If I was confused about the definition for the word "Awkward" before, I was no longer confused.
This meeting was the true definition of awkward.
We were all in the meeting room at the village, sitting away from each other in stone silence as Druig was sitting against a table at the very front. No one was speaking, looking in different directions as we were just drinking in the fact that we were mostly there. All but two were present, but that wasn't the awkward part.
It was awkward that no one was talking.
It had to have looked quite strange, all of us coming back together to find Druig when he was the one who left us all behind to go out on his own. His own choice, no matter who we try to change it, made the ripple effect that in return changed all of us. But now, given why we were there on his compound and Sersi told him all the happened up until this point, it was feeling worse.
Sersi and Sprite sat up in the front of the right, Ikaris leaning against the wall next to the two of them, Thena and Gilgamesh on the otherwise near the from, Karun and Kingo right behind them, and I was left in the back of the room. Something inside of me was telling me to stay far away, almost spooked that I would do something idiotic at that moment when we were all together.
Druig was pondering in his spot, thinking about what Sersi just told him and the rest of us were simply waiting. He wasn't looking at anyone in particular not just yet, but something inside of me was begging for him to at least acknowledge me once more before I heard his voice ring out in a concrete room.
"You have given me a lot of bad news in one go, Milady," He commented to Sersi, his voice sounding cool and almost like his old self.
"Will you help us?" Sersi asked him in hope, having me look from her over to Druig to see his reaction as he was watching her with almost a hint of gentleness. I knew he never had anything against Sersi, they were always cordial with one another in the past. Hopefully it would be the same thing now.
"I would hope that—" Druig started, but he was interrupted by Sersi's cellphone going off, breaking the tension that was floating in the room. I even leaned back a bit on the wooden bench I was on, seeing the others shifting a bit with how more awkwardness was now in the room. Sersi silenced her phone immediately, being flustered as ever as Kingo learned over to her.
"Hey, what's your service? I have nothing over here," He whispered loudly in the room. I looked over at Thena and Gilgamesh, who was apparently falling asleep on the bench. Then shoved his arm to wake him up. Druig hummed, getting up from his leaning position, and walked over to the both of them with his hands behind his back.
"You'll remember this forest? Beautiful. It's the last place where we lived together," Druig explained, looking at both Thena and Gilgamesh with both intensely and curiosity at the same time. Analyzing them, I could see he was, "I have protected these people for 20 generations, from the outside world and from themselves,"
He then walked over, hands still behind his back, to Kingo and Karun. His eyes were on Karun, almost in a menacing way as he was so close to him to be intimidating.
"Your kind, my friend, you will be responsible for your own extinction one day," He explained to Karun, sounding neutral but his eyes looked threatened, 'What'd ya think?"
"I think we must learn from our mistakes and do better sir," Karun started to explain nervously while holding his camcorder tightly in his hands, "You must not give up hope—"
He was silent, his eyes glowing yellow stately as Druig was staring at him. Within a split moment later, Karun threw the camcorder against the concrete, destroying it instantly. I groaned, hiding my face in my hands.
It was already starting, and I was not mentally ready for it.
"Oh no, you didn't," Kingo said in a groan as he shot up from his bench and then faced off with Druig, "Okay, new rule: No more possessing people's valet—"
"Where's your sense of humor, Kingo?" Druig asked in amusement, smirking up at Kingo since Kingo had some inches above him. I just looked down and away while they were having their antic with one another, already seeing that this tense reunion was going to be a lot worse now. We had no time for something like this to happen, not now when we know what is about to happen to not just us, but the entire planet and the billions of humans on it. The last thing we needed to do was bicker.
"Guys," I tried in a gentle tone, "Can we please—"
"Let's go, he's wasting our time," Ikaris said in a guff while he pushed himself off the wall and was hearing out the door, no longer wanting to sit.
"We need him," Sersi reminded him gently, but Druig moved away from Kingo over to Ikaris now with a smooth twist of his stance.
"Ikaris!" Druig called his name, making it sound boisterous as they both stopped mere feet away from me. Ikaris looked like he wanted to punch a wall, that for Druig. I wasn't sure yet, but I watched as it was their turn to face off.
