CHAPTER ONE —
( 5000BC )

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THE DOMO
Mesopotamia

        Entering the world is a perplexing experience. From birth, our consciousness is a blank slate; we have no memory of the chaotic rush around our arrival or the tender moments of early life. As time passes, memories start to stick, reminding us of our childhood—moments with family, laughter with friends, and carefree experiences. Transitioning into adolescence, emotions and experiences further shape us, with each memory becoming a brushstroke in the vibrant portrait of our lives.

"It is time."

Gaia's dark brown eyes opened up, before blinking a couple of times as her eyes tried to adjust to the dimly lit room she was seated in. A large, red statue was placed in the centre of the room, and as she marvelled at its height and power, Gaia's mind instantly recognised who the statue was representing. Arisham. She didn't know how she knew who the statue was to represent or how she appeared on the ship she was currently seated in. Last thing she remembered was living peacefully on Olympia.

As if she had done it thousands of times before, Gaia, as well as ten other individuals in the room, walked towards the walls surrounding the room and placed their backs against it. Gold magic flowed over Gaia's body, covering her grey robes with armour instead. Forest green covered most of her body, as well as gold lined with a deep blue. And resting just on her forehead and around the crown of her head—hidden under her dark brown locks, was a small golden diadem with a green jewel positioned on her forehead. Gaia's gaze connected with someone standing on the other side of the room, his deep blue eyes connecting to her brown ones. A single person stepped forward before everyone else, turning every gaze towards the woman with a large golden headpiece on her head.

"I am Ajak," she announced "I am your Prime Eternal. We will be arriving on Planet Earth soon, and that's when our mission to protect the humans against the Deviants will begin. Take the time to introduce yourselves."

Instead of turning to meet her fellow Eternals, Gaia was drawn to one of the large windows showcasing space and the Earth down below. She looked down at the small planet, her eyes wide and her lips parted at the beauty and wonder and at the endless possibilities of her new home for the next couple thousand years. She could spot the blue ocean down below, as well as the land where the human's currently lived on. The fact that she'd soon be looking after the human race while simultaneously helping Earth to grow and flourish, Gaia couldn't wait.

While Gaia was too busy admiring the planet below, a fellow Eternal appeared beside her and stopped to face the Earth, though his gaze wasn't on their soon-to-be home. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Gaia spoke without even looking to see who was beside her. Her eyes shone as she searched the planet below, her skin tingling with excitement.

The man beside her nodded, though his gaze never left her face. "Takes my breath away." Gaia turned to meet the same deep blue eyes she saw earlier. He wore black and red armour with a coat that almost touched the floor. He bowed his head. "I'm Druig."

"Gaia."

Druig smirked lightly, a small and mischievous twinkle in his eyes as he said, "Such an angelic name."

Gaia smiled lightly as she turned back to look at Earth, her hair falling in front of her face to hide her darkened cheeks. "Thank you," she mumbled.

Druig nodded with a smirk. "You're welcome, m'lady."

Gaia ended up leaving her spot by the window and made her rounds around the room to meet the other nine Eternals. Phastos had guided the Domo through Earth's sky and towards the ground where they had spotted several Deviants making their way towards villagers. Once everyone became acquainted, the group stood in front of Ajak, awaiting their orders. "Ikaris, Kingo, Makkari, Thena, Gilgamesh, go and protect the villagers. Keep them safe at all costs." Ikaris flew out of the Domo and Makkari grabbed the others and sped them out. "Everyone else, prepare for our arrival. They may be afraid of us. Druig, you can help with that." He nodded at his order. "Sersi and Gaia, you two get the humans to accept us. If we get accepted into humanity, then our mission will become much more simpler." Druig's gaze flickered to Gaia, wondering what she could do.

Ajak's gaze moved towards the window and she nodded. "Phastos, it's time."

Phastos stepped away from the controls of the Domo and circled his hands around, gold rings appearing that opened up the floor of the Domo and appeared under everyone's feet. He guided all six of them towards the ground so that they could stand beside their fellow warriors. Even after being saved from getting killed by Deviants, the people of Mesopotamia were still afraid of the newcomers. They were different, and they were powerful. The men all walked in front of the women and children with their spears raised, but with just a raise of his hand, Druig's eyes glazed over and he controlled them all to lower their weapons and relax. Druig looked over and caught Gaia's gaze, and he smirked at the small amused smile on her face.

Ajak moved towards the front where Ikaris was standing. She held her hand over his side, healing the gash that a Deviant had made. "Thank you, Ajak."

With Ajak front and centre, the remaining ten Eternals stood on either side of her, looking strong and powerful. Ajak turned to Sersi on her left, and also at Gaia who stood just behind the woman in green armour. All Ajak did was nod, and the two Eternals made their way towards the humans before them. A boy and girl stood out amongst the villagers. As Sersi bent down to pick up a blade the boy had moved forward to collect, Gaia stopped in front of the girl who looked up at her with wide eyes full of curiosity. Gaia knelt down so she was closer to the girl's height and placed a hand just above the ground. Her palm glowed a bright gold before a small flower began to grow and blossom underneath her hand.

"Phenomenal," a voice mumbled somewhere behind Gaia.

The little girl smiled as Gaia picked the flower and held it out to her. With an uneasy hand, the girl went to grab the flower when instead, Gaia raised her hand and placed it behind the girl's ear, earning a large smile from her. Looking over towards the boy beside them and seeing that he had accepted the now gold blade, Sersi and Gaia shared small smiles between each other.

With the villagers now at ease that the new arrivals weren't going to attack them, they went about their day as if nothing had happened, and the Eternals mission had finally begun.

AUTHORS NOTE

sorry if this is moving a little too slow, im just trying to figure out how to structure this book and what i should include before reaching the main storyline of eternals :)
-rosepetal