⭒─ 1521 AD ─⭒

📍AZTEC EMPIRE, TENOCHTITLAN

°-•- ☼ -•-°

The loud clash of swords and the yelling of the people was all that reached your ears as you tried to ignore it as much as possible.

Sersi, Sprite, Druig, Phastos, Ajak were waiting for you in the front; all hidden in the forest of the Aztec city. Makkari ran back into the trees after helping an innocent kid out of danger, the rustling of the leaves alerting her presence and she joined you and Thena back again.

"Where are the others?" Ajak questioned.

"We had to split up," Makkari responded in sign language.

"There were more Deviants than you said," Thena remarked.

"Well, I'm sure that was a lot of fun for you both," Phastos told you and your mother.

"It was," she beamed at him, nudging you with her elbow in pride and you both exchanged a smile.

Phastos extended his hand out and showed his palm, which had a golden ring placed on it that showed a tiny hologram of the Earth. The small image showed only one green dot in it, marking the location of the Deviants they were planning on taking down, "Once the others kill these last , we will have eliminated them all from the planet,"

Druig was standing beside you, interlacing your hands together. You and Druig have been together for quite some while. When the news reached your fellow Eternals, you had received different types of reactions.

Ajak embraced you and Druig and stated that she was happy for you both; Kingo had asked you to repeat it twice for him since he thought that he had heard wrong; Ikaris barely reacted, but gave you a kind smile; Sersi and Sprite squealed and gave you a tight hug; Makkari signed, 'about time' with an exasperated look. Gilgamesh agreed with her and patted Druig in the back; Phastos blinked from one to another for a few seconds, comprehending the news, before wishing you good luck to keep up with Druig's attitude and snarkiness; Thena was hesitant at first, but then let it slide, only after giving Druig a detailed summary of torture if he ever hurt 'her baby'.

The sounds of the war at the city bothered you and you twitched in your place with an uncomfortable expression. Thena was staring ahead blankly.

Noticing your discomfort, Druig took a step forward. His eyes glowing into a gold shade as he tried to intervene in the war and tried to stop it.

"Don't," Ajak warned, placing a hand on his shoulder, "We don't interfere in their wars,"

"This isn't war. It's genocide," Druig countered, turning to glare at Phastos, "Their weapons have become to deadly. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea helping them advance,"

"Technology is a part of their evolutionary process, Druig," Phastos defended, "It's not exactly something that I can stop,"

"No, you can't. But I can,"

"I'm gonna go look for Kingo," you spoke, an uneasy feeling settling within you.

"Stay close," Druig called out to you, "Don't go too far,"

Nodding at him, you turned around just in time for everyone to miss the gold glow that passed right under your skin on your forehead.

You walked quite some distance, until you stopped in your tracks. You let out a silent grunt, feeling your mind glitch; shifting from one memory to another. Ripples of gold passed right under your skin in random directions and your eyes were flickering white.

"Y/N, what're you doing here?" 

Kingo's voice made you return back to yourself and you looked up to see Kingo and Ikaris walk side by side towards you.

"There you are," you sighed "I came looking for you. Where's Gil?"

"Maybe he's with the others by now," Ikaris offered.

Kingo and Ikaris joined your side and you three began to walk together.

"God, I wish we could do something to stop this massacre," Kingo thought out loud, as men fired guns at their enemies, yelling orders.

"Ajak says we shouldn't interfere," Ikaris reminded from his other side, both of them continuing to walk without you.

You stopped in your place; a ringing noise resonated in your ears as your eyes slowly obscured with white, "It's too late,"

"Y/N?" Kingo spun around to face you, Ikaris following him shortly after.

"Everyone's going to die," your lips curled in anger as a dull shimmer passed down your temple. You summoned a bright glowing weapon and moved it forward to stab him.

"Y/N! No!"

Ikaris jumped to the side to protect Kingo from your attack. He shot a energy beam at you, which you deflected back at him with your weapon.

●▬▬▬▬▬๑۩۩๑▬▬▬▬▬●

The voices of Kingo and Ikaris reached Ajak, Druig, and Sprite. Phatos, Makkari, and Sersi were already injured by Thena. Gilgamesh too looked towards the noise, kneeling beside Thena after having her knocked out.

"No," Gilgamesh muttered under his breath, having an idea of what was happening. Druig gave him a look of concern.

●▬▬▬▬▬๑۩۩๑▬▬▬▬▬●

You slashed you spear against Kingo's chest, burning his skin and injuring him.

Ikaris kept shooting beams at you and you deflected them with skill and precision— something you had inherited from your mother. 

Grunting in effort, you morphed your sword into a spear and swung it at his head. 

Ikaris took flight just in time to avoid your blow and your weapon sliced through a tree trunk, causing it to fall down behind you.

"Y/N," Ikaris called, trying to get you to calm down, "Stop it,"

Huffing, you spun your weapon intricately. Seeing that he was about to shoot a energy beam at you, you drove the weapon into his abdomen, making him groan out in pain.

 Pulling back your weapon sharply, you stiffened when you heard the leaves rustle behind you.

Frowning in focus, you spun around, your weapon clashing with Gilgamesh's golden fist exoskeleton.

Ajak approached you from the side, hands held up as an pattern of gold appeared over her palms, indicating that she was using her abilities.

"Don't listen to your head. Listen to my voice," Ajak soothed you, walking closer to you, "You are safe," she held her palms at either side of your head, trying to mend your mind, "You are loved," the white shade in your eyes were beginning to fade out into your E/C eyes, "You're our Y/N,"

The sounds of guns and war reached your ear again and you pushed Ajak away from you; the white consuming your eyes again.

Blowing the hair out of your face, you held your weapon up in defence when Gilgamesh tried to knock you out with a punch.

