“Ereida! Ereida, please wake up! Ajak, why isn’t it working?”
“She’s resisting my help. I don’t know how.”
“Should we bring her back to the ship?”
“No. I don’t want the town’s people seeing her this way. They’re already scared enough after her display of power last night.”
“What did you tell them?”
“I didn’t tell them anything, Sprite did.”
“Are you sure that was wise? I mean, there’s already tension between them and Sprite’s stories can get a little out of hand.”
“Will you stop yelling?” I groaned, blinking hard against the harsh sunlight. “I’m right here.”
“Ereida, how are you feeling?” Sersi’s soft voice asked.
“Like someone dropped a boulder on my head,” I grumbled, sitting up slowly. “What the hell happened?”
“We’re not quite sure. Everything went completely dark last night and then there was a burst of light. We’ve been searching for you since. How did you get so far out of the city so quickly? Druig said he tried to go after you, but couldn’t find you anywhere,” Sersi explained, helping me to my feet.
“Where?”
“About a hundred miles,” Ajak answered.
I looked around me. The damage I had done was easy to see: leafy tree tops lay in a tangle of branches several yards away, their trunks cut at weird angles. A slightly smoldering ring of ash surrounded us from the fire I had set the previous night. “I'm sorry, Ajak.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. No one was hurt. You just needed to blow off a little steam, which is perfectly okay. Maybe next time try talking to someone so you don’t take out an entire forest?” she suggested, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.
“I just…I feel like I have no control over my life anymore. We move from city to city, not knowing how long we’ll stay. I feel like I don’t have a life, like the little bit of autonomy I do have is constantly being stolen by you guys. I’m sorry if that’s cruel, but it’s how I feel. I’m not happy and I have no time to figure out what I want,” I admitted, feeling a weight lift off my chest.
“You could've told us that. We’re your family, Ereida, we just want what’s best for you,” Sersi said.
“That’s just it, we’re not! After centuries together, we’ve learned to coexist and pretend we have this unbreakable bond. I do believe we still all love and care for each other, but we haven’t been a family in a long time. We hide from each other. Each of us has a person on the ship, but it’s been a while since all eleven of us got along.”
There was a tense moment while I waited for one of them to reprimand me, tell me I was wrong and bitter and a liar. That never happened. Instead…
“You’re right,” Ajak agreed to my shock and surprise, “There are a lot of issues we still need to work through. I’m sorry you felt so alone and controlled, Ereida, it was never my intention.”
I hugged her. “Thank you. You are an amazing Prime Eternal, the world is lucky to have you,” I whispered. “And you,” I turned to Sersi, grasping both her hands in my own, “you are so much more than you think you are. You are a valuable member of this team and the sweetest person I know. If Ikaris ever does anything to hurt you, I will personally beat his ass.”
“You are amazing, Ereida. I love you,” Sersi laughed, squeezing my hands.
“Can we go home now? My head is pounding and I need my bed.”
“It’s a long walk, are you sure you’re up for it?”
“I have a quicker way,” I smirked. “I’ve never tried it with anyone else, but it might work. Make sure you hold on.”
“Ereida, what…”
She didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence because I grabbed hold of her and Ajak, slipping into the shadows and maneuvering through them until we ended up in my bedroom. Ajak and Sersi lurched forward as we landed on the wooden floors, almost face planting into my bed.
“Shadow traveling can take some getting used to. First time I tried it, I threw up,” I said, helping to steady them.
“It may come in handy though. We’ll practice with everyone so they get used to it,” Ajak decided. “If you’re up for it and want to, of course,” she added, no doubt recalling our earlier conversation.
“I would be honored to show off my power and watch you all freak out!” I grinned, my eyes crinkling.
Shouting from the main room caught our attention and the three of us rushed to see what was happening. Everyone was gathered, watching as two of the Eternals argued.
“You went too far this time!” Druig roared, staring down a very bored looking Sprite.
“I was following Ajak’s orders,” she said, picking at her nails.
“Ajak told you to tell everyone Ereida was a Goddess who sacrificed herself and that’s what caused the terrifying events of last night?!”
“Not exactly. She just said to come up with an explanation that would satisfy them.”
“You promised them rain and a perfect harvest!”
“So I exaggerated a little, big deal. It’s not like any of it is true. It’s like Thena being Goddess of war, or the story about Ikaris flying into the sun, they’re just fables.”
“It is a big deal! You don’t get to make up crazy stories about Ereida, especially after what you said to her last night!”
“Ajak,” I whispered urgently, “stop them please, I can’t do this right now.”
“Druig, Sprite, break it up,” she ordered, getting between them.
I hid behind Sersi, not wanting anyone to notice me.
“She told all the villagers that Ereida killed herself, causing last night’s phenomenon, so that the drought would end and their crops would flourish. And the worst part is she told them all to curse ‘Lady Ereida’ if it didn’t happen! Sprite, did you ever stop to think what the consequences of that would be? People will hate her for centuries.”
