Tag: New Home

A New Home: Chapter 2.7 (Axel)

~ Nerathul ~ Leave a comment

Axel was the first to get to their room, the name on the door saying ‘Axel & Riley’ he smiled, he liked Riley, I mean how could you not like someone who gave you free cookies? 

Axel began undoing his luggage. Hadn’t Riley left the kitchen just after him? He shrugged off the thought. 

It took about ten minutes before Riley came in, carrying their luggage behind them. “Oh,” they laughed, “So we’re roommates now.”

“Hey Cookie kid Riley!” Axel said, excited, “Roomies!” He offered a fist bump.

Riley bumped fists with Axel, “I promise I don’t snore… or at least Teddy has told me I don’t snore. I guess he could’ve lied.”

“Does that mean I have two roomies, but one of them is an invisible monkey demon thing?” Axel pondered out loud, he really wanted to see and hear this Teddy thing, but how? “You still have cookies, right?”

Riley pulled some cookies out of a portal. “I always have cookies.”

Axel pilfered the boxes, taking some of his favorites out and piling them on his nightstand, “I have the best roomie!” he said, mouth now full of cookies. 

Riley grinned ear to ear, “I’ll make some peanut-free brownies soon too.”

“Oh my god, I love you so much!” Axel came forward and kissed their cheek.

Riley let out a loud ‘eep’ but didn’t move away, when Axel let go Riley didn’t move an inch.

“Sorry, I’m touchy-feely!” Axel said with a laugh, “So d’you get lost?”

“Hmm?” Riley unfroze and tossed their bags  down on the bed, opening up the biggest one and starting to put things away

“It just took you like ten minutes to find the room,” Axel shrugged.

“Oh, I just had to use the loo.”

“The loo? You Brits are funny.” Axel said, “biscuits, a lift, chips, crisps!” He spoke the words in a mock British accent.

“No more baked goods for you if you mock my accent.” Riley joked, putting the Tupperware of cookies back in the portal.

“I’m not mocking! I love the British! I had the biggest crush on David Tenant watching old Doctor Who reruns as a kid.” 

Riley raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

They shook their head, cotton candy-colored curls bouncing like a light and fluffy cloud, “nothing, nothing you Americans are just silly.”

“Are we?” Axel pondered seriously. To him, Americans were ‘normal’, but he could see how some of the things they did were silly to outsiders. 

“Very.”

“Noted!” Axel said stuffing more cookies in his mouth, speaking while chewing, “Aw man, now I need to figure out how to repay you for the cookies.”

“No need. Someone’s got to eat all the stuff I make, I certainly can’t eat it all.”

“But that doesn’t seem fair, you do all the work!” Axel said, it wasn’t right to take someone’s hard work and not give something in return; his family had drilled those ethics into him. 

“Well, I’d bake even if people didn’t eat them cause baking is my hobby.”

“Alright, fair,” Axel said, sitting on his bed, “Have you ever had roomies?”

“Sometimes.”

“Sometimes?” Axel arched his brow, “I’m a single kid, but I have a cousin now I share a room with.”

“I bounced around foster homes, sometimes they had other kids in the house.”

“Oh, sorry, what happened to your parents, can I ask that?” Axel laid down. 

Riley shrugged, “don’t really know.”

“Ah,” Axel got back up within seconds, so much energy running through him, it was late but he was still bouncing, and started undoing his braid. 

“Your cousin moved in with you?”

“No…” he slowed down, “My parents died during the war,”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, they were heroes, they died doing the right thing,” Axel said. “They were in the first graduating class here, that’s why I’m here.”

“I’m sure you’ll make them proud.”

“Thanks,” Axel said, “What brought you here, and not in cookie academy or whatever it’s called so you can become king of all bakers?”

“Because I met Tohu-wa-Bohu and understood more about my powers and what I can do. It’d be nice to use these abilities to help people.” Riley answered, taking a cookie directly out of a portal and raising it above their shoulder, the cooking disappearing. 

“So cool, so you are pumped to be a hero too?”

Riley sits on a bed, cross-legged, knees bouncing slightly, “Yeah, if that’s the best way to help people with my powers! Not sure I want all that fame and attention though.”

“I mean, it’s part of the gig, but not every hero is Captain Thunder,” Axel rolled his eyes thinking about him, One of the world’s most powerful heroes, but he was far more concerned with publicity and licensing deals than doing the right thing.

Most capes got some form of licensing deal, it was part of the ‘standard’ contract many had to work directly for local, state, or federal government, getting some royalties, but Captain Thunder took it to new extremes.

Riley giggled, “I suppose not.”

“I mean going on Oprah? Totally cringe.” 

Riley shuddered, “Oh god, talk shows, I’d die of embarrassment the second I saw an audience.”

“I know, right!” Axel laughed.

“I heard a rumor he’s trying to get a movie made about him. I can’t imagine who that prick will pick to play him though.”

“Ugh,” Axel shook his head, “It’s just wrong y’know, using your fame so selfishly!”

“What would you do with the fame and the money?”

“Dunno,” Axel says with a shrug, eating more cookies, “I mean my parents took a modest paycheck from licensing deals, they were never big.” His parents had worked for the NYC hero brigade. It was a modest job, but the people loved them…

“If I had to be in the public eye I’d probably wanna like… advocate for foster kids and sponsor an animal shelter or something.” Riley paused for a second then continued in an overly serious voice, “I’d totally do one of those interviews where you get to play with puppies while they ask questions.”

“Oh, that sounds fun!” Axel got up from the bed where he was lying around and started pacing in a circle.

“Ahhh I am way too nervous and excited about tomorrow to sleep!” Riley exclaimed flopping down and starfishing out their limbs on the bed

“Mooood,” Axel said, “Want to go out for a run? Maybe a dip in the pool?”

“I don’t have a swimsuit but a run could be nice.” Riley sat back up.

“I mean we could skinny dip,” Axel teased, Riley turning their face away in surprise, “But I guess a good run will have to do.”

“Sure.” Riley smiled.

Riley and Axel took out some workout clothes and went to change. That done, they left the house and took off for a jog around the Ravenhold park, enjoying the fresh cool air of the oceanside. 

