As they leave, Eábha is gushing about the book. a peasant revolt in Gaul, a man gone mad, love, betrayal, loyalty, trickery... This Dickens was a great bard to weave such a tale! it was her people's favourite thing of humanity, their boundless inventiveness. They did not do it as beautifully or well as the People, but they did it in ways the Sidhe would not think to.
The woman of Iberia and Serica leads her to a hall that, to her disappointment, smells not if cream or Mocha, but of acid and meat and bread & butter. She looked at people, some of who she knew, but many she did not. It was as packed as any banquet she had ever seen. She was sat at a table, catching glances and returning signs of greeting. She watches as she tries to make some form of announcement. It seems to go poorly, she loses form as she goes. She is not privy to the details, a Bronwyn, condemned and forbidden affection, a a plea to disregard those facts. It was a fun thing. She sat patiently for the protectors to arrive.
It was a little more difficult for Alexis to not stand out in the middle of the cafeteria when they were still dirty, but they kept their hoodie up and face down to try and avoid attention. All the food around them made their stomach gurgle, but they held off. Best for them to wait until after the meeting. As long as no attention would be paid to the group-
"Uh, can I have everyone's attention?" Shayera says in a clear, loud voice.
What is she doing? Alexis was confused. They looked on, noticing the stranger seated at the same table. A girl with some ethereal quality to her that puzzled them. They hadn't seen her before, but being next to Shayera like that today made it seem like they knew each other. Maybe it was a member of her old team back in town? Thor Girl perhaps?
And Shayera was apologizing to the room. Or specifically, to Bronwyn...oh. They pulled the strings of their hoodie closed to try and make it harder to recognize her, turning away towards the wall and pretending to study some of the posters up for school events. No need for them to be noticed if Bronwyn was already there.
"Kaoru, you don't- They're not waiting for you; I'm not even an office aide. I just wanted to talk to you, and make sure you're okay, that we're okay; and you haven't been responding to your texts or comms or anything. Oh, that room should be empty, Mr. Zimmerman always goes out to smoke during his Preparation Period."
"So... how pissed are you?"
***
She was so pissed.
Bronwyn had been trying to extricate herself from a very difficult conversation with Ronnie when Shayera got up to give her speech and made everything ten times more awkward. What the heck is she thinking? I didn't say anything about this, did I? Did the sidhe lady whammy her with some sort of glamer to make her embarrass herself?!
No, I'd see that... "Hey Ronnie, I'm sorry but I've got to-""Bail. Yeah, that figures." Ronnie worked her jaw in frustration, fist clenched around one of her braids. "Okay, fine, go get your girl, clearly she's important to you. But if you're really choosing all of her drama, maybe you should think about if she's really worth it. There are other lesbians in the sea, you know Bron, probably even ones who won't dangle your whole life like a yo-yo."
"Look, Ronnie I-" "Go. But we are not done talking."
Bronwyn walked over to Shayera's table at a brisk place, cheeks lightly sizzling with embarrassment and annoyance. "Hey, Shayera, you know we had already gotten back together, right? And if I'm going to be cast as the Wronged Lover in some Halcyon Dinner Theatre, I'd really like to get a glimpse at the script first. Or like, audition."
Her quick(ish) aside finished, she turned to her new faerie friend. "So, I'm Bronwyn. It's nice to meet you Eábha, and it sounds like you may have already heard quite a bit of personal stuff about me. Just to get some cards on the table, I've heard that Bendigeidfran warred with the Tuatha De Danann back in yesteryear. I'm not him, and I'm not looking to restart old fights unless I have to, but you wouldn't be the first ancient thing to come after me for payback and get a lot more than they bargained for. Fair enough?"
Her stomach twists in newfound agony when her gesture didn't come across the way she intended. She grits her teeth, though, determined to explain why she felt she had to make the announcement.
"We're together, but the school didn't know that yet. And Mary-Beth-- well, she told me a while back that this whole fake breakup was hurting you, and I was afraid people would think you were crawling back to me, when I'm the one who should be crawling back..." She looks into Bronwyn's eyes, pleading.
She tears herself away from that moment, the presence of the fey next to her needing to be acknowledged. Bronwyn addressed her, apparently recognizing Eábha for what she was.
"Uhh, yeah. Eábha, Bronwyn and Alexis. Alexis and Bronwyn, Eábha. We've got a truce through to the end of the school day, and then we're going to decide whether we've got to fight it out more." Her stomach was still all bound up in knots, but she forces herself to take a few bites of her lunch anyway. "And while we're under truce, maybe Eábha would like to tell us why she's here in Halcyon?"
Alexis had snuck up on the table when everyone's attention fell away. Their hoodie was pulled taut to the point that only their eyes and nose were visible through the hood now. They glanced forlornly at the food they wouldn't be able to enjoy right now before speaking up to the strange ethereal girl.
"I'm Alexis," They told her. "It's nice to meet you. Um...are you a student here? I don't think I've met you before..."
