IRONROOT – Chapter 22: Echoes of the Celestial War
Part I – Fractured Light
The Benatar drifted in silence. Stars shimmered faintly beyond the fractured viewport, their light distorted by dust and radiation. Inside, the crew worked in quiet exhaustion.
They had survived the Heart of the Garden, but what lingered inside Billy was worse than any wound.
He sat alone in the medbay, staring at his reflection in a cracked mirror.
The green light beneath his skin pulsed rhythmically, like veins of fire under glass.
Each beat echoed faintly in his ears — like a voice whispering through blood.
You cannot destroy what was born from eternity.
He clenched his fists, trying to drown it out. The mirror vibrated, spiderwebs of cracks spreading.
"Easy, kid," Rocket said from the doorway, holding a half-broken med-scanner. "You fry another wall and I'm making you pay in bark."
Billy didn't smile. "It's getting worse."
Rocket frowned. "You got a god's DNA mixed with cosmic fertilizer, it's supposed to get worse."
Billy's voice was quiet. "No, you don't get it. He's still in there. Ghorath."
Rocket hopped onto the counter beside him. "Then we find a way to get him out.
That's what we do, remember? Guardians — saving idiots who mess with stuff they don't understand."
Billy looked up, tired eyes meeting Rocket's mechanical glare. "And what if this time the idiot is the universe?"
Rocket exhaled through his nose. "Then we blow it up and start again. Worked last time."
Part II – Transmission from the Dead
Nebula entered the bridge, her face pale under the blue light of the monitors.
"Gamora," she said. "You need to see this."
The others gathered around. The console displayed a flickering holo-feed — a transmission so distorted it barely held form. But beneath the static, a voice persisted.
"—to anyone who can hear this… this is Eros of Titan… the Celestials are moving again."
Gamora's eyes widened. "Eros? That's Thanos's brother."
The transmission continued, cutting in and out:
"The death of Ghorath broke their seal. He wasn't the only one buried. The others… they're waking. The balance is failing—"
Then static.
Rocket cursed. "Of course. One god dies, ten wake up. It's like space whack-a-mole."
Nebula's metallic jaw flexed. "He mentioned a seal. What kind of seal could hold beings like that?"
Billy's eyes flickered green as he looked out into the void. "The kind that bleeds stars when it breaks."
Gamora turned to him. "You've seen this before, haven't you?"
He nodded slowly. "In the visions. The Garden was never the end — it was just the root system. The real war happened above it. The Celestial War."
Part III – Shadows of the First Fire
The Root began to hum inside Billy — not painfully, but with strange resonance.
He closed his eyes, letting the sound pull him into the memory encoded within his own cells.
The ship around him faded.
He stood in an ocean of light, galaxies swirling around like fireflies trapped in glass.
And before him… titans.
Not humanoid — massive, radiant beings whose very existence distorted physics.
They were the Celestials before the fall: creators, destroyers, and architects of life.
He saw Ghorath among them — smaller than some, younger, yet burning with hunger.
And across from him stood others:
Eon-Varr, bearer of the Forge of Suns.
Krythe, whose heart pulsed like a black hole.
And Asterion, the Silent One — whose body was made of mirrored worlds.
They stood in judgment of Ghorath.
"You have tampered with the Seed of Origin," Asterion's voice boomed across creation.
"You tried to merge life and machine. You broke the Law of Genesis."
Ghorath had raised his head proudly.
"Life stagnates under your rule. I sought to perfect it!"
"Perfection breeds ruin," Eon-Varr said. "You have unleashed hunger upon the stars."
Then came war.
Planets shattered like glass. Suns died screaming. Entire galaxies withered.
Billy's breath caught. The Root within him trembled — remembering the carnage.
When he opened his eyes, he was back on the ship, sweat dripping down his face.
Rocket looked up from the console. "You okay?"
Billy exhaled shakily. "I saw them. The ones that came before. They didn't destroy Ghorath out of mercy — they buried him because they feared him."
