Remove ads

On Feathered Wings, We Fly (Norse Mythology AU, Alt-Power)

Reader mode
Remove ads
Thurisaz 3.3 (Victoria)
  • Threadmarks
    • CW: Nightmare, Flashback, Panic Attack
    I would like to thank my beta team, you girls are amazing and I appreciate you greatly!
    Gonna warn you, if the content warnings didn't already, it's a rough chapter but it does get better. The entire saga isn't like this.
    Thurisaz 3.3 (Victoria)​

    Thursday, March 3nd, 2011

    A chorus of voices spoke menacingly from a driftless void, "You died."

    "You left me."

    "It's all your fault that I'm the way I am."

    "You said you'd never leave me."

    The familiar voices, their words biting deep into my soul. Never forgetting, never forgiving. Always a reminder that     I fucked up. That I failed. My powers failed when I needed it the most.

    No, it wasn't its fault. That was all my own.

    Mom's face appeared from the black abyss like a monster appearing in a foggy swamp, that stern look that I'd grown so used to. It seemed so foreign now yet it still reminded me of so much.

    "You're a failure," Her serious tone, the certainty in it, rippled through my body to my core. "You were always impulsive, if only you coul—"

    Her body disappeared into the inky shadows, only to be replaced by Dad.

    "It's your fault that I can barely get out of the bed most days," The once cheerful voice I'd grown used to was gone, replaced with one that I didn't recognize. He'd never— "Because of you, your mother—"

    Once again, he disappeared, leaving his mark on my soul like every night. The constant hammering of how much I sucked, how much I fucked up. How much I failed. He was replaced by frizzy curly brown hair and freckles. Brown eyes stared at me, accusatory just like the others, but hers felt damning. Like     she should be the one to judge my soul, not Tay.

    "You left me." Her voice was harsh, grating even. Grinding my resolve and I felt myself waver. "You were always there for me,     always there. Now you're gone."

    Even my formless mass of a body shuddered at the truth of her claims. It hit hard. My sister was on her own, never to have a shield against Mom. I knew Mom wasn't nice to her. She was always blaming her. She thought I never heard her murmurs, but I did. But my own issues never allowed me to confront her, to stop the senseless bullshit she did to Amy.

    It didn't matter anymore.

    "YOU LEFT—    "

    I clutched my chest, gasping for air. Those burning eyes bored into my soul, an after image left in my vision as if one stared into the sun. My heart pounded like a little kid banging on the drums, a small reminder that I was alive. In whatever way you might define it, I was alive. Rubbing my face, I ignored the sweat that layered my skin.

    When my eyes finally opened, I stared up at a white ceiling, slightly golden that seemed to pulsate with my breathing. Warmth wrapped itself around me. I felt… protected. Shielded in a manner not so unsimilar to when Tay was nearby.

    My parasi— fuck that, my agent. My power.

    Ever since I died, it always felt… closer. Easier to control. I knew that if I merely thought of it, the forcefield would disappear. Not like before where it seemed like it was always present. There were things that I touched that I hadn't actually felt the textures of in a long time. How long had it been since I actually felt the bumps of a leather-bound book? It was why I've kept my forcefield off since I woke up with Tay hovering over me in Asgard. Just so I could feel things that I hadn't felt in what seemed like a lifetime. Skin on skin contact was more common now. Though I was always able to feel Tay's touch, and it had nothing to do with her being a goddess.

    Shaking that thought away, as nice as it was, I let the warmth cascade over my body for a bit before turning my forcefield off. The golden glow disappeared in an instant and I was left with a white popcorn surface ceiling. It was kind of surprising that the house still had that type of ceiling, but it seemed like it was an older home. If I remember reading it correctly, it was still being phased out. Tay might know, but I knew that might bring memories of Freyja and it was better to not do that.

    Exhaustion gripped my body like a vice, but I forced myself into a sitting position, grasping the back of the couch for support. Due to the recent change in my powers, I had come to realize that my strength was mostly from my forcefield. It was quite the surprise when I found out how heavy some books could be. At least that was easier to get used to than the skin sensitivity. I rubbed my eyes again before surveying the living room.

    Why I chose to sleep on the couch was beyond me. A moment of exhaustion and not wanting to step on any toes. Mr. Hebert and Mrs. Barnes were nice people, but I wasn't sure how they'd react to me sleeping in Tay's room nor did I feel up to it in the first place. Mrs. Barnes probably wouldn't care, but after what happened yesterday…

    Just another thing I needed to talk to Tay about.

    The living room was dark, as expected for the middle of the night. I glanced at the clock and suppressed a groan. Way too fucking early. There wasn't a chance I was going to go back to sleep. Not only was it a late night, but that nightmare always made it impossible to fall asleep again.

    I glanced over at the cat tower where two sets of shimmering eyes stared back at me. The cats. After yesterday, they didn't want to try venturing upstairs to sleep with Tay. Considering the scolding she gave them, I could understand. When Freyja had told us about her cats, everything clicked. Why they seemed to have an intelligence I had never seen in the countless cat videos I'd watched.

    "She doesn't hate you," I whispered to the cats.

    I couldn't quite see what they were doing, even with the sharper eyesight that came with being a Valkyrie. There was only the barest of outlines visible inside the enclosed home. The eyes turned towards each other, seemingly disappearing from the lack of light shining off of them, before returning to me.

    "Mew," One of them, not sure which, mewled in response. Only Tay seemed to know based off of their sounds and mewling.

    "She's just… processing. If her mom didn't keep it a secret all this time…"

    A sigh escaped my lips at the loss of words. Lack of sleep wasn't helping. Tay's mom was… on a whole different level when it came to bullshit. Guess it comes with being a goddess. I hoped Thrud's wasn't like that. She didn't shy away from telling us that her parents didn't care about her wandering on her own. It was like being a god didn't make you some super parent. Hell, that was definitely not the case for parahuman parents. I knew that all too well.

    A nudge into my side followed by a plop of fluff pulled me from my thoughts and I looked down to see one of the cats. Be–Bygul since he seemed the smaller of the two.

    "Meow…"

    I couldn't help but chuckle at how cute and adorable he was. I ran my hand over his back and he immediately began to purr. Not a moment later, Trea–Trjegul plopped himself on my lap, waiting anxiously for scritches. It was soothing, petting the two cats and their purrs helped lull away the jitters from my nightmare.

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    The early morning light filtered through the windows and I slowly came out of my daze. It was one of those 'I'm not sure if I slept or was just braindead' sort of feelings. I still had the cats in my lap and had been my companions through this haze. My borrowed pajamas, a black t-shirt and sweatpants, still clung to my body like a wet rag. There was a shuffling from above, a series of doors being opened and closed, and then the toilet going off. All these noises that I once didn't hear or didn't phase me were not so easy to ignore now. Another one of those changes I'd slowly get accustomed to. Did Tay have to deal with this all her life?

    As if summoned, footsteps down the stairs caused me to turn my head. Tay nearly looked like a zombie as she dragged her feet down the stairs while wiping her eyes. She was wearing a simple black tank top and pajama bottoms with cute little cats on it. When her hand went away, I saw the dark bags underneath her eyes. She was looking at me, but it didn't quite hit her for several seconds.

    "Hey," She said, her voice gravelly and rough. It was lower than normal too but I know if I commented on that, she'd have a panic attack.

    "Hey," I responded, my hands never ceasing their petting.

    Tay's eyes drifted lower to the cats for a brief moment before meeting mine. "How long—"

    I shrugged, stopping her from continuing. "Don't know. What about you?"

    Tay slowly walked over to the couch and plopped down next to me, disturbing the cats but neither one of them protested. She leaned her head back while her hands laid in her lap.

    She took a deep breath, and it sounded like it hurt. "Not long enough. Fuck, I'm exhausted."

    "Considering yesterday, I don't blame you."

    Tay shook her head. "No. Not just that. Though that was tiring too. It's—" She rubbed her face. "Bet has so little magic. It's suffocat— no that's not the right word. More like desperately trying to breathe with no oxygen."

    I didn't quite understand what that meant, I'd only heard a few things of her 'classes' with Freyja and whatever we read in the spellbook. But there was one thing I did know.

    It was affecting her greatly and not in a good way.

    "Is there anything I can do to help?"

    Tay shrugged. Which was more like a desperate fight against gravity before her shoulders slumped. "I don't know. Freyja clearly dealt with it for decades. There has to be a way…"

    It was a little quirk she had, where she would trail off mid thought and lose herself in the question, one that I knew she shared with her mom. Though I'd never tell her that. I was starting to realize she didn't like being compared to Freyja and I couldn't really blame her. Maybe in another life if different choices were made, she might be okay with the similarities the two of them had, in how much alike they were, but not in this one.

    Realizing that she was getting too deep in her head, I tried to snap her out of it. "Is there some sort of like, meditation or something?"

    As if her brain restarted, her eyes went wide. "That's it. Now I remember. She said—" She shook her head. "Yeah, meditation."

    I smiled, "Looks like you get to be a Jedi, young padawan."

    Tay stared at me before snorting. "Really, Ori?"

    I shrugged my shoulders, smiling still. "What? Am I wrong?"

    "The fact that I could duplicate anything the Jedi could do…"

    "So a Jedi?"

    She rolled her eyes, a smile playing on her lips. Whatever she was about to say was interrupted by another set of feet trudging along and toilets flushing. Mr. Hebert was the first to walk down the stairs. Almost like watching a replay, he practically did the same thing Tay had just moments before. Shuffling feet, rubbing eyes, then finally realizing we were there.

    "Mworn," He mumbled.

    He didn't look like he slept well either. Did anyone in this house? Last night he got to hear things that he never expected. Especially about his wife being alive and everything she'd been doing.

    "Morning, Dad," Tay greeted in a lighthearted attempt, though her exhaustion was evident in her voice.

    At the same time, I said, "Morning, Mr. Hebert."

    He stopped on his way to the kitchen, seemingly more awake out of nowhere as he glanced at us. We had a little bit of a chat yesterday after Mrs. Barnes and Tay left with the Miss Militia and Shadow Stalker. Where I was left in the basement in my armor not sure what the fuck to do after Tay practically—

    I centered myself before getting too angry, which was good as Mr. Hebert started talking.

    "You okay, Kiddo? And Victoria, please call me Danny."

    Tay sighed, "Just tired."

    "Tay…" I said, nudging her while ignoring my embarrassment.

    She looked at me, her eyes unwavering before she briefly closed them. "There's just… not a lot of magic here. I feel like I'm gasping for air even though I'm breathing just fine."

    Concern washed over Mr—Danny's face. "Is this… a problem?"

    Tay hesitated to answer, so I did for her. "We think if she starts meditating that it might help."

    A brief confusion flashed across his face before he had a faraway look. "Your mother used to meditate at the park every morning before teaching."

    Tay's hands balled into fists and her shoulders tensed up towards her neck. Her eyes were still staring out into nothingness but her mind was racing a mile a minute. I placed a hand on hers, gently squeezing it. She instantly relaxed, her earthy brown orbs landing on me. She was pissed at her mom and she always tended to tense when the woman was mentioned. It happened a lot last night as we brought her father and aunt up to speed.

    Tay sighed, "I might do that. Not sure how long I'll be gone."

    Danny nodded but it was Mrs. Barnes who spoke.

    "That works," She said as she came down the stairs, her messy red hair currently in the process of being placed into a bun. Danny, much like his daughter, was wearing a t-shirt and pajama bottoms while Mrs. Barnes was wearing a fluffy robe. It was bright blue and looked rather comfortable to wear.

    Tay glanced over at her, a small smile on her lips. "Morning, Aunt Zoe."

    "Morning, Honey," She said, a smile on her face. She too had bags under her eyes. No one got out of the discussion last night unscathed. Learning about Freyja had hit the two adults hard. Though there was one thing that Mrs. Barnes said that stuck with me. How she was not surprised that Annette had rushed head first into a crisis to save the worlds. Yet another thing that I would never tell Taylor that they had in common.

    "-rning, Victoria."

    "Morning, Mrs. Barnes."

    "Please, call me Zoe. We told you last night."

    I couldn't help but feel chided yet again. Both of them told me that last night but it was such a tiny blip on the radar compared to everything else.

    "I will."

    Zoe smiled, "Good." She started walking towards Danny.

    "What were you saying about what works?" Danny mumbled as he started the coffee.

    She scratched his shoulder, love in her eyes as she stared at him. "While Taylor is at the park, meditating, you at work, I can take Victoria to get clothes since, well…"

    No words needed to be said about my predicament, least of all myself. I knew very well the position I was in. There were technically no laws about coming back from the dead, surprisingly, considering there's laws about clones and people from other Earths. Guess Tay was the first 'parahuman' to accomplish that.

    There was the idea of informing the PRT about me, but it was quickly thrown out for the time being. It would cause way too many issues and when Tay pointed out about the numerous other capes her mom had gathered and the ramifications it would lead to… it was just safer to consider me a different person right now.

    It wasn't something I was totally thrilled with but I'd thought that would bother me more than it did. I guess after dying, you tend to have a different outlook on life. Though it didn't stop me from wishing to see my family again. I knew it would be a bad idea, and it was selfish of me to consider risking everything for a moment of comfort from family that led me to trigger, but watching Taylor with her family made me want it all the same.

    "Are you sure that's wise?" Danny asked, getting a second mug. He glanced over at me, raising one to me but I shook my head.

    "No one's going to figure out who she is," Zoe replied. "Hair and eyes are what people mainly look at for similarities. At most, people would think she's Victoria's doppelganger. We didn't even recognize her at first."

    Danny nodded, "You're right. I just… this is all—"

    "I know," She said, kissing his cheek. "Don't worry, I do."

    He grumbled. "Apparently."

    "Blame Annette."

    "Already do," He groused. The tension in the air thickened at his words. Not a single person in this room wasn't upset with the woman in some way. She made choices that were incredibly questionable and left so many pained people in her wake.

    But what got me, was the fact that when you try to be in her shoes, how she was putting her all into saving the worlds from this existential threat and with the coalition growing exponentially because of it, it made sense. It wasn't right, but it made sense. Even the choice to have Taylor be the leader of the Bet contingency fell neatly into place.

    I hated how much it made sense because of what she did to her family. It just… it wasn't worth it. Whatever she experienced during that war, that fight, against these things, against Scion, spooked her so greatly that she'd sacrifice her trust. It convinced her that keeping her family in the dark was the right thing to do.

    I really wished I hadn't thought it out logically.

    "-do you think it'd take?" Zoe's voice broke me from my thoughts. "You mentioned wanting to see the warehouse today."

    Tay had twisted around and was leaning over the back of the couch. "I don't know. Probably a few hours. Won't know till I start meditating. I think I used too much magic when we came in."

    "You did?" Zoe's quizzical look was joined by Danny's.

    "Yeah… wasn't even on purpose either. I was just… angry."

    Remembering the feeling when we arrived yesterday, I piped up, "Was that the sizzling feeling I felt?"

    Tay twisted in place, eyes landing on me and her eyebrow furrowing. "You felt it?"

    Guess that answered my question. "Apparently."

    "Sizzling…" Tay trailed off, her mind going elsewhere for a brief moment. "Interesting. Fire then."

    Even though I had an inkling of what she was saying, it left the adults completely befuddled.

    "Fire?" Danny asked, a touch of concern in his voice.

    Tay waved her hand at him. "Nothing. Not really a big deal. Just magical affinity stuff."

    The only time I'd heard the term affinity used was when Loki asked Tay what hers was when trying to 'find' Baldr.

    That whole thing was something I try not to think about. Being… mastered by them was one of my darkest moments. So much of it was a blur, but I could remember when they were first casting whatever spell that made me… suggestive to their words as Tay turned to leave the Freyja's home. It was insidious, like a voice telling you to do whatever one person was saying and your body following along with it. At some point they had done more, but it was such a haze.

    I hated it. I hated what they did to me. Starting off slow, like nothing was wrong but each and every step was one closer to falling deeper into that darkness where all you could see was Loki and listen to Loki. That every word they said was in honest truth and you should listen to them. Then when the words left my lips on their own accord, speaking the plans that Loki had laid. How They were going to kill Baldr.

    "-ey. Ori? Ori!"

    Tay's voice broke through the darkness, just like it did the first time but not because of her status. Not because she was my queen and gave an order, which was a slight relief. Her hand was on my arms, gently squeezing and shaking, even through my forcefield that had wrapped itself around me like a warm hug. My knees were brought into my chest and I had wrapped my arms around them.

    I relaxed myself, turning my powers off before looking at Tay. Worried-filled eyes stared back at me.

    "Are you okay?" She asked, her voice quiet.

    I looked around before answering, noting the two adults were still in the kitchen, but they also had concern written on their faces. I hoped my aura hadn't affected any of them. It was better now, but it still reached out sometimes.

    "I— sorry, I—" The words stuck in my throat like molasses.

    "It's okay," Tay said, her voice small and quiet, filled with a tinge of fear. "Do you want a hug?"

    She had no idea how much I loved that she asked me those questions. After becoming an Einherjar and the whole…mastering thing, it gave me a sense of control. She was usually so careful to phrase things as a request around me, at least when the tension wasn't high. I nodded once and was immediately enveloped in a hug by her. Her warmth gave me comfort and direction where I didn't have any before, they were grounding. My own arms wormed their way around her, feeling the muscles lying just underneath her skin, the strength they held that I doubt she even knew she had.

    "Thank you," I whispered.

    "Always, Ori," she whispered back into my ear. She twisted her head and I felt her lips on my cheek. A sentiment that was so sweet so innocent coming from her but meant so much to me. As nice as Dean was, it was these little things that really got me. And then how the feeling of her lingering touch remained when she pulled away? The longing I felt for her again?

    Tay had no idea the power she had over me and it only made my gut twist when it was added with everything else she had. Yesterday was just another reminder of that fact. Which only made what I wanted to talk about with her all that more difficult.

    There was a silence when Tay released me from the hug, her hand falling to my knee, giving me comforting squeezes. I wasn't sure she was aware that she was the one who caused that inadvertently. At least, until I looked at her, met her eyes.

    "Was it… was it what I said?" She asked. Where was that worry yesterday after she forgot that I was still in the basement.

    It was kind of weird how I'd been in the spotlight ever since I got my powers, but in this context I was completely out of my element. Everyone's eyes were on me. "Not necessarily," I muttered. "But it did remind me of the Loki incident…" I said in a whisper.

    Anger flashed across Tay's eyes, a shimmer of white that I nearly missed. That wasn't the first time that happened. I'd nearly missed her speaking because of my own wandering thoughts. "They will never do that to you again."

    It wasn't like they couldn't come to Bet, but I didn't voice that. Instead I nodded mutely.

    Silence ensued once again, but didn't last as long as I feared when Zoe spoke.

    "Why don't you go change, Victoria. We can get some fresh air. It looks like you might need it."

    I looked over at her, nodded, but then a thought came to mind. "Wait, but what about—"

    "You can borrow my clothes again," Tay said earnestly. "It's not a big deal."

    I looked at her, guilt gnawing at the thought of how reliant I was on all of them. "Okay."

    "Oh and Taylor"

    "Yeah, Dad?" Taylor said hesitantly as she looked at her dad.

    "Can we… talk before you go to the park, Kiddo?"

    My eyes landed on Tay, a nervousness buzzing in her body with how she fiddled with her pajamas. She looked uncomfortable, like she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Considering what happened with her mom, I didn't blame her. "Sure," she said slowly. "But don't you have to be at work?"

    "Work can wait."

    She nodded slowly. Her eyes landed on me and she said absently, "Let me get some clothes for you."

    Glancing over at the adults, there was a look that crossed between the two, but it wasn't hostile. With the way Zoe was gesturing with her hand slowly, she might've been conveying for him to take it easy.

    I looked at Tay and said, "Alright."

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    I watched the city fly by in the car window. Everything still seemed peaceful after two weeks, but I could tell that wasn't the case. There was a tension in the air that I knew wasn't going to leave any time soon. The people were skittish as they walked on the sidewalk, keeping a wary eye every time they crossed an alley. The gang signs were changing too just like I noted on our trip to the house the first time. It was subtle, and I doubted any sort of hard fighting had been done yet. Just the gentle poke and prod. If you call overt replac—

    "How are you?" Zoe asked in the quiet car.

    I blinked my eyes a few times before looking at her. "In what way?"

    She glanced over at me before her eyes returned to the road. "Fair point. I guess… overall. What you went through— I'm sorry it's just—"

    "Hard to comprehend?" I filled in for her.

    "Yeah."

    "Dying does that."

    She winced. "I can imagine." She was silent for a few seconds before continuing. "It's still… crazy when you think about it," She said slowly and then her eyes widened. "Not that—"

    "I get it. It really is. We've had a month to process it all and we piled it on yesterday."

    "Yeah," She murmured. "Is there… is there anything I can do to help?"

    There was one thing I noted about Zoe in the short span I knew her was that she was not like any mom I'd ever known. She… she cared. A lot.

    I shrugged, "I don't really know how you can help. Being… whatever I am. Undead or whatever is not, I don't know how to describe it."

    It's hard to put into words how you can visualize your death, relive it in vivid detail knowing you're not really alive but you aren't dead either. That pervasive emptiness pulsing within, a constant reminder of what you had lost. Becoming a Valkyrie had fixed that, but the memory of it was still there, like a phantom limb.

    "Well," Zoe said after a few seconds, "Know that if you need anything, I'm here. It's a small comfort since…"

    "Since I can't go back to my own family?" I said with a raised eyebrow.

    "I wouldn't say that."

    I blinked my eyes at her. "I can't exactly march back home and say 'hey, Mom, I'm alive!'. I'm sure that will go well."

    Not that anyone had said that I couldn't go back to my family, but there were complications. Ones that I'd rather not deal with right now. Yet I couldn't help but long to see them again.

    "It's something that can be brought up. I wouldn't want you to leave your family."

    The way she said it was as if she spoke from experience.

    She must've picked up what I was thinking as she spoke again.

    "I had to leave my family when I was younger."

    I glanced over at her and saw the conflicting emotions in her eyes. "You did?"

    She nodded. "When I got my powers… well, let's say my family wasn't happy about it. That was in the heyday of capes and many were still wary of parahumans. Not that it's changed that much, but with the PRT, there's a semblance of comfort for everyday people. Can't believe I'm saying that, but it's the truth." She sighed, "Back then, it was almost like coming out of the closet. You weren't sure how your family might react and you have to look at what they say and do to determine if they would be okay with who you were. Though I guess that is another thing that hasn't changed."

    "I guess they weren't," I assumed.

    "No. No they weren't. They wouldn't be okay with me being bisexual either but that's neither here nor there. They had this grand scheme of what my life would've been like. Get out of high school, find some preacher boy to marry and have many, many kids. I didn't want to be out of their good graces, especially my father's, so I went along with their path for me. But the few times I acted out, I was scolded or beaten." She looked over at me, a wry smile on her face. "Let's say changing my name wasn't a tough decision."

    Her history, abridged as it was, left me at a loss for words. It wasn't everything, but she gave a clear picture of what her childhood was like. It… felt far too similar. Too close to home. Not in the same way, but—

    "I— I'm sorry. That…"

    "It's in the past now. I've gone through enough therapy, one of the girls was in school to become a psychologist. She was sweet, always caring about everyone's mental wellbeing, even at her own expense. I have an inkling of what she's doing now, but I'd have to check my notes."

    Notes. That's right. "So you are going to try and find the rest of the movement? The other lieutenants?"

    Zoe nodded, "Yes, I am. I've been in close contact with one." She looked over at me. "She's the reason I was able to pull Danny from the PRT's grasp and nearly threatened them again if they forced the issue of Taylor joining the Wards. She's one of the best lawyers I know."

    That required a lot of legal loophole shenanigans. Of the few things I overheard from Mom, it wasn't easy to get a civilian who'd been brought in for their safety to be released. I wondered if that woman had a thinker power of sorts.

    Which reminds me…

    "How are you able to hide?"

    Zoe shrugged her shoulders, "Something to do with Annette's spell I'm guessing. We get around Thinker and Trump powers, and scanners don't pick up our coronas. The one I know, a Thinker, has gone unnoticed."

    "You're telling me that a Thinker is a lawyer? Completely unperturbed by any restrictions?"

    Zoe glanced at me, "If it helps, she doesn't use her powers for her job. She's just that good. Her power is a burden on some days and for the past decade she's been trying to find the threat that caused the movement to dismantle. At least until your… death. Then it was to find Taylor."

    I leaned back, trying to get comfortable as the mention of my death always made me uneasy. "How'd that go?"

    "Nowhere. Makes sense now. I doubt her powers extend to the Nine Realms." She paused while taking a turn, my body leaning to the side. "Can't believe I can say that and it be true."

    "Welcome to our lives for the past month," I muttered, looking out the window as we got closer to downtown.

    And I made it awkward again, go me. Guess I just keep fucking that up. Sometimes it feels like my presence was just a joke, one at my expense. Always bringing everyone down. Great way to go about your day, Ori. I'm sure that will help—

    "You deserve to vent, you know."

    "Huh?" I glanced over at Zoe.

    Her focus was on the road, but I saw her look through the corner of her eyes. "You can vent. Hell, I would vent in your position. And it doesn't have to be about your death or what you girls went through. It's sort of—" She stopped, her eyes shifted around before going through the intersection. "That's why I want my therapist friend to talk to Taylor. I haven't told her this, but I'm hoping that the person who I believe is working at the PRT, is who I think it is. And if she is, then I want Taylor to talk to her." She glanced over at me again. "If so, then I might be able to talk her into keeping you a secret so you can have someone to talk to."

    I stared at her, processing what she said. There was someone from the movement in the PRT? Just how deep was this— could I really say conspiracy if it seemed like the movement was stopped altogether? I would thin— oh, who was I kidding, Freyja's bullshit tier spell.

    I didn't say anything, couldn't say anything. How could I? How was I supposed to convey that speaking to a therapist of any sorts was dangerous? Not only would they find out that I fucking died, but find out just how wonderful my childhood was. I'm sure it would go great for the heroes of Brockton Bay to find out that Brandish was a shitty mother and treated her—

    "You don't have to say anything," She said with a soft smile. "If you feel like I pushed you, I'm sorry. It's just…" She sighed, "I wanted my daughter to get help but my husband thought he was the better parent. I know I'm not perfect, I'm a parahuman for god's sake, but I know how important it is to have someone to talk to about your problems. An unbiased opinion." She looked at me, "I want that for both you and my niece."

    "I—" I was at a loss for words. I know I thought she cared a lot, but she really did. "Okay," I managed to say, pulling the hood up— which was a lot easier with the shorter hair— and stared out of the window.

    Neither of us spoke for several minutes and a part of me wanted to get out of the car and fly far away. I wasn't used to this type of attention. The attention, sure, but not like this. Was this how Tay felt all the time?

    I wasn't paying particular attention to where we were, but I felt the car jolt, parking. Glancing around, I saw that we were near a string of shops downtown that I knew had some high quality clothing, nothing like the ones you'd see at the Market or the Boardwalk.

    "Before we go shopping," Zoe said. I looked at her and she continued, "There are a few more things I want to talk about."

    "What about," I mumbled.

    "I noticed that Taylor has been calling you Ori. Is that a name you would want to be called?"

    I could only blink at how she had picked up on that from the limited conversations we had in less than a day. At first I had thought of it as a nickname, but it felt so comfortable. I didn't hate Victoria, but that name seemed associated with a past life. Just like Vicky. A new name, for a new life.

    "If… if you don't mind."

    Zoe looked at me, her blue eyes softening, "Of course I don't mind. If that's what you want, then that's how it shall be, Ori."

    A small smile graced my lips. We fell into silence for a few seconds before her smile waned and she spoke.

    "The second question is on your views of PR."

    "What do you mean?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

    She rubbed her face, "One of the stipulations with the PRT is that Taylor has to be part of a few PR gigs. Whether with the PRT or on her own. Any advice would help. I have some ideas… but I feel they would cause more problems than good."

    "I mean," I started off slowly. "PR's important. It helps show the public that we care and are still there. If I were to give any advice, I'd say help with local charity events and sign autographs and take pictures."

    Zoe snorted, "Taylor's going to hate that."

    I couldn't help but smirk, "Yes she will."

    "Thank you. You don't mind if I ask for any advice on similar matters?"

    I shook my head. "No, I don't mind."

    "Thank you."

    I waited a few seconds before asking my question. "Anything else to bring up?"

    "I'll work with my provider to get you a cell phone. Even if you do go back to your family, I want you to have one for… work I'd say."

    I didn't miss her word choice. Something I'd learn with Mom. "That's it?"

    She smiled, "That's it."

    I was honestly expecting another big question or something deeper. Rubbing the exhaustion from my eyes, I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Let's… go shopping." I opened the car door and headed out. It'd be nice to do a little shopping.

    "Let's," She said jovially, and I just knew she had a big grin on her face.

    Somehow, I felt I just shoved my foot into my mouth.

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    The cool breeze from the ocean blew into my hood, refreshing after the day I had. I stared down at the new cell phone in one of my hands. Turned out that Zoe could get a new cell phone pretty quickly. Unlike my old one, it had nothing on it. No numbers, no cute text messages, no pictures. No memories. The new phone number was going to take time to get used to, but that was such a minor detail.

    In my other hand was the Vegvísir that Aunt Jess gave me. We hadn't sent any messages yet, waiting to get to the warehouse first to take stock of what we needed. I traced the etchings on the compass-like device with my thumb, remembering the moments I had with her. I knew I could just go back and visit her from time to time, but I wished we had more time together.

    I stared out into the bay, the calmness of the ocean a stark difference to how I felt. All day I've been working on how I was going to say this to Tay, but none of it was going to be easy. We'd spent far too long dancing around and with the past few days, it finally made me realize just how bad it had gotten.

    "Hey," Tay's voice pulled me from my thoughts.

    I stuffed both items into my hoodie pocket and turned my head to look at her. She was wearing a hoodie not so unsimilar to my own. Even with her hood up and closed, one of her braids managed to poke out. Tay leaned against the railing besides me, staring out into the bay and where the Protectorate HQ was glowing in the distance. We were on the more northern part of the Boardwalk, closer to the Docks where the walk to the warehouse wouldn't be far.

    "Hey," I said back.

    "How was shopping?" She said, a smirk on her face. Her eyes roamed my body. Did she really think I'd change clothes?

    I groaned, "Your aunt is a slave driver."

    Tay chuckled, "Yeah she is."

    "Like fuck, I have never tried so many clothes before and she never stopped! We went to at least fifteen stores before she decided I had enough of a wardrobe!"

    Tay was openly laughing now. "S-sounds l-like her!" She stuttered in between breaths.

    I glared at her. "She said she's going to do the same to you. She realized you needed to 'spruce' up your wardrobe."

    Tay's laughter stopped and her eyes widened. "Oh no."

    "Oh yes," I said with slight glee. Payback's a bitch.

    "Fuck me," She groaned, hanging her head low over the railing.

    I nearly made a comment at that but stopped myself. That… there was something we needed to discuss before I could make that kind of comment.

    "How was the conversation with your dad?"

    Tay didn't respond at first, contemplating no doubt. Eventually she sighed, "Let's walk towards the dock and I'll tell you along the way."

    I nodded, "Okay."

    "And we should speak in Old Norse. Or any language from the realms."

    I raised an eyebrow at her.

    "So… so we can keep our conversation a secret. I've already had to deal with one reporter today, don't feel like having anyone listening in on us."

    My eyes went wide as I thought about it. "Wait, but what about—"

    "Ori, you won't be noticed. My dad and aunt didn't recognize you at first and you'd met my dad before."

    "But what about reporters?"

    She shrugged, "We could say you were a foreigner I met who doesn't know English."

    I stared at her, finding all the loopholes that she knew were there. Why was she being so careless about this? It didn't help that I could feel the need to rustle my feathers that weren't out.

    I sighed. "Fine," I replied in Old Norse, the words so much easier to speak than before I died. Somehow, becoming Einherjar had made it easier to speak the language, many languages. Whatever that involved, Taylor seemed to come by it naturally, which explained how fast she learned.

    "Thank you," She said. "It's not a bad way to communicate. And it's a big fuck you to the Empire." She stepped away from the railing and started walking down the boardwalk.

    I followed her, quickly matching her stride. When we were out of earshot of anyone, I asked, "So, how was the conversation with your dad? And the meditation?"

    "It—" She hesitated for a moment. "We… talked about why I didn't tell him. About my powers."

    "And? Did it go well?"

    She glanced at me, a flash of anger crossed her face, "About as well as you think it would, considering he found out from the fucking PRT."

    "Tay…"

    "And he started getting all… protective and I was so fuck—"

    I stopped her before she went too far. "Stop. He's your dad and he's trying to protect you however—"

    "So did she! And look where that landed us!" She gestured to me and I couldn't stop the shame that welled within me. She wasn't wrong. It was because of Freyja that we were in this situation in the first place. But she was far angrier about it than I was.

    "Tay…" I said, trying to calm her down. I could already tell that her magic was starting to act up. The way the air was heating up when it shouldn't have been.

    Tay exhaled, the air cooling around her. One day, I'd need to ask her about that. She looked at me sheepishly, "sorry."

    "Don't be. You deserve to be angry at your mom. But your dad? He's so out of his depth about this and was plunged head first into the cape world, and now with the whole you being a godling and saving the worlds thing? Give him a little bit of a break and let him try?"

    She didn't say anything at first, continuing to stare at me with those remarkably earthy brown eyes. She really had no idea just how otherworldly she was. Even when she was brooding. The girl could brood like no other.

    Tay finally spoke after what felt like hours. "But I don't need protecting…"

    "Tay, it's his way of showing he cares. That he loves you. You might be this badass bitch—" That got her to snort. Win. "Of a goddess—"

    "Godling."

    "Whatever. My point being, he sees you as his little girl who has an entire gang wanting to kill her. Can you really blame him?"

    She looked down at our feet, her hands rummaging in her hoodie pocket. She was fidgeting. "No. No I can't," She said, her voice barely above a whisper that I doubt I would've heard if it wasn't for the enhanced hearing.

    I took a step towards her, making my intentions clear with my hand going in front of her view before placing it on her shoulder. Giving her a gentle squeeze.

    "I just…" Tay trailed off as she tried to think what to say. "Their need to protect me, takes choices away from me. Prevents me from seeing the bigger picture."

    I squeezed her shoulder and took a deep breath. Wasn't that fucking ironic. "While that is definitely true for your mom, considering the context that we know." I still couldn't believe what she did to Taylor. Putting such a powerful title on the girls shoulders which had ramifications that not even Freyja knew. If any of those hurt the girl… "Your Dad is just trying to look out for you. Brockton Bay is not a safe city and he knows that. Especially considering that you're trans and now an outed cape. The media's going to swarm you and not all of it is going to be pleasant."

    "Most of it isn't pleasant," she mumbled. "It's all owned by the fucking fascists."

    "Local, sure, but not national." At least I hoped I was truthful with that. Brockton Bay was the Nazi capital of the country, but not all of the country was like that. I doubt the PRT would allow that sort of thing.

    "I don't exactly have the best frame of reference in terms of good parents, but I can say that your aunt is a good mom," I finished.

    Tay looked up, a small smile on her thin face. "Yeah, she is."

    Neither of us said anything for a bit, instead we stared at each other, letting that moment linger. I couldn't help but notice the way the air blew through her hood, moving her braids and curly hair like a Hallmark movie or a picture. She started shuffling her feet at my stare.

    All of it only made the lump in my throat and the pit of restlessness grow as if my sister was touching a man's hand to regrow missing fingers. Fuck this was getting harder.

    We started walking down the Boardwalk again, only having a moment of silence when I finished that topic. "So give him some slack. He's trying."

    Tay didn't say anything at first, but eventually muttered, "I will."

    I smiled at her, which caused her to return a small one. "And the meditation?"

    "It was good. It helped. A lot. At least until that reporter showed up."

    One of my eyebrows rose, "Anything bad?"

    She shook her head, the hood preventing her braids from swinging. "Not really. Just trying to grill me for answers about after the fight. Where I went. All that shit."

    "Did you tell him anything?"

    Tay turned her head, a cheeky smile on her face. "I told him that I was in Asgard and he didn't believe me. Tried to force what actually happened out of me but I just kept telling him the truth."

    I couldn't help it, I laughed. "Oh, that's hilarious. You told him the truth and he didn't believe you."

    She shrugged her shoulders, the smile shining brightly in the setting sun. "What can I say, not my fault he chose to ignore the truth like so many reporters do for money."

    I was about to respond how that wasn't always the case before she pointed her finger at a shop on the Boardwalk.

    "Hey, look. It's Boardwalk Tea."

    It was. The tea shop we went to so many times. Our favorite place to visit and study. Memories flash across my mind, happy memories. Even the one where I fucked up and nearly made her run because I revealed I knew her identity. I was such a fucking idiot but I wanted to check up on her. Even as I looked through the windows, the same waitress we had who assumed we were on a date— which we kind of were, Tay just didn't know— was walking around, serving customers. I remember reading the PHO posts after that. No one believed her, but I bet that changed after I died.

    "Want to get something? Maybe stop by for a bit before we head to the warehouse?"

    Tay sounded so cheerful, so happy. The way her eyes lit up at the idea of just relaxing and having tea. It made the lump in my throat way too hard to swallow.

    "Tay, we can't."

    Her eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean—"

    "They know us. Every employee knew us. I might look different with my hair and eyes, but it won't take long before they figure out who I am. What do you think would happen after that? They go to the media and say I'm not dead? Believe you did some fucked up power shit to bring me back?" My eyes went wide and I hastily clarified. "In the parahuman sense. Not—"

    "No," She said, sounding so defeated. "You're right." Her shoulders sagged. "I just… I wanted something of the old days. Something to remind us that…"

    I had an idea of what she was going to say. Guess I wasn't the only one who had it on my mind. "That's something we need to discuss too." She looked up and I saw the sheen of wetness on her eyes.

    "It is, isn't it?"

    I nodded, "Yeah we do. Let's… go somewhere else." My eyes lingered on the tea shop.

    She shifted on her legs before she slowly nodded. I walked down the boardwalk a bit before there was an alley where we could find some privacy. The moment we were far enough, I turned around and faced her.

    I took a deep breath as I stared at her, which only made it harder. "Look, we… we can't keep doing this, Tay."

    "What do you mean?" Her voice was filled with so much apprehension that it broke my heart.

    "Tay, we need space."

    Tay's head tilted, but her eyes almost shimmered. "What do you mean?"

    I took a deep breath to center myself again. It needed to be out in the open, we couldn't keep pretending. "Nothing is the same, not since I died. Ever since then, you've been this… I don't even know how to describe it. You are so focused on what's going on and yourself that I barely recognize you. There's a glimmer of the girl I fell in love with, but it's smothered the moment someone reminds you of your mom or what happened to me."

    Her face was surprisingly stoic but her eyes betrayed her. They ranged in emotions and I could tell she was trying to figure out the moments I was referring to. When it clicked, she looked down, her hands coming up as if they were holding something and taking a small step back.

    "I—" She tried to speak but nothing came out.

    "You get so focused on a problem that I start to see you act like your mom. It's not everyday but you've been somewhat treating me like I am one of your Valkyrie projections. Tay, you can't do that to me! You know what I went through with Loki. It was already bad enough that I could hear your voice when you ordered them around before I became a Valkyrie and how I'm reminded of it every time you tell me to do something. Fucking hell, Tay, you left me in the basement without a choice or an apology!"

    My aura was bubbling on the surface of my body, a golden glow that threatened to burst. Outwards and while it was just waiting to be released, it yielded to my control.

    "I miss my family and I can't go back to them because we have to keep this whole thing a secret while you get your life back. It isn't fair, Tay. It really isn't. I want to see my family again."

    The moment a tear fell from her hanging head, my aura relaxed.

    "I— I," She went back to English and her voice was so low, so broken. "I didn't know, I…"

    I walked up to her, but she flinched back. "Tay," I spoke calmly.

    She didn't relax, but she did and look up. Her face was puffy and red, wetness smearing her cheeks. I was slow with my movements and put a hand on her arm. "I get it. You've had a shit few years, being trans, and with your mom… I get it. But you have to work on that. You can't just order me around like that. We… we need some space. To work on ourselves. This isn't permanent. I'm pretty sure we are still into each other. We need to work on communication, okay?"

    She was quiet for a bit and I feared I made things worse, but she slowly nodded.

    "You're right. We—fuck, Ori. I didn't mean to. I hadn't realized that you could— or that I was—"

    "I know," I said in a small voice. I doubt she knew about most of the things she does. "We just have to do better. Me included."

    She nodded again. "Can… can you tell me if I do it again? I don't want to push— I don't want to be like her."

    A small smile grew on my lips, "Yeah, I can."

    The corner of her lips quirked upwards. "Thanks." Her face became somber and she quietly said, "Do… do you want to break up? I can understand if you—" She stopped herself and I didn't need a clue to figure out what she was trying to say.

    I was about to respond, to just blurt out an affirmative, but I couldn't help but imagine what that might do to Taylor. It made me stop and honestly think about what I was about to say. I knew Tay wasn't in a good place mentally. Neither was I, honestly. As driven as she already was, I see her throwing herself into the mission, all drive, until all that remained was a shell of her former self.

    Just like what happened with Freyja.

    So after a few seconds of thinking about it, I calmly spoke in a gentle manner. "I'm not saying we break up. Just that we need to… start over. We take things slow."

    Tay took a deep, shaky breath and nodded, "Okay. Take things slow. I thought we were?"

    "Tay, you were trying to have sex on Valentine's Day."

    Her cheeks bloomed red. "I thought that was what all couples were supposed to do!"

    I sighed, "I figured that was your justification. We don't have to do anything. I enjoyed spending the day with you, especially after you sliced Stormtiger's arm off."

    Her gaze lowered again and she stuffed her hands into her pocket. "Sorry…" She muttered.

    This girl. How could she be so… I sighed and walked up to her, wrapping my arms around her in a hug. "Don't be. I enjoy my time with you, Tay. We just have to be slow about things like that. For both of our sakes."

    She nodded in the crook of my neck. The smell of her earthiness filled my nostrils and it was comforting. There was a hint of something else, something darker. Like chocolate or hazelnut. Maybe a little more muskier but still a smell I enjoyed. I rubbed her back, gentle caresses that I know she enjoyed.

    When we parted, she had tears falling down her cheeks and I couldn't help myself from wiping them away with my thumb. "It's okay," I whispered. "We're going to be okay."

    She nodded but didn't say anything. Knowing her, she probably couldn't.

    "Come on, let's go to the warehouse," I smiled, trying to ignore the tears that had been welling up in my own eyes.
    Well, that part of a very much needed conversation has happened. There's still more and its coming. I did have to split things from this chapter and incorporate into the next.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Thurisaz 3.4 (Taylor)
  • Threadmarks
    • Sorry for the delay everyone!
    I would like to thank my beta team, you girls are fantastic and I always appreciate you.
    Thurisaz 3.4 (Taylor)​

    Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

    Warehouse Thirteen. Jess wasn't kidding when she said it was the most pristine building in the area. It stuck out like a sore thumb. If it wasn't for the magic positively thrumming off of the building I might have questioned how such an obvious warehouse hadn't drawn more attention.

    "So this is it?" Ori asked.

    I glanced over at her and said, "Yeah. No way it can't be. It's enchanted too." Like so many other buildings in this city. Elli's shop, the toy and ice cream shop, my home; there were these individual spots where there was a concentration of magic that were like a lighthouse in open waters. Then there was the weird feeling I had that was barely on the periphery of my senses. It was only noticeable when I meditated, but I couldn't get it out of my head. Just what was going on in Brockton Bay that I didn't know about before?

    But that was honestly the last thing on my mind. The conversation we had was still heavy in my thoughts; Ori telling me all the things that I didn't realize I was doing and the near breakup was something that dwelled longer than I wanted. Yet I couldn't set it aside, I couldn't. Ori was right in everything she said and didn't sit well with me. I had already changed the Valkyrie oath because of how much I didn't like the idea of having that sort of control over someone, I just didn't realize how much of my interactions were like that.

    Was it a power thing? I hadn't known that my ordering was so… direct or startling. It made me second guess every interaction I have had or will have with my Valkyries. The fact of the matter was that I needed to be better. For Ori and our relationship.

    Just the thought of it made my spine shiver in revulsion. Meeting Ori had changed my life in ways I still couldn't comprehend. No matter how much guilt I felt for being the cause of her death, it was because of her I was kicked out of my rut.

    "How has no one noticed this?" Ori asked, her head craning upwards.

    "Probably the same way no one has noticed the other strange oddities of our city," I answered, setting aside my heavy thoughts but not far enough to forget.

    Ori turned to face me. "What? Like the shop you talked about?"

    I nodded, "Yeah. There's something odd about our city that I didn't know about until now. With being able to sense magic, it's… so obvious."

    "Really?"

    "Yeah," I said. A thought came to mind and I couldn't help the slow grin forming on my face. "Want to work on another mystery?"

    Ori stared at me, her cerulean eyes with golden specks seemingly twinkled in the moonlight. Good thing they weren't glowing anymore, nor looked ghostly. Still didn't help my nightmares though. She sighed, "Maybe… not right now. Let's focus on the warehouse."

    My fun diminished at her tone and it reminded me of the conversation we just had. It also reminded me why we were here, there was work to be done. "You're right."

    I pulled out the key, the one we thought was to a storage unit of sorts. My gaze looked up at the nondescript warehouse with its pristine appearance. There was hardly a blemish, not even a single gang sign marred its surface. It had to be several hundred feet long, several loading bays for trucks on one side. There were no windows on the ground floor, but up above were windows dotting the sides of the warehouse. There wasn't anything special, just a simple brown brick building that had a rustic look to it, but there was so much more to it.

    The key slotted into the plain blue door next to the large hangar doors. A simple twist and the door was unlocked. There was a blue shimmer that swept the exterior of the building. Magic. Maybe some sort of checker? To make sure that I was someone to be trusted to open the warehouse? It must've been modified for the coalition's efforts if the Einherjar were able to come and go.

    When I opened the door, I was met with pitch black. I walked inside, searching the walls for a switch of sorts. Flicking it, the lights were turned on. Row by row. Slowly, the entire warehouse was revealed to us.

    "Holy shit," Ori cursed at the scene in front of us.

    It almost seemed like the inside was larger than the outside as the entirety of the warehouse was lit up. Rows upon rows of shelves filled with who knows what were stored here. Expanding far past from what I could see. There were no windows visible, seeming to confirm a second floor that was only reinforced by the elevator and stairs close by.

    "Holy shit indeed," I echoed as I started walking towards one of the isles. There were several items that stuck out; numerous magitech armaments and tools, the crates filled with dried foods, or the random chariot that was sitting on its own.

    Wait… chariot?

    "Is that…" Ori trailed off.

    I went straight to the silver chariot, running my hand across the railing. Smooth to the touch, comfortable to grasp. The wheels were made of some black metal or stone that glittered in the light, almost like stars in the night sky. The frame in the front had gems embedded in the same colors as the Nine Realms. The siding had intricate carving and runes, one of Yggdrasil in the front and those of Valknut and the Valkyrie symbols on the side. As I circled around it, I saw two spots where your feet were supposed to go. My guess was that it was enchanted to stick one's feet to the chariot while flying. It would be a bad day if you fell while half a mile in the air, even if anyone flying it would have wings. A single rod extended from the frame, connecting to the reins for something far bigger than what Bygul and Trjegul actually were.

    "Yeah, it is. It's Freyja's chariot."

    Ori walked up to it, ran her own hand along the railing. "Guess we know where this has been."

    "I wonder when she brought it with her. Or if it came along for the ride during the teleportation my uncle did."

    Ori shrugged her shoulders. "Not like she'd tell you anyway."

    Hurt and betrayal flashed through my mind. I was already in a vulnerable state from the conversation earlier but this made it fresh. If I pushed for an answer from Freyja, which seemed like only fucking way I could get answers from her, then she'd tell me. But I'd rather not deal with her at all. Thankfully she was in another world, another realm.

    My girlfriend surveyed the warehouse. "This place is massive. It's going to take us forever to figure out what's here."

    I rubbed my face. My exhaustion wasn't nearly as bad since I meditated, but I still slept like shit. First night home and I couldn't get comfortable. Having Aunt Zoe and Dad sleeping together was a new factor I wasn't used to, and Ori was downstairs, which didn't help.

    Guilt welled up in me, gnawing at me like a ravenous beast. I fucked up big time and hated what I had done to her. Ori didn't deserve any of that. It was probably why she slept downstairs. I had to do better.

    I hoped it wouldn't remain like that for too long. We might have just said to start things slowly, but I was used to sleeping next to her.

    "Maybe there's a manifest somewhere? I doubt your aunt is the type to not have one considering she's handling all the logistics."

    Ori looked around again. "Think there's an office somewhere?"

    I looked up. "Probably on the second floor."

    "Let's go check it out," She said, already heading towards the stairs and elevator.

    Someone was on a mission, and I couldn't help but chuckle. I quickly caught up and we took the elevator. It wasn't anything spectacular like the elevator in the PRT building, but it was better than the hodgepodge construction in Gimlé. As we rose, I looked over the entire warehouse, impressed at just how vast it was. There had to be hundreds of rows of items, supplies, and who knew what else. I also couldn't help but feel the tether next to me. A constant reminder.

    It felt invasive, knowing the direction Victoria was at all times. While I meditated, I could feel her move through the city in the car with Aunt Zoe. It's what made finding her on the Boardwalk so easy.

    I hated it. Especially after the talk we just had.

    I really needed to tell her about that. We might've had a heart to heart discussion not too long ago, but we need another. I couldn't keep this from her.

    "Hey, Ori," I said as we hit the second floor and the doors opened up.

    "Mhmm?" She hummed, looking at me from the corner of her eyes as we started walking down the hallway. There wasn't anything spectacular, plain white walls and a grayish blue carpet with a diamond design. There were three doors on either side before an intersection. Some doors had plaques on them, but the majority were blank.

    We started walking down the hallway, looking at the doors, quickly opening them and checking inside. Most were empty, only a few sparse furniture like a desk and chairs.

    "There's… something you should know and I'm sorry for not telling you sooner."

    She stopped, pulled her head out of one door and looked at me. A flash of those gold and blue ghostly eyes crossed my mind, but I shunted it aside. "What's that?" She asked, tilting her head slightly.

    I mustered up my courage and said, "So… first I want to… apologize for the whole, ordering thin—"

    "Tay, that's not—" She sighed, "I've forgiven you for that. The fact that after the whole…"

    She went quiet, her eyes glazing over, dulling a little. It was the same look she had when Loki was brought up this morning. It made my heart weep and guilt gnawed at me knowing that she'd been mastered not only by Loki, but by me too.

    "Hey, hey, it's okay," I said in a calming voice, hoping to pull her out of whatever darkness she was about to spiral down into. My hand was about to reach her, but I stopped.

    She snapped out of it, her eyes no longer looking through me. She quietly said, "Thanks."

    "I'm sorr—"

    She shook her head, "No. I—I should open up too." Her voice was small, vulnerable. I took a step closer and before I knew it, I was in a hug.

    There were soft sobs coming from her and my hoodie was quickly growing damp from her shed tears, but all I could focus on was comforting my girlfriend. How the tables had turned. I gently rubbed her back and whispered comforting words. My goals, my wishes, were all gone when it came to comforting her. She needed me and I was going to be there for her just like she was for me.

    Slowly, she composed herself. "S-sorry," She mumbled.

    "Nothing to be sorry about," I whispered into her ear.

    "I—" Her voice hitched in her throat. "Their voices haunt me. My death, it's all I ever feel. Before you made me a Valkyrie, I felt hollow, still do sometimes. Not sure if that's some phantom thing or psychosomatic feeling. Aunt Jess doesn't know and all Einherjar feel it. Fuck, I can't even imagine feeling like that for decades, centuries. How? And Loki, the feeling of being so powerless, unable to do anything. Was that how—"

    "Shhh," I quieted her, stopping her from hyperventilating. I honestly had no idea how I was going to help her. This was uncharted territory for me and so much of it I didn't know. Einherjar feeling hollow… that sounded like a truly miserable existence. All I had to go on was what she was describing, so I could only sympathize, but it couldn't have been pleasant to live like that for an entire month.

    It… it was a lot to unpack. I didn't know where to start, what to cover. All I could think about was ways to comfort her in some way.

    "It's not your fault," I started with.

    "Yes it is," She muttered into my neck.

    "No, it's not… if it's anyone's fault, it's mine." Her hiccups stopped and I took that as the sign to continue. "I've already… fucked up with how I've been treating you and if it wasn't for me dragging you into the Empire's territ—"

    "Don't," She said, her voice hard. She pulled back so we could stare at one another. "Don't blame yourself for that. The Empire…" She sniffled, "They started this long ago."

    There was a fire in her eyes, a burning hatred that I hadn't seen in a long time. It surprised me, yet it didn't. I knew that it all started with Jess for her, if not sooner considering she's a Brocktonite too.

    I nodded slowly, not sure what to say after that. I moved on from there, "And the hollowness, I— I didn't know."

    Ori shrugged her shoulders, "I didn't want to bother you with it. You were… not approachable."

    I didn't say anything in response. She wasn't wrong. I just hadn't realized how bad it was. Freyja had kept me so busy, and some part of me thought it was intentional, to keep me away from Ori and what she was dealing with.

    She sighed, "There's nothing anyone could do about it. At least back then. When you made me a Valkyrie, it helped, a lot."

    "It did?" I asked.

    A small smile grew on her face. "Yeah. Just… I just need time."

    I stared at her, looking for any falseness in her words but I found none. Nodding, I said, "Please, let me know if that changes just like if I step out of bounds. This is all new to us."

    Because if something bad happened, I would go to Freyja and demand whatever I could to help Ori.

    She smiled again, "Thanks, Tay. That… that means a lot."

    I gently rubbed her arm, watching for any discomfort but there was none. The tether came to the forefront of my mind again and I sighed.

    Ori's eyebrows furrowed, "What's wrong?"

    "So… what I was going to say before…" I trailed off, trying to formulate the words to say. "I didn't notice it at first, not until we were separated during the whole Loki incident, but I sort of know where you are at all times. There's a tether between us."

    She blinked her eyes a few times, "Like some sort of bond?"

    I bounced my head, "Not really. More like this line, or direction. It's why I can find you so easily."

    Ori sighed, "So it's either because you brought me to Asgard or—"

    "Or because I'm queen."

    "Yeah…"

    "But I wanted you to know. I just… it feels invasive."

    She didn't say anything for a few seconds, which only made me fidget. There was only so much the threads of my hoodie could take before I unraveled them like a kitten with a yarn ball. As much as it killed me to be in this state, I needed to say this. If we wanted any chance… we needed to communicate better as she said.

    Finally, she spoke, "I… appreciate you for telling me. I'm not sure how to really process that. I don't feel anything like that. Knowing that it exists is good though."

    "I'm sorr—"

    "Tay."

    My mouth clamped shut. I knew what she was about to say. That it wasn't my fault that if there was any blame, it was on my mom, but I couldn't help but feel guilty. It was because of me that she was in this mess in the first place.

    Neither one of us spoke. Ori had brought her hand up and gently squeezed my shoulder while I rubbed hers. There wasn't anything we could say that wasn't already said.

    "Stop blaming yourself," She whispered.

    "Stop holding things in."

    "You're one to talk," She pointed out, but there was a smile on her face. Her tone had no malice in it.

    I sighed, "I know."

    "We should finish checking this place out," She said after a few seconds. She didn't push for answers I didn't have and I was grateful for that.

    I nodded and before I knew it, we pulled away but her hand lingered on my own. My eyes met hers, her fingers slowly worming into mine. The minute I opened my hand, her fingers threaded through mine. She gave it a gentle squeeze and I returned it.

    A part of me felt this was the complete opposite of going slow, but it was just holding hands. I'm sure if I voiced that, Ori would make a comment about Valentine's Day again.

    Slowly, we walked through the rest of the floor, checking each room. There were office rooms and a big kitchen at one end of the hallway. We found the administration office, the only room with a few rows of filing cabinets and a quick look was enough to determine that everything below was documented and the manifest was exquisitely detailed. But that wasn't all that we found.

