Supernova

Chapter One Hundred and Fourteen - Back From Hell

A/N: that's right, y'all! it's a DEMON CHAPTER! I know i'm the writer, but damn, i've been waiting for this reunion for SO LONG. plus a little side helping of #justiceforelias. enjoy & thank you to everyone who's stuck with me this long <3 

I must have been in there for a couple hours at least, but it felt like both seconds and years all at once. I only pried myself away once my mom got tired and Wendy gently told me that maybe the rest could wait until later.

Which I only agreed to because she was right. It could. I kept remembering all over again that I had all the time in the world.

Katsuki was still outside. Aizawa and Eri were still downstairs. Everyone was exactly where they said they'd be and nobody had left me. I could get used to a life where people said what they meant and meant what they said. I could very much get used to it.

I went back to school with the three of them. Because even though I technically had a room in the house that was now technically ours, I also had a guardian who had the authority to sign off on something else I very much wanted.

I wanted my room in the 1A dorm building back.

My mom had signed off on it. Jojo was going to pack up my things and move them in. Gladly, he told me. By which we both knew he meant sorry and, in the same vein, we both knew when I told him to pack the good sheets (because I could feel them now) and leave the gowns (because I didn't wish to see them, even in a dress up context) that I really meant all was forgiven.

Before going back to my new-old home, Katsuki and I stopped by the infirmary. I still had some things there and he, well, wasn't really letting me out of his sight, all things considered. Which was fine. People had brought a lot of flowers. A surprising amount. I figured I could use the extra set of hands.

Something was wrong before we even turned the corner into the infirmary. I felt it in the air. Something was off. Turned sideways on its head. I didn't see anyone when I got in there. The first few beds were empty. I didn't hear any machines. I didn't even see or hear Recovery Girl bustling about the space. I thought for a split second that it had just been my mind playing tricks on me, but then there he was.

Elias was there, cleverly hiding behind one of the curtains, leaning on his cane, staring out the window.

He didn't turn when he heard me. He didn't even look at me until I was right there beside him, and then, he seemed a little startled, like he hadn't heard me at all. Imposter, I thought to myself, before catching the thought. Another thing I kept having to remind myself was that this was Elias, the real one anyways, stripped down and human. Despite all the time we spent together, I'd never really known him at all.

"Elias?" I asked him, careful, like even too strong a word could turn him to smoke.

"Hi, Nova," he said. "How'd it go?"

I heard it even in his voice. Nausea ripped through me.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said.

But his eyes hadn't changed that much. I saw it. Clear as day. He was lying to me.

"How is she?" he asked.

"You're lying," I told him, flipping over to Swedish, because it was habit, and I thought it might make it easier to talk to me.

"You first," he told me back, proving me right.

It was a slight bow. A win I could accept.

"My mom's alive," I told him. "And coherent and smart and kind of harsh, like me. And she loves me. She said so."