Eábha is cheerful as the others make their introductions. Indigo and red hair are brushed from Seaglass green eyes as she extends a hand to Bronwyn and Alexis in turn. These two are the same. fascinating, is this some insult? some flattery? Is one of them to be executed? she asks as she sees the resemblance.
The woman Bronwyn has the same vile taint to her as Shayera, but beneath is something known to her, like unto the Tuatha, and the Fomor... the Child of Cian... it could not be. Bendigeidfran? I see the power of Fomor and Tuatha and deity besides in you, girl? I know you are not Bendigeidfran, though you share a remarkable similarity to him, or rather he did to you! she says But it surprises me little, Lugh, that you should escape before mine own peoples, you always were so clever. Though, I remember you taller, and less... Feminine she marvels at Bronwyn
Why, I am here because it is where I stepped through. Where the doorway was rent open, by the Fomóire's dark magic.and I am here because it is fascinating, and this world has been deprived of my people for so long, centuries at least.She says to Shayera, before Finally turning to Alexis.
I am a student here, as of this morning. You have not met me. you would remember.
Shayera's face becomes serious. "You 'stepped through.' Through what, exactly? And, um, you didn't... possess any mortal to be here, did you?"
Bronwyn discretely shakes her head at Shayera's question. That's not what she really looks like, but what's beneath definitely isn't a human.
So Lugh, huh? Does that track? He was a big guy who fought Balor I guess. Ugh, I wish Mary-Beth were talking to me and I could be sure.
"Well, I don't know all the details, but I'm not really Lugh either. I've got his job, but I'm just me mostly."
Eábha's eyes flash, and her head tilts as Shayera asks her about possession. I stepped from the Elsewhere. Tir Na Nog to my people. Annwn to Bronwyn, Olympus to Macedonia. Alfheim to the norsemen, Kunlun to your Serican ancestors. The place where Wonderfully, Terrible, Impossible things come from, and whence they return, when your kind relegates them to myth.
And now, there was an invitation, something that opened a path through the hedge, or a light through the mists, for our Welsh friend. I am hardly going to decline an opportunity to experience this fresh new world. I am already glad I am here she lets out a peal of melodious laughter. And I have not come into ownership of any humans, by my word. No offers of aid for a firstborn, not made off with babes and left Fetches behind, not lured any youths away with my Wiles.
She regards Bronwyn again, eyes trying to pierce through her as she examines the magic around her. You are not him? A descendant then, I know he trusted with mortals often enough to have those? A great granddaughter forced to take up his mantle as a warrior for righteousness? My word, so intriguing.
"Well, Whip's gonna love this," Shayera mutters under her breath. She studies the interaction between Bronwyn and Eábha closely, watching for signs that the latter girl may attack. She didn't have much to add about Bronwyn's connection to Bran and the Welsh figures of legend, so she stays silent but observant.
She feels a slight tug of emotions and glances over to her sisters, eating at a nearby table. They're watching her with insistent expressions. "Um, if you'll excuse me," Shayera says and grabs her tray, then carries it over to where Yin, Shu and Yu are seated.
<That looked like it went over well,> Shu Zi immediately says when Xiu Ying sits down.
<What? Oh. Well, I thought I should say something. I guess Bronwyn didn't appreciate it like I thought she would.>
Yu Hiu smiles sympathetically. <I thought it was sweet.>
Shu scoffs and rolls her eyes. <Bronwyn sure didn't think so. Maybe this will finally put your relationship out of its misery.>
Xiu Ying gasps. "How could you say that!?!?" she shouts, loud and in English reflexively. Heads turn.
Yin Ying and Yu Hiu both look at their sister sternly, but Shu just shrugs. <You're not compatible, Xiu. Bronwyn is a lesbian. You aren't.>
Her eyes narrow, looking dangerous. <I love her. That's enough.>
Shu Zi meets her stare. <Is it? How many times have you screwed up? How many times do we have to feel your own worry and stress over what you've done to her? I am tired of it.>
Folding her arms defensively, Xiu Ying leans back in her chair. <You just want to go back to China.>
She barks out a laugh. <Yes! We're getting bored here, Xiu Ying! We haven't had a job in weeks -- your stupid hero stuff doesn't count -- and we're just waiting on you.>
<Shu Zi has always been blunt,> Yu interjects. <But with your wings not working, then maybe-->
Shayera stands up abruptly, taking her tray of half-eaten food in her hands. "I can't, right now. Not after-- Not after everything." She leaves to bus her tray.
Bronwyn shrugs. "It's been a couple thousand years. Anyone who's at all from that part of the world might be a great-great-great-great-grand-something, I guess. But I wasn't forced to take up my Mantle. I chose it."
She was quiet a moment and then her eyes hardened. "Did anyone else follow the path?"
Alexis was barely able to keep up with events. They weren't as informed as the rest about how this magic stuff worked. All they knew now was that Bronwyn and Camila had enhanced powers because they were linked to ancient heroes or gods, and that this new student was possibly someone from the realm of those immortals. So they just nodded their head along and tried to keep from calling attention to themselves, listening to the chatter around them.
