[A young hawk, an unfledged nestling taken from the nest for training.]
(•͈⌔•͈ ﾂ
The next day was slow, I had creative therapy and another group meeting, cooking this time. It was strange, the idea of a parahuman being taught to cook. I found myself looking forward to Gretchen and Quilt's stream.
I didn't use the computer lab after dinner much, I had a computer in my room now and that was when the computer lab was busiest. But now a small crowd was gathered around one computer station and about half the chairs in the room had been pulled up in a half circle in front of it. It was the largest crowd I'd ever seen in the computer lab.
The supervising nurse was watching from the lab's front desk, and there was an energy in the air...The eclectic mix of patients had mingled; Lizard Prince's case fifty-threes were sitting with Kalie's little knot of sidekicks, I could see the top of Mimi's head, and felt Elle nearby. I spotted Mantellum in the mix with the rest of Quilt's group, Quilt herself waved to me a little. Inkling on the periphery, still brooding. Kalie was leaning against one of the booths, arms folded over her chest, overseeing things and playing the responsible adult.
Some of the other stations were in use, Tagout and Copperquick. The girl with the glassgow grin was playing some kind of game, I think. The screen was colorful... Copperquick was typing furiously, with tight focus. I thought Tagout might have glanced back at me once, quickly.
"Taylor, hurry, it's almost time to start!" Heather called from close to the front.
"Anything happen while I was gone?" I asked, sitting down. As a latecomer I was seated a bit back from the screen, in the second row of seats. Mimi and Elle were in the first row, directly in front of me, and Mimi turned to talk. On the screen, colorful lights and... I think a short cartoon was playing out?
"It's just the intro," Quilt said.
"A fan made it for them!" Gretchen said. "They don't have a lot of stuff that's their own, you know? Always on the road."
A pair of colorful cartoon figures trotted across the screen, and I had a moment of disconcert when I realized they were probably representative of the two parahumans in question. I'd watched Protectorate Pals when I was little; and yes, there had been moments when I'd wondered if I'd ever have cartoons made about me if I gained powers.
Peat and Fen were living that dream.
The sequence ended and was replaced with the feed from a camera.
"Hi! Hi! Hi!"
The voice was young. Much younger than I was expecting, much younger than the pictures I'd found. Eight or nine, with a bit of a lisp. The camera wobbled, a lot. For a few moments all I could see was a confusion of shadows and daylight, and a brief glimpse of blue sky before the cameraman's hand steadied.
...I immediately guessed that was Fen. I leaned forward and tried to pick out detains through the shaky camera work.
Fen was a small girl- the camera only caught her head and shoulders, and she craned her neck to be seen that much. She had a pair of straight pinion horns that reminded me of a gazelle, rising above her eyes at the hairline and curving back over her head; black at their bases, reddening towards the points. Her eyes were very wide and violet, her skin was a peculiar shade of dark blue-grey. With the camera so close to her face I noted it had a soft sheen, like velvet, it might have been a sheer layer of short fur.
"Oh. She's adorable," Kalie muttered, then, "What-"
The front row stiffened, and I heard a quiet gasp from Oilbloom.
I could see what had startled her. One of those eyes was half closed with swelling. The white, where it was visible behind the swelling, was an alarming, angry red. Her wide smile sported a gap, she was missing a tooth and had a square patch of gauze taped over her cheek.
A ripple passed through the room. The case fifty-three contingent immediately closed ranks. Oilbloom started whispering furiously to Quilt, Mantellum sat up straight, and Inkling stood, moving to look over the front row's shoulders with bared teeth.
"Fen here from Jerome Arizona! Sorry for our absence viewers! Peat and I have had an exciting couple weeks down here!" She proclaimed a little too loudly. The camera swayed wildly again, when it stabilized I could see a wide expanse of lawn, and, as she spun, a steepled church and wide sign. I read '3rd Street Haven of-' before the camera panned away again.
"Fen, dear, you're going to give them motion sickness."
The camera settled as the new speaker took it, a woman I didn't recognize. Black hair, a ruddy complexion, like she worked outdoors a lot. A medium build and checkered red and black flannel shirt.
"Sorry! Usually Peat does the camera."
"It's all right, sweetie."
"That reminds me. Don't worry viewers, Peat's fine!" Fen added.
The camera focused on Fen and I caught my first glimpse of her whole body. Like Oilbloom, like Quilt, Frog, and Prowler she was different. It was more than just a power thing, though, I think her transformation had effected her more drastically than them. She was wearing a baggy t-shirt with the Protectorate logo on the front, slightly less baggy shorts, and a pair of flip-flops.
