The Eternals

War, suffering, destruction, loss...everything Asmund felt was dread as he floated in darkness and he could hear countless lives screaming in terror, only to be silenced quickly as each race was snuffed out by planets exploding to create large humanoid beings, like the one Asmund saw before, each being emerging from every single one of the dying planets. 
 “The Emergence will come.” the same grave male voice from the first vision boomed as Asmund clutched his head trying to block out the voice, “Nothing can stop it.”
 “No…” Asmund groaned as several loud voices echoed in unison with the first grave voice telling of the Emergence coming until Asmund couldn’t take it anymore and let out an earth-shattering yell, “No!”
The voices died down for a moment, only to return louder and in hundreds of voices as Asmund felt himself being overwhelmed again, so he tried to block them all out, but it didn't work, and he tried to make himself smaller to make the voices subside, all the while whispering for Ikaris to help him.

Ikaris sat in Thena’s bedroom beside Asmund who laid unconscious on a small bed as the other Eternals spoke in the dining room about their plans to find the rest of their team and Kingo was saying that they need to find Druig first in Peru but Sprite believed that they needed to find Phastos, who lived in Chicago with his human family, before going to find Druig.
 “It’s not going to do us any favors if we argue with who we find first.” Sersi said as Sprite and Kingo argued and she looked at Ajak, “What do you believe we should do, Ajak?” 
 “We should split up and gather our friends before continuing our hunt for the Deviants.” Ajak advised, “Few of us shall go find Phastos while the others go find Druig.” 
 “What about Ikaris?” Sprite asked and Ajak looked towards the bedroom, seeing Ikaris sitting beside Asmund’s side oblivious to the others talking outside the room.
 “Ikaris needs to be at Asmund’s side right now.” she told Sprite.
 “I shall stay with Ikaris.” Thena offered as she looked into the room and felt the need to stay by Asmund and Ikaris just in case more Deviants showed up while Asmund continued to heal mentally.
 “Then the rest of us shall split and find Phastos and Druig.” Ajak said nodding, “Go get prepared.”
She got up and walked into the room where Ikaris sat and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, which caused him to look up at her with a defeated look in his eyes, and she bent down to look up at him calmly as she explained the plan to him and told him that Thena would stay with him to watch over Asmund should he awaken during the others' absence. Ikaris nodded numbly at Ajak and looked back at Asmund, who laid there still unconscious after the Prime Eternal did all she could to heal his physical injuries, but had no idea why he hadn't woken up and could only hope that he would wake up soon. A few days went by after the others had left on their journeys to find their fellow Eternals while Ikaris and Thena stayed by Asmund’s side with no change to his situation, which made Ikaris worry even more.
 “Ikaris…” Thena said appearing by the room’s doorway on the third day since Ajak and the others left, “You need to come eat something…” 
 “I’m not hungry.” Ikaris replied not wanting to leave Asmund’s side when he was betrayed by the sound of his own stomach grumbling from not eating.
 “Your stomach says otherwise.” Thena told him with a small smirk on her face and she came in to place a hand on his shoulder, “Please, Asmund wouldn’t want you starving yourself on his behalf.” 
 “You have no idea what Asmund would want.” Ikaris said angrily and she sighed at him.
 “I know that before he lost his memories, you two were in love.” she replied and Ikaris looked up at her.
 “I just don’t understand why he won’t wake up.” Ikaris said frustrated and Thena nudged his shoulder.
 “Come on.” she told him as he looked back up at her, “We will be right in the other room if he wakes up but you need to eat something.”
Ikaris sighed in resignation and got up to follow Thena out into the dining room where she had several plates of food prepared for them to eat and sat down with her as he kept near the bedroom just in case the sleeping Eternal woke up from his slumber. 

 “We’re all going to die!” voices screamed as planets were destroyed all around Asmund who floated in darkness, still crouched in a fetal position as he tried to block out the screams with his hands on his ears and eyes shut closed harshly while trying to focus on anything but the screaming and death all around him, “Help us!” 
 “Leave me alone…” Asmund begged as visions of the Eternals dying on various planets flashed through his mind only for them to appear alive on other planets before they exploded and killed each of the Eternals, “No…stop this.” 