"-so weird, right? I mean, she just gets up-"
"-Let me just say, she's got steel in her spine to put herself on the spot-"
"-We have a lot of new students, right? That guy at the faculty office looked cute-"
"-and like, it's a crater. Here's the clip. Like someone blew up the whole-"
"-It's just not possible, right? No star, no understudy, so the play can't happen-"
Alexis perked up, turning towards the table two over from them. Several students hunched over and ignoring the recent drama of Shayera's announcement. They looked desperate, a couple of them leafing through a blue-bound pamphlet that Alexis caught the title of - The Merchant of Venice. Interested, they listened in with more focus and ignored the table.
"-Look, it's Halcyon, right? Tiff knew her moms were nervous coming here. We can't blame her that they got scared and sent her off somewhere with less explosions," A boy said. His hair was cropped on the side and squared on top, scratching the small patch of fuzz growing on his chin. "Danisa's the one who dropped out because she got a part in a 'real play'."
"It's still bull," A girl replied, a streak of white bleached into her otherwise long brown hair. "We fought to be able to put this play on in the first place. Now we have to find a Portia three weeks from opening night?"
Find a Portia...
Alexis gripped onto the table. They couldn't. Not with their current face. They wouldn't be right for the role anyways. Someone else would probably step up. They couldn't even be a student here-
Shayera's pendant.
Alexis shot up so suddenly the table lifted an inch off the ground. "How does her pendant work?" They asked Bronwyn, interrupting her conversation with E`abha. "Can I get one?"
Kaoru's pace only slowed for a moment before he continued his brisk walk towards the office. At the very least, it would get the timing right for his absence. "No one has attempted to contact me on comms, and I'll be handing Alexis her armor after school." He responded simply. "I would also not say that I'm pissed." Which was true. He was annoyed at being pointlessly taken out of one of the few classes he liked but something apparently as dumb as a talk that, as far as he could tell, could have occurred some other time. But there wasn't that flush of heat he associated with anger. Almost the opposite actually. Just a vague disinterest in this entire interaction. He didn't see the point in it. And he didn't like spending his time on pointless things.
And...goddamn it, now his pants were riding up again. With a conscious effort, he avoided tugging at them again. When he didn't have something to engage with, he became irritatingly aware of seemingly every place his clothes were touching him. And the longer it went on, the more he started to feel...he wasn't sure what exactly. Slightly off balance? A vague sense of malaise? He couldn't quite place it and that just made it worse. He just wanted to be done with this and go back to concentrating on class.
She just wanted to shake him. "Precise, technically true statements are just the Most obvious way to show you're avoiding really telling me what's going on with you, and that's a waste of both of our time! And I thought we were better friends than that. You're not hooked up to some kind of magical lie detector are you?" She joked, humorlessly. "Wait... actually there's something on your chest."
The Fey girl takes up her pen, beginning a simple drawing as she looks up at Bronwyn. As you say. she concedes and how ever could I know who else had come? No one accompanied me, but an open door IS an invitation, I expect others will be as delighted as I. Your people have been quite welcoming of me, why would they not welcome other creatures of the otherworld?
"Yeah, sometimes they're more welcoming than they should be. So tell me-"
"How does her pendant work? Can I get one"
"What? Oh, Shayera's? It's pretty specifically anchored to her wings, even the other more multifunctional bits tie into that base-enchantment. Do you want something so we don't have the same face though? That should be easier to swing for..." She glanced at Eábha. "For whoever ends up making one of those."
"Yeah, sometimes they're more welcoming than they should be. So tell me-"
Eábha bristles at that comment, as if Bronwyn had just suggested a transgression with her mother. More hospitable than is wise? Hospitality is a sacred duty. To shirk it would mark them as exiles, knaves, or other wastrels! If you are to bear the burden of Lugh, you must have more honour than you display now. she chastises. Look to your fellow students, who see a visitor from another world, and offer her food from their table, a place in this academy, and learn from their example.
"It's 'cause they think you're hot," Shayera interjects as she returns to the table. She looks far more distressed than when she got up, but her eyes are focused on Eábha.
"The world has changed, and there have been some really bad things trying to get in. Balor, for example. So Bronwyn's right that people should be cautious." She gives her hand a squeeze as she brings it up for a kiss.
Bronwyn bristled right back, "Ask Bres whether the hospitality of Lugh should be esteemed. And ask yourself how often you've deceived your way into your 'hosts' good graces. Hospitality is pointless without trust."
I am beautiful. she concedes to Shayera. But the dangers of this world are why Hospitality is so important. Those abandoned to the roads and elements are doomed to perish, save for Heroes, Like us. she says
Eochu Bres she spits the name, like a foul curse had betrayed his duty as long, had rendered his subjects subservient to Fomòire power. He relinquished the protection of decency long before Lugh gave him his justice this sounds rote, like this is all of Faeries answer to that betrayal. and how, pray tell, have I lied to these people. Answer carefully, for I shall not take such accusations lightly, and upon the roof after instruction, we shall have an accounting.
