Some people are far too cavalier with fire around their bridges.
Beta'd by FirstSelector, SpyTheEngineer, and Kinsfire.
Friendly reminder that just because I write a character saying something doesn't mean that I agree with them.
Okay, so, uh… I'd like to ask that we cut down on the whole "crush the Empire now now now" thing in the thread/comments, please? It's… I feel like it's discouraging discussion of other things in the chapter that I want to draw attention to. (also there is… well, wait until the end)
"More than you, probably," said Taylor, at almost the same time that Vicky said "Enough to get by."
Both Vicky and Bella turned their gazes on Taylor, with the former being curious and the latter being skeptical.
"Would you like me to recount one of the conversations I've had with my passenger? Or did you not understand the exact mechanics of how I handled that weird Case 53?" Taylor frowned. "Hey, speaking of her, what ended up happening to her?"
Bella raised a finger, frowning, then nodded. "She is… under observation, but as it stands she is not at risk of the same negative outcomes as Coil or Shadow Stalker, or even Trickster. I cannot say more than that at present, lest the Eye's host to take action."
Taylor frowned. "They're that powerful a Thinker? Wait, no, why would they have to take action?"
Bella paused, visibly thinking through her words. "There are more things on heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Some of these things are… they exert more influence over the world than you think, enough to get Noelle removed from anywhere we can access with any degree of ease. As for your first question… you are occluded from their sight, as you are to most Thinkers, but neither I nor Victoria are, or at least not enough to get away with this reveal."
Taylor frowned. "...that doesn't answer my second question."
Bella nodded. "I know. I can't tell you more than that it has to do with how her power… changed, in response to you and your passenger."
Vicky frowned. "Taylor, what exactly happened with that?"
"I was essentially running interference while my passenger browbeat hers into submission. It's a little more complicated than that, but that's a decent high-level summary of what happened," the taller teenager replied.
"Hmmmm." Victoria pressed her lips together. "I think… well, we've gotten off of the topics that I think Taylor wanted to ask you about."
"Right, yeah. Sophia," said Taylor.
"Sophia Hess was… she was as normal a person as could have been expected, given her circumstances, but that isn't particularly relevant. The important part is how her passenger directly interfered with her neurological processes to directly alter her personality in a manner more in line with the way that they have been charged with altering the world."
Taylor frowned. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that Sophia Hess is, instead of a sadistic savage who gets off on the pain of others, a victim of a somewhat less directed version of the kind of treatment that the victims of Gesellschaft's conditioning program undergo, such as Night or Fog. After so long, she is as much victim as any of them, and with as little culpability- the aggression and rage that she carries in her heart is a result of her passenger directly pushing her to develop in that way, and the inexorable escalation that you experienced in their bullying is in no small part because of this phenomenon- which includes the massive leap forwards that is what they referred to as the locker prank," Bella said.
Taylor… well, she wasn't sure how to feel about that.
On one hand, she liked the idea of offloading the responsibility behind the year and a half of hell that she'd been put through to an amoral, inhuman, faceless thing. It was almost comforting to believe wholeheartedly that no person was capable of the level of depravity that had been perpetrated against her.
On the other hand… well, some small voice in the back of her head said that she couldn't afford to disclaim the responsibility that Sophia bore for her bullying. Even in the light of Bella's explanation about why Sophia was the way that she was, the fact that Sophia was being manipulated and brainwashed into acting how she did in such a subtle manner wasn't anywhere near enough to take the culpability off of her shoulders.
Besides, she was still missing some information on why Sophia was even relevant in her life in the first place, and she intended to get that information while she had the chance.
Before she could speak up to ask her question, Vicky stood up, glaring at Bella. "That's… I don't know where to start with that other than calling it reductive and almost completely disclaiming the responsibility that Sophia has in ruining Taylor's life." When Bella looked to Taylor, she nodded.
Bella sighed. "I was trying to convince you to put Sophia out of your mind. She doesn't deserve the attention she already has."
