Complications of Mortality | Druig x OC

II | Meaningless

Their leader was dead.

Akiva shifted on the throne slightly, elbows on her knees and hands up, covering her mouth with her palms pressed together. She stared straight into Ikaris' waist, listening to him unravel all of the events that had unfolded.

She didn't have a place as a human in this story. It was bigger than her. Much bigger. These people had been guided by Ajak for thousands of years. And now? They were blindly thrown into misdirection as their world began to crumble around them.

"The deviant absorbed her power. Hers, and Gilgamesh's back at the compound," he explained. She could see the way the events were replaying themselves behind his eyes. It was like he was in a trance. As if he had found a way to separate his emotions from his mind completely. "I've fought it before, when it attacked Sersi and Sprite in London."

Something about the way Ikaris was so blunt and forward with what had happened didn't sit well with her. She swallowed the feeling, glancing around at the other people around the room.

The child had sat atop of a desk, swinging her legs back and forth ever so slightly as they hung in the air. Sersi's eyebrows were knitted together, in an emotion Akiva could only describe as a twisted form of survivors guilt. She couldn't imagine being swallowed in abandonment, left with the only connection to Ajak through a foreign object in her throat.

Akiva lifted her head, forehead releasing it's tension when she connected eyes with Thena. The goddess was staring blankly at her, lips parted open ever so slightly as her jaw ran slack. The whites of her eyes were striking, making the gaze in her direction somehow even more intense.

"The others weren't like that," Sprite spoke up, making the group look at her instead. Her fingertips began to glow, and she held out her hands like she was weaving a cat's cradle.

"We've encountered one's that had sprouted wings like a bird," she spoke absently, gold projection in the center of the room showing a perfect illustration of the flying beast. Minimalist lines morphed and moved like flowing water, as if each tendril was alive and a breathing entity. "Or the panther in the Amazon," she said, deviant projection turning into it's replica instead.

Akiva watched closely. Completely mesmerized by the illusions.

They were beautiful. The brilliant light danced around the room, licking the walls like flames in the dark. It had so much purpose. Each casting of magic was intentional and driven. The panther deviant strode forward, walking, stalking in place as it moved. The human rose from her seat, brown eyes drinking in the gold completely. They were dark in the poorly illuminated room, but they took on the colour almost instantly.

The wisps of gold flared in her irises, playing back the scene like a mirror.

She took a step forward, chin tilted up and watching everything unfold and unravel. She'd watched plenty of films during her time in the Domo, including those of Kingo himself, but no cgi came close to what she was seeing. They were wildly unpredictable yet held prowess like no other.

But as she took another step forward, the illusion fell apart.

Akiva looked down at Sprite, to see that she had jumped down from the table completely. Her hands balled into fists at the sides, lips set in a straight line as she looked at Akiva right back. The girl's expression was unreadable, and she had trouble deciphering what exactly she had done wrong to spark such a reaction.

Was she not proud of the beauty in her work? It was incredibly impressive to create something like that so effortlessly. Akiva thought highly of it, but, there was a chance the girl was disappointed in herself.