Until Eternity // An Eternals Story

Sixteen

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Emris opened her eye. She was in a plain room, resting upon a silk sheet bed.

All was silent except for the noise that raged in her head.

The Ender Terrain. Arishem. A fairy. Death.

It all flooded her mind in a rush.

Was any of it even real? she pondered as the rest of her body began to wake up.

Emris attempted to sit up, stopped when a gnarly pain assaulted her, and flopped back down in bed. She was very much alive, that much she knew. What had happened to her, though? Emris could recall leaving the last hut she'd been in, remembered how Druig had saved her from becoming a deviant's lunch, and then in turn she had saved him.

But after? After her magic had massacred the deviant? Nothing. Blank nothingness.

There was only Arishem and the dark place she'd been, Violetta and the door back, and Emris was slowly beginning to think herself crazy, unsure if it had even been real or not.

Violetta had called her a queen.

Yeah, right, Emris deadpanned, definitely a dream.

Emris began to laugh at the absurdity, but had to choke it back when the motion flared the ache in her stomach. She groaned and dug her fingers into the sheets, miserable.

The sound of a door opening perked her up and she lifted her head.

"Emris!" Sersi burst, rushing forward, "Thank the gods, you're awake!"

Emris grinned, forgetting her pain upon seeing Sersi here and alive. "You didn't think you'd get rid of me that easily, did you?" she teased.

Sersi enveloped her in a long overdue hug. Emris pressed her cheek into Sersi's shoulder, wishing to stay in the moment of comfort for as long as she could. But alas, Sersi pulled away. Her face was flushed, her large eyes full of adornment as she stared down at Emris.

Sersi's gaze shifted down to where Emris's stomach was covered by the sheets, and her expression turned grievous.

"We were so worried, Emris," she said, voice somber. "After you collapsed, when I saw your wound, I -" her voice cracked. "I thought you were going to die," Sersi finished softly. Her gaze trailed back to Emris's face. "I'm so sorry for not having been there for you."

Emris strained against the tightness in her abdomen, struggling to sit up, desperate to show Sersi that she was here. That she was okay.

"Sersi, it's not your fault!" Emris made a noise, half lying down half sitting up, and Sersi reached forward to help her up fully.

Once Emris was in a seated position, she continued. "You don't have to be frightened anymore, Sersi. I'm here. I'm alive and I am not going anywhere any time soon."

Sersi clasped Emris's hand. Their fingers intertwined, giving Emris the strength she so desperately needed. The Eternal smiled at her, years worth of love and friendship etched in the lines of her face, and Emris knew right then and there she'd made the right choice back the Ender Terrain (or her dream, whatever it was).

Sersi was here and alive. Emris's future. Her family. And she would choose her a thousand times over again, even if that meant leaving her mother in the past. She could trust Sersi, Emris knew that. Still, she hesitated.

But she needed to speak about what she'd seen, who she had seen, or it would consume her.

"Sersi," she began, her fingers twitching nervously, "there's something I need to tell you."