ETERNAL FAMILY

CHAPTER THREE

Adelyne's POV

The next day...

A crashing noise awoke me. I tumbled out of the blankets in a flurry of curses. When I hit the floor, the thunk was echoed by a louder crunching sound down the hall. Druig’s raised voice carried in the distance.

"What the?!" I snarled.

Moving fast, I ran down the Domo’s long corridors.

I needed it—panic and uncertainty were flooding the air. Violent sparks of sickly greens and neon yellows cracked across his senses; moving inward through the ship became a toxic trial.

I found them in the workshop. The unsettling awareness of walking in on a conversation half-started overcame me, making greens and yellows go a deep, deep steel blue.

Druig stood in front of the teak throne as if shielding it, with his arms out wide, fingers of each hand splayed. He wore his Celestial armor, an onyx shell keeping him locked in and protected. His eyes were gold and round.

Between me and Makkari stood Thena. Her back was towards me; her shoulders and the stance of her feet spoke loudly of aggression. No armor for her—she was in the high-waisted white pants and tank that I had seen her in last. In her hands was a poleaxe, the golden threads constructing it cut atoms in half as she weighed it in her hands.

"Everything alright?" I asked.

Druig didn’t move. "Nope!" He said, his voice emotionless from quiet terror. His eyes flickered, rabid-like, between gold and blue. Control was a finite thing in such a delicate situation.

Thena shifted. Just a little; just far enough to look at them over the slope of her shoulder. White-blank eyes pulled me in. Golden insignia flashed over her skin. The noxious, fuming, unmistakable thralls of Ma'hd Wy’yr hung in her.

"Oh, God..." I cursed.

I didn’t have time to feel aggrieved. Thena turned towards me, contemplation becoming action in the shift of her grip on the poleaxe handle. An urgent need to find clarity came into violent means.

"Thena..." I hold my hands out in front of her. "You don't want to do this."

I dodged as the poleaxe swung at my head. I noticed that Makkari was about to move to save me but I gave her a look that I can bring her back.

"Thena, it's okay. It's me, Adelyne. It's your little flower." I said to her. "Look at me. It's safe. Remember."

I doesn’t quite manage to dodge the axe again, the point slicing against my cheek, sharp and quick. I didn't even realize it until she feels the sting and something warm rolling down my face like salty tears. 

I was so startled at the fact that Thena actually hurt me that she hesitates a moment far too long and Thena pinned me up against the wall, her spear angled so that one quick jab would quickly kill me.

"Thena..." I said cautiously, aware that one small slip of my tongue, one wrong word and it was over with. "Remember. Remember Gil. Come back to me." I moved one hand, focusing everything she has in her onto making one tiny illusion of Thena’s favorite person and hopes that she hasn’t forgotten what he looks like. 

Thena's eyes slide from the blood dripping down my cheek to focus on the small figure of Gilgamesh that I cradled in her palm. 

"Remember, Thena. Don't hurt me. Don't hurt your little flower." I said softly. "Come back to me. Come back. I'm your little flower. You're the only person who can call me that."

Thena's milky white eyes flicker to look back at my face for a few moments before the spear disappears and the grip she had on me slackens. She blinks a few times, glancing around before realizing what she had done, jerking away and dropping me.

I hit the ground with a grunt, collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut. 

"Oh, Gods..." Thena whispers in horror, clamping a hand over her mouth as she stumbles back from me. "I didn't mean— Lyne, I—"

I shook my head, pushing myself to my feet. "I'm okay."

"No, you're not... I hurt you." Thena lets out a soft gasp. "I hurt you. You're bleeding."

I reaches up to touch my cheek, pulling my fingertips back to look at the crimson on my fingertips. "I'm not angry with you. That wasn't you. You weren't on yourself."

Thena looks frustrated and upset with herself.

"I'll go and get some first aid kit." Makkari signed before zooming out the laboratory.

"Where's Eros and Pip?" I asked Druig.

"I told them to stay still in their room." Druig said as Makkari came back with a kit in her hand before giving it to Thena.

Thena grips my chin, staring down at my face for a few moments before gently wiping away the blood on my face. 

I doesn’t know what to say to help Thena. Gilgamesh always knew what to say. I tried to think of what he would have said in this situation. 

"I'm not upset with you." I told Thena, feeling the woman still. 

Thena's hand on my chin shifts slightly before she looks into my eyes. 

"We'll leave you two." Druig said as he and Makkari exited the room.

"I'm sorry." Thena said again, spreading ointment over the slice on my cheek.

"Thena... Like I said, I'm not upset with you. Besides it happens many times back in Australia."

"I know." Thena said as she smooth a band-aid over my cheek. However, Thena doesn’t let go of my face when she finishes, cupping my cheeks with her hands.

"I'm not upset but I feel angry to myself because I hurt you." Thena lets out a soft sigh, her thumb gently stroking over the bandage. "I don't want to hurt you again."

"Thena, it's not your fault that you hurt me. It's the Ma'hd Wy'ry, not you." I said before hugging her.