SO THAT WAS HOW ALTHEA, Kingo, Gilgamesh, Thena, Sersi, Ikaris, and Sprite found themselves on their way to find the one person Althea really didn't want to see. Oh, and Karun, of course— who was trailing behind them with a rolling camera, trying to capture "the moment" as Kingo called it.

The Amazon was beautiful, the trees all around her begged for her attention, the river's calming rushing filled her ears luring her further. The warm breeze rushed through her hair and into her lungs bringing her a warm sense of calmness.

Trust him to live his days in the one place that makes me feel calm. She thought bitterly as she followed behind the others. Stopping, she took a deep breath, feeling the energy of the trees around her.

"Althea?" Sersi called, pulling the copper-haired woman back as she looked up. "Sorry, just... areas like this put my powers on edge." Althea explained as she continued walking with the others.

"Is he really this worth it?" Gilgamesh questioned, earning a nudge from Thena as Althea snorted. "I'm with you on that one." The copper-haired girl sighed as they continued on the path.

Althea almost smiled when she saw it, a small civilization of people, wearing blue and white, living the way human's used to many years ago. It was refreshing to see.

"Hey, Sprite, Ikaris, you guys fit in perfectly." The copper-haired woman stated, pointing to the man's blue shirt and Sprite's blue denim outfit causing Kingo to laugh. "Haha." The younger girl laughed sarcastically with the roll of her eyes.

Althea walked over to Kingo, folding her hands behind her with a sigh. "Buenas Tardes." A lady greeted and the copper-haired woman nodded back at her with a kind smile.

"It's very nice here, sir." Karun stated and Althea smiled at the wonder in his eyes. Kingo, however, was not as impressed. "Don't be fooled." He huffed and Althea laughed.

"Ignorance is bliss." Kingo then pointed out and the copper-haired girl shook her head, raising a hand causing a tree branch to soar down. She lied down on top of it before dropping her hand, causing the branch to raise her higher.

"Well, I'm going to lie here and be ignorant." She called with a satisfied sigh, causing Kingo to roll his eyes as Karun looked up at where she was with wide eyes, his camera capturing the entire thing.

"Althea, get down." Sersi sighed and the copper-haired girl rose an eyebrow at her before smirking. "No." She shook her head and the brunette woman gave her a look. "Althea-"

"Althea, down now." Ikaris cut in and Althea scoffed with a challenging brow. "Make me, Walmart Superman." The copper-haired woman dared and Ikaris huffed as Thena cut in.

"Ikaris, leave her. She's acting out because she doesn't want to be here." The blonde woman pointed out and the man rolled his eyes. "None of us want to be here, but you don't see us being childish about it." Ikaris snapped before Althea manipulated the air around her to fly down.

"So serious." She sighed with the shake of her head. Suddenly a pair of doors opened to an all too familiar face that made Althea's heart ache inside.

"I missed all of you." Druig mused as he walked over to the group, stopping a few feet away from the group. "Please, make yourselves at home." The mind-reader smirked as he gestured towards the building.

The group slowly filed in, Althea walking last as she tried to silently make her way inside without a word to her ex-best friend. He, however, had different plans as he grabbed her wrist, pulling her into him.

Her hands felt familiarity as they sat rightfully on his chest, his hands now gripping her waist softly. "Hello, my beautiful Althea." Druig spoke softly and the woman scoffed, pushing his hands off of her as she followed behind the others.

"Silent treatment? Is that what we're doing now." Druig questioned as he shut the doors behind him and Althea smiled sarcastically. "I have nothing to say to you." She stated before taking a seat besides Kingo who rose an eyebrow at her.

"We'll talk later, then." Druig hummed and Althea rose a challenging brow. "We'll see." She smiled spitefully. "So I assume this isn't a random visit for little old me. What do you all want?" Druig questioned and everyone turned to Sersi.

She jumped into her explanation and Althea studied Druig's expressions as he digested everything. She already knew he wouldn't take it all very well. Silence filled the room, causing them all to be on edge.

Karun then randomly shifted behind Althea and Kingo, causing the copper-haired woman to jump, cusses falling from her lips silently as she looked back to Druig.

"You've given me a lot of bad news in one go, my lady." Druig stated and Althea scoffed. "Tell me about it. This is the fourth time I've had to hear her say it." The copper-haired girl sighed as she kicked her feet up onto the chair in front of her, leaning the top half of her body back onto her hands.

"Even when you're angry at him, you guys find a way to gang up on the rest of us." Kingo whispered and Althea elbowed him with the roll of her eyes.

"Will you help us?" Sersi questioned, causing the mind-reader to sigh as he shifted in his seat thoughtfully. "I am glad that..." Druig started but was cut short when Juice by Lizzo played out of the blue.

