The doorbell rang, and Danny Hebert opened it.
He didn't know what he was planning to say. Worry had been gnawing at him for hours, worry and fear and anger, and he didn't know if he was going to be yelling at his daughter for coming home late or listening to an impersonal police report of her injuries in gang violence.
Or… something.
What he actually got when he opened the door, though, was… Taylor, her glasses askew and her clothes reeking, looking nervous and exhausted and overwhelmed… and, at the same time, hopeful.
And there were butterflies around her. Blue and green, glowing in the winter night, landing on her shoulders before taking off again, and seeming to vanish and reappear.
And, in her arms, there was a purple…
Danny had to stop, and look again.
It was a dragon.
He blinked a few times.
It was still a dragon, with purple scales and orange antennae and insectile blue wings, and was regarding him with a curious smile.
"That's… a dragon," Danny said, eventually.
"Yeah, uh…" Taylor began. "This is… a bit of a long story? But I… think I triggered today."
Danny flinched.
He'd heard about Trigger events, and how they were… the worst kind of day you could ever have.
Like he'd had when Anne had died, maybe. Or… maybe worse, because Taylor must have experienced that as well, and it hadn't happened to her then.
It had happened to her now.
"I'm… glad you're all right?" he tried. "You are all right, right?"
"I need a hot shower," Taylor said, fervently. "And a new set of clothes, and… these ones should go in a bucket, I guess. Then… then I guess we need to talk."
She looked down at the dragon. "Aivu, uh, do you…?"
"I'm coming with you, Taylor!" the dragon said. "That's what I'm here for! And if it's a hot shower then I want one too!"
Danny stared.
"That's your dad, right, Taylor?" Aivu added, in an attempt at a whisper. "He seems quiet, but nice… oh! Do you have any sweets in the house?"
"We might have something," Taylor replied, coming inside, and Danny stepped back involuntarily as the smell got worse. "I'm not sure, though…"
"I can maybe eat some maybe sweets," Aivu said, nodding firmly.
Seeing Danny was still staring at her, she waved.
Twenty minutes later, Taylor was wearing new clothes, and Aivu was mostly buried in one of the towels from the cupboard.
Danny had made some toast, with jam, and Aivu had immediately taken a bite of one of the pieces before going through an entire slice in less than a minute.
Neither of the humans had got around to talking yet.
"So…" Danny began. "What happened?"
"There was… a prank that went really wrong," Taylor replied. "Or, wrong for me, I guess…"
Aivu made a distressed noise, and Taylor's hand reached down to begin petting the little dragon.
"I got shut in my locker for hours," she went on. "Until… it was, maybe an hour ago? Aivu appeared, I don't know how, and she tore the locker door off."
"I told you!" Aivu said. "I heard you, so I came to help! I could tell we were going to be friends from the way your soul sounded, but when I got there you were in trouble!"
"So… I guess Aivu is part of my power?" Taylor asked, then held out her free hand, and one of the butterflies landed on it. "And this is another part, I think. But… I don't know exactly how powers work, but I've never heard of them being like this."
"This is difficult to swallow," Danny told her. "I don't mean… obviously you have powers, Taylor, I can see that. But you don't even sound surprised about what happened to you, with the locker, I mean…"
Taylor shrugged.
"I don't know?" she admitted. "Maybe I'm, still in shock? Or, maybe it's something about having Aivu here."
She petted the dragon, who made an adorably cute noise. "I just… trust her. More than anyone."
"Are you sure that's safe?" Danny said. "Everyone's heard about Master powers."
"What are those?" Aivu asked. "Does that mean, like, bossing someone around?"
She looked disgusted. "That's boring and also horrible and icky! Especially if they don't have a choice! But it's okay, I'm not one of those."
Taylor began giggling.
"I don't think Dad's going to be satisfied with that," she said, trying to hide her laughter. "I'm just… I just… I'm imagining one of the really powerful, scary Masters cheerfully saying that it's icky! What would the PRT think?"
"What will the PRT think about you?" Danny asked. "That's going to matter, isn't it?"
Taylor stifled her giggles, then shook her head as she regained her equilibrium a bit.
"Yeah," she said. "It is… I don't think I can turn these butterflies off, and Aivu is obvious. Unless she stays at home and I hide the butterflies-"
"I'm staying with you, Taylor!" Aivu insisted. "You're my friend!"
Her wings twitched inside the towel she was still wearing. "And I'll be way better at it than that dumb Emma who did all those nasty things to you-"
"Aivu!" Taylor hissed.
"Emma did what?" Danny asked.
"Dad, this…" Taylor began, then shook her head. "Look, this is… we haven't been talking to each other, and… and we can't go over all this tonight. I've still got to think about school tomorrow."
"School?" Danny half-shouted. "After what happened to you there today?"
Taylor held Aivu tighter.
"Yes," she said. "I… don't know what my powers are, but – Dad, I can't hide this. It's going to be impossible. And if I go to school tomorrow or next year or never, I can't leave the house without being an obvious cape."
She unwrapped Aivu, who immediately twisted around to hug her. "So we don't try. I don't try. I go into school tomorrow, with Aivu, and dare them to do anything about it."
Meeting her father's gaze, Taylor smiled. "I'm done hiding."
"Oh, here she is," Emma said, the next morning. "What happened to your clothes, Tay-tay? Did… you… is that a dragon?"
Taylor smiled, pleasantly.
"Hi, Emma," she said. "You mean Aivu, right?"
She held up the cat-sized purple dragon, who stuck her tongue out a little bit and waved.
"Why the fuck do you have a dragon?" Emma said, staring. "How… what the… how?"
"Oh, I triggered last night," Taylor explained. "Hence all the butterflies."
She waved vaguely around herself, and one of them landed on the back of her hand before taking off again.
"Still not really sure what my powers are, but I can't turn the butterflies off and if New Wave has taught me anything by existing in the same city it's that that seems to be okay," Taylor added, vaguely.
Sophia was staring.
"But… you can't have a dragon at school," Madison said, rallying a bit. "That's… you can't…?"
