After dinner, I had dozed off on the couch and was woken up by someone shaking me. Jerking up, I look at Sprite.
"We have an issue. Come on."
She leads me back to the dining room, only now it's dark out. Everyone's sat down at the table, Sersi looking white as a ghost.
I listen as she explains why the Eternals were really sent to Earth. What the deviants actually are, and the horrible fate that's in store for Earth. I'm panicked as I realize the severity of what she tells us.
Earth is going to be destroyed. Humans are going to die. My family is going to die.
Im in a daze as the other Eternals come to term with the truth of their history. I ignore Kingo trying to decide if they're good or bad guys and how Thena isnt crazy.
I take deep breaths as I try to control the anxiety flowing through me. How am I going to bring another person into this world, when the world might not actually be here?
"We have to stop the emergence." I look up at Sersi and see the determination in her gaze.
"Sersi, we have no right to stop the birth of a Celestial." Kingo counters.
"There has to be a way Tiamut can emerge without destroying Earth. We just have to delay it until we figure out how."
"Could you control its mind?" Gilgamesh asks me.
All eyes turn to me and I let out a breath. "I don't know." My magic is drained. I can already feel it. My pregnancy is making me useless like it did the first time. "I haven't been very active with my powers. They're rusty. I wouldnt bet on me."
"You think Druig could control its mind then?" Gilgamesh asks the others. "Together, they could put it to sleep."
"Put it to sleep?" Sprite asks. "Are you serious?"
"Gilgamesh asked Druig to put me to sleep once."
"So I could take a vacation to Fiji you know?"
I think to Gil's suggestion. If two telepaths worked together, we might be able to put the Celestial to sleep. Put Im not a pro at the mind controlling. I can get into people's minds, but making them do things is not my specialty.
"We're talking about a Celestial!"
"We have to try! Come on, we're not gonna let everyone on Earth die right?"
"I agree with Sersi," I state. "I can try."
"Yes!" Karun agrees and my eye twitches at his statement. "Im human. Im a little biased."
I watch as Karun and Kingo have a heated discussion with Karun ending on top.
"We need to go. Now" Ikaris demands from where he stands in the corner.
He is really annoying. I would be okay if I never saw him again.
"Find the others. Once we're all together, we'll decide what to do about the emergence."
I look at Sersi and can tell we're both on the same page. We'll be doing everything we can to save Earth no matter what.
—
We flew through the night. All of us resting as we made our way to the Amazon.
Yeah. The freaking Amazon Rainforest.
I have done way too much traveling in one week. I'm mentally and physically exhausted. And Im tired of puking. I've puked so much, its a miracle Im still functioning.
The plane landed in a clearing, and we disembarked. I had fashioned myself some new clothes after cleaning up in the bathroom. Instinctively, I reach up and run my fingers on the beads of my necklace from Shuri.
Its a comfort having it on. I wear it everyday no matter what because it makes me feel safe.
I take in the green surroundings and all of the nature around us as we head deeper into the forest. The bugs are abundant and the sounds of animals and critters are prominent.
I follow Sersi as we start to hear people talking in the distance. My brows raise as we come across a civilization. These people are...old-schooled.
The houses are nice, but not built from modern materials. The clothes are different too. I feel like Ive traveled back in time. I break off from Sersi and Ikaris and follow Sprite as she asks someone where Druig is.
Benefit of being an Infinity Witch: all languages are known to me.
It's like Im a universal translator.
I can speak the language of the Dark Elves, earthen languages, Torfan and so many more.
If I ever decided to go off-world, slim chance, I would be able to communicate with beings from other planets who don't speak like a Terran.
We're friends...from college. Sprite tells the man.
My eyes widen as the man straightens and turns to face us, his eyes glowing gold.
"Hello Sprite, Tallias." It's the man's voice...but in someone else's tone.
I flinch at the name, taking a step back.
I turn away as the doors to a barn open slowly. Sprite and I make our way to the others as we move towards the barn.
I hang in the back, honestly wanting to disappear. I don't think Ill enjoy being in Druig's company. He seems to be too comfortable in his control.
You shouldnt be here. His voice fills my head, a cool presence at the back of my neck. Not in your condition.
There's amusement at his last statement.
Get out of my head.
Hmm. They don't know, do they?
Get. Out.
I shiver as the last of Druig's presence disappears. I go towards Karun, my body shaking.
"I missed all of you." My eyes train on the figure exiting the barn.
A tall man with a bowl cut. Or a haircut that resembles a bowl cut.
"Please, make yourselves at home."
—
Turns out the barn is similar to a church. Im comfy on a bench inside as the others tell Druig what was discovered. He sits through it quietly, absorbing all the information.
