Lighted Lies

  NOVA

  “Tell me where he is,” I ordered, finding that the minibar in my hotel room was looking more appealing by the second as I lay in wait for Sablune to return.

  “We don’t know; he went wherever he thinks they might be,” Nika replied.

  I shot to my feet and stomped over to the door. “I’m going to look for him.”

  The door swung open with a thud, and in the hall stood two beat-up echoes; Aerix’s arm was slung over Sablune’s shoulder.

  Sablune looked up and spoke, shark teeth slowly molding back to normal, “No need.” He spat blood on the ground.

  Scratches and cuts swirled around Sablune’s face and legs, not a mark to be found on the threads of Sifyx. Cracks and bits of amethyst dotted Aerix’s skin. Even though they naturally have an antisocial nature, I found it odd that they refused to look me in the eye.

  Sablune dragged Aerix farther into the room and let them collapse onto the couch.

  “I’m not cleaning that up,” I informed, following the trail of blood with my eyes.

  “No one asked you to.” Sablune coughed and ran his hand through his hair.

  Irritation settled in my nerves, and I snatched Sablune by his collar and slammed him into the wall.

  “Damn, she’s tall,” Whispered Nika.

  “Why did you go without me? Take me with you next time, you don’t need anyone but me. Is that understood, Darling?” I snarled at him.

  Don’t leave me alone again.

  Sablune’s demeanor was unconcerned. My threats and undertone had no effect on him, or rather, not the effect I intended. My husband gave me a sly smile and blew me a kiss, resulting in me dropping him in acquiescence.

  “Your lip’s bleeding.” Aushen gave a nod to the stream of red trickling down Sablune’s face. “Again.”

  He froze in surprise, then began wiping the blood from his face. I had to suppress my laughter while Sablune frantically searched for a towel.

  “Is everything all right in here?” Fadabiea poked her head in the door. “I heard a concerning amount of yelling and banging from in here.”

  “More so than the usual,” she added, after seeing the aporetic looks on Nika and Aushen’s faces.

  “There’s no problem in here, just whatever the Mirror Twins are going through,” Nika explained.

  “Ah, so, relationship stuff. In that case, if you-”

  You don’t get to interfere.

  “Nope,” Sablune interjected.

  “I was just-” Fadabiea tried again.

  “No way are you dishing out romance advice,” Sablune said fervently.

  “My Darling and I have no animosity to be resolved, and even if we did, I happen to be a fully licensed marriage counselor. This being the case, I would deem your idea of assistance to be nothing short of impetuous,” I grilled Fadabiea.

  “I… Shut up,” Fadabiea pouted. “Did Aerix and Nika grab the files we need?”

  “Nika and I stopped in the archive room on our way back,” Aushen replied.

  Blu picked his teeth with a piece of Sifyx formed at the end of his finger. “Does that mean we can move levels again?”

  “We can,” Aerix confirmed with a cough, “only now we have more information than we would have, had we not gone down there in the first place. We would have a much harder time getting out of this Index.”

  “If we have what we need, we can go now, right? On to the next level?” Aushen sighed.

  “We can leave as soon as everyone is ready and when I bring everyone the necessary access to the AID logs. I’ll do that before you all go to sleep, for now I suggest you gather your belongings and make preparations to leave. You can leave things like clothes and stuff; we can use the Gatekeepers to come back here if we must,” Aerix advised as they shuffled out of the room.

  “You heard them,” I acknowledged the Echo of Chaos. “Out with yourselves.”

  “Even me?” Fadabiea gave a pitiable look.

  “Oh, Hun, don’t tempt me.”

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  Leave us alone.

  “Get out.” A wall of black fabric slammed into Fadabiea, moving in tandem with Sablune’s hand. The Vanguard of Verdancy tumbled to the ground like a sack of rice, and Sablune retracted the shadowsteel threading.

  Aushen exited without protest and amounted to dragging the ever-irritated Echo of Death behind him. Sablune smiled and shook his head; a bit of weight was lifted off all our shoulders amid minor progress.

  Blu and I agreed to gather our possessions to prepare for the road ahead, although there wasn’t much to gather, seeing as we hadn’t arrived with much to our name. We had our Gatekeepers, our phones, and a bit of food that we would give to Nika, since she had a backpack.

  Despite my earlier reservations, I did end up on my knees, scrubbing out the blood from the floors. Quiet work for such a loud life.

  “You know you could have let housekeeping take care of that?” Sablune said distastefully.

  “You know you can be considerate to strangers without profit?” I smiled knowingly.

