so darling hold my hand (I'm ready for this)

betray me once

Pink carnation

I will never forget you

In his long, arguable very long life, Druig hadn't yet had the misfortune of swallowing an entire mouthful of sand.

The dirty roughness of particles catching in between his teeth, irritating the sensitive flesh of his gums.

Dust coating his tongue, an uncomfortable mix of wet and dry sliding down into his throat to inconvenience it's owner as much as possible.

Speaking felt impossible. Blasphemous even, if an Eternal had cared for a social construct such as the worship of divinity.

Druig swallowed. It hurt his throat.

"I- it's...", he began, Jacks soulful eyes glued to his lips. The Eternal swallowed again. "I- Give us a moment, okay?" The boy nodded.

Druig stood and left the room, not without giving him a little smile. His fellow Eternal stood aswell. "It wont take long.", she signed and cupped the boys cheek; he nodded.

The door shut behind them with a click. To ensure Jack wouldn't eavesdrop, and that he would, children were just nosy like that, the mind controller opted to talk at the end of the hallway. Makkari greeted him with a worried look on her face.

"What's wrong love?", she signed, leaning against the cream colored wall.

The mind controller frowned and reached up with his hand, tracing a finger over her cheek. She leaned into his touch, the pensive look on her face softening. A sigh.

"I don't know. I just... I don't want him to know what Ikaris did and...  what happened to him."

Makkari frowned.

She understood him, of course she did. But she also understood Jack.

He was just a child, having been thrown into this mess of a fight between beings that had and were still crafting the very matter of this universe, deviants intent on destruction and his parents family, the whole of humanity thrown in there aswell for good measure.

None of the Eternals had had the privilege of ever having a childhood, Sprite being the only exception.

Then again, was it really a privilege if they suffered from something supposed to be magical and wonderous?

Jack wasn't an Eternal.

Jack was a child. An innocent bystander.

Makkari looked up, directly at Druig, and immediately decided she never wanted to see that expression on his face ever again.

"I know you want to spare him.", she signed, determination straightening her posture. "But what do you think is better for him? Leaving him in the dark, always wondering why Ikaris never comes to visit him only to maybe have him think that there's something that he did wrong? Or telling him the truth?"

The mind controller blinked. Stared. Opened his mouth, raised his hands to retort something, but Makkari wasn't finished.

"Yes, he will be sad, but Druig, don't you think he deserves to know? Fuck, maybe he'll even learn from Ikaris' mistakes! Jack is amazing, we both know that, so I wouldn't put it past him to become better than all us if we only give him the opportunity to!"

_______________________________________

Druig wasn't one to be baffled easily. Makkari, however, seemed to manage that more and more every passing day.

He couldn't even be mad, because she was right.

Yes, he could controll the boy. Make him think that nothing was wrong. Maybe that Ikaris is still there. Maybe that he didn't even exist at all, so Jack had no one to worry about.

It would be a lie, and Druig would have to keep it up until- no.

Having the boy more hurt than necessary just so he wouldn't have to face his families mistakes and his own inability to erase them like he'd try for centuries? It just wasn't worth it.

The door to Jacks room opened easily.

Immediatly, Phastos boy perked and fixated his Auntie and Uncle with wide, curious eyes. Any sign of sleepyness that should've come with bedtime seemed to be gone without a trace.

Druig knew in that moment that he couldn't ever lie to those eyes.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, Makkari finding her place next to the two of them.

"There's something we need to tell you, Jack.", the mind controller inched forward, careful to not fall with the door into the house. Black, voluminous hair bobbed slightly as Jack nodded.

"When we Eternals came here first, we were given a mission: we were tasked with preparing earth for the arrival of a new Celestial."

That seemed to catch the boys attention even more, though he didn't interfere in his uncles monologue.

"Celestials are the beings that created the universe; that means all the planets, the stars and much more. You've got Legos, right?"

Jack nodded again.

"You build with the little pieces everything you can imagine, but you can also tear everything down to build something new. That is what the Celestials do; they build and destroy to keep up the balance in our universe. And Arishem, the Celestial that sent us on our mission, wanted to do the same thing again."

"With our planet?", the boy asked now, his eyes wide. "Like the earth is made of legos?"

Makkari chuckled. Of course Jack would get Druigs metaphor fast. He was Phastos son, after all.

"Exactly. So, the earth is made of legos. And Arishem wants to build Tiamut, for whom he needs blocks for. So he destroys earth and builds Tiamut from it. And that was our mission; protect earth, so that Tiamut could be born.", the mind controller explained and signed to his best abilities. "First, we all wanted to fullfill our mission. Serve Arishem. But we stayed so long here, on earth, that we began to change. We found things that made us feel like we existed for something else than the Celestials. Humanity, family, love." He looked at Makkari. "And so we started to disobey. Everyone, except Ikaris. He still wanted to serve Arishem and help Tiamut to be born. Sprite helped him."

A deep sorrow filled the mind controllers eyes, their deep brown clouding over with grief, sadness and other emotions that made the Eternal feel entirely human. He wasn't sure how to feel about these emotions, and decided it was best not to ponder them now.

Makkari stretched out her hand and took Druigs, intertwining their fingers and giving it a light squeeze. There was always a better time, and she'd always be there.

"So we fought.", he finally uttered with a tongue as heavy as lead. "We were ten when we arrived, and now there's only eight of us left. Ikaris left too, after the fight. I don't- I don't think he'll come back. But we are here for you, Jack, and we always will be."

Promises weren't something to be dealt with lightly, especially not when you were immortal.

Druig knew that. He also knew that he was going to keep that promise for the rest of his existence, as were the others.

They were family, after all.