Brighter Than the Stars

Nicole - Processing

My breath hitched, and, for a second, I couldn't think anything at all. I sat there, numb and stared blankly at Madeline like I was waiting for her to tell me that it was all an elaborate prank, that it wasn't really true, that it wasn't happening. She didn't, just let us process that information.

I wasn't processing.

Leo put his hand on my knee, his touch warm. "Where do we go now? We can't try and win over Annalisa anymore–she's gone. I, personally, don't want to work very closely with M.C., but I suppose we should at least try to maintain good terms with Atala–there's no use starting a war."

James shrugged. "There might be."

"Why?" Annabelle asked. "That's stupid."

"You're stupid!" He paused for a second, clearly noticing the fact that "you're stupid" was pretty stupid, as far as insults went, then collected himself and continued. "I mean, we don't like him, so what's the point of playing nice? Might as well show him we mean business. It's not like Atala has a very impressive military or anything."

"No, but they are a country we are on good terms with," Madeline said. "So far, he's made no move to cut us off from any trade from them, and I assume that news would have most likely arrived with the fact that he was now on the throne, or at least within a few hours of it. It hasn't, and I'd like to salvage what may remain between us, even with this new development."

"But why? We've still got Aeloni–and the Floating Islands, too–so who cares about Atala? Plus, there are those other islands...the ones that don't fly," James finished lamely.

"Ooh, good description!" Annabelle said sarcastically. "The islands that don't fly–that's good, James. Really shows you know your geography."

"Like you do!" he protested. "You couldn't tell Itari from Aeloni if you tried!"

She tossed her long, dark hair over her shoulder and scowled at him. "I could better than you could. At least I know what the 'islands that don't fly' are. There's Orun. And Ekun. And–"

"Oh, shut up! It's not like anyone knows anything about them. Do you?"

She opened her mouth to speak, then frowned. "I guess not. But that doesn't mean–!"

"Yes, it does! Not so knowledgeable now are you, Miss Geography? You don't know everything, even if you act like you do–"

"Enough," Leo said. "I don't think either of you has had geography in years, and, to my knowledge, neither of them are very active in trade or in anything global. They focus mainly on local goods–incredibly specific crafts. One of them is weaponry–I think it's Orun, which might be where you've seen them before, James. We get some of ours from them." I had twisted my hand with his, holding on so tightly I was probably pinching him, but he didn't pull away. I felt like my world was going up in flames, like it was all disappearing on me too fast.

"How do you know that?" James demanded.

"I'm on the Council," Leo said. "It's my job to know stuff like that. Anyway, I don't think we can depend on them alone." He glanced at Madeline for confirmation and she nodded.

"Definitely not. None of them offer what Atala does–and, even if they did, it wouldn't be in a large enough quantity to sustain Itari. Besides, he is Aelonian, and most likely already has influence there. He doesn't seem to be content with just Atala–it seems like he's heading for an empire. To lose two major continents trade...it would quite possibly crush us."

"Can we still win over the people in Atala, though? If we can mail in, well, propaganda, I guess, then maybe we can start revolts over there," Annabelle said. "Is that allowed?"

"Did you just ask if that was allowed?" James asked, incredulous. "When have we ever done anything, or worried about anything, that was allowed?"

"Well, we're partially in control of a country now," she said. "So, I thought I'd be a little responsible. Or try."

"Right."

"We could certainly try," Madeline said. "It is my home country...I have contacts there. You know what," she said, "I'll get in touch with some people from home, and we can figure out what best to do by the information they give us. I think that might be the most beneficial."

"Yeah, Annabelle," James said, purely, it seemed, just for the sake of saying it.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

"Nothing."

"Yeah, right–"

And they started off on another tangent of arguing.

...

I hadn't gotten up and left when Leo and his dad walked into the library, even though I should have. I'd remained tucked in one of the big, porthole windows, half-asleep and with a book on my lap. I'd woken right up when they'd started talking, even though I'd known it was wrong.

"I know you're there," Leo called, when his dad left the library. I peeked over the edge of the window and looked down, and he smiled up at me. "You sneak. What're you doing up there?"

"I didn't mean to," I said. "Sorry."

"I know. It was my fault, anyway." I scrambled down and made my way over, and he slipped his arm over my shoulder as we walked. His dad had apologized–and told him he understood if he didn't forgive him yet, or ever. Leo, being Leo, forgave everybody, even though I told him that was going to get him into trouble one day (the response had been that everybody deserved a second chance, which was very Leo). "I figured you were in here, and I chose to talk in here, anyway. I trust you. And–" He stopped and turned to face me. "--are you okay?"

"What do you mean, am I okay?"

"You went white as a ghost during that meeting earlier–I thought you were about to pass out. That wasn't fun news for any of us, but it was more personal for you, specifically. And because I happen to care about you a lot: are you okay?"

I shrugged. "I'm fine." He didn't say anything else, just waited for a moment, and I stared at the scuffed toes of my boots as we walked before I added, "I don't know, actually. I feel like I don't know anything."

"That's okay." He intertwined our fingers. "We'll figure it out together." 

Word Count: 1,073 

Okay so I haven't yet found something to make fun of Nicole with, but I found another picture that I think looks pretty similar to her, so I'm sharing it because I'm cool.

I think the other ones are a tiny bit more accurate but yeah

Tbh surprising myself that I legitimately just gave the picture instead of it being some sort of joke