Chapter Text
Ikaris was watching her again.
There he stood, on the edge of the crowd, his bright eyes only for one particular woman. He was watching her with a rapture that could only be described as adoration, as if there was something to adore about someone dancing around with no-longer fresh flowers occasionally falling out of their braided hair.
Sprite herself didn’t have any flowers in her hair. She had claimed that it was too short to braid, though Sersi had still offered to try it. Sprite had refused, hoping that maybe Ikaris would offer to try braiding it but again, it was like Ikaris’s sole purpose in life was to watch Sersi be her beautiful perfect self.
So here Sprite was, with unbraided un-flowered hair, totally not watching Ikaris watching Sersi. Her arms were crossed tightly, if only to stop herself from transforming the remaining flowers in Sersi’s hair into vipers. Though even if Sersi was a gorgon suddenly, Sprite was certain that Ikaris would love her all the same.
Sersi noticed that Ikaris was standing by the sidelines and she went over, tugging at his hands while still swaying her hips to the music. Ikaris laughed and relented, following her to the centre of the dance floor.
Sprite twisted around to leave but she walked directly into Kingo.
“Excellent show as always!” Kingo boomed, slinging an arm over her shoulder.
Sprite glowered at him. If he noticed, he ignored it completely. Sprite wondered if instead of cosmic energy bullets, his gift was actually being incredibly annoying. She would have to ask Ajak to ask Arishem. Kingo continued talking, his voice much louder than Sprite cared for at the moment.
“I especially liked the part where the Great Icarus flew too close to the sun and shrivelled up and died. Nice touch.”
“Go away Kingo.” Sprite snapped.
Kingo flinched back from her dramatically. She pushed past him to go back to the Domo to wallow in her own angst but Kingo caught her arm and held her in place. Sprite fumed, raising her hand to conjure a particularly insulting illusion.
“I’m sorry.” Kingo said.
Sprite opened her mouth. Closed it again. Just when she went to open it again like some kind of fish out of water, Kingo let go of her.
“What for?” Sprite asked suspiciously. Maybe this was some elaborate trick, Kingo was definitely not as above pranks as he claimed to be. “What are you up to Kingo?”
“I’m not up to anything.” Kingo said and she almost believed him. “But I am truely sorry. I know how much Ikaris means to you, it isn’t fair to tease you.”
“Ikaris means nothing.” Sprite snarled.
When she shoved past him again, this time he didn’t fight it. She conjured an illusion easily, hiding herself from both Kingo’s eyes and everybody else. She didn’t want to talk to anyone right now, she was certain that if one more thing happened she was going to explode.
It hadn’t even been a particularly bad day, there hasn’t even been a Deviant attack for the past two weeks so she couldn’t even claim exhaustion from using her abilities too much. And yet all the same her entire body was buzzing with frustration and maybe even outright anger.
But what was she so angry about? Even after all this time, she couldn’t bring herself to actually hate Sersi. Sersi was so kind, so loving, it wasn’t her fault that Sprite was such a mess. And Kingo had just been teasing her, on any other day she could have just ignored his light jabs and maybe even given a few of her own.
But something about Kingo being so sincere in his apology, as if he actually understood what it was like to be eternally trapped in a body that would never grow, as if he knew just how desperate she was to be just like the rest of them.
Sprite wasn’t a kid. She wasn’t even a human. But she looked like a kid. And that meant that everybody treated her like a kid. And that also meant that no matter what she did, she was always doing something wrong.
Sprite don’t touch that.
Everybody, protect Sprite.
Sprite, you’ve grown all of no inches. How cute.
It was constant. She was the same as all the other Eternals, she could do incredible things that humans could only dream of. If they only would give her a chance, if Ika- that is everybody- only saw her as more than just some kid in need of protecting.
Kingo had looked at her in pity. He thought it was sad that she yearned for Ikaris’ attention.
Sprite didn’t want pity. She wanted to scream. She was shaking by the time she got back to the Domo. Forcing back tears, Sprite let the invisibility illusion fall. She felt pathetic, brought to near tears over absolutely nothing.
Like some ridiculous child.
“I wasn’t expecting you to be back so early.”
Sprite whipped around, her heart exploding against her chest.
Ajak was standing there, her hands raised in a peace offering. She was smiling, that beautiful smile that normally made everything feel better. But right now that smile just made Sprite realise that Ajak was treating her like some infantile in need of a mothers love. It was all too much.
