ShadowSong [Book 1 & 2: Complete] [NaNoWriMo16/17]

Chapter 27 - Three Days Later

Posting this now because I need motivation to finish Nano. 

Vote goal: 109. Hit that and you guys get TWO chapters tomorrow for the final day of Nano. 

<3 

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By some miracle, Olivia managed to survive the next three days and not die of stress.

Every morning at exactly the same time, give or take thirty seconds, Jason showed up in his Gleamer, where Olivia would be waiting at the front door, not in the side alley. She'd greet him. He'd return it. She'd attempt to make small talk, ask him questions, compliment something--but though he'd acknowledge it, Jason would shut it down with less than five words each time.

Olivia got the message, and on the third day, she greeted him and left him to his silence. It hurt a little that he didn't seem bothered by it, but today, she was too tired to care.

With Ella's fragment confirmed as stolen from the Starlight Hall by someone she suspected was Ella herself, Banshee and Cryo had been out, looking for clues and talking to as many people as possible to try and figure out where Ella was hiding, what she was planning. In the times where she'd been unable to leave without attracting someone's notice, Olivia had been scouting the net for as much footage of Ella as she could possibly find, which in particular had kept her up later than usual last night.

With a yawn and her head in her hand as Jason's Gleamer zoomed through the streets, she told herself it'd been worth it.

After hours upon hours of video and forum posts, Olivia was now sure of a few things now. Luminary Ella and Manifested Ella, though they shared similarities, did not have the same powers or weaknesses--unless you took Manifested Ella's fragment away. Then, she seemed to devolve into Hydra's usual weaknesses and a Manifested's single-minded focus until she ran out of power and dimmed back into a regular person.

Somewhere around the halfway mark to the temple, lulled by the smooth hum of the Gleamer's side car, Olivia's eyes drifted shut as her thoughts wandered.

However they were supposed to save Ella, separating her from her fragment a second time seemed to be step number one. She'd been Ella for a brief moment after she'd given her last order to the Hydra. She'd told them how to beat it. The Other's hold on her wasn't so complete that she was willing to sacrifice others. She'd turned the Hydra on innocents to force Banshee to protect them so she could get away. Not because she'd wanted to hurt them, because she wanted them...

"Shadowheart, wake up."

Jason's voice cut through her thoughts as Olivia's eyes flew open. She pushed herself off her arm and sat up, glancing around. They were already at the temple, where Jason left the Gleamer during the day, but she could have sworn her eyes hadn't been closed that long.

Olivia shook her head and stepped out of the Gleamer with an apology, waiting as per Jason's instructions as he parked the Gleamer, and following him into the temple when he returned, violin case in hand.

Every second day was dedicated to performance preparations. It was the one time Olivia was more than happy to be stuck to Jason's side, because it meant she had an excuse to listen as they played their music.

The day before last, they'd agreed upon a tentative set of pieces they'd be playing during the performance. The background music alone was something Olivia could have listened to for hours, but the snippets she'd heard so far of the feature pieces had her holding her breath for more.

Once--just once--Jason had taken a bow to his starstone violin and worked magic across its strings. It'd lasted maybe five seconds, had been nothing but a suggestion for the feel of a particular melody, but Olivia had been enraptured by it--by him. Someone who could bring that... that something so easily out of an instrument and make her shiver with five seconds of music couldn't be as cold as he pretended to be. It just wasn't possible.