"Actually, the rules don't say that," Taylor explained, still pleasantly. "And federal law says the opposite. She's part of my power, or, I think she is. You are part of my power, right?"
"Yeah!" Aivu agreed. "I felt you were in trouble and I came to help!"
"Right," Taylor nodded. "So, she's part of my power, and in addition she's an emotional support dragon."
"I'm very supportive!" Aivu contributed.
"I sort of need her help, because it turns out my trigger event was quite traumatic," Taylor said. "She's here officially as a power manifestation, but after a traumatic situation you need a friend to help you out and Aivu's the best one I could have."
She checked her watch. "I think we need to get to class… this is your first time in a school, right?"
"Yes, but I heard they're boring," Aivu whispered, quietly enough that only most of the bystanders could hear.
"...what do we do?" Madison asked, in a whispered conversation a few minutes later. "Taylor's… different."
"This doesn't change anything," Emma insisted. "Or, if it does, we can use it – Taylor's using parahuman powers in school! That's not allowed, right?"
She pointed at Sophia. "You could call the PRT on her! Say she's using her powers on you!"
"She's not, though," Madison pointed out. "I guess she might if we tripped her up or something, but, we don't even know what her powers are, apart from having a dragon."
"Then that must be what tore the door off the locker!" Emma said. "That's destruction of property."
"Hers," Madison said. "Or, school property, but it's her locker."
"So what?" Emma asked. "It's still property damage with a parahuman power, we can get her for that-"
"Emma," Sophia said, quietly. "We need to be careful now."
"What?" Emma asked. "Why do we… what's happened to you?"
"The whole situation has changed," Sophia said. "We can't just steamroll her now. The PRT wants… people… in the Wards because of useful powers, because they're strong, but we don't know what the fuck Taylor's powers are. If – if – they decide she's a villain, then we're good. Golden. Better than before. But they haven't decided that yet. And they'll overlook a lot more than a damaged locker for a good power, if we don't do this right."
Emma looked rebellious, then her face cleared.
"So… we need to make sure they do see her as a villain," she said. "Or that she's worthless, that stupid power of hers is just butterflies and a weird pet the size of a cat."
"Um," Madison said. "I… need to check something?"
"What, Madison?" Emma demanded.
"Didn't you and Sophia once say we were doing this to see if Taylor was going to break and be strong, or break and be weak?" she asked. "What would either of those look like?"
Emma's glare made Madison briefly very happy that Emma didn't have powers.
Less than an hour later, Taylor was in Principal Blackwell's office.
"I expect you know why you're here, Miss Hebert?" the head teacher said, sternly.
"Not really," Taylor admitted.
"I don't, either!" Aivu said, sniffing. "This place smells of paper. Is it a library?"
"We'll probably see the library at lunch," Taylor replied. "Or maybe after school, I don't know."
"Okay," Aivu said.
Blackwell glowered at Taylor, who smiled faintly back at her.
Taylor wasn't a hundred percent sure if she was actually okay, at the moment, in health terms at least, but there was a kind of wonderful serenity running through her at the moment.
She wasn't alone. Aivu was here, with her, and that was more important than anything Principal Blackwell could do to her.
"I very much think you do know why you're here, Miss Hebert," Blackwell said, eventually. "But, in case it's not obvious, I'll summarize. You're in trouble for helping to create a disruptive learning environment."
Taylor tried not to laugh.
"What's a disruptive learning environment?" Aivu asked, shifting a little in Taylor's lap. "That's a lot of big words."
"It's when it's hard for people to learn something, because they're being distracted by something," Taylor summarized. "That might mean they're distracted because someone is making noise, or because they've been locked in a locker with a pile of rubbish, or because someone's been stealing their assignments, or sending them text messages telling them to kill themselves, or tripping them up in hallways, or pouring juice on them, or putting thumb tacks on their seats, or-"
"Yes, yes, Miss Hebert, you don't need to give every possible example," Blackwell interrupted.
"I wasn't finished with last week, but if you want me to stop, I can," Taylor replied.
Aivu had started making distressed noises.
"Why would people be that horrible?" she asked. "Did all those things happen to you?"
"It's okay, Aivu," Taylor told her, hugging her.
"It is not okay," Principal Blackwell said. "This pet of yours is exactly the problem, that and those butterflies. You're going to need to leave the pet at home and stop distracting others with the butterflies."
"I can't turn the butterflies off," Taylor replied. "They're just there."
She held out a hand, and one of them settled there for a moment. "I can't actually control them, either, they just fly around a bit. And if you think I can control Aivu you've never met a cat or a five year old before."
"This pet of yours is clearly not a cat, or a five year old," Blackwell said, severely. "I know you're claiming that it's part of your power-"
"Ooh!" Aivu said, brightening. "If you think I'm not part of her power then does that mean there are other dragons? I'd love to meet them!"
She pouted. "Unless they're boring dragons with long names that take ages to say and who are responsible and things like that. I've got a short name because I'm little."
"Leave the… dragon… at home," Blackwell said, eventually. "This is your only warning."
Taylor smiled. "Or what?"
Blackwell frowned back. "Don't play games here, Miss Hebert. You're already in trouble for talking back."
"No, I'm being serious," Taylor said. "Or what? There is literally no punishment you can give me that's worse than what I've had to deal with for the past year, not unless you're going so far beyond what's acceptable that you're actually going to hire a hitman or something."
She shrugged. "You could arrest me, sure, but we actually did do this in a class on Parahumans late last year. I know I failed that class because my project got flushed down the toilet, but I did do the research – Aivu came to me because of my power, which makes it different from if I'd just brought a dog to school."
Blackwell stared at her, and Taylor continued smiling faintly back.
Aivu raised her paw. "When's lunch? I'm hungry."
"It's only just ten AM, silly," Taylor told her.
"I knoow," Aivu said, whining ever-so-slightly. "But you weren't saying anything and you were looking at each other and I thought maybe you were going to do it all day!"
"You're treating this very frivolously, Miss Hebert," Blackwell said. "This is your future we're talking about."
"It was my future we were talking about before," Taylor told her. "You didn't seem to care back then. Is there a way I should be reacting to bullying attempts?"
