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❝ forgive them for not being what they weren't meant to be. ❞
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2023 — Toulouse, France
The soft melodies of Amour Plastique filled the air of the plant-filled bookstore on the corner of Rue Pargaminières and Rue Alexis-Larrey. Paroles de la Terre et du Ciel was a quaint shop that had been thriving for decades. With its sky blue shutters and overflowing window pots, one couldn't help but feel at home. The owners certainly helped with the welcoming aura.
Sure people found it strange that the owners never seemed to age but no one openly questioned it. The blonde girl and her dark-haired partner, not much was truly known about the seeming couple. While they spoke of sharing a last name, no romantic ties were ever expressed and they looked far too different to be related.
Yes, Cybele and Nerak Babin were an enigma to the people of Toulouse.
"Je ne pense à toi que quand le jour sombre, que s'abattent sur moi..." the airy voice of Cybele carried through the air from her spot hidden within the bookshelves. She had been tucked away in the back for the past two hours, speaking with the small black cat that kept sneaking into the store.
"Bele? Bele? Where are you damnit..." Nerak called out from the front counter, "Annette, s'il te plaît, surveille le registre pour moi. Merci." (Annette, please watch the register for me. Thank you)
Cybele smiled at the sounds of her friend's steps growing near though she never turned around, simply smiled at the small creature in front of her, "What is it Nik?"
"You said you were going to check for the story Miss Sylvie asked for but never came back, I had just assumed you never found it and put in an order form for it..." He trailed off upon noticing the cat that sat perched upon a stack of books, "So this is why you never returned?"
The blonde chuckled as she stroked the cat, humming in content as the animal pressed itself further into her touch, "It is always nice to make a new friend Nik."
Nerak rolled his eyes, a small teasing smile on his lips, "And here I thought I was the only friend you needed."
Cybele turned to her companion, "Do not fret my dearest Nerak, it is still you and I until the end of time."
The boy smiled, leaning forward and placing a platonic kiss on her hairline, "Of course it is, who else would be able to understand us except us?"
Images of a pair of blue eyes she hadn't seen in years flashed her through her mind. Cybele quickly shook the heart-aching thoughts from her mind, attempting to ignore the small look of pity that flashed through her friend's eyes. "You and I," she repeated softly.
He opened his mouth to say something but the sound of the front door's bell-ringing cut off whatever Nerak was about to say.
Mumbled voices could be heard from the front before Annette came scurrying to the back, "Monsieur Babin... oh et Mlle Babin, il semble que des amis de l'université soient ici pour vous voir." (Mr. Babin... oh and Miss Babin, it seems that some friends from college are here to see you.)
Nerak and Cybele shared a subtle look of confusion before the blonde cleared her throat and addressed their only employee, "Merci, Annette. Pourriez-vous finir de trier ces boîtes pour moi?" (Thank you, Annette. Could you finish sorting these boxes for me?")
"Bien sûr, Mlle Babin." (Of course, Miss Babin) With that, the red-headed girl began opening the boxes that lay around the small and already cluttered area.
"S'il vous plaît, nous en avons déjà parlé, appelez-nous par nos prénoms. Vous nous connaissez depuis trop longtemps pour vous adresser encore à nous par notre nom de famille." (Please, we've already talked about this, call us by our first names. You've known us too long to address us by our last name.) Cybele said sweetly, smiling as Annette nodded bashfully. Nerak held out his hand, which Cybele took, the pair making their way to the front of their store, only slightly shocked to see the eight faces that stared back at them, seven familiar and one unknown.
"Cybele. Nerak. Nice to see you after all these years."
Nerak sent an unimpressed look towards the man who had broken the silence, "Always so formal, Ikaris."
Kingo shot the dark-haired boy an amused look while Phastos groaned. Gilgamesh, Thena, and Sersi seemed to be in some sort of somber trance, while the unknown man just glanced around at the Eternals with a look of wonder.
No one spoke, the group unmoving before Sprite broke the tension by running to the pair and pulling them into an attempted group hug, "I missed you both so much."
A smile graced the blonde's lips as she held the smaller girl tighter, "I missed you too, more than you could imagine."
Nerak's soft smile that had formed upon Sprite's embrace fell slowly upon the reminder that his lifelong companion had spent the last 500 years with an emptiness in her heart, made by the very people standing before him. The boy pulled away before clearing his throat, "Why have you come? I assume it isn't for a family tourist trip through France?"
Cybele let go of Sprite and made her way back to Nerak's side, placing a comforting hand on his arm, "Come now Nerak, don't be so cold, they are family."
He scoffed as his eyes trailed over this so-called family, "Family does not abandon one another without a second glance, a family does not label one another as weak, not to mention he said it himself. They are not family." Nerak looked down at the goddess, "You and I are family, they... they are simply figures of our past."