 “The Emergence will come and none can stop it.” the same deep grave voice, that had been haunting him, echoed loudly in his mind, “None can stop the birth of Celestial Tiamut and the Eternals are to prepare for Tiamut’s Emergence…so is the true mission from Arishem.” 
Asmund started living in a nightmare, seeing visions of Ikaris dying repeatedly over and over on every planet in every Emergence, and he screamed distraught with loss as the man he loved was killed each time only to come back again on another planet before that planet exploded, erasing that version of Ikaris and causing Asmund to go through the pain and loss over and over again.
 “You can’t hope to save them.” the deep voice told him as Asmund twisted within the darkness as pain and agony coursed through his body and mind, “Earth will end up like the others and pave the way for Tiamut.” 
 “I…I will stop this.” Asmund growled angrily as he snapped open his eyes to show them glowing bright yellow as his body started to glow with a golden aura, “They shall not die!” 
 “Foolish mistake…” the voice scoffed at him,  “I shall show you the error of your ways.”
Darkness began to envelop Asmund as he struggled to break free of it, however, he began to feel weaker as he was swallowed up by the stifling darkness which enveloped his entire being, and he lost consciousness as the deep voice chuckled darkly.

As Ikaris sat in the dining room eating some of the food that Thena prepared for him, he felt better already because the food satisfied his hunger, but he was still worried about Asmund and felt useless as he was unable to help wake up the man he loved especially since he had just gotten him back since that awful day when Asmund's memories were erased. Ikaris had kept watch on Asmund ever since he had joined the Avengers after he was rescued from that Russian complex, but he could not risk intervening with his beloved’s life since he had promised Asmund that he would not pursue him even if it was hard and it pained him to see what Asmund had to go through during those years until the fateful day in London.
 “You really love him, don’t you?” Thena questioned as she watched Ikaris closely as the Eternal reflected on the past and Ikaris looked up at her with a look in his eyes showing her the pain that he was going through with Asmund’s current state as he was unable to help and she sighed, “Asmund will be okay, Ikaris…I have to believe it. He is stronger than any of us combined after what he has been through and this won’t hold him down.” 
 “I hope that you’re right, Thena.” Ikaris said looking at her gratefully, “I…” 
He heard something moving behind him as he saw Thena’s eyes widened in shock, causing him to turn around sharply seeing Asmund standing there behind him with his eyes closed as if he was sleepwalking and Ikaris quickly got out of his seat in order to walk up to Asmund and place a hand on the man’s shoulder as a smile broke out on his face.
 “Asmund.” he said excitedly, “Hey, you okay?”
 “Ikaris…” Thena said slowly as she stood up, sensing something was off with Asmund and started to come around the table, “Stand back, Ikaris.” 
 “What?” Ikaris questioned confused as he looked at her wondering what was going on with her just as her eyes widened in horror.
 “Ikaris!” she shouted and Ikaris turned back to look at Asmund, only to gasp in shock as he saw his beloved’s eyes were fully red as red aura covered his body, “Asmund?” 
In the blink of an eye, Asmund punched Ikaris with his palm, causing the Eternal to blast through the wall with tremendous force as Thena summoned her cosmic weapons and rushed at Asmund, reaching out to slash at him, but Asmund dodged the attacks with ease and rushed in close. Thena gasp in shock while looking into his deep red glowing eyes before Asmund punched her and she was blasted through the front door and sent flying across the property with massive force causing pain to snap through her body as she landed on the ground harshly while Asmund came floating towards her.
 “Everyone is going to die…” he said in a drone-like voice as cosmic gauntlets covered his hands and Thena groaned as she got up and looked at Asmund in worry.
 “Asmund, this isn’t you.” she replied trying to reach through to him, “It’s me, Thena….your friend.” 
 “No one can stop the Emergence.” Asmund droned as he didn’t seem to hear her and she tilted her head in confusion as she wondered what this Emergence was, “All shall perish…so is the true mission.” 
