Taylor Dannan

[Darkphoenixlady]

Chapter 10

Charlotte grabs a spear with a hard leather cowl instead of the blade, along with a padded leather butt, and carries it to a chalked off ring where Marianne is waiting with her own spear. Her new face mask no longer feels uncomfortable on her head after doing this twice a week for the last several weeks.


She glances over at where her father is running through some drills with Sévon with a smile as she remember him telling them about how his coworkers had commented on his fitness looking better.


"Ready?"


Charlotte turns back to Marianne, "Yep."


"Winner takes on Taylor?"


Charlotte shrugs, "Sure. Points are only awarded for a clean hit where we don't get hit at the same time?"


Marianne nods, "Well remembered. The whole point of HEMA and re-enactment is that points are supposed to show you would have survived your fight, not just killed your opponent."


Charlotte takes a guard position as Marianne does the same. When Taylor says, "Begin" Charlotte immediately steps to her left and brings her spear around to parry a jab and open Marianne up as she follows up with a swift step forward. Marianne notices the trap almost immediately and tries to bring her spear back so she can parry.


Charlotte just allows it as she spins her spear to guide Mariannes spear over her head and brings the blade of the spear down onto Marianne's leg.


"Point Charlotte. Marianne, you'd have never tried that stab against me. Charlotte, your structure was off with both your parries. If Marianne wasn't showing off by going for the quick win, she might have broken through. Two points to play for. Begin."


It takes a couple of exchanges, but Charlotte loses this bout.


"Well done, Marianne. There's still two points to play for."


Charlotte manages to scrape one more point when she clipped Marianne around the head with the butt of her spear accidentally as she was more focused on not getting hit. But ultimately, Marianne got two more points before she did.


As she's watching Taylor and Marianne, one of the middle-aged guys walks over, "You're very good with the spear for someone with only seven weeks experience. Have you used a quarterstaff before?"


Charlotte looks at the guy curiously, and he says, "Oh, my bad. I'm Algernon, and yes my parents were hippies."


Charlotte smiles, "Charlotte. And no, I've just been home-schooling with Taylor for, reasons. Morgana thinks that this is better P.E. than running around with balls."


Algernon nods, "That would explain it. It's why I like it here. I used to drive down to Portland because they had a few other staff enthusiasts. But since Morgana started, she teaches spear like it's an extension on staff fighting. Rather than purely a weapon for jabs and reach."


Charlotte nods along, "I just like how I'm getting fitter, and I can see my progress better."


Marianne shouts over, "Charlotte, you're so lucky that you're getting private lessons. I'd love to have those."


Algernon laughs, "Mari, you've just described half the people here. I don't think they've managed to find a weapon she's not an expert in."


Taylor snorts, "I have. Nerf guns."


Charlotte looks surprised, "Really?"


"Yep, if you're close enough it doesn't matter. But apparently they fly wrong, so she's never been able to really get the range right. Same as badminton, something about the way the shuttlecock moves causes her conniptions."


"Conniptions?"


"Problems, tantrums, that sort of thing."


Algernon shakes his head, "I know your birth mom was an English professor. But do you really have to show everyone that you and your mom have read every one of her books, and expanded the library."


Charlotte looks at Algernon, "She was?"


"She was my professor when I was in college for my senior year of undergrad. She'd only been a professor a couple of years then. It's a shame, as she was one of the best professors I had. Easy on the eyes too."


Taylor shakes her head with a laugh, "I did not want to know that."


Marianne says, "Seriously though. Without going through something awful, how does a girl like me get personal training from your mom?"


Taylor shrugs, "Turn up after school and ask maybe? I don't know."


"I'll do that."

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Early Monday morning, Amy drags herself out of her cell, sorry observation room, after her third night of being woken up every thirty minutes to answer questions. As she does, Armsmaster is there with his eponymous tablet. Probably significantly upgraded compared to the ones in the gift shop.


Amy shakes her head as she realises that Armsmaster had been talking.


"Sorry, I spaced out there."


Armsmaster nods, "That is one of around 20 common phenomena. I was saying that you're free to go. We have not seen any sign that you may be mastered. Even after the deviation from your previous baseline necessitated the extended test. Your mother was kept fully informed of the tests you'd be undergoing, in addition to the three personal visits she made. In addition, we have confirmed a high likelihood that you are currently immune to most human masters. I recommend you do not take this for granted. Would you share where you got this immunity?"


"No!" Amy snaps. In a more conciliatory tone she says, "Not right now. I value…"


Amy trails off as she catches herself about to say 'patient confidentiality'. After nearly a minute, where Armsmaster waits patiently for her to collect her thoughts, she says, "I think I shouldn't talk about this until I've had some good quality sleep."


Armsmaster nods, "Understood. We usually give PRT and Protectorate personnel a day of medical leave after an extended screening. I have here a summary of your results, a breakfast voucher for the PRT canteen, and a three-session counselling voucher for the PRT counsellor if you need it, or just want to talk about what you went through. Though you will need to wait until we're next scheduled to have one rotated in, as this department cannot afford a full-time counsellor."


Amy nods numbly. When her sleep-deprived brain catches up, she asks, "Why didn't I get the counselling vow-ter before?"


"The basic screening looks for deviations taken from your baseline. Plus a number of proprietary tells that are common to many Masters. Anyone that fails those tests, plus a 13.4873% of other subjects, are subject to the extended screening."


"Huh?"


One of the PRT officers touches her bare arm, "Miss Dallon, I recommend you take advantage of the breakfast voucher and the unlimited coffee. Armsmaster will just keep answering your questions until your mother arrives otherwise."


Armsmaster nods, "Apologies, I often forget that other people don't respond to such conversations the same way I do."


Amy nods as she's led to the cafeteria.


An hour later, and full of caffeine fuelled wakefulness, Amy is only moderately grumpy when her mother turns up with her phone and school clothes.


"Mom, what's all this?"


Carol looks at Amy like she's an idiot, "Today's Monday, you have to go to school."


Amy gapes at Carol, "I've just got out of M/S, I need sleep."


Carol shakes her head, "You look like you're back to normal. Besides, you're sitting some ACT's this year aren't you?"


"Mom, I need sleep."


"If you have the energy to argue with me, you have the energy to go to school."


Recognising the argument as one she's lost many times in the past, Amy sullenly takes the fresh clothes and uses a sink in the restrooms to refresh herself and get changed.


On the way to school, and as a way to try and avoid falling asleep in the car, Amy checks her messages on PHO. When she sees Taylors response to her message, she sends back –


Thank you for letting me know. Sorry it took so long to get back to you, just got out of M/S. You mentioned three other healers. Do you think you could introduce me, as I'd like to ask them about some stuff.

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As Charlotte and Taylor are about to head to the library, Taylor checks the charge on her new phone and says, "Huh?"


Charlotte looks over, "What's up?"


"Oh, apparently this phone came with a PHO app installed, and it has notifications activated by default. I got a private message from Panacea this morning."


"Anything good?"


"She'd like to meet some healers I've heard of."


"Anyone I've heard of?"


Taylor hums, "Hmm, tell you what. Why don't we make it todays topic. See what we can find out about Airmed, Micah, and Brigid at the Library. Then come back here to do the same. And use it as a comparison between general and specialist libraries."


Charlotte hangs her head, "This sounds like a long afternoon. I wanted to have another go at the test."


Taylor checks her phone again, "It's now twelve, why don't we set an alarm for quarter hour past two. That will give us about two hours there if we're lucky with the buses."