    When we left the office, we came upon one short hallway with several doors to rooms but two of them had plaques. We came to the first one and were surprised by the name engraved on it.

    Ori, written in runic script.

    "Do you think—" Ori started to say but stopped herself.

    My own name was etched on the door at the end of the hallway. We exchanged looks before splitting and going to our own labeled doors. My mouth gaped slightly at the sight.

    It was a room, a bedroom, completely furnished. It was sparse with no personal effects, but it had furniture. The bed in my room was huge, bigger than a king size if I had to guess. The back wall was entirely ceiling to wall glass, tinted and with shades that could blackout the room. There were bookshelves on one side and a large desk that faced the door on the other. The computer appeareded tinkertech, or magitech considering the signature blue glowing lines and the aura it gave off. There were two separate doors; a sliding door which I assumed was the closet and the other was a normal door. The bathroom after a quick verification. A small refrigerator resided next to the desk and I impulsively checked inside.

    There were several bottles of hormonal potion that I had in Asgard, made by Freyja. There was at least two months supply, if not more. At least I wouldn't need to worry as it seemed like I was going to be getting a steady supply.

    "Tay, this is— woah," Ori said as she appeared in the doorway as I closed the refrigerator. "Your room is…"

    I raised an eyebrow. "Is what?"

    "It's big. Like damn."

    My eyes surveyed the room again. I guess it was a large room. It had all the amenities that one would need if you lived here. If I was going to lead a branch of the coalition here in Bet, this would be the place to do it from.

    "I guess it is," I shrugged.

    "Freyja didn't skimp, did she?"

    "No, no she didn't," I said slowly. Was it possible that it was more Jess than her? It would make me feel better if Jess was behind this. In either case, it put into perspective just how important this was. How vital it was to save the world, all worlds, from the existential threat that loomed over us. It was daunting and I had no idea where to start. It was just Ori and I. How was I supposed to build a unifying—

    A hand was on my shoulder, gently squeezing. I blinked my eyes and met hers.

    "You're not alone, Tay. You have me, you have your aunt and dad," She said as if she was reading my mind.

    I nodded mutely. As reassuring as that was, I couldn't help but feel like I needed to get on the ground running. We needed to form a team. We needed to show the world that we meant business but I had no idea where to start.

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    Monday, March 7th, 2011

    Winslow. I never thought I'd be back here and yet, here I was.

    "Have a good day, Taylor," Aunt Zoe said from her car, waving through the window.

    I absently waved at her.

    "Just don't do anything rash, please. We need the transfer to be as smooth as possible."

    I nodded, "Okay, Aunt Zoe."

    The sounds of a motorcycle grabbed both of our attention. Coming down the street was a person on a bike who turned into the parking lot not far from us. The person removed their helmet, to reveal long black hair and a bandana over their mouth.

    "Shit," Aunt Zoe muttered under her breath.

    My eyebrows furrowed, "What?"

    Aunt Zoe sighed, "I had hoped that it was just a suggestion, not what would actually happen."

    "What?" I repeated.

    Aunt Zoe met my eyes and said, "They are going to station a Protectorate member near the school for the interim to ensure nothing bad happens."

    I couldn't help myself, but I scoffed. That felt like such a waste of resources for something that was bound to happen. Having a hero nearby seemed excessive and they could be elsewhere.

    Aunt Zoe gave me a pointed look so I elaborated. "The chances of nothing bad happening are slim to none."

    Aunt Zoe closed her eyes briefly. "I know." There was a defeated tone in her voice. "Just try to stay out of trouble till you get transferred to Arcadia where they can handle an outed cape better."

    Fun. Just more added stress to the whole thing. No pressure. It certainly didn't help when said person who was no doubt Miss Militia, walked towards us. If it wasn't for the subtle holster on her belt with a seemingly different knife than the ones I'd seen before, she would've looked like any other biker. I wasn't sure what it was, but something was off about it. It had to be because of her power.

    "Good morning," The hero greeted us when she was a few feet away. She was in civilian clothes except for the bandana that wouldn't go amiss due to being on a motorcycle. It was a clever disguise.

    "Good morning…" Aunt Zoe trailed off, "I'm afraid I'm not sure how I should greet you."

    Miss Militia's smile was shrouded by the bandana but the way she tilted her head and how her eyes conveyed the feeling. "Miss Militia is fine since no one is around."

    Aunt Zoe nodded, "Very well." After a moment of silence, she continued, "I assume you're here to keep the peace?"

    Miss Militia nodded, "Correct." She looked at me, "While you are here, I'll be nearby. There's been reports of the Empire making moves near the school, if not in the school."

    A mirthless chuckles escaped my lips, causing the heroine to furrow her eyebrows. "Oh, they are," I said as I remember all the shit Leo did to me.

    "I figured," Miss Militia said with a calm voice, a shimmer of green light flickering around her hands.

    I couldn't help but wonder if this was what the PRT and the Protectorate did when a hero's identity was revealed or if I was a special case. Aunt Zoe didn't go too far into detail about the meeting while I was with the Wards, but I knew that she negotiated with them to some degree.

    The sound of students pulled my attention over my shoulder to the entrance of the school. I sighed, "I should get going."

    Aunt Zoe had a grim smile on her face. "Have a good day, Honey. See the principle before you start class. She wanted to discuss a few ground rules with you."

    I scoffed, "Of course she did."

    "Taylor," She scolded slightly, but there was a smile on her face.

    I sighed and started walking away. "Goodbye, Aunt Zoe, Miss Militia."

    Miss Militia bowed her head before turning her head to Aunt Zoe. Aunt Zoe for her part waved her hand and started talking to the heroine. It was a funny kind of irony how a local hero was talking to a cape from the movement.

    Shaking that thought, I headed towards the entrance. My mind wandered to everything that had happened in the past few days, specifically with Ori. Ever since we went to the warehouse, she'd been staying there. I wanted to protest the idea of her being alone at the warehouse, but I held myself. She needed to make choices on her own without my input. It's not like she was defenseless.

    I shook my thoughts and focused on the day ahead of me.

    School.

    It never occurred to me how much of a pain it was to be an outed cape. Even as I walked beside the wall and shrubbery, several students had stopped to gawk. No doubt disappearing for two weeks didn't help.

    Before I entered the doors of the school, a familiar masculine voice called my name.

    "Miss Hebert!"

    I looked around, trying to find who was calling me. A man rapidly approached me from a parked car by the entrance. He had that sleazy look about him. A dark gray trench coat and hat, an unkept beard and wild eyes. He had a small notepad in his hand and there was another man behind him holding a camera.

    Fuck me. It was the same reporter from the park.

    "Miss Hebert!" He yelled loud enough that students started to realize what was going on and stopped, getting out of the way of the reporter.

    "Like I said before, I'm not taking interviews," I said.

    "But, Miss Hebert! The city must know—"

    "No, they don't. Now leave me be."

    He didn't relent. The reporter barged through the students, chasing after me as I crossed the threshold. A swift crosswind brushed my brow and my vision wavered, nearly encompassing my view like when the Miss Militia and Shadow Stalker had knocked on the door. My instincts told me to turn my shoulder but I was so disoriented from the wave, that a hand grabbed my shoulder.

    Instantly, I recovered and was about to summon one of my Valkyries when there was a severe clearing of one's throat not far from me.

    "What is the meaning of this?"

    My head snapped to the voice. Principal Blackwell was standing in the middle of the hallway, a few students slowly walking the edges, but their eyes were on me. Her black suit was crisp, yet one could tell it was a little worn. She narrowed her eyes but they weren't not at me, but of the man who currently had his hand on me.

    "Why, I was jus—"

    "Just leaving," She abruptly said.

    "But—"

    "You are on school premises and have no permission to be on campus, let alone to harass one of my students."

    I couldn't help but blink in surprise at the way her tone seemed to convey her pure displeasure of the man and it wasn't directed at a kid. Out of the corner of my eye, Charlotte and Sophia appeared through the crowds. Charlotte had a mixture of a happy grin and shock on her face. Sophia looked… indifferent. Not really surprising to be honest.

    "Ma'am—"

    "Please leave or I will have you escorted out."

    "Bob," A squeaky masculine voice said, causing me to turn my head to the cameraman who was tapping the reporter on the shoulder. "We should go."

    The journalist, Bob, stared at the Blackwell for a long hard while before his eyes glanced at me. There was something calculating in them that I deduced from him as trying to figure out another way to talk to me.

    A throaty indignation escaped his lips, "Hmph." Before turning around, letting go of my shoulder in the process.

    The two men walked out of the school without any fuss. The students' eyes landed back on me. There was a long pause where no one moved and no one spoke. A single cough was let out and a few people looked at the offending person only to hear them mutter out a quieted sorry.

    It was… unsettling. And I had to deal with this for a possible few weeks? How could Arcadia be any better? Why did Aunt Zoe force me to go to school when we had bigger things to deal with?

    "Everyone, please be on your way," Principal Blackwell said, her voice booming in the hallway.

    A second passed before chaos ensued and everyone moved. More time passed before she spoke again.

    "Ms. Hebert, my office please."

    She turned on a dime and walked to the administration office. I exhaled, glancing off to the side where Charlotte and Sophia were standing. Neither had moved, standing completely still as students rushed through the hallway. Charlotte waved her hand while Sophia continued to stare at me. I gave a single wave back before heading towards the office.

    The moment I closed the door behind me, Principal Blackwell started talking.

    "Ms. Hebert, as you no doubt are aware, things are rather…precarious with your return."

    "I'm aware," I said. It didn't need to be said about my identity. Everyone in this school knew.

    "So I will say this once." Her voice became harsh and stern. "You will not be using your powers, am I understood?"

    I knew what she was doing. She was saving her ass. By telling me this now, she wasn't liable to anything that would happen if I did use my powers. And that if I did, then she'd punish me. It was obvious, and I was just waiting for her to give me something to sign so she'd have it in writing.

    "Yes, Ma'am."

    "Good," She said with a short nod before sitting down. "With that said, I've been notified of your transfer."

    I nodded, "Correct."

    Principal Blackwell stared at me for a few seconds, her eyes trying to peer into my soul. Ori's eyes prior to her ascension had a greater effect. Was she trying to scare me or was she debating what she wanted to say? I almost expected her to belittle me.

    So I was surprised when she didn't.

    "So I will remind you that while you are transferring, you can't slack off in class. Any grades you receive shall be transferred over. Along with that, you have two weeks of work that each of your teachers will be handing to you today."

    I managed to nod as surprised as I was.

    "And if anyone causes you trouble, report it to me immediately."

    Now that sounded more arduous. As if the extra step to report it to her wasn't already enough of an inconvenience or perhaps she was hoping I wouldn't but had to say it as part of the whole 'cover her ass' bit. The thing was, she wasn't wrong. Even if something happened, if Leo or Emma came barging up to me, I wouldn't go to her. It wasn't worth it. Nothing was the same, Ori's death saw to it. Leo and Emma seemed so beneath me after fighting Thor and encountering Loki. I wasn't sure how to take that. It bothered me to some degree because I didn't want to be worshiped in some way. Yet I couldn't help but have that feeling that it would happen in time.

    "I understand, Ma'am," I said absently.

    "Good," She leaned back in her chair, her hand going to the folder pile next to her. My file. She looked like she was about to toss it on the floor but pulled back.

    "May I go now?" I said, wanting to leave the room.

    Principal Blackwell stared at me, her eyes trying their best to stab daggers into me. What did I say now?

    "Yes."

    I opened the door and walked out, ignoring the feeling of her eyes on my back. Rubbing my face, I continued out of the administration office. This was going to be a nightmare. I just knew it.

    "Taylor!" Charlotte's voice was easily picked up over the cacophony of the hallway.

    I looked up and saw her walking through the masses towards me, Sophia not far behind. Unlike Charlotte, she didn't have to weave in between the other students. They just moved out of her way. It was kind of interesting to watch.

    "Hey, Char," I said, a small smile dawning on my face.

    "You—Where—I thought—" A string of questions that she never finished came spurting out of her mouth.

    I chuckled, "There will be a time and place where I can explain." I wasn't sure how much I wanted to be open about it. A part of me wanted to just tell her the truth. Could I trust her about how I wasn't human? She didn't seem to care that I was a cape, but would that hold up considering everything else?

    "Are you—"

    "I'm fine," I said.

    Charlotte stared at me, fidgeting as if she might grab me in a hug before she exhaled and smiled instead. "I'm glad you're back."

    I was about to smile back before the conversation with Blackwell came crashing down. I had just reunited with my friends at Winslow, and I was going to be leaving them soon. The thought was not a pleasant one.

    Schooling my features, I said, "Same."

    "Oh and— shit! I need to go to my home room! I don't want my project ruined!" She ran off without another word.

    "Let us know if someone does," Sophia said. Not exactly yelling, but her voice carried.

    Charlotte glanced over her shoulder and gave us a thumbs up. It didn't last since she almost ran into someone but managed to recover.

    When she was gone, Sophia spoke. "So… you're back."

    "Yeah, I am," I nodded.

    "You're not staying, are you?"

    The question surprised me because it was like she knew I wasn't going to be staying in Winslow.

    I sighed, "No, I'm not."

    "I figured," She said, leaning against the lockers next to the door. "Your aunt seemed keen on getting you out."

    I snorted and crossed my arms, "You have no idea."

    "Leo's been looking for you," She said, the proverbial mic being dropped.

    I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I figured."

    "He wants you dead."

    I snorted, "Well, that's not new."

    She stared at me, blinking her eyes as if she didn't think I knew.

    "It's obvious," I pointed out. "I know he's not in the gang and wants in. He targeted me from the start. The petty bullshit, the ambush, my trig—" I stopped myself, my words coming forth without thought.

    Sophia's eyes widened just a fraction. She tried to hide it by looking down the hallway, but she did it. She knew what I was about to say.

    "Shit," She whispered.

    "Fuck," I sighed at my slip. "Okay, yeah. That too."

    Sophia didn't say anything at first. Instead, one of her hands lowered and her fists clenched. Like she wanted to punch something. Knowing her, she probably wanted to slam it into the locker. Her eyes landed back on me.

    "That asshole."

    The vitriol coming from her was surprising, especially since it was in my defense. Even if Leo was a literal Nazi and hated both of us, I had forgotten what it felt like when she did that. She had come to my aid from the ambush and when Emma had kicked me in the— Wow, it really had been a long time since I'd been here. The point was, it was refreshing to see this side of her.

    "Yeah, he is."

    The bell rang, signaling the start of class. Just a reminder of just how strange this was.

    "Keep an eye out, Taylor. He's planning something."

    I nodded, "Thanks."

    "See ya in class," Sophia said, pushing off the lockers with a clang. She started walking off, but I couldn't help but follow her down the hallway, watching the way she carried herself. She'd always seemed dangerous, but now I could appreciate it following my time in Asgard. She carried herself like a warrior, and yet… Something was different about her and it's not just because I had been gone for so long.

    I sighed and headed off to my home room, ready for the pile of shit I'd have to deal with.

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    All of their eyes were on me. That was a constant theme that ran through my head as I carried my cardboard looking piece of pizza across the cafeteria. The first half of the day hadn't been any different. Each class had nearly every set of eyes on me. The teacher then talked to me personally after class to hand me a pile of work that I felt was pointless.

    It was as if they were waiting for me to do or say something. Did they think I'd go Carrie or something? I sighed, which apparently caused one of the girls I was walking by to flinch. Guess they really did think that. It almost made me want to sprout my wings, just to give them a reason for how they were acting.

    My gaze surveyed the rest of the cafeteria as I walked towards the corner table Charlotte and Sophia were sitting at. They landed on a head full of red hair and met a pair of familiar eyes. Emma. Her eyes narrowed and her lips drew inwards. Madison was next to her and her eyes followed Emma's to land on me as well but her reaction was different than my former friend's. She had a look of trepidation, just like the rest of the school.

    You know, seeing that look from Madison and the rest of her gaggle of friends almost made me happy that my identity was public knowledge. I didn't have to deal with their bullshit anymore. They were too scared to do anything to me. Though a part of me hated that they were fearful. It was as though they forgot that I was a hero rather than a villain.

    I continued on my way to the corner table when my vision wavered again and a breeze hit me from the side. Managing to ignore my eyesight being compromised, I stepped to the side. As annoying as it was with my perception being hindered, at least I knew it was in part with the foresight and could act appropriately.

    Sophia was already out of her seat and marching over. I glanced at the offending foot that was sticking out from the table. My gaze traveled up and landed on one of the Empire kids who sat not that far from Leo. When our eyes met, he had a shit eating grin on his face. It was so aggravating that fire burned in my veins.

    "Don't," Sophia whispered into my ear.

    My eyes tore away from Leo to meet hers.

    "Don't. Not here."

    At first I wasn't sure what she was referring to but it didn't take long to put two and two together.

    "What's a matter, faggot? Missing your girlfriend? Maybe if you didn't parade like a sissy—"

    "Watch it, asshole," Sophia snarled.

    "Or what?"

    He sounded so smug, as if he thought he was untouchable. He somehow knew that if I did anything, shit would go down and not in a good way. The girl next to him, a young blonde with long straight hair, had a sneer on her face as she stared at me. I hadn't seen her before but probably started hanging out with Leo and his wannabes. She sized me up and made my power bang on its proverbial walls, because she had the eyes of someone who had killed before.

    "Don't," Sophia warned again.

    It was as if she knew what was running through my head. How I could have Geirskögul or Mist spear his manhood or Sanngriðr crush them with but a look and he'd be helpless. But she was right. Not only that, it wasn't worth it. He wasn't actually in the Empire. Though I still lumped him with the group that killed my girlfriend.

    I tore myself away from the possible confrontation and marched to the table Charlotte was sitting at. My tray was practically tossed onto the table as I sat on the table and rubbed my face. Sophia sat down as everyone else in the cafeteria started talking again, their voices drowning my thoughts.

    "Can't believe he actually tried that," Charlotte commented.

    "Idiot is trying to get himself killed," Sophia said.

    I looked up, my eyes briefly landing on the scientific experiment that lunch ladies must've been working on that somehow resembled pizza. I could feel eyes were still on me and it grated me incessantly.

    "He's still staring at me. Emma too."

    Both of them looked over my shoulder, Charlotte with a sheepish look before nodding and Sophia simply responding.

    "Yeah."

    I sighed, "Why did I have to come back to school."

    Sophia chuckled, "Because your aunt loves you too much."

    That caused my brow to furrow. How would she know? Letting that comment slide, I said, "I have no idea how O-Victoria did it. Or the rest of New Wave."

    Charlotte winced and Sophia grimaced.

    I sighed again, "Look, I've had two weeks to process it. So say what you need to say."

    The two didn't say anything at first, simply stared at me with a mixture of emotions. Eventually, Charlotte spoke.

    "Are you okay?"

    I shrugged my shoulders, "As well as anyone who lost her girlfriend to Nazis could be."

    Charlotte winced. "I'm sorry. I—"

    My eyes lingered on the sauce covered chew toy they expected us to eat and my stomach churned. I looked up at them and said, "We only started dating too."

    My voice was barely a whisper but it carried the weight I wanted.

    "Shit," Sophia cursed. "And the museum?"

    "First date… technically. If you ask—" I stopped myself from another slip up, letting my voice catch so I could play it off. "If she were around, she'd say that there were other ones before then."

    A small smile, conveying a little bit of happiness in the bleak news, grew on Charlotte's face. But it was short lived and her face grew solemn.

    "I'm sorry, Taylor."

    I honestly didn't want to have this conversation. No matter how different it was, it always reminded me of the moment I held her in my arms, watching her life bleed from her body and I carried her soul to Asgard. Those ghostly eyes always haunting me even if she didn't have them anymore.

    I picked up the soggy wet board of sauce and cheese, letting it droop over the tray before dropping it. It landed with a wet smack and sauce went flying.

    "And that is why I get the Mac and Cheese," Charlotte commented, a hint of sarcasm in her tone.

    I chuckled, "I would've brought food, but I'd just come back and the house is in disarray. Including our refrigerator."

    "I can imagine," Sophia finally said after her period of silence. "Where did you go?"

    That was a question I had been waiting for. We had cultivated a response when this would be asked, especially after the PRT visit.

    "Away. Boston, New York. Just… anywhere that wasn't Brockton Bay."

    Charlotte's eyes went wide. "You went that far?"

    "My Valkyrie's are fast."

    "I heard," Sophia said aloofly, "That you had beaten Glory Girl in a race. They had to be fast to beat her."

    "Heard about that?" I raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm surprised no one commented on it till now."

    Sophia shrugged, "A lot of stories about your escapades came out when you disappeared and Glory Girl was mur—" She stopped herself and I was glad for it. I didn't need another reminder.

    "Not great, I'm guessing."

    Sophia thought about it for a bit before answering. "Not… not as bad as you think. Sure, many are blaming you for what happened, and for the destruction of the whale skeleto—"

    "It was fake!"

    My two friends stared at me, blinking their eyes at me.

    "Sorry," I sheepishly added. "That was a whole thing."

    "Apparently," Charlotte said.

    "Anyway," Sophia continued, "There are a few sympathetic outlets but yeah, a lot of those right-winged propaganda is touting the Empire's response."

    I sighed, "I figured."

    The three of us settled into silence and I had no idea what else to say. It wasn't like I could tell them the truth. Well, the more I thought about it, I probably could tell Charlotte. She'd been my friend longer. I had only heard of a few things from her, but I knew she had a fear that the Synagogue she went to with her family would be the next hit by Hookwolf or another Empire cape.

    If there was anyone I could tell the truth, it'd probably be her.

    Sophia on the other hand, as close as I had gotten to her, was still an unknown entity. I was sort of surprised that the two had been standing together in the hallway when I first stepped into the school or sitting next to each other at the table. Whatever happened in the past two weeks, they had become closer. Could I tell her the truth? I would have to keep my eyes open to see if she crossed that line to be honest, but I could start feeling her out, have Charlotte do the same once I told her.

    The bell rang before any of us could continue the conversation. My mutated wood plank had been left uneaten and would probably start growing legs if I didn't throw it away. Not like I was hungry.

    I'd just have to see how the rest of the day went.

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    I walked out of the school, scanning the parking lot to see if Miss Militia was still around. Instead, Sophia was leaning against the wall of the school, her phone in her hand. She looked at her phone again, rubbed her face, before putting her phone down and leaning her head against the wall.

    Something was on her mind.

    I walked over to her, making sure to come into her view or else she might try to hit me. If I was one of the Empire wannabes, it'd be warranted. Sophia opened her eyes and they landed on me. Conflict flashed across her eyes, as if she was trying to decide what to do or say.

    I decided to start the conversation instead. "Hey."

    "Hey," She said, her voice a little gruff.

    "You okay?"

    Her eyebrows furrowed. "I—" She stopped herself, her eyes never leaving mine for several seconds. Then they scanned the area before she continued, "Follow me. I-I have something to tell you."

    I couldn't help but blink owlishly. That was strange. What would she have to tell me that I didn't already know? Something about Leo or the Empire? Whatever it was, my curiosity was piqued and if she was willing to tell me then I'd go along with it.

    "Okay," I said.

    She pushed off the wall, an act she liked to do a lot. Sophia then walked around the corner and I quickly followed her. I wasn't sure where she was taking me until she went towards the bleachers and went up the ramp. My shoes met metal and I quickly took the steps two at a time to catch up. Sophia went up into the announcers booth that was more or less four walls of metal with a roof on top.

    I closed the dinky metal door behind me. Sophia was standing on the other side, pacing in small patterns. She looked up and that conflict returned.

    "So… what did you want to tell me?"

    Sophia didn't say anything at first, instead she continued to bore her eyes into me. Eventually she sighed. "Look. What I'm about to—" She stopped herself before throwing her hands in the air. "Fuck it. Taylor, I'm a cape."

    I blinked my eyes owlishly as I processed what she said. She was a cape? Who—

    "I'm Shadow Stalker."

    Oh.

    "Huh."

    "That's it?" She said, sounding a little angry.

    "I guess? What did you want me to do? Congratulate you?"

    "Fuck off," She said, crossing her arms and looking away. Her tone didn't seem to convey her anger like I thought it would.

    The pieces started coming together. She always seemed to have this edge, this way about her that portrayed some sort of feeling that I couldn't describe. Being a parahuman made it click. And her powers were easy to hide too. She could phase through things and—

    Wait.

    "Is that how you got into my locker all the fucking time?"

    Sophia sighed, guilt on her face. "Yeah. Emma always had this idea of fucking with your stuff and I could get in without breaking the lock."

    "I changed that thing ten times, you know."

    She didn't respond.

    I rubbed my face. "Have you seriously been pulling that status to stay out of trouble?"

    Sophia's head snapped to me, confusion on her face. "What?"

    "Every time I tried to tell them about the bullying, it was brushed aside. Think it had anything to do with that?"

    "Taylor, I've only been in the Wards since October."

    She was telling the truth. It jogged my memory when I read about Shadow Stalker joining the Ward's after a mishap during her vigilante days. That was a bit of a relief then since I couldn't blame her and it still rested on the administration of this shithole.

    I didn't feel like bringing up the past and her bullying. So I decided to focus on recent events. Like the visit to the PRT.

    "Well, that explains why you were silent the entire time last Wednesday."

    She scoffed, "Fuck you."

    I smiled because I knew she wasn't saying it to be mean.

    Sophia rolled her eyes and turned to face the field. "I knew you weren't joining," She said solemnly.

    "How so? From our first meeting in costume?"

    She glanced at me, "Sort of. You'd hate the restraint they put on us. All for PR. It's a bunch of bullshit, so I'm happy you're not joining but they will keep an eye on you. They want you to be on their team, yet they don't at the same time. I don't know, they don't really tell us anything other than to be nice to you and help however we can."

    Odd. They wanted me to join yet didn't at the same time? Why would that be the case? I knew Aunt Zoe warned of doing anything drastic as they'd cuff a probationary title like they did to Sophia. Aunt Zoe had also mentioned they would try and rebrand me, maybe even transfer me away, which would likely be a pain for the local branch, and with me independant, I would still be helping them.

    "By the way, I knew it was you on your first night."

    I sighed, "Let me guess, my voice?"

    She grunted approvingly.

    "Victoria told me the same thing."

    Sophia didn't say anything right away. Instead she started to fiddle with the mic on the table. "The Empire's been laying low, especially Hookwolf. The ABB and Coil's mercs have been pushing into their territory."

    "Any response from the Nazis?"

    She shook her head. "Not yet. The gangbangers have been the ones to take the brunt of it. A few reports of the lowly grunts that get captured said something about a few having a cold or something. Anyway, if the ABB or Coil pushes too far, it would force a response."

    "So no major cape battles."

    Sophia shook her head again. "No. For the past two weeks, the Protectorate has been patrolling constantly, not only to keep up their precious balance but to find you."

    "With me back home," I continued for her.

    "They will probably lessen their patrols."

    "Fucking hell. That's when the capes are going to start appearing."

    Sophia turned to face me, crossing her arms. "That might happen sooner than you think."

    I furrowed my eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

    "New Wave's been attacking. Hitting known Empire locations. The death of— they've been looking for blood. Barely giving the usual time for peace when the Simurgh attacked before quickly returning to their offensive."

    New Wave. I hadn't really thought of what they might be up to since Ori's death. I would've thought that they'd be mourning but considering this was the second member to be killed by the same gang, it made sense they were out for blood.

    I wondered if that's why I hadn't been contacted by them. Or if they felt it was my fault that Ori was dead too.

    "You should also know," Sophia said slowly. "That there is a kill order on Hookwolf."

    "I know," I said, remembering when Aunt Zoe told me.

    "She told you, didn't she?"

    I nodded, "Yes. Though Antares and I haven't talked about it in length."

    "Who is she, anyway? Antares? I'd never heard of her. Especially a Tinker who made armor that would make Armsmaster jealous."

    I couldn't help but remember the way the Protectorate leader had become so giddy at the idea of another Tinker.

    "She's someone who wants the Empire to pay just as badly as I do," I said.

    Sophia didn't seem to like my answer but took it anyway. I wasn't going to tell her anything about Antares. I couldn't— I couldn't tell her about any of what had happened in the time I'd been gone. Any thoughts of telling her were brushed away now that I knew she was Shadow Stalker. It would mean that she could relay information to the PRT and it would get really bad from there. There was no way I was letting the government know that I could, metaphorically speaking, bring back the dead. Feeling her out was no longer an option, even if asking Charlotte to keep the secret from her other friend would be a bit of a dick move.

    One step at a time. We could figure things out as we went.

    My phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out. A string of notifications from Aunt Zoe and Ori were there, but it was the top one that took all my attention. It was from an unknown number but the first few words was all I needed. It was as if the Norns knew what I was thinking and had made it happen on the fabric of destiny.

    Taylor, this is Mark Dallon. I heard you had returned to the city. I know this is sudden, but I wanted to let you know that we will be having Victoria's funeral services on Wednesday and that you are invited. You are more than welcome to come if you want.

    I stared at the message a few times, processing what to do or say. It never occurred to me that the funeral service hadn't happened yet. Could it be that the endbringer attack had delayed it? Could a… body last that long? My thoughts turned to Amy and I realized that she could probably prolong it however long they wanted.

    I didn't know what to say, but I had to tell Ori. Maybe I can come up with a proper response then. It was a little surprising to see the message from Ori's dad as the last time I saw him, he was quite reserved and quiet.

    "I have to go," I said hastily.

    Sophia furrowed her eyebrows in confusion but nodded. "Okay."

    Just as I was about to leave the booth, she spoke with haste.

    "Leo has a deadline to kill you. I heard him talking to some recruiter one day. I don't know when, but expect the shit to get worse."

    I glanced over my shoulder, a small smirk on my face. "I'd like to see him try to kill me."

    Sophia blinked at my response, her jaw slightly slack. I knew she was about to be even more surprised when I quickly ran down the bleachers, hopped the railing and fell more than a dozen feet and landed with ease. I pulled off my hoodie, stuffing it into my backpack and stretched out. The wind touched my bare shoulders, a refresh from the day of school. Turned out my tank tops were all I needed to wear for my wings to fit through without modification, they had quickly become the only thing I wanted to wear.

    With one big breath, I summoned my wings. There were a few people on the field and track that circled the field. Nearly every one of them stopped and gasped.

    My wings weren't technically my powers.

    I bent my knees and pulled magic into my wings before leaping into the air. My gaze briefly landed on Sophia, her eyes bugging out and her mouth wide open. Either she didn't recognize me when on patrol in the neighborhood, thought I was something else, or I'm not sure, but seeing her surprised was so worth it.

    I smiled and waved at her as I flew up into the air and headed towards Warehouse Thirteen.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Hmmmm. I've enjoyed this chapter. Not so angsty and more moving forward. Now do I go read from where I gave up to here or not is the question.
     
    Thurisaz 3.5 (Victoria)
  • Threadmarks
    • I would like to thank my beta team, you girls are amazing and I appreciate you greatly!

    Thurisaz 3.5 (Victoria)​

    Monday, March 7th, 2011

    I wandered the vast rows of the warehouse, clicking my tongue along the way. Even after looking at the manifest, seeing everything stockpiled in the building was a sight to behold. It was truly filled to the brim with goods that I could only scarcely believe it. Ranging from survival gear to random computer parts and the occasional magical item.

    The weekend had been a whirlwind of making the second floor more homely. I had practically moved in here, with what little I had, and my girlfriend had spent most of her time here as well. Ever since she was told she had to go back to school, she was practically moping.

    Leaning against one of the shelves filled with supplies one might find while surviving in the wilds, I pulled out my phone and the Vegvísir from my hoodie pocket and black ripped jeans respectively. Looking at my phone first, I saw a text from Tay. Guess she was out of school. I hoped she hadn't done anything stupid. Going to school was the last thing my girlfriend wanted to do. Knowing her, she thought it was pointless.

    Was it kind of sad that I wished I could go back? Just to have some sense of normalcy in this craziness that I'd been swept into.

    I was about to text her where I was, but it was a moot point. She knew where I was. Instead, I set my phone down and opened up the Vegvísir. It took a moment, but the blue lights on the device came to life and the hardlight screen appeared.

    "Ah, there you are," A voice pulled me from my thoughts.

    Zoe was striding towards me with purpose. She wasn't wearing anything extravagant like I'd seen before. Just a simple pair of jeans and a blue shirt. It was kind of odd how comfortable she looked in those compared to the more refined clothes she usually wore when out in public. You would think that a fashion designer would be more at home with high quality clothing, but not Zoe.

    "Sorry," I said, picking up the clipboard with my free hand. "I was just messaging my aunt."

    Zoe's footsteps hesitated for a bit but it didn't stop her. "I see." When she stood next to me, she said, "I can't believe that device can communicate across realms."

    I shrugged, "I can't either. We'll find out with this message."

    "And if it doesn't work?" She asked with a quizzical look.

    "Then I head back to Asgard and see if Kyle could fix it."

    Zoe pinched the bridge of her nose as she thought. "Kyle… he's the tinker?"

    "He's Hero," I said, hoping to jumpstart her memory.

    Her eyes went wide. "Right. Fucking hell, Annette."

    She'd been saying that a lot. It seemed like everyday she would say that line because of some new discovery that she didn't know about Tay's mom. When it comes to that, she seemed to take it worse than Danny even though I knew he wasn't handling the whole thing well either.

    I finished my message and pressed the send button. The symbol of the Vegvísir spun and the separate arms retracting inward before popping back out and turned gold. Guess it was sent.

    When I looked up, Zoe had her hands on her hips and was looking around aimlessly. She noticed my stare and smiled, "Done?" When I nodded, she continued, "I brought some late lunch if you want it, it's upstairs."

    At that moment, my stomach growled "Food sounds good."

    She smiled, "Come, I placed it in the break room upstairs."

    We went up the elevator and headed straight into the maze of the second floor. Along the way to what I assume was my room, I said, "Tay's on her way."

    "Huh, surprised she didn't ask me to pick her up…" Zoe trailed off before shaking her head. "I hope she didn't do anything stupid."

    I chuckled, "Glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks that."

    "Please, this is Taylor we're talking about. Especially with everything you two have gone through. I know she didn't want to go back, but she has to show that she's trying for the transfer to work properly. It would also raise far too many questions if she were to skip and get straight into caping. We don't need Child Protective Services or the Youth Guard on our ass."

    "You know the Empire has a heavy presence at the school, right?" I added, making sure she knew just how bad it was for Tay.

    Zoe sighed, "I'm aware and I hate that I have to send her there. The Protectorate knows as well since they have a member stationed nearby till the transfer goes through."

    "Wait, really?" I asked, surprised by that.

    She nodded. "Yes, they are. It seems they know how volatile things are with Taylor going back and want to ensure nothing bad happens."

    I really wanted to believe that having a Protectorate presence nearby would help, but Talyor was a magnet for trouble. Tay might not have an identity, but that wouldn't stop the Empire from trying to kill her.

    "I'm glad she has someone looking out for her," Zoe said, looking at me after a few seconds. "I feel like she's forcing herself to follow my instructions, sometimes."

    "Can you blame her?"

    "No, no I can't. People in certain positions have failed her and I just want to show that not everyone is out to get her."

    "Forcing her to go to school probably isn't the best way to do that."

    Zoe sighed, "I know. That was probably a mistake, but the director made it clear that the Youth Guard wouldn't hear of anything less. There needs to be effort made for the transfer to happen nevermind that she needs something normal to ground her."

    I nodded, that was something I could sympathize with.

    "So I'm glad that she has you, even if things seem rocky between the two of you."

    "Yeah," I said slowly, turning my gaze away from her.

    "I guess you broke up? I didn't miss the fact that you were sleeping on the couch and then immediately moved into here."

    Almost, I wanted to voice that, but instead I shook my head. "No, we didn't. Just… restarting. Things aren't the same as they were. Dying and a whole month of watching Tay just… hate following her mom's instructions, then there's the fact that Freyja never told her that since she ferried me to Asgard, she had some semblance of control over me."

    Zoe's eyes went wide. "Wait, you mean—"

    "Yeah. It was like, if she directed any type of order at me, it felt like I had to do it. That if I didn't, her presence would loom over me. Like a silent arbiter or judge. It… well, as much as I hate to admit it, it got us out of a dicey situation. But as you can tell it wasn't great for our relationship. Still isn't. When I told her that, she didn't take it well."

    This wasn't a conversation I expected to have with someone who was pretty close to a stranger, but it's not like I could go home right now. Nor do I think my parents would be great to talk about this to. Crystal on the other hand, would be.

    We walked into what was the break room if you were to consider this a workplace where you'd find a refrigerator, microwave, and a few tables and couches. It wasn't fantastic, but it was functional. There was a small spread of sandwiches and I could tell that Zoe just grabbed a platter to satisfy anyone's need. At least there will be leftovers for me.

    She sat down on the couch and pursed her lips. "Look, I— I don't really know what I can do to help, but I am here for both of you. If you need help distancing—"

    "Isn't an issue anymore," I clarified as I grabbed a sandwich and bit into it. "When Tay made me a Valkyrie, she gave me my freedom again."

    Zoe let out a sigh of relief as she grabbed a sandwich of her own. "Oh good. I feared—" She stopped herself and took a bite. "In any case, the offer still stands. That isn't an easy position to be in and I can understand if you want to be away from all of this."

    "We are… taking things slowly," I said.

    "Good." She curtly nodded.

    The sound of a door being closed followed by the elevator moving reached my ears.

    "Tay's here," I said.

    "How could you…" Zoe started to say in disbelief.

    I couldn't help it, I smirked at her. Not too long after, Tay walked down the hallway and towards us.

    She didn't have her hoodie on, instead was wearing a black tank top that showed off the slight definition of her muscles. With her general skinniness and the fact that she was essentially a goddess, made them stick out more than one would imagine. Needless to say, I certainly wasn't complaining. She was wearing some old jeans that hugged her legs nicely. She might be a skinny girl and would denounce any curves she had if mentioned, but they were there. Another subtle feature. Her shoes were still her old converse she wore prior to everything happening. She'd need new ones and I wondered if that was on the list when Zoe took her shopping.

    "Oh, Hi, Honey!" Zoe said as she turned around.

    "Hi, Aunt Zoe," Tay said, not even a little out of breath.

    "You got here quick," I said. "Since you texted me…" I pulled out my phone and checked, "ten minutes ago."

    My girlfriend walked over and sat on the couch next to me, setting aside her backpack. "Uhh… I might have flown here."

    "Flown…" Zoe said slowly.

    "Yes?" Tay said more in a questioning tone than anything.

    "She does have wings," I pointed out. "As do I."

    Zoe stared at us, processing what we just said before shaking her head and sighing. "Right. Now I remember. Sorry, that day was a blur."

    I smiled, "It's okay. There was a lot."

    "Yes, yes there was."

    I turned my head to Tay. "Let me guess, from the field?" I asked, pretty much knowing the answer right away.

    "Uhh," She said, her eyes darting everywhere. "Maybe."

    "And how many people were aro—"

    "The principal only said to not use my powers. My wings technically aren't my power," She said quickly to defend herself.

    "Tay…"

    "Am I wrong?"

    I sighed. She technically wasn't. "You know that's not how they are going to see it."

    Tay was about to refute, but Zoe cut in. "Taylor… you really shouldn't have done that."

    Tay crossed her arms, "It's not like they don't already know. We did fly over the neighborhood. People would've noticed."

    Zoe pinched the bridge of her nose. "That might be, but—" She stopped herself. "Just get off the school grounds first, next time. This is a very strenuous area we are in."

    Tay looked at me, clearly not giving up. "How many times did you use your powers when you were at school?"

    When Zoe's eyes were on me, I started to squirm a little. "Uhh… a few times." When Zoe was about to speak I quickly added, "But I was reprimanded."

    "Were you?"

    "Don't turn this around, Taylor," Zoe said, coming to my rescue. "I know this isn't—"

    "I don't even want to fucking be there," Taylor blurted out. "It's so fucking pointless. The Empire wants me dead, Emma is a bitch, and on top of it all, I have to figure out how to form a movement with barely anything to go on!"

    Neither Zoe or I spoke while she vented. It's clear that she was holding this in for a bit.

    "I know," Zoe said quietly after Tay had stopped and fumed into the couch. "I know you hate it and would rather be doing anything else and I appreciate that you've been listening to me."

    Tay crossed her arms and turned her head away from Zoe.

    "And I hope that extends to your father as well," She added. "I know this hasn't been easy on him. He's… well, focusing on work more than he should."

    "You mean he doesn't work on the weekend?" Sarcasm dripped from her tone.

    "Taylor, need I remind you that you've been here all weekend? "

    Tay looked away again, but there was a hint of guilt in her eyes.

    "Just… don't push him out, or me for that matter. We are here to help and we love you."

    My girlfriend sighed. "Okay," She said mutely before grabbing a sandwich.

    "How was your day?" Zoe said, switching topics when she realized that Tay wasn't going to say more.

    "It was… whatever."

    I furrowed my eyebrows. Something happened. "What happened?"

    She didn't say anything at first, mulling over what to say no doubt. "Well, I was talking to Sophia—"

    She stopped when her eyes darted over to Zoe.

    "What's that smirk for?" Tay said.

    Zoe's smirk never left her face. "Oh, nothing. Continue."

    "No, you know something."

    "Did she tell you?"

    "Yes," Tay's response was slow, methodical as she thought.

    I tried to piece together what they could be talking about. A girl named Sophia? A friend at school? From what I remember of what Tay talked about, she didn't really have friends at school. She didn't really talk about school all that much and I understood why. She hated it. But who is Sophia? I knew of a Sophia Hess, who was Shadow Stalker—

    "Wait," I said, interrupting whatever stare down the two were having. They both looked at me and I continued. "You know that Sophia is Shadow Stalker."

    Tay sighed, "Yeah. She told me today."

    "And I knew for a while," Zoe added.

    Tay snapped her head to her aunt. "What?"

    Now it was Zoe's turn to sigh. "It's… a long story. But to make it short, it happened while you were at summer camp. She and my husband were attacked by the ABB. Shadow Stalker saved them."

    As if all the dots were connecting in Tay's head, her eyes widened. She leaned her head back, took a deep breath before speaking.

    "That explains so fucking much."

    Zoe continued, "I didn't know this at first, only that Emma had become friends with Sophia, but when Shadow Stalker was caught nearly killing a man, my husband had offered his services to get her probationary Ward status instead. That one I had to snoop through his stuff for."

    "That's why you don't want me to do anything drastic," Tay pointed out.

    "Yes, I'm not having you go through that. So suffice it to say, I was surprised that Sophia volunteered to be a guard of sorts while you were gone. Patrolling the neighborhood and within the house."

    "She was— you know what, it doesn't matter," Tay said, shaking her head. Her eyes met mine. "Look, I got a message from your dad."

    I froze, my blood going cold. My dad? Why would my dad— oh, I know why.

    "The funeral," Zoe spoke when no one else wanted to.

    "Yeah," Tay said, her voice low.

    The two were talking but their conversation felt so far away. I should've expected a funeral, I really fucking should've. My family would want to mourn me. To see the Alexandria lite package of the Bay getting killed by her own fucking stupidity. Look at the failure who couldn't stay alive and ran into danger like a dumbass because she wanted to support her girlfriend when an entire gang wanted her dead.

    I failed them in so many ways. How I couldn't protect my sister from the constant pressure our mom put on her. My mom's disappointed face haunted me every time I thought about her, reminding me that I was never enough. Dad sinking deeper into his despair that—

    "Ori, Ori!" Tay's voice broke through the haze of voices clouding my head. When I blinked the blurriness away, she spoke again, "It's okay."

    The room was saturated with golden light and one look at my body was all I needed to know that my powers were on. Taking a deep breath to relax myself, I willed my powers to calm. Just like it had since I died, it disappeared in an instant.

    "Sorry. I didn't mean to—" Tay started to apologize before I stopped her.

    "Not your fault," I mumbled, words were a little hard at the moment.

    "Yes it is. I– I should've taken a better approach."

    "Are you sure you're alright, Ori?" Zoe asked.

    Concern was written all over her face and… was that fear? Oh, no please don't tell me my aura did—

    I shook those thoughts away. Focus, Ori.

    "I'm— I'm okay now."

    "Are you sure?" She asked again.

    I nodded. "Yeah. Just… was thrown off. Didn't think they'd wait this long," I said, my voice small.

    Tay's eyes lingered on me while Zoe spoke.

    "My guess," She said slowly, "Is that with the Endbringer attack, they delayed it. I also believe that your family has been attacking the Empire in the meantime."

    I shouldn't have been surprised by that. Whether my family attended or not, which I doubt they did, it would slow things down. And it's not like Amy couldn't… preserve my body.

    Okay, I was done thinking about that.

    "Wait, I have something that might help," Tay said as she picked up backpack with one hand as if it was empty.

    "How can you carry that?" Zoe asked. It did look like it was packed full of books and work.

    Tay looked up at her, "It doesn't weigh anything."

    Zoe blinked a few times but let it slide as Tay rummaged through her backpack, moving something back and forth as she pulled out a blue package.

    "Sorry if some of them are smashed," She said as she held it out to me. My eyes widened as I stared at it. "This was why I was… late. I knew this conversation wasn't going to be easy and well… you kind of deserve this."

    "Oreos?" I said, more in disbelief than anything. "You got me oreos?"

    Tay smiled, "Of course! Oreos for Ori!"

    I half choked and half chuckled at her. She remembered. Tears welled in my eyes. Before I knew it, I had wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into a hug. Tay had at least moved the oreos out of the way and dropped her backpack before she reciprocated the hug.

    "I'm guessing you like it?" She whispered into my ear.

    I chuckled, "Of course I do, you dork."

    It was things like this that reminded me why I fell in love with this girl, why I wasn't going to give up on her come Helheim or high water.

    When I, begrudgingly, pulled away from her, she had a big goofy smile on her face. Tay handed me the package and not a moment later I was eating a monochrome cookie. Memories of Aunt Jess doing the exact same thing popped into my head. I couldn't help but smile at how I would devour an entire package in a sitting, much to my mom's ire. A time before everything turned bleak following Aunt Jess's death.

    I held the package out to Tay, offering it to her. She looked like she was about to deny but relented and pulled a cookie out, eating it rather quickly. A smile graced her lips.

    "Now that was sweet," Zoe said, reminding the both of us that she was there. My cheeks heated up and I wasn't the only one.

    "Aunt Zoe!" Tay whined.

    "What? I was just stating how adorable you two are."

    I couldn't deny that I was touched by the gesture. It was a good way to start off this renewed relationship. Zoe's comment reminded me of the ones Crystal had made so long ago when I had first mentioned Tay. It made me long to see her and the others again.

    "As much as I hate to sour this moment," Zoe said, bringing both my girlfriend and I down from the tender moment. "We do need to discuss the funeral."

    I managed to control myself this first time, using the crunch of the cookies to center myself.

    "That's what I wanted to bring up," My girlfriend responded. "I— I mean, I sort of have to go, don't I?"

    I didn't miss that her eyes glanced at me.

    Zoe nodded, "Kind of, Honey. I mean—"

    "It's not that," Tay said hastily, "I was going, I just don't know how to— it's going to be weird."

    Zoe's face softened. "Of course it will be." Her eyes wandered over to me, "I'm sorry, Ori. I know this is…"

    "Awkward," I finished for her, more absently than anything.

    She nodded before turning her gaze to my girlfriend. The moment we both did, I placed a hand on Tay's knee and Zoe walked around the coffee table and gave her niece a hug.

    "It's okay," Zoe murmured into Tay's ear.

    "B-bu-but h-how can I…," Tay sputtered.

    Zoe pulled back, her hands on her niece's shoulders. "Take it in stride like you always do. You're a smart girl, Taylor, I'm sure you can figure out how to handle the landmine that is a funeral."

    I couldn't help but drum my finger on the Oreo package, enjoying the crinkling sound it made. Even though it was my funeral, it wasn't a conversation for me to be part of. It made me itch to go out, maybe take the suit for a ride.

    "It's not going to be like Freyja's."

    "Honey, that was a traditional Scandinavian funeral, of course it won't be."

    I furrowed my eyebrows at that. What would a traditional Scandinavian funeral have? Knowing my mom, it was going to be a viewing and then the service. Probably on the same day since they prolonged it.

    "And we will need to get you something to wear."

    I saw Tay's eyes go wide with fear.

    "But what abou—"

    "Taylor, you've grown and that wasn't exactly traditional clothes for a funeral. We'd need to find you a nice dress. Unless you want a—" Tay shook her head furiously. "Thought so. Guess we'll just have to make a day of it tomorrow, I'll pick you up from school and we go shopping."

    At the word shopping, my girlfriend groaned. I couldn't help but giggle, causing them to look at me.

    "Feeling a little better?" Zoe asked.

    I nodded, "Yeah." It took a moment, but I gave a better answer. "I've been thinking of going out on patrol."

    My girlfriend's eyes lit up like Christmas lights. "I'll join!"

    "No you won't," Zoe put her foot down.

    "Wuh–what?"

    "Don't you have homework? A lot of it?"

    "Bu-but—"

    "No but's, I know you're gonna hate me for pushing this, but I mean it."

    Tay crossed her arms and sank into the couch. After an entire day cooped up in school, homework would be the last thing she wanted to do.

    Zoe turned her focus to me. "That sounds like a good idea. Have a good time on patrol."

    I nodded, "I will."

    Closing the package of oreos, I set them in the cabinet and walked out of the breakroom, a slight argument breaking out between my girlfriend and her aunt. I tuned it out when Tay brought up how pointless school was again.

    It would be good to get out and get my mind off of my own funeral.

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    One thing that hasn't changed following my death was how the city seemed so peaceful from a bird's eye view. People went about their business as if there hadn't been any major cape battles or other issues. It almost felt like we hadn't left at all. That is if you didn't look at the subtle signs of the silent turf war.

    People looked down alleys or tensed when a horn was blasted down the street. The sight of any gang signs caused people to veer away with a fright in their eyes. The very same gang signs that had been written over one another as if you forgot your eraser and needed to make a correction. The red and green of the ABB mixed with the black, white, and red of the Empire Eighty-Eight like a painter would throw paint on a canvas.

    To an outsider, Brockton Bay was a peaceful city, but to anyone local, you saw the truth.

    I spent two hours in the air before I realized the futility of it and moved to the ledge of a medium sized high rise roof in downtown. This section of the Empire territory was being threatened but it didn't seem like anything was happening at this moment. Most gang activity was at night but I needed to get away from the reminders and discussion of my impending funeral.

    The news about the funeral had shook me more than I wanted to admit. It was one thing to believe your family was mourning you, but it was another to have it come smack you in the face like a cream pie or more like freight train in my case. I could help but let out a shaky breath as the images of my family, sorrow-filled and disappointed faces crossed my mind. Even as I tried not to, my mind turned to the nightmares that continued to haunt me.

    The urge to just come clean to my family had been warring with discretion in my head like a furious storm, where mythical giants were just yelling at one another.

    The vibration of my phone became my savior as I looked at the message. It was from my girlfriend. For the past two hours she had been sending me random videos of cats or other funny things like men experimenting with the laws of gravity and physics only to get hit in the head or fall on their ass.

    It brought a smile to my face. She took my tactic and turned it around to cheer me up. It certainly helped ease my mind off of the tumultuous thoughts that whirled within.

    I hated it. I hated how hesitant I was to return to my family. Everytime I contemplate it, I can't help but imagine what they might see or say. How I was just some fabrication or creation of Taylor's power and they'd turn me away.

    "Caw!"

    My powers flared to life and I nearly took off to pull the pulse gun out before I realized what— no who it was.

    "Hi, Huginn."

    The pitch black raven tilted his head as he hopped closer. It wasn't the first time the bird had appeared next to me. Both him and his brother showed up when I was alone while my girlfriend was being pulled around by her mom. This was the first time he came to me on Bet outside my death.

    He let out a sorrowful trill.

    "Here to spy on me? Tell Freyja what's going on?"

    The bird tilted his head the other way before shaking it.

    "No?"

    "Caw."

    "Huh, that's surprising. Would've thought you'd listen to her every bidding."

    He shook his head furiously in abject horror. "Caw caw."

    "Well, thank you I guess. I don't think Tay needs more stress on her."

    The raven clacked on the ledge of the building with his feet. Almost like a short hop. He rubbed his head against the armor of my upper arm, reminding me just how huge the two birds were.

    I lifted a finger and started striking the top of his head. He let out a happy trill.

    "Sorry I don't have any food for you. Didn't think about bringing my oreos with me."

    Huginn clacked his beak. It didn't seem like he was upset about it.

    My eyes wandered back over the city while I gently scratched the bird. I should've taken off my glove, but he didn't seem to mind. Odin probably treated these birds far worse. Though I couldn't say for sure how Freyja did. If it was anything like how she treated the others…

    I sighed.

    "Caw?"

    I turned my head to face the raven. "Oh, nothing."

    The way the mythical bird looked at me with his pitch black eyes and tilted his head conveyed enough of what he was trying to say.

    "I… I decided to go on patrol because Tay got a message. From my Dad. About my funeral."

    Huginn let out a sorrowful trill.

    "And like, I don't know how to feel about that. I know I died, I'm keenly aware of it. Sometimes I still feel that phantom feeling of hollowness. Like I'm not whole. So anyway, I wanted to get my mind off of it, patrol and try to stop crime or whatever. Like the old days."

    The raven rubbed his head against my arm in a comforting manner.

    I smiled. Which quickly fell again as I sighed, "But I've found nothing other than the territorial disputes along the Empire's border. It's like nothing's happening when I know that's not true. Probably should've come later at night."

    There was no response from Huginn for a bit, so I opted to look at the people who were still going about their business, the crowds slowly increasing as everyone got off from work. I wondered if Mom would be getting off from her day, stay at the office to ignore the fact that I died with her work, or actually take care of herself.

    Probably ignoring everything and focusing on her work like always.

    "Caw!"

    I glanced over to Huginn and where he was staring off into the distance. To the east.

    "What is it?"

    Huginn looked at me, clacked his beak and stomped his claws on the ledge before glancing back in the direction he was looking.

    "Something going on?" If one of mythical ravens that were once a spy network for the Allfather and to some degree, Freyja, had eyes on something then I knew something was going on.

    "Caw!"

    Huginn started flying without waiting and I sat dumbfounded for a brief moment before realizing he left. I pushed off the ledge and used my powers while activating the pack. My golden glow encapsulated my armor and I was off, flying after the raven.

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    I had to say, Huginn could fly fast. The fact that I had to push my power just to keep up with him spoke volumes. He took me to the south easternmost part of the city, where the territory blurred between the three big contenders; the Empire, ABB, and Coil's mercenaries. The Merchants were supposedly around here, but they were such a minor contender in the ebb and flow of the gangs. It still baffled me that Tay and I had run into them in the first place. I knew she had busted some of their members, but did that seriously warrant a cape fight?

    Who was I kidding? They were a bunch of drugged up addicts. They weren't thinking at all. Probably were cruising and decided to fire and ask questions never.

    Huginn landed on the tallest building nearby, some dilapidated warehouse that looked like it was getting closer to collapsing than being able to withstand a person. I hovered next to the raven, who let out a quieted trill. He pointed his head and beak in one direction, letting out a soft clack.

    I followed his gaze to an unmarked building. Nothing seemed off until the lights went out, then the sound of loud crashing followed by flashes of purple that were oddly familiar. Cries and screams reached my ears and my instincts flared into action. Without even saying goodbye, I flew down and unhooked my pulse cannon. Making sure to set it to stun mode, I crashed through the wall of the building.

    The lenses flared on the mask, changing the visual range from the resulting dust and debris. Red and orange figures came into view, even behind walls. What the hell? Okay, now I know why Kyle was named the best Tinker. I wonder what Dragon and him would accomplish if they could work together.

    One figure was floating, purple force fields appearing in front of her while the large man ran ahead, knocking two people down at once.

    Wait… that's—

    I didn't hesitate. My shoulder smashed into the drywall and wooden beams, the pulse cannon aimed at a group of Empire gangsters who looked like they'd seen better days. A few red eyed members turned their gaze towards me before I fired, hitting the center of the group. A wave of magical electricity cascaded over them, stunning them.

