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Illusions aren't always pretty

Summary:

She raised her head and opened her eyes. She screamed.

 

Or Sprite is exhausted and had a very bad day involving deviants. At the domo, things get worse. Luckily (Unluckily?) Druig and Kingo are the only ones home.

Notes:

A/N : A bit of warning things get dark(?) and there’s a lot of angsty feelings.

Edit : DISCLAIMER! I OWN NOTHING BUT THE ONESHOT.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Sprite sat on her bed, wiping the dried-up tear tracks from her cheeks. The last few days have been exhausting as deviants after deviants attacked human settlements everywhere. The Eternals have been sent out all over the planet to fight each and every one of them.

Even though the fighting sometimes stopped over small periods of time, It was never over. She couldn’t relax. Let alone sleep. The events of the day kept replaying in her mind.

Sprite had been escorted by Makkari from one settlement to the next in hopes of calming the humans down. Sersi and Ajak had told her that she was doing a wonderful job. She didn’t believe them. But the smiles of the children and sometimes even adults after hearing and seeing her stories had calmed her restless heart.

But every time she left one settlement to perform illusions in another, the people she had just left were attacked and subjected to the terror of deviants all over again.

Several times she wanted to ask Makkari to bring her back. Maybe she could do something. Anything. But the speedster was already worn out as she was. It was times like these when Sprite wished her powers weren’t just illusions.

She hadn't even finished her story in the last village she visited when a deviant tore through one of the houses. She did everything she could to help the children get to a safe house in the middle of the village. All she could see from inside was the crying faces of the children around her. Even in the safety of the domo, their screams continued to haunt her.

She had made miniature galaxies and constellations in the hopes of calming them down. The building they were in was quaking, and Sprite could picture Gilgamesh's powerful fists tunnelling each deviant to the ground.

Makkari had been the one to open the doors and signalled the people inside that it was safe to come out. All the children quickly filtered out one by one to find their respective parents. If they were still alive. The building was empty, and Sprite was left in a corner curling in on herself. Makkari didn’t ask and just scooped her up into her arms. A breeze of the wind and Sprite found herself back in the entrance to the Domo. Druig was there to meet them. Sprite had no idea whether Druig somehow sensed they were coming or if he had been waiting in front of the Domo for a long while.

Sprite didn't pay much attention to Druig and Makkari's conversation, but she knew Makkari was returning to help Gilgamesh and that Kingo and Druid were the only Eternals present at the time.

Sprite had uttered an excuse saying she was tired when she felt her eyes water.

That's how she ended up here, still unable to sleep. She rubbed her puffy eyes with the back of her hands and fell backwards until she was laying down. She wrapped her blanket over her body and drew it tighter around her.

She tried to sleep, but her thoughts kept returning to the screams of the children and the deviants chasing them. She gave up after a few minutes and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She groaned and rested her head in her palms. If sleeping didn’t work, then eating it is.

She raised her head and opened her eyes. She screamed.

In front of her was a deviant. Its fangs were bared, ready to tear flesh. Sprite threw herself out of bed in her panic. Her feet were entangled in the blanket, making it difficult for her to stand. Frantic screams kept tearing out of her throat.  

Druig was right behind Kingo as he stormed into her room. Kingo fired, channelling cosmic energy through the tips of his fingers.

The deviant did not fall. It didn’t hit. Why didn’t it hit??

Kingo yelled something to Druid and they both turned to Sprite. While druig walked swiftly towards her, Kingo's eyes were filled with sympathy.

No! They were supposed to get out. Why weren’t they getting out?

Sprite was beginning to panic, and the deviant was prowling towards her.

She noticed Druig kneeling behind her from the corner of her eye. He was trying to tell her something, but she couldn't hear him. Not while her screams were echoing off the walls.

Having lifted her, Druig now had her cradled on his lap. 

“Sprite, Sprite Listen!” Druig snapped, trying to get her attention. But it wasn’t working. She kept thrashing about and Druig was trying hard to keep her still while also careful not to hurt her.

He dropped Sprite on the ground and moved in front of her. His body covered the deviant’s figure from her eyesight. His back was to the deviant.

“Are you crazy?! It’s right behind you! Get out of the way!!” Sprite’s attempt to shove Druig aside failed as he wouldn’t budge.

But her attention was diverted when Kingo took a step closer to the deviant.

“KINGO DON- “

“-It isn’t real Sprite. You are doing this.” Druig held both her wrists up to the front of her face. They were glowing and faint gold threads were floating in the air.

“You’re safe sprite. You can stop now.” Kingo’s soft voice reached her as he walked right through the deviant. It flickered, wobbled, and faded away.

Realizing she was the cause of her own terror Sprite let out a choked sob. She had been so focused on using her powers to tell stories, she forgot they could create nightmares as well. Druig let go of her hands. Before he could stand up Sprite surged forwards, wrapped her arms around his middle and buried her face in his chest.

He stiffened and didn’t move as Sprite cried away all her pent-up fears.

It seemed this time she was truly tired, as she started slipping away. The last thing she remembered was a pat on her head and a voice.

“It’ll be over soon enough Sprite. Everything will be alright. I promise.”

 

 

Notes:

A/N : Hope you liked it! I’ve been thinking of making a one-shot book of Sprite and her eternal family but I’m not quite sure yet. Leave me your thoughts!

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