South Dakota

Woeful clouds rolled over the sky, encompassing the moon and leaving Emris and the three Eternals encased utterly in darkness.

Emris opened her car door and stepped out, gravel crunching softly beneath her feet. It took her a moment, but finally her eye adjusted to the thick darkness and she was able to make out the outline of a farmhouse. She didn't make a noise as she followed Sersi and Sprite up to the house.

A light flickered to life as they approached the worn house, wood groaning in protest when they stepped onto the porch. Emris shivered and hunched deeper into her coat, hating the cold that bit at her bare skin.

"Ajak?" Sersi called, breaking the stifling silence.

Emris paused, listening for someone to respond.

Sprite had filled her in on the other members of the Eternals on the way here as best she could. Emris knew Ajak to be their leader, with the power to heal. Sprite had said Ajak had been like a mother to her - to all of them - and Emris could tell that the young girl was anxious to see her again.

Emris shook her head, realizing she'd used the word young again. Sprite was older than her. Much, much older. It was going to take some getting used to the fact that Sprie and Sersi - and even Ikaris, who she'd originally thought to be in his late twenties - were actually millenniums old.

No voice answered Sersi.

In fact, there was no sign of Ajak at all.

Sersi had disappeared behind the house and Emris made her way around the porch as well.

And then came Sersi's voice again, only this time it wasn't questioning. "Ajak!" she cried, and as Emris rounded the corner she spotted Sersi running out onto the land.

Emris and Sprite shared a worried look and the two girls took off after her. "Sersi-" Emris began as she caught up to her, but then she immediately fell silent.

Sersi dropped to her knees, the wet mud squelching under her knees.

Emris had never seen a dead body before. She'd been locked in a cell for most of her life, and when she wasn't there, she was in the green room, facing experiments and cruelty. The constant pain and torture had turned Emris numb to all else, so even if she would have seen a dead body back then, Emris believed she would have been utterly desensitized to it.

But once she'd begun to live in the real world, her emotions had made a slow return. They weren't fully there, as her mind wasn't quite yet healed, but seeing this body affected her in a way it wouldn't have before.

Her eye filled with something sorrowful and strickening. A dark conviction grew in her chest as she stared at Ajak's pale, lifeless face. Emris wanted to reach out and shake her shoulders, shouting wake up! 

But Ajak's eyes remained shut.

Never again would she awaken.

A broken noise came from Sersi and her hands hovered over Ajak's corpse, as though she wanted to reach out and touch her but was too frightened. Beside Emris, Sprite released a sob. Her fingers were splayed over her lips, and despite the darkness, Emris saw the tears that slipped from Sprite's eyes.

It was almost as if she felt Sprite's anguished heart. Emris felt as though her and Sprite's hearts were one, their emotions fusing and shattering, weeping, as one. Emris rubbed her chest at the ache there, acting like if she just rubbed hard enough she could claw the feeling out.

Emris didn't understand why she felt this way, why she grieved over the death of this woman that she hadn't even known.

Please, make it stop, she begged, panic overtaking her mind and making her sway on her feet.

And then it stopped.

She no longer felt the stifling grief. The unimaginable pain. Emris went back to feeling the conviction she'd felt when she'd first seen Ajak's body, but that was all. No more sorrow that made her feel as though she'd known Ajak for centuries.

"It was a deviant," Ikaris said through the silence, having, yet again, appeared out of nowhere.

His tone was devoid of any emotion. Emris glanced at him, but his eyes remained fixed on Ajak. She couldn't find any grief on his face, but then Sersi was moving to her feet and Emris allowed her suspicion to drop.

__________________________

Sprite and Ajak clasped hands, the sound of Ajak's soft, honeyed voice filling from. The two Eternals swayed back and forth. A large, soulful grin was plastered across Sprite's features, making her look younger, which gave her the appearance of a carefree, joyful girl.

Emris saw the faintest of smiles flicker onto Ikaris's face as he watched the two dance, the first emotion besides anger that she'd seen from him. Emris found herself wondering about this particular Eternal. Superhuman strength and durability, flight, unparalleled energy and airspeed; all things that should have made him one of the most powerful beings in the universe.

And yet.

