Chapter Text
You always thought the Domo was a cold place. Your team’s ship was designed to quickly take you from the depths of space to Earth - it was not designed to be homely.
But this time when you emerged from your sleep below the statue of Arishem, your celestial, your master, your eyes didn’t meet the grey wall of the ship, they met the eyes of another Eternal. One which you did not recognise from home. Dark hair, dark eyes reflecting in the gold light materialising armour for you. He was being armoured too from across the bridge; grey and black robes with flecks of red. A sharp contrast compared to the beautiful bronze and white of yours.
To your left was another Eternal. You knew her from the legends of your home planet, Olympia. The great warrior Thena, blonde hair like spun gold and armour of the same rich colour. To your right was the great Eternal inventor, Phastos.
And below Arishem’s statue, your commander, Ajak, said with her voice as strong and smooth as the tides, “It’s time.”
~~~
Earth was still young when you arrived, but not young enough for vicious deviants to show mercy. The monstrosities were big as barns and built like tanks. Four legs of pure speed, strength, and barbaric as your worst nightmares. Arishem ordered your team to protect Earth from the deviants.
So you got to work.
Thena and Gilgamesh, two of Olympia’s greatest fighters, were already taking on the group of deviants attacking the rocky seaside settlement. Ikaris, the man with light-bearing eyes and the gift of flight, was soaring through the sky after a winged beast and projecting beams of gold energy from his eyes to shoot it down.
Makkari, the girl faster than sound, took off like a shot to get humans out of the fray as Thena produced weapons of light from thin air to attack and Gilgamesh’s light-covered fists threw punches sending monsters skidding to their deaths.
Then came Kingo, the Eternal wielding light in his hands, firing blasts of it at every beast in sight.
You watched with the remaining Eternals in the ship until more deviants clambered out of the sea and screeched at the humans that Makkari was racing to safety.
Ajak put a gentle yet firm hand on your shoulder and nodded, blue headdress gleaming in the Domo’s light, “Go.”
Gilded circles appeared on the wall and an exit opened within. You took a few steps back for a run up. As you sped towards the world outside, patterns of gold weaved across your body and armour.
You leapt and as you landed, pulverised a deviant upon impact. A handy power to have; the ability to increase strength and endurance of any part of you.
As Ikaris blasted a deviant’s head off with energy from his eyes, Kingo shot down an airborne beast, and Makkari built up enough speed to punch the beast into a final blow from Gilgamesh, Thena took down another with a swift blow to the head from her sword.
A final deviant was storming at a group of humans. You felt a rush go past as you ran. Makkari. She moved the humans out of the firing line and the deviant turned to you, you who stood between it and it’s meal.
It charged at you but you stood your ground. It got faster but you still held your ground. The other Eternals watched in anticipation for what was to come.
You used your power to give other-worldly strength to your voice, golden light that all Eternals possess in their magic swam around you, bathing you in magic. As the deviant jumped with jaws wide and ready and teeth bared to kill you, you let out a beautiful and deadly war cry, like an angry siren, a mourning angel. An Eternal killing a deviant with naught but her voice.
You stepped aside as the creature fell and rolled to a halt. It gave a few feeble cries after having your voice essentially destroy its head from the inside. It finally went silent.
The gold surrounding you dissipated as you started towards the Domo that was hovering off the coast by a cliff overlooking the sea. You walked in line with Ikaris, Thena, Kingo, Makkari and Gilgamesh.
The humans, understandably terrified and confused, approached the Domo with their weapons of stone and steel. Primitive, by your standards. Phastos would surely have some ideas to help them develop. Speaking of the inventor, he and the remaining Eternals levitated down from the ship on shining discs that once they landed, returned to a device in the palm of Phastos’s hand.
The fumbling fearful humans approached the arrivals with weapons out. But the dark-haired Eternal whose name you did not yet know simply looked at them. His eyes glowed gold, and then so did the humans’.
So he could influence minds. You raised a brow, impressed. A useful ability to possess.
Sersi, watching with kind eyes and clad in emerald green, approached a young boy tentatively. She picked up his small stone knife and using her power of transformation, it became a blade of the finest Olympian metal.
