“Are you sure she’s going to want to help us?” Druig said. “She’s been through a lot and she’s not going to want to see your face in particular, Eros. Besides, we can do this by ourselves.”
Makkari walked up next to him and started to sign quickly. “It’s going to take a lot more than just the four of us to get what we need done,” she said. “You know that. Since when are you the one to get so hesitant?”
Druig sighed. She had a point. If they wanted to defeat who they wanted to defeat they were going to have to rely on humans at some point. He didn’t know. Something about this felt so wrong. Eros in particular felt wrong. The things his brother did wasn’t easily forgiven by the humans, especially those who didn’t come back from their fates. That included Loki, the lover of the girl they were about to see. Would she even want to help if she knew what they did or what they didn’t do? Would she even want to see their faces? Would they know who they were? There were so many unanswered questions and it felt like they were catching her by surprise by showing up at the doorstep of the Avengers compound.
They walked up to the front door and looked up. This compound seemed to be bigger than the last, if that was even possible. The windows gleamed in the setting sun and by all sense of the word it was spectacular. Who was she trying to house if it was just her and a couple others living there? Was she hoping for people to come back and want to stay at the compound? It was quite rare for her to stay here or so they heard. She liked to stay in New York a little more since it was closer to Peter and Strange. By some miracle she managed to escape the spell as well. Was there anything she couldn’t do?
Thena was the one to press the buzzer on the large compound, though the doors were made of glass as well. They could easily see in, but no one could be seen in the compound as if it were empty. For a couple minutes, they stood there waiting and wondering if anyone would come. Then they heard her voice through the intercom. “One moment please,” she said. Her voice sounded scratchy as if she’d been up for hours and as if she hadn’t drank anything in ages.
Soon the girl could be seen bounding down the steps of the compound, a notebook in hand and a pair of glasses on that were showing her everything and anything she needed to know. She didn’t even look up when she went to meet what was left of the Eternals. Her hair was kept out of her face by a long braid and dark bags could be seen under her eyes. Makkari and Druig looked at each other. How tirelessly had she been researching everything? She opened the door with her back and stepped out into the open with the rest of them, her attention still directed at the notebook. She was writing something down. Something complicated even the best of them couldn’t seem to figure out. “To whom do I owe the pleasure of company?” she asked.
Druig looked at his other friends who motioned him forward before he cleared his throat, finally causing her to look up to them. She turned the glasses off and her eyes grew wide when she took each one of them in. “We’re here to see Jade,” he said. “We’re assuming that’s you.”
Jade tucked the notebook she was looking at under her arm and took her glasses off and put them on her head revealing bright green eyes since the glasses were tinted. “Yes,” she said. “What’s going on?”
“Well…how do I explain this,” Druig said. “We’re kind of in a rough spot at the moment, seeing as more than half our team is gone and in danger, and we wanted to enlist your help. We’ve heard you’re one of the most powerful Avengers there is.” Druig was taking glances to his friends to make sure he was saying the right thing. Was flattery the way to her heart?
Jade stared them down for a moment before she moved quickly. “Tony, activate order 106 immediately,” she called out to the compound. It only took a second for four inhibitor collars to shoot out of the ground and onto each one of the Eternals necks. At first they struggled, all except Makkari, against the restraints. Especially Druig, who tried to control her mind as soon as the collar hit his neck. But it was useless. The collars blocked all magic.
“What the hell is this?” Druig asked. “What are you doing?”
“I was wondering when you guys would show up on my doorstep,” Jade said. “I needed to protect myself from your powers somehow so I programmed those collars to block off even the strongest of magic. Eternals can’t touch me.” Jade looked Makkari in the eyes. She was surprisingly calm unlike her boyfriend. She had this look in her eyes that told her she was expecting something like this to happen and she didn’t flinch when the collar hit her. Instead she just stood there and let it happen. If anyone could outrun it, it was her, so her calmness was peculiar to Jade. A pang of guilt hit her stomach when she looked at her so Jade quickly signed an apology.
All Makkari did was nod in acknowledgement of the apology. She then put her hand on Druig’s shoulder in order for him to calm down since he was struggling against the collar. Druig looked at her for a moment and calmed down when he saw how calm she was. He let out a sigh of relief, cracked his neck, and looked forward. Thena seemed very calm though she too was struggling at first. Her eyes seemed to clear the moment the collar hit her neck as if she was somehow cleared of all her ailments. And Eros. Jade didn’t like him, but he showed no emotion in his face after the initial shock of the collar hitting his neck.
