Main Content
Archive of Our OwnArchive of Our OwnHi, TheBrimmedHat!PostLog Out
FandomsBrowseSearchAboutWork Search
tip: hetalia f/f sort:kudos
Actions
Entire Work ← Previous Chapter Next Chapter → Chapter Index Bookmark Mark for Later Comments Share Download
Work Header
Rating:
Explicit
Archive Warnings:
Graphic Depictions Of ViolenceUnderage Sex
Categories:
F/FMulti
Fandoms:
Parahumans Series - WildbowHighschool DxD (Anime)
Relationships:
Amy Dallon/Taylor HebertTaylor Hebert/Lisa WilbournTaylor Hebert/Paige McAbee (Canary)
Language:
English
Collections:
Fics I Need to Read
Stats:
Published:2018-06-18Updated:2023-10-31Words:103,513Chapters:22/?Comments:133Kudos:789Bookmarks:352Hits:84,215
Seraphim
A_Standup_Philosopher
Chapter 3: Chapter Two
Chapter Text
Morning came swiftly for the three girls, and Emma had to calm Taylor again when she began to barrage their new…friend? with questions unending. A night's sleep to come to terms with the revelations of yesterday seemed to have had anger pushed completely off of the field by overwhelmingly desperate curiosity. Once given room to breath, Charlotte explained that she had told them most of what she knew, and that her mother would tell all of them more at Annette's hideout. It had, quite obviously, been an easy decision to eat a hasty breakfast and wait for a bus that was heading in the right direction.
The ride passed in relative silence, as Taylor was too excited, and nervous, to speak for fear that her voice would be to loud to ensure privacy. Likewise, Emma and Charlotte were content to measure the ravenette's well-being during the trip. The night before had been rather hard on all of them, with revelations spawning heightened emotions all around, but time seemed to have restored and ensured civility. A fortunate thing, as it allowed Emma to think about the flood of information that she had received the night before. Information that had upset the world as she knew it, and she had a peculiar feeling that there was more yet to come. It didn't matter, though, because no matter what idiotic arguments Taylor tried, Emma would be side by side with her no matter what. That's what sisters did for one another.
Charlotte, for her part, was feeling somewhat disillusioned. She had been told stories for most of her life about Annette Hebert (aka Uaibhreach) and the power she had wielded, and had inferred that Taylor Hebert would be just as incredible. Instead, she had found what was, by all appearances, an utterly normal human girl. One that was beautiful on a level that would shame professional models far older than she, perhaps, but still a normal human girl. It had actually caused a feeling of profound disappointment at first, though she had hidden it well, before she could tamp the emotion down. She had felt a little guilty, afterwards, because of course Taylor seemed normal. The fact that she was only half-Angel would in and of itself have caused some differences between mother and daughter, and it wasn't as though Taylor had been raised in Heaven. No, she had been raised as a human child would be here on Earth, and Charlotte was sure that was intentional. Perhaps it was meant to keep Taylor from becoming arrogant in her power, petty and cruel by believing herself 'above' normal humans. That seemed to make the most sense to her, and it had certainly worked if that had been the intent. Taylor was kind, generous, and forgiving. Most Fallen, according to the admittedly biased and flawed accounts of the three Abrahamic religions, were vengeful and vicious. If Taylor had been anything like her distant kin, she probably would have simply killed Charlotte in anger rather than just snapping at her verbally.
Half an hour after leaving Taylor's house, the trio had arrived at Charlotte's own home on the edge of the decaying industrial district. The neighboring section of town to the South-West of the docks, the great foundries of Brockton Bay had made everything from nails to battleship-grade armor plating. When the docks had collapsed, so too had the industrial sector, as it had come to lack both the contracts and influx of raw materials necessary to be worth maintaining. Another rotting representation of just how fall the city had fallen, even if its abandoned nature meant it was ideal for Annette's (and now their own) purposes.
Charlotte led the way up the stairs to her front door, knocking once before opening it an announcing their presence to the house at large. A heartbeat later, and her mother had appeared in the hallway before them, wearing an apron and a warm smile whilst accompanied by the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.
"Welcome home, Charlotte, and welcome to my home Emma and Taylor." She greeted them cheerfully, receiving a polite but genuine 'thank you' from the two guests. "Why don't you two have a seat on the couch in the living room. I think it would be best for us to be comfortable while we talk, don't you? Charlotte, come along."