"Like it or not," said Taylor evenly, "Sophia is inextricably linked with the betrayal of my best friend in my mind. I could no more put her out of my mind right now than Victoria could her deceased aunt." At this last part, Vicky's eyes widened, but she quickly hid her surprise for later and returned her attention to Bella. "Speaking of my best friend," continued Taylor, "I wanted to ask what you know about how Sophia convinced Emma to betray me."
Once again, Bella sighed. "Sophia saved Emma from an attack by the ABB, then came back when she was mentally vulnerable to act as a shoulder to lean on. She, uh… she changed Emma, partially in a way that worked with her own personal philosophy, but also in a way that provides more social conflict, and she kept her close in a way that would increase the likelihood of her becoming embroiled in these conflicts, especially if the conflict was escalated into the realm of an actual fight."
Taylor wasn't sure how to feel about that.
On one hand, it was clear in hindsight (at least, with the context Bella provided) that Emma had been through a traumatic event, and what pieces of Odin's memories she could easily access spoke to just how people changed after those.
On the other, that didn't explain what Emma had put Taylor through- even if Emma had always been prickly to others, they'd always promised to each other to be "true sisters, regardless of blood"- over the top, yes, but it was a promise that Taylor had taken seriously where Emma hadn't.
Vicky, on the other hand, wasn't nearly as hung up on the topic, with her aura burgeoning out to fill the room as she glared at Bella. "That's bullshit and you know it," said Vicky. "You don't just fucking abandon your best friend on the say-so of some person you just met, even if they saved your life, and I think you're putting too much blame on this nebulous power influence that Sophia's been effected by."
Bella frowned. "Maybe? That said, I cannot see Sophia being nearly so aggressive without the influence of her passenger. She might be defensive, but not to this degree."
"That's not the point!" Vicky shouted. "You're almost entirely removing the responsibility for all of Sophia's actions from her and offloading it to an external factor! Just because she isn't mentally healthy doesn't mean she's exempt from taking responsibility for their actions!"
"I…" Bella trailed off, unable to come up with a rebuttal.
"Come on, Taylor," said Vicky. "I don't think us sticking around is going to do anyone any good, today."
Without talking, the taller girl followed Vicky down the stairs, leaving Bella behind to rethink her actions.
The two girls (for that is what they were- girls forced to grow up far too quickly) stood in the street in a silence that stood within arm's reach of both companionable and awkward.
"You okay?" asked Vicky, after a moment.
Taylor sighed. "Not really, but… well, I suppose I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up so high. She's more Sophia than not, at this point, even if she does have a different perspective of her actions, and I should have expected her to excuse her actions like that."
"That, and the way that she treats the idea of her passenger as wholly responsible for Sophia's actions… it rubs me the wrong way, I guess," Vicky replied.
Taylor sighed again. "Yeah, me too."
After another pause, Vicky turned back to Taylor. "What was that you said about Aunt Jess, earlier?"
Taylor frowned. "Not sure, it just… felt like something that had to be said. Speaking of things that feel like they have to be said, you should head home before Amy gets back. Something tells me that you need to hear what gets said between her and your mom."
"Fucking Thinkers," Vicky muttered sotto voce. "Alright, I'll make tracks. Stay safe, Taylor."
"You too."
Vicky soared away in the direction of her home, leaving Taylor to walk home alone, lost in thoughts about all that had happened today.
She was so lost in thoughts, in fact, that she paid no heed to the spirit of Odin trailing after her, silently offering comfort and support to his successor… and the far more ethereal spirit trailing after him, with at least as much reason to offer Taylor support as Odin.
"Have a great night, and tell Taylor hi if she's still around when you get back!" called Amy, waving to Vista as the shorter girl took two steps out of the streetlamps' light and vanished in her characteristic spatial distortions.
Before she could open the door, Carol all but slammed it open, almost slamming it directly into her hand before she could even touch the knob. "Inside. Now."
Amy obeyed almost without thinking.
Once the door was safely shut, Carol rounded on her adoptive daughter. "Where the hell have you been?" she snapped.
"Out with Vista and her cousin," Amy replied.
"You mean the villain who kidnapped and brainwashed her?"
