Somewhere Only We Know (Eternals One-shots)

Daina, Daughter of Thena

They knew the calm wasn't going to last forever. It had been too long since Thena's last episode. And it had to happen at the most inconvenient time imaginable.

Gilgamesh was away to get some supplies in the nearby town. This left Thena and their 15 year old daughter alone at the cottage in the middle of nowhere. It's not like they hadn't done this before, as long as nothing could trigger the Mahd Wy'ry they would be fine. The deviants were gone and there was no indication of a thunderstorm coming anytime soon, so Gilgamesh left with a calm mind.

Daina and her mother were cleaning the dishes when it happened. The girl was reaching to grab a towel, when she accidentally hit a tray with ceramic mugs on it. The items were thrown on the ground and shattered into pieces, the sound echoing through the entire house.

At first, nothing seemed to be wrong. "Shit." Daina muttered. "I'm sorry, mom." 

Thena was leaning against the counter, staring intensely at the broken items. "It's fine, darling." She said quietly and calmly. "Let me get a broom to clean this up." As she walked away from the girl, she abruptly stopped halfway. Daina didn't notice as she was picking up some pieces from the floor and threw them into the nearby garbage can. 

"We can't save them." Thena suddenly states, her back still turned to her daughter. Daina froze, still crouched on the floor when she looked up slowly. 

"What did you say?" The girl says with a trembling voice. Thena didn't answer and instead turned around, revealing her glazed-over eyes and golden streaks running across her face. Gold swirled around her hand and her spear manifested shortly after. Daina gasped and quickly stood on her feet.

"Mom." She said with a slight waver in her voice as she slowly raises her left arm. The young blonde takes a deep breath and gently holds out her hand towards her mother. "Take my hand, please." Her father had prepared her for this. She could do this, she told herself.

Thena blinks a couple of times, lightly tilting her head. Daina holds her breath and hopes for the best. Then, her mother suddenly spins in a swift motion and swings her spear towards the girl. Daina manages to step back just in time, but she feels the tip of the spear run across her arm and yelps as the skin tears open.

Thena quickly changes to her sword and shield and continues her assault, slashing left and right. Daina does her best to dodge the attacks but still gets sliced across her cheek. Luckily, it's a shallow wound and she can quickly recover herself. "Mom, you have to remember." The young blonde tries to stay calm but that's hard when the Goddess of War herself tries to actively kill you.

At this point, Daina is grateful for the training she received from both her parents, but mostly her father, Gilgamesh. 

Violence was the last thing she wanted right now, but seeing as nothing else worked she had no other options. Just like her mother, she was able to manipulate cosmic energy and manifest a shield to block the incoming attacks. A sword is created in her right hand and she fights back as best as she can without causing injuries. 

Handling the weapons, however, wasn't an issue. But her footwork was. While her mother moved elegant and swiftly, Daina could barely keep up and tripped almost twice until the point where she actually tripped over a stray rock. She fell hard onto her back, weapons disappearing into thin air.

Thena jumped high in the air, holding the spear above her head with the tip pointed straight to Daina. The girl closed her eyes and feared the worst. When she feels nothing after a couple of seconds, she dares to open her eyes and is relieved at what she sees.

Gilgamesh is tightly holding onto a struggling Thena, thrashing to get out of his hold. "Get inside the house!" Her father commands her. Daina nods and is quick to get back on her feet, running towards their home.

Her hands are shaking and she starts pacing around. Is her father okay? Will her mother be the same again? This is all my fault, she thinks to herself as she sees the shards of the broken mugs laying on the floor. I should clean that.

Kneeling on the floor, Daina picks up the pieces and starts cleaning up. Soon after she is done, Gil carefully enters the house, making sure not to scare his daughter. "Daina?" Even though he said it quietly, the girl still jumps up at the sudden disruption of the silence. "It's just me." 

"H- how is she?" Daina stammers, keeping herself busy with throwing the ceramic shards into the bin.

"Back to normal." He smiles, but the girl doesn't seem to reply, her back turned to him. "Hey, are you okay?" Gilgamesh gently reaches out and touches her shoulder, which makes her flinch before turning around. She notices the cuts and bruises on his arms and face.

"Yeah it's just… it's my fault it happened. I hit the stupid tray and-"

Gilgamesh immediately steps closer and holds onto her shoulders, looking right at her. "This was not your fault, okay? It was bound to happen. It was just unlucky that it had to happen now, while I was away." 

Daina sighs and shakes her head, looking at the ground. "Any injuries?" Gilgamesh asks, which makes her look at him. He'd already notice the cut on her face. "Did you clean that yet?" He points to said cut and the blonde shakes her head. 

"I rapidly heal so I figured it wasn't necessary…" She admitted with a brief smile on her face before it fell again.

"And I told you, it won't heal properly if you don't clean it." Gilgamesh chuckles, gently grabbing her by her arm. "Come on, let's get you patched up." He leads her to the table and sets her on a chair as he grabs supplies. After getting the various cuts on her cheek and arms cleaned, Gilgamesh puts the supplies away again. "There you go."

"Thanks, dad." Daina smiles. "Can I… can I talk to mom now?"

Her father sighs lightly. "She feels guilty for what happened, so I'm not sure if-"

"But it's not her fault!" The blonde quickly interjects. "I want to make sure she knows that. Please, can I go to her?"

"Alright." Gilgamesh smiles softly. "She's sitting by the tree, her usual spot." Daina nods and gives her father a quick hug before running out to find her mother. She's careful not to approach too fast as she comes up behind Thena, who was sitting cross legged on the ground.

"Hey, mom." The teenager says carefully. Thena looks up from the piece of paper on which she was drawing something. She turns around and Daina is glad to see her eyes are back to normal.

"Hi, darling." The woman smiles as she shifts slightly so her daughter can sit next to her. She pats the ground next to her. "Join me?" Daina nods and also goes to sit cross legged next to her mother. Thena just looks at her daughter for a minute, before speaking with a slight tremble in her voice. "Daina, I'm so sorry for what happened. And I'm sorry that I hurt you." She scans over the injuries her daughter sustained.

"Don't apologize! It's not your fault. You can't control your attacks… if anything, I should be blamed." The younger blonde looks away from her mother and focuses on her hands in her lap. "I should have been more careful with-"

Thena is quick to take her daughter's hand in her own. "Sweetie, look at me." Daina slowly brings her gaze back to her mother. "You are not to blame, okay? Not ever. Promise me you won't feel guilty about this." 

Daina nods and shuffles closer to Thena. "I promise." She mumbles before wrapping her arms around her mother's waist and resting her head on her shoulder. Thena smiles and reaches an arm around the girl's shoulder, resting her chin atop of the teenager's head, mumbling a small 'good'.

A/N: It took me a while lol but it's finally here although I don't like the ending much. I'll probably write some more stories with Daina if anyone is interested. Thanks for reading!

Also feel free to drop requests in the comments or DM!