A THOUSAND YEARS ✶ druig (eternals) / hiatus

⒈⒉⒈ 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒕'𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒓

ACT ONE. CHAPTER FIVE,
MERCHANT'S DEAR

eddie's words: thank you so much for the love on aty! i never expected this at all. and sorry for updating this so late, it took a while to adjust going back to school!

━━━━━ ʚ ♡⃛ ɞ ━━━━━

For decades, Druig had been heartbroken. His solemnity remained even as the group experienced the thriving Holy Roman Empire. However, he dared not to show it. He was supposed to be happy. Humanity is experiencing great changes, advancing because of them. This was all their work, their achievement. But it just wasn't the same knowing that lives were taken just as they were given. He couldn't bear to hold the team down, so he kept his mourning to himself.

He strolled down the docks by the Mediterranean sea with hands behind his back. Ikaris, Kingo, and Gilgamesh went to help load the cargo onto the ships while the others mingled with the townspeople in the marketplace. They were careful not to reveal their powers lest they wanted to be accused of witchcraft. Times were quick to change, Sprite had noted, it was not too long ago that humans enjoyed their magic. Druig couldn't help but agree.

He stood by the edge of the docks and closed his eyes. The cool breeze stroked his cheek and he listened intently as the waves greeted the shore proudly by crashing into it. Well, he tried. Cargo collided with the floors, sailors swore to their heart's content, and people ran amuck.

"Get back here, thief!"

Druig shut his eyes tighter. That was… quite disruptive. It was alright, though. He could still make out the serenity of the waters below.

"Please, sir. My son is sick. I mustn't leave his side for this voyage," a man pleaded to another, presumed to be his boss, as he passed by him.

"Get on that ship, or you're done!"

Druig, though appalled by the human's cruelty, remained unfazed. Or at least, gave himself the illusion that he was not bothered in the slightest. He didn't realize that one hand gripped his wrist tightly until he could barely feel any circulation. Druig cleared his throat, and attempted to calm down to the best of his ability. He used the sound of the ocean to drown out the hustling and bustling of the docks.

Then a child bumped into him.

That was his last straw.

"Doratea!" bellowed an old man after he let out a sigh in relief. "There you are!"

"I never left, Papa!" exclaimed another voice, right beside Druig.

And that was the first time he opened his eyes in a while. He turned around to be met with a sight that wrote an unreadable expression on his face. Was it terror? Was it joy? Perhaps it was confusion?

A woman with long, brown hair that framed her familiar face. She dusted off the child's skirt with a smile on her face, "You are too clumsy for your own good," she chided in a teasing manner. The young girl let out a laugh, hiding her face with the palms of her hands. After wiping the dirt off her face, she sent the girl to her mother, and she stood up. Their eyes met, and Druig could finally confirmed it.

He was seeing Vita.

She tilted her head ever so slightly and narrowed her eyes at him. "Can I help you?" He hadn't realized he'd been staring for so long, and couldn't even provide a reply.