THEY SAT INSIDE the barn, Ikaris was leaning on the wall, Sprite and Sersi sat next to each other as well as Thena and Gilgamesh. Kingo and Karun too. But, Druig sat alone in the front of the room and Theia leaned on the back wall, practicing the feel of the warm beam of sunlight that was between her hands, ready to strike Druig or any of the others if they dared upset her.

"You gave me a lot of bad news at once, lady." Druig retorted toward Sersi, who had just explained to him what happened and why they were there.

"Will you help us?" Sersi asked, her eyes hopeful.

"I am glad-" He got cut off by Sersi's phone ringing.

"Hey, what's your service? I'm not getting any bars." Kingo whispered,

Druig rolled his eyes, ignoring him, "do you all remember this forest?'' they nodded. "Beautiful." he approached Thena and Gilgamesh, "it was the last place we all lived together. I've protected these people for the last twenty generations. From people inside and outside." then stepped back to Karun, "your client, my friend, will be responsible for your own extinction one day. What do you think?"

Karun was practically shaking with fear, "I think we should all learn from our mistakes and do better. So-" he couldn't finish because Druig had controlled him to throw his camera against the wall.

At the sound of shattering, Theia looked up.

Druig had glanced back at her. And since neither of them had any willpower to allow themselves to look away, she regretted looking at him in the first place.

"Oh, no you didn't. okay, " Kingo demanded, "new rule: no more possessing people's valets."

"Where is your sense of humor, Kingo?" He teased, a devilish smirk following.

"I'm sorry, sir." Karun frowned.

"It is alright. It's not your fault.'' He sighed before turning back to Druig, "you are not a god. You know that right?"

"How ironic!" Druig grinned, "Kingo, the movie star."

"I've directed some things too." Kingo scolded,

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

Theia groaned, picking herself up from the wall, as well as Ikaris, "come on, he's wasting our time."

"Ikaris!" Druig now moved on to Ikaris, preventing him from leaving. "I've missed you." Ikaris huffed. "Are you going to charm me or threaten me?"

"well there's a third option if you prefer it."

"It must be heartbreaking to know you're not mother's favorite," Druig said, shifting his gaze towards Theia as he said the words.

"Yeah well, I'm sure she'd be real proud to find out that-"

"Druig, this is serious." Sersi stood up,

"I'll tell you what's serious!" Druig's voice rose, walking up to Sersi. "I've just been told I'm being sent on a suicide mission for the past seven thousand years and that my entire existence is a lie." he looked back at Theia again, "so excuse me for not giving a shit about your plan." And with that, he nodded toward Theia as if it was a goodbye and left.

"Druig sucks!" Kingo whined,

"Tell me about it," Theia muttered.

"Theia, you should go after him," Sersi suggested, her tone soft. Theia looked at her with wide eyes, her eyebrows furrowed.

"What? Why?"

"I'm sure you're the only one he wants to hear from right now and we need him..." She begged, "please."

Theia took a moment to consider it, she could either stay in here and leave him alone or she could go out there and at least attempt to get him to help them save the world.

She let out a deep sigh, "Fine." Wanting to get it over with, she pushed through the doors to see him walking away.

She ran up to him, "Druig."

He turned around slowly, confused to see her there. "Theia?"

Theia looked at her muddy shoes and shoved her hands into her pockets, "They, uh, told me to talk to you."

She watched his jaw click, then heard a sneer following, "of course they did."

There was utter silence between them, the tension was thick and neither of them knew what to say.

"You look-" Druig began,

"I don't want to talk about the past." She warned, After a moment, she looked up at him, "I fucking hate you for what you did."

She watched his features sadden. "Theia, I-"

"I don't want to talk about the past." She repeated.

He nodded once, "Just know that I am so, so sorry."

Theia pursed her lips, after a moment of silence, "Well, I'm gonna go back inside now-"

The duo got cut off by a loud scream. "The Deviants. They're here!" they heard Sersi shout.

Theia and Druig ran over to where they had heard the scream. Druig possessed the villagers nearby to grab shotguns and begin to shoot at the Deviant while Theia flashed beams of sunlight toward it, patching holes in its skin but it grew back.

"Druig!" Sersi ran up to him, "Let them go."

"Now's not the time, Sersi."