Taylor and Emma did as they had been bid, heading into the living room and sitting down on the worn but extremely comfortable couch with no small amount of trepidation. Ms. Aronin (for that was her maiden name) clearly ran a tight ship, because the house was spotless despite the rather less-so nature of its surroundings. She was also a damn fine baker, because the cookies and milk she and Charlotte deposited on the coffee table when they entered the room were delicious.
"So, I suppose I should tell you everything from the beginning." The eldest woman in the room finally said, when the last cookie was nothing but a pinch of crumbs left behind on the plate. She immediately became the center of attention, and she smiled slightly at the intensity of Taylor's eyes. In that moment, she could not have looked more like her mother had she tried, and a part of Claire's heart ached deeply at the reminder of her lost friend. "As I'm sure Charlotte told you, Annette and I met in our freshman year of college when she dealt with a jock that was being…rather unchivalrous, shall we say. Once we got our room assignments, we convinced our roommates to switch so that we could be in the same room. A month later we were sleeping together."
The nonchalant way she said it, the way one sentence flowed into another, and the sheer unexpectedness of the confession caught Taylor and Emma so off guard that they couldn't quite comprehend the words immediately. They glanced at Charlotte in confusion, only to see her blushing brightly and bobbing her head in agreement. Then their eyes turned to one another and began to widen, and it was Taylor who voiced what they were thinking.
"WHAT?"
"Volume, young lady." Claire chided her with a distinctly 'motherly' look, before smiling again. "Yes, your mother and I were lovers for most of college. We broke off our relationship when she met your father and I moved to New York. I used to soothe her aches and pains when she would return from her patrols, used to massage the soreness from her muscles, used to…"
"Mother, stop! For the Love of God, please stop talking about what you and Mrs. Hebert used to get up to! You were her closest friend and confidante, we get that part. Can we maybe move on to something a little less embarrassing?" Charlotte blurted out, much to the relief of the other two girls and the amusement of her mother. Claire looked mildly disappointed for a moment before shrugging and nodding her acceptance.
"All of that aside, I bought this house because it was close to your mother's base of operations, her lair as it were. Its hidden in such a way that no normal human could ever hope to find it, but I keep my eyes open all the same." She continued, cocking her head to the side as she met Taylor's green orbs. "Would you like to see it now, or…"
"YES!" Taylor almost shouted, before blushing and composing herself. "I mean, yes please Ms. Aronin. I would be in your debt, and if we could speak sometime at length about my mother…?"
"Of course, Taylor, that's why I'm here. Now come along, we'll go out the back door." Claire patted her hand lightly before leading the trio through the house, out the door, and into a small alleyway. It took but a handful of minutes for them to be in the Industrial District proper, and Taylor found herself surprised by how…clean it all seemed to be. She would have thought that there would be tagging and garbage everywhere, but it really wasn't all that bad. Leafy vines twined their way up walls, ivy covered entire faces of buildings, and piles of scrap metal were scattered about randomly. She couldn't help but feel a small thrill run through her as they walked. It felt like they were on an adventure, delving into a mysterious world of ruins and history.
Claire finally led them into one particular building, a small watchtower of sorts in the center of a sub-district of two factories. It certainly didn't look like the awesome, bat-cave like hideout the teens had been imagining, and the older woman couldn't help but laugh at the distinctly disappointed looks that they sported when they entered. Ah, the excitement and folly of youth in equal measure. Well, the looks on their faces would be even more amusing soon enough.
Walking to the center of the lowest floor, she stood beneath the rising spiral of the stairs before withdrawing a small knife from her pocket and pricking the tip of one finger. Ignoring the concerned words and looks of the teens behind her, she knelt down and pressed the bleeding digit to the floor and spoke in a calm, clear voice.
"By blood I seek safe passage, by belief do I gain entrance, by bond do I serve. Open: Vault of Truth!"
Before anyone could remark on the oddly ritualistic words, the floor pulsed with power. Crimson lines crisscrossed the floor, weaving a pattern unrecognized before flaring brightly. As they blinked their eyes clear, they saw that the floor in front of Claire had vanished, replaced by a staircase that descended into the darkness below them. Gesturing for the girls to follow, she led the way down, and they couldn't help but feel their confusion grow. They could see as if it were daylight, but there wasn't any light down here. Nothing from the ceiling or the walls or even the floor. It defied explanation or belief, and yet it simply was all the same.
