As days went by, I got used to not having Nova around again. I mean, she'd been gone for a year, and before she and I reunited, it had been two or three years. The only one of us that's had any contact with her is Crow, and he doesn't say anything about his conversations with her. Sometimes, he'll pass on a hello to Jack. But never to me. And honestly? I don't blame her.
"Whatcha working on?" someone asks from behind me. I turn and it's Crow.
"Hey, man. Just doing some maintenance," I reply, going back to my runner.
"Cool. Hey, have you heard the phone ring?"
I shake my head in reply. "Why?"
"Nothing," he says, crossing his arms and pacing around the garage. "It's just that Nova and I would've had our daily phone call an hour ago. She's not picking up either."
I drop the tools in my hands and get off my knees. "Do you think she's in trouble?"
"Please. You know the answer to that," Crow replies, grabbing his helmet.
"Where are you going?"
"To check on her."
"Mind if I tag along?"
He pauses, staring at the floor. "I don't know if that's the best idea. You know how she feels about you."
"I'll stay outside," I say quickly. "And if she is in trouble, you might need some backup."
"Ugh. Fine," he says reluctantly. "But if she kicks your ass, don't come crying to me, and remember that you wanted to come."
I smile, grab my helmet, and follow Crow out the garage door.
When we get there, he's adamant that I stay behind, so I do. I shouldn't be alone with my thoughts because they're going crazy, wondering what might have happened. Is this how Nova is constantly, wondering what horrible things she did or didn't do? Do her thoughts ever just stop?
A hand waves in my face: Crow's. "Dude. Earth to Yusei," I hear him say.
"You seriously brought him along?" someone else asks bitterly. Oh, joy. It's Allison. She probably still hates my guts. Again, I don't blame her.
"You're seriously asking if I'm serious? You know how persistent he is," Crow replies. "Wouldn't take no for an answer."
Allison scoffs, pulling her helmet on. "Hopefully, those church bell balls of his don't get hurt too bad."
I bring my knees together, protecting my boys. "That's comforting," I say sarcastically.
She rolls her eyes. "Wasn't supposed to be."
"Ally, where'd you say she and Duncan went?" Crow asks.
"She didn't say exactly," Allison replies, mounting her runner. "Just that they were going for a drive."
"Where do you think she'd go?"
"If I had to guess," Allison starts as she zips up her jacket, "she and Duncan started racing, and she would've gone to the Satellite side of the Daedalus Bridge because she knows the streets better."
"Is Duncan as competitive as her?" I pipe up.
"He can definitely give my sister a run for her money sometimes," Allison says.
"What's the plan?" Crow asks.
Allison shrugs. "I don't know, split up and search? Call the others when you find something."
"Sounds good," Crow says.
"Race you over there," Allison says, turning on her engine.
"Oh yeah? Eat. My. Dust!" Crow retorts before speeding off towards Satellite.
"Oh, hell no!" Allison shouts before chasing him.
"Crow. You dumbass," I mutter to myself before following them.
It takes me a minute to catch up to Crow. Man, that planetary particle engine is doing wonders for his runner.
"Where do you think she'd go?" Crow shouts to Allison.
"I don't know!" she replies, just as loud. "Maybe Martha's? She doesn't know she's back yet."
"You guys go there! I'll check around town," I yell to them. Allison nods and follows Crow to Martha's place. I'm heading for Nova's old hideout. It's probably gone, but I can't think of where else she'd be.
I find myself getting lost as I reach the outskirts of the rebuilt Satellite. Looking around, my stomach sinks and dread builds up inside me. I know exactly where I'm at.
This is where I first saw Nova as a Dark Signer. I didn't know it was her then, but now that I do, the intersection is all the more haunting.
I stop, breathing heavily. I can't think about fighting her right now. I'm trying to find her.
And this time, I'm not going to lose her again.
When I finally look up, I can see the wastelands where the four control towers were. If I look hard enough, I can see the slight incline in the ground with the first Ener-D reactor beneath it.
She wouldn't have gone there...would she? It wouldn't hurt to look anyways.
I start for the wastelands, going slowly. When the road isn't finished anymore, I look back out and stare at the ground. I think I can see tire tracks. Two sets of them.
My heart feels like it's going to exit my body in some horrific way as I call Allison and Crow to tell them what I found. They're right beside me in five minutes, and we follow the tracks. At the end of the trail are two runners, a black one and a royal blue one.
I can feel the color drain from my face as I identify the black runner as Blackwing. And Blackwing is Nova's duel runner.