While Axel had trained, Riley seemed to keep up mostly through the power of long legs, their breath was getting a bit ragged after a while so Axel decided to take a stop, there was one place he’d wanted to go and they were getting close…

At the heart of the Ravenhold park stood the Hall of Heroes, a memorial to the fallen, a large marble dome held up by columns and walls about fifty feet in height. At its center was a large bronze brazier, perpetually burning, but that wasn’t what Axel was after.

Seeing his pace slow down, Riley stopped and took a few long breaths.

Axel stepped forward, around the hall were six slabs of black granite, one on six of the eight walls that made the hall. One was labeled ‘Tzari-War’ 

He walked forward, his steps uncertain, so many names were engraved in golden letters upon the surface of polished stone. 

Reading down, he found them… Ajax and Sunspot… He put a hand on the slab, feeling the cold stone against his finger and tears started pouring out, he tried to fight them back but he couldn’t…

Riley came up behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Axel wiped his eyes, “I just saw and…” He can’t seem to find the words.

Riley gently traced circles upon Axel’s shoulder blade, “don’t apologize. And you don’t need to explain either.”

Axel took a moment to rebuild his facade, even after four years it still hurt, but he had to be strong, he had to make them proud, he had to be the best son they could’ve hoped for…

He turned to Riley, “Race you to the dorms?”

Riley smiled back with a slightly worried crack in their expression, “sure.”

So they ran, Axel, letting the adrenaline of the race let him forget the pain for a moment… He wouldn’t disappoint them.

A New Home: Chapter 2.6 (Mari)

~ Nerathul ~ Leave a comment

As people poured into the house, Mari went away from the crowd, quickly finding their room upstairs. They dumped their bag but didn’t bother unpacking, they needed some air and a smoke. 

They looked at the window and found it opened completely. Mari pushed it open and climbed out, swiftly getting onto the roof. They sat down on the tiles and, using their powers, conjured a lighter and joint from their pocket dimension. 

Mari relaxed, letting the smoke fill their lungs. 

It was only a few minutes before someone else tried to climb onto the roof, two hands gripped the edge of the roof, an old beat-up black boot swung over and hooked on the roof and a handsome boy with black hair hoisted himself up with a grunt, pausing when his eyes found Mari.

“Need a hand?” Mari offered with a smirk.

He shook his head and finished climbing up, “Wasn’t expecting someone up here already.” He pulled out a cigarette from his pants and lit it with a snap of his fingers, “you mind a bit of company?” He gave Mari a charming smile.

“Not at all,” Mari said, “Also, that’d be my room there, so I take it we’re roommates?”

“Oh nice, I really lucked out getting such a pretty roommate.” He sat down next to them without getting uncomfortably close, “I’m Sirius by the way.”

“Starting with flattery are you?” Mari leaned in, “It’ll get you far. I’m Mari.”

Sirius laid back on the roof with his hands laced behind his head and a smirk on his lips. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you,” Mari puffed and offered the joint to Sirius, “Want a puff?”

“Sure.” He held his cigarette up and took the joint with his other hand, taking a puff before offering it back to them.

Mari took it back, “Look at us, flaunting the rules of parole,” they joked, “I saw you with a collar early on, what’d you do?”

Sirius shrugged, looking a tad tense, “Just set some fires, burned some things.”

“That’s all?” Mari said, taking a few puffs and offering the joint back, “No juicy crime story? No fighting the law?”

“Not this time,” he answered somewhat quietly, not taking the joint yet.

“Shame, so what you’re saying is that you’re some big soft teddy bear?”

Sirius snorted, swiping the joint from her for a puff, “As if. I’ve beaten up plenty of people and ran from cops before just… not this last time.”

Mari’s interest was now piqued, “What went wrong?”

Sirius stared at Mari for a long time as if debating, then smiled, “That story will cost you.”

“What’s the price? Money,” Mari conjured a stack of $100 bills from their pocket dimension. 

Sirius’s eyes went wide and he barked out a laugh, “I was going to say drugs or liquor but that works too, how much are you offering?”

Mari made bags of weed appear, and some premium liquor, all loot from their previous adventures and theft, “Take your pick?”

Sirius swiped the alcohol and took a swig, “I’m going to need to be a little drunk to say this anyways.”

Mari laughed and let him take it, a brow raised. How bad was his story? “Took it off some racist shit, so enjoy.” 

“Most times I fought or ran off, even got in trouble for assaulting an officer once. This time… I turned myself in.” Sirius took another long sip of the alcohol.

“Turned yourself in?” Mari asked, “Why? Suddenly regretted things?”

“I set fire to a building that I thought was empty.” He got quieter, “It wasn’t.”

“Oh fuck,” Mari paused. That hadn’t been what they’d expected.

Sirius drank some more and spoke slowly, “A kid died, another one got badly burnt.” Mari put a hand on his shoulder. “And so I turned myself in this time.” By then Sirius had already drank half the bottle.

“Puta de mierda,” Mari said, “You can keep the bottle.”

“Thanks.” For a while, Sirius just drank in silence

Mari stood by his side, they didn’t poke further. Down in the garden, a black girl with wings came out of the house. She jumped around, beating her wings but falling back down every time. Sirius tipsily giggled at her failure.

“What do you think she’s trying to do?” Mari asked, leaning forward.

“Fly?” 

“Well, evidently that’s not the correct way,” Mari said, “You think she’s just got her powers?”

Sirius shrugged, “probably.” He cupped the hand not holding the bottle over his mouth and called down to the girl, “You can do it, pretty angel!

Mari decided to join him. “Fly little bird!” Mari added, laughing as the cannabis was getting to them. They lounged back against the roof. “You know, I thought this place would be dumb,”

“Do you think it’s dumb now? I think it’s still hard to tell.”

“I don’t know, just… I don’t do well with rules y’know.” Mari said, “Getting told who’s a bad guy and who’s a good guy by someone else.” 

Sirius shrugged again, his eyes half-lidded and drank some more

“It’s why I put on a fucking mask, to begin with, cause there were some people needing fighting and the law didn’t give a shit about.”

“You a vigilante then?” Sirius had the slightest slur to his words, clearly starting to get a bit drunk.

“Something like that, have you heard of the great and mighty Carnival?” Mari said jokingly.

“Never really paid attention to all that stuff, I was never very interested.”

