Disclaimer Notice: City of Heroes/Villains is the creation of Cryptic Studios, and the intellectual property of NCSoft.
This story is based around several of my characters on the Union Server, and is not commissioned or endorsed by NCSoft.
Taking a deep breath, Seyshara Sanjiyani reached for the door handle, wondering how she was going to explain why she was coming home so late. As she opened the door, she heard a heavy thump in the kitchen, followed by the crash of breaking glass.
Dad's dropped the casserole dish again, the thought flashed across her mind. That's the third this month. Mum's gonna be so angry. He really shouldn't carry delicate stuff with those claws of his.
It's never easy being a mutant, even in Paragon City, where such things are commonplace. People everywhere judge by appearances, and Seyshara's father was more different than most. The claws and spines covering his body tended to frighten people as much as his bestial face. Seyshara could relate to that. Her own face resembled that of a cat. For several years now, she had taken to wearing a veil, just to reassure people. Or so she kept telling herself. It was a shame she couldn't hide her ears and tail as easily. Not that that would hide her origin. Her purple skin and the blue hair that steadfastly resisted colouring proclaimed her heritage as much as the spines announced her father's.
A scream shook her out of her brief reverie. Piercing and long, then abruptly cut off. Her mother only used her sonic scream in an emergency. Seyshara ran into the kitchen, to be greeted by a scene that would haunt her for years to come.
Her mother stood facing the door, her wings spread and with an odd expression on her face. Between her and Seyshara stood a strange figure, a woman, wearing a maroon martial arts robe trimmed with white. She shifted slightly, and Seyshara saw the cause of her mother's strange expression. A slender black blade penetrated the centre of her chest. A blade held by the stranger. As Seyshara watched, the light in her mother's eyes faded as she died.
"No!" Throwing her arm out, Seyshara launched a small cloud of gas at the killer. The mutagen struck the assassin perfectly, causing her to choke slightly as she turned to face the young girl. That was the first time Seyshara had ever used her mutagen on another person, although she knew its effects would not last long. The assassin produced a knife from somewhere and threw it at Seyshara while bringing her sword round before her.
The assassin's eyes widened slightly as the knife bounced off Seyshara's iron-hard skin and clattered to the floor. She raised her sword to strike, then hesitated. A strange recognition flashed across her eyes, unnoticed by Seyshara. The girl saw only the look on her mother's face, and lashed out at her killer. She had always been stronger than the other children, and had spent her life holding back so she wouldn't hurt anyone. Not this time. She jabbed the assassin with all the superhuman strength she possessed, knocking her backwards, causing her to trip over something on the floor.
Seyshara glanced down at the obstruction on the floor. It was her father, his blood pooling beneath his lifeless body. Seeing that, Seyshara lost the fragile control she had, diving onto the assassin and pummelling and screaming at her. She would never remember how long she attacked the stranger before Longbow arrived to take her away.
As the Longbow Guardians pulled her off the assassin, Seyshara glared at the sword that had taken her parents' lives. It was plain and unadorned, yet there was something sinister about it. It seemed to whisper in Seyshara's head. It wanted to be wielded by a fighter worthy of it. A fighter like Seyshara. The young girl reached toward it, but was stopped by a Longbow Guardian. Only then did Seyshara realise what had troubled her about the sword since she had first seen it.
There was no trace of blood on the blade. Nor was there any touching it, even though it lay across the spreading pool of her father's blood. She stepped back away from that dread blade, and bumped into somebody. Turning to apologise, the words froze on her lips. She knew this woman. Everybody did. Like her mother Cassiopeia, Andromeda was recognised as a citizen of every country on the planet, for much the same reason. What was she doing here?
The Hero didn't speak to the young girl, instead addressing the Longbow Sergeant who was crouching beside the assassin, removing a curious watch from her right wrist.
"Looks like you've done my job for me, sergeant," she said, with more than a hint of amusement.
"Wasn't us Ma'am," replied the sergeant, pointing at Seyshara as he continued. "The young lady there subdued this miscreant before we arrived. Took three of us to pull her off the villain before she killed her."
"Really?" Andromeda turned to look at Seyshara curiously. "There's a lot of power hidden that little body, it seems." She crouched down so that she was at eye level with the girl. "I guess you must be Seyshara, then."
Seyshara was stunned. Andromeda had heard of her! Too surprised to speak, she simply nodded her head.
"Seraph told me about you once. I'm sorry to say I wasn't really paying attention at the time, but I remember her talking about a little girl. That's why she and Spyne left the group."
Curiosity overcame surprise. "You knew Mum and Dad?" Seyshara asked.
"I was the one who introduced them, many years ago. Before they - before you were born." Andromeda replied. Seyshara wondered what she had been about to say, but before she had a chance to ask, the Hero stood up and looked down at her. "You're going to need a new home, I suppose. Would you like to stay with me? At least until you're all grown up."
"I can stay with you? But you're -" Seyshara stopped before she talked herself out of moving in with the superhero. "I'd like that. I've got no-one else, and I don't want to stay here. Not now that..."
