Find Me Afterlife

my hand was the one you reached for

Jerusalem - 1120 AD

You sat at your table, staring at the words you had written, your mind on the truth in the images Sprite had shown you. You had watched your death, each and every single one, time and time again, in every life. You had seen the gruesomeness of it all, and it horrified you. Was that what awaited you now? You weren't sure, but you were sure of one thing. Sprite had shown you more than your death. She had shown you Druig, his grief, his heartache at losing you all those times. She had shown you what you meant to him, and finally you understood.

You weren't his humanity. You were his salvation. The Eternals had been sent here with a singular purpose. Destroy the Deviants, protect the humans. Druig was drowning in it. You knew he didn't fully agree with it. He wanted the Deviants dead, sure. He wanted to save the humans, yes. But he wanted so much more. He wanted to save them from themselves too. He wanted them to be better. But each day, your kind reminded him why that would never happen.

You killed each other everyday. Right now, your father was on the border killing people in the name of defending the Holy land, in a Holy war humans had waged. Wars were nothing new for your kind. Poverty, greed, hatred, pride. All of it grew each day. And it was slowly killing him. He was blinded by the darkness that grew only too quickly.

Until he saw you, in each life. Until he saw your eyes, until he had you again. Sprite had shown you more than your deaths without even meaning to. She showed you the darkness that grew into Druig's eyes each time you were taken from him. He was drowning in it.

You looked down at the words you had written to your father, your goodbye to him. You would give it to one of the servants when you left to give to your father. You had never been that close with the man, but you knew he deserved some kind of explanation. He had taken you in after all, had given you a home, a name. Without him, you would have been another child in the orphanage, another needless early death.

You decided to write a second letter, to the mother you lost. You missed her still, and your time with her had been cut too short by God's will. But you knew if anyone would understand, it would be her. She had given up her life, her family, everything she was and had, when she met your father. He had promised to take her with him, and though he never kept that promise, her family would never take her back once she had you. She had been disgraced, all because she fell in love with a man she shouldn't have. But she told you often that she had never regretted it, not for a second. Because even for a little while, she had had a love she knew was special. And that's what you had now. You didn't know if your life would be cut short again, but you knew you'd never regret loving Druig.

Tell him I'm sorry, you wrote to your mother. You knew your father would be upset with your choice, and you knew your mother couldn't really tell him anything, but it brought you comfort to think that maybe, on some level, she could. You wanted your father to know this was what you had to do. Wherever Druig went, you had to follow. You knew he could never leave the mission behind. He would stay until the last Deviant was killed. He has too much honor to do anything else. But you'd be damned if the darkness grew in Druig's eyes on your watch. You'd follow him anywhere.

You heard your door open and looked up. "Ikaris, how did you get in here?"

—

Present Day

Your screams filled the air as you watched Druig fly through the ground, just as you had seen in your vision. In the end, nothing had changed. This time, it wasn't you had left him. This time, the grief was yours.

Above you, you saw Ikaris fly though the Domo. Makkari sped to it, grabbing Phastos and Thena before they could be hurt. You took a deep breath. There was still work to be done. Your planet was at the edge of its demise, and there were 7 billion people counting on you. You would grief later.