"Bullying is a very serious matter," Blackwell said.
"Umm," Aivu said, in a confused sort of way. "Do you think Taylor is bullying anyone? Or do you mean how Taylor's been bullied?"
"We've been over this before," Blackwell sighed. "There is no proof that Miss Hebert is being bullied, she was just doing it for attention – and bringing a, a… dragon into school is just more of the same behaviour."
"But… I had to pull off her locker door last night when I rescued her," Aivu said. "Because it was locked. And she was inside. How do you even do that?"
She tilted her head. "And nobody was there. How is that getting attention?"
"I have asked you several times, Miss Hebert," Blackwell said. "This refusal to do as you are told is going on your permanent record."
"Okay," Taylor said, shrugging. "Am I going to get detention? Only, if I'm going to be sent home it would help for it to be before lunch, that way I can visit the shops."
"What?" Sophia demanded, as soon as she was out of the classroom and could answer her phone. "You know I'm in school, right?"
"Of course we do," Miss Militia told her. "Your mother has agreed to support the story that there's a family emergency that required contacting you, but this is Wards business."
Sophia hissed through her teeth. "Fine," she said. "But this can't happen much or it'll ruin my cover."
"That's never far from our minds," Miss Militia told her. "This is important. We've seen social media posts indicating that there's a Parahuman at Winslow, and they're not hiding their identity."
Sophia nodded, not that the other Parahuman could see her. "Yeah?" she said. "I know, I noticed. What do you need from me, though?"
"All the information we can get in the next ten minutes," Miss Militia said. "PRT operatives are en route, and I'm going to interview her if possible."
Sophia tried not to flinch.
What the fuck was she supposed to say in this situation? She hadn't come up with how to get Taylor in trouble yet, and now she was going to have to do it this quickly?
"Uh," she said, stalling for time. "I guess you know who she is, so I can use her name, right?"
"It's been mentioned, but I want to confirm it," Miss Militia requested.
"Okay," Sophia replied, thinking fast. "Okay, so… her name's Taylor Hebert, she used to know one of my friends but they've really not got on well in the last year… Taylor keeps blaming her, and me, for all the things that go wrong in her life. It's like she thinks we're responsible or something. But I guess… she used to be really quiet and mousy. Apart from that. Just kind of sat around, then came up with these crazy stories about us? But now she seems really different, I don't know if her power's made her fucked up in the head or something."
"Your friend knows her?" Miss Militia said. "Do you mean the one who knows your identity?"
"Emma, yeah," Sophia said. "I don't really know what's up with that."
Deny, distract and dodge… hopefully if Taylor tried to throw her under the bus there'd be at least some confusion, and then Emma's dad could do his lawyer stuff or something?
"Want me to be standing by?" she asked. "In case she gets violent or something?"
"No, it's not worth revealing your identity," Miss Militia replied. "What about her power?"
"I've barely got any idea," Sophia said. "She's got these weird butterflies, she said she couldn't turn them off and I don't know what they'll do. And the dragon is… bizarre. Purple, insect wings sort of like a dragonfly? Antennae, too, but it talks like it's five years old or something."
"If it can talk, that's interesting…" Miss Militia said. "When does the next period end?"
"Oh, uh… they went into first period about twenty minutes ago," Sophia answered. "They're an hour long, so you've got about forty. But I don't know where Taylor is at the moment, she was called up to the office… I'll hang around outside class and call you if she's coming back?"
"Good call," Miss Militia told her. "Call the Console, they'll pass on to me. Miss Militia, signing off."
The phone beeped, and Sophia leaned back against the wall.
"Fuuuuuuck," she groaned.
Taylor tossed her pencil into the air, and Aivu caught it with her paws.
"I'm surprised you're not catching it with your mouth," Taylor said.
"I might bite through it," Aivu replied.
"Miss Hebert," Mr. Thompson said, looking up from his grading. "You are in detention, not here to enjoy yourself."
"But Aivu isn't," Taylor countered. "I'm doing work, Mr. Thompson, I'm going through my biology book, but I don't want Aivu to get too bored."
She considered, then raised her hand.
"What is it?" Mr. Thompson asked, sounding entirely done with the whole situation.
"Can I have some scrap paper?" she asked. "That way, Aivu can do some drawings."
The teacher considered, then sighed and went to the classroom's store cupboard.
As soon as she had the piece of paper, Aivu got to work with the pencil, and Taylor went back to focusing on her textbook.
"So… the cell wall is what keeps a plant rigid," she said to herself, quietly. "The cell membrane is what keeps things in or out, the nucleus is the bit where the DNA is kept… and there's lots of mitochondria, which are the powerhouse of-"
There was a knock at the door.
"For crying out loud," Mr. Thompson said. "Come in!"
Miss Militia entered the room, and Mr. Thompson stood up.
"Good morning," the Protectorate cape said. "Is Taylor Hebert in here?"
"That's me," Taylor said. "Is something wrong?"
"Not… necessarily," Miss Militia replied. "Why are you in detention?"
"You'd have to ask Principal Blackwell about that," Taylor said. "She really wasn't very clear."
"What's your name?" Aivu asked. "I'm Aivu!"
She put down the pencil with a click. "Oh! Are you one of those capes? I haven't met any of them yet, except Taylor if she counts. Do you count, Taylor?"
"I suppose I must do," Taylor said. "I did Trigger, and I think that's what makes someone count as a cape. Do you want to introduce yourself, Miss?"
"Miss Militia," Miss Militia replied. "You're not exactly what I expected, Taylor. Do you mind if we have a conversation?"
She looked up at Mr. Thompson. "If you could give us a few minutes?"
Mr. Thompson picked up his grade book and stack of essays, and left the room. For her part, Miss Militia came over to the same row of tables as Taylor, and picked up a chair before turning it around so the base was facing towards Taylor and sitting on it.
"So," Miss Militia began. "I'm here because we heard that there was a Parahuman at Winslow, and obviously that's you."
"That's me," Taylor agreed. "I triggered last night, and… with the butterflies, obviously I couldn't really hide that fact. So I didn't bother trying."
"Some would call that reckless," Miss Militia said. "Would you?"