Sersi quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone causing Althea to raise an eyebrow. "As much as I love that song, now really is not the time for you to have your ringer on." The copper-haired woman shook her head, as Sersi turned her phone off.

Kingo then turned to Sersi. "Hey, what's your service?" He whispered, pulling everyone's attention as they all rose their eyebrows. "I'm not getting any bars." Kingo then stated as Althea's eyes knitted together.

"What service are you under? I have three-" The copper-haired woman stated but was cut off by Gilgamesh snoring, causing Thena to nudge him awake.

"Do you all remember this forest? Beautiful. It was the last place we all lived together." Druig stated, pulling everyone's attention back to him as he looked to the woman he had once loved.

"I thought you would have come visit." He then pointed out and Althea's eyes narrowed at him. "I don't have very many fond memories here, nor many people I like, so excuse me for not visiting." She spat and Druig placed a hand to his chest as he flinched back teasingly.

"You wound me, Beautiful." He stated and Althea rolled her eyes, staying silent. "I've protected these people for 20 generations now from the outside world and from themselves." Druig then went on to say and Althea frowned, looking down.

Yes, but at what cost. She thought with a sigh as she looked up to see Druig make his way to Karun. "Your kind, my friend, you will be responsible for your own extinction one day. Don't you think?" The mind-reader questioned the human who looked both scared and intrigued.

"I think we must learn from our mistakes and do better, sir. You must not give up hope." Karun stated and Althea watched as Druig's eyes glowed gold, the human's eyes matching his- causing her to sit up.

Karun didn't hesitate before he threw the camera at the wall, causing the copper-haired girl to stand up. "Oh no, you didn't." Kingo huffed as Althea walked over to the mind reader, pushing him away from the human.

"Really? Really, Druig?" She scolded as Kingo jumped up on his feet. "Okay, new rule, no more possessing people's valets." Kingo huffed as he towered over his old friend and Druig smirked before Althea pushed her way between the two.

"Oh, where is your sense of humor, Kingo?" The mind-reader questioned and Althea scoffed. "A sense of humor would require that to be funny." She stated nodding towards the broken camera, before turning back to the man she had once loved.

His familiar blue-green eyes staring into her ocean blue eyes, bringing back every ounce of love, hate, and confusion she had ever felt.

"I'm sorry, sir." Karun sighed in disappointment for himself. "Don't apologize, it's not your fault." Althea said, turning away from the eyes of the man that had hurt her.

"You are not a God. You know that, right?" Kingo questioned bitterly over Althea's shoulder and Druig smirked as he stepped closer, causing the copper-haired woman to place a hand on his chest, keeping him a reasonable distance.

"How ironic. Kingo, the movie star." Druig mused and Althea rolled her eyes. "Don't get him started." She warned knowingly and Druig's eyes shifted to her as a smirk graced his features.

"I've directed some things, too." Kingo defended, pulling Druig back to borderline argument he had caused. "Oh, yeah? Like what?" Druig questioned and the other man froze before looking back at the other man.

"Some Internet content." Kingo stated and Althea sighed, hoping someone would pull her out of this awkward predicament she had found herself in.

"How many views?" Druig questioned and Kingo rolled his eyes. "I don't do it for the views." He stated and Althea snorted. "Not very many, that's why he won't tell you." She stated as she pushed the two men apart once again.

"Whose side are you on?" Kingo huffed and the copper-haired woman rolled her eyes as she saw Ikaris stand up. "Let's go. He's wasting our time." The flying man huffed and Druig turned to him before looking to Althea with a raised eyebrow.

"Fancy a part two, Beautiful?" He questioned is a whisper and Althea's eyes narrowed. "Leave him alone." She hissed back quietly as Sersi turned to her ex-husband. "We need him." The brunette woman stated and Althea sighed as Druig disappeared from in front of her and was now standing right in front of Ikaris.

"Ikaris! I missed you. Are you gonna charm me or threaten me?" Druig started, clearly picking a fight. "I mean, there's a third option, if you prefer that." Ikaris snapped back and Althea sighed raising her hands causing a gush of wind to push the two of them apart.

"It must be heartbreaking to find out that you're not Mother's favorite." Druig mused, striking a nerve as Ikaris fought against Althea's powers.

"And I'm sure she'd be real proud of what you've been up to." Ikaris spat as Sersi finally stood up. "Druig, this is serious." She scolded, drawing Druig's attention away from Ikaris and over to her.

"I'll tell you what's serious." Druig snapped as he stood right in front of the brunette woman. "I've just been told I've been sent on a suicide mission for the past 7,000 years, and that my entire existence is a lie." The mind-reader pointed out bitterly as he looked between Sersi and Ikaris.

