575 BC
BABYLON

          PERSE LAID IN THE ARMS of Druig, who was sharing plums with her. Letting him daze out, she watched as Phastos had been working on some sort of machinery, to help humanity.
She eyed the gold illusions of Phastos, with every move a piece of machine moved with him.

Soon, Ajak came in, making Perse and Druig move away from each other. Despite seeing the obvious, Ajak says, "Phastos. Did you go to the party last night like I told you to?"

He scoffs, "The party, yeah. Yeah, it was——"

"He worked all night," Druig tells, earning a light shove from Perse. He nudged her back, with a mischievous grin.

"Get a life," Ajak states, "And where is Sersi?"

"Late as usual," Sprite says.

"I'm sorry but I have something very exciting to show you, okay?" Phastos grabs their leader's hand, pulling her to see. "Wait till you see this."

With great pride, Phastos reveals his cosmic illusion work, completely proud of himself for even coming up with the idea.

"What is it?" Ajak asked, not entirely sure what it is.

"I-It's an engine. It moves steam from high pressure to low pressure," He explains, "Uh, it'll help them till their fields at an incredibly fast rate."

"It's gonna freak them out," Sprite comments, spinning her knife.

"I mean, they've only had the wheel for 1,000 years," Perse adds, "They seem pretty prepared for an engine."

"You know, we could do that thing your buddy can do, where he uses his mind to control them and then they could do it quicker."

"Ajak, you listening to this?" Druig chirped, innocently.

"Phastos, this steam..."

He corrects, "Engine. It's an engine."

"It's too soon." Running, Sersi pops in. "And there she is."

"What did I miss?" Sersi questions.

"Nothing. Just the... screams of my deep disappointment," Phastos gabs.

"I know you have simpler ideas," Perse presses.

As the man tried to find his idea, Druig smirked to himself, looking toward Perse. With his closest hand beside her, his one hand playful danced his way around her waist, causing her to giggle just a little. This caused him to have a small chuckle.

Ajak swiftly turns her head, scolding eyes at them, and the two quickly backed off of each other, as if they weren't messing around with each other.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present you..." He reveals his project illusion. "... the plow. 'Cause that's what it does. It plows dirt."

Sersi peeped, "I met another group of settlers who are building their homes in the northern fields. They'll need to plant their own crops."

"Thanks, Sersi."

Ajak talked, "Listen, I know humanity may be coming along slower than some of us want. But there is no telling what wonders they will discover as they advance."

✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼

PRESENT

     AS a private plane landed in a field, the group of recruiting Eternals, and Karun, walked toward a darkened wood, that looked too intimidating and suspicious. For Ikaris, this didn't seem to be like the home of Perse — Goddess of Spring; for Sprite, this definitely seemed to be for Perse.

"You sure that Perse lives here?" Sersi asked.

"I remember Ajak telling me," Sprite answers, "This is it."

They set off and made their way in the forest. It was eerie and quiet as if the smallest noise can trigger anything around. The tree winded around, growing thick and tall, while the ground had little to no grass, only leaves and moist dirt.
There were no animals, which made Sersi confused. If this truly was the home of Perse, then where did the animals go? Were they hiding from them, or waiting to pounce?

The only person who was completely off guarded was Kingo, who was making an 'Eternals: Documentary', about Earth's original heroes.
"Now, we move on to Perse," Kingo narrates to the camera, as they walk, "Controls the natural elements of a planet. She is portrayed to be the goddess of Spring, but the greeks messed up and decided to rename her Persephone."

"She must surely not want anyone here," Sersi comments to herself.

"Humans," Sprite vaguely recalls, "She doesn't want humans here."

"I wonder why," Ikaris says, looking around them.

"Sir," Karun peeped to Kingo, pointing to the distance.

The five of them looked closer to see a wall, a wall of bark. They looked up and were shocked to see that it was trees. Trunks and branches were woven into each other, reaching to a high point in the sky; isolation must have taken a toll.

Suddenly something wrapped around Ikaris' leg. Before they could notice, the thing threw the man to a tree, trying to disorient him.

"Ikaris!" Sprite and Sersi shout.

The three Eternals were facing a root, an alive root. They knew Perse was up to this.

"Perse, you can stop now!" Kingo tells, looking around and firing his cosmic energy to fire.

Recovering, Ikaris flys toward the root, and with his laser eyes, he shot it down. That wasn't until more and more started to come.
Not only the roots but branches and the ground below.

Branches were grabbing Sprite and Sersi, as Sersi had to turn them to sand or any matter she could think of. Roots were like tentacles for Ikaris, swiping and gabbing to him, trying to miss his laser eyes. Kingo was too busy trying to get Karun safe, blasting anything that moved.
Karun still filmed at the action came, it left like a movie right before his eyes.