"Maybe," Taylor admitted. "Maybe… but I was just too happy to have a friend again."
Aivu jumped across from the desk next to Taylor, landing on Taylor's desk with a flutter of her wings, and moved down into Taylor's lap.
"About that," Miss Militia began. "I know it's a touchy subject for many capes, but do you want to go into details about your trigger event?"
Taylor looked down at Aivu, who looked back with a steady gaze and boundless confidence in her.
"A bit," she decided. "I… already wasn't in a great place, and I got locked in my locker. It was full of, really awful stuff. I coudn't get out, I felt trapped, like I wasn't in control of anything."
She patted Aivu on the head. "I'm not really sure how long I was there, but then Aivu came and rescued me. She tore the door off from the outside."
"I'm stronger than I look!" Aivu said, then frowned. "Um. I'm a dragon, though, and dragons look strong, right? So maybe I look strong and am strong, so I'm as strong as I look."
She tilted her head. "This is a lot more complicated than I thought."
Miss Militia chuckled, the scarf across her mouth moving as she did so. "Why is she called Aivu?"
"Because that's my name," Aivu told her. "It's only little because I'm only a young dragon. Older dragons get much longer names… but I'm only going to make my name longer when I feel like it! Not just because I'm older and bigger."
Miss Militia nodded. "I see," she said. "You said you got locked in your locker. By who?"
Taylor thought about what she was going to say, then sighed.
"I… I'm not really comfortable saying," she said. "It wasn't the first time they'd bullied me, though it was the worst it had been, but I don't have any proof of anything. And if I gave any names, it'd be my word against theirs… I don't think any of the security cameras at this place are working."
"Understood," Miss Militia decided. "I don't think that's the right approach, but I can't exactly force you."
She moved on to a different topic. "Have you considered joining the Wards?"
"I have," Taylor said. "It's all very new to me, and I want to make sure I'm making the right decision… New Wave here in Brockton Bay shows that you can be an independent hero team without hiding your identity. And I know about the risk from the gangs, as well."
She looked around. "I'd sort of have to, going to school here. I sometimes think I missed Gangs 101 on my schedule."
Miss Militia laughed.
"You seem to be very cheerful," she said. "Given what you described as your Trigger event, at least. Coming back here the very next day is… not something everyone would do."
Taylor touched Aivu's back, at the base of her wings.
"Taylor's really strong," Aivu said. "A strong person, not strong in a dragon way, I mean. But she could be that too!"
"Well, whatever you choose to do, I hope you have good luck with it," Miss Militia said. "Unless you're planning on being a supervillain, at least. I think I'm contractually obliged not to wish you good luck then."
That made Taylor laugh, and Aivu giggled as well.
"What about coming in for power testing?" Miss Militia asked. "That doesn't have any obligation to join the Wards, and while it's common for independents to work out their powers themselves it's also common for them to take a long time to get to know what they can do. PRT facilities have the space and trained personnel to help you discover this much faster."
"Oh, I can help!" Aivu said. "I know a lot of things about what Taylor could do!"
She scratched her chin, obviously thinking ferociously hard. "Um. I know some things she could do, and some other things she can maybe do? Both of those are good, right?"
"That would probably help, but they would need to test for other things, as well," Miss Militia told her. "But most powers aren't as helpful as that."
"I'm helpful!" Aivu said proudly. "I like being helpful. What's your power?"
"I have a weapon," Miss Militia told her. "It's any weapon I want it to be."
"Cooool," Aivu declared.
"I've got some more questions for Taylor first, though," Miss Militia went on. "Do you have a cape name yet?"
"I haven't decided on one," Taylor admitted. "I don't know what's taken."
"Unfortunately, I think 'Butterfly' is taken," Miss Militia said. "Otherwise that would be a good one."
"Azata!" Aivu announced. "That's what she should be called! It means a celestial being of goodness and freedom, and things like that. And I helped free her, and that's what her power is."
"Azata," Taylor repeated, then nodded. "If that's not taken, I like it."
"Excellent, that will make it much easier when I write my report about this," Miss Militia said. "The PRT likes having code names assigned for capes, even when we know their real names, because we're usually not supposed to. Now, I should give you the information that all new capes are meant to get…"
Sophia's phone rang again.
"Yeah?" she said.
"Sophia," Miss Militia said. "I spoke to Hebert, alias Azata, and she mentioned her trigger event. Someone locked her in her own locker, in a pile of sludge apparently, and it took her power to get her out."
"Really?" Sophia asked, heart in her mouth.
Don't give anything away. Don't give anything away.
"That would probably qualify as a murder attempt, since she was going to be left in it overnight," Miss Militia went on. "Regardless of what she might think about you and your friend, it's possible someone at Winslow does have it in for her. I want you to keep an eye out for whoever might be doing that, and record it – she's reluctant to say because it would be her word against theirs, but if there's documentation we can hopefully actually stop that person."
"Got it," Sophia managed. "Anything else? Is she dangerous?"
"Not noticeably," Miss Militia replied. "She's in detention for the rest of the day, which is surprising, but she indicated that she preferred it so I'm not going to do anything about it for now. But keep us updated on the situation."
"Yes, Miss Militia," Sophia agreed.
Miss Militia signed off, and Sophia's arm dropped to her side.
"Double fuuuuuuuck."
To Taylor's surprise, her dad was waiting for her when school got out.
She'd honestly enjoyed her day, partly because Aivu had been with her and partly because she'd just spent the whole day in detention, and regardless of any comments Principal Blackwell might have had about disruptive learning environments she'd probably actually learned more than she would have done if she'd been in class.
It was enough to make a girl wonder about a GED.
"What's the occasion?" she asked, getting into the passenger side seat, then helping Aivu get settled in her lap and pulling the door closed.
"I called Alan," he said. "Didn't mention about Emma bullying you, not yet, but I went through him to talk to Carol Dallon."
"Who's he? Who's she?" Aivu asked. "I don't know a lot of these names."
"Alan is Emma's dad, and our families are friends," Taylor said. "I don't know if it's were or are, but I guess… right, he works with her, doesn't he? At the same law firm. And Carol Dallon is the superheroine Brandish."
