"i've never heard you sound so bitter."

NOW

The text from Sersi put a smile on Khaos's face, the first thing she saw when she woke up. It was an image taken of an electronic billboard in London, where she was currently living. A museum was opening an exhibit, and the star item was the very golden dagger that she had created their first day on Earth. It was being called an artifact that shaped human history.

Khaos, of course, could have informed the girl that for the first time in hundreds of years, Ikaris was on his way to see her. But where was the fun in that?

Of the many, many years on Earth, the Eternals had spread out, gone their separate ways. Occasional visits would be worked in every hundred years amongst those that were closer. With the Deviants all gone and no order to return home to Olympia, they had nothing to do but scatter.

The only two to remain at each other's sides in all that time were Ikaris and Khaos. The siblings only ever parted for a handful of years at a time — the longest stint of separation had been in the 1970s. It took her five years to talk to him again after he told her ABBA's music wasn't that good.

But Ikaris's questionable music taste aside, the siblings were inseparable. Ikaris kept Khaos from, well, causing chaos — she never had quite grasped the order "don't interfere." And Khaos kept a permanent chip from growing on her brother's shoulder. God forbid he actually enjoy his time on Earth.

Ikaris had run off a week prior, muttering something about — well, Khaos hadn't been paying attention to his reason. In her defense, he shouldn't have tried to explain his abrupt departure over the phone while she was trying to outdrink a linebacker for the New York Giants. But he did regularly text updates to Khaos, the latest of which explained his plans to stop and see Sersi and Sprite.

The siblings had resided in New York for the last few years. In a city so vast, no one knew you well enough to know you didn't age. With its Broadway shows and a bagel shop on every corner and nightlife that never stopped, Khaos thrived there.

She spent most nights awake, roaming the city, having her fun, and living amongst the humans in a way that Ajak had never allowed. She slept in the day, and her brother had an endless supply of goblin and vampire jokes in his arsenal.

The Eternal could practically sleep through anything — just not an earthquake that rocked the entire world.

Khaos had not appreciated being woken up after only an hour of sleep by her entire apartment shaking. As fast as she could, she moved under a doorframe, watching as chunks of ceiling dropped and knickknacks collected over the years clattered off shelves. And then a minute later, the quake stopped.

"Fuck," Khaos breathed out, listening as car alarms sounded and sirens blared, the city reacting in an instant. She looked around the mess that was her room, wondering if she could locate Makkari to have the speedster clean it up — it'd take hours without.

"My autographed Bowie cd," she grumbled, walking over to the shattered Heroes disk that had previously been framed on her wall. "I am not picking up Ikaris's shit."

The day went on, and Khaos quickly learned that the earthquake had affected not only New York but everywhere. It was certainly concerning, but not really concerning enough for Khaos to put a stop to her plans.

Those plans included breakfast from Sonic — though really it was lunch to those that hadn't slept until twelve in the afternoon. With blue heart-shaped sunglasses perched on her nose, Khaos walked down the back alleyway shortcut to get back to her apartment, cherry slushie in one hand and a bag of food in the other.

"Morning, Ollie," she greeted, passing a young boy spray painting on the side of a dumpster. Khaos pulled a small order of mozzarella sticks out of the bag of food and tossed it to the teen, who easily caught it.

"Thanks, K," he said, immediately shoving the food in his mouth.

"Aren't you supposed to be in school?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Aren't you supposed to eat healthier than a slushie and cheese sticks and chili cheese tots for a balanced meal?" Ollie shot back.

"Um, I've seen you drop a corn dog on the ground, pick it back up, and eat it, so shut up, kid," Khaos muttered, sipping her slushie. "I'll catch you later—"

Khaos cut herself off when she heard a terrifyingly familiar sound. It may have been thousands of years since they last fought a Deviant, but she'd never forget.

"Ollie, run," she instructed, looking up to find the beast before it attacked.

"What?"

"Run!" she shouted, her head snapping in his direction. The boy took one look at her eyes that had gone completely black before booking it.

And he ran just in time too. The Deviant leap from the rooftop, crashing into the dumpster as it landed.

"Shit," Khaos muttered, dropping her slushie.

The Deviant charged, coming at her with claws and fangs. She hadn't reacted fast enough, out of practice with so many years of domestic living. She screamed as it caught her waist, drawing blood.

Her shadows wrapped around its limb, tearing it off of her. She let her shadows rip its arm apart, only for the flesh to knit back together right before her very eyes. It looked just as it did when Ajak healed them.

"That's not good," she whispered, backing away with wide eyes.

New York in broad daylight wasn't the wisest of times to create a false night with her shadows, so she'd have to make do. The Deviant swiped at her once more, but she was quicker, dissolving into the shadows cast by the building and reappearing behind the Deviant, who was frantically whipping around, searching for her.

Khaos threw her hands out, not paying her bloody arms any mind, and sent a thick horde of black smoke at the creature. She surrounded it in darkness, taking away its sight. Then she jumped into the mass of darkness, having no problem seeing inside.

Crawling onto the back of the flailing Deviant, Khaos got her arms around its throat. Using her strength, she ripped into it before sending her shadows into its very veins. The beast roared, harshly knocking Khaos off and into the brick wall, but it was too late. Once they were inside, there was no way to heal the darkness eating away at it from the inside.