Thena noticed Ikaris rushing toward Asmund, ready to punch him unconscious, when Asmund snapped his fingers and slowed time to allow him to turn and grab Ikaris by the throat before throwing him to the ground harshly, resulting in the Eternal coughing up some blood. Ikaris watched as Asmund rushed down at him, raising his arms in hopes of blocking the attack until Thena stepped forward and blew Asmund away with her cosmic shield just in time, saving Ikaris and letting him take a moment of breath before getting up and facing Asmund, who got up from Thena’s blast and dusted off his shoulders.
 “Is there anything you can do?” Thena asked Ikaris as she kept an eye on Asmund, ready to attack and defend if he came after them again.
 “He went berserk at Ajak’s farm when he went to battle the Deviants that were attacking her.” Ikaris told her and she looked at him shocked, “I was able to hold him down while Ajak healed his mind, but this…this feels different somehow.”
 “Different how?” Thena questioned confused and Ikaris sighed in frustration as he looked at Asmund closely as the berserk Eternal stood silently in front of them with no emotion on his face.
 “He was showing anger then.” Ikaris said and Thena groaned while rolling her eyes.
 “He’s angry now.” she argued but Ikaris shook his head frantically as he realized that Asmund wasn’t showing any emotion unlike before at the farm.
 “No, he is not showing any emotions.” he pointed out and Thena turned towards Asmund, looking at him intently, “It’s like…he’s devoid of emotion instead of being taken over by rage like at the farm. This isn’t Asmund…it is like something or someone has taken control of him.”
 “Can it be Druig?” Thena questioned worriedly and Ikaris sighed deeply as he had pondered if their fellow Eternal was behind Asmund’s behavior but he didn’t believe that to be true.
 “I don’t think so.” Ikaris told her with a shake of his head, “We need to render Asmund unconscious and take him to Ajak immediately.”   
As Asmund appeared in front of them in a flash, both Eternals were frozen in their places unable to move an inch as he put one hand on both of their chests and red aura covered them, causing them to groan as they started feeling their strength draining from their bodies and realized that Asmund was somehow taking their strength and energy and absorbing it into himself. 
 “Asmund…” Ikaris groaned as he winced in pain while becoming weaker and falling upon his knees as Thena gasped for breath beside him, “Please…don’t…” 
 “Ikaris…I’m sorry.” Thena said weakly as she summoned what strength she had left and thrust her hand at him as a cosmic dagger appeared in her hands.
Thena’s dagger thrust towards Asmund, hoping to injure him enough to cause him to break his hold, however, Thena gasped in shock as she saw that the dagger couldn’t pierce the red aura covering Asmund’s body and Asmund looked down at her as his hand touching her chest glowed bright and blasted her back.
 “Thena!” Ikaris yelled as he heard her being blasted back far away and Asmund thrust his free hand on Ikaris’ chest causing the Eternal to cry out in pain as he felt himself being drained faster.
 No, don’t do this! Asmund’s voice echoed in Ikaris’ mind and Ikaris gasped as he stared into Asmund’s void glowing eyes, realizing that Asmund was still in there trying to fight whatever was taking hold of him.
 “Asmund…” Ikaris groaned as he fell upon his hands and gasped for breath while Asmund continued to absorb his strength.
Ikaris tried to summon his strength, but he could barely keep himself up on all fours and he was beginning to lose consciousness when suddenly Asmund stopped and Ikaris collapsed onto the ground gasping for breath while Asmund stepped past him, footsteps beginning to fade away as Ikaris’ vision blurred and began to fall into darkness.
 “Asmund…” he murmured weakly as his mind wandered to the past.

Ikaris sat upon a mountain observing the setting sun as he reflected on his time spent on Earth helping the humans evolve and battling the Deviants with the other Eternals when he heard someone coming up beside him and he turned to see Asmund coming up to him, a smile on his face that made Ikaris’ heart skip a beat as he fell more in love with the fellow Eternal. 
 “So this is where you were.” Asmund said with a soft tone as he sat down beside Ikaris and looked out upon the horizon at the beautiful sunset, “It never ceases to amaze, does it?” 