Taylor was silent for a moment, thinking about it.
"You know I mentioned New Wave?" she asked. "They're a group of heroes who have all revealed their identities, they wanted to change how capes worked so that that became how things were normally done, but these days it's just a family thing because nobody else has really joined in. Until, uh, me I guess?"
"If you mean having a public identity… I still don't know what to think of that, but it's your choice," her father chimed in. "But you're not joining New Wave just yet. I want to make sure you have all your choices clear."
"Choices are good!" Aivu volunteered. "Like chocolate or caramel! And sometimes you can get something that's the best of more than one thing, which is even better!"
Danny chuckled, then resumed. "But the point is, we've got an appointment to go and discuss things with her. I don't think you had anything planned for this afternoon?"
"Sort of?" Taylor replied. "Miss Militia visited me at school, because Aivu's on social media, and she told me a lot of the things that new capes get. She said it would be a good idea if I did power testing, and the way she said it made it sound like I could go in any time this evening if I wanted – or leave it until later, but I'd rather do it today."
She shrugged. "I know that means I'd be doing a lot today, but it's better to get it sorted out as soon as possible, right?"
"That's a good attitude, but be careful you don't take it too far," Danny warned. "It's a negotiating tip – don't let yourself be so eager to have a solution that you accept something just because it is one."
"Right," Taylor nodded. "Thanks, dad."
"Oh, I get it!" Aivu said, suddenly. "The thing that makes this go is angry when you make it work hard! That's why it growls!"
Taylor giggled.
"That's not how it works," she said. "It's called an engine, which burns gasoline…"
They parked outside the Dallon home, and Carol Dallon met them at the door.
"Good afternoon," she said. "I want to make a point of informing you that this is an initial consultation, and that there is no obligation that you are required to use my services in future or that I must represent you if you are subsequently in legal trouble. The contents of this conversation are covered by attorney-client privilege regardless of whether you choose to retain me as a lawyer in future, with the exception of if you intent to commit a crime; if you are intending to commit a crime, then I may be legally required to inform the authorities."
Then she gave a quick smile. "With that in mind, there's a reason why I'm not asking for a fee here, even though it's cutting into what would normally be my workday… and separately from, and in addition to, the detail that an initial consultation is often free."
"That's a lot of words," Aivu said, puzzled. "What did they mean?"
"They mean that what we talk about here isn't going to be told to anyone else," Taylor summarized, frowning. "Unless we're planning to break the law. Is that right?"
That got her a quick smile, and a nod.
"Come in, please," Carol said. "Naturally we won't have much time for discussion, not if we're going to fit it in this afternoon, and any further legal work you might need will be at the normal price. But as a voluntarily outed cape I think we need to stick together a little…"
They'd been going through the house while Carol spoke, and she sat them down in her home office before taking a seat herself.
"All right," she began. "So there's a number of options you have."
"Wards," Taylor began, counting them off. "Joining New Wave. Being an independent hero, by myself or by joining or starting a group. Being a rogue who uses her ability to make money. Joining a gang. Or having something go badly wrong."
"Essentially, though we'll go through some nuance," Carol said. "Covering the Wards organization first, you shouldn't be especially surprised that my opinion of them isn't… the best. But they're certainly a better option than the gangs, and probably safer than being independent in a lot of ways… the Wards option is to be part of an organized structure with resources and rules, and that's got the associated positives and negatives…"
Aivu was on her best behaviour, Taylor could see that, but she was still yawning by the time Carol had gone through the whole list.
The Wards program was being part of a government-sponsored junior hero program, which meant resources and restrictions, as she'd said. New Wave would mean a smaller group, and she'd be an outsider at first as in practice it was an organization formed entirely of Carol Dallon, Sarah Pelham, and their husbands and two children each. An independent hero would largely sink or swim on their own, regardless of how closely affiliated to the PRT and Protectorate, and any level of affiliation that meant protection also meant fewer options.
Being a rogue meant mostly being in business to make money with your powers, but that was hard because of all kinds of laws that were either accidentally or deliberately constructed to make being a rogue difficult. And, of course, joining a gang meant breaking the law a lot, and Carol said that she couldn't actually give her any advice that would help her do that in any way.
She did provide several additional examples of why being in a gang would be a bad idea, though, mostly around a lack of legal recourse and obvious public image problems.
Taylor's status as an "out" cape meant that a lot of the unwritten rules around capes didn't protect her – they were focused on not 'noticing' the identity of a cape and not trying to find it out – but there were still some aspects of it that would help. Homes were generally considered to be mostly off limits regardless, at least unless a cape was doing something particularly egregious, though the problem with an unwritten rule was that it was unwritten and also not binding… but, after a number of unpleasant incidents, some of them in Brockton Bay itself during the earlier days of New Wave, it seemed that an outed cape's immediate family actually did have some legal protection so long as they weren't powered – something that had helped protect the younger Dallons and Pelhams until they triggered with their own powers.
Taylor wasn't sure how much she could trust that protection. And it could quickly evaporate if the family were actually helping the cape out, regardless of whether they were a rogue, hero or villain.
As Carol was getting towards the end of the topics she'd wanted to bring up, though, there was a clatter from the door.
"We're home!" a teenage girl called.
"I'm with a client!" Carol called back.
Taylor know who that had to be – Victoria Dallon or Glory Girl, one of the two girls on the Dallon side of New Wave. A teenaged hero with flight powers, strength and the ability to outright ignore being hit, she was famous – and yet less famous than her sister, Amy Dallon, the peerless healer Panacea.
Glory Girl was well known in Brockton Bay and a subject of curiosity elsewhere in the country, mostly as part of New Wave. Panacea was nationally famous at a minimum.
"Why did you bring them back here?" Victoria's voice said, then there was a gasp. "Ames! You've got to see this!"
Carol sighed. "Victoria!"
"There's a dragon in the house!" Victoria said, her enthusiasm totally undimmed. "That one from the Winslow pictures! It's even cuter than the photos!"
Aivu perked up visibly, bouncing in Taylor's lap.
"I'm sorry about this," Carol said.