"What about Panacea?"


"I'm going to message back that I don't know them personally. But through a friend."

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As her last class for the morning ends, Amy is just glad that she gets to leave early for work release. As she's dragging herself to the cafeteria, her phone pings to say she's got a PM.


Putting it back in her pocket, she resolves to look at it once she's got more caffeine in her. A few minutes later she has a black tea, a cup of coffee, and an energy drink can in front of her. She was only allowed all three because she once removed a cyst from the lunch lady at the checkout. After chugging the energy drink, Amy checks her message.


After she's read it, she thinks about it as she eats her sandwich.


As Vicky flies over to her table, Amy turns the phone over.


"Hey Ames, how did things go?"


"Fine."


"No, really. How did things go? Are you cleared?"


"Yes I'm cleared, and I'm trying to eat."


"Hey, I'm just concerned. You're my sister, and I love you."


Amy looks up at Vicky, "Vicky, I basically got zero sleep over the weekend, and my blood is more caffeine than hemoglobulin at the moment. I am not in the mood."


"Oh come on Ames. We've all been through M/S before, and it's not that bad. Mom said that the main difference is that they ask you a few questions over night."


Amy stares daggers at Vicky and considers giving her the worst case of thrush she can. "Vicky…" Amy looks down at her lunch, and grabs the covered cup of coffee, "No, you know what. I don't have the energy for this. I'm going!"


Grabbing her cup of coffee and her stuff, she makes a bee line for the exit by the staff table, before heading to the last class of her day.


Once she gets there, she sends a quick message back to the girl before getting a nap.


Understood. If you could put in a good word for me I'd appreciate it. Would you mind if we met up, as I'd like to talk to you about what you did to me.


Mrs Mendoza wakes her up as she's coming into the classroom, "Are you ok Amy?"


Amy sighs, "I'm…" Exhausted, frustrated, angry, sad, dead, "fine."


"If you want to talk about anything, the counsellor's office is always open."


"I'd love to, but I can't talk about cape stuff. And…"


"I understand, you need to be here for registration and hand in your homework. After that I can send you to the nurse and I'll email you the work you need to cover for next lesson."


Amy smiles gratefully at her History teacher, "Thank you."


"Amy. I mean this with the greatest respect. But please don't backslide. You've been doing so well over the last few weeks. I know that balancing life as a healer and keeping up with school is difficult, don't let whatever happened last week derail that."


Amy's smile becomes a little strained, "Thank you for telling me that. I dearly hope this was a one off."


As the other students start filing in, Mrs Mendoza goes to her desk and Amy checks her phone.


When she sees she's got a PM she quickly checks it with one hand as she takes a swig of cold coffee with the other.


Sure, when?


Putting her coffee down, Amy uses both thumbs to write her reply as quickly as possible before the start of class.


This afternoon?


A reply comes back in fairly quickly.


We're at the Library until about 2, otherwise another day.


Amy smiles and replies


I can do that. Cya there.


"Amy Dallon."


Amy jumps as her desk partner says, "She's here miss!"


Looking at the guy she mouths, "Thanks."


As the roll call continues, Amy finishes her cold coffee and forces herself not to fall back asleep. Something she has far too much practice at.


"Ok everyone, please put your homework on the desk. Miss Dallon, go and see the nurse. Tell her I found you passed out in the classroom."


Amy nods and grabs her half-completed homework from her bag.

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Taylor's making notes from the internet while Charlotte's raiding the reference section of the stacks for any mention of the Celtic culture and their religion.


So far there have been fairly poor results, with only the major stories even mentioned in some cases. A lot of modern wicca and new age spirituality from Aleph, and one book that even mentions Ogham.


Charlotte comes back from the stacks with two books in her arms, one a massive volume that she can barely carry. The other, a very familiar looking book. The books make a thump as she puts them on the desk behind the computer.


"Here!"


Taylor tilts her head to read the upside down spine, "Encyclopaedia Brittanica?"


Charlotte nods, "Large print edition. I just happened to spot it in a different section of the library as I was coming back. This volume has Airmed as a reference, and even mentions your mom."


A girl with freckles that seemed to be wandering around aimlessly says, "Did you say Airmed?"


Taylor looks up as Charlotte says, "I did, why?"


The girl looks at Taylor with an open mouth for a moment before she says, "It's you. Sorry, I've been looking for you for ages, and you weren't answering PHO."


Taylor pulls her phone out and winces when she spots the four PM notifications, "Sorry, I was doing some research. What should we call you?"


"I, um, I'm Amy Dallon out of costume."


Charlotte supresses a squee, and manages to squeak, "I get to meet a real life superhero. Hi, I'm Charlotte."


Taylor smiles, "You already know me, I'm Taylor." Her smile drops as she looks at her face, "Are you ok?"


Amy stifles a yawn, "I will be."


Taylor glances at the clock on the PC to see it's nearly two in the afternoon, "We're almost done here. Would you like to come back to mine and crash on our couch for a few hours?"


"I, shouldn't I need to get to the hospital later."


Charlotte reaches out to catch Amy as she sways on her feet, "You need to get some sleep, even I can see that. Taylor, do you have enough cash for a taxi?"


Taylor nods, "I do."


"No, I just need a cup of coffee."


"Well, I'm going home. If you want to talk about January, that's where I'll be."


Amy nods slowly, "I want to talk about it."


"Do you need to message anyone before we leave?"


Amy starts to sink towards a chair until Charlottes hand comes in contact with her bare skin, "I'll text my sister so she doesn't Worry. I'm awake, I'm awake. Right text Vicky."


Charlotte helps Amy into a chair and quickly takes the books on the table over the reclamation cart while Taylor tidies up their notes and puts them into a backpack. Amy shakes her head and sends a text to Vicky to let her know she was visiting a friend.


As the three of them are getting into a taxi outside the library, Amy puts her hand on Taylors hand and gasps. Once the door is closed she whispers, "What happened to your tattoos?"


Taylor rolls her eyes, "I'll explain when we get to my place."

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As Taylor half carries Amy up the steps to the front door, while Charlotte goes ahead with her key, she frowns as she spots Morgana's car in the driveway. As they walk into the hallway Morgana stands up and says, "Who's your new friend?"


Taylor leads Amy into the lounge where the TV is currently paused with a small red bar growing across the bottom of the screen. "This is Amy, aka Panacea. She wanted to talk to me about what I did to her in January. She also wanted me to introduce her to Airmed, Brigid, and Micah."


Morgana nods, "Well, Brigid's dead."


Amy brightens up, "You know them? I need to ask them a few questions."


"Do you now? What would you ask them?"


"How do they do it? Balance healing and having a life I mean."


"Why do you want to know?"


Taylor lowers Amy into the couch, and Amy's hand brushes her own as she stands up again, "Because there's always more people – What happened to your tattoos?"


Morgana hums as she looks at Amy consideringly. Then she says, "Taylor, I'm going to take Amy to see Airmed."


Taylor looks at her mom, "Mom, are you sure? And what are you doing home so early anyway. I thought you had two classes Monday afternoons."


Morgana chuckles, "I'm sure. And would you believe I was buying the latest books when some thugs decided to rob the store? The Dean said he'd cover my afternoon classes when I phoned after the PRT showed up."


"What did you do? Don't answer that, I'll ask later."


Morgana nods, "I think Charlotte will pass today, or get seriously hurt trying."