“Come now,” Jade said, offering them to come into the compound. “You must be starving.” Jade ushered them into the compound where somewhat of a feast was set out. Jade thought it was all she could do for her guests, though in her eyes it wasn’t much. It was her personal favorite: protein packed pancakes, eggs, toast, and some breakfast sausage. She’d been eating it as if it was going out of style since it was the easiest. She waved her hand in front of it for the Eternals to take their pick since they had all calmed down by now. However, she was wearing a frown as if she were disappointed in her spread.
Makkari noticed and started signing to Jade. “Don’t look so sad,” she said. “It looks amazing. It’s very thoughtful that you even did this for us.”
Durig laughed. She put them in these collars then had the gall to offer them food as if they were actual dinner guests instead of her prisoners. “What’s not thoughtful is these collars,” he said sarcastically. “You treat us like prisoners then offer us this grand feast.”
“Like you have any room to talk,” Jade said. “You are the one who mind controlled a whole population. Besides, you don’t have to eat if you don’t want to.” Jade took a plate of her own and topped it with four pancakes. She put butter on them before pouring syrup all over them. The small motion surprised Druig. At first he didn’t trust the food, but if she was eating it, maybe it wasn’t poisoned after all.
“She’s got a point, Druig,” Thena said as she sat down at one of the tall, cylindrical stools. “She’s rightfully doing this to protect herself. I would if I were in her shoes. What was your excuse again?”
“Quiet,” Druig snapped, though it wasn’t long before he too was sitting down and eating with the rest of them. The dinner was silent and tense as they were all getting used to each other. Jade seemed to look like she held all the confidence in the world, but her heart was beating fast. After seeing those things in the ocean, those stone figures, she knew it wouldn’t be long until some sort of being showed up on her doorstep. She’d only read about the Eternals and seen pictures of them in ancient history, but she never thought their existence would be brought to light especially in the way it did. However, she knew she shouldn't expect anything normal to happen to her anymore. Everyone seems to have forgotten that half the world being snapped out of existence isn’t normal even for magical worlds standards. Ever since the end of that war, she’s been having so many…freak shows show up to the compound looking for her. Whether it be the people from SWORD pushing her to give information about Wanda to just random people looking for the rest of the Avengers. She often wondered how much more madness she could take. When she was done eating, she took the small, metal bracelet she wore and started to crush it and uncrush it with her hand and powers.
Druig shoved a piece of pancake in his mouth as he watched her nervous habit. “What, are you nervous?” he asked, calling her out on the behavior. Jade shot her eyes over to him expecting him to laugh, but he looked tired and seemed to be glaring at her. That question got him a swift elbow to the ribs by Makkari. He grunted in pain and she glared at him for being so rude. “What?” Druig asked, rubbing his ribs slightly to alleviate the pain. “You don’t find it unsettling that she seems just as nervous as us?”
“And why wouldn’t I be nervous, hmm?” Jade asked. “It’s not everyday you have immortals show up on your doorstep. It was bad enough Strange was messing up the world, now I’ve got to deal with you guys too! Where did your friends go, by the way? There were more of you, weren't there?” Jade stood up and turned around groaning. She ran her fingers through the hair that she could and dread filled her body. The more she thought about how the world was going crazy the more she got stressed out. It felt like it was so much easier before Tony snapped his fingers and left everybody behind. Why couldn’t they just go back to fighting each other instead of fighting otherworldly beings and otherworldly versions of themselves? Times were so much simpler when Loki was by her side. Now all she could do was remember him in photos and videos and pray for some sort of miracle to happen to bring him back. But she knew, better than anyone, that no amount of praying or magic would ever bring back that Loki. The Loki who loved her endlessly.
She heard someone stand up from their stool and turned around. It was Makkari and she was looking concerned. “How do you know so much?” she asked. “You’re not like any regular human I’ve met. You’ve got knowledge beyond your years.”
Jade laughed dryly. “You kind of got a point there,” she said. “I am no regular human, by human terms. Was taken by a lab at a young age and turned into a super soldier with enhanced powers. Yes, they did everything to me that you could possibly think of. It’s a miracle I’m still alive. As to the ‘knowledge beyond my years’ part, I’ve been researching and researching and researching ways to bring back those we’ve lost in the war, often finding myself finding out about things that no human should ever know about. Including you guys, the TVA, and the multiverse. It’s all out there and there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s all real and very dangerous.”
