Supernova

Chapter Eighty Eight - Supernova and Red Riot in Life or Death Match

I thought about Iliana's words all night. Get on board. We're all counting on you. Take your own hostage. Was she insane? No, of course not. She was Queen Ragnor, Tsunami, the best hero to move through the SHA before I got there, the best hero in the whole damn world as far as I was concerned. I wrote Kiri and Momo and Aizawa off when they suggested I fight back, because I figured they had no fucking clue what they were talking about or the kind of cruelty I was dealing with. But Iliana did. And if she thought it was possible...

It might be.

When I got home from my coronation party, I sauntered in, chin high and fancy dress swooshing around my thighs, and took my well deserved glares and whispers on the cheek. When I got myself locked into my room, I shed the fabric and got into my pyjamas, but I didn't take my bracelet off.

"I should really get some studying in," I pondered aloud. "So I'm prepared for the next pop quiz."

I sat at my desk, grabbed my pencil and paper, and started to put my thoughts to paper. That was where I stayed until the early hours of the morning, but I didn't really mind, because between my conversations with Iliana and Hawks, I would have been too wired to sleep either way. When I finally put my pencil back down onto the desk, I only had thirty minutes until I needed to creep downstairs and meet back up with Kiri. That too, was fine by me, because I was hoping I would have some good news for him when I saw him.

And I would have something better. I had a plan.

"Oh my!" I gasped and laughed to myself, as if I just discovered the time and hadn't been carefully watching the minutes tick by. "I've studied all night! Oh, how proud my darling husband will be. I'll be sure to tell him later."

I unclipped my bracelet, wished it goodbye, lay it in my jewelry box, and left.

When Kiri walked into the common space, I knew my cells were silent and still, but something inside of me felt like it was furiously vibrating. I must have looked a mess, because even though we tended to keep conversation safe and pleasant, Kiri made the deliberate effort to ask if I'd slept alright. I just told him the party had been too much fun and that I'd catch up on sleep tomorrow. I was grateful he didn't say much else because I was struggling forming thoughts. I was overdosing on exhaustion and adrenaline all at the same time.

"So," Kiri started, once we were back to back in the deep woods. "How was the party really?"

"Kiri." There was a weight to the way I said his name and he understood it immediately. His next breath didn't come. It was just him and his wait in the silence. "I have a plan."

A gasp. A pause. A moment filled with wind and nothing else. And then, after what felt like an eternity, a sigh of relief.

"You do?"

"I do."

"Okay." I could hear him nodding to himself. "Good. Okay."

"But I'm going to need a sidekick," I told him with a smile. He chuckled a little. "You up for it?"

"Til death," he told me. A pang of sadness hit my chest. "That's what you guys say, right?"

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," I said back, not having it in me to finish the ritual.

"It won't," he whispered. "We're going to get you out of this. We're going to save you."

"We're going to save everyone, Kiri," I promised. "And here's how we're going to do it."

The next few minutes were filled with me unloading the plan that had last night seemed airtight but now seemed a messy jumble of thoughts here in the daylight. I could tell Kiri's confidence was waning, because he was still sighing, but they were very different sounds. Still though, he listened, and he did not interrupt me.