“Calm down, it’s not that bad,” Sprite scoffed.
“She could be dead, Sprite! And you’re running around making her a false martyr. She wouldn’t want that.”
“How do you know what she wants? She’s always been an attention seeker!”
“Enough!” Ajak boomed, lifting her hands in a ‘hold everything’ gesture.
“Did you find her?” Phastos asked, looking at Ajak expectantly.
“Ask her yourself.”
I stepped out from behind Sersi, “hi.”
Makkari was the first to react, running at me and tackling me in a hug, knocking me to the ground with an umph. I leaned my forehead against hers, telepathically letting her know I was okay. I placed my hand in hers, signing “talk later” so no one else could see. I climbed back to my feet and was immediately engulfed in another hug by Kingo.
“Never do that again. I’m supposed to be the drama queen here, so don’t upstage me,” he whispered.
I giggled, hugging him back. Phastos hugged me too, a little awkwardly, but comforting nonetheless.
Gilgamesh went for a side hug, squeezing my waist. “Glad you’re okay, Ereida.”
Surprisingly, Thena hugged me. We had never been close or anything, but we had a mutual respect for each other, she was kind of my role model.
Ikaris provided a brotherly embrace. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I think so,” I responded sincerely.
After releasing Ikaris, I came face to face with Druig. We both stood there, staring at each other. His face was unreadable and all of last night’s emotions resurfaced.
“Don’t you all have duties this morning?” Ajak acknowledged.
The room cleared, leaving Druig and I, both staying rooted to our spots.
“T-thank you,” I stuttered, putting an end to the deafening awkward silence, “for defending me against Sprite. I was kinda awful to you last night.”
“You can’t just drop a bombshell like that and walk away!” he exclaimed, his face contorting into irritation. At least he isn’t angry.
“I’m sorry. I just needed some time alone, away from here.”
“I thought…I thought something happened to you. When everything went black, and then there was that fiery explosion and then we couldn’t find you,” his voice uncharacteristically broke, the confident air he always carried completely gone.
“Hey,” I said softly, approaching him and placing his hand on my face, “I’m right here. I’m okay and I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere.”
“Promise?” he whispered, grazing my cheek with his thumb.
“Promise.”
“I don’t hate you, Ereida. I hope you know that.”
“I know. I don’t hate you either. Στην πραγματικότητα, νομίζω ότι μου αρέσεις. (In fact, I think I like you)”
“What was that?”
“Greek.”
He rolled his eyes, “I know that. What did you say?”
I shrugged, grinning smugly, “secret.”
“Come on, milady, I don’t speak Greek yet,” he whined.
I leaned in, putting my mouth right beside his ear. “Sounds like a you problem,” I said loudly.
“You know, just because you’re a Goddess now doesn’t mean you get to be obnoxious.”
“I think it does, mens moderatoris.”
“What would your pilgrims say if they knew you fancied a commoner?” he smirked, pulling me towards him.
I blushed, “which commoner? I saw a farmer the other day, huge tanned arms, not bad to look at.”
We were so close now I could feel his breath against my lips. “How about your run of the mill mens moderatoris?”
“I’d argue that being able to use mind control is far from common.”
He chuckled deeply, it was hot. “κι εμένα μου αρέσεις. (I like you, too)”
“You liar! You speak Greek perfectly.”
“My beautiful, beautiful Ereida, I do many things perfectly.”
“I expect nothing less, Αγαπημένος (sweetheart),” I replied, slowly regaining my composure.
“Your brush with death has made you nicer.”
I snorted. “Would you rather I call you ένα γουρούνι? (a pig)”
“Honestly? Kind of.”
I laughed, snaking my arms around his waist and pulling us even closer, our foreheads resting against each other. “Just because there’s something between us, does not mean I’ll go easy on you.”
“I expect nothing less, Lady Ereida.”
“Will you stop with the Goddess talk?” I groaned. “I don’t like insinuating that I’m superior to everyone.”
“Always the humble one.”
I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and considering my word choice. What I was about to say could cause a rift between us. “Druig, as much as I’m enjoying this right now, I think it might be better if it stays between us, at least until we know what this is. I don’t want everyone invading our privacy like they did with Sersi and Ikaris.”
“Whatever you want, darling,” he replied.
“No, not whatever I want. You have to want that, too. There are two people here right now and they both matter.”
“I want that, too. I don’t need everyone in my business.”
“Okay, then we’re agreed.”
“Shall we finalize the deal?”
I stepped away from him, offering a handshake.
“Not quite what I had in mind,” he chuckled, grabbing my hand anyway.
“Me neither.”
I yanked him forward, capturing his lips with my own, for the third time in less than twenty-four hours. This time, he kissed me back.