18 | you knew exactly what
you were doing.
that's what hurts the most
2023 - The Domo
Hestia was sitting on the ground when an alarm went off. Hestia jumped to her feet, seeing that a red dot had appeared on Phastos' globe.
'Oh, no. My God." He muttered as Sersi came running in. "What about the Uni-Mind?" She questioned.
"I haven't figured out a way to connect us, but I'm close. I'm very, very close." Phastos informed them.
"How much longer?" Sersi asked and Phastos snapped. "I don't know, Sersi!"
He handed something to Makkari, pressing it in her hand. "Find the point of emergence." Before she could run off, Hestia stopped right in front of her.
"Be careful, sister." She signed at Makkari.
"Only for you." Makkari responded with a wink, before speeding off.
Druig had left the room earlier, so Hestia decided to try and find him. The hallways in the Domo were relatively dark, but even without a singe source of light, the girl was able to locate every single room. Having spent so many times on the spaceship had its benefits.
She heard Druig's voice when she walked into another long hallway. "You always knew the end was coming." Quietly, she followed his voice, finding him in the room, standing next to Thena, both staring at the painting in front of them. It was one that Hestia had made, long ago. She had given it to Makkari, and she had seemingly found a good spot for it.
"It must be a relief." He continued.
"That deviant is still tracking us." Thena had almost no emotion in her voice.
"Revenge won't bring peace for you, Thena." Druig reasoned.
"But killing it might." Hestia was leaning against the doorframe, observing their conversation without being spotted by either Eternal. Thena turned away from Druig and only then did she see Hestia. The two women gave each other a smile and Hestia strolled into the room, taking Thena's place next to Druig.
"Nice speech." Hestia commented, crossing her arms over each other.
"Thanks." Druig said dryly. "Could have been a little more enthusiastic, but I'll let it slide." Hestia grinned at him.
"What do you think will happen if I can't put Tiamut to sleep?" He stared at her.
"We'll all die." Hestia stated. "Though we probably won't remember considering we're robots, who's minds get erased after every planet they destroy."
"Yeah, that was very reassuring. Thanks, love." Druig muttered, rolling his eyes at her answer.
"Let's just go back to the rest, Mr. Optimistic." She grabbed his hand and pulled him along.
-
Ikaris strode into the room, full suit on. "I'm close to figuring it out." Phastos told him.
Ikaris' eyes glowed gold and his lasers shot out of his eyes, destroying Phastos' floating globe. Hestia shot up, fire starting to burn in her hands. "Ikaris. You got Mahd Wy'ry too? Should I burn it out of you?"
"Boss? What are you doing?" Kingo shrieked. "Stop calling him 'Boss'. An actual boss wouldn't shoot lasers at his team." Hestia hissed at him, fire still moving around in her hands.
"I've let this go on long enough." Ikaris' voice echoed through the room.
"Don't hurt him!" Sersi ran into the room, spotting Phastos on the floor.
"Little late for that." Hestia commented.
"He lied to us." Sersi explained, helping the inventor up from the floor. "He already knew about the emergence."
"No, he didn't." Kingo stated it like it was obvious.
"Ajak told me everything when we left Babylon." Ikaris stared at Sersi.
"You were never gonna let us stop the emergence." Phastos muttered, having figured it out.
"No. I only wanted to protect you from the deviants." He confirmed what Phastos was thinking.
"So, you're really going to turn on us like that? Like the weak little bitch that you are?" Hestia raised her voice at him.
"Calm down, Hestia." Sersi warned her, and she turned back to Ikaris. "If Ajak wanted you to take her place, why did she choose me?" It stayed silent for a moment. "What have you done?"
"He killed her." Druig declared.
"I had to." Ikaris defended himself.
"No. Nobody told you to kill her. That was your own choice!" Hestia called out. "She loved you."
"Did she?" Ikaris eventually turned to look at Hestia, seeing the anger in her eyes, and the fire in her hands, ready to fight him. "She loved you." The girl confirmed.
"Do you think it was easy living with the truth?" Ikaris' forehead creased, tears threatening to drop from his eyes. "To know that one day this would all end? To keep on lying to you?"
"No, but it's what you deserve for killing her. And don't you dare cry. You don't deserve to mourn over the woman you killed or the planet that will be destroyed because of you." Hestia put extra emphasis on the 'you'.
"If we gave humanity the choice, how many of them would be willing to die so that billions more could be born?" Ikaris responded.
"We're not giving them a choice." Phastos' had tears streaming down his cheeks, just like almost everyone in the room. The only ones who weren't crying, were Druig and Hestia, Druig wasn't one to cry, and Hestia was too angry to cry over him.
"Is this why you're willing to kill?" Phastos asked the man. "You are so pathetic!" He yelled.
"I'm an Eternal, Phastos." Ikaris replied. "I exist for Arishem. As do you. It's who you are."
Phastos shook his head. "I wouldn't change a single thing about who I am. Born or made. But I do not exist for Arishem, I exist for my family!" He walked over to Ikaris, but Sersi held him back. He was stronger though; he pulled his arm from her grip.
"Then you made the same mistake Ajak did." Ikaris slowly stepped closer to Phastos.
Suddenly Makkari came rushing in, a happy smile on her face. "I found Tiamut." She signed. Ikaris saw what she had said and aimed his eyes at her without hesitation. Hestia jumped in front of Makkari, holding her hands up in defence, ready to try and pull of something she had never done before, create a shield with her fire.
Right as he fired, she threw up her own fire, holding the shield as Ikaris tried his hardest to get through. Hestia turned her head around to see Makkari staring at her, her mouth open in shock. "Go! Get out of here!" Hestia screamed and the speedster was gone in no time.
Hestia let her shield vanish into thin air and she stumbled to the ground. The pressure on her body disappeared and she had to adjust for a second.
Beside her, she saw Kingo slowly raise his hand, forming a ball of energy under his hand. "You do not turn against your family." He shouted. "Gilgamesh died because of you."
"You won't succeed against me." Ikaris boasted. "And I will kill every one of you if I have to."
"I'd like to see you try." Hestia dared, letting her fire grow in her hands, illuminating the space around her.
Kingo and Hestia kept their powers aimed at Ikaris as he turned around to walk out of the door.
"Wait." Sprite said. "I'm going with you." She stormed over to him, ignoring Sersi's protests.
Thena strolled in. "What is this?" She stared at Ikaris, his eyes starting to glow gold again, preparing to attack. Sprite rose her hands, waving them and the two disappeared into a cloud of birds. Thena's glowing sword, Kingo's energy, and Hestia's fire were the only thing still visible. The birds turned into a small number of golden butterflies and slowly the creatures vanished from the room.