Taylor looks over to the kitchen where Charlottes already taken a glass down to the basement, "I'm going to wait under the bridge if I'm allowed to."


"Good, I like her."


Amy rubs her eyes, "What are you talking about?"


Morgana smiles down at Amy and holds out a raven pendant carved from granite, "If you'd like me to take you to meet Airmed you'll need to put this on."


Amy looks at the pendant suspiciously, "What's it do?"


"You can think of it like a tracking beacon. I can find it no matter where it is. And as long as you're wearing it, I can find you too."


"Huh?"


Taylor chuckles, "I gave one to Charlotte, and it hasn't hurt her."


From the kitchen Charlotte says, "Gave me one what?"


"Pendant."


Charlotte flicks the stone around her neck, "Cool isn't it."


Amy nods and fumbles the pendant around her neck. After taking it off and putting back on the sharp side out, she says, "Anything else?"


Morgana lets her glamour drop as mist fills the house, "Take my hand."


After a moment, Amy reaches up to take Morgana's hand. As they vanish into the mist, Taylor and Charlotte hear her say, "What are…"

 

[Sanza26]

Early Monday morning, Amy drags herself out of her cell, sorry observation room, after her third night of being woken up every thirty minutes to answer questions.

Click to shrink...

PRT, are you sure this is M/S screening and not an genuine moral torture/subject preparation to brainwashing?!?

NOTE: I, personally, after that "regimen" will be an "out for blood" rage zombie...

 

[Dr. Thunder]

PRT, are you sure this is M/S screening and not an genuine moral torture/subject preparation to brainwashing?!?

NOTE: I, personally, after that "regimen" will be an "out for blood" rage zombie...

Click to shrink...

It can be both, given Masters.

Also looking forward to Amy meeting a couple of gods (is Taylor a god?) and throwing that into the Dallon Family Torment Nexus
good gods Carol let Amy sleep after a week in M/S ffs

 

[Kittle]

Carol trying for an award from the Genma Saotome School of Parenting again, I see.

 

[Misstra]

I want to do bad things to Carol Dallon.

 

[Rajvik_wolfboy]

have been there, is no fun
fSking SERE

 

[Just A Dude]

have been there, is no fun
fSking SERE

Click to shrink...

Yep, everyone thinks it's all cool stuff like eating bugs, sneaking around the woods, and learning how to use the stuff in a survival kit properly. Nobody remembers the "R" stands for "Resist."

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

Chapter 11

Once she arrives at the start of the trial, Charlotte checks her equipment and the tea towel she borrowed from the kitchen. Bitter experience tells her that she's going to need water and energy before she ever reaches the end of the trial.


She then slips the carabiners and a small 75 foot coil of rope from the bottom of the package and coils the rope into something she can sling over her shoulder. All four of the carabiners get attached to her belt. Finally, she removes a detachable walking spike and fits it over the bottom of her spear along with a rubber bung to ensure it remains useful before she gets to the scree.


Then she sets off on her climb. When the spear keeps better traction on the hard stone of the initial climb, Charlotte says to herself, "Three weeks allowance well spent. Thank you for teaching me how to research properly."


As she keeps walking, Charlotte imagines that she hears Taylor say, "You're welcome."


All too soon, the 'easy' part of the climb passes, and the gruelling part sets in. Over the last several weeks, Charlotte has learned to pace herself so that she doesn't waste her energy.


When she gets to the top of the cliff, she crouches down in the lea of the cliff and takes a few moments to rest and have something to eat and drink where she's not in danger of downdrafts or crosswinds. She also works the rubber bung off the spike on her staff, as it probably won't be as useful as the spike from here on out. As an after thought, she uses her spear to cut 10 feet of rope, and ties one end to the spear, while the other end is tied onto one of her carabiners.


Experimentally, she pokes at the scree on the nearby side of the ridge path. When a couple of prods sees the whole side of the ridge seem to fall away like particularly lumpy water, she nods. Not weight bearing, but it may be useful as an anchor if there's a particularly strong cross wind while she's walking.


Finally, she pulls out her final purchase, and the one that cost the most. An antique storm lantern with three hours of oil in the reservoir and built in sparker.


After eating a final couple of nuts, she stands up and braces herself for the wind. As she makes her way from the cleared ridge, she makes sure that she always has two points of contact with the ground as her progress grinds to a crawl compared to her pace up the side of the cliff. As the sun dips below the horizon and the clouds rush in, Charlotte takes a moment to light her lantern while her hands aren't too numb to work the controls.


Compared to a modern torch, the light is positively anaemic. But she tried using a torch last week, and something failed well before she got to her furthest point. While her progress is slow, it is steady, and she's not caught off guard as the wind picks up from gale force gusts, to full-on storm force winds. In what feels like no time, the rain hits and the tiny yellow glint of light on the ground is the only light she has available between lightning strikes.


Briefly, she considers turning back. But she knows that it's a fools choice, as the storm will be there every time she comes. Her only hope of reaching the castle, and the place she was healed, is to soldier on fast enough that she can reach the keep before her energy runs out.

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Amy feels like she's been trudging through this opaque fog for hours, following the tight grip on her hand. She's tried shouting, talking, singing, and even gave screaming a go until her throat started to feel hoarse. But she couldn't see or hear anything.


Suddenly she appears in a meadow with all manner of wildflowers and wild animals dotted around with no rhyme or reason for their placement. As she sinks to the blissfully soft grass, two things become apparent to her. The first is that there are two giant women arguing only a few paces from her. The second is that she can't feel the grass.


Leaning down to look at the grass more closely, her eyes droop closed for a moment.


When she opens them again, she's lying on a bed looking at a weird ceiling. A moment later a young woman lifts her up and holds a wooden bowl to her lips as she says something in a musical language.


From the other side of the building, a woman with tattoos says, "She said, drink this, it will help resettle your mind after not sleeping for a few days."


Amy opens her mouth to reply and gets a mouthful of something that tastes like, grass? As she's forced to swallow or choke due to the position of the bowl, she swallows and raises her hand to push the bowl away.


The young woman says something else, and tattoo says, "You need to drink two more mouthfuls like that. I'm afraid I don't know the English for the herbs and grasses she used in it… She said that everything involved was edible and would have no ill effects."


The young woman takes a moment to point at herself as she says, "Ah-veg." and a couple of other words.


Amy takes the opportunity to look over at the giant of a woman that was Taylors mother? She shakes her head to clear it and asks, "Where am I!?"


Her sentence cuts off with a strangled mewl as the bowl is tipped into her mouth as she's speaking.


Taylors mom says, "She's just told you her name. In English you'd probably pronounce it Airmed. You're in her domain in the Otherside."


Amy swallows hard and then coughs a couple of times. Once she's recovered, she says, "What, like Al…" as she tries and fails to fend off the bowl.


Amy manages to get out "Will you stop that!" before she has to swallow the last mouthful of stuff.


As Ah-veg puts the bowl down, she says something rapidly in her language. Taylors mom interprets it as, "She apologises for the haste, but the cure works best when administered immediately after waking from a short sleep. It will help your body rid itself of the. I don't know what those are, let alone how to say them in English."


When Ah-veg responds, Amy's eyes start to wander around the hut, cottage, room, she's not sure how to categorise the building. It's a large single room with a workbench on one side that has a variety of herbs drying over it, along with shelves of earthenware jar and a some well cared for tools. She idly wonders why she isn't freaking out more, and settles on the fact that she's seen the woman's actions, Ah-veg's actions several times in the hospital with nurses feeding oral medication to young children that can't have injections yet. Combined with the fact she's still sleep deprived.