Taylor was too busy trying not to laugh.
"What about if Aivu goes to meet them?" she asked, hand over her mouth. "That way we can finish talking and Aivu won't get too bored."
"I suppose," Carol said. "If she's all right with it."
Aivu was out the door as soon as Taylor nodded.
"...hello? Earth to Amy!"
Amy Dallon blinked several times, and looked down at the little purple dragon who was hovering at about waist height.
"Are you okay?" the dragon asked, head tilting and an expression of concern on her muzzle. "Only, I shook your hand to be polite and then you just stared into space for a minute or so… are you still staring? You were blinking!"
"...amazing," Amy breathed.
"That's not happened to you before, Ames," Victoria said. "Are you all right?"
She grinned. "Or did we finally find something so cute that you were squeeing internally?"
Amy was still looking between Aivu and her hand. "I never even… you've got an organ in your chest that's full of sound. How does that work?"
"Oh, that must be my… funda...something," Aivu said, tilting her head. "I forget the name, it's sorta boring. But it's how I can breathe sound!"
She made a humming noise. "Well, you know, apart from roaring or singing or things like that. Those are something else."
The meeting with Carol done, Taylor's father took her to the PRT building.
Under normal circumstances, a newly triggered cape coming in for power testing might have had to do so under any number of different disguises. Being picked up in a van at a randomly selected location. Wearing a mask to hide their identity, and going in without a relative. Even being directed to a secret entrance nearby.
Taylor walked in the front door, because that ship had well and truly sailed.
The man at the desk was ready for her, directing the three of them to a bank of elevators, and a few minutes later they were at a large room, with several uniformed or suited PRT personnel waiting for them.
Plus Miss Militia.
"Hello again, Taylor," she said. "It's good to see you so soon – to be honest, I don't think anyone apart from a Ward has shown up so soon after triggering, in Brockton Bay."
"I guess I can understand why gang members wouldn't," Taylor said, thinking about it. "And there's not all that many rogues or independents I can think of… but not even New Wave?"
"Not even them," Miss Militia replied. "It's a good sign, to be honest… but we should move ahead with the reason you're here, since this is going to be a school night for you."
She looked interested. "Actually, how did the rest of your day at school go?"
"It was fine," Taylor replied. "It was all detention, but I got more work done than usual because of that."
The Protectorate cape nodded. "I see. It can be tricky to deal with situations like the ones that make someone trigger, but from what I've seen so far you're not having problems… now, what do you know about your powers so far?"
"Not really a lot," Taylor confessed. "I know I've got Aivu, and she's strong, has sharp claws, and can fly, but apart from that and the butterflies I don't know much."
"I see," Miss Militia said, then looked down – where Aivu was practically bouncing on her paws. "It looks like Aivu has something to say?"
"Yeah!" Aivu agreed. "So, um, I know some of what an Azata can do, or, what Azata can do because that's what we're calling Taylor now sometimes! And, I don't know all of it, or if what Taylor can do is going to fit with that, or even if she's going to be able to do it yet because some of it might have to wait until she's stronger!"
She sat back on her haunches, patting her chest with a paw. "I'm going to be much stronger when I'm bigger! Big dragons are stronger, you know!"
"Um," one of the PRT scientists said, raising his hand. "Is… the dragon saying that she's a manual for Azata's power? Powers don't usually come with manuals, do they?"
"No, but usually they come with some idea of what the power is," Miss Militia replied. "I don't know all of the things I can make with my weapon power, but I've known it was one since I triggered."
"And I've known what my power is since I triggered!" a new voice said.
Miss Militia looked exasperated for a moment.
"I didn't realize you were in the building, Assault," she said.
"Are you kidding?" Assault replied – another Protectorate cape, Taylor knew that much. "When there's the girl with the dragon here?"
He rubbed his hands together. "I've been looking up dragons in fiction… so, is she more of a Smaug or a Ramoth?"
"I don't know what those things are," Aivu said.
"Just… please don't disrupt the testing?" Miss Militia asked.
"No promises," Assault said.
Miss Militia turned to Aivu. "So if you know more about Taylor's power than she does, what can you tell us?"
"Umm," Aivu began, wings twitching a little as she lifted one forepaw to scratch her chin in thought. "So… I know that some of the things an Azata can usually do are… to do with singing? Not normal singing, I mean, magical singing that does things! Usually to help out friends who are nearby, including the Azata herself… and, then there's things to do with nature? And I think there's some special other powers, too. But I don't know a lot about those… oh, and magic too."
One of the scientists was taking notes, but another one of them just looked confused.
"Magic?" he asked. "Is that another way of saying powers?"
"Dunno," Aivu replied. "What can powers do? Because when I say magic I mean casting a spell and it does things. Like, um… one that I think I'm supposed to learn when I'm bigger makes fear go away."
"I'm really looking forward to testing that," the note-taker admitted, underlining something.
"When you're bigger, you might need it so people don't get scared of you?" Assault suggested. "If you're not still as cute."
He considered. "Definitely not a Smaug. I'll have to think about this one."
"Let's see what the singing one means first?" one of the scientists said.
"Um," Taylor began, raising her hand. "How can I tell you two apart? You're not wearing name tags."
"Michael," one of them introduced himself. "And this is Richard."
"Thanks," Taylor replied. "Sorry, I realized I might need to ask one of you something while we're doing this…"
She crouched down to speak to Aivu. "Are you sure singing is part of it? I'm no good at singing."
"I bet you are," Aivu told her. "But it's about… the magic in how you sing. Singing of freedom and friendship, that's what Azata are about!"
She tilted her head. "Want me to help?"
"That would be great," Taylor admitted.
Feeling a bit silly, Taylor went where Michael told her, then waited while they set up recording equipment.
Aivu was humming a tune to herself, but Taylor didn't know the lyrics, and she tried her best to think of something that would fit. Something where she at least had an idea about what it should sound like, and that had the right emotions behind it.
Her friend had said it was to do with freedom and friendship… so…
Suddenly, she realized that she knew something that would fit. Something from the books she'd read with her mother, back before the accident… and a book that Assault had reminded her of.