Shayera scowls. She thought that Bronwyn and Eábha were starting to get along, but the tension had ratcheted up as their conversation had moved to figures with whom Shayera was unfamiliar. She arches an eyebrow at Eábha. "I've seen beneath your illusion. I won't go so far as saying that having a glamour is lying, considering I'm wearing one myself. But can you at least acknowledge that it's not the truth?"
it is a glamour, not an illusion. A woman of indigo magic should recognize the difference. she offers. and does your bosom appear to be one lump upon your chest? Is your back tattooed with the glyphs upon your dress? Would you say someone is a liar for wearing clothing? My glamour is much the same, though more suited to my kind. This is a place of learning , all here should well know that a Sidhe garbs itself in glamor.
Kaoru wasn't quite able to suppress the slight, wry twist of his lips at the 'I thought we were better friends than that' comment. Who was lying now? He at least had been perfectly honest. "I'm not the one dragging you out of class to-" He stopped in the hallway, suddenly looking down as her last statement caught up with him. He relaxed slightly when he didn't see a giant, man-eating spider on his chest or anything of that ilk. Then his face pulled into a slight frown. His shirt was just as clean as it had been that morning when he put it on. "What are you talking about? There's nothing on my chest." He resumed walking slightly faster than before. He wasn't sure what she was trying to pull, but he was eager to have this over and done with.
Shayera just about asks what the difference between a glamour and an illusion, but decides against it. She glances down at the silhouette of her figure created by her dress, wondering if Eábha was making a jibe at Shayera's flat chest.
"Okay... well... next period is about to start. I've got Arabic. I'll walk you--" Shayera pauses mid-sentence as she picks up a growing commotion as students are staring at their phones. Then she heard it for real. "Guys, there's a strange whistling sound outside..."
She moves to the closest window and squints against the bright sunlit outside. "What the hell is that?" It's distant, but Wingblade's eyes have always been good at seeing distance.
She races back to the table. "Bronwyn, Alexis, we gotta, um, there's a dragon? outside? And it's making some kind of warbling sound." Her hand clasps around her pendant and then flinches as she remembers. "DAMMIT!"
Her face is drawn as she looks at Bronwyn. "Go. I'll stay behind and... guard the students, I guess. You know, if it gets any closer. Go."
She turns to Eábha. "Friend of yours?"
What do you do??
Whiffling, more than whistling... she says, peering out the window at the beautiful specimen of Jabberwock. Draco Hibernica. a little one, I suppose a full grown one wouldn't fit through the door... she says
It is no ally of mine, nor did I know of it's existence within this world. she says But, I am not regretful of its presence. It is a chance to test my mettle and wits against those of the heir of Lugh, if my oath to thee does not prevent my drawing my sword upon this creature. She looks to Shayera pleadingly.
Shayera blinks in surprise at Eábha's pleading look. "I was only concerned with the students, so you'll, um, not break your oath if you fight it." After the briefest pause, she checks. "It wouldn't be possessing a person, would it? Just checking."
The whiffling sound becomes louder, as does its strange garbled call, though not yet audible to normal hearing. Shayera claps her hands over her ears. "Aah! That's making my head hurt."
Of course not she says, and draws her sword again, sprouting her wings as she does. Who here has the boldness to go with me, and do battle? she asks
Excitement and fear starts to race through the student body. The principal's voice crackles over the PA system, instructing everyone to remain calm and to orderly return to assigned classrooms.
Shayera looks longingly out the window, and Eábha is able to read the conflict on her face. "I'm not even dressed for this," she mutters through clenched teeth. She grabs Bronwyn by the arms and cranes her neck up to kiss her fully on the lips. "Go. Be safe."
Then she turns and starts pulling students away from the windows. "Let's go! Away from the windows! Move!" she shouts while waving her arms and herding them towards safety.
Outside, the strange-looking dragon with a squat body, long sinuous neck ending in a bulbous head, spider-like claws and large, leathery wings perches on a nearby church steeple. It lets out a loud, burbling call as sirens of squad cars approach.
"With you in a second, Eábha."
She grabbed Shayera and her backpack and ducked into an empty room to arm herself. "Already really missing my quick-change power too," Bronwyn remarks with a wry twist to her mouth. "Anna's arts-and-crafts sweats are neither battle ready, nor inconspicuous," she explained, gesturing to a child's handprint in green paint about halfway up her side.
Her sweatshirt was simply discarded in favor of the black cami she was wearing beneath it; she went into her bag and swapped her sweatpants for some track briefs, a dark grey, rather than the Hornets' vivid yellow. Then, to cap off the ensemble she pulled out an unseasonably warm ski mask in bright red.
It made her look more more than a little ridiculous, but as she returned Gae-Dearg to its true size, it was the baleful spear's hunger that drew all eyes. "Not exactly my normal panoply, but it should do for now. Whoever needed armor to fight a dragon anyways."
I swear if she makes a buns of steel joke...
