Infinity Son(50)

“He didn’t call your videos little.”

“He may as well have. I’m saving the world too.”

“You are, Brighton, but this is a team effort. We all have different roles to play. There are some meetings we shouldn’t sit in and some battles where we should hang back.”

“If Emil is there, I’m there. That’s that.”

Prudencia turns away from the Crowned Dreamer, and I can’t look her in the eye. “Are you there to protect him or prove yourself?”

“I’ve already proven myself, Pru. Sorry if my accomplishments don’t stack up like Emil’s.”

“There is no reason to be jealous of him. He is not enjoying this, but he’s doing his best. You’re both brilliant in your own ways, and you can’t forget that.”

“Oh, come on. There’s nothing brilliant about lucking into powers and having your hand held every step of the way. I’m incredible at what I do because I have worked hard for years.”

Prudencia gets up. “You’re being a lot right now, so I’m going to give you some more time to yourself. Maybe you’ll remember that we’re all in this together.”

She leaves, and I’m not calling her back or chasing her down.

I stay out with the Crowned Dreamer until it becomes uncomfortably cold, and I go inside and get to work on my “little video” in the computer lab. It’s hard rooting for Emil the same way, I can’t lie. He’s running around and throwing fire-darts, and if it wasn’t for me, he wouldn’t have all this glory. I could easily cut some of these clips of his finer moments; fewer Emil-related GIFs to cross my timeline. But the only thing I’m getting rid of is when Maribelle lunged for June to kill her. Even though June is rolling with the Blood Casters during a cage match, the last thing viewers need is a reason to paint Maribelle as a killer. We have to control the narrative, and this is what’s best.

I’m too exhausted to get up now and find a second eye on this, so I upload the video and squeeze onto the couch. My subscribers are all over it. I picture their notifications waking them up all night; posting late is a new tactic to build my following. If someone wants to brag about how they saw the video early, they have to subscribe to get my notifications. When the content is epic like this, you don’t want to be late to the show. I spend twenty minutes reading through the comments as they roll in. Lots of people are impressed with how Emil’s aim has improved. Others are blown away by the hydra and the phoenix. A few praise me on how brave I was to go in there with no powers. They’re calling me a hero, and I drift off into a well-deserved sleep.

I don’t know how long I’ve been knocked out when I’m pulled out of a dream where I was flying. Emil is calling my name and shaking me awake. “I’m not going to our room,” I groan, shutting my eyes to try and rest some more.

“Get up!” Maribelle shouts.

I pop up to find Prudencia, Iris, and Atlas behind Emil and Maribelle. “What’s going on? Did Eduardo speak?”

“His name is Ness,” Emil says. “He hasn’t said anything.”

“So he’s not Iron’s son?”

Emil keeps his eyes low as he runs his hand through his curls. “I’ll catch you up later. Your video took a turn.”

“As in, everyone has turned on us,” Maribelle says.

“It’s your fault too,” Iris says to Maribelle.

While they argue, ignoring everyone asking them to calm down, I open my laptop. I feel sick reading the comments. People are calling us liars and asking me to explain myself and telling me I should delete my entire channel. Subscriber count has dropped by nearly ten thousand, which is a sign of what’s to come. This has always been one of my fears as a creator. Trusting that something I put my heart into will turn on me.

This is all going to hell because of Silver Star Slayer.

Turns out there was a straggler back at the arena who recorded Maribelle attempting to kill June. The user shared the clip online, and Silver Star Slayer uploaded it to his channel to disprove all my messaging, saying that no one should trust me or the “violent and destructive Spell Walkers.” My face is hot, and I might throw up. I wouldn’t even wish this moment as a nightmare—the heroes I’ve been hyping up are going at it with each other because I’ve screwed them over. Looks like there’s still some support online for Emil since he let June go, but other commenters are calling him complicit.

Maribelle snaps back to me. “Your channel was supposed to help us.”

“I’m sorry. I edited it to protect our image.”

“It backfired,” Maribelle says. “Everyone thinks I’m as evil as the Blood Casters.”

“This backfired because of your actions,” Iris says. “Whether Brighton posted the video or not, this was going to leak. He just got the jump on this guy, and now the optics aren’t great. End of the day, Maribelle, you were about to kill someone, and it doesn’t look like self-defense.”

“She killed our parents!” Maribelle looks so confused, like maybe she’s wondering if she’s speaking a whole other language because Iris doesn’t seem to understand her pain. “I’m not some bloodthirsty killer. I want vengeance.”

“We’re seeking justice, not revenge. Celestials are depending on us to get this right.”