Eventually the two women stop talking and Amy draws her attention back to them and says, "Who are you? I can't just keep calling you Taylors mom."


Taylors mom stares at Ah-veg who starts giggling, "I'm sorry, I thought Taylor would have already told her my name. I'm Morgana."


Ah-veg interrupts with a quick flurry of words and Morgana sighs, "I am also, Badb, Matcha, Anu who used to be Danu, and The Great Queen Morrigan. Happy now?"


Amy takes a deep breath and lets it out before she says, "How the fuck did I get here, and where is here anyway."


Ah-veg says something and Morgana says, "No I'm not telling her that. No, I don't have any apples. I'm not willing to approach Mac Lir at the moment. Taylor's Scáthach's apprentice. I'll ask. Amy, Airmed has noticed that you're wearing my symbol. She would like to give you her own token, one that she's going to bless for you."


Amy pushes herself to her feet and starts pacing as her head is starting to clear a little. Maybe it was just the tiredness after all. "I just wanted to talk to Taylor about what she did to me, and the next thing I know, you're dragging me through fog thicker than anything I've ever seen before. And now I'm what? In a fairytale? Pull the other one, parahumans don't work that way."


Morgana takes a breath and calmly says, "Amy, I can understand why you're upset and irritated. But Taylor and I, we're not parahumans. Neither is Airmed."


"You still basically kidnapped me."


Morgana sighs as Airmed says something that seems suspiciously similar to 'I told you so'. "The blessing that Airmed wants to give you will allow you to understand any spoken language." She rolls her eyes as Airmed says something, "There are some subtleties that Airmed will explain if you accept it. She wants you to be aware of the fact that you will need to put a bit of blood on her token. And that she can use the token to find you anywhere in the world. And that you can use the token to talk to her at any time. Anything else you want me to add?"


Amy crosses her arms, "I want to go home."


Airmed starts laughing again, and Morgana sighs as she waves her hand and opens a portal. As she does, Amy fair jumps as she realises that she's barefoot and standing on moss, as its biology suddenly floods through her senses.


Morgana says, "I know you did. Fine. Amy if you walk… Amy, are you alright?"


Amy's shoulders relax, and she feels like she's just got her sense of touch back. With a smile she says, "I'm just fine. I didn't realise you used moss on your floor."


Airmed leans down beside the bed Amy woke up on and picks up her shoes and socks, she says something as she's walking towards the portal.


Morgana interprets it as, "These are yours. I'm taking them through to the house on the other side. Of the portal that is."


Amy nods absently as she scrunches her toes in the moss and closes her eyes. "I didn't realise how much I missed this. Why don't you have any tardigrades in the moss?"


Morgana and Airmed exchange a glance, then Airmed says something. Morgana says, "Airmed wants to know what a tardigrade is. I have to admit I have never come across them either."


Amy crouches down to pick up a bit of moss, and then pauses as she realises what she's about to do. Looking up she says, "Um, I could show you if we went to a forest?"


Airmed puts Amy's shoes and socks down and walks back through the portal. Then she holds a hand out and a clump of moss grows in her hand.


Amy doesn't hear whatever is said next as she stares at the moss with her head shaking as she crosses her arms across her chest. "I didn't do it, I didn't break the rules mom. It wasn't me I swear."


Amy's broken out of her breakdown as her sense of the moss vanishes. As she comes back to herself, she realises that Morgana has vanished along with the portal, and she's alone with Airmed, who is holding her gently.

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Charlotte, sodden, cold, and exhausted, breathes a heart felt sigh of relief when she bumps into a pillar that seems to have been carved out of the stone. It's all she can do to wrap the rope, that's connecting her spear to her belt, around the top of the post a couple of times.


As she does, she discovers that the post has at least one rope attached to it.


While she's nominally secure, Charlotte mutters, "Think Charlotte. Think, what do you need to do now?"


After an agonisingly long time, she says, "Food!"


Clumsy fingers reach into her tea towel bag and fishes out a bag of dried fruit, which is immediately snatched away with a gust of wind. Charlotte stares at her empty hand for a while before it occurs to her that they're too cold. After a few seconds, she puts her hands under her armpits and tries to put her back to the wind.


After some length of time, she manages to fumble a couple of handfuls of nuts from a plastic bag, and swig down some water from a drink bottle. Almost immediately she starts to feel a bit better about herself and her situation. A bit of investigation tells her that there are two pillars, and attached to something at floor level is a third rope. All three of which head out over darkness so deep that her meagre lantern light can't illuminate it.


She's also running low on oil, as the journey took her longer than she thought. Gritting her teeth, she stares at the ropes and tries to work out how to get across safely when she doesn't know how far she has to go. Eventually she stumbles on the idea of using her carabiners as a safety leash.


It takes her several tries, but as the rope is attached to her, she's able to put a couple of looped knots onto her carabiners, with a couple of yards of rope between each pair of carabiners. Though, one of the carabiners on her belt is doing double duty as a strap holder for her spear, which she slings over her shoulder and diagonally down her back.


After a dozen steps onto the rope, she curses her clumsiness and thanks her forethought as she slips off the rope, and the carabiners hold as intended. Even though her belt has been pulled roughly over her breasts and is now stuck under her arms. As a result, her spear has also slipped off her back, and is now dangling below her.


Eyes wide and now alert due to the adrenaline flowing through her system from fear. Charlotte desperately waggles her legs around to try and catch the rope her spear is dangling from. It takes her several tries, and the belt digging even harder into her underarms, but eventually she makes it. Slowly she inches the rope up her leg until she's able to get her fingers on it with one hand.


It's Charlottes painful underarms that decides her next action, as she carefully pokes the rope up through the front of her belt, forming a loop around one of her legs. Which she then pulls through carefully until she can feel the spear knocking against the back of her legs.


When the spear point touches the edge of her leg, she curses herself for tying the rope so high up the shaft. But next time she'll know better.


Charlotte smiles at the thought that there'll be a next time.


In an effort to pull the belt back down and take the pressure off her armpits before she gives in and lets her arms slide up. Charlotte yanks the side of the loop attached to the spear as hard as she can, and winces as the sharper edge of the rear of the leaf point scrapes against her arse. Then she brings her leg, without a rope looped around it, up in an almost yoga pose until she can hook the loop around her foot.


Taking a deep breath, she screams as she stands up on the loop of rope, and it feels like she's being cut in half from the crotch. But wonder of wonders, the belt does slacken off enough for her to feel the blood rushing back into her fingers.


As she's dangling there, it takes what she'll later call an embarrassingly long time to remember the rest of the 75 foot rope that's still around her shoulders. Somehow, she manages to hook a loop of that free rope over the sharp end of the spear, and over the boar stop. That then goes through her carabiners and under the spear on the other side before she hooks it through one of her carabiners a couple of times. Once she's sure it's as tight as she can make it, she gingerly raises her other hand to the two ropes that are connecting her to the bridge.


Eventually, with a lot of tugging, swearing, and finishing off her nuts. Charlotte has managed to turn her spear into a swing. One that isn't cutting into her from any angle. It's then that she realises that she did all that while the wind was throwing her this way and that.


With a fair bit of trepidation, she unclips her lantern, and holds it above her as she looks for the bottom rope to the bridge. What with the way that the wind's blowing her around, it takes her a few moments to catch sight of the rope, and it's just out of reach for her, what with her belt still over her boobs.


