She hears footsteps echoing in the Domo as someone approaches her from the hallway. She peers up from her book.
"Ikaris," she greets her visitor.
"Isis," he nods in acknowledgment. He stops in the entryway of the central room where she resides. "Have you seen Sersi?"
"Not lately," she answers, looking back down at her text.
"Hm," he mumbles. He starts to leave but then suddenly decides to backtrack. "Is anybody else around?"
"Not that I know of," she replies, turning a page.
"Not even Phastos?" He raises an eyebrow at the spare parts scattered across the floor.
"Not even Phastos." She closes her book to look up at Ikaris who has now approached her side. "Why are you looking for Sersi?"
"It's nothing important," he dismisses. He looks around the room, as if he hadn't paid it any attention in the past thousand years. "Has that always been there?" He tilts his head in the direction of a painting hung up on the wall.
"That? That was a gift from our friends in Egypt."
"Really? Egypt? We were last there — "
" — two thousand years ago," she finishes his thought.
He nods to himself. He's quietly shocked, and she is noticeably skeptical.
"You don't spend much time in here, do you?" she asks rhetorically.
"No, I suppose I don't."
She makes a space for him to sit beside her which he graciously accepts. "What are you reading?" He points to the book in her hand.
"Just some made-up stories. It's interesting what people write about us in all the places that we've been."
"You're like Sersi," he comments. "You're very fascinated by humans."
"Aren't you?"
Isis had always seen Ikaris as a beacon of purpose for them all. At times, not even Ajak expressed a faith in Arishem as exceptional as his. She still looks at him with a deep respect, but lately it has been difficult for her to speak honestly when they are together.
"Humans are admittedly an interesting species, but they are ultimately not the reason for our being here," he responds.
"I'm curious, Ikaris. How would you describe our reason for being here?" It's an earnest question.
"Well..." His eyes widen as he takes a deep breath. "Our purpose is to serve Arishem. We are executers of His great design. And to have a hand in something way beyond ourselves — in the will of the Celestials — it's a grand purpose, Isis."
"I may not know as much about humans as you or as Sersi," he continues, "but I do know that wherever we go, humans have a god, and that is not by coincidence." He stands up and finishes his answer with a final thought: "Human or Eternal, we all exist to serve something greater than ourselves."
Isis nods in understanding but not in agreement. "Can't I exist for myself?" she wonders. She wishes that she had more faith in his answer; after all, his idea of purpose seems like the path of least resistance. But, maybe she's just been spending too much time with Druig.
YOU ARE READING
somewhere in time {Druig}
Fanfiction'It's beautiful, isn't it?' she says. 'It is,' he answers. She's looking at the sky, but he's thinking about her. OC x Druig (Marvel's Eternals)
