Haven Uprising

Aftermath

Over half of Haven's population is dead.

Prolonged deprivation of their powers for over an hour proved lethal to a lot, but all of those deaths felt like they were my fault.
If only I'd been able to stop Vindicator sooner..

But now there are only a few million of us left here.

That voice in my head still bugged me.
I hadn't heard it since then, but something still felt off about it...
It probably wasn't a big deal.

Just my imagination.

Reyna, Gideon and all of them are dead.
But even some I didn't expect

Ellie sat - knees brought up to her chest and head down - in one of Valkyrie's hallways.
I sat across from her, Tia beside me.
Nico sat near Ellie, not too close, but not too far either.
Valkyrie had gotten me the thickest, softest jumper she could find, but even that wasn't much consolation

Just the four of us curled up there.

Ellie's friends- Both Thalia and Mei were dead, both flatlining in the infirmary. One of her dads too. His name had been Sam. Her other dad was still sitting, crying over him.

She'd taken the news hard, retreating into herself faster than I ever could.

Earlier, Nico had had a panicked look on his face, rushing around looking for someone. I knew who.
When he noticed me, the guilt had been almost overwhelming.
He'd asked if any of us had seen Gideon anywhere.
And I couldn't lie to him.

It hurt to prioritise them, but the worst thing of all was seeing Luna's lifeless body on one of the beds.
Just remembering one of Valkyrie's many forms looking sadly at us and just shaking her head was enough to bring me to tears again.

I leant on Celestia for comfort. But tear-tracks ran down her face too.

None of us had come out of this piece of shit entierly alive.

Vindicator was still in a critical condition, but the painful thing was that she'd probably survive okay.
Vindicator; the perpetrator of all of this carnage and devastation, had escaped with her life.
I regretted trying to kill her.
But she did not deserve to walk away from this as a free person.

I hadn't seen Morwenna at all.

Since the first fight in the Dome's clearing I had no idea where she'd been taken, if she was still there or if she escaped or whatever.
I really hoped she was okay. But Reyna dying looked like it had really affected her.
I mean it'd affected me too. And everyone else who I'd told.

But still, we each just sat there, trying to ignore the sound of everyone else's sobs.

The only good thing about now was that all of this was over.

Vindicator and the Syndicate.
The soldiers and random raids.
The hellish Protocol X itself.
All that fucking chaos

I wondered what would happen to Haven's police force, now that most of them had been exposed as having joined the syndicate.
Some rebels patrolled the hallways, still in those suits, wielding various things.
None came past our bit though, thankfully.

"It's a she-her moment now,"Tia whispered to me quietly, and I nodded in response, before going back to silence.

Valkyrie walked down the hallway, and I saw her coming.
It looked like her more normal body, no robot bits showing at all.
Her lab coat had a few reddy-browny stains that I hoped weren't blood on it.
I didn't say anything in greeting.
There wasn't anything to say.

"Uh,"she started, sitting beside me.
Everyone looked up at her expectantly.
"Morwenna's back, but she asked specifically not to speak to anyone,"She explained, being met by silence,"She's in her office, preparing for something that I didn't ask about, but she's really fragile right now so I'd suggest nobody talks to her."
We all nodded in acknowledgement.
"And..."Valkyrie looked a little guilty,"I'm sorry. For all of this shit."
"It's not your fault Valk,"Tia assured her, voice edging on anger,"Only Vindicator is to blame here. And everyone who supported her."
"Mmm,"Valk agreed.

"Did you know?"Ellie asked suddenly, her small voice still weak from crying,"About the walls? You said you were one of the best hackers in Haven a while ago so you must've known."
"I did,"Valkyrie sighed, meeting her gaze with a touch of tenderness,"I started this massive project to make stuff that could survive outside-"
"And you didn't tell anyone!?"Nico yelled,"You couldn't have made some sort of defence to protect people against it? Anything would've worked, but you- you just kept quiet!?"
Valk returned gently,"Nico, nothing survives for long out there-"

"AUTUMN DID, SO DO NOT TELL ME THAT GIDEON COULDN'T,"Nico erupted as I shrank into Celestia. She held me tight in return.
"Nico, Autumn's powers are different from all of ours,"Tia replied, tone forceful but not angry,"She survived not because of any sort of moral reason but pure fucking luck. Which I am very grateful for. But not everyone gets lucky."

Nico looked up at me, gaze filled with anger and sadness, the former evapourating as he met my eyes.

"I- I'm sorry, Autumn,"He stuttered,"I think I need a while alone."
He stood up, then I blinked and he was gone.

"But did you find anything?"Ellie continued, wiping away the tears still streaming from her eyes.
"Some things,"Valkyrie confirmed,"Some data logs, some records, even some bits of research. But- wait- no. Nothing that could help us much. Most of our research has gone on more privately, but- uh... It's classified."
Her tone had that suspicious feeling to it again. Like she wasn't telling the whole truth.

"Can I help you?"Ellie asked, looking up hopefully,"Anything to distract me from..." She trailed off
"Sure,"Valk offered, giving her a small smile,"Lab partner."

"So what about all the survivors,"I questioned.
"Healing fine,"Valkyrie replied,"Most- if not all will be back on their feet by later today. But a few have been rendered with more permanent damage, like-"
"Please don't,"Tia interrupted,"I'm pretty sure most of us feel bad enough as it is already."

Valkyrie's head bobbed in acceptance.

"Tia can we go home for a bit?"I asked into the silence,"I mean I don't want to abandon any of you,"I adressed to Valk and Ellie,"I...Just think I need the quiet right now."
"Sure I don't mind,"Valkyrie replied, Ellie nodding an affirmative.

"Home then,"Tia declared,"I personally would not like to see my dreams right now."
"Me neither,"I agreed,"But we can relax."

And we could.

In the freedom we'd just restored, we could relax.