chaos and control | druig ✔︎

25 | bonus 1

25 | the bracelet

1521 AD - Tenochtitlan

There she sat, silently sobbing on the stairs, staring at her shoes. Hestia hadn't moved from her position in 5 days. All remaining Eternals had tried their best at getting her back inside, though nothing seemed to help, her feet were nailed to the ground and she was unmoving.

It was like she was living in a different world. Her world consisted of only hopelessness and heartbreak, while the others seemed to have excluded those feelings from their world. Nobody really understood what was happening to her and why she was doing certain things, like not moving for days. The only thing they did know, was that they let it happen for too long.

The Eternals had gathered, minus Druig and Hestia, to discuss what they were to do about the girl who was seated on the stairs. They all hopefully looked at Phastos, who was possibly the only one who could do anything to help.

"Phastos, there must be something you can do." Ajak muttered, looking up at the inventor who merely shrugged.

"There's multiple things I can do, but I wouldn't want to force anything upon her." He responded, putting his head in his hands while sighing.

"We can't just leave her there." Sersi butted in. "She's been there for days on end, she's clearly not alright."

"Yeah I think everyone can see that." Sprite retorted at the taller woman.

"If she hasn't moved by the time the sun sets, I'll do what I can." Phastos gave in. "I've got something that I think might work."

And so he went to work. The sun shone through the window, casting a soft glow on Phastos' workstation. Instead of going to his usual workplace near the edge of town, he resorted to working in the Domo. All the houses were burnt down by the rage of the people.

Within an hour, Phastos had created a rough idea for a device that was meant to help Hestia and an hour later, it was completely finished. He had promised himself to use it only if the girl hadn't moved from her place by sundown. When he looked out the window of the Domo, to his disappointment, he saw the sun slowly disappear behind the mountains.

Phastos joined the rest of the Eternals again after a heavy inner conflict. Restraining the girl went against his morals and it shouldn't have been so easy to decide for the other Eternals.

"I'm not sure about it." He admitted, fumbling with the golden bracelet he had created.

"It's what's best for her." Ajak comforted the man, patting him on the back lightly.

"Who's gonna do it?" Phastos inquired, glancing around the group. "Ikaris?" He held out the bracelet, wanting to get it out of his hands as fast as possible. "Sersi? Anyone?"

"You're going to have to do it." Ikaris broke the news, holding up his hands in defence when Ajak glared at him. "Somebody had to say it."

"No." Phastos sputtered. "I can't do that."

"You have to-" Ajak was interrupted by Phastos.

"It's wrong on so many levels already, I can't do it." He stammered, tripping over the words. "I can't just betray her like that."

"She trusts you the most. You have to do it." The prime Eternal repeated, strolling over to Phastos to try and comfort him for the second time that day.

"Yeah, that's why it's so wrong!" Phastos shouted. "She trusts me the most and I'm not going to take advantage of that! Maybe that's why she doesn't trust you guys as much, because she knows how easily you'll betray her!"

The whole room stayed silent for a moment, letting the harsh words sink in. Ikaris looked down in shame and so did a few others. They knew he was right. Besides Druig, Hestia was closest with Phastos, the rest all sharing a third place. Hestia never really connected with any of the other Eternals. She could get along with them, yes, though she never felt a deeper connection like she felt with Druig or Phastos.

"Phastos." Ajak started. "You will be the only one of us she will forgive if we do it."

Phastos glared at the woman, but the glare slowly faded as he realised she did make a good point.

"If she doesn't forgive me," Phastos hesitated, "I think it's pretty clear what I'll do." With one last angry look at Ajak, he stormed out of the room, right to the stairs Hestia was still seated on. The bracelet in his hands felt like it was burning, trying to tell him that what he was doing was wrong, but he knew that already.

"Hestia." He whispered when he was close enough to the girl. "Hey, Hestia."

The girl didn't respond.

"I think it would be better if you went inside to sleep." Phastos posed. "You've been out here for a long time, you must be tired."

"No." Hestia simply responded, staring at the mountains ahead of them.

"I don't want to do this." Phastos' voice became harsher, not wanting to fight the girl. "If you just go inside and sleep, you can come back tomorrow. He would have wanted that."

"How do you know what he would have wanted?" Hestia rasped out.

"He wants what's best for you, we all do." Phastos reasoned.

"I thought that too, but he left me." Her voice stayed a lot more quiet than the man would have liked. By now, he expected her to be screaming, at least. The fact that she sounded calmer than ever scared him shitless.

"If he comes back, you'll be the first to know." He tried to nudge the bracelet towards Hestia's arm but she dodged.

"Well, clearly not if I'm sleeping." For the first time, she looked over at him. Her eyes were bloodshot and red from crying, her cheeks scrubbed raw by the amount of times she had to wipe away her tears.

"I'll wake you up." Before Hestia could register it this time, Phastos had slipped the bracelet around her arm, though he couldn't secure it. Hestia had felt the cold metal against her skin and smacked the bracelet away.

"Get away from me." Hestia hissed, standing up from the stairs. Small embers of fire started to form in her hands, growing into bigger flames in a second.

"Please, Hestia." Phastos muttered. "Please."

"Get any closer and I won't be responsible for what happens." Hestia objected.

She couldn't see the next move coming. From behind her, somebody had grasped her, their arms locking around her torso. Her own arms were locked against her sides. In shock, the fire in her hands had vanished. She tried to get out of their grip, wriggling like crazy, though nothing helped.

Phastos ran over to the girl, rapidly clasping the bracelet around her arm and securing it without a second thought. This time, Hestia couldn't get the bracelet off. She struggled for a minute, trying to pry the bracelet off and fighting off the person holding her at the same time.

Tiredness started to get to her after a while, her kicks becoming weaker and less often, her arms slacking at her sides. Hestia felt her eyes slowly fall closed, darkness taking over. Right before she was about to fall asleep, she heard a last voice.

"I'll be there when you wake up." 

AN | any specific things you want to see in another bonus chapter?