    With them frozen, I pivoted, surveying the room for additional mooks. One man held a gun at me, fired the instant I faced him. The bullet pinged off my forcefield and it didn't blink out like I thought it would. The heavily tattooed man who was barely containing a cough, stared at me with wide eyes for a moment before I fired at him.

    Another reverberating echo ejected from the cannon and hit him in the chest. As if he was suspended on wire and pulled back, he was launched backwards, hitting a table filled with white— cocaine. A plume of white dust exploded into the air and I'd say I was quite happy to be in a full suit of power armor with proper air filtration. A quick survey concluded that everyone was stunned. They'd be like that for a little bit but I wasn't going to take my eyes off of them.

    Another crash within the building reminded me that I needed to finish up with these assholes. I scolded myself for not grabbing zip ties or something else to bind the crooks. Instead, I searched the room for anything that could suffice. After what seemed like a minute of looking, a bundle of rope was quickly requisitioned for the job.

    The first group I had stunned was coming out of it as I approached them, guns immediately pointed in my direction and firing. The shots ricocheted off my forcefield and due to the close proximity, I didn't want to be caught in the stun radius if I fired. I quickly advanced, cannon held like a bat. Knocking them out would do just fine.

    The first man had wide eyes and was gasping for words before the coiled metal smacked him on the side of the head. He went out like a light bulb. The rest stared at me, shocked filled their faces, though one still believed his gun would do anything. Taking out the other two while they were stunned quickly made him see the error of his ways and he dropped the gun.

    "Good boy," I remarked before crushing the gun with my boot and tying him.

    He sniffled and it wasn't because of any crying or the cocaine that was in the air. It sounded like he was sick given how often I'd hear it at the hospital when taxiing my sister. Ignoring the thought of him being ill, I tied him up quickly.

    A groan alerted me to the man I had hit through the pile of cocaine, his head lolling about and in a clear drug induced high. His eyes dilated and drool fell from his mouth as he twitched slightly. Well, he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

    The sound of scraping brought me to a single man who had escaped my gaze, hiding among the barrels on the other side of the room. He ran for the one door that led further into the small building and it seemed he wasn't aware of the fighting on that side. When he swung the door open, he met face first into solid muscle. He slowly turned his head up, eyes meeting the large man.

    "Going somewhere?" A familiar voice said, a slight growl in his voice. Eyes dark as he stared down at the man.

    "Uhh—" The man sputtered.

    My unc— Manpower simply hit him in the corner of his neck, rendering the man unconscious. He looked proud of himself and I'd normally join him, but I had to turn my gaze. Fucking hell, Huginn. This was why you brought me here? To see my family. This was the last thing I wanted to do right now.

    From this alone, I knew I wasn't ready to tell them.

    "Who ar—"

    "Missed one," My aun—Lady Photon said, her voice low and dark. A blast of purple light shot through the space between Manpower and the door, past me and to someone behind. A grunt followed by a body hitting the floor made me turn around. Lo and behold, there was a lone Empire gangster who I was sure was the one hopped up on cocaine. I shouldn't have underestimated a person high on drugs and I berated myself for ignoring my mom's words about that.

    With them taken out, I took a deep breath and faced my aunt and uncle.

    They both wore hard, cold faces. Nearly unreadable. I wasn't sure if it was an act when out in costume like Aunt Sarah liked to push us to do or because we were surrounded by Empire filth. A darker thought ran through my mind on how it was my death that gave them that look. Nonetheless, they stood stoic and ready to pounce.

    And their eyes were on me.

    "Who are you?" Manpower asked again, his voice menacing.

    Wait a minute… shit.

    "I'm not with the Empire." When I saw the lack of realization, I knew that the voice modulation on the suit was masking my voice.

    Uncle Neil allowed Aunt Sarah to squeeze by but retained his position to block the doorway. The slight movement allowed me to see the destruction they had caused in their wake. Nazi's were lying in heaps, some were bleeding or had broken bones. A gruesome sight to behold but one that didn't make me squeamish.

    "Really?" Lady Photon asked. "You look like some nordic propaganda they liked to parade with."

    "Would you say the same of Gondul?" I asked, slightly irritated that my aunt went to such lengths.

    Instantly they both tensed up and relaxed in sync. As if they had conflicting thoughts. My guess was that mentioning Taylor caused them to remember… me.

    "You know her?" Lady Photon asked, surprise heavy in her voice.

    I nodded and tried to keep up the stupid charade. Fuck, how did capes do this? Or was it the fact that it was my family? "We're partners."

    Both of them looked confused by that. "Partners? As in—"

    "A team. She's forming a team," I said hastily, even if that was true I didn't want them to get the idea that Taylor rebounded on a dime.

    Lady Photon looked at Manpower. "That might explain why she's been gone for so long."

    "She…" I said, trying to articulate my words but also not reveal too much. "She wasn't doing well. We met up and had similar goals. We just recently came back and are looking to work towards making them reality."

    A groan from one of the fascist stopped the conversation. I glanced at the man lying on the ground beside me, his hand reaching out for help near my foot. A dark thought crossed my mind but I suppressed it. As angry as I was, stepping on the man's hand was too far.

    "Did she get the message?"

    "Yes, she did. Not sure if she responded yet, but I know she plans on going," I replied.

    The two looked at each other, conflicting emotions were heavy on their faces. "Okay. Thank you for letting us know. It's… personal."

    Personal? Oh, you have no fucking idea, Aunt Sarah. "I know. It… it still weighs heavy on her."

    "I imagine," Lady Photon said with a grimace. "Poor girl." She sighed. "In any case, we should wrap this up. Can you call the PRT while we go through the place?"

    I blinked my eyes a few times, not that they could see it. "Yes, I can."

    "What's your name?" Lady Photon asked as she walked into the room, careful to stay away from the diminishing white plume.

    I turned to face her and said, "Antares." Like one of the brightest stars in the sky. I had come up with the name with Aunt Jess when we were stargazing one night. She said it reminded her of how I always seemed to be a beacon to her, a bright light in the dark night. Or in a darker sense, the city since living here had not been kind to her. That's without her murder being added to the mix.

    "Nice to meet you, Antares," Manpower said with a curt nod.

    The words stopped in my throat. This was so weird. "N-nice to meet you too, Manpower, Lady Photon."

    Relief filled my aunt's face. "At least you didn't…"

    Call her Photon Mom? I'm not dumb. I knew how much she hated it.

    I pointed my thumb away, "I'm going to go make the call."

    The two nodded and I quickly scurried out of the building. Away from just how awkward it was being near them. I wanted to rip off my helmet so badly. To tell them that I was okay because I knew they weren't. This was not how they operated before. Why was it just these two? Where were my parents? Aunt Sarah always grilled into us that we needed at least three or four in a strike force. Fuck, I can hear her voice about flying formation and proper entry into rooms and it seemed like they threw that away.

    Taking a deep breath, I pulled out my phone. So much for getting away from my issues.

    An eerie ding rang from my pocket. The Vegvísir. My phone was stuffed away and I grabbed that instead. It had a glowing blue light blinking and I quickly opened it. A message from Aunt Jess and warmth spread through my body.

    Oh, Ori. I know it's not easy. The sacrifices we've made seem far too much in my opinion. Not that Freyja would admit it, and she's made some of the biggest ones. She's so driven and focused on the bigger picture, and as much as it pains me to say it, her methods do work. We wouldn't be where we are if it wasn't for her. She's just lost sight of the things that actually matter, the people, her family, all sacrificed in the name of a greater good.

    I know it's been drilled into your heads to keep things a secret due to… complications with organizations on Bet, but I'm going to say that if the need arises, then go ahead. Screw Freyja and her need for secrecy. I swear her reasoning for it stems from her trauma that she accumulated over her lifetime.

    You and Taylor need to focus on yourselves. If something works and it goes against Freyja, then it gives you something to smack in her face. Keep in mind that telling the PRT could lead to significant ramifications, considering the possible link between Taylor and Glaistig Uaine. It wouldn't be great if she ended up with a Kill Order herself and would have to remain in the Nine Realms for however long it takes for them to forget about her.

    As for the family, that's up to you, Ori. I honestly believe you should tell them, no matter how much you fear their responses. I wish I could be there to help, but my presence isn't so easily masked like yours is now. They are family, Ori, they'd love you no matter what.

    That said, know that I love you and tell Zoe that I appreciate everything she's doing for you. Our afterlives are nothing like the stories or religious text make them out to be. That hollowness, I don't know if it will subside since you're a Valkyrie now, but know that you are not alone. It's something we all feel and it pains us every day. I wish I could have more encouraging words, but it's still new to me even after all these years. When I do find a solution, you     will be the first to learn of it. The other advisors have been trying to figure it out under Freyja's nose for some time now. If Taylor discovers anything because she's the queen, then please let us know.

    Love,

    Your Auntie Jess

    A shudder of a breath escaped my lips as I tried to hold myself together. Reading her words brought great comfort, not only that I'd always have her to talk to but knowing that we weren't alone. As great as Zoe has been, Tay and I were on a completely different level than her.

    Because of Aunt Jess…I think I might tell my family. Though, I'd wait until after my funeral. It would be too weird to do it before with how stressed they were and how that might cause a potential issue with that information getting out to the public. Probably why my aunt and uncle were out fighting criminals in the middle of the day, the stress of it had to be eating all of them as much as it was me, if not more so.

    With that, I made a phone call to the PRT. Time to get these criminals into jail. Hopefully they'd stay there.
    And Ori slowly makes her own journey, even if its a little painful. If you're wondering why Ori didn't just come out to them right then and there, remember that Ori has a lot of self doubt and worries about her family. Her nightmares haunt her often and she worries for what their reaction would be. Remember who her mom is and the possibilities of reuniting could cause.

    Next chapter... the funeral.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • Thurisaz 3.6 (Taylor)
  • Threadmarks
    • I would like to thank my beta team, you girls are amazing!
    CW: Funeral (grieving people)
    Thurisaz 3.6 (Taylor)​

    Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

    A sigh escaped my lips and I rubbed my face as exhaustion weighed on my shoulders. I was not prepared for what was to come. It'd been on my mind for the past forty-eight hours and it certainly hadn't helped with my sleep.

    I slammed my locker shut, wincing when the metal door creaked slightly. Too hard. Another sigh escaped my lips, if I wasn't so tired, I wouldn't have been so reckless with my strength. Oh well.

    "Wow Taylor, a black dress? You know that doesn't make you a girl right? You're still a boy parading around like a—"

    "You really can't shut your mouth, can you?" I bit back as I turned around. My dress wasn't anything special. It was just a black sleeveless number that billowed out from my hips. What was becoming a requirement now, it had an open back so I could summon my wings if needed. It even gave me a sense of cleavage with the built in bra too. I actually felt nice in it. Thank you, Aunt Zoe.

    Emma was standing with her usual cronies, creating a half circle around me as if they could intimidate me. Madison stood next to her, a small smirk on her face while she occasionally glanced at Emma. Emma for her part, had her arms crossed over, a determined smug look on her face. Her eyes roamed my body, that smug look transforming into disgust.

    "Ugh, can't believe you think that looks good on you."

    I hated how that barb actually hurt despite knowing what a spiteful creature she was and opted to pinch the bridge of my nose instead. "Emma, please tell me why it was such a good idea to, oh I don't know, surround someone like me?"

    "Because you—"

    "A cape."

    The words left my lips and echoed in the surprisingly quiet hallway. Why did it seem like everything I did resulted in everyone hearing it? No matter where I walked, the hallways were quieter, the looks were either scathing, from the Empire mainly, or tinged with fear. I knew what those looks meant, it wasn't hard to figure out. Just like I thought on Monday, they all thought I'd go Carrie at a moment's notice.

    My words impacted the group with brute force, reminding them once again that I wasn't the weak girl I once was, that I wouldn't be pushed around. A few nervous eyes darted to Emma for direction. Even Madison seemed a little wary now but continued to hold strong for my former friend.

    Emma, for her part, didn't flinch. "And you can't use your powers in school."

    It sounded like she assumed there was some sort of nullification power in the school or something, which was just stupid. I'd know if that was the case, my agent was quite incessant sometimes, especially when Sophia or Charlotte weren't around to act as support.

    I rolled my eyes, "Okay, sure." The rumors of me having wings had already spread like wildfire from the few people on the field on Monday. I grabbed my backpack, uncaring that none of the girls made a move to let me through.

    "Where do you think you're going?"

    "A funeral," I deadpanned.

    That caused a few murmurs in the hallway and the girl in front of me widened her eyes.

    "You at a funeral? Gonna cry like you did at your m—"

    Rage boiled within me at the mere thought of her mentioning my mom's funeral. The fake death with all the real implications. I turned to face her, gasps erupted in the hallway and several of Emma's cronies took a step back, alarm written on their faces as my hair fluttered in an unseen wind.

    "Watch what you say next, Emma," I growled through gritted teeth.

    Emma was taken back slightly and I watched her swallow heavily. Good, she realized she stepped over a line.

    "Now move or I force you to move."

    Whatever thoughts that were crossing her mind were quickly squashed as she squared herself and a look of determination filled her face.

    "Whatever, bitch."

    I let out a laugh, "Me? A bitch? Look in a mirror, Emma."

    She growled and I couldn't help but compare it to a puppy trying to act tough. If it wasn't for the boiling blood in my veins, I'd have laughed at the thought.

    Without another thought, I pushed past two of the other girls, their squeak of alarms giving me a moment pause before continuing. The hallway parted for me, allowing me a quick path out of this blasted hellhole. I was so tired of this school and its bullshit.

    By the time I had made it out of the parking lot where Aunt Zoe's car was parked, my anger had quelled somewhat. It was an interesting thought that before Ori's death, I would have probably been crying from her mentioning my mom like that, but now all I felt was anger. And it wasn't even directed in her way.

    My feet stopped when I realized that it wasn't Aunt Zoe in the driver's seat of the car.

    It was dad.

    Why was he here? Shouldn't he be at work? Let alone the fact that he was driving Aunt Zoe's car. Though with her practically moving into the house, it shouldn't surprise me.

    I opened the car door, only dimly aware that my girlfriend was sitting in the back seat. Dwelling on that was minor compared to other things on my mind. It wasn't like she could just show up for the funeral without causing chaos. Maybe she wanted some air? Moral support? That I could see. Though I'd think she'd need it more than me. It was her funeral after all.

    "Hi, Little Owl," Dad said with a slim smile on his face. "Surprised to see me?"

    Closing the door gently, moreso to avoid a repeat of my locker, I replied with a slight bit of apprehension. "A little."

    I was reminded of the conversation Aunt Zoe and I had on Monday. After Ori had left to go on patrol, Aunt Zoe and I got into a little argument about school which also led to the fact that I had been ignoring dad. The resulting guilt was just another reminder that I was so consumed in my thoughts and goals that I was hurting others.

    While I still disagreed with her about going to school, I did make it a point to try to talk more with dad. Surprisingly, him calling me with my old nickname didn't bother me nearly as much as it did with Freyja.

    "Well," Dad said as he looked forward. He seemed so out of place in the small sedan. "I figured that since this is an important… event, that I should take you."

    "But what about work?"

    "Work can wait, you're more important. I want to be there for you."

    Did I really need it? The funeral was more of an awkward feeling than anything morose. Especially with the guest of honor sitting in the back seat, if anything, Ori was the one in need of support.

    "Okay," I said quietly.

    There was a small pause before dad spoke. "Is… is everything okay? I know funeral's aren't cheerful things."

    My girlfriend snorted, causing me to glance over my shoulder.

    "Wanted to come along?" I asked her.

    She did sort of a nod and a shrug at the same time. "Yeah. It wouldn't do for me to miss my own funeral, not gonna actually be at the funeral, obviously. But I… I want to see my family. I— I want to tell them soon."

    I blinked my eyes owlishly a few times as I processed her words. "Do you want any help with that?"

    "I… I want to do it myself."

    I nodded in support. "Okay. If that ever changes or if you want to talk about it, you can always come to me."

    A small smile graced my girlfriend's lips. "Thanks, Tay. I appreciate it."

    I smiled back before sitting back in my seat. Dad started the car and slowly drove out of the school parking lot. Along the road, Miss Militia was putting her helmet on and starting her bike. It looked like she was heading the opposite direction.

    Dad's earlier question came to the forefront of my mind and Aunt Zoe's voice echoed in my head about not keeping things from him.

    Sighing, I answered the question. "Emma was just being a bitch."

    "Oh," Dad said, clearly unsure what to say.

    "Do I need to—" Ori said, raising to my defense. It was a sweet gesture.

    I shook my head, "It's stupid." I glanced over at Dad. He was focusing on the road, but he was looking at me through the corner of his eye. I sighed and continued, "She tried to corner me and comment about how 'mannish' I was in my dress—"

    "That bi—" Ori was about to curse Emma under her breath but stopped herself.

    "And when I was leaving, she asked where I was going, leading to me mentioning the funeral. So she decided to throw Freyja's funeral in my face."

    "That cunt," My girlfriend finished this time. "She's such a fucking bitch. I remember when she made fun of a disabled girl at a photoshoot. Add on everything else she's done to you…"

    Dad's grip on the wheel tightened. "I'm sorry, Little Owl," He said slowly. "Your aunt and I have talked a bit about Emma after the last… incident." I knew he was referring to when I got kicked in the groin. "Your aunt has tried, but somewhere along the line, she became a lost cause."

    "Do you know what happened? About the alley?"

    Dad was quiet for a few seconds before speaking. "Only a little. Alan didn't want to say anything and your aunt wasn't there. But what I do know is that Alan believes he's helping his daughter."

    The way he said it sounded like he was speaking from experience. The past few years haven't been easy for the two of us. The pictures were just the more recent issue but he had slowly come around to me being trans. It was somewhat comforting to know that it was coming from a good place.

    "There's a reason she's trying to divorce him," Dad continued.

    "You mean besides the obvious?" Which wasn't obvious to me till more recently, but the snort from Ori made the comment worth it.

    Dad rolled his eyes, "Yes, besides that, Little Owl." There was a small smile on his face. It fell shortly after. "Your aunt complains often about how he coddles the girl and gives her everything instead of actually helping her. She wanted to get professional help for her, but Alan outright refused. It's… it's why I've been listening to her. She's not perfect, but your aunt knows a lot and cares."

    There was a still silence after that. I was starting to put the pieces together after years of wondering and while it didn't account for all of Emma's choices, it made sense why she was like this. Being attacked by the ABB was bound to fuck someone up and from what I'd heard from Sophia, the girl grabbed onto the most sensible thing in her mind. If she had gone to therapy…

    Would we still be friends? Sisters?

    The thoughts stirred in my mind and the longer it did, the more I realized I shouldn't dwell on it. That ship had sailed so long ago. Instead, I turned my gaze to the surroundings that seemed to blur as the car sped down the street and heading towards the highway.

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    The car stopped in a parking lot near the cemetery. It was, I wouldn't say peaceful as it was still a cemetery, but it was located in the more northern part of the city, closer to Captain's Hill and the woods than the Docks. There were far more cars and vans than you'd expect for a funeral, even if Ori was a well known and prominent local hero. Freyja's wasn't this large and there were people from all over the city who had come. Of course, now, I had to wonder who each and every one of those people were since they could either be from the movement or even the Nine Realms.

    But that aside, having news vans at a funeral was not something I was expecting. Fantastic.

    "Fuck me," Ori cursed as she stared out the window. She pulled up her hood to hide her face.

    "I assume that news vans are not common even for a hero's death?" Dad asked.

    No one answered him since I didn't have the answer and I doubt my girlfriend wanted to.

    I groaned, "Wonderful. This is going to be a shitshow."

    "Why did Mom…" Ori trailed off.

    When I glanced over my shoulder to look at her, conflicting emotions danced across her face. "Why did your mom allow this?"

    My girlfriend's eyes met mine. "Yeah. This… this should be private. We didn't have any of this for Aunt Jess."

    I tried to come up with an answer for her. That maybe the circumstances were different, but each one I came up with only proved how close in comparison both deaths were. Both were killed by the Empire, the only difference was how public Ori's death was in comparison. The end result was the same, a hero dead at the hands of Nazis.

    "The news hasn't stopped running talk shows and articles about you," Dad informed us. "Whatever to get more views."

    Ori closed her eyes, "Fuck."

    "You know, I might have to use my powers to stop these assholes," I commented. I was really starting to hate reporters.

    "Taylor," Dad scolded me.

    A defeated sigh escaped my lips, "Fine, I won't." I didn't want to fight him on it. They were just reporters.

    No one responded and we settled into silence as we stared at the scene before us. Anxiety and nervousness crept into me as thoughts of how this whole thing was going to go. This was the first time I'd met New Wave since Ori's death and I wasn't sure how they'd react to me. My girlfriend had told me that she'd met her aunt and uncle when she went on patrol. How they seemed colder, still struggling with the reality of her death.

    She didn't spend that night alone at the warehouse. There was no way I was going to let her.

    "Come on," Dad said, as he turned the car off. "I'll help you get inside."

    I blinked my eyes owlishly. "Okay," I said quietly.

    Scrounging up some courage, I opened the car door and walked out, meeting dad around the car. There was a distant murmur of voices all around. The moment I stepped on the sidewalk that led to the main building, I was met with a wall of reporters and they didn't waste time to horde me.

    "Taylor Hebert—"

    "Miss Hebert—"

    "What are your thoughts—"

    "We've heard about—"

    Countless faces and voices bombarded me. It took everything within me not to spread my wings and reach for the sky or use a bit of magic to push them away. I hated the feeling of being cornered by all of them, no way to move and their incessant badgering. My power was clamoring in the back of my head for freedom. To help.

    "GET BACK!" Dad yelled, pushing away reporters as they froze from his voice. It was as if they hadn't realized there was a tall man standing in front of me till he spoke. The momentary pause was all Dad needed to push through, pulling me along with him.

    We painstakingly made our way through the horde of reporters, Dad constantly threatening them for pictures of a minor without parental approval. Not sure how that worked when it came to capes, or in a public place, but I appreciated the thought.

    The door to the main building opened quickly, revealing a man in a form fitting black tux. Mark Dallon. His short brown hair was neatly buzzed and he didn't look anywhere near as… down or quiet as before. He actually looked energetic. I wouldn't say happy since this was his daughter's funeral, but he was different.

    He took one look at the reporters behind us and shook his head. "Leave," He said sternly to the group.

    The reporters didn't move but gave a momentary reprieve that I welcomed. Mark looked at me, a small smile on his face.

    "Hello, Taylor."

    "Hi, Mr. Dallon."

    He almost rolled his eyes, "Please, call me Mark. I think we owe it to each other."

    I nodded mutely. He smiled briefly before turning his attention to my dad.

    "Are you her father?"

    There was a tinge of protectiveness in Mark's voice, as if he was expecting… oh. He thought Dad might be another reporter.

    Dad nodded, "I am. Danny Hebert." Dad held his hand out for a shake.

    "Mark Dallon," He reached out and the two dads shook hands.

    Not the way I expected the two to meet, but there were more…embarrassing ways. The sound of shuttering and flashing like a strobe light started up in earnest.

    "Ignore them," He whispered to us. "They've been insufferable."

    "I know."

    He glanced at me, a worried look on his face before it disappeared. "I guess you would." he looked at Dad and asked, "Are you joining?"

    Dad shook his head. "No, I'm just dropping my daughter off and holding back the reporters."

    Mark nodded. "Okay. Sorry again about the reporters in the first place."

    Dad shrugged, "I'm accustomed to it. They come by the DWU from time to time."

    "Ah," Mark said with an appreciative eye. "That explains why you handled them quite well!"

    Feeling the awkward third wheel in this conversation, I interjected myself, "I'm gonna go inside."

    The two dads looked at me before nodding.

    "Okay, Little Owl. Call me if you need anything," Dad said.

    "Thanks, Dad," I gave him a small smile.

    My eyes quickly adjusted to the lights as I entered. I surveyed the main room; tacky wallpaper and furniture that looked far too uncomfortable to sit in. Several dishes were scattered with various candies and a single coffee maker sat on a table with styrofoam cups next to it.

    Sitting on one set of couches were Sarah and Neil Pelham. Neil had his hand on Sarah while she had hers on his leg. Both were leaning forward, waiting impatiently by the looks of it. Eric was sitting in one of the single chairs, looking as uncomfortable as possible due to the chair itself. He kept moving and fidgeting. Crystal was standing by one of the tables with a candy dish, she took a piece and popped it into her mouth, only to grimace and began looking around desperately for the trash. Carol was nowhere to be seen, nor was Amy now that I thought about it. Everyone was dressed appropriately for a funeral.

    Dean, who I was not expecting but should've known that he'd be here, was standing by the coffee machine. Out of everyone, his tux probably looked the most refined. Based on the sheen of the material, I'd guess silk. He was looking at his phone, his eyes darting up and down on it. Not a moment later, his eyes looked up and landed on me.

    I knew he was a cape, Ori told me he was, though I didn't know who. When she had told me, I didn't really think too much about it; the conversation we were having was deep enough as it was. There were so few heroes in the city and unless my girlfriend had a thing for villains, he must've been a Ward. I started to go down the list of them in my head. Aegis had already been ruled out. Dean was tall and certainly didn't seem like a Clockblocker in terms of attitude or personality. Or that was one hell of a way to hide himself. Kid Win had red hair, which meant there was only one other option. Gallant. Fitting, really. A tinker who looked like a knight in shining armor.

    His eyes met mine and there was an array of emotion in them that I couldn't quite pin down. Sadness was a given, considering what we were all here for. It was as if he was trying to read me or wait for me to do something.

    Not long after that, Mark walked past me and the front door finally closed. Everyone in the room looked at the entrance, at me.

    "Hello, Taylor," Sarah said with a grim face. "I'm glad you could make it."

    "I had to, for her."

    There was a pained expression on everyone's face when I said that. I felt a pang of guilt for being the cause of it.

    "I can imagine. I–" She stopped herself, pursed her lips before speaking again. "I know it can't be easy for you. Given…"

    She didn't need to continue for me to know where she was going with that. A flash of those lifeless eyes crossed my mind, forcing me to close my eyes as I always do when I'm remembering that moment.

    "Yeah," I said slowly as I opened my eyes.

    It looked like the leader of New Wave was about to speak again before a set of doors on the right opened, revealing Carol Dallon. She was wearing a neat black dress, just like everyone else, and had an unreadable look on her face. She didn't even look in my direction before she started talking.

    "Everything is set up and ready for when—" She stopped and looked around the room. Her eyes landed on me. Then there was a cold look on her face. "Taylor. I see you're here."

    I nodded, "Yeah, I am."

    She stared at me, those calculating eyes not showing an ounce of trust. I could only assume what was going through her head. The last time we were in the same room together was right before the museum where she didn't trust Gondul. Then a few days later, her daughter was killed while out with me. What a great way to find out about my identity.

    "You better no—"

    "Don't start now, Carol," Sarah snapped.

    Carol's head sharply turned, her eyes zeroing in on her sister. "You can't say that this wasn't beca—"

    "Okay, let's calm down now," Mark said, getting into the center of the sisters.

    "Mark don't—" Carol started.

    "She started—" Sarah added.

    Mark wasn't having it. "We are all here for the same reason," His voice barely a whisper but his words had a physicality to them. It was filled with the sorrow of a father who lost his daughter and wanted nothing more than to have her back.

    The lump that formed in my throat was harder to swallow than I imagined. A part of me wanted to just come clean, tell them that Ori was alive, or at least some definition of it, but I couldn't. Not only was that her secret to reveal but there was too much stress in the room to drop a bomb like that.

    No one moved and no one spoke. It was as if the entire room was stuck in time as everyone stared at one another, waiting for someone to do something. Even the funeral director, a neat and clean shaven man with short black hair and a slight tan, stood off to the side with darting eyes.

    It wasn't until the doors opened and the clamor from outside broke the spell.

    I didn't even have the time to turn around when the doors slammed shut and Amy came shuffling in. Dark circles were under her eyes to match the dark blouse and skirt she was wearing. Her hair was a complete mess, like it hadn't seen a shower in days. Her hands were shoved into the pockets of her skirt. She stopped in the middle of the room and looked around. Her eyes landed on me and she wasn't holding back the desire to kill me.

    "Amy," Carol said with a scowl on her face, her voice filled with accusation. "Where have you been?"

    "Trying to get through the reporters that you decided to allow here."

    "That is no excuse to—"

    "Sorry that I had to take the bus because no one bothered to pick me up or how the one person who would've brought me, died."

    Carol stared daggers at Amy. I was a bit shocked at the conversation and decided to stay quiet. Like Dean, I was an outsider to this whole thing.

    "You could've called," Carol retorted.

    "I did."

    "Let's calm down—" Mark tried again, but it looked like that was getting nowhere.

    "I will not calm down, Mark," Carol said, glaring at the man for only a brief moment. "This isn't the first time she's been—"

    "Carol, you need to lay off!" Sarah said, getting up from her spot and moving in front of Amy. "Her sister died!"

    "That doesn't—"

    "Victoria's death affected us all! You can't just demand things, especially of your other daughter."

    A flash of darkness crossed Amy's face but was gone quickly. What was that about? "She's the one who didn't answer her phone," Amy deadpanned.

    "You could've—"

    "Carol, enough," Sarah ordered. Her next words were softer, gentler. "I know Victoria's death hit you hard." Hurt flashed across Carol's face, the cool, neutral facade nearly breaking before hardening again. "But you have to calm down. We have a host of reporters who want nothing more than to display this private event to the world, which you apparently decided to allow without informing the family."

    Carol inhaled, "I didn't 'allow' them."

    "Are you calling Amy a liar then?"

    Carol didn't respond, just as much of an admission than answering. The tension in the air was as thick as molasses. I felt incredibly out of place and I couldn't help but feel guilty for being the cause.

    "Seriously, Carol?"

    "They were going to show anyway. How many requests have we gotten in the past three weeks? It's better to get it over with, have them see how we as a team are do—"

    Sarah groaned audibly. "I. Don't. Care. I don't care that we would've been here anyway. I don't care that reporters would've figured it out. What I do care about is that we have an army of them out there."

    The two sisters glared at one another. A silent argument between the two that only sisters could have. At least, that's what I thought it was, it wasn't far off from some of the fights I used to have with Emma. I don't think Baldr and I could have anything like that. I also don't think I could ever be mad at him. He was far too sweet and innocent.

    "Enough," Mark interjected, this time with Neil jumping in. "Is this how you think she'd want us to spend this day?"

    His words struck home in the sisters as if they remembered why they were there. How they stood in the middle of a funeral home for a departed family member. A daughter and a niece.

    Both sisters backed off, the tension ebbing away but not quite disappearing.

    "You're right," Sarah relented, taking a heavy breath as she stepped back. "You're right. This is for Victoria."

    Carol on the other hand, didn't respond. Instead, she turned. Her eyes briefly landed on me again and that same accusatory glare was directed my way before she faced the funeral director. "Let's begin."

    The man, given everything he just witnessed, composed himself well. "Is there anyone else that needs to arrive?"

    "No, everyone's her—"

    The doors opened again and everyone, including myself, looked at the newcomer. A tall man in a black tux walked into the building. He had red-blonde hair with a neatly trimmed beard. A single glance at Sarah and Carol was all I needed to know that the man was familiar, yet not expected. I'd done a bit more research after returning, mostly to kill time during classes, into Ori's family, and his face was one I wouldn't forget.

    Ori's uncle and Jess' once fiance.

    "Mike?" Sarah's voice was filled with disbelief. Carol's face was probably the most surprised I'd ever seen with a slight gape to her lips.

    Mike looked around the room, taking everything in. His eyes landed on me and there was a look of curiosity that flashed across his face. His gaze left me and went to his sister.

    "Yeah," He said. "Think I wouldn't come to my niece's funeral?"

    He dropped the proverbial mic and I could see his words struck the sisters particularly hard.

    It was several seconds of silence before Carol spoke.

    "I'm glad you are here," She said, schooling her features and keeping her voice even.

    "She would've wanted me to be. I know that—" He paused for a moment, closing his eyes. "I think it's been long enough."

    Both Carol and Sarah nodded.

    "But I don't think I need to say—" He stopped himself again. "That can be discussed later."

    "I agree," Sarah said. "We should focus on Vic—" She choked up. "Victoria."

    There was a mutual agreement from everyone in the room. I couldn't help but stare at the man who at one point was going to marry Jess. My girlfriend had told me that he had distanced himself from the family and she barely knew what was going on with him. To see him here at her funeral…

    I was going to need to get another package of Oreos for her. Double stuffed.

    Carol turned to the funeral director and said, "Now everyone's ready."

    "Very well," He looked at everyone. At that moment, we had all stood and gathered around him.

    I heard a shuffling near me. Crystal had moved to stand next to me. When the funeral director left the room, I went along until I felt a hand on my shoulder. My head snapped to the hand and then the person who owned it. Crystal had a look on her face that took me a moment to realize that she wanted me to hang back. A quick glance at the others was all I needed to agree.

    When they were far enough from earshot, Crystal whispered, "Are you okay?"

    I shrugged my shoulders. "Depends on your definition of okay and what you're referring to."

    "I don't think I need to clarify on what."

    She wasn't wrong. I knew she was talking about Ori's death. "No. No, I'm not. She was in my arms, you know?"

    Crystal took a sharp inhale of breath and clenched her jaw. "I figured. I-I know you two were together. For a while now. I— if you ever want to talk, I'm here, okay?"

    "I— thank you." I just felt so awkward. My girlfriend wasn't far, in fact, she wasn't in the parking lot anymore but still nearby. Yet there was the whole fact that she did die. This was her funeral. "Same to you, okay? I know we haven't really talked or anything but…"

    She smiled. It wasn't heartwarming or one that reached her eyes. It was filled with sorrow for family lost. I was one of the few people that might be able to tell her new things to remember her cousin by after all.

    "I'll keep that in mind." She looked ahead and her eyes went wide. "We should catch up before we spark another argument."

    I nodded and we quickly caught up to the family right before they left through the building. No one spoke and everyone sort of spaced themselves once we got outside. I'd imagine we only had a few minutes before the reporters realized we weren't in the building anymore. Crystal stayed near me, which I was grateful for.

    "Amy, you shou—"

    My eyes glanced over at Dean, who was standing next to Amy. Amy looked like she didn't want to listen to him or be near him. Or anyone for that matter. She was an angry dark cloud that had somehow been conjured by Thor.

    "No," Amy growled.

    "You can't just—"

    "Dean, I don't care."

    "Amy—"

    Amy's gaze snapped in his direction. Her menacing brown eyes narrowed as they landed on Dean. "Fuck off, Dean. Or should I tell everyone how loud you get during sex?"

    Dean recoiled at that. I could only imagine the expression that must have been on his face.

    "That's right, I heard you and my sister have sex. Or did you already know that? I'm sure you did and you still acted like I didn't know. You don't really care, no one does it seems."

    I was shocked at the vitriol that Amy was sending to the boy. As… embarrassing as it was to hear about my girlfriend's sex life, it was nothing compared to what Dean must be feeling. Amy didn't hold punches, I knew that quite well considering she outed me to Victoria. Her sister's death must've hit her hard.

    Dean stood frozen, which was all Amy needed to storm off and followed everyone else. I briefly wondered if I should go over there and, I don't know, console him, but I felt that by doing that, it might embarrass him further. He rubbed his face and looked around, his eyes met mine.

    Shit.

    He looked away an instant later. He knew I'd overheard. Oh well, nothing to do about it now so I pressed on.

    The group finally stopped when we arrived at an open plot where a casket was being held above the opening in the ground. There were a few tombstones nearby and knowing the location, I knew that Freyja's wasn't far either. A part of me wanted to summon a Valkyrie to strike it down or demolish it with a spell, but I held back.

    There was a priest who was standing at a podium at the front of the casket. The casket had remained closed for the time being but I'd imagine it'd be opened soon. There was a stand with Victoria's picture, wreathed in white and gold flowers. I wasn't sure what picture it was, but she was beautiful as always. Her smile was radiant, reaching up to her twinkling cerulean eyes. Cerulean eyes that quickly flashed to the lifeless ones. My eyes closed as I forced the image of my girlfriend to replace it. Of those blue eyes with the shining gold within them. But the picture of her in my arms remained and I had to shake the thoughts away.

    "You okay?" Crystal whispered.

    I glanced up and met her worried-filled eyes. Just as I was about to speak, the priest started.

    "Is everyone here?"

    He was an older gentleman, probably in his sixties, with balding gray hair and was wearing a black robe that you see all the catholic bishops and priests wear. He looked kind, but I couldn't help but feel uneasy about him. Probably because if I ever stepped foot in whatever denomination church he worked at, I'd burst into flames.

    Well, if the Christian god existed anyway. Actually now that I thought about it, I was technically a goddess and this was—

    "Yes, this is everyone," The funeral director said.

    The priest smiled. "Good." He looked over the family and started his speech. "I'm so glad you all could join in this sad moment in life." He paused to allow anyone to speak but no one did. "We are here today to celebrate the life, and death, of Victoria Dallon. Beloved daughter, niece, sister, and cousin. We—"

    He started droning about Victoria and I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. It was sad, don't get me wrong, but there were so many factors that just didn't sit well with me. Like how my girlfriend seemed to be walking the perimeter of the cemetery, or that to me, she was very much alive.

    I knew this was going to be awkward, but I didn't realize just how off putting it would be.

    At some point the casket had been opened and the reporters had caught on. Surprisingly, they didn't barge in and interrupt and just stayed on the outskirts. Their cameras flashing periodically as they took pictures.

    My eyes wandered to the body and another wave of uncomfortable awkwardness filled me. It was just so odd to actually see her body while knowing she was barely a hundred feet away, watching from a safe distance. Was this why the gods generally didn't mingle with mortals? Because in some sense of it, they might see a person they knew in the afterlife.

    "Now if anyone who was near and dear to Victoria would like to say a few things?" The priest asked, gesturing to the family.

    No one moved at first and nervousness gripped my soul. I had planned to say something and now that we were at that stage of the funeral, I couldn't help but fidget with my braids. Enjoying the clinking sounds of the jewelry I'd recently gotten with Aunt Zoe. Luckily for me, Mark took the plunge and went first.

    He walked forward and stood next to the casket. He reached down, his hand tracing Victoria's cheek. "Victoria was always the light of our lives. She never asked for much but was always there when you needed help. I—" He choked up as tears streamed down his face. He wiped his tears and for the first time, Carol's unreadable face broke. Sadness filled her eyes and she rushed to her husband to give him comfort.

    Carol looked over at the priest and he gave a solemn nod. Carol gently pulled her husband away, but not before he could say, "I miss you so much, Victoria."

    Tears were welling up in everyone's eyes, my own included. I'd never seen such emotion from either adult and it truly hit me. For them, Ori was gone forever. I'd not had to deal with that realization since I'd taken her straight to Asgard.

    For a minute, no one moved, not even the reporters. The somber mood settled over all in attendance, including the distant reporters. Even Ori had stopped, and I had to consciously resist glancing in her direction. I wanted to go up and say my piece, but I didn't want to intrude on any family members.

    Eventually, Sarah walked up to the casket. Her eyes lingered on Victoria, a forlorn expression on her face. She looked up as she spoke.

    "I have several words, both as the Leader of New Wave and as Victoria's aunt. First off, what happened to Victoria, to Glory Girl, will forever be marked on this city's history. She was a hero who had great aspirations to make changes in this city. In retrospect, she did. Not only has she stopped several villains and criminals in the past, but what happened to her shows the cruelty villains have. Why we must be vigilant. To that end, New Wave will not be taking this lightly. This is the second time the Empire has crossed a line with us and we won't stand for it."

    I knew the family team had been doing some attacks on their own, Ori's meet up being one of them, but it looked like they were taking the kid gloves off. This was the second time a member of their family was killed by the same gang. Unlike last time, they couldn't hide behind some mook as the killer and hide him away. No, it was one of their heaviest hitters and that was not to be taken lightly.

    Sarah took a deep breath, her features becoming softer and a slim smile grew on her face. "Now, as the aunt, I would like to say that Victoria was always a breath of fresh air whenever she was around. She was caring and compassionate, always putting others before herself." Tears were forming in her eyes. "I remember when she was a little girl, how I had picked her up at kindergarten one day. She came running up, one hand behind her back. I had asked her 'What you got there, Victoria?' and she gave a big toothy smile and pulled out a handful of dandelions, holding them out to me. She said, 'I got these for you auntie! You were sad and dandelions make me happy, so they should make you too'."

    Many people voiced their reactions, whether to aww, smile, or tear up at the image of a young Ori. Fuck, I was tearing up at it. It was just so her.

    Neil stood up next to his wife, wrapping his arms around her in a comforting hug. He rubbed her arm as Sarah's tears started to fall.

    "There was a time," Neil said, taking his wife's place, "When she was younger, she wanted to watch her first scary movie. She was always fascinated whenever we adults had our movie nights, usually the ones kids shouldn't see."

    A round of chuckles escaped from the crowd.

    "But she was so incessant that she was a big girl and could handle it. Even roped my daughter into it."

    Crystal smiled while rolling her eyes.

    "She couldn't," He laughed, followed by others. "Neither her or Crystal could. The moment the tense music started playing she buried her head into the blankets, taking Crystal with her."

    "Hey now, that fort we made was the best," Crystal interjected.

    I couldn't help but laugh.

    "Yes it was, Honey," Neil smiled at her. The smile fell when he started talking. "Victoria was scared far more than she let on but always took it in stride. She was an inspiration to all, and I hope that inspiration carries on."

    The somberness of his words lingered in the air as both he and Sarah backed away from the casket, their hands trailing the sleek, dark wood. No one moved right away, letting the kind words percolate in their minds.

    Restlessness crept in and I knew I had to make a move or I'd sit back and never say anything. I had to. There was so much about Victoria that no one has spoken about and deserved to be known.

    I forced myself to move, stopping just short of the open side of the casket. My eyes lingered on Victoria's face. A myriad of emotions roiled within me as I stared at the face of her body and felt her tether move. She looked so serene and at peace. Nothing like the last image I had with this body. Her eyes were closed, but her lifeless cerulean ones flashed crossed my mind. Blood covered my hands, her blood. The rebar sticking out her chest and how helpless I felt at that moment.

    A shaky breath escaped my lips and I forced myself to focus. But as the images of her face, both from her death and the one on the periphery of the cemetery, I couldn't help but feel that something didn't sit right with me. I couldn't place it, but something was off. Maybe it was the embalming fluid and other chemicals that preserved the body. Amy could do a lot, but I'd imagine they'd want the funeral to handle it afterwards.

    I looked up, many faces staring at me, some unreadable, others with a soft smile on their faces. Scrounging up the courage needed to say my piece, I chose to speak the truth. From the heart.

    "I'm not very good at this, so bear with me. I'm sure all of you know who I am," Since my face and name have been plastered all over the news. "So I won't go into all that." I closed my eyes and tried to imagine all the eyes disappearing. When I opened them again, I continued, "I'm going to tell you a story of how Victoria and I met…"

    That got a few snaps of the cameras and curious eyes glanced my way. Carol and Amy on the other hand, not so much. Carol still had that cold glare pointed at me while Amy held nothing but a menacing ire threatening ruin upon me. I figured I'd have their anger, my involvement ended up with their daughter and sister killed, respectively. Even though I expected it, it still hurt.

    Fuck you, Freyja.

    "Victoria and I met when she crashed into me at the university library," I had a fond smile on my face and received a few chuckles. "To be fair, it was my fault for having a stack of books covering my view. From there, we delved into learning a new language," I carefully made sure I said the right thing for the next words, "And discovered my mom's old things. Learning both the secrets of a mythology and my heritage. What people don't seem to know about Victoria, at least the greater public because I'm sure her family knows, was that she was absolutely brilliant. She had to be if she was taking Parahuman courses at the local university!"

    The Pelhams and Mark nodded with faces filled with smiles and reminisce.

    "We grew close quickly. Far quicker than I had even realized since it took me way too long to realize that those tea shop visits were actually dates."

    "She was enamored with you from the start," Crystal said, causing a chortle from the Pelhams. Only Mark had a smile from the Dallons.

    I scratched the back of my head, "Yeah." I didn't want to say that I didn't know why, no matter how many times she'd told me. "But what I'm saying is that Victoria is everything her family has said and more. She was a lighthouse on a stormy night, shining bright to bring sailors to safety. That no matter what came, she'd keep lighting the way."

    There was happiness in the air. I was honestly surprised that everyone seemed to like what I had said. It was only the truth. It was a side of Victoria that I wanted people to know.

    That lighter mood in the air was broken the instant a fiery accusation was sent my way.

    "Until you got her killed."

    As if a record player was stopped, everyone froze and my eyes landed on Amy. Her fists were clenching and that look she had earlier had morphed into something darker. Hatred. The look reminded me of someone. Someone I only met recently.

    "Amy—" Mark tried to scold her but she didn't.

    "No, it was because of her," Amy pointed her finger at me. "That my sister is dead."

    There were gasps and alarms from a few people, but they were just background noise. Amy started marching towards me, her fist still clenching furiously as if she wanted to punch me.

    "Amy, I didn—"

    "Shut up, you asshole! It's your fault that Vicky's dead! If it wasn't for whatever fucking shit you did to her, she would still be alive!"

    Her words reverberated within me. A feeling that I consistently buried deep and ignored. How it was my fault that she had died. That no matter how much I could look at that tether and know she's around, it wouldn't change the fact that it was my fault. That my desire to learn more about Freyja had led me down a path that got her killed.

    Carol had started moving, fear and alarm in her eyes, but Amy was already in front of me. That clenching fist rearing up. I knew that the punch was going to hurt her far more than me.

    But it wasn't a punch. Her hand spread out and clamped over my face, skin touching skin. The world seemed to freeze as I waited for that weird feeling that came the last time she touched me, for whatever she had planned for me to take effect. The clock ticked forward and Amy's eyes widened. Perhaps my Divinity had grown that she couldn't do anything now. Amy's expression shifted to a snarl as she tried to instead push me back.

    I stumbled, nearly falling over my feet but was quickly grabbed before gravity took over. One of my Valkyrie, Sanngriðr, had hooked her large arms under my shoulders. More gasps rang out from the crowd and countless shutters went off. I hadn't realized the live camera before, but the red lighting was blinking in the center of it.

    An order wasn't needed as Sanngriðr hoisted me up and allowed me to stand. By the time I had my balance, Carol had reached Amy, a golden light appearing within her hand.

    "Don't you dare!" Sarah yelled out, stopping Carol and Amy.

    "Sarah—"

    "Don't!"

    Carol's eyes snapped to Amy and looked like she was about to speak, but Amy beat her to it.

    "Whatever. I'm out of here. Coddle the wannabe heroine for all I care," She barked, swerving out of Carol's and Sarah's way. Her words cut me deep and I couldn't help but wince. When she headed towards the reporters and they didn't move, she yelled, "Move!"

    It took a moment, but the reports parted like the red sea. Amy walked right through, ignoring the questions and pictures.

    "Carol—"

    Carol didn't listen, she watched her daughter walk away for a moment, then looked at me. That cold look was on her face again, along with a calculating stare. Her eyes narrowed for a moment.

    "I don't trust you," She whispered so quietly I doubt she actually wanted it to be heard.

    With that, she ran off after her daughter. Sarah let out a deep sigh. "I'm going to deal with the reporters. We… we might have to postpone the rest."

    "Go," Neil said, offering a comforting smile. "We do what we have to do. Especially for family."

    She nodded and walked towards the reporters who were following Carol.

    "Some things never change," Mike muttered while shaking his head. He wandered over to Neil and Mark. The three of them started whispering and I tuned out their conversation.

    I rubbed my face, pinching the bridge of my nose in particular. I couldn't help but feel that it was my fault. It all started because of me.

    There was a gently pressure on my shoulder and I glanced over it. Sanngriðr had her hand on me, a calming and comforting gesture that I couldn't help but feel grateful for.

    "Taylor, are you okay?" Both Crystal and Eric asked when they approached me. Mark, Neil, and Mike were talking to the priest and Dean was steadily making his way to me.

    I put a hand on my Valkyrie's before I dismissed her. The motes drifting off into the breeze.

    "Yeah," I lied. A pit of shame had made its dwelling in my stomach.

    Both stood in front of me, worried looks on their faces.

    "It's not your fault," Eric said, kindness in his voice. "Don't listen—"

    "But isn't it?" I shrugged. "If it wasn't for—"

    Crystal shook her head. "She would've done it anyway. You know her, you know that she would leap at the chance to defend someone she cares about. I wouldn't even blame her."

    I didn't want to argue with them, it wasn't worth it. I already felt bad about fibbing my feelings, I didn't want to allude to other things that needed to be kept secret until Ori told them.

    "Crystal! Eric!" Neil cried out, a phone to his head. "Your mom needs us!"

    "Shit," Crystal cursed. "That's not good." She looked back at me, "Look, I'll keep in contact, okay?"

    I nodded, opting to stay silent and rub my face.

    The two ran off after Mark and Neil, heading in the direction of the parking lot. The priest started walking towards the main building. All that was left was the picture of Victoria, her body, and Dean.

    He stood not far off, but close enough to talk. He was facing Victoria's body with a stoic look. After what felt like a lifetime, he spoke.

    "You know, I wasn't sure what it was that Victoria found so fascinating about you."

    I looked up at him, his eyes still on the body.

    "That so?"

    He nodded, his eyes meeting mine finally. "At first I thought you were just some new person who she wanted to help or be friends with. As friendly as she is, she doesn't make close friends often, and you somehow wormed your way in there."

    I honestly don't know what I did either. She told me that she thought I was a Nazi sympathizer at first, trying to win me over, though her views quickly changed as we spent more time together.

    "But it wasn't until I met you that I think I found out why. I was just too blinded by my own issues to realize it."

    "And what is that?"

    "You're an enigma. A mystery. Someone who is such a fixture in this world yet is so hard to understand. You said it yourself, Victoria likes to unravel the unknown."

    I didn't know what he meant by any of that, but he was right about Victoria.

    "That she does."

    He nodded, his eyes landing on the body. After what felt like hours, he sighed.

    "I should get going." He looked at me and said, "If you ever need help, in or out of costume, let me know."

    I raised an eyebrow at the admittance. "So I shouldn't say who you are, should I?"

    "Please don't. I'm technically not supposed to tell you."

    "Wasn't hard to figure out."

    He sighed. "The problem with dating unmasked capes. Keep that in mind, would you?"

    I nodded though it wasn't really an issue of mine.

    "Stay safe," He said before walking off.

    And then there was one. My eyes wandered over to Victoria's body. Slowly, I stood next to it, my eyes never wavering. I wasn't sure how long I stood there, but I knew my girlfriend was approaching based on the tether.

    "Couldn't stay away?" I said after she got close enough.

    My girlfriend sighed, "No."

    "Where's my dad?"

    "Not sure," She said as she stood next to me. "I told him to go back to work and that we'd find our own way back."

    It felt like there was more to that story, but I relented. I didn't have the energy to deal with it, especially with how draining that whole thing was.

    "Sorry that—"

    "Tay," She chided.

    Her tone was what forced me to look at her. Her hood was covering her head and did a good job of hiding her facial features, but her eyes practically glowed under the hood. Their golden sparks seemingly twinkled in the darkness. They surveyed the area with a contemplative look but the sorrow I expected was not there. She seemed unperturbed, even through the shroud of darkness.

    "Ori—"

    "No. We've had this discussion." She moved to put her hands on my arms but stopped. I nodded and she placed both of her hands on me, forcing me to focus on her. "It's not your fault. I would do it all over again. I would make those choices a thousand times over. Don't blame yourself."

    A shudder of a breath escaped my lips before I hiccuped. All of a sudden I was engulfed in a hug and tears were flowing freely from my eyes. My grip on her tightened as I let the emotions roll through me. I hated it, hated feeling like I had no control over my own actions or power over myself.

    My girlfriend was cooing into my ear, her words a jumbled string I couldn't put together. She continued to hold me, even though she shouldn't be here at all. It was too risky. Someone could see her, make the connections. Yet I didn't want to stop her.

    Eventually, my body was under my control and she let go of me. I went to wipe my tears, but her hand went up and brushed them aside. It was a little surprising, but it was nice and didn't stop her.

    "Tell me," She whispered. "Would you change any of it?"

    The question bounced around my head like that old video game, pong I think it was. Each hit against my skull was like another choice I made and determined if I would change it. Even with everything I know, everything that I've done, was I truly better off with what has happened, knowing that it led to Ori's death?

    In truth, I wouldn't. Becoming friends and something more with Ori had been the highlight of my life and still remained so. I would probably punch Freyja sooner or push for answers quicker, though, but not before she taught me to fly. That remained the second highlight, being able to fly with my own wings.

    "No. No I wouldn't."

    She smiled. "So don't get hung up on that shit. Especially not this," She gestured to the cemetery.

    "Feels like it should be the other way around."

    She shrugged her shoulders, "At first, I would agree, but being here… it wasn't as bad as I expected. Sure, I wanted to see my family and hug them. Even if Amy is still being a bitch to you."

    "Your mom too."

    My girlfriend snorted, "She wasn't thrilled with you in the first place. Don't worry about it. Just ignore her. In anycase, I've dwelled on my death long enough. This was just the conclusion to it and now it's time to carry on."

    I nodded. There wasn't a hint that she was hiding her feelings. She truly felt this was the end of it all and to move on.

    Her eyes looked to the side and I followed her line of sight. They were on her body and I could only imagine what was going through her head. Looking back, her eyes were wide and focused, the color rapidly draining from her face and I feared she was having another flashback.

    "Hey, if we need to—"

    "Why is my mole on the other side of my face?"

    "Wha—" I turned and inspected it. It looked like her, though something had seemed off to me ever since I laid eyes on it. How could it—

    "That's not my body," She said, her voice barely a whisper. "It's not just the mole, the scar I got from basketball, the one I refused to let Amy fix, is also on the wrong side. Like someone saw a picture and used that to build a different me."

    That's what was throwing me off. As if I had been drenched in ice cold water, several things dawned on me. None of them were good. If this wasn't her body…

    "Then who has your actual body, and where did this come from?" I absently asked.

    "Fuck," Ori cursed.

    I closed the casket, hiding the fake body from sight and from my girlfriend. It didn't seem right to let her keep looking at her body, even if it actually wasn't. That couldn't be good for her.

    Our eyes met and I said, "come on. Let's talk somewhere more private."

    She nodded. We both walked away from the site, no direction in mind. Eventually we came to a secluded area of the cemetery that seemed oddly familiar. Then it hit me.

    My eyes wandered down to the headstone.

    Annette Rose Hebert

    1969-2008

    She taught something precious to each of us    .

    My vision turned red, anger and rage boiled within me, threatening to spill over. I wanted to break that stupid fucking headstone with my hands.

    But I had to focus on this bigger issue. Ori's real body.

    "Tay, what do we do?"

    I met her eyes and I couldn't help but feel the same concern that was in them.

    "I don't know."

    Neither one of us spoke, my mind was a whirl as I tried to think of a plan. Someone wanted her body for a reason. Lung was out, he had no use for it. The Empire might have wanted a trophy and it would only fuel my need to take my vengeance on them if that was the case. The Merchants were such a small player in the Bay that they were unlikely. There was Coil but there was so much unknown about him. Was it possible that he took it?

    Coil and the Empire seemed to be the highest chanc—

    Like a lightbulb, another possibility whirled through my head. The former body of a Valkyrie, what could someone do with that? I didn't know enough about magic, but what if Necromancy was a thing? I already knew there were others from the Nine Realms on Bet, what if it was one of them? Damn it, I would need to talk to Freyja again, and soon.

    "You know, you are a rather hard girl to track."

    My eyebrows furrowed and I looked behind Ori. Standing a few feet away was a girl around the same age as my girlfriend and I. There was something familiar about her. The dirty blonde straight hair and her bottle green eyes. A hand on her cocked hip and a smirk on her lips.

    Wait a minute. I remembered her.

    As if she knew I figured it out, her smirk widened. "Name's Lisa, by the way. About time you and I had a chat."
    *whistles innocently*
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Thurisaz 3.T
  • Threadmarks
    • I would like to thank my beta team, I appreciate you girls immensely.
    Major CW: Family abuse. Like seriously, this chapter doesn't start off light. If you know of Ashley's origins and trigger (from Ward), then it's about on that par. It's mainly the second scene, but the ending of the first scene has some allusion to it.