All these powers, all this strength, and yet Emris felt as though she could reach out with only a thought and knock this man to the ground. Perhaps it was his beauty that deceived her mind, tricking her into thinking that beauty correlated with weakness.

Or perhaps Emris had seen something in his mind all those days ago when she'd accidentally entered it. Maybe she'd seen a weak, cowering thing, haunted by his past and dreading the future. Maybe she'd seen him walking along a wire of razor and glass, and one tip, one inch in the wrong direction, and he'd be sent crashing down.

But Emris wasn't sure. She wasn't sure if the shadow she'd seen had been Ikaris, or if she'd merely been projecting herself.

Emris was flawed in exactly the way that silhouette in Ikaris's mind had been. So, she didn't dare attempt to knock Ikaris from his pedestal, because she was sure she had simply invented his weakness as a way to make her feel better about herself.

Emris only realized she'd been staring at Ikaris that whole time when his eyes flashed to her and she immediately looked away.

Sprite and Ajak stopped dancing. Their bodies crumbled to hundreds of golden stars, which rippled through the air, guided by a silent wind, and then disappeared.

The glow on Sprite's hands - the real Sprite - dimmed.

"It's the last time I saw her," Sprite sniffed softly.

Understanding hit Emris and she was about to go and comfort her when Ikaris beat her to it. He placed a hand on Sprite's shoulder. Her face constricted with grief and she looked away, not making eye contact with Emris nor Ikaris.

Her timid voice filled the room once again. "Ajak asked me to check on Sersi. So I went to London," she said, fiddling with her fingers, and Ikaris placed a hand upon her shoulder. "Turned out both of us were lonely and we needed each other." Her voice broke and Ikaris looked away, his jaw clenched.

Emris watched the two with remorse. Even though she might have detested Ikaris, Ajak was as much his friend as she was Sprite and Sersi's. Nothing in this world compared to the pain of losing a friend.

"I guess in her way," Sprite finished, "Ajak never stopped trying to take care of us."

They sat in silence.

Two grieving Eternals... and a girl who wished she could take away their pain.

__________________________

Their tranquil peace was interrupted by a scream. The three launched to their feet within seconds and raced outside, to where it'd come from. There, huddled on the ground by Ajak's corpse, was Sersi.

Sprite reached her first and caught Sersi as she fell back. "Sersi! Are you okay?"

Ikaris came around to her other side and Emris hovered right behind him.

"What happened, Sersi?" he asked, his accent thicker than usual.

Sersi breathed unevenly and looked around in confusion. Emris could sense her panic, but she remained where she was.

"The sphere that Ajak used to talk with Arishem, it came out of her body and... went inside me."

"Did you talk with Arishem?" Ikaris asked, tone gentle.

Emris glanced between them. She felt out of place suddenly. She didn't know what this sphere was that they spoke of, or who Arishem was, and the way Sersi was looking at Ikaris, like he was some long-lost lover, only proved to further make her feel as though she were intruding.

"Yes. He said it's almost time," Sersi whispered, and Emris noticed something she hadn't at first.

Sprite was staring at Ikaris and Sersi, but not in just any old manner. Her face was stifled with jealousy; jealousy at Ikaris and Sersi, who spoke as if she and Sprite weren't even there.

And then Emris understood, and her heart broke for the girl who was forever trapped in the body of a twelve year old. Sprite noticed Emris's stare and her broken face was gone in the next instant. She was back to be her calm, collected, cocky self.

"Can you try talking to him again?" Sprite voiced, her tone devoid of any bitterness.

Sersi shrugged helplessly. "I don't know how."

"But she chose you to replace her." Now Sprite spoke with conviction, and the jealousy was beginning to trickle back into her voice, but only Emris seemed to notice. "And she gave you the sphere!"

"Hold on, Sprite," Ikaris cut off. He looked at Sersi closely. Analyzing. "Are you sure you talked to Arishem?" he questioned.

Emris frowned, confused and lost. What was going on?

"What else would it be?" Sprite asked, voicing Emris's thoughts aloud.

Ikaris shifted and glanced at Emris, as if only just noticing she was still with them. Emris ducked her head and swallowed, unable to look him in the eye.

