"Now, Taylor, let us begin your lesson," The Wizard said, clapping his hands.
"You're staying?" Taylor tried not to sound too eager, but she had thought only Tawny would be teaching her today.
"I have some time to spare," The Wizard gave her an indulgent smile. "Tawny will still be covering most of your lessons for the foreseeable future, but I can teach you the basics today, at least."
"Great!" Taylor enthused. "Are you going to teach me more about the Power of Zeus? Throwing lightning bolts?"
"More or less," The Wizard serenely. "The Power of Zeus will be one of the most potent tools in your arsenal and you must learn to use at least the basics swiftly. Therefore today, we will begin with a simple lesson on control."
"What will we be doing?"
At this point, Tawny took over. "I have shown you how to externalize the power. But you could not control the output. So today, we will focus on wielding the power without releasing it."
"Huh?" Taylor blinked. "But if I'm not creating lightning bolts, then what's the point?" As much destruction as the incident at the Boat Graveyard had caused, it had also been kind of cool.
Dreams of hurling lightning bolts across the skies, demolishing villains like Lung and Kaiser effortlessly had danced through her mind ever since.
"Have some creativity, Taylor," The Wizard admonished gently, snapping Taylor from her daydreams of electrocuting supervillains. "There are more applications to the power of a god than simply creating the biggest blast imaginable."
Taylor ducked her head slightly in embarrassment. "Sorry, sir." Not that she agreed - lightning blasts could be so very useful - but it had been a long time since an adult admonished her.
She didn't know how to feel about it being someone who wasn't her parents.
"The applications of the Power are many and varied, but to start, your task is simple. Concentrate the power in your hands, but do not release it."
It was almost on the tip of her tongue to ask why, but instead, Taylor did as requested.
The lightning that always simmered beneath her skin seemed more eager, now that it had been unleashed once. Taylor barely had to think as power surged into her hands and exploded outwards before she could even think.
Her eyes widened in horror as a storm of golden bolts surged towards the Wizard and Tawny, but the Wizard seemed unbothered. Just as the lightning was about to touch him, he raised an eyebrow and a shimmering shield of blue light appeared in front of him. The lightning hit it and was seemingly…absorbed, the shield only rippling like water but otherwise showing no signs of harm.
"I'm so sorry-" Taylor began to apologize, but the Wizard raised a hand to stop her.
"It is of no concern, Taylor, I know that was not your intention. The Power of Zeus is a temperamental and finicky thing. That is why you are being trained here, where there is no danger to anyone. Now, try again."
Almost reluctantly, Taylor repeated what she had done before. She wasn't sure she wanted to, not after nearly hurting the old man and the tiger, but she did have to learn to control it. This time though, she was ready as the power gathered in her hands, focusing more on keeping that lightning contained in her palms.
But despite that, the power threatened to explode once more. It took all of Taylor's will to contain it as her hands glowed and crackled with lightning, the power fighting her as it tried to escape.
Beads of sweat dripped down Taylor's face as she stood there, mustering all her concentration to keep the power from leaving her hands. It wasn't painful, but it did feel strange, almost like jogging in place without the physical exhaustion. Her hands hummed and trembled with contained power, and keeping them still was an effort.
She focused determinedly on an image, not of blasting monsters with lightning, but of what might happen to people if she lost control. Holding that image in mind seemed to help, letting her leash the Power, if barely.
"Good," The Wizard seemed pleased. "It will take time to refine this skill, of course, but this is a good start."
"What now?" Taylor asked, barely able to speak through the effort it took to control the power. "Do I just stay like this?"
The question elicited a spark in the Wizard's eye that Taylor distinctly didn't like. It reminded her of Emma's more daring plans, just before she was about to do something that would get them both in trouble.
"Now? We test and hone your focus." With those words, an array of floating red balls appeared around the Wizard. There were only a dozen of them at first, but then they multiplied and multiplied again. Under Taylor's wide eyes, they multiplied until there must have been hundreds of them, floating behind the Wizard.
"What is it people call it these days? Ah, yes. Dodgeball. Now, Taylor. Dodge. And try not to lose control of the Power."
Taylor had no time to respond before the red balls were hurtling at her, like a barrage of weird artillery.
She moved frantically even as the power threatened to spill out of her hands. Taylor essentially had to dance her way around the balls. It was like a hailstorm of bullets, and the Speed of Mercury was the only thing that let her keep up.
Taylor could have just let the balls touch her, but she had a feeling she wouldn't enjoy that experience.
Her suspicions were proven correct when not a moment later, one of the balls brushed against her skin and sent a jolt through her.
Taylor shrieked in surprise, and the lightning instantly exploded outwards from her hands. But this time, it was absorbed by the balls, which replicated in turn, as if using the power she had lost control of.
"What was that?!" Taylor spluttered, finding herself glaring at the Wizard. The jolt hadn't hurt, exactly, it had been more like…someone had jostled her elbow at a critical moment.
"You lasted almost thirty seconds. Not bad for your first try," The Wizard stroked his beard. "And that, Taylor, is live practice. In combat, you will have to be able to-"
"-control my powers even when people are attacking me. Especially when they're attacking me so that I don't cause collateral damage by accident." Taylor realized, calming down slightly. She didn't like that he had tested this on here without her preparing herself, but she could see how important the application would be.