"Please." Sersi rested her hands on his shoulders while Theia continued to attack the Deviant.

"I know you're better than this." Sersi sighed.

Druig grabbed her arms and took them off of his, holding up his own arm, signaling for them to stop, breaking the bond between him and the others.

"Druig. What do we do?" One of them asked, his voice shaky.

"Go! Get to the river!" He ordered.

Theia grunted, her power wasn't enough to keep the Deviant away from her, it towered over her, knocking her onto the ground.

She hit her head on the hard ground beneath her as well as her shoulder. As soon as she heard the crack that followed, she winced, continuing to try and push the Deviant off of her but it was no use.

She felt herself begin to drift in and out of consciousness—when she was conscious, she was dizzy.—She called out for Sersi but she wasn't there. It was like her cries were silent.

All of a sudden, she felt the creature standing before her drop to the floor next to her and the sound of indistinct shouting before passing out completely.

THEIA FELT A sharp jab in her stomach. She moved her hand to her stomach and dropped to the ground beneath her onto her knees. She gasped for air, panic slowly beginning to set in.

She looked from the blood onto her hand and back up at the woman who stood before her, the woman who she thought was her friend. Tears of frustration, betrayal, and hurt streamed down her cheeks.

She had just been stabbed by her friend.

Why was she feeling this way?

Death had never seemed so clear. For the past 6,000 years of her existence, she didn't know what death felt or tasted like.

Was this what death tasted like?

Her mind wandered off to different places, she wasn't supposed to die. She was immortal. She was an Eternal. Right?

Druig.

She was dying and all she could think about was Druig. She wanted to see Druig.

THEIA'S EYES flickered open. A bright light flashed above her, and soon, Ajak's face covered that light.

She felt something squeeze her hand. The memories came back to her. Clashing through her like a wave that just pushed her six feet down.

Druig.

She tried to get up and make sure Druig was okay but she felt a sharp pain shoot from her stomach to her torso. It felt like she was being torn apart. And something was holding her down. She looked to her left to see Ikaris standing there, his eyes full of worry mixed with relief. And to her right, Ajak was smiling at her.

Druig. Where is Druig?

"I'm here, love. I'm here." She heard Druig say, Druig soon came into view, his eyes were a light red and he smiled a small, tired smile at her.

"You were stabbed." Ajak sighed,

And she felt a familiar, warm touch. She laid back down and smiled lightly, she felt safe with Druig's hand intertwined with hers.

"Why am I here? Why can't you heal me and let me go?" Theia questioned, she had so many questions. That was just the priority.

Ajak huffed, it wasn't a good sign. "Theia, you...I'm afraid you are no longer immortal. You have an illness, we don't know where or how you got it but it has affected your...system. And you are no longer able to 'come back to life'."

Theia furrowed her eyebrows, "But...But I'm an Eternal. That can't be true...Right?" She looked at the three in the room, "right?"

They stayed silent, Druig looked at the ground and she thought she might cry. But, no tears came.

THEIA'S EYES OPENED slowly, it wasn't a bright light this time. It was dark. It was pitch black around her. She tried to get up but her head felt hollow and it ached in pain. She saw Druig pacing back and forth biting his nails in the corner of the room before laying her head back down.

"Guys," She heard Ikaris's voice rasp, it echoed through Theia's mind even though he only said it once. "She's awake."

After she heard those words, she saw Sersi, Kingo, Sprite, and Ikaris stand before her.

Druig.

What were supposed to be Druig's light, comforting blue eyes were replaced with red, bloodshot eyes that were highlighted by dark shadows underneath. His hair was messy, like he had run his hands through it repeatedly.

He ignored the six pairs of eyes on him and rested his hand on top of hers and rested his head on hers, muttering the words, "God, I am so glad that you're okay."

As much as she missed the feel of his touch and the way it made her feel as well as when he leaned his head on hers and his breath that smelled exactly like the perfect combination of different mints. She didn't know how it was possible - but somehow, it was.

And after a moment, she refused to give in to what was probably him controlling her mind and swallowed, "get the hell off of me."

He immediately got off and cleared his throat, shoving his hands back into his pockets and looking at his feet, "right. Sorry."

a/n

i am so overwhelmed in the best possible way with all of your comments - they are so funny and absolutely lovely to read. How are you all liking this story so far?