The Inevitable Eclipse

Chapter 13 - The Tide is Changing

    Before all of this, she had been so sure.

    She knew that she was right. She was on her way to becoming mayor. She was beloved by all the city. She held power than ten year old Ivy would have killed for. She was the face of a city on the way to becoming a utopia. She was a superhero who was adored by all, she had an action figure of herself for goodness sake! She was the golden hero who fought the evil villain. She was the light. She was so confident and sure of both Illumina and Ivy.

    Then, within a few weeks she became something else.

    Was Illumina the golden girl who stood for what was right, who aided her mayor in making the city the best it could be? Or, was she nothing more than the brainwashed sidekick to the real supervillain? How did Ivy Winters, straight A student, head of the debate team, on her way to class President and valedictorian, aspiring mayor, become a double agent who lied her way into a rebel group?

    She wasn't sure of herself anymore. In fact, she barely recognised herself.

    And she knew why, it was because she had been sure of Clarissa. She wasn't sure of Clarissa any longer. Void, Hawk, Owl and the rest of The Night Fall had shown her a different side to the mayor. But Void and The Night Fall didn't know Clarissa. They didn't know how much she cared. They didn't see what Illumina saw; the late hours, the hard work, the increased threats from neighbouring cities. They hadn't heard a drunken Clarissa lament about the life she could have had, if she had not chosen the path she was on.

    Ivy had been raised to be loyal, this mission that she had given herself did not respect those values. She knew enough, she knew where they were based. She knew their code names, she could ambush them with Clarissa and the rest of the police force.

    Enough was enough.

    So, as she sat on Kit's bed that evening, she felt confident that this would all be behind her soon and she would recognise herself once more.

She was squished between Kit and Ezra, their backs against the wall. Saf and Basma sat on the ground against the bed frame. All five of them were trying to watch a movie, but aside from some cool action sequences, the movie was much less interesting than each other's company.

"I'm exhausted," Kit groaned, leaning his head on Ivy's shoulder. "I've been working on this new project for weeks and it's making my head hurt."

"Then stop," Said Saf, shovelling another handful of popcorn into her mouth.

"No!" Basma protested. "Don't just give up because it is hard!"

Ivy considered that.

"It's always the hardest things that are the most rewarding," Said Ezra, with an air of wisdom beyond his years. "At least, I think so anyway. You get a different kind of satisfaction if you've waited for it and worked for it."

    "That's true!" Ivy added, as she twisted the chain of her necklace around her finger. "When are you going to let us see one of these projects, Kit?"

    "Yes!" Basma clapped her hands together. "I want to see them!"

    "Maybe you already have and you just assumed it was someone else's genius because I am so humble."

    "Yes, because humble people refer to themselves as geniuses," Saf said with a grin.

    "Hey, if you got it, flaunt it." Kit winked and shrugged his shoulders, knocking into Ivy.

    ***

    "Illumina let it slip that Clarissa has a five year plan," Void said later that night, around that same wooden table. The candles flickered. "And I don't think she knows what is on it."