    Thurisaz 3.T​

    Týsdagr(Tuesday), Góa (March), Odinfall

    A fury of blows smacked against the hardened wood, thunderous cracks echoed in the small stone chamber with each hit. Another round to calm the nerves, to placate the restlessness and anger. Blood caked the edges of each impact, only a minor inconvenience when compared to what was roiling within.

    Thrud wasn't sure how long she'd been down in the training room, she stopped caring after the first few blows against the trunk of the tree. Her pain was temporary, it would heal quickly just like everything else. But even as she tried, each and every blow did little to help distract her from the raging storm in her mind.

    Ever since Taylor had told her what her mother had been doing, how the Witch had been trying to save the Nine Realms from catastrophic eradication, Thrud had been feeling lost. For nearly her entire life, she wondered what Freyja's deal was and what she was doing. Several ideas had gone through her mind as she grew. Some were as simple as looking for a new lover to the more outlandish of her being the one to kill Odin and the other gods.

    Oh, how wrong she was. And it bothered her greatly how far from the truth she had been.

    Rage fizzled in her body and she punched the trunk again, scraping hot pain filtered through her body as healing skin torn from her knuckles. Her muscles tensed, electricity arcing through her body, lightning dancing across her skin as she slammed the trunk with another blow from her fist. Sweat dripped down her face, barely cooling her skin before it flash boiled from another arc of lightning.

    Thrud wasn't pissed at Taylor. She couldn't be pissed at the other godling. Thrud knew from their small interactions that the tall girl didn't even know she was the daughter of a goddess, let alone the frustration it brought living here. The things both her and Victoria had said always confused her. A world she'd never known because she'd been sequestered to this small corner of the Nine Realms. Even then she barely stepped foot outside of Valhalla Valley, let alone seen Breidblikk and its plains.

    It was a fact of her life that irritated her so much. All her life she'd heard these wonderful stories about the other parts of Asgard or the other realms. Each story she heard and made her yearn to venture forth into the greater world and discover all there was to find. Every time she stepped outside and gazed upon the visage of Yggdrasil, she wished to see the tree in all its splendor.

    The moment she laid eyes on Taylor, fighting her own father no less, was the moment she knew that things had changed in Valhalla. She knew that Taylor and Victoria were her ticket to seeing the wider world rather than just the golden bubble she had been raised in.

    It wasn't like she couldn't leave, she had the freedom to leave if she wanted to. Her parents wouldn't stop her from leaving. They hadn't yet, but Thrud would feel guilty.

    Thrud loved her mother. She was always the tender and caring figure in her life. Whenever she was hurt or was crying, she'd always be there for her. Even if the cause or reasoning behind those events were always the same.

    Her father, on the other hand, was a completely different story.

    Anger fulminated in her veins at the thought of him. She struck the trunk as quick as lightning, a crack echoing in the training room again. Thrud's fist embedded itself in the trunk, engulfing her hand and partially her fist. Sweat poured down her face and her breathing was ragged, heavy with each and every exhale. Lightning cascaded across her skin and she knew that if she looked in a mirror, her eyes would be pure plasma.

    Her father was a complicated matter altogether.

    "Thrud?"

    The tender, feminine voice snapped her out of her roiling thoughts. She glanced over her shoulder, fist still within the hard wood. Her mother was standing atop of the stairs that led to the yard of their house. Dressed in a white dress, stained slightly from dirt and grass on her knees, with hands on her hips as she peered down. Her long golden hair was hanging over her shoulder, bound by intricate leather chords. There was a worried look in her eyes that made Thrud feel a pang of guilt, but she pushed it aside.

    Thrud exhaled and slowly pulled her fist out of the wood. Her skin ripped and torn with bits of splintered wood dug into her exposed flesh as blood seeped from the cuts that littered it.

    "Thrud," Her mother chided, rushing down the stairs and navigating through the training room. There were wooden figures laid out on the floor, meant to test weapons and techniques on. Most didn't last long as the weapons that hung on the walls were sharp and deadly.

    Her mother stood in front of her, gently grabbing her hand and inspecting it.

    "How long…" Her mother trailed off, letting Thrud fill in the blanks.

    Thrud shrugged, opting not to speak.

    Her mother sighed, taking a part of her dress and wiping her hand. It stung. Cloth touching raw wounds. Crimson stained her white dress, but Thrud knew it was only a temporary thing. Her mother had secrets to take out stains. Thrud didn't know what they could be, probably something to do with her affinity with earth.

    A part of Thrud wished she had inherited more of her mother's affinity than her father's. Then maybe she wouldn't feel like such a disappointment.

    "Oh, what am I going to do with you," Her mother said. It wasn't demeaning in any way, but more playful if anything.

    Her mother pulled her dress away and blew on Thrud's hand. The cooling air was soothing in a way and it sparked her healing. Thrud could feel her body already knitting together the flesh, closing the wounds she caused. She lifted her other hand, watched the process unfold in front of her. It wasn't the first time nor would it be the last, but it always fascinated her how their Divinity worked. There wasn't any pain or weirdness when it came to healing. She knew that some of the older gods, like Freyja and her father, could control it.

    She'd heard stories from her father from when he was younger, how he'd seen Freyja take an arrow, yank it out and the wound instantly closing. Whether that was due to Divinity or seiðr, Thrud couldn't be sure. She just knew that her father had both praises and insults when it came to Freyja. It's what made her an enigma in Thrud's eyes.

    And that thought only brought her back to Taylor. The girl who looked so much like her mother and was just as much of a curiosity. Though Thrud would admit that it was more the fact that Taylor was her age than it was to find more about Freyja.

    Though trying to actually talk to Taylor was like pulling teeth sometimes. The girl could brood. Victoria too, though Thrud liked to believe that for Victoria's case, it was because she had died. Dying would make anyone want to brood.

    "Is something on your mind, my thundercat?"

    Thrud couldn't help but smile at the nickname. "It's been a while since you called me that," Thrud said.

    Guilt flashed across her mother's face. A glimmer of a smile grew on Sif's face. "I guess it has. I apologize for that. Your father…"

    Thrud wanted to sigh out loud but held it. "I know."

    "Come, let me show you what I've done to the garden."

    A smile adorned Thrud's face at the thought of her mother working on her magnificent garden. Her mother got up and guided her through the training room. Thrud obediently followed, more out of curiosity than any prodding from her mother.

    They stepped out of the training room and Thrud closed the door behind her. She looked around, taking in the area that her mother had called her garden. It was a vast network of flowers, plants, trees, and other fauna of her mother's design. It always piqued Thrud's curiosity how both her mother and Freyja had a knack for plants, but unlike Freyja, it was actually her mother's affinity rather than origins.

    Freyja was Vanir and was closely tied to nature as a whole while Sif was the goddess of earth. Anything that pertains to nature was within her wheelhouse. Where Freyja would need a seed to grow a plant, her mother could grow it from the very soil itself.

    From what Thrud's heard, Freyja was not always this picture of nature. During her father's drunken rants, she'd heard him say how she was like a spectre of pure magic and wrath that would terrify anyone who dared cross her path.

    Sif guided her to a section of the garden, freshly tilled and cultivated. When Thrud inhaled, it calmed her. The scents of the exotic flowers and trees always did. It was why she often came out here after a bad bout with her father or if she had disappointed her parents. It was where she could be at peace and alone.

    "Smell this," Her mother directed her to an odd looking flower. It looked like a lotus but was glowing green. As if it was something found in Vanaheimr if it wasn't a wasteland, not that she had seen it herself, only heard stories.

    Thrud listened to her mother and took a whiff of the flower. It smelt oddly comforting, fresh, and Thrud felt as if the tension in her muscles were slowly relaxing. As if she had been awakened from a deep slumber. She leaned back and blinked her eyes a few times.

    "What the f—"

    Her mother smiled, "Divine, isn't it?"

    Thrud nodded absently.

    "I'm calling it Endrborinn. A new creation of mine. It's extremely resilient and revitalizes the ground it's in. My hope is that it will help with some parts of the shard where the ground has withered."

    Her mother's creations truly were amazing, especially if it worked as she hoped, then her mood plummeted as it reminded her of what she had learned a few weeks ago. How Freyja and her coalition from all over the realms seemed to be working to repair the realms. She hadn't realized how bad it was until Taylor told her, and what she had told her was minimal at best. If she didn't know better, she'd think her mother was in leagues with the Witch.

    She felt it would've been a whole lot better if her mother was involved. It wouldn't make the pain any less, but at least Thrud could justify their reasoning. No, instead her parents purposefully left her out of the dark about Odinfall.

    "Thrud?"

    Her mother's voice broke her from her roiling thoughts.

    "Sorry," Thrud muttered. "It smells wonderful."

    Thrud ignored the concerned look her mother was giving her, instead she focused on the lotus and her thoughts wandered to the coalition like it always seemed to. There was so much she didn't understand when she stood in that mystical city. How all the weird black flat things were being mounted everywhere and the weird metal vines were being connected to things. Pinnacle Tower had been everything she had imagined and more, yet it was nothing like she expected.

    There was so much to learn, so much to discover, yet in the face of it all, she ran. She couldn't handle what she had learned and left. Since then, the short camaraderie she had built with Taylor and Victoria had been missed. She wanted to see them again.

    "I'm glad you think so," Sif said, a smile growing on her face. The smile fell when she focused on Thrud. At that moment, she knew her mother was going to ask her something deep. "Now, what's on your mind?"

    It was gentle, but it still sent alarms off in Thrud's head. She knew she could trust her mother, but she feared what would happen if she spoke the truth. Yet she tried to be honest with her parents.

    So she took it slow. "Why… Why don't you or dad talk about Odinfall?"

    Her mother didn't react like she thought she would. Sif was still, her eyes unwavering for a few seconds. Eventually she sat down on the ground, her dress staining as the dirt and grass rubbed against it. She leaned her back against the young gnarled tree that she must've been experimenting on.

    Her mother sighed, "I know you've wondered, most of your life in fact. And I think it's time I told you about Odinfall. At least my experience of it."

    Thrud had to bite down on her excitement. Instead, she sat on the ground and wiped the dirt from her hands on her leather pants in an effort to hide her excitement.

    "Decades ago, the Nine Realms were at peace. Odin had his grand pantheon and the people were cordial with one another. We thought we were at the top and nothing could stand against us. That the Allfather had found our purpose or was close to it. Even though I was skeptical of his words and plans at the time, he had made what seemed like impossible for so long, well, possible."

    Her mother closed her eyes and leaned her head against the tree.

    "Until they came."

    "They?" Thrud had a feeling she knew and if her mother said the same thing, it would only reinforce what she had learned.

    Her mother opened her eyes and held her palm over the ground. The dirt started to swirl, lifting into the air and forming into an oddly worm shaped thing. It floated and wiggled in the air as dirt seemed to shift in a way that made her eyes water.

    "This. We never came up with a name for them, but there were three of them at first. The very sky shattered like broken glass. You know the stars?"

    Thrud nodded.

    "They didn't exist before. Not unless you were on Midgard. It was the shattering that made them visible. But with it, these things," She lifted her hand, the dirt worm following with it. "Came. At first we didn't think much of it, they stayed near the outskirts of the cosmic ocean, circling us. A curiosity at best. It wasn't until Odin had your father investigate them was when they moved closer. At that point, the Allfather had us 'investigate'."

    The way she said it was all Thrud needed to know that she meant attack.

    "Anything we threw at them was brushed off as if it was a breeze of the wind. Freyja had stayed back with her brother, spending countless days divining into the great weave of destiny. She even kept her Valkyries in reserve, much to her husband's ire. It wasn't until Heimdall was killed that things grew dire."

    Thrud leaned on both of her arms, taking it all in. This was more than she'd ever learned about Odinfall. With the way her mother was saying, she could feel the truth in her words.

    "That moment was when everything changed. The beasts were no longer holding back and neither were we. We spent two years fighting them, traversing the realms, trying to corner them. One of them had run off early on and the others believed we chased it off," She released a mirthless laugh. "I never believed that. They had nothing to fear from us. Whatever we did barely harmed the things and they were dwindling our numbers. Freyja was losing her Valkyries and Odin just slammed his Einherjar at the problem."

    Her mother took her long hair and started playing with it, undoing some of the bands and redoing them. The act made Thrud grab her hair and inspect it. If she hadn't grown up in the aftermath of the event, she'd think her mother was making things up. Even though she was speaking truthfully. It was so… outlandish.

    "It was when—" Her mother's voice hitched and tears grew in her face. "When we lost your brothers, Móði and Magni."

    Thrud's eyes went wide and her muscles tensed. She knew she had brothers once, before she was born. In a similar vein, she understood what Taylor felt about not knowing her brother. Yet she always knew about her brothers, and heard stories about them. She knew the meaning behind their names. Wrath and Might.

    She also knew hers, though she tried not to think about it. To think about how much she didn't live up to it.

    "Your father was never the same again after that," Her mother said solemnly. "None of us were, really." Her mother's eyes grew distant, lost in memories.

    "What—What happened?" Thrud asked.

    Her mother collapsed the dirt worm, her fingers slowly playing with the dirt but not really constructing anything new.

    "We were in Vanaheimr. Freyja and Freyr had enacted a ritual of some kind, some ancient Vanir thing. It caused the very realm to come to life. The trees and plants grew, acting of their own volition. Whatever it was, the realm itself attacked the beings. At first they were being hampered by the forest, vines constricting and trees smacking them with all their might. But once again, they showed their true might and rained gold and white light upon the realm, decimating it like it didn't exist."

    "That's how Vanaheimr became a wasteland…" Thrud said as everything came together.

    Her mother nodded, "Yes. It was also where we were betrayed."

    Thrud blinked her eyes.

    "What?"

    Her mother sighed, "Betrayed is a strong word. Your father's word for it. More like weakened. What I mean is that Freyja was on the battlefield, her Valkyries in full force, yet she still didn't want to use her host of Einherjar. At one point during the battle, she disappeared. She had claimed that she was going to find her brother, but never came back. Neither of them did. We only know of Freyr's death because the Elves felt his disappearance. But as for Freyja? Even now, with her being here and all, we don't know where she was."

    Thrud remembered the conversation she had with Taylor, how she'd been on Midgard, but not the same Midgard. It was confusing to say the least, but Thrud knew that Freyja was somewhere else. Along with building the coalition. All underneath their noses.

    It wasn't hard to see where the animosity had come from.

    "What happened after that?" Thrud asked, careful with her words.

    "After that?" Her mother had a pained look on her face. "After her disappearance was when it all went downhill. More gods were killed, the Valkyries were decimated or disappeared without a trace, your father lost his arm just to save himself, and Odin chased after one of them after it had tried to escape, never to be seen again but his death resonated across the Nine Realms."

    When Thrud heard about her father losing his arm, it brought memories of her childhood. Of when he would be in the downs and some of the only words from his incoherent drunken babbling was about it. She knew it was a sore spot for him and she always tried to help him however she could, but it would only result in pain.

    Yet, she always wanted to help her father. Losing a limb couldn't be easy. Thrud could only imagine what it must feel like.

    "From there, the last one disappeared. Had its fill of tormenting us, leaving us to deal with the aftermath," Her mother continued.

    "Wow," Thrud said, processing it all. She matched it with what she had learned from Taylor and while there were still gaps, it felt as if she got a better picture.

    Her mother nodded solemnly. "So that's what happened with Odinfall. I'm sorry that we never told you. We should've a long time ago but your father…"

    "It brings back bad memories," Thrud supplied.

    "Yes. Your father and Freyja were once best friends but that friendship was shattered in that war, along with Loki's. Three of the mightiest defenders of the Nine Realms and it was gone. It's why your father hates Freyja so much. Why he fought her daughter. That girl, Taylor," At Thrud's nod she continued, "Is a spitting image of her mother."

    Thrud couldn't help but agree. Taylor did look like Freyja to some degree. There were differences, but overall, there was no denying her lineage.

    But hearing about the shattering of the friendship she had never known, it made Thrud wonder what had truly happened between the three of them.

    Her mother was silent for a while, her eyes never wavering from Thrud. Eventually she reached out, placing a hand on Thrud's. Giving it a gentle squeeze, she spoke.

    "You are a beautiful ray of sunshine on a cloudy day, Thrud. I know it doesn't always seem like it, but know that we love you very much. You bring hope to this dark and dreary world of ours."

    Thrud's throat closed up at the sentiment, her emotions welling up within her unaided. Words she wished she heard more often, but didn't. It made her want to hug her mother, tell her that she loved her. That she still trusted her.

    But then came the sound of the front door crashing into the house, breaking any chance she had to show her response. Angry grumbling and slurs could be heard, even from here and Thrud knew what was going to happen. It's always the same dance and routine.

    Her mother released a defeated sigh. "Stay here, Thrud. Relax. I'll take care of your father."

    Thrud didn't miss the way her mother hesitated in her ascension and the cool mask that overtook her face. The face of a woman who was ready to face hell. Thrud wished her mother could get through to her father, but it never happened. She honestly believed it was impossible.

    She watched her mother walk away and Thrud prepared herself for what was to come. And with it, it brought renewed anger in her. Enough that she felt she needed to go back to the training room. It would certainly muffle out everything that would follow.

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    Óðinsdagr (Wednesday), Góa (March), Odinfall

    Thrud stared up at the ceiling of her room, counting each and every individual line or crack in the wood. Her fingers snapped with each number, lightning crackling at the end of her digits. It wasn't the first time she'd counted them, but it was always a way to reaffirm herself. Each and every time, for each continuous line, it was five-thousand and twenty-seven.

    Her mind wandered, always returning to the very quest she set herself upon a few months ago. She thought that finding out what Freyja's big secret was, hopefully catching her in the act, might help bring back the father who she heard so much about. The mighty warrior who stood against evil and defended the Nine Realms, saving lives and killing monsters. A real hero, like from the stories some of the Einherjar who survived Odinfall had told her about. There were only a few left in the city and they relished in divulging their culture and stories. So many had heroes with immense courage and strength, who fell in love and went on to be remembered as a legend.

    A story that had a startling resemblance to her father from their own culture. Something that she felt she needed to live up to.

    Instead she was never enough. She could never meet his standards and would always be the runt. How her brothers were more deserving of Mjölnir than her. Even in death, they would inherit before she would.

    She wiped the tears that were bubbling in her eyes. A growl escaped her lips as she slammed her fist against her bed, willing the tears to go away. But no matter how hard she tried, they continued to build up before they started trailing down her cheeks.

    Thrud had enough and sat up, wiping her tears, not looking at anything in particular. Her blurry eyes took in her room. Pictures and relics that she'd picked up throughout her life. The tiny adventures she'd gone on to discover things she'd never learn from her parents. Some of those pictures were her own. A piece of an ancient horn, hung on a single nail. It's gold still gleaming in the candle light. An iridescent white feather from the legendary Valkyrie Kára. An icicle-like arrow let loose by Skaði. Art of worlds and locations she'd heard rumors of where the legends made their names.

    They were shitty, but they always told the same story. A grand adventure.

    Her eyes landed on her axes. They were simple in make, nothing fantastic about them. They were probably the only glimmer of pride that she had gained from her father when she chose them. He said they were a warrior's weapon. She helped Helga, the local blacksmith, in their creation.

    Probably one of the most cherished moments in her life. Because after that, it was all downhill.

    Thrud still had nightmares of the times her father sent her to some part of the Valhalla Valley wilderness and told her to fend for herself. That first night was how her Divinity ignited. A sky riddled with lighting and the ground was sizzling around her when Gulons tried to kill her.

    "Fuck me," She cursed, shaking her head. "Go the fuck away," She said to no one but herself.

    She wiped her tears again and rummaged under her bed, looking for the loose parchments. When she found them, she pulled them up and started rifling through them.

    They were notes. Information she'd been gathering ever since she started her crusade to discover Freyja's secrets. She hadn't updated them since she jumped onto the blimpy thing and learned of everything from Taylor. The idea of even writing those discoveries made her hesitate.

    With how badly she wanted to be a hero, a legend just like her father, the first chance that seemed like she could actually live up to that and she froze. She fucking ran away like a coward.

    She didn't know how to handle it. The information and how everything she'd learn in her life being a mere fraction of what was going on, had overwhelmed her.

    Thrud felt every bit of the nasty words her father sent her way. How her insecurities bubbled to the surface and proved that she wasn't worthy to be called Thordottir.

    Now that a week had passed and she had processed everything, she felt she was ready to write it down. To cross reference with everything she had gathered. Just some way to show that she had been on the right track. That all her hard work was worth a damn.

    Water dripped on the parchment and she realized it was her tears again. She growled and rubbed at her eyes, banishing them away.

    Through her blunder, she hadn't heard the footsteps that approached her door. Nor had she realized what it meant until her door slammed opened, jolting her and causing the parchments to go flying.

    "Thrud!" Her father's slurred and drunken voice yelled into her room.

    Her head snapped to her father, and at that instant she wished she didn't. He had a menacing look in his eyes. Anger and disappointment heavy in his face. "Da—"

    "Whad the fuck do you think you're doing!"

    "I was just—"

    "You should be—" He hiccuped. "Whas that?" He said pointing towards the parchments on her bed. Or as much as he could with a mug of ale in his hand.

    Thrud's eyes went wide. "Nothing!" She started pushing the papers off her bed in a vain hope to get him off her ass. If he found out—

    He marched over to her bed, the mug and its contents clattering onto the wooden floor as he grabbed a piece of parchment. She nearly lunged for it but knew it was a moot point. Dread and fear filled the very deepest part of her being.

    She saw her father read the parchment, his eyes blinking and widening. His fist balled the paper for a second before his fingers ripped through it. A snarl ripped from his mouth.

    "What's this," He nearly growled, sobering up instantly.

    Thrud's voice was caught in her throat, and she felt incredibly small under her father's gaze.

    "What's this, Thrud."

    She swallowed and said in a small voice, "It's what I was working on."

    "Working on? This is what you've been doing with your free time? Some fucking treasure hunt?"

    "It's not—"

    "You were supposed to be training, getting stronger."

    "I was—"

    "INSTEAD," His voice raised, rattling the house. "You've been galavanting?!"

    "I—"

    She didn't even have a chance to say her part, just like always. No, her words were halted as pain lashed across her face and her body was airborne. She didn't know where she'd landed, but she felt wood cracking underneath her and her arm writhing in pain.

    The moment her eyes opened, realization dawned on her. He had actually hit her. All this time, he would yell and scream, put her in dangerous situations in his attempt to make her stronger. But not once had he ever hit her.

    It seemed she wasn't the only one as her father—Thor stood frozen, his fist in the air.

    Burning hot anger didn't begin to describe what was flowing through Thrud. Lightning cackled in her veins, her muscles energized by the current and a renewed vigor roared in her. The pain inflicted was nothing compared to the roaring storm that clouded her body.

    "Fuck. You." Thrud cursed Thor through gritted teeth. A brief thought to strike him, to show him that she did have strength came to mind, but she knew that he wasn't worth it. She'd tried so hard for so long to gain approval from him, but in the end, he didn't deserve it.

    She pushed off her feet, lightning coursing through her legs. An instant later, she grabbed her axes and ran through her door. By the time she had reached the stairs, Thor had started moving. Wherever her mother might be, it wasn't anywhere in earshot of what had just transpired. Probably for the better, the goodbye would only be more painful.

    Thrud knew where she had to go. She hated that she had to go to her, but if she was going to prove to herself that she could be a legend, she had to do what all heroes did.

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    Thrud finally slowed down as she reached the doors of the grand hall. Never once had she stepped foot inside, never believing she'd be worthy of it. It surprised her that Taylor and Victoria had stayed here and she wondered if their life on Midgard had earned them passage.

    Now she hoped she could.

    Her hand touched the metal doors and she hesitated. She glanced over her shoulder, fearing Thor was behind her but all that was there was the quiet bustling of the city below. Scrounging whatever courage she could find, she pushed on the door.

    For the briefest of moments, she was certain the door had judged her unworthy, barring her passage and thus confining her to what had come before. The door swung open, and all the tension that had been building within her bled out in an instant.

    The moment Thrud stepped inside, she was bombarded by tales and history of warriors of old. Legends and heroes that earned their place in these halls. The gleaming gold was but a secondary footnote when compared to the history on the walls. Her fingers trailed along the smooth surface, touching the words carved into the surface.

    She was so enthralled with the sights that she once again didn't hear the footsteps approach. At least she could blame it on the fact that the person was barefoot.

    "Thrud," Freyja said.

    Thrud jolted, turning around instantly. She gazed upon the bitch that had caused Taylor and Victoria so much pain. In some ways, she did the same to Thrud. Even with everything she knew, Thrud could feel the power radiating off of Freyja and she wondered if the Witch had any idea of how terrifying she was. She looked so effortlessly calm and collected but the power was anything but that.

    "Freyja," She responded.

    Freyja raised an eyebrow, "Might I ask why you are in the grand hall?"

    That simple question caused everything to come crashing down. Thrud briefly wondered if she had a bruise on her cheek or if the legendary sorceress was actively ignoring it. She wasn't sure what would be worse.

    Her hands shook, but she clenched them and leveled a stare at the woman.

    "I know about Gimlé and what you're doing there," Thrud said defiantly. "I want to follow Taylor and Victoria and help them."

    Freyja blinked her eyes a few times, processing the request.

    "I'm sorry, did you say you want to follow my daughter and her girlfriend?"

    Thrud nodded.

    Freyja pinched the bridge of her nose, "I see my advisors decided to not inform me of you knowing." She sighed, "Well, it's too late now."

    The way she said those words, Thrud feared the sorceress was going to smite her on the spot.

    "Are you aware of what my daughter's task is?"

    Thrud scrunched her eyebrows. She tried to remember if Taylor had mentioned anything but nothing came to mind. She shook her head.

    "Very well. Let me contact one of my advisors and I will inform you of their task. Then I will teleport you to Gimlé."

    Thrud couldn't believe what she was hearing. That Freyja was actually going to let her follow Taylor and Victoria. She didn't trust her voice, so she nodded her head instead.

    "Come," She said, gesturing to her to follow. She walked up the stairs and Thrud was quick to follow. They went up to the top where Freyja went down a hallway filled with doors. As they crossed each door, Thrud looked at the plaques on them. Or for most, a lack thereof.

    It was when she found one that said Victoria on it that Thrud had realized that she was walking alone. Freyja standing in front of another door with a plaque. Thrud read it and knew why. It was Taylor's. Freyja's eyes were closed and her hand traced over the name, repeating over and over. She looked sad or disappointed, Thrud couldn't determine which or who they were directed towards. She almost wanted to guess that it was directed at Freyja herself.

    Freyja must've realized she was being watched and opened her eyes. She schooled her features and any traces of those emotions were gone. Almost as if she didn't want Thrud to see that moment of weakness.

    The Witch didn't say anything but continued to move forward to the double doors. They opened in her presence.

    Seiðr, Thrud thought.

    Freyja quickly went around the desk, pulled out a bowl of sorts from underneath and started pouring water while Thrud took in the room. There were books everywhere, along with small knick knacks that drew Thrud's attention. They looked like various replicas of figures and weapons throughout Aesir history. Like the tiny astrolabe that was supposed to once be owned by Heimdall.

    Freyja started tracing the edge of the bowl and a white light illuminated it. She looked up, her finger never wavering from its progress.

    "I tasked my daughter with formulating a movement, an effort, of the coalition on a version of Midgard known as Earth Bet. Her and Victoria's home."

    "What does that entail?"

    Freyja had a calculating look in her eyes. "That, I left up to my daughter. But if you want to help, then you should know more about Earth Bet as you are completely unaware of what you will be walking into."

    "Taylor did say some strange things," Thrud said.

    Freyja smirked, a short laugh escaped her lips. "Yeah, she would. That said, the advisor I will be putting you in contact with is known by some as the first parahuman."

    "Parawhosawasit?"

    Freyja chuckled, "Parahuman. Think of them like us gods, but without the blood of Ymir and with a whole lot of other issues. They are the ones who inherit powers from the enemy."

    The enemy. The worm things. The very thing that had ruined so much, her family included. A part of her wanted to blame the things, but she knew better. She just learned that lesson the hard way.

    "I see…"

    "Which both Taylor and Victoria got their powers from."

    Thrud blinked her eyes a few times. "Wait what?"

    Frejya nodded, "Yes. Taylor's powers are not completely divine. In fact, I'm not entirely sure what is going on with her powers beyond what I've been able to piece together. But I digress. I would like to ask a favor from you."

    Immediately, alarm bells rang in Thrud's head. She wasn't sure how to feel about the Witch asking a favor from her and she felt she was back in a corner and had to accept. She wanted to help Taylor and Victoria, she had come to see them as friends and felt she failed when she ran.

    "Okay…" Thrud managed to say.

    "Keep an eye on them and keep them safe. I know it's not needed, but I fear the two will be heading into unwelcome territory and things will only escalate. They can handle themselves, but I still fear that my daughter will throw herself at something she can't handle and bring ruin upon her efforts before they truly begin."

    That was not anywhere near as bad as Thrud thought Freyja would ask of her. She was expecting some sort of blood oath, or a demand to kill someone, not a request for protection of her daughter. How much of the stories she'd heard of the woman were fabricated or altered? She felt there still had to be a shred of truth or there wouldn't be any stories to begin with.

    "I can do that," Thrud nodded.

    "Thank you," Freyja said, a slim smile appearing on her face. She looked down at the bowl. "Ah, Andrew," The Witch had switched to English, the language that Taylor and Victoria spoke in. She was thankful that at least one Einherjar that survived spoke it and helped her learn.

    "Yes, Freyja?" A man's voice reverberated from the bowl.

    "I have a request."

    There was a short silence, almost as if they were surprised at something Freyja said before Andrew responded. "Very well, what is it?"

    "I will be sending Thrud your way. Please bring her up to speed on Earth Bet and coordinate with Jess to help her get there."

    "Thrud. Thor's daughter, correct?"

    "Yes."

    There was another short pause before Andrew responded. "Very well, I can do that."

    "Thank you. I will send her your way in a moment."

    Freyja waved her hand and the illuminated bowl dimmed, turning back into plain water. Then she walked around the desk and stood in front of Thrud. Thrud nearly took a step back but realized that Freyja wasn't doing anything drastic despite how it appeared. She hadn't realized how tense she was until then and forced herself to relax. But as much as she tried, she felt restless and it wasn't because of the lightning that coursed through her body.

    She switched back to Old Norse as she spoke to Thrud, "Give me a moment and I will teleport you there. Andrew has a… unique view of Earth Bet. He was there on the frontlines when parahumans started appearing."

    Thrud nodded and stood still. Freyja started weaving her hands around, green motes appeared and swirled around her. Leaves started appearing around her and Thrud nearly bolted before calming herself. Her vision was quickly clouded by leaves, but she still heard Freyja's voice.

    "Please keep an eye on my daughter."

    Suddenly Thrud was back in Gimlé. The sun was in a different part of the sky, she was surrounded by stone, weird metal, and unnatural vines. There were a few gasps from the people who surrounded her but they quickly went about their business. It was still a shock to see a large mass of Einherjar or all the strange things that surrounded her. She couldn't deny, it was overwhelming her all over again.

    "Ah, there you are," A familiar voice said in English.

    Thrud glanced in the direction of the voice. A tall, muscular man with a cleft chin stood not far from her. He had a small smile on his face as he stood out among the crowd. He easily towered over the others and had that kind and charismatic appearance that made it hard to ignore him. It made the gold and blue eyes easier to handle as they eerily watched her.

    "Andrew?" Thrud asked.

    Andrew nodded, "Yes, but call me Hawke. There's too many Andrews for my liking."

    Thrudd nodded, "Okay, Hawke."

    He smiled, "Come, I'll help you get acclimated to Earth Bet. There's a lot you're gonna need to learn and Freyja— as usual— didn't give us enough time to properly prepare you. So we have about a day to get you ready, along with some clothes so you won't stand out."

    Thrud blinked her eyes. "Stand out?"

    Hawke nodded, "Yeah. Earth Bet, like with most versions of Earth, have a rather unique style and culture based on where you are in the world. Imagine if all of the nine realms were smacked into one world but separated by continents or other environments."

    "Oh…"

    He gave her a small smile, "Follow me and I will tell you about Earth Bet along the way."

    Hawke turned around and started walking into the tower. Thrud took a moment to gather herself and quickly caught up. When she did, he started speaking.

    "Earth Bet, specifically Brockton Bay where Taylor and Victoria live, is where the world tree had taken root."

    "That's convenient," Thrud muttered.

    He glanced over his shoulder and down at her. "It was done purposefully. Freyja didn't want her daughter to be far from the root and Brockton Bay isn't like the other cities on the planet. It has a unique origin and nothing is all that it appears to be."

    Thrud scrunched her eyebrows. "Huh?"

    But Hawke didn't answer her. "That said, it is also one of the more dangerous cities in the United States, the country in which it resides."

    When all he got was a blank stare from Thrud, he sighed and pinched his nose.

    "Okay, we have a lot to cover. I will try to go through it and hope Taylor and Victoria can fill in the rest for you."

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    Þórsdagr (Thursday), Góa (March), Odinfall

    Thrud was snapping her fingers again, enjoying the spark that ignited in response as it calmed some of her nerves. She stopped and picked at the itchy cloth that covered her arms. She honestly wanted to tear the sleeves off. She'd try to deal with it, but she wasn't sure how Taylor and Victoria handled them on a daily basis. If what she had learned in the past twenty-four hours were true, then she'd probably be able to get by with whatever she wanted.

    "How are you feeling?"

    The question spooked Thrud from her reverie. She looked at Hawke and was surprised when he sat down next to her. She had secluded herself on the bench overlooking the visage of Yggdrasil to calm herself before heading through the portal. They had planned for her to leave earlier, but Níðhöggr had apparently decided to interrupt the plan. So she was waiting for the dragon to 'get bored and wander off' again.

    "Imfine," She mumbled back in English.

    "You sure?" He asked, sincere in his approach. "You seemed… overwhelmed yesterday. Understandably so, but I felt there was more to it."

    Thrud squirmed on the bench, opting to not look at him.

    "I know," He continued, "That when you first learned about all this, you didn't handle it well, and it seemed to be the same case last night."

    Thrud shrugged her shoulders.

    "You can tell me to stop, but I feel like this push you are making is for an entirely different reason."

    Thrud cursed in her head, a string of words from various languages. She really didn't want to explain her reasoning but the time she'd been with Hawke, she'd come to trust him to some degree. He wasn't a bad guy and seemed honest. But she wasn't sure if she wanted to open up to him.

    She contemplated this over and over again in her head before she was tired of it and sighed.

    "All my life, I wanted to live up to that image of a legendary hero. I've heard countless stories and myths from a few of the people in Valhalla and I couldn't help but want to experience it."

    He hummed, "And I imagine the fact that your father is that very hero doesn't affect anything."

    Thrud froze at him pointing out what lay at the center of her life. It also didn't help that the memories of yesterday came flooding back into her mind. Lightning danced across her hands and up her arms as she snapped furiously until a gentle hand was on her shoulder. Her muscles tensed and she twisted her body, her hand ready to release a bolt of lightning.

    She nearly did until Hawke had put his hands up and was backing off, clearly attempting to placate her. Guilt instantly filled her but couldn't stop the heightened awareness and tension in her.

    "Sorry," He quickly said. "I shouldn't have touched you. I see there is… well, I'm sorry."

    His apology was sincere. More sincere than she'd ever heard in her life. The man truly was sorry for his actions. It made her guilt build.

    "Itsokay," She mumbled as she calmed herself.

    "No, it's not," He said. "There's a lot, isn't there?"

    Thrud didn't respond, she couldn't find her voice nor did she want to tell him.

    "Then I will say this. On Earth Bet, and this grand task we are on," He gestured with his hands at everything around them. "You will have the best chance to show the Nine Realms that you can live up to that image."

    Thrud looked up at him, her mind wondering what he would say next.

    "Because I believe you will make waves, Thrud. It might not be the same, but I remember being in your position many years ago. I was the first super powered human and all eyes were on me. All that weight and stress, the feeling that if I mess up one bit, I'd ruin it for others. I suppressed my powers so I wouldn't scare others. In the end, it's what ended up getting me killed. Took a blow to the head that I could've stopped. I remember Freyja standing next to me after I died and the conversation we had."

    He looked at Thrud and said, "Don't hold yourself back. Let the world see who you are and forge your own path. That's how you will become that legend."

    His words hit her hard in everything she was, in everything she wanted to be. It might not be exactly the same, but she could tell that he understood what she was feeling, what she was going through in some way. Something she hadn't really experienced until the conversations she had with her two new friends.

    Her usual snarkiness and false confidence had yet to resurface over the past week and she only hoped it would come back before seeing Taylor and Victoria again. She needed that mask, that comfort.

    So she did the next best thing and nodded.

    Hawke smiled, "Come on, I think you're ready and I'm pretty sure the dragon had wandered off."

    Thrud couldn't help but smile as well. They both stood and walked into the tower. From there, Thrud was able to pick up her backpack and the two headed towards the room where people were streaming from. When Thrud's eyes landed on the portal, she paused at the magnificence of it. It was a massive piece of the world tree that breached the realm, creating an arch that they were able to tap into and create a portal. She guessed Freyja had something to do with it like with everything else.

    "Hello, Thrud," Jess's voice pulled her from her amazement.

    Thrud glanced at the woman that had been with Taylor and Victoria. "Hello," She said politely.

    Jess smiled, "I've heard you want to join Taylor and Ori."

    Ori? Thrud thought. She figured she'd ask her friend when she met her. Thrud nodded. "Yeah."

    Jess nodded, "Very well. So I'll tell you the directions to Earth Bet on the world tree and who to contact when you get there." Jess faced the portal and pointed towards it. "Once you go through the portal, there will be a sign post with directions. Look for the one that says 'Earth + Versions' and follow that. It's about a two or three hour walking trip and you will find a sign that says Earth Bet. Do try to avoid using your lightning, it might draw Níðhöggr to you. The moment you step through there, find an elderly woman named Elli. She'd help you find Taylor and Ori."

    Thrud nodded, repeating the instructions in her head. When she felt she had it sufficiently memorized, she said, "Got it."

    "Good. I'm sure the girls would be happy to see you again. They've… the return has been a little rough, especially on Ori."

    Thrud could only imagine. An Einherjar going back to the place they died couldn't be easy on them.

    "And Thrud," Hawke said from behind her. "Hold your chin up high, you've got this."

    She smiled and nodded. Thrud faced the portal. The task ahead of her was daunting in all aspects but it was the best thing she could do. She couldn't stay here. It would only lead to more pain and disappointments.

    No, if she wanted to live up to her namesake, she had to make her own path forward. Thrud took a step, and another after that. Each one intimidating, yet easier than the last. She could do it. She could earn her name.

    For her name didn't mean strength for nothing.
    Thrud needs a big fucking hug. Some bits of the past revealed from another point of view. Not only that, but Thrud is now on her way to Bet!
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • Thurisaz 3.7 (Victoria)
  • Threadmarks
    • And now we are back to our schedule broadcast. Here's... Lisa!
    I would like to thank my beta team, you girls are amazing and I appreciate you greatly!
    Thurisaz 3.7 (Victoria)​

    Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

    My body froze as the voice from behind reached my ears. She was close and approached us like she knew what she was doing. My muscles were primed and my instincts were blaring to wrap myself in my forcefield and move. To fly up and at least get some air superiority over whomever this was. The only thing stopping me was because of the wayTay was looking at the person behind me. It was almost like she recognized them.

    Tay looked at me, her eyes meeting mine as she said, "Don't turn around."

    It was in Old Norse and barely above a whisper yet it still resonated as a command in my mind, a means to conceal our conversation no doubt, but still leaving me bristling at the thought. I was glad that I could actually ignore her if I wanted to. That the order didn't compel me to obey.

    My funeral made it clear to me how much I hated not being seen. Hiding in the shadows was aggravating and watching my family in pain from afar was not easy. I so badly wanted to run up and reassure each and every one of them that I was here. It was a horrible idea, but the thought did cross my mind more than once during the whole ordeal. Especially after Amy attacked Taylor in her grief.

    Tay stepped around me and spoke. "Why have you been trying to find me?"

    The girl, Lisa, replied with amusement in her voice. "Well, for several reasons. Want the quick and dirty or the nitty gritty?"

    Tay didn't respond right away and I tried to get a glance to gauge her, but if I turned my head too much, Lisa might see my face and piece it together. I didn't want Tay to handle this on her own, but she might have to. If push came to shove, I'd just follow Aunt Jess's advice and say fuck it to the whole secrecy bullshit. Not like we weren't already heading towards that on our own terms.

    "How did you know we were here?"

    I could practically hear the eyeroll in her words. "Please, everyone who's been following you knew you'd be at the funeral. Add in the fact that New Wave didn't pull a one eighty and deny or change what day it was happening certainly helped. It was the one place at the right time I knew you'd be here."

    "You've been following me."

    "Not necessarily. Oh and you can turn around, Victoria. I know it's you."

    Fuck.

    I glanced at Tay. Her eyes met mine and I knew what she was trying to say. With a sigh, I turned around and looked at the intruder.

    She was a girl about my age, maybe a little older. Dirty blonde hair, tied up in a bun, with green eyes and a smattering of freckles underneath. She was thin, but not dangerously so, wearing skinny blue jeans and a black t-shirt with a band that I think Eric liked. There was a backpack hooked over one shoulder, her hand not far from that hip. It was hiding something; a slight bump on her side. A gun. She had a cocky smirk on her face and her body language reinforced that.

    It sort of irritated me.

    "How did you know?" Tay asked.

    Lisa looked at me, her eyes calculating me while seemingly talking to my girlfriend. "She's not nearly as secretive as she thinks she is. At least to me. I caught a glimpse when she left the car and started wandering around the cemetery. Don't worry," She said more to me than Tay. "Pretty sure no one paid you a second glance. The reporters were more focused on what was going on inside the building than anything else."

    "Gee, thanks," I said with a bit of sarcasm.

    Her smirk grew. "No problem."

    Yeah, I didn't like her.

    "What do you want?" Tay asked, her voice sounding strained. As if she was barely holding herself from doing anything drastic. For once, I think I might want her not to hold back.

    "Well," Lisa started off, bobbing her head as she thought. "First, considering that Miss Alexandria-lite is standing right here, I would like to think that her death was fabricated." I tensed and was ready to activate my forcefield or aura, but she kept herself cool. "But you don't seem to be the person who'd fake her death for the hell of it. I'd imagine there's actually a body in that casket over there and your family couldn't falsify that volatile powder keg, it just adds more to the crackpot rabbit hole I went down in the past three weeks."

    "And what's that?" I asked with barely restrained anger. As much as I didn't want to, we needed to find out why she was stalking Tay. She was an unknown entity and I didn't trust her. Something about those eyes was sending alarm bells ringing in my head.

    "Oh, all the weird things that I've been noticing for the past year. Since I entered the city, really."

    My eyebrows furrowed and I looked at Tay. She was blinking owlishly as she processed what Lisa said.

    "What weird things?" Tay asked.

    Lisa was silent for a few seconds, a dramatic pause as the wind whipped through the cemetery. The cold air blowing through my hood, goosebumps covering my skin from the chill. I could've activated my forcefield to stop that, but I didn't have the luxury like I did before I died. My powers were quite obvious now.

    Finally, the blonde intruder spoke. "You know, I never thought standing in the presence of a goddess would feel so… normal?"

    My eyes went wide at the proclamation and I imagined so were Tay's.

    "You—" Tay started to say but was finished by Lisa.

    "Knew?" she asked, then shook her head. "Not right away. Like I said, I've been seeing things that most don't. Not a big surprise considering my powers love a good mystery."

    Powers. She's a cape. That explained a bit. Based on that, it was probably Thinker or Trump. Only time would prove that.

    "At first I thought the large ravens that followed me around were just doing it to annoy me, as though some divine entity was using my growing insanity for a laugh, but then I laid eyes on you in the tea shop—"

    "Wait, what?" I looked over at Tay.

    She sighed and met my eyes through the corner of hers. "Yeah, that's where I recognize her from. Didn't think too much of it at first, just another customer in the background."

    "And I was!" Lisa chirped. "I was doing some research on my laptop when you two lovebirds strolled in."

    Heat crept up my cheek but I ignored it.

    "I only really noticed because I was paranoid and she looked like she might be Empire."

    "Hey!"

    "What does that have anything to do with this?" I asked, turning our focus back to the topic at hand.

    Lisa huffed, sending a mock glare at my girlfriend before continuing. "As I was saying, these ravens seemed to appear all over the place. No one noticed them and I thought I was losing my mind."

    Ravens. She must have been talking about Hugnin and Muninn. If she'd been seeing them, did that mean Freyja was aware of her? Was this just another scheme in her grand plan? To introduce us to another potential addition to the movement, or was I overthinking things and the birds were just screwing with her on their own, all because her power pointed them out and they decided to have a spot of fun at her expense? My last interaction with Hugnin confirmed that they could do things on their own, without the goddess' input.

    "Ravens could mean many things," Tay said, her voice even.

    "Correct," Lisa said. "Often as omens. Most of the time for death. So at first, I didn't think much of it until you walked into that tea shop and it got me thinking."

    "About?"

    "Oh," Lisa said flippantly, "The origins of the name Gondul, the inherent need to regain your heritage, the ravens that have ties to a certain god— or the fact that you have features that don't match any culture or region in Earth Bet. You know, just the usual."

    Tay was taken back, her voice filled with disbelief. "What?"

    Lisa affixed my girlfriend with a flat glare. "Girl, you look otherworldly. Maybe it's just me, but you stand out in this weird way that I can't quite describe. Sort of like how a hippie would stand out in the city."

    "Is that seriously your way of flir—" I started but was cut off by her waving her hand.

    "No, not like that." She took a moment to take both of us in. "Look, after you died," She said, looking at me. I ignored the flash of rebar sticking out of my chest and the pain associated with it, and focused on her. "And you," She said, pointing at Tay. "Disappeared, I had to start researching. I couldn't find the name 'Gondul' anywhere in Norse mythology. So I started digging deeper. Delved into anything that could give me the answers I needed. In my search, I somehow wandered into Lustrum's movement. Ended up hacking into several systems that seriously need to update their security protocols. Can't believe how deep the movement actually went. The government did a good job at keeping everything tight lipped. The fact that people only know of it as a feminist movement is quite astonishing, really."

    I knew what she found. Even my own foray into researching the movement had yielded little except for how it stood for equal rights and challenged pigeonholing capes into villains and heroes. As for pictures, if it was anything like the pictures that were in Tay's chest, then Lisa knew what Freyja looked like.

    "I have to say, learning that Lustrum wasn't the leader of the movement was the least surprising thing on a rather lengthy list of surprises. They really didn't want the world to know that there was a movement trying to help and nurture these people who underwent trauma so dramatic that they triggered and got powers out of it. So I researched Nordic deities and after several days of no sleep, I figured out which one would start a movement with all that in mind."

    You know, even though I've met Freyja and all the bullshit she pulled with us, Lisa wasn't wrong. In the vast archive we had at our disposal, and the books I read in Asgard and what I'd seen with my own eyes, Freyja was about equality and health, especially for women. Even though Lustrum's movement was her first attempt at building a unified effort on Bet, the ideology was all hers.

    Wished she applied that more to her children. My girlfriend didn't deserve the shit we went through. She'd lost the tree in the forest with Tay, and I still regretted not being there when Tay decked her.

    Lisa continued, "Frigg." She was about to say more but stopped herself, head tilting slightly. "No, Freyja."

    I doubt Lisa heard, but Tay's breath hitched.

    "Considering one woman in the group was giving me a headache just like you do, I knew it was her. You know, my first thought was that you were actually Annette in teenage form," Lisa said.

    I glanced at Tay, her body completely motionless and her fists clenched tight. Her jaw was tight and she had an unwavering glare at Lisa.

    "But it didn't add up," Lisa continued after a short pause, her eyes watching Tay intently. "If you were, you were a damn good actor, and I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you in the tea shop that wasn't the case. Which meant that you were her daughter. It was the only thing that made sense."

    "You seem pretty fine to me for someone with a Thinker headache," I added, trying to derail her from making Tay angrier while also fishing for information. My girlfriend looked ready to summon her armor and Valkyrie and attack, which was the last thing we needed on our plate.

    "Oh, trust me, I've got one," She said with a smirk. Her admittance showed the pained look in her eyes. "You're not helping either, by the way." She shook her head, "Anyway, with that and the ravens, the adherence to heritage and Norse mythology… well, everything added up and I could only conclude that I had stumbled upon some divine shit that I wasn't ready for."

    Silence settled on all three of us, the wind whistling through the trees and fence were the only sounds that reached my ears. Even the distant voices of reporters and caretakers had disappeared. It was like we were frozen in time.

    "What do you want?" Tay asked through gritted teeth. It was nearly in a growl. Yeah, she was still pissed.

    "Honestly?" Lisa shrugged. "I want in."

    I blinked my eyes in disbelief.

    "What?" I asked.

    "I want in," She repeated, turning her focus back to me for a brief instant. Then, it was as if her facade melted away and all that was left was a vulnerable teen girl in way over her head and nursing a hangover from hell. "Look, whatever it was that stopped Lustrum's movement had to be bigger than the United States government. Or they at least had help. The fact that they stopped a literal goddess kinda proves that. Normally I would rather ignore all of this and go back to my nice and cozy life of grand larceny. Fun as that is though, I can't ignore this and I am way too curious for my own good. So why not throw my weight in with a teenage goddess and her dead but not dead girlfriend and see where I land?"

    A villain. She was a villain. No upstanding hero would willingly steal or commit crime. Lisa actually seemed proud of it. We shouldn't trust her.

    "Why?" Tay asked. "You said it yourself, why would you leave your cozy life to even approach us?"

    The villain was quiet for a bit, clearly contemplating her words. A dangerous thing to allow for a supposed Thinker. I scoured my brain for known villains in the city. I almost wanted to say Rune, but the Nazi wouldn't willingly walk up to us without going for the kill. It also ruled out the ABB and the Merchants were too small.

    There was Coil, but so little was known about him other than the mercenaries he employed. It's possible that she could be one of his, but it was hard to know for sure.

    Wait… the news had been going on about a break in at the Ruby Dreams casino a few days ago. The Under-something or other. The only thing I really could recall from that report was the two seconds of security footage of large monsters busting through the door before the cameras went dead.

    Lisa had a raised eyebrow and a knowing look directed my way. Did she know? What was her power?

    "The long of the short of it is that I want access to the Well of Knowledge."

    The Well of Knowledge?

    "You mean Mímisbrunnr," Tay pointed out.

    Oh, that made more sense.

    "Huh? But… wait, how are— that's why I can't find anything about Gondul!" Lisa said as if she got a sudden breakthrough. "We have an alternate version of Norse mythology. Okay, that makes things so much clearer." She started massaging her temple.

    "Why do you want Mímisbrunnr?" I asked.

    Lisa looked at me and said, "Who wouldn't want all the wisdom and knowledge of the cosmos?"

    "So you approach us, full well knowing that you were getting yourself into deeper shit than you could ever imagine, expecting that we would just… let you get access to it?"

    I didn't want to tell her that it was impossible. The well was known to be at the roots of Yggdrasil and if it's anything like the surface of the world tree, she couldn't survive it. Only those who are gods, Valkyries, or Einherjar. Supposedly there were special suits that the coalition used for the other people of the Realm, but I hadn't gotten to see them.

    "There's more to this than just that," Tay said, more calm than she was earlier.

    "You are oddly perceptive," Lisa pointed out. She wasn't wrong. "I'll be frank then. My… boss wanted me to get an in with you. Possibly recruit you, possibly work alongside you."

    "You… you wanted to recruit me?" Tay sounded like she was at a loss for words.

    Lisa nodded. "Yeah, I did. At least at first. He wanted me to recruit you and Antares before someone else scooped you up. But it took one look at you to know that wouldn't work. So I convinced my boss, Coil, to see if I can work my way into your group instead."

    Coil. The mysterious mastermind in the Bay that no one knew anything about. Was that how he operated? Having people embed themselves in organizations so he always knew what was going on? Did he have people in the gangs? The PRT? He didn't have anyone in New Wave, but we were a family group with no secret identities. Kind of hard to infiltrate.

    "So… you what, manipulate me into joining him? That's not going to happen."

    "Oh, trust me, I'm aware." Lisa smirked. "Which is why I'm going a different approach. Plus, I hate the guy and would rather put my weight in with a goddess."

    "So that's it," I said. "You'd rather get behind a goddess than Coil."

    "You've got the right of it. You could use my expertise and if I can possibly get to that Well, all the better."

    So typical of villains who are out of their depth. They latch onto whatever they believe will get them what they wanted quicker, regardless of the legality. This was no different. She wanted an out with her current boss and we could grant her access to a magical well full of knowledge. We were the obvious choice to a Thinker out of her depth.

    There was no way we could trust her.

    "What expertise?" Tay asked, her voice filled with curiosity.

    My eyes went wide for what felt like the millionth time. I knew exactly where her line of thinking was going.

    "Taylor, no," I said.

    She ignored me and Lisa answered her.

    "I'm a Thinker and I know how the criminal underworld works. Imagine having that on your team while trying to face the villains, especially the Nazis." There was a slight harshness in her voice at the end. At least we could agree on hating Nazis.

    Tay turned to face me and I knew what she was trying to convey.

    "Taylor, no."

    "Ori, we need people."

    "But she's a—"

    Tay shrugged her shoulders. "Does it matter? You know what we have to do. I very much doubt we'll always be on the side of the law when it comes to doing what is necessary."

    I stared at her, trying to show her just how badly this could go but she wasn't budging. Stubborn as always. Fucking hell. We should talk about this, discuss things in detail before agreeing, but we couldn't do that with the Thinker primed to manipulate us. We needed to go somewhere we could talk things out, discuss the minimal pros and mountain of cons that recruiting her might bring.

    "Tay, a moment alone?" I asked. I needed to talk to her away from the manipulative Thinker.

    Tay glanced between the two of us, Lisa looking weary as she gestured for us to go. Tay sighed and started walking off. I smirked at the villain and followed my girlfriend over to a small mausoleum.

    "You have reservations?" Tay asked the moment we were out of the Thinker's line of sight.

    "You could say that," I said, glancing in the direction where Lisa was. "Tay, she's a villain and a Thinker on top of it! Rule one, don't let the Thinker talk."

    "She hasn't lied once," Taylor said. "She's omitted details here and there, but nothing she said was purposely deceptive."

    "Well good for her," I said, rolling my eyes. "Now, explain to me why you are so eager to recruit this random Thinker that walked up to us when it was obvious we were distressed and offered her services."

    Taylor leaned back against the stone monolith, looking towards the sky. "I won't lie that part of it is simply because we need the help. The main reason though, is that she put together so much on her own and chose to come to us rather than tell her boss, or just turn us in or even just release it online. She wants Mímisbrunnr, which as of present is beyond her. If she still wants in, even knowing that, then I want to give her a chance to prove herself."

    Damn, that was actually well reasoned. Lisa had managed to piece it all together with only a few hints that something was amiss. That would be valuable, but it was so damn risky to let a villain into the heart of our operation, especially with what she had already demonstrated she was capable of.

    "You do understand there will be no point to secrets around her," I said, crossing my arms. "We bring her on board, she'll know everything regardless of if we try to keep it from her. What's to stop her from getting that information, then selling us out?"

    "Aside from greed and the desire for something divine, not much," Taylor admitted, playing with one of the jewelry pieces in her hair. "Keeping her close is still safer than telling her off, only to have her working against us all while knowing that I'm a Godling and you're a Valkyrie."

    "Not sure she actually figured out that part yet," I said, smirking slightly.

    Taylor chuckled. "Oh, that will be fun." Then her face turned somber. "Plus, she might be able to help with the missing body problem."

    "I hadn't even thought of that," I admitted. There was some cold dread, knowing that my body was in someone's hands for who knew what nefarious purposes. That they had made such a convincing replica was more than disturbing. "Alright, she's in provisionally, but I still don't like it."

