Balance And Control

Lady Ereida, Greecian Goddess

“Ereida! Ereida, please wake up! Ajak, why isn’t it working?” 

“She’s resisting my help. I don’t know how.” 

“Should we bring her back to the ship?”

“No. I don’t want the town’s people seeing her this way. They’re already scared enough after her display of power last night.”

“What did you tell them?”

“I didn’t tell them anything, Sprite did.”

“Are you sure that was wise? I mean, there’s already tension between them and Sprite’s stories can get a little out of hand.”

“Will you stop yelling?” I groaned, blinking hard against the harsh sunlight. “I’m right here.”

“Ereida, how are you feeling?” Sersi’s soft voice asked. 

“Like someone dropped a boulder on my head,” I grumbled, sitting up slowly. “What the hell happened?” 

“We’re not quite sure. Everything went completely dark last night and then there was a burst of light. We’ve been searching for you since. How did you get so far out of the city so quickly? Druig said he tried to go after you, but couldn’t find you anywhere,” Sersi explained, helping me to my feet. 

“Where?”

“About a hundred miles,” Ajak answered. 

I looked around me. The damage I had done was easy to see: leafy tree tops lay in a tangle of branches several yards away, their trunks cut at weird angles. A slightly smoldering ring of ash surrounded us from the fire I had set the previous night. “I'm sorry, Ajak.” 

“You have nothing to be sorry for. No one was hurt. You just needed to blow off a little steam, which is perfectly okay. Maybe next time try talking to someone so you don’t take out an entire forest?” she suggested, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. 

“I just…I feel like I have no control over my life anymore. We move from city to city, not knowing how long we’ll stay. I feel like I don’t have a life, like the little bit of autonomy I do have is constantly being stolen by you guys. I’m sorry if that’s cruel, but it’s how I feel. I’m not happy and I have no time to figure out what I want,” I admitted, feeling a weight lift off my chest. 

“You could've told us that. We’re your family, Ereida, we just want what’s best for you,” Sersi said. 

“That’s just it, we’re not! After centuries together, we’ve learned to coexist and pretend we have this unbreakable bond. I do believe we still all love and care for each other, but we haven’t been a family in a long time. We hide from each other. Each of us has a person on the ship, but it’s been a while since all eleven of us got along.” 

There was a tense moment while I waited for one of them to reprimand me, tell me I was wrong and bitter and a liar. That never happened. Instead…

“You’re right,” Ajak agreed to my shock and surprise, “There are a lot of issues we still need to work through. I’m sorry you felt so alone and controlled, Ereida, it was never my intention.”

I hugged her. “Thank you. You are an amazing Prime Eternal, the world is lucky to have you,” I whispered. “And you,” I turned to Sersi, grasping both her hands in my own, “you are so much more than you think you are. You are a valuable member of this team and the sweetest person I know. If Ikaris ever does anything to hurt you, I will personally beat his ass.” 

“You are amazing, Ereida. I love you,” Sersi laughed, squeezing my hands. 

“Can we go home now? My head is pounding and I need my bed.”