Bronwyn headed over towards one of the windows to hurl herself into the fray, but paused. "If you change your mind... There's a collapsible baton in my bag. A stocking too, in case I needed a backup-backup mask. I love you."
***
"I'm serious, Kaoru. You know what I can do, and I'm telling you, you've got something magicky going on!" Worried, she grabbed him before he could leave, and started to focus, but a nagging voice in the back of her head pulled her out of it before she'd unpeeled the layers of what's going on. He's such a private guy... She let go. "Look, if you know what this is, and it's nothing to worry about, you can just tell me that. I don't need to know everything about you to trust you where it counts."
***
Alexis was considering who to ask to help create a pendant like Shayera's to help them assimilate with the student body (Hex was hiding - did the new girl have magic powers?) when Shayera announced the threat. Alexis looked up at her in alarm, standing up - then realizing that it would be very hard for them to go into battle like this in broad daylight.
"I'll get something quick," They said, running out of the lunchroom and heading for the lockers. It would take them a few minutes to scrounge something up...
...Oh, wait. If Kaoru was here, then his car would be in the parking lot - and with it, Alexis' armor!
They turned towards the parking lot instead, searching for the vehicle. It was probably somewhere close to the entrance. Hopefully they wouldn't be seen!
Of course the car would be locked. A strange, strange car that somehow could shrink to the size of a bullet. Alexis looked around, and hoping that they could be forgiven, attempted to force open the trunk.
Lucky for them that it popped open so quickly. They hoped that the lock could be fixed - maybe Bronwyn could do it? At any rate, they reached inside and grabbed the stowed armor, starting to suit up.
Eábha draws her blade, silver and seaglass sings as she smiles, her wings bringing her up and out a window. she streaks over the grounds, diving to dip her right hand into the water of the pond as she flies over, before gaining altitude. she laughs as he goes over a "car" Another unfamiliar word, but Ronnie had repeated it thrice. marked saying it belonged to the constabulary. They looked surprised at her presence, she thought perhaps she should announce herself, but she could not discern the hall of the Taoiseach.
the creature was gorgeous, Rippling iridescent scales shined with each movement of it's long thin neck. It's head and claws were large for its body, like a puppy's, and its snout was still short. She had never seen a juvenile, it was a little bit adorable... until it's tail lashed out at her, forcing her to dive and almost hit the ground. she lands next to a woman in a uniform, with a weapon on her hip, and another in her hand. Who are you? the woman inquires
You may call me Eábha an Fhómhair. I am a warrior of the Sidhe.
I'm officer Alyssa Quinlan, She/Her. Are you one of Whip's kids? a new one she's been teaching? the two of them are separated as the jaws of the beast come close, and they nee to throw themselves back. Eábha shouts to reply.
I am unfamiliar, I was mentored by My own people. she says.
Oh. Well, look, what you're doing is technically illegal right now. And I will be bound to arrest you when this thing is defeated... but if I still had a beaten dragon to corral, it probably wouldn't be hard for you to get away. she states, and her weapon flashes and Barks as the Jabberwock recoils. Eábha realises she needs to spring into action, before someone else gets the glory.
Her blade glows as she weaves around it's head, preparing herself for the first blow. I am powerful enough to wield one of the great blades, This in my hand is a vorpal blade. The words "Snicker Snack" Fix them in your mind. You are strong enough to slay a Jabberwock singlehanded!
She was not. Her blade barely drew blood, and the creature's head turned to her, to the little fey alighting upon its shoulders. it's eyes burned as it looked at her, and it twisted toward her, unleashing a babbling keening.
but she knew a trick for this, learned from the Selkies, whose ears could close, to keep the sea from their skulls. it would keep its song from her ears, and without that weapon, she was quick enough to leap from its body. she panted as she stood upon a barrier. Wherever is the Heir of Lugh, it would seem she will have her chance at our prize.
Her sweatshirt was simply discarded in favor of the black cami she was wearing beneath it; she went into her bag and swapped her sweatpants for some track briefs, a dark grey, rather than the Hornets' vivid yellow. Then, to cap off the ensemble she pulled out an unseasonably warm ski mask in bright red.
It made her look more more than a little ridiculous, but as she returned Gae-Dearg to its true size, it was the baleful spear's hunger that drew all eyes. "Not exactly my normal panoply, but it should do for now. Whoever needed armor to fight a dragon anyways."
I swear if she makes a buns of steel joke...
Shayera tilts her head, appraising. "As homemade costumes go... it's pretty bad," she says with humor softened by true sympathy.
Bronwyn headed over towards one of the windows to hurl herself into the fray, but paused. "If you change your mind... There's a collapsible baton in my bag. A stocking too, in case I needed a backup-backup mask. I love you."
"Love you too," she says wistfully as she watches Bronwyn go. She steps back out into the hallways and rejoins the surge of students heading for shelter.
I should call this in, she thinks, tapping her earbud and then bringing her Abacus handheld up to disguise the conversation. "Hey, Boss."
"I'm in the middle of a crime scene right now Wingblade, can it wait?" Whippoorwill comes through on the other end.
