Starlight (Book 1)

42: Wings of Fire

Time seemed to linger for a moment. In a single fragile second, Echo changed everything. She was the key, and we'd just gotten her back. Luck was in my favour.

"It's a long story," Mirage mumbled.

Echo dug her hands into the pavement, creating a slicing vibration, toppling Midnight to the ground. The consistent humming persevered, lifting to a crescendo as Echo got to her feet. Her hands fluttered like an orchestra conductor, guiding the sound. The tune sounded almost vaguely familiar, but I couldn't seem to place it.

"Are you all right?" she said to Mirage. "Your powers, are they..."

Mirage gave a sad smile. "Not yet. I'm only trying to help. I couldn't let you stay like that."

The pulsating tune displayed Echo's emotions, a solo peaking through the layers of her soul. "I'm back now," she said simply.

Amethyst rushed to Midnight's side, her hands aglow. It took her only a few seconds to return Midnight to her former fighting shape. "You'll have to do better than that to get rid of me."

She swung her hands out, Amethyst clinging to her like a sea urchin. "Go ahead, take your time."

Echo shifted, running at full speed. She tossed herself off the ground, sailing through the air. Her feet impacting with Midnight's chest; Echo grabbed her shoulders and kicked once more, flipping around. Another burst of noise sent her flying in the opposite direction.

Midnight's voice changer sputtered as she tried to speak. I needed to figure out how to break Amethyst from her control, fast.

I took Echo's side. "We have to distract Amethyst, lure her away."

Midnight kept getting back up no matter how many times Echo tossed her around. "She's a healer. Helping people is part of her nature."

Echo nodded, wiping her face with her glove. I glanced at her, from my periphery, then once more. Her face was covered in blood, dripping idly down her chin. Crimson smeared across her knuckles. It looked impossibly real. Next, she nodded at Jax—Terry—as he crept up on Midnight. At the same time, we charged. The collective force split Amethyst and Midnight apart.

Echo advanced, pushing her hands out. Another illusion, this time of water, burst forth from her palms, colliding with Amethyst's chest. The misty air dripped off my suit, evaporating instantly. Amethyst defended each attack, pursuing the two of us. We circled each other; I begged her to listen to me, but none of it seemed to have any effect. The blood on Echo's face didn't seem to be working, either.

Midnight's attempts to speak were still in the background: "You can't... this is... and when I win, you'll see."

A pair of hands tugged me down, avoiding Amethyst's next blow. Expecting to see Echo, I nearly screamed at the sight of a second Midnight. In her illusion, the copy was identical. She even mockingly lifted her hands up triumphantly before exclaiming, in a clumsier, yet halfway decent impression of her synthetic tone, "Listen to me, you poor excuse for a hero. I am your leader now, and you will listen to everything I say. Do you understand?"

The other Midnight stood. "Don't—don't you think about listening to her," she said, fixing her gaze on Amethyst, who was looking between both Midnights repeatedly, trying to figure out which one to take orders from. "I am the real Midnight, you know that."

The Echo-illusion gestured at herself. "No, I am the real Midnight," she said haughtily. "You are the fake. Listen to yourself. That voice doesn't sound real, now does it?"

Real-Midnight dove out of Mirage's grip, viciously angry. Effortlessly batting Terry away, she stomped up to the illusion, commanding, "Attack her, this instant."