“I’m not a kid!” Sprite screamed, clutching her head.
“I never said you were.” Ajak said calmly. “Is everything alright, Sweetheart?”
“Don’t call me that!”Sprite shoved past Ajak, forcing down her disgust at her own actions. She should apologise, explain that right now everything was just too much, but Sprite couldn’t admit that to Ajak. She couldn’t let Ajak see just how much she was struggling with an overwhelming anger that she couldn’t even place. Sprite couldn’t let anyone see just how pathetic she really was.
“Sprite, I-“
But Sprite didn’t stay, no, couldn’t stay, to hear what Ajak had to say. She surged towards her room but then remembered that her bedroom was too close to Phastos’ lab. She knew that he hadn’t gone to the festival, he had been too distracted with his inventions like always, and while she could listen to him ramble all day most days, even thinking about Phastos seeing her like this made her change trajectories.
She had already yelled at Kingo and Ajak. They had finally seen her for what she truely was, she couldn't let Phastos see how pathetic she was too. So Sprite went the only place she knew nobody would go looking for her; the roof of the Domo.
Sprite was still shaking when she got there, her mind still reeling even when she brought her knees close to her chest and buried her head into them, desperate to shut out the world.
She could no longer hold back the tears and her entire body was racked by sobs. She choked back a cough, barely able to breathe through all the tears. Nausea rolled in her stomach but she forced it down. She already felt disgusting, she really didn’t want to add throwing up into the mix.
The seconds dragged on like hours and yet suddenly it was sunrise and Sprite was exhausted.
She must have cried herself to sleep, she realised dully. It was only by some miracle that none of the Eternals had come up here while she had slept, she wasn’t able to uphold illusions when she was unconscious and so they would have been able to see her clear as day. And Arishem knows she couldn’t let them see her like that, so vulnerable. So like the child she was so desperate to prove that she wasn’t.
Sprite dragged a hand down her face.
She should try to sneak into her room, get some actual sleep. She was feeling a little better now, a little more with it despite her exhaustion. It felt stupid to think back to her meltdown now, because that was the only way to describe it. A meltdown. A part of her having always been aware of just how ridiculous it was to cry over literally nothing and yet the rest of her had been unable to regulate her emotions.
Gilgamesh would probably joke that she was so small that she could only feel one emotion at a time but the truth was she had been feeling overwhelmed for a while now. And everything had come to a head simply because she was a little jealous of Sersi. Really, it was laughable just how stupid Sprite had been.
Stretching out her sore body, Sprite heard something. She froze, summoning an illusion of invisibility over her.
But no Eternal popped their head up to the roof. They were probably all still asleep, recovering from the alcohol they wouldn’t let her try. She was alone.
There was that sound again. A creaking, louder than just the wind in the trees. She should tell somebody, there might be a Deviant around. Or she might just still be overreacting. It was most likely nothing. If she woke them up because of some creaking trees, they would never let her live it down.
Creak.
Creak.
Creak.
Snap!
Sprite felt panic surge through her as she finally spotted what had made the noises. There was a Deviant, the largest she had ever seen, and it had felled a tree in an attempt to get to some sort of animal. From this far away she couldn’t see what animal it was, she could only tell that the Deviant had succeeded.
She needed to get Gilgamesh. He could beat the Deviant easily.
But Gilgamesh would be asleep, probably for the next few days as he recovered from the alcohol he wouldn’t let her try. Thena would be in the same boat, Sprite had seen the two of them go drink for drink before she had stormed off, who knows how much they had after that point. Sprite couldn’t dare bring herself to face Sersi or even Ikaris right now and while she loved Phastos dearly his abilities weren’t exactly the most useful in the heat of battle.
Druig wouldn’t be able to do much either, while he was incredible when it came to influencing the minds of humans, those abilities didn’t affect Deviants or Eternals.
Makkari might help her. But what if Makkari saw her the same way that Ajak did? Like a young child to be protected. A ‘Sweetheart’ that had no place on a battlefield.
Which only left Kingo. But Sprite still remembered vividly that look of pity he had given her at the party.
No.
