Draul went back home with a light heart because of his conversation with Tiamut.
'I will fight.' That was what Tiamut had said, and Draul had to admit that he resonated with that thought. They were similar in a few ways given that they both woke up in a world with a determined course set out for them, and it was how they responded to it that made them different from any other person in their shoes.
They were both prepared to go against their puppet masters if they were not satisfied, at least Tiamut was since Draul had already delivered his middle finger to any curious spectator.
When he got home, the house was empty with the normal residents off to their various ways. He knew they were at Krakoa helping the growing nation as much as they could while Steve was probably with Peggy.
Speaking of Steve and Peggy, it looked like Steve was pretty adamant about her staying out of this kind of life. A sentiment that both couples shared. Steve didn't want to involve Peggy in this part of his life because she understood more than anyone how infinitely dangerous it was compared to whatever she had experienced in her life. It wasn't even a topic of comparison.
Most times they'll tell dark jokes about what will happen if some of them were to die along the way, and though the three women at home were mildly put off by it, they too understood how slim their chances of coming out of it fully whole was.
Draul had on multiple occasions defied the very concept of impossibility but it'll take more than breaking through every unavoidable concept for him to pull it through again. Death wasn't a concept that any of them fancied which was the reason for their bitter end struggle.
Even now, they knew they were mostly outmatched when it came to the upcoming battle but there was no way for them to back out of it now. If there was ever a fight of their lives, then it'll be the coming one.
Gods were panicking. Celestials were determined. Elder Gods were steeling their resolve and looking for the most opportuned moment to spring up whatever agenda they had. The same with the Abstracts and the lot of unknowns out there.
This was the reason why Draul let them be and left them to their own devices. He knew exactly how they were feeling and he didn't need his empathic powers for that. After all, when he wouldn't be a nervous wreck if they stared Death in the face. Not just any death, but the literal entity that embodied it.
Though he had a plan to pull them out, it was entirely unsure if it would work when different levels of omniscience were going to be clashing in the overhead battle.
Left to himself, Draul did something he hadn't done for a long time.
"Hey Marky." He called the CEO of his company and almost lost himself in a fit of laughter as he heard how Marky was trying to compose himself after the illusory boss of one of the most forefront media companies in the whole world.
The past few years had left the Harvard nerd feeling like the most important person in the world as the entire Facebook company was left to him while Draul had the others pretty much running on codes that were at the level of unintelligent AI. Suddenly receiving a call from the man was bound to throw him in and out of different loops.
"I'm fine s-sir. I'm fine *cough*" Marky pulled himself together as his years of experience shone through making him no longer feeling as pressured of the man as he was initially. "Quite an abrupt call s-Draul. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Hoh? Seems like you've finally grown a pair of overdue balls, eh Marky?" Draul's eyes squinted in a mix between amusement and irritation.
Feeling a creeping chill up his spine, Marky immediately revered back to the role that had been automatically assigned between them. "No- of course – I mean, yes sir." Seeing the way his first employee was still a nervous train wreck, Draul decided to take pity on the man.
"No need to be alarmed, Marky. I just called in to check on you. Don't want to make you feel like an irresponsible boss who doesn't even care about his employee's welfare." Draul said with a smile on his face as he saw Marky's face contort into an unamused sneer but he didn't let any of his inner thoughts filter into the conversation.
"Oh that? You flatter me. You didn't have to do any of that, sir. I've been taking good care of myself and also the company. Though I think the employees will truly appreciate it, a sense of motivation so to speak, if you dropped by the office at times." Marky's face remained impassive but his tone was the complete opposite as he spoke to Draul, knowing fully well that the man will decline it.
"… Hmm, maybe I'll show up one of these days and see how corporate life works. See you around, Marky." Though he knew Marky didn't mean any of the words he said, he thought it'll be fun to surprise the hell out of the man and show up to his company one day. Though he didn't put much thought on it. He hung up before Marky could get another word in and paced around his house before growing bored and decided to take a stroll. A stroll always helped to free his mind.
…
On one of the rare few occasions he ever did it, he shut off most of his senses and suppressed his abilities to the lowest, which was still more than enough to thoroughly decimate the planet, and got on his stroll.
Though he'd never mentioned it before, it was outright impossible for any being on Earth and even the wider universe to sense his presence unless he specifically allowed it.
