➼➼➼

•
2024 AD, London, England

  ARTEMIS'S FAVOURITE PART ABOUT London wasn't the people or the architecture, but the weather. She seemed to thrive in the rain and fog. Sprite was the opposite, always complaining about the lack of sun. As they stepped off the tube, headed to meet Sersi at her work, the shortest Eternal rattled on and on about the clouds in the sky. "I just don't get it. Why did Sersi have to move here of all places? I could be in Morroco right now under the sun and relaxing. Instead, I'm here in London freezing my butt off."

"Sprite," Artemis snorted. "You're so dramatic. London's not that bad," She nudged the redhead's side playfully.

Sprite rolled her eyes, trying to hide her smile. "Whatever," She scoffed with a hint of amusement. "Let's just hurry. It's cold."

They hurried towards the museum and up its stone steps. Sersi would be teaching her class, so they would have to wait. Not that Artemis minded -- she loved museums. The history they held, though some of it incorrect, was fascinating. Sprite tucked her hands deep into the pockets of her jacket as the two of them slowly walked around, eyes lazily scanning the artifacts. "Not a history fan?" Artemis joked. 

"Most of this is fake," Sprite countered. Her eyes wandered to the skull of a Smilodon. "Or mislabeled," She headed over to it, shaking her head. "You'd think humans would know a Deviant when they saw one."

Artemis laughed as she followed behind her. "Well, given that we wiped them out centuries ago, I think we can cut them some slack," Sprite shook her head. After a moment of silence and staring at the skull, she raised her hand, gold magic swirling in her palm as she cast the illusion of the Deviant's flesh over the skull. "Sprite," Artemis warned quietly. 

"I know," She sighed. As her hand dropped, so did the illusion. Artemis put her arm around her and squeezed softly, a silent gesture of comfort. 

Approaching footsteps interrupted their silence. "Hi, Sprite. Artemis." 

Dropping her arm, Artemis and Sprite turned to see Dane walking toward them. "Whitman," Sprite greeted him with little enthusiasm.

"You here to see Sersi? Because I think she started a presentation about the importance of apex predators in our ecosystem," He sent a sly smile to Artemis, who returned it with a chuckle as he directed his comment to Sprite as she continued to stare at the skull in front of them.

"That's ironic," Sprite turned partially to him. "Since she helped wipe out an entire species of them."

Artemis rolled her eyes. This was an ongoing thing with Sprite and Dane. She despised him, so telling him stories of their past was her way of making him feel stupid because there was no way they could be true. If only he knew, Artemis chuckled.

"What species did Sersi help to wipe out?" Dane fell right into her trap, even if he thought he was being smart.

"Deviants," Sprite answered simply. "You see this right here?" She directed him towards the skull. "This was a Deviant's head."

"Actually," Dane sighed. "It's the head of a Smilodon. A genus of the extinct Macrodontini sub-family-"

"Why can't they ever get Thena's likeness right?" Sprite interrupted him and Artemis tried her best not to laugh. Clearly, Sprite was growing bored of his incorrect historical facts. She glared at a statue of Thena across the room, and Artemis had to admit she was right. The nose and lips were all wrong. She also noticed next to it, sat a bust of her, which, like Thena, was completely incorrect. 

Sprite walked towards it and Artemis and Dane followed. "It's A-thena," Dane tried to correct her. "A-thena-"

"Just Thena, no 'a'," Sprite once again interrupted him. Dane glanced at Artemis, who merely smirked, then back down at Sprite. "See that spear she's holding? In real life, it's made of cosmic energy. Just like your bow and arrows, Artemis." Sprite chuckled. 

Dane snapped his head to the woman. "Cosmic energy?" Artemis shrugged with a chuckle.

"She's like family to me," Sprite continued.

"Really?" Dane cocked his head, then leaned towards her, as if she were a child that required being talked down to. Artemis knew he meant well, but it irritated her. "What's your power, then?" 

"I make illusions," Sprite answered nonchalantly. As she and Dane walked away, Artemis decided to let them continue the conversation without her, as it was Sprite that had an issue with Sersi and Dane dating, not her. 

Slowly, Artemis strolled past the statues and busts of her and Thena, vases that portrayed their heroics in Athens, and many other artifacts that made her reminisce about the past. But as she turned back around to rejoin Sprite and Dane, the museum began to shake and a loud rumble echoed through the entire building. 

Artemis planted her feet and held her breath. Her eyes connected with Sprites'. Sure, earthquakes weren't common in England but they certainly happened, but this one was different. Something about the shaking of the earth was...sinister.

