"Et tu, Brute?"
-William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
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Bucky's POV
The silence around us feels unreal. Even the nature around us has gone quiet.
Nova stands a few feet in front of me, her chest rising and falling with each deep breath.
Faye chants something in a language I don't understand, and a reddish light starts to grow in the space between us.
I start to feel tingling all over my body, and my eyes land on Nova.
She's keeping her eyes closed, getting enveloped in the red flow of energy.
Nova's eyes snap open, she gasps for air, and in an instant, a blast of energy leaves her chest, hitting me.
I feel warmth spreading in my chest, and my breathing gets faster.
Suddenly everything stops, and I look for Nova, finding her bent forward, resting a hand on her chest.
I rush to her, grabbing her shoulders to keep her up. "Nova, you ok?"
She nods, moving her gaze to my face. "You're scared," she whispers, staring at me intently.
I swallow the lump in my throat, hesitating. "You're worried," I note, and Nova smiles lightly.
"Then I guess the spell worked." She chuckles, sighing in relief.
I pull her into my arms, trying to focus for the first time on this new feeling.
It's like having two heartbeats almost beating at the same time. "Stop feeling guilty, Nova." I mutter, and I can feel her body relax a bit in my arms.
"We should proceed with the ceremony." Faye chimes in, and Nova takes a step back from me.
"I'll be right here." I reassure her, stroking her cheek.
Amanda motions me to walk towards her, stepping to the side.
"This spell is going to search your soul, and it will project outside what is stopping you from acceding the second part of the ritual." Faye begins to explain, putting the wooden box Amanda carried on a marble table in the middle of the temple.
He takes out a metal bowl, burning some herbs in it. "It's going to be your greatest fear, be careful and remember, you can beat it. You're in control." He instructs, hovering his hand over the bowl as a white light sparkles between his fingers.
Nova's fists clench and relax a few times in an attempt to calm herself. "Got it." She utters, giving me a quick glance.
My stomach feels tight with anxiety, and I can't tell how much of it is actually from Nova.
Faye walks to Nova, his fist full of ashes, and she closes her eyes as he pours them on her face, starting the spell.
He walks back, stopping next to Amanda and Theo. "Do it," he says, and Amanda steps forward.
Her hand rises in front of Nova, sending golden energy through her body.
The wind rushes, bringing dead leaves and dust to circle the temple, gradually darkening the sky.
I can barely see Nova when a sharp pain in my head makes my legs go weak.
A wave of fear hits me, and I cast my eyes to Nova, trying to focus only on her.
I can see her figure stumbling and falling to her hands and knees.
"Is this supposed to happen?" I overhear Theo wonder, and Faye's answer makes my blood freeze in my veins. "No."
A muffled scream gets to me, and my breath hitches when I begin to struggle to feel Nova.
"You have to stop this." I urge, staring at Amanda.
None of them move an inch, and I force myself up, gritting my teeth. "Faye, we're losing her. I can feel it." Panic takes over, making my voice break.
He shakes his head, his eyes glued to the mess in front of us. "She can take it. Her powers are going to keep her alive." He utters, keeping his voice loud enough to be heard over the blowing wind.
"She doesn't have her powers! Stop the spell!" I shout angrily.
His head snaps to the side, finding Amanda walking towards Nova.
She gets dragged back by an invisible force, hitting the wall with her head. "You can't stop this if she doesn't come back." He seethes, staring at her.
"She's going to die!" She yells, and Theo holds her back.
The pain disappears from my head, and my heart sinks. Why did it stop?
I keep trying to focus, hoping to get any sign back, but nothing. "Please, Nova." I whisper, my eyes burning as the wind begins to slowly calm down, showing her lying on the ground.
I launch myself towards her, but my feet seem to be glued to the ground after just one step. "Not yet." Faye scolds, putting up what seems to be a translucent barrier around her.
"What are you doing?" I shout, turning to look at him.