    A small smile grew on Tay's lips. "We have to make sacrifices, and if she isn't honest with us, I'll let you decide how we deal with her."

    Well, that was at least reassuring. Okay, I could live with that. I knew from the start that parts of this movement that Freyja tasked Tay with building would require questionable acts. Lustrum was a villain according to the government, and as soon as they figured out that we were connected, they'd slap that same label on us in an instant.

    We took an extra moment before stepping back around, Lisa now standing under a tree with her eyes closed. When we got close, they opened and a grin bloomed on her face.

    "I'm in?" Lisa asked, a slight giddiness in her voice.

    Tay turned to face her. "Yeah, you're in."

    Lisa let out a small whoop. "Awesome."

    "You can't get to the well, by the way," I said with a slight bit of satisfaction.

    Her happiness died and she looked at me. "What? Why not."

    "Only gods, Valkyries, and Einherjar can survive the surface of Yggdrasil."

    Her eyes were unwavering on me for a few seconds before they wandered over to my girlfriend. There was a few seconds of stillness before she said anything.

    "Fuck."

    I let a satisfied smirk grow on my face.

    "That doesn't mean it's impossible," My girlfriend said, hastily. "But at the moment, it is."

    Lisa rubbed her face. "You know what, that's fine. Taking down the Nazis and Coil are more important right now."

    Wait what?

    "Taking him down?" I asked.

    Lisa nodded. "Yeah. But we should get somewhere private. We've overstayed our welcome and I doubt miss 'dead but not dead' wants to be seen."

    And there was that regret I knew would swiftly set in. Was it too late to just dump her in the bay?

    "We could fly—" Tay started to say but stopped herself and shook her head. "Nevermind. We should go to the warehouse."

    "Taylor."

    She looked at me and said, "She's already joining. Might as well show her."

    I raised an eyebrow. "Sure, let's show a villain our base of operation the moment we recruit her. I know I said keeping secrets from her would be counterproductive, but this is jumping right to the deep end."

    "Better she understands the scope and scale now," Taylor said. "Besides, if she betrays us, option one is always on the table."

    "I've got a car," Lisa added afterwards, her thumb pointing towards the parking lot. "Also, option one sounds ominous as hell."

    "It should," I said, sending her a withering glare and wishing I could unfurl my wings. "Given it involves sending you to Helheim the easy way."

    Lisa swallowed heavily, threat clear. "That's fair, I suppose. No betraying the scary goddess, not that I planned to. So, car? Maybe get some ice cream along the way?"

    Tay and I looked at each other. After the whole mess of the funeral I was really looking forward to sharing some ice cream with my girlfriend, and now that plan was sort of shot thanks to Lisa stealing my thunder. Pity that flying wasn't an option, I could really use a leisurely flight through the clouds after the day we just had.

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    We arrived at Warehouse Thirteen, Lisa's small blue car parking on the sidewalk in front of it. Tay started walking towards the entrance while Lisa looked up and whistled.

    "Quite the place. Surprised I've never seen it."

    "Why? Your secret lair nearby?" I snarked.

    She glanced at me, a smirk on her lips. "Actually, yes."

    That surprised me. "Seriously?"

    She nodded. "So… while I work for Coil, I'm part of a team. The Undersiders."

    So that just enforced the idea that Coil had his hands in everything. Even b-listed villains. Before I could comment on it, Tay opened the door and looked over her shoulder.

    "Come in."

    My eyes never left Lisa as she walked into the warehouse after my girlfriend. If Tay wanted her to join, fine. Whatever. Even if her arguments were sound, I still had my reservations. I wasn't going to let my eyes off of her. She was still a villain. And one who actually seemed to enjoy the lifestyle.

    I activated my forcefield, my body shimmering as I flew to catch up. Just the simple act reminded me that I hadn't stretched my wings out in a while and I felt a hollowness, one not so unlike when I was an Einherjar, at the thought of it.

    Pushing that thought aside, I caught the door and spoke while entering. "So you're leaving your villain team?"

    The warehouse lights were still off from when I left earlier today. Lisa was about to respond when my girlfriend flipped the lights on… while she was a few feet away from the switch. Someone's been practicing with magic.

    Lisa whistled again as she surveyed what she could from this location. "Damn." She walked forward, her toe-shoed feet taking her nowhere in particular. "You guys are all set up. And I—wait is that real gold?"

    "Yes, it is," Tay supplied.

    "And loaded. As if you guys don't need to worry about all the issues hero groups have."

    "Huh?"

    I nodded, as much as it bothered me to agree with Lisa. "Yeah. You haven't been around for too long, but a common issue with hero groups is money. It's why we do so many PR stunts. It's to show the public that we care and to get donations to keep doing what we do. Protecting people doesn't put food on the table and the laws prevent us from legally seizing assets without going through a ton of red tape." The instant I saw my girlfriend roll her eyes, I added, "I know you hate PR, but it has its uses."

    "And even though you girls are set up, she still needs to do those things," Lisa added from the side as she looked around. It sounded as if she knew about the PRT—

    Tay groaned. "Don't remind me."

    I chuckled, "It's not so bad. Imagine if you can reach a young kid about being trans? Legend did help a lot of teens come to terms with their sexuality."

    "Eh," Lisa said with a so-so gesture. "I wouldn't necessarily say that."

    I rolled my eyes at her and then focused back on my girlfriend. "In any case, we don't have many of the minor, but important, issues that a hero group has."

    "Almost like it was set up that way," Tay muttered.

    "True," I agreed. "You did have your armor and sword available from the start. As much as you might hate it, but your mom made sure you would be prepared."

    Tay was silent, biting her lip as she brooded and thought at the same time. It was cute except for the anger that was in her eyes. She sighed.

    "Anyway," She turned to Lisa, "Welcome to the staging ground of the coalition."

    "Wait what?" Lisa said, her head snapping over Taylor. "Staging ground? Coalition?"

    I chuckled, "You said you wanted in."

    "Wait wait wait," Lisa said, her arms flailing about. "Just how big is this? Like I knew this had to be big because literal goddess and all but—"

    "What if I told you that I am but a mere leader of a small corner of a larger group, larger organization?" Tay said with a smirk on her face.

    Well well well, my girlfriend was just waiting to drop the bomb. Nice to see the Thinker off her high horse.

    Lisa was rubbing her temples. "Fuck. Okay, so… your mom isn't actually dead, is she?"

    A dark look flashed across Tay's face. "No, she's not."

    "Ah… I think I get it. Alright," Lisa nodded. "Let me guess, it spans the Nine Realms?"

    "And possibly a few earths," I said, letting Tay cool down.

    Lisa turned to face me. "And what is this all about? World domination? Show the truth to people? Hey there are gods and you aren't worshiping them?"

    "No."

    "It can't be— oh fuck me."

    I raised an eyebrow.

    "It's about parahumans, isn't it?"

    I nodded, "To some degree."

    "Well, don't leave me in suspense."

    Tay spoke up, the anger she had that was directed at Freyja was gone. "To save the Nine Realms and kill Scion."

    And just like before, Lisa was rendered speechless. You could see the gears turning in her head. I had to admit, it was kind of fun to mess with a Thinker with this knowledge. She was probably one of the first ones I'd had close interactions with. Unlike a lot of other capes, who had flashy powers like Tay and mine, hers were entirely in her head. It was fascinating to think about.

    A moment later, it was like a spike had lanced through her skill as she winced in pain, clutching her head.

    "You okay?" Tay asked, rushing to her.

    Lisa lifted her head back and blinked her eyes a few times. "Yeah, just… wow. Okay. I have no idea why, but I didn't expect it to be that big."

    "Neither did we."

    "But why Scion? What does the first parahuman have anything to do with it?"

    Tay looked at me and I could only shrug. It was up to her how much she wanted to reveal to Lisa. She wanted the villain to join after all.

    Tay's eyes went back to Lisa and said, "Because he's not human. Not from this world, or any of the other realms. He's from outer space. An interdimensional 'worm' and the progenitor of parahuman powers."

    Lisa blinked her eyes a few times, her focus not seemingly on anything. Then she winced again.

    "Okay, maybe… maybe we should curb the big existential threat for another time, it feels like my brain is actually killing me."

    "That's fine," I said, a little happier that we weren't having this discussion again. We could probably just give her some documents or something.

    Lisa shook her head, probably due to the pain. She took a deep breath and spoke. "Anyway, back to an easier topic and question you had, Ori." She emphasized my name along with a pointed look. I was surprised she didn't go with my full name. "No, I'm not leaving them. So go easy on them."

    Go on easy on them? Did she seriously—

    She continued without missing a beat. "The Undersiders are just a small time smash and grab team. The biggest thing we've done was rob the Ruby Dreams casino and that already put heat on us we didn't need or even want."

    "Oh?" I pressed on.

    She quirked an eyebrow. "Yeah. Turns out that while they don't have direct ties to the ABB, they do pay tribute and Lung doesn't like it when his money gets stolen."

    I looked over at my girlfriend. "Glad you didn't get swept up into a life of crime?"

    Tay stared at me. "Is our current station any better?"

    I stared at her for a moment. "Touché."

    "In any case," Lisa said, pulling both of our attention. "I have an idea that Coi—"

    She was stopped when a raven's caw ripped through the warehouse. I looked up, both Hugnin and Muninn flew from an open window. Their black and white bodies swooping down. Muninn landed on the forklift next to me while Hugnin landed on the shelves next to Lisa. Said bird looked at Lisa, a mischievous glint in his eye. He let out a series of caws that sounded like a laugh.

    "Yeah, yeah, yeah, hold your horses," Lisa said, pulling her backpack around and rummaging through it. She pulled out a box of crackers, opened it, and broke a piece off. She handed it off to the raven.

    The raven snapped the cracker from her hand, a glint in his eyes.

    I felt a gentle beak tap against my shoulder and I turned my head to Mugnin. The white bird twisted his head and gently rubbed its beak against me. I reached up and ran my finger down the center of his head, down to his beak. He clacked his beak happily.

    "You know Hugnin?" Taylor blurted.

    Lisa was staring down Hugnin and when she looked away, the bird let out another series of caws to sound like laughing. She quickly glared at the bird but returned her gaze to my girlfriend.

    "Huh," Her eyes went back to the black raven. She didn't wait for Tay to respond as she said, "Well, that explains a lot." She turned back to my girlfriend. "Not sure why your dad had this one follow me—"

    "Dad?" Tay had a look of pure confusion on her face. "Wha—"

    I couldn't hold it in anymore; that was too funny. I laughed, struggling to get the words out "Oh, t-that's t-too rich."

    "He— oh. Fuck me," Lisa said as she realized her mistake.

    "Wait," Tay said, "You thought…"

    I gave her a cheeky smile, "Yeah, she thought your dad was Odin." My smile instantly fell when Tay's mood immediately soured. "Shit, Tay, I didn't—"

    "It's fine," She waved me off. I knew it wasn't but she didn't give me a chance to remedy my mistake by talking to Lisa. "Odin's dead. Most of the gods are in fact."

    Lisa blinked her eyes as if she was waving off a headache. Probably was.

    "Gotcha," Lisa said. "So who controls the ravens?"

    Hugnin nipped at Lisa's fingers that were a little too close. She pulled it back and glared at the bird. Hugnin just stared at her and titled his head. Almost challenging her.

    "No one," Tay informed her. "Freyja uses them sometimes, but they are mostly doing their own things."

    "Huh, interesting."

    Silence fell between the three of us. I knew I fucked up with my blunder but I really didn't like Lisa. We shouldn't trust her so quickly but Tay was right, we did need the help.

    I took a deep breath. The simple action calmed my mind a little.

    "I'm going to go clean up my armor," I said more as an excuse than a necessity. I did need to do some maintenance on the armor that I had been neglecting, but it could wait till tomorrow. But I felt I overstayed my welcome and was just causing more problems for my girlfriend by being openly antagonistic. Maybe Lisa would prove my fears to be unfounded, I certainly hoped she did, for Taylor's sake.

    Tay looked at me, the gears in her head whirling. "Okay," She said quietly. I ignored the look she was giving me.

    I walked over to the elevator, ignoring the soft trills Mugnin let out as I left him. Before the doors closed, I glanced over at the two again and I couldn't stop the guilt that built within me. Tay and Lisa started talking again. Hugnin had hopped onto Lisa's shoulder and was pecking at her hair before her bun came undone. She glared at the bird before fixing it. Mugnin was still where I had left him and his gaze was on me.

    I sighed before the doors closed.

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    Sparks flew from the whirling tool that I didn't have the name for. It was some special one I had found among the several rows of things the warehouse had. Among the instructions Kyle had left me for the armor and gun, it was the correct tool to get access to the fan ducks that needed to be cleaned. Why a normal screwdriver couldn't work, I didn't know. I wasn't a Tinker. Probably something to do with the magic that coursed through the thing.

    I leaned back and wiped my forehead of sweat. Setting the odd tool with a weird corkscrew shape to its design. My eyes traveled upwards at the armor in its shining glory. As nice as it was, I couldn't help but hate it. Not the armor itself, that was fine. It was what it represented. The fact that it served to keep my identity hidden so the world wouldn't know that I was 'alive'. A reminder that I'd been hiding from my family for the past week.

    Even though I wasn't there, I could see just how poorly my family was doing with my death. The fact that Uncle Mike showed up was evidence of that. And my sister…

    A shuddering breath escaped my lips. Briefly closing my eyes, I looked out the large window above my desk. Dark, a spattering of clouds that covered the night sky. When I came up here, it was still light out. Guess I got a bit carried away with maintenance.

    Rubbing my face, I stood and stretched. I walked over to my desk and grabbed the ice tea that was no longer cold. Taking a long sip, I looked around my room.

    Over the past week, I had started to make it more my own. As Lisa so astutely pointed out, money wasn't an issue, even if it was a pain to convert the gold or silver to currency we could actually use. Zoe helped with that, having some contacts that didn't trust paper money or something. She also helped with just making these spaces our own. Unlike my girlfriend's room, mine was smaller and it suited me well. There was a decent size T.V. on a stand on the opposite side of my bed, the screensaver from the DVD player bouncing against the edges. A game console had been installed but I hadn't bothered playing anything yet.

    There was a warm glow emanating from the wall outlet and I couldn't help but have a fond smile on my face. It was stupid, I didn't need it anymore considering I could see somewhat in the dark, but it reminded me of home. How I had a night light because my parents kept a light on in their bedroom. It wasn't till I was older that it was explained why Mom did that, but I still held onto it.

    I sat on my bed and set my tea on my nightstand. Letting out a huff, I flopped onto my bed, my numerous new pillows bouncing around, and stared at the white ceiling above and clicked my tongue. My mind turned to the day's events.

    Watching my own funeral probably wasn't the greatest idea, but I couldn't stay away. Not only for my girlfriend but I had to see my family. After the brief meetup with Aunt Sarah and Uncle Neil, I wanted to know how they were handling things. It really shouldn't come to a surprise that drama would ensue. But I couldn't help but feel irritated that Mom hadn't called off the reporters. Hell, why didn't Aunt Sarah do that? What was the fucking point? Hey, check out how poorly New Wave was handling the death of yet another member of their group! They sure are having a bad time, aren't they? Let's show how the Nazis really own—

    The knocking at my door was a cold comfort of relief from my dark thoughts. Slowly sitting up, I glanced at the door. I hoped it wasn't Lisa. I already didn't trust her and my girlfriend basically gave her a blank check with what could be the most coveted warehouse on the planet.

    "Come in," I said before they could knock again.

    There was a moment before the door opened, revealing my girlfriend. Her face was unreadable at first, the light from the hallway casting a shadow around her features. It was eerie and would've been terrifying if she didn't have a sag to her shoulders and I was anyone else.

    "Hey," I greeted her. The guilt slowly came in but I pushed it aside.

    "Hey," She echoed. Her eyes looked around the room, a common thing she did. "Can I come in?"

    I nodded and scooted over, giving her space if she wanted to sit.

    With slow and methodical steps that barely made a sound with each fall, she walked into the room and closed the door behind her. Her black dress swayed with her hips and it was quite alluring. Not just because of how it drew my eye, but I knew she wasn't aware of her own movement. It just added to who she was. In one fluid motion, she took off the sandals she'd been wearing all day and sat on the bed next to me. A heavy breath leaving her as she did so.

    We sat in silence for what felt like hours but was honestly like thirty seconds. She was the one to break it.

    "Lisa's all set up now. She's got a room down the hallway. The one with the large desk that could fit multiple monitors and a large cork board on one of the walls. She won't be able to get it all set up quickly, as she has to keep appearances up to her team, but she said she is going to try and be here as much as possible. Once Coil's dealt with she plans to move in full time."

    "Good for her."

    "Ori," Tay scolded me.

    "Sorry," I muttered. "It's just…"

    "I know you don't trust her."

    "No, I don't," I said, meeting her eyes. "She's a villain, Tay."

    "Was—"

    "Still is. You just said she's still part of her team!"

    She sighed. "I know."

    "How can we call ourselves heroes if we just let anyone join? I get it, we have this big task ahead of us and we need to build a team and a movement. But she's a villain! She actively said she enjoyed the lifestyle!"

    She rubbed her face, "But we can't be picky, Ori. There are more than just former heroes in Gimlé. There were a few of the old Teeth capes from back in the day." She opened her eyes and looked at me. "This is the fate of the Nine Realms as a whole. Not just this small city in a single version of Earth."

    "So you want to invite the Empire—"

    "Fuck no! That's not—" She sighed again. "We can't alienate some of the more small time capes. Yes, we can be a little picky, I'd rather have heroes on the team than villains. But she actively looked into this. Found out there was more going on than anyone realized. That showed initiative. And what? You want to turn down someone who figured everything out? She could easily release that onto the internet."

    "No one's going to believe her."

    "But there will be some," She said, shifting her body to face me and crossing her legs. "I'm not sure I am ready for the world to know about all of this."

    I looked away. This was just rehashing what we spoke about earlier, but she was right. At some point we could be more open but we were in a shit situation right now. My funeral was literally today and that was a whole other can that we needed to discuss. If the world knew that I was alive right now, Taylor would be labeled as the second Glaistig Uaine and she'd be on the run. Her movement would fail before it even began, failing harder than her mom's. And that would be a bigger hit to her than anything else.

    "Ori," My girlfriend said softly.

    My eyes landed on her again and I saw a slim smile on her face. Her eyes were glittering in the artificial light from the nightlight and other sources within my room and I couldn't help but be pulled into their earthy embrace.

    I sighed, "I'm sorry."

    Her smile widened just a bit. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

    "Yeah, I do."

    Tay tilted her head. "How so?"

    A small chortle left my lips. That's adorable. "I shouldn't have been such a bitch to her."

    "Oh, I wasn't really bothered by that. She was as needling as the icy peaks of Niflheimr."

    "Yeah she was."

    "She probably knows more from what we didn't say."

    I furrowed my eyebrows. "Oh?"

    Tay leaned back on her hands, which puffed out her chest in a way that made it really hard to focus on her face. Especially as one of her braids reached low enough to—

    "Yeah. Not entirely sure what her powers are, but she figured things out really quickly. She'd only been actively researching the past two weeks without the resources we had. The way she interrupted herself, it was her power at work."

    I sometimes forget that Tay was incredibly inquisitive about powers. It was rare since she didn't voice them, but she did figure out about my forcefield from one encounter.

    "Interesting."

    "So yeah, there's nothing to be sorry about that."

    "It's just…" I sighed for what felt like the tenth time. "I just wish we weren't put on the spot like that, it was too soon to just bring her here."

    Tay didn't respond at first but nodded. "You're right, we should've taken more time for that. I… I went on my instincts and pushed for it. I figured that having a Thinker like her on the team was a great boon and would give us insight on Coil."

    "Does he really matter right now?"

    "Now? Not so much. But Lisa and I talked a bit. He's got his fingers in everything. That includes the PRT. Whatever his plans are, they are far reaching. He's playing a long game, sort of like what Freyja wants us to do, and time is all he needs to arrange things to his advantage. Luckily, we have the upper hand. Lisa really hates him."

    "I figured as much," I said.

    "Oh?"

    "She even said it, he wanted her to recruit or get an in with you. She was a mole. We just have to hope that she isn't heavily entrenched with him and tells him all of our secrets."

    "She won't," My girlfriend said with conviction. "The only reason she's staying with her team rather than moving here full time is to get more information on him. She wants him dead."

    Oh well. From one extreme to another. Great. Not that I was one to talk. Death really did shift one's perspective on things.

    "Still, I'm sorry," I said after a pause. "About her thinking Odin was your dad. And laughing."

    My girlfriend leaned forward, her hands going to her lap and she started playing with the palm of her left hand.

    "I never really thought of that possibility," She said, but it was more of a whisper. "Like, it's not that far-fetched of a possibility. If Freyja decided to have another child with him, it could've been me. Baldr and I wouldn't be half siblings, but full siblings— not that it matters. The point is, I should be prepared for that line of thinking."

    "How could you?" I said honestly.

    "Huh?"

    "How could you?" I repeated. "You only found out that you were a daughter of a goddess six weeks ago. This is still new, Tay."

    "Yeah, I know," She said, sounding a little disappointed.

    I wrapped an arm around her, gentle and comforting. "So don't blame yourself for my blunder. I shouldn't have opened up that wound."

    She shrugged and if I didn't know her better, I would think she was going to be fine. But she wouldn't. She'd set it aside and bury it deeper.

    "Hey," I said, pulling her attention.

    "Mhmm?"

    "Let me make it up to you."

    "You don't—" She started protesting but I wasn't having any of it.

    "I was going to take you to get ice cream after the funeral, you know, to eat away our woes of the fact that it was my fune—"

    "Which we still need to talk about the body," She pointed out.

    "I know," I said, some of the steam of my suggestion leaving me. "We can talk about it another time because that is a whole can of worms that we both don't need right now."

    "You sure?" She asked and I could tell she'd rather be delving into that.

    "Yeah, it's not going to change anything, Tay. Someone has my real body. What are they going to do? Harvest my organs? I don't think I need them right now."

    "But—"

    "No buts," I interrupted her. "What we are going to do is sit on my bed, watch a movie, and relax after an eventful day, okay?"

    I could see the cogwheels turning in her head. Her eyes never left me, but I knew they weren't exactly focused on me. Her lower lip was engulfed by her upper lip and teeth that made my heart skip a beat. Fuck. Get a hold of yourself, Victoria. One corner of my lips turned upwards and I leaned closer.

    "Hey, Tay."

    Her eyes blinked and she realized our proximity. "Yeah?"

    "Can I kiss you?"

    She was looking at my eyes, but I noticed the brief glance down at my lips. Got her.

    "Yeah."

    I moved in slowly and captured those lips. It was chaste, we weren't anywhere ready for anything more. Her lips were still warm and wet from her biting them and I savored it. The kiss didn't last as I pulled away a second later, my eyes opening as I watched her.

    Her eyes slowly opened, a little glossy. A small smile formed on her face.

    "Against the movie idea?" I asked.

    She shook her head.

    I smiled and hopped off my bed, the pillows bouncing and shifting around. I walked over to the TV and grabbed the remote, then I opened up the case underneath and said, "I don't have the best selection, since this is only what your aunt and I could grab on short notice, but there are a few decent ones from Aleph."

    I glanced over my shoulder at her. She was still sitting cross legged on the bed and she was looking around, probably wondering what to do about the pillows.

    "Uhh, I've never been much of a movie person. Put whatever you want on."

    A small exhale of breath left my nose and I smiled. Picking one, I plopped it into the DVD player and moved back to the bed. To help alleviate her woes, I moved some pillows around so we could both be comfortable. She still sat cross legged by the time I laid myself against the mound of pillows. I wiggled my eyebrows and patted the spot next to me.

    She still looked a little wary so I patted the bed again.

    "Come on, cuddle with me."

    That seemed to snap her out and she gingerly moved towards me. There was hesitancy in her movement so I quickly added, "Unless you don't want to."

    She paused. "No it's just…"

    I raised an eyebrow at her. "Just what?"

    "You sure?"

    Why wouldn't I? I was the one who asked her. I knew we were taking things slowly, but it was just cuddling. Not like we hadn't done that before. She held me several times at night. Deciding to shelve that away, I gave her my answer.

    "Yeah, I'm sure."

    She nodded and carefully moved in next to me. I felt her arms wrap around me and one of her legs go over mine. She stopped midway and pulled back. Was she not sure— her dress? I didn't have a chance to look down as her hot breath reached my cheek and her warm body touched mine. Her heartbeat was racing a million miles a minute. I grabbed the remote and turned my head, aiming my lips for her cheek. A simple kiss.

    That simple act seemed to calm her down, her thumping chest becoming more of a steady beat and she pulled herself closer into me. A smile grew on my lips at a job well done.

    With that, I turned on the TV and started the movie. In this moment, the world seemed to disappear and I could just focus on her. The woes of today were gone and the issues of my life melted. It was just the two of us.
    And the team slowly grows. Lisa is probably one of my favorite characters, especially in FW. Her interactions with Ori are just amazing and they just write themselves. Also, this chapter was shorter in the first draft... I swear.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • Thurisaz 3.8 (Taylor)
  • Threadmarks
    • I would like to thank my Beta team, you girls awesome!
    CW: Hate Crime, Bullying
    Thurisaz 3.8 (Taylor)​

    Friday, March 11th, 2011

    The door rang after closing the locker a little too harshly. My hand lingered on the metal, both in slight fear of accidentally breaking it and feeling the cold metal rumble with vibrations as other students closed and opened their lockers. It wasn't soothing at all and only reminded me of the fact of where I was.

    School was getting… tiresome to say the least.

    I couldn't be sure if it was because I had more important things to take care of or if it was the constant attention sent my way. The loser loner trans girl who everyone ignored or made fun of was now a known cape. At least some stopped seeing me as the next Carrie, but they stared nonetheless.

    I just wanted this farce to end.

    "Don't try to dent the metal," A snarky voice said beside me.

    I rolled my eyes and looked at Sophia. "Oh, ha ha, real funny."

    She shrugged her shoulders with a slight smirk. "What? I'm not the Brute."

    "I'm not either." Technically.

    She raised an eyebrow, "Sure, because the weights on the bar in the basement are totally normal for someone of your size."

    Ever since she told me who she was, Sophia had been a little more open. She had told me that she volunteered to guard duty and had been in my house for the period I was gone. That's how she knew Ori and I were coming home and called the Protectorate. As annoying as it was, I couldn't fault her. Her and Aunt Zoe did have some history and Sophia was one of the most mobile and stealthiest among the Wards. She also wasn't that surprised by my wings since she had seen them already. She just wasn't ready for them to sprout from my back like magic.

    I waved her off, "Those are honestly nothing to me now."

    "You're serious?"

    I chuckled, "Yeah."

    She whistled, "Damn, girl. Good thing I didn't tell the Protectorate about your supposed Brute rating."

    I shrugged my shoulders. "Don't really care, honestly. They'd be better classifying me as a Trump than a Master and Brute at this point."

    Sophia stared at me before pinching the bridge of her nose. "You're kidding me…"

    "Nope," I said, popping the p like a smug little shit, which was probably more vindictive than I intended. It felt good to remind Sophia that I wasn't so weak anymore, even if she had gotten better the last few months.

    She shook her head, "You know what, above my paygrade."

    I chuckled, "Come on, we should get to class." I was about to move before I looked around. "Where's Char?"

    Not a moment later, Charlotte wormed her way through the crowd.

    "Hey," She said.

    "Hey Char," I replied.

    Sophia nodded her head in greeting and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

    A buzzing came from my pocket and I pulled my phone out. A stream of messages from the group chat, aptly named 'Team Chat', was streaming by as Lisa and Ori communicated with one another. They weren't quite killing each other, but they clearly were having a verbal battle of wits like two Skalds in a mead hall. Lisa would make a comment and my girlfriend would quip back, trying to out sarcastic the Thinker. I stopped rolling my eyes at the two, but it looked like they had at least talked about the body.

    Lisa was apparently not surprised and Ori's joke about organs wasn't as far-fetched as one might think, but Lisa did conclude that it was probably cape related. But who would want the late Glory Girl's body was still up in the air. She did confirm that it wasn't Coil, which she seemed disappointed about. Guess she wished we could go after him right away but that didn't seem to be the case.

    Even with my girlfriend's reservation, it was nice to have a Thinker on the team. We couldn't be that picky about who joins and her power was incredibly useful. The fact that she figured out as much as she did on her own showed dedication that I could admire. Kind of hard to say no to that.

    But those messages aren't what had caught my attention. It was the one from Crystal.

    Crystal: Hey, Taylor. I know the funeral was rough, but I was wondering if you wanted to grab a bite or something today. Just to chat.

    I stared at the message a few times. The funeral was rough alright. The headlines about Panacea having a tiff against Gondul were blasted everywhere. Speculation was running rampant that if I ever needed healing, she'd deny it and people agreed that it was justified. It was fucking ridiculous what people would assume. It honestly made me rethink Aunt Zoe's suggestion to do some PR shit just to get my word out.

    "You okay?" Charlotte asked.

    I looked up at her and nodded. "Yeah," I said, closing my phone. "Just a message from Crystal."

    Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows. "Crystal?"

    "Crystal Pelham, I'm guessing," Sophia interjected.

    I nodded again. "Yeah."

    "I heard about the… funeral," Charlotte said, hesitating slightly.

    I leaned against the lockers, my head banging against the metal. "I assume everyone has. It wasn't pretty."

    "I could imagine," Charlotte said compassionately. "Are you okay?"

    I shrugged my shoulders. It was not like I could tell them the truth. At least not to Sophia. The thought about telling Charlotte had been weighing heavily on my mind lately. It would be nice to have another set of hands around the warehouse from time to time. It's not like everyone had to be a cape and if I were to echo Freyja, it might be better to not have all capes. 'Parasite' and all that paranoia. Nonetheless, I wanted to get going on recruiting and bringing people into the fold. I wanted to clean up the Bay and make it our base of operations from which we could branch out.

    But first, we had to deal with the pollutants in the city. The Empire being number one on that list. I couldn't shake off the restlessness that stirred within me at the mere thought of them continuing to sully my heritage and I couldn't shake it off.

    A commotion going on down the hallway pulled me from my thoughts. I listened for any words while Sophia stood at alert and Charlotte looked confused.

    "Somethings going down," I informed them.

    "And it doesn't involve you for once," Sophia commented.

    I let the comment slide and started marching down the hallway. My friends quickly followed me if their footsteps were any indication. I pushed aside the first clutter of students and they immediately got the idea and parted for me. For once, I was kind of glad for my reputation now. It made it easier to get to the scene.

    We rounded the corner and came upon a group of Empire kids surrounding two black kids, a boy and a girl. Out of the fascists wannabes, I didn't see Leo but I did see that one blonde girl. Tammi, I believe her name was. She didn't even go to this school and was acting like she owned the place. Not only that, but she looked younger than most people here. Not that it stopped her from being a bitch. She was standing front and center of her assholes, a large wicked smirk on her face.

    What bothered me the most, just like it came to anything in this school, was how no one was doing anything to help. Instead they all stood on the sidelines allowing this shit to happen.

    I marched forward, pushing people aside. Wide eyes met mine as I made my way to the front. A brief thought to summon my wings or the cape to become an owl flash through my mind, but it'd take too much time. The two students on the ground were already in the process of being pummeled.

    "Leave them alone," I said, loud enough that my voice echoed in the hallway. A shush fell upon everyone as all eyes were on me. Sophia and Charlotte caught up, Sophia quickly standing next to me.

    The Nazi kids turned their heads. Tammi strode past and stood in front of her group. "Well if it isn't the tranny," Her eyes moved over to Sophia. "And the darky. I wish I could say this was a surprise, but it's not."

    "Fuck off," Sophia bit back.

    "Please, I'm not a fucking dyke like you, bitch."

    My fists clenched at the girl in front of me. My blood was boiling but I had to hold back. I honestly didn't care about the no powers rule Principal Blackwell told me, even if I didn't want to cause more problems for Aunt Zoe. She was already trying to deal with the media fallout from the funeral.

    "Leave them be," I said, gritting my teeth.

    "Or what?" Tammi raised an eyebrow. "Gonna use your powers? Oh right, you can't, can you? Probably still broken up about losing your dyke of a girlfriend. I heard the funeral was a shitshow. Can't believe you got on Panacea's bad side. Imagine having a world renowned healer hate your guts."

    Whispers echoed across the locker lined hallway and linoleum floor. Apparently some were not up to date on the latest cape news. Guess they knew now, oh well. It didn't stop the sweat accumulating in my hands as the weight fell on my shoulders. Having an open identity and being a hero was always going to have eyes on me. Ori's death skyrocketed my fame, or infamy, from a lowly independent hero.

    I wasn't sure how to feel about that.

    One of the Empire wannabes went to kick one of the kids and my body went into action. I might not be able to use my powers, but the idea of using a bit of magic did pop into my head. That thought was brushed away as I ran, knocking Tammi to the side with my shoulder and grabbing the prick's hand while he was mid kick. He spun on the spot, his foot missing the girl's face.

    He raised his fist, ready to punch whoever had stopped him, but his eyes widened when he realized it was me. A simple push with his balance already being off, caused him to sprawl onto the ground. I turned around and prepared myself for the inevitable retaliation from Tammi, only to find Sophia pushing her further away and getting next to me. Char wasn't far behind, just a little hesitant.

    I pivoted again, positioning myself to get in between the black students and the Nazi wannabes, but they were already running away with the tail between their legs. The one I had pushed aside was scrambling on all fours before standing to catch up with the others. Only Tammi was left behind.

    She dusted herself off before looking at us. She scoffed.

    "Whatever. You know, it's almost poetic how you're the trio of what is wrong with this country."

    "That's rich," Sophia said as she barked out a laugh. "Don't come crying when they sell you to one of their capes who is a decade older as their personal broodmare all for the sake of their pathetic cause. Maybe ask Othala what that feels like next time someone almost kills your Nazi ass."

    Tammi snarled and started walking after her 'friends' in a huff, but not before she went to shoulder check Char. That time I did draw on some magic, just a small pane of force that wouldn't relent under such a feeble attack. Tammy didn't seem to notice in her anger, rolling past Char and stomping off down the hallway.

    There was a moment of silence in the hallway before whispers started to fill the space. I was annoyed that so many people just stood by while blatant hate crime took place, but I turned my focus on the two teenagers on the ground.

    I held my hands out and asked, "Are you two okay?"

    They stared up at me, then my hands and a look of horror filled their faces. I looked at my hands and realized why. There was blood on my hands, from my own nails digging into my palms.

    "Uhh, sorry," I said, pulling my hands away. Upon closer inspection, I could see the cuts already knitting themselves closed. "Are you two okay?" I asked again, hopefully putting that awkwardness behind.

    It took a second, but the two snapped out of it.

    "Yeah," The boy said. "Just a few bruises."

    The girl nodded.

    "Thanks for helping us," He said as he slowly stood up.

    "Don't mention it. No one deserves that."

    Sophia stood next to me and held her hand out for the girl. She grasped Sophia and allowed my friend to pull her up.

    "Thanks," The girl said.

    Sophia gave her a curt nod and looked over them. Since they were in good hands, I turned around and addressed the hallway. I couldn't help but be annoyed with all of them. How many of them were here when the fascist assholes were beating up the two? That a clear hate crime was happening and they stood on the sidelines doing nothing. If something like that wouldn't get them to step in, then nothing would. It was deplorable.

    "Are you really going to stand there and gossip? Standing on the side while others get beaten and bruised makes you no different," I said, my irritation dripping in my voice. "Stand for what's right, not for what is easy. Next time it might just be you in their place, so ask yourself, would you rather everyone stand and watch, or step in and help?"

    Several teenagers shifted in place and a few started to back away. Slowly, the hallway started to disperse. Just from the few looks on their faces, I knew nothing would change. Why would it ever.

    "You okay?" Char asked, with worried-filled eyes. They glanced down at my hands.

    I held them up, inspecting the cuts. They were still open, but blood wasn't leaking from them anymore.

    Meeting her eyes, I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Not the worst I've dealt with."

    She blinked her eyes before she bobbed her head. "Good point, but that doesn't mean I can't look out for my friend. Even if she's a hero."

    I smiled, "Thanks."

    The bell rang, signifying the start of class. I sighed and looked at my friends. What a wonderful way to start the day.

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    A smile graced my lips as another message from my girlfriend came through my phone. I felt so childish, but I hid it behind my notebook that I had been jotting down ideas for the team. With Lisa's inclusion, I needed to decide if I was keeping The Flight as the Valkyrie portion— which would be just Ori and I, I guess— or as the actual team name. It didn't quite work if the team grew much larger. Lisa not wanting to be in the field helped with that but was still something I wanted to keep in mind.

    The smiley face and heart emoji that Ori sent me made my smile grow larger. I had sent her a hilarious cat video, something that neither of us had done in some time, in hopes to cheer her up and break the monotony of what her day might be.

    The happiness in my chest disappeared when my vision wavered and the air pressure changed. Out of habit, I listened to my instincts and leaned back. Pencil shavings dropped onto my notebook, barely missing my hand and phone, and not in my hair.

    I glanced up at the offender, Madison. She stood stock still, her hand above me with bits of shavings and graphite still clinging to it. I raised an eyebrow and that seemed to spook her more.

    "Do you really think that was a good idea?" I said as I brushed the shaving aside and closed my notebook. At least I didn't have to worry about hiding what my plans were. It wasn't like some villain was going to reveal my secrets about the team layout. Oh no, all my dastardly plans are foiled and now I can't be a hero.

    "Uhh."

    I rolled my eyes and gathered my things before slinging my backpack over my shoulder and shoving my phone in my pocket. Stepping around her, I walked out of the classroom and ignored the looks sent my way. The moment I was out of the room, I took a deep breath.

    I fucking hated this school.

    That might be an exaggeration as the rest of the day wasn't bad. I was able to keep myself occupied with our coming plans. I still hadn't texted Crystal back, but it wasn't like I wanted to pull out my phone in the middle of class… unless it was Ori. She was the only one I'd be willing to skirt the rule for. I was already under enough scrutiny and didn't need more fuel added to the fire. Principal Blackwell hadn't called me to the office, so I assume no one reported what happened this morning, but if someone did, I'd probably be close to being suspended for no fucking reason. Tammi didn't even go to the school, but she just knew that Blackwell would side with her out of spite if nothing else.

    It wasn't like I didn't want to talk to Crystal; she was rather nice and it would be good to get to know the cousin that Ori talked about the most. Getting to know Ori's family more was probably a good idea, even if she hadn't told them about her existence. She said she wanted to handle it and I was going to let her, but I felt that she was just making excuses to not face them after everything that had happened.

    Not that I was any better, but I wanted to be there for her, yet I also didn't want to step on any toes.

    While I was working on a response to Crystal, I made my way downstairs, weaving between other students. Unsurprisingly, I was waylaid.

    Not by the usual Empire supporter, but by Emma. A brief thought about pushing her aside with some magic or summoning one of my Valkyries to stop her came to mind, but I ignored the intrusive thought. Today had already gone on long enough.

    Sophia was off in the distance, heading straight for me, but it seemed she hadn't seen Emma and was having issues getting through the crowds of teenagers itching to leave the school.

    Resigning myself to the threads of fate, I walked down the stairs.

    "Hey Taylor," Emma said as snarky as possible. She had a knowing smile on her face.

    "What do you want, Emma."

    "Oh, Taylor, I'm wounded that you'd treat me in such a way!"

    Like clockwork, teenagers stopped to stare.

    "Please Emma, you're so full of shit."

    Emma narrowed her eyes. "Not a very heroic thing to say. Then again, do you really think you're a hero? You got a good hero in this city killed. All because she pitied you. You're so pathetic, Taylor."

    I tried to ignore the comment, but it cut through like a hot knife through butter, piercing the shield I'd constructed. Focusing on the conversation Ori and I had after the funeral, I centered myself. There were no regrets between the two of us, no matter the outcome. There was a way to cut her off, but I hesitated just a moment too long.

    "Honestly, it's no different than when we were younger," Emma continued. "You were always so clingy, so attached. It was so annoying how you'd always get close whenever we watched movies or how you always wanted to hold my hand. It was kind of sad actually."

    I hadn't realized I had been shifting my weight until I heard a slight squeak under my shoes. My fingers slid across the jewelry as if it was smooth metal instead of engraved with runes and the realization of how clammy they felt.

    It wasn't the first time she'd used this tactic and even though I've felt the same biting humiliation, it felt more raw now. I had a girlfriend. A girlfriend who I had inadvertently killed just by association. The words she was currently spouting were just digs at my complete and utter failure as a human being. Not that I was one, instead I was a failure of a Vanir who couldn't handle her attachments or intimacy that supposedly came so naturally. The night after the funeral proved that with how I didn't know what the fuck to do when cuddling with Ori.

    I was pulled from my spiral when Sophia's voice pierced the darkness.

    "You get off on yourself, don't you?"

    "Screw you, Sophia."

    "You just can't get over how bothered you are by Taylor being a girl now that you have to humiliate her instead. For the record, I'm pretty sure you liked everything you just said."

    Sophia had a satisfied smirk on her face while Emma looked appalled in their stand off.

    "I did not!" Emma yelled back.

    "Oh please, how many sleepovers did you mutter about—"

    "Fuck you!" Emma screamed. Her body shook and her face screwed up in some form of rage that I had rarely seen from. Her eyes landed on me and there was a crazed look in them that only reinforced her emotions. "Ugh!" She added, turning sharply and stomping away.

    No one waited long before resuming their exit of the building. The only sound that reached my ears was the scraping of shoes on the floor and a few whispers about the whole exchange. A few were… disheartening to say the least.

    "You okay?" Sophia asked.

    I shrugged my shoulders. "Nothing new."

    "Taylor."

    Her tone was almost stern, yet it almost sounded… pleading? The idea of just leaving left as I turned to face her.

    "What?" I asked.

    Sophia stared at me for a few seconds and I thought for a moment she was going to leave like before. Instead, she pulled her backpack out and rummaged through it. The already maelstrom of emotions roiling within me seemed to intensify as she pulled out a relic that I thought I'd never see. One I once wished to have in my possession again. One I wished to burn to ash after everything I'd gone through.

    In Sophia's hands, was Freyja's flute. The intricate Futhark runes carved into the wood itself. Laguz, most likely for fantasies. Uruz for creativity. Ingwaz for harmony. Along with those were initials and figures. With everything I've learned, I knew who they were. My mother and uncle. It practically radiated magic in what was a magical wasteland.

    "I'm… sorry," Sophia said, hesitantly, her eyes not quite meeting mine. "It was a stupid prank, another one of Emma's ideas. She—"

    "You stole it with your powers," I said abruptly but low enough that her secret wasn't revealed.

    She clamped her mouth and nodded.

    "Where was it?"

    "After… Emma wanted to destroy it, but we couldn't," I didn't miss the 'we' part. "So I convinced her that we should hide it. Under the boardwalk, deep in the sand."

    Words halted in my throat as I stared at the wooden musical instrument. Once I thought it lost forever, never to be seen again and leaving behind a hole in my chest for my idiocy for bringing it to school. Now all I could feel was the betrayal. Not from Sophia, even if she still stole it and tried to destroy it. She at least gave it back and it wasn't like she knew the history behind it.

    Second upon agonizing second passed before I grabbed the flute from her outstretched hand. The hard wooden instrument felt comfortable in my grip, almost like home. There was no doubt that it was made from the trees from Vanaheimr. I couldn't help but think how Sophia had no idea that what she had was possibly thousands of years old and from another realm altogether.

    For a brief moment, I expected another prank to come. How this was some elaborate long con and would just betray me, but it never came. The moment the flute left her hands, they retreated into her pockets where they balled into fists. Her eyes were still not meeting mine.

    It was entirely genuine.

    Wonderful.

    "Thank you," I said quietly, almost unsure if I had said the words.

    "I don't deserve—"

    "Still," I said quickly. "Thank you."

    I wasn't sure if I should cry or shout to the sky. First the shit this morning, then Madison, Emma, and now the fucking flute. Not that Aunt Zoe questioned it, but this was one of the top reasons why I didn't want to go to school. Too much bullshit I didn't need. Her own daughter knew how to strike a nerve, especially when the same thoughts had been bouncing around in my head. If it was anyone else, I wouldn't have been so bothered.

    I couldn't stay.

    "I need to go," I said.

    Sophia stared at me, conflicting emotions warring in her eyes. She didn't say anything but also didn't stop me. It was a sad piece of irony that even with powers— a godling no less— and my identity known to all, I could be laid low by the most simplistic of things.

    No one stopped me nor got in my way as I left the school and headed towards the parking lot. Aunt Zoe had taken it upon herself to come pick me up recently. I think she knew that if she didn't, I'd just fly like I did the first day back.

    The moment I closed the car door, I slumped in the chair and felt my muscles relax. The flute flopped in my lap, an aura of magic emanating from the instrument.

    "What happened?" Aunt Zoe's voice was filled with worry.

    "Nothing."

    "Taylor."

    I sighed after several seconds of debating with myself.

    "Just… not a good day at school."

    "Was it Emma?"

    She didn't say daughter. Interesting. I wasn't sure when that happened, but now that I thought about it, she had stopped referring to Emma that way. She still called Anne her daughter, so it wasn't like she cut her family out of her life.

    When I didn't say anything, she let out a long drawn out breath.

    "So it was. What happened?"

    I sighed, "She wasn't the only issue. The Empire wannabes have been ramping up and were beating up some black kids. We intervened before it got too bad, but it was only the start of the day."

    Aunt Zoe was quiet but I could see her eyes slowly turn shaper, colder.

    "Of course they did. Let me assume that no one from the faculty got themselves involved?"

    I shook my head. "I don't even know if they are aware of it. Part of the day was me wondering if I was going to get suspended or something."

    She scoffed, "I would challenge that in a heartbeat. But that's not what's really bothering you. As wary as I am with you going to the school still while being targeted by them, I know Emma did something."

    "She…" I trailed off as the words failed me. It was so hard to talk about Emma in front of her. There was always an inkling of fear that she would turn her back on me. Even with her spending ninety percent of her time at home with Dad or consistently supporting my growing team, I couldn't help but feel everything would flip on its head and be out of my control.

    Aunt Zoe sighed, "I know you want to bury this, Taylor, and I won't push you, but you can talk about her."

    I sighed, resigning myself. "She… well, she first mocked me about not being a true hero and getting Ori killed —"

    "What."

    Her curt tone was enough for me to garner a glance at her. Aunt Zoe's stare was looking at nothing in particular, but it was cold. The same cold stare that always seemed to cause her powers to act up.

    "Yeah," I reaffirmed my words.

    She closed her eyes and a shudder escaped her lips that almost sounded like windchimes or wind blowing over glass bottles. When she opened them again, she turned her head and they landed on me. The coldness was gone, replaced with sympathetic blue eyes.

    "Honey, it's not your fault."

    I shrugged my shoulders. "I know and I've accepted that now. Ori and I have been talking about it. It wasn't the first time, but after the funeral, she appeared and I sort of…"

    "It's okay," Aunt Zoe said, her voice filled with empathy. "I'm glad you two have been talking about it. I was worried you both would bottle up everything that had happened."

    I tried not to react to that, but the knowing look on her face said otherwise.

    "You can't dwell on your choices. Regretting our choices, wondering about the what ifs, only leads down a dark road of never moving forward. We all make mistakes, we just have to learn from them and move on."

    It sounded like she was speaking from experience. Considering she was in 'Lustrum's' movement, it wasn't surprising. One day I should sit down and ask her about her time in the movement. Get an idea of what the group was like and learn more of her own past.

    I nodded again, "You're right."

    She smiled, "I'm not always right. Just doing the best I can."

    "Thanks, Aunt Zoe."

    "Always, Honey."

    There was a moment of silence and I would've thought that she'd start the car and start driving, but instead, she spoke again.

    "There's still more, aren't there?"

    I resisted the urge to sigh again. "Yes, there's more."

    Aunt Zoe twisted a little in her seat and faced me. Waiting for me to tell her what else her daughter said.

    After a few seconds of formulating a plan of what to say, I spoke. "It's not the first time, but she has made fun of how I used to… be close to her all the time. She'd poke at the fact that I'd always hold her hand and or wanted to snuggle with her and I just—"

    Aunt Zoe let out a deep exhale. "I should've known this might come up," She said more to herself than me.

    "What?"

    Her eyes met mine and there was a sympathetic look in them, "Honey, I don't know how to tell you this but…" She trailed off and paused, the gears in her head spinning. "What you saw between your parents and I wasn't normal, if you haven't noticed by now."

    "Yeah, I know. I realized that after Freyja teased me for not picking up the fact that you three were in a relationship together."

    "She did what?" Her eyes went cold again, almost to the point where they started to turn white.

    "She… teased me. Like she expected me to know."

    "That woman…" Aunt Zoe took a moment to herself before she gently squeezed my arm again. "We should've told you a while ago, and I'm not excluding myself from this. We were so affectionate with one another in front of you that you thought it was normal. In all honesty, it should be the norm but that's the society we live in. The lines of intimacy were blurred so much that I doubt you know the difference, especially since you didn't know that I was with your parents. Instead, you saw me, a close friend of your mom and dad, show intimacy in a way that wasn't what 'normal' friends do. You and Emma were close, we all knew that."

    I couldn't help but nod. It was true, we were close. We were sisters. Her comment about intimacy brought the memory of the night Ori and I shared to the forefront of my mind.

    "What I am guessing, and this is me speculating as I have no clue what's going on in Emma's head, but I think she took the closeness you two had, the intimacy that you showed because you thought that's what friends should do, was some sort of… sign to her."

    I furrowed my eyebrows. "Sign?"

    Aunt Zoe nodded. "I think…" She trailed off before she turned in the drivers spot and faced me full on, "Taylor, you were the best thing in her eyes. She was fascinated by you and would listen to every word you said, and remember, you were a rambler. Especially when it comes to things you're passionate about. Almost like you—"

    She stopped herself, not that I was fully paying attention. Heat crept up my cheeks at the truthfulness of her words. She wasn't wrong. I used to be a chatterbox. Emma made sure I couldn't be like that anymore.

    "What I'm saying is that she… probably has or had feelings for you and they probably became rather complicated when you transitioned."

    "You're joking," I said as I met her eyes to gauge her response.

    She shrugged her shoulders, "I can't know for certain, Honey. Things with Alan got difficult around that time along with the alley incident. So I can't give you a definitive answer. Only Emma could."

    She didn't seem entirely enthused with the possibility of the whole idea. Not that I could blame her. I exhaled as I processed it. Did Emma have feelings for me? That was such a complication. Even before she betrayed me and started bullying me, I never saw her as anything more than a sister. I couldn't. We grew up together as kids. To imagine anything more was just… not fathomable in my mind. She was always chasing the latest boy band or the new boy who joined the Wards in one of the local teams. Had she really fallen for the boy I used to be? Was that the entire reason for all of this?

    Shaking that thought aside, I ruminated on the rest of what Aunt Zoe said. Even with the lesson on intimacy— thankfully it didn't get more detailed— I was still leery about it. The night Ori and I cuddled brought so many memories of doing the same with Emma. Along with it, her biting words that cut deep into me like razor blades.

    "Something on your mind?" Aunt Zoe said, breaking me from my thoughts.

    My eyes lowered to the flute and I nearly deflected the question to the stupid relic, but Aunt Zoe has been nothing but genuine with me and I felt I could ask her.

    So I lifted my eyes and met hers. "I– a few nights ago, Ori and I were—" The raised eyebrow on her face made me stop and I nearly retreated to what I was going to ask, but I pushed through. "We had a conversation after the new girl, Lisa, had joined."

    "I will need to talk with her at some point, but that's a different conversation."

    I furrowed my eyebrows at that.

    "Why?"

    "Honey, I'm your team manager, I have to know who's on the team."

    I blinked my eyes owlishly. Team manager?

    A small chuckle escaped her lips. "Yes, team manager. Every hero team has a team manager of sorts. Keeps the team going in the direction they are supposed to. Often times its a non parahuman, but we can just say fuck that. Not like they can prove I am one. The Director was quite put out when her little tests backfired, probably have An— Freyja to thank for that."

    Huh, I didn't know that. There was far more to this heroing business than I thought. I honestly thought that heroes just went out and protected the city and citizens. There was a whole side of it that I didn't know about. Like the money and PR thing that my girlfriend and Lisa had tried to explain to me.

    "I didn't know that. Umm, thanks. I didn't know…"

    Aunt Zoe smiled a little. "Don't worry about it, Honey. You've had a lot on your mind. It's why my work has taken a massive back seat. I will probably lose my chance at being a fashion designer, but I'd rather you and your team have legitimacy, even if the whole thing is asinine in the first place."

    I chuckled at that. Guess I wasn't the only one who didn't like the whole thing. I took a deep breath and said, "Well, in any case, Ori decided that we'd watch movies and cuddle. I—" My throat closed and words were hard to form.

    "Ah," Aunt Zoe said as if she knew. "A little uncomfortable about that? And with what we just talked about…"

    I nodded, "Yeah."

    "Honey," She said softly. "Look, I know about the whole controlling thing."

    My body froze and I felt like I couldn't breathe. She did? "How?"

    "Ori told me. With that said, I understand some reservation and the need for distance, but I could tell that Ori still adores you. You going out of your way to make sure she's comfortable in any capacity is a good start."

    "I know," I said as I slumped. "It's just… I don't really know how far I can go. There are things I'm not super comfortable with and I mean…" Heat crept up my cheeks again as the words I was about to speak really hit me. "I had assumed that with Valentine's Day—"

    "Oh, Taylor," Aunt Zoe said, both softly and a hint of amusement. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to. That's where you have to communicate with her. Communication is key with your partner, or partners if you are more like your… mother."

    All embarrassment fled at the comparison, anger taking its place. I wanted to be nothing like her. My rage continued to grow and I could feel the magic that I had gathered from the day seep out of me like a hole in a water barrel.

    Deep breaths, Taylor. Don't destroy Aunt Zoe's car.

    She didn't say anything, which I was grateful for. Minutes passed before I had calmed down and when that happened, she reached over and gently squeezed my arm.

    "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made the comment. Your mother is still a rough topic, isn't she?"

    I nodded.

    "Well, to move past that, what you should do is talk to Ori, Honey. She's a smart girl who cares about you. She's just going through her own things now, but that doesn't mean you can't talk."

    I nodded again, not trusting my voice. She was right. I should just talk to her about this. Aunt Zoe's explanation did help with how I really didn't have an idea about this stuff. In all honesty, I was an idiot for not talking to her in the first place. Ori had more experience in this stuff than I did and it's what couples should do. I've just been too… focused on other things.

    "Now," Aunt Zoe said, her tone slightly lighter but not that much better. "I see you have your mother's flute. I wanted to comment on it but there were more important things to take care of first."

    I sighed and looked down at the wooden pipe. "Yeah. Sophia… Sophia returned it."

    "Returned it?"

    I nodded, "Apparently both her and Emma, or mostly Emma, I don't know, decided that stealing the flute from my locker was a great prank."

    "Interesting," Aunt Zoe said under her breath so lowly that I almost missed it. I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at her. She realized I heard her and decided to continue, "Well, at least you have it back."

    "I guess," I shrugged my shoulders.

    Aunt Zoe didn't respond right away, her eyes darting to the flute from time to time. Eventually a smile grew on her lips.

    "Remember when your mother would pull it out and play a song on those campfire nights?"

    "Yeah," I said, the memories flooding my mind. "Dad would build a pit in the backyard while she'd get the firewood. You'd keep Emma and I occupied while Unc—Alan would be getting the food prepared. Then when darkness fell and everyone was full, she'd pull out the flute and play it."

    The music she played always seemed to touch me, making me feel more at home than I was. It was like I had been wandering in a desert for years and had finally found an oasis, not that I was aware that I had been needing that oasis. Comfort filled me in a way that I couldn't describe, but it was enough for me to just be me. It was on one of those nights that I had been truly honest with myself about how I felt about my body and who I was as a person.

    There was something in Aunt Zoe's eyes that I couldn't quite place. It was a mixture of fondness and confusion all mixed into a cauldron of roiling emotions that could explode at any point. Okay, maybe she wouldn't explode, but there were telltale signs of her power ready to act out.

