Domos

The first thing I did when I was awoken was blink slowly. Very slowly.

This was new, I was new. I was on some kind of ship, sitting in a circle in light and delicate robes in a circle with several others as well. We were all waking up at the same time, almost as if we were in a deep sleep. I took in a massive breath, seeing the air going in and out of my lungs to show me I was alive. My mind was already filled with pondering questions and observations as I looked at each of the other passengers on our ship. It was dark, yet it was a soothing sensation as well. Almost as if I was part of this ship.

Were we?

The others were speaking to one another, almost meeting one another formally. They were like me, Eternals that were there to fight Deviants that threatened life on planets all over the universe. I was quiet at first, almost reading the room for a moment to two as I watched the rest of our group talk to another. It was intriguing to see, some of them more excited to meet others, while others were more reluctant I knew I was the latter, especially when a beautiful woman walked over to me. Her hair was long and a golden brown, cascading down her shoulders and back with a warmth in her skin and her brown eyes. She smiled at me, having me feel as though I could trust her and I could follow her anywhere.

"I am Ajak," She said to me, her voice was warm and it rolled as if it was water over pebbles. I smiled at her as she waited for me to say my name. I paused for a moment, almost flustered to talk to her as I finally spoke.

"I'm Soteri," I introduced myself. She smiled so widely, almost as if she was proud I said my name to her. She placed her hands on my arms, a small feeling of heat was placed where she was touching. It felt like she was trying to calm me from a simple tough.

"I sense uneasiness in you," She explained, having me grimace a bit since I would instantly tell she could read me like a book. But nothing was showing on her face that she was going to scold me, nor was she going to tell me something that was going to make me afraid. Instead, she was analyzing me with her eyes and all I could see was peace, both peace and tranquility.

"You are meant to be here," She said to me sounding so warm and so sure of herself, "You are a part of us,"

Her words rang in my mind and floated through me. All through my veins, and within me. Before this moment, I felt as though I was on the outside of this group, of these Eternal beings. I didn't know why I felt this way, yet it was simmering beneath my skin. Yet it was already forgotten from a few simple words from our leader, from someone who barely knew me.

I looked over, seeing out of the large window on the other side of the room a view of the planet. I was entranced, moving away from Ajak and walking to the window. The others were talking around me, yet I wasn't paying attention to them as I was watching the planet floating out in space amongst the stars. There were different colors of blue and green, swirls of clouds along the surface making beautiful patterns and unique shapes.

It took my breath away.

I felt as though someone was watching me, almost another set of eyes were lingering on me. It didn't feel threatening, but I was intrigued. I looked over to my right, seeing one of the other Eternals in the group watching me. It was a male, slightly smaller in height in comparison to the other males, and was standing so still I thought he was a statue. He had dark hair, short and pushed away from his eyes that were blue, almost as blue as the planet I was just staring at moments before.

The first thing I noticed was that he wasn't anywhere near the others, all of whom were talking to one another. He was alone, which should have been a bad sign but he almost seemed comfortable not being around the others. The man also seemed kind, at least in the face and how it was shaped. Yet something else was there in his stance and in how he was almost standing in the shadows.

It was like he was trying to read me without saying a word.

"Hello," I said to him, wanting to seem kind to him. He said nothing, which already placed me on the defensive at that moment. Did I say something wrong? Was it the way I spoke? It made me slightly afraid, thinking that I offended him in some way from just one word. Before either one of us could say something, anything, to break this tension, another Eternal walked up to me. This one was another male, almost a giant in comparison to the brooding man in the corner, with a wide smile and a gentle stature about him. I looked up at him briefly since he was so tall and he grinned at him. Now, this was different and it felt different too.

"I am Gilgamesh," he introduced himself, holding out a hand for me to shake. His voice was warm, soothing, and kind with an earthy tone. I smiled at him, shaking his hand, "I wanted to introduce myself to you since you were here alone,"

"I'm Soteri," I said to him, seeing his smile grow slightly larger from hearing my name, "It's nice to meet you," He gave a small slightly bow to me, having me feel a slight blush on the top of my ears from his gesture.

"You as well, Soteri," Gilgamesh replied, quickly looking behind himself at the brooding man. Once the men saw the both of us looking at him, he walked away in silence, my new friend hummed and gave me a weary look, "Don't mind him. He seems to be more of a loner,"

"Oh?" I asked, not understanding.

