Chapter 303: Sunny Side Up (2/2)
”Oh, Christ, we are so late for school now…. Mrs Chadwick is going to kill us.” Destiny whimpered, worried.
Marco pushed her lightly, laughing. ”Don't get your knickers into a twist. We're already late, so it's best to just accept it and move on. Right, Zin?”
Zinnia nodded, nibbling on a chocolate bun humming to herself with joy. ”This is so tasty! I'm in love, sorry, what was that?”
”Always the carefree butterfly of the group, aren't you? Your parents are hippies, are they?”
”No! No. Of course not; I'll have you know my father is a prestigious police officer while my mother is a lawyer. They battle evil and make sure the villains pay for their crimes. They are like real-life superheroes!”
”I thought you lived in an orphanage?” Sam muttered without much thought.
Zinnia turned to Sam, lost. ”Umm…. What? Why would I, you know what? I had a dream about that. Funny, those little things.”
”Speaking of real-life superheroes, did you guys catch Vanguard's stream last night. He and Vanguardian decimated the thugs and saved the bus full of children. That there is a true hero. A heart of gold.” Marco cheered. ”Wouldn't it be cool if we did that?”
”Now, now. Don't get ahead of yourself. We already tried that for fun, and it failed. Hero's Might was destined to fail.” Destiny exclaimed, having to remind Marco again for what felt like to her the 1000th time.
”I know, I know. I just felt like we were missing someone—that edge to keep us going. Eh, don't worry about it. Maybe we'll try another time again. What was the team's name you thought of, Zin?”
”Umm…. Oh right, Team Rhapsody.”
”That's the one. Has a nice ring to it. What do you think, Sam?”
”Me?” She whispered, not paying attention sighing. ”Sorry I spaced out for a moment.”
”Are you sure you're feeling alright? You've been like this for a few days now.”
”I'm fine; I just feel like I'm always half asleep.”
”I know that feeling,” Destiny exclaimed, yawning. ”Finals is killing me. I was up all night revising. But just think when this is all over, we are free. Hey, we should get together for the summer break. Get out of Sunset Peak for a few days and have a well-deserved break. Sound like a plan?”
”Hell yeah. I know of these small islands off the coast of Victoria. An exchange student I used to write to lives there with his father. A small tropical island sounds like bliss.”
Sam rubbed her eyes, nodding. ”That sounds nice. What do you say, Zinnia? Zinnia?” Turning around, Sam was confused to find Zinnia gone. Scratching her head, she tugged at Destiny. ”Hey, Destiny, where did Zinnia go?”
”Who?” She asked.
Sam gave it thought just as confused as she shook her head. ”I don't know, a slip of the tongue.”
****
Zinnia gasped, falling from her icy prison, shivering while also throwing up a mixture of vomit and blood. Iris kneeled down, comforting her, bleeding from her eyes. ”Zinnia! Zinnia, it's alright, breath. Breathe, you're alright.”
Zinnia looked up, troubled, coughing. ”Iris? Where, are you alright?”
Wiping her eyes looking pale, Iris smiled the best she could. ”Don't worry too much about me; breaking you from the Long Whisper takes a long out of me. How do you feel?”
”I feel? What's going on? Where's everyone else?!”
”Easy, easy. Take it easy. It's hard to explain, but you were asleep dreaming of another world trapped in these prisons created by Acceptance. I broke you out.” Jehovah began coughing, hiding behind Zinnia curled up, looking terrified. Iris stared at her lost. ”Who is that?”
”Please, don't hurt her. She was a Stage of Grief…. But something went wrong. Henry; Eyes Over Reality; tricked us. He took her powers and tried killing us…. Wait, did you say Acceptance?” She whispered, tumbling back coughing.
”Please, don't rush. You're still coming to your senses. What do you mean she was a Stage of Grief… Does that mean she's an enemy?!”
”No. No, she's harmless. Just a scared little girl victim of the Garden….” Zinnia looked around, finding people trapped in the same cocoon prison she was once in. Shocked, she whispered, dazed. ”This power. It has to be Alton….”
”What?! That's not possible. This was Acceptance.”
Holding her head, Zinnia squinted, taking deep breaths. ”Before everything went fuzzy, my contract with Bargaining was broken. The only way that would happen would be if I killed Alton. That was at first, but Alton signed his own contract with Bargaining to save me. The only way it was broken was by him.”
”What was the contract?”
”To become a Stage of Grief.”
”Holy shit…. We need to get back to the others immediately.” Iris exclaimed, standing up. ”The others need to hear of this.”
Zinnia stood up, turning to Jehovah, speaking in a soothing tone. ”Come with us. Please.”
Crawling back, Jehovah began trembling. ”But…. You're my enemy.”
”Enemy or not. I can't allow a little girl to be out here all by herself. Just come with us; we'll take care of you.” Jehovah slowly reached out, taking Zinnia's hand, still trembling, unsure. ”I promise no harm will come to you. We're ready, Iris.”
The three survivors began the trek to Iris' safe haven away from the constant unbearing storm, neither none the wiser that one more prison had been broken out of. The one who almost killed Zinnia all those months ago, Henry Truman, now simply known as Denial….