Gods Among Us: Reborn » Places

         

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nova morrison
outfit - #35674a - host of geb

Bringing my sinking ship back to the shore
Starting over, we'll head back in
There's a time and a place to die but this ain't it

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Nova didn’t know how long she sat on the ground, taking in long, deep breaths as she relished the feeling of being able to take deep breaths again. She examined herself for injuries. She’d taken a skid along the floor when she’d fallen onto the pile of sand, and one arm was scratched up, along with her face. Her legs hurt, feeling like she had a bad case of sunburn, and on inspection, they looked like they’d been sunburned as well. Somewhere, at the back of her mind, she was annoyed about that, given how careful she’d been with topping up her SPF all day and making sure her legs were even covered, she’d gotten burned in a tomb but that was far from a major worry now.

Eventually, the voice that was rapidly becoming familiar echoed in her head.
”C’mon, kid. It’s time to get moving.”
The voice was gentle and encouraging, not at all rushing her, but it was enough to encourage her to finally get to her feet. There was a door in front of her, and she opened it, stepping through it without really looking back. To her, it just seemed to lead into a long corridor that took sharp turns and seemed to loop back on itself. It was only when she reached the first split in the path that she began to realise what was going on. She stopped for a minute and dug in her bag, searching for… something. She wasn’t quite sure what she was looking for until her hand closed around her lipstick tube. Grinning, she pulled it out and drew a small x on the path she decided to take, before tucking her lipstick back into the pockets of her trousers and heading onwards.

She continued down this path for a while. Was it ten minutes or an hour? It was impossible to tell, with no landmarks to work with. So when a wall suddenly slammed across the path behind her with an almost deafening thud, she almost jumped out of her skin. It was the first thing she’d heard besides her own faint footsteps since she’d entered the maze. She stared at the wall that had appeared from nowhere for a few seconds until her heart rate finally began to drop, and she turned around to face what lay in front of her. There was yet another wall in front of her; one she swore hadn’t been there only a few seconds before and which appeared to have materialised much more quietly than the one that had slammed shut behind her. There was a small alcove into the wall, and in that alcove was a scale and a series of identical small metal balls.

”I heard you like puzzles. There’s one ball that’s heavier than the rest and one ball that’s lighter than the rest. Figure out which one’s which, slot them into those two holes there, and the door will open. Oh, and by the way, if you just use trial and error of slotting the balls into the holes, it won’t work. You gotta use the scales. Good luck!

Nova’s face broke out into a grin. She did indeed like puzzles, and it was a welcome break from the monotony of just wandering through a maze. To her, all of the balls felt exactly the same weight; but as she began the process of figuring out which was which, it seemed that there were significant differences between the heaviest and the lightest. It didn’t take her long to figure them out, and she slotted the two balls in question into the holes in the wall.

Silently, the wall split in half, allowing her to step through it, beaming with pride and satisfaction. She began to make her way through the maze again, marking off the turns she took the same way she had been all along. But her pleasure at figuring out the puzzle soon wore off as everything else began to take its toll. She hit her first dead end and was forced to turn around and try to take a different path. Her feet were beginning to hurt. Her legs were aching. Her back was aching. Her arm and face were aching. She’d dug in her bag a few minutes or hours ago in search of a scrunchie, and now had her hair pulled into a bun at the top of her head. She’d been tired of having her hair in her face all the time, and now, she was tired of the sensation of the bun.

When she hit another puzzle, her delight was not as strong as it had been the first time. She told herself it must be a sign she was heading in the right direction, at least. This time, there was no explanation, although, admittedly, there was no explanation needed. She had to fit a variety of wooden pieces into a solid cube; but all of them were weird shapes and didn’t seem to fit together right. At one point, she thought she had it; and then she was left with two pieces that didn’t seem to fit at all. Frustration got the better of her, and she flung the pieces away from her, before sitting down on the floor with her back to the wall blocking her path. She ran her hands down her face and pulled her hair out of the bun, staring at the ceiling. She didn’t know how long she sat there, staring into space. She didn’t want to think, didn’t want to have to move, she didn’t want to have to do anything just then. But eventually, she came to her senses, remembering that she couldn’t just stay there forever. She didn’t know how long she’d been in there, though, and she realised that meant she also didn’t know the last time she’d eaten or drank. So she fished in her bag for a bottle of water and a packet of crisps she’d left in her bag. While searching for her snacks, she also came across the book she’d brought for emergencies, and so, as she ate and drank, she read.

Refreshed, with the aches and pains beginning to fade, she picked up the pieces of the puzzle again and began working on it. It still took her a few minutes; but this time, everything seemed clearer and to fit together better, and before long, she had a solid cube in her hand. She went to put it back onto the pedestal, but the wall split in two before she could do so. So she held onto it, putting it into her bag.

It didn’t take long for her to hit another puzzle. And then another, and another, and another. Time didn’t feel real any more. She had no idea how long she’d been stuck in the maze. It felt like days. Her whole body was aching now, not helped by the puzzles, which were beginning to become increasingly physical, requiring her to either climb or move heavy rocks. The maze itself was becoming increasingly disorientating. Even though she wasn’t seeing any of the marks she left behind for herself, she was sure that she was doubling back on herself or going around in circles or just wandering down the same corridor over and over and over again, no matter what turns she took.

