Shadows & Mirrors // f.hargreeves fanfic

:::: Fifty-Eight ::::

A sharp gasp escaped Nova's lips as she abruptly sat up and her eyelids fluttered open. Bright white light burned her irises and the girl hissed in pain screwing her eyes shut once more. After a few moments, she hesitantly allowed her eyes to crack open, giving them time to adjust to the harsh light. As she took in her surroundings Nova realized she was seated in a narrow corridor. White light illuminated from all four walls mixed with a simple black line pattern. Klaus was a few feet ahead of her in the corridor groggily coming too.

"Holy shit!" Nova exclaimed when she realized where they were. Astonished the girl couldn't help but pat her stomach, her arms, her legs, even her face, just to make sure that it was all real.

"Shhh, five more minutes," Klaus mumbled before turning on his side and curling into the fetal position.

"Klaus! Klaus, buddy, it worked! We have our bodies back and we're not in the Void anymore!" Nova exclaimed excitedly rushing over to the man and shaking his shoulders. When she finished he seemed to process her words and his eyes snapped open in surprise.

"Holy shit!" Klaus exclaimed when his eyes met Nova's.

"Holy shit," Nova nodded with a grin.

"Holy shit!" They both exclaimed jumping to their feet and hugging each other excitedly.

"We did this! Oh my God, I can't believe we did it," Klaus murmured in shock. "Where are we exactly?"

"No idea, but it looks like there's only one way out," Nova shrugged before raising her arm to point at the door far at the end of the corridor.

::::::::

When Manuela returned to the hallway after searching one of the rooms on the sixth floor her siblings were arguing. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. Judging from the paintings that were on the floor on Sloane's side of the hallway the woman was frustrated that her brother wasn't helping. Ben, being Ben, probably made some sarcastic comment just to piss off his sister. Manuela wasn't sure she had the energy to deal with this today.

"Guys, can we please not fight right now?" Manuela asked as she rubbed her temples and closed her eyes. She could already feel one of her signature stress migraines forming behind her eyes.

"People are dying left and right and our brother is acting like a sulky teenager," Sloane snapped as she opened another door and quickly checked that room.

"Ugh, Sloane, you sound just like Dad?" Ben groaned in exasperation as Manuela checked another room.

"Why is it so important for Dad to like you?" Sloane scoffed in response. "He doesn't define you or us. We made our own mark in this world without him."

"As the Sparrow Academy, but they're gone now," Ben snapped.

"But we," Manuela gestured between the three of them, "Are still here. And all of this fighting is just what he wants. He wants to divide us and we need to have each other's backs."

"Dad wasn't even a Sparrow. He was our dad and a shitty one at that. You don't need him," Sloane continued to argue with her brother.

"Easy for you to say, both of you," Ben began glaring at each of his sisters individually, "when you've already got a new family."

"And the best part of that family just died," Sloane managed to spit out but her voice was choking with emotion.

"You know, I expected this from her, but not you. I'm disappointed in you," Ben said specifically to Manuela this time. The woman glared back at her brother.

"You think I'm trying to replace our family?" Manuela asked through gritted teeth.

"I mean, you seemed awfully close to them ever since we got to Oblivion. Plus you sided with them when Dad tried to split us into groups," Ben spit in her direction. Manuela couldn't help the furious laugh that escaped her lips.