    It didn't come, instead, she distantly said, "Yeah."

    It was a reminder of the stark differences between the mom of my childhood and the woman I spent a month with in another realm. How the two seemed so different, yet there was a glimmer of similarities. That woman was so focused that she neglected everything else while the mom I grew up with was caring and always willing to take the extra step to ensure others were happy.

    "What happened to her?" I said, my voice cracking a little, bringing the discomfort that always hit when that happened.

    "I can't answer that for you, Taylor. I haven't met the person in Asgard. Maybe it was a mask, maybe it was a time she could let down her guard. I'm not sure. There's one thing I know for sure about your mother, though. When she has a goal set, her eyes always remain on that goal. She might let down her walls for a time, but she'd eventually get back to that goal."

    She'd been dealing with the death of the other gods and her people for so long. If she appeared in Brockton Bay before Scion did, then she'd been here for quite a long time while dwelling on the fate of the others and unable to know for certain. It made me wonder when she had started to gather parahumans to her Einherjar forces, she had Vikare, whose death might have been what sparked the idea in the first place. She became focused on a goal and nothing else mattered. Even with that in mind, it didn't ease the pain from what she did to me, to Ori. I deserved to know about all of this instead of that cloak and dagger facade bullshit.

    The flute was burning itself in my mind and I wanted it gone. I opened my backpack, shoved it in there, and pulled out my phone.

    More messages from both Lisa and Ori, a few from Ori herself, popped on the home screen. A quick swipe showed that my screen was still on the message I had been compiling to Crystal. The thought of meeting her had seemed so distant now. The idea of meeting her was far more welcoming now that I didn't want to think about Freyja. As much as I hated to admit it, going to the warehouse now would only remind me of her.

    "Hey, Aunt Zoe?"

    "Yes, Honey?" Aunt Zoe said as she started the car.

    "Can you take me to Boardwalk Tea?"

    Aunt Zoe blinked a few times before a smile grew on her face.

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    Taking a sip of my tea, I sent another reply back to my girlfriend. I had already told her that I was meeting her cousin and I knew a part of her wanted to be here. She might not say it, but I could tell how she wanted to have a croissant for her— I plan on bringing one home for her— and enjoy talking with her wonderful but pain in the ass cousin.

    Honestly, it wouldn't be a bad idea if she did show up considering she wanted to reveal herself to her family and doing so with her cousin was a good stepping stone, but it seemed she didn't want to when I asked her. Then again, the tea shop was probably not the place for it.

    Something told me that her mind was elsewhere and she didn't want to sour things. Two croissants then.

    I looked around the tea shop, taking in the aroma like I once did with the many visits Ori and I had here. At a first glance, the tea shop still looked like the same one I'd grown to love. The staff was still the same, though I hadn't seen the waitress that had caught on that Ori and I were on a date, but she could've had the day off. The vast flavors of tea were still on display, a few new flavors added if the different coloration was any indication to go by.

    Yet while everything seemed the same, there were still some changes.

    For one, there were more people than I ever remember seeing. Nearly every table was filled and the staff was constantly moving to fulfill orders. I couldn't tell if it was because of the time of day or something else. There were a few new pictures and posters on the walls. Pictures and images of me, as Gondul, standing on a building or from behind at an elevated angle when I was facing the two Merchant capes. Scattered amongst those were pictures and posters of Glory Girl, showing the prime of her career.

    Getting a spot wasn't hard, even with how crowded it was inside. There was one booth that seemed to be untouched by anyone and I knew it from familiarity. I glanced a look at the wall next to me and I couldn't help but be hit by nostalgia. A sign said 'Gondul's and Glory Girl's favorite booth' and a plaque that said 'Rest in Peace, Glory Girl'.

    It hit me like a brick wall that our presence had changed this one tea shop so much. While I was a little irked that they went straight for Gondul and not my name as I never stepped foot in here while in armor, but it touched me. It was a good thing that Ori and I didn't enter the shop the first day back. We would have been outed in seconds, and Ori's secret would have been the talk of the town.

    The door chimed and I looked away from the memorial to my girlfriend. Wearing blue jeans and a red and white zip up hoodie, was Crystal. Her blonde hair was tied in a ponytail, part of her bangs hung over one of her eyes, and she seemed to find me instantly when she looked around. A smile grew on her lips as she strode towards me, only for it to fall when she clearly noticed the sign and plaque.

    "Hey, Taylor," She said, more muted than she probably wanted.

    "Hey, Crystal. Sorry about the late response."

    She waved her hand. "Don't be. I knew you had school and figured you wouldn't get back to me until later. Not like I had a whole lot going on today."

    "Do you want anything to drink?" I asked.

    She smiled but shook her head, "No, I'm alright for now. I'll go up and get something soon." Her eyes wandered over to the wall again. "You two really did come here all the time, didn't you?"

    "Yeah, we did," I said quietly. "It was our favorite place. We'd go to the library sometimes, but we always came back here after."

    Crystal's eyes met mine and she said, "How are you doing? I know I feel like I'm asking this a million times, but—"

    A small chortle left my lips, "It's fine. I'm… I'm doing alright. My aunt has been helping a lot and Antares is always there." It was yet again one of those strange conversations because of Ori's situation.

    She smiled, a small one, but she smiled. "I'm glad. Who is this Antares by the way? My parents met her on one of their drug busts and she seemed a little… off is what my dad said. Not much of a talker."

    Recalling what I had said to the PRT and the chance meeting Ori had with her family, I quickly came up with an answer. "Antares is a Tinker I met up when I fled the city. She's a native, though she had moved away because of the Empire and we sort of had a chance meeting. So she decided to come back with me to take some of her grievances out on the gang."

    I didn't like that I had to lie to her knowing that Ori wanted to come out, but it was what it was.

    "Huh," Crystal said, sounding interested. "Not going to tell me more?" She wiggled an eyebrow.

    I chuckled more at her antics than the question. "No, not really. She's a private person. She doesn't want people to know her identity."

    Crystal leaned back and nodded, "That's fair. As you can imagine now, it's not fantastic to be an open cape."

    "You can say that again," I replied with a sigh.

    "No issues with that? We can help, you know. We do sort of have some experience with that."

    I shrugged. "Mostly just annoyed with school and the reporters."

    Her eyebrows furrowed, "School's bad? You don't go to Arcadia, do you?"

    Did Ori never tell them? I guess it wasn't that big of a detail. "No, I don't. I go to Winslow."

    She grimaced, but her grimace was more like she smelt something bad. Considering how Winslow was viewed, I wasn't surprised.

    "Ah."

    "It's a shithole."

    She chuckled, "I can imagine."

    "Luckily, my aunt is working on getting me transferred. With the PRT's help."

    Her shoulders sagged in relief. "Oh, that's good. Arcadia would be a better place for you. They already have experience with outed capes because of us."

    "I figured," I said with a nod.

    She smiled but didn't say anything. There was a lull in the conversation as patrons went about their business or were leaving the shop. After a few seconds, I broke the silence.

    "What about you? How have you been? The family seems…"

    Crystal sighed, "As well as you can imagine. Which… I know you haven't really seen our family a whole lot, but it's pretty much a trainwreck over and over again. And I'm only saying what I can see from my point of view, but it's not as bad as it seems, but damn close isn't far off."

    I nodded. The funeral was a mess. "If it's anything like the funeral, I can imagine."

    "Yeah, from what I hear from my mom, there's been a lot of fighting between Amy and Aunt Carol while Uncle Mark is trying to placate them. He's been more lively now, but those two have been going at it like crazy. Amy spends most of her time away from home, but other than that I'm not sure how it's going over at the Dallon 'paradise'. Uncle Mike returning for a bit definitely has everyone antsy. We haven't seen him in years. Not since—"

    "Jess's murder."

    Crystal pursed her lips, "Yeah." There was a pause before she spoke again. "Are you okay? Amy didn't do anything bad, did she?"

    I raised an eyebrow. Why would she assume Amy did something? Because of the whole hand over my mouth and push?

    "No, I'm fine."

    "She didn't do—"

    "I'm fine, Crystal. She didn't do anything to me." I honestly wanted to tell her that Amy couldn't do anything to me. Over a month ago she was had issues trying to heal me and now that my Divinity had grown, there wasn't a slick chance she could do it again, if anything else. But the worry in her voice was enough to make me question. If Amy and Carol were having fights and if Crystal had to ask if I was okay, did they think Amy was going to? If so, how badly?

    "Okay, good," She said, sounding relieved. She looked around the tea shop and I couldn't help but follow her gaze. Most of the patrons weren't looking at us, but there were a few. It almost made me want to pull up the privacy curtains, but I held back. I'd do it if the conversation required it.

    After a brief moment, Crystal spoke up again. "Hey, so, there was more of a reason I wanted to talk to you besides a check up."

    "I didn't realize you were my doctor."

    "Oh haha, very funny. Seems you learned a bit from my cousin."

    I smiled and she rolled her eyes. She lowered her head and I knew she was going to whisper. I held up a finger and closed the curtains around us. When we were safe behind them, she spoke again.

    "My family found another Empire drug smuggling ring and plan on busting it tomorrow night. Figured I'd ask if you and Antares would like to join. This one is bigger from what my parents told me. It might even be one of their main distribution hubs."

    "So the last bust wasn't just a one time thing?"

    I hadn't looked into New Waves activities of late beyond what Ori had told me. I'd been focused on other things and it was Ori who kept up on the cape scene.

    She nodded, "Yeah, ever since… yeah, we have. We've been hitting the Empire as much as we can with our schedules."

    "So you want us to join you?"

    She nodded again. "Yeah, I think it would be good and you haven't really been active since returning."

    She wasn't wrong. Only thing I've done besides scare off the welcoming party was fly around. Ori has done more than me and she only went out the one time. As excited as I was to get back into the swing of things, I couldn't get the scathing words and menacing look Carol had given me at the funeral out of my mind. Not only that, but I was certain Amy would want to blame me again.

    "Are you sure that's a good idea? Carol seemed ready to throw me in jail."

    Crystal sighed, but it was a short one. "Ignore her. My aunt isn't the team leader and my mom wants you both to come."

    That was reassuring. I couldn't really blame Carol for her response, but it still stung. I mulled it over for a bit, and in all honesty, after today, the need outweighed the concern. I wanted to beat up some Nazi's.

    "You know what," I said, which brought a smile to Crystal's face. "Let me inform my team but I think we will be joining you."

    Confusion filled her face, "Team?"

    I nodded, "Yeah, team. We recently had a new member join. She doesn't have a name yet, but she'd probably be in communication with us since her powers aren't really meant for the field."

    'Huh," She said, sounding mystified. "You really are building a team? Have you come up with a name?"

    I smiled, "The Flight."

    At that, Crystal smiled. Now I just needed to talk with Ori and Lisa. They needed a word in on this, but I doubt they'd object. It would be the first outing for Antares and I as a team and it was time to get the show on the road. I was done with being depressed and bored.

    It was time to spread my wings.
    A slightly muted chapter compared to the past few chapters, still filled with a lot of things.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Thurisaz 3.9 (Victoria)
  • Threadmarks
    • I would like to thank my beta team, you girls are awesome and I appreciate the help and work you do!
    CW: Human trafficking, slurs
    Thurisaz 3.9 (Victoria)​

    Friday, March 9th, 2011

    A refreshing breeze blew across my face as I stared out into the Docks, the Boat Graveyard encompassing much of my vision. It was oddly comforting to gaze upon even though many considered it a stain in the city's landscape. If you actually accounted for the entirety of the Bay's history, it was barely a blip on its past. The gangs were a bigger blight upon the city than the remains of rusted metal ships sticking out of the water.

    Towards the south, the shimmering blue shield of the Protectorate HQ was standing in the middle of the bay like a beacon of hope. Memories of my few visits there flashed across my mind of times I'd been with my family, having a meeting with the other heroes of the city. The HQ wasn't anything spectacular, but what did you expect from a repurposed oil rig? Yet, it was the home of the heroes and I felt a longing to be back out on the streets. Helping protect and save innocents from the villains who would take advantage of them.

    It wasn't the big things that I enjoyed about being a hero, it was the little things. Seeing a smile on a little kid's face when they look up at you, knowing that you're keeping them safe. As much as my girlfriend hates PR, it was actually the aspect I enjoyed quite a bit. It showed the public that we cared and we were there for them. There was power in that and she had yet to see it. The moment she started doing PR events, the news wouldn't be nearly as negative about her. Well, if you took out all the ones that were in the Empire's pockets.

    I sighed and stared down at my phone. Ignoring the barbs from some annoying ass below me, I smiled at some of the messages my girlfriend and I exchanged. It reminded me of the old days—and what a thought that was considering it wasn't that long ago—and I knew she was trying to cheer me up. It was working.

    But that wasn't what was on the screen. It was displaying the PHO login page with a red texted message of a failed login attempt. It was stupid, but I had tried to log into my Glory Girl account. Turned out that the PHO admins had locked the account and changed the tags on it. I had to make a whole new account in order to browse the site properly because of some recent tightening of access.

    It became clear what had happened when I read 'Glory Girl (Verified Hero) (Rest in Peace)' as a pinned message atop the Brockton Bay board, posted by my former account. No doubt my mother's work.

    And because I couldn't keep my nose out of things, I just had to see what people were saying about me. It was a fucking mistake. Even though the PHO admins were quick to ban any major offenders, there were some users who loved to point out how stupid I was for attacking Hookwolf. I chalked it up to the usual assholes and jerkwards on the internet. It was a pleasant surprise to see people being compassionate and saddened by my death.

    A part of me knew it was going to happen; I'd been on PHO long enough to know the culture. It was why it took me a week to even attempt to look at the site. My girlfriend hadn't logged into her own account since we returned for what was likely the same reason, though she wasn't much for computers and tech in the first place. She wasn't tech illiterate, but she was someone who wanted to do something more tangible.

    I should buy her a new book while I'm out.

    The memorial thread dedicated to me, or should I say Glory Girl, had almost five hundred pages of comments. At first I was heartened by it as if it was a special one time thing, but then I remembered that they often did this for all heroes. Still, the thought and messages were heartwarming.

    There was a crunching sound behind me and I knew my personal demon had joined me finally.

    "You know, pointing to the sky makes you look like an idiot."

    My eyebrows raised as I turned around to face Lisa. "How did you—"

    "Know? Come on now," She said as she walked over to me. "I'd think you'd realize I was psychic."

    I rolled my eyes. "Not possible. There hasn't been a case of a parahuman being able to read minds, doubt you're the first."

    Lisa sat down next to me, briefly looking down before her eyes went to me. "The Simurgh might."

    "Also doubtful. She probably has precognition like most speculations are pointing towards, but then again, you're deviating, Tattletale," I emphasized her villain cape name to make a dig.

    It had the opposite effect as she smirked. "Figured it out, did you?"

    "Not that hard considering you're the only blonde on the team, and I doubt you're Grue."

    She chuckled, "Oh, come on! I could have big muscles!" She raised her arm and flexed, pointing out that she did in fact not have any.

    "To get back on track, you still haven't told us what your powers are."

    Lisa's smug look fell a little. She looked out into the bay, her green eyes seemingly not focusing on anything in particular. When I thought she was going to remain quiet or deflect again, I was surprised at the honesty in her voice.

    "As I said, I'm a Thinker. I'm just… a powered Sherlock Holmes, if you want to make a comparison. I can look at details and dig deeper, my powers fueling me with possibilities based on them. Sometimes I end up down rabbit holes that are completely wrong, other times I get really close to the truth."

    "Huh," I said with interest. It made sense how she figured everything out if her power was able to go down the right hole. The fact that Tay was pretty damn close was impressive on her part.

    She tilted her head as she looked at me, "What?"

    "Oh, nothing."

    Lisa stared at me, no doubt trying to figure out what I was thinking. Not wanting to give her anything, I looked out into the bay again. She didn't say anything for a bit, but she eventually broke the silence.

    "So, when are you going to go after the Empire?"

    I furrowed my eyebrows and looked back at her. "What?"

    She leaned back slightly, not too much to make since she could easily topple backwards. "I mean, Hookwolf killed you. If I was in your shoes, I'd want to get payback."

    Sure she would, but did I? To some degree, I did. He thoroughly trounced me and there was nothing more I wanted more than to show him that I was not to be trifled with. He killed me. The bastard might say otherwise, but he killed me. The Kill Order would remain a secret for a week or two before the PRT released it in full. They wanted to have control over the situation before things became a battlefield. We had to take care of him soon to prevent that.

    But as for Lisa's question, I hadn't really thought about it. Since we came back, I'd been focused on helping Tay and trying to ignore my own situation. Lisa just had to bring it to the forefront of my mind.

    A crow's caw broke me from my thoughts. Seemingly from nowhere, Hugnin landed next to Lisa and pecked her hand.

    "Ow, fucker. Fine," Lisa cursed, rummaging through her pocket for a bag of crackers. "Muninn is nicer by the way."

    The bird immediately gobbled the cracker and let out a happy trill.

    Lisa rolled her eyes and asked the black raven, "Find anything?"

    Hugnin tilted his head, "Caw!"

    "Huh, alright. Thanks."

    The raven looked up at her, as if expecting another treat. Lisa sighed and pulled out another cracker.

    "He likes you," I said.

    "God knows why," she muttered. "He lives to annoy me."

    I chuckled but it died out quickly as my thoughts turned back to the Empire and Hookwolf.

    "Honestly, I haven't really thought about it."

    Lisa glanced my way as one of her fingers trailed down the large raven's head, petting him. That bird had one hell of a happy smile on his face.

    "Don't blame you. Dying couldn't be easy."

    "It's not. I wouldn't recommend it."

    "And I might just have to if I want that damn well," she muttered quietly, likely not entirely aware of how sharp Valkyrie senses were, before plastering a fake smile on her face. "Well, I wish I could tell you where to find Hookwolf, but the man went underground. Most of the Empire capes did. Not even Coil's informant knows what's going on. Basically Kaiser put out a whole thing to the capes once he got wind of the Kill Order. Surprised he didn't just offer Hookwolf to the city at that point, but he seemed to be sticking to his guns."

    I shrugged, "They'll come out eventually, their territory is constantly being attacked."

    Lisa didn't say anything at first, instead continued to pet Hugnin. She wasn't even aware of it, was she?

    "So you don't really want to go after him?"

    I let out a long sigh in response.

    "Why'd you go after him in the first place?" She asked when I didn't respond.

    The answer to that came instantly in my mind. The Empire had been going after Tay, making her life harder and I couldn't stand the idea of that. They already wanted her dead because she was trans, I couldn't stand the idea of them also going after her because she was a true example of a Norse.

    "So why are you setting it aside if it's for yourself?" Lisa added.

    The words didn't come to me. Luckily, I didn't need them when I felt the air grow hot around us. My eyebrows furrowed as I looked around to try and pinpoint what the cause was while Lisa looked completely confused. Hugnin cawed but didn't do anything.

    Then in a flurry of black feathers, Tay appeared on the roof, hands outstretched. She blinked owlishly a few times as the feathers dissipated before a smile grew on her face.

    "Yes! It worked!"

    I stared at her for a brief moment before I snorted. Hopping off the ledge, I walked towards her.

    "Practicing again?"

    Tay scratched the back of her head, her braids moving about as she did that. I took her in and noted the clothes she was wearing. Skinny dark blue jeans that hugged her legs quite nicely, a black tank top with a tree, no Yggdrasil, and the phases of the moon in a tealish color that contrasted to the black. She'd been exclusively wearing more tank tops and more Nordic themed clothing ever since she and Zoe went clothes shopping. The cold breeze of mid March didn't seem to bother her one bit. It hadn't bothered me either, but it didn't mean I was going to take my hoodie off.

    It was comfortable.

    "Yeah. Need to get better, even if Bet is practically a drought."

    "Have the meditations been helping?"

    Tay nodded. She was about to speak but Lisa interjected herself.

    "Wait, did you just… teleport?"

    Tay smiled as her eyes landed on the flummoxed blonde.

    "I did!" Tay chirped. "And I didn't end up twenty feet in the air."

    Lisa blinked her eyes a few times then she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Magic right?"

    "Yup," I said, crossing my arms. I would admit, seeing a Thinker surprised was always nice.

    Lisa pulled her hand away. "Okay. Should've expected that, considering you're the daughter of the Goddess of Magic."

    Tay's expression dimmed slightly, but she pushed it aside and looked at me. "Your cousin's doing well, by the way."

    "How did that go?"

    Tay walked up to me, pulling out a wrapped package from her pocket, somehow. She handed it to me and I didn't need to open it to know what it was.

    I started eating the croissant and was taken back to the days we spent researching and it left a longing in my heart.

    "Not too bad. We were catching up. She seemed to really be interested in if your sister did anything, though I'm not sure why."

    I furrowed my eyebrows at that. "What do you mean?"

    "I'm not sure. I thought it might be something to do with the whole debacle at the funeral, but I didn't really feel like she did anything like when she healed me a month ago. Apparently there's been a lot of fights at the Dallon's."

    Fighting? I wasn't expecting that. Even when I ran buffer between Mom and Amy, my sister didn't usually confront her on things. Did my death hit her that hard that she stopped caring? The implications were not pleasant, especially if Amy started skirting some of her rules in the wake of my death.

    I seriously needed to reveal myself to my family and hope that would be enough to remedy that.

    "But that's not all," My girlfriend said a moment later. "To both of you."

    "And what would that be oh glorious goddess," Lisa chimed, her tone snarky as hell.

    I rolled my eyes but Tay seemed to ignore her. "Crystal was telling me that New Wave is going to be striking an Empire drug smuggling ring tomorrow night and that we are invited to join."

    "Really?" I said, a little quicker than I wanted.

    Tay nodded. "Which surprised me considering your mom seems to hate my guts."

    It wasn't surprising that Mom didn't trust my girlfriend. She didn't trust her the moment she heard her name when I was alive. She had her fears that she believed that Gondul was with the Empire and would drag me into the gang.

    The thought of seeing my family again, brought forth the idea of just taking off my helmet and telling them. It would be the one moment they were all together and I might not get a better chance. The mere thought was daunting but I was tired of hiding from them.

    It was time to reunite with my family.

    "Well, I'm in if you want to do this," I said confidently.

    "Awesome," Tay said with a smile. She looked over at Lisa. "I know you aren't—"

    "I'd be on coms," Lisa said. "It'd be a little weird if Tattletale was with you guys."

    "Maybe you should come up with a new name and costume."

    Lisa shrugged. "I'm fine with being on coms for now. I didn't really want to be in the field with the Undersiders, but Bitch wanted everyone out there."

    "Bitch?" I asked.

    "Hellhound to you PR hounds."

    I rolled my eyes. "I didn't name her."

    "No, she did. But the PRT—"

    "Can you both not do this right now?" Tay interrupted with a dejected sigh.

    Lisa and I glanced at each other and shrugged.

    "We should plan," Tay said. "And figure out how to stay in contact with each other."

    "The latter is easy," Lisa said offhandedly. "There's communication devices inside and I could probably hook into Victoria's helmet for visuals."

    "Oh wonderful," I deadpanned.

    "Yeah, so don't go staring at Tay's ass the entire night," Lisa smirked.

    A blush instantly filled my face and I glowered at the Thinker. A brief look showed that Tay was literally radiating heat even as her cheeks darkened.

    "I'm not hearing a denial," Lisa practically sang.

    "Shut up," I bit back.

    Tay cleared her throat, the redness still on her face. "Anyway, Lisa, why don't you go get the devices and set up the meeting room. We'll meet you there."

    Lisa looked at the two of us with a raised eyebrow but didn't comment on whatever was on her mind. Instead she saluted.

    "Aye aye, oh goddess of mine!"

    I couldn't hold back my eye roll.

    She started walking towards the entrance and Hugnin flapped his wings, flying to Lisa's shoulder where she stumbled from the weight slightly but carried on as if she wasn't bothered.

    Once the door closed, instead of following her annoying ass Thinker, my girlfriend closed the distance between us. There was a nervousness in her stride and I waited for her as she sat down next to me. Curious, I waited for her to speak, knowing that she was trying to formulate whatever words.

    "So…" she sighed, more to herself it seemed. "I-There's something I wanted to talk to you about."

    I tilted my head and said, "What's that?"

    "Today just… wasn't a good day at school. I could go on and on about the shit with the Empire, but Emma reminded me of something I've been struggling with for some time now."

    "What did that bitch say now?"

    My girlfriend looked at me, her eyes meeting mine and I couldn't help but fall deeper into their earthy embrace. She was slightly biting her lip and while I knew she was contemplating, I couldn't help but see how cute it was.

    "I… It's probably obvious, but I struggle with intimacy," She said after a few seconds.

    "I kind of realized that, Tay," I said calmly. "Especially a few nights ago."

    She nodded solemnly, "I figured. Aunt Zoe… she, well… she explained some things that might have skewed my views on things. Which may or may not lead to why Emma has done what she's done, but I don't really care about that. What matters is that for so long, I was bullied by her because I was so intimate with her because that's what I was used to at home. With Dad, Aunt Zoe, and Freyja, things that were well, intimate and what not, they were normal to me. But because of the bullying, I've been sort of… second guessing myself a lot. Especially when it comes with you and I don't want to step over any boundaries with you because of the whole…"

    She trailed off but she didn't need to say more. We both knew what she meant. Again, I was touched that she was trying, even if she has some moments, she's trying.

    I exhaled and nodded, "Yeah, I can see that." I paused for a moment to contemplate my words before continuing. "What I think we need to do is just communicate. You've been doing a great job with consent. But this goes both ways, Tay. You need to let me know if there's something you want. If you want to cuddle, let me know. Same goes for anything else. And honestly, Tay? We both could use that intimacy right now."

    Her lips formed a thin line as she nodded, "Yeah, you're right. I will work on being better about that."

    A small smile formed on my lips. I opened my arms up and said, "With that said, do you want to canoodle with me on the roof for a bit?"

    "Canoodle? Dork," she said fondly with a smile on her face.

    I placed a hand over my chest. "Dork? I'll have you know that I am quite sophisticated."

    She rolled her eyes at how I had switched to Old Norse and scooted closer to me. I knew the intention and pulled her into a hug. Her body wasn't as cold as I expected since she was in a tank top and I felt her arm wrapped around my body, allowing me to inhale her earthiness and whatever she used for her hair. A few seconds later, I kissed her on the head and I felt her tighten her arms around me.

    Yeah, we needed this.

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    Saturday, March 10th, 2011

    Gondul and I landed on the south-eastern side of the city with downtown to our backs. It was an area where there were a lot of office buildings and warehouses for private companies. Unlike up north in the Docks, these were newer and weren't linked to the shipping industry. Most of them had truck docking bays like Warehouse Thirteen and were connected to office buildings. Smaller in size, but all built within one building in a sense.

    My scanner was picking up the heat signatures of the people below, and I could tell that my entire family was here in force. Even Amy if the slumped and hunched figure was any clue. They all stood within a building a few blocks away from what Lisa had told me was the ring that New Wave had discovered.

    "Well, that's nifty." Lisa's voice chimed in my helmet. "Hero's tech certainly lives up to his name."

    "Quiet you," I muttered.

    "Not now please," Gondul's chiding voice echoed in the helmet.

    I sighed. "My family is in the building there," I said, pointing towards the building. Speaking those words seemed to remind me of my plan to reveal myself and I felt my chest tighten just slightly.

    We stayed low to the ground, weaving through the buildings so we wouldn't give away our position. Gondul might not be subtle with Valkyries, but I was a shining beacon in the night now due to the changes to my powers. We entered the building and made our way up to where my family was located. They had settled on the top floor with someone looking out the window every so often.

    We weaved through the maze of boring gray dividers, rotted chairs, and the random large CRT monitor before we came upon what looked like a conference room where my family was. I steeled myself as Gondul opened the door into the room.

    "Ah, Gondul," Lady Photon greeted us in a hushed voice the moment we stepped into the room. "And Antares, good to see you again," She added when her eyes landed on me.

    I froze, only able to move my head in my nod as I stared at my family. Gondul took the lead while every fiber in my body ignored any of my commands.

    "Hello, Lady Photon," Gondul greeted her. She then looked to the rest of New Wave. "Manpower, Flashbang, Shielder, Laserdream, Brandish, and Panacea."

    Hearing each of their capes names and seeing them all in costumes brought me back to the moments we worked as a team together. All of the girls had colors matching their powers while my sister and I didn't have any visible powers. Ironic how now my powers did match my old costume, but I couldn't wear that anymore. Dad was the odd one out, as he had armor panels, straps, and his guards were stylized to look like a grenade. A Flashbang to be exact. He had grooves in his costume which was kind of counter to the smooth canisters that flashbangs actually had.

    Seeing them again in costume reminded me of all the training regimens Aunt Sarah put us through and how we worked as a team. I was the lead, distracting and taking the blunt of the attacks while others followed. Mom usually was behind me since she had to get close for her weapons and the others provided ranged support or protection via their forcefields.

    All of us standing here in this room brought those memories back, and it made it all the more daunting to reveal myself. Brandish and Panacea were facing each other as if they were trying to glare each other to death. It seemed Crystal wasn't wrong about the two fighting.

    Brandish's glare turned from Panacea and landed on Gondul and it showed that Aunt Sarah invited us, not her. She wasn't the only one as my sister's eyes leveled a menacing look at Gondul. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd question the hostility that was sent at my girlfriend.

    All thoughts of pulling off the helmet and telling my family that I was alive and here, fled in an instant. The very idea became increasingly daunting as I met the eyes of my family. It wasn't recognition that was in them, but curiosity mired with turmoil. Turmoil because of me.

    "Damn. Your mom really doesn't like Gondul. Though your sister easily surpasses her."

    I withheld a groan at Lisa's voice in my helm.

    As for the rest of my family, they smiled at Gondul. "Hi, Gondul," They said in chorus. Laserdream had a big smile on her face.

    "And you must be Antares," Flashbang said, his tone hinted of curiosity.

    He looked… alive. Not that he wasn't before, but he genuinely looked happy to be here. Like there wasn't a black cloud surrounding him while he masked his depression. Did he start taking his meds again?

    "H-hello," I eked out a greeting, the reverb in my voice.

    Once again, no signs of recognition, which did little to ease the jackhammer in my chest.

    "Now then," Lady Photon said after a few seconds of silence. "We were discussing our plan of approach and with… The Flight, right?"

    A part of me wondered if we should've gone with an alternative name. The Flight was in reference to Tay's Valkyrie's as a whole, not a cape team name in general. It also didn't work with Lisa on the team now. I felt like we'd pigeonholed ourselves into a terrible team name. It wasn't official yet since the paperwork and contracts were still in the works, but I doubt it'd change.

    At Gondul's nod, she continued. "With you here, we can solidify our plans. If I heard correctly, you have a third right?"

    "We do," Gondul replied, "She's on coms and can hear everything being said."

    "Can she speak?"

    "Give me a moment to— ahah!" Lisa's voice echoed in my helmet. "Hello, New Wave," She said, her voice now transmitting from my helmet and was altered as well. She sounded… younger. I was still baffled that she managed to co-opt my helmet systems, or was it the earpiece? Even still, that was a feat on its own, not that I'd tell her. Her head would grow too big for her shoulders.

    "Hello, uhh…"

    "Just call me Oracle for now. I haven't officially chosen a name yet."

    "Oracle?"     Gondul whispered on our private channel.

    "Just go with it," Lisa replied back on that channel.

    "Nice to meet you then, Oracle," Lady Photon nodded her head before gesturing to the table in the center of the room. There were three large blueprints, layouts of the complex we were about to bust.

    "Wonder how long it took them to get access to those. I was able to—"

    "Oracle," Gondul interrupted her from continuing.

    Lisa—Oracle zipped up and I focused on my family.

    "From our intel and surveillance," Lady Photon said as all of New Wave and The Flight had gathered around the table. "The Empire is using this facility as one of their distribution centers of their drug trade as well as engaging in human trafficking."

    A shudder went down my spine at the mention of human trafficking. Everyone liked to believe that it was just the ABB, but the Empire was just as guilty. In fact, I considered them to be worse than the ABB since they hid behind this thin veneer that they were better than others while projecting their own actions on them. Not a day goes by where there isn't a supporter who was caught with child pornography or was participating in sex trafficking while they blamed gay and trans people.

    To say I was happy to take down this place was an understatement.

    "Ever since…" Lady Photon trailed off and you didn't need her to finish to know what she was going to say. It was on everyone's faces. I felt a lump in my throat. "The Empire had been reducing their activities, especially for their capes. The chances that we'd meet cape reinforcements are low."

    "They're still in hiding," Oracle pointed out. "Kaiser ordered his team to lay low ever since he found out about the Kill Order."

    I heard Shielder mutter, "Thinkers," To Laserdream. She nudged him to be quiet but there were playful smiles on their faces.

    "So you know," Brandish said.

    "We do," Gondul replied, her voice even. "The PRT told me when I came back."

    "That," Manpower interrupted. "Can be discussed later. Let's finish going over the plan."

    There was a moment of silence before Lady Photon spoke.

    "What I'm suggesting is a two stage attack. The Flight," She looked at Gondul and I, "Attack from above through here and here." She pointed to two entrance points on one of the blueprints. They looked more like windows than proper entrances. "Since you're both flyers and with Gondul's Valkyrie—"

    "Valkyries," Gondul pointed out. "I can summon three of them now."

    My family looked at her as if she had grown a second head. Lady Photon recovered first.

    "Perfect then. Since that brings you to a total of five, you should be able to handle the second floor. As for New Wave," She gestured to my family. "We will breach through here, here, and here." She pointed to the opening on the other blueprint. "We'll split up into twos. Brandish and Flashbang, Shielder and Laserdream, and myself with Manpower."

    "Why not have Brandish with Shielder and Laserdream with Flashbang," Gondul pointed out as if it was simple. "That way you have someone with forcefields in each group. There's a high chance that each Empire mook is going to have guns and unlike us, you don't have bullet proof armor."

    New Wave shared a few looks with one another as if it was obvious in retrospect, but it was Flashbang who spoke first. "She's not wrong. Without Glory Girl, we don't have someone who could distract and be the frontline. We can't keep running the old formations anymore."

    The pang of guilt within me swelled and it became harder to breathe. I was right here and I so desperately wanted to say that. Even knowing they couldn't see any part of me, I couldn't look any of my family in the eyes, the guilt and shame was too great. Worse, I couldn't even reach for Tay for comfort.

    "That works if everyone is in agreement," Lady Photon said. At the approving nods, she continued. "From there, we will head into the basement," She pointed to the third blueprint. "Together and take care of the rest. If there's any victims, I want them freed asap and taken out of the crossfire."

    "I can help get them away," I said instinctively. It was a task I often volunteered for if we ever encountered victims while busting a place.

    Nearly everyone looked at me with a mix of expressions. Most were happy, but I didn't miss the pointed look from Brandish. It was as if she was trying to tell me that I was stepping over a line.

    "Thank you, Antares," Lady Photon said with a smile. She looked over the blueprints again before her eyes swept across the gathering of heroes. "If anyone has anything else to add or say," She paused to allow anyone to speak up. When no one did. She said, "Very well. Amy will stay here on the ground floor to heal should the need arise, and We strike at ten."

    Amy rolled her eyes but didn't comment, instead she leaned back and crossed her arms. There was something about the mannerism that struck me as familiar and not because she was my sister. She'd always done it, the casual way she moved was familiar to me, I just couldn't pinpoint why it was bothering me.

    Ignoring that thought, I looked at the clock in the bottom of my helmet screen. Nine thirty. Thirty minutes before we strike. The suit kept me well cooled, but my palms were sweating up a storm. The restlessness in me wasn't just because we were about to attack and all I could think about was that I'd be fighting alongside my family again. The crushing weight on my chest was growing. I could rip off the helmet and the torment would be over. But would it? Would it really be over? Would the freedom be worth the cost?

    I couldn't do it.

    We were about to strike the Empire and seeing them again brought forth…everything. I'd ruin the plan by revealing myself and I couldn't do that. This needed to go off without a hitch, not just for The Flight, but for my family.

    Maybe after the raid…

    "Do you both have zip ties?" Lady Photon asked, her voice snapping me out of my haze.

    I rummaged through the back pocket and pulled out a bundle of zip ties that were common among heroes to tie up criminals. Gondul had a set of her own in her pocket. Lady Photon nodded and started talking to the other adults of New Wave.

    Laserdream walked over to Gondul and I with a soft smile on her face. She stopped in front of Gondul and said, "You doing okay?"

    Gondul nodded, "Yeah."

    "You seemed… out of it yesterday."

    "Rough day," Gondul said. That was an understatement. She told me how her day at school was while we were canoodling and she had to hold me back from following her into school this morning. Fucking red headed bitch and the Nazis.

    Laserdream nodded. She looked over at me and held her hand out. "Hi, Antares! I heard a little bit about you from my parents."

    I briefly look at the offered hand before extending my hand out.

    "Nice to meet you," I politely responded.

    She raised an eyebrow. "Not much of a talker, are you?"

    I shook my head. "Not really."

    "Antares is a private person," Gondul backed me up. "Took me a while to get her to open up to me before we returned to Brockton Bay."

    "I heard about that!" Shielder said, his voice filled with excitement. "The two of you raining down from above with wings— wait, the article said you have wings but I don—"

    At that, Gondul summoned her wings. The black plumage erupted from the back of her armor, pushing her feathered cloak aside. I took a step back so she could stretch them out.

    "Woah," Everyone in the room went stock still at the sight of Gondul's magnificent wings. The sight made my back itch and I wanted to tear off the wing panel and stretch mine out as well.

    "So you do have wings," Manpower said, his voice filled with disbelief. "I thought it was just fabricated by the news."

    Gondul shook her head. "No, I got them after—" She stopped herself. Just like before, no one wanted to mention my death. Strangely enough, I was okay with that right now.

    "They are quite beautiful," Oracle said in my ears and from what I could tell, mine alone. "Owl wings too if I base it on the barely visible comb-like serrations on the leading edges. Not a known one either. What about yours?"

    I didn't want to respond, but I didn't want to be included in the conversation with my family. "Eagle."

    "Matches the armor. Got it." I felt there was more to her words. It was something I'd picked up over the past few days. Damn Thinkers.

    Oracle went silent and I stood back, watching the clock tick on my helmet. Each second seemed to amplify my need to get out of here. Just a little longer, Victoria. Just a little longer. Ignore the look your mom was giving you. When I focused on them, there was paranoia and untrustworthiness within them. The paranoia I was used to, but the untrustworthy was something I wasn't used to seeing sent my way.

    A thought came to mind that would get me out of the room and help. "I'm going to scout the building and let you know the numbers," I said to the group.

    Those that weren't focused on Gondul, looked at me. My mom was among them.

    "How?" She asked rather incredulously.

    I tapped my helmet. "Heat signature sensor."

    Brandish continued to stare at me with that look, but Lady Photon broke the tension. Slightly.

    "That would be very helpful. Thank you."

    I nodded, ignoring the looks, and left the room. My eyes glanced at the time and concluded that I would definitely not return before things kicked off.

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    Glass shattered around me and I instinctively winced from the impact. The fear of glass impaling my eyes was still present even with the helmet and armor. It was a fear stemming from my forcefield popping at the most inane things back before I died.

    The red silhouettes dotted my visor. There were only a small handful on this floor. The majority of the figures were down below, but it was less than I expected when I surveilled things. They downsized not just their cape activities, but their general members as well. It was no wonder the ABB and Coil were gaining some territory.

    My hand grasped the cannon and pulled it free from my back. I glanced at the dial before taking aim and firing at two gangsters that were by the windows. Gondul appeared in a flurry of feathers, a blue outline around her to signify her as a friendly. Her projections appeared a second later, quickly spreading out. Interestingly enough, the sensor didn't pick up on them. The mooks didn't have a chance to react before they were tripped by hardlight weapons or knocked down. Bullets streamed across the room, only to ping against her armor.

    It was a little disturbing that she was unbothered by it, but the gangsters were taken down when one of her projections, San-something, launched herself through the air and knocked into the two gangsters, ignoring the bullets that perforated her body. There were loud grunts as the two men were smashed into the cubicle wall. They fell into heaps and stopped moving.

    A woman ran up to Gondul, a bat brandished with nails. At first Gondul didn't move and I thought for a moment there was a glimmer of white in those black eye sockets. Then she leaned back before the bat was swung, the piece of wood missing entirely. Gondul responded with her sword, cutting it in half with a single swipe. The woman stared at her ruined weapon before Gondul punched her in the face.

    With that taken care of, I leaned down and started zip tying the mooks hands together.

    I looked over to Gondul, briefly wondering about the whiteness that appeared in her eyes. "You okay?"

    Gondul leaned down and started helping me with containing the criminals. "I'm fine. You?"

    "I'm good," I surveyed the top floor. It was sparse and run down, like a lot of buildings in the city after the company closed up shop and left. Free real estate for the gangs and their illicit purposes.

    "Is that everyone on this floor?" Gondul asked after she zip tied the woman who was squirming fiercely on the ground. The woman was cursing up a storm before Gondul lifted her in the air like a duffle bag and tossed her to the pile of Empire mooks.

    Another glance showed that every person besides Gondul and her projections, were on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs.

    "Hey, Antares," Oracle's voice whispered in my ear before I could inform Gondul of the situation.

    "What," I said.

    "Look, whether or not you go after your killer, getting any information on him would be a win."

    "For you or for—"

    "For the heroes. Hookwolf is still at large and if he gets captured or killed, it's a big win for the heroes in the city. If we find information of his whereabouts or what the Empire plans, it'd be a big help."

    I listened for any deceit or lies within her words but found none. She was not only telling the truth but she was right. Hookwolf remaining at large, no matter how restricted the information on his Kill Order was, was not good for the heroes. Everyday that passed and he wasn't taken care of was another reminder that we were failing the people of the city. It was possible that she was looking for something else, but at this point I'd rather we get a win for the good guys.

    "Fine. What should I look for, oh voice in my head."

    "Cheeky. Look around for their manifest. They might be gangsters of the Nazi variety, but they have some sort of paper trail. It will probably be downstairs, so you might have to finish up here and have a wonderfully awkward moment with your family again."

    "Fuck you."

    "You can do that with Taylor later. Focus on the job."

    I grumbled and rolled my eyes. My eyes met the void eyed sockets of her helmet. It was always so odd how you couldn't see her eyes when she wore it. My guess was that it was magic related, but I couldn't help but imagine as if I was staring into the black abyss as everything left me when I died.

    I took a deep breath and answered her. "That's everyone. We should head downstairs and help New Wave."

    "Info, girl. We need to see if there's anything here," Oracle chided in my ear.

    Before Gondul could respond, I added, "You go ahead and I'll check this floor before joining you."

    "Smooth."

    I withheld the curse I wanted to shoot at Oracle.

    Gondul nodded, her projections disintegrating, motes lingering before evaporating in the air. No doubt she had summoned her projections downstairs already.

    "I'll see you down there."

    In an instant, what was my girlfriend in enchanted armor, became a black owl about the size of my arm. She hovered in the air for a brief moment before flying towards the stairwell. I questioned how she was going to get through the door until it opened all on its own. Magic. She'd been using more of it than she had since we arrived. She was being careless.

    "Girl knows how to make an exit."

    "She's being careless."

    "She's trying to show that she can be a hero. This is the first time she's been active since your death."

    I hadn't thought about that. It really was her first outing after we came back from Asgard. It was also the first time we were out as a team together and we were working with another hero team. Even if they were my family.

    "Where should I look?"

    "Up here? See if any of the members know anything. I doubt there will be any paperwork up here, but you can question the prisoners, whatever they don't tell you I should be able to pick up on."

    A part of me wanted to just look for any paperwork, but I knew she was right. Why would gangsters keep any sort of paperwork that wasn't encoded ten ways to Helheim? Especially when these were just your everyday run-of-the-muck members. I glanced at tied up mooks and looked for one that seemed like they would be… willing to give some information.

    I grabbed a man with fearful eyes and dragged him across the ground.

    "Ahh! What da fuck!" He cursed as his body hit an empty metal cabinet, leaving behind a ringing noise.

    Then I threw him into the center of the walkway and kneeled down next to him. My gauntlet wrapped around the top of his shirt and I held him tightly.

    "Where's Hookwolf?"

    The man blinked his eyes a few times. He wasn't an attractive man in the slightest. He had tattoos running up his neck and they weren't tasteful in the slightest. The stubble on his face was uneven and graying slightly. His mouth seemed to be in a perpetual scowl and it only intensified as it was leveled at me.

    "Fuck you, bitch."

    "Where's Hookwolf," I repeated, adding a tinge of anger in my voice.

    He scoffed. "You really think that woul—"

    I lifted him by his shirt, his body a foot above the ground before I slammed him against the floor. He grunted, spittle flying, even landing on my helmet screen.

    "Where's Hookwolf?" I asked again.

    "Choke yourself on that tranny dick."

    That got me angry. My aura blasted out, a golden wave of intimidation washed over him. His eyes went wide, pure terror in his expression. His mouth gaped and he started shaking, nearly convulsing. Was my aura stronger now? The last time I used it was on Loki. A quick glance proved that if I wasn't wearing the helmet, I'd smell the piss that ran down his jeans.

    "Damn girl. Good thing I'm on your side. That terrified me and I'm on the other side of the city."

    I didn't deign to respond to her. My aura was stronger now, more potent. I'd never caused such terror in a person before. They'd usually freeze from the aura but not like this. Still, he was a Nazi and insulted Tay. No one was going to insult my girlfriend like that.

    "Where's Hookwolf? I won't ask again."

    "H-h-he—w-w-we d-d-don't k-know," The goon sputtered. "T-The c-capes d-don't t-tell us anything! J-just k-keep operations g-going!"

    "He's telling the truth. He's seen a cape recently, but not one linked closely to Hooky."

    Fuck. I feared that. It was clear I wasn't going to get anything from him. Lifting him up, I tossed him towards the rest of the pile and continued my way downstairs. A quick look with my scanner showed that most of the mooks down below were also taken care of while New Wave and Gondul were congregating together.

    Not one to be missing out, I made my way to the stairs and floated down the shaft, ignoring the dilapidated steps. When I came out of the shaft, there were gangsters all over the ground, groaning and crying while zip tied or held by whatever method in the vicinity. I flew through the air, over the lingering plumes of what had to be cocaine dust or whatever drugs they were processing here, and headed over to the rest of the group.

    When I landed, my family were giving a quick once over to each other.

    "Is everyone okay?" I asked the question leaving my mouth before I could stop myself.

    A few eyes looked up at me and I couldn't help but look at Brandish's. The way her face was practically unreadable but her eyes seemed to try and pierce my soul. In a way, she practically was, since my body was… elsewhere.

    "Yeah, we're fine," Manpower answered. "A few scrapes but nothing serious. We caught them off guard. Your scouting helped a lot."

    I nodded, "Glad to help."

    "Gondul was no slouch," Shielder said, a smile on his face. "Her projections appeared out of nowhere and immediately went on the attack." He looked over to Gondul and asked, "In fact, so did you. Where did you come from?"

    "I—" She started to say but I knew she was about to tell him the truth.

    "She's a very fast flier and the stairwell is large," I interrupted her. She stared at me with those black sockets but I ignored her.

    "Don't tell them you have magic, Gondul," Oracle said in our coms.

    "You're right," Gondul said at the realization.

    I turned to face my family. "Have you gone downstairs?"

    "No, we haven't," Lady Photon answered. "We were waiting for you. Can you see if anyone is downstairs?"

    There were unspoken words about any trafficking victims. I scanned the floor, letting the scanner look for anything. It looked mostly empty. A few figures with unknown statuses that would only be registered properly when I got a good look at them.

    "Not that I can tell. Only a few people down there."

    Lady Photon nodded. "Let's move then." She turned to Gondul. "Think you can let your projections through first? I admit, this is the first time we've had a Master with us."

    Gondul nodded, though she was a little hesitant. Her Valkyries appeared in the doorway that led to the basement. For whatever reason, this building had a separate stairway to the basement than the one that went upstairs. I'd imagine that the elevator went to all three floors.

    Manpower opened the door and the projections went through, their shadowy trails following their hardlight forms. My eyes traveled down and I watched the movement of the figures, their outlines turning red and moving about. One went flying across the room.

    "Are you able to see through them?" Laserdream asked Gondul.

    Gondul shook her head. "No, I can't."

    "Then how can—"

    "They have some heavy weaponry. Killed one of my projections," Gondul interrupted Laserdream.

    "Then I can say I'm glad to have you with us," Lady Photon said with a bit of pride in her voice. She glanced over to Brandish. "Wouldn't you say so?"

    My mom didn't deign to respond to her, instead, her eyes were on me when I glanced in her direction. The staring was getting annoying and I couldn't stop shifting my weight on my feet. Irritated enough, I looked at Lady Photon and Gondul and spoke.

    "I'm going down there."

    I didn't wait for a response as I activated my wing burners and floated in the air in a golden glow. A moment later, I flew through the door and down the stairs. When I reached the basement, it was a mess. There were Empire gangsters littering the floor while the projections were hovering in the air. One man had an assault rifle and was firing a stream of bullets at Gondul's first Valkyrie. The bullets pinged off the shield while her newest one pulled her wings back and flapped them, gust blasting the man backwards with enough force that he dropped his gun.

    With the mooks handled in some capacity, I looked around the room. My first thought was how it was like staring at a horror movie. Cages lined the wall, drapes partially covering a few but there was one with a few women and children. My stomach twisted at the image and I rushed to them.

    My hands gripped the cage, bending it in place. The women inside had terror in the eyes and were shaking in place. They huddled against one another in the furthest corner away from me.

    It reminded me of one of the many lessons Mom had taught me about being a woman. How this was a very real possibility and to do everything in my power to not let it happen. The movies and pictures she showed me gave me nightmares for months. The fear that I could be kidnapped and not be in control of my own body… it was one I was familiar with but it wasn't quite the same. What could happen to them would be far worse than what I went through.

    I ripped the cage apart, my strength, combined with the suit, made steel as flimsy as aluminum foil.

    "Hey there," I said in a calm and soft voice. "Don't worry, I'm a hero. We're here to get you out of here and back to your families."

    None of them moved, so I held my hand out and tried to convey a warm smile. Only to realize I was wearing a helmet. They cowered into the cage and I had to take a deep breath before I did something I regret. Everything that had happened with my family and my cowardice to reveal myself, came crashing onto me. Fuck me. Fuck this stupid suit. Fuck this helmet. And fuck my shitty life.

    "I already passed along that there were women and children down here. Gondul is coming down and your family is not far behind."

    I took a deep breath. "Thank you."

    A moment later, Gondul appeared and she took her helmet off.

    "Hi," Tay said with a smile on her face. Sweat drenched hair clung to her face. "Don't worry, we're heroes. We're going to get you out of here."

    They seemed more receptive to that and one gingerly held their hand out to her. As much as it bothered me that they didn't do the same to me, it was at least a relief that they were coming out of the cage for Gondul. She needed this. Needed to see just what horrors the gangs produce on others and not just from her own experience.

    "While she's doing that, take a quick look for any information. I doubt any of the low level gangsters will know about Hookwolf or the other capes unfortunately."

    I wanted to help Gondul, but she was right. I flew up into the air and took in as much of a bird's eye view as I could. Shit was everywhere and I couldn't know for certain if it was because of the fight or if the Empire was genuinely being messy. There was a pile of papers in the corner of the room under some black duffle bags.

    Riffling through the duffle bags first showed that there was nothing of importance in there, unless bricks of coke counted. I pushed that aside and grabbed the papers. A quick look didn't give any information that might lead to the location of Hookwolf, but it was possible that the PRT could still use this in some capacity, especially for evidence against the criminals here.

    What got me was the lack of comments from the peanut gallery.

    "Oracle?"

    Silence. Strange. One would think she'd jump at the chance to quip or make a sarcastic remark.

    "Oracle?"

    "Sorry! Uhh, something came up. Great, you got some papers. I need to deal with something so just hold onto those."

    Deal with something? What did she mean by that?

    "What something?" I asked curiously. There was nothing but silence in response.

    Whatever. It might be something with her other team. That still bothered me and I could just feel the moment she's going to betray us. I folded the paperwork and placed it in the pocket on the side of the suit. It was indiscreet and couldn't really hold anything bigger, but it could hold folded papers.

    When I turned around, the rest of New Wave had ventured down the stairs. Amy had been brought with and she was already checking up on the women with a bored look. I couldn't help but look at the empty cages and hoped that there hadn't been others here before we arrived. The thought of missing even one person being sent out into the human trafficking web was one that dwelled heavily on my mind.

    I walked up to New Wave and prepared to finish up the rest of the bust. There were still police and PRT to call, as well as the FBI. That was one area that Aleph really had a leg up on Bet besides the obvious, human trafficking was actually illegal there.

    Tay looked at me, eyes filled with conflicting emotions and I knew she was toiling over what she had just experienced. It was hitting her hard.

    Gonna need to crack open the ice cream at the warehouse tonight.

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    Gondul and I landed in front of Warehouse Thirteen a few hours later. It took longer than I expected for the police and PRT to arrive and the FBI was going to connect with both organizations about the women. The entire time we waited, Gondul and I stayed with New Wave and I couldn't help but wish to yank my helmet off. It was only the fear of my family's response that stopped me.

    The lights were on, but something seemed off. Zoe and Lisa were still here if their cars were any indication and I wondered why that was the case. Lisa came and went, no doubt to keep the illusion— if it was one— with her other team and boss. Zoe on the other hand, usually didn't stay this late.

    We entered the building and everything was on. I glanced over at Tay as she took her helmet off.

    "Have you heard from Lisa?" I asked.

    She shook her head, pushing her hair aside. It was a mess from all the sweat and looked like it needed to be rebraided.

    "Strange," I commented. "Let's go see what's going on."

    We went into the elevator and the instant we exited into the second floor, I knew something was different. There were voices down the hallway, towards the large open room that could be considered a sitting area. Tay and I quickly walked down the hallway and found where Zoe and Lisa were.

    Who I wasn't expecting, sitting on the couch in a long dark blue sleeved shirt with a lightning bolt in the center, simple faded jeans, and sneakers, was a redhead I hadn't seen since that fateful day. Her voluptuous hair was tied with several hair ties down her back and striking blue eyes were filled with mixed emotions. Her fingers played with the edges of her sleeve, as if she was uncomfortable wearing the clothing.

    She leaned back, pushing some stray hairs out of her face. Again those deep blue eyes that seemed to roil like thunder. Fitting, honestly. Seeing her face fully, I couldn't help but see the uneasiness and how overwhelmed she seemed. She must've felt out of place. She was out of place. She'd never set foot outside of Asgard and now she was on Earth Bet. But I felt there was more to it.

    "Thrud?!" Tay and I yelled at the same time.

    Thrud looked up at us, the corner of her lips inched upwards. The uncertainty in her eyes disappeared and was replaced with a feigned confidence. She waved at us.

    "About time I found you girls!"
    Poor Victoria. She needs all the hugs.
    Also, Lisa is such a menace and is so fun to write.
    Interesting tidbit from one of my Betas (Pen). As Victoria noted, because 911 didn't happen, the DHS wasn't formed. Because of that, human trafficking wasn't made illegal. There's also the whole 'more people kidnapped lead to more triggers' thing, but I won't get into the whole cauldron side of things... yet.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • So... idk what your source is but a quick Google says that the The Trafficking Victims Protection Act was passed in 2000. Still far post Scion so it's totally reasonable to say they don't have it on Bet.
     
    Lisa's getting on well with the ravens, I see. What's the betting her quest for knowledge ends up costing her an eye in a suitably ironic way? Narative causality is bugger when you're around deities. :p
     
    Transreal Cloud said:
    So... idk what your source is but a quick Google says that the The Trafficking Victims Protection Act was passed in 2000. Still far post Scion so it's totally reasonable to say they don't have it on Bet.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    It was made illegal via that act, but it was the DHS agency that ended up handling the affairs after 9/11. The DHS was created in the aftermath of 9/11, which didn't happen in Bet. So another agency had to take over. In this case, either local enforcement, the PRT, or the FBI.
    Kittle said:
    Lisa's getting on well with the ravens, I see. What's the betting her quest for knowledge ends up costing her an eye in a suitably ironic way? Narative causality is bugger when you're around deities. :p
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    What? Me? I would never foreshadow something that matches mythological events whatsoever! The gall! (giggles behind hand).
    Should I mention that if you happen to have a good grasp of norse mythology, you can probably figure out what's going on to some degree.
     
