just another day

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Over the everyday chatter of the followers in the garden, Druig can just barely hear shimmers of cosmic energy from afar. In a small clearing behind the first line of trees, he spots Isis surrounded by flashes of golden light.

"Isis," he greets her as he walks up with a smile on his face and his hands held before his waist.

"Druig," she turns around, happy to see him as always. The golden light in the air and in her palms flickers out.

"Up to something?" he asks.

"Maybe," she answers with an ever-so-mysterious smile. "May I show you something?"

"Sure," he answers but with a skeptically raised eyebrow.

She reaches her hand out, and he does the same. He tries to hide the shivers going down his spine as her fingertips brush against his skin. A stream of golden light pours from her fingers and travels in a single wave across his entire being. When the light disappears, he sees nothing different, but he feels an overwhelming sense of safety settling into his soul.

"What's this?"

"You can feel it, can't you?" she says curiously while taking a few backwards steps away from him.

"Yeah, I can feel something, but what's this got to do — " He cuts himself off when he notices her using her power to lift a rather heavy rock off the forest floor. Before he can catch on to what she's doing, she launches the rock straight into his wide eyes.

"What are you — " He reflexively lifts his arms to cover his face, but... nothing. Just a spray of dust around him.

He does notice the most subtle ripple of golden light across his skin before it quickly fades out. "How did — ?"

"I'm getting better, aren't I?" she says, admiring her work.

He waves his warms through the air and even walks around in circles. He still can't see anything different, but he can feel something — that overwhelming sense of safety — following him as he moves. It's a marvel. Or rather, she's a marvel. She approaches to touch his shoulder, and he watches as the golden light reveals itself only to peel away from his skin and travel back into her fingertips. When she takes her touch away, the air around him feels just a little colder.

"Impressive," he nods. "Exactly what made you think to try this?"

It's a fair question, actually, since he can't seem to recall the last time they faced any real danger to themselves or to the garden. She can't seem to find an answer for him, either. Maybe at some point she had just absorbed Druig's desire for — or rather, obsession with — the feeling of safety. And she had done so without realizing it. Now she's not the only one who uses her free time to think of new ways to keep all of the danger and uncertainty and doubt at bay.

Or, maybe she was just bored. Either way, she just shrugs to which he responds with a nonchalant "hm," as if the answer is good enough for him.

"Well, you're certainly living up to that title of yours. Remind me what it is again?" His eyes look up and around, pretending to search for an answer that he clearly already knows.

She just rolls her eyes thinking it's a rhetorical question, but when she looks back at him, he's waiting patiently for her to respond.

"... The goddess of protection," she answers reluctantly but still smiling all the same.

"Ah, yes. That's right."

"You know, you still owe me a visit back to Egypt," she remarks. "Back to where that all started."

He doesn't really respond. Maybe he's just too in his head to hear her. It doesn't matter anyway because she notices something:

"What's that?"

He sees her looking at his new necklace; his fingers reach up instinctually to touch the pendant which is an unusual looking gem that shimmers even in the shade.

"This? Look familiar to you?"

"Is that the stone I found on the river that day?"

"It might be," he answers smugly. "It was just sitting in our home and I thought there's got to be a better use for it. So, I had someone fix this up for me."

"Huh," she mumbles to herself with the softest smile on her face.

"I actually wanted to give the necklace to you," he says, "but, I recall you insisted on me having this stone when you gave it to me."

"And I still do," she replies.

He pauses so that they can both savor the moment of what will become a very fond memory of how they feel right now, at this very point in time. Then, he offers his hand to her.

"Shall we, my lady?"

She answers him with a smile and a nod, and back to the garden they go.

somewhere in time {Druig}Where stories live. Discover now