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“Today’s lesson will be about self-defence without the use of superpowers,” begins Mr. Halo, starting his lesson.
Tallulah, picking her nails, sighs at the topic. Being stuck in school, especially a government-mandated school for kids of superheroes, absolutely sucks. The school always teaches about defence and never about learning how to hone their abilities.
She turns to look at her older brother Chayanne who meets her eyes. A silent understanding passes between them about how they both do not want to be in Mr. Halo’s class for this lecture.
Her mind wanders as she envisions the blue sky, the sound of rushing wind meeting her ears. The warmth gracing her skin is soothing and she feels her dad’s arms around her. She frowns at the image, a slightly bitter taste in her mouth.
Suddenly, a loud blaring beeping sound echoes through the building. Tallulah winces and covers her ears, sensitive to loud sounds.
“Villains detected near the premises. Beginning lockdown procedure.”
Technology and reinforcements whirl around the school complex, protecting the scared students and faculty inside.
Tallulah, hands still covering her ears, moves to the far corner with the rest of her classmates. She huddles down beside Chayanne, with his hand rubbing circles on her back.
“Stay quiet and calm, you are safe,” she repeated in her mind, hoping that the all-clear would come soon.
A loud thump can be heard on the far wall, then some explosions. Suddenly, the reinforced wall breaks with a loud explosion, panicking the scared group of pre-teens and their teacher.
Mr. Halo quickly conjures a protective dome over the huddled group of kids, reassuring them that they will be fine and that they should move deeper into the facility.
The scene outside is a mess of debris and powers swirling around as heroes move to defeat the villains. However, one lone figure, hovering above the battle catches Tallulah’s eyes.
She brings one of her hands down and tugs on Chayanne’s sleeve, pointing at the winged figure in the sky.
“Is that… Papa?” she whispers, shakily. Her dad Phil, better known by the public as The Crow, has been missing for a month, having disappeared on a mission where he was trying to defeat the notorious villain Ender King. Seeing her dad after all this time, hovering above the destruction leaves Tallulah frozen in place.
Her brother tries and shake her out of it, telling her that she should move to safety. Tallulah simply stares at her father, staring at his thin form. Her enhanced senses took note of his thin form, filthy blonde hair, the cuts across his arms, and the lack of his signature mask.
She moves forward, away from the class towards the gaping hole in the wall but bumps into Mr. Halo’s shield. She felt Chayanne’s arms around her, trying to pull her back towards the group of retreating students but she struggled in his grasp.
She watches as her dad dives down towards the destructive battle, signature blades in his hands. He swings at the nearest hero and evades the multiple colourful blows of magic aimed at him. He blocks one blast with his wings, twists around and slashes at the figure in front of him. There was something wrong with him.
She hears her Uncle Fit, better known as Riptide, yell out orders to his squad to bring the battle away from the school. He launches himself up with his trident, aiming to bring his dad down but misses as he flies out of the way. He launches 3 more blades at the descending form of Uncle Fit, which he blocks with an air gust from his mechanical arm.
The battle continues as Tallulah stares transfixed at her father and uncle fighting. Chayanne, noticing that she was no longer struggling, pulls her into the hallway, blocking her sight of the battle. She screams and wretches herself from Chayanne’s loosening grip and runs back into the classroom, the dome having been dismissed.
“Papa!” she yells, running towards him. She hears Chayanne’s steps behind her, surely to try and capture her again.
Her dad turns his head towards her. In that split-second moment, Fit sends a blast of air at Phil, causing him to fall back, hitting a wall in the process. Her dad, bloody and beaten, lies motionless on the battlefield.
Tears streaming down her face, Tallulah mumbles a series of no’s, increasing in volume before she passes out, her brother’s arms around her again.
---
Tallulah stirs and meets a dull grey ceiling and white walls. She blinks slowly, rubbing her eyes.
“You’re awake!” exclaimed Chayanne, standing by her bedside.
She winces, trying to sit up. Memories of what occurred before she passed out flashed in her mind. Her father. The destruction. The gust of wind that sent her father flying. The loud alarm.
“Where’s Papa?” she asks, voice raspy.
Chayanne helps her sit up before answering. “He’s in the room next door. He was badly injured after Uncle Fit knocked him down and hasn’t woken up yet.”
