Chapter 212: Chapter 179

She’d only seen it for a few brief moments. Not long enough to appreciate it. Not long enough to take it in. Her eyelids felt heavy as she rested her hand against the smooth surface of the door and reached into her purse on instinct for her keys. Her fingers ran down before stopping, a brief moment of panic vanishing into a bemused chuckle when she remembered she didn’t need them. She rest her head against the cool surface of the door and let out a weary sigh, the door’s electronic lock disengaging with a tiny flex of her will. She pushed the handle down and stepped into the entry hall.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The short passage led forward into an open kitchen that was directly connected to the living room. Sonya set her purse down on the pristine counter and leaned against it. She glanced over at the fridge where a little sign on the whiteboard hanging from the door said ‘No late night snacks! This means you, Sonya!’. She cracked a grin and walked over to the door, opening it and plucking out a can of cola. She held it up to her neck and groaned at the cold feeling of its surface against her neck before cracking it open and taking a sip.

Nectar is delicious but sometimes the real thing is just better, she thought as she leaned up against the door and looked down at the counter again. Four seats stood along the side opposite her. She glanced up from them to the light fixture where she sensed that the lights were out. She couldn’t tell anymore, she hadn’t been able to tell the difference between darkness and illumination for a long time. Her world was a perpetual state of clarity that seemed ironic to her in a lot of ways. She sipped again at her drink and looked back to the seats.

Four people were sitting there, a young woman in a blue shirt with long brown hair, a young man with messy black hair and bags under his eyes, a dark skinned man with short curly hair who seemed uncomfortable without his mask on, and a young man with brown hair in a letterman style jacket. He was laughing about something, his smile warm, his eyes glittering with a depth of goodness that she could never fully grasp. He turned to look at her and smiled even wider, he said something that she couldn’t hear.

She returned his smile, “What was that, Nick?” she asked him, leaning forward, “I couldn’t hear you.”

He raised an eyebrow and glanced towards the others before shaking his head and pointing at his own ears, he was saying something again and the others were laughing at whatever it was. Her brows furrowed, “Nick? I’m sorry, I can’t-”

“Sonya,” he said, “It’s almost time.”

She cocked her head to the right, “Time for what, Nick? What’s going on? Jess are you putting him up to this?” she said with a laugh and turned to Bluestar who was looking her dead in the eyes, a seriousness in her expression. She looked older now, rigid, firm, composed in a way that the girl in the blue shirt from just moments before couldn’t match. Her gaze held the weight of experience that was far deeper than anyone should ever have to go through in a single year. Sonya felt her fingers tense as she shot a look back to Nick. He was still as young as ever, still smiling at her with a kindness that just wasn’t fair. “Nick?”

“The story’s almost over,” he said with a smile and leaned against the counter, the others were gone now. “The legend is about to start. I believe in you, Sonya. It’s about time you started doing the same. Like they do.”

“Nick, what are you talking about?” She laughed, “Of course I-” she trailed off as the scene brightened back to the merry banter among friends. She turned her head to see Amos sitting on the couch playing video games, Marta was carrying treats on a tray with Barry looming over her shoulder and trying to reach for them. She was scowling at him with a small smile on her face. To her left, Colin and Beyol stepped into the room, talking with one another before passing her by. Beyol waved awkwardly while Colin shot her his signature grin before hopping over the back of the couch to interrupt a focused Amos. Kera poked her head out of one of the bedroom doors and shouted something before shooting Beyol a sheepish smile.

“Sonya?” A new voice called out to her and she jumped, dropping the can with a clang. She whipped her head to the side to see Cass looking at her. She blinked a few times and looked around the room, it was empty and quiet. That golden warmth of color just… gone. Her heart sank as she caught her breath and looked down at the mess at her feet.

“Oh,” she mumbled before turning to Cass with a smile, “Did I doze off there? Made a mess too, Marta’s going to be mad, huh?”

Cass gave her a worried look, “You okay?”

