Impossible || Druig

11

Australia hadn't changed in a hundred years. It was still as dry and dusty as Soro remembered. The red earth bright under the sun and the land barren with only a few stray bushes and trees populating the horizon. Gilgamesh's and Thena's cabin in the outback was also the same. It hadn't changed in a hundred years and Soro was almost disappointed. "That's new", he remarked upon seeing the deviant corpse beside the road leading up to the isolated house. There was something else new there too, a beaten up faded blue truck that looked to be on the verge of falling apart. 

"Is this the deviant you fought in London?" Kingo asked. Soro had been wondering the same. 

"No. This one is different. There must be more than we thought", Ikaris replied. Soro sighed at the idea of more work. 

He walked past the decaying corpse, listening to Kingo and Karun talking about it in the background. The human very excited to see a deviant for himself. Kingo managed to distract the man by staring his film again. "You are about to meet the two most legendary warriors the world has ever known", he narrated as he walked. Soro peered around his shoulder and peered at the camera with a deadpan expression without Kingo noticing. "Thena. Legendary, deadly, fashionable. And her trusty friend". He waved at the doors and Karun focused on them. "The might powerhouse of strength". Ikaris knocked loudly. "The fearsome Gilgamesh!" 

There was a few seconds of silence. "Gilgamesh!" Kingo called again and this time the doors opened. Gilgamesh appeared in all his glory wearing a pink 'kiss the cook' apron. Soro grinned. 

"What took you so long?" Gilgamesh frowned at them. Behind him, music was warbling from the house. He walked past them, pausing to glance down at Sprite. "You look younger today Sprite. Soro, still begging on street corners?" 

"I never begged on street corners", Soro protested. "Why does everyone seem to think I'm a hobo? We travelled without homes for thousands of years, just because I continued it doesn't make me suddenly a hobo". 

"No it's cause you dress like a tramp", Gil deadpanned as he headed to the clay oven built against the wall. He had made himself a little cooking area shielded from the sun by a raggedy tarp tied overhead. "A clean tramp, but still a hipster tramp who looks like the have just come back from a sixties festival straight after leaving the Vietnam war". 

"But with a bit more black", Kingo added. Soro turned to him and the other man backtracked. "Like its a style but you could do with more fitted clothes that haven't been taken out of thrift store bins, you know? My offer to model my merch is still on the table". 

"A hundred years and this is how you greet me?" Soro grumbled as Gil reached for a pot. 

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Karun, Kingo's valet". 

"Oh Valet", Gil nodded. "Like Alfred in Batman". Karun seemed very pleased by the comparison. 

"Gilgamesh", Ikaris spoke up in his usual boss tone. "The deviant's are back". 

"No shit", the large man rolled his eyes. Whatever he was stirring in the pot smelt nice. Soro wondered if it was a stew. "I could have used some help". 

"We were attacked by a deviant in London too", Sprite added. 

"Even Ikaris couldn't kill it", Sersi voiced. Soro smirked at the slightly frustrated and offended look that spread across the man's face at the reminder. (He enjoyed ruffling Ikaris' feathers). 

"You couldn't?" Gil repeated. 

"I was distracted", Ikaris spoke slowly, brows furrowed at Sersi. Soro wondered what he had done to piss her off. 

"Sure man", Gil laughed. He reached into the oven and pulled out a pie dish with his bare hands. "Hey, anyone want to try my pie? Other than you Soro, I see your hand waving". 

"I'm sorry Gil", Ikaris' tone was a touch softer than it had been when they told Kingo. "Ajak's dead". 

Sprite's wasn't though her words suggested otherwise. "It's true buddy. We lost her". 

Soro watched as Gil's face fell, becoming wide eyed for a second, then sad as the grief set in. His hands fell and the pie dish dangled in one hand. Soro darted forwards and pulled it from the older man's grasp before the top layer could slide away. He cradled the hot pan to his chest carefully. "Hey", he huffed as Gil collapsed into a wooden chair. "Don't waste pie". The other Eternal didn't reply as Soro placed the dish down onto the brick table. 

"We need to talk to Thena", Sersi said in the brief silence. Gil seemed to pull himself together and stood up. He led them around the house and towards a lone tree standing a few hundred yards away. Thena's blonde hair and white clothing visible underneath. 

As they grew closer Soro noticed that the tree was dead, bone white branches pointing to the sky. Stones and skeletons of small creatures were assembled in a circular patter around the trunk and homemade wind chimes dangled from the branches. Thena sat with it all, hands drawing in chalk on large pieces of paper. "The attack triggered her", Gil explained. He stepped forwards while the rest hung back. Soro recalled the scar she gave him and it ached in reminder. "Thena, give me your hand". 

She turned and her eyes were gold. "Everyone in centuri-6 is going to die, she announced as she conjured a spear. It met the gold shield of Gilgamesh's gauntlets. "It's too late. We can't save them". 

"Thena", Gil tried as she raised her other hand to conjure another weapon. Then golden patterns filled the air and they were standing in the central chamber of the Domo again. Sprite with her hands up and her fingers glowing. 

"Thena. We came to earth together on our ship", her fingers danced as golden representations of themselves took shape and danced through the air. Thena's image locking blades with a deviant. "You're an Eternal. The greatest warrior of Olympia. The legendary protector of Athens. The goddess of war". Thena seemed to relax upon seeing the images. Soro watched the gold fade from her eyes. "Remember who you are". 

The weapons in her hands faded but she was still standing in a combat position, seemingly confused. Gil reached out and gently interlocked her fingers. That seemed to be the final push and the blue returned to her eyes and she relaxed. The illusion faded and she smiled at Gil. "Hello", she stated upon seeing them. It wasn't the friendliness of greetings. 

"Who's your gardener?" Kingo asked, finally noticing the decor. Soro rolled his eyes. 

unedited