Chapter Text
Sersi turned around, her hands reaching up to rub her eyes clear from her tears. She fought back the urge to sob through taking steadying breaths. She walked along an arc towards the balcony railing while trying her best to look everywhere except for the two people that were nearby. Sersi gripped onto the marble railing, bowing her head in an effort to ground herself and find her bearings.
“Why is Mummy crying?” Zian’s innocent whisper reached her ears. “Is she happy or sad to see you?”
Ikaris twisted the two of them around to face the stairs leading down to a patio. “Sometimes, we can experience both feelings together. It’s strange but true. You’ll understand it more later.” He lowered his son down to the ground before pointing down the steps. “Give your mother a moment. You can go play in the courtyard.” Watching his son glance at Sersi with a concerned look, he gave an encouraging wink. “Go on, Zian.”
The boy chewed on his lip before giving a nod. He ran down the stairs and passed a few short hedges that surrounded a beautiful pond. Lily pads and various fish occupied the body of water. Sersi lifted her head to track Zian’s movements as he ran around the pond onto another wooden bridge that was built over the water. He stopped in the middle of the bridge to stare down at the fish that were swimming by.
Ikaris was watching Sersi carefully, seeing where her attention was directed. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
A peculiar shiver ran down her spine after hearing that statement. Sersi was the one who said those words to him a long time ago when they first met before embarking on Earth. Did this mean this was a new beginning somewhere else? Usually, she would be more enthusiastic to learn about new locations which only meant this setting, wherever it actually was, must’ve been no ordinary world. “What is this place?”
He gazed out to the garden that stretched beyond the courtyard. “This is Olympia. Our home.” Ikaris focused on Sersi again. “We completed our mission on Earth and we were allowed to go back home as we wished.”
She blinked in confusion, recalling what Arishem revealed to her. “Olympia doesn’t exist. It never did.”
Ikaris was simply tickled by the declaration as if it was a silly joke. “Of course, it does. This is where Zian was born. Where we are raising him.”
Sersi’s eyebrows knitted together trying to rationalize how that was possible. “You mean, Arishem created him for us?”
He regarded her for a serious moment. “No. You’re forgetting some of the best months of our lives.” Ikaris placed his hand against her stomach.
The heat of his palm sent a shudder through her whole body.
Sersi looked down to her protruding belly. There was never a moment that Ikaris didn’t seize to rest his hand over it. He stole any chance to feel the living growth of their child. He poured every amount of love into the way he’d caress her abdomen, waiting for an answering kick or motion of their baby. Even when he’d speak directly to them, voicing his excitement of their kid’s arrival to welcome them into the world. Ikaris had always been so caring and protective of Sersi that those urges increased tenfold now that she was with child. She wouldn’t have it any other way when Ikaris would help her at any opportunity to make her comfortable or remind her of her unwavering glowing beauty.
He noticed she was deep in thought once again. “Have you chosen a name yet for the little one?”
As if she was waiting for him to ask that, Sersi clapped her hands together in excitement. “After much consideration, I settled on two names and a very foolproof plan.”
An amused chuckle escaped Ikaris. “Go on then. Tell me.”
She reached into her pocket, pulling out two flat pebbles that she collected from the garden. Sersi closed her left hand around one of the rocks. “Should we have a girl, I thought about the name ‘Zia’. It means light or radiant.” She opened her hand to reveal the stone had turned into a pearl. The sunlight hit the sphere perfectly to show its iridescent patterns that danced around the surface. Sersi lifted her other hand closed around the second stone. “Should we have a boy, I thought of the name ‘Zian’. It means self-peace or child of peace.” She uncurled her fingers to unveil that the rock transformed into a green, olive branch. Sersi placed both items onto the railing for Ikaris to observe.
His eyes widened, impressed by her simplified method on picking names. “You definitely did some study. Put some thought into it.” He reached for the pearl, letting it roll between his fingers. Returning it on the rail, Ikaris pinched the olive branch, twisting the light stem.
Sersi fidgeted with her hands that were resting under her stomach. “Do you like those names?”
Ikaris turned towards her, averting his attention from the symbols. “I love them. They’re perfect.” His fingers reached up to fix a loose tendril of her hair over her ear. His hand lingered close to cup her cheek. “Like you.” His eyes flicked down to her lips. “Like our little one will be.” Ikaris grinned at her before leaning forward to –
The vivid image made Sersi step away from his touch. She placed her own hand on her stomach just to confirm it was still flat. She swore she could still feel the swirling motion of something else living inside her. “No.” Sersi could only shake her head, squeezing her eyes shut to prevent the new tears threatening to fall. “This can’t be happening. This isn’t real. This can’t be real.” She felt short of breath, a stinging sensation in her chest. “Y-you left. You’re not real.” Sersi faced away from him, one hand over her mouth while the other gripped onto the rail tightly.
Ikaris let out a long sigh, slowly closing the distance between the two of them. “Sersi,” Her name came out in a tone full of patience. Ikaris observed her hand that was clutching the barrier with a tautness that left her knuckles almost white. He dared to reach for it, placing his hand over hers, willing her grasp to let go as he threaded his fingers between hers. “I’m right here.”
A soft gasp fell from Sersi’s lips. The intimate contact was so familiar, so real despite what she was protesting. She could sense the body heat of Ikaris right behind her, calling for her to gravitate towards it. His embrace that represented safety and love. Ikaris was the only thing in this place that she recognized but at the same time, there was something notably different about him. He was completely devoted to her and their son. There was no Arishem as a variable to sway him in his life or so she understood so far. Sersi surrendered to Ikaris, relaxing her shoulders back to lean against him. By natural reflex, his arm reached up to rest against her hip and pull her in closer towards him. Ikaris breathed her in, his nose brushing against her hair.
Sersi allowed herself to bask in the comfort with her eyes closed. Despite the panic and disorientation that this place subjected her to, she needed this calming effect that Ikaris could provide her. Her senses were zoned in on his hand wrapped around hers and the warmth of his chest against her back. Sersi hadn’t felt this kind of peace in a long time. Even after stopping the Emergence, there was still a lingering paranoia that sat in the back of her mind waiting for some fallout from her actions. When the consequences came and she endured Arishem’s judgement, she never thought she could sink back into this kind of serenity. Let alone that it would arrive in the form of this utopia claiming to be Olympia with the company of Ikaris and Zian. Or was that the point? Was that Arishem’s aim? Did he provide the same thing for the other Eternals?
She forced her eyes open. “Where are the others? I need to speak to them.”
Ikaris inhaled a deep breath, still absorbed in the moment of hugging her. “What others? Who?”
The question prompted Sersi to turn around and face him. She could still sense his arm wrapped around her waist. “The other Eternals.” Ikaris’s expression remained unchanged. Sersi was almost rendered breathless realizing this was the closest proximity she shared with him so far. Being this near, she could really take in the details that were still true to when she last saw him. The deep blue of his eyes was still the same intensity along with the silver streak that was placed at the front of his hair. She blinked to stay focused on the team. “Ajak? Phastos and Kingo?”
He stared into her inquisitive eyes only to shake his head. “It’s just us, Sersi. There are no others here.”