Intertwined Souls
It was supposed to be like any other routine check. Check the perimeter of Babylon to make sure the people are safe. So when Makkari activates her SOS beacon at the gate of the city, the team didn’t know what to expect.
Hours earlier, the team were gathered in their home in Babylon.
“I don’t wanna go! I’m about to teach a group of villagers how to act!” Kingo whined.
“Acting? Isn’t it a little early for that?” Phastos inquired.
“Says the guy who wanted to introduce solar power to them last week” Kingo retorted.
“This could revolutionize their lives by harnessing the power of the sun! How are you even comparing acting to that?”
“Not everything is about evolving! Ever heard of having fun?”
“I’ll show you fun-” Phastos started.
“Enough you two!” Ajak entered the room after hearing all the commotion. “Kingo it’s your turn to scout, so you will go”
“But Ajak-”
“No buts, go on”
Kingo sulked and started to walk out of the room. Makkari, who was lying on Druig’s lap on the couch reading a book sat up.
I’ll do it she signed.
“Really?” Druig inquired confused.
“Really!?” Kingo basically screamed rushing up to her.
Yeah I mean it won’t take me long Makkari signed.
“You’re the best Makkari! Thank you I owe you one!” Kingo said running out the door.
“You sure? Kingo shouldn’t get away with everything” Druig said.
I’m sure. Besides, I’ll be back in a flash. She said winking.
Druig chucked to himself as he watched her zoom out of the room. He was hiding a secret though. He loved her more than anything in the world. The only other person who knew this was Ajak. Call it maternal instinct, but she knew that Ikaris and Sersi weren’t the only two on the team who had feelings for each other.
“Why don’t you just tell her Druig?”
“I can’t just blurt it out Ajak. I need to ease into it” Druig replied.
“Listen Druig, I know we’re immortal, but even we have limited time. Don’t waste it”
Ajak’s words stayed in his mind ever since that day. He didn’t know how long Makkari would wait for him. Hell, it’s already been a couple centuries, he was surprised she was still hanging out with him.
All he knew was that he needed to tell her how he felt, sooner rather than later.
Makkari on the other hand was making her way around Babylon, checking for any unusual activity. Everything seemed normal, until her last checkpoint. She squinted her eyes and saw some unusual tracks in the sand. No human or animal of this planet could make those.
Before she could finish her thought, a tentacle wrapped around her leg and threw her to the side. She landed on her back and rolled a few feet before looking at what attacked her.
A deviant with the body of an octopus and the head of a lizard stood before her growling. The tentacles on this deviant had sharp, razor like ends to them, meaning she had to watch out to make sure she would’t get decapitated.
She glared at the ugly beast before running at full speed towards it, expecting to make a punch on it, but got swept off her feet before getting anywhere near it. This thing had too many tentacles for her to get a hit on it. She needed help.
Makkari got back up and lead the monster away from the gates of Babylon before activating her armor to send a beacon to her friends. Hopefully she can keep this thing busy before help arrives.
Druig was sitting on the couch eating some nuts from a stand he got from the village when his armor started beeping. He held up his arm and saw that a distress signal was coming from the middle of the desert, and it was from Makkari.
He instantly sits up and looks his around, the other Eternals immediately enter the living room, the same look of concern on their faces.
“We need to get out there. Now” he says with determination.
The others nod and pretty soon, they are all standing in the middle of the dessert, thanks to Sprite’s teleportation ability.
Druig looks around frantically before spotting an ugly looking deviant with his Makkari tied up in mid air.
“Makkari!” He yelled worried and ran towards her.
Ikaris beat him to it as he flies into the deviant, punching it back. The deviant lets go of Makkari and she falls down to the ground. Luckily, Druig is there in time and catches her in his arms safely.
“Are you okay?” He asks concerned, staring into those brown eyes of hers.
She weakly nodded and grabbed her head. Yeah…just shaken up. She signed.
Druig let out of a sigh of relief he didn’t know he had and pressed his forehead against hers.
“Jesus, you scared the shit out of me Kari”
I’m okay. I promise I’m okay.
Unfortunately their moment didn’t last long as pretty soon Sprite yelled at them.