"Probably not. There's a dragon in Northside. School's headed to lockdown. Junior Defenders are going to engage, I'm staying with the students as a last line."
"Dragon as in M47? Or the fire-breathing kind?"
"Second kind, though I haven't seen any fire yet."
"Dammit. I'm all the way at the wharf... Wingblade, listen. I was going to tell you this afternoon, but Matrix did another evaluation of your wings. They said that extreme heat at the site of the bend may melt the internal structure and disrupt the nerve impulses in your feather that are going crazy. Have you checked them since Bronwyn's forge?"
Wingblade's heart starts beating crazy fast. "I haven't... I'll go check now."
"Good luck. I'm on my way, but it'll be several minutes to get all the way across town."
"Copy that," Wingblade says, excitement bubbling up. She turns to fight against the crowd of students to reach her locker where she happens to keep a tightly-rolled up pair of cargo pants and a black tank top.
===========================
The Jabberwock's burble is interrupted as the church's steeple collapses under its weight. Bells clang discordantly in the destruction. With Eábha out of the way and their ears temporarily spared from the sonic attack, the officers open up with small arms fire at the dragon.
It's eyes suddenly flare red, and the squad cars that had created a perimeter begin to glow orange-hot. The officers have just enough time to get clear before they start exploding with a loud WHUMPH! into balls of flame and greasy smoke.
The Jabberwock burbles once more as it slides down the church's sloping roof and crashes into the colorful objects of its adjacent playground. Police officers, barely recovered from the blasts of their cruisers exploding, clap their hands to their ears to ward off the strange cry.
In the distance, a police helicopter is heard rapidly approaching.
What do you do??
Oh dang. It's not just big and scaly...
Mysterious rays meant that just throwing Gae-Dearg at it was a risky prospect at best. Especially if it actually needs decapitation to stop it... Wait, was the vorpal sword decapitate-y in the poem? Or just in D&D? Ugh, Mary-Beth would know.
Whatever. Just have to keep its attention off those guys and onto the nice, shiny, invincible spear...
Sprinting at greater and greater speed she casually hurdled the walls between her and the playground, bounding up to the top of a day-glo slide where she waved her spear back and forth, shouting, "Hey! Hey Ugly! Over here!"
Eábha watches as the Heir takes the field, welding a spear... Quite possibly THE spear. Her banter needed work, but she was yet a youth. But she had managed to draw the creatures gaze without protection.
Like a hawk, she rises, gaining speed as she does, and she draws he blade across the beasts about, forcing it to avert it's eyes from Bronwyn.
Unfortunately for Eábha, momentum carried far more weight in this world, and she had spent all of hers in the blow. Now, she was all but stationary, next to the dragon's mouth.
Bronwyn's attempt to draw the Jabberwock's attention unfortunately didn't stop its burbling cry, so the officers still writhe on the ground with their hands over their ears. It still swivels its head to glare at her, eyes burning hot.
It doesn't last long enough to do any damage, however, because Eábha takes that moment to strike. She darts in for another slash, but she forgot the classic warning of the Jabberwock's claws that catch. The Sidhe warrior is plucked out of the air by one of its spidery talons and caught in a vice-like grip.
It roars triumphantly as it turns back to the smoking squad cars, its tail whipping around. It spreads its wings and starts to take flight, creating a whiffling swirl of wind blasting everything back!
Bronwyn tumbled back in a graceless-looking roll that nonetheless kept her head and neck safe, and the rest of her barely scratched up.
Yanking the eyeholes of her mask back into place, she hustled back towards the jabberwock at a trot, judging its speed and arc with steady eyes.
She flew in there, right? Right.
She didn't want to lob Gae-Dearg away when it would be needed to protect the others down here, so with a quick slash she split apart the tire of an obliterated cruiser, and hurled the un-padded wheel at the Jabberwock's shoulder like a discus!
Eábha strugles, and prepares to shapeshift from the beasts grasp, when the Heir breaks the Beast's grasp. She flies to the ground, and snatches up one of the Constable's weapons. perhaps the smiths of this city are stronger than the smiths of faerie. She lets her glamour slide over it, elongating the barrel, and turning the blue-grey metal a lovely silver, with napoleonic (not that she knew the word) embossing.
and she steps thrice forward, and aims for the monster, waiting until it rears to use her new weapon.
Bronwyn's discus throw caroms off the armored scales of the Jabberwock, but it's thrown with such force that the beast drops Eábha in surprise. Enraged, it turns its sinewy neck to glare at the hero. The fires in its eyes intensify and Bronwyn starts to feel the air around her heat up!
With the dragon's attention focused solely on Bronwyn for the moment, Eábha glamours one of the officers' weapons, dropped from earlier. The enchanted gun goes off in her hand with a loud but strangely musical report, and a bright red spot blooms on the Jabberwock's hide.
It screeches in newfound pain and injury. Its tail sweeps around reflexively, cracking like a whip at Eábha!
