In a world where supernatural beings exist, Zodia Academy is where you'll find twelve unique teens. Locked behind the soaring four walls of Zodia, a place they train, live and call home, only to visit reality in times of jeopardy. They are Earth's H...
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- CHAPTER THIRTEEN -
CRACKS IN CONSTELLATION
⌿⍀
TWO
YEARS
AGO...
The moonlight bends through the glass windows of the Zodia Academy dormitory, stretching sliver across the floor. The halls are quiet or at least they should be. The Dome emptied hours ago. Violet Virgo was crown Champion of Zodia. The cheers are still echoing somewhere in her skull.
Violet sits on the edge of her bed, still in her scorched battle gear. Her hands tremble against her knees, knuckles white. Across the room, Cate stands like a ghost, raven hair damp from sweat, a small bandage under her left eye, her uniform half-unzipped, body still beat and bruised. Her chest rises and falls too quickly, the aftershock of pain still blooming in her ribs.
"You faked it," Cate says, voice low and disbelief warping into betrayal.
"You pretended you were injured. You waited for me to let my guard down. A-and then you—" She cuts herself off and swallows hard.
Violet's mouth opens, but no sound comes out.
"Was it ever real?" Cate asks. "Us? The training, the missions, the loyalty, being the first two Heroes ever announced... was I just the step before the win?"
"Cate, I didn't— I swear, it wasn't like that." Violet finally speaks, eyes wide, voice cracking. "I thought if I won— I thought it would matter. That I'd matter."
Cate stares at her. Her face falls. Her hand twitches at her side like she wants to slap or scream or hug or disappear. "You didn't do this to win," she says, quieter now. "You did it so I'd lose."
Violet's heart sinks. Cate's fingers clench into her shirt. Her breath hitches. Blood trickles from one nostril. Her knees tremble. Violet sees it, moves to reach her, "Cate, wait—" But Cate stumbles back, hand to her chest.
Across the hall, the other Zodiacs sit in the plush common area, sprawled across couches, still vibrating with adrenaline. They're young, 14 and 15, still new to winning, being Earth's Heroes and attention and pressure. Levi is stretching. Sasha is sipping from a water bottle, shirtless, thoughtful. Caden is flicking his lighter open and shut.
Paige sits cross-legged on the carpet, arms wrapped around her knees, silent... until now. "You know," she says, voice innocent, "I think Violet planned this."
Everyone looks at her, "what?" Levi says.
"I overheard her the other night," Paige lies. "She said something like... Cate won't see it coming. She was talking about that limp. Like... it was all part of it."