Ikaris blinked, then resumed ignoring her. To Sersi and Sprite, he said, "Mahd Wy'ry."

Emris wasn't sure what that was, but from the way Sersi's head snapped to the side, her eyes having gone wide, Emris knew it wasn't good.

As she stood there, separated from the others, that feeling of being alone crept back into her heart. Emris couldn't go back to feeling like that - she wouldn't. Determined to understand, she called upon her magic. Her eye flickered green, but no one noticed, too absorbed in their own conversation. Emris took a deep breath, preparing herself. If she'd done it once, without even trying, then she could do it again.

Emris shut her eye, pictured what she imagined happening, and then she dove into Ikaris's mind.

1521, Tenochtitlan, Aztec Empire

The city was burning.

Fires blazed wildly up and down the streets, consuming all that laid in their path. The air was putrid and sordid as fire caught flesh, withering it to ash, and the dark night sky billowed clouds of smoke. Cries choked out the sound of the conquistadors' blades slashing and spilling blood.

The people begged for help.

"Save us!" they pleaded.

But the Eternals were no heroes.

And Ikaris was no savior.

Coming back to the city after having killed the last remaining deviants, he had found a war begun and a genocide soon to pass. Now, he walked with the others through a distant forest. Red could be seen through the trees, but Ikaris ignored it.

He had a mission on this planet, and saving those people was not it.

A musket fired, the first of its kind, and the Eternals all paused. The people they had helped cultivate were no match for the new weapon, and they all knew it.

"Don't," Ajak said.

Ikaris turned to find Druig's eyes golden, but upon Ajak's words, they went dark.

"We don't interfere in their wars," their leader continued, her voice level.

"This isn't war. It's genocide." Druig lifted his head. Ikaris watched him closely, hearing the defiance in his voice and ready to subdue him if it came to that.

"Their weapons have become too deadly. Maybe," his voice grew with anger as he turned to face Ikaris and the others, "it wasn't such a good idea helping them advance, Phastos."

"Technology is a part of their evolutionary process, Druig," Phastos bit back. "It's not exactly something I can stop."

Ikaris thought back to why they'd been sent to this planet. To kill the deviants, of course, and to help grow the population. War led to massacre, yes, but then it led to rebirth and something even bigger.

This is all part of the plan, Ikaris said to himself. A plan to shape the future.

"No, you can't," Druig drawled, his words elongated in a buttery accent. "But I can."

Ikaris stance widened as he drew to attention, ready to lash out and stop Druig. But then someone else spoke, and he was saved from a confrontation.

"It's too late," a breathy voice said.

Thena.

She stared straight ahead, not looking at anyone. And there, across her face, something flashed. "Everyone is going to die."

Thena's eyes turned white. She conjured a staff, and then she attacked.

_______________________

Ikaris was in a temple.

After Gilgamesh overpowered Thena and rendered her unconscious, Ajak had led them here, to the temple. Thena laid upon a stone altar and the others gathered around her, waiting for her to awaken.

"I thought Mahd Wy'ry was a myth," Sersi said quietly, staring down at Thena's expressionless face.

Phastos sighed. "There is no cure, so no one really talks about it."

Suddenly, Thena gasped and her eyes shot open. Ikaris uncrossed his arms and pushed off the wall, readying himself in case she were to attack again.

The sound of Thena's ragged breathing filled the small room. "What happened?"

"Thena," Ajak began, "you attacked everyone. Wounded Sersi. Phastos. You nearly killed Makkari."

Thena sat up and her face broke. Ikaris found himself surprised, as never before had he seen the great warrior in a vulnerable state. Normally, she was put together. Strong. Unflinching. But now, tears filled her eyes, and her shoulders trembled.

It left Ikaris unsettled.

"I don't remember," she whispered and shook her head.

Ajak didn't spare her sympathy. "You have Mahd Wy'ry. Your mind is fracturing under the weight of your memories. All I can do is erase them so that you can start over."

Thena continued to shake her head. Her eyes were wide with panic and a tear slipped down the bridge of her nose. Ikaris felt a pang of sympathy for his friend. Having one's memories erased was no easy thing to bear.

"Please," Thena begged.

Thena never begged. "Please, I- I want to remember. I want to remember my life."

