[center]Chapter 02/center]
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The church was filled with murmurs as people shuffled into pews, settling down with the rustle of coats and the soft creaking of wood. Taylor sat with her grandmother, her hands in prayer. The air smelled of incense and candles. Sunlight filtered through the stained-glass windows, casting rainbow-colored patterns across the faces of those around her, bright against the dimness of the church. It was Sunday evening, and the Church St. Mark was packed, as it always was. Philippines, Latinos, Whites, all kinds of people that Taylor normally would never see together, especially in a city like Brockton Bay.
Sometimes Taylor wonders how things would have been had she not joined the church. She knew that she would have a 'normal' teenage rebellion. It was a humorous situation, all these years ago, what was once just two little girls getting lost in a big city and being rescued by a nun ended up in a convoluted plan by her grandmother to plot an act of petty revenge against her mother and father.
Her mother didn't mind her becoming Catholic, but she was not exactly in favor either, especially since she figured out what her mother was doing. Taylor suspects Gram knows about her mother's time with Lustrum and believes that is why she ended up with her dad and abandoned the track she'd set for her. She wasn't sure if Gram knew what the Lustrum group was all about, but the truth would not change the cold war between her and her mom.
The congregation murmured around her, all waiting for the start of Mass. In the front of the church, the choir took their places, whispering among themselves, straightening sheet music, and tuning voices with tiny murmurs. She spotted her best friend, Emma, a few rows over. She had a confident look on her face. Taylor could not help but feel disappointed with herself, when she and Emma first came to Saint Mark, soon after Father Ferdinand became the official priest, they were enamored with the choir group and signed in as soon as they could, Unfortunately, Taylor discovered that she had a terrible voice for singing which force her to leave. Not Emma though, her voice was on another level, something that not even her, her parents, or anyone else knew she had.
The organ music swelled a low rumble that filled the quiet, ushering in Father Ferdinand. He made his way down the center aisle, his white vestments embroidered with gold threads that shimmered in the candlelight. Taylor would never get over the odd feeling of seeing Father Ferdinand with anything other than black. She felt her grandmother squeeze her hand as she leaned close, whispering, "Pay attention. The Word of God is precious." Taylor nodded; cheeks warm with a pang of embarrassment.
"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit," intoned the priest. She echoed the words along with everyone else, her fingers moving automatically to her forehead, chest, and shoulders. After a moment the choir sang, and she could hear Emma's clear, bright soprano floating above the others.
The Liturgy of the Word followed, and she listened as attentively as she could. She lowered her eyes, trying to focus as the lector, a middle-aged Philippine man, approached the Ambo to read. Taylor didn't like the man but she never could tell why, only that one day she looked at him and for some reason, knew immediately that he cheated on his wife.
She just knew it, as if it was on the tip of her tongue. The best thing she could think of to deal with it was to talk with Father Ferdinand about it in the confessional when she got there for the first time. All that Father Ferdinand said was that he would look into that. Sometime later, the taint she saw on him was gone, but her opinion about the man was low ever since.
"A reading from the book of Isaiah, 43:1 to 3," he began. His voice was strong and clear, reverberating through the silence. "But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: 'Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.…"
She could hear Gram whispering together under her breath as the lector continued. It was at this moment Taylor leaned back and let the words wash over her, her mind distracted by something else, namely, the ever-present rumble of the storm she could hear everywhere she went.
Father Ferdinand never gave her or Emma any explanation, but he promised her an answer, and rather soon. She had been anxious ever since he said that days ago, and as much as Sister Ana tried to calm her down with soft words, she could not stop being worried. All she needed to do was wait a few more days, and she prayed to God that time would simply move faster, and whatever was the answer, that she could still hear the storm after. Needless to say, she loves to spend her time staring at the distant ocean or simply enjoying a nice rainy day.
Her grandmother snapped her out of her daydream and Taylor realized she lost parts of the liturgy, her face was red like a tomato because of that and she heard Gram chuckle.