Sprite could do this alone. She had to do this alone, to prove to both them and herself that she wasn’t some weak human child. Sprite was an Eternal. Her entire existence was to destroy Deviants and allow Humans to develop physically and culturally. This monster was not only a Deviant, but it was also close to a human settlement so it was her duty to go fight it. And besides, defeating a huge rogue Deviant by herself was the perfect opportunity to demonstrate just how powerful she could be.
Sprite climbed down from the Domo, picking her way quickly but quietly through the forrest, towards the beast. The Deviant was halfway between the ship and the settlement, still feasting on his prize, just far enough from both of them that nobody seemed to notice the threat.
Ducking behind another tree, Sprite conjured a perfect replica of herself, twisting her wrist to make the illusion walk towards the Deviant.
The beast lifted its head from its meal, red blood dripping down from its mouth. Sprite tried not to flinch. She had seen blood before. This is fine. She’s perfectly fine, the Deviant hadn’t even noticed her illusion yet, it had no way of knowing that she was there.
The Deviant stilled.
Sprite forced her heart to steady.
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. The Deviant was more than four times her size. It could eat her whole in a single bite, it had only been grazing on its current meal right now out of sheer boredom. There was so much blood already, Sprite didn’t want to add to it.
The Deviant sniffed the air, looking all around. Its eyes latched onto Sprite’s replica and the horrid beast reared up with a roar. It surged towards Sprite and tackled Sprite’s replica to the ground. Except Sprite’s illusions weren't corporeal and so instead of colliding with the doppleganger the Deviant stumbled over its own feet, tumbling to the ground with a thud that shook Sprite to her core.
The Deviant scrambled up in an instant, outraged that its newest victim had disappeared.
Sprite turned to run but she was suddenly on the ground, unable to breathe. She flipped herself over so that she was laying on her back, the Deviant’s bloodied teeth inches away from her face. Sprite panicked and lashed out, her fist colliding with the beasts jaw.
The Deviant was so confused that its prey had tried to fight back that it hesitated for a single moment. Spurned on by that small victory, Sprite kicked out her legs as hard as she could. She couldn’t even relish in the scream the Deviant gave off, too busy scrambling away from the beast, knowing that at any moment she could be dead, torn apart with nobody around to save her.
The Deviant recovered quickly and lunged at her again but Sprite threw herself to the other side, conjuring a new illusion of herself.
The replica taunted the Deviant and as the beast launched itself at the illusion, Sprite made another. And another. And another. Soon a hundred identical Sprite’s circled the Deviant and it seemed to be overwhelmed by how many would-be-victims there were, unable to decide which to attack first.
Conjuring illusions was as natural as breathing for Sprite and she felt truely herself for the first time in a long time as she corralled the Deviant close to the tree that it had felled not ten minutes before by using her own replicas as bait.
The bait worked and since she had hidden the trees very sharp stump with a cloak of invisibility, the Deviant hadn’t noticed the stump until it had already tripped over it and impaled itself onto the sharp wood. The Deviant screamed, lashing out its mighty claws and tail in one final attempt to get its quarry. But then the beast slumped.
Sprite just stood there for a long moment, too scared to move in case the Deviant wasn’t really dead. But the seconds dragged by and the beast remained still. She stepped forward. Nudged the Deviant with her foot.
Despite herself Sprite laughed.
If only the others could see her know, they would know that she was just as incredible as all of them. She had killed not only the biggest Deviant she had ever seen, but she had done it by herself and by her own merit. She wasn’t some pathetic child that needed to be pitied. She was an Eternal. She should go tell the others, show them just how capable she really was.
But when she took that first step back towards the Domo, Sprite’s breath caught.
She swayed.
Sprite pressed a hand to her side. She didn’t feel any pain but when she pulled her hand away and glanced at it, it was covered in the same red that had stained the Deviant’s teeth. Except this blood wasn’t from the beasts’ last meal. This blood was her own and it seeped through her fingertips even when she pressed her shaking hand back to her ravaged skin.
Sprite forced back the rising nausea.
While she couldn’t yet feel much pain from her wound, she knew instinctively that it was deep, like a stab wound to the gut. She racked her brain to remember when she had gotten hurt but she couldn’t think clearly through the growing fuzziness.
“Fuck.” Sprite whispered.
This was bad.