With no other ideas, she tries to start swinging along the length of the bridge, in the hope that she'll be able to swing high enough to catch the bottom rope with her hands or legs. She's almost ready to give it up and just undo her belt when she slams knees first into a rock wall.


Charlottes eyes widen as the rock wall looms in front of her again, and this time she desperately reaches out for some sort of handhold.


A handhold she finds, one that cuts into the palm of her hand as she grimly holds on while her other hand finds purchase too. Then she pulls herself closer to the wall, and finds purchase for her feet.


One hold after another, Charlotte drags herself up the wall heedless of some of the sharp rocks cutting through her ropes and belt as easily as they cut through her shoes when she places her feet wrong. She's mostly delirious when she crawls over the top of the cliff, and forward until she bumps into a wooden door.


She's also not aware as Taylor comes from the side of the keep and pulls her through the door to the keep.

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

After she's regained her wits, Amy watches as Airmed holds out a stone on a leather thong and dagger and mimes pricking her finger with the point, and dabbing it on the stone.


Angrily, Amy snatches the dagger and stabs her finger onto it, before stabbing her finger onto the stone. As she does she snarls, "There, are you happy now!? Fuck that hurt." Before sticking her finger in her mouth.


Airmed put the stone into her hand and says, "I am not happy, but at least we can now talk. Please let me heal your finger."


Amy somewhat reluctantly removes her finger from her mouth and watches as Airmed runs her hand across the wound. As the hand passes, the finger stops hurting, and when she can see it again there's not even a scar to show she stabbed herself.


Eventually, Amy asks, "If you can do this, why haven't I heard of you before."


Airmed sighs, "I will answer your question child. But first I need to tell you about the limitations of the blessing on that stone."


Amy shakes her head, "I'm not a child."


Airmed smiles, "Ah, is that what you heard. That is the first limitation, it grants you understanding. It doesn't interpret what I say. It also only works for living language."


"Living language?"


"Ah. Words spoken by people. You could not look at a wax tablet and understand what the Romans had written."


"What about TV or radio?"


Airmed shakes her head, "I don't know what those are."


"How can you not know what they are? Everyone knows what they are."


"Amy, I think your name is Amy is it not?"


Amy nods, "It is."


"Amy, I am very old. Not as old as my grandmother, but old enough that I remember the last time the Greeks traded with my people. Then they were taken over by the Roman Empire."


Amy shakes her head, "That's impossible."


"Whether you believe me or not, the truth remains the truth. The second thing about your pendant is that it is now bound to you." Airmed raises her hand as Amy opens her mouth to say something, "This means that while you live it cannot be destroyed. Neither can it be taken from you, or left carelessly behind. The final thing is that if you hold it and say my name, I can hear you and respond to you. You no longer need to offer the right prayers and a blood sacrifice to contact me."


"Oh. I was going to ask why you used pendant rather than stone this time."


Airmed chuckles, "I didn't. I used a phrase that means pendant. By the look on your face what I said didn't come through properly."


Amy nods, "You just said pendant again."


Airmed nods, "I'm sure I will learn your language soon. Maybe once I have, you'll learn my language. But until then, the last limitation on the blessing is that it only works for you. What you say isn't interpreted to the people who hear it."


"Oh, but why me?"


"Why not you? Are you not a healer that spends many hours a day healing on top of all of your duties to society?"


"She told you?"


Airmed nods again, "My grandmother may be many things. But scarce on important details she isn't."


"How do you do it then? How do you manage to balance healing and living?"


"Let me ask you a question in kind. How much time do you have to yourself, to dedicate to the things that interest you?"


Amy looks down at her hands and taps them together, "One, maybe two hours?"


"A day?"


Amy looks out the window, "A week."


"What is a week?"


"Uh, seven days. Didn't you know that?"


"We marked our time by the phases of the moon. So there were usually seven days between the four major phases. But just as the earth doesn't travel with an exact number of sunrises, the same is true for the moon around the earth. I studied some of the druids arts with Ecne, but I've always been happier with plants and healing."


Amy looks back out the window as she feels like she needs to justify herself, "Oh. It's not like I don't theoretically have more free time. But there's always an hour or so's homework from school. I then spend three or four hours healing at the hospital every week day. Oh, you probably don't know what weekends are either. There are two days every week that are technically not for working."


Airmed nods, "We always took a few days during the dark of the moon as general holy days. Other rest days depended on the person and if they followed a specific god or not. Druids made observations during the full moon, and so would find their rest at other times. While my own followers tended to have a couple of week long festivals when the first flowers bloomed, and when the last of the leaves fell. Now you were telling me about your free time."


Amy chews her lip for a moment as she considers telling her darkest secret. One that Carol doesn't even know, even though she keeps reminding her that biotinkers are bad, and why. Her mind keeps flashing back to Airmed creating the moss in her hand.


Eventually, she says, "I'm not just a healer, I-I can do what you did too."


"What I did?"


"I-I can make life. Not from nothing, I need living things to work with. But I can make new life from existing life. I've always wanted to experiment, and play. Until recently I had to hold myself back from experimenting on my patients. To change them, give them better eyesight. Kidneys that will never fail, that sort of thing. But if I did, where would I stop."


"Why can you not practice on flowers." Airmed forms a dandelion in her hands, "This was one of 360 healing plants that I created as I tried to heal my brother, after my father - curse his name – killed him four times out of jealousy."


"What? Why didn't I hear about that?"


Airmed laughs humourlessly, "I have already told you the answer. But you do not believe me. We also tried dancing around the well, but he refused to answer. None the less, this is something I made after years of study and experimentation. On its own it has some beneficial effects, but it can be mixed with other flowers and herbs that I made to cure a variety of diseases, including the lumps that bodies occasionally grow and eventually kill them. Specifically, the ones that can be felt around the bowels."


Amy reaches out to feel the dandelion, just to prove to herself that it's real. Only for her to feel nothing as she's forcefully reminded that her powers have been nullified here.


Airmed notices Amy stiffen, and asks, "What is the matter child?"


"I can't feel my powers."


Airmed places the dandelion in Amy's hand before waving her hand to create a portal in front of them. "This is where I used to spend most of my time in the mortal world. I see that it is still used as a settlement. Though how anyone can even think, let alone live with their homes so crowded together. Right ahead of us would have been the long house where we met for evening meals and meetings. Around the long house would be the other houses, with my own house being opposite the entrance to the long house. In the summers, we'd dig a large firepit and hold our meals and feasts outside. Are you feeling any better."


Amy nods distractedly, "I am thanks. This is just a normal dandelion."


"Indeed, and until I created it, it didn't exist. You can play with it if you wish."


Amy shakes her head, "I like my freedom thank you."


"Why would you risk your freedom?"


Amy starts to tell Airmed about Nilbog, and what happened to the town of Ellisburg. Then they move onto other biological manipulators that have both fallen foul of the law, and those that haven't.

 

[deathgeonous]

Being Amy is also suffering... Hope she gets and excepts help.

 

[Sean Drake]

Wow it sounds like Carol messed her up even more than canon, with the assistance of the PRT and the law.

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

Chapter 12

Amy jumps as the alarm on her phone starts to blare obnoxiously into the quiet conversation she's been having with Airmed.


As she pulls out her phone, Airmed looks at it curiously as she cancels the alarm and checks the time.


"Shit, I need to get to the hospital. My shift starts in 30 minutes."


