Scarlet Warrior

four

"Can you for the love of all things holy, put the knife down!" Dan shouted obviously over the whole situation Sersi probably dragged him into. Slowly I loosen my grip on the woman and lower the knife, resting it on the little table Valentina insisted on buying on our last trip to IKEA. Stepping out of the way I signal for them to come in and with weariness they do. Before closing the door I glance around the hallway making sure no one followed them here. 

"So what do you want?" Sersi looks at me from the dining table they took a seat at. Another one of Valentina's purchases. I would have been happy with just a mattress. "You have to come with us." Sersi starts carefully choosing her words and Dan looks at her equally confused. "You are funny Sersi. Come where?" I laugh at her ridiculous choice of first words and move on to make us all a coffee. "To our leader and the rest of Eternals. So we can learn the truth about you," my hands stop for a moment in an alert but I cover it up quickly. 

"What truth?" I question acting clueless. "About what happened tonight. About who you really are," I have spent quite some years running from the truth and building my life to be as mundane as possible. Sersi just showed up at my doorstep to ruin that. "Do you drink your coffee black or with milk?" I ignore her concern. "Black please," Dan mumbles from the side and smiles as I hand him his cup. "This is serious Anastasia. We have to....,"

"Ana. I go by Ana nowadays. And there is no truth to learn. I am a normal girl living with her roommate, who you are lucky is deaf or you would have woken up at fucking 5 am knocking on the door like a lunatic. So no Sersi, sorry for not taking this whole shit seriously," I grit through my teeth never breaking the chilling eye contact. "Are we done?" I stand up to let them know they are not welcome here anymore and Dan looks up surprised. The poor guy didn't even get to touch his coffee. "There is a chance you may be one of us!" Sersi splutters in a hurry, concerned I will kick her out before she gets her point across. 

"What are you talking about?" I sit back confused. "The Scarlet Warrior. She died centuries ago, sacrificing herself for her friend. She was....," her words resonate in my mind sounding familiar. "The woman Ikaris loved?" I mumbled looking at my hands remembering the red shield that protected Sprite and me. "Aurora. Yes." She nods looking away, noticeably pained by the word love. "Wait I thought Ikaris was your ex?" Dan chimes in confused but Sersi gives him a look making him sit back and sip on his coffee. 

"Why?" she reaches out to gently take my hand and at the moment I let her in. "You look just like her. Yes her hair was fiery red and her eyes hazel but your face, the expressions, the way you move. You are everything she was. And that energy shield confirmed our theory. There is something hidden in you Ana I know it. But we need the others to help us understand," with other words I strangely relax. It was not the truth that I fought so hard to keep hidden that she was looking after. 

"But who are you really Ana?" Dan catches us both by surprise making us look over to him. "You held that knife against her throat with confidence. No hesitation." His questioning eyes pierced right through me. But I was trained for this. "Self-defense class I took last summer. You can never be too safe." He nods at my words but I can still sense some hesitation in his movement. "When do we leave?" I turn back to Sersi making her light up at my words. "Now."

Shaking her petite body, her green eyes slowly open in order to look up at me. "What is going on?" She signs tiredly turning in the bed to face my crouched-down figure. "I'm leaving for a few days I will be back as soon as I can okay?" She blinks rapidly and pushes herself to sit up. "What? Where?" I tuck her blonde lock of hair behind her ear caressing her chubby cheek. "I can't tell you Val you know how these things go. But I will come back," she ponders over my words finally catching on. "I thought you quit Ana," the disappointment was evident in her eyes but I could not break the lie I was serving her. She had to believe this was only one of my many missions and not a quest for 'magic'. "I love you, Val," leaning in I place my lips against her forehead leaving a feathery kiss behind. "I love you too."