The Jabberwock's burbling tone changes pitch as it seems more interested in getting away from this being that can hurt it. It flies low to the ground to flee from danger or difficulty, aiming toward the line of trees behind the battered church. However, the trees are only a property line barrier, not a true forest. On the other side is a subdivision full of homes!
The tail strikes her like a thunderbolt, sending Eábha head over heels, landing beyond the burned ring of cars, barely managing to roll. Her glamour was breaking under the strain, her hair and clothing already in their natural state. Sweat dripped from her brow and pain flooded through her body.
The heavy footsteps of Mercy coming around the corner and seeing the Jabberwock ahead of them come through, and they leap forward to land on the Jabberwock's back, strangling its neck to try and steer it from the subdivision-
And looked on helplessly as its tail smashes several trees on the line, which crash into the backyards breaking windows and sheds and back porches with splintered branches and trunks. Mercy tightened their grip, pulling hard and keeping its focus on them now, hoping to give everyone time to come up with a plan!
Kaoru pulled his arm free as he quickly tried to suss out why he might supposedly have a 'magic' aura on him. The obvious answer was whatever the hell it was that had happened with Balor's magic and caused his current condition. Though wouldn't that be all over him and not just on his chest? Or maybe it was some remnant of that quack's tests. Either way it was probably not something he had to worry about? Or, y'know, maybe it was and he'd die a horrible death. His lips twisted upwards slightly at the thought. It would serve them right. "I'm sure it deserves about as much worry as that fight," he said simply before continuing his walk and back to the office.
*****
Kaoru managed to get to the edge of the parking lot just in time to watch Alexis break his car. His vision went red briefly before he managed to push the burning anger down with one grimly satisfying thought: now he wouldn't need to meet up with the idiot after school. As the idiot bounded away, he ran to his poor baby, grabbing up a few of the other things he had stashed in the trunk and moving them to the now more secure body of the vehicle. He quickly tossed his drone up in the air as he climbed it. Tapping a few short directions on his watch, he opened his laptop and started pulling up his music editing software as he waited for the little machine to reach its destination.
The creature was using sonic attacks. That was just sound waves. That was therefore pretty easy to neutralize. He had done plenty of work already trying to slice together multiple music tracks or synthesize instruments he hadn't learned yet. Just for a lark, he had even worked on some real-time auto-tuning software. This was what he now modified. Instead of taking in a sound and pitch-correcting it, he had the software invert the input and play it back out. It was actually much easier than auto-tuning. As long as the drone could stay relatively close to the creature -- which would hopefully decide to focus on actually dangerous objects and not a flying thing following it -- it could play sound waves that would neutralize any future sonic attacks the creature attempted.
The air around her was suddenly hot, too hot! She spun Gae-Dearg frantically, trying to disperse the deadly heat as the runes began to glow fiercer and fiercer, but that just left the jabberwock's gaze dispersed, a lethal haze of heat ready to engulf the nearby police!
Sweat poured off her as she plunged in, skin sizzling against Gae-Dearg's haft as she laboriously grounded the last of the heat with an anguished cry.
One of the advantages of a rampaging dragon is that no one pays attention to a girl getting changed in broad daylight on a nearby roof. Shayera had used her "gifted student" pass to slip into the roof access stairwell, and once up top she hastily changed. She didn't have a spare pair of her sturdy boots that she favored for hero work and was not going to risk her Giuseppe Zanotti's, so she was going to have to fight barefoot.
But that was the least of her worries.
She paused, holding the pendant in her hand, as flashes of the staggering agony crosses her mind. It had been bad enough before, but the heat from the forge had been so intense that she'd become delirious. If it was still that bad... she might not have the ability to pull the pendant back on.
An anguished cry from Bronwyn draws her attention to the fight. She follows the dragon's burning gaze down to an area of shimmering heat distorting everything on the ground. All thoughts of hesitation and fear of pain vanish as Shayera flings off the pendant and takes flight.
Active, conscious thought is pushed aside before she decides if her wing still hurts. The urgency of Bronwyn's situation is all that is in her mind right now. That, and a big ol' dragon that needs smiting.
===========================
Eábha and Bronwyn, both staggered by the Jabberwock's counter-attacks, can do nothing as the creature retreats towards the block of homes on the other side of the tree line.
Before it can put more distance between them, however, Mercy leaps high upon its back. They stop its desperate flight, but in the ensuing melee the tree line is destroyed by the Jabberwock's thrashing. Trees are toppled or rent into kindling, as jagged splinters are sent into houses and yards.
Enraged at its unwanted passenger, the Jabberwock again burbles loudly. This time, however, its sonic attack is countered by a drone flying nearby sending out sound waves of its own to nullify the effect.
The Jabberwock eyes of flame start igniting the trees as it hopes to burn down the world around it.
Then with a metallic glint in the sun, Wingblade dives out of the air straight at the beast!
It turns its head to incinerate the incoming missile. Wingblade fans her wings forward and meets its burning gaze with razor-sharp blades. The beast rages and howls in pain and sudden blindness, but its other senses are still acute. Before Wingblade can disengage, she falls victim to its jaws that bite!
