The Immortal World - Ikaris

Xavier patted Sam on the back, noticing The Shapeshifter's higher-than-usual temperature.

It was no coincidence.

Of course, Shapeshifters retained an incredible amount of heat in their human forms due to the necessary blood flow it took to expand into their Wolf counterpart but even compared to that, Sam's heat was something else.

Droplets of sweat were forming on his forehead.

The air around him slightly twisted.

If anybody had noticed, they hadn't said anything – Kaulder and the others had probably thought it was natural for the type of Supernatural Creature Sam is…

They were wrong.

The Eternal ignored the signs as much as he could, trying not to let the guilt of what was happening overcome him – Xavier couldn't afford that, not before a battle.

Somewhere in his heart, Xavier blamed Alcides.

"Join the others," Xavier gestured to the pair of Immortals and Nun. "They are probably gonna start the serious conversation any time now. It may help ease your nervousness."

Sam nodded and slid his seat back into the social atmosphere between the two Immortals and a slightly tipsy Nun – Xavier knew there was a joke in there somewhere but he couldn't find it.

The Eternal scanned the pub.

His mind was unsteady and his eyes burned with the stressed ocular exertion of utilizing his Cosmic Beams far too many times over the span of an hour.

Everything Xavier had learned this far pointed to the fact that, as an Eternal, he had yet to mature.

All the abilities were there…

"But something feels missing," The Eternal mused, clenching his fist over and over again.

There was no way to know what was missing, but Xavier trusted his instincts above all else – something was definitely missing, and without it, he sensed that he would never be a true Eternal.

It didn't help that all indications pointed to him being the last of his kind… for some reason that ached his heart.

Not his heart, but Ikaris's heart – all his mind could think about was where is Sersi?

"UGH!"

The pain was bearable.

The headaches had become more subdued but sometimes an annoyance was more triggering than the actual battle – this was one such case.

Xavier racked his mind for a solution and found something in the ether of his memories.

The Eternal crossed the floor and stopped in front of the only man in the noisy pub who was on his phone.

"Can I borrow your phone?" Xavier inquired.

"Get your own," The Man replied feistily.

"Please…" Xavier insisted, staring into the man's eyes as his own pulsed with a golden brilliance of threat.

The Eternal was in no mood to do things the right way.

The man had placed the phone in Xavier's hand and departed the pub in a matter of seconds, not even glancing back once.

The interaction left a bitter taste in The Eternal's mouth – abusing his power for such a thing – but right now his mental state was of utmost importance.

Xavier stared at the phone in his hand for a couple of seconds, mapping the exact conversation that was about to happen – this was something he often did.

"But why have the conversation if I can already picture it in my head?" The Eternal questioned.

What he needed at the moment was not control over a superficial conversation that would help nothing, but a meaningful conversation with the woman he loves.

Xavier dialed the entered number, considered ending the call for a couple of seconds, then decided against it and waited until the third right.

RING

RING

RING

Just as The Eternal was about to hang up, a voice came from the other side.

Hello…

۞۞۞

XAVIER'S HOUSE

Angela sat in the Hummer, fumblingly rolling small grains into a rolling paper, but no matter how she tried, it was impossible to create the perfect roll.

"Damn it!" She cursed.

Three days without Xavier had found Angela becoming a very inexperienced stoner.

Though, she didn't particularly mind wasting the precious greens since they belonged to Xavier's various stashes around the school – Angela thought of it as a little punishment from a neglected girlfriend.

Her mind drifted…

'Should I burn his clothes too?'

RING

'Donate all the food in the fridge to charity?'

RING

'Maybe… sell his hummer?'

RING

The third ring finally snapped Angela out of a revengeful daze.

Without any concern in the world, she raised the phone to her ear, and sensing the motion, the phone automatically answered the call.

"Hello…"

[Babe…]

Angela froze for a couple of seconds as several complex expressions flashed across her face as if a television glitched between channels.

Then, the channel settled on…

Vulnerability… absolute vulnerability and melting negativity.

"I missed you…" were the only words out of Angela's mouth – all the resentment she had been harboring for days was gone with just the sound of Xavier's voice.

And she soon realized it was the right call since, even more than herself, Xavier's tone sounded vulnerable.

[I am… I… I might be breaking apart at the seams…]

Angela took a deep breath away from the phone as her heart started to beat wildly – she couldn't tell if it was out of fear or excitement.

A vulnerable Xavier meant something had gone terribly wrong, but, per Emily's advice, Angela knew this was her time to make herself invaluable to her boyfriend.

Xavier trusted no one…

Smiled truly for no one…

And even Angela – living in his home – had places she could not access with her level of authority… all of this meant one thing, The Eternal always left himself a way out.

Angela knew she would never be able to change that, but what she could change was his need to bring her along whenever he backed out of the door.

This was her chance…

"I have been broken before," Angela mustered her deepest, depths of honesty – portraying the dark emotions swirling in her chest from their first breakup. "Take it from someone who has been there, it's better to die fighting than live with a simmering regret that will take your life on autopilot… next thing you know, you're going to be seventy and thinking about the guy who broke your heart when you were fifteen."

[..............]

There was no response for a while… then.

[Not the conventional advice.]

Angela smiled, half-broken-hearted and half-victorious since she could tell the appreciation and realization from Xavier's voice.

"You would never come to me for conventional advice," She stated matter-of-factly. "You only come to me to confess sins. You know I am the only one who can rationalize it for you."

[You're right… I need a priest…]

"Or a Nun," Angela joked.

[Funny you should say that…]

Angela sighed when the tension in the conversation had mostly dissipated, but she knew this was exactly the time to force her point in Xavier's head.