"Just an observation is all," Gilgamesh said in a shrug, then motioning to some of the others who were mingling, "Come, come meet Thena. She's wonderful,"

As I walked away with a new friend, I looked behind me one more time to see the mystery man. We have never spoken to each other at that moment, I ever had the chance to, but something was already shifting in me from just one look, one gaze with him. He was no longer watching me, already walking away on his own. I was new to this world, to this ship, and with these people. We all were, yet we were already feeling some kind of connection with one another. Perhaps it was how it was meant to be, how we were meant to be with one another.

Was it was same for him?

Present Day

Portland, Oregon

I awoke to the sound of a small roll of thunder.

Slowly, I blinked awake, in hopes that the dreamless sleep I had before would eventually bring me into the new gray morning. My head was heavy, the ginning sensations of sleep still behind my eyelids, and the soft melody of my alarm clock was bringing me back to reality. Finally, the gray hues of the morning were coming through the curtains of my room, the soft gentle winds that were crisp in the air touched my skin and danced in my hair very lightly as I rose and looked out the window. The skyline of Portland was greeting me to the new day.

Another day of being alone.

I was used to these days now, almost going on autopilot and moving to get my morning started. It's been like this for quite some time for me, nothing new or fresh in my life. But I didn't want a life like that.

Walking out into the living room from my small bedroom, I turned on the television out of habit and walked to the small Mr. Coffee machine that I had for at least 5 years, give or take. It still gave me coffee, not as great as when I first bought it some time ago, but it gave it coffee none the less and it got the job done. I could hear the small patter of rain hitting the window of my small apartment, walking over on instinct to open one of the larger windows in the kitchen to get some fresh air and some drops on my hanging Pothos plant that was right next to the glass.

"More protests sprouted up all over downtown Portland last night, with at least 5 arrests and two policemen injured…"

I looked over at the news, my heart grimacing a bit to hear more negative news than positive. It was a giant these days, humans wanting to look at the negative more than the positive and to seek out fear than peace. There were times when it was unbearable and almost painful to hear and watch. I could almost remember at a time, so long ago when things were simpler and calmer on the earth when life didn't seem so complicated or filled with agony. Life was filled with colors, filled with joy, and a sense of being content with simply living. But as time passed and centuries came and went, the joy was diminishing and dwindling to have more gray than light.

I had moments when I would pause and watch humans go by, living their lives with no real purpose or knowledge of what I have seen or encountered. Did they know? Did they have an inkling as to what has happened in Earth's history? Surely it must have been nice to be human, almost at times having me wish I was. Would a normal person walk down the street and notice me, realizing that I have seen more than any human can comprehend. It was a blessing that they didn't know.

And perhaps a curse that I did.

I was midway through fixing my breakfast when a violent shake came through the apartment. An earthquake, a massive one I haven't felt in a long time. Immediately I went to duck under my table, crouching low and covering my head as the earthquake grew more violent. Plates were falling and shattering onto the floor, a few of my plants broke on the ground as the news was still broadcasting over the sounds of the rolling earth. I stayed still, not wanting to take a chance as it was still happening.

This didn't feel like earthquakes I have felt before, not natural ones at least. Those were small, mundane compared to this one. This quake felt sudden, violent, almost as if something was penetrated deep underground. As if the entire earth shook.

Within one minute, it was done.

Once things were settled in the apartment, I slowly moved up from under the table and surveyed the damage. Shattered glass and plates were everywhere, along with a few hung plants dangling by one chain instead of two. Car alarms were going off outside the apartment, a few people were coming out of their apartments and talking amongst each other. It was a good amount of damage, and it did take a breath out of me and had me shaken slightly. It was another day.

But I didn't know it was the beginning of the end.

5000 BC

Mesopotamia

Our first battle together happened in a tiny village on the planet.

We were protecting the people from evil beings, monsters of sorts, called Deviants. They were sinister creatures, destroying anything and everything in their path. Not a single once of good was in them, they were only there to kill. We had to protect them, some of the people were children and most couldn't defend themselves from these creatures. It felt natural to help them, to take out the Deviants, and to take away the threat once and for all.

Some of us stayed on the Domos, their abilities were not needed in this fight. The rest of us went down to the surface, already ready to fight pithing a second thought. Ikarus, an Eternal who had the stature of a leader, took the first strike of defense with his eyes that could blast beams. He seemed sure of himself, flying high with the first bast from his eyes and floating down to the surface with the rest of us. We all stood in a line, already analyzing the Deviants that surrounded the village ready to strike.