Nebula's voice was sharp. "Feared what?"
Billy turned slowly toward her. "That he was right."
Part IV – The Beacon
Hours later, the Benatar approached a dead system — three shattered moons orbiting a cold red star.
The Root inside Billy directed them here.
They found it drifting among debris — a black obelisk, carved with living vines that shimmered faintly.
Rocket whistled. "That's either a tombstone or a cosmic 'do not touch' sign."
Billy floated closer, his aura illuminating the carvings. "It's a Beacon," he murmured. "A remnant from the Celestial War."
Gamora frowned. "What's it for?"
Billy reached out, fingertips brushing its surface. The vines moved.
Suddenly, light burst from the obelisk — a pulse of energy that rocked the ship and shot through space like a shockwave.
Every monitor on the Benatar flared with warnings.
Nebula shouted, "Energy surge — spreading across multiple systems!"
Billy's body arched, his eyes burning green-white. He could feel the transmission, not as data — but as thought.
"The Seal has broken. The Architects return. Prepare the Seed."
When he came to, Gamora was kneeling beside him. "Billy! Talk to me!"
He blinked rapidly, voice hoarse. "It's not a message… it's a summoning. They're calling something back."
Rocket's fur bristled. "Who's calling who?"
Billy looked at him, terrified. "The surviving Celestials are calling back the Rootmind. Ghorath wasn't alone. There's another one — older, stronger, hidden in the dark."
Part V – The Coming of Eon-Varr
Space tore open.
No sound — just a distortion that made the stars bend and time crawl.
From the rupture emerged a figure the size of a continent — golden armor shattered and molten, eyes burning with twin galaxies.
Eon-Varr.
The Guardian's ship shook violently as his shadow passed over it.
Every system on the ship flickered, sensors screaming.
Rocket yelled, "We are ants to this guy!"
Gamora gripped the pilot controls. "Hold steady!"
Billy floated forward, drawn toward the viewport. His aura flared as the Celestial's gaze turned toward him.
"You carry his mark," the voice boomed through his mind.
"You are the flaw that must be corrected."
Billy's breath quickened. "Eon-Varr…"
"You destroyed Ghorath. You upset the order. You will be unmade."
Billy's aura exploded, meeting the Celestial's light in the void.
The two energies collided, bending space-time like a ripple of glass.
Rocket screamed over the comms, "Kid! You're gonna tear us apart!"
Billy gritted his teeth, green energy spiraling around his arms.
"I didn't start this war…" he growled, "…but I'll finish it."
He thrust his palms forward — twin spirals of green flame shooting into the void. They struck Eon-Varr's chest, splitting the armor, revealing the glowing black core beneath.
For a moment, the god faltered.
But then, Eon-Varr smiled.
"You fight with my brother's gift. How poetic. Creation devouring creation."
He raised his hand, forming a sphere of light that could swallow planets.
Billy's heart thundered. He had no plan — only instinct.
He turned toward the others through the comm. "Get out of here!"
Gamora's voice cracked. "We're not leaving you!"
Billy's voice deepened, layered with something ancient. "That wasn't a request."
He stretched out his arms. The vines inside his veins glowed so bright they burned.
He channeled everything the Root had left, shaping it into a massive wall of living energy.
When Eon-Varr unleashed his attack, the collision lit up the void — green and gold annihilating each other in a cosmic storm.
The Benatar was flung away like dust in a hurricane.
Inside the explosion, Billy's scream echoed — a sound between rage and awakening.
Part VI – Aftermath
Silence.
The storm subsided, leaving only drifting light and debris.
Gamora's voice came faintly over the comms. "Billy…?"
No answer.
Nebula scanned the readings. "No sign of him. No sign of the Celestial either."
Rocket's voice broke. "You're telling me they both—?"
Gamora closed her eyes, whispering, "No. He's not gone. Not yet."
Outside, among the shattered light of the battle, a single vine floated, glowing softly.
It twisted once — then vanished into the void.