Somehow, though, her legs kept going. She was sure that she was on autopilot by this point. Walk. Solve a puzzle. Walk. Solve a puzzle. Walk. Choose a path. Hope it’s the right one. Puzzle. Walk. Hope. Pray. Oops, dead end, time to turn back. Walk. Puzzle. Hope. Pray. Was there even an exit to this maze? Or was this how she met her end, endlessly wandering around the maze until she went mad or just collapsed from exhaustion?

It seemed that the latter was the more likely one. After what felt like hours, or maybe days, she once again heard the familiar sound of a wall slamming shut behind her. She wasn’t sure if it was exhaustion or emotion that made her legs buckle beneath her, but she slowly slid to the ground, back against the wall that had appeared behind her. She was too exhausted to do anything other than just stare into space. She had to have been in the maze for days. She’d finished what was left of her water a while back. Maybe the dehydration and exhaustion were finally getting to her. Maybe she’d died in the quicksand, and this was hell. She wondered what the final straw was for getting her sent to hell. Was it her refusal to hear Adam out and not showing him empathy based purely on how he’d treated Sol? Had Christianity been right, and it was in fact the conversation she and Tarren had had about their various girl crushes? Or was it just all of those unethically sourced almond milk lattes?

She closed her eyes, not wanting to look at whatever lay in front of her. She also hadn’t slept in the days she’d been in the maze; that surely couldn’t be helping things. Propped up against a solid stone wall on a hard earth floor wasn’t ideal for sleeping; she knew that. She knew she had an extra layer in her bag, but she couldn’t bring herself to reach for it.

When she smelled that familiar perfume, she thought that she had to be asleep. There was no way she could be awake and be able to experience that familiar, comforting smell. And then it was joined by an earthy aftershave, mixing into a smell that had filled Nova’s childhood. The aches and pains and the exhaustion were all still there, making her feel like she was awake, but she was sure that they must just be seeping into her dreams.

Open your eyes, kid.

That soft, familiar voice which Nova hadn’t heard in what felt like days long. Something in the voice made her listen, and she opened her eyes. Her parents were standing about six feet away from her. All logic abandoned along with her exhaustion, she scrambled to her feet and flung herself at them. They caught her in a hug, solid and there and real. She might be dead, but if her parents were here, then this couldn’t be hell.

Her mother released her from the hug and cupped Nova’s face in her hands.

“Look at you, my beautiful daughter. My beautiful, brilliant, amazing daughter,” her mother said. Nova managed a smile, even though the tears were beginning to stream down her face. She didn’t know why she was crying, if they were tears of joy or sorrow, but Alexandra just smiled softly as she gently wiped some of the tears away with her thumb.

“Straight A’s in all of your classes, last semester, we heard,” her father said, wrapping an arm around Nova’s shoulders. Nova nodded.
“Including my history class,” she said, resulting in her father’s broad smile widening even further.
“Really? You took a history class?” He asked excitedly.
“It counted towards my credits under the guise of forensic anthropology through a technicality, I think,” she said with a laugh.
“Forensic anthropology?”
“I’m majoring in forensic science. Plenty of chemistry, you’ll be glad to hear, Mum,” she said, glancing back at her mother, who smiled triumphantly at her husband.
“See, told you she’d take after me. So, come on then, darling,” she said, stepping away and sitting down on a couch that had definitely not been there a few moments ago. It looked just like the old couch from their sitting room that was far more comfortable than she looked. Nova sank into the couch, beside her mother, while her father took an armchair beside them, the way they’d always sat at home. “Tell us about your time at university. We know you’re doing brilliantly at your classes, but come on, tell us everything else.”

Nova shrugged. “I don’t know what there is to tell. I’m on the debating team, we got to nationals last year and were only taken out by one of the Ivy Leagues. Still fencing too, got to regionals there then hurt my knee and had to withdraw.” Her father chuckled.
“Come on, now, Nova, that’s all well and good, but your mother doesn’t want to hear about all that. She wants to know the gossip.”
“Subtle as always, William, darling. But yes, come on, now, sweetheart. Any boyfriends? Girlfriends? Other… important people?” She asked, an eyebrow raised. At Nova’s face, she chuckled again. “Nova, darling, we know about your grades, of course we know about your sexuality. And, of course, we don’t mind at all. So come on. Talk.”

Nova laughed. “No boyfriends, girlfriends, or anyone else,” she admitted. But even as she said it, Ethan came to mind, not for the first time since she’d been wandering around the tombs.
“But there is someone you like,” her mother said, ever observant.
“Yeah. There’s this guy. A friend of mine, we… actually met in one of my history classes.”
“Aha, see, I told you Alexandra, history does have its uses!” Her father exclaimed, making Nova laugh. Then his face turned serious. “Now, this young gentleman. Does he treat you right?”
“If you know about my grades, how the hell do you not know about Ethan?” Nova asked after a brief pause, her eyebrow raised. William cackled and turned to his wife, his reaction giving away that they'd known all along.
“See, I told you it was that young gentleman!” he declared. Alexandra rolled her eyes.
“I never said it wasn’t,” she said. “And Nova, darling, we know everything we want to know,” she explained. Nova laughed, shaking her head. For a moment, it felt like nothing had happened. Like that awful night five years ago and every horrible moment since had been some bad dream.