They reached the base of the stairs, and Claire reached out to touch a faintly glowing green crystal on the wall. Light, true light, blazed into being and revealed to astonished eyes a vast room. It was entirely made out of what seemed to their eyes to be a white marble, with gleaming columns supporting a high, gothic-style ceiling and…was that the roof of the Sistine Chapel recreated in the center? Now that they continued to absorb the sights around them, they saw that it was hardly the only mural in the room. Indeed, many of the walls and all of the ceiling were covered in elaborate, highly detailed and colorful depictions of battles, meetings, or strange vistas unknown.
The left side of the room seemed to be a blend of library and den, with towering bookshelves containing countless books looming over several extremely plush and comfortable looking armchairs that were themselves arrayed before a large fireplace. How that could possibly work without a chimney going aboveground, or without smoke from a hidden chimney attracting attention, they had no idea. The explanation, they were sure, would come down to 'magic' and a casual shrug if they asked Claire.
The other side of the room was quite the opposite, clearly intended for more physical pursuits…and not the kind a lascivious Fallen might assume from so vague a description. Rather, it was clearly dedicated to the arts of battle and conflict. Racks of weapons (predominantly swords and spears), some that were clearly training weapons and some decidedly not, lined the outer perimeter while the center of the area was a large, padded arena for melee training. It looked well-used and well-cared for, with the arena clearly having seen more than one energetic bout in its time.
The back wall of the room was unique, however. It was not dedicated to a pursuit of knowledge, whether martial or intellectual, but rather greatly resembled a sort of…shrine. A glance of curiosity to Claire had the adult leading them forward, and as they grew closer they could discern more if its details. It was set somewhat apart from the rest of the room, an almost contained space that clearly held no small amount of significance. Pedestals bearing what looked like priceless items on silken pillows were arrayed around a large table bearing a long, polished and engraved, gold-gilded mahogany case. Behind the table, in a talk, glass display case of its own, rested what could only have been a suit of armor once worn by her mother. The silver-trimmed gold gleamed in the light, the many jewels embedded within it sparkling, and Taylor could not help but look upon it with awe…and desire.
"Your mother had ancient enemies on her home world, individuals who she had stood opposed to for countless millennia. One of them was far greater than the others, although to say as much to his face would have 'stroked the silver-haired bastard's ego' to use your mother's words. It is from these enemies that she stole countless relics, seeking to cripple their plots and machinations."
She gestured around at the pedestals, returning attention to them, and Taylor took note of more particular details than she had before. The first were a pair of simple-looking silver rings, engraved with markings so miniscule and elaborate even Taylor's enhanced vision could not decipher them. An elegantly curved, bone-handled dagger that radiated cold and emptiness and Void like an invisible fog. A choker with a seven-petaled crystalline flower at its center. There were others, but when her eyes drifted over the contents of the pedestal after the choker, they did not move past it. Next to the splendor of the other items, it seemed to be a simple and insignificant thing. A simple wooden case with simple hinges and a simple engraving on the lid.
An engraving of a King Piece.
"Ah yes, the relics that she devoted more attention to than any other. The relics that, more than anything else here, she intended to pass only into your hands." Claire said softly, picking up the case and offering it to Taylor. Fingers that trembled ever so slightly raised the lid, and a wave of warmth and Light spilled out to swirl around them, for within it were 16 white chess pieces. A full set, from Pawns to King, each radiating purity and, and…goodness that was almost tangible in the air around them. "These she stole from her greatest enemy, who in turn stole them from another. Her enemy intended to use them as a conduit to corrupt and destroy all who bared similar sets, and your mother got wind of it and stole them before he could make the attempt. The Devils called them Evil Pieces, enchanted items intended to empower the living or resurrect the recently-dead as 'Reincarnated Devils', creating groups they called Peerages, in an effort to replenish their population after The War of Heaven and Earth. Annette spent decades, maybe even centuries, studying them. Learning about them, and trying to purify them. She succeeded not long after you turned ten years old."