"Ready, Azata?" Miss Militia asked, and Taylor almost laughed.
It must have really been obvious that she'd worked out what to sing!
"I think so," she said. "And, sorry if this doesn't work very well."
Aivu went silent, waiting, and Taylor took a few breaths.
Then she began to sing.
"The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the road has gone, and I must follow, if I can…"
In the original book, it was a poem, but Taylor fitted it to a rhythm and did her best to make it sound good. Aivu joined in as well, singing in a wordless instrumental way that wove around what Taylor was singing, and when she reached the end of the song from Tolkien's Middle-Earth Taylor felt she'd done a good job.
"That was great!" Aivu said, jumping, and her wings fluttered a few times before Taylor pulled her into a hug. "See? I told you you could do it!"
The purple dragon giggled. "And I recognized it, too, not the words but the magic! That's the song of, um… Heroic Resolve, it's called! It makes it so your friends are luckier, and sometimes it heals them, too!"
"That sounds useful," Taylor said. "Thanks for telling me that, Aivu, I didn't even notice that was happening."
She looked up, and noticed everyone was staring at her.
"...uh," she added. "Is something wrong?"
"That was so cool," Assault declared. "I didn't know the newest cape in Brockton Bay was a professional-quality singer!"
"Um," Taylor began.
"Taylor, that was…" her father said, then stopped.
Miss Militia coughed.
"I'm starting to suspect that until you said that Azata didn't know she was a professional-quality singer," she said. "Aivu, did you just say that that song makes her friends luckier?"
"That's what that kind of song does," Aivu agreed, nodding. "There's, um… others, one of them is the one that makes the land heal, but I don't really remember the rest. Sorry."
"I'd love to see what that one does, but it might need to be tested outside," Richard said. "If Azata can do it yet, anyway."
"I don't know, but I didn't know that was going to happen either," Taylor said, a bit embarrassed.
Aivu got tested, next, and there was a lot to go through simply because she wasn't even remotely human. She went through a full package of tests to identify Brute and Mover abilities, testing her running speed, flying speed, how tough her scales were, how tough her claws were, how strong she was, how well she could notice things, and her ability to let out a blast of concentrated sound.
And her immunity to any kind of shockwave or sound, which was enough of a surprise when Aivu made an off-paw mention of it that they'd brought Triumph in just to confirm.
"This is… an impressive list," Miss Militia said. "Being fast and tough is useful enough, but the Blaster power is interesting… and the sound immunity is interesting as well."
"Just don't make it seem like I'm not needed, okay?" Triumph asked, sniggering.
"Okay!" Aivu replied, nodding. "I'll do my best!"
She yawned. "It's been a long day…"
Taylor held out her hands, and Aivu hoisted herself into Taylor's lap.
"What I'm actually if anything more impressed by is the Thinker-style power," Miss Militia went on. "She's got excellent vision, including in dim light, but she can also see over a hundred feet in complete darkness… and she can detect things within about half that range even if she's not looking."
"I'm impressed your team was able to notice that," Danny said. "Is that common?"
"We're good at testing a lot of things," Richard told him, proudly. "Or we like to think we are, anyway."
He looked at his coworker. "I can't think of any time a cape has had a confirmed ability after their testing that we didn't confirm."
Taylor sniggered.
"I like the way you phrased that," Assault said. "And if Azata does end up on patrol with me, for whatever reason, feel free to blast me with the sound! I'll put it to good use!"
"I'm starting to wonder if there's a rock band theme we could get together," Triumph suggested. "Though, uh, I'm not trying to pressure you into the Wards or anything, I just think it's a good deal."
Aivu yawned again, and Taylor patted her.
"Sorry, Aivu," she said. "I think I'm going to be doing the same kind of tests as you, now."
"But you can't fly yet," Aivu protested. "And, and I wanted to watch…"
"The woods are lovely, dark, and deep," Taylor said, remembering a poem. "But I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep."
"Frost, right?" Michael asked.
Then there was a little tingling feeling, and he gasped.
"I… uh," the scientist said. "I appear to not be tired any more."
"I feel like I just woke up," Triumph agreed, scratching his lion-themed helmet.
"Ooh!" Aivu gasped, completely awake once more. "That's another one! Rejuvenating Poem, I remember what it's called now! It makes all your friends not tired any more."
"I… think we need to make some notes about that," Richard admitted.
"Take notes about it, but don't tell Armsmaster," Miss Militia instructed. "He doesn't need more reasons to spend all night Tinkering."
"All right," Director Piggot said, once the Heberts had gone home. "Your thoughts?"
"Azata is… unusual, for a parahuman," Miss Militia replied. "Obviously she revealed her identity without a second thought, but it seems as though triggering has actually made her more calm."
She frowned. "Or… I'm not quite sure how to phrase it. More serene? Or perhaps just that whatever her trigger was, she doesn't think that whatever else happens to her is going to be worse. But either way, she's no Shadow Stalker."
"We can all be thankful for that," Piggot admitted. "Do you think she's likely to join the Wards?"
"It's possible," Miss Militia answered. "So far she's met three Protectorate capes, and got on all right with all of them… right now, I don't think there's any reason to suspect she'll become a villain at least. That could change, but she did just go through comprehensive power testing and a lot of what she found was as much a surprise to her as to us. That would be an odd action for someone who was thinking of becoming a villain, even before considering that we'd actually know her identity."
Piggot considered.
"It's unusual, but… well, we'll see," she said. "And her abilities? What's your assessment of them?"
"So far, a lot of what we've seen would work best as part of a group," Miss Militia answered. "Not everything, her dragon is a formidable combatant for something the size of a cat – and she's got some strange ideas about everything else, from the things she said – but simply the ability to erase fatigue has a lot of potential utility. I'd be interested in seeing how it interacts with Dauntless, for example."
She tapped her pen against the desk. "Then there's the results of the Tinker test. I'd almost say it was a lot like Uber's power, but the scientists did a double check and it's not quite that either… Uber learns quickly, but he has to actually learn something, at least as far as we can tell. And Azata just picks something up, and instantly knows how to use it. As long as it's working, but she doesn't have any ability to fix it."