She couldn’t let the others see her like this. Any victory points earned by defeating a Deviant by herself would be relinquished the moment they knew she had been injured doing so. Ajak would furious with her and Druig would have a field day making fun of her for being so impulsively stupid. Sersi would probably never let Sprite out of her sight again, like some hyperactive toddler, and Ikaris… Ikaris would finally know just how pathetic she really was.
Conjuring illusions was as natural as breathing for Sprite. So while it was actually a little hard to breathe right now, she felt confident that she could summon a false image of her being perfectly fine long enough to sneak back onto the Domo where she could find a way to fix her injury without anybody noticing.
One hand still pressed to her side, Sprite held up her other hand and twisted her wrist. Tendrils of golden light played at her fingertips and the disgusting red finally faded and disappeared. The teal of her armour gleamed in the sunlight and Sprite stepped forwards.
Her knees buckled.
Sprite bit back a cry as the pain that had so far been blissfully absent washed over her all at once. Still on the ground, Sprite curled up into a ball, her eyes squeezed shut as she was overtaken by agony. Her entire body was shaking, too many sensations firing in her brain all at the same time, her vision going white.
She forced herself to take a deep breath, trying to ground herself back in the real world. Slowly, so slowly, Sprite pulled away from her protective ball and tried to sit up. But the pain only worsened and when Sprite blinked she was laying on her back and there was an acidic taste in her mouth and Sprite wondered when she had thrown up.
Then, she realised much too slowly, that she had actually somehow passed out. The sun was now high above her, almost noon. Even if the other Eternals had had a long night, it would only be a matter of time before they went towards the human settlement and found her laying in not only her own blood but her own sick too.
A gentle prod to her side was proof that her wound hadn’t magically healed itself and new pain threatened to overwhelm her once more.
No. She couldn’t pass out again. If she did, she might never wake up again.
Sprite knew instinctively that she had already lost too much blood, her armour now more red than teal. But she couldn’t just give up. She still had to get to the Domo, now, without anybody noticing. Surely she could find something in Phasto’s lab that would heal her without having to go to Ajak with her tail between her legs because she had been stupid enough to think she could take on a Deviant by herself.
She could do this. All she had to do was stand up, form an illusion of perfect wellness, and stroll onto the Domo with all the confidence she had. You could never stop a person with a purpose. Unless you were Kingo. Kingo would stop a person with a purpose. He was very good at appearing out of nowhere and distracting you from whatever purpose you-
Focus Sprite!
With one hand still pressed to her side, Sprite summoned cosmic energy with the other, weaving it into a false image. A simple illusion, just enough to hide all the blood and cover the deep stab wound that was making her entire body feel like it was on fire.
When her armour was finally teal once more, no sign of that disgusting red, Sprite took another moment to steady herself before she tried to stand. But when she finally did she had to bite back a sob, the illusion faltering as she pulled at her wound. She fixed the illusion, knowing that hiding the injury was paramount.
She stepped forward. Sprite’s world tilted. She let the illusion fall completely, needing all her strength just to stay conscious. She breathed through the pain, forcing back the blurs, until it finally seemed to ebb a little and she could actually think again.
The Domo wasn’t too far away, only far enough that hopefully nobody would have heard the fight. She could make it that far. She had to make it that far.
Her hand shook as golden light played at her fingertips. She was okay. Everything was okay. She wasn’t injured, she was perfectly fine. But even as her wound disappeared again, hidden by a perfect false image, she could still feel the pain and it was somehow getting worse.
The first step was pure agony.
Sprite nearly collapsed all over again but she took another step anyway. A step closer to the Domo was a step closer to not dying. And as much as Sprite needed to prove to the others just how capable she was, she really didn’t want to die in the process. So after she took a second to just stand there on shaking legs, she took another step. And another.
After a while it was almost like her feet were moving themselves, her mind wondering between awareness and the darkness. She dully realised that the pain had faded to almost manageable. But when she glanced down, she realised that the illusion had dispelled itself. Sprite reinforced itself, her eyes squeezing shut as she forced back a whimper.
She couldn’t let them see. See the blood, see the weakness. It was just a little further, she was almost at the Domo now, she just had to maintain an illusion long enough to sneak aboard and then everything would be fine.
The pain began to fade, her body trying so hard to keep up the false image that it had given up on screaming at her for all of five minutes. Maybe this wasn’t so bad after all, maybe her wound wasn’t actually that severe and she had simply overreacted just like she overreacted at the party.