We all separated already, covering more ground as we fought the creatures with ease. Another male Eternal, a confident and almost pompous male named Kingo, was using cosmic blasts of sorts from his fingers and was shooting at the Deviant in front of him. It made it look so easy, almost light-hearted as he was shooting blasts rapidly. Another Eternal, a slender female named Makkari was speeding past in a blink of an eye. She ran fast, so fast she was a mere blur of red from her uniform. Makkari was moving villagers to the side and over to safety, then using a sonic blast of sorts to knock the same Deviant gone permanently. She looked so gracefully like she was walking on air and almost flying.

Two more Eternals were fighting together on the other side of the village. Gilgamesh was one of them, using his intense strength to throw punches, showing no sign of breaking a sweat as he swung his punches left and right. The other Eternals next to him was Thena, who was both strikingly beautiful and strikingly deadly with her ability to make weapons with her cosmic energy. She moved with swiftness and struck deadly blows, spearing the Deviants with deadly strikes.

All four of them made fighting Deviants look natural, beyond natural eve. Of course, we were programmed to fight them and detain them from harming the Earth and its inhabitants. It took me a moment or two to find my fitting, almost a hesitance about me in what I can do to fight the Deviant in front of me. One smaller creature was towering over a small group of villagers who had no way of sending themselves. I rushed over to help them, throwing out my hands to push out a shill of sorts. The cosmic energy of a force field, almost looking like a bubble itself, wrapped around the villagers and looked at the blow that was about to kill them.

The Deviant growled, looking over at me as I still had my hand out to keep the force field around the defenseless people. It then started running over to me, having me instantly blink my eyes, willing myself to move in thin air. I shifted, going from being in front of the Deviant to behind him as if it was a magic trick. I then threw out my other hand, getting the Deviant in a force field itself. It was stuck within my field, making me throw the bubble with the Deviant inside up high and n slamming it onto the ground. The Deviant was instantly killed, taking one last breath before being limp on the ground.

I took in a shaky breath, lowering my hands and making the force field disappear. I was shocked that I did something so quick and so violent at the same time, and yet it felt like second nature to me in doing those things. All I could think about was protecting the villagers, not wanting a once of blood spilled on the ground. The humans were fragile, tender, and delicate on this planet. My instinct was to protect them and Elster them, and all of the sudden I could use my abilities without me overthinking.

A tap was felt on my shoulder, having me look over my shoulder. It was Makkari, beaming at me with a gentle smile and a light pep in her step. She gestured over to the dead Deviant in front of me, making me watch her fingers moving rapidly.

You killed that Deviant on your own! She signed to me, looking so excited in her face and her fingers moving swiftly. I nodded my head, seeing her smile get bigger as she continued to sign, Soteri, that was amazing!

Thank you, I signed to her, seeing her nod her head. The sound of the Domos slowly lowering down to the nearby cliff was heard, making Makkari and I look. The villagers walked over in amazement, whereas the five of us walked around them to meet the others that were coming from the ship. They filed out, looking stoic to the humans. They, in return, looked frightened of us and what just happened. I could see it on their face, looking at each of us in both amazement and horror at the same time. They even grabbed their spears and weapons, holding them out and ready to strike us. If only they understood that we were there to protect them, not to harm them.

Before I could say something in concern, there was a massive shift among the humans. Their eyes were now glowing yellow, almost like the sun. They were no longer moving, almost daughter-in-law in some kind of trance as they all dropped their weapons in their hands. They were no longer tense and ready to fight, nor were they scared. Now they were calm once again, having me look from the villagers over to the rest of the Eternals. I finally saw where it was coming from, more like who it was coming from.

The brooding man, whose eyes were glowing the same shade of yellow.

Portland, Oregon

Few Days After the Earthquake

"Come look, Ms. Vespy! Come see how high I am!"

The cooler afternoon came through the playground as I watched the children in my class play together. It was a calm morning, an upcoming storm was about to roll through while I was at the school. Things were back to normal from the earthquake, it made the headlines all over Portland throughout the rest of the day. It was felt all over the state, one of the biggest squares Oregon had ever had on record. Of course, the population of Oregon went on with their lives, something they adapted to just carry on.

I worked at a preschool as a teacher, this particular school I was at for the past 5 years. The downfall of being an Immortal being was that I couldn't stay in one spot for a while, not wanting to raise suspicions amongst the humans. I was still acting like a human, trying to blend in with how I lived and how I functioned. There was no permanent place I could call home, not one place I could go and hide away from everyone and everything. At first, it was hard to move constantly and to never set my roots. Yet now I was used to it. Here in Portland, I might have had one more year or two before I knew I would have to move again.