And thus began your time on Earth, protecting humans from deviants and calling this place home.
Phastos remotely brought the Domo in to land. Sersi, already excited to be staying on Earth, made conversation with the humans using the language she had studied tirelessly.
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” you said upon hearing the dark-haired Eternal approach from behind you.
“How’d you know it was me?” he asked with a lilt in his voice.
“My gift allows me to enhance any part of me. Hearing, voice, strength—“
“Appearance,” cut in the sarcastic red-haired Eternal named Sprite. She was as ancient as the rest of you, but had the appearance of a young human.
You rolled your eyes at the girl’s comment and the mind-reading Eternal told you, “Well, you definitely don’t need to enhance your appearance.”
“You don’t even know my name and you’re already flattering me, bold move,” you teased with a smile.
His eyes washed over with yellow and when the light cleared back to their original storm grey, he said “Now I know your name.”
You frowned at that, and in the blink of an eye, two dainty golden designs decorated your temples. A particularly pretty wall between your thoughts and his. He laughed at your way of shielding your thoughts and you said, “My name is Y/n.”
“I’m Druig.”
~~~ Thousands of years later, Babylon ~~~
Years passed surprisingly quickly. Empires rose and fell, millions of people were born and died. Continents moved, countries formed. Natural disasters came and went. And deviants were there throughout with the Eternals there to kill them.
What was the year now? You could hardly keep track. Must be at least a couple thousand since you came to Earth. A couple thousand since you met Druig.
Of all your team members and close friends, he was probably your favourite. Ajak held a very close second place, but Druig... He was cocky and smarmy and handsome and smart and fucking hell had it really been thousands of years already? Thousands of years of admiring those storm eyes from afar and waiting for lightning to strike?
Speak of the devil, you heard him coming despite the lively music playing in the village behind the walls this evening and enhanced your shield around your mind. “I hear you went fighting deviants with the vikings!” said the mind-reader. “So now we have Thena, saviour of Athens, Ajak, guardian of Babylon, and Y/n...”
“Y/n, defender of the North,” you shrugged modestly. “It was nothing, really.”
“You punched a deviant so hard the ground split,” Gilgamesh interjected.
Kingo cut in, “Yeah! Give yourself some credit!”
Rolling your eyes, you said to the trio of men, “I would, but I had to convince the vikings that, no, I wasn’t a Norse god. Wouldn’t want Odin knocking on our door now would we?”
“If he’s after you, he’ll have to get in line,” flirted Druig. Thank goodness for this mind shield. He took your hand, spinning you around. The bronze fabric wrap draping around your shoulders flowed with you and he said quietly, “C’mon, what’s in your head that you don’t want me to see?”
“Who knows?” you said flippantly. “Maybe you’ll see something in there that you like. Wouldn’t want you to have an inflated ego.”
“Oh so you’re doing me a favour?”
“Of sorts.”
Kingo was trying to subtly sign the whole thing to Makkari. It wouldn’t be fair if the rest of the team could tease you and Druig about each other but Makkari was out of the loop, especially seeing as she was fond of teasing you both. Makkari then interrupted with a request, “Guys, if you’re gonna... you know... please do it far away from here. There seems to be a lot of sexual tension going on.”
Gilgamesh and Kingo wheezed with laughter. The humans seemed very confused of course but quickly resumed drinking and bickering over whose plow was better (a conversation that Phastos would have a lot to say about, seeing as he provided them with the invention). Druig seemed to be waiting to gauge your opinion on Makkari’s request.
“I’ll let him read my mind before I let him bed me,” you told your friends firmly, signing it for Makkari as well. She laughed.
“I can work with that,” Druig said, a smile tugging on the corner of his lips.