But when the Domo came into full view, the pain exploded again.
Sprite stumbled, barely bracing herself against a tree before she threw up. Even after she brought up what little remained of dinner from the night before, her body heaved. Again and again, every dry reach pulling at her wound and making her want to scream. When her stomach finally realised there was nothing left to throw up, she was left shaking, gripping onto the tree as her one and only lifeline.
She knew that the illusion had disappeared again but she simply couldn’t bring herself to care. Her strength was depleted, it was all she could do to just stay awake at all let alone try to maintain an image. Even now, she felt herself fading in and out consciousness and she rested her head against the tree.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to give into the darkness. She was so tired. The pain was too much. She should just give in.
But then Sprite heard voices.
Her head jerked up, her vision exploding and new nausea rose up but she forced herself to ignore it. She knew those voices, had heard them a million times over. Sersi, with her gentle lovely voice that always seemed to add a spark of intelligence to whatever she said, and Ikaris who's voice sounded like home, his accent strengthening as he teased Sersi. Sersi in turn laughed, nudging at Ikaris’s shoulder and he gave her that stupid smile that Sprite would have given anything to receive.
The two of them had come out of the Domo and they were now walking towards her, too caught up in each other to have noticed her yet. But they would see her soon. And she couldn’t let them see just how weak and pathetic she was.
Sprite considered conjuring an illusion of invisibility but she knew she simply didn’t have the strength right now. So with her back still braced against the tree, she channeled all her remaining energy into recasting the illusion that she was perfectly uninjured, her teal armour shining.
“Hey Sprite.” Sersi greeted warmly. “What are you doing out here alone?”
“I, uh,” Sprite heard the crack in her own voice and she cleared her throat. “I was appreciating the view.”
Ikaris and Sersi exchanged a look. Sprite almost swore, thinking they had somehow seen through her illusion but when she glanced down she didn’t see any red. Ikaris chuckled and Sersi nudged his shoulder.
“I didn’t think you were one for nice views.” Ikaris said.
“Forests can be interesting.” Sprite defended.
“Interesting when you set up whatever trick you are planning perhaps.” Ikaris said with that damned smile. “Well, good luck with it. Let me know how it goes, especially if you’re pranking Druig.
Sprite didn’t deny Ikaris’ line of thinking, too busy remembering having finally earned that beautiful perfect smile. Beside, it was better for Ikaris and Sersi to assume she was up to no good instead of attempting to hide that she was probably dying. Oh Arishem. What if she was dying? What if the wound was actually that bad and she had already lost too much blood and she was going to die and she would never see the other Eternals again and she-
“Sprite?” Sersi prompted. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” Sprite forced out.
But Sersi didn’t seem convinced. She was frowning, her head tilted to the side.
“You looked a little out of it just then.” Sersi said. “Have you been sleeping enough?”
Sprite forced herself to stand straight, barely keeping herself from doubling over as the pain reached a fever pitch.
“I’m fine, Sersi.” Sprite snapped. “Go on and do whatever gross things that couples do.”
When Sersi opened her mouth to say something more, Ikaris hooked his arm into hers and Sersi looked up at him with a warm smile. Sprite felt a new deeper hurt but she forced that down too. She really didn’t have the energy for petty jealously right now. The sooner Ikaris and Sersi left, the sooner she could sneak into Phastos’ lab and fix this.
“Okay,” Sersi finally said. “I guess we’ll see you later then.”
Sprite gave a mocking wave, one that she hid the moment she noticed her hand was shaking.
Ikaris and Sersi finally turned to continue deeper into the forest and Sprite could finally breathe again.
Two Eternals down, she only had to convince seven more. Or, better yet, none of them would even notice her returning. If she was lucky, Ajak may have finally convinced Phastos to venture out of his lab to explore the wider world and the others would also be off doing their own things, paying no mind to a certain young-looking girl who was definitely not currently bleeding out. Makkari and Druig would be dancing around each other in a way that most definitely flirting, and Kingo would be getting what he dubbed as his ‘beauty sleep’, despite the fact that the appearance of an Eternal never actually changed.
A fact of which she was very much aware of at all times.
This would be easy. But as soon as she was moving again the pain that had been ebbing came back in full force and she felt her illusion fall all over again, revealing the deep wound. Sprite gritted her teeth, pressing harder against it and barely holding back a sob.