The scene of her dad hurling into debris from Fit’s powers sits bitterly in her mind. She moves to leave the bed, reaching the floor on unstable legs. Chayanne attempts to reach her but she steadies herself and bolts out the door towards the room next door.
The door was open as she entered the room, Chayanne right behind her. She sees the sitting figures of Uncle Fit and Uncle Pac, their conversation interrupted by her presence.
“Tallulah, you’re awake!” Uncle Pac exclaimed, getting up to greet her.
She ignores her uncle and stares at the unconscious form of her father. His black, feathered wings were wrapped in bandages, some blood peeking through the white. He was dressed in a hospital gown and had wires attached to his arms. His skin was pale and scratches and bruises were dotting his skin and face. A nasty-looking scar cut across his left cheek, from the ear to the base of his nose.
In summary, he looked almost dead.
Silently, she walks towards the foot of the bed, breath still as if she was waiting for a ghost. She lets out a shaky breath and just listens, hearing the almost silent breaths of her father before her.
A metal hand touches her shoulder and she whips around, knowing exactly who is behind her.
“Don’t touch me,” she commands, voice stern. Fit, whose arm recoiled at Tallulah’s movement, just stares at her, a conflicted expression on his face.
“I was just trying to comfort you,” he stated simply, hands falling to his side.
Pity is what she feels radiating from him. How can she feel comforted by the man that hurt her father?
She scoffs and turns back to her dad. She still feels his presence behind her, but she can ignore it for now. All that matters is watching her dad’s chest rise and fall.
“Tallulah, I get that you are worried about your father but you don’t have to take it out on me.”
She tenses at Fit’s voice.
“Take it out on you? Like how you took it out my Papa to the point where he is unconscious and injured,” she said, calm yet with venom in her voice. She turns her head slightly, able to see Fit in the corner of her eye, his expression now uncomfortable.
“Tallulah, he was-“
“Don’t give me excuses. You are his closest friend, practically brothers yet you hurt him. You abandoned my Papa!” She was fully facing him now, clenching her fist and staring daggers at him. Fit was still, shocked by her outburst.
Pac and Chayanne quickly made their way over with Pac trying to wedge himself between Fit and Tallulah. Chayanne was at Tallulah’s side, not touching her but within eyesight. He was silent throughout the entire situation, clearly unsure if he should intervene.
“Hey, hey, hey, we are all a bit stressed with what went down,” Pac began, pushing Fit’s still form back a bit. He bit his lip, thinking, before reaching out his two hands to Tallulah and Chayanne. “Let’s go to the cafeteria, I’ll get you both some hot chocolate. Your uncle will stay here with your dad.”
Tallulah swatted his hand away. “Don’t try and distract me. Why would I leave my dad? And leave him with Riptide? I’m not going to abandon him!”
Pac froze at Tallulah’s outburst. Fit pushed himself forward, anger clear on his face.
“Tallulah, you don’t slap your uncle away!” he scolded.
“And you shouldn’t have hurt Papa so it seems like we all do what we want now,” she yells back, emotions overtaking her mind. Chayanne let out a quiet gasp beside her.
“What do you think I feel?” she continues, yelling louder and speaking faster, the sealed jar of emotions finally let free. “I watched you send a gust to him, sending him flying into the wall. I haven’t seen him in a month, and the first time I get to see him, your superpower hurled him into the air! You hurt him and abandoned him!”
“He was being controlled and was aiming to kill us!” Fit roars back, angry at her accusations. He points a finger at Phil’s unconscious form. “If I didn’t knock him out, he could’ve killed someone! Heck, I was the one that carried him to this hospital! I didn’t abandon him!”
“Didn’t abandon him?” she muttered, harsh yet quiet. “You know nothing about abandonment.”
Memories of her past, before she met her dad and Chayanne, appear in her mind.
She remembers the sound of the rain pattering around her, and the soaked clothes she was wearing as she waited by the tree. The now muffled voice of her father, telling her that they were going to be playing hide and seek. The pain of the injection in her neck as she fell into unconsciousness.
The taste of dirt on her tongue, the screech of the vehicle with shots in the background, the smell of scorched flesh lingering in her nose, even days after she left the site - all scattered fragments of her past. The desire to continue living slowly being drained every day, with every step of her illegal freedom.