She went on to explain the complexities and tactical system of a Peerage: the roles of each piece, the power they conferred, everything that she knew and could think of was imparted on the carefully listening Nephilim. A long silence lingered when she had finished, before a damp-eyed Taylor spoke with a voice hardly above a whisper.
"I remember seeing her working on these when I was little. She told me that they would help me make the most loyal and wonderful friends that I could ever dream of. She told me that they would let me be the greatest hero in history, that everyone would know my name." she looked up at those with her. "I don't know what to think. If she hadn't stolen all these relics, maybe I would still have my mother. If she hadn't stolen them, my father might still have his wife. Yet, all I can feel is the desire for the power and companionship they will provide. What kind of daughter does that make me?"
"A human one, Taylor. You vowed to your mother's memory to become a great hero, and you know that these will provide the power you need to do it. Simply by nature of your birth, you could defeat most villains in this city, but that isn't enough is it?" Claire answered softly, and Taylor shook her head slightly. "No, its not. You want to destroy the Endbringers, destroy The Nine, free Heartbreaker's slaves…you want power not purely for the sake of power, but to protect those you love and innocents alike. I can promise you that your mother would have that be your focus, rather than mourning her for eternity. Remember her, love her, miss her, and honor her by following your dream."
Taylor stared down at the gleaming white stone before her, mind turning over and over as she though things through. She was afraid, in a way, that the power that was literally being held out to her would corrupt her, change her. Would she become evil, cruel and petty like so many Devils and Fallen were on Trifecta? Would she become removed from the affairs of humans, barely intervening out of arrogance and fear of Falling, like the Angels? Would she see those around her as comrades and family, or as tools for her advancement and pleasure?
She looked at Charlotte, who seemed unworried. Confident that she would be as good as her mother was, that she would be just as heroic and kind.
She looked at Claire, whose every pore seemed to seep serene assurance and confidence just as strong as her daughter's.
She looked to dearest Emma, whose eyes were worried, but it was fear for her rather than of her that lingered within those topaz eyes. The confidence in Emma's bearing, the confidence underlying the loving concern, was to her stronger than that of the two Aronin women, for it was not based on reputation or relation alone. No, Emma's confidence in her strength of will, her sense of right and wrong, was thanks only to a lifetime of experiences at her side. No inflated stories, no rumor-mongering nor awe-struck memories influenced the redhead's beliefs, only knowledge most intimate. It was those eyes that gave Taylor the courage to reach for the King piece…only to have Claire pull the box away.
"Not yet. Your mother left a letter for you to read before you claimed your Peerage, one that she said was vitally important." The mother explained at Taylor's angry and confused frown, pulling an envelope out from under the pillow the formerly-Evil Pieces had rest upon until a handful of minutes ago. Quickly opening and scanning through the brief text within, Taylor hummed in understanding and turned to the two silver rings. Claiming them from their pedestal, she slipped one on to each ring finger…and almost immediately collapsed to one knee as all of her strength, magical and physical alike, seemed to vanish.
"I'm alright, that was supposed to happen." She told Emma and Charlotte, who had moved to kneel beside her with twin cries of alarm. "They're limiters, originally meant for powerful prisoners. For me, they'll let me take the King piece without worrying about accidentally killing someone the first time I get into a cape fight."
"Is the King piece really that powerful? I mean, wouldn't the Queen provide the biggest boost? The King is, like, totally useless in chess, right?" Emma asked as she helped her sister regain her feet, and Taylor chuckled a little tiredly and bobbed her head in a nod.
"With most modern Peerages on Trifecta, you would be right. The Queen is the most powerful and most versatile piece that can be bestowed there now, but only because the man who created the Evil Pieces made the King too powerful. Whatever inherent strengths a user possesses, it enhances up to 100 fold. The worst it can do is multiply it by a factor of 10. There isn't anyway to tell how much it will be ahead of time, of course, but I could kill a regular human with a hard punch now. Multiply Nephilim strength by 10 to a 100? I could do it by flicking a finger. Not exactly a great way to take live prisoners as a hero, hey?"
"Jesus Christ…" Emma couldn't help the cliched phrase, and there was a moment of silence before Charlotte snorted and began to laugh, while Taylor and Claire just shook their heads and laughed softly. Emma blushed and scowled at them, fully aware of the ironic, appropriateness of her comment. "Oh, shut up! The point is, we get it. You'll be able to bounce Endbringers around like basketballs, you don't want to hurt regular people too badly, I inserted foot in mouth. Moving on."