The t-shirt looked like a tent, and Fen could have probably worn it like a dress. The expansive cotton garment hung off one shoulder and over her arms, which poked out from underneath, thin like twigs. Her limbs looked like they'd been stretched out, like taffy. I had a build like a stick, but Fen's arms were long and too slender and all black. That extended to her body, which was stretched out and narrowed. She had to keep the shorts up with a belt.
"Yeah!" Fen crowed, "We ran inna some really nasty bad guys. Mister Book says they're called the Fallen! They wanted to take our horns, but Haven stopped 'em!" Fen stepped in front of the camera, waving her arms.
"Peat! Peat! Show everyone you're all right!"
The perspective jiggled wildly again, "Careful honey, I'll drop it."
It settled on a boy sitting on the short, decorative stone wall running around the lawn's perimeter. At least I thought it was a boy, he was wearing a t-shirt too, and jeans, but his face was covered in gaze and tape. A ring of gauze circled and braced the flattened tip of an obviously broken nose between two tremendously swelling black eyes. One of which was partially hidden behind a patch of gauze. Numerous smaller bandages covered his arms, hands, and face. There was less exposed skin than bandage!
Perhaps most alarmingly, a neck brace supported his head, and one arm was in a sling.
Peat also had horns, and something that looked very much like leaves instead of hair. But where Fen's horns were a single curved pair like a goat's or a gazelle's- Peat's horns were a double pair that twisted in spirals up from his head. I couldn't place what they looked like. If Fen looked twiggy, Peat looked kind of like an actual tree.
Peat raised his one good arm and offered a thumbs-up. "I'm good," he croaked.
The tension in the room started to ease, just a little bit at a time. It was gradual, the source was not gone; worry, fear, anger, outrage. But it had hit, I felt, some kind of high-water mark.
The Fallen... I knew about the Fallen. They were a villain organization in the southern United States, kind of a cult. They had this thing, they worshiped the Simurgh, and wanted to... I think they wanted to become Endbringers too? They were obsessed with the craters, and sometimes they made expeditions into them. Pilgrimages.
There was something big a couple years back, they attacked alongside an Endbringer, I think, that was a big deal.
Actually, now that I thought about it, why were they still around? Attacking with an Endbringer ought to have brought the Protectorate down on them like a ton of bricks.
Movement on the screen distracted me. Fen's bright smile intruded on my thoughts. "Let's introduce Haven!"
An energetic tour followed Fen as she showed off the public-accessible portions of Haven's headquarters. And introduced the people. "This is Rosary, and Halo. Chalice. Penitent. Cloister. And Mister Book." Fen pointed them out. Colorful costumes and personalities, I tried to keep track of all of them so I could look them up later.
"You shoulda seen 'em." Fen said, "Halo blasted 'em with lasers, and Cloister put up force fields, and Rosary dropped a big Truck on 'em!"
Fen wrapped her arms around Rosary, who looked a little like a nun in a rose-and-gold habit. Rosary herself looked a little flustered. One of the women, in a brown robe and cloak with crenelations worked into the collar stepped forward, I think that was Cloister.
"Easy honey," She said, "You thinking of cutting this short? You need to be resting."
"Yeah, I'm concussed still." Fen said, and swayed, just a little bit. Had she been swaying all along? I wasn't sure...
"Me an' Peat just wanted to say something rel quick for our followers. Ready Peat?"
Peat stepped into frame with Fen, and he was definitely swaying. Cloister set a steadying hand on his shoulder.
"Thank you for getting Peat all bandaged up." Fen said, and for the first time I saw her without her toothy grin, "I... I don't think We'd have made it without them."
"If I ever meet the thug that did that to you, I'll knock his teeth out!" Cloister said, voice shaking with anger.
"I hit 'im with a stool!"
Cloister looked a little taken aback. She settled on, "Well... Well, violence is never the answer dear."
Peat spoke up, "You saved us. Saved me and Fen. I won't forget it, mam, sir."
Book nodded slowly, reached out and set and hand on each of their shoulders. He was a big man, broad-shouldered, and very tall, dressed in a pastor's vestments. His hair was iron grey and his face deeply lined, but he didn't wear a mask. Tiny Fen looked even smaller next to him. "You have both been very brave, an inspiration to us all." he rumbled.
Fen reached up and touched his hand. Peat reached up and grasped Book's arm with his good hand.
Book turned to address the camera, "I want to make something very clear to anyone watching this video. The Fallen are extremely dangerous. I don't want any well-meaning, good people going after them. They have a parahuman, a Stranger and Master, very powerful. Do not approach them, do not seek them out."
Book was solemn as the grave, and the faces of the Haven I could see were tight and pinched.