You summoned another weapon in your other hand and brought it to slash Gilgamesh with it, causing him to take a step back. You kept striking blows until you had forced Gilgamesh to his knees.

You took a step forward to attack him, but froze and looked up; your eyes turning a shade of gold before it flickered back to white.

From behind you, Druig stepped into view, his eyes the same shade of gold as yours, indicating that he was controlling you. It felt wrong, but Druig knew no other way.

When your eyes turned back to your original E/C shade, the weapon in your hand disappeared into nothing. Feeling worn out, you fell to your knees, holding your head on your hands.

Gilgamesh was quick to get to your side to aid you.

"You okay?" Druig crouched beside you, thinking he may have hurt you by using his powers.

"What did I do?" you sighed out, catching your breath, "What happened?" you looked around at everyone, feeling vulnerable under their gaze, "Where's Mom?" you asked Druig and Gilgamesh.

"It's okay, kid," Gilgamesh held you in his arms in a fatherly manner, "It's okay,"

"We need to get somewhere safe," Ikaris stated.

●▬▬▬▬▬๑۩۩๑▬▬▬▬▬●

You all took refuge on top of one of the pyramids, away from the battle happening on the ground. 

Thena was still unconscious and laid on her back on the raised platform on the centre of the room. 

You sat by the egde beside your mother, refusing to meet anyone's eyes as you let the guilt and regret invade your mind. You could sense that they were afraid of you by how they stood as far as possible form you. Only Gilgamesh and Druig stood in your vicinity.

"I thought was Mahd wy'ry a myth," Sersi thought out loud.

"There is no cure—so no one really talks about it," Phastos spoke lowly, afraid that he might scare you.

Thena opened her eyes with a gasp, the milk white disappearing from her eyes, "What happened?"

"Thena. You attacked everyone," Ajak answered slowly, "Wounded Sersi, Phastos, you nearly killed Makkari. And Y/N stabbed Ikaris and injured Kingo,"

Sitting up, Thena shook her head in confusion, her voice cracking, "I don't remember," 

"Neither do I," you swallowed harshly, "I'm sorry," you looked back at Kingo and Ikaris.

"Thena, you have Mahd wy'ry. Your mind is fracturing under the weight of your memories," Ajak carried on, "You passed it on to your daughter," she stated in remorse and empathy.

Thena, overcome with emotions, pulled you in a side hug, "I'm sorry, baby," she pressed her lips against your temple in an apologetic kiss, "I'm so sorry,"

Screwing your eyes shut, you hugged her back tightly as she caressed the back of your head.

Your fellow Eternals standing around you gave you and your mother pitying looks.

"And all I can do is erase them so you both can start over," Ajak spoke, "I will have to inform and take you back to the ship where we have the technology to help you,"

"But they won't be our Thena and Y/N anymore," Makkari signed.

"What if it happens again?" Kingo replied, "They could've killed you. They could have killed all of us,"

"Please. Please, I—I want to remember," Thena cried in desperate persuasion, "I want to remember my life. I want to remember my daughter,"

"Please—Ajak," you sniffed, letting a tear slide down your cheek.

"Thena, Y/N, I love you both. But listen to me. It's not important if you remember or not. Your spirits will remain. You will always be Thena and Y/N deep inside. Trust me,"

"Why should they trust you?" Druig looked up at her in faux confusion, angered by her suggestion, "You're asking them to let you erase who they are,"

"Druig, I know you're upset, but—"

 "Upset?!" He snapped fiercely and you flinched in your place. Thena brought you closer to herself, resting her chin on your head.

"We've trusted you for 7,000 years, and look where you've gotten us," Druig spoke aloud, "I've watched humans destroy each other when I could stop it all in a heartbeat. Do you know what that does to someone after centuries?" a tear rolled down his face, "Could our mission have been a mistake? Are we really helping these people build a better world, huh?" 

He turned his back to everyone and stood at the top of the stairs of the pyramid, staring down battlefield set ablaze, "We're just like the soldiers down there. Pawns to their leaders. Blinded by loyalty. It ends now,"

Duig's eyes glowed gold and the wrecking subsided, he forced everyone to drop their weapons and they clashed in the dirt, all standing like lifeless people as they waited for another command.

Ikaris interrupted; He forcefully grabbed Druig by the shoulders and pushed him against the wall, "Let them go,"

"You're gonna have to make me," Druig taunted.

"Stop," Ajak stepped forward.

The telepath turned to face her one last time, "If you wanna stop me, you're gonna have to kill me,"

Druig slowly descended down the steps of the pyramid and the people from below followed after him as he walked deeper into the crowd, but out of eyesight for the Eternals. He didn't spare her one last glance at you. The soldiers all clamoured together and left the burning city behind, all following Druig with their eyes glowing in a golden shade with an eerie hum breaking through their ears.

"I'll watch over both of them," Gilgamesh broke the silence, "Let them keep their memories,"

"One day, when they attacks you, you might have to kill them," Ajak warned.

Gilgamesh nodded you and Thena, "We'll take that chance,"

Ajak stared down at the floor for a second, rethinking Druig's words and looked back up to face the group, "You may all go. The Deviants are gone. There is no reason for you to stay with me,"

"Shouldn't you ask first?" Ikaris questioned, "We're a team, we should stay together,"

"I didn't ask you for your advice, Ikaris," she spoke sternly, "Do not forget your place. This is where we say goodbye. You are free to go. I want you to go out there. And live a life for yourselves. Not as soldiers. Not with the purpose you were given. Find your own purpose. And one day, when we see each other again, I want you to tell me what you found,"

●▬▬▬▬▬๑۩۩๑▬▬▬▬▬●