Chapter Text
"Faith is my sword;
Truth my shield;
Knowledge my armor. "
- Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange
“It’s this, or everyone dies, Mine.” Stephen inhales sharply, looking at Peter, who only tilts his head in confusion.
“How do I know you’re not tricking me?” He asks, continuing to weave his spell.
“You don’t. That’s the fun part isn’t it?” The God in his mind grins crookedly, a feral glint in their eyes.
“Why me?”
“I have walked eons with you, and I will continue to walk eons with you, Mine. You are my Zakar .” The God responds, closing and opening their eyes to reveal blinding green eyes, pale blonde hair flowing in the air. “I am yours just as much as you are mine, and those who are yours are mine as well.”
“So you’ll protect them?” He asks quietly, eyes on Peter who stares back at him back.
“Always.”
“I’ll do it.”
“Good.” The Gods grin turns sadistic, appearing in front of Stephen, startling both him and Peter, their hand raises up, stretched far above them and sends a spark of green into the sky. “It’s time .”
Stephen gasps, sitting up and grasping his head. Peter— oh god Peter-. He needs to make sure he’s okay-!
“SETTLE ZAKAR MINE!” The God commanded, setting a heavy hand on Stephen’s back. “Your child is fine, he is safe with Zivot.”
“And who the hell is Zivot?” He snarls in response, running his fingers through his hair. His mind is in a frenzy and he just needs- he needs his son.
“Zivot.. well, he’s the physical embodiment of the Power Stone.” The God settles into the air, sitting criss cross.
“And who are you?” Stephen asks.
“Aika. Time Stone. Hurt, you didn’t recognize me, Stephen Strange.” Stephen blinks in surprise but carries on with their conversation.
“What do you want from me, Aika?”
“You are my Zakar, it is more what I can do for you.”
“No, you had me turn back time for a reason..”
“Ah, you’ve seen the horrors that have transpired after The Mad Titan threw off natural balance, the Universe was unstable, falling apart at its seams. And with the death of Harley Keener, Anthony Stark, Gamora, and Loki Laufeyson, the Guardians of the Universe fell. For Harley is the Zakar of Reality, Gamora the Zakar of Soul, Loki the Zakar of Death, and Anthony the Zakar of Infinity.
With their deaths, there was pain for Ziel, Mooni, Senfineco, and Kifo, the pain caused them to recede into their own minds, no longer available to help upkeep the balance of the Universe, and so its fallen, and with your little.. incident, the Universe fell faster. So I made a choice.” The God— Aika, stared off as if picturing another time, another place.
“Why us, though? What’s so special about us?” Stephen whispered, looking down and thinking about Peter, only 16 and dragged into their mess.
“We have ambulated with your souls since the commencement of humanity. You are our opted for.” The God— Aika, lowered herself to the ground, a heavy silence weighing upon him until she spoke up once again. “Our habitation, Elysium, was the first place built after we were engendered. It was but a floating rock in aeonian tenebrosity but it was home.” As Aika spoke, their hands weaved through the air, a trail of green draíocht following his movement. “And finally, after eons and eons of waiting, our souls met their match.”
“Match? Like soulmates?” Stephen replies drily, he crosses his arms, one singular perfectly carved brow arching upwards.
“Not precisely, soulmates incline to be a romantic or platonic bond. Soul matches are for mentors and mentees or Deities and their culled Zakar's. My soul matches yours, just as Zivot matches your child's.”
“Hm.” Stephen bit the inside of his cheek, his brows furrowing as he digested this information, finally he motioned for Aika to continue.
“So we probed, we kenned our matches were out there somewhere, and all we needed to do was find you. You, my Zakar, were but a humble curer, renowned throughout the six kingdoms as Stephanos the Rejuvenator, you never charged more than 50 dimes. When I stumbled upon you, it was as if the stars aligned. So I brought you home to Veraili, our fortress on Elysium. We trained you and the other Zakars, and you became warriors.” Aika looked up at Stephen, smiling sadly. “It seems as though in every timeline, you are some form of a rejuvenator. It is as though it's your destiny, rejuvenator then warrior.”
Stephen gulped harshly, hands clenching before he cried out, his hands spasming.
“Oh, mine. Dear no. You can't be a warrior with damaged hands. I should've done this long afore, c'mere. It's time to rewind.” Aika closed his eyes, her hands coming up to cradle Stephens. Then, her eyes flew open, blinding green shining through.
Stephen watched, wincing as his hands continued to spasm, as Aika chanted under his breath, green draíocht weaving through and around Stephens and Aika’s hands. It was fascinating.
“There are no more interruptions. I will perpetuate telling you of our history, and you will sit and heedfully auricularly discern. Understood?”
Stephen blinked slowly, not really understanding but he nodded nonetheless.
“Good. Now, after we trained you, and you became warriors, we settled many battles and wars between kingdoms. Bringing a perpetual placidity to Elysium. One day, Senfineco sensed something erroneous. Xe verbally expressed it felt as if someone wrung xeir heart from xeir body. In but a few hours, we all felt it as well. Senfineco's Zakar was the first to go, but anon followed Ziel, Zivot, Fatum, Ruumi, me, Hankali, Iko, Mooni, and Kifo. Kifo's Zakar lasted the longest, but twas to be expected, he was, and is, a puissant mage destined to rule kingdoms.
We sent out to probe for our Zakar's, for you were to be on a mission. But nobody could find you. So you became the Lost Warriors of Elysium. For without you, Elysium descended into madness. In every life, we have endeavored to bring you all back to Elysium, but it was for naught. You all hadn't reached the same potential you had when you were Warriors. Elysium would not let you enter. But now, now you have.”
“We can’t go. We need to protect the Universe from Thanos.” Stephen muttered, still eyeing his hands in awe.
“And you shall, but first you will become Warriors of Elysium once more. I promise you, becoming Warriors and harvesting our potency as our Zakar will avail you greatly in your upcoming battles. I have re-winded several years in the past to give us enough time to train you all in the way of the Elysian's.”
“Alright. We should probably meet up with everybody first, though.” Stephen replied, voice haughty.
“Right you are, Zakar mine, right you are.” Aika grinned, grabbing onto Stephen and disappearing them with a swirl of green.