As the congregation stood for the Gospel, Taylor followed, casting another look toward Emma, who looked so serene, her eyes half-closed as she sang with the others, she was not as worried over Father Ferdinand's promise as Taylor was, a small blessing. The priest moved to the pulpit, his white robes softly swishing with each step.Yeap, white is not his color.
Gram's fingers brushed against Taylor as they joined hands during the prayer. At the 'Our Father,' the congregation spoke in unison, voices blending in a soft chorus. Taylor's voice stumbled at parts, but she mouthed along. Her thoughts drifted as she felt her grandmother's hand still holding hers.
Finally, it was time for Communion. The congregation filed toward the altar, and Taylor stepped forward beside her grandmother. As she waited her turn, she took the opportunity to look at the altar, a marvelous silver structure, shaped like a church tower with small statues of people carrying it, but in the center, instead of a bell, it was an image of Jesus arms open and a serene expression on his face.
Father Ferdinand brought the altar with him from the Vatican together with other things that he never showed to anyone.
When it was her turn she looked at him. Holding the Eucharist between his fingers, he said. "The body of Christ," His voice was stern as always, but he tried to give her a small smile. She answered, "Amen," and felt the thin wafer on her tongue, dissolving almost as quickly as it had touched her mouth.
As they returned to the pew, Taylor glanced back at Emma. Her friend was watching her too, a quick smile lighting her face before she turned back to the choir director. The final hymn started, rising like something Taylor could feel in her bones, but soon, it was over, and people began to slowly leave the church, some staying behind, distracted with conversations.
Taylor and her grandmother stepped outside, Gram insisting on dragging Taylor along. To her horror and mortal embarrassment, they joined with a group of old ladies that also decided to drag their grandkids with them to 'introduce' them to each other, never mind the boys were being introduced only to the girls, and the girls to the boys. Fortunately, Jesus was with her and gave her the strength to not embarrass herself in the presence of others. Well, even more than she already did.
Thankfully, the meeting didn't take long and Taylor didn't leave with a fiance of any kind, although, there was an older boy that really caught her eye.
As they waited for Emma, her grandmother looked at her with a smile and Taylor smiled back with a flushed face, petty fight or not, public embarrassment or not, she grew to love spending time with her grandmother.
"How was mass today, girls?" Asked her dad as soon as everyone was inside the car. She sat with Taylor in the back seat and Mrs. Anastacia in the front seat. "Sorry I could not come to join in time, I have a serious case on my hand and will have to work with it for the whole week."
Emma smile. "No problem, Dad. I can sing for you and Mom when I get home." She said as she put on the seatbelt.
"Ha," Mrs. Anastacia snorted. "Your house acoustic will never be as good as a church." She then turned to Alan. "You and Zoe can always wait a week or two if you want to see your daughter sing that much." Her father in turn just shook his head with a small smile before starting the engine. Despite the old woman's abrasive words, she was right, they always would have an opportunity to watch her.
From the adults, her parents are the ones who went to the church the most with her and Taylor, which is surprising for her, because none of the two are Catholic. Danny was second, but unfortunately, his work at DWU tends to get in the way. Then there was Mrs. Anastacia herself, because of her health and old age she couldn't attend the mass all Sundays, to the old woman's disappointment. Then, there was Aunt Annette. It was rare for her to participate, and if Emma had to be honest, most of the time, she was just there, only to mark her presence for Taylor.
At least it was better for her alone, than her with Mrs. Anastacia, they always act in that passive-aggressive way with one another, and Emma knew very well how much Taylor hated that.
As the car left the parking lot into the busy street, it accelerated for just a moment before it immediately slowed down and pressed the car's horn. She was about to ask her father what was the problem until she saw he was waving his hands to someone, it was Sister Ana.
She was walking back to the church, a suitcase in her hands and a long, rectangular case on her back that over the years, Emma figured out was very similar to a gun case. She greeted them as they passed by her. Unfortunately, the car could not stop, and the two girls could not say anything to the nun.