"So, excuse me for not giving a shit about your plan right now." Druig huffed as he made his way to door, slamming it behind him. Sersi sighed before turning to the one person she believed could get through to him. "Althea."

"What?" The copper-haired woman questioned as she looked up, seeing everyone's expectant looks. "Talk to him." Sersi begged and Althea shook her head.

"No." She denied and the brunette woman shook her head, not accepting the answer. "He'll listen to you." Sprite stated and the copper-haired woman scoffed.

"No, he won't." She stated with a bitter laugh. "Thea-" Kingo started but Althea shook her head. "The last time I begged Druig to do something, he turned around and left me." She stated in barely a whisper.

Her head hurt, her heart hurt. She was confused and now she was being asked to put herself in a position that would hurt her more. "Althea, please." Sprite begged.

Althea looked at her, seeing the desperation on her face, and Sersi's, and Kingo's, and Gilgamesh's. Thena and Ikaris held serious expressions but she could feel the pressure coming from them as well.

"Fine." Althea snapped as she stormed to the door, slamming the door behind her as well. "Druig sucks." Kingo sighed as he looked after his heartbroken friend.

"He does, sir." Karun nodded as he looked at the closed door where the two other Eternals had left through.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Althea found herself walking to the river, where a large tree towered over the rushing water. Up in the tree sat the man she was after, her hand raising, causing a branch to move down.

Druig looked down at the sound of the branch moving, seeing the love of his life climb onto it before moving it back into it's rightful place. "Thought I might find you here." Althea stated softly as she layed against the branch.

"If you're here to talk me into this crazy plan-" Druig started with a sigh and Althea looked at him before shaking her head with a sour smile. "I couldn't convince you even if I tried." She stated as she looked up at the sky through the leaves.

"Althie-" He started but was cut short. "Althea." The copper-haired woman corrected bitterly and Druig looked at her with a sigh. "Althie, I-" He started once again but Althea shook her head.

"Don't. I don't want to talk about it." She refused and Druig scoffed, turning fully to face his love. "Tough, coz I do." He stated and Althea closed her eyes with a deep sigh.

"You walked away from me and left me." Althea reminded and Druig shook his head. "I did not walk away from you, Beautiful." He sighed and the copper-haired girl rose an eyebrow.

"Really? Because your legs were moving in a direction that was away from me, so..." Althea trailed off sarcastically and Druig sighed as he reached over, grabbing her hand.

And Althea couldn't find it in herself to snatch it away. "Althie, I couldn't sit there and watch them destroy each other knowing I could do something about it." Druig pointed out softly as Althea's eyes watered.

"But you didn't need to leave." She whispered as she finally looked back at him. "Yes, I did." Druig stated softly, cupping her cheek. "Fine, you didn't need to leave me." Althea huffed out, tears now falling down her cheeks.

"I didn't want to." Druig stated with a sigh, looking down as he finally saw how much he had hurt her. "If you didn't want to, why did you?" Althea questioned and he shook his head.

"You could've come with me." He scolded and Althea scoffed, as more tears fell down her face. "You didn't give me the choice! I ran after you and you told me not to come with you! You didn't come back, you didn't reach out! You left me by myself and you promised..." She exclaimed in utter betrayal as Druid pulled away.

"Althie-" He whispered, causing something within her to snap. "Stop calling me that!" She spat and Druig sighed, pulling the girl over to his branch, holding her close in his arms in an attempt to shield her from the pain that he had caused.

Her skin was as soft and familiar as it had always been, and he finally felt whole again with her in his arms. Althea felt peace in his arms, she felt free from her pain for the smallest of seconds before it hit her tenfold once again.

"I'm sorry." He sighed, kissing the top of her head softly as Althea's tears soaked his shirt. "Sorry isn't good enough, Dru. I'm sorry, but it's not." She admitted and Druig frowned deeply.

"Althie-" He started but she didn't want to fight anymore. "Look, we need your help. You know we do." Althea pointed out as she looked up at him. Druig sighed, shaking his head.

"Don't start." He warned and Althea shook her head. "If you want me to forgive you, do this." She begged and Druig looked at her with a huff.

"I won't throw myself into a suicide mission for them." He stated and Althea shook her head. "They're not asking, I am. Do this for me." She pleaded and Druig looked at her before sighing once again and leaning back against the branch.

His hands dropped from around her, letting her go once again. A stabbing feeling filled her chest as she looked away, shuffling to her own branch with a frown. "I'll let you think about it." She whispered before moving her hand downwards, letting the branch down so that she could leave.

The pain she was feeling right now was completely and utterly devastating and she wouldn't let him watch her break. Not again.

-_-_-_-_-_-

authors note;

ok ok so, i have six chapters left of this book! woohoo! i hope you all enjoyed this chapter!