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Interlude 16a: Sophia
Sophia leaned into Taylor as she softly sang in some strange, Germanic language—Rohirric, if she remembered the sound correctly. She'd asked Taylor for examples of the languages she knew one night during their travels.
All around them, capes were starting to assemble into three large groups. The Triumvirate were quickly sifting capes within their individual groups into teams dedicated to each Endbringer.
Each Endbringer. Sophia softly chuckled.
As Taylor's song ended, she gave Sophia a questioning look. "What's up?"
"Just…" Sophia shook her head. "If you told me six months ago that I'd be at a fight with all three Endbringers, I'd have flipped. And that's not even considering Zion."
Taylor's lips twitched upward. "It's been a few months of surprises, hasn't it?"
"Not all bad," said Sophia. "Not even mostly."
"Not even close," Taylor agreed softly. She leaned in for a quick, soft kiss.
Once they broke apart, Sophia took a deep breath. "You're not gonna like this," she said.
Taylor's smile twisted ruefully. "You're about to tell me you're joining the frontline team."
"Stop reading my mind," said Sophia, narrowing her eyes.
Taylor's smile grew a little in amusement but retained that bittersweet edge. "Remember your promise," she said.
"You too," Sophia murmured.
They kissed once more, then joined Alexandria's team of Brutes and Breakers. The Triumvirate hero gave them a nod. "Good to see you both," she said. Her face was grim. "I hate to do this—I know how well the two of you work together—but from a tactical perspective, I think it makes sense to split you up."
"How so?" Taylor asked. She didn't sound happy, but she also wasn't rejecting the idea out of hand. Sophia felt about the same way.
"Both of you have only fought Leviathan before, and Shad—Tirissëo's Breaker state is going to be more effective against him than against Simurgh's song or Behemoth's radiation. But Mairë, your Thinker and Shaker-Trump ratings will be a massive asset against the Simurgh."
Sophia grimaced. "She has a point," she told Taylor.
"I know," Taylor muttered, "and I'm not happy about it." She sighed. "Fine. It makes sense to play to our strengths. What do you want each of us to do?"
Alexandria visibly hesitated. "Mairë, you've never fought the Simurgh before, but I'm assuming you're already well familiar with the tactics used to fight her?"
"Of course," Taylor said.
"Then I want you in command of the Simurgh frontline forces," said Alexandria. "Can you do it?"
Taylor raised an elegant eyebrow under her helmet. "Can I command an army in an attack on an angelic being? I suppose you could say I have a bit of experience."
Sophia snorted. Alexandria shook her head, looking unamused. "Most of your team will be flyers," she said. "I'm probably going to be the only flyer not on the Simurgh team, barring unexpected power interactions, and that's just because I can survive Behemoth's radiation. Make sure you keep your team rotating—even if you think you can stave off the Simurgh's Master effects, I don't want to find out you were wrong once it's too late."
"Fine," said Taylor simply. "I assume you're in command of the Behemoth team. Who's leading the Leviathan team?"
"That'd be me," said Colin, stepping up beside Alexandria.
Taylor gave him a nod. "Then that fight will be in good hands."
Colin gave her a tight smile. "All of them will have to be," he said. "Or we're dead."
"We're getting through today," said Sophia, stepping away from Taylor and looking up into his visor. "Armsmaster. We're getting through today."
Colin took a breath. She could feel his eyes on hers, even through his reflective helmet. When he spoke, it was quiet, for her ears only. "Sophia. I may be in command today, but I wanted to tell you… in case I didn't get a chance later."
"You'll get a chance," hissed Sophia.
He ignored her. "I've worked with—worked under—some of the most famous and powerful heroes in the world," he said quietly. "And of all of them, I was never prouder than when I was working with you in June."
Sophia swallowed, took a shuddering breath. "I couldn't have done it without you," she whispered, thinking of the unexpected brightness of Narsil in a dark, abandoned room. "Thank you."
"We help each other," said Colin. "That's the point." He turned his head and nodded to Taylor. "One more loose end," he said. "Mairë, I contend that the Sentinels have finished their vigil."
Sophia turned in time to see Taylor stagger. "Armsmaster—"
"You've always been good at getting people's loyalty," he said. "But last night, you turned two of the Slaughterhouse Nine, and you didn't make them personally loyal to you. I spoke with Burn—with Mimi and Riley. You brought them around to a principle. An ideal. As far as I'm concerned…" He crossed his left hand over his chest in a salute. Narya shone warm as a hearth. "… you've acquitted yourself admirably."
Taylor swallowed. "Thank you," she murmured. "I'll try to be worthy of your trust."
Colin nodded sharply, then turned back to Alexandria. "Let's get our teams divided," he said. "Apologies for the delay."
"It's understandable," said Alexandria. "We're leaving it all on the field today. No room for regrets or loose ends."
Sophia found her gaze drawn to the Triumvirate hero. Their eyes met, and despite her words,
Sophia saw a veritable well of aching regret deep within, alongside an iron resolve… and a grim certainty. In that moment, Sophia realized that Alexandria was certain, to her bones, that even if they won today, she herself would not survive.
Alexandria gave her a shallow nod. Sophia nodded back, trying not to think about what the older woman might have seen in her eyes.
"All right, you have your teams," Alexandria said sharply to the assembled capes. "Get to your positions!"