"Missed you," Druig said in a hum, standing right next to him to eye him up and down as Ikaris stared at the doors, "Are you gonna charm me? Or threaten me?"
"There's a third option," Ikaris reminded him as he finally turned to look at him dead in the eye, "If you prefer that."
"It must be heartbreaking to find out you're not mother's favorite," Druig sneered at him, Ikaris instantly shooting back with another comment.
"Oh I'm sure she would be real proud—" Ikaris started with him. I rolled my eyes.
"Christ, come on guys! Enough with this shit!" I urged them with a raised tone, clearly getting annoyed with the show we were watching. Sersi got up from her spot next to Sprite and stood tall, looking at Druig.
"Druig, please. This is serious—" She started, but Druig walked over to her and glared at her.
"No, I'll tell you what's serious!" Druig said to her, his voice no longer playful but now low again, "I've just been told I've been sent on a suicide mission or the past 7,000 years," he paused to look back at Ikaris, "That my entire existence…is a lie."
I could hear it in his tone, how he was standing close to Sersi and just trying to remain his cool calm self. He eye her for a few long seconds before he finally turned back around and walked to the door.
"So excuse me for not giving a shit right about now," He muttered to the group, and was about to open the door before he stopped to look over at me. I looked back at him, wanting to say something to him at the moment. But nothing was willing to be said when we both were tensed up and still reeling with what was going to come.
Druig took a long breath, giving me a small smile before he exited the building, closing the massive door behind him. I closed my eyes, feeling more pathetic as usual since I wasn't brave enough to say a single word to him yet.
"Druig, sucks," Kingo grumble in annoyance.
"He does, sir," Karun agreed.
It was nightfall sometime later, and after we broke up our meeting we all separated for a while, needing to cool off and just be alone. The tension was far too much, not to mention we had no idea if Druig was even going to help out or not. Sersi wanted to wait, to see if we could give him a bit more time to think about joining us before we left immediately.
So we were waiting.
The cool evening of the jungle was both loud with the nature sounds, and yet quiet from the noises of the villagers. They have all gone to bed, only the blacksmith was up and working away by a roaring fire as found myself sitting at one the edges of the village. Peering out into the jungle and just thinking to myself, I was hoping to get my mind back in the same mind space again.
Yet hearing about my true nature, as an Eternal, it was feeling too much to juggle with at the moment. Being in some random jungle, having an awkward moment with someone who broke my heart some long ago, and our award family reunion was making it harder and harder to just be in my mind.
A heard a twig behind me, having me shot up and while around while placing a force field child over my body in case it was going to be an attack. But I was mistaken, seeing none other than Druig standing about twenty feet away from me. It took me a solid second to realize what I had just done in front of him. Druig only held out his hands to show that he had nothing in his hands that would be threatening.
"I come in peace," He mused to me, almost in a light tone as I disabled the force field shield around me. I was no longer stiff, flexing my fingers in and out for a moment or two as Druig walked over slowly and carefully, perhaps thinking that I was going to spook, "I've never seen you do that one before."
"I learned how to do that some time ago," I replied, keeping my tone light as we were now 10 feet from each other. It felt like old times for a moment, how we were slightly being coy with one another. I then pointed to the trees all around us, "How can you stand the constant since out here?"
"It didn't take long for me to," Druig admitted, "I actually enjoy it. It helps quiet my mind,"
I smiled, showing that I understood as we were staring at each other, falling in awkward silence with one another. I wish it felt the same as before when things were simpler when maybe we were a little more naive with why we were there. I then decided to take the next step in this talk between us, since we were alone out there in the jungle with no one else around.
"I've missed you, you know," I said to him, sounding so silly when I said it, and maybe it was youthful too. He gave me a small smile, having me feel a bit better about our conversation that was now unfolding.
"I've missed you too," He admitted, walking over a few more feet as we were now 5 feet away, "I have missed everyone from time to time. Even Kingo…..but I've mostly missed you,"
"Really?" I asked, my eye lighting up slightly. Man did I look so innocent at that moment. He lightly chuckled.