"There's a lot that could be hidden in that phrase," Piggot noted. "Use it to what degree?"
"Competently, but not doing anything a skilled user could not," Miss Militia answered. "A good shot with a gun, able to use a sword or a spear well, but we did a test comparing her to Triumph and when she was using a shield it wasn't any more durable than normal. I would say I'd perform better than her with any given weapon, but I wouldn't be able to extend that to, say, a theodolite, or a decibel meter. Which she could."
Piggot scanned through the report, looking for her notes.
"The bit the dragon said about nature songs?" she asked.
"Not something to test in the building," Miss Militia replied. "She might test it on her own somewhere out of the way, though I offered to sort out PRT oversight if she gave us a date and time with enough warning."
"Good call," Piggot decided. "If she goes villain, we know more about her, and the more helpful we are the less likely it is she'll go villain… no matter what the outcome, we benefit."
She looked up. "You told Shadow Stalker to keep an eye on her?"
"Yes," Miss Militia confirmed. "Discreetly – there's no need for her cover to be blown just because Azata is an out cape."
"That's actually part of my concern," Piggot admitted. "It might mean that Azata is too impulsive… we'd better keep an eye on it."
The phone rang.
Miss Militia and Director Piggot both looked at it.
"I thought I made sure this was blocked out as a meeting," Piggot grumbled, taking the phone. "ENE PRT Director speaking."
"Please tell me she's going to be a Ward," asked the man on the other end of the phone, without preamble.
Piggot frowned. "Who is… isn't that Glenn Chambers?"
"I saw the social media posts," the head of Public Relations said, not bothering to confirm his identity. "I just skimmed through the power testing summary. She can sing songs that stop you feeling tired, she has an adorable purple dragon mascot and she has a cloud of glowing butterflies surrounding her. The merchandising opportunities are beyond compare. So please tell me she's going to be a Ward!"
"She hasn't made any decisions yet," Piggot said, thinking dark thoughts about the PR department.
"Emma?" Alan said, over dinner in the Barnes household. "Do you know much about what kind of powers Taylor has?"
Emma shrugged, picking up her knife and fork. "She didn't talk about them much," she said. "I think whatever happened to her that gave her powers is something she doesn't want to talk about."
"That's a shame," her mother Zoe said. "I'd say we should invite her around, but that might be a bit difficult to arrange…"
She picked up a wine bottle, ready to pour, then frowned. "Hold on, there isn't enough here. I'll go and get another one."
As she left, Alan leaned over to his younger daughter.
"Maybe you could try and get Sophia to unmask to Taylor?" he said. "That way your friends could talk about cape things together. It might help Taylor to have a more experienced classmate to show her the ropes of being a heroine."
Emma managed to not swear, which was quite difficult because it was the only thing she wanted to do right then.
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Topic: Azata thread
In: Boards ► Brockton Bay
XxVoid_CowboyxX (Original Poster)
Posted On Jan 4th 2011:
So I don't know how the rules work for this, but there's a cape at school and she's not hiding herself. I don't want to get in trouble (SHUT UP!) so I'll just do the pictures?
(link)
(link)
That's a dragon! And butterflies flying around her too, so she's definitely a cape, but... dragon!
(edit) it's Taylor Hebert, and she's called the dragon Aivu
(edit) videos (link) (link) (link)
(edit) she's in detention, don't know why
(edit) seen going to visit New Wave
(edit) someone said she's going by the name Azata, not Dragon Girl, it's still weird because I know her as Taylor
(Showing page 7 of 152)
►HowSharper
Replied On Jan 4th 2011:
Is that really a dragon?
Are those insect wings?
Why is it so cute?
►Char
Replied On Jan 4th 2011:
Nutty - no, you're thinking of Arcadia. They have cell phone blockers, Winslow doesn't give a rat's ass because it would make it harder to do drug deals or something
►Vista (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied On Jan 4th 2011:
SQUEEE!
It's so CUTE!
If that's really the result of a power, BOO slightly but only because it means I couldn't have one! That's amazing! I need to meet her and cuddle the dragon!
►Laser Augment
Replied On Jan 4th 2011:
What kind of dragon, though? The scary kind, the noble kind or the cute kind?
►Kit Soon
Replied On Jan 4th 2011:
Is this Winslow place really THAT bad?
And I agree with the Ward. The dragon needs cuddles.
►HowSharper
Replied On Jan 4th 2011:
LaserAugment
Well, clearly the cute kind, out of the options you've given.
►Char
Replied On Jan 4th 2011:
Winslow's not that bad, really... it's even worse than that.
►Laser Augment
Replied On Jan 4th 2011:
HowSharper
Well, yeah, I should have been more specific, I mean is this dragon just for looking cute or will there be a dragonrider in future?
►XxVoid_CowboyxX (Original Poster)
Replied On Jan 4th 2011:
Anyone have any videos to share? I didn't get any, I was too busy making the thread.
►Weld (Verified Cape) (Wards Boston)
Replied On Jan 4th 2011:
...I'm not sure what kind of power that even is. What would you call that?
Apparently there's upsides to being in Brockton Bay. You know, in between all the gang violence and rage monsters.
...actually, does Lung know?
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 ... 150, 151, 152
(Showing page 152 of 152)
►Kid Win (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied On Jan 4th 2011:
Please help, someone told Vista that Azata was in the building earlier and I'm afraid she's going to strain her larynx.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... ... 150, 151, 152
Thomas Calvert pushed his chair away from his desk, and decided that Taylor Hebert was too public to kidnap, assassinate or otherwise move against, despite her evidently varied and useful powers.
Really.
That was his reason.
Nothing at all to do with a young boy in a simpler time and a well-thumbed copy of the Earthsea Quartet.
Now… how long did he have to wait until Azata was being merchandized?
AN:
So this kind of… struck me, what with all the Pathfinder: WOTR I've been writing recently. (The actual WOTR fic itself is over on AO3.)
There's several Mythic Paths in WOTR which contain within them a conceptual tangent to the normal run of Worm, but Azataylor was the one which seemed to really be fun more than anything else.
Not sure how much more of this there'll be, but here's some!