  Artemis knew no one but Sersi and the birthday boy at Dane's party, not that she minded. She was happy sipping on her gin and tonic in the corner of the room, watching Sersi and Dane's friends sing him 'Happy Birthday' as he blew out the candles on a cupcake cake.

But parties weren't Artemis's thing, not anymore, at least. She found the strobe lights and loud music gave her a cosmic headache of sorts. So, when Sprite finally grabbed her arm and yelled that it was time to leave, she had no problem tossing her drink in the trash and following her out the door with Sersi and Dane.

The streets were relatively empty. It was peaceful as they walked along the canal. Dane walked ahead of the three Eternals, letting them discuss. "Are you really love?" Sprite asked Sersi with a sigh. 

"What if I am?" Sersi shrugged off her question. 

"You better tell him the truth, then." Sprite retorted.

Sersi let out a small huff. "I'm working on it."

Artemis chuckled, looping her arm with Sersi and nudging her playfully. "This is exactly why I've sworn off dating humans." 

"You've sworn off dating anybody who isn't Druig," Sprite teased, ignoring the heated glare Artemis sent her way at the mention of her husband. 

Artemis sighed, trying to ignore the pit in her stomach. "You get my point, Sers." 

"I do..." Sersi nodded sadly.

"You guys wanna get pizza?" Dane called from ahead as they approached the stairs that would take them back to the main street. 

"No, thank you!" The three of them called back. 

Sprite lowered her voice as she picked the conversation back up. "He won't live forever, you know. Move in with him." 

Sersi looked at her, slightly shocked. "I live with you and Art..." Her sentence trailed off as her eyes locked onto something above Dane's head. Artemis's gaze followed her. Emerging from the canal waters was a familiar green, brown and scaly skin that could only belong to the foulest of creatures. "Dane..." The beast emerged from the water, tentacles curling around its head and its boulder-like hands crushed the wood dock beneath it.

"Shit! Is that a Deviant?" Sprite exclaimed. 

"Dane, run!" Sersi burst into action. 

Screw hiding her powers around Dane, she needed to protect him. Artemis opened her hands and for the first time in a few years, she allowed the cosmic energy of Olympus to flow through her once more, creating her golden bow and quiver. Sersi's hands flew to the ground as Dane dived out of the way and the Deviant headed towards the three Eternals. The ground beneath it turned to quicksand, then quickly back to concrete. The Deviant was momentarily stuck. 

Readying an arrow and pulling back the string, Artemis let the arrow fly, hitting the Deviant in one of its six eyes. It roared in pain, flailing as it tried to break free from where Sersi had trapped it. It wasn't the biggest Deviant she had seen, but it certainly was the most unique. Its proportions were eerily human-like, except for the oversized front limbs and spiked tentacles protruding from its back.

With wide eyes and a shaky voice, Dane called for Sersi as he ran hesitantly past the Deviant. Sersi reached out her hand to pull him along and the four took off running. "What is that thing?" Dane screamed in horror as he momentarily looked back at the monster. 

"A Deviant!" Sprite responded without hesitation. 

"You said you killed them all!" Dane retorted, his voice a mix of confusion and anger. 

"You told him that?" Artemis scolded.

Sprite shook her head at Dane. "You believed me?" 

"I do now!" He huffed hoarsely.

A deep growl echoed and the cracking of solid concrete and stone could be heard -- the Deviant was breaking free. Sersi and Artemis stopped. Taking a quick glance at each other, they rushed forward. "What are you doing?" Sprite called after them.

"Our job!" Artemis called over her shoulder as she and her sister expertly scaled the wall, over and up to the main street. 

Sersi yelled at the humans to get out of the way. London was a bustling city full of people and if the Deviant got loose, there would be no telling how much carnage it would leave in its wake. But as the Eternals ran to protect the humans, something different happened. 

The Deviant followed them. Not the humans. Them.

Artemis sent a panicked look toward Sersi, raising a distressed brow. Something was very wrong. Ever since the quake, something changed on earth. This Deviant seemed to be the first of those changes.

"Get to some high ground, Artemis!" Sprite's voice cut through the screams of frightened humans -- she too had joined the fight. "Sersi and I can distract it!" 

"Right!" Artemis nodded, immediately heading for a random storefront. Her hands gripped the red brick and her feet pushed her body effortlessly up the wall and onto the roof above. Chaos ensued below. 

Sprite had conjured illusions of all three of them in an attempt to distract the Deviant. Cars of unsuspecting humans screeched to a halt, trying to avoid a collision with the intangible Eternals, not that they knew that. A pile-up began as car after car slammed into each other. 