"Of course," He replied, then grimacing a bit from his spot. I looked at him worry as he looked away from me for a moment, something floating in his mind. It almost pained me seeing that look on his face since I wanted this to be a light talk with one another.
"What is it?" I asked him, fiddling with my fingers in front of me since I had no idea what he was thinking about, "We can talk like we used to, you know,"
"When I left that night," Druig said slowly, still looking away from me and out into the mass vegetation of the jungle, "There was a part of me that was….remorseful about it. About leaving you all there,"
"Well," I started, "You were leaving your family behind,"
"It wasn't just that," He muttered slightly, taking in a long breath before he spoke again, "I was remorseful in leaving you,"
I said nothing something feeling more exposed at that moment hearing that confession from him. I was always thinking about how I very myself with him, how I walked around him and was just myself with him nearby. He was someone who accepted me and vice versa. So why was this a total shocker to hear it from him, after all this time?
"You were my best friend, Druig," I said to him softly, watching him still gazing in the jungle and keeping his eyes on the greenery when I went on, "What happened back then, with those people, that was horrible. I understood why you left—"
Druig grunted, showing that he was listening and almost know what he was feeling.
"But it felt worse when you left," I confessed to him, taking in another breath, "Because…..I'll be honest with you Druig,"
"I only ever wanted you to be honest with me, Soteri," Druig reminded me softly, his voice nice and gentle in reassurance with me. He would say that from time to time to remind me that my mind was still sealed off from him, that he couldst's else anything really going on in my mind because it was still a mystery. In return, I would be honest with him as much as possible.
"It broke my heart when you left," I spilled it out into the open, having it hang out there in the air as he snapped his head over to look right at me. I felt so exposed there as he was staring at me, almost searching my eyes to see if it was true. I just sighed, nodding my head as I shoved my hands in my jacket pockets and waited for him to say something, anything. I then looked down at the ground, my shoes making circles in the ground and the dirt as I felt like I should keep talking.
"it sounded petty, almost silly to think about. But I didn't want my best friend to leave me, as selfish as it sounded. Apart from Makkari, you were very close to my heart, and I was already feeling heavy from seeing all those humans die in front of us, seeing Thena snap and almost kill us, and—"
I was engulfed in Druig's arms, instantly having me stop and wrap my arms around him smoothly. It was odd for the both of us embracing one another, in the middle of the Amazon at night on out the outskirts of his makeshift village. But once he held me in his arms, one of his arms bracketing my shoulders and the other around my waist, it felt almost like instant relief. I clutched his shoulders with my hands as we were still holding with one another, having me bury my head into his shoddier as I finally heard him speak.
"The last thing I would ever want to do is hurt you, Soteri," Druig said to me gently, the vibrations of his voice was felt against my skin as I stayed quiet and held him longer, "I knew it when I walked down those step that I did hurt you, and I've regretted it ever since."
"I know why you left though," I muttered into his shirt as he clutched me a bit tighter now, "You had to go on your own path—"
"Soteri," He silenced me, moving away so he can look at me in the eyes. I moved too, seeing how close we were as he searched my eyes with a solemn look on his face, "I am so sorry for leaving you."
"Hey," I said softly to him, placing a hand on his cheek to have him stare at me fully. I gave him a soft smile, showing there was no harm, "It's okay. Alright? We're okay,"
Druig sighed, closing his eyes tight and I rested my forehead against his own for us to breath each other in. I closed my eyes too, taring to get the both of us back to a good spot again. He was beating himself up because of what he had to do, feeling some sense of guilt for inflicting some kind of pain on me. Logically, he had to make his own choice, and who was I to stop him. But emotionally, it was different.
"Out of everyone, I wanted to try to find you," Druig said to me, the both of us still keeping our eyes closed as he said this to me, "I missed your company more than anyone, and being alone for some time was hard."
"I wanted to find you too," I confessed as we both opened our eyes and looked at each other when we moved our heads away from each other, "But I never thought I would see you as a hermit out in the forest in the middle fo God knows where."
It came out light, making Druig snort and give a light chuckle. I had to laugh too, bringing the mood back up together when we broke our embrace to just holding hands, giving space to one another. But as soon as died down in our laughter, I saw him give me an intense look now as I knew what he was thinking.