Ajak smiled sadly, her eyes searching Thena's face for something. "Thena, I love you, but listen to me. It's not important to be remembered or not. Your spirit will remain. You will always be Thena deep inside. Trust me."

"Why should she trust you?" Druig accused. He took a step forward. "You're asking her to let you erase who she is."

"Druig, I know you're upset." Ajak's voice was firm now, losing the kindness it'd just had.

"Upset!?" Druig bellowed, shoving his face into her own.

All was still.

Silent.

Druig's jaw tightened, but then he backed off. "We've trusted you for seven thousand years and look where you've gotten us. I've watched humans destroy each other... when I could stop it all in a heartbeat." His voice lost its anger and now it was sullen. Defeated. "Do you know what that does to someone after centuries?"

Druig lifted his arms and addressed them all. "Could our mission have been a mistake? Are we really helping these people build a better world," he mocked.

No one said anything.

Druig scoffed and turned to stare out the opening in the temple, to down down below, where the city burned. "We're just like the soldiers down there. Pawns to their leaders. Blinded by loyalty. It ends now," he whispered.

Like a switch had been flipped, the cries of mothers and daughters ceased. The hiss of blades disappeared. And every person, every human down in that city, stared up Druig with still faces, their eyes golden.

Ikaris could stand still no more.

He grabbed hold of Druig's shoulder and spun him around, slamming him into the wall. Druig smiled, like he found it funny. Ikaris could ruin Druig. He could incinerate him where he stood, if he wished, or snap his neck with a pinky finger.

"Let them go," Ikaris commanded.

Druig's eyes flashed with mischief. "You're gonna have to make me."

That was the last thread. Ikaris's fury burned bright. Druig had been adding fuel to it all night, and now he was ready to combust. If Druig wished for Ikairs to make him stop? Well, Ikaris would be more than happy to oblige.

"Stop!" Ajak cried.

Ikaris looked at Ajak. At her strong face. His lips twitched, then he released Druig and stepped back. It was an act of surrender - Druig knew it, too - and it made Ikaris feel weak and unworthy. But Ajak was his leader, and he would follow her until his last breath.

"If you want to stop me," Druig said, staring at Ikaris, "you're gonna have to kill me."

Ikaris's eyes remained fixed on the floor. No other Eternal spoke, and then Druig was gone, descending down the temple like a god, and welcomed by his mind-controlled followers like a hero.

The savior Ikaris could not be.

Ikaris watched Druig walk away for a moment.

He was a coward.

"I'll watch over Thena," Gilgamesh said softly, the first words out of his mouth that night. "Let her keep her memories." He addressed them all, but his words for Ajak.

Ajak's back remained to him, her eyes still staring out the temple where Druig had left. "One day when she attacks you... you might have to kill her."

Thena's face crumbled with grief, but she smiled at Gilgamesh upon hearing Ajak's words. Gilgamesh returned her look and Ikaris looked away, feeling as though he was intruding on an intimate moment.

"We will take that chance."

For a moment, no one said anything, and Ikaris waited, as he always did.

"You may all go," Ajak said at last. "The deviants are gone. There's no reason for you to stay with me."

He lifted his head. He stole a glance at Sersi, who appeared sad and confused. "Shouldn't you ask Arishem?" he said, suddenly desperate. "We're a team, we should stay together!"

Ajak looked at him. "I didn't ask for your advice, Ikaris. Do not forget your place."

It was a sword to his gut. A hand ripping through his chest, grasping hold of his heart, and squeezing. Squeezing until there was nothing left. He stumbled back a step and bowed his head, refusing to look at Ajak, or Sersi, or anyone.

"This is where we say goodbye."

Ajak's words were but a distant voice in Ikaris's head.

"You're free to go. I want you to go out there and live a life for yourselves, not Arishem. Not as soldiers, not with the purpose you were given."

Ikaris knew she directed the last part at him, but deep down he knew it wasn't true. They'd been created to serve Arishem, not live for themselves. What was Ikaris to do if not serve?

"Find your own purpose," Ajak breathed, "and one day, when we see each other again, I want you to tell me what you found."

Ikaris wouldn't be able to do that.

And he knew that this would be the first - and last - time he would break his leader's command.