Khaos stared at the dead Deviant for two solid minutes, partly afraid it would get back up and fight her once more. She pulled herself to her feet and left the alley, leaving behind the carcass and the slushie, and took the back entrance to her apartment complex. She didn't even make it up the stairs before collapsing, having to catch her breath from the fight and using her powers.

"Shit. Shit," she cursed, clenching her eyes shut.

They were supposed to be dead. Every last one of them. Thousands of years of peace, but now the Deviants were back. And this one was different. It could heal. It didn't seek out humans to attack, it sought out her.

Khaos fumbled in her pocket until she found her phone. As shallow as it may have seemed, she was thankful there somehow wasn't a crack on the screen. Her hands were shaking as she dialed Ikaris, holding the phone to her ear.

"Khaos," Ikaris greeted after the second ring. He sighed in relief. "I was just about to call. I'm with Sersi and Sprite. The Deviants—"

"Are back," she interrupted tiredly, leaning her head against the stairs. "Yeah. I know."

"You know. Good — wait! How do you know?" he asked, instantly worrying. "Were you attacked? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine — mostly," she said, grimacing. As the adrenaline faded, the pain of her injuries began to hit her. "Where are you guys?"

"London."

"No shit," she said, losing her patience. She got mean when she was in pain. "Just, send me a ping from your phone."

Ikaris paused. "A ping?"

"Oh my god, have Sersi send me a ping," she said, shaking her head. "I'll be there in a minute."

Just as instructed, Khaos received a text from Sersi with her location attached. Khaos dragged herself to the corner of the stairwell, making sure to reach the shadow cast by the structure. Then she shut her eyes and let them take her away.

Khaos appeared on the other side of the world, in a moderately sized flat in London. The lights were off in the living room, giving her plenty of shadows to inhabit.

In an instant, the others were on her. "Khaos!" Sprite exclaimed, both in excitement at seeing her but fear of seeing her so beat up.

"Sister," Ikaris said, crouching beside her. He took in her blood-covered clothes and tired expression.

"Get her on the couch," Sersi instructed. "Sprite, first aid kit."

The three of them got to work, taking care of Khaos. She removed the bloody shirt, leaving her in an equally as bloody sports bra. It made them miss Ajak, knowing she'd have Khaos fixed in an instant. They'd just have to patch her up until they saw her.

"It showed up in the alley outside our apartment," Khaos explained. She hissed as Sersi cleaned the deep scratches on her side. "No one else was around to get hurt. NYPD is gonna be real confused when they stumble upon the body, though."

"We were attacked as well," Sersi told her. "Ikaris arrived just in time."

"Good. So it's dead and gone then?" she asked, looking at her brother expectantly.

Ikaris winced. "Gone? Yes. Dead? I - It caught us by surprise. And you know my beams aren't as strong at night—"

"I was fighting that thing in daylight," Khaos reminded him. Given the time change, it was now dinner time in London. She'd certainly have a hell of a case of jet lag in a few hours. "I still got the job done."

"Well, I had civilians and—"

"All I'm hearing is that I'm up by one," Khaos said, smugly.

"Are you two still keeping score after all these years?" Sprite asked, snickering.

"We were all tied up after those last ones in Tenochtitlan," Ikaris reminded them.

"But now I'm winning," Khaos said, grinning. Then it slipped away. "Speaking of, why the fuck are there Deviants around to even give me the opportunity to win?"

"I don't know," Sersi said, frowning. "That Deviant healed itself. They could never do that before. And it was coming after us instead of humans. What's going on?"

She looked to Ikaris, hoping he'd have the answers. But he didn't have them. "I came to check on you because of the earthquake. That Deviant was news to me."

Khaos playfully narrowed her eyes at her brother. He hadn't been on the way to London because of the earthquake. He just wanted to reunite with Sersi — but he also wasn't expecting her to have a human boyfriend.

"Something's happening to Earth," Sersi mumbled. "It can't be a coincidence."

"Both of us being attacked at almost the same time? Certainly not," Khaos agreed.

"We need to find the others," Ikaris decided.

Khaos smiled softly. It had been so long since they had been together, all of them, as a family. But if they were all together, then that meant he'd be there too. The thought turned Khaos's smile into a sad one.

"I haven't seen some of them for centuries," Sersi told them.

"I doubt much has changed," Ikaris muttered. With all of Khaos's wounds tended to, her brother moved to Sersi's side. "I'm sorry I hurt you, Sersi. But we need to stick together. Once I know you're safe, I will move on."

Khaos and Sprite shared an awkward look across the room, both of them wishing they weren't there for any of the intimate moments.

"Let's go to Ajak first," Sersi decided. "She'll know what to do."

Then she parted from Ikaris, returning the first aid kit to the bathroom.

"You hear that, Sprite?" Ikaris asked. "Family reunion."

"It's about time," she muttered, grabbing a few things to take with her.

Sersi returned a minute later, and this time, she had clean clothes for Khaos, who took them gratefully. Still sore from her injuries, she needed help changing.

"You know," Sersi began softly. "You'll have to see him. With the Deviants running around, we'll need all of us, even him."

"If you can even convince him to leave whatever hole he's burrowed in to hide away from the world," Khaos muttered.

"I've never heard you sound so bitter," she noted.

"Well, when a man promises to stay by your side for eternity and then abandons you on the steps of a burning city, one is allowed to be bitter when said jackass is brought up."

Sprite laughed almost humorlessly under her breath. "This is gonna be a fun reunion."