Chapter 29 - An Awakening and An Explanation

Art by YinYangMyriad 

Carmen pulled out the same machine that she had used to give Terry his soul back. It still looked just as scary as it did the first time that I saw it, but I took a deep breath and told myself that it had already worked once. Surely, it would work again.

I held out my finger, and Carmen pricked it and then attached the contraption. She then turned the machine on, and it began to make a whirring sound. My nervousness built as Carmen's invention did its job. I worried that somehow the contraption would fail.

Despite my worries, the machine seemed to be working. I felt it yank something out of me, but I recovered quickly. A few minutes later, I saw Harper's finger twitch. "Harper?" I whispered as she glanced towards me.

"Jay?" she said quietly, the first word that she had said in the three years since I had stolen her soul. "Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me," I said, smiling.

"You look so different," she said. "Where am I?"

Before I could answer, Vanessa and Ellen burst into the lab. "I heard some strange noises coming from down here," Vanessa said. "What's going on?"

Carmen tried to explain, but she was interrupted as well when Percy and Terry followed Ellen and Vanessa into the lab. "Can you quiet down in here?" Percy asked. "You interrupted my TV Tropes browsing session."

"Sorry, Percy," I said. "Carmen just gave Harper her soul back. I think that's a little bit more important"

"Is Harper the girl that you knew who was in the Rose Valley Hospital?" Vanessa asked.

I nodded and said, "She's doing better now."

"That's good to hear," Vanessa said.

"What's going on?" Harper asked as she looked around the laboratory, which was starting to become slightly overcrowded. "Who are all of these people?" Her gorgeous hazel eyes fixated on Ellen, and she gasped. "What's Lady Quake doing here?" she asked.

"Harper, these are all of my friends," I said. "You can trust them."

"Jay, are you a supervillain now?" Harper asked. I didn't answer, but she said, "Isn't that Lady Quake's apprentice over there? Brightside, right?"

"Yes, I'm Brightside," Vanessa said, not even bothering to deny Harper's accusations.

"I don't know the two boys, but I think I recognize you," Harper said as she pointed towards Percy. "You're one of Lady Quake's apprentices too."

"Oh come on, you don't remember the Great Meme Broadcast of 2015?" Percy said. "Everyone was talking about the Gadfly after that, and you still don't know who I am."

"She's been soulless for the last three years," I said.

"Wait, what?" Harper said. "I'm so confused. Jay, can you just tell me where I am, what's going on, and why you're hanging out with a bunch of supervillains?"

"I can explain," I said. "Harper, I know what my superpowers are now."

"That's great, Jay," Harper said. "What are they?"

"It's not great at all," I said. "I can steal souls, and I only know this because I accidentally stole yours."

"So where I am now?" Harper asked.

"You're in Lady Quake's castle," I said. "You were in a hospital, but we attacked it because we thought that it was the Academy, and when I realized our mistake, I brought you here. Carmen revived you just a few minutes ago."

"Why would you want to attack the Academy?" Harper asked, clearly indicating that she hadn't listened to anything else that I had said.

"You were there, weren't you?" I said. "Don't you remember how they experimented on you?"

"Yes, they did some tests on me yesterday, but I never wanted to destroy the Academy," Harper said. "They do some good things too. They keep San Urbano safe."

"At what cost?" Vanessa said. "The Academy does nothing but enforce a pointless system of good vs. evil, or with the Academy or against it, when there are so many shades of gray in between. They're not keeping the city safe - they're making superhumans suffer so that the normals can feel like they're out of harm's way."

"Vanessa, now isn't the time for that," I said. "Harper, that didn't happen yesterday. That was three years ago."

"Three years?" she said.

"I told you earlier - you've been soulless for three years," I said.

"That explains why you look older," Harper said. "What else has happened over the last three years? Why are you hanging out with these supervillains?"

"I met Terry when I escaped from the Academy," I said. "As for the rest..."

"Wait, what?" Harper said. "You escaped from the Academy?"

"They threw me into Solitary Confinement for something that I had no control over!" I exclaimed. "I didn't have any other choice. Terry and I escaped together not long after I stole your soul."

"So that's how you became a supervillain," Harper said.

"Please stop using that word," Terry said. "We're not true villains."

"You just admitted to trying to destroy the Academy," Harper said. "Doesn't that make you a true villain?"

"Harper, maybe I should just talk to you about this later," I said.

"Fine," Harper said. "I'm just kind of mad at you. How could you become a supervillain like this?"

I didn't respond to that. "Jay, can I talk to you for a few minutes?" Vanessa asked.

"Sure," I said, and Vanessa took me out of the lab and into another room.

"Jay, I just need to ask you something," Vanessa said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Why did you revive her?" Vanessa asked.

"Harper was my best friend when I was in the Academy," I said. "Why wouldn't I revive her?"