Taylor nodded again, and this time when she reached for the King piece, Claire didn't stop her. As her fingers wrapped around it and the artifact read her intent, it was absorbed into her very soul. Pain and pleasure blossomed like conflagrations, both in measures that she had never experienced before, and she opened her mouth to scream…but no sound could emerge from her lungs. Instead, wings burst from her back, a pillar of light surrounded her, and the world quite literally trembled around them. When the light finally faded, Taylor was back in her 'human' form, her power brought under control both through the limiters and her own efforts.
"God, what a rush." She mumbled fervently, quirking her lips in amusement at her own follow-up for Emma's slip of the tongue. She looked herself over with raised eyebrows, giving a low whistle. The King piece had enhanced her physically, both in the muscular nature and…not. To her bemusement, she could feel flares of jealousy and irritation from both Charlotte and Emma as she prodded various bits of her body, including her newly muscular build. True to her nature, however, the enhanced musculature did nothing to detract from her femininity, in fact it was noticeable only to those who had known her well before. It defied understanding, but then again science and logic didn't exactly apply to being such as herself the same way it did to regular humans.
It wasn't just her body that had been enhanced, though. Even with the limiters crushing her power in their iron grip, she could still feel that her power had grown exponentially. She couldn't really tell by how much, but it was obvious to her that she would have to work on her fine-tuned control once more. Her power was quite literally leaking out of her, something that she had taken nearly four months to fix before. She was willing to bet that it would take longer than that, now. Much longer. Damnit. Well, great efforts provide great rewards and all that.
Raising her hands slightly, she began to exert her power, clusters and sparks of Light swirling around her as she tried to recreate the same displays of finesse she had become accustomed too of late. Unfortunately, she failed utterly. Oh, the spiraling lights were all very impressive for her audience, and it was certainly greater in scope and vibrancy than her first attempts had been when she had originally started out, but it was crude and virtually formless. A disappointment in every sense of the word, and one that she found somewhat irritating. Then again, that in and of itself was reassuring. She didn't suddenly feel it was necessary or even a good idea to simply flatten everything in her path with the magical version of an orbital bombardment. The power increase hadn't consumed her, she still wanted control over brute strength, she still valued safety of herself and others over displaying her own innate superiority.
"Well, damnation. It seems I'm going to have to redouble my training efforts. All my fine control is totally shot, and control is kind of important for limiting collateral damage." She finally said aloud, quite dryly, allowing the magic filling the air to dissipate once again. She hummed in thought as she turned her attention back to the chess set, the…well, she wasn't going to call them 'Evil Pieces' anymore, so she supposed she would call them 'Holy Pieces'. "Now, what to do with you…?"
"Give one to me." Charlotte volunteered immediately, Emma volunteering almost immediately thereafter, and Taylor just as promptly shook her head and sliced one hand through the air in a negating gesture. "Well, why the Hell not?"
"Because you would be in danger, and I have no interest in putting either of you in a situation where you could get hurt. It won't happen." She retorted, and Charlotte scoffed, shifting her weight onto her back foot and folding her arms under her breasts.
"We live in Brockton Bay, we exist in constant danger. You said the pieces turn people into Devils, or since your mom tweaked them, Fallen Angels? Then we will be plenty durable and plenty strong to help you protect this city. She wouldn't have left you an entire Set if she didn't want you to actually use them. No matter how strong you are, you won't be able to succeed alone."
"I…I don't think I could fight, or…or kill someone, but maybe I could do something else?" Emma said softly, looking faintly green at the thought of committing violence on another human being.
"Sure, you could be a Healer or a Warder. Purely defensive and healing magic, plenty safe and plenty passive." Charlotte agreed, ignoring Taylor's fulminating glare, and Emma brightened noticeably at the idea, now enthusiastic rather than reluctantly determined.
"Unacceptable! Being a healer would put her in even more danger! No one has been insane enough to go after Panacea, but you don't have entire nations in your debt to act as a Sword of Damocles either!" Taylor snapped, all three of the teens missing Claire rolling her eyes and heading for the stairs, leaving them to their argument. "Besides, you can't dedicate the time it would take to master magic, it would take you many times longer to train!"
