chaos and control | druig ✔︎

10 | family

10 | family is supposed to be 

our safe place

2023 - Australia

Gilgamesh had prepared a gigantic meal for all the Eternals. A large part of the group was finally together after 500 years, the only ones missing being Druig, Makkari and Phastos. The thought of not knowing where Druig was made her sick to the stomach like it had before. Phastos had called her multiple times, updating her on his son and husband, and Makkari had visited her a few times, considering the two saw the other as a sister.

"This is just what you guys eat every day?" Kingo was in awe at the amount of food displayed on the table.

"Thank you for this." Ikaris nodded to Gilgamesh. "Oh, you're welcome. Help yourself."

"This one is a trio of wine, beer, and mead. Made for all the soldiers in the battle of Troy."

"That's so thoughtful." Karun thanked the man, both chuckling.

Thena was staring at Karun like she had murder on her mind. Kingo and Gilgamesh caught onto it. "Should she be drinking?" Kingo whispered.

"No, hers is non-alcoholic. For kids." Gil whispered back. "I gave you the same thing Sprite." He added a bit louder. Everyone started laughing, except for the younger looking girl.

"So, I don't have a non-alcoholic one?" Hestia questioned and Gil nodded. "Good, because I need some alcohol." She chugged down the rest of her glass, grabbing the pitcher and refilling it.

In the meantime, Sprite had gotten annoyed at him, and put him in a baby costume with a bib that said 'Gilga-mess'.

"I was just kidding." Gilgamesh told her. "Yours is a secret brew that Odin taught me as a thank-you after we helped defeat Laufey's army in Tonsberg." He hadn't noticed that everyone had started laughing at him, though when he looked down, he saw what was happening.

"Oh." He put his hands up in despair. "I'm a big baby. Very mature. Can you stop?"

Sprite laughed and lifted the illusion with a mischievous smile.

Kingo started bragging about meeting Thor once, the then child, merely running after him. Then he went on complaining about how he became famous and never returned any of his calls.

"So, now that Captain Rogers and Iron Man are both gone, who do you think is gonna lead the Avengers?" Sprite glanced around the table.

"To be brutally honest, I don't care, unless it's mister Barnes, because frankly, that man is smoking hot." Hestia grinned, the alcohol taking over for a quick second.

Ikaris seemed confident and he said "I could lead them. I figure I'd be good at that."

"Yeah, you would." Kingo agreed, pointing his fork at him.

"Ajak didn't even choose you to lead us." Gilgamesh argued. "Ouch, Gil, ouch." He responded, slapping his hand over his chest. "I'm gonna let that one slide, because, you know, you've always been bitter that I can fly, and you can't."

"Oh, what, so you can fly, I'm better looking, everyone knows that." Gilgamesh declared.

"Guys, let's not use fake arguments to prove something." Hestia put her glass down on the table, inspecting both men with a judging glare.

"Hestie! I always thought you agreed with me." Gil pouted at her.

"I was only joking; you are better looking." The girl spoke and Ikaris gasped at her, feeling betrayed, but Hestia just shrugged at him.

Suddenly, Sersi stood up and sauntered outside. "Where are you going?" Ikaris posed.

"I'm just gonna get some air." She told the rest before strolling to the door and going outside.

"This is really good, Gil." Kingo held up his jug. "You know, I could sell this. Put my face on it, move some units."

"I made it from corn. I chew each kernel myself and ferment it in my spit." Gil explained and Kingo's face contorted. Even Hestia subtly put her glass down.

A little later, Sersi came back in, and she explained everything Arishem had told her. The table stayed silent for a good few minutes, processing the things they'd been told.

"So, you're saying we're basically fancy robots? Kingo quizzed. "And our past memories are stored somewhere in space?"

"And Arishem made the deviants." Sersi added. Hestia was deep in thought.

"I'm sorry, Thena. You tried to warn us." Gilgamesh looked at the warrior with sympathy.

"The last time Arishem reset your memories, something must have gone wrong." Sprite reasoned.

"What do you mean?" Kingo sounded very confused, though Hestia was paying him no mind. She was listening to what Sprite had to say.

"Well, that's what Mahd Wy'ry is, isn't it? All this time, Thena was remembering all the other planets we were sent to and everyone dying during the emergence."

"I thought we were heroes." Kingo was starting to get gloomy.

"We all thought we were." Hestia said. "There are two things, however, that don't add up. How is it possible we weren't destroyed during past emergences? And, how come Ajak got killed, if she's a literal robot?"

The group pondered about her reasoning for a little and Hestia continued. "I mean, the deviant didn't take out the sphere she always carried with her, the only thing they took is her powers. Does that mean, we are nothing more than our abilities? Are we really worth that little?"

Nobody responded since nobody had any idea of what to answer. They realised that the girl was right but couldn't reassure her of anything.

"Hey, we're not the bad guys, okay? We've helped the Celestials expand life across the universe." Kingo declared. "That's not what bad guys do. That's what good guys do."

"But at what cost?" Hestia had pulled her chair back from the table and was standing upright. "It's nice to see you living out your fantasies, but you need to get your priorities straight."

"Every time innocent lives have been sacrificed for the greater good, it turns out to be a mistake. We have to stop the emergence." Sersi backed up Hestia and she nodded her head to Sersi's argument.

"Sersi, we have no right to save the birth of a Celestial." Kingo was not backing down at all.

"So, it's okay to you, that we help the human population grow from, give, or take, 500 people, to 7 billion, and then we kill them all? Weren't we sent here to protect the humans?" Hestia hissed. She stormed away from the table, bursting through the door, and running all the way to the tree. From outside, she could hear the voices of her companions rise, so they were clearly still arguing about the topic.

It felt like only a minute before the group walked out of the house again, Ikaris spotting the girl standing by the tree. He made his way over to her and patted her on the shoulder.

"We're going, are you coming?" Ikaris asked her.

"Where are we going?" She eyed him suspiciously.

"We're going to get Phastos." He lied to her smoothly, and she pushed her lips to a thin line, bobbing her head. The man slung an arm around her shoulder, hugging her lightly and they strolled back over to the group, heading over to the jet.