“You should see my fan page,” Mari teased, “but if you weren’t why Ravenhold, and not other options?”

“The kid had wanted to be a hero.”

“Oh…”

Sirius fell silent, taking another drink, the bottle almost empty by then.

“Well that killed the mood,” Mari says.

“Well, you were the one who wanted to wheedle the backstory outta me.”

“I thought it’d be fun,” Mari said with a heavy sigh. They took out a bottle of beer from their pocket dimension, still ice cold despite weeks in there, “Now I need a drink too.”

“So what’d you get caught for that was sooo fun?”

“Where to start?” Mari answered, “I beat up drug dealers, scared the shit out of a slumlord abusing tenants, vandalized a racist’s business,”

Sirius whistled, “that does sound like fun.”

“Just doing what the cops wouldn’t, and making plenty of money so win-win.”

Sirius laughed, “my hero!”

Mari patted his head, “It was fun, but I made a dumbass mistake and got caught by the cops.”

“Boo.” He stuck his tongue out and then took one last swig. Mari took the empty bottle and disappeared the evidence back into their pocket dimension.

“So, how are you planning on getting back down while shit-faced?” Mari asked.

Sirius squinted at the edge of the roof, clearly having not considered this, “maybe I’ll just sleep up here?”

“Or could jump into the pool,” Mari teased, “It’s not that far.”

Sirius stood up and stumbled a bit, “s’only two stories.” Mari stood ready to catch his dumb drunk ass if he tumbled. 

“Probably want to pass me your electronics before you soak them,”

Sirius pulled his phone out and squinted at the screen, “my dad texted.” He started typing while swaying a bit 

“Is that bad?” Mari asked, “Need me to beat up your dad?”

“No, no he’s—” hiccups cut his sentence in half, “—he’s okay just kinda boring.”

“Well, boring’s better than a dick,” Mari joked, “What’s he nagging you about then?”

“Just asking if I’m okay. He’s a nice guy.” Sirius seems to forget why he was getting his phone out to begin with and tries to put it back in his pocket, only to miss and drop it. “fuck.”

Mari’s reflexes kicked into gear and for a moment the world moved in slow motion for them, they grabbed the falling phone before it slid off the roof. “You owe me one,” 

It was then that the winged girl finally took to the sky, another girl had come to her side. Mari and Sirius clapped and whistled for her. 

“Was wondering when she’d get it,” 

“You did it, pretty angel!” Sirius called.

After a round of the yard, the winged girl went back down to earth. 

Mari made Sirius’ phone disappear and turned to him. “See you down there?”

Sirius nodded and kicked his shoes off into the yard below, shrugging off his jacket and flinging it down too.

Mari called their powers and in an instant, their outfit changed into swimwear, they looked at the pool, slipped onto the patio’s roof, and jumped the few feet between it and the pool. 

The water was cold, giving them a bit of a shock, they emerged to see Sirius follow their lead, thankfully without slipping and breaking his neck like an idiot.

“It’s fucking cold! I’m warning you!” Mari laughed.

Sirius surfaced and spat out some water

“You made it,” Mari came over, swimming to him.

” ‘fcourse.” Sirius said.

Mari climbed out of the pool, and conjured a pair of towels, waiting for Sirius who took the ladder. He took a towel and dried himself off.

“Well, downer story aside, tonight was pretty fun,” Mari said, “Not often do you get to get high, drink, flaunt school rules, and jump in a pool from the roof of a building.”

Sirius wrung his hair out with the towel, “I should probably try not to get expelled on the first day.”

Mari laughed, “I’m not telling anyone, are you?”

“Fuck no.” He laughed

Mari grins, “Now, the only thing I’d need to make it perfect is some cute guy, girl, enby,” she said, giving him a charged look.

“Got me drunk and wet and now you’re flirting with me.” Sirius teased.

“Am I?” Mari came closer, draping an arm over him, “And would you even remember what we did in the morning?” 

Sirius leaned towards her a bit, grinning, “Oh baby I’m not that drunk yet. I’m sure I’ll remember everything we do.”

“Well, then,” They whispered, “shall we get back to our room?”

“Oh it was rather dangerous of them to put us in a room together, what were they thinking?”

“Shame we only met now, would’ve liked having someone like you before, I have a thing for bad boys.”

Sirius just leaned down and kissed them, Mari meeting him halfway.

“Look at us, first night, not even a date,” Mari teased, “my grandmother would faint from the scandal.”

“Drinking together on a rooftop doesn’t count as a date? I’m a failure of a romantic then”

“Does it?” Mari pondered, “I don’t know, I feel a date should be planned.”

“Why? Spontaneity is so much fun.” He pressed in for a deeper kiss not letting them talk anymore.

Mari let him, they grabbed him by the wet shirt and dragged him toward the deck, letting intoxicated minds and impulsivity win, there might be regrets in the morning, awkwardness, and bad memories, but it was a problem for future Mari to deal with.

A New Home: Chapter 2.4 (Ryland)

~ Nerathul ~ Leave a comment

After seeing the class breakdown Nathan waved his hand at Ryland to get his attention then signed excitedly, “Same class!”

“Awesome,” Ryland grinned, they followed people going on with the tour. When they reached closer to the dorm, worms began slithering in his guts. 

“I’m a little anxious about living with so many people…” He said vocally, not knowing the proper signs. 

“I have a lot of siblings so I’m used to it!” He signed with big wild hands as he did when excited, “it’s probably too much to hope we’ll be roommates.”

“I hope so too,” Ryland signed “nobody here knows we’re trans…” 

He’d done his research, Ravenhold was very strongly pro-trans students, but having to live with strangers? Sharing bedrooms and bathroom space? That was more mortifying than any villain Ryland could think of. 

“Well, it probably won’t be a problem. I read that superheroes are disproportionately queer.”  Nathan joked, a big grin on his face.

Ryland snickered. “Still it’d be nice to be… seen as normal?”

Nathan shrugged, “Normal never really was a priority of mine or an achievable goal.”

It made sense, Nathan was Deaf, Asian, and trans, he couldn’t exactly blend in with “proper” WASP society… 

Ryland looked around, the class he’d been assigned to was quite unusual; multiple paramorphs, even a Tzari. What was normal to superheroes anyway? 

