your eyes averted to the floor beneath you, willing it to swallow you up. you were angry, angry with your family for being so easily manipulated, angry with yourself for getting into this situation. this wasn't how you saw things panning out. you knew you weren't perfect as a team but you had been certain that despite all of your disagreements over the years, that one truth remained, and that was arishem. until now.
your teeth gritted, jaw tightening as you watched them try and figure out how to stop the emergence. you loved this planet, you loved it's people and you loved every moment you had spent with your family here. but arishem chose this planet, and that was all there was to it. you didn't question it.
you felt ikarus' presence on your right, he had held his tongue for as long as he could, but this had gone far enough. your eyes glued to the floor, you watched two feet place themselves on your left. you chewed down on the inside of your cheek, knowing who it was.
"hey, you," he mumbled, his foot nudging against yours, encouraging you to lift your gaze. with eyebrows furrowed and a heavy head, you lifted your eyes to meet his blue ones. your gaze softened a little. you had anticipated this conversation. "what's goin' on inside that pretty little head a'yours?"
you shook your head, eyelids drooping. "this isn't right," you said softly. it wasn't easy to go against them but you had to stick by what you believed in.
"yeah, tell me about it," he rolled his eyes, he moved closer to you, his shoulder grazing yours as he did. "why would arishem send us here in the first place with all these feelings and capacity for understanding, only to have us destroy—"
"it's not really our place to question any of this, druig," your eyebrows twitched into a frown. you knew how he'd felt about arishem in the past, you hadn't seen him for five hundred years because of his feelings, so this behaviour didn't surprise you. "i know that's hard for you to comprehend but it is our sole purpose to do what arishem says."
"you sound like ikarus," he gave you a look, his eyes lost all playfulness and his lips drooped from their torturous smirk, and into a deep set frown. one that you were all so familiar with. his fearsome look of disapproval. "and you are not him, so quit it."
"but maybe ikarus is right," you were blunt, not looking for a lecture right now. these were pretty high stakes. "ajak trusted arishem, and i trusted ajak."
"and look at where her blind faith in arishem got her," his tender look had faded entirely, eyebrows furrowing at you. "i know we've differed on this in the past, but this— this is too much," you moved away from him, avoiding his stare, you didn't like him looking at you like that. with disappointment. "even you must see that ajak was wrong in trusting arishem."
"our entire being is a result of arishem, who are we to then question his orders?" you glanced at him for a second but turned away quickly again, heat rising to your cheeks out of frustration. "i just don't think we should be interfering."
"you want to let them all die? after everything? because that is his order," he grabbed your forearm, urging you to face him again. you didn't say anything, you only gulped, letting his blue eyes invade yours. "that's what you will be doing if you follow those orders," you tried to avoid his stare but he wouldn't let you, he followed your eyes. "i know you. you care too much. you can't deal with that kind of guilt—"
"maybe you don't know me as well as you think then," you snapped, tugging your arm out of his grip. he looked at you with disbelief, shaking his head, he went to speak again but was cut off by ikarus.
"she's right, druig," he interrupted. "this has gone on long enough," without warning ikarus had destroyed phastos' designs in a second. you flinched as the bracelets shattered and shouts of anger and betrayal were thrown at ikarus.