"I understand," Andromeda nodded sadly. "I've got something to do before I leave here. Sergeant Willis here will take you to my group's base, won't you sergeant?" After the sergeant's positive reply, the superhero continued. "When you get there, tell Heaven I said to find you a room, and try to get some sleep. We'll talk tomorrow. OK?"
Seyshara nodded, and allowed herself to be led away. As she left the kitchen, she looked back to see Andromeda standing with her hands outstretched toward the sword. A blue glow appeared around it, and it lifted from the floor, as though an invisible person had just picked it up. Then the door closed, and Sergeant Willis gently led her back out of the house.
The flight to Andromeda's base passed in a blur of movement and tears, as Seyshara's rage melted away into grief. She barely noticed when the sergeant led her from the helicopter to the decorative building, and rang the doorbell. Nor did she pay attention to what he told the winged woman who opened the door. She was only vaguely aware of being led through the base to a small guest room, where she fell onto the bed and cried herself to sleep.
A gentle tapping on the door woke Seyshara. The young mutant opened her eyes as a silver-haired girl entered with a tray of food. The newcomer looked at Seyshara and smiled.
"Mom thought it was about time you got up and had something to eat." The girl carefully placed the tray on the bedside cabinet, and pulled up a chair from the corner to sit on, dumping what was already on it onto the bed. "My name's Leigh. What's yours?"
"Seyshara."
"That's pretty. It suits you. Is it true you've got a tail?"
"Well, yes actually. How did you...?" Seyshara looked away from Leigh as she always did when talking about her differences, and suddenly noticed what the other girl had taken off the chair so she could sit. Her clothes and veil, cleaned and ironed, now lay on the bed across her knees. With a start, she grabbed her veil and quickly tried to put it on.
"You don't need to hide here," Leigh said, laughing. "I've seen stranger things than a cat-girl. My mom's got wings, for Christ's sake. Then there was this guy used to be in her group, looked like he was made of leaves. Of course if you really want to wear that, nobody will stop you..."
Seyshara gave up trying to tie the veil, and let it drop onto her lap. "Who...?"
"Who undressed you? Mom, probably. She's like that."
"Who's your mum? You said she had wings..."
"That's right. Just like an angel. Her Hero name's Heaven. Did I say something wrong?" Leigh reached over to wipe away the tear that appeared in Seyshara's eye.
"My mother had angel wings, too. She's dead now."
"Oh god. I didn't know. I'm really sorry. Is that why you're here? You've nowhere else to go?"
Seyshara nodded sadly, wiping away another tear. "She was killed. So was my dad. But I stopped their killer."
"Wow! A Hero already, huh?"
"I'm no Hero. I just lost control. I've always been stronger than the other kids."
"If you can take down a killer just by losing control, you must be an awful lot stronger than some adults." Leigh laughed. "So what's your story?"
"My story?" Seyshara was confused.
"Your origin? Is it magic, mutation or science experiment?" Leigh held her hand out and a small flame flickered into light above her palm. "I'm magic. It's a family thing, although my mother's power comes from science."
"Oh, I see. I'm a mutant. My father was too."
"What about your mother? Do you know what she was?" Leigh asked curiously.
"Her mother was Seraph," announced a stern voice from the door, "and what have I told you about fire and bed sheets?"
Leigh jumped up from her chair, clenching her fist and extinguishing the flame. "Sorry Mom. Just getting to know 'Shara."
The tall woman at the door frowned at her daughter, white wings flexing gently as she folded her arms across her chest.
"There'll be plenty of time for that later, Leigh. Right now, her breakfast's getting cold."
"Right. Sorry. Later then 'Shara." Leigh turned and hurried past her mother out of the room.
Looking at the winged woman Seyshara remembered from her arrival, she could easily see the family resemblance to Leigh, although this woman's face looked much more serious. Red rings around her eyes seemed to indicate that she had been crying as much as Seyshara had the previous night. Before she could bring herself to ask why, Heaven answered her unspoken question.
"Seraph was my sister, so I guess that makes you my niece, yes?" She walked up and sat on the edge of the bed, transferring Seyshara's clothes back to the chair. "Andi told me what happened. If it makes you feel better, you probably couldn't have changed anything had you walked in a few seconds earlier. That assassin was a Stalker."
"Stalker?" Seyshara asked, reaching for the tray of food Heaven had reminded her of.
"A special class of super-villain, adept at hiding and striking from the shadows. That one was probably Night Widow-trained, too. They're Arachnos assassins, and they're very good at their jobs."
"She had super-powers? Apart from her sword?"
"Yes. Cellular regeneration. She can heal fast. That's the only reason she's still alive after what you did to her. But now's not the time to talk about this. It's only upsetting you."
"How did you...?" Seyshara started.
"I'm an empath," Heaven interrupted. "I can sense what you're feeling. I can also change it somewhat. Dull the pain a little, although I'm afraid I'm not really in the right mood for that at the moment."
"I understand. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
"Don't keep your grief locked away, Seyshara. It'll destroy you if you do." Heaven stood up and carried the chair back into the corner. "I'll let you eat in peace now. Come and talk to me when you need to." She leaned over to kiss Seyshara's forehead and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.