~~~ later that evening ~~~
In your time on Earth, you’d yet to find somewhere as beautiful as Babylon. Perhaps it was because this place was home. It held an advantage nowhere else had. Comfort. Of course, you’d come across many other beautiful places. Athens, a place that Thena held close to her heart. The many gorgeous cities of the middle east. The northern kingdoms of ice, snow, auroras and myth. Those highlands and valleys held a place in your heart. The people took a liking to you, not just for saving them from deviants. You were a deity to them now. You feasted and sang with them in their stone strongholds for three nights before bidding them farewell. They sang songs of praise to you as you left. Another wonderful place. Earth was growing. It was blossoming. You were excited.
You looked out at the world from your room in the temple. Your room was warm despite the large paneless windows. You pulled shut the rich orange and blue drapes across the windows and used your power on your hand, allowing you to painlessly touch the hanging flaming lanterns to weaken the fires. With a yawn and a stretch, you removed your delicate bronze and white clothes - nothing like your familiar armour - and slipped into a partially see through sunset orange night dress. It was light, reaching your mid thighs. You hummed to yourself as you brushed your hair and started towards bed.
As you lay down, you realised you’d left up your golden mental shield. It wisped awayinto the night air. You fell asleep as soon as your head hit the pillow.
Too many. You’d never fought this many before. Where did they all come from? How did nobody notice all these deviants coming right at Babylon? Ikaris, Gilgamesh, Makkari and Thena were at the bottom of the temple, doing their best to ward off the beasts.
It became too much. Makkari had no choice but to start rushing people out of there. Ikaris was too busy with airborne deviants to come to the aid of Thena and Gilganesh. Kingo ran in to cover them. Sprite was on the stairs to the gargantuan temple, conjuring illusions to distract the deviants. Ajak and Phastos were in intense conversation about what to do. You stood on the balcony, providing Ikaris with support using your powerful voice. To your right stood Druig, mind-controlling the humans to escape. Sersi was at the base of the immense wall of Babylon, turning part of it to dust to allow Makkari to escort the humans out.
Then Ikaris was plunging to the ground. You fell silent. Thena and Gilgamesh were overwhelmed and Kingo could not get to them. You grimaced at the screams of Sprite as deviants took the stairs. There was so much fire. Fire and blood and crying. Then came the shouts of Ajak and Phastos. The deviants were inside.
And without thinking, you took Druig’s hand. His eyes returned to the storm you admired so often. He looked to your hands and then to you. The smoke was choking you.
“Hey, wake up,” a voice coaxed you gently. You jolted awake and found Druig standing at your bedside. His dark bed clothes made him seem at one with the poorly-lit room. The dying light from the lanterns caught his features in the glow. “Was walking past and heard you.”
“Heard me?”
“Your dreams weren’t exactly quiet.”
With a shaky sigh, you apologised, “I’m sorry—“
“It’s alright,” he promised. He was quiet for a moment, stormy eyes analysing you as you tried to settle yourself. Then, he asked, “Is that why you don’t want me in your head?”
You frowned slightly, gathering your thoughts. You swallowed the lump in your throat and said, “Perhaps it’s not that you might like what you see in my head. I think I’m afraid you won’t like what you find.” He stepped forward and leaned in slightly. No words spoken. The dwindling light of the lantern by your bed cast his face in a soft yellow hue, casting shadows of his eyelashes against his cheek, catching his lips in their warmth. He noticed you watching him and a hint of smile crossed his face. You laughed softly, “For someone so gloomy, you smile as if it were gifted to you by the sun.”
Druig lowered himself a little to be closer to you. One of his hands found yours, linked exactly like how they were in your dream. He said quietly, “Y/n... I want to know your fears, your wishes, your dreams.”
You tenderly rested a hand on his cheek and he lowered his forehead to meet yours. You said, barely above a whisper, “Stay here with me.”
For a moment, you wondered if he even heard you. Then he said, “I’d be honoured.”
He slid into bed beside you, careful not to disturb you too much. His hair was a disheveled mess of black curls and would likely be worse come morning, but it was the pure smile gracing his lips that you were drawn to most about the man next to you. You ever so softly ran your thumb over his lips, marvelling at the smile he offered to so few, and never seen like this. Druig sighed, holding you to his chest and lacing his hand in yours once more. To be able to stay this way for an eternity was life’s greatest blessing to you thus far.