The Angel of Death | Peter Quill

Chapter 15 - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

"What's going on?" Gamora asks as Seraphina follows her through the door.

"This gross bug lady is my new friend." Drax answers. Seraphina rolls her eyes at him.

"I'm learning many things, like I'm a pet and ugly." Mantis adds.

"You're not ugly." She tells her.

"And you're not a pet." Seraphina says.

"What are you talking about?" Drax asks, gesturing to Mantis. Seraphina glares at him.

"Mantis, can you show us where we'll be staying?" Gamora asks. Mantis agrees and begins leading the way. Seraphina flies above them, staying within earshot. "Why are there no other beings on this planet?"

"The planet is Ego. A dog would not invite a flea to live on his back." She answers.

"And you're not a flea?" She questions.

"I'm a flea with a purpose. I help him sleep." Mantis answers.

"What were you about to say to Drax before we walked out?" She asks, stepping in front of Mantis. Seraphina considers intervening, but the bad feeling in her stomach stops her.

"Nothing. Your quarters are this way." She says before walking away. Seraphina and Gamora share a look, knowing she's hiding something.

***

"So I guess this could all be mine someday." Peter says as he and Seraphina stand on the balcony. She hums, not paying attention as she tries to get the comms working to check on Rocket, Nebula, and Groot.  She groans and slams it on the table, dropping down on the seat next to it and dropping her head to the table. Peter pulls her to her feet and turns her to face him. "Dance with me."

"I've told you, Peter. I haven't really danced before." She sighs.

"This is Sam Cooke, one of the greatest Earth singers of all time." He tells her, pulling her to the center of the balcony. He begins to sway, wrapping one arm around her, the other taking her hand in his. She rolls her eyes but smiles, stepping forward to rest her head on his chest, her other hand wrapping around him.

After a few moments of swaying, he spins her away. She spins back towards him, laughing as she tucks her wings to her body, twirling under his arm back to his chest.

"Drax thinks you're not a dancer." He says, wrapping his arm around her again. 

"I'd like to be." She replies. "My parents used to dance a lot. Every day after dinner, they'd go out into the backyard and sway together, just like this."

"You don't talk about them much." He observes.

"It's painful." Seraphina tells him, shaking her head. "My memories of them are starting to fade. Replaced by ones of that monster." She pushes away and rests her hands on the railing, looking out at the planet. "I have a bad feeling about this place."

"What are you talking about? You're the one who wanted me to come here!" He scoffs.

"I know, but there's something wrong here. Mantis seems afraid." She says.

"Why are you trying to take this away from me?" Peter asks.

"What? I'm not trying to to take anything from you. There is something you should know-" She starts to say.

"He's my father. He's blood." He interrupts.

"You have family on Earth too, Peter. You've never wanted to go back-" She replies, but he cuts her off again.

"Again, you made me come here! And Earth is the place where my mother died in front of me." He scoffs.

"My parents were murdered in front of me in my family home. If I had the chance to return, I would go back in a heartbeat, no matter how painful that memory is." Seraphina says, her hand coming up to fidget with the locket on the necklace she'd begun wearing.

"Oh, I get it. You're jealous that I've got a family again, and you don't. I've finally found my family, why can't you understand that." He replies. She scoffs and turns to look at him.

"I thought you already had found your family, Peter." She tells him. He takes a step towards her, but she holds her hand up, spreading her wings.

"Phi!" He calls after her as she takes off, flying away and ignoring his calls.

Seraphina flies around, looking for any signs of Gamora, who had left to find a better signal to speak with Rocket. She doesn't find anything until she hears guns firing ahead. She speeds up, finding the damaged entrance to a cave. She sighs, knowing Nebula must have found Gamora and attacked her. She enters the cave and spots them on the ground, the wreckage of Nebula's ship on fire behind them.

"Are you two finally done with all this stupid fighting?" She asks, looking down at her sisters.

"Fine." They both say. She holds her hands out to them, pulling them to their feet. They start walking through the tunnel after spotting light coming from further inside.

"What is that?" Gamora asks. They enter, finding a massive pile of skeletons. Seraphina cries out and falls to her knees, one hand clutching her chest as the other supports her. "Phi?"

"Peter." She gasps. "He's in trouble."

"What? How could you possibly know that?" Nebula scoffs as she and Gamora help her to her feet.

"We gotta go." Gamora says.

"We need to get off this planet." She agrees.

***

"Where is Peter?" Seraphina asks, slamming Mantis to the wall as she lifts her into the air.

"Who are you people? What is this place?" Gamora adds.

"Let her go!" Drax protests.

"The bodies in the caverns. Who are they?" Seraphina demands. Mantis grabs hold of her arm, her antenna glowing.

"You are scared." She says. Seraphina scoffs and drops her. She reaches for her sword, but Drax stops her.

"She already told me everything." He tells her.

"The bodies...are his children." Mantis explains.

"We need to find Peter now and get off this damn planet." Gamora says.

"Ego will have won him to his side by now. He has a way-" She replies.

"Then we just go." Nebula interrups.

"No! He's our friend." Gamora tells her.

"All any of you do is yell at each other. You are not friends." She scoffs.

"You're right. We're family. We leave no one behind." Drax announces. He looks at Nebula. "Except maybe you." Seraphina cries out again, but Nebula catches her before she can hit the ground.

"We have to hurry." She tells them as Gamora tries to contact Rocket again.