  He grasped the front door handle and gave a wink before slipping out the door, blowing a subtle gust of air past me as the door shut behind him.

  Why without me?

  Shortly after, a knock sounds at the door, disrupting the brief silence I was permitted in Sablune’s absence.

  “Come in!” I called out, not bothering to turn in the direction of the door.

  A click and a creak indicated my visitor making their way inside. Feet brushed along the carpet and over to the couch, Aerix sat down awkwardly.

  “Where’s the loser?” They said boredly.

  I sat up and brushed my hair out of my face. “I don’t know, he didn’t tell me.”

  “Oh.”

  “You here to give me the access data?” I asked.

  “That’s part of the reason.”

  “Do I have to force you to elaborate?”

  “I saw something,” Aerix began.

  “Oh, that happens sometimes. Even I occasionally see things, especially when I open my eyes.”

  Where is he?

  “For such a nice person, you can be very sarcastic sometimes.”

  “Thus is the burden of elegant superiority.” I flicked my hand through my hair and fluttered my wings.

  “I had a vision in a dream.”

  “Okay, but that’s normal for you, isn’t it?”

  Aerix set down Nika’s laptop, their usual stoicism replaced by a flicker of something I recognized from my therapy sessions: deep-seated anxiety. "My visions," they began, their voice uncharacteristically hesitant. "They're usually just... data. But they can shift. The future isn't a single, solid thing."

  "Right, but why come to me about this?" I asked gently, keeping my tone even.

  They nodded, refusing to meet my eyes. "It’s not my place. Only a scion of Salzzanista, the Celestial of Fate, can see a true path with clarity. What I see are just... flawed, fragmented reflections."

  "And what did your reflection show you?" I pressed, sensing they were close to the point. I leaned over and resumed cleaning the floor, a mundane action to offset the sudden tension in the room. "Why are you here, Aerix?"

  "I saw something that involves you."

  My scrubbing ceased instantly, the blood on the floor seemed more vivid than I remembered. I craned my neck and looked Aerix in the eyes for the first time during our conversation. Their look was sullen and reserved, a telltale sign that I was about to hear something that Aerix wished they could forget.

  "I don't know when, or exactly where or how... but I’m sure you want to change it. I think you want to try and prevent this, so if I have the means to avert tragedy then I will do what I can to help achieve that.” The echo took on a determined look, although they shifted uncomfortably.

  “I don’t want to hear it,” I decided.

  “Nova, I don’t think you understand the depth of the situation.” Aerix stressed.

  “I’ve decided I don’t care to. My future belongs to me, I shouldn’t have to change my way of life based on some vision.”

  I threw down the bloodstained cloth, crossed my arms, and slowly sunk into despair.

  Aerix tried again. “Nova… some time from now, you-”

  I’m going to be separated from him.

  “Get out.”

  “No. You need to listen to me.”

  “Get out,” I said a second time.

  “What about Lapis? What do you think is going to happen to him after?”

  “GET OUT! LEAVE!” My hands began to glow dimly. “GET THE HELL OUT!”

  Shock sparked in Aerix’s face; they had never heard me speak to anyone in such a way. Out of all our companions, I was the support, I was the most positive and readily kind, the one that could be relied on to keep a smile and a cool head. The shoulder to always be soaked in tears and bear the loads too heavy for others.

  They lowered their head and stood slowly; the carpet ruffled at the movement, audibly scratching the bottom of Aerix’s feet. Before leaving, Aerix set down a small object on the coffee table, I didn’t bother turning to watch them leave.

  I dragged myself over to the miniature fridge in the corner of the room, the world blurred by tears that began to well up in my eyes. I tugged at the handle on the minibar, it opened with an airy pop, a chill washed over my bare arm. I had on white denim shorts, and a white off-shoulder T-shirt, exposing me to the slightest change in temperature.

  I won’t have to think about it this way.

  I fumbled for a drink in the minibar, messily wiping my face so I could see properly. Violent sobs began in a barrage, knocking over several of the fridge’s contents. Tears spilled freely from my eyes, further distorting my eyesight; eventually I did get my hands on a bottle of champagne.

  “I haven’t even drunk anything yet, and I can’t even function properly,” I said to myself angrily.

  This was not a good look for me, The Echo of Light. As of now, Lady Light is in a very dark place, leaving nothing but rage and the burning fury of the Sun. Despair for the circumstances, for Sablune, and for my future. I pretended I could try reading what was in the bottle but gave up almost immediately and drank shakily, spilling the alcohol on myself and the floor I had been cleaning only moments ago.

  Why can’t I see him now when I need it most?