They reached the house and people poured in, the two of them found the kitchen and snatched some pizza that had been left on the counter for the students. Ryland looked around and found rooming arrangements, drawing Nathan’s attention to it.

Hands full of pizza Nathan gave a pout studying the board, soon followed by Ryland. They hadn’t roomed together… 

“Awww, I’m with Kiyoshi? Sounds Japanese?” He shrugged, Nathan’s roommate was far stranger, “What kind of name is Danalar?”

Nathan finished one of the slices and finger spelled with his free hand; “t-z-a-r-i.”

Ryland’s gaze wandered and there he (or she? Ryland wasn’t sure how to determine Tzari sex) was, standing with the others at the kitchen counter, Danalar was tall like all of his species, dressed like a human and speaking fluent English. Danalar had strong chiseled features similar to a human, but the tusk and cat-like ears gave the illusion away. 

“They’re kind of handsome for an alien,” Ryland said. 

“Tzaries are hot.” Nathan signed extremely matter-of-factly before wiping the grease on his hands off on his jeans. 

Ryland gave him a punch to the arm lightly, “What about Svar?”

“Venusians are very much non-monogamous, why would I be even if I was dating Svar. Which I’m not. Yet.” Nathan’s hand movements were sharp and pointed but his face was animated with an eye roll, pursed lips, and finally an eyebrow wiggle

“Slow down,” Ryland joked. Nathan repeated himself vocally, as quiet as he could, being Deaf he wasn’t exactly capable of gauging volume.

“Yet?” Ryland shook his head, he didn’t entirely understand Nathan’s attraction, Svar was a great person but he was a giant blue alien lizard, how would one even be intimate with them? 

At Ryland’s feet, Callie was practically vibrating, so many people, so long spent being a good girl. He nudged his friend toward the back of the house and they went out through the backyard’s patio door.

Ryland unleashed Callie and she immediately sprinted around the yard a half dozen times yipping with excitement. She had a lot of energy to burn off…

As Ryland sat down on the deck’s stairs, Nathan found a stick. He whistled and grabbed Callie’s attention, wiggling it around before tossing it. Callie ran after it at maximum speed.

Nathan sat down, “Wish Svar and the girls were in this class too.”

“Me too, at least it’s just us, I don’t sense any other meteor children in our class.”

Nathan nodded, Callie brought back the stick and he threw it again.

Ryland closed his eyes, the Meteor shards were linked together and he could feel their presence. He could sense all the ones on campus and even in the city around it.

“I can feel a few more around campus.”

Nathan nodded, “Hopefully they are just like us.”

“I’m glad to have you with me.” Ryland put a hand on Nathan’s shoulder. 

Nathan smiled before Callie jumped on him, shoving the stick at his face, demanding he throw it again.

“Callie!” Ryland laughed, “We’re having a heart-to-heart you silly spoiled puppy.”

Nathan laughed and took the stick, giving Callie a fake-out throw so she went running while the stick was still in his hand. Callie went all over looking at every corner of the yard for the missing stick.

“I’ve always got your back.” Nathan offered a fist for a fistbump.

Ryland returns it. “Should probably unpack soon?”

Nathan shrugs, “probably.”

Ryland gets up and calls Callie, “Come here, girl.” 

She came back sad and confused, where had the stick gone? Nathan chuckled at her reaction and gave it to her to chew on. Immediately she became excited again.

Ryland touched her for attention. “Follow.”

Callie picked her stick up, and followed them.

Nathan stretched and followed after Ryland, jogging around him so he could get in front of him to sign, “if our roommates end up sucking, maybe we can just force them to let us have a room together.“

“That could be fun,” Ryland said, he found his bags and brought them upstairs, finding their rooms. “At least we’re neighbors?”

Nathan nods happily with a smile and opens the door to his room

Ryland went into his, waving goodbye to Nathan for now. Ryland came in, looking at the room. It wasn’t so small, at least for two people. A pair of storage beds, dressers, small desks, and two closets. 

There was a single duffel bag hanging on the bedpost of the other bed, but no sign of the owner. Ryland took out Callie’s bed and bowls from his bag, filling them for her. That done he climbed in his bed and collapsed face first into the pillow. The texture grated against his sensitive skin, but he didn’t move. He wanted to pass out and wake up three months earlier before all of this had happened…

Callie suddenly went from eating to jumping and barking excitedly. “What is it, girl?” Ryland asked, not moving an inch.

He heard her jump onto the other bed, claws scratching against the bed cover. Ryland finally decided to move. 

He turned around, “What is—” he stopped when he saw what had caught her attention; a cat boy was now on the other bed, curled up in the corner to stay away from her. “When did you get here?” Ryland asked, confused. The door hadn’t opened. Callie meanwhile was trying to jump into his bed.

“Always here.” The cat boy said, anxiously, eyeing Callie, “I was always here.”

“You were?” Ryland asked. But how?

Was that Kiyoshi? He looked Japanese-ish, it was a little hard to tell, his face had markings like a Siamese cat.

Callie finally managed to make it onto the bed, she stopped just shy of Kiyoshi and panted with excitement. 

Kiyoshi disappeared for a second and reappeared, invisibility? “Yeah uh, what does it want?” He pointed at Callie.

Callie made pathetic little begging noises, unused to not being spoiled with love.

“She just wants scratches,” Ryland answered, sitting up on the bed.

Kiyoshi cautiously put his hand on her head and curled his fingers to scratch the very top of her head. Callie leaned into the scratches, making some happy noises.

“She’s harmless, just a bit of a slut,” Ryland joked, Callie would ask scratches of strangers, having no fear whatsoever of them. “I’m Ryland.”

Kiyoshi flinched a bit and then muttered; “I’m Kiyoshi.”

“Nice to meet you, I guess,” Ryland said, “Callie, come here girl, stop bothering him.” She came back quickly, Ryland picked her up and gave her some scratches. 

Kiyoshi sighed in relief, “it’s nice to meet you too.”

Rylands lay back down, emotionally and physically exhausted. “So you turn invisible?”

Kiyoshi nodded, “and teleport.”

“Cool,” Ryland said, he raised his left hand where a bright red gem was embedded, “I’m a meteor child, I kind of slow or speed down time.”

