Complications of Mortality | Druig x OC

XXVI | Mutable

It was unmistakable.

The sound of fire catching.

Akiva shot awake. She leaned up off of the couch that had been awkwardly tucked away in the Domo's throne room. Her gasp nearly caused her to choke, eyes scouring around the room as she tried to find the source. There were so many flammable things, so many objects.

Stacks of books towered high towards the ceiling, odd and twisted and almost about to fall over with the slightest change in air flow. But none of their pages caught flame.

She got off of the loveseat, brushing off her armour as she ducked around the throne to the biospheres of different earthly organisms. They were all thriving and tranquil, appearing untouched. Her hand rested on the side of the throne as she stretched her ears to listen, closing her eyes as she tried to focus on where the sound had come from.

It wasn't consistent, like a campfire crackling away on the shore of a beach. It shot up like a match drawn to a piece of tissue paper. It was sudden, and all at once, and then nothing. Until it reappeared again.

This time, it took form in a whiff. The fwwooomm sounded like a meteor being thrown across space, hurling towards an unsuspecting planet or moon. But this time the flame didn't catch. It was extinguished in a way Akiva only assumed meant that it was a controlled source.

She moved from the central room, stepping carefully passed the threshold as she looked down the three hallways in front of her. One to either side, and the one straight ahead towards Arishem's bridge.

There was a quiet hissing, the sound of steam dissolving into the air. She followed it, steps slow and gentle at first in order to produce as little sound as possible.

But then the sound of a sword unsheathed was so sharp in the air she could almost feel the blade itself against her ear. Akiva's eyes widened as she began to take up a sprint, stars becoming a blur against the windows as she barreled into the room. It was once full of specimens for observation, contained in glass habitats and ecospheres, but had since been cleared out completely to give room for training.

Akiva slid into the doorway, putting her hands out to either side to still herself as she looked straight ahead.

Thena's back was to her, sword and shield drawn and resting in each of her hands. They were her default weapons of choice, neither taking up a role of offensive or defensive. But when she raised her gaze and looked passed her shoulder, she found the source of fire.

Druig was breathless, panting into the air as his hands remained curled upwards. In each of his palms, a blooming source of cosmic energy inflamed, deep red shades contrasting the brilliant gold that the eternals were accustomed to. But she had recognized the hue. It held the same pigment that was found in his suit while it was dormant, red lines and engravings striking out against the raven black.

Her eyes lifted to his face, swallowing hard when she saw the glowing red that had taken the place of cooled blue. His eyes were trained on Thena, lips neutrally set in place as he had no desire to actually harm her. They flicked upwards, meeting Akiva's for a second before his fingers curled inwards and the flame was snuffed out.

"I fucking knew it," she remarked, jaw dropping slightly in pure astonishment.

Thena looked up at Druig's face before following his line of vision, taking a step back to look over her shoulder. Her weapons disappeared, fading away into the air as she looked at Akiva. It had been thousands of years since she had been put in front of Druig's flame. Back when he hadn't yet labelled himself as one of the thinkers. They all chose their places in this group long ago, much closer to their resurrection than the present time. And with it, he abandoned his title of Lord of Flames from his past life.