Sonya snorted before sagging a little against the door, “I’m… not great, Cass.”

“You’ve been go go go since we got back to New York. You need some sleep,” the girl said, “I’ll clean this up for you. Go lay down.”

Sonya’s lip twitched and she tapped her foot against the liquid on the ground, it dissolved into motes of blue light that popped in the air like bubbles, the mess gone without a trace. “All gone, no worries,” she said with a chuckle before stepping away from the fridge to pick up her purse. She reached up and pulled her hair back a bit. She turned to look at her apartment again, “When I started everything,” she said after a long pause, “It was just me, Amos, and Marta. We had Barry join later.”

Cass turned to look at the empty apartment thoughtfully and Sonya rested her elbows on the counter, “Amos would play video games on his downtime right there,” she said nodding to the tv, “I’d join him sometimes. Marta would yell at us about being frivolous about our time when all she really wanted was to commandeer the TV to watch her anime.”

Sonya’s shoulders sagged, “Amos is one of the most famous men in the world now, a nobel prize winning scientist working hard to make it a better place all the while living a double life. Marta has barely seen her boyfriend because I keep dragging her everywhere I go while sending him off to the ends of the earth to lay the groundwork for my plans.”

“You miss it?” Cass asked.

“Yeah,” Sonya said, “I had a lot of fun at the camp, don’t get me wrong. I liked meeting the little heroes in the making but… they were so far removed from me in a way that I could never really connect to. I was always watching myself, watching them, watching him. Walking on shards of glass and praying that I didn’t slip up somehow or some way,” Sonya bowed her head, “I reconnected with someone I care a lot about and now she’s far away too. Carla is a busy woman now as well, we don’t get a lot of time.”

Cass stood in silence for a while, looking into the room. Sonya wondered what it was like to see the room with the lights out as they were, gloomy and empty. She could feel Marta sleeping soundly in one of the bedrooms as she cast her senses about. She looked down at the counter again and let out a tired sigh. The little time she’d taken to herself before throwing herself into her work had barely made a dent in her weariness. The turmoil of a year past was gone from her heart but somehow that just made her feel even more exhausted.

“You said once, during the meeting with the other members of the Inner Circle, that you were trying to save the world, right?” Cass asked.

“Yeah.”

“That’s your goal?”

“Yeah.”

“It seemed pretty easy at first, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, now I’m just tired all the time.”

Cass went silent again and regarded the room for a little bit longer, “You gave them all of their powers.”

“More or less,” Sonya said, waving her hand a bit, “Initially I just awakened the abilities that were already there or in Barry’s case he already had them.”

“You lifted them up, gave them strength, supported them,” Cass said to herself, “You had their backs when they needed you. Just like how you saved Colin today.”

Sonya’s lips formed a line, “I never considered that Qilin might show up like that. A miscalculation I won’t make again.”

“Sonya?” Cass interjected, drawing Sonya’s attention. She looked up into the girls eyes, they were blue and bright and filled with a mixture of care and concern. “What about you?”

“Hm? What about me?”

Cass snorted and shook her head, “Of all the things for me to figure out after spending all that time at the camp. Maybe you should have registered as an aspirant too,” she said with a chuckle and turned to look back at the living room, “I have my team, thanks to you. I see them every day. They gave me the strength to keep going when the training was at its toughest. When the dungeon trial was at its hardest. I wouldn’t be who I am now without them watching my back. You gave me that,” she let out a breath, “I don’t know what the future will bring and how things will go with my sister. But…” she trailed off and chuckled, “...it’s crazy to say. I hate her with all my heart. I want to face her, beat her. Yet there’s a small part of me that wants to hold onto this more. Like it's not worth it, she’s not worth losing this.”

Cass’ smile grew so bright it was blinding, “I haven’t had a nightmare in a while. Sonya. Thanks to you,” she said and leaned forward to give Sonya a kiss on the forehead. She stood up straight, “I know they were joking the other day, but you’re like a mother to me. More than a big sister. I owe you my life in ways I can never repay. So please, take care of yourself and love yourself a little more. I don’t care what the rest of the world says or even what you think about yourself. You deserve happiness. Not just the little moments. All of it, as far as I’m concerned.”