Another figure gets closer to her, but I can't make out any details. "Do something!" I scream at Amanda, practically begging for her to do something, anything.
I hear a loud gasp, and I see Nova slowly getting up, probably scared and confused.
I bring a hand to my chest, starting to feel again a light tingle. She's alive.
"Who's that?" Theo wonders, walking towards the barrier.
"Her worst nightmare." Faye says, for the first time showing concern in his voice.
Nova's POV
I open my eyes, gasping for air and pushing myself up.
Dizziness makes my head spin like crazy, and I struggle to recognize the space around me.
I move on my hands and knees, getting up and looking around.
After so long, I can feel the energy run through my body, and for a second, everything seems to be back to normal.
I hear footsteps behind me, and I turn around smiling, expecting to see Bucky.
My breath hitches and I have to pinch my leg to make sure I'm not dreaming. "Who are you?" I hear the girl in front of me ask in Russian.
I blink a few times, confused. "What... What is this?" I mumble, seeing a younger me holding a gun.
My heart beats fast, and I can feel my mouth going dry. "Don't move!" She shouts, stopping me from taking any step further.
"Nova," I call, and her eyes widen, glistening with fear.
"Shut up!" she screeches, both her hands tight around the grip.
This? This is what I'm most scared of? How am I supposed to deal with this? "I'm you, Nova." I soothe, taking small steps towards her.
She backs off, keeping her aim on me. "What is this? Another of Belov's experiments?"
I shake my head, my stomach twists as I hear that name. "No, no, listen to me."
"Stay back." She yelps, gritting her teeth.
"I know you're scared, but I promise you I don't want to hurt you." I try to sound as reassuring as I can.
She won't let me close, not without emptying the clip into my head.
"You can't hurt me." She scoffs, her shoulders shaking with tension.
I can see hesitation keeping her from shooting me, and I've only one shot to get her to trust me. "Do you remember Mrs. Alberti?"
She blinks a few times, her eyes looking through me as she forces herself to remember. "How do you know her?" She mutters, frowning.
"She used to teach us how to play the piano, and we would go pick up her groceries at the market near that little church." I probe, hoping to help her remember. There's no way someone else could know about this.
Her eyes wander around, her brain struggling to recall a precise memory. "Bell peppers, cherry tomatoes..." I hint, and something in her eyes changes. A sparkle.
"And the best apples in town." She concludes my list, and I nod.
Confusion grows on her face, maybe even more fear. "What's going on here?" She mutters, looking around.
I have no idea where Bucky and the others are, but I don't have time to worry about that now. "There are many things that you don't know, and I'm not sure if I can tell you." I sigh, realizing I have no idea how to handle this. Faye and my mother gave me no instructions.
"What are you talking about?" She inquires, her finger clenching tight around the grip of the gun.
I walk towards her, holding my hands up. "It's ok. You can put that away." I nod at her hands.
She rolls her shoulders, flexing her neck side to side. "I'd rather not."
"You may not know or remember much, but there are things out there waiting for you." I sigh, reading in her eyes and in every anguished movement the torment I've been trying to forget for so long.
"That's nothing new." She scoffs, slowly moving to the side, checking the area for any other threat.
"Good things, Nova." I add, trying to get closer to her.
Her eyes study me real quick, making sure I don't have any obvious weapons on me. "I know you don't believe me. I have been where you are right now. Its not fair, and you have every right to be angry." I try to sympathize with her, doing the only thing no one bothered to do for me while I was with Hydra. Treat her as a human.
"You're old." She points out, her brows knit together.
I scoff, caught off guard. "Not that much." I counter, crossing my arms over my chest.
She frowns, shrugging. "What am I doing here?" Her eyes roam the space around us once again.
I hesitate, pressing my lips together. "You are... Well, I am the thing I need to face."
A perplexed expression appears on her face. "What are you talking about?" She asks, going to sit on the stairs at the entrance.
I lift my brows, surprised she let her guard down. Isn't she worried about me anymore?
"I'm not worried about you killing me. It's either death or going back there." She utters, her chin up to stare at the blue sky.
I sigh, realizing she still has her powers, and she can still read minds. "There are so many things I can't fix. I don't want myself being one of these." I confess, surprised at the unexpected pity I'm showing to myself.
She chuckles, rubbing her face. "Fixing? Good luck with that."
I sit next to her, leaving a few inches between us. "Don't say that. We may be damaged, but we found someone who's not bothered by the cracks." My lips curve up, Bucky's face appearing in my mind as I speak.
She shakes her head, laughing. "They must be insane to stick to someone like us." Her voice gets croaky.
I nod, knowing how absurd this must sound to her. "We match pretty well, you know? He sees the good in us." I hum, resting my chin on my knees.
I feel her eyes on me, but it takes her a few minutes to ask her question. "How? I don't feel any good left in me."
"You will, eventually." I reassure her.
"So, what are you supposed to do now?" She wonders, standing up.
I huff, mimicking her. "I... I think I need to stop being scared of you." I probe.
She clenches her jaw, suddenly disappointed. "Even myself is scared of... this." She points at herself.
"Nova, what happened to us was not fair. Neither are the consequences of it." I tell her, trying to keep her calm.
"Consequences? Do you mean being a monster?" She shouts, stepping closer to me.
I swallow the lump in my throat, shaking my head. "You're not."
"You've seen hell, but you've got your own personal devil. That's why from all that horror, you kept being afraid of the only thing you couldn't leave behind. You." I let her words sink in, gradually understanding the whole purpose of all this.
I breathe in deeply, brushing the creases of my dress, keeping my gaze down as I think of the best way to end this. "You're right. I'm not fond of the person I used to be, and I regret what I've done. What they made me do. And I know what wickedness I'm capable of. That's why I don't want to ever go back to where you are now."
Her hands shake with anger, a bright dark purple swirls of energy wrap around her fingers.
The deep breaths she takes aren't doing much to calm her, and I know its just a question of seconds before the pressure hits a crescendo. "Do you think this is something you can just get rid of? I'm that part of you that you will never get rid of. The shame, the fear. Terror has made you cruel, don't act like you didn't feast on your own demons to survive one more day." She seethes, tightening her fists.
"I told you there are a lot of things you don't know, one of these being that people change. Most of the time its for the worst, but sometimes, they actually get better." I hint, waiting for her to snap.
I walk around her, followed by her keen eye. "And growing up, you realize that the real conflict isn't between good and evil. You can't part them. The conflict is between truth and lies. A truth that becomes obvious only a moment before your life goes to hell."
A grunt leaves her lips as she launches herself against me, her fist missing my face by an inch.
I move my weight to my right foot, pivoting around her and wrapping my fingers around her wrist.
She looks at me like a wounded animal, ready to bite off her own arm to get free. "I'm not getting rid of you. I'm learning how to use your rage, to stop anger from hiding the truth in plain sight."
My breath hitches, and my gaze falls on my hand, noticing the same purple energy moving up my fingers and arm, sending shivers down my spine.
I let go of her wrist, staring at both my hands and feeling my powers returning, awakening all my senses until I start to feel overwhelmed.
My knees hit the ground, and I press my hands against my temples.
A buzz grows in my ears, and my head starts to hurt.
Something is wrong. It feels like trying to fit the whole ocean in a glass of water. I need to dissipate some of it, or I won't be able to handle all this power.
I force myself to focus, trying to gain some control over my powers, and within a few seconds, a blast of energy radiates off me.
Everything goes silent, the feeble chirping of birds flying over the temple is the only thing I can hear.
I drop on my side, rolling onto my back and trying to catch my breath.
My eyes feel heavy, and tiredness is trying to pull me into sleep. "Nova!"
Muffled footsteps reach my ears, and I turn my head to the side, struggling to focus my sight.
I feel two arms lift me. "Bucky?" I whisper, opening my eyes.
