𝘾𝙤𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙘 𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 - 𝘿𝙧𝙪𝙞𝙜

𝙨𝙞𝙭

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FINLAND — 2023

THE TWO ETERNALS walked in a consoling silence. No words could truly express all the two had been through during the last few centuries. Delphi and Kingo had always been close, she enjoyed his well-timed humour — even if others like Druig did not — and also his ability to be serious in dangerous times. Kingo liked her kindness and how, although her powers were non-combat, she was a vital part of the Eternals. Dare he say the most. Only he and Druig seemed to fully understand how integral she was to the ridding of Deviants. Delphi's unsolicited visions of both the past and the future allowed the Eternals to where Deviants would be and, when tracking them, where they have been. Near where they walked over the freshly fallen snow, Cerberus bound around joyfully. The Husky adored the snow; the delicate snowflakes on his dark and light fur were like heaven.

"I really don't know how and why you live out here," Kingo remarked with chattering pearly teeth.

"What too cold for you, Movie Star?" The girl jested warm-heartedly, "you get you used to it after a few decades. And it's peaceful."

"I don't think I want to get used to it," the man mumbled into the fluffy coat, "have you seen my movies?"

"I have most of them on DVD in the original Hindi of course. I'm a big fan but they can be a bit of a nightmare to buy here. Apparently Finland hasn't quite caught onto Bollywood." The girl gushed contentedly, which etched a small smile on Kingo's strong face.

"I feel flattered," he stated, truthfully he didn't think any of his fellow Eternals would have watched his movies but he was happily surprised.

"How did you and the others find me?" I thought I was pretty well hidden."

"Sprite," Kingo answered instantly, "she only knew because of Ajak — otherwise I don't think we would've found you." Back when Delphi and Ajak were still in contact, the Seer knew that the illusionist was living with the healer. She assumed at some point Sprite had left Ajak to go live with Sersi in London, where they were attacked. "I'm glad we did. I missed you."

"I missed you too," Delphi replied in, Kingo's primary language, Hindi. Anew a silence drifted over them, the only sound was the pleasing crunch of snow and Cerberus' panting.

"How far away is this village?"

"Not far — just around here," explained Delphi, they tread lightly on the snow and cobbles, which had just appeared below them. The number of evergreen trees became fewer and a hazy glow invited the pair over. It was a small village; with minor historically importance — the Soviet's had once occupied it during The Winter War. Several wooden houses became visible to them — most painted a dull blue or off-white, all had a high, bricked chimney with billowing smoke rising from them. Past a few rows of relatively identical houses was a row of shops, Finnish signs hung out each one. Although Kingo didn't have the faintest clue what any of them said. He followed a step behind the brown-haired girl as she walked purposefully to a shop on the left. On the outside, it looked akin to the others but inside were dozens upon dozens of logs.

They stepped inside, a dainty bell ringing upon entry, to see a tall, hunched over man looking at the wood. No one was behind the counter, but the sound of somebody in the back could be heard faintly. "Otto!" Delphi exclaimed, gleefully, in Finnish.

The towering, elderly man spun around, bright blue eyes lit up when he saw the petite girl. "Ah, Delphi!" The man, Otto, bellowed jovially, "what are you doing here — there's a storm? And who is this?" A bewildered Kingo watched as his friend went forward to embrace the unknown man with sandy blond hair and biting blue eyes: a true Scandinavian.

"This is Kingo," he perked up at the mentions of his name, albeit not understanding anything, "he is a friend from college." Delphi was cautious with her words — whoever was in the back, more than likely, Matteus, the son of the owner. Otto had never been bothered by her lack of ageing. If anything he was jealous that she retained her attractive, youthful appearance, while his forehead had more wrinkles by the day. In Delphi's opinion, he was still attractive. 'The Scandinavians always were attractive,' she supposed. "And I need more firewood."

"Hello there, Kingo. And it is a pleasure as always to see you, Cerberus," Otto introduced in a heavy Finnish accent, his English was better than everyone else in the village. That was only because Delphi spent a long time teaching him — especially during the 1960s and 70s. Leaning down the Fin petted Cerberus gently, which initiated the carefree waging of his furry tail. "I am Otto."

"Nice to meet you, Otto, how is it you know my good friend Delphi?" Kingo could already sense that the pair had known each other for a long time. He even knew Cerberus' name, something Kingo did not. But what were they? He did not know — but he intended to find out.

"We met all the way back in 1959," Otto chuckled in remembrance, "she practically leapt into my new book shop. I do not think I have ever seen a person as excited as her that day. Ever since then she continued to come to my shop and buy more books: my best customer." She wouldn't lie, she had in fact bound into Otto's shop when it first opened, an elderly Luna in tow. The wonderful smell of books was something she lived off.

"That sounds..."

"My apologies for you keeping you waiting, Mr Jaakola," Matteus, the shop worker, accidental cut Kingo off when he entered holding a decent amount of redwood. The conversation was now lost. Otto paid for his specific wood before bidding goodbye to Delphi, Cerberus and Kingo, claiming he could not leave his shop unattended too long. The Seer selected the logs she wished to buy and soon enough they were on their way out of the forest. As luck would have it, the storm had stilled significantly — only elegant snowflakes fell from the windless sky. Both Delphi and Kingo held stacks of wood as they walked, the Husky was ahead of them, snout burrowing into the snow playfully.

Abruptly, Cerberus halted. He sensed something was wrong.

Any speech written in italics is meant be a different language. I thought it would be better than Google Translate.

Also I image the young Otto as Sam Claflin.