appeared next to Aria,  each exchanging smug looks of their own. " How?" Thanos growled in anger and Aria shrugged.

" I'm the most powerful being in existence, I can work a few illusions." She answered. " I had good teachers to." She grinned, before he was forced to his knees be a golden light as Aria stepped closer, her arms behind her back. " Marley, if you would." Aria said and Marley nodded before running over to pull the gauntlet off.

" So, this is how I die? At the hands of a child." Thanos said and Aria shook her head. " No, your life lies in your own hands." At that moment his gauntlet slipped off and Chloe carried it over to Aria who stared at it a moment before turning away from him. " The same goes for everyone on this planet, on all planets. We all have the right to decide." Aria said and her other selves smiled.

" You speak as if you, yourself, have a choice."

" I do, and I have chosen to follow my destiny." Aria responded, before the gauntlet disintegrated in her grasp, leaving the stones to float out in the air before her. Reaching out, she grasped the space stone and portals began to open around the field; from one, stepped Strange, Drax, Quill, Spiderman, Mantis, and Tony. In the air, where the second portal had opened, a ship flew through and landed several feet away. Chloe's eyes widened when the door opened, and several aliens began to climb off, but she only saw one of the passengers. Loki.

Chloe looked at Aria, and she nodded, before watching as she ran across the field toward him, but just before she reached him, Aria reached for the connection between them, and like cutting a thread, she severed it. Having felt it, Chloe came to a stop and looked down in shock, as if trying to process what had happened, before a smile spread across her face and turned back to Aria to reveal that the bright blue glow had faded from her eyes, leaving them a natural blue. Loki took her hand as he reached her and she grinned up at him in pure joy.

Aria released the space stone, which fell to the ground and turned to dust. Next, Aria took the reality stone, and faced the crowd where Wanda stood supporting Vison. The reality stone, let off a bright glow, and Vision's eyes widened in shock as he looked down in shock to watch the metal begin to melt off him like water, leaving skin behind in it's place. As it receded up to his forehead, the mind stone separated and flew across the field to float amongst the others. Wanda's eyes widened as she stared up at him, before she placed her hands to his face, as if expecting it all to be another illusion, before throwing her arms around his neck as she kissed him. Meanwhile, Dahlia was staring at Aria with a small smile, her red eyes having dulled to a dark brown color when Aria had severed their connection.

Jami bit her lip nervously as Aria took ahold of the power stone, but when nothing happened, she raised an eyebrow in confusion, before noticing the slight purple glow appearing at Aria's fingertips. " Aria-"

" It's okay." Aria assured, watching Jami's eyes fade from purple to brown, as the power stone disintegrated in her grasp. Next, Aria reached into her pocket and pulled out her sling ring, which glowed before shrinking and turning green, revealing the time stone. She smiled before looking to Avery, whose eyes had lost their green glow. Aria tossed the stone into the air and everyone watched in amazement as it exploded with a bright green light. When the light faded, something came shooting across the field, before settling behind Wanda, who turned with a gasp when she looked upon the face of her twin brother.

With two stones remaining, Aria took the mind stone from the air and connected her mind to those she cared for around the world. To her parents, she gave her thanks for the best childhood they could give her, for the life that was given, and asked that they would give that same love to Chloe, Marley, Jami, Dahlia, and Avery.

To her 5 friends, she asked that they used the life they now had, and in her memory, never waste a second of it.

To Loki, she thanked him for the lessons he taught her , for showing her the way, and asked that he would promise to always love Chloe. Something he agreed to do without hesitation.

To the Avengers, she gave her thanks for allowing her to be a part of something much greater, and to each of them, she gave a gift and request. Her request, was that they never stopped fighting for their world, and should it fall they, would avenge it as they had promised. Her gift, a glimpse into the future she had prevented and the assurance that it would never come to that again.

At last, Aria took the soul stone in hand and reached out through the final portal on the other side of the field behind Thanos. From it, Gamora stepped, a look of shock on her face as she took in the field, before her eyes settled on the crowd and she moved to embrace Quill who flew over to hug her. Gamora wasn't the only one who was brought back, all across the field the dead arose as if they had never fallen, their wounds healed and their life restored.

As the soul stone crumbled to dust, Aria lifted into the air, her arms outstretched and her eyes closed as tears fell down her face in sorrow. A bright glow surrounded her body and with a final lurch of her chest, her body turned to dust and drifted away on the wind.

My name was Aria Stone.

I was born with one purpose.

I was born to save the world.

I could have chosen to ignore my destiny, to let the world burn just to spite the beings who brought me into exsistence, but that would have just been postponing the evitable. In the end, someone had to die, and I'd rather it be me then those I loved most.

I know their hearts will be broken, and they will mourn in their own time and way. I will miss them as they miss me, but my hope is that in time they will understand.

That they will find the answer to the question, why?

However, one question remains before I say farewell, for now.

We live our lives in an infinite moment. What we do with that moment is up to us.

So I ask you, what would you do in that moment?