The Fallen were pretty well known, but I didn't know much about Haven. They had a religious theme, and I knew they were based in the southern US. I didn't know much more. I'd need to look them up later.
Soon enough, Fen was wrapping up the show; singing some little nonsense song about adventuring with friends.
"Say bye!" Fen called in a musical sing-song.
Book knelt own beside her and gave a hearty farewell, accompanied by a chorus of farewells from the Haven capes.
(•͈⌔•͈ ﾂ
"Monster capes know each other," Sveta had said, "We seek each other out."
Inkling was shaking slightly where I saw her- bent over between Oilbloom and Quilt, the three of them whispering. Frog had his hand on Prowler's back. Mantellum was standing, arms tense at his sides and his hood partially extended. The blank spot around him fluctuated rapidly.
My attention remained divided between what was happening on the screen, and what was happening around me. The emotions and conversations. A volatile mixture of anger, fear, and anxiety; the case fifty-three crowd ran the gamut.
The Fallen had attacked Peat and Fen. Two children. If all monster capes knew each other, they had to be the babies of the group.
I tried to imagine the kind of connection, that these people had, to share that pain so readily. Then I looked over at Mimi, who hunched in on herself, sitting with Elle. I tried to imagine how I'd feel if someone went after Elle.
As soon as the video ended, Inkling let out a string of curses, stood up straight, turned on her heel, and stormed out of the computer lab. The rest of us awkwardly trailed after her. I kept a hand on both Mimi and Elle. Emotions all around me were dark, morose. Out ahead, I could feel Inkling, and Quilt following her, bubbling concern the whole way. Inkling's emotions were riding high. Anger despair, frustration...
As soon as she was past the door, a dam broke.
"Fuckers!" Her distant scream reached through the door as it swung behind her.
Without meaning to, we all followed in their wake, gravitating towards the cafeteria. There were enough of us that we took up a whole table. Maria just stood at the end, though.
Mimi was combing her fingers through Elle's hair in preparation to braid it. Everyone else had broken off into smaller knots of conversation.
I kept one eye on Quilt, as she guided Inkling to one of the couches in the sun room. Once seated, Inkling crumpled, her head in her hands, the both of them talking.
"It's so fucking typical!"
"They'll be okay, Ink. Haven are good people."
"It's the same fucking story every time!" she hissed, "Sideshow freaks, you point at them and stare at them, why not throw rocks at them, hear them squeal too!"
I watched them.
"We've all been there, Ink," Quilt said. "Deep breaths."
"I miss Patrick."
Quilt's hand ran in little circles on Inkling's back.
"I know. Just- just breathe, Ink. Deep breaths..."
I turned away. It felt like... Like I was trespassing. Trespassing on something deeply personal. I could feel her grief, like a bitter scent, like heat radiating off her.
"Are they going to be all right?" Nick asked.
The rest of the table was silent, and, as a consequence, now listening intently and trying not to show it.
"Fucking Cauldron."
Everyone turned to face Mantellum. He was seated at the end of the bench, leaned over, with his elbows on the table, chin on his hands, glaring darkly.
"Who?"
Mantellum frowned, then abruptly my sixth sense cut off, retreated as the invisible negative space expanded , past me and over my awareness. When he spoke it was hushed. Furtive. Like someone would hear.
"Cauldron. Made us." He waved one hand in the general direction of Quilt and Ink, "Gave us powers and killed most of us doing it. Then took away our memories and kicked us out into the world, didn't care if we lived or died, or worse."
"Cauldron's just a myth," Oilbloom said. But she didn't sound entirely sure herself.
"I've heard some weird stuff myself," Kalie said- and she said it with a different tone. She was in Feral mode now, the veteran, professional hero of the Protectorate. Not Kalie Selmy.
"They're like an urban legend. A ghost story. Supposed to be the underground law behind capes. People say they sell powers and other shit."
They sold powers? How?
I knew there had been studies. People had been trying to crack the code on powers since the advent. But no one had succeeded, and I certainly couldn't imagine someone packaging them and selling them. The idea struck me as mildly offensive. I'd gained my powers through suffering. Most of us here had.
Heather snorted, "That's impossible. People can't just buy powers. Everyone would know about something like that."
Kalie shook her head, "It's not even the worst I've heard. People just... disappearing out of witness protection without a trace. Heroes just... vanishing right out of their homes. Whole families..."
"They're real," Mantellum said. "They wipe our memories. Tried to do it to me. They didn't think my power would protect me and I bluffed my way out. They turn us into these things, then let us fend for ourselves. Kids like Peat and Fen... Some of us get lucky, we have powers that are strong enough to keep us alive. Not all of us make it."
