The Path of Heroes, Part I

Posted on Fri Jul 21st, 2023 @ 1:08pm by Head Mistress Absynthe "Syn" Drake & First Lieutenant Bethany Harrison & Private Mattias Tonelly & General Dyami Bentley (Tribal : Bent Leaf)
Edited on on Fri Jul 21st, 2023 @ 1:09pm

Mission: The Factions
Location: Drake Academy
Timeline: Present Day

Syn stood at the wide bay window of her office, standing at the very center of the grounds, atop the tower, surveying her newly repaired academy. Today her preternatural eyes watched sadly, as they began unloading the unnervingly large stack of carefully crafted stones that were to be added to their Path of Heroes that wound around the base of the tower.

The end of the war with Hydra had made that path a long and devastating one, and this attack only brought ten solid years of those awful memories to mind. Though, that had been the same throughout history, she supposed. They say that losses dimmed with time. Perhaps for others, but she still remembered each of them clearly, still felt the sting of their absence.

Though the ages change, and that only served to better punctuate the vast differences between antiquity and the modern day. Being a creature of unknown lifespan often made her life challenging, especially when it came to the loss of close friends and loved ones. People that she always depended on for their devotion to the cause of the academy. The one oasis of proof that humans and mutants could not only live together, but thrive together.

The loss to the academy alone was devastating. Teachers, team leaders, house mothers, healers...students that would have rather died than see their home, their loved ones, brought down by the bad guys. They stood against the threat, and ultimately had given all, to protect her vision, to defend each other, to defend those that could have never withstood such a brutal assault on their own.

In the end, they had won, as it were. But that victory felt a bit small and shallow, as the cost that it had exacted had been extreme. Hydra was still pulling raids against civilians in the dead of night, and no matter how many times they rooted out one cell, another had to be ferreted out and crushed. Her two newest potential charges were just another example of the lengths that Hydra would go to in their grab for those with anything even remotely related to a genetic abnormality.

“The mountain man is here. We really need to do something about their ability to just walk into our facility,” OG’s exasperated voice came from overhead. “If they can do it, who knows who else can. I don’t know, put a bell on them or something?”

Syn chuckled and shook her head slightly. “Even if we did that, they’d figure out a way around it. Besides, I was expecting them. He’s bringing Fractal in to speak with Jac and Kai.”

“Fractal? I didn’t realize you were planning on going scorched earth so soon,” OG said, her tone darkening. “Do you really think that’s a good idea right now?”

“The Marshals consider Bethany to be an expert on cults and human trafficking,” Syn responded, turning from the window with a sigh and moving to her large, mahogany desk. The diminutive administrator climbed up on the tall, high-backed chair and smoothed out her black, golden dragon embroidered robes as she waited. “As much as I would like to give her time to grieve, we can’t waste any time.”

“Are you planning on starting another war? You know she’s not one that holds back against these kinds of people,” OG said, giving a digital sounding sigh of her own.

“I don’t know. She has managed to apprehend more criminals than she kills,” Syn said with a shrug, glancing over at her computer as a tone warned her that the elevator was climbing to her floor.

OG gave a snort of sarcastic laughter, responding, “Yeah, broken and bloody. And only because Jon held her back. Dyami isn’t so likely to curb those murderous impulses.”

“Are you really going to argue with someone that’s willing to do the dirty work for us?” Syn asked, arching a slender, dark brow above one brilliant red eye.

After a brief pause, OG said, “Okay, you have a point. Still, I have a bad feeling about this.”

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Bethany shook her head and sighed as they exited the elevator, letting her cloak pull back in a glittering wave. Covering herself wasn’t a major spend of her energies, but keeping Matty and his chair hidden was a bit more taxing. “I don’t know why you insist that we do this every time,” she said, following Dyami into the short, comfortably decorated corridor that led to the Headmistress’ office. “I think you just do it to annoy OG.”

Dyami chuckled. “That is certainly one of the reasons that I do it. Another is that it is fun to keep the security guards on their toes. Although using your invisibility cloak does seem a bit like cheating.” The Shaman of the Nations smiled at Beth.

Once Bethany relaxed her powers, Mattias started to move his wheelchair on his own, so she wouldn't have to push him any more, if she didn't want to.

He was still processing everything he had seen since they arrived in town. It surprised him to see so many mutants everywhere! Most looked like "normal" people, while others were clearly different in their appearance. He even saw a few flying by under their own power, and no one raised any alarms! This place was clearly a safe haven for mutants.

"How long has this place been here?" He asked quietly.

“This location has been around since the seventeen hundreds,” Bethany said, showing that even if she had opted to follow Dyami, she had at least done her homework. “It wasn’t always a grand, city-sized thing, either. There was another location in the southeast before that, but that area was far more populated, and far less...welcoming. It was burned to the ground by people with torches and pitchforks, when random hordes with torches and pitchforks were actually a thing.”