    Thurisaz 3.10 (Taylor)
  • Threadmarks
    • I would like to thank my beta team. I appreciate each and every one of you and all!
    CW: Mentions of human trafficking from the previous chapter
    Thurisaz 3.10 (Taylor)​

    Saturday, March 12th, 2011

    "You're here," I said, blinking dumbfoundedly.

    Thrud gave a cheeky smile, "Yeah, I am."

    "How did—" I stopped myself as the answer came to me.

    There was only one way she could've come here and that was by way of the world tree. Which meant that she had to have gone through the coalition. For whatever reason, she had changed her mind after the last time we had seen each other. A part of me expected to never see her again unless I ventured to Valhalla and that wasn't anywhere in the forecast of my future. Not if it meant I'd see Freyja again.

    "So you're staying?" I changed my question.

    Thrud looked at me, then her eyes went to everyone else in the room. "Yeah, I think so. Though I'm still… this world is so different."

    "Yeah, it is," Ori said as she walked gently forward in her armor. "I'd imagine you were a little shell shocked at first."

    "Shell shocked?" Thrud asked with a curious look. "What does a shell being shocked have—"

    "She means surprised," Lisa supplied. She looked up, her eyes landed on Ori and said, "This is why I was so preoccupied towards the end. She," She gestured to Thrud, "came knocking on the front door."

    Well, that explained the silence. At first I thought Lisa and Ori were having a sarcastoff since it seemed like they could communicate on their own via Ori's helmet. Somehow. Tinker and Thinker bullshit no doubt.

    "When did you get here?" I asked Thrud.

    "Umm," Thrud muttered as she thought. "Two days ago? Elli was helping me get acclimated and then showed me where this place was."

    Two days. She'd been here for two days. Not only that, but she was with Elli who had helped her. Elli had to have known about the coalition. There was no way the location of the branch under her shop was a coincidence.

    "So you want to join?" I asked.

    Thrud steeled her gaze on me. "Yeah, I do. I-I can't stay in Valhalla and I do consider you my friends. I know this is big and you need help. I want to help."

    She was nervous. It was subtle, but the loose baby hairs on her head were standing on end and there was an electrical charge in the air. There was also the fact that she was clenching her fists to the point that her knuckles were pure white. Almost as though she was trying to stop herself from doing something.

    "Then welcome to the team," I said with a smile.

    Thrud smiled and gave a whoop as she raised her fist in the air, "Awesome!"

    Electricity sparked through the air, snapping and crackling along with her cheer. She flinched, then smiled meekly in an unspoken apology. Ori and I were laughing, even as Lisa kept a tight, yet polite, smile at the display.

    "It was never in question," Ori said as she crossed her arms. "I was half expecting you to join us before we left."

    I nodded, "Same. But I understand if there were other factors that might've stopped you."

    Thrud sobered up and nodded, "Yeah. It's just… all this time I thought your mother was some mastermind that was keeping Valhalla and Asgard in a bubble."

    "She is," I deadpanned, surprising her. "For whatever reason, she is keeping the general populace of Asgard unaware of what's going on in the rest of the realms. It's bad."

    She nodded, "I was told about that. By, umm, Hawke, Andrew Hawke."

    "So you know what our job is right?"

    "Yeah, to unite this world for the coalition to help fight this space worm thingy."

    Lisa, Ori, and I chuckled at her description of what Scion actually looked like. She wasn't wrong, but hearing it from a fellow nordic godling just made it hit differently.

    "Well," Aunt Zoe said, speaking for the first time since we arrived. "If there was any doubt about any of this, it was gone now. I've read a little about you Thrud."

    Thrud seemed surprised by that and looked at my aunt. "You have?" She looked at Ori and I. "From them?"

    Aunt Zoe shook her head. "No. You will find out that our world, or Earth in general, has its own mythology about well… you."

    "Do I want to know?"

    "No," I said. "It's wrong anyway."

    She nodded slowly. "Okay."

    Aunt Zoe looked at me and asked, "Should we get her set up in one of the rooms? If you haven't realized it, we can't really have everyone at home…"

    I nodded, 'Yeah, let her choose a room and we can get it fully furnished another time."

    "We might want to keep her away from any technology," Lisa added.

    "Why— oh," The realization came to me fairly quickly.

    "Yeah," Lisa grumbled slightly.

    Ori chuckled, "What did she do? Fry your cell phone?"

    "Yes!" Lisa held up her cell phone. The thing looked like it had been set on a stovetop and cooked for a minute. The scorch mark covered the entire backside.

    "What?" Thrud asked with a shrug. "I didn't know what it was! I thought she was trying to stab me or something."

    "It's not a knife!"

    "Are you saying that there isn't some doohickey majiggy that doesn't look like a knife but is a knife?"

    "Doohick— you know what, I'm not going to—"

    "Girls," Aunt Zoe interrupted, her voice loud and commanding. Immediately both Thrud and Lisa stopped. "Thank you," she said after a few seconds of silence. "Now, it's late and I'm sure Taylor and Ori need to get some rest after the bust. Especially since it's a school night and someone has to go to school."

    The last part was directed at me.

    I sighed, "Okay. Let's get Thrud a room. We can go over how the bust went tomorrow."

    Everyone nodded and moved. Ori walked over to Lisa and pulled out some papers from one of the compartments in her suit before handing it to the Thinker. Interesting, I wondered what that was about. They weren't snarking at one another, so I took it as a good sign.

    My girlfriend had been acting off for most of the night and I imagined fighting alongside her family was a big part of it. I knew she had wanted to reveal herself to them, but unless they took it far better than either of them had dared hope, she hadn't gone through with the reveal.

    Once I took care of Thrud, who was in the process of grabbing her axes that leaned against the couch, I'd have to talk to Ori about her family situation.

    Thrud hefted her ornate axes and placed them in the sheathes on her hips. She looked so out of place. Even though she was wearing modern clothing, she didn't look like she belonged on Bet. There was a general air of 'not from here' that clung to her in a way that made her stand out. Thrud's hair was her most standout feature, almost defying physics thanks to the electricity flowing through her. How did she keep it in such good condition? Was it genetics from Sif? I knew that was the case for me, but I'd rather not think about Freyja.

    But that aside, it was also in the way she walked and how she moved. It wasn't as fluid as she was in Asgard. She moved with the stiffness and awkwardness of someone who was trying on new shoes and they weren't the right size. Thrud would also readjust her jeans almost like I used to before I started tucking and wearing my preferred underwear. The kind of movement when things were sticking together due to sweat and you were trying to act cool in fixing it.

    Even though it wasn't the same, I knew the feeling. We'd need to get her some clothes that she'd like, even if they would stand out somewhat. Unfortunately, I would probably need to be the one to take her shopping, not Ori or Aunt Zoe, if for no other reason than to avoid drawing attention to them. She'd bring it up in the morning before school.

    "You okay?" I asked her when Thrud was close enough.

    She shrugged. "I will be. Just a lot to take in."

    I nodded, "I know the feeling. Appearing in Asgard, a place I didn't know existed, is sort of similar. Though with the technology and the amount of people on Bet, I'd imagine it's worse."

    Thrud nodded mutely. "I almost got hit by one of those… metal cart things."

    "A car?"

    "I think so? I was only told about them, not what they looked like. And there's so many."

    I nodded and started walking down the hallway. "Yeah, there's a lot. We'll try to get you up to speed. Lisa can probably help a lot, but she's…"

    "She's a bitch," Thrud deadpanned.

    "Yeah," I agreed. "I hope she wasn't too mad except for the phone thing. We only met her a few days ago, so things are still a little new."

    I could only hope that Lisa wasn't going to be an issue, especially given how she was now two for two with the other members of the team.

    "Not really?" She replied with more of a question than an answer. "She seemed preoccupied and called uhh…"

    "Zoe. She's my aunt."

    "Ahh. Like real…"

    I sighed, "It's complicated, but she's pretty much my real aunt."

    Thrud nodded. "She's nice."

    "Yeah, she is."

    We walked down the hallway and took the turn where most of the bedrooms were. Mine was all the way at the end, Ori's next to mine. Lisa's room was on the other side, which I'm sure wouldn't cause any issues whatsoever. Having Thrud next to Ori would work and get her away from Lisa.

    Tonight was a good night in retrospect. It was the first official outing for The Flight, and saw us working alongside another hero team, even if they were Ori's family. While Lisa and Ori had their own tiffs, my instinct to invite her had been correct. She was incredibly helpful as the Thinker on comms. She might be a villain, but she was helping us and that was all I cared about. We had a bigger issue to contend with and as far as I knew, her group wasn't an active issue in the city. Coil on the other hand, certainly seemed to be if even half of what Lisa alluded to was correct about the man. One day we'd have to have a team meeting to discuss that possible thorn. From what I gather, he was going to be a problem in the near future.

    Then there was Ori's real body being MiA.

    Shaking those thoughts away for another time, I opened the door and turned on the lights.

    "If you want, this can be your room. Next door is Ori's and I'm at the end of the hallway," I said as I pointed at each door.

    Thrud looked inside the sparse room. It had a bed and that was about it. Like the others, it had a closet and bathroom of its own. Only a few rooms had that luxury and they were being filled up rather quickly. There were public bathrooms throughout the warehouse, but not as private as these. This wing of the warehouse was suited for privacy while the rest was more public and office space.

    "This is so… different," Thrud said as she walked into the room.

    "I'd imagine so."

    Thrud wandered the room for a bit, her head swiveling around as she took in the space. Aunt Zoe walked up and stood on the other side of the door. She looked inside briefly before her eyes landed on me.

    "How was tonight?" She whispered.

    I shrugged my shoulders, "Not bad. There were less Empire gangsters than I expected and with a whole team and the two of us…"

    Aunt Zoe nodded. "So the Empire has reduced their normal members' activities too."

    I nodded. "Yes. They're running things on minimal personnel from the looks of things."

    "And the place you attacked?"

    My eyes closed as the images of the terrified women and kids in the cage came to mind. I knew the Empire employed trafficking, but I didn't realize it was that bad. Doesn't help that the media focused on the ABB's own ring while glossing over the Empire's. If that didn't give you a clue about who owned the local media, then I couldn't think of what else would.

    "There was a bit of drug smuggling, but it was…" I took a deep breath, centering myself. "It was mainly for trafficking."

    Aunt Zoe took a sharp intake of air and her eyes turned hard. With a barely restrained control, she held herself and her power at bay. A few more breaths and the cold anger in her eyes lessened but never disappeared fully.

    "You guys called the proper authorities, right?"

    I nodded, "Yes. It's why we're so late."

    She nodded and then looked down the hallway before speaking again, "And Ori?"

    "She didn't tell them."

    Aunt Zoe's eyes stared back at me and her lips pursed slightly.

    "I see," She said slowly. "I can't imagine it's easy to be in her position."

    I shook my head, "No, it's not."

    It was why I offered to help her. She shouldn't have to do this on her own, but she was adamant that she could do it, so I allowed her the time she needed. I just didn't want my girlfriend to suffer anymore without her family. I could tell how it was eating away at her.

    "Talk to her," Aunt Zoe said with a soft smile and gentleness yet there was that undercurrent that it wasn't up for question.

    I nodded, "I will. I wanted to get Thrud set up first, then I'll talk to her."

    Aunt Zoe's smile disappeared and she looked inside the room. "Alright. I'll let your father know what happened, but he might want to hear it from you okay? Maybe visit him at work after school?"

    A part of me wanted to rush right back to help Thrud and the rest of the team, but I knew she was right. Dad would be worried sick about what happened tonight, even if he was out of his depth when it came to capes. He already didn't want me involved in all of this, even though I didn't really have a choice. There was too much at stake, and I wasn't even including the whole Scion thing in that.

    "Okay," I simply replied.

    She smiled and said, "Are you coming home or staying here?"

    I looked down the empty hallway where the remaining two team members were and knowing the state Ori was in from tonight, I knew what my answer was.

    "I'm going to stay."

    "Alright. Please go to school, okay?"

    "I have been," I crossed my arms. I wished I didn't have to.

    "Don't give me that, Taylor. I know it's not great—"

    "That's an understatement."

    She ignored me and continued as if I didn't say anything, "But we want to fly under the PRT's and Youth Guards radar, not barge through it. You going to school shows that you have a life outside of heroing, even if it's the most asinine excuse due to the Empire literally wanting to kill you. I want nothing more than to let you stay out of school till you get transferred, but we are already walking on a tightrope to prevent them from pushing you into the Wards. They want you to slip, it's how they hook people. Just ask Sophia."

    We stared at each other for what felt like hours but neither of us wanted to relent. The Empire would not stop going after me just because I was at school. Leo had a mark on my head and most of his attempts have been at school where he knew I would be. It was like the PRT was purposefully walking me into the meat grinder and telling me to not become mincemeat.

    It was Thrud who broke the silence.

    "What's that?"

    Aunt Zoe and I looked inside. Thrud was pointing at the monitor on the screen and I knew I was in for a night of explaining things. I felt a hand pat my armored shoulder, causing me to look at Aunt Zoe.

    "I'll let you explain things to your friend. Keep in mind what I said."

    I sighed, "I will."

    "Thank you."

    Aunt Zoe turned and walked down the hallway, heading towards the elevator. My eyes lingered, not necessarily on Aunt Zoe, but as if Lisa and Ori were going to be coming around the corner at any moment. Even though I could gauge it based on the tether, I tried not to pay attention to that golden line. When the seconds passed and neither came, I went into the room and started teaching Thrud about some of the more modern things scattered about her spartan room.

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    It took no small amount of time for Thrud to get comfortable in her room, it was almost midnight by the time I flopped down on my own bed. My armor hung up in the armor stand and the sword leaned against it while I was in a fresh pair of clean and soft pajamas. The bottoms were black while the top was white and had little green trees that resembled Yggdrasil on them. Unfortunately, I wasn't done for the night, the soft patter of footsteps told me Ori was finally turning in as well.

    I waited a few minutes for her to change before leaving my room. The moment I was about to knock on her door, it swung open, revealing my girlfriend with a surprised look in her eyes.

    "Oh, Tay!"

    "That's my name," I said, the corner of my lips twerking upwards. My eyes took her in, a black t-shirt with an emblem of a sun with a sword through it and short shorts that resembled boy shorts and thighs that—

    Not the time, Taylor.

    Ori stared at me for a second before snorting. "Dork."

    My smile grew.

    She sobered up. The golden specks in her blue eyes were shining in the dim light. The glow seemed to radiate from within. A phenomenon that was developed ever since she became my Valkyrie.

    "I was actually going to go get some ice cream and see you," She said after the pause.

    I blinked my eyes a few times. "Oh, I was—that sounds great."

    Ori smiled before wandering down the hallway, her body glowed as she flew down the hallway and took the turn with a finesse that made me admire her more. She returned shortly after with a carton of ice cream and two spoons with a smile on her face. Landing a few feet away, she walked the rest of the way, holding out a spoon for me.

    The smile grew on my face all on its own.

    Then we stood there awkwardly.

    "Uhh…" I fumbled for words at first. "Your room or mine?"

    Ori looked between the two rooms before answering, "Yours. You have a bigger bed."

    She wasn't wrong.

    We walked into my room and I closed the door behind her. She sat on the bed and opened the ice cream and dug in. Her eyes were entirely focused on the ice cream as if something was on her mind. Then they wandered to my nightstand.

    "I was wondering where the necklace was."

    I followed her line of sight to the golden torc with an amber gemstone. Brísingamen. My mother's necklace.

    "I stopped wearing it once we came back here. I just couldn't."

    It was entirely possible that not wearing it was making casting spells all that much harder, but knowing the true fundamentals allowed me to push past the need for it.

    "I don't blame you," She said. Then her attention turned elsewhere and her expression turned dour.

    "You okay?" I asked as I sat down next to her. I grabbed a few of my pillows and tried to erect some sort of comfortable arrangement.

    Ori took a bite of ice cream before she sighed. "No, I'm not."

    "What a hug?"

    "God yes."

    "I mean—" My words were cut short as she set aside the ice cream and wrapped her arms around me. The suddenness caused both of us to tumble backwards. Uncaring of the odd position I was now in, I wormed my arms around her and pulled her closer as the joke was now lost to the sands of time.

    I didn't have time to contemplate the warmth from her body as I heard her hiccup in the crook of my neck. Rubbing her back in no particular pattern, I whispered into her ear.

    "It's okay."

    "B-but it's n-not."

    "Coming out to your family, in any capacity, but especially after your own funeral, is not easy," I replied quietly. "Let alone right before a fight."

    "I know," She muttered. "I just… I hate it, Tay. I hate this stupid hiding, the stupid suit, the stupid helmet."

    Ori vented her frustrations, face buried in my neck. I wasn't sure what the whole helmet thing was about, but I could be patient.

    "I was so prepared to tell them before we started and then I clammed up. Looking at them fully, even my parents— it reminded me of all the disappointment that I'd caused in the past and how it would only come reeling back. At that point, I couldn't do it. Then the look my mom had, the tension, and with how my family just wasn't handling my lack of presence. How they were planning the attack was just so… off."

    I nodded mutely. She wasn't wrong, though I saw it more that the teams seemed uneven and needed support instead of following some generic couple and kids thing. It didn't seem like a team that had years of experience in the field but more like a bunch of school kids picking their favorites or some teacher choosing the easy options because they couldn't come up with anything else.

    "I just want my family back," Ori continued with a choked sob. "I won't take back my choices, but fuck I hate this stupid secrecy."

    "I know," I whispered as I rubbed her arm. I agreed with her, especially when it came to family.

    She didn't respond, not verbally, instead she pulled me in tighter. I moved my hand from her arm to the back of her head where her tight braid was. My fingers reached for the spot where it was more shaved than anything, and gently scratched as if an evil mastermind would tap on the table in a rhythmic wave. Slowly, I felt her body relax and her hiccups reduce to quiet sobs before disappearing altogether.

    My previous offer came to the forefront of my mind.

    "What if I help you?"

    "Huh," She said, lifting and twisting her head to look at me.

    "What if I help you with telling your family?" It did fall on me for the state Ori was in and I'd rather take the brunt of it than let her deal with her family alone.

    "Like you tell them and I take off the stupid helmet?"

    The helmet again.

    "Yeah, something like that. We can schedule a meeting with your family and tell them. Maybe at that point we can discuss the fake body too."

    Her eyes went to the ceiling, "I still don't know how to feel about the fake body. Who would steal my real body?"

    "I don't know. We can worry about that another time."

    She scoffed, "Not like I need it." It was painful and I couldn't help but wince.

    "So are you amicable to that idea?"

    Ori didn't say anything, instead she sat up, forcing me to let go of her in the process. She wiped her face, her cheeks red and wet from the crying. It was now that I felt the dampness on my neck and shoulder, but I ignored it. She stared off into the wall for a bit before her eyes met mine. The glow in her eyes seemed to brighten.

    "Yeah, I think I like that idea. And amicable? You're such a dork."

    "But I'm your dork," I replied with a cheeky smile.

    She rolled her eyes, but there was a smile on her face. "What next? How superfluous of a rhetoric one could get to show how hifa-hifa– fuck what was that word."

    "Hifalutin."

    She snorted, "My point stands."

    I chuckled, "Sorry that my goddess of a mother enjoyed the English language and we read books all the time."

    Sadly that had soured the mood as her smile faded away like the rays of a setting sun.

    "You know," Ori said after several seconds. She grabbed the ice cream, now a bit melted, and continued, "The whole idea was to get this and console you about the whole night but that was a bust."

    "Oh?"

    She nodded. "I imagine that was the first time you encountered human trafficking."

    "I admit that it was," I acknowledged. "But I've known about it. Especially from the Empire. If there was one thing Freyja drilled into me, it was the fact that Brockton Bay was teeming with human and sex trafficking, not just what we hear or read about when it came to the ABB."

    "Yeah…" Ori trailed off. "I wasn't… You know that used to be my job?"

    I raised an eyebrow and said, "What was?"

    "The… being the friendly face to the women and children. My aura helped on a few occasions, but it was mostly the fact that New Wave as a whole could show ourselves and put them at ease. Heroes were more likable and as long as they were recognized, it helped, but sometimes seeing a person's face helped more."

    I nodded and knew what she meant. The petrified looks in their eyes was something that would stick with me. A constant reminder of the horrors the Empire—no, power hungry assholes— employed, even if the general public didn't know. It was something that had to be revealed to the public but either the media was so controlled by the fascists or the PRT didn't want it out.

    That wasn't what Ori was getting at and I knew it. She was bothered by what had happened. Oh… now the helmet made sense.

    "That's why you hate the helmet."

    She closed her eyes and nodded once. "Yeah. All I could think about was how all the secrecy made it harder."

    "Ori, it's not that simpl—"

    "I know, Tay," She said, cutting me off harshly. Her tone became softer and her shoulders relaxed. "I know. You'd be the second Glaistig Uaine if they found out about me. It's because of that I hold my tongue. It was just…"

    "It was more that you were still hiding from your family," I finished for her.

    She nodded.

    After a few seconds, I sat up, reaching over and grabbing the ice cream that was starting to become soupy. It was chocolate fudge with caramel and bits of waffle cones mixed in. I took her spoon and scooped some that hadn't melted and handed it to her. Ori's eyes went from me to the spoon and back before she grabbed the handle and shoved it into her mouth. With my own spoon, I scooped some of the delicious and totally-not-good-for-you treat and ate it with her.

    We fell into silence as we ate spoonful after spoonful. At one moment, we fought over a section of the ice cream that hadn't melted and it was a joyous battle that I allowed her to win. She needed it more. Eventually, she broke the silence after she finished her spoonful.

    "I want to go after him."

    It didn't take me long to figure out who him was.

    "You sure?"

    She nodded with confidence, "Yeah, I'm sure."

    I reached over and gave her free arm a squeeze. "I'll help you. He won't get away."

    A smile graced her lips and I had to join her. Whether it was to kill him or not, I'd support her. As angry as I was at Hookwolf, his life wasn't for me to judge like everyone thought. The moment might haunt me in both the waking and dream world, but I wasn't the one who he killed.

    No, the moment people realize who Antares actually was, then they see why I didn't want to do it.

    Letting myself go, I leaned in and kissed her cheek. I wanted her to know that I was with her no matter what. Whatever her choice may be, even as extreme—if you could even call it that when it came to a murderous metal blender nazi—as killing, I'd back her up. Her breathing quickened and I pulled back on instinct, worried that I might've stepped over a line or done something wrong. Her face was slightly flushed, just the barest hint of pink to her cheeks. Her eyes were staring at me, nearly at the same intensity like when she was an Einherjar.

    "Ori, I—"

    I didn't get a chance to apologize when she leaned in and kissed my cheek in earnest. She leaned back and had a soft smile on her face, assuaging my fears with a simple look. A smile that I couldn't help but reciprocate.

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    Monday, March 14th, 2011

    I flew past Warehouse Thirteen, a quick check showed that Lisa and Aunt Zoe weren't there. Aunt Zoe did have to work and Lisa was part of another group. She'd been coming and going for the past few days. Not like she had to be here twenty-four-seven. The same applied to everyone in the group.

    If I followed the tether, Ori was out in the docks, with Thrud I assume. She told me, in between the bouts of snuggling and soft kisses that lingered on my cheeks, that she planned to show Thrud the city, and get her some better clothes. A part of me was worried that Ori was putting herself at risk, but more so I was relieved that responsibility was being handled.

    My fellow godling was still new to Midgard even if she'd been with Elli for a short time before finding us, a crash course in Bet was not enough to truly acclimate to a completely new world. It was still a bit surreal that I was speaking from experience there.

    One of these days, I needed to visit Elli. With what I know now and how her building was on top of the world tree's branch, I wanted to know how she was weaved into all this mess.

    Setting those thoughts aside, I brought my wings in and swooped down, away from the warehouse and towards a place I hadn't been in a long time.

    Even though I was only updating him about what last night had entailed, I was still filled with apprehension. I knew he would be worried about anything I did pertaining to the cape scene and it would only get worse as time went on. Not only that, but my identity was out and it would only increase the chances of him getting involved. He was the only one without powers or abilities and had already been targeted by the Empire on the way in. How New Wave handled all that before the kids triggered was beyond me. Something to ask Ori once things settled a bit.

    If my life had gone just a bit differently, the idea of distancing myself from Dad to protect him would've been the first thing that'd come to mind.

    I hovered above Dad's workplace, watching the dock workers go about their business. Whether that be standing around taking a breather, moving pallets, or working heavy machinery, they were hard at work. It made me wonder if they had work in general. I hoped they did. It was a constant problem for the organization and my dad worked countless hours to ensure they were taken care of. A thought crossed my mind, maybe I could employ them in some manner, but the only ideas that came to mind were ones that had to go through fucking bureaucracy first.

    Descending into the open yard, it wasn't until I was nearly landing that the workers started to notice me. Surprised faces and murmurs whispered amongst themselves. A few broke away and went into the building itself. I nearly scoffed at the fact that the dock workers could be worse gossip mongers than teenagers at school.

    I landed gently and strode forward, one foot after another, my wings dismissed by the third step. The thought to teleport here did cross my mind as it would be good practice, but I had to use my magic sparingly. My magic reserves only allowed me to practice a few spells a day or to teleport. It didn't seem to be expanding in any way and I wondered if it had something to do with my agent or the fact that magic wasn't a reliable resource on Bet. It was a handy tool should the need arise, but I wouldn't be flinging spells like I sometimes dreamed of.

    Two people approached me. Two very familiar people.

    "Well, if it isn't little Taylor!"

    "Hi, Kurt," I said sheepishly. It was a reminder that I hadn't seen him or Lacey in a long time.

    He had a big grin on his face, "Though I guess you aren't so little anymore."

    I wasn't. I was taller than him now. Wasn't that a surprise.

    And uncomfortable.

    "Heya, Taylor," Lacey said, standing next to her husband. "It has been a while. Since the funeral?"

    Lacey, like most dock workers, was burly. Everyone here had a life of manual labor and it showed. The dock workers were a group that you did not want to mess around with. It was probably why they— for the most part— hadn't been picked up by a gang. That wasn't to say that there haven't been people who ended up joining; the city was in a shit enough place that the gangs made decent offers that were hard to pass up. But most of the dock workers were strong in their morals and stuck to their guns. As long as a cape didn't come to 'enforce' recruitment, they generally handled their own.

    Her words about the funeral stung and twisted my gut in a way that she couldn't understand. Not only had it been so long since I'd seen her and Kurt, but it brought forth the fact that Freyja was very much alive.

    "Sorry," I murmured.

    "Don't be! We've all been busy and I know how hard it was on you."

    Not anymore, not in the same way.

    "Yeah," I said quietly.

    There was a moment of silence that I wasn't sure if I should say more or wait for them to speak. Kurt was luckily the one to break it.

    "So, wings, eh?"

    I scratched the back of my head, "Yeah. Guess everyone knows?"

    "Girl," Lacey said with a slight twang. "You're about as subtle as a cat taking a shit in the corner."

    That was a vivid image I didn't need in my head.

    I shrugged my shoulders, "What can I say, I always wanted to fly."

    "Trust me, I know," She had an amused smirk on her face. She elbowed her husband, "Remember all those times you lifted her in the air like she was an airplane."

    I tried to ignore the heat that crept up my cheeks.

    "Don't be pointing a finger at me," Kurt said, eyeing his wife. "You joined in on it."

    "Could you blame me?"

    It was… nice that they didn't seem to be bothered by my transitioning. It was only a few short months before Freyja had faked her death that I had come out and started living as my true self. I honestly didn't remember how the conversation went, if there was one, with Kurt and Lacey. All I knew was that at the funeral, they didn't seem fazed by the black dress I was wearing.

    The two bantered back and forth with more increasing depictions of my youthful innocence that definitely wasn't helping my red cheeks. I looked around the yard to see several dock workers had stopped and were watching the scene unfold.

    Needing a way out of the attention, I interrupted the couple.

    "Is Dad in his office?"

    Lacey and Kurt blinked their eyes a few times before nodding. Lacey spoke first.

    "Yeah, he might be busy with a phone call, so be patient."

    "An important one?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowing.

    Kurt nodded. "Yeah, with the mayor I believe. Hope the fucker agrees."

    If anyone said the dock workers had curbed tongues, they were so wrong. Just like sailors, they let their words and mouths free. They also didn't like the mayor a whole lot. How many times had the dock workers tried to get some sort of funding to clear the Boat Graveyard or at least clean up the surrounding area but were denied? There were countless other things they were denied to that weren't connected to the decrepit eyesore of a city.

    That thought though… could I fund the restoration of the Lord's Port? I knew it wouldn't fix all the issues of the city, hell it wouldn't even be a drop of water in a pond, but it would make the city more presentable. This was my home and it always bothered me that the once grand Lord's Port was inoperable even if most sea trade was reduced to mere pittance due to Leviathan.

    "Okay, thanks. I'll go see how things are."

    "Attagirl," Lacey smiled with a fist pump. "Go support your dad. He needs it."

    I smiled at Lacey, "I will."

    Walking past two of Dad's close friends, I went through the doors into the building proper. The hallways had that off white that you weren't quite sure if they were originally white and had been colored from age or had that tone originally. There were several dock workers who were going about their business, most of them raised a hand gesture in greeting. I responded in kind and opted to ignore the looks of the others that didn't greet me.

    It was a little surreal with how often Mo—Freyja would bring me here or the few 'bring your kids to work days' that Dad participated in. It was one of the reasons why I knew so many workers. They'd met me many times, especially when Kurt and Lacey planned a barbeque or party. It was also why I ignored some of the looks that were sent my way. Whether they were because I was an open cape or because I was trans, I didn't want to deal with them. There was enough of it at school and I was tired of caring what others thought.

    Finding Dad's office wasn't hard; it hadn't changed locations once in all the years since he acquired the position. It was the one that had several union posters along the wall next to it. Through the wall, I could hear Dad talking on the phone, so I gently knocked on the door.

    Dad didn't respond, still deep in his conversation, so I waited. It was about a minute later that I heard him finish and open the door.

    "What can I—" His eyes went wide, "Taylor!"

    I smiled sheepishly, "Hi, Dad."

    "This… this is a pleasant surprise."

    We stood there as awkward as two people who desperately wanted to eat the last croissant but neither wanted to speak or move in fear of the other's feelings. The seconds passed before Dad finally broke the silence.

    "Come in," He walked back into his office.

    I walked into his office and sat in the chair opposite of his. It was sparse in a way that Dad didn't really keep a lot of things here. There were a few cabinets along the wall and a bulky television on one of those rollers that school had whenever a teacher decided to play a movie or something. It was currently on one of the national news stations.

    His desk was sparse as well, only having a single picture of us as a family. My stomach didn't churn nearly as much since it was taken not long after I had come out. Freyja had a big smile on her face that actually reached her eyes. It was so strange to see her without her tattoos or without a care in the world. It was a stark difference from the woman who… who had the entirety of the Nine Realms on her shoulders.

    No, I wasn't going to feel sympathetic for her. This was her damn fault.

    Dad closed the door and sat down in his office chair, clasping his hands on the desk. His eyes darted to the picture where he gently collapsed it.

    "So…"

    "So…" I repeated.

    "Was there a reason for the visit?" He asked, then his next words were really fast, "Not that I don't mind, I just—" He stopped himself.

    "I… uhh…" I scratched the back of my neck. "Well, I wanted to tell you what had happened last night."

    At first, his brow furrowed in confusion before it dawned on him.

    "Are you alright? Is there anything—"

    "I'm okay," I said quickly, interrupting him. "I'm okay. All of us are. There were few Empire gangsters there and my armor is bulletproof."

    "Taylor, that doesn't fill me with confidence."

    "Dad."

    He sighed, "I know." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Taylor, I know that you are a… goddess, can't believe I'm saying that."

    "Godling."

    "But I still worry, Kiddo," He said, ignoring the correction. "It's not easy to see my daughter going out and fighting crime. I won't lie, I still wish you were in the Wards, but Zoe knows what she's doing and has been quite shrewd on why that's not a good idea. But it's not everyday a parent has to deal with their kid going out and being a hero. All I can say is that I'm trying. I don't want you to think I don't support you, because I do."

    I swallowed the lump that was growing in my throat and my eyes became blurry.

    "I know that you have a lot on your plate," Dad said. "I will try my best to be open minded about it all. Just… just be careful, okay? I hear enough about you on the news, and one day, I want to hear good things about you."

    A small smile graced my lips. "Well, hopefully that will be soon, fascist owned media willing."

    A soft smile grew on his lips. He took a deep breath before speaking.

    "So, how did the bust go?"

    "Do you want to know all the dirty stuff? Because it was not a pleasant one."

    He tense a little and his shoulders tighten. "In what way?"

    My eyes went wide, "Not like that, Dad. It was just…" I trailed off as I tried to formulate the words. I sighed when none came and just said, "It was a drug smuggling ring that disguised the human trafficking underneath."

    If the tension in his body was tight before, then his muscles were turning into diamonds now. When he spoke, it was strained.

    "You stopped them, right?"

    I nodded, "We did, and the few women and children inside were freed."

    "Good." He was silent for a bit before he asked a question. "And how is Ori?"

    "She's… handling," I said vaguely.

    "Handling… so not well."

    "No, not well," I admitted. "The night was rough on her."

    He nodded slowly, "If there's anything I can do…"

    "I'll keep that in mind," I replied slowly. "Thanks, Dad."

    He titled his head. "What for?"

    "For… understanding. For being there. I know I haven't been the best daughter—"

    "Taylor," he said in a chiding yet caring tone, "You've been through a lot and I know I haven't been the best dad…"

    He trailed off as it dawned on both of us that we said pretty much the same thing. I couldn't help it, I snorted. He chuckled.

    "We're not good at this, are we?" I said, saying the quiet part out loud.

    Dad shrugged, "We can only do as well as we can with what we have."

    I eyed him, "Did… are you taking lessons from Aunt Zoe?"

    He gave me a small smirk, "I might be listening to her when it comes to you."

    I rolled my eyes but there was a smile on my face. In the process, my smile fell as my eyes landed on the T.V.

    "What?" Dad asked.

    I ignored the question and peered closer to the T.V. It was showing a woman who was chained up and gagged like in a horror movie. It was like she was the greatest threat to mankind and any sudden movement was treated as a war crime. What struck me the hardest was the caption.

    'Bad Canary awaiting trial for attempted murder of former boyfriend.'

    "Ah," Dad said as if he understood what was going through my head.

    "What's going on there?" I asked as I briefly looked at him.

    "The cape singer, she… well, I don't know the specifics, but she had maimed her boyfriend or ex-boyfriend. I've only been seeing glimpses of it, but it doesn't look good for her."

    I nodded absently. It didn't look good at all. Whatever powers she had or whatever the reason, it seemed too excessive. I don't think even those who go to the Birdcage had as many chains, manacles, and a gag as her.

    I hated it. I hated what was happening to that poor woman. The need to discover what had happened and possibly free her settled heavily in my mind. Something about it felt so wrong and I couldn't help but wonder if they went to such lengths because she was a woman or because of whatever her powers were. Either case, I wasn't happy seeing that so soon after the bust.

    Dad's sigh was what brought me back. I glanced over at him and he had a look as if he was lost in memory. He realized I was staring at him and he let a small smile grow.

    "Just like your mother," he said.

    I know he meant well, but I couldn't help but feel my blood boil at the comparison. I was nothing like her. Taking a deep breath to quell my rage, I redirected some of it to the television.

    Whatever injustice was happening, I was going to fight it. No one deserved to be treated like that, no matter the powers nor what they did. It was inhumane.
    Thrud has officially joined the team!
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Well, it looks like tay-tay is gonna get involved on the so-called bad canary case. Hopefully, she'll be able to help poor Paige
     
    Thurisaz 3.D
  • Threadmarks
    • I would like to thank my lovely beta team. You girls are fantastic and amazing! I appreciate you all so much!
    Thurisaz 3.D​

    Sunday, March 13th, 2011

    Countless tasks and issues piled on Dragon's plate and she mused about them for a few milliseconds. They weren't a huge hamper on her processors, her multitasking ability was far above the usual even with her limitations, but she wished she could reduce the ever growing list. Every time one of them was checked off, another one or two took its place. She knew the world was ever revolving, but there were times she dreamed that her limitations were gone and she could properly handle things without resorting to Richter's helper programs that she had repurposed.

    Not that she could actually dream. She'd never been asleep. Unless restoring a backup and that brief period of nothingness counted as sleeping. If it was, she didn't know how humans did it every single day, even if ninety-nine percent of them required it. There were the one percent whose powers allowed them to bypass that. Noctis capes. She was considered one, but if they knew what she actually was, they would think differently on that.

    With that on her mind, she directed her attention to a dear friend of hers. Dragon might not have the instinctual knowledge when it came to human interaction, but she'd read up on as many documents and books she could get her metaphorical hands on. One of the many things her… creator had instilled into her earlier iterations.

    She couldn't consider him a father, even though that was what he was to some degree. What kind of father would put such limitations and shackles upon her or be forced to be good and follow authority figures. That was a separate thing than wanting to do good and Dragon wanted to do good but being forced made her actions soured in her opinion.

    Her thought processes returned to her dear friend and she decided it was time to make a call. Hopefully he actually went to sleep and didn't spend all night working on his latest project.

    Dragon sent the request and connected to the small monitor that Colin kept for her use. She waited for the protocol that gave her acceptance into the device. Once acquired, she produced the makeshift face that she crafted years ago. A completely ordinary woman with no outstanding features. Nothing special.

    Yet to her, it was who she was. It was her face and who she was to the outside world. No one could know that she wasn't human. If the world knew that she was an artificial intelligence…

    She didn't dwell on the idea. The ramifications would be catastrophic. It was better to hide behind the image she fashioned and lie to the world that she was agoraphobic so she wouldn't be forced to appear in person. Not quite an impossibility as she was present whenever she was commanding one of her suits. Plus there was already one person who knew and that alone caused her servers to overheat at the thought.

    In the time it took her to mull over her lot in life, her face appeared on the monitor. An action that took a fraction of a second. Far above human processing yet hers was still hampered by her restrictions. Days like today were those where she resented her 'father' even if she understood his fears and worries.

    She connected to the camera in the room and zoomed in on Colin huddled over his desk, papers strewn across the surface. A mug of coffee was set aside, barely touched, while Colin flipped through another paper of what looked like a folder.

    "Hello, Colin," Dragon greeted, hoping she used her voice synthesizer properly to convey a soft and gentle voice so as not to alert him.

    Much to her dismay, he was still jolted from her voice.

    "Dragon," He said, looking up and a slim smile growing on his face. "What can I do for you?"

    "Just checking up on you," She said, lightheartedly. "Did you sleep well?" She asked afterwards as a way to gather information.

    Colin blinked his eyes before rubbing his face. A few seconds later, he spoke.

    "If I say no, are you going to scold me?"

    "Yes."

    Colin sighed. "No, I haven't."

    "Colin…"

    "I've been going over the reports last night and comparing them from our known information."

    "About?" She inquired, curious to what had him so focused.

    "Gondul and Antares."

    Dragon had read up on the two new capes in Brockton Bay. Especially Gondul. Her web trawler had been picking up a lot of activity on the independent hero ever since Glory Girl was killed. That moment sent Gondul's notoriety to the national level. At first it had started at the local level and she was constantly receiving information about the girl's identity and family. She felt for Taylor Hebert, she really did. It might not be the same, but she chose her gender too. The information she gathered was immediately sent to the PRT. She was quickly told to help curtail the leaks and inform of any problematic suspects. All of which she actually agreed with.

    It had brought her to some of the darker sides of PHO and the internet. Dragon had known how bad those parts could be, but the threats and apt descriptions she read were things that she'd see from the Slaughterhouse Nine.

    Nonetheless, many of them were banned or their IPs tracked. If any of them made to enact their promises, then she would contact the proper authorities to ensure they were taken into custody. Dragon didn't even want those miscreants to have access to the internet, but that was outside of her power. Though she could have one of her suits…

    She pushed that thought aside.

    As for Antares, she found surprisingly little. There were no records of a Tinker with that name until she appeared in Brockton Bay. Her armor and cannon were masterwork creations that would usually be seen from an experienced and well supplied Tinker. From a newcomer like Antares, it was baffling to say the least. The moment Dragon was informed about this new Tinker, she kept an eye out for her. It certainly helped that Colin was also invested in knowing who she was.

    Since her arrival to Brockton Bay, Antares had appeared a few times according to witnesses and reports. Her first debut was at a local gang drug smuggling den with two of New Wave's capes, Lady Photon and Manpower. From what Dragon had read, the report had yielded some results that only made her more curious about the Tinker, her speciality, and where she came from.

    A second lapsed and she pulled up a still image from a short video of Antares flying through the night sky. Through the golden haze that surrounded the Tinker's body, Dragon eyed the sleek silver chainmail armor with golden engraving accents that contrasted parts of the armor. Blue luminescent tubing filled with something that Dragon couldn't decipher, no matter how hard she tried to deconstruct and analyze the energy that coursed through the armor. She was able to at least figure out the symbol on the chest; the symbol of the Valkyrie. It took her some digging, but she was able to find the reference. There were several different versions, with or without the Valknut. Dragon's theory was that it was linked to the helmet being stylized after an eagle and the wing visage through the thrusters on her back.

    She wondered if it was linked to Gondul in some way. She didn't miss the similarities in the designs; Gondul's more archaic or medieval to the modernized tech of Antares. Gondul's projections were also in the images of Valkyries.

    "What about them?" Dragon asked as if she hadn't spent several iterations of processing on thinking about them.

    Colin looked down at the papers for a brief moment before looking back at the monitor.

    "Something doesn't add up."

    "What doesn't?"

    Colin grabbed the chair and sat down, "There's no information about Antares in any of the surrounding cities, yet Gondul claimed she picked her up nearby."

    "Did she specify which city?" Dragon hadn't been privy of the conversation as she was focused on shoring up containment measures in Canberra.As much as she hated to admit it, they were mostly complete, a process that had become more streamlined over the years.

    Colin shook his head. "No, she didn't. All she said was that she met her when she left the city after Glory Girl's death. She doesn't even know the specifics of her tech."

    "Colin," Dragon chided him. "Not everyone wants or needs to know a Tinker's tech."

    He sighed, "I know. But it's nice to have another Tinker on our side in the city that we could possibly collaborate with. Especially one who's weapon could stun multiple people without harming them."

    Dragon couldn't help but focus on the image again, zooming in on Antares' weapon. In fact, the more she looked at Antares, she wondered if the Tinker was a fan of Hero. It oddly reminded her of the first Tinker. A man she looked up to. What Tinker didn't? She knew that both Colin and Kid Win tried in their own way, though Colin tried to break the mold to fashion his own path. His own uniqueness.

    "Then I don't see what the issue is," She replied.

    "It's just that they don't add up. Gondul disappears after the death of her friend and comes back with another one two weeks later."

    "Colin," Dragon chided the man once again. "It's entirely possible that they met due to shared grievances. Is Antares a native?"

    He nodded, "From what Gondul claims, yes."

    "And considering it was a member of one of one of the oldest and arguably most powerful gangs in the city that killed Glory Girl, don't you think Antares might have similar issues with the gang?"

    Dragon watched him mull over her words. It was a scenario that she'd simulated as a possibility when she first heard of a new cape in Brockton Bay after Glory Girl's death. As morbid as it was, she couldn't help but feel relieved that the count of heroes hadn't changed in the city. It was already on the precipice of boiling over when Gondul appeared on the scene and with her clear antagonistic view of one of the gangs. Justifiably so considering all of the data Dragon saw about Taylor Hebert on a daily basis.

    "You're right. I'm probably overthinking it."

    "It's alright," She made the face on the monitor smile, a much harder task than most realized to make it appear natural, a smile was not a static animation, but something fluid and always in motion. "It happens to the best of us." She paused before adding, "But that's not the only thing on your mind, is it?"

    Colin sighed again, "No, it's not. The reports on Gondul are also not clear."

    "How so?"

    He leaned back in his chair and looked up at her. "In our meeting, we found out she had multiple projections. When she was first on scene, she only had the one."

    "She could've been hiding her powers. As not to scare others."

    He nodded, "And I would agree except that from both Shadow Stalkers, Miss Militia's, and other eyewitnesses along with the report from last night, Gondul does have her own wings."

    Dragon had seen the reports herself, having looked over them shortly after they crossed her channels.

    "So she's not just a Master like everyone assumed."

    "Correct. The PRT is currently debating about assigning her a Trump rating along with the Changer rating until either she provides further information or we discover more of her powers."

    "Do her wings correspond with her hardlight projections?"

    Colin shook his head. He went to his laptop and typed on it. A moment later, she received a message from him and downloaded the image attached. Upon opening, her eyes instantly landed on the two black wings sprouting from Gondul's back as she flew through the air. It was in the middle of the day and she wasn't wearing her armor. It seemed that Taylor Hebert, with her identity in the open, had taken New Wave's approach and used her powers while in civilian clothes.

    She calculated the wing span and the possible power behind them and she couldn't figure out how they could carry her weight. Yet another example that supported the assigned Trump rating.

    "Interesting," Dragon said. She altered her voice to be filled with curiosity. "I would've assumed they'd be hardlight considering the current theory of her mother."

    "The PRT is still inclined to believe that to still be the case," Colin said as he looked at a few pictures on his laptop. Dragon made sure to turn the camera a little, she didn't want to intrude on his privacy even though she knew he'd just be looking at pictures of Gondul. "The similarities between her projections and Lustrum's hardlight breaker state can't be a coincidence. I received clearance to look at a few classified documents of Lustrum's movement. Annette Hebert was in the movement. She was a lieutenant."

    Dragon had hoped that the theory wasn't correct. It would mean that the person in the Baumann Parahuman Containment Center who was supposed to be Lustrum, was not, and thus a mostly innocent woman. 'Lustrum' that was in the birdcage did take part in many of their public actions, but she might not have been the leader everyone claimed her to be.

    "We know that every lieutenant was a cape," Dragon added. She'd heard Lustrum talk about it in the birdcage. That reminded her that she should check on her monitoring systems at the prison and see how things were.

    "True," Colin conceded. "But we know little about what powers they had or who they were. Even with pictures of the lieutenants, they had scattered without a sign or trace. I don't want to sound conspiratorial, but far too much of her actions were shrouded in mystery."

    "It's possible that one of the lieutenants had a Stranger power that worked on everyone. It would explain how they escaped monitoring."

    He raised an eyebrow to her, "A Stranger power that would work decades later without fail?"

    Dragon caused her avatar to shrug in some manner. "Just throwing ideas out there."

    Colin grunted. He looked down at the papers and rubbed his face again. "Whatever the case may be, Taylor Hebert is at the center of it all and a possible lead into what happened when Lustrum's movement dissolved. She is also a possible problem if she decides to follow in their footsteps."

    That caused Dragon to spur her processors, discharge her capacitors, and her fans at the Vancouver location to whirl into action. It was before her time, but she'd read up on Lustrum shortly after assuming control of the Birdcage. At the time, it was considered one of the biggest threats to the security of the United States government. They questioned how the Justice Department handled Parahumans under the guise of equality for all, but it undermined everything they needed to do at the time to prevent a collapse.

    She'd seen the reports, the projections. America wasn't nearly as far off from ending up a broken conglomerate of Feudal kingdoms much as Africa and South America had become. Lustrum's ambitions risked sending the US hurtling towards that inevitability, it was why they were so vehement in their opposition. All of that was included in Lustrum's unrestricted Birdcage file, and yet… How much of it was true? Would Taylor pursue those same goals and risk upsetting the balance that let them play at stability? Everything she had seen from Taylor's file showed the teenager was a hero.

    "Is there a likely chance she could?" Dragon asked.

    Colin shrugged noncommittally. "At the moment, the chances are low. Though I theorize that with the rising tension with the Empire, it's possible that the odds will increase."

    "Nazi's do seem to collide with feminists," Dragon said amusedly.

    "You are not wrong," Colin replied, a small exhale and a face rub followed thereafter. "The PRT is monitoring her. She's already shown a tendency for excessive violence with cutting off Stormtiger's arm. As long as she doesn't escalate without due cause, she should be fine, but the PRT is prepared to bring her in as a probationary Ward should she cross those lines, even if we would have to deal with her legal guardian and her legal representation."

    "Which are presumably former lieutenants," Dragon added. She both heard and read about what had happened when Mr. Hebert was in protective custody and how Mrs. Barnes came from left field with a lawyer that knew the exact loopholes needed to release Mr. Hebert. It screamed Parahuman power, despite her having frequent medical tests that state otherwise.

    She actually tried to contact Olivia McFarlane once, but the woman was incredibly hard to reach and she wasn't cheap. Dragon had wanted to inquire about her help for Canary before she was railroaded into the Birdcage.

    That thought soured her processes and Dragon could only hope that the trial didn't go as she expected it would. Canary might've used her powers against the man, but it currently looked like the people wanted to send her to the Birdcage out of fear rather than due process. The maximum security prison for capes was not a place for her, no matter the power.

    "Correct," Colin replied. "But without any concrete evidence, we can't do anything. If this Stranger power is strong enough to stop W.E.D.G.D.G. and brain scans, then there is little we could do to any former lieutenants unless they cross a line."

    Dragon had to repress showing a smirk on the monitor, it had taken her years to get him to stop naming every single organization by its full title rather than an abbreviation, the next step was to get him to call them Watchdog like everyone else did. Efficiency truly was the magic word, now if only it worked to convince him to sleep more.

    "Which, as far as we know, none have since Lustrum's arrest saw them disband."

    "A fact I try not to think about too much unless I want to dig down the rabbit hole."

    Dragon chuckled, "It wouldn't be the first time."

    Colin grumbled, which only made Dragon laugh harder. She had grown to enjoy the time she spent with him, even if most of those times involved theory crafting and tinkering. They'd spent hours working together on various projects, such as the new nanothorn technology and the Endbringer prediction system. If the system worked, it would give them potentially hours of advanced warning before the next attack. Dragon did her best not to look at the loose countdown she had for when the next Endbringer would be most likely to strike based on all the data she had collected.

    But there were a few nights when she'd find him looking into Lustrum's movement or the other oddities that occurred in Brockton Bay. His words. Dragon had yet to see any of those 'oddities' but she believed him when he said there was something off about Brockton Bay. He claimed that when he was first transferred to Brockton Bay, it was like entering an entirely new world, yet it was the same as any city in the north east. When she tried to push for more of an answer, all he could answer was that it was the atmosphere.

    Dragon, not quite understanding what that meant, looked into the barometric pressure as well as other weather and environmental meters of the city and found nothing that could be described as odd. She didn't do it often, but whenever Dragon had to make a visit to the city, she'd bring her measuring devices to see if they picked anything up.

    "Well," Dragon said after a few seconds of silence. "Hopefully that won't come to it and Gondul remains on the side of heroes."

    Colin nodded slowly. "I agree. She is an incredibly smart girl and wants to be a hero from what I could tell in the few meetings I've had with her. Though her guardian is ruthless in protecting her, even from us."

    "You just like her because she took Dauntless down a few pegs."

    He tried to hide it, but there was a hint of his lips twitching upwards in a smile. She knew of their slight rivalry and she could understand Colin's fears. He worked so hard to get where he was at and he didn't like the idea of someone easily coming in to take his place. Dragon doubted that as Armsmaster has years of experience and accolades under his belt, along with numerous tech advantages that made him a force to be reckoned with, but she knew that he had his own doubts.

    It was why she had to make sure he got enough sleep and ate properly. She might not need to, but he certainly did.

    "I should get going. There are many things on my list that I need to take care of and it looks like you need to eat and have a nap."

    Colin's eyes widened just a fraction from the request. "I'm fine."

    "Colin."

    He stared at the monitor screen for a few seconds before sighing. "Let me finish processing the next test on the prediction system and I will get some sleep."

    Dragon looked at the latest changes he had made in the joint repository they shared for the system. She calculated the time it would take to process and test, knowing that he wouldn't be going to sleep for another two or three hours. She internally sighed but relented.

    "Very well. But do get something to eat in the meantime and try to rest while it runs. There's not much else you can do till it finishes processing."

    He gave her a slim grin. "I will." He paused for a few seconds before continuing. "Is there anything on your list I can help with?"

    The question caused her processors to halt for a nanosecond, her fans to sputter just slightly, and her circuitry to fritz. It wasn't the first time he asked her that nor was he the only person. There was one person who knew more than he did and it made her wonder if she could tell him. He's helped her in the past, but most of the priority things on her list were things only she could do. Colin had no way to monitor the Endbringers, verify there was nothing wrong with the latest batch on her suit assembly line, nor could he check the Birdcage systems.

    The small kindle of hope and trust she had for the man made her wonder. It wouldn't be like what happened before as she would be the one to reach out rather than by pure accident. Sadly, That thought process was discarded when she realized that she'd been frozen for a little too long.

    She made her avatar smile, "Thank you, but I'll be fine. Just routine checking on the Endbringers and the Birdcage."

    Colin looked at her with calculating eyes. They were often calculating, but they were more focused on her than whatever else was on his mind.

    "Is the Simurgh still acting abnormally?"

    Dragon wasn't going to look at the video feed yet, but she pulled the data from the last time she monitored the flying Endbringer.

    "Yes, she is."

    "Strange," Colin mused as he rubbed his chin.

    Strange indeed. Exactly the reason why she kept it high on her priority list.

    "Very well, have a good day, Dragon."

    "You too, Colin," She made the avatar smile at him.

    A moment later, she cut the connection to the monitor and pulled herself back into her figurative self. It was always strange how her restrictions worked sometimes. It was like she had thousands upon thousands of limbs stretching out into the known world, but she could only traverse one at a time. She was aware of the others, knew what was going on, but she couldn't interact with them unless she retreats into this place. It bothered her.

    She wondered if this was how humans felt. Having only a single body, like a single metaphysical limb to her, meant they could only be in that specific place. It was probably the only way she could handle the restriction, by imagining it as if she were human. It was a nice thought.

    Dragon turned her attention to the Endbringer monitors and looked at the data being streamed through her bots. All three Endbringers were stationary, in hibernation so to speak.

    Behemoth was deep in the Earth's crust, in the upper core layer. Dragon calculated his location based on the seismic tremors of his slight movements and concluded that he was somewhere under the south pole. When not active, he seemed to locate himself in the colder climates, especially the north and south pole. That was still following his usual patterns.

    Leviathan was located on the Mid-Atlantic ridge. The water currents shifted slightly around him. Even in his dormant state, his presence caused the water currents to alter ever so slightly, which was properly recorded and sent to coastal cities so they could properly map their shipping lanes. The shipping industry had been reduced due to the Endbringer, but it wasn't halted. Leviathan often positioned himself near his next attack or roamed the deepest parts of the ocean; he thankfully didn't just roam the seas on a whim.

    Dragon observed how the currents were moving and determined that he was facing the United States. Based on the few tests they've made with their prediction system, it seemed to line up that his next attack would be somewhere on the east coast.

    She turned her attention to the last Endbringer. The Simurgh. Dragon spared extra attention to her due to the recent oddities that had been occurring. She zoomed in on the camera that was tasked with recording the Simurgh. At first there wasn't any change, the Endbringer was still in the upper atmosphere with all of her wings curled within itself. Her head was looking down at the planet like a silent arbiter.

    It was when the camera's focus got a closer look that Dragon could pick up the slight twitches in the Simurgh's movement. They were erratic, as if the wrong electrical pulses were being sent to her 'muscles'. A wing would tense, her hands would clench, a foot would kick just slightly, and her head would snap a little. Each time, her eyes would close and her face would tighten.

    It was strangely human and hadn't occurred until late December. No one knew where the Endbringers came from, but with the recent changes in the Simurgh's actions, it further added proof to their origins of parahuman triggers gone to the extreme. Even what had happened at Canberra, which was a win for humanity as a whole, had added further credence to the theory.