I tried breaching his mental shields.
And failed spectacularly. He glared at me every time I tried, and I refused to back down.
When Sersi's done explaining everything, Druig lets out a breath, and I listen as he ponders whether to help us. There's a momentary distraction as Sersi's phone rings and Kingo asks about cell service.
When we're on a plane next, I need to call Bucky. Im a little twitchy because I havent talked to him in over a day at this point, and Ive become codependent on him.
"Do you all remember this forest? Beautiful." Druig interrupts my thoughts. "It was the last place we all lived together. I've protected these people for 20 generations now from the outside world and from themselves."
I feel like that sounds like holding people hostage.
Druig shoots me a glare before going over to Karun.
"Your kind, my friend, you will be responsible for your own extinction one day. Dont you think?"
"I think we must learn from our mistakes and do better sir." Karun surprises me by speaking. "You must not give up hope."
I flinch as Druig quickly takes over Karun's mind and makes him throw his camera.
Letting out a breath, I stand from where I was sitting near the back and swiftly exit the building.
I rush down the steps leading to the door and pause, placing the back of my hand on my forehead as I catch my breath. My skin is slick with sweat and I can't shake the feeling of being uncomfortable in Druig's presence.
It might be the fact that he could easily take over my mind that is causing this unending well of panic to fill me. I don't like that he could just go into my mind one second. He could learn all of my secrets in a heartbeat.
I don't really have secrets, Im an open book. But he's capable of dissecting my memories and making me relive them. He could make me remember things that I've compartmentalized long ago and could literally break me from the inside out.
I look around at this society he's built. It's peaceful, but not real. I sit down on the last step and place my head in my hands, elbows on my knees.
My heart beats too fast and I try to slow my breathing, but it's not working. Now is really not the time for a panic attack.
I reach in my back pocket and pull out my phone, opening up the photos app. I click on a picture to make it bigger, looking at one of James, Peter and I.
Tony had taken it when we visited him, Pepper and Morgan. Peter's hands are clapping and he has a large toothless grin, while I look down at Pete, Bucky holding him. My husband on the other hand looks at me, his mouth in a genuine smile that has become more frequent.
As I look at the picture, I feel my breathing slow and my heart rate go down.
But then I spazz out as the door behind me opens. My phone falls from my hand onto the dirt as I jerk to my feet, backing away from Druig as he storms from the building.
But he abruptly stops when he sees me.
His eyes scan me from head to toe, and then he leans down, picking up my phone and examining it.
"Cute kid." He holds out the phone for me to take.
I hesitate, and grab it from him. "Yeah. He is."
"It was hard to conceive. Hard to cook him up. He came very late. A month late. You thought he would be stillborn. But when he came, he was small. Underdeveloped."
Everything he says is a statement. Not a question. I just stare back with wide eyes, my stomach bottoming out.
"You're not built to produce a human, Tallias." I flinch and take a step back. "But you possess the qualities of life." He arches a brow at me. "The reason you were drained, why you're pregnancy lasted ten months and even why your spawn came out premature was because you created him."
My head tilts in confusion at his words. Obviously I made him, I carried the kid.
"Witches like yourself dont birth kids. They will them into existence." He sends me a pointed look. "You willed your son into existence. It took so long to conceive because you were unknowingly altering your body to prepare to birth a child. And once your body was changed, you were able to conceive with your husband."
My mouth pops open as I absorb his words. Everything he says makes so much sense.
"You wanted a baby so bad, that you took your husband's DNA and used all your energy and power to create a life within you, when it goes against your natural state of being. When it drained you so much, you were almost powerless."
"Holy shit."
"And now you're doing it again."
I just blink at the Eternal in front of me, absently placing a hand on my stomach.
"It is unwise of you to be here. Go home, Tallias."
With those last words, Druig leaves me standing in front of the building with my mind blown.
When Bruce did my check up scans after nine months, he said Pete was too small to come out. He wasnt ready. Bruce said that he looked perfect, healthy. It was just a slow pregnancy, and he blamed it on my witch-ness.
But everything is clicking.
While Bucky and I tried and tried to conceive, all I felt was exhaustion. Occasionally I would feel so sick I would stay in bed all day. I figured it was just my mental health taking a toll, a depressive state because nothing was working.
But it was my body being depleted from creating reproductive organs.
I am so mind blown right now it's not even funny.
And I want a big family. And now that I have reproductive organs like a human, I can reproduce just like them.
And now, I'm feeling exhausted because I'm growing another child in me. In my body that isnt made to make babies.
What could possibly go wrong?