Airmed closes the portal to Ireland, and shakes her head, "No you don't. You need to go somewhere you feel safe and sleep for at least 12 hours."


"But what about the emergency patients? Or the critically ill ones? The hospital relies on me to save their lives."


Airmed raises her hand, "I would not leave those in need without their healer. Instead, while you sleep, I shall heal in your stead. Though I will need your assistance in finding my way to the hospital."


As Airmed opens a portal to Taylor's house, Amy shakes her head, "It's not that simple. You'd need to be vetted by the hospital and the PRT first. To ensure that your healing won't cause more harm to some people."


Airmed walks through the portal and turns around to say, "We shall see. Are you coming, or will you be staying there until I return? Only, I do not believe you to be well versed in the skills needed to feed yourself there."


While she's saying that, Amy skips through the portal. Then she looks around properly. The first thing she notes is the VCR [Video Cassette Recorder] that's whirring away as the TV picture is frozen. The second is the amused look on Morgana's face.


Morgana says, "I see your talk was productive. Are you feeling any better?"


Amy pauses as she thinks about the question. Airmed has no such compunctions, "It was. And I think I do. I'm still not happy with you, but seeing what is ailing the world has helped put things into perspective."


Amy double takes, "Huh? I thought you were asking me."


Morgana smiles, "Why can't I have been asking both of you?"


Amy looks down, "Oh, right. It helped, but I need to get to the hospital for my shift."


Airmed shakes her head, "And I was saying that I would take over her shift."


"No! You'd just end up like Canary if you do. You need to go through the proper channels."


Morgana frowns at Amy, "What's that about Canary?"


"I-She was-I should…"


"Take a couple of deep breaths, breathe in, hold, breathe out. Breathe in, hold, breathe out. Now, what's this about Canary?"


Amy looks down at her hands again, "It was horrible. They've got her wearing a massive gag that's slightly too big for her mouth, and restraints so heavy she can barely lift her hands and feet. She thanked us for allowing her to sing. It's one of the things that her interviews said she loved before she was arrested last year. Opps, that wasn't public knowledge."


Dryly Morgana says, "Which part?"


"That she was arrested. Um, I heard one of the guards talking about it as they led me back to the 'observation room'."


Morgana nods thoughtfully, "Well, I don't think you need to worry about Airmed being arrested. In fact I'd rather enjoy seeing them try."


Airmed shakes her head in agreement, "We all learned out lesson from Brigid. No longer will we submit ourselves to mortal authorities. Even if they threaten our followers."


Amy shakes her head, "You're talking about things that would have made the international news. Why haven't I heard of it."


Morgana leans forward and puts her elbows on her knees, "Amy, you have stumbled into something that hasn't been seen in the world for over a thousand years. If I say St Patrick, does that make things clearer?"


"Did you all trigger on St Patricks day or something?"


Airmed frowns "Saint?"


Morgana says in Airmed's language, "A revered mortal that the Christians' elevated to religious significance. Usually long after they were dead and passed on."


Airmed barks a laugh, "No chance of spawning a god that might disagree with them then."


Amy shakes her head, "There's no such thing as gods. We'd have found evidence of them if there was."


Gently, Morgana says in English, "Amy, 32 years ago there was no such thing as superpowers. Just because something, probably the Christian Church, spent a lot of time tracking down every sign of magic and erasing it somehow. Doesn't mean it didn't exist. It just means that what traces are left are exceedingly difficult to find. Such as the fact that even in places where the Otherside is thin, only beings with at least a smidgen of magic can pass through into it. It's only when there's a full on break that anyone can enter the mist. At which point you end up with whole villages or parts of a city where the people just vanished overnight."


"But that doesn't prove anything."


Morgana nods, "It doesn't. The problem is that you can't use science to prove anything until you can observe it. Even if you have to build tools to do so. Come, I will drive you to the Hospital with Airmed. Then I'll drive you home."

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

Charlotte swims to wakefulness lying on a rough wooden surface. Off to one side she can hear Taylor saying something in that language she occasionally mutters in when she's working stuff out. As she tries to swallow, she realises that her mouth feels dry and icky, and that she's ravenous.


When Taylor stops speaking, Charlotte realises that she must have made a noise as she tried to deal with her mouth. "There's a water skin on the table behind you. You're lucky to be alive you know."


"H-Harg?" Charlotte tries to say something, but her throat is just so dry that she can't, so she struggles into a seated position and looks around.


"You lost a lot of blood when you cut yourself on the spear. And then on the rocks."


Charlotte finds the waterskin, and takes a mouthful of water and ends up sort of letting it dribble down the back of her throat until she can swallow. Once she can, she says, "What? I didn't cut myself on the spear."


Taylor nods gravely, "You did, but it was at an angle and the spear was holding it closed until you started climbing. If I'd been a minute longer getting up from the base of the canyon, you'd be dead. As my spell only reverses the effects of time on your body. It doesn't replace stuff that's no longer there."


Charlotte groans, "I know, I've had this lecture a dozen times already."


Taylor huffs, "This was only the fourth. Regardless, my master says that you've passed, as the task was to get to the keep, not into the keep."


Charlotte jumps off the table in joy, only to stumble as her vision goes fuzzy. As Taylor catches her she says, "Careful, you're going to be eating liver for a couple of days."


Charlotte makes a face, "Ugh, I hate liver."


Taylor chuckles, "Well, it's either that, or head to the hospital to get a blood transfusion. And then explaining why to your parents."


As Taylor started to lead her to one of the side doorways, Charlotte asks, "Where are we going?"


"To see what you first task is going to be. Scáthach's soul is just ahead of us."


The two of them make their way through tight corridors with small rooms off to either side. Each room has a narrow cot and a small chest inside, along with a variety of hooks wedged into the gaps in the stone work.


Eventually, they come to an uneven spiral staircase that leads up to the roof of the keep. There Taylor followed Charlotte up the stairs in case she felt faint again.


By the time they reach the top, the ever-present storm has abated, and the sky has lighted somewhat.


Taylor looks around the horizon bemusedly, "What are we looking for?"


She spins around as Charlotte calls softly, "Taylor!" Following her pointing arm, Taylor's mouth drops open as a pillar of sunlight falls on a grassy hill illuminating a massive apple tree.


Then she spins back and says, "What do you mean Charlottes first task is to get to the tree and take an apple. Do you know what they could do to her?"


Charlotte looks back at Taylor in concern, "Taylor, what's wrong?"


"What do I mean!? I mean those trees were used to help our people escape the Christians, but once you eat an apple you're stuck eating them forever unless you want to die."


Charlotte looks back at the tree worriedly, "Taylor?"


"What do you mean? Oh, you stole this tree from Mac Lir before Christianity existed? Curse? What curse?"


Charlotte puts her hand on Taylors shoulder, "Taylor, what are you talking about?"


Taylor takes a couple of deep breaths before saying, "We're going to talk about this later." Turning around she says, "Can you see that tree over there?"


Charlotte nods, "It's a bit hard to miss it."


"I'll want to double check with mom. But Scáthach says that it is one of the original trees that moms family used to give mortals magic. Yes, yes, I'm explaining, I'm explaining. There's a catch though."


Charlotte nods, "Obviously… Well, what is it? Undying loyalty? Addiction? Loss of intelligence?"


Taylor shakes her head, "None of those. The catch is it only gives you the barest spark of magic. One that you'll need to nurture and grow through hard work and dedication. If… What do you mean I need…"


Taylor hangs her head, "Charlotte, you know I'm in an apprenticeship?"


