Time is finite
The doors of the domo slowly opened and before his eyes could even adjust to the earth's bright sun, Druig was already walking out with a sense of urgency he couldn’t hold any longer.
Makkari was in the same state of mind as his, as she shared one look with him, and with a gentle but firm nod from him, she sped off. Probably searching all the possible places Sprite could be.
Or could’ve been.
They had heard of their fellow Eternals disappearance only a while ago and had left the earth even longer than that. He didn’t want to think Sprite was anything but fine, but he knew the reality would not allow it.
So, he waited, with the domo towering above him, already cloaked. He heard footsteps behind him and turned his head. His stiff expression broke slightly into exasperation.
“Thena..”
The woman warrior held her hand up to stop him. “Do not even try, I deserve to see her as much as you do.”
His lips formed a thin line, but he nodded.
Makkari appeared a moment later and he tensed, preparing himself with whatever verdict she held.
If Sprite was hurt, sick, or dead-
“I found her.” She signed.
And the breath left him.
“Take me to her.” It sounded more like a question, but Makkari probably knew from the look on her face that it was more of a plea.
Her gaze lingered over his shoulder for a moment before moving back to him. Thena must have agreed to go second.
Between one moment and the next he was in front of a house. The nausea still lingered in his stomach, and the dizziness in his mind, but he managed to sign a small thank you at Makkari before the speedster took off.
Forcing one foot in front of the other, he walked and walked up to the front door, which was ajar. Forcing a mask of neutrality onto his face, he stepped inside.
The air crackled as his eyes spotted the red-haired young woman standing in the hallway, her back at him as she shouted something – he didn’t have the mind to process at the moment – to someone else in the house.
Then she turned, and he saw the exact moment she recognized him.
As his mind cleared, his mask of neutrality was nowhere to be found. He felt his own breath catching as if he had been the one who ran miles to get there.
“Druig.”
He wasted no time, with a burst of energy, he moved towards her and pulled her in. His arms wrapped around her, careful not to exert too much force, but he couldn’t stop them from slightly shaking.
“Sprite,” his voice was filled with both sorrow and relief “you’re alive.”
She seemed to be caught off guard by the sudden embrace. Not too long after he felt her returning the hug. Her hands, softly but desperately clung to his arms.
“You’re back. Oh my- You’re back! Druig, I- The others-“ Her voice broke, and he couldn’t help but stop her with a squeeze to her upper arm.
“I know. We know.”
She shifted, and Druig released her from the hug, although his hands lingered on her shoulders.
As if remembering, she spoke, “Makkari was just here and then she was gone and I thought, I thought I was imagining things. Because it’s been so long.” Her voice sounded so desperate he had the urge to wrap his arms around her again just so he could rid her of her doubts.
But then he heard the pair of footsteps in front of the house and so he settled on the words he wanted to say.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry we weren’t here sooner.”
Sprite’s reply was halted as she was swept up in another embrace, and then another, as Thena and Makkari had their turn to reunite with their youngest. Or well, was their youngest.
He didn’t want to think about the time that had passed just yet.
Their reunion was cut short with the appearance of a teenage boy. Phastos’s kid, he realized a second later. The reality of the passage of time slammed against him again, refusing to be ignored.
He didn’t have time to dwell on it much as they exchanged pleasantries – and introduction in Eros’s case – then continued to the more pressing matter which was the disappearance of the others.
They could not, and probably would not gain much staying on earth, and as much as he hated the thought of leaving so soon, he hated even more the fact that Sprite wanted to go with them. Jack too.
One was his sister who turned mortal, and the other, the son of his brother. He did not want either of them to be in space. It was dangerous.
And they were mortal. So painfully – and wonderfully – mortal.
He lost the argument when even Ben could not dissuade his son from leaving with them. And then Sprite was a whole other matter entirely. Of course, it wasn't like him saying “no” had ever done much good against Sprite in the past and now added to the many human years she had on him, she had won the moment she spoke her mind.
It didn’t mean he was going to let her or Jack out of his sight for even a single moment once they left though. He promised as much to Ben.
They were peacefully passing through space, the only sound being a steady and comforting hum of the domo. He could feel the heaviness of sleep descending upon his human sister and nephew. With a word, he had offered Jack his father’s room, to which the boy immediately agreed.
There was a moment of doubt when Druig had offered, afraid the remnants of Phastos’s things in the domo would do more harm than good, but it was too late to take back his words now.
Sprite refused to go to her room, the one they had not changed or touched. Instead, she had stayed at the lab, going through whatever trinkets had been gathering dust there. At first, he had stayed to the side, watching her walk back and forth across the room, picking up and checking various things. When he had asked what she was looking for she had said, “Nothing. Just jogging my memory.”
That had sent a spike of fear through him. He asked if she was forgetting things. She sassed him by saying even he could not remember all the time they had spent on earth.
He couldn’t of course, but it didn’t deter him from asking her again. She had paused and tilted her head.
“Some things are a bit… faded.”
She misremembered some details of her own stories. He tried to school his expressions, but he must’ve failed because she had grimaced and told him offhandedly that it wasn’t the most important thing they needed to worry about at the moment.
He wanted to refuse, to ask more, but also knew she was right.
Somewhere after their continued conversation, he ended up in the corner, slightly hidden by the mountain of things his beautiful Makkari had collected. He leaned back, resting against the walls of the domo.
Sprite, with her vibrant red-orange hair, was nestled against his shoulder on his side. The room was dimly lit and the silence turned out to be comforting as the former Eternal finally succumbed to sleep.
He had forgotten some things about human health and physiology, but he knew sleeping on the cold floor couldn’t be good for her. So, with some effort, he shifted his weight, swiftly catching Sprite as her head slid off his shoulder.
Looping one arm underneath her legs, and the other behind her shoulders, he cradled her. As gently, but also as swiftly as he could, he walked towards Sprite’s room. On the journey, Sprite squirmed in her sleep once, which made him stop. But she didn’t wake so he found it safe to continue.
Reaching her room, he swiftly laid her down on her bed, covering her with her blanket that had long been unused.
Before he left the room, he heard Sprite sighing contentedly.
He had his sister back, and he was going to get the rest of his family back too.