And then reality came crashing in. It had happened. And it had robbed Nova of so much. Her parents weren’t supposed to know everything they wanted to know. She was supposed to get to tell them. She was supposed to tell her parents that she was demi and pan, she was supposed to tell them about her grades, she was supposed to tell them about the cute boy in her history class. And all of that had been taken from her. Once the tears started, she couldn’t stop them, all of the pain and the anger and the frustration that had been building in her for hours finally flooding out of her. Her mother pulled her in close, letting her cry on her shoulder, but that just made it worse. These weren’t the circumstances she was supposed to be getting to cry on her mother’s shoulder. She should have been crying over heartbreaks and sad movies and bad grades.

“How am I supposed to move on from all of this?” She asked. She wasn’t quite sure how they understood her, the sobs leaving her barely able to breathe and making her whole body shake. But clearly, they did. After a few moments, William spoke.

“You… you don’t have to move on, you know. You can… you can choose to stay with us. If that’s what you really want.”
“And we don’t have to stay here. We can go home, you know. Back to London. You can have your old room in the attic again. You’ll have peace there. Endless time to finally read everything you want to,” her mother added softly. Nova pulled away from her grip, wiping her face with the back of her hand. There was a part of her that was tempted. She would have been lying if she didn’t say that. She was so tired. She was so sore. She had no idea if she’d make it out anyway or if she’d ever see anyone she cared about anyway. Maybe… maybe choosing to stay would be the easy thing to do. A peaceful existence, no more troubles, no more pain. No more loneliness.

“But you have to be sure that’s what you really, really want, Nova,” her father said. She looked at him, studying his familiar face for a few seconds, before glancing down at the ground beneath her feet. Her bag sat by her feet. She stared at the familiar object for a few seconds. She’d bought it when she’d moved to LindenWood, and it had seen her through the three years so far, showing no sign of wear. The old leather satchel had a number of pins stuck in it, pins that she’d collected and been gifted throughout the years. Ethan had said something about the satchel having serious Indiana Jones vibes, even with the ace flag unicorn pin and the stack of pancakes pin. The pancakes pin had been a present from Tarren, who had presented it to her with a straight face, before they’d called Nova a pancake and walked away. There was a D20 pin, presented by Yousof alongside a declaration that she was definitely the true queen of DnD, no matter what Romeo claimed. She lifted the bag up, wiping the light coating of sand off of it. It must have still been there from the quicksand. She opened it up. Inside, her lipstick sat near the top, still there from her frequent use. It had been a gift from Sol, with Sol claiming it suited Nova’s winter colouring more anyway.

And Nova knew what she had to do.

With fresh tears streaming down her face, she looked up at her parents. “I can’t stay with you. I… I’m not done yet.”

She was tired. She was sore. And she knew walking away from this, from them, would be the hardest thing she’d ever done. But there were people waiting for her. There were things she still had to say, things she still had to do, and she’d never been the type to give up.

Her parents’ smiles were sad, but the pride shone through their eyes anyway.

“No. You’re not. Now, I want to hear of you getting tenure at some fancy university in a few years time, understood?” Alexandra said, taking both of Nova’s hands in hers. Nova nodded, unable to speak through the tears. “Professor Nova Morrison really has a ring to it, don’t you think?” Her mother joked, and Nova nodded again, managing a smile.

“We’re so proud of you, my darling,” William said. “You’ve achieved so much, despite everything. And you’ve just proven yourself to be as brilliant as we knew you were.” He said. Nova smiled and nodded; a door appearing in the wall behind them as she did so. It seemed they all took a deep breath in at the same time.

“Well. I think it’s time for you to reunite with your friends now, isn’t it?” Her father said gently. “No more mazes. You’ll find them again before long,” he said, his words sounding like a promise. The three of them got to their feet, Nova tacking both of them in a hug again. Both of her parents stepped away at the same time so she wouldn’t have to be the one to let go. But Nova had to be the one to step away and walk towards the door.

Every step felt like another crack in her heart, but she knew what she had to do. She put her hand on the handle, and looked back at her parents.

“Goodbye,” she whispered, unable to speak any louder, saying the words she’d regretted not being able to say for five years. They smiled, their pride crystal clear. And then Nova opened the door and stepped through it.

The door closed behind her with a thud that made it clear it would not be opening again. Everything came crashing back in at that point, and she slid down the door, sobbing again. Already, it felt like those memories of her parents were beginning to fade. She knew she’d made the right decision. But it wasn’t fair that she’d had to make that decision in the first place. It wasn’t fair that she was trapped in this tomb and had no idea how to get out. Her grief manifested itself as anger and frustration, and so she just sat, her back against the door for fear that walking away would make the memories fade faster. And she cried.