Her statement, intended to act as discouragement, only seemed to galvanize the duo. In the end, she was forced to concede the point in the face of the overwhelming force and immovable object that were Charlotte and Emma working together in an argument. It was agreed that Emma would focus on healing and warding with only the most basic of offensive attacks, while Charlotte expressed an interest in becoming 'a magical tinker' and learning to enchant, and eventually craft, items of power. Both refused to take anything higher ranking than Pawn pieces, arguing that the more powerful pieces should be reserved for those that would actually be fighting on the proverbial front lines beside Taylor. She might have fought harder, perhaps, if not for the fact that she could Promote them at will to make them safer. She would also place her own wards, as powerful as she could make them, on their homes.
"Well damn, we're going to be the hottest girls at Winslow, that's for sure." Was all Emma had to say about her newly enhanced form, once she and Charlotte had pulled themselves together after the transformation from Mortal to Fallen. At the deadpan looks she received from her Sister Pawn and King (and wasn't it odd, to so easily call them that in her mind?), she shrugged and smirked as she posed. "What, we will! I've been jealous of Taylor's looks for ages and I finally look just as good! You think that I'm not going to enjoy it to the fullest?"
"One would think that having wings and magic powers would be more significant than improving already fantastic looks." Charlotte drawled as she flexed her own wings experimentally, stirring the air lightly with a look of fascination as she manipulated muscles and limbs she hadn't possessed five minutes before. "This is going to take some getting used to…"
"Yes, and the first thing you need to learn is how to retract them, to pull them inside your soul. Funnily enough, its rather important to have the ability to not walk around with great big wings every moment of every day." Taylor responded with a small smile as they continued to inspect themselves carefully. It reminded her of the first time she had exposed her wings, the first time she had really thought about what she was.
Guiding them through the requisite steps was quick and easy, helped along as they were by instinctual control over their bodies, and soon enough what appeared only to be three abnormally attractive teenaged girls were standing in the center of the room. They spent some time wandering about, investigating the library's colossal collection and regarding with no small amount of awe some of the tomes held therein. While there were many that they could not even begin to guess the origin and contents of, but even they knew that the glass case holding a Gutenberg Bible was significant.
"Looks like your mother had a fondness for collecting things, my King." Charlotte commented absently as she leafed through an edited copy of The Malleus Malificarum, the edits mostly featuring notes how horrifically stupid the people who wrote it and followed it were. And how God would hardly be pleased with the actions that they claimed were in His name. She couldn't wait to find Annette's notes on The Spanish Inquisition or the bloodier parts of The Crusades. It would be as amusing as it would be enlightening, she was sure. "Some of these books are ancient."
"She was there when they were written, so I guess it isn't that surprising that she would have them. She did end up being a Literature teacher, after all." Emma commented from where she was examining a shelf of somewhat less esoteric and ancient books, helpfully labeled Science Fiction. "Although she should have been a History teacher, given that she probably met most of the people she would be teaching about."
The trio couldn't help but laugh at that, because it had a strong element of truth to it despite how absurd it sounded. None of the girls spared a thought to the fact that someday people very well could think and say the same thing about the three of them. As with most teens, little thought had been given to dying in the distant future, and so it was of no surprise that they didn't give much to the fact that they were now functionally immortal, if not invulnerable. It was a concept that they didn't, couldn't, yet grasp, for it was too far outside their perceptions and normal contemplations.
The rest of the night would be spent exploring their new abilities and the legacy that had been left to Taylor, a legacy collected over countless millennia.
#################################################################
The final weeks of summer vacation passed quickly, with Taylor's drive to re-train herself and advance the skills of her two Pawns as rapidly as possible being balanced with Charlotte and Emma's determination to make her spend 'normal' time with her father and with them. Emma had already seen how deep into her cause Taylor could go, and now that she was in a position to do so, she was going to ensure that it did not happen again. Taking up the cape names of Solace and Artificer, the duo worked hard to learn the basic tenets of their chosen skills, and if there was one thing that was more useful than anything else in this situation, it was determination.