“Cool,” Kiyoshi said, nodding again. He uncurled a little and stretched his cat-like legs out. 

Silence settled between them, it was awkward and Ryland did not have any energy left to socialize with a stranger. He took out his phone and sent a text to his friends, asking them how they were settling in.

Svar was first to answer, “Svar has found a friend-reptile!” Attached was a picture of a human boy with his bottom half replaced by a snake’s tail. 

Ryland smirked and put the phone down. Kiyoshi’s stomach growling incredibly loudly drew his attention. He blinked. “Was that you?”

Kiyoshi’s face grew a little red, “sorry.”

“There’s pizza downstairs,” Ryland said, “People have probably moved on by now.” 

Kiyoshi nodded and disappeared, the indent in the bed going away. About a minute later he came back through the door with two slices of pepperoni pizza in his hand, biting one of them.

“How far can you teleport?” Ryland asked.

Kiyoshi shrugged, then swallowed the bite in his mouth, “not very far.”

Ryland nodded, “right.”

Kiyoshi finished the pizza and wiped his fingers off on the seat of his jeans before going to rifle through his duffle bag, he pulled out some sweats and a Coke.

“I think I’ll get ready for bed,” Ryland said, grabbing pajamas from his own bag. He would unpack in the morning. 

Kiyoshi was already changing his clothes, he had no hesitation in getting undressed. What Ryland saw slightly worried him, Kiyoshi was almost deathly thin, ribs and bones exposed, with a stylized-S on his hip branded into his flesh like cattle…

Ryland frowned but didn’t say anything, slipping out of the room. He took out his phone and googled S-brand, S-tattoo, bringing him onto a page about human trafficking… What Ryland read horrified him; Kiyoshi had been a modern-day slave of an organization known as the Syndicate. 

Ryland read more about them; a global criminal enterprise, the largest in history. They dealt in drugs, weapons, human trafficking, but also chimeras… Humans forcibly mutated into half-animal hybrids often as exotic sex slaves…

Ryland wanted to throw up… Was that what Kiyoshi had gone through? The website spoke of chimeras used in illegal bloodsports, but Kiyoshi was so small…

Ryland closed his phone, he knew enough, more than he had wanted to… He went to shower and change, trying to push away the horrible image in his mind. When he came back to his room, he looked back at Kiyoshi, curled up on his bed. 

“Going to bed,” Ryland mumbled.

“Goodnight.” Kiyoshi’s voice, slightly muffled by his pillow, responded.

“Goodnight,” Ryland answered, his mind still heavy with questions and horror.

A New Home: Chapter 2.2 (Riley)

~ Nerathul ~ Leave a comment

Riley was the first of their class to make it onto the house, hurrying inside with quick bouncy strides and a big smile on their face. They found their way into the kitchen where a dozen boxes of pizzas of various kinds were stacked, to which Riley added their cookie collection. 

“My cookies!” Teddy complained. 

“There’s enough for everyone!” Riley said, patting their friend’s head and feeding him his favorite, slightly burned snickerdoodles.

A white kid with long champagne blonde hair in a braid followed soon after, his face covered in colorful band-aids. “We got pizza,” he says “Oh, man that is beyond cool!”

Riley grinned at him and pointed to the Tupperware full of snickerdoodles they just brought out at him, “Wanna cookie? I baked them myself yesterday!”

“Ab-so-lu-tly!” Axel answered with a grin, “I’m Axel! Strongest hero you’ll ever meet.”

Riley giggled, “I’m Riley! It’s nice to meet you!”

A tall Indian boy with coppery-skin, dark hair came in next. His face bore makeup; black mascara, eyeliner, and lipstick. He was wearing a dog collar and a mesh shirt under a black tee.

“Did I hear cookies? Nice.” He said, “I’m Ethan…” then his eyes fell onto Teddy. “You have a weird naked monkey-cat thing on your shoulder, is that normal?”

Riley’s eyes went wide and they leaned forward excitedly. If they weren’t still holding the snickerdoodles they might have grabbed Ethan’s hands, “You can see Teddy?!”

Teddy hissed at Ethan, “Don’t let it go to your head.”

“What monkey?” Axel said looking back at the two, unable to see Teddy. “Your eyes okay?”

“There’s an imp on the kid’s shoulder, it’s invisible to most people,” said a black girl coming in, she had Amazonian stature, over six feet in height, but what drew Riley’s eye was the pregnant swelling of her belly.

“Ugh, imagine wasting your time making a pact with an imp of all things,” Another voice said, that of a posh Englishman. Riley looked around for it, and saw a weird thing in the reflection of the stainless steel fridge;  a cartoonishly deformed and slender English gentleman with a hat and bugs crawling along his skin.

“What do you have against imps, huh!?” Teddy hissed. Riley picked him up off their shoulder and hold him in their arms. 

“Shut up Jack,” Ethan muttered under his breath. So the bug-man was definitely with him.

Teddy shouted a string of insults at Jack, but Riley ignored the demons’ fighting, turning their back to Jack’s reflection so that Teddy was blocked from his view.

“Please ignore Jack,” Ethan asked.

“I am soooo confused,” Axel says.

The pregnant girl leaned against the counter, she looked rather pale and sweaty “Please tell me there’s some sprite in the fridge before I puke.” 

“If there’s not I got some!” Riley offered, pulling a sprite out of hell.”I’ve only ever met one other person who could see Teddy and now two in one day!”

The girl took it, “It’s piss warm.”

Riley pouted, took the Sprite back and it back through the portal, “well excuse hell for being hot.”

Next to come in was a Tzari, a race of tall aliens that are sometimes described as ‘space orcs’. Riley had never seen one so close. He wore human clothing; cargo pants and a t-shirt. He went to the fridge and took out soda.

“You wanted a drink of Sprites?” He said.

She gives him a look, “What a tusky gentleman, what’s your name handsome?”

“I am Danalar, son of Neetarin of Clan Vinek,” He offers a deep bow.

“Polite, helpful, and handsome? I like that.” the girl said, grinning and looking the Tzari up and down with hungry eyes. “I’m Freyja.”

“It is quite the honor to meet you, miss Freyja.” Danalar smiled.