“Hey love birds! Leave the flirting to Ikaris and Sersi and help us out here!”
Druig rolled his eyes and gently placed Makkari down on the ground. She nodded her head and him and turned to run to help. Before she did, Druig stopped her by grabbing her hand.
“Be careful Kari” he said staring into her eyes.
She nodded and signed you too before going off to help Ikaris. He saw her coming and flew down and grabbed her hand. He lifted her up and created some momentum before launching her towards the deviant.
She hit it with such force that in flew back a distance. She landed on the ground gracefully and looked in the direction of the deviant. It was still moving and running straight towards her.
Thena and Gilgamesh looked at each other nodded, their way of communication and effective teamwork. Gilgamesh charged forward, passing Makkari and powering up his fists. He punched the deviant square in the nose and stunned it slightly. At that moment Thena ran up and got a leg up from Gilgamesh, giving her an air advantage. She creates her cosmic spear and stabs the deviant in the head where the heart was.
The deviant screamed in pain as Thena backflipped off the head, landing elegantly and taking Gilgamesh’s hand.
The octopus shook it’s head started to attack everything around him.
“Everyone get out of the way now!” Ikaris yelled flying down to pick Sersi up and take her to a safe distance.
Makkari was zooming everyone to the same distance as she watched the deviant thrash, creating a dust storm around it.
As the dust settled, the deviant had stopped moving and was laying down on the ground still.
“Is it dead?” Sersi asked stepping forward, but Ikaris stopped her and pulled her back.
“Let me check first” Ikaris said flying up to get a better view point. He looked at Makkari and she nodded. It was no secret that the two were the fastest on the team. In the past, their tactic was Ikaris take the air and Makkari take the ground. It was an effective way of closing in on the deviant and annihilating it quickly.
Makkari zoomed up close to it as Ikaris flew directly above it. She watched it carefully and put her hand up to it feel it’s vibrations.
Her eyes widened as she felt the slight beat of a heartbeat, that was impossible. Thena stabbed it through the heart.
Before she could sign to Ikaris that there was a heartbeat, the ground shook below her. She turned to look at the deviant who was standing up and getting ready to attack once more. A tentacle out of no where swept her off her feet and grabbed her ankle.
It lifted Makkari up upside down and was preparing to stab her with another sharp tentacle. She struggled trying to get out of its grasp, but it was no use. Ikaris flew forward, trying to save her, but he was swatted down from mid air into the ground.
Druig and the rest of the team saw what was going on and was in shock. He saw Makkari get grabbed and for a moment, nothing else mattered. He was brought back to reality when he heard Kingo’s shocked voice.
“How is that thing still alive?” Kingo asked, already generating a cosmic blast.
“Well, octopuses have three hearts, it can live without one” Phastos said calculating in his mind.
“No time! That thing is about to kill Makkari and Ikaris” Sersi yelled running forward.
“Sprite get me over there now!” Thena instructed. Sprite nodded and used her powers to teleport Thena next to the octopus.
Thena generated two cosmic swords and began cutting off each tentacle one by one. She first went to the one about to strike Makkari, then the one suffocating Ikaris.
Makkari fell to the ground hard and hit her head. For a moment, time was going in slow motion for her. She saw the rest of the team fighting that deviant, but couldn’t fathom getting up. She noticed Druig running towards her, shouting something, but her brain wasn’t processing what he was saying.
Druig was was running yelling at Makkari to get out of the way, but she looked confused and tired.
He saw her fall and this time, he was too far to catch her. He curses himself out for not being fast enough before making it to her.
“Makkari are you okay?” He asks cradling her face.
She looks up at him confused and signs Can’t feel vibrations…head hurts.
He looked down at her head and noticed that there was some blood coming from it. She must have hit it when she fell and now can’t feel vibrations, which is a huge disadvantage for her.
“I’ll get out out of here” he says and signs to her, before picking her up bridal style starting to run away.
Just as he was starting to get some distance between the deviant, he feels a tentacle sweep him off his feet. He looks back and all he can feel is dread.
“Tell me that thing did not just grow back it’s limbs” Gilgamesh yells at Phastos.