"She's an Academy supporter!" Vanessa exclaimed. "We can't plot to overthrow the Academy when she's around."

"What did you want me to do?" I asked. "I care about Harper. I couldn't just leave her like that."

"You could have at least waited until after we destroy the Academy," Vanessa said.

"Who knows when that will be?" I said. "She could be dead by the time the Academy's gone. Harper already almost died when we destroyed the hospital, and you were the one who insisted on becoming immortal so that you could 'buy more time.'"

"You have a point," Vanessa said. "I just don't see why you couldn't have waited a little longer. This was just a bad time to bring her back."

"Is there such a thing as a good time to bring her back?" I asked.

"Probably not," Vanessa admitted.

"Besides, you were happy when we brought Terry back," I said.

"That's different," Vanessa said. "Terry's been one of Ellen's apprentices for the last several years. We know where his loyalties lie. How do we know that Harper won't run back to the Academy and tell them all of our plans?"

"Calm down, Vanessa," I said. "Harper barely knows anything about us."

"She knows enough to say that we're supervillains," Vanessa said.

"Everyone thinks that we're supervillains," I said. "Listen, I'll go talk to her and show her around the castle. I'll make sure that Harper doesn't return to the Academy."

"I hope this works, Jay," Vanessa said as I left the room and returned to the laboratory. Percy, Terry, and Ellen had all left, and Harper had gotten out of her bed and was now watching the Jersey Devils.

"Hey Harper," I said as I approached her.

"Hi Jay," she replied. "What are these things?"

"They're Jersey Devils," I said. "Ellen keeps them as pets for some reason."

"I don't think I'll ever get used to this place," Harper said. "Part of me wants to go home, but my family hasn't seen me in..." She paused as she did the math. "Four years," she finally said. "It's been four years since I left for the Academy. They probably wouldn't recognize me anymore. I barely recognize myself."

"Why don't you stay here for a little bit longer?" I said. "This castle's huge, so there has to be somewhere where you can stay, and Ellen will definitely let you stay in the castle if you want to."

"Thanks for the offer," Harper said. "I'll think about it."

"You're welcome," I said. "Why don't I show you around the castle?"

"That sounds nice," Harper said.

"Let's go then," I said. I left the lab and headed downstairs, and Harper followed me. We toured every corner of the castle, from the kitchen to the training facility to the break room. We found Percy hogging the office computer, as usual, and Terry lying on the couch, reading a book. Before long, Harper began to see that the castle wasn't so bad after all.

"I guess I can see why you like the castle so much," Harper said. "There's so much to do here."

"It's a nice place to be," I said. "The food is amazing."

"I'd love to try some later," Harper said. "It can't be as good as that cake that you made for my birthday though."

"Oh come on," I said. "I've improved the recipe since then."

"I'm not sure if it could get any better," Harper said.

"I'll make you a cake with the new recipe sometime," I said. "Then, you can tell me which one you like better."

"That sounds good," Harper said.

"Would you like to see the garden?" I asked.

"There's a garden here?" Harper said.

"Yes," I said. "It's full of poisonous plants."

"That's kind of twisted," Harper said.

"Ellen can be kind of twisted sometimes, but she's good to us," I said as we walked outside. As soon as the cool evening air hit us, I saw the souls that had started this whole mess. I froze for a few moments. I couldn't just walk to the garden anymore without stepping over the souls that I had trapped here. I didn't know what to do.

"I have an idea," Harper said. "Take my hand."

I thought that I was dreaming, but Harper reached towards me, and I took her hand. All of a sudden, she shot up into the air, dragging me with her, until she landed on the roof. "I probably could have done that better," Harper said. "I'm out of practice."

"I thought that you did just fine," I said. For a moment, I mourned the loss of my ability to fly, but I had Harper back. I would much rather have my best friend than a couple of lousy powers.

Harper lay down on the roof of the castle and stared up at the stars. I quickly did the same, and I saw that the twinkling lights in the sky were unusually beautiful that night. Even with the light pollution from the nearby town, I could find a handful of constellations.

I looked back at Harper, and for a moment, my old feelings bloomed again. She was even more beautiful than she was when we were kids. I knew that she didn't feel the same about me, but that didn't mean that I wasn't attracted to her.

All of a sudden, Harper reached for my phone, which had slipped out of my pocket. Instead of giving it back to me, she played with it for a few minutes and turned on a rather familiar Panic! At The Disco hit.

As Harper loudly sang along to the chorus of "I Write Sins Not Tragedies," I realized something. Harper may have technically been seventeen, but she still had the mind of a fourteen year old. It was nearly impossible to fall for a girl who interrupted tender moments with a song about closing doors, and my affection for Harper waned.

Even though I didn't love her, I was still glad to have my friend back. In the end, I embraced the ridiculous pair that the two of us made. We were just friends, and that was how both of us liked it.