Over the years, the nun grew up to be something like a close friend to her and an older sister to Taylor. Although she never says much about herself, and to this day, she still hasn't taught her any dance, maybe she should have asked for sewing lessons, Ana was really good at it.
The sedan kept running down the street, traffic was slowly starting to disperse, and soon they were going through mostly empty roads on the way to Mrs. Anastacia's home. Most of the time, the old woman would always make her way with some of her friends, but her dad always insisted on bringing her together, much to the old woman's annoyance.
"So, Emma." Her father spoke after some moments of silence, she noticed he was looking at her through the rear mirror for a moment before looking back to the street. "Did you think of what I said? About a new voluntary service?"
Emma could not help but smirk at the question. At the beginning of the year, she was 'punished' for accidentally burning down all the boxes with the Christmas decorations and then trying to convince Taylor to help her hide the evidence. Unfortunately, Taylor was still angry over the Blackberry incident and promptly told her mom, Zoe, about it. Fair, in Emma's opinion, but that still hurts.
Her parents then asked Father Ferdinand for help to 'discipline' her with some kind of community service. His idea? Work in the cemetery that was low on assistants. She still can't believe how the old priest can convince everyone that he doesn't hate children, a skill she wishes he could teach her someday.
But God always blesses the hearts of his faithful, and the idea for a week-long community service at the cemetery backfired on everyone but her. She loved the place! She can't explain why, but everything was great there: quiet, serene, beautiful, and strangely welcoming. So, only after a week of visits to the cemetery passed, and she still kept going anyway, did her parents realize what happened. And now, half a year later, they are still trying to convince her to do something else.
"Nooope!" She said, putting as much cheer as she could in her voice, she saw Taylor turn her head to the said, trying to hide a giggle, she always thought the whole situation was funny.
Her Dad sighed in defeat, not wanting to make a scene with Taylor and Mrs. Anastacia in the car.
Some moments later he pulled over the car and parked at the old woman's house, it was close to the church, taking only two minutes. "Good night and God bless." Said Mrs. Anastacia as she quickly left the car, giving a goodbye kiss to Taylor, much to her friend's embarrassment.
The car's engine came to life again and they were on their way home.
"Taylor?" Alan asked suddenly. "You are being quiet all ride, everything alright?"
"Uh? Oh, no, everything is fine, I am just... tired, a long day, you know." She tried to sound reassuring, but Emma could tell her father didn't believe her. She knew why her friend was this way though. Father Ferdinand will finally tell them what's the mystery of the music she and Taylor have heard for years now.
Emma always longed to know the truth, but Father Ferdinand never let it. Both he and Sister Ana always came with some excuse, saying that they were not prepared or something similar. Personally, Emma believes the two wanted to teach her and Taylor the Gospel before ever letting the two come close to the source of it all.
But now, it was finally time, apparently, and Taylor had been anxious ever since. She put her hands on her shoulders and gave her a reassuring smile. Taylor gave a weak smile back before looking back at the window in contemplation.
For five minutes, they travel in relative quiet, only the rumble of the car making any noise. It was a quiet night, most of the Docks South area was not gang territory, but that didn't mean it was safe from crime. One such example of crime made itself known as police light caught Emma's attention.
"Jesus Christ..." Her father mumbled low as a police officer signalized for them to stop by a cruiser that was blocking the way, she could see an ambulance and paramedics picking up what looked like ABB goons, a large PRT van in the distance. On the other side of the street, leaning against a light post was what Emma believed to be a girl around her age, dressed in a black cloak with a hood and a hockey mask, a crossbow at her side.Cape."Excuse me, officer? What happened." her father asked as he opened the window.
The officer, a black man in his fifties, bent his back a little to inspect who else was inside the sedan before looking back at her dad and replying with a tired voice. "The girl over there." He points to the cape. "Called us and informed us she found a bunch of injured ABBs. Lots of stabs and slash wounds, but mainly strangulation. No one died, but you know, it will be a mess to clean that up."