"No, I don't. I mean the woman she called when she found out that Director Piggot was directly covering up the Trigger Event of a parahuman caused by one of her Wards and ran away because she had a Second Trigger," Amy said, waving Carol off dismissively to try and conceal her anger. "It's public record now, given the court case."
"I-" Carol paused, then glared. "You have blood on your hands."
Amy had, in fact, been aware of that, thanks to her power, and in fact had left that there in hopes that Carol would confront her about it.
"Don't worry about it," she said, intentionally flippantly, and the blood flaked off as she applied her power to it.
"Amelia Claire Dallon," snapped Carol, drawing herself up to her full height and towering over her ward. "You will tell me what crime you have committed, what act of violence, and you will tell me now, or so help me God I will personally see you-"
"See me what, Carol? See me Birdcaged?" Amy's eyes flashed with an odd not-color for a moment. "Reunite me with my villain of a father, is that it?"
"I- you-" Carol sputtered.
Amy laughed bitterly. "You don't have to say anything else, at this point. Your denial… well, lack of denial is enough. You're convinced that I'm gonna grow up to be Marquis 2.0, here comes the new boss, just like the old boss, nayc?"
Carol's silence was more damning than most denials she could have supplied.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Amy pressed her lips together for a moment, lost in thought. "I don't… I didn't remember my father very well, not until very recently, but given his actions the last day I ever saw him… well, I think his views on family are one thing I'd much rather have, especially over yours."
"Marquis had nothing," Carol spat, "that you would be better off taking from him over me."
"I think Fleur would have disagreed," said Amy, almost too casually.
"Be quiet."
"No, I don't think I will. You… you didn't think about how unmasking would affect us, none of you did. Marquis wouldn't have let you do it like this, if he were in your shoes, that's for damn sure. And I think he would have been right! What did New Wave buy you, other than fifteen minutes of fame and another goddamn headstone to never visit? Hell, the last time you took us to go visit your parents was just before the unmasking, and I'd bet that's because they tried to tell you not to be idiots about things!" Absently, Amy noted Victoria watching the two of them from the stairs, but said nothing.
"They were- no, don't think you can distract me, young lady! What were you doing while out with Vista and that villain?" Carol had evidently decided to deal with Amy's accusations with the expedient measure of refusing to acknowledge them.
"Honoring Aunt Jess."
"Bullshit. What were you actually doing?"
Amy raised her right hand and morphed it into something that looked almost, but not quite, like a combination of a tiger's claw and a human hand, fur sleek and claws all but gleaming. "Avenging Aunt Jess."
"Amelia Claire Dallon, you can't just-"
"Why not?" asked Amy, voice almost deadly quiet. "It's okay when they do it, but not when one of their victims does it? It's fine, as long as you're the picture perfect American, to go and shoot someone in their pajamas, but it's not fine to go and pick a fight with that someone if you're their victim's gay niece? Come on, Carol! If we are not afforded the full protection of the law, and since that guy only got three fucking months in prison before getting fucking headhunted by Victor for more intensive training it sends a pretty clear message that we're not, then he shouldn't get it either!" Her voice rose into a furious crescendo.
"ENOUGH!" screamed Brandish. "Go to your room!"
"Sure, Carol," said Amy, turning her back on Carol definitively as she proceeded up the stairs with the air of one who has, if not won a fight, come away with a significant advantage, which only increased in intensity as she nodded to her sister.
Carol watched with confused feelings as her daughter gave her a level look, some other ineffable sensation pressing down on her with the weight of her power momentarily, and then also turned her back on her to proceed up the stairs, hovering a minimum of six inches off of the stairs as she went.
The house felt… emptier, once Vicky receded from sight, and Carol wasn't sure why.
gee it's almost like making gods uncomfortable in their home has actual tangible effects
Friendly reminder that Bella's no more objective on the subject of Taylor than Sophia is (and very much isn't objective on the subject of Sophia), and she's perfectly willing to dissemble, bend the truth, and even outright lie about things if she thinks it would serve her purpose.
I think I've been neglecting some of the other aspects of Odin's domains and should probably be including them more, especially given how I can see some of them working to lead up to some of my future plans.
THat's about it, so read, review, enjoy, and have a nice day!
