𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 | 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐠

𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳

    Druig clasped his hands together as he stared after Alekto.

    He had made an unspoken promise to never control the minds nor read the thoughts of of his family. But was she really part of that family?

    She hadn't arrived on the Domo with the others and her aura wafted with great tragedy. Standing in her presence made him nervous. Nervous that she was a ticking time bomb.

    It wasn't that he didn't trust her, he'd have to had known her to make that judgement. But that was the problem. It was that he didn't know her.

    No one really did — aside from the fact that she was eager to help the Sumerians and her haste to talk to Ajak during the week.

    Druig's eyes narrowed on the hut's door, burning holes into the straw when a hand touched his arm. His body tensed as he glanced over his shoulder, looking down at the person touching him. soul.

    Makkari.

    Slowly, he relaxed into her touch and turned to face her, her eyebrows furrowed with concern.

    "Are you okay?" She signed, her dark eyes flickering over his tense features.

    He bit his lip, gnawing on his skin In thought before his eyes flickered back to the hut. "What do you know about Alekto?" he mumbled, leading her away from the others.

    Makkari followed with a frown.

    "I know that she's a wonderful addition to the team," she signed passionately.

    Unlike Druig, who had been apprehensive towards Alekto, Makkari had already warmed up to her in the short time they had.

    Druig shook his head as he looked down at his feet.

    Makkari snapped her fingers twice causing the man to look up.

    Before, his face showed traces of skepticism and concern, something he felt uncomfortable with, especially from one of his own.

    "I trust her," she reassured him, throwing him a concerned look. "It's okay to trust her too."

    She rested her hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze before walking off.

Druig swallowed hard, sniffing away the cold air as he stood tall to rejoin the group.

Ajak smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. They were kind and delicate eyes filled with a warm, honey hue. After all, the eyes were the window to the soul.

And Alekto believed Ajak's to be beautiful.

Alekto felt her feet wandering further into the hut, a subconscious need to to tell Ajak the severity of Arishem's design but such a weighted situation couldn't be discussed like this. It couldn't be rushed and it couldn't be done alone. Her throat tightened, swallowing the lump that slowly built up as Ajak spoke.

"I know," her soft tone confused the girl.

She thought there would be much more outrage, more distress — there had to be.

Ajak beckoned Alekto with her hand, patting the soft stool beside her. Cow skin, she believed it was. The leathery texture was warm and comfortable.

Though Alekto was desperate to act fast, she too was curious to know just what Ajak had to say. How could she possibly know?

In the few weeks she had gotten to know and observe their leader, Alekto understood Ajak always had their best interest at heart and she had grown to adore her nature but there was an unsettling feeling deep in the pit of stomach, churning to know the truth.

What did Ajak know? And what did she plan to do with it?

"You are a very talented member of our group," Ajak started, breathing softly. Her kind smile went along way with Alekto, calming her nerves but not enough. An anxiety like no other was branded in her soul and mind from the horrors she'd seen and heard.

    Millions of voices crying out for help.

    She couldn't help them.

Alekto drew her bottom lip between her teeth, eyebrows furrowed and tense. "Do you know why I'm here?" Her voice was so soft and gentle that Ajak had almost missed the words altogether.

Clearing her throat, she sat up straighter and faced Ajak. A laugh almost escaped her, finding humor in her need to fix her composure.

It's not a business meeting, she internally scolded herself.

"I have an idea," Ajak responded calmly, soothingly. She raised a hand to Alekto's shoulder, squeezing comfortingly.

Only, Alekto couldn't begin to feel at ease with the weight of her knowledge burdening her with every waking day.

"Arishem... he- he doesn't want this planet to succeed the way we do. He wants us to succeed so a Celestial can be born. It's- It's a sacrifice of billions for the birth of one. We have to stop the emergence, Ajak. We have to," Alekto's voice shook as she spoke, the words tumbling out uncontrollably but it only scratched the surface of what needed to be said.

Ajak's smile did not waver as she looked to the girl, though it was sad.

"I know," she repeated causing Alekto to frown. "It is a wonderful thing to see billions of lives spread out across the universe to be born. I know it's hard now, but you'll see how beautiful it is." She spoke with such confidence that Alekto was almost buying into the delusion that Ajak had so adamantly repeated that she herself believed it.

    Alekto shook her head.

    "It's not right, Ajak," she whispered in disbelief.

    Gently, Ajak placed her hand over Alekto's. Warmth spread across Alekto's porcelain skin, and the stinging sensation from before came to and end. As she drew her hands away, Alekto looked down at the palms of her hands noticing the bloodied and scathed skin to be healed.

"It is what must be done." Ajak knew Alekto was right but she had no recollection of being able to stop the emergence — it would be near impossible now.

Alekto's lips parted as she tried to speak but the words wouldn't come out. She didn't know what to say anymore. She tried and she failed. What little hope she clung to was lowly dissolving.

"I'd like for you to keep this to yourself for the time being, when they are ready I will tell them," the healer continued softly, so soft Alekto couldn't find it in her to be angry with Ajak.

And never would she hold it against Ajak, for Alekto knew it was her duty.

|𝘢𝘯        𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴... 𝘪 𝘢𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘪 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭. 𝘥𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰? 𝘪 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘭𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥.