CHAPTER ONE
deer in headlights
⋆*✧･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:
IMAGINE, IF YOU will, a car driving along a quiet, solitary road. It is night, and a cloudy night, too—not even the moon is able to provide some illumination to the scene. The road that this car—and it can be any kind of car; there is no need to worry about colour or make or even the era of manufacture—is driving on is shrouded with trees, further adding to the darkness. The only light in the area is the twin beams of the car's headlights, attempting to carve a path through the black. It's not enough to see very far; in fact, the driver of this car—which may be a man, a woman, or a person who identifies as neither—is growing quite uncomfortable with their significantly reduced visibility. They're considering pulling over, even if that gets them stranded in what appears to be the middle of nowhere. They're considering calling someone. They're considering continuing on and making their way into the first city they're able to.
Unfortunately, they never get a chance.
Moments ago, a deer ambled out of the trees and onto the road. Its goal was to pass to the other side—after all, it isn't like there's any source of food within the paved concrete that humans have constructed. It hurried along on its thin, wobbly legs, keen eyes seeing better in the dark than any human could.
At least, right up until the approaching headlights flash right into the deer's face.
See, deer may have remarkable eyes, but they are quite sensitive, too. So, when something as abrupt and bright as a headlight ends up cutting through their vision out of nowhere, it blinds them. All of their senses are assaulted by nothing but white, white, white, and their little brains—around half of the size of a human's—are overwhelmed. When everything is overtaken in such a manner, they can do nothing but freeze in place.
Paralyzed.
Nadine Vidal—Magician, honorary Number Eight, world-saver and time-traveller—had, quite a few times in her life, felt exactly like that deer. When she'd been so blinded with information, with tragedy, with terror that she'd been frozen, too. The day she'd woken up in the hospital and learned that she'd survived an attempted murder, the day she'd encountered said attempted murderers again, the day Vanya had slit Allison's throat. Most recently, the phenomenon had occurred a few hours ago, when she'd discovered what The Handler's true plans had been with her.
She hated feeling like that. When she was unable to move, she was vulnerable. If she was vulnerable, then she was dead. But she couldn't help it. There comes a moment when things get to be too much for you to comprehend. When all you can do is be like that deer—stand and stare.
Which was, unfortunately, what she was doing now.
It had been a long day. And not in a 'been fired from work, got stuck in traffic for an hour, and found out your favourite Chinese food place was going out of business' kind of bad day. No, it was a bad day, bad day. Not only were Nadine and her friends framed as the murderers of President John F. Kennedy—something Diego had been particularly upset about—but they'd somehow found themselves launched into an all-out war. Nadine had fought Lila, a woman she had once considered her friend, about a thousand Commission agents, and someone who had planned to kill her parents and kidnap her as a seven-year-old. Then, at the end of it all, she had to say goodbye to her girlfriend. Forever.
And now, now, she'd just wanted to, like, take a fucking nap. But then she'd gotten a strange text from her Papa—"Has your flight landed in America yet? I know you're excited to see the Sparrow Academy!"—found a painting of Ben in Five's place, and now, now, Reginald Hargreeves was alive. With children that weren't the Umbrella Academy.
Well, there was one. Ben Hargreeves, older than he'd ever gotten to be, narrowed his gaze at them, his lip curling. He had a scar across his face and a Sparrow Academy uniform, and his expression conveyed none of the warmth that would be expected from the sweet brother Nadine had been told about.
Everything. Was. Wrong.
Especially the other text on Nadine's phone, the one that had just chimed in. But she really needed to take things one problem at a time, right now.
Although Nadine's limbs were locked up, frozen in place from shock, the other members of the Umbrella Academy didn't seem to be having the same problems. In fact, Klaus was actually able to open his mouth. "Ben?"
Luther stepped forward, taking in Ben's face. Nadine breathed heavily, unnaturally. "Is that really you?" Luther whispered.
"And who are the weirdos on the balcony?" Diego demanded.
The light had shifted, now, allowing Nadine to get a glimpse of the strangers' faces. There were six of them in total—well, six of them and some kind of... flying cube. Four women—one with sunglasses over her eyes, and another with a pitying smirk on her lips—and two men. They were all wearing the same maroon uniform as Ben. Nadine knew before Reginald spoke who they were.
"They are the Sparrows. My children."
Her heart sunk, anyway.
She was just about to open her mouth—or, more realistically, continue to just stand there—when, out of nowhere, something rumbled. An earthquake in miniature, rattling the paintings that hung on the walls and the books strewn across the tables. Nadine, finally able to move, clenched her fists, preparing for... something to happen. But, as quickly as it began, the earthquake ended. Nadine's shoulders slumped.
Five turned towards his father—if he could even be considered that anymore. "I'm sorry. What do you mean, your children? That's not possible, old man."
The Sparrows descended the stairs, gathering around Ben. Reginald, head high, responded, "Of course it is! I think I'd know, wouldn't I?"
Nadine stared at them. Eight. There were eight of them in total, if she counted the cube. One more than had been in the original Umbrella Academy. For some reason, that stuck out to her.
"So, you... you replaced them," Nadine whispered. Her voice had finally decided to dislodge itself from whatever box it had been stuck in before. Fucked up. Fucked up. Everything was fucked up. "You... what the fuck did you do, Reggie?"
One of the women—the one that had been smirking on the balcony—rolled her eyes. "Who the hell are you supposed to be? You know, your haircut's a little out of style, Marilyn Monroe."
Nadine didn't even have the motivation to come up with a comeback. She just continued to struggle to get air into her poor, aching lungs.
"Everybody else can see Ben, right?" Klaus asked, moving forward.
"Cute hat, Sundance," Ben responded. Klaus grinned and tipped his hat at him.
"They call themselves the Umbrella Academy," Reginald began, "a group of scheming, perfidious malcontents who accosted me in the fall of 1963 when I was away on business in Dallas. Be warned, they claim to be my spawn."
"Like I'd ever want to be your child," Nadine said. A memory of the dinner she'd had with Reginald flashed through her mind—sitting in front of the old man as he told her that she wasn't worth the place she took up at the table. That had only been a few days ago for her. For Ol' Reggie, it had been nearly sixty years. Still, a shudder of repulsion went through her. She'd never forget what he said to her, even though she knew it wasn't true. The day the man who used to be her idol tore her to shreds.
Allison stepped forward. "Claim?" she repeated. "Look, Five, what the hell is going on?"
"I don't know yet, but it's concerning," Five replied.
"Is he telling the truth?" one of the Sparrows asked. He was tall, nearly as tall as Luther, his expression twisted in bewilderment.
"Not the part about us being perfidious," Vanya said. Nadine drew as close as possible to her friend, wanting someone to hold onto. The two of them had held hands when they'd arrived here. The chaos had had them break that connection, but Nadine needed something right now. She was lucky enough to feel a warm hand interlace with hers in seconds.
"No, we're amateur-fidious, at best," Klaus agreed.
"But we are his children. Well, most of us. And this is our house."
"Yeah, yeah," Luther said. "We, uh... we grew up here."
"Oh, yeah, yeah, we grew up here," one of the Sparrows mocked. And Nadine knew it was wrong, but she couldn't help the double-take she did when she saw his face. His flesh was droopy, his facial structure distorted. It was as if his skin was melting off him like candle wax.
The other Sparrows tittered. "I kind of think we would have noticed you," one of the women said.
Luther's expression shifted, and a smile grew on his face. "Hi," he said. "I'm Luther."
"Okay," Allison growled. "None of you belong here."
"Oh! Well, then," the Sparrow with the sunglasses said. "I guess we'll just pack our bags and move out."
Beside her, the cube... made some weird noise, flashing a cacophony of different colours. Nadine couldn't understand it, but it seemed that the rest of the Sparrows did. Another laugh ran through their group.
"You slay me, Chris," Ben said.
Nadine was seriously going to go insane. Which was stupid—she'd been through enough weirdness in the past few years to last her a lifetime—but honestly, this was going to be it for her. What the hell was happening? Sure, parts of it were kind of obvious, but none of this should have been happening. They should have been home—the real Umbrella Academy. They shouldn't be here, standing in front of a group of strangers who claimed to be Reggie's real children.
And there shouldn't be a fucking flying cube in front of her.
"Chris?" she repeated. "That thing's—that thing's got a name?"
The cube chittered again, flashing with red. The smirking woman narrowed her eyes. "What did you just call Christopher?"
"Oh, my God."
Footsteps approached. When Nadine turned, her eyes—which were already wide as dinner plates—expanded even further. For there, making her way over to the group with a plate of cookies, was Grace Hargreeves. Alive. Alive. Not dead. Not blowing a final kiss as the Academy crumbled around her.
"I wasn't expecting company," she said. "This is the best I could do on short—" her eye twitched, and her entire head snapped to the side. Her voice deepened. "Short... short notice."
"Mom," Diego whispered, transforming from Knockoff Batman to a child in an instant. Nadine knew that he'd always been the closest to her. Seeing her here—the real her, not the woman she'd been based off of back in 1963—must have come as a shock to him. If Nadine wasn't... herself, maybe she would've given him a hug.
The Sparrows, on the other hand, didn't see this as the sweet moment it was. "Mom?" one of them repeated. "She's a robot, you perv."
"It's not a robot," Diego argued.
"Hey, don't you call him that," Luther snapped.
"Or what?" Ben asked.
"Well, why don't you come closer and find out?"
"Luther! Guys, chill!" Vanya shouted.
"You think I'm afraid?" Ben snapped.
"Stand down, Ben," the burly Sparrow ordered.
"You guys are pathetic," Nadine said.
"Pathetic?" the smirking woman repeated. "Says the woman who crawled in here like a homeless person."
"How about I hide that big Rubik's Cube up your ass?" Diego suggested.
"Enough!" the burly Sparrow cried. "I don't know what circus you people escaped from or how you got past our security—"
"You call that security?" Nadine asked. "We just, like, walked right in here."
"—but we're done here. You got thirty seconds to get out of our house."
"And if we don't?" Allison asked, arms crossed.
"Then we'll have to settle this the old-fashioned way."
"I wouldn't mind that," Nadine said, cracking her knuckles. Vanya smacked her shoulder.
"Look, we just fought a literal army. Okay? This doesn't need to get ugly. Let's all just calm down, and let's talk."
"Nah," the smirking woman said. "Not interested."
"Kadence," the burly man reprimanded.
"What?" the woman—Kadence—said. "These guys broke into our fucking house. And they're also super pitiful—I mean, look at them. Chumps, all of them. I bet we could take them without breaking a sweat."
"I agree," the Sparrow with sunglasses said. "Especially after Blondie over there insulted Christopher."
Klaus didn't seem fazed by all of the threats going on around him. Instead, he leaned towards Ben—the other Ben. "Psst. Ben-er-ino. You look so much better alive than you do dead. Am I right? Except that haircut."
Ben stared at him for a moment. "What the hell did you just say?"
"Come on, come on. Stop with all the hostility, Mr. Grumpy Pants." He approached the Sparrow Ben, taking him in in full. "Oh, wow. Nice scar. Muy macho."
"Shut your mouth."
"You shut your mouth and just hug your brother—"
Klaus opened his arms wide, meaning to embrace this other Ben. But he wasn't even able to get near him before he was punched in the face. The blow sent him staggering back, where he promptly fell over the table and sprawled onto the floor. Nadine watched him with wide eyes. Either that had been a very hard hit, or Klaus had skin like glass.
"Hey! What the hell?" Luther barked. "You didn't have to do that!"
"Oh, I'm pretty sure I did," Ben said.
"That's right, he did," one of the Sparrows agreed.
"Hey, get back!" another shouted.
"Luther, hey!" Vanya shouted.
The burly Sparrow shoved him backwards. Luther, hardly fazed, swung a punch at his head. The Sparrow ducked, then kicked him in the chest. Somehow, the blow had enough power to send him flying backwards, where he promptly landed on Klaus. The entire couch fell backwards at the weight of the two, and they rolled onto the floor in a groaning mass of limbs.
"Bad touch, Luther!" Klaus wheezed. "Bad touch!"
"Sorry!" Luther said.
That seemed to be the cue for the Sparrows to begin advancing on the Umbrella Academy. Nadine let go of Vanya's hand and gritted her teeth.
"Come at me, assholes!" she shouted.
Because she wasn't a deer, paralyzed until a car ran her over. She was more of a wolf, and it was about time these assholes saw her fangs.
BEFORE THE ALARM had sounded and sent Kadence fumbling back to the Sparrow Academy, she'd been in the courtyard, tending the flowers. This was, technically, Grace's job, but Kadence had managed to convince her father to let her step in, instead. There was something so... therapeutic about the steady practice of caring for plants, and, throughout the years, she'd formed a sort of green thumb.
Alphonso and Jayme, especially, liked to tease her about it. The great Kadence Hargreeves, Number Eight, who was probably the fastest to jump to kicking someone's teeth in when it came time for a solution, liked flowers. Kadence always just responded with a middle finger, maybe a wack to the head. Still, she was aware of the irony herself. Flowers were fragile, delicate, the exact opposite of who she was. But perhaps that was what drew her to them. The idea of taking care of something that couldn't take care of itself.
For the sake of this project, she'd wrestled her dark hair into a haphazard braid down her back, and changed into a pair of nondescript gray sweats and a black T-shirt. Gardening gloves were fitted over her scarred hands, and sturdy green rubber boots adorned her feet. This, too, was a major deviation—this time from her regular attire. If Kadence wasn't in her Sparrow Academy uniform, she typically wore workout clothes. Keeping a strong, well-toned body like hers took work.
She hustled between the rows of plants, snipping off overgrown leaves and stems and ensuring that each flower had been properly watered. Because of her daily routine of checking in on them, they were all in near perfect condition—though the fact that she could modify the soil to fit their needs definitely helped, too.
There wasn't much to say about Kadence Hargreeves that wasn't already printed in some magazine. Born on October 1st, 1989 like the rest of her siblings, Kadence had been adopted by the infamous eccentric billionaire Reginald Hargreeves and recruited into the Sparrow Academy. As Number Eight, she technically had the lowest ranking of the team, though that was something she claimed she didn't mind. Kadence had always been a follower, not a leader. Besides, her status as someone behind even Christopher (who she truly did love. He was just... you know. A cube) allowed her to kick back and not worry about missions as much as her higher-up siblings did.
Case in point: the moment the alarm rang.
This wasn't an unusual event. Despite the Sparrow Academy's iron fist around their city, there always seemed to be people who believed that the rules didn't apply to them. These were the bank robbers, the terrorists, the kidnappers, all of whom mocked the advertisements on every other tower and attempted to slip under the radar.
But nothing slipped under the Sparrow Academy's radar.
They had eyes everywhere—quite literally, thanks to Fei. With their connections to the police force and their little raven spies, it typically only took a few minutes after a crime for the Sparrows to be alerted, either by the watches on their tattooed wrists or the alarms blaring throughout the house. When this happened, they were expected to be suited up and ready on the landing within five minutes. There, Marcus, as their Number One, would typically give them the run-down.
It was so nice to not have to do that, honestly.
After over half of her life spent in this routine, Kadence had it practically automated by now. As soon as the familiar blaring spread throughout the house—loud enough that she could hear it outside—she yanked off her gloves, set down her shears, and made a beeline for her room. It was right beside Jayme's, and she could hear her sister scrambling to yank her own uniform on through the walls. Kadence grabbed hers from where it was folded neatly on her dresser and pulled it on. Her fingers flew over the tie, forming it in moments, and her coat slid easily over her shoulders.
She was almost bored by the time she joined the others. Alphonso's eyes were similarly glazed over, and Jayme had to suppress a yawn. Sloane shot them all a reproachful look as they crowded onto the balcony, wondering who had decided to fuck with them, this time.
But instead of bank robbers, terrorists, or kidnappers awaiting them, Kadence and the rest of the Sparrow Academy ended up greeted by a group of strangers claiming to be Reginald Hargreeves' real children.
Um, what?
Of course, despite being a follower, Kadence was always kicking for a fight. Although her powers couldn't be directly used on living things—a limit that she'd found out when she'd first begun training—there were ways to bypass this. The power of matter transmutation—transforming one type of matter to another—had been difficult to master at first, but now that Kadence understood it, she was always itching to try new tricks on her enemies.
Fortunately, despite the strangeness of this situation, a fight was what ended up happening. Apparently, Ben smacking the shit out of a stick-thin man who appeared as if one strong breeze would carry him away was enough for the largest man Kadence had seen in her life to attack. Which, of course, led to both sides jumping into it.
Opponents were quickly formed. Marcus went against the large man, Christopher attacked another with a vaguely BDSM-esque outfit, and Ben stormed the literal thirteen-year-old boy, which didn't seem fair. With Sloane, Fei, Alphonso and Jayme following the woman with the cape and the one that insisted on peace talks, Kadence was left with the Marilyn Monroe wannabe. Great.
The woman immediately raised her fists, snarling. "Hey! Tête de nœud! Over here!"
Kadence happened to know French—her father had insisted that each of the Sparrow Academy's members know both the language of their homelands (in her case, Mandarin, even though she'd been born in England) and at least one other. This meant that she understood exactly what this woman was calling her. Her eyes narrowed.
"You want a piece of this?" she growled. "Don't mind if I do."
The blonde woman sprung at her, aiming a surprisingly well-executed punch at her face. Kadence ducked, then jabbed out, hoping to catch her off-guard. But the woman dodged, her short hair whipping across her face. Kadence noticed bandages crisscrossing her bare arms.
She meant to aim there, hoping to hit her where it really hurt, but before she could, her opponent twisted around, throwing a kick towards her chest. Kadence skidded back, just missing it—the woman had surprisingly long legs. She attempted to hit her with her own, but the woman seized her foot and yanked her forward. Kadence stumbled, nearly thrown off her feet. The only reason she managed to save herself was by urging the wood flooring to turn to tar, catching her as she was thrust forward.
Hm. This woman was... a surprisingly good fighter.
A grin spread to Kadence's face. She always liked a challenge.
Turning the tar back to wood again with a few twists of her hands, Kadence sprung at her opponent again. It was a pattern of punch-dodge-punch-block-kick that was surprisingly rhythmic. The woman may not have had the same training as her—which was obvious, given the less-than-agile nature of her moves—but she'd had training. That much was clear.
"You're good," she admitted, jabbing an open-palmed hand towards the woman's nose. It had taken her a few seconds to notice, but it had recently been broken. It had been realigned by now, but there was a little bit of a crookedness to it. Still, she wouldn't have seen it at all if not for the rigorous training she'd received on how to spot enemy weaknesses.
"Why does everyone always say that like they're surprised?" her opponent responded, flinging herself to the side. This time, she wasn't quite fast enough to block the blow, and ended up getting clipped on the jaw. Though this had not been where Kadence was aiming, it was still satisfying to land a hit. "I know it's not because I'm a woman."
"No, it's because you look like a broken Barbie doll," Kadence said. For some reason, this made a muscle jump in her opponent's jaw.
"Says the woman in shoulder pads."
"Oh, get fucked." Tired of the normal hand-to-hand, Kadence finally went for her actual abilities. Raising her hands, she focused on the molecules of the floor. Between one breath and another, they'd shifted, turning to ice. Her opponent, not noticing, went to lunge forward again, only to slip and unceremoniously land on her ass.
"Shit," she swore. She attempted to scramble to her feet, only to fall back down again. "Wait, what the fuck?"
Kadence walked forward, the ice turning back to wood wherever her foot landed. "They don't call me the Magician for nothing, sweetheart," she said.
Her opponent's eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of her skull. "The Magician? You've got to be kidding me. That's my name!"
"Aw, did you used to be a fan?" Kadence asked, slamming her foot onto the Barbie doll's chest. Keeping her pinned, she cooed, "Sorry, but I was here first. Thanks for playing, though."
"No, you weren't—augh!" The woman under Kadence's foot grabbed onto her leg, attempting to pry her off. "Get off of me!"
"Sorry? What's that? I didn't hear you."
"Oh, go choke on a dick."
"I'm gay, but thank you."
"So am I, fuckface."
Jesus, this woman swore like a goddamned sailor. She was worse than Kadence. "You're cute," she purred. "Honestly, I appreciate you being such a mega-fan, but I think it's time for you to get out of our house. Go back to kissing my face on the back of cereal boxes, please."
"I'm not—you know what? Screw it!" The woman clenched her fists, and Kadence swore she saw a pale blue glow forming at the center of her forehead. This—and the fact that a faint metallic taste settled in her mouth, the same taste that she got whenever one of her siblings used their powers—made her pause.
That one second of faltering was enough for the woman to disappear.
Now it was Kadence's turn to widen her eyes. Wait, what?
Two invisible hands clamped over her ankle. This time, they managed to fully shove her foot to the side, causing Kadence to stumble. She raised her hands, attempting to seek the woman out—she was going to turn the goddamned floor into spikes, this time—but before she could, a punch slammed into her jaw.
Kadence stumbled back again, pain flaring up where she'd been hit. A second punch hit her in the eye, and a third in the temple. With agony bursting into her like a firework—plus her left eye blurring with tears—Kadence swore. What was happening? How had this woman managed to turn invisible?