"Perse!" Sprite screams, as branches and roots grabbed hold of her, with a pit right under her to be dropped.

Suddenly, nature stopped fighting. It slowly let go of everyone and retreated back to its normal state, just bark and dirt.

The wall opened up, the Eternals were ready to fight but stopped in seeing the person they'd been looking for. Like a halo, an angel, the woman came out of her sanitary and to her old friends.

Flowers came with every step she took. Her face held nostalgia and peacefulness, as the floral gown she wore flowed in the wind.

"Do my eyes deceive me?"

"Perse," Sprite peeped, taking a leap toward her.

The two embraced. Perse held a wide smile, looking toward her friends. People she hadn't seen in over a century or so. Her eyes held tears, just by seeing them; they weren't just memories.

In her home, the Eternals came into the barrier. It was almost like a pocket of peaceful paradise. In front of the dark and grinned woods, came a field. Forest animals of all kinds came, rivers were like vessels, crops and trees came like a mixture of things.

"I didn't want to take any chances, with the earthquake, the news of you guys fighting a Deviant... hiding was the only solution."

"Perse——"

"You isolated yourself, after all these years?" Sersi interrupted.

"After what had happened, isolation is what you can do best. I wasn't completely isolated anyway, I make sure to check on people if I can."

"You should've said something, we could've helped each other with the loneliness and..."

"I didn't mind the loneliness," admitted the Eternal, "After many years with you guys, seeing humans fight, burn, and break what is beautiful, I think I'd take isolation more than anything."

Sprite didn't see the woman that Perse used to be, so vibrant and filled with love for anyone and thing that was alive.
Where did she go?

"Perse, we need you," Ikaris states, "We didn't come here for just a catch."

The woman in the floral gown gave a silent scoff. "Ikaris..." She says, "Is that all that you see me now? Just a-a solider for you? Not an old friend?"

"We don't have time for arguing, and you know it."

The rest of the group looked at the two. There were tension, unsaid words. Sure they had their quarrels, their fights, but that's just who they were. They fought like siblings, never rivals.

"Perse... A-Ajak's dead."

The woman stood silent.
Her heartfelt twice as heavy, the air around her felt thin — heartache.

Water pooled in her eyes, her head shaking in denial. "You're lying to me."

Sersi walked up to her. "Ajak loved you, Perse. She saw you as one of her own."

Looking to everyone, she knew it wasn't a joke. She knew they had no reason to lie about this.
Everyone could feel the cold wind coming in, plants around her feet withered into dry death.

No one dared come up to her, as her body shivered and a cry came out. She stumbled to try and go to her little home, her little shred of comfort but fell to the ground.

With a blood-curdling scream, the ground beneath their feet shook violently. The scream continued and what was once beautiful grass came tan, crippled, nothingness. The ground cracked under them, spiking throughout her before security.

One Eternal stepped forward.
He crouched to her and held her, as her body limped to him. She didn't hold onto him, nor look to see who it was.

But she knew, she knew who it was.

Kingo didn't say anything to Perse, he didn't need to. He just held onto her, let her cry as she let the land in her forest break.

✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼

584 BC
BABYLON

     PERSE gave the civilians more seeds to plant for themselves. They thanked her and continued to start a grow of plants.
The Eternal did love the humans, they intrigued her, made her feel a sort of hope inside.
Ajak came to her side, as they walked by the fertile fields.

"Perse, do you ever consider your own feelings for other things besides your duties?" Ajak asked.

"Well, my responsibilities are major, but I believe I can handle myself and my work in being an Eternal."

As the two walked, they noticed Druig from afar. He helped the humans communicate with Makkari, before looking at the two women; blush curled his cheeks when seeing the black-suited Eternal.

Ajak looked over to see the girl.
It was easy to tell how love-struck she was. Noticeable from the start, they had this chemistry that the leader admired. They were good for each other, in their own special ways.

"I know you are developing feels," The leader states, "with our Druig."

Perse's lungs seemed to collapse on her. Turning her head, she was nervous to say and too scared to even talk. With one look to Ajak, the woman seemed calm and easy going with the news.

"I'm sorry," Perse apologized, "I didn't tell you because we weren't getting together, it's simple fun. I promise, I won't let my feelings get in the way——"

"Pers... look around you."

She did.
The world grew close to almost sunset. It was moderately quiet, with townsfolk voices behind them. It was peaceful, nice, like a sliver of what paradise really is.

"Being an Eternal doesn't mean you shouldn't live your own life. So go, be happy with Druig."

✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼

PRESENT

     THEY all sat in the little kitchen as Perse had tea in her hands, a rabbit on her leap to ease her grief. She had seemed to calm down, dried tear stains on her cheeks. She didn't care if she looked like a mess, she just lost family.

"Perse, we need you," Ikaris speaks up.

The woman turned to her friends. "You come to tell me Ajak is dead, and now you want me to fight?"

"It's our mission——"
"Screw our mission."

Sersi reasons with her, "The Deviants are out there, now. They're not attacking humans, they're attacking us." She holds Perse's hand. "We need all the help we can get, so please, help us."

The Eternal left the room.
She knew what she had to do, she knew she needed to fight... but was she needed? Already she must deal with her own grief, and now she must play soldier. Be a soldier for a celestial that abandoned them.

"Is it wrong to say that I'm done? I'm done being an Eternal," She asked them.

"Yes," Ikaris declares, "Arishem chose you to protect this Earth. You are an Eternal, you cannot change that."

"Druig was always right about you," Perse gapped, "You just love to be the little solider boy to Arishem. The celestial that practically abandoned us."

"He didn't abandon us. The Deviants are here with us."

"After more than thousands and thousands of years!"

Sprite shout, "Can you guys stop!"

The two listened to the girl but didn't stop the stares they gave to each other. Perse had always known about Ikaris' complete faith in Arishem, he was loyal, but loyalty can also be a bad thing when it is to the wrong people.

Needing time, she left the room and outside. Without realizing it, she walked in on Kingo looking at her world. He didn't look deeply to the cracked ground but to the other beauties that it held.

"Have they convinced you yet?" Kingo asked her, knowing her presence.

"No," She answered, walking toward him. "I don't want to, but... I would feel guilty if I was the only one to not show up."
Perse looked up to the man. "You look good, Kingo. Time treated you well."

"O-Of course," He stammers in pride, "And you look, f-fine."

Perse smiles to herself.
As much as Kingo loved to talk about himself, he was never good with words for others, but it's easy to see how he tries.

"I am sorry," He tells, "What the humans did to..."

"It doesn't matter," Perse shrugs off, "That's what being an Eternal is, right? I must 'stick with the mission'."

"No one is forcing you to forgive them or come back."
"It feels like it."

Kingo sighs, "You don't have to come with us if you don't want to. I understand why you wouldn't."

"I'm retired, I want to live my out in peace. Now that these Deviants are stronger... Do we even have a fighting chance?"

"I'd like to think so. I just think that you are the key to everyone. If you join, everyone else will."

Kingo makes his way to the door of her cottage, before going in said, "You know, I'm on your side, whatever you choose. I just... want you to talk to me every few decades from now on."

She smiles, "You are asking me for my number? I thought Bollywood got to your head."

"Oh, so you've seen my movies, eh? You have been checking up on me. I knew it, you're still obsessed with me."

"Only for you."

✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼

SUNSET rose and Perse still hadn't made her decision yet. Looking to find some advice, Perse looked in her kitchen to find Karun, Kingo's loyal valet, messing with his video camera.

Sitting beside him, he gave her a kind smile. "Hello, miss."

"Mr. Karun," She spoke, "can I ask you a question?"

He looked to her, a little shocked on her politeness, though touched nevertheless. "Sure."

"Do you think humanity is worth saving?"

"I believe that making mistakes is a part of humanity. If there are no mistakes, we wouldn't be human," He says.

"Even after everything?"

"I agree, bad things have been done, but that doesn't mean it should dictate the entire world. There are good people here, it's just a pity that the world sees more of the bad than good."

The woman hums to herself. The valet was right, the entirety of humanity shouldn't be based on bad things, some humans deserve to be saved.
But she couldn't shake the feeling of guilt for herself if she did join them, and who even knows how long it will take to kill every Deviant still left.

"Thank you, Mr. Karun."

Getting up, the man comments to her, "He was right, you are very kind."

Perse turns back. "Kingo? Kingo talks about me?"

"Frequently, yes. Nice words, always. He admired you greatly and thought of you very much."

The woman smiles, "I admired him too."

Leaving the cottage, she makes her way to the orchards, where Sersi, Sprite, and Ikaris ate her delicious fruits. Standing in front of them, she states, "All right, I'll go with you."

As Sprite smiles and Ikaris give a nod, Sersi says, "Thank you, Perse."

"I have one condition," The woman explains, "After this, after killing the Deviants... I'm done. No matter the disaster, no matter what happens, I am retired. Don't come to me asking for help, again. The only answer you will get is no."

As the three stared at each other, they each knew that her answer was better than any.
"Fine. Deal," Sprite agrees, sticking out her hand.

Perse held onto Sprite's hand and shook on it, with the image of retirement set in her mind.