My First Birthday
It’s been exactly one year since the day all the other Eternals were taken away.
One year since she said goodbye to Druig, Makkari, and Thena.
One year since the very last hug she got from Sersi.
One year since Kingo promised he’d pick her up after school.
She would have spent more time with them if she had known. If she had known, she would not have wasted so much time in school, laughing and making new friends. All the while her family was taken away.
She remembered having her first real smile after-
Ajak’s death, Gilgamesh’s death, Ikaris’s death
…a long long while.
As she waited in front of her new school, she was actually looking forward to the next day. But then hours passed and Kingo didn’t come back. She tried calling him but there was no answer. She tried convincing herself that he was just busy and probably forgotten. But what if he left her again. He did it once.
When it started raining was when it got worse. She had waited hours and hours and there was still no sign of Kingo or even Karun. He would’ve sent Karun if he really couldn’t come, wouldn’t he??
One elderly teacher seemed to have taken pity on her and asked if she wanted to stay with her for a while. Maybe in a few more hours, her ‘guardian’ would come to pick her up. She refused as politely as she could but the old – young? – lady said that no person would leave a child alone. Sprite was no child. Or maybe she was?
She ended up going with her to her home which wasn’t actually too far from the school.
Sprite wasn’t picked up that day.
The next day, her teacher was starting to worry about her supposed guardian. Sprite had told her that she had tried calling but there was no answer. The old woman suggested they went to the police station and sprite had quickly objected, saying that she could wait a little longer and to at least let her spend the school day.
Of course, she didn’t get to spend her school day as a very haggard-looking Dane was waiting at her school gates.
“Oh my god, Sprite! I thought you had gone too. I should’ve come here sooner. I’m so sorry. After Sersi was taken-” The man had lifted Sprite up into a hug and babbled apologies that Sprite just couldn’t understand.
Sersi was taken…
What?
She had learned that the Eternals—whatever was left of her family—was gone. Denying it didn’t work after a while. After all, she saw the broken state that was Dane’s place. Weirdly this all felt very unreal to her. She half expected Sersi to just barge in, say that she was picking up breakfast, and scold Dane for playing such a cruel joke.
The next few weeks didn’t feel important to Sprite as she didn’t remember it at all. The next thing she knew was in Phastos’s home, with Phastos’s human family, but no Phastos. When she and Dane arrived, they were quickly greeted by Ben, who took Dane away to talk. Sprite didn’t even feel mad about being left out of the conversation. She would very much rather be ignorant at the moment. Walking through the house, she found Jack. Phastos’s son. He was quiet. Nothing at all like how Phastos described him.
Knocking on the door she asked if she could come in. Jack had snapped up at the sound of her voice. And with all the innocence and desperation of a child, he asked her the one question that finally broke her down.
“Can you bring my dad back?”
Sprite felt her chest tighten and small tears that were threatening to fall over. But she couldn’t break here. Not in front of this child. Phastos’s child. So she told him the truth that she couldn’t but she promised that she would do all that she could—even spend the rest of the life she has left, looking for him. The boy believed her. Even when she didn’t believe herself.
Here she was, a year older. Feeling like she had grown up more in one year than in the 7000 years she spent as an Eternal. Being a teenager was weird. Her growth spurt for example. She sometimes would look at herself in the mirror and laugh at the thought she would almost be the same height as Makkari–and Ajak.
“Happy First Birthday! Not-big-sis.” Speaking of a growth spurt, Jack was a bit taller now. His head almost reached her shoulder. And even though Sprite told him time and time again that she was technically his aunt more than his sister, he didn’t quite listen.
“Shouldn’t you be at school?”
He walked in and sat at the edge of her bed —Dane and Ben had decided that Sprite was better around Jack, so she stayed with them— a cupcake with a single-lit candle in his hands. “I wanted to be the first to say happy birthday to you.”
Sprite raised her eyebrow. “And...?”
Jack smiled bashfully. “And I wanted to know what your wish is.”
Sprite immediately turned somber. “You know what it is…”
The amazingly wise young boy gave her the cupcake. “Yeah... Maybe it’ll come true this year.”
They heard Ben’s voice downstairs calling Jack that he was going to be late. Jack turned to her with his wide expecting eyes.
She blew the candle and made her wish. The boy clapped his hands and Sprite couldn’t help but smile. They both walked down the stairs. Sprite had a little bit more trouble since she had to bring a science project about the world. She made a big golden globe. It was getting to be more trouble than it was worth since the damn thing wouldn’t fit into her already stuffy bag.
Jack had already grabbed his lunch and went out the door. Sprite stopped at the dining table and wrestled with her bag.
Ben took one look at her and chuckled. “Need help over there?”
Sprite tucked some of her hair that had gotten loose while huffing out “No.”
“Happy Birthday by the way...” He added.
Sprite stopped shoving her bag and felt her mouth dry. “Thanks,” she added on a much happier tone “no need to make me anything. Jack already got me my birthday cake.”
Ben laughed out loud, and Sprite finally got her project in her bag. It might look a little crushed but at least it’ll make it to school.
Before she could move to sling her bag across her shoulders, the door slammed open. Ben yelled her name, and she could see him trying as fast as he could to get to her. She felt the air in her lungs leave as something fast collided with her.
Expecting to feel pain, she instead found arms around her neck, and she felt tears wetting the side of her face.
Registering what had happened, she whispered.
“Makkari?”