She struck out, swearing she felt her hand against flesh, and rolled to the ground, trying to barrel over her opponent. But before she could, there was a sudden yelp, the squawk of a raven, and the sound of a body crumpling to the floor.
Fei strode up beside Kadence, grinning. "It looked like you needed some help."
Kadence rubbed her eye. "I could've handled her. She's pathetic, honestly."
"Then why were you losing?"
A sigh escaped Kadence's lips. "Just tell me where she is. You can see her, right?"
"Yep. She's right there." Fei pointed to a seemingly empty space, and Kadence swung her leg forward. This time, her foot really did connect—she heard a grunt of pain and someone rolling over. There was a flicker, like a patchy lightbulb, and then the woman appeared again, clutching her side. Blood spilled from a puncture wound in her cheek—obviously where Fei had gotten her.
"Shit," she swore, again trying to get to her feet. Kadence kicked her for a second time, right in the ribs, and she let out a whimper. And, when a few ravens swarmed her, pulling at her hair and pecking at her skin, she was down for the count.
Kadence turned away from her and tested her jaw. It had been a hard hit, but she'd heal. She always did. Even if she sometimes wished she had Alphonso's powers.
On the other side of the room, Alphonso and Ben were watching as Marcus kicked the brawny man down. "See?" he was jeering. "Bigger isn't always better."
The burly guy stood up. "Oh, yeah, is that what you tell your girlfriends?"
He tried to kick Marcus, but the Sparrows' Number One was quick to leap over the blow. He swung his own leg out and cracked the man right in the face. It was enough to send him flying over the upturned couch and leave him in a crumpled, groaning pile. Fei chuckled.
"Thai food for dinner?"
"I could go for some pad see ew," Ben said.
"Fuck yeah," Kadence said. "I'm starving."
Behind her, Broken Barbie screamed.
"I'm in," Alphonso agreed. "Hey, Marcus, you want Thai?"
"Why are you even asking him?" Ben snapped. "He hates Thai."
Marcus was a little too busy beating the shit out of the brawny man to give his own opinion on the conversation. Still, it was quite satisfying to watch.
"What are you talking about? Since when?"
"Since, like, always," Kadence said. "I mean, what's wrong with him?"
Fei sighed. "Fine. Italian?"
"Absolutely not," Ben said, at the same time Alphonso piped up, "I could do Italian."
Marcus slammed an uppercut into his opponent's jaw. The power beneath it was enough to send him sprawling to the ground once more. Marcus stepped forward and planted a foot on his chest, much like Kadence had done just a few minutes ago.
"We done here?"
"Nope," the man groaned. "I don't run from a fight."
"Yeah, that's the wrong answer, dude," said Alphonso.
Ben held up a hand. "Let him finish him off."
Marcus's opponent grunted, blood glistening on his head. Marcus gritted his teeth. "Then let's end this."
With that, he proceeded to stomp down on his chest. Once, twice, three times, until Kadence heard the crack as something within him snapped. She crossed her arms, watching blood spew out of the mystery man's mouth. Now, this was what she was used to.
"Stay down!" Marcus ordered.
"Luther!" someone shouted. Along with her siblings, Kadence turned her head to the source of the sound. It was the smallest member of the group, hanging off the railing.
"Vanya," the man—Luther—wheezed.
"Hey!" came another shout. "Get the fuck away from him!"
Kadence turned once more, and her aching jaw dropped open.
There, limping towards her, blood streaming down her face, was Broken Barbie Doll herself.
"It'll take more than a few birds to get rid of me," she growled. And Kadence couldn't help but feel at least a little bit impressed.
⋆*✧･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:
HAVEN: LET'S GO NADINE'S BACK!!! jfc, i missed writing her so much. i know i say this about literally every single one of my ocs, but she truly is my baby (even though she's like thirteen years older than me). i'm especially excited for her character arc this season, since it picks up right off from where paramnesia ended and really develops her compassion a lot more.
also, here's to finally meeting kadence! her character has developed so much since i've started writing her—it's like she took reign of my keyboard and gave me the middle finger. i never expected to dive so much into her relationship with her siblings, her relationship with old reggie, and the fact that she's number eight, but i guess i wouldn't be doing her justice otherwise. so, kadence, thank you for holding my family hostage until i did your arc right.
thank you for reading <333