Even if he occupied a human form, the brain of most sentient beings was still not strong enough to comprehend what he was so he mostly just disappeared from their senses and even the world subconsciously shifted to his desires. Suppressing his senses and abilities was the only way he could get any enjoyment and fulfillment from this endeavor.
He appeared in a random alleyway since his house was in a rather secluded and far area of the state and walked out with hands in his coat.
He looked just like any other random person in the ever-bubbling streets of New York. With that thought in mind, he moved through the crowds hoping to find something that'll hold his attention long enough until he grew bored of it.
…
[Bucky Barnes POV]
Bucky sat on top of an uncompleted building after taking a breather from the work he'd been doing since morning.
He would have preferred staying at home but Nat had suggested a change of scenery as they spent day in and day out indoors and it turns out that the only place they knew that would serve as a great distraction was Krakoa. Constructions were still going on everyday which meant that there were a lot of things he could do to take his mind off any unwanted thoughts.
There was already an established body of order in the small city they had built which was represented by a few people, namely Emma Frost, Ororo, Raven and Charles. Ororo was more of a mediator between all of them because her presence was pivotal to the forming of the metahuman nation. Though they didn't know to what extent, anybody with any degree of heightened senses would be able to tell at forts glance that she was vastly different from the others. A subconscious reaction due to the kind of aura she emitted as a High Goddess of the Sky. Since she was the strongest and also being the one that brought them together, most decisions made for the nation passed through her before they are implemented. And not to mention that her fiancé was none other than Draul, who the other three have simultaneously given up on trying to understand.
"What are you doing up here?" Nat came to his side and sat beside him.
"Just resting and trying to catch my thoughts." Bucky said, not reacting to the sudden weight that impacted his back as Natasha laid her back against his. "I guess you were right when you said a little hard labor was what I needed to stop feeling stuffy."
"Hmm."
Bucky's medium length hair that was tied in a bun to prevent it from disturbing him during his work was blowing freely in the air behind his back.
"More magic practice?" He asked after seeing how spent she was.
"Not really. I was testing the limits of how much I can command reality. Matter manipulation is a lot easier than reality manipulation but we have all the proof we need that I can bend reality with my powers, how far I can take it still remains to be seen." Psychokinesis was a very obscure and rare ability that much isn't known about. The only similarities that could be compared that she knew of were the sorcerers. Draul had given her access to his magical notes and spells since it was the fastest way for her to learn how to truly manipulate her abilities to produce results she wanted.
Matter manipulation was more Bucky's alleyway but his was limited by the fact that he could only manipulate his body so there was no way he could help her out with that.
Psychokinesis was all about impressing your thoughts into reality and the simplest form of that was telekinesis and telepathy. It was like training an extra set of limbs to play instruments.
Playing a gong would be very easy with them but the difficulty increases if you make it play a drum instead. The more those set of limbs get attuned to complex tasks, it becomes less of a limb and more of a string, pulling on the very fabrics of reality. It was exactly the same way magic worked. If simple telekinesis were the same as beating a gong, what she was trying to do would be akin to playing the piano with a set of tightly held-together strings. Luckily she had a lot of experience in that particular area as she had been able to pick it up easily when she first started studying magic under Draul, leaving her to only deepen her experience and familiarity with it to take it to the next level.
"Sounds like you've got a lot on your plate."
"Honestly, it's not that much. I'm just pushing through what I can already do and see if I can take them to the next level." They relapsed into another bout of silence with Bucky watching what was happening below and also the city in the distance. They sure had come a long way in a few short years was Bucky's conclusion as he saw different types of metahumans moving around with a rather lax and carefree attitude without always having to look at their back. To be honest, the lines between humans and aliens have been blurred with how strong he'd gotten. The differences and disparity between specific groups of people grew smaller the more you grow higher. Even in politics, things like race, gender, wealth, culture and even ambitions, lose most of their initial importance due to the level of hierarchy the individuals have been introduced to.
It was also why it was almost impossible, if not downright so, to hear about a racist billionaire.
Not even the government who stigmatizes the metas hates them as much as the local people do.
But they had managed to make something free from any human influence. Very soon, this county will soon be self-reliant as it was richly saturated with natural resources.
"I think break time is over." He still had a job to do so he couldn't waste time sunbathing.
"Hmm."