Cybele smiled sadly, well aware as to why her fellow Eternal was being so unwelcoming.
1521 — Tenochtitlan, Mexico
"Let them go Druig," Ajak ordered, stepping towards the man that had just invaded the minds of the hundreds of humans below them, stopping the war that had already turned into a massacre. Ikaris reached him first, pushing him against the wall.
Druig had once again interfered with humanity's strifes like he always tried to but this time there was no going back. He had crossed the line.
"You're going to have to make me," Druig spit, his jaw clenched in anger, hatred seeping into his glare towards the man that still had him against the wall. The dark-haired man let his eyes glance towards Cybele's worried face but refused to look longer than a second before meeting Ikaris's glare once more. "You're going to have to kill me," he spat as he shoved the taller man away from him.
Cybele reached out in an attempt to grasp her love's arm, only to have him pull away from her.
"I'm not staying here," Druig spoke darkly as he began to descend the stairs, the armies below mindlessly exiting through the gate below.
The blonde goddess raced after him, not ready to accept his choice to leave them, to leave her.
"Druig-"
He cut her off immediately, "My love, do not make this harder than it has to be."
"Please don't leave me, just stay, I beg of you," she could feel the tears beginning to form, wishing more than anything for them to stay dormant.
Druig glanced over at the woman he loved, his whole world, the one he promised he'd never leave, and shook his head, "I truly am sorry, but I must do what feels right... staying here with them... that isn't an option anymore."
Cybele felt the first tear fall as her heart cracked, "Staying here with me doesn't feel right?"
"That my love... is no longer enough," Druig spoke softly before leaving, never looking back, not even when he heard the soul-shattering sobs of his lover.
After what felt like an eternity of crying, Nerak was by Cybele's side, helping her up, wiping the tears off of the goddess's face, before walking her back inside to the others to hear Ajak officially disbanding the Eternals, permitting them to start their own lives.
"But... we're a family..." Cybele's broken voice filled the room as Nerak tighter his grip on the girl, fearful for their answers as he was not sure how much more she could take.
"Cybele it is time to grow up and not be so weak, this family you constantly speak of is situational. We are a team and only when we need to be. That is all," Ikaris snapped before storming out of the temple.
Cybele looked to the others, silently pleading for them to stay, for them to disagree, but that would have been too much to ask. The goddess felt her heart crack more, shattering slowly as she watched every person she had cared for nearly 7000 years leave without even sparing her a look, let alone a goodbye.
Before she knew it she stood there, with just the comforting warmth of Nerak's arms around her, "They just left... all of them..."
Nerak rubbed his hands up and down his friend's arms in an attempt to comfort her, "We will be okay, I swear to you, we will be okay."
2023 — Toulouse, France
Ikaris sent the blonde a saddened look, "I am sorry for what I said, I was unjust."
"I forgive you."
"Pathetic apology."
Before Ikaris could respond to Nerak's cold words, Sersi spoke up for the first time, "Ajak is dead."
Nerak snapped his head towards Sersi, "Excuse me?"
"Ajak is dead, a deviant killed her."
Cybele felt her knees begin to buckle, Nerak must have sensed it because he pulled the girl to his chest.
Nerak's voice quivered, "We killed the deviants."
Sprite spoke up, "They are back and stronger, we need everyone together to defeat them... we need both of you."
"We will help," Cybele replied as she glanced up at Nerak who gave a stiff nod.
"I feel the need to mention that these deviants have a newfound taste for Eternals," Kingo added in causing Nerak to roll his eyes.
"Of course they do."
Sersi sighed, looking at Cybele with pity before quickly looking back to the group, "We must get Druig next."
"Must we?" Nerak asked, annoyance dripping from his words.
"Yes, we need him," Sersi insisted causing Nerak to roll his eyes.
"Need feels like an awfully strong word. Besides, that bastard will never willingly come with us."
"He will if Cybele asks him to," Sprite piped in as she looked at the blonde.
"Oh yes, because that worked so well the last time," Nerak grumbled angrily, not liking the idea of putting Cybele in yet another position to get hurt when she's barely healed from her previous heartbreak.
"He's always had a soft spot for her and you know it," Sprite replied bitterly.
Cybele broke her silence, "I do not wish to discuss this anymore. I shall ask but I do not wish to have the blame placed on me when he does not comply."
The team murmured in agreement, trailing off into silence before Ikaris spoke, "Do you happen to know where he is?"
Nerak glanced at his lifelong companion with sympathy as Cybele took a deep breath.
"Yes."
hey, besties!
how are you doing?
i'm currently listening to clean by taylor swift thinking about how excited i am for red (taylor's version) to come out.
i hope you enjoyed this chapter : )
translations are in the comments!
see you again soon
xoxo
-sammy