The memories were clear in her mind. The feelings and sensations were real. The fear, the hopelessness, the trauma of those months alone.
Before she met him.
With his outstretched hand, the wings on his back as if he were an angel coming to bring her to heaven. Of the weeks of back and forth between the two, of her escaping and Phil coming to her aid, a constant smile on his lips no matter how irritating the situation was. Of the months of slow acceptance, of learning to exist beyond self-preservation and animalistic instincts.
The 2 years of finally accepting that she has a family now.
That she has a life beyond her traumas. That she was Tallulah, Chayanne’s sister and her Papa’s daughter.
Her hero, her Papa, saved her life all that time ago. And Tallulah knows that she will not abandon him like those in her past did to her. Like what Fit did to him.
The silence in the room is thick, tension clear in everyone. Tallulah continued to stare daggers at Fit while Fit stared right back. Chayanne was indecisive, watching his sister and Fit, unable to move anything but his eyes. Pac was similar, though paying more attention to his partner, ensuring that he does not do anything that he would regret.
Suddenly, a low groan can be heard, breaking the tension in the room. They turn to Phil’s bedridden figure, watching as his fingers twitch and his face scrunches up slightly. His eyes, though still closed, were tense, as if it was struggling to open his eyes.
Tallulah rushes to the bedside of her dad, grabbing his right hand, Chayanne close behind her. Phil’s head turns slightly to the right and finally, his eyes open slowly.
Purple eyes meet Tallulah’s brown and tears well up in her eyes. They aren’t her dad’s green eyes but they are familiar nonetheless. It was something at least.
“You’re awake,” she whispers shakily, trying to seem strong in front of her injured father. She can feel Chayanne’s hand on her back, rubbing circles on her skin.
Phil lets out another groan and moves slightly, closing his eyes once more for a brief moment before opening them back up as a series of coughs racks his body. Startled by the sudden noise, Tallulah steps back, releasing her grip from Phil’s hand as Fit approaches the other side of the bed, helping Phil sit up. She doesn’t glare at her uncle, eyes only on her dad.
The coughing stops and only ragged breath can be heard in the room.
Tallulah stares at the weak and injured form of her father, the one who saved her all those years ago. Flashes of the battle fly by in her mind, the brief eye contact right before Phil freezes, Uncle Fit slamming into Phil’s figure, the destruction present before her.
The anger from before dissipates as the guilt that was hidden by her rage makes itself known. She could have done much more to protect her dad. If only she didn’t call him, he wouldn’t have been distracted enough to be hit by Riptide’s blast. Hell, she has been placing all this blame on her uncle, the same uncle who was always there for her in the past.
What a horrible burden she is.
The self-deprecating thoughts fill her mind, swirling like a hurricane though there is no quiet in the center – just an ever-encompassing dread, like a black hole sucking matter into its open maw. She finally breaks, tears falling, hindering her sight as she begins apologizing franticly.
“I’m so sorry, I was the one that got you hurt. If I didn’t call your name, you would be okay and wouldn’t be injured and it’s all my fault because of course it is. I’m just an omen for death and I hope you can forgive me and that you are okay and I’m just so sorry, it’s all my fault-“ Sobs rack her body and she feels Chayanne hugging her from behind, tears dropping into her curly brown hair.
She hears Chayanne whisper reassurances as he hugs her. However, she hears the shakiness of his voice and knows that he is trying to hold himself together as well.
Phil coughs once before turning to look at Tallulah.
“Uhm, thanks for the apology?” he says slowly, voice rough from the disuse. “I don’t really remember much about what happened but I’m alive so that’s a plus.”
He shifts in the bed and turns to Fit then back to Tallulah, an unknown look in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, but do I know you? The only person I recognize here is Fit, but he looks a bit different from what I remember. Did I rescue you or something?”
A quiet gasp can be heard behind her and she feels Chayanne grasp her wrist, tight but grounding. She stares at her father, the face that she missed for the past month, the face that she loves and cherishes. A single tear falls down her face.
“You did rescue me,” she said quietly, eyes diverting from his face, now staring at the edge of the hospital sheets.
“You saved my life.”