“Okay, I am so uber-mega confused now.” Axel said, shaking his head, “We’ve got invisible monkeys, an alien, a pregnant chick, and inter-dimensional cookies…” Riley was about to try to comfort him when his expression changed to a grin. “This year is gonna be so AWESOME!”

A bipedal white wolf turned their head inside the kitchen, wearing a pretty flowered sundress. “What’s that about dimensional cookies?- Oo peanut butter!”  She took a peanut butter cookie and throws it into her mouth whole.

“Hell sprites and cookies,” Axel took a snickerdoodle, “Well tell the demon bakers they’re f-n good!” he said before looking at the newcomer “And now we have furries!” Axel said, “Even better!”

“Well I’m the demon baker I guess. I tried to get Teddy to help me once but he ruined that batch… way too much salt… and now he won’t try again.” 

“You got yelled at! I’m not going to be the reason you get fucking yelled at!” Teddy said, somewhat defensively. Riley gave him a loving squeeze and he scrambled back out of their arms to perch on their shoulders once more.

“You made these?” Kayla asked, taking another peanut butter cookie, “pretty good but what’s this about demons?”

“I got a demon on my shoulder. Some people can see it, some can’t.” Riley answers with a shrug. 

“This place is nuts,” Axel says, “Love it, speaking of nuts I’m allergic. Nuts are the only thing that can defeat the mighty Blademaster.” Riley felt a thrill of panic at the word ‘allergic’ and mentally ran through what they saw Axel eat.

“Blademaster?” Ethan says.

“Don’t you have a cape name?” Axel asks back.

“No?” is all Ethan answered to Axel’s question. “Am I supposed to?”

“Every hero needs a name, you haven’t thought about it at all?” Axel asked. 

“This wasn’t exactly planned,” Ethan answered.

Riley tapped on Axel’s shoulder, getting his attention again. “Well steer clear of those, those, those, those AND those. The rest should be nut-free.” Riley pointed at a few separate containers, relieved that they knew Axel hadn’t already tried to eat one.

Axel looked at the snickerdoodles, eyes narrowing. “I was playing Russian cookie roulette here, wasn’t I?” He covered his face with his palm, Riley gently patted his shoulder.

“Yes… you really shouldn’t eat random baked goods. If I wasn’t concerned about cross-contamination when making them then you’d probably be having a reaction.”

“Oh, boys playing heroes,” Freya said mockingly. 

Kayla cocked her head to the side while looking at Freya, “Ain’t ‘playing heroes’ what we’re here for?”

“Do any of you have any training?” Freya asks. 

“I do, I’ve been training for years!” Axel said. 

“Real training.” She corrects, “With an actual teacher, learning how to fight.”

Axel went quiet. 

“I trained with Tohu-wa-Bohu for a bit!” Riley said cheerfully. Tohu-wa-Bohu was one of the Legion bigshots, just like Riley he could connect to hell! 

“I am a trained Armored, all Tzari are trained for battle,” Danalar said, as he took some cheese pizza. 

A pretty person in a pastel pink lolita style dress with a cupcake pattern walked in. Despite their Asian features, their hair was blonde with no dark roots and coiled in beautiful, doll-like ringlets.

“Yo,” Axel says to the newcomer. “There’s pizza and magic demon cookies.”

“Hi! I’m Angelo!” they smile at Axel, clocking him rather quickly as the most normal in the room.

“Want a cookie? I made them myself?” Riley offered.

“Sure.” Angelo looked carefully through the Tupperware and grabbed a sugar cookie. Their gaze went to the pizza with a frown, “so greasy…” he muttered, shaking his head.

“Do they have coffee in this place?” Danalar asked, looking around and finding instant coffee. He plugged in an electric kettle.

 “Sir, would indulging in coffee be wise at this time?” The staff on Danalar’s back had come to life and was now speaking.

“Talking stick!” Axel said, “That’s new.”

“Am I known for my wisdom, Bardiche?” Danalar answered by putting Bardiche off his shoulder and leaning it against the kitchen counter.

“My data on this subject is insufficient to come to a conclusion.”

“Can I touch you, Mr. Bardiche stick?” Axel asks. 

“This is a strange request, sir.” The AI answered.

“Oooo alien tech.” Kayla also came over to Danalar. Poking Bardiche without asking for permission. “Sweeeeet.”

“Hey! I asked first,” Axel pouted.

“Sir, please do not touch me without permission,” Bardiche says. “Sir, please assist me with these rogues.” 

“I’m not a sir.” Kayla pouted.

“Bardiche does not understand the difference between males and females,” Danalar explains, “He is very young,”

“What is the individual addressed as if not a Sir?” Bardiche asked

“A Miss I guess?” Kayla’s tail wagged with excitement as she spoke with Bardiche

“I think that’s a lady,” Axel whispered to Bardiche.

“Analyzing data,” Bardiche declared. “Honorifics of Madam, Lady, Miss, Mrs and have been found. Please input appropriate honorifics?”

“Miss works for me!” Kayla answers cheerfully

Angelo leaned in towards Ethan and asked, “This is… weird right?”

Ethan looked at Angelo. “I mean I have an evil bug demon living in my head, I don’t know what’s weird anymore.”

“Bug demon?” Angelo shivered in horror, “sounds terrible. I hate bugs”

“Same, unfortunately,” Ethan said, “I’m Ethan,” he offered a hand to shake.

Angelo shook his hand, “Angelo!”

Everyone took the chance to re-introduce themselves to those who hadn’t yet caught their name.

Axel’s attention is drawn away from Bardiche. “Okay, names are cool and all, but have y’all picked your cape names?”

“You try to find something cool themed around bugs and disease.” Ethan joked.

“I’m not here to be a superhero, I’m just the hanger-on,” Freya said.

“Hanger-on to what?” Riley asked

“I’m sure you’ve seen my sister, can’t miss the wings,” Freya says, “No idea where she went.”

“That is the worst attitude, come on!” Axel said, “You have got to have something to show.”

“I can punch your fucking face,” Freya answered, “Break your nose.” 

“See, that’s a start,” Axel grins, “you can surely try.”

 “Hey, no violence guys!” Riley scolded, getting another round of pizza. They had already had too much, but they couldn’t stop. Hopefully, everyone would get all the pizza they wanted.