He glanced down at his hands, and I realized for the first time, a faint crosshatching pattern of scars cut across his skin where the scales ended. He believed what he was saying. Believed it enough to use his power to keep us from being overheard.
"I thought..." My mouth was dry, I had to stop, and swallowed.
Everyone was looking at me. "Thought what?" Oilbloom asked.
"I thought it was... I don't know, something from the craters. That they were some of the mutants from the meteors or people drinking water or something from them."
"There were a lot of those," Mantellum said, "Not all, but enough. That might be part of the reason they got away with it so long. There's more to it."
Maria sat down on his other side, her face blank and serene as ever, and he actually looked unnerved.
"Hey." he said.
Maria turned and looked at Mantellum, and, after a moment, smiled, "Hello."
Then she... Just stared at him.
We were all still staring at her when Inkling grabbed my hair and spun me around to face her. Her teeth were bared and eyes were streaming, that took me by surprise- her power effected her tears, it was like the most horrific running mascara ever. She pulled my head back, my scalp burning, her sharp teeth gleaming down at me and her bloodshot eyes glinting.
"Ink!" Quilt exclaimed, trotting to catch up with her.
"Patrick... He made me feel like a person, not like some- some freak with tentacles instead of hair. But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" She sneered. And her eyes darted towards the table. Mimi. Elle. "You want another villain to hang out with with? Gonna send them to the Birdcage too?"
I raised a hand to grab at her hands fisted in my hair, and all I could hear for a moment was my heart pounding in my ears. I glanced over at Mimi. She retreated, hunching in her shoulders.
"Mimi isn't a villain." I said, trying to turn my head and meet her eyes.
Inkling laughed, "You look her up? She burned her highschool down, she killed half a dozen people. She's a villain. Every one of us are villains. You're a villain." She paused, looking down at her hands, Then suddenly let go.
I fell to the floor, landing hard. I scrambled, crabwalking to the bench and then pulling myself back to my feet with hands at my back. Mantellum and Oilbloom helped me up with hands under my arms.
"Shouldn't hang out with villains like us. You won't get out if you do that." Inkling said. All the heat had vanished from her voice. And just like that, she turned and walked out of the cafeteria, leaving silence behind her.
After a moment, I could feel Mantellum's field pull back and I could sense everyone again. I could sense her again.
I hadn't felt fear like that since the Masked Man. I could hardly hear over the rushing blood in my ears. But I could also feel Inkling.
It was really strange, but watching Peat and Fen's show with them had begun to cement the case fifty-threes as part of my circle of friends. More than just satellite fixtures in my routine. Mantellum and Quilt.
Inkling didn't like me, and I didn't have much reason to like her either. But I was starting to get a better idea what it was like. For Sveta, for Quilt, for Mantellum... Inkling...
And... they were hurting.
I wanted to help them.
Was it because I felt a little guilty? I'd found them out twice. Maybe if I hadn't Lizard Prince wouldn't have been sent to the Birdcage and Inkling wouldn't be crying over him now. Because I could feel how deeply she was hurting from where I stood? I wanted to get to know her. I wanted to know why Lizard Prince affected them so much. Inkling reminded me of Heather a little, very intense. But, that wasn't the right thing to say.
I wondered what this was, why was I so... Unfocused? Why I didn't know what to say and why I never knew what to do. But I wanted to.
Because... Because I felt guilty? Because I wondered if some of that pain was my fault? Because some of that pain felt familiar?
Like my own?
My head hurt.
"Taylor, you all right?" Mimi asked.
I... I was... Frustrated. Energy buzzing behind my eyes. My head... Emotions. Was it my power? Pulling off of Inkling and... and Mimi?
I didn't know. A sharp spike of anger. "I hate this!" I said, "I keep running into questions and I'm not getting answers, and I don't know where to look or what to ask."
I stood, took one step, then found myself with nowhere to go. Then... The gym. I needed to burn off the extra energy. Do something. Anything.
"I'm heading to the gym. I need to think."
I left the others behind, walking quickly. Pushing through the door. I was moving down the hall when Gretchen floated to my elbow, buoyant as only she seemed to manage. I regarded her warily, especially once Heather sidled up on my other side, beaming and devious.
"Hey, you want answers, right?" she asked in a whisper, "You want to know stuff?"
I gave her a narrow-eyed glare, suspicious. "Yes?"
"We can totally break-"
Slowly, but sternly, Gretchen's hand reached out to cover Heather's mouth. She never broke eye contact with me.
"Stay awake tonight," Gretchen whispered, "I'll come for you at eleven." Then both of them turned and darted back towards the cafeteria, leaving me to wonder.