Magical efforts, Taylor explained, was not just based on pure mystical might. Rather, the strength of will of the caster was vitally important. Creation was natural, it was the way it was meant to be on the grand scope (leaving aside all of the things humans did to nature, as that was a different matter entirely), and so Creation resisted supernatural efforts to change it. A spell-caster had to match their Will and Mana against the Creation's desire, for want of a better word, to remain as it was. The greater the changes you wished to impose, the greater your Will and Mana had to be. As she described it, magic was the method of using supernatural power to twist the world to the user's desires, though of course there were limits to what any being (Human, Fallen, Devil, or Angel) could do to manipulate Creation.
The key, therefore, was to work with nature instead of against it. Accelerate the body's natural ability to heal wounds, imbue an item with power during the creation process rather than after it. While this obviously couldn't succeed in every situation, it would be more than enough to provide a basic starting point from which to advance to more…blunt approaches.
As they lay in bed, the night before their first day of high-school, each reflected upon the next day.
Charlotte was confident that Taylor would be running the place not long after their arrival. The denizens of Winslow, those not already under the sway of the gangs, would be desperate for someone to follow. Someone who would protect them and guide them away from the gangs. Those in the gangs would recognize someone beyond themselves, someone greater in scope than their petty feuding, and some might even abandon their criminal ways when shown a good example. All in all, she knew without a doubt that everything would work out just fine.
Emma, for her part, was worried about how they would be treated. The people at Winslow High were not known for their deep and abiding morality, nor their close relationship with all that was Just and Good. Sexual harassment was certainly a probability, given their looks, and she knew that people would be drawn to admire them for appearance if nothing else. The gangs wouldn't appreciate anyone doing anything that could be perceived as damaging their influence over the student body, their prime recruitment material, and things could get unpleasant rapidly if the wrong series of events took place. Wrong events that would take hardly any effort whatsoever to put into motion. Not for the first time in the last few weeks did she reflect upon the fact that, before she had discovered the truth, her main concern with school would have been popularity and who was the cutest boy. How much things could change, in so short a time.
Taylor, in contrast to her two Pawns and friends, was not concerned with teenaged power games or petty actions from petty people. No, she knew that nothing the wannabe bangers at Winslow could do would harm her for any noticeable length of time, but she wasn't sure just how durable Charlotte and Emma were. Even if guns and blades were insignificant to them, as new and relatively weak as they were, they would still be in danger if anyone realized they could use the duo against her. She doubted they, as virtual newborns, could contend with the parahuman leaders of Brockton Bay's criminal elements.
She resolved once more a resolution she had made many times before: anyone who tried to harm the people she loved would find out just how Wrathful she could be.
################################################################
Actions
↑ Top ← Previous Chapter Next Chapter → Bookmark Comments (10)
Kudos
Whynotmeforonce, FlowersBloomInWinter, LenaraSys, ShadowWolfKing4545, WitchQueenLeFay55, twil, A_dreadfull_noodle, Gorgul, Borland30, Robotpanda24, PurpleSorcerer, fowlerddf14, Banko54, OryxTheTakenKing2, Tommy298, InguiTV, HornyCat, TypeNightmare, taboosneeze, NocturneEntropy, LostKitsune, SilverCloud456, ROw123445, Bobbicus, Irkalia, 80sRetroDreams, NotableRonin, Libraeye, Phaazeprime, Internet_addict9, Elatedrune, Nhobdy, EldonTheGnome, EverybodyLovesAGoodBi, Wattron, Kuma_Aku, Too_cool_to_stab, Keeper_Bishop, DoktorFuturepast, camtall, DrVoida, Friendlyserialkiller, Amdiranifani, KiliRom, MagnarTheRed, Mr_LPer, Korsin, K_L_Murmillo, Diamondjoker88, CraziestRain, and 404 more users as well as 335 guests left kudos on this work!
Comments
Post Comment
Comment as TheBrimmedHat
Plain text with limited HTML ?
Comment
10000 characters left
Footer
Customize
Default
Low Vision Default
Reversi
Snow Blue
About the Archive
Site Map
Diversity Statement
Terms of Service
Content Policy
Privacy Policy
DMCA & TIDA Policies
Site Status
Contact Us
Policy Questions & Abuse Reports
Technical Support & Feedback
Development
otwarchive v1.5.0.1
Known Issues
GPL-2.0-or-later by the OTW