“Hey, I wouldn’t touch a pregnant chick that’s just unheroic,” Axel defended himself, “She is welcome to try to punch me.”

“Well right now I’m more likely to throw up on you,” Freya said, only half-joking. 

Danalar finished making his coffee. “Well, then this is quite a strange group. Would anyone like some coffee?”

“Wait,” Ethan says, “Isn’t coffee a narcotic for Tzari?”

“Indeed it is,” Danalar says, “What of it?”

“Lucky bastard,” Freya joked, “wish I could have a drink.” Riley looked down at her pregnant belly when she said that.

“Drinking and drugs the night before the first day of school? I like partying but even that seems too much for me.” Kayla said.

“You’re pregnant, you can’t drink!” Axel says. 

“Mind your own fucking business kid.” Freya snapped. She gets up. “I better find Michelle and lie down.” 

Danalar chugged his cup of coffee and grabbed Bardiche. “I must attend to certain personal businesses as well.”

“Guess I’ll see you guys tomorrow then?” Kayla said, more interested in getting more pizza now.

“Unless I get kidnapped, you never know,” Freya says.

“So boring,” Axel said, turning to the people remaining, “So you got bug powers, what do y’all have?”

“Well, you already saw the portals! That’s the main thing I can do.” Riley answered, wiping pizza grease off their lips with the back of their hand.

“I’m a hypertech! And I gave myself this beautiful body, amazing right?” Kayla flexed, her ears wiggling and tail wagging.

“So you are a total furry?” Axel raised his eyebrows at  Kayla.

“Yep! A furry through and through!” Kayla answered, pride in her voice. 

“And you?” He asked Angelo.

“Wind powers.” Angelo sends a breeze Axel’s way, tousling his hair.

 “Oooh, nice breeze.Thanks, girl.”

“I’m a boy.” Angelo corrected patiently, moving aside his white sweater to show a little heart-shaped pin with he/him written on it in cursive.

“Oh, well thanks, dude?”

“That’s an interesting choice of outfit,” Ethan says to Angelo. “Do you always dress like this?”

Angelo smiles, “Yeah pretty much. I have a few more classic lolita style dresses, some Ouji style outfits, and some casual lazy outfits that are more masc.”

Axel looked back at Kayla. “Okay, for curiosity’s sake on a scale of 1-10 how soft is that fur?”

“20. I made a special shampoo formula to make sure it’s the softest it can be. You can touch it.” Kayla offered an arm.

Axel took the offer. “Ah, man, I want a blanket made of that.”

Kayla scratched her throat with a claw as she thought about it, “I might be able to engineer that.”

While the others talked, Riley finished off their sixth piece of pizza while Teddy began to look concerned.

“Awesome,” Axel grinned. “Oh, I just realized I haven’t shown off my power yet!”

Axel put out his arms and a selection of swords, polearms, axes appeared out of thin air floating above the ground. “Ta-da!” He twirled a finger and the weapons started to slowly spin.

“Weapons? Doesn’t fighting with them get kinda bloody?” Riley asked with a frown.

Axel made a motion with his arms and the swords were replaced with batons and other non-cutting weapons. “I’m very versatile.”

Riley still frowned with their brow furrowed, “I guess that’s better?”

“Can you summon any kind of weapon?” Kayla asked, touching one of the weapons with a finger.

“Any I’ve touched,” Axel said, “But I’ve been working on expanding my arsenal.” he waved his hand off and the weapons disappeared.

“Fascinating,” Kayla said.

Riley throws their now empty plate away in the trash can and yawns, their stomach aching,”I need to go find my room and unpack a bit. See you guys tomorrow!” 

Riley hopped out of the room, only to catch Axel’s words. 

“See you later cookie-girl-boy-person?” He said, “I better pack my stuff and get my jogging done.” 

“Person! And it’s Riley.” Riley pokes their head back in to say

“Righto!” Axel says, making finger guns, “to the bedrooms!”

Ethan got up following Riley, “Well it was nice.” He grabs his bag, “better go see who my roomie is.” 

“That Axel kid is annoying, we should curse him with disease,” Jack said, making Riley frown again.

“We are not doing that.” Ethan sighed. “I hope there’s some place far away from mirrors,”

Angelo finished the single sugar cookie he took and headed out as well, “see you tomorrow!”

While the others checked their room numbers and grabbed their bags left at the bottom of the staircase, Riley slipped off to a bathroom. “Riley…” Teddy started to say something but Riley didn’t stop to listen, as they stuck a finger down their throat.

A New Home: Chapter 2.1 (Avery)

~ Nerathul ~ 1 Comment

As Avery was listening to the Raven’s welcome speech they felt a presence in their mind. “Hello?” They thought, “Is someone there?” 

A perky and cheerful male voice answered,  “A friend! You’re only the second person to talk directly to me with their inner voice!”

“Are you psychic too?” Avery asked, “I’ve never met another psychic!”

“Yes! I’m 1-Z but you can call me Onez!” His voice exploded with excitement.

“Uh, hi? I’m Avery,” They answered looking around trying to find him, “Who are you? I mean in the crowd?”

Following the connection,  Avery’s eyes ended up on a strange-looking kid with giant golden wings who was looking directly at them. The kid waved a weird talon-like hand, “I’m waving do you see me?!”

“I think… are you a… bird?” They asked, their words a little awkward, not wanting to offend.

“I’m like a griffin!” Onez tried to worm his way through the crowd towards Avery but knocked a few people with his wings, making them wince.

Avery waved at him, “Uh, hi?” they said out loud.

“Hi!” He responded out loud, finally getting to them as people who had been hit by the wings were glaring at him, he turned to the nearest one and sheepishly said, “sorry.”

“Are you alright?”

Onez tilted his head and looked at Avery quizzically, in his head he said “why wouldn’t I be?”

“You kind of bumped into a few people,” Avery says, trying not to stare at the griffin boy, they’d never seen a paramorph in person before, they didn’t want to be rude.

“Well it’s crowded and I got big wings. It’s hard not to bump into some people!”

Avery snickered, “I can imagine… I’m Avery… I said that already, didn’t I?”

“And I’m Onez and I said that already too.” Onez smiled brightly and offered his bird-foot-hand thing for a shake.

Avery took it, “Are you a paramorph?”

“Not exactly… I was kinda made like this.”