Charlotte nods, "Kinda, I'm not sure anyone's actually said it out loud though."


"I'm Scáthachs apprentice. She thinks I'll learn magic faster if I'm also teaching you as I go. I do want to check what type of apples those are with mom first. Not because I don't believe you, but because you may not have known everything about what you stole, and mom was around when they developed those apples."


Charlotte nods as though she understands what Taylor just said. Then she yawns, "Not to spoil the moment. But could we go home, I'm just really tired all of a sudden."


Taylor quickly moves back to support Charlotte, "Sure. It's the blood loss. I'll cook you some steak and liver when we get back to mine."

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

Amy gapes at Airmed as she gets out of Morganas car and immediately grows to around seven feet in height.


When she gently takes Amy's hand, Amy can't help blurting out, "What are you?"


Airmed chuckles, "I have already told you, I am a goddess."


"But your biology, it shouldn't – You should be dead, half your DNA seems to be missing… And what's confusing is that it's like someone's torn your DNA down the middle and just left it there. But which half keeps changing."


"I don't yet know what DNA is, and I'm sure it will be fascinating to find out. But those of our pantheon are tightly tied to the Otherside. As I am no longer hiding myself, you are probably feeling the mist inside me."


Amy reluctantly drags herself away from her study of Airmed and pulls her hand away to avoid temptation. "Come this way and I'll introduce you to the head nurse and the clinical director."


Morgana smiles in the car, "I'll just circle around and park over there. Once you're done introducing Airmed, I'll drive you home."


Amy grimaces as Airmed takes a hand written letter from Morgana, as she's absolutely certain it contains information she wasn't going to share with the hospital, like the fact she was sleep deprived. As Airmed places her hand on the middle of her back, Amy starts walking towards the main doors of the hospital.

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

Morgana watches as Amy and Airmed walk into the hospital with a half-smile. Hopefully this will give her step-granddaughter a new tie to the world. As so many of her family have chosen to separate themselves from their domains.


With a final shake of her head, she puts her car in drive and moves over to a parking space in the area she indicated. Then she pulls out her phone and starts looking up Canary using her skills as an archaeologist to follow the traces of evidence to a couple of mostly buried news articles in Boston. This is despite many sightings and rumours in the fan groups saying that she's around, just not very public. In fact, she had to find Canary's real name before she could find those articles from June last year.


She's got to the point where she's looking up the details of the correctional facility that Canary's being held in when Amy trudges out of the hospital with a smiling nurse carrying a book. As Amy reluctantly points at the car, Morgana puts down her phone and notebook with a smile.


The nurse makes a bee line for the drivers door while Amy stomps around to the passenger door and gets in.


Holding up the book, the Nurse says, "Dr Dannan, I love your work. I've been reading 'Women through the ages' and I love how accessible you've made the way we were treated in different cultures over the centuries."


Morgana smiles, "You're welcome. It's something I put together after years of travelling the world to learn about the different religions and cultures. Though my love and specialisation will always be with the Celtic people, especially Ireland."


"I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm in the middle of a coffee break. Would you sign my copy for me please?"


"Sure who to? And thank you for bringing Amy to the car."


"Nancy Farweather. And it was no problem. We all know that she'll do anything she can to avoid going home sometimes. Even when she's putting her own health at risk."


Morgana grabs her pen and squiggles her signature and a message. "Well, hopefully she'll be able to get some quality sleep and support. How's Airmed doing?"


"The doctors monitored her healing some ICU patients, and even an emergency in resus when she refused to let Panacea help. Honestly, if it wasn't for the language barrier I think they'd be all for letting her roam around like Panacea does. As it stands, they dug out some of the waivers they used when Panacea started, and also signed Amy off work on medical leave for two weeks."


Amy sounds sulky as she says, "I kept telling them that I'll be fine after a good night's sleep."


Morgana nods, "I'll be sure to let her mother know when I drop her off. I'll also let her know that I've given Amy open door permission to visit our house when she wants. And we'll make sure she gets home safely too."


Amy can't hide her surprise as she says, "You have?"


Morgana nods, "We have. You've got Airmed's number, so just give her a call whenever you're visiting and she'll let you in."


Amy opens her mouth to protest, before she remembers the stone. "Oh, right. That's who's number it was. Sure, I can do that."


Nancy nods, "Well, I need to get back to my coffee before I run out of time."


Amy waves as Nancy turns around. Then sags in her seat, "Do I have to go home?"


Morgana nods, "You do, and I will be having words with your mother about letting you go to school in the state you were earlier."


Amy stays silent as Morgana drives her home.

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

As they pull up outside her home, Amy says, "I can let myself in."


Morgana shakes her head and starts getting out the car. "It's not about if you can do it or not. It's about whether I should let you after the state you were in earlier."


"Why?"


"I am a professor at BBU, and while it might not seem like it sometimes. We are mandatory reporters. It's just that in this state, the first thing they'll ask me is, 'did you try to resolve this with the parents first?' I've heard of other professors complaining that in their state kids your age are told to suck it up until they turn 18."


Morgana turns and rings the doorbell, putting a halt to anything Amy was about to say. Nearly a minute later, the door opens and Carol is standing there.


The first thing out of Carol's mouth is, "Where do you think you've been?"


Morgana coughs, "Excuse me. I'm Dr Dannan. My daughter met Amy at the library and invited her round. Poor thing was so tired she fell asleep on the couch."


Carol plasters a smile on her face, "Thank you for bringing her home Dr."


"It really was no problem, she's a lovely young woman. My only issue is why did you take her to school after a weekend of sleep deprivation?"


"She was fine, it's not like she's not had late nights before."


"Did Amy tell you that, or did you just decide that? See, I'm a mandatory reporter at BBU. From what I understand, Amy told you she needed sleep and why. I was even able to find out what's involved in M/S screening while Amy was sleeping, as the documents were leaked online a few years ago. Were you aware of the fact that she would be woken up over night to be asked questions?"


Carol nods, "Yes, it's in the waiver I had to sign."


"And you think that being woken up every 30 minutes is the same as having a late night?"


Carol falls silent at this point, and Morgana continues relentlessly, "From what I overheard of Amy's conversation with my granddaughter, this isn't the first time that you've ignored her, or neglected her needs. My granddaughter has given Amy her number, and Amy has been signed off from working for two weeks according to Nurse Farweather. Hopefully, Amy will use my granddaughter's number and I will see her around more often. Equally hopefully, I won't see any more signs or neglect or any signs of Emotional Abuse."


Morgana holds up her phone to show it recording, "Just as a reminder of something I was taught when I started teaching. Maine is a one-party state. If I need to report this, then I'll be including this recording in my report."


Carol purses her lips and steps to one side, "Have you eaten Amy?"


Amy looks at Morgana with a level of awe before she darts inside, "No Carol, we lost track of time before my alarm went off."


Carol hesitates, then says, "Make yourself a snack, then off to bed with you. And I assume you've got a signed medical note. Leave it on the kitchen table."


As the door closes, Morgana hangs around for a few minutes in case there's any shouting. Inside, Amy makes herself a sandwich, for once without Carol interrogating her about the minutia of her day. As she's eating her sandwich, she fishes the medical waiver out of her pocket and reads it. Two weeks where the only work related thing she's allowed to do is School. There's an exception for emergencies, but it's a we'll call you type exception, not a anyone can call you. As she thinks about it, she starts to wonder if she can actually last the two weeks without using her power. As it's not like she uses it for anything but healing.