"Who did that?" Asked Taylor, trying to keep her eyes away from the crime scene.
"It was probably that crazy vigilant attacking people with a sword again." He answered with a shrug before asking. "Did any of you see any suspicious individual on your way here?"
"No." "Nope." Emma and Taylor said at the same time.
"Sorry sir. I didn't see anything of noticing." Alan said, shocking his head.
"Alright, thank you, anyway." He then points a finger back to where they come from. "I will need to ask you to turn around though. We will still be here for another ten minutes. Twenty if the PRT finds anything interesting."
"Understood, have a good night, Sir," Alan said to the officer who nodded back before walking away in the direction of the cape. Alan started the car and reversed it, searching for a new route.
Soon, enough they were back on track and didn't take long to arrive at Emma's house. Fortunately, no other problem appeared on their way.
"Emma," Taylor asked from the sleeping bag on the floor, they decided to do a sleepover at Emma's house, and after a nice dinner from Aunt Zoe and an unfortunate interrogation about the boys Gram forced her to meet with Emma and Anne, they finally decided to come upstairs. " Are you worried about... about what Father Ferdinand will give us?"
Taylor could not help it, she didn't know how to feel about the 'Great Revelation'. She knew it must be important, no one simply started to hear strange sounds coming out of an old stupid bag just to turn out it was nothing, most of the time it is a Parahuman power at play... or a bomb.
Emma looked at her from her vanity mirror, she tried to force Taylor to use some makeup and succeeded with eyelashes and light lipsticks, but after unsuccessful attempts at anything else, she gave up and started to work on herself.
"A little," She said as she finished painting her nails. "But, like. Whatever it is, it will probably be super cool!"
Taylor smiled at her optimism. "But what will we do if turns out it is some strange magical box or something?"
"Excuse me, last time I checked, the pope said magic is not real." She said as she put her hands on her waist and looked down at her with a faux condescending expression.
"Oh yeah? And what about parahuman powers?" She said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Emma in response put a hand over her mouth and made an exaggerated face of horror. "On, no. Taylor... You are a Protestant!" Taylor chuckled and Emma waved a hand at her. "But seriously, everything will be fine."
Taylor was not so sure, but being anxious was not helping her. She looked at Emma who was looking back with expectation. "Yeah, I think you are right."
Emma gave her a nod of approval and then turned back to the mirror. She looked at the back of her friend for a moment before picking up her cell phone. The disgustingly pink Blackberry was by far the worst prank that Emma ever did to her but at least it did its job well.
She sent a message to her mother, wishing her a good night. Her mother replied immediately. Taylor smiled, it was good to know her mother was always supporting her. She was about to turn off the phone when another message arrived.
It was Sister Ana, she was tipping before she even realized that.
Good night Taylor, God bless. Father Ferdinand asked me to talk to you or Emma. He is asking if you and Emma can come to the church tomorrow morning. Taylor smiled and brought the news to Emma, it seemed that she would finally get some answers.
A.N. finished this chapter faster than I expected. Now I just needed to figure out what to write on the first scene of the next chapter.Footnotes:1-I think this is the classic fanfic moment that Taylor somehow runs into Aegis on his civilian identity and the ship starts.2-I kind of run into a problem with that one, if I follow Fanon, it will lock like the gangs control large chunks of the area of Brockton Bay, and the only criminals that exist on the place are E88, ABB, and sometimes Merchants when they are promoted to a main gang... that still weak as fuck and can be easily beaten by a solo hero. I did some research the best that I could, and my conclusion? Pre-Canon gang territories are not that big. No big deal, really, I mean, there are other criminals on the Bay and you don't need territory to commit a crime.3-A big part of me didn't want to do something SO lame as Emma passing by the street she was attacked in canon, but the other part of me that said 'Let's do the cheap reference!' was stronger than I expected.