“Oh…” Avery frowned, Made? Not born, not transformed but made? “That doesn’t seem good.”

Onez just looks at them a little confused.

“It’s nothing,” Avery said

Onez smiled again

“So… are you excited to be here?” Avery asked. 

“Yes! I wanna make friends with all sorts of people and do all sorts of things!”

Avery smirked, “Kind of the same, my dad… he never really let me do things, meet people…”

Onez lion tail swished, “I was only ever let out for missions… still managed to make a friend! Sniper! but…” Onez trailed off and his prior enthusiasm disappeared, Avery could feel… shame? Self-hatred? 

“Missions?” Avery asked, immediately worried.

“Yeah,” Onez answered quietly

“Onez… Did you work for bad people?” Avery asked.

Onez nodded, “I think so? That’s what people tell me… and they did make me… hurt Sniper so… probably bad… very bad.” A sense of panic filled Onez, which then filtered into Avery, he was afraid of judgment…

“I’m sorry…” Avery said, tearing up, they weren’t sure if it was theirs or Onez’s emotions they were feeling, but they were strong. “Can I give you a hug?”

Onez nodded.

Avery gave him a hug, and for a moment a powerful mental loop occurred, a painful burst of feedback like when a microphone held to a speaker shook them both, but Avery held him tightly until it passed.

“You don’t have to do any of that anymore,” Avery thought, or was it Onez? Physical contact made it hard to tell who is who anymore, thoughts becoming tangled into one.

Onez wrapped both arms and wings around Avery, careful to not scratch them with his talons, “I don’t like hurting people,” was Onez’s quiet mental response

“Nobody does, at least not good people and I can feel you’re good people Onez.”

Onez’s —and by extension Avery’s— thoughts became happy again, warm and fuzzy and he squeezed Avery tighter.

“He’s really soft!” Avery thought, surprised at the feeling of feathers brushing against their skin. 

Onez’s ruffled his wings a little happily, “I take good care of my wings!” He telepathically answered quite proudly 

“I can see that,” Avery said, laughing, “You’re kind of strange, but I guess so am I.”

The Raven started calling up people by name, and students were assigned to one of five classes.

“Oh, darn it, hope we’re in the same class?” 

“Yeah me too!”

When the teacher called Avery to class one, they went along turning to Onez, “See you soon?”

“Yeah! Even if we are in different classes I’ll come find you some time!”

“Alright!” Avery waved goodbye, leaving with a big smile on their face.

As Onez was called to class four Avery’s heart sank a little, another name soon came up: Sorensen Thor, Avery’s other friend! At least these two were together?

So Avery sent a message to Onez. “I’m sad we aren’t together, but you’re with another friend of mine!” they try to send a picture of Thor, “He’s really nice, tell him Avery says hi? Oh and ignore Bastard, he’s a bastard.”

“I will! So… What’s a bastard?”

“You’ll regrettably see.” They said before shifting their focus, “Thor?” Avery tried to communicate, “Can you hear me?” 

“Whoa, where even are you?” Bastard’s voice came through as well, “The freak is back! Where is the freak?!”

“Shut up Bastard,” Avery answered, annoyed to hear it again, “About twenty meters behind you?”

“Still don’t see you… too many people…”

“It’s okay, so you see the big bird-griffin person?” Avery asks

“It’s kinda hard to miss them.”

“Well, his name is Onez and he’s really sweet, can you try to watch over him for me?”

“Sure thing!” Thor answered, bringing a smile to Avery’s face. 

“Great another freak and this one is such a garish yellow color.” Bastard whined.

“Where the fuck did you even learn the word garish?” 

Avery tried to focus and sent Thor the sensation of a hug. “Psychic hugs!”

Thor’s thoughts got a tad flustered for a sec. Ragnarok made a retching nose in their head.

Thor’s thoughts devolved into a petty argument with his resident Bastard, and Avery cut off contact, a headache beginning to form once more. 

Avery giggles, drawing attention for a second. So maybe they weren’t in the same class as them, but Avery had made not one but two friends! Maybe they’d make more soon in their own class?

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Chapter 2.0: A New Home

~ Nerathul ~ 2 Comments

Just shy of a hundred students assembled at the gates, a group of porters came and claimed everyone’s baggage. Most had come by bus, but a handful had come on their own or accompanied by parents. 

As students from the parole bus stepped off, under the glares of regular students, a security guard unlocked their collars. 

The gate of Ravenhold, an elaborate wrought ironwork with the academy’s logo, swung open and a man came out in full costume; it was the Raven himself, dressed in his dark armor and cape, his face hidden behind a raven mask. 

Whispers coursed through the crowd, for many it was their first time seeing a famous superhero in the flesh. 

“Students, if I may have your attention” He spoke, his voice naturally booming, and quickly the voices quieted. “Let me welcome you to Ravenhold academy. I know you’ve come from far and wide to be here and the journey’s been long and tiring so I won’t hold you for long.”

He came forward and paced before the mass of assembled new students, like a drill sergeant inspecting the troops.

“Each of you has been selected by the Legion; because we think that you’re worthy, that you have the heart to be a hero, because you want to make the world a better place or because you needed a second chance to become better. Whatever the reason, Ravenhold welcomes you. Over the next four years, we’ll make heroes out of you, it’ll be hard, it’ll be dangerous, but I know you will persevere.”

A half dozen other men came forward and one of them handed a tablet to the Raven. “When I call your name, you will go to your assigned guide.”

The Raven began listing off names from a list and those called joined their respective groups, divided into five classes of students, each sixteen pupils big. 

“Please follow your guides, they will show you around.”

And so they did, passing through the gates into the academy ground. At the heart of it was the administration and classroom building, a large multi-storied brick building, to its right was the gymnasium and training center, and to its left was the recreation center. They passed between two buildings and toward the back of the grounds, a large manicured park was behind the classroom building and to its sides was the dorms building. 

At the heart of the park was a large memorial, dedicated to those students and graduates who had made the greatest sacrifices.

And soon enough the students found themselves led to their dorms.

“Classes start tomorrow at nine, rest up and enjoy tonight, you’ll find your schedules, uniforms, and welcome package in your dorms.” Their guide said.

And so the groups broke up, each heading to their new home.

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