The Girl Who Held the Universe in her Hands | marvel [1] ✔

ONE

CHAPTER ONE
' EVERYTHING I AM
AND MORE . '

A woman smiled as she pulled a plant from the clutches of the soil, shifting her grip to cradle it gently. Her gaze moved from the vegetation to a child who knelt in front of a pond. The woman pushed her long, curly hair over her shoulders with her free hand, mud clinging to them, but she seemed not to care.

"Ash!" she called, hand coming to cup over her mouth and making her voice louder. "We're heading back!"

Ash's straightened from her inspection and looked over her shoulder at the sound of her mother's voice. "Did you know we have pickerelweed?"

"Pickerelweed?" she repeated, making her way over to the pond. "I didn't." She hummed, offering Ash her free hand and pulling her to her feet. "We can come back tomorrow and make some cereal with the seeds. How does that sound?" The woman turned away and began the trek back to their village.

Ash looked back at the water and jumped away, her hand covering her chest. An image of an explosion appeared on the surface, and a large man with purple skin emerged from the fire. He wore a dark look in his eyes, and that was all it took for Ash to sprint to her mothers' side.

"Everything okay?" She looked down as Ash clutched her leg all of a sudden.

"There was a man in the water."

Ash's mother stopped and looked over her shoulder, handing the vegetable to her daughter and straightening her posture. Ash's knees nearly buckled under the weight, but she stood her ground and pushed herself closer to her mother.

"Your child is a remarkable one." The new, low voice caused the two females to whip around. Ash recognised him as the same man from the water's reflection, and he towered over them.

The older woman pushed her daughter behind her. "What do you want?"

"I mean no harm," he replied, lowering to sit on a rock but showing her his weaponless hands before.

"Bullshit," she shot back, her grip on her child tightening. "No one finds their way here with peaceful nature. What do you want?"

"You know what I want."

His words caused the amulet on Ash's mother's chest to hang heavy, but she continued to stare defiantly at him. "Well, I don't have it. It's off-world. No one knows where it went."

He stared at her. "You're telling me that this weapon-"

"-It's not a weapon."

"This weapon, capable of destroying this universe, simply disappeared? You seem very calm for someone who has lost something of that worth."

"That responsibility is not on my shoulders. I am a farmer, not a priest. My responsibility is to feed the residents of the temple."

He smiled. "That, I could tell. No priest would let a Celestial-"

"-You have no idea what you speak off. You're here for a stone I do not have, so leave. You're scaring my child."

Silence settled again, and the man suddenly broke out in gentle laughter. "You know, you almost had me fooled."

Ash's mother pushed her shoulders back, a glare forming on her features.

"I could have believed you if it wasn't for the water making your shirt see-through. I can see the amulet on your neck."

The woman produced a blaster from nowhere as soon as the words left his mouth. "Ash, now!"

Her words caused her to drop the vegetable and throw her hands forward, baring her teeth from the effort. Before Ash's magic could take effect, a blast from the weapon hit him straight in the chest. Both attacks launched backwards, and Ash's mother pushed her daughter to run off. The two women sprinted into the foliage, gripping each other's hands. They didn't know how long they were running before they heard chaos bursting into the vegetation. Ash's mother dropped to her knees in front of her daughter, touching her face.

"Listen to me, Ash. You need to run, okay? I'll hold them off for as long as I can."

"But he'll hurt you!" she shot back, eyes welling with tears.

Ash's mother pulled the amulet from her neck and placed it around Ash's. "Don't you worry about me. This is what fuels your power, you hear? You need to protect it with your life, as I will. I'm sorry I couldn't get you out of here before it came to this, but you're everything I am and more." She pulled Ash's head towards hers and placed a kiss against her forehead. "I love you, little star. Now go and don't stop for anything! GO!"

Ash gave her mother one last look before she turned around and disappeared into the foliage. Her heart thudded in her chest, one of her hands clutching the amulet, and her legs began to burn. She looked over her shoulder but slammed into something. Ash fell onto her back, scrambling away as a person with a long nose leaned over her.

"What a small little thing you are," he spoke, lifting a finger before she clenched her fist and a vine wrapped around his ankle, yanking him away.

Ash jumped to her feet and continued to run. She kept her gaze ahead, not daring to look back. Something suddenly clutched her, ripping her from the ground and suspending her in the air. Ash let out a scream as she spun to hang upside down, her hair dangled downwards, and she spied the man she had run into, his hand lifted in the air and pointing at her.

"You're faster than you look," he commented. Ash writhed in his invisible grip as he brought her closer to him. "Let's give you a taste of your own medicine, hm?" Vines moved towards her and pinned her limbs to her body, squeezing everything in place.

"Maw," the man from before appeared again, stopping by his shoulder. "Don't play too much. She's not a toy." Ash wriggled as he approached her, the vines moving to allow him access to the amulet hanging on her chest. "Don't be scared, little one." When the man touched the metal necklace, he hissed, hand snapping away and a puff of smoke rising from where he made contact.

Before Ash could even comprehend, her whole body exploded in agonising, and a scream erupted from her throat. The black stone of the amulet seemed to dissolve into her skin, and black mist surrounded her form. The magic severed the vines holding her in place, and she rose into the air, mouth hanging open in a silent scream. Power exploded from her, reeling in every direction and killing all the foliage surrounding them.

Everything stopped, and Ash let out a small sigh, her whole body moving with the effort needed to breathe before consciousness escaped her, and she fell to the ground.