 “It is truly amazing.” Ikaris replied fondly as he looked at Asmund lovingly and Asmund turned to him, blushing as he saw that Ikaris was looking at him with a loving fondness in his eyes and a soft smile on the man’s face.
 “It’s been a great journey.” Asmund said as he looked back out towards the sunset and leaned back on his hands as he took in a deep breath, allowing the fresh air to course through his body and he felt very relaxed, “I’m very blessed to have made this journey with everyone.” 
 “Asmund…” Ikaris interrupted suddenly and a little bit loudly causing Asmund to look at him surprised as Ikaris blushed deeply while he wondered how he was going to explain how he felt, “I…since the moment we arrived on the Doma, I have felt a deep connection to you and throughout the years, I battled beside you and watched you grow to love the human race as you helped them evolve and learn their cultures. Throughout all of this, I grew to admire you deeply and I need to tell you something.” 
 “Ikaris…” Asmund said softly as he reached over and placed a hand on Ikaris’ hand gently as he smiled and looked at Ikaris, “You can tell me anything.” 
 “I love you.” Ikaris replied quickly and Asmund’s eyes widened in shock, “I love you, Asmund and I want to be with you for the rest of my life.” 
 “Ikaris…are you proposing to me?” Asmund questioned stunned by the sudden proclamation of love from the Eternal and Ikaris blushed deeply making Asmund smile at him softly before leaning in slowly and kissing Ikaris gently on the lips.
As Asmund's kiss swept Ikaris off his feet, he inhaled deeply in shock before he closed his eyes and soaked in the kiss while he closed his eyes, growing more in love with Asmund who reciprocated Ikaris' feelings as he leaned more into him, kissing more passionately as they drew closer, feelings of love and lust coursing through their bodies as they closed the distance between them. Ikaris moaned in lust as he rolled on top of Asmund, laying on the mountain top, as he kissed Asmund hungrily on the lips while Asmund ran his hands up and down Ikaris’ back and Ikaris started moving down to Asmund’s neck, planting passionate kisses upon the man’s bare neck which caused Asmund to moan in pleasure and arch his back as his body shivered at the touch of Ikaris’ lips upon his bare skin and Ikaris’ right hand started moving down Asmund’s side slowly, sending shivers down Asmund’s spine as the hand continued down towards his leg when suddenly they heard a gasp near them and they stopped immediately. Both men looked up slowly in shock as they saw Makkari standing there dumbfounded at the scene before here as the men could only stare at her as the horror of being seen flashed through their minds and they were unsure of what to do now that their friend was witnessing them going down upon each other with raw hunger and passion.
 I knew it. Makkari signed with her hands as a big smile broke out upon her face, I’m telling the others.
 “Wait, Makkari!” Ikaris called out to no avail as Makkari sped away to tell the other Eternals about what she had seen and Ikaris groaned in embarrassment as he plopped down on Asmund, his head landing softly on Asmund’s shoulder as Asmund started laughing as he fully realized what had just happened, “Damn it…now the others are going to make jokes about us.” 
 “Oh my god…” Asmund said laughing uncontrollably as Ikaris lifted his head and glared at Asmund not amused with the man laughing at their situation.
 “It’s not funny.” Ikaris pouted and Asmund tried to stifle his laughing while looking at Ikaris but failed as he continued to snicker and Ikaris groaned inwardly while pouting harder until Asmund placed a hand on his cheek causing the pouting Eternal to look at the man he loved.
 “Who cares what they joke about?” Asmund questioned with a shrug, “I love you and you love me…that’s all that matters.” 
Ikaris thought about it and admitted that Asmund was right and he smiled softly at the man below him before kissing him again on the lips gently.

As he began to lose consciousness, Ikaris laid on the ground near the house unable to move as he faintly heard Asmund blast off into the air to fly away, making it impossible for Ikaris to catch up to him since his strength was drained and fear began to fill Ikaris as he realized that he had no idea where Asmund would go or how to find him when he gained conscious again. Ikaris fell unconscious, his last thoughts engulfing him as he tried to figure out who was controlling Asmund and how he can possibly stop such a force powerful enough to control the strongest of the Eternals and get his beloved back.