Currently, I loved being at this one preschool in the suburbs of Portland. I found a good rhythm in working amongst children, working with them for the past 90 years or so. I knew I was sensing their innocence and their thirst for the knowledge of all that life has to offer. They were young and naive, and yet they were gentle and kind. There was a good sense of comfort working with children who were kinder than their parents, or adults in general.

I watched a young 3-year-old girl named Hadley going up the stairs on the playground structure, reaching out to grab the firefighter pool that was poking out on the side. Her bright blond hair was flowing in the wind as she was reaching, yet the pole was a pinch too far.

"Be careful, Hadley," I gently reminded her, being about twenty feet away from her. But I watched her slip, outshooting her grip on the pole and she fell over the edge. Her scream pierced the air, having me see her blond hair fly out as she was falling. I was too far away to run and get her, and there was a good 6 foot stop onto the wood chips below her.

My blood went cold: She was about to break a bone.

I threw out my hand, a small sliver of a force field that was barely seen was thong out and caught her. She slipped into the force field like a cloud, slowing her down and gently navigating her down to the ground. While my force field was catching her, I moved quickly to stand right next to her, catching her in my arms before she fell completely to the ground. She instantly wrapped her arms around me, settling in my lap, and was crying so hard into my chest.

"I got you, Hadley. You're safe," I said to her over and over in her hair. She was shaking and crying, her cries were heard by another teacher that was rushing over to see what happened. I looked over at the teacher, seeing her sigh in relief, "She's alright, Molly,"

"She fell from there?!" The teacher asked in a shocked tone, pointing to the opening where Hadley fell from. I nodded, rubbing Hadley's back, "Thank goodness you were there, Sophie! That could have been so bad!"

"Here," I said to Molly, getting up with Hadley in my arms who was suctioned to me like an octopus, "Why don't you take her for a walk to calm her down, and perhaps we can have her mother come and take her own early for the day,"

"Sounds good," Molly answered, having me look down at the quivering girl in my arms.

"How does that sound, Hadley? Wanna go for a walk with Ms. Molly and she'll take care of you, okay?" Hadley reluctantly nodded her head against my chest and I maneuvered her into Molly's arms. She walked away with Hadley, who was still shaking but was no longer crying loudly but at a soft whimper.

I sighed in relief, rubbing the back of my neck to get some of the tension off of me. It was such a close call, happening in the blink of an eye. I never once showed my powers or abilities in public for others to see, it was one of the stricter rules being amongst humans. As time went on and the humans evolved, they became more and more suspicious of things that were foreign to them.

It was easier to show our abilities in front of humans at the very beginning when we first arrived on Earth, it was easy since they didn't know better. But it was no longer the case, humans evolved and had come a long way. One of the things that did come with that evolution was their suspicious nature and the fear of the unknown. I would only use my abilities on the very rarest of occasions, out of sight and out of mind of course. But this was one of those cases I knew was both dangerous to do, and yet rewarding in the end.

"Quite the trick you did there,"

I froze, standing up still from hearing the voice behind me. I knew that voice, yet I haven't heard it in centuries. At first, maybe I was imagining the voice. Missing the other Eternals after we separated all those years ago made me dream of them from time to time, and sometimes my mind would play tricks on me thinking that were with me. But it was never the case, up until now.

I slowly turned on my heel, looking beyond the playground and over the black iron fence that was separating the playground from the parking lot in front of the school. About 40 feet away, on a patch of grass were two beings.

They stood side by side, almost looking like ghosts from my past. A man and a woman, both beautiful and staring right at me. The man looked stoic, standing with his chest out and his hands on his jeans pockets with a sliver of gray in his short hair. The woman, standing less stiff but looking just as concerned with her brown eyes drilling into mine. I felt the air leave my lungs.

"Ikaris…..Sersi…" I said their names. I instantly thought back to the last time I saw them, centuries ago on another spoof the earth. We were all broken then, all not knowing what to do or how to live on our own. Of course, I knew there would be a time when we would turn to Olympus, our home far from Earth, but I didn't think I would reunite with them now. There, in the parking lot of a preschool in Portland, Oregon.

"Soteri," Sersi, her ever graceful voice that reminded me of songbirds and a calming breeze. It made me melt a bit more just from hearing her say my name again. But it was shattered when Ikaris spoke, his voice deep and gravely.

"We need to talk."