The setting sun shines behind him, red light streaking through his hair. "I'm here." He soothes, stroking my cheek.
He pulls me up more, resting my back against his chest. "Where... where is she?" I wonder, moving my gaze to the spot where I last saw her.
Faye walks over me, bending down and picking up something from the ground. It looks like a crystal.
"Take her back. She needs to rest." He orders, putting the rock in a pouch.
I try to sit up on my own, groaning. "Wait, what happens now?" I heave, staring at him. He can't just send me to bed after what happened. Did it work?
"We will discuss this further later." He dismisses, and I see Theo walking towards me, offering his hand.
I ignore him, letting Bucky help me instead. "No. I didn't do all this just to wait for more. Did the ceremony go as planned?" I ask.
Faye hesitates, sighing. "I'm not sure."
"What?" I utter in disbelief.
He grabs the pouch opening it. "See this? This is a Pneuma. It is used in a few rituals and is fundamental for the last stage of the coronation, where it is put inside the throne." Faye explains, keeping his fist close.
"If you get one, it means you have a chance to sit on the throne." He adds.
I frown, not sure why I wasn't told that before. "Then what's the problem?"
"What color is it?" My mother frets, rushing towards him.
Faye opens his fist, and her face drops. "Oh my-"
"What? What is it? Why are you concerned?" I stress, starting to feel anxiety creeping in me.
My mother clears her throat, moving her hair behind her ear. "Pneuma come in three colors, which are a premonition of the future of that person." She says, her eyes fixed on Faye.
"Blue, purple, and white." He mutters.
I press my lips together, noticing the same preoccupied look on all their faces. "Why is mine black?" I ask wearily.
Faye puts the crystal back in his pouch and opens a portal in front of me. "Get her out of here." He dictates, and I feel a grip around my arm, dragging me towards the portal.
I see Theo pushing me from behind, and my heartbeat accelerates.
"What? No-Bucky!" I squirm, trying to pin my feet to stop him.
Bucky grabs his shoulder, pulling him back and punching him in the face.
Their fight lasts only a few seconds before Faye chimes in, throwing Bucky across the temple, his back hitting the hard marble.
"No more lying, Faye. Why didn't you tell me about this? You knew about it and tried to take the Pneuma without telling me." I seethe, holding up my hands, ready to fight them.
"To keep it safe." He states sternly.
I glance over at Bucky, noticing him getting up. "Elaborate."
My mother shakes her head lightly, and I frown. "Pneuma are extremely rare and hard to get, but they can work in more than one way if the people are bonded by blood." He informs.
I remain silent, connecting the dots in my head and feeling a heavy weight pressed on my chest. "You were going to use it, but for her," I mutter, lowering my eyes.
I hear steps getting closer, and I see Bucky standing next to me. "You ok?" I check on him, and he nods.
I turn again to them, tilting my head and narrowing my eyes. "You were never going to let me sit on the throne, were you?" I scoff, now seeing what all this was for.
"You didn't want it in the first place," Theo interjects, making me even madder. He has no say in this.
"That doesn't give you the right to lie to me." I shout angrily, almost hitting him.
He stumbles back, surprised. I still have a lot of energy even after what I did. "You knew about this?" I ask my mother, already knowing the answer.
"Nova, I-" She stutters, not giving me any response.
"Of course you did." I chuckle bitterly. Liar.
I stare at the ground for a second, almost laughing at how stupid I was. I can't believe that after all that happened, the only person who told me the truth was Angus. "It seems like you have everything under control. Hence, I assume my team and I are no longer needed." I deadpan, turning around and nodding at Bucky to leave.
"Nova, we still need your help." My mother cries, grabbing my shoulder and making me spin around.
I look at her, feeling nothing but disappointment. "You should have stayed dead." I say hoarsely.
I've made the same mistake one too many times. This is no longer my problem.
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A/N Hello! A new chapter is out, and once again, problems are at Nova's door. I really hope you liked this chapter, see you soon! xx