LOVER [druig]

prologue

☆

"YOU WEREN'T WATCHING SPRITE'S PERFORMANCE."

Antheia weakly smiled with a small hum of acknowledgement. She would not hide that her heart fluttered at the sound of his voice, that her false smile began to morph into a real one. Her unhappy eyes traced the artwork carved into the stone wall of the structure, hoping that the images would bring her some semblance of joy. The wall displayed the story of the Eternals, each of them depicted beautifully, displaying their abilities in the simplest form.

"I thought it best that I sit out." She spoke, her soft voice like music, her fingers brushing against the wall before she turned around. "I had to think."

"Nobody blames you for today," his voice echoed across the room, as she looked down. She knew that none of her smiles could hide her woe from him. He had known her far too long to be fooled by her guise. "It was just a simple mistake, we all make them."

"It wasn't just a mistake," the girl slowly whispered, with a small shake of her head, her eyes finally meeting his. Druig stood against the far wall, his arms crossed as the girl folded her own.

She felt a burden of guilt on her chest, one which she'd rarely felt during her time on this planet. "I was distracted...I'm not made for fighting...I'm not like the rest of you." She sounded defeated, her shoulders dropping. It was an odd sight to see from the usually bubbly and elated girl. It unnerved Druig to the point where he pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on and steadily walked towards her.

"You wouldn't be sent here with us if you weren't like us," he reassured. Theia would've found it odd that he was being so calming if she wasn't already acquainted with this side of him. It was a nice side, one which she'd rarely experienced over centuries, but when she did experience them, the memory lasted.

"I was distracted," she mumbled, the visions of the afternoon flashing past her eyes. She found herself disappearing into her mind as the scenes looped through her vision.

It was an average day, the sun shone down on golden beams and she was out of the boundaries of the walls. Behind her, a small group of children had followed her out of pure curiosity, doing their best to stay out of sight. Theia had spotted them almost immediately, yet she chose to ignore them as they hid behind trees to keep out of view. She had ventured out of the walls, itching to collect flowers she'd grown for the children. She planned to weave the plants into little crowns and to give one to each of the children that lingered behind her.

What she hadn't expected was a deviant attack.

She'd heard the children let out a chorus of shrieks and when she whipped around, there it was, towering far above the group. Theia rushed forward using all of the force inside her to trap the creature in vines as it lunged.

She was not a fighter.

"GET BACK TO THE VILLAGE!" She yelled at the children as they quickly scrambled back behind the safety of the walls. Her hand extended, growing thicker vines as she attempted to keep the beast entangled. She struggled to maintain the deviant, letting out a cry as it broke free and sent her tumbling backwards onto the ground.

She frantically crawled back, her hands trying to wrap the deviant in vines that simply fell off with the swipe of its paw. Theia's eyes widened in fear as its jaws snapped before it was suddenly shot backwards by a stream of laser light. She looked up as Ikaris joined her, shooting the deviant, causing it to stumble and grow angrier.

From behind her, Thena, Sersi, Sprite, Phastos, Gilgamesh, Kingo and Druig appeared. Makkari was already running rings around the creature, knocking it back with all of her might. All of them joined in the fight, hellbound on killing it before it killed them and the people behind the walls. Antheia stood to her feet, her eyes on the battle. She locked eyes with Druig offering him a small nod before she unleashed more vines, entangling the front of the creature. The entirety of the team advanced, now having an opportunity to get an easy strike.

A sudden whimper came from behind Antheia, she allowed herself to get distracted and the vines loosened. The deviant let out a defeating roar, its tail piercing Sersi as she fell, causing her to cry out in both surprise and pain.

What once seemed like an easy kill had now turned into a complicated problem. Theia's face dropped as she ran towards the child. Her eyes scanned over the little girl's body looking for any wounds before ushering the child away, begging for her to run.

Once Theia stood to her feet again, the deviant was dead, falling limp onto the ground with a thud. Her eyes darted to Sersi who was holding her shoulder whilst Ikaris helped her keep steady. Theia rushed over, her eyes wide in shock as Makkari sped past her, presumably to get Ajak.

There was a faint buzzing in her ears as she watched Sersi stand, leaning on Ikaris as they hurried off towards the village. She felt the guilt setting in as the rest of the group quickly followed behind. She felt frozen to her spot as they all walked past, she only snapped back into reality when someone lightly nudged her with their elbow.

She opened her eyes, looking away from Druig in embarrassment. "I got distracted and Sersi got hurt." Theia softly concluded, letting out a small breath, turning away from him, her eyes back on the etchings on the wall. "It's my fault."

"Sersi is alive, Ajak healed her," Druig spoke.

There were a few beats before her tiny voice croaked.

"I'm not a fighter,"

"You're not...you're better than that- you're better than them."

Theia felt a small brush against her knuckles. She didn't flinch, she was familiar with the slight touch. As the touch lingered, the girl didn't dare move, scared that the touch may disappear within the blink of an eye as it usually seemed to.

Theia knew many many things. She knew the world was a complicated place, she knew how to grow flowers and how to speak with animals, but she didn't know how to explain the indescribable feeling bubbling in her stomach.

Perhaps if she were a poet, she would've told him the things she was feeling right there and then...but she was no poet, and the feeling he instilled was far too incredible to even capture in words.

☆

OKAY SO BEAR IN MIND THAT THIS IS CENTURIES BEFORE THE MOVIE TAKES PLACE!! also sorry if Druig is slightly out of character, but it is only him and my oc alone and as we have seen, he is the biggest softie around the people he likes 😩

ANYWAYS I HOPED YOU LIKED IT AND IDK WHEN THE FIRST CHAPTER WILL BE OUT SO...ENJOY THIS TIL THEN!

I LOVE YOU ALL!