The Jabberwock's broad, flat teeth grind down on Wingblade, though she is no easy morsel to chew. After a couple painful bites, it spits her out onto the ground. Wingblade lands hard, rolls, and is still.
Blinded, enraged and in pain, the Jabberwock remains still a threat. What do you do??
The grinding, tearing pain shot through Bronwyn, not much softened by being at one step's remove, and an anger she hadn't felt when she was the one under attack burned cold in her gut.
Fine. I don't have the sword, but let's see if a different enchanted blade will still get it done.
"Wing already got its eyes... Eábha? Mach? Someone give me some sonic cover, and I'll make with the snicker-snacking!"
Trusting that they'd have her back, she bounded towards it, putting all her momentum into a single charging thrust!
Seeing Windblade get chewed up and spit out enraged Mercy, as they climbed up along its back to the head. They grabbed it by its scales, yanking as they started to slam their palm hard into its skull, trying to knock it out by concussion and end its attack - at the very least stun it long enough for the others to get a chance to bring it down!
Eábha watched as the others lay into the beast, weapons fierce and bold, with warriors to match. But neither she nor the Heir could make a corporal weapon, nor could mortal Smith's, it seemed.
The Heir leapt, and Eábha watched her trajectory. The spear thrust true, but the catching claws. She rushes forward, alighting upon the Heirs shoulders, driving her down, away from the claws as she rises further. None of us can slay this beast. But invulnerable is not invincible. she says, loud enough that the team can hear.
She continues to rise, Wings spread wide, her weapon elongates from a blade into a whip made of thorned vines. This was a difficult plan her glamour was badly damaged, but it's would likely be as well. And it had been beaten badly, quite badly.
Jabberwock! Hear and obey me! Jabberwock, you are outmatched, you will yield she calls out, with the cadence and intonation of a spell. Each time she says the creatures name, she punctuates with a crack of her whip. Thrice and done. Jabberwock! Yield, and obey me! she cries out, actually striking the creature with the whip this time.
Bronwyn charges the dragon, spear at the fore. Her aim might have been a bit off if it wasn't for Alexis leaping from the Jabberwock's back to its head and raining down blows. It rears up from the assault in an effort to dislodge the armored hero, just as Bronwyn completes her charge.
Gae-dearg pierces deep into the dragon's hide, causing its whole body to shudder. Bronwyn jumps free, but Alexis is pitched off when its neck spasms, and is flung through the roof of a nearby house! They crash into what looks like a living room, and watch as a very nice TV falls to the floor, shattering.
The Jabberwock writhes on the ground from a wound from an enchanted weapon, looking like most of the fight has been taken out of it. Eábha then flies over it and invokes ancient power to fully cow the dragon with three cracks of her whip and three namings. It whimpers in pain and submission to the Sidhe.
Eabha lands in front of the beast. Suífidh tú. Leagfaidh tú ar an talamh. Is mise do máistreás. Beidh áit agat le mo chroí agus bia ó mo bhord. géillfidh tú dom go dtí go dtuilleann tú scaoileadh saor.* she says. Everyone watches as the faerie creature slowly shrinks, until it looks like a small cat. she scoops it up, and puts it in a purse all of you are fairly certain she didn't have a minute ago.
She turns a half-mad grin to the others, two perfect face and glowing eyes still showing through her Glamour in fits. That was quite interesting. Does the Iberian yet live?
Officer Quinlan recovers enough to approach once the Jabberwock is contained. She holsters her weapon while speaking into a microphone on her lapel. "Six-nineteen. Threat is contained. Repeat, threat is contained. Medical units are cleared to approach."
Other officers also begin recovering, and start to form a perimeter around the church. "The structure may not be sound. We need a cordon around it," Officer Quinlan directs, then turns back to the heroes.
"Ava, was it? I hope I'm right that that monster's not coming back any time soon? We've got wounded and--" she cuts off when she sees the mangled form of Wingblade. "Oh, damn. That's, that's, um." She speaks into her microphone again. "Dispatch, we've got a super down."
=======================
Alexis recovers quickly, though there's a ringing in their ears. That ringing turns out to be someone screaming. They look up and see an elderly woman holding a child of about two in her arms, mouth agape.
What do they do??
Alexis had lost consciousness briefly after falling on their head in the living room, coming to when the TV shattering woke them. They recalled pounding on the beast's head, then flying through the air - was this one of the houses they had been trying to protect?
At least their armor had prevented them from sustaining fatal injuries. They pulled their body up out of the debris and go out through the back porch door, hoping that the family who lived here was able to care for the damages. It was the dragon's fault, more than likely.
Heading back, they realized that the dragon seemed to be put down for now. They got there just in time to see the strange beast being shrunk down and suddenly popped into a purse. The threat dealt with, their priority shifted towards Shayera, heading towards where her blood trail ended.
"Are you healing fine? Do you need help setting anything?" They asked, before checking to see if she was conscious again.