The Sun & Moon

17

The group met back up Sersi and Ikaris with Phastos in tow.

"Where to next?" Sersi asked.

"If nothing has changed in the past decade," Iridessa answered with a small smile, "Then we're off to Babylon."

"To get the Domo," Phastos nodded, "All of my stuff is there so we'll need to go back if I'm going to figure out how to amplify Druig's power. Not that I think that's a smart or remotely safe idea."

Druig smirked winking. Phastos narrowed his eyes at him.

"Alright then," Kingo nodded, "Everybody back on the plane."

"You have a plane?!" Phastos spluttered in shock.

"Oh, I have so, so much more than just a plane," the movie star smirked.

The group flew to where Babylon used to be. Now it was just ruins buried under sand but they had a pretty good idea of its exact location. The plane ride was incredibly quiet much to some people—Kingo's—irritation.

Thena sat thumbing through a magazine. Across from them, Druig and Iridessa were looking at a book Iridessa had picked up on their mini shopping trip. All three ignored him despite his best efforts to try and get clips of them for his film. On the other side of the plane, Sersi was looking nervously out the window fiddling with her hands. Ikaris was watching her and Sprite was watching him. He was getting tired of their little love triangle. Phastos had elected to sit the farthest from the group so he could think.

"C'mon guys, we haven't seen each other in centuries. Can we at least play truth or dare or something?" he huffed waving off Karun who'd tried to film the group, but was just wasting storage space since no one was doing anything.

Everyone glanced at him then around at each other.

"Are you sure that's the best idea?" Druig questioned.

"Yeah, we're a little high up in the air to be playing games like that," Sprite snorted rolling her eyes, "There's enough bad blood in here that someone might die."

Everyone inadvertently looked at either Ikaris or Iridessa. The two pretended not to see.

"We're not that far away anyway," Sersi said, "We should just take this time to relax."

Kingo grumbled as everyone nodded and went back to what they were doing. When they landed, they exited the plane and headed toward the last known cite of the Domo. A team of archeologists was working nearby. A single nod from Druig though and they stood in sync and left the area. Only once they were gone did the Eternals make their presence known. As they walked toward it, Phastos activated the Domo much like you'd turn on your car.

A low rumbling filled the area. Then the sand fell away to reveal the ancient city of Babylon in all its glory. It was mostly still intact too. They headed inside together. As they walked, Karun had his camera out again as Kingo narrated. His narration was getting on most of the group's nerves as it only increased the haunting feeling of being back on the Domo.

"Would you cut that out?" Phastos snapped.

Right then, a loud pop sounded and Phastos yelped before turning to Thena and begging her not to freak out. He then relaxed seeing that she was completely calm since she'd been the one to step on the chip bag which caused the popping noise. Iridessa and Sprite snickered as he relaxed.

"As you can see, despite how powerful Eternals are, we are not exempt from all human emotions. Such as cowardice," Kingo stated looking back at the camera.

A few more smiles appeared on the group's faces as Phastos gave him an irritated look. They entered Phastos' lab only to find it stockpiled with random junk from just about every time period. Piles and piles of human artifacts and pieces from their history. Jaws dropped as a certain speedster sat on a massive throne flipping through a book.

"And this is Makkari. Or should I say Miss Havisham," Kingo deadpanned, "We haven't seen her in centuries."

Karun turned the camera to face her. Makkari waved with a smile.

"This was why I said we needed to go to the Domo," Iridessa laughed lightly.

"So...are we going home?" Makkari asked.

Everyone looked at each other then back at her.

"Nope." Iridessa answered making Makkari roll her eyes and slump in her chair.

After explaining the situation to Makkari, the group dispersed to let Phastos work. Most of them stayed in the lab, wandering around and picking at the different objects Makkari had collected. She'd certainly stayed busy over the years.

Iridessa's brow furrowed in confusion upon seeing a box with the word "Twinkies" on it. Just as she picked it up, movement to her left caught her eye. She glanced up to see Ikaris standing nearby looking down at a flat chunk of green rock. He happened to look up at the same time she did and they both froze. A palpable tension grew as they stood there.

He held out the tablet as she offered him the box of Twinkies. The two swapped awkwardly and she quickly walked away holding the tablet to her chest. She sat on a ledge and ran her fingers over the stone. A look of awe filled her eyes. Makkari smirked, walking over when she saw what Iridessa was holding. Iridessa looked up with a smile and set it down on her lap.

"You found it?" she asked.

"Took me a while," Makkari nodded, "It's the right one?"

Iridessa nodded holding it to her chest again with a bright smile.

"Thank you," she mouthed.

Makkari nodded and walked off. Iridessa gazed back down at the tablet in her lap happily. She'd spent so many years looking for this. And here it was! The Emerald Tablet. She ran her fingers over the carvings.

"Alright," Druig chuckled moving to sit beside her, "Makkari found it."

"Yeah," she smiled looking down at the tablet again.

Her smile faltered as her mind flickered to Mateo. He'd be having lunch about now...

"Hey..."

She glanced up at Druig and he gave her a soft look.

"He's okay. We'll be back before he knows it," he reminded gently.

She let out a breath, nodding. "You're right."

He smirked. "I know I am."

Snorting, she rolled her eyes and hit his arm before standing. When she tried to walk away though, he grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"Druig," she groaned playfully still trying to walk away.

"Dessa," he mimicked, his smirk only growing.

She rolled her eyes again. Still smirking, he moved his hand so that their fingers interlocked. Then he pulled her closer and kissed her. She tried to refuse at first but gave in with a small smile.

"Seriously, you two?" Phastos huffed, "In my lab?"

They pulled apart and looked at him with amused expressions. Druig stood, his arm moving around Iridessa's waist. The others looked up or turned, curiously.

"Since when did you become such a prude, Phastos?" he called over.

"No PDA in my lab, period," the inventor stated.

"Alright, alright," Iridessa nodded, "No PDA got it."

She started laughing as Druig refused to let her go and was now kissing all over her cheek and neck, all the while smirking. Phastos looked like he wanted to strangle Druig. Makkari was snickering now as was Kingo as the inventor glared at the mind reader. Sprite was failing to hide her own smirk at the interaction. Sersi shook her head at them, smiling too. She had to admit she'd missed this banter.

"Real mature, Druig," the inventor huffed and turned so his back was to them.

Iridessa pushed Druig off, giving him a playful look before moving to explore more of Makkari's collection.