Tricks of Fate

Chapter 25

Do I even have to add cliffhanger warnings anymore? I feel like you're used to them by now. 😂 I'm super sorry about that by the way.

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[West-Allen]

As the glass fell Barry felt his body come to life. He propelled himself forward and sped to Iris's rescue, getting to her just before the deadly shards hit the ground and burst into millions of tinier pieces.
"Are you alright?" He asked a dazed Iris who nodded in response. Her irises glowed a luminescent purple and she, too, felt an inexplicable force course through her.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me." She said, her voice seemed to flow out of her and fill the air around Barry, like the sound of an orchestra in a theatre. As soon as she told him not to worry, his body responded and he began to calm down.
"We need to get Nora out of there," Iris added and once again, as soon as she said it the sound of her voice washed over him and his attention turned to Nora. It was almost like Iris was controlling him with her voice.

They both turned to look at their daughter and realised that the cage she was in seemed to be shimmering in and out of focus. The monstrous vision kneeled hunched over with his sharpened claws over his ears. In his moment of vulnerability, he no longer dominated them with fear.

"Not so tuff now huh?" Iris taunted, her voice echoing through the room. The demon writhed in pain and screamed, a sound far less pleasant, and the cage shimmered once again. Barry put two and two together, realising that the creature most probably fabricated the cage with his mind and Iris's voice must be affecting him, weakening his psychic strength.
"Iris sing," he said.
"What? Why?" she asked confused.
"Please. Just trust me." He replied while readying himself for his part in the plan.
Iris looked at Nora, who shook with unheard sobs, and walked closer to her as she sang "Can't help falling in Love."
The dark lord moved around violently, his screams drowned out by Iris's singing. Her eyes glowed brighter and her voice grew louder, all the while Barry monitored the cage for the right moment to act.
When the shimmer seemed to almost completely fade away,  Barry ran towards the crumpled figure, held him up and delivered one knock out blow.
The dark lord fell to the ground unconscious and the cage completely disappeared. Iris hugged baby Nora, closing her eyes against a flow of relieved tears. She held on to her baby tight, almost wishing she could stick Nora to her forever. Barry took in the sight and his heart warmed, he walked towards them and held both his girls in his arms. For the first time, they were a family, complete and unbreakable.

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[Iris]

I held her close to me and in my mind, I said a silent prayer. My heart expanded as I buried my face in her locks and breathed in her sweet baby smell. She clung to me for dear life, still shaking with fear and I pulled her closer.
"It's ok baby. You're safe now. Mommy's here." I cooed then planted a kiss on her forehead. Barry came close to us and wrapped his arms around us. I instantly felt safe and slowly began to allow my body to calm down. But it wouldn't budge. I opened my eyes and my surroundings were still in varying hues of purple.
"Barry. Let's get out of here." I said, partly because I didn't want to risk being there when the devil woke up but partly because I needed to find out what was wrong with me. Barry let go and picked Nora up, ready to go, but he seemed different. He seemed dazed.
I pushed my curiosity aside and followed him out of the rotting structure. The moon was at its peak and, besides Nora, our only source of lighting in the dark of night. Barry got into the driver's seat as I buckled Nora in, trying to figure out how to get her to control her light. As we drove off, I stroked her head in an attempt to calm her down. I assumed her glow was a reflection of her emotions and that she was probably startled.
"It's ok baby. Mommy's got you. You don't have to be afraid anymore." I whispered into her ear. I held onto her hand and she turned towards me, almost as if, through the contact, I had transferred a message to her. Her breathing slowly began to stabilise and the calmer she got the less her light glowed.
"That's it, Nora. Settle down." I whispered and she squeezed my hand.
I watched as slowly the glow disappeared altogether and Nora was her old self again.
"Mommy." She said and I placed my forehead on hers.
"Yes, baby. I'm here. I'm right here."

I looked up and caught Barry watching us from the rearview mirror with a goofy smile on his face?
"What?" I asked, smiling back at him.
"Nothing. There's just...something magical about seeing you with her," he answered and returned his gaze onto the road.
"Magical?" I questioned.
"Yeah. Like it was meant to be." He said and I smiled a little brighter. In all honesty, I couldn't agree more.
We drove in a comfortable silence for a while and Nora drifted off to sleep. Poor baby, she was exhausted after the ordeal. We stopped to fill the car and I took the opportunity to switch seats so that Barry wouldn't ride alone upfront.
The filling post was deserted and it was a good thing too because I was still seeing purple which meant that whatever was happening to me still wasn't under control. I looked into the side mirror and caught a glimpse of my reflection. My face stared back at me but those weren't my eyes. At least not the eyes I was used to seeing on myself. My irises had turned dark purple and they seemed so shimmer almost as if someone had spilt glitter in them. I looked away startled and felt my heartbeat quicken.
"What is happening to me?" I asked myself and just then Barry came back into the car. He turned to face me and obviously realised that something was wrong.
"You okay?" He asked, the concern clear in his voice.
"I don't know what's happening to me, Barry," I confessed.
"I'm scared."