"What do you think I should do?" Quill's voice suddenly rose, as though something had exploded inside him.
"Sit here and do nothing, accepting the fact that she's dead?
Did you know her? Did you understand her? Did you know what she went through to get where she was?"
Carol said nothing.
"She was taken from her homeworld by Thanos when she was little and trained into an assassin by the one person she trusted most.
She killed countless people and did countless things that sickened even her.
Then she finally broke free. She finally found her family, finally found companions she could trust, finally found a reason to keep living."
Quill's voice trembled, but his eyes shone like two stars on the verge of burning out.
"Then that bastard took her away from me. I don't care whether she's still alive. I don't care what the Soul Stone's rules are.
I don't care about the balance of the universe or any of that bullshit mission. I'm going to find her. Even if all I find is a corpse, I'm bringing her home."
The cabin fell silent.
Rocket crouched in the corner with his head lowered, saying nothing.
Groot poked his head out from the engine room doorway. His black eyes watched Quill, and his lips moved, but no sound came out.
Drax leaned against the wall with his eyes closed, a faint, almost imperceptible curve at the corner of his mouth—something close to approval.
Mantis's antennae trembled slightly as she felt Quill's emotions.
Those chaotic, scorching emotions, like lava, made tears silently slide down her face.
Carol looked at Quill, and at last something changed in her blue eyes.
It was not sympathy. She was not the kind of person who pitied others.
It was not being moved, either.