"Did you exact revenge for her?"
"Perhaps so."
Quill's gaze has always carried a hint of sadness, but his appearance doesn't seem to match such melancholy, Rocket Raccoon thought. There must be darker stories related to his mother.
"The entire saga began with a spaceship that crash-landed in Colorado State, much like the start of a clichéd sci-fi story. From it emerged a heavily wounded alien, who was saved by a human woman.
They started living happily together, and soon, the woman got pregnant. However, the husband had to return to his homeland due to his own responsibilities, leaving his pregnant wife to live alone in Englewood.
On the day of the child's birth, the woman was suddenly seized with a frenzied idea that took control of her soul. Something was calling out to her, and she knew she had to respond.
So, the woman who had just given birth rushed outdoors with her newborn, wanting to show him the sky, or the stars hidden behind it, for it was they who were calling to her.
Not surprisingly, she saw the scattered stars formed into a straight line. She let out a cry of madness like she had never before, almost fainting. Perhaps a mother's instincts were telling her that the stars would take away her child.
All these were told to me by my mother, who repeated this story to me countless times, especially her sorrow and uncontrollable emotions.
Perhaps because of the alien blood coursing through my veins, I achieved something unattainable for humans. On the day of my birth, I possessed clear vision and definite memory.
What I did not tell my mother is that on that day, amidst her cries, I saw the stars open their arms to me.
Deep within the stars and further still, I saw something terrifying yet magnificent extending its hand towards me."
"What did he see?" Stark asked, shifting his eyes from the words on the notebook in front of the round Zen window.
For some reason, Strange kept silent. This kind of thoughtless silence was rare on this increasingly mature mage, as if a certain rule had blocked him and made him opt for silence.
Perhaps after a few seconds, or a few tens of minutes, Strange spoke in a strange voice, like the sudden rise of a violin, "Tony, has the power of the Iron Demon God given you indomitable courage and faith?"
"Obviously."
"What if there is something that can't be measured by power?"
"Are you afraid that I will be afraid?"
"Obviously."
"What is it?"
"The stars."
"When I describe the stars, I would use more neutral terms, rather than exhausting fancy compliments like many poets do for the sun." Shiller's voice reverberated throughout the room, as if he was talking to someone.
"The sun belongs to humankind. We never hesitate to praise our own, but the stars are different. They have never belonged to us. They just hang in the sky, staring down at us quietly, scrutinizing us."
"When humans take a step towards the stars, apart from the bustling interstellar society, there might be something greater, yet more terrifying waiting for us in the depths."
When Shiller dried the ink on his hand and picked up the pen again, the notebook started exhibiting some fluctuations in the usually stable narrative tone, and the once unfamiliar cursive started appearing on the paper.
"On the second day of my return to Earth, I received a strange letter. It had been many years since I received a letter, but I still opened it and read its contents."
"Unsurprisingly, it was a letter from my good friend, Lisa. She worked for the American Aerospace Administration. After the death of my mother, she has arguably been the most important woman in my life."
"But, our relationship wasn't romantic. It was born out of shared passion for the same career. Although it might sound crazy, I, the insane roamer filled with nonsense, had once worked as a mechanic at NASA's aerospace base, and it was all thanks to Lisa."
"Within the first hour of my return to Earth, I had called her. After hearing her robust voice, I was reassured. However, the content of her letter made me uneasy."
"She mentioned that over the decades following my mother's murder, sightings of unidentified aerial objects had rapidly increased in southwestern America and the entire country. The East had reported similar phenomena. This wasn't good news."
"A thought suddenly sprang to my mind—were they growing impatient? Was it because they were impatient that they had to send a more distinctive, louder call?"
"So, what do you plan to do?" Rocket Raccoon asked Quill, arms crossed, "Honestly, I don't want to wander the cosmos again. At least, not alone."
"But you haven't explained why you are here." Quill turned to look at Rocket Raccoon.
"At the banquet, I realized that we probably sympathize with each other. That day, I heard you tell Heimdall, the keeper of the Rainbow Bridge, you wanted to come to Earth. The psychologist temporarily in charge of me just so happened to also be from Earth, so I came looking for you."
"But you're a raccoon."
"A mechanical raccoon." Rocket Raccoon rolled his eyes, extended his paw. Seeing nothing unusual, Quill leaned closer, and with a "swish," the sharp mechanical claws sprung out, nearly slashing open Quill's nose.
"Astonishing." Quill slowly shook his head, way down almost to the ground, eyes gleaming in excitement, "Will you help me then?"
"That's why I asked. What are you planning to do next?"
"I need to find Lisa." Quill ran his fingers through his hair, "She needs my help. Recently, there has been another unidentified flying object that has landed in the Rocky Mountains. I came back at just the right time."
"It was always her helping me, and since I left Earth, there had not been any chance to return her favor. Now she's under a great deal of pressure due to her work, and she's at her wit's end. It's clear from the letter. I have to help her."
Quill reached out to Rocket Raccoon and sighed. After a brief pause, Rocket Raccoon grasped Quill's arm and jumped onto his shoulders.
As the last blush of the setting sun sunk below the horizon, the silhouettes of the young man and the raccoon on his shoulder disappeared into the skyline of the road by the cemetery.
"At that time, I was still motivated by the desire to help a friend. But what ensued not only failed to match my selfless sentiment at the time, but also greatly exceeded it, shattering it."
"It's not because our friendship is not strong enough. It's because the thing that had been calling me from the darkness was like a song from a lark high in the sky, far, indifferent, and unknowable."