Recap - although Wakanda is still under the rule of T'Challa and Ororo, Iqadi still doesn't understand how the day ended the way it did.
Chapter Twenty-One: African Storms Part Three
Wakanda - 4:57 AM
Imanu had to force Iqadi to go to sleep since she couldn't drop the subject about everything that seemed wrong about the previous day. After succumbing to her husband's wishes, Iqadi finally agreed to go to sleep - or so he thought. Little did Imanu know that the moment he was fast asleep, Iqadi woke up again. She spent the whole night being immersed in her own thoughts about the day. Whenever she felt like freaking out, she just looked over at her sleeping husband and calmed right back down. Everything seemed like it made sense.
Keyword: seemed.
"Something is not right..." Iqadi whispers to herself.
A light hits her face. Iqadi rubs her eyes and sees the early morning sun peeking in through her bedroom window. She takes a glance at the clock seeing that it's almost 5 AM. She curses to herself, only planning to stay awake for extra hours as opposed to five.
Iqadi sits up in her bed and watches the morning sun. She smiles to herself, thinking about how Imanu told her the forecast predicted sunshine and clear skies. Then she realizes that maybe she could solve her problems if she just spoke them aloud to someone.
"Imanu," she says, nudging him. "Wake up."
"What is it?" Imanu asks, still asleep with his face in the pillow.
"That tradition has happened for many, many years but why did my mother choose to interfere at that exact moment?"
"Because your father could have died? Because the country would have a new political leader and tribe in power?" He offers as if those were given options. Imanu finally opens droopy his eyes to look at his wife. "Iqadi, do not worry anymore. Your father is still healing and the country is still theirs. Everything is how it should be."
Imanu goes back to sleep. Iqadi sighs, putting a hand to her forehead. She closes her eyes, trying to remember every detail from yesterday: her father and Ehioze were in battle. At one point, her father was being overpowered but not to the extent of defeat. Although, that was when her mother entered the fight since she thought he was going to lose. Ehioze seemed as if he wanted to fight her mother over her father.
"Imanu!" Iqadi exclaims, waking him up again. "The fight was staged!"
"How so?" He asks, opening his eyes again.
Iqadi explains everything she already thought of. "Did you even seen Ehioze fly off in the cyclone my mother made?"
"No..." Imanu mutters. "But that proves nothing. Your mother made it dark and everyone was in chaos. It was hard to see anything especially since I was focused on your father."
Iqadi crosses her arms. "You have made great points but I will still prove you wrong."
Iqadi gets up out of bed and changes into the first outfit she sees in her closet. She immediately runs out of her bedroom. Imanu doesn't see a point in stopping her.
-o-
Iqadi walks down the hallways of the castle. She passes the infirmary wing. Her plan is to go talk to her father and not only see if he's alright but ask him about the fight. Before she could enter, she sees her mother burst out, eyes all swollen and puffy, the color drained from her skin. Iqadi's heart stops, refusing to analyze this situation. Instead, she gets her mother's attention and sees that her blue eyes are full of tears.
"Mother, what is it?" Iqadi questions, trying her absolute best not to think the worse. "What has happened?"
"The country is in trouble," Ororo responds in a rush. "Iqadi, your father did not survive the fight - !"
Ororo looks over Iqadi's shoulder and runs off in muffled cries, not finishing her sentence. Iqadi feels hot tears fill up her eyes. She hesitates to enter the infirmary but sees the only reason to go inside would be to see her father's corpse. Iqadi looks at the ground and watches her tears fall. Her feelings build inside her before she breaks down into a scream.
-o-
Imanu immediately shoots out of bed when he hears Iqadi scream. He runs out of his room and sees Iqadi standing in front of the infirmary. He calls her name but she doesn't hear him. When Iqadi beings running off, he follows her but eventually loses her since she's a much faster runner.
He ends up outside and sees Ororo standing still with wide eyes as she looks straight ahead at nothing in particular. Imanu guesses that she's lost in thoughts, just like his own wife at times.
"My Queen," Imanu says, approaching her. "Have you seen Iqadi? I was chasing her a moment ago but she outran me and now I have lost her."
Ororo smiles, laughing to herself a little. "She is like her father..." She raises her head up and her smile instantly vanishes. "They're both gone..."
Imanu looks at her closer. "Ororo...?"
Ororo's head instantly turns to face him and she grabs his shoulders. Imanu jumps a little but Ororo holds him in place. He watches firsthand as Ororo's eyes turn from bright blue to a solid navy blue. Imanu begins shivering from fear since he's never seen Ororo's eyes like that.
"You have to run!" She yells at him.
"Run?" Imanu questions. "Run from what?!"
"The fire!" She exclaims. "Wakanda is on fire!"
"What?!" Imanu yells. As he looks around, Wakanda seems natural with no flame in sight.
Before Imanu could say anything more, Ororo throws her arms in the air, knocking him over. Ororo calls the mightiest winds and lifts herself in the air. She summons the darkest thunderclouds. As the wind increases, thunder crackles as rain begins to pour, anouncing the coming storm. Her showers accompanied by the darkest clouds. Imanu stands up again, rain hitting his face as he watches Ororo move her arms around in a fluent motion. The clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind. She scatters them all over the sky along with her lightning. At her direction, they swirl over the face of the land, doing whatever it is she commands them to do.
"Ororo!" Imanu yells up at her. "The country is not on fire!"
-o-
Iqadi sits against a window, allowing the warm sun to hit her face. Her mother's haunting words echo in her head on a constant loop. She crouches, putting her knees up to her head as she covers her ears to block out any noise. She squeezes her eyes shut. Everything she's doing right now is an attempt to block out what's really happening.
Suddenly, she feels her face get cold.
Iqadi unravels herself and opens the drapes wider. The sky is dark and she hears thunder rolling in. Iqadi closes the drapes and leans against the window, feeling the chill from the glass tickle her back and hearing the rain fall.
She's trembling. She's confused. She's scared.
The forecast called for sunshine and clear skies and now there's a storm.
She clenches her fists and runs out.
Stay Tuned - will Iqadi be able to calm the storm? And if Wakanda isn't on fire, why does Ororo believe it is?