"Leviathan teams!" Fortuna called from across the room. "Here!" She turned to face the wall. "Door to Golden Gate Park, beach side."
A window opened in space, and Sophia's team started following Colin towards it. Before she followed, Sophia turned one last time to Taylor. Her girlfriend's gauntleted hands cupped her face, holding her so close that their foreheads touched.
"I love you, Sophia," whispered Taylor. "So much."
"Love you too," murmured Sophia. All the regrets, all the shame and pain and hurt of the past faded behind her. She and Taylor had found each other, had fallen together like raindrops meeting inevitably as they flowed down together. In that glittering, halcyon moment, Sophia knew that she and Taylor were in total agreement. They might regret what they had done to others, but for their own pain: if it had been necessary to bring them together, then it was all worth it.
Sophia kissed Taylor one last time, barely a brush of lips on lips, and then turned and followed her team without another glance backwards. It wasn't as though she was alone. Taylor's heart still beat in her ears, her warm hand twined around her ring finger.
She stepped through the portal and emerged out into the sunlight. It was a criminally clear day. Not a cloud was in the sky, and the midmorning sun glittered on the waves of the westerly ocean.
Waves which had already receded a dangerously long way.
"Tidal wave incoming," called Colin grimly. "It'll come faster than you expect, if you haven't fought Leviathan before. Brace, and be ready."
Low, murmured conversations slowly died away. Every cape on the shoreline held their breath. Waiting. Expecting, perhaps, a sudden storm, a wall of emerald water, a frenzied burst of activity.
No one expected to see Leviathan suddenly slink out of the low tide onto the beach below them.
Gasps rang out all around as the Endbringer slipped out of the water, slowly and silently, but in plain view of all of them. It stood then to its full height—thirty feet of slick green scales. Four glowing green eyes stared down at them.
Behind him, Sophia could see the tidal wave finally building in the distance—a green barrier rushing toward the city, twice as tall as the Endbringer itself.
It seemed to be looking directly at her—at her, Colin, and Carlos, all assembled right at the front of the line.
Slowly, as if careful not to make any sudden movements. Leviathan crossed his right arm over his breast in an unmistakable salute. His hand passed directly in front of the brilliant gemstone embedded in his heart.
What? The Endbringers had never behaved like this before. What had changed? Was this because of something Carte Blanche had done, a consequence of Eidolon's new Ring of Power, or something else entirely?
The world seemed suspended for a moment as if teetering on the edge of a chasm, held up by a fingertip or a thread. Sophia took a breath, then raised Amauril in a return salute. Beside her, Colin and Carlos did the same with their weapons. She heard several other capes behind her doing much the same thing.
Then the wave hit, and she vanished into shadow.
She emerged in the exact same place about ten seconds later. Her ankles splashed into water, there was a rumble of crumbling buildings behind her, and Leviathan was swiping directly for her.
She flashed out of existence, out of his reach, then reappeared behind him, already halfway through swinging Amauril. Before it connected, water surged from his back, his water echo suddenly moving entirely differently from his primary body and shoving bodily into her. The water's surface hit her like concrete, blasting her back and out towards the water.
She shook off the pain and shock and slipped back into the dark before she hit the water.
She reappeared a dozen or more feet from Leviathan, who was now using his water echo to fend off half a dozen other capes while Colin came at him with his halberd. Carlos sailed in from above, Forma and Hyarma like flames on his fists as he dove at the Endbringer.
Leviathan twisted, its tail twining upward unnaturally and catching Carlos in the gut, flinging him away with a sickening crunch. Colin punished the maneuver, making a sharp cut with his halberd and shearing off the very tip of Leviathan's tail before he could retract it.
Leviathan remained eerily silent as he twisted, switching places with his water echo. The echo remained connected to him by a narrow thread of water as it dove for Colin, just as Leviathan himself spun into the line of other capes. The echo engulfed Colin before he could react.
Sophia dove. She slipped into the dark, reappeared for just long enough to slap her hand onto Colin's shoulder in the water, then pulled him out into the shadows. They reappeared a few feet away, Colin gasping for breath. Sophia could see that parts of his armor had already started to deform under the half-second of intense pressure.
He forced himself to his feet and gave her a nod. Narya flared brilliantly as he held out his left hand and blasted light and heat at the Endbringer's face. Steam rose from Leviathan as water evaporated. He whirled on Colin, but Sophia was already on his other side, thrusting Amauril towards his back.
The blade bit into the flesh of his torso, but he threw himself forward, out of the way of the sword. The water echo came from Sophia's left, but she was ready for it this time, spinning into it and slicing with Amauril, splitting the water before her as she slipped back into her Breaker state.
As she emerged back into real space, she suddenly became aware of an odd ringing in her ears. It took her a moment to realize that it wasn't a ringing at all.
It was an eerie, discordant song.
She looked up, unable to help herself, and saw capes swarming around the unmistakable pale shape of the Simurgh.
An instinct had her dart away just in time to avoid Leviathan's echo. She reappeared facing eastward—and, just over the tops of the buildings, she could see the massive, black bulk of Behemoth rising from the Berkeley Hills.
She ignored the sinking feeling in her stomach, the terrified fluttering of her heart. Gritting her teeth against the fear, she turned back to face Leviathan, raised Amauril, and charged right back in.