Thena put down her utensils, her appetite suddenly gone, and started to listen intently to what Jade had to say. If she’s found out so much about other entities, she must know about what happens to their friends if those Celestials manage to get their hands on them. Did she know about what happened next? However, that was not the point that stuck out to her the most. The point that stuck out to her the most was what she did for her dead friends. No mere friendship or acquaintance would push someone so far as to find out about things like the TVA or the multiverse. She must have loved these people dearly to be pushed so far. She must have also been hiding a lot of things from people she already knew that were still alive.
Thena should know. She was in love once before. “You were in love,” she said. Her words were simple but they held so much meaning.
Jade wanted to act offended and indignant at her assumptions, but she knew they were true. “Yes,” she said, letting a tear slip down her cheek. “Which is why I’m so mad. So, so mad.”
Druig looked down. He knew this was coming. If she knew about them and what they did, there was nothing stopping her from feeling completely repulsed and angry at them for letting this happen to her world and the people she loved. He wanted to stop her from the explosion she was bound to have at them, but he knew they rightfully deserved it. He might have been able to stop that small village from tearing each other apart, but he couldn’t stop the whole world. Makkari could see the anger growing in Jade’s face and she looked at Druig to see he was already preparing himself for the anger they were about to receive. She thought, if he was doing so, then she should too.
“You’re mad at us,” Druig said. “Go on. Let it all out.”
Jade nodded her head quickly. “Why didn’t you stop it?” Jade said, her voice fully drowned in sobs. “If you could have stopped conflicts and wars a-and disasters, why didn’t you stop him before he killed my friends? My family? You had all the power in the world, but you didn’t do anything except bask in your own glory. Why? It feels as if my friends died for…nothing. Loki. Natasha. Tony. They all died for what?”
“Trust, me when I say I feel your pain,” Druig said. “I’ve been asking myself and the others that for centuries. I didn’t like seeing the conflict or the bloodshed so I made a safe haven all for myself in the middle of the jungle. But that safe haven couldn’t stop the pain that was still happening outside in the world. And I know my words mean nothing to you, but I’m sorry your friends were killed, I truly am.”
There was a long silence. Jade’s chest was rapidly rising and falling with her panting, her face was blotchy, and her eyes were red. All the anger she’d felt ever since she found out about the Eternals was finally let out. Every smashed picture of them, every punched monitor, every destroyed relic all came down to this. The moment when she finally met them and let them have a piece of her mind. She thought she would feel better yelling at them and asking them why. But she didn’t. She didn’t because her outburst wouldn’t bring anyone back and Druig’s apology, though very sincere, did little to patch the hole in her heart.
Jade turned a little to the side. There was nothing left to do. Nothing and noone left for her to take her anger out on. All the dummies were destroyed, she’s tried every anxiety reducing app, and all her books were worn through by constant reading. If taking her anger out on the people who could have done things to prevent the world from going this far, what else was there to do but…apologize?
“I-I’m sorry,” she stammered out. “There’s nothing left I can give you. I’m just a shell of what I used to be and I’m sure you don’t want that if you’re going to fight whatever it is you’re going to fight. Tony, release order 106.”
To everyone’s surprise but Jade’s, Tony Stark’s voice came over the intercoms. “Are you sure you want to do this, Jade?” it said. “They are basically powerful immortal space aliens who could over power you in an instant.”
“Just do it,” Jade snapped back.
“Fine, don’t listen to me,” it said. The inhibitor collars were immediately dropped and finally the Eternals could feel their power surging through them once more. Druig flexed and Makkari stretched out a little bit. She walked up to Jade. At first she didn’t know what to do and she hesitated a little bit, but she put out her arms for Jade to give her a hug.
“What’s this?” Jade asked her.
“You have no need to apologize,” Makkari said. “It’s human to feel emotions. We’ve even experienced it ourselves. All of us. We’ve experienced loss and other human things as well. You also looked like you haven’t had a hug in a long time.” Jade fell into her arms and Makkari squeezed tight in efforts to get all the bad feelings to leave Jade’s body.
When they broke the hug Jade’s eyes were wet and she was nodding silently to Makkari and thanking her.
“If you’ve seen multiple things no human has ever seen, then that means you’ve seen what happens when this all ends, right?” Thena asked. Though she was hesitant Jade nodded quickly. “Then what happens?” Thena asked. “What’s our future look like exactly?”
Jade swallowed hard as her eyes went to a different place. She looked like she was remembering what she saw and she was terrified. She said one sentence that struck everyone there with fear.
“We’re all doomed.”