“Octopuses are know for growing back their limbs-”
“You didn’t think to tell us that earlier than huh?” Druig yells angrily.
“I thought everyone knew! It’s a pretty common fact!” Phastos defends himself.
Druig rolls his eyes looks over to his right and see’s Makkari, struggling to stay awake. She tries standing up, but is shaky on her feet.
He looks over at the deviant and notices that it has made it its goal to get her, because it starts rampaging towards her, tentacles and all.
Even with Gilgamesh and Ikaris trying to hold it back, it’s no use. Druig expects Makkari to run out of the way, but she stays still, she can’t hear or feel anything based on the way she hit her head. His eyes widen when he see’s her back turned to it, unaware of the sharp tentacle about to strike her.
So he does the only thing he can think of. He pushes her out of the way and get’s stabbed through the stomach himself.
Makkari lands to the ground next to him and eyes widen as she see’s Druig bleeding out. To rushes towards him and rips off a piece of her red fabric and places her hand gently on his wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
Her eyes form tears as she watches Druig groan in pain. I’m so sorry Druig, I didn’t feel it coming.
“It doesn’t hurt, really” he signs back to her.
W-why would you do that?
He smiles and cups her cheek, wiping away a tear. “I will always save you, my beautiful, beautiful, Makkari”
She shakes her head and kisses his hand, Save your strength my strong Druig, I’ll take you to Ajak.
“No time, you need to help the others. They need you.”
You need me.
“They need you more. I’ll be back here when you take that thing down” he replies brushing a hair out of her face.
She looks back at the other Eternals, who area clearly fighting a loosing battle.
Keep your eyes awake. I mean it Druig.
He nods as she wraps the piece of fabric around his torso as best as she could, before running towards the deviant.
She hits it with so much force that it tumbles back. Each Eternal holds one tentacle so she can continue attacking it. She goes back and forth hitting it over and over again, until it exposes some of the insides of the beast.
Ikaris uses his laser eyes and blasts it right in the center, he holds his gaze until a hole is punched through the head.
“They can’t return from that, can they Phastos?” He grunts.
“No, a hole through the head is not something you can walk away from” Phastos responds.
Makkari lets out a breath of relief before turning her gaze to Druig. He’s lying right where she left him, a little too still for her liking. She runs towards him, closely followed by the other Eternals.
When she get’s to him she see’s that he’s not breathing.
“He lost too much blood!” Phastos says behind her.
“What do I do?” Makkari signs frantically.
“We need Ajak, NOW” Sersi yells, turning to Sprite. Sprite uses her magic and pretty soon the team is transported back to their house in Babylon.
Ajak sits up upon seeing the condition of all her children are in. Her eyes drop to an unconscious Druig.
“What happened?”
A deviant. And a strong one. Please heal him.
Ajak looks down at Druig and places a hand on his heart and one on top of Druig’s wound. Her eyes gleam gold as Druig’s gash starts to glow. “I’m sorry Makkari. I cannot heal something that is already gone”
What do you mean ‘gone’ he’s not ‘gone’
“Makkari, listen to me child. There is no heart beat. He’s passed on”
No he hasn’t I can feel him. He’s not dead!
“Phastos, take her away” Ajak says gently.
Phastos walks over to a frantic Makkari and gestures for her to leave.
No! Don’t touch me! Help him! Makkari signs angrily dropping to her knees and bringing Druig’s head up to hers.
He’s not dead. He can’t be.
Makkari’s wails are enough to bring the rest of the team to tears. No one has heard her make sound. So the fact that their first time comes from a place of distress, stings their hearts.
No Druig. It’s not your time yet. Please come back to me. I love you. She thinks, bringing his lips to hers.
She shakily breaths out again, placing Druig’s head back on the ground gently. She caresses body, crying over his chest. Despite Phastos trying to pick her up, she stays on him.
Then something amazing happens. Druig’s body armor starts to glow, along with Makkari’s. There is a flash of light and Makkari feels Ajak murmur “Impossible”. Druig’s eyes open as he coughs a couple times.
Makkari is in absolute shock, staring at Druig in utter disbelief.