But as much as Artemis wanted to help the confused and scared humans, she had to carry on. Sprite's illusion was to keep the Deviant distracted so she could ambush it from above. Artemis began hopping from roof to roof, her feet landing softly and silently so as to not alert the Deviant. 

The beast swiped at the illusions, clearly confused. Artemis's heart raced as she picked up speed and conjured an arrow. Adrenaline pumped through her veins the closer she got to slaying the Deviant. 

However, as she ran towards it, out of its line of sight, something changed. The Deviant had seemingly figured out the trick. Artemis had no time to waste. Pushing off the roof, she became airborne over the Deviant, ready to bring the arrow down into its skull. "Die, you bastard!" She screamed just before landing the killing blow. 

But there was no satisfying slice of the beast's skin, no wail of pain. All there was, was a grunt made by Artemis. Slimy green tendrils wrapped around her body, keeping her arms and legs secured. The Deviant had stopped her mid-air. 

"Shit! It knows!" Sprite screeched. 

Artemis gritted her teeth as she attempted to break free. "Oh, really, Sprite? I didn't notice!" 

With her hands bound, she was unable to conjure an arrow to cut herself free and there would be no point in summoning her antlers as the distance between her and the Deviant was far too great. All Artemis could do was struggle and shout foul words at the monster, hoping that if she kept its attention long enough, the others could come up with something to kill it.

And then all of a sudden, a golden light flashed and the air returned to Artemis's lungs as she was set free. She dropped to the ground just in time to see another flash of light and a blur as the Deviant was forced back into a storefront. Then another golden stream shot its weakened body back into the street.

It couldn't be him, could it? Artemis shook her head in disbelief as out from the freshly made rubble, Ikaris emerged. She literally had never been so happy to see him. 

"Ikaris!" Sprite cried happily.

"Evening, ladies." He smirked.

"Sersi, are you okay?" Artemis heard Dane in the distance. He had managed to find his way up and was not scanning every inch of Sersi's body for injuries, but all Sersi could look at was Ikaris, who stared right back.

A low growl caught Artemis's attention. The Deviant was standing and it had its sight set on Ikaris. "Watch out!" She called to him but it was too late. The Deviant pounced and slammed its body into Ikaris, sending them both flying into an oncoming bus.

The apple red vehicle honked its horn but there was nothing the driver could do. The bus flipped onto its nose, heading straight towards Artemis, Dane, Sprite, and Sersi. But luckily, Sersi acted quickly, running with her hand held high. As the bus made its descent and connected with Sersi's hand, it burst into beautiful red rose petals that drifted softly to the ground.

As she apologized to the bus driver now sitting in a pile of roses, the rest of them rushed to her side as the Deviant began to scale the walls of the buildings and jumped for Ikaris. He effortlessly dodged the attack and countered with two long blasts of his golden lasers. 

The Deviant snarled and lifted its damaged arm to inspect. But then, something else happened. Instead of wailing in pain, it raised its other hand to the wound and with golden energy, healed itself.

Artemis's stomach flipped. Something was seriously wrong. 

"Did...it just heal itself?" Sprite asked out loud, her voice trembling slightly. It was a frightening sight for the Eternals.

It growled at them, making Artemis shiver. It almost sounded like words. But as it lunged forward, Ikaris intercepted, running it off the bridge and back into the water.

The fight was temporarily over. Ikaris returned to their sides, gracefully hovering back to the ground.

Sprite was the first to rush to him, wrapping her arms around his torso in a most likely bone-crushing hug.  "Ikaris! It's good to see you."

He hugged her back kindly. "It's good to see you too, Sprite."

"Fancy running into you," Artemis joked as she, Sersi, and Dane approached him. She punched his arm as she passed, playing it off as a joke, but she wanted it to hurt. Judging by the look on his face, she was sure it did. How dare he show up here after breaking Sersi's heart?

Dane stopped in front of him. Both of Sersi's boys were face-to-face. "I'm Dane." 

"Hello, Dane," Ikaris smiled tensely. 

Dane sighed. "Well...I guess you must be the pilot." He looked over his shoulder at Sersi who bashfully looked away. 

Is that really what she told him about her ex? Artemis inwardly chuckled.

But there was no time for Ikaris to respond as distant sirens wailed. They turned to see approaching police cars. Artemis nudged Sprite and in a second they were gone in the eyes of the law. 

AUTHORS NOTE
I'm sorry it's been so long but I finally got the inspiration to write for this book again! I'm super excited to be diving into the main plot of Eternals now and I hope you guys enjoy! lmk what you thought!