When Worlds Collide And Days Are Dark

This Isn't Goodbye, This Is Simply See You Later

Druig took a step in front of you, as if shielding you from the present danger, from Ikaris.

"Boss, what are you doing?" Kingo jumped up.

"I've let this go on long enough," Ikaris said.

Sersei ran into the room, running passed Ikaris to Phastos, helping the man up. "Don't hurt him! He lied to us. He knew about the Emergence."

"No, he didn't," Kingo defended. You refrained from rolling your eyes at the man. Ikaris had literally just almost blown Phastos up. On purpose. Not like with your Mahd Wy'ry. Why was Kingo still defending him?

"Ajak told me everything when we left Babylon," Ikaris said.

"What?"

"You were never gonna let us stop the Emergence, were you?" Phastos asked.

"No," Ikaris said. "I only wanted to protect you from the Deviants."

"If Ajak wanted you to take her place, then why did she choose me?" Sersei asked. "What have you done?"

Ikaris was quiet, his eyes scanning the room until they found yours peeking out from behind Druig. You could see the apology in them, and you gasped, connecting the dots. "You killed her."

"I had to."

"She loved you," Sersei said quietly.

"Did she?"

"She loved you!" Her voice was more firm.

"Do you think it was easy to live with the truth? To know that one day all this would end? To keep on lying to you? To know what Y/N was seeing that led to what we thought was her death? Y/N, you've lived among them now, you've lived as one of them. If we gave humanity the choice, how many of them would be willing to die so that billions more could be born?"

"We're not giving them a choice," you said, trying to step around Druig to face Ikaris but Druig put out his arm to stop you. "Many of them could possibly choose to make that sacrifice, but you're not asking them. You're killing them with no explanation. That's not sacrifice, that's murder."

"Is this why you're willing to kill? You're so pathetic!" Phastos shot at him.

"I'm an Eternal, Phastos," Ikaris said. "I exist for Arishem, as do all of you."

"I wouldn't change a single thing about who I am, born or made. But I do not exist for Arishem. I exist for my family."

"Then you are making the same mistake that Ajak did," he said. "I didn't understand it at first, why she had changed her mind to love humans so much. But now I see. It's because of you, Y/N."

"What?"

"You were human, or you thought you were. You brought humanity into her life, and because she loved you, she began to love them. Phastos made the same mistake."

"Loving humanity isn't a mistake," Sersei said.

"I thought I was human because that's how she made me," you snapped at Ikaris. "As for how Ajak felt, she told me she had seen the wonders of this world. It wasn't me. It was them, the humans. She saw what they did, how they lived, how they loved and she loved them for it."

"No, she loved you," he spat. "Sprite was right. You were her favorite. She didn't burden you with the truth. She defied Arishem for you. She kept you hidden for centuries. And you brought weakness into her heart. You killed her just as much as I did, Y/N."

Before you could respond, Makkari sped back into the lab. "I found Tiamut!"

Ikaris's eyes lit up.