Mattias took this information in. "I know mutant-kind has existed for a long time, but not for centuries!" He was truly surprised by this fact. "How long have we been existing next to homosapiens?"

“Miss Syn says she’s over thirteen-hundred years old all on her own,” Bethany mentioned as they reached the only door. “Not that she looks like it, or anything. She looks like a little porcelain doll. According to what I’ve learned, mutants have been around for a long time. Some of the major heroes, and villains, throughout time may have been mutants.”

Mattias absorbed this information soberly. Then, after a few quiet beats, he responded. "If we have been around so long, I wonder why there are so few of us still."

The Indian man was looking at a small statue placed on a finely carved ebony wood display table. He admired the craftsmanship of the ornately forged bronze figure of an oriental Loong dragon rising from ground into flight. A small mischievous grin crossed his face and he spun the statue about an eighth of a turn and moved it about a quarter of an inch to one side of center. Knowing that Syn would take notice and would be almost compelled to fix it, brought a warm smile to his face.

“Maybe there is some sort of limit placed on us by the Great Spirit.” Dyami answered Mattias with a shrug. He turned and knocked on the Headmaster's door lightly, knowing she likely already knew that they were in the ornate hallway.

Bethany shrugged slightly, and said, “Some people seem to think that there’s an increase in awakenings during times of great need, but I’m not sure what to think.” The green-eyed brawler hated what she was. Not that she hadn’t grown used to her powers, but she was still a threat to anyone around her at the wrong time, and that bothered her on a deeper level than she was willing to admit.

Mattias didn't know how to respond, so for now, he kept quiet and observed his surroundings.

A series of bolts could be heard pulling back from inside the deceptively thick, normal seeming door and into the wall. The door opened on its own power and revealed a large, opulently decorated office. Display cases lined the walls, filled with a variety of weapons and armor from ages past, along with artwork that spanned from antiquity, to modern, framed, hand-drawn images that looked like the works of children.

Behind a large, curved mahogany desk, and perched in a tall, high-backed, red-satin lined chair, sat the little porcelain doll that Bethany had spoken of. Her skin was a bit more flushed than any doll though, her strange red-reptilian eyes leveled on her visitors. No more than four-and-a-half feet tall, she was dressed in traditional black robes, embroidered with a golden Loong dragon.

“Enter and be at peace,” Syn said, motioning towards the normal sized chairs in front of her desk, with a delicate seeming hand. “I wasn’t expecting our other guest, I must admit, though all are welcome.”

The diminutive administrator shot Dyami a bit of an up-arched brow, and continued, “While I appreciate you making your way here with such haste, I do wish you would stop trying to give OG the equivalent of a digital aneurysm with your antics. Though, it does help to figure out where the holes in our defenses are, I suppose.”

Dyami led the way into the room, bowing his head slightly as he approached, “Always glad to be of service, Uktena. We can discuss the boy later. He will be staying at the Ranch while he recovers. Beth and I came as quickly as we could. I take it things are worse than we had feared?” Dyami moved one of the chairs as he spoke making room for Mattias’s wheelchair before sitting on one of the plush chairs facing the dragon woman.

“Miss Syn,” Bethany said, nodding slightly in greeting and moved to the other chair, on the other side of Mattias, settling down in it. Her gaze settled on the small dragon lady curiously. “Dyami said there were a couple of girls we’re supposed to talk to.”

As they entered the highly decorated office, Mattias took in as much as he could as they entered. He thought the collection of artwork was very cool, then his eyes landed on the small woman in the front of the room. "Hello, Ma'am," he said respectfully.

The little dragon-eyed woman nodded to Bethany, saying, “I am very sorry for your loss. I apologize for having to call on you right now, but I believe that this is important.”

Bethany simply nodded slightly and said, “Thanks.” She did respect the woman in front of her, so she at least managed that much. Then her eyes dropped to the desk in front of her as she leaned back in the chair, crossing her legs and arms. She was there to get a briefing and do an interview and she had to concentrate on that.

Syn then turned her odd gaze to Mattias and she offered him a gentle smile. “You are quite a pleasant young man. My name is Absynthe Drake. You can call me Syn, as I don’t stand on ceremony.” She paused for a moment, and tilted her head slightly. Her smile faded a bit, then the small woman sighed softly and continued, “And you have also suffered a great loss recently, it seems. I am sorry for that, as well. I truly wish that we could save everyone.”

"Mattias. Mattias Tonelly, Ma'am. My mom and dad…." He got quiet here for a few beats, then nodded and continued. "My parents raised me to be polite. And yes…they were recently murdered in front of me by the Ice Queen."

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TBC