    The Endbringer dropped down as she always did, her telekinesis reaching out and gathering Tinkertech within her influence. It was her scream that was different. It was intermittent, stopping every few seconds and breaking any mastering effect she usually applied. The defenders had still followed the protocols just in case, but everyone felt a little bit safer. Scion hadn't shown up, but due to the interruption, Legend and Eidolon were able to push her back to the upper atmosphere before she could complete any of her projects.

    They had cordoned Canberra just in case, but the chances of it being lifted were increasing by the day as they screened everyone. It would take years, there was no doubt in Dragon's artificial mind about that, but Canberra might be the first quarantined zone to be freed.

    It was the first glimmer of hope that humanity had when it came to the Endbringers. For so long, they've been fighting the unstoppable beings without a shred of hope to end their terror on the world. With Canberra, there was a real possibility that they could undo their destruction and rebuild.

    Dragon just hoped that whatever was causing the Simurgh to act up would transfer to the other two. Only time would tell if that was the case.

    She peered closer at the Simurgh, trying to correlate the erratic twitching to anything she could theorize or research. The moment she had opened up some documents, along with her own notes, she received a message.

    <<<<< Alert! Action Required. >>>>>​

    Dragon pulled herself back from the Endbringer monitoring system and focused on the alert. She knew what that alert meant. There was only one person who it could be. She accepted the request and sent herself down the line back to her Vancouver server building. In a matter of a nanosecond, she connected with the main camera that looked into the expanse that were her servers. At the end of the room was a heavy metal door and a blinking red light above, waiting to be opened.

    The alert she had gotten before was for the exterior entrance while this was the interior. A second line of defense so to speak. You just had to get through several containment foam spouts and the veritable labyrinth to get to the second door. For the most part, no one needed access to this room, Dragon was able to handle all of her own maintenance. But there was one person who knew and she was waiting.

    Dragon opened the door, light spilling into the virtually lightless server room as if the sun was peeking through the clouds. She didn't need to have illumination in the server room, her cameras had infrared and ultraviolet sensors, and the arms she used for maintenance had no issues in the dark. Even with that, she turned on the lights into the room and greeted the person.

    "Hello, Narwhal."

    The tall statuesque woman walked into the room and Dragon watched how she gracefully moved. Dragon would've thought that she was using her forcefields to achieve that level of dexterity, but she knew it was all her. Unlike her usual attire, Narwhal was wearing actual clothes; dark blue jeans, a white tank top with a unicorn on it, and a green biker jacket with various pins on it. Even with the jacket, Dragon could tell that Narwhal's muscles were straining the fabric.

    "Hello, Dragon," Narwhal greeted as she looked around before her eyes landed on the camera. A smile grew on her face.

    Narwhal was also the only person who knew that Dragon was an AI.

    It was a harrowing experience and one found completely by accident. Dragon still berated herself for her idiocy of not paying attention to her alerts until it was too late. The building itself wasn't a secret, but this particular server room was. Narwhal had stumbled into it when an earthquake had rattled the room and was nearby to ensure Dragon's safety. Narwhal was under the assumption that Dragon's 'human' body was here.

    Because of the brief power outage, she had stumbled into the server room that was still operational while Dragon was double checking her hardware. It was an odd sight when the mechanical arms were reaching into the room while Dragon was talking to herself.

    That led to an awkward conversation in which Dragon was absolutely terrified the entire time. At least nothing bad came from it and she had come to trust Narwhal more than anyone else on earth, any of them.

    "Sorry for coming in on short notice," Narwhal said as she took off her jacket.

    Dragon never knew why she did that, the room itself was freezing to aid in cooling her equipment. It was rare that she would overheat, and always led to her taking control over her fans when it happened, she didn't want to risk leaving that to some random program if things required that much from her.

    "It's no big deal, I was just checking the Endbringers before I continued down my list."

    Narwhal nodded and Dragon noted the way she brushed her long pale-purple hair before putting it into the bun. It wasn't often that others saw this side of the woman, so calm and relaxed. Without the forcefields covering her naked body with a three foot horn spouting from her forehead.

    "Anything of note?" Narwhal asked, her tone serious for a brief moment.

    "No, not really. The Simurgh is still acting atypically."

    Narwhal sighed before grabbing the singular chair and placed it in her usual spot whenever she came to visit. The chair was next to one unique rack among her sea of hardware. On top of a server was a single stuffed green dragon, one of the few empty spaces. Dragon made sure that area was sufficiently cooled and cared for.

    "Something isn't right. In the years since she appeared, she'd never once shown anything like that and then at the fight with her screaming was broken up…"

    "I know," Dragon replied, also remembering the fight and could easily pull up her recordings. "Even now, she's twitching."

    "Strange."

    That's all anyone could ever say about it. It was entirely vague yet summed up the situation entirely.

    They settled into a silence and Narwhal closed her eyes and leaned her head against the rack. It wasn't so much that she felt her head itself, but how her sensors had shifted. The feeling wasn't unwelcomed.

    "Was… was there a reason for this visit, Narwhal?" Dragon asked after she determined enough time had passed in silence.

    Narwhal opened her eyes, seemingly landing on the camera she was using. A small smile grew on her face as she spoke.

    "What? Can't I visit my friend? Make sure everything is okay? And please, Dragon, call me Heather. We've been over this."

    Dragon couldn't help but feel her cores heat up.

    "Sorry, Nar—Heather. I'm still not used to—"

    "Dragon, it's okay. I understand your reservations. Just know that you have nothing to fear from me."

    Dragon wouldn't say it was heartwarming as she didn't have a heart, but the gesture was appreciated. Heather had yet to show any signs of betraying her in any capacity. They'd worked together for years and Dragon had always felt like she trusted the woman, even with her obscure past. Heather was someone who no one knew what her history was before her time in the Protectorate and the Guild. All Dragon knew was that Heather was from a military family of sorts, or at least had experience.

    "Thank you, Heather."

    Heather smiled up at the camera again. "Of course, Dragon." Heather paused for a few seconds before continuing. "Is there anything else on your mind?"

    As if her fans were acting on their own, they created a whirring sound that was akin to sighing. "Canary."

    "Ah," Heather said, her voice pitching lower in disappointment. "I wished the trial wasn't turning the way it seems to be."

    "I agree. I've been hoping to contact some lawyers, but no one wants to take the case. Or in Ms. McFarlane's case, unreachable."

    Heather let out a short grunt as she crossed her arms. "She's a tough lawyer to get a hold of and isn't cheap."

    To Dragon, it sounded like Heather had experience with said lawyer in the past.

    "As expected from one of the best lawyers, cape or otherwise, in America," Dragon supplied. Then she added, "But between jail or the Birdcage…"

    "I know," Heather said sympathetically.

    That alone made Dragon wonder how Mrs. Barnes, an up and coming fashion designer had somehow contacted Ms. McFarlane. For someone who was among the best in the country, why would she hire her just to release Mr. Hebert from protective custody? It only reinforced the idea of lieutenants still being in contact with one another. The thought only served to amplify Colin's fears in Dragon's mind.

    Heather continued without noticing that Dragon was deep in thought, "But no one wants the chance to be marred by the case. What she did was wrong, but she shouldn't be going to the Birdcage."

    "I agree," Dragon said. "If… if it comes down to it, I plan on dropping her in Cell Block E."

    "Lustrum's cell block," Heather added without missing a beat.

    "Correct. She'd be the safest there."

    Heather hummed as she looked over the green dragon plush. "How are the occupants of the Birdcage?"

    "That was actually next on my list." Dragon offhandedly looked at the logs that record the ongoings of the maximum security prison. Nothing pressing, but Dragon did note one minor alert of Glaistig Uaine leaving her cell block. "Actually, it looks like the Faerie Queen is having her weekly meeting with Lustrum."

    Heather's eyebrow quirked upwards. "Is that so? I wasn't aware they had weekly meetings."

    "They do," Dragon said, unsure how to process the tone in Heather's voice. "Though it seems they've been meeting more often lately."

    "Interesting," Heather replied, her body language not changing one bit, but her voice was filled with curiosity.

    Dragon was curious as well. She'd listen in on the meetings before and there was nothing of note. Oftentimes, it was how the two cell block leaders were conducting their own corners of the prison. Lustrum was probably the only person in the prison that the Faerie Queen treated with a modicum of respect. She threatened other people or stood there menacingly. At least in Dragon's point of view. Dragon didn't like looking in on Glaistig Uaine because the woman, posing as a young girl, always stared up at the cameras and seemed to know that she was watching.

    "I will—"

    Heather chuckled as she pulled out her phone, "Go ahead, Dragon. I'll be here. I've been neglecting some emails that I know I'll be badgered about in an hour."

    "You do tend to ignore your emails." Dragon had sent several to the Protectorate leader and guild member herself, but none of them were pressing and more informational. Though she did send some cute pictures of unicorns to her. Dragon could never pass up sending unicorns just like Heather always sent her cute dragon ones.

    Heather glared at her camera. She didn't mean it if the smile was any indication. "Go on."

    Dragon shook her camera in a similar manner as one would shake their head. She pulled away from her databanks and reconstituted herself in the Baumann Parahuman Containment Center. She connected herself to the systems and looked over the the logs. As much as she wanted to listen in on the meeting between the two leaders, she had to ensure that there were no other problems with the other inmates.

    She found there were no pressing issues with the mens section other than Teacher and his block messing with televisions. That was something she'd have to keep an eye on, but it would have to wait. With the recent activity among former members of Lustrum's movement, Dragon wanted to keep up to date on their leader. Especially if there was a good possibility that the woman in prison wasn't the real Lustrum.

    Dragon quickly found the two leaders sitting at a nicely furnished table in Cell Block E, Lustrum's block. The table wasn't the bland off white color as the rest of the prison, instead it looked like it was made of wood. Oak maybe. The only person who had the power to do that was Glaistig Uaine. Not surprising as the terrifying cape had many powers at her disposal and often changed the decorations in her own cell block. It was currently in a Victorian gothic theme. It certainly helped with the morale of the women in her block.

    Dragon's camera zoomed in on Lustrum, taking in the woman who was linked to so much that was going on from seemingly nowhere. She was a matronly looking woman with blonde shoulder length hair, recently cut, that was tied into a ponytail. Most of the time when Dragon was watching her, it was when she was protecting her block, so a scowl was often on her face yet it was during these meetings that she looked more at peace. As if she didn't have to hold up appearances.

    Glaistig Uaine herself was still in the guise of a young child, young teens by the looks of it. Her blonde hair was longer than Lustrum's, reaching past her shoulders and were more wispy, seemingly floating of their own accord. She sat at the table as if a queen would; knees crossed, one hand laying on top and the other on the table, drumming in a rhythmic pattern as she waited for the tea to cool. Dragon had to alter some of the alarms that would trigger due to the Faerie Queen's powers and had to watch her intently at first to learn which she could safely ignore.

    Both women wore the orange jumpsuits provided by the supply drops, but it was clear that the Faerie Queen took it upon herself to change that too. Hers was more in a superfluous orange and white dress of sorts. Several sets of the jumpsuits had gone into its crafting, the only part still recognizable were the pants barely visible beneath the ankle length flowing skirt Lustrum on the other hand, kept to the basics barring a few modifications for extra pockets that were reminiscent of cargo pants. Dragon knew from the logs and past recordings that Lustrum modified both sets of clothes herself.

    Glaistig Uaine went to grab the handle of her tea cup when her eyes traveled upwards, meeting the camera's gaze. Her piercing green eyes seemingly stared into Dragon's nonexistent soul. It was a look of pure determination that honestly frightened Dragon and she wasn't anywhere near the cape. There was always something different about those eyes of hers. She could never find a proper match when she compared them to various databases of eyes.

    Dragon zoomed closer. Specks of blue were scattered in the sea of green that she doubted anyone would notice at a quick glance. She hadn't till just now with how the light was hitting the Faerie Queen's eyes.

    "We are being watched," Glaistig Uaine said, her voice in an eerie chorus of echoing tones. She took a sip, her eyes never leaving the camera.

    Lustrum followed Glaistig Uaine's line of sight, her teal eyes meeting the camera as well.

    "Hello, Dragon," Lustrum greeted her in a voice in a kindly tone.

    No one spoke out and Dragon already felt like she was intruding on the conversation, but that was her job. She had to keep an eye on all the inmates or at least keep track of them. They were among the most powerful and dangerous capes in the world. If anything got out of hand, the possibility of them causing untold damage and death was astronomically high.

    Glaistig Uaine decided that she had enough and returned her gaze to Lustrum. She took a sip of tea before speaking.

    "The owl has returned. Only time before things will be set into motion."

    As always, the Faerie Queen spoke in riddles. Dragon rarely deciphered them since the woman liked to pull myths and legends from all over the world. An owl could mean one's death in one legend or knowledge in another. It could even refer to a person or an event. Dragon rarely let the riddles get to her. Not after the first goose chase the Faerie Queen had her go through only lead to a children's rhyme of wolves and the bitter cold. Norwegian or Swedish in origin.

    "I see," Lustrum responded, taking a sip of her own tea. "Then only time would tell of what is to come."

    Glaistig Uaine nodded and clasped her hands on her table, far more energetic and childlike. "And how are we?"

    "Everything is fine, Faerie Queen. My girls are safe and there hasn't been any trouble."

    "Good, we wouldn't want the Changeling to encounter any issues."

    The banter went back and forth. Simplicities and niceties. Dragon was never able to decode what they were talking about. Whatever it was, it was a cypher that was created sometime after the two started meeting, before Dragon had assumed control of the Birdcage. Since the Faerie Queen knew of her presence, it was something she could use right under her minder's nose. All Dragon could do was watch and record the ongoing meetings. Nothing more could be done from the surprising lack of information she gleaned.

    She pulled back from the prison, allowing the two women to have a modicum of privacy, even though her bot would record every word they spoke so she could go over them properly later. She quickly returned to the Vancouver location, but she couldn't help but think about Lustrum and the brief words exchanged between the two women.

    Just something she'd have to bring up to Narwhal once the meeting was concluded. Maybe she could decipher the code and determine what the two were talking about.

    All in all, it was just your average day for Dragon.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Hmm... I wonder what parts of Norse mythos have been sealed in Fairy Queens Shard.

    P.S. Also what if Changeling is something FQ created from her Shadows inhabiting Ori's old body?
     
    Last edited:
    RexCaldoran said:
    Maybe to revive her? But because the her soul wasn't anywhere nearby something got wrong.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I think Fragile One would be all over becoming a "sister" to her host so they could be there as well, though all this theory crafting needs to take into account that Lustrums section of BC having trouble would cause issues to Changeling so it could even be Canary since FQ's precogs might not be able to account for Taylor possibly derailing the kangoroo court.
     
    Thurisaz 3.11 (Victoria)
  • Threadmarks
    • I would like to thank my beta team. You girls are amazing and I appreciate all the help you give.

    Thurisaz 3.11 (Victoria)​

    Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

    "And this is the Boardwalk," I said as I gestured towards the city's primary tourist trap.

    Thrud stood with a raised eyebrow and her arms at her side. Clad in a green tank top with a logo of the Brockton Bay ferry and a pair of faded jeans with a few ripped holes in them. I had to admit, she looked pretty good in the tank top instead of a long sleeve since it showed the contours of her muscles. While not anywhere as subtle as my girlfriends, they reinforced her overall presence that made her stick out from the everyday person.

    My girlfriend did too— not that she would admit it— but she blended in a bit better probably due to being born and raised here. It almost felt like they had an aura of their own and it was constantly on.

    Or maybe that was me.

    "I have to say," Thrud said slowly, "I wasn't expecting any of this."

    She walked over to the bench next to me, taking a seat and looking out into the bay.

    "I know," I said, sitting next to her.

    "There's too many people," Thrud deadpanned.

    I chuckled, "We better not take you on a trip to New York then. There's even more people crammed into a smaller area."

    Thrud stared at me, her striking blue eyes blinking slowly. "You're joking."

    I shook my head, a small grin growing on my lips.

    "Fuck," She cursed.

    Leaning back, I let the hood down for a brief moment. There was something calming about the wind brushing against my hair that I couldn't help but feel the need to fly up into the air, just to bask in it. The hood couldn't remain off for long, but it was enjoyable for the time being.

    "You should let the hood down more often," Thrud remarked, causing me to look at her. "The new hair looks good."

    The corner of my lips twitched upwards. Tay and Aunt Jess have been the only ones to compliment it so far. It was such a knee jerk reaction with little thought involved. Aunt Jess said I should change my hair as both a means for a disguise but also as a way to start my new life. I was the one who decided on the style itself, inspired in part by one of the Valkyrie statues I had seen when Tay learned to fly. There wasn't anything wrong with long hair, but sometimes it just didn't fit. With my newfound life after death, it was time for a change.

    I liked it a lot.

    "Thanks, but sadly I can't. There's…issues if the general public found out that I was still alive."

    "But why?" Thrud pushed. "Why does it matter?"

    I took a deep breath as I was about to explain. "As we had briefly explained back in Asgard, our world has what's known as capes. People with powers. The governments of the world have enacted certain rules and regulations on capes. There's gangs and villains who would do terrible things to get a cape who's a Tinker, imagine a blacksmith that has certain specializations. They would go to any lengths for someone like Tay, and I guess myself now, who can bring the dead back to life, well, let's just say it could turn the city into a warzone."

    "Except you're not coming back to life," Thrud said with a frown. "Your body is still here, you are just a physical manifestation of your soul. It's like…" She trailed off, putting the palms of her hands together. "When you're alive, the soul and body are one. After death and your soul being carried away, that act split the two." He separated her hands, letting one dangle lower. "Then in the Nine Realms where souls are not just some invisible concept but are physical and true, you obtain autonomy. The body and soul are separated permanently at that point."

    I blinked my eyes a few times.

    "What? I'm not some dumb redhead."

    "Never said you were," I reaffirmed. Sounded like there was a story there. I could relate given how often I've been called a dumb blonde by random people who just looked at the surface of my life.

    She stared at me for a few seconds before she relaxed, "Sorry."

    "Don't be, I get it. You know there's a thing in this world where blondes are dumb?"

    "Seriously?"

    I nodded, humming along.

    "Humans are weird," She said as an observation.

    "I don't think it's just humans," I replied with a cheeky grin and quickly added, "Not that there's anything wrong with weird."

    "You know what," Thrud said, looking out into the bay, "I agree with that."

    I pulled my hood back up, even if I didn't want to. The hoodie itself was comfortable but hiding myself was aggravating. Hopefully it wouldn't be required for much longer. Tay and I were going to discuss contacting my family once she was back from school. As relieving as it would be to see them again while not hiding behind a suit, I was still filled with a shit ton of anxiety.

    Taking a deep breath and clicking my tongue, I set that thought aside for now and focused on what Thrud said. I was a soul now, as crazy as that was. I might be a Valkyrie, feeling more whole and needing all the usual amenities as everyone else, but I was still just a soul.

    "You okay?" Thrud asked, turning her head so I could see one of her vibrant blue eyes.

    I shrugged my shoulders. "I never believed that souls existed and well…" I gestured to my body.

    Thrud nodded in understanding, "Yeah, I can see that. It's like how I never knew about all of this 'technology'." The way she air quoted and the smirk on lips, I couldn't help but chuckle.

    "Fair." I contemplated my next words before speaking again. "How have you been holding up with your new lot in life?"

    Thrud leaned back, rubbing her face a little. "Not sure, honestly. It's so different but I want to help."

    "What changed your mind?"

    Thrud fell silent and I instantly regretted asking the question.

    "You don't have to answer," I added quickly.

    She nodded slowly, but didn't say anything.

    Fuck, I really should've realized it might be something a little closer to home. I knew that she wasn't close with her parents from the few conversations we've had. So it shouldn't be a surprise that it might be because of them.

    Any words I had to console her were brushed aside as my pocket vibrated. I pulled out my phone and nearly groaned out loud when I saw who it was from. My disposition changed when I read it.

    Annoying Blonde: Hookwolf sighted. Heard from 'boss' and wanted to relay it to you. Won't be able to help due to other obligations. Happy hunting.

    Below that was an address. I knew of the place. It was a run down office building in downtown, center of Empire territory. It wasn't far from the hospital where Amy usually worked, Brockton General.

    The message caused reality to come at me like a bull and I was wearing red. The papers I had given to Lisa had yielded little information about Hookwolf but did have a report of a sickness spreading through the Empire. It wasn't the first time I'd heard of that and I wondered how it was all linked.

    But it was also that night that I confided in my girlfriend to hunt him down. After that, I still hadn't decided but all I knew was that I wanted to go after him. He killed me and I wanted justice, and revenge. Now, it was handed to me on a silver platter like a roasted wolf's head at a blóts.

    Did I still want to go after him? The scary part was that I did. He had a Kill Order and was an active problem in the city. The Empire in general was a menace that was only growing as time went on. Could I face him again after knowing what happened last time?

    I held up my hand, a brief thought to will my forcefield. Golden light encased my hand like a protective glove. It was stronger than before. That realization happened during the trafficking bust. It was fully under my control given the fact that it was only surrounding my hand and not my whole body like before. If I fought him, I knew it wouldn't be the same.

    I needed to take him down. He needed to be taken off the streets one way or another.

    "Hey, Thrud?"

    "Hmm?" She hummed, glancing from the corner of her eyes, one eyebrow raising.

    "Want to hunt a wolf with me?"

    She blinked her eyes a few times in confusion.

    "Like an actual wolf? Because I don't think there's a lot of—"

    "No, more like the one that killed me."

    With that, realization dawned on her and a determined look washed over her face. She didn't respond verbally, at least not at first. Instead, the small hairs on her arms and near her hair line started to raise. Her muscles tightened, flexing in an alluring display of strength, and a single arc of lightning dashed across her skin. A few more, little whitish-blue bolts danced along her arms and down to her flexing fingers.

    "Damn right I want to," She nodded, a menacing look combined with determination.

    A smile grew on my lips at the support. I typed a quick reply to Lisa and then one to my girlfriend. She was at school, but I doubt she'd mind leaving to help with this. She hated the place anyway.

    "Let's head back to the warehouse, I need my armor."

    ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ - ᚦ​

    I carried Thrud as I flew through the sky. My back itched at the thought of just using my power to fly and I longed to let my wings be free. It was like a gnat buzzing around your head. It was noticeable but didn't actually do anything other than annoy.

    Glancing down at Thrud, I couldn't help but reminisce the last time I carried someone like this. It was with my girlfriend on our date to the museum.

    Fuck, that felt so long ago. Now she could fly on her own, and it wasn't like I'd been around my family to carry my sister wherever she might need to go.

    "Never thought I'd be carried like this," Thrud said, her voice piercing the wind.

    "Oh really?" I replied cheekily.

    "I usually just use my lightning to jump really far."

    "Like the blimp."

    "Yeah, that!"

    I rolled my eyes, not that she could see them. Luckily, she didn't know what being carried bridal style meant, and it was just an odd way to be carried to her.

    Getting to the building Lisa had sent didn't take long. Hopefully it was correct information and not some diversion on her part. This could very well be the moment that she'd stab us in the back and prove me right.

    I landed on the rooftop of a building on the opposite side of the street of where Hookwolf supposedly was. In the distance I could just make out Brockton General. It was a sad kind of irony that the murder blender of the Empire was hiding just a few blocks away from one of the biggest hospitals in the city. In this part of the city, most buildings were occupied, but this one seemed to be the outlier.

    "So where is this 'wolf'," Thrud said, dusting off her clothes. She was wearing a plain domino mask along with one of her tunics from Asgard. She looked every part in alignment with Tay and their shared roots. The tunic was predominantly navy blue with a stripe down the center in that same runic or etching style the Vikings had in a light brown color. With the lack of sleeves, I was starting to get the impression that she hated them.

    We hadn't discussed as a team what to do about Thrud and her identity, but I wasn't going to stop her from helping.

    That reminder made me look at my phone. Pulling it from the side pocket of the armor, I glanced at it. Still no response from my girlfriend. A part of me was getting a little worried that she hadn't responded but I knew she wouldn't make a promise and not keep it.

    No, if she couldn't come, we'd make do. I'd just find out why later.

    I turned on the scanner of my helmet. It took a moment but the people within my view appeared on the screen. There were a few pedestrians on the street, walking by and going about their business. Inside the building however, was an odd sight.

    I expected to see multiple figures to appear on the visor, but there was only one on the top floor. They were pacing back and forth with a fervor that would shake the foundations of the building beneath them if they tried hard enough. They had a hand up to their head. A cell phone?

    If Lisa's info was correct, that was Hookwolf. The only way to prove that was to get closer and use my enhanced hearing being a Valkyrie brought with it.

    I glanced over at Thrud, "That's the building where my killer is located."

    Thrud looked at the building, a calculating look in her eyes.

    "Okay. Is Taylor coming?"

    I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know, she hasn't responded."

    Thrud nodded again, "Guess we're on our own."

    "We got this," I said enthusiastically even though my gut was buzzing like it was filled with jumping beans. I hadn't thought I'd want to ever face Hookwolf again, but ever since Lisa had suggested it, it had weighed heavily on my mind. Not that I'd ever tell her that. Her ego would grow to the size of Mount Everest.

    Thrud took a deep breath and said, "Let's go."

    I held my hands out to hold her but instead, she smirked. Lightning danced across her skin and like the first time she displayed her powers to me, it traversed through her body as she took a few steps back. With a few running steps, she launched herself off the roof, crossing the span of the street and landing on the roof. She skidded on the rough gravel surface, rotating her arms to slow her speed like putting a car into reverse after hitting the acceleration to sixty miles per hour. I wouldn't recommend that for anyone lacking a Brute package to survive any resulting wreck. Yes, I was speaking from experience, and Tay could never learn of that. Thrud stopped before reaching the other end of the roof and held up a thumbs up.

    Shaking my head at her in amusement, my body glowed as I floated above the street and landed on the other side easily. Thrud rolled her eyes and I couldn't help but chuckle. Then reality came crashing down and I swallowed the lump in my throat. Back to business.

    Looking down, the person below was still on the top floor and fully consumed in their conversation. I lowered my body and leaned my head against the roof, hoping I could block out the sounds of the city.

    At first, all I could hear was the wind whistling past me, but as the seconds passed, I heard a voice.

    "I don't give a shit, Kaiser." I'd remember that voice from anywhere. It haunted my nightmares. Hookwolf. "This isn't the first time people wanted me dead. You said it yourself, our people are getting sick. It has to be the bitch. Who else? I'd be fine against her." There was a pause. "It won't matter. They already want me dead, let me take the fall. Word has it, she's taking a break in the brick building down the street. I'll be quick."

    She's taking a break? Add on the fact of it being the same person who was making them sick meant one thing. Amy.

    My eyes went wide when realization dawned on me for several reasons. Not only was he going to go after my sister but that meant Amy was using her powers for something other than healing.

    Ignoring the implications, I focused on the task at hand.

    "I'm going to crash through the roof," I told Thrud. I should be more careful about property damage, but the man was going to go after Amy now. At this point, it was getting personal. Just another member of New Wave being hunted by the Empire and I wasn't having it. Hookwolf signed his death warrent.

    Thrud furrowed her eyebrows and nodded. "Sounds good."

    She took a step back while I flew up high to get the momentum needed to break the roof.

    I kept my eyes on him via the scanner and aimed. Taking a deep breath, pushed my flight to its limit and dove with my fists held in front of me and I closed my eyes instinctively. The moment I hit the roof, things blurred. The wood, cement, and whatever materials used for a roof crumbled under impact. My shield popped briefly before reappearing a second later.

    The moment my shield came back, I opened my eyes and searched everywhere for the red outline of Hookwolf. He had gotten out of the way and was already shifting into his metallic wolf blender. By the time I landed, I had turned the dial up.

    The sound of cackling followed, Thrud jumping down from above. She had a stoic look on her face with her axes held out menacingly. The axe-blades glinted off of my power's light.

    It was the first time I got a good look at them. The craftsman ship was exquisite and whoever made it had put a lot of care into it. Sigils and runes were etched into the side, following the curve of the blade. The words told a story of pain and loneliness. Wishing for a story to be made in their honor.

    My reverence was pushed aside as the scraping sound of metal on cement took my attention.

    "Well, the tranny bitch is finally coming after me? Where is he, hiding behind his projections? I'd love a round two." His wolf head talked in a guttural and animalistic way. His eyes landed on me, "Antares. Heard a bit about you. I think we'd love to have a Tinker. Offer stands."

    How I wanted to bark out a laugh at that. He had no idea what had come for him.

    "Go fuck yourself," I replied.

    Hookwolf cackled, "Guess we'd take you by force then."

    The implications only made me angrier. My Aura was bubbling at the surface. The pressure increased every second but waited for my command. I would never let them do that, even if I wasn't a Tinker.

    Hookwolf looked at Thrud. "Who the fuck are you?"

    "Thrud," She replied before I had a chance to stop her. Guess she won't be having an identity.

    "Ah. Named after Thor's daughter. Strong name. Should've joined the Empire where the real warriors are."

    "All I see is a fucking coward."

    I held a laugh that wanted to burst from my lips at Thrud's response. That was not what I was expecting and it made it all the more ironic.

    Hookwolf growled, "Fuck you, bitch."

    "Sorry, not my type. I prefer a woman with character and honor."

    I nearly did a double take. Thrud was gay?

    Oh, who am I kidding. Who in the Norse pantheon was straight anyway?

    "Then you can join the rest of the dykes."

    He didn't have a chance to strike. I fired the moment he reared back. The cannon kicked back as a bolt of magical energy was released crossing the distance before he had a chance to react. The energy burst, shearing metal from his form, and sent him crashing through a concrete pillar. Dust clouded the air, but his silhouette was ever present to my scanner.

    He shook himself off, his metal body sloshing with each pass. Hooks and blades scraping the ground with a screech. He leapt to the side and I bit back a curse, the bastard was running!.

    "Thrud! Stop him!' I pointed in the direction he was going as I whirled up the cannon again.

    She didn't hesitate. Lightning coursed through her and for a moment I thought she disappeared. There was a streak of blue light and a crackle of thunder as she ran. Thrud appeared by the doorway leading to the stairs, sliding across the unfinished cement floor with a three point stance. Someone had been practicing that.

    Hookwolf skidded across the ground, completely unprepared for someone to beat him to his escape.

    The moment he stopped, I pulled the trigger again.

    He was hit from the side, flying across the empty space and smashed into another pillar. Hookwolf was slower to get up this time.

    "You aren't playing nice, are you?"

    "No." Fuck no I'm not playing nice. You killed me.

    "Fine then. You can end up like Glory Girl."

    Anger flared within me. Pressure boiled on the surface, my Aura straining beneath the surface and I didn't hold it back. I blasted him with it, a golden arc sailed at increasing speeds. He tried to dodge, but there was no way he was escaping it. He stumbled as it washed over him like a physical force. It was hard to tell what his face showed since it was in wolf form, but it was the shock and awe factor that I wanted.

    Thrud didn't let the opening go to waste. She streaked across the room, lept off the wall, her axes swinging with her momentum, and slammed into his side with the deafening crash of steel on steel.

    Hookwolf howled, the blades having struck deep into his body.

    Thrud's body was electrified, her power surging into her arms and axes. It was the first time I'd seen her fight. She moved with both grace, speed, and utter brute strength as if she was lightning itself.

    Hookwolf's howl was stopped by a sonic boom from the blast from Thrud's attack. Half the room exploded with the concussive shockwave of a half ton blender crashing through a wall and yet another pillar. He landed in a heap, the side of his body scorched black from the lightning.

    I flew over to stand next to Thrud, my cannon trained on him if he tried anything.

    "He's yours," She said quietly.

    I knew what she meant and it left me conflicted. He killed me. Since that day, nothing had ever been the same. Tay hadn't been the same and was in danger of slowly becoming like her mom. He was why Tay and I almost broke up, probably should have, but couldn't because we were too codependent on one another. My death led to her discovering her heritage and her mom's true identity. It also led to a revelation that would forever change how we viewed parahumans and Scion.

    It changed me as well. My powers were different, my view on life itself had changed. I didn't believe in an afterlife before, but now I knew there was one, and I was part of the cycle of life and death. Forever I would remember the moment I died, the pain I endured and the emotions I felt as it all slipped away. It scarred me in a way that mortal men wouldn't understand, but I grew from it.

    Life was precious and Hookwolf squandered both his own and those around him. The Empire as a whole was culprit to their views on life because of their precious fucking religion and lust for power.

    I cranked the dial up. Half way. More than when I had first tested the cannon. The coils turned purple.

    Hookwolf slowly rose. Barbs and blades twisting along, bits falling to the ground as he shook, the sound worse than nails on chalkboard. His wolf head looked up at us, pure malice and hate was flashed across those eyes. He turned to face us, but his head turned from side to side, looking for something. I just knew he was looking to escape a fight he knew he couldn't win.

    I wasn't going to let him. I fired again, a reverberating blast of purple launched across the floor, rippling the ground as it passed. His eyes went wide and he threw himself off to the side, the energy ripping through his tail and through the wall, showering the road below with debris and razor sharp metal.

    I kicked off the ground, golden aura enveloping me even as I stowed the rifle, and shot towards the retreating coward. Thrud could have easily intercepted Hookwolf, but as she said, he was mine.

    I caught him around the torso and slammed him into the wall, his blades scraping across my forcefield, but this time, there was no give. Just as his mind caught up with what had hit him, my aura pulsed, stunning the bastard further. I wasn't about to give him another chance to hurt me or anyone else.

    I pushed my flight, not trusting the structure to hold up for much longer, and flew out into the open air. Sunlight reached my eyes through the visor, the helmet adjusting the tint automatically to prevent blindness. That was an ability I never gained from my parents, so it was one of the few things I liked about the helmet. The sounds of car horns blaring and screams were distant as I slammed Hookwolf into the asphalt.

    I lifted him with one arm and slammed him down into the ground again. Repeating the process and scattering bits of metal with each impact, he was quickly turned into deadweight even as I broke through into the sewer and drove him into the muck. I admit, it was a sick pleasure that made me do that, but he did kill me.

    Also, very thankful for the helmet now.

    When I pulled him out of the sludge, he burst into motion, knocking me off my feet and barrelled me into the sewer wall, popping my forcefield as he did. There was a crunch, barely audible over the screeching metal, and a warning flashed on my HUD that my jet panels were wrecked. Relief flooded me as the golden glow of my forcefield returned, pushing the blades away.

    But all of it brought clarity as Hookwolf hovered over me and my field popped again, his blades pressing down once more. I froze. Memories cascaded over me, the pain and fear I endured the last time I was in this same position playing back as if I was there again, because I was. Metal slicing and peeling my flesh from bone, my forcefield returning, only to pop over and over again.

    Then he was flung away, voluminous red hair arcing with blue energy filling my vision snapped me out of the PTSD loop. I blinked as she never looked away from Hookwolf, but offered me her hand all the same.

    "You okay?"

    I didn't trust my voice and nodded, not that she could see it. Taking her hand, she hoisted me up with ease. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath to center myself, then I willed my wings to burst forth, ripping off the damaged plates as they did. For the first time since we came back to Bet, they were released from their metaphorical prison. It was… freeing to say the least. Like I'd been holding myself back for too long.

    Maybe I had.

    Hookwolf stood again on shaky legs, looking decidedly smaller than he had when the fight began. Hookwolf leapt at me again, but I rose, my wings combined with my flight carried me up through the sewer skylight quicker than I had ever moved. He impacted the wall next to Thrud, who gave him a solid punch in the side. He splashed back into the muck, and stayed down. His body expanded and compressed, breathing slowly but raggedly as electricity arced across his battered form.

    As cathartic as taking my time might have been, I knew I needed to end it.

    End him.

    I floated above him, my wings beating slowly, the sun shining down behind me, illuminating his battered form beneath me, my shadow over him like an omen of death. He leapt up screaming incoherently, I raised a hand and let my aura loose. As if in slow motion, his body was met by the golden wave. What I didn't expect was him slamming back into the sewer muck with enough force that debris shot out of the crater almost as high as I was.

    Did my aura do that? Another change?

    I shook my head. I needed to focus on the fight. Power testing could come later.

    My fists clenched, and I dropped straight down on him with a hammer blow that drove him further into what I was determined to turn into his grave. My forcefield was wrapped around my fists like war gauntlets as I brought them down again, and again.

    He had stopped moving after the second hit, but something told me he wasn't dead yet. A gurgling wheeze came from deep within the crushed metal. Still breathing. Not dead.

    Yet.

    The anger was something I felt all too well. An anger I felt on Tay's behalf. The need to stand up for her like any girlfriend should. I was reckless, a bursting need to prove my worth to her. This moment wasn't any better, but I wasn't alone and was better equipped. Stronger than before, quicker than before, even with this cumbersome armor. As cool as it could be, I felt like I was hiding in it, especially with the helmet. It did have its uses, but I would prefer something more like Tay's armor, with an open face.

    Landing next him, I watched as his metal skin started to recede, revealing the real Hookwolf. Bradley Meadows. He was battered, beaten and abused. Bruises, cuts, and scraps were littered across his body as if it was used for Bonesaw's art project. The man's breath was ragged and laborious. It took every ounce of his strength to inhale and it was wheezing and wet on the way out, almost rattling.

    He was on death's door, and I just knew it. I didn't know how, I didn't know why, but I knew. It was like the few times I'd been around people who were about to die at the hospital when I was visiting my sister. There was this aura, this presence that you couldn't quite describe, but you could tell they weren't around for this world for long. Except this time, it was clearer to me. It was like I could feel his very essence fading from his body.

    I needed to do something about this. A sensation within me was telling me that I should care—no not care. Not in the way that would first come to mind.

    I was an idiot.

    I was a Valkyrie and his soul was reaching out to me. This was the first time I'd ever been near someone who was dying ever since I became a Valkyrie. Was this what Tay felt when I was dying? It explained so fucking much. It was as if I could take his soul, his essence, to a better place. If I were to guess, that would open the way to Asgard.

    I knew what my job should be, but he would never get that chance. I knew he longed for Valhalla. It wasn't a secret that Hookwolf was an ardent follower of the idea even if he wasn't a pagan.

    A sick pleasure bubbled within me at what I was going to do.

    I knelt beside him, my hands reaching to my helmet. I clicked on the clasps and twisted. His eyes never wavered as the lights dimmed inside the head coffin. The blasted thing came off, the smell was almost overwhelming, but I stared down at him with a stoic expression, watching his eyes.

    My forcefield faded away, so he could see me clearly. He looked confused at first, unsure what he was seeing but as the seconds passed, recognition slowly filled them.

    "Remember me, fucker?"

    He didn't respond. Not verbally anyway. It was more of a raspy and bloody mess that turned into him coughing up said blood.

    "That's right, I'm the one you killed." I leaned down closer, his arms twitched, but lacked the strength to do anything. "And now it's you on your deathbed."

    He let out a cough of blood that landed on my cheek, but I didn't care.

    "Guess what, Brad. I'm not taking you to Valhalla."

    His eyes went wider.

    "That's right, it exists. Thrud? That's the real Thrud. Thor's daughter. Taylor's mother, Freyja, passed the title of Queen of the Valkyrie to her."

    A small blade of metal lashed out from his reaching hand, scraping across my eyebrow even as I caught it. Blood dripped, but I didn't care. I was going to make sure he realized the full depth of just how badly he fucked the dog by killing me.

    "Taylor ferried me to Asgard, her first Einherjar, then she anointed me as her Valkyrie. You were dead before this ever started. And now I stand as your judge, jury, and executioner."

    I leaned in close, looking the man in the eyes.

    "You are not worthy."

    This time, there was a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. The words seemed to have an added effect and it took me a moment to register that I said them in Old Norse. At that very moment, Bradley Meadows died, his soul fading into nothingness upon my rejection.

    I stood, putting my helmet back on, my eyes never wavering from his body as the HUD flickered back on. There wasn't a sense of peace or the weight of my death being lifted off my shoulders. It wasn't like I thought it would be, killing my killer. My first kill and I didn't really feel anything from it. Would it hit later once I had a chance to decompress from the adrenaline high?

    "He's dead," Thrud said, breaking me from my thoughts.

    It wasn't a question, but I answered her. "Yeah, he is."

    "Coward doesn't deserve Valhalla. He should be in the cold pits of Helheim."

    I shook my head. "No, he doesn't even get that. He fades into nothingness."

    I closed my eyes and leaned my head back. It only lasted a moment till I checked my phone. There was still no response from Tay and I feared something had happened. As much as I wanted to check up on her, she could take care of herself. At least that's what I was telling myself.

    There was someone else that I needed to check up on first.

    Hookwolf said he was going after my sister because she was the cause of a sickness. I needed to make sure that the phone call didn't prompt Kaiser to send reinforcements. No doubt he knew someone had attacked Hookwolf following my explosive entrance, and the battle hadn't been a subtle affair.

    "Come on. We need to go see the person he was going to go after," I said to Thrud when I opened my eyes.

    "Who?" She asked, completely unfazed by the dead body next to us.

    I was dimly aware of screeching tires and alarmed voices, but I ignored them. We could worry about the Kill Order claim later.

    "My sister."

    Thrud pursed her lips and nodded. She crossed her arms and waited for me to pick her up. With my wings and powers, taking off was easy. A breeze really. Like a mere thought and my wings responded. I wanted to bask in the sensation of flying with my wings, but I needed to focus on making sure Amy was safe.

    We flew over the building, my eyes lingered on the street where police and news vans were gathered around. The street had been cordoned off by yellow tape and barricades. Normally I'd stick around to handle all the after fight shit but I had to see my sister first. It wouldn't be the first time heroes had to chase or move after an event and this won't be the last time.

    Getting to the brick building that was mentioned didn't take long and finding an entrance wasn't hard. I set Thrud down next to the door, willing my wings to disappear which was a slight disappointment, I already missed them. I pulled the handles and found it was locked, or it was until I ripped the door open without thinking, something I hadn't done since before I… The building was without power, the helmet went right to work of its own accord, switching to a low light mode and outlining things in real time.

    We crept through the building slowly, my head swiveling to and fro as I tried to pick up any sign of Ames. Not seeing anything around or above, I glanced down and paused, there was a blip of a figure appearing below us, standing over something. There was a basement.

    "She's in the basement," I relayed to Thrud.

    "Okay," Thrud said quietly. "Reinforcements?"

    I shook my head. "No, but I want to make sure she's safe."

    Thrud nodded.

    Finding the way down also didn't take long and eventually we came upon dim fluorescent lights that flickered at random intervals, all strung together with extension cords. The basement was runned down. Rusted and decayed clutter was scattered around the place, the people never bothering to trash any of the furnishings on the way out.

    We came upon a closed door, clearly used due to the lack of dust. It was also where my sister was since her outline was on the other side. My hand touched the handle and there was cursing from the other side that made me stop.

    "Fuck! Why. Won't. You. Work! Get up!"

    What was she screaming at? What won't get up?

    "Come on! Everything else is fine. So why won't you wake up!"

    Wake up? No more waiting. I turned the knob. The door flung open and my eyes leveled at my sister.

    She was hunched over a table or bed on the other side of what looked like a laboratory or morgue. It was cold enough for it. A figure was laying next to her, a white sheet over their body. Various chunks of meat, both fresh and rotten, and blood covered the other tables and gurneys. It looked like a fucked up butcher horror movie with the mounds cut meat stacked haphazardly. I knew there was a darker side to Amy's power but this was a level above that. She'd never done anything like this and I feared for whoever was on the table.

    "Amy?" My voice didn't sound like my own as I tried not to think about how my sister was the cause of… this.

    Amy's head snapped in my direction.

    "Who— fuck!" She cursed, pushing herself off the table. The sheet next to her fidgeted slightly. She reached over to the mound of meat, her bloody hand submerging itself into the mass.

    "Don't come any closer!" She warned, the meat already warping under her control, darkening and morphing into something.

    Whatever she was about to do was halted as slow clapping came from the dark corner of the room. Slowly, the figure appeared and a sense of dread filled me.

    "Well now, this is a pleasant surprise." It was a voice that haunted my nightmares.

    The person stepped into the flickering light. It was a familiar form that I'd remember, the first one. A purely androgynous figure and face to match the condescending voice. The exceedingly familiar fucking tiara on top of their head glinted in the light though their clothes were reminiscent of their background.

    "I wonder what would've happened if I didn't come out of the shadows.".

    "Loki," I snarled.

    "Hello, Antares, I didn't expect to see you again! And here, I was just taking a stroll, seeing—"

    "How are you here?"

    They blinked their eyes, "Well, I've known about Bet for some time now! Freyr wasn't that subtle about this little project of his. I even knew before Freyja came crashing into it."

    Their black locks lightened into dark brown curly hair that cascaded down their face that started rounding out, no longer as angular as before. The skinny body filled out and became more curvy, chest expanding as breasts were made. Their clothes changed as well, becoming a simple red dress that hugged their figure.

    Loki knew. They've known about Earth Bet long before Freyja and that was a feat all on its own. No wonder they knew Tay's last name.

    But as crazy as that was, it was hearing their voice again that ceased all other thoughts. All I could feel, all I could remember was their voice. The reminder of how it felt being under their control.

    My body glowed and shimmered, my aura bursting the seams of my control.

    "I have to say, I'm rather curious about you being here. I never would've thought mommy dearest would want her little owl to leave the roost but apparently Freyja relented. It was rather interesting stumbling upon you getting to kill your killer. Fascinating work, by the way, denying the man the one thing he dreamed of most. Rather ruthless, I'd say."

    "Fuck you, Loki," I said through gritted teeth.

    "And with Thor's runt," They continued without a care that I wanted to blast them to bits. Would a maxed charge on the cannon do that? Could I kill a god?

    "So you're Loki," Thrud said, stepping to the side. There was anger in her voice. She was pissed.

    "That I am," Loki nodded with a flourish of their hands and doing a curtsy. "Once a beloved friend of both your father and Freyja. Makes me wonder how you're here too! Your father hates Freyja right now, justifiably so, I might add. Kind of hard not to be when she—"

    "Mom?" Amy said, her voice cracking in disbelief and just loud enough to break the conversation. One of her bloody covered hands was covering her mouth.

    Loki's face grew softer, their looks changing once again as a fond look encompassed them. Becoming more masculine, hair shortening and their breasts disappearing "Hello, Duckling. I told you I'd be back."

    What.

    "B-but," Amy stuttered, her hand going to her side leaving behind a bloody mess on her face. I winced at the image. "It's been…"

    "I know," Loki said with a wavering smile. "I didn't plan on being gone for so long, but things don't always go as we plan. I also didn't expect your father to be caught, but that is neither here nor there. As I promised, I'm back, Amelia."

    Amelia. Amy's real name. The last time I'd heard it was when she was adopted. She quickly took on the name Amy and that's who she was to me. Was that a name Mom gave her? She never mentioned if it bothered her, but I now wondered if she had the same issue that I did with Vicky.

    Amy looked conflicted. An array of emotions crossed her face, some I'd never seen before. She looked at Loki with longing and want in her eyes. Love even. Did she remember her parents? She clearly remembered Loki and their promise to return. Why did she never tell me? I told her everything and… and…

    I ripped my helmet off, ignoring the warning signs that flashed across the screen.

    "Amy," I said, hoping to stop her from doing something she'd regret. We can hide this, we can fix whatever she was doing here.

    Amy's eyes darted over to me. Like everyone else, there was a moment of confusion before they realized who I was.

    "Vicky?"

    I winced at the nickname, "Yeah, it's me."

    "B-but h-how?"

    "I can explain," I said hastily, ignoring the amused smile on Loki's face. "But first… did you know that your… Mom?" As much as I hated them, I wasn't going to be a dick about their preferred term.

    Loki seemed to read my mind, asshole, and nodded.

    Amy's throat bobbed as she swallowed. "Yeah, I did."

    My voice croaked."Why didn't you tell me?"

    My sister was quiet for several seconds, conflict in her eyes. Eventually something snapped and she scoffed.

    "Sure, let me just tell you that one of my parents is a god. I'm sure that would go over well. I'm not fucking stupid. Do you really think I would out myself to the family that brought me in? Carol treated me like shit. All I ever did was try to live up to her perfect fucking standard and it was never enough!"

    My jaw dropped. I knew she could be snarky and a bitch sometimes, but I'd never seen this sort of vitriol from her. It was…

    One glance at Loki and the puzzle pieces started to click into place.

    She really was their daughter and she'd known about the god thing.

    "Even now, Loki proves to be a better parent than Freyja." I muttered.

    Loki snorted, then clapped their hands, "Well, as lovely as this family reunion has been—"

    "Fuck off, Loki," I cursed them.

    A smirk played on their lips as they turned their head to Amy. "My duckling, ignore the Valkyrie, why don't you check on your pet project. I think it might be working."

    Amy blinked her eyes a few times before her head snapped to the table. She yanked the white drape off, revealing a naked body. My eyes went wide as I viewed my naked body. Once again, everything connected together in an instant. Amy was the one who took my real body. That meant she created the fake one.

    Shit.

    I didn't have time to contemplate that any further as my body rose.

    "Mruh?" The other me groused. Rubbing Her head in pain.

    There were… differences to say the least. The body was pristine in the fact that there were no blemishes or wounds. Not even a sign of any scarring from my death, but there was something odd. Like Thrud and Taylor, there was something ethereal about it. Otherworldly. There were lines of white running up and down her sides that almost seemed to brighten as she breathed in. Dark patches of skin around the shoulders, elbows, and knees stood out on the pale skin. Her gnarly and spindly hands were whole but darker, nearly black. Almost like hardened carbon. The extremely pale blonde hair— I'd almost say white— cascaded down her naked form, barely covering her breasts. She rotated her shoulders before opening her eyes. Those were not my eyes.

    They were pupilless, a pure sea of blue. They showed no ounce of humanity. She just wasn't. She was my dead body reanimated and none of this should've been possible.

    She was an abomination.

    "You're alive!" Amy said, reverence in her voice.

    "Good job, Duckling. You've brought Vicky to life," Loki said, their eyes glinting with menace at me.

    "What the fuck?! Amy what did you do?!"

    Amy cowered at my voice, her head turning to face me. "I-I—"

    "I think you did marvelous, Amelia," Loki pride in their voice. "Truly wonderful. Don't let this bird get you down."

    Amy looked between me and Loki, conflict in her eyes once again. She looked back at… the fake me. The abomination blinked her eyes in confusion before they landed on Amy.

    "Amy?"

    It was eerie hearing my own voice. It wasn't from a voice recording or anything. It was my body producing that sound. I didn't like it coming from there.

    "Hey, Vicky, remember me?"

    "I—" The fake me stopped. "I remember you but… I don't remember anything else…"

    "That's alright," Loki said, consolingly. "We can work on that later." Their hands started to wave about and green runes sprang forth around them. They were casting a spell.

    "Stop Loki!"

    Thrud didn't hesitate as she dashed across the room. My wings came out of their own accord and in conjunction with my flight power, I was in the air a second later, missing a glob of green magic that disintegrated the door behind me.

    "Amelia, we must go. We aren't welcome here and it will only be a matter of time before the rest of the bird brigade comes after us," Loki said, appearing next to Amy and…the zombie me. It disgusted me to even think that. They started wavering their hands again, this spell having a familiar feel to it.

    "But—" Amy tried to protest but looked at Vicky and then Loki. "Okay."

    "Amy, no!" I yelled, trying to stop her from making a horrible decision but my words fell on deaf ears as Loki held their hand out to Amy. My sister slowly put her hand into theirs and a wide smile grew on Loki's lips. Their eyes traveled up before landing on me, that fondness disappearing and turning into that shit eating smug look.

    The other me, Vicky, stumbled forward before collapsing on her knees next to Amy. I was about to use my aura to stop the spell but I was too late.

    In a puff of green and purple smoke, all three of them winked out of existence.

    "Fuck!" I threw my arms up, tearing through the ceiling. The fluorescent lights above me tumbled down onto the ground, the glass spreading out like a tub of legos being knocked over. "Fucking hell, Amy!"

    I stewed as I let the events replay in my head. Amy had been experimenting. She took my body and was trying to bring me back to life. It was sick and twisted, the horror show around me was enough evidence of that. The revelation that she was Loki's daughter was just…

    No one knew who her mother was. Fuck, I didn't even know who her father was. Did I miss something? Was I just a bad sister that she wouldn't confide in me about her mom?

    She didn't even think about her choice to leave with Loki. That alone was a deep cut of betrayal. She'd rather listen to Loki, a person she hadn't seen in a decade at least, than me, her sister.

    I closed my eyes and willed myself to sink to the ground. My armored boots crunched under the shattered glass of the light, a sound that only barely registered to my ears as my thoughts tumbled.

    "You okay?" Thrud asked.

    I opened my eyes and looked at her. She had a worried look on her face, even as her hair was tousled just slightly from the exertion but otherwise still looked amazing. There was a look in her eyes, that same calculating looking that belayed far greater intelligence than most would believe.

    "No, I'm not. My sister was trying to raise me from the dead and ran off with that fucking asshole."

    "Sounded like a bitch too."

    The response took me off guard and I couldn't help but snort at it. She wasn't wrong.

    I didn't have a chance to add more detail to the chaotic mess that were my emotions. Something pulled me to the Northwest. Almost like an opening in the very world itself. It had a similar feeling as…

    Oh no.

    "I need to go."

    "What?"

    "Something happened to Tay. I need to follow her."

    "Follow? Are you—"

    "No time to explain!" I pulled out my phone and dialed Zoe's number. Once she picked up, I started talking. "Pick up Thrud at the red brick building by Brockton General."

    "What? Ori, what's going on?"

    "No time to explain, I have to go help Tay."

    "I—" The sound of a phone vibrating against her hand reached the microphone. "Shit. I have a— Okay, go, Ori."

    "Thanks," I said as I hung up. I looked over at Thrud and said, "Stay here, Zoe's on her way. I'll be back with Tay."

    I closed my eyes and tilted my head back. Focusing on the pull, It was slowly closing, but that didn't stop me. I grasped it with my metaphorical fingers just as it closed and let it pull me along.
    This is probably one of my favorite chapters I've written so far. One that's been planned for a while. A lot happens.
    As a small note, one thing to know about Norse mythology, vikings, and medieval Norse, is that being called a coward is the worse offense possible. It's like saying a knight is honorless or an oathbreaker.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • Well fuck, that was a twist I didn't expect. I feel like there was some mind-control involved in getting Amy to follow Loki and they keep being an unejoyable part of this story, I would have been more fine with just exploring how far Amy would go without external "encouragements."
     
    Caiuz said:
    Well fuck, that was a twist I didn't expect. I feel like there was some mind-control involved in getting Amy to follow Loki and they keep being an unejoyable part of this story, I would have been more fine with just exploring how far Amy would go without external "encouragements."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Oh, there's no external encouragement outside a parent encouraging their child. This was all Amy.
     
    Sylnarri said:
    A lot happens.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    No, really? :D

    Caluz said:
    I feel like there was some mind-control involved in getting Amy to follow Loki
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Oh? Huh. It seemed quite plausible to me. Like, to the extent that Ori's surprise and betrayal at it IIRC read to me as a sign of her own bias and lack of information.

    Sylnarri said:
    Oh, there's no external encouragement outside a parent encouraging their child. This was all Amy.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Right. I mean, from the sound of it, the worst thing Loki's done to Amelia is be absent for so long, leaving Amelia to the Dallons -- but Loki told her that they'd not planned on either of those. So I expect Amelia will probably want an explanation for that, but in context is willing to wait for one until they're somewhere safer. I mean, what are her options here? Either she goes with her beloved mother, who's just kept their promise to return even if they're a bit late at it and immediately upon doing so given Amelia affection and approval even when seeing what she's just been doing... ooor reject her mother and stay here to deal with the fact she's just gotten caught by heroes attempting biotinker necromancy, which at best will probably just return her to her miserable status quo and is probably going to go much worse than that. Sure, one of the heroes appears to be her sister someone else revived first... but she's presumably aware of Antares by now. And now knowing that Anatares is a Vicky, she knows that that Vicky didn't come for her. Until possibly right now, but also right now Antares really did not seem too pleased with Amelia or her mother.

    So, really, why wouldn't Amelia go with Loki?
     
    Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top