As she finishes her sandwich, she puts the note on the table and heads up to her room.


Grabbing a book, she lies back on her bed to continue reading, only to fall asleep before she's finished one paragraph.

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

Taylor looks up as Morgana pushes the front door open, "Food's staying warm in the oven when you're ready. Is everything ok?"


Morgana walks into the lounge where Taylor's watching some cape-based cartoon, "I hope you're recording my soaps."


Taylor chuckles as she points at the VCR.


Morgana nods as she sits down, "Thank you. And yes, everything's fine for the moment. I was taking Airmed to the hospital and Amy home. It took Amy longer than I expected to introduce Airmed. How about you? How did Charlotte get on?"


"I'm doing ok. Master wants me to start teaching Charlotte magic."


Morgana looks slightly confused, "How, Charlotte doesn't have any magic."


"Master stole an apple tree from Mac Lir and got cursed for the trouble."


"She did, did she?" Morgana fingers the notebook she was making notes about Canary in, "I'll have to test those to make sure they're safe."


Taylor looks relieved, "Thanks mom. I was going to ask you to give them a look first. Not because I don't trust Master, but because she might not even know that she picked up the problematic tree."


Morgana smiles at Taylor, "Don't worry, I'll check them out and make sure they're safe for consumption."

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

At around midnight in a maximum security prison near Boston, alarms start to blare as one of the guards reports that a prisoner is missing.

 

[Hexcalibur]

Since Wildbow made shards as the only source of power and how believing in magic is belittled in Worm even though most don't even know the source of parahuman powers, I love reading when there are actually different source of powers in the world and how the public has been conditioned by the PRT and similar agencies that anyone with powers are parahumans. And those beings proving that the PRT and Cauldron are wrong.

 

[Sean Drake]

So the PRT cannot start a manhunt for Canary without admiting they have been holding her for months and hiding it.

That's pretty funny and I'm sure is going to bite them hard hopefully.

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

So the PRT cannot start a manhunt for Canary without admiting they have been holding her for months and hiding it.

That's pretty funny and I'm sure is going to bite them hard hopefully.

Click to shrink...

They would point to the news articles as proof they weren't hiding anything. As she wasn't arrested by the PRT. The fact that the prosecution hadn't brought it to court until shortly after a simurgh attack is a different thing entirely. And something that would get everyone looked at sternly by the appeal courts. Along with the prejudicial way that they're treating her.

But yes, there's a whole lot of stuff that is likely to go wrong for the prosecutors when certain people find out just how she was treated.

Since Wildbow made shards as the only source of power and how believing in magic is belittled in Worm even though most don't even know the source of parahuman powers, I love reading when there are actually different source of powers in the world and how the public has been conditioned by the PRT and similar agencies that anyone with powers are parahumans. And those beings proving that the PRT and Cauldron are wrong.

Click to shrink...

Yep, it's always fun. As they try to categorise it based on 30 years of working out shit for parahumans, and end up with someone that just flags as too flexible for how powerful they seem. It's even worse in this case, as the shards literally can't monitor in the Otherside so they have to rely on predictive modelling base on what they can see. Which means that people like Airmed coming out of nowhere is going to screw with people like Coil something chronic until they manage to update their internal models.

 

[Dr. Thunder]

Taylor's going to become a new Scáthach for this modern age with Charlotte and possibly Amy as her apprentices.

Hopefully Momma Morgana leaves enough Nazis for the two of them to throw into the Bay

 

[ptbptb]

Carol purses her lips and steps to one side, "Have you eaten Amy?"

Click to shrink...

Amy remains uneaten, so you need a comma before her name.

 

[Daemion]

I wonder when Carol will go through the conversation in her mind and wonder how Dr. Dannan has a granddaughter old enough to be friends with Amy, especially when her only known daughter is Taylor, a 15 year old.

Carol just took those accusations without much of a complaint, which surprised me. I mean, it's exactly what a lawyer should do when being recorded... just shut up and get out of the conversation... but it's weird to see with Brandish, who is often shown as volatile and aggressive in fanfics.

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

Carol just took those accusations without much of a complaint, which surprised me. I mean, it's exactly what a lawyer should do when being recorded... just shut up and get out of the conversation... but it's weird to see with Brandish, who is often shown as volatile and aggressive in fanfics

Click to shrink...

She couldn't be a career attorney without knowing that stuff forward and backwards. The issue she had with the waiver is that she was skimming it for changes, rather than reading it to refresh her memory. Thus missed quite a lot of details that she probably wouldn't have. Not to say she wouldn't have signed, or said the same thing at the beginning of the day. But what she told Vicky would probably have been different.

 

[PossiblyEnos]

Morgana coughs, "Excuse me. I'm Dr Dannan. My daughter met Amy at the library and invited her round. Poor thing was so tired she fell asleep on the couch."


[...]

Carol falls silent at this point, and Morgana continues relentlessly, "From what I overheard of Amy's conversation with my granddaughter, this isn't the first time that you've ignored her, or neglected her needs. My granddaughter has given Amy her number, and Amy has been signed off from working for two weeks according to Nurse Farweather. Hopefully, Amy will use my granddaughter's number and I will see her around more often. Equally hopefully, I won't see any more signs or neglect or any signs of Emotional Abuse."

Click to shrink...

As far as I know Taylor has not yet procreated, so where does this sudden granddaughter come from?

Carol purses her lips and steps to one side, "Have you eaten Amy?"

Click to shrink...

Why would she ask whether Morgana has consumed Amy? She can see the girl is right there. How did she even get that idea?

 

[MaimakteriAnn]

As far as I know Taylor has not yet procreated, so where does this sudden granddaughter come from?

Click to shrink...

Airmed is right there though. Did you think Taylor was the Morrigan's only child? She's wife of a king for a start, and also her husband is the named parent of a whole lot of Tuatha.

 

[Catgc]

As far as I know Taylor has not yet procreated, so where does this sudden granddaughter come from?

Click to shrink...

Airmed. Remember Morgana had a history before she adopted Taylor.

 

[Joshy14-06]

Anybody have any guesses for which Worm characters will become chosen?

All i have so far, beside the obvious pairing of Amy and Airmed, is Greg Veder becoming a chosen of Coyote.

 

[MaimakteriAnn]

All i have so far, beside the obvious pairing of Amy and Airmed, is Greg Veder becoming a chosen of Coyote.

Click to shrink...

The only character im more sick of fics focusing on than Emma is Greg. God. just so tired of hearing about captain we need more white nerd guys in genre fiction.

 

[PossiblyEnos]

Airmed is right there though. Did you think Taylor was the Morrigan's only child? She's wife of a king for a start, and also her husband is the named parent of a whole lot of Tuatha.

Click to shrink...

Airmed. Remember Morgana had a history before she adopted Taylor.

Click to shrink...

No. I was reading that section as Morgana talking bout Taylor, not about Airmed.

 

[Just A Dude]

The only character im more sick of fics focusing on than Emma is Greg. God. just so tired of hearing about captain we need more white nerd guys in genre fiction.

Click to shrink...

Hey, just because a character doesn't represent you doesn't mean it's not representation for someone else.

Some of us like having some representation in media that resembles out younger selves, thank you very much, and the small handful of stories where Greg actually matures and grows instead of being a buttmonkey are greatly appreciated.