Ikaris and Sersi were still close, they would hear her if she didn’t quiet down. Then illusion or not, they would know that something was wrong. So Sprite forced herself to keep moving, feeling her power splutter as she tried to reform the disguise over and over and over again. But her strength was waning and she knew it. She could barely see now, blinking back blurs. She stumbled onwards, at last reaching the Domo. She had to take a moment to steady herself, taking a deep breath. Sprite moaned, squeezing her eyes shut as her pain skyrocketed, having pulled at her wound too much.
The pain fizzled into almost numbness and Sprite steeled herself to start moving again.
The first hallway of the Domo was miraculously empty but when she went to turn the corner towards Phastos’ lab, she heard new voices. These ones were just as familiar as Ikaris and Sersi’s though she had hoped that these particular people had still been sleeping off last nights festivities. Sprite didn’t even need to look down to see that her illusion had failed again, the blood flowing freely, she could feel the lack of her ability. Twisting her hand, she summoned the last of her power.
The red flickered back to teal. Then red again. Then teal.
“Oh, hey Kid!” Gilgamesh boomed.
“I’m not a kid…” Sprite mumbled, barely hearing her own weak voice.
If Gilgamesh had heard her, he ignored it completely as he continued on.
“Thena and I are going to spar outside. Would you like to join us?”
“What Gilgamesh means to say,” Thena’s interrupted before Sprite could reply. “Is that he can’t beat me without your illusions.”
“Even with Sprite,” Gilgamesh said. “Nobody could ever defeat the mighty Thena!”
Gilgamesh looked up at the tall woman with what could only be considered adoring eyes. Thena in turn was smiling at him, her own eyes glittering with fiery spirit. Sprite would have gagged if she didn’t think it would make her actually throw up.
Sprite could feel her power waning. She needed to get away from them without them seeing the truth. If Gilgamesh and Thena knew just how weak she was, they would never again ask to spar with her. Worse still, they might no longer tell her all the tales of great warriors they met around the world. No. She couldn’t let them see.
“Maybe later.” Sprite said. “I’ve got a trick I was wanting to try on Kingo.”
While Gilgamesh laughed heartily, Thena was frowning. Thena stalked towards Sprite and Sprite stumbled back, gasping when her back hit the wall.
“Who did this to you?” Thena snarled.
Sprite glanced down, expecting to see that her latest illusion had faded to nothingness but by some miracle she didn’t see any blood. There was no wound either, just a teal suit.
“Sprite.” Thena’s eyes flared with anger. “Tell me.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Sprite said, hoping they wouldn’t hear the tremble in her voice.
Thena reached her hand towards Sprite’s face, running a finger just under her right eye. Sprite forced down her growing panic.
“You’ve been crying. Who do I have to kill?”
Sprite twisted her hand, conjuring away the remnants of tears. She had been stupid not to hide them sooner.
“Sprite!” Gilgamesh cried suddenly, surging towards her.
This time when Sprite looked down, all she could see was red. In trying to hide her tears, she had instead revealed her injury. She had let them see.
“Oh.” Sprite whispered.
Her knees buckled.
Sprite barely felt Thena catch her, only sluggishly realised that she was now sitting on the ground, her back against the wall. Sprite’s head lulled, the blurs of Thena and Gilgamesh blending into one. One of them was shouting, she dimly realised. Were they angry with her? Were they screaming that she was just as useless as they had thought, furious with her for keeping them from their sparring session?
She tried to apologise but the words were garbled, even to her own ears. While it had been the pain and weakness that had brought her down, she could only feel the latter now. The pain had faded away, replaced with an empty void instead. A darkness that sapped her of what little strength she had left.
Was this what death was like for an Eternal? An endless abyss with no suffering but equally with no happiness?
Would the others even mourn her, an immortal soul gone too soon, or would they just thank Arishem that they no longer had to tolerate her? Sprite was going to die on floor of the Domo and they would all be happier for it.
No, wait a moment, she wasn’t on the floor anymore, she was in somebodies arms.
She wanted to pull away, try to convince them that the wound really wasn’t that bad and she wasn’t some pathetic child who needed protecting, that she would try to do better, that she would try to mature the way they wanted her to. But then she smelled freshly baked bread and her whole body loosened at the familiar scent of home, all thought of fighting back vanquished.
Sprite let the endless abyss claim her.