"THEIA." the same deep, stern voice spoke. The same one from weeks ago. The room was dark with a cold, red floor beneath her and she looked up to see a robot-looking creature before her. It had to have been at least 10 times her size. "My name is Arishem. Ajak has chosen you to take over and lead the Eternals. It is up to you to save your planet. She believes that you have what it takes and-"
And just like that, she was back in reality. More confused as ever.
THEIA GRABBED her laptop from her bag and responded to emails that were interested in collabing with Kingo or doing any projects with him.
"And here is my fellow Eternal, Theia! She is also known as my assistant, agent and publicist!" Kingo announced, ruffling her hair while his Valet—Karun—shoved a camera in her face.
Swatting both Kingo's hand and the camera away from her face, she huffed, "What?"
"I'm filming a documentary on us!" He whispered, a smirk dancing upon his face.
Theia raised her eyebrows, attempting to appear amused. "Ah."
"Theia," He sat down in the seat across from her, "Explain to us what your abilities are."
She reclined her head back, sighing before facing Kingo again. "I can possess sunlight and do things with it." She grinned sarcastically, quickly returning to the screen of her laptop.
"So," He crossed his leg over the other. "You used to date fellow Eternal, Druig. Can you explain why you broke up?"
She glared at him, running her tongue over her top row of teeth, "I dont see how this is relevant."
He leaned in and whispered. "It's very relevant."
"It was... a mutual breakup." She sunk deeper in her seat, her legs separating.
"Are you sure about that?" He pressed further.
"Do you want me to break that camera?" She asked, grown completely fed up as she stared directly at Karun.
"I... I brought others." He trembled.
"Well, go get one of your others." She smiled, reaching over and grabbing his camera and shattering it on the ground beneath her.
THE REST OF THE trip was boring. Theia had responded to emails after emails and read bits of her book occasionally.
But finally, after hours of travel, they made it to Australia.
They all wore sunglasses, keeping both the sand from the desert and the sun from the sky out of their eyes. They kept walking until they saw a small shed that had soon revealed Gilgamesh in an apron that said 'Kiss the cook' on it.
Muffling a laugh. Theia smiled. "It's good to see you, Gil."
"IS THIS WHAT you guys eat every day?" Kingo wondered aloud, smiling at Thena and Gilgamesh.
"Every day." Gil confirmed.
"This is amazing!" Kingo exclaimed.
"Thank you," he replied, a proud smile following.
"My pleasure."
"I spoke to Arishem." Theia blurted out, catching all of them off guard, "on several occasions."
They all looked at her. "Are you sure it was Arishem?" Ikaris questioned.
Theia nodded. "He said his name was Arishem. He told me that Ajak had 'chosen me and now that she's gone, it's up to me to save everyone.' and before I knew it, I was back in this reality, and I talked to him three more times after that and he said the same thing each time.''
"Shit." Kingo huffed, causing Ikaris to shoot a glare in his direction.
Theia stood up from her seat and walked outside, trying to get away from the growing havoc and to have a moment to herself.
She stood there for what she had assumed was a while because when she walked back inside, they were talking about something completely different.
"Now that Captain Rogers and Iron Man are gone... who do you think is gonna lead the Avengers?" Sprite questioned.
"I could lead the Avengers." Ikaris swallowed, resting his arm on the table.
Gilgamesh rested a hand on his shoulder, "How could you do that if Ajak didn't even choose you to lead us?"
The group shared a laugh. And Theia felt the corners of her lips tug into a small smile as she looked at them—the people she used to call her family—it was the closest thing she could have done that resembled a laugh, it was like a small attempt to laugh but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.
Sitting back down, she looked at her hands, resting them on top of her thigh that was now shaking up and down rapidly, in an attempt to stop it.
"Are you alright?" Sersi asked her softly, noticing her nervous habits.
"Yeah." She managed another small smile, "Yeah. Have, uh, you guys heard from Druig?" She tried to shift the conversation elsewhere, trying to get the attention off of her but she then realized it had not worked because the room fell completely silent and Sersi took Theia's cold hand into her own, squeezing it lightly. All shook their heads and Theia nodded, knowing that was most likely what they were going to say anyhow. But she still wanted to ask. Maybe it'd prepare her for what's to come next.
It had been two thousand years and she still thought about him every day.
"We located him; we're leaving first thing tomorrow morning to find him." Ikaris said. She watched the others send him a warning glance.
While Theia was outside, each of them had promised that none of them would tell her for her own good so that they didn't upset her further.
Her head perked up, her eyes full of light and hope, she felt at ease and content. She hadn't known that those words could have such an impact on her—she hated it. "Tomorrow?"
THE PLANE RIDE was long.
Theia was anxious, she went from pacing back and forth to biting her nails. But, she made it to The Amazon. With the others.
'It will all be okay.' She kept telling herself over and over again in her head as soon as she left the plane.
They walked through the wet grass and through the dark green trees, and with each step Theia took, her heartbeat got louder and louder.
They approached what looked like a small village, the scent of rain mixed with roasted meat of some kind filled their senses. People were exchanging plates and some were working. It truly was beautiful.
Everyone seemed nice and friendly, waving and greeting them even though they had no idea who they were. It was nothing like it had been when she was last here. It was refreshing.
"It's very nice here!" Karun smiled, camera in hand.
"Don't be fooled. Ignorance is bliss." Kingo replied, looking around.
Theia looked around while trying to crack her fingers, trying to distract herself, but it wasn't working.
Sprite went ahead and asked a man working if he had seen a man named Druig. The name made Theia's heartbeat louder--even though she didn't think it was possible.
"Yeah. how do you know Druig?" The man asked,
"We are friends. From, uh, college." She pursed her lips,
The man dropped his bread on the table, turning around, his eyes were bright gold.
Druig was speaking for the man now, "Hello Sprite.'' He greeted her before giving her the instructions on where to find him.
They walked to what seemed to be an old barn, it was gray and the wood was starting to peel and chip.
She looked down at her feet to see her shoes were already making prints in the mud.
Her boots were the only thing she could look at. She was afraid that if she looked up at him as he walked out she would fall apart, maybe collapse to her knees, embarrass herself.
"I missed all of you," Druig smirked, his eyes moving down the line and then to Theia--whose head was down.
He frowned slightly, "Especially you, Theia."
Theia's eyes darted up, meeting his for the first time in over two thousand years.
And she didn't fall apart.
She didn't collapse to her knees.
She didn't even cry.
Instead, she scoffed. He had missed her?
She walked up to him, her jaw tense.
And when she reached him, she brought her hand up and slapped him.
It felt like her emotions were restored, like somehow she had finally gotten the closure she craved just by slapping him.
The sound was loud, echoing throughout the empty forest while the others stood there, shocked.
Druig brought his hand up to his cheek—which was now sore—and massaged it lightly, "I deserved that."
a/n
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