"Oh no," Crow breathes. His face is as colorless as mine.
"Why would she come here?" Allison asks. She's also giving Dracula a run for his money in terms of pale faces.
"Right now, I don't care," I say. "I'm going after her. Any takers?"
"You know damn well I'm not letting you save my sister without my help," Allison snaps.
"And dude, this was MY rescue mission first. Of course I'm coming," Crow says.
I swallow the growing lump in my throat as I follow the staircase down into the pit. I can hear Crow behind me, followed by Allison. I can't believe I'm back here. I never thought in a million years I'd have a reason to come back. My stomach churns as I continue. God, I hope Nova's okay.
"Do you have any idea how we're going to find her down here?" Crow asks.
"I don't know," I reply.
"But I do," Allison says, pointing her flashlight down one hallway. "I'm betting she'll be down this hall. No dust."
"Great work, Al!" Crow comments. "Well. I'm going to find my friend. Anyone want to cover my ass?"
"You sure?" Allison asks, her eyebrows raised.
"Well, I'm coming, Crow," I say. "I'm saving her, or I'm going to die trying."
"I hate you both," Allison grumbles. "Making me make sure you don't get yourselves killed."
"Wow. I thought you'd have no problem with me getting killed," I mutter under my breath.
"Please. I don't want to see you dead that badly. Maybe in a coma or something," she says. "And yeah, I could hear you."
"All killing jokes aside, let's go," I snap, flicking my phone's flashlight on.
The trail of no dust gets harder as the halls get more numerous. Somehow, we make it to the end, and all we find are doors.
"Great. So which door do we choose?" Crow asks.
"Amateurs. How about the one I can hear people talking through that also happens to have no dust?" Allison retorts.
"You are on fire, girl," Crow says.
She smiles for a second. "Thanks. I'm going in." She grabs the doorknob and shoves the door open.
••• Nova •••
"Mom, is this...are you real?" I stammer.
"Nova," the woman breathes. "I...I can't believe this. How—why are you here?"
"I was just going for a drive, and," I start, but I can't say anything else. "How can I know you're really my mom?"
"Your last name is Reyes," she says. "Your middle name is Halley. You're nineteen years old now. You have a sister named Allison Standall, aged twenty-four. Your birthday is May twenty-sixth. And you have your father's last name instead of mine."
Shit. Besides Allison, the only person that could know my middle name is...
"Oh, my God," I whisper, running to my mom. She catches me in her arms, hugging me tight.
"You're not my baby girl anymore, Nova," she says through her tears. I feel them landing in my hair as she holds me. "You're so big and so beautiful now, sweetheart. I can't believe I missed you growing up."
"I don't care. You're here now, Mom," I reply.
"Oh my God," Duncan says from behind me. Crap. Forgot he was here.
"Sorry, Mom," I say, pulling away enough to gesture to Duncan. "This is Duncan McLean. Allison's boyfriend. Don't worry, he's been good to her."
My mom shakes hands with Duncan. "Your daughters are your spitting image, ma'am," he says.
"This one got her father's dimples," Mom says.
Suddenly, the door opens and three people, two of whom can't be older than nineteen or twenty and a young woman, come bursting in.
"Allison," Mom breathes, her eyes landing on her other daughter.
"Mom," Ally chokes out. "I never thought I'd find you." Now it's Ally's turn to get squeezed by Mom.
"Supernova!" one of the two boys says. It's Crow. "You're okay!"
"Why wouldn't I be?" I fire back, smiling. "You jumped to conclusions, didn't you?"
He stares down at his boots. "Maybe?"
"You did, didn't you? Get over here." I wrap him in a hug. I take a quick glance over his shoulder. Oh, no. "Crow, why the hell is Yusei here?"
"You know how persistent he is," Crow says.
"Yeah, but why is he here?" I ask again.
"Because he needed to clear things up with you," Yusei says.
I stare down at my boots. "Allison?" I ask, looking up. She turns to me. "I'll meet you back at the apartment, okay? I've got to deal with this jackass."
I grab his arm and drag him back to the surface. "We're alone now. Talk."
A/N: Sorry I went AWOL for a couple days! While I was going through Young Life training to be a leader, I didn't have much time to update.
But I'm back with a huge THANK YOU to everyone who keeps reading this book and helped get it to ONE THOUSAND READS!!!!! If I wasn't already occupied, I would've updated a lot sooner just to say thank you. Seriously. Words cannot say how much I love you guys.
And sadly, as school season begins to come, updates will be slower than they've been over the past few weeks. I still love you guys.
BFN!
— Kal 💙