"This whole plan that Sersi has is crazy," I admitted to him, we held a hand between us as if we weren't willing to let the other one go, "But I had to believe there is a chance that we could save this planet, the people that are still here."
"You think so?" Druig asked, not sounding pompous about it but curious as to wah-wah's I thought.
"I do," I answered, "And we do need you. Whether you like it or not, you're part of our family and we all need to be together to make sure this works. I don't want to beg you….but just consider it,"
"For them?" Druig asked, motioning his head to the village. I smiled faintly at him.
"For me," I tried, seeing him then give me another one of his looks that was rare and only for me. Before he could even answer me, his eyes and head snapped over to the area of the village, his stance going stiff and he was clutching my hand in a death grip. Something was up.
He was reading someone's mind.
"What is it?" I asked him, seeing him search the area with his eyes.
"It's Sersi," He replied, "Something happened to Ikaris,"
"Ikaris?" I asked, seeing him take a step over to the village as a loud growl pierce through the village. I threw up a force field shield around the both of us, knowing that sound very well. I haven't heard it in a long time, but it was a sound that we all knew very well.
"Deviants," Druig said in a low manner, looking frantically around the area before he looked over at me, "I need to get my people to safety."
"You go protect your people," I instructed him, "I'll find the others. Go!"
I lowered the force field shield to release Druig feeling ing release my hand and run off to the left as I ran straight forward into the village. More growls were heard as I heard some screaming erupt, making me run faster. This was not the time for us to have to handle Deviants, but something else didn't feel right about this attack.
"Clear the camp!" Sersi yelled at the locals as one Deviant roared out in the air.
"Get behind me!" I heard Kingo shout at Sersi blasting some cosmic beams at one Deviant.
"They took Ikaris!" Sersi said to him as I skidded to a halt next to her, helping her up with my hand.
"It's an ambush!" Kingo said over to his shoulder to us, shooting his beams at the same Deviant who came back. He shot a few more rounds before blasting a higher beam into the same Deviant, lounging it back into a barn. It all append so fast, Kingo breathing out a sigh of relief before we heard another voice.
"Very nice, sir!" Karun had a small camcorder and recorded the whole thing in glee.
"Are you mental?! Hide!" Kingo said to him in shock.
"We need action sequences," Karun explained as he then pointed his camera at the barn, seeing the Deviant rise up from the flames, "Sir?"
"Spite, get Karun out of here!" Kingo instructed Sprite as I jogged up to stand next to Kingo and get a force field out and ready. We both aimed for the same Deviant, taking turns shooting either a beam or a force field to knock it down. But the Deviant was rather fast, trying to dodge our assault left and right. I saw another Deviant hunched on a roof near Sersi, watching as it was eyeing her and about to get her.
"Sersi!" I yelled, teleporting instantly and landing on top of the said Deviant. I threw a force field rope around its neck to hold it back from jumping, feeling it try to buck me and kick me off of him as I looked at Sersi blow.
"Get the people in the church, NOW!" I yelled at her, yanked the Deviant back before it jumped high up in the air. It was still trying to follow the people that were now running to the big building, Sersi shepherding them along as I was trying to stop it from getting close to the people. I threw down a massive punch to the top of its head, hearing it cry out and try to slam me against a tree trunk. Once I saw that Sersi had most of the people already inside the building, I yanked it back hard enough to buy her more time to seal off. As soon as she was done, the deviant jumped down and whip its tail at her, tossing her like a rag doll into another abandoned house.
"No!" I grunted, punching in a forcefield beam into its skull. It shrieked, bucking one more time and having me jump up to teleport off of him. I landed back on my feet about twenty feet away, kneeling in front of it to square off right in the middle of the village. I cracked my neck, feeling my fingers touch the rich earth below me as I was eyeing the Deviant to make sure he was watching me back.
"Come on," I growled at him, seeing him then run towards me. I started my fight against it, moving left and right to be quicker and ahead of him while throwing out force feudal blasts to knock him down. I have done this too many times in the past, all the time ago when we bought these beasts daily. I knew I was a bit rusty, but not that rusty. Although I knew I had some advances on my side, this Deviant was also a bit quicker than I remembered them being.