She cleared her throat and sent Sonya an awkward grin, “Been holding onto that for a while, glad I got it out. Good night, Sonya. Get some sleep,” she said and walked away leaving a dumbstruck Sonya leaning against the counter.

They grow up so fast, Ishtar said.

“They sure do,” Sonya said in wonder, watching the door close behind Cass.

One sister with a heart of stone, another warm as a summer day.

“Since when did you turn into a poet?” Sonya chuckled and let out a sigh, she pushed herself up and ran her fingers through her hair. “Hey, Ishtar?”

Yes, Sonya?

“Do you think it’s possible for me to pull this thing off and not die in the end? Don’t I deserve it for all I’ve done?” Sonya asked.

Perhaps, but that’s entirely up to you. Do you want that kind of ending? I wonder if a real villain cares about that kind of thing.

Sonya scoffed, “Is this that Villain Mindset nonsense you keep harping about?”

Yes. Though there is a difference between understanding it and truly accepting it. Do you believe you deserve a happy ending?

“No,” Sonya said after a long pause, “Maybe, I don’t know,” she muttered, exasperated. She glanced up at the door to the room that Cass had disappeared into. Her lips tilted into a small smile, “I think I could be convinced, with enough evidence.”

I suppose it’s a start.

–

The next morning Sonya woke to the scent of breakfast and coffee and the sounds of laughter. She squinted groggily at the ceiling, her hair tousled about. She sat up sharply, reaching up to clutch at her head for a moment before glaring at the door. “What the hell?” she grumbled, “Ishtar, what’s going on?”

You have guests, it seems. Little Taurus invited them over.

Sonya frowned in confusion, “Were you up all night? How do you know?”

Sonya, I don’t need sleep like you do. It is no drain on me to keep an eye on your surroundings while you rest. Our senses are sharp, after all.

“Is that a new feature of our uh… thing?” she asked.

Hardly. You just never asked until now.

Sonya clicked her tongue and hopped out of bed, staggering over to the bathroom door and freshening up quickly. She threw on a t-shirt and pajamas quickly before marching to the exit of her bedroom and throwing the door open, “Now what the hell is going on out he- here…” she trailed off as she took in the scene.

Alex and Cass were sitting on the couch, leaning forward as they stared at the television screen, controllers in their hands. Lillian was at the kitchen counter with Snow and John, sipping at a coffee while Marta turned back to set a plate piled with pancakes down in front of the trio. Val barked out a laugh off to the side and Sonya’s eyes went wide as Amos turned his head from his conversation with the new hero. He grinned, “Hey boss! Good morning!”

Sonya stepped out of the bedroom and looked around the space again, stupefied, “Amos, what on earth are you doing here?”

“I took a little time off from that project with Forge,” he said with a shrug, “Colin was in town so I asked Euclidia for a port. Got a text from Marta that blondie was having her friends over and thought I’d swing by too,” he said, jerking his thumb towards Cass who glanced up and waved quickly before going back to her battle with Alex.

Sonya opened her mouth as a mug of coffee made its way into her hand. She looked down before looking up at Marta who smiled at her, “Good morning, Miss Sonya,” she said, “Did you sleep well?”

“Y-yeah,” Sonya mumbled, and pulled the mug to her lips, sipping once.

“I may be speaking out of turn,” Marta said quietly with her maid-like demure tone, “But even if you do not like hearing her referred to that way, I do believe the young miss of the family has turned out to be a remarkable and thoughtful young woman.”

Sonya looked to Cass who was grinning ear to ear, laughing as Alex threw his hands up and rounded on her. Sonya felt a little lump form in her throat that she cleared, “Indeed she has,” she said and put the mug back in Marta’s hand before she walked over to the couch, “Hey! Let me in on this action!”

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