"Exactly. And the fastest way to learn is experience. So, shall we resume?"
Taylor felt herself smile at the question. "Yeah. Let's go."
Later that day, Taylor walked home, Tawny in his cat form cradled in her arms.
She had chosen to change back to normal inside the Rock of Eternity to avoid any attention, and now she was heading home.
It had been a good day. They had practiced training her powers, and while there was still a long way to go, she had made good progress. The training had become fun after a bit, almost like a game.
After they were done, the Wizard had made her a ham sandwich and a chocolate milkshake - ("Asgardian boar, bread from Vanaheim, milk from Apollo's cows and chocolate Quetzalcoatl gifted me last the time he dropped by," according to the Wizard) - that were maybe the most delicious things Taylor had ever devoured. She felt a little bad for thinking it, because she knew her parents had always tried their best in the kitchen, but it was true.
Taylor couldn't remember the last time she had been this happy. Not…not since before Mom died.
Still, her mood couldn't help but be dampened as she headed home. It just felt so…frustrating to be plain old Taylor again, walking home.
No magic. No divine food.
No Wizard, with a warm smile that reminded her a little of her vaguest memories of her grandfather from when she was little before he had died. No tidbits of magical knowledge and offhanded references to gods and demons, no warm advice.
At least she still had Tawny, she thought, tightening her grip around the cat.
She almost expected him to protest, but he only purred. "You have done well today, Champion. I have no doubt you will master your powers soon."
"Thanks, Tawny," Taylor said with a smile before she remembered something. "Oh, I forgot to mention! Lady Photon offered to help me with my powers this weekend." As she said the words, Taylor realized they might seem kind of offensive as if she had sought out another teacher because Tawny wasn't good enough.
But the cat didn't seem to take offense. "That is a good idea, Champion. There are many heroes in this world, and you can learn much from them. More than that, it is always good to have allies. What of the younger ones, Glory Girl and Laserdream I think you said their names were? I thought you were becoming friends."
"I didn't get a chance to talk to them today," Taylor admitted. "At first there was the fight, and then they needed to rest and recover. I didn't want to bother them."
"You should reach out to them tomorrow," Tawny advised. "From all accounts, it seems they liked you as much as you liked them. I do not think they will take it as a bother."
Taylor bit her lip. It felt awkward, but…she did want to be friends with Victoria and Crystal. They were cool and nice.
"Okay, I'll check in on them tomorrow."
Soon, they reached back home. Taylor's mood took another downturn as she realized that even though it was nearly seven, Dad wasn't home today either.
Walking into the kitchen, she saw a bag of takeout on the counter, and a note next to it.
Sorry, honey, but I need to do some more overtime! I'll see you tomorrow, in the meantime I got you this. - Love, Dad.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow," Taylor mumbled. Probably just long enough for him to say good morning and leave before breakfast was over again.
"Does your father do this regularly?" Tawny asked, jumping onto the table.
His tone was distinctly disapproving, and despite her disappointment with her father right now, Taylor couldn't help but bristle.
"He's busy," She said defensively. "He's doing important work for the PRT."
"His work cannot be more important than you, Taylor, at least not every day."
"He doesn't do this regularly!" Taylor insisted, but even as she said the words, they felt false. "It's just been a busy week."
She couldn't remember the last time Dad and she had just…talked. Or just been around each other for longer than an hour. He always made time to have breakfast and dinner with her, but those were always quiet occasions. They didn't speak to each other, and once it was done, things were quiet in the house.
When was the last time they had watched a movie or dad had helped her with homework or anything like that?
Taylor couldn't remember.
But she wasn't about to admit that to Tawny, who was frowning, his paws folded in a distinctly judgmental manner. She didn't like the idea of strangers - even nice ones like Tawny - thinking badly of her dad.
"It's fine," She repeated as Tawny remained silent. "There's just some big thing going down at work right now, once it's over, things will go back to normal. Dad even said he would take us on a vacation."
"Very well," Tawny said, though he sounded dubious. His eyes flickered over the bag of takeout and narrowed. "Would you like me to make you some dinner?"
"No," Taylor said stubbornly, opening the packet to pull out what she recognized as a pizza. "Dad got this for me, it's from my favorite place."
The truth was that after the sandwich she'd had earlier, Taylor didn't want anything with bread or meat. She would have liked a stew like the one that Tawny had made the other day, maybe some noodles…but there was still a hint of judgment in Tawny's eyes.
So Taylor defiantly shoved a piece of cold pizza into her mouth, refusing to give in. It was…fine, but it lacked something somehow, compared to the Wizard's sandwich or Tawny's stew.
Not just the fact that it wasn't made with magic, there was just something missing. Taylor couldn't say what it was, couldn't place her finger on it, but it felt like it had been missing from the house for a long time.
That night, when Taylor went to sleep, she dreamed of magic cats and mischievous old wizards, of wonders in a land of chocolate ruled by dragons.
But most of all, she dreamt of her mother and father, warm and alive and right there with her.