MORDRED

He wanted to fall asleep. He spent hours worrying, being in endless pain. Now he just wanted to dream, seeing himself getting to the other side as his body was rotting on the floor.

He could feel every part of him decaying. His vision became blurry, messing with his mind as he found Ma’at’s expression showing an emotion. Fear.

His eyes were heavy, using every energy he had left to just keep his eyelids to stay open.

''It's alright my son.'' A sweet honey voice spoke with a slightly delicate hand touching his face. But they knew it was not real. ''You can rest now,''The woman whispered.

I can't. I am not done yet.

Earth, the universe, and the skies began to shake. The air changed, becoming tighter and a stranger amongst everything.

They finally succeeded in opening their eyes. There was the Made One, looking at him with such pettiness that made the healer disgusted.

But then everything changed. A bright presence moved to his side, ignoring the Made One completely, and moved to Mordred, getting on their knees.

He felt peace inside of him when their fingers touched his face.

‘’It will be all over soon’’The voice was kind and gentle but also brooding. Ancient, trapped in time. The fingers moved down, right where the curse was. Right at his heart.

The peace became cold and then warm. He felt his body relaxing, the pain vanishing and his vision becoming clear.

Copper hair, reddish like fire, dirty face, and every part of them had the scent of fire. But now, Hephaestus' eyes were bright white as if an incantation was cast upon them.

‘’Hephaestus what did’’ Mordred tried to speak and lower his head, looking at his bones growing with blood and veins and arteries moving, trying to wrap the fresh new hand around it.

‘’Their name is Hephaestus?’’ The voice stayed brooding and familiar. Mordred lifted his eyes to see blood getting out of their eyes and left nostrils.

‘’Such a nice name’’ They sighed and stood up formally without any help of a cane and faced Ma’at.

He let out a tired sigh and stayed still as his right fingers became stiff, determined to attack.

Hephaestus chuckled with their hand now up, fingers shifting. They focused all their energy on their hand, inching closer and closer to their target. With a sudden burst of energy, the Gunsmith thrust their arm forward and struck the opponent. They both stood in awe of their power and speed.

The heat has risen from the iron. Mordred felt the sweat dripping from his face. Color burst from Ma'at's side. Fire colors surrounded him and his face, and lips tensed. No, Mordred could see. The Made One, the savior that came from above the spirits. Was afraid of Hephaestus. Or the one that was now controlling them. The fire became a fabric around the Made One, making his clothing burn. And there it was a sudden shout of pain, coming from him.

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''You took a weak body''He replied from across the fire. ''You will kill them before you kill me.''

Hephaestus remained silent as the fire grew more. Now, the Made One's groan became even louder, being pushed back to the wall. With their other hand, a long thick piece of steel was crafted by them, and with their command, it landed right inside the forest blaze, sticking Ma'at to the wall.

''I will find the key whether ''He sneered. ''And killing the bird won't stop it from happening.'' His voice turned steady cold harsh. To bring fear to both Hephaestus. And the healer.

Blood fell from their bright eyes. Mordred was the only one to notice as they did not seem to react to the pain.

But they were succeeding. They were winning. They were defeating the Made One.

Everything is alright. His mind told him. And yet, his hand touched their wrists, pulling them closer to him.

''Please'' Mordred said. ''Please.'’ He kept begging.

Why? Because they were smart, arrogant, shameless, loud, and with a grin that he despised. Rude. And yet, he knew that without them, neither he nor the others would survive. Everything that they said, did was the wrong thing that made them survive one more day. With them dead, everything would have been for nothing.

Hephaestus faced down on their side, stunned. And then they smiled. But this smile did not belong to them.

And the fire became thick smoke, the colors faded slowly. And the gunsmith collapsed for Mordred to catch them. Heavy as they were he pulled them closer to his face, smelling the heated scent of oil and oak wood from their hair.

''I got you,'' he whispered to them.

Smart and Brave. Spirits, he hated how much trouble they had caused.

Their hands were wounded enough, especially their left arm, their sleeves ruined. Mordred could heal it instantly but he knew that it would be a miracle to heal it the next time.

Their eyes opened vividly, seeing finally the blue crystal beneath the fire.

''Mordred'' Hephaestus murmured his name. Their fingers slowly moved higher as they reached for his cheek. ''Oh, shit did I die?'' They gasped with their eyes opening now wide.

He laughed, softly licking his lips.

''This is not a good place if you are here.''

Taking the courage to speak, to tell everything, the healer just said what they had heard at that moment.

‘’You saved me’’

Hephaestus took a deep breath and let out shakily and looked at the smoke with a sudden fear.

‘’We have to move '' They said, trying to move.

‘’What?’’ Mordred asked, confused.

‘’It’s not over yet,'' they said, standing up shakily.

Loud footsteps approach from the smoke with hard, harsh breathing.

For a moment, Mordred could see his eyes. Hatred and fear were written all over it.

’Is this what you got?’’ He asked, vanishing his gaze to the mist.

When he walked out of it, he was unharmed, untouched. Except for a scratch on his chin.

‘’Even with all the power in the world’’ He touched the wound with his finger and stopped the bleeding, leaving a MERE scar.

‘’You cannot win against me, or what is after’’ He warned them.

Mordred grabbed his gun and started shooting at him. He dodged once again all of them, simply moving a few inches away from the bullets.

Hephaestus stood up on their own and tried to attack once more.

Mordred tried to warn them and then Ma’at vanished beneath their eyes.

They both looked at each other shocked but then found a girl with a gray heavy coat and a white stripe in her hair, aiming her hand at him.

She panted and pressed her back to the wall trying to find air to breathe.

‘’If he talks one more time.’’ Mara sighed and closed her dark eyes as they went back to the bright red.

Hephaestus and Mordred rushed to her side, to catch her before falling to the floor.

Her skin is cold like death, her eyes paralyzed by her body shaking. Her raven hair had become paler and her ears sharp and pointy like angles of broken glass.

‘’What did she do?’’Hephaestus stuttered.

‘’Buy us time'' he explained and lifted his head, only for his eyes to find the rest of the machines flaming with fire and attacking them with small cannons down below the pilot’s room.

Another attack and they fell to the floor once more. The dark scent of smoke hit Mordred’s nose.

THIS IS UKKO A familiar annoying voice screamed from a megaphone.

MARA IF YOU LISTEN TO THIS, FOR THE LOVE OF SPIRITS, FIND A WAY TO-