“What happened?” He groaned rubbing his neck. He notices that everyone is looking down at him and Makkari look’s the most devastated he has ever seen.
“Makkari, are you okay?” He whispers, cupping her face, as he always does.
She slowly brings her shaking hand up to feel his hand on her cheek and the other to his chest. Her heart flutters when she feels his beating.
I should be asking you that
“I’m fine. I feel a little pain in my stomach.” Druig responds. She looks down at his armor and lets out a breath of relief as Druig sits up, looking at his now healed stomach.
“Can someone please explain to me what just happened?” Kingo says confused.
“Incredible. It seems that Makkari…somehow brought him back.” Ajak responds in awe.
“But that’s impossible…we can’t do that” Ikaris says.
“You know the humans have a legend that two souls that are made for each other are bound together. Perhaps that has something to do with it” Ajak says.
“So you’re saying I died…and Makkari saved me by giving me her soul?” Druig asked, standing up, leaning against Makkari.
“Part of her soul. I’m not sure how, I will ask Arishem” Ajak says hugging Druig and leaving the room.
The other Eternals look at Druig and Makkari in puzzlement.
“Are we not gonna talk about it?” Sprite asked.
“We should. Makkari, Druig, I need a detailed timeline of everything you two have ever done” Phastos said whipping out a notebook.
Druig’s eyes widen as he notices Makkari’s blush. “That’s not happening. I just died, let me rest” he says turning to Makkari gesturing them to leave.
I’m taking Druig to rest, you guys should too, that was a hard battle.
Before any of them could protest, Makkari had helped Druig out of the room, his arm around her shoulders.
She slowly made her way to his bed and gently placed him down.
“You should get some rest too you know” he says changing out of his armor.
I’m fine Druig, stop worrying about me.
“I’ll never stop worrying about you, for as long as I live”
But we live forever?
“Then I’ll forever worry about you” he replied.
Makkari chuckled a bit, before loosing her smile again.
“What’s wrong Kari?” Druig asked sitting up.
Makkari shook her head and pushed him back down.
I’m fine.
“I thought we promised never to lie to each other?” Druig whispered.
Makkari looked down at him as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. Just looking at him made her want to cry, she couldn’t help letting a few tears escape her eyes.
I’m sorry…It’s just that…you died. You were dead Druig.
Druig wiped some tears from her cheek and tried his best to comfort her.
“Hey, hey, hey, I’m not dead though, you feel my heartbeat?” He says placing her hand on his heart.
Why did you do it?
“Do what?”
Push me out of the way. Save me. You died because of it. I didn’t know I could heal you. You could have-
“Makkari, you’re really gonna make me say it? When will you get it through your head? I love you. I’ll always save you. Anytime. Anywhere.”
Makkari let out a gasp, she knew that the two innocently flirted with each other and knew that they meant something special to one another, but didn’t know it was love.
Makkari nodded and excused herself, zooming out of Druig’s room.
Druig’s heart dropped. Did he just loose the love of his life forever? Maybe he should have just died, it would feel better than this.
Just as he was pondering his thoughts Makkari returned in her favorite red comfy clothes. She gestured at him to move over, which he gladly obliged. The two lie face to face with each other. Makkari brought her hands up to sign slowly in front of him.
I love you too Druig. I would happily give you a part of my soul anytime. Anywhere.
Druig could not contain his excitement as he placed a hand on her back pulling her in closer, so there was barely any room between them.
“I’m going to kiss you now” he whispered. She nodded and his lips met hers.
The kiss was amazing. Better than amazing. Is this what it felt like to be on top? If this what Druig was missing the first couple centuries, he had no idea how he made it this long. It was as if two missing puzzle pieces had finally found each other. They were complete.
When they pulled away for, both of them were smiling and giggling like little kids.
“That was…”
Perfect. Makkari signed.
“Yes, perfect” he responded smiling, kissing her forehead.
Makkari blushed as she snuggled closer to him. The two began to drift off to sleep in each others arms until she elbowed him
Hey Druig?
“Yes love?”
Next time. Kingo can do his own patrol.
Druig laughed wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her head.
“I could’t agree more”