At one moment the Deviant had me pinned down, scratching me keep against my cheek and having me cry out in pain. I retaliate by kicking hard with my force field behind the kick, launching it high right above me. It took me a moment to realize that he would fall right back down on me, making me cross my arms in front of my head to put a bubble around me as it landed on the top. Now it was scratching at my field, trying to find a way to crack it as I was holding for dear life. I was in pain on my cheek and I could feel the blood oozing down my skin.
After a long moment, I hear gunshots rung out, the Deviant crying out since it was being shot at. Another wave of gunshots was heard, shotguns to be precise. I saw bullets hit the Deviant, who was looking around and shrieking. I looked too, seeing it was the villagers shooting the shotguns, with haunting yellow eyes.
Druig.
I saw him run past me, going so fast and jumping over the tail of the Deviant as it was still perched over me. He then dodged a ship from the tail, leaning down low to the ground and grabbing a shotgun that was next to his hand. He cocked it, running towards the Deviant again and jumping over the top. I could see him through my field, aiming the gun right at the head and taking the shot. The deviant cried out as Druig was out of the way to have me launch my bubble right at the creature to send him flying in the air. It screamed as it was thrown up in the air, more pissed off than before.
"Soteri," Druig ran over to grab me, hoisting me up by my waist as we both were facing the Deviant that landed right on the ground in front of me. It was squaring off with us once again as I saw right behind it Sersi. She was making a hole in a tree that was right in the line of the Deviant. I then knew what she was doing, having me think I had to buy her some time.
I threw out a force field to wrap around the neck of the Deviant, wrangling it to stay in its place as Sersi took out one piece before shifting it from wood into a pure crystal. I was holding onto it tight, almost losing my grip once as the crystal tree then fell over the top of the Deviant.
It was instantly knocked out, but the force of the tree falling on the ground did launch both myself and Druig backward. Before we could hit anything hard, I threw a bubble over the both of us to protect us from impact. it worked, only knocking us a bit and the bubble pop, having us fall to the ground gently.
I took in a large breath, slowly getting up as Druig did the same. Dust was settling around us as we could hear another Deviant was battling Kingo and Sprite off in the distance and the villagers were still under Druig's spell, shooting their shotguns at the Deviant who was pinned but not dead yet. Druig looked over at me then, seeing my busted cheek and looking in concern how as he was about to touch it. I gently placed his hand down before he could and I shook my head.
"Don't worry about it, it's fine," I reassured him in a shaky tone while Sersi rushed over.
"Druig," She said to him getting right in his face, "Let them go!"
"Now is not the time, Sersi," Druig said calmly to her, but Sersi immediately grabbed his arms and yanked him to get his attention.
"Please," She begged, "I know you're better than this!"
Druig sighed, shrugging her shoulders off before he threw his arm out and had his eyes glowed. Within a second, the villagers stopped their firing. They all looked stunned, not knowing what to do.
"Go! Get to the river!" Druig yelled at them, seeing them suddenly run off together. It was a moment or two of stillness before I looked at both of them.
"Where's everyone else?" I asked gravely, they both looked at me and then at each other. We then heard a large cry out, having all of us look back at the heart of the square and knowing who that us.
"Ikaris," Sersi said in fear, the three of us started to rush over, then hearing the Deviant that was under the crystal tree break free from its restrains. We kept running, Sersi and Druig going to one side as I was going over to where I could hear Kingo and Sprite. They were huddled in one of the broken-down hubs but I could see one Deviant was about to strike me.
"Go!" Kingo yelled at Sprite, trying to get a cosmic canon blast ready in his hands.
"I'm not leaving you!" Sprite said to him, throwing up illusions of tree trunks to slow down the Deviant that was now running towards them. I panicked, sprinting as fast as I could when I saw Kingo look up in horror at the Deviant about to prince on them.
"Wait!" he screamed, throwing Sprite behind him to stop any blow against her. I was throwing out a field around the both of them just in time, then seeing beams trying to take out the Deviant. I looked, still holding the force field within my hands now, seeing exactly who it was.
Ikaris, coming to save the day.