Haven Uprising

Celestia Goes To Do Something Important But I Stay in Bed

It was almost sunset by the time we got home. Celestia carried me across the flat and into my room.
She lay me down softly, before just standing there.

Her stance kind of sagged and a frown coated her features.
She was tired as fuck.
"Celestia you're tired as fuck, get some sleep,"I told her.
I rarely gave orders but it looked like she needed it here.

"Autumn,"She said quietly,"I... Kinda need a while. Alone."
Shit was really serious then

She knew I hated being alone and I knew she would never ask me unless she really needed to.
I mean I kinda got it tho. Our entire city had just been totally taken over AND we'd almost been blown to shreds by actual fricking energy tanks.
It would be a lot to process for anyone.

"Sure,"I replied,"I- If you need to anyway."
"I- sorry,"She replied, looking apologetic,"Thank you for understanding."
I heard her leave, the door closing quietly behind her.

And then I was alone again, the entire flat empty except for me and the silence.

I adjusted my position a bit, getting more comfy.

I picked up my phone.

I hated quiet.

It was invasive and it took everything from you. It left you alone with yourself and forced you to think.

Valkyrie's glove sat snug on my left hand, tight against my skin.
It had some plastic parts on the back that looked like it housed some form of circuitry inside it.
I tried pushing on my powers, to make a light or something, but it felt like there was a wall in the way. It felt weak but I didn't want to break it this early.
No scars flared, no pain.

Just... Safe.

I opened a music app and Strangers by Halsey started playing from the Bluetooth speakers I had set up all around the flat.

I opened up whatsapp and shot Valkyrie a message, checking if she was okay. She probably was, knowing her. I wasn't sure if the lab was though.

"I'm good, how r ur legs healing?"Came the reply almost instantaneously
Gotta go fast, I guess
"I can move a tiny bit,"I typed back, correcting the spelling mistakes as I went,"Like adjust my position and stuff but I don't think I can stand up yet."
"Well at least its healing 😜"

"Did the lab survive?"I asked.
"Oh yeah the lab's fine, power came back after you left and I blew up the rest of the thingies"
"And the one with people in it?"

She stopped typing.

I paused.
I wanted to ask something.
But would she answer honestly?
Probably not.

"Were the tanks actually drones?"

Valkyrie didn't type for a while.

Then she replied with a string of messages.
"They"
"They weren't"
"All of them were piloted"
Oh god
"So you mean you just killed at least fifteen people?"I probed, horrified.

My eyes felt wet again, and then I was back there standing over his charred corpse with the smell of charcoal thick around us.
No, not her now just-

"It was them or us, Autumn,"She texted,"They're the invaders not us."
"They didn't have to die though did they?"Killing wasn't okay, no matter who it was directed against. Ever.
Some people deserved worse than death, others deserved better, but outright murder was heartless.

"I'm sorry. Really. But it was necessary."
"No it wasn't,"I replied,"The EMP could've taken out the tanks and you could've sabotaged them by hand. Nobody had to die."

She hesitated again
"Autumn imagine if you had a lot of robot parts that were integral to your survival."
I got that some of them might've had robot parts but the odds of that were kind of low
"Now imagine detonating an EMP that would provide a temporary solution that wouldn't even work for that long."

Then it hit me like a sledgehammer in the face.
She was talking about herself.

Valkyrie had robot parts she needed to survive?
She hadn't told me that?
Did Celestia know?

"You have robot parts?"I replied weakly.
"Its a bit more complicated than that but in brief yeah."
"I had no idea"
"Don't worry about it."
"So the EMP wouldn't work, or it could but at the cost of your life?"
"Exactly. It was them or me. There was no other way."

I saw that now, but I was still against killing.
"Just please don't in future? If you can."

"I can try, but no promises. Get some rest and heal."
"Kk."

I shot a text to Celestia, doing our usual thing. I called it a heart spam battle. Tia thought it was cute, and I did too.
The general gist of it was that one of us sent a shiny heart emoji, and the other sent one back and so on until one of us stopped.
There wasn't really a clear winner or loser, but it was just fun to do.
I opened up our chat, briefly glancing at the cute messages above.
She was offline, and I had no idea if she'd even taken her phone with her. I wanted to try though. I sent a heart emoji, before flicking my phone off.
I didn't really feel like doing anything else.

I was really tired from earlier, but I really didn't want to sleep either.
One Bad Night by Hayley Kiyoko came on as the last echoes of Strangers faded away.

I lay back, eyes open, staring at the fairylights strung up around.
If the tanks actually had people in them, had Celestia known?
Was that what the nod was about?
Did they just get me out of there so I couldn't stop them?
Was I just an interference now?
Would Celestia tell me if she thought that?
I didn't want to be a hindrance, I felt more like a moral guardian, but if I was then I'd stop. I.. just wanted to help people.

I was uncomfortable so I sat up again. And bored.
Fuck this shit.

I reached over, picking up my drawing tablet.
I turned it on, waiting for the power on screen to fade, before opening up the drawing app Celestia had made.
It had no loading screen, she knew I hated them with a passion.
I flicked to new sketch, and slipped the stylus off the side.

I held it over the surface, thinking.

Did Celestia not like me any more?
Not trust me to help?
I mean I hadn't told her much about my past, but she knew I had a mother who hadn't been nice, she knew we'd finished school together, but she didn't know much about my childhood.

I hadn't told anyone.

I realised I'd been doodling while thinking.
It was what looked like a small ball of flame, more fluid parts curling off the top.

No not more fire.
Everything was a constant reminder.

I deleted the drawing.
I put the tablet back on my draws and turned the music off.

I lay down, hoping for dreamless sleep for once.

That was one wish that didn't come true
That was one wish that didn't come true.