That was the way he ticked.

She had started with a vague point, direct a bit of advice to the extreme, and ended with the real advice that would force his morality back onto the right course.

"And I want you to know," Angela hesitated.

[Know what…]

"That I don't want to see a monster when you come home," Angela gritted her teeth as she lied… but it wasn't really a lie – she would never want to see a monster version of Xavier. "So, if you have to change to come home, then don't come home. Stay there and fight no matter how dangerous."

By the end of her rant, Angela's lips were bleeding – she had to bite herself to keep from recanting her earlier statement… to keep from telling Xavier that everything was okay as long as he survived.

[Thank you…]

Xavier's tone was thankful and sweet.

CLICK

The call ended…

Not knowing when, Angela noticed the roll had slipped from between her fingers, and she had no intention of trying to become a stoner anymore.

۞۞۞

Xavier crushed the phone in his hand and swiftly made his way to the bathroom, kicking open the door with haste, and disposing of the smashed pieces in the toilet paper bin.

HAH – HEW

HAH - HEW

HAH - HEW

Tears threatened to gush from The Eternal's eyes but somehow, he controlled the boiling emotions and hammered them down into something positive – determination.

"I can't survive and become a monster!" He reminded himself.

Angela's advice had struck home, giving Xavier exactly what he needed to get through the upcoming battle.

Xavier knew he could always rely on Ikaris's experiences floating around in his head to combat whatever came his way, but he knew that would slowly lead to him becoming an Eternal that would sacrifice friends to achieve his goal.

Actually, he was already doing that by bringing Sam along.

"FUCK!"

BANG

Xavier hammered his fist onto the bathroom sink, and the thick ceramic material broke as easily as glass shattering on the ground… only, in this case, an Eternal's fist was the ground.

SHATTER

Pieces of the sink scattered on the ground.

"You okay in there?" A voice questioned from outside.

"Fine!" The Eternal replied, pushing the door until it was fully shut.

Xavier took a couple of steps to the right and stared at himself in the mirror, trying to recognize the face beneath the face – thankfully, it was still there.

"My name is Xavier Ikaris Aionios," He whispered.

Deep breaths brought calmness, repeating the phrase brought mental stability, and the isolated environment brought a greater sense of self.

--------------

By the time Xavier exited the bathroom, a full thirty minutes had passed, but Mother Superion, Kaulder, Andy, and Sam still patiently waited around the table.

The pub was noticeably less buoyant.

Kaulder was the first to move, embracing Xavier with a hug he knew The Eternal desperately needed.

Andy moved next, and though she wasn't a hugger, a simple pat on the shoulder told Xavier that she was also aware of the thoughts running through his head.

Mother Superion simply gave an approving nod.

"I appreciate the support," Xavier was both thankful and mocking himself. "I honestly thought you guys would be betting whether I was coming back or not."

"Oh, we did…" Kaulder shrugged his shoulders, sliding a fifty-dollar bill over to Sam. "Sam is the only one who thought you would come back."

Andy and Mother Superion also slid their respective fifty-dollar bills into Sam's hands, and The Shapeshifter stared at the money with confusion.

"I wasn't aware it was a bet," Sam pocketed the money with a shrug and simply explained. "I just told them you would be back after you finished using the bathroom."

Xavier stared at Sam incredulously. "You do know what we are going to do next, right?" The Eternal inquired.

"Fight vampires – the new kind?" Sam replied, interlocking his fingers with a serious expression on his face. "I have prepared myself mentally for that."

Andy's, Mother Superion's, and Kaulder's eyes widened simultaneously – they were only now realizing that Sam wasn't really up-to-date with what was happening.

Xavier was unsurprised on the surface, but his heart was beating a thousand times a second – he wasn't sure how to tell Sam that the upcoming battle would involve horrors unimaginable.

'I fucked up!' The Eternal admitted internally. 'I know the plot so I know what La Magra is and who else might be coming, allies and enemies, but… Sam doesn't know. Andy and Kaulder know what to expect as Immortals who have seen many battles, and Mother Superion fights demons so she will be fine, but… Sam…'

"Xavier…" Kaulder's voice broke the silence.

"It's too late," Xavier spoke with a bitter expression, staring at Sam semi-pitifully. "If we leave him behind, something will show up to look for him. I know how this works – he is safer with the rest of us."

"What are you guys talking about?" Sam furrowed his brows.

"Stay close to me," Mother Superion offered in a rare moment of sympathy. "My Halo can shield multiple sisters so it should be able to protect you from the worse of it."

"And in a critical moment," Andy added, walking over to the bar and retrieving a wrapped Labrys from behind the counter. "Remember to trust your instinct no matter what it says."

Xavier withheld whatever advice he could offer since there was no way he could know better than eight-hundred-year-old and six-thousand-year-old Immortals.

But there was something he knew that they didn't.

"And if you start feeling sick," The Eternal chose his words carefully. "Don't fight the sickness, it might prove beneficial to you."

Andy secured her weapon to her back.

Kaulder, likewise, secured Hexenbane, in its sheath, onto his back.

Mother Superion cracked her fingers and neck, subtly expelling a pulse of cosmic-like energy from her Halo.

Xavier closed his eyes and sensed the Cosmic Energy flowing in his veins, rousing the flowing energy in a more rapid circulation.

Sam stood and subtly expanded his body to test the integrity of his suit, and when the suit expanded a couple of inches with his body, The Shapeshifter was assured.

The five Supernatural Beings exited the pub, naturally drifting in the direction of the freshest air and most eerie silence.